//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: salutations and situations // Story: And they shall know no fear // by Naroe_Clan //------------------------------// Three figures stand in a regally decorated hallway, each radically different from the others. All three stare at the marble floor beneath their forms. One, a massive armored warrior twice as tall as the others, comments "Next time, remind me to not actually fall over laughing." while staring at a particularly large crack of the many spread through the flooring. The dark-colored equine's eyes are wide as she chuckles at the simple request, and the pale equine states "I shall be sure to do so in the future." as both of her eyebrows try to escape her face into her hair. Luna shakes her head before gathering magic into her horn, the same glow spreading through the fractured flooring, steadily pulling it back together until no evidence remains of the blunt force damage it sustained moments earlier. Celestia gives one last shocked look at the floor before schooling her features back to their usual form. "Well, with that out of the way, shall we move on to more important business?" Celestia asks. After a pair of nods in response, the group begins their walk through the gilded halls of the royal palace, walking with purpose and authority. They encounter very few other living creatures on their path, deeper and deeper into the palace. Eventually they reach a nondescript door in a wide vaulted hallway of simple stone lit by bright torches. Simple nods are exchanged before Chaplain lays a hand on the simple doorknob. As he begins to pull the door open, the wood explodes outward along with a bright orange fuzzy projectile slamming into his upper cuirass. Celestia and Luna blink owlishly for a moment before looking back at Chaplain's form laying flat in the middle of the hallway, a pony wrapped around his gorget. The pony begins emitting a noise akin to a purr as Chaplain slowly sits up. He looks down at the pony dangling from his neck for a few seconds before happily saying "Hello miss Hurricane." The purr increases in intensity as the orange pegasus Nuzzles Chaplain's chin. From inside the room with the now shattered door, a ambiguously-gendered voice asks "Do I want to know why you're imitating a feline? Or is this just one of your ...'things'?" The purring stops as a dark colored pony strolls out of the room, a small grin on her face. Chaplain sighs before simply saying "Bastion..." In a scolding tone. "What's the issue? It's a simple question. I mean, if she wants to imitate an animal, there's so many better ones to choose fro-" Bastion's sarcastically toned speech is interrupted by a full-body tackle from Hurricane. As they roll along the floor, kicking and biting at each other, the other two ponies present sigh and roll their eyes. Chaplain spends a moment staring at the rolling ball of fur before asking "So when did this start?" Celestia answers with "Shortly after you were petrified. I think even they are amazed it's lasted as long as it has." Luna subtly coughs into her hoof. "Verily so. However, we aught to move along to the business We desire to discuss." Before they could do so, the two smaller ponies both slam into the ground a few feet from each other, having each kicked the other away. After spending a few moments gasping for breath, they each give the other a grin before diving at each other again, grasping each other and beginning to noisily attempt to eat each other's face. Chaplain stares for a moment before asking "Have they forgotten we're here? This is starting to be disgraceful." The two eventually pull apart, still grinning widely. Bastion mumbles "later" before turning back to the rest of the group and casually gesturing to the opening where a door should have been. Chaplain chuckles and shakes his head before finally entering the room and sitting down in a large wooden chair at an even larger round wooden table. It only takes a few moments for the rest of the group to enter and sit down themselves, Luna stopping for just a moment to magically mend the door and close it behind them. Celestia clears her throat before saying "Now that we're all here, shall we finally get on to discussing living arrangements for Chaplain?" Chaplain waves his hand dismissively as he says "Oh, I had that figured out days ago." There is an awkward pause as the rest of the group thinks that statement over. Afterward Celestia says "So this meeting was almost pointless?" Chaplain responds with a far too cheerful "Indeed it was." The entire rest of the group facehoof in unison at that statement. Luna massages her forehead before asking "And what, pray tell, are thine plans?" Chaplain responds by dropping a slim folder on the table in front of her. She picks it up in her telekinesis, opening it and leafing through the contents. Her eyebrows raise as she does so, and passes the folder to Celestia after she finishes reading. She looks at Chaplain and asks "So, it finished construction during thine absence?" "Indeed it did." Luna gives him a calculating look before saying "And thou want to put it in the Everfree? Unclaimed land? Clever." The folder had been passed to Bastion and Hurricane during that exchange, as they both sit in the same oversized chair to read it. Celestia looks contemplative as they finish doing so. Eventually Celestia asks "But why right next to Ponyville?" The only answer she receives is a short chuckle.