Runes and Mercenaries

Back in the boutique, Vulsegardt and Rarity were sitting in the small storage room on a mattress playing cards with magic on the floor alongside candles.

"How long until she comes back?" Vulsegardt asks.

"Twilight? Could be today, could be tomorrow, of that I am uncertain." Rarity responds.

"I want this put behind me, the things I went through over the past few days," Vulsegardt cynically says as she rubs her cheek, where she received a cut in Canterlot.

"Must have been horrible, beyond describing with words," Rarity says with a frown.

Vulsegardt closes her eyes. She remembers the moment when the EarthGov agent named Lilith rammed a bone-saw through Fedor's arm. He was screaming, blood was rushing down and all she did was sit on the ground barely keeping it together, too afraid to do anything. She opens her eyes with a disgusted expression on her face.

"I'm sorry," Rarity apologizes. "It would be best to forget about such things, Twilight won't let this go uncorrected," she says with a determined voice.

"And what is Princess Twilight going to do?" Vulsegardt asks cynically.

"She will be angry. Very angry. I don't know what is going to happen," Rarity answers with uncertainty.

Vulsegardt sighs. "I'm still processing everything. I was supposed to be on a harmless expedition, not a suicide mission," she pouts.

"Do you think your friend got out? Rarity asks.

"Fedor? I hope so, he's a good person," Vuslegardt replies.

"His name is Fedor?" Rarity asks with surprise.

"Fedor Conhanger," Vulsegardt answers. "Engineering Prodigy," she says.

Rarity thinks for a few moments. "He reminded me on somepony else," she says with intrigue.

"Your sister said something that he was here before," Vulsegardt states after remembering her conversation with Sweetie Belle earlier.

Rarity thinks for a few moments. "Must have been somepony else," she replies.

Meanwhile upstairs the doorbell rings.

Rarity quickly looks up and heads her way upstairs. "Wait here and don't make any noise," she says as she closes the storage room hatch.

Rarity approaches the door and slowly opens it. "Oh, Caramel. It's you," she says with relief.

The guard who allowed Applejack and Big Macintosh to smuggle Fedor enters the boutique.  "Yeah, sorry if, I'm interrupting but, you didn't by any chance seen any wanted criminals who supposedly killed Celestia haven't you?" he asks nervously.

Rarity looks at Caramel with a serious expression on her face. She waits for a few moments before speaking, "Why would you ask me something like that?" she asks.

"It just so happens that Applejack and her brother smuggled the human criminal out of Ponyville a few hours ago," he answers, still nervously.

"Is that so?" Rarity asks with intrigue.

"I let them leave," Caramel says with worry. "They said that you knew him! Please tell me that I haven't done the wrong thing, I don't believe Luna killed Celestia, I swear!" He says trembling with fear.

"Easy Caramel, take a breath!" Rarity says trying to calm the scared guard.

"You first," Caramel responds as he is trying to catch his breath.

Rarity closes the front door behind Caramel and checks the windows if there is anybody around. After seeing nobody, she turns to Caramel and begins to speak, "They were here yes. One got injured and had to be moved," Rarity answers.

"Oh, thank Celestia. I thought I made a horrible mistake. So, where's the other one? The unicorn?" Caramel asks with relief.

"She's around," Rarity replies. "She has to stay hidden until Twilight comes back. She won't stand for this!" She says with an upset voice.

"I... I heard what happened at the castle," Caramel begins to speak.

"Shut up!" Rarity stops Caramel from speaking. "Just... Don't..." she says slowly.

"I'm sorry," Caramel says with sympathy.

"Get out," Rarity pushes Caramel. She opens the door with her magic and points outside with her hoof. "Get out, you got what you were looking for now leave!" she repeats herself.

Caramel shakes his head and slowly leaves the boutique.

After hearing the door close, Vulsegardt climbs up the stairs and opens the storage hatch enough to peek out.

Rarity sighs and sits down on the sofa that was in the corner. She begins to sob as she puts her hooves on her face.

Vulsegardt slowly opens the hatch and crawls out. After closing the curtains on the windows she sits on the sofa next to Rarity. "What happened?" She asks.

Rarity sighs again and shakes her head. "A friend of mine died yesterday," she answers.

Vulsegardt looks on the ground and pouts. "It's my fault, they were here because of us," she said.

Rarity doesn't reply. She stays still on the couch, continuing to sob.

"I'm so sorry," Vulsegardt says with regret.

"You never do begin to truly appreciate something until its gone," Rarity says depressively.

After that, time for Vulsegardt went much slower that it actually did. She spent most of her time in the storage room, looking at the ceiling thinking. Occasionally, Sweetie Belle could be heard upstairs, but that was just about it.

She lays back and closes her eyes, going to sleep.

She opens her eyes the next day when hearing someone entering the boutique through the front door. Before getting up, she notices someone opening the storage room hatch and stepping down the stairs. It was a human with a rifle on his back.

Vulsegardt gasps and quickly gets up, she lights up her horn to shoot a bolt of magic but the human already raises his hands. "Whoa there killer, I ain't here to hurt you," he says.

After a few seconds Vulsegardt examines the guard. He seemed to be at the age of 45, had a beard and wore armour with Ponyville emblems on it.

Rarity slowly follows down the stairs.

"This her?" the human asks.

"Yes," Rarity answers.

"I knew EearthGov was full of shit, they always are," the human complains.

"Who are you?" Vulsegardt asks.

"My name is Krater, apparently I accidentally smuggled enemies of EarthGov out of Ponyville yesterday," he says with a smile.

Vulsegardt exhales with relief. "Don't humans have two names?" she asks.

"My name is James," he said. "But people call me Krater."

Vulsegardt looks at Krater with wide eyes. "You helped getting Fedor out of Ponyville? So, he's out?" she asks.

"Yeah, AJ and Big Mac smuggled him out with a foodcart," Krater answers.

"Oh, thank Celestia," Vulsegardt says with relief.

"Just wanted to see you with my own eyes," Krater says.

"What for?" Vulsegardt asks.

Krater smirks. "They are blaming you for assisting in political assassination. But did you see it? Did you see them kill Celestia?" he asks with curiosity.

"No," Vulsegardt answers. "But when Luna saved me and my friend, she and Bright Judgement said that they saw it," she says.

"Good enough for me. Fucking EarthGov. I mean, Brian Matthias was a crazy fuck, why didn't they assume his right hand Atlax would be too after taking over?" Krater says as he looks at Rarity.

"What did Brian do?" Vulsegardt asks.

"He personally stormed Ponyville with some crazy magic shit few years back," Krater replies.

"You really seem to dislike EarthGov. Funny, since you're a human," Vulsegardt says.

Krater stares at Vulsegardt for a few seconds. "Funny?" Krater asks.

"Ahem," Rarity interrupts.

"Oh yeah, of course," Krater says. "Princess Twilight is coming back from Baltimare in a few hours, I was asked to convince you to speak to her about the stuff you went through," he explains.

"Convince? Are you serious? They beat me and cut my friend's hand off! Of course I'll speak to the Princess!" Vulsegardt replies loudly.

"We don't know how is she gonna react though," Krater says.

Vulsegardt looks at the human with confusion. "What do you mean?" she asks.

Rarity takes a deep breath. "A friend went with her and messaged ahead. She is furious," she replies.

"I think I would be furious as well," Vulsegardt answers.

"Yeah well, this is extra pissed of. The problem comes when you are reminded with the fact that Princess Twilight and Ryan Atlax are good friends," Krater says he pouts.

"But Luna can prove otherwise!" Vulsegardt says with an upset voice.

"Luna isn't here Vulsegardt," Rarity says with a worried voice.

Krater grunts. "It's easy to frame her though. Luna has tried to kill Celestia two times before she calmed down," he says.

"But do you really believe that Twilight would take Ryan's side over Luna's?" Rarity cynically asks.

As the two begin to argue, all hopes that Vulsegardt has had, have suddenly vanished. She was afraid again, not knowing if she is even going to get alive through the week.

"I didn't do anything!" Vulsegardt screams.

Both Krater and Rarity look at Vulsegardt with pity.

"I've seen Spike bleed to death in the castle, I tried to keep him alive but by the time we came in the castle to see what the hell is going on, he already bled to death," Krater says with a serious voice. "Damnit, this was because of EarthGov! And who represents EarthGov of the UNEE in Equestria? Ryan fucking Atlax." He continues with an angry voice.

Upon hearing this, Rarity sighs and looks away.

Krater kneels and puts his hands on Vulsegardt's shoulders. "She'll believe you. She won't stand for this shit, no matter how much of friends they are," he says with confidence.

Vulsegardt faintly smiles with her newly acquired relief. "You sure?" she asks.

Krater nods, smiles and stands up. "I should go, not a good idea to leave Caramel alone at the gate, " he says as he begins to climb up the stairs. "You stay alive now," he says before leaving the boutique.

Rarity grunts as she leaves the storage room and heads upstairs.

Vulsegardt silently observes the sad mare as she leaves. After her departure Vulsegardt sighs and sits down. "When are we going to get a break?" she asks herself angrily.

A couple of hours later Sweetie Belle appears on the top of the staircase again. "Hi," she says.

Vulsegardt looks up and fakes a smile. "Hey Sweetie Belle," she replies.

"Do you mind company? Rarity doesn't seem to want any," Sweetie says.

"Sure," Vulsegardt says and the filly begins to cheerfully climb down the stairs.

"So, what's up?" the little filly asks with a smile.

"I don't know how to answer that,"  Vulsegardt answers with uncertainty.

"Everything is going to be alright, right?" Sweetie asks worryingly.

"I hope so. Seems like there is something bad around every corner," Vulsegardt replies.

Suddenly someone slowly knocks on the front door.

Sweetie gasps and quickly begins to go upstairs. "Wait here," she says as she climbs up.

"Rarity!" Sweetie yells.

A couple of seconds later the older sister rushes to the lobby.

"Go upstairs Sweetie." Rarity orders.

"B-but it's Twilight." Sweetie replies.

"Now, Sweetie Belle!" Rarity raises her voice.

Sweetie reluctantly obeys, she leaves and goes upstairs with a frown on her face.

As her sister leaves, Rarity takes a deep breath and opens the door. "Twilight?"

Suddenly Vulsegardt couldn't hear any more talking. With confusion she climbs the stairs in hope that she could see what's going on. As she peeks her head out of the hole she notices Rarity hugging with Princess Twilight. They were both quiet, silently crying.

As the hug breaks, the purple Alicorn sets her vision to the curious eavesdropper. "Is that her?" She asks with slight anger.

Rarity turns around and nods, "Yes, that's her."

For a few seconds Twilight stares at Vulsegardt with a frown on her face. "Come out," she says.

Vulsegardt gulps and slowly climbs out of the storage room. She began to slowly approach the Princess. The Alicorn was angry and Vulsegardt was well aware of that. "H-hello," she greets.

For a few seconds they just stared at each other. As Vulsegardt tried to break the silence again, she suddenly feels a strong force on her body as she gets knocked down.

It was Twilight. With her magic, she tripped Vulsegardt and is holding her down. "I was told to give you the right to speak, so what are you waiting for? Speak! Tell me everything!" she says with a hostile voice.

"Ryan Atlax did it! He killed Celestia and is trying to blame it on Luna!" Vulsegardt quickly answers.

"Likely story," Twilight replies. "On what proof?"

"Princess Luna and Bright Judgement can confirm everything!" Vulsegardt replies.

"Is that so?" Twilight asks. "Tell me, where are Luna and Bright then? I don't see them."

As the question was given, Vulsegardt could feel a slight force pressing around her neck. "Half of Ponyville saw me with them... Rarity has seen me with them!" she says and points at Rarity, while having trouble breathing.

"It's true Twilight, they were together," Rarity confirms.

Twilight grunts and releases Vulsegardt from her magic.

As the force goes away, Vulsegardt gets up and takes a few deep breaths, "Bright told your dragon to tell you that you need to go to the meeting place."

Suddenly, Twilight's face became less aggressive and more worried. "The meeting place? And are you sure that he said that?" she asks.

"Yes. That's when EarthGov came. They attacked the castle. I don't know where Luna and Bright are, I was barely able to get my friend out, so give me a break already!" Vulsegardt replies with a raised voice.

Upon hearing this, Twilight sits on the ground and puts her hoof on her face. She sat there silently for a few seconds before sighing in a depressive manner.

"I-I'm very sorry for your loss," Vulsegardt says with a frown.

"She is telling the truth Twilight," Rarity says as she puts her hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"How can you be sure?" Twilight replies.

"I am sure because Luna would never do such a thing. She isn't Nightmare Moon anymore," Rarity answers.

"Luna also said something about Atlax having Tirek's stone, do you know anything about that?" Vulsegardt asks.

"Tirek's stone," Twilight says and begins to think. After a few seconds she looks at Vulsegardt with a scared face. "I do. And it's nothing good," she says and grunts as she stands up. "I have to leave Ponyville," she says as she wipes the tears off her face.

"What? Why? But you barely returned!" Rarity asks with confusion.

"If there is any chance that Bright and Luna are waiting for me, I have to take it," Twilight explains as she begins to move towards the front door.

"What about me? EarthGov is still looking for me," Vulsegardt says.

"I kicked them out. As long as you're in Ponyville you should be safe," Twilight replies. She opens the door with her magic and exits the boutique. "Stay safe Rarity," she says before leaving.

After the door was closed everything was silent for a few seconds.

"Thank Celestia, this went better than I thought it would," Vulsegardt says with relief.

"I should check on Applejack," Rarity says with a worried voice. "Make sure she and your friend are alright, Twilight will probably want to meet him when she returns," Rarity explains.

"Yeah, I hope they're alright," Vulsegardt agrees.

"Do you mind keeping an eye on Sweetie Belle?" Rarity asks with slight concern.

"Of course," Vulsegardt replies.

Rarity nods and puts a backpack on with her magic. As she begins to make her way out she begins to speak, "Don't open the door for anypony."

Vulsegardt looks at Rarity with confusion. "Didn't Twilight throw EarthGov out of Ponyville?" she asks.

"Better safe than sorry darling," Rarity replies. She opens the door and leaves the boutique. "I'll be back before the sun goes down," she says as she leaves.

Vulsegardt closes the door with her magic. A few seconds later she could hear Sweetie behind her, "Where is she going?"

"To Applejacks," Vulsegardt answers.

"Oh come on! Why can she be allowed to Applejack and I can't go to Apple Bloom?" the white filly complains.

"It's to dangerous out there Sweetie Belle, you're safer here," Vulsegardt says.

Sweetie Belle sighs. "Ever since she heard about what happened to Spike she hasn't been herself, she cried herself to sleep yesterday you know," Sweetie says.

Vulsegardt looks on the ground. She felt like this was her fault and that feeling was making her feel devastated. Fedor, Celestia, Spike, everything that happened, she couldn't help herself but to blame herself. "And that's why Rarity wants you here. Safe," she says with a sad tone.

"But..." Sweetie begins to speak but is quickly stopped by Vulsegardt, "No. No buts. Rarity will be fine, the human with the beard will probably escort her."

Sweetie grunts. "Krater? He better," she says and leaves upstairs.

Vulsegardt sighs, sits down on a sofa and lays down. "I'm sorry," she says to herself. "I could've said no and this wouldn't..." she smirks and sighs again.

For a few minutes Vulsegardt laid there, regretting that she accepted Atlax's job offer in the first place. She grunts and turns around, looking through the window that was next to the sofa. She sees an orange pegasus looking back at her. Vulsegardt quickly gets up and opens the window with her magic. "Who are you and what do you want?" she asks with an unfriendly voice.

"Uhh," the pegasus mutters. "I'm friends with Sweetie Belle, is she home?"

The pegasus seemed to be the same age as Sweetie, so Vulsegardt wasn't alarmed. "Yeah, come in," Vulsegardt says. "Sweetie Belle? There's somepony here to see you," she says with a raised voice. "Don't do anything dumb," she tells the filly with a serious tone.

After a few seconds, Sweetie Belle rushes down the stairs and opens the front door. "Hi Scootalo, been up the wall yet?" she asks with a sad voice.

"Yeah, Krater told me everything and Dash confirmed it," Scootalo replies as she sets her eyes on Vulsegardt. "Hey, who's that?" she asks quietly, but still loud enough for Vulsegardt to hear.  "She's friends with Rarity. Come on, let's go upstairs," Sweetie says and the fillies begin to move.

"I'm worried about Apple Bloom, is she alright?" Scootalo asks with concern.

"Rarity went to see Applejack not to long ago, guess we'll find out when she comes back." Sweetie answers.

A door shuts and voices were no longer heard.

Vulsegardt sighs and closes her eyes. She was upset and tired, a nap was well needed. She tilts her head back and begins to do exactly that.

After some time Vulsegardt opens her eyes and looks around. She notices snow falling on her snout. "Snow? But it's October!" she says and gets up. She observes the place she was put in and gathers that she is at the Crystal Empire. But it was different, it was utterly destroyed, in ruins along with the snow.

"No..." Vulsegardt says with fear. "This isn't real, this isn't real, it's just a dream Vulse, it's just a dream," she tries to convince herself. As she is muttering to herself she notices an unicorn standing in the middle of the ruins. Vulsegardt takes a breath and begins to shout, "Hey! You! Wait!" as she begins to approach the stranger.

The unicorn was silent. She was facing her with its back, silently observing the ruins.

Vulsegardt stops and examines the silent mare. She couldn't see who it was, but she did get a glance of the outfit that the she was wearing. She had a purple cloak that was covered with crimson writing identical to the runes that Vulsegardt ha seen at Ares. Upon noticing this, she looks at the mare with slight hostility and asks,"Who are you?"

The unicorn does not respond. Before Vulsegardt could take another step, the mare's horn glows purple, seconds before she evaporates, disappearing.

Vulsegardt sighs, "Great."

Not to far from where she was standing, Vulsegardt could hear growling, she looks to see what it is, only to see that it's a small group of the undead slowly approaching her. She gasps and steps back, "Okay Vulse, you can wake up now," she whimpers to herself as she closes her eyes.

One of the creatures dashes forward and raises its mutilated arm to attack, but just before it could stab the scared mare, Vulsegardt opens her eyes, waking up.

Vulsegardt sighs with relief and stands up. "Sweetie Belle? Rarity?" she calls but receives no answer.

She gets up from the sofa and looks around the boutique, "Sweetie Belle, are you upstairs?"

No answer.

With a worried expression on her face, she quickly trots upstairs in attempt to find the young filly, but every room she has entered was empty. "Oh crap, where are you?" Vulsegardt mutters to herself, worryingly.

The last room she opens  catches her attention. It was full of plastic models, used to carry dresses and clothing. One of the models particularly got her attention, "Wait a minute, I've seen this before," she says as she approaches a model. The model wore the same purple dress covered in runes that she saw in her dreams not to long ago.

"What?" Vulsegardt wonders as she approaches the cloak. She examines the runes on the dress, but a particular line of runes caught her attention. "Saegward? Grandpa?!" she says as she widens her eyes.

"What the hay is this?" Vulsegardt asks herself loudly. "Rarity. She knows something and she sure as hay had a good reason when she helped us, I knew it!"

Suddenly a loud scream is heard from downstairs, "Vulsegardt help!"

Vulsegardt turns around and almost instantly recognises the voice, "Sweetie Belle?" she says and quickly begins to rush downstairs.

When she arrives to the lobby of the boutique she gasps as she sees Sweetie Belle, bruised, struggling to break free from an EarthGov human soldier.

"Hey! Let her go!" Vulsegardt threatens as her horn lights up.

Suddenly, she could feel a force appearing in the room, almost as if someone teleported right behind her, but before she could turn around she is hit on her face and falls down.

As she slowly tilts her head to see her attacker she hears a familiar, sinister voice, "Howdy sister."

It was Lilith.