//------------------------------// // 26. Keepers of the Republic // Story: Wings of Tomorrow ~ Lament of the World // by Keeper of Jericho //------------------------------// Wings of Tomorrow Lament of the World 26. Keepers of the Republic Deep within the walls of Canterlot Castle, three ponies were holding a meeting. The room they were occupying for that end happened to be the same one where Princess Celestia herself had held council with her advisors, many eons ego. Those times were now past, however, and much had changed since then. The round table, symbol of unity and equality between all ponies, had been replaced by a normal rectangular one, with many chairs lining its sides. At the head of the table, in the largest chair of them all, sat a familiar unicorn stallion. His pristine white coat was hidden by his impressive suit of armour, purple and gold in colour. His helmet stood to his right on the table before him, putting his well-kept blue mane in plain sight. On the breastplate of his armour was mounted a crest in the form of his Cutie Mark: a blue shield with a purple star emblazoned upon it. The star was more than simple decoration, however, it was in fact a large shard of magicite, expertly cut and brimming with power. Republican Supreme Army Commander Marshal Shining Armour The Steadfast Shining Armour stood bowed over some papers and maps scattered before him on the table, making gestures at certain points with his hooves as he spoke. To his right, following the marshal’s every word and gesture, sat a pegasus mare with a soft yellow coat. Her eyes, mane and tail all had the colour of fire, which, coupled with the messy way she carried her mane, made it look like there really were flames attached to her scalp. Her cutie mark consisted of three licks of flame resembling an abstraction of a phoenix. Her clothing consisted of nothing more but a simple blue bodysuit, over which she wore a splendid set of armour. It was of a different design than the heavy, bulky set of armour Shining Armour. Like most pegasi, her armour was much lighter, with only a single layer of plating held together by chainmail, allowing for greater mobility and ease while flying. Every now and then, her hoof would trail to the phoenix-shaped crest on her chest, inlaid with a shard of magicite. Republican Pegasi Division Commander Spitfire The Phoenix The third pony on the room, seated to Shining Armour’s left, was another stallion, though he was one of the earth pony variety. It was often joked that few earth ponies could look more ‘earth’ pony than him, for due to his colouring he could blend in amidst earth and forest and not be noticed. His coat was coloured like moss, while his hooves and mane preferred the green seen in fresh spring leaves. His eyes were a strange exception to all the green and were bright red instead. The stallion’s cutie mark, contrary to his appearance, had nothing to do with neither green or forests. It was a yellow triangle with black borders, with the image of a black hoof in it that looked as if it was disintegrating. He was also extremely big and muscular, even for an earth pony, a fact further highlighted by his choice of armour. It was stronger, heavier and bulkier than that of Shining armour and made Spitfire’s look as if it was made of tinfoil. Naturally there was magicite embedded in it, though the gems were not given any particular shape. He was built like a tank and renowned throughout the Republic for being just as powerful and unstoppable as one. Republican Earth Pony Division Commander Smaragd Haze The Ruthless “So far the preparations have been proceeding according to schedule,” Shining Armour said. He pointed on the map at the entrance of the valley between the Foal Mountains and the Crystal Mountains. “The second to ninth earth pony unit have reported for duty, backed up by the first to seventh pegasi units.” He glanced sideways at Smaragd Haze. “What’s the word on the first and tenth earth pony unit?” “The first will arrive by train from Mareheim at the ground station of Cloudsdale within two days. Their arrival is estimated at tomorrow evening or the morning of the day after,” Smaragd Haze replied seriously. “The tenth arrived in Canterlot this morning. They’ll take the first train in the morning to Cloudsdale’s ground station, where they’ll wait for and meet up with the first to march to the basecamp together. Both should have reported for duty by the evening of the day after tomorrow, sir.” “Send word to me as soon as they’ve arrived,” Shining Armour ordered. With his magic he picked up a quill and hastily wrote down some notes on one of the many papers scattered on the table. Once he had set the quill down again, he turned to the mare to his right. “Spitfire, what’s the status of the eighth and ninth unit?” “They’re both currently stationed in Cloudsdale, sir,” Spitfire answered, pointing to the city on the map. “The eight fleet is still undergoing maintenance and won’t be able to leave for another three days. The ninth fleet is currently loading the supplies and will depart for the basecamp at the first light of dawn tomorrow.” “Good, I was going to ask about that next,” Shining Armour muttered, writing down some more notes. “The supplies brought by the first to seventh fleet have all been checked and everything was in order. On a similar note, roughly sixty-five percent of our ground artillery has already been shipped. By the end of the week we should have the full artillery in place.” “We’re making good progress, in that case,” Smaragd Haze noted, rubbing his chin thoughtfully with one of his hooves. “Sir, what of the unicorn units?” he then asked sharply. Shining Armour touched his forehead, just below his horn, and closed his eyes as if he were in pain. The overworked stallion could not suppress a sigh. “According to the last report I received, the first, second and fourth units are in place. Given how we are at the moment short one number, I’m not capable of giving you an update on that.” “Surprise, surprise,” Smaragd Haze snorted, unable to keep the disdain from his voice. “Not that I expected anything else from her, of course.” He shook his head, crossed his forelegs and snorted again, but refrained from saying anything else. Spitfire, ignoring her fellow commander’s remark, looked over a few things on one of Shining Armour’s papers before pointing at the port of Hoofington. “What’s the status of our forces amassing here, marshal?” she asked. “Will they be ready in time for the invasion?” Shining Armour nodded affirmatively. “The eleventh to thirteenth earth pony units are already in place, together with the tenth pegasi fleet and the sixth unicorn unit. If the eleventh pegasi fleet and the seventh unicorn unit are in place, we only need to load in the supplies and artillery, and everything will be set,” he explained. “And you are certain the Royalists still have no idea that we’re planning on opening a second front while we stall them at the first at Stalliongrad?” Smaragd Haze wondered aloud, still crossing his front legs. “Positive,” Shining Armour replied. He gestured with his hoof at Cantropolis and Stalliongrad, drawing an imaginary line between the two cities. “Our intelligence reports make it clear that the Royalists are moving their forces to the area surrounding Stalliongrad. They’re clearly mounting up some form of defence to stall or halt our assault.” His hoof trailed lower, to the southern part of Equestria that bordered on the ocean. “The rest of the borders show no particular signs of strengthening the defences beyond what’s normal,” Shining Armour continued. His hoof came to a halt at the city of New Saddle, a large harbour city in the hooves of the Royalists. “It’s clear they aren’t aware of our plan to strike by sea at New Saddle yet. I’d like to keep it that way until it’s too late.” “New Saddle is pretty big and even with most of the army caught up in the fight at Stalliongrad, it’ll be well guarded,” Spitfire noted thoughtfully. “Are you certain it’s wise to open a second front there with less than half the amount of soldiers we’re using at Stalliongrad?” “If we gathered more forces than what we currently have waiting in Hoofington it would increase the risk of spies finding out what we’re up to. We can’t have that,” Shining Armour replied. “The success of the troops we’ll be sending to New Saddle depends entirely on the element of surprise. With all the attention focussed on the defence of Stalliongrad, attacking New Saddle should catch them off guard long enough to conquer the city before they can recover and mount a serious defence.” The marshal pointed at Stalliongrad again. “It all stands or falls with Stalliongrad. We need to lure out and engage the full might of the Royalists there. Keep them all fighting there so they won’t be able to send any soldiers to New Saddle. The only way to do that is with a full-scale invasion at the city, bend on breaking the defences and claiming the city.” “It’ll be a battle hard fought,” Spitfire mused. “The three admirals and Derpy Hooves herself will be at Stalliongrad, no doubt. With those four personally overseeing the defences, we shouldn’t be too sure of our victory there, even if the invasion of New Saddle goes off without a hitch.” “I’m aware of that,” Shining Armour responded. “But it doesn’t matter in the long run. We only need a hoofhold on either front in order for the invasion to succeed. The Royalists don’t have the strength to fight a war on two fronts, they would have to lower the defences of one in order to bolster up those of the other, which will only hasten their defeat.” “The key is the three admirals,” he concluded. “Any of them has the power to stop the invasion at New Saddle singlehoofedly. That’s why it is so vitally important to keep the Royalists under the impression that we’re banking everything on Stalliongrad. We need them to gather the three admirals at Stalliongrad and keep them there.” Shining Armour looked up from the map at his fellow officers. “As mentioned on previous briefings, that will be your job.” “Nice to know we get the easy task,” Smaragd Haze snorted humourlessly. He shook his head and sighed. “Sarcasm aside, that’s easier said than done. Keeping the admirals occupied would mean engaging them directly in combat, but amidst all the soldiers of both sides fighting, that’s near impossible. A clash of powers like ours would cause more damage and casualties than the battle of our colliding armies.” “He’s right,” Spitfire agreed, looking at Shining Armour while nodding with her head in Smaragd Haze’s direction. “We all remember what happened the last time two magicite users of our level decided to fight it out. I doubt the Royalists have forgotten either. So even if we clash with the admirals, it will be a short skirmish at best, before we break apart again in order to avoid killing our own troops with our fight.” “Not to mention that both the admirals and us will be overseeing the progress of the battle. We don’t have the time for an all-out battle. So after exchanging a few blows, our attention will be needed elsewhere on the battlefield and we won’t have a choice but to let the admirals out of our sight,” Smaragd Haze added. “They’ll be trying to avoid a direct clash with us as well, only stepping in and confronting us when they have no choice but to do so, for whatever reason.” Spitfire rubbed her temple and sighed. “Call me old-fashioned, but I’m of the opinion that warfare was a lot more simple when nopony had even heard of magicite. Less complications with commanders being too powerful to move freely on the battlefield and things like that.” “I’m not going to deny that,” Shining Armour replied evenly. “But there is no point in dwelling on the past. Magicite is an integral part of modern military tactics now and we have to adjust accordingly. No turning back the clock, unless you happen to be called Steel Gear.” “Ha, that would be the day,” Smaragd Haze muttered. “I could name a few changes I’d make in history.” Shining Armour didn’t respond to the remark, too busy studying a few of his documents. Spitfire opened her mouth to give her fellow commander a reply, but was interrupted when the doors of the boardroom opened and a new pony marched in. The newcomer was a unicorn mare with a light blue coat and violet eyes. Her mane and tail had a colour that was somewhere between light blue and grey. Her cutie mark was a crescent blue moon crossed with a wizard’s wand. She went dressed in the ornate, flowing robes of an arch-mage, the title given to those few unicorns who had achieved total mastery of magic. Republican Unicorn Division Commander Trixie Lulamoon The Great and Powerful Trixie calmly walked towards her seat, holding herself with obvious pride and grace. She looked down her nose at Spitfire and Smaragd Haze and when the latter gave her a heated glare, a smug, condescending smile appeared on Trixie’s face. Smaragd Haze seethed with rage but held his tongue. “You’re late,” Shining Armour said without looking up from his papers. The marshal had spoken his words calmly and there was no visible sign that he was displeased. He simply turned the page of his documents and started scanning the contents of the next page. Trixie snorted dismissively. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is never late, neither is she ever early. She arrives exactly when she intends to,” she said, before sitting down next to Spitfire. “The Great and Powerful Trixie seems to have forgotten that she is only a commander and has to obey the orders of the marshal to arrive on time like the rest of us,” Smaragd Haze growled from across the table. The stallion was unable to keep the contempt from his voice, though it has to be said that he hadn’t been trying to. Trixie looked at Smaragd Haze as if he was a clump of mud that had gotten stuck to her hoof. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will not be lectured by a lowly earth pony,” she replied, venom lacing every single one of her words. Smaragd Haze sat up with a start, bringing his hooves down on the table with such ferocity that it cracked, and his eyes were blazing. “Filthy unicorn supremacist!” he snarled. “I ought to do us all a favour and rip that tongue from your mouth and feed it to the griffon ambassador, were it not that doing so would trigger a war as they would think I had meant to poison him!” Trixie placed her hoof against her chest while faking being astonished. “Dear me, somepony actually taught you to speak two sentences consecutively? The Great and Powerful Trixie is amazed! She did not think an earth pony to be capable of it!” Things were about to get ugly then, as Smaragd Haze’s magicite shard flared to life as the stallion called upon its power, with Trixie’s own shard lighting up in response immediately. Before any blow could be struck, however, the two bickering commanders were pushed forcefully in their seat by a powerful magic. No matter how they struggled against the light rose aura that surrounded them, neither commander could budge so much as an inch. “That’s enough,” Shining Armour said calmly, still reading his papers as if nothing important was going on. A silence fell as the commanders watched their sole superior officer with growing anxiety. All of them knew that Shining Armour’s apparent serenity was a clear sign that the marshal was immensely displeased. Finally Shining Armour put his papers down and looked up, his face unreadable. “I do not tolerate such unrestrained hostility from my troops, let alone from my commanding officers,” he said, his voice calm but cold. His gaze shifted to Trixie, who shifted nervously in her seat. “Commander Lulamoon, when I say that you are late, it means that you are late,” he berated her. “Unless you received orders from the commander-in-chief or the Court Nobles themselves that conflict with mine, you are to do as I say. Commander Haze had every right to call you out on this. Furthermore, your behaviour towards him was completely unacceptable. I will not tolerate any racial superiority behaviour amongst my troops, and certainly not from my commanders.” Shining Armour gave Trixie a harsh glare before continuing. “This isn’t the first time this has happened. You should watch your rank, commander, or you might find yourself stripped of it. Rest assured that I will be reporting this to the commander-in-chief when I bring him our status report.” Trixie squirmed in her seat but wisely held her tongue. The remark of the possibility of losing her rank had obviously made her pause to think, but Shining Armour noticed she wasn’t as worried or nervous as he would have liked. He couldn’t exactly blame her, given who the commander-in-chief was, it was unlikely she would ever get in trouble for racial supremacy. The ‘freedom’ with which she followed her orders would be swept under the rug as a result of her status as a unicorn as well, no doubt. With a sigh, the marshal turned towards Smaragd Haze. “As for you, commander Haze, it is expected of you to able to control your temper, no matter the insults or taunts used against you. Put yourself above them. If I ever see you attempt to start a fight outside of the sparring grounds, while using your magicite nonetheless, there will be severe repercussions. Are we clear, commander?” Smaragd Haze was still seething at Trixie, but he respected Shining Armour too much to defy him. Swallowing his anger and his pride, the stallion nodded reluctantly. “Crystal, marshal,” he replied curtly. “Good, then that’s settled,” Shining Armour said, with a tone of finality. “If you are both quite finished with behaving like foals, I can cease playing foalsitter and we can continue our meeting. In case it escaped your notice: we are on the outbreak of war. There are more important matters to focus on than petty personal differences.” Smaragd Haze sniffed disdainfully and crossed his forelegs while leaning back in his chair, but he held his tongue. Trixie did not look as if she was about to start arguing again either. Shining Armour gave a curt nod of satisfaction and diverted his attention back to the map and his documents. “Now then, commander Lulamoon, we’d like to hear your report on the status of the third, sixth and seventh unicorn units…” --- A few hours later the meeting had been concluded and Spitfire and Smaragd Haze were walking back towards their offices together. The latter was still visibly seething over what had transpired the moment Trixie had joined the meeting. Now that they were out of earshot of their fellow commander and their superior officer, the stallion had no qualms about spewing his bile. “The nerve of that mare!” he hissed, his muscles trembling with barely controlled fury. “Not satisfied with coming to a vitally important meeting when she feels like it, she also had the gall to spew her unicorn supremacy in my face!” Smaragd Haze could feel the veins at his temples throbbing. “If I didn’t have so much respect for Shining Armour…” He trailed off, leaving his sentence unfinished, but Spitfire didn’t have any trouble guessing what he had intended to say. “You’d get into a lot of trouble,” Spitfire deadpanned with a snort. “Attacking a fellow commander and the one of the unicorn division at that? Can’t think of a faster way of losing your rank, aside from shouting ‘hail Celestia!’ on top of your lungs in front of the Nobles’ Court.” “It’d be worth it if it meant ridding Equestria of that filthy spawn of Discord,” Smaragd Haze growled darkly. He breathed deeply in and out in a vain attempt to calm himself. “Damn unicorn supremacists… Looking down on us earth ponies as if we live in the time of the three tribes!” “All because of those thrice-cursed Nobles. I hope they all get crushed under a mother Ursa’s backside.” Smaragd Haze let out a short, humourless laugh. “You know, I can understand perfectly why the Royalists want to place Celestia back on the throne. I suppose a tyrant who doesn’t distinguish between unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies while terrorising and enslaving them is better than a group of tyrants who do.” Spitfire glanced at her fellow commander in surprise with a raised eyebrow. She quickly looked around to make sure they were alone. “I’d keep your voice down if I were you,” she hissed. “Unless you want somepony to overhear you and get you into more trouble than Shining Armour and me can bail you out off.” The stallion merely shrugged, not looking particularly worried. “As if anyone would have the guts to rat me out,” he sneered. “Everyone in this messed-up mockery of a Republic knows and remembers what I do to snitches and spies.” “Vividly,” Spitfire agreed, rubbing her temple. She sighed and shook her head. “Mind telling me again why you signed up to serve in the army if not out of love for your country?” “To protect my family,” Smaragd Haze replied quietly, surprising Spitfire again with the quiet sincerity in his voice and the solemn expression on his face. “We’re a long running family of pureblood earth ponies and you know earth ponies don’t exactly have it easy under the Nobles’ rule.” “The only way to protect yourself in this land is to make ponies recognise and respect you, so your name carries weight and influence. Also not easy when you’re an earth pony,” he continued. “The parliament was out of the question. Unless you have a blooming business that’s earned you cartloads of bits, you won’t get in. Plus, the life of a politician wouldn’t have suited me in the slightest.” Spitfire tried to picture her fellow commander in a snobbish, high-class suit the members of the parliament were so fond of wearing, and failed. She silently agreed with his statement of not being suited for such work. For one thing, he was far too short-tempered. “Then one day there came a group of soldiers from the Canterlot to the cosy little backwater place I call home, looking for new recruits to strengthen their ranks,” Smaragd Haze continued. “I read the notice they nailed to the town’s notice board and learned that the families of all the recruits who actually made it in the army could count on social and financial support from the military. That caught my interest and I started to think that a career in the guard could be a good way to make name for myself, if I managed to climb up high enough. So, I enlisted for duty.” “Of course making career was easier said than done. My early days as a guard were really tough and I won’t deny that there was more than one time when I wanted to quit. Only the fact that my family really benefitted from the support they got thanks to my service kept me going.” The stallion looked a bit uncomfortable as he thought back to those times. “I’m glad I kept at it, too, looking at where I stand now.” “Must be tough, though, to serve so closely under the Court Nobles when you’re not exactly fond of them,” Spitfire noted. “I won’t hide that I’m not fond of them or those imbeciles in the parliament, but I’m willing to endure it for the sake of my family. As long as they are safe, I’ll do what the Court asks of me and I’ll do it properly. It’s worked well so far,” Smaragd Haze replied with a shrug. “Even if it means putting up with the likes of Trixie and others of her ilk.” Spitfire nodded understandingly, but remained silent. The two commanders continued walking like that for a while, until Spitfire spoke again. “You surprised me just now, you know,” she said with a faint smirk. “Didn’t think you’d have such a noble reason to be here. Thought you were in it for the chance to crack some Royalist skulls.” Smaragd Haze scoffed. “Oh, that was a part of the appeal for this job as well, sure,” he replied. “I hate the Nobles, sure, but I hate those Royalist idiots even more. The idea that there are actually ponies out there who want to put that monster back on the throne and have her enslave and terrorise us all again makes me sick.” He spat on the floor in disgust, not caring that it was totally unheard of and unacceptable to do such a thing in Canterlot, let alone in the palace. “What I said earlier about understanding why they want her back was said in jest. I don’t understand and frankly I don’t want to. They’re all sick in their heads and the only cure for that is bashing their skulls in.” “Don’t get me wrong,” he added when he saw the look Spitfire was giving him. “I know perfectly well that life’s not great under the Nobles. But at least you have a chance to climb out of the shit they dump you into. Sure, you have to work the skin off your bones in order to do it and put up with supremacist unicorns to boot, but at least there’s a chance. Under Celestia, you had no hope, except for an early death.” “Well, so they teach us at school,” Spitfire commented evenly. Smaragd Haze gave her a sideways glance and snorted. “Now who’s sounding like a Royalist?” he asked amusedly. “Don’t tell me you think there’s more to their constant clamouring that all the evidence that was uncovered is all fake.” “Who can tell? There’s nopony alive from those days except Celestia herself. It’s pretty much impossible to say what really happened back then and what’s real and what’s not,” Spitfire replied with a shrug. “I don’t really think it matters either way. We don’t fight for who was right or who was wrong in the past, it’s all about the present and what’s best for ponies now.” “And what do you say would be the best for our fellow ponies?” Smaragd Haze wondered, looking at his fellow commander expectantly, his face neutral. “For this damn war to finally end,” Spitfire answered. --- Later that day Shining Armour could be found marching through one of the palace’s many halls, looking decidedly unhappy, his face bearing an expression of resignation. He had just finished writing his daily report on the status of the campaign against the Royalists, as well as the results of his meeting with the commanders. Shining Armour inwardly was proud of himself, for he had become so fluent in writing these documents over the course of his many years of service that it no longer took him any effort to write a report of which the length and prose would have made even his sister proud. As he thought of Twilight, Shining Armour’s face fell. The two of them hadn’t spoken since the night Twilight had run away from home, and the look of betrayal on her face still haunted him to this day. His parents didn’t speak about her anymore. They tried to keep up a brave façade of being angry at her, but Shining Armour knew that in reality they missed her and wanted nothing more but to mend their broken family. It was a desire he shared, but they all knew that unless Twilight conformed her views and behaviour to the present day, there was no chance of doing so without severe repercussions. Left with no other options, they had taken comfort in knowing that she had found her place in Ponyville and was doing fine. Shining Armour shook his head and scolded himself for getting lost in his thoughts about private matters while he had a job to do. He quickly scanned through his report to make sure the pages were still in order, then increased the pace with which he was walking. Soon enough he arrived at two large, luxurious doors flanked by two guards, who saluted when he stood before them. “At ease, gentlecolts,” he said after returning the salute. He nodded with his head at the doors while giving them an inquisitive look. “Is his lordship in his office?” “Yes, marshal, sir,” the guard to his left replied. “His lordship did not leave us with any orders, so you can go right in, sir.” With that said, the two guards opened the doors for their superior. Shining Armour nodded his head in thanks and then swiftly strode through the doors. The marshal arrived in a small anteroom that was sparsely decorated, aside from a portrait on the wall of the pony he was here to see and a few chairs. Shining Armour took a glance at the painting and snorted, the vanity of it never failed to irritate him every time he came here. He glanced at the doors leading to the next room and was surprised to find them open. Usually they were closed, meaning he had to knock, announce his presence and then wait for fifteen to thirty minutes until he was finally given permission to enter. That the doors were open meant that he did not have to wait and could instead go right in. It was an odd change of pace for him to not have to waste time waiting in the antechamber, but Shining Armour wasn’t going to complain. Quite the opposite, in fact, he was grateful that he could leave this unpleasant task behind him as soon as possible. Wasting no further time, he walked to the doors and knocked. There came no response, so Shining Armour decided to take a look inside. The room bordering on the antechamber was a large and spacious office, with cost nor effort having been spared to decorate it as luxuriously as possible. Paintings, tapestries and carpets could be found aplenty inside, as well as many other priceless works of art such as sculptures and vases. In the centre of the room stood a desk that was worth Shining Armour’s wages for an entire year. At said desk, in a seat that was no less expansive, sat a pony who had the questionable honour of being the one who never failed to drive Shining Armour up the wall. It was a unicorn stallion with a pristine white coat and a blonde mane and tail. His eyes were a clear blue and his cutie mark was a compass rose. The stallion was wearing a spotless and expensive white suit, as well as a ruby red mantle trimmed with white fur. Tucked in the breast of his suit was a red rose and on his horn he wore a golden ring beset with many beautiful gems. Republic Commander-in-chief Blueblood Former Prince of Equestria Shining Armour waited for his cousin-in-law to notice his presence, but it appeared to him that he would be waiting for quite a while, as Blueblood’s attention was captured entirely by something else. The former prince had nestled himself comfortably in his chair and in his hooves he held an hourglass that could only be described as magnificent. He was gazing at the time-measuring instrument with the same awe in his eyes that Shining Armour had only seen in the pony before when said pony was looking in a mirror staring at himself. When a minute had passed and Blueblood still hadn’t noticed him, Shining Armour decided he had waited long enough. He scraped his throat and knocked loudly on the door. “Your lordship?” he said, loud and clear, while barely managing to keep his voice neutral. “Marshal Shining Armour, here to deliver his report.” Blueblood reacted instantaneously, for he nearly leaped out of his skin and had a heart attack when Shining Armour spoke. With frenzied, hurried movements he put the hourglass away while at the same time looking at the doors of his office to see who had the nerve to disturb him. Upon noticing the marshal, Blueblood tried to hide the fact that Shining Armour had managed to startle him by looking outraged. “Marshal! How… how dare you enter my office unannounced and without permission!” Shining Armour gave his superior a deadpan look. “The doors were wide open, your lordship,” he replied. “Usually that means anypony is free to enter.” “The doors were…” Blueblood repeated, dumbfounded. He quickly shook his head to try and compose himself. “Yes, well, perhaps if this was a commoner’s office, open doors might mean free entry. But as anypony knows, this is not the office of some lowly clerk, but of the Republic’s very own commander-in-chief. Anypony who has business here cannot simply barge in here unannounced.” “I did knock,” Shining Armour deadpanned again. He glanced at the now empty desk and then back at its owner, barely suppressing the urge to roll his eyes. “But it would appear that your lordship was too caught up in his… work to hear me.” Despite his valiant efforts, Shining Armour could not prevent a small measure of sarcasm to poison his words. Blueblood gave a mock-polite cough while staring down his nose at his cousin-in-law. “You would do well to mind your tongue, marshal. Though I, out of the endless goodness of my heart, may grant you the honour of being my cousin-in-law, I will not tolerate any disrespect, or you might find yourself stripped of such honours,” he said, his words laced with venom, while giving Shining Armour an evil smile. “Are we clear on this?” “Yes, your lordship. I apologise for my transgression,” Shining Armour growled through clenched teeth. “Excellent. Let’s hear what brings you here then,” Blueblood replied, clapping his front hooves together while plastering a pleasant smile on his face. In reply, Shining Armour unceremoniously dumped the stack of papers that composed his report on the desk with a thud. “The report of my meeting with the commanders and the current status of the Stalliongrad campaign,” Shining Armour clarified bluntly, upon seeing the confused look on Blueblood’s face as said stallion stared at the pile of papers dumped before him. “Ah, yes, the report…” Blueblood muttered dejectedly, looking at the lengthy document Shining Armour had written as if it carried some kind of infectious disease called ‘work’. After pretending to hastily skim through its contents, Blueblood hurriedly shoved the work aside and cleared his throat. “Ahem, I mean, good work as expected, marshal. I shall bring it to the Noble’s Court attention in time for their next council.” He gave Shining Armour a questioning glance. “Was there anything else?” The marshal gave an affirmative nod and lifted another scroll out of his saddlebags with his magic, depositing it on Blueblood’s desk with far more grace than the report had been. “I would be grateful if you could deliver this personal petition to the Nobles’ Court for me, your lordship. It is a humble plea to slacken the magic confinement placed upon Mi Amore Cadenza, my wife, so she can at least use her magic for basic levitation in daily life again.” Blueblood scanned the contents of the scroll with far more attention than he had given Shining Armour’s report. “Ah, yes, another request to give my dear cousin back some of her magic,” he muttered. “This is the sixth time you handed in one of these, is it not?” “Yes, your lordship,” Shining Armour confirmed flatly. “Most unfortunate, those magic seals. But given how our dear Cadance was touched by the magic of our tyrannical aunt, it is a necessary evil, I fear.” Blueblood shook his head in feigned sympathy. “I shall deliver it to the Court and argue for your case, my dear marshal, but I would not hold out too much hope if I were you.” “Your lordship may remain at ease, I had no intention of doing so,” Shining Armour replied darkly, giving his cousin-in-law a nasty glare. Blueblood shrugged it off with a pleasant smile. “Well, if that was everything, I suggest you take your leave, marshal. You have a war to win for us, after all, and a lovely wife to return to. And close the doors on your way out, if you would be so kind?” “Of course, your lordship,” came the stiff reply. Shining Armour saluted dutifully and then swiftly turned around and strode out of the office, his blood boiling. A small voice in the back of his head was screaming at him to turn back and throttle the arrogant noble, and only through immense self-discipline was he able to prevent himself from doing just that. Blueblood watched the marshal leave his office, his hateful smile chasing Shining Armour all the way. He didn’t even flinch when Shining Armour closed the doors with enough force to nearly rip them off their hinges. Once he heard the doors of the antechamber being closed with the same tender care, Blueblood looked down at the petition scroll on his desk. “A petition to give my poor cousin back some of her magic?” he laughed. “As if the Court could be bothered with such trivialities, my dear marshal.” Blueblood shook his head in amusement at his cousin-in-law’s folly, then leaned to the side and opened one of the drawers of his desk. When he sat back up he was holding his beautiful hourglass in his hooves again. “I’m afraid that the Court and myself think that cousin Cadance and auntie Celestia are right where they should be,” he said with a smirk, “and that it is entirely in our best interest to make sure that they remain there. Preferably forever. After all, what would Equestria be with them? A kingdom with prosperous and happy commoners?” Blueblood shivered and looked visibly sickened and disturbed by the thought. He shook his head. “That wouldn’t do. Oh no, that wouldn’t do at all.” Calmly he picked up Shining Armour’s petition with his magic and unrolled it, his blue eyes scanning the contents written upon the parchment. Once he had reached the end, Blueblood smirked before promptly tossing the scroll into the fireplace. The flames immediately began to devour the dried parchment, burning away the emotionally written words until there was nothing left of them but ash. End of chapter 26.