>>42350658
>Before the ornate door could even close behind her, Luna had already wrenched a bottle of thoroughly-aged ale from the armoire behind her desk.
>She relocated to the plush couch over by the grand window overlooking Canterlot proper and retrieved a scarcely-used goblet from the end table beside it.
>She had never taken to drinking beyond the occasional celebration, much less while she was attending to her duties, but after reading that harrowing account, she surmised no better course of action than to indulge.
>As the frigid metal of the cup touched her lips, she shivered.
>The totem was exactly how the Director described it, even down to its duplicitous manner of speech.
>Even if the physicality of Tradewind’s journey into the earth was proved to be false - and she /sincerely/ hoped it would be - it mattered little. Outside of herself, Celestia, and the Anomalous Research Division, nopony was aware of the Director, and fewer still knew of the circumstances behind his existence.
>Which meant that-
>“I was under the impression that imbibing during work is traditionally seen as taboo.”
>Luna nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden intrusion, her beverage floorbound.
>As she rose to her hooves, coughing up a storm, she glared up at her intruder.
“Director Anonymous,” she glowered. “Have my sister and I not properly stressed to you the importance of /using/ the doors that you find in the castle?”
>The verdant green biped, utterly featureless aside from his sharp suit, bowed his head in an attempt to express what he considered regret.
>“I apologize, Princess,” he replied flatly. “Did my chief of operations not inform you of my intent to speak with you?”
>Were it anypony else, Luna might have mistook such a question for disrespect.
“She did. Had I not grown used to your spontaneous appearances by now, I might have turned everything in your general direction to ash.”
>“If the situation were any less pressing, I would have abided by your request. I trust you have read through the victim’s recollection of events?”
>Luna nodded, nerves returning in force.
“I have.”
>The director offered a nod of his own, crossing his arms behind his back as he paced soundlessly toward the window.
>“It seems we have less time than I previously theorized. Once we devise a method to safely contain that effigy, the rate and size of thaumaturgical phenomena in Equestria will begin to increase exponentially. You are aware of the danger this poses, should public perception reach a level that we cannot control.”
>He stopped, at last face-to-blank slate with the darkened horizon.