//------------------------------// // Chapter 22: Pay-Off 2 // Story: Piece by Piece // by Eltirions //------------------------------// 12 December 1008 Once breakfast was eaten, Rarity took a quick trip to the bathroom to brush her teeth and help Flurry do the same, then they and Rainbow went back to the booth to watch. Rainbow Falls was certainly impressive to see, and only got progressively more so as they came closer and closer to the city.  Flurry had all-but-pressed her nose against the window, eyes wide. ‘’It’s so pretty!’’ ‘’It is,’’ Rarity agreed. ‘’I’ve never seen anything like it.’’ It looked very much like a pegasus-Canterlot, to Rarity. The buildings were primarily made of clouds, though she saw several foundations of similarly-white stone as well, and of course the roads and such were paved. There was a great crowd gathered on both sides of the train, mainly consisting of crystal pegasi, who were all waving and cheering as they passed. A few of them were waving flags, both of Rainbow Falls and of the Crystal Empire. Rarity even spotted one or two flags of the Lunar Empire. ‘’Wave back, Flurry,’’ Rarity instructed softly, before following her own advice and properly waving. Rainbow’s wave was a little more show-like than was proper, but that could be excused as a remnant from her Wonderbolt tours. In any case, it was not a problem. ‘’Okay auntie!’’ Flurry chirped, before waving back excitedly at the ponies. The train noticeably slowed down as it came closer and closer to the station, which wasn’t really visible from Rarity’s angle, sadly. It seemed she would have to wait just a little longer. ‘’Are you ready, Flurry?’’ she asked to occupy the time. ‘’It’s going to be very busy once we get off the train. There will be a great many ponies waiting for us, and we’ll have to speak to some of them.’’ ‘’Like the Mayor, right?’’ ‘’Indeed,’’ Rarity confirmed. ‘’She will probably be the first person we speak to. Now, aside from introducing yourself, you won’t have to say much, but remember to answer any questions you’re asked in a polite manner. If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine too, just say so. And make sure you stick close to me or Rainbow at all times. Can you do that, sweetheart?’’ Flurry looked up at Rarity and nodded very seriously. ‘’Okay auntie, I’ll do that.’’ Rarity smiled, then leaned in and nuzzled Flurry. ‘’Thank you, Flurry.’’ Just then, the crowds disappeared as walls loomed up; they’d, apparently, entered the station.  ‘’Ready?’’ Rarity asked Rainbow. Rainbow huffed dismissively. ‘’Always,’’ she boasted. Rarity nodded, just as the train came to a halt. ‘’Let us go, then.’’ Unlike a normal train, this one had few places to disembark from. The frontmost exit had been picked as their standard disembarking point, and as such Captain Darkheart and his soldiers were already present both outside and inside that part of the train. ‘’Your Highness, my lady, Commander,’’ he saluted them all. ‘’The area is safe, and we have found no security issues.’’ ‘’Well done, Commander,’’ Rarity complimented. ‘’Then we shall disembark and see what awaits us, no?’’ ‘’Indeed. But, there is one more thing, ma’am,’’ Darkheart said. ‘’I have picked two of my finest as a personal escort for the Princess. I felt it was prudent she be as safe as possible.’’ Well. ‘’I appreciate the initiative, Captain,’’ Rarity said after a moment. ‘’Which two of your soldiers will be guarding her?’’ ‘’Sergeants Shrouded Night and Misty Skies will be performing that job,’’ Darkheart replied. ‘’They are two of my best. I do not think anyone will try to harm the Princess, but should such a thing happen, she will be safe regardless.’’ ‘’Thank you,’’ Rarity said honestly. ‘’It is a relief.’’ She looked down at Flurry. ‘’Did you hear that, Flurry? You’re going to have two ponies make sure you’re safe.’’ Alright, I could have worded that better. Rainbow raised an eyebrow and Darkheart’s face smoothed out into serenity. Flurry just looked up at Rarity and smiled brightly. ‘’Okay, auntie!’’ ‘’Sir,’’ two voices said at roughly the same time; two thestrals, one mare and one stallion stepped forward and saluted. ‘’These are Sergeants Shrouded Night and Misty Skies,’’ Darkheart said. ‘’As I said, they are the finest we have.’’ Flurry, out of the three of them, was the first to react. ‘’They look nice.’’ Rainbow was the second to speak. ‘’I tossed you around, didn’t I?’’ ‘’Yes ma’am,’’ the stallion - Shrouded Night - answered. ‘’Well, you did recover the best after your captain, so I guess you’ll do,’’ Rainbow declared. ‘’And you,’’ she pointed at the mare - Misty Skies - ‘’you are the one who rounded them up for me, aren’t you?’’ ‘’I was, ma’am,’’ the mare acknowledged. ‘’Good.’’ With that said and done, the group turned towards the doors, which were opened a moment later. And Rainbow Falls Station unfolded itself before them. |-x-X-x-| 12 December 1008 Administrative work was the bane of Nightmare’s existence. She could safely admit that much to the silence of her own mind. She tore her eyes away from the mind numbingly boring document in front of her and looked around her office for something to occupy her mind with instead. It didn’t matter how important this might be, she would actually go insane if she kept on working without a break. The first thing in the office that caught her eye was the map of Equus she had mounted on the wall facing the windows, directly in front of her. It showed major highways and railways, rivers, national and regional borders, as well as important locations and cities, and the terrain of the continent. The map was less detailed outside of Equestria and the Crystal Empire, but for now that mattered little. When the Lunar Empire had pacified those regions, they would be mapped in full and the map would be completed. Before expansion outside of Equestria could be started, of course, Nightmare needed to consolidate Equestria. The majority of the land was part of the Lunar Empire and had been mostly rid of organized resistance, with a few exceptions. The South-East of Equestria, though officially completely under control of her Tzinacatl Army, was still a hot-bed of native, socialist and Celestial resistance. And of course, the occupation of the Spa Islands by the Dragon Isles could not be forgiven or forgotten. Next to this region was the so-called ‘Confederacy of Southern States’. While it claimed to be a republic acting with the will of the people, Nightmare knew from IIS reports that the big corporations ran the nation as their personal playground. Their fooling around with the lives and livelihoods of ponies would most likely take years to properly fix. Two more breakaway states - or rather, statelets - existed. Las Pegasus and Vanhoover had both fallen to a socialist revolution, Vanhoover from the start, Las Pegasus a few months after its independence. Individually or together, they posed no threat, and the Lunar Imperial Army could occupy them without much effort. If not for one thing. Stalliongrad, evidently not satisfied with the lands in the north it had already taken, had stated clearly, though not in so many words, that any attack on Las Pegasus or Vanhoover would be met with war. Nightmare hated waiting; she wanted to march north at the head of her armies and personally destroy the Stalliongradians. But alas, while she had the numerical superiority on paper, the fact of the matter was that a war was impossible until she could pull the necessary troops for it from the Tzinacatl Army, and that would take some time yet even with the most optimistic estimates. But come summer, Nightmare’s empire would be ready for war again. And with any luck, the Crystal Empire too. It was, after New Mareland, the least war-ravaged part of her domain; the campaign to Crystal City had wrecked destruction, but only in a relatively small part of the nation, and that damage had already been restored. Unlike many Equestrian ponies, the Crystallians were eager to help their new government, and by and large they were cooperating peacefully with the Lunar occupation, with no large protests, riots or resistance groups that Nightmare knew of. She looked at one part of the map in specific: Rainbow Falls. Currently, Rarity and Flurry were there, unless something had gone terribly wrong, but that did not bear thinking about. They’re safe. They’ve got a Shadowbolt and Night Guards protecting them, and Rarity is no slouch when it comes to it. Nightmare looked back at the document she was supposed to be working on. She quickly skimmed through it, then signed it. Despite her personal opinions, there was no longer such a pressing need for guns as there had been at the height of the war, and so production could be scaled back slightly, which would allow consumer products to be produced again, on a very limited scale. Now, what is next? A letter from Captain-Marshal Barrel Roll, it appeared. Those were always a pleasure to read. Barrel Roll had been one of the few high-ranked Royal Guards that had defected to her during the Civil War, but he had admitted to her in private that he did it not out of any special love or deference for her, but rather out of the sense that Celestia could not adequately provide protection for Equestria and its citizens. Nightmare had, of course, agreed with him, before making him one of the few non-thestrals in the Night Guard. Now he was a Captain-Marshal, equivalent to any of the generals who were counted among the Imperial Chiefs of Staff, and led the Night Guard’s operations on the West Coast. That meant he made regular reports to her, and those were always full of snark and commentary. As such, this one would likely be filled with the same, even if his report wasn’t supposed to arrive until the day after tomorrow. With a touch of telekinesis, she opened the letter and unfolded it. From: Captain-Marshal Barrel Roll To: Her Imperial Majesty Nightmare Moon Subject: Recommendation for medal Your Imperial Majesty, It is, once again, my pleasure to write to you. I am sure you are wondering why I am writing to you outside of my scheduled report. The reason for that is simple: you see, most recently I have had the distinct pleasure of meeting and serving with one Private Minty Smith, of the Lunar Guard Prancisco Garrison. Having thus met her and seen her in action, I would recommend she be awarded the Medal of Exemplary Bravery. Of course, such an honour is not given lightly. I am certain you wish for a suitable explanation as to exactly why Private Smith is befitting of such a privilege as bearing the Medal of Exemplary Bravery. Well, allow me to explain. I first met the Private while myself and two of the Night Guard were tagging along with their patrol through the southern suburbs, near the docks. The patrol proceeded smoothly, of course; few would dare to assault a platoon of Lunar Guard backed up by three of Her Majesty’s Night Guard. Or so you would think.  Out of nowhere came a dozen earth ponies with shovels and other such tools, plus another dozen pegasi and five unicorns, also equipped with tools. It was an ambush, but not a very well-set one; they had us surrounded but their hiding places were too far from us: only a few were close enough to harm us, and they failed to do that. We shot seven dead and injured eight, then incarcerated the rest with the aid of another platoon that had heard the shooting and had come to our aid. During this short scuffle - I wouldn’t call it a fight - Private Smith, while ducking to avoid the swing of a hoe, caught a bullet in her left foreleg; someone, one of the unicorns we discovered afterwards, had someone gotten possession of a hoofgun and had tried to shoot the Private in the head. Fortunately the shot missed, but the bullet had to be removed, of course. And this is where it gets impressive. You see, not a day after this incident, Private Smith was walking on the docks around ten o’clock in the evening, off-duty of course. However, she heard shouting, and so went to investigate, as befitting a good soldier. What she found was a horror in the making. A minotaur and a griffon had cornered three young foals who had evidently forgotten the time while playing outside, and were beating them up for reasons we have not gotten from them. Private Smith did her civil duty, despite her injury, and immediately jumped to the foals’ rescue. Against a minotaur and a griffon, both quite bulky and large for their kind. Not a fair fight, obviously. Yet still Private Smith had the courage to step in. The resulting fight lasted a few minutes, and ended with a crushed rib cage for the minotaur and two broken claws for the griffon. Meanwhile, Private Smith lost a tooth and gained a black eye, as well as some claw marks that’ll probably scar. But the foals remained unharmed. I am certain you can draw your own conclusions from this. Yours honourably, Captain-Marshal Barrel Roll. Well. Nightmare pulled a blank piece of paper out of her desk. It seemed she needed to start drafting a letter.