The Ties that Bind

by the7Saviors

A Half Made Plan Undone

Captain Iron Heart sighed tiredly.

Ever since the second—technically third—confirmed murder in Canterlot, she hadn't had even a semi decent night's sleep in what felt like ages.

The Princess had been running her and her subordinates ragged trying to find the culprit. They had no leads to go on at this point, and still weren't even sure whether or not it was the same criminal who murdered those poor foal's parents.

Speaking of the orphaned foals, they had yet to find them either. It was all but confirmed that they had disappeared, either through foalnapping or other means, and they were nowhere to be found within the city.

Eventually, with the trail in danger of going cold and both Inspector Bottom Line and the Princess at their wit's end, it was decided that the Royal Guard was to spread out and search across Equestria.

Now this bothered Iron Heart for a few reasons.

One of the big reasons was that a lot of the Guard had already been dead on their hooves from all the extra patrols and trying to keep the increasingly rowdy citizens in line.

Another big reason was that, while there were enough Guards to spare for a search outside the city, it was only just enough. The Guard was stretched to the limit and if Iron Heart was being completely honest, she was beginning to question Celestia's methods... as well as her sanity.

She hadn't seemed like herself lately, and at first, the pegasus Captain had chalked it up to stress regarding the killer and her citizens. To an extent, she still believed that... but there was something else that was bothering her about the Princess.

Iron Heart had been in the military for nigh on thirty-five years, and had been a captain for five of those years. In that time, she had been in close proximity to the Princess for quite some time.

While it wasn't her place to make mention of what went on within the walls of the castle and, more specifically, the throne room, that didn't stop her from making her own silent observations.

And over the years, Captain Iron Heart had observed a lot.

On the surface, Celestia seemed every bit the kind, compassionate princess she appeared to be. Recently however, Iron Heart had begun to see a different side of her.

Princess Celestia tried to hide it, and to anypony that wasn't Iron Heart, it would've seemed as though nothing was out of the ordinary regarding the Princess' demeanor.

The problem was that Iron Heart had noticed something different. The Princess went about her duties as she normally did, but Iron Heart began to notice that there was a certain anxiousness to her actions and a hardness in her eyes that hadn't been there before.

She seemed more on edge and whenever she would speak to any of her staff, her tone was slightly more clipped. There had also been times where Iron Heart would lose track of the Princess entirely, as if she had completely disappeared, only to return a few hours later as though nothing had been amiss.

These oddities, among other things, gave Iron Heart pause, and made her wonder just what was going on with Celestia, and whether or not it had anything to do with the growing unrest in Canterlot.

In any case, she had order the Captain and her subordinates to search for the killer outside Equestria, but she had also put a strange emphasis on locating the filly whose parents were murdered, as well as the student that had disappeared over a year ago.

In all honesty, Iron Heart had completely forgotten about Sunset Shimmer with how little she had been spoken about in the castle since she vanished.

It was because of these orders that the slate grey pegasus Captain had set up a blockade, having some of her unit search the forest for any sign of the killer or the fillies while the rest maintained the wards, detection spells, and barriers around the forest.

There were other regiments set up elsewhere, but upon traversing this part of Equestria, Iron Heart had gotten a gut feeling Farhoof Forest held something important, and so she remained.

With another soft sigh and a shake of her white and gold streaked mane, Iron Heart ruffled her wings and glanced over to the other two Guards standing near the unicorn Guard maintaining the magic circle that was the main anchor for the massive barrier that wrapped around the outer edge of the forest.

They stood still as stone, watching for any sort of sudden change in their situation. She allowed herself a small, proud smile at having personally trained her soldiers as well as she had.

That smile dropped into a hardened frown when she spotted sudden movement through the trees.

---

Fell Wind and Ancient Scroll had made their way down the path the dark green pegasus mare had discovered and where almost near the end when Fell Wind suddenly spoke up.

"Wait... hang on, old timer," she whispered, stopping in her tracks and scanning the area with a frown, "something ain't right."

"What do you mean?" Ancient Scroll whispered back.

"I don't know," Fell Wind replied before crouching low and moving forward at a more cautious and quiet pace, "wait here a minute..."

Ancient Scroll frowned and nodded once, quietly making his way over and into the underbrush. Fell Wind watched for a moment as the old stallion's horn flashed and he quickly faded into the scenery, almost completely hidden from view.

"Nice," the mare whispered with an impressed raise of her brow, "way to think ahead."

Ancient Scroll made no response and the mare shook her head in amusement before frowning and returning her attention to her surroundings once more.

Fell Wind stepped off the open path and continued forward through the trees, annoyed that her dark green coat—which would have been perfect cover in any other forest—made her stick out like a sore hoof with all the white birch wood surrounding her.

She could only hope that the close proximity of the trees to each other would keep her at least somewhat hidden. She hadn't heard or seen anything in particular, but she felt as though something wasn't right.

As she continued to move silently, she wracked her brain, trying to find out what it was she was missing. She glanced left and right, her eyes darting one way, then another, not finding anything of note.

Then she froze.

There was something—or somepony watching her. She had felt this sensation before, and knew exactly what it meant. A unicorn somewhere was using magic in an attempt to scry her location.

The spellwork was somewhat sloppy, allowing the 'stalker effect' to bleed through and let Fell Wind sense the caster's intent to observe. Nevertheless, the clumsy attempt had been enough to get the job done.

They had found her.

"Oh, buck me!" the mare hissed, through clenched teeth, "bucking unicorns and their bucking magic! Buncha bucking cheaters, the lot of 'em! Seriously, where the buck were they hiding this whole—"

Fell Wind, there's somepony trying to scry the nearby area, you need to get out of there!

Fell Wind frowned at the sudden voice of Ancient Scroll inside her head. She was no stranger to Telepathic communication, but it was something that had always irked her—especially when it was done without warning.

Still, this was an emergency, and it was better than Ancient Scroll exposing himself. She spread her wings and shot off into the trees, keeping her altitude low as she responded.

Yeah, I already felt it. They already know where I am, the cheaters. What about you?

There was a moment of silence before Ancient Scroll 'spoke' once more.

Still hidden, I was able to counteract the Scrying spell just as it hit. Thankfully the range wasn't that long, so the others should stll be safe...

Another pause.

...I hate to ask this, Fell Wind, but I need a favor—

What you need is a distraction, right? Fell Wind interjected as she weaved in and out of the trees, I'm already on it, old timer. Just get back to the caravan and make sure everyone's alright. I'll try to lead whoever's out there away.

After a moment, Ancient Scroll replied, his tone slightly hesitant.

I... alright... thanks Fell Wind. I owe you one.

Damn right you do, now get out of here and get back to the kids before they do.

Right, stay safe out there, Fell Wind.

Rather than reply, Fell Wind chuckled and shook her head before shooting into the air and above the trees with a heavy beat of her wings.

She came to a stop a few dozen hoof-length in the air and scanned the forest below. The dark green mare smirked before taking a deep breath.

"THE ROYAL GUARD SUCKS, AND ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE CAN BITE MY FURRY FLANK!"

Then she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

A sudden rustling somewhere below and behind her made Fell WInd's ear twitch and she smiled in satisfaction. She turned just in time to see three pegasi Guards fly out of the trees and make a beeline towards her, their faces grim and determined.

Fell Wind gave them a toothy grin and a mock salute before speeding off in the other direction. She looked back to see them following right behind her and chuckled before facing forward once again.

"Brains the size of walnuts, these guys..."

---

Ancient Scroll cut off his Telepathic spell and dropped the glamour he had been using to hide. With a grimace he lit up his horn and vanished in a flash of bright green light.

An instant later he was back on the platform of the Vardo and already making his way towards the sitting room.

"Yoji, we've got a problem!" he called out, pushing the door open, "is Rouge back... yet?"

He trailed off and slowed to a stop as he looked around the room and only found the Abyssinian present. Rouge, who had been sitting on the couch nursing a cup of cider, placed it on the table and stood up.

"I'm back, Scroll, and Yojimbo isn't here at the moment," Rouge explained, brushing off the front of her dark blue tunic before giving the old stallion a troubled frown, "Sunset and Trixie are in their room... but Fia... Twilight, she..." she looked away, her frown turning somewhat guilty, "we... may have a problem of our own, old one."

Ancient Scroll's own frown deepened and he took a step forward.

"Rouge... what happened to Twilight?"

Rouge took a deep, shaky breath and returned Ancient Scroll's worried gaze with a level stare.

"We... can't find her."

Author's Note:

To be continued, naturally.

Comments

[badninja]

I get the feeling that this poor Captain is going to be made a fool of by Twilight. Hopefully they make it farther into Equestria unmolested.

[Birribi]

In any case, she had order the Captain

ordered

She was no stranger to Telekinetic communication

Ancient Scroll cut off his Telekinetic spell

I think you meant Telepathic?

[Biker_Dash]

I get caught up just as shit gets real...

[CrimsonCow]

Will Sunset become the princess of the sun, and will Trixie become the princess of the moon..?