The Eyes of Discord

Ok so the chapter name is fairly comedic compared to the rest of them, but since its been so long since I've updated this, I hope you won't mind.  And with that my friends, enjoy!

<(^)>

“Still no leads?” Starblink paced impatiently.  The sound of his hooves marching back and forth across the room was actually providing a nice rhythm to Celestia’s thoughts.

“Leads on what?  The portal, or the murder?”

Starblink stopped pacing.

“Either!  Both!  I don’t care!  They’re both far too important to not have leads on.  There was a murderer, a MURDERER, in this castle Tia!  Right under our noses.  Not to mention the portal.  That’s just delightful to hear about.  I was very happy when the thought of war with the humans was just a bad memory.  Now it’s a looming premonition.  I really don’t need to remind you that BOTH of us almost got killed.  We need answers, and we need them fast.”

Celestia laughed softly from where she lay on the bed, gently brushing her hair.  Despite its magical qualities, she still had to straighten it every once in a while.  Doing everything by magic took the fun out of life.  Thus, she still owned a hair brush.

Starblink looked at her, slightly hurt by her apparent disregard of his concern.  She shook her head.  Even though she loved him, he still had some things that he needed to work on.  Then again, he hadn’t had three thousand years to straighten out his personality.  No wonder so many ponies thought she was perfect.

“I don’t mean to insult you Blink, but it’s been one day.  One.  Technically, a little more than twenty four hours, if you want to be absolutely precise about it.  Do you really expect the results to start gushing in after one day?  The assassin was very adept in covering her tracks, and we are still selecting which ponies should be asked to even look for the other portal, if it even exists.  You should try patience, sweetheart.  Maybe it’s because I’ve had a lot of practice, waiting a millennia for my sister,” Celestia paused for a moment, her thoughts temporarily darkened by the memory, “but it’s a wonderful virtue to possess.  You're immortal now Starblink.  As long as I draw breath, so will you.  You have to realize, that since you will be living for a very, very long time, there are just some things that you need to wait for.”

Starblink understood Celestia, but still, he felt discouraged.

“It’s just... the thought of somepony in our castle… I don’t want you to get hurt.”

The princess of the sun laughed on the inside.  She appreciated the concern, but she somehow doubted that any normal earth, Pegasus, or unicorn pony could really kill her.  Deciding to take the conversation down a less serious route, she put a look of mock horror on her face, staring at Starblink.

“You mean my big strong pegasus general wouldn’t be able to protect me from the evil ponies?”

Starblink smiled slightly, letting off a little bit of stress.

“Of course I could.  I’m just… concerned.”

He shook his head, not wanting to drop the topic, but clearly seeing that Celestia did.  With a great mental effort, he picked a new subject.

“Why are you brushing your mane anyway?”

He glanced out the window, as if to assure himself that the sun was setting, not rising.

“Isn’t it more practical to do that in the morning?  When your hair is only ninety nine percent magical and glowy, as opposed to the rest of the day?”

The sun princess chuckled.

“I think that you already know the answer.  You’ve managed to discover most of my interesting quirks.  It calms me down, and I enjoy it.  I’m three thousand years old.  I’m supposed to be crazy.  Besides, why do you complain about my frequent grooming?  You know how much I love preening too.  That’s something that you can understand at least.”

She looked over his large wings, neatly folded upon his back.

“I’ll probably end up doing that later tonight too.”

Starblink had been walking closer to her ever since the conversation had started.  Slowly, he settled beside her.  He reached forward, gently grabbing one of her wings.

“Or I can just do it for you.”

Celestia smiled at him, as he began to nuzzle at her feathers.

“All the better.”

Starblink began to groom the wing, carefully arranging each feather.  After a few minutes, he playfully knocked her onto her back.  Celestia smiled up at him, glad that her duties for the day were over.  The sun was already setting, and all of her paperwork sat complete.  He began to nuzzle at her neck, his wings slowly unfolding.  Celestia’s heart beat faster as his feathery appendages began to wrap around her.  She started to reach her own wings upward -

Knock knock knock

Both ponies froze, their heads immediately swiveling towards the door.  A voice called from behind the wooden barrier.

“Princess Celestia!  Your sister would like to speak with you.  It is important.”

Celestia’s wings slowly returned to their normal position.  Her eyes shifted back towards Starblink, who was staring at her, awaiting her answer.  Silently, she mouthed;

“Later, I promise.”

He smiled, although slightly disappointed, and slunk off to sit behind her desk.  Celestia herself quickly stood up, trotting over to stand before the door.

“Please, send her in.”

Almost instantly, the double doors swung inwards, revealing the princess of the night.  Standing behind her was Alex.  She briefly pondered whether or not it would be a good idea to put her regalia back on, but then decided against it.  Celestia’s horn sparkled for an instant, barely noticeable, and behind her, the lid of her trunk closed, concealing the hourglass inside.  Luna knew… but Alex…  Not much could be gleaned merely from the hourglass itself, but it wasn’t worth taking any chances.

“Luna, what is it that you would like to speak about?  I can see that you’ve brought our scientific friend with you.”

Princess Luna smiled, and then walked into through the open doors, entering the room.  Behind her, Alex walked forward, slightly timid.  The doors shut with a resounding boom behind them.  Alex flinched.  Luna opened her mouth, beginning to speak.

“We have a volunteer for our search team.”

She motioned back to Alex.  Celestia’s gaze shifted, coming to rest upon the gray unicorn stallion.

“I see.  I presume this would be the search team for the second portal?”

Starblink, who had previously been attempting to make an origami phoenix with the spare papers on Celestia’s desk (although he had only succeeded in creating an origami mess) perked up, suddenly interested.

“Yes.” Replied Luna, “I decided that it would be safe to share the secret of the second portal with him, being that he knows the most about where it likely leads than any of us.  He was very interested in the development, and requested to be a member of the team, whenever we finished assembling it.”

Celestia looked from her sister to Alex, and then back again.  Finally, she asked the question that was pressing at her mind.

“Are you sure that you would be able to perform properly on this expedition, Alex?  I know that you recently suffered another rather crushing experience.”

The grey unicorn flinched as she spoke.  Hesitantly, he spoke up. “I understand why you might think that princess.” He paused briefly, taking a breath. “But… I am perfectly capable of performing my duty.  For my… adoptive country.” He stared at the Celestia. “I will work, and work hard.  I can do this, my princess.”

A pang of emotions shot through his chest.

"I have to do this… or something… anything… but I can’t just lie around… I can’t be useless."

“Hmmm.” The Sun princess contemplated his words, wondering whether or not he would be able to deliver on his commitments. “I think you will make a fine addition to the team.”

She stated. "If anything, your knowledge will prove key if we do reopen the passage to the human’s world…"

Alex grinned, pleased with the decision.

“Now, my sister,” Celestia turned back to Luna. “Is he the only reason why you came here, or is there anything else?”

“One more thing.” Luna went on, “I already have a list of several other candidates for the team.” She produced a scroll from behind her. “I would like your thoughts on them, and for you to add a few choices of your own.”

Celestia briefly looked over the scroll.

“I think that I will finish studying this in the morning.”

She rolled the scroll back up, and then flicked it over towards her desk.  Starblink neatly caught the roll, laying it down in the center of the finely crafted wood.  The white alicorn turned back to Luna.

“Out of curiosity, when would you want this expedition to depart?”

“Two days from now.” Came the quick reply, “The sooner the better.”

Celestia nodded.

“Agreed.  Begin asking the other ponies on the list if they would be interested in an… important service to the country.  I trust your judgement.  I will add my own selection before tomorrow night.”

“Thank you.” Said the princess of the night. “With that, I will leave you in peace.  She looked between her sister and Starblink, who was still toying with various scrap papers at Celestia’s desk.

“Goodnight.”

With those final words, she turned away, and exited the room.  Alex glanced around, quickly bowed, and scurried after her.  The door swung shut behind them, leaving the princess and the general alone once again.

<(^)>

“So this is the place…”  The griffon muttered, glancing at the small cave.  Burried about a mile deep in the Everfree forest, and concealed by a tight grove of trees, it was the perfect place to go completely unnoticed.

The griffon cocked his head to one side, as if listening to something.

“Alright alright, sheesh, I’ve got it... you have no patience.”

The half eagle half lion pawed his way into the small cavern.  He quickly lit a torch that he’d been carrying with him.

“So why did you decide that a guy with wings was a good choice to go spelunking?” He muttered darkly.  The winged creature quickly made his way into the cavern, never hesitating, even when he faced a fork in the cave.  It was as if he knew exactly where he was going, even though he had never even been in the Everfree forest before.  It was not a common place to go.

He quickly descended into the ground, going ever deeper.  The griffon couldn’t help but stare up at the cave’s ceiling above.  It felt… wrong, to be trapped indoors, or underground.  His wings shuffled uneasily.  He would relish the completion of his task, when he could finally get off the ground again.  Finally, he came to a small section of the cavern, just tall enough to crawl through.

“You failed to mention this part of the trip…”

He muttered as he got down on his stomach, still talking to the unseen companion.  He pushed and shoved his way into the tight space, until finally, he reached a rusty metal sheet.

“What’s up with this crap?”

He stood still for a few seconds.

“What do ya’ mean, you don’t know?  Look, let’s just get it out of the way, alright?”

He held out a claw, and pressed it against the old metal.  One flash of green light later, and the metal came free, revealing a large cavern littered with tons of different metallic mechanisms.

“So you still say you don’t know where all this junk came from?  Sure...”

The griffon glanced across the creepy unlit space, before lighting a second torch.

“There you are…”

He smiled triumphantly.  In the space before him, a huge stone ring stood, its features resolute against the wear of time.

“To think, nobody found you, after all these years…”

The griffon laughed.

“Now, just to start making these caves big enough to fit stuff through…”

<(^)>

The door creaked softly open, its hinges making small sounds in the dark of the night.  The shadowy figure slowly slunk into the room, closing the door behind it.  Carefully, it maneuvered its way through the interior of the structure, knowing every move it would make in advance.  Stealthily, it extended a hoof to open the next door – “Ommpphh!”

Swiftwing exclaimed as he was knocked to the floor.

“Take that you sneaky… oh.”

Rainbow Dash stared down at her prisoner.  She blushed slightly, before chuckling.

“Why were you sneaking around the house like that?”

Swiftwing rubbed his side.

“Why did you decide to go all ninja on me?” He winced as his hoof felt a particularly tender rib. “You knew I was supposed to be home tonight, right?”

“Well… yeah.  But try and remember that when you hear somepony bumbling around in your kitchen!  I figured that I’d come on out here and show ‘em whose boss!”

Rainbow jumped up in the air, making punches at an imaginary assailant.

“Well you managed that excellently,” groaned Swiftwing, pulling himself off the ground.

“Anyway… how’ve you been?”

“Good, and how has the royalist of the guards been?” Rainbow lowered herself back to the ground.

“Chasing an assassin that we never actually saw, getting embarrassed out of the pants that I never wear, good stuff like that.” Swiftwing smiled now, glad to be back home.

“Woah woah woah… an assassin?”  Dashie was staring at the stallion, not quite believing him.

“Back up a little there boss, what assassin are we talking about?”

“So now I’m the boss?” Swiftwing grinned.

“Yeah, but don’t expect to retain the title for very long.  Tell me what’s going on in that castle exactly?”

“Not much good, I’m afraid.  Somepony snuck into the castle, murdered some guy, and then apparently got out.  Of course, it wasn’t on my watch.”

Swiftwing shrugged.  Dashie looked at him with wide eyes, clearly startled.

“That’s… terrible.”

“Yeah…” Swiftwing looked around the dark room, and then started walking through the house, towards their bedroom.

“And that’s not the half of it.  Unfortunately, being that I’m kind of married to you, and you’re an element of harmony and all that jazz, I got to find something else out.”

He sighed, and then stopped in the hall way.  Rainbow halted, close  behind him.

“What?”

Swiftwing turned back to her, looking depressed.

“I’d rather it wait until the morning, to be honest.  I don’t think that I’m going to sleep very well tonight knowing about it, so I figure that you won’t fair any better.”

Rainbow looked like she was about to protest, before she finally accepted it.

“Alright…  I’ll wait.  But if I wake you up at six a.m., it’s totally not my fault ok?”

Swiftwing forced a smile.

“Of course not… let’s just go to sleep.”

As Rainbow slept in his embrace, just a few minutes later, Swiftwing couldn’t help but wonder;

How in the world am I supposed to tell her that the war that almost wiped us all out may not be over?

<(^)>

“Nightingale team, this is Overlord, we have just received word of a possible airline hijacking, please stand by.”

Captain James Thalin glanced at the radar screen of his F-22 Raptor.  Multiple dimly lit green triangles slowly marched their way across it, moving from one side to the other.  Some stayed long enough to make the full trek, while others merely cut across the edges.  He glanced out the right side of his cockpit, where another of the American super fighters glided, its gleaming airframe slicing through the blue sky.

“Nightingale team, you are ordered to shadow a 767 passenger aircraft, please proceed sixty miles North East of your current position.”

James’ pulse slowly began to quicken as he thought about the orders.  Another transmission split the airwaves.

“Copy that Overlord, this is Nightingale one, heading there now, over.”

The other fighter banked off in the stated direction, its afterburners kicking on as it did so, illuminating the rear of the plane with a fiery glow.  James pulled his own aircraft around, following after the flight leader.

Far below, the ground blew past, the miniscule structures and vehicles reminding him of when he used to play war with hot wheels and plastic army men.  And Alex.  A faint pang rent through his heart, but was gone in a flash.  That was a long time ago now.

The lead raptor was starting to put distance between itself and James’ fighter.  Almost without thought, he pushed the throttle forward, forcing the aircraft to accelerate.  The minutes slowly ticked by, as more thoughts began to crowd into James’ mind.  Hijacking?  Really?  By who?  And what was the plan when they caught up with this plane anyway?  Shoot it down?  A civilian aircraft?

He shuddered at that thought.

Being ordered to fire on a plane carrying more than a hundred civilians… a fighter pilot’s worst nightmare.

“Nightingale team, you are three miles from the possible HJK, take up a tale position on the 767, over.”

“Copy that Overlord, this is Nightingale one.  Preparing to shadow the target.”

James could see the silvery form of the 767 against the clear blue sky, quickly growing larger as the fighters approached it.

“Nightingale, this is Overlord, confirm possible HJK as being United Airlines flight 915, you are ordered to try and make contact with the aircraft.  No radio responses have been received as of yet.”

“Copy Overlord, complying with orders.”

The twin Raptors banked in behind the 767, following just a few hundred meters behind it.  James listened intently as the lead jet tried to contact the other aircraft.

“United 915, this is F-22 two sixty seven of the United States Airforce, please respond.”

The radio hissed static.

“United 915, you are currently being trailed by two fully armed fighter aircraft, you are ordered to respond immediately.  If you can hear me, please turn twenty degrees East.”

The passenger aircraft remained on its current course.  Overlord, privy to all that was being said between the planes in the local airspace, offered some new advice.

“Nightingale team, split up and flank on either side of the aircraft.  See if you can see anything going on through the windows.”

The two F-22s split apart, each flying to a different side of the plane.  James studied his side of the aircraft, searching the passenger windows while keeping his fighter from bumping the larger plane’s wing.  All were slammed ominously shut.  James tried to swallow his growing sense of uneasiness.

“Nightingale one, all windows are closed on my end, over.”

“Confirm on that two, all hatches are sealed tight over here… I don’t like this.”

“Overlord, we have a negative on all windows.  Can’t see into the cockpit as a result of sun flare either, over.”

“Copy all Nightingale, be advised, you are now less than seventy miles from D.C.”

James nervously tapped out a wild rhythm on the throttle, though he was careful not to cause any unwanted change of speed.  The two flight of fighters quickly tried a number of other methods to gain the planes attention, including flying directly in front of it, dropping flares in front of its nose, and even firing their machine guns while sticking dangerously close to the larger craft’s cockpit.  After every attempt, the 767 refused to acknowledge the American fighters.

“Overlord, we still have no response from the airliner, do you have any suggestions?”

The silence was deafening.  James sat on the edge of his ejector seat, or at least as far forward as

his harness allowed him too, waiting for an answer.  Sweat crept down his brow, slinking down his face, before being trapped by his clothing.  The only sound was the whine of jet engines.  Finally, Overlord broke the silence.

“Nightingale, you are now less than thirty miles from the capitol, please lose speed and assume position behind the hostile aircraft.”

Hostile aircraft?

James wondered at the change in vocabulary.  Potential hijacking and hostile aircraft held two very different meanings.  Slowly, he obeyed his orders, and pulled back on the throttle.  The two raptors dipped back, coming into formation  behind the gleaming passenger aircraft.  The aircraft were now just twenty seven miles from the capitol, and closing at over four hundred miles an hour.

“Nightingale team, we are out of options.” The voice of the aircraft controller known as “Overlord” was strained.

“Nightingale, weapons free.  Take it down.”

“What?!”

“Take down the freaking plane!”

The voice of Overlord was frantic now.  The planes drew closer to the capitol.  James quietly armed his weapons system.

“Nightingale one, take the shot!  Take the shot before ten thousand people Die!”

There was no response from the first fighter.  The planes were thirteen miles from the capitol.

“Dang it… Nightingale two, do you have a shot?  Repeat, do you have a shot?!”

James swallowed.

“Yes.”

“Take it down son!”

James suppressed the trigger.  On the side of the aircraft, a hatch almost instantly popped open, ejecting a white tube of doom.  Within seconds, the missile had fired its engine, and was burning its way towards the passenger plane.  A heartbeat later, a massive explosion lit the sky.  The wreckage of the liner plummeted to Earth.

James carefully watched the high definition image.  As it crashed into the ground, his screen flickered gray.  Above his head, the canopy opened, releasing him from the flight simulator.  He wiped the sweat from his brow.  Even though he knew it was all fake… still, it was nerve racking.  Left you wondering that annoying question of, what if?

James glanced up at the screen of D.C., on the wall showing the simulated smoking  wreckage of the aircraft lying outside.  He glared at the wreck, even if a fake.  No one was going to take away any of his people.  Any of his friends.  Not ever.  He turned away from the screen.  Not again.