CSF: Celestian Special Forces

by XeRom

An Unexpected Visit

After my meeting with the princesses I swiftly returned home, eager to be back with Shadow and Ember. My eagerness to return made the trip seem faster than it was. As I flew in close to our cottage I spotted Rainbow Dash out near the front, continuing with her strength training by flying around with weights on her back, doing quick dashes back and forth between two point 100 meters apart. As I flew down she stopped at the point in front of the cottage, dropping the weighted sacks with an exasperated sigh. She turned her head towards me and raised a hoof in greeting.

"Spade you're back!" she called, flying back into the air to meet me.
As she sped towards me I waved a hoof back. "Good to see you too Dash!" She zoomed towards me, the training already showing an improvement in her speed. Soon enough she'd probably be very close to being as fast as Shadow or I. She was abreast to me quickly, looking at me excitedly.

"So how'd the meeting with the princesses go?" She said, doing a small loop to my other side. Always straight to the point with this one.

"Fairly well. We've got a defensive strategy in place that will use some of the ponies that decided to stay behind and help with the preparations along with the Royal Guard stationed in the immediate area. We've also sent out dispatches today to any of the Royal Guard's that might be out in Equestria to return immediately."

She looked at me seriously, "It's going to get bad soon, isn't it?"

I gave her a small nod, looking at her straight in her eyes. "Aye, that it will." I stuck up a hoof and ruffled her mane. "Although that won't stop us. I don't plan on giving up, do you?"

She broke away from me for a second with a shocked face. "Of course not! I never leave my friends hangin'!" She said, holding the shock on her face.

I let out a chuckle, "I know you don't Dash. I know." When I finished we were already at the door to the cabin. I opened it to find Shadow lounging in one of the chairs in-front of the fireplace, playing with Ember in her arms. She looked up at me and smiled.

"Oh good Spade, you're back." She said as she set Ember down. "I think it's time I had a break, don't you Dash?" I looked over to Rainbow Dash who smiled and nodded.

"Oh yes. I'll leave you two to your business..." She left off, flying for a brief moment over to where Ember lay, picking her up. "Now how's about some good ol' quality time with auntie Dash?" She said, flying back through the door and outside with Ember in stow.

I returned my attention to Shadow who trotted up to and nuzzled me. "I assume your trip to Canterlot went well?" She inquired.

I sighed and returned her affection, moving over to the chair to the left of the fireplace and sitting down heavily in it. "The meeting went well. Very well in fact. We have a sound strategy that includes those who stayed behind to assist in Ponyville from the evacuation along with the garrison of Guards stationed in Canterlot."

She came up and sat in the chair next to mine. She responded gently, "What bothers you so then?"

I sighed again, but got straight to the point saying, "It's Zin again. He... Has it in his mind that he will perish tomorrow. I don't know why, but I believe him." She was taken aback, rearing her head.

She began to rise, her wings already rising as she yelled, "Well we can't just let him die! Let's go save him!" I looked into the fireplace, sadness filling me. I held a hoof in the air, stopping her.

"No," was all I said.

She looked at me as if I had gone crazy. "How can you say that?" She said in disbelief.

I looked up at her, sorrow still strong in my features. "We can do nothing to stop it. This is the path he has chosen for himself and we need not interfere with the choices he wishes to make." She looked at me, her face resembling the sorrow I felt. She bucked the air, frustrated before falling back down into her chair heavily.

"So that's it then? He's going to die." She said disparagingly, her voice full of sorrow.

I looked at her, seeing how sad Zin's doom was making her. I thought for a moment, how at peace he seemed with his death. I realized why he was so at ease with it then. "I don't think he's going to stay dead." At that, Shadow looked up at me as if I had reached a new level of insanity. "How calm he seemed when he told me this, it just seems like he'll be back." I paused for a moment before continuing, "He also has an ally. Discord."

Her nose scrunched back at the mention of his name. "Discord? From what you told me I knew he was back, but why would Zin associate with him?"

I shook my head saying, "Who knows? Discord is the reason Zin is here in the first place, so he probably has his own agenda regarding him. There's one other thing..." I paused as she looked at me anxiously. "I've already told the princesses and they didn't believe me at first either, but... Discord isn't the one who has spiked the Diamond Dog Rebellion."

She tilted her head at me saying, "You're right, I don't believe you. Spade, all the facts point to him as the one who started this all."

I gave her a weak smile, "I know it doesn't sound true, but you have to believe me when I tell you Shadow, Discord isn't the true player behind the Rebellions." She was still giving me a strange look, but settled down more comfortably in the chair. I let out a laugh, "Oh don't give me that face. What I'm telling you is the truth as I see it."

She continued looking at me before starting, "Okay, I believe you Spade. But who then? Who is truly behind all this?"

I shook my head at her. "That, I'm not entirely sure of myself. And we won't know until the day of the invasion who really is holding the cards." She gave me a nod, just as Rainbow Dash flew back inside, followed closely by Ember on the ground. I motioned her over, to which she flew and took the seat adjacent to mine.

"What's up Spade?" She said, relaxing into a comfortable position on the seat.

I waited a moment for her to position herself before telling her all that I had just told Shadow. Her reaction was similar to Shadow's, if not a bit more worrisome and violent. I quickly calmed her down though, going through the same explanations that I had just used. She soon came to accept what I told her, although I left the part out about Discord, knowing that their history was even worse than ours, and that associating him with Zin might ruin Zin and her's friendship. At the conclusion of the tale about Zin, she sank into the chair, lost in thought. I unfolded my legs and stepped from the chair, moving over towards the bedroom door. The sun was already moving beyond the horizon, Celestia finishing her cycle whilst Luna began her own. Shadow joined me by the door, picking up Ember along the way. Rainbow Dash finally moved from the chair into her own room.

"Thanks for telling me this Spade..." She started with a smile. "At least it's better to hear it from you than somepony else."

I gave her a nod and returned her smile, saying, "Of course Rainbow Dash. You're practically part of our family now and as a trainee, you should be as informed as any of us." With that, I moved into the room, followed by Shadow who laid Ember gently down in her crib. I moved over into our bed, finding a comfortable position and closing my eyes, just as Shadow began singing a lullaby to Ember...

(Yes I know it's Fluttershy's lullaby, now hush up.)

Hush now, quiet now...

It's time to lay your sleepy head...

Hush now, quiet now...

It's time to go to bed...

Drift, Drift off to sleep...,

Exciting day behind you....

Drift, Drift off to sleep...,

Lets the joy of dreamland find you....

As she finished, Ember calmed down, falling asleep. I joined her, surrounded by Shadow's voice as the embrace of sleep found me.

The following morning I woke up as the sun was rising, already fully awake and prepared for the day. Shadow was waking around the same time as I, softly trotting out of the room to not wake Ember up. I followed suit, closing the door gently shut behind me. Shadow moved into the kitchen to prepare breakfast while I went into the guest room to wake up Rainbow Dash. As normal, she was still sound asleep in her bed. She hadn't taken well to getting up so early in the morning so I had the liberty of knocking her out of bed, which I admit, wasn't all that bad.

Moving over to the bed, I placed a hoof on her side and with a quick shove, knocked her sprawling out of the bed. "Rise and shine!" I cooed. Dash sprawled in the cover for a moment before she popped back up, mane a mess as came groggily to attention.

"Sorry for uh, sleeping in. Again..." She said wearily, rubbing a hoof in her eye.

I gave her a nod saying, "It's fine. I know you're still getting used to the whole 'waking up early' idea. Enough of that though, first we'll start with breakfast and then begin your training for today." At the mention of training, she groaned and rolled her shoulders. "Hey, no complaining. You were eager for this before it started getting hard."

"Yeah, yeah..." she mumbled as she went passed me, letting out a yawn and going into the living room. I shook my head as she left the room, but followed suit, coming out to where Shadow had gathered three hay sandwiches for us. Rainbow Dash and Shadow were already at the table, a scowl on Rainbow Dash's face as she ate. Shadow gave me a small smile and waved me over to the third seat at the table. I moved to it, sitting down and starting on my sandwich. The three of us ate in silence, Dash still scowling the whole time. We all finished at the general same time.

"Dash, for your first task of today, your job is to clean the dishes." I chided. Her scowl deepened as she picked up the plates and grumbled the whole way to the sink. Shadow let out a small laugh.

"I can see why she's starting to like you less and less." She said, barely containing her merriment.

I shook my head with a smile, saying, "She can dislike me all she wants. All of this will help her in the long run; from doing dishes to lifting weights."

"I know you're talking about me over there!" she called angrily.

I ignored her but let out a laugh. Shadow joined me. "She does have good hearing though." Shadow said with a smile.

"Yeah," I agreed. Dash was done after another minute to which she immediately headed outside for the other part of her training. Shadow motioned towards the door with a hoof.

"Go on, I'll be out in a minute. I just have to wake up Ember and then I'll join you two in your training." She said as she got up, already heading for the bedroom. I got out of my own chair, heading to and out the front door into the brisk morning air. Rainbow Dash had begun setting up the markers for the back and forth exercises. I went over to the weights and picked out two fifteen kilogram weights for Rainbow Dash while getting two forty-five ones for myself. I went over to the starting marker, depositing the weights two at a time in different positions. Dash had finished setting up the other markers and moved towards where I had tossed her weights.

Shrugging them over shoulder, she spread her wings and looked at me with a grin. "Ready?"

I flashed back her grin, lugging my own weights over my back and extended my own wings. "Ready." With that, we started our training for the day, soon to be joined by Shadow only a laps later. Grabbing the same weights as me, she joined in on the racing, each of us trying to beat the others in a mix of strength and agility.

Throughout the day of training Shadow or myself had to periodically stop for a while to take care of Ember. These periods were a good respite in-between exercises and gave us time to cool down. When Dash got tired, she just dropped panting where she hovered. The training lasted throughout the day, every hour we switched up the exercises, trying not to grow accustomed to any one. We went through about fourteen different exercises; when we stopped the sun was already beginning to dip below the horizon. We finished up the exercise we were doing, flying straight up from the ground with heavy weights to get as high as we could, Shadow was the last one to do this; dropping back through the cloud-line. She landed with a flurry of flapping wings, kicking up a small cloud of dust around her. Shadow slugged off the weights from around her shoulders and tossed them over next to the others.

"What an excellent day of training, wouldn't you agree Rainbow Dash?" She said, a hint of a smile touching her face.

Rainbow Dash shot her an angry look, panting heavily she replied, "Oh just great. I've done more exercise today than I've done in my entire life..." Shadow let out a small laugh while we walked back inside. I grabbed Ember on our way in, placing her across my back so I could walk correctly. Once inside, Shadow took Ember from me.

"I'll go put her to sleep and then I think I'll take a nap... I'm still a little weak from giving birth to her." She said, the weariness in her voice showing for the first time today.

I gave her a smile, saying gently, "Of course. You go rest and I'll finish up the remaining chores around here." I gave a sidelong glance at Rainbow Dash who was already trotting into her room, wings spread out slightly in fatigue. "As I don't think she'll be of much help for the time being.

Shadow gave a weary laugh, "Yeah, I think she's as tired as me." She kissed my cheek, "Well goodnight. Don't be too long." I smiled again and nodded as she turned and head through the door to our own room with Ember, closing it behind her. I glanced around the house and sighed. Still a lot of work to be done around here... "Well, let's get to it," I whispered, rolling my shoulders and moving over to the broom, getting ready to sweep the floors.

Two hours later the sun had already disappeared behind the horizon and I had finally finished the chores around the house that Rainbow Dash had left. Throwing the rug back across the ground, I let out a happy sigh and grabbed a few logs from outside to light for a fire. Stacking them inside the fireplace, I used a bit of magic to light it, the fire coming instantly to life, already bathing the room in an orange light. The heat from the fire was already beginning to circulate throughout the house and I let out a smile. "All done," I said quietly to myself as everyone else in the cottage was already asleep. I was just about to head to bed myself when I sensed a strange distortion in the air outside. Stopping with my hoof on the bedroom door, I immediately turned back around and started towards the front door. Along the way I brushed a hoof against my belt, making sure my knife was still in its place. Assured, I opened the door to the door with one hoof on the hilt of my knife.

A quick turn of my head revealed no pony in the immediate vicinity so I relaxed a bit, taking my hoof away from my belt. I didn't let my guard down however, as the I could still sense the disturbance somewhere nearby. With a shrug to myself, I moved over to the rocking chair on the porch and sat down, determined to wait for whatever it was out there to make itself seen.

I sensed the presence move slightly closer before an ethereal voice came suddenly alive, “They know?” As soon as it was aired, my head jerked in the direction it had originated from. “A little jumpy, are we?” The voice called again, before the air around the spot I was looking at began to take shape. Soon enough, a visage of Zin appeared where I was looking. The visage walked up to the porch, taking a spot next to where I was sitting and leaning against the wall with its arms crossed.

"Well hello there... Zin." I started, "What brings you here in such a form?"

“Gives me something to do since I was, ya know, just stabbed a few moments ago.” He said smugly, as he slid down the wall into a sitting position. He reached his arms behind his head and looked up at me. “Discord’s getting me ready. Should be good to go before the battle begins. And I never told you the exact date, did I?” He finished.

"It'd be best for you not to mention him whilst you're at my home, kid." I said with distaste. Zin might respect him, but Discord he never has more than one thing in mind, himself. "As for the time of the attack... The exact date is a moot point. We'll be ready a week ahead of time and then all it is is playing a little waiting game."

“Whatever suits you. Anyway...” He said, taking his paws off from around his head and putting one underneath his chin before continuing. “I have to find a way to occupy myself for another week. There is some payback that needs to be given to Tia...” He grinned mischievously. “Nah. Think I might just see how things go on around here. You tend to keep things interesting.”

I shook my head at him. "She wouldn't be as kind to this little disturbance as I have been." I let a small smile touch my lips before continuing, "And don't think y'all can hang around here for a week. I can't have that at all."

“I’m dead. What can you do to stop me?” He said, turning his head to the house. “How’d she take it?”

"Oh no you don't kid," I said, using a small burst of magic to push his spirit off the porch and onto the grass. "I know your spiritual signature now. It won't be hard to keep you away."

“So what, I can’t see Dash? And blasting me with magic, even if I can’t feel it, didn’t answer my question.” He said as he picked himself off the ground.

"No kid, you can't. She's in the middle of training right now; seeing you like this and learning you're in league with Discord isn't what is best for her right now." I paused, getting out of my chair and stretching my legs. "I don't think she'd take it well at all," I finished, stepping off the porch and onto the grass with him.

“I never said she would be able to see or hear me. And do you think I am that dumb Spade? She fought the guy for christ's sake!” He said, his voice rising angrily. He let out a heavy sight before continuing, “I would just like to see her progress. Being dead is leaving me the same as I was before. Pretty much on my own, so pardon my wants.”

I gave him a smile but shook my head. "I'm sorry kid, but the training is private. You'll be free to talk to her before the battle, but by then she'll know about you and Discord. For your sake I hope she still sees you the same way. You could use a friend, if for a short while at least."

He fell back heavily onto the ground saying dispassionately, “Well, back to listening to a really old dude talk about chaos... And if you really want to get some training in, get Grim. He’ll give you a run for your money.” With that, he raised a hand and snapped his finger, slowly disappearing from my view. When he was gone, I sighed, spreading my hooves apart on the ground, I cast a small ward surrounding the house for a kilometer in any direction.

"Sorry I had to do this kid, it's nothing personal." I said allowed to myself. With that done I moved back to the house and opened the door, walking inside I closed the door behind me and headed straight for my room. I carefully walked inside, careful not to wake Ember or Shadow. Trotting softly over the the bed, I gently laid myself in it. Shadow stirred as I laid myself down.

She turned her head at me, saying wearily, "Spade... What took you so long...?"

I gave her a smile. "A few too many chores left undone by our lazy house-guest." She returned the smile and closed her eyes again, saddling up to me as I found my position in the bed. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, ready for the next few days of training.

Comments

[The Usurper]

Yes! Another update!

[XeRom]

Trying to keep up with the demand.