Armor's Game

by OTCPony

Bodyguards and Beginnings

At her desk in Golden Oaks Library, now Golden Oaks Royal Palace, Twilight Sparkle puzzled over a thick government document. Becoming a Princess had been shocking, and then daunting, but now, truth be told, she was at a loss for what to do with herself.

Celestia had the day; Luna had the night; and Cadance had the Crystal Empire, but Twilight had yet to be given any formal position. She’d sat in on Privy Council meetings and even voiced opinions there, but for the most part, Celestia seemed content to let her continue with her studies.

She wasn’t about to curse Celestia for that, but if she was summoned to Privy Council again, she had to know what was going on in Equestria. To that end, thick binders from every government ministry sat in a neat pile on her desk, next to an equally tall pile of newspapers from across Equestria and Equus. Polling reports were pinned to her notice board while economic forecasts were paperclipped together in her in tray.

Twilight frowned at the ledger. It was from the Ministry of Industry and Mining. The officialese was almost impenetrable even for her, but it seemed like since Hearth’s Warming, Equestria was experiencing an unprecedented boom in forge construction. Every company was at it, buying up what forges there were, and building more. The question was, why?

She summoned a newspaper from the middle of the pile. That morning’s Canterlot Financial Inquirer unfolded in front of her and she grimaced. The main picture was a stock photo of Prince Blueblood, that superior smirk on his face. The headline read; BLUEBLOOD LEADS FORGE RUSH.

“The purchase of a dozen forges by Prince Blueblood at the start of this year,” the article read. “Has sparked an unprecedented frenzy of similar purchases by no less than a dozen companies. In addition to the twelve forges purchased, the Blueblood Mining Consortium began the construction of another thirty foundries. Trotheed, Equestrian Aerospace Engineering and Fairfoal, among others, took note of this, and quickly began expanding their own metalworking operations. As of publication, Equestria now has an astonishing one hundred and four forges and foundries under construction.

“This development takes place at a surprising time. No economic forecast has suggested that demand for metal in Equestria is about to increase. In fact, since the last surge in demand for metal a decade ago during the Airship Boom, existing infrastructure has been enough to deal with spikes in demand.

“As a result, figures within the industrial community have accused Prince Blueblood, currently Minister of Industry and Mining on the Privy Council, of operating with insider knowledge. Filthy Rich, CEO of Rich Industries, said yesterday afternoon; ‘No one has ever made a metalworking acquisition this big before. It makes no business sense, and I can only assume Blueblood knows something the rest of us do not.”

“Prince Blueblood, 42, was unavailable for comment, but a spokespony for the Ministry of Industry and Mining said; ‘None of our staff, ministers included, are permitted to share information with businesses outside of government-approved discussions.’ A spokespony for Prince Blueblood said outside his Canterlot mansion this morning; ‘His Highness is not about to dignify these monstrous assaults on his good character with a response.’

“While the motivation behind the acquisition remains unclear, Prince Blueblood is not a businesspony known to make rash or illogical decisions. Though pony rights groups have raised questions about its overseas operations, the Blueblood Mining Consortium maintains one of the best business records in Equestria. It is because of this that other corporations are thought to have followed suit. It has also been reported that Prince Blueblood is speculating in shares in the logging, medicine, and consumer fashion industries... (Full story, p. 3)”

Behind her, a door crashed open. “Hey, Twilight!”

Horrified, Twilight spun round, but he was already moving. “Summer, no, wait!”

Rainbow Dash had only just started turning her head when something crashed into her and pinned her to the floor. A green Pegasus with a truncheon for a cutie mark stood over her, a dagger in one of its hooves.

“Whoa!” blurted Rainbow. She sounded more surprised than anything else, and slightly exhilarated.

Twilight slapped a hoof to her face. “Get off her, Summer.”

“She failed to identify herself before entering, ma’am!”

“You know Rainbow Dash is a friend.”

“I had no choice but to treat her as hostile! It could have been an assassin making use of an ingenious disguise!”

Twilight forced Summer off Rainbow Dash with a jet of magic. “Sorry Rainbow, he’s just like that.”

Spike appeared from the kitchen. He ran over to take Rainbow’s saddlebags. “I will need to search those for any dangerous objects!” snapped Summer. “If you attempt to escape you will be obliterated!”

Rainbow watched incredulously as the Pegasus stalked over to the other side of the library and went through her bags. “Who’s that?”

“Captain Summer Set. He’s detached from the Royal Guard to be my undercover bodyguard.”

“‘Detached’ is the right word! Where’s he from?”

“Isle of Sontar, off Trotaly. They’re all a bit aggressive there, but apparently he took a hit to the head while serving as a mercenary in Zebrica and wasn’t quite the same afterwards.”

“I still don’t see why we couldn’t just have someone more... normal!” grunted Spike. Summer Set had already tried to dispose of him as a “dangerous weapon” owing to his flame throwing abilities.

“AH-HA!” exploded Summer triumphantly. “And what, Equestrian female, is this?!”

Rainbow and Twilight exchanged glances. “A book?”

“Or perhaps an ingenious concealment device for cluster mines?!”

“No Summer, that’s a book,” said Twilight, exasperated. “I leant it to Rainbow last month.”

Summer threw the book down and stalked off up the stairs, grunting. “I’m going to go play with my grenades...”

“Sorry, Rainbow,” groaned Twilight, picking up the book. It was a copy of Daring Do and the Silver Menace. “Did you want to return this?”

“Yeah. Do you have the next book?”

“Sorry, doesn’t come out until summer.”

Rainbow slumped. “Horseapples! What am I going to read until then?!”

A thunderous crash resounded from upstairs. A cloud of dust descended from the rafters. “SONTAR-HA!”

“What the hay is that?!” screamed Rainbow.

“Summer will be practicing his hoof-to-hoof combat,” said Twilight. She frowned. “Dashie, have you tried reading something that isn’t Daring Do?”

“Why’d I do that?”

“Yeah, I thought so...” She suddenly gave a happy bounce. “Tell you what! I’ll give you one of the classics! You’ll love some of these!”

Her horn glowed and the contents of an entire bookcase were suddenly floating around her. “Let’s see... Ramlet... no, you won’t like sheep. The Wind in the Whitetails... hmm, Fluttershy would like that. Othaylo... language might be a bit dense. The Celestiad... no, too cerebral. Hayto’s Symposium... you know, I swear she’s an ancestor of Pinkie... ah, here we go!”

The books flew back to their shelf, but for one that Twilight floated over to Rainbow. “I think you’ll like this one. It’s easy to read; plenty of action; the hero’s brave. Everything you like!”

Rainbow took the book in her hoof. It was an old book: the pages were dog-eared and the gold letters on the spine were starting to peel from the book being opened so often. “The Origin,” she read. “Of what?"

“Of everything. It’s the oldest story we have.”

“In the library?”

“No, in Equestria. In fact, The Origin is probably the oldest recorded story on Equus.”

“But if it’s that old, and it’s the origin of everything, how come I’ve never heard of it? I never remember hearing about this in school.”

“Because it’s just a myth, a creation story like any other. Unlike the Hearth’s Warming Story, which at least has a foundation in fact, there are no documents or archaeological remains that even hint at any fact in The Origin. A lot of teachers also disapprove of it.”

“Why?”

“Read the first page.”

Rainbow flipped to the start of the book. “‘Sing, o Muse, of that terrible war of pony and human, which brought us to this land today.’ Humans? Those things Lyra believes in?”

“It’s not just Lyra. An author was influenced by it a few years ago to write a book on humans and it was incredibly popular. They managed to get ‘Human Studies’ on the curriculum at Canterlot University when I was doing my postgraduate degree. A lot of ponies weren’t happy.”

“But, why?”

“Because humans are totally fictional!” said Twilight, sounding slightly annoyed. “There’s no record of them anywhere on Equus apart from this one story! Well, not in this universe at any rate! And a load of gullible ponies got to cruise through university for three years doing a useless course with a useless degree!”

Rainbow looked down at The Origin in wonder. “Wow, Twi, I didn’t think a book could cause that...” She looked up, a huge grin on her face. “This sounds great! Thanks, Twi, and I’ve gotta get Lyra and Cheerilee talking about humans one day!”

She cackled, took to the air and whizzed out the door.

“Lyra’s not a nut, you know, Twilight,” said Spike, closing the door.

“I know, Spike. I’ve just got a hard time thinking anyone could believe that guff. Have you seen the way those humanophiles sit? It must do terrible things to their backs!”

“If you say so.” Spike hiccupped suddenly and a burst of flame shot from his mouth. The cloud of fire resolved itself into a neatly-rolled scroll with a golden seal.

“A reply from Princess Celestia! At last!” Twilight summoned the scroll and cracked the seal. She’d written to the Princess the day after Amber Spyglass had met her in the library, using the most neutral language she could. She’d reiterated many of Shining Armor’s arguments, and she’d included points about the Changelings. She hadn’t liked what she’d argued for, and she’d been happy to get it out of the way as quickly as possible. She’d also made sure to include a long paragraph on her friend’s political apathy.

As she read the letter, her face fell.

Dear Twilight,

I was saddened by the content of your last letter. First Shining Armor and then Princess Cadance began pressing me to build an army, and now you too. Given your knowledge of history I was astounded that you would back a course of action that would lead us to war.

I was equally surprised to hear of your friends’ disinterest in the government of Equestria. I would have thought that the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony would take a keen interest in the running of the nation. But no matter: the honour would be entirely mine if your friends were to join us at next week’s Privy Council meeting. Hopefully there we can set these two matters to rest.

Yours,

Princess Celestia

“She still doesn’t want to do anything about the Changelings,” said Twilight miserably. “And as for inviting us all to Privy Council...”

“Hey, why not, Twilight?” asked Spike. “Our friends always love an opportunity to visit Canterlot!”

“That’s not the point, Spike! That wasn’t what I was trying to get across! Look...” She summoned a chart from her desk. “Turnout in elections to Parliament is atrocious! A thousand years ago it was at seventy percent, but for five hundred years it hasn’t exceeded twenty percent! How’s inviting six ponies to Canterlot meant to fix that?!”

She sat down at her desk, fuming. “Equestria shouldn’t work like this. We’ve got something wrong. The Princess is right: we’ll definitely put this to rest next week!”

Comments

[Venlin]

This is getting good

[OTCPony]

2841494

I thank you.

[Nightspawn]

The Doctor Who Reference in this chapter