Chapter 55 (Night Dreams and Meetings Part 2)
Chapter 55
Three unicorn stallions of varying ages and levels of dress trotted down the darkened corridors of Canterlot Castle. The oldest, grumpily muttered under his breath about being awoken so early in the morning, while the other two trailed along behind him in silence, keeping any complaints that they may have had about being up so early wisely to themselves.
“Damn nag,” muttered the older, gray-maned pony. “Who in Tartarus does she think she is waking me up at this goddess damned hour and not even have the fucking good manners to tell me why?!”
“She must have a reason, sir,” remarked the youngest stallion softly.
The older stallion shot the younger one an angry look of contempt. “I don’t recall asking you for your opinion, Lieutenant Armor!”
Lieutenant Armor quickly dropped his gaze to the floor and muttered an apology.
“It is highly unusual sir,” Remarked the second, middle-aged stallion trotting next to the young lieutenant, as he struggled to button up his uniform front and get the wrinkles out of his undershirt while he walked, with poor success. The guard that had been sent to fetch him, hadn’t really given him enough time to properly put his uniform on after he had received the early morning summons before practically dragging him to meet with the captain and lieutenant. “Princess Luna has up until now contented herself with remaining aloof from the day-to-day operations of government. To suddenly call upon us at this time of night is very unusual and concerning.”
The elder stallion stopped and turned around. “You think I don’t know that, Stick?” he snapped, his bushy gray eyebrows twitching in barely suppressed anger. “The gall of that mare to call me,” he pointed to his chest with a hoof in outrage, “to her office at this time of night like I am some junior, wet behind the ears butterbar, fresh out of West Hoof and not tell me why she wants to see me is beyond the pale! I am the Captain of the Royal Guard! I will not stand for this kind of treatment!”
“Sir-”
“I said shut up, Armor!” snapped the elder stallion, his gold-colored eyes flashing with fire. “One more word out of you, and you can kiss any hope of promotion goodbye! Along with finding yourself stationed up in the frozen north counting icicles till the day you retire! Understand!?”
Armor snapped off a wordless, textbook-perfect salute, his armor softly clanking in the process, and prayed that his commanding officer wouldn’t follow through on his threat.
Seeing that his subordinate was sufficiently cowed, the stallion turned back around and resumed his angry, stomping march toward the night princess’s office.
With their commanding officer’s infamous temper quickly reaching a boiling point, both stallions wisely decided to remain silent until they reached their destination.
Turning the final corner, the trio found themselves standing before the silver inlaid ebony doors of the princess of the night’s office/bedroom. Coming to a halt, the senior of the three adjusted his perfectly starched uniform and polished medals so that they were without blemish. Turning his head to look at his two junior officers behind him, he said, “Let me do the talking, you two just keep your muzzles shut unless I say otherwise, understood?”
Both stallions gave a sharp salute in understanding but otherwise said nothing. Satisfied with their response, he took a deep breath as he made his expression appear a little more neutral, and stepping forward, he knocked loudly upon the door.
The door opened without a sound, and without hesitation, the old stallion strode through the portal, his subordinates following meekly along behind him.
Entering the otherwise quiet room, he confidently strode forward until he was a body length away from the princess’s desk. Coming to a halt, the old stallion glared at the princess with a barely suppressed look of contempt, and for a moment, it appeared as though he was debating whether or not to salute her. However, in the end, decorum prevailed, and after snapping off a sharp salute, he growled out, “Captain Hardtack, reporting as ordered, princess.”
Luna regarded the old captain in front of her with her own look of cool disdain. While the captain certainly cut an imposing figure, with his well-groomed mane, mustache, and toned muscles from years of service. She had heard stories about the burgundy-colored stallion, and precious few of them were complimentary.
I can see why many ponies call him ‘Captain Hardass’ now, she thought quietly to herself as she leaned forward and placed her hooves on top of her desk before softly saying, “We thank thee for answering Our summons so swiftly this morning. We understand that the hour for this meeting is rather inconvenient. However, matters have forced Our hoof, so, please have a seat captain, we have many things to discuss this morning.”
Dropping the salute, Hardtack took up a position of parade rest, ignoring the princess’s offer/command, and instead replied with barely contained irritation, “And what exactly was so important that it required I and my subordinates to be summoned this early in the morning? Are we under attack?”
“Not anymore, no,” replied Luna evenly, ignoring the prickly response. “However, We have received word of an attack by timber wolves on the village of Ponyville two days ago. Thankfully, nopony was killed, and damage was minimal.
“Then, why am I here, Your Highness? That sort of incident should be dealt with by local forces, and I should only hear about it in a passing report on my desk.” asked Hardtack through gritted teeth.
“Because you suck at your job,” Blueblood suddenly interjected jovially from his seat next to the door that Hardtack and the others had entered.
Both of Hardtack’s junior officers whipped around in surprise, neither having noticed the smiling noble sitting in their blind spot. Hardtack for his part slowly turned his head and glared at the smiling noble. Narrowing his eyes, he asked softly, “What did you say?”
Lazily inspecting one of his hooves, Blueblood replied, “I said that you suck at your job. Do you need to have your hearing checked old chap?”
Hardtack felt his temper rising further as a vein began to visibly throb in his temple.
A quiet cough from Luna drew his attention away from Blueblood.
“Yes well, while We would not put it quite like that, there are certain issues that have come to light that worry Us. As such, We decided to get to the bottom of what may have caused them, and correct them.”
Both of Hardtack’s subordinates felt a shiver of fear run down their spines at the tone the princess had used when she said the word ‘correct’. Though if their commander felt any fear, he didn’t outwardly show any sign of it.
“Are you calling into question my ability to command, Your Highness?” he replied softly, a hint of challenge coloring his tone.
If Luna heard the captain’s challenge, she didn’t show it, instead shaking her head. “Not at the moment no, however, as We mentioned, there are some concerning patterns that have been brought to Our attention, and We felt it warranted this early morning meeting.”
Lighting up her horn, Luna carefully levitated a stack of papers from the corner of her desk and set them in front of her. Picking the topmost paper up, she remarked, “For instance, We have been informed that the guard garrison that mine sister hast recently ordered created in Ponyville is woefully understaffed and supplied. Additionally, they are without proper facilities and have been repeatedly denied both ponypower and supplies to remedy these issues. Moreover, the town of Ponyville’s militia has also been found lacking in both ponypower and supplies as well, and can only muster a hoofful of trained ponies to defend the town in the event of an emergency. We find these issues troubling, and We wonder if Ponyville is the only town out there that is having these concerns or if there are more like it.”
Barely suppressing the urge to grind his teeth together, Hardtack retorted, “Are you accusing me of undermining a directive given by Princess Celestia by denying resources and ponypower where it is most needed to fulfill this order?”
Cocking her head to one side, Luna simply asked, “We do not know, thus Our question. Why is Lieutenant Palisade’s command in Ponyville understaffed and under-supplied?”
Turning to his second in command, Hardtack fixed him with an intense glare and asked harshly, “Sub-Captain Ink Stick. Perhaps you can shed some light on this issue for both the princess and I?”
Unlike Captain Hardtack, who nopony could mistake for anything other than an experienced and long-serving Royal Guard with his well-muscled and groomed appearance. Sub-Captain Ink Stick looked as though he was an overworked accountant stuck in a dead-end job at some large corporation in Manehatten. Stick’s portly, and slovenly appearance, along with his receding maneline and deep bags under his eyes only adding to his look of overworked mediocrity.
Giving an audible gulp, Ink Stick timidly took two steps forward and gave a shaky salute. “I-I am unsure why t-this issue has occurred, sir. T-To the best of my knowledge, we’ve allocated t-the required resources to the Ponyville garrison.”
Even though Luna was no longer the Bearer of the Element of Honesty, she had no trouble seeing that the sub-captain was not being entirely honest in his reply, and it seemed that Captain Hardtack was of the same opinion.
“Oh?” replied the captain, a false smile blossoming on his muzzle as he turned around fully, and leaning in close, sweetly asked, “You’re ‘not sure’? I had thought I had placed you in charge of making sure our various garrisons were adequately supplied, staffed, and organized following the Discord Incident.”
Now visibly sweating, the poor stallion nodded weakly. “You did sir, but-”
“Then why am I here getting my tail chewed out?!” screamed Hardtack furiously, spittle flying from his mouth as his horn sparking in anger.
“Because Commander’s Posh and Bags called in favors to have the supplies and ponypower that was earmarked for Ponyville be sent to their commands instead, sir!” interjected the, until now, silent Lieutenant Armor.
Wheeling on the helpless junior officer with murder in his eyes, Hardtack was about to tear into the poor colt, when the sound of wood scraping on wood drew their attention to Princess Luna, who had stood up and gracefully walked around her desk to stand in front of the two officers.
“Explain,” she commanded in a tone that cooled even Hardtack’s fiery temper.
Feeling as though his insides were turning to mush, the now terrified Lieutenant Armor shakily raised a hoof in salute as Princess Luna gazed deep into his eyes as if daring him to lie to her.
“Your princess gave you an order lieutenant,” said Blueblood from his seat by the door.
“Be quiet,” commanded Luna, her calm, cyan-colored eyes never moving from the lieutenant’s terrified cerulean ones.
Still unable to speak, his mouth only able to open and close like a fish out of water, Princess Luna sighed and said, “Whatever thou hast to say, thou mayest say it, and We shall not lay any blame at thy hooves. We can see that thou art a good stallion, that hast been put in a poor situation. Please, ponies' lives art dependent on thy words. Speak now so that they mayest be safe.”
A small feeling of calm swept across the young lieutenant, and after taking a deep breath, he steeled his nerves, and said, “First Lieutenant Shining Armor, ma’am.” At Luna’s nod to continue, he said, “After the Discord Incident shuffled all of the commands around like a stack of playing cards, we spent the first couple of months trying to untangle everything.”
“Yes, We were aware of that issue,” commented Luna as she returned to her seat behind her desk. “We also understand that it has since been resolved.”
Shining Armor hesitantly nodded. “That is somewhat correct ma’am, however, we had to take some shortcuts to get it done, which has led to some... unforeseen consequences.”
“Which are?” pressed Luna.
“Because everypony and their corresponding records were shuffled around so thoroughly, we were forced to leave a lot of the non-comissioned officers and enlisted personnel in whatever place that Discord dumped them, while most of the higher ranking officers were sent back to their original postings... which has caused some... resentment within the rank and file,” explained Shining, his ears falling and voice growing softer by the end of his explanation.
Luna sighed as she realized where Shining Armor was going with things. “And thus, enterprising officers are using this resentment to get what they want by sprinkling ‘favors’ amongst certain enlisted guards to make sure things that were supposed to go to one location, end up elsewhere with nopony the wiser.”
“More or less,” replied Shining a look of shame on his face.
Shaking her head sadly, Luna muttered, “It seems that some things never change.” Turning her attention to Sub-Captain Ink Stick, she said, “Sub-Captain Ink Stick, We do not like being lied to, and even though We no long wield the Element of Honesty, We still have the ability to detect when somepony is lying to Us. So We would ask that thou pickest thine next words carefully. Didst thou knowest about these practices?”
Now put fully on the spot, Ink Stick felt small rivers of sweat flowing down his face and staining his collar. His mouth felt as dry as the Badlands and his heart was beating so fast he thought it might jump out of his chest. Opening his mouth, he tried to speak, but no words would come, and his mind was spinning a million miles a minute as he tried to formulate a response that wouldn’t get him instantly dismissed or worse.
Seeing his lack of an immediate response, Luna sighed, his silence and look of terror telling her everything she needed to know. Opening her mouth to reply, she was cut off by the sudden flare of Captain Hardtack’s horn as he shot Ink Stick off his hooves with a telekinetic blast of magic, the hapless sub-captain flying across the room and crashing into a nearby bookcase, its contents raining down on him in an avalanche of paper and parchment.
Stomping towards the downed stallion, his eyes glowing like molten gold, and his horn’s magical aura pulsing, Hardtack looked as though he was about to kill his fellow officer. “You son of a nag. How dare you undermine my authority like that. I ought to have your legs broken.”
“S-sir, please, I-I didn’t want to do it, they didn’t leave me any choice!” pleaded Ink Stick as he desperately tried to dig himself out from underneath the pile of books and parchment.
If Ink Stick thought that his words would dissuade Hardtack, he was sorely mistaken as the furious captain poured more power into his glowing horn, its intensity shining like a miniature sun in the dimly lit room.
However, as the captain was preparing to launch his next attack, he felt his magic dissipate like smoke before a strong breeze as somepony cast a magic nullification spell on him. Whirling around, he prepared to lash out at the pony foolish enough to attack him. However, when he saw Princess Luna staring down at him with a look of disappointment etched on her face, his hot, righteous anger was instantly extinguished as if she had poured a bucket of cold water on it.
Lowering his head in deference at his princess’s display of power, the captain retreated a pace and silently waited.
Seeing that he wouldn’t cause any further trouble, Luna turned her attention to the still-trapped Ink Stick and simply asked, “Why?”
Utterly defeated, Ink Stick hung his head in shame and said, “My son is currently in jail in Manehatten. He made a poor choice in friends while attending the university there and was arrested for theft and possession with intent to use a dark magical artifact.”
“What forbidden artifact was he accused of possessing?” asked Luna calmly.
Ink Stick’s ears fell flat against his scalp and he quietly replied, “They claimed he had one of Grogar’s grimoires and was planning on using it to take over the city.”
Luna felt her eyebrows rise in surprise. We had thought that Tia had found and destroyed all of those abominations centuries ago. Giving her head a shake, she refocused her attention on the sub-captain and asked calmly, “And was he?”
Looking up at the princess of the night in a mix of horror and pleading, he shook his head violently and replied, “N-no ma’am! My son would never! He gets squeamish as the mere thought of blood, there is no way he would be willing to go through the necessary rituals needed to actually use the blasted book!”
Luna narrowed her eyes before glancing up at the clock on the wall. Tis still late enough, We may be able to speak with his son still.
“What is thy son’s name, and where is he?” she asked.
Feeling a tinge of hope welling up in his chest, Ink Stick blurted out, “H-his name is F-Feather Q-Quill, Your Highness, and he is being held in Rider’s Island Penitentiary while he awaits trial.”
Luna cocked an eyebrow. “Rider’s Island? We had thought that place was reserved for the worst of the worst only. Why is he there if his trial has not taken place yet?”
Hardtack spoke up. “Standard procedure ma’am. Anypony accused of dabbling in dark magic is taken to the most secure facility in the area and separated from the rest of the inmates while they await trial.”
Luna hummed to herself as she turned and trotted towards her bed. “We see,” she said as she climbed on top of the covers and lay down. “All of thee are to wait outside Our chambers until We call for thee.”
“What are you planning on doing princess?” asked Blueblood as he stood up.
Resting her head on her pillow, Luna replied, “We art going to speak with the sub-captain's son. We shall return shortly,” and with that, she closed her eyes and entered the Dream Realm once more.
The four stallions looked at each other for a moment, before Blueblood used his magic to extract Ink Stick from his papery predicament and usher him and the others out of the room while Luna worked to locate Feather Quill.
Shutting the door behind him, Blueblood found himself standing between Hardtack and Ink Stick while Shining Armor stood in front of him. Looking the young lieutenant up and down, he took note that he was wearing armor and not wanting to let any awkward silence fall upon the group struck up a conversation with him.
“So, drew the short straw tonight huh?”
“I’m sorry sir?” asked Shining, a confused look on his face.
Nodding at the lieutenant’s armor, he said, “You’re in armor, while Hardtack and Ink Stick are not. I just assumed you had night duty this evening.
A flash of understanding raced across the young stallion's face and he nodded. “Yes sir, I’ve been on night duty for the past year.”
Shaking his head, and making a tut-tutting sound, Blueblood turned to Hardtack and said, “A whole year of night duty? What did the poor guy do to earn your ire Hardtack?”
“Nothing, Lieutenant Armor volunteered for the post when the previous night watch officer retired, and I haven’t been able to find anypony to replace him yet.”
Cocking his head to one side, Blueblood smirked and replied, “Really? I find that hard to believe, considering how you treat your subordinates.”
Captain Hardtack snorted and shot back, “I will not lie and say that I am an easy commander to get along with. In fact, I know that I can be a real pain in the flank. But I do what I do so that my officers will be able to stand up to the rigors of combat that much easier.”
“The ‘rigors of combat’? Please, that just sounds like an excuse for you to bully your subordinates whenever you please,” retorted Blueblood.
Hardtack’s mustache twitched and he said, “Believe what you want to believe, but every officer that has ever worked under me has gone on to do great things. You may not like my method’s but they get results.”
“Really? Because from where I’m standing, it seems as though your sub-captain is one step away from a nervous breakdown, and Lieutenant Armor here looks at you like a foal looks at their abusive father after he’s had one too many hard ciders.”
Taking a step forward, Hardtack glared daggers at the bold prince and opening his mouth, appeared to getting ready to issue a challenge when the door to Princess Luna’s room opened and the night princess herself stuck her head outside and said, “Thou mayest enter, We have spoken with Feather Quill and art ready to resume Our conversation.”
“Is my son alright Princess?!” cried Ink Stick as tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
Luna nodded. “For now, however, let us discuss the rest in the privacy of mine chambers.”
Standing aside, she allowed the four stallions to re-enter her office/bedroom, and closing the door behind them, lit up her horn and cast a ward of privacy over the room.
Returning to sit behind her desk, Luna sat down and said, “As We have said, We spoke with thine son, and while he is well, he is indeed in serious trouble. However, We do not believe that he committed any crimes. It is as thou said, Ink Stick, he simply made friends with the wrong kind of ponies and was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“C-can you help him? I-I’ll do anything, princess, anything!” begged the middle-aged stallion as he all but threw himself prostrate before the princess’s desk.
Rolling his eyes, Hardtack roughly pulled Ink Stick to his hooves with his magic and berated him. “Pull yourself together stallion. You are an officer in the royal guard, not some punk yearling praying that they can beg their way out of trouble after getting caught after some petty crime. Have some damned dignity for yourself while you await your fate.”
“Captain,” said Luna, her warning glare enough to even bring the hot-tempered captain to heel.
After seeing that the captain wasn’t going to make more trouble, she turned her attention back to the sub-captain and gave him a soft smile. “We believe that We shall be able to free thy son, however,” she raised a hoof to forestall the suddenly elated sub-captain when he opened his mouth to speak, “that does not mean that everything is going to go back to the way it was beforehoof. Thy unwillingness to bring these issues to thy superiors' attention in a prompt manner has allowed corruption to fester. Furthermore, the poor performance exhibited by thee and others in restoring the guard to its pre-Discord Incident locations has also allowed for confusion and corruption to come to the surface. This displeases Us. As such, We will be launching an investigation into the matter at a later date, and before thou sayest that We have no authority regarding this matter, please read this,” she said when she saw Hardtack open his muzzle, no doubt to contest her decision.
Pushing a book in front of the three officers, Hardtack glared at her before looking down at the offending document, picking it up in his magic, and beginning to read. As he read, Luna could see his jaw tightening further and further, to the point that she thought he might crack his teeth from how hard he was biting them together. However, just when she thought his teeth might explode from the pressure, his entire body suddenly slumped, as if somepony had dropped a great weight on his back, while his face took on a defeated look.
Nodding slowly, he floated the document to his subordinates and looked at Luna, his golden eyes no longer fiery and proud, but weary and old. Taking a deep breath, he let out a tired sigh and said softly, “If my princess wishes, I will tender my resignation to her, effective immediately.”
“Nay, thou still hast much to do before We let thee rest. However, thine position in the Royal Guard shall be changed from being it’s captain, to that of the newly created position of Inspector General,” replied Luna as she leveled a commanding gaze at the now disgraced captain. “We shall go over thy new posting at a later date. For now, prepare to remove thyself from thine current quarters, and do not tell anypony else what you are doing, save for mine sister if she asks, until We say otherwise, understood?”
Dipping his head low, Hardtack softly replied, “As you command.”
Seeing that the troublesome and headstrong stallion had finally been put in his place, Luna turned her attention to the other two and said, “Sub-Captain Ink Stick, while We would prefer to place somepony else in the former captain’s position, there is nopony senior enough to fill it who is also familiar with the issues that are at hoof. As such, We art reluctantly placing thee in his position until such time as We can find a suitable replacement for thee. Do not get comfortable.”
Ink Stick’s look of horror almost made Luna giggle, as she figured the poor stallion would have rather been sent to the Frozen North instead of being given the massive headache that was the position of Captain of the Royal Guard. However, she maintained her solemn look and turning her attention to Shining Armor said, “Out of the three of thee, thou art the only one that We partially trust to not make this mess worse, Lieutenant. As of this moment, We art promoting thee, as well. Congratulations Sub-Captain Armor, and Captain Ink Stick on thy promotions. We expect great things from thee.”
“B-but P-Princess L-Luna, w-what about P-Princess-” stuttered Ink Stick as he desperately tried to weasel his way out of his new and very much unwanted position.
However, a stern glare from Luna cut the newly promoted captain off, and in an ice-cold tone, she replied, “Thou hast read that parchment, hast thou not?” At Ink Stick’s shaky nod, Luna continued, “Then understand, things are going to be changing around here. I am a Princess of Equestria just as much as mine sister, and I have, by that decree, that you read, and that my sister and I created over a thousand years ago, equal power to change the structure of any branch of government as I see fit, at any time, and for any reason. So it is written, so it shall be. I shall inform my sister of these changes, and mine reasoning for them when she awakens later this morning. However, in the year that We have been back from our millennium-long exile, We have seen that the Equestrian State has become bloated, inefficient, negligent, and worst of all, corrupt, as this meeting hast proven. Therefore, I and those I deem worthy, shall undertake a program to right these wrongs, and repair that which hast been left to rot by my sister’s inattention over these past thousand years.”
Fixing the former sub-captain with a look that could have frozen water from how cold it was, Luna quietly said, “We know that thou art a coward and a fool, Ink Stick. However, history has decided to place thee here at this moment and allow thee to atone for thy past transgressions. If thou loveth thy country, and thy princesses, then thou shalt carry this burden that We have placed upon thee with dignity and courage until completion or death. Our country cannot be allowed to be left with a weakened defense, nor shall We allow it. Thou shalt do as I command thee, and worry not of the consequences, understand?”
“Y-yes, m-ma’am,” quivered Ink Stick. The poor stallion looked as though he were about to melt into a puddle of pure stress and terror as he watched his whole career and life go up in metaphorical flames.
“Good,” stated Luna with a curt nod. Turning her attention to Shining Armor, she said, “As for thee, We hope that thou wilt perform well in thy new position.”
Swallowing nervously, Shining Armor snapped off an only partially shaky salute and replied, “I’ll try my best, Your Highness.”
Luna frowned and shot back. “We expect you to do thy best, as We hath never seen anypony succeed by ‘trying’. Thou shalt do, rather than try, understand?”
“Y-yes ma’am.”
A single nod. “Good, thou art all dismissed until after sunset today. We wish to see a list of potential replacements for Sub-Captain Armor’s former position, as well as a list of ponies to assist Inspector General Hardtack in his work in straightening out the reprobates and bureaucratic entanglements within the military. Do not worry about things such as tasks and boundaries, we shall go over them tonight. Dismissed.”
All three stallions gave Princess Luna a salute, though some were steadier than others, before then turning and leaving.
A few moments after the door had closed, and their hoofsteps had faded. Blueblood glanced up at the clock on the wall, and seeing it was nearly five o’clock in the morning, stretched his forehooves, his back giving a satisfying pop in the process.
“Ah,” he sighed as he stood up, “well that went better than I expected,” he remarked cheerfully.
Nodding, Luna replied, “Quite, though this is only the beginning. Contrary to popular belief, We have been quietly observing the daily goings on around the castle, and within Our sister’s government. Even though We lack any true allies and much of Our knowledge is secondhoof through Our sister, We still understand that not all is well in Equestria.”
“Indeed, but with you reassuming your role within government, I doubt these problems will be problematic for long, “remarked Blueblood as he made to leave, “So with that being said, I believe it is well past my bedtime, goodnight Your Highness,” he said with a shallow bow of his head.
“Pleasent dreams, Blueblood,” replied Luna as Blueblood departed, leaving Luna alone in her dimly lit chambers.
Looking down at her hooves for a time, Luna pondered what her next move should be. This meeting did not go the way We thought it might, however, circumstances have forced mine hoof. While We would prefer sacking everypony involved in this debacle, tis obvious upon further reflection that this would be a mistake.
Standing up from her desk, Luna proceeded to wander her office/bedroom while she pondered. Obviously, both Hardtack and Ink Stick are less than ideal for their new positions. Tis obvious that Ink Stick is an unreliable asset, and if We had a choice, We would rather he either be retired quietly or moved to another position where he could do no harm. We doubt he wants to be in the position that he is in anyway, however, his lack of spine is what hath gotten him into this mess. We hope that Shining Armor and Hardtack can keep him on track until We can put somepony else in his place. As for Hardtack, his bellicose nature and pridefulness are also concerning. Though to a lesser extent now that he has been shown that the power of the law is on Our side thanks to that law that Tia and We made at the start of our reign. Though We will still need to keep an eye on him. He is likely to start more fires due to his caustic personality than put out, at least at the start, but perhaps that could be put to Our advantage during Our upcoming campaign. Something to think about anyways.
Her wandering hooves came to a stop in front of the mess made by Ink Stick crashing into her bookshelf. The sight of all the papers and books made her think of the book Blueblood had shown her that started this whole affair. Sighing to herself, she began cleaning the mess up. Tis hard to believe that We could have forgotten that particular law. We art thankful that Blueblood was able to locate it, either by his own work or through somepony else’s labor. In the end, it doth not matter, only that We now have legal merit for Our path forward. That alone is worth more than its weight in gold.
Pausing in her cleaning, Luna’s muzzle scrunched up in thought as she tried to remember if there were any other laws that she and her sister had created or signed in the past that could help or restrict her in her journey forward. Shaking her head when nothing came to mind, she thought, We will need to have somepony look into that thought in more detail at a later date. In the meantime, We should inform Tia of our sudden changes. We doubt she will be pleased, as she never did like it when somepony unsettled things. However she did agree that once We felt We were ready We could resume Our position within the government, along with all of the obligations and benefits that entailed. Besides, before Our fall, We were the one who held sway over martial matters anyway. We doubt she will be overly upset with our sudden return to duty for very long.
Putting the last book back in its place, Luna glanced up at the clock on the wall and noted that it was nearly time for her to lower the moon to make way for Celestia to raise the sun.
However, We should have just enough time to write a few letters. Tis long past time We stopped moping about Our weakened position and started doing something to correct it.
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I proud of Luna for putting everyone in their place. He knew what he was doing was wrong and I am sure if the princesses had known they would have helped to the best of their ability. But they can't do everything without ponies willing to help and ask if they need it. He tried to shortcut and it bit him
Inspector General Hardtack is going to be a right terror once he internalizes the fact that he is now in charge of ensuring that everything lines up with Proper Standards. He certainly won't omit inconvenient details to spare Luna's sensibilities...
Isn't Inspector-General often enough a retirement posting ?
It makes complete sense if Luna wants to get rid of Hardtack... And in the meantime he can provide "motivation" for the proper restoration of regulations.
Oh dear. You know youve messed up when youre suddenly cross posted to a side position thats been specially made just for you.
As for Lunas new position and updated powers?
I think she needs a Special Anti Red Tape Axe.
Mr Choppy.
And here we go...
Therefore, I and those I deem worthy, shall undertake a program to right these wrongs,
:So let it be written. So let it be done."
Thou shalt do, rather than try, understand?” "Try, there is no try, there is only do or do not."
"Ah, The force is strong in this one.
Going from Lieutenant to Captain of the Guard to Prince Consort, all in less time than Season 2? Shiny's rise already looked pretty meteoric, but dang.
Nice chapter. You did well at this, despite the writing block, eh?
Nice! Happy christmass
I hope harvest season wasn't too bad. Equipment problems stretched things out a bit this year. I am far more familiar with how a 7720 Titan II works than I'd like...
Well now we see that Shining Armor is getting somewhat informed. Now I wonder how Luna’s little reminder is going to go over and how they will react once Celestia backs Luna up?
Such as, say, any laws about mandatory royal marriage?
and the shit is starting to roll down hill.
it is going to be fun to watch it hit the fan.
awesome chapter i love it.
Damn, Luna reminding me of Queen Elizabeth II / The Queen (god keep her safe!) with her dignified speech and utterly laying down the LAW!
Nice chapter!
Wow you really portrayed Shining as a wimp. He acts like a green horned private. Also i thought he was the big cheese of the gaurd. Like the day to day guy in charge? Your telling me this wimp get promoted somehow earns a name then in a few months leaves the gaurd to become a prince-consort?
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Well he might grown into the role. Plus before even if he had said something the way things were outside the princesses not many would listen.
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hmmm I suppose he could have his own little training montage where he grows a backbone, gets stronger, and becomes The Captain of the guard. Maybe Celestia gives him a Personalized training regime after hearing he's courting her niece. Still it's a massive change from that to what is shown in the show and in only a couple months. Not to say he is some Spartan in the show by at the very least he was the commander and was confident.
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