Wonderbolts Reunion 1 - Misty Night
Author's Note
The First True tale of the Arcana Hotel begins... now. Enjoy.
Features torture and light gore. Viewer discretion is advised.
Wonderbolts Reunion 1 - Misty Night
The misty nights on the plains outside the Galloping Gorge were covered in a rolling mist while the timberwolves howled to the waning moon hovering in the sky above. The site of a grand battle between the Equestrian United Coalition and the combined forces of the Winter Court of the changelings led by Queen Chrysalis. Several fissures and cracks had formed on the battlefield, several created during the final battle when Spike the Dragon had been deployed. While there were several attempts to fix the landscapes there was no possible way due to the magic that was used by Chrysalis.
Under the light of the moon a pegasus mare ran across the war torn plains for some reason beyond her control. A strange sight certainly but it was all she could do. What was once a white coat was now stained a deep crimson as several strands of sinew were torn through the skin. The remnants of her blonde mane covered the small scars that had been cut and recut over and over again as the mottled scar tissue turned a sickly yellow. She hid behind one of the displaced rocks looking around. The pony was hunting her down… she couldn’t keep running forever.
Arctic Spire looked over her body but she could only see so much. The bastard had taken an ice cream scoop… they had used it on her eye… the squelching of the eye popping out of the socket as she screamed in bloody murder. They had taken away half her sight and she wished that that would have been the worse that she had gotten. She wished and despaired when they had pulled their wings out. Sliver by sliver, a feather was plucked every minute by the minute. It had taken two hours for only her right wing. It took another two for her other wing. The agonizing moments as blood dripped from each tip as they were torn. She remembered how she was forced to bathe in her own blood dripping down her fetlocks while she screamed over and over again.
That was only the first night. As she was hung from chains by her now featherless wings she was left in the sun letting the heat beat down on her. The sweat dripping down her body stung every single little cut on her wings as tears streamed down her cheeks only making it worse. They came back the next night and that’s when it started all over again. She didn’t even know why she was being treated so poorly.
They came in wearing a mask over their face but she could tell it was a pegasus. Every few seconds something on their back would twitch. She was also sure that they had wore tail extensions to hide the real color. It was hard to tell through one eye. The other was left hanging from the optic nerve since the previous night.
As soon as he made the first cut in her flank she cried even harder… that made the pony come up licking the tears in exaggerated ecstasy with over anxious shuddering and was could be misconstrued as pre-orgasm mewling. They were enjoying this sick twisted fantasy and she couldn’t even tell if it was a stallion or a mare at this point. The mask hid their features and body style could be anything ever since that prick Wind Rider had tried to frame Rainbow Dash.
She had been one of the Wonderbolt Reserves. Somepony to look up to and now she was being used… Used like a punching bag by some sick freak. All she wanted to do was go to the reunion for all members since their disbandment. She screamed again as her cutie mark was carved off her flank. The pony who did so picked it up in their hoof showing her what they did. Relishing the pain and anguish that washed over her face while they laughed. The voice was scratchy as if they hadn’t spoken in ages… or they were disguising their voice. Whenever she managed to get her remaining eye to focus she saw no cutie mark either. Most likely hidden with makeup.
She needed to escape. She needed to fight back. There were only chains around her. They would get sloppy. So she bided her time and took the abuse. Surprisingly they never tried to… violate her in any matter but the physical torture of cutting and plucking. The standards of a psycho she mused trying desperately to find something other than pain to hold onto. For six days she screamed and cried showing off her powerlessness. She let them think that they had won.
On the seventh day the pony did the unthinkable. They decided to not use the chains to hold her determining in their own twisted minds that they had broken her. Despondent and depressed Arctic Spire decided that then and there was her chance. As the pony brought the knife down again her fetlock she managed to buck them in the side sending them sprawling onto the ground. Instead of running away, she made sure that they were knocked out. With great effort Spire left the psycho a bloody pile of unconscious as she ran out the room that she had been locked in.
In the hallway she finally found a mirror and saw exactly what that… monster did to her. Her eye was gone and the socket had started to corrode and go through necrosis. There were small scars all across her body some cut at the beginning of the week had started to fade only to be cut along the same line once again. Her cutie mark was gone… a pile of spires shaped out like ice. Her mane and tail had been burned slightly allowing the singed portions to touch her flank leaving scorch marks. She wanted to cry, to sob, to wail, to break down and stop. She couldn’t. The monster was still alive and while she thought about killing them, ending the suffering, she couldn’t.
Arctic Spire was a Wonderbolt. She knew what justice was. She knew how justice went. She would make sure that she would make that small portion of her mind proud. The part that kept her from choosing death over life. If she was lucky maybe one of the princesses could save her with their magic. Breaking out of her trance, Spire made her way towards the only other door grabbing a small saddlebag and gingerly placing it on her back. Carefully, she placed her only possessions in there. An invitation for the Wonderbolt Reunion taking place at the Arcana Hotel, her Wonderbolt pin, and the knife that was used to hurt her. Important things only she would even want.
Looking back, she knew it was weird that no one found her. When she exited that door her mouth gaped open realizing just how bad it was. The pony had taken her from her home in Cloudsdale and dragged her away somewhere close to the empty plains past Cloudsdale to the last battlefield of the Second Changeling Invasion.
Unable to fly and horribly injured Arctic Spire made the only choice she could make and decided to gallop to the closest place she could reach. Cloudsdale was a no go since her would be killer was a pegasus. The closest building she could reach was the one she was heading to in the first place. So she galloped as fast as she could to reach her sanctuary.
Each step was agonizing horror as the scars she had accumulated took effect almost immediately when she stepped outside into the cool crisp night air. Each drop of dew that touched her marred skin burned with the intensity of a white hot sun. Every movement of a muscle was the equivalent of taffy being pulled through an arcano-tool. She couldn’t even mitigate it by flying as she looked over the spindly remains of her once proud wings. The thin bone that made up her wings was sticking through the layer of skin on said wing allowing it to be visible.
Cringing she took off over the plains trying desperately to keep to the shadows. While her white coat may have been visible regardless of the shadows, the crimson shade that stained her body made it nothing to worry about. Her captor had made sure not to drain too much blood to savor the look in her eye.
She looked back at the puddle and peered around. The flapping of wings had stopped and she couldn’t hear the tell tale sound of the clip clop of hooves anywhere around her. The psycho had become one with the mist. All she needed to do was find the hotel and she would survive. She had to. Fresh tears fell from her remaining eye surprisingly not yet dried up from her harrowing adventure. She forced them to stop before it got worse and looked around for any other landmarks she could find.
By sheer luck, the moonlight has pierced through the mist revealing a large manor out in the distance. She nearly jumped for joy when she remembered just how much it hurt to move. Steeling her resolve she raced out of the shadows biting back her yowls of pain and ran towards it. The light was spreading the mist further and further than it should be. When she noticed how clear everything was becoming she immediately rushed for cover only to find no cover for her to rush behind. All the stood before her was an empty expanse and a large fissure splitting her off from ruin and safety.
“You really are a fast trotter, aren’t you?” A cold voice came from out of the dissipating mist causing her blood to run cold. She turned her one good eye back to see the same figure merely stepping close to her never at a run but at a gentle canter as if taking his time with the hunt.
“Shut up! You monster!” Spire growled out taking a few steps back. She had nowhere to go and no way to fly away. Again those same shadows crawled over her getting ready to cover her once again in wounds and horror. The pony merely chuckled though only through the motions and not out loud.
She felt that same pressure again. The same pressure and regret now for her more chivalrous nature. She should have killed the monster before her now. The mare known as Arctic Spire would have been gone but the mare left behind would have survived, maybe even flourished as somepony new. A small scattering of dirt fell down below into the fissure with no sound of its eventual thud against the ground below.
“I’m so glad you decided to take this seriously. I’ve been meaning to finish up my little punishment for you. There are still plenty of Wonderbolts around to take care of and plenty to make cry. I enjoyed your tears so thoroughly… If you come back maybe I won’t get rid of you. I’m sure you’ll like that.” The figure said as if it was the sweetest thing in the world.
Spire looked behind her. She could do that. She was in a position where there was no hope at this point. Being turned into an animal for… whatever sick pleasure this pony had was something she didn’t want to be turned into. She froze as they stepped towards her. Her eyes widening in shock as they merely cantered closer. They were right in front of her.
In an act of sheer desperation Spire flung her hooves out knocking away the mask that had clung to the pony’s face. As she turned to run the figure pounced on her holding her now trembling body down as the face came into clear view. When she saw who it was tears freely flowed down her cheeks though the lost eye merely let a trickle of blood flow down from the sudden impact against the ground and her eye rolling off to the side. The pupil staring at the two figures while the mare sputtered out trying to form some semblance of words.
“So you know now…” The voice bluntly whispered as the pony placed their hoof against Arctic Spire’s throat. Once again the mist started enveloping the landscape.
“W-why…?” Spire choked out as the figure merely laughed as a small necklace fell from the cloak that the pony wore. It was in the shape of a pony hanging upside down by their hocks.
“You know damn well why! What is that saying that I always told the rest of the team before hoof? A whorse is a whorse, of course, of course.” The figure growled out before stomping roughly on Spire’s throat causing her to cough up a slight bit of blood before he stepped off to the side.
In their anger, the pony reared his back legs and bucked the pony off into the fissure. With the last ounce of her strength she smacked her throat one more time and let out a piercing shriek into the night as the mist rolled over the landscape turning the area back into the long forgotten battlefield that it once was. The figure sighed but couldn’t immediately go looking for a body in the darkness.
“Crap… It will have to wait till morning… Then I’ll get rid of her for good.” The pony removed their gear placing it in the saddlebags. They lost the mask in the fog after all was said and done and didn’t want to clear the mist in case the ponies living in the hotel heard that shriek. Glaring at his hooves then at the fissure, they grunted in frustration and let their wings flap. Flying off into the night sky, once again hidden by the rolling mist surrounding them.
Ten minutes earlier…
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How long will you be staying with us?” Suits intoned to his newly arrived guest only to groan under his breath at who the sudden pony actually was.
“Wow I knew I’d get great service. Who knew it would be by the master of the house themselves.” A thestral mare greeted Suits like an old buddy.
“Nightingale… Always good to see you…” Suits groaned as he realized that he wouldn’t be having another guest come in for the night.
“Hey! Is that any way to treat a beautiful guest such as myself. I’ve come to see my greatest nephew even if we’re not related at all.” Nightingale cheered as she trotted over giving Suits all the attention she could muster pinching his cheeks with her wings while she doddered over him.
“Nightingale… Stop. I’m fine. So what brings you to my neck of the woods so early this night?” Suits chided her before taking on his more professional tone though that was barely audible due to Nightingale’s little screeches while she scanned the room.
While it wasn’t fully known most thestral trained to use echolocation allowing their voices to create the sonic vibrations needed to find objects even in the dark. It was a skill he learned a while back, back when he needed to be taught how to be a noble by Luna and a reserve guard by Nightingale. After she nodded her head in satisfaction she turned back to Suits smiling smugly.
“I checked the area out and I’m confident enough to state no unwanted intruders. Though you do need to do a bit more dusting underneath the benches out here in the hall. Anywho I needed to talk with you about something pretty important and needed to make sure you were still on board for it.” Nightingale summarized as she pulled out a piece of paper from under her wing.
“Sure ‘Auntie’. What do you need from me this time?” Suits snarked as he read over the small scroll.
“We’re trying to get the Wonderbolts to band together and perform again hopefully returning those blue angels to the skies. Those were Princess Celestia’s words. Not mine, “ Nightingale harshly replied before smacking Suits on the head. “Also I’m not that old. Think of me like an older sister.”
“Older sister my hoof…” Suits mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?” Nightingale screeched out.
“Nothing. So they want me to play host to all the Wonderbolts then? Well we got the rooms for it so long as nopony is difficult then it should be fine.” Suits grumbled slightly since his last time hosting the Wonderbolts where Spitfire and Soarin nearly had it out after drinking too much. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash and Fleetfoot had stopped them after they started grinding against each other on one of the tables. It was something he didn’t want to remember since the table was reduced to splinters because of their drunken fight.
“Also Luna is reinstating your guard credentials for these next couple of nights. She says that you will be required to show the nobility and regalness of the Night Guard.” Nightingale snarked slightly.
“In equish if you please.” Suits snarked.
“She said ‘Don’t fuck up’ in the most blunt tone I’ve ever heard. Seriously, I’m pretty sure she sent three nobles into sputtering wrecks for what she said. I was laughing so badly that Azure had to carry me out just for how bad it got. Good times. Good times…” Nightingale sighed out wistfully staring off to some unknown corner of the room lost in memories.
“No pressure, huh?” Suits laughed mirthlessly when he was suddenly stopped by a scream out in the mists.
“Come on Reserve Guard Four Suits. As your commanding officer it’s time to get to work.” Nightingale muttered darkly as the two of them rushed out the door where a small contingent of thestrals were waiting around for her.
“Commander, did you hear that?” Azure Shade saluted.
“No Azure. Of course I didn’t I just decided to rush out of the hotel to declare my undying love for your keen sense of observation. Of course I bucking heard it now get your hooves off the ground and let’s get going to find out what happened!” Nightingale yelled out causing every thestral to take wing while one unicorn trotted along beside them.
“Who’s the unicorn?” Suits whispered to Nightingale as they flew through the mist using their echolocation along the ground.
“First Lunar Unicorn recruit. His name is Waning Crescent. Little on the snout isn’t it?” Nightingale chuckled but her eyes were glued along the ground.
The sound had died out long ago and all the guards on call formed a concentric circle around Waning Crescent as he lit his horn letting out a pulse along the misty ground. After several seconds we moved forward by twenty hooves while several of the guards took flight again and began to lightly flap away the mist.
“We’re getting too close to the fissure Nightingale.” Suits mumbled as they kept walking forward.
“I think I got something Commander!” Waning called out.
Everypony waiting with bated breath as Crescent lifted something in his magic… It was a still intact eyeball with optic nerve still attached. Several of the guards cringed while Suits merely scowled at the sight. Waning looked sick and nearly vomited on the spot but swallowed just as quickly keeping his eyes averted from the sight. Suits had to give the new recruit credit on keeping a level head in this sort of situation.
“Okay ponies. Spread out in pairs and look out for any signs of a body. Azure stay with Waning and check out this area for any more clues. The rest of you spread out. Suits, you’re with me. We’re on fissure duty.” Nightingale ordered the entire squadron as they all flapped out on their mission.
“Great. I’ll pack my cloud floaties.” Suits snarked slightly as he dove head first into the fissure.
“At least you won’t drown with them on in all that darkness.” Nightingale called out.
Azure and Waning looked at each other in differing levels of uncertainty and bemusement. Waning looked as though he wanted to ask something but relented due to his status as new meat.
“Go ahead and ask recruit.” Azure stoically spoke to the now startled unicorn.
“How do you get that level of respect with the Commander to talk with her like that?” Waning muttered as he put the eyeball in a small contained her brought with him.
“You don’t. She decides whether or not you deserve it and then she makes you work for it. Don’t worry about it now and focus on scanning the area for anymore anomalies.” Azure ordered before letting his voice falter to a whisper. “Ten years and I still can’t get her to use my title as a sergeant… “
“What was that, sir?” Waning called out.
“Nothing! Just get to scanning!” Azure yelled out as the thestral guards kept checking out the entire environment.
“Did you find anything yet Suits?” Nightingale called out as she let out another screech to check for the vibrations in the pitch blackness of the fissure.
“Not yet!” Suits called out as he reached the very bottom of the chasm and landed. By sheer luck Quarry Eels had yet to come out this far to live within the cracks.
By night the former battlefield was tarnished in dark magic and seemed to give off an eerie light that permeated the entire plains whenever the moon was at its fullest. It made even the strongest of beasts unwilling to even set foot within the area because of how tarnished the place really was. Another pulse and something completely stood out.
“I think I got something.” Suits called out as Nightingale joined him shortly afterwards.
The two looked around finding a small pair of saddlebags slightly covered in blood and a small collection of items strewn around the impact site. From inside the bag three items had been tossed out. Before Suits could make a grab for anything Nightingale stopped him shaking her head dismissively.
“Let me get Waning down here before we go willy nilly with our hooves. We examine. Don’t touch until we get him down here. I’ll- Look over there.” Nightingale stopped as she pointed to the sight before them.
In all her years she hadn’t seen something as horrible as what was right before her. There on the ground was the broken corpse of what used to be a pegasus. Suits flapped above the body assessing the damage. The wings had been plucked most likely feather by feather. There were several gouges and cuts across her body with every single one either oozing with pus or scabbing over from time. Her neck had bent in an irregular shape allowing the two to see her face. Nightingale had to bite back from screaming in rage. Somepony had decided to scoop out one of her eyes… which explained the eye that was back up on the cliff. Suits couldn’t take anymore and flapped off for the top of the fissure leaving Nightingale behind. She kept watch of the scene slipping into the shadows in case anything happened. They needed to report to the Princess.
“I found something!” Lieutenant Cypress Root called out to his fellow guards.
Cypress Root was one of the larger thestral guards of the group with similar charcoal gray coat but he had very vivid pink eyes and his wings were a lavender shade. A couple paces from his hooves was a very gaudy mask shaped like Shining Armor’s face strangely enough. Both Waning Crescent and Azure Shade came over with the rest of the guards. Crescent quickly catalogued the mask before placing it into one of the bags that he brought with him using his magic.
“This is something I’d never thought I’d see. Whoever this pony is really has an eye for quality when it comes to masks.” Crescent commented innocently on the mask.
“Crescent! Somepony more than likely died!” Azure yelled out.
“Doesn’t change the fact that this mask more than likely makes it premeditated. Even a crime of passion at this point. This pony is sick…” Waning mumbled the last part.
“Private Cypress! Did you find anything else?” Azure demanded his subordinate.
“There were hoofprints but they were scratched away and then immediately stopped before disappearing off into the mist, Sir!” Cypress saluted.
“Don’t do that! Remember we don’t let the enemy tell who’s in charge whenever we’re out on assignment!” Azure hissed as he pushed Cypress’ hoof down.
“Sorry Sir!” Cypress called out causing several of the other thestrals to facehoof.
“Azure! I need a pony to help carry Waning with me!” Suits cried out slightly out of breath as he managed to find the group from Cypress’ voice.
“What for?” Azure stated seeming very concerned.
“What do you think? We found the victim now hurry up and get ready to get down there Waning!” Suits ordered the now scrambling unicorn who made peace with himself.
“Cypress head down there with him!” Azure ordered. “The rest of you create a perimeter and Bramble Fern I need you to report to Princess Luna immediately about this. We’ll need to keep her informed of this incident. Now!”
“Right away Sir!” Both thestrals saluted to the facehoof of Azure once again.
Cypress trotted over to the unicorn and with Suits help picked him up and slowly descended into the abyss. Bramble quickly compiled the information that she managed to gather and the small explanation from Suits while they descended into the abyss before she zoomed off for Canterlot.
“Bramble seems to get the easy jobs, doesn’t she?” Cypress whined a bit.
“You know she doesn’t. She’s just the fastest we got on call tonight. We were supposed to have Shadow Vane tonight but he decided to get drunk the night before.” Waning explained before tensing up again at the constant darkness.
“And you wonder why I didn’t stay with the guard.” Suits rolled his eyes.
“I heard it was cause you couldn’t finish Luna’s Promotion Test.” Cypress chuckled.
“Did you finish her promotion test Cypress?” Suits deadpanned before he shut up and frowned. “Then shut the buck up. Almost nopony completes her high standard test. Nightingale did but she’s insane anyways so it’s fine.”
“Will I have to take that test?” Waning looked at the two of them when they focused completely on him.
“Probably.” Cypress shrugged.
“She’ll probably change it since it was made only for thestrals because of all the flying bits that was part of it. Though you won’t have it for a while. It’s what separates you from being just one of the guards to one of the captains of the Night Guard.” Suits deadpanned slightly
“So… why did you leave?” Waning asked innocently enough.
“You do realize that until you came along Luna had a very… one tracked mind on making the entirety of the Night Guard to be thestrals right? I didn’t want to be there just cause my wings aren’t feathery tufts.” Suits rolled his eyes grunting as they finally came within reach of Nightingale. “Look. Don’t worry about it. Worry about what you two are gonna see here. Most likely than not Princess Luna will be incoming within the next hour. Catalogue the evidence and make sure she doesn’t try that detective bit again. We nearly lost the trail and somehow managed to uncover the Starswirl the Bearded’s remains holding a saxophone.”
“Wait, what?” Waning started before being placed on the ground unceremoniously.
He grumbled slightly until Nightingale cantered up to him. Tapping him on the shoulder he lit his horn up with a light spell releasing a small hovering orb of light to illuminate the fissure. When he saw the body he immediately got to work setting up several scanning spells and checking over the objects as well. Within minutes he catalogued the entirety of her belongings and seemed to be meandering when he saw her face. What might have been hidden in the darkness was apparent to the rest of the ponies nearby. Sorrow. True sorrow permeated his entire being. He lowered his head and kept quiet as he brought out the three objects for our perusal.
“Well… um… It seems this mare was quite the celebrity. A former Wonderbolt if these objects are the real deal but I’m not sure who she actually is. Seems she was on the way for the festivities we were going to discuss with Suits later Commander.” Waning informed them all.
“Unfortunate… anything about the body?” Nightingale scowled towards the body uncertain at what else she was expecting especially this close to the Arcana Hotel.
“She was systematically tortured bit by bit. Most of the wounds on her body had become slightly infected by rust poisoning if I’ve read my scans right. A few even started to turn septic. Her eye was a recent thing, probably popped out within the last day or so. The wings… well those were done slowly and more often than any preening I’ve ever seen. This goes far beyond that. I don’t know whether or not this is good news but there was no sign of any sexual assault. I couldn’t tell you who the mare is either because their cutie mark has been cut off… and I don’t mean that she got it removed surgically. I mean somepony more than likely carved and peeled it off her flank in the most painful way possible and from the time of the wounds it took them at least a week to do it. An entire week of cutting little by little.” Waning finished taking a deep breath as he placed the items away.
Cypress felt sick as he turned further down the fissure swallowing constantly just to keep the disgust from fighting his sensibilities and professionalism off. Suits grunted and looked away uncomfortable at what was going on. Nightingale merely stared off into the distance of the darkness lost of all the mirth that she had before hoof.
“When will Princess Luna be informed?” Nightingale grit her fangs in frustration.
“More than likely two hours, at the very least one hour.” Waning stated.
Bramble Fern rushed through the halls of Canterlot Castle dodging several of her fellow night guards who remained stoically against their posts minding their own business. As she reached the door that led into the throne room she was stopped by the two guards outside.
“Wait a moment. Princess Luna is meeting with a pony right now. Give her a few minutes.” The pony on the left spoke.
“But it’s important! A murder has taken place.” Bramble explained. Both guard's eyes widened in shock.
“Fine… Gimme a sec and I’ll see what can be done.” The guard spoke as he creaked open the door slightly.
Off on the grand throne was a now bored looking alicorn of a dark blue coat and flowing radiant blue mane covered in twinkling stars looking over at another pony who seemed to be meandering over something. Luna’s eye saw the guard open the door worried that another pointless meeting was to occur until she saw real concern in the guard’s eyes.
“I am sorry Lady Shield we must postpone this meeting for now.” Luna explained as she looked at the unicorn before her.
“But Princess Luna, the Shield Family needs help more than ever. Without Razor Shield as the leading member of the family the entire family is falling under its weight.” The mare quietly sobbed.
“Why haven’t you taken over?” Luna raised her hoof only to get the mare scoffing.
“They won’t listen to me. They’ve been trying to marry me off but I’m Razor Shield’s only daughter so we’re at a true impasse at this point. Please Princess Luna isn’t there anything you can do for me?” Lady Shield groveled nearly tossing herself on her cannons. Luna winced at how uncomfortable it actually looked.
“I’ll talk with my sister about this matter. Unfortunately there is little I can personally do without the ruling of the noble courts and that is more due to the autonomy we allow the rest of the noble families to aspire to. Still Celestia and I shall assist you more once we have a grasp of the entire situation. Do not fret Coral Shield we shall help you.” Luna acceded allowing Coral Shield to leave the room head held high. “Come Bramble, this must be important if you managed to talk the guards into letting you in.”
“It is Princess,” Bramble hastily bowed before she started up her explanation. “There has been a gruesome murder outside of the Arcana Hotel. From preliminary investigations the victim seemed to be one of the former Wonderbolts, brutally tortured and tossed into one of the fissure by a still unknown assailant. We require your assistance in transporting the body to our coroner or our coroner to the body. Unfortunately Waning Crescent was not trained in the art of teleportation of deceased objects and we would prefer not to have another incident of the implosion in Canterlot park.”
“Agreed. I shall teleport out immediately. Misty Veil! Gather Sir Graves and prepare for a case immediately!” Luna called out to one of the thestral mares in the room who nodded and saluted before flying off to get the coroner ready.
Luna stepped down from her throne next to Bramble and fired up her horn. Within second she disappeared from the court alongside the other mare leaving the court guards to visibly relax.
“I wonder how glad she was to get out of that pointless meeting.” One guard intoned to another.
“This was the seventh time Coral Shield has tried to bypass the Day Court by appealing to Luna. Crazy that the Shield family is getting this desperate. Without Razor Shield only Coral Shield and her mother Crested Desire remain as the only Shield left. These nobles families are dropping like flies.” Another guard answered.
“It’s gonna suck for whomever takes up their place. Think that the Sparkle family will finally actually step into the limelight?” The first guard stretched out finally not needing to remain still as a statue.
“Probably. Already two of them in places of power at this point.” The second shrugged.
They remained at their post while the gossip of succession went around the room. It would probably be hours before Princess Luna would return… especially if she was going to try playing detective once again.
Luna and Bramble immediately stood before the Arcana Hotel. As Luna made for the door Bramble stopped her and led her out into the mist towards the fissure. As the pair came in the guards that created a perimeter by the fissure immediately stood at attention.
“Princess Luna, a pleasure as always though we wish it was under better terms. Follow me and I’ll lead you to the body.” Azure Shade saluted.
“Forsooth Azure, Get thy stick out of your bum. Still lead the way.” Luna quickly chided.
Azure grumbled the entire way down into the fissure while Luna lit her horn lighting up the entirety of the chasm. Inch by inch the two made their way down where Suits and Cypress were standing at attention while Nightingale inspected things from above. Waning was slowly scanning the areas around the body taking care not to step in the pooling blood that had drained from the body upon impact.
Luna stepped past the two taking in the scene with her own two eyes. It wasn’t the worst scene she had ever seen. The incident with the Griffons almost two thousand years ago showed her just how depraved somepony could be to one another. Still this ranked in her top thirty of horrific torture. Luna cast a spell preserving the area in a memory to the very last detail as Nightingale finally made to ground in front of her.
“Hello Princess. Where do I even begin…?” Nightingale sighed as she peered behind her at the body. “Suits get over here and explain.”
“Seriously Nightingale. C’mon, you know I am blunt with explanations.” Suits complained only for Nightingale to toss a small pebble at his flank. “Ow… Fine fine, you crazy mare.”
“I see you are still getting along well then. Should you wish to return to the guard Suits I can be persuaded to give you a better rank.” Luna chuckled as she watched the young stallion step in front of her with a dour scowl on his face.
“I’ll live. Anyways about half an hour or so ago a scream tore out from this scarred battlefield and we rushed out to look for the source. Thanks to a little guess work we found some of the killers items and with even more work the body as well. We can’t be sure if the killer was disposing of the body or if this was just an unfortunate circumstance of an attempted escape but we can be sure that this pony, whomever it is, was a sick creature. There are several scars and contusions on the body most likely akin to torture yet none of it was sexual in nature for which all of us are glad of.
“A depraved act in of itself I’m sure. Still this seems very thorough. I shall have Graves look into the condition of the body.” Luna nodded as she activated her horn teleporting both Waning and the body away before teleporting all the thestrals and herself back to the edge of the fissure.
“I will never get used to that…” Suits grumbled.
“I thank you all for your hard work. Please continue with your duties. We shall not allow something like this to scare away our hard work.” Luna ordered the guards who all saluted before flapping off towards the hotel through the mist leaving her and Suits behind.
“So… I take it that this is more important than it seems and involves my hotel being used in some way.” Suits groaned as Luna turned to him with a grave look in her eyes.
“That was Arctic Spire. She was to help in a matter most important.” Luna explained.
“Wonderbolts is all I know so far. So what was the plan overall then if you don’t mind explaining to me.” Suits crossed his hooves as his haunches found the ground calling to him.
“The reformation of the Wonderbolts under a new captain. Arctic Spire was to be the main draw at this point as one of the candidates. There was to be a reunion at your hotel once you agreed to it then we would also invite Spitfire alongside Rainbow Dash, Fleetfoot, and Soarin to hopefully set aside their past grievances to get the ball rolling as they say. Most of them have either taken to retirement or joined the guard. We require your cooperation in this matter to allow us to use your hotel as that staging ground.” Luna regally spoke which made Suits grumble under his breath at how asinine it sounded.
“Right. Fine I’ll agree to it. I take it you’re also reinstating my night guard duties as well, aren’t you?” Suits chided causing Luna to blanch, if only for a moment, before regaining her composure.
“Correct. I’m sorry Sergeant Suits but you must play your role this time as well. Somepony is out there doing horrible things and this most likely wasn’t his last.” Luna glowered slightly the heat of her magic actually being visible with how angry she truly was.
“Fine. I’ll prepare everypony tomorrow on staff and explain it to the rest of the guard. When should the rest of my new guests be arriving then?” Suits sighed in acceptance and immediately looked around in the mist. While he wasn’t truly certain he felt eye on him that weren’t the princess’.
“Tomorrow night. We wanted as little time as possible for gawkers to arrive and hassle the retirees. Make no mistake Four Suits, what we do is merely for the benefit of all ponies. A symbol of ponies that save others is needed and the Wonderbolts are those ponies.” Luna got into Suits face causing him to flinch back.
“I didn’t say anything damn it all. I’ll take a look into getting more staff to handle the influx.” Suits groaned at the prospect of more ponies to pay when Luna merely shook her head.
“Have the guards act in the staff’s place. Better they be close to the action rather than hiding in the shadows. Besides… what better place to hide than right in plain sight.” Luna whispered in Suits’ ear while he was close still. “Now come I’ve had enough with not being able to see the moon in this mist.”
Suits acquiesced and trotted after Luna as the two took the long way back towards the hotel quietly listening for any out of context sounds in the mist. By the look on Suit’s face, Luna felt the same pointed stare that he felt as well. When nothing stood out she grumbled exasperatedly before taking flight for the hotel with Suits in tow.
A lone figure remained at the edge of the mist staying in the shadow of one of the boulders looking on at the group of guards that had come completely out of nowhere. They ground their teeth in fury as the fools picked up their discarded mask and flew down into the depths of the abyss so easily. All their careful planning came unraveling within seconds. They waited for almost an hour in anticipation for the chance to knock out the investigator and take all the evidence away when one of the thestrals flew off into the night.
With the mist inherently blocking their sight they couldn’t make a move to stop her. Another half hour passed and a flash of light nearly blinded them. The princess of the night had shown up derailing even more of their plan as she flew down into the abyss as well. The light given off by her horn nearly permeated through the mist leaving them even less place to hide. They knew thestrals could look with echolocation but there was little choice when they needed to hide the evidence. Now that pipe dream had gone over Neighara Falls leaving nothing but shambled debris behind. They made to escape when Luna came back up from the abyss teleporting her and several other guards as well.
Luna ordered her guards back to the hotel making the pony figure release a breath they had not even known they were holding. The only one who stayed behind looked slightly annoyed but stayed to speak with the princess. Keeping their ear open they heard about most of the plans of the other Wonderbolts… the ones that had ruined their chances and life. Before they could get away they noticed that the thestral was straining his ears. Keeping completely still they waited until even Luna was doing it as well. For a few seconds their world was shrinking. They grew agitated wanting nothing more than to hyperventilate for a bit. When they saw the dissatisfied looks on their faces they smirked gleefully before trotting off into the mist satisfied that this was only just the beginning.
Luna and Suits finally landed in front of the hotel to the appeasement of the rest of the guard. Nightingale danced in spot for a bit as she always did whenever she was eager to hunt. What she hunted nopony really knew but they knew better than to get in her way.
“Attention. As of now Suits has been reinstated temporarily into the guard. Nightingale will still be in charge but Suits shall handle your deployment. This is his hotel so it only seems fair. There may be a moment where you will have to be up in the day as well so I implore each of you to keep track of your shifts. I don’t want you to end up like Buzzer.” Luna commanded the entirety of the guard who merely chuckled.
Suits looked around. He had forgotten how relaxed the night guard truly was most of the time. So many quirky individuals who joked around far more than those in the day guard. The only exception was Azure but even he could be persuaded to relax. He wished they would tell him about Joy Buzzer but that was another one of those need to have known the pony stories that went around.
“I will return to Canterlot. When Graves has his report I shall return to speak with you Nightingale. Be well children of the night. The moon shall always watch over you.” Luna gracefully offered her prayer before lighting her horn and teleporting away.
“Let’s get you all situated then. Unlike during the invasion let’s get you in your own rooms this time. Two to a room. Each of you will pull shifts on the staff and that means anything that needs to be done. I don’t care if it sounds undignified. More likely than not you will do everything here at the very least once.” Suits spoke up immediately opening the door. “But for now I’ll get you all situated since there are only… eight of you. Nightingale and Bramble will be in 304, Azure and Cypress are in 305, Midnight and Solitary in 306, and Grove and Nightshade in 307.”
“Finally got the leading bug to bite him. See Grove I told you that he just needed a kick to the flank to get him started.” Nightingale stage whispered making Suits growl in annoyance.
After everypony had a good chuckle Suits led them to their rooms and got them placed as well as giving them itineraries on what needed to be done during their mission to keep their cover. Suits groaned as he went back to the front desk resting his head against it. It had been a long day already and the reinstatement of his old life made him remember just how much he didn’t like doing it the first time.
At the time, alongside Nightingale and Azure Shade, there were eight members of the squad that became known at the Noctis Wing. It was Luna’s idea as she went through what some neighpon ponies would call chuunbiyou stage of life. In Suits’ mind though it was better than her emo stage and the Tantabus incident. The PR nightmare alone was nuts.
Cypress Root was the muscle of the group. His charcoal grey coat and lavender wings belied his real prowess. Intimidating as a manticore barely any earth ponies could actually manage to stand up to him. There had only been two that matched him in stature and they were nowhere close to the situation. Strangely his root cutie mark placed him as somepony who would excel in the state of agriculture. Still he became a guard to do something more to his life. Suits was certain that Luna just enjoyed the eye candy in her eyes he supposed.
Bramble Fern was the speedster of the group. Her dark periwinkle coat and surprisingly periwinkle wings made her invisible against a twilit sky. She wasn’t as fast as a Wonderbolt though being a nocturnal flier made her the best night flier specialist. Her cutie mark of a fern covered in brambles didn’t fit her image but she always said that she enjoyed being out with nature and plants in general.
Midnight Hour was the strategist of the group always preoccupied with the concept of time. With the darkest coat of gray and dark purple wings he fit in with the midnight hours. He also had the picture of a clock tower with the hands at midnight. Every once in a while he would ramble on and on about wibbly wobbly timey wimey things but he said he heard it from a stallion over in Ponyville who worked on the clock tower there. They all swore that Midnight was better than that and for the most part his timing was perfect whenever a mission went on sometimes even saving a pony just in the nick of time.
Solitary Confinement was the quiet one of the group. A steel gray thestral with silver mane and the cutie mark of a rock with a hole in it with bars over the hole. He was once locked up for a crime he didn’t commit. He worked at his rehabilitation only to break out managing to capture the one who wronged him. While they all asked what actually happened Solitary wouldn’t answer anymore. Since that moment he remained silent and the stealth expert of the squad. Rumors bound out of him actually escaping even Pinkie Pie. Nopony actually knew the truth though.
Hidden Grove was the face of the squad managing to keep a perfect liaison with the rest of the populace. A very white coat with light blue wings and a cutie mark of a small glade nestled between trees she exuded complete calmness. She was the one who handled relations with the other branches of the military though Shining Armor was always exasperated because of how often she would get her way thanks to learning from Cadence on how to wrap a stallion around her hoof.
Bella Nightshade was the veritable heart of the group. Even through her sky blue coat and purple eyes she was innocent. Along with her midnight blue wings she was very cooling for any tempers that ever flared. Even then her cutie mark was of deadly nightshade and never got anypony to look twice at her. That made the group look out for her whenever things got too hairy in certain situations. She served as the liaison between the regular ponies and the guards. Suits noted that she was good at what she did most of the time unless mangoes were involved.
Suits looked over his small roster and had to think about who was going to do what job since most of them were inept when it came to morning activities. Even with the help they were there for guard duty and wouldn’t be there for very long. Suits reached under the table gripping the small decanter of yak liquor and bringing it up in front of him. He was a guard once again but he was also the only one still awake and not officially one of the guards. That part of his life was a short one that lasted less than a year before the Second Changeling Invasion. Growling to himself, he placed the decanter back under the desk and ignored it completely. He needed to remain lucid at the very least for now.
The light from the shining moon slowly peered through the multiple windows as Suits once again stood at his post waiting for any guests to appear. Though with what happened and who the target was made him certain that if anypony showed up they were most likely the killer. Suits looked expectantly towards the door when he thought that… and nothing happened. Suit groaned and rested his head on the desk. Too many variables and too many surprises that had been hoisted upon him without his permission. Then again he accepted so readily. The hotel needed more patronage and plenty of money to afford the repairs. While the stipends from the castle were… more than satisfactory to keep the place running, it was always at the bare minimum.
“And Hiero Glyph said I would not be able to make this place great again just because I’m not a unicorn.” Suits glowered as his glare smoldered into the floor. “Even if I’m not magically inclined with a horn I can still be great.”
The decanter under the desk seemed to call out to him crying out that it would heal all his worry and get him away from the sheer disaster that his family had dug itself into. Suits wisely ignored it again. He wasn’t a drunk. He didn’t succumb to drinking as his ancestors would have. Keeping his head in the game he placed Cypress and Grove on guard duty, Azure could handle patrolling the grounds outside with Nightshade, Solitary and Bramble could work outside on the plants keeping things quiet, and Nightingale and Midnight could greet ponies that came in for the reunion.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How long will you be staying?” Suits recited in perfect pitch and tone as he kept watching the door for any movement.
“Seems that you’ve gotten very good at this already.” Nightingale’s voice rang out from the ceiling.
“And you still suck at stealth.” Suits growled out.
“Not my fault you got good at tracking ponies. That was your specialty.” Nightingale teased slightly as she fell from the ceiling opening her wings at the last second and landing with a small flourish.
“I only got good as you so aptly put it because Azure kept ditching me whenever he was on guard duty. Guess he still hasn’t enjoyed watching me when I was just a playful little colt.” Suits mirthlessly chuckled.
“Playful colt my flank. You made so many dead father jokes just to hide how bucked up you were that even I was surprised when that filly Zephyr Gale actually started pining for you. Seriously nopony saw it coming and certain nobles were extremely pissed off that you decided to go after a common born mare. Still here we are now.” Nightingale sighed as she coyly tilted her head back and forth.
“Don’t remind me. Those buckers deserve all the shit that they go through. You know what the saddest part of all this was? Blueblood was the most supportive of it happening and the worst part is that I don’t even know if he was being genuine or if he was playing that diplomat role he usually does.” Suits groaned as he saw that Nightingale had removed her armor and was now wearing a dress jacket.
“At the very least that gave you someone powerful in your pocket. Besides while he is kind of an idiot from time to time, he does respect nobles. At the very least I know Shining Armor has a grudgingly hard worn respect for him. Though the fact that the Sparkle siblings have no idea how to actually be international diplomats was the only reason that this actually happened in the first place.” Nightingale explained.
“That is small consolation. So what are you still doing up? I do need you to work the front desk tomorrow when the Wonderbolts are said to appear. You’ll need to figure out all their names and how well they knew Arctic Spire.” Suits spoke up bringing attention to the position of the moon and the fact that the clock on the wall was around three in the morning already.
“You ordering me around now Sergeant Suits?” Nightingale playfully mocked as she sauntered up to the desk and patted his head. “And to think you used to at the very least be cute. Now you’re all wound up and full of snark.” Nightingale booped his nose as if to make her point.
“Mmh… Just go along with it for now Commander. We all know what happens when you make the schedule.” Suits rolled his eyes as he rubbed his muzzle in annoyance.
“And what is that suppose to mean?” Nightingale pouted.
“You know what that means or does that debacle with Midnight and Nightshade ring a bell?” Suits scowled slightly.
“How was I supposed to know they were exes? I never even knew that Midnight actually had a type of pony he liked in the first place.” Nightingale mockingly cried out.
“We threw a party for them the week after we finished basic! I had to make sure Pinkie Pie wasn’t involved because of how low key they wanted it.” Suits slammed his head into the desk in frustration.
“Hm… the drinks were good that night. Was that what we were celebrating?” Nightingale tittered slightly.
“You are hopeless sometimes Commander. Anyways get some sleep already. I need you to help run the front desk tomorrow with Zephyr and Midnight. If they are coming in tomorrow then I need the Commander be the one who meets with them. Midnight is good at figuring out body language a lot of the time so I need you two to keep an eye out on everypony that comes in.” Suits ordered.
“Fine fine… I still say you should have stayed in the guard but you have your reasons I suppose. I’ll inform the rest of the ponies tomorrow before we start. Try not to waste the day away being an innkeeper. We need a guard tomorrow night.” Nightingale informed Suits with a heavy stare.
“I know. I’ll be ready for it. I still remember how to handle being a guard for this squad,” Suits groaned. “But I’m not going to do the initiation again.”
“C’mon Noctis Wing for life, yo.” Nightingale cheered slightly as she trotted off back to her room.
“For life.” Suits sighed out as he turned back to the desk looking over the rest of his papers.
The clock chimed once again and signaled the coming of four in the morning. Suits rubbed his eyes in frustration regretting not getting a drink before it got so late. Zephyr would be up in three more hours and then she would take over the front. He would have to inform her about what happened. There were several problems coming to the hotel. Ratchet and Goods would most likely be annoyed at the sudden increase in staff but they are doing it for free rather than a paycheck.
“Sombra and Hope are still here… As are Clarity and Fleece. The Seed family left yesterday and the Apple Buffalo family left back for Appleloosa three days ago. This place runs far too slowly…” Suits grumbled as he looked over the bills. Once again, thanks to Sombra and Clarity the hotel made enough money to not be completely supported by the castle stipend.
“I wonder if I should even practice my line when nopony ever shows up consistently. Ugh… It’s another day and a new beginning for events at the very least. Hopefully Twilight won’t be coming as well… knowing her she’ll be wanting to look at the Arcana archives to look up the runes for more arcano-tech ideas.” Suits calmed himself down rubbing his temples between his hooves.
“I’m gonna have to deal with braggarts and show-offs for the next few days…” Suits sighed as he rested his head against the desk.
“Celestia damn it all!!” A figure yelled out as they threw a table against the wall. The floor was still slick with blood from a now dead mare.
The figure lifted the chair where she sat splintering it against the wall. It was infuriating. Maddening even, that even in death she still was causing problems. The figure lifted their hooves to their face rubbing it vigorously. They lifted another piece of furniture throwing it against the wall as they furiously destroyed everything in that small room that they held Arctic Spire within.
“A whorse is a whorse of course, of course, a whorse is a whorse of course, of course, a whorse is a whorse of course, of course…” The figure repeated ad nauseam then completely stopped moving or speaking.
A cold laughter erupted from the room as they pulled out the small strip of flesh holding on to Arctic Spire’s cutie mark. It was beautiful in their eyes… extremely beautiful as the figure ran their tongue across it.
“My love… you will be my salvation… I just need to get more to complete the pair… You will not be alone. I will get you a friend.” The figure whispered as they removed the robe and stretched out their wings as they pulled out a small book from their saddlebags.
Inside the book was a compendium of ponies… all of them Wonderbolts. They flipped the pages slightly until they got to a clear picture of Arctic Spire. Dipping their hoof in the still warm blood they slowly crossed off the picture with a malicious smile. She would be immortalized with all the rest and her cutie mark would be the placeholder for her soul.
“I will not be caught. I will get the other one soon. I kept it contained until now but I will not be caught anymore.” The figure muttered as they got their things ready… including their invite to the Wonderbolts Reunion.
Slowly they walked towards the door fiddling with the small necklace on their neck of an upside down hanged pony. They took one last look at the room smiling in joyful glee as the blood really brought out the destruction of the room. Sighing wistfully they closed the door and headed back for Cloudsdale. They had a reunion to prepare for.
Wonderbolts Reunion 2 - Hectic Day
Author's Note
The characters have all arrived. The mystery is starting to unfold. Will the killer be found amongst these celebrities? Was it Rainbow Dash!?
It isn't Rainbow Dash.
Wonderbolts Reunion 2 - Hectic Day
Suits watched the sun rise and with it two very annoyed thestrals as well. Nightingale was at the very least not scowling though the same couldn't be said for Midnight. He was a surly one whenever he had to force himself up for a morning shift.
“My innate sense of time says this is a load and my bullshit meter agrees.” Midnight groused as he took station with Nightingale.
“Can it Midnight. We know that it sucks but we're on the job. It's our jurisdiction and I'm not letting that prissy Sunbeam Shower take our work from us. The Day Guard had been breathing down my neck on trying to get us into a joint venture when you know that they just want to take our jobs.” Nightingale muttered in a conspiratorial tone.
“Yes, yes, I remember. The school system is full of bigots, the princesses put sugar in our water supply, and there actually is life on the moon that Princess Luna is hiding.” Midnight joked as he put on a stupid voice imitating what he thought a conspiracy nut would sound like.
“The schools are full of bigots. Remember Chancellor Neighsay.” Suits brought up which took the wind out of Midnight’s sails.
“Then what about sugar in the water supply and the little green ponies.” Midnight balked at my assertion.
“First one is more than likely Pinkie Pie and there already are little green ponies. They're called foals.” Suits snarked as he brought up the assignments he was holding on.
Midnight merely groaned as his entire world view was challenged and he more than likely muttered how it was too early for Suits shitty sense of humor. Nightingale didn't agree if her snickering was anything to go by.
“Put in your place, eh Midnight?” Nightingale jabbed at him causing him to groan.
“Shut it. It's too early for this.” Midnight shot back.
“It is but that's not why we're here for. I need you two to keep track of all our guests. Get to know their names and Midnight, you have the most important job of all. Mention Arctic Spire as casually as possible and keep track of their posture. If we get lucky then they'll all react how we think they will. Hopefully, whomever this killer pony is, they'll buck up quickly.” Suits explained though he only uttered Plan A. There were three others and Midnight gave them to him before he went to bed.
“So why am I here?” Nightingale groused feeling completely out of it.
“I needed someone pretty to throw stallions off guard since more likely than not it was a stallion who did this.” Suits answered in a completely neutral tone.
“See. I told those other ponies I still got that sexy strut.” Nightingale started clearly full of herself.
“Unfortunately I could only get you Commander, so please do your best.” Suits finished up with a smug grin on his face.
“Hey! Buck you too.” Nightingale growled out giving Suits the wing tips. “I know everypony enjoys looking at my flanks.”
“Uh-huh. Yeah you're very pretty boss… but focus. If we have the right information and Grove did a good job of screening the pegasi then maybe we'll actually have a decent showing. Drop the name check their reactions and hope that it provides something. Don't tell anypony why you're doing it, make something up to hide that part.” Suits quietly concluded as Gale finally traipsed into the main hall… noticing the two thestral guards.
“Uh… Suits? Why is the Night Guard here this early in the morning?” Gale gave him that questioning look she usually saved for when something was clearly going wrong.
“I’ll… tell you in a bit. Just… just follow me for a bit. You two know what to do, right?” Suits looked the two of them closely as they both gave their cocky grins that signified that they usually knew what they were doing.
“Of course.” Nightingale chirped up giving up a demure look of one of the noble ladies who petitioned the Canterlot nobles for recognition.
“You got it.” Midnight nodded and took position behind the desk with Nightingale while Suits walked over to Zephyr Gale draping a wing over her and trotting away.
“So… think he can explain this one well enough?” Nightingale snickered.
“Maybe. He’s good a weaving together stories when he wants to. Remember that crazy one he told about being friends with Discord?” Midnight chuckled clearly thinking it to be a farce.
“He is friends with him… technically.” Nightingale groaned as she looked at her partner for the day.
“Wait, what? I thought he was just being full of himself again. Like that time he said he fought Queen Chrysalis.” Midnight balked at the notion.
“No that was a load of horseapples. The Discord one, not so much.” Nightingale clarified as she looked through the ledger of potential ponies coming to the event. Midnight, however, looked mortified for some reason. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“I owe Cypress fifty bits… We made a bet that Suits was full of hot air when he said that he was friends with Discord.” Midnight groaned as he slammed his face into the desk.
“Ha! Sucks to be you.” Nightingale laughed as she handed the ledger over to Midnight.
As the two looked over the list they both adopted their work look, finally done with their general ribbing. The Noctis Wing were, if not the only, most informal branch of the entire military complete with their own mascot of Bella Nightshade. It hadn’t helped that Luna personally made sure to make the entire company of ponies out of the weirdest she could find in her entire entourage. Celestia had warned that that many random personalities would invite disaster. It also made them the most recognizable part of the entire Equestrian Military and strangely the most successful. That was, at least, if you counted solving cases with something exploding as collateral as successful.
Regardless, Nightingale gave off her sweetest smile while she sat at the front desk while Midnight gave one of his imperturbable stares to look as mysterious as he possibly could. While it never had the results he wanted it always got a mare’s attention. Whether that was good or not was between him and the mare in question… also the numerous slap marks that usually adorned his cheek after he was finished talking with them.
“So what’s going on then? I thought you weren’t part of the Guard anymore?” Zephyr frowned as she looked Suits in the eye. They weren’t exactly happy looking either.
“Something happened last night. Wonderbolt Alumni got murdered and tossed into the chasms that were formed from the Changeling Incursions.” Suits answered in the most monotonous tone he could manage.
“Really?” Gale’s eyes widened as she shook her head clear. She had taken steps to be a little calmer since the events with Tirek so long ago. “So they brought you back in? Why?”
“The Reunion. It’s being held here so Princess Luna, in her infinite wisdom, decided I needed to be reinstated to lead the investigation. We have several of the Noctis Wing working for us for the entirety of the Reunion and we don’t have to pay them either.” Suits chuckled at that idea. The Hotel needed a bit more maintenance and the extra help.
“Hey! Don’t take advantage of this. You need to focus on the job.” Gale warned him before she got as close as she could to his ear. “Make sure they clear the grounds and clean the fields. We needed help with that.” Gale nuzzled into him clearly hiding the devious smile she wore.
“Of course love. I know that better than anypony. But I need you to keep an eye on the two at the front desk. Hopefully get them to keep from bucking up. Also don’t get involved with talking with any of the Wonderbolts. I think you know why.” Suits knowingly coughed giving her that sign when she was getting too affectionate.
“Shush you. I’ll nuzzle you when I damn well please just like when you enjoy giving my flank a little spank until you chase me into one of the spare rooms to - “ Gale was stopped as a wing flew up to stop her from continuing.
“I get the picture. I was there.” Suits groaned as he used his wing to rub his eyes from how frustrating Gale’s mind could be whenever she got started. For her part, Zephyr merely gave off a cheshire grin. She knew exactly what she was doing. While she couldn’t enjoy getting Suits worked up quite yet, she made the point of having a bit of fun with her stallion’s mind. All she needed to do was provide the stimulation.
“I’ll go make sure that they got everything situated. Are the rest of your buddies also part of the staff?” Gale questioned as she pulled away and started to walk back up to the front desk.
“Yeah. All of them. The gang’s all here… for better or for worse.” Suits gulped at that notion.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s been a few months sure but things are more stable now.” Zephyr lightly chided making Suits nod. Her worries abated for the moment she trotted off for the front desk.
“Yeah… stable.” Suits muttered as he went to speak with Ratchet and Goods.
It took a few minutes of wandering but he eventually heard the tell tale sounds of Ratchet and Goods arguing once again. It was distinctive enough that he was certain that it was once again about the state of breakfast. Suits rolled his eyes as he meandered down the hall towards the kitchen area. He knew he needed all the subtlety and poise afforded to him by his family to make certain that both his employees, caretakers, and in some cases family would calmly and rationally calm down.
“So I got twenty bits on Ratchet finally coming on top while Zephyr places ten on Goods. What’s the topic to destroy today?” Suits loudly proclaimed as he slammed open the door and walked over the threshold.
Clearly, today was not the day for subtlety or poise.
“There you are Suits. What are all these thestrals doing out here? I saw a few inside the main dining hall sitting around a table with most of the good coffee we hoard.” Ratchet growled out.
“Quiet you old nag. That coffee was meant for the guests anyways.” Goods chided her excitable husband who merely huffed at the notion. “And yes I won that argument in case you’re wondering Suits.”
“Damn… I mean… no. No I was right the first time.” Suits coughed as the two looked at him expectantly. “Oh right, the thestrals are here to work at the hotel for a short time during the event. Something happened last night and they are here for it.”
“Suits… I know who they are. That group you worked with for a short while. Something bad happened, didn’t it?” Ratchet took a step forward seemingly knowing what this meant.
“Yeah… Wonderbolt incident and there might be more happening during the event. So I need you two to cooperate with them. They’ll also assist you when you need the help. They’ll all keep their cover during the event.” Suits explained as he went to the door out into the dining hall and looked through the small window. There were the other thestrals attempting to wake up once again.
“Will it be safe?” Goods immediately asked not wasting a beat.
“As safe as it can possibly be.” Suits gritted his teeth.
“We’ll keep an eye out for things then.” Ratchet announced before taking up his own cup of coffee.
“Thanks.” Suits mentioned before stepping out into dining hall.
“So… how much of the hotel do you think will be standing after this?” Ratchet muttered before taking another sip.
“Hopefully the kitchen will stay standing this time.” Goods sighed as she continued getting ready for the few guests around who would get breakfast.
Suits walked up towards the rest of the Noctis Wing. Most everypony was grousing around waiting for anything else to get their attention. Solitary and Nightshade were the only ones that were actually aware enough to look at him. Bramble, Azure, Cypress and Grove were still drinking their own coffee ignoring the world around them.
“Finally you lot got off your lazy flanks. I need you all to get ready for them to show up. All of you will have to work shifts around here to blend in. Any complaints?” Suits spoke up.
“Do we get snazzy uniforms?” Nightshade asked clearly looking enamored over the idea.
“Oh certainly… we’ll get you all maid uniforms complete with short skirts and headdresses.” Suits deadpanned
“Really?” Nightshade shouted complete with twinkling eyes full of hope that it was true.
“No.” Suits stated.
“Bucking buzzkill…” Nightshade muttered under her breath. The other guards just stared at her clearly unsure of what she was thinking of.
“Right… anyways Nightshade and Solitary. You two will be patrolling the grounds. If you can do some of the yard work as well to look inconspicuous. Make sure nopony tries to come in through any of the other entrances. The only ponies that were already here are Fleece, Clarity, Hope and Sombra alongside the staff.” Suits doled out the small list of guests and a few extra notes about where the entrances were.
“Great… I get to garden… lousy cheapskate…” Nightshade muttered under her breath keeping her scathing remarks to a bare minimum. Solitary merely nodded with a small smile. His ears were raised fully up and Suits knew he appreciated the choice to be outside.
There was a time where the two worked as partners and while Solitary never spoke much he did make it known, through his actions, that he enjoyed working outside. It was a pleasure he took whenever they had down time.
“Nightshade, suck it up. You are good at keeping ponies out so make sure you keep aware the entire time.” Suits snapped at the mare making her roll her eyes. With a deep breath she nodded and the two began their patrol… each holding a thermos full of coffee.
“Bramble, Cypress. You'll be working with Ratchet for the duration. You'll be able to go almost anywhere in the hotel as part of the maintenance staff. When the other ponies show up you’ll need to keep track of all of them.” Suits placed their own itinerary on the table.
“So we’re fixing things then?” Cypress questioned.
“Yeah. At least to have cover. Also I remember that you two were good with small tasks. I remember when you fixed that small alarm clock Dusty had.” Suits finished off.
“So why am I doing this as well?” Bramble quirked her eyebrow lifting it up high.
“You’re able to reach things that Ratchet and Cypress can’t. You’re very flexible.” Suits nonchalantly stated.
“I-I’m not flexible… you idiot.” Bramble blushed as she hid behind her wings. Suits just stared at her unsure about why she was but continued to look over the rest of the work they needed to do.
“Just… just find Ratchet. He should still be in the kitchen.” Suits groaned before rubbing his eyes with his hoof. He needed a nap to focus on the rest of the day.
“Got it.” Cypress stepped up grabbing his own thermos while Bramble reluctantly followed looking once more at Suits before leaving.
“Weird… Anyways Azure and Grove you’ll be helping Goods with food. I’ll admit this is more to keep you busy for your real job. You’ll be tasked with night patrols. So help Goods as best you can then sleep until it’s time for you to patrol. Stick together at all times. We don’t know who this pony is and I’d rather neither of you get plucked.” Suits finished off placing the last notes for the two of them on the table.
“See. I knew he cared about us even when he sometimes acts like a flankhole.” Grove grinned as she flapped her wings idly.
“He’s not that much of a flankhole. Maybe only half.” Azure chuckled in agreement.
“Yeah, yeah it is to laugh. Now if you two flankholes could get off your flanks and into the kitchen maybe we’d actually get something done.” Suits shot back to the laughter of his two friends.
Suits waited until they had left the room before sitting down at the now empty table. A smile slowly took its place on his face. It wasn’t something that happened often. Azure and Grave sharing barbs with one another as the three of them fought to be top dog. Cypress and his stalwart nature when dealing with problems. Bramble’s constant staring on him still seemed to persist. Solitary remaining a beacon of poise and control while Nightshade still was a terrible flirt whenever she had the chance.
“It really has been too long…” Suits muttered under his breath resting his face in between his front hooves.
The comradery he felt with everypony seemed to still hold strong even after several months of trying to put that life behind him. It wasn’t because it was a bad time of his life. He couldn’t place his hoof on why he didn’t want to be a guard anymore but something inside his soul seemed to resonate with the hotel and in the long run he knew where he needed to be. Still… there was always a longing to do a bit more with his life that never seemed to be satisfied just by staying within the hallowed halls of his ancestral home. Even if he thought that his ancestors were just shitty ponies in general for warping his father and grandfather into horrible monsters.
“Now for my part in all this.” Suits hissed under his breath as he made his way to meet with Hope and Sombra.
“You two ready?” Zephyr Gale smiled as she tucked in some extra notes and took out the special ledger she had been given for the occasion.
“Always.” Nightingale chuckled.
“Mm-hmm.” Midnight nodded and took out his quill.
“Ok. I’ll greet them with the hoof shake and you two work your magic.” Gale announced as she left the two behind the desk and stepped up front.
It was about ten in the morning when the first of the Wonderbolt Alumni appeared. His name was Thunderlane, a dark grey pegasus with a light cyan mane stepping into the hall with a suitcase hitched under his left wing. He seemed to be peer around pensively before stepping up to the front desk.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Zephyr Gale and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Here for the reunion?” Gale smiled as Thunderlane shook her hoof.
“Yes I’ve been… looking forward to it for a while now.” Thunderlane answered as he reluctantly stepped towards the desk.
“Please don’t be shy. Just sign your name up on our ledger with our two helpful employees and we’ll have you situated very quickly.” Gale nodded as she returned back near the front door.
Thunderlane gruffly stepped up to the front desk as a ledger and quill was placed in front of him. He gingerly took it in his wing tips and signed his name.
“Nice to see a Wonderbolt regular once again. So did you know Arctic Spire?” Nightingale bluntly brought up slowly resting her head oh her right hoof as she half lidded her eyes slowly blinking them in an enticing manner. Midnight, thanks to years of training, didn't retch at the sight of the blatantly mediocre flirting occurring.
He instead watched Thunderlane closely. He noted how his wings slightly flinched upward. The pursing of his lips and the furrow of his brow. The pony was deep in thought.
“Oh, her. Yeah she was an old colleague. Nothing more. Didn't think she would be showing up…” Thunderlane admitted before trotting away, a worried look upon his face.
“What do you think, Midnight?” Nightingale brought up keeping an eye on Thunderlane.
“Bit twitchy but nothing concrete. He is hiding something though.” Midnight commented.
“Right then.” Nightingale circled his name on the notes she was making beneath the desktop.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Zephyr Gale and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintances. Please sign the ledger up at the front desk.” Gale announced to the next pair of ponies.
“Likewise Ms. Gale. And might I add you look beautiful today.” The moderate cerulean stallion with the light sea green mane complimented Gale to the scowl of his company.
“What's that supposed to mean?” The light chartreuse greenish gray mare with the tricolor mane brought up to the cringe of the stallion.
“I didn't mean anything by it Vapor. Calm down.” The stallion quickly stated.
“I'm sure you didn't Sky Stinger. I'm. Sure. You. Didn't.” Vapor growled out as she approached the front desk.
‘Yikes… ‘ Gale thought as she returned to the front door away from the drama.
“Here you go, you happy couple you.” Nightingale shouted out clearly uncomfortable by the glare Vapor Trail was giving her. It wasn't helped by the fact that Sky Stinger was acting like a mare’s stallion. Or at least trying. The ledger and quill were placed in front of them
“Hey baby… how you doing?” Stinger tried to say as suavely as possible before Vapor kicked his back left hoof to get him to stop. With a scowl he signed his name and handed the quill over to her allowing her to do the same.
“Always good to see some of the new blood from the Wonderbolts. Wonder when my friend Arctic Spire will show up.” Nightingale brought up and nonchalantly rolled her hoof in tiny circles to appear as aloof as possible.
Midnight watched the two carefully as Stinger bit his lip and kept his gaze towards the ceiling. Vapor, on the other hand, looked extremely livid. Her pupils had contracted to pinpricks and her wings nearly flared in agitation.
“Yes. Wonder when she'll get here.” Vapor quietly stated her tone dangerous and low before she trotted off.
“I'm sorry about that. She's… been under a lot of stress lately.” Sky Stinger apologized before joining Vapor Trail who merely harrumphed as he got near. He quickly followed after her trying his best to schmooze his way back into her good side.
“Yikes… there's a lot of tension, eh?” Nightingale sighed out clearly trying to keep herself from having a panic attack.
“You're telling me. Are we even sure it's a stallion who did this crime?” Midnight muttered low enough that Nightingale had to strain her ears to hear.
“That's the working theory. Though I see what you're saying. There's something there, isn't there?” Nightingale answered back placing Vapor Trail’s name on the list as well.
“Well there's something but even I'm not sure if we should look too deeply into that hornet's nest.” Midnight admitted looking back over the guest list. Three of twenty members had appeared, not including Arctic Spire.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Zephyr Gale and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Please sign your name at the front desk all you ponies.” Gale welcome the group of eight ponies, all mares.
The former leader has of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire, stood at the front of the pack her scowl well worn as she looked around the main hall. Being in the company of her… replacements was taking its toll on her. The brilliant gold pegasus with the vivid orange mane looked as though she wanted to be anywhere else than there.
To her left was Fleetfoot. She seemed a little aloof at the situation looking away from the group and toward Gale who politely waved at her. The light arctic blue pegasus with the light grey mane waved back.
Following her were the ponies Surprise, Angel Wings and Misty Fly each talking amongst each other. Surprise was a white pegasus with a vivid yellow mane that poofed up like cotton candy. Angel Wings, a light tangelo gray pegasus with a scarlet gray mane with crimson streaks running through it, politely waved back with an appreciative smile. Misty Fly, a grayish olive pegasus with a dual toned arctic blue mane, merely nodded before getting Surprise’s attention again.
To Spitfire’s right was Rainbow Dash, the fastest pegasus alive, allegedly. Her rainbow mane seemed to flow in the wind as she confidently strutted into the hall. Gale raised a brow when she hoof bumped her outstretched hoof. It certainly was casual enough.
Following her were High Winds and Wildfire. High Winds was a light goldish grey pegasus with a two tone cobalt mane who also waved to Gale. Wildfire, a pale light grayish amber pegasus with dark grayish brown mane, rolled her eyes at Rainbow Dash for her casual attitude.
The eight ponies all went up to the front desk and took turns signing their name.
“My... almost all the mares of the Wonderbolts in one place. Seems like you're missing two more. One of them was Arctic Spire, right Midnight?” Nightingale casually stated.
Midnight merely nodded his head and watched everypony’s reaction. It was a taxing prospect seeing as there were eight ponies at once. Spitfire looked disinterested for some reason. Fleetfoot and Rainbow Dash seemed to be reminiscing fondly about times long ago. High Winds and Wildfire both looked a bit more concerned about things that he couldn’t possibly figure out. Surprise and Angel Wings shared the same look as Fleetfoot and Rainbow Dash. Misty Fly, meanwhile, appeared annoyed for some reason.
“She’ll get here eventually.” Spitfire shrugged it off before trotting off for the dining hall.
“Hey Spitfire! What’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash called out as she and Fleetfoot rushed after her.
“That was weird.” Wildfire muttered as she flapped off after the three.
“Hey! Where’s everypony going?” Surprise called out confused about what was going on.
“Just let it go Surprise. It’s not worth the headache.” High Winds groaned as she trotted off as well.
“You need to let it go Surprise. You know how it goes sometimes.” Angel Wings sighed as she walked with the rest of the ponies.
“”You’ll have to forgive everypony… Arctic Spire was a polarizing pony.” Surprise admitted to Midnight and Nightingale.
“How come?” Nightingale whispered back completely going along with the gossip.
“I don’t want to say… just. She was just the reason we wound up falling.” Surprise muttered before trotting off.
Midnight wrote down more notes leaving off the rest of his thoughts until later. There was too much to go over at this point. Nightingale gave him a worried look since no one had ever heard about the reason that the Wonderbolts had disbanded. There were numerous theories and rumors floating around that nopony really knew what happened.
The official word was that nopony could decide on the next leader and there was a falling out between the three candidates Soarin, Rainbow Dash, and Fleetfoot. At first glance it was a flimsy idea seeing as Rainbow Dash and Fleetfoot were still friends and still close. There was no solid word from Soarin
“So… looks like there’s something more to this than we thought isn’t there?” Nightingale growled out feeling as though something else was going on throughout all this.
“Isn’t there always something going on beneath the surface? We got a hoof hold now in what’s going on at the very least. Now we have Arctic Spire at the center of everything. So far only Misty Fly and Spitfire seem suspicious. Though that’s not saying much if there was something bubbling underneath the surface.” Midnight muttered and closed his eyes fully lost in his thoughts.
“Don’t zone out yet. We still have the other half to greet.” Nightingale chided Midnight as they prepared for the next group.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Zephyr Gale and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintances. Please sign your name at the front desk.” Gale nodded at the group of stallions that appeared.
“How you doing baby… so I’m new in the area how bout you and me - “ An arctic bluish gray stallion with light turquoise mane with light opalish gray mane started to hit on Gale.
“Sorry. I’m spoken for and I don’t date jocks.” Gale politely smiled as she ignored the pony in general to his chagrin and the laughter of six other stallions.
“Looks like you struck out there, eh Silver Zoom?” A cornflower blue stallion with a grayish phthalo blue mane chuckled.
“Oh shut it Soarin.” Silver muttered as he trotted ahead to the desk.
Amongst the group of Soarin and Silver Zoom were eight other stallions. A steel blue stallion with dark purplish blue mane by the name of Wave Chill. He chuckled and went ahead leaving Silver Zoom to glare at him.
Following them were the other four stallions each rolling their eyes or chuckling at the failure. The light goldish grey pegasus with the dual cobalt gray mane was named Wind Waker who was animatedly talking with a light blue pegasus with dual amber mane by the name of Lightning Streak. They didn’t seem to be fully paying attention to the others using their ears to figure out by context clues what was going on.
The white coated pegasus with the orange mane with pale streaks intertwined within it was named Fire Streak. Once retired to become a teacher he came back for a few shows due in no small part to the invasion a few years He seemed to carry himself with a little more dignity than the others though he was also wearing a scarf even though it was overly warm that morning.
Behind him were the last two pegasi who seemed to carry themselves as drill instructors. The light gray pegasus with the dark grayish brown mane by the name of Fast Clip was conspiratorially whispering to a gray pegasus with even darker gray mane following beside him. That pony was Whiplash, one of the harshest instructors in the history of the academy.
Gale made certain to keep her eye on them as they all traipsed up to desk. With the fact that some of the stallions had tried to check her out subtly she made sure her flank wasn’t pointed at them. It wasn’t so much a self conscious decision as it was more she didn’t want to entertain any wandering eyes. Celestia above, she knew that there were plenty of that when the actual guests were coming in. Besides… this was Nightingale’s big selling point.
What was more exotic to a daytime pony than a thestral… at least in her mind at this point. They still hadn’t attracted any zebra guests so this was the next best thing. Nightingale, meanwhile, looked over the spread in front of her. Her flirtatious assaults tempered only by the fact that one of them could possibly be a murderer. The other added problem was that she needed them to believe she was interested. Information didn’t come easy most of the time.
“Well… welcome colts. Glad to see that there are some handsome stallions around here.” Nightingale coyly smirked licking her lips lasciviously. Several stallions looked a bit nervous from her look and most nervously trotted up.
“Ease up Night… don’t scare them away now.” Midnight chuckled though his smile didn’t reach his eyes as he was looking over the herd… at least as best as he could since all of them were nervous.
“Oh… I’m sure I could find some backbone in some of them.” Nightingale smirked as she looked over the crowd.
“See I told you there were cool mares around here.” Silver Zoom announced looking extremely smug as he returned the look towards Nightingale.
“Meh… I prefer mares still. I’m still waiting to see Arctic Spire.” Midnight mentioned and turned his attention over to the stallions.
Wave Chill, Lightning Streak, and Wind Waker all folded their ears down making certain to keep their eyes averted at the mention of the mare in question. Silver Zoom was too busy making goo-goo eyes at Nightingale. Soarin, Whiplash, Fast Clip, and Fire Streak merely scowled at the mention of that name.
Midnight slowly placed the ledger in front of everypony as they took turns signing it. Soarin made many ink splatters, Whiplash nearly tore the page, Fast Clip wrote with his off wing, and Fire Streak slashed out his name once for some reason. Midnight said nothing of the peculiar ways that each signed but the gears in her mind were turning quickly. Wave Chill did a fancy loop de loop for his signature, Lightning Streak placed a lighting bolt for his, and Wind Waker made sharp strikes. Silver Zoom had to be mitigated to signing with Nightingale urging him with her wing under his chin.
Soarin rolled his eyes and dragged Silver Zoom away as everypony made their way to the main hall with the other ponies already within. Fast Clip was the last pony out of the room taking his sweet time and making certain to give all three ponies a curt nod. Zephyr merely returned the nod though her eyes harshened for some reason.
Nightingale quickly spit into one of the potted plants taking a bite out of a small hibiscus flower she pulled out of her pack she kept under the desk. She quickly scrubbed another hibiscus bud on her tongue and spit once again into the potted plant.
“That was horrifying… was it even worth it in the end?” Nightingale groused as her head hit the desk top.
“I think so.” Midnight admitted. “Three of them looked suspicious and the other four wanted to burn holes into my face when I mentioned her. Right now… stallions are most likely the culprit.”
“Is it that Silver Zoom?” Nightingale asked hope edging into her voice. “I hope it's that wannabe casanova…”
“Unfortunately… no he isn’t. I can guarantee that. He was too far into fawning into you to actually be suspicious… and if Arctic Spire was tortured as she was then she would have had this idiot wrapped around her hoof.” Midnight growled out looking as though he was disgusted by what he saw.
“Damn… so now we have all the stallions. Are we missing anypony?” Nightingale pouted as she remained annoyed by what she had to do.
“One mare. I don’t know her name but I know that there were ten stallions, eleven mares. Arctic Spire won’t be joining us though.” Midnight muttered and sighed as he looked over the ledger and his own words.
“Right… we have far too many mysteries going on right now though. And everything is revolving around Arctic Spire. The Wonderbolts are a team that was known worldwide and yet look at what happened. They fell to infighting and most likely something that involved Arctic Spire. We won’t know the whole story until we can get those ponies talking about it all.” Nightingale summarized as she found Suits bottle of Minotaur booze that was hidden in the desk shelves.
“Don’t. We still got a job to do.” Midnight chided her making sure she didn’t pick the bottle up.
“Yeah… I got it. Hope I get some by the time this is all over.” Nightingale groused as she placed the bottle back down.
“Maybe… you know how Suits is with his liquor. Let’s get ready for the last guest then.” Midnight sighed as he steeled himself for the last guest.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Zephyr Gale and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Please sign your name up at the front desk so we can check you in.” Zephyr greeted the new mare who entered the hotel.
“Thanks… I guess. So… the Wonderbolts are here then?” The mare stated with a small bit of hesitancy to her voice.
“Yes… and you are?” Gale rolled her hoof trying to coax her name out of her.
“Blaze. Look don’t worry about knowing my name. Let me just get this reunion over with.” Blaze, the light yellow pegasus with the brilliant gamboge mane, muttered as she trotted over to the front desk.
“Hi there.” Nightingale waved though kept her smile muted.
“Yeah.” Blaze muttered as she took the ledger closer and signed.
“You must have been looking forward to all this.” Midnight cautiously stated.
“Yeah… looks that way.” Blaze gritted her teeth and trotted away before anything else could be said.
As soon as the mare left the main entry hall Nightingale and Midnight breathed deeply a sigh of relief. The intensity of her glare had left a deep impression on the two. Even as they realized that neither of them could mention anything about Arctic Spire neither were bothered by that detail. Her actions were suspicious enough as it was though without that clincher of information she would remain suspect throughout her stay.
“So… that went well. Was that the last Wonderbolt?” Midnight glanced to Nightingale who merely nodded and placed the ledger down.
“As far as we know. None of the other Wonderbolt Alumni even RSVP’d to the event. As far as I know these are the only ones who would be here for the reunion… or even willing to meet once again. It’s easier though… makes our job far, far easier.” Nightingale growled out as she looked over the names.
“You two good?” Zephyr Gale trotted up to the desk adorned a sympathetic smile while she looked over the haggard remains of the two Night Guards as they tried to keep themselves awake.
“For now.” Midnight muttered.
“Oh buck up. It’s fine. We’re the Noctis Wing, uber badflanks of Princess Luna and don’t you forget it.” Nightingale jabbed her elbow into Midnight who playfully rolled his eyes at the confidence booster.
“Yeah but we’re really out of our depth here. We need to get some of our Lunar Unicorn Corps out here just in case. At the very least we could keep the perpetrator from gaining anymore victims.” Midnight brought up a worried stare looking towards the front door.
“Don’t worry about it. Suits already has somepony on the case in case anything does happen. We’re very lucky that they wanted to stay here so long.” Gale mentioned as she ushered the two off to the kitchen to get the two some coffee.
“Really? Who does he got here?” Midnight asked clearly feeling the effects of the late morning on his body.
“Really? Don’t you remember the unicorns staying here?” Nightingale chided her partner… who was still staring blankly ahead. “Oh right… you get worse the longer the morning goes on. Zephyr… let’s just get him to bed.”
“Huh? Oh yes. Which room is he in?” Gale questioned looked over her shoulder at the two.
“He’s in 306. I’m 304.” Nightingale admitted.
“I’m guessing you want to sleep for a while then huh?” Gale tittered slightly covering her mouth with a hoof.
“Gale… I love you and all but if you start making any nocturnal jokes I will knock you into next week.” Nightingale deadpanned.
“Oh my… I hope my legs could take it.” Gale blushed before breaking into laughter.
“Great… I’m heading to bed and the only pony to actually hit on me rather than give me weird attempts of looking seductive and she’s already taken.” Nightingale snarkily replied never breaking the stride.
“At the very least you know mares will always check you out.” Midnight brought up to the laughter of Gale who could barely walk a straight line at that point.
“Shut it Midnight.” Nightingale blanched and blushed heavily flapping her wings and flying away for her room. Gale left Midnight at his room and immediately went to go find Suits… he most likely would need help for later.
During the Entrance of the Wonderbolts
Suits immediately went to room 108. It was one that he had personally gifted to two friends he had known over the course of these past five years or so. He usually forgot how long it was mostly from not caring about quantity of time and more the quality. Reluctantly, he raised his hoof and knocked on the door.
“Coming~” A voice called out before opening the door… and her eyes settled on Suits. “Oh… hello Suits. Is it already Wednesday?” Radiant Hope tilted her head a little confused since they usually met Wednesday to discuss things over tea and coffee.
“No it’s actually Friday. I’m sorry to bother you two like this but it is slightly important.” Suits admitted feeling like he wanted to get things over with quicker.
“I see… Come in. I have a feeling you want to tell both of us.” Hope smiled… though her worry broke through.
“Hope! Who is it?” Sombra called out.
“It’s Suits! He needs to talk with us!” Hope called back as the two ponies trotted into the small couch area where Sombra was reading one of the most recent books of the Daring Do series.
“Ah… I knew this day would come. We’re being kicked out.” Sombra immediately jumped to a point which Suits had heard before.
“No Sombra. I’ve told you several… hundreds of times over the course of the last five years. That’s not going to happen.now and it’s not going to happen later. It’s something else that’s far more important.” Suits quickly cut him off from going on his other tangents of how Suits would charge them more, or try to take Hope or any other excuses he came up with.
“Honey… I love you but he’s been on the level with us this entire time. You need to stop worrying about things like this.” Hope nuzzled into Sombra who finally relaxed enough to sit back down.
“Sorry… just used to those looks. Anyways this must be important since aren’t Fridays the days that Zephyr ties you to your room.” Sombra posited crossing his arms and closing his eyes in thought.
“Damn it Zephyr…” Suits muttered under his breath.
“Oh don’t be too mad. She only tells us it happens, no details. No matter how much I try to coax out of her.” Hope giggled as Suits and Sombra both sighed in exasperation.
“Ok enough. Enough! Jeez… look I came to tell you that we’re hosting the Wonderbolts Reunion. There will be Wonderbolts roaming the hotel for the next three days. We also have members of the Noctis Wing staying.” Suits informed the two.
“Something went wrong.” Sombra immediately brought up as a grimace stuck to his face. Hope didn’t want to admit it but even sitting next to Sombra and in his left arm she could see the grim look on Suits face.
“Murder. A Wonderbolt was plucked and tossed into the pits. For the most part it seems like it was one of them who did it. So right now we’re examining them and their reactions right now. The reason I’m telling you two is because I may need extra muscle on this and I was hoping you two could help me out.” Suits grunted as he had to admit that he needed help.
“Yes.” Sombra said without an ounce of hesitation. “You’ve given us a home, why wouldn’t we help you?”
“I agree. Though what did you want us to actually do? We’re not official guards or have any form of training.” Hope frowned since this could have been far more dangerous than anything the three knew.
“You don’t need to do anything but watch out for each other. I will admit that this visit is more precautionary… its for if the criminal does get his way. We can’t be certain he isn’t after another pony. If they do get somepony I need Hope to hopefully heal said pony before they die and I need you, Sombra, to protect her and the injured in case he tenaciously decides not to take no for an answer.” Suits explained detailing his plan out for the two to go over.
“You really think it’ll get to that point though?” Hope wondered aloud.
“Honestly no. But if my life is anything to go by anything is possible. I could justify my viewpoints to you by telling you about my father but we’ve done that song and dance before already and I’ll admit I’m tired of using it as an excuse for whatever paranoia is going on in my head. Just trust me on this.” Suits mirthlessly chuckled as he looked back at the two both staring at him with a bit of sympathy. “None of that. I’m a big colt now. Pay my own taxes and everything.”
“No I got it. Looks Suits, you’re like a brother to me. An annoying little twerp who constantly ducks back into, what did you call it… ah, yes you’re emo phase so I’ll do my best to help you out.” Sombra smirked as he was getting used to the lingo now used in the current age.
“Yes, yes, and you’re the older brother still holding on to that hair metal phase wearing whatever glam rock look was popular way back then.” Suits countered though it was usually for naught.
“What is hair metal… and glam rock?” Sombra and Hope both actually asked.
“Ugh… we’ll make it a double date night and head out for Canterlot sometime next week. We’ll teach you then.” Suits muttered forgetting how displaced in time the two actually were.
“Ooh neat. I get to get all fancied up.” Hope cheered as she hopped around a bit.
“It won’t be really fancy will it?” Sombra groaned out clearly not liking where this topic was going.
“Not too fancy… No black tie or dresses. It’ll be a bit more casual without meeting with the Princesses… thank the savior.” Suits muttered the last thing under his breath
“Oh thank the savior.” Sombra muttered under his own breath as well while Hope was far too busy glamorizing what was going on to hear us.
“Hope. Hope. Hope!” Suits cried out getting Hope to calm enough to not be bouncing around like a school filly.
“Yes Suits?” Hope sweetly smiles finally looking at him.
“Zephyr will come get you ready that day.” Suits sighed finally getting Hope to get a little calmer at this point. Suits got up to leave only to get a bear hug from Hope nearly choking the life out of him before she galloped off for their bedroom giggling like a filly.
“Thanks for this Suits.” Sombra quietly stated.
“Sombra. We are friends already. We’ve been at this for more than what? Four years? Five?” Suits motioned with his left hoof hoping to coax the length of time from Sombra.
“About four. I’ll admit that we didn’t expect to be here for that long but… what can I say? This is home now. So don’t worry, we’ll watch your back.” Sombra stated.
“Thanks. Keep yourselves safe and don’t worry about getting into any fight should anything happen. The rest of our secret guards will handle things while we’re here.” Suits nodded as if affirming to himself what he wanted to deal with.
“Take care.” Sombra chuckled as he led Suits out their door and back into the hallway and entered his room leaving Suits to ponder over things.
Gale immediately flapped her wings racing directly for Sombra and Hope’s room to find Suits… standing directly in front of their door and jumped into him. She immediately hugged him taking him in her arms and relaxing into him.
“Gale…” Suits sighed out loud as he was splayed to the ground with a large crystal pegasus covering him.
“Yes?” Gale cheekily smirked up clearly knowing what she was doing.
“It’s not night time, you know that right?” Suits peered down at the mare half lidding his eyes in annoyance.
“It is a certain thestral’s night time.” She countered back.
“Fair enough but this seems a little too random, even for you, to tackle me to the ground.” Suits mentioned wrapping his hooves around her as she got close enough to snuggle into his neck letting her mouth get close to his ear.
“So far all of them made different reactions towards the mention of the name, only the last mare Blaze didn’t show any reaction. All of them are in the dining hall where the other three are getting food ready for them. We may need to divide and conquer when it comes to questioning.” Gale whispered into his ear hiding her words beneath the act of snuggling.
It was something they worked out during the Second Changeling Invasion. The fields were a final battleground but certain infiltrators had managed to get into the hotel to undermine everything that the ponies had worked for. Gale and Suits came up with a more effective method of keeping information to themselves whenever something was going on. The fact it worked made Suits question just how smart the changeling hordes were… even if it did root out infiltrators because they couldn’t handle the intense love Gale put into her hugs.
“Yes love I know you want to snuggle but we have to get ready for the guests.” Suits sighed as he patted her back pressing below her wings telling her he understood the situation. In response, Gale tapped her right hoof four times against his chest confirming everything.
“Fine… I’ll wait till later.” Gale muttered with a hollow smile on her face as she let Suits get back up.
“So how did those two do?” Suits mentioned as his mind was awash with other things. The small fact that Blaze was extremely abrasive the moment she entered the hotel set warning bells off in his head.
“Fine actually. I was worried when Nightingale was being flirty with the Wonderbolt Stallions but she managed to pull it off pretty well. She was eyeing your liquor you hide under the desk though.” Gale chuckled though a bit stiltedly. She knew about the bottle but from the tiny glances she gave Suits he could tell that she didn't exactly approve.
“That was a gift and I don't drink nearly enough for that to be a problem. One glass when it is completely empty… plus I'm the owner. I should get a slight pass by that virtue.” Suits grunted.
“That's fine. I would rather you drink the ciders though since that yak brand is really strong though. Mostly because there is always the chance somepony could waltz in while you're blitzed.” Gale rolled her eyes remembering something that had happened.
“That was one time.” Suits shot back.
“Yes. To Princess Luna and you were lucky she is so quirky around thestrals. I don't think you muttering about how nice her full moon was was fully appreciated. Though I did like the tongue lashing you gave me that night.” Gale blushed as she recalled the little pats Luna gave Suits on the head telling him how precious he was and how frisky it made him afterwards.
“I didn't yell at you… oh, that lashing. You know one of these nights I'm going to figure out how you got this blatant about our sex life.” Suits sighed… a seemingly recurring theme at this point.
“I blame the fact that our first night didn't end until a week later.” Gale giggled as the two walked off for the kitchen and dining hall. She also secretly thanked that conversation she had with Cadence the night before she committed to seducing Suits.
From the door Hope opened the door and looked out at the happy couple trotting off to work.
“Sombra? Do you ever think we need to be more open like those two are?” Hope questioned as she stared off into the distance.
“Probably not. One public display of affection is enough for this hotel and us doing the same will just look like we're copying them.” Sombra muttered as Hope’s tail started to swish around.
“I call it a homage. Let's make them proud!” Hope shouted as she closed the door and jumped at Sombra.
“Wait, what?” Sombra managed to get out as he was tackled to the floor. For his part, he was just glad the Hope had closed the door this time.
Meanwhile…
Outside around the perimeter of the hotel flew the unlikely duo of Bella Nightshade and Solitary Confinement.carefully flapped around searching for anything out of the ordinary. Much to her chagrin, there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary. Nightshade growled out as she looked over the backyard noting the somewhat cleaned out pool and several topiary sculptures that were slightly overgrown.
“You believe this Solitary? We’ve been sent out to deal with random things while all the big things happen outside.” Nightshade muttered as she brushed off some of the debris on the sculptures.
Solitary looked her over and shrugged fixing his own sculpture carefully doing a lot more than Bella had done with hers. He then looked over the backyard seemingly content at the moment if the smile on his face was anything to go by. After trotting over to Bella he took over and cleaned up her sculpture much more thoroughly.
“Show off… You think there’s even going to be any way for the criminal to come around here? This place is so out of the way and only this hotel is out here.” Bella muttered as she crossed her hooves.
Solitary nodded somewhat enthusiastically as he pointed over at the small paths around the entire building. The windows all appeared locked at the very least. Then he unfurled his wing and pointed carefully at it. She peered around noting just how many places somepony could dump something around here and how well hidden they would be since Suits was too lazy, in her opinion, with keeping maintenance of the hotel yards.
The two continued their walk around and peered into the dining room. Solitary grimaced when he noted that all the guests were extremely wary of one another with small cliques forming from them. The only problem by who seemed to be able to mingle amongst the entire crowd was the rainbow maned mare flapping around keeper by the peace.
“She has her work cut out for her, doesn't she Solitary?” Bella chimed in half lidded her eyes in annoyance from the looks of distrust plastered against almost every Wonderbolts face. The few holdouts were starting to crack under the strain.
“Loyalties will be tested today.” Solitary muttered giving on of his cryptic warnings he sometimes doled out.
“This is a treat then. Got you to speak and all it took was for ponies to be at each other's throats.” Bella deadpanned despite the severity of the problem.
Solitary shrugged and nudged his head to the side clearly uncomfortable at being called out. Bella rolled her eyes but followed along as they continued searching around the perimeter. Unbeknownst to them one pony quietly looked out the window… watching the pair explore the main grounds. The pony in question snorted but kept their cool realizing that they could still succeed… rolling the small necklace with the Hanged Pony connected to it under his wing. Nopony seemed to notice that anything was going on.
Meanwhile, at the same time...
Grove looked over the spinach dip he was making placing it on the tray that Goods had been setting up before. While not a perfect it fit the very least with the rest of the vegetable plate. She idly began to lift the large tray when Azure stopped her.
“What?” Grove quirked her head to the side.
“Wait till we fill the other tray. At the very least we look can look professional before we turn in for the day.” Azure mentioned as he started to work on the next tray.
“This is kind of easy… Kind of wish we got the patrol job.” Grove growled out as Azure went on his tiny perfectionist kick they had tried to temper out of him.
“Oh don't be that way. We have a much harder job. When we go out there we're gonna have to do something more dangerous than that. You hear it don't you?” Azure got close while Baked Goods worked even through the harsh voices that echoed from the dining hall. Grove had to swivel her ears around when she heard a particularly harsh phrase calling one of the ponies a whorse… it was mortifying.
“Luna damn him. Why did Suits give us this job?” Grove splayed her ears down clearly not wanting to hear anymore.
“Because he knew the two of us were the right ponies for the job. We're gonna have the hardest parts since we'll be up close and personal with these ponies. Then we're going to keep watch dur by the night.” Azure eased her down patting her back to calm her down.
“Joy. Fine, if only because I enjoy my ego being stroked.” Grove muttered as she picked up her tray.
“Not the only thing you get stroked.” Azure joked while Grove merely glared at the stallion. “Sorry…”
“You give up far too easily Azure. It was funny but you need to have a little more spine when you joke around.” Grove giggled as Azure pouted at being tricked.
“Wait… is this why Nightingale still uses those nicknames for me?” Azure questioned as he picked up his own tray and Goods merely kept working on her things.
“Pretty much. She’s waiting for you to figure out those little social cues before she gives you the benefit of the doubt. Let’s get out there already.” Grove led on knocking the swinging doors open.
As soon as the two trotted in every single Wonderbolt stopped what they were doing. The two placed the tray alongside some of the other snack foods keeping quiet as they did so because of all the glares they were receiving. Grove stamped her foot down cracking the tiles below her hooves and snorting loudly after she placed the tray down. Through sheer intimidation Hidden Grove had caused all the ponies aside from Spitfire, who was still glaring, Rainbow Dash, who was still trying to calm ponies down, and Surprise, who was frowning confusedly over the anger that permeated the entire room.
The two quickly left the room taking cover behind the swinging door and each took a deep breath. Azure was still shaking from the pressure he felt while Grove growled out in frustration.
“That… that could have gone better.” Azure stifled out getting his legs back into working order.
“At the very least we know how the Wonderbolts as a whole were doing. We can sign two off the suspect list as well. Rainbow Dash and Surprise. Both mares were more focused on either fixing the problems or trying to hide from it.” Grove muttered out as she looked through the window back into the dining room.
“I’m glad that all their things made their way to their rooms. All of them are on the second floor right?” Azure questioned as he followed Grove’s actions to look out the window.
“Yeah… Cypress and Bramble are taking care of things. I think that they were the ones that were handling placement of all the guests.” Grove mentioned as she kept an eye on the guests.
Meanwhile...
“And this is where we’re keeping all of them then?” Cypress mentioned to Ratchet as he led them around the second floor.
“Yes. Suits was clear on this when he gave me my instructions. Mares are in 201 to 205 and stallions are in 206 to 210.” Ratchet explained as he handed the two a copy of the master key for the entire hotel.
“So we’re gonna handle this floor then?” Bramble brought up as she put the small master key in her mane.
“Pretty much. I’ll be leaving this to you two for now. Memorize this floor.” Ratchet mentioned. “I’ll be heading around the first floor for now. I trust you two can handle things here?”
“Yeah, we got no problems here.” Cypress chuckled as he bowed his head slightly and Ratchet trotted away to his own rounds.
The two thestrals settled into a small groove as they walked through the hall checking each room more carefully. From looking at the objects in each room they figured out where everypony was staying. Of the mares; Spitfire and Fleetfoot were sequestered in 201, Rainbow Dash and Blaze were placed in 202, Surprise and Misty Fly were going in 203, Angel Wings and Vapor Trail registered in 204 and High Winds and Wildfire are in 205. Of the stallions; Soarin and Thunderlane are in 206, Lightning Streak and Fire Streak in 207, Wave Chill and Sky Stinger in 208, Silver Zoom and Wind Waker in 209 and Fast Clip and Whiplash in 210.
“At the very least we know now where everypony stays at. Bramble. Bramble, are you listening?” Cypress shook his partner’s shoulder getting her attention.
“What? Sorry I was… thinking about something.else.” Bramble muttered averting her eyes from Cypress.
“You know it’s not going to happen.” Cypress sighed as he rubbed his eyes. It was a constant topic that sometimes came up from time to time.
“You don’t know that! It could happen!” Bramble countered and was forced to take a deep breath to calm down. “I know… I know. A mare can dream though.” She growled out and continued to look around the hall.
“I told you that you should take to them about it instead of just stare. This world is weird enough already and stranger things have happened.” Cypress sighed out and looked back over the hall as well… up until he noticed something that he didn’t notice before.
Off on the floor seemingly slid underneath the door was one solitary feather, white in color and appeared to be a primary feather. Both ponies slowly trotting around it. Cypress quickly took out the small camera from his saddlebags and took a picture of it. After placing a glove on his hoof he deftly used a plastic bag and placed the feather within as well.
“So… what do you think? Actual evidence or just somepony molting?” Cypress looked over the small bag and feather.
“I don’t know. We need to get it to Dusty eventually and get it checked out. From the prelims, it matches Arctic Spire’s color. Doesn’t mean anything though since Surprise and Fire Streak were almost the same color. What’s really important is which room it’s in front of.” Bramble mentioned as she pointed up at the number.
“Room 206… Soarin and Thunderlane. Interesting… so now we need to figure out whether or not this is an actual clue… or it was planted before they all made their way into the dining hall. Let’s get this to Suits and get to the bottom of this. We’ll also have to wait for Princess Luna as well.” Cypress muttered starting to trot off to find Suits.
“Right… this is going to get worse before it gets better then.” Bramble continued rambling disturbed by the way things were going now.
Welcome to the Arcana Hotel
Beyond the wilds of the Equestrian fields, in the depths of the wilds near the Galloping Gorge, within the shadow of the forest stood a building that catered to the weary and weak. Standing four stories tall, the prestigious building held the history of generations of hard working ponies who manned their station as one of the most illustrious families within the Equestrian Nobility. The particular family which held dominion of the land stood the testament of time scraping its way to the upper echelons of society. They were the Arcanas.
The Arcanas were a powerful family supposedly ranging back from the time of the three tribes keeping their bloodline strong since their founding member first raised a name for themselves. The first member was known only as Major Arcana. The legends surrounding this figure spread throughout the ages leaving nothing but myths and speculations. The only known account of their contributions was to the creation of the Equestrian economy and the modernization of the bit. Thanks to their efforts a portion of land was given over to them to build a large estate home.
Over time the family grew in power as the house was passed from child to child; borne of the rightful bloodline. Each took residence as the Master of the Arcana Estate working with a plethora of different beings all to make up the Arcana Family. Regardless of what race anyone was, they would be accepted into the clan as one of their own.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How long are you looking to stay?” A young looking thestral spoke up from behind a front desk. He wore a red velvet dress coat over a white buttoned dress shirt which contrasted with the charcoal gray fur. His bright red eyes pierced through the night time air as he ran a hoof against his steel gray mane. Over time his royal purple wings twitched as his jaw gnashed from the silence that permeated the entire room. He turned to look at his mark and cursed the moment that he received it. On his flank was a sword crossed with a wand behind a goblet with an elegant coin in front of it which was all emblazoned against a shield. The mark basically named him and created him as the successor of his family. A family of one.
The entire hotel was quiet and the staff consisted of only three different ponies at this point. Four Suits slammed his head against the desk groaning in frustration at his dilemma. It had been a trying matter the last couple years before he was forced into this position. Head of the Arcana Hotel… the head of the entire family which consistent of only one pony. Him.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a… argh!” He slammed his hooves against the desk and rubbed the back of his head. The constant pressure in the back of his mind made him groan.
Looking over the front desk, a small scroll came into his view. Once again… another stipend from the castle and another feeling of inadequacy. Ten years and everything had gone so wrong. So much anger left to fester at what happened so long ago.
Long ago, within the royal palace of the sisters, Celestia watched as several of the nobles of the day court once again wasted time meandering through another topic of how tomatoes were the food from Tartarus. The only nobles who wasn’t partaking of the worthless conversation was the Arcana representative and the Shield representative. Three Suits, a unicorn with a silver coat and a dark purple mane with crossed sword and wand behind a goblet emblazoned against a shield cutie mark, was reading through the topics looking for the most important ones to bring up while Razor Shield, a rugged earth pony in what would be called barbaric looking armor with a spiked shield cutie mark, attempted to bring up the defense topics.
“Again Shield! This is the third time you’ve suggested we initiate a draft. Have we not had enough with the constant battles out on the west sea!” Blueblood screamed out at him.
“We have no choice. We can’t be putting all our eggs in one basket! Time and time again we get lucky with diplomacy but one of these days we will not be so lucky!.” Shield slammed his hoof against the table gathering everypony’s attention.
“I feel as though we are getting off topic here. We aren’t just being lucky here. We have had decent orators contending with the problems of the world at large. We can’t initiate a draft if we have no reason to do so. We are at peace!” Suits explained himself.
“And we are due! Our newest princess, Princess Cadence, is so ill suited to actually guard her section of the castle that no guards have been posted there and lest we not forget the return of Nightmare Moon nearly held the very end of the entire royal family.” Shield grunted out as his teeth gnashed in frustration.
Luna was still regaining her power and had still not joined the royal meetings. While Celestia frowned she couldn’t exactly say they were wrong regardless of how she saw things. It was best that ponies got out their vitriol before the stress would kill them.
“We have gotten better and there is already a presence in that city as well. We no longer need to worry about the problems there. A new guard has been posted and there is no longer any problems that is going on in that area. Right now you are barking up the wrong tree.” Suits vaunted out.
“You mean the guard you in particular managed to form up under these conditions. I would hardly call them a worthy addition to the forces arrayed before us. We are still ill formed on our own forces during the Wyvern incident. Have you seen the composition of our troops? It is shameful.” Shield hissed out.
Once again the shouting match between the two reached a fever pitch as they argued over defense once again. Blueblood had to physically restrain the two after they once again slugged each other in the presence of the princesses. Celestia never spoke about it but she always grimaced whenever the two would get into it. Always the topic of defense made things get worse and her ‘advisers’ would always showcase their wants for peace rather than marshaling their forces to make an effective combined guard.
Both parties left completely livid with each other while the other nobles gave both a wide berth. The guards watched with bated breath as the two rivals merely glared at each other never giving the other an inch. Canterlot never felt as much hostility as they did whenever Suits and Shield were in town.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How long will you be staying?” Four Suits mumbled before getting shook by another of his employees.
“Boss. It’s late. I don’t think anyone is coming tonight.” A crystal pegasus with plum coat and a feather duster as a cutie mark put her wing back down. Her crystal powder blue mane waved slightly against an unseen wind which just confused Suits completely.
“I know Zephyr but I am a night owl in a sense. How bout you? Why are you still up?” Four Suits kept an eye on her muzzle. While they remained professional he could always tell whenever she was uncomfortable. Zephyr Gale merely pursed her lip.
“I was hoping… well that you would come to bed tonight.” She shuffled her forehooves slightly casting her eyes downward.
“Yeah. Sure.” Four Suits stood up and trotted over to the front door pulling a key out from under his wing. The look on Zephyr’s face was priceless as though somepony had slapped her flank out of nowhere.
“Seriously!? You mean it!” Zephyr bounced around like a filly who got their Hearth Warming’s gift early.
“Calm down Zephyr. Let’s get to bed. Where are the others?” Suits asked while he locked the front door and trotted over to Zephyr and dragged her from the spot she was standing at.
“Rusty Ratchet is sleeping already and he finished the repairs to the pool and water filtration system so the pool should be opened up by tomorrow. Baked Goods is working on something for tomorrow. She said it was important.” Zephyr explained as she rested her head against his shoulder.
Rusty Ratchet, a large earth pony with a brown coat and silver mane with a ratchet wrench for a cutie mark, was the building’s technician and repair pony. He wandered through the building fixing the pipes and the heating system. There were times the old stallion would talk to himself more often than any other pony. Baked Goods, a short unicorn with a white coat and pink mane done as a cake with a bundt cake for a cutie mark, was the hotel’s chief of kitchen staff. She was also the only one who actually worked on making the food for the small collection of ponies still within the hotel. She also was married to Rusty Ratchet and their relationship could easily be summarized as hectic and volatile.
While the two loved each other; whenever something got stressful they would yell at each other to the point where earmuffs were necessary just to survive the constant splitting headache. It had gotten worse after their thirty years of marriage. Zephyr wondered just how the two managed to fall in love but she would constantly keep her head down and refrained from asking anything with how angry the two would get.
Zephyr opened their door and made a beeline for the bed while Suits locked their door. Even living as the owner of the hotel, the pair lived on the first floor in one of the more spacious rooms while Ratchet and Goods lived on the opposite side of the building. The pairs both respected and enjoyed their privacy.
Tonight seemed to be special to Zephyr as she laid seductively on the bed sprawled out and waiting her special somepony to join her. Suits rolled his eyes before climbing up on the bed and gripping tightly around her waist to bring her in.
“Are you certain that this is my child…” Three Suits looked down at the small thestral foal that had just been placed in front of him. The thestral mare in front of him stared indignantly at him as the stallion kept a flummoxed look on his face. She immediately slapped him to the flinch of the young colt.
“The spitting image of your smug face, you jerk. It’s time you took care of him and stop wasting my time.” The mare answered as she lowered her hoof but never took her gaze off of him.
“You crazy bitch. What in Tartarus is wrong with you!?” The two actually got into a physical match knocking each other around as the small colt ran off to hide around the corner. The two got more heated before Rusty Ratchet ran in knocking the two ponies to the side and keeping them from continuing the pointless battle they had started. Baked Goods sauntered in as well and immediately captured both ponies in her magic. Three Suits still snarled venomously at the thestral mare while she roared unintelligent slurs about the unicorn noble.
The young thestral colt managed to step out from the corner looking on at both his parents. His mother Tempest Flare still looked so angry… while the stallion who turned out to be his father acted so… mean. He still didn’t have his cutie mark nor did he understand what exactly was going on. He calmly cantered over to his mom as she was finally placed back on the ground. Laying his head against her chest calmed her enough to look ashamed from the violence that fell over them.
Three Suits took a deep breath before he actually spoke again. Even then he didn’t find the right words to actually verbalize. They glared each other down while the small colt looked over his… parents and their anger.
“Fine… I’ll have you two stay here… Is that fine?” Three Suits growled out.
“Good… At least you have some sense…” She muttered under her breath.
Neither looked ready to fully talk to each other. Baked Goods led both to one of the side rooms while Rusty Ratchet took Three Suits off to patch him up. The two didn’t speak to one another while the young colt ambled through the halls with them. It wasn’t long until Baked Goods needed to say something.
“That was foolish Tempest. You should have gone through the courts not like this.” Baked Goods warned her.
“You know that would have never solved anything at all. He’s too high up. This was the only time I could manage to put him into a corner. You know that Goods.” Tempest breathed out though her gaze kept to the floor.
The young colt stepped forward and entered the room first running around happily as Baked Goods got the two blankets for the two leaving them to their devices. Tempest shook her head and entered the bathroom slowly cleaning off her wounds. She knew she would have to fight for the two of them especially with how… brash Three Suits was. She slowly wiped away the small cut she had received from the struggle before exiting the bathroom. Her special angel was already on the bed curled up in a small ball. Chuckling to herself Tempest got on the bed and curled around her child. He groaned slightly before turning and facing her chest breathing much more calmly. It was the start of a very long day.
Four Suits woke up to a very heavy side. Zephyr nuzzled fully into his side with a very wide smile on her muzzle. Slowly, he pulled a separate pillow and slowly shuffled out of her grasp. She groaned slightly until the pillow managed to rest between her hooves. Four Suits stumbled over his own hooves as he made his way to the bathroom. When he looked in the mirror he was a bit… disturbed at how dirty he looked.
It had been at least two years since Zephyr Gale officially came to work at the hotel. It hadn’t been the easiest of loving relationships even for knowing each other for so long. It was rough especially since an incident where she nearly flipped out and smacked Suits for a completely innocent reason where she landed on top of his stomach with his hooves places where they shouldn’t be in the first place. The mark that was on his face had been hard to actually heal from. The fact that they were together was… miraculous whenever any of their patrons saw the two together.
The sound of running water brought him back to the real world as he washed off all the interesting smells that came from earlier that night. The whole hotel was still in complete darkness and Four Suits knew that it was still too early. The rest he got was… mitigated by how invested he was in keeping his marefriend happy.
Slowly, he rinsed off the tip of his wings which were still feeling very sticky and relaxed as the water drained away. Stepping out of the shower, he took stock of where Gale was making sure she was still asleep. Her breathing lightly into the pillow made him sigh in relief as he trotted out of the room locking the door behind him as he traipsed through the halls back out to the foyer. It took a few minutes to unlock the front door then traveling over to the front desk as he took the same position he had before he decided to indulge.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How long will you be staying?” He intoned once again in the same zenned out state he kept while sitting at the front desk. Looking towards the clock on the wall he noted that it was three in the morning. Growling slightly, he rubbed the back of his head and rested his head on the desk.
Again. He was once again sitting in the same spot keeping a dying corpse of a building from fully succumbing to its sickness. The hotel, for the most part, was still a functional serviceable retreat for anypony or anyone to enjoy. It boasted that it could accommodate any creature that lived on the entirety of Equis. Most of the rooms, unfortunately, were empty though. The small pittance that they had received from that small commune of guests had barely paid for the food and repairs. Ratchet had graciously worked for free since he lived in the hotel and the two of them were still together. Goods, who also worked for free, had taken to growing some of her own food stocks. Luckily, Ratchet was an earth pony, who while not a farmer, was able to make sure that the food actually grew for the most part.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How long will you be staying?” He effortlessly intoned while he stared around the room. The floors were black velvet carpeting with most of the furniture around sharing the same aesthetic. A leftover from his great-great grandfather, Hiero Glyph. He was a large mustard brown unicorn with a brown mane and a carving of the eye hieroglyph cutie mark. The only one who knew how to run a business.
“Listen Great Grandpa. We can’t keep making things in black velvet. It’s not exactly easy to clean.” Three Suits complained to an older looking unicorn with a dark ivory coat and wild orange mane. The wrinkles that covered his body were more than enough to tell how long that he had been around.
“Now you listen here sonny! This decorum makes anypony who walks through those doors actually think they are being treated like royalty. The numbers don’t lie and neither do the bits that are jingling whenever we have a rush of guests popping in. Don’t make up this poppycock of losing money on cleaning when it’s easy enough figure out how to do so, so long as you pay attention.” Hiero Glyph stared down his great grandson before looking over at the small colt near his leg.
The small colt noticed that he was noticed and looked apprehensive of stepping forward. He nervously raised his wing waving at the old stallion who narrowed his eyes at the sight. That instantly made the colt back away within seconds.
“What is that?” Glyph pointed a hoof at the small colt.
“He is my son… from that trip I took to Hollow Shades… Tempest will be staying here for now so that the tabloids don’t have a field day with this.” Suits coughed out as Glyph bore down on him. He nearly raised his hoof but restrained himself enough to not do so in front of the colt.
“Once again, you’ve proven me wrong. I couldn’t be more disappointed in you than I was then when you took a feather head as your first wife. Now I find out apparently you can’t keep your suit on enough to not make another buck up. Thank you for proving me wrong of course. Now what are you going to do about your other children. You know the ones that actually aren’t bastards…” Glyph pushed his hoof into Suits’ muzzle before the intensity of his glare nearly sent him to the floor.
The colt galloped off just to escape the ire or even drawing anything towards him hiding behind one of the columns that supported the staircase. The old stallion chose to completely ignore the bastard foal only rounding on his idiot of a progeny. Three Suits, for his part, kept his gaze even. There was too much to deal with at this point.
“Don’t worry about it. You know me and Twister already separated and we only had two foals. I doubt Cloudy Nimbus and Feather Breeze want anything more to do with me. This time it will be different. He actually wants to stay here.” Three Suits calmly asserted looking as nonchalant as he usually did.
Glyph smacked Suits across the face and glared down as his now prone form. The small colt ran out to his father out of concern. Glyph didn’t say anything at first. He grabbed Suits by the scruff of his chest pushing the small colt out of the way. His eyes were nearly glowing with sheer lividity as their eyes met one another. The colt shied away but never took off running holding his ground.
“You worthless sack of crap! You destroyed this family with your poor choices and this is what we’ve become! A family of bastards and whores! This is what our legacy has come to!” Glyph tossed Suits to the ground and trotted out of the building. That was the last sighting of Hiero Glyph that anypony ever saw.
Three Suits picked himself off the floor but never raised his eyes at the small colt. Everytime under shadowed gaze disgust and hatred were all that was seen in the young colt’s eyes. He trotted off leaving the child behind who merely curled onto the floor trying to escape the harsh looks he received. They never went away.
The land was still dark as Four Suits wrote down some notes for later. A few portions of the foyer were starting to fall apart and would require a bit of maintenance. Trotting around the halls he noted a few portions of the wallpaper starting to peel. Several of the small magical fixtures would need to be re-enchanted. At the very least the floors were all cleaned and while not shining they were within tolerable levels. As he rounded a corner he noticed that the storage room was still open. A quick knock made the inhabitant suddenly round through the door and stumble to the floor.
“Ratchet… Can’t sleep?” Suits looked down at the older stallion who merely craned his eye to figure out just where he was being talked to from.
“Sorry bout that bosscolt. I was organizing things again. We’re well stocked at this point but things are getting crowded in here.” Ratchet grunted ignominiously.
“Please don’t take that tone with me. We’re friends, aren’t we? What’s the real reason you’re up? I mean I’m just some thestral and I’m nocturnal usually.” Four Suits chuckled hoping to ease the tension he felt. Ratchet looked partially drunk… or at the very least coming down from the intoxication.
“Ugh… I guess. Just one drink too many. There haven’t been any more actual problems with the building so I got bored. Even the light wallpaper peeling I could take care of tomorrow. It’s just… It’s just been slow lately. I know my sweet treat is also feeling that dread as well. We actually both drank. That hasn’t happened since our last anniversary.” Ratchet cried out. The tears falling off his face actually showed how upset he actually was.
“That is rare. You two usually keep at each other’s throats so often I never thought you would put that aside except on your anniversary. I guess miracles do happen to random ponies, or hope finally hit the hopeless.” Four Suits calmly stated while one wing went up to his mouth in hopes of masking his voice.
“You got that right kiddo. It’s a Celestia damned miracle we even managed to keep civil with each other.” Ratchet grew quiet as he stared at his hoof. “You know… I didn’t like what happened back then…”
“I know Ratchet. We’ve had this conversation every time you got drunk on your anniversary for the last five years. Almost in the same exact position usually. I’d stand here listening while you ramble on about how much dad was a jackass then backpedal because that would be an insult to the donkeys roaming the land. You’ve done enough for me. C’mon. Let’s get you back to your room.” Four Suits stepped around the small pile of fallen toilet paper to Ratchet’s side who acquiesced and shakily stood up using Suits’ shoulder for support. The look on his face though betrayed how he actually felt.
“You smell as though you went through the horizontal Equestria Games. You know you need to take more than one shower kid.” Ratchet scrunched up his nose averting his head.
“I know, I know but I was in a rush ‘cause I needed to get back up to the front desk. You know I’m always ready for anything. Even if it has been quiet for the last week or so. At least we still get guests. Right?” Suits chuckled as he let Ratchet trot on his own. He stumbled slightly but managed to keep pace even with how drunk he seemed to be.
“That’s no excuse for a young colt like you. What if somepony did decide to show up? Then what would have happened when they smelled that funk in the air. You know how some mares can get when they smell that. It drives them into a frenzy and they pounce on the first available post they could find.” Ratchet complained seeming more sober than he had been only a few moments ago. If there was anything Suits knew it was how to quickly get Ratchet out of his drunk stupor.
“Yeah yeah dad… I’ll try to be more careful next time. At the very least it means I’m doing something right, right?” He lifted a wing over to Ratchet who only looked at the stallion as if he was crazy or something.
“Are you insane or something? That’s how they get you. First you find them touching your hoof every once in awhile then they lift their tail a bit and before you know it the harpy has her talons around you squeezing you for every drop!” Ratchet hissed out. It was a miracle nopony else actually resided on the first floor.
“Yup and you have been going strong for the last forty years. There must be some truth to how strong those talons are.” Suits rolled his eyes clearly showing how unamusing the notions were and how amusingly bad they sounded. It was contradictory but it made their conversations funnier.
“You mark my words Four. You give them an inch and they take a mile. I’ve been there and look at me. A shadow of my former self. I was a proud noble mustang but now I’m barely more than a glorified hitching post.” Ratchet sullenly growled out. Suits knew that it was the drinks that were talking for him at this point.
“At least we’re not like him… right?” Suits muttered under his breath. Ratchet grew quiet as they got closer to his room.
“He was not a bad pony… but he made mistakes that were reprehensible. You won’t turn out like him. We promised your mother you would end up better.” Ratchet answered resolutely pulling in Suits for a hug. Suits groaned under the strain of the hug. Earth ponies were ridiculous huggers.
“Thanks for that Ratchet.” Suits groaned out through the pain.
Three Suits was forced back to the parliament building as he and Razor Shield once again got into another argument over the condition of the guard. Celestia, herself, was forced to intervene reprimanding the two nobles and forcing them from the court. The two glared at each other but refrained their hooves from meeting. Shining Armor was sent specifically to deal with the two.
“Look… I know you two care about Equestria but this bullshit needs to stop. Now. I’ve already spoken with my replacement and we’ll be drilling new things but this needs to stop. We are meant to be a shining example for the rest of Equestria not boorish troglodytes who meander around whacking things with sticks.” Shining Armor warned the two nobles who never broke eye contact with each other.
“Then you need to tell this sorry sack of a unicorn to stop pushing my buttons. He’s already a failure as a stallion and he doesn’t need more excuses to show how inadequate he really is.” Razor Shield pompously roared out causing Three Suits to turn a harsh shade of purple. He managed to breathe out and respond before Shining could reprimand him.
“Captain Armor, I see you chose a much better replacement than this sorry excuse of a soldier. I’m confident that your choice will be a closer fit to what Equestria needs rather than this tin can dressed up as a clockwork soldier.” Three Suits smugly stated as the two butt heads once again. Shining breathed out in a sigh as the two nearly raised their hooves once again.
With a quick flick of his head and a spark from his horn the two were lifted off the ground until they calmed down and were escorted through opposite entrances of the castle. Razor Shield didn’t go quietly though snarling throughout his imprisonment and ejection. Unfortunately, he had the last words.
“I suppose having a bastard is better than knowing that your family thinks nothing of you at all! They won’t have to be disappointed that your legacy is through whorses and concubines rather than actual wives.” Razor screamed out as the guard who was holding him tossed him out of the castle.
Shining struggled as Three Suits nearly broke the telekinetic field attempting to chase after Razor and dealing with him in the manner most appropriate. It took another guard canceling out his magic just to keep Three Suits from teleporting out of the castle just to find him. Shining dragged Three Suits off to one of the other entrances and placed Suits back on his hooves.
“I’m sorry he said those things to you Suits.” Shining grimly stated as Three Suits merely shook his head and stared off into the distance. His eyes were dead and bereft of the spark he once held whenever he fought for other ponies rights.
“It’s not your job to apologize for others Shining… He knew what he was saying and there is no forgiveness for what you do maliciously.” Suits harshly spoke out as if trying to keep his natural cadence from turning truly poisonous to others.
“Don’t do anything stupid Suits. It’s not worth it.” Shining warned the stallion.
“I never do stupid things. I do necessary things.” Suits answered back glaring down the stallion though it hardly phased the Shining.
Four Suits returned back to his rounds as he made more notes of small repairs. Another tear or another rip and his small notebook was filled up with repair notes and locations. Only an hour had passed since his conversation with Ratchet and he had gone back to sleep to stop his drunken ramblings.
He made his way back to the first floor after checking the other floors for any extensive damages. The clock on the wall read four twenty at that point as far as his eye could tell while he made it back to the front desk and sat back down waiting for anything else to happen.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How long will you be staying?” He once again intoned slightly more jovial than he said it before. It was already that day and he needed to keep his wits about him. Reaching underneath the desk, Four Suits pulled out a small decanter filled with an amber liquid and a small crystal glass as well.
The small glass decanter stood stock still on the desk both enticing him and mocking him. He took off the topped smelling the sickly paint thinner smell. The sign of delightfully aged whiskey. Pouring out two wingtips he put the decanter back below the desk and stared at the small glass. The glass went undrunk as he laid his head on the table swirling the liquid around like some other nobles would.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits… and I need to drink.” He drained the glass immediately before pushing it back underneath the desk.
While he wasn’t a lightweight he made sure that he found one of the strongest liquors he could possibly find. It was a yak import and something that would knock ponies off their feet. Suits stayed clutching the desk as his face met it more personally. The room spun around but he made no attempt to say anything. The world was still spinning and hopefully he would have more guests show up.
Three Suits kicked open the doors of the hotel. No one was there to greet him. Frustrated, he made his way to the kitchen hoping to figure out what he could do to stop it. He stepped through the halls noting just how quiet it was.
‘Most likely she’s taking care of that stupid brat right now. Stupid brat ruined everything. Made me a complete joke. He needs to pay… Needs to pay…’ Three Suits felt his teeth grind together as his horn started to spark with a dull red light as he made it to the kitchen and silently ate some daisies they kept in the ice box. It did nothing to stop his anger. Trudging out of the kitchen he made his way to his office where he found Tempest looking over some files.
“What are you doing in here?” Three Suits snarled as he took steps towards the desk. Tempest, though, stood her ground flaring her wings out in aggravation.
“I’m looking for our son’s birth records. You said you were keeping it in your office so I came looking for it. Where is it?” Tempest grumbled back clearly annoyed at the situation.
Throughout the entirety of her stay the only interaction between the two came from dealing with their child. While they loved the colt their eyes always betrayed something that irked them about the colt. No matter how hard Suits tried he could only see the shame and disappointment in a bastard child that always stood before him whenever they interacted. On the other hoof, Tempest, instead saw Suits’ face every time that she took care of the foal. It was something she internalized and buried beneath mountains of denial and avoidance. At this point the colt was raised more by Ratchet and Goods.
“Third drawer from the right.” Suits mumbled out.
“Thanks.” Tempest grunted while looking through the drawer.
“You know we can’t keep doing this, don’t you?” Suits mumbled out causing Tempest’s ears to flick in his direction. He knew she was listening even if she said nothing. “Because of this kid we’re stuck together. I know you don’t want to get married… We’ve already sunk that ship faster than Celestia’s cake budget. There’s only one thing keeping this horrible wreck of a relationship going and you know what that is.”
“Shut up…” Tempest growled out lowly.
“Because of him we’re stuck in this situation. We’re stuck in the same house always forced to see each other. You know there are ways to handle it.” Three Suits suavely pointed out as Tempest grit her teeth in anger.
“SHUT UP! HE’S JUST A CHILD!” Tempest roared out slapping Suits across the cheek sending him sprawling onto the floor. “He’s done nothing wrong!”
“He was born. That’s the only mistake he ever needed to make!” Suits countered loudly enough as he sprang to his hooves. Their glares cut through each other.
Tempest pushed Three Suits out of the way crashing through the door of the office with the birth certificate underneath her wing. He didn’t try to stop her as he saw the colt walk by the door looking confused as his mother ran off through the halls. When their eyes met the disgust in his eyes made the colt dash off for his mother. Three Suits sighed as he trotted off ready to head back to Canterlot to make his case.
Four Suits looked at his hoof. Really looked closely at it so he could make out all the details on it. Small scratches covered his left hoof while a large gash covered his right hoof.The drink had done its job well enough that he felt numb to seeing one of his failures in so much detail. In all that time only ten minutes had passed while the drink worked through his system. Ironically, the same ponies who had sold them the drink had also put a charm on them to alleviate the drunk mess before it became a problem. Especially for how strong it was. Damn Princess of Friendship wanted to be safe rather than sorry.
The numbness soon faded leaving him with his thoughts once again. The moon was still shining brightly against the night sky though the orange lights were starting to peek through the clouds making Four Suits flinch. It was starting to be that time again when Zephyr would take care of greeting the morning guests while he slept for a while. The whiskey at the very least alleviated the need to get sleeping medication. It was just too bad it lasted only a moment.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How long will you be staying?” He spoke once again to an empty room practicing the same line he had used over the course of the last few years. It was a special day today, one he hated to know and hated more to even acknowledge.
Four Suits stepped back up from the front desk and made his way to the front door stepping out into the crisp night air. It was still cool enough that you could mistake the fall night for winter. The entire yard was unkempt but somehow that gave the grounds a bit of character rather than look like some bum squatted in the area for a couple years. Their budget hadn’t allowed them to get the gardener to come back to keep the place somewhat tidy. Even all the self maintenance that he and Ratchet performed could only do so much for the place.
Tempest had returned from a harsh day in Canterlot as she managed to finally meet with Princess Luna. The battle had been… harsh for both sides. Three Suits had been dragged into their small meet to discuss the dealings with their child. It had not gone well.
“Due to the precedence of already having foals I can’t place this colt as the true successor. Unless the others disavow you as their father, there is not much I can do for either of you. Do you have anything to say on this matter Suits?” Luna quirked her head towards Three Suits who merely looked uninterested in the proceedings.
“I’m sure you could track both of them down in a few moments. They already made sure to have nothing to do with me at all. Cloudy Nimbus is in Cloudsdale living the dream in the Rainbow Factory while Feather Breeze is in Manehattan schlepping some random colt… again.” Three Suits grunted as if bile nearly pooled in his mouth.
“I see… We have got them already… I just wanted to know your stance on this. Captain Raven would you let them in.” Luna motioned to one of her thestral guards who opened the door as two pegasi stepped into the room.
One was a mare with a pink coat and bright blonde mane. Her cutie mark was a nimbus cloud with rain coming from it. The other a stallion with a green coat and blonde mane. His cutie mark was a feather that seemed to be floating on the breeze. It was easily the most pretentious mark in history for matching the pony’s name so well. The both trotted forward until they stopped a few hooves away from Three Suits. Their gaze turned to scowls as they slowly stepped forward. When they turned their heads to the right they saw the small colt and thestral mare. A bolt of lightning seemed to crash on them as they realized what was going on.
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” Nimbus shouted before sheepishly covering her mouth with her hooves. Luna didn’t seem to mind merely watching the court’s proceedings while Feather looked at the small colt who looked as though he were browbeaten into cowering with his mother.
“Nimbus calm down. Let’s see what the princess has to say before we lose our tops.” Feather whispered into her ear making her clam up but the smoldering glare didn’t disappear from her face. “Princess Luna, It is a pleasure to meet you. Can we know why we were summoned here to the Night court. If I may be so bold to ask?” Breeze gave a courteous bow before standing back up.
“Of course young Breeze. We would like to know your opinion on your father. Does thou and thy sister consider thyself to be the fruits of his loins still or do you disavow your ties with him?” Luna slipped back to her olden tongue which luckily didn’t go over anypony’s heads. “We require it to be placed on record.”
“He’s no father of mine.” Nimbus stated bluntly as she glared at Three Suits.
“I’m sorry I don’t consider him one to me.” Breeze shook his head and turned away from the stallion.
Three Suits smirked as he knew exactly what was going to happen. These two were brats like they always were. Luna saw the smile but could only frown in return. This wasn’t how families were supposed to work even if she had done something similar in a bout of insanity. Suits looked unperturbed by the events transpiring and even Tempest looked aghast at the situation before her.
“I see… Then I suppose that means that this motion will go through then. From this point on Tempest your foal you sired with Three Suits is the rightful heir to the Arcana family.” Luna banged her hoof on a small table before her acting like a gavel to close the meeting.
Neither Nimbus or Breeze even made an attempt to look angry at their… father. They were now free from the name but neither looked exactly happy with these revelations. Three Suits left the room not even bothering to look back at his kids or the princess who nervously tapped her hooves together when she noticed him leaving without a word. The siblings focused instead on their… half brother.
Tempest pushed her child out to interact with his half-siblings. Both merely stared at the colt but even through their icy stares they couldn’t hide their sympathy. Feather Breeze sighed as he held a hoof out for his… brother. Nimbus kept her disinterested look on her face though even she wanted to know who the colt was.
He never spoke merely holding his hoof out for Feather in an awkward shake. Nimbus looked concernedly over at Tempest who merely shook her head. She didn’t want to answer but a stern look made her much more open to speaking.
“He still can’t speak. Something is keeping him from speaking. I don’t know what it is but there’s nothing to do but wait. I’ve even asked Luna to see what she could do but nopony has been able to figure out anything.” Tempest explained as she saw Princess Luna shuffle off for places unknown while Captain Raven led the group out of the throne room.
“I’ll bet I have a decent idea why he can’t speak.” Nimbus lightly groused while folding her hooves across her chest huffing the entire time.
“Nimbus, I doubt he’s done something stupid like that. Anyways… it's a pleasure to meet you… I guess stepmom would be presumptuous of me?” Feather waved a hoof at Tempest in hopes of coaxing her to speak more.
“Sorry. I’m not married to that… stallion. It was something that happened that shouldn’t have happened.” Tempest muttered hoping that her son didn’t hear. He did and lowered his ears for it. Nimbus had an inkling she knew why her little… step brother wouldn’t speak.
“I see. Well that is a shame. I’m sure my coltfriend would have loved meeting you. C’est la vie I suppose. Though now that brother here is the next head of family what are you planning to do?” Feather inquired making sure to gush slightly about his love life. He always wanted to be the center of attention.
“Make sure he makes it to adulthood. Who knows what will come from this. You two will watch out for him right?” Tempest implored the two… even if they weren’t her children. The two were taken aback but one look at the colt made them consider their options. Father was a bastard… and his own bastard was unlike him in any way, shape or form.
“Fine.” Nimbus answered quickly clearly annoyed at the circumstances.
“Sure. He’s family I will at least consider. The sins of the father are not the child’s.” Feather responded back.
The three left the throne room with the colt in tow while Luna stepped out of the shadows. Captain Raven joined her after her reappearance. Luna nodded to the guard as the two made their way back to the throne where Luna hid her face behind her hooves. It was frustrating. Frustrating and annoying that for all her power, she could do nothing to stop what was happening without appearing to be a tyrant or manipulator.
“Princess, if I may. What is bothering you so intensely?” Raven tilted his head slightly as if like a cat showing it’s curiosity. It was something that calmed Luna down from time to time.
“That child is in for nightmares. He’s sharper than he looks and knows that both his parents would have rather not wanted him born. I was ready to snap and shove my hooves through both their faces for being the worst example of equines to ever exist in Equestria. I stayed my hoof for now but something worse is coming. Something I couldn’t explain to them because even I don’t know what it is.” Luna cried out as a few tears actually did escape her.
“I’m sure there must be something we can do Princess. That colt could be brought under our protection learning some of the ways of the guard. I know he is young still but it would be the best protection.” Raven offered his idea hoping to placate Luna’s worries. Luna shook her head and betrayed her emotions.
“It would not be enough. It would rend him asunder from his strife and turn him into a target all the more. For now we must wait to see what happens with the Arcana Family. I pray I am wrong though.” Luna muttered as the next visitor was brought into the Night Court.
Four Suits made his way over to the kitchen as he searched around for the newspaper. It was the one thing that told him what was going on in the outside world and he desperately needed it to figure out just what he could do to bring in the business. The hotel couldn’t die yet. He wouldn’t let it just to prove he could keep this long tradition alive of the Arcana Family and it’s glory. Then again if it had died then he could go off with Zephyr and do something entirely else.
“Let’s just see what’s wrong in the world now…” Four Suits mumbled as he picked up the newspaper and looked through the stories at this point. Ten years after Luna returned and things looked to be going weird. The world looked to be going into weird directions.
Wonderbolts Disbanded, Unknown Future Ahead
After several years of valuable service the famed Wonderbolts have finally disbanded due to infighting between the group. Sides were chosen after former captain, Spitfire, 32, retired from active duty. Talks of possible candidates to take over the position were hotly debated as three candidates were chosen for the possible position. Rainbow Dash, 27, was the most obvious choice but the lack of experience made several members think twice. Soarin, 34, was second in command and was the most sought after to take part but pie obsession kept him from getting the position. Fleetfoot, 29, was also considered due to her work with Spike in making dragon pony relations smoother in transition. Unfortunately with several camps opening up Wonderbolts members soon fell to petty judgements. It is unknown when the princesses will actually create a new organization to take over once again. Talks are still undergoing with most Wonderbolts’ locations are unknown.
Four Suits turned the page away from the story. It looked as though the lack of airshows would personally impact their work. Hopefully they would find a new alternatives so that the hotel could host another air show. It was callous he knew but this had been ongoing and something that the ponies latched onto for their weekly drama. He scanned over the next story which just made him shake his head.
Shield Family Leader Razor Shield dead at 64
Razor Shield, 64, has passed after an incident during a pie eating contest. It was not suspected to be foal play but investigators are still looking into any motives that could possibly be given for his passing but for now it is most likely just an accidental death. Some spectators did mention that he was eating a pecan pie. It is unknown if this was important but investigators made note of it. Details are still being looked into.
That jerk had been trying to hurt the family since his rivalry with his father. Even then the Arcana Family was already dying out. Supposedly the Shield Family was down to their last relative as well. Even if she were to give birth it would not be part of the Shield Family. At least not given their own rituals on marriage. It was a weird system that they had the first time that he was forced to attend the meetings. Regardless he kept reading through.
Changeling Queen Chrysalis Still at Large
Chrysalis, Changeling Queen and overall evil individual, is still at large with no known sightings ever since those of the Badland Changelings led by their new King, Thorax, have joined into the Equestrian Concordat. The Concordat is the coalition of nations that have allied with Equestria including the Buffalo Tribes led by Chief Thunderhooves, Griffon Kingdom led by King Gregor, Zebra Compounds led by Zealot, Yak Kingdom led by Prince Rutherford, Dragon Legion led by Dragon Lord Ember, Aquastrian Navy led by King Leo, Seaquestrian Navy led by Queen Novo, and Donkey Industries led by Stalwart ‘Metal’ Donkey. Since the inclusion of the Concordat every nation allied with the Equestrian Royal House has been keeping an eye out for this shrewd sower of deceit. Authorities on both sides are promising results sometime within the year.
“Now if only some of those groups would actually visit us for a stay then maybe I could actually believe we had an alliance besides whatever a paper says. Political bullshit is what it is.” Four Suits grumbled as he crumpled the newspaper slightly in his grip. It wasn’t anything new at all but the news had to latch onto something. Every story had something behind it and the next one was no exception.
Sombra, Menace or Redeemed?
Sightings of former King, Sombra, have been met with differing opinions and most either slide to the full negative or the full positive. With Radiant Hope as our go to pony for interview we have been unable to truly ask Sombra what he thinks about the state of Equestria today. Crystal Ponies have mixed feelings on letting their once captor trot free while other ponies are frightened by the possibility of a relapse. Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, has assured ponies that Sombra is just a pony and has served his time in a manner that was appropriate. Most common ponies fail to see how being sealed in a time warp that acted like a stasis field counted as a full sentencing but the princess has assured us it wasn’t like that. Details were unclear and the Princess teleported away before we could find our better answer. The story will continue once new information comes out.
Four Suits quirked an eye at the story and the slight bias behind it. No real mention of Radiant Hope’s side or even any positive statements could show where the clout went when making the story. He shook his head and closed the newspaper fully escaping from the idiocy it brought. After exiting the kitchen he made his way back to the front desk noting that the clock had barely gotten to five in the morning.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How long will you be staying?” He intoned again as a yawn escaped his guard. Still at least another two hours before Zephyr would wake up… unless she felt the need to recapture her prey. While he grimaced at the thought it did make him smile even if only ironically. The light from the moon finally started to fade out slowly.
As the first hints of the sun broke through the clouds Suits looked back at his hooves once again and wondered. He wondered of so many things and so many possibilities that his gaze fully focused on his hooves. So many different things had happened and so many different things had gone wrong yet here he was, still alive, with an actual love in his life. His business wasn’t going as strong but at that point it was something he could live without. Though even with that positivity his hooves slowly reached under the desk pulling out the bottle of yak whiskey and he poured his second glass of the day.
Once again, he played with his drink, swirling it in its confines while he looked back at the front door. Still no new tenants or guests had shown up. Even at this time there had been thestral guests at the very least. A week long drought of activity with no possible way to get more customers quicker. Autumn had always been a slow time for him. With a quick gulp the drink disappeared and he felt the same dizziness and cocksure emotions whenever he did indulge. It was already his day to be sure. A day which would live in infamy at least in his mind.
The young colt raced through the halls of the building trying his best to keep ahead of everypony. What had been a game of tag soon turned into something more when his father levitated the croquet mallet and knocked aside one of the thestral guards that had been sent to check on his mother and him. Tempest was nowhere to be seen to the small colt who slid past one of the pillars as the mallet embedded itself into the stonework nearly crumbling the pillar entirely.
“Come back son! I want to share something with you. Accept all the love and hope I have for you. It will make everything easier~” Three Suits sung out as he kept an even tone as he followed after the small colt at a slow stride.
Ratchet and Baked had gone into town to get more supplies while most of the guests were out of the hotel. The guard showing up was a touch of good luck or perhaps bad on his timing. The colt raced up the stairs as the mallet kept trying to bop him on the head missing by a few inches at most every time. Three Suits had lost all semblance of his former stoicness. He managed to appear somber… pensive… even melancholic yet that smile that painted his face kept breaking the facade.
The colt rolled to the side smashing into one of the decorative vases that lined the hall which had the added benefit of keeping the mallet from smashing in one of his hooves. The mallet rose back up forcing the colt to roll over the broken shards leaving small lacerations over his flank. Rolling to his feet he rushed off through the shards getting lucky that nothing pierced his hooves while his father shambled through the debris ignoring the pain that started to well up under his hooves. Several shards lodged themselves in his hooves drawing blood yet the crazed stallion ignored the pain as he constantly swept the mallet around.
Rushing down the hall the colt desperately slammed his hooves on any guests door only to receive silence in return. As he got back on his four hooves the mallet rushed over his head through the door leaving a large hole in it. Panicked, the kid ran further down the halls making sure never to take the dead ends. The mallet was lifted back into the Suits’ telekinetic grip as he looked over the head. Another miss and his anger grew deeper. Forgoing his usual gait he rushed forward leaving a trail of blood dripping from his hooves ignoring the growing numbness spreading through his body.
The colt slid through the halls nearly tripping down the stairs where his mother was actually standing. She looked concerned as the colt raced down the steps using his wings to keep his balance. As his hooves hit the ground floor Three Suits popped out of the hall feebly wielding the croquet mallet. Blood dripped down the steps as he fell to a heap on the floor while Tempest comforted the small colt.
“Don’t worry son… we’ll figure something out.” Tempest eased the child down as the guard from earlier finally got back up and stumbled into the hall.
Reaching behind his wing he produced a small flare which he quickly threw out an open window. The flare shot up into the sky in a green haze and within moments several more thestral guards had shown up out of nowhere. Three Suits was placed in manacles and his horn was locked with an inhibitor ring. A unicorn that was carried in by one of the guards stabilized the bleeding stallion though the blood loss already rendered him unconscious. After the chains were attached to the manacles the guards flew Three Suits away out over the horizon and back towards Canterlot.
“Nothing to worry about…” Tempest hushed the colt who didn’t cry but shook violently as if suffering a panic attack. Three Suits had lost it entirely. She didn’t seem certain at all to the young colt but he needed to know there was some stability in his life. Tempest slowly walked him to his room while several of the guards stayed close by. The one who was knocked out stumbled around as if he had gone for back up a while back.
“Mam. We’ll need to get some statements from the colt later. If you want to speak with Three Suits at a later date we could arrange for it by the end of the week.” One of the guards mentioned to Tempest’s chagrin.
She was frustrated and exhausted. She had been out of the house making certain to get some groceries for the two of them. While Baked Goods did cook for them Tempest would insist on getting supplies for the two of them. Tempest placed her son in bed and trotted out after making sure that he was calmer than earlier. The guards could get their statements after he rested. This was going to be one of her worst days possible.
Already that particular day was getting closer and he didn’t want it to come. He knew what he had to do since it was getting close to that particular anniversary. Nearly six in the morning, Four Suits trotted through the halls towards the back door. He had a feeling no one would be coming any time soon plus Baked Goods could deal with guests easily enough since she woke up around this time.
Once outside he made his way around the small lake that was made by Three Suits and out into the intricate hedge maze that developed from a bet with Feather Breeze. Down the winding path Four Suits ambled along in the very wee hours of the twilit mornings beyond the copse of trees. It wasn’t well maintained nor obvious to the untrained eye but there was a cobbled stone path leading deeper into the treeline. The light covering of dirt crunched below his hooves as he looked at all the moss and overgrown branches which had obscured this place from the world.
“Can’t believe it’s already been that many years already…” He lightly muttered to himself as he pushed aside the debris and trotted deeper through the grove.
He had been seven… almost eight when he had been terrorized by his… father. It was a bitter pill to swallow everytime that he had to admit it to himself. Barely a month after Luna had regained her power and ten years since that moment since he took over as the head of the entire family. Ten years since his father’s final parting gift to him. Anger coursed through his veins as he absentmindedly reached the end of the path appearing right before the family mausoleum.
Pushing the heavy iron doors aside Four Suits made his way in wary of the dusty smell of decay lingering through the air. Down he trotted through the path grabbing up something from one of the nearby drawers and placing it under his wing. Ignoring the slight weight imbalance he made no superfluous stops or deviations from a path he followed out every single time he came through. Almost if it were like yesterday it took him twelve minutes to reach exactly where he was required to go.
It had been a week since the Trial of Three Suits had started. Princess Celestia had presided over the case of attempted filicide. It had been a long and arduous case where Three Suits showed no remorse for his actions calling the colt in question a parasite and a monsters in less vulgar terms. Celestia was appalled at the behavior with numerous members of the jury calling out for his life imprisonment. They fell on deaf ears when Hiero Glyph made his statements.
“He deserves the death sentence.” Glyph stated bluntly and so coldly that it nearly turned Celestia’s mane pale.
Three Suits looked smug as he watched his great grandfather throw him under the cart. Celestia looked properly horrified but looking at Suits she was nearly convinced by his lack of remorse. It was something she had only seen on the truly most vilest of monsters. Even Tirek showed mercy and it was barely there most of the time.
“Is the jury in acceptance of this sentencing…?” Celestia cautiously looked over the jury who looked as though they wanted to escape the gazing eye of their majesties stare. Nopony voiced any negative opinion and instead pointed towards Hiero Glyph who merely glared at the accused instead of looking at the princess.
Tempest looked aghast at the sight before her. This was her life now as her former… lover was little more than a monster at this point. Her son sat at her side staring forlornly at the show before him. Tempest merely sighed exasperatedly before covering her eyes with her wing.
“Then I’m forced to abide by the rulings of the jury. Three Suits for the attempted filicide of your own colt you shall be sentenced to execution. I’m sorry it had to come to this.” Celestia sullenly stated to the accused. Three Suits merely smiled as the guards led him away back to his cell.
As the guards led Three Suits back to his cell he willingly followed. He never let his smile falter as he made his way past everypony. For a moment Tempest and Suits made eye contact and the world seemed to freeze for them. Before anything else could be said he was forced further away.
“Come along son. We need to go… deal with things.” Tempest stood up trotting ahead of her son almost leaving him behind. She didn’t pay much attention to the situation as she made her way out of the palace.
It took another day before they returned back to check on Three Suits. While the guards were reluctant to giving him any visitation rights they still allowed the two to see him. Three Suits looked particularly calm. There were no manacles around his hooves but there was an inhibitor ring around his horn. When he saw Tempest and his son he merely scoffed while coming closer to the bars of his cell.
“Hello Suits… I suppose that this is goodbye then.” Tempest coughed out. The sight made one of the guards leave while the other remained close by in order to deal with any outbursts that could happen.
“Hey yourself. Seems I couldn’t fix our problem. It’s too bad I could have solve everything before it got out of hoof.” Suits growled out as he eyed the small colt who backed away from the glare.
“You’re an asshole!” Tempest screamed as she slammed her hooves against the bars.
“Mam I need you to back away from the cell.” The guard ordered as he stepped forward to move her away. He was too slow.
“Gotcha.” Three Suits snickered as he charged forward managing to jab his horn through the bar and into Tempest’s neck. Reaching out with his hooves he pulled her head closer pushing the horn further in. It managed to sink all the way to the inhibition ring leaving Tempest wide eyed and fearful.
She couldn’t breathe and felt a burning sensation in her neck. Three Suits chuckled as he held her close with the guard using his telekinesis to keep them together while he yelled out for a medic. The young colt cried out as he screamed profanity after profanity at his… former caretaker. Tears welled up in Tempest’s eyes as she knew what was going to happen. The guard didn’t have enough magic to keep them together and she couldn’t say anything without drowning in her own blood.
“I waited. I waited so long to deal with this but it’s done. I might not have dealt with my heir designate but I dealt with the bitch who gave me that news. You sent me into a path I never wanted to walk but here we are. This family is a sin against the very equines of this nation and kid… you’re part of it for the rest of your miserable life. I hope you enjoy it. Like it or not you are the fourth suit of this family. Just like the mark on your flank will tell you.” Three Suits growled out as his eyes turned to the colt.
There, on his flank, was the same mark Three Suits had. There was a difference though. Three Suits mark had a crossed sword and wand behind a goblet. The colt had the same only there was an emblazoned coin in front of the goblet which was framed on a shield. Tempest shuddered as Suits angled her to see the mark. Tears fell from her eyes as disgust and pain clouded her.
“What did I say Tempest? I told you we should have dealt with the problem a long time ago. You didn’t listen and look at what’s going to happen to us now. But don’t worry… death embraces both of us.” Suits smiled as the guards magic gave out from exhaustion.
Three Suits pulled out his horn to a sickening squelch as Tempest flopped to the floor gurgling from the sudden assault. The guards swarmed the area as a few pulled the crying colt from the area. A medical pony was on the scene immediately as they attempted to save Tempest… all in vain.
“Welcome to the family kid!” Three Suits screamed out as the guards entered the cell and locked him back up in his manacles.
Four Suits looked over the two particular plaques of the mausoleum. One read Three Suits, while not defaced for practical reasons, laid unclean and nearly worn from the constant neglect. The plaque next to it remained illustriously shined to a near mirror surface. It read Tempest Flare. Taking out the rag and small bottle of cleaning solution Four Suits wiped down the surface making sure that the plaque still had that shine and the cobwebs surrounding the area were cleaned off. It took several minutes of scrubbing to get his thoughts off what happened.
“Mom… you really need to know I found someone finally. No, she isn’t a thestral. I know you wanted me to find a mare like that but it’s not to my tastes. She’s a crystal pegasus. Rare sight really and she actually likes me now. Granted we hated each other before but I’m doing better.” Four Suits spoke to the plaque as if it were speaking back to him.
“Yes I’m taking care of things finally… I’m sorry… I’m sorry for…” The words clung to his lips. He couldn’t bring himself to utter them out loud. All of them were apologies… Apologies for being born at all.
As he finished cleaning up the small area he left, giving a small kick to his… father’s tomb. The trek back was still as silent and the path back still cracked beneath his feet. A monotonous trek through the forest back to the front desk. Throughout his trip back to the front desk he noted that nopony was up yet. Shaking his head and sighing in exasperation he took a seat at the same place and waited. There hadn’t been any new guests. It was seven already and while he was used to long nights he wanted to sleep at least for a while.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How long will you be staying?” He intoned once again making certain that he managed to put a smile to his face. He couldn’t drink again either with it being so early in the morning.
Zephyr finally trotted down one of the adjoining halls drink from a cup of coffee looking oddly satisfied as she sauntered up to the front desk and nuzzled into his side. Rolling his eyes, he still offered her a wing and held her close to him. She sighed contently as the two stared at the front door allowing the silence to keep them company.
“So… How did you sleep?” Suits peered one eye down at the crystal pegasus who blushed and nuzzled closer into him.
“Good… I especially liked the thing you did with-” Zephyr was cut off as Suits held his wing to her muzzle.
“I remember. I was there love.” Suits chuckled though he felt a lot of heat around his collar as he used that same wing to fix it. Zephyr swore that she saw steam rising from him.
“Aww~ I love going into detail. Anyways I’ll take care of the front while you go rest Suits. Don’t worry bout a thing. I got this covered perfectly.” Zephyr chimed in as she flapped her wings to get on Suits’ back.
Zephyr began to nibble at his ear paying careful attention to not step on his wings as well. It nearly made him purr out but he held it back by resting his head on the desk. Nodding into the surface he placed Zephyr at the front desk. A little disappointed she smiled as she looked over the ledger. That was when she felt a small snap against her flank.
“EEP!” Zephyr jumped up looking even redder than was possible.
Suits caught her in his forehooves and immediately nuzzled into her neck grazing his fangs against her. She couldn’t fight whinnying from the contact as her tongue lolled out of her mouth. He placed her back at the desk while she panted against it trying to get her blushing under control.
“No need for frowns, love. Just try not to lose all control.” Suits chuckled as he trotted off to sleep for a bit.
“You’re a horrible tease…” Zephyr moaned out as she waved her wings at her face trying to cool off.
“Not teasing. Just an opening to actions for later at a random time.” Four Suits called out as he walked down one of the hallways towards their room.
As soon as he was out of her eyesight he sighed in relief. He had gotten better at being an actual romantic but it always brought out a nervous tic of his whenever he got out of sight. Biting on one of his wing tips Suits entered their room and made his way to the small couch. From the smell wafting out of the room their… activities were still permeating throughout the room and the smell wouldn’t help him sleep. Resting his head on the arm of the couch he closed his eyes and let exhaustion overtake him.
The execution of Three Suits was handled promptly as was the burial details. Both bodies were eventually delivered to the family mausoleum by Hiero Glyph himself. It was not out of familial love though. The look in his eyes showed nothing but contempt. They were buried to little ceremony and no fanfare. All that was left was the small colt they left behind with a cutie mark of their entire family plastered against his flank. Hiero Glyph stared down at the small thestral colt and seemed to purse his lips in thought. He seemed to mentally be weighing his options as he called out Ratchet and Goods to the main hall.
“Well… looks like you two have a new boss now. This is our new heir designate now known as Four Suits,” He glared at the colt who merely nodded in agreement. ”And he will be the one calling the shots for our entire family line when I pass. So for now you two need to watch over him and make sure he doesn’t do anything too stupid.”
“But we don’t know nothing bout raising no foals.” Ratchet called out in frustration as Glyph trotted out of the hotel.
“I don’t care! Do something constructive instead of complain!” Glyph cried out as he left in his own carriage.
“Come along dearie. Let’s fix you something to eat.” Baked Goods calmly spoke to the colt who numbly nodded his head and followed along to the kitchen.
The colt, now known as Four Suits, kept his muzzle shut answering only yes or no questions. It had taken a few hours to coax him into accepting a room in the hotel once again. Even with all the ponies coming in and out that particular room which was once held by his father made him shake violently everytime he crossed the threshold. It was his room now, one that he was forced to accept.
The Rise of Discord came as a shock to the colt as several places of the hotel twisted and warped into pastiche sets for some kind of play. Ratchet had been turned into an actual sentient ratchet which hopped around through sheer force of will while Baked Goods was stuck as a cookie mare. When Four Suits saw that he mainly tried to ignore the crazy and go through the day without much problem. That was when Discord popped up in all his glory.
“Well lookie here. The cookie mare can and the little wrench that could. Looks like my work here is… wait why is this kid here not reacting?” Discord peered down at the child who merely stared at him impassively
“Get away from him you bloody monster!” The wrench screamed out as it tried to swing at Discord’s feet.
With a snap of his fingers both of the ponies were promptly turned into paintings and placed against the walls. Discord took a few moments to adjust them until they were crookedly right in the place they were required to be. He then set his sights on the small colt who showed no real movement except for his steady breathing.
“So kid… what’s your story? How come you aren’t appreciating all this chaotic masterpieces before you I mean seriously look at all these things. I’ve worked my talons to the bones making something that you ponies should appreciate in all its chaotic glory.” Discord waved his paw around at the gushing fountains of chocolate milk on the ceiling defying gravity while taffy soldiers patrolled the hotel looking for cinnamon bandits. The movie sets were being used by discorded ponies who were terrible actors but being praised by the others regardless of how they acted. Everything was stilted and crazy but hilarious to onlookers.
Four Suits merely shrugged grabbing a part of the wall which was somehow made of cotton candy and ate it. He trotted away heading for the back door which confused Discord enough to follow him for the moment. He reached into a small pack near the door and pulled out a hammer. Clenching it in his teeth he trotted through the soapy road carefully letting the momentum carry him.
“Well that won’t do… You have me intrigued now.” Discord snapped his talons and made the soap come to a stop.
Finding actual ground to stand on Suits made his way to the forest path crunching through the gravel paved road towards the family mausoleum. Traipsing through the iron door Discord immediately felt wary and something else in mind. It wasn’t pity. It wasn’t sympathy. It felt like… confusion. To the twisted draconequus he knew that chaos wasn’t accepted by anyone unless they were forced to but even he had his limits. Everything was free and able to move and change would constantly come. Here was a small child who didn’t change his expression throughout their entire meeting.
“And I’m a big deal. Meeting me is like winning all the bits in the world. It’s like riding Celestia like some kind of pack animal and yelling out heigh ho silver, away.” Discord grumbled to himself as he followed after the colt. Not out of concern but intrigue.
Four Suits finally made it to the coffins where both Three Suits and Tempest Flare were stored away. Managing to flap his wings he made it to the top of Three Suits coffin where a small statue of him was placed on display. Discord scoffed at the ego behind it then summoned a bag of popcorn as the colt raised the hammer and slammed it down on the small statuette breaking it off the coffin onto the floor. It was still relatively intact as he jumped down to the floor using his wings to ease the fall and slammed the hammer on the statuette breaking the legs off.
Discord summoned a whole menagerie of himself to cheer on the colt as the thumping of the hammer got softer and softer. The last piece of the head was turned into powder as the colt let the hammer fall and rested against the tomb of Tempest Flare. Discord pulled himself together and thought his options over. To say he was intrigued would be an understatement.
“Well, well… now what do we have here.” Discord picked up the colt in his magic who still showed no interest in the draconequus. That slightly peeved him off.
With a wave of his paw he looked into the child’s mind trying to figure out what was wrong entirely but what he saw merely made him quirk an eyebrow. A father killing a mother was something rare in Equestria especially with the population being more mare centric. It was a bit shocking but Discord merely smirked.
“Ah the loss is something so sorrowful. Still…” Discord placed a talon on the Four Suits’ head. “Perhaps it should be better to forget all about that.” He chuckled as several swirls appeared in the young colt’s eyes. The swirls sputtered to a halt as the colt just stood stock still looking around in confusion. Discord frowned and scowled as he tried again. Nothing happened.
“Looks like it’s your lucky day kid. You’re too broken already to break. So… how about a little help then. I wouldn’t be a true spirit of chaos if I was anything more than unpredictable.” Discord smirked as he placed his whole paw on the child.
Four Suits felt weird as he started to see exactly why his father turned the way he did. The cruelty of his great great grandfather and the tribulations that he underwent. There wasn’t any forgiveness for him but he did regret now smashing the statuette out of anger.
“Why…? Why did you do that?” Suits struggled to speak. His voice hoarse and scratchy from disuse.
“Simple… If you’re not constantly changing you’re stagnant. That is more horrifying than death itself. Maybe even as bad as being turned to unchanging stone. There is no need for you to suffer like that.” Discord smirked as he lowered his talon ready to discord him into a monster… but stopped out of nowhere.
“What are you waiting for?” Four Suits growled out before breaking into a coughing fit.
“Something more important came up. Looks like it’s your lucky day. Perhaps we should get somewhere more comfortable.” Discord snapped his talons and moved the two back to the main hall of the hotel.
Four Suits looked around confused and without the hammer he took with him. Discord merely smirked at the young colt before walking away nonchalantly. Infuriated Four Suits charged for Discord… only to flounder through him as if he was made of water. Discord smirked.
“Change them back!” Four Suits cried out as the scowl on his face hardened.
“Fine fine you misequinophobic troglodyte.” Discord snapped his talon freeing both Rusty Ratchet and Baked Goods who merely stared in abject horror as the draconequus stared the two of them down.
Four Suits rushed past Discord putting himself in between the two groups. Discord smirked but stayed his talons. Suits shuddered and shook in fear as Discord fixed his glare on the three. Then he laughed, and laughed till he couldn’t laugh no more.
“W-w-what are you laughing at-t-t-t-t!?” Four Suits stuttered out surprising both Ratchet and Goods entirely.
“You have been one of very few ponies to ever stand up to me and you’re just a child. It’s bucking hilarious. Only Celestia and Luna had the balls to ever stand up to me on their own merits without hiding behind the Elements of Harmony. Yet you’re still nowhere near our level. So for amusing me so much I’ll let you enjoy my chaotic world in your own way. Have fun.” Discord smirked as he snapped his talons and warped out of the area.
Four Suits fell over exhausted as Baked Goods picked him up cradling him in her hooves while Ratchet looked over the chaotic landscape of the hotel. Frustrated, he kicked as the wall causing the cotton candy to fall off and more to grow in place.
“Kid did good didn’t he?” Ratchet muttered as snoring came out of Suits. He covered his muzzle with his hoof as he looked down on the sleeping child.
“Yeah. He finally decided to speak again. Maybe this chaos isn’t so bad… Still I hated being a cookie. It felt like I was going to be eaten everytime I took a step.” Baked Good spoke in hushed tones.
“You think that’s bad. I was basically hopping around on my flank the whole time. There were a lot of pointy things thrown around the ground. That’s a living Tartarus.” Ratchet groused as he rubbed the side of his flank.
“Oh stop complaining. Let’s see if we can find him a bed to sleep in. Poor dear has had a bad day and needs his rest.” Goods sneered as the two looked for Four Suits’ main room.
Before they could even find the hallway all the chaotic scenery disappeared in a flash of rainbow colored magic. Ratchet had to rub his eyes in disbelief while Baked Goods impersonated a fish. Four Suits was completely asleep at this point waiting for something else to happen. Luckily, for the two of them, nothing happened out of the ordinary leaving them both sighing in relief. The chaos had disappeared.
Four Suits grumbled in his sleep as he felt a sneeze take over nearly waking him up. No one had come to disturb him. Even through his bleary eye sight he noted by the small cuckoo clock that it had only been an hour. Annoyed and still tired, he turned to his back and quickly fell back asleep.
It was his first appearance for a formal event as part of the Arcana Family. Four Suits had to be commissioned an actual suit for the biggest wedding in Canterlot history. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain of the Royal Guard Shining Armor were to be wed. One of the biggest and most momentous occasion in the entirety of ponykind.
“What a load of horseapples…” Four Suits mumbled as he sat at one of the tables preparing for the ceremony with the rest of the nobility.
Celestia was presiding over the table while for some reason Luna was nowhere to be found. Most sources and rumors that were milling around the other nobles were focused more on the incursion of Changelings infiltrating portions of Canterlot society and infecting the thinking of the city. Through all this Shining Armor was acting as more of a tool than usual. Mi Amore Cadenza or Cadence as she preferred was now acting like a spoiled bitch throughout the entire ceremony complaining about every little detail and constantly bemoaning how certain silverware were placed wrong or something to that effect.
“Quiet Arcana. It’s important that everything be perfect.” Razor Shield growled out at Four Suits keeping one stink eye on the kid.
“I’ll keep from complaining when you stop looking like a hobo who got dragged through a mud field.” Four Suits growled back infuriating Shield to no end.
“If I was your father…” Shield glared back.
“Yeah yeah I’ve heard that before. He also tried to bash my head in with a mallet so how about you say something original.” Suits hissed out under his breath.
Both of the guests next to them looked entirely nervous at the spectacle between the two families. Fancy Pants tugged at his collar with his hoof attempting to distance himself from the heated anger coming up between the two. Fleur De Lis, on the other hoof, kept her poise though the way her ears curled down obviously meant she was trying not to listen to the argument. On Shield’s side, the representative of the jewelers guild, Crystal Clarity and Golden Fleece attempted to converse with other nobles only to be ignored due to the other nobles managing to hear the banter between the Shield and Arcana families.
“I think we’ve got it down now. I thank you all for attending the practice dinner. We shall reconvene in the morning for the full ceremony.” Celestia called out to all the nobles breaking them out of their stupor.
“Yes I thank you all for making my day perfect as perfect could be.” Cadence sweetly spoke out next though her tone was… sickening for some reason to Suits.
“As perfect as perfect can be.” Shining added in though he was more subdued than most other ponies.
Four Suits rolled his eyes and got off his seat only to be ushered over by some of the thestral guards that were hiding in the rafters towards Luna’s tower. Scoffing, Suits trotted along following the guards if only because he was forced into this position. The guards didn’t showcase any sympathy but the few that were forced to interact with him treated him with the respect that the other nobles would get.
“I’m just Four Suits. Stop groveling like that Nightingale. I don’t need that from you ponies as well.” He growled out as the guards once again let a newbie address him.
“Right right… Don’t be so uptight about it Suits. We’re just breaking in the new colt. Isn’t that right Azure Shade?” Nightingale lightly elbowed the new recruit.
“Yeah yeah you got me… Can we just keep moving?” Azure grunted out.
“Aren’t you a fresh beam of moonlight? Sure… Let’s go and see what Full Moon wants with me this time.” Four Suits scoffed while Azure seemed offended.
“You can’t refer to her royal majesty like that!” Azure rounded on the small colt only to be stopped by Nightingale.
“Uh… yeah. He can. Though to be fair Full Moon retired a few months back because of the Grand Galloping Gala fiasco. You would not believe how bad the rounding up of the animal were.” Nightingale regaled them with the story.
Due to the intervention of the royal protege Twilight Sparkle and her friends the Gala had been turned into a horror show on wheels. Unfortunately Four Suits didn’t make it due to the incident with Three Suits. The colt shook his head in disbelief because of all the shenanigans that occurred though luckily for him Nightingale took some pictures for him.
“I can’t believe that they did all this in one night. Think this is the reason Discord popped out of his prison?” Four Suits asked. While Azure flinched Nightingale didn’t.
“Don’t mention his name…” Azure hissed out.
“Probably. Fluttershy was the one in the gardens and from eyewitness reports she did go completely overboard when the royal animals ignored her entirely. I keep telling the gardener that he needs to explain why they don’t just accept anypony but you know how stubborn that fool of a pony can be. Still we were lucky it wasn’t enough to let him go for a month at the very least.” Nightingale smirked as she peered down at the small colt.
Nightingale was a thestral with a steel gray coat with blue tint, a platinum strawberry blond mane and a nightingale cutie mark. She had always been on the easy going side even though she was also one of the commanders of the Night Guard. From time to time she would be sent as the caretaker and bodyguard of Four Suits whenever he was forced into politicking with the other nobles.
“I heard that. I also heard that that one party pony I heard about nearly destroyed the pony sensibilities of the rich and boring. Pinkie Pie right? She was crazy.” Azure chuckled out only to stop when both Nightingale and Four Suits stared at him.
Azure Shade was a new recruit for the Night Guard. He had a prussian blue coat with very dark purple tint, a jet black mane, and the cutie mark of a splotch of azure blue on a small palette. It was easily one of the blandest marks out on the market. Still he was, at the very least, working his way up from being a private.
“Oh yeah… I heard about her. I heard she had a mental breakdown a while back. Was there any truth to that or was it all just a rumor?” Suits asked offhoofedly.
“Sorry my dear colt but nopony truly knows.” Luna answered from behind everypony causing Azure to jump in surprise while Nightingale and Suits braced themselves from the same thing she did last time. Luna had a problem with sneaking up on other ponies… sometimes only for fun.
“We do not speak of the pink one basically?” Four Suits cheekily mused.
“Correct. Now come we must continue your introduction to the rest of noble life and what that entails.” Luna commanded as she picked up Four Suits in her magic and teleported away with him. Azure seemed a bit stunned while Nightingale merely shrugged trotting off while Azure groaned and followed after.
Suits felt the rush of the teleportation as Luna dropped him off in the tower on his favorite seat while she sat opposite him at the small table. On the table, littered all over, were the papers detailing the political wasteland between all families and what particular things needed to be done and what needed to be kept secret.
“Joy… My favorite past time. Thank you Princess for this.” Suits motioned to the papers before him while Luna frowned.
“Do not take that tone with me child. You and I both know that this wasn’t what I wanted to happen and taking it out on me will change nothing.” Luna warned the colt who bit back a response and seemed regretful.
“Sorry. I’m… Well I’m not exactly built for this farce. Plus this wedding isn’t exactly something a kid like me cares for in the first place. Besides… Cadence has been acting horrible.” Four Suits mentioned offhoofedly. There were other choice words he could use but the last time he did that around Luna got him tasting soap for the next several hours.
“Pre-wedding jitters is all Suits. Now let us continue your education on how nobility should act. Yes I know about your argument with Razor Shield. One of my guards told me. Come, we have a lot to go over.” Luna placed her hoof over some of of the papers sliding them over.
For the next couple of hours Four Suits racked his mind with information on how nobles acted, what they deemed important, how they dealt with the common folk, and general demeanor while in social settings. The drool on the table showed Luna how important these lessons actually were to Suits. Sighing, she placed him in her bed covering him when a loud cracking sound burst throughout the city. Several large insectoid beings broke through her door snarling as they attempted to capture the Lunar Princess.
Summoning a large shield Luna slammed the changelings into the wall knocking them unconscious. Before Luna could launch them out of the room more streamlined in. A few even went after the colt who woke up and scowled. Forced to action, Luna bucked the closest one and teleported Four Suits to her back and took off steam rolling several changelings in her way. The one that nearly latched onto her flank was kicked in the eye by Four Suits. It yelped as it was left behind rolling on the ground.
“To me guards!” Luna cried out as several of the Night Guards came out of the woodwork looking utterly exhausted. They weren’t called the night guard for nothing.
“They look way too tired for this Princess Luna.” Four Suits mumbled as he tapped her side to look behind her.
Several of the changelings that had burst into her room had recovered enough to chase after them. Snarling and growling at the small group which included both Nightingale and Azure Shade were backed up into a corner. More changelings came in as well surrounding all escape points. Luna merely snorted as she placed Four Suits behind her. In a flash of magic several armor pieces attached themselves to Luna.
“Verily. Come abominations and meet thy doom. I promise it will hurt for only but a moment.” Luna growled out as she slammed her hooves on the ground cracking the very floors without much effort. A few changelings actually backed up… right until the point where they all got a blank look in their eyes out of nowhere.
The ones that had been intimidated lost their fear and moved more like puppets as this point, flinging themselves at the princess and the guard. The two groups were thrown around as limb and wing were slapped and cracked against one another. Nightingale grabbed a changeling and piledrived it through another changeling. Azure Shade slammed a changeling who had clung to his back against a wall knocking it off of him.
Luna was the most dangerous as several changelings were thrown through walls out into the city by her magic. The few that had tried to tackle her down slammed head first into her armor which was much stronger than their heads were. The lone changeling who tried to bite her ended up breaking its fangs before it was bucked through a wall. As the changelings tried to organize themselves to attack the princess exclusively the members of the Night Guard tossed them to the ground breaking their concentration.
Four Suits watched the action frustrated that he couldn’t exactly do much at this point since he had no reach and obviously being a colt made you an easy target. The few changelings who tried to round upon him had rocks tossed at their faces from whatever debris Suits could find or flung away by Nightingale or Luna whenever they got too close. The changelings never really stopped coming as the ones who were down would come back albeit much slower. The wounds and welts were ignored. As the Night Guard members started to fall only Princess Luna stayed standing to fight against the tide. Nightingale while down, hid Four Suits under her wing as the group grew closer.
Before it got any worse a large pink shield slammed the group of changelings out to the farthest corners of Equestria sending them flying. Luna looked a bit flabbergasted but regained composure and checked over the rest of the guard. Nopony took any major hit but the fighting took its toll on the city.
“Whomever may stand please check on the citizenry. We must make sure everypony is safe. Nightingale please take over for Suits while I check on my sister and niece.” Luna ordered as she teleported her armor off and flew straight for the main hall.
“Come on squirt… We need to figure out what happened. Azure make sure the wounded get sent to the docs.” Nightingale commanded Azure who saluted and got a cloud for the wounded thestrals to be carried on.
Nopony knew the whole story that day but the Cadence who had been getting married was a fake and the Changeling Queen. Nightingale didn’t regale Four Suits with more information after the wedding before she took him back to the Hotel. Baked Goods got him ready for bed as Nightingale flew away.
“I take it that today was productive?” Goods mentioned slyly enough.
“No… Changeling attack caused some problems.” Four Suits muttered as his head hit the pillow. Baked Goods rubbed her temples and just ignored the pain that came from learning something that would have made her scream in terror. Ignoring it she placed Four Suits to bed and left him to his dreams.
Four Suits woke up again as he felt something laying on top of him. Through bleary eyes he could only tell that the pony on top of him was very shiny. Zephyr has somehow slinked across the room and gotten on top of him. He stared and stared lost in his own thoughts till she opened her eyes and stared him back.
“So… do you come here often?” Four Suits chuckled making Zephyr smile.
“Only when I have a chance. Baked said she would watch the front for a while since most of the guests that are here are out and about.” Zephyr replied as she made herself comfortable.
“I’m guessing no new guests yet?” Suits yawned out as he wrapped his hooves around her.
“Nope. It’s fine I think Luna might send more guests soon.” Zephyr brought up.
“Good… we need some business otherwise I think we might die of boredom.” Suits replied as he closed his eyes.
“I’m sure we could fine plenty of things to keep each other tied up.” Zephyr closed her eyes as well keeping her ear against Suits. The rhythmic beating of his heart helped calm her enough to fall asleep as the two started to lightly snore… a problem they both shared.
On suggestion from Nightingale, Four Suits had been commissioned to head out to the newly found Crystal Empire to check on diplomatic relations between the Amore family and the Sparkle family. Both were fellow nobles and finally becoming part of one another. There had been some rumor that the Sparkle family would be taking over the brunt of the nobility the two had behind them.
“So… why am I heading out here again?” Four Suits leaned back against his seat awkwardly. A while back he had seen a mint colored unicorn sit in such a weird position that it made him curious enough to try it out. For some reason it did strengthen his back muscles. Too bad he would be sore for the rest of the day afterwards.
“Well most of the ponies of the Crystal Empire have been in stasis for the past one thousand or more years and we need to rebuild relations with them. As for your question… well you were the least likely to cause too much trouble.” Nightingale answered cheerfully.
“Let me guess… Blueblood and Razor Shield?” Suits groaned. He knew both but only truly dreaded Razor Shield as an insufferable prick that he was. Blueblood, on the other hoof, was fine… so long as you let him believe that he was charge. Honestly he was the lesser of two evils.
“Strangely it wasn’t Blueblood and Razor Shield is so far removed from this situation that it’s not even funny. The problem here is the Angler Union. Deep Angler, the head of the Union, had made a fool of himself during the wedding with Cadence and is trying to make up somehow.” Nightingale mused over her paperwork.
“What do they expect me to do about this?” Suits complained.
“They liked you at the wedding before you nearly fell asleep. I think Luna wanted you to… act as a counterpoint for Deep Angler. Truthfully, they are still recovering from something that happened up here in the Frozen North. I think somepony named Sombra came back from the dead. You know… I always wonder why we sealed things when things get out turning the world horrible.” Nightingale held onto Suits as the train came to a stop. The two exited the train and walked off for the main courtyard where they could see a Crystal Heart on a pedestal
Four Suits led the way trotting towards the castle in the distance. Several of the Crystal ponies actually stared in curiosity at the small thestral colt and thestral mare that were in town as if they had never seen one in their entire life. For the most part they ignored it and met up with the Crystal Guard.
“Welcome Sir Four Suits. We’ve been expecting you.” A Crystal Guardspony spoke up as Nightingale saluted to the Crystal Guard.
“No Sir. Just Suits is fine whenever I’m around.” Suits explained quickly to the guards. He didn’t feel that old.
“Right… um… Princess Cadence is expecting you and your entourage in the dining room. Please follow me.” The Guard motioned for them to follow which they both obliged.
The trek through the Crystal Palace was somewhat boring as the entire place looked exactly the same. Suits sighed as it took nearly a half hour to even find the dining room. It was almost as bad as Canterlot Castle.
Inside the spacious dining hall sat Princess Cadenza Mi Amore also known as Cadence sitting next to her husband Shining Armor. They seemed fully engaged with one of the older looking earth ponies sitting across from Shining while a small pegasus filly sat next to him. Nightingale pulled the seat next to Shining allowing Suits to sit down as she took vigil next to one of the Crystal Guards. The Stallion glanced slightly to his side looking at the small colt that had wandered up to the table.
“Princess Cadence I think a child wandered in out of nowhere.” The old stallion tutted while the small pegasus filly tilted her head at the colt.
“No he’s in the right spot. This is the Arcana family representative Four Suits… well the last one to represent the family now…” Cadence coughed into her hoof trying to ease the conversation away from all this. Four Suits… didn’t care and decided not to be subtle.
“Dad wanted to practice comedy. He planned to smash watermelons open and wanted to practice with my head.” Suits chuckled slightly though the glazed look in his eyes told a much different story as he brushed off the comforting hoof from Shining.
The old stallion looked uncomfortable but a deep breath from Suits made him calm down. Shining and Cadence were a bit aghast at the sheer disassociation from the horrifying event even though it had been only a few months prior. The small filly scrutinized the colt not truly understanding what he meant.
“Sorry… I’m trying to ease my way back to socializing once again. Also trauma… Kind of want to just pretend it was all a joke. A sick twisted joke but just a joke all the same.” Suits darkly muttered to the table.
“O-of course… Anyways I am Scale Shine. One of the most renowned builders of the Crystal Empire. I’m sure you’ve heard of me. I helped prepare for the large dome that will come to host the Equestria Games within the next coming year. Regardless I’ve heard that you require my expertise in a matter that is outside your knowledge.” Scale Shine gesticulated towards Suits in typical noble fashion.
“Yes Suits. I heard you were planning to change some things around at the old manor. I remember that it sometimes doubled as a hotel in most cases.” Cadence politely brought up before Suits could answer.
“Yes… I needed to change some of the rooms around to make it into a permanent hotel while I make a small house out on the property to act as a home for myself while also keeping a room for myself in the hotel. It’s weird but I want it that way.” Suits muttered out while looking away.
“I see. Of course we can refurbish and construct what you need though it might take a while to get everything ready. We can build everything within a few weeks though I would have to stay on the property for a while. Is this fine with you?” Scale quirked an eye as Suits only to receive a nod.
Throughout the whole conversation the small filly glared at the colt. Suits finally noticed it and hardened his stare back at her. Cadence looked over the gestures groaning into her hooves while Shining also had to facehoof at the same time. Scale looked down at the filly surprised entirely about things.
“Zephyr please don’t glare at one of my clients. He hasn’t done anything wrong sweetie. Everything will be just fi-” Scale began speaking only to be cut off.
“Quiet daddy… Again someone is making us be apart. Why? Why? Why!? Why are you going to leave me alone again for who knows how long!?” Zephyr screamed at her father nearly driving him into a quivering pile.
Cadence had to hold up a wing just to keep things from escalating too far as the guards seemed ready to intervene. Shining took a sip from his coffee which from Suits perspective seemed to have hard cider in it as well if the smell was any indication. Suits hardened his stare erasing his emotions as best as he could. The grimace he wore was something he had seen emulated on every other noble family he had ever met aside from the princesses and the Sparkle family.
“It’s no big deal. It’s a job and he’ll only be gone for a few weeks at most.” Suits spoke up causing the filly to round out on him.
“What do you know about time!? He’s my dad and you’re taking him away from me for too long!” She screamed back at him.
“So what! It’s only for a short time then he’ll be back in your hugs when he’s done!” Suits bellowed back.
“No way is he leaving with you!” Zephyr shrieked back.
“He has a job to do!” Suits roared at her slamming his hooves on the table.
“Not without me he isn’t leaving the Crystal Empire!” Zephyr shouted back getting on the table just as Suits started to do glaring each other down shocking the adults in the room. Nightingale chuckled at the sight.
“Colts will be colts I guess. Aren’t you glad you dodged the bullet Captain Armor?” Nightingale ribbed on Shining who merely groaned into his hooves while Cadence blushed from the sudden attention from the guards that brought. A polite cough made the stop as the intensity of the argument somehow kept going.
“Fine! Just come with him then!” Suits chided Zephyr.
“Maybe I will!” Zephyr answered back.
“Fine.” Suits growled.
“Fine.” Zephyr rumbled out.
“Fine!” Suits screamed as he leapt off the table and walked towards the door with Nightingale in tow.
“Fine!” Zephyr blared out as she sat back down in her chair pouting the entire time.
Suits walked down the halls completely heated before he realized something wrong happened entirely out of his brashness. At the same time, Zephyr’s eyes widened in horror as she realized exactly what she just said and the implications around it.
“I just allowed that family to move into the hotel didn’t I?” Suits looked towards Nightingale who merely nodded solemnly before bursting out into laughter from the sheer stupidity.
“Daddy… are we leaving the Crystal Empire?” Zephyr looked to her father who merely nodded politely. She broke down into tears as her father patted her head trying to calm her down.
Throughout all this Cadence silently smiled to herself since she knew this was a positive thing that could happen for Suits in the long run. While she only knew so much from the events of the Arcana Incident she knew another pony in his life would make things go for the better.
After a few more hours of sleep Suits was woken up by the lack of his makeshift blanket and snuggle buddy extraordinaire. He looked around with bleary eyes as Zephyr stood in front of the mirror brushing her mane. She didn’t realize her sudden departure had even woken him up until her eyes saw him sitting up from his makeshift bed.
“Hi honey. Sorry about this but I do need to make sure that I take care of the front from time to time. While we were out Baked managed to get the laundry done. I’m glad we decided to get those arcano-tools to lighten that load for us. Still… at least now you can sleep on the bed without needing to ravage me again.” Zephyr tittered slightly as Suits rolled off the couch to his hooves.
“That’s good… Glad that investment wasn’t an entire waste. I just wish we didn’t have to live off it most of the time.” Suits yawned as he looked at the clock. It was still earlier than he usually woke up. Barely one in the afternoon and he still wanted to sleep in for another three hours.
“Princess Twilight wanted your input on another arcano-tool they want to release soon but they need to use some of our archives to find the proper symbol.” Zephyr quietly mentioned causing Suits to lock up for a moment… but only a moment.
“Yeah… I’ll get on that by the end of the week. They want me to head to Canterlot sometime this week for more putting on the air of nobility as they so humbly put it.” Suits sneered as his wings lightly did their sarcastic marks. Zephyr had enjoyed using them a lot when she had to deal with Hiero Glyph.
“Yeah yeah I know you care so much.” Zephyr rolled her eyes playfully before trotted Suits over to the bed.
“I could find the way to the bed myself, ya know?” Suits grunted slightly as he was pushed forward.
“That’s why you almost walked into the wall then?” Zephyr deadpanned.
Suits merely blinked as he finally realized where his steps had taken him… also how far away from the room he actually was. Mumbling quietly to himself Zephyr led him to the bed and let him lay down on his own power. He knew he was rubbish this early in the evening. There were few times he was willing to actually pull day shifts without having at the very least ten cups of coffee.
“I thought so.” Zephyr smiled victoriously to Suits chagrin.
As he laid back down Zephyr quietly covered him with one of the lighter blankets. It had been slightly chilly in their room due to the arcano-tool that fed cold air into the room. She slowly trotted out of the room leaving Suits alone with his fatigue as he heavy eyes slowly closed once again from the sudden shift to awake he had made.
It had been a travesty. During one of Scale’s visits to keep up maintenance of the hotel he had brought along his brat of a daughter once again which served to drive Suits to the brinks of insanity. Suits trotted alongside Scale making certain to keep him apprised of all the changes and repairs that needed to be made.
As the group made its way through the halls there seemed to be a horrible smell floating through the air. It smelled of burning coals and cooked meat. Suits knew what it was due to some Griffin guests who had brought along their own food… which Baked was forced to cook in order to keep the guests from leaving. Scale looked around trying to figure out what it was while Suits and Zephyr were forced together in his embrace. Has Scale not persevered in the act of keeping the children safe then both of them would have viciously sniped at one another.
Every fight between the two had been a cavalcade of barbs and arrows made from harsh words at each other. As the two readied themselves for another round there was a sudden cry from outside the building.
“PONIES OF EQUESTRIA! COME FACE YOUR END, NOW!” A bellowing voice roared from outside the building before the front door exploded off of its hinges.
The three ponies saw the door fly off against the main stairs as a large centaur stepped into the building looking around for anypony that was within easy reach. Scale quickly pushed us down the hall as the centaur’s eyes focused on him. Zephyr was still standing in complete shock forcing Suits to grab her with his wing and race off with her. Scale stood still glaring down the centaur as it stepped forward towering menacingly over him.
“A fool and his magic are soon parted.” The centaur grinned as he opened his mouth absorbing the magic that dwelled within this stallion.
The two heard no screams as they ran through the halls when they started to twist around oozing down like slime as rooms started to disappear and windows formed out of marzipan and licorice. A long serpentine body oozed out of one of the windows as it gleefully stared at the colt and filly that were slowly backing away.
“Ah two naughty foals running away on a romantic venture… Ah ah ah, naughty naughty. Still… children shouldn’t be caught in these moments.” Discord tutted as he snapped his talons trapping them behind a candy wall.
The walls were transparent enough to allow the two of them to see outside as Discord maniacally grinned. The centaur soon stepped around the corner yet everything looked back to normal from their perspective.
“Discord. Have you seen two ponies run through here? I know I saw something run this way.” The Centaur sneered as he began pulsing his magic through his horns as if searching for any signs of life.
Zephyr started to cry which echoed through the candy sphere. The centaur’s ears started to move slightly. Suits quickly pushed his hoof over her mouth to keep her from wailing while it looked around searching through the walls. A sudden slam of its fist destroyed one of the adjoining walls.
“Gone it would seem. I did notice some flapping wings shoot out one of the windows just before my magic could take effect Tirek. Besides, children are poor magic batteries and well beyond your scrutiny. I’ve already made sure you had all the adult ponies. No children.” Discord chuckled but there was no mirth in it. Tirek glared at the goofy draconequus before conceding his footing.
“Fine. I have gotten the entirety of all of ponykind. The time has come to conquer the princesses. Are you certain there are no other ponies in this building though.” Tirek hovered over Discord who stood his ground.
“Of course friend. All of the ones that you needed you have got.” Discord smiled back up.
Zephyr came down from her sobbing barely. Suits felt his gaze sear into Tirek… but there was nothing he could actually do.
“Zephyr you need to keep quiet. If you feel like crying just… just bite onto my wing.” Suits hesitatingly raised his wing flinching slightly.
“Ok.” Zephyr sobbed as she laid her head against his back.
During the entire struggle through Discord’s machinations Suits has pushed her behind him. Zephyr let her tears of fear spill down his back drenching it slightly. While annoyed, he didn’t voice any problems at the moment. Tirek looked around a bit more before galloping off, most likely for Canterlot. All Suits could hope was that Blueblood would give the centaur a stomach virus.
Discord didn’t move for a while sending a doppelganger of himself off with Tirek as the real him looked around a bit more. When everything seemed to be calm once again he snapped his talons again. Both Suits and Zephyr were released from their candy prison and stood once again in front of the draconequus. He snapped his talons again as several children appeared within the building.
“Good… Hey kid glad to see you’re still up and around. Guess despair didn’t take you away. It would have been a boring adventure, wouldn’t it?” Discord mumbled as Suits looked up at him.
“Yeah… Yeah it would be. So… want me to watch over them for now?” Suits motioned to all the foals in the hall.
Three ponies in particular seemed to be trying to corral all of them. One was a yellow earth pony with a very large red bow, a white unicorn with a purple mane and pink stripe through it, and an orange pegasus with a purple mane each getting the foals to calm down. Discord sighed slightly as he placed Four Suits on a pedestal and rang a gong. Everypony immediately turned to the colt.
“Hello everypony! My name is Four Suits. Welcome to the Arcana Hotel and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m the owner of this particular hotel and while I may seem young I am the representative of the Arcana Family. I know you’re scared right now but everything will be fine. The Elements of Harmony will fix everything and get Tirek back into his place. For now all of us will hold up here until everything will be settled.” Suits cried out to the foals who all seemed to be murmuring to themselves.
“Why should we listen to you!?” A pink earth pony with a purple mane and white stripe through her mane and a small tiara on her head called back.
“Because I own this place and I’m making sure none of you get caught by Tirek! That’s why!” Suits yelled back.
The filly pouted slightly but numbly stepped aside as the ponies all looked to Suits for some guidance. Zephyr felt her cheeks flare up as she looked up to Suits. She noticed that the draconequus had left though he fixed up the walls. She wanted to go to her father but something in her felt terrified. Suits slowly flapped down from the pedestal as it sank into the ground moments after he started to fly.
“Really?” Suits felt his eyes droop in sheer exasperation. For a moment he swore he could also hear a deep chuckle from nowhere. “You good Zephyr?”
“Y-yeah. Thanks for making sure we didn’t get caught by Tirek…” Zephyr tried to get out.
“It’s fine. We were lucky Discord didn’t allow us to be taken. I guess he draws the line at foals. Let’s go see if your dad is fine.” Suit muttered as he used his wing to grab her wing.
“Um… uh… what are you doing?” Zephyr felt her cheeks flare once again.
“Dragging you back to your dad. You haven’t moved from that spot since we got out of the candy prison. I’d rather not show up without you.” Suits answered.
“Right. Of course.” Zephyr awkwardly snickered as she felt more heat in her cheeks. It was impossible for her to feel anything for that jerk… yet she did.
Zephyr tilted her head back and forth as worry and introspection battled for dominance inside her head. She looked at all their interactions before hoof trying to figure out why this sudden change happened now off all times. Before she could think further Suits stopped mid stride.
“I need three volunteers to lead everypony over to the lounge! Any takers!” Suits called out to everypony. Three fillies immediately jumped up getting in front of everypony. “Fine. You three. Go down this hall and take a left at the end. It’s the large white door on the left.”
“You got it.” The earth pony filly answered.
“Maybe we’ll get our cutie marks.” The unicorn filly conspired with the other two.
“In what though?” The pegasus filly seemed skeptical.
“Easy. In pony wrangling of course.” The earth pony uttered in complete certainty.
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS PONY WRANGLERS, YAY!” The three cheered as they lead everypony for where they needed to go.
“Oh for the love of Luna…” Suits felt his ears try and wring themselves off his head while Zephyr had her hooves over hers.
“That was loud…” Zephyr muttered.
“Of that I agree…” Suits groaned.
The two trotted in amicable silence as the sounds of clip-clopping hooves soon disappeared from the halls. Zephyr quietly battled with her thoughts all the while never noticing that she stepped closer to Suits the entire time they were trotting. Everytime that she would try to figure out a reason against her starting to get a crush on Suits she would remember something that made it more obvious.
‘When we first came to check on this place he actually gave me my own room if I wanted it… even if it was done through a shouting match.’ She quietly mused to herself. ‘There was the time he managed to catch me when I nearly fell from flying practice…’ She felt her side brush against his which caused him to actually stop mid stride.
“You good there Zephyr?” Suits peered over to the filly who stopped like one of those deers when you shined a flashlight in their face. Of course then there had been a lawsuit by the deer kingdom to said inventor in Manehattan that spiraled out of control.
“Y-yeah. Of course I am. Hurry up already we need to see if my daddy is fine.” Zephyr pouted forcing Suits to trot ahead. He grumbled the entire way as they turned the corner finding Scale on the floor passed out.
“Well… there he is. He’s breathing at the very least.” Suits deadpanned as he trailed his hoof over Scale’s neck finding a small beat. ‘Nightingale was right. Learning this was actually useful.’ Suits thought back to those lessons realizing that they really were necessary abilities. Zephyr pushed him out of the way hugging the sleeping body of her father while Suits laid on his back attempting to figure out exactly where his life went so wrong in the first place.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have taken those cookies from the jar when mom told me not to spoil my dinner. It went all wrong from that point on… Not including dad… or grandfather… or changelings… or Discord… or Tirek… or Zephyr…’ Suits slowly got back up grumbling the entire way while Scale was still out.
“Suits… He’s still passed out… What’s wrong with him?” Zephyr sobbed as she shook Scale over and over again.
“I think he lost his magic. That centaur looked as though he was eating magic… maybe. I don’t know it was weird. Let’s just get him over to where all the other ponies are. At the very least we can hold up somewhere safer than the room with the large hole in the wall.” Suits grumbled slightly.
“What? How did he do that? How are we going to get him over there!? In case you haven’t noticed he started splurging on cake and cookies when we came here. Baked Goods is too good at baking goods…” Zephyr muttered though her eyes seemed to be looking back fondly on a memory of pastries from days of yore.
“Let’s just get some of the other ponies to help us…” Suits sighed as the two galloped off for the lounge everypony was staying in. Luckily, for the two of them Baked Goods was still alright.
“Goods!? I thought that centaur stole everypony’s magic!” Suits screamed out as he ran off hugging her… forgetting entirely about the other foals in the room. As his eyes immediately bugged out he recomposed himself enough to try and capture the dignity he had… and completely failed.
“It’s good to see you too Suits. I don’t rightly know to tell the truth. One moment I was cleaning up one of the rooms and the next moment I was stuck in molasses. Anyways… why are there so many children here… Was there a birthday I wasn’t told about?” Goods tilted her head making certain that all other foals weren’t destroying the room.
“Uh… no. A centaur by the name of Tirek is destroying Equestria and Discord is helping him… maybe. His motives are too confusing to actually figure out since he save you, me and Zephyr, and all these other foals for some reason. Once again, a reason all his own.” Suits muttered as all the foals looked at Suits somewhat surprised.
“Suits don’t mutter things.” Goods chided Suits good naturedly.
“Um… mam? Why are you all takin’ orders from this kid?” The earth pony filly with the red bow interrupted. That got both Suits and Goods staring at the filly in confusion.
“Well… He is the master of the manor and the hotel. I work for him.” Goods answered matter-of-factly shocking every pony in the room.
“He was telling the truth!” The pink filly with the tiara screamed out.
“Sweet Luna… Okay whatever. Look I need some ponies to come help me drag this filly’s dad back to this room. Can I get some help here?” Suits groaned as he felt his wing cover his eyes from exasperation and felt the sweat drip from his brow over his wings.
“We’ll help.” The so called Cutie Mark Crusaders called out.
“We’ll help too.” A gray unicorn filly with a blonde mane and white earth pony with a very frizzy red mane.
“Good… Come on Zephyr we’re going to get your dad over here.” Suits mumbled as he dragged Zephyr with him eliciting another blush from her from the contact.
It took a few hours before Scale even woke up and the sky stopped being completely red for some reason. Everypony had their magic back and it took a while to figure out how to get everypony back to where they needed to be. Discord, immediately, popped in shuffling slightly as he stepped forward to Suits.
“Discord… How was your adventure then?” Suits cautiously asked while the foals were in the next room eating something Baked Goods had finished making.
“It’s been… eye opening. I’m sending all the children back. I’ll also fix the holes in the wall. Things have finally calmed down in Equestria and things will return to normal.” Discord sighed as he rubbed the back of his head before stepping through the door. Before any of the other foals could protest Discord snapped his talons sending all the children away except for Zephyr.
“Um… Say hi to Princess Luna for me then. Good luck Discord.” Suits mumbled as he waved at the draconequus noticing that his shoulders looked further down on his body and he lacked that flair he usually had throughout his random visits during his redemption.
“Of course… I’ll be by to try the hotel one of these days.” Discord sullenly chuckled before snapping out of sight.
“I will never understand him…” Suits sighed as he went to check on Scale and Zephyr.
Suits slowly stirred from the bed as he pushed off with his forehooves trying desperately not to fall back into his slumber. It had been… a restful sleep as he cut his gaze towards the clock. It was four in the afternoon once again and another boring day of no new guests. Truly this was one of the slowest seasons for the pair.
As he stumbled over to the front door of the room Suits quietly put on a small black silk top hat with a sapphire blue ribbon around it. He had taken off his suit since he had no reason to actually wear the extensive suit that he normally wore. Muttering to himself, Suits trotted out of the room as he noticed that the light coming from the windows was slowly setting.
“Seems Celestia is getting ready to retire from the Day Court. Now where is Zephyr then…” Suits walked back to the lobby only to find Zephyr reading a fashion magazine while Baked Goods and Ratchet were, once again, arguing about something trivial.
“I told you those oats were too crispy!” Ratchet bellowed.
“I cooked them as I’ve cooked them for the last twenty years you old nag!” Baked retaliated.
“You cooked them into ash is what you did!” Ratchet argued back.
They continued their argument as Suits managed to sneak around to Zephyr, getting her attention so as to not disturb the argument. She smiled briefly but kept reading to keep up the illusion. The argument continued on before the two walked off, their arguments echoing through the halls of the betterment of oats and how they should be cooked. Also for some reason the mention of hay fries and how they should be prepared.
“So… Who won this time? I feel a bit bad to miss the last one.” Suits chuckled as Zephyr put away her magazine.
“Neither of them. They have been at it for almost two hours. You know how they get as it gets closer to their anniversary.” Zephyr smirked slightly as she pulled out a small calendar.
“Huh… I thought that was still three months away…” Suits looked confused.
“Yeah… In their words it’s always too soon. You know how they are.” Zephyr flailed her hoof slightly waving off their arguments as normal interactions.
“You know we might turn into that if we get to that age?” Suits deadpanned looking over Zephyr.
“Really? I thought we were doing it in reverse. We hated on each other then slowly went to sickeningly sweet sweethearts. Like double the sweet only more diabetes inducing than the next couple.” Zephyr coyly explained as she rested her chin on her hoof.
“Would explain why my teeth feel as though they are rotting out.” Suits jokingly chided back to her giggles.
“Well for now I’ll head around and check on any of the guests… Besides we do need to make sure Goods doesn’t completely bite off his head.” Zephyr sighed as she relinquished the front desk to Suits. Using her tail she pulled his cheek down giving him a peck before trotting off to find Baked Goods.
Suits chuckled silently while rolling his eyes. The small gestures they showed each had grown from far back then to something more civil. Still, he took his position back at the front desk and watched the front door. The hotel remained quiet like it always did as the sun slowly set over the horizon.
For two hours Suits stood vigil over those hallowed halls with nary an outburst or commotion breaking that concentration. Then Suits’ head slammed against the desk with a delightful thunk resounding through the halls. Ratchet’s ears perked noticing the slam only to ignore it and continue the maintenance of the hotel. Goods heard it while baking dinner for their pseudo-family, sighing and returning to getting the aspirin out of one of the conjoined cabinets. Zephyr felt her ear quirk but quickly ignored the sound since nine times out of ten it was only Suits’ head knocking on wood.
“Bored… So bored… Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How long will you be staying?” Suits muttered before returning back to the ledger.
There had been four families staying on vacation and all of them had kept to themselves and ensconced in their rooms while the hotel kept running their operations. The first family was of the Jewelers Guild, Crystal Clarity and Golden Fleece, who were getting ready to make a trip over to the Crystal Empire. He hated them entirely out of how they acted… especially after that incident with the second changeling incursions.
“How in Tartarus are we still getting refugees!” Suits shouted out. It had been a wild four years since the inclusion of changelings into society and the sudden rush of monsters out of nowhere. Rumors were abound as several aspects of Changeling Society came to the forefront including the idea of the Changeling Courts.
In some cases dealing with the Spring Court and the Autumn Court were manageable but the Summer and Winter Courts were pushing the very boundaries of the constant spirit of unity that pervaded throughout Equestria. It didn’t help that Discord and Fluttershy were the liaison while working through the Arcana Hotel as a base for those attacked by the Winter Courts.
Suits looked over the small instructions and how the Winter Court was made up of the dregs of their society. Their rapists, murderers and generally abhorrent citizens who wouldn’t change how they acted were banished to. Fluttershy, while good with those who were hurting wasn’t fit to deal with the constant stress that entailed that position.
“I-I’m sorry…” Fluttershy mumbled as she handed me more papers detailing the next group coming.
“Even with Discord we don’t have enough space to deal with this many beings. Have the ponies over at the Crystal Empire not figured out what they need to do or is Sparkle taking her sweet time again.” Suits growled out as he saw another hundred ponies were inbound. “Discord!”
“What? I can hear you without having you yell for me. What is it- Oh Fluttershy are you alright?” Discord kneeled down before her showing her sympathy which he probably picked up from watching her. Strangely, it seemed his eyes did understand what it meant to show sympathy which managed to draw a smile from her.
“Oh… it’s just that we are running out of space… and while I know you mean well we need to have more rooms that aren’t so chaotic… If you please.” Fluttershy tapped her hooves nervously together as her mane covered her eyes. With a graceful move of her hoof she brushed it out of the way. Suits facehoofed because had it been anypony else who had done that it would have been a seduction tactic.
“For you Fluttershy, anything.” Discord politely nodded as he snapped his talon and Suits felt the magic in the air change.
Getting out of his chair, Suits trotted out into the hall where several new rooms had been erected. Zephyr came trotting up to him. For some strange reason she had stayed behind under Baked Goods care even though Scale Shine had left back for the Crystal Empire months ago. She quickly pointed out the several rooms that had been added only for him to point at Discord who was amicably chatting with Fluttershy. She also facehoofed and trotted off with a quick nod to tell Ratchet before he had a heart attack. Suits felt his gaze slowly trail down to her flank before slapping himself out of it.
“Stop that…” Suits muttered only to feel four pointed stares from somewhere. To his left were Discord and Fluttershy while behind him was Crystal Clarity and her lover Golden Fleece. He glared at the four with the clear word that he would punish them any possible way he could. Fluttershy ignored that and patted him on his head like a mother would. He didn’t have a chance.
“Don’t worry… you’ll get her eventually.” Fluttershy sweetly muttered into my ear. Discord, for his part, gave me a thumbs up which he explained was actually good. The other two, on the other hoof, looked at me with disdain.
“I suppose a commoner is all you can find, eh Suits?” Fleece spoke up tittering into her hoof. Suits had to physically keep Fluttershy from responding. If she was forced to cry Discord was unhappy. When Discord was unhappy bad things happened.
“At the very least she actually fits the crystal theme, right Clarity?” Suits shot back. Throughout their entire relationship Fleece was constantly cruel. With her golden coat and mane with her dark purple eyes, she was the epitome of gaudy in his eyes. Her mark of a cape of golden fleece with purple lining just sealed the whole package. Clarity, who was laughing up a storm, instantly scowled at Suits. For all her talk Clarity was far and distant from being close to a Crystal pony. With a dark mauve coat and ruby red mane she carried herself like a jewel. Her cutie mark was the only thing that evidently made her crystal in any sense of the word as it was a large ornate crystal that was clear and see through. Her coat faded through the crystal. She was also the only way to hurt Fleece in any possible way.
Golden Fleece was one of the most decadent nobles to ever live within Canterlot. Not even Blueblood was as bad as her. The rumors all kept up about her taste for young unicorn colts but nothing was ever substantiated. That decadence also made her impossible to insult since she would always take it in stride. Crystal Clarity was her lover and enabler. She would encourage these acts but the fragile ego she had would never allow her to have her own backbone. She was also the only one that Golden Fleece actually cared about.
“I think we’ll just go back to getting things ready then.” Fleece glared at Suits leading Clarity away as she started sobbing into Fleece’s shoulder.
“That wasn’t very nice Suits…” Fluttershy glowered slightly though he glower was very ineffective.
“Neither was what they said and I won’t stand around and let them insult anypony that I- I mean they have no right to speak like that and if they want to speak like that then they will get the consequences for it.” Suits quickly argued cutting off his own declaration to Fluttershy’s knowing stare.
“I must say I am glad that you haven’t lost that fire in your soul at the very least. Ah it seems like yesterday when I threatened to discord your soul. Fun times… fun times.” Discord wistfully sighed looking back through his memories of times long passed.
Fluttershy looked a little uncomfortable by that notion. Both Suits and Discord were forced to sit her down just to explain that there wasn’t any problem between the two and that they were indeed friends… sort of. They never explained how Discord only saw Suits as an enticing distraction back then while Suits saw Discord as an enabler for his more destructive tendencies.
“I wish you two wouldn’t immediately go to confrontations…” Fluttershy mumbled as they both focused on her.
“Sorry. I’m not going to let anypony walk all over me.” Suits explained with a sorrowful look in his eyes.
“I’d prefer there be more confrontations. It helps me make sure that ponies are at least trying to grow stronger.” Discord idly rolled his eyes as looked over his shoulder.
Fluttershy merely sighed and numbly nodded. She had gotten used to fighting back sometimes but the concept of actual arguing was lost on her. With the incursion of the Winter Court she was forced into situations where not even kindness was enough. Still she never lost that spark for kindness tempering it with the determination she showed when dealing with animals.
“We have to get ready… I feel more changelings in the area.” Discord numbly stated as he snapped his talons teleporting the three outside where Nightingale stood at attention ordering her troops into position.
The very expanse of plains that bordered the hotel was full of craters and several changeling goo formations from the attack. Several ponies of both the Day and Night Guard were in position fending off swarms of changelings from multiple positions. Fluttershy wanted to instinctively curl up and escape but regardless of the tears streaming down her cheeks she kept trotting calmly towards the front command position. Discord noted it looking extremely proud in his own way while waving a small ‘Go Fluttershy’ flag.
“We have word that Twilight has finished getting what she needed for the final battle. It seems as though Spike the dragon will be entering the fray.” Nightingale whispered into Suits’ ear. While used to the surprise, his ear still shuddered from the sudden shift in decibels.
“Isn’t he really tiny though?” Suits perked up quirking an eyebrow in confusion over her statement.
“Don’t worry. They have a plan.” Nightingale smiled as she flew back off ordering more of the troops to get ready.
Discord merely kept the survivors safe. Suits had asked him why he didn’t just implode every bad guy which got them into a discussion of morality and how he felt on the matter. He hated death in every sense and while he could stop all the changelings immediately it would be on an all or nothing system. The last time he faced them they had found an anti magic artifact that could block his magic. It was something he didn’t want to deal with in the first place.
Before Fluttershy could break up their debate on morality a loud roar echoed throughout the plains as a large purple dragon stood over the horizon smacking changelings around while wearing this impressive looking armor throughout its rampage. The carnage was something as the changelings were forced into retreat with Chrysalis flying off with the rest of the Winter Court.
“Well thank Celestia… Now we just get the refugees back on their hooves and we’re golden.” Suits grumbled out while Fluttershy smiled up at the purple dragon that was traipsing around like he owned the placed.
“So… we can still have the fondue fountain right?” Discord brought up. Suits groaned as he remembered that Discord wanted to add a fountain to the main hall for a night that dripped out chocolate syrup.
“If you clean up afterwards then yes. I also mean my idea of clean and not yours Discord.” Suits chided before rubbing his hoof against his eyes. He regretted the last time Discord cleaned something entirely.
Suits had finished up eating with Zephyr, Ratchet and Goods before returning to the front desk. Still nobody had shown up at all. Staring down at the ledger he looked over the other families staying. One was a pair of sisters going by Sunflower and Babs Seed. The Seed sisters seemed to want to get away from it all. Even though they were quiet they were still leagues above Clarity or Fleece which he only dealt with when money was paid in advance.
The third family was stranger than that being a buffalo and pony who seemed to be married to each other. Braeburn Apple and Little Stronghoof were some of the hardest workers that he had ever met. While Suits had been working on maintaining the lawn at least a little but Braeburn had come out to assist in mowing the lawn. That had started the awkward conversation of mares in general and things Suits didn’t want to discuss in the slightest. The pair had just gotten married and were celebrating a honeymoon of sorts. Though from the look in his eyes he just wanted to ease family into this relationship.
“I never want to hear another apple related sex joke for as long as I live. I had to make friends with the cowcolt didn’t I?” Suits muttered to himself as he laid his head against the desk.
The final group was probably the most unexpected in so many cases. A Radiant Hope had come in with her fiance who went by Sombra Hope… It was unnatural for the stallion to take on the wife’s title but Suits wasn’t much for ceremony since his own upbringing involved his father trying to kill him. Still he didn’t turn them away and gave them a room which they paid for in gems. Very expensive looking gems and had made the hotel their home in a sense.
While Suits initially was wary that they had bought a room for so long he eventually liked the whole idea of rent and acquiesced to their wants of permanently having a room in the hotel. They were also hardly seen as they rented a small storage unit that rested nearby on the property. He really needed to check on what they were hiding in case they were criminals but Suits for the most part didn’t care.
There was a storm bursting through the plains once again and several pony made lakes appeared once again. Three years since the incursion of the Winter Courts and Equestria was once again back on track to being a land of peace and harmony. Though before they could get that far the Crystal Empire was once again under siege of some sort with several mind controlled beings being forced to steal the Crystal Heart. The papers on the incident were sparse with details but Zephyr had received a letter from her father which told the true story.
A pony of unknown name manipulated Queen Chrysalis to take control of several beings in order to assist this pony for ultimate power. This led in no small part to the revival of King Sombra. Suits had to prop Zephyr on his side just to get the pony to stop from freaking out anymore than she did. The letter continued about shadow creatures called Umbrum rising from below the castle in an attempt to turn everything into anarchal slaughter of some sort. Through a convoluted plan the Umbrum were defeated and Sombra was redeemed and revived into a full pony.
Suits closed the letter while Zephyr groggily trotted over to her bed. Taking note he allowed Zephyr to lean against him while he led her to her bed. Both of them were getting to be fifteen and neither could properly look each other in the eye. Mumbling their greetings to each other and awkwardly standing closed to one another whenever and wherever they were. Once asleep Suits returned to the front desk when the door swung wide open and two ponies he had never seen popped into the hall. One was a heliotropic unicorn mare with an arctic blue mane. With the still blowing wind he could tell her mark was a gold caduceus from right under the cloak she wore. The other was a gray unicorn stallion with a black mane with a band around his head that included an emerald resting above his horn. His cutie mark was hidden away much more thoroughly as his red aura lit from his horn closing the door against the rain.
“Finally out of the rain… Oh… uh hello is this place open for business.” The mare spoke aloud trotting up to the front desk while the stallion did his best to keep up.
“Yes. You two are quite the daredevils for getting through that storm. While rare every once in a while the wild storms hit the plains out there. Oh before I forget… Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How long will you be staying?” Suits easily switched between the two offering his hoof and receiving a hoof shake in return.
“How long are you willing to put up with us?” The stallion joked while the mare seemed a bit on edge by the statement.
“As long as you pay for the rooms then it’s fine with me. This place is dead most of the time and the only reason we’re still up is cause I’m so adorable that everypony always comes looking for me.” Suits deadpanned rolling his eyes to their chuckling. It was something he planned whenever meeting new guests. Ease their tension and they would be willing to stay for a long time paying for the hospitality and calm atmosphere that that would bring.
“Um… If you don’t mind we do need to stay for a very long time. Do you accept gems as payment?” The mare cautiously placed a very well cut diamond on the desk which Suits scrutinized.
“It’s nice… Hm… Since the storm outside is not fit for beast or pony I can give you a room tonight on the house. We’ll talk more on payment tomorrow after you rest up for the night.” Suits waved off the diamond to the couple’s surprise.
“Are you sure? I mean… I know Equestria is all about peace and goodwill towards ponies but this seems a bit too good to be true.” The mare looked absolutely confused.
“It’s true. I mean I got helped a lot and even I’m still in shock over that.” The stallion brought up seemingly staring off towards the sky as if looking through his memory.
“Yup. We need more guests but if you’re willing to pay to be tenants instead then I’ll make sure to give you better motivation to stay to the point where whenever you’re talking about me the conversation always ends with you saying, ‘geez, ain’t he a swell stallion.’ . Even I like the ego boost every once in a while.” Suits finished lazily twirling his hoof in the air.
“Thanks… truly we both mean it. It’s been a very trying time for the both of us.” The stallion explained as he looked devastated. The world hadn’t been kind to him in a long time.
“No problem. I just need your names for the ledger. Gotta keep some records in that respect for the payment.” Suits explained only to see the two shy away. “Come on now I need to do this.”
“You see…” The mare began.
“My name is Sombra and this is Radiant Hope.” Sombra explained.
“Ok I have that down thanks. I’ll take you to your… room… oh…” Suits realized who he was speaking to from the letter. He scrutinized the two who instantly knew that look in his eye.
“Is that a problem?” Radiant asked disheartened entirely.
“You two good from that ordeal?” Suits hardened his stare at the two.
“Yes.” Sombra curtly responded.
“Good to know. Let’s get you to your room. If you still want to stick around we’ll discuss that when the rain is gone.” Suits smirked at the two.
“Seriously!? Just like that?” Hope gawked slightly from the sudden twist in Suits’ demeanor.
“Yup. Personally I don’t really care about what happened. I don’t mean that I don’t sympathize with what happened over there. It just means that since it didn’t affect me and hasn’t hurt me personally then it should be fine. Uh… word of warning though Sombra… one of my… well she’s not really working for me… anyways… one of my guests is a crystal pony. If she screams then I’m sorry in advance.” Suits tripped his way through his words hiding his feelings on the matter through the constant pausing which Hope seemed to pick up on.
“Understood. I meant what I had said to the princesses and to Hope. I will do better.” Sombra answered in turn though the beads of sweat on his brow gave away how nervous he was.
“So… this pony. Is she somepony special or your special somepony?” Hope smugly grinned though it was more playful than malicious.
“I don’t know yet…” Suits muttered, stopping mid stride to Sombra’s detriment. As they both flopped onto the floor Radiant lifted the two in her telekinesis placing them back on their hooves.
“It couldn’t be that difficult.” Sombra growled out and looked at Radiant then facehoofed. “Nevermind it might just be more difficult than that.”
“We’re… figuring things out still. Anyways here’s your room enjoy your stay. When you wake up we can discuss long term living arrangements if you see that as desirable.” Suits explained as Sombra entered the room.
“You have no idea how much this means to us.” Hope choked out trying to fight back some tears.
“It’s really not that big a deal.” Suits explained before being grabbed by Radiant and forced to look her in the eyes. They were slightly bloodshot and looked as though she hadn’t slept for ages.
“No idea at all…” Radiant croaked out before Sombra slowly got her to let go of Suits. He struggled to regain his breath which he had no idea that he was even holding it in the first place.
“Thanks to you Four Suits. Truly a pony amongst ponies.” Sombra nodded towards the thestral stallion on the ground before closing the door behind him. Radiant started to sob though they seemed more like tears of joy rather than sadness.
Ambling back to the front desk the winds pounded against the windows rattling them nearly off their moorings. Suits took his seat at the front desk again staring down at the ledger with those names written on the page. Zephyr would be unhappy about things but he had gotten better about ponies lately. There was still that pit that crushed portions of his soul because of what Three Suits did but he knew the real reason was Hiero Glyph.
For three years he had been quieter than usual, only making an appearance whenever there was something important. The last time he had shown up was during the second changeling invasion. Though at the time he had been quieter than usual. Still Suits didn’t let his guard down making certain to keep the shield up whenever Glyph was around causing trouble.
The pitter patter of rain, calming as it was, made him restless since it meant no more guests and without guests meant having to ask for that pittance from Princess Luna through Nightingale. While she was the patron saint to all thestrals and their kind, Suits hated to take advantage of that connection. It was not pride that stayed his hoof, but sheer disdain for being seen as a charity case like Three Suits had seen him as and his mother…
“Great… I want to head out there and I gotta watch the front.” Suits sighed as a bolt of lightning flashed against the front window.
The hotel remained quiet as ponies all slept in hiding from the shower that blanketed the entire plain outside the hotel. Ratchet had meandered through the halls once again only stopping to wave hi to Suits before continuing to repair small discrepancies throughout the hotel. Baked Goods had finished serving lunch for the guests making certain to take their orders before delivering them herself. Zephyr flitted about nervously outside Suits room before letting herself in. She needed to prepare.
All this time Suits remained at his constant vigil before Ratchet took over as the front desk pony. He was involuntarily bad when it came to dealing with guests but Suits appreciated the effort he made to constantly change. Taking his leave Suits made his way back to his room. As he opened the door he instantly paused when he saw somepony skulking around near his bed. Before he could confront whomever was in his room the mystery pony stepped out.
“Hi Suits… fancy meeting you here.” Zephyr sauntered out a blush painted across her muzzle nearly covering her entire face.
Suits froze up since she was wearing a very black slinky dress that accentuated her figure leaving just enough to his imagination. While he felt his mouth move there was no sound from his end. He slowly took a few steps forward a bit of a hungry look in his eyes which caused Zephyr to smirk in triumph. Her whole body shaking from that reaction whether from fear or anticipation she didn’t know. The fact that after all this time she figured out what she wanted was more apparent than any other time.
“Come on, lovercolt. Let’s see where this takes us.” Zephyr whispered out as Suits finally rounded upon her.
It was nearly midnight again. Suits had gotten a kiss from Zephyr as she turned in for the night. Some of the guests had idly walked around the hotel getting some exercise to not be completely fat from lethargy. Zephyr had finally stopped having panic attacks whenever Sombra was in the same room and been able to have a conversation… at least for five minutes before she fainted from the stress.
Clarity and Fleece were still hateful little bigots but even in their insightful world they still stood by the hotel as one of the most peaceful places on Equestria. The fact that those two were pumping so many bits into the hotel just to keep their special room made the trying times between Fleece and Suits almost worth it in his mind since it meant the hotel kept running.
The Seed family was a bit strange but they remained polite guests as the two made sure not to put their hooves in their mouths. It was the younger sister as Suits came to know her as that made sure Sunflower didn’t break her habit of being nicer. There were flub ups every once in a while but for the most part they kept up the niceties that they portrayed when they dealt with each other.
Braeburn went outside and assisted Ratchet in collecting the food for tomorrow before he joined his bride for bed. In Suits’ eyes that stallion was a fool but every once in a while he managed to say something profound and insightful. Still Braeburn didn’t need to know that and Suits was never going to tell him that he respected him… slightly. Stronghoof actually assisted Baked Goods for a short time making certain apple related products with her.
As soon as the midnight chime rang out Suits looked up towards the window noting how full the moon looked in that particular moment. Taking a deep breath Suits looked back on his life wondering what other peaks and valleys he was in store for. His job was never done. At the very edge of being nineteen and the family he had grown to create over time regardless of how unorthodox it turned out to be he was still content.
While Tempest Flare couldn’t still be in his life he was happy to have had her as his mother. Even through the sheer detest of his father Three Suits and his blatant need to erase his mistakes he still took him in… though he would never revere him no matter what would happen. Rusty Ratchet was a better father figure even if he was an old curmudgeon who may or may not have a fetish for arguing with his wife, he was still better. Baked Goods was the only mother figure he had known to unconditionally love him in any sense of the word. Then there was Zephyr.
Zephyr had become the light of his life almost literally with how shiny she actually was. Together they had gotten through Tirek and Changelings alike. Still they were still growing and while Suits kept up his tough pony act he knew that she could get him to open up for the most part. A small bit of playful banter or sharp jab and he would instantly speak up. Still he tucked away the earring that would symbolize what he really wanted beneath the front desk within the lockbox. Suits hated his own indecisiveness and looked back towards the front door. The door opened as another guest finally entered the main halls and trotted up to the desk.
Four Suits, proprietor of the Arcana Hotel, the last true heir of the Arcana Family, a thestral in body and pony in spirit wore his best smile. The guests had finally placed their luggage down and managed to smile back. Exhausted and worn from travel Suits remained his ever professional self forged from a lifetime of practice and constant guests entering his domain looked the guest straight in the eye.
“Welcome to the Arcana Hotel. My name is Four Suits and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. How long will you be staying with us?”
