The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Storms And Stormhoofs

Hundreds of miles to the east, as the sun set on Stormhoof Keep and Felicity listened on and on to Starlight and her friends' story, another group of equines held court in a very different tower. An unbroken window ringed the penthouse, small enough for a single room, its roof supported by a column in the middle instead. Dusty brown rock formed the carved trim and ornaments, but the structure was too modern to rely on stone for its core, built by a goddess who knew how to stockpile architectural knowledge for her own palace.

High Prince Gazelle paced in circles around the window, his tail flicking eagerly. Beyond were the expanses of Grandbell: normally shrubland torn by winds from the east, an infinite wall of rock stood to the south so high he had to press his nose to the glass to see the top. But a series of mighty aqueducts had been built into and out of the Aldenfold cliff face, capturing mountain runoff before it could disperse like mist and tracing it in a quatrefoil around the countryside. Several of the pattern's petals were inlaid with farmland, groves of crops and irrigated trees to feed a mighty city, but the ring furthest from the mountain served as the border to a titanic pit, nearly a mile wide. The city itself was built into the walls of this pit, level upon level carved straight into stone, with ramparts like the one that supported his current tower built up into the aqueduct around the side.

The window glass stood firm against the province's winds, barely admitting a whisper, and far below the city took shelter in its cylindrical walls. From one angle, the prince could see into the waterway itself, an edifice half-wall, half-brace supporting the canal as it flowed around the city. He stopped to stare at the waters for a while, manalight reflecting off his back.

Suddenly, there was a tap of hooves, and on command the window hissed, smoothly sliding in a ring down into its foundations and exposing the entire room to the night breeze. Gazelle's mane lifted, but it wasn't strong enough to make him lose his balance or stumble.

"Much better," Meltdown said from behind him, the fan engines on her new, post-Goldoa suit idling appreciatively with the wind.

"Having time to think it over?" Gazelle impatiently purred, not looking back.

"I have, and I'm failing to see what having the Ironridge envoy testify that Izvaldi had an illegal power reactor will accomplish," Meltdown snorted. "We already know they did. It's what baited you-know-who out there in the first place."

A sarcastic huff sounded from further behind, the room's third occupant sitting in a chair with their back to the wind.

"Easy does it, my friend." Gazelle held up a wing, feathers ruffling in the breeze. "Manufacturing a power crisis is difficult enough as it is. We'd have to be fools to throw away an opportunity to have someone else claim sarosians in Izvaldi damaged the power grid. We'd have to push rates on everyone to keep Stormhoof from getting suspicious, of course, but they'll have the sarosians to blame and so will Everlaste and both of them will just eat that right up. Though Lord Gyre won't be pleased..."

"And this is necessary?" Meltdown raised an eyebrow, the air behind her shimmering slightly from heat exhaust. "You don't think Stormhoof is vulnerable enough to sarosians already? I thought you lead Admiral Valey on enough of an escapade months ago to demonstrate that they're wide open."

Gazelle rumbled. "Yes, yes, that's perfectly true. But at the time I may have slightly underestimated her competence, and the bigger a tizzy everyone's in, the more we'll be able to capitalize on the drama. I'd say when our news about Yakyakistan and this rocket of theirs breaks, we'll have a solid week where tensions are at their highest..."

Meltdown stepped closer. "What will you do if this does turn out to be a threat? Last we've heard, the merchants you had Stormhoof rob never made it back to Varsidel, so the Everlaste troops in Wilderwind are mostly there as a preventative measure. But suppose they suddenly did make it home and we earned enough of Varsidel's ire that they came to attack? They have their own war, but are so much more built-up than one militaristic province that even a sliver of their forces would be something we'd have to try to repel. Especially since Garsheeva won't be fighting any time soon."

"I'm tiny, not helpless," an irate voice growled from the chair. "Don't make me school both of you in a fight to prove it."

Meltdown swallowed and nodded. "Regardless. If Yakyakistan was a threat, and they and Varsidel came to call at the same time, the Empire would be in trouble. Everlaste might have the resources to occupy many provinces at once, but they can't fight a war on two fronts."

"Yes, and Stormhoof's currently sitting on a flying boatload of heroes who stopped Yakyakistan once before." Gazelle tried in vain to fix his mane with a paw. "I'm sure we could work something out if push came to shove."

Meltdown frowned. "The records of their testimony indicate only four Yakyakistani nationals played a role in the conflict, Valey herself excluded, and three of them were on her side. Furthermore, they had access to a Tree of Harmony-"

"Funny story. So do I." The sphinx in the chair yawned, stretching and showing her paws. "You could always get on finding a way to get that filly to pay mine a visit..."

"Yes, so we potentially have the same resource." Meltdown sighed. "The point is, they fought one rogue ambassador and a commander who fought for the strongest side. If this rocket strike could be a herald of a full-scale invasion, that's different. What I want to know is if it's really the best idea to cripple the entire Empire by lying about the state of the power grid and starving them of power when we could need to be at our strongest, just to raise tensions in Stormhoof when they're already high enough. What's stopping you from getting Felicity fired right now, setting everything off and at least trying to give us a day or two to understand the new order before a potential invasion?"

"The rule of drama, my dear Meltdown." Gazelle stretched, arching his back and fluttering his wings before turning around, eyes shining against the night backdrop. "We just need a suitable actor to depose her. Doing it ourselves would make it look like it's our fault Stormhoof's security is so laughable. And I have an idea or two, but since Geribaldi is being a coward and not playing the game, plan A is presently out. No taking her down with Stormhoof himself... We may just have to wait for something better to fall into our clutches."

The chair turned too, revealing a sphinx with eyes more luminous than Gazelle's, faint burn marks on her fur and a blue set of triangular runes for a cutie mark. "Waiting won't get you what you want," Garsheeva said. "Felicity has prayed to me about her conflict. She's considered abandoning me and your quest with her sisters and going to join the team from Ironridge, and this will play out. If you need whoever ousts her to be a scapegoat and she leaves of her own accord, that's going to bring the Ironridge team into a negative spotlight as well. They will not react well to this, and if you count them among your enemies, you will fail. You cannot comprehend what kind of power they have that you'd be dealing with."

Meltdown opened her mouth to speak, and Garsheeva immediately silenced her with, "Neither of you."

"A strongly-worded rebuke." Gazelle bowed his head and folded his ears. "We shall heed. In that case, time to try my luck with Baldy again, and barring him, my other idea..."

Meltdown sighed. "I'm returning to Stormhoof as well. I need to hear as close to firsthoof as possible whether this Yakyakistan story is an excuse for Everlaste to occupy the shoreline provinces or constitutes real danger. We can't overlook something as dangerous as a double invasion."

"Fine. Suit yourselves." Garsheeva turned her back on them again. "And if you see the dragon, tell her to get in touch. She's been dead on the network for days."

Comments

[Sharp Quill]

Felicity has prayed to me about her conflict

Is Garsheeva the Night Mother? I only remember the latter being a sphinx. It would explain her being quite well-informed about Starlight and the others..

[Hap]

Dragon?

[Oberth Effect]

9675441

Probably will be answered later, but maybe the dragon armor from Mistvale?

[Alchemik]

Felicity has prayed to me about her conflict.

Oh ho! Confirmation! Very nice. Illustrates the general state of power dynamics in the Empire nicely, too. Perhaps this is where Gazelle gets it.

Very curious about that dragon too, and Glimmer also fits into their plans somehow. Hmmm.

[Venlinelle]

Valar, this is as bad as the Celestia/Garsheeva chapter. My head hurts.

[sploopy slooder]

glad to see that at least SOMEONE thinks fucking with the squad is a bad idea.