Description:
Artist's comment:
The kirin slowly lifted the cup of hot tea to his lips in my Royal Equestria Security Forces (RESF) dreamscape. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the rich floral aroma of the brew. He then took a little sip of it; in his mind he processed the flavors of the liquid on his tongue.
Oh, Sheng-kir-ta is such a precious thing. Mmm, there's the slight honey sweetness at the beginning. Ah, I got the temperature correct in the brewing! There's the hints of ginger, vanilla, and tamarind.
He swished it a bit around in his mouth. Here comes the finish; yes the slight peppery burn mingled with hints of clove and orange.
He opened his eyes and looked down at the cup. Its not surprising tea is so cherished in my homeland. Like individuals, a cup of tea can be just as complex. The trick is learning who and what they really are.
The stallion was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of a low table. The living room of the 1 bedroom apartment was sparsely furnished in the fashion of his homeland. A modest collection of rattan chairs, the low mahogany table, and a small bookcase of dark teak wood made up the bulk of the furniture. The other decorations in the room were a large wall hanging with a swirling mandala pattern reds and oranges. The other item was a brightly striped multi-colored rug that he sat upon. On the floor next to him was an open laptop, a messengers bag, and a loaded pistol.
The low table was covered by a red silk cloth, upon it sat a white porcelain plate with a tea pot and another tea cup. A glass pitcher of ice water to 2 glass were kept company by another plate with oranges and candied ginger on it.
The apartment was one of several he rented through an assortment of shell accounts. After today, no matter what the outcome, he would be abandoning it as it would no longer be suitable as a safe house for him.
The kirin closed eyes and one more time confirmed that all of his wards were in place. He had just finished this check when one of them he'd discreetly plant in the outside apartment hallway had triggered alerting him of an approaching individual. A few seconds later the sound of hoofsteps came to a stop at the apartment's front door; after a second he heard 4 taps on the door and from behind the door a familiar voice.
“Hello. Are you the owner of the red coupe that's down in the parking lot? If so is it for sale?”
This was agreed to code phrase. Still seated, the kirin's right hand settled on the grip of his pistol and with a flare of his horn, he unlocked the door and opened it.
Standing in front of the door was a middle age kirin mare. She looked she could disappear in any office building, commuter train, or similar urban work environments. She casually glanced into room before stepping into the apartment. After she was a ways into the apartment, the stallion used his horn to once again close and lock the door. Unslinging her purse, the mare sat down cross-legged herself and straightened her dress suit before speaking.
“Is this room secure, and whose is it?”
The stallion nodded his head. “Yes. This is a property I've used as a personal safe house for the last year. Although I will soon be terminating the lease for it.”
The mare tilted her head to one side and smiled a little; as if she had filled in the unspoken part of his statement. “Okay. I'm pretty sure you didn't call this emergency meeting just to show off your interior decorating skills, so what is so exceptional that you felt compelled to break protocol and demand this face to face meeting my old friend?”
The stallion chuckled; in this line of work one didn't have friends. Maybe trusted allies, or reliable comrades, but very rarely what one might consider a true friend. With practice grace he poured the mare a cup of tea, and topped off his own cup. Setting pot back on its cream lace doily he looked the mare in the eyes.
“I have some questions that demand immediate answers, but first.”
Slowly he lifted his left hand off the table and moved it toward an object on the floor. His left hand reached into the large open pocket of the messenger bag; from it he withdrew an ornately carved blackened metal disk roughly the size of a tea saucer and about a half inch thick. Carefully he set on the mahogany table. His right hand returned to the grip of his pistol. The mare could not see this last detail.
For her part the mare's eye went wide at the sight of the disk, but then they quickly narrowed when she comprehended what this meant. “You better have a damn good reason for doing this.” She muttered.
Stallion nodded his head and slapped the palm of his left hand down on the disk. Reddish light erupted from it as an arcane hemisphere enveloped the 2 kirin. Both of them shuddered as the Truth Binder Ward bound them to only speak the truth or suffer painful consequences. The stallion looked the mare in the eyes as he spoke.
“I am Malen En-Katbrek. My name in ponish roughly translates to Charcoal Mane. I am a former intelligence officer of the Crown Army. I serve the cause. This I swear this to be true.” Then he lifted his left hand from the disk.
The mare placed her left hand on the disk and looked Malen in the eyes. “I am Dala En-Moorda. My name in ponish roughly translates to Smoke Dancer. I am a former member of the Ministry of Enlightment. I serve the cause. This I swear to be true.” The she lifted her left hand from the disk. As she did this the stallion slowly lifted his pistol from the floor and set down on the table. The mare scowled at him.
With initial formalities taken care of the Smoke Dancer looked at Charcoal Mane and growled. “Okay, by the flame! What has happened to make you do this Malen?!”
The stallion took a sip of his tea. “I needed verification that you were who you appeared to be.”
Then over the next hour he told his handler about his recent adventures in Fillydelphia. All the while he carefully watched his handler's face for any subtly signs of deception. Yes they were sitting in a Truth Binder Ward, but there were precise ways to defeat them. Finally he got to the part about him finding the real contact dead in the closet.
“I turned leave when I finally got a good look at the imposter's weapon.” He reached into the messenger bag and pulled the machine pistol from it. Carefully he set it on the table, then he looked the mare in the eyes.”
The irises of Dala's eyes had shrunk to pinpricks; with shaking hands she picked up the machine pistol. She'd seen this type of weapon before. Memories came flooding back as she remembered that hellish night. Her husband shoving her and their daughter into the teleportation circle and telling them to keep running on the other end.
She remembered looking back to say something to him; only to have her voice drowned out by a roaring burst of gunfire. Watching helplessly as her husband's head detonated from the bullets. Then catching a glimpse of a silhouette of kirin mare standing in the library doorway before she and her daughter were whisked away. There was a couple of things that were clearly burned into her mind about the mare. The first was mare's blazing yellow-orange eyes, and the other was the long vertical scar on the right side of her face that was glowing orange like an iron straight out of the forge.
“ Shal-el-litan!” She spat the words out as if they were poison. Her eyes began to glow a little then she closed them and took a deep breath and held it for several seconds. Slowly she let it out and trembling subsided. Opening her eyes the glow in them had faded away; she looked at the stallion.
“We most likely have a leak or a traitor in our ranks. I will contact my higher ups in the cause.” Slowly she set the machine pistol back down on the table. “Thank you for killing that piece of shit.”
Dala calmed herself some more and then slowly picked her tea cup and took a sip. “This is very good tea.”
Malen said nothing and continued drinking from his cup.
