Twenty-seventh of First Rains…

The Holy Don Empire…

“Milady,” came the voice of the pony next to her, “we have arrived.”

“Very good,” the princess said, glancing out the window of the vehicle, muttering something beneath her breath.

She stepped from the vehicle, and glanced at the Imperial Guard holding the door open. “I would have opened the door myself,” she advised.

The trooper hesitated for a moment with her response. “O-of course, Your Highness. Apologies.”

“I did not take offense to your courtesy, Sergeant.”

“Apologies for my apologies, Your Highness.”

Rolling her eyes, the princess smirked and walked toward the doors. She did not to look back to know that her guardian had fallen in behind her. The reaction of the Imperial Guard troopers standing at the doors told her exactly that.

************

“P-princess Amber!”

The assembled officers jumped to their feet. Behind Princess Amber, the large pony emitted a growl, startling the officers. “Peace, Obsidia,” Princess Amber spoke, “they are surprised, is all. I did not announce my sudden trip away from the capital to those who would have spread the word. I imagine that this will be the reaction for many of those we visit, if I chose to.”

Obsidia nodded.

“Where,” Princess Amber asked, putting on a smile for the officers, “is Lord Jacinth?”

One of the officers, a major, spoke up, “In his chambers.” He paused, and frowned. “Doing what he does best.”

“Sleeping with whatever maid he’s fancied this week,” another said.

There was a scoff from Obsidia.

Princess Amber smirked in amusement. “Well, Major,” she commanded, “when he is done with the maid, send him to me. I would like to talk with him. ‘Tis very important.”

“Of course, Princess.”

************

“Are you sure this is a good idea, milady?”

Amber sprawled herself on the large bed in the room, not giving a reply at first. With a playful smile on her face, she gave her response. “Father himself gave me his blessing to do this. Once I have my conversation with Lord Jacinth, we will proceed from there. If it is as I believe it is, you know what to do.”

Obsidia smiled, a very light one. Then the protector nodded. “Indeed.”

***

Several hours later, Lord Jacinth entered the room. “Princess Amber,” he said, keeping his voice calm and collected, friendly even, though his eyes betrayed his doubt, “to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Amber rose from the chair at the small table she was sitting in, and placed her teacup down. “Your tea is quite good, Lord Jacinth,” she replied, giving a smile.

The smile fell, however, and she continued, “However, I am not here to discuss the quality of your tea.”

“Then, what-?”

“My father, the Emperor, has heard rumors that can’t possibly be true.”

Jacinth kept his face calm, but his eyes became surprised and nervous. That alone confirmed Amber’s suspicions. “What rumors? I’ve not heard of any of these rumors.”

“Well,” Amber replied, “these rumors say that you’re supplying information to our Equestrian foes.”

“I would never!”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yes! I’d never associate with those Equestrian dogs!”

Amber found herself smirking. “Despite the fact that many of your house’s maids are Equestrian?”

Jacinth huffed. “Does it matter where Imperial citizens come from if they are loyal?”

“Oh, I’m sure your maids are very loyal, Lord Jacinth. They likely have to be, considering how many of them you get pregnant…”

Jacinth bristled. “When I heard that you had suddenly arrived from the capital, I had been expecting a nice visit from a member of the Imperial Family, not being accused of treason and other baseless rumors!”

With that, Jacinth turned and stormed from the room.

Waiting for several minutes, Amber then spoke. “That confirms my, and Father’s, suspicions, then. Obsidia, you know what to do.”

“Yes, milady.”

************

Just after midnight, Lord Jacinth, after spending several hours venting his feelings about Princess Amber, decided to make his move. Putting on a calm face, he walked the halls of his manor, following a path toward the room where his guest from Equestria was currently staying.

He was worried. If the Emperor was receiving rumors of his associating with members of Equestria’s Military Intelligence, then either there were informants among his servants, or he and his contact were being much less subtle about than they thought.

Throwing open the door to the room, he said, “Velvet! They’re onto us!”

No response came immediately, forcing him to look around for the mare. Moving cautiously through the room, and drawing his revolver, a suppressed double-action from his days as a military scout, he searched for the mare.

He found Velvet in the room’s attached kitchen. But finding her also revealed to him that there was someone out for his blood. “Velvet?” The question was soft, but loud enough to carry in the quiet room.

No response. It was easy to see why. She sat in one of the dining chairs, staring down at the floor. Blood dripped off of her arms onto the floor. There was only one answer as to why. She was dead.

Walking over and tilting her head back, Jacinth drew in a sharp breath. Her horn, a very prominent feature that made it easy to find her in a crowd, was mostly missing. What remained of it on her forehead showed what had happened to it. Jagged, harsh edges told him that whoever had killed her broke it off by smashing it off, and aside from the small shards on the floor in front of the oven, the rest of it had simply disappeared.

The wounds on her body, and the state of the room, revealed that there had been a fight. Three stab wounds to the stomach, crippling and inevitably fatal, would have slowed her enough for her attacker to finish the job. And with her throat opened near to the bone, her death had been quick. Hopefully.

The room went cold suddenly. Jacinth backed up several steps, right into something very soft. He started, and, taking a few steps forward, turned around and felt his blood go cold, and not just because of the sudden drop in temperature.

Standing there, staring back at him, was a pegasus mare a head and a half taller than him. Silver hair flowed down past her shoulders, stopping at mid-thigh. Her crimson eyes were filled with a mixture of pity and amusement. Her uniform, black like those of the Imperial Guard, was similar to those worn by those rumored to be…

Jacinth’s eyes widened and he backed away from the mare, taking care to not trip over Velvet. “T-that’s impossible! There’s no way ponies like you can exist!”

The mare advanced on the stallion and an azure light filled the room as an aura of the same color surrounded the mare. “Are you sure?”

Her cold voice, with an odd effect to it from the aura, called his assertion into doubt.

His answer to her question was to raise his revolver and shoot the strange mare.

Steel flashed, and the mare’s sword was in her hand. Two tiny pieces of metal fell to floor behind her.

“N-no way. H-how?”

The mare lunged, the bloodstained steel of her sword glinting in the light.

Jacinth threw himself to the ground in a desperate bid to not get ran through.

He pushed himself up and stood, glaring at the mare… the Valkyria. “Tell me,” he demanded, “why did you kill her?”

The Valkyria turned around, and spoke. “She was an Equestrian spy. Her death was certain the moment she crossed into our nation.”

“But the brutal manner of her death? Was it really necessary?”

“I couldn’t let her escape. She had to die, as per my orders.”

Snarling, Jacinth raised his pistol again. In a blur of movement, the Valkyria crossed the distance between them in an instant and grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm. The revolver fell from his fingers. “And so must you, traitor.”

She drove her sword through his chest. Jacinth’s eyes widened as far as they could go. Pulling the blade from his chest, the Valkyria released her grip on him and stepped back.

He fell to his knees, clutching at his chest, and coughed blood. She’d dealt him a mortal wound.

“Burn in hell, Witch,” he snarled.

Sheathing her sword, the Valkyria smirked at the dying lord and shrugged. “As long as you burn first.”

She turned, and left the room, the aura fading away. Jacinth stared at the retreating figure before succumbing to the darkness encroaching on his vision.

************

The next morning, Princess Amber asked Obsidia, over breakfast, “Is it done, then?”

“Yes,” the Valkyria replied, poking at her omelette with a fork and frowning.

“Good, spare me the details.”

“Where do we go from here?”

“We head home. Father will want a report as soon as we arrive.”

Obsidia said nothing in response.

Author's Note

If you have any suggestions, feedback, concerns, or want to ask me any questions, leave them in the comments below. Thanks!

The Velvet in this chapter is in no way related to Twilight's mother, by the way.