Maple, Starlight, Gerardo, Shinespark and Valey stood before the grand entrance to Stormhoof keep, every member of the Immortal Dream's crew that had been present on the Ironridge dam to witness the arrival of Yakyakistan's rocket. This time, the Everlaste guards that swarmed the city treated them in a far more welcoming light, though Valey was the subject of nonstop unwelcoming looks.
"Bananas," she whispered as they crossed the threshold, the guards having moved aside to let them in. "These guys are even ruder than Stormhoof normally is. Still dark in here, though. I kinda just want to sneak around..."
Manalights were visible, installed in chandeliers and most of the tower walls, but they were dim or extinguished in favor of window lighting, leaving large bars of shadow across the floor that formed complex, angled pathways for a sneaky sarosian to follow. Valey still found it an odd security breach, spending that much effort on importing guards yet leaving the door wide open to the ponies who would hate Stormhoof most, but it was their castle, not hers.
Their path continued upwards, a professional-looking guard leading them along, and from time to time she saw rooms familiar from her own infiltration, like the grand ballroom adjacent to the kitchen complex. But they largely took back routes, narrow staircases and hallways that curved with the keep's circular architecture, and as the windows passed by they showed the island fortress's city dropping further and further away. Large sections of stone made up the staircases, their faces carved to look like assemblies of white bricks, and eventually the corridors straightened and started branching, the tower reaching its upper levels.
"Wait here," the guard instructed once they reached a room equally as interesting as the others, then stopped and didn't move.
"...Well?" Valey shrugged, seating herself on a decorated stone bench between two ornamental wall pillars, potted ferns on either side. "Now what?"
"I suppose we wait," Gerardo remarked, seating himself across from her. "And see who comes to get us."
They didn't have to wait long. An elegant tapping of hooves announced someone coming down the hall, and soon their reception came into view: a long, red, well-groomed mane and tail, slightly larger-than-average proportions, and bat wings and tufted ears. "Good to see you again, darlings," Felicity greeted, stiff and poised. "I hope the evening finds you well."
Valey quickly noted the guard's obvious discomfort and mistrust clashing with her professional demeanor, but turned her eyes to Felicity. "Uh... hey? What are you doing here?"
Felicity blinked. "Defense contractor for the city of Stormhoof? Did I really not let my job slip at some point while traveling? I feel like I did..." Her ears cycled between upright and pinned back, and she glanced mistrustfully at the Everlaste guard. "Might I lead you somewhere more private to talk? Gazelle's informed me why you're here, and I think we have a lot of sensitive information to brief each other on."
The guard didn't need to be dismissed twice, and Valey was glad to see her go. Gerardo cleared his throat. "Better there than here, wherever you have in mind. Lead the way?"
"Of course. Follow me." Felicity guided them around three corners, ignoring staircases and sticking to the same floor, eventually ending in a wide-windowed room that seemed to be a luxury bedroom suite. A curved pane of glass made up one wall, almost like the hallways in Skyfreeze, with a lush four-poster near it and plenty of chairs and amenities.
She coughed, locking the door behind them. "This ought to do, as long as you don't mind the opulence. Easy enough for me to requisition, highly private and soundproof for... ahem... reasons, and much less formal than a stuffy office. Now then!" She beamed, sitting back on her haunches and flinging her forelegs wide. "How are all of you? I let you out of my sight not days ago, and it already seems like so much has happened!"
Valey turned, showing off her scarred back. "Eh, I've been worse. Been way better, too."
"I'll say, darling!" Felicity blanched. "That's a wound you'll want to have treated, trust me."
"That seems to be the idea," Gerardo offered with a shrug. "That prince of yours wants to pay us healing potions and far more in exchange for a public testimony that Yakyakistan created the weapon that did that to Garsheeva. Though I must admit, I could do with a clearer explanation of where all this is going."
"Mhmm," Maple agreed pensively, Starlight sitting on her back.
"Diving into business already, are we?" Felicity tsk'd. "If you all insist. But first, you are aware of the situation in Stormhoof, yes? Why I'm here, why Everlaste is here... I'd hate to get ahead of myself and confuse you further."
Shinespark's tail flicked. "Perhaps you should explain those, then. I've heard bits and pieces, but don't remember if I'm putting it all together right. This is because Stormhoof's army is absent in Ironridge, they're worried enough to borrow troops from their political ally, and you... work for them for some reason involving the Night Mother?"
"Correct and close, darling," Felicity agreed. "I'm a defense contractor hired by Lord Stormhoof and endorsed by Gazelle to do something about this city's dark underbelly. Do you know what I mean?"
Valey blinked, half-lifting a hoof. "The old sewer tunnels?"
Felicity grinned. "Precisely. This island has been built up so many times over so many years, no one quite knows what's down there, except that the dark is a good place to stay when you aren't welcome on the surface. More than that, it has to do with this island's little... energy crisis. You've probably noticed how dim things are at night."
"I have noticed," Shinespark declared. "Why is that? Does it just have to do with cost? If it's creating security concerns, isn't Meltdown in control of that?"
"Hm! One would think, wouldn't they?" Felicity winked. "Regardless, in the meantime, Lord Stormhoof felt it would be more cost-effective to hire one competent mare who knows how to keep tabs on the underworld. It's a fast and dirty game down there, but I tend to keep abreast of any would-be plots and have them reach my ears far before they actually manifest. Safe? Debatable. Cost-efficient? More than enough for him."
"Well, that's cool, I guess." Valey nodded out the window. "So what else is important? What from us do you need to know?"
Felicity's face fell serious. "Absolutely everything and as much as you know. But remember, darlings, I've... been feeling some conflicted loyalties between my usual position with Gazelle and the Night Mother, and between you all. And I know about keeping secrets. Anything you tell me that either of us deem too sensitive or dangerous in the wrong hooves will never leave this room. I swear it on all hope of seeing my sisters' and my bodies restored." She crossed her heart with a leathery wing.
Everyone glanced at each other. "Well... alright," Valey sighed, and together they launched into another, far more thorough recollection of the goings-on in Izvaldi than had been given to Gazelle.