Chapter 14 Interlude: Meeting at a Café
Chapter 14
It was late afternoon, and Cloud Kicker, Palisade, and Red Tape sat at a corner table in Sugar Cube Corner. Red Tape, was busily going over several papers, while the other two sat quietly and nibbled on their pastries thinking about the days events.
“So, what do you think, Lt. Kicker?” asked Palisade.
She glanced up from the table and gave the Royal Guard a thoughtful frown. “About what?” she asked.
He groaned. “You know what I mean.”
Her frown deepened before it gave way to a tired sigh, and she went back to staring at the table, her ears folded flat against her head. “I don’t know. I think we can trust him, but a part of me is worried that it’s all just a ruse and that he’s secretly working for Discord. Hay, he might be doing Discord’s dirty work for him and not even be aware of it himself. But, something tells me that what we saw, was what we got.”
Palisade nibbled on his pastry. “You think he’s on the level then?”
Cloud Kicker nodded. “I do, everything I saw and heard seemed like he’s just from a different world and culture than we are. What are big, red warning flags to us, as far as his behavior go, don’t seem to be an issue for him or are even considered to be good things. Conversely, the same could be said of us from his perspective.”
Palisade nodded and sighed. “I would agree with your assessment. He kind of reminds me of a griffon, proud, independent, and unwilling to fully trust somepony lest they take advantage of him. And in this case, he doesn’t have very many beings that he can trust.”
“I believe you are correct in your assessment, lieutenant,” replied Red Tape softly, though he kept his gaze focused on the papers in front of him.
“So that just leaves what?” asked Cloud Kicker. She herself had also met griffons before. Being part of the Kicker Clan, and having done a stint in the Royal Guard before being discharged and moving to Ponyville, had given her ample opportunity to meet other species, and Palisade’s assessment of Allen’s temperament seemed fairly accurate.
Not many ponies really thought about it, but there were other countries out there that had griffons in them, not just the fabled country of Griffonstone. Even though it was the most well known, thanks to the Daring Doo books, there were many others, just as there were many other countries out there besides Equestria where ponies lived. New Mareland came to mind, she’d even done a six-month deployment over there as part of the guard detachment assigned to protect the Equestrian Consulate.
It had been rather nice, being further south, and next to the ocean, tended to give New Mareland a rather temperate climate throughout the year, and she had enjoyed her time there. But she was glad she lived here in Equestria, rather than on the griffon continent. That place tended to get a little too politically exciting for her tastes. Of course, now that Discord had done whatever it was he had done, it looked like Equestria might get a little bit more exciting in the near future too.
“I believe it means that we take him at his word and go from there,” replied Red Tape, quill busily scratching away as he worked to finish his report. “Personally, I think he’s rather nice, and he hasn’t tried to hide anything from me that I’ve asked of him. My glasses would have told me if he had,” he emphasized his point by gently removing them and cleaning them with a summoned cloth.
“Right, I forgot that you wore enchanted glasses,” said Palisade, “they must have cost a pretty bit.”
Red Tape chuckled. “Oh trust me, they did. However, it was well worth the investment. Just the ability to know when somepony is fibbing has saved me countless hours of headaches and reprimands from my superiors. So all in all, I’ve never regretted getting them.”
“Do you even need them to see?” asked Cloud Kicker, a hint of teasing in her voice.
Red Tape simply smiled and went back to his work. Rolling her eyes at the obvious dodge, Cloud turned her attention back to Palisade and asked, “Okay, so we’re all in agreement that while his guns are dangerous, they don’t warrant seizure, correct?”
Palisade nodded. “Yes, I was very concerned during the demonstration, the power that his weapons have against unarmored targets is quite frankly, terrifying to me. Not only that but what his...uh, what did he call it again, the last one?”
Red Tape flipped back through his papers for a moment before saying, “A ‘Mosin-Nagant’, he called it a ‘bolt action rifle’.”
“Yes, that one, thank you,” Red Tape inclined his head in response. “That rifle,” continued Palisade, “Worries me the most or I should say what it fires worries me.”
“How so?” asked Cloud Kicker idly as she drained the last of her milkshake noisily, much to the other two ponies annoyance.
Clearing his throat, Palisade shot her an annoyed look before saying, “Allen said that the shotgun was only really dangerous at close range and that his pistol and .22 weren’t very powerful, at least not when compared to his rifle. However, it only took three shots before he destroyed the shield, and only one to go through that armor like a hot knife through butter. Now, imagine if he paired the rapid rate of fire of his .22, with the power of his rifle’s cartridge, and you have a recipe for a bad time. Those shields were designed to withstand up to fifty arrows before they failed, or ten minutes of low-level spellfire. Moreover, that armor was rated to resist long-range arrow fire to a degree and be able to take a couple more spell hits before it failed. I saw how fast he was able to shoot his .22, hay, he even told us that his bolt action rifle was obsolete, and even showed us what replaced it! What was it called again, Red Tape?”
Again Red Tape flipped through his notes. “He called it an ‘SKS’. According to him it can hold ten rounds and fires a slightly smaller cartridge than his Mosin, though according to him it was still ‘pretty powerful’.”
“And did he not say that there were weapons out there that could fire even faster?”
Red Tape nodded again. “He did, though he also stressed that he didn’t have any of those as they were more heavily regulated by his government and that they were expensive to maintain.”
Pushing her empty milkshake glass away, Cloud propped her face on her hoof and with an unconcerned look on her face asked, “Okay, so what’s the big deal here then? We’ve already established that he is being honest with us and that we don’t think he’s a bad guy. Plus, he doesn’t have any of those guns that you are so worried about, and of the ones that could pose a danger to a guard ponies armor, he only has a very limited supply of ammunition for them,” turning to Red Tape she asked, “how many did he say he had anyways?”
Red Tape readjusted his glasses and flipped through his book, coming to a stop near the back. Quickly reading the numbers he said, “Less than eight hundred rounds of 7.62x54r, and only four hundred rounds of 7.62x39, which are the calibers for his Mosin and SKS respectively.”
“Okay,” began Cloud as she casually leaned back in her chair and began doing mental math, “so let’s assume that the new guard armor’s shields perform exactly the same as the old one; which we know they won’t because their spell matrices are much more efficient, and while I’m not in the Royal Guard anymore, my parents are and we talk occasionally. My dad said that the new shields were able to withstand nearly one hundred arrows before they failed, which is double the amount the old one could. But let’s just say for argument's sake, that the new shields only stop three shots before failing. That means that he would only be able to break a bit more than one hundred shields with his SKS, and less than three hundred with his Mosin. Which means, that less than four hundred ponies would be potential casualties if it came to fighting him and he only used those two weapons. With the new shields, I’d say less than two hundred would be at risk, and even then, I doubt he’d be able to get more than a few shots off before we closed to melee range, that’s, of course, assuming we only had earth ponies and pegasi. With unicorn back up, he’d be hosed, and he probably knows it. So I don’t really understand why you’ve got your feathers all ruffled, Palisade.”
Palisade sighed. “It’s not so much that I’m worried about, Allen, it’s that I’m worried about what else might show up. If Discord could bring him here, then who is to say that someone or something else might also show up? We have no idea if whatever Discord did to bring Allen, to our world didn’t also bring other things or beings here as well. Not too mention that using that kind of magic might have unknown consequences. The truth is that we just don’t know what kind of damage Discord did to our world to bring Allen here, nor do we know if the Elements fixed it or not,” he paused and rubbed the back of his head nervously, “maybe I’m just being paranoid here, but I’d rather not take the risk that Discord did more damage than we think he did, and have something that isn’t nice show up and bite us in the flanks.”
Both Cloud Kicker and Red Tape glanced at each other and then silently nodded in understanding. “So what you are saying is that you think there might be a hidden threat, and that because Allen was able to beat an older set of guard armor more easily than you thought he should, you’re worried about whether or not the guard will be able to take on the next potential threat?” asked Red Tape seriously.
Palisade nodded. “I am, I don’t want anypony to think that Allen is a threat, personally, I think he’s fairly harmless, even with his weapons. Honestly, I think that all he really needs is a couple of good friends to help ground him in his new world, and to teach him how things are done around here so that he doesn’t get hurt or hurt somepony else by accident.”
“A fair point,” replied Red Tape thoughtfully, “I know that Ms. Sparkle and Ms. Heartstrings have been speaking with him on a regular basis about his world, but I’m not sure if they’ve been teaching him about ours. The poor soul probably hasn’t the faintest idea about what is and is not socially acceptable behavior to regular ponies. I’d hate to see him get in trouble because he said or did the wrong thing.”
Cloud Kicker nodded. “Yeah, I can say from personal experience, not knowing the local customs can get you into big trouble.”
“I feel as though there is an interesting story there,” said Palisade, a smirk on his face.
“There is,” replied Cloud Kicker coyly, “but I’m afraid you’ll just have to keep wondering what it is.”
Palisade chuckled. “Fair enough, maybe when things settle down we could swap ‘war stories’. I’ve got a few embarrassing stories of my own to tell.”
“Then it’s a date then,” replied Cloud Kicker, a flirtatious look in her eyes.
Palisade turned beet red and sputtered, “I-I wasn’t... I mean, I-I!”
Cloud Kicker snickered, and then began laughing uproariously as Palisade turned into a blushing, sputtering mess. Seeing her laughing, and knowing he’d been had, the pegasus stallion quickly tried to compose himself and shot the now giggling mare an annoyed glare. Red Tape for his part simply sat on the sidelines, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips at his companion’s antics.
However, his smile slowly faded, and rapping a hoof on the table to get their attention, he said, “Well, as funny as it is to watch Lt. Palisade change coat colors,” Palisade promptly stuck his tongue out in reply. Rolling his eyes at the foalish response, Red Tape continued, “I’m afraid the day is getting late, and I’ve got a train to catch. So in the interest of time, do either of you have any further recommendations for me to give upon my return to Canterlot?”
“Other than to work on finding ways to improve the strength of the new shields, and to develop better tactics for dealing with something that fires as quickly, accurately and powerfully as Allen’s guns, no, I don’t think so,” supplied Palisade.
“And you Lt. Kicker?”
She shrugged. “More of what he said, but I’d add in the fact that we should remain at a higher state of alert for things outside the norm and to not engage them till we can properly determine their threat level unless civilians are threatened of course. As for Allen, I would add that our current assessment of him is that he is a non-threat and that we should focus on repairing the damaged relations between him and us as soon as possible.”
Red Tape nodded. “Of course, I thank you both for your help in this matter. I’ll be sure to stress your recommendations to His Grace when I return. If there was anypony in Canterlot besides the princesses who can influence public and court opinion, it’s him,” he said as he finished his writing. Casting a quick drying on the fresh ink, he closed his binder and slipped it into his saddlebags. Standing up from the table, he inclined his head in farewell, “Now, I bid you both good night, and I will be sure to send you both the results of our joint report as soon as I have it. If you have anything further to add at a later date, you know where to send it. I’ll be sure to pass it along to the proper ponies.”
“Thank you, we’ll keep that in mind. Have a safe journey home,” said Palisade.
“Yeah, take care, and don’t be afraid to come and visit again sometime,” added Cloud Kicker, a friendly smile on her face.
Red Tape returned the smile with one of his own. “I’ll keep that in mind, until next time, farewell,” and with that, he turned and left.
Turning back to her pegasus partner, Cloud Kicker asked, “So, Palisade, what’re you planning on doing for the rest of the night?”
Palisade paused as he was getting up to leave as well, and placing a hoof to his chin thoughtfully said, “Well, I’ve got a mountain of reports to fill out before tomorrow afternoon, and I need to oversee the construction of our new barracks. Oh, and there’s that leadership meeting tomorrow at 0800 I need to be at, plus-”
“I get it, I get it, you’re busy, sheesh,” cut in Cloud Kicker, as she rolled her eyes in exasperation. “I was just asking if you were free to chat or hang out for a bit, not get read your entire schedule for the next day.”
Palisade offered an apologetic grin. “Sorry, got a bit carried away there.”
“Ya think?” replied Cloud Kicker with a raised eyebrow.
Shrugging Palisade replied sheepishly, “Sorry, it’s just...”
“This your first time in solo command?” she asked, a knowing look on her face.
He hung his head, a tired sigh escaping his lips. “Yeah, it is. If I’d know being an officer was going to be this stressful, then I’d have just stayed a sergeant.”
Cloud Kicker gave him a sympathetic smile. “Been there done that. I felt the same way after I got my first command after completing West Hoof. If you need any advice, I’d been happy to share.”
He gave a grateful smile. “Thanks, uh, would you happen to be free around 1700 tomorrow by chance?”
She gave him sudden, sultry smile, as she leaned in close, she whispered in a husky voice, “For you, I can free anytime.”
Turning bright as a tomato, Palisade beat a hasty retreat sputtering as he went, “T-that w-would be lovely... I-I mean... I-I’llseeyoutomorrowat1700thengottagobye!” and with that, he tore out of the bakery as if his tail were on fire leaving a smirking Cloud Kicker behind.
Stallions are so fun to tease. She thought, a mischievous grin on her face.
Just then Mrs. Cake, the bakery’s plump matron trotted up and asked, “Chased off another one eh?”
Cloud Kicker just chuckled. “You know I just do it for fun. It’s so funny to get them wound up so much that they can’t even talk straight, let alone think!”
Mrs. Cake giggled. “Oh, I know. Back when I was your age, I used to do that all the time to my Carrot Cake! He’d turn into a sputtering mess and try and stammer his way through a conversation. In fact, there were a few times he took off just like your friend there, course I always made sure to tease him, after we’d paid the bill,” she said, a knowing smile on her face as she dropped said bill in front of a suddenly not so smug Cloud Kicker, “just bring that to the register when you’re ready to settle your bill!” and with that she trotted back into the kitchen. Leaving Cloud Kicker to stare at her bill in the sudden realization that she'd just made a huge mistake.
Ah, ponyfeathers, I left my bit bag at home.
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So I wonder what Discord’s plan is or even if he has a plan. This could be sit back and watch two groups have plenty of misunderstandings.
9631098
Well, he does get a power boost from chaos. If three little fillies arguing in front of his statue could release him the first time, I'd hate to think what kind of power boost he'd get from all the potential chaos Allen would bring to the world.
I wonder what things Allen will learn in ponyland
I think you can now take this off the story's front page.
I'm surprised they didn't toss around the idea of learning more about his weapons.
9631297
Yeah, you're probably right. I'll do that now, thanks.
Heh. That's karma for Cloudkicker. XD
Dat's wot ye get, Kicker. Mrs. Cake did tell you she teased only after the bill was paid, didn't it?
This was a nice follow-up chapter to all the "big stuff" that happened. As for learning things in Equestria, let's hope he learns about the taboos so he also doesn't find out a hoofslap really buckin' hurts.
Also, they ate ponies from time to time...
And as they spoke, as if Murphy's Law had been paying rapt attention to their every word, a figure arose on the other end of the Everfree... and obese fanboi in a Darth Vader mask and Sailor Moon skirt. Equestria was doomed.
New Mareland? Griffon continent? Political excitement? Something tells me you've played a certain hoi4 mod.
9639169
I may or may not have a few hours claimed by that particular mod. Funny thing is, I've played more hours of hoi iv with that mod than I have of the base game.
9640480
I would imagine the same place everypony else keeps things when they obviously have no pockets or bags visable.
9640501
I have no idea.
Hmm... Another possible concern is his firearms getting stolen and reverse-engineered.
Someone overheard, didn't they?
9631098
Discord's answer.
I wish i read about his first talk with twilight and lyra
My guy, we have those except that they use Powerful cartridge...
.50 Cal