//------------------------------// // Storm Clouds // Story: Equestrian Landings // by qwefg //------------------------------// Harald Harald looked over the city of Iron Claw. If Canterlot was the shinning jewel of Equestria than Iron Claw the center of his kingdom, but unlike Canterlot his city wasn’t built upon the mountain like a flat disc that was gently balanced against the cliffs least it would fall onto the sharp rocks below. No the city itself had been carved out of the mountain side by their own talons before building additions to the great kingdom. Now it stood on top of the mountain like a crown on an emperor’s head instead of being served up to the world on a silver platter. The wind rushed past his face as he watched his nation at work. The fires from smith forges roared in the morning sun as they shaped the metals of the earth into powerful weapons for their nation. The pounding of hammers against metal would ring out into the air like an army marching towards the next castle to conquer. Harald looked down from his balcony into the courtyards to witness the greatest part of his nation... it was something he had picked up from the stories that spoke about Canterlot. He could see the fresh recruits being trained together as they would be forced to discard their useless ideology of weaker tribes or worthless griffins. They would soon be molded into a competent fighting force as each griffin would work and fight side by side in his ever growing army. Every griffin served a purpose here as the strong would become the foundation of his kingdom. The ones that learned to become a part of his nation would create the building blocks and crave out their future... as the weak, but mostly the stupid ones who refused to see the glory of his kingdom. He couldn’t help but chuckle as even they had a place in his kingdom. He believed the lovable term by that one mare called it... meat shields? He cracked a small grin as he recalled “After all... why grind up useful lives to be made into mortar when idiots do just as well?” The other idiots and fools would help build his kingdom even if they disliked him and after seeing the flames of war and how simple it boiled down to... either they would learn to work together and grow a brain cell or they would be the bait to help attract the enemy’s attention while the more useful soldiers secured the kill. Swift Wing entered the room laughing “Careful uncle. Stand outside to long and some of them may think you’re out to conquer them again.” Harald almost sighed as he did long for the days when he could freely wield his axe on the battlefield. Sure there were plenty of duels that still went on, but those were only among the smaller houses trying to show their standing amongst his kingdom. Even then the thrill of the battlefield had been rather sparse as most tribes would throw down their arms and surrender when they saw his armies. “Can’t an old man dream?” He replied with a smirk “Still how goes your adventure?” Swift Wing’s talons shifted against the floor “We are waiting. Brass is checking what her allies need and is planning her next step.” Harald rolled his eyes “I am an old bird, but I am not a fool. What are you really doing?” To Harald’s pride Swift growled “That is what we are doing. Brass took down an important traveler who had made powerful friends in Canterlot. If she sticks her head out than their Princess or one of her associates may come looking for it.” Harald clasped his talons together as he spoke with pride “So now you seek to do battle with the leader of Equestria or are you gathering your forces so you can meet her on the field of battle?” Swift Wings shook his head “We are sell swords not war lords. We take the task paid to us by the highest bidder.” Swift Wings then glared at his uncle “While it may not be the life you approve of at least my kin will not end up dead at the next line of succession.” Harald nodded “Ah yes you and that Brass mare would make a lovely couple.” Swift Wings stared at him in disbelief “What? While I am not a fan at how weak the life styles of the Equestrians are... I do approve of the strength and ability of those travelers. Why if I was just a few years younger I would set my own sights upon...” Harald smiled in what could have been called fatherly pride as his nephew Swift held a sword up against his neck. He had to give the hatchling credit to have managed to sneak a sword past his guards and then manage to close the distance between them without showing a hint of bloodlust. It was a small shame his nephew still held a grudge about him killing his father. There could only be one king and Harald planned to be the one on the throne instead of the one in the ground. Still despite that minor flaw his nephew was still one of his favorites as he did not cut his dear beloved uncle’s head of his shoulders as it would fall down to the courtyards below where his troops would then rip and tear his nephew’s body apart before tossing it off the side of the mountain. Harald at least had the decency to put his brother’s corpse in the hall of warriors despite their disagreement in who should rule. Harald grabbed the blade of the sword and moved it away from his neck “And that is why you two make such a good couple. She finally has coxed the fire from your belly and made my nephew into a warrior. While you may call yourself a sell sword to the world we both know that you have enough soldiers under your flag to be called differently.” Swift grudgingly placed the sword back in its holster “It would be weird. I mean I knew her when 'she' was a guy.” Harald scratched his chin “Yet she is still a girl. I mean she is able to give birth to your young.” Swift coughed “Is that really the talk you wish to give me?” Harald shrugged “She fights, she thinks, she wins and most of all she has a strong body to bear strong children. I do not care if your young are hippogriffs or pure griffin as she could certainly earn herself a house of her own here in Iron Claw even without your assistance.” Swift groaned as Harald didn’t understand what the problem was. She was a strong mate and he could see the fire in his nephews eyes... maybe it was the same fire his men had when Harald led them into battle or it was the fire to covert something that just laid out of your talon’s grasp. Still the mare had started out with a small band only to now gather together various allies underneath her banner as there were a lot of diamond dogs that followed her lead. Harald would die a happy bird if he could convince his nephew to stand in for the crown and marry this mare as their union would keep his kingdom standing instead of descending into anarchy as the lesser houses would fight tooth and claw to take his crown after he had died. It was a cruel thing for fate to weave letting Harald forge his mighty kingdom... only to know that it would fall after his death. Only through his iron grip did his kingdom stay together and unless he managed to find some way to keep them together he knew they would fall apart once his grip had been released. It was for this reason that he followed his nephew’s lead... and also because he knew that he would try to invade Equestria in the future as he would not know if he would win... but to at least do battle with the Princess of Equestria as she was the mare who forged her kingdom through blood and despite the long years it still held together. She had obtained that which Harald had desired and if by some fluke of fate he had managed to conquer her kingdom. A smile fell to his lips as Harald he was certain that she would be bear fine children. ****** Brass I stopped my hoof and shouted “Formations again! It doesn’t matter if their a member of the Solar Guard or some Adventure who can pull a train. Everyone has a weak point and even the largest hulking brute can go down with a well placed hit!” “Yes Boss!” They shouted in unison as they went over the formations again. Diamond dogs were not like human fighters. If anything they were closer to gorillas than humans as their front arms to support themselves, but they could hold most of their weight on their hind legs. So with that in mind I had them go through Zangief. I have no idea who he was when he was human, but he went with a Diamond Dog build built for grapple attacks… and apparently he knew a lot about wrestling. I’m not sure if he’s trying to make a new life… or if he was actually a weakling back on earth who enjoyed his new strength. Still he was a dressed like character's counterpart grinning all the while as he trained the rest of the diamond dogs. Zangief held a diamond dog larger than him in a painful hold as he said “Even if your stronger than me you can not move your arms and I…” The Diamond Dog grunted as he clenched his mouth shut “I can still apply more pressure. You ready to give up?” The diamond dog whined as Zangief let him go “Why have us learn weird fighting Boss? Attack doesn’t seem good against ponies.” Zangief laughed “Best fighters back home would grapple with bears twice their size and three times as nasty. For now you get the basics so that you are never helpless if they knock your weapons away.” I gave the diamond dog a pat on the back “That and most of your old tactics for when things got rough was brute force or dog pile. A dog pile won’t work if your dealing with an adventure that can pull a train or lift up half of you with their magic. At best you need to be able to take out the target with a two to one advantage… and most cases you’ll be the underdog.” He grunted in annoyance as he didn’t like what I had said, but he didn’t have a better answer. The other half of the group were practicing with their oversized shields. Unicorns had a variety of spells that used line of sight or only worked on the first object they hit. Pegasi would be trapped in narrow caves… as it wasn’t best to give a Pegasus air superiority. That just left earth ponies with their strength or any other abilities that they held. Once they became proficient in holding a shield wall or blocking attacks… then they could pick their weapon, but some diamond dogs had started to prefer slipping another shield on their armor or grabbing a club as they started to train against the other adventures left in the base. The older diamond dogs had taken up the task of training the newer diamond dogs who had joined out of the rumors of power, gems, or simply the growing size of 'our' pack." I left the training room that my group had sent up and moved onto my next task as I focused on the training room built by the other wayward members of this alliance. I stared at them with a mixture of disgust and annoyance. This part of the group thought of the world like a game… they set up raid groups, monster locations, and they even set up an improvised craft workshop used to turn all those “Monster Drops” into usable gear. I had no idea just how long this place had been here or if this place had been made before the Tartarus Jailbreak, but it just irked me. This entire 'alliance' was split between two types of people… those like me who preferred Earth’s knowledge and trying to bend if not break the rules of this 'game' we are trapped in. Then there are the power players who spend more of their memories of earth in exchange for power. The group I was talking to took it a step further. I stepped in front of the human who was in charge of the event “Carolina where is Luke?” The human turned unicorn turned around as she had been given the Canterlot Unicorn build with a tall body and thing limbs. Her coat was light blue as she had an almost silver like mane that gently rolled off her back and to make her humanity she wore a white robe giving her a cleric like appearance. Carolina made a small bow as she replied “Master Luke is currently checking up on our foe.” I also hated the fact that some of these idiots liked to role play… why be a human suddenly thrust into Equestria when you can pretend to be some OC character they had drawn up before being tossed in here? Any idiots who did that just meant they didn’t care for what reality was. To me this was the equivalent of having a group of players play an RPG who then have their characters gather together to play an RPG. I could see trying to better yourself or look up to a character that made you feel stronger like Zangief, but this was plain stupid. I rolled my eyes as I tried to keep this short “Well has he found the blasted mirror yet or Discord for that matter?” Carolina glanced back at her band of idiots “Do not worry Mercenary of the Iron Claws for we shall clear a path up to the foal beast and to deploy the weapon before taking down our hated foe.” “You do realize Discord will just snap his fingers making your plans worthless… or Tirek just power drain you if you run straight at him.” I reminded the air head. A simply charge shouting for glory would end with all of them dead. She just held her head up high “Discord himself will not end the battle quickly for he will want to try to toy with us first. As for Tirek all we need to do is simply cut the head off the viper after we slay Discord in his powerless state.” I walked away as I couldn’t stand to translate her stupidity. She was one of the strongest players in the group, a heavy hitter with lots of magic and she could be a descent strategist when it came down to leading groups to attack wild monsters… but for the love of God can’t she talk like a normal human being! At least when I asked one of the others for a head’s up I was given a clear answer. Of course the fact that Luke went running off somewhere without informing the me since I was his contact with Swift Wing’s Uncle… pretty much the back up to his plan should the battle against Discord or Tirek go south… That usually meant he was off trying to keep one of his secrets hidden from me. I know he and a few of his followers are trying to talk to some random pony in Canterlot, but they haven’t let me know who their talking to or what their looking for. Sure I have a few secrets hidden from them, but I am the one who's allowed to have a few secrets. It’s one of the reasons why I’m still alive. As soon as I left the room Tracker popped out of the wall grinning “Want me to follow his scent boss?” I glanced back into the room full of the other former humans. One way Luke could receive the Equestria Girls mirror or take “guard” over the statue of Discord was by handing over a wanted criminal who turned a Royal Guard into a lawn ornament. “Keep your distance. If he’s just debating about what he is going to do after all of this then I don’t care.” I firmly replied “But if he’s been keeping an important secret from us.” Tracer grinned revealing a diamond tooth “See what he does and prepare the point for whatever the feathered pony is looking for.” I nodded my head “But remember… be careful. It’s better to let him think we don’t know than to take it ourselves.” Tracer rubbed his paws together “I know boss. Still doesn’t mean I can’t have a little bit of fun.” ****** Luke I took a deep breath and tried to relax despite my current situation. Everything was going according to plan within a marginable degree of error. We had supplies along with the evil villains tucked away in a safe place. My fur didn’t feel like it was dunked in paint as the dye job would hold long enough to my trip into town and just to be safe one of the former humans turned griffin did a descent job painting a fake cutie mark to help. Instead of the snow white Pegasus that lacked a cutie mark which half of the Royal Guard wanted to hang on sight for his actions… I was now Fleet Foot the strange coal black Pegasus with blond hair and a cutie mark of a bag full of golden coins. Equestria was both easy to figure out and manipulate. All you had to do was take one look at a cutie mark and you knew what they did. Heck a part of me wondered if they simply showed their cutie mark to apply for a job. Still it made things easier tricking some of the Equestrains into thinking you were a banker if you just added a bit of ink to your butt. Stone Mortar and his “apprentice” Stardust came up to my table. She wasn’t your average Rarity earth pony rip off… she was a human like me and more importantly… she could make gunpowder. The old unicorn stallion sort of looked like Star Swirl the Bearded… if you gave him a light gray coat, added square glasses, and of course made him chuckle like an old drunk as he said “It’s nice to meet you Fleet Foot. This is my apprentice Star Dust and the one who made that…” The old fool licked his lips as he tried to come up with the unknown word as I chipped in “The black powder.” Stone Mortar nodded as I didn’t gave a dam about him. Hell the only reason I contacted him was to use him to get a “normal contact” with Stardust as she looked at me for a moment trying to figure out who I was. “I would like to commission a few barrels of this… black powder and the cost and materials used for the shipment.” I replied as I tried to stay calm. Stone Mortar glanced at me like if I was an idiot as Stardust replied “You want to mass produce it?” I shook my head as I lied through my teeth “In small quantities it can create a large enough blast to help open up old objects without damaging them.” I just had to stick to the script “Some of the old temples in the more tropical or jungle like regions tend to have some resistance against unicorn magic and simply kicking open a two hundred year hidden door can damage the artifacts or even the surrounding walls.” “So you plan to be a tomb robber.” Stardust replied out loud. I wanted them to think I had something to hide, but I didn't mind if they thought I was some Tomb Robber. That would just leave Celestia some warning about an idiot carrying explosives to some old tombs far away from Equestria. If I was lucky it might even remove some of the guards in Canterlot Castle. I held up a hoof and continued to pretend to be innocent “We prefer… archeologists. There are plenty of items in the Canterlot museum that are there thanks to individuals like me. Besides I just want to ensure that none of the ingredients could attract one of the jungle creatures or any other precautions I may need to take when handling this substance.” Stardust just glanced at me strangely “I’m surprised you’re not asking for Thermite.” As much as I would love to I sadly had to reply “Why would I want to bring a bug with me?” I had to play stupid as thermite would cause some alarm. I also couldn't help but wonder how the hell Thermite was now being sold as a really expensive form of candy to dragons. That was a shock to everyone but someone claimed it wasn't that much different from Flight of Dragons where dragons ate coal to sustain their flight and ability to breath fire. Stone Mortar nodded as he said “We’ll draw up the contracts for your shipment, but we’ll have to inform Celestia about your intentions.” “Is there something illegal about the substance?” I replied trying to keep calm. If she banned black powder than it was going to be more difficult to procure guns or even get the necessary materials needed. Stone Mortar shook his head and laughed “No it’s just that some of the ingredients are hard to come by and Celestia would want to know why we would want the sudden increase sulfur.” Now I just had to leave a good impression and see how much black powder we needed for our operation. “My expedition team can try to help cover the costs.” I replied as I tried to sound a little bit sad “If we must make do with a reduction the current amount of black powder we have ordered by the end of the week than let us know.” I placed down a small bag of bits “Lunch is on me.” I got up and walked away letting the two of them enjoy their selves at the restaurant as I started to draw up plans on finding someway to procure Sulfur… that was made out hot places right? I knew we needed potassium Nitrate and that can be made by... water and bat guano I think... I really should have paid more attention in chemistry. Hopefully one of the other chemists that were crafting volatile mixtures could help me figure out what we needed to do or the ratio involved in mixing it together. Otherwise we may need to... "borrow" Stardust's expertise and convince her we are doing the right thing. Hopefully it won't come to that, but we need a more secure method of removing Tirek after he drains Discord than random amounts of poison running through his system. ****** After leaving a message behind for my colleges I moved onto my second objective and walked into Canterlot Castle. Thankfully I had managed to make it in-between the brief period of the end of morning court, but before the Canterlot guards helped remove the ponies out from the castle as they informed the left over ponies that morning court was over. Anyone who arrived late didn’t want to be informed that they had to wait another day so they complained out loud thinking it would grant them an audience with Celestia. With a small group of ponies making a racket as they whined about their petty complaints. The Royal Guard right at that moment reminded me of a Costumer Service employ dealing with idiots. Still they were at least a good enough distraction to let me sneak into the unauthorized sections of the castle. I walked down the hallways as I pretended that I belonged in this place as my suit hopefully would have me mistaken as some noble if I was seen from a distance and focused on the paintings on the wall. I finally found what looked like some artist’s rendition of a white unicorn standing in the middle of a lake as the moon shined down upon her I nearly shouted in joy as I pulled out Crystal's instructions for the hidden room. “Under the moon of the lake with the mare... Four blocks down and Three blocks right.” I muttered to myself. I stared back at the wall and tried to figure out which stone block I had to start with and that's when I knew the universe was out to get me. I heard the sounds of hooves stomping across the stone floor as apparently the left overs of morning court were kicked out of the castle sooner than I expected... or somebody spotted me and knew I wasn't supposed to be here. With time against me I started pressing all the stones trying to find which one was used for the combination as I heard one guard say "I'm telling you there's nothing to worry about. If Lockheart isn't paranoid about changelings then they must be alright." I leaned against the wall trying both of my hooves as there were too many dam block in the walls. I might as well have been calling them slightly larger than average bricks! "That's different." a female voice replied "Your talking about an alicorn for bucking sake." I smiled when the final combination worked as the wall slowly slid open only for something on the other side to break as it stopped halfway. This was barely a large enough passageway for a foal, much less an alicorn! The sounds of hooves came closer as the first voice replied "Are you joking? He's paranoid about everypony to the point he was checking to see if the cooks washed their hooves before preparing his food. He thought they were going to try to poison him or something!" I sucked in my gut and tried to claw my way into the hidden passageway. My coat scraped across the wall as I managed to fall into the hidden room before grabbing my fallen saddle bag and pulling it inside. The wall slowly moved back into place leaving me in darkness as I heard the sounds of hooves outside. "Still don't they seem kind of creepy?" the second voice asked? That's when I heard the sound of armor scraping against the wall as the voice came clearly "Don't you read those Daylight series? A changeling isn't that much different from one of those vampoines." The second voice chuckled "There is a big difference!" The first guard laughed as my body tensed up in fear that he would somehow accidently open the passageway up leaving me facing two Royal Guards by myself. "Think about it. They both have fangs... prey of love struck idiots... have fangs... and I'm sure I've seen one or two of them sparkle in the sunlight." The guard joked out loud. The second one sighed "Now you know I'm going to have to get back at you for saying that." "But you can't un-see it anymore can you?" the first guard joked back as they started to walk away. My heart raced with each passing second as I waited unwilling to make any sounds that could reveal myself to the guards outside. After a few minutes passed as I didn't hear anymore hooves hitting the stone floors did I start to relax before I realized I was unable to see anything in this darkness. I stumbled around in the dark trying to retrieve my lantern from my saddlebag and then muttering in rage as I needed to find a match or piece of flint to light the stupid thing as apparently the lamp in my bag had a stupid wick you needed to light instead of simply turning a nozzle. I did my best not to curse while I stumbled about in the darkness as I had a good feeling that as soon as I swore… the secret passageway would suddenly open up revealing a squad of guards that just happened to be taking a coffee break right outside. It was not fun trying to grab a match with your mouth and then light it… only to use the sudden blinding light just a few inches from your face to light a wick. When I put out the match and closed up the lantern for proper use was I finally blessed with the sight of dozens of paintings, stain glassed windows, and various statues of important figures that I knew nothing about. “Deep breaths.” I told myself as I looked at the room “Just take a couple of long deep breaths.” I lifted up the lantern and held it up near one of the stain glass windows… it was a picture depicting two alicorns fighting a black unicorn wearing a red cape as the ponies around the crystal castle were left in chains. I couldn't make out some of the details but it was a story depicting the battle against Sombra. I looked at the next set of mirrors as I could make out the some of the stories only because I knew what they were referring too. It also filled me with a mixture of joy and frustration as I found Celestia's memory vault. Each statue had been made to represent a villain she had fought in the past and each stain glass window told a tale about her accomplishments. This was essentially the entire history of Equestria... and I couldn't figure out how to read most of it! I glared at Tirek's stained glass window as I couldn't figure out how they managed to defeat him without the Elements of Harmony as fallen ponies without cutie marks laid around him before the icons of Celestia and Luna attacked. The rest was left out of my reach or understanding. I looked at the next stain glass window in morbid curiosity “Spider held in the air and a lake full of bones?” I shook my head… These were properly made to be notes to help Celestia remember past events without letting anyone else know what hidden secrets were left in the past. If I started showing the drawings to a Equestrian who could translate the windows... it would alert Celestia that someone broke into her secret memory vault. Of course I might get lucky and ask Brass for assistance with her griffin allies, but... Something caught my eye as forcing me to walk down the hallway. I saw a couple of statues of various races including a raven bird in a cloak, but the statue that surprised me the most was the one of three humans. It wasn’t the fact that there was a statue of a human that surprised me, but the mirror that stood beside it. The same mirror used in the Equestria Girls movies as the statues of the humans beside it where the Equestria Girls Sirens, but in human form. I rubbed my hoof over the statue and couldn’t help but say “Apparently Starswirl wanted to make sure they couldn’t return or did he send them into that place because he knew they wouldn’t be able to use their magic or maybe some sort of warning?” I shrugged as it didn’t matter. All three sirens were stuck in EG universe and they didn’t know about the return home mirror/statue. What did matter was the fact that the mirror was currently being stored along with the rest of Celestia’s secret memory vault. “What’s the matter? Afraid that your little gang of misfits will break apart when they realize what that mirror is?” a voice openly taunted me. Every strand of hair stood on edge as I turned around trying to find the source of the voice. This was the voice of the most dangerous creature in existence. This is what Q would have been if the Q continuum didn’t breath down the back of his neck whenever he did something really bad. Sure he could get away with pestering the Starship Enterprise, but he wouldn’t shift contents around or turn rivers into gravy. “Oh come on. Brighten up a little! You just found the magical item that solves all your little problems without any big climatic fights against overwhelming ancient evils…” Discord openly replied as I could swear he was smirking “Or is it because you found it without any big climatic fights that it bothers you?” I shook my head as I tried to find him in the maze of statues… was he free? Was he taunting me because he knew I couldn’t hurt him? That’s when I saw the statue… Discord was still trapped in his stony prison, but his lion paw was riddled with cracks as they had reached up to his elbow. His prison was damaged… he was getting ready to escape. “Do you really think I would somehow break free within your lifetime?” Discord openly mocked me “No you just wanted to hang the threat of the big bad monster over people just so you could play hero.” I walked closer to Discord as I scanned the room for any possible traps or really anything out of the unusual. “No I’m trying to fix the mess that you caused.” I firmly replied “You tossed us all in this world for your own amusement. You threw our lives into chaos, twisted our actions to suit your own needs. Do you even care about the pain you have caused!” That’s when Discord laughed… that earth shattering laugh like laugh somehow made lightening erupt in the background as he replied “Oh if that really was the case then why aren’t you and your band of vagabond misfits running around the world looking for the Elements of Harmony? I know you know about them and that you know they can beat me… but you didn’t even go looking for them. Instead of breaking out into groups and exploring the world you simply caused chaos.” I slammed my hoof down and shouted “We will stop you!” Discord openly mocked me “You are not a hero looking to save everyone. You are simply someone who wants to watch the fight go on. For you the biggest threat is not being trapped in this world or being sent back home… but to find out that there is no battle or challenge to overcome. That it doesn't matter if you are back in your own world or if you are here in Equestria because no matter where you are... you are still a nobody.” I covered my ears as his voice dug into my skull “But if there is a battle… a chance for the wayward souls to defeat some deadly threat? If you go back home then the knowledge of you being a hero would satisfy you. You would have earned your way back home. If you are stuck in Equestria than… you were the valiant hero who banded everyone together to defeat the ancient villain.” He chuckled as I could swear he was right behind me as he said “To you everyone else is a secondary character as your the protagonists of this tale. That’s why you stole Criminals for Tartarus. If they escape than you and your group can help “save” everyone from them.” I shook my head as I refused to listen to his lies “You are just trying to trick me!” “Trick you?" Discord laughed at me "Then I dare you to do nothing. Just sit back and let the real heroes do their job or maybe steal that old mirror and show everyone that there is a second option available. Just show them that they do not need to risk their memories or their lives for a chance to go back home… or a place close enough at the very least.” I could feel talons digging into my shoulder as his voice whispered in my ear “All you have to do to stop me is to simply do nothing.” ****** Midnight Vixen Midnight watched Lockheart continue his earth pony training as it was odd. Most ponies started out with something simple like discerning types of gems or trying to have them grow a flower. From there they would move onto more advanced things… or that’s what the book claimed as she checked the contents again. Right now Lockheart was standing in front of an apple tree… In what why did kicking an apple tree count as earth pony magic? She understood why a straitjacket had been placed over his wings keeping them shut tight and the helmet along with the items tied around his horn to detect. Any attempt to seal his magic was meet with rather vicious remarks and a molten sealing ring from one noble that had tried. Boulder Dash didn’t talk or try to give advice as he simply watched how Lockheart tried to knock down the apples from the tree by simply kicking it. If he could use his magic he could pluck them from the tree with ease. If he had use of his wings he could simply fly up and grab a few with his mouth. The area around the tree was bare as Boulder Dash sat on a large boulder keeping track of Lockheart’s work somehow. Midnight couldn’t help but speak up “How exactly does this help prove he’s an alicorn?” Boulder Dash chuckled “For one thing he tells me he can’t even buck right. Take a look at his legs… see how he tries to kick the tree?” Midnight watched as… the motions were simply off. Lockheart didn’t brace his forelegs properly and when he kicked with his hind legs they sort of dangled in the air for a moment as if unsure of what to do next. He could kick fine with one leg, but both? It was almost as painful as watching him try to fly. She sighed as his next attempt to buck made him fall face down on the ground “Alright, but besides the fact a foal can buck better than him what’s the point of this?” Boulder Dash shrugged “He’s angry and he needs to hit something?” Midnight frowned forcing him to change his answer “You know what I see when I look at him? I see a pony who has gotten so used to life kicking him in the flank that he has a hard time not realizing that there are descent ponies still out in the world. I see a stallion who simply needs to be told that everything will be alright without any strings attached.” Midnight glanced at Lockheart trying to figure out how he should be trying to kick the tree “He just wants somepony to be there for him?” Boulder Dash chuckled a little before sighing out loud “It’s always the simplest things that are the most difficult. Take a look at the changelings. They hide in fear because their afraid of what may happen to them if they reveal themselves. Even despite the fact Canterlot has set up a place to help register changelings there are still those who hide in fear and yet they feed off of love of all things.” Midnight nodded as she didn’t give it much thought “It’s just a matter of who they are. Some simply prefer impersonating other ponies and stealing love while others are worried about the general public mistaking them for the mindless monsters that fillynap ponies or somepony trying to take advantage of them.” Boulder Dash was now staring at Midnight in surprise “How exactly does a pony frighten or take advantage of a changeling? I can understand most ponies being scared of them like griffins, but…” Midnight rolled her eyes “That was one of the things Lockheart taught the Night Guard to look out for. The smaller stuff is easy… impersonating another pony to help make adjustments to a suit or training a changeling to help out in a play is minor stuff. The problems that fall under crimes are much worse as a lot of them are gifted at illusions.” She couldn’t help but groan at all the old records and training plans that had been made against unicorn illusionist who applied their talents for more morally dubious means. Midnight leaned against the boulder “You get some organized crime group threatening to expose them or some employer who presses the boundary of what’s legal. Why hire an actor to do a play when you can get a changeling to do it for you? Why pay a model for a photo shoot when you can get a changeling impersonate them? A few of my friends even had to arrest some unicorns talented in illusions impersonating changelings… both in causing crimes and pretending to be changelings in an attempt to get hired since changeling are 'master of illusions' or some such nonsense.” Boulder Dash just whistled in surprise “Wow… I take it you had to make a couple of new laws to deal with the situation?” Midnight chuckled as she shook her head “That’s the funny part. Lockheart just simply found the laws needed for it and just… reminded us. Everything has already been set up to deal with changelings and all he did was simply show us where to look. A part of me just wonders how many of the changelings came from somewhere else… or if some of the new changelings were already a native resident of Equestria.” Boulder Dash glanced back at Lockheart “The old chicken or the egg question. You know what the most frustrating part about him is? It’s the fact that he’s so helpless and clueless… that it oddly enough makes sense that he is an alicorn.” Midnight stared at him as if he was insane as what he said made absolutely no sense at all. He simply shook his head as he slid off the boulder “Think about it. An alicorn is a combination of the tribes. You get a pony that is naturally blessed with all the pony talents and yet… how does one pick one talent from another? Take the tree for example… why bother learning how to kick when you can fly or pluck it with magic? Why bother learning how to make a flower grow by magic with all the complicated tasks of measuring each and every input and change when earth pony magic is much easier.” Midnight glanced back at the tree “Wait… isn’t that one of the bigger debates?” Boulder Dash chuckled “Earth pony magic would be like using a watering can over a field of flowers. You get a general idea of how much water you need as you just have to spread out it evenly. With a unicorn it’s more like using a bathtub to water a potted plant. You use too much and it drowns. You don’t use enough and it shrivels right up. I’d give him a plant to check to see how he would use magic on it… but magic isn’t his problem.” He became more somber as he stared up at Canterlot Castle “The real problem you could say is that being an Alicorn is the cause of all his problems.” Midnight glanced back at Lockheart as she shuffled her hoof at the ground “Well… Equestria’s better than where ever he was from.” “Better is a strong word.” Boulder Dash replied “If he wasn’t an Alicorn than he might not be receiving as much flack for his hard work. All he has in Canterlot is a large group of ponies testing him as none of them respect him. He is not an alicorn foal that had been adopted by Celestia or one that had ascended to an Alicorn as one of her personal students.” Midnight turned to face Boulder Dash as she replied in shock “Wait Ascended? Aren’t you just born an alicorn?” Boulder Dash shook his head “That’s a complicated issue that you would have to ask Celestia about… anyway the problem is his status. I mean the room he has been given… the work, his training, or even the Night Guard… it’s all tied to his status as an Alicorn instead of his value as a pony.” Boulder Dash hung his head as he bitterly replied “He doesn’t see Equestria any different than the nations he fled from. Equestria doesn’t see a lost pony trying to survive. They just see what race he is instead of what type of pony he is. If he succeeds than it’s because he’s an alicorn. If he fails than that’s because he’s a fake. How would you like somepony to claim all of your success or failure by stating that you’re a bat pony?” Midnight flinched as the comment struck her… it was natural for bat ponies to be put in the Night Guard because they were normally nocturnal as most places hired them primarily for night shifts. It was common for Night Guard ponies to be passed over for promotion when their Solar counter parts were given more duties than simply watching over an area at night. Even when a crime did occur it was usually given over to the Solar Guard because they had more experience or training. There wasn’t any exact discrimination as a couple of the actions did make sense… she rubbed her own foreleg with her hoof as nopony in the Night Guard would have ever dreamed of being a personal guard to an Alicorn. A part of her couldn’t help but wonder if a normal alicorn would have been given a personal guard from the Solar Guard instead of the Night Guard. Boulder Dash sighed as he apologized “I’m sorry if I accidently offended you.” “No… you didn’t say anything wrong.” Midnight apologized back “I was just… He’s different. He’s odd and somehow able to make complicated feats seem easy and yet he can barely figure out the simple stuff. I bet that if you told him to turn a lump of coal into a diamond by pressing his hooves together he would be able to do it with ease.” Boulder Dash chuckled “You mean use his horn to cast some fancy spell or…” “Nope.” Midnight replied with a small smirk “You could properly give him that boulder you’re sitting on and tell him to pull out the sapphire you hid inside it.” Boulder Dash shook his head “But this is a normal rock without any gems inside it. Besides that’s a bit more…” Midnight grinned revealing her teeth as she replied “I bet you ten bits he finds one by only using his hooves.” Boulder Dash glanced at the boulder and then at Lockheart who was struggling to figure out how to buck much less how to apple buck “And the reason why you think it would work when he is struggling to figure out how to kick properly?” Midnight shook her head as replied “Because it wouldn’t make any sense and that’s why it would work. It’s like multiplying negatives to make a positive somehow.” Boulder Dash focused on the boulder he had been sitting on as he she could see him debating… she could see him not only trying to figure out if a gem had been stashed in the boulder without his knowledge… but how such a feat could be accomplished. She couldn’t help but chuckle as she could just see it “All I did was make it turn blue. No wait I just pressed the rock together really hard.” ****** Midnight walked down the hallway as she left Boulder Dash and Lockheart together. Right now it was time for her to get the reports from the Night Guard so that they could be transferred over to Legal Right to double check their work… before being sent back up to Celestia and Lockheart to see if anymore changes needed to be done. Lockheart's attempt to bring the Night Guard back up to strength was... confusing at sometimes. Some of his changes made sense as he starting shifting around some of the Night Guard into more specialized positions to help deal with the lack of numbers. The fact that he lessened some of the restrictions to allow the large surge of adventures to join the night guard had been meet with a few complaints. Normally the Royal Guard was kept to citizens of Equestria to ensure that a foreign power couldn’t manipulate Equestria’s military or some other reason that was prevalent during the early years of Equestrai’s founding. The odd part was seeing the rise of changelings applying as changelings. Grant it there wasn’t a swarm of changelings filling up entire ranks of the Night Guard, but they had a few griffins and diamond dogs even apply for applications. Midnight walked through the hallways until she reached the Night Guard barracks and saw two ponies arguing with each other. The Mauve bat pony in Night Guard armor with dark blue bangs shouted "It's where one of Brass's diamond dog packs were located! The Night Guard should be in charge of this operation!" Midnight recognized the voice belonging to Melody Blitz the bat pony in charge of the Night Guard. In front of her stood Razor Wind the commander of the Royal Guard who didn't look happy at Melody's suggestion. Both of their cutie marks were covered up by their armor and judging from their expressions it looked like they would start a duel or a brawl at any moment. Melody placed her hoof down on the table “I’m telling you Sonata and Bass should be in charge of the mission. They’ve had experience traversing shifting caves and tunnels unlike Spade and Dust Pan.” Razor Wind’s horn glowed as the unicorn replied firmly “But Spade has experience with dealing with diamond dogs and Dust Pan’s skill as a earth pony in detecting changes in the ground made by diamond dogs is the reason why they should be put in charge.” Melody didn’t let up the assault as she countered “Sonata has a diamond dog, a changeling, another therstal and a night shift unicorn in her team all built around underground excursions. This would not be the first time they have done a mission underground even before the newest additions to their team.” Razor Wind stood like a mountain before the howling wind not daring to budge “And Spade has not only the most experience in dealing with diamond dogs out of the group, but he is also a trained commander who helped deal with the gem golem incident.” Midnight slowly stepped forward “Then why don’t you have Sonata and Spade lead the excursion?” Razor Wind and Melody looked at her as if she was an idiot with a death wish until they realized who she was. Sometimes it was nice being the personal guard and messenger pony of an unorthodox alicorn. “Because this is an issue revolving which group is leading the task force.” Razor Wind replied firmly stating that it should be the Solar Guard who should be in charge. Melody gave Midnight a polite smile as she replied “And at some point the team may need to trade members of their party or determine which course of action they should take if one of the leaders becomes incapacitated during the duration of the operation.” Midnight repressed a sigh as she understood the real problem at hoof. Razor Wind was a traditionalist as he saw the Night Guard as a smaller branch of the Equestrian military that was there to assist the Solar Guard. If a pony wanted to move up the ranks than they transferred to the Solar Guard. Melody was from a militant family as they all served in the Night Guard, but Melody managed to advance up the ranks by quick thinking, skill, and a couple of rushed calls that allowed the Night Guard to take president over a situation before the Solar Guard could take over. One of the reasons why Razor Wind didn’t like her is because the risks she had taken would have had her punished… if she didn’t succeed. Razor Wind was like a chess player as each piece had it’s own role and rules to follow. Melody was like a gambler with a cup full of dice or a card hidden in her wing. Razor Wind wanted the Solar Guard to be in charge because they had more experience and Melody wanted the Night Guard to be in charge because she saw a chance to get out from underneath the Solar Guard’s shadow. It wasn’t any surprise that they didn’t get along. Midnight decided to settle their debate “Celestia wanted me to bring the reports to check how the Night Guard and Solar Guard were doing.” Both of them flinched as if Midnight had physically bucked them in the stomach as they looked off to the side. A few of the Night Guard and Solar Guard ponies gathered together the necessary paperwork before giving it to Midnight as their respective leaderss just sat there waiting for her to leave before continuing their debate. Midnight walked away from the room as she was happy. Her job was to defend Lockheart and help teach him how to fly instead of dealing with backroom politics and debating between which group of ponies were supposed to be in charge or how the two groups should work together. The Night Guard usually worked night shift and the Solar Guard day shift. Now that they had to work together to help either check up on the Night Guard's status or to give them some experience that didn't involving standing in one place for long periods of time. ****** Midnight followed the routine of leaving the paperwork involving the cooperation attempts between the Night Guard and Solar Guard before picking up the books that Celestia had finished and deemed… safe for the Canterlot library. It wasn’t Midnight’s job to question what made certain books dangerous or useless. All she knew was that they came from the Castle of the Everfree forest as most books were almost as old as the founding of Equestria as one book had even showed the picture of two alicorns on the cover! She had to admit that some of those books made her curious… but when one of the banned books had the words “mud pony” and “fog mule” describing earth ponies and pegasi… a couple of those books properly needed to be edited to remove some of the tribelist idiots who had made them. When she walked out into the hallway carrying the last load of books to a very happy librarian happy to add them to Canterlot’s collection… That’s when she noticed the diamond dog lurking outside the castle. Sure there had been a few diamond dogs that tried their hoof… paw at trying to join the night guard, but they didn’t slink about. The adventurer diamond dogs stood tall wearing suits or armor when they tried to apply. This diamond dog only wore a jacket as a few diamonds were stuffed or sown into the jacket as his paw held onto a thin piece of what looked like charcoal as he wrote down something into his book. All of her training in the Night Guard instantly screamed thief as she motioned for two nearby Solar Guards to accompany her. When Midnight was just a couple of hooves away from the diamond dog he had finished writing something down before turning and catching sight of her. Both of them made eye contact for a brief second until Midnight froze for just a second. The dark dirt brown diamond dog with a small chunk missing from his ear quickly matched one of Equestria’s wanted posters. Tracer was a diamond dog responsible for countless thefts and accused of foalnapping before he switched to the life of robbing stage coaches with none other than the notorious mare called Brass Balls. With one quick snap of her wings Midnight pulled out her wing blades and raced outside along with her Solar Guard counterparts as the diamond dog suddenly disappeared. The other members of the guard quickly rushed over to her to see why a member of the guard was running with weapons drawn as she tore into the bush revealing a diamond dog sized hole recently filled up. Midnight quickly snapped orders “Inform Razor Wind that Tracer has been spotted! Somepony start checking where this tunnel leads to or where he’ll pop out!” Two earth ponies started digging as the nearby pegasi and bat ponies flew away to warn the rest of the Royal Guard. One of the nearby unicorns managed to find a leftover page with very crude writing written all over it. Midnight had to strain her eyes a little to make sense of it. Her blood went cold when she recognized the shift rotations and crude markings that denoted how many guards would be on watch and where they would be during those times. Tracer wasn’t just spotted in Canterlot Castle. The diamond dog had been in Canterlot for a good couple of days spying on them to get all of this information. The only question was… what was he after?