Sins of The Past

"That's it?! That's all you can find?! That it's of pony origin?!"

The unicorn cowered, slinking backwards away from the angered alicorn King.

"Yes'r, that's all. Nothing about it's extraordinary -- it's just the cremains of a pony," the unicorn stammered, turning and running out of the room. Iron thought about chasing him, but there was no point. While executing the unicorn for his failure would be fitting, that left the problem of finding another with his skills. Considering the smear campaign being charged against them by the Gryphon Empire, that didn't seem too likely. This mage only stayed because no other country wanted him.

Regardless of species, necromancy was generally frowned on. This mage, the hell was his name? Sacred Flame? No, Scarce Fire, that was it. Scarce, he was as good of a necromancer as any but had a ... disconcerting liking for the corpses. As long as he did his job, though, Iron was content to look the other way.

He sighed and ran a hoof through his hair. That knocked the negro off of his tracking, but what of the blond one or the old man? It was like they had simply vanished. No doubt, Celestia had something to do with it. Once he got her country, he'd show her the real meaning of force. Iron laughed, rising slowly to his feet. She'd be his, or she'd die.

Twilight collapsed onto her desk, slumping over with fatigue. The dust was presenting an impressive case to crack, but she had set it aside, hoping some distance would shed insight into the problem. So far, it hadn't. Rainbow had been over earlier that day, tailed closely by Pinkie and Fluttershy. They had gone back to their lives after all of the ... unpleasantness surrounding the trade, but Twilight's quickly deteriorating condition had concerned her friends.

Applejack had taken post in a nearby room, occasionally coming in to check on the young princess. Secretly, Twilight was beyond grateful for the care. Several times, she had simply given up eating in favor of continued research, and she couldn't very well expect that Celestia would keep an eye on her.

The Sun princess was mired in her own concerns, namely the diplomats patiently waiting for any sign of weakness in the Solar Empire. They were willing to circle like vultures, watching for one of the tigers to fall so that they could feast like kings. Typical of unstable countries.

Twilight sat back up, shaking her head slowly. Cowards. The other tiger in the fight, Hajahact, was laying low and gaining strength. Frost's calculations weren't far off -- unfortunately, he lowballed the country. 90,000 troops and growing by the day, meanwhile Equestria could scarcely muster 25-30,000 troops. If they ever actually attacked, it would be a curbstomp. No contest whatsoever.

Her faith in Celestia was still strong. Surely, she had a plan. Twilight laid her head down on the table and closed her eyes for a few moments of stolen rest.

Celestia paced up and down the hall, ruminating over the implications of Frost's discovery.

"It looks like it's a large sigil. God only knows what it summons. I'll look into how it would be activated."

A sigil, built around the Wulfhelm, seat of the Hajahactian throne. Whether meant as a defense for the city, or a means for its downfall, it still was imposing. For all Celestia knew, it could very well drain the strength of her troops should it be activated. Careful not to let her hopes get up, she also considered the possibility that it was meant to be means of self-destruction. A honorable death, in the event of a siege.

The look on Frost's face all but killed that idea.

"You want the good news, or the bad?"

Celestia mentally braced herself and said,

"The bad first, please."

"It's a blood seal, requiring roughly the city's population to power," Frost said with a sigh, hiding the cut on his foreleg. "I tested it in miniature."

Celestia snapped to attention, focusing her glare on the unicorn.

"And? Would it have killed you to exercise some caution? What if it destroyed everything, everyone?! My little ponies would have perished due to your ignorance."

"Did it? No? Then, be quiet," Frost snapped, placing his hoof over Celestia's. "Trust me; I know what I'm doing. It had a much different effect than destroying the world."

Pulling her hoof out of his, Celestia asked, "Which was?"

"It sunk away, but that's not what's fascinating about it. The one under the capital is connected by canals to several others dispersed throughout the country. When properly activated, it looks as though it would cause the country to collapse into the ground, effectively destroying it."

"Collapse?!" Celestia backed away, brushing against the wall at her flank. "Why would any regent in their right mind set that up ...? Unless ... they weren't." Suddenly, it all made sense.

The dead Queen had done this.