//------------------------------//
// First One Down 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

Izvaldi's rain reached across a day and two night's travel, blanketing the Griffon Empire's entire countryside all the way to Stormhoof. Great dark clouds rolled by high above the castle's pinnacle, sending down sheet after endless sheet that drove all pedestrians from the streets and taxed the storm drains to their max. Below the surface of the city, in tunnels built upon tunnels out of walls of bricks and masonry, roaring water reverberated and echoed, rushing rivers of drainage lapping nearly over the edges of the tunnel walkways. Near one exit, one Valey had climbed through long ago, a pair of four boots lay carefully concealed, having protected delicate hooves from the storm runoff and now smelling faintly of perfume.

Up through the castle, from its kitchens to its loftier corridors, wind drafted and no light shone. For every guard with a torch, there was thrice as much shadow, not so much a road for sarosiankind as a sea. The blackness stretched unbroken up walls, through hallways and across a bridge to a lonely tower study where a few guards stood better watch... but still not too close of watch. Tonight, their master had ordered them not to hear.

"Mmm... Geribaldi..." A black coat and red mane stretched across the luxurious bed of Stormhoof's only prince, nestled against his body. Feathered wings intertwined with leather, the silhouette of a paw rubbed a curved side in the darkness, and a low, contented purr masked the rain as two ponies shifted against each other.

"Heh heh..." Geribaldi Stormhoof lay on his back, staring at the canopy of his four-poster bed and caressing the mare in his embrace. "Look at me now, Gazelle. Can you see me now? Loved, powerful... My talents and the time spent honing them is worth a thousand times your freewheeling ways! Mmm, love... Heh heh..." His toothy grin shone even in the darkness, and he leaned forward to kiss the forehead atop his chest.

"Oh, very powerful," his mare murmured, wiggling her way up his chest to nuzzle at his chin. "And handsomer than they give you credit for. They're all blind to be unable to see it, but you're better than them all. You'll show them..."

Geribaldi let her lips brush against his cheek and flicked his tail in glee.

"Gazelle thinks he's better than you, but what does he have? A prize like me? Oh, I can't wait to see you rub me in his face. And your father's, too. He doesn't love you, you know. He thinks you amount to nothing. That's what they all say, behind your back. I've snuck around..."

"Hardly takes sneaking to hear that." Geribaldi's tail turned to lashing, and he grasped her a little tighter. "I could ask them to their faces and their silence will say what they think of me. What am I, a plebian who gets their entertainment from fighting pirates? Father doesn't understand my dedication. His idea of real-world experience isn't how I'll become the future leader of Stormhoof. But you..."

"Nobody understands, darling," the mare corrected. "Except you. You understand how wrong he'll be proven one day. You'll be the one to show him... my love."

"The only creature I would dare call the same," Geribaldi purred. "But you came to me with a grudge against Stormhoof... You came with a desire to help your kind... Have you studied poetry, my dear Felicity? The very agents who will someday show them I am not someone to be stepped on or brushed aside brought together by that same grudge is the height of poetry. You will make a wonderful queen at my side."

Felicity smiled a fanged smile, laying atop Geribaldi and rubbing his tender ears. "Oh, your ego is showing, my lord... I love it so much when you do that."

Geribaldi wrapped his wings over top of her. "Only for you, my love. Everyone else can behold the wimp and nerd they feel comfortable imagining me as. But one day, they will see..."

"Oh?" Felicity nuzzled his cheek. "And how long do you think that will take, hmm? I'd love to see the looks on their faces when they see you show them your worth..."

"In due time," Geribaldi purred. "Once I get tired of being appreciated right under everyone's noses. But it will happen."

Felicity's grin widened, and she pushed his wings apart, sitting up slightly to look him in the eye. "I could tell you something they're keeping from you if you wanted to hurry things along. A secret your father doesn't think you're worthy of?"

Geribaldi's eyes shone greedily, and Felicity leaned forward, planting the barest kiss on his nose. "Sarosians always breed true."

"Wait... What...?" Geribaldi's demeanor collapsed into uncertainty as his mind hurried to catch up... and then his eyes sharpened again. "Explain this to me."

"Hmmhmm." Felicity stroked his chin with a wingtip. "How do you think a select few houses manage to keep their lines intact for centuries at a time? You know the size of the Empire's sphinx population. You're good at math. You can calculate how long it would take for every one of them to die off from defects related to inbreeding. It's a well-kept secret, but it does exist..."

"A secret the houses who know would do anything to quash, to keep from the others," Geribaldi hissed, following along. "And Garsheeva's heresy makes it impossible for the common folk to discover before being executed before anything could come of it? But then..." His eyes widened. "Stormhoof knows. My father knows. And he didn't tell me."

"Well, of course he does, darling." Felicity flipped some mane out of her eyes, scowling slightly. "Who do you think I plundered that from in the first place, hmm? It sounds to me like he doesn't even think highly of you enough to want you going down in history as someone who continued his line. Very rude, if you ask me."

Geribaldi's eyes narrowed to slits. "I will show him..."

"We will," Felicity corrected with a giggle, sitting up straighter and sliding a little closer atop him, taking one of his wings in her grasp and brushing a feather across her belly. "And sooner than you think..."

"You...!" Geribaldi's grin returned, and he started chuckling, gradually increasing in intensity. "Are you sure? We've only been... for a few..."

Felicity brushed his own bangs away, her smile happy and warm. "I wouldn't have gotten your hopes up if I wasn't sure, love. I've been feeling slightly woozy for several days now, and when I got it checked from a trustworthy source..." She touched his cheek. "How quickly these things happen."

Geribaldi reached out to touch her again, transitioning to a full-on laugh... and instantly froze, another voice stopping him in his tracks.

"Well, that was disgustingly sentimental," High Prince Gazelle remarked, stepping out from behind a curtain with Larceny at his side. "You're too good at this, Felicity dear. Great work."

"Gazelllllle!" Felicity cooed, instantly abandoning Geribaldi and leaving his bed to run up and nuzzle the newcomer sphinx.

"Ah ha ha." Gazelle grinned stupidly as Larceny slipped away, putting a wing over Felicity. "Surprise, Baldy! It's me. You were saying about your relationship?"

Geribaldi rocked forward in his bed, stunned. "What... You... How long have you...?" His eyes snapped into focus. "Felicity! What are you doing? Get back here!"

Felicity turned up her nose. "Ick, no. You're disgusting, and I'm already having second guesses about whether my real friend here will ever be able to pay me enough to make it worth it, being stuck with your taint for however many months you've left me saddled for." She flicked at her belly with her tail. "Everyone fears you won't amount to anything because you are vain, selfish, possess no sense of humor, and at your truest are a vindictive little brat with no idea how to treat a lady. Gazelle? I have finished my job, now you'd better make this worth my while."

"Fear not! Fear not." Gazelle patted her. "Grandbell's royal treasury is vast indeed. Baldy old pal, did you really ever think you were special enough that a beautiful mare would sneak into the castle just to see you? You've been hoodwinked! Oh, this is the best royal prank I've ever commissioned! It's worth it all!" He laughed uproariously, slapping his leg with a paw and nearly keeling over if not for Felicity's support. "What a laugh you are. You didn't think you'd deny me my fun on a dozen and a half pirate outings and not expect me to come calling some other way, did you?"

Geribaldi trembled in rage, flexing his claws... and suddenly a pillow overturned and was slit, and he drew a knife from the feathers. "I... You..." He seethed, a vein bulging in his forehead.

"Son?" The shadows rippled again, and suddenly Larceny was back, this time with Lord Stormhoof at her side. The military sphinx frowned sadly. "You have disappointed me."

Geribaldi's fury vanished, eyes going wider than a punched kitten.

Smugly, Gazelle stepped out of the way, making a show of attending to Felicity as she reciprocated. Lord Stormhoof stepped forward. "Geribaldi. When Gazelle came to me and asked permission to play a joke on you as a test of character, I accepted on the possibility you could show me something about yourself. He wanted to make a wager. All I wanted was to see my son rise above the wiles of a single temptress, to prove he wouldn't be effortless to manipulate as a head of state. It seems any wager I would have made, I lost. I am deeply disappointed."

"This was... You were...?" Geribaldi trembled. "No... How dare you!" He snapped straighter, shaking. "What kind of leader are you, inviting some unknown floozy into-"

"Miss Felicity is no unknown floozy," Lord Stormhoof interrupted. "She's a security contractor. Did you in your infinite self-absorption every consider that if a lover of yours could sneak into the castle without trouble, any number of assassins could do so as well? Felicity runs a network through Stormhoof's underground to detect and intercept threats like this. Where our sarosian population's loyalty cannot be bought with love, coin suffices instead."

Felicity cleared her throat. "About that... Swindling Gondolus Gyre has gotten a lot less productive, lately. I think he's low on cash. So if you want me to keep as tight of a ship as I usually run things, you're going to need to put a little more into it yourself sooner or later."

"Regardless, the point still stands." Lord Stormhoof bowed his head. "Not only did you fail to prove yourself resistant to even the easiest of manipulations, you have been rejected while attempting to date above your station."

Geribaldi shook harder, despair starting to gather in his eyes. "No... This has to be a bad dream... no...!"

"Oh, yes, darling," Felicity replied, seeing her chance and taking it. She walked forward, eyes flashing. "There's only one kind of release you'll find from this dream."

Her cutie mark started glowing.

For a moment, the air in the room seemed to still, the instrument strings drawn along the heart on Felicity's flank vibrating within her fur. She showed her teeth. "You heard what your father has to say. What your rival has to say. Your so-called lover. To whom will you turn now, Geribaldi? Yourself? You've failed so hard already, you might as well not even try."

Geribaldi's eyes glassed over. He trembled one more time, scanning the room... and then there was a flash of steel, and he was done.

"Well." Felicity sighed, letting her mark grow dim. "That bed is ruined. We'll let the coroners clean it up when they find him in the morning."

"I really hate it when you do that, you know," Larceny muttered, then looked to Stormhoof. "Ready to go?"

Lord Stormhoof stared at the bed for several long seconds. "My poor, foolish son." He shook his head. "I am sorry I had to love my province more. Gazelle, however long I last, I trust you'll take care of it when my line is gone." He submitted, and larceny took him away.

Gazelle stared too, waiting for Stormhoof to leave... but instead of breathing reverently, he giggled. "And that takes care of that. An obvious suicide, not an assassination. And you left the bed messy enough they'll even be able to guess a cause. Ha. Haha! Hahaha! Wonderful work you do." He winked at Felicity. "Thanks for being accommodating, by the way. Some things came up and I had to shift my timetables a little. You're a real champ."

Felicity nodded slowly, watching the staircase down, and brushed her belly again with her tail. "He thinks his line will end here. He doesn't know."

"Yes, well, that's what happens when you play this game with someone smarter than you." Gazelle winked. "Enjoy your stolen closet sphinx. Think that will suffice as payment for taking out Geribaldi?"

"Mmm... I think it will, yes." Felicity regarded herself with satisfaction. "Stormhoof's heir or daughter. Either way, this is precisely what I wanted."

Gazelle patted her on the head. "Terrific. I really don't care what you do with it, as long as everything else goes well. Everyone in the game deserves a piece or two of their own to play with... though you're quite lucky you got it so fast. Really, I need things moving a lot faster all of a sudden."

"Tournament three, do you think?" Felicity asked, looking up from herself and watching the bed again.

"Depends on a lot of things." Gazelle winced. "Izvaldi is speeding up. Who knows whether or how quickly Varsidel will retaliate for that incident with the ship seizure and the pirates? I'm counting on a few things to line up, here, but in the meantime we do the best we can do. For now, I think I best be off to Izvaldi and see if I can't smooth a few things over there? Best to keep that situation stable as long as possible, especially since our Ironridge friends are headed that way by my last count."

"Senescey went with them." Felicity nodded again, starting to grow restless. "I really hope we can get them in on things, soon, but they are skittish about political intrigue..."

Gazelle hummed in agreement. "Try a little harder to convince them sooner rather than later. Don't want them as enemies, of course, but they'll have a much worse time of things if they get mixed up in the wrong direction. Still, that's where I'm going next. See if I can't bail them out if they need it. You coming?"

"Give me the evening to decide," Felicity replied, putting a wing over his back and preparing to dive into the shadows. "Most importantly of all, I need a very hot shower..."