//------------------------------// // Midnight in the Garden of Meh // Story: Yaerfaerda // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// “Why should I believe a single word you're saying?!” Midnite Bastion growled. “Uhhhh... okay.” Rainbow frowned. “Here's one reason.” And she let go of the mare. “Gah!” Midnite fell... the distance of four feet, landing nimbly on her hooves. This is because Rainbow Dash had just lowered the two of them to a plateau several yards south of Shepherd's Rock. “I totally didn't release you while we were hundreds of feet up!” Rainbow glared from where she hovered. “Believe it or not, I'm not out to murder anypony! Not you. Not your father. Not even the soul sentries or goblins who may be working for him.” “Bite your tongue!” Midnite hissed, eyes glinting in the starlight. “The General is no Cartel sympathizer!” “Uhhhh... are you deaf or something?!” Rainbow's voice cracked as she gestured broadly towards the Rock. “He just said out loud that he was in cahoots with them!” “It's a ploy,” Midnite said, squinting. “A trick to throw off Secretary Sharp Quill and the Chancellor. Those two are the ones who are corrupt in this nation! My father's only playing their game long enough to pull the rug out from under their hooves!” “Is that a fact?!” Rainbow balked. “Has he told you this himself?!” “He...” Midnite gnashed her teeth. “...he has not.” “Why not?! You're his daughter, aren't you?” Rainbow smirked. “Why the mask and dark clothes unless you were sneaking up on the meeting just as much as I was right now.” “... ... ...” Midnite turned away, fuming. Rainbow hovered closer. “If you trust dear-old-Daddy so much... why not ask him straight up what he's doing?” “My father is a master tactician,” Midnite hissed. “It's not my place to question how he goes about defending Val Roa!” “But you want to, don't you?” Rainbow gestured. “I can't be the only pony who sees how crazy things are with him! With the other two! With everyone!” “What do you know? You're likely just some agent for the Cartel attempting to undermine this great nation.” “Yes, because the Green Bandits are keen on hiring winged ponies.” “I've seen them do stranger things.” “Oh yeah? And what about your father? Is it natural for him to suddenly stand dead-still, eyes locked on everything and nothing, while he talks to some bodiless soul?” Midnite Bastion winced visibly. Rainbow pointed with a smirk. “Ah ha! He has done that, hasn't he? I knew it.” She touched down, staring across from the mare. “It's the same thing with the other two. Something or someone has possessed them... or is commanding them from afar... or has infected them. Whatever. The three most important deer in Val Roa are not their normal selves. Now, you seem like a smart pony. Don't tell me that the way Saikano's been acting lately can be misconstrued with 'normal.'” “Hmmmmf...” Midnite paced about on scuffling hooves. “What do you know...?” “I know plenty,” Rainbow Dash said. “Because I've dealt with this menace before. There's a monster loose in Val Roa, a changeling Queen named Chrysalis. She's brought entire nations to their knees by replacing their most important leaders. For the longest time, she's done this by literally replacing them with doppelgangers. But she also knows how to read creatures' minds. Somehow it wouldn't surprise me if she's put a spell on your dad and turned him into a weapon for her own cause.” “That's impossible.” “Why's that?” “My father would have stopped her before she even entered the West Gate!” Midnite spun, snarling. “That's why!” “Oh really...” “He's in control of the Soul Sentries! And under his command, they would have—” “What?!” Rainbow frowned. “They would have caught Chrysalis? Just like they caught me when I snuck into the kingdom to snoop out the changeling Queen?!” “It's a large nation. My father tries his best—” “Or maybe he's not commanding the Soul Sentries to defend this nation at all!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Maybe he's controlling them for another purpose... a darker purpose... because he's allied with the same force that's manipulating Sharp Quill and Fishberry!” “That's preposterous,” Midnite grumbled. “The Soul Sentries are the most trusted line of Val Roan defense!” “But don't you think it's a bit weird that Saikano's been recruiting so many of them?! Filling them in the streets of this city?! Lining them up along the mountain range surrounding this whole dang kingdom?!” Midnite's eyes darted about. A sheen of sweat formed on her brow. “There's more to it, isn't there?” Rainbow squinted. “If you're his daughter, then surely you've seen more. Perhaps on the inside.” Midnite took a deep breath. “The ritual by which Soul Sentries are made has... changed,” she said. “In what way?” “Why should I tell you?” “Because we both smell something that's fishy,” Rainbow said. “And although we were nearly killing each other a few minutes ago, that automatically puts us on the same side, girl. So 'fess up. What's gone wrong with the Soul Sentry program?!” Midnite's teeth showed as she grimaced. “There are... hundreds of them added by the hour.” She gulped. “From all over Val Roa. And the ritual goes by so swiftly as well. Usually it takes months... even years of preparation to become a wielder of the Emerald Flame. But lately?” She shook her head. “In the Central Barracks, volunteers are rounded up, and my father just... I-I mean the General simply looks at them and... and...” Rainbow blinked, ears twitching. With a disgruntled sigh, Midnite hung her head. “The Coronation.” She seethed. “We need the extra security for the Coronation. That... th-that's why.” She shuddered. “It all makes sense. Surely it does.” “You don't sound entirely convinced...” “I believe whole heartedly in my father's cause!” Midnite snapped, frowning at the pegasus. “Some way, some how, he's working to undermine Sharp Quill and Fishberry! I just know it!” “Uh huh...” “Do not patronize me!” Midnite dragged a hoof, frowning. “Just who are you to claim otherwise, stranger?!” “Because I'm not the only one who sees the inherent threat to this kingdom!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Somepony... somedeer that you know is on my side! It's the sole reason why I'm even here!” “Like who?!” Rainbow took a deep breath. “Duchess Arcanista of the House of Sehlp.” “Arcanista...?!” Midnite blinked. “From Bountiful?!” She chuckled bitterly. “Has that noble gotten that desperate?! No doubt she wishes to usurp Chancellor Fishberry from her high seat!” “Midnite...” Rainbow slowly shook her head. “It's not just Arcanista who brought me here.” “Oh yeah?!” Midnite leaned forward. “Who else?!” Floydien's dull red eyes traced the road leading them to the front of Plaza Topaz. He and Jake pulled the wagon while Arcanista talked with the ponies in her carriage. “I've said it a dozen times, Kera. I'll gladly forgive you for speaking out of line before the Council today. For what it's worth, it's stirred the hornet's nest in all the right places. But when you run off at the Banquet without warning...” “Hey! All I did was munch on grasshoppers and chat it up with the caterer's son!” “The caterer's son?!” Ebon Mane remarked. “Yeah! You know! At the Banquet!” Kera giggled. “The kid was super nice. Kind of a brick short of a load, but he treated me like royalty. So I'm not complaining.” “Kera...” Ebon sighed. “Don't you get it? It's quite possible that we've made quite a few enemies in Val Roa here today. 'Treating you like royalty' could mean assassination!” “Pfft. This pipsqueak couldn't assassinate a spider with a wad of tissues.” “I'm s-serious!” the stallion's voice cracked. “You had me really... really worried all afternoon!” “Playing the part of the Xonan Princess gives you a lot of authority, Kera,” Arcanista chided. “But it's no excuse to act wildly and without control.” “Hey! I had everything under control! Besides, if that punk tried to start something, I would have totally tossed him off the balcony with one flash of mana!” “And that would solve the situation... how?” Ebon muttered. “Oh hush.” Kera stuck her tongue out. “I don't see what everypony's freaked out about. The heat isn't on us! If anything, the pressure's on Rainbow Dash over at Shuffle Reefer.” “Shepherd's Rock.” “Whatever. If anything, all of Chrysalis' hidden eyes are on her, not the 'delegates from Xona.' Heh... I wonder if she made any headway tonight.” “To be perfectly realistic, Kera, I doubt we'll be seeing her for quite some time,” Arcanista said. Thwoooosh! Just then, two shadows dropped down from the sky, landing in front of the wagon in the shadow of Plaza Topaz. Jake and Floydien jerked to a stop. “Cardboard!” the moose exclaimed. His eyes narrowed. “Is that who I sniff it is...?” Rainbow Dash released her grip of Midnite. The dark mare blinked, muzzle agape. Floydien looked up. He froze with a blank expression. “Floyd...?” Midnite gulped, shivering slightly. “You... you're alive...?” “... ... ...” Midnite's eyes turned glossy. She took a pensive step forward. “It's... it's me, Floyd...” An awkward smile. “It's your Nancy Jane...” “... ... ...” Slowly, without saying a word, Floydien started trotting again. He and Jake drew the wagon past Midnite. Both Rainbow Dash and the General's daughter pivoted, gawking at the moving carriage. Floydien didn't look back. Jake, glancing back and forth, raised his head and grinned. “Well... I for one think you still look dayum sexy, M.B.! Love what you've done with your thighs! Penguins!”