Chapter 2: ... It usually is.
Freeport Venture: Something Sweet and Sour
Chapter 2: ... It usually is.
Preparation is essential in this one’s line of work.
The preparations one makes when going out on a job is often the difference between success or failure, payday or a lot of wasted time and effort, victory or defeat, life or death. Certainly skill, experience, natural talent, and a bit of luck are factors that determine success, but preparation is something we can control. Especially with a bit of foresight.
That was why this one was in its lab the morning after its meeting with the Shimmer-mare. Located on the first floor of this one’s office building, the room was well-stocked with all the supplies one would needed for creating magical and alchemical items. A work table and a cauldron sat in the center of the room, surrounded by shelves fully stocked with magical ingredients and tools necessary for magical crafting.
Woefully, all of those very expensive tools and ingredients had been collecting dust for quite some time. This one sighed as it ran a hoof over the work table’s surface, leaving a long line in the dust that had collected. This one wasn't in a habit of letting anyone come into this room, and normally kept the room nicely locked behind its magically reinforced steel door. While this one could have given some its secretaries the keys to the lab, it didn't feel secure allowing anyone into the room considering some of the sensitive things locked within.
That of course meant that there was only one person with access to the room and the ability to keep it clean: itself.
Shame this one had simply been too busy for such mundane tasks. Basic cleaning hadn't been something this one had bothered with for years now. In addition to just not enjoying the mundane activity, it was usually much more profitable with this one’s time to hire someone else to do the cleaning.
Unfortunately, the same was true where making potions was concerned. In this one’s early days, making the right magical potion or item had often made all the difference in this one’s success. But as this one became more and more successful, it had taken to paying other, more skilled hooves to make such things for it.
The pity about that was that this one missed making potions. When this one had been a grub, it had enjoyed making potions with its mother. Helping to make magic items its parents used for their investigations were some of its happiest memories. Now though, this one hadn't fired up the cauldron in ... three months now, and only then when a client had sent a messenger telling this one that she was going to be late for a meeting and this one didn't want to idly sit around.
Well, whatever this one felt about the past, there was a job to do now. This one’s horn took up a green glow as it picked up its saddlebags with its telekinesis. Thanks to this one’s zony heritage, this one had some magical talent. While this one would never have the abilities of a magus, it could still cast a number of cantrips. This one preferred to keep the full breadth of its abilities a secret when it could. It was so much easier to be underestimated when no one knew exactly what you were capable of.
That was one of the issues with the bold methods of an individual like the Shimmer-mare: it was fast becoming common knowledge in Freeport that she was a pyromancer. It was only a matter of time before she started running into enemies that had counters for the spells she favored. That was yet another thing to cover with the Shimmer-mare when there was time, this one supposed.
This one opened up a cabinet to reveal shelf after shelf stocked with magical potions. While this one hadn't had the time to make its own potions, this one was able to pay alchemists to brew whatever this one desired. As a result, this one was well stocked for supplies. Considering this one wasn't completely sure what it might have to deal with on Sweetash Isle, it picked out potions that could help with a diverse set of situations. A potion that enhances one’s senses, and a variety of potions that bolstered the drinker’s speed, strength, or the ability to hide. Putting each vial into the padded slots inside of the saddlebags, this one moved to the closet.
Inside of the closet sat a variety of equipment that might become useful during the variety of assignments this one might go on. After a moment’s consideration, this one decided to go with a basic loadout. This one selected a first aid kit, a set of lockpicks, some rope, tanglehoof bags, a trio of always explosive fire gems, another set of thunderflash gems, and a pair of smoke potions.
That done, this one closed the closet and moved onto the heavy safe that was bolted down to the floor and wall. This one stuck its horn into the hole at the center of the safe, and upon recognizing this one’s magical signature, the safe’s complex locking mechanisms clicked and the door slowly swung open. Inside were some of this one’s most prized possessions. Not necessarily in terms of how much they cost, though several of the items within were quite expensive, but the magical items were some of the most useful things this one owned. The safe was filled with meticulously made amulets, talismans made of a diverse set of materials, gems that thrummed with power, and a host of other objects.
This one was already wearing the magical silver chain around its neck. Its primary function was to protect this one’s thoughts from being magically intruded upon. This one had a nasty scare one time when one of its rivals had hired a warlock with little respect for one’s privacy to go prodding around in its head. The mess that had resulted after that incident, and the fact this one had any number of secrets in its head that it wanted to keep secret, had made this one take precautions against that from happening again. The magical necklace wasn’t perfect, of course, but it did give this one a measure of protection.
Within the safe itself, the first thing this one selected out was a little talisman made of fishbone and covered in small little runes. This was the latest addition to this one’s collection of magical items, and this one had the Shimmer-mare in mind for when it commissioned its construction. Specifically, it was designed to protect this one from fire. While this one saw it as unlikely that it would come into direct conflict with Freeport’s magus, it also knew of the dangers of pyromancy. It took but a moment’s indiscretion or a misaimed fireball in the middle of battle for this one to find itself rather more on fire than it ever desired. Not to mention that it gave the both of us more tactical flexibility in the middle of a fight. This one didn’t doubt the talisman would be a good investment in the future, even if it wasn’t particularly anxious to see it in use.
This one’s silver necklace already had a number of basic protection talismans, and this one added the fire protection talisman to the others. There were other talismans within the safe, but most of them were to help with fairly specific situations, and this one didn’t want to risk letting on exactly how many talismans this one had in its possession unless it had to. This one could always walk around with most of its magical gear—it even had a set of enchanted armor sitting to the side of the room. The problem with doing that was that it tended to make people, especially those with the capability to detect magic, ask why this one was equipped for war. Considering this one was just meeting with a sugar plantation magnate, looking decked out for a full-fledged battle was probably overdoing it.
Next, this one pulled out a steel bracer and put it on its right foreleg. The bracer was inlaid with runes made of gold and was one of the more offensive tools this one owned. Fully charged, it could give someone a very nasty electrical shock. It had been a nasty surprise to more than one individual who thought they had gotten the drop on this one.
After a moment’s consideration, this one selected out one of its favorite magical objects: a silver bracelet with intricate carved patterns and several small sapphire gems embedded into it, the bracelet could grant its wearer the ability to turn invisible for a period of time every day. Needless to say, that ability was infinitely useful in this one’s line of work, and it had saved this one’s life on more than one occasion.
Deciding that this one was done being properly paranoid for the occasion, this one closed the safe and relocked it. The itching under this one’s carapace hadn’t ended, even after looking through its files on the Sweetash family and asking a few of its contacts. The sugar plantation family had the usual range of business rivals and enemies such magnates usually had in Freeport, one or two black sheep, and a plurality of allies and friends. Frustratingly, none of it had stood out as particularly noteworthy.
As a habit, this one liked to know what everyone it met wanted, both in the short term and the long term. Once one knew what someone desired, it was so much easier to know what to do when interacting with them and know how to manipulate them. This could be a simple case of one business rival attempting to eliminate another one, but this one had only survived as long as it had by being properly cautious.
This one’s preparations as complete as they could be, it left the laboratory to seek out the Shimmer-mare.
Some hours later, the Shimmer-mare and I stepped off of our ship and onto the Sweetash Isle docks. For this trip, this one had taken the disguise of a plain-looking pegasus stallion with a dark green coat and a light blue mane. As this one normally does when transformed as a pony, it placed a yellow puzzle piece onto its rear as a cutie mark. Yes, this one knows exactly how clever it is being by doing that, but one must advertise its services. There is also the fact that having a puzzle piece cutie mark makes it possible for others to identify this one in the event they are looking for it.
A pair of mercenaries by the names of Stray and Precise Doo stepped off right after us and went about carefully observing the surrounding area, in particular keeping an eye on the dockworkers going about their business. Their green plate-mail clanked as they moved. Hiring a pair of bodyguards from the Doo Compound had been thankfully simple. While the Shimmer-mare had been a bit stubborn about the idea of hiring bodyguards, especially when the cost of the contract had come up, she had swallowed her pride thanks to this one’s help. The Shimmer-mare still wasn't wild about having them along, but from this one’s perspective, the goal was to get her used to the idea of depending of the services of such mercenaries. At least from leg’s length.
“Huh.” The Shimmer-mare took a long whiff of the air. “I figured a sugar plantation would smell more like ... sugar.”
“Not so much.” This one took a moment to examine the nearby area, it always liked to have a good idea where it could run and hide in the event it was attacked. The merchant ship sitting at the dock and the pair of warehouses a short ways away in particular caught this one’s eyes. “Sugarcane is a long way from processed sugar.” This one pointed towards a building sitting on the horizon. Judging from the trio of chimneys sticking out from its roof, that was probably the island’s sugar refinery. “If you want to smell sugar, you would want to go there.”
“I guess so.” She glanced back at the pair of Doo mercs right behind us, a faint frown creasing her lips.
“Relax.” This one patted her on the back and encouraged her to move up the dock. “They're just here to watch your back in case something happens. It’s what you’re paying them to do, and you have a contract.”
“I know,” the Shimmer-mare said. “Still not used to having them around, though.”
Whatever the Doos’ opinions were on the matter, they kept it to themselves in stoic silence. They were probably of the mindset that it was best for bodyguards to stay silent around their employers in public.
This one shrugged. “You get used to it with time. This one certainly did.”
The Shimmer-mare nodded as we stepped onto the brick road just off the dock. “Yeah, I got used to Celestia's guards always being around. I'll adapt to them too.”
“This one is sure that you will.” Looking down the road, this one saw a large stone manor with white painted walls. “So, we’re supposed to head to the manor to meet our contact?”
She nodded. “That's the plan, yeah.”
“No sense delaying, then.”
The two of us started down towards the manor with our bodyguards in tow. On either side of the road were the tall stalks of sugarcane. It covered just about every square acre of the island, and all around us were ponies, zebras, diamond dogs, gryphons, and other species tending the fields. To our left, the indentured workers of the farm were carefully managing a controlled fire intended to clear out the underbrush around the sugarcane, as well as remove any of the poisonous bugs or reptiles that often made their homes within the fields.
On the opposite field, more indentured servants were busily trotting about cutting down sugarcane and tossing the stalks onto carts to be taken to the sugar refinery, all while their taskmasters drove them to keep up the pace. Once cut, there was a limited period of time to finish harvesting the stalks as the sugary sap within them slowly dripped out. The process was labor intensive, and the taskmasters were paid to make sure they got every iota of work they could out of their charges. It wasn’t hard to see the beaten down, exhausted look about each of the indentured servants.
The Shimmer-mare scowled out at the workers, one of whom had come under the scrutiny of her taskmaster and was being yelled at for some indiscretion. The mare looked on the verge of tears from the outburst.
“Problem?” this one asked, having a very good idea of what was on her mind. Indentured servitude, the practice where a person sold themselves into virtual slavery for a period of time, was one of the less savory practices allowed in Freeport. At least, in this one’s opinion.
“Yes.” The Shimmer-mare’s scowl deepened when she caught sight of worn down, wooden shacks that served as the homes of the indentured servants. They stood out in stark contrast to the sturdy, proud manor sitting on top of a hill overlooking the sugarcane fields and the housing for the plantation’s workers. The manor even had its own vast flower garden with a marble water fountain sitting in front of it.
“They're living in hovels, and...” She turned to speak to an indentured servant pulling a cart filled with sugarcane. “How long is your workday?”
“Twelve hours, ma'am,” grumbled the stallion, glancing towards the nearest taskmaster.
“Right,” the Shimmer-mare said, sounding decidedly unhappy.
“It's about the least pleasant work you can find in Freeport,” this one admitted. “‘You don't want to end up working on a sugar plantation’ is a warning just about every parent says to their children to push them, to apply themselves to their education and learning a craft.” This one’s parents certainly had, and it had no intentions of being reduced to the point of having to be an indentured servant. “The only people that tend to get trapped in it are the poor and desperate. A room over your head and three good meals can sound pretty good to those that don't have it, whatever the working conditions are.”
This one could all but hear the Shimmer-mare’s teeth grinding. “I'll have to do something about this.”
“And what would that be?” this one asked, keeping its tone carefully neutral. In truth, this one had hoped that the Shimmer-mare would get a nice, long look at how the sugar plantations of Freeport operated. It was part of this one’s overall plans, after all.
There was a long moment of silent before the Shimmer-mare ground out a, “I'll figure it out later.”
That was one of the Shimmer-mare’s weaknesses: she knew she wanted to do things, but she didn’t know quite how to do them. A pity, but that was something this one intended to help her with. The first step of that plan was to educate her on the nature of Freeport. Something this one was well-versed on.
“It used to be even worse in the past, you know,” this one said. “Before the Council came to rule Freeport, slavery was legal here. The local warlords, plantation owners—whatever you wanted to call them—wanted cheap labor to make their sugar plantations cheap to operate. It was one of the main causes for Freeport becoming a pirate haven. Thanks to so many slaves dying from the tropical climate, disease, poor food, and harsh working conditions, Freeport needed a steady import of slaves to keep the plantations running.”
“Right, I read about this,” the Shimmer-mare said. “You used to have a bunch of pirate fleets coming out of Freeport, and they would seize and enslave the crew of every ship they could run down. They even started attacking seaside communities to enslave them.”
This one nodded. “Of course, the Council made slavery illegal soon after they came to power.” A grin found its way to this one’s face. “That caused the plantation owners, slavers, and pirates to rebel against the Council. The civil war was a near thing for the Council. If not for the alliance between the Council and the Doo and Striker Clans, as well as some aid from Equestria, the Council might have only been yet another group in a long line to rule Freeport over the centuries.”
“Equestria has always hated slavery,” the Shimmer-mare mused. “Still, indentured servitude isn’t much better than being a slave.”
This one shrugged. “True enough, but at least they aren’t legally owned by someone else anymore, and they aren’t as trapped within the system. Not to mention the Council has given indentured servants some rights, including requiring they be given sufficient food and a daily rum ration, and forbid the plantation owners from changing the terms of the contract at will.” The fact that the indentured servants had waged a short-lived rebellion over their magnates suddenly telling them they had to work additional years beyond what their contract had originally stated had probably played a hoof in that decision.
The Shimmer-mare shook her head. “It's still not good enough. Yeah, it’s a little better, but it’s still wrong.”
“Of course,” this one agreed as we drew closer to the manor. “The issue is what should be done. Don't forget, the plantation owners will fight for every inch if you try and change anything they don't approve of. They nearly went into open revolt when the Council started enforcing the terms of indenture contracts, and disallowed changes to them without both parties agreeing to them.”
The Shimmer-mare sighed and one her ears flicked irritably. “It's always complicated.”
“It usually is,” this one said. “That's why it's important to understand a problem before rushing in and trying to solve it.” This one pointed to some servants chopping down sugarcane with their machetes. “There are reasons why nations like Equestria haven't pushed Freeport too hard about changing its practices.”
“And not just because cheap labor makes for lower export prices?” The Shimmer-mare gave one of the taskmasters a particularly loathsome glare.
This one shook its head. “Not when Freeport supplies about eighty percent of Equestria's sugar. And this one is sure the Shimmer-mare knows how much of a sweet tooth Equestria has.”
“Yeah, even Celestia loves her cake,” the Shimmer-mare conceded.
“So you can imagine how upset everyone would become if sugar supplies were disrupted,” this one pointed out. “No one likes it when a good they’re used to buying affordably suddenly triples in price, or worse, becomes unavailable entirely.”
“Celestia would flip without her cake,” the Shimmer-mare agreed. “And I can't say I’d be happy about it either.”
This one couldn't help but grin, despite the seriousness of the lesson this one was giving to the Shimmer-mare. “Which would be most terrible. Best to make sure the being that controls the sun gets her daily offering of cake.”
“Exactly, but we have to do something about this,” she insisted.
“The trick is to do the right thing,” this one said in a soothing manner. “Action without forethought often results in disaster, and this is too important to get wrong.”
The Shimmer-mare made rolled her eyes. “If you start lecturing me about friendship next, I'm outta here.”
That statement piqued this one’s interest. “And what is the matter with friendship? This one rather likes it. Friendship helps keep life from becoming too dull.”
“Just that Celestia was always talking about it,” the Shimmer-mare grumbled like a child that was being told to eat her vegetables again. “She just kept going on and on about it for some reason.”
“Is that so?” This is the first this one had heard of this and it caught this one’s curiosity. At least thus far, she had talked little about the ponies she had known back in Canterlot and Equestria. Not even of family or friends. “Does the Shimmer-mare know why?”
“Nope.” She let out a huff and rolled her eyes. “Probably some lesson she was trying to teach me or something.”
“This one would think so if she placed such an emphasis on it.” Having friends was preferable to none in this one’s opinion. While some would argue some hogwash about how having friends dragged you down or that they only created vulnerabilities, this one suspected they had never been in a situation where they had been surrounded by enemies, down on their luck, and in desperate need of assistance. “This one will be your friend, Shimmer-mare.” This one gave her a smile.
The Shimmer-mare grinned back. “Works for me.”
“Great, so now we're friends.”
“Yeah. Yay us,” the Shimmer-mare said with sudden listlessness. She got a distant look in her eyes before she shook her head out. “C'mon, let's get on the job.”
“Very well, no sense dragging this out.” Deciding not to comment on her reaction to this one offering her its friendship for now, this one followed her up the stairs leading to the manor door.
The Shimmer-mare knocked on the door and it wasn’t long before a severe-looking zebra mare wearing a maid’s uniform opened the door. She gave us the type of look she probably reserved for those that walked from door to door trying to sell something. “Hello, can I help you two?”
The Shimmer-mare gave the servant her most confident smile. “Yes, I’m here to speak with the Sweetash family regarding the business they contacted me about.”
After a long moment of consideration, the servant opened up the door further to let us in. “Come on in and take a seat. I’ll find someone to speak with you.”
The Shimmer-mare nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
We walked into the manor and took our seats on a pair of cushions sitting in the foyer to wait while our bodyguards took positions on either side of us. The room was about what I expected for the manor of one of the richest families in Freeport: the whole room was decorated with expensive dark wood, marble, and had a considerable collection of paintings, vases, and other artworks to give the place an air of sophistication and importance.
Glancing about the room while we waited, the Shimmer-mare frowned. “I see they're living large off the fruits of others’ labor.”
This one shrugged. “That is usually how it is when you own a business. The Sweetash family has the capital in the form of the land, and the servants provide the labor. This one takes advantage of similar situations with the employees it hires.”
“Yeah, you own a business, but it looked like you actually worked for your money,” the Shimmer-mare countered.
“This one has put a great deal of effort into earning its place in the world, yes,” this one allowed. “But this one would hardly consider it a crime to inherit wealth, like the Sweetash family has. If this one had been less lucky, it could have ended up as desperate as the indentured servants outside.” Indeed, this one had been quite lucky to have a mother and father that had seen to its education and raising. While we had been far from wealthy, this one’s parents had managed to carve out a comfortable livelihood.
The Shimmer-mare puckered out her bottom lip as she considered that. “It's not luck. You made something of yourself. Hard work and natural talents.”
“There is certainly a great deal of truth to that.” This one scratched at the bottom of its chin. “This one didn’t get to where it is by being lazy. Though if this one had been a bit less lucky, it probably would have ended up dead.”
“I don't buy it.” She let out a snort. “You're too good to wind up dead.”
This one grinned, enjoying the little impromptu debate. “This one has seen smarter, faster, and stronger killed before it.”
The Shimmer-mare shook her head. “If they were better, they would've won.”
This one decided to see how the Shimmer-mare would react to a small prodding. “What if this one told you that most of the deaths this one is responsible for happened to individuals this one never even met?” In truth, not wanting to get this one’s hooves dirty, this one preferred to act through proxies and hired agents to complete the less savory assignments it came across. Without bragging, this one was quite good at using such methods to eliminate targets, and using others was considerably safer than doing such tasks yourself.
The Shimmer-mare quirked an eyebrow. “Oh really?”
This one nodded. “This one doesn’t like getting its hooves dirty—at least directly. So this one finds out the best way to get to someone. Everyone has their weaknesses, their blindsides, enemies, addictions, and those around them that they should not trust.”
Giving this one a confident smirk, she asked. “Even me?”
“When this one says everyone, it means everyone. It's just a matter of identifying those weaknesses and finding a way to exploit them. It's one of the top two things this one endeavors to learn about everyone it knows. Once you know someone’s weaknesses, you can hold power over them.”
The Shimmer-mare sat back against the wall as she mulled that over. “Now I'm curious to see what you think mine are.”
This one gave her a toothy grin. “Careful, looking into the mirror isn't always flattering.” This one had certainly seen more than one individual react poorly when it had pointed out their flaws, even when it had been for their own good. Especially those that were prideful like the Shimmer-mare. Still, if this one could at least point out a couple of flaws and make her consider them, some good might come out of this conversation.
The Shimmer-mare puffed out her chest. “I can handle it.”
“If you say so.” This one decided to start with an obvious and simple flaw the Shimmer-mare had. “You have a terrible temper.”
The Shimmer-mare narrowed her eyes at this one. “I don't know about terrible, but I guess I do have one.”
She had admitted to that readily enough, so this one moved to a dicier subject. “You also don't like facing facts that are unpleasant to you.”
The Shimmer-mare gave an unhappy grunt. “What's that supposed to mean?”
“Why did the Shimmer-mare come to Freeport?” This one asked. It was often easier to get someone to actually consider something they didn't like to think by framing an issue as a question rather than a blanket accusation. “Most ponies don't exile themselves from their home nation.”
“It was where the ship was going,” she said after the briefest moment of hesitation.
“Mhm, and why have you stayed in Freeport?” This one pressed.
“Well, no reason not to.” The Shimmer-mare didn't look this one in the eyes, and it could hear the lack of complete conviction as she spoke. “You're here, Kukri's here, I have a nice tower and a good job...”
“And you couldn't have had most of those things in Canterlot?” this one asked, already knowing the answer. “Or anywhere else in Equestria?”
The Shimmer-mare shuffled in her seat. “Celestia could give them to me, yeah.”
“Yet here you are.” This one gestured around the foyer in emphasis. “In a highly disreputable city, surrounded by scum and villainy, thinking about taking a job from a family whose employment practices you sorely disagree with.”
Her tone took on a defensive note. “The money's good enough to buy an aetheric monitor and a trans-phasic detector, with enough left over to stock up on alchemical reagents.”
This one nodded. “No doubt. But this one can't help but notice how the Shimmer-mare has just avoided two significant issues.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
This one spoke in a purely analytical tone to prevent its words sounding anything like an accusation. “The first is that you avoided the issue of where all that money you're going to get paid came from. Specifically, whose hard work went into making it. Something you complained about just a few minutes ago.”
The Shimmer-mare’s brows furrowed. “And the second?”
“Why you left Equestria and refuse to go back,” this one said.
“Why would I go back?” The Shimmer-mare crossed her forelegs over her chest. “Celestia can come to me. Plus I'm kinda banished now. Remember how the EIS tried to drag me away in chains?”
“And the White Pony would not end your banishment if you asked?” this one countered. “You were her personal student once, and she is a forgiving spirit.”
The Shimmer-mare did not answer this one’s question. Instead she looked away from this one and remained silent. While she did not tell this one why she had not returned to Equestria, this one knew the answer: pride. Pride was a dangerous sentiment to hold too closely to one’s heart. Place too much value on it, and it tended to do far more harm than good. One only had to look at the direction the Shimmer-mare’s life had gone to see that much.
This one had done some research on the Shimmer-mare after she had come to Freeport and it had learned some valuable information that revealed much about the mare it planned on using in the future. Such as the fact that thanks to her hurt pride and a moment where she had lost control of her temper, she had thrown away so much. Despite the White Pony’s attempts to cover up the incident, the fact that the Shimmer-mare had burned Princess Cadance with her pyromancy and had fled had made the rounds within Canterlot.
That had only left the question of why the Shimmer-mare had attacked the Love Pony. After spending some time with her and putting the train of events together, this one believes it had come to the truth of it.
The first thing this one always wanted to know about someone was their weaknesses. The second thing is what they desire. Once you knew those two things, it was simply a matter of gaining those things in order to have control over them. And what the Shimmer-mare desired was wings. To become an alicorn and gain all the power, prestige, and position that would come with that. She had grown accustomed to all three of those things as she grew up as the White Pony’s personal student and no doubt expected to gain more as she blossomed into a full-grown mare.
And then her pride had been hurt. The White Pony had found another alicorn, adopted her, and made her a princess. With a stroke she had given somepony else, a complete stranger to the Shimmer-mare, everything she had desired. That led to the train of events that had led her to Freeport, and right into this one’s influence. The fact that the Shimmer-mare refused to even admit why she hadn’t returned to Equestria only confirmed what this one heavily suspected. Which suited this one just fine.
“We all have our weaknesses, Shimmer-mare,” this one said, repeating itself. And our desires. In addition to becoming very good at finding people’s weaknesses and desires, this one had become quite capable of supplying those things when needed. After all, that gave this one power, and this one considered the key to happiness in life was power.
The Shimmer-mare made an annoyed grunt and refused to look at this one.
“Remember what this one said about looking into the mirror?” this one asked.
She waved dismissively. “Yeah, yeah...”
Before this one could reconcile with the Shimmer-mare, a different servant approached us. “Magnate Sweet Deal is ready to see you, Magus Sunset Shimmer.”
“Alright, great.” The Shimmer-mare stood up. “Take me to her.”
The servant bowed her head and led the way upstairs. We were ushered through a pair of double doors into a large office room and the servant closed the doors behind us. As was the case with the rest of the manor, the room had been decorated to impress. Artwork was spaced all about, a white carpet with intricate floral patterns covered the floor, and shelves of expensive woods covered by books and personal effects lined the walls. It was all clearly intended to show the guests they were meeting with an individual of wealth and importance.
On the far end of the room, a smiling earth pony of middle years stood by her desk. A white suit covered much of her light orange coat, and her yellow mane was done up in a bonnet. A half dozen servants dressed in maid uniforms or suits stood on each side of the room. Something about them caused the itching under this one’s carapace to redouble, though it could not state exactly why. Maybe it was the fact that there was little point in having so many household servants on staff, especially when we were going to be discussing delicate information. A quick glance back at the Doo bodyguards showed that they were unusually tense, their ears were pricked up and they glanced about at the servants with narrowed eyes. They traded a quick look to each other out of the corner of their eyes that spoke more than mere words and stepped closer to the Shimmer-mare.
Now thinking this one might be feeling more than mere paranoia, this one tried to speak a word of caution to the Shimmer-mare. But before this one could do so, she trotted towards the mare who must have been our business contact.
“Hey, nice place.” The Shimmer-mare extended a hoof. “Nice to meet you. Name’s Sunset Shimmer.”
The mare smiled and took her hoof. “Sweet Deal, and the pleasure is all mine.”
Then Sweet Deal’s smile became something unpleasant and she lunged at the Shimmer-mare’s throat with her teeth.
“What—?!” The Shimmer-mare took a step away from her attacker and her horn started glowing right as Sweet’s teeth clamped on her throat.
The room exploded into motion. As one, the servants around us charged. Protecting his charge, Precise Doo charged and slammed his shoulder into Sweet’s chest and forced her back. To this one’s relief, a sheet of ice covered the Shimmer-mare’s throat—she must have gotten off a spell just in time to protect herself. Driven by instinct and experience, this one moved to stand back to back with the Shimmer-mare, and to this one’s satisfaction, Stray Doo did the same while the Precise-stallion closed the circle.
One of the servants threw a punch at its head, but it weaved its head out of the way and in one motion, wrapped a leg up and around his leg to hold it in place and drove its other hoof right into his ribs. The air was blown out of the servant’s lungs, but there was little time to permanently deal with him as the other servants continued their charge. Twisting the leg this one had captured, it flipped the servant and threw him in the way of a pair his fellows. He collided with their legs and they fell into a disorganized heap.
The Shimmer-mare’s face contorted into a furious snarl. “Oh you nag!” Her horn glowed brighter and a fireball leapt forth and slammed into the mare that had attacked her. The Sweet-mare flew back from the force of the explosion and was thrown up and over her desk.
The Stray-stallion slashed out with one of his wingblades and caught one of the servants across the throat, resulting in the servant falling back as she clutched the ruined remains of her neck. Two more servants attempted to flank the Shimmer-mare, but the Precise-stallion warded them back with some warning blows from his hammerhooves.
“Oh, it is on!” the Shimmer-mare bellowed. Several shards of ice formed in front of her and she threw them at the servants menacing her. They each let out inequine screeches as they fell to the floor, pierced by the shards. The Shimmer-mare then hurled another fireball at the servants attempting to recover for another attack against me and the Stray-stallion. The fireball struck and exploded, sending them flying away and making this one instinctively flinch away from the heat.
For a moment, the room fell silent except for the pained moans of a pair of the servants. The desk, part of the carpet and one of the bookshelves had caught on fire, but the room was almost eerily quiet. This one looked about to take in the room and see if there were any more threats, though it seemed we had won the sudden and unexpected fight. It was then that this one caught a sight it hadn’t expected: gathering in a pool by one of the servants that had been struck by the ice shards was the blood of the servant.
Green blood.
Changeling ichor?
A quick look confirmed the same green blood on the other servants who had been cut. A growing sense of dread fell over this one as it considered all the possibilities for what that could mean, none of them good.
This one snapped its head to the Shimmer-mare. “We need to get out of here!”
Upon the declaration, the double doors to the room crashed open and a tide of changelings flooded into the room while screaming a collective “Skree!”
“Ya think?!” The Shimmer-mare gathered another fireball and leveled one of the wings of the changeling horde as it tried to circle around us. Changelings were thrown about by the force of the explosion and a hole was opened in the nearby wall, sending shards of burning debris scattering about the room.
Perfect. Now in addition to the seemingly dozens of attackers, the room was on fire.
And then before this one could even begin to answer all the questions it had for this ambush, the wave was upon us. This one caught the leg of the first changeling that struck out at this one. This one lashed out with its free hoof and stuck the changeling’s knee. The knee broke and this one shoved against it so that it fell against its fellows, doing something to stem the tide for at least a second. Shame all that happened was that our attackers climbed over their fellow changelings to continue their assault, and this one quickly found itself badly pushed.
The Precise-stallion was whirling his blades as quickly as he could as one opponent after another pressed against him. He was clearly skilled at his deadly craft, for a third and then fourth changeling fell before him and half a dozen others displayed wounds from what were no doubted enchanted wingblades, considering they were having little trouble at damaging chitin. Then one of the changelings threw itself at the mercenary, intentionally taking a nasty gash to the chest in order to tie up his wing.
Before the Precise-stallion could untie himself, three more changelings threw themselves at him in near reckless fashion. To his credit, the bodyguard slashed out with his free wing to remove the head of another changeling and used the changeling grappling with his wing to shield himself against the second. But the third one charged through his guard and clamped its fangs down on his throat.
The Precise-stallion let out a startled grunt as the weight of multiple attackers bore him to the ground.
A realization caused this one’s stomach to sink. Not only were we badly outnumbered, but the changelings attacking us were doing it with a single-minded ferocity, caring nothing for the casualties they suffered. Free Mind changelings didn't do that. Free Minds had every bit the sense of self-preservation as other sapient beings, and had the sense to use weapons and armor when they could. While Free Minds might not attack in this fashion, this one knew who would.
The Old Mind’s drones.
“Precise!” screamed the Stray-stallion as his companion fell. He had been busy keeping the changelings off of the Shimmer-mare while she froze a group of the drones’ legs to the ground, but the split-second distraction caused him to miss a drone that had been skittering along the ceiling. It pounced upon him and drove him to the ground. Before any of the rest us could react, more drones converged on the prone mercenary, burying him under a pile of bodies.
It was as the Stray-stallion was overwhelmed that the Shimmer-mare did just about the worst thing she could: she froze, staring down at the bodyguard who had been protecting her but a moment before. The Shimmer-mare’s attention had been occupied for all of a second, but that was all another changeling climbing along the ceiling needed. It fell upon her and bit down on the back of her neck. This one was too busy just staying alive, dodging attacks and trying to keep the swarm off of it to do anything to help her. There wasn’t even time to try and pull out any of the objects in its saddlebags that might help.
The Shimmer-mare screamed in pain and her horn took on a near blinding radiance. Then everything was on fire. The intensity of the flames was such that they hurt this one’s eyes even through its eyelids. A torrent of fire slammed into this one and the drones surrounding us and we were all thrown away from the Shimmer-mare. This one collided with one of the bookshelves, the impact sending a jolt of pain throughout its entire body.
This one’s senses were overwhelmed by the pain of the fire, light, and impact, to the point this one isn’t sure how much time passed. But eventually the heat dissipated and this one was able to slowly open its eyes. Anything flammable was either alight, or soon would be, and likely it wouldn't be long before the whole manor would find itself in the same condition. The ruined wrecks of a couple dozen changelings had been thrown up against the walls of the room. At the center of the display of fiery destruction was the Shimmer-mare panting and standing on shaky legs, whether out of pain or fatigue this one could only guess. If there was anything left of the changeling that had bit her, other than its shadow on the wall, this one didn’t see it.
Coughing as this one tried to get some air into its lungs after having the air knocked out of it—not an easy task with smoke starting to fill the room—this one slowly stood up on trembling legs. Every part of this one’s body ached in protest when it did so, and this one was surprised that it was still even alive. This one felt an intense burning on its chest and looked down to see the smoldering remains of the fire resistance talisman hanging on its necklace. It seemed that the talisman had indeed been a very good investment. It was likely the only reason this one was the only other thing left alive in the devastated room.
This one stumbled its way to the Shimmer-mare. Working hard to get through the fog in this one’s senses, it tried to take in its surroundings for threats. As this one reached the magus, it noticed movement just outside the doorway. At least four drones were starting to stand in the hallway, removing this one’s hope that the Shimmer-mare had killed all of them outright. “We need to go, now.”
The Shimmer-mare blinked her eyes, looking surprised this one had spoken to her. “Yeah, just let me tele ... por...” She staggered, and this one had to catch her from falling over.
“Sunset?” This one looked her in the eyes to try and grab her attention, but her eyes failed to focus on anything.
This one silently cursed. We didn’t have time for this one to figure out what was wrong with the Shimmer-mare and get her moving. The drones were now glaring balefully at the two of us, and seemed primed to continue their attack at any moment. It struck this one as a very bad idea to continue any kind of fight inside of a burning manor while trying to protect a half-conscious mare.
Seeing no other recourse, this one picked the Shimmer-mare up onto its back and activated its invisibility bracelet. The two of us now invisible, this one fled through the hole in the wall the Shimmer-mare had created during the fighting.
This one ran as fast as it could to flee the manor, though it knew there was nowhere to run on the island we were now trapped on.
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Yay! new freeport story! This just made my day
...Well that all went to hell in a damn hurry...
Fascinating look into Puzzle Piece's mind, he's been one of the more mysterious recurring characters in the Freeport corner of this fanfic 'verse. Yeah, that cover picture wasn't foreboding, not at all. I like Sunset's POV in other fics, but its nice to have another, more experienced character analyze her. She still has plenty of flaws, and is still somewhat in over her head in Freeport and refusing to admit it a lot (and Kukri has too much hero worship). And now things just got worse. Ooh, hope there are more updates soon.
You'd think by this point all the Free Minds would get together, pool their resources, and hire a couple hundred mercenaries to slaughter as many Old Mind Drones as they can.
Whoa, Sunset nearly nuked the whole damn manor. I think it's safe to say they've entered "aggressive negotiations" territory.
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You're telling me. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Perhaps, if Sunset survives, she'll consider hiring four or five mercenaries next time. Assuming her escort survives, since they looked pretty outmatched. The Doos might not be so willing to hire anyone out to her again.
Sunset really needs to be less dependent on fire and/or ice magic. Not only is it flashy, destructive, and expensive in energy, but it's excessive use presents a threat to one's employees and reputation. A little blinding light might have helped a lot and stabbing them all with bits of ice would have probably been more effective. Heck, a little black magic might have helped too. Mind control spells might have worked well here. After all the 'Old Mind' is probably not nearby and wouldn't expected competition for control of it's servants either.
Of course, she could also use considerable tact and much more situational awareness.
6920369 Would a few hundred mercenaries be enough? The Old Mind's probably got tons of backup hives and drones cached all over the world. So long as even ONE remains intact, it can eventually rebuild. Killing Chrysalis apparently doesn't do much, since she's just the 'face' of the Mind or whatever...
6920828 I don't mean kill Chrysalis, that'd probably take several major nations directly working together to accomplish, at best. Just thin out her horde so she can't pull stuff like killing Free Minds. Given how the mercenaries Sunset hired could take out several changelings when the changelings were ambushing THEM, a few hundred mercenaries could probably take out a few tens of thousands of changelings if they're properly prepared, making Chrysalis focus on defense instead of killing off Free Minds.
Man, this was so intense. I'm really looking forward to how this goes. I love how we got a few little glimpses into Puzzle's past with the potions.
Mein fuhrer sent me.
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Why waste time with a perfectly good ambush?
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The good news is that I've written the entire story. It's just a matter of getting it through the editing process before posting. Something I don't plan on taking too long. I hope to have the entire story posted by the end of the month.
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There have been a number of "changeling hunts" in the past, the issue is making it stick. Chrysalis has gone underground (both literally and figuratively) when the heat became too much. There have been periods where there have been proactive measures taken to both try to cull back the swarm or even kill it off, especially after the Chrysalis has just had a period of ascent. But as with all things, when the threat seems to go away and other things take on greater importance...
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Thanks for catching those issues, I'll fix them right up.
"its parents use for their investigations"
"used"?
"becoming very good at find people’s weaknesses"
"finding"?
"She staggered and this one had"
"staggered, and"?
Well now. The description and chapter titles rather spoiled that things would go wrong (not that that wasn't probably from what we'd learned in the story already), and the cover spoiled the species. The details, though, were a surprise; right up until the servants in the office, I was expecting the Sweetash family's rivals to be the changelings. And now, of course, there's the question of how are heroes are going to get out of the trouble they're in. :)
Needless to say, upvoting and favouriting.
That was one of the issues with the bold methods of an individual like the Shimmer-mare: it was fast becoming common knowledge in Freeport that she was a pyromancer. It was only a matter of time before she started running into enemies that had counters for the spells she favored. That was yet another thing to cover with the Shimmer-mare when there was time, this one supposed.
The Shimmer-mare made rolled her eyes. “If you start lecturing me about friendship next, I'm outta here.”
That's a little awkward.
Great chapter!
So, is it just magic exhaustion and shock, or did the changeling inject Sunset with some kind of venom? For that matter, why are drones trying to kill Sunset, anyway? Chrysalis' little operation could have just kept their heads down and Sunset would likely never have even noticed them
Puzzle and Sunset both want to make Freeport a more "respectable" nation. That's good, but I think Puzzle's more ... pragmatic approach and desire to maintain power over others may be an issue between them down the line
Curse you, Ponibus!
I was just celebrating that I was running out of well-written fictions, and I could finally get back to all the things that I was actually supposed to be doing, and then you had to go and post another one!
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My theory is that the Old Mind hired Shimmer in a way that raised suspicions, knowing that she'd go to Puzzle. I think it's a bit of a reversal, where Puzzle's pride is knowing people's desires and working around them, and then the O.M. figures out he's invested in Shimmer and has (and will) travel with her on a job if she asks.
OUTSTANDING!
Huh. I've grown sugarcane before, and I'm pretty sure that they don't drip when harvested.
They're actually pretty resistant to drying out; you'd lose maybe a single node at most from the cut point.
Beetles and grubs, on the other hand, are a much bigger problem. Those suckers love burrowing into exposed cane.
On another note, Puzzle Piece is a pretty interesting chap. I'll be keeping an eye on this one.
6925594 Hmmm ... So you think it's actually a ploy by Chrysalis to get at Puzzle, and Sunset is just a means to an end (and a loose end that needs to be tied up)? Definitely seems possible if Puzzle has messed with the Old Mind's plans in the past ...
Guess we'll have to wait and see
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Thanks for catching those. Fixed those mistakes right up.
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At least according to my research, sugarcane gradually loses its sugar after it's cut, though it's perfectly possible that I might be wrong on that point. Maybe it's specifically the dripping thing I'm wrong about...
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You're welcome.
Since we're pointing out small errors: "That statement peaked this one’s interest" peaked should be piqued
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Thanks for catching that. Alas for the homophones that plague our life.
Why are You making this? Isn't it supposed to be Chengar Qordath?
Well.
That went south rather quickly.
The most odd thing is why target Sunset, as - while she certanly has made a fair number of enemies - Changelings are not among them. Though I suppose it could be simply a way to set up a trap for Puzzle .
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For one, I wanted to make this story. Second, I've been working pretty closely with Chengar Qordath for the making of the Venture series.
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The reasons for why events happened as they did will be explained in more detail next chapter.
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6949132 I'm really glad your making this. I love the Freeport universe and welcome any world building.
So are you taking over the series from Chengar or is this a one time thing your doing with him? I ask because he has not uploaded a new freeport story since october while you are writing a new one.
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I'm not taking over the Freeport series, I'm just adding my own story to it. I might write others, depending on how things work out. Chengar just has a few other long running stories he's working on, so he hasn't started up another big, long story for Venture. Though he could write a shorter one at any time.
6988448 Thank you for getting back to me especially so soon. Thank you also for letting me know about Chengar and that you may do more in the series either way I am looking forward to more in freeport.
Its still weird to see Changeling pulling a mass effect alien speech patter... I suppose it makes a certain kind of sense, but still weird.
Looking forward to more, but... its not that I dislike the concept here, and Freeport is interesting, but I'm still unsure of a few things.
1. Useful as they are, wouldn't changelings still find trouble being what they are even as free minds? Having other sapients being food for them is bad enough, but their connection to Chrysalis also makes them suspect.
2. It still seems odd to me that Shadow let the clans go. Personal feelings or no, the fact remains they were traitors, and that's it. It does speak well of her, I think, but still seems odd.
3. How long is that putz Sunset plan to continue this nonsense?
4. Good to see Kukri back. No doubt not on speaking terms with her sister since that cluster schtup.
5. I'm also surprised that Knife doesn't give Sunset a free bee on being her muscle... wait, is Kukri's mother still alive? I seem to remember she being tied up at one point...
Welp... chapter two...
Ahh... a wonderfully researched piece of writing. Sugar cane, nasty stuff. The reason they'd often have slaves do was because no one else would and you literally had to put the whip to someone to get them on it. I should also commend you on expanding on the economic aspect of it. Little surprised Equestria hasn't tried growing it yet...
... Their slave owners, or were, and are currently using forced labor to get fat. What black sheep? And shouldn't that be considered an ethnic slur?
Good grief... first Chengar with that Equal story, now this... what is with you guys and putting zebras as house servants? Trying to send a message or something?
And... the whole thing just went south. There goes your frequent merc miles Sunset,, the Doo's probably don't like their own returned to the black bagged. Go with a Striker next time, they tend to not give a shit when one their bites it. Or a freelancer.. Let me guess... Infiltrator right? Smart enough to set up shop in a place where no one would look twice at injuries or fatigue, to dumb not to actually call in take out when theres a buffet downstairs? Or cruising the docks and picking up a sailor? Chrysalis is not what one would call a standard fella's
I approve of Puzzle's magical equipment approach to adventuring.
You know, given the contents of that safe, I'm a bit curious about what happens to a inserted horn if the magical signature isn't recognized.
Prior proper planning prevents
piss poor performancebeing set on fire.So, a charm necklace with actual magical charms. Now that's a fun idea.
Slightly unrelated to the chapter but the Doo bodyguards made me think about it, I really like the ties that Sunset continues to build with the Freeport Doos. Given the ties with Equestria she has that are unlikely to really ever go away, it kind of feels like she is helping to finally repair the 900 year old rift.
Yeah, I'm right there with you on that one, Sunset.
Aid from Equestria? That's especially interesting given the timing of events involved.
Yeah, that would be a problem.
Oh Sunset. You're not going to like this conversation.
In a heartbeat, most likely.
It's a bit of an extra twist of the knife regarding Sunset's wing envy that running away from being Celestia student directly removed her from that path that eventually results in some Friendship Wings for Twilight.
Wow, that went downhill fast. Good thing for those bodyguards, otherwise this would be two versus many as opposed to the current four versus many.
Oooo, a Chrysalis model changeling swarm. That's a problem.
Good thing for that fire resistance charm. Poor bodyguards, though. If they weren't already dead, they certainly are now.
... how much on fire does this one desire to be?
Nope, sounds about right.
Oh, I'm pretty sure someone's getting eliminated on this job.
depending *on the services.
They're not being paid to talk.
Sad but true.
This sounds more like "Corrupt Sunset Shimmer."
It's cool. Just tell Pinkie that all her baking supplies are about to be disrupted, and you'll have a whole new set of sugar magnates before the next sunrise.
This needs a Scott Pilgrim level up box. Sunset learned the power of friendship!
Oh, if only Starlight was there to throw that in Sunny's face.
And it was all her fault.
Ok, this is weird, Celestia knows about the power and magic of friendship and is "trying" and failing miserably at teaching her students about it. How hard is that? Most people will at least pick up a casual group of friends without even consciously trying. That's just normal behavior for intelligent social animals. Yet both of Celestias personal students grew up to be antisocial individuals that actively avoided getting close and friendly with other people. They even shoved away any people apart from Celestia that tried to become their friends. How did she manage to mess up both Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle to the point were both of them reached adulthood without having made a single friend? Great teacher of the magic of friendship there. I mean when Twilight was eventually sent away from Celestia, she managed to make 5 new friends in a single day! Something she utterly failed to do during two decades of gettimg lectured by Celestia about the importance of making friends.
So no offense, but Celestia has to be the worst friendship coach in the history of everything. Just occasionally dumping her students in a normal school would have yielded much better results.
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Or at least not putting it on blast to all of Canterlot that they were her students, who she would do just about anything for as long as they asked. She should've kept it on the down low, so that the kids who are only like 6 don't have to deal with only sycophants sent by their parents to suck up to her and get her to ask Celestia for favors by proxy.
Ok, it’s probably safe enough in the house, but I really wouldn’t want to go throwing fire around on a sugar plantation. I mean, not unless I wanted the whole place to blow sky high, then burn to the ground.
Which, considering how this chapter ends, just might be the best plan for Sunset and Puzzle.