//------------------------------// // 77.5 A Bird in the Bush is Worth Two per Bit // Story: Prey and a Lamb // by Lambs Prey //------------------------------// Extract from the autobiography of Triton Fell - 'The Duty of a Noble' A pony is born no higher nor lower than to the station in life they deserve. From there, it is up to that pony to either improve, or fail on their own merits alone. Those chosen few of us who were preordained before birth to be nobles, I believe, were hoof picked by Harmony. In one form or another throughout my life, I have heard through many different sources the oft repeated belief; "All ponies are equal under Celestia." That is an untruth. One the common pony chooses to believe, that they may be equal to their betters. A comforting delusion, but a lie nonetheless. I can well understand why they might want to believe so, and I can sympathise, but I do not agree. It was my father who enlightened me to the undeniable truth when I was a young colt, nine years of age. I remember it well, and his lesson has stuck in my recollection clearly to this day. I had been called to his grand study by the maid; Gertrude was her name, a good earth pony servant for many a year of service. She bowed and left, and I cheerfully greeted my father, unawares that anything was wrong. "Son," He addressed me, "I have been told you have been playing with the servant's colts after your lessons." "Yes, that is right." I answered clearly as I had been taught. "That is beneath you. You will never do so again." I believe I was quite stumped at the time as to his reasoning why, so he further explained it to me: "You are better than them. You are a unicorn noble, it is your duty to live as such." I was flabbergasted, never had I truly considered myself better than them because of my station in life. Merely that I was the son of the pony employing their parents, but not because of who I was. "But, they're just colts like me. What's wrong with that?" My father made it utterly clear to me. "It is wrong because you are better than them. You are my son, and you are a Fell of House Fell. In every single way you are better than them. And because of this, you must live up to it." I still didn't yet understand it, so my father had to explain in detail: "You are a noble. Wealth, fame, and power are yours. They are your birthright. And you must live so as to be worthy of that birthright your whole life. You are taught by the best tutors in Equestria. Where a common earth pony foal may be satisfied with their achievements, you must never be. You have the advantage of all of them. You are better, and you must live better so that they may know it. Every task your hoof is set to, you must ensure succeeds, because anything less is unworthy of a noble. You are better, so you must live better." "Happy Loaf, he said his mother said that everypony is equal. But that isn't true?" "Happy Loaf, that is Gertrude's foal? Yes. The servants have told me what you talked about during your times of play. His mother will not be returning here for work tomorrow." "But, father, that's-" "Unfair. He might just be a play mate, one who has forgotten his station in life, but she should have taught him better. His mother will be moved to serve at one of our lesser estates. But this is the lesson I am teaching you. Triton Fell, the foals of servants are not your peers, and they never will be. Do not look for any there. You and Happy Loaf are both from different circles of life, ones that will never touch. You above, him beneath. It can be lonely, but that is the price of our birthright, son. We are nobles. We are better than every common pony. It is our duty to live the truth of this." I am thankful to my father that he impressed upon me the truth of that lesson at a young age, before I could be tricked into believing the lie. Throughout my life, I have only had reinforced to me how right he was. I have never settled for less, I have never let anypony convince me that I might settle for second best, and I have never let myself dull and inadvertently disgrace my birthright and House. This is the duty of a noble. -Extract End Prey sighed, slumped over on the ISND's desk between stacked files and scrolls. He idly rolled a pencil back and forth between his outstretched hooves in the lamp light. One night, Prey would eventually get around to improving on the gloomy light level to something not just that bit too low for anyone not blessed with night vision. Right now, Prey was trying to think. He was alone in the office, and had already completed enough paperwork tonight to reasonably qualify as a 'full shift of work' in case anyone decided to look in on him. You had to be smart about skiving off. Specifically, Prey was considering whether or not to go through with pretending to take the griffin ambassador's crazy contract to steal the Elements of Harmony, or whether to back out and sever all contact. Previously, he'd decided to have Lemon Pink continue to play the ruse of being the enigmatic thief, Average Accountant, just so as to uncover more information from Felyawn, but now... Prey was not blind to the dangers, both known and unknown, such a course of action risked. Prey thought he had the upper hoof, but he also knew underestimating an enemy got you killed. *clic-clic-clic-clic-clic* Went the pencil across the desk top as it rolled from left to right. 'To go, or not to go. That is the question.' Right to left, *clic-clic-clic-clic-clic* In theory there was nothing to lose by going so long as he was careful, went in disguise, met in a public area of his choosing, and had Lemon disguised as Average Accountant doing all the talking. That was probably/hopefully/maybe enough paranoia to keep him safe. *clic-clic-clic-clic-Clak* The pencil went off course and fell off the desk before Prey could catch it. Prey groaned, flailed his hooves for a few seconds at the world for doing this to him, then got down off the stool to pick it up. 'In theory, I should go. The risk to myself is low, and there is the potential to either discover a bit more about the trap Celestia has set with these supposed Elements of Harmony. Or even better, find some way to incriminate Felyawn and get him arrested, so that Crimson and the others can come back from Griffonstone.' Prey climbed back up onto the stool and resumed listlessly rolling the pencil back and forth. *clic-clic-clic-clic-clic* The thing was, Prey well remembered how badly he'd screwed up with the Sol thieves. He'd been beaten, scared, held hostage by filthy unicorn magic, and should've died. Going into that fight, Prey had been sure his null-zone trap would be more than enough to win. 'And look how that turned out.' Everything has a cost, losing highest of all. Prey remembered the pain and fear. He hated pain and fear. But this time shouldn't turn out like that. 'Perhaps I should take a step back, and get some perspective.' Prey thought to himself. Why didn't he want to attend the meeting? Because he was afraid something unforeseen would go horribly and out of proportionally wrong. Did he have a reason to suspect something would happen? No, just his healthy paranoia. What did he lose by changing his mind and cutting all contact with Felyawn? The chance to indirectly help Crimson and get him back home sooner. No, not home, never home, but back here to Canterlot at least. Garrow's remnant floated out of the depths of his inner mindscape and decided to have its' say; 'A hunter haz' hiz' pride, yez'? But a predator does not hunt the strongest, they hunt the weakest, yez'? Easy prey iz' best prey.' 'Oh shut up already. I don't need obscure useless advice from a dead griffin.' Prey thought in frustration, snatching Garrow's remnant in a grip of iron and shoving it back down to drown. And how was any of that supposed to help anyways? Because it didn't. It was obvious knowledge and reiterating it did nothing. Well, nothing apart from annoy Prey. 'You're dead Garrow. Stay that way.' Prey thought, scowling at nothing. Putting aside the frustrating griffin, (who Prey was very glad was dead, because despite his remnant now being stuck in Prey's head, that griffin had been a complete monster), Prey had a different griffin to decide if he wanted to meet or not. Prey knew griffins. He didn't know the individual Felyawn, but he still knew griffins as a whole well enough to make some generalisations and predictions about the ambassador. As a rough rule, griffins were rather a proud species. They generally disliked weakness, and most of them privately held a strong dislike of Equestria. They didn't necessarily include all people in their disdain, and indeed not even every pony, just those they hadn't met and didn't personally know. This dislike had a little to do with griffins being predators, and while that still was a minor influence, it mostly came from centuries of tradition and differences between cultures. That said, Griffonia was a cold place, some would even use the label harsh, especially the High Kingdom which was the furthest north. Living in such a land, that couldn't help but affect a people. Broken down to its simplest, in Equestria you could live. In Griffonia, could be a thin line between 'living' and simply 'surviving', a line the average griffin see-sawed back and forth across frequently. Money, land, shelter, family, power, food, all were things that a griffin needed to keep one eye on at all times. So for that reason, Prey didn't believe Felyawn was likely to be some pushover. Arrogant, probably, but to be an ambassador, certainly not weak willed. Whatever his plan was by trying to go after the Elements of Harmony, he was obviously committed and prepared to take risks if necessary. Perhaps Felyawn was even willing to bet his life, not just his position as the ambassador? If so, Felyawn was a dangerous person. Prey wouldn't know the full extent unless he met the griffin. With Lemon Pink as a proxy, of course. *clic-clic-clic-clic-Clak* The pencil fell off the desk again. Prey sighed, letting his head drop. 'Okay, I've decided. I'm going to the meeting.' ------ Except, as Prey was making his way back through the streets of early morning Canterlot as his interminable night shift ended, he got that feeling again. The feeling that he was being followed. Perhaps he'd imagined it yesterday, and it was possible that he was still imagining it today. But twice in a row was pushing the willing suspension of disbelief Prey was prepared to extend. He kept walking without changing his pace or path, not giving himself away. The feeling of possibly being followed was not pleasant. His stomach squirmed. 'Who could it be?' The most likely candidate was that idiot Strange Happenstance. Screech had warned him the private detective was skulking about Canterlot, trying to interrogate Night Guards. But it could be the mimics, although so far they had been very careful to keep their distance. Another possibility, although unlikely, was a survivor from the Brotherhoof of Sol, those fanatical sun worshiping thieves with delusions of grandeur. Or a fourth, unknown faction. The point was, Prey had enemies. Some of them worrying and suspicious, and others outright dangerous. Again, underestimating an opponent was a quick way to die. When your life might be on the line, you can't afford to give it anything but your all. The lion does not hold back when it hunts, and neither does its prey. Prey saw early morning ponies out on the white streets or up in the sky, some of the ground based ones walking dogs, but he couldn't see any which were watching him. Certainly no obvious stalker peering out from behind lamp posts or those manicured street trees lining the pavement. 'Zoma'Grika.' Was this going to be a regular thing every single day? Were whoever it was really going to have him watched or followed until they got whatever it was they wanted? Because Prey wasn't going to stand for that. He was Prey. He did not forget nor forgive. If some new player had stumbled into this game and thought themselves a genius or some chess master, they were not going to live to learn from their mistake. Prey played for keeps. There could only ever be one winner, and sometimes not even one. Survival was not guaranteed, so you had to fight all the harder for it. 'First, get away unseen. Then, get Lemon to be ready and waiting next time I leave work. She'll follow me and see who else is also following me. Failing that, I'll lure them into a trap. If they're looking to kidnap or attack me, then they'll do so when I'm alone. A perfect opportunity to bait them into my own ambush. However if they're just here to keep an eye on me from a distance, then it'll be a lot harder to catch them.' Prey thought. 'But now, right now, I can't go straight back to my flat. Again. I need to take another detour and slip away. Can't let them think I have a predictable schedule.' He'd caught on to being watched earlier today, so he wasn't as close to his flat as yesterday, and had more optional destinations to choose from. Tomorrow, Prey decided, he wouldn't even leave through the Guard Compound but the front gate. Prey calmly walked down the street as if going towards the apartment block, and then for no rhyme or reason, took the next intersection right and began trotting into the outskirts of Upper Canterlot as if he hadn't a care in the world. Let his follower make something of that. ...Except after ten minutes, Prey could no longer tell if he was being followed. The 'watched' feeling was sort of gone, but a feeling was hardly an accurate measurement to start with. Maybe he was still being followed, or maybe he wasn't. It was even possible he was imagining it in the first place. 'Or maybe they're watching from a stationary position and I've left their field of view. Or any number of other explanations. Damn it, there's just no way to tell.' Prey fretted. Nevertheless, Prey continued on as if he was certain of still being watched, progressing further into the white marble and ornate houses of Upper Canterlot. The stores here were progressively more upmarket too, with posh bakeries and bespoke tailoring. Still though, everyone needs to eat. Even the rich tables were laid with food which came from grocery stores, it wasn't all just cheese and wine. At the first shop he found open at this time in the morning, (which had candy jars on display in the window), he ducked inside. It took less than a minute for Prey to remember why he despised Upper Canterlot in particular as the two store workers, probably having literally opened up less than ten minutes ago, were first gobsmacked at seeing a non-pony, and then treated him like an extra dumb child since he wasn't a pony foal, while still cooing over him being a pretty filly who; "used big grown up words". With the scarring under his eyes mostly covered up by overlapping fur, he didn't even have that deterrent to forestall their ridiculousness. At this stage, unless someone looked closely or he stared them in the face, they wouldn't notice the old poison burns unless they were observant. These two were ponies. Conclusion? They weren't observant. Prey still got a small paper brown bag of blackberry bites, a type of candy he hadn't tried yet, before he left the shop. ------ The secret meeting with Dandelion's not-so-secret employer Felyawn was set for a private restaurant venue, just two blocks away from the Griffonian embassy. Lemon Pink, in the blue furred, white maned guise of Average Accountant, was to secretly enter through the backdoor and to sneak into the reserved dining room where the ambassador would be waiting. It was probably a small test on the ambassador's part. If she couldn't even sneak past the restaurant staff, then she wasn't much good as a thief. Of course though, Prey was along for the ride when Lemon pushed open the door, and slipped inside the private dining room. The room wasn't overly large, but the table was on a raised half of the floor to give the diners a sense of subtle self-importance, and being on the first floor meant you could look down from the large windows onto the street below. It was the griffin lounging at the table who was the center of the room, however. He was a decently large member of his species, his head plumage a brilliant white, and his lion half a tawny gold. Not brown, gold. His talons holding the soup spoon were gleamingly sharp, and he wore a doublet bearing the stitched flag of Griffonia, but it was Felyawn's eyes that really banished any doubt that this griffin was anything less than important. They were not yellow, as almost all griffins were, but a cold, almost freezing blue, and they stared with an unblinking, piercing intensity. The twin icy orbs stayed fixed on Lemon as Felyawn brought up the soup spoon and sipped. But for all their piercing intensity, they couldn't spot Prey, hidden unseen beneath an illusionary veil and sticking close to Lemon's rear hooves. Lemon Pink did not have a lot of magical power. She had an affinity for mind and illusion magic, but not much else going for her. Illusions were vastly more focus and mana intense than silencing bubbles or light spells, so actively maintaining even one full scale illusion, (either the disguise on herself or the pseudo invisibility on Prey), was pretty much the limit of what Lemon could manage for any extended length of time. So she was only maintaining one illusion spell. The small pocket of space behind Lemon where Prey was being veiled was part of the first spell. And it was a good thing runes were so useful and versatile, too. The electrite choker Lemon now always wore was no small boost to her limited spell casting abilities. Runes might be the answer to everything, but only so long as you had enough time to set them up, enough space to inscribe them, and the right knowledge. So, not really the answer to everything, but one possible answer to everything. Not the simplest one either, but once you used runes, the answer you got was usually quite final and permanent. The illusion spell still wasn't ideal, and was a substantial tax on Lemon's strength. But a secret meeting wasn't the type destined to drag on, and so long as Prey stuck close behind her in the area of effect, stepped lightly and stayed quiet, he'd remain invisible throughout the coming proceedings. And griffins relied on scent even less than ponies, so that wasn't worry either. Felyawn dipped his soup spoon again, not breaking eye contact with Lemon's disguise for a moment. "Have the other seat, please. It is much easier to talk when both parties are seated." The golden griffin's voice was unaccented, without the thick Griffonian twang. No doubt he'd trained it out as an ambassador, not easy with a beak. Lemon Pink, or Average Accountant as her disguise was, strode confidently over to take the seat opposite Felyawn, not pausing or giving any sign of hesitation which might be interpreted as indecisiveness, as previously discussed. Nor did she break the griffin's freezing gaze as a lesser pony would've. It also meant that while maintaining the eye contact, there was no chance for Felyawn to possibly spot any disturbance Prey might've created as he slipped along behind Lemon and hid below the table top level. "You've got my interest," Lemon said, speaking through the Average Accountant façade, "Enough for me to come today anyway. If I lose interest, I'm gone. So convince me, what do you want stolen and why should I steal it for you?" Unhurriedly, Felyawn drank his spoonful of soup, not letting her control the pace of this conversation. He dipped his spoon again, "We will get to what I want in a moment. If this is to be a partnership though, I must first know what you want to get out of this as well." Standing right there pressed up to the table, Prey was close enough to hear the golden lion hybrid's thoughts, '--' Equestrian flowed so smoothly from Felywan's beak, that it was a minor surprise to hear that his thoughts ran in Griffonian just as smoothly counter to that. Not that the Griffonian posed a problem to Prey. He'd known the language even back before he'd absorbed Garrow's mind. Snake really had been a well read, vicious old bastard. Felyawn casually reached for the pepper shaker, and after briefly seasoning his soup, placed it back on the table on his left, but not the right hoof side from where he'd picked it up. A signal, and Felyawn's thoughts confirmed it to Prey. It seemed the griffin ambassador wasn't as careless as Dandelion had been. He'd come with backup. They were obviously watching the room right now. Well that made Prey's first plan to take the easiest route of simply stunning and memory trawling through the ambassador's mind a lot harder. Under the illusionary veil, Prey looked around the room again. He was confident they were alone in here, which left either someone posted outside looking in through the window, or someone in the adjoining room looking through a peephole. Prey's eyes flicked over the plank panelling of the wall, but there were too many cracks and joins which might disguise a tiny hole for him to pick any definite ones out. Honestly, Prey had expected the ambassador to bring backup in the first place anyway, so it didn't change much. While Felyawn was unquestionably a fool for his insane theft target, he'd stayed undetected until now so he was far from incompetent. Lemon was taking her time in answering, giving Prey time to think and listen in on Felyawn's opening thoughts. 'Seems the best choice here is just to play along, act reluctant, and let him reveal his hoof in the hopes of convincing Average Accountant to take the job.' Prey quickly judged. Lemon could, of course, see Prey just fine, him being inside the bounds of her illusion. So when he signalled with one of his pre-appointed signs on what to say, she saw it clearly. "What I want is first safety, then gold, in that order. Money is of no use if you aren't free to spend it. If I know I can pull off a job, then it is worth it. If I'm not certain of success, then it isn't worth it, plain and simple. That's what I want, and unless you can convince me you can provide both, I'm not taking this job which you still haven't told me about." She said, answering Felyawn's original question. "A good commitment to know your limits." Felyawn agreed, although his piercing ice blue eyes still had yet to stray from Lemon's face. Really, those eyes were the griffin's most prominent feature. He was a bird lion, with powerful wings, claws, and beak, but always you came back to his piercing blue eyes which seemed like they could rivet steel. Felyawn continued, slowly stirring his soup spoon in the bowl, "That said, you still have your pride. Why else leave a calling card behind? 'A.A.'? Money, safety, this is something everypony wants." He smoothly used the word 'everypony' there, despite not being a pony himself. A normal pony wouldn't even have noticed either, merely accepting it as the correct terminology. "But that is not enough for you. You are not a normal pony. Secretly, you also want the challenge. You have the drive to succeed, to go further, to prove yourself. Would you say I am wrong?" Felyawn asked, staring deep into Average Accountant's eyes. Prey quickly signed that Lemon should say; 'yes'. Lemon paused, then briefly nodded, "You're mostly right. Not all, but some." '--', Felyawn thought, but not a flicker of his inner thoughts showing on his feathered face. "I can offer you what you want; safety, gold, and also a challenge. If you succeed, leave your calling card. Or do not. It doesn't matter to me if you lay claim to your feats. All I care for are the objects themselves. Provided, of course, you can deliver." That last part was blatantly chosen to incite Average Accountant. It was an open challenge, '--' Lemon played along, flaring the illusion's nostrils and briefly narrowing its eyes before 'regaining' control of herself again. "I'll be the judge of that. Now tell me, what are you after?" Felyawn studied her with those piercing eyes for a long moment, considering if he had adequately baited the thief before him, or if he should build up the reveal a bit more first. He decided he'd done enough and just bluntly stated: "The Elements of Harmony. Just one of the six artifacts is enough, but the more of them you can retrieve, the better." Lemon Pink and Prey had already known this, but played it as if they hadn't. Average Accountant shifted in surprise, then was silent for a long minute. Felyawn waited unruffled, calmly continuing to drink his soup one spoonful at a time. Internally though, he was hyper focused on observing Average Accountant's every little twitch to try and gauge how well his declaration was being received. '--' Prey signalled it was time to move on when he judged enough time had passed to pretend to think it over; "The Elements of Harmony..." Average Accountant slowly repeated, "And why, pray tell, do you want to steal them?" "Does it matter?" Felyawn instantly returned. "Yes," Lemon bluntly stated, "First, the Elements of Harmony defeated Nightmare Moon and saved the world. Why would I dismantle a defence that protects this whole nation, of which I am part? Second, these Elements will be carefully guarded and protected. And third, I don't know what you might know, but there is little I know about these Elements beyond what everypony does. A lack of knowledge is dangerous, and I will not risk going in blind." "Those are good points, worthy of a master thief and any smart individual has at least a hint of self preservation." Felyawn falsely praised, nodding his white crested head as if he agreed with all those points. "But they are not as closely guarded as you might think. In fact, there are no obvious outward defences, such as guards, at all-" "-That just means the defences are hidden, and most likely magical." Lemon interrupted. "-That much is obvious, yes. Such artifacts cannot be left as unattended as they appear. Which is precisely why I have reached out and extended this offer to you. A skilled unicorn thief should be capable of getting past these wards." Felyawn said, outwardly suppressing his ire at being rudely interrupted. '--' The ambassador briefly clacked his beak, "As to where they are, these Elements are being stored in the town of Ponyville. If the name is not familiar, it is not far from Canterlot by train and will be simple to reach. There are six Elements, I have obtained drawings, and these six artifacts are being held together in the Ponyville library." Prey and Lemon both blinked almost in sync. They were just stored... at a random small time civilian library? All six gems, and not split up? No wait, this was obviously part of the bait for the trap. Still though, Average Accountant would be expected to point this out. "All six Elements are simply kept in the same library? That seems unlikely." "One of them, or all six of them, it doesn't matter to me," Felyawn shrugged, "If I can get just one, I will still take that as a success. You will be paid well either way." "From what you've said all six artifacts are needed in tandem to use. Why would you only settle for one? What use is that to you? And you haven't satisfied me such thatI should hoof such a weapon over to you anyway." "Make no mistake, if you don't take this job, another will. It is merely a matter of whom." Felyawn stated with complete confidence, "You are the best candidate, and I assumed you would want to make your mark, but there is nothing forcing you to be the one to do it." '--' Prey jerked his head and signalled, telling Lemon to play along for now. Average Accountant's image lent back, looking down her nose at the griffin opposite, "True. But what use is it to you? I'm not a fool, I want to hear what Griffonia wants with control over the Elements of Harmony first." "My nation is not taking action," Felyawn immediately denied, "This meeting between us is my own doing. It is one of the reasons we have met alone and during my lunch hour." False. They weren't alone, and Prey could read minds. '--' 'Zoma'Grika, this is being backed by Griffonia as a nation.' Prey finally had his confirmation, and it wasn't the one he wanted to hear. This right here, this had the potential if things went wrong, and they would go wrong, to escalate out of all proportion and end in the possibility of war. War. War. Terrible awful destructive hateful terrifying disgusting evil devastating war. Prey knew war. He'd fought in the Resistance, spited the Border Guard, and survived the Deeper Green. The chances of war occuring were small, but where there was even a hint of a possibility, Prey couldn't ignore it. He wanted nothing to do with any war, even if for no other reason than he was enslaved into the service of the Night Guard. If this whole thing ended up escalating into war, no matter how small the chance actually was, he himself might somehow end up being forced to fight in it. Felyawn wasn't a fool, the ambassador knew of the possibility too, which was why he was flatly denying Griffonia was involved with his actions. But if he was caught, (and Prey was keenly aware of Crimson and Gloom's mission over in Griffonstone right now), then the truth of him acting with Griffonia's backing would likely come out anyway. Horrible memories danced through Prey's head. Blood and gristle, Bone Rot and shallow graves, screaming, begging, crying, and murder. Prey did not want war. 'This is too big, too huge. So much about this can go horribly wrong if it gets out.' Prey couldn't let this get out. But he couldn't stop it either, it was already too late. The ISND were already after Hafflow, and Luna knew enough. 'Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it all.' Prey tried to take a deep breath. He was probably overreacting. This couldn't lead to war, surely not. Level minds would prevail long before it got that far, Prey was ninety-nine percent sure. But where there was even a hint of war... Prey looked at Felyawn and decided the griffin was probably going to have to die. He wasn't sure when or how yet, but if the ambassador died while undertaking this off the books mission, Griffonia would surely be much more reluctant to raise a fuss. After all, a severed link in the chain would provide them plausible deniability, even if it came at the cost of their ambassador's life. Or they might just lash out instead. However on the flip side, because Griffonia believed the Elements of Harmony were real magical super weapons, and not bluffs like Prey did, if they didn't succeed in securing them, then it might induce them to be a bit more cautious and submissive in accepting their ambassador's tragic demise. Make no mistake, Prey wasn't doing something as large and as grand as preventing a war. There had been disputes in the past with Griffonia just as scandalous and serious which hadn't escalated into war either. History was full of events which had been swept under the rug. Prey hadn't been around for those, but he was here for this one. Felyawn had kept his silence, waiting as Lemon and Prey sat and thought, although if he knew exactly what Prey's mind was racing with he wouldn't have been so content to sit patiently there. "So you are acting all on your own?" Lemon clarified. Felyawn made a cutting motion with his free claw in the negative, "No. I and a small clawful of my fellow griffins who believe the same as me are in on this. However for everypony's safety, you will converse with me." '--' "They also believe in what, exactly?" Lemon repeated, "What makes them think these Elements of Harmony should belong to you? And why should I betray my country?" "You are not betraying your country. You are helping the world." Felyawn stated with ringing conviction, ice blue eyes boring into Lemon's disguise, "You will be helping save everypony and everyone." Somehow, some subtle insight the ambassador had gained had keyed the griffin in on the fact that the definition everypony over everyone annoyed Lemon, even disguised. A reminder that even in the face of being deceived, the griffin was still very sharp. "Yes," Felyawn continued, rising to his topic, "This is larger than one country, it's larger than Equestria. You say your own safety comes first? I ask you this then; what do you know of Nightmare Moon?" It was rhetorical, because the griffin kept right on going, "Nightmare Moon, now Princess Luna, and the twin ruler of this nation. A mad demoness defeated in her insane quest to plunge the world into endless night like in some storybook. But do you have any idea how close it was? Do you comprehend how present the danger actually was? It came down to the wire. A flip of a coin is putting it too lightly. And if that foul demoness had won? Death! All of us! Dead! If not immediately, then within a month when the whole entire world froze or boiled because of her madness!" Felyawn's clenched talon smashed down on the table, soup slopping from the bowl, for a moment the ambassador's steely composure gone. Felyawn breathed in deeply, ice flecks of eyes drilling into Lemon again, "There were centuries to prepare for the Nightmare's return, whole centuries! We could have prepared, assembled a coalition army, Princess Celestia herself has admitted she knew of her sister's return that far in advance. Her Majesty could've reached out to Griffonia, to the other nations, to any one of us! But she did not. Did we not have a right to defend our lives? Nightmare Moon threatened to murder us all, down to the last unhatched egg, frozen in their nests." "Princess," The title dripped from Felyawn's beak, for a moment all his carefully polite control gone, "Celestia gambled every single life on the entire planet against her sister's. Yours, mine, this restaurant's staff, the ponies passing by outside, all of them for her sister. By her own admission, she put all of us in the hooves of six untrained strangers who had never even heard of the Elements before that night. There is no word in Griffonian, Equestrian, or any language I know of to describe her level of betrayal. In no way is the successful purging of the Nightmare an excuse. Not all is well that ends well." '--' Everything Felyawn was saying, Prey agreed with, because the griffin was right. Celestia was a tyrant, although if Felyawn was to be believed, one who'd also risked the entire world by hoofing over the Elements of Harmony to six random mares at the last second and then rolling the dice. That couldn't be. 'I don't believe it. It can't have been that close. The Sun Wolf defeated Nightmare Moon herself, not these Element Bearers, and she must've had secret backup plans and schemes. She is callous, manipulative, cruel, selfish, but above all, powerful. Celestia would never gamble her kingdom like that. Right?' Felyawn slowly unclenched his talons, sharp polished points restlessly picking at the wooden tabletop, "We are all alive by sheer dumb luck. For now. Princess Luna fell to the Nightmare and tried to destroy the world once. What is to prevent her, or the sun alicorn for that matter now that she's revealed her true character, from doing so again? Princess Celestia has imposed no checks, no watches, no restrictions on her younger sister despite our appeals and sanctions. She would have us sit idle and do nothing but blindly hope that they don't slip and destroy us all." The griffin shook his white crested head, "No. Not now, not ever. That is unacceptable in every shape, form, and bit. My nation has asked to study the Elements of Harmony, to be entrusted with a spare set, the magical blueprints, anything. Celestia had refused, citing that these Elements are bound to their wielders and can not be claimed by another, and also that they were not made by her and thus cannot be replicated. We have every reason to believe that is a lie." "Because?" Average Accountant asked intently. "Because these six Elements apparently appeared out of nowhere. Celestia said they have always existed, but were lost to time and somehow only now appeared on the very night, indeed the very hour they were so desperately needed? That does not happen. Celestia created them herself or had them made in preparation, either or, it doesn't matter. But she refuses to allow any nation but her own to wield them, or make their own copies. It is the one proven method of saving the entire world, and yet she would keep us all powerless. So that is why you must help." Felyawn finished, having come full circle. "Think of what I am saying; You would provide the world a way to save itself, and thereby also save yourself. If Equestria should fall, another nation might yet banish the Nightmare again and spare the world eternal night. Only one chance is not enough, we need multiples, extras, redundancies. We are talking about global extinction. There is no such thing as too much preparation." Despite all his conviction that the Elements of Harmony were a baited trap, Prey still felt doubt worming its way in. What if there was a chance Felyawn was right? The ambassador believed his own words without a shadow of a doubt, unless he was somehow a mind mage too, there was no way for him to trick Prey. Prey knew Griffonia wasn't only doing this out of selflessness. Although right now their motivation might only be self preservation, in the future? A set of artifacts capable of defeating an alicorn? What nation wouldn't secretly want their own copy just in case? "So," Felyawn asked quietly, "Will you accept this task, Average Accountant?" Was Prey going to accept? Obviously, he was going to verbally accept right now and say 'Yes' just so that he and Lemon Pink could walk out of here unopposed, but that wasn't the question. The real question was; was that seed of doubt enough motivation for him to risk it? Possible war on the one hoof, an unconfirmed chance at stopping a theoretical mass extinction on the other hoof. Would he really take Felyawn's offer? Prey looked up at Lemon Pink from under the illusionary veil. She was looking back down at him, even if her head and ears remained facing forwards, her visible purple eye was uncertainly fixed on him. Prey knew how much she used to revere the Nightmare, and still had leftover echoes of her obsession with the night alicorn remaining. But now she'd listened to all this from the ambassador, what did it change for her? What facts did she need to rethink? The decision was Prey's call though, and it always had been. He could feel the oh-so familiar weight of the golden tracers resting on his legs, but he also felt the weight of the silken ribbon behind his ear. Prey jerked his head towards the waiting Felyawn. Lemon cleared her throat, "I, of course, will accept. Let's see that information of yours." "Excellent," Felyawn stated, pushing his dirty soup bowl aside, as if there had never been any doubt in his mind, "I have it with me here. The planning and execution of the theft is of course up to you as the expert. But it must be soon." ---I--- [[[Bonus Picture - New Night Guard Armour]]]