???????? POV:
The mission was a failure. We are pulling out of the deal.
-Regent Overlord Crimson Feather
The message's recipient stared down in disbelief at one of his Trillium Crystals.
‘That's it? That's all that those pathetic wretches give me as an explanation.’
He tried to send a message to demand more information but the connection had been severed from the other end.
He almost crushed the crystal in his telekinetic grasp but managed to reign in his temper.
He should have known better than to trust an egotistical, moronic glory-hound like Reverberating Infamy with even the simplest of tasks.
‘Go to the town of Valley Dale and rip the desired artefact from the cold, dead hooves of its mayor. Simple, no?’
‘HOW COULD THAT IDIOT HAVE FUCKED IT UP SO BADLY?!’
Gripping the ledge of his desk, he took a breath to calm himself and tried to think rationally. Getting needlessly upset wouldn't help him get any closer to his goals.
Without any further information from Las Pegasus about their mission, he had no choice but to write off the whole endeavour as a lost cause. Something had clearly gone wrong and judging by the fact that the Regent Overlord had communicated with him, it's evident that something had gone catastrophically wrong.
He would have to have to send somepony under his employ to follow up on the incident.
Such a setback wasn't the end of the world but it would complicate his plans. The Lessor Syphon that had been in the possession of the Wind family was both the easiest to find and most vulnerable. He was aware of a few others but they all involved at least some level of risk in obtaining and he would have to retrieve it himself. His plan was too close to realisation to afford any more fuck ups by incompetent subordinates.
As he fished the thought, one of his other Trillium Crystals suddenly lit up with a bright flash. Reaching down and activating the Crystal's display, he read the message that had just been sent to him.
I've found somepony capable of carrying out the mission. I'm having her brought to me as we speak and I'm confident that I can get her to do our bidding.
We can still make the deadline.
-Duke Pale Scepter
The Crystal's owner grinned wickedly at that.
‘Where one subordinate fails, another succeeds.’
He typed out a reply.
Make whatever promises you need to but get the mission done. Our window of opportunity is closing.
Do not fail me.
-The Benefactor
The second phase of his plan was easily the most important and time-sensitive. The Wind's Lessor Syphon might be lost to him but he could always find another one at any time. The task that he had assigned to Pale Scepter was far more critical and it was pleasing that the Duke had risen to the occasion.
Equestrian nobility were notoriously fickle and difficult to work with. Even with promises of unfathomable wealth and power, it was a challenge to get them to take orders from an unknown foreigner like him. So he was glad that some of them, like Pale Scepter, had proven themselves so useful. It made the energy and effort that he had expended to sway them worth it.
Even though he still held some anxiety about the risks associated with the second phase of his plan and the potential reliability (or lack thereof) of the Duke's newfound pawn, the foundations of his plan were set and things were starting to fall into place.
Rereading a report from one of his agents in Everfree, it looked like the situation there was beginning to boil over nicely. After he had made contact with the shattered remnants of the once mighty Chaos Cults and pried their secrets out of them, he hadn't been completely sure how agitating the Everfree's chaos pockets would play out. However, he had been pleasantly surprised with the mayhem of the fallout. The forest's Chaos Magic was also delightfully self-perpetuating and soon Equestria would have their hooves too full to pay him any mind.
Luck also appeared to be on his side as factors outside of his control were going his way. Princess Luna was sent away on some long-term diplomatic errand and Princess Celestia had become bent out of sorts and reclusive for some reason.
‘A potential schism between the sisters?’
He had toyed with the idea in the past, of trying to turn the Princesses against one another. However, with one of them now out of the picture for the foreseeable future, the result was effectively identical and required no undue risk on his part. Fortune was beginning to favour him indeed.
The winds were at his back and little could stop him now. He was a few rolls of dice away from absolute victory and even then he had multiple contingencies to fall back on.
He took out several more Trillium Crystals and began firing off messages to their twin Crystals, it was time to set the wheels of his plan into motion.
He would deal with the insubordination of Las Pegasus later but right now he had eyes on a far grander prize.