~“Eight years later”~
Derpy stood still for a moment focusing her eyes on the sign hanging from the familiar store front of Quills and Sofas. It wasn’t like she needed to read it to know where she was, after all working as a local mailmare for eight years had given her an infallible internal map of Ponyville. Focusing on the sign was just another exercise she had been prescribed with for her physical therapy. Though over the past eight years her vision had improved, she still felt that she was little more than a shell of her former self. Then again, even if she had her perfect eyesight back how could a mare go out saving the world when she had a little filly to keep safe? With a quick glance backward she extracted a gold watch from a cushioned pocket in her saddlebag and made note of the time and the small picture of Dinky inside the cover before returning the timepiece to its home and marching forward into the store in front of her.
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Pinkie was in her regular good mood as she bounced through the streets of Ponyville. True she had an agenda for today but eight years of frequent inter-dimensional shifting had influenced her mind to the point that she sometimes forgot what day it was. Fortunately her comrades had found that treating their missions or meetings like parties was usually enough to keep Pinkie focused. It worked most of the time except when her new close friends were involved. Still today was a day off for the Elements of Harmony so she was free to absentmindedly skip into a store known only to sell two products that Pinkie herself would very rarely buy; though she had been planning a couch party so she might have to invest in at least one of this store’s products.
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Octavia stretched her neck as she stepped off the train carrying her cello case. She had long since purchased a home in Ponyville under the guise of needing a more private refuge to write her music and practice for more significant performances or as Vinyl called them, ‘gigs.’
Octavia considered the mare she lived with for a moment; Vinyl Scratch was not as wild as her alter ego, DJ Pon3, made her out to be. It had been Octavia who initiated their relationship several years before and had never given the unicorn any illusions that Octavia had any desire for a meaningful relationship. Still Vinyl obeyed her rules and was allowed to stay in her Canterlot home somewhat like a pet that had been house trained. It also helped that in spite of Vinyl’s initial hesitations and innocence she had still not become boring over the years. Boring was the one thing Octavia would not tolerate from a partner. Well there were other things of course, but those sins should go without mentioning.
Octavia then tightened her cello case across her back and marched into Ponyville following now familiar landmarks toward the aforementioned store that Pinkie and Derpy had already entered. She had business to attend to that didn’t involve the pony that kept her bed warm.
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Fluttershy had grown rather paranoid since the incident eight years ago. It had been the first time she had been forced by a situation to choose between the lives of her comrades and the life of an innocent, or at least the closest thing to an innocent one could find on the battlefield. She hadn’t been an extrovert before, but now with the unfamiliar pangs of guilt still eating at her psyche she really didn’t have any reason for trusting anypony. Certainly Pinkie had helped at first, making sure she knew everypony coming and going in Ponyville. Still there was only so much that such knowledge could help, after all ponies were unpredictable.
At least she mostly knew the motivations of the animals she cared for as penance for her grievous sin. Real help had only come three years previous in the form of a librarian who had somehow united the six Elements in friendship. Fluttershy allowed herself a small smile remembering that Pinkie and herself had been sent along with the other four ponies to assassinate Nightmare Moon if Celestia’s student failed. Of course she was quick to catch herself, she was always being watched and couldn’t afford to show weakness in a situation where her sins could catch up with her.
Paranoid schizophrenia, that’s what the doctors called it. Fortunately Fluttershy knew better, her friends had told her she was just fine and perfectly justified in her fear of… well nearly everything. Sure the friends who told her this were small woodland creatures, but she knew that was just pony society’s intolerance of a rabbit practicing psychology and for that matter, a primate practicing law in the criminal justice system was just unthinkable. Even if he was somewhat bird like. Of course her few pony friends frowned on her in depth conversations with the animals. Fluttershy just brushed that off as their prejudices getting the better of them, at least she didn’t talk to things like mailboxes; a certain mailmare was guilty of that particular crime. Then again there was an old oak tree who theorized that her pony friends were just jealous of her many friends.
Whatever the case may be, Fluttershy had work to do. While others might wonder why she was willing to work with such dangerous individuals, she looked at her situation rationally. Her team had selfish interests to keep her alive. So in addition to being actively protected on missions, they were also a deterrent to keep her would be assassins at bay. So with an odd confidence Fluttershy walked into Quills and Sofas to find Pinkie and Derpy already seated in the store’s private showroom.
“Oh, I’m s-sorry. Am I l-l-late?” Fluttershy stuttered apologetically. Yes apologizing was good; if she apologized for her mistakes her comrades would not betray her to the Religious Coalition of Canines or the Chipmunk Liberation Army.
Derpy gave the motherly smile she was known for as she replied sincerely, “No need to apologize, you’re right on time as always.”
“Yeah it’s really boring.” Pinkie added without consideration for her compatriot’s emotional state.
“Really? I’m sorry.” Oh she didn’t stutter that time, good job. Stuttering was sure to be a way to lose her comrades’ loyalty.
“Damn it!” The familiarly foulmouthed voice of Octavia was instantly heard as she came into view of the three other mares. “How the buck do you always get here before me?”
Derpy was about to reassure the young musician when they were all interrupted by the rather warm voice of the shop’s proprietor, “The order in which you all arrive is of no matter. Now try to be on your best behavior, we have a few guests…”
Suddenly Davenport was interrupted by the melodious tones of a fledgling alicorn, “Hello, I know the letter said I should arrive five min…” Another interruption found Princess Twilight Sparkle staring down a rifle barrel being held by a quivering Fluttershy who despite the expert aim had her eyes clenched shut.
A slightly frightened but far more confused tone suffused the princess’s speech as she continued, “…utes, but I was just so excited that I… Fluttershy?”
The recently mentioned yellow Pegasus opened her eyes in a flash to find her rifle aimed beautifully between a lavender alicorn’s eyes. A high pitched squeak emanated from her throat before she collapsed like a sack of feathers, a feat facilitated by Pinkie quickly moving to catch Fluttershy and ease her into an empty settee.
“You have got to be shitting me.” Octavia exclaimed seeing Celestia’s student standing in their midst. She went on with a far less overtly offensive yet just as hostile tone, “Pinkie, can you erase her memory or something?”
Pinkie shook her head as she finished laying Fluttershy down and spoke while she regained her full upright stance, “I could kill her easily enough, but finding a similar Twilight to replace her will be nearly impossible. I’ve only found three other Twilights that became alicorns and they’re all nearly worthless. One of them hasn’t really ever used her wings until recently and she’s the most useful of the bunch. She has been getting a little better but she would never believe our world is hers and she would probably go crazy like the oatmeal.”
A heavy sigh brought the attention to Derpy who sat glaring at Davenport. Her usually warm hearted voice was now laced with uncharacteristic venom, “I suppose this is one of your guests?” Davenport only nodded allowing Derpy to continue, “Is it really such a good idea to let an agent of Celestia into the fold?”
The sofa salespony maintained his neutral tone as he gave his answer, “She isn’t an agent of Celestia. She was her student, but upon her ascension she has become a fully separate entity completely capable of making her own decisions. Yes we can assume she will be influenced somewhat by her teacher’s lessons; however we can trust her to the point that we will not be betrayed. She has unique skills and for those we can use her.”
Derpy raised an eyebrow but was disrupted as she was about to speak by the aforementioned princess, “You talk like I’m some kind of resource or commodity. Certainly you said that I am separate from Princess Celestia, but…”
It was now Davenport’s turn to interject with a slightly hurried tone, “Please Miss Sparkle, surely you cannot believe that your teacher has never used your skills for her own selfish gain. The truth is that all ponies are simply resources for the future to consume, as it is our actions that influence the tides of fate. Also we will begin running late if we don’t get this over with.”
“Fine do what you want it’s not like I work for her majesty anymore.”
Derpy’s words confused Twilight to no end; after all she had just been accused of being a spy for Celestia, so… “You serve Princess Luna?”
“Bingo! And the prize goes to Twi!”
Pinkie’s outburst was mostly ignored allowing a now truly concerned Twilight to continue while moving slowly away from the group of ponies, “but this group, I’ve researched the Sisterhood and you’ve been around for over a thousand years.”
She paused long enough to realize she had just bumped into Octavia who spoke next, “And?”
Twilight jumped at Octavia’s touch and found herself curled in a corner with her horn slowly sparking to life as she threw the wildest accusation a pony could make at the Sisterhood of the Couch and Quill, “You’re Nightmare Moon supporters.”
Octavia spat.
Davenport cursed before turning an admonishing gaze on Octavia for her saliva now dripping off a rather expensive sofa.
Derpy only rolled her left eye, knowing the right one would do the same even without effort.
Pinkie’s smile evaporated into an anger filled glare as her mane seemed to flatten in an instant
Fluttershy, who had chosen that particular moment to regain consciousness, squeaked before fainting again.
Octavia spoke first though she obviously had more important things to do than set Twilight straight, “Oh don’t have a mental breakdown. If it means that much to you I’ll pay for the damn chair.”
Derpy was next with a tone that had all her good humor and lightheartedness drained away, “How did you become an alicorn? Were you not supposed to be Celestia’s greatest achievement in all her years turning unicorns into weapons? Blindly accusing us of working for the Blight… and some ponies say I’m simple”
Twilight tried to reply but finally noticed the now flat maned Pinkie glaring at her. Pinkie’s tone was so dark it seemed to absorb the light of the room around them, “If we supported the Blight do you think we would have helped you kill it? Goat licking gates of Tartarus! If you hadn’t been able to remove her majesty’s infection Fluttershy and I would have killed her and if you, AJ, Rainbow, and or Rarity had managed to survive the malady’s wrath we would have killed you too. Lucky for you, you managed to save our princess.”
Twilight was terrified now seeing four ponies all with varying amounts of disgust directed at her. She swallowed hard before speaking, “but if that’s true, how could you exist for a thousand years without your princess?”
“Because we are not helpless.” Derpy spoke with confidence and continued without missing a beat, “True we follow Luna’s will, but she was wise enough to give the sisterhood a purpose that went beyond simply following individual instructions directly from her.”
Twilight had slowly extracted herself from her fetal position while Derpy spoke and now was filled with even more questions, “And what was… or is your purpose?”
Davenport interrupted this time in a highly impatient tone, “Oh wonderful let’s keep our guests waiting while we have a history lesson.” With the outburst out of the way His tone softened as he went on, “Derpy come with me to see to our guests. Pinkie, you and Octavia should tell Miss Sparkle our story then bring her and Fluttershy to the hanger when you are finished.”
“No.” Derpy was adamant in her refusal, yet still elaborated on her decision, “I don’t work here anymore. I just come here every other week to spend time with old friends. So why should I come out of retirement?”
Davenport shook his head before resorting to something he had hoped would not be needed, “For the same reason you’ve come out of retirement twenty-four times in the past eight years, we have a lead.”
“Manticore shit. You haven’t had a really solid lead for the past twelve years and I don’t expect any of our regulars or these namby-pamby guests of yours to know where I can find a flower that only grows on a hillside facing a lake and only blooms on the longest Tuesday of the year then wilts in a matter of hours, and if the petals touch the ground they turn to ash along with the rest of the plant until next year. Or is it the elder dragon’s left maxillary central incisor? You know, just because most dragons at that age are less than willing to part with their teeth.” Derpy’s rant ended with an out of breath Pegasus trying hard to stand steady with her heavy pants when Davenport smiled mischievously.
His voice came out with a confidence Derpy had not attached to talk of her list in twelve years, “What if I said both?”
“What if I reiterated? Manticore shit.”
At this Davenport only shrugged as he turned to the door into the basement before replying, “Maybe, but isn’t the possibility enough to at least try? Come on Derpy, just listen to what she has to say and if you don’t like her offer you can just leave.”
With no more than a tired groan Derpy followed Davenport and with the two gone Octavia turned to Twilight and spoke softly for dramatic effect, “Nearly sixteen hundred years ago.”
“Exact time doesn’t really matter so try not to worry about it. In fact we’ll skip a few things to make this block of exposition less boring.” Pinkie forcefully interjected her mane having just returned to its normal bounciness. All this of course causing a heavy sigh from Octavia before the musician continued in a far flatter tone, similar to that of a history teacher.
“Celestia opened her school for gifted unicorns. She took the best and brightest into her service and made them protectors of the realm. Of course these peacekeepers were only there to look after the day, keeping their mission out in the open and well known in the light. Her majesty Princess Luna saw that there were problems in Equestria that required more covert attention under the blessing of the night sky.”
“What kind of covert attention?” Twilight asked interrupting Octavia again.
However Pinkie was the pony to answer, “Search and destroy, assassination, infiltration of organized crime rings or terrorist cells, ponyhunts, false flag, counter intelligence, foalnapping, and pretty much any other kind of black op you can think of.”
“But why have I never heard of any of this?” Twilight’s questions were beginning to irritate Octavia; of course it didn’t take much after starting to be irritated and finally snapping back.
“Because you dolt, what is the point of covert operations if you tell everypony in Equestria?”
Pinkie again took the lead and now explained with more detail, “Equestria only functions as a peaceful society when nopony knows how much bloodshed is really required to keep it that way. Like when we were dealing with Discord the first time, there were organizations seeking to use the short-lived chaos to gain an advantage over Equestria before attacking us. While me and Fluttershy were with you at the time Octavia and Derpy handled that little despot and his tiny army.”
Octavia tapped Pinkie’s hoof and took over, “When the changelings were attacking Shining Armor and Cadenza’s wedding Davenport and I were interrogating captured changelings with the hope of tracking down their queen. Imagine our surprise when Fluttershy told us that the queen was impersonating Cadenza the whole time.”
Suddenly realizing how off topic they were getting Octavia returned to the lesson in ancient history, “Celestia agreed to Princess Luna’s request but forbade her majesty from recruiting unicorns as they were to be shining examples of light in the world. The public doesn’t want their shining examples getting blood on their hooves.” Octavia finished sarcastically allowing Pinkie to take the next part.
“So Princess Luna recruited the best and brightest Pegasi and Earth ponies and trained them to exist on both sides of pony society. In the light where they had friends and family and parties and cake,”
“And in the dark, where they war, death, desolation, and other such crimes against nature.” Octavia finished Pinkie’s statement dramatically darkening her tone. She fell silent after that letting Pinkie go on.
“So the Sisterhood was born, which is odd considering Princess Luna also recruited stallions…” Pinkie drifted off for a moment before mentally returning to her story, “So about five hundred years later Princess Luna snapped under the weight of her crimes that her own sister refused to acknowledge in order to keep her royal hooves clean.”
Again Octavia took over, “Her majesty was consumed by anger and bitterness directed at her sister and that was when the Blight seized her mind in its weakened state. Some members of the Sisterhood have voiced theories that it was not only Celestia’s neglect that led to her sister’s fall to the power of the Blight. The most common of these theories is that Princess Luna’s life changed drastically over the span of three years that she was unaccounted for in our histories.”
Pinkie was bouncing with excitement when she spoke her next piece, “Some say she returned with a small alicorn filly that mysteriously vanished as quickly as it appeared.”
Octavia again brought the theme of the story back with a minor rebuke of Pinkie’s statement, “There has never been any proof of that. But back to the real history lesson, after the banishment of Princess Luna…”
Octavia then found herself interrupted by the last pony most would expect, “Celestia c-confronted a group of confused and f-frightened sisters who were t-t-terrified that they would be b-b-b-banished the same as their princess. However Celestia gave them all amnesty and a letter addressed to the S-sisterhood from P-princess Luna.” Fluttershy managed to stutter out a small part of the story before Octavia took over by tapping the nervous mare on the shoulder. Fluttershy did however manage a barely audible, “Sorry,” before Octavia continued.
“The letter told the Sisterhood to continue their work and if Princess Luna could not be cleansed that they were to destroy her. At first it seemed like a plot from Celestia but the more they read the more they saw her majesty’s sadness and defeat in the words. It was probably written and sent to Celestia in the last moments before she fell entirely to the Blight.”
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“Celestia’s beard, Davenport! How can you be sure this client is on the up and up?” Derpy’s voice echoed through the expansive hanger that housed the Sisterhood’s tactical airship. She expected the reply of the client to try and reassure her but what came was far more forceful than she had anticipated with an echoing quality that could only belong to two ponies, half of which no longer used the royal Canterlot voice.
“WE HOPED THOU WOULD’ST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT!” It was then that Derpy finally noticed the princess of night standing next to a rather plain looking Earth pony mare who looked as though she would be suffering short term hearing loss at the hooves of the princess at her side.
“No.” again Derpy refused and turned to leave the presence of the Sisterhood’s founder who vanished with a flash only to reappear in front of the now aggravated Derpy.
“HALT!” Luna’s voice echoed again through the vast room. Derpy shook at the escalating reverberations in her bones, and squeezed her eyes shut at the force of the voice pressing against them. Luna realized her error and paused a moment remembering the modern Equestrian ideas of restraint in conversation. She pulled her voice back and spoke in an almost sheepish tone that reminded Derpy a little of Fluttershy, “Please… we apologize for our outburst. Thou need not dread our countenance… please look on us and speak your mind loyal subject.”
“I’m trying to retire so I can live peacefully with my daughter, though I suppose I should thank you for not continuing with that over-the-top shouting.” Despite dreading the repercussions Derpy managed to open her eyes and look up at Luna’s now kindly smiling face momentarily before turning her head to the left preventing eye contact. The princess did not notice and simply spoke warmly to the mare hoping she had not permanently damaged her.
“Thou art quite welcome child.” Derpy winced at the princess’s inability to sense sarcasm but allowed Luna to continue, “Now before we speak of our mission for thy sisters and thyself, we wish to ask about the reward Davenport has requested for thou in particular.”
Derpy smiled, even the princess of night couldn’t fool her. Luna knew exactly what the reward would be used for and was just waiting to see how Derpy would answer. A lie would be messy. The whole truth would be equally messy. A partial truth being the least messy option would have to suffice, “You don’t have to worry; it isn’t anypony you know.”
“Then thou admit thy knowledge of what such a spell would’st kill? Does thou not know what this heavy burden will weigh upon thy young shoulders?”
“I suppose that’s between me and my shoulders, besides I’ve killed before, I’m sure I can get over one more corpse.” Derpy was abrupt in her reply still taking great effort to avoid more eye contact with Luna. She then continued with a question of her own, “Does this mean you are refusing to pay with the ingredients I need?”
“Nay.” Luna’s reply was short but when the princess saw Derpy turn her head and reveal the confusion in her eyes Luna continued, “We simply hope that in the completion of our request, thou would’st become more willing to share thy troubles and seek help from friends in the stead of such dark magics.” It was then that Luna caught herself staring at the mare’s golden eyes as if they were an ancient portal into a nostalgic past. She turned away to hide the sadness in her own eyes and spoke in a tone that betrayed her still somewhat youthful nature, “we apologize, thy eyes simply reminded us of somepony we once knew.”
“It’s fine, but about your request?” Derpy spoke at the broken eye contact. She cursed herself for letting her eyes be truly seen by Luna but it eased her mind that the princess only saw them as familiar rather than a horrible alternative. After all one thousand years ago, yellow eyes were seen as prophesies foretelling doom and darkness. As such, Derpy had long ago learned to be extra cautious when dealing with the subject of her eyes.
Luna once again regained some of her earlier composure and smiled as she revealed her true desire, “Our Sisterhood has become broken. It is our aspiration that the Sisters be healed of what afflicts them.” Derpy fell silent as she contemplated Luna’s words.
. It seemed the mission wouldn’t be dangerous. So that was a plus.
.. She would receive the last ingredients she needed for her last kill. Another plus.
... She had wanted to make sure her friends would be fine without her before she truly left the Sisterhood. A third point and it was settled.
“Where do you want me to start?”
Luna smiled warmly before speaking, “We will start with a story about a soldier.”