Tales of Flutterbreeze: A Dark Plot in Canterlot

Chapters

One dark night...
Number One
Searching for Answers
Did somepony say party?
Quarrels and Justice
The "Master of Darkness"
A Time for Heroes
Best... Day... Ever

One dark night...

The full moon lit the way as Flutterbreeze flew through the starry night. The blue pegasus’s mind wandered from the beautiful scenery to the crazy events the day before in Ponyville, to his friends back home in Fillydelphia, returning to the clear night sky, then finally to what was ahead.

He was delivering mail to Equestria’s royal capital of Canterlot, but this was certainly not all. Of the letters he had received in Ponyville, one was for himself. He recalled the words he had read before eating this letter back at the post office earlier that day:

Agent Flutterbreeze, another devious plot against the princess has been discovered, and you are to arrive at Canterlot Castle by first light tomorrow. Number One will give you more details upon your arrival. Good luck.

This was not the first time he had helped foil a conspiracy against Princess Celestia, but never before had he actually stayed at Canterlot Castle... or met her. Number One was the agency’s way of referring to Princess Luna, sister of Celestia, and co-ruler of all Equestria.
Although Celestia knew vaguely of the agency that worked hard to protect not only her but the entire realm, she was not in contact with it, nor was she aware of any missions that went on. Luna, however, worked closely with the agency on matters of national defense ever since her return from the moon and reinstatement as princess.
‘It’s quite an honor, to finally meet th-

A sharp pain cut across his torso. Lost in thought, Flutterbreeze hadn’t been able to what hit him until it was too late. When he finally regained himself enough to realize he was falling, he braced himself, beating his wings frantically until his momentum slowed.

He hovered there, clutching his side. Whatever hit him had missed its target, his wing, but only by a few inches. Also, whatever it was, it was still out there, waiting to strike again. He quickly scanned around him in every direction, anxious, sweating, heart beating.

He turned around just in time to see a form darting at him. He spun around and dealt a hard kick directly at the head. The blow was landed perfectly. He still couldn’t make out the figure that started falling to the ground, landing in the dense trees below, but whatever it was, it wouldn’t be following him any more. All he had been able to see were two bright red eyes, between which he had aimed his kick.

He would have preferred to capture it and find out who it was working for, but it would be impossible to track anything through the forest until daylight, and he was already running late. He continued his flight to Canterlot, wary, but no more incidences occurred before his arrival.
‘Whoever I’m fighting sure gets to the point quickly... but... how in Equestria could they have known I was coming?’

Number One

The sun was just starting to rise above the mountains when Canterlot came into view. The regal city was certainly a sight at sunrise, the light bouncing off the streets and rooftops, yet with the lingering effects of the calm night. Only a few ponies could be seen walking the streets yet.

Flutterbreeze landed near the gates of the castle. The guards were just about to change from the dark stallions of Luna to the white paladins of Celestia. As he began crossing the drawbridge, one of the guards looked at him, then said something to the other, who nodded. They lowered their crossed, bat-like wings as Flutterbreeze approached. He tipped his hat as he passed between them. ‘Its a good thing I didn’t get here any later. The new guards may not have recognised me.’

He stood and observed his surroundings for a minute. The interior courtyard was richly decorated with various fountains, marble statues, and ornate shrubbery of various designs. Even the cobblestones beneath his hooves were arranged in mosaic patterns.

A pair of doors opened across the courtyard, revealing Princess Luna, who began to walk towards him. He removed his hat and bowed as she approached. A starry blue mane hung gently at the side of the indigo alicorn.

She said in a strong voice, “You are the agent that was sent, I presume?”

“Yes your highness, and may I say it is indeed a pleasure to finally meet you face to face.”

“Save the formalities, agent for we have much to discuss!”

He nodded meekly, shrinking back even lower.

“We have heard terrible news that... an old foe of Princess Celestia has returned after hundreds of years, and plots some form of vengeance upon her. We, of course, do not know of him personally, but he must be stopped!” She stomped her hoof as she said this. “Another agent will arrive tomorrow during the afternoon’s formal party which thou wilt also be attending as ‘an important pony of high society’. The sooner this problem is solved the better. Already, this villain hath sent out his minions to spy on Princess Celestia and-”

The sun had continued to rise while Princess Luna spoke, and it was at this point that she noticed his torn and blood-stained uniform. Her serious expression now turned to a more concerned one.

“Oh... we hope thou had no trouble in getting here.”

Flutterbreeze finally got to speak, “Only a little. I’m afraid my arrival was not as secret as we had hoped.”

“Indeed.” He tone returning to its seriousness. “We shall have to inform the other operative when she arrives. Luckily thou wont be needing thy uniform, and the royal tailor can make a new one for thee during thy stay here.” She turned and walked towards the doors. “Follow us to thine quarters... please.”

As they walked down a long, decorative corridor, the princess told Flutterbreeze where everything was located in that wing of the castle, the medical ward (important), the 24-hour pantry (also important), the “Loo” (vitally important), and finally his quarters.

“We shall retire now.” Luna said. Her voice revealed a hint of sleepiness. “Thou may spend the rest of the day as thou needest and wanteth to, agent... what didst thou say thine name was?”

“Flutterbreeze.”

“Flutterbreeze, yes well, we wishest thou good luck.”

He gave a bow. “Thank you, your highness.”

“Please, call us Princess Luna.”

They both smiled. “As you wish, princess.”

Searching for Answers

Meanwhile, odd things had been happening in the town of Canterlot below the castle. Reports of strange sightings the night before would have been enough to send the citizens into a frenzy once the rumors passed around. Bad luck seemed to occur all over, a huge crash at the derpy track, bridges collapsing, spontaneously combusting hedge mazes, but what really put everypony into an uproar was that Princess Celestia had apparently shut herself into the castle after raising the sun that morning, seeing and admitting nopony. It didn’t take long for the townsfolk to make a connection between things, and soon conspiracy theorists and doomneighers galloped rampantly through the streets.

It was well into the afternoon when Flutterbreeze finally awoke. While having “breakfast”, he became aware of what was going on by the chatter of the castle staff. Celestia hadn’t been seen by anypony in the castle since that morning, even though she had apparently not left.

Returning to his room, he opened a large wardrobe. It contained several fancy suits and, to his surprise, a new mailpony uniform. ‘Well that was fast.’ He put it on, having decided to investigate the situation while delivering the mail in town.

He left the castle through the main gates, to be sure the guards would recognize him later. The town’s chaos could already be heard, quite a distance below. Inside the town, the din was far worse. Casually floating down the streets, he was largely ignored by the panic-stricken ponies. It wasn’t a happy scene, but there was a bit of humor in watching upper-class stallions cry like little fillies, and it didn’t appear that anyone was actually getting hurt.

The commotion suddenly stopped when Princess Celestia suddenly appeared in the town square. “Citizens of Canterlot, please calm yourselves!” she said. “There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything that is going on!” She then said quietly said to herself, “Now I just need an explanation...” She flew off towards the castle without another word, leaving everypony in the dark about what was going on or where she had been. Still, her mere presence seemed to calm the worst of their fears, and the town’s riotous nature returned to one of suspicion and gossip.

Flutterbreeze was becoming frustrated over the lack of answers. ‘Ugh, not only is there no sign of... whatever was here last night, but everypony in this town has gone completely insane. What in Equestria is going on! Where is the action? Where’s the conflict between me and the minions? Where is the long monologue from the mysterious villain?’

A letter in hoof now caught his eye. ‘From Twilight Sparkle, to her family...’ He remembered the letter he was carrying from Ponyville to the princess. ‘Perhaps she has some answers, even if she doesn’t want to admit it.’

It is true that in the work of a mailpony, there is often a great temptation of curiosity. Especially if one knew the origins of the letter being sent, but Flutterbreeze never liked snooping into people’s mail unless it was important to the mission at... hoof. Still, looking at the addresses of letters usually revealed a lot. For instance, a letter from Rarity to Hoity Toity showed her connections to Canterlot’s vibrant fashion industry.

It was almost sunset, and with all the mail delivered and still no answers, Flutterbreeze started back to the castle, flying up a ways to the road that wound it way up the mountain. ‘Hmm, and eerie lack of travelers on the road, sun is setting, I wonder if...’ He paused, for in the bushes ahead at the side of the road he could see a pair of red eyes watching him, one slightly smaller than the other. ‘Bingo...’

Suddenly a form lunged out at him. Before he could react, he was thrown off the cliff-side. “You foooooooooooooooooooooo- oh wait!” Flutterbreeze extended his wings and started gliding through the air, circling around to where he had fallen from. He finally caught a first glimpse of what had attacked him.

A serpentine form sat atop the cliff. It had sharp talons on each limb, and a pair of feathered wings. It was multi-colored, and had a black circle around one swollen eye. ‘That’s my guy.’ It hissed at Flutterbreeze and leaped down from the cliff, flying at him, and readying its claws.

Flutterbreeze reached into his mailbag. Without a pile of letters on top, he easily found what he wanted without looking. He pulled out two metal spheres and held one in each hoof. He then tapped them together and tossed them out in front of him. A bolt of lightning shot out between them, just as the flying serpent was in the middle. Stunned, it started falling to the ground once again, some of its feathers smoking.

“Oh no, you aren’t getting away this time!” Flutterbreeze chased after him, trying to streamline himself to fall faster. He was beginning to catch up when from the trees below came a hoard of flying serpents. Flutterbreeze shot back upwards as fast as he could, thinking ‘buck buck buck buck buck buck buck...’ to himself.

The creatures retrieved their falling comrade and chased Flutterbreeze for a distance, but retreated once it became obvious they wouldn’t catch him before he got back to the castle, for they didn’t want a direct confrontation with the guards. ‘Curses, that’s the second time he’s gotten away from me... and it shall be the last.’

As he entered the castle once more, he found Princess Luna waiting in the courtyard, who had just returned from raising the moon. He gave a quick bow as she greeted him.

“Agent Flutterbreeze, we have news about the foe behind this dire scheme... and it appears you do as well?”

“I... think I ran into what was causing Canterlot’s misfortunes today.”

“Verily, wilt thou always arrive at the castle looking like this?”

Flutterbreeze inspected himself. Once again his uniform was torn and lightly stained, this time down the middle, by what were obvious claw strikes. “Not again. I lose too many good uniforms this way. I’m beginning to get the feeling they don’t like me very much.”

The princess giggled, causing him to smile bashfully. “Tis no matter, we shall have a new one made for you again.” she said, her face becoming serious now as she looked into a nearby fountain. “But anyways, I have convinced my sister to tell me wither she hath been this day. She showed me the entrance to one of the castle’s many secret passageways, this one leading to a place deep underground where our foe doth reside. This powerful enemy is a being named Xolotl. Apparently, he seeks revenge upon my dear sister after she broke a pact made with him 500 years ago, which she doth emphatically deny. We believe her, of course, but negotiations between them obviously have not been fruitful. It is up to us now, it seems, to stop him, as my sister refuses to use force against him. Tomorrow, after the other operative arrives, we shall confront him.” Her cheerful tone returned as she looked at him again, “But for now, go patch yourself up and get some rest.”

“I haven’t thanked you yet for your hospitality, Princess Luna”

“Hospital-ity indeed for you.”

They laughed, returning inside and enjoying the moment of good spirits, before the next day’s trials would begin.

Did somepony say party?

Despite laying on one of Equestria’s most comfortable beds, Flutterbreeze found it impossible to sleep. It hadn’t been long since he last rested, but the main problem was that there was simply too much to think about.

‘Who could the other operative be? This new enemy... the name seems familiar. And those flying snake-lizard-bird... things. Its like they knew where I was going to be-’

Suddenly a disturbing thought hit him. ‘They did know. There’s no way it could be chance, because nobody even knows I’m working on this mission outside of the agency. Especially before I even reached the castle. There must be a traitor... one that knows too much...’

Without the ability to sleep, and to help clear his mind, Flutterbreeze decided to go out to a balcony on the exterior of the castle. He walked through the quiet, dimly-lit corridors, rounded a corner, and... there standing on the balcony was none other than Princess Luna. She looked at him since she had heard him coming.

“Oh, I’m sorry...” he started to back up.

“No, please, tis all right. Tis not often we have company whilst gazing at the stars.”

Flutterbreeze walked over to the railing, a few feet from her. They both looked out at the night sky, and the landscape below. “It seems most ponies prefer to sleep during the night.” he said.

“Verily. Canst thou not sleep this night?”

“I’ve been sleeping all day. Besides, even if I wanted to... I’m very anxious about this mission.”

“Dwell not upon it too much. We are confident that everything will turn out all right. Unless of course you are afraid of losing another set of clothes.” They both smiled. “Besides, tomorrow, or we suppose “today” would now be more appropriate, also brings a grand party filled with the most delicious of treats. The guests this time are actually reasonable gentlecolts this time. Except for one, of course.”

“Oh?”

“My great-great-great-great-et cetera-nephew.”

“You mean Prince Blueblood?”

“Yeeeeessss.” she had a disgusted look on her face as she said this.

Flutterbreeze had heard about Blueblood mainly through the media, having never met him in person. His reputation wasn’t very fair to his actual disposition, since he was portrayed as having most traits expected of a prince: charm, chivalry, dignity, none of which he actually possessed. Flutterbreeze recalled the many young fillies he had heard swoon over the prince from a distance, who often fantasized that he would sweep them off to a life of royalty.

Having nothing to say on this matter, he decided to change the subject. “The night sky is quite beautiful this evening.”

“Thank you, we tried to make it as best we could tonight to help calm down the frenzied ponies of Canterlot.”

He hadn’t expected this response. ‘Silly me, how could I have forgotten she was the one who raised the night sky.’ He looked at the moon, still almost full, and began thinking about what had happened 1000 years ago... Luna’s banishment.

He had heard the legends from a friend of his, Leafeymoon, who studied such things (and actually waited that fateful night for Nightmare’s return). Flutterbreeze had wondered sometimes what it must have been like up there... alone. He glanced at Luna. ‘Best not to ask about it.’

Every pony in Equestria remembers where they had been, and what they had been doing when they heard about Luna’s return. Flutterbreeze was back home, in Fillydelphia, drinking a flavorful cup of coffee prepared by his barista friend, Coffeeflower, when he glanced at a nearby newspaper...

Luna interrupted the silence. “We hope thou art enjoying thy stay here in Canterlot.”

“Oh, yes. It is quite comfortable here. And besides, not every pony has the honor of talking to a beautiful princess whilst gazing out at the night’s scenery.”

She gave him an amused look, as if to say, ‘I know you are teasing me with your chivalry, sir.’

She then let out a soft yawn. “Well, even if thou dost not desire sleep, we think it time for us to retire.” She yawned again, looking slightly embarrassed to show her tiredness.

“Very well, I bid thee good... morning, Princess Luna.” He gave a formal bow, to which she once again gave the amused look. ‘You silly pegasus.’

Before they both returned inside, she said, “Please, call me Luna... Flutterbreeze.”

He smiled as she turned away. “As you wish.”

After a brief nap, which Flutterbreeze now found himself able to take, it was time to prepare for the day’s noon social. He opened the large wardrobe and selected a full tuxedo (with tails) and a top hat for himself. After changing, brushing his mane, and applying cologne (though not it that order), he looked at himself in the mirror.

‘Time to turn on the swag!’ A big, cheesy grin spread across his face. ‘That’s not swag.’

The party did indeed hold all manner of delicious, yet elegant, foods. Tea was served with cheese crumpets, along with all manner of hors d’oeuvres, and of course, a giant chocolate cake frosted and decorated with the forms of dragons, manticores, and other mythological creatures.

A soft melody came from a string quartet in the room, which was covered, ceiling to floor, in all sorts of frilly decorations.

Flutterbreeze was surprised by how many of the guests he could recognise, either from the media or previous visits to Canterlot. All of them were celebrities or ponies of high society. He could see Princess Celestia, Joneigh Dep, the famous actor, Mare Curie, the scientist, Mountagu, the duke of Manechester, and Fancy Pants, the “most important pony in Canterlot”, among others. He was dissapointed to note that Fancy Pants did not, in fact, wear fancy pants.

He walked over to a table covered in desserts and began trying some. ‘Sweet mother of Celestia that’s good!’

“Can you believe it?” a voice behind him said.

He turned around to find none other than Prince Blueblood himself addressing him.

“They let a complete ruffian like that into the castle as a guest!” he was pointing at a large buffalo on the other side of the room, dressed in full regalia.

Flutterbreeze responded in his best impersonation of an upper-class gentlecolt. “That is Chief Bighoof, leader of one of Equestria’s proud buffalo nations, respected for his wisdom, courage, and tolerance of others.”

Blueblood was busy looking at himself in the mirror on the wall next to him (he had strategically placed himself between it and a plate of truffles). After tweaking a misplaced hair he turned back to Flutterbreeze. “And WHAT may I ask do YOU do?” he sneered.

Flutterbreeze smiled confidently, “International commodity transportation. And you?”

“Who am I? *huff* WHO AM I?!” Blueblood’s raised voice attracted the attention of several nearby guests. “You, sir, have insulted me this day with you ridiculous question. I am a highly respected member of the royal family of Canterlot! Who am I? *huff* The nerve of some ponies.” Blueblood returned to fretting over his image in the mirror.

Flutterbreeze had simply stood there, calmly drinking tea, as the prince outraged. He smiled at the other guests who were quite amused by the now sulking prince blueblood.

A short while later, Luna entered the ballroom where the event was held, wearing a very elegant dress. Her appearance was a little different during the day, her mane was now solid, and her coloration was a bit lighter. This led Flutterbreeze to wonder whether Princess Celestia changed appearance at night. Pictures started forming in his head until Luna spotted him and walked over.

“Good afternoon, fine sir.”

He tipped his hat. “Good afternoon Luna, you are looking lovely as ever.”

“Have you figured out who the other agent is yet?” she asked in a whisper.

“Sadly not, I haven’t done much talking with the other guests.”

“Its all right, you’ll meet after the party if not sooner. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d better go greet my sister.” She walked away, but not before grabbing a large slice of cake.

Fancy Pants, who was standing nearby, noticed how Flutterbreeze addressed Luna by her first name, and now walked up to greet him. “I say sir, do you happen to know the princess?”

“She invited me to stay as a guest in the castle for a few days.”

Fancy Pants and his wife looked intrigued. “Indeed? Hmm, you look familiar, but I can’t quite put a name to your face. You aren’t from Canterlot are you?”

“No, though I have been here before. My residence is in Fillydelphia.”

“You don’t say... oh, where are my manners? I am Fancy Pants, and this is my wife, Elizabeth deFleur.”

“My name is Sir Rufflepuff, and it’s a pleasure to meet you both.” A *hmph* came from the nearby prince. “Have you... met Prince Blueblood?” Flutterbreeze said, smirking.

Fancy Pants paused for a moment “I... have had the pleasure of making his acquaintance before.”

Flutterbreeze had been leaning on end of the table behind him, which suddenly decided to collapse at that end. Flutterbreeze was able to quickly hover up in the air, but the prince was not so lucky. All of the desserts, including a 100 pound chocolate cake, slid down the table and buried him in a pile of sugary sweetness. He screamed like a filly and ran out of the room while everyone else, the guests, the princesses, and Flutterbreeze, tried to hold back their laughter.

Fancy Pants nudged him and whispered, smiling, “Good show, old bean.”

The rest of the party went quite smoothly. A new table of desserts was prepared, and Prince Blueblood spent the night as far away from the ballroom as possible, cleaning chocolate cake out of his mane. Flutterbreeze thoroughly enjoyed missions that involved fancy parties like this, and he was able to meet more celebrities that day than most ponies do in a lifetime, all of which were quite agreeable as the princess had said.

By the end of the afternoon he still hadn’t figured out who the other agent could be, but he did find out that Luna had quite a sweet tooth, a fact that few other ponies knew.

Quarrels and Justice

The party concluded when Luna left to go raise the moon. This afforded Flutterbreeze enough time to return to his room and grab his mailbag. Curious, he opened the wardrobe to find two new uniforms waiting. He chuckled. ‘Planning ahead, I see.’ He put one on and quickly returned the designated meeting place in one of the castle’s back corridors.

While waiting for the others, he thought about who the traitor within the organisation could be. ‘It had to have been someone with knowledge of the mission. Luna? No, she didn’t know who I was until I arrived. The other operative? No, no they would have as little knowledge of me as I do of them. But who knew I was on the mission before yesterday... ‘
‘Ponyville! Of course! An agent from Ponyville would have heard me say I was going to Canterlot. I wasn’t exactly subtle during my last mission either... So who could it be? Agent Applebloom? Not likely. What motive could she have for rebelling against the princess. There must have been someone there who was watching me...’

He was interrupted by Luna’s appearance, along with another pony dressed in a black spy outfit. He recognised her as Fancy Pants’ wife. ‘What was her name again?’

“I had a feeling it was you.” she said. “I am agent Fleur, and you were what, Trufflepuff?”

He laughed on the inside. “Agent Flutterbreeze.”

“Alright, now that you two have finally met,” Luna said “we’d best get started.”

Flutterbreeze looked confused. “Wait, you’re coming too?”

“Of course we are.”

“But it could be dangerous, and if anything were to happen to you...”

“We are sure that a powerful alicorn of well over a thousand years can take care of herself. Besides, thou wilt no doubt need our help on this mission.”

He realized there could be no argument, so he just sighed and said, “As you wish.”

Luna turned to a statue of the Dalai Llama. “It should be right behind here...” A dark blue aura radiated from her horn and surrounded the statue.The sound of stone rubbing past stone could be heard as it slowly slid away from the wall, revealing a dark passageway.

Flutterbreeze glanced over at Agent Fleur. She certainly was a beautiful unicorn, with a figure similar to that of the princesses... When he realized where his thoughts were headed he felt a wave of embarrassed guilt.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

He had been staring blankly at the wall for about a minute. “N-nothing, I just have an odd feeling about this is all. Let’s get started!” He began walking merrily into the dark corridor.

“I couldn’t have been paired with a stranger operative.” Fleur said.

“I certainly hope not!” Flutterbreeze yelled from within, now a dozen yards ahead. “I do wish some unicorn could help light the way though, its a bit dark in h- *smack* I’m alright!”

“We’d better go before he gets himself killed.” said Luna, jokingly.

The passageway led our heroes on a winding path down the interior of the mountain. Flutterbreeze counted the number of downstairs steps they took as they went, for curiosity’s sake. ‘4725, 4726, 4727... oh hello, what have we here?’

They had reached a pair of very large red doors, richly decorated in gold. Flutterbreeze looked down to notice a welcome mat with a floral pattern in front. “Cute.” he said. “You know, I’m a little surprised. Usually by now we would have been ambushed or sprung a series of booby traps just getting to this point.” He pushed open the unnecessarily heavy doors. “Oh, cruel irony.”

On the other side was a whole horde of flying serpent soldiers... who apparently got very bored waiting. Some occupied their time playing checkers, others drank coffee while reading the paper, a few had even been taking a nap.

One of them stepped forward to say in a harsh voice, “You ssssssilly foalsssss. *cough cough* Can I have a glass of water? Thank you. YOU SILLY FOALS! You thought you could just sneak in here and ruin our plans! We shall step all over your faces before the day is through!”

The ponies looked confused. Flutterbreeze asked, “You’re going to do what?”

“STEP ON YOUR FACES!!!”

“Ok, just making sure.”

“Now, prepare yourselves for your doooooooooooooooooooom!”

Luna’s horn started to glow. Fleur was twirling nun-chucks around that she had produced from seemingly nowhere. The reptilians spread their claws and fluffed up their feathers threateningly.

Flutterbreeze walked out in the middle and raised a hoof at each side. “Now hold on a minute! Before this battle gets underway, don’t you want to say what your motives are, or explain your master plan for the down fall of Equestria?”

“No, first you will defeat us here, then you’re going to head over to my master’s castle where he will explain the big plot and lose in the climax.”

Flutterbreeze looked disappointed, while the others were totally confused by this.

“So one second you’re saying ‘prepare for your doom!’ and the next you’re saying we’re going to win?” Fleur asked.

“That’s what minions do. I’ve studied into this and take my role seriously.”

“Dude’s got a point.” Flutterbreeze said, “Gotta take pride in your work.”

“CAN WE GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!?” Luna exclaimed in the ye olde royal Canterlot voice.

“As you wish...”

Chaos ensued as the two sides flew at each other. Luna blasted away serpents with magic as they came. Fleur dodged claw swipes acrobatically, taking them down with her nun-chucks. Flutterbreeze pulled out a rapier at the leader of the group, who did the same. “EN GUARDE!” Wild fencing began between them, but Flutterbreeze began to feel he was losing, so he decided to switch tactics.

“You fight very well, my friend, but I know something you do not!”

“And what is that?”

“I am not left-handed!”

“Oh, I love that movie!”

While the serpent’s guard was down, Flutterbreeze gave him a blow to the head with the hilt of his sword, knocking him unconscious. He put the rapier back into his mailbag (which surprisingly could hold it) and noticed a certain flying serpent with a black eye and burnt feathers.

“YOU!” He grabbed his trusty duct tape. “You may have gotten away from me twice before, but NOT THIS TIME! HAVE AT THEE!”

He leaped onto the intimidated reptile and within a few moments had all four of its legs tied behind its back. Its tail was free, though, and with it the serpent threw a cup of coffee at Flutterbreeze, which covered his uniform. He stood there with an exaggerated frown on his face. Luna saw this and burst out laughing, Fleur wondering what was so funny.

Flutterbreeze furrowed his brow and used almost half a roll of duct tape on the already
immobile serpent, covering him from head to tail. By this time all the other minions had been defeated, and they started laughing at their comrade as they lay on the ground. ‘Sweet justice at last!’

“Gee gee” Flutterbreeze said, to the confusion of all present. “But you know what I was just wondering? Why is there daylight down here underground... at night?”

The "Master of Darkness"

The three ponies examined the surroundings for the first time, now free from the distraction of flying feathered snakes. The landscape appeared as if it could almost be above ground. Meadows of green... moss stretched out in every direction. A few ponds dotted the landscape, along with small forests of tree-like plants.

“Alright, this mission is just getting weirder and weirder.” said Fleur

“Sunlight underground... interesting...” Flutterbreeze stroked his beard, pondering. Then he smiled and said, “I guess this place is just so underground... that we’ve probably never heard of it.”

Facehooves were had all around.

“Well, we won’t get any answers standing here.” said Luna.

“I suppose you’re right.” replied Flutterbreeze, “Besides, the flying lizard guy said we’ll learn everything in the climax. Isn’t that right?!”

A voice from the ground nearby said, “Yeah.”

“Alright then, what are we waiting for? Sally forth to yonder castle!”

They walked along a brick road towards the fortress in the distance, examining the strange scenery around them, including fauna such as over-sized crustaceans and owlbears. ‘To think that a place like this existed right under Equestria...’

The castle seemed a bit more cheery than they had expected the dwelling of an evil villain to look like. It was made of white stone blocks, and the path leading up to it was lined with neatly trimmed hedges. It was, however, surrounded by a moat filled with alligators.

One particularly interesting feature found at the top of the castle was an enormous crystal ball, which left the agents speculating over its use.

“Oh no, a moat and walls, whatever shall I do?” Flutterbreeze said sarcastically. He started floating up towards the top of the castle’s walls until an arrow shot right through his hat. He watched as it fell down into the moat.

He started flying fast towards the feathered reptile that was now reloading its crossbow (luckily a long process), and delivered a mighty uppercut to the jaw, sending it flying.

Flutterbreeze spent a great deal of effort moving the heavy machinery to lower the drawbridge of the castle. He finally managed to get it all the way down, wiping the sweat off his brow and breathing a sigh of relief. He turned around to see that Luna and Fleur had already gotten onto the walls and dispatched the remaining guards. Luna, of course, flew while Fleur used a grappling hook to ascend the walls.

“Are you quite finished?” Fleur asked, to which Flutterbreeze responded with a hooves up.

They made their way through the castle quickly, slowing down only to beat up on the occasional serpent minion.

‘This guy’s practically letting us walk right in, as if he was setting us up for a trap. Oh right... there’s a traitor...’

Passing through the many dim corridors of the castle’s interior, they eventually realized they had no idea where they were going.

“As much as I enjoy aimlessly running through musty old hallways, does anyone have an idea of where we are going?” Fleur asked.

“I think I may have a solution.” Flutterbreeze rustled through his mailbag and from it produced a pair of high-tech goggles. “This villain strikes me more of the ‘powerful magic monster’ type rather than the ‘evil genius’, so these magic detection spyglasses should help me locate him... Oh, Luna could you step back please, you’re creating a lot of interference.”

He scanned around in every direction until he saw a colorful blob that looked promising. “Alright, that should be him right there. Or if not, some sort of arch-minion that leads up to him.” He pointed in the proper direction and they pressed on once again.

“That... is the door to a boss room if I’ve ever seen one.” Flutterbreeze said, examining a huge set of doors with a large skull in the center.

“Boss room?” Fleur gave him odd looks just about every time he spoke.

“Yes... but how do we unlock the doors? I imagine there is an unusually large key hidden somewhere else in the castle...” The doors started glowing blue, then creaked open slowly, as if by magic. “Ah, yes... good work Luna.”

“They weren’t locked.” She said, leaving Flutterbreeze stunned by the simplicity of it.

“The boss room” as Flutterbreeze had called it, was shaped like an enormous dome. It was very dark, with black walls and lit only by the blue-flamed torches on the wall, which was decorated with skulls. After they all entered, the huge doors slammed shut behind them. Shivers went down their spines, and it wasn’t just because it was also rather cold in there.

“Well, well, well. So you decided to show up after all?” A deep, sinister voice echoed through the room, but they couldn’t determine its source. “We were beginning to think that you wouldn’t show up.” A menacing laugh reverberated as purple mist filled the center of the room. The form of a beast could be seen as the mist spread out across the floor of the room.

The figure was at least fifteen feet high. It had the body of a dog, but its feet were turned backwards. Giant green, unblinking eyes could be seen from behind the large skull mask it wore. Other than this, it was completely black. Its ears were constantly moving around in every direction as it began speaking again.

“My name is Xolotl, in case you mortals have already forgotten, and I am the master of the darkness, ruler of the underworld. I’d rather tell you my plans and motives for Equestria’s doom as I think the story is rather interesting, but if you are in a hurry I can just kill you all now. What say you? … WELL?”

Flutterbreeze finally answered meekly, “No, no take your time.” After all the anticipation and suspense, he wouldn’t miss the monologue for anything.

“It was five-hundred years ago...” Xolotl began “when Princess Celestia discovered the ancient entrance to my realm, which had been long forgotten. My land is where the sun passes each night before rising above again each dawn. Upon learning this, she and I reached... an agreement. I would produce from the earth a great multitude of treasures, and in exchange... she would create a new sun for us... for this land... so that no one would ever been left in darkness ever again! I upheld my part of the bargain... but after years of waiting, I realized that I had been betrayed... played as a fool!” Smoke began streaming from the nostrils of the mask.

“With nothing to do, I began to wallow in self-pity. I obsessed over the darkness... and death. This is when I created the room in which we are now standing, and the mask I wear. Since that time, I sought only to create misfortunes and misery to the ponies of Equestria, and to their princess of course. Recently, my efforts have gotten extreme enough to warrant a visit from Princess Celestia, who of course sought to put an end to my fun. She blatantly denied ever having made a deal with me, and for this, I have plotted the ultimate vengeance.”

“On top of this castle sits a huge glass globe, which I will use to capture the sun... and then destroy it!” The three ponies gasped. “Ahahahahahaha! I had, of course heard of your little organization. After all, you have foiled my minions plots many times in the past. But, expecting this kind of action from the likes of you foals, I have planted a mole among your ranks... that’s right, there is a traitor among you!” They looked at each other nervously.

“No, I don’t mean here in this room. But inside your agency is one who pledges loyalty to me. From the information gathered by this source, I tracked you operatives and ambushed you both at some point. Unfortunately my minions are weak and stupid, but it is no matter, because no one can stop me now! Soon, the sun will pass into the orb directly above us, and then it will be too late! Muahahahaha... AHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Now.. any last words before your doom?”

A Time for Heroes

“THOU ART NOTHING BUT A FILTHY LIAR!” Luna screamed at Xolotl with her righteous fury. “MY SISTER WOULD NEVER BREAK A PROMISE, AND SHE WOULD CERTAINLY NOT MAKE A DEAL WITH THE LIKES OF THEE! THOU ART NO MASTER OF THE UNDERWORLD, THOU ART A DASTARDLY CRETEN, AND NOTHING MORE!”

The beast began to growl. “What do we have here? The little princess back from her space rock throwing a tantrum. Why do you care about the sun? I thought you like the night? Well, no upstart filly princess is going to ruin my plans. You are a failure as a ruler, AND as a rebel.”

Flutterbreeze became indignant. “How dare you speak to her royal highness like that!?”

“SILENCE you little worm! It is an embarrassment that they should a little mailpony to stop the likes of me.”

“We are more than capable of defeating the likes of you!” Fleur said. “Your despicable rule is over!” She threw a barrage of shurikens at Xolotl, but the monster was quick. He leaped to the side, dodging them all. His eyes then lit up, and then from them came a powerful laser beam that knocked her back into the wall.

Flutterbreeze ran over to where she was laying. ‘Breathing, but unconscious’. Xolotl stood there, laughing, until he took a blast of magic from Luna. His skull mask started to crack. Turning to her, he shot out another laser, but she was able to shield most of it with a magic bubble.

“Hey you big brute!” Flutterbreeze was hovering in the air now, with one hoof inside of his mailbag. “Why don’t you pick on somepony your own size! That is, unless you’re too scared!”

Xolotl roared in anger. As his eyes lit up, Flutterbreeze quickly pulled a mirror out of his bag and reflected the lazer right back at the beast’s face.

As Xolotl’s mask shattered and fell to the ground, a horrified look spread across all of the ponies’ faces. The sight of his... hideous complexion was forever burned into their memories. “You insolent foal!” The beast opened one of its two mouths and sent a stream of fire at the stunned Flutterbreeze.

The pegasus tried to dive out of the way, but still took quite a bit of the fire before landing hard on the ground. He ripped the burning uniform from his chest, showing the bandages beneath. The fire still raged behind him. He fell to the floor, catching his breath and inspecting his wings. Many of his feathers had been burnt off, and he wouldn’t be able to fly till they grew back.

Suddenly he got an idea. “Luna, fire as strong a blast as you can at the ceiling!”

She closed her eyes and started focusing the magic in her horn.

Xolotl turned to Luna and laughed, “Just one left...” His eyes started to glow once more.

‘No...’ Flutterbreeze thought. He got off the floor and started sprinting, leaping in front of Luna just as the laser was fired.
He lay on the floor in pain, hearing only a ringing in his ears, watching as as the ceiling crumbled... collapsed... an enormous glass ball fell where Xolotl had been standing... shards of glass flying towards him... a blue light... darkness...

Best... Day... Ever

Flutterbreeze woke up, blinking, with a terrible soreness all over. He smiled as he saw a familiar face appear. “Luna...”

“Flutterbreeze, thank goodness you’re finally awake. You’ve been asleep for almost a whole day.”

He sat up. He on a hospital bed in Canterlot Castle’s medical ward. Luna sent sent the nurse to go tell the others he was awake, leaving them alone.

“What happened?”

“You passed out as Xolotl’s crystal ball crashed to the floor. I was able to shield us all with magic, but... the coward fled and escaped, along with many of his minions.”

“Maybe... they took the underground.”

They laughed. “Even on a hospital bed, you’re still making jokes.”

Flutterbreeze sighed. “I don’t think he could do it... destroy the sun. He was such a liar. He thinks he’s some sort of god, but he’s just a poser.” He chuckled again, as Fleur and Fancypants entered the room.

“I say, Sir Rufflepuff, are you all right old chap?” asked the stallion.

“I’ll live.”

“Well that’s certainly good news. My Elizabeth tells me those devils attacked while she and the princess were out in the gardens, and you came to the rescue.”

“I was just the meat shield. Luna’s the real hero.”

“Well, I’m afraid to say I’m late for an engagement. Farewell.”
As he walked out of the room, Fleur said “I’ll be with you in a moment darling.” She turned to Flutterbreeze. “Well, I do wish you would take things more seriously next time, but, good job Agent Flutterbreeze. If we should happen to work together again, I think I can tolerate it. Asuming we survive, of course.” She smiled and exited.

“It was a noble deed you did last night. You showed great gallantry in sacrificing yourself for me.” Luna said, kissing him on the forehead.

“You are far more important than I am. Besides, not everypony can say they took a laser for the princess.”

They smiled again. “Well, its time for us to go raise the moon. Take care, Flutterbreeze. We hope to see you again soon... preferably uninjured!”

“I hope so too.” he laughed. "And Luna... wherever he is, I will find him."

The sun was shining brightly the next day. With full feathers, everything... mostly healed, and clothed in yet another uniform, Flutterbreeze had just one more task in Canterlot.

He entered Princess Celestia’s audience chamber with a letter in his hand. “A message, your highness, from Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville.”

“What a pleasant surprise.” She smiled and levitated the scroll over to herself. “You helped my sister defeat Xolotl, didn’t you?”

“I... may have had something to do with that...”

“I understand, its a pretty secret topic.”

“I couldn’t possibly keep a secret from you if I tried, your highness... but yes.”

“Very well, I wont ask any more about it.” She started reading the letter. “I see your trip to Ponyville wasn’t idle either. It seems I have no choice... please kneel... um, what was your name?”

“Flutterbreeze.” He obeyed, nervously.

She touched his shoulders with her horn. “By the power vested in me as princess... I hereby dub thee Sir Flutterbreeze, Knight of Equestria!” His jaw dropped. “For your services to the royal family.”

“Thank you, your highness!” he beamed, “Verily, tis a great honor thou hast bestowed upon me this day!”

She laughed. “Sounds like you’ve been spending too much time with my sister.”

He blushed.

“Well, I’m sure you have a lot of mail to deliver, so you’d best be on your way.”

“Yes, and thank you again, you highness!”

He flew off joyfully, out of the castle and down to Canterlot proper’s post office. He found a large pile of mail waiting for him. ‘Could it be...’ He read the address on the front of a letter and a smile spread across his face.
‘Phillydelphia at last! I finally get to go home!’

Hello there everypony! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. If not, it cannot be unseen. If you have any sort of feedback, please feel free to share in whatever form you prefer. Also, if you haven't read the first one, but like this one, I recommend reading it.
-Flutterbreeze-