The walk back through the Everfree was long, long enough that Midnight had expected to spend the night at her old home one last time instead of making the trip all in one day. But given what had happened, she didn’t even consider it. There were no possessions left behind in her old home that could be worth putting Nightfall at risk.
Maybe it was a defense mechanism, or maybe it was just the rhythmic nature of her movement, but either way Nightfall was asleep after an hour or so of walking, leaving the two adults relatively alone. Or uninterrupted, anyway.
“This was not supposed to happen,” Midnight muttered, when she was sure the filly on her back wouldn’t hear. “I was trying to help her relax, not terrify her. Now she’s going to be seeing cultists behind every corner.”
Sapphire didn’t answer for several long seconds. They dodged around some poisonous vines, jumped over a fire ant feeding-frenzy in the middle of the path, and she finally spoke. “It might be good for her to be a little paranoid—at first. Early on.”
“Why in Equestria would that be a good thing?”
“Because… they really are searching for her,” Sapphire Breeze said. “It would be bad for another filly in her place to be afraid, because there’s no one out to get them. But the Midnight cult is real. They have friends in high places. If we’re going to beat them, it has to be the three of us, not just two. Nightfall is on the team too.”
It isn’t a team, Midnight thought, but even as she said it she knew it wasn’t true. Sapphire Breeze might’ve been assigned to her, but she didn’t have to come out here. She didn’t have to help her arrange the furniture, or pack lunches. She wasn’t acting very much like a passive observer.
So Midnight just nodded. “That makes sense. It’s just… my childhood was hard enough. Being something different. Hiding. Ponies staring, frightened. Moving all the time. I want to give her something better.”
“Once we track down the rest of the Midnight cult, that should be easy,” Sapphire said. “You’ve seen how Ponyville treats you. It isn’t like some parts of Equestria. And the idea of another Alicorn isn’t as strange as it used to be either. Princess Celestia might not have even made her hide her identity if it wasn’t for the cult.”
“How’s the investigation going? It’s been days. You must have learned something,” Midnight asked. It was probably overstepping her bounds, but just now she cared very little. Her house might not have had anything of value inside, but she’d built it herself. It was somewhere safe, somewhere she’d carved out of the Everfree with her own hooves, and it had been violated. She wanted to break something. Maybe the question ended up sounding harsher than it needed to.
But if Sapphire was hurt by her hardness, she didn’t show it. She looked down, apparently thoughtful. She’s not sure if she wants to tell me. “It’s… we’re pretty sure every one of the cultists we captured had their brains scrambled with mind magic. It’s worse than anything else we’ve ever seen… and it means all the usual ways we would have for getting information from a pony won’t work. There’s some talk of space-magic trying to trace sympathy lines, but that looks scrambled too.”
“Mind magic,” Midnight repeated, unable to keep the awe from her voice. That was seriously dark stuff—the kind of magic that got a pony banished to Tartarus if they got caught abusing it. It was the kind of magic that belonged in some ancient story, not the Equestria of the real world. Of course, because kirin are real. New Alicorns are real, and so are the Elements of Harmony. But an old school of magic is a bridge too far. “Does that mean the cultists aren’t in this… willingly? Maybe they got tricked into it somehow?”
Sapphire shrugged. “I’m not part of the interrogations. But it seems possible. It also might be a protective charm they put on themselves, to prevent interrogations from working out. If we could get any of them to talk we could figure it out, but… you see the problem.”
“I do,” Midnight muttered, bitter. “For Nightfall. If we can’t lock those lunatics away, we need to keep watching for them.”
“Unfortunately. Which is why Nightfall should know what she’s up against. And you too. There’s a real chance you may end up putting yourself between her and whoever made her. We know the cult’s leaders are out there, and that they’ve got one of the best sorcerers in the world.”
“Then the academy unicorns can work it out,” Midnight grunted. “You’ve got some trying to figure out the spell, don’t you?”
Sapphire nodded. “Bigwigs at Celestia’s university are looking into it, yeah. That’s basically the last lead we have left. Well, that and waiting for somepony to attack us. You can guess which I prefer. But even if our investigators can tell us exactly what the spell does, that won’t point us towards the ponies still out there. Best guess is the investigators will try to track the ingredients used to cast it, but… I’m not really part of that investigation. I’m watching things from the other end.” She glanced briefly at Midnight’s back, at the filly still asleep there.
Midnight was certain she was still unconscious—she would’ve felt the change in her breathing if she woke. And they would’ve had to continue this conversation another time.
Up above them, the sun was just going down, staining all the leaves a deep red. “Would you be able to help defend her, if… if it came to that?”
“Her,” Sapphire Breeze agreed. “And you. I’d probably be doing weather warmagic if there was still such things as wars. I give you even odds that if the one who came up with that spell attacked I might be able to take her down. I wouldn’t let her hurt you, that’s for sure.”
Midnight chuckled. “You’ll defend the mythical creature form… I dunno. What could you fight? Maybe an evil librarian. And if she’s got some evil assistants, you’ll have me there. And this.” She held up her tail, letting it catch the glint of sunset.
“Well when you put it like that.” Sapphire glanced back at Nightfall again. “She’s in good hooves, I think. Almost makes me wish they would attack us, so we could get this over with. My real concern is what might happen if they go after her when there’s no one around to protect her. I’m not the only set of eyes watching out for her in Ponyville, but there’s never enough. There’s no such thing as impervious security—only different levels of risk.”
“Princess Luna visited. While you were gone, last night. She… said something like that. Said that the real way to win was to help Nightfall so the cult wouldn’t even be able to take her. But I don’t think that will be as hard as she thinks. She doesn’t want to be Nightmare Moon. I don’t know who that cult thought they were bringing back, but… they didn’t get her.”
Spell Nexus couldn’t take the risk of meeting Smokescreen in Ponyville a second time—such trips would be far too unusual to repeat, and might leave a trail that a clever investigator could follow back to him. So he kept on going straight through the town, on the way to an unscheduled visit in the Vanhoover campus of the Royal Academy. It was the evening train, so there was no one else on it—no one besides a bat and a unicorn occupying themselves in the back of the car. Spell Nexus sat far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to overhear, then cast a few subtle sound-warping spells around his seat just to be sure.
Right before the train started moving, Smokescreen sat down beside him, looking winded. If he’d missed this rendezvous, Nexus would’ve taken it out of his hide. I still probably should. Smokescreen doesn’t fully appreciate the importance of his service to Equestria’s true queen. If he needs a little encouragement, I will provide it.
He would have to think of something special to help teach this informant a lesson. But not tonight. “I hope you have something good for me,” he said, once the last of his silencing spells went into place. It was a curious thing—he could no longer hear the bat’s petulant squeaking, but he could still feel the vibration of the car through the seat. Only without the rumble of wheels on metal that he was accustom to. “Because I did half your job for you. I’ll be quite cross if you haven’t learned something I don’t know.”
“I have,” Smokescreen said, his voice only slightly desperate. “Wait, you did my job? That doesn’t seem like you, Nexus.”
The unicorn twitched one ear. He hated that this creature even knew his name. But there was nothing for it. “The information came to me quite accidentally. I almost kept it to myself, but our time is short. First, what have you learned? Do not waste my time—I intend for you to get off at Appleloosa. We have until then to finish this conversation and send you on your way.”
Smokescreen seemed to deliberate for a long time. Eventually he said, “Well, I started in the woods. Thought maybe I could follow tracks, see what might’ve happened. Almost got eaten by three different monsters while I was searchin’ I’ll have you know.”
“I’m sure the true queen of Equestria will be happy to reward you for your, uh… bravery,” Nexus said. “After we usher in her return. What did you find?”
“Well, uh…” The pony looked almost like he might make a run for it. He glanced down the aisle, clearly thought about it, but then settled back into his seat. “That new guard that the princess sent to watch Ponyville, she isn’t really a guard. Turns out she was living alone in the Everfree. Hunting, scavenging—doesn’t seem very mythical to me. Point is, she’s not the danger I thought. I don’t think she’ll pose much of a threat if we have to go through Ponyville. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up involved in this by accident. But she’s got that big knife on her tail, and maybe that’s why she’s in town. Just to—”
“Quiet.” Nexus cut him off with a glare that might’ve been an attack if he thought he could get away with it. But as inattentive as the other passengers looked, they would probably notice if Spell Nexus blasted Smokescreen out the window. “Your information is worthless. I am not concerned with the guards watching over the town—I only care about finding our queen. We cannot complete the spell without her. Have you learned anything about that?”
The thief’s nervous glance was all the confirmation Nexus needed. “I know the form of our queen. Perhaps you will be more successful at your task if you have some direction.” He leaned across the seat, lowering his voice to a whisper. Pointless within the bubble of the silencing spell. But he whispered anyway. “She’s a child—a filly Alicorn, perhaps not even old enough for her cutie mark. I couldn’t ask questions for more detail—but that should be information enough. Given I haven’t heard news of this spreading on every tabloid in Equestria, I suspect that the crown is doing something to conceal her identity. I’m sure you see what this suggests about where you might find her.”
“Yeah boss, sure,” Smokescreen said, rising to his hooves and looking nervously around. “Look for the new kid. But there are a lot of schools in Equestria, and they don’t exactly smile when a strange stallion comes lookin’ around.”
“I’m sure you think of something, Smokescreen,” Nexus said, eyes narrowing. “And if you can’t, then I will pull you from your place and find somepony better. The advent of our queen is nearly upon us. Her return will not be stymied because of the incompetence of those who should be her most loyal servants. You understand?”
“Got it,” Smokescreen said, backing away from him. “You got it, boss. I’ll find her. Bring her to you. You can count on it.”
“Don’t make any mistakes,” Nexus said. “I suspect we will only have one attempt. Our protections are not invulnerable. We must succeed before Equestria can locate us.”