//------------------------------// // A Cold, Clear day in April // Story: Between Needles and Knives // by Dancewithknives //------------------------------// A Cold, Clear, Day in April… April 2rd… Several sets of eyes looked down upon the world. High above the gridlocked street in front of the Imperial Palace Theater, the two waited as still as statues beside one particularly large weapon. Below, luxurious and expensive carriages of dark crimson, shiny black, and pure white were pulled by professional teams of stallions at speeds that would rival snails on the white marble streets of Canterlot. The vehicles were inspected inch by inch by guards at each checkpoint. Once cleared by the security team, the chauffeurs and drivers exercised extreme caution in guiding the transport that cost more than a year’s salary up to the red carpet leading into the theatre untouched, deposited their fancily dressed clients, and then tiptoed to the nearby parking lot. The two peeking over the building across the street -which was an apartment building with boutiques on the ground floor- sat still and watched the slow proceedings from their nested perch. For as entertaining as watching a painfully slow traffic jam on a street corner seemed to be, this was actually the more interesting part of the day. These two, like the other teams scattered across the rooftops looking out for trouble while babysitting a large crossbow, had been out on watch for hours before the current activity on the street. Through the grey overcast above, blistering cold winds, and sparse flakes of snow dancing carelessly through the air, every royal sniper team had been on full watch duty around the theatre. At the position directly across from the front entrance to the concert hall, two particular ponies sat at binoculars while their weapon, The Royal Arms AX1 Bow-Gun lazily pointed towards the sky. Their attendance was somewhat pointless. What were they, two ponies armed with an anti-materiel weapon invented to take down adult dragons at one thousand yards, supposed to do in the event that they detected a threat amidst a sea of innocent civilians? Well, whatever the answer may be, the idea of having an extra set of eyes looking around kept the public at ease, and in reality that was all that mattered. The pony on the left side of the revolver fed weapon was a pegasus. Corporal Gray Anatomy was his name. Like all of the other recruits that had been pulled from the elite guard training, he was paired with a senior member of the elite corps of Solar and Lunar Guard. It was somewhat like an apprentice-type situation, that he, an elite trainee, had been partnered with a guard who had already passed the training and had experience in being on the elite guard. Their exclusive association with the guards who had common positions worked well in regard to breaking in the new recruits. Any of the Solar or Lunar Guards (who represented quality over quantity) who were not currently watching a VIP had been placed at hard points –on rooftops, inspecting vehicles occupying checkpoints, etc- around the action-zone. Their Royal counterparts (quantity over quality) were doing the majority of the work on the ground and in the theatre. Their forces, combined with the addition of the Canterlot Metropolitan Police force in the area should have provided more than the necessary security. It just so happened that Gray was paired with the Second-In-Command of the Royal Guard, First Lieutenant Raindance Maggie. The Corporal sat at his binoculars and wore a standard issue set of enchanted golden armor which turned his coat white like any of the other royal guards of the castle. The earth pony mare sitting beside him looking through her own pair of binoculars sat with her helmet off. The lack of the Lunar Steel headwear left her body in its natural honey yellow color while her tightly wound bun of mane on the back of her head hung like a sagging balloon. Even though they did not move away from the spectacles before their eyes, the yellow mare breathed out a white cloud of breath from her nostrils and said, “I know he may come off as…strange, but you need to respect that he does the things he does to prepare us all. ” Gray replied to her statement, but dared not break away from his binoculars, “It just… really bothers me all the time, First Lieutenant. I don’t mind the physical training, but its just… The training master’s methods seem unorthodox. ” The mare broke away from her watch and gave an audible sigh to the air before she rummaged through a nearby bag, “For the last time, Gray. When I’m sitting out in freezing weather like any other guy, just call me Raindance.” The Corporal turned his head and looked at his superior and apologized. But, when he looked at her, he saw that she had dug into her satchel and pulled out a small circular container, about the size of a hockey puck. The package had the designs of evergreen trees on them, and the white word “Koal” was printed on the top. “I didn’t know you chewed,” Said the spotter. “I don’t,” replied Raindance, putting the open hatch to her nose and sniffing in the diced tobacco’s smell, “Anything to help ignore the cold.” The container fell back into the bag and the two resumed looking over the edge of the building. After a few moments, Gray continued the conversation, “I knew that the elite training wasn’t going to be easy, don’t get me wrong. But I never suspected it to be like… well… the way it is.” “I understand your concern, but the training master knows what he is doing. I had the same doubt that you did when I went through Solar Guard training, but you have to have faith in that he has the utmost concern for the Princesses’ safety.” “Yeah…” the Corporal added while he rubbed a particularly sore and bruised area of his neck. “I really just can’t trust the guy. There is just too many things that don’t add up about him.” “I know how you feel, but trust me, the less you know the better. The Princesses trust him, and so that means we should to.” The junior pony sitting between the large AX1 Bowgun and a few boxes of its explosive ammunition grunted in agreement. “And,” Raindance added once more, “I hope you know better than to talk with anypony else about this. I was in your place once, and I want to help you, but loose lips sink ships. Anypony else may have you shit-canned for gossip.” “Roger that.” Gray added, “Thanks anyway, Raindance.” The two guards of differing authority returned to their jobs of scoping out the crowd below them as the attendees entered the theatre. Their watch continued to be as boring and uneventful as it was before unti- “I got him!” whispered Raindance. Gray, beginning to feel his bones freeze together in the position of peeking over the low barricade from the general lack of movement, jumped back to life as his superior let her binoculars hang from her neck and she took position and shouldered their massive weapon. “See who? What’s going on?” The Lieutenant moved her free hoof up to the scope and turned the magnifier crank slowly increasing the magnification on the mob of ponies below. “There…” she whispered. The mare set the weapon back to its resting position and moved back to her satchel, digging past the gear in the bag and pulled out a large golden ring. She took the equipment, and twisted one link on the metal O. When calibrated correctly, the mare spoke into the ring and said, “Skinner, this is Blind 3, over. Jaeger is on site. I repeat, Jaeger is on site, over.” Gray, confused over what he was trying to look for and more so over why they weren’t taking action over identifying a potential threat in a crowd of innocent civilians, watched the communicator ring as it began to vibrate. A distorted and monotone voice responded to her warning, “Good job, take the rest of the day off.” As Gray tried to comprehend the… incredibly unprofessional response to their strict militaristic transmission, Raindance had already begun packing up their camp. “What are you doing?” “Our job’s done.” The Mare responded, disassembling the large crossbow and placing it into its attaché case. “But… weren’t we supposed to-” “If you want to sit out here in the cold for the rest of the night, then fine by me. If not, then ‘Skinner gave us the order to return to base, so help me with some of these boxes.” Gray Anatomy, still confused as to what exactly was happening, threw caution to the wind and decided to pack up the weapon’s explosive ammunition. As the pegasus began to extract from their over-watch position with the same gear that he had carried to the roof in the morning, Raindance had looked over the edge of the roof and looked down at the crowd once more. “Good hunting, sir.” Years earlier… A lineup of eight stallions, all members of the Royal Guard, all pegasi, and all the same white coat, walked in a straight line behind a yellow earth pony mare. Like a good little troop of ducklings, the eight followed closely behind their mother goose as she lead the way through the castle. With every step she made, they all took one step. For every turn, they were always one step behind. Like perfect little copycats, they matched her stride without fail. For as strange as it sounded, these stallions were not following this one mare around like gawkers at a beach. On the contrary, they should be acting with the utmost respect and professionalism. They were not just following any ordinary mare. They were trailing behind their superior, Acting Captain Raindance. The earth pony with a bright violet heart on her flank, wearing her friend's armor and temporarily accepting his responsibilities to cover his excused absence of being married, made her way through the castle and finally to her desired room. Two unicorns, doing their jobs perfectly, opened the doors for their executive officer and closed them as the last member of the crowd entered. The room they had entered was a sunroom. For a normal pony's home, this would be a hotly desired room. The balcony outside hosted a perfect view to the wedding chapel's tower and also had a sight of the street below. The sun lit the room easily, but the pink shield that encased the city distorted it and made the light seem to be of an awkward and unnatural shade of orange. The wind, if the shield allowed it, would have pushed a relaxing breeze to cool off anypony who decided to spend the evening reading in the comfort of the room. The room probably had some sort of name, every room did in this castle, but it did not matter. For as nice as it sounded, the extravagant sunrooms such as this were fairly common in the castle, which was why this room rarely had guests. The armored mare entered the room and about-faced. The following of common Royal Guards stopped and lined up shoulder to shoulder before her. She approached them and began to pace before them all. "You know why I gathered you all here," she said. "No, ma'am," one said, keeping a straight and stoic posture. Raindance reached the end of the line of eight and kept walking. All eight ponies felt an itching in their heads at the same time, and when a pony went on a return march before the group, a navy blue stallion in a weather resistant coat was walking before them. "There is no use denying the threat that is knocking at our door. Look out the windows yourselves." The line of guards stepped forward and closer to the window, looking out on the bright, warm summer's day. "It's marvelous," one said. "Yes... yes it is," another agreed. It was a glorious day outside, but these eight pegasi were not marveling at the possibilities of things to do while relaxing after a long shift in heavy armor. Instead, all eight of them were staring up at the sky, at the little black specs that were hovering over the shield. The shape shifting pony in the room spoke again, "You have not fooled me. Your Trojan horse has failed. Submit now, and your lives shall be spared." The eight kept their fixation with the sky above, and instead of answering to his threat, one stated a different question in a dreamy and listless manner. "Why do you resist? Why is it that you ally yourself with things so far from yourself? Even now among familiars, the conflict of your heart sides with this hopeless cause even with the common breed that outnumbers you. Become one, serve our queen, and rid yourself of the charade, half brother." From behind the group, the Omnishield wearing pony retorted. "I need not fear insurmountable odds or seek familiarity in common strangers. For we are all one as equal under the mercy of the Lady of Light. Wicked ends hath befallen those who try challenge her order." There was a thud, and the eight pegasi turned in unison and looked at the winged unicorn in a coat, now reared and covering the door with his back as a large board barricaded the double doors shut. "It seems that we are at crossing then." One of the pegasi said, raising his break action crossbow and aiming it at the pony blocking the door. " Even though thy travels through the valley of temptation, Thou Shalt not give in to the offerings of the condemned; for thy reward of the Lady of Light's favor in Salvation shall be infinitely greater.[\i] " With all eight weapons aimed at one mark, the traitors fired. The crossbow bolts hit the navy blue pony and cut into him with hard and solid contact. The Lever action bow darts stuck out from his chest like a pincushion. The metal slag from the magic bows burned and melted the Spring coat as the magically superheated iron shavings found their marks on his chest. When all of the projectile weapons were out of ammunition, the eight dropped them. With a groan of pain, the winged unicorn slid down the door and rested on the floor while several dozen arrows and marks ruined his favorite coat. One of the pegasi turned back to the window and watched as the pink sphere finally cracked. “and so the invasion has commenced..." He buzzed. "Yes... Let the feast begin." Replied another. There was a series of short, raspy coughs from behind the firing squad of spies."Not quite." The eight, jumping at the ghostly voice that knew their language, turned again. The Navy blue pony stood up again by pushing and using the sealed door as leverage. Spitting out red blood from its mouth, it used a hoof to unzip its coat. The garment, full of arrows, holes, burn marks, and slag that fell from it, fell off of its master's body and crumpled up on the floor, revealing a body armor set made from a foil of the metals from the sun's core. The pony pulled a string on the side of the set and caused the two pieces of Solar Gold chest armor to fall to the ground and crack the tiles. "No matter treacherous day or accursed night, my creed I have sworn to uphold." Beneath the trump card of the now naked winged unicorn, the latch on an armpit holster unclipped as its button was pulled off with green magic. "All in the name of Lady Light..." The pony fell forward onto all four hooves and drew a large purple knife from its holster in magic. "Over whom the bell tolls."