//------------------------------// // Escape // Story: The King Is Dead, Long Live The Emperor! // by Bucking Nonsense //------------------------------// "Just what is Endgame Scenario Three?" Half an hour later... A small, but admittedly very unusual, party of ponies were making their way through the subterranean tunnel leading from Scarlet Wake's manor to a warehouse a few blocks from the palace. Said party contained Nopony, his wife and three daughters (Lovely girls, Golden Grace had to admit, but too young for his tastes), Ironwood, and Golden Grace. They were making fairly good time, given the circumstances, and from what the guard had told Golden Grace, they were nearing the halfway point to their destination. Golden Grace had sent a message though firemail to his armsponies, ordering them to return to his manor and prepare for a possible attack. It was a risk, but Ironwood had agreed that it would be too dangerous for Grace's guards to remain on the grounds: Scarlet Wake's manor was about to become a battlefield. Thankfully, with the exception of his personal aide, Scarlet Wake had never required his servants (Maids, butlers, cooks, and craftsponies) to remain in the estate at night, so the only casualties tonight would be the guards staying in the manor... and whoever came to kill them. Nopony had been quite surprised to find that not only was he free to go, but he would also be allowed to reveal everything to the emperor. It seemed that Scarlet Wake had taken considerable effort to hide the very secrets that the aide would now be required to reveal. Life could be ironic like that, sometimes... Nopony's eyes went wide at Golden Grace's question, then after a moment, the aide cleared his throat and said, "Milord, your cousin was a twisted individual, if you will forgive my saying so, but as terrible as he was, he had a keen mind when it came to planning. He recognized the possibility that, in playing the game of politics, he could very easily lose. So, as a precaution, he composed three scenarios, and a measured response to each." Nodding, Golden Grace said, "Makes sense. If you roll the dice, you have to be prepared for when it comes up a one." Nopony nodded in response and continued speaking as everypony trotted along. "Scenario One was the most basic: The truth about what Scarlet Wake had done was out, and either the guards or a peasant mob was coming to capture him. The response was simple: Escape. He had a number of tunnels hidden about his estate, as well as a sizable amount of gold hidden at different locations... in addition to disguise spells to alter his appearance." At Golden Grace's surprised expression, Nopony sighed and continued, "In addition to the wealth brought in from his official holdings here, your cousin owns, er, I mean, owned an extremely large gold mine near Canterlot that he took great pains to conceal from the rest of the world. The full extent of that vein has yet to be discovered, but the last survey revealed that it may contain more raw ore, and at a higher grade of purity, than most ponies would have thought existed in all of Equestria." Shaking his head sadly, the aide admitted, "In addition to funding several... less than legal ventures, your cousin used that wealth to establish several false identities in both the Crystal Empire and in the rest of Equestria, in case he ever needed to leave in a hurry... but only as a last resort." Incredible. With the kind of wealth Nopony was describing, Scarlet Wake could easily have bought enough support to become an archduke, or even the next ruler of the Crystal Empire... but only after the current ruler was gone... "Scenario Two is a bit more complex: It means that some sort of unexpected disaster is decimating the city, and either escape would be impossible due to winter having closed the passes to the rest of Equestria, or because the disaster is something like a plague outbreak, which could not be allowed to spread. The response? Lockdown. While Scarlet Wake's estate has no active magical defenses, his grace devised a system that can be erected and activated with only fifteen minutes notice." With a snort, Nopony added, "He had never implemented it because he wanted to use it as a secret weapon. Once activated, nothing goes in or out of the estate." With a small chuckle, Golden Grace said, "Sounds like Scarlet, alright. Either run, or hide until the problem goes away. He wasn't the type to stand his ground and fight." With a snort, Nopony said, "The third may surprise you, then. Scenario Three is his response to the Circle turning against him. Your cousin knew that the Circle was dangerous, and that even with the wealth at his disposal, he'd stand no chance against them: He was only one, and his enemies would be many. Worse, the Circle employs a number of resources that make them incredibly dangerous, including dark magic such as curse spells and necromancy. Such spells can strike out at great distances without warning, and there are few defenses that can be employed against them. Scarlet Wake knew that, no matter where he went, the Circle would hunt him down, and make him wish that all they did was kill him. So, he decided that if he could not run, he could only do one thing: Take them down with him." Giving a meaningful glance to the book currently strapped to Ironwood's back, the noblepony thought for a second. Putting two and two together, Golden Grace said, "Hence, that black book." Nopony nodded. "Indeed. The Circle has performed many a terrible act, the majority of which would make your cousin's actions look like nothing in comparison. Inside of that book is enough evidence to place many of them upon the headspony's block. Names, dates, caches of stolen wealth, locations of buried bodies, and the like. With that book in the hooves of royalty, the Circle will no longer be able to hide what they truly are..." ----------------------------------- Looking into the empty room, Lord Scorpion fought very hard to control his temper. It was not her fault, she'd had no way of knowing that their son would pull something like this. Especially not now... Struggling to control his voice, he asked, "How did he get out?" His wife, Lady Scorpion, said, "I cannot say. When I delivered his supper, I made certain, thrice over, that the door was locked. I examined the mechanism before I left, and all seemed well: None of his usual tampering, at least, none that I could find..." And yet steam seemed to coming from the keyhole... With no explanation or warning, Lord Scorpion ripped the lock out of the door, then broke it open with his bare hooves. The insides of the mechanism released an icy mist, so cold that the device hurt to touch. His tone colder than the lock he held, Lord Scorpion stated, "Someone, or something, froze the lock, making the metal brittle enough that it was easily shattered by whatever tinkering he managed this time." Her expression shocked, Lady Scorpion asked, "But, who could have known he was here? And who would have dared release him from here?" Worried, Lord Scorpion admitted, "I don't know. There's only five ponies in the city who even know that we are wed, and of them, not a single one knows that we have children..." Gnashing her beak and scraping her talons on the floor in anger, Lady Scorpion declared, "This puts everything we've struggled to accomplish in the last fifteen years in peril. He knows far too much, and yet far too little, to be allowed to roam free..." Lord Scorpion laid a tender hoof on his wife's shoulder, then said, "When he's escaped in the past, all he's done is fly about without a destination. It is dark enough now that nopony would be able to see him clearly. Once he's gotten his exercise, he'll return, just like all the other times. In the meantime, I'll... interrogate the guards, and see if anypony has been on the grounds who should not have been." His expression turning serious, he asked, "Have you completed all of the preparations for the move?" Nodding, Lady Scorpion replied, "Yes, love. We'll be ready to leave as soon as our child returns." The griffin looked back at the empty room one more time, as if hoping that somehow her son would suddenly reappear... "Good. If he's not back within the hour, we'll have to leave without him." At his wife's shocked expression, Lord Scorpion said, "We cannot risk being here much longer: Scarlet Wake may betray us yet, even with Lady Wasp watching his every step, and if he does, we cannot risk remaining here. If Ruggiero does not return, he'll have to fend for himself for a day or two, until the war is over." With a chuckle, he added, "There's no harm in it now: I doubt that there's a single creature in all of Equestria that could catch him. And if anything should try to hurt him... well, their family members will have my most sincere condolences." ---------------------------- Chuckling, Winter asked, "So, you're not going to kill him?" Staring down at the pile of charred, twitching, whimpering meat that was barely recognizable as a pony, the blazing alicorn said, "We can only kill him once, and once done, he shall suffer no more. However, with burns of this magnitude, he shall be scarred for the rest of his life, and until he fully heals, he shall be in terrible pain that would make death seem a sweet mercy." A cruel smile crossed her face as she said, "We can kill him but once, but this? This is the gift that keeps on giving." With a booming laugh, Winter said, "Delicious. I must admit, you are a mare after my own heart." With a snort, the alicorn said, "Well, as entertaining as it is watching him writhe in agony, I must be off: Places to go, ponies to burn." Clucking his tongue, Winter said, 'Yeah, about that. I'm going to have to ask you to wait a little bit before you ignite anypony else. I think... three days, yes." An eyebrow raised, she asked, "And why should I do such a thing?" Winter grinned a cold and terrible grin, and said, "Asides from the fact that you owe me? And the fact that I'm a thousand times more powerful than you are right now? Simple..." With that, Winter leaned in close and whispered a few words into the alicorn's ear, then pulled back. Her eyes widened in shock, the alicorn said, "Impossible..." Laughing, Winter said, "Oh no, it is quite possible. There's a great deal more going on right now than you can imagine. Let the ordinary ponies handle things for now. If, after three days, things still aren't properly resolved here, you can burn to your heart's content. In the meantime, let's get you something to eat. No one should be in the pantry, so you can stuff yourself silly. When we're done, you can set this entire building ablaze." Placing a hoof against her growling belly, the alicorn admitted, "Food would be good right now: Our body was weak when we became one, and we have not yet reached a point where such basic needs are truly beyond us." After a moment, she asked, "We never asked you: What is your name?" A smile on the Windigo's face, he said, "Winter. And yours?" With a snort, she answered, "Well, if Winter is name enough for you, we suppose Summer would be enough for us." Behind them, a weak, pained voice whispered, "...Kill me..." Turning back to her victim, Summer said, "Kill you? Why would we ever do that? We want you to live. Live with what we have done to you: Every gasp of pain from the burns we have inflicted, every shout of disgust at the smallest glance of your burned flesh, every night you cry yourself to sleep at all that you have lost, that shall be our revenge. Scarlet Wake is dead, and he had best stay that way. If we ever hear anypony say otherwise, we shall hunt you down, and the agony we shall visit upon you then will make this seem as the sweetest bliss in comparison." With that, she turned around, head held high, a triumphant smile upon her face, and walked out without a backward glance. Watching her go, Winter chuckled and said, almost to himself, "Honestly, I've never been so intimidated, or so aroused, in my entire life." Grinning wickedly, he said, "I think I'm in love."