Silence, Hiding, and Endings
Silence.
Celestia snarled as her shield leapt into place just in time to intercept the bolts that flew at her from the imposter guards that stood before them. The projectiles struck her shield, but no sound was made as the magic absorbed the shock from the blows. She turned to look over at her griffon companion, but a sudden impact against her spell sent chills down her spine.
In addition to the eight guards down on the ground of the labyrinth, four pegasi in the uniform of the Royal Guard hovered up in the air… and pointed their rifles down at the princess and the general. Their bullets thudded against the barrier, and the muffled thumps resonated through the protected bubble. The guards outside seemed to be shouting at each other, but Celestia couldn’t make out their words.
“Interesting…” Chaput commented calmly. “Their battlecry is the name of the nation whose leader they are attacking. How wise of them.” He walked forward and examined the shield. “Quite the spell… I suppose that it even blocks the soundwaves. Perhaps now would be a good time for us to leave? Teleportation, maybe?”
Celestia inhaled sharply as one of the guards, a unicorn stepped forward. He yelled something to his comrades. The princess shook her head as her mind raced. “If we leave… no. We need to stop them before we go.” She allowed a portal to Otherspace to open, and her armor covered her body in its warm embrace.
“Oh, what fun.” Chaput reached inside his suit and drew a long-barrelled revolver with an ornately decorated grip. He lifted it upward and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “I suppose just shooting them is out of the question?” His beak quirked into a lopsided grin.
Shaking her head, the princess reached out with her magic. “I’d rather not…”
Her spell wove its way through the spell and surrounded the imposters. She hummed to herself as the power took shape and reached into their minds. “Sleep…” she whispered to herself
Nothing happened. Celestia blinked rapidly. It was almost as if something had taken her spell and dispersed it, which nullified the effect.
“I suppose it’s fortunate that leg shots aren’t lethal,” Chaput growled.
The princess shook her head. “We shouldn’t need to shoot them at all.” As she said this, she redirected her spells to a new form. Instead of attempting to knock them out, she formed more shield spells… each one surrounding one of their attackers.
The false guards gasped as the purple energy enclosed them. They shouted, but Celestia heard not even a whisper.
“Oh.” Chaput lowered his weapon. “Well, that was eas—”
The unicorn who had stepped forward charged his horn inside of his shield. Celestia gasped as raw energy surrounded him and something else joined with his power. The sheer force of his spell was impossible. It was as if it were fueled by something beyond mere pony magic…
The unicorn’s horn flared brilliantly, and, in a single instant, all of the shields collapsed.
“Get him!” somepony shouted.
Celestia barely had time to fling herself sideways before bullets rained downward. Her enemies roared, and the princess felt the wind whip past her as projectiles blazed past her. It was as if they did not care if they harmed her or not.
They just wanted Chaput dead.
The general dove alongside the princess. His pistol flashed, and Celestia saw the guards on the ground drop into defensive positions as he shot at them.
Celestia turned her gaze upward, and her energy soared toward the skybound attackers. Her spells couldn’t touch the ponies in the air for whatever reason, but that didn’t stop her from attacking their weapons.
The scream of rent metal filled her ears as the rifles twisted inward upon themselves. Their bearers looked down in shock, and the princess smiled grimly.
Chaput, meanwhile, had pulled a second revolver out of his suit. He leapt forward, flying through the air as he dodged several crossbow bolts. The princess saw him land beside a pair of guards. His elbows lashed out as he dealt blows to both of them at the same time. Immediately, he dropped to the ground and swept the legs of the enemy on his left. A swift strike to the base of the skull took that earth pony out of the fight.
One down.
Celestia took to the sky, her focus upon the pegasi. The wore the uniforms of guards, but something was just wrong. As she closed on them, the problem became clear.
Their eyes glowed orange, and a bluish smoke oozed from the corners of their snarling mouths. The princess bit back a gasp of revulsion as they sped downward to meet her. Channeling the power of the sun, Celestia sent a flare of brilliant energy out at them. They squawked in surprise when the impossibly bright rays blinded them.
Celestia grabbed the first of them and teleported them down to the ground. The yellow pegasus screeched, and she silenced him with two rapid blows. His three allies barely managed to stay aloft in the sky.
The general had incapacitated another pair of guards. His five remaining targets had taken cover behind several marble benches to reload, but Chaput didn’t seem to care. He bounded over the ground like a lion on the hunt. Roaring, he came down on one of them. The grips of his revolvers hit his enemy’s spine with brutal force. The unicorn shrieked and crumpled, his back skewed into an unnatural angle. The other four gazed in horror as the griffon raised his head and snarled at them. The guards drew their spears and swords and charged.
Celestia couldn’t see any more as the pegasi began to recover from her assault. They pulled out their own melee weapons and dove down at the alicorn. She didn’t even move as they closed on her. All she did was calmly lift one of the marble benches up off the ground, and, as gently as possible, swatted the trio down to the ground. With a crunch, they crashed into the hedges. She set her impromptu bludgeon back down and trotted over to the three of them. When she saw that they were still breathing, she formed a rod of kinetic force with her magic and brought it down on each in turn. The force, applied directly to one of the more sensitive areas of the neck, rendered them immobile as they faded into unconsciousness.
Nodding curtly, she turned back to see—
—Chaput blocking a sword blow with one of his claws. He had dropped one revolver in order to grab the blade directly. Wrenching the weapon to the side, Chaput raised his second weapon and fired off two quick shots. The first ripped through his attacker’s knee cap with a sickening tear, and the second hit another target in his side. The first attacker shrieked in agony and collapsed, and the second reeled back in shock and pain from the grazing hit. The general dropped the non-bloodstained sword and raised his claw into a fist. He struck the stunned opponent and dropped him to the ground. Before he could face the last guards, Celestia acted.
Summoning bursts of sonic energy, the princess channeled her power into two precisely placed spells. Waves of sound erupted in the eardrums of the last false guards. They screamed as they were deafened, and the general finished them with a pair of swift attacks.
While the last of them crumpled to the ground, Celestia trotted over to Chaput. “Are you hurt, General?”
He shrugged. His cape had a tear in it where a bolt had passed through, and his face was bleeding from a pair of cuts below his left eye. The claw with which he had grabbed the sword leaked blood profusely, but he seemed unconcerned. “As well as could be expected. And you, Princess?”
“I’m fine,” she replied. “Do you have any idea who they were?”
“Oh, I have more than a few ideas,” Chaput said as he reloaded his revolvers and put them back into the holsters hidden under his suit. “Pony loyalists, windigo slaves, zebran traitors… Dmitri’s pawns…”
The princess inhaled. “You were expecting them, weren’t you?”
“I was expecting something.” He nodded. “It seemed evident that things were escalating, and quickly.”
“Indeed…” Celestia looked down at her assailants. “We need to notify the real guards and get these into interrogation as soon as p—”
“Princess Celestia!” somepony cried. The alicorn turned her head sharply to see one of her guards cantering toward her. Six more guards followed closely behind. “Thank the sun that you’re safe!” he cried.
“We’re fine,” Celestia said. “How did this happen?”
“They’ve been impersonating guards all throughout the palace! We’re under attack!” he replied quickly.
She paled. “There are more?”
“We’ve heard gunfire all over the castle. We need to get you to safety and—”
Cutting him off, Celestia lifted into the air. “Get Luna! Rally the guards!”
“They’ll be attacking Yvonne and the other griffons!” Chaput shouted.
Nodding her head, the princess took to the sky, ignoring the protests of her loyal guards. One final time, she tapped into her alicorn magic and sent out a spell ripping through the castle.
“Intruders in the castle! Protect the griffons! For Equestria!”
~~~
“So, what are you reading?”
Agent Amethyst Breeze peered over the top of her book and smiled at the griffon who sat next to her. She and Captain Vlad were eating their late breakfast in the mess hall that the princesses had set up for the griffons who currently resided at the castle. The large room had been a back-up mess for the Royal Guards, and it was currently filled with griffon soldiers who had just finished their morning physical training. Amethyst had been unsure about that choice at first, but it had become very convenient to be able to eat with Vlad as the two discussed their case… among other reasons. The uniformed griffon sat very close beside her, and she was very much okay with this development. He held a newspaper and munched on a spinach crepe as he looked at her book.
“It’s, ah, an adventure story. Science fiction,” she said, her face flushed.
“Oh, really? Who is the author?” Vlad took another bite of his breakfast.
She turned the cover over. The front of the book bore the words, In Fury Born, and the image was of a mare’s face above a futuristic starship. “It’s by Webbs. He’s written some great things.”
“Ah, interesting.” He smiled at her. “I usually read the news at breakfast, myself. I leave the entertaining reading for my free evenings. Right now, I’m working through a few of my favorite classics.”
She returned a wide grin. His eyes twinkled as he looked at her… She coughed twice and shook her head. “What are you reading now?”
“Scaramouche. It’s amazing. I’ll read it at least once a year, if not more.” Turning back to his food he took another bite. “I try to read a few dozen pages every evening. He helps me unwind before I fall asleep.”
“Me too!” Breeze exclaimed. “I’ll have a cup of tea, take a shower, and then read for an hour or two, if I have time. I have the hardest time sleeping if I don’t.”
“My dear, you have just described the perfect evening.” Vlad chortled. “One cup of hot Earl Gray, and I am ready.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? That’s… the same tea I drink.”
The two gazed into one another’s eyes for a moment, and a smile tugged at Breeze’s lips.
Vlad cleared his throat. “Amethyst, I was wondering if you would like to go out to dinner with me tonight. Not for work, but as a da—”
Breeze’s heart leapt into her throat as he began to speak, but the sounds of the mess hall’s doors slamming open cut him off. They two of them turned quickly to see six ponies in the uniforms of the Royal Guard storming into the room.
Most of the occupants of the mess were griffon soldiers or members of the griffon’s diplomatic party. In fact, Agent Breeze was the only non-servant pony to be present in the hall. Of course, this made the arrival of the ponies surprising, but—
The first three guards raised assault rifles from their sides and pointed them at the amassed griffons. “For Equestria!”
Gunfire.
Screams.
Panic.
Breeze yelped and threw herself to the ground, dragging Vlad down with her. She reached out with a spell and flipped her table over in an attempt to block the bullets. As if by instinct, she summoned a shield around as many nearby griffons as she could.
She could see unarmed griffons all around the room being torn open as the rounds ripped through their bodies. Some had time to get to the ground, but many were not that lucky. Breeze stared in abject horror as the head of one griffon female exploded as trio of bullets penetrated her skull.
“Oh, Luna...” she muttered. “What is—”
“We have to help them!” Vlad shouted. He drew his sword from its ornamental scabbard. The guard had not allowed the griffons to carry their firearms into the castle, but the traditional blades of griffon naval officers had been grudgingly allowed. “Amethyst, can you stop those bastards?”
Breeze nodded. She peeked above the overturned table to see more of the guards entering the room. At least ten of them were shooting at the griffons, and their accuracy was lethal. With a snarl, she wove a spell above them, trying to knock them out… but nothing happened. Her magic fizzled, and the guards continued their murderous rampage.
“They’re protected somehow!” she yelled.
Vladimir gnashed his beak and reached inside his uniform. He removed a small weapon that Breeze recognized as a Germane-constructed P7 nine-millimeter clawgun. “Take this,“ he said as he thrust the weapon into her hooves. He then tossed her three extra magazines, also from within his uniform. “Cover me.”
Breeze nodded numbly and didn’t take the time to question how he’d managed to keep the weapon on him. She levitated the weapon into the air and looked down the sights. Redirecting some of her power to form a shield around her griffon companion, she took a deep breath. “Ready.”
Vladimir leapt over the table with a bellow. At the same time, Breeze stood up and aimed the unfamiliarly shaped weapon at her foes. She closed one eye, gently cocked the pistol, peered down the sight, took a deep breath… and squeezed.
The weapon barked twice as she sent the rounds down at her foes. The first shot went wide, hitting the stone wall and blowing a chunk out of it, but her second was dead on target. The earth pony cried out in shock and pain as her bullet struck his neck. Blood splurted, and he crashed to the floor.
The other murderers turned sharply and aimed their guns at Breeze. She inhaled sharply and fell back to the ground just before their shots screamed over her head.
“Stars… I just killed somepony. A pony…” she whispered.
“Amethyst!” Vlad screamed.
She didn’t have time to think. Redirecting another shield, she protected herself as she rose to her hooves once more. Vlad had made it all the way to his foes already, still guarded by her magical barrier. The shimmering blue field didn’t stop the bullets flying at him. Instead, they slightly redirected the projectiles. Breeze couldn’t keep up many actual shields, so she had to settle for the less effective redirection.
The griffon captain’s blade arced through the air and bit into the flesh of his first enemy. The unicorn screeched as she was torn asunder. Breeze sent two more rounds at them, dropping another foe.
But there were still more coming.
Three griffon soldiers raced over to beside Breeze. They reached into their own uniforms and drew pistols identical to the one Breeze carried. “We’re the captain’s security force!” one of them shouted. “Can we shoot through your shield from this side?”
“Yes!” she replied quickly as she let off three more shots. All of them missed, and Breeze growled.
By this point, the ponies had realized that their prey were not completely defenseless. They raced over to other tables, flipping them over as well. One of their unicorns cast his own shield, and the two sides fired at one another from their impromptu fortifications.
Vlad danced toward the guards, his blade spinning in an elegant arc as he slashed through his foes. Four other griffons flew forward with blood-curdling screams as they tried to avenge their fallen comrades with nothing but their talons and beaks… but all were cut down by the rifleponies.
A few other griffons had pistols of their own, and they raced over to Breeze’s shield. The Equestrian agent grunted from the exertion of maintaining so many spells at the same time. “Griffons!” she shouted. “Take cover over by me! Get those tables over!”
The soldiers followed her commands immediately, and the few armed griffons tried to cover them by firing their holdout pistols at their foes. The shields protecting both sides redirected the rounds, making all of their shots nearly useless.
Breeze gasped as she felt something tugging at her spell. She glanced over at the guards and saw a unicorn staring at her with an intense look of concentration on his face. His horn flared bright yellow, and a cool blue aura surrounded him. His magic pulled against her shield, and she reacted.
Blue power met yellow, and the two unicorns warred for supremacy. Breeze gritted her teeth as the other unicorn ripped into her spell’s form. She struggled in vain to stop him and repair the damage. He was just too strong. There was something wrong with his magic…
With a grunt of surprise, she ducked down behind cover as her shields all failed. The ponies opened fire, and—
Vlad’s shout of victory resonated through the hall as he took a flying leap over the ponies’ barricade. After somersaulting through the air, he landed behind them. With three swift thrusts, the enemy spellcaster collapsed, his chest perforated by the long blade.
When the mage fell, so did his shield. Breeze aimed her P7 and fired off the last round in her magazine before quickly reloading. Every single one of the weapon’s eight bullets flew downrange as she fired continuously, and most of them hit their targets. As the ponies struggled to react to Vlad’s vicious assault, the surviving griffons rushed them. Those with pistols flew upward and rained death upon their assailants.
As quickly as it began, the attack was over. Captain Vladimir stood surrounded by his comrades, drenched in blood. He scowled as he raised his beak into the air and let loose a croon of rage. The others joined in, forming a chorus of rage… and regret.
Breeze shakily lowered her pistol and trotted over to the group. They stood above the bodies of their fallen foes and brethren. For every one of the dead ponies, there were four griffons who had already died or were breathing their final breaths. She inhaled sharply as she approached the captain. “Vlad…”
“Who would do this?” he growled, turning his gaze to the dead unicorn below him. “What kind of monsters would…”
“I don’t know,” she replied quietly. Griffons moved to try to help the fallen. “But I—”
“Intruders in the castle! Protect the griffons! For Equestria!”
Chills ran down Breeze’s spine as Princess Celestia’s amplified voice reverberated through the castle. The griffon soldiers hissed and flared their wings, and Vlad’s face paled.
“Oh, no…” he said. His sword lowered until it almost touched the ground. “No!”
“What is it?” Breeze asked.
“General Chaput! Dmitri, Yvonne!” Vlad cried. “We have to help them! We have to—”
The griffons who had told Breeze that they were the captain's security officers approached him. “Captain! Should we go after them?”
He nodded vigorously. “Immediately!” He swung around to face the crowd. “Soldiers of Griffonia! Your general is under attack! They threaten your father! Find them! Protect them!”
All of the soldiers looked up, their eyes full of fury. They roared their acknowledgement, and those who had weapons raced out of the hall. The others moved to the bodies of their fallen allies and enemies to pick up their weapons.
“What do you need me to do?” Breeze asked quickly.
Vlad looked at her, his beak pursed. “Amethyst, you aren’t a soldier. You should hide, and stay safe so—”
“Wait, what?” she asked. “I… huh?”
He inhaled sharply. “If they’re attacking in force, you should find somewhere to hide. Stay safe, and—”
“Bullshit!” she cut him off again. “I’m an Equestrian agent. I saved your life, and you… you…” He gazed at her, and she scowled. “Damnit, Vlad! You’d be dead if it weren’t for me!”
“Yes, and I’m grateful. But…” He walked closer to her as the griffons around bustled with activity. “I can’t see you get hurt.”
“It’s not really your choice,” she said as she took a step forward as well. “I need to help.”
“Amethyst—”
“Vlad!” she cried. “You… you…”
They stood before one another, nearly nose to beak. His eyebrows were creased, and his beak was pulled tight with worry. “Amethyst. Please…”
Breeze felt her face flush, and she made a snap decision. She leaned forward, and pulled him into a tight hug.
As she did, she felt him tense up and then relax. He pulled one of his wings around her, and moved his head down to nuzzle into her. Breeze embraced him, inhaling sharply.
“Okay. Stay beside me,” he whispered.
“You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried,” she replied. “Besides, you still need to ask me that question from before…”
Vlad pulled back and gave her a small smile. “Yes. But for now, be ready.” He drew his sword.
“We have lives to save.”
~~~
Captain Ember Flair hummed happily to herself as she opened the door to the Royal Guard mess hall. She flipped her mane out of her face and adjusted the immaculate Guard uniform that she wore.
“Space unicorn, shining in the night…” she sang quietly as she entered the line to get her morning meal.
Flair grinned at the other soldiers around her. Morning physical training had been refreshing. She hadn’t been able to attend for the last several weeks due to her schedule, but she’d made the time this morning. It was interesting to do her flight exercises alongside the griffon soldiers who had also been invited by the leaders of the exercises. She’d flown about two miles with Captain Ivanov, and the two had discussed a few things, including a certain blue unicorn…
“All around the world…” Flair muttered after she finished walking through the line. Turning her head, she glanced around the mess hall to look for a seat. Most of the tables were completely full, so she’d have to sit with someone. Maybe…
Her face split into a grin as the seated form of an old friend caught her eye. She cleared her throat and trotted over to the Knight-Captain of the Royal Guard who sat alone at the far side of the room. The pegasus mare sat quietly, looking at some paperwork as she ate. She wore a uniform very similar to Flair’s, and had upon her back a medium sized circular shield emblazoned with the rising sun that was the crest of the Royal Guard.
“Dovey!” she crooned as she flopped into a chair beside the other mare. “Wazzzzzup?”
The mare in question glanced up and, upon recognizing Flair, gave a strained look like she was struggling to pass a particularly troublesome stool before turning back to her food with a resigned sigh. “Hi, Flair."
Flair set her food down and nodded cheerfully. “So, remember that time when we were married?” she asked casually before taking a huge bite of her breakfast burrito.
“You know, Flair,” droned the Knight-Captain, “I was wondering, if you stare at a breakfast muffin long enough, do you become the muffin? Maybe that way you’ll just eat me and I can be spared the misery of being reminded of our mission in Prance. You know, the one with a totally not-true cover story. That was completely, entirely fabricated and not in any way true.”
Snorting, Flair swallowed her food and leered at her companion. “Didja just say something about me eating y— Ya know what? Never mind.” She shook her head, still glancing at Dove out of the corner of her eye. “What were you saying? I got a bit distracted by the innuendo.”
“Let’s actually pretend I wasn’t saying anything,” the older mare said with a weary sigh. “Maybe that way you’ll forget what it is you came to talk to me about and go away.”
“Aw, but that takes all the fun out of it!” Flair replied. “But seriously, I just wanted to stop by and say hello…”
“Yeah, except your ‘hellos’ always come with a—”
“—and that I love you and want you back,” she finished dramatically. She threw a hoof into the air and raised her head to the sky. “Oh, Dovey! You don’t know how it’s been without you! Please! Return to meeeeeee!” Eyes around the mess hall turned to the two mares, and Flair’s mouth twitched as she tried to hide a smirk. “MARRY ME REBEKAH!”
Dovetail’s ears flattened instantly, and her snow-white coat lit up with a tinge of pink. “...Yes. That. Exactly that.”
“I know why we couldn’t stay together…” She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “It was crazy. You were a rising star in the Guard, and I was a new intelligence agent fresh out of training school. Ours was a love doomed from the start… but our months of happiness meant the world to me.”
Dovetail snorted. “More like months of terrible one-liners, tail-flicks, and feather-markin— eep!”
Flair slapped her wing up against Dove’s flank quickly, and then turned away. “Ahh, the good old days! Back before the chain of command pulled us apart! Before you became a crotchety stick in the mud of regulations and social conventions! But, Dovey…” She looked back and batted her eyelids. “You’re not technically my boss any more, so…”
“Hah, that’s right, you’re Captain now, aren’t you?” The Knight-Captain leaned back in her chair and smirked. “Is this what your people do all day down there in Intel now that I’m gone? Flirt with each other?”
“Did we ever not?” Flair asked, nudging Dove with her wing.
“Yeah, right. I bet you’ve turned the place into a bona-fide brothel now, didn’t you.” Dovetail said with a playful chuckle. “Ugh. I need a vacation.”
“Mmm, me too.” Flair allowed herself a gentle laugh. With a sigh of her own, she leaned sideways, resting her head on her friend’s shoulder. “Ya know… we could just run off to Prance again, just you and me. I bet old Mr. Stuffypants would give me my old cover-job back.”
Dovetail didn’t object to the sudden physical contact. Instead, she fixed Flair with a concerned stare. “For real though. I think you do need a vacation. Maybe even more than I do, at least.” The mare slowly pushed Flair’s chin up with a hoof to meet her eyes. “Are you okay? How have you been holding up?”
Flair turned away from the other mare and looked out across the room. The events of the attack replayed in her mind, and she closed her eyes. “Shit. Blue almost died… I lost a ton of old friends… and everypony’s counting on me.” She inhaled deeply. Her voice was quiet as she said, “I’m not doing well, at all.”
Without another word, the stoic Knight-Captain wrapped a hoof and silently dragged Flair into an embrace.
Chuckling sadly, Flair leaned into the hug. “What happened to those regs about public displays of affection, Dovey?”
“Whoever came up with those regs can go buck themselves,” Dove grunted. “Knight-Captain Armor got rid of them years ago, back when he was in charge. Even soldiers need a shoulder to cry on every now and then.”
“Well, thanks,” Flair said. She pulled back and gave another small smile. A thought crossed her mind, and her grin widened. “So… does that mean that I can kiss you anywhere I want now?”
“You can kiss my horseshoe when it goes flying into your face,” came the Knight-Captain’s reply, raising her foreleg quickly to Flair’s face, before harmlessly booping her on the muzzle.
“Ooh. Kinky,” Flair whispered. “Didn’t know you were into that stuff…”
“Well, we’ve both got hoofcuffs…”
Flair raised her eyebrows suggestively. “Bow-chicka-bow-w—”
Her voice was cut off as the voice of the princess filled the room and echoed through Flair’s mind.
“Intruders in the castle! Protect the griffons! For Equestria!”
Flair gasped and looked at Dovetail, whose eyes widened in alarm.
“Shit,” Flair swore under her breath.
“You heard the princess!” the Knight-Captain shouted to the silent mess hall. “Everypony to the armory!”
“Move!” added Flair. “Get your crossbows!”
The ponies burst into action. Meals were left forgotten as the soldiers rushed toward the doors. Flair launched herself into the air and reached inside her coat to unholster her weapon. “Dove, are you armed?”
The other mare shook her head. “My sword’s out in the armory.” She shrugged her wings and grabbed her shield.
“Here…” Flair reached down to a hidden sheath and removed a short blade that she had ‘forgotten’ to return when she’d taken off the combat suit. “Don’t tell anypony I had this…”
Dovetail caught the thrown blade and raised a knowing eyebrow. “So hey, what was that thing you were saying earlier about regs?”
“Regs, schmegs. Upitty ups might not want this out in the open, but I didn’t feel safe unarmed out here after the last attack.” She drew the side-arm that she’d also kept. “Thought shit like this might happen again— whoa!”
Flair lurched for a moment as the blade was tossed back to her, and she barely managed to grab it in time before it clattered to the floor. Looking up, she realized that the Knight-Captain had drawn her own blade.
“Yeah,” she said with a smirk. “Me neither.”
The airborne pegasus laughed. “And that’s why I love you.”
They nodded to one another and both flew toward the exit. Passing over the crowd of ponies, they dashed out into the hallway. Outside the isolated room, they could hear distant gunfire and the shouts of combat.
“Which way?” Flair asked.
Dovetail hummed to herself. “Our priority is Dmitri. If they’re after griffons, then he’s the target.”
The other mare nodded. “Okay. Where is he?”
“He’s most likely out in the conference room. He and Prime Minister Rector are supposed to be giving speeches for the media.” The Knight-Captain flew off to the left. “We need to get there yesterday.”
“Right behind you!” Flair shouted.
The two of them flew down the hallway, weapons out. Flair sneered as she cocked the pistol. The shouts grew louder and louder as they headed toward the center of the castle. They saw no ponies or griffons, and—
“Here!” Dovetail yelled. The two of them turned sharply into a wide doorway, and raised their weapons. On the far side of the room huddled half a dozen griffons and a pair of ponies. Several other ponies in guard uniforms fired rifles at them from behind a raised podium.
“Hey!” Flair shouted. “What the buck are you doing here—”
The first pony spun around and hissed at the pegasus. His eyes flashed red as he raised his rifle.
Dovetail tackled Flair to the ground as the bullets flew through the air. Flair yelped as she slammed to the ground. “Oh, it is on!” she declared.
Dovetail flew into the air with her shield raised. She rushed the rabid ponies as her sword blazed with energy.
Flair took cover behind one of the small wooden walls that lined the perimeter of the conference room. She aimed her sidearm and let off several rounds. The energy arced toward her target’s head, and the pony fell down, his entire head destroyed by the power of her shots.
Dovetail touched down and swung her blade in a lethal arc. She slashed through the pony who had attacked Flair, and then she moved on to her next target.
One of the griffons back behind cover screeched as she bolted around the corner to join the battle. Yvonne’s talons were out as she tackled one of the ponies. The blue unicorn fell to the ground with a cry before the griffon ripped his throat out with her beak.
Flair fired off more shots, and, before she knew it, the ponies were all dead. Smoke hissed out of her sidearm’s barrel, and the power pack emitted a high pitched hum. She scowled as she trotted over to the corpses of her short-lived foes. “What the buck just happened?”
“They walked into the room and started shooting,” Yvonne spat. “Why were your ponies attacking us?”
“They aren’t ours,” Dovetail replied quietly. “We have no idea what happened.”
“Well, I—” Yvonne began.
“If you’ll notice, they were shooting at me too,” Prime Minister Apollo said as he stood shakily to his hooves. “I believe that it would be safe to assume that these are not actual Royal Guards…”
Flair was about to say something, but the arrival of a group of armed griffons cut her off.
“Yvonne!” Captain Ivanov shouted. “Are you alright?”
“I’m unharmed,” she replied. “I cannot say the same of my aide, however.” Yvonne gestured toward the fallen corpse of a gold and white griffon on the other side of the room. “Have you seen Dmitri?”
“He isn’t here?” Flair asked, her eyes wide. “Oh, buck, we need to find him!”
“No need.” The entire group spun around to see Princess Celestia, General Chaput, and Father Dmitri walking toward the door. The princess held her head high, her elegant form covered in glowing golden and purple armor. Chaput’s face was stoic, and Dmitri was sneering at him. “Is everyone well?” Celestia asked.
“Only one death here,” Yvonne said.
“We lost many in the mess hall.” Vladimir’s voice was quiet. “Agent Breeze was the only reason that we’re still alive.”
Celestia looked around the room and nodded slowly. “Hmm…” She took a step forward and looked down at the corpse of one of the ponies. “I believe that it is safe to say that these were not my ponies. They were unnatural. As if something was not quite right...”
“And they were immune to my magic,” Breeze added. “I don’t know why.”
“I couldn’t affect them either,” the Prime Minister said. “I tried to put them to sleep, but something stopped me.”
Celestia nodded. “I was unable to cast spells upon them either. Do we know why?”
Breeze shook her head. “No, Princess.”
Flair took a step forward with a grimace. “I think I know who could find out though.”
The princess’ eyes flashed. “Oh, we’ll get to the bottom of this. The general and I managed to incapacitate several of them. When they wake up, we will interrogate.” She faced the Father. “Dmitri, you have my sincerest apologies for these events. Rest assured, we will devote all possible effort to an investigation.”
He growled and bared his beak. “Fine.” Spinning around, he walked out of the room.
Chaput shook his head. “Thank you, Princess. If you require any aid from us, you need only ask.”
She bowed slightly. “Of course, General.” Celestia raised her head again and glanced over at Flair. “Captain, please get your friend to work on figuring out why our spells did not work. Dovetail, I need you to come with me.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” Dovetail stepped forward. “Lead the way.”
Flair glanced down at the ground and stared at the pony who she had shot. He was still bleeding, and his leg was twitching…
“Ember…” Breeze said to her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she growled in response. “How was this even possible?”
“I have no idea.”
“First the windigos, and now this. Anyone else feel like we’re watching a rerun?” Flair asked.
Captain Vladimir nodded. “It does feel suspiciously similar.”
Chaput cleared his throat. “A sneak attack that fails due to ineptitude and disorganization. Ponies with glowing eyes and mysterious magic, and windigos who do not fit the profile for their kind. High priority targets and an attempt at large body counts. This is not a coincidence.”
“Shit,” Flair muttered. “Shit, shit, triple shit…” She glanced up at the griffons and ponies. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. Buck this. I don’t care who’s attacking us. They obviously don’t want this peace treaty to work or they want us all dead. Either way, we’re on the same side. And if there’s one thing that I know, it’s that these dumbflanks are even less competent than the Yaks.”
Ivanov chuckled.
“I’m not gonna let them win. This is the last attack.” She stamped her hoof on the ground. “We’ll figure this out, and then…”
She raised her lip into a sneer. “And then we’re going to end this, once and for all.”
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First comment of the chapter! Also, another great chapter as always, loved the livechat.
AGHAGHAHGHGHEHIAHGJRIFOWA SO GOOOOOOOOD OMG :D
Why do I have a feeling that something is going to get to these renegades before they can be questioned?
I'm trying to think of a way where they could be kept safe until they wake without anybody messing with them in anyway. Celestia can't personally guard them to make sure nobody interferes. Can't really let the griffons guard them due to them being the targets. Could also be a side-ploy by Dmitri somehow where he didn't tell Yvonne.
Good grief this is rather complicated.
Another good chapter. Dmitri is a sneaky B*****d.
Needs more Catbug...
Hm. I'm still wondering about the changelings, but then again that might have been something entirely different. Chekhov's MacGuffin, if you will, to throw us off the trail, perhaps only to be revealed chapters later as something relatively innocuous or even positive... or not.
But hey, now we have magic-breaking somethings to deal with!
6592325 Calm down bud, you're not gonna die.
I loved dovetail's interactions with flair xD lol, also there is a reason hippogryphs exist. Love the romance between amythyst and Vladimir
I hope Breeze and Vlad's love will not end in tragedy.
New chapter!
this is a super good chapter with a exultant extended battle. good work to every one involved in this chapter.
How come Button seems to have come out of the windigo attack without any psychological scars? I mean, he's a civilian who's seen many ponies get brutally murdered around him.
Also, there better be an explanation as to how these fake guards were able to infiltrate the palace. One would think that ponies would actually have their credentials checked upon arriving at castle grounds, especially now after the windigo attack. It makes the Royal Guard look wholly incompetent.
Fantastic chapter. Can't wait for more!
Great chapter. Gotta say that the new enemies were interesting. Hope to see what's their motivation and the source of their magic.
>gets to last scene
>almost half the chapter left
>cries
Dammit Docc, why you gotta write long /and/ hard instead of just one of the two? It makes reading something on the bus a hassle! (Pretend there's an incredibly adorable bat pony here staring you down in false fury, k?)
6592927
Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck.
Is there an OC description list out yet [showing what each of these OC's look like, since there is a rather large amount of them]?
____________
Still good fic, and it's nice that we finally got a small description of Dovetail [white coat, pegasus mare]. And I rather liked how this little attempt at an assassination all went down. Ponies and griffons are working well together despite Dmitri being a d-nozzle.
I so ship Flair x Dovetail! It kinda reminds me of the relationship between me and my girl- I mean marefriend.
6593045
I'm working on getting one together. I'm going to post it as an extra chapter that will always be at the bottom of the fic. That should help!
6593202
Awesome thank you, and it really will. Btw, you're making quite the gripping tale. Congrats ^_^.
I would gladly give Swan Song more love if they'd update This Game of Mine more often. It's a fantastic story that hasn't updated in 3 months, and that upsets me.
Bravest warriors
Huh. Pony nationalists whom magic doesn't work on? A griffon battleship that has a massive anti-magic field?
Probably a link in there somewhere.
Wow. Kudos for Bravest Warriors and David Weber's Honor Harrington.
If there were more references I missed them :)
OH. MY. GOODNESS!! I think I've seen that video about 20 times now, Soo funny!
Ohh, things are heated up and boiling! love it!
So much shipping fuel!
Hissing ponies. Changelings for sure. Or manually controled by changelings. But this fragment is most curious. "Their eyes glowed orange, and a bluish smoke oozed from the corners of their snarling mouths." What Hive is this!? Hive Flash Sentry? Actually I'm tempted to say it's Flash but he's a reincarnation of Sombra instead of a Changeling King/Queen.
Every time I hear something like this,i know shits gonna go down.
Though that is more suited for a large scale battle or offensive.
not saying it wasn't, but more suited for bigger and better things.
ANother fan of David Webber's work, I see.
For the record, deflecting bullets doesn't provide any less protection, but it is more efficient. I didn't catch who dovetail was at first. It was bugging me until you explained it.
6593631
Actually, that Webber reference was for a different book than his Harrington novels. In Fury Born is probably my favorite of Webber's books. Harrington is great too, though!
6594066
The only problem with deflecting bullets is that you could potentially send them flying off at your own allies, and that's no bueno.
6594156 true, but it depends heavily on how the shield is set up. As a quick example, the shield could be set up to deflect bullets into the ceiling or ground. Additionally, since it requires less energy to keep up a shield that only deflects, you can protect more people.
6594150 Sorry, thought it was from Honor. Too much time passed since I read his books, I must reach for them again... and have another reading spree, Twilight would approve
6594194 You're thinking of things too two-dimensionally - deflecting upwards might harm friendly pegasi/griffons overhead, and downwards would be equally hazardous to cast on airborne allies. There is no preferable direction to deflect to - doesn't mean it would be more efficient energy-wise, but you're not going to make it "safe" unless it completely stops the incoming projectiles.
A half decent comparison might be reactive armor on tanks. Improves safety for crew, but you sure as heck don't want to be outside when it goes off.
I like Dovetail, legit!
Awesome new chapter mate, well done job!
Haha!
I shall now endorse this ship.
Also, during the fight scene in the food court, I could've sworn the buck who'd run over to help them was gonna betray them.
Haven't seen the Changelings in a while. Where'd they run off to?
6595075
Yes, I do. I actually consulted a physicist for my tech stuff in this story. Wing is a great guy, and the way that the nuke(s) was(were) created is already planned out.
Also, the tech levels are there for a reason, and I know why they are like this.
~Docc
6593725 well... fuck em.
i.imgur.com/vdLE8dJ.gif
I'm loving this story, but this chapter put me to sleep, hopefully it picks up in the next one.
Parry Gripp, Space Unicorn
I remember shouting this out... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqRzQQTSE48 MARRY ME REBEKKAH
Cockblock
6925722
Of godly proportions~
I'm getting a serious star versus the forces of evil vibe right now.