Sunrise

by starshine_dash

Rating: mature
Tags: Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Adventure, Sex, Discord, Zecora, Alternate Universe, Main 6, Nightmare Moon
Length: 5167

A thousand years ago, the villain won.

A/N: This story is currently being rewritten, mostly cause the clop is terribad and I'm not happy with the Pinkie/Elusive chapter, so. Yeah.

A thousand years ago, Empress Nightmare Moon defeated the horrid beast known as Celestia and banished her to the sun. She allowed the burning orb only the minimum amount of time in the sky necessary to keep Equestria from being a frozen orb and to keep her subjects fed. Living in a state of perpetual twilight, ponykind has advanced its methods of merciless combat, intrigue, and darkness. Twilight Shadow, Personal Attache to the Empress (and sometime lover) is sent with a small team of elite ponies to sniff out rumors of a rebellion building in the East. What they find will shake the very foundations of their belief system and could uproot the entire Lunar Empire.

Cast for ease of brainmeats:
Twilight Sparkle = Twilight Shadow, Element of Power
Rainbow Dash = Moonglow Dash, Element of Treachery
Fluttershy = Fluttercry, Element of Cruelty
Pinkie Pie = Pinkamena Diane, Element of Madness
Rarity = Elusive, Element of Greed
Applejack = Applejack, Element of Corruption
So is Spike.

Published 2012-07-30 05:24:04 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-30 05:24:04 UTC

P.O.S.T.A.L.

Ponies Of Significant Talent And Leadership

A unicorn with a pale lavender coat galloped down a seemingly empty hallway. Her mane was held in place with an obsidian band as she dodged around the invisible castle guard constantly patrolling the main thoroughfare to the Empress' audience chamber. They paid her no mind as she passed, save for the occasional lecherous glance at her flank. Reaching the double doors at the end of the hall, the unicorn paused, catching her breath and making sure her gown and mane were unruffled. Knocking thrice lightly in an even beat, the door slowly parted as guards on either side pulled their respective halves inward.

"Presenting Lady Twilight Shadow," came a voice from nowhere as the mare stepped into the soft glow of the magical lamps festooned about the chamber. She stood proudly, her horn polished to a mirror shine. Her mane and tail were immaculate, styled conservatively with the dark purple and light pink stripe sitting just next to her horn in her otherwise deep blue mane. Her cutie mark was proudly on display, accentuated by the gown she wore, a six-pointed star with several smaller stars dancing around it. The mare entered the chamber and approached the dais upon which her Empress' sat in regal repose.

On approach she lowered her head until it touched the ground, spreading her forelegs as she lowered herself to the floor. Her hindquarters raised in the air with her tail submissively limp between her legs, "I report as summoned, Mistress." the mare said in perfectly enunciated Olde Equestrian.

Nightmare Moon gazed down upon the pony who had entered her presence with a critical eye. As always, her prize's form was perfect. A smile graced her lips as she a ran a hoof through the tempest of night she called a mane. Dark cat's eyes narrowed as she finally spoke, "You may rise, my little pony."

Twilight rose to her feet, still keeping her gaze averted from the Queen of the Night. She approached to the very base of the dais and paused there, waiting.

"Leave us!" The Nightmare commanded. Every guard, visible or otherwise, vanished from the large chamber, leaving the two mare's alone.

As she sensed the last guard vacate the premises, the unicorn raised her head and smiled, "Mistress. How are you feeling today?"

The alicorn on the dais fluttered her wings slightly and flicked her tail, "I must admit I am disturbed. Tis why I have summoned you."

Twilight's smile turned to a frown as she levitated herself up to her leader and nuzzled at her neck, "I will do what I can to help, of course, Mistress."

Nightmare nodded and pulled slightly away from the display of affection, "I have heard rumors of a rebellion building in the wastelands to the east. A group of Zebrican sun worshipers again, no doubt, however... Something that reached my ears draws particular concern..."

The young mare next her simply looked quizzically, "And you would like me to find out the truth of these matters?"

"As always, Twilight Shadow. Take a small team with you. No more than 10 ponies, I should think. Root out this rebellion, destroy them, and bring any information and their leader back to me. If you cannot bring back the leader alive, simply bring their head. It has been a while since I have had the pleasure of torturing a dead soul..."

"As you wish, Mistress. I will need three nights to prepare."

"Very well, my prize. Report to my chambers tonight as usual."

Twilight gave the queen a lustful smile and hopped off the dais, retreating from the audience hall with all the ceremony required of her position. As she left, she noticed somepony hovering just out of sight, "Commander Dash, I presume?"

A cyan pegasus with a mane of pure silver landed next to the unicorn and kept pace, her one good magenta eye glancing around the hallway. The white orb and lengthy scar on her other side spoke of battles long past, "Lady Shadow. I presume you will have need of me?"

"Word travels fast."

"It is not every day you gallop to the Empress as if Spike had lit your tail on fire again."

"You are right, of course. I would like you to pick three of your strongest, and loyalest, pegasi to serve as my personal guard during an upcoming mission. You will be attending me as well."

The pegasus nodded, "Of course, Lady Shadow. When must we be ready?"

"In three night's time," she said aloud before leaning close and whispering softly into the pegasus' ear, "I would have you tonight, Moonglow, before the Mistress has me."

"As you wish, Lady Shadow," the commander said, trotting forward and flicking her tail seductively across Twilight's nose before taking off and returning to her barracks.

The unicorn smiled and returned to her quarters. Inside she began to pick the rest of her team from the limited pool of ponies that were trustworthy, loyal, and skilled enough to undertake such a mission. She had herself, of course, the most powerful unicorn in Equestria. Commander Moonglow Dash and whichever of her elite squad she would pick. Levitating a stack of folders over to her desk, she sighed. Many of these ponies had been killed, defected, or were no longer capable of action. Sorting through the remaining files left the mare with barely a hooful of candidates.

Elusive, a unicorn mare of great social standing within the elite circles of Lunopolis nobility. She also had a particular knack for eliciting information from anypony via drugs or seduction. White coat, purple mane. Cutie mark of three diamonds. A definite asset to a mission where the subtle gathering of information would be key.

Next on her list was Pinkamena Diane. Earth pony with a pink mane and coat. Cutie mark is a trio of blades attached to strings. This mare was a highly sought assassin and torturer who worked in a butcher shop as cover. She did a brisk business with the resident dragon and griffon population.

Having both ends of the information spectrum covered, she moved on to other possible issues during travel and extraction. Fluttercry, a pegasus mare in service of the crown's military hospital would cover the medical needs of the group and any wounded rebellion members they needed to keep alive. They had worked together in the past, and Twilight knew that this particular mare and Moonglow often shared a bed.

That left muscle. There was only one pony on the list that caught her keen eye. An earth pony by the name of Applejack. She'd built herself up from being a slave on one of the outlying apple orchards into a tough gladiator and from there had caught the eye of the Empress. Currently, the mare was serving as one of Nightmare's enforcers and regularly competing in the games that were held. Despite never using a weapon, the pony had over one hundred kills to her name in the arena with only minor injuries.

Having determined the members of the team, she set about writing a summons to each, "Spike!" she yelled in sharp command.

Appearing out of a shadow, a young dragon with an evil glint in his eye appeared on the table, "Yes, my lady?"

"I would have you send these writs to their intended. Make sure they go where they are meant to."

"As always, my lady," the dragon said, picking up each scroll as they were finished and breathing his green flame onto it, magically speeding it to its intended destination.

Nights in White Satin

Never reaching the end
Letters I've written, never meaning to send.
Beauty I'd always missed with these eyes before.
Just what the truth is, I can't say anymore.

Twilight Shadow lay on her oversize mattress, fidgeting. She had sent out messages to her team hours ago and spent the intervening time studying the rumors that her mistress had mentioned. There was very little to go on, and there were many small towns in the east in which a rebellion could easily ferment to outright revolt. Now she realized why her Mistress had decided to send a team instead of simply scrying the information herself. It could take nights or weeks for anything even remotely useful to come of it. Sighing, the unicorn levitated the scroll over to her night stand and checked the time. There were another three hours between now and when she had to be in her Mistress' chambers. Just enough time to enjoy herself if Moonglow would actually get her flank in gear.

As if the thought had worked as a summons, she heard the sound of wings flapping and the soft sounds of somepony approaching her bed. Rolling over, the unicorn was pleased to see the commander of the royal guard standing there, free of armor. The armor had hidden much of the pegasus' body. Now standing before her, wings extended, was the true form of Commander Moonglow Dash. Much of her body sported scars from various conflicts or training "accidents." One of these days, Twilight would be able to convince the proud mare to let her heal the scars. Especially the one that blocked one of her beautiful eyes. The unicorn smiled and patted the bed next to her.

"Twilight..." Dash said, climbing onto the mattress, "How may I service you?" she asked with a lusty grin.

"You should know well enough," the other mare said, using her magic to prop herself onto her pillows as one hoof trailed along a scar along the pegasus' chest.

Moonglow grinned and slid herself forward to place a kiss upon her lover's lips. Pressing deeply into it, the pegasus trailed a wing along the side of the unicorn in front of her, causing the other mare to shudder. Opening her lips slightly, Dash licked those lavender lips and slid her tongue into the other mare's mouth. It was met by the unicorn's own and the two danced back and forth for a moment as the pegasus rubbed her companions body with hooves and wings.

Breaking the kiss at last, Dash put her nimble lips to use, nibbling and kissing her way down Twilight's chest and stomach teasingly. Her attentions elicited small gasps, moans, and mumbles as the unicorn ran her hoof through the stark silver of her lover's hair. Pushing outward with her forehooves, the pegasus spread her lover's legs and kissed her way down closer to that already sopping marehood.

The scent was intoxicating as always, jasmine and heat and mare. Kissing her way around it for a moment, teasing Twilight as much as she could before her resistance failed, Dash caught small tastes of the juices that were flowing freely from the unicorns folds. At last, her self-control faded and the mare planted her lips on her mistress' marehood, inhaling deeply the heady scent of a mare in heat.

Her tongue snaked out and pressed flat against Twilight's outer lips before she licked all the way from end to end. The flavor was just as intoxicating as the smell and she immediately dove back in for more, planting her muzzle against those delicious folds and sliding her tongue into her lover's sopping hole. Her nimble tongue and lips danced over the unicorn's marehood and licked deep in search of a weak spot.

Twilight was moaning steadily, one hoof on her lover's head as she decided to return the favor. Her magic formed into a magenta colthood and was placed behind the commander's flank. Two magic hooves gripped the pegasus' cutie mark as the colthood was slipped into her heated folds, coaxing a moan from the fighter's lips that were buried deep in her marehood. The new intrusion caused Moonglow to redouble her efforts and finally place those nimble lips on the precious pearl at the top, bring a fresh cry of pleasure from her.

Being pounded by a larger-than-average colthood did little to disturb the warrior's concentration as she pleasured her lover. Her own pleasure was secondary to the pleasure of her Lady and her Mistress. Her lips and tongue worked over the clitoris that was starting to sneak out of its hiding place as she used the tip of a hoof to rub along the entrance to Twilight's hole. The cries of pleasure from above were beginning to grow louder, so she let the pleasure and warmth from her own plot to surge through her being, allowing it to slip over her mind like a fog. Shortly, the two mares peaked and came together, soaking the unicorns sheets with their fluids. Gasping for air, Dash rolled over onto her side as the ghostly stallion between her legs dissipated.

Twilight lay back on her pillows, covered in sweat and a blush that showed through even her lavender coat. A small noise like the purr of a cat escaped her lips as she leaned over and graced her pegasus with a kiss, tasting herself on her lover's lips. The two held the kiss for a moment before the unicorn leaned back up and sighed, "As always, you have satisfied me, Commander."

"Back to titles so soon, Lady Shadow?"

"Unfortunately. Spike is about to return with a dinner for myself, surely filled with herbs and aphrodisiacs to keep me pliant for Mistress."

"I see. Well, I guess I'll go see what Fluttercry is up to."

"Make sure she's read my notice. I need her on this one."

"Of course, my lady," the pegasus said, moving to the balcony and taking off into the night.

Twilight sighed and used a spell to clean the sheets and moved into her private bath. Filling the tub with hot water and her favorite soap, she climbed in and reluctantly washed the scent of Moonglow off of her coat. Perhaps one of these nights she would appear for the Mistress with Moonglow's scent buried deep into her flesh, and see how she reacted. Tonight was not the night.

Sure enough, moments later, the little dragon that served as her personal butler, messenger, and any other job she needed him to do, appeared in the bathroom with a tray piled with expertly prepared vegetable dishes, "My lady, dinner is here."

"Very well, Spike. I'll eat here."

The dragon nodded and placed the tray on a stand and wheeled next to the tub. Twilight reached out with her magic and picked a bit up with her fork and began to eat. Her mind worked over the flavors in her mouth, picking out the bitter herbs that would keep her awake despite exhaustion, and the spices that would drive her into estrus and almost mad with lust. Another sigh escaped her lips as she ate. Perhaps one day her Mistress would realize she didn't need all this to pleasure her all night. Despite the intrigue, assassination attempts, and uncomfortable bondage, she did love the Empress. Somepony from a lighter time may have called it Stockholt Syndrome, but she was sure it was love. It wasn't as rare as one would think, looking into this realm of darkness from outside. Despite the wars, the sacrifices, the perpetual darkness and unnatural creatures roaming the forests, most ponies lived relatively normal lives. Twilight had, until she had drawn the attention of Empress Moon with her magical prowess at the academy.

Grumbling softly as she finished her meal and drank the highly alcoholic beverage that was provided with it, the unicorn exited the tub and prepared herself for the long night ahead. Given the food and seasonings, it was going to be an interesting night. She rubbed her flank as she realized that her mistress would be using the Gender Shift spell and mounting the much smaller unicorn.

A sudden realization struck her as Twilight finished styling her mane and putting on her gown. The herbs that prevented pregnancy were not part of the meal. They had a very particular aftertaste, and it had not been present. Swallowing hard as a wave of insecurity passed over her, the unicorn had to wonder if there were foals in her future. It wasn't unheard of for the Empress to sire children occasionally. That she had chosen a lowly commoner like herself was confusing. The unicorn could only wait and see as she felt the herbs and spices begin to kick in as her steps began to stumble from the alcohol. Thankfully, it was not far to her Mistress' chamber and a night of pleasure.

Dark Pleasures

Twilight stumbled down the hallway, using the cold stone of the wall for support. The guards ignored her as she passed by on her way to one specific destination. A few snickers chased her into her Mistress' bedchamber as the full power of the drugs she had taken kicked in. Her mind was fogged over with lust as her glazed eyes scanned the room. A deep sniff brought her own potent musk into her senses along with the smell of the Empress. The dark queen was lounging on her bed, free of regalia.

The drugged unicorn stumbled to the bed and climbed on, leaving a trail of drops behind her from her sopping wet marehood, "M-Mistress... I-I'm heeeeere," she moaned lustfully, collapsing on her side and running a hoof between her legs. Twilight brought it up to face and licked it, gazing at her beautiful queen through half-lidded eyes.

"Ah, Twilight... I know I don't need to drug you anymore, but it is so much fun to see you like this," the nightmare before her said as she shifted, revealing she had indeed used a gender manipulation spell at some point in the evening. Her stallionhood was long, jet black, and hardening quickly from the scent of mare in the air.

"A-ah... Mistress... Is that all for me?" the unicorn asked, inching closer to the extended penis in front of her. She drew a breath in and almost came just from the musky smell of her Empress' groin. It was strong and male and her body needed it now. Her tongue slithered out and took a lick to help coax the erection along. Above her, she heard the alicorn gasp softly. Encouraged, the drugged mare planted some soft kisses along the other side before placing her mouth over the flare and taking as much as she could down her throat.

"Oh, my pet..." was all Nightmare Moon said as Twilight continued to suck on her temporary maleness. The Empress was enjoying her prize's oral ministrations. The mare had a talented tongue in more ways than one. Tempted to release her seed into the young unicorns mouth, the dark queen held back. Levitating over a spreader bar, some rope, and a set of blinders, the alicorn proceeded to truss up her pet with a practiced hand. A thousand years of practice makes one very efficient.

Unable to move and unwilling to protest, Twilight simply let out a low moan as the cock was removed from her mouth. She felt the weight and heat of her Mistress move behind her and soon the tip of that monster was resting just at the entrance to her marehood.

"It is time," the queen said, slipping the flare of her penis inside. She pressed forward until she felt the heat of Twilight's estrus on her balls. Moaning loudly, the alicorn began to thrust inside of her pet. The oral pleasure from before had built her up to a peak, but she was old, wise, and under control. This was a special night, and she wanted her pet to enjoy it as much as she did. Leaning down, the nightmare began to whisper into her lover's ear.

"I am going to rut you, Twilight Shadow, like I never have before. My seed will soak into every inch of your womb this night. There will be no doubt that you will be carrying my foal. You are powerful in your own right, and will serve well by my side. I grant you this gift on this night, a thousand years from the moment I sealed Celestia away. Now, Twilight Shadow, take my colthood and bear my foal!" the Empress of the Night crooned, punctuating each sentence with a particularly vigorous thrust from her powerful haunches. At the conclusion of her speech, she planted the flare of her cock up against the very entrance to her pet's womb and came, filling the insensate mare with cum.

Twilight's vision exploded in stars as her mind stored that speech away for processing when the unicorn had sobered up enough to understand any words beyond rut, foal, and seed. At the moment, the only she cared about was receiving her mistress' seed and feeling that magnificent colthood thrusting in and out of her folds. True to her word, Nightmare Moon recovered from her orgasm and began to rut again. Twilight barely had time to come down from her first orgasm before another began to build.

Hours later, the sodden, cum-soaked mess formerly known as Twilight Shadow collapsed on the messy sheets of the bed. Her eyes were completely glazed over in pleasure as her mistress' seed leaked freely from her marehood and down her leg to pool with her own feminine juices on the silk beneath her. The queen of the night, meanwhile, simply lay next to her pet, with a pleased smile on her features.

The unicorn in front of her would be out of it for a few more hours at least, so she summoned her maidservants and told them to get Twilight cleaned up and into her chambers to rest and recover. They looked at the mess they would be dealing with and sighed, one unicorn levitating the entire bundle towards the hallway while another began to clean the bedding. They placed the mare in her tub and ran a bath, cleansing her fur of the sweat and other fluids of the session with vigor. They did not, however, dare to remove any of the Empress' seed, using a magical plug to keep any from leaking out into the bathwater.

Once the Mistress' pet was clean, they put her to bed, positioned comfortably so that no further leaks would occur. They then proceeded to make snide comments about her as they exited the chamber and returned to their usual duties. Twilight's slumber came quickly after the relaxing bath and her mind passed into peaceful oblivion in no time at all.

Several more hours passed by unnoticed by the sleeping mare before she was awoken by a hunger that she had not felt in a very long time. Hours of being used and abused had left her flank sore and her limbs stiff while draining her energy reserves to the bare minimum allowable for consciousness. Her mouth was dry and her tongue felt as if it was made of some particularly rough cotton. Smacking her lips a few times, she managed to gasp out a weak shout for her draconic minion, "Spike..."

The purple dragon appeared out of nowhere as was his wont, "Yes, my lady?"

"Get me some food... and something to drink..."

"I had a feeling you would need refreshment when you awoke," he said, producing a large pitcher of ice water and a perfectly portioned salad with fresh daisies and shredded carrots.

The unicorn greedily drank from the pitcher, not bothering with a glass at first until she had quenched the thirst that threatened to drive her mad. After she recovered some of her dignity, she took the salad and began to consume it at a pace faster than she would have liked. Finally sated, the mare sipped at her water and sighed, "Thank you, Spike. What would I do without you?"

The dragon just smiled and shrugged before slinking off to wherever he vanished to when he was not needed. Twilight watched him go for a moment before stretching and trying to loosen the muscles that her Mistress had worked so hard last night. The speech she had been given finally rewound and played again through her mind. It had been a special night. Her seed was potent. She had not been given anti-pregnancy herbs. Estrus had been induced. Her Mistress mentioned a foal.

The thoughts rolled around, Twilight's usually keen mind unable to grasp everything at once for a moment before it suddenly struck her like a lightning bolt. Her magic faltered and the glass of water fell to the floor and shattered as her shocked voice echoed through the otherwise empty chamber, "I'M PREGNANT!?"

Pinkamena and Elusive

Pinkamena Diane twirled a particularly sharp knife in her hoof as she waited for her current charge to regain consciousness. As his eyes blinked back to awareness thanks to the smelling salts she had sewn into his nasal cavity, a piercing scream flew from his lips when he noticed one of his legs was no longer attached to his body. In its place stood a cauterized stump of infected tissue.

Humming to herself, she approached across the basement and drew the tip of the knife along his stomach just hard enough to draw blood, "Well, do we feel like talking yet? You still have three legs and your horn after all. You can still walk out of here."

He glared at her and spat, "I will tell you nothing, beast."

Her eye twitched as her long, straight pink mane whipped through the air at the snap of her head towards his, "A beast!? We'll see who's the beast after you lose your horn!" she shouted and plunged the knife into a non-vital part of his chest. He hollered through the pain as his captor reached for a particularly vicious looking hacksaw.

Placing it carefully at the base of his horn, Pinkamena began to saw slowly through the sensitive appendage. Now, a unicorn's horn is not only extremely sensitive, but it is a vital part of unicorn anatomy. It provides a release for the magical energy built up by an organ deep within the brain. Should this release not occur for a long period of time, the brain of the pony in question begins to slowly degrade. The first symptoms of magical overload are delirium, dizziness, and an inability to process short-term memories. This rapidly escalates into dementia, psychosis, or schizophrenia. If the situation is not treated, full brain death quickly follows, leaving a hollow vegetable where once stood a proud unicorn. Horns can be regrown magically and naturally if not completely severed, but a horn severed at the base, close to the skull, is extremely difficult to regrow.

The earth pony giggled as her victim snapped a vocal chord, turning his screams and curses into blood-filled gurgles as his voice box destroyed itself. Continuing her leisurely sawing motion, her mind wandered off to other things that needed to be done. If this pony didn't survive, he'd be worth quite a bit to one of her higher class customers. She figured 6 bits a pound, more if she sliced him up right.

Eventually, the unicorn lost consciousness again. She waited a few moments to see if her smelling salts would work again, but the idiot remained out. With a shrug, the pink pony began to tidy up, placing all of her instruments in a neat row for later. As she finished up, a scroll appeared in front of her in a puff of green flame. Catching it in her hoof she bounced over to the stairs leading up from her little basement singing a song, "Spikey-wikey sent me a letter~ I wonder what could be better~"

Tossing the leg of the pony into the meat grinder to prepare it for sausage, she unfurled the scroll and read. The smile on her face grew and grew, "Lady Twilight needs me! Oh, this will be so much fun. I'll definitely need to hurry on this sausage for Spike though. I only have three nights to prepare and that idiot downstairs is going to take at least another to really have fun with," she explained, looking down at a crocodile lazing in the corner of the kitchen. It blinked at her and yawned, revealing a maw full of sharp teeth. Pinkamena giggled and twirled, heading up another set of stairs to her small apartment.

She flopped down on her bed and looked at the half-finished quilt next to her. Thinking about it, the colt downstairs had a very nice cutie mark that would go perfectly in the pattern of others.

Elusive lay back on the bed, pretending to be exhausted and satisfied. The colt on the other side of the bed smiled at her and fell asleep almost immediately. Rolling her eyes, the unicorn rose from the bed and moved to the mirrored dresser. Fixing her purple mane back into its usual perfect style, she picked up the bag of bits next to her comb and retrieved the scroll that had been recording everything said in the room for the last three hours. It had taken far too much effort to relieve this particular stallion of his bits and his information, but, it had been worth it. The pegasus she left in bed would never wake up from his little post-coital nap.

With a soft hmph, she left the room and shortly after, the hotel. The cleaning crew would find the pegasus in bed, dead from an overdose of one of the popular drugs circulating the Lunapolis underground. At least the poor dear had provided Elusive with some valuable information. With the right maneuvering, she could double her take from the night and perhaps even afford a few new dresses after her bills were paid. Living in high class was expensive after all. As she sauntered down the streets, the eyes of passing colts and stallions and even some mares would stare at her, taking in her perfect body. The attention thrilled her.

Passing a particular alley as she did every night, she peeked in on the ponies who had taken up residence among the garbage and other filth. Long ago she had crawled her way up from these very same gutters, so she tossed a few dozen bits down the alley for anypony who could use them. It was one of her quirks to be generous to those less fortunate despite her snobby attitude and near-celebrity status.

As she reached her penthouse apartment with a wonderful view of the royal castle, a scroll popped up in front of her. Catching it in her magic, white coat glistening in the moonlight, she unfurled and read. It appeared that Lady Shadow required her skills for a special mission. It had been quite some time since she last left the city and getting out into the country would do her some good. Writing a few notes of her own, postponing parties and appointments with her clientele, Elusive smiled to herself. It would be an interesting trip.