What connects an explosion in Canterlot, an attempted assassination, griffon mercenaries, and a humble tailor?
The bombing of Elusive's store and the attempted murder of Princess Cadence brings Tempest Shadow back to Canterlot. She finds her curious friend once again seemingly at the centre of an intricate conspiracy. Who is behind this near fatal act? Who was the target? And why did they want either of them dead? The investigation will draw both Tempest and the former infiltrator back into the murky world of counter-intelligence and unveil a threat from the shadows that stands poised to destroy Equestria once and for all. The only question is which side are they really on?
The warm afternoon sun shone down on Canterlot, its warming rays coating the city. The glittering towers of the castle sparkled, as did the many opulent buildings that played a part in making the city so famous. But there was one little corner that, despite the hour, remained in shadow. It was down in the Old Quarter of the city, in a small square within the maze like back alleys and side streets that made up the oldest part of the city.
The store itself was nothing remarkable. Nested between a bakery and a small concern specialising in rare books and deluxe editions, it was quite easy for a pony to overlook it. It had no great display to catch the eye and draw attention to itself in its spot down the dead end alleyway. In fact, the only sign was a small wooden one, hanging just above the door. The background was a burgundy red, with gold lettering which bore the legend ‘Elusive’s of Canterlot – Fittings and Alterations (Est. 957 CR)’ All in all, it was a small, out of the way place, and certainly a far cry from the far more well known grand stores that dominated the main thoroughfares of the city.
Yet despite this, as the front door opened, making the small brass bell above let out a soft chime, perhaps one of the most famous, beloved, and indeed wealthiest ponies in all Equestria stepped out. Dressed in her regalia, her crown resting comfortably atop her head, there stood Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Empress of the Crystal Empire, Princess of Love, and niece to Princess Celestia herself. Stepping out into the sunlight, she smiled and took a moment to enjoy the open air the small square provided.
As she did so, she was joined by another pony. He was about average size for a stallion, though a far cry from her husband, Shining Armor. Although like the prince, his coat was an alabaster white. And just like Shining, this pony was a unicorn as well. A slightly sharp looking horn protruded through a well maintained deep purple mane. Stepping out of the store, he joined the young alicorn.
“I trust everything was to your liking, your highness?” he asked, his accent holding notes of Canterlot in a somewhat high falsetto.
Cadence smiled and nodded to him.
“It certainly was, Elusive,” she said kindly. “As ever, you have out done yourself.” She paused to chuckle. “You know, you and my sister in law’s friend look so much alike, that sometimes I wonder if the two of you aren’t long lost siblings or something.” It was now Elusive’s turn to chuckle.
“Ah yes,” he agreed with a knowing smile. “Many ponies have commented on the aesthetic similarities between myself and dear Rarity, to the point where on a few occasions I’ve even been mistaken for the poor mare. Hence why I felt compelled to do something to differentiate myself.”He gestured to the deep crimson waistcoat he was wearing.
“It certainly does help you stand out in a crowd,” Cadence agreed. “Although I must say, I’m not sure even Rarity could perform such work on short notice. I really am sorry to put you out like this.” Elusive took the mare by the foreleg.
“Nonsense, my dear! It was a pleasure to be of service,” he assured her as they both began to walk up the alley and away from the store. “Now, I’ll begin making your alterations this afternoon, and providing my supplier comes through I should have…”
That was as far as he got.
Cadence was first aware of a sudden flash of light behind her. For the briefest of moments, her mind put it down to a flash of lightening, or a camera flash from some reporter sneaking a picture for some gossip rag. By the time she reminded herself that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and that there was nopony else about, the heat, and the blast wave that followed it, arrived. With an irresistible force, the alicorn was thrown off her hooves and thrown to the floor as debris rained all around her. Her vision swam and her ears were ringing as she lay dazed for a few seconds. Fortunately, her alicorn physiology provided her some protection, and shortly after, she was able to force herself back onto her hooves.
She was not seriously injured, she knew that much. She could stand, see, hear, and certainly smell thanks to the acrid smoke now filling the air. Turning around, she looked for the source of the catastrophe.
What had once been an innocuous looking store front was now all but an inferno. The windows and door had been blown out, with a good portion of the interior ejected through them onto the street. Shattered glass and broken masonry lay all around as thick black smoke continued to billow out, and alarms rang out.
Reflecting on how close she had been, and pondering that exiting the premises a few seconds later might have spelt her doom, her thoughts now turned to her companion. With a start, she looked around for Elusive. As the residual blast wave pushed smoke in their direction, she struggled to see.
“Elusive!” she called out as she made her way across the street.
A moment later, she came across a form in the smoke. The white coat was now sullied with smoke, the purple mane was burnt in places, and the bright waistcoat was ripped and torn by shrapnel. He was however, as far as she could tell, alive. Although unlike her, he had not fared so well. It was quite clear that his injuries were serious. Gently lifting him up in her forelegs, she did her best to comfort him.
“Hang on, Elusive,” she pleaded. “I’ll go get help.” The previously keen blue eyes now fixed on her own, glossy and unfocussed.
“I’m ever so sorry, princess,” he said in a far away voice. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to have that dress ready for you after all.”
And with that, he lost consciousness.
What came next were only intermittent flashes for Elusive. Brief seconds of consciousness punctuated by long periods of darkness. He recalled lying there in the street, a frightened Cadence standing over him, a couple of RGMC ponies from the Royal Guard loading him onto a stretcher, the vile smell of a hospital, and the unwelcome feeling of his body being pumped full of opioids. Beyond that though, he knew nothing of the world until he opened his eyes a day or so later.
He was first brought back by the sound of an EKG incessantly beeping close at hoof. Momentarily, his eyes opened, confronted with the bright, artificial light of a hospital ward. As the world came back into focus, he groggily looked around and was surprised to find out that he wasn’t alone in his new accommodations. Sitting in a nearby chair, regarding him with a slightly detached expression, was a mare he hadn’t seen for the better part of a year.
She was somewhat larger than the average pony, perhaps a shade shorter than Cadence, though far more strongly built. Her eyes were fixed on him, taking in every last detail without showing a twinge of emotion. She was clearly not a Canterlot native. Unlike the rich citizenry that called the metropolis home, the only garment she wore was a simple, coal black shemagh, which was wrapped around her neck and shoulders, suggesting the mare was of Saddle Arabian descent. Elusive however, knew this to not be the case. While he had no doubt she would have a grasp of their notoriously difficult language, it wasn’t her native Ponish, and with the evening sun lighting the room somewhat, he knew that the natives of that province, would right now be busier with other activities, and not paying call on bed bound friends. As if the battered stump of a unicorn horn wasn’t a dead giveaway.
Elusive found himself smiling as he once again reunited with one of his closest friends in a hospital bed.
“My dear Tempest,” he said, his voice hoarse and weak. “We really must stop meeting like this.”
“You look like Tartarus, Elusive,” Tempest said as she walked over to his bedside.
“And I certainly feel it too,” he admitted. “Although I think I survived a fair sight better than my store.”
“True, I’m afraid,” Tempest agreed. “I took a look down there while you were down for the count. Fire chief says the lower floor is pretty much a write off. The upstairs flat survived pretty well though.”
“Oh, I think I’m quite set for accommodations for the time being,” Elusive replied, gesturing the the hospital room.
Tempest paused for a moment, considering her next words carefully. From past experience, she knew it would be futile to outright ask Elusive what happened. The fire chief had been very clear on his beliefs when it came to what caused the explosion. No question about it, an incendiary device planted somewhere along the far wall, close enough to blow the gas main and ignite it. Still, despite her past experiences with Elusive, she couldn’t not be concerned for him and try to help. Before she could voice the question however, Elusive posed one of his own.
“While I am most grateful for your company, my dear,” he said kindly. “I am rather curious as to how you came to hear about it so quickly, to say nothing as to how you returned to Canterlot at such a pace.”
In contrast to her friend, Tempest was more open, at least with those she trusted.
“I was out near Abyssinia when Luna contacted me. Dream walking has got to be the fastest communication method out there. She sent a couple of guards south to fly me up here. I got off the flight about four hours ago.”
“Still spreading word of the death of your previous employer, eh?” Elusive asked coyly. “Or was it something more? You never did tell me if you took that SMILE bunch up on their offer.”
Now it was Tempest’s turn to smile as she got to play at being secretive for a change.
“Elusive,” she said in a mock offended tone. “Surely you don’t believe those rumours of a secret organisation protecting Equestria from the shadows. Besides, even if I were, do you think I’d tell you, of all ponies?”
“Well, if you can’t trust a changeling ex-spy, who can you trust?” Elusive replied. “In all seriousness though, how have you been, my friend? I see you’ve picked up some souvenirs on your travels.”
And so the two of them fell into conversation, catching up like the old friends they were. While Tempest remained somewhat cagey about exactly where she’d been and what she’d been up to, she did spin a few tales to Elusive. She had indeed visited Saddle Arabia, as well as a few other exotic locales in the southern hemisphere, although she had perhaps wisely given the newly restored Hippogriff Kingdom a wide berth. Beyond that though, her adventures had taken her to all corners, from the Dragon Lands, Yakyakistan, and even to the frozen southern pole that the storm creatures called home, where she had played a part in demilitarising the once powerful army.
As for Elusive, his life had been more sedate of late. Although, given that the last time Tempest had seen him, he was recovering from a rather determined attempt on his life that had sent her to the Changeling Kingdom. He regaled her with a few tales of court intrigue, gossip amongst the nobility, and some of the more unusual customers that had patronised his store. The latter prompted a pained expression.
“I do fear it will be some time before I’m able to open my doors again,” he said a little sadly. “Although I would imagine being the scene of the demise of Mi Amore Cadenza would have a far greater impact, so I suppose it isn’t a total loss.”
“You were both very lucky, Elusive,” Tempest said, her tone now becoming serious. “But was it you or her that was the target?”
“That’s just what I want to know,” a third voice said, startling the pair from their conspiratorial whispering.
Standing at the door, flanked by two junior officers, stood Shining Armor, the one time commander of the Royal Guard. Tempest got to her hooves and drew herself to attention.
“Captain Shining Armor,” she greeted. While not a part of the guard, and arguably on equal footing as far as rank was concerned, Tempest felt the stallion deserved at least some measure of respect. Elusive on the other hoof…
“Now why would the Prince of the Crystal Empire be interested in little old me?” he asked rhetorically. Shining glared at him.
“When a bomb almost kills my wife and you’re the only witness, you can bet I’m going to be interested in you,” he said, with only a small note of contempt in his voice.
“A bomb?” Elusive said, feigning surprise. “Surely it was just a gas main leaking?” This didn’t improve Shining’s mood.
“We both know that isn’t the case,” he all but snarled. “The princesses might have tolerated your presence here, Elusive, but I no longer have that luxury. So you need to tell me what happened.” Elusive let out a nervous sounding laugh.
“Captain, really!” he said. “What in Equestria can you possibly mean?”
Shining, as it turned out, was in no mood for games. Dismissing the two junior officers, he closed and locked the door behind him, before joining Tempest at Elusive’s bedside. Powering up his magic, he hit Elusive with a short blast of magic. Instantly, and quite against his will, the bed bound unicorn was engulfed in a wave of bright green fire that washed over his form. In short order, white hide was replaced with black chitin, that purple mane gave way to a seaweed green, while wings, hidden beneath a carapace appeared on his back. All in all, exactly what you’d expect to see when thinking of a changeling.
His blue eyes, lacking an iris, went wide in panic for a split second. Elusive reacted instantly, reactivating his disguise, while an angry Tempest looked ready to take matters into her own hooves. By rights, Shining had just assaulted Elusive in his hospital bed! However, her damaged horn meant she would be at a disadvantage in a fight, even if they were about the same size. Plus she doubted retaliating would do much good. In any case, Shining didn’t follow up on his brief attack, letting Elusive cover himself with his magic once more.
“I know exactly who you, and what you are, Elusive,” Shining said coldly. “So don’t try and play innocent with me.”
Elusive however, was not one to be thrown off his game so easily. Other ponies, and even changelings might have been intimidated, but he liked to think he wasn’t just another pony.
“How dare you, Captain!” he exclaimed crossly, feigning offence perfectly.
“You can’t hide behind that disguise, or paper thin excuses,” the unicorn went on, disregarding the now bristling Elusive. “You almost got my wife killed today. The only question is whether you were trying to kill her, or somepony else was.”
Tempest had been equally enraged by Shining using his magic on Elusive, but now her friend’s anger seemed to evaporate as he broke into a chuckle, which soon turned into outright laughter. Shining snorted in irritation as the changeling struggled to compose himself.
“Really, Captain,” he said, pausing to wipe a tear from his eye. “I never believed anypony could get so many wrong ends of only one stick. How in the name of Celestia did you ever rise through the ranks?”
That didn’t improve Shining’s mood one jot, and he snarled at the bedridden changeling. Elusive continued.
“If I had wanted to kill your wife, I assure you, I would have been a trite more subtle in my execution. And I wouldn’t have left you alive long enough to come knocking. Now if you don’t mind, I was catching up with an old friend.”
Shining however, didn’t leave. Getting right up to the tailor’s bedside, he grabbed the changeling by the collar with his magic. Tempest made to push the unicorn away, but Elusive held a hoof up to stop her. The two stallions glared at each other for a few moments, Elusive wearing a near perfect mask of innocence and serenity. The same couldn’t be said for Shining.
If Tempest didn’t know better, she would have said Elusive was enjoying behind manhandled like this. Or at least, enjoying Shining’s frustration. He always did have a habit of pushing a pony’s buttons for his own amusement.
“Have a care, Captain,” he said softly. “I doubt your two friends outside would care to see you roughing up an innocent bedridden shopkeeper.”
Shining held him fast for a few moment longer. His eyes vainly trying to bore into his opponents, trying to get a read on him, something Tempest knew was all but impossible. He’d backed himself into a corner, and all three knew it.
“Don’t try and leave the city,” he said coldly. “And don’t expect this to be my last visit.”
With that, he released Elusive and left, all but slamming the door behind him, prompting a passing nurse to scold him. That left Tempest and Elusive alone once more.
“Well, that could have gone better,” Tempest said in a deadpan tone.
“Oh, you can hardly blame him,” Elusive replied. “The poor boy is frustrated.”
“Yeah, I wonder what could have done that? And what’s got you so cagey all of a sudden?” Elusive smiled.
“Cagey? Moi?” he said innocently.
“C’mon, Elusive,” Tempest went on. “His wife did almost get turned into pink mist today. It’s not like he’s just going to stop being interested in you.”
“True.”
Tempest paused for a moment. Despite their friendship, she knew little of Elusive. She knew he was an former infiltrator that, for one reason or another, had been exiled from the Changeling Kingdom, even after Chrysalis’ downfall. She also knew that somepony had tried to kill him not so long ago. Could this be the same party again?
“Do you think this has anything to do with Mandible?” she asked, referring to the supposedly retired head of the infiltrators. Elusive shook his head.
“He doesn’t want me dead, Tempest. You know that,” he pointed out. “Why kill me when I instead languish in exile?”
“So do you think somepony was trying to kill the princess?” Now he frowned.
“Why, I have no idea. She’s third in the line of succession, holds only limited political power, and already has an heir to her throne. Apart from a great outpouring of grief, what would be achieved by her death?”
It was indeed a puzzle, and one Tempest wanted to solve.
The same thoughts were now swirling around in Shining Armor’s head. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the changeling tailor had something to do with all this. But why would he try to kill her, and in such a way as to almost kill himself too? But who else would want his wife dead? She was loved and admired by her subjects, had no enemies in Canterlot. And what sort of pony would even know how to build a bomb in the first place, never mind know where the gas main was and plant it without somepony like Elusive noticing.
No, he had to be involved, somehow.
Shaking his head in exasperation, he found himself back at the gates to Canterlot Castle. The two sentries on duty saluted him as he passed. While he might no longer be Captain of the Royal Guard, his role as the Knight Commander of the recently reconstituted Imperial Crystal Guard, in addition to his title of Prince Consort, still gave him plenty of status in Equestria’s hierarchy.
He and Cadence had retained their usual apartment in the castle, one which Celestia always kept free for them when they visited. He was certainly grateful for it. While Cadence wasn’t seriously injured, as princess, royal physicians had fussed over her almost non-stop since the bombing, and the apartment was a sure as anything better than a bed in Canterlot’s hospital.
He found himself sighing in exasperation. This visit was meant to simply be a chance for Cadence to spend some time with Aunt Celestia. Couldn’t they have one little visit without somepony trying to kill them, usurp the kingdom, or destroy all Equestria? He was just glad Flurry Heart was safe with Sunburst back in the Empire.
Making his way up the stairs, he passed by the sentry on duty outside the apartment, something he’d insisted on. Security had gotten far too lax since his departure. Heading inside, he made his way to the bedroom, where he found his wife propped up on a number of pillows reading a book.
“Hey,” he said, keeping his voice low as he peeked through the door. “How are you feeling?” Cadence smiled at him and set aside her book, levitating it back to a nearby shelf.
“Better,” she said. “How was Elusive?” Shining found himself scowling again at the thought of that smug bug.
“Not particularly cooperative,” he said, closing the door behind him and perching himself on the side of the bed.
“I know Celestia trusts him, but something about him really rubs me the wrong way. I mean, why did you even go to him anyway?”
“Because he’s the best tailor in all Canterlot,” Cadence replied sweetly. “He’s done work for both my aunts, to say nothing of several nobles.”
“Doesn’t he freak you out a bit though. I mean…”
“Shining,” Cadence said, her tone now that of a mother scolding her colt. “Just because he’s a changeling, or used to be a spy, doesn’t mean he’s evil. He’s no friend of Chrysalis, that’s for sure.”
“Isn’t it strange though?” Shining went on. “You almost get seriously hurt, or worse, right outside the shop of the one still disguised changeling in all Equestria. One who just happened to specialise in infiltration and espionage.”
“That same changeling,” Cadence pointed out. “Put himself between me and the blast, and took shrapnel in his back. He was lucky not to be killed outright. Hardly the behaviour of an assassin.”
That was true. Why protect somepony you’re meant to kill? To throw him off the scent? No, that didn’t track at all.
“So why would he stonewall me when I went to talk to him?”
Cadence gave her husband a look that was half pity, half mirth.
“Perhaps it was the pile driving, all but accusing Royal Guard act you put on that did it?” she suggested, with just a hint of sarcasm. “Well, that and to mess with you for fun.”
Shining chuckled and nuzzled her.
“You’re almost as bad as he is,” he said. “But it doesn’t get me any closer to finding out what happened, or why. Was it you they were trying to kill, or him? And either way, who would have the capability and know-how to pull off something like that?”
“You’re not a one stallion army,” Cadence pointed out. “Celestia has a dozen ponies combing through the wreckage at the shop. See what they come up with. I can all but guarantee you won’t get anything more out of Elusive, if he even knows anything.”
Shining frowned. He never could stand this; the waiting. He was a stallion of action, and far happier when he could see the right path to take. But Cadence was right. There was little more to be done tonight. But he resolved to pay a visit to the scene of the crime as soon as he could.
A few days later, and Shining was seated in his office. While he no longer held a permanent position at Canterlot Castle, his old office had, for the time being at any rate, remained unused, so he was able to temporarily use it for his investigations.
He’d spent most of the morning pouring over reports. Naturally, after the dust had settled, the Royal Guard had begun canvassing for witnesses in the period of time leading up to the explosion. While Elusive’s shop might have been tucked away down a narrow side alley, it was still close to a large square and thoroughfare through the city. There was a chance somepony may have seen something suspicious.
In addition, after the fire brigade had extinguished the blaze, and the utility company had made the gas main safe, they had begun investigating the ruined interior of the store to search for any clues that may have survived.
But neither of those avenues concerned Shining at the moment. He, despite his wife’s urgings, remained almost fixated on the subject of Elusive. He was determined to find some sort of link between the changeling and what had happened. And to that end, he was pouring over the files the Royal Guard had on him. After all, when an enemy spy crosses the lines, you could never be too careful. He had been fully debriefed by the intelligence services in the aftermath of the incursion, and plenty had been gleaned about him.
Nirx, to use his real name, was once a high ranking and well respected infiltrator in Chrysalis’ regime. Highly experienced, with over a dozen successful operations under his belt. He specialised not only in infiltration and intelligence gathering, but was also a gifted counter spy, able to root out interlopers with frightening efficiency. It seemed his true talent though, lay in the art of interrogation, as he was more than able to outwit the ponies involved in his debriefing, frequently switching their roles.
All in all, as far as Shining was concerned, he was dangerous and not to be trusted. Even if he wasn’t acting against Equestrian interests, his true motivations were still largely a mystery, including why he chose to defect at such a critical moment.
Despite that though, the unicorn could find nothing to suggest he was behind the bombing. He had no motive, and as far as Shining knew, lacked the means to carry out such a strike.
With an irritated sigh, Shining closed the file on his desk. This was getting him nowhere. For Celestia’s sake, he still wasn’t sure if whoever did this was trying to kill his wife or that damn tailor! How could something as dramatic as a terrorist bombing be so intractable? Usually somepony claimed responsibility for such a thing. If it had been somepony trying to kill Cadence, surely they would. Even if the attack failed to kill her, it had come terrifyingly close, more than enough for a propaganda coup. And if Elusive was the target, there had been plenty of other opportunities since to finish him off.
Shaking his head again, Shining prepared to head out. Staring at paperwork wouldn’t solve this. He needed to pound the pavement and get hooves on the ground. First stop, the scene of the crime.
Elusive’s shop was still sealed off, as was the narrow alleyway that led to it. Two guardsponies stood on sentry duty, stopping curious passers by from doing anything more than glance at the still smoking mess beyond the crime scene tape that hung from lampposts on either side of the street. Of course, Shining was quickly waved through. As the OIC or officer in case, he was in charge of this whole operation. Heading down the alley, he passed a couple of ponies from the gas company working to properly repair the damaged gas main, so that neighbouring shops and houses could once again have hot water and heating. Beyond them, he soon came to the shop itself.
Structurally, the store had survived fairly well. The explosion, while powerful, had not been enough to seriously compromise the structure. And while it would be an expensive job to make it safe and habitable again, the building would not need to be torn down. The windows and front door had all been blown out, and occasional shards of glass still littered the street. Around each aperture, thick black soot had laid down a coat, showing where the flames had reached their zenith. It had certainly been a huge fireball, Shining surmised. Had Cadence or Elusive still been inside, both would have been virtually vaporised. Regardless, the explosion had generated enough force to hurl plenty of shrapnel out after them.
The only part of the lower floor that seemed unscathed was the small wooden sign that hung above the door. A small, deep red thing with gold embossed lettering that read ‘Elusive’s of Canterlot Est. 517CR Fitting and Alternations’.
In contrast, the upper floor, which housed Elusive’s modest apartment, was all but unscathed. And were the integrity of the floor not in question, it might even have been safe for him to return. Were it not a crime scene, of course.
Shining stepped carefully through the open doorway. The shop door, or at least what was left of it, was resting nearby, leaning against the brick wall, now little more than a collection of splinters.
The interior had not fared so well. In fact it was difficult to tell what this place had been. Everything was blackened, with only the sturdy shop counter at the far end of the room still standing. All the clothing racks, displays and such had all been burned up. Moving amongst this mess were several ponies from both the Royal Guard and Canterlot’s fire brigade. All took note of Shining’s arrival, and a young corporal was quick to report to him.
“Good morning, Captain,” he said, giving a quick salute, which Shining returned.
“What have we got?” he asked, feeling like a Hocklyn homicide detective in one of those cheap detective novels Rarity, along with Cadence, were so fond of.
“Fire investigators have found the point of origin,” the corporal explained, gesturing to the far wall, which was now scorched with a distinctive soot pattern.
“It looks like there were two charges. One to blow the main open, and a much larger one to make sure the damage was catastrophic. Full of ball bearings too; a home-made claymore. Real nasty.”
“Lucky nopony was in here when it went off.” Shining said, surveying the damage. “It did enough damage to ponies at range. I’d hate to see what happens at point blank. Any idea of what kind of device was used?”
A funny paradox with bombs like this. In the explosion, a bomb destroys everything but itself. Scattered amidst the debris was Equestria’s most challenging jigsaw puzzle. If they could find all, or at least most of the components, they could reconstruct the device.
“Techs are combing through now. Everything that might be of note is being collected and sent back to the castle for reconstruction,” the corporal explained
“Good,” Shining said with a nod. “Recreate the bomb, and we’re one step closer to finding its maker.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” a new voice said, catching both stallions off guard. Shining’s hackles rose as he recognised the somewhat high Canterlot falsetto. Turning to the doorway, he saw Elusive, calmly surveying the scene.
He was dressed in a modest waistcoat which was deep crimson at the front, and black silk at the back. Underneath, Shining could make out the outline of bandages. He was surprised that the doctors at Canterlot General had let him out so quick, considering how he’d almost been shredded a few days ago.
“Hey, this is a crime scene!” the young corporal barked.
“So it is,” Elusive said easily with a smile. “But it is also my business and place of residence.”
“You can’t be here, Elusive,” Shining reiterated firmly. “The place isn’t safe for equine habitation. You’ll need to find a hotel or something for the time being.”
“Oh, I already have, thank you,” the unicorn went on, continuing to trot around, examining the debris here and there. “Your dear wife helpfully put in a good word for me with the princess. She was kind enough to give me a room in the castle, as thanks for saving the young mare’s life.”
Shining glared at the tailor, furious at both his words, and the fact that he’d succeeded in making him angry.
“But I was curious,” Elusive went on, thoroughly enjoying being the object of Shining’s anger. “How the investigation was coming.”
The young corporal made to answer Elusive, but stopped short when Shining shot him a look. Gesturing with a foreleg, Shining led Elusive back out into the alley. At least this way he was away from the crime scene, as well as prying eyes and listening ears. He was grateful when the tailor followed without issue. If he’d learnt anything from their brief interactions, it was that Elusive enjoyed toying with him.
“Why are you here, Elusive?” he asked in a low voice when they were back outside.
“Well, I just said, didn’t I?” Elusive replied innocently. “Idle curiosity.”
“I meant why are you here, and not still in hospital.”
At this, Elusive barked out a short laugh.
“Oh, out of the question!” he exclaimed with a grin. “I couldn’t stand another moment being cooped up in there. It was bad enough the last time I found myself in need of their services. Given what happened then, I’d call this little more than a flesh wound.” He gestured to the bandages that covered the still fresh injury.
Shining sighed. This was the trouble with Elusive. Every question you asked either got an outright lie for an answer, or a subtle misdirection. The former infiltrator seemed to do very little without a definitive purpose, so Shining doubted he was just checking in. Perhaps…
“Was there something you wanted to tell me?” Shining ventured carefully. “Something you neglected to mention before, perhaps?” Elusive shook his head with a smile, letting out a disapproving tut.
“Really, Captain. You still believe I’m, what is it they say, ‘holding out’ on you? I assure you, this whole affair came as just as much a surprise to me as it did to you.” Shining frowned.
“So there’s no one out there who might hold a grudge against you? No enemies? No dissatisfied customers? No angry government agencies wanting you dead?” That last one was just an idle jab, but actually opened the wily changeling up a little. Elusive let out a chuckle.
“Well,” He said, pausing to dab his eye with a handkerchief. “It’s true that I did have to leave home and hearth. But in my experience, the Changeling Kingdom’s revenue service isn’t in the habit of killing off debtors who don’t er...pony up.”
Shining was half bewildered, half amused. The lie was so outrageous and idiotic that nopony would fall for it. And yet he had no way to call Elusive out on it either. He was about to go back inside, when a group of passing ponies stoked his thoughts.
A small family was trotting past the entrance to the alleyway. Two young colts excitedly hurried over to the crime scene tape to peer down at the burnt out store, only for their mother to quickly scoop them up and usher them away. Shining turned back to Elusive.
“You know,” he said in an earnest tone. “You and Cadence were really lucky. Not just at escaping, but lucky that there was nopony else down this way when it happened. This might be a quiet part of the city, but you still get plenty of families come down here, little colts and fillies.” He turned to go back in. “We have to be grateful for small mercies, I suppose.”
With that, he headed back for the doorway, not looking back. He resisted the instinctive response to perk his ears when Elusive spoke up.
“Yes, I suppose we were quite lucky,” he observed, his voice now minus its earlier, jovial tone.
It was a little after midday when Elusive made his way over to the modest cafe that he and Tempest tended to frequent. At first, it had simply been something of a convenience, being close to Tempest’s hotel when she briefly stayed in the city, and also providing a decent enough fare to be palatable. Since those events however, the two had come to use this place as a sort of natural meeting point. Whenever Tempest was in the city, the two would meet up for lunch at this very spot to chat and idly spar with one another.
Right now though, Elusive couldn’t help but feel a little ill at ease. Shining’s jab about mares and foals shouldn’t have rattled him like that, and yet it had. Perhaps he really was going soft in his old age? How else could a stallion who was so clearly barking up the wrong tree as Shining was still manage to get a hit in like that under his radar?
He tried to put those thoughts to one side, at least, for the moment. For Shining wasn’t the only pony investigating this little problem. Tempest was just as curious as to what had happened. And while Elusive doubted either one would be able to solve the puzzle alone, together, they might just stumble upon something.
He found Tempest seated at their usual table out on the street in front of the bistro. Glancing at the restaurant, a passing pony might have thought it quiet for lunchtime, but Elusive was fully aware of the real reason that almost every other table around the tall, imposing mare was empty. While she had made great strides recently, many ponies still gave her a wide berth, redemption or no. Her time away from Equestria had made her quite alien to many ponies. Maybe that was what he liked about her; another stranger in this happy little land of sunshine and rainbows.
“May I join you, Tempest?” he asked as he walked up.
Tempest, who was presently working her way through a dandelion sandwich and a cup of coffee, nodded.
“Help yourself, Elusive,” she replied, gesturing to the opposite chair.
The disguised changeling smiled as he seated himself, spotting one or two ponies looking their way. He wondered what comments they might be whispering to one another about them. The ex-soldier and the strange tailor who had his shop blown up right in front of a princess.
“I ran into Captain Shining Armor again this morning,” he commented idly. Tempest’s eyes darted up from her meal. He had her attention.
“I hope you didn’t do anything to annoy him?” she prodded back. Elusive chuckled.
“Well, perhaps a little,” he admitted. “But I was curious to see how their investigation was going. That, and I needed to survey the damage. I fear it will be quite some time before I am able to reopen.”
“And have they found anything?” Tempest asked. Elusive smiled.
“The good captain is convinced I am the victim of a terrorist bombing, or his dear wife was. He still doesn’t seem to have a firm grasp on who the target was. He was kind enough to subject me to another grilling too.”
“And I’m sure you gave him everything he needed, right?” Tempest asked, with just a hint of sarcasm. Elusive, quite unsuccessfully, feigned ignorance.
“Well, what could I tell him?” he asked earnestly. “I know no more about the whole business than he does. And yet despite my protestations, he seemed convinced that I knew something.”
Tempest let out a laugh. In a way, she loved this game of theirs. Frustrating as he could be at times, Elusive was nothing if not interesting.
“Does that really surprise you?” she asked with a smile. “You’re not exactly known for your honesty after all. I think if that cowpony mare Twilight’s friends with...erm...Applejack, if she met you, she’d probably lose her mind with how much horseapples comes out of your mouth.”
“Oh come, Tempest,” Elusive chided. “Surely you don’t think so little of me.”
“Shining certainly seems to,” she pointed out. “Honestly, Elusive. Did your mother never tell you the story of the colt who cried wolf?”
Elusive blinked at that. His mother had never really told him any stories. Then again, he hadn’t exactly been an only child. His relationship with her was...complicated at best.
“I don’t believe so,” he replied after a moment. “But what has that got to do with anything?”
“Well,” Tempest said, leaning back in her chair. “It all starts with a young colt. He’s a shepherd; watches the sheep, protecting them from predators. But it’s a very lonely job. So, one day he calls out to the village that a wolf was coming after the flock, and everypony came out to scare it away. The little colt liked the company, since he didn’t get lonely. So the next day, he does the same thing again, and again. Eventually, everypony realises he’s just doing it for fun and leaves him be. But then one day, a wolf really does come. He calls out, but nopony listens to him, and the wolf eats him and all the sheep. The point is, Elusive, that if you keep telling lies, nopony will believe you when you tell the truth.”
Tempest figured she was probably wasting her breath. But it was one of the few stories her mother had told that had stuck with her throughout her life. Still, she doubted that Elusive would be swayed by a foal’s tale. What she didn’t expect though, was his unique interpretation of it.
“I wouldn’t say that’s really the moral, Tempest,” he said, after mulling the matter over. Tempest chuckled.
“Elusive! That’s the whole point of the story!” she exclaimed. “To not tell lies.”
“I think not,” he replied serenely. Tempest shook her head in dismay.
“Alright then. What do you take away from it?” she asked. Elusive smiled.
“Never tell the same lie twice.”
Tempest could help but burst out laughing at that.
Only Elusive, she thought to herself.
Shining meanwhile, while a little pleased with himself at getting under Elusive’s defences, had now turned his attention to more pressing matters. The search of Elusive’s shop was beginning to bear fruit. Amidst the pieces of masonry, wood, and blown apart clothing, the guards had begun to find bits and pieces of what could possibly be an explosive device. Shining again found himself glad of the strange paradox that a bomb destroys everything except itself in a blast. If they could reconstruct the device, they would be one step closer to finding the culprit behind it all.
At the moment though, all that had been found was sitting on a ruined counter top in a small plastic box. Shards of metal that couldn’t be attributed to anything that had been in the shop now sat in there, forming a challenging jigsaw puzzle. You didn’t know if you had all the pieces, or if some of the pieces were from a completely different puzzle. But if they could reconstruct it, they would know almost exactly what they were dealing with.
While he was Captain of the Guard up north, and still held great prestige here in Canterlot, Shining wasn’t above getting his hooves dirty, and had joined the other more junior guards in searching through the debris. He was just looking through parts they may once have been a cash register, when a younger officer called out.
“Captain, I think we have something here,” he called, catching the unicorn’s attention.
Levitating his own find into a small tray set aside for possible, rather then definite bomb parts, Shining walked over to join his junior, a young pegasus who, if he remembered correctly, was named Swift Wing.
“Find something?” Shining asked. The guard pointed a hoof at a small trinket lying on the floor, having previously been covered by other rubble.
At a first glance, it didn’t appear to be anything, a small round thing, about half the diameter of a hoof, silver in colour, and with a slight bulge in the middle. But the three small wires protruding from the back gave it away. It was something electrical.
“It could just be part of one of the lights that was down here,” Swift offered. Shining shook his head. He knew exactly what this was.
“That’s no light, Swift,” he said sternly. “That’s a magical field resonance sensor.”
“A what?” the guardspony asked curiously. Shining explained.
“It’s a detector,” he said. "It scans the immediate environment for any kind of magic; ambient, background, or active spells. The key is it can be set up to detect certain forms from a variety of species, from unicorns to hippogriffs. It acts as a switch in an electric circuit. When it detects the magic it’s set to, it activates, completing the circuit. They’re usually used in alarm systems, and I know we used them to prevent cheating at the Equestria Games back in the Crystal Empire. But if you knew what you were doing…”
“You could instead use it in an explosive device,” Swift finished, making Shining smile. “Instead of a timer, or a switch that would need somepony to be close, they could leave the device in place, and it would only go off when the intended target got close enough.”
“Exactly,” Shining said with a nod. “But you’re not the first to get that idea.”
“Who did, sir?” Swift asked.
“The Griffons,” Shining said. “After the Changeling Incursion, they started to use them in their security systems. They’re also a favourite toy of their Kommandos.”
The Griffon Kommandos were the part time, citizen soldiers, that made up the core of the Griffon Kingdom’s military. Mnay lived on the kingdom's southern frontier with Zebrica. Able to live off the land wherever they went, and almost as skilled as the thestrals of the Lunar Guard in combat, they were experts in unconventional warfare, scouting, sabotage, and assassination. If the Kingdom wanted somepony dead, a small group of kommandos, typically those who were miners in their normal lives, would do the job.
But what in the name of Celestia would griffons be doing here? They had been allies with Equestria for decades. And kommandos no less. That would technically be a military incursion into another sovereign state. But it made sense. The Griffon Kingdom was known for holding a grudge against its enemies, and wasn’t above taking such drastic measures. It certainly seemed to move things towards the idea that Elusive was the target rather than Cadence. That at least gave him some pause.
“But if it was set to go off when the right pony came near,” Swift said, startling Shining out of his thoughts. “Why didn’t it go off until the princess and that tailor feller were outside, far enough away to survive the blast?”
Shining frowned; he was right. Kommandos didn’t make mistakes like that. And the sensor would have been near instantaneous in activating. When Elusive was close to that wall, it should have gone off. Taking the device in his field, he turned it over.
“Look here, sir,” Swift said to Shining, pointing to the wiring. “There’s a short in the wiring. Guess somepony up there was looking out for them.”
“Discord protects his own,” Shining muttered to himself, before raising his voice again. “Alright, get that back to the castle. See if we can find any identifying markings on it to confirm if this was really the work of kommandos.”
“Yes sir,” Swift said with a nod.
Shining was thus left alone for a moment with his thoughts. Was this really the work of griffons? Celestia knew that Elusive had made many enemies. But an extrajudicial killing on foreign soil? With a princess right in the firing line no less. Kommandos, or rather, former kommandos, had been known the sell their services for the right price. Perhaps this was a hired hit? But then who was the buyer?
That question could wait, he decided. For now, he needed to work out if this really was the work of kommandos. Leaving the store, ducking under the crime scene tape as he went, Shining made his way back towards the castle and the government district. Perhaps a check of recent immigration records would throw some light on all this.
Canterlot might be the capital of Equestria, and a major tourist destination, but that still didn’t mean that many griffons came to visit the city. Apart from visiting officials, there weren’t that many on record as having come through customs in the last few weeks. One stood out to Shining as he poured over passenger manifests and immigration records in his office.
His name was Gerhard. According to his immigration form, he was a merchant, and had come to the city on holiday under a tourist visa. A quick search through the archives brought back what Shining already suspected. Gerhard was indeed a former kommando, a veldkornet to be precise; something comparable to a sergeant or other senior NCO in the strange, democratic hodgepodge that was the many kommandos that made up the part time militias of the Griffon Defence Forces. According to his military record, provided by the Griffon embassy, he’d served in a number of campaigns as part of the Beaksburg Kommando, including a number skirmishes with changelings, to say nothing of the zebras along the country’s southern border with Zebrica.
He’d arrived in the city a week before Elusive’s shop was bombed. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for Shining to want to speak with him. He by no means had enough to consider arresting or detaining Gerhard, but he had his suspicions.
It was hardly difficult to track Gerhard down. He’d provided the address of his hotel on his visa application, and confirmed it with customs when he arrived off the airship in Canterlot. In a city where even earth ponies and pegasi were somewhat unusual, the griffon stuck out like a sore thumb. Shining had two guards quietly pick him up, voluntarily, of course. He was brought to the castle, and from there escorted to Shining’s office.
He was quite a sight to behold. Standing about as tall as Shining, he was well built, with ashen grey plumage that gave way to almost pure black fur on his hind quarters. His beak had a sharp hook to it, giving him an appearance one wouldn’t expect of a simple trader or merchant. The two guards escorted him inside, before being dismissed by Shining.
“Thank you for coming, Mr. Gerhard,” Shining said, keeping his tone formal, but more or less neutral. The griffon was unimpressed.
“Your men didn’t exactly give me much choice,” he replied in a somewhat surly tone, with a marked Zebrican accent common to those living on the souther frontier. “Tell me, do you randomly arrest all the griffons that come to your fair city?”
“You aren’t under arrest,” Shining answered. “Nor are you forced to be here. If you wish to leave, there is the door. My men won’t stop you. I was just hoping that you might be able to help me with an investigation I’m dealing with.”
Gerhard turned and shot Shining a quizzical look. Griffons were argumentative by nature, and there was often a cultural clash when it came to the more cooperative nature of ponies. Still, if Gerhard left without asking the obvious question, Shining would know he had the right man.
“What investigation?” he asked carefully. Shining was careful in what he offered.
“A tailor’s shop was destroyed about a week ago,” he explained. “Someone placed an explosive on the gas main. When it blew, it nearly killed the shopkeeper, and my wife, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”
Gerhard visibly started at that. But a moment later, he recovered himself.
“Ah, I see. I assume then that you’ve seen my military record. I was an expert in sabotage and the use of explosives. The big, nasty griffon must be the one behind it, is that it?” Gerhard snarled. Shining kept his own voice even.
“Wouldn’t you be suspicious?” he asked Gerhard. “A griffon, an expert in explosives and assassinations, just happens to arrive, and a week later, a shop gets blown up?”
“I haven’t done such things in a long time!” Gerhard countered. “I haven’t been on kommando in years. I’m a merchant now.”
“Oh? And what are you selling?” Shining asked.
At this, Gerhard produced a small black case. Opening it revealed a collection of vials, each filled with various colourful liquids. The moment it was opened, Shining was hit with the smell of perfume.
“Perfumes and colognes,” Gerhard said. “Customised to each customer’s exact needs. Just as I was good at mixing dynamite and gelatine to produce an explosion of the perfect size, so too am I skilled in mixing just the right ingredients for the perfect scent. My special talent, as you ponies would put it.”
Shining examined the box. It did indeed seem to be nothing more than a collection of, in all honesty, fairly cheap perfumes. The sort of thing you might pick up from a vendor in Saddle Arabia for a couple of bits. However, his sensitive equine nose picked up something that didn’t quite fit. It was well masked, but just faintly there.
“Is that so?” he said, after a moment. “Well, perhaps then, you could help me. My wife’s birthday is coming up in a few weeks and I’ve been meaning to get her something. Unlike you though, I never had much of a nose for perfumes. Tell me, what do you think of this scent?”
Using his magic, he carefully lifted a small vial of light purple liquid and held it aloft between the two of them.
“Ah, wildflowers,” Gerhard commented. “A subtle yet pleasing scent. Might I suggest mixing it with this?” He carefully picked out another vial, this time of a pale yellow colour. Shining however, had other ideas.
“Actually, I was more keen on this one,” he replied, lifting another, greenish concoction out of the box. “Perhaps mixed together they would make a nice combination?”
He carefully moved the two vials closer and was just about to pour one into the other, when Gerhard stopped him.
“I wouldn’t do that,” the griffon said, with just a trace of worry in his voice. Shining paused, doing his best not to smile.
“Really? Why?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“I don’t think your wife would much care for that particular scent.” Shining now let himself smile as he moved the two vials away from each other and placed them on his desk.
“No, I suppose not,” he agreed. “After all, when you mix those two compounds together, innocuous as they are apart, you do create a rather potent poison, don’t you? In these close quarters, we might even be overcome by the fumes in mere moments.”
There was now barely concealed panic in Gerhard’s eyes. He was caught, and both stallion and griffon knew it. But he wasn’t going to give in just yet.
“I didn’t know that!” he objected. “I just thought that you wouldn’t care for the scent.”
Shining narrowed his eyes at the griffon. He had him cold, from a practical standpoint at least. But from a legal one, things were more murky. They were a long way from an cast iron case. Was he more suspicious of Gerhard now? Absolutely. But suspicion did not equal guilt. And thus, for the moment, Shining’s hooves were tied.
From her hidden perch outside the castle wall, Tempest looked on with contempt as Gerhard strutted out of the gates with all the pride of a peacock. Her route to viewing the griffon with suspicion however, had been quite different from Shining’s.
While the unicorn guardsman had searched for evidence, formulated theories, and eventually arrived at a conclusion, she had taken a more practical approach. She asked herself how she would have done it. If she wanted to kill Elusive, or a princess, how would she proceed? She felt a twinge of remorse when she considered Cadence, considering she had almost killed the alicorn on their last meeting, petrifying her and her aunts so that their magic could be stolen. She hadn’t even spoken to Cadence since she’d been pardoned for that. And honestly, she was surprised that Shining hadn’t brought it up.
But turning her thoughts back to her question, she considered her options. If she wanted to kill either her or Elusive, it would be a challenge. Alicorns were extremely tough, and Elusive, having a skill set similar to her own, would more than likely catch any attempt. He never truly let his guard down, not around anypony. No matter how jocular he seemed and perfectly at ease, his mind was always working away, plotting and scheming, planning contingencies, contingencies for those contingencies and contingencies for them too. He was always one step ahead of you it seemed. So how had he been caught napping like this?
A bomb was indeed a sure fire way to kill somepony. If the blast didn’t kill them outright, the resulting shrapnel and fireball certainly ought to. An ideal place for such a device would be on a gas main, producing a more powerful blast, while still keeping the device itself fairly small, and thus less likely to be detected. Planting it near the doorway would put the target into a confined space, further increasing the likelihood of being killed outright All in all, it seemed like a good plan. There was just one problem.
How did the killer know when to set it off? And why had the timing been so poor? When the device had exploded, both potential targets had been well clear of the blast, with only one sustaining injuries requiring hospitalisation. How could somepony create a device designed to kill a target and then botch the execution so badly?
Was the fuse or timing device at fault? Tempest doubted that. Somepony with this much know how wouldn’t make a rookie mistake like that. And a timer would be a poor choice anyway. With no way to stop a detonation, a single wrong move could result in precisely what happened taking place, with the target being well clear of the explosion. Timers were for arson, destruction of property, not assassination. So what about a manual detonator? That too had flaws when dealing with somepony like Elusive. Surely he’d spot even a single stray wire, and how would you even install it? It was an incredible feat that this device had been planted without his notice, but a length of electrical wiring would be even more obvious. Besides, even if it was some sort of remote, you would need to be close by, and thus vulnerable to detection before and after the event.
That was when it hit her. This bomb was designed for a specific target. Both Elusive and Cadence had unusual magic, changeling and alicorn respectively. Unique enough that a magical detector could be useful. Wired in as a switch, the device could be safely left, lying dormant until the target drew near. It would keep the device’s size small, but guarantee the target would be close before completing the circuit and setting the bomb off. The killer could then slip away long before the moment of truth, and be far away if something went wrong.
As with Shining, Tempest had considered looking to the experts in the use of these devices. After all, who would find such a device more useful than griffons, who lacked magic of their own? Placed in mines, these sensors had been deadly during the last war with Equestria. Back then, they had been used on a huge scale in minefields. Griffon troops could safely pass through them, but ponies would set them off with their innate magic.
With her own access to Royal Guard resources through her new employer in Princess Luna, she too had tracked down Gerhard. She’d arrived at his hotel just as the two guards Shining sent were escorting him away. While Shining had been busy interrogating him though, Tempest was taking a leaf out of Elusive’s play book.
While she would never admit to working for a non-existent agency, whose supposed existence was nothing more than a preposterous rumour that flared up in the wake of a bizarre incident involving a bugbear, her new position did give her access to some rather useful kit, which the Royal Guard’s most skilled investigators did not have access to.
It also allowed her to bypass little foibles like warrants, the notion of due process, or that marvellous nonsense of habeas corpus, but that was by the by. At least some good had come of the Changeling Incursion it seemed.
Listening devices were difficult to make, but magical technology allowed for them to be made barely the size of a small gem; small enough to easily conceal in a hotel room, if you knew what you were doing. And so, while Shining grilled Gerhard for information Tempest knew he wouldn't give, she quietly made her way into his hotel room.
She did a quick sweep for the obvious; weapons, explosives, circuitry, anything to suggest Gerhard had had such a device in his possession, along with looking for any kind of documentation, such as surveillance photos, notes on either potential target, or anything else to suggest he was more than he appeared. She found nothing however.
“Damn it,” she muttered to herself as she carefully placed his suitcase back exactly as she’d found it. “Maybe he got rid of everything after the bomb went off. It’s what I’d do.”
It was true. Once a job like this was done, you burned the evidence, burned your identity, and took off before anypony had a chance to even consider you. Gerhard had done well on the former, but lingering may well cost him.
Still, try as she might, Tempest could find nothing to cast suspicion on Gerhard, so she followed through with her plan. Lifting up the somewhat vulgar table lamp on the small night stand by the bed, she carefully concealed the bug inside, just below the switch, where it wouldn’t throw an obvious shadow should the light be turned on. With any luck, Gerhard would try to contact his employer for instructions, or a contact would arrange to meet him. Tempest could then trail the griffon and nab both parties in one fell swoop.
Finishing her work, she carefully made her way out of the hotel, and from there, headed back to the castle, arriving just in time to watch Gerhard stroll out a free griffon. It wasn’t too much work to tail him discretely, certainly far less of a challenge than Elusive had been. He made straight for the hotel, while Tempest made herself comfortable at a small cafe across from it. Close enough for the transmitter to get a clear signal through. The earpiece meanwhile, was difficult to see, allowing her to listen in without worrying about ponies noticing. To passers by, she was just a mare enjoying a cup of coffee, although, she reflected, a somewhat notorious mare. But why would Gerhard be looking for her?
Contrary to popular belief, spying, as with police work, isn’t exactly glamorous. A great deal of time is spent simply waiting, listening, indeed hoping, that something will happen. It was this way for Tempest as she waited for Gerhard to head up to his room. She was halfway through a fascinating newspaper article on cherry sales in Dodge Junction, when she heard the click of a lock in her earpiece.
She started for a moment, but soon returned to her zen like state. Now she would get some answers she hoped.
Her hopes however were quickly dashed as music began to fill her ears. The radio in the room. Perhaps Gerhard wasn’t as foolish as she first thought. He’d turned the volume up a fair way, and some irritating pop tune filled Tempest’s ears. Only barely could she make out bits and pieces of conversation, but she hadn’t a clue what was being said.
With a snarl, she prepared to get up and leave. It was clearly futile trying to glean anything this way. A quick glance up at the room also told her that Gerhard had had the foresight to draw the shades too, so a little rooftop sightseeing was equally out of the question.
She was just about to remove the earpiece and go on her way, when the music suddenly stopped. She tensed once again. Did he have eyes on her, and so know she was leaving? She strained to listen over the chatter around her. She could hear a voice coming faintly through the microphone.
“I tried my best!” a voice said. It was Gerhard, and by the sounds of things he was deeply scared.
“Your best didn’t even hurt the bug that badly!” a second, unknown voice said with contempt. “You were told to do this quickly, cleanly, and above all, quietly. Now the Guard is sniffing around and our target will be that much more careful.”
“I have everything I need,” Gerhard replied. “I’m ready to make the attempt right away.”
“Too late.”
Tempest picked up the sounds of a struggle, the squawk of a griffon in fright, the flapping of wings, furniture being knocked over. Evidently Gerhard’s friends didn’t care much for screw ups. Getting up, Tempest broke into a gallop toward the hotel, taking the stairs three at a time. If she could get there, Gerhard ought to be more than willing to talk now.
Bursting into the corridor, and scaring the living daylights out of a hotel maid in the process, Tempest made for the room Gerhard was in. The door was already ajar. Readying herself for a fight, Tempest roughly shouldered the door, sending it flying back on its hinges.
Inside, the room was a mess. The small table and lamp had been tipped over and smashed, the bedsheets and had thrown all over, and the curtains had been torn down and now partly covered a form that lay in the middle of the room. Moving closer, Tempest yanked the fabric away to confirm what she already suspected.
There was Gerhard. He’d not gone quietly that was for sure. But whoever he’d been up against was clearly a better fighter, and they’d brought something extra with them. The griffon’s craw was slashed open, staining the white silk curtain a deep crimson, his eyes stared up at Tempest, fixed, while his beak hung open in a silent scream. Half heartedly, Tempest reached down and felt for a pulse.
“Dammit,” she cursed to herself.
And just like that, the only suspect, indeed, only witness to the bombing of Elusive’s store, was dead.
And that’s when she heard the Guard’s whistles blowing. All Tartarus was about to fall around her ears.
Tempest didn't run; she knew there was no point. Running would just make her look more guilty than she already did. Standing here, with a dead griffon splayed out in front of her, she wouldn’t blame the guards for jumping to conclusions. Of course, once you took more than a cursory glance at the scene, it would become obvious that she had nothing to do with it. But for now, she was a pony in the wrong place, at the wrong time, playing right into the killer’s hooves.
As the guards burst through the door, she did little but raise her forelegs. She quickly found herself hoofcuffed by a couple of them. Still, she might as well get the ball rolling on her eventual release.
“Royal Special Agent!” she declared, identifying herself as being in the employ of Princess Luna. To her surprise, this actually had an effect on her captors.
“Hey, hold up!” a commanding voice called out. A moment later, the hoofcuffs were removed, and she was helped back onto her hooves, though she remained restrained.
Tempest found herself face to face with a pegasus guard, a sergeant going by his uniform. He obviously recognised her, and in days gone by, that alone would been enough to book her. Now though, it seemed she’d earned a bit of clout in the world of law enforcement.
“My, my, so you are,” the sergeant said with a little surprise. “And what brings an agent of Princess Luna to the scene of a murder?”
“Tail job,” Tempest replied. “Check the table lamp. You’ll find a mic just under the switch. I was listening in on our mutual friend. I had a lead he may have had something to do with the bombing a few days ago. I heard him come in, meet with somepony, then sounds of a struggle, so I came up here to intervene.”
“Too late for that,” the sergeant reflected, glancing down at the dead griffon. “You get eyes on the suspect?” Tempest shook her head.
“Was gone by the time I got here,” she replied. “Nopony passed me in the stairwell.” The sergeant now turned to one of his subordinates.
“Check the hotel elevators. See if the operators took anypony down in the last few minutes. Get descriptions as best you can of anypony leaving in a hurry.”
“Yes sir,” a younger private answered with a nod, before leaving the room.
“I doubt we’ll get much,” the sergeant admitted. “But a shot in the dark is better than no shot at all.”
“I’d check the street too,” Tempest suggested. “The balcony windows are open. Victim’s a Griffon mercenary, wouldn’t be that out there to suggest it was one of his own kind. They could have just took off from here. I wouldn’t have seen them, and it would make for a quick exit.”
The sergeant nodded in agreement.
“Alright, you know what comes next,” he said, after getting things moving with his fellow guards. “I gotta take you in. If this thing is connected to the attempt on Princess Cadence, Captain Armor will want to hear all of this.”
“I bet he will,” Tempest said with a smile. Somehow she doubted meeting up with Shining Armor was going to be any fun.
Once again, Tempest found herself in Canterlot Castle. She wasn’t under arrest, something that had been made clear to her when she was frog marched in. She was only here as a witness. It certainly didn’t feel like that though, as she sat in Shining Armor’s office. To say that the stallion was unhappy was a gross understatement.
“So,” he said icily. “Let’s just go over things as they stand now. I have no idea whether the bomb was meant for my wife or your weird friend, I don’t know who planted the bomb, how they did it, or why, and the only lead either of us had who might have been able to lead us to whoever is behind this, is now dead. How am I doing so far?”
Tempest, for her part, just glared back. He was pissed off, she understood that. But nothing that had happened at the hotel was her fault.
“He would have been dead either way,” she countered coldly. “First rule of assassination; kill the assassin. Whoever did it probably didn’t realise I was there, until just before. Then they probably sounded the alarm that caused your pet gorillas to come bursting in. You should be talking to your boys, not me. One of them more than likely came face to face with your killer.”
Shining now got up from behind his desk and began to stalk around toward Tempest. While she stood a good head taller than most ponies, she and Shining were about the same size, so he actually had a chance of intimidating her.
“That’s a nice story, Tempest,” he said as he stood next to her. “But I’m a firm believer in Ockham's Razor. My guards find an ex-soldier, and former enemy of Equestria, at the scene of a murder. The victim may well be responsible for the attempted murder of my wife, who I believe you yourself tried to kill at one point. I wouldn’t say it’s too far fetched to consider that you might have killed him.”
Tempest rolled her eyes in disgust.
“Without getting a drop of blood on me,” she replied. “Concealing the murder weapon so well that you still haven’t found it. And all without leaving so much as a stray mane hair in the entire room. I’m flattered, Captain. I may be good, but I’m not that good.”
Shining just sneered at her. Tempest continued.
“What possible motive would I have?” she exclaimed. “I work for Princess Luna. I spent that last eight months dealing with threats to Equestria. Do you really think if I was so disloyal I’d try something so erratic?”
“All I know,” Shining said, rounding on her. “Is that you’ve been interfering in this investigation from the start. Whether that’s to help, or just muddy the waters is up for debate.”
“I can assure you, Captain,” a new voice called out, surprising both stallion and mare. “The only pony managing to muddy the waters is you.”
Standing at the doorway, a sentry just behind him, was Elusive. On this occasion though, he didn’t seem to be in the mood for games. He soon continued.
“And from what I can see, you appear to be questioning somepony, without offering them their right to speak with counsel, or even informing them of the charge against them.”
“What do you want, Elusive,” Shining snarled.
“Firstly,” Elusive replied. “I wish to exonerate my good friend. Whatever vendetta you might have against me. I shan’t stand for such accusations being levied against a mare who has done nothing but fight for Equestria for well over a year now. And second, I wish to volunteer some information.”
That quickly got Shining’s attention. At once, his focus shifted from Tempest over to her changeling companion.
“You know something about what happened to Gerhard?” he asked, his tone now more sincere.
“I’m surprised somepony with such a rabid hatred of my species didn’t come to the conclusion sooner.”
“What conclusion?” Shining demanded.
“Your killer was a changeling, Captain,” Elusive revealed. Shining snorted.
“How could you possibly know that?”
“Your Ockham’s Razor, dear boy,” the changeling said with a smile. “The killer did not flee down the stairs, nor did he take the elevators, and no bystanders saw anycreature with wings fly out of any room in the hotel. He was still there when Tempest arrived, and was still there when your lackeys left.”
“What?!” Shining and Tempest exclaimed.
“It’s an old trick,” Elusive said with a chuckle. “Changelings can take any form after all, not just living beings. An assassin could sneak into a room, disguise himself as something as innocuous as say, a desk lamp, and wait for his victim. When they arrive, and the moment is right, they ambush their target, then simply return to their concealment. All that remains is to wait a while until the heat dies down, and then they may withdraw without anypony batting an eye. A good infiltrator can hold their disguise, motionless, for up to seventy two hours. I’d imagine by now he’s just crossed back into his homeland.”
Shining and Tempest listened to the explanation in amazement. For her part, Tempest was mentally beating herself up for not realising it all sooner. Shining however, while in agreement with the tailor, still had questions.
“If that’s all true,” he said. “Why would the changelings want to kill a random griffon mercenary?”
At this, Elusive’s cunning smile returned.
“I never said I had all the answers,” he replied coyly.
“Don’t get cute, Elusive!” Shining snarled. “You walk in here and tell me your people are involved in an extrajudicial killing on foreign soil, and you expect me to believe you don’t have the slightest clue why they did it?”
“I’m not an infiltrator any more, Captain,” Elusive replied serenely. “I have no more an idea of what is going on inside their government than you do. If you want to find out the why, I suggest you ask them. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take my friend and be on our way.”
Tempest turned to Shining, but he made no effort to hold her, so she calmly followed Elusive back out into the corridor.
“Thanks for bailing me out,” she said quietly. Elusive smiled.
“And have you miss our usual lunch? Never!”
Shining snorted. As much as he hated to admit it, Elusive was right. There was pretty much no way that Tempest was responsible for Gerhard’s death. He mentally kicked himself for lashing out; a soldier kept control of his emotions, no matter the situation.
He was frustrated. The one possible lead he had was now a very dead end, and Elusive, if he was to even be believed, had now just left him with a whole new rabbit hole to go tumbling down. Changelings assassinating a griffon on Equestrian soil? It was insane! It was a well documented fact that, following the attack on Canterlot the Griffon Kingdom has adhered to their treaty with Equestria, and had several skirmishes with changelings as a result. Unlike Equestria though, they didn’t represent a near bottomless source of food for the insectoid race. So why do something so rash to kill one measly griffon, who wasn’t even that high up in their military?
There was only one way to find that out, and that was to confront the Changeling government directly. Following the peace with Equestria, the new government had begun diplomatic overtures, something previously totally foreign to them. While no counterpart existed within their borders, there was now an embassy in Canterlot, established as a place to conduct negotiations when the official treaties were all worked out. It remained in operation as Thorax worked to reorganise his people into a civilised nation.
Leaving the castle, though staying within the government district, Shining soon made his way down there. Unlike more official embassies, it wasn’t a case of making an appointment to see the ambassador; strictly speaking there wasn’t yet such a position. Instead, a small group of changelings, answering to Thorax, carried messages back and forth via a dedicated magical network, something that the changelings had perfected over the years, allowing for long distance, and above all, confidential communication. Not to say that ponies had nothing similar, their own embassies made use of telegraph networks, employing complex ciphers to keep messages secret.
Shining briefly mused how long it would be before the changelings had a government to speak of, beyond Thorax himself and a few advisors. Then again, until a few months ago, everything that happened in their lands was simply the will of the queen, the rest were just obedient drones. Their society was so different to ponies, more like dragons, or diamond dogs. They had never had need for a government as such, just a tyrannical ruler and those who enforced their whims.
Making his was past other, far grander establishments, the unicorn soon found himself outside the fairly humble building that represented the Changeling Kingdom’s official mission. It was little more than a large house, with no national flag flying from the room, since, again, changelings had never needed such things.
Ringing the bell, it wasn’t too long before the door was opened and Shining found himself face to face with one of the multicoloured creatures that called the place home.
“Prince Shining Armor!” the changeling, a female, said in surprise.
“I need to speak with the ambassador,” Shining said in a firm, but not unpleasant tone. The changeling nodded and stepped aside.
“Of course, sir. Please, come in.”
Stepping inside, Shining found himself standing inside a modest hallway. The décor was all pony as far as he could see. With no experience themselves, changelings tended to simply mimic ponies when it came to a lot of things. They’d even apparently adopted their own bizarre version of Heath’s Warming.
The changeling led him across into the modest office that was set aside for the ambassador. If Shining remembered correctly, he was a former soldier, reasonably high in rank, and thus having more understanding of ponies than the typical drone. He stood when Shining walked in, his green and orange carapace looking somewhat out of place in the austere office.
“Welcome, Captain Armor,” he greeted, addressing him as a fellow soldier than royalty. “Please, sit down. I had a feeling somepony might be visiting us today.”
His jocular manner and friendly greeting made Shining uneasy. Changelings had two modes as far as he knew; meek and fearful, when they were vulnerable or at a disadvantage, and gleeful and twisted when they knew they had the upper hoof. Shining liked neither, though he preferred the former over the latter.
“What makes you say that?” Shining asked as he took a seat, and politely declined the revolting grubs the changeling who’d let him in offered. The ambassador though, remained relaxed.
“You’re here about that murdered griffon, are you not?” he went on. That put Shining on edge.
“I was hoping you could answer some questions about it, yes,” he admitted carefully.
“Well, allow me to answer the obvious,” the ambassador continued. “Yes, he was assassinated by one of our infiltrators.”
It took all of Shining’s self control not to balk at that. Changelings might be new to diplomacy, but no creature could be so stupid as to admit that so openly. Doing his best to keep his face unreadable, Shining continued his questions.
“May I know your reason?” he asked, masking his surprise.
“My people didn’t just face you as our enemies,” the ambassador explained. “During our conflict with Equestria, we also found ourselves threatened by your griffon allies. Closer to our homeland, they were a much greater threat. They made several raids into our homeland. But as they were unable to get close to our hive, they instead used hit and run attacks to pick off drones where they could, and quite indiscriminately. Her Majesty declared these brigands sky pirates as a result, not soldiers, and posted rewards for their capture or death. Gerhard was responsible for the murder of over a dozen of our people.”
Murder? Shining thought in disgust. What nonsense was this? They were at war, murder isn’t murder in war. Still, if that was the horseapples he wanted to peddle…
“Whether he was a criminal or not,” Shining said sternly. “You don’t have the right to send one our your soldiers into our capital to enact revenge. We are at peace. Had you come to my government, we would have been willing to discuss extradition or reparations. But this military operation on foreign soil is simply unacceptable!”
“A fact I raised with our commanders,” the ambassador agreed, the smile now fading. “But there are certain people you don’t say no to, captain. I’m sure you know that as well as I do.”
“Possibly,” Shining said, giving him a sideways glance. “And who was it that authorised this assassination? The Princesses will want to know who is responsible for all this.”
Now the ambassador’s tone shifted dramatically. The smile was replaced with a cold, hard, state. The easygoing, relaxed attitude became guarded and closed off. And if Shining didn’t know better, he almost seemed...fearful.
“I’m afraid that information is classified,” he said quickly, making it clear that he wasn’t going to give anything more. Shining nodded in understanding.
“I see,” he said simply. “In that case, I’ll report this to the princesses. You can expect a visit from somepony in the diplomatic service within the hour to...discuss this.”
With that, he got up, and left. He might not know a whole lot about changelings, but you didn’t have to be Elusive to see what was going on here. This was a nice little conspiracy. And it was looking more and more like Elusive was at the centre of it. He was most likely the target, not Cadence. Still, he had no idea why.
His whole investigation was at a standstill. He didn’t know why they killed Gerhard. He didn’t know that Gerhard planted the bomb. Heck, he didn’t know for certain whether it was Cadence or Elusive who was the target. All he knew was that a bomb had gone off in his store.
Changelings had tried to kill Elusive before. They’d also saved his life. So why come after him now? It was clear he wasn’t going to get anything through the official channels, and investigating here in Canterlot was just sending him going in circles that led nowhere. Perhaps then he should try unofficial channels? While Shining didn’t exactly care for changelings, for understandable reasons, there were a few he got along with. Thorax was alright, if a bit of a wimp. But there was another who was perhaps the only changeling alive he could have a conversation with. A fellow soldier, who might just be able to shed some light on this whole mess.
It was time to take a trip to the Changeling Kingdom.
A few hours later, and Shining found himself in perhaps the last place he wanted to be beside Tartarus. After all, on his previous visit, he had been suspended upside down in a cocoon filled with revolting slime, while he was slowly drained of love, with nothing to do but watch the same thing happen to his wife, his daughter, his little sister, her friends, and their two rulers.
To say he hated it was a gross understatement. Even though now the corrupting dark magic was gone, and with the changelings no longer sucking all the ambient love, plants were growing and wildlife had returned, the place still left him feeling disgusted. For one thing, he couldn’t stand navigating this infernal hive. While the roof had been blown off the place, deeper inside, it was still a maze of dark passageways, with openings that seemingly moved around. To a changeling, with a connection to their hive, it was simple enough, even intuitive, to get around. To a unicorn though, it was a demented maze that was constantly changing.
It didn’t help that he was in a part of the hive most changelings no longer went to. Then again, he could hardly meet his contact when there were others around. After all, he was taking an awful risk getting this information to him. Were it not for certain events, Shining would have little leverage to convince him. Even as it was, it had not been an easy task.
Rounding a corner, passing through a large, seemingly pulsating portal, Shining grimaced as he felt something slimy drip onto his shoulder. Emerging out into a large chamber, he found himself at his destination. Now where was…
“I was wondering when you’d get here,” a voice called out.
Shining started and looked around, his eyes scanning for the source. In this large, open room, the echo made it difficult to tell where it was coming from.
“Where are you?” he demanded crossly. The voice chuckled.
“Close by,” they replied. “I’m using a new disguise for our little meeting, and I don’t want you to see it.”
Shining wheeled around, trying find the source of the voice, and took on a slightly saddened expression.
“You don’t trust me? I’m hurt,” he said sarcastically
“And you trust me completely, of course. Just being seen together could cause us both problems. So you’ll have to make do.”
“I need some information, about one of your infiltrators,” Shining said, still glancing around warily.
“Is this about that tailor’s shop in Canterlot?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t do.” Now it was Shining’s turn to chuckle.
“I never said you did. I figured somepony hired a griffon to do their dirty work for them.”
“Very good, Shining. I see you ascension to royalty hasn’t dulled your instincts.”
“Nor yours,” Shining growled. He then continued. “I have an idea of the who. What I don’t know is why.”
“You’d have to ask the griffon on that one.” Shining smiled.
“Unless you know how to run a séance, I can’t. One of your infiltrators assassinated him in his hotel room a day after the bombing.”
“It doesn’t really matter, your highness,” the voice continued carefully. “You’re investigating a very small, and very insignificant piece of a much larger puzzle.”
Now Shining was interested. This sounded more like progress. He’d have to tread carefully though. One slip up and his nearby friend wouldn’t give him anything.
“What do you mean?” he asked, still glancing around, looking for the slightest hint of movement, straining his ears to pick up the smallest increase in pitch and volume that might suggest a direction.
“There’s been an awful lot of activity along the border between my country and the Griffon Kingdom these past few weeks. Small bands of kommandos using the clouds to hide their movements along the frontier. Troop movements inside the country have nearly doubled. And the telegraph wires in Moscrow have been practically buzzing with military traffic.”
There was only one explanation Shining could think of to explain all that.
“Sounds like they’re preparing for an attack,” he commented.
“I thought the very same thing,” the voice answered. “And we are ready for it, if they should try it. But it makes no sense!”
“When has war ever made sense?” Shining asked, a sad note in his voice.
“A curious view for a soldier. Or are you more of a pampered prince now? Or perhaps fatherhood has made you soft?” Shining snarled.
“Come on down here and find out. I’ll break your nose same as I did last time you tried to get the drop on me.”
“No thanks. Although I must admit, you were very impressive, taking on all four of us at once like that.” The voice now turned from playful to a harsher tone.
“Elusive isn’t the only former infiltrator who almost met their end that day. He is the luckiest though.” Shining’s ears instantly perked at that. His contact continued.
“The other five didn’t survive,” he said, a note of almost fear present.
“Five infiltrators?” Shining all but exclaimed in amazement. “Someone killed five infiltrators the same day Elusive’s shop blew up?”
“Killed?” the voice asked in a coy tone. “No. Three died of natural causes. The other two perished in unfortunate accidents.”
“Quite a coincidence, if you believe any of it,” Shining mused. “You think the griffons were behind it?”
“There are certain little hints that would suggest it.”
“Still doesn’t explain why the griffons are gearing up for war,” Shining said.
“Here!” the voice called out. At last Shining got a bead on him.
Turning around, he spotted his silhouette standing in a passageway one level above him in the vast, cave like maze. With a brief blast of magic, a scroll came sailing through the air. Powering up his horn, Shining caught it in his own field. Opening it, he found Ponish writing. He smiled at his contact’s thoughtfulness. He looked up, waiting for an explanation.
“Those are the names of the five infiltrators. I suggest you show it to Elusive. Now, I take it this makes us even?”
Shining closed up the scroll.
“Agreed.” he called up.
“Good. Now don’t come back here, Captain. You know it’s easy to get lost in these tunnels.”
Shining scowled and glared up at the figure as he retreated back into the shadows.
“Say hello to your brother for me,” he called up. “Spike says he’s welcome to visit Ponyville any time. And Cadence would be glad to have him visit us again too.”
With an angry snarl, Pharynx disappeared into the network of tunnels, leaving Shining to make his own exit.
Shining watched Elusive carefully, searching his face for even the slightest tell. He’d expected him to play his cards close to his chest when he gave hi the news. But quite unexpectedly, Elusive was, for once, seemingly wearing his heart on his sleeve. He smiled with barely contained glee as his eyes roamed over the list that was currently levitating gently in his field.
The two of them, along with Tempest, were in the modest lounge area of the apartment that Elusive had been granted by Princess Cadence, following the destruction of his shop and home. Elusive was seated on a modest sofa, while Shining stood near him in what Tempest assumed was the unicorn’s attempt to be intimidating. She meanwhile, was perched a short distance away on the edge of a coffee table, waiting for the inevitable to happen.
“They’re all dead?!” Elusive exclaimed, finally looking up from the list and meeting Shining’s gaze. Shining was unmoved by the disguised changeling’s sudden happiness.
“I’m guessing you’re not going to be missing any of them?” he asked, with just a hint of sarcasm. Elusive however, was unaffected by the more stoic unicorn and let out another uncharacteristic chuckle of delight.
“Quite the opposite, Captain. I assure you, were the current circumstances not what they were, I’d be celebrating right now,” he told him.
“You knew these changelings then, Elusive?” Tempest prompted, herself curious about who they were.
“Indeed, my dear Tempest. We were all quite well acquainted with one another.” His eyes returned to the list once more, seemingly still not quite able to accept the information presented.
“Fellow infiltrators I’m guessing?” Shining added with a growl. The smile on Elusive’s face now vanished and with a weary sigh, he got up, stepping behind the sofa, placing it between Shining and himself.
“Oh really, Captain,” he said in annoyance. “We’ve been down this road so many times already. I really don’t…”
That was as far as he managed to get with that thought.
Activating his magic, Shining shoved the sofa to one side, making both Elusive and Tempest start. The unicorn was instantly up from her own perch, her damaged horn beginning to spark. Elusive meanwhile, while startled, didn’t seem quite so concerned, even as Shining grabbed him by the waistcoat and hauled him up to be eye level with him.
“Dammit, Elusive!” he roared. “I’ve had enough of your foalish games! I am not your friend! I’m not Tempest, and the two of us aren’t sparring amiably over lunch! Now you dragged me into this investigation, and now you’re going to cooperate and answer my questions!”
Now it was Elusive’s turn to interrupt the still furious unicorn.
“Dragged you into it?!” he fired back angrily. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Shining didn’t even hesitate, though Celestia knew he wanted to. He’d been secretly looking forward to this moment all through the journey back to Canterlot. His ace in the hole. The one piece of information that Elusive had managed to hide from everypony; from Tempest, him, and the most skilled investigators in the city. He tried to hide the elation in his voice as he fired his accusation.
“You blew up your own shop, Elusive!” he exclaimed, pointing an accusing hoof at his chest.
Instantly the argument stopped and a complete silence fell over the group. Shining stood there, waiting for Elusive’s reaction, while Tempest, her horn no longer sparking as her emotions cooled, wore an expression of near complete bewilderment. After all, it was quite an illogical accusation Shining had just made. Elusive blew up the store himself, and nearly got himself killed in the process?”
Shining however, was quick to jump on the changeling’s momentary confusion. He smiled; the silence from Elusive told him all he needed to know.
“Huh, that’s funny,” he said, now in a far more amused tone. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that expression on your face before. Are you surprised, Elusive?”
“Yes! I am surprised!” Elusive replied, bristling. “I’m surprised that you could come to such an insane conclusion!”
It was a poor parry and they both knew it. Now Shining began his explanation. He was going to enjoy this. He was like the detective at the end of a mystery novel, gradually revealing how he solved the crime and unmasked the villain.
“I knew as soon as I spoke with Gerhard that he didn’t do it,” he explained with a smile. “Assassins don’t change their methods unless they have to. He might have been gifted with explosives, but he was more gifted with poison. That’s how he managed to assassinate the last changeling commander he was sent after. He was going to poison you, not blow you up. Why else would he come with that cheap bag of ‘perfumes’?
“I think you spotted him in the city, realised that he’d come for you, and then blew up your shop so that the Royal Guard would start an investigation. Why try to take him out yourself, when you can have ponies do the work for you, letting you stay safely in the shadows?”
“That seems like a very elaborate was of getting the city’s law enforcement involved,” Tempest pointed out, leaping to her friend’s defence. “If Elusive wanted to your help, he could have simply asked for it.” Shining shook his head and turned his attention back to Elusive.
“But you couldn’t be sure that any investigator would take you seriously, never mind help you. And we all know you have a secret to keep. You needed me, since I already knew what you were. That’s why you did it when Cadence was there, to make absolutely sure I’d take charge and start digging. And, speaking of my wife…”
With one deft movement, Shining caught Elusive with a solid right hook that sent him flying over the sofa, before coming to rest on the ground with a thud. The changeling let out a hiss of pain as Tempest helped him get back to his hooves, while he rubbed his now sore jaw with a hoof.
“That,” Shining declared in a dark tone. “Is for using my wife, and the mother of my child, in your twisted games.”
“We both know she was never in any danger,” Elusive said, his own tone now become cold and callous as some blood streamed from his lip. “And as I said before, Captain. If I wanted her dead, you wouldn’t even have time to feel the blade at your neck.”
Shining seethed as Elusive once again instantly managed to get under his skin. His reaction was visceral enough for Tempest to place herself between the two stallions. Still, there was one more card he had to play.
“That always was where your talents lay,” he admitted. “You never struck me as a tailor. That’s why you did it, isn’t it? You secretly enjoyed destroying your store.”
Elusive’s anger too seemed to cool a little at this.
“I’ll admit,” he confessed. “Watching it burn wasn’t exactly tragic.”
“Whether or not you want to admit it, Elusive, you pulled me into this. Now you’re stuck with me. I want to know who these changelings on this list were, and how you’re connected to them.”
Shining wasn’t entirely sure he’d succeeded, but he could sense a change in Elusive. Just as he had when he’s pointed out those foals outside the ruined store. At last, he was going to break. The changeling held his gaze for a few moments longer, before turning away and walking over to the modest balcony that looked out over the city.
He stood there for several moments, a silent battle going on inside him. Both Shining and Tempest watched as he wrestled with his conscience. Finally, he seemed to come to a decision, and rejoined them. Walking over an armchair, he allowed himself to rest his forelegs on its back, folding them across his chest as he did so.
“We were all associates of a changeling called Mandible,” he began.
Tempest started. She knew that name well.
“Mandible?” she repeated. “The former head of the Infiltration Bureau?” Elusive nodded.
“He retired in the aftermath of the queen’s departure,” he explained. “And I use the term ‘retired’ euphemistically. He wasn’t exactly a popular fellow after that little fiasco. Though, having said that, he was the only head of the bureau to ever last long enough in his position to actually retire and draw his pension.”
Elusive now began to slowly pace around the room, clearly uneasy at divulging such information. Still, he continued. And Shining and Tempest listened.
“For many years, we were his most trusted infiltrators. Whenever an operation could not be allowed to fail, or if the queen herself required somepony...removed. We would be sent. In time, we became influential within Chrysalis’ inner circle.”
“Any idea why the griffons would suddenly want you all dead?” Shining asked. Elusive shook his head.
“No. Though, Celestia knows we conducted enough operations within their borders over the years. But I can’t see why they would choose to strike now. Mandible, however, might.”
“That’s assuming that he also didn’t suffer an ‘unfortunate accident’ as well,” Tempest pointed out. “If the griffons took out all of his best soldiers, it makes sense that they’d follow through with a coup de grace.”
“That is a very distinct possibility, my dear,” Elusive agreed grimly. “He was always clever, always one step ahead. But so were my other late former associates.”
“Is there any way you can reach out to him? Covertly, I mean,” Tempest asked. Elusive paused and thought for a few moments.
Against one wall of the suite was a rather large mirror. A round, ornate thing that helped make the room seem even more spacious that it already was. This seemed to catch Elusive’s eye, and he quickly trotted over to it. He then turned back to Shining, who’d watched the changeling with some mild amusement.
“Captain,” he asked. “Would you object to me using a little magic on this charming mirror?”
The request caught Shining off guard. He shrugged his shoulders.
“Go ahead, Elusive,” he said. “Provided you don’t damage it.”
With that, Elusive activated his magic, his unicorn horn glowing a sickly green colour, one of the few indicators of his true nature that no changeling could mask.
The mirror itself was soon glowing too and the reflection, which previously showed Elusive standing in front of it, now began to distort, seeming to show something along the lines of static, with brief flashes of seemingly another room. Tempest had a rough idea of what he was doing. She’d used a similar trick, albeit without her own magic, to communicate with the Storm King. Shining too, recognised it. It was certainly a step up from sending letters by dragon flame. And from what he could tell, whatever spell Elusive was using not only broadcast their image while receiving another, but also dampened its own energy signature, making it unlikely to be detected by anypony sensitive to ambient magic, like unicorns.
“That’s an interesting way of sending a message without anypony noticing,” he commented with a hint of ruefulness. He didn’t much care to admit that he was impressed by the changeling.
“Yes, Captain. I though you might appreciate it. On an aesthetic level,” Elusive replied teasingly. He then turned his attention back to his work.
“Ah! Here we go,” he declared as the image began to come into focus.
At first it was just a blurred mass of colours, but slowly, the reflection began to coalesce into a clear image. It wasn’t the room in which they stood, it wasn’t even Canterlot. From the surroundings, it was clear to Tempest that the image they were seeing was of the hive in the Changeling Kingdom. It was quite different from the dark and dingy place it had once been, now teeming with life. What caught her eye though was the changeling that appeared in the centre of the image.
Tempest couldn’t be sure if it was a female, but judging by the body, and the shape of the eyes, it looked like it. Changelings were much harder to pin down than ponies or griffons on that front. This was, like so many, was now reformed, with a light blue body and a ruby red carapace concealing the wings on her back. Her mane, at least as far as changelings had manes, was a soft pink that reminded her somewhat of Fluttershy, as did the teal coloured eyes. Even without visible pupils, it was clear she was looking at whatever was displaying the image on her end.
She was surprised, startled, understandably so. After all, Elusive’s method of communication did seem to force itself on, instead of giving the recipient a chance to accept or decline. When she saw Elusive though, her surprise gave way to something else. Was it relief, amazement? Tempest wasn’t too sure, but it was clear that this changeling knew her friend.
“Nirx!” the drone exclaimed with a gasp, now clearly a female judging by the voice.
Elusive too seemed to change in response. Gone was the playful trickster, and certainly the ruthless infiltrator. For the first time in quite a while, Tempest saw Elusive without his mask.
“Hello, Ocellus,” he said in a kindly, gentle voice.
“I never thought I’d see you again. But I recognise you, even through that pony disguise. It’s been so long since I saw you.”
Again, Elusive smiled, and Tempest got the impression that he wanted to say something to the young drone. A moment later though, he collected himself.
“I need to speak to your father,” he said in a more serious tone. “It’s very urgent.” Ocellus shook her head.
“You can’t,” she replied. “He isn’t here.” That didn’t sound good.
“Where is he?” Elusive asked, his tone now more hurried and with a note of genuine worry in his voice.
“I don’t know,” Ocellus said, her own voice sounding even more worried that Elusive. “He left yesterday in a rush. He grabbed just a few things and went. He wouldn’t tell me where, or how long he’d be gone. We haven’t heard anything from him since. Mum’s starting to get really worried. You know his health hasn’t been great these past months.”
“Maybe he realised somepony was coming after him,” Shining suggested. Elusive frowned.
“He’s in trouble again, isn’t he?” Ocellus said worriedly. “Nirx, you have to help him! I know...I know you’re still bitter and angry because of what happened between the two of you but...you must help him!”
There were now visible tears in her eyes, and her voice was cracking.
To Tempest’s surprise though, Elusive seemed to be faring little better. Whatever there was between these two, the simple act of talking to her was taking a massive toll on Elusive’s emotions. He too seemed to be struggling not to outright weep. And there was still something he was holding back, something unspoken between the two of them.
“If you speak to him,” Elusive managed to force out through almost gritted teeth. “Tell him to reach out to me in the usual way.”
“Promise me!” Ocellus demanded. “You’ll help him! Promise me, Nirx!”
“I promise.”
And with that, Elusive let the spell he was manifesting taper off. The image quickly blurred, and a few moments later, it had returned to reflected himself, Tempest, and Shining, just as it ought to.
Tempest’s mind was once again whirring with questions. While she doubted she would ever fully uncover anything about her strange friend, that didn’t stop her curiosity. Not that she would ask him though. Not out of politeness, mind you, more out of a mutual understanding. That and she knew that any answer she got would be just him messing with her at best. Shining on the other hoof…
“So who is she to you?” he asked bluntly. Elusive turned to him. For a moment, he cast a cold scowl in his direction, but a moment later, it was replaced with his usual mask. The vulnerable, even hurt Nirx vanished, replaced once again by Elusive.
“A friend of a friend,” he replied easily. “Now, I have an idea where we need to go next to get ourselves to the bottom of this little problem.”
“And where’s that?” Shining asked suspiciously.
“I need to go to the Everfree Forest,” he said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. “Would it be too much trouble if I said I’d need to borrow one of your charming chariots?”
“We’ll need to borrow a chariot,” Tempest corrected him. “There’s no way I’m letting you go in there on your own.”
“Agreed,” Shining said. “I’m coming too. If you’re going to be using Royal Guard transport, it makes sense for there to be at least one guard aboard.”
“Actually, Captain,” Tempest said carefully. “It would probably be a better idea for you to stay here.” Shining snorted at that.
“I’m not saying you won’t be an asset,” she went on carefully. “But the three of us are the only ponies who have even a clue as to what’s going on here. It isn’t a good idea for all of us to go into a hornets nest. If something goes wrong, we’re going to need backup.”
The unicorn frowned at that. Tempest could understand where he was coming from. He was a soldier, who believed in leading from the front. After all, this was the stallion who had fought against Sombra when the Crystal Empire returned, and who had stood toe to toe against Tirek when he escaped Tartarus. Had he been in Canterlot when Tempest mounted her own attack, she had no doubt that she would have faced a much tougher fight. So to be told that he needed to sit by and wait had to be frustrating. Still, after wavering for a few moments, he agreed.
“I’ll get two of my best guys to fly you out to the Everfree,” he told them. They can drop you somewhere close to wherever you think this Mandible guy might have gone, and they can provide a means of escape if things go south.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Tempest said sincerely.
A short time later, and Elusive and Tempest found themselves in the large hanger bay that held the various transports used by the Royal Guard and others to travel around Equestria. The far wall was an open space, allowing several craft of varying sizes and enter and leave, without risking collision. In one corner, Tempest saw the large ‘flying throne’ that served as Princess Celestia’s personal transport. Princess’s Luna’s more sleek and intimidating craft was a little further off, currently being worked on by a couple of unicorns. Beyond there were several chariots and carriages capable of holding between two and six passengers. Each was designed to be pulled by a pair of pegasi working in tandem. Their innate flight magic allowing the decidedly unaerodynamic craft to fly.
It was one of these that Shining led the pair to. A smaller design, with an open top and two large wheels instead of four smaller ones, as seen on larger designs. The two pegasi hooked up to the front promptly saluted, which the unicorn returned.
“These two will be able to get you where you need to go,” Shining explained. “They’re both experienced flyers with combat experience. They were part of the group that evacuated the Saddle Arabian embassy last year.”
“Ah, yes,” I remember it well,” Elusive said with a nod. “Quite tricky to pull all those civilians out so quickly, and with a sandstorm bearing down no less. A little jaunt through the forest shouldn’t be too much for them.”
“We’ll get you where you’re going, sir,” one of the pegasi assured him.
“And get us out?” Tempest prodded. “There’s a good chance we may need to leave in a hurry.”
“They’ll drop you off and then orbit discretely a safe distance away,” Shining explained. “Just fire a magic flare and they’ll come down to grab you.”
“Still, it might need to be a quick dust off,” Tempest went on.
“Come now, my dear Tempest,” Elusive said with a smile. “I’m sure these two boys are no strangers to making a quick exit. Thank you, gentlecolts.”
With that, he climbed up onto the chariot, settling himself into the seat at the rear of the craft. As he did so, a large airship passed by the hanger; the moorings were not too far away from the castle after all, and fly-by salutes were common practice for cruise ships. The engines affixed to the gondola made quite the roar as she passed though.
As Elusive turned back to Tempest, she was once again talking with Shining, though what she said he could not make out over the noise. And with her back to him, he couldn’t read her lips either. Whatever it was seemed fairly inconsequential, as Shining simply gave her a brief nod, before she turned and climbed aboard to join Elusive.
“Everything alright, my dear?” he asked her.
“Just promising Shining that I’d keep an eye on you,” she replied with a grin.
“Oh, he’s concerned for little old me?” Elusive asked with a sly smile. Tempest chuckled.
“Something like that.”
With that, the two pegasi began their take off, and the chariot quickly took off into the air. Moments later, they had left the hanger, and indeed the castle, behind, and were descending down the mountain heading towards Ponyville and the Everfree Forest.
The only question was, what would they find in there?
