Two days had passed since the second Council Meeting, and much of that conversation still occupied my thoughts with no indication of ceasing.
This distraction has been a burden even when my duties for the day seemed over, and Topaz has noticed this, but says nothing knowing I would confide with her if I could. While unable to ask directly because of the requirements of my duties, Topaz has shifted her stance to show her understanding in another way- snoot boops. One or two of these physical interactions followed by the two of us cuddling (when Cersus isn’t around) in some capacity, has done wonders for my mental stability. Words alone can’t express my gratefulness for the mare I love.
Even after nearly three years in the Crystal Empire, I find it hard to say those words aloud without some strain on my part- lingering effects of the weakened orders. Still, I find ways around to express my love for her without having to say it all too often, but this has created a sort of mysticism around the moments I do say those three words, so in a way it somewhat balances out. Not enough in my opinion, but enough for now.
It was during the very early morning hours of day three when Topaz and myself were sharply awoken with a flurry of heavy knocks upon our chamber’s door.
Between Topaz’s snoring, my wandering mind, and the knocking on the door there wasn’t any chance I would greet Luna tonight. The rapping came once more in pairs, but still gave no clue to the reason there was some creature knocking this early; I was getting older, and that never bothered me until this very moment as I struggled to peel myself away from Topaz’s iron grip. Since becoming the head of her department, Topaz has been required to be on campus fairly early leaving me alone when I wake, so to have the roles reversed left me appreciative of my ability to sleep in. I tried lifting myself up, but her grip would tighten around my neck in an effort to drag me back next to her where the snoring would affect my hearing even more.
The knocking came once more, and this time I didn’t really care if what I did next woke Topaz up.
“Enter.” I tried saying loud enough to not visibly scream, and was thankful Cersus decided to spend the night in Flurry’s room again.
The knocking stopped, and was quickly followed by a lull of sound where I could faintly hear the door handles being messed with before the loud click of the bolts echoed across my room. Another lull, and then the screeching of enchanted wood being forced to open slowly enough to hurt one's ears. The large and (often) imposing figure of the stallion I knew as Unstoppable Force peered wearily into the room, looked quickly around, presumably trying to find me- I coughed, and he tensed up. He was about to speak, but jumped to attention by Topaz’s sudden interjection. The loud, almost obnoxious, stifling inhaling of air hurt my ears while doing its job to drown out all other sound in the room- the guard looked at me, and nodded.
“Sir?” It was almost a question, and thankfully instead of waiting for another response he continued. “Their highnesses are nearing the station, and should be here within the hour.”
“Highnesses? Do you mean Cadence and Shining Armor, or Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia?”
“Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor, sir. We received the dragon fire telegram a little over 20 minutes ago- we were having trouble verifying its authenticity because the Royal Seal had been damaged. It took a response from us to confirm their identity, and act accordingly.”
“Order, and Harmony. Alright guardstallion, alert Shifting Winds of the situation, and inform him to gather an emergency detachment for escort duty. I’ll be down shortly in full dress.”
The stallion to his credit wasted no time acting upon my orders, and after a salute, he turned on his heels, and closed the door on his way out. This left me still stranded, and unsure how I would pry Topaz off…
“Is he gone?”
“That he is.” I answered reflectively before feeling Topaz’s grip pulling me closer to her, where she leaned up just enough for our muzzles to touch.
“Good! Let’s go greet our friends.” She declared by releasing me, and rolling off the bed with an audible click of her hooves touching the crystal floor. “We don’t have much time, so hurry up dear.”
“In a moment…” I muttered as I carefully began popping my joins, and checking my hearing to confirm the ringing was going away. “...were you awake for long?”
“The moment you started moving.” She answered while turning on the enchanted blue light that hung next to her vanity, already reaching for her comb and the eyeliner she’d become attached to using. “You haven’t been getting much sleep the past couple of nights, and I could feel you trembling slightly... No. Don’t think I didn't notice.”
“Trembling you say? I haven’t really noticed.” I finished realigning my joints, and carapaces underneath my disguise. Even after my reveal, and possibility most of the guard knows my secret, I still can’t come to terms walking in the open like that, and so continue to wear the unicorn guise even in my sleep.
I rolled myself off the bed with less grace as Topaz, yet still managed to land on four hooves with a louder thump. With Topaz applying her eyeliner first, it meant I would have time to get my Uniform Dress on by the time she finishes combing her mane…
“You only did it when I got up in the morning…” Her voice was a little softer this time. Coupled with her emotions on full display it wasn’t hard to figure out that I wasn't the only one with a weighted mind.
“I’m unsure if I can even speak of the matter, and it's this matter I’ll be speaking to Shining Armor about in the upcoming days. If permission is given, I’ll tell you immediately what plagues my mind.” I told her as I opened the hutch that stored our formal, and grabbed the bag that held the uniform in it.
“I’ll hold you to that.”
With an agreement in place, we managed to finish our preparations fairly quickly after that with Topaz opting to only wear her ladybug brooch to speed things along. I myself should have followed her example, yet felt compelled by the nature of my (temporary) position to keep a certain appearance at all times…
“Should we wake Cersus and Flurry Heart?” I asked while Topaz was patting out the imperfections of the uniform’s coat. She flattened one particular loose spot before looking me in the eyes.
“Celestia no. Cersus wouldn't be too bad, but Flurry Heart would be another problem all together. Besides, she’ll notice her favorite big sister..there! You look good Idol.”
“You’re not saying that because you found my bit pouch?”
“HA! If that was the only case, I would have pushed for that Officer Friendly comic much earlier than the end of this year.”
“Wait. Wait. What comic?” We were already leaving our room, so we can link up with Shifting Winds on the sixth floor. Topaz and I were trotting faster than normal so we could hopefully make it time to meet with Cadence and Shining at the train station.
“Officer Friendly printed media. Dedicated Comics proposed starting a comic line featuring the entire Officer Friendly family with backstories and villains! It sounded neat so I told them to go for it.”
“Why didn’t you inform me of this? You know I find Marevell’s Comics more entertaining…”
Honestly, this irritated me for reasons greater than it should have, but the best usage of words I could put forth would be admitting it ruffled my carapace some.
"Marevell has better quality, and it is good for them to add more wholesome content like Officer Friendly. The injection of a strong role model with an equally great supporting cast that come together to overcome the adversity of disharmony, and unlawfulness would sell better." I retorted, almost feeling superior in my knowledge of the printed color magazines. This didn’t stop the smug pegasus from defending her poor choice.
"Dedicated is more wholesome, it fits the brand better. Besides they already have the MareDoWell brand, and I figured they needed somepony on the opposite spectrum when it comes to crime fighting; a supposed mare that became jaded with the slow justice process, while the League of Friendly is the living incarnate of that system? The choice was simple."
“Marevell isn’t only about the spears, and boots genre Topaz. Their creativity is unmatched, and will handle the property better than the constant rehashing Dedicated Comics does.”
“Oh my, somebug is getting a little feisty, and the screeching bird pony from past nights isn’t to blame either…”
“Stop it.” I half heartedly commanded while trying not to recall the times she would prance around screeching about ‘looking for something to eat’. “We’re not talking about that.”
Her cackling told me she wouldn’t press the issue, and for the moment decided to drop the Officer Friendly talk all together to save myself further embarrassment.
We soon reached the intersection of the floor, and after issuing a new command to the guards on duty continued toward the stairs with a greater speed than usually allowed for most creatures- we made the game of ‘leap frogging’ look safe by comparison. Questionable practices aside, Topaz and I were greeted on the sixth floor by Shifting Winds and his gathered escort of nearly 8 other individuals in mostly accepted Crystal Guard attire.
“Colonel Hooves. Lady Topaz. Your timing is impeccable once again. The escort has been gathered as ordered, and we await your command.” The older pegasus relayed this as the near dozen of us proceeded down the stairs toward the ground floor.
“Their highnesses Princess Cadence, and Prince Shining Armor are due to arrive within the hour.’ That admittance earned some glances among the gathered detail, and to their credit managed to keep quiet showing the older pegasus knew exactly who to pick for this assignment. “We’ll proceed by hoof to avoid causing a commotion if we can help it, and unfortunately that means no carriage this time. The few ponies still up will still talk, but not to any noticeable extent.”
We reached the ground floor with little trouble, and the few night patrols we encountered were quick to alter their route allowing us to proceed uninterrupted.
Our first real test occurred the moment we passed through the large castle doors that separated the castle proper from the little plaza, just under its supporting arches where the Crystal Heart hovered nearly two ponies tall in the air- the guard detail was alert. They stood a little straighter when our group made our presence fully known, and the crystal pony family of two adults, and one foal barely able to walk on its own watched us with differing reactions; the parents were quick to offer a small bow with their ears pointed up, and tails trying not to twitch from nervousness while the foal watched with great interest from his harness. Topaz noticed its interest in us and offered a friendly wave with her good wing, while mouthing what I assumed was ‘hello’, and watched as the foal opened its mouth trying to mimic the action.
Its parents missed the interaction as they were still bowing, and the sun had yet to peak over the mountains that surrounded the valley that sheltered the city. The surprise encounter with the family affected Topaz’s mood more than my own, and the radiance flowing off her was enticing enough that I had to casually lean in to sample some of it; Topaz noticed fairly quickly and moved next to me enough for our shoulders to continuously rub together. This allowed myself the chance to have a filling snack while appearing we were (future) husband and wife walking side by side.
The Crystal Empire lost much of its infrastructure during Sombra’s brief, but terrible reign leaving the city nearly feeling like a bunch of houses built next to each other. The work has progressed fairly reasonably since Cadence and Shining’s reign, and with the exclusion of the residential buildings still being built on the outer limits of the city, the main hub was finished. Hanging from lines of wire stretching from the castle down all the main paths (including the one toward the station) were dozens of these magically infused lamps that emitted a constant blue glow that, while similar to the expensive blue candles I used now and then, were dim enough to light the path before us without blinding us.
These lights took some adjustment, but the general populace and myself included seemed to adapt fairly quickly to the strange lights to the point whenever they come on, most families use it as a way to track time- more often to signal their foals to come home.
Besides the small family observing the Crystal Heart, we encountered no other ponies, leaving our trek to the train station quiet, and unimpactful. There was one train currently in the station meaning the second track dedicated to outbound passengers hadn’t left the previous day as was customary. This could mean one of two things:
First, the Crystal Empire either managed to retain enough visitors to delay the train’s departure, or, second, was purposely withheld because of their highnesses’ impending arrival.
“Shifting Winds. Why is the train still in the station? Shouldn’t it have departed the previous evening?”
“Normally so sir, but I can’t say why it didn’t depart without giving you my own guesses.” The ashen gray pegasus admitted before looking around the plaza. “ We should establish a small perimeter around the station until their arrival.”
“Fair point. It would keep us mostly out of sight long enough to keep a possible crowd from gathering. Odds are we’ll get at least one small herd loitering around the plaza…”
I hate being right sometimes, for no sooner had I made the comment did we hear the clipping of hooves approaching us. Our heads turned around, and to my horror discovered the large outline of Unstoppable Force approaching with two sets of glowing eyes resting upon his back, and my hearts stopped for a moment. The others were put on edge by his intimidating shape until Topaz, thank Celestia for her ability to always understand the situation blurted out Cersus’s public name.
“Redshock! What are you doing!?” She yelled as she swiftly trotted passed us toward the lumbering behemoth of a unicorn. One set of those shining eyes blinked, as the buzzing of her little wings alerted most among us to the identity of the two sets of eyes- the ‘Royal Sisters’, as they’ve become known by.
“You left us behind Mom! If it weren’t for Flurry hearing ya, we wouldn’t have noticed!”
“FLURRY!?”
“Indeed, my lady. The pair sought me not long ago worried something had happened to you, and in spite of my assurances you were fine. It's hard to argue with the princesses.” Unstoppable informed us as the blue tinted light of the lamps above made it difficult to distinguish where the shadow, and his body met.
“You had your orders Unstoppable Force. Even if the circumstances aren’t threatening, this isn't something I can easily overlook even if it was an order from the princesses.” I noted how Shifting said the word princesses, yet couldn’t fault his logic as my second in command.
“The punishment shouldn’t be too severe. While the Crystal Guard needs ponies capable of thinking for themselves, when it comes to dealing with the heiress we can’t take chances. We can't plan for every threat unless they either make themselves known, or we spend the next year coming up with these threats.”
“And Flurry shouldn’t be up this late anyway.” Topaz added as she swiftly moved next to the towering figure of Unstoppable, waiting for him to relinquish the two fillies. He stood there for a moment until Topaz’s good wing shot towards him did he get the idea, and using his delicate magic lifted the young heiress into the waiting wing.
Flurry Heart accepted the magical aura around her recognizing it as friendly, but started whimpering, and fidgeting when she noticed she was being given away. Cersus for her part looked to the giant hybrid for confirmation, and after getting a nod from the stallion did she slip off his back so she could glide onto the cobblestone street. The young alicorn was putting up a fight until Topaz began humming Flurry’s favorite song, a mixture of her foalhood song, and the one all changelings first hear after hatching. A strange combination, but oddly satisfying to hear being hummed so openly…
“Your family has some strange customs sir.”
I looked over to Shifting Winds, as he (and everypony else) watched Topaz’s daring performance trying to prevent another magical surge by the godly foal. Her humming in tandem with the gentle rocking of her wing seemed enough to keep the powerful Flurry Heart content for the moment.
“I mean no ill of the heiress, you know that Idol, but I can’t help fearing all of that potential.” The ashen pegasus admitted as we watched the alicorn foal giggling from the attention, and even I felt a tremor of fear knowing there was a greater intelligence behind those eyes.
“You’re trepidations aren’t entirely misplaced Shifting Winds as long as we remember Flurry Heart is still a foal…”
“She’s not so terrible when you get use to her.” Cersus interject. Shifting Winds and myself both looked down, and could already tell her coloring was off enough to cast some doubt, meaning I’ll have to remind her to check her disguise later.
“Wasn't Flurry Heart the one who turned you into a lizard?’ I asked. Cersus appeared flustered by the question prior to falling onto her flanks with her forelegs crossed.
“I got better didn’t I?”
“That was after we tricked you with that heated rock.”
"I was a salamander, and it felt nice to sleep on it! " Cersus tried defending her actions with little success.
"I think you were more of a new-"
"Does it really matter? We still managed to trick her with a magic hot rock." Shifting Winds added, clearly recalling the chase with some fondness.
"She kept it, you know. On colder nights she’ll bring it out…"
"... it's a nice rock! "
Shifting Winds chuckled, remembering the incident more fondly now.
“Aye, I remember having to take most of the rookies at the time to scour the undeveloped lands to find that stone too. You didn’t want anything other than perfection, in fact I think most of the guards here were involved with the search.”
He looked back to the guards that had been listening to our conversation who quickly averted their ears and eyes trying to feign ignorance- Cersus sulked a little more.
“You’re just saying that to embarrass me!”
“I was one of the guards trying to capture you.” One of the guards challenged Cersus, earning the nymph’s ire.
“Prove it! I don’t even remember seeing you before this morning.”
“I was the one you bit, princess.” Cersus’s confidence evaporated while the rest of the escort began asking the stallion questions with most to see the scar. Shifting Winds chuckled as I moved forward to pat the nymph along her back.
“You were a very big lizard during the incident, Redshock. A little bigger and we would have been less willing to seek your capture.”
“It’s not funny…”
“Of course it wasn’t. You were a lizard the size of a yearling running on all four hooves hissing at everypony. Very few would find the circumstances amusing.”
“If it's consolation, Lady Redshock, your misadventure has started a tradition of sorts with the guards where they gather some of the rookies to go ‘monster hunting’. They even get one dressed up to play the ‘monster’ while the rest try to capture him. Your story will likely be passed down for many years to come.”
“I better get candy or something from this…”
The train was nearly 2 hours late, and our entire reason for waiting in the early morning was to avoid drawing a crowd. Looking around the plaza only reminded me how quickly that plan fell apart. Either a pony saw us in passing or the family observing the Crystal Heart alerted their neighbors of the curious sight I don’t know. What I do know is there will be no quiet reception for friends this morning.
“Sgt. Winds, the crowd is starting to get curious, and are advancing.”
“Colonel! A herd just appeared over the horizon with foals in tow! We don’t have any snacks or drinks to give them, what are we going to do?”
“Cersus, please! You can’t keep doing this as a Foal of the Heart!”
“Sister is funny! Look other dad, and see how other mother…”
I blinked, and looked down at the wide awake, giggling Flurry Heart trying to stand while pointing at Topaz and Cersus.; the heiress kept up her pointing and giggling as she marveled at the activity happening all around us. I did my best to keep her from flying off, and thank Harmony and Order she appeared content with merely watching the crowd. This left me mostly standing on the train platform while the other guards tried to keep the curious ponies at bay. Shifting Winds took most of this burden onto himself and quickly moved from end to end making sure the detachment was still focused on their duty- Unstoppable Force was an exception. While not originally a part of the detachment, he was quickly integrated into the operation, and promptly given the task to stand guard by the entrance to the platform using his exotic coat color and massive size to startle most ponies into rethinking their actions.
Only a few of the gathered(and growing) crowd were scheduled to use the train, and were allowed to remain fairly close in order to quickly board the train- after their highnesses disembark of course.
Celestia’s sun had already surpassed the tallest mountain peak when somepony began shouting that the train was approaching, and this was soon followed by the faintest noise that somewhat sounded like a train whistle. Most of the guards, myself included, couldn’t accurately say if the train was approaching, but nonetheless decided to prepare on the chance the information was accurate.
While the detachment at Shifting Wind’s instruction took on a more professional formation, I was standing on the platform nearest the track where I assumed Cadence and Shining Armor would be when the train stops. Topaz by now managed to get Cersus under control with the filly looking more or less unbothered by the matter, and taking a seat next to the excited heiress.
“I really hope it's them, and not another false flag. Cersus is a hoofful, and I don’t understand where it came from all of a sudden.”
“Banners excluded, I agree with you. The crowd is becoming too large for me to properly process their emotions, and no. That doesn’t mean I’m advancing my career in life.” I added before the nymph could properly levy a jab at my age.
Topaz’s own emotions were an odd combination that leaned closer to trepidation, but for what reason I don’t know. The four of us claimed this spot for the duration of the wait with Shifting Winds joining us by the time the train loudly announced its arrival- the crowd rejoiced.
Spurred on by this activity, the gathered crowd began releasing their pent up energy by a combination of joyous proclamations to their highnesses, the Crystal Heart, Flurry Heart, or whatever reasoning they could latch onto to participate in the impromptu gathering. The noise surprisingly didn’t bother the young heiress who happily clapped her hooves together trying to match the crowd’s energy. I turned to Topaz to say something, but the train decided to announce its arrival with one last release of the whistle, ending all conversation as the brakes clamped the sides of its iron wheels. The shrill screeching of their entrapment was the signal for the guards to safely move back to allow the iron beast room to deposit its passengers…
“TAKE POSITIONS! HURRY IT UP!” Shifting sounded off just as the train came to a final stop in a large explosion of steam.
While the guards were busy readjusting their formation, I quickly snatched the young Flurry Heart as her unnaturally large wings puffed open, presumably startled from the large steam cloud when one of the passenger doors opened. From the passenger car stepped out a portly pony with a noticeably large belly and thick limbs needed to support the additional weight; his bright red coat clashing against the purple passenger car as he looked around the platform with an equally out of place smile upon his sagging face.
“Greetings everypony! It’s so nice to be here in the pony after hearing so much about this place.” The stallion announced, almost laughing the words out. He took one step off the train car, giving the strained transport a chance to stretch after the strenuous journey, and casually walked over to the five of us with a pep in his trot that mimicked a foal having a good day.
“Greetings Mister…” I stuck out my hoof, and almost retracted the appendage when his iron grip seized it.
“Joyous Dowels! Mister was my father, Joyouex Noel, he was a woodcarver from the old country.”
“Dowels! As in the owner of Dowels’ Adventure and Mystery Wonderland?” Topaz moved forward with Cersus walking between her forehooves, just under her barrel. A habit she’d all but stopped until now it seems. The stallion smiled.
“That’s right! I’m here to help with the setup since I’m the biggest sponsor for the games.” His voice practically echoed with a laughter that contributed to the stallion’s over joyous nature.
“Games?” Cersus asked while peeking out enough to look up.
“That’s right kido. The Games. The biggest family event of the year, and I get to help!” Joyous Dowels proclaimed.
“The games?” Shifting Winds repeated, mostly to himself as he.
“The Equestrian Games.” The sweet, but richly voice of Princess Cadance clarified as she exited the passenger car with Shining Armor right behind her.
“ATTENTION!” The guards snapped their hooves together after remembering they were there because of duty, and not to eavesdrop on ponies.
Following the guards' proclamation, the gathered crowd of spectators all dropped to the floor with their head pressed to the ground, leaving Flurry’s shrill the only noise around.
“Sweetie!” Cadence cried as the foal ripped herself from my hooves and in a single bound jumped into her mother’s waiting hooves. Shining took the opportunity to give his daughter a quick nuzzle before giving Cadance and her some time together, and approached us.
“Joyous Dowels, these are the ponies we’ve been telling you about, with the addition of Sergeant Shifting Winds.” Shining pointed us out to the well fed pegasus, who shook each of our hooves this time.
“A pleasure! I’ve never been to this city before, yet I can’t walk from my office to the bakery without seeing photos, or hearing of it. Truly a marvelous place of any kind!” The stallion rattled on with that foalish wander from earlier, leaving myself to believe it not be an act at all.
“When we sent word of arrival, we didn’t expect a welcoming party.” Shining noted as he gestured to the bowing crowd. “YOU MAY RISE! WE THANK YOU!”
The crowd was slow to react, but quickly found their hooves once Cadance and Flurry Heart made their public appearance. The numerous ponies began stomping their hooves and shouting their praises for the royal family forcing the family to show their appreciation by smiling and waving to the crowd- that left us with the portly pegasus.
“The Equestrian games…” I muttered.
“That’s right! I’m so thrilled to be a part of it, and not because of its notoriety. It is the biggest competition in the entire world with constants from every race trying their luck against the best of the best. So much fun!” Joyous once more let his happiness shine through, but Topaz wasn’t oblivious to my lackluster enthusiasm.
Shifting Winds and myself turned to each other, and after an unspoken word agreed I should ask the question.
“Joyous Dowels, have their highnesses shared any concerns with you about hosting the games here?” I didn’t even need to look at Topaz to feel her unease when I asked that question, and my guess is she already knew it was related to my recent mood. The stallion in question looked perplexed.
“Only that they don’t have the infrastructure, and materials to complete a proper arena for the games, which is where I come in. As the premier entertainment expert, I have the resources and connections needed to help get us moving...”
The stallion for all of his flamboyance understood there was more to the question, especially when Shifting and myself shared another look, and then casted one toward the still waving couple. Topaz jabbed my side with her good wing, and I reacted accordingly with a small nip to her ear. Cersus understood what was happening, and found the courage to leave Topaz’s embrace, and instead of going to Cadance and Shining Armor, walked toward Unstoppable Force. I was a little surprised, but not too much given how much she likes the stallion.
“This should be further discussed in private with their highnesses- all of us.”
The mood was less joyous after that as the four of us stood there waiting for the royal family to either tire themselves with all the waving and smiles, or the crowd to realize they spent most of the morning ignoring their chores.
Either one could happen at this rate.
It was the train conductor that eventually ended their stalemate when he finally arrived to start his shift, and shooed everypony away (including the Royal Family and their guards) leaving only the ponies departing that morning. Joyous Dowels was given a room on the guess floor (floor 8) while the detachment was given the rest of the day off with the understanding they’ll partake in the night rotation; this left the three of us in the room we’ve been using as our makeshift meeting room for the past three months. Cadence, and Topaz had taken the fillies elsewhere to catch up while Head Nurse Paper Weight joined shortly after with her assistant in tow.
The older mare sat comfortably at the far right of the combined tables watching her assistant/protégé set up the portable screen in front of the newly built (with different parts) screen projector that used crystals to reflect the light. The young unicorn known as Medical Atlus appeared stumped by the strange contraption we’ve been blessed with, leaving the poor colt struggling to properly align the crystals based on the written instructions- even those seemed questionable.
The three of us decided to finally tell Shining about the potential disaster awaiting us as we waited for Medical Atlus to finish setting up the new projector. The one we’d assumed they were already aware of while in Equestria…
“A cold outbreak? Like the common cold, and not a snowstorm?” Shining asked with an appropriate level of skepticism. He was looking between Shifting Winds and myself for signs to prove his growing fears wrong, but when he couldn’t find anything, turned to the good nurse.
She shrugged and pointed toward myself.
“It’s true, your highness. The recent influx of illness in the Empire during your departure was enough to warrant some testing- The Crystal Heart is mostly a guess. It serves as the Empire's shield against the elements, so I see no reason it can’t do the same with illnesses to a lesser extent.” I began by recounting what the three of us discussed last session.
“Then why now?” Shining hissed, trying to keep his temper under control.
“We’re not native. Our immune systems are stronger than theirs, and so are the illnesses of our time than those of the past.” Paper Weight offered a lazy hoof toward Shifting Winds, who was taken back by the sudden call. Just for a second.
“Since the Empire’s return and the establishment of your rule, many ponies and creatures not native to Equestria have crossed its borders, bringing who knows what with them. Paper Weight believes the vaccinations we use are contributing to this crisis since they require a small injection of the virus for our bodies to adapt…”
“Meaning we’re actively carrying foreign diseases among a populace that has no exposure to it?” The three of us nodded, and Shining Armor slumped back into his seat. “Then how are we only now learning about this, and not sooner?”
“The best explanation we have is that the Crystal Heart has supported the populace to some extent, but not enough to completely prevent a pony from becoming sick. In short, the barrier kicked the rock so far down the road that we’re about to drop off the cliff.” I added, much to Shining’s dismay.
I looked toward the green coated unicorn that based on his emotions was desperately trying not to throw the crystals across the room. I was about to signal the unicorn’s frustration when Paper Weight tapped the side of the machine to be rewarded with a loud humming.
“Ya forgot to turn the switch on dear. Besides that, you were a natural.” Her apprentice did his best to appear unbothered by the mistake as he began to replace the crystals.
“I was only making some calibrations…” He half-heartily muttered.
Once the crystals were in place, the machine admitted a bright light that was shot between the crystals, and further split apart before re-converging with the large glass lens that acted as the covering to the crystals. Once the light made contact with the lens, it suddenly shot up to the little contraption that dangled above it, into a smaller lens that was slightly angled to redirect the light to another lens pointing away. Medical Atlus adjusted this device and suddenly the report appeared on the screen across from us, and after more adjustments the blur was removed leaving a clear representation of our report.
The five of us were watching the screen that displayed our report, when Paper Weight raised her hoof, and casted a shadow of her appendage over it, covering up some of the words.
“This could be fun.” She commented before dropping her hoof. “Medical Atlus, explained to his highness and gathered counselors what this image represents.”
“Yes ma’am.” The unicorn said without missing a beat. “This report was drafted in compliance with the Equestrian Practices for Intact Character, or EPIC for short. The gathered data is mostly incomplete given the constraints placed upon myself, yet it will serve well enough as an hypothetical. ”
“Very good, Atlus. If I may…” Paper Weight got up from her chair with little effort (ignoring the loud popping of her rear knees) while approaching the image on the wall to the right. “...this study, if you could call it that, was conducted during the routine health checks of our guards and the few times a week we set up a clinic in the different districts per month. “
Paper motioned for her assistant to continue, and did so without hesitation.
“The data was almost harmonic in nature with nearly every test result coming back within mere single digits of each other. We concluded the results might be the direct result of the Crystal Heart, and for the first two years everything appeared that way… until the Crystalling.”
“What about the Crystalling?” Shining asked too harshly as he leaned forward to adopt his ‘I’m listening pose’. I tried to intervene but he waved me off as his focus was solely on the unicorn to his left.
Paper Weight as well took a step forward, but was waved off by her assistant as well.
“We think when the heart was destroyed the first time, it might have reset everything. The first heart had been around since the Empire’s original founding, while this one is barely 7 months old. In other words, this heart isn’t strong enough to offer the same protections as the first one.” Paper Weight added.
To be fair, I hadn’t even considered that as a possibility nor did I even wonder if it could be assuming the Crystal Heart had been reforged, and picked up where it left off. Looking around the table, I noticed my companions felt the same way with the older pegasus looking paler while Shining Armor did his best not to slam his hooves on the table. Even being a part of last week’s meeting hadn’t prepared me for this theory, leaving me to wonder if our esteemed Head Nurse knew more than she had revealed so far. I couldn’t confirm this of course, but the odd feelings Cersus and myself had felt in her presence were more than magic affecting us, that much I was sure of. Still, for the sake of the Empire, I vowed to keep my concerns hidden to avoid splitting our efforts dealing with this potential cold outbreak.
While I was internally monologuing, the rest of counsel had moved into discussing the plan we’d form during our last meeting with a great emphasis on Equestrian aid. It was around this time I rejoined the discussion with the idea of possibly continuing with the construction of the Empire’s new arena and supporting infrastructure to avoid rising concerns.
“We could even suggest all visiting creatures helping with the construction get their shots updated?” Shifting Winds added, already understanding why I’d made the suggestion. “ We could come up with a reasoning later, and slowly offer these shots at our local clinics over time.”
“It’s a sound idea, Shifting Winds, but these Crystal Ponies have hides coated with crystal-like properties that make traditional needles nearly ineffective. We would have to offer the medicine another way if this plan is to have a chance.”
“What if we inject the medicine into their food?” Medical Atlust offered, but was quickly turned down by Shining Armor.
“No way. I won’t be tampering with my city’s food supply. If we start there, then what else will we do for the ‘common good’?”
“Saving their lives for starters.” Paper Weight threw in, earning her the ire of his highness, and ill will from Shifting Winds. Not even her incredible skills, and signs of increased aging would be enough to prevent an early dismissal if she kept it up. Yet, displaying his right to rule, Shining didn’t expel the mare for overstepping her authority…
“NO.” He growled the word, and ended that debate from continuing any further.
By some outside force, either Harmonious in design, or a construct of a yet to be identified grand plan, our meeting ended with a loud pop. The projector was catapulted off the table’s end, and fell at the hooves of its unicorn operator as the mature mare with a career ending wish was blown off her hooves with enough force to gain approximately 3 seconds of air time. The rest of us sitting down fared better but struggled to remain standing during the initial blast wave.
The blast wave wasn’t the only danger we were forced to endure, for a large, radiant pink light assaulted my eyes, and other senses to uncomfortable levels of alertness. During this brief moment I was both blinded and overwhelmed, but not deaf…
“I’M GOING TO BE A BRIDESMAID!”
I knew that voice- Princess Cadance. Her appearance and statement momentarily intrigued me, until I remembered only a single changeling and pony couple that had recently become engaged. It took a great strength to overcome the burning of my eyes, but found the answer I sought from the (by comparison) muted voice of Topaz.
“Uh..I mean not yet?”
I wanted to hide, but the large outpouring of love coming from the Princess of Love left me scared to even move else her attention gets directed towards me. My saving grace this time came from Shining Armor who was swiftly targeted by the love saturated princess.
“WE HAVE SO MUCH TO DO DEAR!” I covered my ears this time, but it was in vain. Suddenly the outpouring of love infused magic hit us once more, and with another loud pop, the royal couple was gone.
With Cadance’s radiant love magic gone, I was able to open my eyes to assess the damage of the room- it was a mess. Shining Armor was missing, meaning he’d been abducted during the princess’s retreat while leaving the rest of us behind to pick up the mess. Medical Atlus was already up, but was hovering over the now broken crystal projector that had been on loan to us; Shifting Winds and myself had weathered the storm nearly unscathed, and that could be credited to our years in service to the princesses.
Paper Weight was still on the floor groaning, unmoving, but breathing. I turned to the spot where the princess had been looking for a certain mare, and found her disheveled mane and misplaced feathers the only apparent ‘damage’ easing my hearts. Topaz was looking off into the distance (a saying in the guard) before hearing me calling out to her, this broke the spell allowing her to look me in the eyes. She raised her hoof with the golden band.
“Cadance found out.. hehe.”
“Colonel, sir? Perhaps we should provide hearing aids and safety glasses as well?” Medical Atlus snorted as he tried collecting the pieces of the broken machine. A groan brought the four of us to look toward the still downed earth mare as she laid still.
“Add a chiropractor or two to that list will you? That blast locked my shoulder up, and I need some good hooves to get this unlocked.”