Mistress Do Well: Extradition

Mistress Do Well: Extradition
by milesprower06

March

"What are you going to do when you run out of bits? Are you just waiting out the winter, waiting for your primaries to grow back? Fly home to Cloudsdale, to mom and dad? Probably the only two ponies who still love you, anyways."

"I'm reading, fuck off."

As annoying as the hallucination was sometimes, it still wasn't enough to convince her to remove the Cloak of the New Moon. Thoughts were easier to ward off when they stayed in your head. But when they took on a body of their own and started following you around a mountain tavern, they're a bit trickier to get rid of. Because you start talking back to it, and giving it a name, something like Double Rainbow.

And worst of all, Double Rainbow was just as stubborn as she was.

It had been nearly four months, and Lonesome Pine still didn't have a clue of what to make of his mysterious guest. For one, she never took that cloak of hers off, at least in his sight. He had to guess she was hiding some kind of deformity. But she hadn't even done as little as tell him her name. She had to be either a pegasus or an earth pony. He was pretty sure he didn't see a horn underneath the hood.

It wouldn't have been the first recluse he had given food and a bed to. But for so long? Yes, this was a first. She was polite though. Thanked him for every meal, brought the dishes up to the counter every time, and most times, the fire pit was already blazing in the morning, with her sitting there warming herself. One thing was for certain, she didn't sleep well. Talked to herself, too. A messy guest, she also was not. Every time she went outside, saddlebags and all, she left her room in pristine condition. When the weather allowed, she left the tavern with all her belongings, and usually went sightseeing, through the trees or further up the mountain to the lake. When the weather was too severe, she'd grab a book from his collection in the corner and read. She had to have gotten to every single one by now. The blizzards rarely relented up here.

But he had to admit, his curiosity was getting stronger. Who was this strange mare, and why was she paying him 350 bits a week without fail to stay up here on this mountain? His food wasn't that great.

"Are you sure this is the wisest idea, sister?" Luna asked, as she followed her sister down the stairs into the chasm below their old castle. Four Royal Guard pegasi followed behind them, carrying the chest containing the Elements of Harmony, which had been taken out of their necklaces when the investigation was wrapping up. The five of them would have their freedom, but not their elements, which would almost certainly be useless in their hooves anyway, considering how they had scattered in the weeks that followed the house arrests being rescinded.

"The Elements of Harmony have no holders currently. The Tree's magic has been slowly draining for the last millennium. Returning them can quell the Everfree Forest.

The two alicorn sisters walked into a cave formed into the inner wall of the chasm. They didn't get very far in before laying eyes on the Tree of Harmony, which they hadn't seen in one thousand years, before confronting Discord.

"Last chance to reconsider." Luna told her.

"If they are needed, we can always come get them."

Celestia nodded to the four guards, and they set the chest down and opened it. Using their magic, Celestia took three, and Luna took three, setting them in their respective places among the branches. Upon touching the tree, they became magically sealed in the white bark.

"Well, I guess that's that." Celestia stated, turning back and exiting the caves. The guards loaded the chest back onto the chariot that waited at the top of the stairs.

"I'm retiring to my quarters when I get back to Canterlot. And you? I assume another night of searching?"

Luna nodded. "I meant what I said, sister. I will not give up."

"Best of luck, Luna."

With that, the chariot was off as the sun set below the western horizon. Luna took that cue and began the process of raising the moon. She closed her eyes, concentrated, and the magic began to course through her horn. She reared up, and slowly raised her front hooves, the moon rising from the east as she did so. She opened her eyes, and being satisfied with the moon's placement, lowered herself to all fours. She wasted no time, and began to meditate. Her horn lit again, and in a flash, Luna vanished as she traveled into her domain, the world of dreams.

Being the steward of the Realm of Dreams wasn't the easiest task to describe, and neither was the Realm itself. It could be anything, depending on whose eyes you were looking through. She always got a laugh when her sister's involved cake. Twilight's used to be almost exclusively book related, before hers, and the other four former Element bearers turned into something much more horrible.

As steward, Luna could, with enough concentration, alter anypony's perception of their dream. In laypony's terms, she could make a dream into a nightmare, and vice versa. Most of the time, she let sleeping ponies be. She only intervened when a pony seemed troubled, which usually meant frequent or repeating nightmares. She also kept a watchful eye out for signs of depression and suicide.

It started as a field of stars for her; each one representing one of the millions of ponies inhabiting Equestria. There were far fewer during the waking world's daytime hours, but there were ponies who slept during the day. She also tended to them when she herself slept during the day.

"Rainbow Dash." Luna called out, barely above a whisper.

Without warning, the sky, the stars, everything went black, and Luna suddenly heard the sloshing of water.

She cast a Magelight alteration spell, and a white orb shone on the tip of her horn, but it did very little. It never did here.

It had been the same for months. Rainbow's "dream world" was a pitch black expanse of ocean. Luna found herself afloat in a simple wooden dinghy, with no oars to speak of. Her magelight spell allowed her to see maybe 20 feet away from the boat she sat in, which rocked lightly in the light waves. Luna didn't believe this was what Rainbow was actually dreaming of, but what was shown to anypony else intruding on her dreams. After Rainbow had first disappeared into this dark ocean, Luna began digging through the Canterlot Archives, looking for records of magical artifacts. It took weeks, but she finally found ancient texts depicting the Cloak of the New Moon. It was a cursed hooded garment. With the hood up around the head, it rendered the wearer's distinct identifying features invisible to mortal eyes. To anypony looking at her, she was barely a face in the crowd. There were no texts explaining its effects in other realms, such as the one of dreams, but it was the only explanation that made sense. Rainbow had somehow gotten her hands on this cloak, was using it to slip past the search parties, and clearly sleeping with it on as well. To pierce the veil the Cloak provided, one would need to be within proximity to her physically, and also be a master of Illusion magic. One would have to practice Illusion magic most of their lives, or have Alicorn-level magical abilities. Even then, the effects any spell would have on the cloak would no doubt be temporary. All Rainbow would have to do is move out of range of the caster. Lastly, with that cloak, there was very, very little she could do to attract any attention, let alone the attention of a master illusionist.

"Rainbow!" Luna called out into the fog. Her call echoed out across the waves for several seconds, then died out, as if nothing had happened. Luna listened carefully for several moments, hearing nothing in return except for the water splashing against the sides of her boat.

She could be absolutely anywhere out here, above or below the waves. Luna lit her horn, and departed Rainbow's dreams, reappearing at the stairs of their old castle. She let out a sigh of disappointment, and began to ascend the stairs. This was the site of the darkest moment of her life, but also the brightest. Her redemption.

The six of them had stripped away the darkness from her heart and reunited her with her sister during that fateful Summer Sun Celebration. As the nightmare that had threatened Equestria, she had been rightfully defeated. But as Luna, she had been freed and reinstated as Princess of the Night, and these ponies had asked nothing in return. She believed herself indebted to them, and such, was determined to find a way to fix this. There had to be a way to put these shattered friendships together again. They were nothing without each other.

But it wasn't enough to take away their nightmares and give them peaceful nights. No, they very much deserved their consciences' attacks on them, both day and night for the time being. Rainbow Dash was the key. She prayed that wherever she was, she was alright.

If not, she feared there was no hope for any of them.

Lonesome Pine was about to turn in for the night, making one last check of the main hall. About to retire to his room in the back, he noticed that one of the doors on the right, the one where his mysterious guest slept, was open a crack.

'That's a first. Might as well see if she's alright.' He thought to himself. He walked across the granite floor to her door, and slowly opened it, slow enough that it wouldn't creak.

There she was, sound asleep in the bed. He was about to close the door when he noticed her saddlebags next to the nightstand, the left flap open. He had to squint to make out the details in the dark. He tiptoed over to it, and peered inside.

'Sweet Celestia...' Was his first thought when he saw the sheer amount of bits in her bag. Right next to that, tucked snug in the corner, was a video tape.

What could be the harm? He had a projector by the front counter. Keep the volume off, take a quick peek, put it back. Might give him a clue as to who she was. It had been beginning to bug him these past few weeks.

He quietly slipped the tape out of the bags without making a sound, then made his way out of the room, returning the door to barely a crack. He kept silent as he went back over to the front service counter, turned the projector on, made sure the volume was off, popped the tape in, and pressed play. The static flickered a bit, then the playback began.

"What the hell...?"

"Psst. Psst, hey, sleepyhead."

Rainbow felt groggy as she returned to the waking world, finding herself in her tavern bed.

"What-"

"Shh. I heard rummaging a minute ago. Took a minute to wake you. Check your bags." Double Rainbow whispered to her from the nightstand. Rainbow rolled over onto her back, still unsure what was going on. She craned her neck down to the floor beside her bed, and looked at her saddlebags. She thought it was fine, but then her eyes began to adjust to the dark.

The tape.

"Yeah, keep quiet and see what he's up to." Double Rainbow said.

Her lightweight form as a pegasi made keeping quiet on the floor easy, plus the raging blizzard outside covered what little noise she did make. She opened her door a tad, and peeked out at the main hall, and her blood instantly began to boil at what she saw.

The basement videotape was playing on Lonesome Pine's projector.

Rainbow's rage silently focused like a laser beam. She slowly opened the door just enough to slip through. She walked silently over to the fire pit and grabbed the fire iron.

Lonesome Pine couldn't take his eyes off of the screen. This was some kind of... Bondage session. He couldn't tell what was being said. He wasn't sure if there was audio on the tape, as it appeared to be surveillance, and he wouldn't be able to tell without risking turning the volume up. Two things were certain; four of them were ganging up on the other two, with what looked to be a piercing gun, and two; he was failing to hide his excitement, which was beginning to grow between his legs.

"Looks like it's an early check out for me, motherbucker."

He didn't even have time to jump off of his stool in fright before a sharp pain on the back of his head toppled him.

Rainbow stood on top of the counter. Lonesome Pine was crumpled in a motionless heap on the floor beside the stool he had chosen to sit on. She immediately stopped the tape and ejected it from the projector. She waited a few moments for Lonesome Pie to move, who now had a red gash on the back of his head to the right of his mane. He never did. She noticed the small bag of bits she had paid him for the following week. She grabbed it along with the tape, dropping the fire iron which hit the granite floor with a clang. She took the bits and tape back to her saddlebags, and immediately strapped them on underneath her cloak.

"Subtle." Double Rainbow commented.

"Shut the fuck up." Rainbow ordered, tightening the straps. She exited her room, and went for the front door.

"We're going out into that? Jeez, just tie him up and wait for the blizzard to calm down a bit."

"Piss off, I didn't know imaginary ponies bitched about the cold."

"I'm in your head, genius, and it is freezing out there."

"Then stay here with the fucking pervert. I won't miss you."

With that, Rainbow Dash left Neighecho Inn, vanishing into the blowing snow.