Distant Voice liked to consider himself a fairly smart pony. Most things that happened in the company seemed to him to have at least some semblance of sense to them, even if he had to try really hard to see it at times. This time however, he was drawing a blank.
“Sooo… What the hay was that all about?”
He looked to Watchful Eye, seated just across from him in the common room, hoping that his sergeant would be able to reveal some hidden truth, one that may suddenly allow things to make the proper amount of sense. The sergeant had joined the small circle of Lunar Guard in the common room immediately after the departure of Winter Sky, and several sets of confused eyes had been glued to him since. Those eyes now looked hopefully to him for some tidbit of information.
Watchful Eye blinked, cocked his head and looked up to the confused bat pony.
“You got me. This is all pretty peculiar.”
The sergeant nodded his head, and to Distant Voice it seemed as if he was going over something in his head.
“Peculiar? Sounds more like crazy.”
The booming voice of Rapid Advance from immediately beside him caused Distant Voice to jump in surprise. He had almost forgotten he was sitting right next to the enormous stallion.
“Whoops, sorry about that little guy!” he rapped Distant Voice on the head lighty a few times in what seemed to be some strange form of apology before continuing. “Didn’t mean to yell the last word quite that loudly. It’s true though. Seven ponies to a captain is crazy.”
Normally, Distant Voice would take offense to the reference to his size. He was a small stallion. A fact that he was reminded of far too often, by far too many ponies. Rapid Advance was an exception however. In fact, of all the ponies in the Guard, Rapid was by far the kindest to him. That isn’t to say the other ponies of his squad, or company treated him poorly. With the exception of Sable Shield, he could at least call the other ponies of his squad friends. That particular mare, for reasons he was never able to figure out, detested him greatly.
“I think it’s cool,” Far Out added, nodding.
“You think everything’s cool,” Dawn Trotter cut in, waving a forehoof in small circles for emphasis.
“That’s ‘cause it is!”
“I-” Distant Voice was about to speak when he was abruptly cut off by Sable Shield, who was rolling her eyes.
“You only say that because you think you’ll get to steal more junk.”
“I don’t steal junk. I collect stuff. Awesome stuff,” Far Out corrected her.
Distant Voice rolled his eyes and slumped down further on his haunches. This could go on for awhile. Even Watchful Eye appeared to be watching the brewing exchange with resigned indifference. Far Out’s habit of collecting knicknacks, souvenirs, doodads and all sorts of general oddities and storing them en masse in her half of the stall she shared with Sable Shield was a constant source of one sided bickering. Sable Shield didn’t like it, and made sure everypony knew it. Often.
“We won’t know anything until Captain Winter gets back,” said Watchful Eye, “and when he does, I suspect we will have a first call to deal with. Smart ponies would use this time to see to their gear so they aren’t in a rush when it happens.”
A brief moment of confusion and blinking eyes passed before a wave of comprehension swept over the assembled ponies. Slowly they began to rise and make their way towards the stable’s lines of stalls. Far Out and Sable Shield moved first, as their stall was the furthest away of the ponies present. Across the narrow walkway and one closer to the main entrance was the stall Distant Voice shared with Rapid Advance, and the two quickly followed the mares in.
The stalls of the stable-barracks were arranged in two long rows, each row flanking a central corridor into which each stall opened. Each individual stall was a small affair, a single small room just big enough to house two ponies, their beds and hoof lockers. Each pony of the company was assigned a stall-mate, with the exception of the officers and sergeants who got single pony stalls. The shared stalls of the ponies of Cookie Squad were about a little less than a third of the way down the corridor, a distance the group slowly covered.
“Guess I’ll grab my horn first, then go grab my barding. Hopefully I can get everything before the captain shows back up. You never know,” Distant Voice said half to himself, half to Rapid Advance who he sensed following closely behind him.
“Smart move,” came the slightly too loud voice of Rapid Advance, “I wouldn’t be surprised if things start moving as soon as he gets back. Better to have everything ready to go. You know, if you just kept your barding on more often you wouldn’t have to keep running back and forth between the stable and the armory.”
“Blech,” the little stallion responded, wrinkling his muzzle for effect, “That stuff is heavy. Especially for me. I’m not wearing it a second longer than I have to. Just because you live in the stuff doesn’t mean the rest of us want to. Hay, even Watchful Eye ditches the stuff whenever he can.”
“Weak. The lot of you. WEAAAAK!” the massive bat pony butted his head against Distant Voice’s rump in a display of mirthful defiance, sending the smaller pony skidding forward abruptly.
“Sorry but not everypony is built like some kind of bat-winged locomotive. I bet you forget you even have it on,” Distant Voice said, completely unfazed by Rapid Advance’s sudden impact. The little stallion had gotten use to such things, as they came so often in his interactions with his friend. The comical size difference between the duo had been the butt of several jokes in the company, and it was often said that if Rapid Advance were ever to attach reins to his helmet, and acquire one of the armored saddles worn by the Solar Guard unicorns, Distant Voice would be perfectly sized to ride him.
Distant Voice gave a final snort, as if to drive his point home, before coming to a stop. He watched the pair of mares he was trailing disappear into their stall ahead and to his right. Nodding, he took a few steps forward before pushing open a stall door to his immediate left and heading in. It was a small affair, as every stall in the stable barracks was, and it was made even smaller by the fact he shared it with Rapid Advance. He moved to his right and dove onto the bed that lay against the wall, rolled onto his side facing the center of the stall, and began to undo the latch on his hoof locker. The hop-and-roll was a maneuver he had perfected, out of necessity, as much of the free space in the room was about to disappear. Biting his tongue in concentration, he began to sort through the contents of the box.
As if on cue, the hulking form of Rapid Advance appeared in the stall doorway, before squeezing through and abruptly moving to his side of the stall. Even so doing, Distant Voice found that there was barely enough room to work with.
“Just need my helmet and a few little things” Rapid said, mostly to himself. Distant Voice nodded, fishing around in his locker with his hooves.
Nope. Nope. Nope. Not that. Not that either. Definitely not that. He thought to himself as he began prodding the contents of his box, hunting for a particular item.
“Aha!” he exclaimed, withdrawing the brass signal horn and holding it up in triumph. “Got it. Now to the armory and quick.” Distant Voice rolled from his bed carefully, attempting to squeeze out the stall door. Unfortunately for him, he found it partially blocked by the rump of Rapid Advance, who was busy donning his helmet. Not wanting to interrupt him, the little pony just sat back down and waited for him to get his gear sorted.
“It’s unprofessional!”
Distant Voice’s left ear swiveled to the sound of Sable Shield’s voice. It seems the mares had left their stall door open as well, and the sound of their discussion was easy to make out, especially for the finely tuned ears of a bat pony.
“I can’t believe they even let you keep all this junk. It looks like my grandmother’s living room. The only thing missing are the cats.”
“Nah it’s all good. Remember, stuff, not junk. Stuff is cool.” That was Far Out.
“Well can’t you keep your stuff… somewhere that isn’t in this tiny room with the two of us? Somewhere far away?”
“Nope! Got nowhere else. Plus, I like looking at it all! So many cool things, from so many cool places! Like, check these out.”
Distant Voice rolled his eyes. He couldn’t see what was going on, but he didn’t need to.
“Far Out, those are rocks.” Sable Shield had a fantastic deadpan voice.
“Nuh uh.”
“Yes, they are. I can plainly see they are rocks. Little ugly grey ones.”
“Nope. I got them during our deployment to the Griffon city. They are special. They’re stones, not rocks.”
The little stallion could almost hear Sable Shield’s eye twitching, even across the hall.
“Don’t even say it.”
“Stones, from the Griffons. Griffon-stones, you might say. Get it?”
“I hate you.”
The little pony couldn’t help but crack a grin at the sound of Sable Shield suffering at the hooves of her stallmate. Luna knows he suffered enough at hers.
“Urk. This might take a few.”
Distant Voice’s ears swiveled back to Rapid Advance, who was seemingly doing battle with his own helmet. On closer inspection it seemed that he was restuffing the padding in it. Leave it to Rapid Advance to literally split the seams of his own barding. He rose once again, deciding it was time to leave before the large pony started popping straps or fasteners, or worse. It was a marvel his barding held together as well as it did, considering how often he wore it.
Grabbing his bugle in his mouth, he trotted towards the doorway of the stall, which he found partially blocked by the imposing rump of Rapid Advance. Not wanting to distract the pony from his own battle, he attempted to squeeze by. After two failed attempts, and a confused huh from the oblivious Rapid Advance, Distant Voice rushed forward and managed to shoot successfully out into the corridor, much like a cork from a thoroughly shaken bottle.
Unfortunately for Voice, this lead to a sudden, and rather forceful collision with Private Sable Shield, who was making her way back towards the common room.
“OW!” she yelled, as the small pony projectile impacted her side, causing her to stumble back against a stall door behind her and sent the horn, which had been in the stallion’s mouth, clattering to the floor between them. She quickly spun her head to face him, and glared. “Watch where you’re going short stuff, that hurt!”
Distant Voice stumbled back rubbing his head. “Aghh.. Sorry!” He thought about mentioning the fact that the mare was wearing her barding, that he was wearing nothing at all, and that his head had hit her on a large band of metal, but decided against it. She’d just scream at him more.
“At least look to see if anypony is in the way before you do something idiotic.” Sable shield glared at him, straightening herself into a more dignified pose.
“Look, I said I was sorry ok. You don’t need to be such a bully all the time.” Distant Voice sighed, and lowered his head to grab the fallen bugle in his teeth.
“Bully? Hardly. I am just the only one around here that takes her job seriously at all.”
The small stallion raised his head, his eyes narrowed in clear anger. “Reawly?” he said around the horn in his mouth. “You dwun’t caw tha ufferth namefth. Yow dwon’t insolt tham comstanly.”
Sable Shield stared at him in silence. Seconds went by. Ten, fifteen. Her eye twitched. “You are an idiot.”
“I kno. You dell me efrry day.”
The mare sucked in a breath, as if preparing to unleash a barrage of unpleasantries before she was abruptly cut off.
“Sable Shield.” came an unexpected voice.
Her head whipped to the left, only to meet the staring pink eyes of her sergeant, Watchful Eye.
“Oh. Hi Sarge!”
“Private,” he nodded to her, “I need you to go retrieve Star Duster, back in the armory. He deserves a chance to benefit from this time like the rest of us.
Sable Shield blinked, then her expression turned sour. “I just came from there. We just came from there. Can’t Dawn Trotter go get him? He’s quick, and not doing anything.”
“Nope, this is all you private,” said Watchful Eye. “Besides, with all those stairs, it’s good exercise. And by the look of it, you could probably use it.”
“What. Is that supposed to mean?” She looked half mad, half confused.
“You mean nopony has said anything to you? You are uh, getting a bit broad in the hindquarters, Private. A little run will do you good.”
“What.. Did you just? AGHH Nevermind.” Sable Shield’s eye was twitching again. She snorted, abruptly saluted Watchful Eye, before pushing past him and down the hallway.
Distant Voice watched her go, mildly confused. He turned to his sergeant, only to receive a mischievous wink from him, before the larger stallion moved past him and walked further down the hallway in the opposite direction, heading to his own stall. A massive grin spread across the smaller stallion’s muzzle, and he carried his horn triumphantly down the hallway towards the common room.
Entering the common room, he was met by the smiling form of Dawn Trotter, sitting exactly where he was when the captain had left earlier.
“Guess he was right,” said Dawn Trotter, chuckling to himself.
“Hunh”? Distant Voice paused, turning towards the seated bat pony.
“Watch said his Sarge sense was tingling,” the seated pony motioned with a forehoof, moving it in circles for effect, “so then he trots off into the stalls, and a few moments later, out comes an angry Sable Shield and a bugle player with a manic grin.”
Distant Voice nodded rapidly in response, confirming the other stallion’s conjecture, and with gusto.
“Pfft,” Dawn Trotter couldn’t hide his mirth, “sorry I missed it. Need any help in the armory? I’ve got time.”
Distant Voice was about to nod no, but hesitated. He hated to ask anypony to help him with anything, but Dawn was offering. And barding was much easier to get into with help, especially when pressed for time.
Dawn Trotter’s expression shifted from a broad grin to a subtle smirk, and he rose to his hooves. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Thanks. Do you think we could take the long way there?” The smaller pony asked hesitantly.
“You betcha. Avoiding Sable Shield is probably a good idea, yessiree. Star Duster can have have fun with that.” Dawn Trotter motioned to the door with his head, and together, the two ponies trotted out.
******
A sour-faced Sable Shield found herself approaching the door to the armory.
How did I get stuck with these idiots. Of all the squads I could have been assigned, I get the one specially designed to drive me insane. Why. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
Arriving at the door, the mare reared up, pushing it open with her forehooves. “Star? Sarge sent me to come fetch you. Please tell me I won’t actually need a bucket.” Sable walked a few steps into the armory, receiving no reply. She glanced around, seeing no sign of the pony she was sent to retrieve.
“Star Duster?” She ventured further into the armory. The room was medium sized, with a checkered tile floor, smooth stone walls bearing racks of weapons or tapestries, and rows of several pony-shaped stands, on which were sitting various sets of Lunar Guard barding. Sable Shield moved from barding stand to barding stand, even peeking behind a weapon rack. Her target was nowhere to be seen.
“Where the hay did he go?” she sighed. Annoyed, yet unsurprised, Sable Shield found it hard to get too mad at Star Duster. At least not often. Despite his frequent antics, especially with Dawn Trotter, the pony was otherwise an outstanding guard pony. She could even overlook his obnoxious fondness for musical numbers. He was a bit of a cut-up when stuck on garrison duty in the safe and comfortable confines of Canterlot, but in the field, he was different. He was young, one of the youngest in the company, and already had a decoration, earned on his very first deployment abroad. The pony was also resilient, knew the regulations to a tee, and always placed near the top in company physical competitions, especially those involving stamina. When push came to shove, he was a pony that she knew could be relied on, no matter how difficult the circumstances. These traits earned the stallion her respect, which was not a commodity easily acquired in the Lunar Guard. If only he wasn’t so annoying. If only he wasn’t so missing.
Sable Shield turned in one last circle, letting out a frustrated nicker. There were only so many places you could hide a full grown stallion in the room, and Star Duster wasn’t in any of them. She walked back towards the door, and out into the hallway, casting glances in either direction. To her left, the way she had just come from. To her right, the end of the hallway, and its window. A very open window. Raising an eyebrow, the mare walked towards the opening. If he had gone out the window for some reason, she supposed she might be able to see him from the vantage point.
Arriving at the window, the mare reared up, to get a better look, but instead was greeted by a face full of startled bat pony stallion.
“AGHHHHHHH!” both ponies shrieked in surprise, as the unexpected window-bound arrival of Star Duster sent the pair careening back into the hallway. They tumbled and skidded, coming to rest in a sprawling pile of limbs not far from the armory door.
“Guhhhhh...” Sable Shield groaned as her vision returned, though obstructed. She found herself pinned beneath a heavy warm mass. A moment passed, then suddenly, her pupils shrank to nearly invisible slits as she realized exactly what position she found herself in. She was pinned beneath Star Duster, and certain elements of the stallion’s anatomy which she was trying very hard not to think about, were pressing into the side of her face.
“Star Duster!” she shouted, trying to heave the pony off.
“Hnuhh?” he half responded.
“Star Duster GET THOSE THINGS OFF MY FACE RIGHT NOW OR I’LL GELD YOU WITH MY TEETH!”
The stallion rolled slowly off, coming to rest on his back beside her. To Sable Shield it seemed he responded more to her screaming than to the specific nature of the threat.
“Ughh.. You’ll what with your what,” he responded slowly, life seeming to return to his upturned form.
Sable Shield pushed herself back to her hooves, her face beet red. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it. Are you alright?”
“Yeahhh… Think so. Can’t say I saw this coming.” One of his hind legs twitched a bit. “What are you doing here, didn’t you go off with the sarge?”
“He sent me to come get you, it seems he-” Sable Shield paused mid sentence, suddenly noticing the fact that Star Duster’s coat and mane were soaking wet. “Why are you all wet?”
The stallion, still laying on his back with his legs curled in the air, responded. “That stupid polish. I got it everywhere, and I mean everywhere. There was no getting rid of it. So I just jumped out the window over there, flew down to the courtyard and jumped in the fountain. Couple of minutes later, problem solved!”
Sable Shield blinked. “You jumped into the fountain in the courtyard? The Palace courtyard? The public one visited by hundreds of tourist ponies a day? And then you took a freaking bath?”
“Uhhhh yeah,” he responded hesitantly, “but come on it’s night, it’s not like theres anypony there. I needed a LOT of water.”
The mare just shook her head, trying to forget everything she had just been told. She looked to the stallion on the ground in front of her, careful not to let her eyes wander. “You should probably get up.”
“Well I would, but you are standing on my wing.”
“Oh.” Sable shield lifted the offending hoof, then stepped back to give him some room. The stallion quickly rolled back onto his hooves, and pushed himself into a standing position. Without warning, the stallion stretched low and in an instant, began shaking madly, in much the same way a dog would. His two-tone blue mane and tail began to whip violently, and droplets of water soared through the air, covering everything around. The walls, the ceiling, and Sable Shield.
“Ahh, much bet-” Star Duster stopped abruptly upon meeting eyes with Sable Shield. A much wetter, red faced Sable Shield. He grinned uneasily, his eyes shifting rapidly side to side. She snorted in return.
“Lets go. Armory first so you can get your barding on then I drag you back to the stable to suffer with the rest of us.” She motioned with a hoof to the door of the armory, just ahead of them. Star Duster trotted past her, heading to the door, and she followed.
“Weren’t you just here awhile ago? You grabbed the sarge and dragged him away. Now me.” Star Duster trotted through the door into the armory, and towards a set of barding on one of the numerous stands. “Are you the company hitpony today or something?”
“Hardly. Sarge just decided it would be ‘fun’ to find me and make me come all the way up here again, despite the fact that Dawn Trotter, the fastest pony in the whole company, was already sitting in the common room doing absolutely nothing.”
Star Duster stopped at the stand holding his barding, and began to undo straps. He sighed lightly. “You were picking on Distant Voice again, weren’t you?”
“What, no. The little weasel smashed into me with no warning, and knocked me into the wall.”
The stallion shook his head. “Uh huh. You need to stop that Sable, he’s not a bad pony, and he’s my friend. He doesn’t deserve all the crap you give him. Help me out with this.”
Sable Shield walked over to the stallion and grabbed one of the rear armored panel’s of the barding between her teeth. Slowly she began to drag it backwards off the armor stand. When it had reached about half a pony’s length off, the other pony ducked under, and began wiggling up and into it. The mare continued pulling it over him, until it was roughly in the right position, at which point she released it.
“Yeah yeah. Maybe he just needs to toughen up a little. Or a lot. I wouldn’t trust him next to me in a battle line.” She moved to her friend’s side, ducked her head under his barrel, and began to set his barding’s cinch strap in place. “Listen Star. I would trust just about everypony else in the squad to watch my back. You, Dawn, Rapid, Watch, Even Far Out if I had to. Not him though. I don’t really know what he is even doing here. He barely ranks anywhere in the competitions and it’s a wonder he passes any of the physical tests.”
“He does pass them, though. All of them. Maybe he doesn’t ace them but there is more to the guard than pure physical capability, Sable. I think you dislike him because you don’t understand him at all. Or care to. There are things he is really good at.”
Sable Shield lifted the stallion’s helmet from the barding stand, and placed it firmly on his head. “Understand him? What’s there to understand? I understand that if we ever get into a serious fight one of us is probably going to have to rescue him. He’s a nerd, not a soldier.” She then brought her hoof down on the helmet, leaving the pony within with a pair of very crossed eyes.
“Ow.”
“Come on, let’s go. Hopefully we beat the captain back.” The seemingly victorious mare motioned towards the door with her head, and then walked out.
Sable’s ears swiveled back as she heard the sound of metal shod hooves clacking on tile. Star Duster was trotting up beside her, having clearly recovered from his brief eye issues. He settled into a walk beside her for a moment, before swinging his rump abruptly into her side, hip-checking her nearly into the wall.
“AAGHH!” she clattered to the side, momentarily off balance. Her head swung to face the offending stallion, and she gave him the most irate scowl she could manage.
“That’s for the helmet!” he grinned.
“What? I owed you that one. I had a face full of Star Duster just a few minutes before that if you remember. I think I owe you several more blows to the head, actually.”
The stallion chuckled, and Sable Shield could see a hint of crimson on his face beneath the helmet.
The mare raised an eyebrow, ruffling her wings slightly.
So he does remember that part. I swear if he does say anything he’s going to get more than a blow to the head.
“You know I think you just enjoy being mean,” Star Duster nodded, “and overbearing. And kind of a bi-”
“Yeah and you have a stupid cutie mark.”
“Ooh ouch. Toootally behind the cinch,” Star Duster replied, feigning offense.
“I mean seriously. A Star, with some kind of mop thing leaning against it? What does that even mean? That you were supposed to be some kind of space janitor?”
“It means that I am the star, clearly. And that I am really good at cleaning up messes left by awful ponies like you!” One of Star Dusters wings suddenly shot out, smacking Sable in the back of the neck.
“YOUCH!” she said. “You just wait. You have to sleep some time.”
Quickly the pair retraced their steps, and before long arrived once again at the stable barracks common room. Nodding in approval, Sable Shield noted to herself that most of the squad was now present, and all were wearing most of their barding. The only two missing seemed to be Dawn Trotter and Distant Voice.
“Welcome back you two,” said Watchful Eye, walking over to greet them. He gave Star Duster a long, appraising look. “I’m surprised you managed to get that all out. That had to take awhile.”
“Eh heh heh,” he said, his eyes darting from side to side again, “yeah, I managed eventually.”
Sable Shield rolled her eyes, moving to take a seat in the reforming circle of ponies. She thought about mentioning Star Duster’s illicit fountain bathing excursion, but figured doing so would rob her of the remaining physical blows she still owed him. She found those far, far more enjoyable. A moment later, the dubiously cleaned pony took a seat beside her.
Several awkward minutes passed. Sable used the time to fill Star Duster in on what she had learned so far.
“WHAT? Just us? Really? Nopony else from the company?” he asked.
“Nope, just us. We all had pretty much the same reaction.”
Star Duster cocked his head. “Well that makes about zero sense. There are like a hundred ponies in this company,” he waved a forehoof in the direction of the stalls, “how do we end up the only ones going?”
She shrugged. “No clue, but we will find out.”
As if on cue, the common room door opened, and every pony in the room immediately scrambled to their hooves. Winter Sky stepped through the open doorway, and paused to survey the room in front of him.
“At ease, everypony.” The captain entered, making his way over to Watchful Eye. “It seems I found a couple of cookies that fell off the sheet.” Dawn Trotter and Distant Voice, now fully armored, appeared behind the captain, nodded to their sergeant, and quickly moved to take their place amongst circle of ponies.
“Ah, yes,” said Watchful Eye, “They were just going to retrieve their barding, at my behest. I figured we should be expecting some kind of first call when you returned, judging by circumstances. And welcome back, Sir.”
Winter Sky blinked several times, then slowly craned his long neck around to take a second look at the assembled ponies. He paused briefly on each, clearly noting the barding that all present were now wearing. “Well that is convenient.”
Watchful Eye nodded to his captain and began to survey the room himself. To Sable Shield it seemed as if he were waiting for Winter Sky to say something, and he didn’t wait long, as the captain’s head quickly swung back to him.
“Thank you Watch, this saves me some time. I take it with these two, we have the complete set?”
“Yes sir, Cookie is all present and accounted for.”
“Very good then,” Winter Sky then turned again from the sergeant, looking to the room at large. “All of you ponies, on me. We’re taking a walk.” With that, the captain quickly spun in place, and walked back out the door.
“You heard the stallion,” said Watchful Eye, “lets go everypony. By twos.” With that, the group, lead by Watchful Eye, quickly gathered and followed through the door. After a brief trot, Watchful Eye sidled up to the officer, with the rest of the squad falling into line behind the pair.
“When we get to the the main doors, we are going skyside. Standard transit, formed on me,” said Winter Sky, nodding to the sergeant beside him.
Watchful Eye nodded in return. “Yes sir. May I ask where we are going?”
“Up. Straight up. There are some things I wish to say to the squad concerning our new mission, and I wish to do it with some measure of privacy.”
The group kept a brisk pace, and before long found itself at the main doors to the Tower of the Moon. Without hesitation, Winter Sky pushed it open, and led them out into the moonlight. Once far enough from the tower that everypony was clear, he paused.
Watchful Eye quickly turned to face the following ponies. “We are heading up. Everypony on the captain, standard Vee.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Winter Sky launched himself into the air, his membranous wings beating furiously as he climbed. He rose quickly, and in an instant, the rest of the squad was also airborne, swiftly melting into the ordered formation behind him.
Sable Shield found herself at the trailing left edge of the formation. Her wings pounded with rhythmic precision as she moved swiftly through the air with her comrades. She grinned. This was more her style. The order and military sureness of a group of Lunar Guard in flight never failed to get her blood pumping, and there were few places that she felt more at home than in the air among her squad mates. Below her, the moonlit spires of the great city of Canterlot rose, great pillars of marble and gold that seemed to reach for the very moon itself. There was nothing like the the city of Canterlot in moonlight. Doubly so for a bat pony, specially gifted with eyesight all the better suited to take it in.
She tore her eyes away from the city, returning her concentration to the formation. She had drifted a bit, too little to be noticed by anypony but herself, but enough. The distraction was worth it, but now she had to concentrate on where she was going. The formation was turning subtly to the left, and appeared to be approaching a large cloud. The air was cold, and growing colder, and the smaller ponies in the formation were just starting to show signs of it. If they were going to land on this cloud, and it sure seemed like they were about to, it was an unusually high altitude to do so.
“We are landing on that cloud below and left.” shouted Winter Sky. “On my signal, diving approach, wheel left.” A few moments passed as the formation began to pass over. “WHEEL DOWN!”
As one, the formation of bat ponies spun left and down as a single entity, diving straight for the surface of the cloud. As they neared it, the formation leveled out slightly, reducing their speed and angle of approach to something far better suited for landing. “On one, flare and alight.” the captain yelled. “Three...Two...ONE!”
In unison, every pair of wings beat hard, and the ponies reared back, all dropping onto the cloud a short distance below. Sable Shield found herself standing on the cloud next to Dawn Trotter, still in formation.
“Very good,” said Winter Sky, nodding. He turned to face the flight of Lunar Guard, standing where they landed, in near perfect formation. “At ease, everypony.” Each pony adopted a slightly more relaxed posture. Sable Shield glanced around at her squadmates, flexing and stretching her wings a bit.
“I guess we find out what’s going on now.” She said to Dawn Trotter, who craned his neck to face her.
“Yeah. About time! All this weirdness was well, weird!” he said.
“That is certainly one way to put it, private.” Winter Sky’s voice clearly caught Dawn Trotter off guard, as his head immediately whipped back to face the officer and his tail swished erratically. The little grey mare couldn’t help but grin.
“You lot, here if you would,” Winter Sky motioned with a wing in front of him, in a vague arc. The assembled ponies shambled forward, forming a rough semicircle in front of him. Sable slid in beside Dawn Trotter, maintaining her far left position.
Content with the new position of his ponies, Winter Sky nodded and began to speak. “No doubt you are curious as to what you are doing on a random cloud, high above the city of Canterlot.”
Sable Shield raised an eyebrow, and nodded with the rest of the ponies. The captain continued.
“You are here because what I am about to tell you, I wish to tell you with some degree of privacy. For now, the details of our mission are being kept rather need-to-know.” The captain began to pace in front of the group. Sable watched him closely, eager for more information. Like every pony present, her ears had immediately perked up at the mention of the word ‘mission’, and were now turning to follow the captain as he paced.
“As for that mission...” the captain paused, “it seems we have been selected to perform a rather special bit of Nightwork.”
Sable grinned broadly beneath her helmet. She could sense a sudden energy surge through everypony. Now that’s more like it.
“Oooohhhh sneakytimes,” said Star Duster, somewhere to her right. She leaned forward and looked in his direction, down the crescent shaped gathering of ponies. She saw him, grinning as she was. Beside him, Distant Voice was absentmindedly flapping his wings, repeatedly smacking a completely oblivious and stoic looking Rapid Advance in the side. Far Out just stood there with that stupid grin she always wore, but seemed to be bobbing up and down slightly. Even Watchful eye, at the far end, had a foreleg raised, and his tail moved back and forth like an excited serpent. Dawn Trotter, next to her, was even doing his weird slow motion half prance in place. It seemed that she wasn’t the only pony here to be excited for the chance to do what the Lunar Guard does best.
Nightwork. A term confined mostly to the Lunar Guard. Not your run of the mill garrison or patrol work, it’s what made the Lunar Guard special. Recon. Stealth. Observation. Sabotage. Hit and fade. The sneaky business that came naturally to the nocturnal. Nothing in Equestria goes bump in the night quite like a bat pony.
Winter Sky raised an eyebrow briefly but continued. “A bit of distant reconnaissance, to be exact.” He reached one end of the group, directly in front of Sable Shield, before turning around and pacing in the other direction. “There is however, one caveat.”
The whole of Cookie squad continued in their little celebration. Sable Shield found her grin growing broader.
“It is on an another planet.”
The celebratory actions of the gathered ponies suddenly slowed, until the ponies seemed frozen mid action. Sable Shield’s grin had melted into a confused frown. To her right, Dawn Trotter was stuck in a seemingly impossible two legged mid-prance pose. Each member of the squad was similarly affected. An awkward silence fell on all. Seven sets of eyes blinked in confusion.
“What,” said Rapid Advance. The confused voice of the massive pony seemed to jar the others out of their stupor.
“Like, aliens?” asked Far Out. Her tone seemed strangely hopeful.
Watchful Eye seemed the most confused. His eyes were darting between the captain, the squad, the cloud, and just about everywhere else. Sable Shield had never seen the sergeant look so out of sorts. He seemed to mutter something at first, before finally finding his voice. “I, uh, I would think this was an elaborate prank if it were any other pony.”
“Maybe it is?” said Sable Shield. Perhaps she had misjudged the captain. Maybe there was a little bit of a prankster in him after all?
“I am afraid not,” answered Winter Sky. He studied the reactions of Cookie squad, giving them a moment to think.
“It’s the portal, isn’t it?” asked Distant Voice. “The one to the Lost Colony?
Winter Sky looked to the small stallion, nodding approvingly. He walked over, stopping directly in front of him. “Very good private. That was quick.”
Distant Voice shrank back slightly, clearly unused to being under such close officer scrutiny. “Umm I, err, Dawn Trotter and me..”
“We’re huge nerds!” yelled Dawn Trotter.
Winter Sky turned to look at at the interrupting pony, eyebrow raised, before returning his attention to the much smaller stallion in front of him. “Is that so?”
“Uh, yeah! Giant nerds. History included,” Distant Voice seemed to be regaining a bit of confidence. “The story of New Neighton is pretty famous, well, to ponies that care about that kind of stuff. Which we do! We’ve even talked about it before. Dawn thinks they were all eaten by a giant space slug or something.”
“Star Snake!” the pony yelled, “they are totally a real thing in space!”
Sable Shield rolled her eyes at the exchange. This was definitely not where she expected things to be going just a moment ago.
It was the captain’s turn to look confused. He appeared to be trying to come up with some kind of response.
“Those aren’t real Dawn! I told you before! Aghh.” Disant Voice turned his attention back to Winter Sky. “Sorry sir. He’s a bit, uh, less of a history nerd than I am. He’s more a comic type nerd.”
The captain snorted. “...I see.”
“So, sir?” said Watchful Eye, stepping forward. His eyes shifted between the captain and Distant Voice. “Is he right then? The lost colony? Really? After all this time? Did somepony come back?”
Winter Sky nodded once more to Distant Voice, before stepping back and turning to face the inquiring sergeant. “You’ve all heard, at least at some point, the general story of New Neighton. A strange world, well beyond the veil. A town ponies built there. Its sudden disappearance eighty-six years ago when the the magical gateway that connected it suddenly stopped working,” he paused a moment, waiting for the others to signal their comprehension. After each of them nodded in quick succession, he continued: “What I am going to to tell you now, is a part of the story you have not heard. Something no pony, save a very privileged few at the very top of the Equestrian government, has ever heard.”
In an instant, the posture of both Distant Voice and Dawn Trotter changed. Sable glanced between them, and the captain. They were glued to him like foals to a puppet show. She noted that Watchful Eye’s tail was swishing again as well. Curious, no doubt. The sergeant, to his credit, often tried to exude an aura of calm responsibility, but his tail always gave him away. He wasn’t as bad as Star Duster, but she considered him up there.
“The portal collapse was, in reality, not entirely without warning,” Winter Sky continued, “a very short time before it occurred, Equestria received a signal scroll from the colony’s Solar Guard garrison. It contained two words: Shattered Spear.”
As one, seven jaws dropped open. A tense silence enveloped the group. Sable Shield attempted to mouth the words to herself in silence, finding it hard to believe she had just heard them from the captain himself. She saw Dawn Trotter and Distant Voice slowly turn to face one another in unison, but they said nothing, and just stared. Watchful Eye just seemed to be staring, unblinking at the captain. Far Out was impossible to read.
“That is impossible,” said Rapid Advance. The large form of the corporal took a step forward, and he addressed Winter Sky directly. “If the garrison had been destroyed, the colony overrun...If so many ponies had met their end in such a way the Princess surely would have said something. Addressed the nation? How can the violent deaths of an entire city of ponies be kept a secret?”
“That was my first thought as well, corporal,” said Winter Sky, “but we don’t actually know what happened. We don’t know how or even if all those ponies died. We know very little, other than the fact the brave ponies of the colony garrison met a foe they could not overcome, or escape. There were other factors as well, some that were not shared with me, that contributed to the decision to keep the event a secret. It is a mystery. One of our greatest, and it is attempting to find even part of an answer that is our mission. We are to travel through the restored gateway, perform reconnaissance of the surrounding area and maybe, if possible, find some clue to the fate of the ponies that once lived there.”
Rapid Advance nodded slowly, and seemed to accept the captain’s answer.
“I thought Shattered Spear was just a legend. An old guardspony story?” said Star Duster. His ears were pinned, and his blue tail hung limply behind him. “What kind of...thing could those Solar Guard have met, that caused them to send a “please leave us to die” letter back home?”
“We don’t know private. But hopefully, we may find some clue. Remember everypony- This town stood, in happiness and peace, for more than twenty years. It grew and prospered. Twenty years on the planet in question with nothing scary or dangerous to be seen,” Winter Sky shifted his gaze between the assembled ponies as he spoke, “remember, it’s been eighty-six years since that signal was sent. Eighty-six years since whatever happened, happened. The preliminary look using a scrying construct showed nothing at all, just trees and grass. Whatever happened there, it’s been over for decades.” His voice had taken on a more reassuring tone.
“Also...” Winter Sky hesitated, “we leave tomorrow, just after noon. I want everypony to get as much rest as you can as soon as we get back in. Keep your barding and other accoutrements with you in your stalls. We are skipping the normal armory shenanigans, plan on using the saved time for a bit more sleep.”
Sable Shield’s head slumped, and a chorus of groans rose all around her. An obnoxiously early start was more than enough to get Cookie Squad passed their hesitant uneasiness, and into the far more familiar land of grumbling discontent.
“Noon? Ahhhhh I hate waking up early. Especially that early,” said Star Duster.
“Noooot cool,” added Far Out.
“Why so early?” asked Sable Shield, in a tone as close to demanding as she thought she could get away with. “Noon seems better suited to the Solar Guard.”
“Because,” said Winter Sky, “There is a time difference. Noon in Canterlot equates to very near dusk at our destination.”
“Oh.”
“So, to reiterate.” continued Winter Sky, clearing his throat. “Our orders are to assemble tomorrow, at noon. Watchful Eye will get you your specific equipment assignments before you hit the hay this evening. First call will be an hour before departure. We will then proceed to, and through, the New Neighton portal, and conduct the mission we have been assigned. Everypony understand?”
“Yes sir!” said all seven ponies, as one.
“Very good then. Watchful Eye, if you would, take this lot home and put them to bed. There is one more duty I must attend to before I do the same.”
Watchful Eye stepped forward, hiking his tail and left foreleg in a salute. “Yes Sir! Alright everypony. On me. Same formation. We are heading back to the barn.” He then turned and leapt onto the edge of the cloud, spreading his wings.
Sable Shield sprang into action, scrambling back into her position on the far left edge of the vee formation. No time to think about what she had just been told. Probably intentional, knowing Winter Sky. A moment later, the sergeant, wings spread, hurled himself from the side of the cloud, disappearing from view. She launched into a gallop, and with a great flap of her wings, once again found herself soaring through the moonlit skies high above the capital.
******