SACRIFICES
Chapter Six
"There has been a disturbance in the Force".
"I know, sister, I sensed it from my nap".
Celestia frowned. "I haven't sensed a disturbance in the UHF* like it since the rainboom incident. The fact that it seems to have originated in Ponyville is either disturbing or..".
Luna smiled, a possibiliy occuring to her. "Something quite wonderful. I would guess that one way or another Twilight will contact us. Especially since the head of her guard unit is here at the moment".
Swift smiled as she looked across the map. Thanks in no small part to the actions of the former Element Bearers, under the protection of a team of guards-ponies which she led, more of the kingdoms around Equestria were at peace. All in all, it was a good time for Equestria.
She was standing in the royal palace in Canterlot, attending one of the quarterly meetings between the captains of the four Royal Protection units. Captain Iron Heart of the Solar Guard, Captain Shadow Wing of the Lunar Guard and Captain Shining Armour of the Crystal Empire Guard had listened to her report on the situation in Ponyville and it's surrounding area. Things were going well, since she had accepted the position shortly after the defeat of Tirek there had only been a bug-bear attack to deal with, and her guard had spent most of that day keeping curious locals away from the fight. The fact that all three princesses were in town at the time had led to a few sleepless nights beforehand.
At the request of Princess Twilight Sparkle, the members of her 'Friendship Guard' (the name had been settled on after a disagreement. The fact that the other name, the 'Twilight Guard', had been ruled out as a little egomaniacal) had been set up to work undercover. Swift's background in covert operations had been some help and to the best of her knowledge, no-pony in Ponyville, outside of the guard and Princess Twilight herself were sure exactly how many guards-ponies were under Swift's control. Regardless, as the most recently appointed Guard Commander, she had been expected to bring supplies for the meeting.
After Shining Armour had explained exactly what 'supplies' meant Swift had requisitioned the best cider she could get from Sweet Apple Acres and selected items from Sugarcube Corner before bringing them to Canterlot. Now, after a couple of hours of sharing intelligence and tactical data most of the cider had been drunk and tongues had been loosened to the point where she discovered that some of the Solar Guard Royal Protection Detailhad taken to using the codename "QHT" when wanting to not be too obvious who they were talking about. After another drink the fact that it stood for "Queen Horseytime" became apparent. Swift had been a little surprised since she had assumed that her detail was the only one to come out with strange code-names for the ruling foursome (the current designation for Twilight being "Starbutt").
Shining Armour and Shadow Wing were hoof-wrestling while Swift was taking note of the current status of the Changeling Hives since her finest covert asset, private Shift was from one of the less hostile Hives. Being the only commander willing to take a fully-trained changeling on after the Canterlot invasion had raised a few eye-brows but after helping her get the King of one of the hives to Canterlot he was persona non-grata among his own people. After taking command of Twilight's protection detail, Swift had convinced Princess Celestia to allow Shift to join the guard, on the proviso that he was assigned to Ponyville. On the day of the wedding Shift had opted to change to his native form just before the wedding ceremony, freaking out most of the young ponies he had been in charge of protecting while undercover as Miss Cheerilee's teaching assistant. Since there was, in effect seven high priority targets in Ponyville as well as assorted family members the Guard unit was assigned to various locations across the town, quietly watching for threats. Shift was tasked with watching the sisters, both biological and otherwise, of three of the Bearers.
Swift had finished reading the intelligence on the current activities of Queen Chrysalis when one of Celestia's guard entered the chamber. “Captain Wind, the Princesses request your presence in the throne room”.
Swift galloped to the throne room before slowing to a fast trot as she approached the royal thrones. She bowed before speaking. “You wished to speak to me, your highnesses”.
Luna glanced at Celestia before placing a scroll on the ground. “There has been an incident in Ponyville, concerning your daughter”.
Swift winced. Some of the stories about the things she had done whilst attempting to gain her Cutie Mark had shocked (and occasionally appalled) her. If the situation was so bad that a emergency message had been sent via dragon breath to the Princesses then she didn't even want to think about what had happened. “I'm sure that Sergeant Noble Heart can deal with whatever has happened”.
Luna nodded gravely. “After due consideration my sister and I believe you should return to Ponyville immediately. I believe you should deal with the repercussions of what has happened as quickly as possible”.
Swift bowed again. “I understand. I can be back in Ponyville within three hours. If you can send a message to princess Twilight I'll set off immediately”.
“That will not be necessary, my sister will accompany you to Ponyville. She can teleport you there much faster than you would get there flying Captain.” Celestia glanced at Luna who nodded with a slight smile on her face.
Swift looked at Luna, a slight uneasy feeling rising in her gut that the few time she had been teleported over short distances had left her feeling sick to the stomach. Long-distance teleportation might leave her wanting to be physically sick. She looked as Luna stepped down from her throne and stood beside her. “I am ready to go now, your highness”.
Luna smiled. “Then we shall leave. Prepare yourself, this may be a little disconcerting”. With a bright flash of light Swift felt herself move in a way that ponies really shouldn't then stop suddenly in the middle of Ponyville.
Fighting back the urge to regurgitate in front of royalty, Swift took a moment to put herself back together (difficult when she felt like part of her was still somewhere over Winsome Falls) before looking around. She didn't see any obvious signs of a major incident but there was a lot of noise coming from Sugarcube Corner. “Your highness, I'll head for the castle and find out what is going on”.
Luna smiled. “Captain, I believe your answers await over yonder”. She pointed at Sugarcube Corner. “I shall accompany you”.
Swift walked to the door and opened it, to be greeted by the sight of a multitude of foals and fillies, as well as several adults. She spotted her daughter in a corner with her fellow Crusaders and made a bee-line for them. “Scootaloo, darling. What have you done now?”
Scootaloo looked down and frowned. “I, we, well”. She glanced at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. “Shall we?”. Her fellow Crusaders nodded and moved their tales to reveal their flanks.
Swift was caught between laughing and crying as she saw that the Crusaders each had a shield shaped Cutie Mark, similar but different to each others. Scootaloo's had a wing shape inside the shield. She glanced back at Princess Luna, not entirely surprised that the lunar diarch seemed to be less surprised than she was. Swift had heard talk amongst the other guards-ponies that the Princess had a interesting sense of humour. Somewhat less concerned about the end of Equestria being nigh, Swift pulled her daughter into a hug. “Congratulations, how did it happen”.
A few minutes later Swift had flown herself and Scootaloo to the roof of the Friendship Castle where they could talk in peace. “So, Diamond Tiara is less of a bi.. bully than she was and the three of you found out that your special talent is helping other ponies find theirs. That makes some sense after what you did in Apple-Loosa with Trouble-shoes. I am so proud of you, little one. You've managed to do one of the two things you most wanted and, after all the trouble you and your friends had getting your Cutie Marks, I don't think you'll have too much trouble flying”. She pulled Scootaloo into a wing-hug. “After this the sky's the limit”.
* Universal Harmonic Force.