It was a quiet evening at Comstock House. The wind gently blew through the open windows of the Prophet's office as he sat in his chair, staring at a picture of his daughter. In the photograph, Elizabeth stood formally at the bottom of a staircase, her blue, comforting eyes tarnished by the stoic expression displayed on her face. It was an expression the Prophet had become all too familiar with, the same face his wife had often adopted whenever they were together.
He put the photograph back down amongst his other immortalized memories, turning his attention to a framed poem Lady Comstock had written. A slight smile spread across his face as he read the lines to himself. He picked the poem up and stared at the words, reading each one individually.
"All of my love is with you, always."
He looked up from his aged hands when he heard the sound of flapping wings enter his office. A raven had flown through the window and was now sitting on a nearby coat hanger. It eyed him with its usual anticipation, waiting for events to take place that would offer up satisfying entertainment.
Not long after the raven's arrival, several crows entered through the same window, circling a small area of the office and forming into Daniel's dark figure.
"Ah, Daniel. It's good to see you." He walked over to the Zealot. "Are you here to report on your progress in tracking down Fitzroy?"
Daniel didn't respond. He stared at the Prophet silently, his mask withholding his emotions. Comstock returned his gaze, slightly put off by the Crow's lack of response. He turned and walked back over to his desk, grabbing his bottle of scotch and a single glass.
"Am I to take your silence as bad news?" The Prophet poured a generous amount of the liquid into the crystal container, capping the near empty bottle and placing it back on the desk. "You know, these dramatic pauses are really starting to become....."
The Prophet suddenly felt a dull pain in his stomach. For a moment, it was a piercing pain that ravaged his mid-section, starting from the back and ending right at his belly. That pain hadn't lasted very long though, and now numbed into a pulsating ache, as if someone was periodically punching his back.
Comstock didn't scream in agony. He merely grunted, and that was due more to surprise than pain. Then he could taste iron in his mouth. It filled his senses as his vision blurred and he found it harder to breath. Lifting a hand to his mouth, the Prophet put two fingers on his tongue, then drew them away from his face and looked down so he could examine them.
Zachary's eyes widened when he saw that his fingers were now red. His gaze shifted from his shaking fingers to the red and silver that was protruding from his suit. Focusing in as best he could, the Prophet acknowledged the sword just as it started moving back into his body.
This time the Prophet screamed. His yells of pain were quickly lost as he choked on the blood that had already filled his mouth. The pain did not secede, only growing worse as the blade was slowly wrenched from his body, scraping against his spinal chord and lighting his nerves on fire.
As the tip of the blade exited his back, Comstock's garbled cries were silenced, and the Prophet fell to his knees, his legs no longer able to hold his weight. Every time his heart beat, it felt like a slap in the face. Zachary's ears were pounding as his vital organs worked double time to keep the old man breathing.
Soon Daniel once again entered the Prophet's field of vision. He walked to Comstock's front, calmly sheathing his weapon and setting down a Voxophone. The Crow pressed play and then walked over to a nearby chair, grabbing it and dragging it back over to where the Prophet was still bleeding out. Daniel sat in the chair and watched as the life slowly drained from the Prophet's body. Zachary stared at the Zealot in shock, but his attention quickly turned to the Voxophone when it began to crackle. His pale face grew even more so when he heard the voice that now emanated from the small device.
Looking back at Daniel, the Prophet tried to find some sort of emotion on his face, unable to do so with the mask protectively hiding his features. His eyes moved slightly, and now looked right at the portrait of Lady Comstock that was mounted on the wall. Her face, as emotionless as the Crow's, now filled his vision as her voice filled his ears.
"Lutece says the bastard is a creation not of her womb, but of some unholy science. I do not know which is true. The child is no more divine than I."
Comstock's vision went black for a moment as his heart rate started to slow. He could hear the pounding of his heart as it ran out of steam. His wife continued to speak to her audience as the Zealot's gaze remained solely on Comstock.
"What says that for my husband's prophecy? He begs my silence, but I can only offer him forgiveness. But with repentance need come truth. I can suffer his lies no longer."
There was a pause in the Voxophone. Daniel got up from his seat and walked over to the portrait of Lady Comstock. He put a hand on her enlarged cheek as the tape arrived at its next stretch of recording.
"The Prophet has noted my unwillingness to continue on with his false truths. My husband he may be, but I cannot live with the lies. He has become not the man who once offered me forgiveness, but a shadow of the Prophet who built this city. The machine Lutece constructed has tainted not only his body, but his soul as well."
Tears streamed down the Prophet's face as blood drizzled off his chin. His shirt was now a sea of deep red, traveling down his broken body and onto the floor at his knees.
"I do not believe God talks to my husband. The Prophet is the voice of God like a medium is the voice of a vague and incomprehensible spirit. Can I be expected to stand by his side as he leads Columbia to the edge of the world, only to push it over and watch as it falls? He must be stopped, if not by me, then by those who serve him now, those who serve me now. I have learned that he has commissioned the help of Jeremiah to ensure my silence."
There was another pause as the Lady began to cry, her tears now joining those shed by her husband.
"I do not weep for the fate of my own soul. That is something that cannot be changed. I fear not for myself, but for the city I will leave behind. My husband is not a kind spirit, but a devil in a suit. He whispers lies to those who would hear them, at the same time sharpening his scythe to reap the fruits of their labor. If my end goes unjustified, then those who follow me will have failed my last request. Zachary must be stopped, if for nothing else, let it be for the future of mankind. Lord forgive me, for I have sinned. The sins of my husband reflect on me. The redeemer cannot be redeemed. The savior is all but saved."
The Voxophone clicked and then fell silent, signaling the end of the message. Zachary stared at Daniel, saying nothing. How had the Zealot found such a recording?
"D-Daniel....."
When the Prophet opened his mouth, blood streamed down his chin and neck. A large amount of blood had pooled beneath him, and he knew he was finished.
"This whole time..... You played me for a fool." Daniel hissed. He clenched his fists tightly. "You had your wife killed and then used Fitzroy as a scapegoat. Not only did you prevent her from blowing the whistle, but you also gained the unwavering loyalty of the other founders and their allies. The Order of the Raven pledged itself to you. You used the death of your own wife a rallying cry, a call to arms."
The Crow grabbed Comstock's neck and squeezed tightly. The Prophet coughed up more blood, spraying a red mist over Daniel's hood, but still he managed a weak smile.
"Y-you think you're a protector of Lady Comstock? You see yourself as some valiant knight, endlessly searching for her murderer in order to fulfill some pathetic personal vendetta. My wife's death was the single greatest tragedy this great city has ever endured, but it was necessary in order for me to impose the will of God."
"Liar!"
Daniel squeezed even tighter. Comstock's broken diaphragm had struggled to keep him breathing up to this point. Now his breaths were even fewer and far between.
"The Lady saw right through your charade. You are not a Prophet. You're simply a bitter old man who's been blinded by guilt and tainted by sin. When she threatened to speak out about your lies, you had her silenced!"
The Zealot released the Prophet from his grip.
"But now I will be able to give her justice, and stop your insanity. I only wish I could have seen through your twisted deceit earlier. Then maybe your 'daughter' may have been spared as well."
"You fool." Zachary coughed. "What do you think will happen now? I didn't need to use my wife's death to ensure the loyalty of others. Most of the other founders know the truth of her death. No, it was used to keep fractured minds like your's in check."
His smile widened.
"Do you think that killing me is going to change anything? You have only succeeded in making me a martyr. All of Columbia will cry out in anger at my death, then they will turn their anger on the creatures below. You have done nothing but add to their suffering."
"No." The Crow declared. "I will put an end to this madness. There will be no more bloodshed in your name. I promise you."
The Prophet fell on all fours, barely able to hold himself up.
"There's no stopping what is to come." he croaked. "All of the pieces have been set, and my order has already been given. By this time tomorrow, the entirety of the Sodom will be in flames. The cleansing will happen with or without my presence, and you can do nothing but watch as the machine you yourself set in motion destroys everything in its path. Columbia will spread and develop into its own country, and eventually the entire world will be reborn in my image, just as I was reborn in His."
He looked up at the portrait of his wife, she stared back down at him with indifference. With death entering the room to claim his soul, Zachary Comstock fell to the floor. His eyes remained open as his life ended.
"Tell me Daniel....... Do y-you think God ever h-has regret?"
The Prophet fell silent on the floor, blood pooling all around him. His eyes remained open, but Daniel knew he was gone. The raven cawed from it's perch.
"We have to stop this attack."
The raven cawed questioningly as the Zealot approached the window.
"Because it's high time I started obeying the right Comstock." he replied, looking over at the Lady's picture one final time. The raven joined him on the window sill as he jumped out of the Prophet's office, turning into crows and flying off into the night.
* * *
Applejack struggled to keep up with Rainbow Dash as she flew through the air, searching for her other friends.
"Get back down here this instant, Rainbow! You ain't been cleared from the hospital yet and goin' off on yer own is probably the quickest way for ya to wind up back in there!"
"I told you I'm fine." Rainbow assured. "But we need to find the others and help out. I need to get back into the game."
"This ain't a game Rainbow Dash. It's serious, and the last thing we wanna do is blunder into somthin' that we ain't ready for!"
The blue pegasus stopped flying. Hovering in the air for a moment, she decided to land just outside the library. Guards were still busily working to get defenses set up for whatever threat was looming over the land. Applejack caught up to her, panting when she finally came to a stop.
"Where's Twilight?" the pegasus inquired.
"I think she went to Canterlot to meet with the other princesses."
"And you said the others were supposed to meet up with us at the hospital?"
Applejack nodded. "That's what the guard told me."
Rainbow Dash kicked the dirt beneath her hooves, groaning impatiently.
"I hate not knowing what's going on! We have to find somepony to point us in the right direction."
She looked around and saw a courier as he flew into Ponyville. The grim expression on his face led Rainbow to conclude that he wasn't carrying good news. The courier galloped over to the two mares.
"Hey, you two are Elements of Harmony right?" he asked.
"Yeah, were you sent here by Twilight?" Dash asked.
The courier shook his head. "I'm actually here looking for Princess Twilight."
The cyan pony sighed. "You and me both."
Applejack put a hoof on Rainbow Dash. "Do you have a message for her or somethin'?" she asked the courier.
He nodded. "Yes, I need to get to her as soon as possible."
"Well your best bet is to fly straight to Canterlot." she explained.
"Great..." the courier said, frustrated.
"What's the message?" Rainbow asked. The courier hesitated at first, reluctant to give out a private message, but ultimately decided that Equestria's protectors had every right to know the full situation.
"There's been reports that Dodge Junction has been attacked."
Both ponies gasped. "Attacked by what?" Applejack asked.
"We don't know, but whatever it was, it razed the entire town." he said grimly. The two Elements exchanged shocked looks. "Not only that, but we're also getting reports that strange ships are moving all over the Equestrian skies. The higher ups aren't saying much, but I hear they think it's some kind of strategized attack."
Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack. "We have to get to Canterlot, now."
The farm pony gulped and nodded, finally agreeing with her friend.
The courier quickly took off and flew toward the capital, while the two Elements of Harmony galloped to the train station.