A Bhaalspawn in Equestria

by Thadius0

Chapter 25 - Pull yourself together!

The mindscape was different this time. It almost always was, depending on where you went in it. Fortunately, Luna knew where she was going, and Cadence had been in here enough times as well.

The image of Marketh holding a tattered and ripped book while two others waited nearby slowly resolved. Pages flitted about in the air, flying just out of reach. The half elf looked from the book to the pages, then sighed. Luna decided to ask the first question.

"Why do you not try to grasp the pages?"

The half-elf looked up to her, then to the pages, and then to the book before shaking his head. "The tome is weighty as is. Should I fail to support it with both hands, then I would lose what little I could remember. The pages can only fly out of the book if I'm not holding it."

Cadence focused, her horn glowing blue, then it shifted to white, before a beam shot at the book. The pages seemed to settle down considerably, and the elf looked at the book with a hint of wonder on his face. "What have you done?"

Cadence merely smiled. "Your brain couldn't hold all your memories, true enough. But since an Alicorn is born immortal, we can. I tweaked your brain just a bit, so that your brain's long-term memory would slowly become like ours. In addition, over time, you'll slowly start to recall all you lost."

The half-elf blinked twice, then slowly set the book down before opening all three and watching as a three pages drew near from above before settling into the books and fusing back where they were meant to be. He smiled at the alicorns before nodding. "Thank you for that."

And with a wave of his hand, the mindscape faded...

-----

The two alicorns drew their horns back from my head, and I blinked at the new sensation, of something setting itself right, finally. I smiled at them, and they returned it. "Remember anything?"

I shook my head at Cadence's question. "I can feel that something's changed in my memory, yes. I also know that you tweaked my memory, true. But as to whether I can recall anything now that I could not before, I could not say."

At this, Luna sadly nodded. "Time is the only thing that can heal this wound. But at least now, it can be healed."

I stood up and stretched, popping a few joints to keep myself limber. "Oooh, that felt good. Well then, m'ladies, I do have a swarm and guild to maintain..."

Luna's coy smile did not set my nerves at ease. "And you also have about a thousand years of thievery to make up for."

I shook my right index finger at her while my left hand sought out my pocketwatch. "Now now. The only thing I stole that you can still press charges for was information. I may have managed the guilds and taught them the skills, but the only thing I did beyond that was seek and obtain information pertinent to the Bhaalspawn phenomenon."

Cadence began to smirk as well. "We could bring you in for giving them the skills in the first place. I'm fairly certain that if you hadn't sought to train them that there wouldn't have been near as many thieves as there are." And then her smirk grew. "Plus, you had to obtain startup funds somehow."

The energy began to leak into the watch at an accelerated pace. Screw ten seconds, I would need ten minutes. I could only hope the watch could hold it all. "Ladies, you are grossly mistaken in your lines of thinking if you believe that I'm just going to come quietly."

Luna's horn faintly glowed as her smile became downright devious. "You talk like you will have a choice, half-elf."

Fuck it, any time I could get, now would be a good time to use it! I pulled the watch out and pushed the button, and the world around me faded into black-and-white. Yet I could see the colors on Luna and Cadence struggling to assert themselves. I would have so very little time.

I rushed into the guild itself and dropped off a series of prepared notes in front of my recruits. To Gilda, I told her to take her skills back and trounce her father, take his command and share my lessons. I also told her that if I didn't hear of the Griffons dealing with problems before they became problems that I would be severely disappointed.

To the dogs Fido, Rover, and Spot, I told them something similar. I told them in no uncertain terms that Spot was the brains of the outfit, Fido was the muscle, and Rover was the closest one to my body type to be called the thief. But I also told them that so long as they worked together, they could accomplish anything, including taking over their old den and instating a rule that I would agree with.

And to Whispered Secret, I told him that if he didn't get in the Night Guard now, to try and come find me. I didn't tell him where I was going, because even I didn't know right at that moment, but I figured that if he found me once, he could find me again.

By the time I walked back outside, Luna and Cadence were fully colored in again, but they seemed to have difficulty moving. Talking was another matter entire. "Marketh, why did you do this?"

I reached over to Luna and plucked the crown off her head, looking at it and sighing. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown, so long as it rests properly. You are in a position of strength like no other, yet you are weaker than any other pony, because you have to think about the good of them all. To appease one is to displease another. Your throne may be so appealing to others, but I see it for the golden chain it is."

I replaced the crown and looked to the sun, frozen in the sky as it was. "You are chained, but I am free. And I will not be bound. Not while I do not know who I am. All I know is the what, and the what tells me that in time, my shadow games could rival yours."

"Especially now that you have a swarm of Changelings at your beck and call," Cadence mused.

I smiled and waved a hand at her. "True, they'd make the perfect thieves. But frankly, they need to grow up and answer the same question I do."

I turned to look at them both, sighed, and shook my head. "If you truly seek to take me in, then I will have to abandon my system. Not all that hard. And now that I know that all of Bhaal's descendents in this world are me and the changelings, I don't need to set up any more thievery guilds. In fact, with my link with the swarm, I could set up...yeah, that's a viable fall-back plan." Here my grin widened and must have looked maniacal to them. "Hell, I don't need to live in a town at all anymore! I could just...leave Equestria!"

Their faces dropped in horror at the very thought of me leaving their lands. Huh, maybe they don't have extradition treaties with the other countries? I smiled and set off to the north. "Take care, ladies!"

-----

As the effect of Time Itself being stopped wore off, Luna looked to Cadence and sighed. "Methinks we doth play too hard with the half-elf."

Cadence nodded and pulled a scroll out from somewhere. "He might have liked being the Royal Spy. We'll just have to see if we can't find a changeling in the coming days and make the offer through one of them."

Luna shook her head. "Knowing him and them, he'll teach them everything he knows about blending in seamlessly. We'll be hard pressed to find them, and to go actively looking for them with the guard for any extended period of time would just worry the populace. He's outmatched us without really knowing that he was doing it."

Cadence sighed and put the scroll back away.

-----

Gilda would go on to not only kick her old man's behind, but Ignatius' as well. Her father was quietly moved back to the regular Army, where he had been happier anyways. Gilda and Ignatius took over teaching the Spec Ops of the Griffon Army. In a few short months, the two of them had an effective working relationship that produced the smartest, deadliest griffons this side of Tartarus. And somewhere in all the endless bouts, Gilda got Ignatius into a compromising position. And griffons, being descended from birds of prey, pounce on what they want. The wedding was held shortly thereafter.

Fido, Rover, and Spot would go back to their den and ingrain themselves back like nothing had ever happened. Right up until Fido walked into the makeshift throne room and punched the doors in. The current king was advised by Spot that this challenger to the throne was somedog who could be dispatched easily, and so the two fought. His blood still decorates the pillars where he more or less exploded to this day. Fido took the throne, Spot retained the position of adviser, and Rover was granted a new title: Bad Dog, the Dog's equivalent of a top spy, for handily poisoning the old king just a touch to make the display possible. The trio managed to lead their den to, well, the dog's version of a golden age. At least, as well as they could.

And Whispered Secret? Well, he searched in Canterlot for a while, until he heard the rumors that something was happening up in the north. Once he confirmed that something big was happening, as evidenced by the disappearance of Cadence and Shining Armor, he knew there was only one place left to check for the biped he was looking for.

-----

"Cold up here!"

I nodded, not really surprised that of all my recruits, he was the one to not only want to find me, but able to find me. "Almost always is," I replied.

The sound of crunching snow announced that the thestral was now next to me, staring at the same phenomena I was. A dome of blue in the middle of this arctic wasteland. "What's that?"

I shrugged. "There was a lightshow up here about a week ago. I got here about a day ago to find this. The dome's new. There was some sort of city in there, all shiny and everything. Then a train pulls in, and this dome goes up, and suddenly the snow starts melting as it hits. Good thing, too."

"Yeah," the thestral replied. "Can't imagine living up here without whatever that thing is."

"Not just that," I replied. I pointed to a bit beyond the city at a black smoke cloud just on the horizon. "See that thing over there? That patch of blackness that just feels wrong to think about?"

"Yup, I saw it right away. What is it?"

I shrugged. "I dunno, but it looks like it wants in. Been banging away at the dome since it went up, and only recently took a break. Think we should try the dome first?"

"Sure thing, boss." And I could almost hear the smile in his voice. "But if we end up anywhere near that thing, I'm turning tail."

"Good," I quipped, "You've learned something!"

Comments

[amiamera]

It feels a little weird to have the partial epilogue and then continue but I have no problem with it as I want the story to continue. :)

[Leux]

nice ^^

[skultech]

To me this feels like the story has finished it's first arc and is now starting a new one. Can't wait to see what happens further.

[ArcaneVisions]

So good. Continue!

[RazorWing_GB]

*leans forward, steeples his fingers* Do go on.

[DavidPony]

pfft work for the crown? fuck that!
shadeblade's got shit to do and places to go
love this chapter

[ZephyrStrife]

4815406 That's right, Ain't nobody got time fo' dat!

He's got loot to steal and people to stab.
Ain't no room in his busy schedule.

[Greatazuredragon]

"Sure thing, boss." And I could almost hear the smile in his voice. "But if we end up anywhere near that thing, I'm turning tail."
"Good," I quipped, "You've learned something!"

Hehe, indeed.