Chapter Twenty-Five
"Pardon the mess," Flash said embarrassedly as he opened the door to his office. "This was another pony's office until recently, and we're still renovating it to fit my needs better."
Sergeant Nightingale snorted. "I'm sure I've seen worse," she said. "What happened to the last occupant?"
"Killed in action," Flash said quietly.
The sergeant stopped. "Oh," she said just as quietly.
Flash nodded. "The building he was in burned down," he said as he let her in, then shut the door behind them. "One of the crooks we were chasing that night decided that he'd rather die and take as many of us as he could with him rather than go to jail. Captain Hackpole made sure the rest of us got out, but he and the crook were still inside when the roof fell in." He sighed. "Anyway, I got promoted to fill his spot."
The other pegasus nodded, and Flash watched as she settled into the same seat her Director had taken earlier. When Princess Celestia had given her orders not too long ago, he'd done as she'd asked, giving the Lunarian guards what they requested. And that included a private talk between he and their ranking officer. She had been very nice and understanding, and actually willing to work with him, which was a nice change of pace from some of the others he'd had to deal with. Police chief captain Meadow Wishes was very condescending to him, treating him if he was one of her subordinates when they were pretty much equal in rank, if he was not actually higher than her. It didn't help that she always had Blueblood around when they met and the other stallion managed to always browbeat him into agreeing with what they wanted.
"You seem to be doing a good job with it so far," Nightingale said with Flash snorting and shaking his head. She glared at him, though her eyes didn't have any true malice to them. "No, I mean it. You managed to keep the situation between our leaders stable without anypony getting hurt. Director Plate has been rather impressed with what he's seen of you so far and so am I." She flashed him a smile. "You just need more confidence in yourself; maybe you could take some of your more senior guards out with you on a patrol or mission to get to know them better and grow a better relationship."
"That does sound like a good idea," Flash said, rubbing his chin with his wing. "I really do want this office changed around; too much of the previous captain, right?"
"Yeah," she said with a giggle and a smile on her face. "It's going to look like you're sitting in his chair in his office opposed to your own chair in your own office."
Flash nodded. "That's on my list of things that still need doing," he said. "Along with having somepony finish going over his desk before I get a replacement - need something better suited for a pegasus instead of a unicorn. The guy was justifiably paranoid, and I still haven't been able to find everything he hid in there." He rubbed the back of his head with one wing. "Princess Celestia and Sunset have both already done what they can, but they've got a lot of other stuff to do too."
"You know, one of my fellow sergeants loves unicorn puzzles; super good at them," she said, walking closer enough to Flash that he could smell her shampoo and he began to get an inkling that she had another reason to meet up with him. "I could ask him to check it out for you, if you'd like..."
"I think I'd like that, Nightingale," Flash, smiling back at her and doing his best not to freak out that there was a mare actually interested in him with such a hot accent. "Though perhaps I can show you mo-" He frowned as Zephyr ran into the office, the thestral panting a bit. "Zephyr, what's wrong?" he asked, feeling a stab of dread.
"It's Captain Meadow, she's approaching the castle with a large amount of ponies and..." the thestral gulped and stared pleading at him. "It looks really bad sir."
The stab of dread grew but Flash did his best to force it down. "Bring a squad of unicorns to the front gate; I am going to see what is going on," he said, trying to speak with his best captain's voice but he could have sworn his voice quivered a bit. His eyes flicked towards the sergeant next to him, who was already speaking into her communication device. "Sergeant?" he asked, looking at her.
"With your permission, I would like to assist you with my squad," she said, speaking with more authority than he could have ever mustered. "We have our rifles on the minimum energy output; it will only sting really badly but cause no lasting injuries."
"Hopefully it will not come to that," Flash said, grabbing his helmet and spear as he walked out of his office towards the front gate, with Zephyr dashing off in the other direction to gather more guards. "But stand by just in case, I'd definitely appreciate the help."
"Understood Captain," she said in a proper officer's voice, though she did flash him a quick smile which did wonders to boost his confidence as they made their way to the front gate with more and more Royal Guards falling in line behind him and the Lunar ponies moving to the front of the group.
Bracing himself, Flash waved for the guards holding the door to part for him as he stepped outside and for a moment, he was at a loss for words.
Captain Meadow was in her full police uniform with a row of the most senior unicorn police officers flanking her but behind them was a massive mob of unruly looking ponies. They had a variety of weapons on them, some of them simple as poles but he could spot a few crossbows and halberds among them. But what really worried him was how angry they all looked and for whatever reason, seeing them hold the Equestrian flag made him feel uneasy.
Taking a moment to steady himself, he did his best to glare Captain Meadow down and present an aura of control. "Captain Meadow, what is the meaning of this?" he shouted at her, with her group stopping just a short distance away from him.
"Flash, step down and let us do what the Royal Guards are unable to do," she said in a stern voice with the mob behind her jeering and shouting at him. "On behalf of Equestria, we are here to rescue Princess Celestia from the corruptive magic of those accursed traitors from the moon. As my right as the only true figure of authority here, I am taking command of the Royal Guards and I am ordering you all to let us pass and save Equestria from them," she snarled, lowering her horn towards Sergeant Nightingale.
"Are you out of your mind Captain Meadow?" Flash snapped back, tightening his hold on his spear. "The Lunar Republic has done nothing to Princess Celestia; you will stand down and explain yourself before a judge. All of your... whatever they are will disperse now. This is private property and -"
"We are not here to play games, Flash," Meadow snapped, striding closer to him. "Royal Guards, as your acting captain, I order you to arrest Flash for insubordination and these criminals for actions against our beloved Princess or you will be tried for disobeying orders and possibly treason."
"You are out of line, Captain Meadow," Flash snapped back, walking towards her. "Stand down now before things get any further out of ho-" he didn't get a chance to finish that as a bottle smashed near his hooves. Flying backwards to his guards, he saw that Meadow was waving her mob closer to the front gate, with the citizens clearly about to charge.
Just before they could, there was a pop of teleportation magic and there was the Princess, standing before them and she looked angry.
"What is the meaning of this," Princess Celestia demanded, her horn glowing as a shield formed around the mob, preventing them from escaping. "Explain yourself, Captain Meadow."
"It is for your own good, your majesty," the mare said, walking closer to the Princess with Flash growling in anger and gripping his spear tighter. "We can help you overcome the vile magic those murderers in the moon have done to you. Just come with us. As acting captain of your guards, I can protect you and see proper justice is done once and for all, starting with their blood crazy leader!"
"Captain Meadow, I am personally placing you under arrest," Celestia in a furious tone, her horn glowing as a pair of cuffs appeared before the unicorn. "And your mo-" before she could even finish, Meadow threw out a chain of iron around the Princess's horn and instantly, the golden shield and magic winked out. Princess Celestia gasped as Meadow tried to pull her towards her and that was when Flash suddenly found himself in front of the Princess with his spear lodged into Meadow's chest with Nightingale by his side, firing at the rushing mob of ponies that were trying to get to the Princess.
And the battle of Canterlot Castle began.
Well shit, that got serious real fast.
So they have chosen treason.
Celly... did you seriously not put her inside the shield
https://m.Kill captain Meadow and the mob. They need not live to see the glorious age of prosperity.
10866887
Celestia. Is not. Evil.
(Not in this universe, anyway. I'm sure there are some where she is, but this isn't one of them.)
She and Luna are frustrated with one another, and justifiably so, but they also do genuinely love one another, and even at their most frustrated, they do want to work things out. They've just been having a hard time of it because of their mutual egos.
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
Shallow
i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/353/279/e31.jpg
Well.......Holy Crap!!!!
"Orders, sir?"
"Fire till the barrels melt."
......
..........
............
No words.
There are just NO WORDS I can use to describe how I feel about this development.
It seems that Blueblood's machinations, unjustified hate and fear for the Lunar ponies, and extreme radicals were more deeply hidden in both societies than I'd thought, given the until now placid appearance.
It seems oddly fitting that both groups have their own extremists set against both societies reuniting, no matter the cost. I predict A LOT of death among the Lunar ranks, and Aaplejack is probably in considerable danger since she's the only one isolated and alone (relatively speaking).
Well fuck.
10866887
Bro what are you smoking? Celestia is a fine leader in this and has done nothing malicious at all thus far. Hell, Luna wanted executions without fair trial, that's literally authoritarianism 101. We still gave the nazis trials at Nuremberg, Luna just wanted straight death without due process. Celestia is fine, Luna is also fine.
10859011
Basically Luna is doing what 20th century America did to South American nations, telling their leader to gtfo whether the people want it or not. Shes still ignoring due process and the law. She already has openly said multiple times she isn't equestrian. She is telling celestia to leave and retire just cause she is. Its extremely stupid, petty and all around childish
Looks like Cadence and Celestia forgot to crackdown on the anti-lunarists members in the Royal Guard.
10868769
Meadow Wishes is Captain of the Canterlot police, actually, not the Royal Guard.
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
10868784
WHY IS ALL THAT YOU TYPE IN LETTER FORMAT?
10869434
I've signed every post and e-mail like that for over twenty years. It's just what I do.
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
10868323 Actually, Octavia is off with Vinyl's family ....
10868784 Wait, if Meadow is captain of the Canterlot Police how does she think she has any authority over the Royal Guard, who are military? Or is Meadow just that delusional?
10869167
it's jsut dumb, takesw responsiblility away from Luna.
10869463
Then keep doing it. Good job.
10869694
Propbaly the second. She seems to believe that Luna and here Ponies somehow influence Celestia and therefore she needs to "rescue" her.
She did not think highly of Flash as explained by the dialogue between Flash and Nightingale. Meadow also is used to getting things her way and Flash just folding over. She most likely did not think he would oppose her and she could just march in.
That Flash actually fought back forced her to try and roll him over by claiming his position, that did not work obviously.
So she is propbaly so stuck in her believes that Luna is evil that she justified herself by fighting for what she thought was right. You could think she was blinded by her hate.
10869825
Actually, no. We've used this plotline in every story in the Powers That Be multiverse, and it's been a plot point more than once that Luna didn't just get possessed by force - the Nightmare came to her when she was at a low point, and tricked her into thinking they could help give her status above her sister if they merged their Powers; once she agreed to let them in, the Nightmare then transformed her form into that of Nightmare Moon and attacked Celestia. She still feels guilt over this, how her bitterness led to her being manipulated, attacking her sister and losing a thousand years with her.
10870034
You think correctly. Plus, she's been mentioned earlier in this story, specifically in chapter three, which gives another hint at her motivation.
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
10870158
it still diverts blame. that comic was a dumb idea. love the concept and design of Nightmare Rarity but how she comes to be is just plain stupid
10870190
(shrugs) To each their own. But remember, our Nightmares aren't a race of peaceful moon-dwelling, dream-weaving creatures that got influenced by Luna's inherent darkness to become evil before in turn helping her transform. They're a lone soul in each dimension who, per the Role and Purpose they gave themselves over to, was tasked with creating bad dreams to scare ponies and others away from a path of evil... before, in most dimensions, becoming power-hungry, manipulating Luna (who was tasked with helping counter bad dreams and helping ponies get over their personal issues that resulted in those nightmares), and possessing her for their own reasons.
(Fortunately, the Lord of Nightmares in this story has proven much more reasonable than most of his counterparts, as Luna notes in chapter 10, and again in 20 and 23, when she mentions their having met and talked things out.)
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
10870381
still feels very idito ball. even if it's been that long they would have had basic ideas of what not to do. yet they are falling writing into them. I get you want them flawed but this goes too far. again not a problem if they hadn't had those peaks before. But with them it just screams idiot ball for plot.
10870452
Trust me, it's not. Idiot Ball is when someone suddenly acts stupid to justify the plot, but not every instance of poor judgement qualifies for the Idiot Ball. As a certain other series put it, Nobody's perfect. That's just the proof that you're alive.
And sometimes, no matter how much information you have, no matter how carefully you plan, life will just throw an unexpected spanner into the works. As a certain other fanfic once put it, "The greatest and most carefully-arranged plans can be knocked askew by the tiniest things – by the flap of a butterfly’s wings, or a chance roll of the dice, or by ponies simply being ponies. I could tell you stories from my early years. Like the one time that a plan three hundred years in the making went completely awry thanks to a tenpenny nail, five scrolls and a misplaced banana..."
So, keep reading. As more of the story is released, more answers about why they acted like they did will come.
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
10870498
I am still reading but them seeing other dimensions is THE major thing i would change
10868538
she and her ponies were attacked. that is treason and considering what just happened proved Luna was correct
10868560
no she unlike Celestia is looking long term. The very fact she has not addressed Luna by her title or Luna's ponies as Equestrians. Thus if Luna left and appointed her replacement Celestia would try to dominate them as well. while both sisters have made mistqakes the bulk of the current mistakes are at Celestia's hooves
10870662
Yeah? So is celestia. Celestia has no successors. Cadance has the crystal empire to rule and without twi or sunset there is no successor for her, especially if they aren't immortal like the alicorns. So, Celestia is still taking care of things. It's significantly harder to do so in a huge superpower like equestria unlike Luna who has no neighbors, external threats or anything to hinder growth is the environment, which was taken care of. Now, Luna has her successors and can easily leave with the tiny population she has. In the event celestia leaves like Luna wants her to ewuestria would easily fall into disarray with a power vacuum that blue blood would take most likely, whilst being invaded aswell.
10870649
Correct about what? Plus its not celestias fault, she actively tried to get rid of anti lunar sentiment with cadance.
10870720
neither have their successors. they have potential ones. Luna doesn't want her to give up the throne right now but to start looking for her successor. Luna isn't giving up hers yet either. Luna does want to leave with her ponies and explore the stars but doesn't want her successor be domianted by Celestia. She actually wants Celestia with her in that exploration.
Right about her fears. While she is happy that many Equestrians are positive to neutral about her ponies the fact that this last chapter ends with the Canterlot police force and a sizable mob are storming the castle to kill Lunar ponies says all. and Note accordign to everything we heard. Luna and her ponies were attacked 1000 years ago. That is attmepted murder and considering Luna is a Princess at the time that is an act of treason
10869694
In times of emergency, the captain of police can assume control of the Guards if there is no high ranking Guard present. So, she could, in theory, take control over the Royal Guards but as Flash is still present and she was leading an insurrection onto the castle itself, she was very much delusional.
Well, this all went down the pooper quickly.
10870761
That is a point many people overlooked. Just as Celestia is being attacked, so was Luna a thousand years ago. And how everyone in the comments to leave no prisoners, one has to ask why it is different for Luna to have wanted the same thing.
10936538
People forget. Attacking a leader is grounds for treason