The trip to the next building, while under an even heavier guard, was better than the last one. The Manehattan authorities allowed the women to clean up and change this time, although they didn’t give them back any of their effects including the key, and it had to be done one at a time in front of a screen as opposed to a spare room. After that, they were all shoved aboard a steam carriage and taken to the nicer part of the city.
For a moment they thought they might actually be taken all the way to the Republic Estate, but they never even reached the governmental quadrangle. Instead they were taken to the home/office of one of the higher-ranking generals in the military: a house that was previously refurbished from the days of when noblemen and noblewomen still were the word of law in the country. The room they were put in was large and spacious enough for twenty guests, although it was mostly empty of furniture save for a table and desk on one side and a row of six chairs on the other. A quick look showed that they were a good 15 meters apart. That seemed intentional when they sat down only for even more guards than before to come in and unsling their rifles.
By now, night had fallen and the wall sconces were lit. With the increased guard presence, the six ladies were quiet again. Aside from the occasional noise from downstairs, no one heard anything.
After about an hour, they heard the front door downstairs open. It was followed by a large number of footsteps. About ten minutes later, they came upstairs. Soon after the latch turned and a man in a suit held it wide.
An entourage, mostly of military personnel and officers including Kibitz, came in. With them walked a thinner, taller, and more upstanding-looking man with a thin mustache and a monocle. He looked at the six individuals for a moment, before his eyes went down to their hands. From his distance he couldn’t see much, but he glanced none the less before he turned and approached the table. Being flanked by his own men and women, he sat down and faced them.
“Well now, I hardly know where to begin,” he said after a moment. “I suppose introductions are pointless. I’ve heard all about the six of you from the Major General and my other council heads, and I’m sure you all already know who I am. Therefore,” he gestured toward them, “I’ll let the six of you begin.”
The six were a bit surprised. They expected far more of an interrogation. They turned and glanced at one another, but in the end all focused on Twilight and expected her to take the lead. With that in mind, she moistened her lips and took a deep breath before turning back.
“Well…Mr. Chancellor…” she began, hesitating a little as she tried to find the right words, “first and foremost, I want to start be reiterating who we are. We’re not terrorists, revolutionaries, or people trying to test new weapons. We’re just civilians. Six regular people. I was a student in Equestria before it fell.” She turned to the others and gestured to them one by one. “Applejack is a farmer. Rarity is a businesswoman. Pinkie Pie is a Gaitian refugee. Fluttershy is…is…well, someone who’s living off the land. And Rainbow Dash is a Huntsman. It was just circumstances that brought us all together. Each of us were out for one reason or another and by chance we all ended up not only with these powers but in Griffonstone. We all found out we could fight off and even kill Light Eaters, so we tried to help where we could. That’s why we fought the Tantabus and that’s why-”
“Excuse me,” he interrupted, holding up a hand, “I don’t mean to interrupt but…Tantabus? What is a Tantabus?”
“It’s…that’s not important right now. The thing is we stopped the attack in Griffonstone and we might be able to use that power to save all of Greater Everfree.”
“That’s what the major general informed me of. What he said you neglected to mention was how you were going to do that.”
Twilight winced. “I…well…I…”
Rarity, seeing her flustering, suddenly jumped in. “What Ms. Sparkle is trying to say is that she has a special ability that allows her to…well…how shall we say it… You already know the six of us have special abilities. Ms. Sparkle has a way of…oh…‘turning them off’, so to speak.”
“Yeah! That’s how she was able to make all those people who came by Carousel Couture un-crazy!” Pinkie chimed in.
Twilight moaned, but it was too late. “I’m not sure I understand. Assuming you do have this ability, how would that possibly help undo the darkness over so much of Greater Everfree?”
The mage said nothing. The rest of the girls went quiet, and Pinkie Pie clamped her own hands over her mouth on realizing she had said too much. Yet the chancellor hadn’t gotten into his position by not being shrewed. It took him only a moment of contemplation to realize the truth.
“You believe that everything that happened eight years ago…this darkness…the Light Eaters…the countless monstrosities that arose…are all due to someone who has this same strange power?”
The mage grimaced. “Well…yes, more or less. But that’s why we have to be the ones to stop this. We found out in Griffonstone we’re not only able to kill Light Eaters but we can survive them touching us without getting tainted. Without anything like Trottingham has for their own airships, that means we’re the ones who need to go into Equestria. All we want to do is put an end to all of this. If we succeed, we’ll have saved the whole continent. If we fail…” She paused; uncomfortable at the thought. “…then you’ll never hear from us again anyway.”
The chancellor mused over this silently for several seconds. After a time, he reached into his own suitcoat and emerged with a cigarette carrying case. As he got one out and lit it up, he used the opportunity to rise from his seat and turned away from the six momentarily. Both they and the surrounding soldiers watched him study one of the mirrors mounted on the back wall before he put a hand in his pocket and tapped his foot.
“The six of you caused quite a stir back in Grifftham City. Now I’m starting to see that you don’t understand just how much of one.”
The women looked puzzled. “I’m…not sure I follow…”
“Didn’t…we help everyone?” Fluttershy timidly ventured.
He looked back at them; raising an eyebrow.
“The world has its eyes on Grifftham City, where it found out that there were individuals in this world who had the ability to destroy a Light Eater the size of a battleship. All of Appleloosa and Manehattan is on alert due to the exploits of one Lady Sunset Shimmer, also known as ‘the Fire Witch’, who singlehandedly can do the damage of a fully-loaded attack airship by herself and can use Equestria to access anywhere in Greater Everfree. Now you tell me that the entire Lunar Fall, the work of which most of the planet assumes to be astral phenomena or even the end of time, is actually the result of an individual who has a symbol on their hand just like yours.”
He turned fully around as he took a drag.
“Tell me, ladies, if the Light Eaters and Nighttouched were gone tomorrow, how long do you think it would be before Greater Everfree found something new to fear?”
The six began to grow more uneasy and sat in silence. It was clear that none of them had ever thought of that before.
“Now, perish the thought that I stop you or anyone who is capable from dispelling that darkness or even keep it from growing further. But in the past eight years, almost every aspect of society has altered to accommodate it into their lives. The world changed forever with the Lunar Fall. If individuals like you are the new normal, if everyone everywhere has the chance to wake up with one of those strange symbols on their hands and the means of this sort of power, that’s nothing to be taken lightly. There might be other directions to take than this. Perhaps we can account for who these individuals are and how many are here in this nation. Maybe we can find some way to deal with the ones who lose their minds or at least predict when it will happen. Formulate a plan to deal with them now while the biggest threat to everyone is still the next surge, and maybe devise ways to counter individuals like Sunset Shimmer. If we could replicate your power artificially, there’d be no need for you six to even put your lives on the line. The military could handle this.”
Twilight was quiet a moment longer before she drew herself up in her chair. “I’m afraid we don’t have time for that, chancellor. Everyone’s so amazed about the fact that we did something about the surge in Grifftham City that they’re ignoring the fact there was a surge in Grifftham City in the first place. That attack wasn’t like the other movements the Light Eaters made in the past. They were purposely trying to move through the mountain corridor of Equestria to get there, and if they had reached the ocean they could have filled it with Nighttouched. Maybe even blocked the entire coast.”
His eyes raised. “What?”
“It gets worse than that. Everyone’s forgetting that all the signs pointed to them attacking at Appleloosa before then. Before all this started, they launched an attack on Fort Chestnut with special Nighttouched. Ones that normally don’t show up on the borders.”
He moved back to his seat. “You’re saying that all of this was actually planned. After eight years of nothing but what we can conclude was random, mindless behavior?”
“They’re not acting mindlessly anymore. This makes it far more likely something or someone is actually controlling them. If someone is, then there’s a chance all he or she has been doing for eight years is setting up things for now, and if that’s the case we can’t afford to wait any longer. There’s no telling what the next move will be if they’re given time to regroup.”
Fancy Pants sat quietly. He stared at the six a bit longer before taking another puff from his cigarette and looking at either side of him. Those in his entourage him gave him a mixture of looks. Some were hesitant, but some of the higher ups looked hesitant or untrusting.
Finally he exhaled and looked at the six again. “What can we do?”
“Give us back the key, and then get us to Falcon Point without running into any legal trouble.”
“Even for an ally, that’s a tall order. Mount Aris tends to be extremely xenophobic. More so now that we’d have to disclose we’re moving in six individuals with symbols on their hands. What’s so important about going to Falcon Point?”
“It’s how we’ll get into Equestria, and it’s the only way we can be sure we’ll reach our destination reasonably safely. That’s all I can say.”
Again, the chancellor was silent as he took another drag and looked at the three. He finally leaned over and tapped some of the ashes out, and then back to the members of his entourage. He gestured to them and to the door. Without a word, he stood up and they followed, and the entire group exited. The door swung shut behind them, and the six were again in silence aside from some indecipherable murmuring outside. That lasted several minutes, until Pinkie drowned it out by beginning to rock in her chair with a bored expression.
The door finally opened again, and the chancellor and those with him reentered and took their places. His cigarette was gone by now and he sat down in the chair and folded his hands in front of him.
“The Manehattan government will return to you your property and convey you to Falcon Point within Mount Aris, one way or another, but on one condition. Once…well, whatever it is you say you need to do is done and taken care of, you’ll return to Manehattan and pledge your support to our government.”
All six individuals were surprised. “Say what now?”
“Ex…excuse me?”
“Everyone who isn’t a Manehattan citizen will be granted legal residency, of course,” the chancellor went on. “We’ll also be happy to provide you all with spacious and comfortable accommodations in the capitol in return for your cooperation. And, of course, you won’t have to worry about being molested by any of the authorities, civil or national…”
“Yeah…” Dash sneered, “and in return for all that, we only have to take care of everyone in your country who goes psycho one by one and let you turn us into a bunch of lab rats so you can see what makes us tick.”
“Not to mention if that fire witch rears her head again, I’m guessin’ we’re the dogs yer gonna sic on her,” Applejack frowned.
“I didn’t say that,” the chancellor quickly answered, “but, at the moment, you’re not only our best experts on this strange phenomenon, but you’re our best line of defense. You’re the only individuals we’ve run into so far who seem to be able to control this power.”
Fluttershy was drawing in on herself again. “I-I-I really…really…really don’t want to have to run into Sunset Shimmer again…”
“Really now, chancellor!” Rarity huffed. “This is practically extortion! I have a business of my own to run and all of my companions here have their own lives to get back to! You sound like you’re practically impressing us into your service!”
The chancellor did not budge. “Nevertheless, my terms stand firm. I am sorry for this, but I have an entire nation’s livelihood to look after and not just yours. I can’t afford to let the only clue any of us have as to this mess slip by.”
None of them looked terribly comfortable with that, although some merely looked worried while others looked angry. Twilight looked around at the other five, gauging their own reactions, before turning back to the chancellor.
“We’d like a moment alone.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could she held up her bound hands to stop him.
“If you’re expecting us to have the good faith to come back to Manehattan after this is over, then you should trust us in a room of your choosing alone for a couple minutes.”
Fancy Pants hesitated, but he seemed to understand the logic in that. After a time, he nodded back, before turning to the others in the room. “Everyone, we’ll give them five minutes.”
Several of the soldiers looked surprised, including the ones who were higher officers. However, the chancellor and several others, including Kibitz, immediately rose when the word was given and began to file out the door. As a result, the rest of the soldiers glanced at the six uncomfortably before turning and following suit. It took quite a bit of time for them all to file out, but in the end they all were gone and the door shut again.
Twilight sighed and turned to the others once they were out. “Well, I wish I could say I wasn’t afraid of all of that happening…”
“As soon as he gets back in here, I don’t care about what the rest of you pick, but I’m blowing him off,” Dash snorted. “I didn’t retire from the military to get drafted into another one!”
“I…I really just want to go back home…with Angel and the others…” Fluttershy meekly answered. “Helping against Nightmare Moon is one thing, but…but I’m really not suited for doing this all the time…”
“I gotta get back to my family in Appleloosa, Twilight!” Applejack protested. “I can’t be tied down here!”
“Maybe if they let me bring Ma, Pa, Limestone, Marble, and Maud to Manehattan I’d want to. Or they’d at least let me be the official party planner,” Pinkie shrugged.
Twilight sighed. “I really don’t want to be tied down in one place either, but I’m not sure what else we can do. We need that key and we need to get on that train.”
“Can’t we find any other way to get there, darling?” Rarity asked. “Now that I have some means available to me again…”
The mage cut her off with a head shake. “That’d be no good. We’re assuming they don’t just throw us in prison if we say no. Even if they don’t, they know who we are.”
“Then let’s bust outta here,” Dash retorted. “Not like they can stop us.”
“But…I can’t leave my animals…” Fluttershy spoke up meekly.
“And technically I’m already a fugitive from one country. I don’t really want to be one for another one…” Pinkie muttered.
Twilight sighed. “It doesn’t matter. They IDed us, so that means the only places we can run are to countries that they can put on the lookout for us or ones that are hostile to us that Sunset can go through at will. And you can bet no matter what we pick they’ll be keeping their eyes on us as best as they can. One way or another, they have us pegged down.”
“You ain’t actually sayin’ we should go to work for ‘em, are ya’?” Applejack asked.
“At the moment, we could do a lot worse, but no. I am saying, however, that we’re in a tight spot and if we want to get away from them then…well…Equestria is the best way to do it. So whatever gets us into Equestria…” She trailed off here, shrugging a bit.
A moment of silence passed. Applejack frowned and crossed her arms, looking to one side. “I don’t like that one bit. I never give my word ‘less I’m honest about it.”
Dash snickered. “A moment ago you said you didn’t want to be stuck working for them, but now you wanna hold yourself to it?”
“I don’t care for lyin’, that’s all! Ain’t nothin’ good ever come from it! ‘Sides, I care ‘bout bein’ a woman of her word!”
“Aw, don’t worry, Applejack!” Pinkie chimed in, leaning over to pat her shoulder…a bit difficult with her hands in manacles. “I felt the same way when I left home and I asked Maud about it. And you know what she would say if she were here?”
At once, she reached up with her manacled hands and quickly rearranged her poofy hair. Surprisingly enough, she somehow managed to flatten it in seconds as she glared forward with a dead-eyed stare. She spoke in a dull monotone soon afterward.
“Pinkie, the chancellor isn’t saying for you to come back to Manehattan right away. And you’re only agreeing to come back and help for now. You can always say no later if he wants you to do something dishonest or immoral.”
She shook her head afterward, making her hair poofy again.
“See?”
Applejack merely groaned.
Rarity sighed. “Well, we will likely be forced to make a deal with someone if we want to get into Equestria. And like Twilight said, we could do much worse. I doubt we’d get nearly so great of a deal with other countries. And this would allow us to at least know what the army is doing or planning, and they have better intelligence to keep tabs on Trottingham and others.”
“But…what about all that other stuff he talked about?” Fluttershy nervously suggested. “About…what comes afterward…?”
“I suppose we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there… Twilight’s right. Being rid of that fiend or whatever is what comes first.” She sighed. “I’m on board.”
“Arlight, whatever…” Dash muttered in resignation.
“Me three!” Pinkie cheered.
Applejack rolled her eyes and slumped in her chair. “Fine…”
Fluttershy cringed a bit more in her seat before reluctantly letting out a half-whispered: “Ok…”
Twilight sighed and leaned back in her own seat. They waited a minute longer before the doors opened again, and all of the soldiers filed back in before the chancellor and his own group sat at the table once more. Once they were all finally situated, the mage drew herself up.
“Alright…we agree, but we need to get moving as soon as possible.”
Fancy Pants nodded. “I’ll start sending off emergency telegrams to the counsels in Fillydelphia and Mount Aris right away. In the meantime, I’ll have the six of you returned to Carousel Couture right away along with what we confiscated. As soon as we have a secure route prepared, I’ll send for you and speed you on your way.”
It took Twilight a moment, but she finally managed a nod and a thank you.
The six were returned to Carousel Couture within the next two hours, along with their key, and finally removed from the shackles. Nevertheless, they weren’t too much at ease as they soon found they were being “supervised”. The chancellor left the man in the bowler hat and three of his associates behind. As “liasons”, he insisted. To let them know when it would be safe to move and to act as an official go-between. As nothing more was going to happen that day, they went to bed.
The next two days were busy all over again. Not only did they finish preparing, but they needed to get to work on a strategy for what they were going to do when they got there. It took some work employing Ms. Saddles and Ms. Pommel to distract the Manehattan agents, but they managed to get back into the closed-off dining room.
“Alright, now comes the rough part,” Twilight exhaled. “We have to plan how we can defeat Nightmare Moon when we reach her. That means getting her to the point where I can cast the Binding Seal on her.”
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, darling, but I’m not exactly sure how the six of us will be able to pull that off,” Rarity spoke up uneasily. “My own magic spells are minor at best. And after seeing what Starlight showed off in her photograph? I really don’t think I can get close enough for my rapier to be of any use…”
“And don’t forget how much trouble it was to wrangle that photographer at Fort Chestnut…” Applejack groaned. “Stoppin’ this one could be a lot worse. You figure she’s got as many of these rune symbol things as Sunset or more?”
“That’s just it, we don’t know. There’s going to be a lot of unknowns going into this,” Twilight sighed. “But, unfortunately, we have to go with them. That key is only going to be good for one use, so once we head in there anything we do for practice or recon will have to happen while we’re in Equestria.”
“So we’re going into the middle of the eternal night…and we don’t really know what to expect…?” Fluttershy nervously suggested.
“For the most part…yes. Not entirely though. I’m assuming that whatever Nightmare Moon is doing to create the Light Eaters is something similar to the Doppling Spell that Celestia once explained to me. It allows her to break off a portion of her own spirit to form a ‘shadow’ of herself. However, these spirits have limitations. Assuming she’s broken off a piece of herself for every Light Eater, then that would explain why there’s a limited number of them and why they’re only able to go out in these small surges. There’s a limit on how many she can make over a period of time. Plus, while normally a mage would be able to see what their shadow is doing, if there’s hundreds or thousands of Light Eaters then her focus is spread out far too thin. She’d never be able to trace them all. I’m hoping all of this means she’s not only not at her best but she has no way of seeing us coming or even how many of us there are.”
“Well, that certainly would help at least on the approach,” Rarity answered. “What about what happens when we get there?”
Twilight pushed out Starlight’s photograph showing the Lunar Fall at the Castle of the Two Sisters. She tapped her finger on the bottom. “You can see from this explosion that the top of the castle got taken off, but the lower floors are still standing. So long as we confront Nightmare Moon inside it, we have a chance. A castle has a lot of rooms to move through and a lot of columns and bits of rubble to hide around. No matter how strong a mage is or what spells they know, they still depend on their senses.”
“But…does anyone happen to know a super-duper attack we can hit her with to make her stay still long enough for Twilight to use her Binding Seal?” Pinkie suggested.
Twilight sighed. “Unfortunately, none of us probably have anything strong enough to deal with someone of that level of power. Definitely not to overpower her. Alone, none of us have a chance. If we all rely on our aptitudes, however, and use them along with each other, we might be able to do it.”
“Alright then,” Dash spoke up, “then how do we do that?”
“I’ve got some ideas, so we need to start practicing them…”
Three days into their "stayover" had not made Coco Pommel any more accustomed to the presence of the Manehattan agents. In fact, it still wracked on her nerves day after day to walk through the residential portion of the factory and see them standing near windows, seated in chairs, or pacing about and looking at the bookcases and the paintings. She still jumped in alarm on spotting them every once in a while as well.
It went without saying when she rushed in that evening looking for Ms. Rarity to offer feedback on a few final items before she was called away she nearly jumped on seeing the man in a bowler hat seated in the foyer.
After taking a moment to compose herself, she exhaled. "I'm still getting used to that... I don't suppose I can get you anything, can I? Tea? Coffee?"
"No thank you," he simply answered in a bland monotone.
She turned to walk on, only to pause and look back. "You know, I haven't seen you actually step out to eat since you got here. Everyone else with you changed over..."
"When I'm on duty, I can wait. I prefer to be on top of anything that happens."
She continued to look uneasy but was about to let it go when there was a rap at the door. She looked up, but so did the man in the bowler hat. She didn't notice as she walked over to the entryway and opened it up.
On looking outside, she found a trio of rather rough-looking men staring back at her. Two of them had stubble and one of them had a scar, and all three glared at her in an unfriendly manner.
She found herself swallowing. "May...I help you?"
"We're here to talk to Ms. Rarity."
Ms. Pommel glanced between the men for a moment. “Ms. Rarity is…occupied at the moment. I’d be happy to take a message for her.”
“It’s urgent,” the lead one answered in a flat tone. “And we know she’s home. We need to talk to her.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. She’s indisposed. Perhaps you can come back-”
“No, we’re not coming back.” His voice was growing cross. “We’re here to speak with Ms. Rarity. We have some business to discuss and we’ve waited too long already. Either you can show us in and go get her now, or we can invite ourselves in.”
Now she looked very uneasy. “I’m…I’m terribly sorry…” she muttered, as she began to push the door closed again. “Please try again lat-”
The door suddenly caught; the result of the one in the lead putting his foot in the frame. The others began to move forward. Ms. Pommel quivered, looking unsure if she should recoil or if she should keep pressing against the doorway…not knowing which would arouse more ire. “Maybe you didn’t hear me the first time, so listen good because this is the last time. We want in. And we want to see Ms. Rarity. Now.”
He began to lean against the door. The much smaller woman couldn’t possibly hold him back. The door began to slowly open wider…
Yet before it could grow too wide, the opening was framed not only by Ms. Pommel but the man in the bowler hat standing behind her. His hand immediately went out and seized the door and, combined with the young woman, held it firm.
“She said Ms. Rarity is indisposed. Good day.”
The men looked up at him in some surprise. The one in the lead narrowed his eyes. “And just who the hell are you?”
Still holding the door with one hand, he reached into his coat and came out with a badge, which he showed to them briefly. “I’m with the Manehattan authorities. May I ask who you are?”
The mention of the authorities made the men hesitate. Enough for the lead man to take his hand off the door though his foot remained in the crack. “Just associates of Ms. Rarity, come to discuss some business.”
“Business hours are over, and I am expecting someone. You can vacate the premises immediately. And the next time I see you try to force your way in here, I will place you under arrest. If that’s not enough to dissuade you, perhaps the .40 revolver I have in my coat pocket will. Good day.”
Without another word, his foot went out, placed itself on the boot of the man, shoved it out in one quick gesture, and the door was slammed in his face. As the man in the bowler had turned around to return to his seat, Ms. Pommel looked like a weight had been lifted off of her chest. She stared at him in some surprise, amazed at how he had handled that, but then turned back to the door and looked out the peephole. The men stewed on the front step a short while, but they seemed to take the threat seriously. After glowering for a time they finally turned and began to head back down the street.
She looked back at the man after that. “Um…th-thank you.”
“No thanks is necessary. I told them the truth.” He sat back down in his seat. “I need to expect word from HQ at any time, and I don’t care for loiterers. Although I don’t suppose you or Ms. Rarity would know anything about what sort of ‘business’ those men would have that they felt the need to break into the premises, would you?”
She shook her head. “I have no idea. I know that there was that story about what happened to Cotton over in Appleloosa, and how they’re suspecting Suri Polomare…”
“Yes, about that,” he remarked as he fished into his suitcoat, pulling out a pocketwatch and examining it idly. “It seems there was a bit of trouble for Ms. Rarity’s business not too long ago. A lot hinged on that deal being made.”
“Well, yes. It meant the future of the entire company and everyone’s job. Including mine.”
“Apparently she’s the only heir to the company? What about her younger sister?”
She looked surprised. “How did you…?”
“We did our research before coming here. Records indicate that although both of her parents are deceased, Ms. Rarity is not an only child.”
“Her younger sister vanished a few years ago on the way to school. She was reported, but the police never found any leads. It’s been a cold case for some time.”
“So the company is solely hers, then.”
“Well…yes, obviously.”
“I see. I also happened to notice that she contracted the services of a Ms. Rainbow Dash. A rather well-known, for one reason or another, Huntsman Guild member. She actually was the only member of the Cloudsdale military to receive a full pardon from Fillydelphia, although since then she hasn’t had the best of reputations among her clients and peers. Not exactly the most savory of types to contract with. Or of the least ill-repute.”
Ms. Pommel began to look at the man oddly. “I’m sorry…am I missing something?”
“I don’t know. Are you? I’m merely sitting here making observations.”
She stared back at him; a bit more uneasy now than she had been with the men at the door. As he kept looking over his watch, she finally turned and began to head out again.
She was nearly to the side entrance to the foyer when another knock rang out. This one was even stiffer and harder than the last. She turned, but before she could make a move the man in the bowler hat was already on his feet. She scarcely had time to begin to say a syllable before he had crossed to the door, placed his hand on it, and swung it open.
“Um…excuse-” she began to say.
The door was already open, and the man was looking outside at whoever was there. “Is the word given?” he asked quietly.
“Midnight tonight,” a voice on the other end answered. Ms. Pommel was just able to see whoever was at the door pass an envelope over to the man in the bowler hat.
He accepted it, tipped his hat, and closed the door again as she walked up to him. Before she could ask anything, he turned and extended the envelope toward her, making her halt.
“If you don’t mind, could you pass this along to the six of them?”
She hesitated, looking between him and the envelope momentarily, before she reached out and took it. The man in the bowler hat went to sit down again soon after. As for her, she looked at the envelope only to see it was sealed and unmarked, before she finally exhaled and turned to walk out again.
After crossing through Rarity’s residential portion and making her way to the factory proper, she headed for the same side rooms that the six of them were using for practice. It didn’t take long now that most of the workers had gone home for the day and she could cross the floor without impediment. After a couple minutes she reached the door, did a cursory glance around to make sure no one was staring and found only a token agent against the back wall idly looking at her, and then gave a knock.
It took a moment before there was a response and when it came it sounded tired and winded. “Who is it?”
“It’s Coco, Ms. Rarity. We just got a letter from someone for you and your friends. I think it’s with the government.”
There was a bit longer before the door finally opened up. It revealed Rarity along with Twilight and Rainbow Dash, all three of them looking rather tired and sweaty, while the sounds of the other three breathing hard were in the background. A wisp of smoke blew out from within the room, and a smell of ozone hung in the air.
Twilight reached out and took the envelope before Ms. Pommel could protest. “Thank you.” At once, she tore it open, pulled out the contents, and unfurled them in front of her. Rarity and Dash alike both came in over her shoulder as Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy walked up behind them.
“Ooo! Ooo! What’s it say?” Pinkie asked. “Is it a candygram?”
Fluttershy looked puzzled. “What’s a candygram?”
“It’s like a telegram, only someone sends you candy!”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone who does that…”
“Eh, I can dream, can’t I?”
Twilight was less perky. Lowering the note, she turned to the girls. “It’s time. They have a plan laid out for us. We leave at midnight.”
The group was still, letting a second pass for the full impact to settle on them. After that, they began to shake themselves out of it, drawing up and emboldening themselves.
“Alright then,” Applejack exhaled. “Let’s get ready.”
“And clean ourselves up,” Rarity threw in. “Goodness knows when we’ll see a hot bath again…”
The sun was down, the officials and delegates of the capitol had turned in for the day, and as the gaslights on the streets of Manehattan began to turn on the lights within the Chancellor’s Residence, the official seat of Manehattan’s executive branch as well as the dwelling place of its elected chief executive, were dimming one by one.
Nevertheless, the chancellor lingered in his office a bit longer that night. His chair was turned toward the window and he looked over the city as he let the cigarette in one of his hands slowly burn down to nothing. He seemed to have forgotten it as the clock in the corner slowly ticked along.
“Mr. Chancellor.”
He looked up and swiveled his chair back. He hadn’t even noticed his door open, but he found his primary aide, already in her suitcoat and hat, standing there and facing him.
“It’s past 9 o’clock. Will you be needing me any longer?”
“Oh?” He glanced to the grandfather clock. On seeing the hour, he quickly straightened and leaned over to the desk’s ashtray; stamping out the cigarette. “Oh my… I’m dreadfully sorry. I had no idea how late it was getting. I need to turn in myself. By all means, head home Inkwell.”
She nodded as the chancellor straightened himself up and began to organize what was left on his desk, but she did not move. “Sir, may I ask why?”
“Why what, Inkwell?”
“Why did you let them go?”
He hesitated, then looked up. “First of all, I expect that you remember that the matter doesn’t leave this office, correct?”
“Yes, Mr. Chancellor. But why let them go? They’re the only ones who know anything about what’s going on.”
“And it’s for that reason that we need to gain their trust. Based on what the major general told me, they’re clearly hiding something, and I want this to be a good-faith gesture.”
“Once they’re out of this country, they could run off and never return.”
“At the bare minimum, one of their businesses is in this country and she traveled halfway across Greater Everfree in the middle of a surge to save it. She won’t abandon it now. And there is no country on the continent that will give them a fairer shake. And even if they don’t come back, if they succeed in what they’re saying then that’s good news for everyone.”
“Do you honestly believe they can somehow end the night?”
“No, but I’m hardly in a position to decide that. They’re the ones who destroyed the colossal Light Eater in Griffonstone. Our entire army has yet to kill one the size of a cat.”
“You just seem to be going out of your way a bit too much to accommodate them, sir.”
The chancellor paused before smiling. “Well, that’s the great thing about living in a republic, Inkwell. You can feel free to criticize the decisions of any elected official, even if you’re working in their employ.”
She blanched at that. “My apologies. I know I don’t know the whole story.” She nodded. “Good night, sir.” At that, she turned and walked back out of the office.
He smiled back, but remained seated in his chair for some time after. When he finally did get up, it was a bit slower and more mechanically than usual. He made his way out of the office, nodding to his secret servicemen, then walked alone down the halls toward the residential portion of the building. When he finally arrived, two more secret servicemen were there and waiting for him.
“Good evening, sir.”
“Good evening. Did Fleur get the message about dinner?”
“Yes sir.”
A pause. “Was she…upset at all?”
The serviceman looked uneasy and reluctant to answer before finally admitting the truth. “Just a little.”
Fancy’s own look turned grim, but he nodded. “I’ll make it up to her the next three days.”
“I’m sure you will, sir. I hope she feels better soon.”
“Thank you.”
Giving him a faint smile, he went to the door and opened it up. As soon as he passed into the master bedroom, he shut it again behind him and locked the door.
The curtains were pulled and only a single oil lamp at the bedside was burning; leaving much of the spacious bedroom and the four-poster that dominated the center shrouded in darkness and silence. Nevertheless, he could make out the form of a body lying down on the mattress much as it had been that morning. And just like that morning, when he crossed around he noticed that the lovely woman lying there in her nightgown had her eyes wide open and hadn’t touched her latest meal.
She did look at him as he entered, and she managed a rigid, if not weak and trembling, smile. He smiled back as he crossed over to her.
“Did you send those people off?” she asked.
He nodded.
She kept smiling, but it grew a bit weaker as she grew more uncomfortable. “They’ll…they’ll be back soon, right? Like…in just a day or two?”
His smile faded a little. “I don’t know how long this will take.”
“Oh…” Her voice tensed up a bit more. “But…but they will be back, right? And they’ll agree to your deal when they come back too, won’t they? I mean…I mean they have to.” She began to lean up, getting more tense with each word. Even fearful. “You’ve been so generous to them. Anyone would say yes to that. It’s not like any of the other countries are going to be that good to them. It’s not like-”
He reached the bedside and sat down, putting his hands on top of hers after only hesitating a fraction of a second. “It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine. Just relax.”
She only tensed more at that. “Re…relax? Relax? I’m not acting worse than usual, am I? I’m not acting any wilder? I’m-”
“No, no…it’s ok. You’re just scared.”
She swallowed, but feeling his touch gradually calmed her down. She slowly began to ease. “I’m…I’m sorry. I just…just I don’t know what to think every time I tense up. I don’t want to leave the room…”
“I’ve taken care of it. Everyone just thinks you’re sick.”
“I…I keep wondering what people will say if they know…about me…about you…”
“It’s alright, it’s alright…we’ll deal with it.”
She swallowed. “They have to come back, Fancy. They have to come back.”
“They will. It’ll be alright. And you have nothing to worry about. We’ll get through this. The country will get through this.”
She looked up at him again, and he forced an encouraging smile for her sake. He squeezed her hands, and she squeezed them back soon after. The touch was welcome, and so they held for a very long time.
When they finally parted, the chancellor pulled his palm off of her own to reveal the etching of a Promethian Sigil.