Silver Shield didn’t think of himself as a stallion after power, nor did he think very much of himself at all. No, he was just a black coated changeling, trying to make his way in the world. He had made some good bets recently however, and found himself in a position of leadership. He was Wildcard’s- and how his wife First Class’s- right hoof. He was perfectly happy with this, and would be happy with less. All that mattered him is that, as far as he knew, he was doing good. Like the rest of his kind he had done things not quite ethical for Chrysalis, but what could he do about the past? All he could do is keep getting up every morning, and take what the day gave him.
Today that day gave him a bitter frost, and he opened the train-car door to be greeted by it, before leaping out of the moving train. Baltimare, which was nothing but miles of ruined buildings standing like grey tombstones to a once great city, rose in the distance. The wind picked up the snow on the ground and swirled it all around, as well as rippling his thick winter jacket. He had come on a supply train, as a “guest”, and it rumbled off into the distance while he started the long walk to the city.
He had come in the morning, hoping to use the dim sun to cover his approach, but realized now that it was pointless- there was nobody watching anyway. So it was cold, very cold, and he huddled together under his coat, as he pushed himself onward down the iced roadway towards the city. Silver had seen many a winter in the Hive, but those were mostly just damp- it rarely actually froze over. This far north though the ice-sheet pushed out over the ocean, and a good half-metre of snow had been blown to the side of the road by the whistling winds. The sun shone weakly, it’s heat lost somewhere in the blowing snow, and covering it all in a faint pink light. It was beautiful really- the grey stone monoliths highlighted by that pink sun, as the blowing snow reflected it up into the air and back down over everything. The dark ocean waters in the far distance contrasted with the ice-sheet that extended over it, and slowly grew in his sight as he trotted down hill towards the low-lying city.
He at the very least had that to appreciate in the hours it took for him to trot to the city. Silver was a simple pony, and enjoyed simple things. A good view was certainly something to enjoy, and every time he looked up from the roadway towards that vista, he forgot how cold he was for a few moments. When he entered into the suburbs outside the city, with long forgotten homes enclosing around him, he took some time to levitate the black envelope he had been given before himself. First Class had given it to him, apparently it was something she had close to her chest.
PROJECT 11- BURN AFTER READING
(Some things never change)
Project 11, thus called because any other name would arouse interest, is a weapon. A great weapon, a weapon that will end this war and any others that may come, perhaps even before they come. (Was First Class sure she wasn’t evil?)Project 11 combines the remaining material created by the Night Guard as part of Project Paraselena, and combines them together for a much smaller craft, although still devastating in its effect. Utilizing the power of the alicornium reactor, Project 11 is a weapons system that can be applied to any frigate sized ship in service. The weapon itself utilizes magnetic energy to propel a projectile at relativistic speeds, dispersing enough energy on impact to level a city block from hundreds of kilometres away. The weapon is incredibly precise thanks to the computer technology created by the Night Guard, and has an expected precision of two-metres. The only difficulty remaining is finding a material that can take the necessary punishment to launch a projectile at the speeds needed. Thus far friction is the greatest concern. We expect to have this worked out shortly, and roll the weapon out to the front within weeks of project completion.Project 11 will change the world. No longer will it be a world of chaotic infighting amongst equal nations, slaughtering each other for petty reasons. They got Equestria involved in their game, and now Equestria will beat them at it. We will win the game, forever, and ensure peace reigns throughout the entire world. Equestria will rule the world, for peace and friendship, through Project 11.
Silver whistled, it was megalomaniacal enough to give Chrysalis pause. Still, you had to hand it to First Class- perhaps what the world needed was a good kick in the rear. She had a point as well, they had brought Equestria into this mess. They had sown the wind, and now the world was going to reap the whirlwind.
He burned the document, as requested, and continued on down the streets. He had been walking for quite some time, and looked around as he went for somewhere to rest. A snowed-over helicopter, long since disused, rusted outside what looked like an inn. There he made his shelter, and broke apart a dusty couch inside the lobby to make a fire out of. Once that was done he sat, and enjoyed its warmth along with some trail mix he had brought. He looked around, finding the setting rather eerie. The inn had been abandoned so quickly that there was still a few bits on the counter, and luggage was strewn about at random. Nobody had even scavenged through for anything to steal, it was just left as the day it was abandoned.
Something he found strange, as well, was the helicopter outside. Equestria hadn’t been building them until long after Baltimare had fallen- so what was it doing here? Once he had taken his fill, he extinguished the flames, and investigated it himself.
Silver walked around the helicopter, looking it over closely. The cockpit doors had been left open, and the controls had been destroyed by water and ice long ago. Icicles hung from the rotor blades, and the windows had cracked and shattered wherever water had managed to get in. The only identifying mark on it was the old Night Guard symbol, barely visible under thick icing.
They had been here, apparently, at some point after the city fell. Probably connected to why he was here today, judging by what he had read. Silver shrugged; questions best left to others- since answering them himself was likely to get him killed- and carried on. He soon found Fifth street, and followed it down past a few ruined barricades to Celestia avenue. There, on the corner, was the library. It was probably beautiful once, but now the huge glass windows that looked onto the street were long broken, and the book statue outside was covered in snow and ice. The office blocks that made up the rest of the huge building that the library was in were no better off, and the outer rooms had mostly crumbled inward, leaving desks and plumbing hanging down along the side. Silver looked at it all uneasily- that building was not long for this world.
Still, he had a job to do. He shrugged away his thoughts again, and gingerly stepped around broken bits of glass and other debris to enter the library. Somebody had been here recently and removed all the books- probably Princess Twilight Sparkle.
He looked around the building, with only the noise of the wind whistling around; and his own hoofsteps, reminding him he was alive. There didn’t seem to be any obvious entrance to “Project 11”, and just as he halted confused, before a receptionist desk, he heard the crystal-clear sound of a gun cocking.
He sighed, and put his hooves over his head.
“Oh, you’ve done this before?” his would-be attacker said, and stepped out of the shadows behind him, “that’s good, now turn around.”
Silver did as ordered, and came to face a thestral. A thestral with a rather large gun, and a war-weary face that had definitely seen a good deal of violence. A deep scar ran down her face, and her deep grey coat was spotted with other ancient wounds. Her yellow eyes stared at him, running through some threat calculus.
“Who are you, who sent you?” she demanded.
“Silver Shield, First Class.”
She squinted at him, and didn’t seem quite convinced as she stepped closer.
“Why?”
“Progress report.”
She lowered her gun, and sighed, “Been wondering when she would send someone,” she said, and extended a hoof.
“Night Watch, pleasure to meet you,” she said.
Silver shook her hoof, “Silver Shield, pleasure to meet your gun.”
Night Watch laughed, and waved her weapon in the air, ‘I don’t actually have any rounds for it- the Minister doesn’t trust us enough. It’s just for show,” she said.
“Follow me though, and I’ll show you something that isn’t.”
Silver followed her into the upper levels of the library, and then across a sky-bridge across the street. They descended again into an office that had seen it’s lobby collapse, and down into it’s basement. From there they entered into a dimly-lit tunnel that had been dug recently. Night Watch explained her interesting career as she went along. She had fought for Mezza Luna, and was on the long list of ponies that should have been sent to the block, First Class had some use for her however, and she and many others made their home in Baltimare now, knowing that First Class was the only thing between them and said block. Success in their endeavour held the promise of freedom, while failure held the promise of at least delaying the inevitable.
Silver got the idea of locking Chrysalis and First Class in a room for a while.
After- yet more- walking, they came to the end of the tunnel, and entered into a large underground cave. Silver was in awe as he entered the huge cavern, which was almost a hundred meters tall. In the centre was a metal building, on a stone outcropping that led down to a pathway that led around, and into a few tunnels leading away.
Night Watch pointed up at it as they stood just inside, “That’s where we do our testing, it’s separated just in case there’s any… accident. The tunnels lead to our quarters, and a small farm that keeps us fed. We’re quite happy down here, honestly. It’s almost like home,” she said.
“Really? I would think you would be chaffing under the demands of Minister Class, why not run?” Silver asked.
Night Watch shook her head, “because we lost, Silver. Mezza Luna is dead, I don’t even know what happened to Archer, and the rest of us would burn this place down if they knew we were here. There’s nowhere we can go, we can only wait and hope eventually people move on,” Night Watch replied.
“At least she lets us do something, by all rights she should have our heads,” she added.
Silver shrugged, he would probably have done the same. He had a weird feeling he would end up killing at least one of these thestral’\s though- but not today.
“I have a feeling she might take that right depending on what you tell me today- I’m here for a progress report, remember?” Silver reminded her.
Night Watch nodded, and led Silver up the metal room. Inside was a construct that looked a lot like a gun, except that the barrel was a track, and it was on a tripod pointed towards a scorched wall.
“That’s our mock-up, we’ve been trying different materials for weeks now. I think we’re close to a break through, but we need more tungsten,” she said.
“Can you prove this progress?” Silver asked.
Night Watch nodded, and opened the door to the lab. It hissed open as the contained air leaked out, and Silver walked in behind her. On the walls different papers, all written up in science talk, along with graphs and diagrams, were mixed with different melted rods of metal.
They had indeed been trying all sorts of things- there was even a golden rod. Night Watch pulled down a few clipboards, and stacked them up on a metal table.
“This is all the data we’ve collected so far. Any scientist worth their salt will be able to read it, and come to same conclusions we have. The projectile must be made of tungsten, and the rail of the same. We’ve worked out a system whereby the rail can be rapidly replaced as it naturally erodes, and that’s the best we can do with current technology,” she said.
Night Watch bemusedly stared at Silver Shield, as he had ignored her explanation like a teenager in class.
“Not much for science, are you?”
Silver shook his head and came back to attention, the mare in his mind would have to wait.
“Unless there’s a test later, no. I’m just here to collect your progress, somebody else can figure out what it means,” he said.
Night Watch laughed, and pushed the boards over to him, “Whatever works. Just take this information back to First Class, we’ll be waiting.”
Silver removed the paper from said boards, and rolled it up into the inside of his coat.
“Will do, just… as you were I guess,” he said.
Night Watch smirked, “Yeah, yeah we’ll be fine. I suppose it could be worse- we could all be dead,” she said, and sighed deeply.
“Sounds like you’ve got some regrets,” Silver noted.
Night Watch snorted indignantly “Oh, I’ve got my share, but not the ones you might think. I didn’t support Mezza Luna for some idealogical cause; not for some grand scheme of world domination. I supported her because I’m loyal, and she was our leader. I fought to win not because of what that meant, no, I fought simply to win. I would do it again, and again, even if it led to the same place. I’ll die knowing I was loyal to the end, Silver Shield,” she said.
“An interesting speech,” Silver replied, “I suppose I can respect you for not trying to weasel out of your past. Plenty have tried, and believe me- they aren’t successful.”
Night nodded, “Of course, and I imagine if I did- we would meet again. Go, bring First Class what she wants, and may the Hollow Shades lead you to a darker night.”
Silver bid her goodbye- less poetically, and left the way he had come in. Night Watch followed him distantly enough that she probably thought he didn’t notice, but he certainly did. Of course he kept this to himself, better for whatever their next meeting would be.
Soon enough he exited back out into the office complex, and quickly disappeared down a hallway. Night Watch trotted right past, and must have assumed he went for the library. Silver wanted to find his own way out, and wandered his way through ruined rooms to the top of the building. The door to the roof was locked, and he had to buck it down. So with a mighty kick he did so, and sent the metal door flying off it’s rusted hinges. Silver was blinded by the sudden daylight, and slowly sauntered into the biting cold with one hoof over his eyes.
From here he could see the entire city, which sparkled with the afternoon sunlight. He propped the door back up against it’s frame, and angled it so that it reflected sunlight upwards. Now he had a landmark, and could easily come back here any time. With that accomplished, he took a moment to look over the city.
It really was something, and he wished he was enough of an artist to paint it. He wasn’t though, and the sun would be setting in a few hours. So he swallowed his hate of the cold, and buzzed his wings to lift himself into the air, with his hooves tightly collected under him. It only took a few hours, but by the time he had flown back out of the city to the rail line he was utterly exhausted. He was lucky though- a military train carrying armoured vehicles to the south was rumbling down, and he flew down to hover outside the door to a troop car at the rear.
He knocked on the door, and when it slid open he was surprised to be greeted by a thestral- and a dozen rifle barrels. He knew it was, Malgavian, leader of the new Night Guard.
“Oh, good, saves me some time,” he said, and grabbed Silver Shield.
Silver said nothing as he was shoved into the corner, thestrals closing all around.
“First Class needs you, Silver. Something is happening with the changelings, they know she had a foal. You're the only person she trusts enough to protect her, so we're going to get you back to Canterlot," Malgavian said.
"If you let her down, I'll kill you, understood?"
Silver nodded.
A day later he returned to his place guarding First Class, his eagle eye aware to any threat. He was at his post, outside her room at Canterlot General, when he saw, to his surprise, a familiar face.
"Wildcard!" Silver exclaimed upon seeing the chubby changling approach down the hallway.
"Your wife is asleep, but I'm s-"
Wildcard drew a dagger, and leapt at Silver. Even through his surprise Silver had good instincts, and managed to dodge. He scrambled down the hallway, and slid around a corner to collect himself. There he saw another changeling, holding the rag-doll body of a thestral.
They had come.