//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Detective Work // Story: Equestria’s Changeling Princesses and the Kinsbane // by vren55 //------------------------------// Facere and his escort trotted up to what had been Thera’s chambers, frowning at the most curious sight. “Mirage, what are you doing?” The queen glanced at her grandfather. “Hello Facere. We are trying to see if there is anything we have missed.” Since Thera was now in a heavily guarded room in the infirmary, Mirage and Kyria had taken the time to essentially monopolize the room. Notes and little chess pieces adorned various locations in the room. “So I suppose these pieces represent changelings?” he asked. “So far as we can remember and from what we have gathered. Did you manage to find the missing guards?” The chevalier winced. “Yes, we found their bodies.” Kyria shuddered. “How did they die?” Facere trotted over to Thera’s bed, his eyes narrowing at the notes on them. “That’s the intriguing part. Changeling chitin is not easy to penetrate, but this infiltrator was skillful and strong enough to plunge some kind of sharp weapon into their heads. Death was instant, quiet and their bodies were hidden in one of our disposal caverns, which masked their smell.” “Given that level of skill, I would think the infiltrator was at least a chevalier,” said Mirage. She frowned. This was useful information, but it didn’t tell them why the rogue queen’s forces were targeting the children. She had considered if the attack was all just a distraction to get Chamelia out of the hive, but then why have an infiltrator attack the children again? “Is there anything we can glean about this infiltrator’s character?” Kyria asked.  She glanced at her sister. “Character? Can you elaborate, Kyria?” “I mean, so that we can try to predict her next move.” Mirage nearly said that ‘it wasn’t so easy’ because frankly it was never that easy, and frankly it was dangerous to make combat deductions based on such little evidence. Yet, something about her sister’s suggestion made her initial reply hitch in her throat, giving her a moment to think about it. “Perhaps we should start with not say motive, but say modus operandi. Uh, way of operating.” The elder princess looked over the room again. “From what we found out from Thera, the infiltrator poured the poison into her mouth while she was asleep. Thera saw the infiltrator leave by opening a portal.”  “Nothing much we can deduce from that,” said Facere. He put his hoof to his chin. “Although… I was wondering why try to poison Thera?” “Because the infiltrator wanted her dead?” Mirage asked. Kyria blinked. “Hold on, Facere’s right, Mirage. If the infiltrator wanted a distraction, he or she could have easily just stirred up a ruckus somewhere else. I mean, maybe she wanted to take out a powerful enemy—” Kyria shook her head “—No, attempting to kill a queen is extremely risky. She must have—she might have had another goal other than to kill Chamelia’s children.” The young princess regarded her grandddfathe with narrowed eyes.  Facere, which queens have a grudge against Chamelia, and Thera for that matter?” she asked. The chevalier looked up, brow furrowed in thought. “There are a number that are jealous of my wife’s influence and power. The problem is that there is not a queen we can think of that would go to the lengths this one has. I am not sure how much you know about your grandmother, but alone, her hive can destroy most hives, and with her many allies, she is considered unstoppable. It is why we consider this queen a ‘rogue queen.’ We could look into this further, but the political situation does not make sense for any queen we know of to confront Chamelia in such a direct manner.” Mirage groaned. “But that is contrary to the evidence that suggests this queen clearly has a grudge against Chamelia, which would suggest that our grandmother and perhaps Thera has had interactions with her.” Kyria suddenly straightened. “What hostile queens that our grandmother thought she had dealt with?” Facere shook his head, giving his granddaughter an apologetic look. “We deal with hostile queens very permanently.” “I am aware, but are there any whose bodies are unaccounted for? Or who have been simply sealed away?” Kyria asked. “Bodies that are—” Facere frowned. “Let me ask your grandmother about that.” He gave his granddaughters an appraising look. “Good thinking both of you. Though, I am quite surprised by your insight Kyria. I thought you haven’t done any combat or advanced infiltrator training.” Fondly recalling her days at Twilight’s School for Friendship, Kyria grinned sheepishly. “Well, let’s say I went to a school where diplomacy and solving thousand-year-old mysteries were essentially classroom activities.” Canterlot Castle, Equestria, Present Time… A pony paced nervously in front of the gatehouse to Canterlot castle, where the city ended and the residence of the Equestrian Royalty began. He was an earth pony with a blonde mane, which was slicked back, whether with gel or a nervous application of saliva and hoof, one couldn’t quite tell.  “Klause, right?” The earth pony jumped a few inches off the ground, but managed to land and spin around to meet his questioner’s grey eyes.  “Uh, yes! Sorry.” He blinked. There was a coal-colored changeling standing in front of him, which wasn’t an uncommon sight. It was the sky-blue military jacket with silver tassels that took him aback. Klause’s mind ran through the possibilities and realized it was an Equestrian Airship Service dress uniform. The changeling continued to smile. “I’m Furtiva. I’m Mirage’s fillyfriend.” Klause managed a smile and shook Furtiva’s hoof. “Are you here to see Harlequin as well?” Furtiva nodded, slowly, her eyes narrowed and not focused on Klause. “Something must have happened to Kyria and Mirage.” “Have you heard from either of them?” Klause asked. The changeling breathed out. “No.” “The Prince Consort is ready for you,” said a Royal Guard.  Furtiva gestured to Klause to follow her and they trotted after the guard to the security checkpoint. After they were checked, they trotted into the castle grounds. In light of the ancient monsters and enemies that seemed to constantly plague Equestria of late, Canterlot’s defenses had been upgraded. Anti-airship guns dotted the towers. Klause could see at least one patrolling airship circling overhead, and scores of guards in formation along the battlements. Unlike Klause, Furtiva was also aware of the unseen defenses, which included reinforced walls, underground bunkers, and several batteries of howitzers ready to bombard approaching landborne threats. The two guards escorting them left them at a door of silver and green, with a relief that depicted all the species of Equestria: ponies, changelings, minotaurs, zebras, horses, diamond dogs and dragons, playing in a peaceful field. “So… do we knock or something?” Klause asked. Furtiva nodded and rapped the cool metal with a hoof.  There was some scuffling before Harlequin pushed the door open. The changeling seemed to sag in his normal dress uniform, which looked wrinkled. “Furtiva, Klause, please come in.” “Your Highness? What happened?” Klause asked as he trotted in.  Harlequin shut the door behind him with his magic, but didn’t immediately turn to face them. He heaved a sigh, before slowly trotting around. “Did you know that Mirage and Kyria were working on a spell to see the past? An advanced scrying spell of sorts?” he asked. “Yes. She mentioned it many times,” said Furtiva. “Yes, but I’m not too filled in on the details—” Klause’s eyes widened. “Oh Celestia. What happened? It malfunctioned didn’t it? Are they alright? What—” “The spell did malfunction and from what we think we know, they’re over a thousand years in the past. We are consulting our experts and Alternia’s heading to the Western Sea to talk to Empress Tethys, but they’re out of reach at the moment.” Klause sat down on his flank, jaw dropped open, shaking his head. Furtiva… she screwed her eyes shut for a moment and breathed out. “Is there anything we can do?” she asked. “We need to ascertain how suited they are to dealing with the past to prepare for their return. We have their doctor’s records, well, as much as doctor-patient confidentiality allows us to access, but we need to know if they’ve developed anything recent.” Klause frowned. “Ah, from what I know, I think Kyria’s fine.” Just as he finished, Furtiva swallowed, gritting her teeth. “Can I tell you in private?” The earth pony blinked but quickly trotted to the door and exited it. When they were alone, Harlequin gave Furtiva a worried look. “Is it that bad?” “It is a potential problem.” Furtiva braced herself. “Sir, Mirage’s been seeing a counselor and has been ordered to stand down from frontline duty indefinitely.  I can’t tell you without breaching Mirage’s trust, but she’s… she’s becoming increasingly stressed and—” Furtiva shrugged helplessly “—It’s become rather serious, sir.” Harlequin groaned, transforming from a changeling that looked like in need of sleep to one that looked like the hope had been beaten out of him. “Oh no. Did Mirage—oh my poor filly...” “Sir, I know her mind is not in the best place right now, but she’s got a good head on her shoulders. She should be fine if she doesn’t get into too dangerous a situation,” said Furtiva, desperately, trying to alleviate the prince-consort’s misery. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to make the prince-consort feel better, and Furtiva sensed he only felt more miserable, and guilty. “Sir, it isn’t—” “Alright, it isn’t, but Alternia and I were worried about Mirage, and you, and Princess Bluebell burning out. Still—” Harlequin gritted his teeth and met Furtiva’s concerned gaze with one of honest shame. “I hate to say this, but your flotilla, the 110th, was the most useful formation we’ve had in the field this past year.” Furtiva blinked. “Sir? I don’t quite understand. I mean, yes, we could do a lot, and so we did a lot, but how does that make it your fault?” “I’m wondering if she and I could have demanded that the Airship Command reduce the numbers of missions you were given.” Harlequin grimaced. “You know the 110th was initially an ad-hoc formation of three of our newest cruisers that included you—a decorated officer—and two princesses, Mirage and Bluebell. What you might not have been entirely aware is that it was only supposed to be formed for public appearance purposes. Yet, once you three started to do good work across Equestria, and Griffonia, defending against pirates, fighting bandits, ferrying supplies into dangerous areas, mediating disputes, and showing how committed Equestria and its Royal Family were in supporting and protecting our allies, Airship Command found out they couldn’t stop deploying you to hotspots. You were all so good at your jobs. Alternia and I considered interfering, but it would have been seen as a conflict of interest.” Furtiva nodded, feeling a strange mix of pride and apprehension. “What changed, sir?” “The hunt for the Shear. That was too close. We nearly lost Bluebell and Mirage and Airship Command realized that the entire three crews of the ships were burning out. Alternia and I were about to slam down some doors and demand a long rest for you all, but Airship Command was already so alarmed they had stood you down.” The prince-consort sighed. “If only we had done so earlier.” “I think… that we would have insisted until our hunt for the Shear to be kept on the front lines, sir. It wasn’t just the fleet who wanted us to keep fighting for Equestria, sir,” Furtiva admitted.  Harlequin managed a sheepish smile. “Thank you for listening, Furtiva.” “Of course sir—”   At that moment the door slammed open and Klause burst in. “Sorry to interrupt, but you—” The earth pony squeaked as a purple-mained changeling queen with ragged wings brushed Klause aside. She stormed into the room, eyes searching wildly. “Alternia! Where the hell is she?” demanded Sarar. “Sarar? I mean Your Majesty. Alternia’s headed to the Western Sea to talk to the Empress. What are you doing here?” Harlequin asked, stiffening. “I heard about the spell and Mirage and Kyria. How far did they go back?” demanded the head of the Queens Council. Somewhat taken aback by the intensity in Sarar’s eyes, Harlequin did his best not to quiver. “A thousand years? They wanted to see Queen Chamelia and-” Sarar lifted Harlequin off the ground with her magic so she could look him in the eye. “When and where in a thousand years?”  “Your Majesty! Please let the prince-consort go!” hissed Furtiva. Sarar put Harlequin down and Furtiva could now sense and see that the queen wasn’t angry, but scared. “My apologies! But I think I might have met them!” “What? You remember! You mean it’s a closed time loop? Then what happened to them?” demanded Harlequin, suddenly putting his face towards Sarar’s.  “That’s the problem, I’m not entirely sure. It’s been too long and the memory… it is unclear, and if it was them, Chamelia, and they—they made sure I only knew them by name. Alternia and her sisters were so young they must have forgotten. We need to contact Kagura and try to collect everything we know.” “But what do you know?” demanded Furtiva. Sarar’s face darkened and Furtiva and Harlequin flinched at the sudden onslaught of old anger. “We were matching wits with a terrible, terrible foe.”