Chapter 10
It was a foolish move for any experienced tactician to go head first into a situation without knowing the many unknown variables that could become potential problems. For instance, as Tempest gave the large earth pony butler her best scowl, that did not seem to bother him in the least, she had no idea who owned the house, what she was going to say to them, or what any of this would do when it got back around to Twilight. Which given the gaudy opulence of the entryway that might has well spelled out the words MORE MONEY THAN SENSE in gemstones, it most certainly would.
Still, (former)Lieutenant Flag Staff had been standing in front of this house and that set Tempest's deductive instincts off. Whether he came out of said house or because he felt a need to safeguard it and the owner she did not know, but it was a lead and Tempest needed any sliver of a lead she could sink her teeth into. If that meant an upset noble, then so be it.
The butler finally moved his dark, sunken eyes to take in the uniform armor Tempest was wearing. That better be all he’s looking at or someone is going to be missing a few teeth before this exchange is done. A moment later he let out a gruff huff.
“Duke Brand is in his study, but he did not mention any other appointments for today.”
Duke Gilded Brand, the senior council chairholder and speaker for the nobles of Canterlot, Tempest concluded, recalling the file Flash had given her on who to know amongst the nobility. This was as tippy top as it got. Yep, this could go bad very quickly. Still, too late to back out now.
“I need a few moments of his time,” Tempest said, taking a step forward, “And I wasn’t asking.”
The butler scowled again, but eventually turned and gestured for Tempest to enter, shutting the door behind her. “Follow me. Don’t touch anything. The moment the master says the conversation is over, it’s over and you will leave.”
Tempest had doubts they could force her out, but she was also not looking to lengthen her enemy list today. She wanted some answers and even a nugget of information could be skimmed out of a few minutes of reading body language and other cues especially when taken by surprise.
After a minute of walking, the butler knocked on a thick set of double doors and entered when a voice called out. The butler could be heard whispering something and returned seconds later. “You have two minutes then I will come collect you.”
Tempest nodded and entered the study. The door was shut after she entered, but not by the butler, by the room’s only other occupant. Standing next to the fireplace wearing a jacket that looked like it was made of black and purple silk was a pristine white unicorn. He was older than Tempest, middle aged, but not quite what most would refer to as elderly and yet still in fit shape. Such meticulous personal care and his attempt to be aloof was already telling the new captain a great deal about what kind of pony she was dealing with.
“Captain Tempest Shadow,” Duke Brand began, “Is there something I can help you with this afternoon? Excuse my bluntness, but I have a working dinner to host with the merchant’s guild in a little over an hour and as you can imagine personal time by oneself becomes a luxury that is hard to come by. Not something to be squandered.”
"Fine, I can do blunt, councilor. Over the course of the last day and a half I have been accused of murder, wrongly imprisoned, embarrassed by a junior officer who is now under criminal investigation, and had my personal armor stolen from me from within the guard’s own holding room. My prime suspect in instigating or at least coordinating these happenings is lieutenant, pardon me, FORMER Lieutenant Flag Staff, who, like I just stated, is now off active duty while I have him thoroughly investigated for his role in all of this. Why is this relevant and I am bothering you with it you ask? Well, in case you were unaware said former officer was found loitering outside your residence for no good reason while the rest of his squads are stationed about guarding the district. Any thoughts on this?”
Brand had a professionalism mask that rivaled Princess Celestia, or so Tempest had heard. He closed the book he had been holding, pretending to read, but Tempest had not seen his eyes skim back and forth or had he turned a single page. Lazily, the duke set the book down and shrugged.
“If the lieutenant is guilty of some crime I’m sure it will come to light, but I hardly see what that has to do with me personally just because he admires the outside of my home. It is also quite unbecoming and uncouth to air the guard's dirty laundry to a member of the council. It might make me have to call for an emergency session to reevaluate your budget.”
“Considering I already slashed the overall budget don't expect that threat to carry much weight with me. Back on topic, yes, he’s going to get his, I have a whole list of charges I will be bringing before a magistrate and the princess once I have all the paperwork in order… that is, unless he decides to flip on whoever is bankrolling his betrayal.
“See, I’ve already had a few spats and sparring matches with Flag Staff and he doesn’t have much of a back bone. With the right offer I can likely get him to tell me who paid him to falsify the arrest, dump the body of the pony who tried to bribe me days ago, and plant all those ‘stolen’ valuables that are now in EIS and guard possession. From what I’ve heard they even have the original ancient crown of the kings and queens of Unicornia. I've been told it will likely go to auction to pay off the cost of the insurance claims paid out for its 'theft'. I might bid on that myself to use as a paperweight on my desk once it goes up on the block.”
Finally, Brand stiffened and Tempest could see the hairs stick up as he flushed with anger. It took him several seconds to recover and collect himself before carefully analyzing what Tempest had told him. “You mentioned the body of a pony and that you had been accused of murder was it?”
He didn’t know about that? Wait, that means he has accomplices or lackies who don’t tell him everything.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss the fine detail of an on going investigation, but I will confirm that yes, a poor soul was found among the stolen items in the storage locker. Rest assured, I will find the killer and see that everyone involved is brought to justice.”
Brand nodded. “I see. Thank you, captain, but I have no new information for you. If I learn anything that could be of use I will send you correspondence or one of my couriers will inform you directly. Your two minutes are up. Good day to you.”
Tempest nodded and turned, letting herself out. The butler then showed her to the door and without a word slammed the door the moment her tail was clear. Tempest looked back at the house and smirked. She next turned her jade eyes to the surrounding buildings. “I think it’s time I got to know this district a little better.”
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The sun had set a few hours ago. The night was cool, but thankfully not bitter cold. If it was winter the entire plan would have required Tempest to build a shelter so they would not freeze to death. Instead, she had settled in on the rooftop of a mixed use office space building that also housed the griffon embassy. It was not ideal, but was within view of the front entrance to Gilded Brand’s estate. Granted, he could always sneak out the back or through a secret tunnel, but then honest people did not sneak out the back or need secret tunnels, did they? However, just for those reasons she had Flash do a flyby every now and then as if on a routine patrol to see if there was activity out of her line of sight. The orange pegasus just landed and sat down next to his captain, sparing a glance to see that the lights were still on inside the house.
“I’m not sure what we can accomplish by sitting here,” he said, popping one of the donuts pieces in his mouth that they had obtained earlier as ‘stakeout food’, washing it down with a bit of lukewarm coffee. “We can’t see him or what he’s doing.”
“We know he is still home, we know Blueblood is home on the second floor, there are at least seven staff and or security on premises, and more important than that I want to see who, if anyone, comes or goes. He dismissed me mentioning a working dinner yet no one else has arrived. It's well past time most of these stuck up plot lickers eat dinner. So far, only a few staff members have rushed out. Probably to deliver correspondence.”
Tempest glanced over to Flash. Technically, once again, he should have been off duty and once again he agreed to stay by her side with no regard to the personal time she had been stealing from him. He was making it increasingly difficult to keep her focus on the job at hoof and at the same time, he had also become hesitant to be goofy or flirty with her since he had seen… everything. Flash had tried to help her feel better about the scars, but… was it better or worse now? She could read body language of ally or enemy on a battlefield like a well written script, but friendship? Intimacy? She was as clueless as a schoolfilly. It was frustrating... worse, infuriating, and only made worse by her own body's desire for closer, personal contact with a desirable stallion. The silence was becoming uncomfortable and the gap between them growing by the second.
Tempest sighed and slumped down a bit. “Fine, I guess it's my turn." Flash quirked his head to the side, curiously. "My horn and the slash over my face and right shoulder were caused by an ursa minor when I was just a blank flanked filly in a village not far from San Franciscolt out west. You may have already heard that story or at least the short version.” Tempest took a shuddering breath then forced herself to meet his eyes. “Most of the small scars and patches were caused from different battles I fought and survived. Different edged weapons, fire, a few talon scratches that found the gaps in my defenses… but the bad ones… the burn on my flank and the… claw gashes that are on my back were caused by a dragon.”
“Damn, must have been a heck of a fight.”
Tempest snorted and grimaced. “That’s the worst part. It wasn't on a battlefield. The bastard worked for the Storm King too. It happened several years ago, before I had my ferronite armor. The ring leader, a satyr like the Storm King and a few others didn’t like ponies in general, but they thought I was getting too noticeable and gaining too much attention while they were getting overlooked. So, they distracted me, ambushed me from cover, and got an inhibitor on my… and…”
“Wait... did they…” He couldn’t say it, he refused to believe that a pony as powerful as her could be reduced to a victim of such a heinous crime. Worse, that she would have stayed with such a brutish horde following such a personal violation.
Tempest sighed again, glancing back to the house. The second floor had gone dark. “Only the dragon hurt me, the others just watched… and laughed. When I’m at my lowest I can still hear their laughing.” A tear escaped, but she made no effort to stop or hide it. It hurt, but at the same time it felt relieving to tell someone who would listen without judging. “I’m broken, Flash Sentry, I’ve been broken for a long time and somedays I get close to feeling whole again, but I don’t know if I ever will. Sometimes I feel like maybe being close to someone will help and sometimes I just wish I had jumped off a cliff. It's a difficult turmoil to explain if you have never felt... unclean. Truly disgusted with yourself.
“Anyhow, that’s where Vector found me, not far from his smithy just staring at the jagged rocks below. He heard what happened, eventually they all had, not that the Storm King was going to do anything about it or stop me from retaliating. At least not at first, but that's not important right now. Suffice to say they all believed the strong survived the weak were crushed. Vector was different though. He believed he was an agent of equality and took it upon himself to craft me a new set of armor from ferronite that was made just for me. As strong as dragon scales, magic resistant, comfortable, not like this thing I have on. Best of all, no strings attached. It was given freely and he went back to work like it was just another workday. But it meant everything to me. I felt powerful again, I felt alive again.”
“And the dragon who assaulted you?”
Tempest smiled for a second before it twisted into a grimace. It once gave her justified pleasure thinking about what she had done to him, but now it was just another body to her tally, another black mark on her soul. “He died very badly.”
Flash nodded. There was nothing he could say to such a revelation. She had just revealed what was most likely her deepest, darkest secret either for conversation’s sake, or because she felt he deserved to know. He was not sure why, but it had been a precious moment of vulnerability that she had entrusted him with. Flash was not sure how to feel about it so he just remained silent so he could digest it all.
Tempest twisted her ear when she heard a door slam. She glanced back to the house and found a cloaked figure leaving the Platinum Estate, a stallion most likely given the size of him. She was about to lean over the edge for a closer look when a shadow blocked the moonlight. Her eyes widened and her body tensed to react on instinct. A near deathly silent swoop passed over head.
Flash was taken down hard and fast, tripped up and thrown into Tempest before he could get a single word out. The captain caught the pegasus in her grasp to keep him from tumbling over the roof edge. Before she could drop him or turn to defend them both a heavy cloth or tarp was thrown over their bodies and the world disappeared into blackness. Tempest was about to light her horn when an armored hoof found her mouth in the darkness and applied pressure to her lips.
“Don’t make a sound or sudden move or their patrol will spot us.” Tempest did not recognize the voice, but it was definitely female and the hoof pressed to her face was stronger than expected. Focusing her power to the tiniest of sparks, Tempest’s horn took on an ambient glow. If the cloth blocked out so much light coming in it probably was safe to assume no faint light could escape either. It was then that her night vision eyes adjusted, barely making out their surprise assailant and her reflective purple thestral eyes under a lunar guard helmet.
“You should know you two are really bad at covert observation. You should have worn street clothes, blacked out the shiny armor, or better yet just wore nothing at all. It's not that cold. I can’t believe none of their mercs spotted you. If I was paying them I would be disappointed. That’s just bad customer service.”
“No offense,” whispered Flash, who was still mashed up next to Tempest tight enough to hear her heart pounding away rapidly, “but who exactly are you talking about? Guards would not question why other guards are, well, guarding.”
The thestral’s long, furry ears twitched and turned, her eyes closed as she focused on what was going on beyond their sight. After a few breaths she threw the tarp back and stepped away, doing a small circle before removing her helmet and securing it to her side. Two long, white pony tails with faint blue highlights tumbled out from where they had been secured. Now that she could get a good look at the bat pony Tempest could see that the lunar guard had powder blue fur and deep purple eyes that held a strong, condescending glare not unlike one she gave other soldiers who disappointed her.
“All the nobility have their own security that usually doubles as personal staff slash bodyguards, this is common knowledge. If they saw you skulking outside looking down on their employer you would have tipped your hoof that you were watching them.” The thestral paused her quickly spoken statement arching an eyebrow, her ears twitching a bit. “You must be the new captain, Tempest Shadow, considering the broken horn. Also, the armor you are wearing was the same one Quick Strike wore. Lieutenant Flanker sent us an update a few days ago on the appointment approval. I guess congratulations are in order.” Tempest scowled at the mention if her horn, but said nothing.
The thestral’s eyes next turned to the orange pegasus who was staring just a bit too long. “You are Lieutenant Flash Sentry. We haven’t formally met, but I had seen you around before I went on tour rotation. I recognize your features even in this light. You should probably stop eyeing me up and down like that though, I’m married. Plus, I’ll be honest, I would eat you alive in bed leaving you a grinning corpse.”
Tempest glanced to Flash who spurted and stuttered his wings extending and a crimson hue flushed his face even in the dark. Tempest rolled her eyes and turned back to the lunar guard who flashed a quick fanged smile as if to emphasize the point before her expression returned to flat and stoic.
“And you are?”
“Corporal Sugarcoat. You specifically requested my transfer back to Canterlot via a dragon fire message. I have to assume to carry out the mission you are currently not conducting very well.”
“A bit on the blunt side, corporal.”
“Sorry, not sorry, captain. I find no reason beat around the bush or play games when it comes to my job. Especially when you pulled me from guarding Mistress Luna without prior sending a replacement, which is standard procedure. You were either naïve to this or needed all the help you could get. Probably both.”
Tempest nodded. She actually appreciated the candor after having deal with more than a week of two faced nobles and dirty guards. “Long story short, corporal, there is corruption amongst the guard that I have suspicions runs all the way up to the nobles and council members. I just need evidence that they are involved and who the power players are. I was informed you were loyal and good at your job from a trustworthy source.”
Sugarcoat blinked twice. She reached up as if to adjust glasses that were not on her face. “I have to assume your source was an earth pony in the EIS?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm,” Sugarcoat twitched, her wings extending and then refolding. “That explains why you are out here. Sour Sweet has been chasing a theory on conspiracy and rot in the ranks for a while now. I guess it’s good she finally found some guards that will listen to her. Though her reasons for asking for me specifically are not entirely pure.”
“What do you mean?”
Sugarcoat stepped between the two guards and glanced over the edge. “I can explain that tomorrow morning. You two should probably turn in. I can tail Duke Brand without being seen better on my own and report my findings back to you when I check in at first light.”
“How do you know that was the duke who left?”
Sugarcoat glanced at Flash and prepared to takeoff. “The duke has a strong build for his age and a light cloak doesn’t hide it well unless it was too long and risks the possibility of stepping on said cloak. Plus, he wears platinum coated shoes that make a unique clink sound on the stones. Always has. You probably don’t have sensitive enough hearing for it, but it is easy for me to distinguish and follow, but I should not let him get too far away.” The thestral threw Tempest a quick salute before leaping off the building and flying away with barely a sound. Tempest would not admit it out loud, but she was highly impressed.
“Come on, let’s call it a night. There’s nothing else for us to do here.”
----------
He was tired of sitting around. Sure, he and his crew were getting paid regardless, but it was just so damn boring. He understood they had to be careful, most of his crew were wanted not only by Equestrian authorities, but he himself was sought for war crimes in more than one land for his treatment of creatures following the conquest of the Storm King. Slaughter and torture a few citizens and suddenly everyone thinks you are a monster, which he was. They did not even know some of the truly horrific things he had done or watched. The thoughts brought a twisted smile to his face.
An envelope was slid under the crack of the door of the barn he and his crew were hiding in. He watched through the gaps of the old wooden slats as the courier moved off as automatic as a machine. It was still early, they probably had other deliveries to make and did not have time or care to wonder why they were out here. The pony in charge of raising the sun, which ever one did that now, must have just finished up that’s how annoyingly early it was.
The scout had not killed the messenger before they reached the safehouse so it must have been from their employer. It was nice that they had provided his crew some accommodations. Not as nice as a Canterlot hotel or anything, but at least it was not a drafty cave or burlap strung up between a few trees. A roof was a roof when the night was cold that was for sure.
Slowly, the creature stood, his bones popping from sitting too long. Definitely been sitting too long, he thought, stretching his long, muscular, biped form. He walked over to the door and picked up the envelope. Carefully, he tore it open as to not completely destroy it considering how dainty it was in his massive claws. The creature took a moment to read it over and then crumpled it up and dropped it to the dirt.
It started as a chuckle, they eventually rolled into a throaty, deep belly cackle that woke the others in his crew that had been sleeping about.
“Good news, boys!” he bellowed. “The boss says we are on for tomorrow night.”
“’Bout damn time. Who we takin’ out?”
“The best target there is to have boys, business and a pleasure. So, rest up for a real fight because tomorrow we get to dance with our old friend, Tempest Shadow.”
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Hmm, who could've possibly met Sugaarcoat's no doubt monumental standards to earn her hoof in marriage?
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; )