Light Glider soared over the rooftops of Canterlot, the fledgling city sprawling (or attempting to sprawl) out beneath her, with a wide grin she swooped down toward a particularly inconspicuous building and rushed down into its skylight.

She alighted with almost a feather touch, the ponies around the room either ignited their horns or reached for their weapons before recognising her.

"Celestia's flank, Light! What have we told you about rushing in like that?" An earth pony sneered at her from behind a desk. Light simply stuck out her tongue at him.

"Blow it out your ass." She responded, heading further into the bureau. She joined the end of a short queue for the Taskmaster's table. The unicorn in front of her turned and smirked.

"Thought I heard you coming in, what did you bring in tonight, Feather-brain?" She smirked, earning a smack to her cutie-mark, a pair of crossed daggers, from the smirking pegasus.

"Why don't you hang around and find out, Deepthroat." The exchange of barbs got her a swift yet restrained kick to the chest.

"Next!"

Light waited for her friend to turn in her goods, before stepping forward to face the Taskmaster.

"What's the score?" The older mare leveled a glare at Light Glider, the pegasus pony quick to empty her saddlebags and present a silver circlet. The Taskmaster's eyes widened and swiping it quickly into her hoof.

"Buck me in the backside, this is real!?" She propped herself up on the table, getting nose to nose with Light Glider, the pegasus holding her ground.

"Where and how did you get this?" The Taskmaster's glare threatened to burn through the pegasus' skull.

"The Royal Palace and I stole it, obviously." Light was careful to only let a little of her sass through, other members of the family had felt the back of the Taskmaster's hoof for far less.

"Were you seen?" The mare continued with her questioning. Light Glider shook her head fiercely.

"Nope, in and out without so much as a raised eyebrow." The response hung tensely in the air.

"Did you kill anypony?" Again Light Glider shook her head.

"I know you don't think much of me, but do you really think I'm that stupid?" Light Glider tensed as the Taskmaster slowly backed down to her seat, appraising the piece before hoofing it off to her assistant.

"Get that to the buyer; good work Light, never thought we'd get to sell off the Luna Circlet. I'll get the word out for the family to lay low for a while, the palace is going to be raging when they find out." She pulled over a ledger and started to write in it, making a few extra notes more regarding the entry.

"Take the night off, Light. When payment comes in I'll arrange your cut. This one's going to pay off big time so as long as we don't have the palace on our flanks, this is going to get you a lot of attention." The Taskmaster smirked, dismissing the proud pegasus. Light Glider smirked as she sauntered past her gaping unicorn friend, smacking her flank with her wing.

"Close it, Spellfire, I can see a carriage coming." Light Glider chuckled, sauntering over to the door.

"Light Glider, Queen wants to see you." A gruff voice spoke from the other end of the room, Light Glider tensed, turning back to face the stallion as her previous elation rapidly bled out of her.

"Q-Queen? Like, now?" She stammered out, the stallion nodding. Light Glider made her way over to him, her heart starting to beat rapidly in her chest. It wasn't unusual for Queens Gambit to see members of the family, she liked to keep up with them and congratulate them on jobs well done, but being called to see her always filled Light Glider with an ominous sense of dread for reasons she couldn't understand.

As she approached the door, the stallion opened it for her, Light Glider's ears pinned back as she stepped through and he closed it behind her. She moved slowly down toward the end of the corridor, passing by several doors before approaching the guards at the end. They acknowledged her silently before admitting her to Queens' private quarters.

Light Glider stepped quietly into Queen's chambers on trembling hooves, she spared a glance around the lavishly appointed room, it had not changed very much since she was last invited into it. In the centre of the room, seated at a fine oaken table sat Queens Gambit; the grey-furred, blonde maned unicorn was pouring a cup of tea for herself, the teapot held aloft in a haze of golden magic. She tilted her gaze up at Light Glider with an appraising smirk.

"Bonjour, ma petit chérie. Come and take a seat, dear." She patted the seat next to her with a hoof, watching Light Glider expectantly. The pegasus stepped dutifully over to the table and took the seat offered to her. In front of her was an empty teacup, Queens Gambit taking a sip from her own.

"Something to drink, chère?" Queens' prench accent rolling off of her tongue like sweet wine, Light Glider shook her head in response. The unicorn smiled disarmingly and turned slightly to better look at Light Glider, she frowned in that way that Light didn't like.

"Light Glider, you're trembling. Whatever is the matter?" Queen took hold of Light's hoof, stroking it gently, the soothing action doing nothing to calm Light's nerves.

"J-just still running on nerves from my last job... Big job..." The lie came effortlessly, Light was never sure if Queens Gambit believed them or not.

"Oh my dear voleuse, that simply will not do." Queens' horn lit up, as she used a hoof to slowly guide Light's muzzle toward her.

"Look into my eyes."

Against every instinct, Light looked into the mastermind's eyes, the usually soft yellow orbs now an infinite pool of radiant golden power. From the second she gazed into their depths all of her worries and fears started to slowly drift away, her trembling hooves steadied and her rapid breathing slowed.

The eyes leaned closer and Light Glider simply wanted to lose herself in their depths forever, every little worry and concern, even the ache of her wings seemed to trickle away as a pair of soft lips found her own. She leant forward and felt serenity suffuse her being as the unicorn kissed her with a tender passion.

All too soon they parted, Queens Gambit smiling as she savoured the taste of pegasus, she watched as Light Glider slumped in her chair, wings drooping against her sides. When the pegasus opened her eyes they were suffused with a deep, golden glow. Half lidded and focused on the empty cup in front of them, with a satisfied smile she ended her spell.

"There now, is that better, Light?" The pegasus nodded slowly, her voice relaxed and peaceful.

"Yes... Thank you..." Queens Gambit let loose a melodic giggle.

"Very good, now, I understand that you managed to retrieve the Luna Circlet? One of our most valuable and sought-after targets?" She watched carefully as the pegasus nodded once more, looking up at Queens Gambit with a small, vacant smile.

"Excellente, ma chère! And I trust that you were not seen?" She let just a hint of criticality into her tone, the pegasus shaking her head.

"No... Studied the guards' patrols... Moved through the shadows..." The responses were slow and measured, but Queens Gambit had long since grown accustomed to them.

"And you didn't kill anypony?" Queens' tone was firm, her little operation did not need that kind of attention, especially from the Palace. Again the pegasus shook her head.

"No... Know you don't like it..." Light Glider frowned, Queen gently stroked a hoof through Light's mane, it troubled her to see her little ponies looking so glum.

"Oh very well done, our family is so lucky to have such a skilled voleuse such as you, just as lucky as you are to have us." She couldn't help but smirk as Light leaned into her touch, her eyes closing slowly.

"Yes... Family is most important thing..." The pegasus intoned, Queens Gambit rewarded her with a tiny peck on the forehead.

"Oui, it is. Your loyalty will always be to our family and ours to you. Won't it, my dear pégase?" Queens Gambit watched Light Glider nod into her hoof.

"Always... My Queen..." Light Glider moved with Queens' hoof as she was gently guided to sit up again. Queens Gambit lit her horn once more.

"Very good, now come back to me." Queens Gambit activated her spell once more, Light Glider's eyes fluttering as the golden light winked out of them. The pegasus gave a quiet groan and rubbed at her head with a forehoof.

"M'head feels funny..." She whimpered quietly, Queens Gambit was upon her in an instant.

"Oh you poor thing, you must be simply exhausted after such a daring heist." Queens Gambit used her magic to pull on a rope against the wall, a quiet bell sounding just at the edge of hearing. A few moments later the door opened to reveal a unicorn with deep green fur.

"Fair Heart, please take Light Glider to her room. The poor thing dearly needs rest after tonight's work. Please ensure she has the best meals for the evening and have the préposées prepare some hot water for a bath. Our petite étoile has earned it." She watched with a scrutinising eye as Fair Heart gently escorted the disorientated pegasus to the door.

"Oh, Fair Heart, please have the guards send in Spellfire as well, I need to speak with her."

Author's Note

This little exercise was inspired by a stray thought, "What if I had a villain who used very obviously evil methods to control those beneath them, but still actually cared about them?"

As I wrote further along for Light Glider (orginally called Night Glider, but changed for obvious reasons) and Queens Gambit, I decided to play with other ideas. Such as how characters talk to others in different positions, could I dabble in other languages, and thinking about specific details in how organisations work.

As you can probably tell I'm not exactly focused on developing environmental detail yet, but each excercise typically has different purposes and some may suffer where others excel, and vice-versa.