//------------------------------// // War Council // Story: Imperial Affairs // by The Sound of Loneliness //------------------------------// Twilight took a deep breath, a spark of light ignited on her horn as the teleportation spell took them away. Guessing where their ruler marched was not hard, there weren’t many sensible destinations. Twilight looked around the surrounding rubble. The Princess saw flipped and half-melted tank wrecks, collapsed bunkers, craters and even chasms in the ground, all lighted by the rising sun. Rarity was right, the sudden militarization in the palace was nothing good. Rarity coughed. “What is this smell?” she asked, covering her nose. Twilight smelled the air and turned towards the smell direction. “That, I imagine.” Twilight pointed at a charred, smoking, trench, “I don’t think we want to know any details.” “No, I really don’t,” Rarity agreed, shivers running down her spine. Pinkie Pie chuckled twice, earning herself two sharp looks. Fluttershy turned away. “Pinkie, how dare you?” Rarity gnashed, coming to comfort the teary pegasus. Pinkie shrugged. "Just funny how they been building all of this stuff just for it to be their grave. Anyway, Twilight, let’s go and find AJ and Dashie already.” No objections were voiced. There could be no doubt where they were supposed to go, the crumbled debris of what once was Chrysalis’ largest hive took a decent part of the view. Bunkers weren’t the only source of rubble around. The hive itself was surrounded by a fairly sized industrial ruin, probably the source of the wrecked tanks. The factories were not destroyed recently, Twilight noted. This was likely the result of the Imperial Air Force infrastructure bombings. The debris were partially cleared now, but Twilight made the decision to stay away from the ruins all the same. Unexploded ordnance had a nasty habit of turning into landmines, waiting for unsuspecting ponies. Twilight soon had to interrupt her grim recollections: Fluttershy screamed in terror. She turned around on her heels, ready to face the threat. There was a single danger, standing still in the doorway of a surviving generator shack, wearing a gas mask. Upon seeing the Princess reading to scorch him, he immediately began waving his hooves to indicate his friendly intentions. “Walk back inside,” Twilight coldly commanded. The trooper instead shook his head and reached for his gas mask. “Master Sergeant Baron Shoes, Canterlot Imperial Guard regiment,” the soldier hastily introduced himself. “I didn’t mean to scare you, miss.” Twilight breathed out with relief. “You shouldn’t ambush ponies like this!” Rarity immediately lashed out at him. “Poor Fluttershy almost fainted!” “I am sorry, miss! It’s just that, we never knew we are having civilians nearby. Please, come inside, there may be hostiles still lurking on the streets.” “I love your gas mask, Sarge,” Pinkie remarked without a hint of a smile, following him inside the small, empty, tool storage room. “Should go great on Nightmare Night.” “Hah! Thank you, miss,” the soldier chuckled. “This place is comfy enough, Changelings have repurposed the generators, so we have plenty of empty space in here, drop wherever you like.” The Sergeant kicked the next door, “Hey! Everyone!” he announced in loud voice. “We have guests!” The scene reminded Twilight her own library, oddly enough. The place was littered with empty crates, backpacks, rifles, even a single flamethrower. But all the equipment was sorted and had its place. Who could know that the Guards were so scrupulous? They weren’t many, 4 ponies hugging a tiny heater next to the green radio box with a telephone-like receiver orderly hanging at its side. Upon seeing a Princess the soldiers immediately jumped up, saluting. “At ease,” Baron Shoes instinctively ordered. “Firestep, Shallow Sand, Hollow Point and Growling Gear,” he introduced everyone. “We also have Wavy Shadow somewhere around, she went to see if Changelings had any coffee left: almost anything is better than the tea they issue us at this point." The soldiers rumbled in confirmation, "We are doing radio duty here. You know, listening to signals and telling the people who needed to hear them.” “What happened here?” Twilight asked. “What was coming, ma’am,” Baron plainly answered. “Our Empress came to finish the war. You should’ve seen her!” He widely smiled, “We never needed any fire support! She levelled the whole place herself!” “We noticed.” Rarity was colouring green from the memory. “Where’s the rest of your unit?” “Followed Her Majesty, ma’am. She’s probably somewhere inside the hive by now. Do you want us to try and reach her? We only had this single radio at the start, but at this point, the folks might’ve gotten some more from the Changelings who won’t need them anymore.” “Yes, please. We need to find Lieutenant Rainbow Dash,” the soldiers frowned upon hearing the name. “Should’ve guessed. Well, alright.” The Sergeant sat himself down in front of the radio, picked up the receiver, rotated radio's handle and pushed a button, “Point Zebra to all callsigns: requesting Second Lieutenant Rainbow Dash on air.” “Point Zebra, Alpha Platoon reads you, wait one,” the response came. "So, you just talk into that thing and ponies hear you far away?" Pinkie asked. "More or less, miss," the Sergeant answered covering the receiver with a hoof. "Can't you just tell the rest of your guys to share their coffee with you?" "That's actually a really good idea!" Firestep said, laughing. “Rainbow Dash here, the hay do you want?” Rainbow’s frustrated voice sounded. Baron Shoes passed the receiver to Twilight. “Rainbow, glad to hear you are ok!” “Eh, Twilight? The hay are you doing there? We are in the middle of a warzone in case you didn’t notice.” “Oh, Rainbow. We noticed, believe me.” “We? You’ve got the girls there?” “Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy, yes.” “And the...tools?” “Them too, just in case.” “Oh, good! First good news in a while! Twilight, listen! We all are in a big trouble! Come find us, we are in the bombed-out Inspectorate building under the hive’s west wall.” “On our way, Rainbow.” “Be safe.” The Radio has fallen silent. The Sergeant pressed the button again to cease transmitting. “Your Highness, there is no way I am allowing you to walk around there,” Shoes started protesting. “It’s like the Lieutenant said, we are in the middle of a warzone! The Empress will have our heads if she finds out we allowed one of her Princess to get herself killed!” “We can take care of ourselves, thank you, Sergeant.” Twilight began conjuring a teleportation spell. “Rats. Pile up on her, people!” Baron was the first to follow his order, leaping at Twilight and pushing her to the floor with his weight. The rest of the squad soon joined him. Pinkie whistled at the pileup. “Get off her, ruffians! We have no time for your silliness!” Rarity boomed with indignation. “Can’t, miss,” Shoes tried to apologise from under the mass of soldiers on top of him. “We can’t allow you to get yourselves hurt. It’s a miracle you didn’t step on a mine or found a Changeling holdout so far! The bugs may be afraid of our Empress but they aren’t scared of any of us! Ma’am, I am sorry but I can’t let you go, we will hold you with our bodies if we must.” “We are not going to wander by ourselves! Rainbow Dash has a whole platoon of soldiers, they’ll defend us!” Rarity attempted to reason. “Not going to cut it, I am sorry. Look, I don’t have a lot against Lieutenant Dash and her troop, I really don’t, despite her assaulting our palace. But they are poorly trained and, therefore, unreliable. They are practically a penal unit, they can’t be trusted with the safety of anything. What if they mess up? They won't be the ones losing their heads, while we were the ones seeing you last! The whole task force knows now, someone is going to tell the Empress.” Twilight managed to free her head and take a breath. Twilight, then, prepared to stir up her ageing diplomatic skills. “Ok, fine! Let’s talk about this! You say you can’t let us go? Then come with us! Your post is your radio, isn’t it? Take it along. Nopony will notice you even left. Rainbow shouldn’t mind.” “Come now, you are not like those Army roughnecks. You are the Imperial Guard, you are supposed to be better! More reasonable!” Rarity consolidated Twilight's point. The Sergeant gave a long, deep, sigh and sounded “at ease” again, helping Twilight back up. “Making enemies in royalty isn’t smart anyhow. Let us a moment to pick up the gear. Also, anyone has a paper, some ink and a quill? Wavy has to know her orders somehow.” The Guard really needed just a moment. Half a minute later Twilight started the spell again, hurling them to the place Rainbow described. They ended up right in front of the Lieutenant, not surprising her in the slightest. “Hi, Twilight. Excellent accuracy.” Rainbow Dash smiled at her, standing up from a simple wooden chair. Twilight slightly bit her lip, she had to take a bit of gamble without knowing the exact place where they were going. “Lieutenant,” Baron addressed Rainbow. “I am Se-” “Yeah, I don’t really care. Look, Twilight, did you really need to bring the Imps along? We have enough mindless shamblers as it is.” “They won’t let us all go otherwise.” “Awesome!” Rainbow facehooved herself and dropped back on the chair, making it to screech, “Look, guys, I don’t have any problem with you specifically, but can’t you, you know, leave us be? We aren’t shooting your “Empress” any time soon.” “Lieutenant Dash,” Baron started, emphasizing his formal tone. “The Princess may trust you and your ponies, but I don’t. We are escorting Her Highness and we will do so regardless of your approval.” “I told you lot to get lost! Since when does a Sergeant outrank a Lieutenant? You like your protocols and chain of command, don’t you?” “In my protocol convicts don’t get to order around soldiers.” “Oh, you’ve done it now! I’ll show you who’s the convict, bootlick!” But the Guards proved to be quicker, pointing their rifles at the raging pegasus. “Give us a reason, I dare you.” “Excellent show, Sergeant Baron,” Lieutenant Stormbreaker entered the room, carrying a teapot. “The Lieutenant is right, though. She does, technically, outrank you. Princess,” he bowed slightly to Twilight, putting the pot on the table, which was already housing a few metal cups. “Put the rifles away, I think she got your point by now.” The guards reluctantly obeyed, “Glad to see you again, Miss Rarity. I don’t think I know the rest of your friends.” “I am Pinkie Pie and this is Fluttershy,” Stormbreaker noded. “Second Lieutenant Stormbreaker, 101st Airborne Division. A pleasure.” He turned back to Twilight, “I heard you will be visiting us, Your Highness. I took the liberty to organize a reception, as modest as it is. We were just heating up the water when you called.” The officer poured the water in the cups, though the guests hopelessly outnumbered the tableware. “You’ll get some too,” he promised to the awkwardly standing Guards. He, then, took a look around and, not seeing another option asked Rainbow: “Lieutenant, would you be so kind as to offer Her Highness a place to sit?” Rainbow grunted out of frustration, but stood up nonetheless. The stallion, then, took the chair to Twilight, “Please, have a seat, Princess.” “Eh...thank you,” baffled Twilight accepted. “Please, excuse Lieutenant’s irascibility today. She had a rather stressful night.” “I think, we all had,” Baron Shoes added. Stormbreaker nodded. “Your Highness, will you tell us now the purpose of your visit?” “We followed...Her Majesty here. She raised the palace Guard and just left.” “She told us all to equip for combat and be ready in 10 minutes,” the Sergeant explained. “She said we will end the war tonight.” “She appeared in the middle of our camp with a company of her goons and ordered us to march at the main hive,” Rainbow continued the narrative. “We were tired, but she won’t hear of it. When we, finally, got here we couldn’t stand, let alone fight. It didn’t stop her,” Rainbow finished with a note of bitterness. “She forced you?” Twilight asked guessing the answer already. “You can say that,” Rainbow turned around to the doorway. “Private Applejack, report for inspection!” A moment later Applejack trotted into the room and stood at attention, her eyes glowing green. Rarity covered her mouth. Pinkie waved her hoof in front of Applejack's snout, provoking no reaction. “Seems normal to me,” Pinkie dryly humoured, provoking chuckles from the Guards. “Sorry,” Baron apologised for everyone. “What did she do exactly?” Twilight began examining her friend. “She had some sort of a spellbook,” Stormbreaker explained. “She was studying it keenly during our entire way. When Private Applejack reported our unit’s inability, she smiled and said she knew the remedy. She tasked us with mustering the Airbornes, then told us and the rest of the COs to form separately, taking all mages with us. The end result of her spell is before you. They follow orders to the letter, but aren’t capable of thinking for themselves. The Guard were, obviously, spared; along with officers and most specialists. Then, she ordered to begin chart teleportation circles and started softening the fortifications for us. When she was done, there wasn’t much fighting left to do, Changeling just ran for it, hiding in the tunnels under their hive. She told us to hold the perimeter and wait for her to return with the Queen’s head.” “It’s a blessing to witness her power!” Shoes rapturously added. “Not for everyone.” Stormbreaker nodded at Applejack, “She sure as hay saved our hides by clearing the Changelings out, but did so for a reason. She wants us to tell everyone what we saw.” “Cheap trick,” Rainbow Dash snorted. “An Act of Intimidation,” Stormbreaker corrected. “Sometimes excessive force is enough to discourage hostilities before they begin emerging. As sorry as I am for your friend, Princess, I have to conclude that her actions are justified.” “Would've been surprised if you didn’t try to cover her up, for once,” Rainbow bitterly spiked the officer. “I believe, her hoof was forced,” Stormbreaker looked back at Rainbow. “What? Me? You think it’s because of me?” Rainbow heated up again. “Actually, you know what? Yes! It was me! I was the only one with enough gut to walk up to her and say: “You are NOT my Princess! Get the HAY out of HER palace!” Nopony else even dared to look at the Hag without fearing for their hides! You all are no soldiers! Soldiers are supposed to defend their land! Not the tyrants! The only reason why she sits on the throne is that we let her! So, yes! I forced her to take off her mask and proud of it! Maybe now you lot will finally do something about all of this mess! You got the Elements, right, Twilight? Let’s spin them up, they ‘ought to help AJ; then we’ll chase the Hag down the tunnels and buck her to the moon!” Pinkie Pie clapped her hooves, “Nice speech, Rainbow. Practised a lot?” “You have no idea,” she confirmed without noticing the catch. “Rainbow!” Rarity stepped in. “I tried not to blame you! I tried to convince myself you made a mistake!” “Rarity, you don’t get a word on this one! You chose her over us! You betrayed your friends, your Princess and your nation! You are no better than the rest of these Imps!” “I didn’t-” “Yeah, I don’t care for your excuses! Time for talk is over! Now we need to act! You all have a choice! You can see exactly what your Empress does! Are you going to let her do this to everyone?” “As much as I hate to say this, but Rainbow is right,” Twilight said, retaining her cold head. “It doesn’t matter who started it, we all still have a problem. No point fighting over it now.” “Twilight, darling, Rainbow has always been rash! There’s no need for hasty decisions.” “Rarity, we don’t have time for thinking.” Twilight pointed at AJ, “This isn’t the end. Rainbow and her ragtags showed the entire Equestria how weak Nightmare Moon’s position really is, that anyone can just walk into her palace and take a shot at her. For her, it’s the matter of life or death. Rarity, she won’t stop until she eliminates all threats to herself and her authority, that includes us! If we won’t act now, down the line we won’t get a chance! The time of the Empress being mild is over.” “This-” “That’s enough, Your Highness.” Stormbreaker finished his tea in a single gulp and put the cup down on the table with a loud click. Twilight felt a rifle barrel poking her on the back of the head. “Does it really have to be like this?” she asked. “I am afraid yes, Your Highness. We cannot let you harm our Empress. Whether she is good or bad our duty stands. We won't fail her for the second time. You will leave your Elements to us and return to Canterlot. Lieutenant, consider yourself relieved from your command, I will take care of your subordinates.” Twilight turned around to look at the Sergeant aiming the rifle at her. He shook his head slightly. “Fine, you win,” she told Stormbreaker. Twilight, then, engulfed her horn and lifted her bags and shook out their weapons on the table before Stormbreaker. “Thank you for not forcing us, Your Highness.” Twilight sighed in response, “If I may, I also wish to apologize for giving you a cold shoulder earlier. The Empress saw your value and I was foolish to doubt her judgment. You wear your crown for your wisdom, not because you were Princess Celestia’s student.” Stormbreaker saluted, “I am sorry my duty had to contradict your beliefs. I express hope for this to not become a trend.” “Too early to say.” Stormbreaker nodded. “Sadly, I agree. Shall you have us as your escort now?” “That won’t be necessary.” Stormbreaker nodded again and fell flatly forward in the middle of it. The rest of the Guards instantly followed. Pinkie proceeded to giggle. “Damn...” astonished Rainbow breathed out. “Twilight, remind me to never mess with you.” She started checking pulse, “The hay did you do?” “Used physics. The tea they all drink is from one supplier. They are based far down south, meaning their products have to be shipped a long way. The metal boxes this tea is stored in do tend to corrode, spraying little particles of metal all over themselves. I transmuted the metal bits in their bellies into an anaesthetic. Figured it might be the best option for nopony to get hurt.” “Anae-what?” completely dumbfounded Rainbow had to ask. “The thing they give you in hospitals to make you sleep. Come on, take the Elements. Let’s get AJ and the Airbornes back to normal, we have little time before the rest of Guards figure out what's going on.” “Eh...” Applejack moaned, holding her head, being dragged out of the building. “What’s happening?” “Short version: we are, finally, blasting Nightmare Moon.” Rainbow explained with a beaming smile.