Her Majesty's Hidden Swords

Connor opened the door to the room he'd been assigned, and for a moment, his breath was torn away. He remembered it; everything looked almost exactly the same. The king-size bed backed up against the wall, the velvet sofa next to the fireplace to the right, a walk-in closet next to it, the blue and silver throw rugs on the floor and the large glass door that led to a large, private balcony. He swallowed as he took it all in. "...It's like nothing changed at all," Connor murmured.

He walked over to the bedstand and looked more closely at it; the lamp had been changed, admittedly, but as he rifled through the drawers, he found...old photos. Old photos that had been left where he'd kept them, most likely untouched by Luna. There were old pictures of him when his beard and hair hadn't grown out; he looked so ridiculously young. He shuffled through the small deck and found another picture of him in his uniform, one arm resting against a handrail in the castle; that one was taken very soon after he was officially elevated to Moon Emissary. His uniform consisted of a royal-blue trenchcoat and burgundy polo with blue-grey slacks and boots. He sighed and smiled at the happy memories as he shuffled through a couple more photos before he found a picture of him and Princess Luna, side by side. She was at least an entire head taller than he was, but she was smiling for the camera. And his younger self, oh, he was beaming with pride. Connor still remembered that day, the first day he was sworn in. Still the best day he lived through.

He shuffled through a couple more photos, more happy memories, until he came to one with him in casual garb, in the castle gardens. he was carrying someone on his back, a filly of no more than eight, wearing plaid blue shirt, bright gold skirt, and several red ribbons in her dark violet hair. She was smiling. Laughing. They both were. Connor stared at the picture for another moment and then quickly reshuffled the pile and blinked away the mist forming in his eyes, then tapped the pile to straighten out the photos before he put them back. He slid the drawer shut and walked over to the glass door, opened it, and stepped outside. The sun was hanging low in the sky, Celestia's handiwork on display for all to see. Connor couldn't help but smile; he never got the chance to talk with her much, but she really was just as wise, caring, and beautiful as the stories from Acadia's founding days said she was. No wonder most young boys wanted to become the next Sun Emissary. He remained transfixed on the sky for another few minutes before he heard a gentle knock at his door, and then subsequently heard it open. He glanced back to see Luna herself stride through and into the room. He made no objections to his invasion of privacy and only smiled warmly at her. "Wow, time for dinner already?"

"Oh, no." Luna regarded him with a bright smile of her own. "I...came here because I wanted to talk to you. Do you still remember this room?"

"How could I forget? I only slept in here about...oh, a thousand times," Connor replied with a smug grin.

Luna quirked an eyebrow and kept smiling at him. "And was it to your liking?"

Connor chuckled and looked back out over the balcony's edge, and the castle gardens. "Oh, you can read me like a book." He paused a minute and then added, "I can't believe you kept all my old pictures."

"They were fond memories. I could not simply...throw them out," Luna said. "...How are you handling your, um...your..."

"Depression?"

Luna shrugged and her smile disappeared. "...I suppose that's one way to classify it."

"Ah...I'm working through it," Connor waved his hand dismissively. "Just my own little cross to carry." He looked back up at Luna and said, "I take it the hair-trigger temper is his 'defect?'"

Luna cast her gaze out across the sky and sighed, "Sometimes, I swear he's aware of it but doesn't wish to curb it."

Connor nodded solemnly and he joined Luna in her 'sun-gazing.' He broke the silence after a couple minutes. "They're so much alike," he mused. "Her and Mister Ambrose."

Luna placed a hand on his shoulder. "Connor." He turned his gaze back up to her. "Have you checked your wardrobe yet?"

Connor blinked a couple times before he took a nervous glance over his shoulder at the door to the walk-in closet. He slowly, deliberately let go of the handrail and walked back inside, with Luna right behind him. Each step felt like a herculean task, even though Connor had no idea what was waiting for him in that closet. Oh, he had an idea, sure, but no evidence to arrive at that conclusion. He took what felt like hours to reach the door, and the he cautiously gripped the knob. He twisted. He pushed. The door swung open. The closet was empty, save for three hangers to his left. On one rested a finely pressed burgundy polo, on the other a royal blue trenchcoat, on the last, blue-grey slacks, and under them resting on the floor were shin-length black boots. Connor's breath hitched in his throat, but after he over came the surprise, he took a step forward. He reached out slowly, and took the trenchcoat off its hanger first and regarded it with an artisan's eye; not a seam was different, not a thread out of place. None of his old clothes looked like they had aged a day. He stared at the trenchcoat for another moment before he began to shudder and embraced it like a long lost friend; in time, small sobs escaped his lips, and Luna quickly walked up to his side.

"After...after all this time..." he choked. Connor slowly looked up at Luna, fresh tears in his eyes. "I...I don't...c-can't believe th-that you...you kept it."

Luna regarded him warmly, and embraced him in a hug. "As if I would discard something so dear to me." Connor embraced her right back, sobbing lightly.

Somewhere else, on a rooftop garden holding arbors of ivy and potted plants of all colors and sizes, Aydin was busy. He wasn't training himself in the ways of combat, however, nor was he practicing his flight skills. Instead, his knees were bent and he was crouched down and staring intently at a group of flowers through a camera lens. His finger pressed down, there was a gentle click, and the Polaroid shutter snapped. After a couple seconds, a photo came out of the opening below the lens and Aydin snatched it out. He regarded his photograph fondly and nodded in satisfaction before he stood up and looked around the garden for his next subject.

He didn't need to look long. Right in front of him, framed by the wooden beams of the many arbors in the garden was the setting sun, its splendor written in pinks, oranges and vibrant reds across the sky. The clouds that covered it were bathed in color, making them look almost like oil paintings rather than natural weather patterns. "Ooh..." Aydin held up his camera and began straining his body in every direction to try and get a good angle. He stood up on his toes, then shrunk back down into a crouching stance, and tilted his upper body to the left, all the while turning the camera every which way to frame the shot perfectly. Eventually, he made a decision, kneeling down in the middle of the garden and getting the sun framed not only in the arbors, but also between two of the castle's spires as well, and he made sure to angle his field of view upward slightly for a more dramatic effect. He pressed down and the camera took a picture, and two seconds later, the photo was printed. Aydin snatched it out of the slit and looked it over; the more he did, the more his smile grew. "Aw, have a butcher's at this," he said to himself. He made a blow-kiss motion and muttered proudly, "What a beaut. I'll have to give this one to Princess Celestia."

Aydin walked over to a nearby table where he left a large folder and gently slid the two pictures he took inside. He then noticed, rounding a hedge, was Night Glider. As soon as she saw him, she perked up and waved. "Oh, hey, Mister Ambrose!"

His smile vanished and he muttered back, "...Aydin. And yeah, hi to you, too." Before she could keep talking, he turned his back and looked for more things to photograph, much to Night Glider's dismay. She didn't leave, though, instead opting to walk over and have a seat on one of the wooden benches nearby, a few feet away from the table. Aydin regarded her with a cautious look before he continued looking around the garden.

They spent the next few minutes in silence before Night Glider cleared her throat and said, "The princess really outdid herself, huh?"

"I guess."

Aydin glanced at a couple shrubs and brought his camera up. He hovered around them both for a moment before he took another picture, lifted it to his face, nodded, and continued on. He took a couple more pictures, one of a topiary bush from a worm's-eye view and one of a flower with a bee settled on one of the petals before Night Glider spoke again. "You, uh...really don't like talking, huh?" she asked.

Aydin glanced out from behind his camera and glared at her for a moment before he went back to his photography. "What tipped you off?" he said sarcastically. "No, I don't like talking to people. It's a distraction."

"Some distractions aren't all that bad, y'know," she replied. "And by the looks of it, you could use more."

"I have my camera and my job, thank you very much," Aydin replied flatly.

Night Glider leaned back and crossed a leg over the other. "Oh, come on. You have any friends?"

"Only Sienna."

"Who?"

"The Sun Emissary."

"Oh. Why haven't you made any more?"

"Because the more friends you make, the more likely you're gonna get burned." Aydin turned around and walked back to the folder with a few new pictures. "Sure, it might not be their fault, but so what? Doesn't just automatically take away the pain, now, does it?" As soon as those words left his mouth, Aydin's eyes seemed to widen and he glanced over at Night Glider, who was regarding him with a look of quizzical curiosity. He coughed and snapped his head away. "Erm...nevermind what I just said."

They both paused a moment before a smirk spread across Night Glider's face. "Well, and here I thought you just had a chip on your shoulder because it was fun," she replied snidely. "What was that little rant all about?"

"None of your damn business, piss off!" Aydin exclaimed defesively. He paused and looked to be going back to taking pictures for a moment before he stopped and faced Night Glider again. "And two, I do not have a chip on my shoulder!" He looked away again, and the two of them went silent for a few more minutes before Aydin seemed to calm down. He took another picture of one of the nearby spires, looking up at it from a worm's eye view, and then sighed and walked over to the table and picked up his portfolio. "Come on," he said, "dinner's probably ready by now. And if it ain't, we'll arrive early and make a good impression."

He walked away, and Night Glider got up and followed him. "Lead on, then."

Getting to the dining room took the better part of ten minutes from where Aydin and Night Glider had been. It was in a more centralized part of the castle, behind a frosted glass and oak door. He pushed the doors open first and stepped inside; the room was spacious and the walls had enough windows to allow ample sunlight inside. It was decorated with potted plants and a large gold chandelier hanging above the well-polished and wide dining table, and at said table were both princesses, Celestia at one end, Luna on her right and Sienna on her left. Next to Sienna was Connor, and next to him was Trixie. Aydin walked over to Luna's side of the table and took a seat next to her, and then looked up at Sienna; the fact that she was sitting next to Celestia wasn't lost on him, and he grinned maliciously and wiggled his eyebrows. She stared back wide-eyed and shook her head so slightly it was hard to see.

"Watcha smiling about, Aydin?" Connor piped up.

"...Nothing." He settled into his seat and Night Glider sat down next to him. After five seconds, a door on the far wall behind Celestia opened, and dozens of ponies came out with silver platters and carts full of food. They arranged themselves around the table and then quickly unloaded their many plates onto the table. Aydin reflexively leaned out of their way, as did Connor, though his movement wasn't as pronounced. Trixie and Night Glider were too enraptured by such a display of serving to give much thought to staying out of the servants' way; Celestia, Luna, and Sienna didn't move. Almost as quickly as they entered, the servants finished, and one of them, wearing a gold-plated name tag and epaulets, approached Celestia and muttered, "Princess...?"

Celestia looked over at the head servant and smiled happily. "Thank you, Miss Sassafras. Go ahead." The other mare bowed her head and made for the door that she and the other servants entered from. Not long after the door shut, Celestia stood up and gestured to the banquet laid before all seven of them. "I'm so glad you all could join us tonight. Go ahead and dig in!"

Aydin grinned and pulled the top of the platter off to reveal seared beef (imported from Acadia, of course), a side salad, and mashed potatoes. Connor had very much the same, Sienna had turkey sausages while the princesses and the other ponies had dandelion salads, hay-bacon, and black-bean patties. The rest of the table was laid with side dishes, condiments, and spices. Everyone at the table looked set to eat; Trixie licked her lips and immediately stabbed a fork into her salad, but when she picked it up and got a good look at what was on it, she screamed.

It was loud and sudden enough for everyone to look over at her, and they could all clearly see a severed finger stuck on one of the prongs of her fork. Sienna covered her mouth to stifle a horrified gasp while everyone else's eyes went wide. Luna, on the other hand, looked away from the scene. Aydin, inured to flying body parts and gore as he was, chuckled as he lifted a piece of meat up to his mouth and ate the whole thing. It hit his tongue and he found out that the barbecue sauce it was marinated in was, instead, "Devil's Drink" hot sauce.

He choked once, then screeched some incomprehensible gibberish that was halfway between a cry for help and a curse that would make the most pious priest of Acadia's church faint on the spot. Aydin reached for his glass of water, downed the whole thing in one gulp, realized it wasn't enough, and scrambled out of his chair and back into the kitchen. Sienna called after him and Night Glider looked down at her plate and scrutinized it for a second. She picked up a few lettuce leaves with her fork, stared at them for a moment, and then realized what was wrong. "...Why are there green pegasus feathers in my salad?"

Realizing he couldn't delay the inevitable, Connor gazed down at the platter and lifted the top up. Instead of a severed finger, feathers, or hot sauce, he found gummy worms sprinkled generously around the rim of his plate. He turned his eyes over to Luna, who had a hand in front of her mouth, trying to hide her smile. Connor grinned back and picked up one of the worms and deliberately bit into it without breaking eye contact with her. "Glad to see you really haven't changed a bit," he said.

Celestia herself watched the entire spectacle unfold in wide-eyed shock, and then slowly, deliberately glared over at Luna, who was still facing away. "Luna..." she began slowly.

"Ahem! Yes, dear sister...?" Luna swiveled her head back around and smiled innocently.

This, of course, did nothing to change Celestia's expression. "Did you sneak into the kitchen and put some...banned items on the dinner plates?" she interrogated, knowing full well that no matter how many of Luna's prank items she confiscated, her sister always seemed to have more lying around.

"Celestia!" Luna exclaimed in mock indignation. "You would accuse me of sabotaging my own guests' food? Do you not trust me?"

The conversation was interrupted when Aydin stumbled back through the kitchen doors, coughing like he caught the plague. He stopped, bent over, and placed both his hands on his knees before he shouted, "Goddammit, not again!"

Celestia glared at her. "Luna..."

"Hey, if it's any consolation," Night Glider chimed in, "I thought it was kinda funny."

Trixie was busy trying to get her breathing under control after she pitched the fake severed finger out of sight. "Speak for yourself," she murmured.

Everyone resumed eating with no further interruption, though Aydin now had a frown stuck on his face permanently. The minutes passed excruciatingly slowly with everyone under Luna's guidance knowing that, in the back of their heads, she'd be sending them back out soon. Eventually, they finished eating, and were conversing with each other...some more than others, of course.

"Oh, nothing special," Connor responded. Night Glider had asked him what he'd done before being enlisted as the old Moon Emissary. "I was just a dance instructor."

"Really? What kind?"

"Ballet."

Night Glider's eyes widened. "No way!"

Connor nodded, and Luna added, "Indeed. Under those robes, he's built like a brick house. I should know, I trained him."

"You certainly could have fooled Trixie. She thought you looked a little on the...'big-boned' side. N-no offense," Trixie said.

"None taken."

"Gods, I haven't been in Acadia in years," Sienna reminisced, "but I've been to Ponyville even less. How is it there? I heard the townsponies are incredibly laid-back."

Connor shrugged. "That's a bit of an undeserved rumor," he explained. "They're not so laid-back as they are just...slow. They do things slow all the time. If a human tells to you to call him soon, he'll be expecting it in a couple hours, maybe a day, tops. A pony tells you they need something 'soon?'" He took a quick swig of water from the glass still on the table and continued, "They mean anywhere from two to five days. The atmosphere's very relaxed there." Connor leaned back in his chair and sighed. "It's a good life. "

Silence reigned for a couple moments before Connor sat up and asked, "So, Aydin..." He turned his head to look at the current Emissary. "What about you? We've been working together for the better part of the day and you haven't said a word about how you got here. I thought I heard someone with the last name 'Ambrose' who owned and operated a journalism conglomerate out of Tifervale when I still lived in Voliport. You related...?"

Aydin said nothing; he only remained transfixed on his empty plate as if it were whispering the secrets of the universe to him, but he didn't stay quiet for long. He suddenly jerked his head and neck up rigidly, almost as if he wasn't in full control of himself. "...I think it's about time we got to the bloody point," as stated he slapped his palms on the table. "What are we supposed to be doing next?"

Everyone stared at him for a second before Celestia stood up and cleared her throat. "I suppose I had better leave you to it."

She turned and made for the door back to the main hall with Sienna following dutifully behind her. The silence remained when they left for a minute before Luna said, "Very well, 'Mister Impatient.' I received debriefing reports from the Vanhoofer police. They were all fairly standard...except two. One of the victims said they overheard their taskmaster talk about Cloudsdale. One other victim confirmed it, as they said they overheard something about some of the previous victims being shipped to a warehouse somewhere in the city; that is where you must go next, and find out who or what is acting 'as the middleman,' as your kind would put it."

Everyone was quiet again until Night Glider glanced around and asked, "What, that's it...? No...no spying on other ponies, no daring heist?"

"Hate to break it to you, mate, but this is what being the Moon Emissary's like," Aydin interrupted. He glanced back over at Luna and couldn't help but smirk. "Just takin' out the trash."

"It is not 'taking out the trash,'" Luna replied. She sounded only half-indignant. "You are doing both Equestria and Acadia great favors to ensure continued peace and cooperation between both nations." She stood up and quickly explained, "Back to the point, however, I don't imagine you will want to undertake this mission tonight. It is already late enough. You are free to turn in, and I shall see you off tomorrow. Any questions?" Luna paused long enough to see Connor raise his hand, and she continued, "Yes, Connor?"

"Are we free to have dessert...?"

The princess paused for a moment before a knowing smile crossed her face. "Yes, Mister O'Malley, you are always free to have dessert."

"Oh, hell yes." Connor immediately reached across the table, toward where Trixie was, to grab a bowl of chocolate-covered popcorn and he poured some onto his plate. Night Glider laughed and did the same, and then placed an apple danish in front of her; Trixie reached across the table with her magic aura to take a couple slices of strawberry cake. Aydin, however, did nothing, and only stood up and excused himself from the table and made for the doors to the castle halls. "C'mon, Aydin, where you goin'? Party's just starting!" Connor called after him.

He froze in place and turned his head to look at the other four still at the table, piling sweets on their plates. He only shook his head and waved Connor off. Didn't stop him from muttering, "Cunt," under his breath as he left the hall.