//------------------------------// // The Old Guard // Story: Wild Card // by Barrel-of-fun //------------------------------// Summer threw one glance over her shoulder as she walked away from Ace and Iron, seeing the satyr talking animatedly to the rather stoic minotaur. She smiled once before turning back and trotting along the familiar path towards the Manehatten Guard barracks, confident that her boys would be safe without her. Her boys… When had that happened? Even when she had been part of the Guard, Summer had never really been close to anyone. Sure, she had comrades but no one that she really would have considered to be a friend. To the young unicorn, this had been perfect. After all, she was better than all the other soldiers, being friends with them would just hold her back. Her time in the Diamond Dog mine had eradicated this part of her. The hot-headed young Guard that had originally been captured was gone, replaced with the determined warrior who knew that much more could be accomplished with friends by her side than without. If Ace and Iron hadn’t shown up… Summer shook such depressing thoughts from her mind, focusing on her original purpose. This was her city, her home. If she ever wanted it to be safe again then she would have to be resolute in her goals. The streets practically cleared themselves as she trotted briskly along, one glance at the lightning mage’s eyes told ponies that it would be best for them if they simply got out of her way. Criminals also began to disappear as she passed. Any shady dealers that dared to operate in the Upper District felt a sudden, deathly chill go up their spines as she approached, followed by the distinct impression that today was a good day just to spend in bed and not do anything illegal. By the time she reached the area that the barracks was located in, all signs of illegal activity on the street, the little glances and sly dealings that Guard officers are trained to be able to pick up, had completely disappeared. Still, Summer was not happy. There shouldn’t have been any signs of criminal activity at all, not if the Guard were doing their jobs right. Filled with righteous anger, the fierce unicorn walked through the gateway that led to the wall-enclosed barracks, ready to unleash her fury on whoever had been incompetent enough to allow crime to seep into Manehatten. And then she stopped. Her eyes widened and her anger drained out of her as she beheld what had become of the Guard barracks. The training dummies that had once stood proudly in the courtyard like sturdy sentinels were gone, the only sign of their fate being the pile of broken wood barely covered by a tarp in one corner. The windows that had once gleamed in the sunlight were now smashed, bits of glass left dangerously on the floor and the void they had left hastily covered by planks of wood. The gutters and walls of the fine institute, which Summer remembered cleaning a lot as punishment during her training here, were now broken and defaced, streaks of red paint from the graffiti smeared down the wall like blood. However, the most noticeable thing, the thing that completely stood out from the horrible condition of the building and grounds, was the sheer lack of life that the place had. Summer could remember how this courtyard had once been filled with enthusiastic recruits, ponies whose sense of justice never even wavered for a minute, despite how much the drill sergeant had shouted their incompetence at them. She remembered proud officers looking out from the balcony that had once stood on the second level, staring out over the peaceful city that they had helped to create. How? How had it changed so much? Summer began to slowly walk forward, as though she were in a dream, gently pushing open the broken door to the main building. She wandered through its dusty interior, trotting over smashed glass and navigating by the light of her horn, considering that no natural light could reach this dark place. Just as she was about to pass the office where her old taskmaster, Captain Keep, used to use as his bastion of solitude, she heard a ragged coughing coming from within. She froze instantly at the sound, mentally berating herself for being so foolish as to not properly sweep the premises for enemies first. Lighting her horn with sparks of magic, she approached the door, opening it as slowly and as silently as possible. The occupant didn’t appear to have noticed her entrance, the brown back of an equine shape turned away from her as it rustled through a drawer of papers. Swallowing any nervousness she felt over the mysterious intruder, she aimed her horn and made a declaration. “Freeze!” She shouted forcefully, “In the name of the law!” Instantly, the figure let out a startled yelp and leapt backwards, tripping over its own hooves and flailing about in the air for a moment before landing on its back in front of Summer with a painful sounding ‘Thud!’ Summer found herself staring down curiously into the wide, haggard eyes of an elderly donkey, whom she immediately recognized. “Hank? Communications Officer Hank?” She asked as the donkey’s own eyes widened even further, this time in recognition rather than fear. “Summer! Can that really be you?” He quickly scrambled back onto his hooves to look her in the eyes from a more dignified position. “It is you, you’ve still got that fire in your eyes.” “Tempered a bit by experience I hope.” Summer replied with a grin, happy to forget recent troubles for a moment at the sight of such an old comrade. Troubles, however, have a way of always returning to the mind. “Hank, what happened here? Where’s the Captain? Where’s the Guard?” Hank’s eyes filled with terrible sorrow. “Gone.” He replied morosely. “They’ve all gone. Taken by those damn pirates. There’s just me and a couple of young fools left, the only ones that they would allow to stay. Everyone else...” Summer stared at him, her mind aghast and her heart stunned. “How is that even possible? How could they have taken everyone?! Surely someone must have noticed something! Reported something!? There’s no way an entire city Guard post could go silent without anyone noticing!” By the end of her speech Summer’s anger had mounted to the point where she was shouting in Hank’s face, causing the donkey to cower away from her palatable fury. “I-I’m sorry!” He spluttered out. “They made me do it! They said that if I didn’t then...” He let out a wracking sob, “They said they were going to take my daughter, Cecilia, and...and...” He burst into tears, too horrified at the thought of what the pirates had been threatening him with to continue. “Hank? Hank! Look at me.” He attempted to avert his eyes from her piercing gaze. “Look at me! What did you do?” “I...I forged documents for Canterlot. Kept up communications, made it seem like everything was perfectly fine here so that there would be no investigation. I’m sorry Summer! I’m so sorry.” Summer walked over to the distraught donkey and stared down at him with harsh eyes, contemplating what to do with him, considering his traitorous actions. Finally, she made up her mind. She leaned down to him, her glowing horn still illuminating the room, and slowly wrapped one leg around his shoulders in a comforting hug. “There, there,” She began, trying to soothe her old friend. “It’s okay, I’m going to sort this whole mess out. I’m going to find out who did this and make them pay. You just have to tell me something, how did this happen?” The donkey sniffed and managed to recover his voice. “It was slow at first. We received some threats to stay out of certain areas, that it would be in our best interest to cease patrols around the docks. Captain Keep would have none of that though and decided to increase patrols instead, determined to find whoever dared to threaten the Guard. And then...and then Guards started to go missing. Just a few at first, worrying but not damaging to the overall unit. Keep ordered that we find them, hunt down their kidnappers and bring them to justice. Then more started disappearing, entire hoof and wing patrols at a time. We got a lead though, found out where those bastards might have their headquarters. The Captain mustered the remaining Guard and stormed the place but...” He trailed off there, unable to continue. Summer patted him gently on the back several times. “Hank, I need to know.” “It was a trap...no, it was worse than that. It was a massacre.” Tears from the donkey began to leak onto Summer’s fur, but she ignored it, focussing on comforting the traumatized Guard. “They somehow knew we were coming and had set an ambush. We strode in, so bright and bold, and they attacked us from the shadows. Guards dropped left and right. We couldn’t keep up with their numbers, or their ferocity. I saw Captain Keep go down, mobbed by a pile of attackers. He busted his way out and for a moment it looked like we might be able to beat them back but then...she appeared.” Summer felt like she knew who he was referring to, a certain dangerous looking pegasus mare. “She was fast, way too fast to keep up with. Before we could even blink she had taken out the Captain, stabbing him right in the throat with some weird hoof knife. His lieutenants were soon to follow, trying to avenge their Captain. The rest of us were quickly captured and taken...somewhere. I’m not sure where. That mare came to me, told me what they would do if I didn’t obey them...I’m sorry Summer, I didn’t have a choice.” Despite her horror, Summer managed to keep comforting Hank, knowing that she had to be strong, both for him and for herself. “Who’s left Hank? You said there was others.” “Just a couple of greenhorns, barely even trained. They joined after all this happened. Sad bunch of misfits, they seemed to have no where else to go.” Summer felt some hope returning to her. If there’s one thing seeing Ace in action had taught her it was to never underestimate the value of a misfit. “Where are they now? Can you get them together?” Hank pulled back from her, wiping a few remaining tears away and looking her in the eye. “Summer? What are you thinking? There’s nothing we can do, they’ve got people watching the Upper District. If we leave then...they’ll take us.” “Can you get them though Hank?” She demanded, getting a nod in reply. “Alright, I’ve got a couple of troops of my own to collect. Just get the Guards together and I’ll do the rest.” She stood up fully and stared confidently past the donkey, seeing the broken remains of the Guard house. “I know we can do this. I will not fail, never again.” Before Hank could say anything else, Summer had turned around and strode out. He considered what to do next, if he dared to follow her orders. Every instinct he had told him that he should sell her out, tell the pirates about her and save himself and his daughter. But...there was something in her eyes. Some fiery determination that had transferred itself over to the usually craven-hearted donkey. For the first time in a while, Hank felt like he could stand in the Guard house and feel pride, rather than overwhelming guilt. Raising one hoof to his eyes, he found himself wiping away more tears, but these ones were of a far different nature than his tears of fear earlier. Nodding his head once, he went to work. “You know what? I’m not even going to ask.” Summer said after finally tracking down Iron and I, finding us sipping champagne at the top of Manehatten’s finest hotel. “Yeah, that’s probably for the best. I have a feeling that you would have a certain professional dispute with my methods.” I replied with a smile before offering Summer a glass of champagne as well as some popcorn that I had ordered to the room. She took the glass in her magic and looked at the popcorn confused, wondering what such a common food was doing in such a fancy suite. “Oh, it’s for the show. Just watch.” I replied before waving one hand at Iron, who let out a tired sigh. “Ace is the most cunning and devilishly handsome being I have ever met and I spend every day trying to restrain my homoerotic passion for him.” Iron muttered in a resigned monotone. I burst out laughing of course, almost falling out of my ridiculously comfy seat from the force of my convulsions. Summer, however, wasn’t laughing. Instead she appeared to be... Blushing furiously? I don’t think I want to know what is going through her mind. I eventually got over my giggles and Summer banished whatever images she had been seeing to the deepest recesses of her mind. Iron continued to stay grumpily at the two of us, not finding any amusement in the situation. “Hey, if you can’t take a little humiliation then you shouldn’t have made the bet.” I said, raising my hands good naturedly. Iron looked like he was about to send some scything remark when Summer beat him to it. “As enjoyable as it is too watch you two act like children, I’m afraid that we have much bigger concerns.” She began to explain what she had found out at the guard house. To say that the extent of this criminal conspiracy was shocking would be an understatement. Even back home no mobster would try to control the Old Bill, much less launch a full-scale assault against them. Criminals may hate the police but it was a rare few who would actually try to kill them, partly out of respect but mostly out of fear. Cop killers did not get a good treatment from the colleagues of their victim, that much was true pretty much world over. The fact that Melody had managed to do all of this indicated abilities far beyond the average criminal, further proof of what Lady Luck had told me. Até definitely had something to do with all this, it seemed like her sort of thing. “So, what’s the plan?” I asked casually. “I assume that you have some sort of plan?” Summer let out a surprisingly malicious grin, accompanied by an equally malicious chuckle. “Oh, do I have a plan. They’re not going to see this one coming, we’ll make sure of that.” I couldn’t help but be glad that Summer was on my side.