//------------------------------// // Mar 11th to Mar 15th // Story: Property of the Crystal Empire // by TheMessenger //------------------------------// 11-MR-1204 We've started adding snowballs to our munitions. I think most of us are just desperate for something to do besides waiting to be attacked. I've busied myself by kicking away some of the overhanging clouds. Pointless endeavor, since they'll all be back soon, but at least it's something. Let's hope we finish this before that storm hits. I wish Shimmer was a pegasus. What I wouldn't do for some company. I miss Private. He wasn't much of a conversationalist, but at least he'd be a nice change from all this fluffy silent white stuff. * Playing a bit of a gamble here by setting up a fire. The idea is to lure Chrysalis to the ambush site, but I think the more important thing of everypony's minds is finally having a warm meal. Spirits are high, and there's even some laughter in the air. It's quiet, subdued, but it's there. Well, duty calls. Back to guarding the skies. * 12-MR-1204 The first flurries are picking up. Some of the guards are getting angry at me, thinking I'm dumping snow on top of their heads on purpose. Not my fault the clouds are already so thick and heavy. Clouds clouds clouds clouds cloids clouds chlods clouds. * Requested a half hour break for a quick nap, was approved. Need to clear my head. * Sparky woke me on the minute, good stallion. Still kind of tired, but at least I feel a little better. I don't remember this blanket. Did somepony cover me while I was sleeping? * 13-MR-1204 * {~EXPUNGED~} * It's noon. I've ordered a lunch break and set upon myself the task of bringing food to the princess's caretakers and the Guard-Captain. I brought Sparky with me. For now, I suppose he's the second in command. Lunch was standard, with a bit of warm coffee. I carried the tray of stale biscuits, Sparky brought the thermos. The interior of the tent was surprisingly warm. The canvas does a wonderful job keeping out the elements. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is unconscious. The bruising appears to have died down, and the cuts have been covered. There's little else that can be done, besides making sure the princess is as comfortable as we possibly can. If there's any internal damage...she's in no condition to be moved anyways. Alicorns are made of sterner stuff. She'll be fine, I'm sure. She'll be fine. Still, it's frightening to see how much damage managed to inflict. I mean, we all knew was powerful, but this was beyond the capabilities of a mere unicorn. Ironhoof wanted to know how Shining Armor was doing. I told him he still appears to be in shook, but I had a pair of guards with him in case he did anything rash. I was planning to check on him later and explained that I would present a report ASAP. The captain nodded and wished me the best of luck. He'll check on him later as well, Ironhoof said. Shimmer asked if she could step out for some fresh air. She followed Sparky and I outside. We were running low on coffee so I sent Sparky to fetch a new thermos. I wasn't sure what I wanted to ask first. The first thing that came to mind was to inquire how the princess was doing. Perhaps, I thought, Shimmer would be more willing to speak. Such selfish desires grew quiet at the sight of Shimmer bloodshot eyes. Instead, I asked if she had gotten any sleep last night. She had been up all night, Shimmer explained, helping with what she could. She figured the only reason Ironhoof had her with the princess was that it wouldn't be proper to leave Her Majesty in the company solely of stallions, but that didn't stop her from trying to assist. Odd, the captain from Canterlot never did strike me as a gentlecolt. I've always thought him to be rather lewd, to be honest, but I suppose you never really know a pony until you see them in the line of duty. I finally found the courage to ask how the princess was faring. Shimmer couldn't say with confidence, but besides the bruises there might have been a few broken bones. She must have noticed my paling because she immediately tried to backtrack. She tried changing the subject to the weather. I wish she hadn't because the clouds bring nothing but bad news. I pointed to the flakes gently fall onto our noses. We needed to get out of the tundra immediately, but we couldn't go anywhere until the princess regained conscious. I hope she awakens soon. We simply do not have enough shelters for everypony. "Y'know, you've got a special talent." "Huh?" I said in response to the unexpected compliment. "I've never met another pony who could turn a topic as boring as the weather depressing." Despite the gravity of the situation, we shared a tired laugh. Oh, it felt good to laugh, to hear her laugh. Sparky had returned and so we departed. Before I left, Shimmer promised to talk again later, at dinner. Something to look forward to. Shining Armor completely ignored us. He said nothing when we placed his food. He did not respond when we asked if there was anything he needed. The Guard-Captain just looked onward with blank eyes. I've seen those eyes before, on some of the wretched Sombra's freed slaves. Even after a thousand years, the pain and fear burns on. Scars fade quickly when compared to memories. I wish Shining Armor a speedy recovery. Seeing the Guard-Captain this way...Sparky's right, it was like he wasn't even there. The guards I set around him did a poor job of hiding their relief after their shift had ended. Maybe Ironhoof can help him. * Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's breathing has become less labored, but beyond that her condition seems to remain unchanged. Some of the guards are beginning to question the point of continued watch shifts. I argued that there wasn't any definite proof that Her Majesty was the one trailing us, not changelings. A flimsy argument, I realize. Ironhoof went to visit Shining Armor, leaving his lieutenant and Shimmer with the princess. An opportune time to check up on how she's doing, but I had to finish taking inventory first. Her Majesty had brought quite a few supplies with her, including a couple of tents, but I'd still much rather prefer the safety of a town. Food is no longer abundant, we'll have to start rationing more strictly, especially now that we have another mouth to feed. That'll make everypony happy, I'm sure. And I'm sure I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but every time I look up and see the drifting snowflakes, I grow more worried as I grow colder. Retreating would mean declaring this entire endeavor a failure, and it scares me how okay I am about that. It's my turn to stand watch. They say a leader leads by example. Dinner'll be in a couple of hours, I'll write more then. * A smaller proportion, as expected. I didn't hear any complaints but I'm sure they exist. No new updates on the princess. I made my worries about the weather and the location known to Ironhoof, but there's very little we can do right now. It's not safe to move Princess Mi Amore Cadenza yet but neither is simply staying here. We might have to send a few ponies ahead to get extra supplies. Shimmer and Ironhoof once again took their meal in the improv field hospital. We didn't have the opportunity to speak. Later perhaps. After receiving permission to speak freely, I asked Captain Ironhoof what he thought of Shining Armor as of now. The older stallion sighed before speaking: "He's in shock. What would you expect after everything that happened?" I asked if he thought the Guard-Captain would recover anytime soon. Again, Ironhoof sighed. He explained that he was prepared to relieve Shining Armor of his duty, under the grounds of questionable mental fitness. I wanted to protest, to argue, but Ironhoof is right. As he is now, Shining Armor is in no condition to continue leading. What stallion would after his like ? I cling desperately to the possibility of a miraculous recovery, for both the Guard-Captain and the princess. Ironhoof does as well, going against his better judgement and holding off on stripping Shining Armor of his authority. I'm going to try and see if he's in a talkative mood. I doubt it, but some communication might help a bit. * Seemed like Ironhoof had the same idea. Standing at a respectable distance, I couldn't really hear what the two officers were discussing, if they were speaking at all. I couldn't tell. After a few minutes, Captain Ironhoof shook his head and left. He ignored my salute as he passed by. I guess his attempts of conversation were less than fruitful. That implication threatened to crush my already wavering resolve, and I began to consider leaving the Guard-Captain be. It was too late. The gap that had stood between us had somehow suddenly disappeared. Guess I approached without knowing. I must have stood there in silence for an entire minute straight, like an idiot, before clearing my throat. Another minute passed before I could utter a single word. Shimmer, when I told her about the same event, had asked me what I had said. She ended up collapsing in laughter. I don't feel like immortalizing what was, and probably will be, my greatest articulate blunder. Shimmer's a little disappointed at that but it's my journal, not hers. Whatever my first words were are not important. I just hope the Guard-Captain didn't hear me or won't remember what I said. Actually, I think I would have preferred it if Shining Armor had reacted similarly to what I had said. Any reaction would have been nice, really. I would have almost been glad if he had beaten me for what I said about his sister. Well, at least he spoke to me. It wasn't much, just to say that he needed a few minute to himself and to leave him be. I snapped to a salute, which he ignored, but just as I began to walk away he stopped me. His eyes remained glued to the floor and his cold hoof shook against my shoulder when he asked how the princess was doing. Shimmer and I are in agreement; I answered in the worst possible way. It was an honest answer, saying I did not know, but stupid. I mean, relatively speaking, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was doing fine. It could have been a lot worse, had she been a regular pony. It wouldn't have been a lie to say the princess was doing relatively well. There are a few things keeping a journal has taught me. One, the difficulty in maintaining consistency and quality is directly proportional to the number of entries written. And two, hindsight makes you feel like a chump. Still, if I were desperate for a silver lining, I could say at least I now have an excuse to try and talk to the Guard-Captain. Not too surprisingly, he shows concern for his wife and might appreciate an update every so while. No news is bad news, I suppose. With little else to do, I went back to camp, ran through another inventory check to busy myself, took a guard shift, then went to bed. I have a pretty late shift later tonight so I figured I'd get some sleep. Most of the rest of the guards were already snug in their sleeping bags, huddled against the fire. We should probably set up a few tents, now that it's snowing. I'll make a note of it for tomorrow, if the princess still isn't ready to move. Despite everything, all that's happened, all that could happen, I feel oddly content. Maybe content is the wrong word, how about optimistic? Less than cheerful, less than at peace, perhaps at ease. Shimmer lays next to me, reading over my shoulder, her magic acting as a lantern. I think I've been pretty careful with sensitive information so far so this probably won't be much of a problem. Personally, I don't mind. It's strangely comforting, to be totally honest, though a bit embarrassing. Shimmer just yawned. Ironhoof wants her to help again tomorrow morning so guess we'll both turn in early. She's protesting, but I'm standing by this decision. I'm getting pretty sleepy myself. Good night, Shimmer. ---- Good night Flash. -- It's a little harder to see now without Shimmer's magic, but I don't really wanted her to read this next part. I can only hope she has enough respect for my privacy to restrain herself from reading this journal when I'm not around. Contentment was the right word to use. Even with everything going on, I am content, happy even, to be with Shimmer. When I'm with her like this, I'm at peace. I know I shouldn't feel like this, what with all that danger threatening over our heads, but I do. She clings closer to me, and I want to hold her. Somehow, when we're together like this, I feel safe. Strange, isn't it? I want to hope she feels the same way when she's with me. Would that be too selfish? Maybe I should tear this page out, just to be safe. * 14-MR-1204 Wow, did I really write that much for a single day? I must have had more time on my hooves than I thought. It's another dreary morning. I woke up today cold and alone; Shimmer was called back to the medical bay in the middle of the night. There is no sun to brighten our spirits. I'm tempted to try and fly through that thick cloudy shield just to briefly feel Celestia's rays, but that desire is tempered by the giant list of risks that come with that endeavor. When I get back home, I'm tearing up that brochure I got on Vanhoover. Next vacation leave, I'm going to Horseshoe Bay. I'm beginning to really hate snow. Breakfast is gruel. No sugar, but at least it's warm. After I'm finished, I'll check up on the princess. Shining Armor might appreciate the update, and I need to talk to Ironhoof anyways. We should beginning setting up tents and building shelters if we plan to stick around any longer. I've already told Sparky, Tick, and a member of the Guard-Captain's squad to prep the supplies. Two guards got in a bit of a quarrel during breakfast. Nopony can remember what it was about, not even the instigators, and order was reestablished quite quickly, but worry exceeds any pride I might have had for diffusing the issue without incident. Restless guards mean trouble, and I expect to see more fights in the future if idleness continues to be a problem. Shelter building might work as a temporary solution. I need to let Captain Ironhoof kno-- -- -w. Well, it's about tim--e to retire this old pen. I'll grab a n--ew one l--ater. * So it's probably safe to say any hopes of receiving a decoration for this campaign are dashed. Made a near complete fool of myself when I saw Princess Mi Amore Cadenza in a sling. And she was conscious. I can't believe Her Majesty had to see one of her guards slapped across the face because he couldn't control himself. I can only hope she was too tired to really comprehend. As most ponies know, alicorns are a breed apart, with magical abilities near immeasurable. What's less commonly known, thought often speculated, is that the body of an alicorn often rivals her magic in power. It is thought that the magic we normally associate with the horn resonates through an alicorn's entire body. Their endurance is amazing, their agility on par with a commissioned officer of the Wonderbolts, they heal at a miraculous rate. Last night, we learned that accelerated recover has its downsides. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's broken leg had healed incorrectly, Shimmer told me, so they kind of it. It took the combined efforts of her, Captain Ironhoof, and two other guards with three mallets just to reset the bone. For the unofficial record, Captain Ironhoof will be taking full responsibility. We should try to make sure that ends up in the official record as well, least someone innocent gets blamed. The princess woke up in the middle of it. There had been lots of screaming and lots of swearing. Thankfully, the soundproof spell managed to muffle most of it. Ironhoof belayed my order to begin setting up tents. There aren't enough shelters for everypony anyways, and we plan to leave before the weather worsened. Seeing how the princess is healing up quite nicely, we might be able to leave soon. The weather still worries me, however, but I suppose there is some wisdom in the captain's reasoning. Shining Armor might like to know about the princess's recovery. Will see him after I tell Sparky to delay further preparations for bunkering down. * Sparky and Tick are not happy with me. They know just how unpredictable and how bad storms get in the arctic tundra as well as I do. They are skeptical to the princess's healing progress and doubt we'll make it to the nearest settlement before this entire place becomes a frozen death trap, and we all end up becoming "pony-sicles", as Tick puts it. Tick's beginning to worry me. When I tried to explain Captain Ironhoof's reasoning, he scowled and asked me why we, guards of the Crystal Empire, were taking orders from a unicorn from Canterlot? If Shining Armor was currently out of commission, wouldn't it make more sense for me to take charge, not him? When I tried to argue, Tick grew angrier. He started with insults, questioning my stallionhood, and declared that if I was too much of a coward to be a leader, then he would. Mutiny. Rebellion. Treason. It's just talk, I keep telling myself, but talk is enough for a court martial hearing, and we have enough stress as it is. If I inform Ironhoof, I will be adding another burden on him and the rest of us. But leaving this alone is not a good option either, and I can't keep trying to excuse Tick's behavior. I have to do something. * Made progress with Shining Armor, glorious, glorious progress. When I told him Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was recovering, he gave a nod in response. When I asked him if he needed anything, he shook his head, and I think I heard him say no. I decided against telling Shining Armor about Tick. I could really use some advice, but right now doesn't seem like the best time. Maybe later, when he feels a little better. Before I left, the Guard-Captain stopped and seemed like he had something to say. I was sorely disappointed when he shook his head and whispered, "Never mind." Tomorrow I'll bring him his personal belongings. I hope he won't mind too terribly. It's just, I'm thinking maybe there's something there that'll keep him preoccupied and take his mind off things. He's probably pretty behind on his reports. * Didn't have time to write during dinner, was too busy to even eat. Guards kept coming up to me, demanding for reasons why we were still sleeping out in the snow instead of inside those warm shelters. Maybe I should have just pointed them to Ironhoof, since it was his command, but he's got enough on his hooves. Shimmer just reminded me I've got quite a bit on mine as well. That's true, but who isn't busy now? I've asked her to keep the entire mess involving Tick's attitude under wraps for now. I'm going to try to contain this situation as best as I can on my own, you don't have to worry about me. He's all talk, I'm sure. It's getting colder these nights. Shimmer has been offered room with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but for some reason she refuses. She's smiling right now, I'm not sure why. It's a little late, but I've agreed to play a little game. I'm going to try to figure out Shimmer's reason by asking 20 questions that she has to truthfully answer yes or no. I'd like to avoid bothering our neighbors so we'll limit communication to paper, if that's alright with you. 1. Does the princess snores? No. 2. Does Ironhoof snores? Yes, but you do too. 3. Are you allergic to tarp? No. 4. Can I give up? No, jerk. 5. Do you prefer the cold? No. 6. Do you somehow find it colder in the tent than outside? No. 7. Is it a mare thing? Maybe, let's say yes. 6. Is the reason an idea or an individual? Yes. 9. Stop laughing. Is the reason an idea? I'll give you this one. It's both. 10. An idea and an individual? Doe-- Yes. 11. THAT DOESN'T COUNT! And don't grab my pen like that. I've only got a couple of replacements left. Does the reason have anything to do with Ironhoof? No. 12. Does it have to do with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza? No, you could save a lot of ink by shortening it to Cadence, that's what she asks us to call her anyways. She talks now, by the way. 13. Interesting. If I asked the princess, would she be able to tell me the reason? Maybe, I'll say yes. 14. Can I give up now? Yes, but then you'll never know why. 15. Does it have anything to do with changelings? Not directly. 16. Does it have anything to do with Shining Armor? No. 4 more guesses. 17. I can count. Read. Do math. Whatever. Does it have anything to do with the Royal Guard? Yes. 18. Does sleeping with the guards make you feel safer? Please reword that. 18. Does sleeping out here, in the snow, make you feel safer than if you were sleeping in the tent? Yes. 19. Is the previous question the reason? No, last question. 20. Does it have anything to do with me? Yes. Good night Flash. * 15-MR-1204 We stayed too late last night. Couldn't sleep. I kept thinking back to the game we played last night, especially the last question. It's official, I suck at twenty questions. I wish I could have followed up on question 20. It has to do with me. Maybe I'll ask Shimmer about it when there's time. I mean, she couldn't pos-- *