Imperial Forclousure

by The Sound of Loneliness

The Wrong Time To Catch Up

"Good to see you again, Shadow," Spike had to almost yell over the rumble in the room.

"The feeling is mutual, Sir Spike," Shadow said back and she meant every word. It has been many years since the last time she saw the dragon, he was so small back then. He was large now, but still just as gentle. Some things never change and Shadow was glad for it. She hoped to get an opportunity to exchange a few words with the dragon before they leave.

"You still do this thing even after so many years?" Spike toothily smirked.

"Certainly, sir," Shadow smiled back. "Have you been well?"

"Ahh... Yeah, Queen Sky Star is an old friend. Twilight met her after Storm King invaded. She tried to get her mom to help us."

"I've heard, Princess Twilight was desperate enough to try and steal the royal pearl. Queen Novo refused any help and made her leave with her suite."

"Yeah, she had a cold relationship with Novo afterwards. Nothing like between Novo and your Mistress though," Spike pointed at the ghostly figure with his eyes.

"I do not understand why Queen Novo had such strong feelings towards Mistress despite only seeing her once," Shadow admitted with a sigh. "To my knowledge, Mistress never did any wrong to Hippogriffs."

"I saw her a few times after we got here before she died. Novo was soured, I mean like the only time she wasn't frowning was when she was with Sky Star. I think Novo had personal reasons to hate your Mistress, I think she knew it too. Judging by how Sky Star is, Novo wasn't dipping her into the same poison she swallowed in her time."

Shadow nodded slowly, shortly turning around to check on Tiny,
"It sounds like she was a better mother than she was a Queen. Personal agenda should never stand before the good of the realm."

"That's what Nightmare Moon says all the time," Spike pointed out.

"That is what Queen Chrysalis didn't hear often enough," Shadow countered.

"Well, I guess she was right. It all broke down without her like instantly," Spike sighed. "So, where you all been holed up?"

"Lady Daybreaker said the name was Jade Empire. She was tired from the court and the constant scheming being associated with it, and wished to live in a quiet place."

"Understandable, from what Twilight told me about it, I can't imagine how somepony could live like that. Each evening you wake up, tidy yourself up and then work the whole night through until it was time to sleep. Twilight said that Nightmare Moon considered paperwork as her breaks. Even Twilight couldn't study the whole day with only food breaks. She also went out to see what the girls were up to, chat with Cheerlee or Miss Pie and maybe visit Zecora."

"Mistress wasn't stopping her work in the dining hall either, sir. The time at the table she spent issuing orders to the Palace staff, instructing Princess Twilight or receiving officials. Mistress took her duty very seriously," Shadow concluded.

"Yeah, Twilight was saying how tired she looked all the time," Spike gave Nightmare Moon's back another look. "I feel bad for her. She wasn't nearly as bad as the rumors about her. I just wish she wasn't so secretive about everything, things might've been different if ponies trusted her."

"Mistress always said that if ponies knew who she really was, she would lose legitimacy. She had to pose as Princess Luna for ponies to accept her," Shadow said mundanely as if reciting a script.

"And what do you think?" Spike said, nodding at her. Shadow stood quietly for a while, following the progress of breaking the stubborn doors and feeling the vibrations going through her entire body at each impact.

"I believe Mistress tends to overthink," she finally said.

"Yeah, Twilight does too. Or she did. I can't tell now since she doesn't talk to me too much anymore," Spike sighed again and dropped his shoulders.

"Was Princess scarred by her experience?"

"Looks like it," Spike shrugged. "I didn't see Twilight too often since Nightmare Moon called her to the Palace, so every time I did see her the change was striking. First, she was angry. Twilight didn't really say how, but Nightmare Moon made her work for her."

"I remember when the Princess arrived, Sir Spike. I assure her, Mistress never forced her to work," Shadow quickly stepped in. "She simply described to Princess what the project was and she worked willingly thereon."

"Well, I never thought that Nightmare Moon would just force her, it's not really how she operates. She always gets what she wants though. By the way, what project could make Twilight flip one-eighty like that? She went from not even wanting to hear about it to full-on living in the Palace."

"Mistress tasked her with developing a way to reverse the Elements of Harmony magic that exiled Princess Celestia. Mistress grew rather... discontented over the arrangement. Princess Luna could have also contributed," Shadow explained. "I never understood her reasons but around that time Mistress was rapidly changing her attitudes towards a wide array of matters, Princess Celestia included."

"Yeah, Twilight told me about it the next time she came home to grab some books. She said that Nightmare Moon made peace with Celestia and Luna. I admit I was skeptical when Twilight described Luna defending her in front of Celestia. It didn't sound right, Nightmare Moon stole her body, got them both sent on the moon for a thousand years and then did the same to her sister. Not mentioning killing thousands of ponies in the Civil War and establishing... well let's be straight, a dictatorship.
"After that, it looked like Twilight was adoring her more with each passing night. Her letters started to have whole sections devoted to how wonderful Nightmare Moon was and that was pretty much the only thing she ever talked about when we met. That was alarming, especially after seeing how Rarity got the same way. I think if it went for a few more months, they would've started to kiss the floor she stepped on... Oh..." Spike suddenly remembered who he was talking to. "Sorry, n-no offense to your Mistress."

Shadow simply nodded,
"How the Princess changed?"

"Oh, yeah, the thing we were talking about," Spike awkwardly smiled and scratched his head. "So each time I saw her, Twilight looked more tired and flustered. Nightmare Moon was obviously running her in circles. Then she started to grow... well, cynical. Never thought I would ever say that about her."

"How so?"

"Well, Shadow, no offence but she got exactly like your Mistress, at least the way Rarity was describing her. Rarity once told me how Nightmare Moon looked when signing execution warrants during the civil war. A pony was brought in front of her, she would give them a single, unblinking, indifferent look; sign the paper and order the next one to be brought out without ever looking again at the previous one. Well, Twilight looked something like that when she was explaining to me why Chrysalis never had a chance to win the war. She told me about all the different ways that Nightmare Moon could kill whole platoons of soldiers with almost... gleeful excitement. When she told me about charred bodies and torn apart tanks not a single muscle twitched on her face."

"Was that before or after I was sent to you?" Shadow asked to clarify.

"After, by a lot, It was the last time I talked to Twilight with Nightmare Moon still alive. Shadow, again, don't be offended, but from what I saw happening to Twilight, I really don't wanna spend time around your Mistress," Spike said with a hint of fear.

Shadow didn't respond, this whole exchange was a lot more fruitful than she initially thought. Shadow gave a look to Tiny, who was still sitting by the same bookshelf she was left at, but she was keenly listening in to their discussion.

"Curious little thing, aren't you?" Spike gently smiled and sat down.

"Sir, I suggest you do be careful around Mistress' little sister," Shadow intervened, emphasizing her point is a light jab to his thigh. Swinging the head around for a solution, she found Queen Sky Star standing awkwardly alone on the other side of the hall, "Her Majesty seems to be rather lonely, it is not gallant to leave a lady like this," Shadow declared, giving Spike a push.

"Alright, alright!" Spike threw his hands in the air. "I can get a hint, I am going."

Sighing with relief, Shadow turned back to Tiny, who watched the whole scene with bemusement,
"Young Miss, eavesdropping is untactful," Shadow berated, Tiny's confusion only grew further.

"But..."

"No 'but', Miss. A lady must not dishonor herself with such behavior."

"A lady?"

"Yes, Miss, you are a young lady. You have to behave accordingly," Shadow took a second to examine the foal's look. "And look on par too," at that moment, Shadow wished Rarity was still with them.

Shadow was aware of how wain her attempts were, since young Miss was inhabiting a body of the wrong gender, but she tried to pretty up her mane as she could, mostly to occupy Tiny's attention. As much as she appreciated Sir Spike and his company, he lacked subtlety. Luckily it has only been a few more minutes before Lady and Mistress found a spell that the door wasn't protected from. With a mighty creak, the large double door's outer wooden layer shattered, revealing a heavy metallic frame. Daybreaker's lightning could not breach metal completely, so Nightmare Moon ordered her to aim at the wall where the hinges should've been located. Another five minutes and Daybreaker rubbled the stone enough for the enchanted hinges to hang free. Daybreaker lightly pushed the door with a satisfied smile on her face, and it hit the floor with an ear-shattering clang, raising a cloud of dust.

"No door can stop us for long!" Daybreaker's ego surfaced once more for a moment.

"This is not yet the time to brag," Nightmare Moon sternly said. "Spike!" The dragon jumped from suddenly hearing his name in the rough voice. Nightmare Moon gave him his orders when he came running, "You will go inside first, together with my sister," and without giving him any further notice, she looked directly at Shadow. "Keep my sister and Her Majesty safe, My Shadow," she said in a softer tone. Shadow obediently nodded and took the filly by the shoulder.

"Come, young Miss," she beckoned, leading her closer to the Queen who was slightly shocked at what she just witnessed. "Your Majesty!" Shadow hailed her. The hippogriff queen glanced at her, the queen was afraid. "Your Majesty, we must go," Shadow gave the Queen a gentle nudge.

"N-no!" Sky Star resisted. "Twilight is my friend, I will not run away from danger like this!"

"Your Majesty, there is no danger," Shadow said very slowly and gently. "Mistress simply wants to remove civilians from the area, it is a standard procedure in emergencies." Despite her efforts, the Queen still refused to move. Shadow couldn't simply drag her along, this would be extremely inappropriate. After all, this was her own realm. So Shadow was left with only one option,
"Very well, Your Majesty. I shall handle your security here." But soon Shadow realized that nothing was coming to get them. There was no sign of battle or energy discharges. There was only silence. For the first time ever, Shadow felt how straining it could be. In all her years of covert service, as an assassin, a spy and even a maid, the ancient changeling hadn’t felt how heavy it could be.

Several minutes passed, Shadow was relieved to hear a distant argument, the royal sisters were alright.

"I think it is safe now, Your Majesty," Shadow said with a sigh.

"Can we look now?" Tiny asked, sounding bored already.

"Enough of these games," Sky Star snapped, pushing past Shadow and firmly trotting towards the only door still hanging upwards. Tiny gave Shadow an expectant look. The changeling yielded and beckoned the young Mistress forward.

The Queen reached the opening first but did not enter, she stopped just outside, covering her snout in silent shock. The Queen was no longer young, but she clearly wasn't too experienced either, Shadow quietly noted. Quickly catching up, Shadow peered inside and she quickly understood what exactly struck the Queen so much. The Princess was indeed inside, just as Sir said. Much more depressing, Mistress was correct as well, Princess Twilight was indeed in danger.

Twilight's laboratory looked like it was turned upside down by a tornado, the furniture and equipment were scattered throughout the room in various states. In the middle of the room, floating inside a shimmering orange circle, was the Princess herself. Her body hanging unnaturally vertically covered with glowing orange runes, her head thrown back, and her eyes and mouth shining with bright light. She was now much larger than the last time Shadow laid an eye on her, Shadow estimated she had to be just short of Daybreaker. It seems that her impressive size and power did not save her from whatever experiment she was conducting.

"Sister, we cannot simply pluck her out! You know as much!" Daybreaker passionately protested against some prior command from Nightmare Moon.

"What other choice do we have?" she answered more calmly. "The spell will no cease on its own, it is siphoning her strength. She will die if we keep her there."

"I could break the circle," Daybreaker suggested.

"Are you willing to take a bet on how much of her power it already accumulated? None of us might survive the discharge. But you are right, we cannot simply stick our hooves in there and push her out, lest we risk joining her."

Somehow, despite the situation, the sisters having an argument in a middle of an emergency served to soothe Shadow's nerves. It was as normal as a morning tide and promised swift resolution for the crisis,
"Watch, young Miss," Shadow said quietly, taking Tiny by the shoulder.

"Then, if you agree that we should not act rashly," Daybreaker began, her curiosity outweighing her passion for a moment, "what do you intend to do?"

"Why, sister, it is trivial. Use some of this debris to push her with. Truly, you seem to overlook simplest solutions, dear sister," Nightmare Moon said, sounding almost lighthearted.

"Is that your plan? To find a long stick and hit her hard enough so that she would fly out?" Daybreaker said in disbelief. "Nightmare, I have to say, your planning has degraded much since-"

"Sister!" Nightmare Moon stopped her before Daybreaker could fully begin her rant. "Don't hit her, of course, simply push her out! Use it to catch one of her legs and push! Sister, don't tell me you forgot how to use tools with all your years of spellcasting!" Daybreaker loudly sighed but protested no more. With Spike's help, she quickly found a splinter of wood large enough to reach the Princess while leaving something to hold it with. Nightmare Moon insisted that Daybreaker did not try to use her magic directly on Twilight. Then, the four of them reluctantly watched as Daybreaker tried and failed to find an angle from which she could push on the Princess' body with any force. Eventually settling on pushing her in the back, Daybreaker pushed the youngest Princess in the back with force. At first, she didn't move, her body firmly remaining in the air. Once Daybreaker applied enough force, the Princess slowly moved to the circle's edge. Eventually, one of her hooves poked out and Daybreaker seized the opportunity and grabbed onto the leg. With a sharp pull, the purple alicorn was free. The light ceased coming from her, but she remained unresponsive.

Spike immediately dashed to the place where Daybreaker was laying her down,
"Twilight!" he called. "Twilight, are you alright?" The Princess was still unmoving. Soon, a small crowd gathered around, although Daybreaker quickly lost interest and returned to the magical circle, still ominously glowing on the floor. Shadow quickly checked Alicorn's breathing and heartbeat, she was alive.

The time came to think about what to do next,
"She needs rest," Nightmare Moon declared, switching to her usual, cold, commanding tone. "Spike, take her to her quarters."

"Gladly," Spike picked his friend up with his enormous, clawed, but still tender hands. Yes, the Princess would be just fine with the dragon, Shadow didn't doubt a moment.

"Now, as much as we all would like to stay and wait for our dear Princess to recover, we will soon be missed," Nightmare Moon continued. "Your Majesty, you must station sentries until we know how to deactivate the spell. My Shadow?"

"Yes, Mistress?"

"Go with Sir Spike, we must know what exactly Twilight was doing here. This situation is deeply alarming even though we could diffuse it with no casualties, so far. As soon as she is better, you must report your findings," Nightmare Moon instructed sternly, unusually so. Even more unusually, no one moved.

"Sister, you sound almost scared," Daybreaker voiced everyone's thoughts.

Comments

[Batpony46]

Yay also Idk why but this chapter never apeard in my tracking box