King Craw magically unsealed a hidden chamber built near the original lair of the Changelings, before they moved their forces to the Crystal Mountains. As surprised as he was that he finally had an opportunity to re-enter his old haunt and re-utilize its content, what surprised him even more was the fact that Queen Chrysalis and her blowhard of a brother did not locate it themselves. He grinned, knowing that he still managed to stay one step ahead of the Changeling Royal Family without even trying.
He approached the center of the chamber until he was standing before a round table made of polished stone. On the table was a bundle of dark gray fabric. Using his telekinesis, he opened the bundle, revealing an assortment of electronic devices that once belonged to his one-time associates, Renn and Ulrik. One of them was called a "transmitter", which projected a three-dimensional image based on data of whatever person or object was encoded in its memory banks. Another was a quasi-spherical object called a "probe". Craw used his telekinesis once more to flick a dipswitch located at the top of the device, causing several red lights on the sides to activate, and it began to levitate a few feet off the table. As it floated on its own accord, it made several beeps and high-pitched humming noises.
"How may I serve the master?" droned the electronic voice of the machine.
"Patrol the chamber, and scan it for intruders." said Craw.
"As the master desires." said the probe, as it began moving through the air at a slow but steady rate.
King Craw looked at two identical devices that were laying together in the middle of the cache.
"Oh, perfect." he grinned. "These will both do nicely. But who can I trust to use one of these? No Changeling would dare cooperate with me now!"
Then he thought outside the box, as he usually did. If his fellow Changelings would be of no help to him and his schemes, perhaps...
"Oh, I know just who to give this one to." Craw held up one of the devices with his hole-ridden hoof. "Probably one of the few in Equestria that would have any true idea how this would work, based on her own personal experience. I just need to make a few adjustments here and there, and..."
He used his telekinesis to disassemble the device, intending to modify it.
A couple of days passed since Sunset Shimmer and her friends returned from Vanhoover, and Sunset had taken the opportunity to take Teddy under her proverbial wing. After coaching him on using trash-talk and wise-cracks, she decided to try her best to teach some of the martial arts she learned in the human world to the blue earth pony.
"Give me one more chance, Sunset." said Teddy, who was sweating from the work-out he had done that afternoon. "I know I can do this one right this time!"
"Okay, just remember to sweep your legs to the appropriate sides..." Sunset Shimmer prompted Teddy. "Otherwise, you'll just have them smack into each other, which will hurt a lot."
"Got it, boss-lady." said Teddy, nodding instinctively.
He looked back and forth at the two makeshift dummies that Sunset stood upright via her telekinesis on either side of him. He raised his hind legs, and sweep-kicked them both down with a big "Hyah!".
"You have done well, Teddy-san." Sunset bowed her head, closing her eyes and speaking with a phony Japanese accent as she did so. "That will be all for today, my apprentice."
"When's the next session?" asked Teddy. "Tomorrow, right?"
"No." said Sunset, speaking again with her normal accent. "I've got a session with Princess Luna at that time. And I think Trixie will want me to coach her on a couple of spells some time soon, so the day after that's out of the question, too. How about Sunday?"
"Sure, that'll be great." smiled Teddy. "See ya later, Sensei Shimmer."
After Teddy left Sunset's bedroom, the door knocked again.
"Come on in!" Sunset called towards the door.
The door opened, and a redheaded pegasus with green eyes and a light tan coat flew inside carrying a parcel.
"Special delivery for Miss Sunset Shimmer!" the mailpony stated, laying the package on the unicorn's bed.
"Who's it from?" Sunset asked curiously. "Is it more fan-mail from Fillydelphia?"
She had spent two hours straight last night, reading the stacks of letters she had received from her many Fillydelphian admirers. If Princess Luna didn't already warn her in advance, she would've been swamped and overwhelmed by the amount of reception she had received for her deeds in that city.
"No, actually." said the mailpony. "I don't even know who it's from, just that it was meant for you."
"Well, I'll take a look at it, then." said Sunset. "Do I need to pay you a tip or anything?"
"Not at all, Miss Shimmer." said the pegasus. "I've already been paid in advance by Captain Star Shield. Well, I've got more rounds to do."
Once he flew out, Sunset Shimmer used her telekinesis to unwrap the package.
Sergeant Craw was thinking yet again about Sunset Shimmer. No matter how he tried, he couldn't stop fantasizing about her. He could practically imagine her luminous green eyes looking at him right now. Her amber skin shining like gold in the sunlight. Her long curly red-blonde hair blowing in the wind. Her tan lips curved in a friendly grin as she extended her hand gracefully towards him. Craw wanted to reach over and seize Sunset by the wrist to pull her towards him for the biggest embrace he could possibly imagine.
But this wasn't so. Sunset Shimmer was currently in some parallel universe, and probably wasn't in any hurry to come running back to him. Not after the degrading, hateful things he last said to her. Not after setting Corporal Ghost on her. He found himself scowling at the fact that he would even consider harming someone so beautiful, so golden, so pure, like Sunset Shimmer. He was wondering what made him behave as he did, anyhow.
Could it have been some abstract phobia of hybrid creatures, a fear of the unknown, or a simple surprise that he did not know how to properly react to? Could it have been his cold militant personality digging its way out of the tangled web that was his assumed persona? It had been weeks since he actually participated in any standard Syndicate operations. But surely someone as intelligent and refined as him would've been able to take a revelation like that a little better than that, no matter how improbable it seemed!
Sgt. Craw sighed heavily, and decided that Captain Umbriel was right; he was definitely getting too caught up in his previous relationship with Sunset Shimmer to actually behave and act as he was supposed to. After all, even if Sunset Shimmer did still love him in some form, would she want to stay for some obsessive, whiny man-child that lied about being a teenager? Craw shook his head, deciding she probably wouldn't.
He pulled himself together, and stood himself erect against the statue. He closed his eyes and slowly took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, his frustrated expression blanked out as he put his helmet back on, and he simply walked back and forth along the statue autonomously. As he did so, he silently formulated a number of potential strategies and approaches he could take to reacquire the pony--the woman--that he was so intensely in love with.
As he did this, he analyzed his polished black XM8 assault rifle with attached laser sight and extended magazines. The idea of crossing into a world inhabitated by talking ponies with a fully-loaded automatic weapon of this caliber almost seemed absurd to him. The idea of an entire army of troops armed with similar weapons crossing into said world seemed absolutely inhumane from a glance. On the other hand, though, Equestria was apparently inhabited by all kinds of magical creatures, including these so-called "Changelings", who were apparently the Chrysalis Syndicate's counterparts.
"I almost wonder what my own counterpart in that world is like." Craw thought. "Would his relationships with that world's Chrysalis, Umbriel, and so forth be just like mine with this world's? Maybe better, or worse? Would he be just like me?"
Then Sgt. Craw thought about this; Would he be the cold, calculating soldier that he himself was supposed to be, or would he be able to at all show a little sympathy like he could? Would he harbor the same feelings for Sunset Shimmer, or would he just treat her like expendable trash?
The front entrance to the school opened, and Major Canopy came outside.
"How are you doing, Synthe?" she asked, as she approached him.
Sergeant Craw thought about whether or not he should tell Canopy about his recent "encounter" with Captain Umbriel, but decided he would worry about thing on his own...for now.
"I'm doing just fine, Hope." said Craw, hesitantly. "I'm a bit concerned about Sunset Shimmer, but I've decided that I'm going to try and keep things on a professional level from now on. What're you doing out here?"
"I was just coming out here to remind you that your shift out here's done with." said Canopy. "And because those friends of yours are distracting me from my own duties."
"Thanks." said Craw, coolly. "Well, I'm gonna go back inside."
Which he did, as Canopy assumed his previous position, and checked to see if her firearm, a suppressed carbine, was loaded or not.Just as she switched the safety back on, Craw turned back to speak.
"Wait, could I take a moment to ask you a question?" asked Craw, turning back.
"Fire away, sarge." answered Canopy.
"Well, I'm looking for some...relationship advice." said Sergeant Craw, slowly.
Canopy took her helmet off.
"Really, you're coming to me about that?" she said, surprised. "Okay, but be quick."
Craw turned back around to take his helmet off and wipe off the coagulated blood from under his nostrils. He turned around again and took a deep breath.
"Okay, I know you and Sigma are in a relationship."
"That's true." confirmed Major Hope Canopy. "That's how I came to join the Syndicate in the first place."
"Exactly." said Craw. "That's why I wanted to talk to you in particular. So, it wouldn't seem too far-fetched if I were to get say...Sunset Shimmer to join our organization, since she was my 'girlfriend', after all."
"Well, I could sure look past the fact that she was some kind of humanized unicorn, unlike some people around here." said Canopy. "But I'm not sure if Captain Umbriel or even the supreme commander would approve of recruiting someone like her, even if she was an actual human. I mean, the captain let me join this Syndicate because I had nothing to do with our organization beforehand, and was a clean slate. But Sunset Shimmer is the direct subject of this mission right now. It just wouldn't be the same recruiting a girl into an organization that she was convinced just tried to kill her a month ago."
"Good point." said Craw, with a light shrug. "Well, I'm going to talk with Captain Umbriel inside. See you later, Canopy."
"Same here, Synthe." said Canopy, putting her helmet back on.
When Craw went back inside, he decided to go to Vice Principal Luna's office, where Captain Umbriel and Lieutenant Sigma were having a conversation, while unhelmeted.
"Listen, lieutenant..." muttered Umbriel. "Our watch on this school might not be as tight as before, but I still don't want to see my men slacking off with a bunch of civilians."
"We ain't slackin' off, sir!" said Sigma. "I promise yer that this thing'll only last a couple o' hours, and then Remix will be back to his patrols."
"I still have my doubts, Sigma." said Umbriel. "At least promise me you'll make sure that Corporal Remix will never do anything else like this, at least as long as we're here in Canterbury. He's in your squad, after all, so I'm holding you responsible for his actions."
"Well, I unfo'tuna'ly can't make an' promises, but I'm willin' to put a bullet in him if he ends up makin' the Syndicate look bad." said Lt. Sigma, hesitantly.
Then Captain Umbriel laughed.
"You sure know how to pass a loyalty test, don't you?" he commented. "But really, that won't be necessary. Now go back and check on the students, lieutenant."
"Yes, sir!" said Sigma, putting his helmet back on and then leaving the office.
Craw went inside after Sigma left, and saluted the captain.
"Ah, Sergeant Craw." said Captain Umbriel, feigning satisfaction in seeing him. "Not have any more problems, are we?"
"Hardly, sir." said Craw. "I've been thinking about what you said earlier, by the statue."
"Yes?" asked Umbriel, raising an eyebrow.
"I think you were right: I have been letting this whole Sunset Shimmer affair get the best of me." said Craw, trying hard to avoid seeming reluctant. "If a colder, pricklier Sergeant Craw is what our organization needs, then I'll be willing to provide it for you."
"Very good, Craw." said Umbriel, cracking a smile. "I knew we could depend on you."
"'We', sir?" asked Sgt. Craw.
"Of course. Me and my sister." said Captain Umbriel. "The supreme commander will be stopping by in a couple of days. I'd hate to see our organzation's men, let alone one of her prized soldiers, acting like fools in front of her!"
Craw's eyes widened.
"Supreme Commander Chrysalis is coming here?" asked Craw, surprised.
"That is correct, Sergeant Craw." said Umbriel. "And she's bringing additional support with her."
"Additional support--you mean another division, right?" asked Craw.
"Not quite; I actually meant that she will be bringing some more combat vehicles with her. She believes that they will benefit us for the next phase of Operation Eclipse."
"But...sir, what about the Diamond Dog Cartel? Doesn't the Syndicate need to dispose of them?"
"Not anymore, sergeant." said Captain Umbriel. "My sister--our supreme commander--has dealt with their leaders, already. She now has enough time to spare to come over here and check up on her beloved younger brother, not to mention you. You don't have any problems with this, do you?"
"Not at all, sir." sighed Craw. "Do you have any further instructions for me, sir?"
"Well, now that you mention it, I actually do." said Umbriel. "Lieutenant Sigma told me--just before you came in--that Corporal Remix has apparently been challenged to a dance-duel with a student here at the school--Miss Vinyl Scratch, if I recall correctly."
"And what do you want me to do about it, sir?" asked Sergeant Craw.
"Oh, just go over to the town's video arcade tonight, and make sure that Remix stays on his best behavior." said the captain. "I understand that I was a little hard on you today, so consider it my of letting you take a break from guard duty."
"Thank you, sir." nodded Craw, leaving the office.