Black Sails at Midnight

“Celestia what, may I ask, is the meaning of this!?”

Queen Armalis, the ruler of the Humans and their nation of Nollmus, was a fair leader, and just in almost every action she took. She was not known to be easily angered, and even if she was, she was renowned for the restraint she exercised in her fury. When it came to foreign matters, especially those with the Ponies of Equestria, however, her patience was much thinner.

“I already told you, Armalis, it was a mistake made in urgency! I in no way meant to-”

Celestia, to her credit, only flinched slightly when Armalis’ armored hand slammed into the marble armrest of her throne.

“I don’t care about your “mistakes” Celestia, nor how urgent the situation may be!” She ground her fingers into the already eroded marble in a practice she often used to relieve stress, “What I do care about, however, is when I’m on the brink of political upheaval by that Human supremacist organization, whose anger only grows when you send a battalion of guards into one of my most populated cities, not only in search of some wildly fantastical skeleton, but a Human child as well, who your officers claimed they threatened force against!”

“But I am not so sure it was a child, Armalis!” The Princess argued, “It reanimated a skeleton, it could have been a demon disguised as a young Human, for all we know!”

Armalis pounded her fist into her throne again, cracking the marble as she bellowed, “But you did not know, Celestia! If those officers had gone through with that threat, it could very well have been the tipping point for the Supremacists to stage a revolution!” She blew out a deep, frustrated breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes as she ended her rant, “One act such as that, Celestia, and I will be unable to defend your actions anymore.... The trade and military policies have pushed the Supremacists far enough already, and our recent dealings with the slave rings in the east have only fueled their anger....”

“They were kidnapping my subjects!” Celestia cried, “I had no other choice but to take action!”

“I know that, Celestia,” Armalis sighed, “and I agree with the actions you took; I sent my troops to help.... But the Supremacists only see the world through their twisted vision, and see the actions taken by you as a sign of Human oppression, and the actions I took as an act of treachery to our species; it’s the same with the policies you and I have passed on military and economic matters, and I doubt it’ll ever change....”

“I know, Armalis...” Celestia briefly remembered back to last week, where a Human-Pony family in Canterlot was found dead, with degrading messages and slurs written all over their stripped and beaten bodies, “I know....”

Armalis sighed once more, feeling significantly more tired than only an hour ago, “Alright, Celestia... what’s this about a skeleton? I might as well listen to what it is you’re chasing after.”

The Princess drew a deep breath, trying to calm her rattled nerves for the explanation, “Well, last night, on the day of Telsar Merkin’s execution, I had a nightmare. It was about the day he was hung in Canterlot... you remember what he had said to me that day, do you not?”

““Three hours till the new age starts, Celestia. Three more hours, and the world is forever changed...”, of course I remember.” Armalis looked over to one of the throne room’s stained glass windows, which depicted the rulers of each nation, “We all remember it.”

“Well, that is all I remember of the dream, but it had shaken me. I had not had such an experience since... Luna....” Silence fell on the wide halls of the throne room as the two royals remembered back to the fate of Princess Luna.

“So, naturally, I had cause to worry,” Celestia continued, shaking her head free of the thoughts, “and so I arranged to come here, to see his coffin one more time and assure myself that he was gone.”

“However, when you got there....”

“When I got there,” the Princess choked slightly, “his skeleton, reanimated by whatever means, was free from his coffin and the display it was in, and there was a child there with him, conversing with the... monster.”

“The Human child, who your guards claim wielded a scythe twice her size?” Armalis asked.

“She did wield such a thing, yes. And I felt a strange... presence emanating from her, a very dark, foreboding one, like she carried the... the Mark of Death, almost.”

Armalis’ eyes widened at Celestia’s words, and she lurched forward in her throne shouting, “What!? There is no way that is possible; Meran’s Walkers were wiped out hundreds of years ago, how could-”

“Calm yourself, my friend, please.” Celestia pleaded, “I only said it was a similar feeling, nothing more. I could tell from a single glance that she was not one of... his servants.”

Letting out a low breath of relief, Armalis sank back into her throne, “That is good to hear.... But I am to assume a Demon of some sort is of suspect here?”

“Yes,” Celestia said tersely, “the presence given off by the child was certainly akin to that of a Demon’s, and the fact that she is the most likely to have reanimated Telsar’s corpse does not help her case.”

“Of course it is...” Armalis sighed, “even after excluding them to the southern continent, they always seem to crop up every now and again.... And we are sure it is Telsar’s soul?” She asked suddenly.

Confused, Celetia stumbled slightly, “I... beg your pardon?”

“Are you certain, Celestia, that whatever Demon that has reanimated his skeleton, actually brought his soul back specifically, too? He’s well over a century and a half dead, for all we know it’s some random soul the Demon struck a deal with.”

The Princess put a hoof to her chin in thought, muttering just loud enough for Armalis to hear, “Now that I think about it... it’s very possible it was simply a cohort of the Demon; he did not threaten to kill me the instant he saw me, and even without a face to express, I could sense a great deal of confusion from all of us, save the Demon of course.”

“That’s an issue as well, come to think of it,” Armalis added, tapping a finger against the roughed marble of her throne, “we don’t truly know if it is a Demon, or some other similar being.” She looked into the eyes of the Pony’s Princess and asked, “What shall we do when- if we find them?”

“While I would rather they be locked up...” Celestia sighed, “it may be best to simply bring them in for questioning. We cannot rush to conclusions as I did earlier in my frenzy, and should learn all we can before acting on these two... strange beings that have decided to appear.”

“Hm... a wise decision,” the Queen agreed, “I’ll send word to my guard at once; there will be a search order out for the two beings you and your guards have described, but force is not authorized unless severe conditions of the situation demand it.” She made to call out to her advisor to send the message to the guard, but caught herself to say one last thing to Celestia, “And please, not only as a fellow monarch but a friend, do not involve yourself or your troops too heavily in this matter... as I said before, the Supremacists only grow more agitated with every similar action you take.”

“I... I understand, Armalis.” The two shared a respectful bow, and Celestia turned towards the long hall, and began a brisk walk towards the exit.

“I will send word every week through Dragonfire, Celestia; it would be of great disrespect to leave you in the dark as this matter progresses!” She heard Armalis call after her.

Celestia did not pause as she briefly twisted her head around to call back, “I thank you, and farewell!”

As the large, gilded wooden doors creaked open and subsequently slammed shut as Princess Celestia left, Armalis sank back into her throne, more weary than she had been in a long while.

She pressed a finger against her temple as she felt a migraine coming on, and she shouted in a strained voice, “Marise!”

From a door at the back-right corner of the room, behind the throne, a woman dressed head to toe in simple iron armor stepped into the room, a sword clattering at her side with every step she took. She stopped before the throne and gave a practiced salute.

“My Queen?”

Armalis, for what felt like the thousandth time that day, sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, “I have an order I want you to send out to the guard....”