Libero

by Discombobulated Soul

Knight Breaks

Darkness.

He found it a not altogether unfamiliar feeling, and in fact quite enjoyed the removal of light. He was named after darkness, after all, despite how nonsensical that was, considering his coat's color. Darkest rather liked the black, finding it a consoling presence that served to relax and relieve his mind. The emptiness distracted from the horror of his life, offering reprieve and solace in a form he could scarcely find elsewhere.

Silence.

The quiet brought peace to Darkest, who smiled as he continued to detect nothing but it. There was an utter lack of stimulation in this place, wherever it was. Even his thoughts possessed nothing but commentary on that fact. All told, this situation was as calming and peaceful as could be; a limbo of sorts where he could simply exist and do nothing else. So why is it that I feel a prevailing sense that something is amiss?

Sound.

As far as deaths go, the reticence's was not an altogether noticeable one. It was broken only by the soft sound of sobbing, which emerged from somewhere behind the unicorn. Darkest's ears twitched and trembled before he slowly moved his head to face that direction, spotting a figure in the far distance.

Upon sighting this shape, the colt felt a distinct sense of familiarity. He soon knew why.

In an instant, the form that had been so very far away was there, just before Darkest. This caused him to let out a small gasp as he instinctively stepped back. With the newfound proximity came the ability to better observe the figure, which heaved and tensed occasionally as it continued to weep.

Its dark purple coat was painted in splotches of red, spread randomly throughout its small body but most prominent in its tail and hind section. It was curled into a tight ball, covering its head with its tiny hooves, though not sufficiently that Darkest was prevented from seeing the abnormally-long horn adorning it.

Lastly, the figure's name was Dark Night, though Darkest knew not where he had gathered that information from.

Hoofsteps to his immediate left made the colt turn there, enabling him to see yet another pony come into being mere feet away. Darkest's eyes bulged when they made contact with the newcomer's, which formed into a glare when he spoke with great trepidation.

"Knight...?" The new pony was an exact carbon copy of Darkest, with the same proportions, size, and coloration that he possessed. Knight even carried himself in a near-identical defensive slouch, though his was even more pronounced than the former's. Knight was scowling at Darkest with more intensity than he'd ever been known to show, which served to make the present situation even stranger.

Darkest was taken aback at first, but speedily became more indignant and confused as he studied his surroundings, giving a raised eyebrow to his mental partner. Knight is the last force I should be frightened of! It is indeed time I received some answers.

"Knight...what is happening at the moment? Where in the wide world of Equus are we located? How is it that you are standing before me?" But the white colt only glowered harder, trembling with what had to be anger instead of fear, for once. Knight spoke, with an altogether disgusted curl to his lips present as he did so.

"Darkest. You've messed up."

The unicorn in question spluttered in disbelief, taking a few steps toward his partner, who stood firm, unmoving. A sidelong glance at the purple form a few feet away revealed it also doing so, having not changed in its actions whatsoever. It looked excessively pitiful, laying there in such a helpless position. What was more, it could not have been more than half Darkest's size, likely only as tall as his hocks standing up. The colt shook his head lightly and returned his attention to his other, giving him a deadpan expression.

"Really, Knight? I did wrong? And who was it that rampaged through two separate cities, assaulting royalty in the process? I seem to have forgotten, so would you be so kind as to remind me?" Knight did not visibly react to this jab, save for a barely-noticeable growth in his incensed squint. Darkest scoffed in response, gesturing vaguely with a foreleg as he stared straight into his twin's white eyes. "I am not the one who killed a pony, Knight. That was you."

This seemed to get through to Knight, whose grimace took on a more pained quality as he finally averted his gaze, dipping his head slightly in a show of remorse. Darkest's triumphant grin was only present for a split second before it faded away, replaced by a puzzled expression as he once more regarded the purple foal.

"That's us."

Darkest blinked in nonunderstanding upon hearing Knight's pronouncement, both white colts having taken to studying the smaller, more vibrant one.

"It's us...before SHE did HER things."

Darkest coughed awkwardly, giving a look of pure apprehension to his double, whose expression appeared as a mix of various emotions. Darkest opened his muzzle to let out a retort, but was speedily interrupted by-

NO! BAD THINGS! EVIL WARM BIG PONY BAD THINGS!

He dove for cover as the intense screaming filled his pinned ears, coming from everywhere yet nowhere at once. Darkest lit his horn to form a protective barrier about himself. Seconds passed with nothing but silence, and Darkest tentatively lifted his hooves from his face to observe the outside world. It was still black, with that same tiny foal sobbing in a ball and Knight still standing, unmoved. Knight pursed his lips in an impatient expression as he lit his horn, the barrier falling away soon after.

"That was what SHE did to me. To us."

Darkest creased his brows, now feeling quite distressed as the situation became increasingly less sensical.

"Knight, what are you talking about? Who is this 'she' you speak of? I do not comprehend your words!" Knight shook his head in agitation, beginning to pace the area as those words' vigor intensified.

"You've messed up, Darkest! SHE has us now! You took us straight into HER hooves!"

The purple-coated foal spoke up then, but did not shift position, speaking in a blubbering, tear-strained and high-pitched voice.

"NO! BAD! PLEASE NO!"

"What is happening?!" Darkest demanded, anxiously eyeing his surroundings in search of whatever nonsensical voice would scream next. The blackness of the world they had found themselves in was beginning to brighten, turning into a dark grey, then lighter grey, then approaching white.

"We'll wake soon. We need to go. Get back to our friends."

"Leave?? But I do not even know where I am!" The space's coloration shifted to white immediately after Darkest's pronouncement, leaving the only stimulation that of the echoes of screams and hysterical cries as everything else faded away until...

---

Darkness.

Darkest took heaving breaths as he stood from his laying position, spinning in place to observe his new surroundings. There was black, yes, but its was not nearly so perfect as that which came before. Besides from that, the colt could detect a highly strange shifting motion, as though the ground itself was rocking on its hooves. Finally, he heard the faintest hint of trickling rain from somewhere in the distance, as well as the occasional sharp crack of thunder.

Strange. I do not usually have the opportunity to be in control after awakening. But Darkest took only a moment to appreciate the novelty of this before focusing on the matter at hoof. He turned in place a few times, taking especial notice of what small sections of the room were illuminated by the flecks of light coming from what seemed to be a closed door.

"Hello, Darkest."

The colt jolted sharply, his eyes bulging as the most exotic voice he had ever heard greeted his unprepared ears. What...in the name of all that is good in this world is her accent?! What was more, the words seemed to come from everywhere at once, reverberating in a manner such that he could not locate their source. Hoofsteps then began to echo throughout the chamber, each one far enough apart from the other that it suggested quite a sizable individual.

It's HER!

NO!

BIG PONY!

What on Equus are you speaking of?! Darkest mentally demanded, his breathing increasing in pace as his thoughts became more and more scattered.

We need to leave. NOW!

"Who...are you?" Asked the colt, his usual eloquence all but staunched entirely by his confusion. The voice chuckled deeply, though he received an inexplicable impression that it belonged to a female.

"I'm not surprised you don't remember me. That was the whole point, after all."

Her words were silken, her tone amiable^__even affectionate^__in a strange sort of way. There was nothing about the voice to so much as suggest a hint of anger or other dangerous emotions. It was even comparable to that of Fluttershy's, though the accent rather hindered the resemblance.

So why was every hair on Darkest's coat standing on end? Why were Knight and whatever other creatures residing in his head sent into a raving frenzy from hearing her speak?

DARKEST! GET! OUT!

The unicorn clutched at his head as a sharp pain flared within it, grimacing in reaction. He still saw it, though: A small flash of white, emitting from a few feet to his left.

"Aww, is your little head giving you some trouble? Here, let me help, so we can have a little chat."

Silence.

Well, mental silence, at the very least. Darkest breathed a sigh of relief as the headache cleared, lowering his hoof to the ground. He coughed a few times, tentatively waiting for something else to batter his psyche, but felt relieved when the peaceful silence continued.

"Er...thank you, miss. May I ask your name?" The unicorn asked more out of obligation than anything, anxiously searching for any trace of her figure. Clearly, something is not right, here. I must conduct myself with due caution. Channeling mana into his horn created a dim light that revealed his immediate vicinity, though nothing of note was in it.

"My...compatriots...call me 'Colza'. I admit, it is rather on the nose, but it should suffice for now."

Darkest's face scrunched, but he decided to let the matter go. There were far more important things to be worried about, such as just where the nearest exit was, as well as what Colza had done to silence his racing thoughts. The colt began stepping carefully forward, searching for the door he had seen earlier while warily watching for any signs of danger. He stumbled as the ground gave a sudden lurch, frowning as an errant thought made its way to the forefront of his mind. Am I...moving? In some manner of vehicle?

"I must say, Darkest, I'm very happy to see you again. You were so little when last we met."

The white unicorn twisted his head wildly in attempts to pinpoint her location, but Colza's voice seemed to bounce everywhere and remained impossible to track. From the corner of his eye, he saw yet another flash of white light emitting from his left, rather high up as well. Darkest spun to face that direction, his hooves dragging across the carpeted floor as he backed away from it.

"Knight recognized you, yet I do not. This is not usually the case, seeing as we are the same pony. Do you happen to know why?" Darkest's voice quivered as he spoke, his eyes frantically darting every which way in attempts to spot that white flash again. This blasted darkness! If I could just see what is happening, I would be significantly better off.

"Of course I know, my colt. I made Knight, after all."

This made Darkest freeze in his tracks, his jaw dropping straight to the floor as he stared blankly into the distance. Colza giggled, the heavy hoofsteps resuming as she continued to speak.

"You were such a spry little thing. Highly disobedient, always making escape attempts, outsmarting all of Broken's workers on the daily."

An acute sense of dread formed in the pit of Darkest's stomach and he found his backpedaling increasing in speed as the feeling persisted, growing stronger with each word the mare spoke.

"Broken knew that his^__admittedly considerable^__skills weren't enough to take you on. You were just too smart, persistent, and adorable for him to work with, despite his efforts. So, he called in a favor."

Pressure began building up in Darkest's skull amid another white flash, spots appearing in his limited vision as his rump made contact with a solid wall. The ground lurched again, sending him crashing to the floor and scrambling to stand once more, all but hyperventilating now.

"I made some changes to your self. Improvements, to be sure. The perfect white you are now is much better than the ugly purple you were before. You should thank me and my magic for that."

Darkest slipped on a piece of fabric, slamming to the ground once more as all sense of equilibrium was lost amid the floor's indecisive shifting. Further observation of the fabric under his dim horn light revealed it to be a blanket, one embroidered with pictures of animals and happy ponies. A foal's blanket, to be sure, though Darkest did not have much experience with those.

"I took away all the naughty stuff. I do so love to reshape destinies, after all. Your cutie mark is from me, did you know that? It was probably originally going to be much different, but that wouldn't suit anycreature's needs at all."

The night of the Gala! Darkest realized amid the faint screaming beginning to re-enter his mind and the rapid white flashes he was starting to recognize as a strange form of magic. Knight was spluttering all sorts of nonsense about 'big ponies' and 'taking'. It was what got me captured by HIM!

"Your deepest instincts, impulses, will to survive, what have you. I had a field day rearranging it all to make your mind simply perfect. Well, that and the other...activities...we got up to together, which certainly helped my efforts."

Finally, Darkest stood up and took off to the direction he thought was where the door was and smashed straight into another wall and that was painful but there was no time to focus on that because he had to leave and go somewhere else and find his friends and it was getting hard to think and breathe and live and why were there so many flashing lights-

"And look! Now we're together again! Aren't we, Knight?"

NO!

NO!

NOO!!

Knight tried to scream. Knight couldn't scream, something was stopping it. Knight lit his horn, channeling his mana faster than he ever had before in his ten years of life. Knight couldn't cast a barrier.

Something was stopping it.

"Silly Knighty. We're on an airship, you know. It's called the Invincible Wraith, and it's the finest ship Saddle Arabia has ever produced."

Knight tried to form a shield. To keep him safe. To stop HER from HER things.

WHY WON'T IT WORK?!

"Because we're moving forward at a really fast rate, Knighty! And you need to concentrate on one spot in order to make shields, isn't that right?"

The space around Knight kept changing. Moving backwards faster than he could bring anything into reality. Like a train, but even faster.

"Of course, Darkest would be smart enough to form shields in front of him, but you were never that bright, were you, Knighty? That's what I love about you."

NO! GO! NOW!

I NEED SHIELDS!!

BIG PONY!!!

"Now then, let's have some fun, shall we? I have some things I need to see to."

Light flooded the bedroom as the switch was flipped. Knight saw HER face. Blue, big, and grinning mischievously.

Seductively.

Mutilate.

"I think I'll start with that nasty little charm you're under. Sound good? Good."

Knight screamed.

---

Where is he?

The cream-coated mare darted through the streets of Ponyville, scanning every possible location and hiding spot as she went in search of somepony in particular.

The highly suspicious character had vanished suddenly from her careful watch some minutes prior. The mare had been worried, but tried to reassure herself with the knowledge of how many other ponies there were around. This was not to even speak of Rainbow Dash, an Element of Harmony and capable martial artist in her own right, who had been escorting the pony around.

The interaction with the suspicious equine had been unnerving, sure, but Special Agent Sweetie Drops had seen far worse.

Now, though, her carefully-maintained emotions were beginning to slip through the cracks due to one simple fact:

Neither Dash or Darkest were anywhere to be found.

What was more, nopony knew where they'd went, so far as Sweetie had gathered.

So there she was, galloping through the many crevices in Ponyville, desperately trying to bite back the anxious feeling that something was horribly, terribly wrong.

There!

Tracks. Non-cloven, recent. About five inches wide. Small traces of pinkish sand where the frog would be.

Sweetie Drops knew tracks. She could read them like books. She also knew from several excursions there that nearly all Saddle Arabians ritually coated their hooves in a magical saltlike substance rather than wear horseshoes. Apparently, such a course of action held an array of health benefits for one living in a desert, but that wasn't what the agent was focused on at the moment.

Bingo.

The earth pony followed the tracks in their winding path through several less-used alleys, her nose nearly touching the ground as she squinted to see them in the fading light. They beelined straight for another section of the town, weaving around areas the mare knew were often more populated. Abruptly, though, they disappeared right after signs of conflict in a wider portion of the alley, but their nonexistence was hardly the most notable thing about the area.

"Rainbow Dash?!"

The cyan pegasus groaned, her eyelids fluttering softly as Sweetie's hushed exclamation reached her twitching ears. Dash seemed to just barely be awakening, likely from unconsciousness caused by blunt-force trauma, if the swollen lump on her head was any indication. The agent lunged forward, gently pulling the prismatic-maned mare to her hooves while scanning the area for any other clues as to what occurred there.

There were a million and one questions running through Sweetie's mind, but her trained discipline bade her ask the one of highest importance first.

"Dash, where's Darkest?" The pegasus coughed dryly, gagging slightly as she smacked her lips together a few times.

"Whuh?" The agent wanted to roll her eyes, but the exponentially increasing sense of urgency she was feeling made her do otherwise. Sweetie deliberately clutched the Wonderbolt's shoulders, pressing their noses together to stare directly into her dazed cerise eyes.

"Rainbow Dash, Darkest. Knight. Where is he?" The cyan mare blinked blankly a few times before her gaze abruptly sharpened and she pulled away, rubbing the lump on her head with a forehoof.

"I...uh...told him to stay put near A.J.'s stand while I took care of something. Why? Is he not there anymore?" Sweetie stamped down the urge to prance in an anxious circle, merely frowning instead as she bowed her head to search for some other clues.

"You were supposed to take care of him! Why did you leave your post?" Dash blinked rapidly, giving the agent a raised eyebrow and puzzled frown.

"My 'post'? Bon Bon, this is Ponyville! What could possibly happen?" The cream-coated mare froze in shock, staring blankly at the clueless pegasus before her.

Did...she really just say that?

"Dash, what's the last thing you remember?"

'What the buck has gotten into your thick, dumb skull?' Was the question she wanted to ask, but Sweetie knew to be more productive in her questioning than that. Rainbow Dash scoffed, casually waving a foreleg around in a vague sort of gesture as she retorted impatiently.

"Well, I was about to go knock some sense into that little menace of a filly named Sweetie Belle, 'cuz I'd finally heard where she'd crawled off to after getting her miserable rump handed to her." The agent nearly let her jaw drop in pure surprise, but kept her visage in a careful neutral as she internally processed this information.

Dash really isn't herself right now. Could it be leftover effects from being knocked out? This seems too drastic for that. "Well, I was taking a shortcut through this alley when this blue lady just up and jumped me! She swatted me out of the sky like some sort of beanpole!"

Suddenly, several things clicked into place in Sweetie's mind and she leapt to her hooves, nodding to herself as she made the last connections. Of course: Saddle Arabian sorcery, renowned for its mind-bending powers. Still a form of magic, though, so if there was just somepony who could track it to its source...

"We need to find Twilight. Now." Dash jumped slightly upon hearing her stony proclamation, taking to the air with a few errant flaps of her wings. The pegasus opened her muzzle to respond, but Sweetie Drops was already sprinting into the streets at full tilt, leaving her to trail aimlessly behind, likely still quite confused about the situation.

There: Just ahead. She wasn't Twilight, but time was short enough that Starlight would have to suffice. We might be too late by now. That creep could have taken Darkest several miles away just walking at this point, considering her height. We gotta hurry.

Starlight Glimmer (Professional therapist, fellow friend to Darkest Knight, highly adept magic user capable of long-distance teleportation) was oddly enough the only other pony to be seen anywhere nearby. What was more, though, was that the unicorn hardly seemed surprised when Sweetie Drops came skidding to a halt in front of her, instead taking a few steps forward.

"Bon Bon! Did you feel it, too? I think something’s wrong with Darkest, but I don’t know what it is. Do you know where he’s at?" The cream-coated mare shook her head in impatience, leaning forward to make direct eye contact while ignoring her pounding heart and fast breathing.

"Starlight, Darkest has been foalnapped by a blue-coated Saddle Arabian mare who was spotted in town earlier. You need to track her magical traces so we can get him back. Now."

Whether it was due to the high stress of the situation or whatever other factors, the command came out resembling a mission report from the agent's days of active duty. Still, it got the point across, and Sweetie watched as Starlight made the very same connections she had in the span of a second. Both mares' ears twitched as they heard a dull thud from the ground to their side, both turning to glance at Dash, who had collapsed to the floor in a pile of disbelief.

"What!?"

They ignored the dumbfounded pegasus, though, and Starlight gave a resolute nod after processing the information in a downright admirable span of time.

"Which street are we going to?" The unicorn asked, her horn lighting with a brilliant cerulean glow. The agent was quick to relate to her the exact coordinates, and with a flash of intense magic the three were back in the alley. Starlight immediately set to work on casting whatever spell was needed to trace exotic magical signatures, her horn occasionally letting out a deep thrum of pure power. It's a hard spell, that much I remember.

"This way!" Starlight called out before turning and galloping full tilt through several other back alleys, the newly-recovered Rainbow Dash quickly following suit, with Sweetie Drops right on her tail. They passed groups of civilians on the way, some of which seemed highly concerned and about to ask why they were sprinting so fast, but there was no time for any of that. I doubt they'd be able to help much, anyway. Not with this.

The inexplicable sense of urgency was now shared by all three mares, such that Dash evidently grew tired of Starlight's slower unicorn pace. To the unicorn's credit, she merely let out a small snort upon being hoisted up and shifted straight from leading the way to pointing with her horn rather seamlessly.

Sweetie Drops tapped into her carefully-curated mana pool, magically increasing her pace so to keep up with Rainbow's flying. The three continued like that for a sizable length of time, eventually making their way out of Ponyville and into the grassy hilled that bordered it.

Abruptly, Starlight gave a mighty spasm, nearly making Dash drop her as she clutched at her horn. Sweetie once more skidded to a halt as the pegasus came in for a landing , worriedly eyeing the blinking unicorn, who rubbed at her head as the magic around her horn faded away.

"Whew. There's...a lot more magical residue in this area, for some reason. I'm almost getting the feeling that something...massive was here." Upon hearing her words, the agent set to work, easily identifying countless hints as to what was once in that same spot.

Flattened grass, pressed down by a force so great that it was only now beginning to spring up again. Small piles of tossed dirt, suggesting some form of anchor. Finally, those traces of pink sandy material were concentrated in one area, having permanently burned into the grass from whatever reaction occurred with it.

"An airship. One of their bigger ones, as well. Can you track its residue through the air?"

Rainbow Dash took off, pumping her wings with incredible speed as she beelined in a chosen direction. The impulsive pegasus didn't get very far, though, letting out a shout as Starlight telekinetically grabbed her tail and brought her back. Dash flailed madly, snarling at the unicorn with a great scowl adorning her features.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!? WE NEED TO GO AFTER THEM!" Dash screamed from her spot upside down in the air. Starlight's expression was of patience and understanding, yet a resolute firmness as well that Sweetie couldn't help but appreciate.

"And that's exactly what we're doing, Rainbow Dash. But first, we need to find out just where they went." The pegasus huffed angrily, but thankfully stayed put when Starlight released her, hovering anxiously in the air. The unicorn charged her horn once more, her face screwing up in concentration as she took a few steps away.

"You guys don't get it! Do you know how fast airships travel? They could be hours away by now! I'm the only one who can catch up to them!" Sweetie pursed her lips at this, running the situation over and over again in her head as she calculated the different outcomes.

"Yes, but you'll never be able to take on all of them by yourself. We may need to call for reinforcements." Nopony liked that suggestion, least of all Sweetie Drops, but it was speedily becoming the only option they had. Suddenly, though, Starlight's visage lit up and she turned to the other two, her horn now blazing with an overglow.

"I have an idea! Dash, your Sonic Rainboom is tied to your mana, correct?" At the pegasus' impatient nod, she continued, excitedly switching her gaze between the two of them. "Then all you need is more mana! Bon Bon and I are happy to donate, and you might even have enough to carry the both of us!" Dash's face screwed up in consternation, and the agent found her own scrunching in a similar expression as well.

"Not that I'm opposed to the idea, but would that even work?" Starlight practically beamed in answer to the earth pony's question, her horn's spiral beginning to light up with a bright off-white glow.

"Of course it'll work! I just need to alter the mana slightly. Bon Bon, your hoof?" The mare in question held up her foreleg with no small amount of hesitance, watching with a raised brow as the unicorn's horn continued to flare with intense magic. The waves of power were getting so strong that corresponding ripples were appearing through everypony's coats, their manes and tails flapping in the arcane breeze.

Then, the agent felt it: The mana she had so rigorously maintained and trained with was leaving her body in a steady trickle, coloring the air around her hoof with a light tan aura. She resisted the powerful urge to leap away and clench every muscle in her body in response to the alien feeling, instead remaining stock still as the unicorn worked her literal magic. I can do this. For Darkest. I've been through much worse.

Mana from both non-pegasi flowed into Rainbow Dash, whose eyes widened as she felt the raw power enter her system. The process took all of several seconds, after which Starlight stumbled, wobbling on her hooves and shaking her head wildly.

Without another word, the two non-fliers were swept up by the pegasus, who was beginning to glow in several places, her wings especially. Sweetie Drops found herself balancing on Dash's back, watching with wide eyes as ethereal blue mist formed into two giant wing extensions, doubling the wingspan of her speedster friend.

"Which way?"

The agent ducked down against Dash's withers, wrapping her forelegs around her neck in preparation for the intense speed to come as Starlight's lilac hoof pointed to the southeast from her spot in Dash's forelegs. Sweetie gasped as she felt a different kind of magic flood the immediate area.

Pegasus magic, at its very finest. Specifically designed to disobey the laws of thermodynamics and motion, as well as physics in general. Rainbow Dash's mana in particular had been so finely-tuned by her constant flight practice and special talent that she was able to break the barrier holding sound itself. With even more of that mana to spare, she would have no issue doing so, even while carrying two grown mares as well.

Special Agent Sweetie Drops tried to prepare herself for the wild ride ahead, but was ultimately still intensely taken aback by the raw speed with which they traveled. Even still, one thought remained present in her mind.

I'm coming, Darkest.

She could only hope it wouldn't be too late when they arrived.

---

"And just where, exactly, are we?"

Stormy Night whipped her head around to scowl at her ignorant husband after hearing his question, motioning with her hoof in a classic 'quiet down' gesture. The stallion rolled his eyes in response, but obediently kept silent all the same, enabling them to sneak past a snoring Royal Guard.

Once they were safely past, the mare sighed in relief before dashing through an open door, beckoning her light blue lover through as well. She responded only after the two of them were through the passageway and in the chamber beyond.

"This is one of the Guard's information centers. Specifically, the one where they put all the data they found after investigating Captain Barrier's manor."

Light Night screwed his face up in consternation, his brilliant gold eyes roving the room with their signature disdain.

"Ah, I see. And why, exactly, are we here?"

Stormy made a beeline for a random file drawer, telekinetically shuffling through the papers contained within in search of anything holding particular interest.

"Because, Light, we need to read up on what Broken did to awaken our son's power. If we understand how he did it, then maybe we can replicate it."

The clueless stallion nodded blankly, moving over to one of the cabinets in obedience with his wife's gesturing. He stopped, though, when he asked one final question.

"And...why would we want to do that?"

Stormy Night sighed, rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time at her husband's forgetfulness. It was days like these when she regretted messing with his mind; the strategies she'd learned from her time in Saddle Arabia sometimes worked too well.

Still, it was worth it to have such a submissive, easily-influenced partner. If not for the mental manipulation, there would have been no possible way to weasel their way out of suspicion during the Sisters' interview.

"Just don't worry about it, Light. Search for anything of interest. You'll know it when you see it. "

With a white flash of Stormy's horn, Light Night jolted, his pupils shrinking as he nodded with unnatural stiffness.

"Yes, ma'am."

What a good little puppet.

Comments

[Mr Aquila]

As a infamous prison warden once said

This is a conspiracy, one big damm conspiracy and everyone in on it!

[PhantomSpider]

Yeah... This mare has obvious problems. Not only a mental disorder, in itself, the abduction of a citizen of another State is an international crime. Moreover, it can be attributed to the royal line. And I'm not sure that she works for the government, because the king of Saddle Arabia would hardly go for it. This smacks of amateur activity of a certain group of ponies, in other words terrorism. She's in big trouble, and she's not the only one...
I am very interested in watching this story.

[Mister-H]

Is Light Night... salvageable?