//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: The Six Million Bit Stallion 
// by tony1695 
//------------------------------//

	"Look at this."
"Hmm?" Nimbus Strike leaned over the table and looked at the newspaper Shadow Figment had dropped. It was a copy of the Manehattan Times, the most recent. What caught his attention was the headline. 'Mysterious Pegasus Fights Off Kraken.' "Oh horseapples," he muttered. Below it was a rather bad black-and-white photo of the kraken and what might have been Nimbus, though it was more likely a smudge on the camera lens.
"Yeah," Shadow replied, turning back to her blueberry muffin. "Keep reading. It gets better."
The pair were sitting at a table in a Manehattan café, the day after the kraken attack. The city had bounced back in a way only pony towns and cities could. There was no trace of the tidal waves that had washed through the streets the day before, and what damage had been done had been easy enough to undo.
Shadow took a bite from her muffin and Nimbus, again disguised as a brown earth pony, turned to the article and read it, muttering as he did. "Pegasus made of metal... Super-sonic speeds... What?" he exclaimed. "Everything in here is wrong! I did not break the sound barrier! I didn't buck it so hard it deflated! Who even wrote this thing?"
"Look at the bottom of the page," Shadow replied, her mouth full. Nimbus did and bit his lip. The last few lines were the most worrying of the lot. 'Was this mysterious pegasus a lone vigilante determined to make sure that nopony gets hurt? Or is this something more sinister? A possible sign of things to come? A government project gone rogue?' He stopped reading, unable to stomach any more.
"This is horrible," Nimbus muttered.
"I know. We're gonna get so much trouble when we get back."
"Not that. Whoever wrote this article should be fired." Shadow looked up from her muffin, looking at the pegasus as though he had grown a second mouth. "The grammar is appalling, the sentences are disjointed, there aren't any paragraphs and the way this thing ends is like something from one of those bad magazines that runs story after story on B-grade celebrities." Nimbus shook his head. "This pony has to be related to somepony important. How else did they get a job?"
"Wow." Shadow blinked. She was impressed, though she wasn't going to let him know. "You didn't strike me as the kind to know anything about that kind of thing."
"I took a few journalism courses in high school," Nimbus shrugged. "I wasn't that great, but I know I can do a hay of a lot better than this." He opened to the sports section and continued reading. "See? Here is proper journalism," he said, gesturing to an article about the latest baseball game between the Crowns and the Crusaders.
Shadow rolled her eyes and finished off her muffin. "Well, bring the newspaper with you if you want, our chariot back should be showing up in five minutes. Don't want to keep her highnesses waiting."
Nimbus took the paper in his mouth and stood up. "Leabf fe vay," he mumbled through the paper.





The only source of light in the lunar goddess' room was the small light on her desk. She preferred to work in darkness, as she had for centuries prior to her banishment. She found it calming, which was why she had originally chosen to take charge of the night. What she was reading was far from relaxing, however. A frown was creasing her features as she studied the report, its contents troubling her far more than anything else she had read since her return.
A knock at her door made her look up. "Come in." She watched as both the bionic pegasus and the illusionist unicorn stepped in, the pegasus still clutching a newspaper in his teeth. "Good. You're back." The relief in her voice was palpable, matched only by her expression.
"Uhh... You did summon us," Nimbus said uneasily.
"Yes, of course." Luna shook her head to clear her thoughts. "After I left last night, I started some investigations. There aren't many ponies with the wealth required to construct something of that size and complexity. Those that do are unlikely to have had any part in what happened."
"So... what?" 
"This means that the most likely source of the robotic kraken is outside Equestria's borders. Canida and Aquileon are the best candidates."
"Hang on." Shadow Figment, again blending in to the darkness, raised a hoof. "Why would the Diamond Dogs risk jeopardizing the gem trade?"
"And the Griffons," Nimbus joined in. "They have no reason to open old wounds."
"I know." Luna shook her head. "But they're the only two with anywhere near enough wealth to attempt anything of the sort."
"What about the Zebras?" Nimbus asked. "I remember talks with their ambassador breaking down a few months ago."
"No, their ambassador got fired a week after that. The papers said something about him taking corporate bribes," Shadow said. 
"The new one is much more pleasant," Luna said happily. "Did you know she's also an astronomer?" she asked eagerly.
The pegasus and unicorn glanced at each other. "Uhh... Your highness, don't we have more pressing issues?" Nimbus asked warily.
Luna blinked. "Right. Of course." She returned to her desk and levitated some papers. "Your new task is to go to Aquileon."
"Okay, we're meeting Griffons," Nimbus said slowly. "How we going to get there without getting attacked?"
"Look, I'm good with illusions, but I'm sure I can't make us look like a pair of those beaked feather-brains for longer than three days before the whole thing falls apart." Shadow then pointed out the true problem. "What's more, I can't fly."
"Who said anything about espionage?" Luna asked. Her tone indicated that she was offended, but her eyes held a playful smile. "No, Shadow Figment, you're going there as the new ambassador."
The mare stared at the goddess for a moment before giving her a very flat, if loud, "What." There was another silence before she broke it again. "Wow. I guess a thousand years on the moon did drive you insane."
That statement had an incredible, if scary effect. Luna's warm expression vanished, replaced with pure anger. Her eyes narrowed to slits and her mane, so much like her sister's except reminiscent of the night sky, flared out dramatically. "Never speak that like again, not even in jest. You do not know the pain I endured. You don't understand the suffering I still cope with to this day over what I did all those years ago." Her voice had deepened and her tone was deathly serious. "Say anything of the sort again and I will not hesitate to deal with you however I see fit."
Shadow Figment took a few steps back. She hadn't been thinking when she had said that. "F-F-Forgive me, your highness. I-I didn't mean to insult you in any way. Please forgive me."
Luna gave her a dirty glare before turning around. "Do not think you have gotten of so lightly yet. Anyway," she continued, her voice still more forceful than either was accustomed to, "you, Nimbus and another guard will be leaving for the capital of Aquileon in a matter of days."
"Your highness?" Nimbus felt that, given the circumstances, addressing the princess by her title was safer. "Protocol dictates that any royal ambassador leaving for foreign lands have a minimum of two guards. With me and her, we'll need at least four."
"Do not remind me of protocol, Nimbus, I wrote half of that book fifteen-hundred years ago." Princess Luna was still upset and the pegasus couldn't help but shoot a glare of his own at Shadow. "Now, you need to get to the armoury. You'll need to look your best for the Griffons."
Nimbus blinked before comprehension dawned on him. "Ooooh. Okay then." He left the room, muttering "As long as I don't look like canned food..."
Shadow made to follow him but the door slammed shut in her face, trapping her. She gulped as she turned to face the wrath of the lunar goddess.





Nimbus was a little worried about Shadow. After all, she had gone and angered a being who could easily send her to a dragon's den with little effort. Not that Luna would, but the fact that she could was enough reason to stay on her good side.
He entered the armoury and was greeted by the sight of Sparky being fitted by the armourer. "What are you doing here?" Nimbus asked, surprised to see his friend.
"Something about some diplomatic mission," Sparky said, shrugging as the armourer, a burly grey unicorn called Steelshod, levitated a helmet onto his head. "This one feels good, thanks."
"Were you told where to?" Nimbus asked warily.
"Something to do with Griffons." The armoured pegasus looked closely at his friend. "Why?"
"Because that means we're working together on this one." He turned to the armourer who had, while the pegasi had been conversing, collected various pieces of armour.
"Hold still," he said gruffly. Nimbus did as a steel-grey backplate was levitated in place before being swept away in a pale glow of magic.
"Why not the gold armour?" the pegasus asked, a little confused.
"The Griffons don't much like showy colourful armour. They think it has to be functional." From the unicorn's tone it was clear he approved of that philosophy. "Besides, the gold stuff is for Princess Celestia's guards. Princess Luna's gets something a bit subtler."
Nimbus could see that this armour was a lot sleeker compared to what he was used to, with as few unessential details as possible. Instead of the blue five-pointed star that buckled at the front was a white crescent moon. The helmet lacked the distinctive plume that he knew and hated, instead being a simple smooth dome. He had to admit, he approved of this.
"Okay then." He waited patiently as the armourer found pieces that fit and fitted them. He caught the unicorn give a few dirty looks at his hind legs, which made him uneasy. 
"Can't believe that half the bucking budget got spent on one pony..." he heard Steelshod mutter as he and Sparky left.
"Half the budget? Really?" 
"The budget is 50 million bits, Nimbus," Sparky chuckled. "Unless he meant the armour budget. Then yeah, half the budget."
Nimbus started to feel a bit bad. He had never thought of where the money to put him back together had come from. He never thought that he had made the lives of other ponies harder. 
No matter how bad Nimbus felt, it was nothing compared to the state Shadow Figment was in when she literally ran into them. Bits of her mane and tail were sticking out at odd angles, her eyes were wide with could have been fear and her breathing was so heavy she might have just sprinted through every Running of The Leaves events in Equestria without a break. "Are you okay?" Nimbus asked as the mare lay on the ground, not wanting to move.
"What happened to her?" Sparky asked, concerned and confused in equal measure.
"She insulted Princess Luna."
"What!? Is she insane?" Sparky nudged Shadow with his hoof. "I'm surprised she got out alive."
"Princess Luna isn't the kind to go all apocalyptic on somepony because they insulted her," Nimbus said harshly. 
"He is quite right, Static Spark." Both pegasi looked up from Shadow and saw Princess Luna looking at them, a look of only mild displeasure on her face, levitating a newspaper beside her. "You left this in my room." She turned to Shadow Figment, who was still on the ground. "If anything, I might have gone overboard," she said, worry in her voice.
Sparky scrabbled to bow down, and Nimbus sniggered at Luna's exasperated sigh and eye roll. "Stop that," he whispered, nudging his friend in the ribs with his wings. "She doesn't like any of that formality."
Sparky quickly stood up. "Those things are sharp," he complained.
"So, I see both of you are wearing the new armour my sister promised. I must say, it looks quite nice." Luna turned to the mare on the floor and wrapped her in magic, lifting her up. "Nimbus, could you carry her?"
"Sure," he replied, waiting as the princess put her on his back.
"Your highness?" Sparky asked, still a little timid.
"Please, Static Spark, just call me Luna," she replied, sounding tired and irritated. 
"Only if you call me Sparky," he retorted.
"Uhh, Luna?" Nimbus asked. "What did you do to Shadow, anyway?"





Thank you Scatterloon64 for the name for the Griffons' country.
And Canida is not my idea. I first saw it in the fic Guardians.