Edge of the End

“- These fiendish devices are threatening our way of life! We’re all going to be replaced by machines if we don’t control this situation now! Immediate action must take place to ensure the safety of our children’s futures!” preached a passionate unicorn in the middle of Alicorn Plaza. He had accumulated quite a mixed crowd. A good deal of the amalgamation listened with like-minded agreements of the ring master. A few younger foals in the back countered with boos and jeers, only to be hushed by others who were interested in the public lecture.

But for the most part, ponies passed over the sight for other business. Amber Seed walked around the gathering, which was loud enough to start the symptoms of a migraine. If she were to collapse from a headache, the group of guards stationed strategically near the masses would call for assistance. As long as nopony started a riot, she could avoid the need of that benefit.

Though as far as causes for major headaches were concerned, riots were the least of her problems. Her flu had sucked enough water from her head to make the simple act of walking an excruciating experience. At this point, she didn’t have the capacity to care enough about the multicolored snot that constantly oozed from her nose.

After her harrowing journey across the park greenway, she could see her destination coming to her left by the time the crowd itself began to gain fire in its voice. The building she was heading towards was snuggled in-between a row of street side retail stores. It had the same two-story architecture that most downtown Canterlot buildings had, with one notable detail. The second-floor wall was covered by four cyan circles connected by three branches in a trapezoid pattern. Below the formation were block letters in the same color that read Martyr Designs.

A passing pony would say the building was owned by Martyr Designs for selling electronic merchandise. But in reality, it was rented to them by the Equestrian government. The building was built by Parlor as a means of collecting revenue from tenants. Government organizations were technically not allowed to make a profit from the general public if it wasn’t tax related. But General Diamond pitched it to Celestia that it would serve as a secret entrance to the Royal Castle.

The secret passage idea seemed to be a rather redundant excuse. There was already a tunnel system built during Canterlot’s construction, which was many eons ago. Anypony with a map could slip into a tunnel and end up in a princess’s chamber by taking a few lefts. Amber had done exactly that one time, only to receive a cookie from Celestia as congratulations for stumbling into her private chambers. She never could look Celestia in the eye after seeing her without her regalia.

But Amber wasn’t intending to peep into royal chambers again. She intended to go into the Martyr Designs building, sit down, and wait for a service pony to offer her the latest gadgets of modern technology.

And so she entered and sat down on an oval bench. But the service pony was kept busy by a rather simple minded customer who was clueless on how an AirTablet operated. Amber didn’t bother to think about asking the service pony for help. She just laid her side along the bench and prepped herself for a snooze.

But a snooze was never achieved once a light green pegasus walked through the doors. The newcomer trotted with vigor to each of her steps. A mane of equal liveliness sported brown with red-yellow highlights, manifesting as a hairy campfire on the head of the mare in question. On the moment of her entry, her lavender eyes graced the room with a searching glide, which landed on a lone earth pony that would do anything to see her thrashed by a flock of falling pianos.

“Is that sherbet ice-cream coming out of your nose?”

The tan earth pony stopped all attempts to rest when her ears picked up on the voice. “Buzz off, Fire Vine,” she grumbled.

“Oh, that’ll be inevitable as I fly off into the distance while you lay sick in the mosh pit you call a home city.”

Amber decided that this mare wasn’t worth precious energy to engage in a vocal battle, so she got up and strolled to another bench. She was midway to her goal when an intrusive wing stopped her in place.

“I’m not in the mood for this. *cough*”

“You don’t seem to be in the condition to be in the mood for anything,” Fire Vine stated as she ran a hoof along a glass case for a piece of head equipment. “Maybe you could curb this mentality to your benefit. You could leave your job and never need to be in the mood for paperwork ever again.”

“Shut up, Vine”

“Maybe once you’re finished with that, your sister could follow your footsteps. Maybe she’ll be sent to the Everfree to pacify a raging serpent, only to be-“

“Vine, if you finish that sentence, Luna will need to restrain Celestia after they banish me to Tartarus for all eternity once I’m through with you.”

“You seem to be a bit edgy today.”

“And you seem to be a lot ruder than normal!”

A service mare took notice of the conversation going out of hand, and intervened before the store merchandise was weaponized. “I apologize for the wait,” she intervened. “I’m ready to assist you both. Is there anything you need?”

Both mares broke from the previous conversation to address the service mare. “We are both in need of high quality video recording equipment,” Fire Vine divulged. “Preferably with laser vacuum attachments, if there’s any in stock.”

“I require a lack of witnesses’,” Amber Seed added silently to herself.

“Ah, I know exactly what you want,” the service mare replied with a sly little smile. “You two ladies are in luck. We received a shipment of cameras you may find intriguing. But you’ll find them in the basement yourselves.”

The supposed adversaries followed the helpful mare to the backroom of the building. There wasn’t anything noticeably spectacular about the place. It mostly contained shelves stacked with unopened boxes.

“I’m sure you can find what you need,” she stated before leaving the pair alone.

Fire Vine reached behind a shelf to flick a switch. When the switch clicked, a floor panel slid to the side to reveal a staircase. She walked down the steps with her standard proud stride. Amber just followed with disdain. The basement beyond the staircase was rather plain; only a circle carved into the wall adored the room.

“State credentials,” a reverberating voice called out from nowhere.

“Agent Feline, first class intelligence officer.”

“Agent Coyote, first class reconnaissance.”

“Biometric signatures recognized,” the voice rumbled.

A deep bass moan echoed from just outside the wall. It jumped up its tone several times before settling out to a high-pitched whine. Sparks accumulated around the edge of the circle before crashing together to create a vortex of magical energy. Whips of power whizzed out and through the enclosed space, eventually wrapping themselves around the occupants.

“Welcome back to Parlor.”

The whips thrashed back into the cyclone, dragging with them the pony pair in a torrent of light. And then the room was silent and empty once more.

Something caught the attention of a mouse. In the deep recesses of the Royal Canterlot Castle, a single mouse was perplexed by a speck in the center of a stone room. It was scurrying along the floor minding its own business when it happened to look directly up at an insignificant point of space at the right point of time.

The speck didn’t mean anything to the mouse. It was just there, waiting for something to happen. It didn’t reveal its motivations for existing, or if it even existed at all. Yet, as the speck was gazed upon by the small creature, it poured out the secrets of the universe and beyond into the little brain capacity the rodent had.

It spoke of gods rising from nothing, only to fall to other rising gods, who, in turn, fought with more ambitious gods. Stories of power and loss, the great and many, seemed to flow from the insignificant speck in an untranslatable instant.

But the mouse did not comprehend any of this knowledge, for it was just a mouse that only knew of the sewers and basements of Canterlot. So it continued to stand and stare into the air. Its feeble mind had gone blank with cosmic enlightenment. It was so lost in the sea of thoughts that wasn’t its own that it didn’t even notice a peculiar wall pulse with energy.

The cracks between the bricks began to glare with blue energy as cryptic symbols traced themselves on the walls. As the symbols spread out from their origin points, the center-most parts of the hieroglyphs bulged from the stonework. Equine-like bodies took form as the magical marks peeled away from the bricks. One body started to fill with tan pigments, while the other filled with shades of green.

“-All I’m saying is you should lighten up a bit. Enjoy somepony’s humor more often.”

The other equine body responded with a fury of sneezes. “*ACHOO* If insulting me is what you call *ACHOO* a sense of humor, *ACHOO, ACHOO* then you are one sick mother *ACHOO, ACHOO, ACHOO*.”

“That’s ironic considering you’re the sick one here,” the green form sneered as a mouth fully completed.

“*ACHOO* Somepony must’ve left a truckload of flowers back in the temporal slip *ACHOO*. Good Luna, damn this cold!”

“And it sounded like you were improving.”

A pair of eyes finished forming just in time to shoot a nasty gaze at the green being.  Even a little mouse staring at the ceiling could feel the intensity radiating through the room.

The animosity dispersed from chamber as a pair of fully embodied mares trotted through an archway onto a ledge that gave way to a cavern of enormous proportions.

The cavern was carved deep into the underground of Canterlot Mountain. Crystalized stalactites hung from almost every surface that wasn’t used as a pathway. Cubicles had been carved out of gigantic gems out to make space for offices and meeting rooms. Each occupied room was lit by the glossy refraction of each oversized jewel.

Weaving between the geological marvels were various ponies that transported stacks of paper between each habited stalagmite. An occasional pegasus would arc over the crystal maze only to disappear into a jeweled office space.

”Would Agents Feline and Coyote please report to the Parlor Table,” boomed a mare over an intercom. ”Agents Feline and Coyote report to the Parlor Table now.”

The agents took heed of the order and trotted through a standard path that they took regularly. It started with a ramp to the ground floor. The path continued on under branches of precious stones. It passed by the offices of desk jockeys that were hard at work making sure the systems of bureaucracy flowed smoothly for everyone else.

The path eventually passed by a series of larger crystals that were carved out for meeting purposes.  Only two of the crystals were occupied with discussion, and the one furthest down the walkway was the one that desired the presence of the agents.

A large orange stallion trotted out of the latter crystal. Each muscle of his stocky legs rippled in rhythm with his steps. He kept a straight gaze forward as he walked, until he noticed the mare also walking towards where he just left.

“Heads up girls,” the stallion hollered. “The general’s getting crazy about this round of assignments.”

“Thanks for the memo, Bovine,” muttered Amber as she walked past the oversized colt. The duo walked into the transparent enclosure to find mentioned the blue unicorn looking through the crystalline wall into the grand cavern around them.

“I’m glad you two showed up,” proclaimed the unicorn. “I needed you both on the field an hour ago, and yet you have the guts to walk in here this late just to try my patience.”

“Then for Celestia’s sake, Diamond, get on with it,” interrupted Fire Vine.

General Diamond turned to scowl, continuing on as he walked to the center table.

“Our Divinationist lead proved useful last night. The three warehouses that were raided were full to the brim with explosives, artillery, ammunition, and everything else needed to supply an army for war. You might’ve enjoyed yourself if you stayed a bit longer, Feline.”

“*ACHOO* I’m glad you had fun at least. *sniff* Where’re the tissues?”

“According to the lead,” Diamond progressed as he passed a blue cardboard box to Amber, “Those weren’t the only warehouses being used. The problem is that we can’t locate the other buildings. The computers were wiped of possible communication logs, and the detainees conveniently forgot everything about their jobs.”

“Is this leading up to you asking us to scour the city to search for these ‘unknown’ warehouses?”

“In essence, yes. We don’t know who supplied those weapons or what their goal is. All we know is that they have enough resources to take down Equestria from the inside out. The situation raised enough red flags to get Celestia herself to push for all agencies to investigate.”

“And we’re being pushed to find more warehouses?”

“Yes. Every agent in Parlor is out there looking for interest areas, which is exactly what you two should be doing right now.”

“Stop complaining about that. I was late one time.”

“And that one time was enough to get you two grouped up for this assignment. You’ll be searching in the eastern section-“

“Hold on there,” interrupted Fire Vine. “Did you say the two of us are grouped?”

“Did you think I meant you’re being paired up with the secretary? No, I didn’t. You and Feline are getting into one group to search one area of the city to find at least one warehouse full of weapons. Is there anything you’re not getting about that?”

“I understand that, but do you think it’s a good idea to bring Feline with me? She’s in need of a medical professional. All you’re asking of her is to slow down the mission.”

“*cough* It’s a rainbow flu, Coyote. My nose was leaking melted crayons and I still took down one of those warehouses.”

“It’s a shame you didn’t do it quieter. General, please, she’s only going to hinder us.”

“*cough* Last I checked, you’re the one who slows me down. *cough*”

“I’m a pegasus. That’s physically impossible for me to do something like that.”

“You abandoned me in Stalliongrad, nearly get me killed by a fishbowl, and trip me into the puddle of toxic sludge that gave me this flu in the first place. How do you explain that those incidents weren’t blatant attempts to at least slow me down?”

“I had to make it look convincing to the local street thugs.”

“We barely got off the train when you did all that!”

“First impressions are always important. If anypony should know that, it would be mr, mphmmrphf.”

Diamond cut off the conversation with his glowing horn, clapping both mares’ moths shut with a blue aura of magic.

“That’s enough from both of you,” Diamond intervened. “You both are part of Parlor, and that means pairing up when necessary.” He faded out his magic, allowing the mares the freedom stretch their mouths. “You’ll be searching the eastern quadrant of the Upper Plate. Look for anything suspicious. I expect that the guys running the operation will try to move out in response to the raids.”

“Which portal leads to that part of the Plate? *cough*”

“Portal 8 should put you in a good place to start a sweep.”

”Attention all occupants ,” boomed a mare over an intercom, similar to earlier. ”Due to a recent outbreak of riots, portals 8, 12, 23, and 30 are closed temporarily. Please take an alternative portal for transit.”

“Never mind about 8 then. Take 2. It’ll take you up onto the castle walls. Now get going.”

With Diamond’s closing, the two agents started for the exit. Fire Vine put in a grand effort to sulk for her own version of a dramatic departure. Amber followed close behind, only stopping at the door when her superior hollered for her attention.

“Agent Feline, one last thing,” Diamond called out. Amber turned to see what else the old general could possibly want.

“Don’t forget your bag this time,” he reminded as he pointed to a corner of the crystal room. In the corner a set of brown saddle bags with a sprouting seed design stitched on the side leaned against a transparent wall.

“Thanks,” Amber replied as she seized her bags. She slung the pack over her shoulder, aligning the stitched design on her sides with her matching cutie mark.

Amber soon rejoined her colleagues for the trek through the crystal caves, only to dive back into her regular conversations with the pegasus she wished she never had to deal with.