Misty was nervous. And excited. Super excited. But also nervous. So nervous.
After so long, magic had returned to Equestria. They didn't know how or why, and it was going to be Misty's job to find out. She was an undercover agent. A spy of the highest skill infiltrating the traitorous masses. Opaline had sent her to check in on the ponies before, but this was the first time she would really be doing something useful. And it would require much deeper infiltration than usual. No just looking on from a distance.
She definitely wasn't the one being sent because Comet Chaser and Sugar Spice were already off on missions leaving Misty as the only one available to investigate Maretime Bay. It was probably the reason though. Maybe. It might not be.
It wasn't quite time for her to go yet though. She had chores to do first.
Misty hummed a little tune as she pushed her cleaning cart into the large room that housed Opaline's vast collection of ancient Equestrian relics. As the rightful queen of Equestria, her possession of said relics was to be expected. This was one of Misty's favorite chores. A lot of the relics were pretty and it was a huge honor that she was allowed to see them. She couldn't use them, of course, they weren't hers so why would she be able to use them, but just looking at them gave her a sense of wonder.
She kind of had an order to the way she cleaned them. She usually started and ended in the same areas.
As usual, she started with the racks of staffs. She didn't know really anything about the staffs. Opaline occasionally told her things, but it wasn't like Misty needed or had a right to know.
Next she vacuumed the magic carpet of Saddle Arabia. She knew it could fly. It sounded fun. She imagined flying on it sometimes. Not that she'd ever do it. Opaline would get so mad.
The row of charms and necklaces were one of the most enjoyable parts of this job. They were small and easy to polish but so sparkly and beautiful.
Luna's Locket had the pretty white moon gem on it. Spritzing more cleaner onto her rag, Misty got to work. Opaline was especially fond of this one. It allowed a pony to enter the dreams of another. Opaline said it wasn't really useful for much, but the idea of it was so cool to Misty.
Next to the locket was the Cat's Eye Brooch. Misty didn't know what it did, but it looked like a cute cat face so she liked it. She didn't know the next few's names, but she was sure they were important.
She always felt like she was wasting her time with the next relic, a large crystal shaped like a heart. It really seemed like something that should be super sparkly, but no matter how much Misty polished it, it'd stayed dull. It kind of made her sad. Although… she tilted her head and examined the relic closer. Maybe she was imagining it, but it looked a little brighter than usual today.
Polishing it still didn't help any.
Sighing, Misty gave up on the crystal heart. She trotted past the comic book on a pedestal. It almost never needed cleaning and she wasn't allowed to read it. For some weird reason, it didn't have a title so she could only guess what it was about. The cover art showed an alicorn flying above Canterlot as a black cloud flooded the city. So, an alicorn princess saving the city from an evil mist? A picture was supposed to say a thousand words, but in this case Misty thought a few words for the title really would help.
A set of four golden keys hanging on a plaque was the next thing that needed dusting. Pulling the feather duster from her cart, Misty lightly dusted the keys. She didn't know what the unlocked. One looked like a cloud with lightning coming out of it so maybe it had something to do with the weather? Or the pegasi? The butterfly one was maybe key to a special garden? The diamond one could be the key to a treasure vault or a castle! The balloon one was very random, Misty had no idea about that one. But they all must be important if they were in the relic room. Opaline wouldn't put any old keys in here.
Misty's mind drifted as she cleaned the next batch of relics. She daydreamed about how proud of her Opaline would be once she successfully completed her mission. She might even give Misty her cutie mark! Finally. Sugar and Comet teased her about her lack of cutie mark whenever they were at the castle. Misty didn't know why she was the only pony who didn't have one. Everypony had one by her age. But once Opaline's powers were fully restored, giving a pony her cutie mark was easy for an alicorn.
She turned so she could see her flank reflected in one of the crystal balls she'd just polished. Her very blank flank. What cutie mark would she get? Really, anything would make her happy, but there must be some she'd be super happy to get. Sugar Spice had a fancy cake. Misty would be happy with a cake. She liked cakes. Comet Chaser's mark was cool, the blue and purple comet tail looked like fire. Maybe her mark would have stars. Misty really liked stars. She'd definitely be happy if her mark had some.
Her time was coming. With magic back, Opaline would get her stolen magic back and use it to give Misty her mark. Because Misty wasn't able to get one herself.
She was nearly done with her cleaning now. Just a few more relics then moping the floor and then she'd go to Opaline for her briefing. She happily skipped to the next relics.
Misty had to be very careful with this next one. She had to clean the large hourglass without tipping it. Opaline said that would be very bad. So Misty was verrrryyyy careful as she cleaned the glass.
A few magic cloaks…
Some magic mirrors…
Magic machine thingies that she had no idea what they did…
And last of all, Opaline's most prized relic. The metaphorical jewel of the collection.
The crown of the true queen of Equestria.
It was a simple, but elegant crown. Gold, with a big pink, six pointed star shaped jewel in the center. A golden swirl led up to the jewel, mirrored on each side. Opaline looked so regal wearing it. At least, Misty assumed she would, she'd never actually seen Opaline wearing it. The alicorn looked at it a lot, but never put it on. Maybe it made her sad.
Even if she didn't wear it, the crown was very important to Opaline. It had to stay clean. Even a little dust would make her upset.
After cleaning the crown and its pedestal, Misty very gently placed the crown back onto its red velvet pillow. She looked at the crown for a few seconds longer. She hoped she'd see Opaline wearing it someday.
Well, that was all the relics. Now there was just the floor. She'd moped it fairly recently, it shouldn't take long.
It didn't take long. Fifteen minutes later, she was packed up and pushing her cart out the door. Misty glanced back at the room one final time, her gaze lingering on the crown. It was the most prominent display, a small light always on it. A bit lonely looking really.
Shutting the door, Misty trotted off to learn what it was that Opaline wanted of her.
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Notes: To be clear from the start, Misty does not see herself as evil. That is the thing I hate most about her character in the show. That is really my only problem with her character. That evil laugh line was meant to be a joke, but it seriously harmed her character. Why have Misty know and acknowledge she is on the evil side? Why not have her believing Opaline was right? Why have Misty give that fake alicorns own all magic story if she still thinks Opaline is evil anyways? In the show, she knows what she is doing is wrong, so she must be doing it purely for the cutie mark. That was just a bad choice in my opinion. Even Nightmare Moon, who was one of the most cartoonily evil villains in G4, didn't think she was evil, she thought she was getting what she was owed and that the night was superior. Bad guys rarely see themselves as bad guys. As it stands, Misty and Opaline's evil lacks any real depth or reason to it. So in my story, Misty believes she is on the good team.
Can you imagine how much more interesting Opaline would be if they had shown she possessed Twilight's crown? Without changing anything else about her, that alone would have made the fandom so much more interested in her. And it makes sense that she would have it, her having it could be explained in so many ways. Missed opportunity.
It makes sense that Opaline would have a ton of Equestrian relics. She's known where Equestria is this whole time, she just hasn't been bothering with the ponies because their magic was missing. Supposedly she's had centuries of time to grow her collection, either by getting them herself or getting other ponies to get them for her. I think the show really should have done this. It strengthens the ties to G4 Equestria and opens up many story opportunities. To balance this I would say Opaline can't drain magic from objects, only ponies. Because really, if magical items are all she needed, she should have been gathering them the whole time in anticipation for magic's return or should be going after magical items that the ponies don't already have or even know about.
Yes, I am giving Opaline some more pony lackies. The show does imply Opaline might have more allies with the "don't be presumptuous, Misty" line, but they haven't said anything about her having more ponies to send. And it makes sense she would take in at least 1 pony from each race. Misty might be able to come into Maretime Bay now, but a unicorn horn is the hardest pony part to hide. You can make fake horns fairly easily, and even fake wings. Or you could wear a cloak to hide your wings or lack of wings. But the horns in G5 are so long, they'd be hard to hide. Sugar Spice and Comet Chaser have already prepared full backstories and established relationships with multiple characters, though it will be a bit before they fully enter the story. Their existence will not lessen Opaline's relationship with Misty, I think they will actually make their relationship more interesting and make it make more sense. It is probably obvious just from the names, but Sugar Spice is an earth pony and Comet Chaser is a pegasus. I will also say that Misty came to Opaline as a filly, while Sugar Spice and Comet Chaser didn't join until they were older.
