In Youth Eternal - Origins

Chapter 4: Infiltration Part 2

As the hours passed, Star Streak continued to watch, slumped against the building across from the capitol building. He shifted his position every now and then to regain at least a decent level of comfort.

Various ponies passed by on the sidewalks, barely even giving him a second a glance as they went about their business. Fortunately, the population density wasn’t too high. His view of the capitol building entrance was never blocked.

He kept a careful mental note of each individual who entered and exited the building. Important looking stallions and mares had come and gone throughout the day. The stallions were often dressed in nice, well maintained business suits. The mares wore the female version of the aforementioned suits.

One thing in particular that caught his attention was each pony who entered was required to flash their ID at the door, followed by a pat down from the guards to ensure security.

Eventually, one stallion in particular caught his eye approaching the entrance, 10:00 AM sharp, accompanied by a pair of other government officials. He appeared to be giving them orders, suggesting he holds a high position. The government official in question was an earth pony, fitted with a dark blue suit, white undershirt, and black tie. His eyes were covered by round sunglasses, akin in design to old fashioned specs. The mane atop the stallion’s head was jet black, and slicked back with a fair amount of hair grease. The color of his fur was grey.

As usual, the high ranking stallion flashed his ID and was patted down like the rest of the government officials.

‘Hmm. He may be my ticket in,’ Star Streak thought, watching as the stallion disappeared into the building after passing the check. ‘From the looks of things, he’s a pretty high ranking fellow. I should be able to get plenty of information from him.’ The unicorn could not help but grin under his tilted fedora with a subtle confidence.

‘Now to wait for my pray to leave, then I, the predator, shall stalk...’ he thought to himself. For a spy, Star Streak was a bit of ham.

*     *     *

A clock tower in Stalliongrad struck noon as the bells rang out in a musical jingle, echoing through the bustling streets. Star Streak remained against the building in his homeless disguise. His ever watching eyes continued to scan the entrance in wait for his selected target to emerge.

Mere minutes passed before the government official in question emerged from the doors, accompanied by a fellow official. Star Streak’s eyes moved with his target, watching his every move. ‘If I am going to disguise myself as this schmuck, I need to pick up on every little mannerism,’ the stallion thought to himself.

Getting up onto his hooves for the first time in hours, he stretched his limbs. Star Streak quickly moseyed into the nearest alleyway, ditching all of his homeless disguise in a dumpster, with the exception of his fedora hat, white shirt, and necklace.

The by passers in the area had been too busy in their own idle conversations or minding their own business to notice Star Streak’s activities. ‘This is too easy,’ he thought, emerging from the alleyway. To his satisfaction, the target was still in view, crossing the street over to his side at the nearest intersection.

Upon reaching his side of the street, Star Streak’s target of interest and his companion kept walking straight, disappearing behind the corner. The spy upped his pace to a trot, turning down the same corner in order to keep up. The stallion knew in his mind, however, to not trail too closely, lest his target take notice to a complete stranger following him everywhere he goes.

Star Streak trailed behind at a decent distance, with other ponies traveling in the same direction. For the time being, he appeared as just part of the crowd. ‘Part of the crowd. Seldom is there a better hiding spot when tracking somepony!’ his thoughts shouted in confidence.

His target made it to the end of the block before directly approaching a building at the street corner. Around part of this building was a small fenced area with umbrella-equipped round tables. Star Streak glanced up to the sign on the side of the building.

‘The Hay Cafe? Hmm. Possible daily lunch spot for the target,’ he inferred, taking a careful mental note. Star Streak stopped in his tracks, noticing the target and his friend taking a seat at one of the out side tables. His eyes quickly scanned the area, spotting various other tables had been taken. Fortunately, an empty table sat next to his target’s table.

The spy picked up his pace to a trot once more, nonchalantly grabbing a newspaper in his mouth from a street side dispenser, not slowing his pace even a bit. Star Streak casually entered the fenced area with his news paper, taking a seat at the empty table nearest his target. The stallion specifically chose a spot where his side faced the target’s table. This allowed the spy to conceal his face with his newspaper at any given time, while lining up his ear to pick up on their conversation. Lastly, if needed, he could make a side glance to see which voice fit which pony, allowing him to memorize and identify who spoke when he concealed himself.

With that, Star Streak took his newspaper in hoof, pretending to read it as he focused his ears on any conversation the target and his companion might have. The stallion’s eyes shifted to the side, allowing him to see the two ponies.

“So, how’s the wife, Scotch?” inquired one of them. Star Streak took note of who spoke, recognizing him as the target’s companion.

‘So my target’s name is Scotch... Alrighty then,’ his inner thoughts murmured.

“She could be doing better,” the other replied. It was him; the target who spoke. With that, the spy no longer needed to look directly at the two, now knowing which voice belonged to which stallion. A smirk of satisfaction crossed his visage, only to be concealed by his newspaper.

‘So far, so good!’ he thought, turning the page of this newspaper. ‘Now to pick up on his speech patterns.’

“My wife has recently been afflicted with some sort sickness,” he began explaining to his friend. “The doctor expects to have a diagnosis by tomorrow,” the stallion finished, his voice a little solemn.

“Ah.. I’m sorry to hear that,” replied Finn, somewhat saddened by the news.

As time continued onwards, their idle conversation told volumes on Scotch’s behavior. The stallion was a refined individual, who spoke somewhat formally, even at a casual lunchtime conversation.

The waiters had since come and gone with their orders. Star Streak had taken careful note of what Scotch ordered, on the off chance he needed to return here once disguised as the government official. ‘A simple Hay Sandwich, eh?’  the spy thought to himself. ‘Whatever floats your boat, pal.’ In the meantime, Star Streak simply munched on his meal, having deliberately ordered the same thing.

After several more minutes of listening in, Star Streak caught wind of something juicy. His ears perked up further.

“So, Scotch. Tomorrow is a big day. You ready for that special meeting with President Coltson?” Finn asked his friend, smiling as he arched a brow; his visage beaming with confidence.

Scotch smiled and chuckled lightly. “Of course, Finn. I would not be me if I wasn’t,” he replied with a mildly cheerful tone, gesturing with a hoof.

‘This sounds really juicy... Looks like I’ll have to take him out and impersonate him sooner than I’d like,’ Star Streak thought as he rolled his eyes. He promptly set his newspaper down in order to finish his sandwich. The spy wanted to make sure his meal was finished before Scotch departed from the cafe.

‘Now, I only need a plan...’ he thought to himself, swallowing the last bite of his sandwich. Tapping his chin with a hoof, Star Streak arched a brow, deep in thought. ‘And that plan... needs to be solid.’

*     *     *

Back in the Royal Castle’s library, Princess Celestia flung aside yet another book that revealed nothing of what she was tirelessly searching for. The book flopped onto a growing pile of books that had been cast aside. The alicorn breezed through the books and tomes one at a time, having gone through most of them in the library.

By this point, Princess Celestia’s once flowing, multi-colored mane was unkempt, dangling from her head; lifeless. Dark bags formed under the alicorn’s eyes from 3 straight days of no sleep. Her brow was arched inwards, indicating frustration and irritation.

‘Why can’t I find the information I need!?’ she yelled in thought as she gritted her teeth together. Princess Celestia frantically glanced at the table near her, seeing only a relatively small pile of books and tomes; the ones which, for now, had gone unread. Grasping to only a strand of hope, the alicorn levitated one off the top of the thinning pile, hoping the unread books contained information on immortality.

As her eyes began to scan the contents of the pages, the alicorn heard a knock at the library doors, causing her head to jerk quickly towards the door, with a nasty glare adorning her visage. “WHAT!!” bellowed Princess Celestia.

Princess Luna emerged from the doors, opening them with her dark blue magic. The dark blue alicorn’s eyes went wide at the sight before her. Books littered the floor, with a particularly large pile sitting idly mere meters away from Princess Celestia. The dark alicorn quickly noticed the physical changes her sister underwent as well from yet another sleepless night. With that, Princess Luna narrowed her eyes in frustration, finally fed up with Princess Celestia's undesirable behavior.

“Sister, I cannot take it any longer!” she yelled to Celestia. “Stop doing what you’re doing, get some sleep, and return to your royal duties!” Her breathing intensified. Princess Luna had hoped deep down that Celestia was right, and there was nothing to worry about, yet Luna felt there was too much evidence to the contrary.

Princess Celestia faked a smile as she spoke up. “Now please, Lulu, I assure you-”

“NO!!” Luna interrupted, yelling louder than before. “Just look at yourself! You’re a mess! When was the last time you had done anything but read like an obsessive madmare!?” Princess Luna stomped a hoof into the floor, causing a small tremor in the room. “Enough is enough! I want to help you, sister, but you aren’t letting me! And I am growing tired of taking over your duties as well!” she huffed.

Princess Celestia dropped her false smile in a heartbeat. The white alicorn trotted over to her sister, her eyes narrowed. She lowered her head a little upon stopping merely inches from her. “Sister, please, just leave me alone,” she demanded firmly.

Princess Luna opened her mouth to reply. “I will do no-”

Princess Celestia quickly stood up to full height. “LEAVE!” she bellowed as she stomped a hoof, gritting her teeth afterwards. Princess Luna winced a little, as a tear rolled down her cheek. The Princess of the Night felt as if a knife had been plunged into her heart by her sister.

“But...” she choked, looking up at her angered sister. Princess Luna promptly let out a sigh as her head dropped. The dark blue alicorn turned around, shambling out the door. Princess Celestia’s horn lit up, causing the door to slam behind Luna.

‘Sorry Luna, but I want to be left alone right now,’ Princess Celestia thought, as she closed her eyes. She sighed softly to herself before resuming her currently fruitless research.

‘Now, I have to find out how to obtain eternal life. I HAVE to!’ yelled her inner thoughts as a serious expression crept its way onto her features.

With that, Princess Celestia proceeded to scan through the remaining books of the castle library.

*     *     *

Princess Luna plopped onto her bed stomach side first after locking the door to her room, covering her face with her hooves. The Princess of Night began sobbing as tears flowed from her eyes. “Just who does she think she is!?” choked Luna. She promptly wiped the tears away as she sniffled a little; her eyes ripe with sadness.

“I cannot believe she spoke to me, her own sister, like that! I mean, I was only trying to help her, but noooo! Instead, she just has to be a bitch about it!” Luna ranted to herself, slamming a hoof into her bed in frustration with a quick grunt. As a follow up, Luna rolled onto her back, staring up at her nighttime-esque ceiling.

“And, she is being so irresponsible with all of her duties and health! I should teach her a lesson, and not raise the sun for her since she won’t do it herself! And hey, on a positive note, that might even get more ponies to appreciate my art!” the dark blue alicorn shouted as she threw her hooves into the air, continuing her ranting monologue; the last bit being in reference to her stunning night skies.

Thinking about all of it almost made Princess Luna sick to her stomach. The past 3 days had been insufferable, with Princess Celestia neglecting everything, unfairly putting stress and pressure on her, with the addition of her sudden bitterness towards her own younger sister. Princess Luna’s newfound anger and frustration towards her elder sister seethed as she shifted frantically in her bed to find a more comfortable position.

The Princess of the Night’s heart rate began to rise substantially, as her breathing intensified. Her brow arched inwards with her narrowing eyes, resulting in a full on angered expression. Princess Luna felt livid down to the core.

“I’ll show her... Oh, I’ll show her good!” Luna spoke harshly, yet softly, only raising her voice somewhat towards the end. Princess Luna’s eyes suddenly turned almost bloodshot from her anger. The alicorn then lifted herself onto all four hooves. “I will just need to plan something.”

“And she will never see see it coming...”