//------------------------------// // No Easy Answers // Story: Consequences // by GJT_Productions //------------------------------// The day arrived of the funeral for the two dead Agents of Chaos that had been assigned to Ponyville. The service was a quiet one - except for the foals of the dead stallions, whatever family they had decided not to show up, presumably because of the treachery of the two stallions. This same treachery also meant that they were to be buried as a civilians - Princess Celestia had made it very clear in a decree any dead rebel was to be treated in this manner, no military honor at all. Mayor Mare, assisted by Aide Cherry Fizzy, conducted a simple service at the funeral home for the two stallions, then lead the somber procession down to the town cemetary and a pair of adjacent gravesites. Twilight Sparkle was in attendance of the service and procession, as was Lieutenant Crispin - the first time he had had a chance to return to Ponyville since Operation Whirlwind - and a pair of broken-hearted foals. Twilight had been told by Crispin - the escort of the foals from Canterlot to Ponyville on the final leg of their journey - who these foals were: one was a pegasus filly of the stallion that had been called "P1", the other a unicorn colt of the stallion that had been called "P2". Not surprisingly, both of these young ponies had been torn up by the loss of their respective fathers, and both Twilight and Crispin could see they were already starting to bond as a result of the common trauma. As the procession quietly passed through the streets of town, Twilight Sparkle could see through the tears of the foals the same sense of awe and admiration she had had once of Princess Celestia. It would be her first real experience of what it meant to the citizenry of Equestria for her to be a Bearer of The Element of Magic, and later an alicorn princess herself, the image and responsibilities everypony expected her to uphold and perform, an echo of her understanding of what it was like for Princess Celestia (and Luna as well before her fall and exile) on a daily basis. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The inevitable question came from the filly during the procession, as emotions overflowed: "Why couldn't you save them, Miss Twilight Sparkle?! Why did they have to die when you were able to save Princess Luna?" Twilight gave a sad sigh as she looked down with great pity at the filly who's life had been terribly upended by circumstances no young pony should've had to experience - she knew there were no easy answers for that filly's question, but she had to try anyway for the youngster's sake: "Well... we could... we could save Princess Luna because, deep down, she truly wanted to be saved. Your father and his partner, they... they didn't want to be saved. All they wanted to do was hate, and even... even the Elements of Harmony can't help a pony that doesn't want to be helped. I'm sorry, my little pony. That's the best answer I can give you." The disappointment was stinging as the filly shuffled back toward Lieutenant Crispin, and Crispin looked over with a mixture of sadness and frustration that spoke more than words ever could. Twilight knew in that expression was the potent mix of emotions the presence and attacks of the Agents of Chaos had generated - how such extreme and baseless hatred mixed with ambition and ruthlessness to produce such things as foals without fathers. And the saddest part of it all was that Twilight knew the Elements of Harmony would not have been able to stop this evil - friendship would not, could not, save the day when souls and lives were given over to such hate and ambition as the Agents of Chaos possessed... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The awkward, sadness-drenched silence continued until the procession ended and the quiet lowering of the caskets into the pair of graves was begun. During the dual burial overseen by Mayor Mare and Cherry Fizzy, a question popped into Twilight's head: Who was going to take care of these foals? Should she volunteer to take care of them herself? More questions started to form in her mind, but before Twilight could spiral into the what-if worrying cycle she heard Lieutenant Crispin calling her over to meet somepony. Glad for the interruption to her own worries, she rushes over to where she heard Crispin calling from, and sees him standing beside two other ponies. One is an earth pony mare, with a coat of dark blue and mane and tail of pure white. The other pony at first glance resembles Big Macintosh, but as Twilight gets closer she can see the stallion is a unicorn with a darker red coat than that of Applejack's brother as well as a dark pink mane and tail. "Ahh, perfect timing!" Lieutenant Crispin exclaims as Twilight approaches him. "Twilight Sparkle, I'd like you to meet Lieutenant Blasto, Demolitions Expert in the Southern Division, and his mate Blueberry Whip." "A pleasure to meet you both, I haven't met many in the Guard service that aren't based in Canterlot." Twilight states to the couple with practiced grace, accompanied by a shy smile. "The pleasure is ours, considering you were trained by Princess Celestia herself. Already you've accomplished feats that will ensure your place in history books forever, and you're still quite young for a mare!" Lieutenant Blasto exclaims, and his mate nods in affirmation. "That's very nice of you to say, sir, but I'm more curious to what you two are doing here..." Twilight asks, blushing a bit as she speaks. "I was summoned to Canterlot in the wake of the Operation Whirlwind rebellion, so that my talents would be on standby in case some explosive devices were found in the city. Lieutenant Crispin here told me about the orphaned foals, and Blueberry and I both agreed we would adopt them both." Lieutenant Blasto explains. "We agreed to it because we feel that with this happening fate has made up for the loss of Fizzlepop." Blueberry Whip adds quietly afterwards. "'Fizzlepop'?" Twilight repeats back to the mare, unaware at the time of the future significance of this name. "Fizzlepop Berrytwist. She was our only foal, and had her horn broken by an ursa minor attack." Lieutenant Blasto begins explaining with a very sad tone in his voice. "She would've been a few years younger than you are, and had two friends that got into Princess Celestia's school. Spring Rain and Glitter Drops would've been a few classes after yours - you know about them?" "I know they were always attending Moon Dancer's parties, but I don't know much else about them." Twilight replies with a shake of her head - feeling, and not for the first time, regret over isolating herself from her fellow students at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. "Oh, that's too bad." Blueberry Whip replies with the disappointment clear in her tone. "We thought maybe you could ask them about why she ran away from home - that's what she did shortly after the two friends left to attend the school. We've heard nothing from her since. We don't even know if she's still alive!" "Goodness, I'm so sorry to hear that! I wish I knew how I could help you find her, but I don't." Twilight states somberly. "That's quite alright, Miss Sparkle. Like my husband said to his comrade, we're not hear to get stuck on the past, but to believe on the future. We will adopt the foals and cherish them as our own, and that is all that matters right now." Blueberry affirms gently. "Of course, Miss Blueberry. I completely understand your decision." Twilight replies, giving an acknowledging nod as she does so. "Now, if you don't mind Miss Sparkle, we would like to see the foals now, and Lieutenant Crispin here has said he has other matters to attend to, so if you'll excuse us..." Lieutenant Blasto states. "Of course, go right ahead Lieutenant. It was interesting to meet you both!" Twilight exclaims. "Same to you, Bearer of the Element of Magic." Lieutenant Blasto replies, and as he along with his mate and Lieutenant Crispin turn to leave the weight of the title begins to sink itself into Twilight Sparkle's conscious understanding... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LATER... Lieutenant Crispin's heart was heavy as he arrived at what had been his usual duty post, a watchtower constructed overlooking the road leading from Ponyville into the Everfree Forest. This tower had been started during "Operation Shield" and, with a little help from the Element Bearers to thwart an Agents of Chaos scheme, had been completed for the express purpose of warning Ponyville citizens about potential threats coming from the Everfree Forest. Crispin had standing command of the operation since its inception, but that was about to change. Aide Cherry Fizzy gave Crispin understanding, sympathetic glances as the two stallions climbed to the top of the watchtower. Already up there waiting was the rest of the quasi-offical Ponyville contingent: Guard Upper Class Meadow Song, Guard Upper Class Caramel, Guard Upper Class Noteworthy and Guard Lower Class Lucky Clover. The quartet saluted as Cherry Fizzy and Crispin arrived at the top of the tower, the latter looking back sadly. "At ease." Crispin weakly comments, taking what he presumed would be the last look of the view from the top of the tower: Ponyville off to the left with Canterlot's mountain far behind it, the view to the right dominated by the dark green sprawl of the Everfree Forest and its secrets, and behind him the mountain on top of which a dragon had temporarily stored his horde until Twilight and her friends - mostly Fluttershy, apparently - convinced it to move on. The subordinate quartet exchange worried looks upon seeing Crispin's pained scanning of the surrounding landscape. Finally, Crispin turns back to the other Guards and begins his explanation for the down mood: "I have some sad news to share with you - effective tomorrow, I will be posted permanently in Canterlot, probably not to return to Ponyville for many months, if at all." The worried look exchanges continue, but Crispin continues on with his heavy words after a short pause: "This watch command is not being dissolved, however. I have been authorized by the Captain of the Guard to commission my replacement before I depart for Canterlot, and after some deliberation I have selected Meadow Song as my replacement in the watch command. The Captain has also given a promotion to Lucky Clover to the rank of Guard Upper Class so that he can fill the effective vacancy left by Meadow Song's commission. Both of these promotions are effective immediately." After Crispin finishes, Cherry Fizzy moves into action, starting by removing the two-bar insignia off Meadow Song's uniform and pinning on a Lieutenant's star in its place, then taking the two-bar insignia he had just removed from Meadow Song and using it to replace the one-bar insignia on Lucky Clover. While all this is going on, the stallions look in stunned silence, too surprised by the news just given to them to say anything. The quartet all knew Meadow Song would be the most likely stallion to replace Crispin in command of the watch and that Lucky Clover had been angling for a promotion to Upper Class, they just didn't expect it to happen in this way! When Cherry Fizzy finishes, he moves back to beside Crispin again, and both he and Crispin salute the quartet that would remain on the Ponyville watch. The quartet nods and return the salute, holding the pose as Cherry Fizzy and Crispin turn and start back down the stairs inside the watchtower. Crispin is silent the whole way down, but Cherry Fizzy catches a few glimmering teardrops on Crispin's face. It spoke volumes of how hard answers would come to the many questions Operation Whirlwind left in its wake - why the rebels had made the decisions they had made, how the collaterial damage of the rebellion would be dealt with, how to deal with the seriously dislocated command structure in the Canterlot Guard, and most importantly how to prevent the pain from leading to further hatred and animosity. Little did the Guards stationed in Ponyville know that new hatred and animosity was already brewing quietly in Canterlot, a natural reaction to pegasi arrogance that would ultimately end up being just as futile and harmful as the philosophy that generated it...