//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: In Sheep's Clothing // by RattPitt //------------------------------// The quick teleportation to Vanhoover sets me in an alleyway. There aren't any witnesses, save for a homeless pony. He jumps at the sight. "Gotta stop takin' that Blue Sky..." He mutters to himself after recovering. I walk out of the alley and discover that Vanhoover is absolutely massive. Skyscrapers surround me. Having been in Canterlot for several months, it's not too shocking. I take out Luna's paper from the saddle bags and read it. The paper has an address. I look at a street sign. The soldiers aren't that far off. This won't be too difficult. I go to the address and step inside the building that's easily taller than the castle in Canterlot. In the center of the main room, there's a large desk with a blue coated and green maned mare. She's likely the secretary. “Could you point me to Tranquus? I had an appointment with her.” I say to her. She looks up. “Of course I can, Miss…” Shit. I didn't choose a name. “Blue Skies." I say off the top of my head without hesitation. I have to force myself to not let out a sigh of relief. She looks at a paper on her desk. She looks back up at me. "I'm sorry, Miss Skies. You're not on Tranquus' list." "I’m the representative from Canterlot.” I add. She blinks once. “Oh! Oh yes. Tranquus wanted to see you, but she didn't say your name.” The mare says. Some sort of positive emotion that I haven’t been exposed to much comes off her. Indirect excitement is the closest I can get to naming her emotion. “Walk this way, Miss Skies.” “Please, call me Blue. It’s what my friends call me.” I follow her. "What can you tell me about Tranquus?" "She's my employer, for one. Tranquus is one of the most powerful ponies in Vanhoover." Her tone switches to that of boredom. She's probably told this same thing a thousand times before. Her words don't exactly have that practiced tone. "One of the richest, too. She could easily own half the city if she wanted to. Instead, she settled for just one building." "Impressive." I say. I want to at least appear that I'm listening to her. "It is." Her tone still hasn't changed. Now that I think about it, she almost sounds like a cliched brainwashed pony. A shiver runs down my spine. A pony as rich as Tranquus could easily afford brainwashing. The things I heard about her in Canterlot make me believe that Tranquus does brainwash her workers. Half of me strongly doubts she did, though. This pony could easily just be bored. The mare sighs, breaking me from my thoughts. "I respect Tranquus, but she has too many flaws that I don't think she could rule the area." There goes my theory. I'm almost disappointed. "So why do you work for her?" "She pays well." She replies simply. I wait for her to add something. She doesn't. Instead, she continues to walk and I continue to follow her. The secretary stops at a door. "Miss Tranquus is in here." She opens it and allows me to enter. I step inside. There's only one pony inside. A mare. Her dusty gold coat is contrasted by her long black mane. My heart skips a beat when I look at her. She's beautiful. I'm certain Luna's information was wrong. She can't be a terrorist looking like that. I walk up to her. "Are you Tranquus?" The beautiful mare turns to me. Her smile is just as beautiful. "Yes, I am. Are you Blue Skies?" I nod. I look at her flank to check her cutie mark. It's a dark red peace symbol with a lit fuse at the top. I don't know how I should feel about that. Tranquus catches me staring. "You want to know what it means?" She asks. I nod. "It has several meanings. You won't be given an award for identifying what the peace symbol implies. The color and fuse mean that I'm willing to fight for what I believe in. And I believe in peace." How in Luna's name did she get this as a cutie mark? She must have thought about overthrowing the Princesses when she was young. I understand why Luna thinks Tranquus is a terrorist. "Can't we find a different way to peace?" I ask. Words won't be able to stop a war, but I can at least try. "Our path to peace doesn't matter. The end will justify the means." Tranquus says. She's being almost terrifyingly calm. She looks down and sighs. "I don't want to resort to assassination. But, that doesn't mean the Princesses aren't despots. They're tyrants. Tyrants are the scum of Equestria. The lowest royalty can be." "I don't agree." I say. One of the ponies a few meters visibly flinches. "Is this because you're from Canterlot?" She asks. "No. You're openly against the Princesses. A tyrant would have you executed for that." "Not necessarily, Miss Skies. A tyrant is, by definition, just cruel, not oppressive. The Princesses aren't oppressive. The way they're going, they will be soon. I want to stop them." She speaks almost like how a freedom fighter would. I want to tell her I'd rather be called Blue, but something else comes to mind. "Are you... An anarchist?" She chuckles. "An anarchist? No. I think I can see where you make that mistake. No, Blue, I'm not an anarchist. I'm a peacemaker." Something clicks in my head. I stop walking. I can’t identify her emotions. Tranquus stops and turns to me. “Are you okay?” Her face and tone show worry. “Yeah. It’s just… Yeah, I’m okay.” “If you say so.” She continues walking. “I just feel that Equestria could be so much better with somepony else ruling. Not Twilight Sparkle. Not Cadance. Somepony else that’s more fit. Somepony that’s not royalty.” She stops again and turns to me. “Are you familiar with democracies? They aren’t common on this planet, so I wouldn’t be surprised.” “Not entirely. I think I’ve heard the name.” “Democracies are governed by the ponies. By the ponies, for the ponies. The government workers just make sure the country stays stable. Democracies generally work in turn with an economy that's also ran by the ponies.” “Would that even work?” I'm not a politician, but I'm sure a government I've never heard of wouldn't work. This 'democracy' sounds nice, but it's idealistic. “Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. I’d be willing to find out. Sometimes, I think I’m the only pony in Equestria to believe that.” She sighs. “I just believe that a democratic society would fix so many problems. There wouldn’t be any one single pony with absolute power. It could spread across the country. That would mean, theoretically, that we wouldn’t have to rely on the Elements of Harmony to stop every single major threat. We could send platoons of ponies to deal with them. Think about it, Blue, there wouldn’t be another Nightmare Moon. There wouldn’t be another Discord, Sombra, or Chrysalis.” I flinch slightly at the mention of Queen Chrysalis. I swear to myself slightly. I’m done with her. I don’t want to see her ever again, so why did I seem to fear the lack of her? I look back up to Tranquus. “What about Tirek?” She shrugs. “Honestly, I don’t think a few ponies could have stopped him. The Elements of Harmony barely took care of him. And even then, it was just one pony that stopped him.” She holds her hoof to her chin. “Maybe we’d have more guards at the gates of Tartarus…” She shakes her head. “Where was I?” “We wouldn’t have anymore major threats besides Tirek.” “Ah, yes. Thank you.” She clears his throat. “Equestria isn’t a utopia. With a democracy in place, rather than this diarchy, we would be one step, ten steps, a thousand steps closer to perfection.” I want to tell her perfection is impossible. It usually just ends in the death of those that want it. But, since I'm supposed to help her out... "If you say so. I'll help you, Tranquus." "Thank you, Blue." She returns to walking. I follow her. I try to read his emotions again. Still nothing. What in Luna’s name is Tranquus thinking? I can’t identify her emotions at all. I know she’s not completely cold or heartless. Nopony is. It’s a biological trait they’ve had for millennia. Normally, their emotional sinks are on full blast. Hers isn’t even dripping. She stops walking again. “Are you okay?” “Y-Yeah. I just had something else on my mind.” She nods slightly. “Alright, then." Her face shows signs of slight doubt. I'm certain she's worried about me. Worry leads to suspicion. I need to be more careful around her. "Back to the subject of the current rulers of Equestria... Many ponies in Canterlot, the town next to it that I always forget the name of, and here in Vanhoover view them as deities. I'm not sure if it's because they're immortal or for another reason." "I hear Celestia raises the sun and Luna raises the moon." Tranquus chuckles. Her laughter continues for several seconds. "Blue, you have a great sense of humor. To raise a celestial body? That's impossible. Only a deity could do that. And trust me, the current Princesses are anything but deities. If they were truly deities, do you really think they'd decide to be the rulers of Equestria? They could do so much more." For a second, I actually believe her. I should change the subject, just in case she tries to actually recruit me. "Shouldn't you have an assistant?" "I'm sorry?" "A right hoof mare? Somepony that can enforce things for you if you're too busy?" I ask. Usually, evil ponies have assistants like this. The Toma twins didn't have any. In hindsight, I don't believe they were actually evil. I have a terrible feeling that Tranquus is pure evil incarnate. She scoffs at the idea. "No, I don't. I don't need one, nor do I want one. I honestly thought about hiring one some time ago. I didn't want to hire somepony that would have done something the way I didn't want it. I would have to fire them, and I hate firing ponies." Tranquus lets out a soft sigh. I feel a small amount of pity for her. "Not to mention what it would do to my business." She stops at a door. "This is the bar of the area. Are you thirsty?" I could probably use a drink soon. "Yes I am, Tranquus. Thank you." Tranquus' horn lights up in a gold aura. It reminds me of Celestia's. The door is surrounded in the same color of aura. She walks in the room. I follow her and she closes the door. I sigh. “I just wish there was an easy way out of this. I wish we didn't have to go to war with Canterlot. Couldn’t we just start a petition or something to get the Princesses to change their ways?” She looks into my eyes. "You know, Blue, words won't be able to stop a war, but you can at least try."