It Is Easier Eine Than Done
Deep inside the concrete bowels of the Val Roan military installation, Midnite Bastion peered her head around a corner. She saw a pair of reindeer guards trotting evenly down the hallway. Holding her breath, she ducked back behind the wall. She waited in dead silence.
Eventually, the guards found their way into an armory, fiddled with the door, and trotted inside for an inspection.
Seconds later, Midnite peered down the corridor once more. In the cold blue manalight, she found the passageway to be completely empty. Clearing her throat, she crept forward, motioning with a hoof.
On flapping wings, Rainbow Dash hovered alongside her. The two mares briskly rushed down the slightly sloped hallway, making their way towards a thick metal door with a complex locking mechanism.
“A combination?” Rainbow muttered. “Seriously?”
“Relax,” Midnite Bastion said, squatting before the door and rotating several dials in succession. “I have access to every room in this place, including the Wing of Valiance.”
“The what?”
“The section that lies beyond this door,” Midnite said, nodding with her head. “It's where recruits go through their ritualistic meditation to become Soul Sentries.”
“So, we're basically waltzing right into the Soul Sentry nursery.”
“That's a crude way of putting it, but yes.”
“Aren't they—like—gonna detect us or something?”
“Doubtful,” Midnite said, shaking her head as she put in the last few combinations. “It's a long and grueling process. They're not fully equipped to utilize their untapped mana until they're out in the field.”
“Well, that's good to know, at least,” Rainbow said. She looked behind them, checking for guards at the far end of the corridor. “Seriously, though, what's with all the nations on this plane and their having big, heavy duty, super top-secret experimental facilities?”
“I've no idea what you're rambling about...”
“Next time I talk with Luna, I'm gonna ask her if there's a hidden base underneath Canterlot with—like—mysterious doom portals to other worlds or some crap.”
“There!” Midnite stood up from the door and pressed her hoof to a cloven-shape impression. “Step... er... hover away from the door super quick.”
Rainbow did as she was told.
Hisss! Chtung! The barricade whirred open. A carpet of steam rolled out. Immediately, Rainbow shivered from a distinct chill issuing from deep within the Valiance Wing.
“Horseapples... what, do they genetically breed dragons inside that place?”
“One would wish.” Midnite stepped forward, peering left and right. “Okay. The coast is clear.”
“Are they training Soul Sentries right now or what?”
“Yes. I-I think so.”
“You think so?”
“Look... let's just hurry, alright?” Midnite motioned her along. “Come on. There're several observation chambers. Assuming the physicians are understaffed, we might be able to seize a good vantage point.” She glanced back at Rainbow Dash and frowned. “Must you carry that thing around your neck?! I don't want it rattling and giving us away!”
“No. This thing stays on,” Rainbow grumbled. “Why don't you remove your own head while we're at it?”
“Tch...” Midnite galloped ahead of her. “Touche...”
Floydien paced and paced inside his cell.
Jake stood outside the barred door, squinting up the dark chamber that led to the rest of the military facility.
Floydien continued pacing, his hooves making repetitive echoes against the cold, dank walls.
With a deep breath, Jake grunted, “If you want to climb the ceiling, you're gonna have to make a running start.”
Floydien scuffled to a stop, glancing up. “What what what?”
“Will you stop with the drunken ballerina routine, Floydsauce?” Jake grunted. “It's driving me insane. And that is saying something. Pumpkins!”
“Surely the boomers would have returned by now,” the elk muttered. “How long does it take to spy on emerald shimmer glimmer?”
“Even with all the access and authority that Midnite has, it takes a heck of a lot to pierce that deep into a place like this,” Jake said. “And she's got a winged blue squirrel to foalsit on top of that.”
“Grnngh...” Floydien winced. “Don't spit that word.”
“What, 'foalsit?'”
“Slobbery boomer...”
“'Top?'”
“Slobbery boomer must stop spitting for one stabby second!” Floydien rumbled. “Yes yes yesssss...” He rubbed his aching forehead.
“... ... ...” Jake smirked. “Hrmmmph...”
Floydien squinted curiously at him.
“If I didn't know you better, Duke-o, I'd say you were concerned for the love of your past life.”
“Don't be full of gunk gunk,” Floydien grunted. “Floydien simply wants to get out of this dankness as soon as possible.”
“She'll be okay, Floyd,” the moose said. “So will your prancing sky pony friend. It's best to be optimistic, no matter how much it smells.”
“How much... it smells?” Floydien sniffed, then suddenly recoiled from the moose beyond the bars. “Spit!” He held a hoof against his nose, turning green in the face. “Aaaugh! The hairy boomer has no decency!”
“No, I had a great breakfast! A victory breakfast!” He turned and grinned at the vomitous elk inside the cell. “And now you're having it too!”
“Grnnngh... now Floydien wants to see Charcoal Boomer again!” He coughed and wheezed. “Just to up the chucks into her muzzle muzzle!”
“Hah! Damn straight, you do!” Jake tilted his drool-stained chin up with pride. “Yup. I minor'd in Cupid 101 for a reason, boyo...”
Midnite Bastion galloped through a door and swiftly ascended a dimly-lit flight of concrete steps. Rainbow actually had to struggle to keep up with her on flapping wings.
“Yeesh! Not so quick, girl!” Rainbow sputtered, darting around the corner with her eyes locked on the mare's dark tail hairs. “Who taught you to run, a pack of cheetahs?!”
“I've had to train myself all my life to be in peak physical condition,” Midnite muttered, breathing steadily. “Consider it a consequence of competing with a bunch of elks with legs twice my size all throughout foalhood.”
“How'd Saikano stumble upon you anyways?” Rainbow grumbled. “Did an eagle drop you on his skull?”
“Hmm. Cute.”
“I have a hard time believing that you see anything as 'cute.'”
“Well, consider yourself a first.” Midnite came to a sudden stop. The stairwell opened into a wide, dark corridor lined on one side with cold metal doors. “Okay, let me just...”
“What?” Rainbow hovered behind her, panting. “Just what is this place?”
“Shhhh...” Midnite strolled up to one door. She craned her neck, peering through a barred window at the top. Her ears perked up. “Okay. This one's clear.”
“Is it an observation room?”
Midnite opened the door with a pronounced squeak. She gestured. “Inside...”
Rainbow's eyes narrowed. “After you.”
“Hmmph...” Midnite blew some bangs out from over her brow. “If you insist.” She trotted briskly inside. Rainbow followed close behind. Soon, they both found themselves inside a tiny room furnished with low stools situated before a series of metal blinds that stretched across the full length of a wall.
“I don't get it...” Rainbow blinked. “What are we looking at? Or better yet... what are we supposed to be looking at?”
“Shhhh...” Midnite raised a hoof. “... ... ...do you hear that?”
Rainbow craned her neck. Indeed—thought it was supremely faint—she detected a dull reverbation, like chanting voices from beyond the wall. “Is... is it a ritual?”
“Most definitely,” Midnite said with a nod.
“You've... uh... you've witnessed this sort of a thing before, right?”
“Yes.” Midnite fidgeted. “Although... it's b-been a while.”
Rainbow flew forward, squinting at the blinds. Through the closed slits, she detected the faintest hint of a bright green light pulsing.
Midnite trotted up. She gestured silently at Rainbow, then reached for a valve. Rotating it, the mare parted the metal blinds. Instantly, the observation room was flooded with bright emerald light, and the sound of muffled voices wafted from a large chamber below.
Rainbow clenched her eyes shut, wincing from the brightness. Nevertheless, she flew up to the ceiling and opened her eyes, getting a good look at the room beyond. After several blinks, her jaw dropped. “Woah... uhhhh...”
Midnite was suddenly shivering. “Good God...”
“Is... uh...” Rainbow leaned towards her in mid hover. “Is that normal?” She gulped. “Tell me that's not normal.”
Midnite slowly shook her head. “I... I don't understand...” She grimaced. “It's not the same! I mean... it is, and yet it isn't. Those... those should be buffering crystals that's harnessing the mana. Not... not...” She gulped. “Just what are those things?”
“I'll tell you what's different.” Rainbow glared aside. “Chrysalis. That's what.”
Midnite turned to gawk at the pegasus. Together, both mares continued staring intently out the slitted window as the ritual continued below them.
“The truth is, Your Majesty, my... uh... my allies and I...” Kera fidgeted at the foot of the Royal throne. “...my smartest subjects accompanying me from Xona, that is...”
“Yes...?” Eine leaned forward.
“Well, we've gone over the observations we've taken of Val Roa, and we've narrowed the suspects down to three.”
“Suspects?” The Prince blinked curiously. “You mean the deer who could be your monster in disguise?”
“Right-o.”
“Wouldn't you think it's appropriate to tell me.”
Kera stared at him for a long time. At last, she sighed. “What the hay.” The filly shrugged. “Those grasshoppers were delicious, after all.”
“You don't think I'm some creature in disguise, do you?”
“That... depends...”
“On what?”
“On how you react to who I think they are.”
“And...?”
Kera pivoted until she was staring at him face to face. “Chancellor Fishberry...”
Eine listened, slowly nodding.
“...General Saikano...”
The Prince was quiet.
Kera rested her tongue against her teeth, then finally let it loose: “...and Secretary Sharp Quill.”
Eine was dead still, but there was a noticeably pale sheen to his visage. “That... is most intriguing.”
“Huh...” Kera blinked. “Not the reaction I was hoping for.”
“And just reaction did you seek?”
“I dunno. Shrieking? Running around and howling in terror?” She pointed. “Peeing in your Royal pantaloons?”
Eine winced. “I like to think that I'm far more composed than that.” He fidgeted. “And I don't wear p-pantaloons...”
“Well?!”
“Hmmm?”
“This isn't freaking you out at all?”
“Your Highness, the degree to which I'm capable of 'freaking out' is pacified by a proper use of logical judgment,” the Prince said. “It is simply... inconceivable that the long-loyal Royal Advisor of my family is actually a traitorous monster in disguise.”
“Yeah! I know!” Kera nod-nod-nodded. “That's what makes it freaky!”
“No, that's what makes it highly improbable,” Eine said. “Sharp Quill has done nothing less but sacrifice every ounce of his strength and intelligence to serve the House of Evo. Even if he was capable of usurping my place on the throne, there's nothing that he would accomplish with such a wildly melodramatic plot.”
“And why's that?”
“Well, the Legislature and the Military simply wouldn't let him accomplish it.”
“Right!” Kera exclaimed. “And with both Fishberry and Saikano in on it, they can make the impossible happen! And it's pretty dang sucky!”
“So now you're claiming that all three suspects are conspiring with one another?”
“Exactly!”
“But only one of them is the shapeshifting monster that you've been warning me about all this time!”
“Yes! Er... no! That is... maybe.” Kera winced. “Fact is, they're all working for Chrysalis! The Changeling Queen! And they're trying to bring you down!”
“If that's the case, why only suspect three deer? And why just those in particular? Just what specific evidence have your Xonan subordinates found to substantiate such claims!”
“Uhhhh...” Kera winced, glancing aside as she fidgeted. “Yeah, about that...”
“Your Majesty...” Eine sighed, trotting around her in loose, pacing steps. “With all due respect, I was initially enthralled by your claims, but now?” He slowly shook his head. “I'm starting to see how swiftly they're falling apart at the seams. For the most part, all you've got to give me is heresy.”
“But it's not! I swear it!”
“On what? I'm certainly not one to question your integrity, but when my kingdom's honor is at stake, I must have a firmer foundation to stand on.”
“Ugh!” Kera rolled her eyes. “You are—like—the most fickle Prince ever! Why'd you even bring me here?!”
“To ascertain the truth, of course. But right now, I'm finding it difficult to digest.”
“Maybe cuz you haven't swallowed it first, ya melon fudge!”
Eine turned, frowning. “You are asking me—without much concrete evidence—to suspect my own advisor, an elk who's been like an uncle to me all my life, of trying to take my kingdom away from me. Sharp Quill has been my anchor... my guiding light of emotional support, even in the depths of my anguish over losing my mother and father.”
“Yeah! But—like—that's how Chrysalis works! She gets at us emotionally! She feeds off of misery and love and sometimes both! I'm willing to bet that all the crud you've been going through has been nothing but food for her!”
“Through Sharp Quill...”
“If need be, yeah!”
“Your Highness, what if you're wrong?” Eine glared. “Can I afford to insult the only soul in all of Val Roa whom I trust completely?”
“What if I'm right?” Kera smirked. “Can you afford to be such a dumbass?”
Eine simply blinked at her, his muzzle agape.
“Hmmm?”
Silence.
“Is that a fact?”
More silence.
“I can't very well do much from here...”
Sharp Quill sat in his office, staring out the balcony with dull, distant eyes.
“... ... ...in that case, I should inform him.”
Silence.
“Very well. But you know that he is in session at the moment.”
With a deep breath, Sharp Quill closed his purple eyes. His forehead tensed beneath his antlers, and his lips moved on their own, as if pronouncing unholy words.
At last, his breath returned, and he murmured to the stale air.
“There is a problem,” the Secretary said. “It's the Duchess.”
Silence.
“No, she's not here. She's with Fishberry.”
More silence.
“I can't listen in. All I know is that she's stirring trouble. Can you send some sentries in to the High Council building?”
Sharp Quill's face winced.
“No, I can't tell you what to do then. Fishberry will likely have a solution, if you would just—”
There was a knock on the door.
Sharp Quill's ears twitched. He stood up straight.
“I must be silent.”
Clearing his throat, he turned around with a pleasant smile.
“You may enter.”
A servant stuck her head in. “Secretary Sharp Quill, sir?”
“Yes? What seems to be the problem?”
“Problem?” The doe shook her head. “No problem, sir. It's just that... well... the Prince has a guest.”
“A guest...?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I wasn't aware of a royal invitation being sent out.”
“I'm sorry, sir. Neither were any of us. But she's speaking with him in the throne room right now.”
“She?” Sharp Quill squinted. “Who, exactly?”
“Uhm... Her Majesty, Princess Kera Tin Mehjj of the Xonan Empire.”
Sharp Quill stared ahead. “... ... ...is that a fact?”
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And the dominoes begin tilting....
Nonsense! You just take the two characters, like so...
*picks up officially-licensed Einetastic and Keradorable figurines released thanks to Austraeoh's immensely successful canonization via movie debut*
...and make them kiss-u!
*clumsily clacks figurines together while making creepy giggling noises*
Now rinse and repeat for six more books. In fact, here, lemme read the chapter. I'm sure they're doing just...
Um. Oh.
Huh.
Well then. Umm...
...I still believe.
ANYWAYS, so how about dat MidnightDash though? Cute couple, eh? I mean seriously!
Eh? Eh?
Again, the kill is suspensing me. Gah!
Ugh..everything is unraveling. Very slowly. I thought kera was gonna drop the princess act and just tell eine everything about rainbow and the jury, get ebon to show him what a changeling looks like and all that.
...Oh god.
Oh sure...tell us everything EXCEPT what's actually happening.
...
Well...all of this is just going absolutely swimmingly, isn't it?
*dons helmet and starts preparing "OH SHIT" bunker*
Great. Just great.
I literally have no idea what the plan is. So, I'll just make you all do pushups.
Gimme thirty, ):(. Knock 'em out!
“Next time I talk with Luna, I'm gonna ask her if there's a hidden base underneath Canterlot with—like—mysterious doom portals to other worlds or some crap.”
Dash is gonna crap when she hears about Tartarus....especially if Luna has militarized it.
I'm convinced. This and Appledashery are linked -- by reference if nothing else.
God dammit, moose...
5347571 She'll ask Luna. But Luna doesn't know about Starswirl's laboratory under the castle, with the mysterious doom portal to a world with an evil Celestia and Luna, and a good King Sombra who is good Celestia's sweetheart.
Sneaking
Pairing
Bromance
Weird dialogue
Coarse humour
Plot twist
Another fucking Mystery
Cliffhanger
Needs more explosions and drama, but this'll do for now.
Well at least he's self-aware.
But, if he is in session, and Kera is in there with him...
Eine is Crysalis?
Forget setting up a House Of Cards with Chesspieces, this storys dice are being rolled where they cant be seen.
"Hey Luna, are there any hidden mysterious portals to other worlds hidden in Equestria?"
"Rainbow Dash, We can assure you there are most definitely no portals to other worlds filled with teenaged bipedal mammals."
"Oh ok...Wait, that was oddly specific, Princess"
"Alas, a...uhhh...Lunar eclipse is causing the connection to fail. I cannot hear you Rainbow Dash, I must go."
"Princess, I can see the moon... It's not an eclipse."
"uh...noooo, thats just swamp gas...uh trapped in a thermal pocket and.. reflecting off a weather balloon."
Meanwhile, I wonder how the Floydien/Midnite (re)ship is going...
Eh, close enough.
5347260 Like this?
5347698 YES! Moar shipping!
I understand why he doesn't exactly believe her. Kera is explaining this pretty poorly right now.
freedomborn.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/freedom-eagle-flag.gif
Kera, this is the exact sort of shit that makes people think you're a heretic.
new1.fjcdn.com/comments/That+s+like+double+heresy+_31122e73581202a7b86d89791bc1f4cc.jpg
5347052
Then it behooves us to enumerate every possible ending in order to make his life as difficult as possible.
5348082 I only said what happens in the MLP comics.
5347262 You just want Rainbow to have a traveling harem, don't you?
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I'm not sure Roarke is the sharing type.
I see someone reads the comics! I wonder if we will ever see evil!Luna and evil!Celestia.
Changelings, that is all.
The plot horsens
Aww Kera and Eine need to hurry and start making the smooches.
5347262
Hmmm...
Just a Xonan girl
Livin' in a lonely world
She took the skystone ship goin' to the east
Just a ValRoan deer
Born and raised on Sandstone near.
He took the skystone ship goin' to the east
A pilot in a smoky ship
A smell of wine and pungent cheese
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on, and on, and on
Chang'lings waiting
Up and down the desert city
Shadows searching in the night
Soul Sentries, deer
Living just to feed of emotion
Hiding somewhere in the night
Posting hard to get an OC
Everybody wants to be in
Doin' anything to roll the dice
Just one more time
Some will die, some will leave
Some were there just to deceive
Twists and turns are his master plan.
Then end the journey back where we began.
Chang'lings waiting
Up and down the desert city
Their shadows searching in the night
Soul Sentries, deer
Living just to feed of emotion
Hiding somewhere in the night
Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Sentries, ponies.
Don't stop believin'
Hold on~
Sentries, ponies.
Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Sentries, ponies.
5348746
Wizballl is the General Lee?
Need to weld the doors up
5347754 It's like sitting down to a game of chess and finding out that the other guy is playing poker.
Well, this chapter seems to clear Arcanista. Assuming one of the Big Three aren't her, that leaves only a few options for who Chrysalis could be:
1.) Eine; seems like a stretch, because why all the plotting and dramatics if he's just gonna be king soon, anyway? It seems like it would be smarter to fly under the radar and wait until things were a done deal before starting a ruckus.
2.) Midnite; part of me feels like it would be a stretch, but I don't know. She seems likable enough, but that's hardly enough to go by when you're dealing with a shape-shifter. Admittedly, part of me also thinks it makes sense.
3.) It's some minor character (like Nilla or Jet), which I suppose is possible, if perhaps anticlimactic.
4.) It's some hitherto unnamed and unknown character; again, seems anticlimatic, unless it was done right.
5.) IC goes full-Shyamalan and has one of the Jurists or something be Chrysalis, which seems unlikely as hell and also potentially kinda brilliant.
Guh, I said I'd try not to get ahead of myself.
Also, Kera's gonna have to step up her game.
5348191
and before she knows it, she'll be in front of the Val Roan inquisition. Cause no one expects it.
Being caught up with this story seems like a great accomplishment, but now all it means is that I have to actually wait for more of my favorite story instead of having a seemingly endless supply of chapters left to read. So it seems that catching up is more of a curse than a celebration-worthy moment. Ah well, with the rate at which this story is being written, it doesn't seem like much of a problem.
I was never great at playing Clue. Chryssie in the Ballroom as Sharp Quill? Probably not. =/
Okay, Fan... and you, shit... we're going to try civility one more time.
Now, if the two if you would just-
Oh HELL, it's everywhere.
puns
At least she isn't a turtle, Rainbow. She'd probably end up killing some Greek guy.
No, those are in the Crystal Empire.
1 point Eine, 0 Kera. 100 for Sharp Quill for being ahead of everyone.
I take back my gruesome prediction for Eine.... I've grown too attached to this character.
Oh, come on, Kera!
-Spirit
5348746 I do not wish to overstate my position, Zaid, but I approve your post so hard that I would like to bear your children.
(My phone tried to sabotage my sentiment by changing 'bear' to 'beat.' My phone is now confirmed for Chrysalis.)
It's going to be hard to convince Eine without completely breaking up the guise in place. And now Sharp Quill is being thrown into the midst. This should be fun.
Since I've been silent for a while...
I ship it. It will be called Rainite
6062493 Ship Rainbow with ALL the ponies! Still Rainbow/roarke is best ship.
5358892
It's a reference to the 'Reflections' arc in the MLP Comic series, issues # 17-20. It has an excellent storyline and plot. I love the fact that IC appears to have read the comics...
The first raindrops of the coming storm...
Floydien had no idea how dank the Noble Jury would become.
Floydien is too deep in the dankness.
We are all stuck in dankness.
There is no escape.
There is most definitely not an Uppity Student Disposal system underneath Canterlot, no.
8160446
Good thing Rainbow is not a student of the princesses then
07/14/2017
19:12 UTC
You mean like the Tantibus or her thestral army?
Thestrals are, after all, an elite group.
It Is Easier Eine Than Done? More like It Is Better Eine Than Out!
I love this dynamic, Kera is bringing Eine down to earth with her sass!
Yes, please do. I've been theorizing that Canterlot is built on a machine world entrance for a few books now.
Definitely don't think any of the three are Chrysalis herself. Also Kera is definitely losing the thread here. Just explain that you've been spying.
Funny you say that...
I mean, you could use that in most of politics.
Uh oh.
The details of that base are classified above Top Secret. To even have knowledge of it without clearance is considered an unacceptable security risk and offenders are subjected to a Ref-Def ASAP. >:/
10567836
I think Rainbow a little out of range for that.