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// 26 - The Ruins 
// Story: The Crescent Pact 
// by Chromentazol 
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Apogée slowly stepped through the ruins of his mansion with a discontent smile. Every fractured stone, broken piece of furniture and glass shard reminded him very clearly of his failure and of his son's betrayal. All around him, multiple ponies were restlessly working to remove the rubble, hoping to either find some of the buried bodies to give them proper burials, or to find anything of value that used to belong to the Pact. Forming a large perimeter around these ponies as well as the mansion's ruins, many royal guards kept an eye open for any interloper, just as they had done for the past month since the explosion.

None of them could see Apogée. The tired stallion, his horn glowing with a faint cyan light, was an unseen visitor, making sure the royal recovery team did not find anything of real value from the rubble. While Apogée could have tasked any other unicorn from the Pact with this matter, he decided to take care of it himself in an effort to isolate himself from the rest of his brethren. Even though he outranked many and very few would dare to criticize him, Apogée knew he would very easily see the disdain and disappointment in their eyes. After all, not only did Apogée fail to secure Nightmare Moon's powers inside the catalyst, his lack of planning and security led to the death of many members of the Pact, as well as the loss of many artifacts and machines.

And so, Apogée watched the workers around him in silent penance. That was until Apogée felt a faint shimmer in the air behind him, followed by an almost paralyzing aura. Feeling his body straightening up and sweat beginning to pour from his pores, Apogée stopped dead in his tracks. "... Good afternoon, my Lord," he said while turning around and kneeling in front of the figure that had appeared out of thin air behind him. Lord Purple Comet, wearing a simple cloak and his face adorned with a condescending smile, chuckled.

"You may rise, Apogée. I do believe we have some important matters to discuss," Purple Comet said, his voice exuding authority and reproach all the while sounding strangely calm.

"I... Yes, of course. Did you receive my report of the events, my Lord?" Apogée asked, slowly rising from his position. Though he was much taller than Purple Comet, his head remained straight, his eyes staring into the distance.

"I have. A most interesting turn of events, that is for sure... One that is less than desirable, though you must know that yourself, especially given your pitiful attempt to stay away from my wrath."

Apogée gulped. He knew he had to choose his next words carefully, lest his life would end right there. "... I apologize for my incompetence, my Lord. Given my recent failings, I did not want to bring you more shame by forcing you to indulge in my most despicable presence. I did not—"

"Silence. I did not come here to hear your inane ramblings. What I wish to know is how you plan on redeeming yourself."

"Re... Redeem myself?" Apogée blinked, finally looking down, in Purple Comet's eyes. He knew this was something his master hated, but in his confusion, Apogée forgot.

"Have you gone deaf as well? You are far too expensive of a tool to simply throw away. I believe you may still be of some use... Unless you think my judgment is wrong?"

"Of course not! I will make amends, I swear it on my life," Apogée knelt back down. "Tell me what must be done, and I shall dedicate myself body and heart into—"

Purple Comet's voice became louder, sharper, more annoyed. "Enough. I did not mold you to be a mere sycophant. Now, listen to me carefully, because I won't repeat myself. You have let a once in a lifetime opportunity slip by due to your inaptitude. Furthermore, we have lost many agents, as well as our most successful Moon-Touched pony. Your task is simple. I want you to find another catalyst and drain the false prophet of whatever powers she possesses."

"Of course, my Lord... It will be done. How can I accomplish this task?"

Apogée's master groaned. "Must I do everything for you, colt? This is your mess. Now, you clean it on your own. You shall have access to some of our resources left, as well as another promising Moon-Touched subject. The rest is up to you. I expect to see results by the end of the month. Have I made myself clear?" Purple Comet asked, all the while pressing a hoof down on Apogée's face, pushing him deeper in the rubble and broken glass.

"Y... Yes, Lord Comet. I will not fail you, this time."

"Good. I expect no less of you. Now, stand back up and walk with me," Comet said while releasing Apogée. The indigo unicorn stood up and looked around. Thankfully, his spell hadn't faltered during his conversation with his master and none of the ponies around them could still see him. Apogée did wonder how Comet achieved a similar result without the visible use of any magic but knew better than to ask.

"What... What else do you wish to talk about, my Lord?"

"... I wish to have a word with you about your son, Aphelion."

"Ah. I must apologize for failing his education. If I knew he would turn his back on..."

"The fault is partly mine," Purple Comet said before sighing. Apogée went silent, utterly shocked to hear his master admit a fault. "Had my letter not been intercepted, you would have been the one sent to Canterlot for the trade. You simply followed my orders, so I cannot blame you for this... Though I wished you had used your brain instead of mindlessly obeying, for once. The colt was not ready to face civilization. By Tartarus, if it wasn't for your wife's pitiful pleads, he would have been placed under my direct care... But still."

"... I—"

"And as much as I hate to admit it, we need the traitor's expertise. The catalyst was one of his creations, after all... If I knew about his genius, we would have made much better use of him than mindlessly tracking the tyrant's control of the sun."

Apogée remained silent, not knowing what to say. While he still felt an incredible amount of anger toward his son for his betrayal of the Crescent Pact, the thought of Aphelion spending any extended period of time with Purple Comet disturbed Apogée, though he didn't know why. Apogée tried to assume it was simply jealousy at the idea of his son being held in higher regard than him, but deep down, he knew this was something more complex.

Quickly shaking his head to snap out of it, Apogée focused back on the world around him. "I will... I will talk some sense into him, my Lord. If he fails to see reason, I can also always precipitate the Phoenix Incantation." 

As the words left his mouth, Apogée felt a sudden wave of anguish and disgust at himself, something deep inside him shaming him for even mentioning this topic. Purple Comet hummed, considering the thought for a moment. "... Yes, this does sound quite tempting, though I doubt his body is ready. You shall attempt other avenues to bring him back to us, but if all else fails, you are allowed to start the incantation."

"Of course, my Lord. I shall... Keep you up to date," Apogée replied, his voice faltering ever so slightly.

Purple Comet stared at Apogée for a moment, seemingly deep in thought before speaking again. "... I hope I needn't remind you that the child's purpose had always been for the incantation, right?"

"O... Of course, my Lord."

"Good. Now, then, we have just one more matter to discuss."

"Oh? What else do you have in mind, lord Comet?"

"Look around you," Purple Comet calmly said while looking straight ahead. Following his master's gaze, Apogée saw one of the workers staring at the both of them with a look of utter confusion... And terror. Apogée felt the color drain from his face as he immediately understood what had happened: in a moment of weakness, he had lost focus on his spell, briefly allowing the ponies around them to see him. Looking all around, Apogée saw everypony looking in his direction, with guards rushing toward him... Or, at least, they were rushing before being frozen in place.

Apogée gulped. Every single pony around him, working in the ruins of the mansion, had been paralyzed by Purple Comet through unknown means even to him. Sheepishly turning toward his master, Apogée opened his mouth. "I... I apologize, my Lord, I—"

"Another mess you shall clean. I will take the guards with me, to see if any of them are fit to be Moon-Touched. In the meanwhile, I expect you to... Remove these trespassers. I expect nothing to remain here."

Noticing the look of fear in the excavator ponies' eyes deepen, Apogée gave a solemn nod. "It... Shall be done."

Apogée blinked once. His master was already gone, along with every single royal guard posted near the mansion. The remaining ponies stood around him, paralyzed both by unknown eldritch means and with fear. Taking a moment to enjoy the silence, letting out a long sigh, Apogée felt a sudden wave of anger and rage flood over him.

After a very long month of wallowing in pity and self-hatred, alongside the fury building inside him every time he thought about his son, Apogée was glad he was finally able to let out some steam. And unfortunately for his soon-to-be victims, Apogée despised having uninvited guests in his home... Or what remained of it. But then, an insidious thought slowly wormed its way into Apogée's brain. Maybe he could find another use for them yet. It would be a waste to kill them all, he thought, and if his master wanted them specifically dead, he would have said so. And so, Apogée slowly but methodically went over every single pony, casting a series of spells on them.

As the sun slowly set, only Apogée remained atop rubble, shards of glass and ashes.