What Remains I: The Griffon and Her Dweeb

by Bateman66

Epilouge

Shale’s hooves clicked aggressively against the outer stone courtyard as she made her way across the large open space. Above her, the dark blue nebula of the night hung over the sky with a graceful intensity, each shimmering star all part of one single luminescent picture that normally would have awed any Child of the Night.

But tonight, as she approached a long black hooded pony staring absently up to the sky, she was anything but amazed by the spectacle.

“My lord,” she said with a forced courteousness that thinly veiled her incredibly apparent irritation. “You wished to speak with me?”

“Yes,” the hooded figure answered soothingly but with heavy crackles of age breaking through his voice. “Regarding your thoughts on your successful operation to the Griffon Kingdoms—excuse me, Kingdom.”

Not much could be seen past the figure’s sweeping black cloak, with only a ghostly grey snout and the frail frame of a stallion being seen past the almost obsidian-like cloth, seeming to gleam with a low blue light when looked upon closely.

Shale rolled her eyes. “I’d hardly call that region a single kingdom, the landmass is more fragmented than a broken mirror and just about as charming.”

The figure chuckled. “A success none the less. But, you seemed to have expressed some dissatisfaction in your after action reports. Care to explain?”

Shale sighed. “I don’t see why we couldn’t have just taken Alistair with us. He already seemed to understand what we’re trying to do. I didn’t go into specifics, of course, but I think I had him convinced.”

“Hmmm,” pondered the stallion. “And would you prefer that we took him along and suddenly had a change of heart? That he would rebel and force us to imply more drastic measures to ensure his compliance?”

This struck Shale uneasily, making her stammer out a response. “N-No…”

The stallion nodded. “Well there you go. If we were to act rashly and not consider every possible reaction to each action taken, we would surely be dooming ourselves from the very beginning. Careful planning and patience is what has kept us alive and unseen for these many years and will finally be the key to our grand success.”

Shale winced uncomfortably, the focal point of her dissatisfaction being touched upon. “But…my lord. Don’t you think we’ve waited long enough? It’s taken us two years to simply plant the seed of our cause into the boy’s mind. How much longer will it be till we actually bring him here to learn the necessary techniques? Another two years?”

“On contrary,” the figure countered coolly, “our timing could have not come at a better time. Take for instance the boy’s current situation. He feels cut off from the one he loves most, lacks direction in what to do with the rest of his life, is mildly disgruntled with the status of the Equestrian royalty and does not have any close connection with most ponies around him. Is not now the absolute best time to offer him a better life?”

Shale couldn’t argue with the logic presented, but, with stubborn insistence she pressed her single point further. “But how long will we wait for his inevitable arrival here? We must act now while his emotions and thoughts are still fresh in his mind.”

The stallion eyed her with a slight edge, beginning to find her indignant zeal to stress her point a very much bothersome quality when expressed in full. But, his face quickly softened as he reminded himself that the mare always meant well in her statements,

“Commander Press, you remember the operation former Intelligence Commander Blackletter approved of, the one that was instituted just a month after the human arrived?”

Shale couldn’t help but grimace at the painful memory. The operation in question was so far the largest blunder in the history of the order. What had started out as a discrete observe and report assignment turned into a full scale capture operation of the human Alistair. Any form of secrecy was cast to the wind when the train transporting the boy was derailed by him and his two rescuing companions, forcing the entire dispatched squad (Shale included) to stagger off into the Everfree Forest with the Royal Guards close behind.

They were able to elude the stone faced guardians of Equestria’s security, but how close they got to blowing the entire cover of the order was enough to shake the entire administration to its core. Commander Blackletter was terminated immediately from his high rank, both in terms of his position and in the literal sense.

Following this, the Night Lords immediately declared that all operations, whether they be arcane or simply agent activities, must be approved and overseen by them personally. Although most of the veterans in Intelligence had strongly opposed such actions, complacency was eventually established once the gravity of the situation had been made clear.

From there, Intelligence had been acting much more carefully in those past two years, dispatching even smaller groups to carry out espionage work against Equestria and the other countries of the world, while simultaneously growing in much more considerable strength then they ever had before.

“I guess…you have a point,” Shale said dejectedly.

Placing a hood upon her shoulder, the figure spoke with a tone that heavily suggested he was smiling beneath his cloak. “Don’t worry Commander Shale; we will not fret over technicalities for long. The boy shall be by our side quite soon, and then, the return of our queen will be nigh.”

Smiling in return, Shale and the stallion walked casually out of the courtyard, both beaming out how close victory would soon be upon them.