13: Following the Breadcrumbs
Luna stood before the large doors serving as the entrance to Celestia’s bedroom. On any other day, in any other situation, entering Celestia’s quarters would’ve been as simple and as natural as breathing. But on this day in particular, it was different, in more ways than Luna could even begin to count.
Something was bothering Celestia, that much was obvious. Her shaky behavior, her refusal to answer Luna’s questions, and her annoying insistence that Luna stay in her room all day were all warning signs. In fact, the only way Celestia could’ve appeared any more suspicious at this point would be if Luna walked in on her pacing back and forth, mumbling nonsense to herself. Whatever the case was, she wasn’t going to brush Luna off this time.
After putting on her sternest face, Luna took a deep breath and pushed open the door. “Sister, I—” Whatever speech Luna had planned in her head was lost to her when she laid eyes on the sight in front of her. Her usually calm, collected sister was, in fact, pacing back and forth across her room, mumbling nonsense to herself.
Luna couldn’t make out the exact words, but judging by the worried look on Celestia’s face, it didn’t seem like she was making plans for a party. In fact, it sounded like something along the lines of, “This can’t happen. This won’t happen. I will not allow this to happen.” Regardless, it didn’t help make things any easier for Luna.
After regaining her nerves, Luna cleared her throat. Celestia stopped in her tracks and looked up at her, her worried look immediately replaced with a warm smile. “Oh, Luna. What brings you here?”
Luna had to admit, Celestia had quite the way with expressions. Celestia could be going through a mental breakdown and still be able to put on a heart-warming smile at a second’s notice. It would definitely explain why she was such an expert at persuasion. However, Luna wouldn’t let herself be moved this time; there was nothing to be smiling about. “You’ve seemed rather uneasy as of late,” Luna said. “Is everything alright?”
Celestia’s smile didn’t falter for a moment. “Yes, everything is fine. What would make you think otherwise?”
Luna’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. It was just as she expected; Celestia wasn’t admitting anything yet. Perhaps if she pressed a bit harder. “You’ve just seemed… disturbed about something. On edge, if you will.”
Much to her surprise, Celestia breathed a tired sigh. “Things have been rather stressful lately,” she admitted, sitting down on a pillow. “Then again, when aren’t they?”
Luna sat down next to her sister. It wasn’t often that she saw Celestia visibly stressed and tired. Perhaps finding out what was wrong wouldn’t be as difficult as she thought. As grateful she was for that, she couldn’t help but feel a little peeved. Just when she thought she’d finally get to practice her investigative skills after reading those Hays Attorney novels.
“What is it?” Luna asked. “Perhaps I can help.”
Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but it only came out as another sigh. “I suppose there’s no point at hiding this any longer.”
Luna scooted closer to her sister. It looked like a crack was finally opening. “What do you mean?”
Celestia, almost as if it pained her to do it, looked up directly into Luna’s eyes. “Do you remember what happened to us all of those years ago?”
Luna’s eyes immediately shot wide open. “You mean that incident with the bananas? I assure you, sister, that wasn’t—”
“No, not the bananas! Goodness, no.” After the two of them regained their composure, Celestia went on. “No, further back than that. Back when we were fillies.”
“Oh. That far back. Yes, I remember. Why?”
“And you remember the things we’ve had to go through? The things we’ve done?”
The memories from that long ago, still vivid in Luna’s mind, flashed through her head. “Yes. Yes, I do. But again, why?”
Luna saw something on Celestia’s face that she hadn’t seen in a very, very long time. Her face was scrunched up with hesitation, unease, and the tiniest hint of fear, as if she was scared to say what she wanted to. “How do I put this?”
Before Celestia could continue, Luna placed a hoof gently on her shoulder. “Before you go on, I must ask, does this have anything to do with that prisoner in the dungeon?”
Luna actually saw Celestia stiffen up. She said nothing, but instead nodded. “So, you have been down there,” she said, her voice eerily calm.
“Yes. I heard movement from down there. Rattling chains, it sounded like. So, I decided to investigate.”
Celestia just nodded again. It was all she could do. “I see.”
“He was so bloodied and beaten. Please tell me you didn’t do that.”
Celestia seemed to droop even lower under her sister’s gaze. “Not all of it.”
Luna was nearly struck speechless. She could scarcely recall the last time Celestia harmed another pony, let alone to such an extent. It felt like she was staring at a different pony, a pony she thought disappeared a long, long time ago. “But I don’t understand. Why would you do this?”
“I can’t say that I know. I just… snapped.”
“Snapped? How? What could ever make you do something like this?”
“As composed as I may be, Luna, I am not made of stone. I can still lose control of myself under the appropriate circumstances.”
“But you still haven’t answered my question,” Luna said, her voice and face growing sterner. “What drove you to do such a thing?”
Celestia breathed another sigh before getting up from her pillow. She walked over to her window, staring out into the deep, blue sky. “Luna, the Staff has been stolen.”
Luna cocked her head to the side. “What does that—” Once she realized what Celestia was referring to, her face paled as her eyes went wide with shock. “N-no. You can’t mean that Staff. You don’t do you?” She peered at Celestia, expecting to see her break into laughter, crack a smile, give her a sly wink, anything to tell her that she wasn’t being serious, but Celestia’s expression never wavered. “Please tell me you aren’t serious.”
Celestia just shook her head. “I would never joke about something as dire as this. I’m sorry.”
Through the numbing panic rushing through Luna’s body she pieced together a few connections. “So, the prisoner. Was he the one who did it?”
Again, Celestia shook her head. “No. He was, however, caught attempting to steal the Shroud.”
Luna was so dumbfounded that she didn’t even notice herself standing up. “Why is this happening? How is it happening?”
“I’m afraid that I do not know. I’m still trying to put things together myself.”
“But why am I just now hearing of this? Why wasn’t I told of this sooner?”
Celestia turned around to face her sister, her expression as blank and stoic as ever. “I’ve spent every day and every night considering whether or not I should let you know of this. But…” Celestia trailed off as she tried to find the right words.
“But you doubted that I could handle it,” Luna finished, anger creeping into her voice.
“No, not all. I just know that since you’re still readjusting to modern life, you’re already dealing with your share of stressful things.”
Luna snorted in protest. “I’m well-adjusted to modern life, sister.”
“Luna, just last week you tried to have a young stallion banished to the Everfree for making a joke about socks.”
“Your point?”
“That practice has been abolished for the past seven hundred years.”
Luna looked away from her sister for a moment, kicking at the ground. “But that still did not answer my question. You did not think that I could handle this situation?”
“I was trying to protect you,” Celestia said, doing nothing to calm Luna’s nerves.
“Protect me?” Luna repeated, almost in disbelief. “From what?”
With another sigh, Celestia closed her eyes. “Dealing with this would require us to relive the hardships from our past. The emotional turmoil was terrible enough once, especially so for you. Having to go through it all again… I don’t know. I just feel it was something that you didn’t need to go through.” She looked back up at her sister. “Is that so wrong?”
Despite the sincerity in Celestia’s voice, Luna kept glaring at her. “If I may be so frank, do you understand how dangerous and foolish that is?” When Celestia stayed quiet, Luna continued. “By doing this, you are placing all of Equestria in danger, and for what? To keep me from remembering a few unpleasant memories?”
Celestia still had nothing to say. She couldn’t even maintain eye contact, and instead looked at the ground as Luna continued to berate her.
“I am not a filly anymore, Celestia. When I said that I would stand by your side through anything, I meant anything.” She walked up to Celestia and placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder, a warm smile on her face. “I would go through any pain, physical or emotional, a thousand times over if it meant the protection of our loyal subjects. What you’re doing now is no different than what our father did to us all those years ago.”
Just as Luna thought she was finally getting through to her sister, Celestia shot her head up, staring right into Luna’s eyes with an unbridled fury Luna didn’t even think Celestia was capable of. “Don’t you dare mention him in this castle!” Luna immediately backed away, cowering under the intense heat of Celestia’s livid glare. “I am nothing like him.”
Slowly, Luna stood back up. “I never said that you were. Please, calm down.”
Celestia tried to regain her composure through deep breaths, but her glare didn’t lighten in the slightest.
“Unbelievable,” Luna said. “All of this time, you were worried that I was the one unable to get over our foalhood. However, I believe that the better question is, have you?”
Neither sister said anything else. Neither one backed down for a second. They simply stood there, glaring at each other.
After a few seconds that may as well have been an eternity, there was a knock at the door.
“Enter,” Celestia ordered, keeping her glare fixed on Luna’s.
Without missing a beat, a guard entered the bedroom and immediately bowed. Finally, the two sisters broke eye contact to look at him. “You may rise,” Luna said. The guard complied wordlessly.
“What is it that brings you here?” Celestia asked.
“Your Majesties, Twilight Sparkle and her friends have just arrived at Canterlot Station. They will be at the post office shortly.”
While Celestia nodded, Luna only looked back at her, her glare growing even sharper. “They are here as well? Why?”
Celestia didn’t even glance at Luna as she walked past her. “We can discuss this later,” she said, her horn wrapped in a yellow glow.
“Celestia, wait!” Luna tried to go after her, but as soon as she took a single step forward, Celestia disappeared in a flash of blinding yellow light. To say Luna was angry would’ve been a gross understatement, but instead of taking it out on the poor, ignorant guard, she paced back and forth as she tried to calm down. “Unbelievable. She has the gall to undermine my authority as ruler? Especially now of all times. How dare she?”
The whole time, the guard stood idly by, still as a statue as he awaited his next order.
It took a moment or two, but with a final sigh, Luna finally managed to calm herself. If Celestia honestly thought that Luna was unable to handle the dire situation, then she would have to prove her older sister wrong. As she formed what could be loosely considered a plan in her head, she looked over at the guard. “Tell me, is our prisoner still in the dungeon?”
He didn’t even blink. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
The tiniest of smirks crept onto Luna’s face. “Interesting. That will be all, thank you. You are dismissed.” The guard bowed before walking out of the bedroom.
Finally alone, Luna resumed pacing about the room, putting together an idea. It wasn’t the smartest of ideas, in fact it was rather dumb, but if Luna proved anything in her long, long life, it was that she was all about dumb ideas. How they actually managed to work in the end was a mystery, but she wasn’t going to complain. This was going to work, she could feel it.
With a bravado rarely seen from her, Luna trotted out of the room, ready to put her plan into action.
----
“I told you guys, I’m fine!” That had to be the tenth time Rainbow repeated that to her friends, fifteen if she counted all the times she said that before getting on the train to Canterlot. Even then, it was all just guesstimating on her part.
Much to her annoyance, Twilight went and told them all about the situation she was stuck in. Thankfully, their reactions, much like Twilight’s, weren’t at all what she thought they’d be. Granted, they were more shocked than Twilight was, but they didn’t think any less of her. Instead, they all became incredibly overbearing.
Over the course of the next hour or so, from the time when the six friends were together to their train ride to Canterlot, everything from a minor headache to a bit of sweat was treated with the same worry and urgency of a stab wound to the chest. Actually, Rainbow really didn’t want to think about stab wounds at the moment. She already had enough to worry about.
Celestia may have given her a much-needed break for a while, but this new quest that she had for them didn’t exactly sound like it was going to be a walk in the park. In fact, it wouldn’t have surprised her if it had something to do with that ‘Apple’ business, but she was just getting ahead of herself.
Staring out into the countryside as it sped by did help take Rainbow’s mind off of things. She would’ve much rather preferred flying through the open skies, which were looking as beautiful as ever, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
Before she could become too lost in her thoughts, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She looked over and saw Applejack sitting next to her.
“Oh, hey AJ. What’s up?”
“Oh, nothin’ much. Just wanted to check and see if you—”
“Yes, AJ. I’m fine.”
Applejack actually looked a bit confused from Rainbow’s sudden outburst. “—er, wanted to play cards with me an’ the girls?”
Rainbow looked behind the farm pony to find the others huddled around a table, cards held in their hooves.
“Stop peeking!” Pinkie cried even though none of them were actually peeking.
“Oh. Cards. Uh, yeah. Yeah. Sure, I’ll play.” Rainbow followed Applejack over to the table and took a seat in front of her own set of cards. “So, what’re you guys playing?”
“Good, ol’ fashioned poker. Gamble-free, o’ course. Not everypony here knows the in an’ outs of the game. Not gonna name names, though.” Applejack did, however, shoot a very obvious glance towards the fashionista across from her.
Rarity stared at her cards like they were in some sort ancient text. “Um, what’s a flush again, darlings?”
“It’s when all of your cards are the same suit,” Twilight answered. “For example, if you have all diamonds."
Rarity’s eyes immediately lit up. “Oh, really? I think I may have one!”
Every single one of her friends simply could not have put their cards down faster.
“I fold.”
“Foldin’.”
“Check! I mean, fold!”
“Um, I fold. Sorry.”
To say Rarity was mad would’ve been an understatement. The heat from her glare was enough to melt a block of ice.
“Oh, don’t get your mane in a twist,” Applejack said, placing a hoof on Rarity’s back. “But next time, ya might wanna keep that kinda information to yourself.”
Rarity just huffed in response, throwing her cards down as well.
“So, am I gonna get in on this or what?” Rainbow asked.
“Oh, of course. Here, let me reshuffle the cards.” Twilight took up all of the cards in her magic, and after a few shuffles of the deck, dealt out the cards.
Before Rainbow could take up her own cards, she noticed something different about them. Just by looking at the identical designs on their backside, she could tell that they were unlike any of the usual cards she saw foals, and even professional players use. They seemed older as well, slightly yellow with age, and were as stiff as cardboard. “Uh, Twi? Are these cards yours?”
“Yep. Why?”
Rainbow took up the cards and observed the other side. The numbered cards looked enough of the same, but the face cards were what caught her attention. She only had a king, but the pony depicted on it nearly made Rainbow’s heart stop. Up until this moment, Rainbow had only seen cards that depicted the princesses. But there, on that king, was a deep blue unicorn that Rainbow knew all too well.
The beginnings of a headache throbbed in her head, but she tried her hardest to push the pain back. She shook her head in an effort to clear her head. It made a minuscule amount of pain go away, but she was at least able to think straight. “These look kinda old. Where’d you find ‘em?”
“They were in an old cardboard box from when I moved here from Canterlot. I guess Celestia put them in there as a little going-away gift. But you’re right, they are old. Over a thousand years old. It’s a miracle that they don’t disintegrate to the touch. In fact,” Twilight took out a king and showed the face to her friends, “this stallion here is one of the previous rulers of Equestria, King—”
“King Neptune,” Rainbow finished.
Twilight nodded. “Wow, Rainbow. I didn’t think you’d know who he was.”
“I’ve had some up-close experience with him.”
“You’re tellin’ me. Most Ah got from my ancestors were a few dusty recipes passed down the generations. But you... you got quite the family history, Rainbow."
“Well, you can borrow mine any day of the week.” They all shared a laugh together. Rainbow had to admit, things turned out far better than she ever expected. She had no clue why she ever doubted her friends in the first place; they’d never abandon her for any reason, and she felt like an absolute idiot thinking otherwise. She had some of the best friends a pony could ask for, the very least she could do was act like it.
“So, do any of you actually know what the princess would want with us?” Rarity asked, finally picking up her own cards.
A frown formed on Twilight’s face as she still tried to figure out what Celestia’s message to her could mean. “Her letter was pretty vague, but it didn’t sound like anything good.”
“Nothin’ good like Discord? Dragons? Parasprites? Anythin’ like that?”
Twilight just shook her head. “I don’t know. I just know that she wants us to do… something. What that something is, I have no idea.”
Rainbow lazily sat back, picking up her cards as well. Thankfully, she got over the shock of the ponies depicted in the cards, and just wanted to play the game. “How bad could it be if she wants us to stop by the post office? Heh, maybe she needs us to carry some heavy packages.”
Even though Rainbow managed to chuckle at her own joke, none of her friends joined in. Well, Pinkie did, but then again, she laughed at just about anything.
Twilight seemed the most exasperated out of all of them. “This is serious, Rainbow. Between what Celestia told us about this plot to overthrow her, and everything you’ve been through lately, we might be getting involved in something we had no idea even existed.”
“Well, we won’t know until we find out, will we?”
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but simply shook her head. She took a fleeting glance out of the window and promptly sat straight up in her seat. "Hey, we’re here!” Before she could even turn towards her friends, they all crowded around a single window as Canterlot came into view.
It didn’t matter how many times they went to Canterlot, the sight of the magnificent city was always enough to take their breath away. From the elegantly crafted buildings, to the bright, regal clothes of ponies walking the street, to the absolutely perfect view of Canterlot Castle, the city was truly a sight to behold.
The train slowed to a stop at the train station. Twilight and her friends, along with dozens of other ponies, stepped out onto the platform. Twilight took in a deep breath, basking in the crisp, fresh air that seemed all the more sweeter after being cooped up in that sweaty carriage for so long.
She looked back to her friends. “You girls ready?” They all nodded. Twilight looked ahead, a determined look plastered on her face. “Then let’s get going. Princess Celestia is waiting for us. Come on!”
Twilight trotted out of the station with the others following behind. Unfortunately, amongst the vast amount of other ponies, they failed to notice the pink unicorn trailing closely behind them.
----
Finding their way to the post office was no problem at all. Twilight had spent more than enough times in Canterlot to know the place like the back of her hoof, so navigating the streets was nothing that worried her. What did worry her, however, was Rainbow Dash. She finally managed to convince the others to give Rainbow some space, but that didn’t mean that they were any less worried, especially Twilight.
Ever since they got off of the train, Rainbow kept taking worried glances all around the city, looking at the various buildings like a lost foal in a new, strange place. Twilight was initially willing to save the questions for later, but Rainbow simply wouldn’t stop looking confused, even when looking at buildings that she’s been in. After a while, Twilight could no longer hold her tongue.
“Rainbow, are you sure you’re alright?” she asked, slowing to a stop.
As expected, Rainbow rolled her eyes with an annoyed sigh. “Twi, I already told you, I’m fine.”
“I know you said that, but are you really? Ever since we’ve gotten here, you’ve looked uncomfortable. Like you’re confused about something. Are you?”
Rainbow opened her mouth to say something else, presumably a very loud, very clear denial, but with a quick snort, closed it.
As she scuffed her hoof on the ground, Twilight walked over to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Rainbow, I know things are tough right now, but we’re still here for you. If you can’t tell your friends when something’s wrong, who can you tell?”
“Yeah,” Applejack chimed in. “We may not know much about what’s been goin’ on, but that don’t mean you can’t talk to us about it.” The others nodded in agreement.
Rainbow nodded as well. “Yeah. Yeah, you guys are right. I shouldn’t try to hide stuff like this from you.”
“It’s okay,” Twilight assured. “This is some pretty heavy stuff. I don’t even know how I’d react to it. Now, what’s been bothering you?”
“I mean, it’s not even that big of a deal, but okay.” Rainbow took one last look at all of the surrounding buildings. “It’s just that these buildings all feel, I don’t know, different. Like they moved or something.”
“Well, they certainly haven’t moved since we’ve last been here,” Rarity said.
“I know, but still. They just don’t feel right.”
“Hmm.” Twilight brought a hoof up to her chin as she thought of a possible reason. “Tell me, did Shadow ever visit Canterlot during one of your sessions?”
Rainbow perked right up. “Oh, yeah. In today’s one she went there.”
“Well, there’s your answer. Canterlot must’ve looked completely different back then. Your mind must still be readjusting to everything.”
“Yeah, well, that’d explain the headaches,” Rainbow said, rubbing her head as she felt another one coming on. “But, uh, that’s not all that’s been bugging me.”
Twilight cocked her head to the side. “Really? Well, what else is there?”
Rainbow opened her mouth again, but suddenly found herself a bit more hesitant to speak. “Well, uh, I kinda didn’t wanna tell you guys about this so that you wouldn’t freak out. So… don’t freak out, okay?”
All of her friends unconsciously took a step closer, an unnerving sense of tension in the air. “Rainbow, what is it?” Twilight asked.
Rainbow looked left, then she looked right. After seeing that the coast was clear, she leaned in herself. “I think we’re being followed." Everypony's eyes went wide with shock, much to Rainbow’s annoyance. “I said don’t freak out!” she hissed.
“Followed?” Applejack repeated, whispering herself. “Who’s followin’ us?”
“Does somepony else know about our meeting with the princess?” Rarity asked.
Pinkie suddenly gasped far louder than she should have. “Maybe it’s a spy!”
“I don’t know who it is!” Rainbow said, her voice barely under a whisper. “I just know that I kept hearing somepony right behind us, but whenever I turned around, nothing was there.”
“But if that's the case, then how come we didn’t hear anything?” Rarity asked.
Rainbow shrugged. “Heightened senses.”
“Beg your pardon?”
“Side effects of the spell,” Twilight clarified. Afterwards, she looked around the street herself. Aside from a few passersby, there was nopony else there, especially nopony looking suspicious. “Are you sure it wasn’t a hallucination? You know those are potential side effects as well.”
“I know. I mean, I don’t know. I mean—gah! Look, I don’t know what it was, alright?”
Twilight took a step back to give Rainbow some room. “Rainbow, calm down. Nopony’s accusing you of lying. It was just a possibility. However, if somepony really is following us, then maybe it’d be best if we arrived to our destination in a different way.”
“Oh! Are you gonna teleport us there?” Pinkie asked, already bouncing at the thought.
“No, Pinkie. I’m going to teleport—wait. Uh, yes, that’s exactly what I was going to do. Everypony huddle around.” As Twilight channeled the magic into her horn, her friends gathered in a tight circle around her.
In almost no time at all, her horn was wrapped in a lavender glow that only grew brighter as the seconds ticked by. “Ready?” When the girls nodded, Twilight released all of her magic, entrapping all of them in a large dome of magic. That dome appeared for all of half a second before it disappeared, along with the six mares.
Seconds of silence passed by before a pink unicorn stepped out of a nearby alley, walking up to where the six mares were. Her calm exterior did a fine job of hiding the frustration she felt inside. But despite the annoyance she felt at having lost Rainbow’s trail, she still couldn’t help but smile.
I’ll have to give them this one, she thought. That was a rather impressive move on their part. She looked up into the deep blue sky, brushing white locks of mane out of her eyes. But I’m more impressed by you, Rainbow. You’ve only just now begun spending time with Shadow, and you’re already picking up her skill. A good thing, I suppose, since everything is doomed to hit the fan at this rate.
Star Light started down the street again. Where to, she honestly didn’t know yet. But if you honestly think you can hide from me, let alone them, then you’re in for more trouble than you could possibly imagine.
----
In the blink of an eye, Twilight and her friends reappeared outside of the post office. Despite their rather sudden appearance, the two guards standing watch outside the door didn’t even flinch, only looked down at the mares as they approached. “Twilight Sparkle?” one asked.
“Yes. My friends and I are here to meet with Princess Celestia.”
The guards casted fleeting glances over the six mares. After a moment of breathless silence they stepped aside. “You may proceed,” one said.
Twilight graciously nodded her head. “Thank you. Come on, girls. Let’s go.” With the guards allowing them entry, Twilight pushed the door open, her friends eagerly waiting behind her.
As soon as she opened it by more than a crack, a misty cloud of smoke poured out from inside, wrapping around their legs.
“Whoa. What happened here?” Rainbow asked.
“I don’t know,” Twilight, covering her nose and mouth. “Maybe the princess can clue us in. Come on.” She and the others stepped inside the building, careful not to inhale the smoke.
Inside, the entire room was filled with a light haze of smoke, as if there was a fire. Nothing seemed burned, or even damaged, though. In fact, it looked like the worst of the damage was a mess of papers at the front counter.
All throughout the room, Celestia’s guards were scouring the floor, the walls, some pegasi even searching the ceiling for any form of clue. And in the middle of it all, watching over her guards like a hawk, was Celestia herself.
She looked over to Twilight and her friends, smiling as she saw them. “Twilight. I’m so happy that you and your friends could make it.”
The six mares approached the princess, quickly bowing down once they were close. “It wasn’t a problem at all, Princess. We’re always happy to help.”
She shifted her attention to Rainbow Dash. “Hello, Rainbow.”
With Celestia’s gaze suddenly on her, Rainbow almost shrank a little. “Oh, uh, hi.” Even ignoring everything that’d happened over the past few days, it always felt a little intimidating to have the ruler of Equestria staring down at her like that.
“How do you feel?” she asked.
“I feel… fine. Yeah, fine.”
“Are you sure?”
Rainbow shuffled her hooves on the ground. “Well, I’m still a bit out of it, but it’s nothing major.”
Celestia’s smile only grew warmer. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“What is it you wanted, Princess?” Twilight asked. “What happened here?”
The smile on Celestia’s face quickly turned into a frown. “I fear that there may be several ponies with ill intentions planned for me and Luna.”
Nopony could hardly believe what they just heard. “Wait, what? Who could want that? Do you know?”
Celestia shook her head. “I’m afraid I do not know. However, I have managed to trace one of these plotters here. Unfortunately, I was unable to capture him.”
“Well, if there’s anything you need us to do, please just tell us,” Twilight requested.
“Yeah, you know we’re always willin’ to help out, no matter what.”
Celestia’s smile returned to her. It was just as she had hoped; just as always, they were willing to do anything. Perhaps things wouldn’t be as bad as she originally imagined.
----
Finding anything that could be remotely considered a clue was far easier said than done, as Twilight and the others quickly found out. It looked like it didn’t matter if they scoured every inch of ground a hundred times over, there didn’t seem to be anything worth finding. It certainly didn’t help that Pinkie, on several occasions, kept stepping on the floor tile that shot out more smokescreen, only making things even harder to see.
Twilight just finished rummaging through an entire pile of mail before turning her attention towards Rainbow, who was busy with her own pile. “Rainbow. Have you found anything yet?”
Rainbow lifted her head out of the pile. “Nope.” She continued picking up letters, tossing away the ones that weren’t of any use to her. “Just a bunch of junk, love letters, and a… subscription to Plot Magazine. Huh. But nothing useful.”
“Do you think there’s anything here at all?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Like I got a clue. So far, I’ve just found a bunch of nothing.”
Twilight kicked aside a few discarded envelopes littering the floor. “Maybe we’re looking in the wrong place.”
“Well, where else can we look? This ain’t exactly a big building.”
“Hmm.” Twilight tapped a hoof on her chin as she looked around the area. The rest of her friends were still busy sifting through bags of mail as Celestia observed them. Then her eyes fell on the front counter. “Have you checked behind the counter over there?”
Rainbow stopped reading through another letter as she shifted her attention over to the counter right next to her. “Oh, uh, no. Right, gimme a sec.” She leisurely tossed away the letter in her hoof before getting up and walking behind the counter. Back there, she found another plethora of papers stacked inside tiny cupboards, and even more littering the floor. It didn’t look like the guards were doing a very good job at keeping the place clean; it was no wonder they couldn’t find anything of use.
Picking up a small pile of papers, Rainbow quickly got to skimming through them. Unfortunately, they yielded results no more interesting than what she’s already found. In fact, they were less interesting. At least the previous ones had a bit of spice to them, with the various love letters and subscriptions to magazines that may or may not have been her own. But the papers she was holding were just logs kept for ingoing and outgoing mail. Maybe Twilight would’ve had better luck with these, but Rainbow couldn’t find anything useful in them, so she just threw them back on the ground.
Not even the urgency of the situation was enough to keep Rainbow from feeling bored. If she wanted to sift through stacks of boring papers, she’d have gone to work. Still, if Celestia was certain that there was something here worth finding, then Rainbow couldn’t quit just yet. She’d have to look a bit harder.
Scanning over the floor, Rainbow took note of a tile protruding out of the ground ever so slightly. It must’ve been the one that triggered that stupid smokescreen, but there was something else as well. Another tile a few spaces away was slightly misaligned with the rest, like it was detached from the floor.
Following a hunch, Rainbow walked up to the tile and gave it a quick kick. Just as she suspected, it slid off to the side, revealing something that both shocked and annoyed her. There was a small hole dug into the ground where the tile used to be, a hole that contained even more bucking papers. Rainbow, however, was willing to cast aside her annoyance long enough to give them a read. After all, it wasn’t like ponies simply hid things in holes for the fun of it. But if these were papers describing the sacred, ancient ways of mailpony services or something equally as stupid, Rainbow was going to call it quits right then and there.
“Rainbow, did you find anything?” Twilight called out.
“I think so,” Rainbow called back. “Gimme a sec.” She picked the short stack of papers and started scanning through the first of them. However, just as she was halfway through it, she did something she never thought she’d do. Rainbow, the same pony who despised any book that wasn’t related to Daring Do with a passion hotter than Celestia’s sun, returned to the top of the letter, and actually read it. She took in every sentence, every word, her eyes growing wider the further she read.
In a single bound, not even flapping her wings, Rainbow leapt over the front counter, papers still in hoof. “Guys, come here! I think I found something.” All of her friends, Celestia included, hurried over to the pegasus.
“Rainbow, what did you find?” Celestia asked.
Rainbow held out the letters, which Celestia promptly took up in her magic. “I found those in a hole behind the counter.”
“I see.” Celestia silently read the letters to herself, her expression flat and unmoving. Not even a minute later, she glanced down at Twilight and her friends, who were silently awaiting some type of response. Celestia’s rolled up the papers. “We’re going to Hoofington.”
The six mares didn’t even have time to respond to that before Celestia walked right past them. Twilight took a few steps after her. “Hoofington? Why? What did the letters say?”
“Postal Stamp is meeting with one of his conspirators there. At an old museum, if I understand correctly.”
“Can I read them? Maybe there’s something that I can—”
“That can wait until later,” Celestia cut in. “Enough time has been lost already. Whatever can be explained now, can be explained on the way to Hoofington. If we do not take advantage of this chance now, we may never again get another one like it. Do you understand?”
“I…” There were a few things on Twilight’s mind that she wanted to say, but given the stability of the situation, or lack thereof, it would’ve been better to wait until things calmed down. “Yes, Princess. Whatever you say.”
Celestia nodded graciously, smiling down at her student. “And the rest of you understand as well, yes?”
All of Twilight’s friends, in one way or another, expressed their understanding. All of them, except for Rainbow Dash. Whether or not she even knew she was doing it, she had a confused look on her face, as if she was having some type of mental argument with herself.
“Rainbow, is everything okay?” Celestia asked.
Rainbow immediately snapped out of her stupor. “Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Like I said, still a little out of it.”
“Very well.” Celestia continued towards the door. “I’ll send for a chariot immediately. Do not leave this building.”
“We won’t move a muscle,” Twilight assured.
With a final nod, Celestia, along with her guards, left the building, leaving Twilight and the others to themselves. As soon as they were alone, Applejack turned her attention towards Rainbow.
“Hey, you alright there, Rainbow? We almost lost ya again for a second there.”
“I don’t know. I must be more out of it than I thought.”
“Well, just hang in there. Things might be lookin’ a bit bad now, but Ah’m sure this’ll all be over before we know it.
As much as Rainbow appreciated Applejack’s optimism, she couldn’t help but slouch over. “Yeah, I hope you’re right.”
----
He was weak. He was tired. He was hungry. His joints ached, nearly on the verge of snapping. The chains clamped around his hooves dug deeper into his skin with every slight movement. Simply keeping his eyes open was an endlessly difficult effort.
That heartless tyrant left him down there to starve. To rot. She dug into the deepest recesses of his mind, rummaging through his memories like a filly rummaging through her toy box, and once she was finished, she didn’t even have the common courtesy of putting him out of his misery. No, she left him to suffer. She wanted him to suffer.
Then again, it wasn’t like it mattered. Anything that happened to him at this point would’ve been inconsequential. He had outlived his usefulness. He failed his master. Even if he did somehow manage to escape, he’d be killed just for that. Still, he’d have given anything to just see the tyrant’s inevitable downfall. Seeing the expression on her face as she saw her control of the kingdom slip from her hooves would’ve been all he needed to die happy.
Alas, such a sight was forever taken away from him, unless nothing short of a miracle came his way.
His ears twitched as he heard the dungeon door open. It must’ve been the sun tyrant returning to gloat even more. However, when he saw the tyrant’s younger sister descend the steps into the dungeon, he perked up with energy that he didn’t even know was there. He had seen her only one other time, when she came down there earlier in the day, only to leave without saying a single word. And now here she was again, only this time with a tray filled with a range of delicacies, from salads, to sandwiches, to soups.
After having to deal with the dungeon’s scent rot and musk for an unbearable amount of time, the various aromas emanating from the food was virtually orgasmic. He licked his dry lips as his mouth threatened to drip with saliva. Never in his life was he so grateful to see something as simple as a daisy sandwich. However, whatever elation he felt was quickly dashed aside when his eyes met the night tyrant’s.
“Hello,” she said, her voice dripping with that deceptive sympathy she and her sister were infamous for. She gently set down the tray of food between herself and the prisoner. “I have a proposition for you.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
1,101 users online
1,919,660 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
You finally updated
working in the shadows, eh? that could not possibly backfire at all.
Heeeellll YEEES! You used my FAVORITE Assassin's colors! Wasn't it called "Wetlands Ebony?" Yeah that's it. That's awesome, bro.
Gonna read this latah!
sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/16585_121513468014818_581579056_n.jpg
I'm seriously wanting RD to secretly commission Rarity to make the outfit in the cover art.
Moments like this... are why I have no problems playing a diplomancer.
Decapitating a goblin is good, but making the entire goblin nation pay exorbitant tribute to you for all of eternity and worship you as a god because you convinced them you control the weather is much better.
Wonderful update. You're getting good with conspiracies and mixing things around to keep us guessing what will happen next.
'The Banana Incident' - Much more worse than the 'Apple' Incident. In this case it has the Banana of Harmony, but with more Templars and moon cannons involved. It glows in the dark so you know it's good
encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQPN12Das-tD9G771_ysy38VQhR4Tc03HYHIpuGASb9UipSCymrlg
I rushed through it a bit but didn't find any grammer errors, I'll check back soon and let you know of anything I come across.
Btw how's the rewrite status going?
2064115 I'm just stating a possibility that could very well come true in a fanfiction. Plot twists are cool like dat.
I'm still waiting for Rainbow to kick some ass
That guard must have balls of adamantium to not cower in the presence of two angry sisters.
Templars, the lot of them. Well, Celestia at least. Guess I'll have to wait and see whether she turns into one like in the games.
I've been following this since the beginning and I'm still not sure who I'm supposed to root for; how does the assassin and templar feud play into this? I'm also gonna guess that the pony following was probably aman assassin...but when do we get to see that confrontation? !
When I saw this finally updated, you really made my day. I was waiting for so long. I knew you were still working on it, but still, actually seeing the fruits of your labor is something else entirely.
Update! Definitely a high point of my day. Weren't you rewriting and stuff? Is that finished now?
Also, I was almost expecting some badassery from Rainbow with the cards. 'I know what cards you have' and stuff. Damn, I'm looking forward to when that finally comes up.
Alright I have a list of updated storys to read, but when I saw this, I was like "first one to be read!"
Finally up to speed in this
It's really interesting and this story has the best action i've read since actually reading an assassins creed novel. Very cinematic. You have earned a subscriber
Well that was great
I can't wait for the update hopefully it will be soon 
I also am having trouble trying to figure out who to root for 
So I will just root for RAINBOW DASH 
I want MOAR NOW 
2237086
I've always seen it as them both wanting peace, but having a fundamental disagreement on how to ensure that peace. Templars believing in the evil of human nature, and seeing themselves as shepards that need to control and guide humanity strictly to ensure prosperity for all. While the Assassins believe in the good of human nature, seeing the Templars as a wicked force trying to destroy free will and strangle all of humanity for their own ends. The Assassins are trying to stop this from happening and keep humans free to do as they always have, seeing this as the path to a brighter future.
This idealistic clash is waged in the shadows to serve the light, and hundreds die in the name of how that light is to shine forth upon a new earth.
Or, at least that's my way of looking on it. I'm pretty much just writing off the Forerunner god things as a side-quest in the story, a method to achieve power rather than a real component.
Hello, I'll be your WRITE sanctified reviewer for this fic.
Let me drop some basic facts and observations before we get into the stabbin' and the leapin' and the dashing Dash dashin', 'k?
I only have a passing acquantice with the AC franchise. I consider this a good thing as regards reviewing this, because it means I'm nicely balanced between not knowing anything and being unnecesarily over informed- there's room for the story itself to show me something I didn't know, that sort of thing.
Love the cover art. Big points to getting it, and the person whom made it.
I hear you want a character and plot pacing centric review? Fantastic. I'm a character and plot pacing kind of reviewer. At 63:1 ratios and near 100k, I'm just going to expect a certain degree of technical mastery, and unless there's whole swathes of poor writing, I'm not gonna nitpick as such.
P.S:
(Hey FoughtD, I'm totally being all reviewerer and such, hi! But seriously, if you can bear with my verbosity and rambling manner... big reviews inbound.)
This story seems to have the action balanced between both eras (or at least more action takes place in the present than it did in the games), and I like that!
*Not at all?
Of all the places I'd expect to see an Ace Attorney reference, this certainly wasn't it. Made my day
I feel like I'm watching an actual Assassin's Creed game.
Can't sleep. More chapters for reading.
Aaaanything?
Do not taunt the Princess of the Night, for she knows the way to your heart is
four inches of steel between the ribsthrough your appetite.Caught another part for updating.
Yhea Rainbow is turning it to a assassin I can all ready see her with the blades and suit Plot magazine?