//------------------------------// // One Hoof In // Story: The Phantom of Canterlot // by Azure Drache //------------------------------// The tiny hint of a whisper was the first thing Twilight noticed when she awoke. There were a few ponies talking nearby; though, not near enough for her to understand what they were talking about. Slowly, she opened her eyes and raised her head, giving her surroundings a look. She was lying in a soft bed, placed in a small room that was, besides a few items of furniture and a round, red carpet, quite empty. On second look, though, it came to her attention that the room was not quite straight, and the walls were not bricks or wood; but instead, the room was slightly curved, and made from raw stone. She rose a bit more. “Where am I?” The talking she overheard stopped, and a moment later, a white unicorn mare peaked into her room. “Oh, you are finally awake,” the mare said in a cheerful tone. “And here you had me thinking that you wanted to sleep for a whole week.” She trotted in and moved over to the bed. “Alicorns seem to be, indeed, fundamentally connected to their magic.” She placed a hoof on Twilight’s forehead. “But after all that, you seem to be in good shape again.” “Where am I, and who are you?” Twilight asked in between what the mares were doing. “You are...” the mare said while her hooves wandered over Twilight’s head, checking on her horn and throat, “in Headquarters. Snowguard Headquarters.” A stethoscope appeared out of the mare’s saddlebag, and found its place on Twilight’s chest. “And I am Healing Stitch, doctor Healing Stitch.” “Snowguard Headquarters?” Twilight repeated, still shaking off the rest of her slumber, “What are you talking about, what is this Snowguard? And where in Equestria are we?” “I am sure Snowy or the general will tell you about it in a moment,” she placed a hoof on Twilight’s chest and pushed her back when she tried to stand up, “just a moment, Princess. You still have to take it easy for the moment, you slept two days straight, and we don’t want your circulation to collapse, right?” “Two days?” Twilight started but was interrupted by a lollipop being placed firmly in her mouth. “Just a moment,” the doctor insisted, “I have completed my check up on you, and since you seem to be fine for the time being, I’ll send for them in a second.” She placed her stethoscope back into her saddlebag, and gave Twilight a smile. “Just stay in bed for a few more minutes and take your time when you stand up, understood?” “Fine…” Twilight half-grumbled when she had removed the lollipop from her mouth, holding it in her magic.” “Awesome, your magic works as normal too. A very good sign,” Healing Stitch proclaimed, then turned around and took her leave. Twilight heard her talking with somepony outside, and after a minute, a familiar mare entered the room. “Pleasant Smell?” Twilight asked, bewildered. “What are you doing here? Or are we in Dragonbite Castle? And what is with the uniform?” Pleasant Smell wore a grey uniform with a purple collar and five silver snowflakes attached to it. “Hello, Twilight,” Pleasant Smell answered with a smile, “good to see that you’re alright again.” She took a seat at the edge of the bed. “To answer your question, no we are not, we are indeed in Headquarters. And to answer your question about my outfit, I work here. I am part of the Snowguard, and therefore, this,” she pointed at the garment, “is my uniform.” “You work here? Wait, that means you are part of this Snowguard?” She shook her head, confused. “First things first, what exactly is this Snowguard, then? And how did you get involved in it?” “As I know, Snowy has told you already about the different groups that work behind the curtain in favor of, or against, Equestria? Well...” she extended her hooves to clue the whole place in, “the Snowguard is one of them, in favor of Equestria, of course.” “Wait, why do you know what Burning Snowflake has told me, you weren't there.” “Because I talked with her about it.” “Oh, right, she said she would have to talk with you.” Pleasant Smell laughed. “Yes,” she giggled a bit more before she had herself under control again. “Yes, about the children, well, that was not what I was referring to, but she did that too.”   “What do you mean?” “I mean that I think Climber will have a very unpleasant talk with Snowy about the children. It was his decision to stop at two, not mine.” She giggled once more. “My poor husband, he met her in person for the first time he knows of, and then she will return just to give him a lecture on Snowflake Family  behavior.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “And you are okay with this? I confess I saw her reaction to her family first hoof, and she is a bit softer to them, but still.” Then, a thought crossed her mind. “And you seem to be taking it very well that an ancient pony, who isn’t an alicorn, appeared suddenly in your castle and talked to you about your children.” “That is not as strange as you think, I had to promise her that I’d have at least four children with Climber in return for her permission to marry him.” She shrugged. “With this deal in mind, it was absolutely reasonable for her to trot up to me and demand answers.” “Wait, what?” Twilight set herself straight up. “You had a deal with her? That means you knew her already, how?” The baroness gave her a smile, along with a look that a teacher might have if a student didn’t get an obvious answer. “There is a reason it is called the ‘Snow’ guard, Twilight. You don’t need to guess three times to get who the founder may be.” “Uhm, right, now that you mention it, it is kind of obvious. Sorry, it is just a bit much to know you are familiar with a several-hundred-year-old-mare from some comic books, and, part of some sort of, whatever this is.” She pointed at the door. “It is alright, Twilight, and to answer another one of your questions, I got involved when I was far younger. The Snowguard recruits skilled and useful ponies from all over Equestria, and I was just in the right position at the right time to get offered to be a part of it.” “And—” Pleasant Smell raised a hoof. “I am not done yet, Twilight. And it happened that one of my, let’s call it “missions,” brought me to Snowflake Castle, and in contact with Climber. To keep it short, there was a  spark between us. But as you can assume, Snowy is very, very, sensible in matters of the family. So I thought it would be best to ask her for her permission before it got too serious.” “And then you had to promise her to have four foals?” Twilight inquired in a disapproving tone. “It seems this mare always places her snout in things that are not her business.” “Let us see how you act when, or if, you have a long line of progeny yourself.” “I would not interfere with their choice of partners, nor how many foals they should have.” “Yes, probably not that much, but we may see about that. Just don’t judge Snowy so harshly over it. She had some bad experiences with her family, as you know, and it made her careful, to the point of being overprotective at times, but she means well.” “She did not seem to be overly friendly to those outside the family,” Twilight pointed out. “And she told me she ended a life or two here and there in the past.” Now Twilight’s voice had become not only disapproving, but disgusted. “Hmm,” Pleasant Smell nodded, closing her eyes in thought. “That is true, still, given the reasons she had, I understand her at least.” “You are okay with her killing creatures?” Twilight stared at her. “When you told me she had killed somepony, I assumed it was only one or two, but she made it sound like there was far more.” “If you are asking if I uphold my opinion that she could win a fair process, then yes, I stand with it. She never killed unnecessarily, as I understand.” She raised a hoof. “And I am aware she told you about Mory Arty. That is a special and serious case, but it is up to everypony themselves if it was a crime or not.” “Of course it was; she killed him because of a threat!” “At which end, the survival of her beloved, Sherlay Hays, stood.” “Still it…” “Twilight, we can agree to disagree about it, but we will make no progress on this topic here and now. I completely understand your point, and it is a good and sound point.” She sighed. “But there is also the fact that the world is not only sunshine and rainbows either. In my time in the Snowguard, I saw first hoof that there are situations where it is you or the opponent who makes it. You do not always have a choice.” “You mean…” Twilight moved away from Pleasant Smell, “that you…?” For a second Pleasant Smell seemed to be confused, then the realization of how her words could be taken hit her. “Oh, no, nonono, I never killed somecreature! No Twilight, by “first hoof,” I meant I heard the mission reports first hoof, not that I was there or did something like that myself. I just mean that I prefer if one of us comes home safe and sound, instead of becoming another golden snowflake on the wall of memories.” There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before Pleasant Smell spoke up again. “Look, Twilight, I know you are not fond of this concept, but, well, it happens. Escape or non-violent actions are preferred, but when it comes to close hoof to hoof combat, there is not always an option. Not all of us are as good at it as Snowy is.” She sighed. “But I guess we can’t settle this with a few words in a few minutes. So, better focus on something else for the moment.” She pointed at Twilight's body. “You feeling good enough to get up?” “I guess so,” Twilight replied slowly. “Then come on,” The baroness stood up, “I show you around and tell you a bit more about the Snowguard.” Twilight did follow the offer and stood up, but hesitated once she was out of bed. “If all this is some kind of secret service, and you are not publicly known as a member of it, why are you telling me all this?” “Well,” Pleasant Smell trotted to the door, “circumstances, and keeping one eye on the future,I would say.” The other mare blinked. “As I know, Snowy has quite the plans for you, and a lot has happened in the two days you have slept.” “Two days?” Twilight shook her head, still a bit in disbelief. “Still hard to believe I was out so long, it felt like just a few hours.” She paused, and her voice got suspicious.  “And what are these plans for me? She was asking me some strange questions when we met.” “She better tell you that herself,” the baroness made an inviting gesture, “for now, though, if you would just follow me?” * “I assume that Climber doesn’t know about your, uhm, membership in the Snowguard?” Twilight inquired. “You are correct about that,” Pleasant Smell nodded. “Born Snowflakes, the ones who were supposed to rule the house someday or close to that position, are never part of this organization. It is too risky for them, and if I had married Climber before I joined, I never would have gotten the chance to do so.” She waved her head a bit. “I am sure some of the Snowflakes had a clue or at least hunch about it, but as far as I know, they never took part directly.” “With Burning Snowflakes strange family mindset, I can understand that,” Twilight said. “I am just surprised that she allows you to stay, you know, with your ‘duty’ to make her some more grandfoals.” “I proved myself useful. Also, how do you figure that?” She looked at Twilight. “It is not like Snowy can erase memories. I already know about all this.” She once more made a gesture to include the whole area. “There was no point in kicking me out with all the things I know. Keeping me also gave her an opportunity to speak with me more regularly and let me help her sneak into the castle now and then. You know, hiring her as a teacher for the kids and such. She really enjoyed playing with them and made sure they get a good education. Not to forget helping them get born.” “Huh?” Pleasant Smell delayed her answer to take a notepad from a dark blue stallion that crossed their path. “She was my nurse during their births. She was really good at it, actually,” she said while she browsed through the pad, “a few hundred years of practice, I assume. And it is obvious that it was far easier to get the position at something so important if the soon-to-be mother is clued in and willing to help.” “So when I said I got the feeling she is involved in everything in your family, I was right by happenstance.” Twilight shook her head. “Well, being present at the birth of my grandfoals is something I would try to do as well, I think.” “As I said, she cares. She has some bad habits and a tendency to overreact on occasion, but, she cares.” Pleasant Smell stopped in front of a wooden door. “Anyway, welcome to the heart of Snowguard Headquarters.” And with these words, she pushed the door open, allowing Twilight to go first into the room behind. Though, it wasn’t a simple room, it was a huge hall, or more aptly put, a hanger, given the airship that was docked in it. As far as Twilight could tell, it was the same one she saw earlier, and now she was able to read the name on it. Seabird. It was not in good shape though, the larboard—or was it starboard—had some burned spots, and the sails at its sides were holey if not completely shredded. Two dozen ponies were nearby, busy repairing it; some pegasi, a few unicorns, and a lot of earth ponies. “Quite impressive,” Twilight said as she looked around; the huge closed hangar doors, the several levels of galleries around the walls, and all the tools needed to maintain an airship along with transferring large amounts of cargo took her interest for a moment. Finally, she turned around to Pleasant Smell and pointed on the damaged parts of the ship. “What happened? This is the same ship that I saw, right?” “Yes, it is. As for what happened, well, a ship may get some damage if it takes part in combat. The Seabird may not look like one, but she is a battleship.” “A battleship?” Twilight gave the ship another look. Now that she was much closer to it, in the bright light of the hanger, it didn’t look that big anymore, and it was not like there was any armor on it or heavy weaponry. “Don’t let yourself be fooled by her look,” Pleasant Smell said, following Twilight’s gaze. “She is built for speed, rather than long-range artillery support, think of her as a frigate.” “Wait, if she was damaged in combat…” Twilight’s voice became alarmed, “ Was Caste Dragonbite under attack?” “Not quite, don’t you worry. There was a fight, but it was not the Castle or my family they were after,” the baroness explained in a mysterious tone. “And they didn’t expect us to be there, or Snowy.” “They?” “Later; for now, let me tell you that everypony at the castle is fine. We also let Celestia know you are fine, also.” “Celestia knows about you? I mean ‘you,’ as in, the Snowguard?” “Of course she does, all great groups know each other, in her case that includes her secret service. It makes things a lot easier if you are considered a friend when you are spotted, rather than a foe. Same goes for her spies, she gets them back with a bowtie, and we get our ponies back with a piece of cake.” “That is a bit different from what Climber told me.” “He spoke about spies in castle Dragonbite, right?” Twilight nodded. “Hmm, I thought so. With spies in the castle, it is a bit different, you know? They mostly don’t run into our ponies, but into Snowy.” She bit her lip. “Celestia still gets them back, mostly unharmed, but sometimes Snowy is a bit more annoyed about them, especially when they are found in important areas.” She shrugged. “While this organization was created by Snowy, and she has a great influence on it, we don’t have the same influence on her. Especially when it comes to her own home.” “Technically, it is your home by now.” Pleasant Smell half-smiled, half-sighed. “Well, then we have a three-hundred-year-old rental agreement with her, which gives her a lot of benefits.” “Hey, Pleasant Smell!” A new voice, distant while sounding like an upper-class pony, interrupted their talk. “I see the princess is awake now!”  When Twilight looked for the source of the voice, she spotted a grey earth pony mare in an also grey uniform with a yellow collar, her mane was mostly black with some grey lines through it, standing on one of the galleries to their left, two levels above them. “And here we go,” Pleasant Smell said. “Who is that?” Twilight asked. “This is C, our most skilled—but also most curious—technician. Also inventor, scientist, genius, and...” Pleasant Smell smiled, “sometimes a little pest.” “You promised me I could talk with her when she woke up!” The mare called C shouted down to them before she turned around, and, after she spotted a pegasus nearby, hopped on his back and ordered him to fly her down. While they watched the mare approach, Twilight wondered aloud if that was normal behavior here. “Normally, we ask before we hop on, but on the other hoof, we learn during the training to think less of personal space. Carrying other ponies around in field missions is totally normal for our pegasi. You can imagine how much of a problem it would be whenever a non-flier would need a ride if they had to ask or discuss with the pegasi in question first. To make it short, they accept being hoped on at first, but if it turns out you had no good reason for it, they kick your flank after the mission.” It seemed Pleasant Smell wanted to add something more, but the other mare had reached them by now. “Thanks, Icy Wings,” she said, hopping off his back. “Hello, Princess Twilight,” she rushed over to shake hooves. “It is good you finally woke up!” “Hello, C, nic—” Twilight started, but the other mare bubbled on. “Oh, I have so many questions, we rarely have the chance to do some research on an Alicorn! And I—” “C, calm down,” Pleasant Smell ordered. “She is our guest, show better manners.” “Okay, okay I will, still,” she turned her attention back to Twilight, “you simply must allow me to run some tests with you. Alicorn magic is so fascinating; also, the connection between your physical fitness and your magic, giving how much the field affected you, must be—” Now the baroness pulled C’s ear and made some distance between her and Twilight. “What did I say?” “It is alright Pleasant Smell,” Twilight threw in, “I know how curiosity can be. I got carried away by it myself once or twice.” “You see,” C happily said, shaking her ear free and moving over to Twilight again, “she understands! Just think of all the things we can build if we are able to figure out how to bottle up some of this magic!” She softly stroked above Twilight horn, “Oh, and did you know Princess Twilight is the author of ’Instant Levitation, The secrets of teleportation’? Having her here will bring our projects forward by years!” “Yes, C, it is wonderful, but could you—” “Speaking of which,” C interrupted and without drawing her attention away from Twilight’s horn, pulled out a notepad from her mane, “could you please sign my resource requirement formula? I really could use some more of these floating stones from the bugbear territory. Maybe if we get enough I can build a suit out of it, or increase the speed of the Seabird, the possible uses for these stones are endless!” “Floating stones?” Twilight wondered. “Stones that, by whatever reason, levitate at a certain height above the ground by themselves,” Pleasant Smell hastily said. “And I told you C, we don’t have the personnel for that at the moment, it is too risky.” “And we will have even less personal if someone gets wounded because I was not able to make them better armor. You really should pay more attention to my projects sometime.” Pleasant Smell sighed. “Still, no. If you really think it is so important, though, you can always go to her and ask her directly.” Pleasant Smell smiled. “I know how much she loves to hear your ideas.” C frowned, and pulled a pout. “I would rather not.” “I thought so.” The baroness gave her the formula back. “If you’ll excuse us now, I want to show Twilight around a bit more.” “Can you at least show up to research and development later, Princess?” C asked with a pleading tone. “It would help us so much, even if we only run a few simple tests.” “Uhm,” Twilight looked at Pleasant Smell, and after said mare shrugged, she nodded. “I do so if I can.” “Wonderful! I will prepare everything!” She galloped down the gallery. “See you later, then!” The Princess and the baroness looked after her. “Like I said,” Pleasant Smell mentioned, “a genius; and a pest too.” “But she brought up two good questions,” Twilight said while they started moving again. “And these are?” “First, since I assume you are referring to Snowy with ‘her’, are you implying that she has some kind of backstory with her?” “I would not call it backstory, it is more a family thing. You see, C’s family always brings forth a genius every now and then, and they all got recruited by the Snowguard. So Snowy had to deal with a lot of C’s over the years, she is quite direct with them, and can be very clear when she is not interested in an idea they got.” She flickered her ear. “And also, there are the rumors.” “Rumors?” “Well, something happened between the first C and Snowy, I don’t know what, but it is an open secret they got their differences over time. Since then, they keep a bit of distance between them, the C’s and Snowy.” “Why do you call her ‘C’, does she not have a full name? And don’t give me that they all use secret names, you are very well known under your real name here.” “No, it is a habit from old times. When the first C joined, they thought it would be better to have cover names. We no longer need them, or come up with more realistic names, but since C is not only a name here that’s also a position, it stuck.” “Mhh, that makes sense.” “Was that your second question?” “No, but I got curious. Actually, I was wondering more why ponies come to you for approval of their formulas. You must have a high position if you are responsible for this kind of management?” Pleasant Smell giggled. “You could say so.” “What exactly is your job here, then?” “I am in the management, you could say.” “Hmm, C is your head of research and development, I assume?” “Yes.” “She only had three silver snowflakes on her collar, while you have five.” “Very observant of you, Twilight,” Pleasant Smell nodded with a smile. “I am a bit higher in rank than her, obviously.” “If she is the head of a main part of the Snowguard, if it is comparable to Celestia's secret service, then you are… four?” she asked, unsure. “Yes, four.” “Four levels higher than her, you can’t be simple management.” “I would not call it simple, of course,” Pleasant Smell agreed and stopped at another door. She pushed it open and trotted in. “Actually, it is quite complicated.“ Had the hanger already been impressive, this new room was quite a step further. Though it was a lot smaller, maybe as big as the room the friendship table was in. And the comparison was more fitting, given that it had a map of Equestria and the connected lands on a table in the center of it. Also, the walls were covered with more detailed maps of some areas, from what Twilight could see, Canterlot Castle, Manehatten, and, if she was correct, the Crystal Palace were among them. Several ponies were present around the room, doing whatever their duty was, moving paws on some maps, or reading through a stack of scrolls and giving or receiving orders according to them. In the center, however, around the map of Equestria, stood a pair of ponies she knew. Burning Snowflake was there, and, much to Twilight’s surprise, Colourful Wings. The little one was the first to notice them, and half trotted, half flew right at them, stopping in front of Pleasant Smell and stretching his hooves out to get a lift. “Seems I am still worthy,” Pleasant Smell smiled widely and picked him up. “Yes, niece Pleasant is the best, right?” “Niece?” Twilight asked, a bit confused. “Climber didn’t mention you and Pencake are related, shouldn’t you be his aunt then?” Pleasant Smell rubbed her snout against the little one and allowed him to snap for her ears in the process. “No, niece is correct in this case. Giving who his mother is.” “Who is his mother?” Twilight asked, throwing a look over to Burning Snowflake, who was approaching them. “You mean…” “He is my son,” Burning Snowflake explained when she reached them. “Brother of Compassion, and therefore, uncle of Climber and Pleasant Smell.”