This story is a sequel to Expeditionary
Having solved crimes in both Griffonia and Zebrica, Shining finally gets a chance to return home to Cadence and relax. He should know by now that no plan, not even vacation, survives contact with the enemy.
A sequal to totallynotabrony's Expeditionary, where your reader responses decide what direction the story take. Will Shining and Cadence unravel this new threat to their new home, or will the Crystal Empire vanish again, taking them with it?
Chapters (3)
Now see, this is a non-event question. He's going to go check on the servant, send some guards after the assailant, and then join the chase himself if he can.
We all know what he's like, so this doesn't factor into a choice or decision time.
If you want some help at all, by the way, send me a PM and I'll send you my Skype info.
My vote would be servant first, chase second, doing both if possible.
This reminds me of that time someone got stabbed, and Stormfeather beat a crook over the head with a rock so he could chase the accomplice. Ah, those where the days.
Anyway, I say give chase first because the servant doesn't seem all that hurt. She just got knocked over. But maybe quickly check for blood as Shining Armor runs by. If she is hurt badly, use force fields to stop the flow of blood, just like when... oh, you get the idea.
3939300 Right, I'll try to work in Stormfeather being told to wait behind a boulder, and the minute his head is in view, hit it with a rock.
While I'm interested in the Armory itself, I think checking on the injured guards would be better, and Stormfeather would be a good outer perspective in question asking, not to mention the perfect I've to ask the guards their names, so Shining doesn't look like a complete fool. Have the Amory cordoned off for now, and not tampered with. Also have somepony talk with the servant, she might have seen the cloaked pony's face, and have a fast pegasus go to Canterlot to request a few of the investigation specialists.
That would be my suggestion, in order of importance. My only question is why the crystals weren't moved to Canterlot, stored in the deepest part of the dungeon, or destroyed.
Also, that ceramic would have had to be flying pretty damn fast and made out of diamond to pierce Crystal flesh and go into the lung. I've fallen on large and jagged pieces of ceramic before, and I've never gotten anything more than a scratch.
Also also, why are we getting an insight on the enemy at all? Will we be getting more? It kinda ruins the fun of a mystery if the audience knows exactly where the bad guy is, and the good guy is completely clueless, even when the bad guy is standing right next to him, twirling his mustache and saying "mwahaha" the whole time. Just my opinion.
4006467 She fell on the ceramic, rather than the other way around. Putting your whole body weight behind something can make one hell of a difference when it comes to an injury.
... and I don't intend to have more than the occasional glance at the villains behind the act, mainly to see if the audience can figure it out before the characters do.
4006522 As I said:
Ceramic would usually break into smaller pieces before effectively stabbing through skin and sinew. Which is why it's not used to make swords.
While the above is true for kitchenware, I doubt that any of the bowls or other dishes were made out of this, otherwise it wouldn't have broken as easily as regular ceramic. Yes, I'm nitpicking.
Hmm. Shining doesn't know the guards any better than Stormfeather, but having the prince show up would certainly help their cooperation better than some griffon. At the same time, Shining probably knows a lot more about the crystals than Stormfeather.
So, Shining is better qualified for both tasks. Personally, I'd put him on the hospital first. Stormfeather might as well poke around the castle and see what he can learn in the meantime.
...or ask Cadance to take the hospital. She knows the castle ponies, right?
While we can't wait on someone to come from Canterlot to start the investigation, I think sending for help is a good idea. Some later is better than nothing.
Part of solving the mystery is not knowing who the bad guy is. While you didn't give us much from the ending scene, I'm not sure if it has a place in the story.
I think one of those should be "coat".
Sorry I'm late to the party guys, had NO idea this existed.
As for what to do, I suggest investigating the scene first, with both Shining and Stormfeather. The ambushed guards and injured maid would need time to recover anyway, so rushing off to interrogate them probably wouldn't help much. On the flip side, having two search the area and having someone to bounce ideas off of could very well be better than having only one and miss something or skip a possibility.
Later we can interrogate the guards/maid, if they're in any state fit for such.