• Published 17th Mar 2012
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Interesting Times - Timothy48



A mysterious magical mist drops Equestria into the Human World at the start of the 20th Century

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Chapter 3 (In a New World)

Chapter 3

In a New World

Toto, I don’t think we're in Kansas anymore.

-Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

SS Marlin Spike, Manehattan Harbor, July 12, 1908 10:30pm

Joshua stood on the bridge of the Marlin Spike as he guided it into the Manehattan Harbor. Outside, the lights of the city danced across the dark ocean's surface. Off to his side stood Sea Kelp and Patrick. It had been several hours since they had pulled the poor pony from the ocean, and he had been dried off, fed, and given a woolen sweater that fit him surprisingly well. Out of the corner of his eye, Joshua caught a look of pain on the ponies face. Turning his head towards him, he asked, "Is there something wrong?"

Turning his head, Sea Kelp looked up at Joshua and replied, “It’s just hard to come back to your home and find it’s been wrecked is all.” Looking back out the window at the harbor, Joshua saw what Kelp was talking about. Many of the waterfront buildings were damaged and some had even been outright destroyed. Small boats glided across the water debris choked harbor, working to fish out the larger pieces of debris so that they wouldn’t become navigational hazards for small craft later on. In addition to the smaller boats working to clear the harbor, Joshua could see several larger boats nearby, working hard to try and put out some fires along one of the wharves. Other boats were tied alongside partially sunken hulls, and what they were doing Joshua could only guess at; Most likely salvage or searching for anyone trapped inside.

Taking a deep breath, Joshua replied, “It can be rebuilt, maybe even better than before.”

“I know, but… it still hurts.” Sea Kelp replied. “I don’t even know if my friends or family are alright or if they even have homes anymore. Looking at the damage, I wouldn’t be surprised if many of them were without a home now, and with my boat sunk, how will I be able to help them rebuild?”

Joshua didn’t get a chance to reply, as at that moment a bright light lit up the bridge with a white glare, forcing everyone to shield their eyes from its intensity. The light quickly moved away from the bridge and down over the ship’s hull, an amplified voiced called out from the darkness. “Unidentified ship, heave to immediately and prepare to be boarded for inspection!”


Joshua quickly made his way over to the engine order telegraph and rang the engine room to stop the ship. As the Marlin Spike lost momentum, Joshua ordered the forward anchor dropped to prevent the Marlin from drifting in the debris-choked harbor.


Striding out onto the starboard bridge wing, Joshua looked down and spotted the source of the light. It was a small pilot boat with several ponies on board. A horned pony who stood at the bow of the boat seemed to be the source of the light. Joshua felt that he shouldn’t be surprised. After all, if there were talking ponies, why not throw an honest to god unicorn in the mix?As the boat drew closer, the light winked out. Hearing a scuff behind him, Joshua looked back over his shoulder and spotted Kelp trotting up to the rail. Pointing with his chin Joshua said, “I take it that that bright light coming from that pony’s horn was some kind of spell?”


Sea Kelp gave a nod. “You are correct Captain, it’s just a simple light spell, so you don’t need to worry about it doing anything to your ship.”


“Are you saying that you people have spells that can do things to people? Like turn them into frogs or something?”

Sea Kelp snorted and replied, “I wouldn’t be surprised, though I doubt many unicorns could use them. A spell like that is extremely complicated and would require the caster to be both knowledgeable and powerful enough to correctly cast it. Most unicorns just use their magic for simple things, levitation of objects being the most common application. So relax Captain, the odds of you being turned into a frog are about as good as you getting hit by a meteorite.”

“Oh, well that’s good to know then. So do you happen to know the fellow with the spotlight spell down there?”

“I do,” replied Kelp, “His names Bright Beam, Officer Bright Beam. He’s the senior customs official for Manehattan, course he’s the only customs official in Manehattan. Though I expect that might change soon.”

“Wait, you mean that there is only one customs official for an entire port?” asked a bewildered Joshua.


“Pretty much, it’s not like there are a lot of trade regulations that must be followed or ships to bring in goods for that matter. Not to mention that Princess Celestia hasn’t seen fit to ban many goods that do come into Equestria through trade. Most of these docks aren’t even used that much. In fact, many of those warehouses were either empty or only half-full before they were destroyed.” Sea Kelp replied, shrugging his shoulders. Looking out over the railing, Joshua could see that Officer Beam had reached the top of the ladder, that had been thrown over the side for him and his party, while him and Sea Kelp had been talking. “Personally I think he’s a bit of a pompous ass myself. Always trying to hassle either myself or the other kelp fishers who make this their home just because he hasn’t enough to do and we happen to be the only ones he really has to inspect on a regular basis.”

“Why’s that?”

“To make sure we aren’t fishing where we aren’t supposed to. Believe it or not, but there is a difference between kelp plants from one location and those of another. Surprising I know, but that’s really the only thing he has to do around here other than the occasional goods ship from one of the islands or a passenger ship on its way elsewhere.”

Joshua watched as Patrick greeted the stunned unicorn, who had suddenly found himself surrounded by strange looking creatures. Turning his attention back to Sea Kelp, Joshua asked, “I thought that this was a prosperous city?”

“Oh it is, just not down by the waterfront.” He sighed before continuing, “Even though we have Princess Celestia and now her sister Princess Luna to guide us and protect us, we still have places where things aren’t always rosy, if you get my drift?”

Joshua simply nodded in reply, he was about to ask another question when the sounds of a heated argument drifted up from below, leaning over the railing, Joshua called down. “Mr. Fitzgibbons, what seems to be the problem?”

Turning around and craning his neck, he shouted back, “Sir, this…customs officer seems to think we have some sort of contagious disease, he wants to quarantine us until further notice!”

Said official replied to Patrick’s statement by amplifying his voice so that it was loud enough to wake the dead, “I did not say that! I said that you wouldn’t be allowed to leave your ship until I hear from my superiors back in Canterlot!"

Patrick with his hands clapped over his ears and with a look of pure murder on his face, rounded on the customs officer. Possibly intending to pitch him over the side for nearly deafening him with his shouting. However, before he could respond in any way, Joshua yelled down to him. “Mr. Fitzgibbons!”


Patrick, his ears still ringing from the officer’s loud voice, turned back to his captain and replied, “Yes Cap’n?”


“I want you to rein in your temper and see to it that we are securely anchored for the night.” replied Joshua in an authoritative voice.


“Y-yes Sir, I’ll see to it immediately.” With that, he was off to see to his duties.


Joshua looked back at the customs officer and said, “Officer how long will it take for us to be allowed to come ashore?”

The customs officer replied in a slightly lower tone, “A few days, maybe a week at the most. I am unsure, what with the condition of the countryside and the many damages to our fair city.” he simply shrugged.

“Well, we shall require coal to maintain power for the pumps, and if we are here much longer than a few days we will require fresh provision to be brought aboard.”

“That is acceptable. I will do what I can to see to it that you are supplied with coal in the morning and I am truly sorry that this is necessary. No offense, but I do not feel comfortable allowing you…beings to run loose without consulting a higher authority first. I hope you understand?”

Joshua nodded and replied, “Those are valid point’s officer. However, I have a kelp fisher on board that we picked up on our way here, his name is Sea Kelp and I was wondering if this quarantine applied to him as well?”

Officer Beam closed his eyes and tapped his hoof on the deck for a moment then replied, “I believe that he can leave without any trouble, if he is nearby I can take him back to shore with me when I finish my inspection.”

“Yes, in fact he’s right here next to me.” Joshua waved Sea Kelp over, who gave the officer a wave from the bridge wing railing.

“Ah very good, yes please send him down. We’ll place him in the boat until we are ready to leave, so that we do not forget him.” He chuckled at his little joke, turning serious, he asked, “Now that we have that cleared up, I must ask you for your shipping manifest and that I be allowed to inspect the cargo holds.”


“Alright, I’ll be down shortly.” responded Joshua. He quickly fetched the shipping manifest from the ships safe and met Officer Beam near the hatch leading down into Hold #2. He had already said goodbye to Sea Kelp as they had made their way down from the bridge to the main deck. It had been an odd experience shaking a pony’s hoof, but Joshua felt that there would be many more strange experiences to come.

As he approached Officer Beam, he took in the unicorn’s features. He was shorter than Sea Kelp by a couple of inches and sported a short-cropped mane and tail with a dark blue coat. His eyes were light green and as Joshua approached he could see that the stallions cutie mark looked like a flashlight with a beam of light emanating from one end. Over these features he wore a simple uniform; A blue shirt with white trim and silver buttons and a similarly colored cap. On said cap was a small silver shield badge.

Squinting his eyes slightly, Joshua could see that the emblem was that of a stylized sun with two crossed anchors over a crate in front of the sun. The officer sported another similar badge over his right breast pocket, the only difference between the two was the 001 stamped on the lower portion of the badge.


Nodding his head to the unicorn Joshua said, “Hello Officer Beam, I am Captain Joshua Phelps.”

“Captain, I will try and make this quick. However, I will make sure any suspicious cargo is properly inspected and any attempt to interfere with my inspection will be considered a criminal act and will be properly prosecuted by an Equestrian court of law. Do you understand what I have just told you?” Joshua nodded his head in acknowledgement, “Good. Now if you will please surrender your shipping manifest to me, we can begin.” Joshua handed him the manifest and followed him down into the bowels of the cargo hold.

Several hours later, Bright Beam returned the manifest to Joshua with a small sigh, as if he were actually disappointed that he didn’t find anything illegal.“Alright, you pass the inspection. However, you and your crew are still confined to the ship. Any attempt to leave the ship will be met with a swift reaction. You have been warned, now if you'll excuse me I must go. Good night Captain Phelps.” He bowed his head and quickly left, as he lowered himself over the side of the ship he called out, “Oh, before I forget. I must ask you to not interact with anypony that might try to talk to you while you are in quarantine.”


Joshua asked, “How come?”

“Because I said so.” He replied, in the same tone of voice a parent with an annoyingly curious child might use. With that said, he finished lowering himself over the side and slowly climbed down the ladder. After they had cast off from the ship and were a fair distance from the battered freighter. Bright Beam turned to see Sea Kelp looking at him from the stern of the boat, motioning for Kelp to stand next to him, he said, “Now, I want you to tell me everything you know about these creatures.”


Canterlot Castle, Map Room, East Wing, July 14, 1908 12:03 am


Accord looked up at the large map on the wall and thought back upon the events of the last couple of days. After having left the hospital after his encounter with Celestia and Luna. He had followed the guard across the city towards the castle and his new room. The city was a mess. Many of the windows had been blown out during what many were beginning to call ‘The Event’, and as a result the streets were a sea of sharp glass shards. Thankfully, the middle of the street was relatively clear of glass so the going was easier. Several of the buildings that they passed were little more than rubble now, while others had been damaged to varying degrees.As they approached the castles main gate Accord saw that the two gate guards continued their routine of standing like statues, making no move to stop him or his escort. I guess having a royal guard for an escort helps speed things along. He thought. Shrugging his shoulders, he kept walking several paces behind his escort. Looking up, he noticed that the castle had taken a real pounding. Every single window had been shattered, and the two large double doors had been blown completely off their hinges. In addition, several sections of the castles wall had large holes in them. Thankfully the curtain wall surrounding the castle, while also damaged, remained relatively intact.

Passing through the open space where the door had once occupied, Accord looked around the interior of the castle. Put quite simply, it was a wreck. Paintings were scattered everywhere, many were ripped and torn, and much of the furniture was ruined. Papers were scattered across the floor and there appeared to be some structural damage in the form of cracks in the floor, walls and ceiling. What had once been a beautiful and elegant castle, kept clean and spotless by an army of servants, was now little more than a ruin. The place felt like the life had been sucked from it and a pall of despair and fear hung heavy in the air. Ponies wandered about aimlessly, unsure of what to do.

Taking a deep breath Accord made to speak, however the guard stopped him. “What are you doing?” asked the guard.

Accord blinked, What am I doing? None of these ponies know who I am, nor do I think they care at this point. He let his breath go with in an explosive sigh. “Nothing, nothing at all. Come on, let’s go.” he said to the guard, who simply shrugged and continued on.

After several detours, around hallways that were deemed unsafe for regular travel. They arrived at the room where Accord would be staying. Turning to Accord, the guard said, “Here we are, if you need anything do not hesitate to ring the castle staff.”

Nodding, Accord thanked the guard and pushed the doors open with a hoof, stepping through into the darkened room. After flicking a nearby light switch on, he shut the door and looked around the room. It was rather spartan for a palace guest room. Other than the four poster bed, a nightstand, wardrobe, bookshelf and nearby writing desk there wasn’t anything else here. No paintings, no rugs, even the bookshelf was empty of anything. Hmm, this must be one of the lesser used rooms. Giving a shrug, Accord made his way over to the bed, giving it a quick once over, he found that the sheets were both clean and fresh.

Giving a satisfied nod, he proceeded to carefully remove his clothes and place them in the currently empty wardrobe. Once he was finished, he pulled the covers back on his bed and after having turned the lights off, climbed into bed and promptly fell asleep.

He was awoken early the next morning by the incessant prodding of somepony’s hoof against his shoulder. Grumbling to himself, he cracked an eye open and muttered, “What do you want?”

A female voice replied, “It is time to start the day ‘Mr. Chancellor’.”


Oh joy. It seems that my ‘secretary’ has arrived. Groaning, he rolled over and sat up. Looking to his left, he saw an Earth Pony mare looking impatiently at him, a slight frown gracing her face. “Raspberry Tea I presume?” he asked.

She gave a shallow bow and replied, “At your service ‘sir’.”

While he lay there, Accord looked over his new ‘secretary’. He supposed that she would be pretty, if she bothered to smile at all. Instead, her face was stoic mask, betraying nothing. Now that’s what I call a poker face. He thought to himself as he lay there, looking over the rest of her features.

Her mane and tail were a reddish raspberry color, both of which were well kept. Her mane falling to the right side of her face, along with it being longer in the front, ended up obscuring one of her deep blue eyes from view. Her coat was a powder blue in color and when she turned, he could see that her cutie mark was that of a cup of tea, raspberry leaves and a scroll.

While he had been laying in bed, his secretary, for lack of a better word, had set about opening the window curtains; Allowing sunlight to pour into the room and causing Accord to scrunch up his face as his eyes adjusted to the new light level.

Deciding that he had wasted enough time, he rolled out of bed with a sigh and proceeded to ready himself for the day. While he went about his new morning routine, Raspberry pulled a list out of her saddlebags and rattled off Accords schedule for the day. “Once you have finished getting yourself ready, we are to meet with Captain Shining Armor-”

“Wait, what about breakfast?” asked Accord, just as his belly gave a low grumble.

Raspberry gave him an annoyed look and said, “Well if you had been up earlier, you wouldn’t have missed the morning meal. Now,” Accord groaned at the prospect of having to wait till the midday meal, while Raspberry continued speaking, uncaring of his plight. “As I was saying, we will be meeting with Captain Shining Armor to go over security arrangements for yourself, among other things. In addition, Celestia and Luna’s secretaries will also be present and will help bring you up to speed on various developments within the kingdom.”

]Accord paused, his right hoof halfway through his overcoats sleeve. “Wait, I thought that I hadn’t been appointed as Chancellor yet.”

“You haven’t, but that doesn’t mean you can’t familiarize yourself with the current workings of the government and get things arranged ahead of time. Princess Luna expects to have your swearing in ceremony as soon as she is released from the hospital after all.”

“As soon as...just how long does she think she will remain there?” he asked.

“A couple more days, at least. That is what she said in her letter.” she replied offhandedly as she continued to look over her list, while she waited for Accord to finish dressing. “She also mentioned creating a ‘Background’ for you before we meet with anypony.”

Fumbling with the buttons of his coat, as his magic was still recovering and he wasn’t used to using a unicorn's horn, Accord asked, “So what does that entail then?”

Raspberry looked up from her list and cocking an eyebrow asked, “Well, we need to cover the basics; where you were born, who your parents were, where you went to school at and so on and so forth. Basically make it so that when you are questioned about it, or if it comes up, you can keep your facts straight so that your cover isn't blown. Some ponies still haven’t quite forgiven you yet for what you did a few years ago.”

Accord’s face visibly blanched at the thought, giving his head a slight shake he said, “I would assume that you would alter the records appropriately, so that they match up with my ‘story’?”

She gave a dismissive flick of her hoof. “Of course, who else do you think they would trust with something like this?”


“Of course, so what happens now?”

“Well, you can tell me where you were ‘born’ for starters.” she replied.

Giving a sigh Accord said, “Fine, now let’s see.” He paused for a moment, taking the moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. “I was born to two unicorn parents. Honest Ledger, my father, was an accountant for a small shipping firm in Fillydelphia. My mother, Red Ribbon, was a seamstress and she worked with a well to do fashion designer just a few blocks from our home.”

While he was speaking, Raspberry Tea was busily taking notes. Noticing that he was getting a little ahead of her, Accord slowed down and let her catch up before continuing. “When I came of age I went to one of the local public schools. I was a bit of a loner, mainly from my lack of a cutie mark-”

“Hold up.” she interrupted abruptly. Finishing her current sentence, she looked up and asked, “So you never received your cutie mark as a young colt?”

He nodded his head. “Correct, of course it wasn’t for lack of trying. I tried everything I could think of to try and discover it, but as you can see,” he turned and slightly lifted his coat up, exposing his blank flank. “I never got it.”

“So what happened next?” she asked, pausing once more.

“Well, since I didn’t have any friends to speak of while I was in school, I spent a lot of my time studying. As a result I graduated near the top of my class. Following graduation, my father suggested working for him in an apprenticeship. Since I hadn’t really tried anything like that before, I kind of hoped I would be able to gain my cutie mark that way, sadly it didn’t happen.”

Raspberry gave a soft hum and asked, “So your father got you a job at the company he worked at?”

“Yes.” was his reply.

“And what did you do there?”

Accord shrugged. “I mainly did odd jobs, filing papers, cleaning up the office, occasionally doing some of the accounting, with my father watching over me carefully of course.”

Raspberry scribbled a few more notes and then asked, “What did you do when you left your parents home?”

“Well, after saving up enough money from working for with my father, I applied for entrance to Fillydelphia Law School. By this time, I had taken to wearing clothing that covered my blank flank in an effort to try and blend into society.”

More note scribbling and she said, “I see. And why did you pick law school, seeing as how you were still a blank flank at the time.”

Accord shrugged. “Just because a pony doesn’t have their cutie mark doesn’t mean they can’t be interested in things. It so happened that law and civil affairs interested me at the time, hence the reason I tried my hoof at that type of career.”

“What happened while you were in school?” she inquired.

“I was generally ignored by my classmates, giving me plenty of time to work on my studies. Seeing as how I wasn’t distracted by little things like...parties.” he said the word like it was something disgusting. “I graduated near the top of my class and after leaving school took up a job offer with a small law firm. A few years later I accepted a job offered to me from the civil service, joined and worked my way up the ladder.”

She remained silent for a moment, putting the finishing touches on her notes before looking up and saying, “Well, it’s not much, but I guess it will do for now. We’ll have to sit down sometime and really iron out the details of your ‘past’ so that the records can be properly altered among other things.”

Accord cocked an eyebrow in question. “What do you mean, ‘among other things’?”

“Don’t worry about that right now.” She said, before looking at the clock on the nearby fireplace mantel and saying, “Now, you have been stalling long enough. Let’s go.” And with that she brushed past Accord and through the door. Accord rushed to catch up with her.

Walking through the castle, Accord noticed that today the castle’s staff seemed to be in a somewhat better mood. I guess having something to do helps keep your mind off your worries. He thought idly.

On several occasions Raspberry would stop and talk with a castle staff member about one thing or another. Accord, naturally, was left out of the discussion and thus felt kind of awkward, just standing around doing nothing while he waited for Raspberry to finish with her little chat. Finally, after the fourth time she had stopped, a slightly irritated Accord asked, “I thought we were on a schedule?”

She continued walking straight ahead, not bothering to turn her head as she replied, “We are, however we do not have to be there for a few more minutes.” Accord gave an irritated sigh as he followed along behind the increasingly irritating mare.

After two more stops, they arrived in front of a pair of solid looking oak doors. Turning to Raspberry, Accord asked, “So where are we?”

Raspberry opened the door and stepped through while replying, “The Royal Map Room. It’s one of the few magically reinforced rooms in the castle.”

Accord found himself in a large room, the first thing he noticed about the room was that it was nearly spotless in its appearance. In addition, unlike a lot of the other windows in the castle, the one to his right was surprisingly still intact. Continuing his inspection of the room, he spotted a massive map of Equestria taking up a section of the far wall. Sweeping his gaze across the rest of the room, he noticed several bookshelves, each filled with large tomes of knowledge, lining the rest of the walls. Finally, in the center of the room was a round oak table that had been polished to a mirror gloss finish; several padded stools were set around it.

While he had been examining the room, Raspberry had taken a seat on one of the stools. She waited while Accord finished looking around, and when his curiosity seemed satisfied, she cleared her throat and said, “If you are done gawking at everything, we need to get ready to meet with Captain Armor and their Highness's secretaries.” Accord simply grunted, settled himself on a stool next to Raspberry and waited for the other three ponies to arrive.

It wasn’t more than a few minutes before the doors opened once more and in strode Shining Armor. His white coat and cerulean colored mane both well groomed and maintained, along with his armor being polished to a high sheen.

Striding up to an empty seat, Shining removed his helmet and placed it next to him as he seated himself at the table. Placing his hooves in front of him, he gave a respectful nod to Raspberry Tea. However when he turned his gaze to Accord, his eyes narrowed slightly. Accord couldn’t tell if it was from suspicion or if that was his way of showing confusion, Accord suspected that it was the former rather than the latter. It was only reasonable that Shining would be more suspicious of unknown ponies in the wake of the recent attack upon Canterlot by the Changelings.

After sitting in awkward silence for several moments, Accord opened his mouth to try and break the silence. However, he was interrupted by the double oaken doors being violently swung open and two ponies stride into the room. Said ponies seemed to be in the middle of an intense debate.

“I’m telling you, Moonlight, this whole thing sounds dodgy to me. I mean, have you ever even heard of this pony before?”


Moonlight replied with a roll of her eyes. “Of course not, I don’t have time to keep track of every single pony that is employed by the princesses. I have far too many important things to be doing and so do you.”


“But still...” continued her companion, so engrossed were the two ponies that they failed to realize that they had in fact reached their destination and that there was an audience present.

While the two were arguing, Accord took the moment to study them. Moonlight was obviously Luna’s secretary, seeing as she had the same theme as the Lunar guard. Bat wings, golden dragon eyes, purplish grey coat and a dusky purple colored mane and tail.

Her demeanor was rather cool and collected, unlike her companion who seemed more energetic and outgoing. Speaking of said companion, Accord looked him over and wondered how in Equestria this stallion had become Celestia’s personal secretary. Everything about him screamed slob, his brown mane looked like it hadn’t been brushed in months and his khaki colored coat was looking a little rough as well.

In addition, his hazel colored eyes just wouldn’t. Stay. Still. It was like the stallion had guzzled four gallons of the strongest tea ever brewed. Not too mention all the twitching his body was doing. Accord hadn’t even been introduced to the stallion yet and he could barely stand him already.

The argument would most likely have continued but for the sudden sound of Raspberry clearing her throat, which brought the two of them up short. “Moonlight, Sun Scroll, so glad you could finally join our little meeting.” The two ponies, startled by her voice, each gave a surprised squeak and immediately looked like a pair of foals caught doing something naughty. “If you are both quite finished with your little debate, we have important matters to discuss.”

Giving a sheepish look, the two quickly sat down. Once she was satisfied that everything was in order, Raspberry rapped a hoof on the table, gaining everypony’s attention. “Now that we are all present and ready to begin, shall we get started then? Shining Armor,” the stallion turned his head towards her at the sound of his name. “What is the current status of the Royal Guard here in Canterlot?”

“Uh, well the Guard has sustained a few casualties, but from my understanding their injuries are minor and they should be available for duty in a few days.”

“Good, and how many guardsponies are there currently in Canterlot?” she inquired.

“Well right now there are four hundred and sixty effective personnel, ma’am. Not counting new recruits who are in training."

“And how many new recruits are there Capitan?”

“Seventy, ma’am.” he replied.

Raspberry nodded and after scratching out a few notes on a nearby piece of paper with her quill, asked, “What of the emergency services? Police, fire, and medical?”

At this question, Shining looked slightly nervous. “I-I’m unsure ma’am, I’m just the head of the Royal Guard after all.”

Raspberry gave an unimpressed sniff and jotted a few more lines down before turning her attention to Celestia’s secretary. “Sunscroll,” he lifted his head up from off the table, “Do you have Celestia’s schedule for today with you?”

He blinked once, before realizing what she wanted and levitating a thick sheaf of papers out of his saddlebags. “Um, yes I do actually.” After fumbling with them for a minute, he continued, “Uh let’s see here...the next appointment that Her Highness was to have this morning was with the Minister of Agriculture.”

“And what were they going to discuss?” asked Raspberry.

Sun Scroll fumbled with his papers for a moment trying to find the correct one. Finally, he managed to find the right one. “Ah-ha! Here it is!” he said happily, while waving with his hoof.

Raspberry rolled her eyes. “Wonderful, now suppose you share with us what it says?”

“Ah, sure.” he cleared his throat awkwardly before continuing. “Well, Princess Celestia was going to go over several new plans on increasing food output with Minister Greenbean.” Raspberry made a ‘go on’ motion with her hoof. Giving a shrug Sun said, “That’s all there is ma’am.”

Raspberry facehoofed. “Was there any other appointments that she had that day?”

Comprehension dawned on Sun’s face. “Oh! Uh, no there was not. The rest of her day was to either be used to catch up with paperwork or to be free time for Her Highness.”

“I see,” she turned attention to Moonlight, “Now what about Princess Luna’s schedule?”

“Pretty much like her sisters. I had assumed that they wanted to spend time together and catch up on some missed paperwork.” replied the batpony.

“Well then, I guess that will make things easier for you then Accord.” said Raspberry.

Clearing his throat, Accord replied, “I suppose so, though you still haven’t introduced me yet.”

Rolling her eyes, she replied, “I was getting to that. Everypony,” she waved a hoof in Accords direction, “this is Legal Accord. He is to be helping us with the relief effort, in addition to the running of the government while Princess Celestia and Luna are recovering in the hospital.”

Shining Armor raised a hoof slightly before asking, “So what you are saying, is that this pony,” he indicated Accord with a wave of his hoof. “Is now our new boss.”Raspberry nodded, “Essentially, yes. Like I said earlier, he will be standing in for the Princesses until they are able to resume their duties.”

The three ponies each looked at each other, as if silently holding their own meeting, before turning their full attention on Accord. Accord felt nervous at the sudden shift in their attention to him. Feeling a bead of sweat roll down the side of his face, he gave a nervous gulp and asked, “I-is there something wrong?”

“You could say that.” replied Shining Armor. “I find it highly irregular that you, a pony that we know nothing about and that we have no record of entering the city, is suddenly placed in charge of the current disaster relief effort. In addition, I have received reports from several sources that state that Discord has broken free and is currently at large and we know that he can change his form. So forgive me if I find your sudden appearance here in the halls of power a little...odd.”

Accord felt his anxiety rise, which for him was something that almost never happened. Back when he was Discord, the only time he had ever felt fear or nervousness was just before and during the times he got his flank kicked by the Elements of Harmony. But for some reason he was feeling nervous. Why am I so nervous all of a sudden? Is it because I am no longer a draconequus? Okay, take a deep breath and calm yourself, so far it’s just Shining being paranoid, trouble is, he’s right. On the other hoof, you’ve got both Celestia and Luna’s backing, just keep cool and you’ll be fine.

Taking a deep breath, Accord replied, “So are you implying that I am in fact Discord?” Shining made to reply, but Accord cut him off. “Because that is just silly, if I were Discord, I wouldn’t be sitting here getting things back in order, now would I?”

“He’s right Shining,” interjected Raspberry. “I can personally vouch for him and so can the princesses. Accord is a special pony, one who has been in Princess Celestia’s employ for a long time. I suppose you could consider him to be a sort of firepony. Whenever a problem crops up, he’s the one who is sent to get it sorted out.” Shining still looked unconvinced. Letting go a sigh, Raspberry said, “Look, you can go and ask Princess Celestia and Luna if you want, their answer will be the same as mine. Accord was originally brought in to help with some financial difficulties that needed some straightening out, it just worked out that he was here at the time of The Event.”

“What about Discord?” pressed Shining. “You can’t just write him off, if he is on the loose, then we need to be extra vigilant and if he does raise his ugly head, we need to be ready to take him down.”

“Your concerns have been noted Captain, but you need not worry, Princess Celestia has seen to the matter.”

“Actually, it was Luna who took care of that little...ah, problem.” interjected Accord.

Shooting him a glare, Raspberry said in a slightly sarcastic tone. “Thank you for that correction Accord,” turning her attention back to the others she continued, “As I was saying, the matter has been taken care of and you need not worry about it. Now are there any further questions or concerns before we move on with the meeting?”

Sun Scroll’s hoof immediately shot up. Giving a sigh, Raspberry said, “Yes Sun Scroll, you had something to ask?”

“I do,” he replied, “I was wondering what Accords cutie mark looks like.”

Accord’s face didn’t move an inch, but on the inside he was panicking. Oh great, what am I going to do now? If I reveal that I am a blank flank, Shining Armor’s suspicions about me will only return with full force. But if I lie about having one and it’s found out that I don’t have one, it will only make things worse! Looking over at Raspberry, hoping that she would give him a hoof, sadly she simply stared at him, an unreadable expression on her face.

Silently growling to himself, Accord could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. Taking a deep breath and hoping what he was about to say wouldn’t come back and bite him on the flank, he said, “Well, the truth of the matter, is that I...”

“That you what?” pressed Sun Scroll, curiosity lacing his voice.

Giving a heavy sigh, Accord finished lamely. “I’m a blank flank.”


An awkward silence descended upon the room, Sun Scroll idly rubbed his hooves on the table, suddenly very interested in the table top. Finally, an awkward cough from Shining broke the silence. “So,” he began, “Were you planning on sharing this little bit of information with us?”

Accord didn’t like Shining Armors tone, not one bit. Giving him a steady look, Accord said, a touch of coolness tingeing his tone. “If memory serves me right, pressing a pony about their cutie mark when they don’t want to talk about is consider rude.”

While Sun Scroll flinched at the reply, Shining didn’t even bat an eyelash, instead he shot back. “Well keeping secrets from ponies can not only be considered rude, but dangerous as well.”

“Do you have a problem with me Captain?”

Shining narrowed his eyes. “Yes, I believe I do, there are some things that are not adding up and I intend to find out the truth.”

Accord made to retort, but the sound of a hoof striking the table top, with such force as to sound like a thunder crack, cut him off. “Captain Shining Armor, Legal Accord has been appointed to his current position by Princess Celestia herself. If you have any problems with this current arrangement then you can take them up with her. In the meantime, you will behave and cooperate with Accord in all matters. Do I make myself clear?”

Shining looked like he had bitten into a rather sour lemon. “Crystal.” he ground out.

Satisfied that he wouldn’t cause anymore disruptions, Raspberry turned to Accord and said in a more softer tone, “Why don’t you give them the short version of your life? So as to try and lay to rest any silly suspicions that somepony,” she said this bit while looking at a sulking Shining Armor, “might have.”

“Well, I suppose so.” He said and clearing his throat he told his ‘past’ to the other ponies in the room. After he had finished his abbreviated tale, the others, save for Shining, seemed content with the story and turned their attention to Raspberry. Seeing that he was finished, she went over the remaining points that they were to discuss during the meeting.

Leaning forward, so that he could rest his forelegs on the table in front of him, Accord simply listened to the conversation as it took shape around him in silence. It was several hours later before the meeting wound down and good thing too, his stomach was growling up a storm from not being fed that morning. Feeling his cheeks heat up in embarrassment, Accord looked around to see if anypony had heard. Thankfully, the others didn’t seem to have noticed.

Turning to Raspberry, he asked, “Since we seem to have exhausted all of the important business, suppose we break for dinner?”

Nodding her head, she replied, “Sounds good to me.” Looking up at the clock on the wall she said, “We should have about a half hour before the evening reports and petitioners begin arriving, so if we want something to eat we better go now.” Turning to the other ponies at the table, she said, “If there isn’t anything else to discuss at present, I say that we adjourn for a half hour break and reconvene at half past six.”

After gathering their things together, the five of them filed out of the map room and towards the staff dining hall. Sun Scroll and Moonlight walked ahead of the group, Sun Scroll talking at what felt like a mile a minute. Moonlight meanwhile bore up under the verbal onslaught surprisingly well all things considered and she even seemed to be enjoying the conversation. Raspberry Tea and Shining Armor meanwhile had inserted themselves into the middle of the group and seemed to be in the middle of a heated conversation. Accord meanwhile was content to remain at the back of the group, after all, he barely knew any of the ponies and two of them weren’t exactly friendly towards him. Raspberry seemed professionally distant to him, while Shining Armor on the other hoof seemed openly hostile and suspicious towards him. Which tended to limit potential conversation options considerably.

So it was in this setting that they arrived at the dining halls entrance. The smell of delectable food wafting out from within causing Accords mouth to water in hungry anticipation.

The two unicorn guards, upon seeing the group of ponies trotting towards them, opened the double doors with their magic, allowing Accord and the others to pass through unimpeded. The dining hall they entered was rather modest, the ceiling only being about twice the height of the average pony. In addition, both the tables and chairs were more...worn than in the main dining rooms elsewhere in the castle. The tables were scratched and stained, same with the chairs and stools, many of which didn’t even match their neighbors in color or even style. That wasn’t to say they were ready for the dump yet, but their days of being used by the nobility and visiting dignitaries were long past.

The rest of the room was about the same as one would find else where in the castle, white walls with golden trim, chandeliers, with their magical illumination orbs hanging from the ceiling and the marble tiled floors completing the rooms look.

Taking a seat at a nearby table in between Raspberry and Shining Armor, Accord waited impatiently for the waiter to arrive to take their orders. In the meantime, the rest of the group took their seats around the table. Accord didn’t feel like talking at the moment, so he simply rested his head on the table and closed his eyes in an effort to avoid conversation. Sadly, it didn’t seem to work. “So Accord,” cracking an eye open, Accord saw that the speaker was none other than Sun Scroll.

Letting loose a heavy sigh he asked tiredly, “Yes Sun Scroll, what is it?”

The other stallion nervously played with his hooves for a moment before gathering the courage to say, “You never did tell us what happened to your family after you finished law school.”

If Accord hadn’t had his eyes closed, he would have rolled them in exasperation. Didn’t this stallion ever shut up? He wondered sourly. However the words never left his mind, instead he said, “I don’t want to talk about it right now Scroll. It’s been a long day and I haven’t eaten at all today.”

The other stallion blinked, confused at his reply. “Oh? Why would that have anything to do with what happened to your family?”

Accord instantly felt his temper flare. The combination of the events from yesterday and his lack of food today. In addition, of having to put up with Shining Armor’s hostility and Raspberry’s indifference to him. In addition to the stress of the meeting had put in a bit of a foul mood. So having Sun Scroll continue prying into his personal life and then, when he tried to politely tell him to drop it, blow it off like it wasn’t a big deal, really got him hot under the collar.

Lifting his head off the table, Accord turned to fully face Scroll and said in the most even tempered voice he could manage. “Sun Scroll, I’ve had a really long day today, on top of the disaster that was yesterday has left me feeling really wrung out. So if you would be so kind as to drop the subject and leave me in peace I would be grateful.”

“Oh, sorry, didn’t know you had a rough couple of days. Believe me, I know the feeling, ever since everything went crazy, I haven’t had a chance to get any sleep.”

Well that would most likely explain his unkempt appearance and annoying demeanor. Thought Accord, I suppose I owe him an apology of some sort for being terse with him earlier.

Opening his mouth to respond, Accord was suddenly interrupted by Shining Armor when he leaned in and whispered in his ear. “We’ve all been up since before The Event, working hard to get things back in order, so sleep has been difficult to come by. Not that you would know that, seeing as how you were enjoying that luxury last night.” He said, a sneer evident on his face.

Accords cooling temper suddenly flared up again, and was even hotter now. Accord considered himself an even tempered stallion and it took a lot to get under his fur, but when it did, one of two things would happen. One, he would explode into a volcanic fury, which had only happened once and it had not been pretty, ponies still avoided the badlands even to this day. The second thing that could happen would be that he would manage to rein his temper in. Thankfully for everypony’s health, he went with option two.

Taking a deep breath, Accord abruptly stood, bumping the table and catching the attention of the other three. He gave Shining a piercing glare and without a word stormed out of the dining room, slowing down only to snag a couple of sandwiches from a passing waiters tray with his recovering magic.

Angrily striding past the two guards, neither of whom batted an eyelash at the angry unicorns passage, he turned in a random direction and stormed off. The sound of somepony shouting his name drifted out of the dining room. He ignored it however, in favor of lengthening his stride, so as to put as much distance as he could between himself and the others.

He soon found himself in a deserted part of the castle, alone with his thoughts. As he walked along, he felt his temper cooling once more. What is Shining Armors problem? Why is he such an ass towards me? Is he like that to every new pony or is it just me?

Shaking his head, he stopped in front of a recently repaired window that overlooked a portion of Canterlot below. Looking out the window, a question that had been stewing in the back of his mind came to the forefront at that moment. It is strange, this Magical Event has laid whole buildings low, but has left others next door, completely intact with next to no damage. What’s more, what could have been powerful enough to pull Equestria out of its world and into this one?

He shuddered suddenly, a strange sensation overcoming him, like something was watching him from the shadows. He looked around trying to spot the source of his discomfort, but upon finding nothing out of the ordinary, turned his attention back to the window and his thoughts. My chaotic powers are all but gone now, in addition to any inclination I might have had to cause chaos. It is strange, even my memories are blurring of the time I was Discord. What could be-

His thoughts were interrupted by an unknown voice. Hehe, the reason is simple Discord. I hate competition and brother, you’re some pretty tough competition. So why take a risk of you mucking everything up here like you did back in your world.


“Who’s there? Show yourself!” commanded Accord.

Oh, I don’t think so, at least not yet. It would ruin the surprise, and that’s no fun! You should know this. After all, you were the ‘God of Chaos’, least until you came here. No, you’re in my house now and you’ll play by my rules. Ya got that pal?

“What are you babbling about? What are these so called rules, of yours?”

Figure em out. I ain’t telling you nothing pony boy, that wouldn’t be any fun now would it?

Accords patient was wearing thin by this point and he spat, “Tell me or so help me I’ll-”

You’ll what? Yell, kick, and scream, maybe cry for your momma? Don’t make me laugh Discord, this is exactly what you used to do. Manipulating everyone around you for your own enjoyment, speaking in confusing riddles, turning everyone against each other, all for your own fun. Karma’s a bitch ain’t it?

The voice laughed at its own wit before saying, Hehe, you know Discord. You and me, were a lot alike, or at least we were…until you royally screwed everything up! Now you’re just a sad little pony with no powers who thinks he’s still powerful. Well I got some news for you Discord. You’re nothing more than a little minnow swimming with sharks, if ya ain’t careful you’ll get chomped! Now, if you’ll excuse me I’ve got work to do. With those words, the presence left.

Accord found himself alone with the mysterious beings harsh words, It’s true, my powers are all gone now, An oppressive weight seemed to fall upon his back. A feeling of helplessness descended upon him as he stared out at the battered city. Letting loose a heavy sigh, he began mentally ticking off his current troubles. So I guess this is it, I’ve lost my powers over chaos and change, not to mention my body has been forcefully changed so that I don’t ‘scare’ anypony. Not too mention, I’m now bound to carry out the will of my former adversaries and if I step out of line it’s back to the garden as a nice decorative statue. My ‘secretary’ is actually a spy who was assigned to keep a watch on me and make sure I behave and if I don’t she’ll blow the whistle on me and then whoosh! it’s back to the gardens. What’s worse is I somehow seem to have made an enemy out of Shining Armor and on top of everything else, there’s a mysterious being running around trying to make my life more difficult!

He leaned his head against the cool window panel, a powerful headache beginning to form at the base of his skull. The sound of hoofsteps approaching caused him to look up. “Oh, it’s you.” he said coolly.

Raspberry stopped a few paces from him, an uncertain look on her face. Finally she took in a lungful of air and said, “Hey.”

Turning to face her, he asked, “Yes?”

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Well, you found me.”

]Fighting down a sudden burst of irritation, she calmly replied, “Yes I have and we both have to get back to the map room before the evening reports arrive. In addition, to dealing with any new problems that may crop up.”

Giving a weary sigh, he nodded and said, “I suppose, though I doubt it will be pleasant for anypony, seeing as how Captain Armor seems to have developed a distinct dislike of me.”

Raspberry looked away while rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof awkwardly. “About that,” she paused as if unsure of how to proceed. Finally she just gave a sigh and said, “Shining Armor won’t be there.”

Cocking an eyebrow, Accord said, “Oh?”

“Yes, after you stormed off, I confronted him about it and after having a...discussion with him about it, I told him to go and get some rest.”

“I take it he wasn’t to thrilled about it.”

Raspberry shook her head. “No he wasn’t, but he’s wound so tight right now, that unless he gets some rest, I’m afraid he’ll snap. It doesn’t help that this hasn’t been a good for him to begin with, what with your return earlier in the year and the failed Changeling invasion a few months ago and now this.”

“I see.” was his reply.

Rubbing her temple with a hoof, Raspberry said tiredly, “I also told Moonlight and Sun Scroll to hit the hay as well, so it’ll just be you and I until tomorrow morning.”

“Well then, I suppose we should be on our way then.” and with that he turned and trotted off, with Raspberry falling in behind him. As they walked, Accord couldn’t shake the feeling that he was once more being watch by that irritating spirit. Straightening his shoulders, he felt the feeling of despondency leave him as a sudden surge of determination welled up inside of him. I might have lost much of my powers, but I still have the basics, and even if I can’t perform the magic anymore, I still remember how to manipulate and deceive. That’s better than nothing. So with that thought, he held his head high and prepared himself for whatever was going to be thrown at him next.

~oOo~

Unfortunately for Accord, it seemed as if the universe had it out for him, for he had quickly found himself inundated with ponies seeking somepony, anypony in charge to give them direction and guidance. He had had to not only assure everypony that came through the double oak doors that not only were Celestia and Luna still alive, but that they would recover in time. In addition, he had had to deal with several high-ranking nobles, who had inquired as to the Solar Sisters health, including Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Shining Armors new wife if Accord remembered correctly.

Apparently, word had spread that both Celestia and Luna were on their deathbeds and the flood of concerned ponies that had inundated the hospital. Which had forced the hospital staff to bar everypony, including family, from entering the princesses wing of the hospital, so that they could get their rest. Accord had made a mental note to release an official statement dispelling the rumor as soon as possible. Thankfully all that was need, was a quick explanation that the rumors were untrue and that Celestia and Luna were fine. Satisfied that everything was fine, she had retired to her home for the evening exhausted.

Now with the clock about to chime one o'clock in the morning Accord let out a loud yawn and thought, If there is one thing that I will miss from my days as a god it will be the ability to go for long periods of time without sleep.

Looking up at the map, he saw the various symbols emplaced on it and thought, At least it isn’t as bad as we thought it was. Death toll is down below a thousand across the country and those who are injured haven’t even broken ten thousand in number…yet. But the damage, He shook his head, the damage reports had kept flooding in and the price tag had only kept rising. Currently the treasury was looking at a total of over seventy million bits in public property damage alone and this was only the second day after The Event. At this rate, Equestria will go bankrupt, He ran a hoof through his mane and sighed, There is no way the government can pay for all of this, not unless there were massive cuts in the budget along with a tax. But at the same time, the citizens can’t afford to shoulder a tax increase right now, so the question becomes, how can we pay for it all?

Suddenly a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, turning, he called out in a weary voice. “Enter.”

The door open and a guard poked his head in and said, “Sir, there is a messenger from Manehattan here to see you.”

“I suppose it’s more damage reports,” Sighing, he waved a hoof and said, “Send them in please.” The door opened wider and in walked a mailmare. She was a pegasus with a black mane and tail, a single orange highlight running through both. Her coat was a burgundy in color and her cutie mark was a rolled scroll pierced with an arrow. She had a pair of flying goggles draped around her neck and a pair of special saddlebags strapped to her back. The bags were secured with a strap that hooked underneath her and one that fit snuggly around her neck to prevent the bags from falling off during flight. These bags were often worn by pegasi flyers, as they sometimes have to perform aerial maneuvers that would dislodge a normal saddlebag from their backs.

She came up and bowing her head in respect, announced, “My name is Cinder Flare and I have a letter from an Officer Bright Beam in Manehattan. It was to be delivered to either one of the Princess’s or if they were unavailable to deliver it to the next pony in charge. Which I guess means you, if you would sign here please.”

She pulled out a clipboard from her bag and waited for Accord to sign, when he finished, she tucked it back in her bag and turned to leave when Accord called out, “Wait please, I might need your services later.” Shrugging she leaned up against a wall and patiently waited for him to give her her next assignment. Accord opened the letter and began to read,


To whom it may concern,

I, Officer Bright Beam, customs officer of Manehattan am writing this letter requesting instructions on a most important matter.

A large ship has entered Manehattan Harbor. It is not from Equestria nor any other country that we know of. According to the ships papers it is registered in a country called, the ‘United States of America’, in addition, the crew is also of an unknown species.

However, they seem peaceful and speak Equinic fluently. I respectfully request instructions on how to proceed. Currently I have the ship quarantined in the harbor. In addition, the ‘American’ ship has picked up a local kelp fisher. I am currently questioning him and according to his initial testimony, these beings are quote, “quite nice and helpful” end quote. I however, am unsure on how to properly handle the situation. I therefore respectfully request further instructions on how to handle this matter.


Sincerely,

Officer Bright Beam, Equestrian Customs, Manehattan.

Accord finished reading the letter and setting it on the round table, turned back to the mailmare. “Cinder Flare was it?” he asked.

“Yes sir, what can I do for you?” she replied.

“Are you up to a return trip tonight?” he asked.

“Sure, I’ve got plenty of juice left, where do you need me to deliver the message?”

“Manehattan, specifically Officer Bright Beam. However, it will be a short time before I require your service so why don’t you go and get a little something to eat and take a short break?”

“Sounds good to me, a nice daisy sandwich sounds like it would the spot nicely.” she replied happily.

Nodding his head, Accord called out, “Guards,” A guard poked his head in with a questioning look. “Please show Ms. Flare to the kitchen, she’s had a long flight and is in need of some food.”

“Yes sir,” Motioning with his hoof he said, “If you will follow me ma’am.”

As Cinder Flare and the guard pony left, Accord gave a weary sigh and turning to Raspberry, said, “Well can’t say I was expecting this.”

She nodded, before asking, “What now?”

Accord rubbed his chin in thought before saying, “I suppose I should respond to Officer Bright Beam’s letter.”

“What will you say?”

Accord was silent for a moment, before replying, “I will send him instructions to keep the mysterious beings quarantined until further instructed.” Raspberry simply nodded. Turning his attention back to the map, he pondered, I wonder how Celestia and Luna will react to this new revelation?

~oOo~

As Cinder Flare trotted behind the guard, she took in the sights of the castle. Everything was a mess outside of the map room where that important unicorn was. She was a curious pony by nature, with a weakness for strange and interesting objects. Her home in Cloudsdale was full of strange objects that she had found while she was out, normally when she was doing her mail route.

She had found such strange things as a steel bar bent into a pretzel, a colorful rock, and even a few pretty seashells, just to name a few. She particularly enjoyed meeting new ponies and due to her friendly nature would quickly befriend them, though sometimes the pony in question didn’t return her sentiments. Such as her current escort, who had polity told her that he had no desire to be her friend and that she should just be quiet.

Therefore, she had reluctantly complied, though she still thought he was being a big grouch. After having traveled in silence for a time she couldn’t take it anymore and asked, “So, where are you from?” The guard gave her an annoyed look and said, “Ma’am, please be quiet, it is against regulations for guards to chat while on duty.”

“Oh, okay.” she replied disappointedly.

Finally, they arrived at the kitchens and the guard said, “This is the kitchen, do not leave it until you are sent for.”

“Okay, sounds good. See ya later Mr. Guard!” Cinder cheerily waved at the guard as he left. Turning back to the currently empty kitchen, she rubbed her hooves together and said, “Okay let’s see where they keep the bread!”

It was nearly two hours later when a different guard came to get her, in that time she had made herself a sandwich and eaten it. In addition, she had cleaned her plate and those left out by the kitchen staff, which was around two hundred or so and had just finished putting the last one away. She didn’t handle boredom well. The guard simply stood in the doorway and said, “If you are finished playing dishwasher, your presence is required in the map room.”

“Okay, okay. Sheesh, somepony’s pushy.” She followed the guard back towards the map room. As she followed along behind him, she noticed several other ponies cleaning and fixing up the corridor. She spotted a brown earth pony removing a small cracked granite bust of Celestia and immediately she was standing next to him a wide smile stretched across her face and asked, “Hi, I’m Cinder Flare! You’re not going to throw that out are you?”

The earth pony looked from her to the guard, who simply stood back with an expression on his face of, You’re on your own pal.

“Uh…well it is damaged, so yes, I am.”

“Can I have it?” she asked excitedly.

“Uh…why?”

“Cause it looks so cool, especially with this crack and everything! So can I have it, pretty please?” she said while batting her eyelashes at him in a playful manner.

Looking back at the guard who merely shrugged, the earth pony replied, “I…guess?”

“YAY! Thank you!” She grabbed the bust and after having transferred all of the stuff in one bag to the other, she carefully placed her prize in her bag and trotted happily down the corridor after the guard, leaving the confused earth pony behind.

Upon reaching the map room, Cinder found herself once more in the presence of the strange unicorn with the green and gold coat. He looked at her and said, “Here is the instructions for Officer Bright Beam, I need these taken to him immediately. In addition, I want you to tell him that I will arrive a few hours after the arrival of this letter so make sure he understands that these tasks must be completed quickly.”

“Understood sir!” She gave a salute and after having stowed the letter in her saddlebags turned and quickly made her way out of the castle. Upon reaching the outside, she put her goggles back on and adjusted them so that they would sit properly. Spreading her wings, she took off into the sky, the weight of the bust in her left side saddlebag throwing off her balance slightly. However, she quickly became accustomed to its weight and automatically compensated for it, after all it wouldn’t be the first time she had an unbalanced load.

Turning southeast, she flew on into the night, savoring the feeling of flight. The cool breeze as it caressed her feathers, the whistle of the wind as it rushed past her ears and the best part of all, the view. It was almost as if she could see forever, down below she could see a small hamlet. A few lights could still be seen at this late hour, casting pools of golden light on the ground below. It was an exhilarating feeling, one she was grateful to have whenever she wanted to. She felt sorry for those earth ponies and unicorns that would never be able to experience this feeling.

Catching a weak thermal, she rose in altitude and spotting a fluffy cumulus cloud she stopped for a rest. Looking out over the dark countryside, she sighed in bliss. This was the life, open sky with no worries in sight. She felt her eyelids grow heavy, the clouds fluffiness inviting her to take a nice nap. Her eyes closed for a moment, it had been a long day and she was tired, surely nopony would blame her if she just caught a few winks? It became even more difficult to stave off sleep. However, a sudden chilly breeze caused her to become wide-awake, it was almost as if it were saying, No time to sleep now dearie, you have a job to do. You can sleep later. Shaking her head, she said to nopony in particular, “Almost drifted off, that wouldn’t have been good,” Looking around herself at the night sky she said to no one in particular, “Thank you.” With that, she readjusted her goggles and continued on her way.

She managed to make Manehattan just as the sun was rising in the east. Looking around, she quickly spotted a large group of ponies gathered round a small wooden building near the docks. Angling her wings, she quickly descended and after giving a shouted warning landed near the door of the building, which had a large sign over the it saying, Manehattan Customs Office. Quickly trotting towards the door, she found her way blocked by a local police officer, he looked down at her and said, “State your business.”

“My name is Cinder Flare and I’ve got a message for Officer Bright Beam from Canterlot.” She reached in her saddlebag and waved the aforementioned document at him.

The police officer looked it and her over one more time then said, “You may enter.”

Giving him a courteous nod, Cinder walked through the door. She soon found herself in a plain office, a pair of uncomfortable looking wooden chairs sitting near the door. A few filing cabinets lined one of the walls, with a clock ticking quietly away above them. A large window to her right let in light and a large beat up metal desk sat in the middle of the room, sitting behind that desk writing furiously was Officer Bright Beam. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a while, his mane was a mess and his uniform was wrinkled. A cup of long forgotten tea sat to one side, having since become cold. When he failed to look up from his writing, Cinder Flare cleared her throat and said, “Delivery for an Officer Bright Beam from Canterlot.”

His head came up like a dog who had found a scent. Quickly he dropped the pencil from his magical grasp and got out of his chair, trotting around the table he said, “Thank you, this must be the instructions from Canterlot.” He quickly signed his name on the receipt and tore open the letter. Rapidly scanning it, he let out a sharp gasp and grabbing his cap, ran out the door barking orders. Leaving a confused and tired Cinder Flare in his wake. Looking around the office once more, she spotted a folding cot in the corner that she had somehow missed earlier, and without a moment’s hesitation she unfolded it and laid down for some well-earned rest.

~oOo~

The sun was nearing its zenith as the sky carriage, carrying Accord and Raspberry Tea reached Manehattan Harbor. The pair of pegasi guards pulling the carriage flared their wings as they came in for the final approach. The area they had landed in had been cleared several hours ago by local police officers and had then been cordoned off to prevent any prying eyes.

As the carriage rolled to a stop, Accord looked over the area, Less damage than in Canterlot, but still quite a bit. Shaking his head, he stepped down from the carriage, followed by Raspberry and after thanking the two guards trotted over towards a small tent that had been set up on one of the wharves. Magiking the flap aside he strode in and was greeted by the sight of two individuals. One, a unicorn was dressed in a custom officer’s uniform and was presumably Officer Bright Beam.

The other however was a different matter. Accord assumed that this must be the captain of the ship he had seen at anchor in the harbor. He stood on two legs and other than the top of his head, he was hairless. At least Accord assumed as such since the being was covered in clothing, much like Accord, who had changed out of his previous outfit after one of the guards had found more clothing that fit him. Opting for a more simple outfit with less frills and sturdier coat more suited for travel than his previous outfit.

The being’s clothes were simple and well worn. Accord could see numerous stains and repaired tears in both the pants and coat. Both of which were a faded dark blue. The two leg held his beat up hat in his hands and as Accord studied him, the fellow seemed to become nervous. Finally, Accord said, “My name is Legal Accord and I am a representative of Her Highness Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.” A look of surprise, or what Accord assumed was surprise, crossed the beings face, Accord continued, “I have been instructed by the Princesses to find out if you and your people are dangerous to the well being of this nation. What say you?”

The two leg shifted nervously then spoke, “While I can’t speak for every nation out there, uh, Mr. Accord, I can say that we in the United States would probably favor peace.”

Accord arched an eyebrow and asked, “What do you mean probably favor peace?”

“Well, I am but a humble merchant captain, I don’t exactly have the ear of President Roosevelt. However, the United States, to the best of my knowledge, doesn’t bully its neighbors unlike other countries out there.”

“Do you happen to have a map of your world?” Accord asked politely.

Nodding his head the captain replied, “Yes I do, it is over here.” He pointed to the table behind him on which a large map had been spread out. Walking up to the table, Accord looked at the map carefully. To his surprise, he found that it was in Equinic. In addition, there were many countries spread across its surface. In addition to this ‘United States’ that the two leg had spoken of, Accord saw many other countries, some larger than the United States and others smaller. The one that intrigued him the most was the country called ‘Russia’ it stretched across an entire land mass and was easily the biggest out of all the other countries. Turning to look at the two leg Accord finally asked, “What are you called, and what is your name if I may ask?”

The two leg replied, “Well if you’re referring to my species, then we call ourselves humans, as for my nationality it is American and my name is Joshua Phelps.”

Accord processed this new information, mentally tasting each word, finally he said, “Tell me Captain Phelps, what do you know about this country?” He tapped the one called Russia.

“Honestly not much. I know that they have a czar as their ruler,” When he saw the look of confusion on Accords face he clarified. “I believe a czar is like a king, only with more power or some such. I honestly don’t know, I’ve never put into a Russian port so I’ve never had the chance to ask.” He shrugged his shoulders and continued, “I know that they recently lost a war with Japan over a territorial dispute a few years back.”

Accords ears perked up at the mention of the word war, he turned to fully face the captain and calmly asked, “You said that they were at war recently?” When Joshua nodded Accord continued,” And how often are war’s fought?”

Shrugging again he replied, “I don’t really know, offhand I guess it really just depends on your definition of a war. The last big war that the US fought was the Spanish American war back about ten years ago. We took Cuba, some small Pacific islands and the Philippines from Spain in that one. Before that, we had our civil war, which was a little over thirty years before the war with Spain. Of course, there are always minor skirmishes and border clashes between countries. Then there was the whole rush to colonize Africa and what not, Brits got into a fight with the natives and won. Though, I never really paid much attention to that sort of thing.” He shrugged again.

Officer Beam and Raspberry Tea, just stared at him, their mouths agape. Accord meanwhile kept his face calm, Hmm, a war every thirty years, or less? The very idea is ludicrous, how would they pay for these wars, and why would there people willing allow such events to happen so frequently? I must have more information! Keeping his face a mask of disinterest, he asked another question. “So if these countries are constantly fighting, what kind of military's do they have and how big are they?”

Joshua cracked a small smile and replied nonchalantly, “Oh, depends on the country, some have conscription like Russia and Germany. While others have voluntary service, like the US, the size of the military also depends as well. Some countries have vast armies, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, while others are content with much smaller armies.”

This time Accord had a harder time keeping his face impassive. Hundreds of thousands? How do they pay for them, or feed them or take care of them? It’s beyond comprehension! Before and even when I was Discord, I never had more than a small guard of no more than a few hundred, mainly to handle the small stuff I couldn’t be bothered with. After all, when you’re a powerful being why would you need an army? But here he was confronted with the realization that Equestria was not only in a new world, but that the natives were prone to extreme bouts of violence and that Equestria was virtually defenseless against them. Accord did not look forward to giving this news to Celestia, not at all.

Author's Note:

Wow, it's been well over a month since last update. Sorry about that, December was not a good month for me. Getting sick with Bronchitis and then getting better just in time for the holiday rush on top of getting ready to head back to college left me drained. But I finally got this thing done, ~yay! Standard shoutout now, I would like to thank my editor, Shoggoth, for helping me get this train wreck sorted out. In addition, Cinder Flare is the OC pony of RazgrizS57, and that should just about wrap this up. Oh, one last thing, if you guys spot any errors let me know please. Thank you.