//------------------------------//
// Chapter 45: Intrigue 
// Story: Harmony's Creed 
// by Gapeagle 
//------------------------------//

	Yearling withdrew her eyes from the writings. She was still trying to comprehend what she had read. Dreams? The Empresses being Bearers? What the hell? Twilight....Twilight being a...traitor? She glanced over at the Bearer of Magic. To her surprise, Twilight was looking right back at her, a solemn expression on her ghostly face. 

"Twilight....Is Octavia right?" Yearling asked hesitantly.

Twilight faltered. Her face went to utter sadness and she desperately tried to hold her composure. Her bottom lip quivered, her "breathing" became shallow and she looked at the carpet. 

"Yes. I betrayed the Brotherhood." It came out as a sob.

"And you guys are still with her after that?" Yearling asked the other ghosts.

Rarity was the first to answer. "Miss Yearling, do you think after 500 years, we would care? It's a terribly long time to hold a grudge. Especially against one who went through the Elements' tortures as well. We relate to Twilight, we were brought together by the Elements. To shun her for so long would be ludicrous. Although Applejack and Fluttershy may say otherwise."

"So you were in her plan as well huh?" Yearling accused them.

Rainbow shot up out of her seat. "Hey! Don't ya go saying stuff like that. You weren't there."

Twilight spoke up. "No, they were not in my plan. Only Sunset and I. That Twilight isn't me. After...After what happened, I knew I was the reason for the calamity. I destroyed the Brotherhood from the inside out. All...All I wanted was peace. The Templar, the Assassins, they could be friends. If they just worked together, the world would see peace. Please tell me you see my thought process. I....I thought I was doing the right thing."

"Really? You ordered the deaths of lots of Templars. How was that going to ease tensions?" Yearling asked coldly.

"I never ordered the killing of any moderate Templars. The ones who were killed were radicals, people who would never work with the Assassins. When Sunset and I would make the unification, as we called it, both sides had to have some willingness to work with the other. Radicals would never do that. So we got rid of them. She took out radical Assassins, I took out radical Templars. No one batted an eye since it was not suspicious at all."

"I say it was pretty clever!" Pinkie commented excitedly. "Twilight kept us all under her thumb and we just went along with it. I mean, we weren't COMPLETELY in the dark. I mean, we knew about Discord and all. We just didn't know of Sunset Shimmer and her being close. Nor did we know of Celestia and Luna being Bearers. We totally predicted it but we didn't know exactly. For the longest time we thought we were the only Elements. Heck, even the past Bearers did not know about it. I mean wow! We did NOT know anything. Well...Except Twi of course."

"The Elements can be lied to and corrupted, darling." Rarity spoke up. "We may represent the good values of man, but they also can be used for ill-intent. There was a Bearer of Kindness before Fluttershy who believed Kindness could only be given to those who are kind. In turn, this made her cruel to those who treated others unfairly. It was her take on Kindness that differed from Fluttershy's and probably yours. But it was her Kindness, so she wasn't exactly wrong. Same thing here. Magic is often referred to as Friendship. We trusted Twilight without a worry because she was..."

"Our friend." The Bearers, minus Twilight, said in unison.

This made the Bearer of Magic cry even more. She buried her face into her arms and foggy tears ran down, disappearing before they even touched the ground. Yearling grimaced at the Bearer's breakdown. An ancient warrior reduced to sobs. Pinkie scrambled over to Twilight and began to sooth her.

"C'mon Twi. It wasn't THAT bad. I mean, you didn't get Applejack and Fluttershy kil..."

"PINKIE!" Rarity screeched.

"What?" The Bearer of Laughter shrugged.

Twilight lifted her head. "It's alright. Just to feel all this guilt...all over again. I'm sorry I did this to all of you. There's no excuse for me. I was a vile fiend, taking advantage of my friends and their gullibility. I ruined so many lives. So many... They haunt me everyday. From then and now. I'm sorry."

"We know ya are Twi." Rainbow said. "Wailing about it ain't gonna help. We don't want this to happen again right?"

"Rainbow's right." Rarity agreed. "This is why the Elements are unstable. They are gullible, easily tricked and lied too. They are much better now than at Octavia's time, but they will relapse with use. This Ahuizotl Industries will misuse them and these horrid events will play out again. We cannot let that happen."

"This is why you read, Yearling. It will only get worse."





"Hey Octy! It's been so long since I last seen you! Omigosh! I almost forgot how you looked! Wait, I'll never do that. I remember everyone's faces perfectly hehe. Like a painting!"

"Please let go Pinkie. I'm not in the mood."

"You like it."

"I feel like your killing me with this hug."

"Nope."

"Yes."

"Nope."

"Let go damn it!"

Pinkie jumped back from me with a frightened expression. I glared at her before softening my gaze. I was in a foul mood from earlier. My mind still swirled with my dream battle with Luna. That and the revelation that Twilight was the Brotherhood's traitor. I felt a new abhorrence towards the Bearers. It was a conflict within me to either trust them or not. However, rejecting Pinkie's friendly demeanor would be rude either way. I forced a smile to her.

"Sorry, rough night. Vinyl decided to snore louder than usual. How has the morning fared?" 

She instantly returned to her normal, joyful state. "Great! Rainbow, Mac and Maud are already planning on how they are going to capture Celestia. They say she's on this reeeeallly big ship with tons of cannons. They say this monster could sink them in a blink of an eye. Which is dumb because water can't flood a ship faster than a person can blink. See? I can blink so fast. I've never seen water go THAT fast. I mean, the ship would have to teleport to the bottom of the ocean for that to be true. Unless it could be Maud's blinking. She blinks really slow."

"I see your logic." I said with fake interest. "Umm...Where are they?"

"Oh! They are at the tavern. The one by the docks. Come, follow me!"

She turned and started to skip merrily away. I followed her with a roll of my eyes. The end of the conversation also made me realize the discomfort my body was in. The day was hot and humid to the point it felt like my face was being covered by an invisible mask. I sighed, hoping that the Isles were not all like this. However, the natural beauty of the place certainly helped its nasty temperatures. Although I saw palm trees in Baltimare, they were no where near as lush or tall as the ones that rose out of the small island. The sand that crept up from the shoreline was white and soft. Not like the Baltimare's coarse and dark sand. The water, however, was the same as that of the city. The rich green and blue waves constantly crashed on the large hill's overlooking cliff. By the docks, it calmly rushed in with small and consistent waves. 

It did not take Pinkie and I long to reach the tavern. The smallness of the island made travel seem effortlessly. Everything except the cemetery was in a throwing stone's reach. It was convenient, but it felt unimpressive due to its founding. Though that could be through my ignorance on the matter.

Pinkie shouted a "hello" before tackling Rainbow in a hug only she could give. The short pirate was engulfed in pink hair and lost from my view. Maud did not react as her partner was roughly separated from the table's bench that they were sitting on moments prior. Big Mac chuckled deeply before looking at the map they were studying on the table. There was a fourth person at the table, but she did not belong.

"Fleetfoot?" I asked incredulously.

"Oh...Hi Octy." She waved at me with bound hands. "Uhh...I asked if I could have a breather out of the ship. They said 'yes' but with you know...only under some conditions." 

"I see." I said as I sat on the table bench next to her.

Rainbow shoved Pinkie off and then shook her head wildly to remove the sand in her colorful hair. Pinkie stood up almost instantly, her smile as wide as ever. She also had sand in her fluffy mass of pink hair but did nothing to remove it and left it there. Rainbow gave a short grunt and sat at the table opposite me and on Maud's left. Pinkie remained standing and watched over Rainbow's shoulder.

"Like I was saying," Rainbow sounded indignantly, "Celestia will be heavily guarded. No less than three frigates and two brigs. But, if my plan goes together, they won't be an issue."

"Unless Spits finds you at that time." Fleetfoot remarked.

"Well...I doubt that." Rainbow responded. "She didn't have a ship when we left. I wouldn't expect her for another couple of days at least."

"That is if she comes for you at all." I said to the Wonderbolt.

Fleetfoot growled. "She will. She left me once, she wouldn't do it again. I'm sure of it now."

"Now, let's get back to business." Rainbow reminded us. "Alright. We need to get Celestia's ship alone. We don't need to go all out and try to sink it either. We gonna sneak on her. Thunderlane has been tracking the ECS Solaire's movements for a week now. There are three docks the ship rests at as they go in their circle around the Isles. The closest one is here." She pointed on the map. "Not two hours' sail from here. But that's not the place we want. It's too open and they're see us coming. We'll do it here. Right in the middle of the Isles. Islands crowd the place and hide us as we come. We get her escort distracted and then creep up to her ship in the night, take out the guards, and then carry the Empress away in the moonlight. Boom! That egghead Twilight couldn't make a better plan."

"That's perfect!" Pinkie squealed. "You could be a general Rainbow."

"I try my best." Rainbow grinned with pride.

"How you gonna distract the escort?" Fleetfoot asked.

"That's up to these two." Rainbow pointed at Mac and Maud. "Them and Berry are going to make the frigates give chase. You know, fire some shots and then run. We don't need them to go far, just enough for us to...ahem...extract the Empress. Since my guys are the best sneakers, we'll handle the infiltration of the ship."

I blinked. "What if Celestia decides to not fight?"

"Why would she do that?" Maud asked in her monotone voice.

I wanted to answer with the truth. The truth that she was expecting us with tea. I doubted bloodshed would be good for Celestia, even less for her deranged Sister. Not only that, but it seemed Celestia was not going to be hostile towards us when we arrived. Instead of answering, I gave a long shrug.

"Celestia wouldn't just let us take her." Rainbow stated. "She's an Empress! Almost like a goddess! Nah, she'll hide behind her Royal Guard until every one of 'em is bleeding out on the deck..." She paused. "Which doesn't sound bad to me."

I shook my head. "Maybe she will put her men's lives above her own. We could just threaten that we will kill them and then she hands herself over peacefully and we leave. No Guards need to die."

"Are you sleep deprived?" Rainbow glared at me. "There's no fun in that and is also unlikely. We're Assassins, we don't bluff, and they aren't pushovers."

"But this isn't for us, Rainbow." I reasoned. "The only reason we are even here is because of Discord. The only reason to kill anyone in this mission is to feed your bloodthirsty nature as a Survivor of Chaos."

"You watch your damn mouth!" Rainbow yelled. "The Royal Guards bring fear upon people. They regulate, torture, and maim people. This world could use less of 'em. Look at what I did to Baltimare. It's much better without them. I could care less if I stabbed one or a hundred of them."

"Do you even hear yourself? You sound like an animal." I pointed out.

"Octy's right." Pinkie nodded. "That is kinda harsh."

Rainbow threw her hands up in exasperation. "Fine! We'll use non-lethal weapons, alright? Sleep darts and choke holds it is."

"Um excuse me." Fleetfoot interrupted. "But what in Tartarus are you doing working for Discord? Lady Shimmer says he is a lunatic! C'mon, the Brotherhood hasn't fallen that low, has it?"

"Long story Fleets." Pinkie told her. "We're not doing this by choice. Discord kinda demanded it. Also, the Brotherhood is no different than when you left it."

She sighed. "That's what I'm afraid of..."

"How do you know of Discord?" I glanced over at the traitor.

"Oh shit..." She cursed under her breath. "Uhh....Lady Shimmer told me?"

"How did she know of Discord?" Pinkie asked.

"Uh, Bearer." She looked at Rainbow. "May I go back to the ship? I think I've had enough air for today."

Rainbow remained silent and simply shook her head. Fleetfoot started to sweat. Her eyes darted from every face at the table. They finally landed on me, filled with panic. She then stared at the table in silence.

"Not going to answer?" I asked.

"Nope."

"C'mon Fleets, it isn't that hard." Pinkie said cheerfully. "All ya need to do is open those lips and sing. Secrets are bad for your health and mind. You shouldn't worry about us neither. We don't bite."

Fleetfoot lifted her gaze. "Celestia told her."

"We coulda guess that!" Rainbow shouted. 

"There's more to it than that, Fleetfoot." I remarked. "Why would Celestia give such a secret to Sunset Shimmer?"

"Cause she kinda.....maybe....has a shard." The traitor's explanation came out barely audible.

I froze with the news. Luna had mentioned it in my dream, but it went over my head at the time. All this time? All my encounters with her about the Tree of Harmony had been fake? Her ignorance on Starswirl was false. She was playing with me. She could have killed me at any moment with whatever power she wielded. But she didn't. My mind moved on to Spitfire. She was trying to make me into a new Spitfire. A traitor and hunter of the Brotherhood. She failed, however, when I attacked her in the Archives instead of joining her. That was why she was so angry with me afterwards. She was probably angry at herself as well. 

Twilight also knew of Discord and the lot. She was a princess under Celestia, so I concluded that she was told of such things by the Empress as well. If Sunset received the information when she gained a shard, then Twilight had a shard as well. A shard and an Element, the power that would be...I shuttered as I thought about it. And in the hands of a traitor as well.

"Great, just great." Rainbow complained. "Well, she wouldn't be a problem for me, of course. She could be for the other Bearers though. Now I wish one of us had mind reading. Cause we can't tell anyone in Canterlot about this without sending someone all the way there."

If Rainbow was working with Twilight, she did well to hide it. Discord hinted that it could be more than just one Bearer. However, I could not bring myself to believe them as such. Pinkie avoided violence when possible, Rainbow was not subtle enough, and Fluttershy was.....Fluttershy. It did not seem logical for them to be traitors like their fellow Bearer. The Bearer of Honesty could not lie, thus removing her from the suspect list entirely. Rarity was the most likely to be the second traitor. Although I wouldn't count on it since Spitfire almost killed her at one time.

I was about to say something when I jumped in fright from a cold hand touching my shoulder. In my startled sate, I looked at who the new arrival was. To my relief, it was Vinyl, uncharacteristically without her mask. Her eyes were a deeper red than before.

"Hey Tavi." She said with a smile.

"Good morning." I returned. "We were discussing the plans for Empress Celestia."

"With Fleets?" She pointed at the Wonderbolt.

"Hey!" Fleetfoot exclaimed. "Not like I can tell anyone. Hell, do anything for that matter."

"Good point." Vinyl nodded. "So, where can ya get some food? I'm starving."

Rainbow pointed at the tavern's bar. "Over there. Try not to get too much, alright?"





"Vinyl, you've been eating all day. Aren't you full yet?"

"C'mon Tavi, let me eat like I want."

"Hmph, I would have had a stomachache an hour ago. Are you alright?"

"What? Yeah."

Vinyl leaned back and chugged a full mug of cider. It was her tenth drink that afternoon and she was not even remotely effected by the alcohol. Her piercing red eyes peered at me lazily when she placed the mug down. I took the opportunity to forcibly take the mug from her, ending her gluttony.

"I am cutting you off. Do you even know how bizarre all this is? Five ciders, two rum bottles, three bottles of wine, twenty bread rolls, six full plates of fish, a bowl of beans, and three potatoes. All in one afternoon. It's not mid-afternoon by my calculations. Not only that, you are spending all my bitpieces!"

"Jeez, Octy, stop ya complaining. I'm just hungry. I think I'll get the pork next."

"No, you are not. No more food for you. Not one bite more."

"Some friend you are..." She crossed her arms.

"I only do so as a friend. Vinyl, do you realize that you have eaten far more than I have in this entire week? You did it in a couple of hours too! Please tell me you see something not right here."

"The only thing not right is you taking food from my mouth."

"Vinyl, you are going downhill. I haven't seen Rainbow eat like this. Maybe she does and I don't even know it. But still, your eyes are redder and your....eating habits are ridiculous."

"You saying this is Discord's doing?"

"Absolutely. You're probably going to grow fangs next."

As if the Lord of Chaos was mocking me, she smiled to reveal just what I had predicted. In place of her normal fangs were canines that would fit a vampire. I moaned loudly as I looked at them.

"You already have fangs..."

"I do?" She gasped.

She put her hand over her teeth, feeling the new fangs she had. Her pupils went to pinpricks when she felt how long and sharp they were. She slowly removed her hand and rested it on the table.

"Tavi.... Is it time yet?"

"No!" I took her hand. " It is not. Vinyl, don't think that way. Please. You are not gone yet. You have fangs and an extreme stomach, so what. Chaos does not have you entirely. I'm sure of it."

"But...what if GAH!"

With a hellish screech she pounced at me, knocking me over. She pinned my arms to the ground and snarled in my face like an animal. My heart raced as she showed off her new teeth to me. She then started to chuckle madly and fell over on her side laughing.

"Bahaha! The look on your face! Priceless!" She laughed and rolled about.

"Vinyl, you immature asshole!" I yelled. "I....I was about to shoot you!"

"Yeah right." She giggled. "Did you really think I didn't know of my new fangs and eating? I woke up this way. C'mon, Tavi, they're cool. You gotta admit they make me look awesome. Red eyes and fangs? Yes please! Haha!"

"Vinyl, don't you remember what Rainbow said? You are going to turn into a Chaotic monster one of these days."

"Pfft, taken care of. I talked with Discord when you left the hut. I asked him if he was willing to keep that from happening. He said 'alright' and snapped his fingers. So then I wanted to go tell you the good news, but he wanted to do it in a fun way. So he gave me a bottomless stomach to just mess with you. The rest was my part."

"It was that simple? You just asked?" I was shocked in more ways than one.

"Hell yeah. All our crying fo' nothing. But it was worth it! Oh, your face! Haha!"

"Vinyl! You are going to wish you became a beast, cause I'm going to kill you for this!"

"Bring it on, cello player" She smiled mockingly.





I refuse to recount the moments after that. Not out of shame, but more....personal reasons. Let me simply say that she is not going to do that again. I now write as I gaze upon her through the candlelight on board the Ragnarok. Smiling at the bandages she is wearing. Chuckling at the bruises on her forehead. Laughing at her humbled pride. 

Now, the news she gave me was fantastic, but the way she gave me it was low and dirty and above all else, immature. I have had enough people play with my mind and dreams. I was determined for it not to happen again. Thus, I look at the sweet consequences of my actions upon my dear friend in satisfaction. 

"It was still worth it." She said to me.


~