An Equestrian Witcher

by OblivionShadow


91: Who to Chase?

He was silent as the lights of Canterlot spread out under him and they angled down toward the castle. As they moved toward the castle, Celestia stayed still as the Pegasus closest to her looked back and she motioned for them to keep going.

“Go back to the depot and we will come along.” She cheerfully said to him and he nodded in understanding.

Oblivion watched as they angled towards a different section of the castle and he sat still as they landed within a small depot that held the rest of the chariots that belonged to Luna and Celestia. The chariot stopped and the three of them jumped off the chariot and it was moved back into place with the other few that were stamped with Celestia’s cutie mark.

“Please bring Shining Armor to me. I need to speak with him as soon as possible.” She said to one of the guards and he nodded and took off. “It will be a few minutes.”

“I’m in no hurry at the moment. Once we get the information needed we will see where it leads.” He assured her.

Sasa leaned against his hip. “This could be informative or a total waste of time and effort.” She said to him.

“Agreed. We will find out how the chariots are signed out and if the one that was taken is either signed for or stolen. We will find out soon enough.” He replied.

Several minutes went by and Shining Armor came through a side door and he broke into a trot to get to them. He bowed his head slightly at the Princess and his eyes fell on the black Unicorn that was with her. He gave Oblivion a look as he drew up next to them.

“Dare I ask why you’re here as well?” Shining quipped as he hoof bumped the black stallion.

Oblivion said nothing as Sasa walked up to the Captain and rubbed her head on his chest as she purred. He ran his hoof over her fur and his eyes fell on the Princess as she chuckled.

“We need to look at the sign-outs for the chariots. We have reason to think that one of them has been used inappropriately.” She explained, avoiding the theft of the Elements.

Shining nodded as uncertainty went over his face as he moved toward a side office and returned with a set of documents hanging in his magic. He held them close by as he read them over.

“Only one has been checked out today. Nothing over the past couple of days.” He replied and the papers hovered in his aura.

“How many chariots are there?” Oblivion asked as Sasa came back to him and sat down at his shoulder.

“There should be twenty of them. Twenty Solar chariots and twenty Lunar.” He informed them. “I’ll be right back.”

Oblivion watched as the stallion walked away from them, counting them as he went. Sasa purred loudly as she leaned to the side and bumped her head against Celestia’s shoulder. The Alicorn mare smiled and pet her gently. Oblivion looked up as Shining was trotting back toward them. The Witcher could tell that something was wrong judging by the stallion speed. He slid to a halt and then spoke quietly with them.

“There’s one missing.” He admitted quietly.

Celestia’s eyes went wide as he spoke and Oblivion nodded in understanding.

“Oh shit.” Sasa cursed.

“How do you plan on finding it?” Oblivion asked.

Shining looked at him and his eyes closed as he lowered his head slightly and then looked up at the Black Unicorn. “I actually am not sure. We have never had one go missing before. I will have to think about how to find it.”

“I can help if needed,” Oblivion said to him.

“How did you know one was missing? You don’t seem surprised, even for you.” Shining replied.

Celestia motioned for the Captain to follow her and the group of them moved toward the office. Her magic pushed open the door and they all walked into the room and she closed down the door behind them.

“What is going on, Princess? I’m guessing it has something to do with the missing chariot.” He reasoned as he looked between them.

“Oblivion? If you would not mind?” She said as she looked at the pair of them.

“Simply put?” Both of them nodded and he looked at the Captain. “The Elements of Harmony have been stolen.”

Celestia looked annoyed for a moment at his bluntness but she seemed to recover as Shining’s jaw dropped. His eyes were comically wide as he stared at the Black Unicorn. His eyes did not blink as he stared at Oblivion. Sasa leaned out to look at him and she growled to see if that would shock him back to life. Oblivion finally reached out and slapped him to get him to focus once more. The Captain breathed deeply and finally blinked.

“Tell me you’re kidding.” He whispered.

“No. They were taken some time today while Twilight and Spike were out.” Oblivion supplied.

“How were they taken?”

“They were taken by somepony during the day and she informed me by letter earlier. The case was locked and had a magical lock that Twilight had placed on it.”

“So how did they steal them?”

“They took the entire case that the Elements were housed in,” Oblivion informed him.

“Oh by the Goddess.” Shining groaned and motioned for him to go on.

“I was able to track a couple of sets of hoof prints out behind the Library. The case had been loaded into a wagon and I then followed the wagon tracks out into a clearing within the Everfree. I found the wagon out in a clearing and found a second trail that vanished at the end of the clearing.” Oblivion explained. “The tracks bear a remarkable resemblance to the chariots that are used by Celestia’s Solar Guards.”

Shining closed his eyes and a deep sigh escaped him as he lowered his head. “Oh no.”

“Yes. It appears that we have a problem Captain Armor.” Celestia said to him, her voice cheerful but with an undertone of concern. “Is there any way to track the chariot or the case?”

Oblivion shook his head for a moment before a thought came to him. “Maybe.”

Both of them looked at him for several seconds. “Oh?” Shining said to him.

“I was not involved in the making of the lock itself. But perhaps I can find a way to track the magic that was used.” He explained.

Shining growled as his expression darkened. “We are going to need to find the chariot. I am definitely going to need some help to find it. If we can find it we might find the case itself.”

“Is there any way that it could have been taken by a member of the guard?” Oblivion finally asked after a short delay.

Shining looked unsure and his expression slowly became more and more worried as he considered what had been asked. “I hope not, but there is always a chance.” He admitted.

“What about the shadow organization that the pony we have in custody mentioned?” Oblivion asked the Alicorn.

She was quiet for a second as she considered what he had asked. “That is possible. I do not know much about this organization personally.” She admitted with an apologetic look.

Shining looked thoughtful for several seconds before he held up a hoof to silence both of them. “I might know a bit about them if they are the group I am thinking of. I am involved in the security of the city so anything that might be a threat to the city I am kept abreast of.”

“I would like both of you to collaborate with each other to find the Elements and see if this organization is involved,” Celestia said to the pair of them. “I expect that between you, you should be able to find the Elements and get to the bottom of the theft.”

The Alicorn looked at both of them and her expression became more serious as she reached out and her hoof gently gripped the medallion around his neck. It sat in her hoof and she looked nervously at it and then to each of them.

“You are the only one that still has their Element.” She said as the medallion slipped from her hoof and back to its place on his neck. “Your Element is the only one that is still safe and that will make you a target. Your Element is the strength behind the Elements. Keep it safe.”

He nodded in reply to her. “I’ll watch my back. I have been attacked by more than my fair share of greedy and vicious ponies in my time.”

Sasa came forward and rubbed her head against the Alicorn’s shoulder. “Do not worry, Celestia. I will watch over him as well.”

Oblivion parroted her words and the mare rubbed her hooves over the cat’s fur and smiled. “I know you will Sasa. I am more worried about them getting to close and getting the medallion.”

“That’s only if they figure out the medallion is where the Element is located. So far it is not known where it is. They would only know that the Element is with me but not its exact location.” He replied. “But in the meantime, I will keep it close and assure that it is protected. I can enchant it to always return to me if it is taken from me.”

“If you could do that I would be much more at ease,” Celestia said to him.

Oblivions horn lit as the medallion around his neck was covered in the azure flame. He fashioned a ‘return to me’ spell that he had read about in one of the books by Starswirl that he had borrowed from Twilight. The spell peaked and a flash of azure flame went out similar to when a letter was being sent to him and faded into nothing. He looked at the pair of them and they both nodded, having guessed what kind of spell it was that he had used. Celestia turned to leave the room and she looked over her shoulder at the pair of them.

“Please find them.” She whispered out and they nodded as her horn lit and pushed open the door and left them behind, closing the door behind her.

Shining sighed as the door closed and his head sunk nearly to the ground. Oblivion said nothing as Sasa approached the stallion and nuzzled his cheek. Shining Armor raised his head and squared his shoulders. Oblivion gave a somber nod in an understanding of his new predicament. The white stallion sighed again and moved to the door.

“Come on. We can chat in my office.” He said to the waiting stallion and motioned for him to follow.

Oblivion and Sasa fell in behind him and they have led away from the chariot depot and into the castle itself. Several minutes went by and they came to a side office and the doors were pushed open by the Unicorns magic and all of them went in. Oblivion sat down in a chair that was sitting in front of the dark stained oak desk. Sasa sat down beside him and she chuckled through their connection at the growing stress that grew on Shining face.

“Tell him it’s okay and we will do what we can to help.” She said to him. “He looks so stressed out.”

“We are with you Shining,” Oblivion said to him. The stallion looked at him and his brow creased for a second before Sasa began to purr. “She is worried that you are looking stressed.”

“Oh. It’s fine Sasa.” He said to her. “Thanks for the concern. I’m a bit stressed but it’s not from the idea of working with both of you. It’s just that now I know that the Elements of Harmony are not available to be used in defense of Equestria. That is a huge blow to our defense. We did not have them before but now that we do have them it’s a huge blow.” He explained.

I just wanted to make sure he is okay.” She said to the stallion.

“She is simply concerned that you were not okay,” Oblivion replied and Shining smiled at the feline.

“Thanks, Sasa.” Shining smiled wider and then looked at the stallion. “I want you to have your team with you to prevent the theft of the Element. I know you placed a return spell on it but that is not foolproof.”

Oblivion snorted and shook his head. “I don’t think that will be needed. If I wish to have one of them I will call on them. At the moment I want to be the target.”

Shining went quiet and then shook his head. “You’re the only pony I know that would decline any protection for the Element of Harmony that he possesses. You’re impossible.”

Sasa chuckled and walked up to rub her forehead on the pony’s foreleg and he ran his hoof over her fur. “Are you truly shocked that he wishes to the target and practically beg them to attack him?” She asked as a chuckle rolled through her.

Oblivion spoke for her and the pony shook his head again. “No. Now that I think of it no I’m not.” He admitted. “So what are you going to do now?”

“First I need to know what you know about the shadow group.” Oblivion started.

Shining sighed and his horn lit as a side drawer in one of the cabinets on the other side of the room was covered in his aura. A drawer opened and a file levitated from within the drawer. IT moved across the room and hovered close by the black Unicorn. Oblivion took the file and it was covered in the azure flame of his aura. It dropped into his hooves and he opened it to reveal the few pieces of paper it held. He looked up at Shining, who looked away from his gaze. He could see the embarrassment in the other's body language as his magic levitated the five papers that were held in the file.

Shining sighed and looked back at the Witcher. “Okay, so I have not had as much time to hunt for information as I would have liked.” He admitted. “It’s not as easy as it looks.”

Oblivion said nothing in reply as his eyes scanned the few papers in front of him. “Walk me through what you do know.”

Shining nodded and leaned forward in his chair. “What we do know is that they are set up in a pyramid with the boss at the top of the pile. They branch out downward from there.”

Oblivion was silent and he nodded as his magic pulled out the first paper to let it hover directly in front of him. He looked up from it to encourage the other to keep speaking.

“We are aware that the group is pretty deeply involved in the politics of Equestria and the black market. How deep we are not sure but we know they are there, somewhere.”

“How well known is it that the Elements of Harmony are a set of seven? Or do most assume they are a group of six? Or less?”

“That is a much unknown fact. Most ponies assume they are only in parts of two since the Princesses used them. If anyone chose to look into it deeply then the information is there for the finding. They just have to do a bit of digging for it.” Shining replied easily.

Sasa purred and came to sit next to the black Unicorn as he considered what they knew so far. “My turn to ask a few things.” She said to him and he nodded to her. “Do they know the names of the ponies that are part of this pyramid?”

“No. We don’t know anything about the individual ponies involved in it.” He admitted with a snort.

“Is there a chance that some of the Nobles are involved or is it only the underground?”

Shining looked at her as Oblivion spoke and he sighed and shook his head. “If they are they are careful about it. I’m not sure one way or the other. I would be curious about what they think if nothing else.”

Oblivion was silent as a question came over him. “What do we know about the ponies involved?”

“Unfortunately we have not been able to get any of the ponies involved to talk. Any that we have thought were involved we were not able to get them to talk about it. If I heard right we needed you to get the one we have to talk to get anything from him.”

“I’m not too surprised that they did not talk then. If they were half the pony that we have with us then it’s not a shock that they remain quiet. I cannot use what I did on a large group of them without losing one or two.” He admitted.

Shining’s eyes widened slightly and he leaned heavily into his chair. “And how did you get him to talk? I know you did but I am not sure how.”

“The Element of Spirit is able to do many things.” He replied.

Shining looked nervously at the medallion and then back to the stallion that wore it. “I have to admit that I worry about dealing with them given how little we know about them.” He said and a small smile tugged at his mouth. “Granted there are times that I worry about dealing with you.”

Sasa nodded as her laugh flowed through their connection.


Time ticked past as he and Shining compared notes and discussed what they would need to find out. So far they had decided that they needed to gather more information on the ones that might have stolen the Elements of Harmony. Oblivion leaned back in his chair and Sasa huffed at his side.

“Is it possible that some of the Nobles are in league with them?” He asked suddenly after several minutes of silence.

Shining looked uncertain for several seconds. “I suppose it is possible, but at the same time, I’m not certain. I know very little about the Nobles themselves so I am probably not the one to ask.” He admitted with a shrug.

“What about Blue Blood?” He replied and the white stallion leaned forward and motioned for him to go on. “He lives in that world while you and I do not. I know enough about Nobility to stay away from them as they are normally more trouble than they are worth. He is to be trusted if I had to pick a Noble he would be the only one that I would choose.”

“That’s a very good point. We can trust him with what we know at this time. So what do you think?” Shining asked.

“I think we are left with little choice in the matter.” Oblivion pointed out. “We have to either wait for them to come after the only remaining Element or we chase them down now.”

“We don’t know who to chase is our issue,” Shining replied. “If I knew who to send you after I would have already done it.”

“So we need Blue Blood,” Oblivion replied as his horn lit.

Shining nodded and a scroll and quill were called into his magic. He jotted a quick note for the Prince to meet them in Shining’s office as soon as possible. Shining watched as the flames covered the scroll as it rolled up and with a burst of flame the scroll vanished.

“How do you know if it will wake him up?” Shining asked. “It’s pretty late.”

“I added a bit more magic than it needed so it should startle him enough to wake him up.”

“Oh. Poor Blue Blood.” Sasa chuckled.


Minutes ticked past and both stallions looked at the door as a soft knock went out. “Come in!” Shining shouted.

The door opened slowly and a somewhat bleary-eyed Prince walked in to join them. He looked from the black Unicorn to Shining and then to Sasa.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” He asked, his tone short.

“Sorry Blue Blood.” Shining apologized. “Normally I would have waited for daylight to speak with you but this is important. Please take a seat.”

Blue scowled at the pair of stallions and came to sit down with an aggravated sigh. “This had better be good Oblivion.”

“I assure you it is.” He replied.

“Okay. So what is so important that it could not wait till morning?” He quipped.

Shining looked at the black Unicorn and motioned for him to speak. “The Elements of Harmony have been stolen.”

“Oh is that it?” He replied.

Oblivion looked at him as the information slowly soaked in. His eyes went from being a bit angry and they slowly widened as a shock went over him.

“I’m sorry. Can you repeat that?” He said after a delay of several seconds.

“The Elements of Harmony are gone. Somepony stole them yesterday.” He informed him.

“Oh. So I did hear you right.” Bleu said to him as he shook his head and looked down at his hooves. “How?”

“Twilight had placed a magical lock on the case that they were held inside. She and Spike were out of the Library and I am assuming several ponies since I was able to see several tracks went into the Library and stole the entire case instead of trying to break the glass and take them.” Oblivion explained.

“Oh by the Goddess.” He breathed out and his eyes were wide. “Tell me you have yours.”

“I do, yes.”

“Okay, so it was definitely worth waking up for.” He admitted and looked between them. “Now what?”

“We are hoping that you will be able to help,” Shining said to him.

“What could I do? I’m not a guard or a Witcher.”

“That’s the idea.” Shining informed him.

“Okay. You’re going to have to explain this to me.” Blue responded.

“The Elements were moved to Ponyville after the incident with Discord. Not many ponies know that and even fewer knew exactly where they would be. So we are wondering if you have any ideas.”

“About who might have taken them?”

“Not exactly.” Oblivion cut in. “We are wondering if you have seen any Nobles or upper echelon ponies show more than a casual interest in them.”

“No. Give me a second.”

Blue looked thoughtful as Oblivion sat in silence with the Captain waiting for his reply in silence. Minutes ticked past as they waited for him to think of anything. He finally shook his head and shrugged at them.

“I can’t think of anypony that has been interested in them,” Blue admitted, his eyes apologetic.

Oblivion nodded and Shining leaned back in his chair. Sasa leaned forward and Oblivion could see her looking between them.

“We had received information that a shadow group within Equestria has been looking for them. That attack on Canterlot?” Blue nodded as the feline went on. “It was orchestrated by them. The goal of that attack was meant to allow them to get close to the Elements as they were within the castle at that time. Their goal was to take them if possible.” She explained.

“Oh wow,” Blue muttered as he leaned back in the chair. “Okay, so they found out they were moved and went after them again, and this time they succeeded.”

“Exactly.” She replied. “What ponies would have been privy to them being moved?”

He leaned back heavily and tapped his hoof for a moment before he looked uncertain. “I know a few of the Nobles were informed of their movement. But they were not told of their exact location.”

“How many ponies know the Element Bearers?” Oblivion asked.

“How many could pick them out of a crowd you mean?” Bleu asked and Oblivion nodded. “None. I can but I have met them and I know you.”

“There must be somepony that got the info for this. We already know that there is an issue in the castle.” Shining replied and Bleu looked alarmed. “Somepony took one of the Solar chariots and that was how they got them out of the area of Ponyville.”

“Oh for the love of Faust,” Blue said as he ran a hoof over his face. “So somepony may have overheard and now we are down one set of Elements?”

“It’s possible. But I doubt it.” Shining replied. “The odds of it being overheard are slim to none at best. So I don’t feel that is where we should be focusing.”

“We lure them out then,” Oblivion said to them and they both looked at the pony who had been quiet for several minutes. “We use the remaining Element to draw them to us.”

“I don’t like putting a target on your back,” Shining interjected. “I know you put that spell on the medallion to have it return to you if you want it to but still.”

“We have little choice, in this case, Shining,” Oblivion replied.

“While that might be true what are you planning?” Blue asked.

“We make it known that one of the Elements is around in a place that we can control.” He began and Shining shook his head.

“You’re out of your mind. We can’t risk them somehow getting a hold of it. While I do not doubt the power of the spell you put on it I don’t want to put you in the position of having to fight for it.” Shining added as he leaned forward and rested his hooves on the desk.

“We do not really have many options.” Oblivion reminded him and the stallion groaned. “Either we wait for them to come after me on their terms to take it or we make them dance to our tune.”

“I hate to point out that he has a point Captain,” Blue added. “If there is anypony that we want them coming after it would be him. What better target than a lone pony?”

Shining looked at Blue with wide eyes. “You’re on his side?”

“In this case? Yeah.”

“Geez. Okay, lay it out for me. How would this work?” He asked.

“We spread the word to some of the higher Nobles carefully about the Element of Spirit being held away from the others at a specific time. That’s your job Blue.” The white pony nodded and the Witcher went on. “We would then choose where to place me to lure them out. When they attack I would subdue one of them and if they do not give up the information willingly then I can get it from them one way or the other.”

“I do not like this,” Shining admitted. “But I like how we have no choice even more. Other options?”

“Or we wait for them to come to me on their own. We allow Blue to spread a rumor or two and let them soak on their own. No doubt they will realize that they only have six of the seven Elements and that will drive them to find it. If they wish to sell a set of magical objects having all of them will drive up the price. So it is in their best interest to have them all.” Oblivion added.

“Okay, I like that even less,” Blue said and shook his head. “Next.”

“We still have to let them come to find me. But that does not mean we will be idle while we wait. I am going to see if it possible for me to use the Element to track the others…What?”

“Not possible. The girls wanted to do the same thing when you vanished.” Sasa pointed out.

“That might be true of the other Elements. But Spirit leads them in power so there should be a way to track them.” He argued.

She shook her head and he growled in annoyance. “Okay, perhaps there is a way I can track the magical signature of Twilights spell if they have not broken through it yet.” He responded.

“That’s an idea actually.” She agreed. “I had not thought of you simply following her magic and letting it lead you.”

“Can you do that?” Shining asked as Blue finished speaking for the feline.

“Worth a try.” He replied. “We are out of options.”

Shining grumbled and leaned back in his chair and scrubbed his face with his hooves. “So we are left with really only two options. One, we let you be a target and we lure them to a specific place and let them try to take it and you subdue one of them. Two, we spread the right rumor and heave them come after you, and you in the meantime track the magic from my sister's spell to try to find the Elements.”

“Pretty much.” Blue chuckled.

Shining growled and leaned forward. “Okay, so either way we are going to have Blue spread a few small veiled rumors about the Element or Elements?”

“We are going to be keeping their theft secret so use the Elements as a whole entity,” Oblivion advised.

“Okay, so we spread the right rumors about the Elements and their value?” Blue asked.

“Their value is a good addition to the rumor,” Oblivion admitted. “I suggest we let them come to me on their terms. I will ensure that I am seen in several places alone and that should draw them out once they know of the Element.”

Shining once more groaned. “I really do not like this. But I understand it. We need to find the missing Elements as soon as possible. So having you draw them out is our best choice. So you draw them out by being seen alone in places and when they attack, which they most likely will if they want the full set, then you subdue one or more of them.”

“More?” Oblivion questioned.

“If one lies to us then we can ask the other one.” He explained.

“You act as if I would allow them to lie,” Oblivion replied a chuckle rolled from him. “The last one I interrogated nearly lost his mind when I threatened his life when I realized he had lied.”

“How did you know he lied?” Shining asked.

“Through the Element of Spirit, I can see the spirits of ponies around me. Their spirits give them away easily enough.” He explained.

“Oh. Well, more than one is still better. One might have more information than the other.”

“Fair enough.” Oblivion agreed.

“Can we still talk about you having your team close by?” Shining asked, pleadingly.

Oblivion started to argue when a thought struck him. “How about just one of them?”

“Deal!” Shining jumped on the chance as the Witcher bargained. “Which one?”

“Soarin.”

“The Wonderbolt? He’ll attract attention.”

“Not really. Soarin is not the one in the spotlight most often. If I think he is drawing more attention than I think we need I will switch him up for one of the others. By having just one of them they will think they can overpower us and get what they are after.” Oblivion argued.

“Okay, I give,” Shining said with a bark of laughter. “Arguing with you is like fighting a wall.”

Blue laughed at the Captain's voice and fell quiet after several seconds. “You using this as a way to get him away from the Wonderbolts for a while aren’t you?”

“It’s perfect.” Sasa chuckled. “Soarin will be thrilled that he is not going to need to be among the others while he is at your side.”

“Exactly. It works two-fold.” Oblivion added.

Blue nodded and clapped the black Unicorn on the shoulder.