My Little Teelo: Masquerade

by Ardwolf

Damnatio Memoriae

In which we learn if one attempts to erase a villain from history it is best to insure they can’t take advantage of it.

Celestia blinked at the sight of her cutie mark. It was still a blazing sun—albeit one drawn by a five-year old. Although she was forced to admit there was something whimsically compelling about the smiley face, even if the eyes weren’t quite level, with a nose an elephant could be proud of. The mouth had been drawn as though the face were laughing.

The elegant double-curved sunrays had been replaced by short stubby triangles that were unevenly spaced around the edge of the rather oblate circle that represented the sun’s body.

The crudely drawn cutie mark nestled on a flank that was now a rich blue just a few shades darker than the sky. Her tail, once multi-colored and flowing in the ethereal solar wind was now bright white, and more closely resembled an ordinary pony’s, although still extraordinarily long and luxurious.

With some trepidation Celestia cast a mirror spell, half expecting it to fail. To her immense relief the magic responded and a reflective surface formed in mid-air.

She studied herself ruefully, spreading her wings just to make sure.

“Well, it could have been worse, I suppose,” she murmured quietly.

Her fur was now deep sky blue everywhere except her legs, which had four white socks that extended halfway from hoof to hock. Her mane was a golden yellow that, like her tail, no longer blew of its own accord—although it too would be the pride of any mare.

Her horn was still white, and a white blaze ran from her forehead to her muzzle. Her wings matched the blue of her coat but her eyes—she peered closer—her eyes now lacked an iris completely, leaving only an enlarged black pupil.

“Your Highness, while the color of your mane is golden, alas your voice does laughs embolden,” Zecora said, catching her breath. “For my mirth most unbecoming I beg your forgiveness, it was poison joke alone that inspired such business.”

“My voice still sounds normal to me, Zecora,” Celestia said, tilting her head and letting the mirror spell fade.

“Your old voice was a golden bell, your new one alas, a kazoo hell,” Zecora said, a snicker escaping her despite iron control.

Celestia sighed. “I’d best go then. Thank you, Zecora. I look forward to speaking with you again once I’ve taken the cure.”

The alicorn’s horn lit, lifting the bag from Zecora and settling it across her own neck and shoulder.

Zecora collapsed, wheezing with the effort of containing helpless laughter. Bowing gracefully the alicorn disappeared in a flash, leaving the zebra free to bray her laughter across the Everfree.

ooOoo

Celestia reappeared beside her chariot. She smiled at the two guards that turned toward her.

“Gentlecolts, it’s time we returned to Canterlot,” she stepped on board the chariot, not noticing the fierce scowls that suddenly appeared on the faces of the two pegasi.

“Halt! How dare you board the chariot of Princess Celestia! Dismount at once!” One of the pair barked, eyes narrowing. “Attempting to impersonate an alicorn is a criminal offense! You will be held until the Princess returns to deal with you!” The two pegasi launched themselves into the air, hovering aggressively over the stunned Celestia.

“Gold Feather! Sky Lancer! Don’t you recognize your own princess?” Celestia demanded with wide eyes.

“Of course we do. She’s white to start with, not blue!” Sky Lancer growled. “Not to mention her mane and tail are a rainbow that blow in the wind only she feels! Now stand down or we will use force!”

“Your father held your tenth birthday party in the palace garden, Sky Lancer!” Celestia retorted sharply. “He would never have asked me, so I had to ferret out your birthday wish from a chain of no less than four different staff members! And you, Gold Feather, I personally approved your post as my charioteer! The chocolate truffle cake you sent as a token of thanks was delicious!”

The two pegasi paused, but kept glaring at her.

“What’s the password for Princess Celestia’s private chariot loft passage?” Gold Feather asked suddenly.

“Pink raspberry cloud,” she replied promptly.

“And what’s the secret ingredient for pink raspberry cloud?” Sky Lancer asked.

“Pineapple,” Celestia replied with a smile, “which is why I can’t have it as often as I’d like. Compass Rose pouts when I ask for one of her mares to bring some from Cervidas.”

Gold Feather backed off, landing, and after a moment so did Sky Lancer.

“Forgive us, Your Highness,” Gold Feather said, bowing his head. “We didn’t recognize you. Your voice and coloration are so different. My apologies for—” He paused, searching for an acceptable term.

“Doing your duty?” Celestia asked sweetly. “While I admit my—temporary—appearance and altered voice made your confusion understandable, I was not aware Equestria had any laws about impersonating an alicorn. If a unicorn ever did manage to impersonate myself or Luna then that would be usurpation, not impersonation, would it not?”

“It was a ruling passed by the Council after Chrysalis replaced Princess Cadence, Your Highness,” Sky Lancer said, eye beginning to twitch.

“But surely a new alicorn no one recognizes—no, I must review that Council ruling. It would be—” She noticed Sky Lancer’s eyes beginning to glaze over.

“It’s the voice, isn’t it?” She asked sadly. Not daring to look at each other the guards nodded once, sharply and then pointedly looked past her, refusing to meet her eyes.

“Gentlecolts, I appreciate your chivalry. Your stoicism is truly remarkable. However, my current—condition—is the result of a magical mishap. In twenty four hours I will return to my normal appearance. In the meantime I would appreciate your discretion. The fewer who know about this the less awkward it will be for everypony.”

“Of course, Your Highness!” The two guards snapped a hoof across their breastplates in salute.

But they still couldn’t meet her eyes.

“Where are the rest of the Sun Shield?” She asked, looking around in belated realization.

“Princess Sparkle ordered them to join the hunt for the abducted filly, Your Highness. We stayed behind to guard the Royal Chariot and await your return. There is further news as well. An adolescent dragon forced its way into the hospital and demanded to know where the changeling queen was. Reports are confused, but it appears a butterfly winged alicorn intervened, and lead the dragon north, toward the White Tail woods.”

Celestia blinked, processing what she’d been told. Then she sighed.

“I hope you’re enjoying yourself Discord,” she muttered.

“Did I hear my name?” Discord asked, appearing behind the guards, who spun and spread their wings in threat display. “Oh, will you two relax? If dear Celly and I ever decided to have another serious fight there’s squat all the two of you could do about it,” Discord sneered. He returned his gaze to the alicorn.

“I must say, Celestia, blue is so your color. And that golden mane is simply to die for!” He studied the annoyed princess. “Although, I admit the white tail is a bit over the top. Rarity would not approve.”

“Enjoying the show?” She asked mildly, raising one eyebrow.

“Oh my, yes,” he smiled. “And your socks are simply too cute for words! But aren’t you a bit old for bobby-socks my dear Princess?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said coyly. “With this new look I could pass for 160, don’t you think?” She winked at him, making him curl his lip in disgust.

“Now that’s just creepy,” he muttered, snapping his fingers and vanishing.

Good riddance, she thought to herself, relaxing. She normally enjoyed her little spars with Discord, but there were more pressing matters.

“What’s this about a ponynapped filly?” She asked. “Who was it? What do we know?”

“The Bearer of Loyalty raced into town, declaring the Bearer of Generosity’s little sister had been taken by diamond dogs, Your Highness. She said the filly had been with an unknown mare when the two were attacked. She reported the mare is dead, along with six diamond dogs. She also reported the Bearer of Laughter said that the filly was severely injured, and would likely be injured further. It was then that Princess Sparkle landed with a wing of the Sun Shield, along with Lady Teagan and her friend from the other world.”

“Oh no, Sweetie Belle was abducted? Rarity will be devastated,” Celestia shook her head sadly. “Were any trolls with them?” She asked. Golden Feather shook his helmeted head.

“No, Your Highness. Princess Sparkle arrived in a single chariot.”

A crease appeared on Celestia’s brow as she considered the implications. A single chariot with a full wing of the Sun Shield implied both urgency and threat.

“Was Spike with Twilight?” She asked.

“No, Your Highness,” Sky Lancer answered after Golden Feather didn’t respond.

“Was Spike the dragon at the hospital?”

“No, the dragon at the hospital was an adolescent, at least twenty feet long. Reports say it was feral,” Golden Feather replied. “It was purple, but a very dark shade, with forest green fins. It might have been a relative of Spike’s, but it certainly wasn’t him.”

“Are you looking for this?” A calm voice asked.

A butterfly-winged alicorn walked toward them, a sleeping baby dragon sprawled over her back, wrapped in a dimly glowing green aura to keep it in place. “My, that poison joke really did a number on you, didn’t it?”

“Your Majesty.” Celestia nodded in greeting. “It did, and I am indeed looking for him. How did you come to be giving Spike a ride?”

“So he is Twilight’s assistant,” her smile was gentle and friendly—until you looked at her eyes. “He came looking for me at the hospital. He said his name was Spykoranuvellitar. He was a bit miffed at me, it seems.”

“Oh? What did he want?”

“To kill me,” she said, chuckling. Spike lifted from her back and floated through the air, settling gently in front of Celestia.

Celestia couldn’t help blinking in shock.

“Spike tried to kill you?” She looked at the tiny dragon as he curled up and started sucking his thumb.

“Oh yes. And truth be told, it wasn’t a bad effort, all things considered. Of course he was a bit larger at the time, I thought him to be about sixty years old or so,” Chrysalis continued. “I have to admit I was badly out of practice. He nearly had me once or twice before I started taking him seriously.”

“I see you did manage to defeat him without harming him. I thank you for that,” Celestia said quietly.

“You don’t blame the hammer for hitting your hoof, Celestia. I didn’t actually realize who he was at first,” Chrysalis said calmly. “It wasn’t until he told me he was Twilight’s research assistant that the curtain parted. She must have poured an enormous amount of power into his transformation. It was very impressive.”

“Twilight wouldn’t do that,” Celestia said with a frown.

“Really? It was alicorn magic, Celestia. Dark alicorn magic. Your precious little student learned her lessons well. Spike told me he wanted me dead because I tried to kill Lady Teagan—who is a good friend of Twilight Sparkle, is she not?”

“Twilight would never put Spike in harm’s way like that,” Celestia objected mildly. “Nor would she use dark magic as a weapon. But even if she were so broken as to seek your life with dark magic, she’d come after you herself. She’d never risk Spike’s life.”

“We both know how corrupting dark magic can be, Your Highness,” Chrysalis snarled. “Your own sister fell under its evil influence.”

“She was possessed by the demon Nightmare at the time,” Celestia said firmly, “I see Twilight every day. If she were possessed I would know it. There is no taint in her.”

“And I know dark alicorn magic when I see it, Celestia! Do you deny knowing how to use it? Do you deny teaching it to her?”

“No,” Celestia said calmly. “She needed it to help defeat Sombra. But she knows its dangers. And she did not use it on Spike, this I know, as surely as I know how to raise the Sun.”

“I boiled it off him, Celestia. I may be out of practice, but you never forget that stench! It was dark alicorn magic. Are you suggesting there’s yet another alicorn lurking in the wings? They do seem to be popping up like daises recently.”

“To my knowledge there are only four of us—five if we count you.”

Chrysalis laughed. “I’m not an alicorn, silly Princess. Just because I have wings and a horn doesn’t make me one of your Awakened ponies. We were never part of your Great Spell. But, for now I will accept your word that you know of no other alicorns.”

“Will you lend your aid to find a ponynapped filly?” Celestia asked. “She’s badly hurt, and could die.”

“Then you will know the pain of losing one of your children,” Chrysalis said coldly. “I have sworn not to seek revenge on you or Equestria but that doesn’t mean I will aid you or other ponies. I was already gracious enough to lead Spike away from the hospital before we dueled. That is as far as my generosity extends. Tell Twilight Sparkle she owes me a huge favor. And that one day I will collect.”

With that the flutterpony queen teleported away in a flash of light.

ooOoo

Members of the Sun Shield found the returning searchers by spotting Fluttershy flying above the trees. When she spotted the guard ponies she began frantically signaling them to come to her, and when they did she led them to Rarity and the others. The guards in turn led the small group back to the larger one.

“Twilight! Am Ah ever glad ta see you!” Applejack called out when she spotted her friend. “Hey, Teelo, mighty happy ta see you too! We might be needin’ that club o’ yours right quick ‘cause we done got us a major situation goin’ on. Them diamond dogs weren’t workin’ alone! Winona told Fluttershy there was some kinda big critter with ‘em, at least as big as a bear. It knocked Sweetie Belle plumb off her hooves an’ six feet through the air! She also said there was another critter what used magic but weren’t no unicorn. That ain’t the worst of it, neither! Winona tracked ‘em fer about an hour till we ended up on top of a cliff. Looks like they met up wi’ a dragon. It musta been in cahoots with ‘em, cause it carried ‘em off all off, along with Sweetie Belle. We just missed ‘em too. What ever’s goin’ on, it’s gotta be mighty big. I reckon Princess Celestia’s gonna wanna know about this as quick as may be.”

“Twilight, we must hurry!” Rarity started to cry. “There’s very little time. Pinkie says she’s badly hurt! And then Cerise told us the Horns could track my sister the same way they did Tišina.”

“Wait, Cerise told you?” Twilight asked, wings flaring in alarm. “When did she show up?”

“I love you too, Twilight,” the pink flat-haired pony spoke up. “Rarity had Pinkie invite me to the party, thank you very much! I was sound asleep until those plot holes made Pinkie cry. I may not be all nicey-nice like you ponies, but nobody gets away with making Pinkie cry. On top of which, it pisses me off when somebody messes with fillies. I stuck around just in case a diamond dog tried something stupid so I could get some answers. But it looks like the wretched things were smart enough to run off.”

“Hello, Cerise,” Twilight said with a sickly sweet and completely insincere smile pasted across her muzzle. “Any chance Pinkie will be coming back soon? We’ll need her if we have to use the Elements of Harmony.”

Cerise chuckled. “Translation, you want creepy little Cerise snuggled back under the covers of her warm comfy bed, snoring away,” she grinned at Twilight, who had the grace to blush.

“Don’t get your crown in a twist, Princess. Pinkie’s awake and listening, so I’m gonna go catch forty winks. But I’ll be sure to set my alarm clock because I want a piece of those plot holes. I’m gonna teach them not to mess with little fillies. Anyway, here’s Pinkie.”

“Hey, Twilight,” the pink mare said sadly after a subtle but unmistakable change in her appearance.

“Pinkie?” Twilight asked cautiously. The other pony nodded.

“Yeah, it’s me. We couldn’t find her, Twilight,” Tears started to slowly trail down Pinkie’s cheeks. “Winona found the spot, but we were too late. Poor Sweetie,” Pinkie closed her eyes and started to sob softly.

The sight unnerved Twilight, who’d never seen her friend look so utterly crushed. This wasn’t Pinkie’s normal over the top water-works. This was a pony that was truly heartsick. She gathered Pinkie in for a hug.

“We have to hurry, Twilight,” Pinkie whispered. “There isn’t much time. My Pinkie Sense is screaming.”

Twilight’s irises contracted sharply. Although she had long ago given up trying to explain Pinkie’s twitches she knew she dared not dismiss them—especially not when the relentlessly upbeat pony was reduced to this.

No one paid any attention to Winona as she prowled restlessly, hackles raised and sniffing uneasily. They were too busy concentrating on Pinkie and Twilight. Which is why Winona’s growling snarl made everyone jump, especially Emma and Teagan—at whom the dog was barking viciously.

“Winona! What in tarnation’s gotten inta you, girl?” Applejack hollered. “That’s just Teelo! You know her! Why are ya actin’ all crazy like that? Hush up!”

“She says they have the big creature’s smell on them,” Fluttershy said nervously. “She says it’s faint, but Teelo and Emma must have been around some of those creatures recently. Within the last half day.”

“But the only non-ponies we’ve been with were the—” Teagan started to say, but then stopped her eyes widening. “Oh no. Oh God no. It can’t be.”

“What?” Twilight asked, alarmed.

“That creature that attacked Sweetie Belle must have been a troll,” Teagan said numbly. Having seen what troll claws could do to a living creature, the thought of those claws ripping into Sweetie Belle made Teagan’s stomach rebel. She felt her belly muscles clench and tasted acid in the back of her throat. She fought it down.

Can’t lose control, I’m a queen, damn it! But oh God, why a troll? Everything was going so smoothly, this is going to—

“A troll? I knew you couldn’t trust them!” A stallion said, making Teagan’s head snap up to stare at him.

Yeah that, she thought, trying to remember all the advice Matt had given her about handling this kind of situation.

She stalked toward him exuding as much menace as she could generate—which, when she thought of Sweetie Belle, was quite a bit. The stallion watched her come toward him with some puzzlement.

“What’s your name?” She asked in a calm level tone, stopping just within arm’s length of him.

“Cherry Fizzy, Lady Teagan,” he said, dipping his head respectfully.

“So you know who I am?”

“Naturally! Everypony knows who you are!” The light tan pony seemed oblivious to the subtle signs of her anger. However, other ponies were picking up on it. They started easing away from Cherry Fizzy. He didn’t notice.

“So if I tell you something, you’d believe me?” She stared deeply into his bright green eyes. “Promise? Pinkie promse?”

“I promise,” he recited the oath and made the motions. “By the way, it’s an honor to speak with you!”

“I’m very happy to hear you say that,” she said, letting a faint smile touch her lips. Inside, she was raging at the stupid bigotry of this stallion, but somehow kept it from showing on her face.

“What I’m about to tell you is so incredibly important I need you to tell everypony you know about it. Would you do that for me?” She let her smile widen and turn warm. But the warmth never reached her eyes.

Cherry Fizzy swelled with pride. “Yes, absolutely! You can count on me!”

“That’s wonderful! Then here’s what I want you to tell everypony. My full name is Teagan Laoise, Scion of the Clan O’Gara. By the grace of Her Royal Highness, the Princess Celestia, I am known in Equestria as Lady Teagan. The Bridge of Days carried the spirits of my clan and their beloved capaill and fused them with ponies from my world. Which means everypony is literally a member of my family.”

She reached out and placed her hand under his mane, feeling his warm neck twitch under her fingers. “That means you are a member of my family, Cherry. So is Sweetie Belle. Do you believe me?”

Wide-eyed and awed the pony nodded, almost hypnotized as she kept her eyes locked to his.

“I have another name too. Do you know what it is?”

He shook his head slowly.

“I am Teagan, Dronning av Fjellet, the Queen of the Mountain. I am the queen of the trolls, Cherry Fizzy.”

He looked puzzled for a moment, then Teagan saw him stiffen and his irises shrink slowly as the true horror of what she’d just said seeped into every corner of his stunned and reeling mind.

“By troll law, I am a troll,” she said softly, her fingers tightening in his mane, “which means the trolls are also my family. That means trolls are part of your family too, Cherry Fizzy.”

She relaxed her grip on his mane, letting her hand drop to her side.

“You said you’d believe what I told you. So hear my oath to all of Equestria. Whoever this troll might be, male or female, clan or outcast, by their own hand they are foresworn this day. As the queen of the trolls I hereby cast them into the Deepest Dark, and swear to find them and make sure they can never harm anyone ever again.”

“Look at me,” she snapped suddenly. He jerked and his eyes focused from sheer reflex.

“You say trolls can’t be trusted?” She asked calmly. “Well, I am a troll, Cherry Fizzy. You said you trusted me. That’s what I want you to tell everypony. I am a troll and I can be trusted. I am the queen of the trolls. I will find this renegade and I will end him. You tell everypony that.”

She turned and walked back to where Twilight stood, the shocked silence broken only by wind in the treetops.

ooOoo

It took forty minutes for Twilight’s party to make its way back to Ponyville. By the time they arrived yet another wing of guards had landed, along with a half dozen chariots. Unicorns bearing the crest of Celestia’s Horns had set up a canopy and Celestia herself was in consultation with two of them. Others were pairing off with gray unicorn guards and large earth pony guards, clearly readying for an expedition of some kind.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight called, spotting her mentor’s unmistakable silhouette as she and her friends hurried toward the canopy. Then she got a good look at Celestia.

“Hello, Twilight,” the alicorn gave her former student a brief smile. “I’m aware that Sweetie Belle was ponynapped. I contacted Luna and had her send a forensic team and a platoon of shock troops.”

“What happened to you?” Twilight asked, flabbergasted by the alicorn’s bizarre appearance.

“It’s a long story, I’ll tell you over dinner. I’m sure you remember Dawn Spire?” The alicorn dipped her head at the pale pink unicorn with a mane and tail of bright gold. “And this is her colleague Fairy Shimmer,” A pale turquoise unicorn with a black and silver mane nodded in greeting.

“Pardon me, but I was told if you had some of Sweetie Belle’s hair you could make a compass like the ones that found Tišina,” Rarity said with some urgency.

“Hair would work…” Dawn Spire said slowly. “Blood would give us the strongest signal, but hair or hoof clippings will let us find her if she’s within a hundred miles or so. Any further than that would need blood.”

“How much hair do you need?” Rarity asked eagerly.

“Just a couple of strands,” Dawn Spire replied. “But bring as much as you can find because we’ll want to make more than one compass for that triangulation trick Matt showed us.”

“Twilight, would you be a dear and teleport us to the Boutique?” Rarity asked. “Time is of the essence!” Twilight nodded and the two of them vanished.

“Your Highness, we need to talk privately,” Teagan said. “There’s some news you need to hear.”

“Of course,” Celestia said. “I too have news.”

The two moved off far enough to speak without being overhead.

“What have you learned?” Celestia asked, keeping her voice low.

“Something freaking huge is going down,” Teagan said grimly. “Chrysalis’s attack was only part of it. The diamond dogs were working with a troll. Not only that, but also some kind of magic user that wasn’t a unicorn, at least according to Winona. Also, when we were in Twilight’s office, Spike went berserk, and started growing. When he jumped out the window he was already ten feet long and had wings. He was coming to Ponyville to kill Chrysalis. Twilight said that kind of transformation wasn’t natural. She said it took a lot of magic—and then mentioned that she had used a spell to talk to my parents on Earth. She said the spell should have taken, um, microthaums?” She said, stumbling over the unfamiliar word. Celestia nodded and she continued.

“But instead it took kilothaums, which I guess is a lot more. She said it must have been a magical catalyst of some kind.”

Celestia’s head jerked in surprise. “A catalyst? That would explain what Chrysalis told me. Spike challenged Chrysalis to a duel. When she defeated him she boiled off the transformation magic, making him revert to normal. She claimed it was dark alicorn magic. A catalyst could have transformed the energy from Twilight’s spell into the dark magic. That would explain Spike’s murderous rage.”

“Yeah, it makes sense. I’m betting this kidnapping wasn’t random, either,” Teagan said. “Too many resources went into it. They wanted Sweetie Belle in particular.”

“Why? She’s just a foal. Her magic hasn’t even manifested yet,” Celestia objected.

“True—but they didn’t want her for her magic. They wanted her as leverage. If Rarity doesn’t do what they say they’ll torture Sweetie Belle. Or kill her.”

Celestia shivered. “That sounds like something Matthew would think of.”

“It’s kind of a standard bad-guy tactic among humans,” Teagan said, shocking Celestia.

“Humans do that?” Celestia’s face was carefully neutral.

“Evil ones do, yes,” Teagan replied. “I’m guessing the goal here would be twofold. First, without Rarity the Elements of Harmony are useless. Given how vicious these guys are, if that’s all they wanted they could have gone after Fluttershy, since she’d be the most vulnerable. Since they didn’t, I’m thinking they wanted Rarity to spy for them too. After all she’s best friends with Princess Twilight Sparkle and has lots of contact with Canterlot high society.”

“Lady Teelo, I am very fond of you, and I owe you my life,” Celestia said carefully. “But it is truly disturbing how you can spin such vile plots so effortlessly.”

Teagan chuckled. “Humans have a saying, Your Highness. Use a thief to catch a thief. I’m thinking Subtle Dancer is no stranger to evil plotting. And neither are you.”

“Sometimes one must contemplate evil,” Celestia admitted reluctantly. “But I have always found it difficult.”

“Says the consumate chess master,” Teagan said, smiling at the alicorn. “You’re always ten moves ahead of everyone else, Princess. I barely manage one on a good day.”

“I simply try to create the best outcome for the largest number,” the alicorn said, smiling, “which seldom involves violence. It also doesn’t hurt that I’ve had a lot of practice.”

“True that. At any rate, I’m thinking we’re looking at a conspiracy here,” Teagan said. “Well organized and frighteningly well informed. Somebody tipped off Chrysalis. Somebody planted that catalyst in Twilight’s office. Somebody organized a very effective kidnapping team composed of at least three species, maybe more. That implies a good spy network, serious financial resources, and meticulous planning. I’m thinking a well-funded secret society. Worse, I’m betting they’ve got agents in more than one country—probably with high level government contacts as well.”

“Ponies would be ill-suited to such plotting,” Celestia said, frowning. “I could see a handful involved perhaps but you’re talking about a massive organization, Teelo.”

“You think I’m wrong?” Teagan asked.

Celestia thought about it, and then sighed.

“I cannot say it’s impossible. It would fit the facts as we know them. If this were the Gryphon Kingdoms it would not surprise me, griffins love intrigue and plotting. Even the minotaurs are quite adept. But not ponies.”

“So—what? Maybe another country is setting up Equestria for conquest? Chrysalis tried that, remember?” Teagan reminded her.

“Chrysalis swore a magical oath to forgo her vengeance. She has no love for us, but cannot attack us,” Celestia replied confidently. “Over the centuries there have been many who tried to conquer Equestria. But such attempts were always invasions, not this sneaky striking from the shadows. Of course Tišina did but she was always a solitary creature. This reeks of organized conspiracy.”

“Well, whoever it is overplayed their hand,” Teagan said. “I have a feeling they didn’t expect such a massive response to the kidnapping of one single filly from a small rural town. They couldn’t expect that you’d get personally involved, especially not this quickly.”

“I would like to think I would do the same for any foal, Lady Teelo,” Celestia sighed heavily and lowered her head. “But the truth is I simply have too much to do and not enough hours in the day to get it all done. But Sweetie Belle—well, it’s personal now, Harmony forgive me.”

“I can see that,” Teagan said, nodding. “By the way, you should know I’m planning to go with your soldiers to get Sweetie Belle back.”

“You can’t,” Celestia shook her head. “Just as I can’t. You have responsibilities waiting for you in Canterlot, and duties in Hejm. If something were to happen to you, it would mean war. I can’t risk that, certainly not with some nefarious conspiracy lurking in the darkness.”

Teagan paused, feeling her temper flare. She took a breath to calm herself.

“With all due respect, cousin,” she said carefully, “one of the kidnappers is a renegade troll. I’m still new to this whole queen business, but I know enough troll law to recognize I’m oath bound to deal with him. I gave my word.”

“Oh, dear,” Celestia said with a wince. “You really shouldn’t have done that.”

“Yes, well, I did it. In fact, I did it in front of a wing of the Sun Shield and half of Ponyville. To keep the anti-troll bigotry down to a dull roar I even made Cherry Fizzy swear a Pinkie Promise to tell everyone about it too.”

Celestia sighed. “What was that ancient human curse, Lady Teelo? May you live in interesting times?”

Teagan grimaced. “Yeah, well personally I could stand some boredom in my life for a change. I’m about all funned out.”

By unspoken agreement the two rulers started walking back to the canopy, where Rarity and Twilight had returned and were now deep in discussion with Dawn Spire and Fairy Shimmer.

First things first. They had a filly to rescue.

Author's Note:

Some people seem to think I've killed Sweetie Belle. Have I? You'll have to wait and see...

Bwhahahahaha!

Comments

[More Dakka]

Celestia's inability to grasp humans being gray not black and white is still a joy to read. But she will probably get a glimpse of Teelo's darker side when she gets her hands on that Troll.