Twilight led a group of soldiers to the graveyard. They collectively carried a coffin, which contained Soarin's corpse. She stopped in front of the hole where it was to be buried. "Soarin'. Member of the Wonderbolts. He was murdered in cold blood for reasons unknown. He shall be buried, and honored as a soldier." The guards lowered the coffin into the hole, and another line of guards performed the three-volley salute.
They moved on to another coffin, laying it on a platform. "Stryker. Former royal guard, discharged for anger problems. Used to act as a Drill Sergeant. Now a traitor of Canterlot and the Royal Family. His body shall be set on fire as a warning to the rest of those who dare think about crossing against us." The same process with the lighter fluid being poured atop the grave, and Twilight setting it ablaze with a match.
Spitfire and Rainbow Dash stayed behind at Soarin's grave. "I can't believe it." Spitfire managed under her breath.
Rainbow turned her head to her. "I'm sorry, Spitfire."
"Don't apologize, Dash." Spitfire ordered. "It's not your fault." Rainbow sighed and said no more.
Rainbow Dash was approached by a white stallion, wearing the armor of the royal guard. "Rainbow, I must apologize for my attitude the other day."
"Who are you?" Rainbow asked.
The stallion removed his helmet. "Why, it's me. Matterhorn."
"Matterhorn?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Wait a minute, I threatened to cut your muzzle. You're in The Circle."
He nodded. "I must say thank you for giving me the opportunity to get closer to the royalty." He said. "You've done good." Matterhorn shook her hoof quickly, and hurried off. Rainbow Dash suddenly realized what he meant.
The princesses are in trouble.
Intro
"The winner of the competition and the royal guard is...Matterhorn!" Princess Celestia announced. The crowd went into an uproar of cheering. Matterhorn stepped onto the platform with her, and sat still as she put the sheath around his body. Matterhorn smiled widely as he accepted the award.
Rainbow rushed to Twilight's room. "Twilight!" She called, banging on the door. "It's important!"
Twilight opened the door, rubbing her eyes. "What is it, Rainbow?" She asked.
"The new captain..." She said, panting. "He's from the...The Circle!" She managed under her breath. Twilight's eyes widened. "He's going after one of the...princesses." Rainbow continued.
"We must warn Celestia! And Luna!" Twilight quickly hopped up, but Rainbow stopped her.
"You're a princess, too." Rainbow told her. "You may be a target as well. You must be protected." Twilight sighed in annoyance. "I'm going to go find Applejack and...you know who." Rainbow told her. Twilight nodded, and Rainbow took off to find their friends.
Applejack and Rainbow approached Colgate's house. Rainbow checked around to see if anybody was watching while Applejack knocked. Colgate opened the door with a big smile. "Good day, Applejack." She greeted. "Please come in." Applejack trotted inside, Rainbow following close behind.
"He's upstairs." Colgate told them.
"Thank ya Colgate." Applejack said with a small smile before heading up the staircase. Rainbow smiled at Colgate awkwardly before quickly dashing up the stairs to catch up with Applejack.
Secret lied in a small hammock, relaxing as he waited patiently for news from his friends. Which he was just about to receive. Applejack stepped into the room, knocking on the already opened door to get his attention. Secret lifted his head. "Who's there?"
"It's Applejack." Applejack called. "And Rainbow."
"What's going on?" Secret asked.
Applejack nudged Rainbow forward. "Tell 'em."
Rainbow took a deep breath, and explained what was going on. "The new captain of the royal guard, he's a member of the circle. He's going to have a lot of power. Plus, he's targeting one of the princesses. I think it's Princess Celestia. That sounds like a reasonable target, right?"
"Captain of the royal guard?" Secret asked, climbing out of the hammock. "I understand the, err, assassination of the previous captains of the royal guards, being me, and Shining Armor before me, respectively." He fixed his mane. "But, how did they plan to win the competition? It was three evenly matched soldiers. Best of the best. I trained them."
Rainbow and Applejack looked at eachother, then back at Secret. "What about a weakness?" Applejack asked.
"A weakness?" Secret asked, tilting his head.
"Everypony has some kind of weakness." Applejack continued. "What about this new captain? What's his?"
Secret thought for a moment. " Matterhorn. It would be tough to find a weakness for him. Master of all trades. Combat. Strategy. Nothing is impossible. But, that is also his greatest weakness." Secret smirked. "His silly ego."
"Here we go again." Rainbow mumbled.
"Boasting about how great he is compared to everybody else. He never tried to get over my head, but he sure did stomp down the other guards." Secret was slightly humored by this. "We will find out what to do with him later, though." He sighed. "You two must go and keep an eye on things." Applejack and Rainbow Dash nodded and quickly made their way out of the house before anypony noticed.
Spitfire rolled onto her side and stared at the door. It was quiet. Which was unusual, Soarin' was always a loud animal.
She sighed and climbed out of the bed. Her eyes moved around and locked onto a picture frame. She picked it up and observed it. The picture was of her, wearing her Wonderbolts suit. She was flanked on either side by Soarin' and Fleetfoot, her two best fliers.
Tears streamed down her face as she recalled memories. She felt like she would have a terrible emotional breakdown.
Her mind snapped into reality as she heard somepony knocking on her door. She put the picture back on the nightstand and made her way to the door. She opened the door and peeked out. "Hello?"
Twilight rushed into the banquet hall. Ponies crowded the room, staring at the motionless body of a well-known pony. It was Sabre, one of the top guards, who came close to receiving the title of captain of the royal guard.
"What happened?" She asked a nearby guard.
"He just dropped." The guard answered. "He was on patrol, started stumbling like he had too much cider, and eventually hit the ground."
Twilight looked at Sabre. Dear Celestia. She thought, looking up slowly.
"What do you make of this?" Twilight asked as she closed the hospital door.
Rainbow looked up at her. "I have a feeling I know who did this." She didn't have to say much more. The others already had the same idea.
Matterhorn's secret just showed itself.