The Handmaiden

"And that's the game, Sparkle."

Rarity placed down her card, pushing it forward to display her victory. Twilight pursed her lips, observing the field carefully. True to the Chancellor's word, the game was over, and Rarity had once again emerged victorious. It was a long-fought battle of wits, one in which the handmaiden was forever scrambling for an advantage. Yet, despite her best efforts, Twilight just couldn't unseat the Royal Chancellor.

"Well met," hummed Twilight. She extended her hand to Rarity, who somewhat limply accepted and shook. "I thought I had you near the end."

"Very nearly, but you played too defensively. You were too worried about defending your Queen," explained Rarity. She pointed to Twilight's defensive cards, the four Barricade cards lined neatly before her now compromised Queen. "If you would have attacked my troops, and divided my attention better, you would have prevented me from completing my Alteration Sorcery, which rendered your defense moot anyway."

"I wasn't confident that it would be enough to put a dent in your play, so I opted to bunker down and weather the storm."

"Boring!"

Eyes darted across the parlor, to the door that was previously closed. Standing in the doorway, her tall frame elegantly draped by a simple, exquisite silver gown, was the Empress. Twilight and Rarity immediately raced to their feet, bowing as the High Queen of all of Equestria slowly strode into the room.

"Good morning, my Empress!" said Rarity, kissing the sun in salute of her glorious leader. "We hope you found your morning enjoyable thus far?"

"It was quiet. Sometimes, that is all one needs, is a few hours of quiet. Other times…" The Empress flashed a smile, mainly to her handmaiden. "Just the opposite."

"You find our game to be boring?" asked Twilight curiously. The Empress shook her head as she approached, sitting down in the seat that Rarity drew back for her. Her servants sat down across from her, looking up to their divine leader expectantly.

"Not at all. I find it difficult to say no to a good game of Siege, when my schedule permits it. No, what's boring is your strategy, Twilight Sparkle. Safe and sensible, absolutely, but not terribly exciting." The Empress grinned and, with a flourish of magick, produced a deck of cards from nothing. "Mind if I show you how it's done? Tradition dictates that I would play the winner, so that means I would play the chancellor first."

"Of course, your Divinity! I would be honoured to play with you!" Rarity quickly grabbed up her cards, while Twilight did the same to clear the field for the Empress. "I wasn't aware you cared for Siege."

"Psh. I have been around since this game was invented. I've been good for nearly as long, too." The Empress withdrew a card from her deck, the Queen card, and placed it on the table opposite of Rarity's own. As was customary, the two players shuffled one another's deck before returning them to their owner. "Now, Ms. Rarity, I hope you aren't planning to do anything as foolish as 'let' me win. I'm expecting a proper contest of intellects from you."

"While I do not dare pretend to be your equal, m'lady, I will do all I can to provide you with a satisfactory match," said Rarity. She drew her hand of seven cards, while the Empress did the same, and placed down two cards; an Archer and a Barricade, both in a line before her Queen. "My turn is over, my Empress."

"Hm… I did not know you were one for card games, Chancellor." The Empress drew from her deck and placed down two Knights before passing her turn. She beckoned to Twilight, who obediently offered up her leash to her Mistress. The Empress twirled the leather handle over in her hand, watching Rarity build her defenses with a tiny grin. "You strike me more as a gambling dice sort of woman."

"Playing with Sparkle is more of an educational exercise, your majesty. Keeping her mind sharp, testing how she adapts and improvises.” It went quiet for a spell as Rarity contemplated her next move, before setting down a Barricade. “I have Sweetie Belle to thank for my knowledge of the game. After our parents died, Siege and potion-mixing were the only things to make her happy." Rarity sighed wistfully. "We have never been able to properly thank you for giving us the opportunity for her to pursue the latter in your service, Empress."

"It's a travesty, what happened to Sweetie Belle. Such a gifted alchemist, and no doubt would have been an excellent Chancellor, once you reached retirement age," said the Empress. She placed a Watchtower, which forced Rarity to reveal a card in her hand. The Chancellor showed the barricade she held before drawing a card and began her next turn. "While I am certain you have many years left in my service, I do find myself curious… What are your plans to find a candidate for the next Chancellor?"

"I have been giving it much thought ever since Sweetie's accident. It's difficult to see so far ahead, I'm afraid." Rarity frowned at the cards in her hand, and set down her favorite card: the Alteration Sorcery. All Siege cards bore simple images and symbols in their front to display their nature, and, since learning of the game a few months previously, Twilight found herself fascinated by the images of the Sorcery cards in particular. The Alteration symbol was a plain half-sun and half-moon, denoting its position as the magick of change. "I fear there are fewer and fewer competent prospects in Canterlot these days…"

"Hm. Unfortunately, yours isn't as simple as other positions, else we'd just need to find you a strapping young lad and wait nine months."

"Hm?" Twilight hummed curiously, tilting her head at the chancellor. "Why can't you find a husband?"

"A multitude of reasons," snorted Rarity. She blushed as she realized the undignified sound she let slip in the presence of the Empress, and cleared her throat in a futile attempt to distract from that. "N-Not least of which being my vow." Rarity placed down a Catapult and, using the first of her attack phases, used the might of her forces to defeat several of the Empress' units, removing them from play. "As the Royal Chancellor, I made a vow to dedicate my mind, body, heart, and soul to the service of my Empress and the execution of her will. This requires some sacrifice, which includes a vow of… Ahem. Chastity."

"Chastity?" Twilight had to search her mind in an attempt to recall the word's meaning. She was certain she knew the word, although Twilight reasoned it hadn't come up much in her studies. "Wait, I know that word, I’m certain... That means… That means you're a virgin, no?"

"It's not terribly polite to ask a lady such questions," said the Empress, with a small laugh in her voice. "But yes. She is."

"Oh. I would have thought you would have had plenty of suitors before, Chancellor." It was only as the words left her mouth did Twilight truly process the potential implications of what she said. "That is, not to say anything about your… habits. I just assumed, a beautiful woman like yourself…"

"Laugh it up all you like, Sparkle. If this is what it takes to prove my devotion to the Empress, then it is more than worth it," declared Rarity. Despite her bold words, her pale cheeks were still tinged pink. "Not like you're any more experienced..."

"Right…" Twilight hid her smirk, deciding that Rarity was unlikely to find any interest in any of the countless tales she had, stories about cold, lonely winter nights locked up in Golden Oak, the only comfort and warmth coming from her body against Pinkie's. Slowly, that amusement faded into a sick, twisting pit of disgust, memories of her attack the previous year. When her virginity wasn't so much lost as it was stolen away by her twisted jailer. "We're in the same boat, in that regard."

"Well, when the time comes to find a replacement chancellor, I'm sure we will find one," said the Empress. Despite her nonchalance in regards to the game, it seemed she was on the verge of a loss. She had lost most of all of her troops during the course of their conversation, drawing a card on the eve of what was surely her last turn. "I believe I feel a sneeze coming on. Handkerchief?"

Rarity swiftly withdrew a silk handkerchief from her breast pocket and dutifully handed it to the Empress, who brought the cloth to her nose as it twitched. She let out a sneeze into the handkerchief, the sound far less interesting to Twilight than the spectacle before her; as the Empress sneezed, she gave a tiny flourish with her fingers, and her sorcery reached out. She gripped one card in her hand, a Knight, with her magick, and the image on its face shifted to that of a heart composed of two great plumes of flame. The Restorative Sorcery card.

Twilight smirked, catching the Empress' gaze, but said nothing of what she saw.

"I have had an itch in my nose all morning. Thank you, Ms. Rarity." The Empress dabbed her dainty nostrils with the handkerchief and returned it to Rarity, who folded the silk into a square and stuffed it into her inner pocket. The Empress smirked, placing down her sorcery. "I am afraid, however, that the round belongs to me."

With the use of her Restorative Sorcery, the Empress sacrificed the last of her units to resurrect all the others that Rarity had vanquished. More than enough to defeat Rarity's army and take her Queen. Rarity gasped in shock, immediately applauding the Empress' victory.

"Excellently played, your majesty!" Rarity extended her hand and gently shook the Empress' hand. "Stellar strategy, as to be expected from a leader as glorious as you."

"Quite the lucky draw," noted Twilight. The Empress laughed, collecting all of her cards save for her Queen. She swapped decks with Twilight and the pair shuffled for one another before returning their cards and preparing the field for play.

"I've not ruled over all of Equestria for as long as I have by chance, Twilight Sparkle," laughed the Empress. "The reality is, fate is a cruel, fickle mistress. True power is making your own luck."

"When do we get to that part of my lessons?" The two drew their hand and, at the Empress' insistence, Twilight made the first move by placing down a card. Taking the advice she had been given, she shifted her strategy to be more aggressive, with her first card played being a Knight. "I wouldn’t be opposed to making myself a bit of luck from time to time."

"Dear, I think you're lucky enough, won't you agree?" The Empress smiled to her pet as she placed down her Barricade. "What do you have planned today, Twilight Sparkle?"

"I have a visit with Pinkie in a bit, your Greatness. Then, at midday, I'm to accompany Sweetie Belle to the bathhouse." Twilight surveyed the field, playing yet another Knight, mounting her offensive against the Empress. "She asked me to help her with some alchemy, and we thought we'd make a whole day of it."

"I'm not sure how I feel about you and Sweetie Belle running amok in the city," tutted Rarity. "With her leg and her arm, not to mention her eye… It's too easy for someone to take advantage of her. She really ought to stay inside if she can…"

"Your sister is more than capable of taking care of herself, Rarity. And, with Twilight Sparkle accompanying her?" The Empress laughed. "I'd be more concerned for the poor sod who think them to be easy targets. So long as you're maintaining your studies…"

"I'm actually two chapters ahead on the reading, Empress." Much to Twilight's satisfaction, the Empress' eyes lit up with surprise. "This family of Illusionary spells are quite fascinating."

"Pace yourself, Twilight Sparkle. You may very soon find yourself without any more sorcery to study." The Empress raised her hand to gently scratch her nose, and she made a slight gesture with her hand, so minute that no one was likely to notice. No one other than Twilight, who merely smirked at the minor display of sorcery. The Empress placed down a Ram card, smirking at her apparent victory. "Although, perhaps if you gave your other subjects the attention you do to magick, you would not have lost this game."

"Respectfully, Empress, you've not won just yet." Twilight drew from her deck, her last card, and smirked. It was an Archer, not in any way the game-changing tool she needed, but that didn't matter. She slid her foot from her shoe and flexed her toes, maneuvering and manipulating her mana with her digits before placing down the card. "In fact, I believe I've won."

The Empress' face flared with genuine surprise, followed by something Twilight couldn't quite place. It was there for just a second, flickering out almost as quickly as it arrived. Was it doubt? Confusion? Concern? As Twilight reasoned it out, she thought it might even be fear.

"I was not aware you owned a Dragon," said the Empress, regaining much of her poise and decorum. "I may have built my strategy differently."

"I went shopping a week ago with Sweetie Belle. Spent nearly all of my allowance on books, but I had a few bits leftover for Siege cards," explained Twilight as she slipped back into her shoe, neither the Empress nor the Chancellor aware of her deception. "Merchant sold me a box of random cards, I don't even believe he realized it had a Dragon in it." She smiled at her Empress, winking in her direction. Strictly speaking, she had told the truth. She had indeed purchased an old box of assorted Siege cards, and the merchant hadn't realized that the box contained a Dragon; This was because it did not. "Lucky me."

"Very lucky, indeed. Very well done, Twilight Sparkle. And while I wish we could devote the whole of the day to playing card games, I'm afraid Ms. Rarity and I have things that need attending to." The Empress stood up, gathering up her cards and making them vanish with a quick flourish of magick. "I leave you to your plans for the day, so long as you're back by supper. Am I clear?"

"Yes, my Empress. I expect to be back long before then," promised Twilight. She quickly gathered up her cards, before her Illusion could fade and return her Dragon to an Archer. "Do you happen to know who is to be my escort to Golden Oak?"

"Have your pick of the bunch. I already had Ms. Rarity inform the barracks that you would be choosing one, as well as what will happen if they're not on their very best behavior."

"I'm sure they will be." Twilight snickered to herself as she slipped her cards into her satchel and slung it over her shoulder. "With your blessing, Empress, I'd like to take my leave now."

The Empress inspected her handmaiden, looking the servant over with her piercing, watchful eye. Twilight had gotten used to such gazes very early on, and had in fact begun to relish it. The Empress didn't look at much of anything else that way. Only things she found to be exceptional, worthy of her attention. Twilight very much so enjoyed the idea that she was worthy in that way.

"My blessing is yours, Twilight Sparkle," said the Empress finally. She took Twilight’s hand gently in her own, leaning forward to plant a soft, gentle kiss on the back of Twilight’s hand. "Safe travels."

In the year since the fall of Luna, visits to Golden Oak had become quite common for Twilight. It was rare that a week would pass without her taking at least one trip to see her beloved. The Empress seemed nonplussed by this arrangement, and she gave Twilight permission to spend her free time however she so desired, as long as she returned to the castle when she was told, and kept pace in her studies. Twilight always stood well within these guidelines, and so the Empress rarely gave her servant's goings-on a second glance.

Twilight took great advantage of this newfound freedom, taking the liberty to pack a bag of things to make Pinkie's life a bit easier. She wasn’t sure if the Empress would approve of this, but what the High Queen didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

Once she arrived at the canopy, Twilight strode across the tree, doing all she could to keep the contents of her bags from jostling too loudly. While she wasn’t in the slightest concerned with defending herself from rowdy inmates, she’d rather not make things any harder than they already were. Luckily, most of the other inmates were working the Yard, leaving Pinkie’s cell as one of the few that stood occupied when Twilight arrived.

“Morning, Pinkie.” Twilight smiled as she approached, feeling that familiar thumping beat of her heart that could only be the result of her true love. Pinkie was sat in the middle of her room, waiting patiently for her beloved to arrive. Aside from the dirt on her face and in her hair, and the fact that her tunic was a size too big for her, Pinkie seemed no more worse for wear, and she smiled from ear to ear as Twilight arrived.

“Hi, Twi!” Pinkie reached her hand through her wooden bars, and Twilight gently grabbed her before bringing her lips to her calloused knuckles. Twilight then did the same, allowing her hand to be kissed in a similar manner before sitting down before Pinkie. “How have you been? Busy with royal stuff?”

“I’m not quite that important that I’m burdened with ‘royal stuff’ yet,” said Twilight with a giggle. “Whenever I’m not learning magick or being paraded around for the Empress’ amusement, I’m normally just helping Sweetie.”

“Right. The potion girl. She sounds nice, and I’m glad you have a friend out there with you.” Pinkie narrowed her gaze at Twilight, her suspicious demeanor betrayed somewhat by how she struggled to contain her laughter. “She is your friend, right? Just your friend?”

“Yes, dear, we’re only friends,” droned Twilight, rolling her eyes. She knew that Pinkie was speaking at least mostly in jest, and she was more than willing to participate in the little joke.

“I’m just saying, you talk about her a lot, and you seem to hold her in high esteem. I’m certain you even called her pretty before.”

“Just because I think Sweetie might have been beautiful before her accident doesn’t mean my heart belongs to anyone but you. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on, Pinkie.” Twilight smirked as Pinkie blushed, her faux suspicion melting away. “No matter how far we are, and no matter how many potion girls stand between us, you’ll always be the only girl for me.” Twilight dug around in her satchel, pulling out a parcel wrapped in cloth. She glanced around, and, when she was certain no one was watching, she slid the parcel through the bars. “And to prove it, I got you a gift.”

“Oh, Twi… You’re so thoughtful.” Pinkie brought the package in close, holding it tightly as if afraid to even open. “Can I open it now?”

“You may want to wait until you’re hungry. There’s a loaf of bread, two packs of butter biscuits, a half-dozen hardtack crackers, and a tin of apple jelly. I even managed to sneak you some salted beef." Twilight gave her love a little wink. She wished she could give Pinkie more than this, scraps from her dinner, but she knew that it was undoubtedly better than Pinkie usually got to eat. "You'll want to eat the beef and biscuits first, else they'll go bad."

"Wow, Twi! Thanks so much! There's been a bit more food since Captain Spearhead was reassigned, but every little bit helps." Pinkie scampered over to her cot and hid away her little care package beneath the straw. "I hope he doesn't come back. Things are better with Captain Scootaloo in charge."

"Don't worry, Pinkie. Spearhead isn't coming back, ever," said Twilight, fighting the dark smile that threatened to spread across her face. She hadn't told Pinkie what happened to the captain, not particularly wanting to relive the events that preceded his demise, but it still filled her with a somewhat twisted satisfaction to know that he wouldn't be bothering her or Pinkie any longer. "I promise you that."

"Well, if you're sure… Then I guess there's nothing for me to worry myself over right now." Pinkie sat up a bit straighter across from Twilight, bobbing from side to side as she crossed her legs. "Did you find more letters?"

"I did. I had to dig deep into the archives to find these. The Empress doesn't seem to want anyone to see these." Twilight bustled through her satchel, coming back with four old, tattered parchment scrolls. She gently undid the ribbon that tied the first scroll and unrolled it. Like all the others, it was fairly weathered, the ink smudged together in some places, and scorched from getting too near a candlestick in others. An unfortunate symptom of the Pie clan's records, the result of poor storage and care of documentation. "Let's see here… Do you know anyone called Holder?"

"Holder started my clan's homestead! He's my grandpa!" said Pinkie excitedly. "I didn't know Pa still spoke to Grandfather Holder, not since he took over the land."

"These letters seem to be about some sort of festival or feast? Do you know anything about something like that?" Pinkie shook her head, and Twilight began unrolling the rest of her scrolls to read. The damage of the aged parchment made certain passages incomprehensible, and Twilight had to use her intuition to decipher the letter's contents. "Dear Igneous… Blessings and congratulations to you and your homestead… I hear great things of your farmland and my heart swells with pride. I pray to the Gods that your prosperity continues henceforth and forevermore. Hm… When did your father take over the clan?"

"I'm not sure exactly. Before I was born, I know that," said Pinkie. "Pa said his father left the land to him at some point because Grandpa Holder had to go someplace. He wouldn't tell us where or why."

"It says something here about your father hosting a ceremony with his betrothed?" Twilight had to look through several lines of ramblings from Holder in order to glean more relevant information. "It says Limestone and Maud might not be happy with his decision."

"That can't be right. Pa married Ma before any of us were born. Even before Limey." Pinkie tilted her head, her confusion matched only by her curiosity. "What is he talking about?"

"I'm not…" Twilight frowned as her eyes passed over a particularly damaged section of the letter. Only a few words could be easily discerned. Young. Dangerous. Sinful. Archaic. And, somewhere in the middle of that twisting, scorched mess of parchment was a single word. A name.

Pinkamena.

"Twi? Is everything okay?" asked Pinkie uneasily. "What is it?"

"Nothing, nothing. I just… lost my place." Twilight rolled up the letter and tucked it back in her satchel. "There's not much left of that letter. Here, I have others that are more interesting, anyway."

Twilight watched Pinkie's face for some flash of emotion, any insight into what she was thinking. Ever since her assault at the hands of Spearhead, Twilight had trouble reading her love's expression. Somehow, things were different than they were before. She could only think to blame the late captain, and the circumstances he forced upon both herself and Pinkie. Twilight had to purse her lips to avoid a scowl at the thought; Even so much time later, it seemed the bastard still had his greasy mitts on her life.

With a shake of her head, Twilight unrolled a new letter, a happier tale of how Pinkie got her name. Things would mend, and all Twilight could do was enjoy life as best as she could. It seemed like such things were getting easier with time.