Kera cleared her throat, proceeding to speak into the Council seat's microphone with as “thick” an accent she could properly manage. “Ladies and gentlecolts...” She immediately winced. “A-and mostly deer.” Steeling herself, she continued with renewed confidence. “The Xonan Empire extends its hoof in peace and good will. Already, I and my entourage have been treated fairly by the representatives of Val Roa. This pleases me greatly, for there is nothing more that I desire than to make friends in this wonderful kingdom, a kingdom that is on the verge of great change... with a great new leader...”
Across the large chamber, on a much lower balcony, Prince Eine of the House of Evo sat on the edge of his seat. He narrowed his eyes while crossing a pair of cloven hooves beneath his chin. Intently, the soon-to-be-king listened to the “foreign diplomat's” speech.
“Change can only mean good things!” Kera said, relaxing enough to manage a smile as she spoke. Arcanista and Ebon sat quietly behind her as she continued. “Because it means that a kingdom as prosperous as this one is willing to embrace the future. And one can only face tomorrow with confidence if he or she is doing it with the utmost peace, serenity, and harmony...”
FL-FLASH!
FLASSSSH!
Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth as she flew across Fishberry's office, kicked off a wall, and backflipped to dodge the multiple blasts of the Soul Sentries.
The servant in the doorway shrieked, squatting low and covering her flinching head. The four guards trotted forward in an icy motion, firing steady beams of emerald energy with alternating antlers.
FL-FL-FL-FL-FLASH!
As Rainbow juked and dove, patches of wall and desk papers exploded behind her. Chunks of black and white tile flew as high as the ceiling, and part of the furniture caught on fire.
“Look...!” Rainbow skidded to a stop, stretched her wing muscles, and launched herself at the soldiers. “I didn't want to have to do this...” She dove at them with a drop kick. “But you left me no choice—!”
ZAAAAAP! Four converging shots slammed her to the wall.
“OOFA!” She bounced off, stumbling. “Unnnngh...” She smelled smoke, then looked behind her shoulder to see flames consuming the ends of her mane. “Gaah! Not the green hair! Not the green hair!” She tried rolling to put it out.
Wordlessly, the soul sentries bowed their heads and fired a wide swath of mana. Flaaaaaash!
Rainbow held her breath, backflipped over the wave of energy. She landed behind a trunk, pivoted, and bucked it with all her might “Gnnnkkt!”
The wooden container slid across the mana-scarred floor and straight towards the guards.
They aimed their antlers at it and—
POWWW! The container exploded, filling the room with shrapnel and debris, blinding the guards.
Undaunted, they marched on through, swinging their antlers left and right through the dust, searching for their target with emerald spotlights.
“... ... ...” Roarke stared at the dismembered goblin's face.
Jex stared back, gnashing his teeth.
As the footsteps of the other imps came closer, Roarke readied herself to lash out at all moving bodies with every weapon in her arsenal.
“Jex?!” The lead goblin snarled. “Have you gone deaf too, you limp boogertard?!”
Jex's nostrils flared. He tilted his head up. “I just had to work out a few kinks! The engine should be starting any second now!”
“It'd better, runt! Or I'm sending you back on septic maintenance!”
Roarke blinked under her helmet.
Jex looked at her, then jabbed his thumb towards a dark niche in the far corner of the cabin.
Wordlessly, Roarke nodded, then dashed behind a large crate. There, she hid while Jex spun an array of valves, powering the thrusters of the skiff back up.
“We all set?!” asked the leader.
“Let her roll!” Jex grunted.
“Take us back to the ship!” the head imp exclaimed. “Then prime this piece of crap for the long haul. Looks like we're taking the silver back ourselves.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Keep your 'ayes' to yourself and just do your damned job, runt.”
Jex held his tongue, priming the engine as the entire skiff lifted up.
Roarke watched from the shadows, breathing easier...
“As Princess of the Xonan Empire, I am quite familiar with the fruits of embracing harmony,” Kera said, coming towards the end of her speech. Her eyes darted left and right as she briefly struggled to remember the words she had committed to. “For far too long, my continent had been embroiled with war, a needless conflict that consumed far more lives than were necessary. Even today, I cannot cease grieving for the brave equines who sacrificed everything so that my subjects would dwell in peace. I come here in hopes of spreading a message: that the cost of war is hardly worth its cause. For if we simply lay down our weapons and speak to each other as civilized beings, so much pain and suffering can be averted. For decades—years before my time—whole generations of Xonans did not believe this. They were stubborn and hardened of heart, and it cost them their mothers, fathers, spouses, and children. Soon, so many Xonans had died that they had forgotten the purpose for our continent's conflict from the get-go, and instead the very act of war blindly necessitated its own barbarism.” She slowly shook herhead. “I would not wish this fate on anypony, including those whom I barely know. That's why I come to you today, to pour out my heart's worth of well wishes, that you may not suffer the same fate as those in other lands, for this kingdom still has hope... a hope for harmony.”
The entire Council broke into obligatory applause.
Fishberry clapped, staring sleepily at the balcony. Nilla's applause was far more ecstatic.
Ebon and Arcanista also clapped their hooves. The Duchess, however, took a moment to glance over her shoulder, ears twitching, as if listening for something beyond the walls.
Hoof after hoof, the four soul sentries marched across the office. Their antlers burned a hot green, parting the dust slowly down the middle. As their soulless eyes scanned the room, they were largely unaware of a nimble figure clinging upside down to the ceiling.
As soon as they passed by, Rainbow Dash dropped down, hung from her forelimbs, and swung her lower body. “Httt!” She slammed her rear hooves into the first flank she saw.
Whump-Whump-Whump! The leftmost guard collided with the others. Three of them fell over like dominoes. The fourth remained standing, swiveling instantly towards Rainbow Dash and firing a pulse of mana from his antlers. FLASH!
Rainbow wasn't quick enough to dodge it. “Guh!” She took the brunt of the blow, slamming back against a wall.
The guard did not let off on his charge. He channeled bolt after electrical bolt of burning energy into the pegasus, marching menacingly towards her.
“Grnnng-Grrhhhhg!” Rainbow Dash thrashed against the wall, eyes clenched shut. Over the next ten seconds, the energy beams lashing all over her converged on the pendant hanging from her neck, as if attracted towards the Element. Slowly, the ruby lightning bolt pulsed as bright as the guard's onslaught, and then brighter. Two bloody knubs protruded from her forehead, and she opened her red-on-yellow eyes with a rising growl. “Rrrrrrrrgh—HAAAUGH!”
Rainbow's body jerked forward, and the emerald energy converted to crimson, shooting its way back into the guard's antlers.
POW! The sentry actually grunted, falling back over his comrades as he twitched in pain.
“Mmmfnnngh...” Rainbow fell on her hooves, shaking her head. Her eyes flickered back to their natural ruby sheen as the wounds in her skull closed up. “Guh... believe it...” She hissed, smiling dazedly. “You don't wanna see me do the antler thing!”
The other three guards struggled to stand up. When they finally recovered long enough to perform a full sweep of the room, Rainbow Dash was gone, and the window to Fishberry's office was cracked open.
With a steamy hum, the goblin skiff cruised to a stop inside the hangar of the looming battleship.
“Stay right here and look after the engine!” the leader grunted at Jex. “I'm fetching resources for the long trip! If this thing collapses on the way back to Haman, it's your head, runt!”
“It won't come to that, I promise you,” Jex grumbled.
“Better pray it won't. I bet your remaining flesh is pretty tasty.” And the other goblins laughed as they marched off.
Jex spat on the metal floor of the transport. Muttering to himself, he wandered over to the controls and gave the valves a few more twists. He glanced into the shadows, then back at his work. “You might want to stretch your legs while you can. It's going to be a long trip back to Cartel Territory.”
“... ... ...” Roarke silently poked her helmet out from the niche.
“That is what you're here to do, yes?” He frowned as he fumbled with his prosthetic to twist several dials. “Spying for the Noble Jury?”
“Some questions have obvious answers,” Roarke crackled through her helmet. “Except for one, chiefly.” She cocked her head to the side. “Why are you doing this for me?”
“What? Helping you hide?”
“Indeed.”
He spun towards her, gnashing his teeth. “Because Haman took my god damn limbs, that's why!”
Roarke looked at Jex, at his prosthetic and crutches, then at him again. She frowned underneath her helmet. “Wuss.”
“And for this purpose as well as for curiosity's sake, I come with peace and with good tidings, in hopes that Val Roa and the Xonan Empire can coexist like brothers and sisters in the near future,” Kera said. As the speakers echoed the last words of her statement, she held her tongue. Her ears twitched, and she fidgeted there on the balcony. Biting her lip, the filly looked over her shoulder.
Arcanista and Ebon looked on, their faces blank.
Kera looked back out onto the sea of faces. She took several long breaths. Finally, with a frown, she stood up tall and added, “Actually... there is something else. Something more. When war ended between Xona and its previous enemies, it was discovered that a third party was responsible for much of the horrible things that made the war last as long as it did. I speak of a monster—a devourer of harmony—that wants nothing more than to spread misery and pain wherever it goes. This is no ordinary monster, but a very old creature, a creature capable of many dark magics, the most powerful of which is shape-shifting.”
Ebon Mane jolted in his seat. He threw a look at Arcanista with his muzzle agape.
Arcanista's eyes narrowed as Kera went on.
A commotion had already risen amongst the crowd, nevertheless Kera continued. “And it is my belief that this shape-shifter, this... changeling queen has arrived here in Val Roa, and wishes to continue her horrible agenda, causing as much suffering as the Xonans have endured. For many months, I have tossed and turned in my sleep, afraid of what this monster might do to lands that are not prepared for it. It is my hope that by visiting all of our sisterly and brotherly kingdoms, we Xonans might finally be able to put a stop to this monster's dastardly plans, and ensure harmony forevermore.”
By now, the entire Council had erupted in gasps, murmurs, and shocked breaths.
Prince Eine leaned back in his chair, his lips pursed in a contemplative expression.
Kera took a deep breath. “And... uh...” She waved with a goofy smile. “That's a wrap, everydeer!” And she hopped down from the podium with a flounce of her skirts.
Representatives, delegates, and provincial leaders stood up on their balcony seats, filling the Council Room with noise and chaos. A veritable thousand worrisome expressions were launched towards Fishberry's seat.
As Kera sauntered over to Duchess Arcanista, Nilla was bouncing around, chewing at her hooves. Ebon Mane dashed up.
“Are you crazy?!” the stallion hissed.
“Maaaaaaaaaybe.” Kera replied, eyelashes fluttering.
“That was the last thing...” He snarled, his coat briefly flashing multiple colors beneath his “tatoos.” “The very last thing you were supposed to do right now! You just gave the whole Noble Jury operation away!”
“Mr. Mane...” Arcanista softly chided.
“What are we going to do?!” Ebon squeaked, his fake horn wobbling. “We gotta book it to Jake and Floydien and hope they can get us out of here before—”
“Shhhhhhh!” Arcanista insisted, holding up a hoof. She stared towards the far side of the balcony. Kera and Ebon turned to follow her gaze.
Chancellor Fishberry was a frazzled mess. Several of her fellow delegates crowded around her, murmuring in a deep panic. She snarled and pushed her way past all of them. She trotted a few steps, stumbled, rubbed her head for no apparent reason, then trotted briskly out into the hallway. A thoroughly confused Nilla bounced after her, but couldn't keep up.
“... ... ...” Arcanista slowly, slowly smiled. “Kera, you magnificent Princess of Scamps, I do believe we've ruffled the right feathers...”
Ebon and Kera exchanged curious glances.
While the rest of the High Council erupted in chaos and confusion, Prince Eine sat still in his seat. He tapped his chin with his hoof, exhaling thoughtfully.
“This... this is so unorthodox!” the servant beside him exclaimed. “Prince Eine, I assure you, the Council never... ever experiences this sort of chaos.” She frowned. “It's all that Xonan's fault! Who does she think she is, coming from a foreign land, trying to sow dissent and distrust!” She turned towards the regal fawn. “Do you honestly believe that nonsense about... a-about some sort of shape-shifting monster?!”
“Mmmmm... not sure if can.” Prince Eine smiled gently. “But it's obvious that she does.”
“I apologize whole-heartedly, Your Highness. Please, allow me to fetch you your coach so that you may depart before this place becomes even more unruly.”
“Thank you, but that won't be necessary.”
“But, your Majesty—!”
“But what?” He stood up and smirked at her. “I do believe I have a banquet to attend.” And he glanced up at Fishberry's balcony, smiling even more.