Celestia continued up the stairs, it took some manipulation but there were no guards on patrol in this section of the castle tonight. All according to plan.
A dark dealing was about to begin. Not that there was anything truly evil about the upcoming deal, it was for the greater good of Equestria after all.
A lot of work went into making Equestria a near utopia. The economic plan her staff created had been nothing more than a bad joke, the bureaucratic aspects of governance were time consuming, her royal court was infuriating, and to top it off there was always the drama of foreign policies to contend with. Celestia was half sure that the Griffin tribes were intentionally being bipolar to try to turn her insane.
The princess of the sun took the final step of the staircase, still not a guard in sight. All seemed good so far.
At the far end of the corridor was the door to her bedchamber, unguarded. Perfect. Only the evil, wicked, or extraordinarily reckless ever suffered from Celestia's plotting. Words, honor, reputation and political power were far more reliable tools to deal with dangerous threats, but every now and then a knife in the dark proved to be just as useful. It was after all, for the good of Equestria.
Celestia opened the door to her bedroom and everything seemed to be in order; all was well. Walking in, she closed the door behind her. Celestia would wait for now. The room was empty. The new moon beyond the balcony seemed so alluring today. 'If all goes as planned I will no longer have need of raising the moon myself. Luna, my sweet sister, soon we will be reunited, soon you will be freed from your hatred of me. Soon dear sister, soon. But first I must...arrange a few things.'
Wanting to get a better look at this nightly orb, Celestia began walking around her bed. However, before she could get to a window, she made out a figure on the floor. A mare in a maid's outfit laying still, unmoving and not breathing. All was not well, not at all.
“You needed to leave this place unguarded, that means the castle staff as well.” The voice was smoother than silk yet colder than an ice dragon.
Celestia whipped around to the source of the sound, her eyes locked with a pair of golden bat pony eyes. “What have you done?!” she asked in a hushed voice. “How am I supposed to explain away bodies in my own bedchamber?!”
He shrugged. “I attempted to hide from her, but she left no shadow unchecked, every place was cleaned, even the hidden places.” Celestia began to notice several unnatural shadows coming from him. “A great maid to say the least, a rare and unfortunate shortcoming really.”
Celestia narrowed her eyes at him, a deep scowl formed. The stallion was sitting in a chair off on the side, she was sure that chair was empty when she came in, odd. All but his eyes were concealed. A loose fitting kimono with what looked like black linen wrap for his face. “I was told you were professional,” Celestia remarked coldly, “one that I wouldn't have trouble with. You were recommended by a... powerful noble pony in my court.”
The bat pony's demeanor changed, it was hard to see with his disguise, but it was easy to feel. The shade of his many shadows darkened. “The mare at your hooves is not dead,” he informed her.
Celestia's horn glowed as she checked the maid. “You're wrong. Her heart's not beating.”
“It will be in about an hour.” He paused. “If you're worried about keeping her quiet just bring up a loyal doctor after we're done here. Then have a little talk with her. A small bribe can go a long way with servants.” He waited for a response, Celestia took her time, considering her options.
The unconscious mare was lifted by her majesty's magic and lowered onto the velvet blankets of the bed. The maid stared ahead lifelessly.
Celestia flicked her eyes toward the stallion. “The palace doctor is not accustomed to seeing such sights, but I will-”
The princess cut herself off when she heard the assassin’s soft chuckle. “I can assure you that he is. If that maid was dead it would not be the first time he saw a dead body inside this castle, and the fact that you think it would be is testament to the fact that he is good at keeping his mouth shut.”
The monarch's heart began to beat faster, perhaps twice as fast in memory of the half dead maid. She would later decide to keep a closer eye on the palace doctor, and a few conspicuous nobles.
“I need...” -Celestia choked up for the first time in several centuries. - “...a certain pony taken care of.”
Celestia just knew the bat pony smiled underneath his disguise. “Wonderful. I'm in the business of taking care of ponies.”
It was hard to resist rolling her eyes. “So I've heard...” The bat pony reclined in Celestia’s favorite seat, waiting for the alicorn to continue. “I'm not sure if you know this, but my sister will return from her banishment from the moon soon, and I need everything prepared for her return.” She paused, he didn't respond. Many bat ponies felt a kinship between themselves and the princess of the night, his loyalty will be questionable. “There's a militant bat pony group plotting to get rid of me and put Nightmare Moon in power once she returns. I need you to stop that. I've tried to reason and be diplomatic with them, but they want their war. If you can kill their leader the rest will likely disband, avoiding much more bloodshed.” The assassin was pressing his hooves together idly. “...Is that a problem?”
He looked up to her. “Can't imagine why it should be. You have an unfortunate problem, and my business has a conventional solution, sounds like we were made for one another.” He clopped his hooves a few more times. “I know of whom you speak of. I know where he hides out.” The stallion stood up. “For the record however, I didn't touch that mare. That was all Envy's fault.” Celestia eyed him. “She's behind you.” The monarch looked behind herself, there was only the bare wall there, she turned back to the assassin, not liking being tricked. He shrugged. “Well she was behind you a second ago, fickle whore.” He flew over to the balcony. “That was directed to Envy not you, your highness. At any rate, we must go, Envy.”
Celestia felt something hairy touch one of her hooves as it moved under her. It was difficult to spot as it crawled toward the assassin. Its many legs moving swiftly. Her blood chilled upon perceiving the insect, its legs, its fat abdomen, its large number of clustered eyes at the front.
“The way to the courtyard is unguarded, correct?”
Celestia couldn't tear her eyes off the monstrosity moving towards him. “I-it should be.”
It crawled up onto the bat pony, and found it's way under his cloths. “Is there anything you want to add,” the unphased stallion asked her. “Would you like him to suffer? Would you like me to whisper something into his ear as he dies, so in those last seconds of his life, he would know, it was you.” He smirked.
“No. Give him a quick death.”
With that, the bat pony dispersed into shadows, and Celestia was left to feel distress. 'I love you sister. Nothing can change that. And there is nothing that I won't do for you.'
Now she just needed Twilight's help. She was so close she could taste it, but this day, loneliness had its way with Princess Celestia, in a way it never had before.