This was a disaster.
A hoof brushed against my arm, and I looked down to see Echo staring at me with an almost sheepish look on his face.
”My deepest apologies, lord. I had not expected his reaction to my presence to be so poor.”
I shook my head slowly, my foul mood deepening further.
“No, I shouldn't have brought an unknown into that. Novice mistake on my part, don't worry too much about it.”
Echo absently kicks a hoof against the cobbles looking down, but looks back at me with firmness returned to his gaze.
”Nevertheless, for my part in it I must take responsibility. Have the troops hold their position, we shall take care of this mess.”
He eyes the darkening sky as he speaks, and a chill ran up my spine.
I could imagine exactly how an autonomous 'security' organization would deal with this type of problem.
But I wasn’t about to give up on the guards quite yet.
Maybe some of them could still be reasoned with.
Not all of them had to die for nothing.
“Before you do anything of the sort, I'm going to try and talk some sense into them one more time.”
He lowered his head in a shallow bow, but I could see the start of savage smile beginning on his face.
”As you wish, lord. I shall prepare for the inevitable, but hold for your word.”
Another shiver, and I could feel goosebumps rise on my neck.
But I pushed down the unease and turned to an officer bearing the emblem of lieutenant.
“Soldier, get me a megaphone. I have an announcement to make.”
The officer saluted me sharply.
”At once sir!”
A few moments later, I was standing behind the barricade beside a number of soldiers manning it.
Just in case they thought now was the time to attack.
I lifted the megaphone to my mouth and addressed the rebel guards across the courtyard.
“Royal Guards of Equestria, your dedication to your brothers is admirable, and you have made clear that your courage does not waver. Truly, you have shown you are more than deserving of your status as guardians of the princess and Equestria.”
I paused for a moment, considering the weight of my next words and just how they might be received.
“But now, that dedication has led you astray. You stand in opposition to the crown and against the defenders of the realm, and this sedition threatens the harmony of Equestria itself. Even as I appreciate your loyalty to your brothers, this is something that cannot stand. I ask you, I beg you, look within and truly question if a mere misunderstanding is worth upsetting the delicate position Equestria stands in. Your actions reflect poorly on Equestria as a whole. Would you continue along the path of disharmony and discord you have slipped onto, or turn back to the light?”
I let the words hang for a moment in the still air of the deepening night.
Nothing.
When I resumed, there was a touch of genuine touch of emotion in my voice.
“Please, I do not wish to see any blood shed over such a petty mistake as this. With all here as my witnesses, if you come back to us, back to harmony, there shall be no repercussions. You will be welcomed as prodigal sons, celebrated for your understanding of the value of unity, and for the wisdom of your choice.”
Again, I paused, struggling to find my next words.
This situation was affecting me far more than I would have thought.
“I will even roll back the proposed changes if you just surrender. Please, just stop this. Just come back to us.”
One last pause.
“I will give you time to think. Please, loyal guardians of Equestria, come back to us.”
I trailed off, unable to think of anything else to say.
So I stood at the barricade, staring across the hall as the minutes stretch out before us.
As I was about to turn away in despair, to give Echo the order, I heard muffled shouting from the direction of the Royal Guards.
After a final, shouted exclamation, I saw a young looking pony hop over the barricade and sprint over to my side, his weapon cast to the ground.
As he charged toward me, a pair of soldiers push a crate aside to make room for him.
He slid to a stop behind the battlements, panting heavily, his mouth beginning to foam from the exertion.
At my feet, he bowed deeply, professing an apology with every desperate breath he takes.
Getting over my shock, I laid a hand on his withers gently.
He twitches at the contact and looks up at me with wide, fearful eyes.
But his return has salved my spirit, at least a small amount.
There was still some hope that the rest could return to see reason.
I gave him a warm, paternal smile and patted his back soothingly.
“All is forgiven, young one, go get some rest. See the lieutenant back there, he'll get you a place to rest.”
The young guard quiets down and nods, tears welling up in his eyes as he gallops into the command room.
After another few minutes of waiting for more to trickle to our side, I returned to the command room, a sudden tiredness pressing down on my shoulders
I took a seat at the table in the center of it all, rubbing my eyes.
A sergeant approached me cautiously, standing beside me and delivering a rigid salute.
”Sir, there's a pony at the door to see you. We've kept her outside the command room, but she swears she knows you. One Cursive Quill?”
My tiredness was immediately replaced with a flare of anger.
These idiots should have known who she was.
I reigned the feeling back as I recalled that I had specifically ordered troops from outside the city to be deployed.
Instead I settled on a sigh of resignation to show how I felt about his actions.
“Send her in, please. And spread the word, she's permitted wherever she needs to go.”
The sergeant nodded and trots off.
Moments later, a frantic galloping reaches my ears and a very distraught looking Quill hops onto my lap.
She buried her face into my chest, heaving great gasps of air and choking back sobs.
A quick look around tells me that many ponies have vacated the room, and the remaining ones are pointedly ignoring us.
Gently shushing her, I stroked her back to calm her, wrapping my arms around and tightly embracing her.
It takes a long while for her to calm down enough to speak, still hiccuping as she looks up at me with a tear streaked face.
”I was s-so worried Anon! Th-the guards, they wouldn't let me in, and there was all the shouting! I thought you'd been hurt!”
Quill trails off, burying her face into my chest again.
I stroked her mane to calm her, not saying a word.
Right now she just needed to be comforted, not given excuses.
An hour later, she's calmed down and fallen asleep in your lap, and the command room is quiet around us.
A number more of the Royal Guards had passed through, some tearful, others with their heads held high.
But it had been at least a half hour since the last one had passed through, and a report from the barricade said the only ones left just happened to be the ones who had been on the guard roster for Chitin.
And of course, Buckler had stayed as well.
Echo had returned ten minutes ago, informing me that he and the other Wardens were prepared to 'solve the problem'.
But I was hesitant.
I certainly didn't want this crisis to go on any longer than it had to, but to use such methods?
It was strange in a way, going to war with the griffons hadn't affected me in the slightest, I had even felt gleeful at hearing of their total defeat in Trottingham.
Even killing other humans was never a problem to me during the war.
Perhaps it was because these were ponies, not my own people, but they had taken me in when I had nowhere else to go.
I had seen what was bad about humanity, but only what was positive about these ponies so far.
It made sense for me to be more attached to them, but it was only now I understood how deeply these attachments ran.
But now, I steeled myself, putting on the politicians mask of neutrality I had perfected.
“Go.”
At the word, Echo trots away silently, leaving the command post behind.
A small part of my heart breaks, and I can't stop a couple stray tears from falling from my eyes.
I had just authorized the murder of 20 guardsmen.
A nuzzling at my belly reminded me of why I had made this choice though.
It was ponies like Quill, like Fluttershy, like all my friends in Ponyville that I stained my hands with these decisions.
I made these choices so no one else had to.
The cost of upholding harmony and unity had to be paid.
But just how much of my soul would that cost be?
Maybe it would cost too much, and I would become a monster.
Glory to Equestria.
You are Echo.
Lord Anonymous has approved of your ‘solution’ to this little rebellion.
Anything the Royal Guardsmen do reflect poorly onto the Wardens after all.
You were essentially mirror agencies after all.
And now you had to kill your own brothers.
But you held no love for them.
They hated you and your fellow Wardens after all.
And they tried to have your true brothers dragged down with them, trying to have your order punished for their mistakes.
Believing you were no more than murderers and thieves.
It didn’t matter if there was no Celestia, they pledged to the throne itself.
It didn’t matter if a human or a pony sat on it, orders must be obeyed.
As you and the other Wardens got into position, you noted one last thing.
Their final moments would be spent expecting a final siege, a chance to prove their valor.
And the Wardens would deny them that final wish.
The irony wasn’t lost on you.
I didn’t sleep at all that night.
Even though the number of soldiers had dwindled to a skeleton crew and the lines have been quiet all night.
Perhaps it was because, a few moments after that true, deathly quiet had begun, Echo had sidled up to me and told me that the situation had been resolved.
I may have been optimistic, but I wasn’t naive, I knew exactly what he was implying.
Perhaps it was because I’d sent a protesting Quill off to her own room.
It had taken a great deal of assurance that I would be perfectly safe, especially with the resolution and being surrounded by military troops.
But eventually, she'd listened to me.
I didn't want her around to feed off my stewing mood.
Perhaps it was the inspection of the guard barracks I had undertaken after getting word of the completion of Echo's...work.
It had been clean, disturbingly so.
Better organized and cleaned than it had been when I had been in there negotiating for peace.
I had ordered the troops manning the barricade to solemn silence and to take down the fortifications.
I’d have to deal with the press in the morning for certain, maybe that was what weighed so heavily on me.
How would ponies react to knowing their beloved Royal Guards had rebelled against me?
Though it hadn't been all of them, in fact it hadn't even constituted a military platoon.
And perhaps more importantly, none of the other guards around the palace had come to their rescue, remaining faithfully at their posts.
Maybe this was just a fringe case?
And truly, how many ponies knew exactly how many had actually rebelled?
Besides the military, who was loyal to me, who else truly knew?
I could spin it as though they had all come back over peacefully after understanding their mistake.
In fact, that would be practically easy compared to other options.
It had some actual truth to it after all. Well over half of them came back.
40 coming back to 20 being killed wasn’t exactly the best numbers, but it was still just barely over half.
But I left that choice for later, worrying away at it would do nothing but give me an ulcer.
Still, I hadn't found rest despite giving up on worrying.
Much later in the evening, perhaps it was early in the morning though, I found Echo at my side.
After some time sitting in silence, I decided to distract myself with conversation.
“Do you mind if I ask you a question, Echo?”
He glances about the empty room, then inclines his head in a curt bow.
“So long as it does not compromise the security of my kind, I shall do my best to answer, lord.”
I scratched at my chin, wondering exactly what the boundaries were.
“Well how about the beginning. Where did you guys come from? I mean, you're not exactly pegasi right?”
He let out a thoughtful hum and looks at the table I was sat at.
”We were, once. In eons past, just after the unification of ponykind, we were pegasi. So the stories go, we had build the grand city of Cumulopolis, the city that touched the sky. So high up was the cloud base that it was a mere speck to those who could not soar as we did. We were so high that many of us dreamed we could even touch the stars themselves.”
He trailed off, gazing out the window with a distant look and a sad smile.
When he doesn't speak for a long moment, I continued the line of questioning.
“Where was Cumulopolis? I've never seen reference to that outside old legends, hell I didn't think it was real.”
He turned his face to me, his look grim.
”The moon wept.”
I blinked slowly at the cryptic turn of phrase.
“Explain.”
He sighed and returned his gaze to the stars outside, his gaze one of fanciful desire.
”A piece of the moon herself broke off and fell through the sky. All of our ancestors gathered and gazed at the tear the moon had shed with wonder. Then it seemed to shatter across the night sky. Mere moments later, the city was totally destroyed. Anypony that survived the calamity was...changed. No longer could they walk in the day with ease, nor navigate by the rays of the sun. They were stripped of their feathers, their wings becoming dark and leathery. They became outcasts among their own people, the pegasi. They thought themselves punished for daring to brush their wings against the dome of the sky”
His gaze took on a beatific quality as he continued to stare at the moon high above.
”But Princess Luna came to them, sought them out of the caves they had sequestered themselves in. Though she did not know why the moon wept, she swore that she would not stop seeking a way to give us back our first bodies. And so they swore their blood, and ours, to the princess of the night. Though many millenia have passed since then, we still keep faith that she shall return us to how we were.”
He continued to gaze wistfully at the night sky, his eyes unfocused and misty.
I took some time to consider the tale.
It was easy to dismiss it as just an origin myth, something to explain why the bat ponies were so different from every other kind of pony.
But the conviction Echo had relayed it with, and the care he had taken in choosing his words, kept me from simply calling it a story and being done with it.
It certainly explained their devotion to Luna.
And their willingness to die for her if necessary.
And perhaps that moon rock had some kind of magic in it, it certainly wouldn't be far-fetched that that would be the case.
After all, I had seen stranger things even in my short time in Equestria.
“But why take on the role that you have? You could have easily been taken under the Royal Guard, you probably would have even been welcome to the night shift.”
He let out a short chuckle and returned to looking me.
”Nay, we had seen a need for a force such as ourselves. We had become an old mare's tale, the pegasi that flew to close to the moon and were struck down for hubris. We embraced it, eventually. Only a few of us would ever be in the public eye, and only accompanying Princess Luna. Later we established the role I now fill, as we realized that sometimes we must...coerce certain ponies to help in tasks. And so it came to be that we would be the wall in the night, doing things that no reasonable pony would consider, all in order to keep Equestria safe and serve the will of our princess.”
I scratched my chin and remember something that one of the guards had mentioned earlier.
“And you sided with Luna during the Fall, right?”
His ears flattened against his skull.
I probably could have phrased that far better, but I was totally exhausted dammit.
His answer is hesitant, as though expecting a rebuke at any second.
”Yes, we sided with Nightmare Moon. Stories from those of the time recount some inexplicable...draw to her. They knew their actions would harm Equestria but...it didn't matter for some reason. Even the tales have nothing but speculation, that perhaps it was the same blessing that made us as we are which had us so unquestioningly loyal. The princess is inexorably tied to the moon, after all. But it does not matter, we fought against Equestria openly then and continued to foster rebellion for two centuries after until Celestia herself found our homes and brought us back under Equestrian rule.”
My eyes had widened at the mention of rebellion even two hundred years after Luna's banishment.
That would have been the Great Eastern Rebellion that had seen the disbanding of the military as a whole.
'The Eastern Frontier in Flames', that had been the title of the book I had read all about it.
How long ago was that now?
Long before I’d taken the throne certainly.
And now with the reestablishment of the military proper, and Luna being one of the top generals, the bat ponies were coming and offering me their service.
Circles within circles.
Maybe it was just how tired I was, but the thought sends a chill up my spine.
I had spent so long studying and participating in politics that I began to see double meanings everywhere.
But this kind of recursivity was something that felt new, and entirely unwelcome.
The horizon had begun to brighten while I stewed over the information I had garnered.
I saw Echo's gaze flicking to where the sun would soon appear and back to me.
With a wave, I was about to dismiss him, his thoughts easy to understand.
But there was one last matter that had to be dealt with.
“Echo, from the Wardens actions today, I have no choice but limit some of your autonomy.”
Echo looked up at me, puzzled.
I continued.
“Because of your actions, the Royal Guards trust has been permanently been lost. And while the Wardens have fixed the problem they have caused, I still must do this. From today onwards, the Thestral Wardens will obey my orders as if they were Luna’s orders. You will report directly to me, you will still report to Luna. The only reason you will not be enrolled into the army’s command structure is because of your nature. Am I clear?”
Echo thought on it for a bit.
“Of course, Lord Anonymous. Your terms are fair, and we will vow to uphold the unity of Equestria.”
The Wardens didn’t have any real choice, and this deal was much fairer than what was offered the Royal Guards.
The Wardens didn’t disobey my orders and question my authority, so for that I chose to grant leniency.
“Good, very good. You are dismissed”
He gave me a deep bow and trots out the door, leaving me alone in the room lit only by the predawn light.
There was so much to do today, I’d be addressing the media about the matter of the guards, still going on with the changeling talks, poring over military and industrial reports, and who knew what else
I tried to rub the sandpaper feeling from my eyes, knowing that I had to at least appear attentive to the ponies.
I began to wander back to my room, determined to go about a regular routine for the day.
Or as regular as I could make it.
Something to distract me from all the excitement of late.
Boring was fine, it just had to be regular, routine.
Anything normal to distract from this madness.