//------------------------------// // A Heart Stopping Exercise // Story: Wings Against the Sun // by sentinel28a //------------------------------// It was early evening over the Plains of Abraham. Made up of rolling hills and pastureland, it was quite a change from the enclosed Garden of Butterflies. Normally, it might be a nice place to relax and picnic, but at the moment it was a battlefield. Not a real battlefield, as Luna had assured Golden Lily. The explosions were mostly firecrackers, chosen for their sound and shock effect rather than ability to kill, and the “dead and dying” soldiers were acting for all they were worth. It was an exercise, meant to both reassure and intimidate, to show their visitors from Equestria and the Griffin Empire that, while Germaneigh was small, it could defend itself. Luna—who unlike Golden Lily and Twilight Sparkle, had actually seen a set-piece battle during Sombra’s Rebellion—thought the show was impressive enough. The Flankfurt Guards were well-armored and their dressing was good if not perfect, and their artillery support was good. Golden Lily was surprised to see the use of cannon, essentially heavier and weaponized versions of Pinkie Pie’s party cannon. Equestria rarely used them because magic was easier, not as cumbersome, and more devastating. The Griffins still used them, but Luna was mildly interested to see Germaneigh showing off an artillery park. She suspected that the visitors were not being shown everything. “Hmpf.” Ironwing was evidently not impressed. The four of them stood on a raised dais behind the artillery: Luna and Golden Lily, Ironwing and Whitemane. Daggerclaw was in the hospital, and Luna had sent Twilight to attend a meeting at the Equestrian Embassy; Twilight was eager and well-read, but she was inexperienced with how the world worked outside Ponyville and Canterlot. Part of bringing her to Flankfurt was to give the young alicorn princess experience with other cultures. Golden Lily, for her part, was required to attend the exercise, even if the very idea appalled her. Ironwing gave another grunt of disapproval, and Luna gave him a sidelong glance. “A problem, Emperor?” “Boring,” he remarked. “They try to impress us with their military might. How cute, to those of us who have seen entire armies destroyed!” He smiled at Luna. “And of course it is nothing compared to the might of Nightmare Moon.” She turned away, and his smile widened. Ironwing turned the knife. “By the way, I understand the loan may not be verified until tomorrow, Princess Luna. There were a few snags today during the Presentation of Collateral, I gather?” “None of your business,” Luna snapped, then scowled at herself for letting Ironwing get under her skin. The bankers of Flankfurt were taking their own sweet time, and they openly questioned why they should be willing to lend money to Princess Celestia, whose “sound judgement” was in question, as they put it. When Luna pressed them as to why, one of the bankers mentioned that a government who included a barely mature alicorn and a known unstable one might not be most reliable of debtors. Golden Lily smoothed it over as well as she always did, flattering and charming as necessary, but the end result was a day’s delay and an angered Luna. She felt the old stirrings of jealousy and contempt and fought them down. “Ah well.” Ironwing turned back to the battle. “It’s a good thing you brought Golden Lily along. She is always so…diplomatic.” He grinned at her. She gave him a smile back and looked at him under half-lidded eyes, but the flirtatious look was as fake as the war around them. The “attack” ended with a final cannonade, and the general of Flankfurt’s militia stepped out in front of the dais. “Honored guests, it has been our honor to show you the prowess of the military of Germaneigh! We now ask that you come down and inspect the troops, as well as our new weapons of war!” Golden Lily made a face—the pasture had been churned to muddy grass, and there was no way they were not going to get their horseshoes dirty—but there was nothing to do but accept. The guards were drawn up in mud-spattered armor, lances at rest, each staring straight ahead in perfect military precision. Luna, taking the lead, inspected them silently, with an occasional polite nod and smile. Her sister would be better at this. Golden Lily was also at something of a loss: her compliments were largely lost on a group of stallions whose job it was to appear tough and stoic, though at least the officers seemed impressed. Ironwing, however, was in his element. He moved down the line of troops, making a comment here about the lances, chiding a soldier good-naturedly for a missing shoe there, addressing an older pony by name and asking if he had been at a certain battle with his father, when the griffins and ponies were still close allies. Luna realized that Ironwing had a talent for command as impressive as any pony with a cutie mark, and her estimation of him went up some. This was a smart and motivated—and very dangerous—griffin. No one noticed Whitemane. She drifted in Ironwing’s wake, saying nothing; it was her job to be invisible. It made her real work that much easier. As Ironwing stopped to speak with the colonel of the regiment, her eyes slightly narrowed and her horn glowed. She focused entirely on Golden Lily. Whitemane regarded the other two assassins as hopeless amateurs. Dark Storm’s attack was clumsy, Daggerclaw’s too exotic. She intended her kill to be the perfect assassination: so subtle that nopony would ever know it had taken place. She reached out with her mind and magic towards Golden Lily, saw beneath the white coat, beneath muscles and ribs, to the other pony’s heart. Even Canterlot had spies, and some of them had informed the Griffin Empire that Celestia’s Chancellor of the Exchequer was not in good health. A subtle squeeze, just a narrowing of the arteries, and Golden Lily would die of a heart attack. Everypony would believe it to be natural; if Whitemane was lucky, they would blame Celestia herself for sending an unwell pony to such a stressful event. It would be perfect revenge for Celestia’s exiling Whitemane from Equestria. She turned her thoughts away from her hatred of Celestia and back to the matter at hoof. Ironwing was still being the perfect distraction, but then Whitemane noticed Luna look in her direction. She cursed herself for a fool: the moon princess was too powerful not to notice a unicorn using her magic. She would need better cover. Seeing that nopony was paying any attention to her, she moved away from the inspection, took a detour around the silent cannon, and headed for a copse of trees. There was a fence around them, but that just made things easier. Whitemane squeezed underneath the fence, crept forward, and once more began her silent assault on Golden Lily. Her horn glowed with magic. Nothing happened. Whitemane’s brow furrowed in frustration. Golden Lily was supposed to have a weak heart: it would not take much to cause an arrest. Lily seemed a bit uncomfortable, but that was all. Whitemane made the pressure increase some. Now Lily’s mouth fell open and she was panting some, and she brought up a hoof to massage her chest a little, but that was all. Her frustration turning to anger, Whitemane switched the spell to its intended purpose, which was to examine the heart, not destroy it. Golden Lily’s heart was not only normal, it was healthier than most. “Hey!” Whitemane lost all concentration when one of the guards pointed in her direction. “What’s she doing there?” The colonel turned and whinnied in horror. “Miss Whitemane! Do not move!” Whitemane panicked. Now everypony was looking at her, Luna in particular. She remembered Celestia’s wrath and knew that the Princess of the Night would do far worse. She stepped back, turned, and started to run, despite the colonel’s shouts to stop. Whitemane had taken two steps when she heard a distinctive click. The explosion sent Whitemane flying into the air. Golden Lily screamed, but Luna reacted first. She caught Whitemane in a globe of protective energy and gently lowered her to the ground. “Medic!” several soldiers screamed, and two pegasi detached themselves from the line and dashed to Whitemane’s side. A unicorn arrived and his horn shimmered with healing magic. Luna, Lily and Ironwing watched as she was put on a stretcher and taken to a waiting chariot. The unicorn came up to Ironwing, gave a brief bow, and addressed the griffin. “She’ll be all right, sir…eventually. Her legs are pretty torn up, but I think we can save them from being amputated. Luckily the shock of the explosion knocked her out, so she’s not in any pain, and we have her stabilized. Would you like to accompany her to the hospital?” “That is not necessary.” Ironwing looked in Whitemane’s direction, his face a mask of anger. “What was that?” Golden Lily asked. “My goodness…I thought my heart was going to stop.” She waved off the medic’s expression of concern. “Oh, I’m fine, doctor. Just frightened me, that’s all.” “It was a mine,” the Flankfurt colonel said. At Lily and Luna’s quizzical looks, he explained, “A buried explosive charge, set off by the pressure of a hoof.” He pointed to a dummy near the copse of trees. "We were going to demonstrate them to you after the inspection." “How barbaric,” Lily replied. “Indeed. But it may be necessary to defend our borders.” The colonel did not say from whom, but his nervous glance towards Ironwing left little doubt as to who Germaneigh might feel the need to defend themselves from. Ironwing began to walk away. Luna could not resist. “I would offer you Twilight Sparkle’s services,” she called after him, “but she’s at the embassy right now…”