Episode 87: (Shining Armor) noisufnoC-Confusion
Pony POV Series
Shining Armor Part 5
Written By lz0291
noisufnoC-Confusion
Edited by Alex Warlorn, Kendell2, And Louis Badalament.
I'd been left a little off-balance by the General-Admiral's outburst. Next to that, the rest of the party was very much an unmemorable affair. Which is my excuse for not remembering any of it... except that I really had a solid, real, and antlered reason to keep looking over my shoulder. It was less than three hours total but the whole night felt longer, forgettable or not.
The mood of the night was rather tense for us Equestrians. The Hooviets had not invited official representatives of the host nation. Rather, they instead chose a select set of Columbian notables who were ideologically sympathetic to the Hooviets, or at least their propaganda mills. Makarov's big mouth had caused many a foreign dignitary to ask for confirmation about Cadence's newly-returned aunt. The only saving grace of the night was that the spy, at least, seemed to not have learned who we meant to tell first, or else the Columbian President and President-Elect would've already been present at Makarov's little shindig, to humiliate us further.
Gag had been sent off with our message to Shepard, and finally returned just near the planned end of the party. Bond managed to get my attention, and that of Cadence and our Ambassador.
"Is this about the message you sent?" she guessed.
"Actually, yes. We've been informed that Canterlot will be sending us some more information on Makarov. I knew of him before but the information was... abbreviated." Bond replied.
"And what did you know?" I asked.
In reply, Bond's horn glowed briefly with a spell I'd been trained to recognize; just in case. A selective silence spell. Complicated both to pull off and keep going, but it basically meant that to anyone outside those participating in the conversation, our words came out a few seconds later. In those few seconds, the caster could censor a word, usually rendering it silent, or into gibberish. It's of Neighponese origin, so most casters wind up learning to have the Neighponese vowel pronunciation of La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo replace words or phrases they wish to conceal. More skilled users can have words replaced by the minds of the other listeners, causing confusion as multiple ears hear multiple possible phrases. That last version didn't work so well if it was focused on just one person who already knew what you were talking about.
"Four is about my limit for this spell, and I can't hold it too long," Bond cautioned me. "Basically, all I know is pretty all you now know, bar a few extra details. Makarov's name cropped up in a very recent report investigating an old accident at Chernobull Magic Research Facility, in the south of the Hooviet Empire."
This unfortunately bewildered poor old Private Running Gag, as the pegasus was kept out of the loop.
"The La-li-lu-le what? In the Seek Park Boating Lake? Commander Bond, are you all right?"
And none of us explained it to him.
"Wasn't the south devastated in the Dragon War?" Cadence asked.
"What earthquake?!"
Tee hee.
...Oh, don't give me those looks, he gave as good as he got with gags based on the gibberish later. You don't want to know.
"It was, yes. Construction of the facility was done under the cover of the rebuilding effort. We're unsure when it actually took place but we only recently learned any details of the incident. Makarov is often mentioned in connection to the site."
"How is he connected?"
"His name appears on the personnel roster, but that's it. No details of his duties or how long he stayed there, nothing."
For somedeer with such a sky-high ego, claiming to be the MOST important solider in the Hooviet army, you think we'd have trouble not finding out things about him.
"We've not got much information on him that hasn't come from the Hooviets themselves, apart from that. As a result, Canterlot will be sending a specialist unit under the command of Captain Baseplate to observe Makarov up close..."
"Auntie's sending spies?" Cadence raised a brow.
"They're not spies as such, Cadence, just a sort of reconnaissance unit. But I didn't know they were active yet."
"Neither did I. But they are. Oh, and by the way, they're also trying to find the source of the leak in Canterlot but they've asked us to look into our own personnel, in case it was someone here," Bond replied, and dropped his spell.
"So... What does that mean, basically? What will all this mean?" Cadence asked.
"Well, to sum up our current situation: Makarov has announced Princess Luna to the world before us, Shining Armor has managed to get caught up in a diplomatic incident because he had no idea who Makarov was, we've now got a unit coming that I can't actually plausibly deny the presence of, the President and President-elect are going to be extremely annoyed when they learn of all this, and I think the Prench Ambassador has had too much salt to drink."
"Votre Altesse, vous avez des ailes magnifique!" A nearby Prench-accented voice giggled in French.
No, I have no idea why the language and the cultural stuff like haute couture and cuisine is 'French' but the country and the nationality is 'Prance.' Some sort of shared culture with a few other nations. I don't even speak any Prench. Er, French.
"...Yup, he's drunk. Though you do have very pretty wings, Your Highness," Gag noted, making a pretty random compliment.
I suppose he was trying to calm her down a little as she'd been on edge all night. Then again, we all had.
(Interviewer's Notes: (Pegasus): Did you ever learn what the Prench ambassador actually said?)
Nope, wasn't important, and besides, he was apparently so drunk his grammar was all over the place. For all I know it wasn't even a coherent sentence. Gag actually has a gift for languages as well as bad jokes, so I'd have asked him if I felt it mattered.
(Interviewer's Notes: (Earth Pony): Oh! I know what he said, he said-umph!)
(Interviewer's Notes: (Unicorn): No need to share, dearie It was unimportant.)
"You should have heard him talking about the Alexandrian Ambassador's tail feathers. And that was when he was sober," Lady Warm Greetings said with an amused smile.
"As entertaining as a drunken Prenchstallion's compliments might be, what relevance does that have to our situation, Lady Ambassador?" Cadence blushed, keeping her voice as mechanically formal as possible.
"Well, he'll be a decent distraction when he stumbles into that table..."
One clatter later, a surprisingly-amused Makarov accepted the Prench Ambassador's drunken apology and then used it as an excuse to draw the party to a close with a mind-numbly boring speech that I got clinical permission to have erased from my memory! All I can remember of it now is Cadence mumbling, "Why did I cheer at that?"
The Equestrian party regrouped, though Thunderchild took Gag aside for a reminder on 'tact' and wing-size jokes not being universal clean humor as we headed for the carriage. The squad decided to go on the roof, to give a little more room inside (and so Thunderchild could stretch his wings a little).
On board, Bond spoke up again.
"I've asked for Squadron Commander Lord Flashheart to have someone bring the messages from Canterlot over as soon as they arrive. Hopefully they'll also send those personal letters that were promised and I've asked for more clarification on the other matter."
"Er, Lord Flashheart was aboard?" I asked.
"Well, yes. Didn't you review the personnel files?"
"Um..." I said.
Bond sighed.
"Private Gag, can you take a message to Commander Shepard to have a copy of those files sent over for Commander Sparkle?"
"Cheer up, Shiney, you'll have plenty to read at night!" Cadence noted.
"But none of it's about Hoofball," I joked.
All the documents got back to the embassy before us, it turned out. I had hoped to look over the information on Makarov, the files, and all that when a chance presented itself later. But Princess Celestia and Twilight had indeed sent the more personal letters. The blowhard could wait. I won't repeat exactly what the files said, but Cadence wanted to speak to me about ten minutes later, and by midnight I had to remind her to go to bed since she was meant to be up at eight. And given what I'd read I found myself a bit restless.
Princess Celestia's letter was informal but also informative. Cadence had got the truly personal one for obvious reasons, but Celestia's words to me felt like virtually any time she spoke openly, not as a regent or a commander. I'll admit I was a little disappointed she'd trusted me with Cadence's security, but not with the truth of the matter of Nightmare Moon, nor with what she had expected to happen. But her explanations confirmed things I'd suspected. Suppose Cadence and I had known of Nightmare Moon's arrival in advance? A new Alicorn present would certainly have ended with Cadence sealed away somewhere and Luna buried even deeper in her hate and jealousy.
Twilight's letter, however was... unusual. When she sent letters to me before, they were always very formally written, usually dictated to Spike. But she'd obviously horn-wrote this herself and I had the impression she was excited and proud as she wrote. Her personal penmareship was a distinctive cursive, elegant but practical.
On this letter it looked like she'd hurled the words onto the page. Run-on sentences, spelling errors, evidence she was more concerned about getting the message out than scripting flawless prose. I can't remember when Twiley was this joyful. She'd also enclosed a small photo of herself and five other mares. Her in the middle, surrounded by her new friends, elated and excited. Not a trace of having fought an Alicorn, no post-traumatic stress. In fact, she looked the happiest she'd been in a long while. I'm not saying she was unhappy or indifferent before, but there was just this new spark to her.
Because I was feeling restless, though, I figured I would take a quick glance at the files before nodding off.
I realized the error of my ways when the alarm clock radio blared into life at five thirty in the middle of a song.
"...Then put your little hoof in mine, there ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb..."
Mysteriously, the radio then flew out of the window. It was certainly not because I was startled and blasted it with magic. Must have been an Earthquake.
...None of you believe me, do you?
(Interviewer's Notes: (Pegasus): Nope.)
"...Uh oh."
Cue me quickly getting ready. At least, that was the plan until, less than a minute later, there came a knock at the door.
"Are you all right in there, Sir? I heard a crash."
I opened the door to find a Griffin Marine standing behind Thunderchild, along with Private Audience. The Griffin and the Unicorn both held spriling-pistols at the ready but not aimed.
(Interviewer's Notes: (Earth Pony): What's a spriling pistol?)
It's a type of spring-powered slingshot pistol, used because they're small and have a decent capacity of sling-bullets even if they are short ranged and quite weak. While some unicorns' magic can copy the same effect, the spriling could be used by anyone and lacked the recoil of larger weapons, making them more practical. The name, of course, is a portmanteau of 'spring' and 'sling.'
"No problem, Sergeant, just, er... Small mishap opening the window."
The Marine and Audience holstered their weapons and left. Thunderchild invited himself in.
"Were you up all night, Sir?"
"How did you... No. No I wasn't," I attempted.
"You're wearing last night's uniform, Sir."
"...Okay, I was restless after that letter and I started reading the files."
"I see. So it is genetic."
I wondered how much mana a forcefield would need to squeeze him through a tiny porthole.
"Er, I mean, did you learn anything, Captain Sparkle?"
"Just the schedule we have planned for the rest of our stay here, that for some reason Minuette is listed in our roster twice, and once as a pegasus, and Sunset isn't mentioned at all so I think they've botched the file there a bit, that the Dreadnought is captained by a Commander Sisko while Falcon is under command of Commander Solo, both of whom share the same rank as Commander Shepard but are junior to her, while Enterprise has a Lieutenant Commander Archer in charge. And not really a lot about Grand-Poobah Makarov, which was just plain confusing. Also, I noticed that Ace Rimmer flies one of the Patrol Craft on Invincible and I had no idea he or The Lord Flashheart were aboard. Lastly, some of the names seem a bit... odd."
"Odd, sir?"
"Well, like... Lance-Corporal Alleyne. She's from Detrot, her whole family lived there for generations, yet she's got a name of Germaneic or Haywaiian origin."
"Some parents like exotic names. I once dated a filly called Sarah when I was at flight school. I also knew a colt and filly named Link and Saria."
"Maybe, but... I can't help but think it's something we might want to double-check for the leak now, if only to prevent a real witch-hunt later."
"I see, sir. Well, Sunset was saying she wanted to go over to the entourage ships to check for a spell book for the Princess, actually. I was going to ask you which squad should go with her."
"Misfit one-two. Corporal Dunn's team. In fact I'll go over with them, I'll take a look at the library."
Of course, I really went to see if any progress had been made, finding our leak. I'd considered Sergeant Reinold's team in order to speak to Alleyne, but I'd recalled that the Sergeant and his Lance-Corporal shared a very close relationship. They were what you could call 'platonic life partners.'
"Okay, Sir, though you'll want to be back before seven when the Princess wakes."
"I recall she wanted to be up at eight. Why seven?"
"Because the President of Columbia has moved his meeting with her an hour forward to oh-eight thirty at the Executive Nest. Oh, and the President-elect will be attending as well."
"Thunderchild?"
"Yes, Sir?"
"That was important."
"Yes, Sir."
"You should probably have told me that bit first."
"Probably, Sir."
"Is there anything else?"
"The President-elect's chief of staff, a Mr. Lygriff, would like to speak to you while he and the President meet the Princess. Oh, and the Presidential Marshals also want to speak to you and the Princess before we head to meet the President."
"Okay. I want you to try and find out things about this Lygriff fellow. Can't risk HIM exploding in my face because I didn't read his file."
"Fair enough." A new voice said. "Ah'll start by telling you what Ah already know. Lygriff was the Deputy Chief of Staff under the previous president for the last eight years, then got bumped up because the old Chief of Staff, Garry McLeo, was gonna be the Vice-President. Sadly, McLeo passed away before the election was won. Lygriff was close to his old boss so commiserations on that front might help 'em keep a lid on it, and Ah've also been asked to tell ya kindly the old President is the Zebra an' the new one is the Unicorn."
"...Lance-Corporal Apple?"
"Yes, Sir?"
"Did you just say that this Griffin nation has been led by a Zebra for the last eight years and has just elected a Unicorn as the new leader?"
You'd think after meeting a deer/unicorn hybrid holding the highest military seat in an empire dedicated to putting all non-deer under its hoof, I'd learn to be less surprised.
"Uh, yes, Sir. In fact the previous president eight years ago was a minotaur. Before that, it was a Griffin though. And before ya ask, Mister Lygriff is a Griffin but his deputy, Mister Airborne, is a Pegasus if ya run into them both."
I sighed, and shelved the files. While it was a triumph for racial equality, I think I can understand why most of the other Griffin clans think Columbian Griffins are insane.
"I'm going to need pictures and a reference book of all these names and faces, aren't I?"
"Yes, sir. Speaking of pictures, though, sir, did Twilight send that with her letter?" Thunderchild asked, nodding at the photo.
"Oh hey, that's mah cousin AJ there. Don't know the other two, but the pink one is Pinkie Pie, met her when Ah visited Ponyville once when Ah was younger, and that there yellow pegasus is the one Ah saw talkin' to Twilight," Lance-Corporal Apple noted.
"That's Fluttershy," I said absentmindedly.
"Permission to write to her, Sir?" Thunderchild asked.
"...Why?"
"Because she's cute."
"There's over seventy female crew members on Invincible alone, and more still on the other ships, not to mention five in the platoon itself. Maybe you should speak to them rather than trying to send letters to Twilight's new friends, Thunderchild," I pointed out.
"But sir, I'm in love," Thunderchild whined, looking at me with puppy-dog eyes. I remained unmoved.
The two of them left, leaving me a brief moment of peace.
Unfortunately, as I'd been up all night, it meant the day technically continued to get worse. Breakfast was not on the menu yet (again), so I made do with toast and tea. One of the ship's shuttles flew us out to the flotilla, and though they understood I wanted to take a look at the library, Dunn and his small team seemed a little nervous at first to have their commanding officer ride along for such a basic task, but they seemed to relax eventually. Mactavish even took a chance for a nap on the flight with permission, as the mechanics of getting an airship from the embassy at one end of the city to the docks at the other were complicated.
There was a lot more air traffic in the early morning, and even later when things were quieter, routes had to be followed as well as instructions from signs, signals, and the like. Mostly hanging off buildings, but the flight regulations prohibited the shuttles from zooming over the rivers except in an emergency - the police and military preferred the skies over the waters to allow larger shipping to move freely.
(Interviewer (Unicorn): Sorry to interrupt, but why did you take the time to mentally catalog so much information about the foreign nations you visited? You don't seem like the type to retain so much minutia.)
Well, it's not everyday you get to see the world outside Equestria's borders! On top of that, I could be of greater benefit to Cadence, and my country as a whole, the more I knew about foreign lands. Also, I wanted to impress Twilight when I got back home. What? My sister is Celestia's personal student, impressing her with knowledge is quite a feat!
The pilot, a Pilot Officer called Washburn, distracted us most of the trip by rambling on about why pilots and the folks that actually flew the airships had different rank titles from the folks that merely crewed and commanded them. Strangely, three of the passengers were Unicorns (Dunn, Myself, and Lance-Corporal Mactavish) whilst the rest (Privates Ranger and Baldrick, plus Sunset) were Pegasi. Washburn and his co-pilot River were both Earth Ponies.
The three Pegasi seemed to be bored of having to ride on a small airship rather than fly by themselves, doubly so given what I just mentioned, but I was a little too busy not getting bored to sleep by Washburn. And I hadn't done that good a job of it...
As I watched the dejected ponies leaving the home end of the Castle of the Damned... er, which is to say... White Hoof Lane, I turned to my commanding officer.
"Sir, I have a question. When Command decided that Princess Celestia accepting the invite by Trottenham to attend the match meant we'd need extra security here, how did..."
"Your name get on the list? Oh, come on, Shining, you're a hoofball fan. Surely you enjoyed the chance to see a game while working?" Captain Sharpe said with his strong Yokeshire accent.
"Well, yes, sir, but..."
I made sure the passing group of dejected stallions in white shirts would not overhear.
"...But there was only one team on the pitch today, and they were Itallion. And should never have been here because we would have won if the ref hadn't lost a contact lens!"
Captain Sharpe simply laughed, but quietly.
"Oh, Lieutenant, sometimes I envy Equestrian Premier League supporters like you. Not Maresenal this year, of course, since you did get hammered early on in this competition..."
"Unfairly! Sir!" I protested.
"...But you lot at least get to play in tournaments like this. Sheffoald United never gets a sniff of it. We barely even get domestic glory when it's there for the taking. In fact, who so unceremoniously knocked my hometown colthood team out of the Hoofball Association Trophy in last week's semifinals?"
"Er, Marsenal, sir, but... Oh. You put my name forward for the detail today, didn't you?"
"Yes," The Sheffoald native said without a trace of the massive grin he wanted to wear.
I groaned.
"Was I really that drunk, sir?"
"Oh yes, cheerfully so, Shining. And the way you tried to learn a fireworks spell to shoot 'Maresenal for the Cup' into the sky was very amusing..."
"Would it help if I said sorry?"
"...Probably not needed. Marechester United are going to tear you to shreds in the final anyway. We'd have stood no chance."
A small jolt of turbulence or whatever shook me awake. I'd only been out for a few moments at most. Nopony noticed, or at least, nopony commented. Mactavish still snoozed away.
"...And so, because the Navy and Air Force were merged with the rise of airships, heh-heh, the Navy having been mostly Earth Ponies with Unicorn officers, and the air force being pegasus units with unicorn ground commanders, it was decided that the air force ranks should be kept for the lying compliments, i.e., the pilots of the ships, and formerly the pegasus guards that almost replaced the naval cavalry. So I'm a pilot officer, but if I was working any other job other than navigation or helmspony on the ship, I'd be an Ensign but if I were in your unit I'd be a Second Lieutenant..."
He seemed to be trying to impress me, I think. Or Sunset. I'm not sure. I imagine her brain had shut down since she was staring off into space. It was all rather immaterial, in the grand scheme of things, as less than a month later he would begin a relationship with a female unicorn in Sergeant Reinold's team: Lance-Corporal Alleyne.
We shook Mactavish awake as we neared the flotilla.
"Huh... I was dreaming about drinking a vanilla milkshake... Does that mean anything?" He mused.
No one gave a reply, but I felt a little envy that apparently he'd had a more interesting dream. I hoped to find some good tea or something else to stay awake on the ship, and in a pinch something as sugary as a milkshake should do it. Almost certainly not banana-flavored though. Bananas are bad luck aboard Equestrian ships. It'd be vanilla, hay, strawberry, or chocolate...
Fortunately, it turned out Commander Shepard kept a good supply of extra-strong coffee on hoof when I met her. Coffee is not my favored drink, but it certainly keeps you alert. Sadly, there was little news, though they were quick to start fixing the files once the two Minutettes issue was brought to their attention. I'd hoped to take an actual look at the ship's library, but unfortunately, I was distracted by strange sounds from a stairwell leading to the top deck.
"How long have you been working for them?!" A male voice demanded.
"Huh? I work for the Princess! There's no 'Them!' Not unless Princess Cadence start using the Royal We!" A familiar female voice replied in confusion.
I stood for a puzzled second and was considering going up to look when
there was another question.
"You know what I mean! How many other spies are there in Canterlot?!"
"What? Look, I really don't know what you're talking abo-"
The female voice was interrupted by a scream. I raced up the stairwell, seeing a group of ponies off some distance away from the entrance - the voices carried even better out here than they had below the stairs. Two Naval Cavalry were reacting with surprise at what a third was doing - Dangling a blue-purple pegasus with an orange mane over the edge of the deck, held in the grip of magic that pinned her wings to her side.
"Help! Somepony help!" Sunset was screaming, instinctively trying to spread her wings against the spell, but even over her cries I heard the other three.
"Eager, what the heck are you doing?!"
"How are you getting the information to the Hooviets? How did you manage to infiltrate the diplomatic party? Do they plan to attack the Princesses?!"
Sunset's only replies were screams for her mother and Celestia, as she stared at the ground so far, far, below with no clouds to catch her. I was running, but the unicorn was shaking her. Even as I was trying to reach out and grab her myself, a flash of white and gold shot out from another nearby door, slamming into the trio. The spell shattered and Sunset flapped her wings in alarm and tried to bolt for the door only to slam into two other guards coming up the stairs.
"Ranger, stand down!" Lance-Corporal Mactavish shouted, using his magic to pull the pegasus in question off the Naval Cavalry unicorn.
Said unicorn tried to get up and charge until his two comrades grabbed
him, and I spoke up.
"All right, explain what's going on here, now!" I shouted, leveling the
most intense glare as I could.
Instantly, the whole crowd froze, like a picture had been taken. None of them had known I was there, it seemed.
"Break it up! You, get off him, my troopers to one side, Naval to the other, and wait there please, Sunset."
The whole group obeyed. I moved to stand beside the now-shaking Sunset, who looked around at all the troopers with wide, fearful eyes.
"It's okay, I'll figure out what's going on here, ma'am," I reassured the hoofmaiden but she still wobbled like jelly.
I studied the six in question. In my trio of troopers, Lance-Corporal Mactavish and Private Baldrick standing in a way that made it easy to hold back Private Ranger, the charging Pegasus. On the Naval side of it, two pegasi, one male and one female, with a male unicorn presently bleeding from a nose injury. The bleeding one was a very large and solidly-built fellow: as big as an Earth Pony that's farmed the fields since he could walk.
"Alright, who is in charge of you Naval Cavalry?"
"M-me, sir..." Another Pegasus, with Leading Seapony markings...
(Interviewer's Notes: (Pegasus): ...Seapony?)
With respect, this is hardly the best point in the narrative for that sort of observation, ma'am. We can come back to it later if you really feel such a need.
Anyway, the pegasus stammered in surprise at my command.
"How would you get Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan here?"
"There's... intercoms around the ship, Sir, I could request he come..."
"Do it, now! And now, I want to know what's happening here! And it better be a darned good explanation unless somepony wants to be court-marshaled!"
All at once, the soldiers and Sunset tried to speak. I groaned, and raised my voice again.
"Not all at once! And Leading Seapony, get on with summoning the Master Chief, or do you think I just woke up one day and put on this officer's armor because I liked the plumes?!"
I lowered it to speak to the quivering pegasus beside me as the Leading Seapony went over and nervously squeaked into an intercom.
"Sunset, you explain first."
"They think I'm a spy!" She pointed at the Naval troopers. "I'm not a spy! Wait! Isn't that what spies always say? Oh Celestia!" She wrapped her wings around herself as the poor mare dug herself in deeper.
"Maybe a little more information than that, please?"
"I-I was looking in the library for a spellbook that Princess Cadence wanted, and the officer at the desk said spellbooks would probably be on Enterprise and I'd need an escort to go over so I went to look for your troopers but those three said they'd take me and led me up here and started asking questions and I got nervous. Then that one cast some spell and I couldn't move my wings and then they dangled me over the railings and called me a spy!"
"Is that true?" I barked at the naval troopers.
"Yes, it is!" the Leading Seapony said. " We never found her name on the files of staff and soldiers in the Princess' party, and we decided to confront her over it. But this idiot took it too far!"
"Did you try and stop him?"
"Before we could, your guy charged into the lot of us! We're lucky she's a Pegasus because none of us could have grabbed her once the spell broke from him charging," The female pegasus Naval Cavalrymare said.
"I presume 'my guy' is Private Ranger?" I confronted my own troopers.
"Yes sir. I'm afraid neither myself nor Private Baldrick saw it very well. We only heard a scream and by the time we'd caught up with Ranger, he'd already conducted his charge."
That was true from what I'd seen, of course. But there was a long way to go in figuring out what had happened and what I saw could be irrelevant, especially if the stories changed...
I looked at my Lance-Corporal, and the higher-ranked Naval equivalent, the Leading Seapony. I hear hoofsteps nearing, but was slightly dismayed to note it was only Corporal Dunn.
"Uh, what's going on here?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out, Corporal. So far it seems that Lance-Corporal Mactavish lost control of a junior trooper, and meanwhile, our Naval Cavalry colleagues also jumped the gun and lost control of themselves."
"Uh, sir, in your Lance-Corporal's defense he did actually grab Private Ranger and stop the fight..."
"Quit helping the enemy, Seaspray!" The unicorn finally spoke.
"Enemy?" A new voice asked.
Master Chief Spartan turned out to have been following Dunn. I'm not sure but I think everyone up there jumped out of their skins when he spoke suddenly.
(Interviewer's Notes: (Pegasus): How can you not be sure?)
I was too busy jumping out of my skin to pay attention to everyone else.
"Seapony Beaver, we're almost certainly going to discuss this in more detail in private, but I never want to hear you or any other Naval Cavalry trooper refer to fellow Royal Guardsponies as 'the enemy' ever again. Are we clear?"
"Y-Yes, Chief." The brash unicorn visibly deflated.
"Anyway, Captain, you seem to be first on the scene. Please continue, sir."
"Thank you, Master Chief. So, Mactavish got Ranger under control, with Baldrick's help, while you three were recovering from being charged at. Am I correct in assuming Seapony Beaver tried to charge?"
"Yes..." Beaver said, looking a lot smaller.
"That's where I come in, shortly after you two grabbed him?"
The Naval Cavalry nodded.
"Okay. So, is it fair to say that you three thought she was a spy because she wasn't on the list and then got nervous when you began questioning her, and you therefore thought the rational response was to dangle her off the side of the airship after tying up her wings with a magic rope spell. One of my troopers, thinking that you were attacking a Hoofmaiden of the Princess for no good reason, jumped the gun and charged you all?"
"We'd hoped to just discuss it with her, sir, I've no idea what Beaver was doing. We were trying to stop him..." Seaspray protested.
"Master Chief, did you authorize any of these actions?"
The experienced NCO shook his head at me.
"No, sir, not like this. I did ask them to be watchful and vigilant, but I never told them outright to look for spies. I fear a few of my troopers might have let the excitement of all that's happening go to their head, unfortunately. I'll take steps to ensure that my troopers are more disciplined."
"Your unit is your business, Master Chief. Accordingly, I'm going to ask you to have someone investigate the conduct of your troopers and I'll get someone to investigate mine. A witch-hunt is the last thing we need. Dunn, take your unit back to the shuttle and wait for me. Ranger, you're off-duty pending this investigation, I want you to remain at the Embassy when we return there. I'll attach someone from Misfit One-Three to make up numbers on One-Two."
"You two, take Seapony Beaver to the brig. I'll be along presently to discuss the matter with all three of you," Master Chief then added.
The two groups then left, any angry remarks at each other out of earshot, though I'd later learn that Ranger began to worry he was in serious trouble and had got the others into it as well.
(Interviewer's Notes: (Unicorn): Was he?)
Master Chief summed it up a few moments later. He had asked Sunset for her side of it, before having some Naval crew take her to the mess to calm her down. She shook a little and look very relieved when Seapony Beaver was taken in the opposite direction. Pegasi aren't used to being scared of falling. Then he told me what he thought.
"As far as I can tell from what I've heard so far, sir, none of yours did anything all that wrong except maybe that Ranger rushed in without authorization... but I've no idea what got into Eager Beaver, for my part..."
"Wait, that's actually his name?"
"...Yes, sir. Anyway, like I said, I'm surprised Beaver got that riled up! I'll interview all my troopers on the matter personally, and keep you informed."
"Likewise, Master Chief. I'll speak to each of my troopers later myself and let you know what they say once things have more time to cool, though I do think Ranger's response is rather pardonable, on the whole."
"He hears a scream, sees three Naval Cavalry threatening a cute young mare... I'd call him a knight in you-know-what, but that may be less than appropriate, Captain Sparkle."
That did get me to laugh a little.
"The worst part is the spy is probably some faceless civil servant in Canterlot who stumbled on the intel, and now we're all looking over our shoulders at each other because of it..." I commented.
"Well, if part of their Hooviets' game was to make us paranoid, it worked. I'll get a lid on it as soon as I can and see about Commander Shepard ensuring the crewponies don't start spy-chasing themselves. If you like, Sir, I'll escort the Hoofmaiden myself, take her to the other ship and look for that book. I'll bring her back to the Embassy too. I bet right now a short flight will do wonders to clear her head."
It was at this point I noticed he was a Pegasus. Unusually for the Naval Cavalry, he always wore his helmet (and Naval Cavalry helmets all have horn-covers on them regardless of pony species, came in handy for misleading the enemy) so until he'd unfolded his wings out from his armor, I'd assumed he was either Earth Pony or Unicorn. I'd forgotten of course that Naval Cavalry, befitting the fact they were at a higher state of readiness, wore green medium combat armor, not light duty armor like my troopers.
"Thank you, Master Chief. I'll be making sure my troopers are on the ball themselves."
I therefore left Sunset in his capable hooves, and went back with my now-nervous troopers to the Embassy. The two of them walked with me, and Sunset did seem to perk up just at the idea of getting to fly. I, however... For some reason I could have sworn I heard a noise like an animal sniffing the air when we were in the corridors. Nothing was there, though, so I chalked it up to my sleep deprivation.
But if Sunset was cheered up from getting to spread her wings, my shuttle was very different. Everyone aboard except the pilot of the shuttle expecting to be shouted at some time today, because I was going to be meeting a possibly irate Columbian politician about the various screw-ups of the previous night.
(Interviewer's Notes: (Unicorn): Captain, before we continue, I've noticed that you didn't mention Sunset all that much before now, mostly in passing. Was there anything odd about her that would've maybe make those soldiers assume 'spy' instead of 'clerical error?')
Not really. As I say, Sunset was a blue-purple pegasus with an orange mane and tail, colors of a sunset sky. Hence her name. She had a cutie mark of a wing skimming over a treetop, and she explained later on that her talent was flying low and in tight areas, quite useful for a Hoofmaiden often sent to fetch things or to take messages around the castle. Could have been an air-acrobat. Visually, nothing about her really screamed 'spy!' at all.
Then again, at first glance of Sunset's personal history, she'd fit the 'profile' perfectly. Not many friends. No obvious enemies. Stays in the background, (although, in all fairness, her job demanded it as much as the role of a guard does!) A good worker but not an exceptional one, by any accounts.
Except that Cadence gets to know her hoofmaidens very personally. Sunset's friends were Cadence and the other hoofmaidens. Our background checks are even more thorough than the ones performed on our mail. And I know Cadence to be a good judge of character. It's part of what she is and who she is.
I'm sure she'd be able to tell the difference between a true friend and a fraud.
Ultimately, our crack investigation team tracked down the root of the problem. Sunset's name had been typed as 'Runset' on the list of on-ship profiles needed back in Canterlot before departure. When the poor intern couldn't find the profile for a pony who didn't exist, instead of daring to contradict his superior, he had simply taken her name off the list and Minuette's was added again by accident. In short, it was all because of a stupid typo! A pony had nearly been killed over a typo! Yes, I was ticked off. Sunset was a good pony, she was scared half to death by what happened.
(Interviewer's Notes: (Earth Pony): Yeah! It wasn't even like she had a spying cutie mark!)
Of course not. Do you know what an actual spying cutie mark looks like? No? Good, because there isn't one. Cutie Marks are strange things, but not only do I shudder to think how an adolescent pony might discover a special talent for spying but -- whatever unfathomable forces control how one's cutie mark actually manifests -- I doubt they'd advertise your special talent only to promptly make you useless at it. Spies don't 'look like' spies, basically, except in cheesy movies. Bond's cutie mark for example, isn't a compass rose or a spyglass like in theater, it's a radio.
(Interviewer's Notes: (Earth Pony): So how do cutie marks work in the military anyway? How do you find special talents for soldier stuff?)
Basically, most don't. Your talents are just likely to be useful. Military officers and NCO's above Corporal are usually career soldiers, with martial cutie marks about half the time. Most of the enlisted troopers below Corporal and the like, they're simply in the military to get a bit of experience so they have better shots at jobs using their true talents in civilian life or just to see Equestria beyond the town limits of, say, Savvaneigh or Ponyville.
Special talents are only sometimes used. Rarely is a special talent used all the time, like mine. For instance, there's little use in day-to-day soldiering for a Hoofball expert, or a tennis pro, but it does mean you get on the regimental teams pretty easily.
As for what happened next...
Upon return to the Embassy, I explained what had transpired to Thunderchild and the other hoofmaidens. The two of them were very concerned for their friend, but as it turned out she'd already shaken the whole thing off because she began rambling about 'amazing thermals' between the tall buildings, the second she was back. Thank Celestia. I'd been concerned she'd been traumatized for life. I mean... a pegasus saddled with acrophobia?
(Interviewer's Notes: (Pegasus): I shudder to think.
But Twinkleshine and Minuette seemed to think she still needed calming down, and they knew her better than me.
"Captain, can you please wake the Princess while we make sure Sunset is okay?" Minuette said, with puppy dog eyes. I could almost hear her say 'For real.'
"...Very well. Private Newcastle!" I said, noticing one of two female members of Sergeant Reinold's squad.
"Sir?"
"Newcastle, please wake the princess."
"Yes sir," the Zebra trooper replied.
And before any of your readers wonder? Rhyming Zebras aren't universal. I think it's a religious influence in some parts of Zebrafrica, and Private Newcastle's grandparents moved to Equestria from a part that did not rhyme. I think. It's not something I read a lot about. I'd know more when we actually visited there!
As for the very Equestrian name she has, well, her ancestral tribe named newborns after the first thing their father saw upon leaving the dwelling. Which was the recently built castle climbing frame in the playpark across the street. Her elder brother was very unfortunate, as the park was still being built, hence if you ever meet a Zebra called 'Construction Site'...
It would be when we were about to head to the Executive Nest, the Presidential residence, that I would see the peeved Hoofmaidens again. Cadence was by now very much awake, and gave me a small nod as she approached. Before we left though, we were to speak with Presidential Marshals Pierce, a bald eagle-type Griffin, and Kennedy, a Griffin who I felt had a rather strange mane style. Er, I mean, feather style. Long bangs, I think you'd call them.
"Good morning, Your Highness, I'm Special Agent Pierce. This is Special Agent Kennedy, he'll be one of your official Presidential Marshal escorts. The other agents will largely be under his command, but he will, of course, obey instructions where possible from your own guard detail."
"Pleased to meet you, Agents... Er, is that the right word?"
"It's as good a word as any, Your Highness." Kennedy told Cadence.
"I see. Apologies if I sound under-informed, but with regards to myself, what exactly will Agent Kennedy and his colleagues be doing?"
"Well, Princess, if there was to be any problem they would try and intercept it. Just a warning, if someone starts shooting they're prone to jumping onto you to provide cover," Pierce explained.
"Wait, Shining is my bodyguard, shouldn't he jump on top of me?" She said rather innocently.
There was some coughing and sputtering.
"...Sergeant, fetch yourself a glass of water. You too, Minuette," I instructed.
Was I blushing? Classified. Sorry.
"If he is so inclined to do so, ma'am, but he may not always be present. After all, there are some cloud-based areas you're set to visit," Pierce said in a monotone.
"Quite. Er, Sunset, did you get that cloud-walking spell?"
"Oh, er, yes, Your Highness. But with regards to the Captain, I think he has other things scheduled during most of your cloud-based visits, your Highness." Sunset explained.
"Ah. Anyway, I think we should head for the carriages now and make our way to the Executive Nest. We can't keep the President waiting," Cadence said.
I nodded agreement, and we made our way there, only for an embassy trooper to intercept me.
"Commander, can you come quickly to the communications room?" He asked after a quick salute.
"As long as it's the one in the embassy. Thunderchild, with me."
In a small room, I met the diplomat in charge of communications, a civil servant pegasus named Mister Signal. His room was very small, barely able to fit the three of us. The Embassy trooper left us.
Sadly, the embassy only ever received official mail, and post-onwards boxes always went to ships. Twilight would not be able to send letters to the embassy trying to get me or Cadence specifically unless Princess Celestia signed each one, and while she would do it, Twilight would likely not even consider it for fear of the problems the favoritism could cause or that Celestia had better things to do with her time. And Spike couldn't send them on either, anti-teleportation wards were around the embassy too.
"Commander, we've received some information that apparently, the press room over at the Executive Nest have been mistakenly given an incorrect file photograph of Princess Cadence this morning from us. It was supposed to be a headshot while sitting, but apparently, there was a camera accident as she stood up..."
"I'm not following the problem, here," I said, puzzled.
"Her head is not in the picture, Commander. She's... well, topless. The image should have been destroyed but was mislabeled and added to the press packs we sent out."
"Still not following the problem. So the pictures don't show her head, what's the big deal?"
"Well, sir, I think the problem is that instead of a picture of the Princess, the local press merely have a picture of her bottom," Thunderchild said.
"So we need to get one of her head to them instead," I said, dully.
"That as well, but her back may be all over the tabloid front pages, sir." Signal said.
This was when the penny dropped. We already had our hooves full, trying to defuse the scandal with Nightmare Moon. Having the local tabloids plaster Princess Cadence's bum over every front page would reduce her to an international laughingstock! Complaining would simply make it a bigger story. As a result Cadence would be constantly hounded, through every stop on the goodwill tour, by her own bottom.
Wait, that made a lot more sense at the time. Eh, I was half asleep.
"So... what do we do?" I asked.
"Canterlot wants you to take the correct pictures, and if possible, recover the rogue one. The press won't have them yet, but they'll be in the press officer's office. You'd have until ten AM, that's when the first press briefings take place usually. "
"I'll do what I can," I said, and we then moved towards the carriages, which by now were probably waiting for us.
"Plan A, explain to the Press Officer and ask nicely. Plan B... Audience?" I asked my Sergeant.
"Well, if you think he can do it, Sir..."
"You know he can if he has to, Thunderchild. Quiet word in his ear he might be needed."
"Very good, Sir. Take the pictures to you?"
"Ye-no. They'll be brought back to Signal to get them disposed of," I clarified.
"Probably for the best, Sir. I'm sure if you play your cards right you won't need a photograph."
"What the hay is that supposed to mean?" I asked, confused.
"The Hoofmaidens sung an amusing song when you left after delegating Private Newcastle to wake the princess."
"...Ignore them. It's probably a phase they're going through. Within a week I bet they'll think it'll be far more romantic that a Private should romance her," I opined.
"Actually, Sir, funny you should say that, reminds me of why the song was so amusing. Though I don't think they quite realized what they were saying when they sang 'so he sends his Privates to do the job for him'..."
Wide awake now. "What?!"
One amusing little note before we proceed. The journey out towards the President's residence took us past the edge of the city centre. Accordingly, Agent Kennedy drew our attention to a number of signs in the city as we made our way to the President.
"Song-and-Dance Numbers prohibited between Eight AM to Five PM Weekdays?"
The sign also showed an image of a goofy-looking pony with several eighth notes flying out of his open mouth. A large red X was drawn across him.
"...Traffic is often greatly impeded by spontaneous musical numbers erupting when Ponies become unusually enthusiastic about things. Especially in large crowds. While most Griffins can fly over the revelry, it still impedes cart traffic and greatly disrupts ground-bound pedestrians who aren't... vulnerable to those impulses. As a result, the LCPD have these restrictions in place during weekdays."
"How horrible!" Minuette squeaked.
"How intolerant!" Twinkleshine added.
"How unreasonable," the goddess of harmony and music responded on instinct.
"How wonderful..." I sighed.
I received some nasty looks from Cadence and her hoofmaidens, but it was worth it. I tried to enjoy the peace for as long as I could without falling asleep.
As we approached the Executive Nest -- a large white building in the eastern side of Liberty -- I must have been zoning out a little, as it took a nudge from Thunderchild for me to realize I was being addressed.
"She asked why you're to meet Lygriff," He quickly whispered.
"Ah, I'm not sure, Princess. I think it might be something to do with that incident earlier."
"What incident earlier?" She asked, puzzled.
"I mean last night, Your Highness, with that Hooviet bigwig?"
"Oh. Makarov. He's a strange one! I can't say I'd heard of him much either. The only Makarovs I know of were the House of Makarov, the former royal family of the Roedina before and during the first Civil War. Tsar Vladimir Makarov, Vladimir the Conqueror... apparently he lost a duel of Revolution Roulette against Nikolai Dante, a general of the House of Romanov. His death ended the war and ended the line of Makarov as a noble house," she noted in reply, looking in the distance.
I suspected this was nerves. After all, this was only the first full day of her trip in diplomatic terms, and she was about to have to explain to an ally why they'd been kept in the dark (no pun intended) about the late sunrise and the return of Princess Luna.
"That was over two hundred years ago though, Your Highness. When the Harmonists won the second civil war and deposed the Romanovs, they gave the noble family names to commoners, and I think 'Makarov' was revived in the city of Ivaneighvo. The Hooviets never took the names back after they won the third Civil War."
The hoofmaidens and Cadence stared at Private Audience in surprise.
"He reads," Gag quickly explained.
There was thankful silence from him as we passed near the Wingington monument, an obelisk spire. However, Minuette had a small coughing fit.
Not long after that we reached the Executive Nest. Fortunately, there wasn't a press presence that knew Cadence was meeting the President an hour early. Our meeting was technically to be held outside the residence proper, in the North Section, the Executive Offices. Still, these were the offices of a head of state, so it was naturally quite an elaborate place with marble, oak, and gold-feather decorations, as well as many paintings and the odd statue.
We were walked through the halls of the residence, and I spoke quietly to Cadence.
"Princess, Thunderchild and Gag will enter the room with you, while Audience and Apple will remain outside," I said.
"And you'll be meeting Lygriff?" She replied.
"Yes. And I think you should be a little less nervous, Cadence... Good luck with them."
Which naturally helped her towards being less nervous. Audience showing awareness of the history she referenced probably helped out a bit as well, but there had been enough time for her to start worrying again before we'd arrived.
"You too, Shining."
She was to meet the Presidents in the Lion Room, named for distantly related Presidents Teddy and Flanklin Lion, another pair of Pony presidents as it happened (I was beginning to wonder how many Griffins had been head of state of a country with a majority of and founded by Griffins). When we got there, I waited outside as she was taken in and introduced by the suited Griffin who opened the doors.
"Mister President, Mister President, I present to you Her Royal Highness Princess Mi Amore Cadenza Equestria..."
"If you'll follow me to Mister Lygriff's office in the North Section, Captain?" Agent Kennedy prompted.
I nodded and followed, but could still hear the voices from the room for a short while.
"Be careful of the Presidential Seal, Minuette."
"Eh?"
"Arf!"
"Wargh!"
I soon found myself facing the Chief of Staff and his Deputy.
"Good Morning, Mister Lygriff, Mister Airborn. May I extend my condolences to you on the passing of Mister McLeo."
"Good morning and thank you, Commander. I'm afraid we probably won't have much room for formality today, because we've got a pretty big pair of problems on our talons now. First up: Nightmare Moon. Why the secrecy?" Lygriff began.
"I can only apologize for that, it was a decision made in Canterlot."
"No, Commander, the Princess is the one who apologizes to the President and then hooves are shaken and all is well... in public. As for behind-closed-doors, off-the-record Reality? I have to let you know just how huge a mess this is. I guess your people planned to tell us today about Celestia's prodigal sister, and keep a lid on it until then?"
"That's right," I said carefully.
"And have you found Makarov's informant in your ranks? I can tell you now: odds are, you won't. Makarov is part of the second problem but the first, you might not fully understand. You ever heard the legend of the Great Destroyer?" Airborn cut in.
"A myth of a strange being with godlike powers that once ruled a foreign land and then ravaged the Griffin lands for amusement?"
"Actually, that was a trick question, there's two. There's one myth of that being you just describe... but there's ALSO a name given to a figure considered equally mythic... up until yesterday. Pop quiz: Name the historical figure I'm referring to by her Equestrian name."
"...Oh, no," I sighed.
"Oh yes. Nightmare Moon. You know the story of why there's three spellings of Griffin, right?" Lygriff came back in.
Cadence nodded.
"I think it used to be that the smaller clans and Knossos in the northwest of Gryffinia called themselves Griffins, the Griffonians called themselves Griffons, and a few other smaller nations use Gryphons as a spelling."
"Yep. And guess who, back in the days of antiquity, toppled the Griffonians by storming into a clan banquet of the Griffonian Imperial Family and assassinated the majority of the griffins there, leading to a succession crisis and civil war, ultimately sparking centuries of brutal war in the continent of Gryffinia seeing countless empires splinter into tribal and clan nations as the chaos spread and spilled into other lands?"
"Nightmare Moon?"
"Bingo. In fairness to her, though, it was all an accident waiting to happen and the Griffonians were massive dweebs," Lygriff noted.
"Really?" I asked.
"That is actually what the history books say about them. The war was certain to happen within a few years anyway and might even have been all the bloodier because it would have been between nobles and princes able to command larger forces. As it was, the weaker lords lived, to command their own small forces rather than be part of huge armies led by Princes." Airborn clarified. "And considering she was an Alicorn and ponies were on the menu at the time, her motivation is still suspect."
I blinked.
"The history books actually call them 'dweebs?'"
"Yep." said Lygriff.
"Yours don't?" asked Airborn. "Personally speaking, I'm perfectly happy to keep the past in the past. Different era, different standards... plus that thousand-year banishment to the moon ought to absolve her of whatever else she did back then. But I'd imagine once Princess Lunar's..."
"Luna." I corrects.
"Right." Airborn nodded. "Once her return becomes common knowledge... well, imagine all the major news networks, and they've got history buffs and mythology buffs being interviewed round-the-clock."
"A lot of griffins are going to want to un-bury the hatchet on Princess Luna, if you catch my drift." Airborn said. Then he blinked. "Oh, wait, I just remembered. Didn't the press office have some problem with some photographs in the press packs Canterlot supplied us?"
"Uh..." I said, recalling I was carrying replacements on my person.
"Oh, yes, the shots show her hindquarters. We were hoping to get these back to you since they were handed over in error. The press office left them with us for now, but should we hand them back to the Princess?"
"Er, no, I've actually been asked to apologize for that and hand over these replacements..."
I then removed the small bundle of replacements from within my armor, opened it, and...
...Was greeted by the exact same pictures I was apparently supposed to be removing.
"...Or not. Do you possibly have a camera spare somewhere?"
"I don't think it's a problem, Captain. The pack had enough normal photos, we were just puzzled as to why these were here when they, ah, don't quite capture her best side," Lygriff noted.
"A clerical error..." I said, putting away both the original mistaken pictures and the second set I'd been given.
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Did ya keep any for yourself?)
NO!
"Anyway, back to Nightmare Moon..." Lygriff said.
"As opposed to a mooning Cadenza, of course," Airborn failed to resist.
I gave him a look of disapproval, as did Lygriff. I would have to introduce him to Running Gag.
We discussed the ramifications of Princess Luna's return. The Columbian heads-of-state assured us they understood 'the truth': Luna was not the one responsible and that the Nightmare was a separate entity that had possessed her body. Which was a total lie but more acceptable than a thousand years of criminal insanity bring cured by six pieces of magic jewelry.
They'd promised they'd do what they could, from their end, to bring the inevitable media firestorm to a swift conclusion. In time, Princess Luna would likely be deemed punished enough by most of the Gryffinian continent. Others, however, might continue harboring grudges on Nightmare Moon. Meaning that I had a job ahead of me, ensuring Princess Cadence was secure from terrorists wackos with a bone to pick, while Cadence tried to convince the world at large that Princess Luna was harmless - or at least had make sufficient amends.
(Interviewer's Notes: (Unicorn): Did it go on to pose any problems?)
Where it did, I'll cover it if I can. But mostly it just eventually led to having to apologize for our secrecy. Only a few of the more hardliner-traditionalists raised a fuss, demanding apologies for what befell their ancestors and seeking trade concessions and the like. None dared threaten either Luna or Cadence. For the most part, the ordinary Griffins hadn't been affected by the late sunrise, all they thought it meant was that Princess Celestia had been slacking off on her duties.
You could imagine everyone's relief!
But back to our talk with Lygriff and Airborn. Our further discussions with them were a little more troubling. The Columbians had far more intel on Makarov and were happy to share it with us. I'll just give you the highlights.
Makarov was well-known for exploiting diplomatic immunity, notoriously reliant on deniable operations, suspected of killing a number of rivals, (political and otherwise) had diverted resources from Hooviet operations in Zebrafrica, (supposedly some kind of overseas earthquake relief effort, believe it or not) in order to build up numerous super-powerful warships and arcane magic-based weaponry, (plus unsubstantiated rumors of abysmal eldritch thingamajigs from Somewhere Not Nice possibly being involved) and was reported to be very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, annoyed at me.
I was rather thankful Airborn and Lygriff weren't too upset with us, overall. Our meeting ended at about twenty past nine, as did the extension to Cadence's meeting with the Presidents. As a result, both meetings wound up merging for breakfast, but sadly, the press chose to show up. Bright camera bulbs are no fun for sleep-deprived eyes.
All I really recall from the actual breakfast meeting was that the Griffins have some strange breakfast stuff. They'd have a fried egg put on top of some meat (ham, sausage, bacon, or a mixture of any two or all three) and a slice of cheese inside a breakfast muffin.
We Equestrians mostly made do with the meatless variety, of course, as well as the pancakes that seemed to be all over the place. Lance-Corporal Apple wound up discussing and eating apples with a distant cousin on the President-Elect's staff. Turns out the Apples can move pretty far away from the tree after all.
After that, there wasn't much of interest. We returned to the Embassy, and Cadence had a visit to the city's weather factories around lunch, and even with the cloud-spell I had to delegate bodyguard duty to Pegasi and Griffin troopers. Cadence seemed puzzled by this when I said so.
"But why? You could easily come! The cloud-walking spell works, Sunset got the book earlier. Are you afraid of heights?" She joked.
"No, I've got to deal with the incident earlier."
"...Makarov?"
"No, Sunset."
"...What incident with Sunset?" She asked, taking a look at said hoofmaiden.
This was where I realized assumption is the mother of all mistakes.
"I'd assumed you'd been informed, Your Highness," I said, trying not to look around the room.
"...Uh, Sir, she wasn't. We all thought you'd told her," Apple noted.
"And we thought you were telling her, Captain," Twinkleshine said.
"What is all this?" Cadence said, by this point rather worried.
"There was an incident on the ship when Sunset was fetching the spell book. A small group of Naval Cavalry apparently acted without authorization and attempted to interrogate her over a clerical error that omitted her name from your entourage. It...got somewhat out of hand until Private Ranger intervened and interrupted them before anything serious could occur."
Cadence stared at me.
"...What? Anything serious? What were they doing? And what happened after that?"
"As far as I know, they sought to interrogate her. It was basically paranoia combined with her being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You'll receive the full reports on it from myself and Master Chief once we confirm exactly what has happened and what will happen, Your Highness."
"...Sunset is okay though, right? She was okay at the time, right, Commander?"
"Y-yes, ma'am. Private Ranger did stop it going any further like the Captain says..."
Cadence considered all this. "So what happens next?"
"Once we collect the evidence and find out what happened, we decide what punishments are merited, if any, you'll be given the reports and possibly if the Royal Guard troopers seek an appeal to any discipline you will be who they appeal to."
"Are they likely to appeal?" Cadence pressed leaning closer.
"I can't say, Princess. The investigation is non-judicial but a due process must be followed under military regulations, if I were to say they would appeal would mean you would know I'd made my mind up before following the due process, meaning that they'd instantly win any appeal. I need to have the reports and exchange them with Master Chief Spartan before any choice is made for it to be a fair process to all involved."
She sighed.
"I don't like not being told about things like this. I'm getting tired of ponies I trust keeping me in the dark. I'm your Commanding Officer, Captain. You're supposed to be reporting these matters to me or ensuring I am aware of them as soon as possible otherwise."
You may find it odd that this act didn't really affect me much. Not in the sense I was to ignore her orders, her reminder I'd been in dereliction of duty was fair and I accepted it then and now. It was the simple fact I agreed, that she was right and I had wronged. I'd received a few such dressing-downs in my time: I'm not perfect and I'd made mistakes in the past.
I was used to learning from errors and accepting a light reminder of what I was supposed to do - every guard from the lowest Private to the highest General has at some point been politely told off by the CO, someone they usually saw as a close friend or otherwise greatly respected in many cases. The polite, calm, diplomatic way got results because it meant you knew it wasn't an attack on you, it was merely instructing you on what was wrong and what to do next time.
Not that screaming and hollering doesn't have its place when you've really screwed up.
"I-in the Captain's defense, Ca-Princess, he thought you'd been made aware of it by other channels. And really, we should have told you, there's no need to be harsh with the Captain!" Twinkleshine said.
"...I know. Just..." Cadence dropped her mask of formality. "Shining, please try to either let me know about things or make sure I already know if I don't. To be honest, I... I think you're handling whatever happened the best way now that I think about it, and Sunset's okay so I suppose nothing too serious happened. I'm just disappointed it took an accident for me to find out. That goes for you three as well."
The hoofmaidens all bowed their heads.
"I can only apologize, Your Highness."
"Apology accepted. But I really wanted you up there at the Weather Factory..."
Once that was dealt with, Cadence seemed to be a little more cheered up before she left, though she seemed very disappointed still at the whole mess. I had the Pegasus guards (and other volunteers who were okay with the cloud-walking spell) go with her. I then interviewed the three, making sure to try and check for inconsistencies in their official story. I went to make the full reports based on what they had said.
And then something odd happened. Sitting in my room, writing up reports for Master Chief, a chill went down my spine. I felt like I was being watched. I looked out of the window and swore I saw a distorted shape moving in the garden outside. Seeing it made me feel strange...scared...
I rushed downstairs to investigate, alerting a few Marines and embassy guards, but... nothing. There was no trace of anything. No hoof or claw prints, nothing. I was confused, for I had been certain of what I saw. And upon returning to my room, I found that the reports I'd been writing were gone. Yet my door had been closed, the windows locked, and the guards in the corridor reported nothing entering or leaving when I was gone.
Now, tell me... what would be the logical conclusion?
(Interviewer's Notes: (Pegasus): You fell asleep, dreamed writing the reports, and the dream became a mini-nightmare?)
That's exactly what I went with. It was all that made sense. I'd sat down to write them, but I'd actually fallen asleep letting fatigue catch up, but for whatever reason, I was startled out of the dream and caused a false alarm. I was merely tired and once I had the reports truly written and sent off, I could try and get a real nap before I would be needed again. It was all that made sense, I thought. Made sense with how sleep deprived I was.
Remember what I said about thinking about things like that?
Once the reports were done, and compared, Master Chief and I both decided that Ranger was absolved of being formally disciplined, but he was given a verbal warning not to rush in without orders. The trio of Naval Cavalry received dressing-downs too, and Beaver found himself given a full non-judicial punishment: Written Warning and additional duties in the form of latrine cleaning for a month in addition to his shore leave being canceled and irregular restriction to quarters and having to submit himself to a full psychological review. Neither of the two hardest-punished troopers protested to higher-ranked officers... namely, the commanders of the ships or Cadence herself. Cadence almost icily accepted the punishment handed to the ponies who had come close to killing one of her friends. She may be a loving goddess, but seeing them with that look on her face was truly scary.
Cadence returned around two in the afternoon once all had been wrapped up, and held informal meet and greets with a few other ambassadors, as well as a few Equestrian citizens who had begun to arrive in town for the upcoming Presidential Inauguration, or possibly to meet with foreign business interests who were also visiting.
It turned out though I never really found time for a nap. I wound up asked to look over some extra security things, some false leads filtered in about the spy so I wound up wasting time going back and forth between the ships for much of the afternoon. I wound up stumbling towards dinner, awake for thirty-six hours or more.
Cadence noticed at dinner, however. It was her, the ambassador, some other embassy staff, me, her hoofmaidens, and my squad. I think I've imagined the furry blue elephant in the corner discussing philosophy with Miss Smarty Pants. Though there may have been an actual Elephant present, I can't remember.
"Shining, are you feeling okay? You look rather tired."
"Just a long day, Your Highness. I missed lunch with a small matter I had to deal with."
Thunderchild remained stone-faced nearby.
"You look like you were up all night, Captain," Sunset noted.
"Hm... This morning you said 'earlier'," Cadence said.
"...Pardon, Your Cadence?"
"In the carriage going to see the Presidents. You seemed a little out of it then as well until Thunderchild got your attention, and then you said the thing with Makarov was earlier, not last night. And I heard about you thinking you saw a intruder earlier."
'Horseapples. She heard about that?' I thought.
"Also you just said that out loud."
...At least at the time I thought I thought it.
"...Okay, I confess, I accidentally stayed up all night reading the reports I received."
Cadence gave a triumphant and amused smirk.
"I knew it! It IS Genetic!"
"That's what I said, ma'am," Thunderchild helpfully added.
"...Traitor," I grouched at him.
"Commander, perhaps you should retire early for the night. We can't have you over-exerting yourself," Minuette added.
I conceded her point.
"Perhaps you're right, ma'am. Princess, permission to leave the table?"
"Well, it's that or I'll order you to go to bed." Cadence smirked supporting her muzzle with one hoof, "And I also know every trick in the book for getting stubborn Sparkles to go to bed. Want to see?"
There was a cough.
"Minuette, honestly, you should get some throat sweets or something," Cadence noted, as I stood up to leave.
"Good night, everyone, I suppose," I said, leaving. As I left I heard Lance-Corporal Apple talking about his cousin instead Applejack, who apparently had a habit of overworking herself and somehow ending up in a worse state of sleep deprivation than I presently was in. Had to be one of his tall tales again. You'd assert to that right Princess Smarty Pants? I knew you would. Huh? Why are you looking at me like that?
I made my way to my room, but I thought I heard a noise as I neared it.
"...Did you hear a dog or something?" I asked a Marine. Maybe dog was the wrong word, it sounded more, something.
"Sir, negative, I don't believe I heard anything, Sir."
I sighed.
"Never mind, I'm probably just that tired I'm hearing things."
He gave no response as I entered my room. I took off my armor, and lay on the bed. I think I was out the second before I hit the pillow.
There was a roaring in my ears, a savage and brutal cacophony of noise. It was the Victors League Semi-Final between Foalventus, and... Trottenham. The infernal Lillywhites, with their smug white shirts and their annoyingly cute and (even then) very easy to hate Cockatrice mascot based on their emblem of one of those beasts sitting on top of a hoofball.
But over the din and my own distaste for that around me, I heard a gentle yet commanding voice.
"You seem nervous, Lieutenant."
I was confused as I looked at who had spoken to me. Captain Sharpe beside her looked amused, and Princess Celestia had an eyebrow raised as she addressed me. It would figure as my patrol route passed the royal box she'd distract herself from her own boredom with something other than the game.
"Er, no, Your Majesty, just... trying to stay alert," I said.
I knew she was only here because Trottenham had invited her, and this game was a big event for their team and supporters. Almost as big an event as bath night but not as rare...
And the event had probably been magnified in stature simply by the knowledge the Princess would be here. Even the Itallion supporters had been looking at the Royal Box in awe, and lulls in play saw the ponies (and one griffin) on the pitch glance upwards at the Sun Princess. Some ponies seemed more interested in her than the game, which was understandable, but didn't make my job any easier.
I felt sympathy for her. I knew that it actually did upset her a little she wasn't into this sport, given that Hoofball was so traditionally the exact kind of classless, everypony sport that mirrored Equestrian values, and had been so since its inception. All you needed was a ball and a set of hooves. And maybe something to mark the goalposts.
Compare to Cloudball, pegasus-only, Rodeos normally only attended by Earth ponies, or Golf, almost entirely the preserve of rich middle to upper class unicorns. And then there's bat-based sports that put Pegasi and Earth Ponies at a handicap...
Then again, even if she did like the sport, I could understand why Trottenham getting played off the park by Foalventus was boring, especially since nopony had scored yet.
A tabloid article written by (surprise surprise) Sunny Day years before had leaked that Princess Celestia found the entire sport 'coma inducing.' Sometimes I think that mare lives to make the Princess' life miserable.
"Really, Lieutenant Sparkle, you should relax a little. It's not like we're surrounded by enemies. Just Hoofball fans. Enjoy the game," Sharpe said without a trace of his obvious gleefulness.
I nodded a weak reply, looking at the fearful sea of white below. Celestia wasn't surrounded by enemies, but I was. I had every right to be paranoid...
"Relax, Shining, it's not like they know you're a Maresenal fan. It's not like they can smell it..." Thunderchild reassured as we continued the patrol around the stands being just smart enough to whisper it.
"Fair point, Sergeant. I could always be even unluckier I guess. I could support Sheffoald United..."
"Just don't let Captain Sharpe hear you saying that, Sir. Again, at least."
"...or I could prefer racing. Big whoop, running or flying in circles..." I needled the Sergeant for his own sporting preferences.
"The fighting for position is fierce sir, Sir. Besides, I'm sure even you could appreciate some of the Wonderbolts lineup this year. The new Captain, Spitfire..."
He seemed to be in another place at that time. Which is where I wanted to be but nope, I was stuck in the midst of an army of my most bitter foes...
"I'm as willing to admit the merits of tight flight suits worn by obviously athletic mares as anypony, it's just not something that really seems all that exciting given those suits are attached to blurs for about an hour," I responded to him, returning him from the daydreams of wingspans and certain curvatures.
"Ah, so you'll stick to posters."
"Ye-no. I don't do posters, Thunderchild, you know that."
At that moment, Foalventus scored, and I had to hold back a shout of joy lest I be lynched on the spot. The groans and howls of disappointment around me helped that effort. One yelp of pain was rather...
...Loud.
I was awake, the dream of that ultimately amusing three-nil rout fading. It was now sometime after twenty-three hundred. I'd been asleep for a precious three or four hours. And I could have sworn the yelp came from outside my room. I yanked on my armor, helmet as well, and looked outside.
The first thing I noticed was the corridor was empty. It was a few rooms, quarters for soldiers, but there was a window at the end of the corridor and a stairwell down. Usually, a couple of Marines or Embassy Guards stood around here even during the night. But now it was empty, and darkened.
And the window was open.
I lit up my horn with a light-spell, shining the glow down the corridor.
The black dog-like shape initially seemed more surprised than I was until my tired brain got the message my eyes were screaming at it.
Before that, though, the Diamond Dog raised his spriling pistol and shot me dead. The end.
(Interviewer's Notes: (Earth): ...What?)
(Interviewer's Notes: (Pegasus): Cap', you're messing around, right?)
Yes. Yes, I am. What gave it away?
(Interviewer's Notes: (Unicorn): Okay, what really happened, since clearly he didn't shoot you dead?)
Actually, I raised a shield up the second he moved for it. Waste of good mana, he missed by a mile. Not that I'd have done any better. But better safe than sorry. And that's when I raised the alarm.
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From LZ0291 EQUESTRIAN UNIFORMS (Celestia/Luna/Cadence)
Duty Armor: Gold and Light Blue, Dark Purple and Light Purple, Gold and Medium Purple
Officer Duty Armor: Light Blue/Light Purple/Medium Purple
Night Duty Armor: Black and Light Blue, Black and Light Purple, Black and Medium Purple
Combat Armor: Dark Green (1)/Steel with camo covers for all three Air Navy Cavalry: Green Armor and Overalls(2)
Air Navy Cavalry Dress: Navy Blue with Green Trim and Beret.
Air Navy Utility: White with department color trims Air Navy Dress: Blue with department color trims
Utility uniform: None(3), Grey, Khaki
Combat Uniform: Green Fatigues(4)/Camouflages for Climate for all three
Dress Uniform (Officers): Scarlet Red, Dark Grey, Scarlet Red
Dress Uniform (Enlisted): Black with Blue Trim, Black with Purple trim, Black with Red Trim
1- Painted combat armor to be phased out in favor of covers*
2- Air Navy to replace this with combat uniform
3- Day Guard exploring a white or cream utility uniform
4 -Fatigues to be replaced with camo. *adaptable, reduces risk of scratches exposing metal below, better camo, simpler manufacture (no need to paint), covers can mount pouches and conceal armor class to enemy.
I don't usually quote directly from the text but...
Hold your horses Princess, you've got him on the line, reel it in slowly... slowly.
No buts, without love there can be no hatred
(in my opinion hatred is a feeling experienced when what one loves has been threatened, at least in their mind.)
...
ohh, Two Stories, right, crazy stuff happens more than a thousand years ago, what you remember is that it came from across the sea, not how to differentiate two shape-shifters from each other.
I was sure the 'Great Destroyer was going to be Discord...
Is that the Retcon Wolf !?
... oh, Diamond Dog was my... third guess. Nevermind.
...so it was prowling through Dream Space, or was it using a "Don't Look" spell which failed on a pony who was already halucinating?
1399445
If I said anything, it would be spoilers.
1399547...I understand, but I can't help asking.
It's entertaining seeing a British interpretation of US culture... but now I want pancakes.
Shining Armor is under attack, somehow I feel that a certain half-deer, half unicorn is involved with both the attack on Shining and Shining slowly losing his marbles.
Wow...quite an ending there.
1400295
Who said this was the ending? :-)
1399549
I'm American. I don't have a clue about LZ0 who WROTE SA's chapter.
1401687 I had my suspicions, but it never pays to make presumptions.
It adds an interesting extra layer to reading the Shining Armor chapters. I can't even quantify it, but there is a subtle difference to the writer's style - beyond simply "oh this is written by a different person" it's... hard to describe most of the time, but intriguing.
The easiest place to pick up on it was the jersey buying trip - Shining's talk was pure 'support your local'. All militiaries are arcane to those of us whom are civilians, and any of the differences there could just as easily have been the result of "ponification". But the differences really shine when the ponies discuss the Griffon country. Not that the writer's Nationality had anything to do with my opinion of the story, which is great, I would say it's the opposite, I notice all these little details because I am enjoying the work so thoroughly.
1401793
It is intrigting! It like another set of flavors or smells - makes things seem more real. I enjoy fictional stories with more than one author (and editor). I feel bad for writers in the way its seems like they are all alone or apart. That is not true anymore. They never had to be alone to begin with.
To LZ0291:
"Song-and-Dance Numbers prohibited between Eight AM to Five PM Weekdays?"
Columbian, buck yeah! Coming again to save bucking day!
1402558 I think I see what you are saying, but to be clear which kinds of 'alone' are you talking about? Collaboratively, inspirationally, editing-wise, personally?
1403010
Collaboratively, editing and personal.
1403936 Ah. You're absolutely right, of course. Most of my favorite writers wrote a lot of correspondence.
Have you read a biography of Howard Phillips Lovecraft? Fascinating guy, simultaneously one of the most depressing people I've ever heard of and one who pulled himself out of a lot of crap.
Also, he Hated seafood - despised it. If you ever wanted to know the true origin of Cthulhu, there it is.
1404011
Lovecraft? Only wiki info and some scholing. He wrote one of the first collaborated worlds of fiction along with L Frank Baum's Wizard of OZ universe that know of. Mr Howard died a bit young.
I could eat a flying spaghetti monster now.
1404362 You confuse me, the only Mr. Howard I know of was Robert E. Howard who wrote the Conan books - although he did live at the same time and also had a pretty screwed up childhood too.
Both Howard and Lovecraft did indeed die young, even for their times.
...
Stop making me hungry, I still miss the pancakes
1404448
I am sure Mr Robert wrote stories based on Howard P(ancakes) Lovecraft ideas also. I remember Conan fighting an Elder God once in a comic book.
Sorry about the pancakes... when you wake up you should make some and add fruit to them.
1404738
Four? Unit of time.
Also I have a request: Don't you and LZ0291 die young. I want you two to outlast the internet after/if it falls. That goes for you also notMurphy.
Do it for yourselves.
1404738 A 'hand' is a unit of four inches, so a hoof... ok, seems legit
I second ser Brown's sentiment, long may you wave.
1405351 Certainly he did. Back before Mr. Tolkien there weren't static rules about what counted as fantasy and what was horror.
, but I can't cook pancakes at two in the afternoon... can I?
...I see what you did there, and it worked
1405991 ...
now I understand
but do I make four of them, or do I make them 4 inches?
1405972 I was thinking more of King's 'complicit murder' from On Writing Fiction but from skimming that tropes page I see what you are getting at...
I have no intention of killing any writers - c'est ne un Misery!
...although I would be willing to make pancakes for you crazy sophonts
Ok I know I've been posting an awful lot here, but I'd like to post just one more thing before the next chapter: music track suggestions for the next Dark World Chapter.
No spoilers... but I'd like to make my suggestions now so your readers can choose to have them ready, if they wish, when it posts.
Would that be ok, ser Alex Warlorn?
1411111
Go right ahead.
1411434Great!
Fellow readers, I bring you an important message FROM THE FUTURE:
I highly recommend having these songs ready to listen to while you read Episode 88:
From Janelle Monae's Album 'The Arch Android'
I cannot strongly enough recommend Cold War it covers the entire chapter.
There's a scene that goes nicely with Come Alive (War of the Roses) from the same album as well, you'll know it when it starts.
The Black Keys' song Little Black Submarines is also appropriate to either the start or three quarters of the way through the chapter.
1399549
Laugh all you want, I made them and I ate them!
1405351
1405991
i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/notMurphy/2012-10-10_15-32-03_HDR_zps1e3e7bc9.jpg
You can't see it well, but there are a hoofful in that stack.
...
OK, I promise I won't bring this up again.
1422309 wait, weren't you part of... no, I guess you weren't
it has almost nothing to do with the story - sorry for wasting your time.
Last chapter Shining mentioned they had pancakes in Liberty City, in the process of commenting on the chapter I mentioned that they sounded good - RB made a joke of it, and I decided I'd finish it... with pancakes.
Stupid really, you can quite safely ignore it - if I hadn't swept you up in the reply you likely never would have even seen it.
I don't often comment on a story, especially when I'm in the middle of reading it, but I simply must say this.
Me too, Thunderchild, me too.
Sunny Days is Celestia isn't she?
Gah! The references, I'm drowning! HELP!
do i spy a reference to british sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf? i know the sa chapters are full of references, but this is one i honestly didnt see coming, bravo.
Oh Shining Armour. You crazy.
5847516
And he's about to have reasons to be more crazy.
This chapter had some amusing moments. And things just got interesting.
I didn't quite follow, how do they know Makarov had an informant? Also, at one point it says "lying" where it should say "flying".
8459395
Probably because he knew more than he SHOULD, so they ASSUMED he had one.
Well, you did bring it on yourself.
Either you're happy to be able to leave, or you caught a whiff of Eau de Blackhole Sue.
"That's nothing man, I knew an Apinex when I was in flight school... well I mean that was just his nickname man. His real name was Rosspit Sharkhunter" - Fluttershy, Scootertrix the Abridged Episode 24
Hers and mine both. I can't speak for other readers, but military stuff is not exactly the most thrilling subject for me. Blah.
As far as he knew her life was in danger, man! I get that militaries are all about procedure and order and all that but at some point you have to allow for some things.
Wait, weren't you with the president or whatever?