//------------------------------// // A Bat Shall Lead Them // Story: Zero Point // by GJT_Productions //------------------------------// "As with many things about my time in charge of this service, this mixes old with new. Never before has a batpony reached the rank I am about to bestow upon this stallion here, but as one of my most faithful subordinates and the last keeper of a secret promise Princess Celestia made to his race he is well worthy of the rank. Step forward, Lieutenant Vesper." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ At the command of his senior officer, the lead batpony Lieutenant Vesper passes through the honor guard of fellow night shift members arrayed around him, with the Acting Captain of the Guard Shining Armor at the head of the line. Directly escorting the batpony leader were Guard Upper Class Arcturus, his number two among the batpony members of the guard, and Guard Upper Class Excelsior, the griffon defector that had served under Vesper's command until now. Vesper stops in front of Shining Armor and bows his head briefly to the white unicorn so favored by the alicorn princesses. "As is tradition in the E.U.P. Guard," Shining Armor begins addressing, "a Lieutenant Captain about to become Captain of the Guard has right to pass his two rank stars to whoever he chooses, along with explaining their pedigree for the benefit of the future recipient. My first star marking the Lieutenant's commission was given to me by my uncle upon his retirement from the service, while the second star was a new issue when I was commissioned as the Lieutenant Captain of the revived Lunar Division. I do not need to tell anyone present why this unusual step was taken." The nightshift honor guard all give subtle nods - the star was just as much a physical representation of Celestia's trust in Shining Armor as it was an indicator of a recreated service meant for the restored Princess Luna. Vesper finds himself fighting back tears as Shining Armor uses his unicorn magic to remove his two star rank pins and attach them in place of the single star Vesper had before on his dress uniform. "I wish my father was around to see this, sir. He hoped to live long enough to see Luna's return, but he didn't get that far..." Vesper quietly comments to Shining Armor as the switch is performed. "I sometimes feel the same way about my uncle, Vesper. He specifically wanted his Lieutenant's star saved for my time in service, as well as the ceremonial sash which I promised I would wear at my wedding to Cadance, but he'll never see those promises fulfilled considering the accident that happened shortly after Twily was born..." Shining Armor replies, giving some clarity to what happened to his favorite uncle. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Shining Armor is done pinning on his two stars onto Vesper, he takes the one star Vesper had been wearing and pins it onto Guard Upper Class Arcturus, the traditional indicator of Arcturus being commissioned into filling the slot Vesper had just vacated by his promotion to Lieutenant Captain. In turn, he takes off the pair of stacked bars indicative of a Guard Upper Class Arcturus had been wearing and gives it to Excelsior besides him, a gesture that provokes a small buzz among the honor guard ranks. "I'm sure you are wondering the purpose of giving Excelsior the double bars when he already holds the rank of Upper Class." Shining Armor begins explaining. "The purpose of this is to stand in for the star that has not yet been made for him. According to the will of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Excelsior will be the first standing griffon Lieutenant in the E.U.P. Guard, serving in the afternoon shift. For now, he will remain on the nightshift, but effective immediately he will be ranked as an Acting Lieutenant. Hail to the alicorn princesses!" "Hail to the alicorn princesses!" the rest of the guard membership present in the ceremony repeats. "Glory to Equestria, you are dismissed to your posts. Vesper, Arcturus and Excelsior need to stay for the briefing on their new responsibilities." Shining Armor orders. "Glory to Equestria!" his subordinates again echo, giving a salute before beginning to turn and depart to their night-shift duties. Vesper, Arcturus and Excelsior filter back toward the briefing room as expected, but Shining is surprised when he recognizes one Lieutenant - the experienced Aldebaran - approaching him instead of working his way out of the ceremonial hall. "Is something troubling you, Lieutenant?" Shining asks when Aldebaran stops in front of him. "Permission to speak freely, sir?" Aldebaran asks in turn, which really gets Shining's attention. He can feel the confused glances of the trio of just-promoted officers behind him, though, so he has to turn away for a moment to address that. "Go on ahead, you three, I'll be along in a minute." Shining addresses the trio behind him, which causes an exchange of concerned and confused looks before they slip away into the briefing room behind them. "Go ahead, you may speak now Lieutenant." the Acting Captain continues on to Aldebaran. "Thank you sir. I've been... hearing whispers among the members of my squad about the idea of having to take orders directly from the batponies instead of just working alongside them." Aldebaran begins to explain. "I talked a bit with some other members of the Oubliettes and Ogres club after the last session, and they have been telling me that those whispers are in other squads as well. I am afraid there will be a negative general reaction to these promotions." "I appreciate your honesty, Lieutenant, but I want to make something perfectly clear to you." Shining Armor replies sternly. "These promotions are directly the will of the alicorn princesses, that is the orders I have been given. If there are those who disagree with it, I will provide opportunity to have them state their concerns directly to the princesses. Do you understand, Lieutenant?" "Yes sir, I do." Aldebaran replies - he understood that those who whispered negatively would generally not take up on the offer. "Very good. If there is nothing else, you are dismissed." Shining Armor affirms, hoping that would end the conversation right there and then. Aldebaran quietly slips away, much to Shining's relief, and he quietly sighs as he turns around to attend to the briefing of the newly-promoted officers. He knew that some would object to putting batponies and griffons in charge, but he was completely clueless at the time the how and the why of the simmering objections...