07. The Council of Harmony
“Shhhh...”
Rarity tightened her lips closed as Rainbow peered out from under one of the cafe awnings along Polo street, not far from the Canterlot palace. Overhead, she could hear wing beats in the still of the night air as Pegasus Guard patrolled the empty alleys and corridors for their quarry. Rarity backed up slightly to better her chances at avoiding detection from the air and had to bite her tongue to keep from yelping when her bare flank touched the cold brick of the building behind her. It caused a poster on the wall to crinkle, and for a tense moment both she and Rainbow held their breath, fearful that the guardponies overhead may have picked up on the disturbance. Soon, though, the wing beats picked up, and the two armored soldiers took toward the sky to look for other trespassers along the darkened Canterlot roads. Unicorn and pegasus alike breathed collective sighs of relief, and Rarity turned to cast a disapproving glance at the poster that had nearly gotten both of them caught.
It was an order of curfew, one of many now posted around the city, and it hadn't taken long for them to get there. In the scant hours it had taken Rarity and company to descend the waterfall path to meet with Twilight and return to Canterlot by means of the same route (no small amount of walking, Rarity noted to herself, and felt a chuckle from Twilight in response) the city had been cleared entirely of hoof traffic. Posters declaring martial law and ordering everypony to their homes until the sunrise now hung from the previously lavishly adorned doorways of every shop and the ornate gas lamps on every corner. Rarity, who had always fancied herself a Canterlot pony, felt a twinge of irritation at the wanton disregard for aesthetic that the documents represented. Twilight, who'd been clued into the situation as it unfolded, felt likewise, though for far more personal reasons. Canterlot had been home for her far longer than Ponyville had, and it had never felt to her like a prison.
“Third time tonight they've almost gotten us,” Rainbow said in a whisper. Both ponies were on the ground, after Rainbow's first attempt at scanning the streets from the air had resulted in the near catastrophic discovery of the circulating air patrols. “Even with both of us looking out for them. You think Luna could've...” she trailed off, to give Rarity a chance to answer before any ill luck could fall upon the princess by suggesting her capture.
“I believe in Luna's ingenuity,” Rarity said firmly, but her voice wavered a bit afterward and she cast a few wary glances to the sky. “We have to believe she's still out here somewhere, Rainbow. Or we're putting an awful lot on the line for nothing.” The unicorn quirked her head a little, as though listening to a distant sound. “Twilight says they'll be arriving at the marina soon. Things might get a little,” she made a face, searching for the right word, “confusing, for me. Try not to let me make much noise.” Rainbow's look of amusement caused the white unicorn to realize that she'd spoken more frankly than she'd meant to, having relayed Twilight's words exactly. “Not that I'm particularly noisy to begin with,” she added quickly, in her own defense, “any additional noise would be entirely contributed to my outbursts from Twilight.”
Rainbow laughed as quietly as she could manage at the aloof look Rarity had on. She resembled a cat who'd been caught falling from a perch and was trying to play it off as intentional.
“Can you really like...hear her thoughts?” Rainbow asked, once she'd gotten over the visual humor of Rarity's attempt at preserving dignity.
“Most of them,” Rarity replied. “It's more like emotions when we're close to each other, but far away, we can focus the conversation into words.”
“What about secrets?” Rainbow asked, glancing up between two darkened shops before dashing to the next awning. The quiet conversation was a welcome relief to both ponies. A fight, or a chase, was one thing. They had a job there, something immediate to do. Now though, it was just them and the search, and the constant threat of discovery.
“More than I'd care to admit to,” Rarity replied. “Anything we try to hide from each other seems to get… brought into clearer focus, I'd say. It’s made for some rather personal exchanges.” She smirked a bit. “I think I've unintentionally become Twilight's second diary. Oooh, and if you could see what's in her real one.”
“Twilight?” Rainbow asked incredulously, “Really? I always sort of saw her as too… booky… for anything bad.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow at the pegasus, and her mouth turned upward into a small half smile. “It’s always the quiet ones, Rainbow.” she said suggestively, and Rainbow giggled.
“You were only quiet when I gagged you,” the pegasus replied, to which Rarity hmphed and swished her tail.
“That was a long time ago,” she replied, her face a mirror of her previous pride-preserving expression, “and we agreed to never speak of it again.”
Rainbow nodded in amusement, but as she took a look around the corner of the next block, her amusement faded to a muted sadness. Rarity, curious, peeked around herself, but saw nothing.
“What's wrong?” she asked.
Rainbow looked up at the unicorn and sighed softly. “Why didn't we work, Rarity?” she asked suddenly, and Rarity felt her face flush slightly. “We might've worked.”
“Rainbow...” Rarity replied gently, “we were fillies, it was a fling, we both knew it wasn't going anywhere. Why… why are you bringing this up now?”
“I just wanted to know if there was some reason we didn't-” Rainbow began, moving her hoof as though she was about to gesticulate some elaborate explanation. Rarity put her hoof on it to stop her and shook her head.
“No you don't,” she said firmly, “we had something quick and fun and painless years ago and we both agreed it was best to end it. Different goals, different ideas, different lives,” the unicorn knelt down, “we've stayed friends, it’s never been odd, it’s never been awkward. We've been good, Rainbow. I know you don't have some hidden love for me, so if this is coming out now, then something else is wrong.” She cupped the blue pegasus' face with her hoof and raised it to her eye level gently, greeting it with a smile. “And as somepony who knows you rather personally, I want to help."
Rainbow looked like she was formulating some sort of argument for a moment, but it diffused as she met Rarity's eyes. Ultimately she sighed. “I still haven't talked to her,” she said simply.
Rarity let her face go and moved back a little, to give her some space. The pegasus was walking again, but the now comparative calm of the voided city lanes and the cold night air had diffused her of some of her caution, and from the sound of her voice, Rainbow had wanted to get this out for some time.
“I'd… wondered about that,” Rarity replied, using it as a prompt to keep the other pony talking.
“It's just… we've been friends for so long and I don't want to… risk that,” Rainbow continued, “It’s not like you and me, where we'd just sort of noticed each other for the first time and didn't have much of a previous friendship, you know? We did the friends thing afterward, but with her...”
“You're worried you'll lose your friend if you try and turn it into something else,” Rarity finished for her. Rainbow could only nod.
“When we were hiding from those guards,” Rainbow said, peering in through a shop window at the darkened interior, on the off chance she might spot movement, “It sort of occurred to me that, you know… we're in trouble a lot. BIG trouble. Ever since the Elements of Harmony and Nightmare Moon and stuff, we manage to land ourselves in some kind of Equestria-threatening, life-risking danger-having situation like once a month. And we always make it though! But… you know...” she stopped fidgeting, and turned to face Rarity directly, “... what if we don't? What if the next time is the last time, and I never tell her?”
Sympathy echoed through Rarity all the way down to Twilight, who had been maintaining such a low profile in Rarity's mind out of sheer awkward fear that the white unicorn had all but forgotten her existence.
“Rainbow...”
Rarity's response was cut short by a sudden declaration of alert from on high. Both ponies jumped and looked upward, where a pair of Royal Guard were diving on their position. A surge of information flowed into Rarity's mind like a high pressure water hose, and she felt her reflexive reaction to scream be suddenly cut short, replaced by Twilight's far more utilitarian response to danger. Rarity's horn sparked up and manifested a translucent barrier of magical energy just as the two pegasus ponies entered their semi-enclosed alcove. One, who had trailed slightly behind, was able to peel off. The other collided with the shield with force enough to dislodge Rarity from the floor before careening off to the side and into an abandoned street cart.
“C'MON!” Rainbow yelled, and dove her head under Rarity's body. The white unicorn, who at this point had rediscovered her personality amidst Twilight's quick save and was screaming for dear life, clung to Rainbow desperately as the pegasus took to the air. With one guard still scrambling to get out of various pies and baked goods and the other turning a wide arch to clear the buildings, they had a shot to make some headway. Rainbow stayed low and banked hard around the next street corner as the pegasus above her whistled fiercely for backup. Rarity, her eyes wide with fear as she clung to Rainbow's back, yammered left's and right's every time a new alley came into view. Rainbow gave up listening to her when she had to pass low under one of the Hearth's Warming trees that still littered the roadside displays and the unicorn began bemoaning the pine needles in her hair between commands of which way to turn.
“You wore a tree as a HAT two days ago!” Rainbow yelled in exasperation.
“THAT WAS DIFFERENT!” Rarity insisted, and leaned hard to the right as Rainbow rounded a turn that took them passed one of the many fountains that decorated Canterlot's streets. The sound of one of the armored pegasus guards who lacked Rainbow's race-trained banking skills crashing into a building was drowned out by a splash as Rarity passed herself through the fountain's spray and used the water to rid herself of the tree's remnants. A brief but stylish swish later and her dampened mane clung alluringly to her neck, perfect once again.
“Do you think you could worry about that later?!” Rainbow demanded, having regained stability after the mid-flight barrel roll.
“There is always time for fashion, RainboOOOH PULL UP!”
Rarity's matter-of-fact response was cut short as a pair of guards arrived at the end of the alley they were flying through, cutting them off. Rainbow shot upward at a near right angle, her wings burning from the added weight of the pony on her back, and spun over the rooftop ahead of her pursuers. They'd barely cleared the ledge when a dark shape enveloped both of them, bringing them down hard on the rooftop and constricting their movement. Rainbow and Rarity struggled futilely against the confines of what had to be some sort of bag but were drug rapidly along the ground and, from pain of the bumps they could feel on their rears, down a flight of stairs, before the bag was pulled rapidly off and light flooded their eyes. Both ponies rolled to their legs and assumed a defensive position while their vision adjusted, but what met them in the dimly lit interior of what appeared to be an apartment building was not the cold glare of royal soldiers, but a familiar face wearing a monocle and sporting a small, well kept mustache.
“Fancy Pants!” Rarity declared excitedly, and flung her arms around the stallion. He smiled winningly.
“Indeed!” he responded. “It is so good to see you, Rarity. And Rainbow Dash, a pleasure to see you again!”
Rainbow blinked, momentarily disarmed. Behind her a door closed, and she looked back to see yet another familiar face descending a stairway. She was dressed differently, sporting sleeker, less frilly clothing than last they met, but the glasses were the same, and the voice was unmistakable.
“You deed git zem, ja?” Photo Finish asked as she arrived at the bottom of the stairs.
“See for yourself,” Fancy Pants responded, and the famous photographer stamped a hoof on the floor in success.
“Wunderbar!” she replied in relief, “Come, come, both you ponees, ve must git you inside before anyvonnie decides to go snooping around outzide too hard. Ve go! Now!” The blue furred, white haired trend-setter nudged at Rainbow before departing down a narrow hallway. Rainbow took the opportunity to close her mouth, which was still hanging open somewhat out of a combination of shock and the need to catch her breath.
“Fancy Pants,” Rarity said quietly, confusion evident in her tone.
The stallion nudged her. “Just follow along, my dear,” he said, “you'll know soon enough.”
The small troupe traveled in silence to the end of a narrow hallway, where Photo Finish had just finished tapping some coded knock into an unassuming wooden door. It opened, and she motioned for the others to follow her. Rarity did so, transversing a small intermediary hall and emerging on the other side with widened eyes.
“By all things Equestria...”
The room she'd arrived at was enormous, and beautifully appointed. Chandeliers and alicorn motifs adorned the walls cast in gold and black to form a startling and powerful contrast of color that continued throughout the rectangular chamber. Side rooms were set into glossy stone walls and a massive, long table with a very large chair at both ends and smaller chairs along the sides took front and center in the middle of the main chamber.
“Oh woooonderful, about time you found them, Fancy.” Another well dressed stallion turned from the table where he'd been examining a file set before him. His aviator framed glasses sank on his nose enough for him to look at both ponies collectively with a small smile.
“Hoity Toity?!” Rarity asked, unsure if she should trust her eyes at this point. The fashion bigwig gave a short laugh.
“Of course, my dear, and may I say,” he smiled and gestured to them from across the table. “Bravo on your earlier escape, Miss Dash. We were all aglow with excitement.”
“She may not actually be the Wonderbolt's trainer,” Fancy Pants commented, “but she'd give them a run for their money, I dare say.”
“Waaaaait wait wait,” Rainbow interrupted, “I mean, thank you, but… what IS this place? Did we just fall into the secret fashion-cave or something?”
“That's not terribly far from the truth, honestly,” Fancy Pants replied.
Hoity Toity and Photo Finish had stepped up beside him now, both of whom gave nods to Rarity and Rainbow.
“We are a third of the Council of Harmony,” Fancy continued, “The others, sans both princesses of course, are among the premier architects, farmers, mages and artists in all of Equestria. They stem from every province from Canterlot to Trottingham and all in between. We, my dears, are the minds behind everything.”
“Everything… fashion?” Rarity chanced.
“Everything… frilly?” Rainbow followed. Photo Finish scoffed.
“Everyzing everyzing, pegaszis ponee. Vere iz no parlement. Vell,” she pondered a moment, “zer iz, but iz mostly to geeve ze ponee folks somezing to vote on. In reality, zis group of ponees runz all oof Equestria. Us, ze others, and ze princesses Luna an Celestia.”
“The princess knows about this?” Rarity stammered.
“The princess formed this committee centuries ago, Rarity,” Fancy said. “It’s a completely secret society. You can't buy your way in, you can't be born into it; you have to be selected. Hand picked, by the Princess herself. There's no pay, no fame, no recognition. Just ponies with a vision of a better, brighter world, and the will to work for it, as it has been for generations. We are the ponies no pony will know.”
“But the parliament,” Rainbow objected, “I was thinking about voting for one of those guys last year! You know, if I had… time.”
“Parliament is largely cosmetic, darling,” Hoity commented, flipping a hoof out haphazardly. “They put ninety percent of their effort into securing their re-election and ten percent into securing their retirement. Their biggest achievement is finding new and creative ways of making vacations look like progress! Equestria is a benevolent dictatorship, Miss Dash. It always has been.”
“Right now,” Photo chimed in, ducking low and beckoning closeness to suggest secrecy, “ze rest of ze council is sneaking through Canterlot via our tunnelz, tracking down ze rest of parliament so ze princess can be put officially on ze throne. Zis whole ancient law thing haz been one beeg mistake.”
“We do our best to keep track of every contingency,” Hoity admitted, “but no one's looked at that old bill for years. Luna has ever been a member of the council, we all just… assumed she'd been written in as the next leader should anything happen to Celestia. The oversight is certainly costing us now.”
*Ask them if they know about the kelpies, and what happened to Princess Celestia.* Twilight chimed in, like somepony spying on a conversation with her ear to a wall.
*Did you know about this?!* Rarity demanded.
*Just ask them! This is the first shot we've had to get real confirmation!*
Rarity sighed and swallowed. “Do you… know about the sea ponies?” she asked tentatively. “The kelpies, that live outside of Equestria. We have reason to believe they've kidnapped Celestia.”
The three present members of the Council of Harmony looked at each other. Fancy glanced back at Rarity, before his horn glowed and the document that had been sitting on the table floated out toward Rarity.
“You remember Fleur?” he asked.
Rarity nodded. “Tall, slender unicorn? Seemed to have a mighty infatuation with your arm?” she confirmed.
Fancy smiled. “Best fly on the wall in the business, Rarity. Fleur is our ear into places we can't be. She can be the finest mare in Canterlot one day, and the lowest urchin in Trottingham the next. She got us this,” the file in front of Rarity opened, and a sheet of rolled parchment unfurled in front of her. “Copied it from the original document currently held by Captain Midnight of the Equestria Royal Guard. It is, for lack of a better term, the list of demands.”
Rarity and Rainbow scanned the parchment quickly, and the unicorn could feel Twilight's eyes gazing through her own.
“Princess Celestia of Equestria is now the captive of the Lords of the Sea,” Rarity read aloud, “the independent kelpies of Kelopolis, and will remain so until which time as Equestria agrees to surrender full control of their military forces to the Lords of the Sea, as well as all soldiers and civilians capable of taking arms in war, or Equestria delivers its refusal, at which point,” she paused and swallowed, “the princess will be executed to make Equestria into a more appealing target for the incoming invasion, and buy the Everfree lands additional time to fight back. Response is expected within twenty four hours.”
“Some eight of which have already passed,” Hoity mentioned, and Fancy nodded.
“The Guard are in an uproar about it, so far as we know,” he explained, “there's no context, you see. They don't know who to respond TO, or where to go, or even what a kelpie is. All communication with the Everfree races has been limited to Celestia or the Council of Harmony, but the Lords of the Sea don't seem to know that.”
“Zat,” Photo commented darkly, “or zey don't care. Never trust ze sea ponees.”
“The Lords of the Sea aren't all the kelpies,” Rarity spoke up, before blinking in surprise. She didn't expect to hear herself speaking in their defense. But Twilight was in her head, urging her on. “We've met one who uh… claims to be a student of Aurora, their princess. She said the Lords were working independently.”
“So that's how you heard of them,” Fancy replied, looking impressed. “You are quite the well connected unicorn, Rarity. We've inclined to agree with you. Aurora and Celestia have had a less than friendly report with each other for aeons, but never war. They simply disagree on a great deal of affairs of state. Neither has ever openly attacked the other. This whole situation is very contrary to how the royal state of Kelopolis usually handles inter-Canterlot demands.”
“Our friends are with her right now,” Rainbow cut in, stepping forward. “They're trying to get to Kelopolis to get Celestia back!”
Fancy Pants winced. “Then I do hope that kelpie you found is on the level, or your companions may be on their way to a neighboring prison cell in the middle of the ocean. Is miss Applejack with them?”
Rainbow blinked, perplexed at the question. “Er… yes? Why?”
This time Hoity and Photo shared Fancy's grimace. “I suppose somepony will have to inform Macintosh.” Hoity grumbled.
“I'll leave that to Photo,” Fancy replied flatly, “I don't believe he'll kick her through a wall, and I rather fancy my ribs remaining intact”.
“Wait… you ponies know Big Macintosh… personally?” Rarity asked incredulously.
Photo Finish canted her head toward the chairs that were saddled up to the table. Each one, Rarity noticed, was adorned with an engraving of a cutie mark at its head. She spied Photo's camera and Fancy's trio of crowns, and a little further on, on a large, reinforced model, was an over sized apple half.
“You've got to be kidding...” the unicorn whispered. Rainbow was too shocked to comment.
Hoity cleared his throat and indicated toward one of the side room doors. “It would seem, my little ponies, that you both have a bit of a story to tell, and Luna will no doubt wish to hear it too. By now most of Parliament has probably been located, and we have a very important indoctrination to attend, to say nothing of a tight schedule.” He opened the door, which led into another tunnel not unlike the one they'd descended earlier, dimly lit with wall sconces that appeared to be ancient in design. Rainbow followed behind the leading trio, with Rarity bringing up the rear, and she swallowed a little as the door closed behind her.
*Twilight,* she sent to the purple unicorn, *I think we're on the way to meet with Luna. You saw the letter, correct?*
*Windswept says it sounds authentic. She also thinks they'll go through with it, if they think they have to. We're working out how to steal a boat, but it'll be an awful lot easier if Luna can release one to us.*
Rarity nodded, *I'll tell her as soon as I can, Twilight. Do your best. I think Celestia is counting on you,* she sent a silent apology before adding, *No pressure.*
*Of course not, nooo pressure at all. Now, did I read you right? Twelve ponies and two princesses in a secret underground room run Equestria?* Twilight asked, and Rarity could taste her disbelief.
*It certainly seems that way,* Rarity replied.
*And one of them is Big Macintosh?* Twilight asked for confirmation's sake.
*Eeeeeyup,* Rarity replied, her own mental accent doing a poor job of mimicking the large stallion's voice. *I'm oddly alright with that, honestly,* she added, *he's always been a level-headed fellow.*
*And you and Rainbow Dash were uh… once...*
*Leeet’s leave that one alone, shall we, darling?* Rarity responded quickly.
*Sorry, sorry,* Twilight responded, *I just… you know… I had suspicions about Rainbow but I kinda never figured you for a lesbi-*
*AHEM.* Rarity cut her off firmly.
*Sorry! Er… I think? Should I be sorry?* Knowing when she'd overstepped social boundaries was not one of Twilight's strong points. *I'm sorry, there's nothing in the friend manual about dragging your friend's sexual orientation out of their memories.*
Rarity sighed out loud, and Rainbow looked back at her from over her shoulder with an inquisitive expression. Rarity smiled back sweetly at her, but shot Twilight an exasperated grunt.
*We were young, we were new to living alone, I was starting a clothing business and she was very… vibrant and stylish. Have you seeeeen her mane, Twilight? She looks like she was spun of the finest colors in Canterlot.* Rarity managed to convey a degree of dignity through the ethereal quality of the link. *It was very much a physical attraction rather than a, shall we say, emotional one,* she continued. *We grew out of it quickly enough. I shan't be ashamed of a little innocent experimentation.*
*With a ball gag?*
*Shut up, Twilight.*
Rarity couldn't tell if she was imagining Twilight's laughter or if it was actually filtering through over their link.
*Who was she talking about when when she said "I haven't told her"?* Twilight asked, after a moment.
It was a question she normally wouldn't have expected an answer to. Force of habit had caused her to forget the quality of her bond with the other unicorn, and its propensity for forcing information out of the opposite party whether they liked it or not. The question prompted a series of images within Rarity's head against her bidding, and internally, the fashionista said a silent apology to Rainbow for betraying her secret. Twilight's mind filled with a familiar face and a very old story seldom told, and she sighed softly.
*Oh… I see.*
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Sev why have you not plugged this in IRC? *track*
The plot thickens... Can't wait to read more
94428
I honestly didn't know i should! I don't use IRC and I'm pretty new at this fanfiction stuff. I could use any help promoting it you can give me, what do you suggest I do?
'So Equestria is run by 2 Princesses and 12 Secret Lord (Ponies)?"
I'm surprisingly OK with that too... Great story so far, though those kelpies must be much stronger than they appear, I can't imagine Celestia going down so easy.
this is a great story so far, I can't wait fr more of this so keep working on it please!
94969
>new to fanfiction
>writing is amazing
...
fuck you, bro... just... fuck you...
(We still love you though)
Thus far, I have only noticed a small amount of missing punctuation/grammar & spelling mistakes. You may want to recheck it, or get an editor.
That thing between between Rarity and Rainbow Dash... That shit just came outta left field.
Also... Mac's on that council, that Twilight knew of, but didn't know he was on it? Why do I feel the urge to call bullshit?
~Skeeter The Lurker
That phrase there, that's a keeper.
It's a violation of the Constitutional provisions protecting fashion!
It's interesting that you shipped Rarity / Rainbow Dash -- and had it have ended long in the past, because of their incompatibility.
I like the notion of the secret Council of Harmony. The hilarious thing is that it means Rarity's instincts regarding the important ponies of Canterlot were entirely correct.
Oh, crap. And I have to wonder if they expect Equestria to do this -- the way it's worded it would be pretty much the entire adult population, save for the very old and very young, and would amount to instant mass enslavement, or worse.
Aren't they forgetting about Luna, though?
And "Yay! Big Mac!" I like the notion of him as one of the heroes!