//------------------------------// // Interlude 3: Silver Scroll // Story: And so I left // by CrimsonS4ge //------------------------------// Silver Scroll POV: "Chaos magic." The words felt like a deluge of ice water had been poured over Silver. It was the last thing she wanted to hear. Almost every pony in the room had an involuntary shudder slither down their spines at the mere utterance of it. Every pony knew at least some of the horrors of Discord's tyranny, even if most of them had not been alive to witness his madness first hand. Fear of Chaos Magic was something that had passed into the collective pony subconscious almost ubiquitously. Even Lord Gold Standard had gone pale. "The Hot Spots?" The question came from the Night Guard Commander Azure Flame, who had been silent up to this point.  Evening Sparkle gave a grim nod towards the Guardpony and Silver felt her own expression darken at the words. Most of the other ponies in the room, though still slightly shaken from the grave revelation, wore an expression of confusion over the context of the exchange between the two mages. Silver Scroll unfortunately knew exactly what they were referencing. As the most senior Royal Secretary she had always been privy to even the most sensitive intelligence briefings and threat assessments.  Chaotic Hot Spots had long since been a feature of the interior of the Everfree forest. Leftover remnants from the final battle between Discord and the Princesses. Strong pockets of raw, unrefined chaotic magic that often behaved unpredictably and destructively. An entire division of the Royal Guard had been created solely to scout, cordon off and study any Chaotic Hot Spots that existed.  "I thought that they were mostly stable?" Silver queried, trying to gain more information about the disturbing news that had been presented to her. "The ones that we have found are mostly stable, but we have barely located a fraction of them. We also know so little about the nature of Chaos Magic that we cannot even be sure what 'stable' is in relation to such an esoteric branch of Sorcery." Evening said in a professional tone, though with a slight undertone of irritation. Silver felt that she could quite accurately guess as to the source of his irritation. Admitting to being absolutely clueless in the subject of magical theory was evidently a novel experience for the High Mage and a deeply uncomfortable one at that. "We do not know what constitutes 'normal' for Chaos Magic, whether this is a natural progression in the existence of these Hot Spots or anomalies of a limited example, like other phenomena we have observed." The Mage concluded. "The blue flowers. Are they connected to the creature?" Silver remarked on Evening's last line, realising what phenomenon he was alluding to. "Discord's Blossom, is what I believe that they have recently been officially named." Sparkle corrected, before addressing the question. "It's impossible to know how closely related or causational the relationship between the two chaotic events are with how little we understand about either." The explanation made sense to Silver, but also frustrated her with how little clarity could be gleaned from the situation.  "Could the Discordian Cults have played a part in this incident?" Lord Gold Standard asked, in what was likely the most intelligent question he had asked all night. The noble had been unusually subdued for the past few minutes, though that was likely because he didn't have the same security clearance that Evening,  Azure and herself did, therefore most of the discussion had gone over his head. Surprisingly he was sufficiently intelligent to pick up on enough of the contextual clues in the conversation to regain his bearings enough to reinsert himself into the conversation, even if he lacked a great amount of knowledge about the Chaotic Hot Spots.  Silver suspected her office would very soon get a 'Request for Information Motion' filing on the chaotic phenomenon from one of Gold Standard's cronies within the Equestrian bureaucracy. It was Commander Azure Flame that responded to the noble's question. "The last of the Cults were permanently dismantled seventy-six years ago. None of Discord's followers could successfully wield true chaos magic regardless." The High Mage merely nodded in agreement. The Discordian Cults were a dark chapter in the history of New Equestria. Much of the early reign of the Princesses were frustrated by their activities, however Silver couldn't help but feel sorry for many of its former members. Certainly a few of its numbers were genuine psychopaths and criminals, who wished to see the world burn. However, most of its members were either victims of Discord who had been brainwashed into worshipping him or ponies so fearful of the tyrant and so convinced of his invincibility that they would seek to gain mercy from his wrath by carrying out his perceived will.  The discussion was interrupted when the door to the meeting room opened. Silver was about to order whomever disturbed them to leave, as this meeting's subject matter was quite security sensitive, but caught herself when she saw who it was that had intruded. The red coated, purple maned earthpony clad in golden armour was instantly recognisable as Commander Sunset Striker from the Solar Guard.  The significance of his presence was not lost on Silver. Commander Striker was the head of Princess Celestia’s personal security detail and his entrance could only herald the imminent arrival of said princess. Silver was thankful that the princess had returned with all due expediency. However, the mare was not the only pony for whom the realisation had dawned on at what was occurring and many of the room’s occupants, along with Silver Scroll herself, stood at attention, awaiting the entrance of the Solar Diarch.  Normally, procedure demanded that the Commander would announce the arrival of the princess by her full title and that any ponies in the room should bow until addressed by the Diarch. However, due to her rushed travel, the seriousness of the situation and the informal nature of this early morning meeting, Silver understood why such ceremony was forgone. It also appeared as though the other ponies in the room were quick enough to catch onto the fact that the lack of announcement by the Commander meant that a full formal bow was not expected.  It was not long before the princess emerged from the doorway in all her usual glory, but while it might have been an awe inspiring sight for most ponies, Silver could see that she was far from her usual immaculate appearance. Her coat and mane were slightly frazzled, as though they had not been groomed recently. Her regalia was marginally ill-fitting, as if she had dressed in a rush. Her light makeup only partially covered the small bags beneath her eyes, indicating that she had not slept in some time. Celestia’s breathing was also slightly quickened, like she had walked at a rapid pace to reach the meeting room. They were very, very subtle things that almost no other pony would have picked up on, but after serving the princess for more than a decade and a half, she had learned to spot even the faintest of tells in Celestia’s appearance and mannerisms. It was obvious that the rushed diplomatic journey to Cloudsdale and the emergency journey back was quite the frantic ordeal for the Alicorn. All of that was likely on top of whatever restless and drawn-out negotiations she had been a part of within the cloud-city.  "Good morning my little ponies," Celestia greeted in her usual warm and motherly tone. She wore a calm and friendly smile that often set ponies at ease. All of the gathered attendees in the room gave a quick greeting in return. "I understand that there was a terrible attack on the city. I came as soon as I heard." Her warm and relaxed demeanour was marred by an expression of concern as she spoke. "Fortunately the negotiations in Cloudsdale were beginning to wrap up and I could depart immediately."  Before Silver or anyone else could bring the princess up to speed on the revelations of their investigation. Lord Gold Standard used the lull in conversation to speak up.  "It was a dreadfully terrible event, your Majesty! There was bedlam within the castle in the wake of the incident. Luckily, I and others were quickly able to re-establish order and lead an inquest into the matter." The noble explained in an overly dramatic manner.  Celestia nodded in acknowledgement with carefully neutral ambivalence to the noble's version of events. Neither congratulatory, nor condemning. A frown crossed her face as she looked over the dozen or so ponies that occupied the room. "Where is my sister? Should she not have taken control of the situation and led the investigation?" The Solar Princess asked the assembled ponies in the room. While Lord Gold Standard looked as though he was about to speak again, it was Commander Azure Flame that responded first. "Princess Luna’s whereabouts are not known at this time. None of the castle's staff have reported seeing her since the evening of the day before yesterday." Celestia’s frown deepened at the answer. Silver found herself frowning at the reply as well. She had known that the younger princess could not be located in the aftermath of the crisis, but the fact that she had been missing for an entire day before hoof was information that she had not known.  The mare made a mental note to have a very stern conversation with her personal team of staff and her informant network. As the most senior Royal Secretary, it was her job to be aware of all the major happenings within the castle walls. The disappearance of one of Equestria’s Diarchs for an entire day, with no pony knowing of their whereabouts, certainly qualified as information that she should have been made aware of.  While it made sense that, as a Commander of the Night Guard, Azure would have been aware of such information before her, it still irritated Silver that she had seemingly been left out of the loop. "Have you searched the castle grounds for her?" Celestia asked with slightly less than usual warmth in her tone. "Yes," Azure replied simply. The princess let out a small sigh of what seemed to be exasperation. "Would you kindly conduct a search of my sister's room Commander? Normally when Luna conducts an unplanned excursion, she would leave a note as to her whereabouts." Celestia asked the Commander in a tone that implied that this was not the first occasion that Luna had unexpectedly disappeared from the castle without a trace. The Commander nodded and silently signalled for his two subordinates to follow him as the three Night Guards quickly left the room. "While we wait for the Commander to return, would you mind informing me of the situation?" Celestia asked the High Mage. Silver Scroll noticed that Lord Gold Standard looked as though he wanted to protest the princess's choice over which pony should be the one to inform her, but was self-conscious enough to keep his mouth shut in a situation that obviously didn't favour him. With the eldest alicorn now present, the noble didn't have the same advantages that his high station had previously afforded him, such as being able to interject his opinions into the conversation whenever he pleased. "Gladly, your Majesty," Evening Sparkle responded, looking relieved that the preamble was finally out of the way and he could dive straight into the heart of the matter at hoof. Celestia listened patiently as Evening reiterated that the main points of the discussion that had taken place up until her entry, as well the varies hypotheses and theories that had been debated by members of the meeting. A particularly bitter and uncharacteristic scowl crossed the princess's face at the mention of Chaos Magic. Many in the audience would not have known why the Solar Diarch had such a strong reaction to the mention of that particular branch of Sorcery, but as one of the longest serving and most senior members of Celestia’s personal staff, Silver was perfectly well aware of the reason. It was not a widely known piece of information, but Celestia and Luna’s parents had been among Discord's very first victims, many years before his tyranny had reached its zenith. Indeed, the devastation of the alpine village, High Hoof, was one of Discord's earliest atrocities. In hindsight, it was obvious that the event served as a declaration of intent for what would later befall all of Old Equestria at his talons. Silver could easily understand the venom of Celestia’s disdain toward Chaos Magic.  At the conclusion of Evening's explanation, the princess quickly marshalled her expression back to that of her usual warm neutrality, but with an edge of seriousness that the situation demanded. It was evident to the Royal Secretary however, that the information greatly disturbed the alicorn. Though, whether that was due to lingering trauma from her own battles against Chaos or concern for the wider implications which this information heralded, Silver wasn't sure.  "How many of these creatures are there?" Celestia asked in a calm and collected tone.  "It's impossible to know." Evening answered in a grim tone. "The fact that multiple meadows of Discord's Blossom sprouted nearly simultaneously across multiple Hot Spots, shows that it's possible for a sympathetic phenomenon to occur across many far-flung Hot Spots all at once." While no pony had previously been in doubt as to the seriousness of the situation, the fact that potentially hundreds or thousands of these creatures could exist, sent a chill through the room.  "Will they all be as powerful as this one? I heard that it was nearly impossible to kill, because of how rapidly it could regenerate." Silver asked, gesturing to the abomination that lay on the examination table. The Royal Secretary had only heard snippets of detail about the battle that had ensued between the creature and members of the Night Guard, but it was enough to impress upon her the power and resilience of the beast. The possibility of an entire horde of these creatures attacking the town of Everfree was horrifying to her.  "Thankfully, those are questions that I can answer with some level of clarity." Evening replied in a much lighter tone. "From what I have discovered in examining the creature and from what Commander Azure has told me, I can conclude that the creature had an extraordinarily large volume of Chaos Magic contained within it. Much more than what we estimate most Hot Spots can produce. If multiple of these abominations have indeed spawned, then the vast majority of them will probably be a fair amount weaker than this one. To address your second point, the creature's regenerative abilities seem to be directly tied to the level of Chaos Magic contained within them. They appear to expend chaotic magic every time they heal. As the chaotic magic in their magical cores cannot replenish themselves, they can only regenerate a finite number of times." While she was relieved that this creature was likely one of the strongest of its brethren and that there were likely limits to their invincibility, Silver noticed the unsaid implication in the first half of the Mage's explanation that resulted in a disturbing possibility taking root in her mind. However, it was Celestia that asked the question before her secretary could, also reading between the lines in Evening's words and coming to the same conclusion. "The vast majority, but not all?" Evening signed, a grim expression took hold of his features once more. "While most of the Hot Spots are much smaller than what would be required to produce a monster of a similar calibre to this one. A very select few of them are absolutely oceanic in comparison to the shallow puddles of their brethren. Orders of magnitude more vast in their accumulation of Chaos Magic. If a creature, one of these Wolven Wood, were to spawn from such Super Spot, if they inherited even a mere fraction of its power…" Evening Sparkle trailed off in his explanation, as though it was too dire of a possibility to even put into words, but the weight of what was left unsaid hung over the heads of every pony in the room like a guillotine.  "Are the larger Hot Spots not mostly dormant, at least compared to the smaller ones?" Silver asked Evening in an attempt to both gain more information and cut through the oppressive silence that settled over the room.  However, it was not the High Mage that spoke in reply. "Dormant. Like a volcano is dormant? Until it suddenly isn't." Lord Gold Standard whispered, seemingly more to himself than to anypony else. The noble had lost his confident and proud demeanour. He was pale and body shook. It did not help the mood of the room when Evening Sparkle said nothing to refute the Lord's murmurings.  However, it was in this darkest moment that Princess Celestia stepped forward and spoke with a steely determination that grabbed the attention of the room. "My little ponies. I know that the situation seems dire, but we must not lose ourselves in despair. This challenge is not insurmountable." The princess announced with a sincere and charismatic fervour that Silver couldn't help, but be enthralled by. "We faced down the wrath of the Spirit of Chaos himself and won. These creatures are naught, but pale imitations of a foe that we have already beaten. With boundless courage, wit and strength, we have all the tools that we need to triumph with resounding victory. So let us not spiral into panic and misery over circumstances that we cannot change. Rather, let us focus on the preparations that we can make here and now, so that we may stand undaunted in the face of even the darkest of the upcoming storms." Silver Scroll had forgotten how magnetising Princess Celestia could be when the situation called for it. It suddenly reminded her exactly why this mare, along with sister, had managed to reunite the shattered carcass of a dying nation and drag it out of the ashes of chaos. The alicorn's words seemed to have a similar invigorating effect in the rest of the ponies in the room. With the gloom of hopelessness now lifted, each pony eagerly put their minds to work as they tried to find solutions to the current situation. From dramatically expanding Guard patrols over the forest, to introducing a curfew, to pulling most Court Mages away from their current projects to solely focus on the study of Chaotic Hot Spots, to creating mass evacuation plans for the city, should they be needed.  Even Lord Gold Standard contributed a few useful ideas. Though, he mostly commented only on matters that he had a degree of expertise in, such as using his business connections within the Mason's Guild to help finance the construction of a wall around the city. Silver suspected that he was still recovering from being caught so badly off-balance by the proceeding revelations that he mostly stuck close to topics that he was comfortable with.  Their planning was interrupted when the meeting room’s door opened to reveal Commander Azure Flame. Curiously his subordinates were nowhere to be seen, though Silver guessed that they had simply been sent off to fulfill other duties by the Commander. With tripled patrols over the city having been ordered by the Night Guard Captain, there was likely a lot work that needed to done.  The sealed scroll in his telekinetic grasp informed Silver that Azure's search of Princess Luna's room had been fruitful. Though the Royal Secretary was very curious as to its message, she knew that Celestia would obviously have first rights to read whatever her sister had written.  Said princess had also noticed the Commander's entrance and had ceased her conversation with Evening Sparkle to accept the scroll in her own telekinetic grasp, when the Night Guard drew close enough to offer it to her.  "This was found on her writing desk, your Majesty." Azure offered as a way of explanation. Celestia thanked him as she broke the wax seal on the scroll and began to unfurl the parchment paper.  One thing that Silver Scroll had learned from her time as a Royal Secretary was that, as a one hundred year veteran of Court politics, the Solar Princess had become very good at hiding her emotions from ponies around her. To any pony that was not intimately familiar with Celestia’s behaviour and mannerisms, the changes that befell the alicorn's expression as she read through the scroll might have seemed almost imperceptible, especially since most of the occupants of the room were still engrossed in conversation with one another.  However, Silver Scroll was intimately familiar enough with Celestia that the changes did not escape her notice. The princess's eyes grew slightly wider and her jaw clenched in stress as she began to read through the scroll at a visibly more frantic pace. Her expression became disbelieving as finished reading and her telekinetic grasp on the scroll faultered, as though she might accidentally drop the piece of parchment in shock.  From the perspective of almost any other pony in the room, Celestia’s expression would barely have shifted in any meaningful way. However, Silver knew that whatever the princess had read within that letter, it had deeply shaken her.  If the Royal Secretary wasn't already concerned for Celestia, the alicorn's next action would have had a chorus of alarm bells erupt in her mind.  Just as the princess's carefully schooled facade seemed to come undone at torrent of volatile emotions that she seemed to be experiencing, Celestia’s expression hardened itself into unyielding steel. Her demeanour resettled itself into a warm and relaxed one, but Silver knew that there was absolutely nothing about Celestia that was warm or relaxed at the moment.  Like a sculptor that had tried to create a facsimile of a real pony out of clay, there was something lifeless and inauthentic about the smile that the princess wore that chilled Silver to her very bones.  It was a perfectly neutral expression. A forcibly neutral expression. An aggressively neutral expression.  Silver had only ever seen Celestia behave like this once before. It was nine years ago, during a peace summit, between two warring griffon tribes that the princess had been invited to as an impartial third-party witness. One of the griffon chiefs had tried to get under Celestia’s skin by describing to her, in excruciating detail, the taste of char-grilled pony flesh. The alicorn had sat through the entire summit with that same unnatural, impossible neutral expression. "Was this the only letter that you found in Luna’s room?" Celestia asked the Night Guard Commander. Her voice still had the same tone, inflections and cadence that her usual warm, motherly voice did, but there was an emotionless, lifeless quality to it that sent a violent shiver down Silver's spine.  "Yes, your Majesty." Azure responded simply.  The scroll vanished in a flash of Celestia’s magic. Though, whether it had been destroyed or simply teleported away, Silver wasn't sure.  Celestia turned to face the rest of the ponies in the room, raising her voice to be heard across the room. "My little ponies, please forgive me, but I must now excuse myself from this meeting. The journey from Cloudsdale was quite exhausting and I fear that I may need all of the rest that I can get to handle the stress that this tragic incident will undoubtedly bring in the morning. In the meantime, Night Guard Captain, Gleaming Sapphire will temporarily take over Princess Luna’s administrative duties. My sister has departed for a very important diplomatic mission, the details of which are sensitive and I unfortunately cannot release them at this time." Celestia announced with that same warm tone that rung hollow to Silver's ears. "Would you please inform the Captain of her new duties?" The princess asked Azure, though she did not wait for a reply before quickly turning to leave the room. Most of the other ponies seemed to take Celestia’s departure in stride as they continued to argue amongst themselves over the finer details of a workable action plan that was beginning to take shape. However, Silver Scroll stood in stunned silence at the changes that had overcome Celestia in less than a minute. She wondered what sort of dire news could have been contained within that scroll that would prompt such a visceral reaction in the Solar Diarch, that she would feel the need to adopt an impenetrable stone mask, just to hide her emotions.  Silver couldn't tell if Celestia was shocked, saddened or enraged by what she had read, but she knew that something was very, very wrong.