Dire Vale: Say Goodbye

by SymphonicSync

Summons

"What do you mea-" Flurry's question was cut short by the sound of armored hooves striking cobblestone at the mouth of the alley. Blast it, she'd hoped it would take longer for them to find their way to-

Her head whipped to the side as soon as she heard a helmet clatter across the ground. She saw one of her escorts there, but for the first time in her life a part of the pony beneath was visible to her. His scraggly orange mane fell over his bearded face and for a brief second she expected to see spectacles resting over the pale bridge of his nose. He had worn them, long before this day. Before that day, the day the Empire burned...

"Your Hi-" the guard coughed out before their voice fell into a raspy fit. They took several more broad strides towards her before looking up again. "You're here to investigate the altercation at the residential block, not thrust yourself into danger, Miss Heart." The stallion glanced towards the Pegasus at her feet, and she saw a look of recognition cross his face. His face.

"It's you," she stammered, "you were with the Warden."

Her ears flicked up in response to an eerily thin voice speaking just over her shoulder. "Listen to him, assessor. Leave this behind for now, the answers you seek will come in time..."

She brushed off the windigo's words and shouted at the elite, "Years! Years of nothing from you, no emotion, no remorse, and now you speak! For this," she thrust a hoof towards the pony slouched against the wall, "you call this danger? How is this any worst than any 'inquiry' I've carried out in the last month alone?!"

The guard cantered forward, pausing to pick up their helmet, and explained, "The danger here is not physical, Miss Heart. There are many forces in play here, and you are currently brushing against many of them." He tucked his helmet under the crook of his shoulder and approached her, his voice adopting a cautioning tone. "There is still time for you to walk away befor-"

A slight breeze followed the sound of wing flaps above the three ponies. It served as the only warning before a spear descended from above and drove itself through the visor of the guard's faceplate. The force wrestled it from his grasp and pinned it to a gap between the cobblestone. Flurry's horn ignited as she turned her eyes skyward. A pegasus, clad in a solid black uniform, balanced on the railing of a balcony hanging out from the building across from her. Beyond them circled more of their kind flying down to land on the rooftops.

Flurry's mind cycled through her repertoire of spells and in a moment settled on a firestorm to engulf the air above. The collateral damage would be devastating to the timber architecture but would allow her the chance to slip away.

"It being 'less of an eyesore as a smoldering husk' is not an adequate justification, Flurry." The windigo spoke out against her plan.

"Shut up!" She yelped audibly as the magic surged through her and consolidated into a swirling lick of flame that hovered in front of the balcony.

Flurry heard an infernal whisper to her right just prior to a violent emerald cloud swallowed her spell and evaporated both tufts of magic. Flurry turned to the elite as another pang of betrayal coursed through her gut. He simply looked down at the pegasus on the alley floor and nodded upwards.

The winged stallion hastily rose to his hooves and shouted into the air, "Stand down!"

"Know your place," responded a raspy female voice from the balcony. A small gap in the fabric under her wing revealed teal feathers to the unicorns. Through the corner of her eye, Flurry noticed the pegasus by her fight the urge to lift his wing into a salute.

She couldn't tell if stopping the motion was due to his pain or discretion.

"Do you know what the cost of this will be," the assessor called out, "who it is that you are threatening?"

The mare scoffed, "Do you?"

Flurry Heart had heard that scoff before...

A tile slid of the edge of the building and shattered against the brick they stood on as several of the mare's compatriots landed.

Flurry slammed her hoof down and barked "By order of the crown, I bid thee-!"

A pegasus dropped beside her and interjected with a laugh, "We're not here as Sombra's subjects, princess-"

The grunt's chuckle was cut short as Flurry stumbled to the side and cast a blade of honed mana at the figure. Before it had traveled an inch, a green wisp traveled the edge and dissipated it. The assessor whipped around to face the guard and snarled, "Cease your sabotage and protect me!"

The stallion looked down at her and muttered "I am." His fetlock wrapped about the shaft of the spear that skewered his helmet and, with a flick, snapped it in half. The unicorn cast the piece of scrap wood aside as he retrieved his helmet and rolled it into the crook of his leg, carrying it there as he hobbled forward.

A metallic ring travelled down the alleyway to match the arrival of four more elites cantering in unison. Their movement was mechanical, hollow, as expected from years of studying them. Her escort's armored hoof lightly hung off Flurry's withers as he stepped between her and the second pegasus on the ground. A deep, haunted voice boomed out through his mask, "This is an affront to our treaty; She is not yet ready."

Past his shoulder, she saw a cloaked head peering over the wall she had jumped earlier. No sooner than she'd seen it, it ducked back down in a blur of pink shades.

The mare on the balcony answered, "How long did you expect it to last? The empire is still cracking, puppet, she must be made ready."

"Ready for what, Commander?" Flurry Heart spat out. The memory had come to her; this was the council's appointed leader of the military wing after the disappearance of Mi Amore Cadenza.

"To complete your mother's will, Assessor." The mare almost chuckled at the final word as she glared at Flurry's escort.

The guard's voice filled the alley once more, "The assessor's actions are to be her decision, not yours!" The other elites flanked her in a star pattern, surrounding her in a defensive position.

"Then let it be mine, for once!" Flurry shrieked, the outburst surprising even her. Everypony around turned to face her. She felt their gaze burrowing into her mind as they awaited whatever she would say next. In the distance, the windigo sat perched on a tower. The sight of the spirit was yet to be decided as a taunt or a comfort. Flurry's eyes darted between her escort and the commander. "Why did learning of my parents make the Grand Sorceress... go away?" Flurry found the plea escaping her mouth, revealing desires she had long since thought suppressed. "Who... who is my mother?"

A silence hung in the air of the alley.

It was joined by a spur of green light.

She could feel no magic from the elites around her. The source was distant, back towards the center of the empire. Flurry did not need to run any further tracking spells to identify the caster. The glare crackled like a lightning bolt as is split apart and traced a symbol in the air. It slowly formed the sigil of the throne.

It would not take a wizard to determine who the king was beckoning.

"Go, Heart," bid her escort, "I can resolve the situation here..." The stallion paused mid breathe as he lifted his helmet and slid it back down over his head. His next words were hollow, be it from the vocal enchantments or distain she could not readily tell, "He is not to be ignored."

She surveyed the scene once more, her questions unanswered and multiplying. The frustrations she carried swelled. As they rose, the sigil grew brighter and drifted towards her.

An unsteady hoof rose to meet it. The emerald shimmer enveloped her and faded.

Flurry Heart plummeted into an abyss.