The Fool of Hearts

Chapter 3
Dreams of Madness

"Have they found anything else yet?" Cadence asked her husband as she massaged his shoulders with her hooves, soothing the guard captain from a long days work.

"No, apart from the blood that was smeared up the wall and the trail of drops that led back to the market fountain nothing has been found. I just... I don't understand how anypony could be calm enough to leave no trace after doing something so horrible like that. It looked as if the murder was done by a professional." Shining Armor said as he rubbed his temple with a hoof.

"That's nonsense, Equestria hasn't seen a professional murderer for over a thousand years when Somber took the throne of the Crystal Kingdom." Celestia said as she strode in on the married couple.

"P-Princess Celestia!" Shining Armor said as he raised himself off the ground to bow to the leader of Equestria.

"Auntie, what are you doing here? Don't you have royal court right now?" Cadence asked as she strode up to the princess of the sun and nuzzled her cheek affectionately.

"Yes, but Luna is taking care of it for now. I have more pressing matters to talk with Shining Armor about." Celestia said, a kind smile on her face, but the faux smile did not fool the captain of the guard. Celestia's eyes held nothing but business.

"What is it your majesty?" Shining Armor asked as he stood at attention.

"The murder you are investigating, a similar killing has happened just recently. This one was less brutal but the bloody print was there as well." Celestia said with a sigh as her smile turned into a frown.

The princess of the sun lost a little bit of her luster as she frowned. Her mane briefly stopped flowing and fell down, obeying the laws of physics. Without her keeping up her appearance the princess of the sun looked much older, and tired.

"We have no proof but it seems like this one was a political killing as well. The theory of random murder is not something we can consider anymore." Celestia said gravely.

"Why? who was killed?" Shining asked.

"Prince Blueblood was found dead in his own manor. We have no signs of forced entry, and nopony witnessed anything." Celestia said with a sigh.

"Cousin Blueblood?!" Cadence exclaimed in horror.

"Why was this not brought directly to me?" Shining Armor asked suspiciously.

"You must understand, Blueblood's family insisted on their own private detectives working on the case at first, and have just now asked us to aid since they can find nothing." Celestia said with an apologetic smile.

"So... That makes one murder of the royal research facility, and one of the royal family. Who do you think has sent this killer? Diamond Dogs? Griffins? Or do you suspect it is more closer to home?" Shining Armor asked.

"I cannot say for certain, but it seems too covert for either of them. And the way the murderer has left a print both times, its like they were leaving a calling card." Celestia said.

"Well, looks like I will have another late night then..." Shining said apologetically to his wife.

"Duty calls..." Cadence said hanging her head now that she was going to sleep alone again tonight.

As Shining Armor left the room Celestia and Cadence shared a glance. The younger Alicorn cocked her head as if looking at something. Cadence then looked down at the ground and cast her eyes about as she thought of something.

"Do you have an idea of who is behind all of this?" Cadence asked.

"Well, I have been suspecting a few of my advisers along with a few of the other members of the royal family to be plotting my usurpation. If this killer works for one of the royal branches, well... I fear not only for my safety but yours and Shining Armor's." Celestia said with a sigh.

Cadence gave her aunt a reassuring nuzzle and then departed herself from the room. Celestia remained for a moment longer, gathering her will and recasting the glamour that gave her the godly appearance she always had around her subjects.

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Cicero dropped a sizable cloth pouch on the table in front of Sigel. The unicorn looked up from what he was reading and stared at the pouch, lifting it in his magic to feel its weight and gauge the contents. The unicorn after a second of lifting it up and down with his magic he set it on the table and slumped in his chair, wide eyed at the bag of coins.

"There must be nearly nine thousand bits in that bag!" Sigel exclaimed as he looked up to the jester.

"Well, Cicero has done a few royal jobs before, and they always pay well." Cicero said with a chuckle as he twirled his blade with his fingers.

"And they just handed you the gold and told you to kill him?" Sigel asked incredulously.

"Mhmm, it was as our matron said it would be. You know what they say..." Cicero said with a dark chuckle, his voice dropping in volume and becoming low and deadly, "Mother knows best..."

Sigel picked up the sack of coins and brought it over to Arcane Arts who regarded the blood money with a slight amount of disgust. Arcane was still not comfortable with what was going on, but as long as she did not have to actually commit any of the dark deeds, she could bear serving her new lord by relaying his will.

"Mother you look distressed..." Cicero said unhappily.

Arcane Arts shifted nervously on the large pillow Cicero had fetched and set out for her to sit on as she communed with the void and relayed where the dark sacrament had been recited. Cicero told her a ritual was once in order to call the dark brotherhood into action, but now a simple oath only needed to be muttered with the intent behind it to call upon the brotherhood. Though they currently only had one Assassin, Cicero did not seem unhappy about the situation they were in, the strange man even seemed to revel in the slaughter of others.

"Cicero... Do you ever feel, guilty... When you take a life?" Arcane Arts asked. The question seemed foolish to him, and he briefly wondered if a prank was being played on him.

"Ohh! You jest with Cicero! Haha, that was a good one mother." Cicero said as he cackled madly at the notion.

"No, Cicero... Do you honestly never feel sorry for taking a life?" Arcane asked.

"Oh, well... There were a few times when fellow brothers or sisters needed to be sent to Sithis, but I always did what was best for my previous mother. Is mother still upset that she had to order the death of her friend?" Cicero asked, concerned for Arcane Arts.

Arcane did not respond to this, only looked down at her hooves as she shifted them around nervously. Sigel silently thanked Celestia that Arcane still had common sense and could still feel guilt for what was happening. The stallion shot a hate filled glance at the jester that turned his world upside down not even a week ago. Sigel was about to speak when Cicero strode toward Arcane Arts and knelt in front of her. Cicero cupped his hand on the side of her face and lifted her face to gaze at him. Arcane recoiled slightly at the touch of the grungy glove that was made of what she found out to be the hide of another living creature.

"Do not worry mother, your sacrifice showed Sithis that you were willing to serve. Because of this he will allow me to remain by your side to defend you. I will let nothing harm you mother, you are my reason for living, and I will never allow anyone to harm you." Cicero said with a warm smile as he looked kindly into Arcane Arts' eyes.

Arcane pushed the jester away and turned her head from him, signalling that she did not want to see him at the moment. Cicero bowed deeply and humbly as he stood up and left the room. As the door closed behind Cicero depressed mumbles could be heard echoing down the hall, until he traveled far enough away that Arcane and Sigel could no longer hear his grumbling.

"Creepy, isn't he?" Sigel said, the breath he was holding finally released.

"Sigel, please promise me something..." Arcane Arts said in a quiet voice.

"What is it?" Sigel asked, a worried look on his face.

"Please do not betray me. I do not want to get too close to my family with Cicero always lurking in the shadows near me. You are the only friend I have that is safe from Cicero. Please do not cause him to act against you. I don't want to be alone..." Arcane said as a tear ran down her cheek.

"He is that bad huh?" Sigel asked in a grave tone.

"Cicero seems to mean well, but I just don't know how much I can trust him. I heard of what became of Ambrosia, and he just seemed too happy about it. He says he will protect me, but what if he slips into madness just for a moment and hurts me?" Arcane asked, her voice trembling with fear.

"Well, tell you what. I promise to stay with you through this, all I ask is that you make sure to not allow his madness to affect you. If you go as crazy as him I don't think I could handle it." Sigel said, laughing nervously towards the end.

"So... What of all this money?" Sigel asked, eyeing the massive sack of gold.

"Sithis told me to take what has been earned through Cicero's work and begin construction of a hideout outside of the city limits. Somewhere hidden and safe." Arcane said eyeing the sack herself.

"What will we need a hideout for?" Sigel asked, a confused look on his face.

"Sigel, you already know that Twilight Sparkle is my niece, so you do realize her brother is the captain of the royal guard. My nephew is hunting for me, and he doesn't even know it..." Arcane Arts said as she looked at her hooves.

"Arcane... Do you fear for yourself in all of this, or do you fear what Cicero will do to your family should they pursue you?" Sigel asked solemnly.

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Shining Armor adjusted the bow tie he had around his neck. The captain of the guard finally managed to get a night off from duty. He intended to spend it at the dinner party that was serving as his family reunion. It had been weeks since the guard captain had off due to the spree of murders that had sprouted up and the lack of evidence in each case.

"Are you ready honey?" Cadence called.

"Yeah, ill be there in a moment." Shining Armor called back as he finished straightening his suit. Normally he would wear his military attire, but recently he had worn it quite a lot, and wanted an excuse to wear something other than his uniform.

As the captain of the guard joined his wife in the carriage that awaited them outside of his house, he gave her a peck on the cheek before telling the carriage driver to take them to the reunion.

"So who is the host of this reunion now?" Cadence asked, a curious smile on her.

"Well our family goes through the family tree, taking turns. The host for the next reunion is chosen at the previous one, and this happens every five years. Well, during the last reunion, my auntie Arcane Arts was chosen to host in her manor." Shining said with a smile as he remembered his aunt.

"I didn't know you had an aunt..." Cadence said slightly hurt.

"Well, I haven't been able to see her in a while, she is usually pretty absorbed in her work." Shining said nervously.

"What kind of work?" Cadence asked as she looked out the carriage window and saw a large manor down the road that they were approaching.

"She works at the Canterlot Royal Research Facility, she is actually the head of the spell research branch there. I used to spend a lot of time with her when I was younger, but... When she got the job as head of the branch she was pretty much absorbed by the work." Shining Armor said as his smile started to fade.

Cadence gave her husband a sympathetic look and nuzzled his cheek.

"Hey, at least you will get to catch up with her today." Cadence said with a smile.

The carriage came to a halt and the two stepped out onto the flagstone road that led to the manor gates. Shining levitated the carriage driver his pay and then him and his wife strode through the open gate and into the manor.

Shining was greeted by many of his relatives, and he introduced many of his family members to his wife. Though he saw many familiar faces, he still searched for one face in particular that he wanted to see. The couple weaved through the multitudes of ponies that were all a part of the family tree, but Shining could still not find his aunt.

"Shining, Cadence!" A familiar voice called.

"Twiley!" Shining said as he embraced his little sister.

"Hey Twilight, how have you been?" Cadence asked her little sister in law.

"Not bad actually, especially not compared to how you have been Shining. I have heard about what has been going on, and I have been researching the print to try and find any creatures that match the print." Twilight said with a sympathetic look.

"Hey Twiley, have you seen auntie Arcane? I haven't seen her in years and I really wanted to catch up." Shining said to his younger sister.

"Yeah, auntie is upstairs in her study, she said she needed to check something. She should still be up there if you are looking for her." Twilight said with a smile as she waved off her brother and his wife as they headed toward the stairs.

Shining lead his wife through the house he had not been in for a long time. If he remembered correctly the study was just down this hall. Shining was sure he would remember the room when he came to it, but for now he was simply lost in the maze of a mansion his aunt lived in.

"Are you sure you know where you are going?" Teased Cadence with a giggle.

"I'm sure it's here somewhere..." Shining mumbled to himself.

The shadows stirred to the side of the couple and Shining Armor froze. Cadence gave her husband a questioning look as the guard captain slowly turned his head and looked to the left of where they were trotting. Shining Armor strode over to where he saw the shadow move and peered around, looking for something.

"What's wrong?" Cadence asked, only to be shushed by Shining Armor.

Another blur of motion appeared in the peripheral of Shining's vision, something was moving quickly, and was able to conceal itself when still. Shining's military training kicked into overdrive as he dove after where he had last seen the movement, hoping to keep up with it. Was this the thing that was killing ponies in Canterlot?

The blur of motion ducked around a corned leading into another hallway. Shining Armor ran after it, tearing through the hall as fast as he could gallop, his wife attempting to keep pace with him as he chased the blur. Shining then saw the blur enter a room and silently close the door behind it, Shining raced to the door and stood before it, he had whatever the blur was trapped now. Shining motioned for Cadence to stop and lowered himself into a ready stance as he prepared a defensive spell.

Shining slowly nudged open the door and peered into the room. The room was the study Shining was looking for previously, and inside was his aunt Arcane Arts who looked up at him with a bewildered expression.

"Shining is that you? Oh my how you have grown..." Arcane said as she stood up from a large pillow in the middle of the room and trotted over to give her nephew an embrace.

"Auntie, but... I just saw something come into here..." Shining Armor said as he looked around the room, still in his defensive stance.

"Shining I can assure you we are alone. Actually I guess we aren't, who is this pretty young thing?" Arcane asked as she noticed Cadence entering the room.

"Oh, uh... This is my wife, princess Cadence..." Shining said, slowly releasing the spell and raising from his ready stance.

"Oh, that is right. I never managed to meet your wife since I was too busy to make it to the wedding. Though I guess I was safer since I was holed up in the research labs instead of at the wedding or on the streets." Arcane said with a laugh.

"It is a pleasure to meet you ma'am." Cadence said with a smile.

"I want to hear so much about you, let me just finish one last thing here and I will be right down to rejoin the reunion. I don't want to keep you from seeing the rest of the family but I have some pressing matters with the... Project I am currently working on. It will only take a moment longer but it needs to be kept under wraps. Unfortunately policy states even to you as the captain of the guard Shining." Arcane said with a chuckle as she ruffled the guard captain's hair with her hoof.

"Alright, but be careful auntie. I know I saw something and I fear for you. One research head was already found murdered by the killer. You might be on the list too..." Shining said with worry in his tone as he smiled and left the room to give his aunt the privacy she wanted.

Cadence smiled and nodded to Arcane Arts before following her husband out of the study and closing the door gently behind her. After a few moments of listening for the sound of their hooves to fade Arcane let out a sigh. She returned to where she sat on the cushion and looked down at the new addition to the wealth she had accumulated from Cicero's missions.

The jester as if on cue stepped out of the shadows with a serious look on his face. Arcane noted this and shook her head as she levitated the large sack of coins into a chest where the other payments were deposited. She then turned to address Cicero.

"I know what you are thinking and the answer is no." Arcane said firmly.

Cicero whined slightly as he allowed his hand to drop from the hilt of his dagger.

"That is my nephew, and he is not to be harmed. Neither are any of my guests here today, since they are all a part of my family." Arcane said firmly to the madman whose golden eyes cried out with his blood lust.

"But mother, that male that was just in here, your nephew... He hunts you. He may not suspect you now but when he does, he will not show you mercy as you have today." Cicero pleaded with Arcane.

"I will not tolerate talk of killing Shining Armor, you just saw how kind and courteous he was to me. Does not the first tenet you told me of state to respect the night mother? Has he not done this?" Arcane said in a hushed tone.

"Very well mother, but as keeper I will be entitled to kill anyone that imposes harm upon you. No one will bring harm to you, not even the listener is safe if they break the first tenet." Cicero said with his voice dripping with blood lust.

Knocking emanated from the door as it opened revealing Shining Armor standing here with a slightly suspicious look on his face. Shining took a few steps inside of the room and looked around, checking the corners and shadows for any intruders.

"Auntie, I came to check on you because I was worried. I heard some voices from inside... Is there anypony hiding here?" Shining asked with concern in his voice.

"No Shining, the spell I was practicing is very powerful. When chanting to invoke its power it can warp the casters voice. Now please, I just finished and I am a little light headed. Would you be a dear and help auntie to the refreshments downstairs?" Arcane asked.

Shining eyed his aunt suspiciously for a moment, but then sighed and gave in to the notion that maybe he was being too paranoid. Little did he know the form of Cicero had appeared behind him with his dagger poised to strike. Arcane Arts shook her head and kept her stern gaze on the jester, causing him to once more creep back and disappear from sight. Shining turned around as he felt the air stir but saw nothing. When he looked back to his aunt who was standing next to him now.

"Shall we?" Arcane asked her nephew.

"Uh, yeah..." Shining said as he lead his aunt downstairs to rejoin the rest of the family.

Cicero watched with jealousy from the shadows as his mother spent time with her old family instead of her new one.

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"Are you sure they will be safe?" Luna asked her older sister.

"Shining is with them, even if he is not on duty he will go out of his way to protect both Twilight and Cadence." Celestia said hoping to ease her sister's nerves.

"If you say so..." Luna said warily.

"By the way, have you been able to track the nightmares of anypony who could be the killer. Usually after committing a crime one has nightmares of their guilt or of being caught." Celestia asked her younger sister.

"No, not a single nightmare even depicts the scene other than the guards who investigated it, and they were already background checked and alibi's were confirmed." Luna said with a sigh.

"What about dreams. Maybe we have somepony on our hooves that is as demented if not more so than Discord..." Celestia offered.

"Well, it is a possibility. Though I sincerely hope that is not the case." Luna said with a shiver at the thought.

"Tonight perhaps then?" Celestia offered.

"With hopes we find the culprit." Luna agreed.

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Luna drifted through all the dreams that took place in Canterlot. All of the dreams were bright and cheery, most involving success in events to come, or dreams to come true. All of the dreams caused Luna to smile as she watched over her little ponies, all but one dream.

One dream even from the distance that Luna was at was filled with darkness. Luna approached this dream and peered into it, melding her mind to it so that she could see it better. Something was odd, and it was immediately apparent as Luna took in the dream. The mind of whoever was dreaming was twisted with madness, and Luna found herself unable to leave the point of view of the dreamer.

Luna sat back and watched helplessly as the dreamer stalked a pony, watching it from the rooftops, creeping along slowly. The dreamer then leapt from the roof and landed with complete silence, then taking to the shadows of the buildings as it began stalking the pony even closer this time. The pony that was being stalked opened a door that led into a simple house, but the moment the door swung open the dreamer lunged, and tackled the pony inside. Luna could see the dreamer's arms, bipedal in nature without a doubt as it grabbed the pony by the snout and forced the stallion's mouth shut, muffling the screams. The other hand then plunged a dagger into the throat of the pony, causing blood to spray and stain the floor. The dreamer then took off its glove and pressed its hand into the pool of blood before pressing the hand onto the wall, leaving the mark. The hand under the glove was pale and hairless. A deranged laughter shed forth from the dreamer as it hopped around in joy as it began stabbing the body of the stallion repeatedly, causing blood to spray and cover everything.

Luna cut off the spell feeling sick to her stomach. The killer had killed again, and had reveled in the murder and blood. Luna's worst fear was brought to light. A being of unknown strength was killing ponies because it enjoyed it.