//------------------------------// // Dotted Lines: Part I // Story: From the Desk of Ambassador Wildcard. // by Gladi Writes //------------------------------// Wildcard awoke the next morning with a splitting headache and a bare recollection of the last nights events. The late morning sun streaming in through the window seemed to burn through his skull as he slowly opened his eyes, finding himself laying on a couch with his desk to the back of him. On the floor were a few bottles, all empty. He groaned and rubbed his forehead, rolling off the couch onto the ground with an audible thunk. As he lay there the events of last night flooded back, much like toilet might flood a washroom- all of it unwanted. Laying there on the floor the gears in his mind started to turn, slowly. With each throb of his head an idea repeated itself. "Was I really that stupid?" Zeta had betrayed him, which he should have suspected- Never trust a spy. First Class had left him, because of his idiotic insistence on keeping that dossier. To his small credit it was hard to get over a lifetime of being a spy. With another groan he came to all four, and tried desperately to magically cure his hangover. He found to his surprise that he had no magic, for the first time in a few weeks. He sighed again and hung his head, warily trotting out the door. At the very least he could shower and look somewhat presentable- even with the way things were going he still had a job to do. Out in the hallway he absent-mindedly bumped into one of the guards, looking up he wasn't surprised at all which one it was. "Flash, are you spying on me or something? Why is it always you?" He demanded. Putting a hoof to his chest Flash Sentry responded with a look of faux-shock. "Me? Spy? That's more your style, isn't it?" He exclaimed sarcastically while he produced a folder under his wing. "You missed the briefing, here's a copy of the minutes," he explained Wildcard took them and frowned as he leafed through. "I guess it doesn't look very well on me that I didn't show, huh?" Wildcard noted. Flash laughed. "I took a look in your office an hour ago, I just told them you were sick and that was that. I've been there myself- which is why I'm taking calls for the 'general' now." Wildcard relaxed enough to remember how much his head hurt. "Flash could you do me a favour and just... stand there?" Wildcard pleaded while he rubbed his aching temple. "Uhh, alright?" Flash said, cocking his head as Wildcard drew a deep breath. With a spark, and then a glow, his crooked alicorn lit up and bathed his head in a green glow. After a few moments the blue colour flowed back into his eyes, and he sighed with pleasure. Opening his eyes he smiled at Flash, who still seemed confused. "Thank you," he said. "Well I'm not sure what for, but you're welcome- I guess. Anyway, I gotta do..." Flash sighed. "..patrol schedules," Flash said, and trotted off shaking his head. Newly invigorated Wildcard went to his room, passing by Zeta's which he noted was now taped off- 'Crime Scene'. The door hadn't been fixed, it lay on the floor inside the doorway. Wildcard would have to deal with his mutinous comrade soon, but for now the only thing on his mind was a warm shower. Opening his door Wildcard was unsurprised to notice a few things had been moved around, the Night Guard had probably been through here. He had nothing to hide anymore- and he barely spent anytime in his room anyway. In the shower, as he bathed in the wonderful stream of warm water that reminded him just how nice it was to be living in the castle, he had some time to think. He supposed he couldn't really blame First Class, she had done her duty for the crown she served. No, the blame rested solely on him. He couldn't even really blame Zeta- it was his own stupid decision to keep that dossier that did him in. He couldn't even find her and try to explain, or argue. Perhaps it was for the best in the end, events required his attention, the next few weeks would make or break his career- and possibly the alliance itself. Half an hour later Wildcard decided it was high time to get to work. Closing his rooms door behind him he was startled to find a familiar face in the hallway. "Dr. Flankenstein!" Wildcard exclaimed on seeing the familiar, yet markedly older, figure in the hallway. As always his medic bag was slung over his back, he frowned on seeing Wildcard. "I know I'm supposed to know you, but frankly all I see is another government official. Thanks for saving me, but there's so many unanswered questions, like why I needed saving in the first place," He sighed, and Wildcard felt something in his voice. Age "Look, I'm sorry. I heard you were sick and came to see if I could help," Flankenstein said "Oh don't worry doc," Wildcard laughed. "Just had a long night, I'm fine now." Flankenstein snorted. "I'll say, by the looks of your office you had a long night," Flankenstein smiled, "I prescribe water, maybe a good lunch," He added. "We can both take it in my office, I had some business with you anyway," Wildcard suggested. "I never trust a bureaucrat that offers me a free lunch..." Flankenstein said squinting "... but a free lunch is a free lunch." Wildcard smiled, it was good to have him back. "... Office 14B... Yeah that's fine." Wildcard clicked the phone on the receiver and sat back, putting his hooves up on the desk. "It'll be a few minutes," He said, Flankenstein nodded. "Isn't government work grand? They feed you, give you room and board, and pay you too. I'm the Royal Surgeon to a pair of ancient nigh immortal alicorns, I barely even do anything," He said, and cracked whatever the pony equivalent of knuckles were before leaning on the desk. "So, what's your business anyway?" he asked. "I'm assuming you've been brought up to date on the immunization project you started?" "I have, kept pretty detailed notes- should be done in a few weeks." "Good, that's the first good news I've heard in days," Wildcard said. A thought occurred to him. In his desk was his 'Report on the Equestrian Situation" he had been working on. All of his adventures, discoveries, and notes were in there. Nothing improper, and he was careful to not mention anything related to their origins- but it did contain a very detailed report on Dr. Flankensteins history. A history that he himself didn't know. Was it right to give it to him, or should the past stay dead? When he got this job he really didn't expect the constant stream of dilemmas, or war, or adventures. What he expected was to sit in a chair and write letters all day. Instead he found himself grappling with implications that effected his entire race, dealing with mutiny, and helping end a siege. He was less an ambassador and more a strange kind of mercenary. He unlocked the desk, and put it on the desk. "What's that? Looks important." Flankenstein asked, leaning in. Wildcard sat back in his chair, leaving it there. In the end, it wasn't his choice to make. "The truth, " Wildcard said. Flankenstein cocked an eyebrow, unmoved. "Doctor, you've made some... mistakes. Mistakes that you can't correct, not any more. You can forget this, and move on- or you can face it. I won't judge you either way," Wildcard explained. Flankenstein picked it up, staring at it as if it held the key to the universe. "Report on the Equestrian Situation- Classified," He breathed, and glanced past at Wildcard. "What in Celestia's name did I do?!" He exclaimed, and flipped to the first page. Wildcard sat back as he read, his expression changing from horror, to intense interest, and now and then he laughed. Wildcard guessed that was him coming across their adventures together. He looked up from it and stared glassy eyed at Wildcard after a few minutes of reading. "...I artificially aged an Alicorn Princess?!" He exclaimed "That's about the gist of it doc," Wildcard said. Flankenstein tossed the report back on the desk, and sat his flank on the floor. Wildcard quickly put the report back in his desk, it remained his ace in the hole to repair his standing at home. Lunch arrived, brought in by a pleasant mare that worked for the crown. Wildcard let Flankenstein ponder his life in silence, he imagined it was quite a lot to take in all at once. Flankenstein ate his lunch silently as he sat on the couch; a small pile of hay fries, while Wildcard ate his, a mushroom sandwich with imported Hive mushrooms along with tea. Wildcard took the time to go through some of the trivial documents while they ate. "Wonderbolt flyover, too much? Would Spitfire even accept?" He was pondering this when there was a knock on the door. "It's unlocked," Wildcard said. The door opened and a green coated mare trotted in, a surprisingly serious look on her face. "Lyra Heartstrings, how nice you could make it- pull up a chair and let's talk." Wildcard said. Lyra did, glancing at the silent doctor and pile of cider bottles under the couch. She shook her head and swung the chair to before Wildcards desk, sitting in it in a swift motion. "You said you had an offer?" She asked. Wildcard was surprised how down to business she was. "Yes, I do. I need a secretary, and since the Hive owes you restitution, I'm willing to pay you a significant amount more then usual for this, as well as housing in the castle, and a few other perks," Wildcard explained. "How much is a 'significant amount more'?" Wildcard did some quick thinking. His deal with Applebuck was providing around a thousand bits a month, and he was certain to get some sort of funding from home once the rail line was complete and trade began. First Class made 500, less then most of the elite but since she stayed in the castle and everything she needed was provided by the crown. Lyra would have a similar arrangement. "Seven hundred bits, per month," Wildcard said. Dr. Flankenstein broke his silence, whistling. "You better take his offer miss, that's more then I make," he commented. "I'll do it, no sense going back to Ponyville anyway," Lyra said. Wildcard sensed something was off. "Lyra, why are you in Canterlot anyway?" He asked. She sighed, and slumped in her chair. "Bon-Bon is a reservist, she's going to be attached to the Crystal Imperial Legion. We came together to pick up her armour... and now she's gone," She explained, looking to the floor. Wildcard suppressed a gasp. The room was almost visibly filled with a deep sadness and helpless. Only Wildcard realized he wasn't helpless at all. He picked up the phone and dialed the General, Lyra seemed too filled with sorrow to notice. "Sergeant Flash Sentry, wh-" Wildcard cut him off immediately demanded the General, there was a click and then his voice came through. "This better be important," He growled. "General, you're in charge of... everything, right? Personnel assignments?" Wildcard asked. "Obviously, now get to the point," The General demanded. "I want you to re-assign..." As Wildcard talked Lyra looked up, there was an almost childlook look of hope in her eyes, they even seemed to shine. "... Bon-Bon to the Canterlot Castle force, whatever it's called," Wildcard argued the point, hard. It took a good five minutes but eventually he started to turn the tables in his favour. "... Yes I know she's not trained, you saying Flash is any better? ...Well alright fine he can fly, that's true... No I don't think that matters at all.... Look, General- Equestria was founded on friendship, and you have a chance to prove that..." There was a pause in the conversation, Lyra seemed like a coil ready to explode. "... Fine, I'll get it done... She'll be there." Wildcard finished, and clicked the phone back on the receiver. "Well?!" Lyra asked. "Meet her at the train station at 7 PM," Wildcard said, grinning ear to ear. Lyra paused for a second, and then launched forward across the desk hugging Wildcard in an awkward way while stammering "thank you". Bits of paper and his lunch flew to the side, nobody cared. "You're very welcome," Wildcard said, gasping for air under the embrace. Lyra made a sound only describable as 'squee' when she released him, and quickly dashed to the door. "I accept your offer, I'll see you tomorrow!" She shouted, and disappeared down the hallway. Wildcard could here her giddily laughing as she galloped down it. Flankenstein stood from the couch, matching Wildcards smile. "That's a good thing you did just now, how did you get General Massè to go for it?" He asked. "Well, mentioning 'friendship' is close to pulling a royal flush around here, and I promised him a new desk- same as mine," Wildcard explained, Flankenstein eyed the desk. "That can't be cheap, it looks like the work of a master," he noted. Wildcard span back in his chair to look out the window. "You would be surprised," Wildcard said. Flankenstein took his leave, mentioning he "needed to think", giving Wildcard the chance to finally go over that days briefing. Finally some light would be shed on the past few days. Wildcard sat back and read it in the light of the afternoon sun. The meeting had started with a report on last night- Luna had been there to explain this in person. Wildcard was thankful that she seemed to believe that it was entirely Zeta, acting alone. This was true, but he had worried that his colleagues idiotic actions would cause a revival of the generalizations that changelings were evil by nature. The others agreed, after Spitfire mentioned that an investigation should be launched into Wildcard- which he supposed explained his room being searched. First Class mentioned again, during a security meeting with the entire force of the nation representative, that she felt violated by this spying. After this they finally got into the real work, Wildcard gazed intently as the events at Baltimare that kicked off the state of emergency were explained by General Massè. "As we know, the Griffons have a new weapon. They used it to incredible effect in Baltimare, forcing the evacuation of the city. Investigations by myself and the rest of the guard have come close to revealing the nature of this weapon, but much is still uncertain. We know for sure that it's fired from an extreme range- probably from that occupied island to the east- and we know that it operates first with a massive explosion, and then with some sort of flammable agent that burns for hours. We have no insight on how to stop it." A truly frightening description. That island was at least a hundred kilometers away. Changeling intelligence had reconned it from a distance, all they saw was a small griffon camp. If this weapon was deployable from an area like that, it could be deployed anywhere. This put the entire continent at risk, even the Hive itself. Wildcard copied this and added it to his report before continuing. Soon enough he came upon explanation of the new ranks, finally. It was General Massè that had explained it to an apparently confused servant that had happened in. "It's like this; The Guard cannot be both the police, and the military. In peace the guard had always been a sort of a basic militia filling both roles, but not really filling either- a sort of middle ground. With the current crisis this can't be maintained, so both of these functions have to be split off. So the trained guards are being re-formed into a proper army, while some of the reserves will operate as police for the duration of this crisis. The new ranks reflect this, soon you'll see a chief of police in each town- I believe Manehatten already has it's own police force actually. In addition this allows the heads of each branch- Air Martial Spitfire for the Wonderbolts, and myself for the Legion, to focus on defending the country instead of dealing with civil matters. " Wildcard nodded, it was wise enough. With the 'Legion' free of civic protection and policing it could much more efficiently respond to threats, and the Wonderbolts could function as a proper force. Interesting that they kept their name, he thought- it must have propaganda value. Putting the report in his desk he picked up the phone and dialed home, it was time to finally cross that bridge. The phone on the other end didn't even ring. "Eta-Alpha; what is it Eta-Delta?" he asked. Straight to the point as always. "Eta-Zeta has been arrested; after stealing critical documents, attempting to escape with a disguise, and nearly crippling the alliance." Wildcard explained. There was a long brutal pause. Wildcard would have given his life to know what his superior was thinking. "... that is unfortunate, we'll send a team to extract him and... deal with him." With a click the other end hung up. Wildcard shuddered to think what 'deal with him' really meant. There had not been a recorded case of mutiny in the history of the changelings, but recent events had thrown everything in the air. Wildcard got up from his chair, it was time he paid his comrade a visit. The caves under the palace had been explored thoroughly after the changelings had used them, and now housed a small prison. It had never been used, having been built not for any pony criminals- but specifically for changelings. A rather brilliant design, one could only get in and out using both wings and magic. This ensured that only either a pair of guards, an alicorn, or an undisguised changeling could get in and out. Numerous sharp corners and hidden outposts lay around, lying in wait to trap any attempt at escape. The bat ponies alongside a few guards were in charge of it, and one of them led Wildcard through the maze of corridors to the cells. There were only a few dozen, Zeta sat in the furthest. " 'ambassador' " he hissed on seeing Wildcard approach. "Zeta," Wildcard said, coming to a stop before the cell door. Wildcard let the bat pony stay, he wanted the disconnect between the two to be as public as possible. "You realize you committed treason, right? I don't imagine the Queen is going to be very happy," Wildcard said. Zeta snorted. "Treason? I did what any of us would have done. You've gone native 'wildcard' , you even have a cutie mark for Chrysalis sake. The only reason the Hive puts up with you is because we need this alliance. There's going to be a reckoning when this is all over, and I'll be back. I'll either have your job- or it won't exist at all," He threatened. "won't exist at all" was the part that worried Wildcard the most, was there some conspiracy against the alliance? "The alliance is profitable for all of us you fool, that's why Chrysalis supported it in the first place. They could crush the Hive in a moment if they wanted to- you were there when they almost did!" Wildcard argued. "They almost did, but they didn't. They're all cowards, and if the griffons don't get them somebody else will!" Zeta exclaimed, leaping at the cell door. Wildcard allowed the bat to zap him with a tazer, he deserved it. "You utter idiot- you're the one that went native!" Wildcard shouted, pointing an accusing hoof. "That's griffon talk!" "Who's to say they aren't right?" Zeta asked, coming back to the door. "They respect us, as warriors. Together we could rule the continent, with our subterfuge and their power. They have a new weapon, Wildcard, resistance is useless- only together can we survive." Wildcard barely hid his his shock. What did Zeta know about that weapon? Something had happened while he was with the griffons, something important. "What would you know of any weapon? You were only inserted into an infantry platoon." Wildcard inquired. "They knew I was a spy all along, this was planned well in advance. I have met the Grand Martial, after being captured. It was... painful at first. But I saw the light. Celestia can control the sun, Luna can control the moon. He can control fire," Zeta said, staring at Wildcard with the ferocity of a wild animal. Zeta started laughing manically, Wildcard backed away. "The Griffons are coming, 'ambassador', They're coming and you can't stop them! Equestria will fall, and I will live to stand on it's ashes!" he shouted. Wildcard left, there was no more use talking with him. He was either mad, brainwashed, or there were elements at play here that Wildcard couldn't fathom. Gesturing down the tunnel the bat led him out. "Is he insane?" he whispered. "He's either insane, or we're in a lot of trouble," Wildcard replied.