1. The Aerodrome
Have you ever been to Canterlot?
Speak to most ponies this side of the boarder and they will describe a city like no other; the crowning jewel of the Celestial Union, a shining beacon ushering in a brighter future for us all.
They’d say that it is a melting pot for the best and brightest that civilised society has to offer, a wealth of culture and advancement where dreams and ambition is currency, and where any and all can rise to the top.
The gleaming walls and gracefully curved spires of the city catch and transmit the rays of the dawn long before the rest of the land sees the sun, bathing the earth below in a golden hue. To gaze upon Canterlot as the day breaks is to see hope itself, the siren song calling of a better life in the capital, away from the dark and harsh realities in the sodden lands below.
If you live an honest life, work hard in the name of the Union, and earn the respect of your peers, the rewards for your dedication will far outweigh the struggle and endless monotony of daily life.
All are free, all are strong, and all are content.
But then again, most ponies have never actually been to Canterlot.
You may forgive them for their misconceptions; to any living outside the city walls Canterlot appears just as awe-inspiring and impressive as the tales tell.
The centre of the Union is unique in that the daydream of the city persists just as long as a pony keeps his head pointing upward. Although the image the capital has invested in keeps its substance even once inside the main gates, an attentive eye can begin to peel away the fantasy with intense scrutiny.
Half the shop windows are bare and up for sale, indeed the only places which are open are either those that sell the daily necessities of life, or those who could remain in business for a week if they sell but one overpriced object in their establishment a day.
The citizens themselves are another detail. Of course, the truly undesirables are set aside far away from the main streets; but ask why one Canterlonian can stroll along without a care in the world wearing the most garish outfit known to pony kind, whilst the other scurries around with nought but the hair on his back and the sweat on his brow, his eyes fixated to the ground.
Perhaps you would even notice that the road itself, the pathway leading to the Old Citadel in the distance, is dotted with elongated shadows that have no owners, which never bend or twist to celestial whims as the sun arcs across the heavens.
They are images burned into the very stone of the streets, remnants of the final day the Gods strode among us, and a reminder that ponykind must look out for itself in the coming ages.
Possibly then, the Aura of Canterlot is the truest description of the city itself;
Glamorous.
Enchanting.
An illusion.
But, in order for Canterlot to shine, it must first be sunny.
I trotted along the pavements, ducking underneath the overhangs and awnings of the buildings in an attempt to avoid as much of the rain as possible.
It was a losing battle, as I was already soaked to the core and freezing, but since walking in the open would not make me any drier, I was determined to evade as much of the downpour as possible.
Aside from myself and a few stranglers sticking to as much cover as possible, the streets were almost bare. The soft purple hue of the crystals imbedded into the streetlights highlighted the raindrops as they hurtled to the ground.
A red searchlight was all the warning I got, as I sidestepped closer to the buildings to avoid the splash created by a passing locomoted patrol carriage. The two members of the Sentinels inside were completely impassive of the drenching they almost gave me, as their gaze remained fixated on their spotlights piercing into the night.
Searchlights but no sirens meant that the Sentinels were on the hunt, but did not want to alert their quarry of his impending fate. Unlucky for whichever poor soul wound up in their sights, but fortunately for me I had no reason to attract their curiosity.
Not for now, at least.
In a city where your father’s name can secure you a better place in society than an educational degree, there was never much hope of me having an honest way of living.
Strong earth pony legs combined with a skill for crossing the city both swiftly and silently meant that an exciting career in marketing just wasn't to my tastes.
I am a Runner, a courier for those who cannot deliver their packages alongside this morning’s issue of The Canterlot Telegram.
I have rules for my service, and because I’m known in the right circles for my ability to get a job done, I’m lucky that I’m not forced to break them just to get work.
No items that cannot fit into a saddlebag.
No items heavier than a pair of bricks.
Always tell me what I am carrying.
My rules keep me safe, and my rules keep me free.
Only a closer encounter with either the Sentinels or my own mortality will cause me to write another.
I nearly fell from a rooftop when an overlarge item became snagged on a clothesline.
I nearly broke my ankles when I misjudged a jump because I was over encumbered.
I was nearly killed for successfully delivering an item to a customer who wanted no loose ends.
Tonight, I was in need of some work. The current Lord of House for Defence was enforcing a strong policy for Sentinel patrols in the lower districts, and many of my regular customers had become timid in the face of a stronger force of authority.
In fairness, I had gone to ground with them, but my dwindling amount of savings forced me into seeking a job. And so tonight I had ventured out into the downpour, and stood before my most frequented business establishment.
A once white (now grey more than anything) building with exposed wooden support beams on the outside; The Hounds Head was a ye-olde-world pub which would always be guaranteed patrons, regardless of its current state of repair.
Compared to the large modern apartment blocks flanking either side, the building couldn’t look more out of place, appearing to have been plucked straight out of one of the outlying villages surrounding the capital; and none of us would have it any other way.
To those who lived nearby it was more than just a place to drink yourself unconscious, it was neutral ground, a safe haven for any who needed to escape from the real world for a few hours to catch their breath.
It also happened to be the building where I was offered the majority of my agreements.
If you had no reason to look closer, you might only glance at the green and red magically charged sign in the front window of The Hound which always flickers on and off; the image of a barred teeth diamond dog fading in and out at random. It gave the building some character, and no-one could be bothered to fix it.
But if you had been told what to look for, the Iris of the dog’s eyes would tell you if there was work to be found inside. Two green eyes mean that business is available, two red eyes means that you should try again another day.
On this night, as I stood and stared at the front of the building, the Hounds Head glared back at me with a pair of green pupils. I was good to go.
The Hound seemed to be full with a reasonable amount of patrons, enough that you occasionally had to ask politely in order to gain passage through the gauntlet of assembled ponies, but not so crowded that you might accidentally upend someone’s cider as you passed by.
I made for the bar; having to take a few meanders around some particularly tightly clustered social circles, and trying my best not to drip rainwater over any of them, and nodded to Keg once I had caught his eye. A quick grunt of acknowledgement was all I got as I placed a trio of bits on the table for my usual pint of cider.
I was never going to drink it, what kind of example would that set if I were to ask for a job whilst getting drunk?
It was more a precaution than anything else; after all, no-one stands out at a bar more than someone who has no intention of getting a drink.
Cider in hoof and my back to the bar, I ran my eyes around a quick scan of the area, trying to spot any familiar faces amongst the mob in the room.
To my ten o’clock and holed up in his usual corner, Old Forty could be found talking in hushed voices with his typical cadre of war veterans. Good pony, that one. Little unhinged at times perhaps, but he had some tall stories to share of his time serving on the boarders with the Gryphon Kingdoms if you could pick out the exaggerations.
Grouped around the horseshoe toss were an irritating loud group of young stallions, punctuating each miss or cling of metal on metal with a cheer, often accompanied by a comment on the sexual preference of whoever happened to throw the last shoe.
Never much liked stallions like that; often they cared more about getting into any old fight instead of getting into one for the right reasons.
Sitting as close to the door as possible was a reasonably attractive ivory coated Pegasus mare, a too orange to be juice drink in hand and a stare aimed directly at me.
I looked away briefly to make sure there was no-one nearby who her gaze was actually for, but when I looked back she still had her eyes fixed in the same direction, a small smile playing on her lips.
One of her eyes morphed in an instant from a green iris on white to a light turquoise, and then back again.
Ok, signs don’t usually get much clearer than that, a changeling had just winked at me.
And there was only one active changeling that I knew of in Canterlot.
I pulled up a stool opposite her, my back turned so that it faced as much of the wall as possible with my legs clear of the table in case I needed to get up in a hurry.
She gave me a quick eye up and down before chuckling to herself. “You look completely drenched, there’s a small puddle forming underneath you already”
There was indeed a small body of water right under where I was sitting. If I didn’t want the locals to start swimming for the exits I should probably try not to stay sat here too long.
“Rain tends to do that you know, it’s not like I had much choice in the matter.”
The mare gave a brief sigh of exasperation. “See and this is why I hate wearing fur, all you have to do is just step outside when the pegasi are feeling grumpy and you’re sodden for ages. You’ve no idea how much better it is to be naturally waterproof.”
I knew that she would make small talk all night if I didn’t try to steer the conversation where I was hoping for it to go, even if I could use a bit more skill at it. “Your right, I genuinely do have no idea. I’ve also have no bits right now, and I was hoping you could help me with that.”
The changeling in disguise put a hoof to her mouth, looking slightly taken aback. “Now Pathfinder I’m positively shocked, and here I was thinking that you came all the way out here just too spend some much needed quality time with me.”
That earned a quick snort from me. “Come on Nightshade, even I know that your, ah... ‘quality time’ comes with a price tag attached. I’m here because I have no bits not because I want to spend them.”
Nightshade’s eyelids dropped slightly as she leaned closer over the table. “Pathfinder, we’ve known each other for a while now, aren’t you the least bit curious? Is it that I’m just not pretty enough?” She made her point with a small pout and a fluttering of eyelashes.
A laugh or two escaped me before I knew what I was going to say. “No, you really do know how to sell yourself, its just that I’m not buying. Besides, if this was just a social call for you I’m sure you would have at least put on a face that I recognised; a blank shell means that your out here on business.”
Nightshade gave up at that point, leaning back into her chair again with that small smile back in place. “Urgh, you know me too well. You’re never as much fun when you’re all serious and business-like.”
She took a sip of her almost glowing drink before continuing. “But you are right, I know of a package – a crystal - that needs collecting and delivering to none other than Mr. Grapevine himself.”
Grapevine. Now that was a name with some serious weight behind it.
Ever had a pony speak the old saying; ‘I heard it on the grapevine’?
It has a much more modern meaning now, when they say that they mean they actually heard it from Grapevine; a pony who hears much and knows what ponies will pay so that they can hear it too.
I suspected that I had run jobs for him in the past, but never had his name been linked to anything that I had transported. I wondered what makes this job different so that his name was given before I had even accepted.
As I gathered my thoughts I looked over the table to see that Nightshade was taking some satisfaction that her name-dropping was doing the trick. “Grapevine huh? Well ok then, you’ve got my attention. Tell me more about this job.”
“You want the full pitch, or the no-bullshit version?”
I raised an eyebrow expectantly, and Nightshade seemed to catch on. “Ok then, we’ll keep it simple. We don’t have the item yet, so we’ll need to break into the building it’s filed away in and get it back to Grapevine before anyone’s the wiser.”
I was slightly confused as to why I was being offered this. I didn’t ever steal anything; I only ever ran it from A to B. And since Nightshade could become anyone imaginable she’d certainly be able to do the whole thing by herself.
“Breaking in? Why would you need me then? You’ve got to be a hell of a lot better at keeping a low profile than I ever could, why not just go in and take it yourself?”
Nightshades smile grew slightly wider. “Because this isn’t just about the item; Grapevine wants someone to be seen at the time it went missing. Specifically, someone he hasn’t been on good terms with recently.”
"And since i'm guessing this 'someone' wouldn't be willing to help... You plan to go in all dressed up as this person and been seen taking this crystal that Grapevine wants…”
“…At which point I pass it to you in a blind spot, walk through security with nothing in my possession, and we both get away clean.” Nightshade finished for me.
It sounded intriguing but still, one thing didn’t add up. “Why not just fly away as soon as you have the crystal? Why do you specifically have to walk out the front door?”
“Because it needs to be seen that the individual I will be impersonating was searched and was clean as he left. He will be the only visitor that night, so it must have been him that took it, but how? It’s that fear of them not knowing how it was done that Grapevine is really seeking.”
I brushed a slowly drying lock of brown hair out of my dark blue eyes as i mulled over her proposal. Although I do prefer it when my jobs are straightforward and simple, I couldn’t stop a little bit of excitement from slipping into my voice. “It sounds very interesting. Before I accept though, will this job conform to my rules?”
Nightshade looked at me as if I had just asked if unicorns could do magic. “Please, Pathfinder. I wouldn’t have hoofed this job to you if it didn’t, I know you better than that.”
“Alright then” I grinned as I held out a deep yellow hoof. “It’s good to be working with you again Nightshade.”
She returned my smirk as she bumped my hoof with her own. “Just like always, Pathfinder. Now, meet me outside, i'm sure Keg wouldn't mind you using that old stairwell out back to get up high.”
And with that, Nightshade got up from the table and left the Hound, attracting quite a few stares from several of the stallions dotted around the pub as they stepped aside in an attempt to appear like a gentlepony in the face of a pretty mare.
I sat and waited a while longer, staring into my still foaming cider and watching the bubbles chase each other to the top of the glass.
It’s never a good idea to get up and leave at the same time as Nightshade, she’s guaranteed to raise the attention of the patrons and I wanted them to settle back into their conversations before I made my move.
Satisfied that everyone had turned their mind to more important things, namely the glasses in their hooves, I stood up from the table with a small squelching sound as my hooves stepped into the reservoir that had been gathering underneath me during the conversation. Shooting an apologetic glance at Keg, I made my way through the crowd and towards the rear exit of the building.
As I stepped outside I got the instant smell of a damp, humid evening. The only smell you get after a heavy rainfall. At least said rain had stopped whilst I was inside. It wasn’t going to make the rooftops any less slippery, but I wouldn’t have to keep my eyes half shut to keep the raindrops out as I ran.
Halfway down the alleyway past the soggy and crumpled cardboard box that was probably someone’s home and worldly possessions at the same time, a set of metallic stairs led up towards the rooftops of the taller buildings flanking either side of the Hounds Head. Not wanting to waste any energy before I really needed it, I ascended the steps one at a time, enjoying the anticipation I always got whenever I was climbing upwards to where I could see the skyline.
The popular opinion is that Canterlot looks at its best in the early morning as the sun crests the distant mountain ranges, but I have to respectfully disagree.
In my opinion Canterlot city – the real Canterlot city – looks its best in the dead of night. Purple light from the crystalline streetlights below rose upwards through the empty spaces in between buildings, the occasional light inside a structure showing someone pulling an all-nighter at the office or eating dinner with the family at home.
Several ponies I know have called me a cynical and jaded pony, and nine times in ten I’m inclined to believe them, but even I could not look out across a cityscape in its prime such as this and not admire it for the true beauty it holds. Viewing the ever changing skyline gave the impression that this was something more than just a place where ponies lived; it flowed, it adapted, it looked alive.
I almost didn’t hear the flutter of thin membranous wings nearby as Nightshade landed next to me in her true form. “Feeling sentimental, Pathfinder?”
I kept my gaze fixed out across the city, half watching the occasional red spotlights of the Sentinel’s pegasus division trace a path across the horizon. “Just trying not to get caught up in it all, the view never gets old does it?”
Nightshade gave me a quick nudge in my side “Oh my, you are getting sentimental! Is this where you propose and promise to take me away from all this?” A pair of pointed fangs showing as she grinned and looked out across the rooftops with me.
I half considered dropping to a knee to carry the joke on, purely to see how far she would take it. But I knew I’d get embarrassed and back out long before she would.
“Hah, in your dreams missy. As if you would ever want to leave this place anyway.”
“True” Nightshade conceded, “And now that I think of it I suppose I am technically engaged to three separate bachelors at the moment, perhaps a fourth would be too much company.”
She broke off into a light jog, but not before giving my face a quick flick with her tail. Slightly flustered I followed after her, soon catching up and keeping pace. “So, where specifically are we going, and do we have a plan that extends beyond turning up, grabbing this crystal, and then legging it back home?”
Nightshade shot a brief glance over her shoulder before continuing. “Grapevine never acts without a plan; he hates the unknown more than most since it means he’s doing a bad job, so a lot of thought has gone into this.”
Seeing that a short gap over an alleyway was coming up, I tore ahead of Nightshade to gain enough speed to make the jump. Clearing it with plenty of room to spare, I once again took a little pride in being born an earth pony.
Sure, a pegasus could have flown over and maybe a unicorn could have levitated themselves if they were a decent spell slinger, but nothing is a good enough substitute for earth pony legs in my mind.
Nightshade glided into position next to me and we both returned to a light jog. “It doesn’t make for easy conversation if you keep running off like that you know.”
The liquid confidence that is adrenaline tends to mess with my mind with ease, and since it was starting to flow freely through me, I shot her a cocky grin. “If you want easier conversation you should work a little harder to keep up then.”
My competitive edge is only spurred on because I know that Nightshade has one too, and I know how to get it to rear its head now and again. “Alright then mister, we’ll see what happens when we come to cross the street.”
Nightshade made a quick beat with her wings to take her over the top of a chimney as I ran past it before landing in a jog again. “Anyway, specifics; we’re heading to the Aerodrome. There’s a branch of The Wonderbolts set up there, and amongst the many things in their possession is a holo-crystal containing their weekly intelligence reports for the Committee.”
Well that put a slight edge on my mind. “The Wonderbolts? as in The Wonderbolts? Elite military arm of the Celestial Union?”
“Elite military arm and part time aerial display team, if you remember. They’re currently putting on a show in Ponyville in remembrance of Rainbow Dash, the mare they have that giant golden statue of out front? We can only expect a skeleton force of security staff and no actual members of the team tonight.”
Nightshades words put an ease to some of my creeping doubts, but this was still a rather high profile target Grapevine was aiming for. If we didn’t pull it off smoothly its likely the repercussions for us would be severe.
I kind of liked not having to look out through barred windows every morning.
I was still musing what it would be like to be locked up until the apocalypse came and the East Wind swept us all off the face of Equis when Nightshade came to a stop at the edge of the rooftop.
“Right then hotshot” Nightshade sounded particularly smug as she looked over the precipice of the building and into the streets below. “Here’s your gaping chasm to cross, impress me.”
“See, if you had these pair of beauties...” She gave her holed wings a quick flutter “It would be as simple as a hop, skip, and a jump. But with just a set of legs, i think its time for you to pony up and…”
Her trail of thought wandered as she realised that I was no longer stood behind her, and was making for the building to our right further down the street.
“Hey! You’re going the wrong way!”
Unbeknown to Nightshade, I had already spotted my way across the road whilst she was still delivering her victory speech, and was bolting for it with all speed.
Taking a swift hop across the alley joining the two buildings together, I brought my hooves down on to a nearby chimney to give me some extra height, so that I almost skipped onto a protruding balcony, and finally I gave it everything I had as I jumped out across the street to latch onto my target with both pairs of legs – A thaumatic leyline connecting the building to the transformer across the street.
The momentum I carried with me nearly caused me to do a full barrel roll around the leyline, and the high tensile cable swayed from side to side due to my leap, but I had carried enough speed that I was sliding down the cable towards the smaller building across the street with relatively little resistance.
Contrary to popular belief, it’s perfectly fine to touch a thaumatic cable, so long as the cable was the only thing you were touching and not the ground as well.
It’s how birds manage to perch on them without constantly being turned into oranges.
As I neared the end of my impromptu zip line, I spotted Nightshade waiting at the transformer at the other side of the street.
So for a little added flair and to hammer my point home, I let go with my fore legs first to give me a bit of rotation, then released my hind legs as I was facing directly downwards, performing a half back flip before hitting the deck on my hooves, skidding to a stop across the rooftop.
I turned to face Nightshade, trying my hardest (but still failing) to contain the self-satisfied look I wanted to pull upon seeing her face.
As she inhaled to come out with a fast remark, I put a hoof near her mouth. “Ah, ah! … That’s one point for earth pony legs.”
And just too really put salt in the wound, I gave her a quick tap on the nose with my hoof, releasing all the static energy that had been built up in my fur as I had slid down the cable.
ZAP!!
“Ahhhh!!!”
Nightshade leapt back and shook her head, as a small bouquet of multi-coloured flowers spontaneously materialised out of her nose.
All professionalism was far out of the window by this point, I let go of any restraint i had left to keel over onto my back and laughed like a loon under the starry night sky. After all, its what any good friend would do at the sight of Nightshade frantically trying to shake the flowers out of her nose and sneezing all the while.
Still tittering to myself as I lay on my back, I looked upwards to see the black void above and a half pissed off - half amused changeling standing over me. “Right, I take some of it back; you can be fun when you’re on business, and fur can have its uses…”
She seized me in her notched horn’s field, and unceremoniously upended me to dump me back onto my hooves with an aura of green magic. “…but magic and wings still beats hooves.”
_____________________________________________
We crawled along the surface of the final rooftop before coming to the edge, looking out at the Canterlot Aerodrome that filled the whole city block beneath us.
Several miniaturised landing pads surrounded the main complex with a runway towards the rear of the compound, the ramped lip at the end pointing off the edge of the cliff face that Canterlot clung to and into the open valleys below.
The main building was an incredibly impressive structure, all flowing lines and graceful curves; it looked as though it wanted to be in flight itself. The walls and features were so aerodynamically sculptured so that it gave the impression that if the wind were strong enough the whole construction would rise into the sky.
And right in front of it was the immortalised statue of Rainbow Dash herself, considered the best flier of her time and possibly of all the generations of Wonderbolts. I knew little about her personal history, other than that she was instrumental in the reforms of The Wonderbolts after The Fall of the Gods.
From our angle on top of the roof the statue was facing the wrong way, but even if you didn’t know of her, the aggressive angle of flight, platinum lined wing blades, and the battle harness around her barrel gave little doubt that this was a pony of great power. I wondered what it must have been like to exist back then, with living legends walking amongst us just like normal ponies.
I was getting too distracted; focus on not getting apprehended by the ponies guarding one of the nations secret intelligence buildings and avoiding being cast into a dark hole for the rest of my life first, then I will have time to daydream about the legends of the Celestial Union.
Though I suppose getting locked up would give me plenty of time to daydream.
Nightshade gave me a quick nudge in the side. “Right, the plan from here is this, see the skylights on the eastern rise?”
I glanced over to the high sloping section of the roof closest to us where she was pointing and spotted several glass segments bedded into it.
“Captain Rolling Thunder’s office is close to those skylights, and they can only be unlocked from the inside. I’m going to carry you over to that part of the roof and drop you off there. Wait until you can see me in the room below you, and be ready to run when I fly up there and give you the holo-crystal.”
Nightshade then directed my attention to the main entrance. “I’m going to put a face on and go straight through the door, its important that security sees me and checks that I’m clean and that I have my pass.”
Nightshade looked directly at me with a serious stare that I had seen only on very few occasions. “It’s going to take me a long time to get into position, and I mean a long time. If you don’t see me, wait longer. If you think I’ve been caught, wait longer. Unless you see the Sentinels, daybreak, or brood-forbid the Wonderbolts themselves you stay in position, ok?”
I nodded silently, I knew that for the plan to work cleanly I needed to be ready to take the crystal from Nightshade. Of course, she could leave the building anytime herself if she really got in trouble, but if Grapevine wanted her to waltz through the front door dressed as someone else and still take the crystal from the building, that’s exactly what was going to happen.
Nightshade gave me a small smile for confidence. “Ok then, once you have the crystal, the roof of the building slopes down almost all the way to ground level, so getting down should be easy. I’ll find you on the way back to the Hound.
“One last thing” I asked as Nightshade started to rise, a slight concern forming on my mind.
“…you’re going to carry me over?”
_____________________________________________
“You know, earth ponies really, really weren’t built for flying!” I practically shouted over the airstreams rushing past my ears
“Do try to keep your voice down, I’m right here you know, and changelings have much more sensitive hearing that you ponies do.” Nightshade had both her legs wrapped around my barrel and wings extended, the two of us riding an updraft skywards to get enough height to glide over to the building. “I thought you would be fine with heights after your little stunt anyhow, is that so different from flying?”
“That wasn’t flying, that was me crossing a street with style. I wasn’t being airlifted by something with freaking holes in its wings!”
Nightshade dropped her head closer to my ear and whispered in an all too sweet voice, “Come now Pathfinder, do you not trust me?”
A quick glance towards the increasingly distant streets below did little to help my nerves. “… erm, which answer is the one that won’t make me end up as a bloody stain on the ground?”
“None of them” Nightshade chuckled “So perhaps you should remain quiet for the rest of our journey, hmm?”
Can’t argue with that logic.
I kept my mouth shut as we reached the end of the updraft and began our flight out towards the Aerodrome. If it wasn’t pitch black and you happened to be looking upwards, you might have mistaken us for a particularly oversized and cumbersome bumble bee, as we drifted across the evening sky to our destination.
_____________________________________________
I instantly felt safer once I had something solid under my hooves. Perhaps it wasn’t quite terra firma, but I’d take anything over having the feeling of no control over my body with my legs dangling into the oblivion below.
Nightshade had long since left, so that she could both change to her disguise and approach the building from a plausible direction other than directly from the roof.
All there was for me to do now was wait.
I gazed through into the offices directly below the skylight I was lying down next to. For the most part it looked like the interior of any other workplace, with cubicles for the staff lined in a neat and efficient order along corridors in such a manner to fit as many workers into as smaller space as possible.
The only exception being the segment off to my right, it was an actual room of the building as opposed to the thin privacy dividers that the rest of the workforce had.
The lavishly decorated walls, huge window overlooking the landing pads, and large paintings of pegasi in flight made it fairly obvious that this room belonged to a pony of some importance.
I couldn’t make out any of the writing of the many newspaper columns that made up the wall flanking the side of the door, but I could easily recognise the distinctive colour scheme of the mare in the majority of the photos; yet more Rainbow Dash.
Seriously, Even I know that she was a pretty big thing back in the day, but this looked like more like a personal shrine than merely something to remember her by.
There were some signs of life still in the building as well, aside from the occasional guardspony patrolling the halls, there was the slow but steady rotations of the building’s security matrix eyes watching for movement – small boxes mounted at each corner with a lightly illuminated green crystal fixed at the front.
As a patrolling guardspony rounded a corner below, the nearest security matrix eye would snap to him, the crystal inside briefly turning red for a few moments, but then relaxing back to green as the semi-sentient matrix seemed to recognise the guard. This would happen for every matrix eye the guard passed as he walked down the hall, but he did not seem bothered in the slightest, probably used to the routine of being watched wherever he went.
Enough time had passed by now for me to become slightly concerned for Nightshade; it shouldn’t have taken her this long to get here by now, even if she was really taking her time and had stopped to chat with the ponies at the front desk.
Who could she even pretend to be that they would just allow into the building at this time of night anyway?
I looked away from the skylight towards the horizon, looking to see if anything was heading our way. The only red spotlights I could make out were the airborne Sentinels which were heading in a direction that would completely bypass the building.
Satisfied that the Sentinels weren’t on their way just yet, I looked back into the rooms below and noticed a new figure striding purposefully down the halls.
It was a stallion, white coat and golden mane which looked like it had received careful attention to make it look constantly windswept, and as I watched his progress further, realisation dawned on me.
“…oh shit.”
Nightshade wasn’t impersonating just any old pony.
She was only dressed as bloody Blueblood the 52nd – current Lord of the House of Traders. One of the six most influential ponies in the Union.
Oh shit!
Blueblood, the actual Blueblood that is, was currently making a strong push for increased relations with the New Luna Motherland. A powerful figure in the Union ruling committee, he was already facing accusations from the media of being a secret Luna supporter.
And now here he was. On recording. Blatantly stealing state secrets.
Grapevine certainly wasn’t messing around, this would likely cripple Blueblood’s image, and even if he was proved innocent of this he’d certainly never be allowed near any political circles again for the rest of his career.
The faux-Blueblood strode through the hallways, multiple eyes of the security matrix watching him as he went, red spotlights turning a softer green as the matrix confirmed that he was allowed to be there.
Blueblood never broke pace as he neared the office of Rolling Thunder, opening one of the heavy wooden double doors and quietly closing it behind him. A matrix eye inside the office was fixated on him the whole time as he went rummaging through cabinets and looking in between drawers before finally pulling out a hoof sized crystal.
Blueblood shut the door carefully behind him and took in his surroundings, there was a matrix eye stationed at each corner of the hallway running perpendicular to the office, but neither could see to the office door itself, the camera inside the office assumed to be able to see if anyone went inside the only room in the hallway.
Seeing that the coast was clear, Blueblood shivered slightly and a small wreath of green flames on his back gave form to a pair of membranous insect wings.
Looking directly upward at my position, Blueblood flew towards the skylight, unlocking it from his side then motioning with his hoof that I should open it.
I quickly obliged, lifting it just wide enough so that it propped itself open while he climbed out through the opening.
“Sweet Celestia Nightshade, Blueblood?? Have you got any idea what this is going to do to the Union tomorrow morning??”
“Of course I … Urgh.” Blueblood started in a surprisingly deep voice, making a face like he had just swallowed something vile “…Urgh, these vocal chords feel strange. Of course I know, that’s the whole reason we’re doing this the hard way instead of just taking the damn thing and bolting, here.”
Blueblood hoofed over the holo-crystal. I expected it to be cold judging by the light shade of blue it was, but it felt warm and pulsated with a soft light that changed into a lilac hue the further the light travelled from the crystal.
“Now that you’ve got it, get the hell out of here and make your way back to the Hound, I’ll meet you on the way there.”
Nodding a confirmation, I secured the crystal in my left saddle bag, making sure that there was no way it would open unless I wanted it too. “Ok then, I’ll keep an eye out for you. Good luck Nightshade.”
A small smile that was very unlike Blueblood appeared on his face as he eased himself back through the skylight. “Earth ponies may need luck, but I have magic and wings.” With one last eye-morphing wink, Blueblood silently glided back into his original takeoff point, shivering again as his wings were enveloped in green flames and vanished.
As Blueblood walked down the hallway like nothing had happened, a realisation came to me;
I was now carrying classified information relating to the secrets and defence of the Celestial Union. The Sentinels would be the least of my worries if I was caught with this.
First order of business then; run like hell.
I took off down one of the slopes of the aerodrome roof, the roof itself still being slick with rainwater from the downpour earlier.
As I neared the dip where the ceiling began to stretch to ground level, it became increasingly hard to keep a steady footing as the incline of the roof was becoming gradually steeper with every hoof-fall.
If I wanted to keep my speed but not break my neck trying to get off this building, there was only one thing to do.
I pushed off the roof with my rear hooves, bringing my hind legs underneath me as I did so and going into a controlled slide down the roof, keeping my fore legs on the deck for balance.
I was increasing speed as I neared the lip of the roof, and I realised that due to the angle of the slope I wasn’t going to be able to see where the roof ended until I was already airborne and about to land into the ground face first.
I waited as long as I dared, pausing for the right moment so I could get as close to the ground as possible before I moved.
...Now!
I pushed out with my hind legs just before I ran out of room on my roof-come-waterslide, launching myself away from the building in an attempt to gain some horizontal momentum to add to my freefall.
Although I was only a few metres from the floor before I jumped, I had enough speed from travelling down the roof to still break my legs if I tried to land on them properly.
As I hit the deck I kept my legs purposefully bent, attempting to absorb as much of the energy as possible from the collision instead of trying to resist it. Ducking my head down took me into a well practiced forward roll, before I was back on my hooves again and bolting off into the night.
Exhilaration and adrenaline flowed through me as I ran across one of the empty landing pads, trying to stay as far away from the centre of the floodlights illuminating the complex as possible.
I daren’t look back at the building; I needed all my focus to be on getting away as swiftly as I could.
If I had though, I may have caught a glimpse of a single red light in one of the windows, silently watching my progress as I fled across the open terrain for the cover of the city.
I had to get up high as soon as possible. If the sentinels were looking for me (even though I doubted that they were just yet) it would be much easier to avoid accidentally barrelling into a patrol on the rooftops than it would be at ground level.
You can spot air support coming in a mile away from up high, but you’d have little warning if there was a passing patrol chariot waiting around the next corner if you were still on the streets.
I ran in a straight line from the Aerodrome at first, wanting to put as much distance between me and the building as possible, and as I sprinted I shot brief glances down any alleyways that I saw.
This one was filled with too much rubbish blocking the way.
This one had no access to the rooftops.
The one had a cluster of ponies keeping warm around a burning barrel.
I was beginning to become anxious as I neared the end of the third block with no clear way to get up high, and as I ran past yet another alleyway that was completely impassable I saw that a red spotlight was nearing the corner at the next junction up ahead.
With no better alternative, I dove down the first available back alley just before the Sentinel patrol rounded the corner.
Out of luck, this passage still had no means of getting up onto the rooftops; the dumpsters lined up against one wall were nowhere near tall enough for me to be able to reach any higher building features to pull myself up with. Seeing no other options, there was only one thing I could do.
The carriage slowed to a crawl just at the mouth of the alley, the red spotlight of the passenger on the right side sweeping down the long corridor.
The beam passed over the bricked-off wall at the end, the side door on the right with a swaying porch light, and finally over the rack of dumpsters on the left. The searchlight slowly drifted from one to the other whilst searching for any unusual signs of activity.
I had my back pressed as tightly against the dumpsters as possible, keeping my head down as the searchlight cast the silhouette of my cover against the brick wall at the end of the alley. If they spotted me, I would have to come out and leave behind my saddle bags, the slim chance being that the Sentinels would not spot the slightly pulsating light emanating from them.
It was then that I noticed the tip of my right hoof was peeking out from behind the dumpster, an inch or so being covered in the spotlight.
I couldn’t move it now; they would notice the movement immediately and come to investigate. My best chance was to remain perfectly still and hope that they would mistake it for just another piece of debris commonly found in a place such as this.
I had kept my breath held for so long, I could start to feel a vein on the side of my head thrumming in time with my heartbeats.
...hold...
I could vaguely hear the Sentinels in the carriage chatting amongst themselves, though I couldn’t make out what they were saying over the sound of my own blood rushing through my head.
...hold...
My chest was begging me to draw in fresh air. I fought to contain the pressure inside me as my vision was starting to turn hazy around my peripherals.
...damn it you’ve got this, hold!...
The searchlight moved on, and I was dimly aware of the sound of the chariot pulling away as I still fought to keep control of my breathing.
I waited a few seconds more before as quietly as possible I released the pressure in my lungs in a haggard breath.
I’m not sure how long I sat there for, propped up against a dumpster in some scum-ridden back alley, trying to calmly get enough air back into my lungs so that I could think clearly again.
It had been close, but I still didn’t think they were specifically after me just yet. If the Sentinels were responding to an alert at the aerodrome, they would have gone straight there. If they were out looking for me, I would have passed more patrols by now.
I had to assume that it was ok for me to get up, and only after a silent battle of wills between my mind and my legs did I eventually rise to my hooves again.
I peeked my head put around each corner of the mouth of the alleyway to make sure that it was safe to go, the carriage that had been searching my hiding place had stopped further down the road, the pair of Sentinels inside apparently trying to disperse the group of homeless ponies around the burning barrel I ran past earlier.
Poor sods, having to camp out on the streets every night, only for them to be harassed by the Sentinels just for trying to make do. Sure, they could just go to the Altruists for help but I had to admire the steel in their spines.
Everyone knew that the help of the Altruists often came with a lot of small print; any help they gave would not only be paid back in full, but with added interest as well.
The Altruists had been around long enough after Generosity herself had passed on for them to lose sight of their founding vision, and so these days a pony only went to them if the only thing he had left to sell was his free will.
Given the choice myself, I’m not sure which fate would be more preferable.
Thankful for the distraction however, I resumed my jog along the pavement. I had been that desperate in my escape that I hadn’t registered just how close to the Hound’s Head I actually was. I abandoned my search for routes up high and chose to stick to the road for now, deciding that I might as well use one of my more frequent impromptu staircases than waste time searching for a new one.
_____________________________________________
I found Nightshade perched upon one of the smoking chimney tops, on top of the same building we had originally set off from earlier in the night. A glazed look on her face as she looked out towards the horizon, smoke flowing around the contours of her plated form and through the holes in her unfurled wings.
Over to the east in the direction she was facing, I could see a line of deep blue nestled in amongst all the black of the night sky, signifying that a new day was not too long in the making.
Nightshade didn’t take her eyes from the skyline as she addressed me. “I thought you might have gotten left behind, glad to see that you made it back. Do you still have it?”
I opened my saddlebag and passed the glowing crystal over to Nightshade, the blue and lilac light emanating from it highlighting her features. “Ah, excellent. It seems you have passed your test them, Pathfinder.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Test? I was under the impression that this was just a job.”
“It was just a job” Nightshade turned her head towards me. “But Grapevine wanted to see if you were trustworthy. With both the information that this crystal holds and the knowledge that it was Grapevine who asked you to deliver it, you could have thrown his plans seriously off track if you had given it to someone else.”
The thought hadn’t actually occurred to me. “My reputation is everything in this line of work, if I lose that, then it’s worse than going back to square one.”
That seemed to be the response Nightshade was looking for. “Good, well now that we know you can be trusted we need to know a bit more about how you tick.”
That sounded ominous to me, and I looked at Nightshade for a while, trying to asses her intentions before I spoke. “And what exactly are you getting at there?”
“Oh it’s quite simple really” She hopped off of her perch and walked up to me, offering up the holo-crystal. “Now that we have retrieved it, what will you do with it? This contains an intelligence report meant for the committee charged with running the Celestial Union itself, are you not in the least bit curious?”
“You want me to watch it?” I took the crystal back and held it in my hoof, feeling the slight heat it emitted. “Why?”
“I don’t want you to do anything; I just need to see what you’ll do.”
I took my eyes off her and looked down at the crystal in my hoof, weighing up my options and their consequences.
Should I watch it? Just knowing the information on this crystal would make me a target in several ponies’ eyes, it’s enough work trying to stay ahead of just the Sentinels, let alone The Wonderbolts and whichever other intelligence organisations existed across in the Union.
And what of Grapevine? If this was all some test to see if I was trustworthy then I’d expect him to be lining me up for a job of some description. Wouldn’t it paint me in a bad light if I watched the crystal that was meant for him? I mean, they can be replayed repeatedly but once I heard what was on it I wouldn’t be likely to forget.
But, as ponies have always said; ‘knowledge is power.’ And if I was moving up the trust circles wouldn’t it be good to know what was really happening in the world? Hell, I’d be lying to myself if I wasn’t downright curious as to what’s on this thing. Maybe I could learn something useful as well as satiating my curiosity. It may even demonstrate some intuition on my part.
And on the other hoof, it’s blatantly obvious that this is another game from Grapevine to learn a bit more about me. What if I were to start playing the game myself? Stack the deck in my favour slightly? If I watched the recording and destroyed it afterwards, only I would know what was on it. That could give me an edge I might need, something I could use if ever I saw an opportunity, and earn a few extra bits on the side.
The options were there and they all had their advantages and drawbacks, there’s rarely such a thing as a right or wrong answer these days, the only real decision is what would help me the most.
What should I do?
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First, if you wanna make interactive story you need to advertise it somehow. For example good start its post it on groups. You can use that you use changeling then there is few groups about them example is Changelings are awesome group There is a lot of more, but its your duty to do this ;D
Second, I'm not sure if you shouldn't put AU tag, world building is good and its clearly in future. Anyway you should somehow add later what main events happened (like that how you did RD)
This can be my fault but I don't even know how main hero looks outside that he is mud pony :D. I readed it when I was in car and I missed somewhere it.
3979678 That was pretty informative, thanks for commenting!
I was umming and ahhing about the AU tag, but it does seem like a good idea, and there's a whole backstory i've got in place for it but since the majority of it would be common knowledge to the characters, the plan is to feed it in through small bits over the chapters.
Think i'll try and edit in a little extra description of Pathfinder, it's pretty easy to miss the one bit where i mention his colour, and could use some more work
Again, thanks for the feedback, any thoughts on the choice at the end?
Wow, really good so far!!! I love the detail, your writing is good!
Dang...I feel like I'm reading a full fledged novel. I don't say that very often. I just want to know the backstory to this universe!
I'm really hooked on this, it's one of the best stories I've read so far! I'm eager to see what comes next ^^