Trixie sipped from her tea, looking around the apartment. She felt the need for some dark, Feathrian tea. She missed her country, even though she did not want to admit it.
She looked outside at the city beneath. The Crystal Empire radiated glory and warmth, even though it was one of the northernmost cities in the world. It was natural that it was going to be a point of conflict between Feathria and Equestria, given its position. Yet, against all odds, the Crystal Empire maintained its independence from Feathria and Equestria. It kept itself important, a center of trade, wealth and science. Neither Celestia nor Sombra would conquer it, directly. Celestia avoided this due to political reasons: attacking the Crystal Empire would make a bad impression on her subjects, and a revolt was the last thing she wanted on her hooves. Sombra had a different problem, namely strategic: the Crystal Heart.
The Crystal Empire maintained itself as a center of magic and science, and this came with its perks. One of these perks was the concentration of inventivity in its capital, leading to great advancements. Then, there was the problem of maintaining independence from the two rival powers. A direct confrontation would have ended in disaster - Feathria and Equestria, in their race for power, had a much bigger and better trained army. The result was and is one of the most advanced magical protection devices - the Crystal Heart.
The Crystal Heart’s mode of operation is quite simple in theory - it filters the good-intentioned and the badly-intentioned, and filters constructive magic from destructive magic. However, this uses a lot of energy - more than one unicorn can provide normally. The Crystal Empire has pioneered a different method of extracting energy, or rather a different source: the informational and “soul” level
This magical level is rarely ever used - for good reason. Interaction with it has been proven to be extremely hard, and even the best fail at doing the most basic things through it. What is even worse is that it rejects most magic - it’s even been theorized that it, or parts of it, are sentient. What is certain however is that it provides an amazing amount of energy - but only when beings in an area are in a certain mood - mainly that of happiness and exhilaration.
Sombra was, of course, aware of the situation, and he had his solution. Or rather, Trixie had the solution. Sombra relied on Trixie’s ability, so much that some said he was too trusting of her. Those of his entourage with this opinion believed she was going to profit off her position - and were also secretly hoping they’d be able to take advantage of that, for their own purposes.
Trixie didn’t build up her reputation on words alone, or she wouldn’t have become Sombra’s right hoof pony. She built it through deceit - deceit which was eventually noticed by Sombra, though not before she climbed the ranks and was close to overthrowing Sombra entirely. Trixie allowed herself to be discovered however. She wanted to be in Sombra’s employ - though she had her own reasons for not directly replacing him. Sombra’s fall could destabilize the SSRF, and it would be disastrous if someone without the support of Sombra’s current entourage would ascend to power.
For that reason, Trixie decided to take the next best thing. She was fit for the job anyways, her very being was made for this. That is why she was sent to the Crystal Empire. She operates as a high class individual, something no one would associate that with Sombra’s brutal ways.
The Crystal Empire has provided, for a long time, stability. It has kept Feathria and Equestria in a bloodless stalemate.
“Not for long” thought Trixie.
1. A Dinner in the Crystal Empire
The sun was setting. Trixie watched it go down, thinking of the chaos that happened 500 years ago. It was what gave Celestia and Luna authority in Equestria - they were the only ones able to stop the Moon and the Sun from their random movements. They restored the order - though there still are oddities to this day. No one has witnessed an eclipse in thousands of years, excepting for when Luna rebelled. The weird behaviour does not end there. After the oddities happened, when the Sun and Moon were again on the same plane, night and day coexisted. No explanation has been found, since the magical power needed to alter the substance and behaviour of small objects is barely used and understood… the power to do it with entire stars is barely even dreamt of…
Sombra thought of it. He was prepared to have one of his councillors take over the moving of the Sun and the Moon. Trixie was sure it was going to be her. There was no other candidate. Trixie grinned at the idea.
She stopped. She was yet unsure whether or not Sombra could read her mind, or sense her feelings… It was getting late anyways. The dinner was starting in 15 minutes. Missing it would be hard to repair, and might put her back by a month or more. This dinner was very important indeed: only the highest ranking officials and VIPs were invited. She could not afford to ruin her reputation by not being there.
She stepped out of her apartment. The hotel was one of the best - Homs’ Wheat Home. It was close to where the dinner was going to take place, at Berry Rich’s house.
Berry Rich worked in the grapes and wine industry… though work would be a misnomer. He was more occupied with the big scheme of things. He bought the equipment, the land, he payed the people who worked - but he didn’t do any work himself. He had a variety of wines. Most were exported to Equestria and Feathria - that is, what was not produced there, since land was very expensive in the Crystal Empire. Better quality wines were produced in the Crystal Empire and consumed in the Crystal Empire - of course, mostly by the higher class.
Trixie felt joy for a moment, realizing one important weakness in the CE’s administration. She only needed a target, someone gullible enough to believe her story, or someone corrupt enough to ignore everything except solid cash, then some fiery speeches to incite revolt and her work was almost over. But it all depended on this one day.
Little time had passed from her arrival. She didn’t expect the CE’s government to be so easy to breach. It only took a month. She got her watch out. She was going to be punctual. She wanted to show she meant business. It would only be one step from there to blackmailing somepony in a corner of the room, and then…
She arrived. The guards asked her of her identity, she presented her invitation and entered. She greeted those she deemed of note. She took a seat and waited for the remaining ponies to arrive. In the meanwhile, she tried listening in the conversation of two ponies. She inconspicuously rotated her ear until she could hear them best.
“Seec’, I’m starting to believe you’re paranoid. I don’t understand what’s so suspi-”
“Would you like some wine?” a waiter asked, interrupting Trixie.
“No, thank you,” she answered, trying to dismiss the waiter as fast as possible. He nodded and moved on.
She heard a different voice, probably coming from the other
“-of our government with money, chuckling over the prospect of a new home, saying it was ‘a gift from a friend’. How do half our colleagues end up getting gifts from ‘friends’ in one week? I’m suspecting that those friends are one and only one, and I believe it is-’
“Fillies and gentlecolts” began Berry Rich, much to Trixie’s annoyance. “I’d like to thank everypony who came for…” Trixie wasn’t paying attention. Berry was not a good speaker. His discourses lacked oratorical talent. The most inspirational he got was after he drunk slightly too much Hoofington wine. He had started preaching about the qualities of wine and why you should be sober as little as possible. Eventually it had gotten so embarassing that he had to be dragged to his room.
Trixie tried listening on the two ponies again, but they were whispering. She gave up on that and looked around the room for potential targets. Chancellor Exchequer, the Minister of Commerce, was known to be a gullible fool, but Safe Keep, the Minister of the Treasury, could be a much better entry point - he had his own guard and secret services, but had less influence on how the money he was supposed to guard was to be used. Trixie pondered, waiting for the first course to be served before she would make any move.
***
Secret See started whispering when Berry started his speech.
“Look Care, I know you’re thinking she won’t be any trouble, but I don’t like this-”
He was interrupted by Careful Watch:
“Seec’, I know you’re supposed to be watching every move of everyone, but I don’t see what is so special about this one pony. She looks like she’s one of those magicians who happen to be rich enough to bribe their way into the government so that they get the attention and sponsorship to get fame in academic circles about their boring thesis which was done over and over again by previous people, in order to jumpstart their career. I’ve seen a lot of them. I’ve seen some even bribe random people on the street to show up and cheer them. Come on, stop worrying. Unless something more extraordinary than this happens”
“Maybe you’re right. It’s still my job to keep an eye on her. Hopefully she’ll retreat into those academic circles and then we won’t have to worry about her anymore. Looks like the course is being offered, I don’t want to miss out on it. Let’s go take a seat.”
***
Trixie ate the first course slowly. She was watching the ministers, who were busy eating and sometimes chatting casually about wife and kids. She was carefully analyzing their moves, trying to figure out how to breach in. She was yet unsure what she was going to attempt, since she had little information to go on. She slowly pondered the possible choices: she could try convincing them that Sombra only wanted their good-being, but that was risky; she could try bribing them, but she didn’t know how much money she needed; the best way would be blackmail, but she didn’t have any lead for what they may have done wrong. The dinner was barely beginning though, so she had plenty of time to find their weakness.
When Trixie finished her dinner, she decided it was time to start. The two ministers’ sit was next to the window. It was a perfect opportunity for hearing their conversation, without being suspicious. She maneuvered into position, and overheard the two stallions:
“I don’t know, I’m in a pretty bad position… you know how she is, she’ll KILL me for this. I need your help. I know you’re a good friend with Caught, maybe he’ll… overlook my… loan from the state so I can buy her a new car, so I can get away with this.” Exchequer gesticulated nervously.
“Yes… I think I can ask him to. I’ll try. Say, what about your kids?...”
Trixie listened enough, she got her information. Not entirely though, she still needed proof so that she could blackmail… more efficiently. She decided to wait for Safe to go talk to Caught Redhoof, the Minister of Financial Investigation. She had food to eat, and she was famished. The first course didn’t provide much nutrition.
~~~
The second course was much more filling than the first, and the chocolate and vanilla cake was delicious. She looked around the room, and noticed Safe in a corner of the room, talking with Caught. There wasn’t any window near to the corner, but she had to come up with an idea… She noticed Secret chilling around, sipping from his cider, and Safe sitting on a secluded chair, listening to the conversation. She dismissed Secret’s presence as only a coincidence, since Secret liked to move while drinking. She decided that talking to Safe would be the better idea, since Secret wasn’t a very extroverted person and neither did he fail to notice if someone was only pretending to pay attention, at least when he was talking.
She looked at her watch, clicked a button and sighed. She moved in and started talking casually to Safe. She introduced herself as Professor Trixie, a title she chose herself. It didn’t sound as pompous as “The Great and Powerful Trixie”, but that title would have made her come out as boasting and arrogant. She took her clock to her ear and shook it to make sure it was functioning. As programmed, the clock played the last 5 seconds registered. Trixie grinned as Safe was talking. He was talking about wife and kids, about how hard it was to be a minister, a Minister of the Treasury no less. She was bored to tears by the conversation, but she needed the cover.
Trixie noticed Caught stopped talking to Excheq, and was coming towards Safe, probably to discuss their agreement. Safe excused himself and Trixie decided that maybe it would be time to talk to Secret. She started talking small talk, and Secret didn’t seem to be bothered. Trixie pondered this oddity for a second before dismissing it. All the more convenient, she thought.
Eventually, Caught’s discussion with Safe ended and the latter let a sigh of relief out. Her job was over and she excused herself. She had all the evidence she needed, so it was time to go back to the hotel and take a rest.
