Stories in Stone
Luna's Royal Guard
By TDR
Salt of the Earth
Pinkie Pie was avoiding her, Twilight was certain of this. She could see Pinkie working in the rebuilt Sugercube Corner when she was out side of it, but the moment she went in, the only ones present were the Cakes. The moment Twilight left, she could see Pinkie though the window again back at work.
Twilight had caught her on the street at once. She practically demanded Pinkie tell her what was going on and if it had to do with that itchy hoof of hers. The pink pony promptly lifted her fore hoof and drew a watch on the limb.
“Oh look at the time Twilight, too busy, gotta go.” and Pinkie Pie was off like a shot.
Twilight tried to teleport the pink pony back as she ran off and only managed to grab Spike some how/ The purple dragon's confusion at his sudden appearance in the street was mirrored by Twilight's. Pinkie still showed up to parties and gatherings of the friends, but she always seemed to be else where or busy the moment Twilight was going to ask about her Pinkie sense, she also no longer came over for Twilight's study sessions.
Twilight grumbled to herself as she set up her spell. Applejack was there tonight covering for Pinkie due to the pink pony saying she had something else to do. The orange earth pony was settling into the couch planning to nap for a bit while Twilight worked.
“So no luck on that mirror thing, huh sugar cube?” Applejack asked idly.
“No, i am afraid not. For some reason the spell matrix won't connect to the starry void I've been talking about. I've tried everything I know and neither Princess Celestia or Princess Luna have any idea either. I suppose you will all just need to deal with the book until I figure something out.”
“Rainbow won't be too thrilled with that. I'm not real tickled either. Never been much of a book type, nothing wrong with them when yah got nothing else to do, but ah always preferred to hear it or see it myself rather than just read about it. Might just get a shortened version told to me from some pony.”
“That's fine I suppose, a good bit of whats going on seems to be little more than back ground on some of them. I figure all Princess Luna really needs every pony to hear are the basics. Though I am getting a better feel for the five of them now. Most of them are completely emotional train wrecks that make our problems look like a a episode of a show for little fillies.” twilight sighed.
“That's the problem with the past, not too many head doctors back then.” Applejack nodded.
“I doubt that would have helped them much in all honesty. Jer'rahd been betrayed by those closest to him, all his families dead and he's a simmering cauldron of anger. Rhede is leading on Velkorn, and it looks like he was keeping a secret from every one that nearly got Jer'rahd killed. Velkorn's pretty stable save for her obsession with Rhede which I still don't get. Seriously the stallion can do no wrong in her eyes it seems, it's like she's under some enchantment or something.”
“Love'll do that.” Applejack nodded sagely.
“Bleu's not much better than Jer'rahd and she's got some darkness and depression in her she's got hidden away behind a mask of humor. I have no idea what's she's gonna do now that Jer'rahd was nearly killed. Starfall's the least messed up of the lot of them and even she has had a tragic back story with her family, shes also obsessed with her daughter and revenge have no idea how she manages to seem normal. Then there's Luna who doesn't seem too far off she is now only much more violent.”
“Well this is only tha beginning ain't it. Yah ain't heard nothing about tha war of night nor Nightmare Moon yet?”
“No.”
“Sure it's coming, been working today and I'm a bit tired, if yah don't mind I'm gonna have a light snooze while yer watching tha past. A bit too much going on at the farm this winter. Apple Bloom, Big mac, Sweetiebell, and Scootlaoo built up a big ole green house and are trying to grow stuff in the winter for some cutie mark or another. Likely the most creative and useful thing those fillies have done in that crusade of theirs.”
“It would be nice to have a bit of variety. Towards the end of winter hay and potatoes get a little old. If they manage to start growing things in the winter it might make the last few weeks before winter wrap up a bit more bearable. The food storage always seems to get far too low too early as well.” Twilight commented.
“Planning on being planner again for this years Winter wrap up? Applejack chuckled
“Of course. With luck I might even have this research finished by then. I've got a bit of free time coming up. It's like I can tell nothing really exciting will happen for at least a few weeks.“
“Must be nice feeling that calm during some sort of hiatus. With those three fillies, I expect something to explode at any given time most days, any way git to yer work and lemme know whatcha find. Just the important stuff though.”
Twilight smirked as she cast the spell and found her self in the starry void. The view before her didn't answer any of her questions about the place, but she was happy to see even with the forging of the Waning Moon, the windows to each of the six with a fragment of the sword was still available.
She knew exactly whose window she wanted to see this time. Rhede Pelt had some explaining to do.
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The two foals stood starring at each other, panting hard, the larger one was covered in bruises and dirt, so much so that it was impossible to tell what color his coat and mane were. The smaller unicorn was the same way, but with a split lip and a black eye. A tiny pudgy blue earth pony hid behind the unicorn whimpering lightly .
“Piss off new foal, this ain't your business.” the larger earth pony growled.
“I'm not going any where, you leave Honey Suckle alone or....” the unicorn snapped back.
“Or what?” the larger one cut him off.
“You'll see I'm not done dishing it out to you yet.” the unicorn growled back.
The earth pony colts blue eyes narrow as he glares at the unicorn. The smaller pony returning his glare with equal fierceness.
“Who the buck are you?”the larger one demanded.
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Rhede lifted his head with a wince, dark circles around his eyes betraying his condition. He whipped his head trying to stave off dozing off again, though it did little to stave off his tiredness. He didn't want to sleep, sleep brought dreams, and memories he'd rather forget because all they did was hurt. They didn't seem like much, but he knew the story of them, and he wasn't fond of that part of his life.
There was also the fact that while asleep things would eventually turn to a happier note, he didn't currently think he deserved that for his failure, so he preferred the waking world, with all it's pain and suffering. It was more of what he deserved.
His gaze shifted about the room, it hadn't changed much since it held it's last occupant. Half the room was hidden in darkness, the other half illuminated by a series of lanterns designed to shine down on the other side of the room like spot lights
Rhede tilted his head looking at the chains that bound him. At least they had cleaned the chains after Claymore was removed from them. Still the locks were clearly enchanted and lacked any sort of key hole he might be able to pick. Not like that would slow him, but he had no desire to leave. Where would he go any way?
It was odd to see it from this angle, but it was expected he supposed. After the events of the last month he was some what surprised he hadn't been turned to stone up to his neck just to be sure he wouldn't do anything.
He tried to remember when he had been brought inhere, but it must have been when he was passed out. He didn't recall whether or not he had been awake enough to make a 'kinky' comment as he was being secured.
Further thought was interrupted as a door opened along the far wall, blinding him with the bright sunlight as a number of figures moved into the room. There was no conversation between them, and Rhede could tell there were at least five. Four of them took seats behind a large table on the far side of the room while the fifth walked over to him, but stayed just out of the light in the darkness. Rhede's night vision was good , but the flickering lamps focused on him played havoc with his night vision,still he had caught a glimpse of their silhouettes as they entered..
Still he made out the general shapes, two unicorns, one male, one female, two earth pony stallions and a Pegasus. Still it seemed his inquisitors had finally arrived.
“Nice of you to join me, lovely place you have here. I will admit the service is a little slow. I have yet to receive that spring water I order.” Rhede snarked.
The earth pony pacing before him growled lightly clearly glaring at him from the darkness.
“Stow it Pelt, I don't have any patience for your snark. You've bucked up real bad!”
“No shit, you figure that out all by yourself?” Rhede snapped back before calming himself. “Or did some one finally open my file? I would love to have seen the expression on the pony who did that. My hole file was replaced by a wonderful painting of Princess Celestia with a provocative pose and a wet mane.
“Are you aware of the shit storm you caused colt? Do you have any idea why you are even here?”
“Seventy three counts of murder, six counts of treason, prolly twenty plus counts of theft, near a good three score of other miscellaneous issues tied into those first three, oh, and at least twenty three confirmed cases of peeping. “Rhede listed. “it was more than that mind you..... by a lot.... on all counts.”
The Pegasus spoke up at this, definitely a mare, an older one too, mature, he would have loved to get a better look at her.
“Well at least he seems to know the charges.” the mare stated.
“And not a lick of remorse for any of them.” the earth pony snorted.
“Not entirely true General Mustang, nice to finally meet you by the way, there are quite a few things I have done that I regret. Not the peeping of course, harmless fun there, and Bleu occasionally tagged along, and decidedly not the murders, those ponies needed to be killed. There is one thing I regret more than anything else. Still it's not likely what you'd expect. And on that note, how is Jer?
“I am asking the questions here Pelt.” Mustang snapped.
“You want me to answer any of your questions General Mustang, you answer that simple one of mine.” Rhede returned quickly. “ If not then you can all feel free to leave, because I'm done speaking with you.”
“Odd you even give a shit about him now.” Mustang growled.
“I gave a shit then too, I just tried the wrong way to help.” Rhede admitted with a sigh. “Look I'm trying to be polite here and this is the only thing I've asked for so far after turning myself in......unless you wanted a massive hunt for me that would have never found me.........”
The Pegasus mare spoke up again.
“The General is well Pelt, angry, destructive, and other wise a pain in every pony's flank, his usual.”
Rhede let out a breath he was unaware he was holding.
“Well at least something I did went right then.” Rhede admitted.
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He swung his hoof again sending the smaller colt rolling across the dirt. He snorted, glaring as the unicorn rose back up to his hooves panting heavily before charging at him again. The large earth pony colt moved again, knocking the clumsy charge aside as if it was nothing, sending the colt into the dirt once more. He shook his head walking off as the unicorn rose back to his hooves yet again.
There were a few others around, the fight had gathered a crowd of other foals who hung back, and at least one teen-aged dark colored unicorn mare he had seen around some where.
What ass it with this one, he had interfered in every bit of fun he had tried to have for the last few weeks. He had been stopped from taking lunch money, stopped from picking on other foals, and stopped from doing anything the little unicorn thought was wrong. Which was most of what the tall colt liked doing. This new foal just would not stop. The brat had even gotten his cutie mark when he stood up for Honey Suckle. The taller colt was still a blank flank at this point and it grated on his nerves that he was the cause of some pony else getting their mark before him. Forget the others this twerp was going to pay.
The larger colt whipped around again as the gray unicorn made it back to his hooves, rushing over to knock him down again.
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“Go ahead and cast the spell. I know that’s why those two are in here.” Rhede stated suddenly.
“Not gonna tell the truth without some sort of enforcement on our part huh?” Mustang growled.
“It's not for me General, I doubt any of you will believe me at all unless I am backed up by a spell caster telling you whether I am lying or not. After all I am really good at getting ponies to believe everything I say. It's been my job for a few years now after all.”
“Likely you've been trained to resist a spell like that however.”A gravely voice stated.
This voice came from the other earth pony, Rhede didn't recognize the voice, but it sounded masked any way. Likely one of the ambassadorial spys of Celestia. Probably a higher up or a inquisitor. Not many of those and very few knew who they were any way. Basically if you knew a pony was a inquisitor, you were either powerful enough to call for ones services, or in deep shit.
“You are right I was trained to do just that in fact, but I won't. You knowing I am telling the truth benefits me more than my trying to hide anything. Besides, if I'm still alive after the last thing I did there’s nothing left to hide.” Rhede mentioned.
General Mustang nodded and a orange glow surrounds one of the unicorn's horns, not enough to light up the dark figures, but enough to show him the outline of the mares face. Rhede felt the spell settle over him and resists the urge to fight it. He let out a sigh as the spell sank over him. It felt like little more than a simple truth spell, easy enough to get around if he wanted to. The unicorn nodded to the General letting him know it took hold, her horn fading a little though still lit as she maintained the spell..
“State your name and occupation for the record.” The Pegasus at the table ordered.
“Rhederic Pelt. I am a spy and assassin for The Order, and a double agent for Princess Celestia.”
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He ignored the yelling of the teacher, his blue eyes focused on the unicorn colt he had been fighting. The little gray unicorn looked like he did after all their fights, battered, bruised, and still ready for more. The larger colt sported a few marks as well, picking on any one near this stupid unicorn always resulted in a fight, and the larger colt always won. The problem was, he never felt like he won. The unicorn kept getting up, the fight was never over for him. No matter how often he got knocked down he got back up. They always were eventual stopped by a teacher or some other adult, in this case it had been a blue Pegasus mare he felt he should have recognized, who had heard the fight. He never said anything and was surprised the gray colt didn't either. They both got detention for fighting. The colt could have easily gotten out of it by simply telling the teachers that he hadn't started it. Most of the faculty at the school knew the larger colt was nothing but a problem any way. The new colt never said anything about it, he simply accepted the punishment and was ready to do it again the next time some pony was being picked on.
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“Records show what you were doing up until your graduation from basic training. There was a transfer order from that point to a destination that does not exist. Not long after, you were removed from the military record and listed as a civilian again. What happened?” the Pegasus asked.
“The Order happened of course. You can check the files you still have on me. With the exception of a few things here and there I was top of my class. I scored so well on everything from leadership to survival they paired me with the other ponies who drew attention to themselves. I was not paired with Jer'rahd and Starfall because they were friends of mine. I was paired with them because they were only a step below me and both of them had the balls to either break the rules to fix something that wasn't right or go beyond what was expected of them. They wanted to give the best unit as much hell as they could to see if we would break. Jer'rahd was noticed because he beat the drill sergeant in sword play on the first day, Starfall saved the life of a unstable pony by breaking one of the major rules. I was caught once trying to sneak into the mares shower. Once mind you. I broke records for the more subtle aspects of combat, survival, infiltration, espionage, and so on. The Order had a pony watching Guard recruits to pick out the best for their own ends. The one that fit the best from that group was me.” Rhede explained
“What training did you receive with The Order?” the unicorn mare asked.
“Poison use, torture resistance, extreme environment survival, medicine, history, hoof to hoof fighting, advanced infiltration, emotional distancing, seduction,.... if you want the full list we might be here a while, lets just put it I was trained to be a perfect spy, slash , assassin in the years since I left basic.”
“Fine then lets go to some other questions.” Mustang stated.
“Not like I can argue.” Rhede shrugged.
“What was The Order's purpose?” Mustang demanded, still pacing before Rhede.
“You want what it really was, or what it was supposed to be?” Rhede asked.
“Start with what it was supposed to be.” the unicorn mare questioned.
“The Order was formed at the end of the Discordian war. The first members of The Order where the ponies that witnessed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeat Discord with The Elements of Harmony. Supposedly they were so impressed and fearful of the power they witnessed they worked together and built a group to find a way to keep that power out of normal ponies hooves. They built strong holds around Equestria and then stole the Elements from the castle placing them in the strongholds to secure them. Traps, wards spells, and worse were placed around the Elements in order to safe guard them from any pony the Order did not find worthy. Once this was completed they turned themselves into the Princesses for judgment for their theft and conspiring against the Princesses. For some reason or another this caused the Princesses to grant them titles and land in Canterlot. Personally I expect it was to simply keep an eye on a group of ponies with enough guts to stand up to the Goddesses for something they believed in.”
“ Close enough to the actual history as I've been told by Princess Celestia.” Mustang grunted. “And what has it become?”
“The titles made the members nobles. Common ponies suddenly becoming as close to royalty as one could get without becoming an alicorn. The first few generations considered it an honor and did their best to make sure everything went as it was supposed to, they worked together and accomplished the rebuilding of Equestria and Canterlot faster than was believed possible in that post war time. This also had the benefit of making most of them even more wealthy. Over time however families split, infighting began and those who were heads of the Order became more concerned with personal power than they were with keeping the Elements safe.“
“What connection do they now have with the Elements of Harmony?” the Pegasus mare asked.
“Now? Not a damn thing. They don't even have the locations of where the Elements were hidden generations ago. So they needed a way to make Princess Celestia and Princess Luna seek the Elements again, and the easiest way to do that was by creating a threat. The Order started supporting and manipulating events to fuel wars.” Rhede continued.
“Explain.”Mustang stated.
“The Order helped bring about the Dragon War. By leaking information, sending teams out to kill leaders on both sides and pinning it on the other, falsifying reports, anything. They believed that if the need was great enough the Princesses would seek out the Elements of Harmony and they could simply steal them again to use their power for themselves.”
“That's a stupid plan.” the Pegasus mare commented.
“Of course it was it was thought of by rich nobility who tend to throw money at problems to make them go away. Of course it didn't work, the war ended before it got bad enough to force one of the Princesses to go after the Elements. “Rhede grumbled. ”They kept trying however. They brought about the War in the North with the Griffons, they supplied the Warlords in the Zebralands, and passed troop information to the Bone Hounds.”
“Bullshit, there’s no way one group could start four wars without any pony finding out.” Mustang snapped.
“They didn't start the wars, they simply made them worse or in at least one case got Equestria directly involved in something that wasn't their business. I played a part in three of those wars.”
“He has not shaken off the spell General Mustang. He is telling the truth as far as he is aware.” the Unicorn mare stated.
“Fine, explain your part in these conflicts then.”Mustang growled.
“The Order pulled strings to place me in ambassador training in Canterlot. The main reason was to get me close to information they could use. There were others of course, but in my ignorance of their true motives I did my best to get what they wanted. Troop movements, supply lines, even Princess Luna's travel plans. I stole those and hoof delivered all of it to my Order contact. Turns out they were most interested in Princess Luna's movements and they gave that information to the Bone Hounds. The plan was to make Celestia seek the Elements in a panic because her sister was attacked. But.......”
“But what?” Mustang demanded.
“But, Starfall Silvertail happened. Because of her, Luna barely had a scratch and the war ended before Celestia needed to seek out the Elements. It did however make the Princess consider finding the Elements again. So she started a search for possible bearers, instead she found me.”
“Found you? “
“Indeed. I don't know how, but some how in the course of the Princess's search for candidates she found out who had been intercepting the information that was getting leaked. Celestia found out I was the one who had stolen her sisters schedule. Rather than sic the Guard's on me she confronted me about it herself. Suffice to say she did not need a spell to make me tell the truth, Princess Luna might be scary when mad, but she is like a kitten playing with string versus a mad Princess Celestia. She practically forced me at horn point to tell her everything. Of course the first thing I told her was what was going to happen to me if the Order found out I had said anything. She offered to keep it to herself if I spied on The Order for her. Not being a stupid pony I accepted.”
“How was it she chose you to seek Generosity.” The Pegasus mare asked.
“It was a bit of a joke. The Order had started looking for ponies that might be worthy, and that they could control. After I told her who else in the castle worked for The Order she started dropping hints that she was searching as well. The Order was quite excited over the information, even more so when the name of one of the selected ponies was slipped by the Princess and it turned out to be one of their own spies, me. Princess Celestia chose Generosity for me as sort of a joke, sort of a play on how I generously was willing to give any mare a foal given half the chance.” Rhede smirked shifting a little and shaking his head some to keep his eyelids from drooping.
“It was complete crap. If anything I should have been Greed not Generosity. I was enjoying playing both sides, I had the run of Canterlot, I had the ear of the Goddess of the Sun, my friends were safe in Canterlot as well, and of course my family was not that far away. I literally had it all for a time. I was supposed to be willing to give up everything for the betterment of Equestria, that was something of a Guard motto, as well as the load of dung The Order fed its new recruits. I was not willing to give up anything, not my new status, not my family, and not my friends. Of course when it came time for me to pay the tab, my desire to not give up anything probably cost me everything.”
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The earth pony staggered back as the gray unicorns hoof connected with his muzzle, the damn colt kept coming too.
The little pest was in rare form today, and all for some stupid painting. Show and tell was today and the new foal had brought in some crappy painting of his family, just him as a baby his mom, dad and grandparents. Looked like it was done by an amateur as the colors were already faded. Not something even worth a damn.
The larger colt had decided to use it against the unicorn, he took the picture when the colt wasn't looking and hid it. He wanted to watch the brat freak out, but Honey Suckle had seen him take the painting and told the Unicorn.
The little punk was out for blood screaming and crying about the painting. Of course given his mood he was easily beaten to a pulp and left crying in a heap. Little shit still got in more than a few good blows and he had managed to split his lip.
He only found out later the foals mother and grandmother had died and that was the only picture of them the family even had.
He had snuck out later that night and left the picture on the new foals doorstep. He wondered if he had been spotted, but the only other pony he saw was a dark unicorn mare who didn't seem to notice him.
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“Is he alright? This is the third time he has passed out.” the unicorn mare asked.
“Should we get a doctor in here General Mustang?”the Pegasus asked.
“I'm fine. Keep going with the questions. The beds here are a bit …. hard. Difficult to get my beauty rest on them.” Rhede smirked.
“Are you sure...?”the unicorn mare asked curiously.
“He said he was fine, I'm continuing.” Mustang snorted.
“How did The Order react to you being named one of the bearers?”
“Mixed, some were quite thrilled as it meant less work for them, others not so much, they sent my teacher in to watch over me, Scarlet. The only mares who scare me more than that one are Celestia and my mother, and not in that order. Scarlet was a killer, period. It was really the only thing she enjoyed, and since The Order had her killing things quite often, she was fiercely loyal to them and the bits they paid her. She knew I was scared of her and she used that to her advantage quite a lot.” Rhede muttered.
“Starfall was selected as another Bearer after the war with the Bone Hounds ended. She was blunt, stubborn and when she said she was going to do something she did it, Perfect candidate for Honesty. The Order liked her as well. She had family she cared for, easy to manipulate a pony like that.”
“Is that how they got you to do everything?”the unicorn mare asked.
“No, that was how Scarlet got me to do everything. The Order just knew she had more control over me than they did. I kept the Order in the dark about my family, big as it is there are a lot of Pelts out there and not all of them are connected. Scarlet found out though. That was another reason I kept away from the house for a few years. Keep the order guessing.”
“You played a roll in the Zebra Campaign as well. What was it?” Mustang demanded
“Exactly like my title, Ambassador. Though not for Equestria like I was supposed to be. I went down there along with a great many supplies of arms and equipment. A tribute and a offer from The Order. They wanted Zal'Torak's cooperation in return for their support in taking over a bit of Equestrian land. The belief was again to speed up Celestia's attempt to find the Elements. They sought to create enough strife and distrust in the world that only the Elements of Harmony could repair it. The warlord was just one piece.” Rhede exhaled a bit, cricking his neck.” The Order wanted the war to last as long as it could and to bring about as much destruction as it could. It was by The Order's request that Zal'Torak invaded Equestria, it was by another request I passed on that he did not take the first offer of a ceasefire put forth by Celestia. And it was by my hoof he died when he finally was simply going to surrender. The Order couldn't risk his telling any one about their involvement.“
“Princess Luna herself claims that General Kaisur dealt the final blow, as does the word of the Queen of the Zebra lands.” Mustang snapped.
“That was just insane luck. Once I received the go ahead to kill the warlord, I got a little creative. I rigged the anti air weapons to explode when I wanted them too, and leaked information to the Equestrian forces outside the strong hold. The idea was to kill him and escape, letting the Guard take the credit for the victory. Unfortunately the first unit sent in was caught and I thought they were all killed. With the information I had passed on seemingly lost I set myself up to detonate the bombs, kill the warlord and hide in the catacombs until things cooled down enough for me to leave. It was just after I put my plan into action that the force lead by Jer tore through the place. Velkorn and Jer came in at just the right time. I had just finished off the Warlord, but I had not had the chance to flee yet. I knew he would accept the credit if I told him to do so, and Velkorn owed me a favor any way, so she agreed as well. I took his sword and cut off the warlords head and started to play the part of a captured ambassador. I still thought we were going to have to run for our lives,but then Princess Luna's force attacked. They had been on high alert the whole time since the first squad had been counted as missing and when the explosions took out the anti air weapons it had only taken moments to scramble the entire Pegasus wing of the 42nd. With the Princess at their head they they attacked, routing the Zebras rather nicely. Princess Luna lead the charge with the plan to take out the leader herself. Getting there she instead found, a small force of escaped prisoners, ponies declared MIA and Jer holding a bloodied sword with the head of the Warlord at his hooves. Kinda obvious as to why she thought he did it. I do feel bad however, he got stuck playing the hero. He hates that.” Rhede chuckled.
“So I have noticed. What happened after that?”Mustang snorted.
“The Order wanted me to lay low for a while. They arranged for me to remain the ambassador to the Zebra lands and help the next ruler be under their sway. Once it was found out that next ruler was Velkorn, well I was ordered to seduce her and get her to do what they wanted me to have her do. It was rather easy, she already was grateful for the first time I rescued her, and when I saved her from the Necromancer Blood Tail, that rather cemented it. I barely even had to use any charm. She was willing to do what ever I asked. Unfortunately.”
“Explains why she seems to hang off of you. Though that place got turned into a democratic government, the Queen wound up as little more than a figure head with no real control. She set that up herself?“ the unicorn asked. Rhede was starting to wonder about the other Earth pony and unicorn , they had been silent the whole time.
“Yes well, I very well could have had her remain the ruler. She would have done what ever I asked her to. Likely she would have made me King before long as well. Her people would have loved her for it too. After all she managed to do in the first two months of her rule? Her subjects love her. She had the same level of adoration most of us give to Celestia at the Summer Sun Celebration after just two months. They would not have batted an eye to a non zebra ruling along side her. The Order would have loved that too. I could have done anything to her and she would love me for it even still.” Rhede shifted in his chains.”And I found out I could not bring myself to do any of it.”
“Why not?” Mustang demanded.
“As old a goat as you are General you must have met some mare, or stallion if that’s your preference , nothing wrong with that, just not my cup of tea and all....”Rhede commented.
“GET TO THE POINT PELT.” Mustang snapped
“Right, she was too innocent, and I could not bring myself to be the one to take that from her. Every single thing she did was to help some Pony or Zebra or animal or anything. I half expected her not to walk on the grass at times for fear of hurting it. Velkorn has more compassion for other living things in a tail hair then most ponies have in their entire bodies. And I found I could not bring myself to do anything that might hurt her. I couldn't even bring myself to love her and leave her like I had been doing my whole life with all those other mares. I knew she would be hurt by that. Following my mission I already had her far to interested in me to simply vanish. So I passed on the suggestion of electing some other Zebras to run things to the new Queen, or several, like a council, she did her best to set that up and had it done in less than a year. All while I did my best to give her the cold shoulder, I was intentionally caught with other mares to try and inform her my interest lay else where. Still she persisted. She even followed me all the way back to Canterlot and had Princess Celestia name me as her guide and translator while here. Compassionate yes, stupid no. She found a way to keep me as close to her as she could. It did not help matters when Celestia first talked to her and then chose her as a bearer as well. I do wish she would have gotten over me by this point. With luck my latest actions will have turned her off enough and she can finally seek some other pony who is more fitting for her.”
“Trying to be noble now Pelt?”Mustang sneered.
“Not so much noble, more along the lines of its hard to play around with any mares at a bar when you have a Zebra Queen stalking you.”Rhede grinned. Besides you know her deal if you read her file.”
“Typical male.”the unicorn mare snorted .
Rhede could not help to grin. “Spoken like a mare who has never known the joys of Rhede Pelt. I can fix that you know.”
“No you cannot.”
Rhede's smirk widened as the other earth pony in the room spoke up again. His reward for that was for the unicorn mare to slap him on the back of the head with a hoof. Rhede still didn't recognize the stallion, but he knew that there was a married pair of inquisitors in Celestia's service and this was likely them. General Mustang and the other two ignore this, remaining focused on Rhede.
“Did you have anything to do with Dullahan keep?” Mustang asked, Rhede noticed that the others had gone silent, some of them looking at the still silent unicorn stallion.
“Yes.” Rhede sighed.
“What was your roll there?” Mustang demanded.
“I was the reason it happened.” Rhede admitted
Several of the others shifted leaning a bit closer at this the shift of hooves on the floor made it clear that all of them were surprised and not to thrilled by that revelation. Even two years later the loss of life from that attack was still being felt. Mustang even glanced back at the others in the darkness.
“Explain.” Mustang demanded.
============================================
“What the buck are you doing?” the earth pony colt demanded.
The older colt looked at the three others and the bloodied and dirty gray unicorn staring the three down. Even against odds like this the little shit was defiant.
“Oh hey Rhede, figured you would come after you favorite target sooner or later. Decided to soften him up for yah.” one of the other colts stated with a laugh,the green hued Pegasus taking another swing at the much smaller unicorn.
“Why?” Rhede demanded.
“Why not? Little punks stubborn though, refuses to stay down, got him pretty good though.” a white unicorn smirked a bit of dirt and blood on his hooves but he was other wise pristine. He gestured at the smaller unicorn with a broom handle he had been using to hit the colt with. “It's easy, little bastards got no skill in magic.”
Rhede's ears flatten to his head, he moves closer to the group before turning and slamming his hoof into the white unicorns jaw sending him to the dirt before launching himself at the other two with a roar. The smaller unicorn charged in as well tackling the third colt while Rhede bludgeoned the second. The sudden attack and ferocity of it quickly made the three panic and run off as fast as they could.
Rhede turned to glare at the gray unicorn before taking a swipe at him and and getting the response he was expecting. The two of them beat the crap out of each other for a while with the only one Rhede noticed still being around was a dark Pegasus mare off in the distance.
Finally the pair both fell over panting on the ground.
“So ,huff, New foal?”
“What?”
“Names Rhede.”
“Rhede, huff, yeah I think I know your name by now.”
“ Ha. You wanna come over, see the farm?”
“....... what..... this isn’t some stupid trap is it?”
“Nah, I think I’m past all that. Defending some pony felt better than beating them up.”
“Yeah alright, though I do have a name you know.”
“Really? It's not annoying little shit? Fine so what is it?”
====================================================
“He passed out again.”the unicorn commented with a hint of worry.
“Give him a moment.” Mustang snorted as he noted Rhede twitch.
“Yeah sorry. I'm back. Where was I ?” Rhede stammers shaking free of his quick nap again.
“Dullahan.” Mustang responded.
“Colonel Claymore was a member of The Order, at first any way. Ruthlessness, contacts and no small amount of skill on his part actually got him an invite. An oddity from a pony who started as a commoner. Still his ambition had him break away from The Order after using them and their funds to further his own agenda. The Order sent me a message that I was to kill him. I passed on the mission. I was no longer comfortable with the missions I was being given at that point. Maybe I started believing Celestia's ideals or maybe my own ego was getting the better of me that I thought I could ignore what they wanted because I was too important to their plans.” Rhede sighed dropping his head as much as the chains allowed.”If I had done it. If I had gone and killed him. Buck, if I had even passed the message to Celestia rather than write it off as nothing more than The Order wanting payback against some one who tricked them out of a lot of bits. If I had not done that, if I had done the mission, crap if I had done ANYTHING, I would not have caused my best friend to suffer, nor nearly get him killed. Platinum would still be alive and Bleu would not be suffering. Likely no one would have died out there. Eventually I did pass on the information as part of a larger packet of Intel, but by that point it was too late, Claymore had already started the raids and begun gathering forces on both sides of the wall.”
Mustang had turned watching the others in the shadow the Pegasus seemed to be watching the other three as well, but none of the others moved so Mustang continued.
“That information is why the Forty Second was mobilized as quickly as they were, why any of the ponies at Dullahan survived. Sooner would have been better yes, but it was still critical.” the unicorn mare stated, her dimly lit face showing her glances over at the two silent stallions on the far end of the table.
“It was not critical enough, it caused the only pony who puts up with my shit to suffer unnecessarily. I made my friend suffer because I was too damn distracted to do what I was supposed to do.”
“Tell us what the Order wanted General Kaisur for.” the Pegasus demanded.
“They didn't want him. In fact that's why they pulled strings and had him sent to Dullahan when I refused the order to kill Claymore. They figured at the very least he might be killed in what ever was going to happen. I don't think they knew the scale of what Claymore was planning, but they knew enough to know it would be bad.“
“Why would they want him killed specifically.” Mustang questioned.
“Perhaps as a lesson to me on what would happen if I I disobeyed them? I don't know for sure why they did at that point in time, but if I had to guess I would say it's loyalty. After meeting him for the first time, Princess Celestia could tell he was loyal to Princess Luna due to the secret he kept. After the Zebra lands she could tell he was loyal to Equestria to a fault. And after Dullahan she knew without a doubt he was loyal to his friends beyond any common sense most ponies would have.” Rhede explained.” After the victory in the Zebralands he was on a short list to be named the bearer of Loyalty. After Dullahan, well... she tossed the rest of the list. The Order wasn't happy about that, they had wanted one of their own in there,and they had a few names on that list. Anyone chosen as Loyalty was going to be a problem unless they could be swayed to the cause of the Order, or were already working for them. Jer's position and well documented dislike of nobility put them at a disadvantage. That he had no family and would likely fight rather than back down if his friends were threatened gave them absolutely nothing over him. The only thing they had over him was me, and after my refusal to kill Claymore they didn't trust me. That Bleu was considered fast tracked to Laughter made things worse as the only one she really cared about is Jer. “
There was a general murmuring as Rhede caught his breath.
“The Order put me in a position that I had Celestia's ear and I could keep Velkorn in check. Starfall they had a plan for as well. Jer had Luna's ear and was made a companion of Bleu. For a while it looked like the Order's plans all hinged on me remaining where I was. A number of plans were created to fix the issue but none of them were ever put into action. With a possible war brewing with the Dragons again after the attack on Dullahan they couldn't risk losing the chance presented to them to recover the Elements. That Luna, Bleu, Jer, Velkorn, Starfall , and myself were the ones Celestia chose was something they were just going to have to deal with. They told me to kill him once, I managed to talk them down simply saying the Elements could simply be stolen after they were found and it wouldn't matter who the Bearer was. This was accepted, the bearers were gathered, we could start the quest to find them. Our goal was clear, the war could be averted, and the Order wouldn't have to harm any pony or play their hoof early. All was right with the world.
“So what went wrong?” the unicorn mare asked.
“I had refused two orders and argued against the high council. They no longer trusted me with the mission, but because I was selected to be a Bearer they could not take me off the mission. So they sent in Scarlet. I have no idea how she met Jer, but I know why she kept him from letting any of us meet her. I would have recognized her and perhaps blown her cover. The Hearths Warming party at my family’s was the first time any of us met her in this role. She openly told me what was going to happen to my family if I said anything. Soon as I got back I checked with The Order again. They had ordered his death, they did not give a reason for it either. I had just started to try and convince them again when Luna grabbed me. Scarlet had poisoned him, Wind Snake Venom, her favorite poison.” Rhede smirked. “I got damn lucky, the sort of luck that only exists in high fantasy books. Wind snake venom is almost instantly fatal to pegasi, unicorns, and nearly every other living thing on the planet.
Rhede let out a small sigh and grinned.
“It is not however near instantly fatal to Earth Ponies. Something about our inherent magic slows the toxin enough for a cure to be administered if done within a few hours, it's unbelievably agonizing, but curable. If Scarlet had know Jer was a half horn likely she would have used something else, but she slipped up and missed that bit somehow. If she had used something I hadn't had Velkorn prep for..... well, it would have been bad. When I was training under her she used the poison on me and the other two she was tutoring, told us what the antidote mix was and then watched to see if we could make it ourselves before it killed us. I was the only one of the three of us who pulled it off. Barely did too, but that little act put the fear of that mare into me. She has no qualms about killing any one or anything and often seems to enjoy watching creatures suffer. I made sure Velkorn had the materials needed to cure it at all times in her bags once I knew she was around even going so far as to get most of the materials myself for her and showing her how to mix it. The dragon blood is always the most difficult to find, it spoils too quickly and won't keep in any kind of storage. Thankfully Bleu was there, I think I burned through all the luck I had left with that series of events.”
“I have one more question Pelt.” Mustang queried.
“Where have I been the last month?” Rhede responded.
“And why.” the unicorn mare added.
“That’s two questions, but they merge together in one story so I’ll let it go. I've been off tying up loose ends To put it simply I have been killing ponies, General Mustang. Seventy three of them to be exact all across Equestria.”
The shuffling and a small series of mutters came from three of those behind the general before he waved a hoof at them and they shut up, the one unicorn not even seeming surprised, that one was starting to worry Rhede..
“Why?” Mustang demanded.
“The Order threatened my family, and tried to make good on killing one of my friends. I knew who the entire council was, by real name, reputation and clout they had in Equestria. Very few of them bothered to find out what their assassins names were or what they looked like so long as they did what they were told. The ones Princess Luna did not kill in Canterlot I went out and killed. Princess Celestia would not have approved the mission so I went on my own. Its easy to use contacts when you simply claim to be from a branch of The Order that’s gone silent. Suffice to say, mission a bucking accomplished. There's not a damned soul left who knew any damn thing about the Council. I'm sure there's a couple advisers or those who knew about the little club left, but none who ever attended a meeting still breath.”
“You went and did that knowing that Princess Luna wanted to question you.” Mustang growled.
“It might have been too late if I was locked up, and Princess Luna was sure to do that if I stuck around.” Rhede snapped back his ire clearly growing.
“You murdered nobles, merchants, officers in the Guard in a seemingly random pattern from here to The Great Wall and back again. Are you trying to tell me you killed all the members of the Order that were left?” Mustang roared.
“No, just the important ones the heads of the sections, the ones in power, the ones that could do something, all the others were just hirelings, no ponies, or mercs. As far as I know there are only two full on proper members of the Order left. One is a statue that's perpetually on fire and the other is currently in chains before you.” Rhede stated.
“Most of Equestria thinks there is a mass murderer going around. The balance of power in some locations with the nobles has shifted into unfavorable conditions and entire supply lines are stopped due to the panic.” the Pegasus grumbled
“Lose ends. I made sure that there was no pony left to threaten family or friends... well if they still are.” Rhede deflates a little at the last.
“Not confident of that are you?” the unicorn asked.
“I could have stopped Jer from nearly getting killed, I could have stopped, an attack on Princess Luna, I could have stopped the attack on Dullahan. Velkorn could have found some other pony by now if I had not made her chase me. Hell the only one of my “friends” I have not caused to suffer is Starfall, and I still managed to hurt her by killing her daughter in front of her eyes.” Rhede muttered
“You might be thinking too deeply on it.” the unicorn mare stated softly with another glance to the silent unicorn.
“I doubt it. It would be better if I did get locked up some where or put into the Garden. Some other pony can be their Generosity, rather clear I am not fit for it. Hell they probably all hate me and think I had something to do with Jer nearly getting killed. You've asked your questions now get the hell out of here already..... I need to sleep some time, might as well be well rested for my trial.” Rhede snarls, not lifting his head.
The group rose to leave Mustang storming out followed by the others. The Unicorn who had remained quite the whole time paused inside the door frame turning his head back. Rhede could tell he wore an eye patch over one eye for some reason.
“I do not hate you Rhede. I enjoyed the time we worked together. While there was a great deal you could have done, you are holding yourself responsible for more than you should be. While I am not fond of the secrets you have been keeping, I understand why you did. The others........ Well, you will need to talk to them yourself if able. At the very least I forgive you.” the gray unicorn in the doorway stated simply.
“Wha... Jer......?!!” Rhede's eyes widen as the unicorn walked out.
The door shut loudly leaving Rhede in silence again.
================================================
Maw Pelt watched the two foals run around after the chickens before her boy lead the smaller unicorn towards her to introduce them.
“Hey Rhede. Who’s your friend.” Maw Pelt asked looking down at the unicorn who seemed less than thrilled to be noticed like this.
“This is Jer'rahd Maw.”
“Nice to meet you Mrs. Pelt.” Jer'rahd stated.
“Jer'rahd huh? You Amano's colt?”
“Yes ma'am.”
“I see. Sorry to hear about your Grandma, she'll be missed around here, not many around that can keep up with me.” The short mare smiled.” Tell your Grandpa to come by sometime, can't be healthy for him to stay cooped up after all that.”
“Yes Ma'am. I will.”Jer'rahd nods.
“So polite. Maybe you can pick up a few things from this one Rhede.” Maw grins as her son rolls his eyes.
“Come on Jer let see if they have any eggs.“ Rhede stated turning to dart off.
“Wait, who's Jer?” Jer'rahd asked before following.
“You are, its easier to say that then try and sound out your name every time. Jer rolls off the tongue better than ' Jair Rod!'”
“No fair shortening my name without asking first.” Jer'rahd shouted back.