//------------------------------// // Everyone Sees Where This Is Going // Story: Yaerfaerda // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Slowly, Duchess Arcanista's eyes fluttered open. She sat in the corner of a dank cell, her limbs shackled to rusted chains. Wearily, she looked to her left. Mamunia was slumped up against the wall, likewise manacled to a set of metal plates in the floor. Wincing, Arcanista tilted her head the other way. She saw the massive figure of Constable Jake shackled to the floor. Then, standing between them in the shadows, a tall and imposing elk loomed. As the antlers above his brow glowed, the General took a few bold steps forward. Arcanista gulped dryly. “Saikano, I presume...” Saikano lifted a canteen of water towards the Duchess' muzzle. Arcanista hesitated, glaring into the liquid wearily. “Poisoning you would serve me no purpose,” Saikano said. “I can't get questions out of a corpse.” “But you can out of raw meat?” “I would hope it not come to that.” Silence. Leaning forward, Arcanista pressed her lips to the canteen. She drank the cool liquid liberally, her ears folding back as her body relaxed slightly in its metal imprisonment. Meanwhile, Saikano tilted his head aside. “The Chancellor claims that you attacked her. Is this true?” Arcanista swallowed the liquid down. She looked up at him. “My servant.” She motioned towards Mamunia. “Give her some.” Saikano gave her a lasting stare. Nevertheless, he trotted over and gently tilted Mamunia's muzzle up. Half-awake, the pony's lips parted, through which Saikano gave her several graceful sips of water. When the gesture was finished, he helped her recline on the floor, then glanced patiently Arcanista's way. The Duchess took a shuddering breath. “Undoubtedly the Chancellor claims many things. Did I attack her?” She slowly shook her head. “No. But now, seeing where I am, I most certainly wish I did.” “And why is that?” “Because she is not herself,” Arcanista remarked. “She's been replaced.” “Replaced...” “That's right.” “And as Duchess of the province Bountiful, you saw it within your responsibility to bring to light this masquerade?” Saikano shuffled over. “By confronting the Chancellor directly in her office?” “I assumed that a direct verbal confrontation would make her buckle under the pressure,” Arcanista said. “Turns out, I was right. Only partially.” “Is that a fact?” “She collapsed,” Arcanista said. “Suffering from some sort of... neurological attack. Her eyes pulsed with a magic unlike any kind of force I've seen wielded by deer-kind. I promise, I didn't lay a hoof on her.” “But you would desire to?” “Considering what she's likely instigating against the state and all my fellow subjects—” “Would you lay a hoof on soul sentries? Soldiers?” Saikano's eyes narrowed. “Guardians of Val Roa?” “I... don't understand.” “Would you send your personal Constable to attack my forces?” Saikano stepped aside, gesturing at the unconscious moose. “Like he did hours ago... at approximately the same time that the Chancellor alleged you paid her... an innocent visit?” Arcanista clamped her jaw shut. Ultimately, she hung her head. “Maybe now you can understand why I find your tale quite hard to swallow,” Saikano said. “You've already made it clear that you have little to no confidence in the Chancellor's integrity. And, lo and behold, I found a soldier of your employ having infiltrated my facility, having done all sorts of damage to property and physical harm to deer. Can all of this really be legitimized by an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory?” “It isn't completely unsubstantiated.” “Where's your evidence, then?” “Enough pretense, General.” Arcanista frowned. “I know that you're working for a malevolent force in this land.” “Oh, am I, now?” “You and Secretary Sharp Quill are conspiring with Chancellor Fishberry to hoof this kingdom over to a veritable monster. I and a few colleagues of mine have been the only creatures standing in the way between Val Roa and certain annihi—” Arcanista stopped in mid-speech, her muzzle hanging agape. She gazed across the way to where Midnite Bastion hung from several dangling shackles. “...Mother of God...” She gawked at Saikano, her muzzle awash in disgust. “Saikano, is that Midnite?” The General said nothing, staring past her in order to avoid her gaze. Arcanista clenched her teeth. “You've beaten and shackled your own daughter?!” “She turned traitorous,” Saikano growled, the tips of his horns shimmering. “She attacked this facility and wreaked havoc.” “Did she have a reason to?” “I had no choice—” “But was she right?!” Arcanista glared. “Did she murder your troops? Was she after your throat, Saikano?!” “She... tried to undermine...” Saikano's brow began sweating as his pupils shrank. “...undermine the very... structure of our d-defenses...” “By doing what?!” Arcanista tilted her head aside as she frowned. “I know a thing or two about the mare that my brother once fell in love with, Saikano. She followed in your military hoofsteps where nopony previously could. She mastered every lesson that you taught her.” “Until today—” he snarled, shaking his head. “Why would she turn against you unless every fiber in her being—everything that you taught her to be just—had told her that a decisive strike against this facility was absolutely necessary?” “I... I do not understand her motivations...” “Why would you let your own soldiers beat her within an inch of her life, Saikano?” Arcanista leaned back in her rattling chains. “And why aren't you seething in rage after being reminded that Duke Floyd and Midnite Bastion had an affair?” Saikano flashed Arcanista a pale glance. The Duchess' lips parted. “...you don't remember, do you?” After a sympathetic breath, she murmured, “Fishberry didn't either.” “... ... ...” Saikano looked at the wall. In a limp shuffle, he trotted over and stood before the shackled mare. Arcanista stared in silence. Saikano stared up at Midnite's limp body. His ears twitched, and his good eye glazed over. He leaned forward as much as his antlers could allow, brushing the square of his head against Midnite's slowly heaving chest. “Your brother... the Duke of Sehlp... is he alive?” The Duchess slowly nodded. “Aye. He is.” “...would you hurt him if it meant protecting the interests of Val Roa?” Arcanista sat in silence. After a long breath, she finally blurted, “No.” Saikano shuddered. His voice wavered slightly. “Why would I do this to my own daughter?” He seethed through his teeth. “Why would I hide secrets from her? Why would I let things come to th-this?” Shifting in her shackles, Arcanista stared at the trembling buck. At last, she stammered, “Maybe because you're not who you think you are.” Saikano flashed her a wild look, his antlers losing their glow. Arcanista gulped. “Tell me, Saikano. What you're sensing right now... what you're feeling... is it love?” Saikano clenched his teeth. Gradually, the General nodded. “Then ask yourself this.” Arcanista leaned forward. “Why are you working so closely with Sharp Quill and Fishberry to sow so much misery?” Saikano's face hung in utter confusion. He turned to look at his daughter once again. “...I do not know...” He stumbled back, shuddering. “I do not understand anything...” “She's making you do this, isn't she?” Saikano flashed her another look. “She...?” “Does she even have a name? A face? An identity?” “She...” Saikano trotted backwards, teetering slightly. “...she wants what's best for... this continent...” “And as General of Val Roa, can you afford to defend someone you can't even see?” “... ... ...” “Saikano...” He looked weakly at her, his face soft. Arcanista smiled gently. “It's not too late for Midnite. It's not too late for any of us.” Her eyes narrowed. “We need every one to stand up against this monster. Even you.” Saikano exhaled. His gaze fell to the floor of the chamber. “Can you help us?” Arcanista motioned with her head. “Can you help her?” Her ears folded back. “Please...”