Just how bad things have gotten
As the Dawn rose in Caterlot, so did it's citizens. Due to the recent events, most ponies stayed indoors, and the majority of business were closed. Some ponies, however, found themselves quite busy in the wake of the current situation. Prince Blue Blood was no exception. He had many interests to protect, most importantly, himself.
Today he had scheduled an audience with Princess Celestia to request a small contingent of gaurdsman be stationed at Blue Blood Manor. Under normal circumstances, scheduling an audience would not be necessary, due to his ties with the royal blood line. The last week, however, the Princess had been so busy with the changeling threat, that she was forced to prioritize her time, and even the highest esteemed in Caterlot found it difficult to see Celestia. Prince Blue Blood was undignified by this. Surely being Celestia's nephew made him top priorty. He had spent the last couple of nights ranting about this atrocity.Regardless, he maintained his uptight composure this morning, and prepared for his meeting with Celestia that afternoon.
The process would indeed take all morning. The pampered unicorn pony required three servants to prepare his mane, coat, and dress him appropriately,. Three servants, he must have died of two. He then entered his private spa for a hoof shinning, as he did every morning, while his breakfast of fine oats would be served to him.
He sat down on the padded bench and rang the calling bell.
It wasn't answered.
"Perhaps my lazy servants didn't hear my call for service," he said in a rather annoyed tone.
He rang it again, no answer.
Angrily, he stood up and walked towards the service door at the back of the spa. Somepony was about to get it.
He opened the door with his magic and walked in. Nopony was there.
The door slammed shut, causing him to turn in alarm. The next thing he saw was a flash of green light from the corner of the room.
Prince Blue Blood screamed. Nopony heard him. A green cocoon started to envelope him. Terrified, he tried to call for help again. He could no longer speak or move. A bug/pony,like creature appeared from the corner of the room. With another flash of green light, it became a mirror like image of himself.
The world began to fade around him as the false Prince Blue Blood departed through the service door.
Shortly after, The false prince Blue Blood checked his daily schedual with his butler, and departed for Canterlot Castle.
* * *
Equestria had not seen war in over a thousand years. It didn't surprise me then, to discover from Luna that there was no room in Canterlot Palace dedicated to the purpose of strategic planning or defense. There were many meeting rooms, but all of them were of diminutive size, apparently not suitable for the needs of a command center.
Where we were headed was the royal dining hall, which I pictured would be a fancy table surrounded by red pillows. Ponies tend to sit on pillows, which I wasn't going to complain about. Imagine a world where every room of every building was furnished with pillows! I don't think I'd get anything done.
Luna was explaining each room and feature as we walked down the hall. Thank my lucky stars it wasn't a long walk. Not that I wasn't interested in every bit of furnishings and art the palace featured, I just thought there were more important things to talk about. I still wasn't sure what role I was supposed to be playing here, after all.
"...and this is the Dining hall," Luna was saying, as we approached another grand doorway. "Under normal circumstances, esteemed guests come to dine with us every night. It's always a wonderful occasion."
Her smile turned to a more serious gesture.
"Unfortunately now, you'll find it quite an unpleasant mess. Captain Iron Side of the royal guard has taken charge since the previous Captain, Shinning Armor, became the Prince of the Crystal Empire. "
I knew this story, but I was sure I'd be hearing it again in greater detail. "Right from the horse’s mouth," I thought to myself. It was a terrible pun.
With that, a yellow light enveloped the double doors, opening them to reveal the aftermath of a hurricane. The table had maps and papers strewn about, as well as pictures and a large globe with red and black markings scribbled all over it. Standing over a map at the end of the dining table was a large white earth pony clad in purple armor, flanked by a green Pegasus in dark blue, and a fellow earth pony of his in the royal guardsman standard. This must have been the first time Twilight and her friends had seen this room as well, they all shared my look of surprise.
Upon seeing us enter, he called the other two to attention and snapped a saluted.
"Good afternoon, your majesties." He said in a very respectful manor, " and too your guests."
He was eying me, of course, the tall monkey creature in the room.
"Good afternoon to you as well, Captain Iron Side," Celestia returned the greeting.
"I'd like to introduce you to someone."
She stepped over to me. "Hello captain," I addressed him, how goes the war?"
"Wow, you can talk," he said sarcastically. "I didn't know were capable of more than laying in your own filth, uh..." he must have been present for the summoning spell. I just realized I hadn't given anyone my name. Celestia realized proper introduction hadn't been made, and looked embarrassed.
"Louis," I said, ignoring his rude response.
"What an odd name, Louis, what kind of place do you hail from?"
I wasn't going to give to long version this time.
"A land that would make your changeling threat seem like fighting off a swarm of bees," I replied. They had bees in Equestria, right?
"Humph," he grunted, "then maybe you'll be of some use to us."
"In his world, he is a soldier who has experience on the battlefield," Celestia came in on my behalf. "I believe this is one of the reasons the spell chose him."
"Well, I apologize for the harsh introduction, things have been falling apart beyond our control, and it has everyopony on their last nerve." He turned to address Celestia and Luna. "We have some disturbing reports you may need to hear."
Celestia nodded in acknowledgment.
"Refugees from Appaloosa have stated that the town’s apple orchards were destroyed in a series of overnight raids. The town was unable to present a proper defense, and several ponies had begun to... disappear. A total evacuation has been conducted; Appaloosa has been crossed of the map."
"This is a critical loss," Luna responded,” Appaloosa was an important means of commerce between the buffalo tribes and the western settlements. "
"As well as a major supplier of food in the west,” Celestia added.
"The most troubling report, however," Iron Side continued, ”is the rumors from several refugees that griffons had been spotted by the night watch during the raids..."
"Griffons!?" Everpony in the room said.
"Then it is true," Celestia said.
"Yes, your highness, I believe our worst fears have come to pass"
Celestia looked as if she were about to cry. "This has gotten out of control, she said, in a hopeless tone."
"I knew all griffons were big mean Meany pantsess!!" Pink Pie shouted.
Twilight put her hoof over Pinkie's mouth.
"Now Pinkie, you know that's not how it is!"
I didn't have a clue what was going on.
"Excuse me for asking," I interrupted, "but what are griffons doing attacking Equestrian settlements?”
"Shortly before the invasion started, we lost contact with the Griffon Kingdom neighboring us in the west. We believe that is where the changelings began their campaign. This means that somehow, the changelings have been able to take control of their nation, a move that gives them a great advantage."
Well things had just gone from bad to worse. What the hell could I do to help?
"We're Doomed," squealed Rarity.
Rainbow looked dejected. I remembered the time where she had to tell her griffon friend off for her bad attitude. I'm sure she was worrying about her now. It took me a minute or two to put things together, but I came up with a theory of the changeling queen’s strategy.
"Well, it's obvious to me that there is a full scale invasion in the works here and these raids and infiltrators are here to weaken you before that happens. We call that the fifth column in my world. The raids are meant to cause chaos and fear, dividing the country through terror. "
Terrorism was something I had grown up with for the last 12 years. It was the reason I joined the military. That made me sick, especially to think that these peace loving, innocent ponies were being subjected to it. Again I felt a rage inside. I could handle it, but not them. They were never meant to see this. I suddenly wanted to do whatever it took to end this.
Iron Side looked a bit impressed.
"Are you certain of this?"
"It looks like the most probable course of action for the enemy," I replied, "they already lost once, they know the strongest weapons you ponies hold are harmony and love, why not work to destroy those?"
"But don’t changelings feed of love?" Applejack asked. "What's the use in destroying it?"
"I'm sure that is the main goal here, not just revenge," I said, "there has to be something else to it."
"Regardless, the captain said, the threat we need to deal with first is the one at our door."
"My thoughts exactly, captain," I agreed.
He turned to the green armored Pegasus.
"This is Emerald Wing, my lieutenant in charge of the patrols here in Canterlot. She runs the scheduling, route planning, and conduct of each patrol here. My other lieutenant here is Steady Hooves. It’s his unit’s responsibility to respond to any threat reported by a citizen, or provide back up for a patrol. As you can tell we are rather short hoofed here, we've had to send many of our guardsmen to various towns and cities in Equestria. This is all I have to work with."
I regarded them both. Between the two of them and captain Iron Side, it appeared they had few hours of rest in the last week. I didn't know ponies got bags under their eyes too. So we had a patrol rotation and a quick reaction force. We could work with that. I started to see how I could help.
"My sister and I must take our leave, I'm afraid," Celestia interrupted,”there are a few of the Canterlot upper class who have requested an audience with us today."
"Very well, your majesty," said Iron Side, "I promise to continue our efforts here without pause."
"Do try to get to get some sleep, Iron Side, Equestria needs you in good health," Celestia urged him.
"Please show...Louis to the guest rooms when you have finished your discussion,"
Luna said to Twilight.
"I will Princess."
With that, the they departed. I walked over to the map and pulled up one of the pillows. We had a lot of work to do.
* * *
Snakestalker was pleased his mission had go on without a hitch. Not that there was any doubt it wouldn’t have. He was good at what he did. He had studied his target for a week, learning all he could of his mannerisms and posture. This “Prince Blood” was a very habitual creature, and a slave to routine. Routines and ponies soft and easy prey. He could have taken the form of any of the prince’s servants to get close to him, but not even that was necessary. The prince was always so wrapped up in his daily activities, all Snakestalker had to do was stick to the shadows of the manor. Learning his speech patters was the easiest part. All the prince did was talk and talk. He’d talk to himself when none of his guests or servants were around. He was actually glad the studying part of the mission was over. Now that uptight, annoying pest was hidden away in a cocoon in the Canterlot caves.
According to the prince’s schedule, he had an audience with the princess that afternoon. This was a good chance to learn what he could about any efforts being made to counter the threat his kind had brought to Equestria. Things were running quite smoothly.
He trotted through the business district of Canterlot, headed for the castle. Despite his more than perfect guise, he was careful to avoid any royal guard patrols. News had spread through the cells operating in Canterlot that a spell of identification had been discovered in the archives. It had not been put into practice yet, as far as he knew, and the form he had assumed was high enough in Canterlot royalty to avoid any kind of suspicion. As he drew closer, he noticed the security had been doubled over night.
“Probably getting more paranoid,” he thought to himself. If they had begun using the identity spell, he would need a backup plan. “Shouldn’t be necessary, though,” he told himself, as he approached the gate guard.
“Excuse me guardsman,” he said in a haughty uptight voice, “I Prince Blue Blood have an audience with her majesty, and I’m afraid I’m very short on time.”
* * *
“Welcome nephew, what a pleasure to be in your company again,” Celestia said cheerfully. She always tried to show a positive face when formally addressing an audience, even when times were hard.
“Indeed it is, dear aunt. And it is good to see your sister Luna as well. You are surviving these troubles well. ”
They sat side by side in the throne room, presented in their formal crowns.
“Yes, we are both in good health, as I see you are,” Luna replied next, “It is good to see you unwavering even in the wake of all that has happened. We apologize for our tight schedule, but the protection of Equestria is our first priority. What is that brings you here today?”
“We’ll, it has come to my...”
He paused.
“Ah yes, excuse me, I have come to request security to be provided for my manor. I feel that I may be targeted, and that the daily patrols through Canterlot are not sufficient to assure my security.”
Celestia looked at her sister, who smiled. “Very well, Prince Blue Blood, We can provide a small group to stay at your manor. They will be under your charge when you leave here today.”
“Splendid!” he said cheerfully, “thank you my dear aunt.”
He turned to leave, then changed his mind.
“Is there any chance the two of you have time for any small talk?” he asked, “it has been a while since I’ve had time to meet with the two of you, and I suspect it will be a while till we can enjoy each other’s company again.”
“We are very busy, Celestia said, “but I suppose you could join us for dinner this evening. The royal dining room is indisposed at the moment, for the last week we have been using the Canterlot Garden as a temporary replacement.”
“Sounds excellent to me, dear aunt. I shall be looking forward to it. In the mean time, would it be ok to linger about the courtroom and lobby.”
“If you wish, my nephew.” Celestia replied.
“Then I bid you tow a good afternoon,” as he turned to leave.
Perfect, Snakestalker thought. He had all afternoon to snoop about the castle, and he was sure to gather more information at dinner tonight. What did the pony princess say about the dining room? Indisposed... It was probably worth checking out. He needed a new form. Perhaps there was a spider crawling around through the gardens.
* * *
In the dining room, we were making some good progress. Who was I kidding, we were getting nowhere. I still had a feeling that Chrysalis was after something more here, than just revenge. A full takeover of Equestria had to be well calculated. She had already subjugated an entire nation, which I learned was rather small in comparison to Equestria. I knew there were other steps to her plan. That wasn’t the main concern right now, however. We still had to deal with the threat here in Canterlot. I kept suggesting ideas, but we were working with a tight number of personnel. Lt. Steady Hooves had been called away to respond to an apparent sighting in the market district.
As I was thinking of a way to better organize a patrol rotation with Emerald Wing, Twilight interrupted by levitating a scroll in front of us.
“Excuse me captain, she said, but is this what I think it is?”
“If by that, you mean an identity spell, then yes, young filly, it is.”
“You have a way to uncover changeling?” I asked, “Have you put this into practice?”
“We have taught a few of our unicorns, but the spell was only uncovered two days ago, we haven’t had much time to focus on it.”
“This is really important!” I stammered, “Hold on, let me see that patrol roster, Emerald.”
She handed it over to me. After a quick study, I had an Idea.
“Captain, do you have the guard roster as well?”
“Yes,” Iron Side replied. He walked over to another stack of papers and sorted through it.
“Here it is!” Pinkie Pie shouted, holding it up with a hoof.
“Where ever did you find that?” Rarity inquired.
“I stepped on it on the way it!” she replied. “It still has my hoof mark on it.”
She handed it over to me. It indeed had a hoof make on it.
“Leave it to Pinky to pull something from nowhere,” said Rainbow Dash.
“I know how that goes, remember.” I said.
Fluttershy was playing with a spider in the corner. I guess war wasn’t the business of the element of kindness. Good, I didn’t know how she was taking all this, but I’d be sure to talk to her about it later. I hoped she didn’t have to get involved any further.
Twilight and Rarity had been trying to clean up what they could, while Pinkie Pie drew things, and egged on Apple Jack and Rainbow as they argued over who could kick a changelings hide better.
I made a few changes to both rosters on a separate sheet of paper. Now, each guard rotation and foot patrol had at least one unicorn. I also organized a rotation that divided the day into three duty stations, similar to what I was familiar with in Afghanistan. I explained my changes to Iron Side, showing him how this best utilized the full personnel roster, while providing the appropriate rest period for all.
“Each patrol and rotation has at least one unicorn,” I explained. “It’s important that this identity spell be taught to each one of them as soon as possible. Patrols can conduct spot checks at certain parts of town.”
This was another thing we did a lot in the Stan’ searching Vehicles and civilians was important to maintain our OA’s security bubble and disrupt the flow of drugs and weapons the enemy needed.
“We will do our best to get them all spun up,” He said, “but it will take a day or so.”
“Whatever it takes,” I replied, “the security of Canterlot depends on it.”
Emerald Wing took note of the changes. “This appears much more efficient now. You’ll have to forgive us, but we never had a need to run our ship so tight, except for the last changeling invasion. At least we were up to full personnel back then.”
Good, now we were getting somewhere. I was getting hungry. I wanted a nice juicy...shit, they didn’t eat meat in Equestria. I hoped I could get used to fruits and vegetables ever meal till I went home.
“What do you guys usually eat around here?” I asked.
As if on cue, a colt servant walked through the door.
“Their majesties princess Celestia and Luna ask that you join them in the Canterlot Garden courtyard for dinner shortly.” He said.
Awesome.
“And Celestia wishes to inform Captain Iron Side that he doesn’t have a choice in the matter.”
I took it he wasn’t one for formal gatherings.
* * *
Snakestalker had gathered more Intel than he knew how to handle. Hiding in the dining room as a spider worked out better than he imagined. He even got some attention from the filly that bared the element of kindness, and still went unnoticed by the others. The most important bit of information he had discovered, was the presence of a strange creature he had never seen before. This, thing, seemed to be taking the lead in organizing security and resistance in Canterlot. Fortunately, the creature would be attending the dinner. He would try to extract whatever information about it he could. After the dinner, he made a note to contact his fellow changelings in the Canterlot Intel cell. He had a report to make.
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2607466 Chapter 3's out
2607466
The reason the "7th element thing wont work" is that the canon of the show establishes that all the elements are required for their magic to work. If there was a seventh element, Nightmare Moon would never have been defeated in the very first episode because he was still dicking around on Earth.
That's why Seventh Element stories are bullshit.
2607789
This is really gonna suprise you guys when the title is explained. The elements of harmony stand alone here. The 7th element is not the concept you seem to think it is. However, for the sake of the story, I can't allude any further, and the title must remain the same.
Just think about what could break harmony for now.
2607834
Then how is it the seventh element? The term "element" is used to describe the Elements of Harmony.
260787
Boy, I wish I could tell you. Even if you were going to pass this fic off as crap and never even read it. If I'd had know the title would have brought all these pre conceived notions, I may have named it something else.
It would be better to hear criticism about how well I tell the story, how I include the characters, and how I utilize their personalities. Instead. I keep getting attacked on my choice of story type based of standards I didn't know existed.
@ commissar-rarity canon has nothing to do with creative writeing. if it did the site would be fim conon fanfic and my main charecture wouldnt be able to marry twi. your arguement is invalid
i like where this is going man also exelent use of military tactics well played. im sure you will appreciate my use of them in my series. also i can even see this as a series just saying lol. seeing as each story in my series involves a different intety but also stays true to the story being told. a hard thing to do but sofar you are doing it great. also exscuse some of my misstypes as i useing my controler for my xbox lol
An Xbox controler? Wow. I have to do a lot of typing on my phone with my computer being down. It creates a lot of problems with paragraph formatting.
Inoticed that in your stories include the use of military tactics as well. I study this shit on a daily basis as a team leader. I don't think I'd make this a series, it has a really dramatic climax, and the ending really brings things to a close. Its meant to be a recount of an experience.
2610344
i.imgur.com/Ir5ITdS.png
use this to actually reply 'kay?
My argument is invalid because the word canon isn't in the site name. Okay, yeah. But the readers - well, the discerning ones - want the fics they read to make sense canonically. You're free to post your "
selfinsertmain character marries Twi" fic, but you'd get more hate than love for it.2607905
It's not too late to change it.
2611557
Unfortunately, it is now. I've got a lot of the story written ahead, and the title is important to the plot. Rest assured, this isn't going where people think it is.
2611667
AnythingI mentioned alludeds to something in the future. I'll try to get to a computer to recheck spelling and grammar
2611557and who mde you the fiction writeing police. you know what iv had better arguments with youtube trolls. i bid you adue good sir
Op, now you've done it. Can we keep the war in the story?
my final comment on anything not story related..SO LISTEN AND LISTEN GOOD!!. i got into this fandom due to the creativity of the fans. that being said why are there those out there who try to stifle ones creative process. it makes no since and never will. IF YOU DONT LIKE IT THEN DONT ----ING READ IT SIMPLE. but dont just make negitive comments for the sake of doing so there is critiqueing something then there is being just nasty and rude
2611696actualy in my opinion he did an outstanding job on the elaboration on his oc being a brony hint read the first chapter again lol
2611938i dont see why not lol. or is that not canon either lol.. hmm i wonder cannons a bullet reference an elite flying team and a tank reference.... yeh id say its canon lol
2599322
Why would you put a French military force in a story? 1 chapter in they'd surrender.
2611474 ahhhh got ya. well lets hope it was one you took something away from
lol sorry just realized what i said there.. obviously you did your turning into a fan fic lol
2612208
2612208
Hey don't laugh about my country you 'Murica!
You won't get any onion otherwise!
/me gives an "omelette *au* fromage" to 2612208
The Foreign Legion isn't just French
A good chapter, albeit one that feels like mostly setup for the more juicy stuff to come. Looking forward to more.
2632929chapter 4 is on its way. I got 4 days to go visit my family, so that's what's taking so long.
2634112
I wasn't trying to pressure you by any means, you're updating much faster than I do. You're done when you're done.