The abandoned hotel was an expanse of decaying stone and weeds. Nothing stirred there. The air felt heavy. Only the moon lit up the scene. The land was dead.
For that reason, Luna thought, it was indeed an appropriate place for such a meeting.
Ironwing walked towards them from the other edge of the old lot in front of the hotel. He spoke as he did so. “I have done my realm’s duty. I have walked the edge of the diplomatic snakepit, neither taking action myself nor acknowledging the insults Equestria has heaped upon me—here or in times past.” He stopped two paces in front of them. “But the time for subtlety has past, Princess Luna. You know what I’m here for—to stop the loan.”
Luna smiled thinly. “Strange. Twilight Sparkle told me you were here to wed her. Which is it, Emperor Ironwing?”
Ironwing returned the smile. “Ah, so she told you. Very well, then: both. However, given Twilight Sparkle’s rather ill-advised rejection, then my other objective still stands.”
“You’re afraid.” Luna’s smile grew. “This loan ensures that Equestria maintains its strength on your border. My sister and I have spies as well, Ironwing. Our strength grows while yours wanes.”
Ironwing’s claws scraped on the stone. “Do not mock me, Luna. I suggest you follow Golden Lily’s example and keep your tongue still. I see that your horn is glowing, but if you think a shield will save you, you do not know my power.”
To Ironwing’s surprise, it was Golden Lily who stepped forward, stiffly. Her ears laid back and her tail lashed in anger. “I have had enough of your insults, Emperor Ironwing! You insult the Princesses, you insult Equestria, and you insult me! Just because you can kill anyone who opposes you in your own ‘empire’—“ she spat the last word in contempt “—you think you can bully everyone else! The day is coming in which you shall fall, Ironwing—and that day is very soon indeed!”
Ironwing’s temper finally snapped. “You dare threaten me?” he shouted. His claws flashed upwards into Golden Lily’s neck. Blood sprayed from the wound and the white pony collapsed to the ground. She twitched once and was still. He turned towards Luna, readying to parry her attack. Luna merely stood there, wings folded. Her horn still glowed with magical energy, slightly brighter now, but she neither attacked nor made any move to defend herself. She wore that placid, maddening smile. “What are you smiling about, fool?” he hissed. “It’s pointless now. All of it.”
“Pointless?” Luna cocked her head to one side. “You mean the loan, or the fact that you just started the war you’ve wanted since the moment you came here?” She laughed. “You’re wrong on both counts, Ironwing. There will be a loan. Matter of fact, there already is one.”
Ironwing’s expression was quizzical. “How? Golden Lily is dead. Without her, the bankers will never guarantee the loan. Twilight Sparkle is too young and you are too unstable, Nightmare Moon.”
“Is that truly the best you can do, Ironwing?” Luna sighed. “I’ve come to terms with Nightmare Moon.” That was a bit of a lie, but Ironwing did not need to know that. “As for Golden Lily…of course she’s dead. In fact, she’s been dead. Twilight Sparkle, myself, my sister, and Lily’s doctor were the only ones privy to that. She died two weeks ago, just before Twilight’s coronation. You are right, however—the Germaneigh bankers would not deal with Twilight or myself, and Celestia could not come to Germaneigh without a royal rigamarole that would delay the loan longer than Equestria can wait.”
“Then who?”
“A double. One of Twilight’s friends, Rarity. You may have heard of her; she’s a fashion designer with some talent. Her grasp of etiquette stood her in good stead with the negotiations, and she learned finance rather quickly, with a little coaching before we left, of course. And since she and Golden Lily shared coat and mane colors, and were both unicorns, Rarity was easily able to slip into the disguise.”
Ironwing was surprised. “I have heard of this Rarity—she’s a bearer of the Elements of Harmony. You would sacrifice her so readily?”
“Did we?”
The griffin turned to the body. He ran his talons through it; they passed through without resistance. Too late, he realized he had met no resistance in his attack either. “An illusion.” He glanced back at Luna. “That was why your horn was glowing. You didn’t have a shield up; you were casting the illusion.”
“We knew that, sooner or later, you would lose your temper, Ironwing," Luna said. "I have always known how to get to you. I also knew you would ignore ‘Golden Lily’ and keep your attention on me. Had you not, you might’ve noticed that Lily never moved except to step forward, and never spoke except when I was not. A simple illusionary spell combined with disguising my voice, and the rest is, as they say, history.” Luna gave a nod, and the “body” disappeared. “Golden Lily had to die, Ironwing. Rarity was not keen on dying, naturally, so Twilight taught me the spell—seems she’s been studying changeling magic lately.
“Rarity left earlier this evening, while you were rather clumsily trying to seduce Twilight Sparkle. She’s far outside your claws now, Ironwing,” Luna continued. “We had to force you to ‘kill’ Golden Lily, of course.”
“Force me?” Ironwing exclaimed. “This is meaningless, Luna! Golden Lily is dead, either here or in Canterlot. The loan died with her…and when the bankers learn you’ve committed fraud, Luna, Equestria won’t get a loan from a fifth-rate credit union!”
“Normally speaking, you might be correct. Germaneigh’s bankers would be rather upset with me, at that.” Luna’s smile remained. “At the Presentation of Collateral this afternoon, Golden Lily presented a portion of the Crown Jewels of Equestria. They’re unmistakable, as well as priceless. The loan was verified immediately.”
Ironwing nodded. “Impressive. Very well, you’ve passed that little hurdle. I am interested as to how you intend to explain Golden Lily’s sudden disappearance…ah.” He chuckled. “Of course. I’ve ‘killed’ Golden Lily.”
“Exactly. Using the Crown Jewels was my sister’s idea. That got us through the Presentation of Collateral without any of the bankers looking too closely at Rarity, and it cleared up all the snags. However, the unicorns at customs would notice that Rarity wasn’t Golden Lily. So Lily had to disappear, and for that, we needed your help.”
“And you’ve framed me for murder. Remind me why Equestria is supposed to be the ‘good’ realm.” There was a note of wonder in Ironwing’s voice, along with the sarcasm.
“Remind me why you feel the need to keep a standing army on the border of a nation that means you no harm and never has, Ironwing. Also remind me why you brought three assassins with you on a ‘friendly’ visit.” Luna shook her head. “The sin was in the mind, Emperor.”
Ironwing flexed his claws. “And if something happened to you, Luna? As I told Twilight Sparkle, the Griffins are ready for war. Equestria is not. You’re still reeling from the Changeling invasion, your economy is rickety, and if I were to, say, decapitate the Princess of the Night, Celestia would be gravely weakened.”
Luna sniffed. “You could do all that, certainly. Nopony cares about the evil Nightmare Moon, after all.” There was just the hint of an edge to her voice. “But I would remind you that your grandmother believed she could take down Celestia a century ago, and she learned the hard way how wrong she was.” She fluffed her wings out, just as a show of warning. “And this is assuming one important fact, Emperor…do you honestly think you can beat me?” He said nothing, but Luna could tell Ironwing had weighed his chances, and did not like them. “Do not lie to me, Ironwing. You don’t care a whit about what Germaneigh thinks that you killed someone on their soil. You had no intentions to come back here, except at the head of a conquering army, and you hold their armed forces in contempt. Your intentions were to murder Lily from the start; we just manipulated you into doing so to benefit Equestria.”
“You’re right,” Ironwing admitted. “Meanwhile, there will be a state funeral, and Celestia will give a hypocritical speech—a giant lie—that Golden Lily was foully murdered by the Griffin Empire. You will weep genuine tears, of course. The ponies of Equestria will mourn her and hate me, and therefore the border will remain secure. I understand all of that. As a matter of fact, I wish I had thought of it myself.” He fixed Luna with a stare, but one of pity. “I wonder how Twilight Sparkle will take all of this, or Rarity for that matter. To know that Equestria is built on a lie. Twilight is rather innocent, at that.”
“Twilight will understand,” Luna insisted.
“I’m sure she will. I’m also sure that her estimation of Celestia and you has dropped a bit, though. I wonder how enthusiastic of an alicorn princess she will be, now that she knows what ruling actually entails? About the lies and the crimes you must commit to maintain a strong realm? I wonder if she thinks it is worth it. Perhaps marriage to me will not be so distasteful after all. At least I do not bother to disguise my nature behind a gentle smile and a white coat.”
Luna felt her own temper rising. They had outmanuevered Ironwing. Why did it feel like that Equestria was the one that had lost? “Go to Tartarus, Ironwing.”
“I’m sure you will be there to welcome me.” Suddenly his smirk was back. “I’m sure you’re about to tell me that I will find it difficult to leave Germaneigh with a murder charge looming over my head.”
“No,” Luna corrected, “I know you’re too smart not to have a way out.”
“True. There are many secret ways out of Flankfurt. But it will be difficult, I admit…” He reached under his left wing. Luna tensed up for a weapon, but to her shock, it was no weapon that Ironwing withdrew. “…especially when you’re smuggling jewelry.” He twirled around a necklace. “This, after all, was my real primary objective.”
“But those…those are…” Luna stammered. Ironwing waited patiently. “Those are the Crown Jewels of Equestria!”
“Tut-tut, my dear Luna. As you said, they’re only part of the Crown Jewels. This necklace is indeed unique and priceless. I should know: it was once my grandmother’s. Celestia took it as a prize of war after the Griffins were defeated. I won’t say Celestia deserved to take it, after what stupidity my grandmother did. But now they are restored to my realm, and I will be known as the griffin who did it.” Ironwing began to laugh uproariously. “By the sun, the look on your face, Luna! Truly, I have missed my calling as an actor. I have been acting all night! You ponies are so easy to play—Twilight Sparkle at least has the excuse of youth.”
“But…the assassins…”
“Only a distraction. I knew Celestia would not send Twilight or her friend alone. Once I knew you were coming, I needed to give you something to do. Had they succeeded, the loan might have been cancelled, or the fraud found out. Equestria would be soundly embarrassed. Either way, I win. Their death and embarassment is worth it, many times over, to bring the Crown Jewels out into the open” He wiped a tear of mirth from his eye. “I must admit the illusion was a nice touch. I genuinely believed you had set up the double to die. Nor did I know that ‘Lily’ was this Rarity. It would have been a shame to kill her—my niece Gilda has a fondness for the Carousel Boutique line.”
Luna was still behind, mentally. “How did you get the necklace?”
“This is Flankfurt, Luna. Everyone is for sale. I bribed a bank officer.” He draped the baubles around his feathered neck. “As for how I knew about Golden Lily’s death, her doctor is a spy on my payroll. His usefulness has ended, so dispose of him as you like.”
Luna was tempted to see just what Ironwing would look like with his head on backwards. “Damn you, Ironwing! You knew the loan would go through, you knew Twilight would reject you—“
“On the contrary, I did not know Twilight would reject me,” Ironwing said. “I thought I was rather charming.”
“You used a spell to—“
He held up a paw. “What’s done is done, Luna. Perhaps you are jealous?”
The only thing that held back Luna from charging Ironwing was the knowledge that it was exactly what the griffin wanted. “You had the necklace! You had what you wanted! Why come here tonight at all?”
“To tie up loose ends. If Rarity was exposed as the fake Golden Lily, the loan would have been revoked and the jewels would have been missed. So I had to be here…to commit your little murder for you.” He bowed to Luna. “I bid you good night, Princess Luna. If you ever change your mind about my marriage proposal to you, you know where to find me.” He flew off into the night.
Luna stood there for a moment, watching. Then she looked at the ground. “I’ll be damned,” she said softly. “I will just be damned.”