Starlit Skies - The thieves masque

by The_Other_Khorne

Raven

([Canterlot Castle, Night Courtroom])

The sight of little over two hundred nobles bickering over who would get to speak with her lunarship annoyed Call to no end. All she needed to do was find one noble in particular, and she'd be scot free of having to watch over Star. Milling through the first few groups proved to be more of a hassle than anything else, with most of them throughing miniature tantrums at her telling them she served only Luna, while others merely tutted and heckled some other poor sap. Of the lot of them only two had actually accepted she only took the orders of the lunar princess, and left her to carry out her job. As she scoote around the last of the nobles cluttering the area around the dais she found the Raven King...

Leaning against the side of the throne, talking quite casually with her highness.

Apparently the look on her face was easily seen, as the master thief caught sight of it with a slight grin visible beneath his hooded brow. As he calmly skulked away into the shadows, emerging without a word beside her, and pointed to a corner of the room hidden in the shadow of the dais and away from the light of the chandlier high above. With a nod she complied and hurried over, to find him leaning against the pillar supporting that particular part of the cieling

"Well?" he asked, his voice gentle and quiet, yet somehow intimidating "What brings one of my finest back to me?" the Procuratio - a higher standing among the Magisters, acting as the Raven king's mouth compared to the eyes of the Magistratus and the ears of the common thief - remained still for a moment before taking a deep breath and relaying what she had heard

"A Magistrater has uncovered evidence of corruption amongst the princeps, sir." she informed him, to say he was surprised was an overstatement, instead, he remained calm, a slight raise of the eyebrows at most, though it was impossible to tell due to the hooded cape worn over his dress clothes. Uncrossing his arms he removed himself from the pillar and proceeded to pace

"Which of my magisters? Which of my council? Which form of corruption?"

"The magister was Starlit Skies, sir. The princeps was Steam Gearheart, and it was the most frequent form of corruption amongst us." at this she thought she heard a chuckle, though her lord's face was still

"Starlit? Ah yes, my newest rendition. High hopes for him... Gearheart? A loose cannon at best, willing to sell the entire masquerade out to the highest bidder. Greed? Its within a thieve's nature to be gripped by it." he responded, continuing to pace before stopping and started to murmur "Yes... Can't have the masque endangered.... He's an old friend.... he's willing to sell us all out.... Gearheart's been around far longer than any other..."

"Is something the matter, lord?" Call inquired, attempting to decipher his quiet ramblings. The Raven King's head darted up, the hood flying upwards slightly to reveal two silvery glints and skin with a sooty pigment

"I'll take the report into consideration, Call." he said, before beginning to move back towards the shadowy joint where the dais met the throne room "Now, I must finish my conversation. You'll have a response by tomorrow evening, and you had best hope the young Magistratus' evidence is correct." and as he steped into the shadow he faded away. Looking back to the throne, which was illuminated by some form of moonlight, she found him in a resumed conversation. Shaking her head slightly she departed from the room.

([Ambassador Pelagia's lodgings])

Starlit was situated in a chair, half asleep, in the ambassador's lodging, nigh oblivious to the world as he rested. The next second he found himself upside down, hanging from a coat hook, looking into the eyes of a very annoyed Griffonian

"Anything...I can help with?" he inquired with a small dosage of sarcasm, the ambassador merely growled before taking his seat

"No. No... No..." Pelagia murmured, tears starting to well "They... They can't be.... Can't be de-dead.... Not, not mama..." at this, the serbant felt a pang of sorrow. The servants dreaded working under Pelgia, and yet here he was feeling orry for her loss. He resolved to finding the drinks cabinet.

Even if she was a bit of a tyrant with the servants, even she deserved a drink for loss.

([Stalliongrad Theatre])

"Ladies, and gentlemen of the council, it is with regret that I must inform you..." the aged man stated as he entered the Stalliongrad theatre, many heads turning to face him "...that you're services are no longer required within the council. From here on out, a new day shall dawn for us, where thieves can be what they were born to be, and not some shadow organisation for their majesties. Kill them." as he had been talking, to the bewilderment of the council, several men had gathered behind the renegade element, and as he gave the command, leapt amidst the startled councillors.

Steam Gearheart's face remained stoic as he watched his brethren die, knowing their exploits would go unremembered by all Equestrians save a scarse few. Within minutes the last of them was dead, and he walked out of the theatre with a heavy heart. Not that the men needed to know that, nor did anyone else.

Unbeknownst to him, a small, grey rune glittered into existence upon his forearm, flecked with yellow and red.

Author's Note:

A/N: I know I promised you more characters, but I've had a large deal on my shoulders, after all, I have had some rather...dour business to attend to recently. Having been unable to think clearly I have had next to no choice in the matter but to peform some rather unusual writing manouvers.

You'll note that the chapter focuses rather heavilly on Call, rather than Starlit. This is because I've had a case of writer's block with him, yet I needed him in the fiction, otherwise I'd have put the main character on a bus. Nobody wants to be put on the bus, do they?

Guest starring Princess Luna, as herself.

And no, the Raven King is not an alicorn. I'm none too fond of oc Alicorns, too much god mode sue. He's just good with shadows.

Comments

[The_Other_Khorne]

1625653

Allow me to apologise for the lateness of my reply, but was the word you skipped 'iffy'? by any chance? I understand entirely. Its...been a while since I wrote anything.