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Manehatten, Diarchal Embassy

The scratching of her quill was the only thing Lyra could hear as she poured over the papers in front of her. The few ships that had survived the transition reported an uptake in non-equine activity outside the borders of Equestria and as the head of Ordo Xenos, she had to read each movement and assign an appropriate response. While she did have other agents who she could have easily dumped this tedious filing onto, they were all occupied with gathering intelligence on their new neighbours. Footsteps outside her door pulled her attention away from Captain Void Arc’s incredibly dry writing style. No-one else was meant to be in the building now, Luna’s moon being high in the sky out her window.

Lyra’s door creaked open and the muzzle of her pistol poked out from the crack followed by her own a second later. Golden light shone around the handle of her gun and the tip of her horn as she stepped out of her office and onto the top floor of the embassy, her magic an oasis in the blackness. “Is someone there?” She asked, only an echo answering back as she crept out further into the dark. “I’m warning you, I’m armed.” The unicorn swept her surrounding with her weapon as she searched for the possible intruder, a flex of her ear activating the commbead. “Captain, there is an intruder on the premises. Be on alert.” No confirmation came though which Lyra found concerning. “Captain? Report in.” Only static answered her as she continued her sweep of the floor, pistol floating nearby.

Bereft of assistance by the strange quiet of the embassy guards, the Inquisitor circled back around the staircase, intent on retrieving her heavier equipment from her office. Clouds passed over the moon, plunging the building further into darkness as she picked up her pace. Everything outside her little orb of light seemed to disappear, leaving Lyra to find her way back to her office purely by recollection. Voices came out of the void, whispering heretical things into the mare’s ears as she started to feel something unfamiliar well up inside her. Was this fear? She thought that emotion culled after decades fighting the horrors of the Changelings and yet here it returned, spiking her heart rate and quickening her breath. The sight of her office door saw some of the fear banished only for it to burst open and a shadowy figure knock her to the ground.

Lyra groaned as she laid on the ground, her spell having ended when her focus broke and leaving her unable to even see her muzzle. A presence loomed over her as the intruder pinned her down, their hot breath making her ear flicker. “Going somewhere, Lyra?” The words held a threatening undercurrent that sent her heart racing. “Duke Silver? What is the meaning of this?” She asked as her horn began to shine again, casting light not on to the alluring figure of the Equestrian noble but a withered husk with daggers for teeth. “The meaning is that your soul is mine and I’ve come to collect.” The monster laughed as Lyra attempted to rebuke it, her voice hitching in her throat as the yellowed fangs descended upon her.

———

Her head snapped back as her magic pulled her weapon out from its holster, ready to blast the daemon as Lyra panted heavily. Her coat was matted with cold sweat as she found herself back in her office, the clock chiming for noon as Celestia’s welcoming sun streamed through her window. Still breathing heavily, she slowly return her pistol to her chest as she noticed the large puddle of drool on her desk. “A nightmare, nothing more.” She told herself, trying to convince herself that there was no deeper meaning behind what she saw.