Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both had a quite unique dilemma. On one hoof they both agreed that going after the newly appointed ambassador would be foalish, considering a rogue agent had infiltrated their ranks. Leaving Canterlot at the moment might leave a power vacuum large enough to allow whatever undercurrents powered the unknown faction’s clout to gain significant footing. They would be subtle, to be sure, but the extended absence of the Crown prompted many bold ponies to come crawling out of the woodwork and into the innocent looking, but dangerous atmosphere that was Canterlot politics.
Celestia did not like involving her friends in politics. No matter that this was a diarchy; there were still supports for Celestia’s absolute power. If the foundations were rocked sufficiently, the gentle tapestry of peace and prosperity that she had lovingly woven over the years may crumble to dust. Canterlot politics was thing to be wary of and Celestia would not wish its sticky grasp on anypony. Princess Luna had done amazingly well, whilst Celestia’s art of diplomacy and mediation was par none, there was simplicity to Luna’s defence. Luna’s strategy of frank, open and honest opinion was both a weapon and a shield. Her straightforward personality made it possible to ignore wiles and subtlety in manipulation but the double-edged sword also made it harder for Luna to ingratiate herself among the… less savoury of the Canterlot court.
And so the problem was thus. Between the two of them, Celestia had thought that both sides of the coin had been covered. She reflected, quite morosely, that she had once again given the benefit of the doubt to her little ponies and it had turned for the worse. She felt the slight twinge of disappointment but reminded herself that this was the way things were. Good and bad were always prevalent. She just needed to deal with it one at a time.
Celestia found herself in front of the Bureau again.
She hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door.
“Come in”, a raspy voice magically echoed down the hall.
Celestia strode in, noting the grey unicorn stallion was once again buried in various reports and documents that littered his desk, overflowing to the floor.
Celestia picked her hoofing carefully, stepping this way and that to avoid the hazards that gathered on the rambunctious stallion’s floor.
“Far Sight, I see your taste in decorum hasn’t deviated in the past years”, Celestia commented wryly, eyeing the back of the unicorn’s head. She would use his last name, but she didn’t actually know it. Nopony did, he was always ‘Far Sight’.
The unicorn shook his head, letting his teal mane fall away from his eyes. He peered at Celestia with owlish eyes.
“And the only time a pony comes here is when he or she wants something from me. Never going to drop by for a pleasant chat, hmm? Too much business?”
Celestia resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the rude address that Far Sight liked to utilise.
She chuckled softly, “If you involve yourself in something other than business, I just might have something to talk to you about.”
Far Sight’s eyes shot up to regard Celestia impishly.
“Touché”, he stated, before sweeping the stacked piles of scrolls and books on his desk to the floor with flagrant disregard. It was a kind of disregard that would give Twilight a conniption, and if she were in the room, quite possibly earn him a death sentence.
Celestia picked her way around the newly obstructed pathway to his desk and gracefully seated herself on the opposing chair as Far Sight drew two cups of the finest brew he had in stock. Which was the only brew he had in stock, at all.
A bolt of magic quickly boiled the water and a pleasant aroma of Earl Neigh tea filled the room.
“I ask again, white pony princess, what brings you here?” Far Sight demanded, after pouring her a cup of tea and plonking himself down on the opposing chair.
Celestia sighed lightly.
“Far Sight, I think you would know why I am here”, she said in a low voice, locking gazes with him. He froze for a moment, crystallising her suspicions.
Far Sight, tapped a hoof on the table.
“Okay, okay. I have a clue, but not as much as you think. I may be an information broker, but I’m also only one pony-“
“With an extensive network”, Celestia interrupted.
Far Sight acceded the point with a nod of his head.
“True, but it still limited to the range that my network can reach, you know how information is. You have to vet it, cross check it, and all the hassle and hullabaloo that comes with the glorious job of information exchange.”
Celestia gave Far Sight a level look that caused him to break out in cold sweat.
“Far Sight, I may not look like it, but you of all ponies should know how experienced I am with conversation. Although I would think even my sister could see that you are avoiding the topic.”
Far Sight swallowed.
He put his hoofs up in resignation.
“Okay! You got me! But you’re not going to like the answer”, he mumbled, giving Celestia a sidelong glance.
Celestia leant in, eager to hear his response.
“Right okay, you’re right there’s been a double agent among your staff-“ he paused, leaning over to shift through some documents “-ah yes, here.”
Celestia picked up the document in her telekinetic aura, giving the contents a quick read.
She frowned, trying to make sense of it.
“I don’t understand”, she said finally, giving the parchment another once over to try and decipher the contents.
Far Sight slammed his hoof on the desk again, this time the action making Celestia flinch slightly.
“That’s it! I don’t know either!” he yelled, gritting his teeth in frustration.
Celestia’s eyes widened at the implication.
The information broker. The information broker did not have a clue what the contents of this parchment were about.
Far Sight cleared his throat and scratched the back of his foreleg in embarrassment.
“Okay yeah, the only thing I know is that it is connected to practically half of the nobles in Canterlot and something to do with both the dragons and the griffons.” He shuddered. “This stuff is a lot more serious than the stuff I usually get into.”
Celestia raised her head in confusion giving the unicorn a bemused look.
“Okay, well, my stuff that I usually get into is serious but this information and obfuscation is definitely world-class. I can’t find heads nor tails of it.”
Celestia hummed to herself in consternation.
“Would you mind if I take this?” Celestia asked, taking a sip of the tea. At least it was excellent brew.
Far Sight just grunted, waving her away with a hoof.
“Just take it and leave it. If you find out anything, you know to let me know. I’ve got a bit of a backlog to work through.”
“You say that every time I leave here”, Celestia observed wryly.
Far Sight just mumbled something indistinguishable and went back to skimming over a report.
Celestia left. Her mind was in a whirr of emotions and fractured thoughts.
------
Twilight had made it as far as she could, alternating between following the tracking spell and coordinating with the low flying pegasi.
A blue coated pegasus flittered down beside her, he put a hoof on her shoulder.
“You mustn’t overstrain yourself, ma’am”, he rebuked, gently. Twilight turned bleary eyes to the guard.
“I h-have to go on”, she stuttered, swaying to her hooves.
The guard gave a frustrated grunt and forced her back down.
“Now, now none of that, let us handle it”, he growled, keeping a watchful eye on the sky.
“But-“
“Hush now, you need rest, you will be more useless to us all knackered, instead of fully rested.”
Twilight sank her head into her hooves. Her eyes drooped.
“Wake me up… wake me up if you find something…” she mumbled in a barely audible force.
------
The incantations were taking a long time. The preparations required me to be frozen in my position for a very long time. I was bored. I was frustrated. I was aching to bust out of these infernal restraints. I didn’t even know how they were holding onto me without anything physical. Where had my null ability gone? They mentioned something about laws and being beyond magic but I couldn’t understand it. I looked on helplessly, feeling a burning in my eyes, unable to even blink. My eyes were blurring and turning red and tears streaked down my cheeks.
Every second that went by would be a step towards banishment to another dimension, if Maellorn were to be believed. I didn’t know if he was lying or telling the truth of whether I would be alive or dead when I got there. I don’t think he cared. I didn’t think he was lying either. The weird part of it was that I couldn’t think of a reason why he would lie. Regardless I had done all I could in trying to escape, I just hoped that it would come before it was too late.
Maellorn smirked, as he read the last line of the spell out. A dark, sickly green hue had overtaken the sigils and my eyes hurt anew when I couldn’t shield them from the glare.
“Ah null being, I would say it has been a pleasure, but you have cause me a little too much trouble for my liking, perhaps if we-“
An ear splitting roar filled the cavern, interrupting Maellorn in mid-sentence.
“No”, he whimpered shrinking back. He rebounded quickly and then gathered himself.
He pointed to the minotaur.
“Hold her off, I only need a few more minutes to complete this!” he ordered, frantically scrabbling through a pile of gemstones sequestered outside my vision, a few of the gems bounced into view as he threw them over his shoulder.
“Anti-dragon flame, where is that blasted amulet gem?”
I heard the roar again, this time it was closer.
“I see her, ready your spells!” I recognised the ragged voice belonging to Ragnild.
“YOUR TIME HAS COME!” an almighty thunderous growl swept through the cavern. I felt a wave of relief roll through me, Sharp had come. I felt the small lump underneath my belt where the tooth had lain.
I heard a piercing shriek of defiance behind me. I was desperate to see what was going on, but all I could do was stand there frozen in time.
“Found it!” Maellorn snarled, trotting back into view with a ruby inset into a silver amulet. He placed it carefully at a sigil point.
“Can’t have our dear friend the Death Wing, break our spell now can we?” he muttered, hastily intoning a few more words that sounded like gibberish to me. The circle flared in response in sympathy with his horn.
“That’ll do it”, he growled, stepping back and casting a critical eye.
I heard a crash from behind me.
“MAELLORN!” an incensed voice tinged with all the rage and fury of a broken promise filtered through.
“I WILL DO THIS”, Maellorn shouted back. “I WILL DO THIS FOR MY LILAC. DON’T YOU DARE STOP ME, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!”
I could hear the dragoness’ claws clicking against the loose gravel and stones on the cavern floor.
‘Click’, ‘Click’, ‘Click’
“Stay back!” Maellorn yelled, taking a step back.
A deep growl emanated from behind me.
“You cannot win, Maellorn”, Sharp said, giving an electrifying hiss that sent shivers down my spine.
Maellorn looked unnerved. I felt a sense of palatable relief flow through me, but it was tinged with hesitation. Something felt off.
I couldn’t warn Sharp. She saw the amulet too late as she breathed liquid fire on the circle.
“Wrong move, Death Wing Sharp! Wrong move!”
“Thank you for providing the power for this circle, you’ve just hastened my plans!” he announced with glee, skipping towards the dragoness. A couldn’t see Sharp but it didn’t take a genius to know that she was trapped in a similar state as I was. Unable to move.
Maellorn circled the both of us.
“Slaughter my guild? Don’t force your disgusting principles on me! You are the same Sharp, don’t pretend you are better. I know you’ve done this for him. Why can’t you let me do this for her?!”
He paced back in front of me.
He almost looked regretful but I was too angry to even notice it.
“I-“ he began but stopped himself. “You’re right, I can’t ask for anything from you. I have already taken so much. Know that you are doing this for love. Know that you are doing this for my dear Lilac, though she won’t mean anything to you.”
I would have spat in his face if I could. Her lover was dead. She had her time. He had his. I’m here to save a future, not help the past.
But my thoughts would never be communicated.
I felt sorry for Sharp. I had dragged her into this, calling in my one favour and all it had done was gotten us both trapped. I would have apologised to her if my mouth would work. All I could do was continue to watch the sigils grow brighter as the glowing amulet fixed to a corner grew bright as the circle.
The circle grew brighter and brighter as light built up to an intensity that drowned out all my other senses from the overload. An urge to scream and shout tore at my chest.
I felt a sudden realisation, the inevitable had come.
I’m going to die here, aren’t I?
Then.
Nothing.