Soul's Poison: Into the Dark World

"What the most recent news, sister?" Celestia said, as the nonexistent breeze blew in her face, getting her ephemeral flying in the air.

"Well... Doest thou happen to know about the new case of murdering?" Luna asked.

"Hmm... No, I haven't," Celestia replied.

"Oh, then listen. Investigators had find another corpse. When they found it... They said that it hast been on the third day of rotting away," she told Celestia.

"Who was killed?" Celestia asked.

"Baron Fractured Heart," she answered

"Something about the case?" Celestia asked, as her face goes sour on the memory of the baron.

"Another 'bounty' was found on the corpse. Like the 'bounty' we had find, that one wast written really bad as if by foal but had some very fascinating art on it," Luna said.

"So... We are dealing with not just an angry subject but a serial murderer," Celestia suggested. "At least, actions of that subject of my own is understandable..."

"When dost we miss the moral degradation of the high society?" Luna asked.

"I don't know... I don't know, sister," Celestia said. After sometime Luna opened her mouth and spoke.

"Actually, sister. There is also something we have for you," she said, making Celestia to draw all the attention to her. "There are gossips that this Bright Mind who was in the Ponyville... Well, they said that she is making business with 'Three Circles'."

"Oh, really?.." Celestia queried. Then, she goes to the door and called out for the guards. "Find the guard named Bright Mind and get her here. Now!" She ordered, while the guards vanished like they never was there leaving only a clouds of dust. "Wait. Is she truly with them?"

"We dost not know. We art not aware of the matter. Though, we believe that the gossip cannot be born out of nowhere. Dost not thou forget that the Bright Mind was the one thou had send to Ponyville?" Luna said.

"Ponyville?.. Oh, I believe the gossips have the ground beneath them," Celestia said.

After some minutes of talking a very scared mare entered their apartments. "W-what... W-what c-can I-I d-do for you?" she stuttered.

"You can do a lot of things, but..." Celestia started to speak but stopped.

"But now we need thou to do one thing," Luna continued.

"We had heard that you've been with the gang called 'Three Circles'," Celestia told Bright Mind about gossips she already knows of.

"This is the crime against the law of the state," Luna told her the known fact.

"But you can indemnify yourself for that," she offered. "Are you interested?"

"Yes! Y-yes, p-princesses. I'll do whatever you wish me to do," she even got on her knees when saying so.

She is so easy to work with, Celestia thought. "Then, if you truly with those scoundrels, it will be nothing for you to infiltrate their ranks. While doing so, you mustn't sabotage their inner business, since there is high chances of failure. No, your task is telling us the useful information. Schedules of patrols, current locations of everyone who can be suggested as important in their ranks, and their day-to-day lives, et cetera."

"Oh, but... How am I going to be in touch w-with you, Princess... And, how I would know when t-to stop," she said.

"Oh, we will tell you, when your service would be out of our concern. About connection between you and us... Well," she goes to the little of drawer and get pendant out of it. "A useful trinket over here. Here you are. Just press down on the both ends of the crystal and your voice will be heard from another that is connected to it... Wait, let me."

Bright Mind tossed the pendant back to Celestia. After a sometime of magical stuff, she throw it back to Bright Mind. "Now, you go and prepare yourself for the task. If you wouldn't come after an hour, then you should proceed to us in the next morning."

Bright Mind nodded and run away.

"You will get your cutie-marks, Apllebloom," cream colored earth pony filly said.

"Yeah. Applejack already told me that, Twist." Yellow colored filly grunted as she looked at her hands. Both fillies looked the same but Twist had whiter coat, rectangle glasses and curlier mane. Both had blank palms.

The summer's holidays ended a week ago. Now every filly is in school and adults have time for their own... 'business'.

"Hey, Bloom. Have you heard that two new fillies will come to our school?" Twist asked.

"Will they abuse me like other cause mah hands are barren empty?" Applebloom asked a question as reply.

"No, I think. They say that those new fillies have blank hands..." Twist said.

"Wow, that would be really nice to get along with them, now wouldn't it, Twist?" she asked.

"I dunno," she answered.

They get closer to the Sweet Apple Acres. "Well, thank you, Twist, for accompanying me," Applebloom said.

"It's nothing, Apllebloom. I still live near here," Twist said as she turned around and goes into town. Applebloom in the same time goes to the farm.

There was some free place in front of the house and the barns. Right now, there was Applejack and not-so-new-to-town Twilight Sparkle. They were fixing some really tough looking suit of armor.

"I already have seen the boiling spell, so check. Now, how the steam powered engine?" Twilight asked.

"Fixed and well goin' and even filled with water," AJ assured her.

"Huh, that's check. So, runes of movement... That's magical stuff, so check, check and check. Now, that's not checked so how is the helmet connecting mechanism?" she mumbled before asking a question.

"You think Ah'll be wearin' it?" Applejack asked, crossed her hands and looked at Twilight with an expression that says 'are you serious?'

"Yeah, Twilight. Applejack already have her stetson that she received from dad," Applebloom said as she stood in the same position with crossed hands.

Twilight only smirked at that and said, "Well, stetson is all good and well, but... It wouldn't keep your head safe and sound. Even, if you would manage to survive after all that stuff Celestia will throw us in, there is little chances of your hat's survival. I believe you wouldn't like it to be destroyed, now would you, Applejack?"

"Y'all proofs are... believable, Twi," Applejack replied, as she processed what Twilight said.

"Yeah, Twilig... Wait, what? Why do you agreeing with her?" Applebloom shouted.

"Well, AB, ya don't know which adventures we've already been through. And if she says that we will be through more, then Ah'd better listen to her," Applejack replied.

"Oh... Then, what that thing is?" Applebloom asked.

"This? Oh, this here is present from the lads at royal guards," Applejack said.

"Ya have friends at royal service?" she asked.

"Well... The 'friends' would be the wrong... Ah," she hesitated.

"Term?" Twilight suggested.

"Yeah, term," she admitted. "The guards actually give me that thing fer something... Ah dunno for what actually."

"Wow... Oh, may Ah see how it works?" She exclaimed and made those puppy eyes every filly and some adults knows how to do. No one can stand against those eyes.

"Oh, of course you can, Applebloom," Twilight said.

"Wouldn't these little fillies at mah house kinda get sad for missing that?" Applejack said.

"Miss what?" The voice from somewhere out of sight of everyone called out.

When everyone turned to where the voice come out, they say two fillies. A white unicorn with two-colored mane, dull pink and mulberry, and also orange pegasus with cerise mane.

"Miss something that fillies like wouldn't saw much these days," Applejack said as she hopped into the costume. The hissing sound were made as the runes were making the part of the costume to move. When everything was ready the first step was made.

"So we've done everything right?" Twilight said, as she observed the costume and its work, looking for any flaws.

"Ah believe so," Applejack said as her suit was fizzling and hissing. The steam and magic was making Applejack able to move in the steel costume that weighs way lot of kilos. It weighs a way more than Applejack could bear but the right work that was done to the costume made it possible to make movements in it. Of course, it wasn't professional somersaults that's wonderbolts does on their performances but still.

"Wow, that's so cool!" The little pegasus exclaimed.

"Yeah, it... it looks amazing!" The unicorn said.

"This thing looks like harvesters in our orchards," Applebloom said.

"Harvesters?" Unicorn asked.

"Oh, it's a spider-like machines that's used on the farms so the everyday work would be easy. Such mechanisms are used worldwide because they could be used in many ways. Their semi-sapience allows them to start their work as soon as they were created. Completely sapient mechs... are illegal," Twilight told everyone.

"Sapient? This thing that Ah'm wearing is sapient?" Applejack asked, while looking worriedly at the costume on her.

"If this costume would be sapient then it would be completely illegal," Twilight answered.

"Illegal? Why?" Applejack asked.

"Why? Hah. It's illegal for the same reason the necromancy is outlawed," she chuckled.

"Necromancy? What is necromancy?" Unicorn asked.

"It's something you, young lady, better not know about," Twilight replied. Her expression frowned a bit. This moment, Applebloom eyed them and found out that they had blank palms.

"Wow, girls. Yer hands are empty as mine," Applebloom exclaimed, drawing their attention to her. "Mah name is Applebloom by the way and what's yours?"

"My name is Scootaloo and her is Sweetie Belle," the orange pegasus said.

"Wow... Wait, Ah haven't seen y'all before. Where are ya from?" Applebloom asked.

"Oh, we both had come from Manehattan. She come with her parents and I with my aunts," Scootaloo answered.

"Aunts? Why not parents?" Applebloom asked.

"Hmm, I don't know where my parents at? Auntie Holiday and Auntie Lofty never talked about them much," Scootaloo said. "But let's not speak about sad things. Let's rather play tags. You are on, Applebloom!" She shouted and ran away. Sweetie Belle wasn't able to react as quickly so in the next moment she was touched by Applebloom.

"Now ya are on, Sweetie," she said and ran away in the other direction. She only grunted and ran after Applebloom soon followed by Scootaloo.

"Wow, the kids get along pretty fast, now aren't they?" Applejack said, as she get from the exoskeleton.

"Yes, they are," Twilight replied. "Did the costume works well?"

"Yeah. Works like well oiled gears," Applejack said. After sometime, she said, "Ah believe, Ah will go look how Big Mac doing there."

After sometime, Twilight stood there alone... With the costume. She just thought about going to her library when she looked at the costume. She facepalmed and levitated it to the main barn.