Canterlot
"I can't believe him! That spineless bastard!" Frosty Swords seethed as he and Orion were walking down Sol Street, towards the city center. Having gotten the morning patrol.
"I don't really get why you are so angry. Blue always behaves like this." Orion answered, while trying to walk around the puddles of snowy muck on the pavement.
"Not him..." Frosy said "I'm speaking about Lemon Eye now. He just backed out from patrol for the millionth time. How such a scaredy good-for-nothin' even became a royal guard in the first place?"
"Weeell..." Orion rolled his eyes, and peeked back at Frosty "Firstly, when Blue and Lemon are talking with each other there is quite a lot of tension between the two, also I'm like 99% sure the two of them have fucked at one point, and one of them is just painfully reminded of that fact. Secondly, you aren't always a prime example of a brave, and always faithful royal guard either, Frosty."
"Okay, okay, point taken." answered Frosty, while trying to pick up the pace. Orion was always slow, unlike him. "But when did I last leave you in trouble, tell me?"
"Oh, never!..." Orion answered.
"See? That's what I'm talkin' about!" answered Frosty "Because I never got into trouble!"
"Look, I know you're capable." continued Orion, taking on a much more serious tone "But every guard worth his salt knows the duties we have are very serious, I don't want to generalize, or anything, but there are new kinds of creatures seen everywhere nowadays with there own issues they bring from home."
Frosty looked at his buddy, without being impressed.
"Look, I know there are a few bad apples among creatures like griffons or dragons, but there wasn't a single crime reported from Canterlot in months. And before then, only petty theft, and such." Orion said "Until recently Canterlot has been very safe amongst the population"
"I'm not concerned. After all, the fate of Equestria does not rest on me, and anything besides that can be handled by a skilled royal guard!" Frosty said sarcastically but Orion could only roll his eyes.
Arriving at a large intersection, both guards stopped, and Orion spoke up, slightly shivering:
"I think this is where we part ways. Was nice having you, Frosty."
"Yeah, I bet! Hey, are you cold?" Frosty asked, leaning in a bit closer.
"Gee, what made you think that? My teeth chattering, or my body shivering? And I don't even dare to imagine the weather on the Platform. Ah, stupid new patrol route..." Orion answered, and drooped his ears. Indeed, his new route wasn't his usual. It was an exclusive "gift" from their platoon sergeant, who wanted Orion to make up for the missed work days.
"Sorry Orion, I was just joshing you a bit. I didn't realize you were this cold... I mean, it's barely below the freezing point, so it's just fine for me..."
Orion was squinting his eyes at Frosty. "Yea that's because your a bat pony. Im a Pegasus, we were built for different environments."
"True, but knowing you, I think you will be fine" Frosty said smirking.
"Okay, okay, point taken!" Orion waved a hoof.
"Okay, bye then! Have a peaceful patrol" Frosty said.
"Bah! I told you it'll be okay! So don't worry. Have a peaceful patrol as well"
The two guards finally separated, and Orion picked up the pace. But he had a growing suspicion, and after a few dozen yards, he glanced back. It indeed was as she suspected...
"Frosty" he said just as loud so he would hear "Quit staring at my ass!"
"What? Me? I would never! Buh-bye!" Frosty shouted back, and he actually started to walk towards his own designated route.
Orion chuckled, and rolled his eyes. Orion wasn't the first pony he caught eyeing his backside, and not the first time either. And he won't be the last, for sure half of the guard was too gay for there own good. That and armor or not, he knew it was a sight to behold. And he knew it was a fact, not mere egotism, or anything.
After crossing the Central and Industrial districts, Orion finally arrived at the Mountainside District, dreaded by many guards. The place was named as such, because as one would guess, it was located right next to the side of Canterlot Mountain. But the districts of Canterlot all had such imaginative names, like the district with the Royal Castle being called the Castle District.
Although Orion knew the place relatively well, he never had to patrol it, and admittedly, he's never been there at night. As he entered the district proper, he realized just how narrow the streets and alleyways there were. In some parts, the adjacent buildings were so close to each other, that a regulation spear couldn't be fit between them. And being evening, it was almost pitch black everywhere, as the simple firefly lamps were placed very far apart from each other.
Also, unlike the rest of Canterlot, the black cobblestone pavement didn't do the place any favors, bringing it down to the same level as the worse parts of Manehattan. Overall, it was a really a unflattering part of the city, and Orion admitted to himself that maybe it was even a bit creepy at this time of day. But that only was because how his metallic clip-clops reverberated throughout the streets, making it even more apparent he was all alone.
Orion actually wished he would meet someone, anyone, because he started to feel like he was in a dead city, with him being the only civilization around. And that happened, about half an hour into his patrol.
A strange, unicorn would trot towards him, wearing a little bowler hat, and a bag, or more like a suitcase, as he got closer, Orion loudly greeted him:
"Good evening, citizen! Where's the hurry?"
The Unicorn stopped in front of Orion, and seemingly afraid, he tipped his hat to Orion with a shaking hoof.
"He-hello..."
Orion nodded back, and asked:
"So, where are you going?"
The Unicorn looked left and right, but only with his eyes, as if searching for an escape route. Still stammering, he answered:
"J-just home..."
"Okay, carry on then! Have a good night!" Orion said smiling, the unicorn tipped his hat again, and hurried away without saying anything. Orion looked after him, and felt a little bad about the situation. It was a guard protocol to make routine checks, but maybe he picked the wrong pony for that. This one seemed like the type who fears authority, and not because he is up to no good, Guards probably aren't the just and helpful folks everywhere, unlike in Canterlot. Orion contemplated that fact for a moment.
Orion continued his patrol, and in the next few hours of it, nothing interesting happened. He zigzagged through the streets and alleyways of the district, not meeting many ponies or creatures. She checked on those who he met though, and one pony even complimented him on his nice manners. It couldn't be helped, Orion simply had a way with words, and for a royal guard, he came off more as the friendly guy from next door, rather than a figure of authority.
Walking forward, Orion noticed that of the firefly lamps was out of order. Upon closer inspection though, he realized that actually, the glass pane on one side was open. The glowing insects must have been let go deliberately...
Orion raised an eyebrow. This was a somewhat strange find. Like, why would one disable a lamp, when the lighting is already so scarce in this area? Suspicious, Orion picked up the pace a bit, to check out the next lamp in the alley, and lo and behold, that was in the exact same state. Not letting go of his thaught process, he walked forward past the next lamppost, lacking the fireflies also. Then a bend was coming up in the alley, and he started to hear muffled conversation. Clearing the bend in the alley, he could see a small group of creatures, apparently griffons, assembled around a cart. Now he could also make out some sentence fragments, which clearly came from them.
"Gimme the next one, quickly now..."
"Careful with that..."
"Shit, someone's coming, put that away..."
Orion didn't have the slightest idea what could a small group of griffons do in the pitch-black street at midnight, but one of them had a small lantern, providing some very dim light. Maybe this was some griffon cultural thing, but nevertheless, the guardsman was aiming to find out what their reason was for hanging out at this hour. After all, it was a bit strange.
Orion approached the griffons, now he could see there were four of them altogether, three male ones, and one female one, on top of the cart. It was probably for the flat crates piled upon each other nearby. Their origin should've been the small house - apparently a warehouse - they all stood before, the griffon holding the lantern put it on the cart, so now they could see each other properly.
"Greetings, Sirs and Madam!" Orion began, in a friendly tone "Is everything alright? I noticed the lights were out a bit further back on the street, I hope it didn't cause any inconvenience for you."
The griffons froze when Orion started to talk to them, but realizing what they were dealing with, they became more at ease. Except for the female griffon on the cart, who was still giving the guardsman a nasty look. One of them, a big brown griffon, stepped forward, and began to talk.
"Why hello there! Um, Sir...Guard. No, we didn't notice the lights were out, but we're all fine here, thank you, he-he!"
The griffon seemed really uncomfortable, and although his voice was chipper, his smile was forced. Orion furrowed his brows ever so slightly. He felt something was kept from him, something was going on here. But he continued with her next question, smiling again.
"Good to hear that! Then can I maybe ask what are you doing here at this late hour?"
"We? Uh... Nothing serious really. Just... Moving out my store to a different location! Yup." answered the griffon.
Orion glanced at the "store". It wasn't one, but for now, he decided to play along.
"I see. What store is this? What do you sell?"
"Oh, nothing serious. Just trinkets, odds and ends, that sort of thing. You know, it's a pawn shop kinda thing."
"Okay. And I guess those crates contain the wares you sell. Can I maybe take a look into one of them?"
The big griffon looked back at the crates nervously, and the two other griffons. One of them, with blue-ish plumage, stepped to the crates, and put a claw on them. The other, a grey one shuffled around nervously, grinning at Orion. It was actually a pretty goofy sight.
"Big brown" looked back at Orion, and gestured with a claw back and forth, as if counting something. The guardsman, at this point, stepped back a little, just in case. Just outside the range of a potential claw swipe...
"Now you see, I can't show you, because... That stuff is really fragile, and we packed it so carefully, and we don't have any more packing materials, so we really shouldn't open 'em up, heheh, yeah."
The blue griffon from the back added:
"Yeah, they're paw-painted vases and plates from Pandaria. VERY fragile stuff, so if you don't mind, noble guard, we'd spare unpacking them."
"Totally understandable!" Orion nodded "Then I'll only need to see your business license, and I'll be out of your way!"
The griffon looked at him flabbergasted. Orion feigned obliviousness, and even cocked his head a bit, with a smile. He knew he had him.
"That?... Um, I left that at home, yeah. And I can't bring it over, because we're really in a hurry! Yup, that's right!... HEY, WE'RE ALL REALLY IN A HURRY, I SAID!"
Taking the "subtle" hint, the two other male griffons started to load up the crates to the cart. The female one took each of them over, and put them under a sheet. Orion sidestepped to see better what's going on, but Brown One blocked out the view.
"How sad..." Orion said "Then Iet me ask for your name and address, so a guard can come over tomorrow, and check those out for you."
The griffon put up one claw, as someone who's going to say something very important.
"Ohhh... You see... Ah fine, you had me, noble guard! This is not my store, it belongs to my brother! I'm just helping him out, because he is really busy nowadays. I can give you his address, and you can talk out the legal stuff with him."
Orion squinted his eyes, and took on a more serious tone.
"Oh, I bet it's not your store. Because this isn't a store in the first place. This is a warehouse. So what's going on here, really?"
Surprised at the objection, the cart loaders suddenly stopped, and without the support from below, the female griff lost the grip on one of the crates. It crashed to the ground, and spilled its contents.
The brown griffon looked back. Orion looked there too.
They weren't plates at all. Or vases. They papers, a lot of papers.
The two male griffs in the back hastily started to pick them up, while the brown one stepped towards Orion, adamant about explaining the situation.
"Whoa, look at that, it seems my bro duped me, these aren't vases, heh, I guess he will really..."
"I want to see the shipping manifest, NOW." said Orion sternly, but also stepping back.
Orion didn't exactly recognize the papers, but he knew that with everything going on with a certain council pony and the recent finds in that other warehouse the guards had raided, this could be something related.
"Okay, look, I have some bits on me. Let's smooth this out alright? You didn't see anything. We'll just load these papers up, and..."
"Gruff, get out of the way!" a female voice interrupted from behind.
Orion wanted to interrupt now himself, but "Gruff" turned back to the cart, and yelled at his female companion.
"Dammit Gilda, I told you I will smooth out any interru...
"Finally!" said the female griffon, and aimed a small crossbow right between Orion's eyes.
Orion rolled to the side in a moment's notice, and the bolt wheezed past his ear.
"DAMMIT!" Gilda said, and began to reload her weapon.
Orion sprung to her hooves, and pulled out his sword, as well his "Royal Guard voice".
"DROP YOUR WEAPON NOW!!!" Orion shouted, with his sword ready in his wing's grip.
Gilda didn't comply, instead took cover behind the cart. The brown griffon, Gruff, leaped up to the cart, and dropped down weapons to the rest. He himself grabbed a large glaive, and launched himself at Orion.
"Stand down!!!" Orion yelled, but only because of protocols. He knew none of them will stand down, and he will have to fight his way out of this.
Gruff striked at Orion, but he blocked the savage lunge with his sword. Then another one, then he took the initiative, and attacked himself. Those years of fencing definitely paid off.
The griffon, surprised, made a long jump backward assisted by his wings. Orion took on the offense, with the business end of his weapon pointed forward, at a slight angle. He poked at the griffon, who retreated back to the cart, only to be backed up by the others.
Gilda aimed her crossbow at Orion. In a heartbeat, glared at her and threw his sword in the general direction. Gilda pulled back to cover with a "WHOA!"
Gruff also took cover behind the cart. He yelled:
"Damn, the little shit knows what he's doing, he's all yours!"
Now the blue griffon appeared from behind the cart, holding what looked like a magic staff. The runes on the haft were already glowing, as well as the crystal at the tip.
"Uh-oh..." Orion muttered, knowing the situation just turned from bad to worse.
The next moment, the tip of the staff began spewing a steady stream of flames at Orion. he dodged the flames, barely, then bolted, quickly grabbing his sword and then running towards the direction he came from. He definitely needed to get reinforcements. Something big was going down there, and he stepped right in the middle of it.
Orion ran as fast as she could, hearing that the griffon staff user was right behind him. He arrived at a small intersection, and took cover behind some barrels. Just in time, as the blue griffon cast flames on him from the staff. Orion kept low, but the tip of his tail got singed somewhat, as it was out of cover.
After the attack stopped, Orion left the cover, and went for the alleyway on his left. This one ran parallel to the previous one, and would lead to the main street, from where he could make it to the Southern half of the district, meeting more guards.
Of course, the rest of the griffons were unaccounted for, and as Orion ran at full speed to put a distance between himself and the griffon, then Gilda landed in front of him. Orion let out a swear within.
The female griffon aimed her one-handed crossbow at Orion, but with the distance being short enough, Orion easily knocked the weapon with his hoof, and yanked it to the side. The bolt fired, but only struck a wall:
"In the name of the crown, surrender! This is your last chance!"
Gilda didn't comply though, and with her right hand still grasped within the guardsman's hoof, she grabbed the sword with her left, and tried to push it aside. She sadistically grinned at Orion:
"You will get roasted little pony!"
Orion looked behind himself, realizing the blue griffon was almost in firing range. He didn't want to hurt anypony, but right then, he ran out of options. He shouted, without much hope of complacency:
"DROP YOUR WEAPON, OR I THRUST! FINAL CHANCE!"
"Oh, little guard, you're not nearly powerfu..."
The griffon's answer was interrupted by Orion easily overpowering her grip with his own, and struck Gilda in the side. She roared up in pain, and fell to the cobblestone pavement.
Just in time, as the blue griffon arrived right behind him. Orion could hear and feel the flames blazing by his backside, but this time, his tail remained untouched. When he was nearing the end of the alley, Orion could only hear the jingle-jangle of his own armor, but not the claw- and pawsteps from behind herself. He looked back, and it seemed his pursuer has indeed buggered off.
"Goddess dammet" Orion said, huffing "This is what I get for trying to be the damn hero."
Orion continued towards the main street, but suddenly heard wings flapping. He had a fleeting, unrealistic hope for pegasi guards already arriving, but of course, he had no such luck. The grey griffon, who he didn't fight so far, glided down into his alley, but didn't land yet. He grabbed onto an open window shutter, and prepped himself against the house's wall. he had a cutlass in his other hand, and talked down to Orion:
"You know, you are quite a bold stallion, messing in affairs that are none of your concern"
With the sudden tone change, he backflipped down to the pavement, some distance in front of Orion. he backpedaled, readying his sword.
"Reinforcements will be here soon, you know." Orion said, while tensing herself either for a dodge, or a strike "It would be better if you just surrendered to me now. You'd have better chances in court."
"I'm afraid that's not going to be possible, my employer would be quite angry if one of us were taken by the guard."
The griffon leaped for an attack, but Orion was on the nose, and swiped his sword at the oncoming attacker. It struck him right in the chest, where the plumage was the thickest. The griffon dropped to the ground, heaving and grunting, and grasping where his sword slashed at him.
Knowing he was far from dead, Orion trotted over to his injured adversary. He kicked away his cutlass, and went on to check the griffon for any other hidden weapons, but found none.
The griffon turned to his side, facing Orion. Now that his claws were out of the way, he could see the damage she caused. The feathers were mostly cut away in the spot he struck him, but the skin underneath had only superficial damage. To the guardsman, it was not much of a surprise, as he knew that feathers offered great natural protection against damage.
"Stand down, or I WILL kill you!" Orion said angrily, with his sword pointed at the griffon. Of course, he was bluffing.
"As if you could do that!" said the griffon, still wheezing "You guards can't kill at will. Pathetic pony!"
The griffon laughed at Orion, but his cackles turned into coughing. Being resolute, Orion lifted a foreleg, and slapped the griffon in the face with his armored hoof. He passed out cold.
"You know, you're right. We can't kill. But unlike you, we wouldn't want either."
A short time later, Orion noticed four pegasus guards flying towards her on the street. He waved to them, and they landed, with spears drawn. "Are you all right, Captain? We were told of a fight breaking out over here? We came as fast as we could."
"I'll be ok...I managed to take one of them but the other's got away" Orion said, alongside a weak smile. "He is injured, a griffon. We'll need a medic."
The pegasus stallion looked to the griffon, then he looked back at Orion, and asked:
"You seem to be all right, so... Would you mind telling me what's going on here?"
"I'm afraid I don't fully understand myself, yet. But send for a medic, then I'll show you what he wanted to kill me over..."
Orion lead the pegasus reinforcements back to the cart, where he was first attacked by the griffon gang. Along the way, the medic patched up the griffon who Orion dealt with. They were impressed with the job, although one of the guards remarked they should have been killed outright. Orion just dismissed that with a "Nah."
At the cart, Orion removed the cover from the topmost crate still on the ground. Now taking a better look, these were definitely papers, more to the point they were what he suspected. They were blackmail papers. The pegasi rallied around him, and looked with some wonder at the find.
"Damn!" one of the guards exclaimed, with eyes growing wide "Just where the fuck did all this come from?!"
"I dunno. But it's definitely something serious. We better notify HQ."
The pegasus gestured, and gave orders to the other guards, and also asked for more reinforcements ASAP, not even an hour have passed, and several Royal Guard platoons started to fill the streets. The area where the encounter happened has been locked down, and a curfew has been initiated until morning. Orion looked at the sudden happenings with some amusement. If all these guards only arrived when he needed them the most... But thinking a bit more about it, he also realized: what if the way things happened were for the best? What if somepony would have been killed in the brawl, were they to engage the gang as a platoon? Considering how adamant the griffons were to kill him, Orion was sure they wouldn't have second thoughts about fighting a whole platoon either.
As he started to walk, he noticed a squad of unicorns being lead by Rust Rider."Very nice work Orion, but then again I'm not surprised."
"Thanks Rust but I'm far more concerned with the contents of the letters, its just like the previous raid. They all blackmail letters, and these one's are for many more ponies than before"
"Shit your serious? So it is true then, there's an underground blackmail market going on" Rust said "We need to notify the higher-ups to prepare for more stuff like this"
"Agreed, and I have a feeling the griffons who assaulted me were hired to be bodyguards. Given how well they fought as well as what weapons they owned. One of them had a rune-powered spear" Orion said.
"We will put out an APB on the assailants to make sure they are found and taken in for questioning" Rust said "In the meantime we should get all this stuff back to HQ to put it in evidence"
"Right, lets get to-"
"Captian Orion?" One of the guards spoke up, Orion turning around to face him.
"What's wrong?"
"Sir... it's one of the papers...it has your name on it"
"What?" Orion said, eyes going wide as he walked over and took the paper letter, he looked at it before opening it. Looking inside he found no note or writing. Only a single photo. Orion's face went red and pale at the same time as he realized what was in the photo. It was him and Spitfire at the park.