Effigy of Anarchy

Winter had now reached Ponyville, a part of Equestria that couldn’t be further from civilization. As Silent soared over the fields that gleamed white and rolled to the horizon, she ran over the expected conversation with Cloudchaser again and again.

It had been a week since they had fled from Messerschmitt’s mansion. Silent had caught up with her and summarily sent her home, stating that they would need time for more research. That time had passed, and Silent had what she thought she would need. What she did not have was any assurance that Chase would be keen to resume the case.

Ponyville appeared as Silent crested the last hill. The thatched-roof houses of this part of the world still showed some of their characteristic bright yellow straw sticking out past the icicles clinging to their edges. It was quiet, too; country towns always were.

Cloudchaser’s house was a one-story building towards the north end of the village, which she shared with Flitter and their roommate. Though Silent had never actually visited Ponyville, she had instead cross-referenced a map with the city directory on record in Canterlot.

Silent landed, she paid no attention to the various ponies in the town, going about their days. A few smiled. One waved. Silent did not return the favour. Ponyville was not a large town, and finding Cloudchaser’s residence took only a few minutes.

She could not decide which approach to take, though begging or pleading were stricken from the list immediately. Perhaps it didn’t matter. Standing around was not going to help. Silent pushed on the door and went in.

The front door led directly to the living room. Silent’s entry surprised Flitter, who had been reclining on the couch when she entered. She leaped to attention as Silent strode in, stunned for just long enough for Silent to make her way into the kitchen.

Cloudchaser was within, sitting at the table with a plate of mashed potatoes. Silent took note of the generally clean state of the kitchen compared to the filthy state of the table, as well as a total dearth of cutlery.

“Silent! I - you didn’t knock, did you? Most ponies knock,” Chase said.

“I need to talk to you.”

Cloudchaser arched both eyebrows and looked down at her food. She looked back up abruptly and cocked her head from side to side as the characters in her imaginary play spoke.

“Let’s try this again. Ahem - Hello Silent, how are you? Oh I’m fine. Got in a bit late, sorry to interrupt your dinner. Oh that’s okay, I love having friends over!”

Silent waited for Chase to continue. Chase bent down and took a bite of the potatoes. She frowned as she did so, and put more salt on them, but did not speak.

“Are you done?” Silent asked.

“No, I just started. Sit down, would you like some? I made extra.”

“I wanted to know if you’re willing to help continue the investigation.”

Cloudchaser stood up and walked over to one of the cupboards near her fridge. She opened it and produced a paper towel, which she used to quite deliberately wipe her mouth off. She strode back to the table, sat down, and placed the towel next to her plate. She squared herself to the table, positioning herself just so, and cocked her head at Silent.

“You look hungry. Please, sit.”

Silent kept her face flat and maneuvered to the table.

“Oh Flitter,” Chase said patronizingly, “would you be a dear and get our guest some tea?”

Silent turned to see Flitter’s head stick around the corner from the living room. She made no secret of her displeasure, but her face flashed a brief image of gratitude once her eyes met Silent’s.

“Sure thing, sis. What kind does she like? We have green tea, lemon, and get it yourself,” Flitter said as she disappeared behind the corner again.

“Nice girl,” said Chase, “always such a treat to know her.”

“Chase, I -” Silent said, but Cloudchaser cut her off.

“Oh what a bother! I’ve gone and forgotten to set a place for you. Give me a moment, would you? How inconsiderate.”

Silent stood and marched to the living room. Chase stood and ran after her, tipping her chair as she did so.

“Wait, hey! I was just messing with you!” Chase shouted.

Flitter had resumed her position on the couch, but was now staring with confusion as Silent bore down on her. Chase paused in the threshold to the living room and watched the proceedings.

Silent approached from the side, and Flitter instinctively began to recoil. She shifted her body to sit on the opposite end of the couch to get away. Reaching the edge, Flitter jumped off and backed towards the far wall. When her flank bumped it and Silent showed no signs of stopping, her eyes opened wide.

“What the hay? What’s gotten into you?” Flitter demanded.

With that, Chase finally intervened and pushed Silent aside. She took up the ground between them and cast an accusing glare at Silent. Silent returned it, but seeing that Chase was not backing down, reached into her saddlebag and produced a familiar yellow gem. The moment she saw it, Chase understood, and allowed Silent to proceed.

Flitter’s eyes widened and her face twisted itself into a silent scream. She could not take her eyes off the gem, no matter how much she wanted to. To briefly test this response, Silent moved the gem to one side and watched as Flitter’s eyes followed it exactly. She observed dispassionately as each of Flitter’s legs independently tried to push her away, and that each one stopped before it could make any real impact.

Satisfied, Silent pressed the gem into Flitter’s chest. Flitter’s body relaxed, causing her head to sag to one side and her back to arch.

“Hold this to your chest,” Silent said.

Flitter held up a hoof to hold the gem. Silent withdrew.

“Sit down,” Silent said.

Flitter sat down.

“Stand.”

Flitter stood up.

“Run.”

Flitter bolted forward, going as fast she could running awkwardly on three legs.

“Stop.”

Flitter stopped cold.

Each instruction bit into Chase’s psyche harder than the last. She had tried to ignore it, tried to forget, tried to tell herself it was a dream. She had done everything she could to not think about the winery and what must have transpired before she had found Flitter. Every one of those repressed thoughts came roaring back as Flitter mechanically obeyed every command put to her.

“Silent,” Chase said at last, “That’s enough. Make her stop.”

“Drop the gem,” Silent said.

Flitter dropped the gem and her body immediately tensed up. She recoiled and backed away from the gem’s resting place, slamming into the wall opposite from Silent.

Silent trotted over to the gem and returned it to her saddlebag. Flitter finally relaxed, slumping against the wall. She was dazed but otherwise unharmed. Silent now turned to Cloudchaser.

“We don’t have time for self doubt. You said you wanted to help, and I need your help. Are you going to see this through to the end?”

“What did you do? How? Did you figure out how that thing works?”

“Not quite.”

Silent suddenly reached into the saddlebag again and pulled the gem out. She looked at it, then up at Chase. Without warning, she thrust it at Chase’s chest. Cloudchaser could not get out of the way at the time, and she winced in preparation.

Chase’s chest tightened as she prepared for whatever awful magic coursed through the gem to do to her what it had done to Flitter. She made every imagined effort she could to prepare, vowing herself to not fall victim to the gem’s enchantments.

Yet, nothing happened. She felt the same as ever, except now with a cool, smoothed stone pressed against her fur coat. She nervously looked down at the gem, then back up at Silent.

“Sit down,” Silent said.

Cloudchaser did not sit, she just looked back down at the gem.

“Well, I thought that would work,” Chase said.

“It’s not the gem, it’s the pony,” Silent said. Now she turned to Flitter, who had recovered and was very much enraged.

“You! You - “ Flitter said, stumbling over her own words, “What is wrong with you? You knew that’d happen! I told you I hated that thing! Keep it away from me!”

“This?” Silent asked, holding up the gem. Flitter bent her head back and her eyes lit up with fear.

Flitter only nodded, suddenly unable to speak.

Silent idly tossed the gem into the air. It landed softly on the floor, and she smashed it with her shoe. Flitter and Chase both let out a gasp.

Flitter need a moment to process what had happened. The relief came first, but anger followed soon after, directed more at the shards of crystal than at Silent. “Good riddance!”.

Chase, however, found herself unable to take her eyes off the pieces. “Should you really have smashed that?”

Silent frowned. “I got everything I needed out of it. It was just a piece of polished glass.”

“Glass? Really?” Chase asked incredulously.

“Yes, just glass, with dye in it to appear yellow. That’s not what was important. What’s important is where he got it, or how he made it. Those are what I don’t know yet.”

“Well,” Chase said, “how are you going to find that out?”

“We.”

Cloudchaser frowned as she met Silent’s stony gaze. Her face was eternally flat and relentless in its dishumour, shed only in final grip of victory over a foe. Hearing her say ‘We’ caused Chase to wilt.

Silent took a step towards Chase. “I need your help.”

“What? Why?”

“You wouldn’t understand even if I explained it to you. All I can tell you is that I need you for this, and you know I’m not lying.”

“Are you lonely?”

Silent scowled. “Never.”

“Then why?” Chase demanded, hysteria rising in her voice, “Why me? I can’t fight. I’m not some super-detective. I got scared by a shadow. What the hay do you need me for?”

“You can do things I can’t,” Silent replied.

“Like what? What can I do that you can’t? What makes me so special?”

Silent sighed. “I told you, it’s no use to explain it. I’ve tried it before. You just need to trust me, trust in me.”

Chase turned to Flitter, who was gingerly making her way towards the shards of glass on the carpet. Seeing her seize up, dancing like a puppet on invisible strings, kindled a fire deep within Cloudchaser.

Messerschmitt. He was rich, powerful, connected. He was using his power to hurt ponies and who was going to stand up to him? Who was going to stop him from doing what he did to Flitter to somepony else? Could she really run and hide in Ponyville and just let him get away with that?

The fire within burned and brightened, consuming the fear that had wrapped around her that night in the frozen mansion. Even if her courage failed her when faced with something she couldn’t understand, her desire for justice would not.

Maybe that’s what she wants, Chase thought. Maybe that’s what she sees in me. It could have been many things. Silent could simply be lonely and be after somepony to share the burden with, even if she’d never admit it. It could be some promise made long ago or some other purpose. None of that mattered anymore. No more getting scared. No more running. Messerschmitt would be stopped, and Cloudchaser was going to be there when it happened.

“I’m in.”

“Magic?” Flitter asked.

The three had seated themselves around the kitchen table. Chase merely stared at her leftover potatoes, too excited to finish them.

Outside, the sun glowed red and gold as it slid towards the horizon. Night would be here soon, which seemed to have Silent anxious to leave.

“Magic is the only candidate I have left,” Silent said.

“Couldn’t you get the gem checked for that?” Cloudchaser asked.

“I did. I went to three different sorcerers and they all told me the thing was worthless. Not a drop of magic in it.”

“But how?”

Flitter perked up. “It’s something worse than magic.”

Both Silent and Chase turned to look at her, causing her to wilt under their combined glare. She just shook her head slowly. It was something she knew by instinct, burnt into her in a way she’d rather not discuss. Her eyes told the story better than words could.

“Could it be something that a sorcerer wouldn’t be able to detect?” Chase asked.

“Maybe. I don’t know much about magic, but my contacts certainly did. What could be both undetectable and still make Flitter act like a trained dog?”

Flitter raised her head for a moment. Even if she was powerless, she still felt ashamed.

“Great,” Chase said, “So we’ve got a whole lot of nothing.”

“Not quite,” Silent said.

Cloudchaser arched one of her eyebrows. “I’m listening.”

“I’ve been looking into some of the leads I got from the documents at his house. I checked out the previous owner, a griffon who went insane and had Messerschmitt listed as the manager of his estate.”

“Huh,” Chase said, “just like that?”

“Thing is, he had never met Messerschmitt before that, and never showed signs of mental instability. Everything I pulled up on him said that he was a kindhearted, well-to-do fellow who liked his privacy.”

“And now?”

“He’s in a padded cell in Witchbane Mental Hospital outside of Trottingham. Jibbers to himself a lot, and bangs his head on the walls for hours at a time.”

“Ugh,” Cloudchaser said.

“He’s not the only one to have a sudden change of heart. Have you ever heard of the Sons of Equestria?”

“Hey!” Flitter said, causing Chase and Silent to both take note. “Those were the guys we saw in the hotel lobby! Remember, sis?”

“Oh yeah, they gave us a flyer,” Cloudchaser said, “Which seems kinda weird. We told them we were just visiting.”

Silent held a hoof to her mouth and focused for a moment. “Given their M.O. it makes sense. They’re a political organization, and they’re looking to expand. You don’t still have the flyer, do you?”

“No,” Chase said, “I threw it out.”

“I’m wondering why they gave it to you in the first place. Seems kind of odd to give it to a mare like you.”

Chase frowned angrily. “What the hay is that supposed to mean? I am perfectly political! I know all about politics!”

Flitter just shook her head. Cloudchaser made a pouting face.

“That’s not what I meant,” Silent said, “They don’t think very highly of ladies. One of their key platforms is traditional gender-roles.”

Chase and Flitter exchanged a surprised look.

“Traditional? What does that mean?” Chase asked.

“Beats me,” Silent said, “Equestria is a matriarchy. It always has been. However, the Sons seem to believe a mare’s proper place is at home caring for foals. Their membership is composed entirely of colts and the occasional, presumably unwilling, wife. Unless…”

Silent turned to Flitter. “Unless they were casing you.”

“Huh?” Flitter asked. She exchanged a worried look with her sister.

“Something that you did marked you as a target. I don’t know what, but what if the whole point of passing out flyers to tourists was to find ponies they could experiment on? If we find some canvassers, we can find some answers.”

“Woah woah woah,” Flitter said, preparing to back up. Before she could get further away, Chase wrapped a foreleg around her and drew her closer. Flitter pushed for a second, then let herself be held. After a brief hesitation, she turned and buried her face in her sister’s coat.

“I don’t think she’s going back to Trottingham,” Chase said.

“That’s fine,” Silent said, “You’ve done enough. I just have one last question.”

“Anything,” Flitter said, revealing her face from Chase’s fur, “Ask away. If it helps take down these sick freaks, I’ll tell you anything.”

“When I told you to stand and sit and run,” Silent began, and Flitter pressed further into her sister’s coat. “Did you remember it?”

“Yeah… why?”

“You didn’t last time.”

“Maybe,” Chase said, “She was told to forget?”