My Most Faithful Mortifer

by hamishwarfare

Chapter. 18 – Calm Skies

Chapter. 18 – Calm Skies

The ornate wooden door was slammed open, hammering into the expensive panelling of a princess’s bedroom. So much force was applied to the door it would have been ripped from its hinges, were it not built with an alicorn in mind.

The powerful unicorn stallion took no notice; he continued his ponderous destructive pace. Thundering hoof steps were striking down on the polished wooden floor as a black smith would with their hammer upon the anvil.

With a predatory leap the white furred stallion launched himself at his target, burying his muzzle deep within the soft tender textures. He bellowed a war cry fill with both pain and frustration in equal measures, before tearing his face away. One of his forehooves was brought to bear and struck down again and again, the innards of his victim coming forth quickly and messily.

It was a gruesome sight, made even worse as the muzzle dove back into the stricken foe; where this time it stayed buried deep and getting covered in the delicate stuffing.

Noise was heard from the doorway, but if the predator took notice he did not show it; too busy in his own world of anger and frustration, the kill having done nothing to extinguish the burn of his emotions.

“So, has destroying one of our pillows calmed you down at all?” The voice was calm but filled with both understanding and frustration of its own. It has seen this alpha male rend the life out of a helpless inanimate object before and knows the answer.

“…No.” It was clear from the voice that he did not want to respond to his own alpha standing by the door; even muffled by the feathers and cloth that his latest victim was made out of. He knew not answering would get him nowhere.

There was a clear resigned sigh before the tell-tale noise of hooves calmly walking over polished hardwood could be heard. The noise was soon muffled as the prime alpha’s hooves transferred to the large plush rug that the king sized bed rested upon.

The whole surface he lay upon started to rock and move as his alpha climbed onto the firm, supportive surface. Still he did not remove his face from his quarry; though how the rest of his body was acting, it wasn’t hard for his wife to see that he was hurting. Forehooves covering his head, shoulders tense, even his tail was trying to hide between his legs –currently splayed out and resting flat against the duvet covering the mattress, much like the rest of him.

The softest of feather coverings blanketed his back, with it the calming sent that only one being in all of creation wielded. A hoofed limb followed the feather blanket, resting on his shoulders and giving him a gentle squeeze. These actions soothed the savage beast. These small affectionate actions told him that he wasn’t alone; that there was someone else feeling as frustrated as he was currently.

He let out a long suffering sigh into the beaten pillow.

“Come on Shiny. I know this investigation has not gone as you wanted it to go; but you shouldn’t take it out on the defenceless furniture.”

“Better a helpless pillow than antagonising Eye Spy or her team again.” The voice was muffled –Shining Armor still hadn’t pulled his face out of the beaten pillow– but it was clear it held the air of frustration. “I mean it’s been months; we’ve looked though all of the official records of every single orphanage in Equestria and cannot find a single trace of this Sunset Shimmer.

“What’s worse is that there is no consistency with the reporting. And it was all legal and hiding a much more immediate problem that needs our attention.” He finally takes his face away from the mutilated pillow to look into his wife’s loving eyes. His own furrowed brow relaxing more with every moment that passes, just looking into the eyes of his loving wife.

“I know Shining; I was there and saw it just as you did. That there have been so many different changes to their reporting paperwork in periods as small as a year; it really cannot mean their up to anything good. Eye Spy had no choice but to investigate these very questionable activities; the report is already in aunt Celestia’s hooves, along with a request for immediate assistance from the Royal Guard.

“Who knows, she may over rule our decision to change focus and bring us back to hunting down Sunset Shimmer’s background. But honestly I don’t believe so; these are just too blatantly questionable activities to ignore. Chuckle, who knew the downfall to so many nobles, would come from the hooves of orphans and their orphanages filling in adoption paperwork.”

Shining Armor did allow a small chuckle to escape his lips before his sour mood took over once more. His body was just as restless as before, but with his wife now present he could not take it out on the helpless pillows. He slipped out of her tender embrace and started to pace around the bed, his head shaking back and forth with the disturbing thoughts.

“Well, hopefully now Celestia will really see what we’ve both been trying to tell her. Geez, I can’t believe how big that number Eye Spy told us. At least five hundred missing colts and fillies throughout all of Equestria, spread out over the past twenty years. It’s a horrifying number.”

Cadance stood back up and joined her husband, stopping his pacing at the base of the bed that was large enough for a fully grown alicorn to rest upon.

“And those are just the new ones we’ve found out thanks to the initial findings of the investigation. Add that number to our own list of missing children, and the total is reaching into the six hundreds.” Cadance was starting to shake slightly, the quiver clearly heard in her own voice. “So many helpless children terrified, lost and probably alone out there. Oh, Shiny how could we have failed so many of them?”

It was Shining Armor’s turn to comfort his wife; bringing her into his strong forelegs, resting her head on his shoulder. “I don’t know, but the Nobles have a lot of explaining to do.

“It just felt like we were so close to restarting the hunt for her, and now this has popped up and no doubt delayed the search even more.”

Cadance simply hummed in agreement; her mind only half listening as she thought of all those young children being abandoned or lost in amongst the paperwork…lost or stolen?

“Shining, what if the missing orphans are not simply missing? What if they’ve been taken, stolen from what they knew?” She could feel Shining Armor tense up, his grip on her tightening and his breathing becoming steadily more ragged.

“What? Like what happened t, to Twily?” His grip on his alicorn wife was growing stronger still; holding onto her tighter than a pony desperately holds onto a life preserver. Small trails of smoke were beginning to rise up from his mane; his control slipping as the whiplash of emotions takes him in yet another direction. Cadance saw these warning signs and brought her wing up and wrapped it around him once more, using it to gently stroke his back. The trails of smoke were still there, but they did not appear to be getting any larger.

“Kidnappings are rare enough, rarer still th, that a filly is kidnapped. Now, we find all these other children missing, slipped through paperwork. What’s to say these events aren’t connected? Just like what you’ve been teaching me; I’m trying to find a motive to these strange occurrences?”

“If they’re both connected, then I may finally have a new angle to look for her.” Shining leaned out of the embrace a little; still holding onto his life line, but was now able to fully look into her eyes. Those tear stained portals to the soul had an ember of hope about them. “We might have finally found a new lead!”

He leaned in and kissed his wife with renewed life and passion. She returned it with a small hum of approval, before pulling out of it. “Now hold on, Shiny. This could be totally unrelated; it’s just a thought I had right this second.”

“Your right Cady, but still this is a legitimate connection that we have to keep in mind. Perhaps not right at this moment; but if things start to turn any more sinister, then it is something we can expand upon. Thank you Cady!”

Shining started to pull away, renewed determination pouring off of his frame; he was stopped, however, by the pink wings of his wife still wrapped around him. “Shining, you’ve been up for almost twenty hours now. Your emotions are everywhere and Eye Spy and her team are no doubt still angry at you for your outburst earlier. You need to stop and rest; maybe let out some steam.”

She was pulling him back towards the bed, her light blue magic working on the bed sheets, turning them down and removing the battered pillow. “You’ve been getting more and more worked up as this assignment has gone on; and now your emotions have whiplashed back to hope and happiness.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m the alicorn of love, I can see emotions. But I do not need those powers to see your left ear twitching, or feel the slight tremor travelling down your spine. Or that your mane is still emitting a small trail of smoke. I can read you like an open book and you, my dear husband, are going to have another breakdown unless you take some time to relax and calm down.”

With just the right amount of force; Shining Armor was launched into the air by the forehooves of his wife and sailed across the full length of the king sized bed. He landed with only a little too much force into the bed’s padded headboard, a gust of wind focused his mind before a pair of hungry lips claimed his.

“Why don’t you just sit back and let me help you unwind a little. Honestly, I could do with a little stress relief myself as well.” His wife’s magic aura activated once again and all the lights of the room were snuffed out. Shining Armor did not get much sleep that night, nor did his wife Cadance; though you’d not hear either of them complaining.

---

The sun rose over the small sleepy town of Ponyville; the sky was filled with patches of cloud and the wind was gusting with chilled air. Winter was very much around the corner today. Ponies of the town could be seen wearing a little more, trying to keep the chilled breaths of air off of themselves.

The market was set up and already serving the early risers of the town. It is where a fiery maned unicorn was browsing the stalls, though clearly waiting for somepony. She was one of the small number of ponies of the town who had not yet dived into at least some of her winter clothing.

“Howdy Sunset, don’t normally see you out and about this early. Did you forget to buy breakfast for you and your guests?” Applejack had just finished serving a smiling Mr. Carrot Cake –who waved with a “good morning” as he passed Sunset– and had now turned to the amber unicorn.

With a practiced flick of her hoof, Applejack sent an apple flying right towards the mare in question. As the apple flew through the air, it was surrounded by the unicorns raspberry coloured magic before any harm could befall the mare in question.

Sunset Shimmer took a generous bite of the apple; it was crisp and the flesh held a most satisfying crunch, before a small trail of juice trickled down her chin. She nodded in approval as she sent the required bits over to the blond maned farm mare.

“Morning Applejack; no I’ve think I have everything I need for my guests. They were still sleeping when I woke up, and not wanting to disturb them more than necessary, left after preparing some breakfast for them. Nothing too fancy; just some pancakes and toast with a pot of your zap apple jam. It’s all under a preserving spell to keep it all fresh and hot.”

“Not the jam I hope, Sugarcube. That jam curdles faster than milk on a hot day if it’s exposed to too much magic that’s not its own.”

“Don’t worry it’s not under the spell; it wasn’t hot so I didn’t bother. Actually I’m meeting Rarity and Fluttershy later for our weekly trip to the spa. I’m a little early, so to pass some time I’m doing the rounds of the market before seeing Rarity at her boutique.

“Have you ever thought of joining us? I can honestly say, as an athletic mare, that their sport’s massages do wonders. They’re not the most relaxing, but once you’re done, you feel soo much better. That and it’s a nice way for us to catch up. It’s a different experience than when you Rainbow and I get together for a run, or one of your Iron Mare contests. Or whatever party Pinkie Pie finds an excuse to invite us all too. What do you think?”

“I dunno, maybe once winter comes around and I’ve got a bit more free time on my hooves. But right now, with apple bucking season in full swing, I just ain’t got no time for a bit of pampering.” Sunset could see that Applejack was at least a little interested in the idea; but her duty to the farm clearly came first.

“Well, just keep it in mind. The day changes week to week to fit our schedules; so if you do have a free morning coming just double check it with Rarity. Also as I’ve said before, if you need a helping hoof on the farm –be it magical or not– just give me a shout.”

“As I’ve said I’ll keep that in mind. Now run along, you hear. You’re distracting me from my customers.” While it was said with a smile, there was just a hint of frustration appearing in her eyes. Sunset waved goodbye before trotting off to her next destination.

---

“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique; where everything is, oh Sunset good morning. I’m not late for our appointment, am I? I was sure I still had time.” Rarity was immaculate as always, regardless of a tape measure slung over her shoulders. Sunset honestly wondered why Rarity went through all the effort of tidying herself up, before going to the spa; where they stripped all of her work away just to apply their own polish.

“Morning Rarity; you’re not late, I’m a bit early. My guests were still sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb them so I came by ahead of schedule. I hope that is ok?” Sunset was presentable in her appearance, but her mane was a little dishevelled and her fur not quite up to the standard of the mare in front of her.

Rarity just smiled and led Sunset up the stairs to her work room. “Not a problem at all, darling. I was just doing some work on a few Nightmare Night costumes I’ve been commissioned to do.”

The two unicorn mares entered a large space covered in fabric of all colours and materials. A long work table by the room’s large double window held a few sheets of purple fabric, with chalk markings indicating places to cut.

“It is a little unusual for me to get commissioned for Nightmare Night costumes; but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both want to be princesses, and of course only the best for Filthy Rich’s little filly and her friend.

“Speaking of which, has the Mayor contacted you about helping out this year?” Rarities horn was glowing with her light blue magic, levitating a nearby pot of coffee and two cups over to her work station.

“Yeah she talked about it, but she’s already got all the volunteers she needs to escort the kids to the Nightmare statue. However she did ask if there was anything I could do magic wise to spice things up this year.” Sunset accepted the cup of coffee with practiced ease, before she started to add sugar.

“Well that sounds like a fantastic idea. Have you, giggle, conjured up any ideas for what you would do?”

“Well, you’ve got the standard spells for things like crating fog, making crow noises or even sending cold chills down ponies spines; but I feel like I should show off a little. Maybe I could animate piles of logs into Timber Wolves, or possibly enlarge a few spiders to web up the place? Oh, maybe I could make illusions of Nightmare Moon run about the place scaring everypony? What do you think, any of those sound good?”

“Well, that last thought may have some merit; perhaps even expand on the idea to include other myths like the Headless Pony for example.” Rarity gave a slight involuntary shudder at the thought of giant spiders running about the place. “Provided, of course, all these illusions are completely harmless and not so graphic that the little colts and fillies will have actual nightmares. Nightmare Night is meant to all be in good harmless fun.” Rarity blinked, “darling, are you sure you have quite enough sugar in your coffee?”

“Yes Rarity, thank you…unless you have any condensed milk? I’m not the biggest fan of coffee, too bitter, so I like to add a bit of sugar and even a little condensed milk to sweeten it up.”

“All right then. In future I shall remember to give you a cup of sugar so that you may add your desired amount of coffee to the cup, rather than the other way around. Though I do have to admit to be impressed with how, well, how much you have added without any of it spilling.” The sarcasm went right over Sunsets head as she delicately took a sip of her much sweetened coffee.

“So anyway, Sunset have you had a thought of what you’d like to dress up as? Perhaps dye your coat to those softer lavender colours you were wearing thanks to that dreadful Poison Joke flower incident? While the bat ears must have been a problem, the colours did look good on you. And of course those darker shades will certainly help you blend into the shadows more than your bright and striking mane and coat.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be doing any fur dyeing for my costume; I’m very allergic to most dyes I’ve put on my coat.”

“Oh my, even Goops All-Natural Dyes? They pride themselves of being totally natural and completely magic free.”

“It was their dye that I found out with. I got exposed to one of their month long dye’s as a filly; the next thing I know the worlds starting to spin before I find myself waking up in the medical wing. Don’t know what it is about those dyes in particular but they do not agree with me; the reaction was bad enough I’ve never even considered any other dyes since.”

“Oh dear, well I’m glad you had people around you who could help. I’m afraid I haven’t had anything nearly so traumatic as that happen to me, but–” whatever Rarity was about to say was silenced by the stampeding little filly unicorn barging her way into the work room.

“Rarity! I need your help! I can’t find my homework! I really did it this time. I spent hours last night doing it, but I can’t remember where I put it. Please! You gotta– Oh. Uhh, good morning Miss Shimmer. I didn’t know you were here.” It was quite the interesting sight for Sunset; seeing such an active and almost destructive force of nature suddenly becoming more timid than a rabbit.

Rarity, on the other hoof, let out a sigh of exasperation. “Excuse me a moment Sunset; I seem to be needed. Ok Sweetie lets retrace your steps last night and we’ll do it together.”

“But I’ve got no time! School’s starting soon! Can’t you write a note to Cheerilee saying that you saw me doing it?”

“Umm, perhaps I can be of assistance?”

“While that’s very kind of you Sunset, you do not know the layout of the carousel like we do and I suspect this might take some time.”

“Or, if Sweetie Belle can remember what it looks like I can use Scrying magic to help find it.”

Hope was blossoming within the young fillies eyes. “Yeah I remember exactly what it looks like! How are you going to do this magic.” The stampede started up once more and launched itself toward the amber unicorn; thankfully stopping before they collided.

“Well close your eyes and focus on your homework; get a good mental image of it. Can you picture it?” the filly nodded. “Good, now I’m placing my horn on your head, but keep that image of the homework in mind. Now I’ll just add a little magic; and voila.” Almost as soon as Sunset powered up her horn, sheets of paper appeared floating above her glowing horn’s tip.

Sweetie Belle’s eyes snapped open; there it was, floating just a little above her head and held in place by a raspberry glow, was her homework.

“THANKYOU!” Sweetie pounced and wrapped her hooves around in the gentlest headlock Sunset had ever experienced. It was over before Sunset knew it, as the small filly snatched up her homework in her mouth and ran back out of the room.

“Well that was very kind of you, Sunset. I suspect you’ll be one of her favourite adults for some time thanks to that trick. But goodness is that the time; I’ve got to drop off Sweetie at her school.

“Sunset, why don’t you accompany us? After we’ve dropped off Sweetie Belle we can go pick up Fluttershy from her cottage. A brisk walk to and from Fluttershy’s cottage will no doubt pass enough time for our scheduled appointment with Lotus and Aloe. And while you no doubt get all the exercise you need, a brisk morning walk will certainly do me some good.” A walk actually sounded good to Sunset right now; she was getting a little fidgety for some reason.

Sweetie Belle appeared quite happy to be escorted by both Rarity and Sunset, so much so she pranced on the spot a little before catching herself. With the two porcelain white unicorns dressed in stylish scarves to help ease the winds chill, the three of them set off into the bright, if gusty, day.

---

With a mouth splitting yawn, revealing teeth no pony wanted to see, Spike untangled himself from the covers of his temporary bed. It wasn’t the greatest bed he’d ever slept on, but it was clean and the duvet was comfortable enough. Rubbing the sand out of his eyes, the sight that lay before him was a little bit of a surprise. There was breakfast waiting for him.

Due to the library only having a single bedroom, his host had graciously offered the room to Trixie. At first it was meant to be for both himself and Trixie, but that idea was changed when Sunset Shimmer saw that he was a guy and Trixie was a girl. Instead she rearranged the furniture of her living room before teleporting down the makeshift bed she had set up for him; landing it nicely in front of the cast iron log burner where her couch used to be. That was pushed back to the space between the writing desk and the built in book shelves behind his bed’s position.

It was strange sleeping in such a quiet place; Canterlot always had something going on, even in the early hours of the morning it was quite possible to hear ponies walking past. But here, in Ponyville, there wasn’t any of that. The night was as peaceful as sleeping in the castle. More so actually because there wasn’t even the sound of patrolling guards plate mail to disturb the silence. It took a while to fall asleep thanks to that.

Spike appreciated and enjoyed his bed a little too much but normally if somepony came into his room, he’d hear them moving about; triply so if they were carrying a plate of freshly made pancakes near his sensitive nose. But here somepony had walked past him, made breakfast for them all and then left again; all the while without disturbing him in the slightest.

‘Man, Sunset Shimmer can be really quiet when she wants to be.’

He walked over to the main table by the large window and indeed saw breakfast waiting for him. There was a small pile of pancakes and toast along with a pitcher of orange juice, a pot of tea judging by the smell, some maple syrup and a jar of a very interesting substance.

“Hey, how does she have a pot of Zap Apple Jam? That stuff’s almost impossible to get a hold off.”

“Yawn, morning Spike. What’s got you so excited this morning?” Stumbling down into the living area of the library was his latest friend Trixie Lulamoon; wearing a pair of almost childish looking set of pyjamas covered with images of sleeping ponies. Surprisingly her mane was in very good condition, considering it was clear she had just woken up as well.

“Somehow, Sunset Shimmer’s got a hold of a jar of Zap Apple Jam for us to have with breakfast.” That news brought life back into the still sleepy mare.

“Really?! Doesn’t that stuff cost a small fortune back in Canterlot?” she trotted over to see if it was true or not. Spike had already opened the jar and had taken a deep sniff of the contents.

“Oh yeah, that’s Zap Apple Jam. I’ve not had this since the last time Princess Celestia got some for the castle. See, even the label’s right, ‘Filthy Rich presents Sweet Apple Acres Zap Apple Jam’ right here with their fancy labelling and everything. There’s no way this could be a fake.”

“Well, there’s only one way to properly find out.” Trixie’s magic brought over a knife as well as a piece of the rustic toast, before spreading a generous amount over the top. As the rainbow coloured compote was spread over the lightly toasted piece of bread, tiny sparks of coloured magic were emitted as the individual stripes were place onto the toast. Every single stripe was still individual and separate when the knife finished its task; exactly as it should be.

The final test; a big indulgent bite.

“No doubt Spike, that is Zap Apple Jam. The big question now is how did a librarian get a jar of it; these things are expensive. Oh well, let’s not look at that gift horse in the mouth,” and with that she grabbed another piece of toast as well as a few of the pancakes and tucked in. Spike was right behind her.

The breakfast dwindled down between the two of them and they discussed what the plan was for the day; until Spike came to a startling conclusion. “Wait, the Zap Apple Jam comes from Sweet Apple Acres, right? Well, I was reading a book on the history of the town last night; donated by the Apple family.

“What if that’s were Sunset Shimmer got the Jam from? What if Sweet Apple Acres is here in Ponyville? It’d give us a reason why Princess Celestia likes this town; and if they are here I’d certainly put them in charge of catering, if the rest of their stuff is as good as this jam.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Spike. We’ll go to Town Hall and get that confirmed first, as well as information for decoration, music and whatever else we’ll need the town to organise. But your right, if Sweet Apple Acres is here I am completely on board with them handling the catering.”