Fool's Gambit

by Knight Breeze

Chapter V

Chapter V

Blueblood was... annoyed. Not only did his agents completely fail to capture the interloper's sister, but somepony had broken into his vault while he was at that ridiculous party.

“Was anything taken?” He asked the kneeling griffin, carefully stepping over the shattered glass that was strewn around the room.

“Not to my knowledge, My Lord. Although you should probably take a look yourself, to ensure that nothing private was stolen,” the griffin said from his position.

Blueblood made his way to the open vault and started to root through the papers there. “What of the intruders. Were you able to capture any of them?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

The griffin flinched at this. “No... My Lord... We tried to follow, but they disappeared. Our unicorns believe it to be some kind of stealth spell,” he said, nervously looking up at the prince.

The unicorn seemed unperturbed by this however. He just continued to rife through the notes from the vault, an uncaring expression on his face while the green glow from his horn flipped a few more pages past his face. “And what of the interlopers? Were you able to identify any of them?”

It would almost be better if he had shouted. The griffin thought to himself as he watched the oddly emotionless pony. “No, My Lord. But their tactics and methods lead me to believe that it was The Corsair.” The griffin said.

With a slight grunt, Blueblood threw the papers back into the vault and resealed it. He then walked over to the full length mirror positioned on the far side of his study. “That insolent dog is getting on my nerves. I was hoping to use that worthless tin soldier at the party to get him to back down, but low and behold, Steel Wing was two steps ahead of me,” he said as he inspected his reflection in the mirror. “Did any of the extraction team survive Captain Swift Wind?”

The griffin shook his head. “I'm sorry sir, the pirate hunter got each of them, then took off with our prize. We're trying to retrieve the bodies now, but they've been taken by the guard as evidence.”

Blueblood's horn began to glow, causing the mirror in front of him to copy his action. After a second, the surface of the mirror rippled, then calmed. “Go alert the syndicate of this new development. Tell them that The Corsair is now our top priority. I want that pony's head on my desk yesterday,” Blueblood said as he walked through the mirror.

The griffin didn't move immediately. Instead, he waited a couple of seconds to ensure that the creepy prince really was gone. After glancing around to ensuring that he was alone, he quickly turned and ran from the room, slamming the door closed behind him.

* * *

“But... I don't understand. Why did you say that I would face 'repercussions' if I didn't know any of this?” Shadow Heart asked, confusion registering clearly in her voice.

At this, Knight Breeze broke eye contact with her and looked down at the floor in shame. “...That is... largely my fault...” He said, his eyes refusing to meet hers. “You see, I was trying to get the inner circle to trust me more, to think I was one of them. So I needed to make myself appear alienated towards the Guard.”

He inhaled deeply, then exhaled. “I... had read up on your past. Studied how you had a short temper in your younger years, and how you really didn't care for the elite after a group of them tried to force you after getting themselves a little too drunk,” he said. Shadow Heart remembered the incident. The three had ended up in a hospital after they tried to get a little too friendly with her.

“I formed a plan around you. I would treat you horribly, get you angry, make you lash out at me. I'm good at getting into other's heads, so it wasn't hard. I knew that you would get angrier if I was horrid to the staff, and I was banking on you lashing out at me during that party-” He said, but was interrupted by Shadow Heart.

“So wait, you were intending for Blueblood to molest me? You knew he was going to get drunk?” She asked incredulously.

Knight Breeze's head snapped up at that. He looked at her with a shrewed look. “Blueblood has never been drunk in his entire life, nor did he intend to start that night. Nor was I intending for him to approach you at all that night,” he said, his eyes filled with anger.

Before Shadow could say anything else, Knight Breeze trotted over to the door, opened it, then talked with somepony on the other side. Shadow Heart looked on with trepidation as he approached, a newspaper held firmly in his jaw. “I was intending to have you reprimanded after your outburst, then send you off to the griffin borders. Finally see some combat time,” he said as he laid the paper on her lap. There, on the front cover, was a picture of her standing on Blueblood's face. The headline read “Royalty Assaulted by Royal Guard!”

“I was not expecting Blueblood to do the same thing I was doing. Nor was I expecting him to have a camera pony at the party to take a snapshot,” he said, fury burning in his eyes. “Blueblood has sent this picture to every newspaper in Canterlot, starting a smear campaign against the Royal Guard.”

Shadow looked up at him, shock clearly on her face. She tried to get her mouth to work, but nothing seemed to come out. Finally, she managed to choke out a question. “...Why?” She asked.

Knight Breeze just looked at her sadly. “I don't know. I have a few theories, but nothing conclusive. Though I do know why he sent his goons to grab you afterwards,” he said, as Shadow shifted her bandaged arm uncomfortably.

“He was trying to use you to get to Steel Wing.”

She shook her head at this. “Why would she want to get to my brother? What does he have to do with this!? He's just a grunt for the Talons, he wouldn't be any use to Blueblood...”

“...Shadow, Steel Wing leads the Iron Talons,” Luna said, as Shadow looked at her incredulously. “He told you that lie to protect you. Very few ponies know that he is the leader of the largest mercenary group in Equestria. He is a dear friend of mine, and has graciously allowed me to attach one of my ships to his fleet. He has been instrumental in our efforts to uncover the pirates responsible for so much sorrow in our land, and they want him to stop,” she said, while Shadow tried to get her brain to work again.

“However, getting back on topic, you still attacked a Prince of the Realm. Not only that, but you disobeyed the orders of your superior officer. No matter how mitigating the circumstances were, it is still an offense punishable by expulsion from the guard at the very least, with a prison sentence at the very most,” Knight Breeze said, straightening up a bit.

He ignored her sputtering protests, and continued to talk over her “As your superior officer, I hereby suspend you from active duty, effective immediately. Pending an official investigation and military court to resolve this issue, you are to cease all Guard duties and are stripped of your rank and authority. Good day Private,” he said, as he nodded to Shadow Heart. He then turned to Princess Luna. “Princess,” he said, bowing deeply. He then turned and, while still ignoring the sputtering protests of his subordinate, trotted out of the room.

Strangely, Luna had kept herself silent through the whole exchange. Shadow looked up at her, unsure of what just happened, opening her mouth as she did so. However, she stopped once she saw the look on the Princess's face.

Luna seemed to be doing her best not to laugh.

“What are you-” Shadow Heart said, but was interrupted as the door slammed open, revealing Knight Breeze once again.

Only, there was something different about him... again. He had changed his clothes once more. Instead of the Night Sentinel armor her was wearing not two seconds ago, now he was decked out in the gray dress uniform used by the Iron Talons. What was most noticeable, however, was that this new outfit allowed Shadow to finally see Captain Knight Breeze's cutie mark.

It was a kite shield, with a crescent moon superimposed on the front. Flanking the shield, she could see a pair of outstretched wings.

With a distinct swagger, the stallion approached the bed, then leaned against it. “Hi there, my name is Swift Wind, Captain of The Corsair, and second in command of the Iron Talons," he said, as he jauntily flipped a wide-brimmed hat onto his head.

"I heard from my friend Knight Breeze that you are out of a job, and I couldn't help but notice that an opening had just opened up on my ship. To tell you the truth, when I heard that you had let old snot-nose Blueblood have a good taste of the dirt, I stood up and applauded. I like the ponies under my command to have a bit of fire in their blood, especially seeing who our opponents are,” he explained, as he flashed a winning smile while winking at her cheekily.

Shadow's mind shut down at that point, just as Luna burst out laughing.

Author's Note:

Well, here's the next chapter! Just a small bit of exposition before we get down to the real meat of the story.

Also, I'M NOT DEAD!

Hopefully this chapter shed a little light on some of your questions, as well as created some brand new ones!

As always, comments and criticism is welcome, so long as it is constructive criticism.

Comments

[zyr1987]

Poor shadow Heart.

[Knight Breeze]

200 views! woot!

[Lancerlot]

This is a rousing good, thud-and-blunder adventure ...and describing Shadow Heart's foreleg as an "arm" causes it no harm at all.
Really.
Just keep on writing, this is great stuff.

[Noctus Umbra]

YES!!!!! A Captain who is versatile and unpredictable as the wind. I approve

[katarjin]

Best Character EVER!!

[LostArchivist]

I suspect mental whiplash to be a theme here...