Author's Notes:
Thanks to Deadinlight for beta-reading and helping me edit
Post Common Era Chapter Eleven/War of Stars Chapter Seven: Training Brings Pain
“How dare you!?” said a council member as Minder Three turned his head to look at her, she was a little on the chubby side, but not overly so, simply a little over fed, in Minder Three’s mind anyway but he scoffed at her question.
“Prince Masao ordered me to ensure that you do not order someone to force him back, and I will do my job, I specialize at diplomacy, but don’t think that I only know peaceful diplomacy. I have forced the minotaurs to surrender under threat of annihilation, and I am not above doing that here, miss” the general was in shock this pony had somehow snuck in without any of the guards knowing, let alone waiting for the perfect moment to show himself…
- - -
“Ah, hello Earth Council, I am surprised that you saw fit to contact us so quickly, I take it you have something you wish to discuss?” asked Masao in a cheerful voice, he had been called out of bed to deal with an ‘emergency’ of sorts apparently his diplomat decided it was foolish enough to sneak his way into the council chambers still if anyone could fix it Minder Three could, he just wanted to prove something, or at least that is what Masao believed.
“You are to return to Earth or we will—”
“Let me stop you there, I am not going to return to Earth, and nothing you say or do will change that in good way, Equis is my home, anyone I may have known is long dead. Minder Three I know you are listening in, you are not to infiltrate the council chambers again without expressed orders” said Masao before he sighed and continued, “I don’t miss Earth, I don’t care if you are destroyed or not, but know this, if you harm one Equestrian in some misguided attempt to force me to return there will be war.” for a moment or two there was silence before a different voice spoke up.
“I apologize for my esteemed colleague’s short sightedness, I would like to ask that we put all of this behind us and discuss perhaps a visit at the very least, I assure you, if you wish to leave you can, but we insist that you come back to Earth if only to finalize an alliance between our two people, you can bring your wife if you so choose—”
“If you wish to finalize an alliance we will do it here, where I can be a hundred percent certain that you will not go back on your word and attempt to force me to stay, which will end badly to say the least”
- - -
“Oh my! Mistress Willow Leaf! We have to get you fitted for a dress!” said a bat pony mare in a maid’s uniform after she heard the news about Willow Leaf asking Masao to marry her.
“I’m fine! I have time—”
“There is no time to waste! Mistress needs to get her dress!”
“Seriously I know you are better had a better education than this” said Willow Leaf and the maid pouted as she sat on her haunches.
“Why do you do this? I like playing the part of an under-educated maid, several of the nobles like it too” said the bat pony with a light blush on her cheeks and Willow Leaf rolled her eyes at the mare admitting to a less than wholesome reason behind her acting.
“Seriously? You know what forget I said anything! I am going to the training fields, maybe I can get some practice in, I have to keep limber especially if I want to have some fun tonight” said the green earth pony playing the game that the maid was playing.
“Well then mistress, I will let you be, mayhap you run into the prince and he sweeps you off your hooves once more” Willow Leaf glared at the retreating back of the maid who was cackling while she left making Willow Leaf all the more annoyed before she left in her own direction, one heading for the training fields.
- - -
The training fields had not changed all that much over the millennia, it still held several grass and dirt rinks, but as times have changed so did the places where the guard needed to train so there were also stone and metal rinks and a couple areas where one could practice their firearms and firing from under cover while being shot at by lasers set at low power as not to cause any serious damage, but would give a jolt that would definitely inform you that you had been hit. This was where Willow Leaf was, no she didn’t fire a bolter or any other form of firearm, no, she was practicing her skills at hiding, and she was doing quite well, the auto targeter for the laser never picked her up, and she set it to search for unarmed targets. Creeping along she kept her body in hiding by stretching it around openings, it had been a long time since she had done this exercise, mostly because she had been otherwise busy with her, now fiance, Masao. Speaking of whom, she blushed as she remembered him visiting her one night and bringing a small black box, when she opened it, there was a necklace inside, a necklace with the hornring she had worn before her second death hanging on it—the hornring he had proposed to her with—he had kept it and had since gave it to her. While at the moment she wasn’t wearing it—not wanting to be given away by the clinking of the jewelry—she did wear it most of the time, and she was always happy when she looked down and saw it. Soon she made it to the auto-targeter’s domain, a ‘no-pony’s land,’ this close the lasers could do some harm, still not enough to cause worry, but enough that it would really hurt. This part would rely on her gymnastics and speed to get through, if she made it to the auto-targeter, she would have won her little challenge, if not, she was going to be sore tonight when Luna all but drags her to a late night dress shop. She took a step and then took off running, dodging, rolling, and jumping, and was just about to tap the shut off when her hoof was hit by one of the lasers, it really did hurt! She whimpered as another laser barrel came to bare and just before it fired it shut down, not only it, but all the electronics shut down. Limping her way out she was surrounded by several guards who immediately took her to the throne room where Celestia and Twilight were already waiting. There was an explosion, somewhere in the castle, not a few seconds after they got word via the Unicorn powered radios, around Masao’s location…
- - -
“Kill the psyker!” said a human firing a gun at Masao who was hiding behind a flowerpot, a very large one thankfully
“For the prince and princesses!” said a purple pegasus stallion as he opened fire on the intruders.
“I ͠t͝h̶ink͜ it̛ is t͞ime th͏at yo͡u use̛d th̡e ̶p͟ower͟ ̵of ̛Ch҉a͝os, ͞no?́ ̀Tḩen ́per̷ha҉p͠s̢ ́af̛te̕r͏—̢”
“No. By darkness BURN!” said Masao as he threw a blue fireball at the humans who scattered right into the line of fire, for a moment allowing the stallion to take three of the eight down.
“This is Watcher Four, to Prince Darkheart, do you copy?”
“I’m a little busy at the moment, it seems that the Terran Empire is attempting to either kidnap me, or retrieve their lost soldier” he managed to say as he lifted a suit of armor with his dark magic and threw it at the humans who blew it apart.
- - -
“This is Watcher Four to Princess Luna, do you copy?”
“What is it Watcher Four, did you find my husband?”
“I did, ma’am but at the moment he needs help” said the pony and Willow Leaf overheard and putting the pain in her hoof to the back of her mind she raced out of there, weaving in and out of the guards that caught sight of her before she disappeared down a passageway…