//------------------------------// // A Busy Night // Story: Secret Agent Macintosh: Whispers // by islandsun //------------------------------// Chapter Five A Busy Night Princess Celestia sat in her bed in her dark bedroom, waiting. Her patience, at first glance, was filled with great dignity and regality that was appropriate for a Princess, but if a pony was to look closer they might notice the occasional quick breath, spontaneous little smiles, accompanied by a quick bashful blinking. She was waiting for somepony she should not be waiting for. Somepony who spurned naughty thoughts within her mind. The pony she was being so patient for was none other than Telltail Twirler, her precious student. It must have been eight years to the day that she found that skinny little orphan on the streets. He had stolen a simple apple from a street vendor. To escape the vendor's wrath, he had teleported away at the last moment, just as she and her royal guards were cantering down the road. He was very young, still a foal at the time. He should not have been able to accomplish such a feat, especially with no one to teach magic to him. It was pure chance that Princess Celestia saw the ordeal. But she was impressed. And so she tracked down that little unicorn, and gave him the opportunity of a life time. That is, after she had him return the stolen apple. Slowly, she gained an odd affection towards the quiet and studious pony. If anypony was to find out the truth of the mentor and her student there would be a scandal larger than potbellied dragon. But in Celestia’s mind, it was worth it. She had been a Princess for a long time now. Carrying out regal duties and responsibilities became burdensome at times and sometimes she felt she should treat herself. Allow herself to divulge. Just give into a little desire and guilty pleasure every now and then. Once a century she would find herself a consort of the bedroom. It was sad, always sad, when they aged and died and she would have to carry on. She often told herself there are many sad things in the world. It did not mean she could not enjoy some of the happy things that same world had to offer. There was an old Equestrian adage that came to mind, in regards to all she had lost over her long life. Time heals all wounds, and destroys all things. There was a surreal popping noise in the dark room, the sound of a unicorn teleporting. Celestia smiled to herself and moved to allow Telltail into the bed. The two ponies of high statute, had shed their clothes: his dark vest, her necklace and crown. Celestia surrounded Telltail with her wing and drew him up against her body. He was a much smaller pony than Celestia, and it was almost as if he was a teddy bear in her embrace. She nuzzled him affectionately. There were nights that they made love to each other, and other nights they just slept sweetly in the other’s embrace. Celestia cherished all of those nights. Telltail rarely spoke to her. Well, he rarely spoke to anypony. He rarely showed much emotion either. And there were nights when he would not look at his Princess, when he would just stare into the darkness. Sometimes Celestia had the worst realizations, worrying that perhaps, because of her position, she forced Telltail into this. But those thoughts would pass, when, one night, out of the blue, he would whisper that he loved her. Telltail was more than just her lover. He was a proper confidant. The only pony, in these days and ages, that she could tell her true thoughts to. She could trust him, and him alone to never tell another soul. “Luna has been so distant to me lately. Being so curt at dinner and breakfast, she barely speaks to me otherwise anymore. She worries me so much sometimes.” Celestia sighed and hugged her little pony tighter. Telltail didn’t say anything. “What do you think of the subject, Telltail? I know you must have some conclusion or opinion, from all the notes you have taken on her.” There was silence for a moment. It was true. Telltail always took note of the ponies around him. Every turn of phrase, every characterizing action, every misplaced blink. He was a very observant pony. And there was not a pony in the entire castle he did not make mention of in his journal. Telltail spoke. “She has been avoiding eye contact with you, Princess, while choosing to stare at you when you are not looking, and symbolic objects such as your depictions in and outside the castle. She has also taken a greater interest in the training of the Lunar guard and her level of personal control over them. She has said herself that you enjoy greater admiration from your subjects. It is my belief that she has grown jealous of that admiration towards you. This may be influenced by events in her childhood. She also needs more sodium in her diet, and has been slowly losing the ability to perform complex mathematical equations for lack of practice. In addition to that, she is depending more and more on her duties in the dreams of other ponies for stability and meaning in her life.” Celestia blinked, having forgotten how thorough Telltail could be in his summations. After thinking about what he said, she sighed once more. “I suppose I should find some more time to spend with her, perhaps we could talk about it…” There was silence once again. “What about me, Telltail, what is your conclusion about me?” “In regards to what?” “In regards to yourself, Telltail.” “Well…um…you are you, Princess…” Celestia could almost feel the blush radiating from him. “In regards to me…you…are everything. If you wish, Princess I could list two hundred and forty seven accurate statements of relevance.” Celestia kissed him on the nose. “That won’t be necessary Telltail…you know, sometimes I feel that you are smarter than us all.” “That’s not true, Princess. Only with age can come true wisdom. I am still young.” He spoke as if he was disappointed with his age. “Don’t sound so sad about that. Being young is such a marvelous thing, Telltail.” “Why? Because ignorance is bliss?” “No, my dearest, because even when one has lived a life of thousands of years and can look back on the most wonderful of times on their deathbed, it will never compare to all the things that could be done, and all the memories that could be made by a young foal. For one is finite, and the other is infinite.” “Perhaps…Princess…” “You know that you may call me Celestia when we are alone, Telltail,” Princess Celestia told her lover. “Perhaps…Princess…” Celestia smiled and nuzzled her very own little pony again. “Princess…Celestia…do you love me?” asked Telltail shyly. The princess blinked in surprise. Telltail never asked such a question before. He had never been so bold. “Why of course, Telltail. I love you.” “Thank you, Princess…” Telltail’s last words were barely a whisper. There was something sad in his words. Something melancholy. Almost like it was the last time he would have such a moment with her. “Are you alright?” “Yes I am, Princess. We should rest now, shouldn’t we?” Celstia nodded, and then, being bolder than he had ever been before, Telltail kissed her, on the mouth. “Goodnight.” They fell asleep together, like they often did, feeling the heat of the other’s body, and the heartbeat of the other’s heart. They fell asleep, in the dark. But they should have stayed awake. For this was going to be a busy night in the Castle of the Royal Sisters. 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Mountainmill Everfree was lost. The stone castle was like a maze with ever shifting walls; absolutely nothing like his forests and mountains. It was hard enough to find his way here and convince the guard ponies to let him in. Would he really be defeated by a stupid poorly adorned hallway!? “SALUTAIONS!” he shouted, “IS THERE ANYPONY HERE?” “You would think they would at least have guards around,” he muttered to himself. Sighing, he sat down in front of one of Luna’s tapestries, a depiction of her silhouette against the moon. “I never anticipated this to be a pleasant experience, but this is simply ridiculous.” He sent Luna a prayer that he would find her tonight. He had to keep moving, He had to stay put. If he stood still too long, then their faces would come back. If he kept moving he might simply get kicked out, and then he would never get his audience. Mountainmill considered himself to be a tough pony. Wasn’t one for remorse, or despair. Rarely ever looked back. Sometimes he even scared himself at how complacent he could feel at the funeral of his own father. But now…he wished he could feel it even less. His brother and his sister! He killed them both! Sure, he did not have a choice. But it was still their bodies, and their faces which lost all hints of life when he was done with them. He had not cried a tear yet. But the shame, and the guilt, it crept up on him, like the shadows of a setting sun. It didn’t go away, not for one moment, not even in his dreams where death upon death slithered into every nightmare. He tried going back to work. But it didn’t stop. He buried them, and he even found a way to destroy that Celestia damned pyramid that caused all of it. It still didn’t stop. The bad dreams. The whispers too. They were what took his brother and his sister from him. With all their empty promises, and visions of grandeur. They came to him as well, when he tried to destroy that stupid pyramid. They were almost too much to resist. He didn’t know how, but they persisted even after he destroyed the pyramid. He hated that thing so much. It was the reason he was forced to kill his brother and his sister, or face his own death. It was the reason he could not sleep without facing eternal torment. Maybe it would get better after this ordeal was all over. He just had to find Princess Luna!! He got up, revitalized with purpose. “Oh…that’s right…lost.” He growled in frustration. He bucked his hind legs back, hitting the tapestry of Luna, and the wall behind it. Still frustrated. He hit it again. Something cracked. He hit it one more time. Suddenly the whole wall gave way. “What?” he turned around as the tapestry and a section of the stone wall collapsed. It wasn’t a wall at all, or stone. Just wood and plaster painted to look like rock. There was a hallway behind it. Naturally curious, Mountainmill trotted into it. “Salutations!” he called down the hall. “HOW DARE YOU BREAK THE SEAL OF THE SANCTUM!” screeched back a voice. “Oh, it’s you, that rude guard pony with the ridiculous name,” said Mountainmill flatly. He found himself in a circular room with a glass ceiling and surrounded by unicorns in highly decorated Lunar Guard uniforms face to face with that pony he encountered earlier, Sir Nightaura Vortex. Sir Nightaura glared at the mountain pony. “Is Princess Luna around here somewhere? I really must speak to her. If not, then two ponies would have died in vain.” “Unfortunately no, Mister Everfree. She is very busy,” Nightaura said through gritted teeth, ignoring the point of the two deaths. “Well then, I’ll just pop off and check somewhere else.” Mountainmill turned to leave. But a magical purple glow surrounded him, holding him back. “No. I am sorry, Mister Everfree, but neither I nor my fellow knights can allow you to speak to the Princess, tonight. And frankly your meddling is becoming annoying, if it continues it is going to be detrimental to our plans.” “And what are you going to do, then?” Mountain Mill’s voice dropped to dead seriousness. “In the name of our patron, I sentence you to death.” Mountainmill stared at the Nightmare Knight, and then he smiled. “At least there won’t be any more nightmares.” “Yes… no more nightmares.” The glow grew brighter. The other unicorns did nothing. The knight’s eyes were filled with cruelty. The simple pony, his eyes were filled with complacency. Dying was his consolation prize. At least he got that much. But then something happened. There was a red pony and ….a blue one. They came out of nowhere. Or were they there the whole time? Big Macintosh jumped onto Mountainmill and then they both disappeared in a flash of light. “Um, sir…” said one of the Knights awkwardly, and confused. Everypony left was staring at the mysterious blue pony. He cleared his throat. “If you will excuse me.” Captain Jack pressed a button on the device on his wrist, and then disappeared as well. There was a pause in the room. Many of the Nightmare Knights were still unsure of what just happened. “Sir….” repeated the same pony. Sir Nightaura did not miss a beat. “You two, go after these rogue ponies. They cannot not stop us. Not now. The rest of us will begin the spell. Tonight, Princess Luna will be ours. The Mistress of dreams and the moon will fall and our Patron of the universe will rise!” "Huzzah!" the others shouted together. 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 “What were you thinking?! You just blew our cover!” asked Jack harshly after finding himself a barren hallway of the castle. There was clear frustration in his voice. “Shut up, Jack. They were going to kill him,” replied an equally frustrated Big Macintosh. “You can’t just do stuff like that. Time can only take so much abuse you know…and hello. I’m Captain Jack Harkness.” He turned to the mountain pony with a charming smile. Big Macintosh face-hoofed at the sight of spontaneous flirting. “No it’s alright,” began Mountainmill, seemingly unfazed. “You two didn’t have to save me. It’s what I deserve for killing my brother and sister.” Both Big Mac and Jack were staring at the new pony strangely now. “You two wouldn’t happen to know where I can find Princess Luna,” asked Mountainmill, remembering his original goal. “But it’s alright if I die before that. Then the nightmares and the whispers will go away.” “…did you just say whispers?” asked Big Macintosh. “Yes.” “What whispers?” Montainmill blinked, and diverted his gaze. “You know, before this started I had a brother and a sister.” “What happened to them?” asked Big Macintosh tentatively, frightened by what answer he may get. Mountainmill lowered his eyebrows thoughtfully and frowned. As if he was remembering something foul. “I killed them. But I didn’t have a choice. The whispers possessed them, it told them lies and...they would have killed me,” said Mountainmill, nodding his head up and down slowly, as if he was trying to convince himself. “Are you alright?” asked Big Mac, sounding concerned. “Hmm? Yes...er, no...I need to see Princess Luna.” he said. “How exactly did it possess them. What happened?” asked Jack. “There was a pyramid made of golden orbs, and it fell from the sky. It made a really big hole when it hit the ground. When they touched it they began to hear the whispers. And it said that it understood them, that it could make them great, or loved and that it would help them change the world,” answered Mountainmill, his voice distant. “How do you know what the whispers said?” Jack pressed further. “Because I can hear them too,” replied Mountainmill. “They tried to kill me when I wouldn’t touch the spheres as well. But I won. And I used the flour mill to destroy the pyramid. Of course, in order to do that I had to pick it up... I thought the whispers would go away once I destroyed it. But they didn’t.“ Jack and Big Mac exchanged a look of sudden realization, finally understanding some of this. “That thing, it must be some kind of psychic creature to affect their minds like that and have no physical form. And if the ponies it controlled fell asleep…” Captain Jack mused out loud. “Then it would be in the dreams,” Big Macintosh finished the thought for him. “Caught up in Princess Luna’s dream realm network.” “But wait, the diary said that she was fighting them, and that, although they were persistent, she was winning. What happens to change that?” asked Big Macintosh to the mysterious forces of the universe which governed these areas of shades of grey. “The Knights said they had a patron….” The expression being exchanged by the two agents of Torchwood morphed from one of understanding to alarm. “We have to get back there!” exclaimed Big Mac galloping down the hall towards the Nightmare Knight’s sanctuary. “Is Princess Luna there?” asked Mountainmill. “Yes!” Jack called to him as he chased after his partner in time. As Big Macintosh rounded the corner in the hallway, he suddenly yelped and did an about face. The two ponies in his wake followed suit once they saw the two Nightmare Knights charging down the hall. “Run!” shouted Big Mac. As the Knights sped past a suit of armour, they didn’t bother to yell at their prey to stop. Instead, they used their horns, and caused the armor to glow. Strips of metal began to tear off, jagged edged pieces. They pointed themselves at the escaping ponies and then flew with an ominous whistle. Jack glanced back when he heard the metal screeching in protest at being torn apart. He was quick on his hooves, and turned around as fast as he could. In a single fluid motion he let his coat fall off his body, and then spread his wings as he jumped into the air. Showing off all of his Pegasus glory. The shards of metal struck him fiercely and swiftly. There was a single exclamation of agony, just one shout in pain, his wings and backed arched from the shock, and then he fell limp. Mountainmill slid to a stop as soon as he saw the good captain’s sacrifice. “We have to help him!” “He’ll be fine,” Big Mac said into Mountainmill's ear, and pushed him forward. They could not afford to stay still. Only one of the Knights paused over Jack’s body, picking him and his coat up with their magic. The second went on in their pursuit. Big Macintosh glanced to his side at the pony who galloped with him. The pony that was now his responsibility. He bit his tongue, forcing himself not to look back. “Jack will be okay, he’s always okay,” he thought to himself. Then another, more frightening thought cropped up in the adrenaline fueled mind of Big Macintosh. “I’m on my own now…” 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Princess Luna sighed as she watched the little filly bound through the wildflower meadow. She wanted to stay there forever. So she could just watch the joy that she brought about. The dreams were the only time she could indulge herself, as the only other ponies awake were the lunar guard and her Nightmare Knights, and all of them had jobs to do. This filly was having a nightmare about her father. He had thrown her into her closest that was full of scorpions and spiders. Luna helped her overcome it. That was the thing about ponies and their dreams. Luna knew in life, under the harsh rays of the sun, not all ponies were equal. Some pony might be happier, or more successful, or more loved. But under the gentle light of the moon, in the depths of dreams, Luna strove for all ponies to be equal. All of them would be happy, loved, and given a chance to escape all the burdens and pain reality brought them...even if that pain was their own fault. Princess Luna collected all of her conviction and then turned away from the smiling filly. The skin of the dream world warped around her as she slowly trotted forward. Now she was in a dark room. She lit up her horn and looked around, trying to discern whose dream this was. But there was no one in sight. Perhaps this was one of the rarer dreams where the dreamer was not inside? After looking around for a little while Luna decided that this was not in fact a nightmare, and turned to leave. Suddenly there was a hoofstep behind her. Then another. And another. Her ears twitched and she turned around. There were silhouettes in the shadows cast by her light. “I am here to extend to you a final chance, Princess. You see this world of dreams, I tell you, I can make this world greater than the one your sister has such great providence over. There are things in this world that not even you have knowledge of. I can help you, Princess. I know you princess.” The voice in this dream was quiet, and calm, and seemingly detached from the blackened room around it. The whispers, this was one of their tricks. “We do not humor such deviants as thyself, foul creature!” Luna shouted back at the whispers. “We have seen the perversions thy have made to dreams of our ponies! Thy are nothing more than a thought, a poor deranged thought. Thy are less than a drop of water beneath our hooves.” Luna lowered her horn, which began to grow brighter. “Thy shall taint these dreams no more!” “It is a shame you think such, Princess. I was hoping you would make this much easier for me. It has been difficult to maintain my form in this realm, very chaotic. However, as I am sure you will see, Princess, I am very resourceful. I am very smart. And I must say that I am surprised. As someone with your stature I thought you would be much more civil when engaging an enemy. You have not even asked for my name, Princess Luna.” Luna sneered at his remarks. “I am the Great Intelligence. And you are precisely what I need, Princess Luna.” Just as Luna was about to unleash the full force of her magic against the vile whispers the silhouettes stepped out of the shadows, revealing their true forms. The Nightmare Knights. Luna stepped back in surprise. “Having a good night, Princess? I must say that it was about time you were introduced to our patron,” spoke Sir Nightaura, the closest to the Princess. “B-but, you are our Knights, you serve us, and defeat such nightmares and things like this creature!” she protested, almost trying to convince herself their betrayal was false. “Hush now, Princess. Time to go to sleep,” Nightaura cooed to Luna as if he was speaking to a foal past their bedtime. The Nightmare Knights pointed their glowing horns toward their former mistress. Thus began the fall of the Princess of the Night. 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Big Macintosh galloped as fast as he could, all the while trying to type in new coordinates into the teleport. “What are you doing?” asked Mountainmill, dodging one of the intense and deadly beams of magic sent after him. “I need to get us out of this castle. This thing on my wrist, I can use it like a teleport, but I need to change where the end location is set, or else we will end up where we were before,” Big Mac grunted. It was very hard to keep running and typing at the same time. He was losing his balance. “Hey, what was your name?” he asked the mountain pony. “Mountainmill Everfree, nice of you to ask. And who are you?” “Just call me Macintosh,” Big Mac told him. “And I would be mighty grateful, Mountainmill, if you could give me a good distraction.” “Alright!” exclaimed Mountainmill, skidding to a stop. “Hey! Asshole!” he shouted at the knight. And then he jumped out the stained glass window. Big Macintosh stopped in his tracks when he saw Mountainmill’s stunt. “Oh,” he said simply once he realized that he was on the first floor. He jumped after him, and galloped down the castle lawn. “You could have told me that was your distraction!” Big Mac shouted, still trying to type in the coordinates. The unicorn in pursuit teleported in front of them. His eyes glaring as he prepared a fatal spell. Big Macintosh was barely able to catch up to Mountainmill, grasp his flank, and then activate the teleport. Mountainmill blinked in confusion from moving suddenly again. “Ah,” he spoke once he noticed that they had escaped the Nightmare Knight. “Will he be able to follow us?” he asked. Big Macintosh shook his head, “No, this kind of teleportation is different from a unicorn’s. They would need a little more than just one pony’s magic to track that. Torchwood could, but thankfully they won’t exist for another seven hundred years.” “Hmmm, alright,” Mountainmill said full of complacency. “Now, where are we?” Big Mac asked the air. He was a good while away from the stone castle, just outside of the walls. Looking the other way he could see a town in the moonlight. Little glints from fireplaces and lanterns, and smoke billowing from chimneys. There were not very many trees, just flat, grassy plains. “Just outside Rheostallion by the looks of it. The capital of Equestria,” Mountainmill told him as he was sniffing the cold night air. “Eeeyup,” said Big Macintosh with a sigh. He laid himself down in the grass. Not sure what to do, Mountainmill lay down next to him. Big Macintosh twisted, pulling himself onto his back. He looked up at the stars. “I ‘ave to get Jack back, somehow.” His words were almost a prayer to Princess Luna herself, as he gazed up at the heavens. The blackness was broken and sprinkled with the glowing silver within the high up stars and gibbous moon. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Big Mac knew how much complexity lay behind that sky. All the worlds, galaxies and nebulas of rolling gasses. Black holes, supernovas, and the medusa cascade. All the marvels and wonders of the universe. The portal to those wonders, the night sky, was in the dominion of Princess Luna. When Big Macintosh was young, when Granny Smith told him the old story of the disgraced sister of Celestia, he could not imagine how the jealousy of a single pony would make them doom all of Equestria. Jealousy was never an emotion he was well acquainted with back then. After Big Macintosh had seen so much of the cosmos chasing Captain John Hart, he found himself wondering how Princess Luna could be jealous of Princess Celestia. Compared to a single star, the sun, suspended in a single sky, Luna held trillions of worlds and billions stars in her domain. The moon was merely the most celebrated of her heavenly bodies. How could Princess Luna be jealous? She reigned over so much more majesty and if other ponies didn't recognize that, that was there own loss, their own ignorance. However, he could see her frustration, and understand her pain much better after his adventure. He knew more than most ponies what it was like to be ignored. Understanding all that made it even sadder to think about the history which was going to be made in just one more day. Although, Big Macintosh had more immediate problems to deal with. If he was to save the Princess Luna of his time and day, he would have to act quickly. “Is there any chance that Princess Luna will be around when we do our rescue?” asked Mountainmill. Big Macintosh sent Mountainmill a curious glance. “Why are ya so interested in seeing Princess Luna? Why not Princess Celestia? You were prepared to die a little bit earlier, but you still want to see her. Why?” “Simple. When I tell you that I have murdered my brother and sister, your feelings probably went to them, as they should. If you are particularly understanding pony you might take in my justification for it. Princess Luna watches our dreams. She may have seen my nightmares. She is probably the only pony in Equestria who knows the pain I bear, and probably the only pony who could offer me any pity. That’s all I want, before I die anyway.” Mountainmill explained his reasoning with a calm and passive tone. Big Macintosh did not understand how one pony could be so complacent when talking about their imminent death or incarceration. “Oh,” was all Big Mac could manage in response. “Yeah, well, anyway. What’s the plan?” Big Macintosh groaned as he tried to compose something lucid from his mind. “I dunno. I could try teleporting back in, but they might be expecting us that way. It probably is not a good idea for us to wake up anybody with authority, too much explaining to do there… I’m just not sure. Give me another second.” “Too bad there isn’t anypony we can go to for help. Princess Celestia would probably be able to deal with those Nightmare Knights in a second.” “Eeyup, but she is going to have to some bigger problems to deal with tomorrow…” suddenly Big Macintosh sat up. He remembered something important. “Yer right, we do need some help. But not from any princess. Because all we really need is a good distraction. Something to get the Royal Guards and the Nightmare Knights busy, that way I can get Jack back, and stop whatever creature got inside the dream realm network.” Big Mac started trotting towards the distant lights of the town. “What are you doing?” asked Mountainmill as he got up to follow him. “To get help.” “How?” “With this!” Big Macintosh pulled out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket. It was a little bit larger than a business card. “And what’s that?” “It’s psychic paper, it belonged to Captain Jack. I stole it from him yesterday.” “Why did you steal it?” “To impress him. Now come on, we don’t have much time. It’s only a couple hours until dawn!” Mountainmill shrugged and accepted the strange pony’s answer. He started to gallop in order to catch up. He was filled with a newfound energy. It appeared they had a plan now. 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 The sun was supposed to rise soon. Princess Celestia and Telltail Twirler were sitting in their proper places on the dining table. Telltail was back in his vest and glasses. Celestia was once again in her crown and ornate necklace. Celestia was waiting patiently for her sister, watching the door. Telltail kept his head down, but every now and then he would send a careful gaze to his Princess. His ears went up in attention when he heard heavy hoofsteps come from the hall. The door opened. The dark blue haired Princess Luna peered in. She smiled. It was an odd smile, a smile that said she knew something that they did not. “Good morning, sister dearest,” she said.