Equestria: The Afterlife

by Timzocker201

CH64: Infiltrators

It has been two weeks by now, since Octavia and Vinyl had been inducted into the Shadow Guard -- more specifically, into the Alpha Group, seemingly an elite group within the Guard, that, apart from the Prince, only the original members of the Alpha Company and the group itself know of. At least, that was what they were told at first.

Vinyl and Octavia were summoned to the Royal Palace just two weeks after their integration, much to their surprise. They had thought that they would be called a lot sooner, to be introduced to their colleagues and such. However, that never happened. Instead, Octavia found herself dragged from one estate to another. Not a surprise given that she had abolished the isolationist traditions her family once upheld. Now, everypony wanted to become fast friends with her to increase their own influence, only made worse by the sad fact that she and Vinyl had not yet made anything public, regarding their relationship, meaning that bringing her along to one of those little “tea parties” would likely raise more than just a few eyebrows.

They arrived at the door to the Throne Room and the guards let them in, after announcing their arrival. Inside, they found the prince talking to Lt.-Colonel Mystic Gem, as well as three other ponies. One of them was a mare who was dressed in maid-garments, while the other two were covered from head to hoof in a gray-scaled version of the Shadow Guard’s uniform. Also, one of them was almost as tall as the prince was.

“Greetings, Octavia and Vinyl.” The prince greeted, as he saw them. “May I introduce: these are Major Enigma, Sgt. Incognito and Nightshade.”

The respective ponies gave a short bow as their names were called and Octavia returned the Gestures. “Pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Octavia Melody and this is Vinyl Scratch.” She introduced.

“’Sup.” Vinyl greeted.

“Vinyl! You should show a bit more respect before the prince!” Octavia chastised.

“Yeah, ‘Tavi, I know. I’m just not used to all that court manners-stuff yet.”

“And that is actually beneficial to us.” Major Enigma claimed. “If you were to suddenly change your attitude, this would draw unwanted attention towards the operation.”

“Operation? Excuse me, why exactly are we here?” Octavia asked.

Prince Mortis rose from his throne and walked down towards the ponies before him, while answering: “These two are Infiltrators, dear Octavia, and I want you two to help them with their mission. Vinyl, you are to take Sgt. Incognito to the club with you and help him gain connections with the ponies in the crowd. Octavia, are you still attending these house-parties?”

“Euh, yes. I-I can stop doing so if that is a problem.”

“Oh no, on the contrary. I want you to host one of your own and invite as many nobles as possible. Major Enigma herself will be your partner. She will be posing as Duchess Sundown of house Eriwick.” Mortis explained.

“But your highness, there already is a duchess of house Eriwick. True you might not have heard of her, because—“

“Because the house Eriwick is just as isolationist as the former house Melody, yes, I know that. It is because of this isolation, that seemingly nopony knows just yet, that the house Eriwick has died out.”

This got a gasp out of Octavia and a slightly disturbed eyebrow-raise from Vinyl.

“But how?! I never thought that anypony would have a reason to harm, never mind kill them and the duchess was far too young to die of any natural cause!”

“Indeed, she died of a heart attack, the reason of which cannot be determined from her memories or her body. What is clear, however, is that she has not been attacked directly. Her parents were already dead long before I even became a prince.” Mortis explained.

Octavia brought a steadying hoof up to her beating heart. While she never had any official business with the house of Eriwick, she had met with the young duchess once, when their parents were meeting. Their relationship was short-lived and it was nothing that one could call a friendship. However, she wasn’t hostile to her either, which was the most positive relationship she held at the time.

“I see… So, I am to introduce her to the nobles that will attend, but how are we to know, which ones to observe?”

“That’s where I come in.” Nightshade said. “I can identify a few of the higher-ranking cultists, should they be among the nobles.”

“That is… rather convenient. Say, how do you know how to identify them?” Octavia inquired.

“Euh, it’s… because…” Nightshade trailed off.

“There is no need to make up backstories, dear Nightshade. Everypony in this room can be trusted.” Mortis said, shooting a barely noticeable look towards Enigma and Incognito. “Nightshade has once been a cultist herself. But before you get hasty: she has been reformed and is now working as Princess Luna’s personal maid.”

“May I point out that this sounds a lot like you’ve just given her, what she needs?” Mystic pointed out.

“Which is just another reason to trust her. She has been in the princess’s service for almost two months now.” Mortis countered.

“So, did I get this right? You want me and Octavia to help these two get into the Bloodmoon or whatever it was called? Heh, no offence, but you stick out like a sore horn like this.” Vinyl said.

“Don’t horns always stick out?” Octavia whispered to her.

“Indeed they do, but do not be fooled by their appearance. These two are highly skilled infiltrators and their disguises are almost impossible to see through for a laypony.”

“Is that so? Well, if the prince says so then I have nothing to argue against it. Still, something strikes me as familiar with you two…” Vinyl mumbled.

“That is likely a coincidence. Now, I hate to be rude, but I have to hurry you along. The more time we waste, the more this little pestilence will spread.” Mortis hurried.

“Yes, of course, my prince.” Enigma bowed before the prince, before turning to Octavia. “Lady Melody, please arrange everything for the party and have an invitation sent to the estate of house Eriwick. I will arrange for everything else.” Enigma ordered.

“Of course. However, before that, I will likely first have to teach you proper noble behaviour.”

“Don’t worry, this is not the first time I have infiltrated the noble houses.” Enigma waved off.

“Ah… That’s, euh, good to know?” Octavia said, uncertainly. “Umm, in any case, we, uh, we will be on our way now.” Octavia said, bowing together with Vinyl, whose head she pushed down with her hoof. Both of them then turned around and left the Throne Room.

“What did you mean with ‘they look familiar’, Vinyl?” Octavia asked outside.

“I don’t know… I couldn’t see any more than you did, ‘Tavi, but… I think I heard that voice before…”

---

A few days later, the mansion of house Melody was filled with nobles. The heads of many houses, some of them even related to the princesses themselves, had come to be the first to make social contact with the young countess. Octavia had made sure to send invitations to every noble house that she knew of.

Unfortunately for her, Vinyl was not with her, yet again. She would’ve loved to announce their engagement at this event, but that would have to wait. Instead, she was currently flanked by Nightshade, the former cultist the prince had introduced her to. She didn’t know if she could trust the mare, but the prince seemed to do so, so she really didn’t have much of a choice.

They were scanning the room for a certain third mare they were awaiting. Both were uncertain how well Major Enigma would be able to blend in. After all, she was quite a bit larger than the other ponies in the room, which raised the question of why they hadn’t spotted her yet.

“Excuse me please. Do you perhaps know a Lady Octavia Melody?” A voice asked from behind them.

“Yes, that is me.” Octavia answered and turned around. However, her jaw locked open when she laid eyes on the mare that called. “Sundown?” She asked in befuddlement.

“Why yes, that is indeed my name. It has been quite a long time, Octavia.” Sundown said, before leaning in close and whispering into her ear. “Don’t get overwhelmed by your emotions now, Miss Melody. You know who I actually am. Remember that we have a mission to fulfil.”

“Wait, miss Enigma?” Nightshade asked from her side.

“Don’t use that name here! I am Duchess Sundown of Eriwick!” Enigma hissed.

“O-oh, yeah, sure. I, uh… I was just surprised at how accurate your disguise is. I’d never thought that you would be able to change your size.” Nightshade excused.

“And I would like it to remain unknown. Enough chit-chat now, we have a mission to focus on! And remember: I am Duchess Sundown of Eriwick and we are childhood friends!” Enigma whispered aggressively.

“Y-Yes, of course.” Octavia confirmed.

---

Meanwhile, Prince Mortis was inspecting the small factory at the outskirts of Canterlot. Flim and Flam showed him all the improvements they had made to the production process, as well as the new mass production of weapons. The weapons that were made here were far more reliable and sturdier than the ones that Markus had made by himself, but were lighter at the same time. However, that was not what he had came here for.

“And lastly, the little project you had given us…”

Flam led him into a small room underground, where a single piston engine prototype stood on a testing rack.

“The task was not easy to accomplish, but the concept of a “Piston Engine” that your higness had given us helped quite a lot. With these, it was rather easy to find the three types of Crystals we used to make this work. One is a magic-storing crystal with a low capacity, which can rapidly discharge all the magic stored within. The second one is a conductor crystal that forces such a discharge to happen. The third one is a simple large-capacity battery crystal. The basic concept is that whenever a charged low-capacity crystal is held close to a conductor, it will discharge, which results in an impulse that throws the two apart.” Flim explained.

“This basic design only has one Cylinder and one pair of ‘Pushers’, as we have called them. However, it is entirely possible to mount multiple Cylinders and/or multiple Pushers per Cylinder. Also, the efficiency can be greatly increased with better battery crystals or by decreasing the distance between the Pushers. This can be achieved by lowering the quality of the Conductor crystal, which also has the effect of turning a higher percentage of the magical energy into a kinetic impulse.” Flam added.

“So, in summary, by saving money on the design, we can actually make it more efficient?” The prince asked incredulously.

“Exactly, sir. Not only that, but it also makes hiding this project a lot easier, since the lower-quality crystals are usually thrown away and can thus be taken from the dumpsites in secret.” Flam confirmed. “Also, we have begun the second step of the project and looked into the total power output. We have not yet looked into horizontal movement, however we have tested its torque. This basic test engine is thus far capable of rotating a 2 ton weight with minimal difficulty.”

“Excellent. I will provide you with blueprints for a gearbox and a differential later on. You are to find a way to produce them with the resources available to you.”

“Certainly, my prince. It shall be done.” Flim said, bowing together with his brother.

“Good. Once you’ve finished this task, I will have further instructions for you.” The prince announced, before leaving the factory and heading back to the royal palace.

Comments

[Valk]

Yay 2

[Hawkx1]

A clean energy engine nice

[Fireeaters]

Nice

[BestinDworld]

.....he’s building a car?

[Munro]

now hes also going to modernize equestrian transport and military logistic capability

[Even Evil Has Standards]

Shouldn't it be that Vinyl and Octavia were inducted into the Shadow Guard?

[Timzocker201]

10763920
accepted and changed.

[Theresa]

I like how he turned the brothers in useful citizens instead scam artists. Those two were always causing trouble in the show.