TP2 - Crime
Capital Offense
Crime
Some time between seasons two and three, Equestria was visited by a strange group of ponies. These ponies were in fact former humans from another planet, maybe even a different Universe. They did not pose any threat to the pony way of life, and as such, were allowed to stay. Now, it has been some time, and they are starting to properly settle in. A month ago, the majority of their group was captured by Changelings. Silver Sea (a young Pegasus colt with navy blue coat and short, silvery mane and tail. His talent with machinery and practical problem solving is proven by his silver wrench cutie mark) saved their flanks, greatly injuring Queen Chrysalis. Sadly, due to an enraged Earth Pony, Cliff Jumper, who was unwillingly fired out of Pinkie’s cannon during the rescue, the Changeling Hive was destroyed and Changelings became an endangered species with no hope of survival due to inbreeding and the loss of their Queen. Nopony knows of what occured, as it was kept a secret from the public.
Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, home to the two Alicorns that rule peacefully over ponykind. It is a city of beauty and refinement. A classy, shining beacon on a mountain side. Every pony in the land desires to visit this place at least once in their lifetimes, like a ponified Makkah.
It also happens to host the greatest arcade in the country. With this in mind, Silver Sea has been dragged along by his less than favourite colt, Button Mash. It was a late birthday gift from Mash’s mother. Problem was, none of his so called friends wanted to go, as computer games really weren’t the ‘in’ thing. The awesome guy that he is, Sea took a bullet for the team and volunteered himself as the ‘plus one’.
Button Mash hopped up and down outside the arcade’s closed doors. “You’re gonna love it, S! They have games here you can’t find anywhere else!”
Silver was fiddling with a metal bracelet on his ankle, not really paying attention. “Uhuh…”
At long last, the doors open and all the ponies waiting outside rushed in to get to their favourite machines. As a result, Silver almost got trampled on, had Button not literally pulled him along.
As Button began to play on some random RPG, Sea sighed, pulling a chocolate bar from his backpack, “It’s gonna be a long day.”
As the working day was beginning in the city, the castle was having it’s regular change of the guard. Evidently tired stallions and mares were being replaced by well rested counterparts.
In the female changing rooms, mares were chatting away, explaining their plans for any upcoming days off. One of them, and entirely black Earth Pony with a rose for a cutie mark, was explaining her date plans with one of the stallions that had just started their shift. She had quite the audience, with at least three other mares sitting around her, eating up every word.
“It’s just so romantic,” Dark Rose went on. “You know, after so long together, and everything he has planned next week, I really think he might propose!”
There was a chorus of happy squeals from around the room. One or two could even be heard from the showers next door.
“I’m surprised it wasn’t sooner,” commented Glitternight.
The former human wasn’t a guard, but had been helping Luna out with some night government issues. Apparently, the New Lunar Republic, a faction of ponies dedicated to crowning Luna sole monarch of Equestria, had been ruffling more feathers than normal as of late. Not officially an Equestrian citizen, Glitter could provide an outside opinion and act as a mediator. She and Rose had become good friends since they first met shortly after Glitter’s arrival in Equestria.
She continued, “I mean, you’ve seen him with the public. Heavy Heart is one of the castle’s best knights when it comes to PR.”
Rose laughed, “Under all that knightly bravado, he’s quite shy without his armour. Personally, I was expecting to wait another year.”
The chatter died down as mares began to leave.
Glitter slapped her forehead. “Oh damn! I left my favourite quill back in Luna’s room.”
She galloped away, leaving Dark Rose by herself. The mare smirked, and closed her locker. A glance at her watch told her it was time. She proceeded to head into the castle, towards a back door. Just before she could open it from her side, the lock clicked open and a light red coated Pegasus mare appeared, putting away an old looking key under her wing. The other wing pushed a pair of glasses back up her muzzle. Her faint blue and reddish pink mane and tail were unkempt, a sign of somepony uncaring about looks. Her cutie mark matched the key from earlier.
In a deep, prench accent, Rose tutted, “Path, I thought the plan was I let you in?”
Path Fordger, with a careless wave of a hoof, and an equally thick accent, responded, “Tch, plans change, non?”
She stood to one side as two Earth Ponies trotted inside. First came (Jay Desc.), mostly keeping his eyes to the ground. After him came the strange one. She had this manic grin on her face as she literally floated through the door. With bloodshot eyes surrounded by deep black rings, it felt like she stared into Rose’s soul. Her cutie mark was unidentifiable under a countless number of cuts. The most noticeable thing, however, was the bloodstain straight jacket.
“... looking past the obvious… quirks… how are two ponies going help us? There was meant to be seventeen of us.”
“Including the commandant, there is going to be seventeen of us.”
“Then where are they?” Rose was still skeptical.
“Not here yet. Anyway, these two are Jay-” The stallion nodded. “And, well… she doesn’t even know her own nom. We call her SJ, short for Straight Jacket.”
SJ twisted her head upside down, still smiling.
“G’DAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY MATE!”
“She’s apparently an er… escaped psychopath… from Australia… don’t ask me why she isn’t killing us right now. Only le commandant knows.”
Dark Rose leaned away from SJ, unable to hide her discomfort.
“She’s your problem for now. I have to meet the others and let them in further up.”
“What am I supposed to do with these two until they get here?!”
Path was already through the door again and closing it. “Hide them in a closet or something.” And she was gone.
Jay snickered, “I remember the last time I was in a closet.” His prench was faint but still present.
The two mares stared at him. Rose shrugged.
“Eh, better than Bloody Mary here. Come on.”
Dark Rose turned round to come face to face with Heavy Heart.
“Oh-” Rose quickly remembered her voice. “Merde.”
BACK AT THE ARCADE…
Silver Sea was returning from a bathroom break. The machine where he’d last seen Button was now being used by somepony else. As he started to scan the area, he heard Button’s whiney voice actually whining. It seemed to be coming from the rear fire exit, left open to assist the airflow which kept the arcade reasonably cool.
Sure enough, Button was in the alley behind the arcade, surrounded by two teenage colts. One of these newcomers was holding Button’s trademark hat high over the poor little guy’s head. Silver dubbed that one Teen 1, and the other one Teen 2. Teen 1 had his back to the fire exit, while Teen 2 was facing the arcade, behind him being the giant fence cordoning off Castle Grounds.
“Awww, does the baby want his funny hat back?” said Teen 1.
Teen 2 joined in, “Look at him. I think he’s about to cry.”
Button did indeed look close to tears. Silver sighed and trotted towards the scene.
“Ladies and gentlemen, power of fucking friendship at work.”
Teen 1 jumped then turned around. Teen 2 laughed some more, clearly not the brightest spark.
“Oh, don’t let me stop you. Carry on picking on the colt half your size. You were looking really fucking macho.”
“What?” asked Teen 1, Teen 2 still laughing. “And would you shut up? I think he’s insulting us!” The laughter stopped.
Silver Sea stopped his approach and looked the pair of teens up and down.
“You wanna fight? That what you want?” threatened Teen 1. He passed the hat over to Teen 2. “Hold on to this while I teach this twerp a lesson in pain.”
“Tch, that was painful enough to hear.” The mechanic shook his head disapprovingly. “You’re nowhere near badass enough to say something like that.”
“Oh, you’re getting it now!”
Teen 1 punched at Silver, who sidestepped it with ease. Without a second thought, he kicked his attacker in the crotch, causing the teen to yelp and keel over. Sea followed that up with a quick kick in the side. In two hits, he’d reduced his opponent to a moaning heap. Teen 2 threw Button’s hat in the air and ran. Unfortunately, the hat decided to float over onto the castle grounds.
“Noooooooooo!”
Button ran at the iron fence, and tried to reach through. After several altered positions, he eventually decided to try squeezing through entirely, the end result being his hips wedged. Silver examined the scene before him.
“You know, I expected your head to be too big, but you somehow got stuck like that? Well fucking done.”
“Could I get a little help?”
“Fine.”
He walked up to Button, spun on the spot and gave the colt’s backside a firm buck. This sent Button Mash rolling over the Castle Grounds’ well tended grass.
“I wouldn’t suggest coming back that way.”
With his hat back where it belong, Button shrieked, “But how will I get back?! I can’t be caught on Castle Grounds without permission like this!”
“Cool your tits idiot! I got something in my bag of tricks that might help.”
“Oo, another toy?”
“When I get over there I’m going to hit you. They’re not TOYS!”
Silver reached a hoof over his shoulder and pressed a button. The bag began to shake, buzz and clank. Then, small thrusters ignited out the back. Sea flew up and over the fence. As promised, when he lowered himself, he hit Button.
“OW!”
“Now I’m not sure if I’ll be able to lift us both, seeing as this jetpack’s design for me, but it’s worth a try.”
Silver grabbed Button and aimed upwards once more. Although it struggled, the jetpack managed and they were almost back in the alley. But, just before they passed over the fence, a wave of cold passed through them, a wall of ice blocked their way, and the engines sputtered out.
Lifting himself up from atop Button, Sea rubbed his head. Once the ache went away, he extended a hoof and knocked on the ice.
“The fuck?”
He followed the wall upwards to discover the ice formed a solid dome over Canterlot Castle and most of the grounds.
“THE FUCK!?”
MOMENTS EARLIER...
For the second time that day, Path unlocked a door into the Castle. This time she was leading a larger party consisting entirely of Pegasi. As she held open the door, they thanked her in their own ways, or not at all in the case of one of them.
First in line was Star Hunter, a dark blue Pegasus stallion with windswept mane and tail of lighter shade, and the Orion constellation for his cutie mark. He looked like he was about to explode from excitement, muttering some facts about Luna in prench, pausing ever so briefly to nod his thanks.
After him came the only mare, Noxious Sky. Her dust white mane and tail drooped to match the dull grey colour of her coat, the most colourful thing about her being the green cloud cutie mark. To show her appreciation, she gave a manly grunt.
Right behind her was Jandel, the bane of Path’s existence. He considered himself the perfect stallion. Supple, dark grey/almost black coat, messy orange mane smelling of hair product and smooth orange tail with a tail wrap. The worst part about him was his superiority complex, founded on the idea that no cutie mark gave him free reign with life; that, and he kept badly pronouncing prench words to show his ‘cultural sensitivity’.
“I just don’t feel right having the mare hold a door for me. Maybe we could swap places, madum muzell?”
“Get inside, con.”
“Oo, love you too.” Somepony else had told Jandel that ‘con’ meant handsome. It didn’t.
Last but not least flew the key to truly starting this operation. Stark white coat, cold blue hair, the mane fashioned into an emo fringe, and a snowflake cutie mark make up the teenaged stallion known as Freezing Cold. He paid no attention to Path and stomped right on in.
Leaving the door wide open, Path joined the others inside.
“We all clear on the plan?”
“… et sa crinière- Oui- étincelante…”
“Oui.”
“Wee.”
“...”
“Freezing, do you understand what you have to do?”
“Duh, of course I do, jeez. Never catch a break. Can’t you see I’m trapped in a glass box of emotion?”
Path stared blankly at Cold. “Just get on with it!”
“Ugh, fine. Slave driver.”
Freezing Cold stood still in the middle of the corridor, his face scrunched tight in concentration. The air around him began to chill. Hunter stopped his muttering to watch, shivering. And then, a visible wave of ice blue cold exploded outwards, passing through walls. Through the door, Path saw the dome solidify. Down below, armoured ponies turned to ice and shattered. Screams echoed throughout the Castle and Grounds, reverberating off of the dome.
With a smirk, Path shared pleased looks with his colleagues, stating, “Maintenant, il débute.”
While Hunter began to cackle like a crazed madman, Jandel expressed confusion, “Maintenance, ill debut? You’re not making any sense.”
“MA LUNE! I said ‘Now, it begins.’ Stop acting like you understand Prench and get the fuck out of my sight! Remember, le commandant wants you to gather all hostages in the entrance hall with the others. Kill anypony who fights back.” The Pegasi started down the hall. “Except you, Cold. You’re wanted by Dark Rose down in the guard house section.”
Path watched Cold mope away in the other direction to the others before return outside once again, taking flight and climbing higher.
AT THE SAME TIME...
Heavy Heart couldn’t believe his eyes. Only a short while ago, he was confronting Dark Rose about the suspicious ponies seen sneaking into the castle, accompanied by a guard squad under his command. But then a wave of cold passed over them, and those guards turned to ice, and shattered.
“What… what in Celestia’s… I don’t…” His eyes began to water. Not only were they his fellow soldiers, but they had been his friends.
Dark Rose embraced her lover, cooing, “There there, mon amour. Don’t worry. I wouldn’t let you join them.”
Heavy pushed Rose away, appalled, “Y- You did this?”
“Oh, heavens non. Well, not directly. I just put the magie amplifiers on all the armours. It was quite the task. But, I do know the source of the cold. He’s on his way here. Perhaps you’d like to get your revenge? Then we can go live somewhere in the Sun, away from all these politicians and the révolution. La Ville de Nice?”
“No, I-... You-...” He regretfully drew his sword. “In the n- name of Equestria, I- I place you, Dark Rose, under arrest f- for High Treason, and assisting in the-... the murders of c- countless Royal Guards. Do not resist or… or… or I will be forced to k- k- kill y-”
Heavy Heart froze, literally. After a brief second, he shattered. For Rose, it had felt considerably longer, as she knew who was behind it. With a hoof outstretched, having been in contact with Heart, Freezing Cold stood there. Silence fell.
Sensing something was wrong, the depressed teen broke it, “He was going to kill you.”
“...”
“I saved your life.”
“...”
“What’s your pro- Gak! Awk!”
Freezing continued to choke and gurgle as blood rose into his mouth, a deep cut across his neck. Dark Rose wore an expression of such rage, Jay behind her expected Freezing to spontaneously combust. A shining metal rose, dripping with Cold’s blood, could be seen in Dark Rose’s hoof. She took a deep breath and put her impromptu weapon away.
“For a pony claiming to be full of emotions, you sure can’t read them. Heavy would never have killed me. We loved one another. And I suppose now you’re regretting your actions. You should know that the plan was always to kill you did your big freeze. But, I do believe le commandant wanted me to say-” She kissed Freezing’s forehead, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. “Merci.”
The first corpse of the day limply collapsed, ice crunching under it.
“You know, I’m surprised Bloody Mary hasn’t- erm… where’s Mary?”
“As soon as the cold passed, she muttered something about hunting and left,” Jay answered plainly.
Dark rolled her eyes.
Jay shrugged and asked, “So what now?”
“We leave her be and get on with our jobs.”
Jay saluted and left. With one last look at the ice that used to be Heavy Heart, Dark Rose left too.
ELSEWHERE...
A crowd of ponies waited around in the Castle entrance hall, whispering between themselves. They were a tour group, waiting for their guide, the lovely Heavy Heart to return, or so they had been, before the guards they’d been left with became broken popsicles. After that, two Unicorns (a stallion and a mare) teleported into view, blocking off both main corridors, and a minotaur walked in through the main doors and sealed them shut behind him. Nopony dared run for the archway leading towards the public throne rooms, as the Unicorns looked ready to blast any who tried.
Amongst the crowd was a Zebra, an Earth Pony and a Unicorn chatting amongst themselves, assessing the situation.
“Too much time has passed since their appearance. We should have heard of any guard interference,” observed the Zebra, Zavine.
His short, monochromatic mane was combed to the side, and his tail was straight and undefined. He wore a gold ring round his neck, with two smaller ones on his right foreleg. His tribal sign resembled a lightbulb, symbolism his knack for ideas. It was thanks to his gift that he was employed as a Zebrican Ambassador.
Brightshine, the Earth Pony, nodded. A simple tourist visiting Canterlot while the weather was good for it, the normally cheerful mare may have been trying to look serious right now, but her perma-positive attitude was making it hard on her. She too was talented with bright ideas, a coloured light bulb resting on her pale pink coat. Her brown mane was tied lower done into pigtails, one on each shoulder.
“He’s right y’know? Something is definitely up. D’ya think… d’ya think maybe all the guards got hit by that super chill?”
“They couldn’t have!” Treble Soul blurted out a bit too loud, turning heads. The Musician had just been walking through to get to rehearsal, half an hour late. The Unicorn had a strong dark blue coat, his hair similar but faded, with added sky blue highlights. His cutie mark consisted of an upside down treble clef next to a bass clef, forming the shape of a heart. He continued, a bit quieter, “The Princesses need to be warned.”
“I am sure they already know, my friend. This may go further than we comprehend.”
“If they knew, they’d be sorting everything out right here, right now. Somepony needs to get away and find them.”
“But Mister Soul, they have us surrounded.”
“I know, I know…”
Treble felt a slight pull on his leg. Looking down, he saw Lady Bug, a little filly he’d been encountering a lot lately. They first met when he’d moved her out the way of a speeding carriage. From then on, he’d find her randomly around Canterlot. Soul had grown fond of her, and she’d come to treat him as a sort of hero figure.
Lady Bug, like her name might imply, had red and black hair, which she kept straight as could be. Her coat was snow white, and she wore black princess like shoes, which Treble had bought for her. Her flank bore a lady bug, attributed to her love of insects.
“Mishter Twebbie?” She seemed to be terrified, on the verge of tears.
“Aww, Bugsy, how’d you get here?”
“I wanted to come see you pwactise. Is the mean wooking horny thing gonna hurt us?”
“Not if I have anything to say about it. Treble Soul will keep you safe. He’s just looking for a way out and then-”
“You mean like there?” Lady Bug pointed to a smaller door than the rest that nopony seemed to have noticed, hanging ajar.
Treble smiled and looked around at the captors. The minotaur was shouting some Prench at the stallion Unicorn, and the mare Unicorn was watching. Spotting his chance, he galloped to the door.
“SOMEONE’S GETTING AWAY!”
Treble missed a step. That had been Lady Bug. He tripped, flipping forward through the air. Before he could land, searing hot pain filled spread across his body as a blast of magic fired him into a decorative pillar, head first. He yelped in agony. His vision blurred. There were gasps and shrieks from the hostages.
The musician’s vision began to clear up as hoofsteps were heard coming towards him. The female unicorn looked down at the stallion. She carried a refined air about her, tall, slim and shiny. Her light blue coat was nothing compared to her luscious gold mane and tail. Treble recognised the three notes on her flank from many songs, but as soon as she spoke, he knew they must have been from Russian Lullaby.
“It seems somepony wants to be made into an example, eh muzh?” Her voice was smooth, melting in the ears. Treble’s pain seemed to lessen.
The other unicorn shouted across the hall, “He’s not dead? I was sure I aimed to kill.”
“It doesn’t matter. He is dying, and that is enough.” The mare smiled down at Treble while she waved somepony over, “Come here moya devochka. Come see your first victim as he perishes.”
There were horrified murmurs from the crowd, and Treble knew who was coming before she came into view. When Lady Bug reappeared, she was smiling giddily, like a pegasus foal who’d flown for the very first time.
“Did I do good mama?” The adorableness was gone, and there was a hint of russian. She still sounded like a filly, but it was clear she wasn’t as young as believed.
“Da. Now, remember this stallion’s face. Burn the image into your mind. And with it, store the satisfaction.”
“O-ok mama.”
Treble Soul could feel his mind and body going. With his last ounce of strength, he tried to make his last moments worth something.
“B-Bugsy… your mama’s… a bitch…”
Lady’s Mama slapped him, but he was already gone. She turned to the crowd of onlookers and declared, “You see what happens when somepony tries to escape, or worse still, be a hero? Let this be a lesson to you all. Just stay put and everything will be fine? Ponyal?” There was a silence. “Understand!?”
A chorus of agreement resounded from the crowd. From the same door Treble had run for, Jay entered, carrying a bag of weapons. He had already equipped himself with a long sword.
“Special delivery for the hostage takers!”
‘Mama’ levitated a knife to herself, a greatsword for ‘Muzh’ and a large axe for the minotaur.
“You know me too well, Syren,” said ‘Muzh’.
“You’ve always had a thing for big swords, moy muzh.”
Jay snickered, “Oh, he’s into big swords, am I right, Ironwright?”
Ironwright, the tall, muscular unicorn, grunted. His coat burned a vivid orange. His hair were coloured like living flames, even somehow managing to blow in a non-existent wind, not unlike the Princesses. His flank displayed a blacksmith’s hammer, the head of said hammer having been set alight.
“I’ve got a big sword for you if you want it, sexy,” Jay winked.
Syren growled, “Back off gomik, he’s mine.”
Jay was taken aback. With all the things happening in Russia, it was hard not to know what that word meant. Being of lower rank, he lowered his head and went quiet.
“Humph, at least you know your place.”
“And you should knows yours, Syren Song.”
The minotaur had spoken for the first time since his arrival. His voice resembled that of a noble knight’s. It didn’t seem to fit his intimidating image. Black fur, gleaming, sharp horns. Muscular definition. His look said warrior of darkness, but his voice said saviour of princesses, slayer of dragons. Maybe he did slay dragons, but he sure wasn’t doing any princess saving.
“What?”
“I do not care what you were brought up to believe. Equestria was built upon equality. Is that not why we are here? To return some sense of equality? To let Luna have her turn as Celestia did for a thousand years? Surely you are not teaching that child of yours that it is wrong to be something one has no choice in being?”
There was yet more murmuring from the crowd of hostages as they saw the meaning behind the minotaur’s words. They were New Lunar Republicans.
Ironwright spoke up, “If that’s what you believe, then why haven’t you reprimanded Lady Bug, or me, for that civilian’s death?”
Some of the crowd nodded their agreement, seeing the hypocrisy.
“The child cannot be blamed for the actions of her teachers. Had I been the one charged with her care, she would not even be here. You too, are following orders.”
Silence fell. The minotaur confused the hostages, such a noble being, yet performing an act of high treason.
After some time, Syren apologised, albeit with an edge of poisonous hatred, “Izvinite. I should know not to act out against the beliefs of the great Sir Wrath ul’Mator.” She even had the gall to perform a mock bow.
The Republicans went quiet after that, except for the odd word between Syren and Lady Bug. The hostages went back to talking amongst themselves, the main topic of chatter now being the revelation of the terrorists’ intentions. Eternal darkness was one theorised outcome. The more optimistic suggested they truly intended simply to banish Celestia and give Luna her turn for independent rule, keeping most of Equestria the same.
Brightshine and Zavine didn’t know what to think. They didn’t see the point in concerning themselves with that which was out of their control. The pair of them continued to stare at the little filly, as it smiled, Syren giving her inaudible words of praise and endearment.
Time continued to pass by, until at some point, a trio of pegasi arrived. They were armed, and took positions around and above the civilians. The unicorns, as well as Lady Bug, left. Barely a word was shared between them. The departing group exited through the side door. Once it closed behind them, a blast was heard, and Jay tried opening the door. It wouldn’t budge. Jay then moved to stand in the archway. With two pegasi hovering where the unicorns had once been, and the third overhead, there was no escape.
OUTSIDE THE DOME...
Button Mash’s mother, Milano Mash, had lost her child. She first realised this when his easily identifiable voice wasn’t screaming at some game screen. A quick search for his trademark hat revealed he was no longer in the arcade. After scolding herself for letting this happen, she had begun trying to think like Button and follow his possible tracks.
She hadn’t gotten far before noticing a great deal of ponies staring and pointing at something in the opposite direction, behind the arcade.
She had closed her eyes and wished aloud, “Oh please don’t be Button related.”
Of course, what she saw was far worse, in a general sense of national security being more important than a single child. That being said, one can never truly gauge the importance of things, as importance is a matter of opinion. So, in this case, although the sight of an ice dome covering Canterlot Castle was indeed a shock and a cause for concern, Milano really did need to find her son.
Her mother’s intuition didn’t seem to let go of the dome, nagging her something rotten. She didn’t like what it was telling her, but, she did as told and returned to the arcade. Entering it, she passed right through and out the rear exit. Lo and behold, there was Button, struggling to keep up with Silver, that friend of his that Milano was beginning to feel was a bad influence.
She had screamed his name, but the ice wall must have been too thick for her to be heard. Punching the ice just hurt her hoof. But she had to do something. Who knew what was the cause for the dome.
“That’s it!” She had exclaimed, already on her way around the dome wall, “The guards will know!”
Now at current time, Milano can be found amongst a huge gathering of ponies loudly declaring their desires for answers. The poor mother was nowhere near enough to the front to get her own personal dilemma heard. Her throat beginning to hurt from all the yelling, she sighed and backed away, getting an outside view of all the ponies pushing up against one another. It was a ridiculous sight to behold. It didn’t help that the guards looked just as much at a loss as the others.
On the other side of the ice, guards without their armour were having a similar problem. Some would think that so much pressure and heat against the ice would weaken it. Maybe it was. Who could tell?
“Has anypony else noticed a complete lack of ponies coming from the castle?”
Milano jumped away from the voice with a cute little yelp.
“Oh, sorry about that! Didn’t mean to scare ya miss!”
A hoof to her chest to settle her rapidly beating heart, Milano search for the source of the voice. A little behind and to the right of where she had been, there stood a pegasus mare. Her coat was a murky, yellow-y green, and her mane and tail, looking a tad wild, were a muddy variant of green. Her cutie mark, on a pair of saddle bags along with in its usual place, was a winged heart with speed lines. The mare also carried a camera around her neck.
“I- erm… It’s alright. Who are you? Are you a reporter?”
“That I am!” The mare stood at attention. “Puppy Love, best reporter on land, sea and in the air! You’ve probably heard of me!”
“I’m sorry, I don’t think I have. Which paper did you say you work for?”
“The Ponyville Truth, ma’am!”
“You can call me Milano, Miss Love.”
“Then call me Puppy, ma- Milano!”
Milano giggled at the whole soldier with superior officer act Puppy Love seemed to be performing.
“Ok, Puppy. Isn’t The Truth that the really old paper hardly anypony reads?”
Puppy’s shoulders slumped and she sighed, “Yeah… I’m all that really keeps the thing going… With all the stupid tabloids around these days, it’s hard to keep up with the celebrity nonsense the general populace gobbles up like mindless farm animals.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“No!” The reporter was back to attention. “It’s quite alright Milano! One day, the newspaper industry will return to its glorious golden age of true news, and then, The Ponyville Truth will be revered for sticking to its guns. My interviews will finally be appreciated for their historic importance!” Part way through her speech, Puppy had raised a hoof to her chest.
Milano raised an eyebrow at the end of Puppy’s speech, questioning it, “Historic importance?”
“Oh, didn’t I mention? I’ve interviewed the great villains of modern times! Nightmare Moon before her vanquishing, Discord while he tormented Equestria for a second time, and Queen Chrysalis Vulgaris during her invasion of Canterlot! I even managed to get some time with Prince Blueblood before the infamous womanising catastrophe of last Tuesday, leading to the removal of his Princeship!”
“Quite the repertoire.”
“It isn’t easy, but the public needs to know! Now, back to the topic at hoof!” Puppy leaned in close, a hoof blocking her mouth from the view of any unwanted eavesdroppers. Her voice was hushed. “Have you noticed that nopony appears to be coming out of the castle?”
Milano, humouring the mare, copied her actions and replied, “Now that you mention it, nopony has… do you think they just haven’t noticed?”
“Unlikely. I was nearby when it happened, and my keen reporter eyes noticed a visible wave of cold cause ponies to shiver briefly before the dome formed. It originated from inside the castle.”
“Oh… then what do we do? I saw my son running towards the castle… what if something bad is in there?”
“Although I have the greatest faith in our dear rulers, I have found out one possible way to contribute.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” Puppy stood straight. “Follow me Milano Mash.” She walked away from the ever increasing rabble of ponies.
“Wait, how did you- Ugh, reporters. Probably knew all along.” Milano trotted after the Pegasus.
Not even a minute later they stood next to a seemingly random but abandoned bit of the dome wall. Looking around suspiciously, Puppy slapped a sticker on the ice. The sticker was identical to her cutie mark, if not a bit bigger in scale.
“What’s that for?”
“Dave.”
“Who?”
“Me,” said a green light that popped out of Puppy’s mane.
“... Who?”
“Millie, meet Dave, my partner in crime. He’s going to help us find out what’s going on. Dave, work your magic!”
“Right on, sister!”
A clicking sound came from the light Milano assumed to be Dave. He disappeared in a poof of smoke and reappeared on the other side of the ice wall.
“Ha! Made it!”
Puppy offered a high hoof to Milano, who slowly touched it with her own hoof.
“I thought magic didn’t work near or inside the dome.”
“Pfft, pony magic maybe, but Dave’s a Sprite- Yeah Dave, you can go.” Dave went towards the castle. “Sorry, he was just asking if he could get on with it already. Where was I? Oh yeah. Dave’s a sprite I met a looooong time ago. We helped each other out, and stuck together since. Good buds, us. Two peas in a pod. BFFs. All that jazz!”
“Uuuuuhuuuuuuh…”
“Now we wait.”
Milano nodded and closed her eye, giving a short prayer, “Dear Princesses, please keep my Button safe… and I guess Silver Sea too…”
Unnoticed by Milano, Puppy Love’s ears perked up at Silver’s mention. Hey Dave, Silver Sea’s in there somewhere.
Already halfway across the grounds, Dave replied, “Things are gonna get messy then.”
AND FINALLY...
Up in the private meeting room, high up near the top of Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia of the Sun, Princess Luna of the Moon and Sir Archangel, Luna’s personal guard and a former human, were all at a loss for words. After a sudden wave of cold, all the magic activity in the room stopped, instantaneously. After a few attempts by both Alicorns, the conclusion was reached that all magic had ceased to work, and it probably had to with the earlier cold and the sudden appearance of an ice dome over the castle, as seen from the three-sixty window making up the room’s wall.
Archangel had gone down through the trapdoor exit to find out anything from nearby guards patrolling the castle, but all he found were scattered piles of broken ice. There hadn’t been any other ponies around either, though that was due to the nature of the top most floors of the Castle. Only guards and cleaners were allowed, and cleaning wasn’t scheduled for a while.
Upon his return, however, the room went pitch black, all light from the windows blocked out with no apparent cause. What followed would likely be one of Archangel’s worst experiences in life. Hooves, bladed at times and normal at others, came from all directions. He was cut heavily, limbs were broken, and he was restrained. His pained shouts and screams could be heard by the two Princesses, who could not be seen flinching.
“Sir Archangel!” Luna exclaimed. “What’s happening!?”
Next, Celestia and Luna were jumped on, furry hooves fastening things to the bases of their horns; cold things. Not only that, but clamps were felt around their body, keeping their wings pinned. Once that was over, and the furry hooved attackers were gone from physical contact, light returned.
Archangel had been put in a wheelchair, already wearing casts over his broken limbs, with clamps on the wheels to avoid movement. Only one limb was free, even his wings having casts. It looked like he’d been ran over by a bus.
Celestia reached a hoof to the object fastened around her horn and got a static shock when she got too close. A chuckle from above moved her attention upwards. Two bat ponies circled above, nearly identical with their faded, purple, furry coats, and their blonde, unattended manes and tails. Their only differences were one had a mullet, and the other wore dorky, old looking glasses.
“It appears,” Celestia began. “Dear sister, that we have been taken prisoner in our own castle.”
There was a noise from underneath and Glitternight came bursting through the trapdoor, panting. It was quite the climb from the guards’ section of the Castle.
“Sorry, I realised I forgot my quill but then some kind of chill passed through me and ice was everywhere, and I might have slipped a lot, and for some reason there’s no guards around aaaaaaaand something’s not rig-”
A third bat pony, with the trademark fur, short, brown mane, tail and beard, appeared from nowhere and wrapped a knife bearing hoof around Glitter’s neck.
“Move and you die,” he said, germane accent making him all the more threatening.
Archangel tried to talk, but they’d broken his jaw at some point in the ambush.
“What is the meaning of this!?” demanded Luna.
A disembodied voice answered, “Now now, ma princesse, no need to worry. We are here to help.” The voice was the most beautifully masculine prrench accent anypony had ever heard. Lavender on the ears. “We represent the Lunar Republic.”
“Do you not mean the New Lunar Republic?” asked Celestia, keeping her cool.
“Why, of course, Mademoiselle Celestia. I may not agree with your position, but I can still accept when I am wrong.”
Luna spoke again, “And who exactly are you? Will you not even show your face to your enemies?”
“Oh, you and I are far from enemies Ma Chère Lune. As I said before, we are here to help. Let us not make this any harder than it already is.”
“I would find it much easier to believe you were I able to see you!”
“Indeed, I really should reveal my identity, ‘in the flesh’ as the saying goes.”
A shadow appeared on floor before the Alicorns, as if the Sun was directly above, and a thing figure was standing there. Then, the shadow duplicated itself, the copy stretching upwards, taking form. A figure as tall as Celestia, but far too thin for a pony. As the stretching came to an end, the blackness seemed to wash off, falling back into the original shadow.
The creature resembled an anthropomorphic bat pony. Its shape was that of what the former humans had described they looked like, prior to ponification. Also like humans, it was fully clothed, wearing a rather smart get up. Midnight blue trousers, black shoes, a blue waist coat over a white shirt and purple tie, and on top of it all a brown trench coat. What could be seen of its ‘flesh’ was the usual bat pony fur, eyes and even wings. Although its feet still looked like hooves, its forehooves were replaced by hands. Lastly, its dark purple hair was swept back, finishing its refined. At a guess from what they knew of humans, and the voice they’d heard, the princesses presumed the being was male.
Accompanying his speech with broad arm movements, the creature introduced himself, “Bonjour Madame, Mademoiselle et compagnie! Je m’appelle Omni Chrome!” He bowed dramatically. “And I welcome you to the inauguration of the Lunar Republic Era!”
NEXT TIME...
Death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death… oh, and death.
What, you expected lines from the next chapter?… Oh fine then!
“Hurr Durr, I am Omni and I want to rule the world, yeehaw.”
Hahahahahahaha- No.
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Despite what you said in the description, I really think I needed to read the previous story before getting into this one. The transition could have been more smooth with a few thousand more words of explanation.
Not that I'm faulting you for that. I never end up writing quite enough.
3447133 I shall remove that then. My worry was that Hive and Seek was not that good, and this is quite different. People may judge this by it's predecessor. Thank you knidly for the input.
3447133 actually, might I ask where any big issues arose?
3447550 It just felt like I had no idea what was going on.
3448163 oh... well... that's not good