//------------------------------// // To Rise Early // Story: Through the Nether // by StormDancer //------------------------------// "Sister," the voice called, rousing the princess of the sun from her slumber, "We require your council." Princess Luna stood patiently in the open doorway of Princess Celestia's private bedchambers, mane shifting lazily in the otherwise dark room. She had waited quietly after knocking, after calling gently, after coughing no fewer than the politically required three times, and now she was preparing to do the unthinkable: raise the sun. Waiting just a long enough to see that the momentary shift in her sister's form had not manifested a shining example of royal wakefulness, Luna lit her horn in a huff. Seconds later, there was a startled shriek, the clattering of a (now empty) bucket of ice water, and the rather undignified dropping of the Princess of the Sun onto her, now thoroughly soaked, bedsheets. Sputtering in the confused outrage of one who had not been mishandled in centuries, Celestia cast about the room as her horn lit into a searing blaze of light. Luna, for her own part, silently waited, a deep blue film slipping across her features as her sister's reflexive casting splashed across her shield with little impact other than a gaudy light show. "Are you quite done dear Sister?" Blinking as she recognized the intruder and quietly biting back words that would be quite unbecoming of her status, Celestia finally settled upon drying herself as she considered her words. "Luna, I'm sure there is a ve-" "The Plot is disturbed Sister. We have a grave robber." -~oOo~- Getting out had been almost distressingly easy. Getting away had been quite the opposite. Despite having been buried, whatever evil had killed her had seen fit to litter the area with armored beasts, many of which seemed to possess some strange form of magic. They were squat little horse things, perhaps a zherva or two, or the occasional flying variety. Whatever they were, there were a lot of them, and in her current state, she hadn't felt confident enough to engage. At the moment, she was squinting out into the night, huddled beneath some kind of leafy bush, staring out upon the patrolling creatures and looking for an opening to escape. Having been in many a tight place over the years, patience and prudence had become almost second nature to her. Waiting and watching had become nearly a habit whenever she had found herself in such situations, and she knew that there was always a time where something would go wrong... where someone would make a mistake. She just had to capitalize upon it. That, of course, assumed that she could capitalize upon it, which was something she found herself questioning more and more by the minute. Idly, she flexed the broken stubs of her fingers while watching a pair of passing pegasusses.... pegassi? Whatever the plural of pegasus was.... there were two of them flying low to the ground, armor glinting in the remarkably bright moonlight. Waiting a few more moments after the pair had passed, she quickly glanced towards the nearby wall, checking on the heavily armored horse-thing that had been making rounds the last half hour. Clear skies were good, but being caught by that beast would be trouble. He was a big one, nearly a head taller than the one that had been 'guarding' her grave, and was clearly no stranger to combat. The golden crest upon his helm had no shortage of knicks and small dents, something she had noted on nearly all of her allies before the loss of Draenor. It was almost a right of passage to collect a few truly damaging hits before calling oneself a hero after all... and no self respecting Horde would be caught dead without their fair share of scars. Suppressing a morbid chuckle, she briefly glanced back along her shoulder at the abrupt truncation of her torso... if she hadn't been a hero before, she certainly would qualify now. Looking back out across the momentarily clear patch of garden, she steeled herself before scuttling forward with just her arms. Racing as best she could across the remarkably well maintained grasses, she angled towards what appeared to be a dense flowerbed with waxy leaves. The stubs of her fingers dug into the plush grass, dragging her small body across the lawn at what would surely be a truly alarming rate were she anything other than Forsaken, before lurching to a violent stop just short of her goal. Glancing back, she found herself caught on what appeared to be a discarded trowel. With a quiet snarl, she reached back to tug the offending tool free, only to freeze as she noticed a frightfully unique figure perched atop a balcony overlooking the clearing. The beast stood at least twice as tall as the creatures that patrolled the grounds below, but where they wore armor of gold or silver, the observer wore some kind of softly glimmering blue metal. Upon its sides rested two immense wings, black as pitch in the moonlight, and from its head sprouted a single saber-like horn. But what had caused her to freeze in momentary horror was the appearance of its mane and tail... both of which seemed to be made of the bottomless depths of Draenor's lost skies. Snapping to her senses, she yanked the trowel free and wrenched herself forward under the thick foliage, pressing herself into the concealing shadows. Whatever that thing was, she somehow knew it was responsible for her tortured arrival: it's mane and tail could not be a coincidence. With a growl of frustration, she remained hidden, determined not to be discovered by the creature who watched over the infernal zoo that was her current prison. -~oOo~- What should have taken a few minutes, instead had drug on throughout the night. Despite questioning the guard who had reported the offense, nothing could be discovered of either the graverobber or their means of offense. While the crime was clearly evident (an empty grave with a clearly dug hole), nopony could figure out how they had infiltrated the castle grounds, evaded notice, dug the hole, taken the corpse, and then fled... all while under the watchful eyes of no less than two dozen guards in total. Worse yet, even though the crime had been reported 'within moments of its commission,' neither the Lunar Guard, nor the Nightwatch, had been able to detect any escaping individuals. Vandals were not unknown, but nopony was believed to be foolish enough to attempt such a brazen act. All of this had left Princess Celestia with a rather remarkable headache. "And you checked the area for arcane residue, thaumic resonance and any form of artifice?" the Solar Diarch inquired while slowly sipping a cup of chamomile tea with her eyes closed. The grizzled stallion leading the investigation remained passive as he reported. "Yes, your majesty. We've had three teams canvasing the area since we where alerted to the crime. The only spells detected were those cast by the team trying to detect more spells. Nothing's out of place. No hoofprints or clawprints to speak of... certainly nothing large enough to steal a corpse at least. No evidence of climbing gear or martial tools, so it's not looking like a rogue guard or military action. Nopony's been seen in the castle airspace who wasn't supposed to be there already." He paused to clear his throat. "Permission to speculate Ma'am?" Still sipping her tea, Celestia nodded slightly as Luna maintained her vigil upon the balcony overlooking the garden. The stallion coughed softly. "It's as if, and I'm just laying this out there your highness... not implying anything, but it's like there weren't no pony who broke in at all. Like somepony just up and made it disappear." Hearing a set of hooves approach, both the stallion and Princess Celestia looked towards the hall doors as a weathered old stallion approached, leaving a small trail of dirt and plant matter as he approached. While Celestia raised a weary eyebrow with a faint hint of amusement, the stallion leading the investigation frowned openly. "What is the meaning of this nonsense?" he ordered. The older stallion ignored him completely as he dropped into a bow before straining back to his hooves. "Beggin' your pardon Highness, but you said that anypony with anything that seemed odd should come and tell ya in case it were important, so, that's what I'm here ta do." With a growl, the officer snapped back, "Just what do you think you're doing coming in here and disrupting an inve-" Celestia's calm voice cut through and silenced him instantly. "Duty, while I admire your sense of protocol, I feel I should inform you that this is the royal gardener... one who is even more intimately familiar with the garden, and thus your crime scene, than even I. His council may be quite valuable." She smiled before quietly mentioning, in a quite offhoof manner, "Not to mention, that as a civilian, he would not be under your supervision at all, but would be considered a resident of the castle... and thus subject to my protection." The polite reminder of hierarchy seemed to instantly geld the officer, who suddenly seemed to have nothing to add. Noisesome morning shouting averted, Princess Celestia looked once more towards her gardener and smiled. "You were saying?" "Thank you Princess. I was just comin' up to let you know that one'r my trowels is gone." "A... trowel? A bloody shovel?" the officer once more started, only to flinch and snap his mouth shut as he glanced towards his princess. "Darn right a bloody trowel. Not a shovel you brass coated id'jit!" the gardener fumed. "There's a reason I'm a gardener and you're out there playing with spears. I don't need to talk down to the folks who give me food and I don't need to turn in MY tools to somepony else at the end of my shift. I'm right fine with planting and growin' stuff, but I don't lose or damage none of my tools like you do. I knows 'em. I takes care of 'em. And I DON'T lose them." With a glare hard enough to crack tile, the gardener looked the officer dead in the eyes. "And one more thing, this gardener wore more medals than you have on your sash right now, thirty years before he became a gardener you worthless little swabby... and he STILL outranks you." Celestia suppressed the urge to smirk, instead choosing to hide her mirth in another sip of tea as she watched the officer pale under the glare of her gardener. "I believe you have made your point to our young Duty. But, you were saying... about your trowel?" After a moment, the old gardener turned back towards his princess, the stern glare dissolving into the friendly old face of a kindly stallion once more. "Pardon, Princess, my manners get a bit moth-eaten with upstarts." He chuckled before setting his face into a serious one once more. "But like I were sayin', my trowel be missin', and I know where I were using it... none too far from the Plot neither. 'Bout four patches away... near the waxferns an' mossgreens. Stuck it right inner' ground when I heard the commotion... went back 'bout 5 minutes later and it were gone." Celestia thought for a moment before calling out for one of the court aides. "Mr.... Plume was it?" At the peach unicorn's nod, she continued. "Mr. Plume, please assist out esteemed gardener in tracking down his trowel. It may be nothing, but it could also be the tool our graverobber acquired to commit their crime. It would certainly explain why nopony found evidence of tools in any approach if they had been obtained within the castle grounds." With a nod, the two left at a reasonable clip... leaving Celestia with her, now considerably humbled, investigator. "I'm sorry for that interruption... you were saying?" she prompted with a very slight smile.