//------------------------------// // A Nighttime Appointment at Shepherd's Rock // Story: Yaerfaerda // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Jake and Floydien came to a stop. Their coach creaked as it settled along the southern fringes of the main city. Low-rise apartment buildings and decrepit streets stretched around them. The moose and elk stared into the desolate hills rolling south from where they were positioned. After looking all around and finding the coast to be clear, Jake cleared his throat and gave the wagon a little kick. Rainbow Dash poked her head out. It was dark, and night was about to fall. A purple sky hung over the arid worldscape. “Okay...” She hopped out, hovering on blue wings. “This shouldn't take too crazy long. Head back to the High Council building. I'll meet with the Duchess and the rest of the group back at Plaza Topaz.” “Try not to get discovered and tortured violently for your precocious snooping,” Jake said. “Thank you, Constable Obvious.” She flew off. “Try not to drool.” “Drool?!” Jake slobbered. He glared aside at the elk. “I do not drool!” Floydien squinted one eye at the moose. “...literal spit is literal.” Jake felt his chin, blinking. He grunted as he felt Floydien trotting in a circle, forcing him and the wagon to face north once again. Rainbow Dash flew south. She tried not to overshoot her destination. After all, it was getting dark, and every shadow was starting to look the same. The mare mentally retraced the directions Duchess Arcanista had given her. Her head pivoted towards the east, and she scanned the landscape for a flat slab of stone surrounded by altars. At some point, she got distracted. Rainbow's eyes shot dead east, and she was entranced by the lavender beacon of Yaerfaerda. Perhaps it was her imagination, but it almost felt as if the light was closer. Gritting her teeth, Rainbow rubbed her clenched eyes and sighed. Refocusing on her flight, she looked straight down—flinching. She at last saw Shepherd's Rock. Any more seconds of flying and she would zoom past it. Angling her wings, she glided earthward in a spiraling circle. She landed behind a cleft of stone with a soundless shuffle of hooves. There, she spotted some thorny bushes hugging close to the earth, and she found a dark niche within which she as able to hide. Squatting on all fours, she kept her body low to the ground and held her breath. Her ears twitched as she listened to the air, waiting for any sound of trotting hooves. The sunlight of the day was almost entirely extinguished. In a matter of moments, it would be First Shine. Her targets would arrive. “The way I see it, this far out against the Grand Choke, the shapeshifting Queen wants to regain her strength,” Kera said, reclining on a balcony chair overlooking the night-drenched Sandstone District. “If she makes enough misery to feed on, she could get super powerful. Even powerful enough to leap the Grand Choke in a single bound and then lay waste to... I dunno... whoever lives over there.” “To what end?” Eine asked, sitting across from her on another seat. “Hmmm?” Kera blinked. “Oh, I totally didn't say it at this morning's speech, did I?” “Everydeer's been left to guess, Your Highness.” “Well, from what we Xonans can guess...” Kera stifled a yawn. “The monster is from the dark side of the world.” “Dark side...?” “You know, the flat side of this plane that the sun and moon don't illuminate?” Kera smirked. “Turns out the monster is from there. She has—like—a brother who's waaaaay more powerful, and the two of them are waging some sort of undending war against two other armies. Pretty epic stuff.” Eine blinked. “Cosmologists have theorized about the properties of the dark side, but never once did we think that there were actual inhabitants there.” “Heheh...” Kera smirked. “Wow, you're rather thoughtful for a catering deer.” “Yes, well...” Eine squirmed. “When we snooped the shapeshifter out along the borders of Ledomare and Xona, we sapped her of most her power. So, even though she's escaped, she's super... crazy weak at the moment, which is why we wish to corner her while we can. If we don't put a stop to her now, she may get powerful again, and then she'd be next-to-impossible to deal with.” “That certainly wouldn't do,” Eine said. “Nope. It's a good thing that the Duchess Arcanista was nice enough to help me and my entourage enter Val Roa. Otherwise, we'd never have gotten word out about this creep.” “Yes...” Eine nodded. “Most fortunate indeed.” “Arcanista needs a break, y'know?” “In what way?” “Well, she's a faithful noble who serves Val Roa and its Royal Family! But... like... she's been treated like crap by the High Council for years.” Eine sat up straight, his eyes firm. “Is that so...?” “Yeah. Seems that a bunch of delegates within the High Council love to curb-stomp members who don't dance to their tune. Arcanista's one of the unlucky representatives. I mean... heck... she had a brother who was kicked out of Val Roa just for trying to speak out against it!” “In... what way does the Council do this unruly behavior?” “Pffft. Heck if I know. It's politics.” “But...” Eine's brow furrowed. “You're a Princess. Aren't you supposed to be knowledgeable of this sort of subject matter?” “Hey, all of that is in Lasairfion's court,” Kera said. “At least... that's the best I can figure.” She fidgeted. “I'm just the one sent on missions of good will and peace. A spokespony, ya dig?” “Erm...” “Heh... you think the Prince of Val Roa knows anything about what's really going on in this country?” Kera smirked. “If he did, I'm sure he would have put a stop to the nonsense by now! I mean... he's gonna be King in just three... two days, right?” Eine sighed long and hard, his ears drooping as he gazed aside. “Yes. You... imagine he would be on top of things.” “But hey. He's just a kid.” Kera shrugged. “If I got to rule Xona in place of my sister... ho ho hoooooo...” She smirked. “I'm already drooling at the possibilities.” “Surely, Your Highness, you would put the welfare of your subjects above that of your own whim.” “Heh... you bet!” Kera smiled. “I'd do something about righting all the wrongs that both Xona and Ledomare has done. I'd try and get ponies and deer and turtles and whatever to cooperate better, so that way we don't rub goblins and naga and—heck—even shape-shifters the wrong way.” Her nostrils flared as she gazed off into the distance. “Poverty... hunger... broken families.” She gulped. “I'd do something about all of those nasty things. We live in a world that's got places so peaceful and harmonic that it makes every other kingdom look like a nightmare in comparison. I know that this is true, because I've seen it in the face of an awesome pony who's convinced me that it exists. Everything has a way of getting ugly, but you shouldn't have to lose faith because of it. You... shouldn't let yourself go blind.” Eine gazed softly at her. Kera sighed. “But... y'know... there's only so much one can do. And with so little time.” She smirked. “The Duchess and I are here in Val Roa to make a difference. If we can get that one step done right, then we can work on the rest later, right? And with new friends and allies even.” Eine slowly nodded. “I have no doubt that your heart and integrity are in the right place.” He smiled slightly. “Even if your manners aren't.” “Jee. Thanks. I'm guessing you're out of grasshoppers.” “Er...” “Eh, forget I mentioned anything.” Kera sat up, fidgeting in her gown. “If I stuffed any more down my throat, I'm liable to pop a seam in this darn thing.” “May I ask one question, Your Highness?” She giggled. “Just one?” He smiled gently. “If you were Princess of this land... soon to be Queen... what would you do?” Kera blinked. “You mean if—like—I was 'Princess Kera of the House of Evo?'” “Precisely.” “Well... heh...” She smirked. “I'd read up on the speech that a certain Xonan Princess gave at the High Council meeting today.” “But of course.” “Then...” Kera took a deep breath. “Then I would arrange a meeting with everrrrrrydeer I claim to trust. I would stare each and every one of them in the eye and ask them what they will do to make sure we're not being invaded by a shape-shifting menace.” “And just what would that accomplish?” Eine asked, standing up across from her. “Isn't it obvious?” Kera shrugged. “If the monster is in this kingdom, what better a form to take than one of the Prince's most trusted advisors? The Military... the Council... the Palace... she could be anywhere! And anyone! And I'd do my darnedest to find out who and why before it's too late!” “Too... late...?” “You really think this creep's going to wait to kill me until after I have become Queen?” Kera smirked. “But... heh... that's not my bed to make. I really... really don't envy the Prince right about now. But... then again... what he doesn't know can't hurt him. Or... it totally can, but he won't feel a thing when he does.” “That's...” Eine gulped, feeling his blood run cold. “...morbid?” “Right. That's why the Duchess and I are trying to dig out the shape shifter before anything like that can happen. It sure as heck wouldn't be pretty.” Kera paced across the balcony, then stopped dead in her tracks. “Wait a second...” She turned and squinted up at the pinprick-dazzled sky. “What friggin' time is it?” Rainbow Dash was starting to squirm. The shroud of night had already fallen. It was obviously well past “First Shine” in every definitive sense of the term. She spent most of the time fussing with her tail hairs, counting the number of strands still unnaturally dyed green despite the midday rinse. Soon it became too dark for Rainbow to distract herself, and she started to panic. The mare was about to leap out of her hiding and give the place an aerial comb over when— Hoofsteps. Rainbow Dash froze. She stuck her tongue against the roof of her mouth while every muscle in her body locked in place. At first, she didn't know where the hoofsteps were coming from... until something strode over her. She stopped breathing momentarily, watching as a tall, tall elk nearly squashed her, walking blindly past the niche where she was hiding. When he was a few strides away, she finally exhaled, then crawled far enough forward to tilt her head and crane her neck past the nearest cleft of stone. A large buck stood facing the slab of Shepherd's Rock. Rainbow could make out his broad antlers in the starlight. A few outer branches shimmered with a metallic glint. When he spoke, it was with a voice she hadn't heard before. “Come forth,” he growled in an authoritative tone. “There is much at stake and very little under control. We risk more by waiting in the shadows.” Rainbow whispered to herself: “Saikano...” At the sound of rustling bushes, she looked aside. Two more bodies approached the flat stone at Shepherd's Rock.