Chapter 19 -Take on Me-
-Take on Me-
"It's getting closer to Hearthswarming." Sif yawned at Skyfall, she stood in the doorway that lead to the rest of the newly renovated castle.
"I know." Skies took a deep breath of cold air as Sif paced around and laid next to him.
"I heard the ponies are having a huge play in Canterlot about the forming of the Pony tribes." Sif tittered and looked down at the city plans that Skies had been drawing up. She licked Skies' face. "You forgot to add the hot springs" She asked sarcastically.
"Sorry, I'm a little spaced out." Skies sat up and rubbed his eyes with his hoof. "I had a thought early last night. What's the use in building Farhaven if we can't get the word out? We’ll just have an empty city."
Sif nuzzled Skies. "You can make one big announcement. Something that can't be swept under the rug. You can simultaneously declare your existence and your intention with Farhaven."
"That isn't a bad idea, but where?" Skies chewed his lip, mulling over different locations. "Can't be Canterlot."
"Why not? Celestia wouldn't dare attack you unprovoked in front of her citizens." Sif reasoned.
"You're right, even in private she may not attack unprovoked, but I was talking about the audience. Canterlot is the home to many nobles that are happy with the way things are. No, I want advertise to multiple cities at once." Skies paused. "Aha, got it."
"Got what?"
"Chicken butt." Skies started laughing while a playfully upset Sif struck him. "But seriously, what's the biggest event of the year?"
Sif thought for a second. "The Grand Galloping Gala."
"Exactly, the yearly party at-what?" Skies asked. "Grand Galloping Gala?"
Sif nodded. "It's a fancy party held every year at Canterlot Castle. The fête at Kaer Rainer stopped the year you entered your coma. No one wanted to get together for fear of a possible skirmish."
Skies closed his eyes and shook his head, frustrated. He looked out at the construction groups and saw a pair of Diamond Dogs arguing before coming to an agreement before they began to work together. An idea crept into his mind and a large grin started to form.
"No, bad winter tree dog!" Storm Front scolded as he exited a nearby tower with a large crate balanced on his back, glaring down at the back of Skies’ head.
"I haven't said anything yet!"
Sif shook her head. "No, Storm is right, it's a horrible idea."
"But I haven't said anything yet!"
"We can feel your intent." River mumbled as she walked onto the balcony, tired from organizing resources.
"I don't see any other way." Skies said. "Media from at least all over Equestria will be there. With our message out there, ponies will flock to Farhaven and the world governments will know there is a Spirit-run nation."
"Introducing a mystery superpower in the world, softening the powder keg." River finished. "Hm, I'm in. Plus, I want to see the looks on their faces."
"I still don't like it." Storm groaned. "Besides that, you and I are going to be late if we don't leave."
Skies stood and shrunk down. He shivered and extended his wings. "You’re right. I’ve been retired for too long."
“Too many coconut drinks?” River chuckled.
“No such thing as too much vacation.” Sky tittered.
Storm scowled. “Let’s go, if we wait any longer I may burst a blood vessel.”
With a clap of lightning, Storm teleported away suddenly.
“What’s his problem?” River complained.
“He’s mad at me because I refused the formation of a military in Farhaven.” Skyfall extended his wings and started to fly into the air slowly.
"I see the years haven’t dulled their disagreements?" River took a seat next to Sif.
"You know how those two get." Sif said. "I swear after three words of complaining my ears flap over and my mind drifts."
"Truth." River looked over to Sif. "Wanna get some coffee and chill in a mud bath?"
"Mud? Bath? Me? It's like you know me."
"So, Sunset. How are you findin' Equestria now that yer back?" Applejack asked, trying not to fall over from the turbulent train ride.
Sunset smiled at her old/new friend. "Everything’s changed so much. I can't believe Donut Joe's is still around."
"I'm not surprised, his food is good." Rainbow said. "Especially the cabbage reuben."
Sunset Shimmer and the others had spent the last week together. Their meeting was shaky at first, but when Twilight wrapped her in a hug, the elements joined in to welcome their new friend. Sunset made it no secret that she was friends with all their counterparts in the other world, so naturally they talked her ears off with all the questions they had.
"Does the other Rainbow like reubens?" Rainbow asked.
Sunset nodded. "Yeah, but she actually hates cabbage. She has them with pastrami instead of corned beef and some stuff called sauerkraut. and dumps an entire tub of dressing on it. It gets so messy that Rarity wears a poncho when we go to a place called 'Thursdays.'"
Applejack started to laugh when Rarity crossed her hooves indignantly. "Oh hey, that's right, y'all eat meat don't ya?"
Sunset nodded. "Yep, it's pretty popular over there. I didn't have any for the first few months, but a family took me in and took me to a doctor cause I looked sick. After a few weeks of eating it, I became instantly better."
"Maybe I should try it, I heard it's good for the coat." Applejack mused.
Fluttershy nodded. "I have it every now and again, but never at my cottage. I could never, the cute little furry animals would hate me for it."
Sunset shrugged. "It's sad, but I love the stuff. I've had it almost every meal since I've been here."
"Sounds like someone else we know." Twilight said.
"Another pony eats meat?" Sunset Shimmer asked in surprise.
Rarity hummed. "Oh yes, a big gentlecolt named Skyfall. My date to the Gala."
Fluttershy looked a little worried, but Applejack cut Rarity off. "Wanna mention how you're too yellow to ask him and just sit around saying that so nopony else will ask?"
Sunset backed out of the ensuing argument between Applejack and Rarity in favor of a quieter one with Twilight. "Wow, they sound competitive."
Twilight shook her head. "You know how those two get. Skyfall's a tolerable stallion, but he's different. Sometimes he cuts corners and acts a bit too flippant, but once you get past that, he's a regular, down to earth pony."
“Not too fond of him?” Sunset chuckled.
“I’m trying to be friendly, but there are a few things that he does that annoy me.” Twilight sighed. “He doesn’t return books on time, he doesn’t fulfill simple requests for information and he never answers his door!”
“Probably because you bang on it repeatedly.” Rarity huffed.
"Has he been investigated as being a possible Spirit?" Sunset asked. “I read in Celestia’s notes that Spirits have disguises, he could be one.”
"He was suspected briefly, but it was ruled out when Princess Cadance said she spent the entire day at his house when we faced him at the castle." Twilight reiterated. "From what I hear, he and his brother actually accepted the job of training the new guard unit."
Sunset nodded and an awkward silence sank into their conversation until Sunset remembered something to ask.
"When would you like to start studying the Spirits and how to get to them?" Sunset asked from the blue. "I'm sorry, I'm just really excited to work with you."
Twilight smirked. "Well, since you're so eager." Twilight said as she summoned her notes from her independent studies. "We can start right now."
Fluttershy watched in content silence as her friends either argued or gushed over notes. She wished she was bold enough to show her enthusiasm as much as any of them did, but those thoughts would have to wait because the looming, crushing abyss was calling to her. The soft drones of hymns and screams started to vibrate through the walls of her mind. A rare calling that called a few times a day to her that demanded swift, immediate, violent action that can bring even the greatest heroes to their knees, begging for release.
"Um, excuse me, I have to go to the little fillies room." Fluttershy negotiated her way out of the train car and down the narrow hallway.
After the deed was done, Fluttershy made her way back to her car, but stopped when she saw that they were nearing a long tunnel. She disliked when the train went through tunnels because a thick darkness always overtook the poorly lit train. And that’s not to mention how every time it went dark in the train, something happened to her; sometimes Pinkie would fall on her, sometimes luggage would fly open. Luckily this time she wasn't near anyone.
Fluttershy yelped the instant everything went dark. She heard a door open and a pair of hooves dragged her sideways before the lights came back on. A pink hoof covered her mouth, trying to prevent her from screaming.
"Shh, Fluttershy it's me!" The foalnapper whispered loudly.
"Mm-mmm" Fluttershy muffled.
"Whoops, sorry, didn't mean to scare you."
"Cadance?" Fluttershy asked. "W-Why are you cloaked and why did you drag me in?"
Cadance gave Fluttershy a bashful look. "Sorry, I saw you and wanted to talk. No one is supposed to know I'm here."
"Oh, well how are you?" Fluttershy smiled. "I haven't seen you in a while."
"No no no, I haven't seen you in a while." Cadance said. "I've spent the last week at Skyfall's and haven't seen much of you besides that day when you stopped by with cookies."
Fluttershy turned a little red. "I was feeling a little brave that day."
Cadance patted Fluttershy's shoulder. "Well, I'm proud of you. Just be around a little more, okay?"
"But what if I annoy him?" Fluttershy asked. "I just want to be friends."
Cadance gave Fluttershy a devious smile. "Do you think about him during the day when he isn't around?"
"Yes." Fluttershy said, cocking her head in confusion.
"Ha, right. ‘friends.’" Cadance giggled and saw Fluttershy looking a little discouraged. "Trust me, Fluttershy. He isn't annoyed and I think both of you would benefit from being around each other more. You need someone that has the same interests to talk to and he needs someone he likes around."
"He likes me?" Fluttershy asked.
Cadance gave her a half shrug. "He hasn't outright said it, but he did watch you leave, something he doesn't really do for just anyone."
Fluttershy smiled at the news.
"You should come by for dinner. It'll be just you, me, Skyfall, and Sif." Cadance clapped her hooves before nudging Fluttershy. "And halfway through, me and Sif will go somewhere else leaving you and Skyfall alone."
"Oh, I don't know."
"Too late, going to talk to him about it the instant I see him! I have so much planning to do." Cadance cheered before pushing a protesting Fluttershy out of the cab and shutting the door behind her.
"Oh-oh my."
"How much longer until those two get here?" Mused Spitfire as she lifted the sleeve of her bomber jacket to look at her watch. "Foalsitting is not in my job description and today is my day off."
"I'm sure they'll be here soon." Fleetfoot said. "Oh, there's Nimbus."
"Finally." Spitfire groaned and stopped. "Why is he running like that?"
"Maybe he likes to run." Fleetfoot responded sarcastically.
"No, he's running from something." Spitfire said a little louder than she intended, alarming the guards that were standing in the vicinity. "He keeps looking behind him. Guards!"
Suddenly, Skyfall exploded from the treeline, sprinting behind Nimbus, trying to catch up. "You cheated!"
"What?" Spitfire asked.
"You were flying, that's cheating!" Nimbus shouted desperately, trying to outrun Sky.
"That's not cheating! It's innovative winning!" Skyfall started to laugh while running, their heavy hoof stomps started to shake the ground near the guards, giving them an indication of how solid both Skyfall and his brother were. They ran harder and harder before Skyfall leaped and wrapped Nimbus around the neck, dragging him to the ground. They kicked at each other as they slid through the entrance of the parade grounds.
"I take it you're Skyfall?" Spitfire called from the new guard barracks.
Skyfall spotted the thin Pegasus with a worn leather jacket and sunglasses pushed up. He got up and tripped Nimbus as he tried to stand. "Yes. You must be Spitfire?"
"What gave it away?" Spitfire's irately retorted.
"The uneven lay of your wings matches the mare in the magazines." Skyfall finally reached the mare, and towered over her.
"Huh, you really are as big as Rainbow says."
"And yet another pony who knows about me before I meet them." Skyfall quipped, he turned to ask Nimbus a question, but he was already examining the guards’ post to see if it matched his standards. "How many guards are there?"
Spitfire hoofed Fleetfoot to give her the roster. "Ugh, right. You'll be in charge of twenty locals, another thirty from the surrounding areas, and a detachment of thirty from Canterlot's fourth division."
"So a small company?" Skyfall asked.
"You call eighty ponies a small company?" Fleetfoot asked before earning a small glare from Spitfire. "Excuse my comment, Sir!"
"Drop the sir." Skyfall muttered as he read over the roster. "I work for a living, though I do appreciate the respect. To answer your question, yes, to me a full company would have at least another fifty, but this is fine."
"Do you need anything else?" Spitfire asked. "If not, we'll just stick around and watch you guys play around."
"Play around?" Nim asked as he appeared from one doorway and disappeared down another. "She's joking, right?"
"Ignore him, he's... passionate." Sky tucked the roster under his wing. "The only things I need aren't too huge. Just a run down on your rank structure, your regulations, all available forms for anything, and a quartermaster."
"All of the except the last one can be done in the next hour." Spitfire mused. "The paperwork would just need to be printed off and the rank structure is on the back of the roster."
Sky glanced to the chart before shoving it back under his wing again.
"Good quartermasters are in short supply since the union fell on it's face."
"Your military has a union?" Skyfall asked skeptically.
"Nope, that's why it fell on it's face." Spitfire chuckled. "Nopony really gets a quartermaster cutie mark."
"Those things again." Skyfall grated his teeth slightly. "Nevermind, I'll have one trained."
"Don't like cutie marks?" Spitfire asked.
"Not really, I don't like being told what to do." Skyfall turned, showing Spitfire his mark; a pattern of shattered glass. "Until next time, Captain."
"Captain." Spitfire turned and started to walk with Fleetfoot.
"Well, he seems interesting." Fleetfoot chirped.
"That's a word for it."
"Something wrong, Spits?" Fleetfoot opted to use her nickname since nobody was within earshot.
Spitfire looked around to make sure no one was listening. "I'm really curious as to who he is and why Captain Fury and Princess Celestia signed an order giving him the rank of guard Captain. He's a warrior alright, but where from?"
Fleetfoot rolled her eyes. "So what? He can run fast, but that doesn't make him a guard."
Spitfire shook her head. "No, that wasn't what told me he was a warrior. What was one of the first things he said to me?"
After a brief moment of playing the situation over, Fleetfoot shrugged. "That comment about you in magazines?"
"'The uneven lay of your wings matches the mare in the magazines.' Verbatim." Spitfire said. "Only aces know something like that. Not even you and Soarin notice stuff like that. With the lay of a Pegasus' wings, you could determine what route they may favor. I fly hard and fast while falling right to perform corkscrews, which gives me a slightly lower right wing. If my enemy knew that, they could catch me off guard and end me."
Fleetfoot nodded, silently understanding.
Spitfire flew up and sat on the roof of the mess hall with Fleetfoot. "I think I'll be watching Captain Skyfall a little closer than I was instructed to."
"So how'd we make out?" Nim asked.
"Eighty men under our command. Divides things up nicely." Skyfall muttered as he took a second to read the rank structure.
Chain of Equestrian Command
Commissioned Guards.
Captain of the Guard
General
Captain
Lieutenant
Enlisted Guards.
Centurion
Master Guard
Sergeant
Corporal
Guard
"Hey, Nim. Equestria has a Navy right?"
Nimbus glanced at the sheet. "Yeah, ranks pretty much carry over if what I remember is correct. You only have the equivalent of the Army ranks there. No biggie."
"Log this away, but I want these ponies to have some ship training as well."
"What's first?" Nimbus yawned. "It's almost eight."
Suddenly a choir of laughter erupted from the barracks.
"Looks like rain?" Nimbus asked, flexing a little of his power to make the cloudy morning into one that was about to be wet.
"Well, if it ain't rainin’?" Skyfall mused before watching an evil grin creep onto Nim's face.
"It ain't trainin.’ I'll go give the boys a nice, warm reception."
Storm trotted away chuckling to himself comically as he prepared himself for the beginning of training. The wind started to pick up the instant he disappeared into the barracks and the smile on Skyfall's face dropped. "So... how long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough." The silky voice of a mare was the only sound he heard through the wind’s howling.
Skyfall went to turn around, but was stopped by the rumbling earth beneath his hooves.
"Don't turn around."
Skyfall tried to decipher who was speaking to him, but all he felt was a faint trace of magic. "You know, in some places, it's considered rude to spy on people."
"And what do you think?"
"I think, who would be odd enough to speak to me and not want me to see them?" Sky looked around the large courtyard and found that Spitfire and Fleetfoot were staring at only him from the top of the command tower. "I also wonder why no one here is looking at you."
"Very sharp." She said happily.
"Now you're complimenting me?"
"I am not your enemy, Skies." She said sadly.
"And there it is." Skyfall closed his eyes. "Who are you?"
"A friend."
Skyfall huffed and spun around to find a fading mirage, but could see that the mare had a black coat and a rust orange mane. "A friend?"
"Skyfall!"
"I'm a popular stallion today." Skyfall told himself as he looked up and saw Pinkie Pie waving. The roar of Nim's voice came from the barracks and out came a line of awestruck stallions as they fell into ranks right in front of the flag pole.
"Hello everyone, what brings you here?" Skyfall gave Twilight and the others a warm smile.
"They wanted to visit." Fury said as he walked out from behind the group and looked out onto the three companies situated before the new Captain. "I'm here to get your signature and a picture of your cutie mark."
Twilight recognized the ritual from when her brother became a commissioned guard. "Wait, you joined?"
"I joined." Skyfall sounded a little less than enthusiastic as he turned, revealing his cutie mark. something that everyone present took a moment to look over.
"Darling, is that really your cutie mark?" Rarity asked.
"Rarity!" Fluttershy tried to scold delicately.
"Afraid so." Skyfall quipped.
"What does it mean?" Twilight asked. Being a very knowledgeable mare, she could figure out most cutie marks like Fluttershy's butterflies or Pinkie Pie balloons, but a shattered pattern baffled her.
Just behind the group, ponies started to trot out of the barracks and form a sloppy formation in the center of the parade grounds.
"It's a reminder." Skyfall said cryptically as he turned to Nimbus who had stopped next to him moments before. "Are they ready?"
"No." Nimbus scoffed. "They are without a doubt the most undisciplined babies I've seen in a long time. Barely here and they all were wearing their gear and not one of them is wearing it correctly."
"Well. I'm sure you'll find that having trained, fourth division guards in your ranks will sort out the riff raff." Fury said as a matter of fact and with no small measure of pride.
"I was talking about the fourth." Nimbus growled.
"Wanna run that by me again, citizen?" Fury lived up to his name and let his anger show.
"You heard me, these 'guards' are too self centered and were belittling the new guards. If I had my way, I'd run them ‘till their hooves bled." Nimbus seethed and opened his mouth for another line of threats, but found a large silver wing blocking his vision.
"Enough." Skyfall gave a firm command, causing Nimbus to shut his mouth. "What's done is done, with time they will grow closer to each other and mindless nonsense like that will be in the rear view."
Skyfall mulled it over and grinned. "How about we start the campfire songs now?"
The same mischievous grin that sat on Skyfall's face moved to Nimbus’. "Oh, Hearthwarming already?"
Skyfall passed behind Nimbus, presumably heading to the mess hall. "Go easy on them, Nim."
Nimbus whipped his tail and cracked his shoulders. "Since everyone here likes to pretend to be a real warrior and dress the part, that means we're going to act the part and train like we fight!" Nimbus inhaled and looked left quickly to make sure nothing was blocking his marching route. "Company!"
The company of ponies looked around nervously. "Right face!"
After the company turned in a sluggish and uneven manner, Nimbus looked at the group and cringed at the wear of some of the suits that the ponies wore. "Awww, y'all are going to chaff. Excellent. Since you all couldn't wait for instruction on the proper wear and fit of a suit of armor, that must mean that I'm useless! You see, when I feel useless, I get restless, and when I get restless, I like to run and that's what we're going to do, run until I get tired!"
A loud collective groan echoed through the crowd. "Huh? Y'all said five miles?"
A few more groans escaped the crowd. "Ten?"
"Oh come on, you're horseapples!" A particularly angry looking unicorn said from the crowd, making Fluttershy cover her mouth at the insult.
"Mares and gentlecolts, welcome your first blue falcon!" Nimbus let out a long, loud laugh. "Right, I'm horseapples and you're all running twenty miles."
Before anything else could happen, Nimbus inhaled sharply. "Forward, march! Double time, march!"
After a few seconds of bumbling around, Nimbus shouldered one of the walking ponies and threw the commands out the window. "It means run! Run now!"
"Why is he so violent?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't know, Shining Armor never told me what guard training was like." Twilight muttered.
Twilight and the others looked over to Captain Fury, expecting him to be extremely upset, but were surprised to see him smirking.
"They're breaking those ponies down to build them up the way they want them to fight." Fury said. "I would train the regular guard like that, but the Princess has put limits on what we can and cannot do. We even have to give out guards special attention, like one stallion that had an abnormal obsession with grape jelly."
"Well, all of this seems unethical." Twilight huffed. "Those ponies are going to be run into the ground."
"And they're all going to have nasty wounds when they get back from all that armor. Some of them already looked uncomfortable as it is." Fluttershy said, concerned for their collective well being.
"Where did Skyfall go? Surely he doesn't approve of this?" Rarity looked around for where he disappeared to.
"I saw him going toward the cafeteria." Sunset got up and walked a few feet. "Yeah, I see him in there walking around with a plate of food."
With that, all but Fury trotted toward the mess hall. When they entered, they noticed that for a military mess hall, it was actually quite nice. Blue walls and white floors were clean and accented each other nicely. Pictures and maps lined the walls and flags hung down the center from many of Equestria's allied nations. In the very back of the room sat a battered shield and a worn sword that looked better suited for a museum.
The group looked and saw that Skyfall was chatting with a cream colored mare with an auburn mane.
"When they get back, they'll need medical aid. Thanks Inko." Skyfall patted Inko on the shoulder before she left behind a side door. He glanced at the group of ponies that had just arrived and continued his stride towards the buffet. "Hey, what's up?"
"Do you really approve of this?" Sunset asked, surprising Twilight with her blunt and sudden question. Seeing the spectacle obviously upset her.
"Yes, these eggs are begging to be eaten with cheese and potatoes." Skyfall gestured to the food buffet, returning her question with his usual wit.
Sunset glared at Sky.
“Not a fan of cheesy food? We have hot sauce.”
Sunset continued to glare, she did not find the aversion to her question as entertaining as Sky had.
Skyfall sighed. "Fine. The answer's yes."
Twilight looked between Sunset and Skyfall. "Um, right. Introductions. Skyfall, this is Sunset Shimmer. Sunset, this is Skyfall."
"I would say something to the affect of ‘nice to meet you’, but I believe you have a few questions regarding my training." Skyfall forked a few syrup covered sausages into his mouth as he gathered more food onto his plate.
"More than a few." Sunset squinted. "Why are you hurting them?"
Skyfall shook his head and let out a long ragged sigh before muttering curses to himself. "Someone, what is armed conflict?"
"A state of armed conflict is an aggressive disagreement between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state." Sunset said, showing that she wasn't just a pretty mare with a rocking mane.
"Well, you know a definition, but what is conflict in regards to war?" Skyfall asked. "Twilight?"
"Same answer?" Twilight said.
Skyfall rolled his eyes. "Anyone else?"
"Not fun?" Pinkie said.
"Grotesque." Rarity spat.
"Scary." Fluttershy said.
"Ah've heard stories from my Granny Smith. She said they were dark times in our history." Applejack said.
"Something that is sometimes unavoidable?" Rainbow said.
"Bingo." Skyfall pointed to Rainbow Dash, surprising her. "The exact answer I was looking for, word for word. You've earned your eating privileges."
Rainbow clapped and flew over to the buffet. She grabbed a plate and grabbed all the same food Skyfall had.
"I don't get it." Sunset tried to think it through. "What does war have to do with making them run in gear that will hurt them?"
"They put the gear on before they were told to and had no idea how to put it on." Skyfall said. "One false move on a field of battle and that's the end."
"Skyfall, darling. Surely you're taking all of this a little too far?" Rarity smiled, trying to bring Skyfall down from his dire state of thinking. "Surely this isn't necessary?"
"I think it is." Skyfall said firmly.
"One wrong move couldn’t result in that much, could it?" Twilight asked.
Skyfall lifted his wings, fully revealing the long, fleshy scar down the side of his body. The ponies let out their own forms of surprise, ranging from gasping to a hiss noise. "Not to sound too grim, but yes, one wrong move can mean that much."
"Now that's a scar to drink to." Fury called as he opened the mess hall doors followed by a beige mare. "Desert, go and have a seat while I set some stuff up."
"Yes, Sir." Desert growled as she sat. Her chocolate hair covered half of her face showing only one blue eye, she stood with an annoyed look as she turned to sit down after Fury nodded at her.
"Skyfall, I had no idea you were hiding something like that." Fury chuckled. "How'd you get it?"
"Someone I trusted very much betrayed me and ran me through with their blade." Skyfall admitted nonchalantly as he shrugged. "That was a long time ago."
Fury nodded and lifted one of his pauldron, revealing a particularly dark scar on his shoulder. "Got this from a Bison chief when I was just starting out."
Pinkie jumped in with her usual ear to ear smile. "Oh, me next!" She reared up and pointed to her pelvis. "I got this rock sliding!"
Skyfall and Fury laughed as Applejack pulled her back by her tail.
"I'm sorry everyone, I was a bit busy with familiarizing myself with the guards on the roster to give you a proper greeting. Now that we've got that misunderstanding out of the way." Skyfall gave the group a slight bow before scanning it for their newest member. "It is nice to meet you, Sunset Shimmer."
Sunset raised an eyebrow, still in a disagreement at his methods. "Just Sunset is fine."
"I take it you're not originally from Ponyville?"
"Nope, I just got here. Well, back here, I should say." Sunset said.
"Moved away?"
"Kind of." Sunset admitted. "I was raised in Seaddle before I went to the school for gifted unicorns in Canterlot."
"I didn't know you were from Seaddle." Twilight said.
"Yep, Rain City." Sunset mused.
Fury noticed his companion's agitation. "Sorry to interrupt, Skyfall, but this mare is Desert. She's your new lieutenant and medic."
"Have a medic and a second in command already." Skyfall informed. "Both of which I've worked with for years and in many different conflicts."
"Be that as it may, Celestia has demanded that she be your lieutenant." Fury scrunched his brow in anger before relaxing. "I hate to impede on you, but those are the orders."
"Then I accept." Skyfall nodded and looked over Fury's shoulder. "Desert, take a five minute jog to get that scowl off your face."
Desert smirked through her scowl. "On it, Sir."
"A stallion after my own heart." Fury mused.
Skyfall tittered at Fury's comment and looked towards the elements plus one friend and dragon. "I'm about to go around this post and make some checks, do you eight want to tag along? We could catch up that way."
Skyfall watched as each one of them nodded. "Awesome."
"Well, I'll leave you to it Captain, I'll come by tomorrow for today's report." Fury adjusted his golden helm. "What time tomorrow?"
"O-five hundred hours." Skyfall said and he shook Fury's outstretched hoof. "I actually have a request of my own before I tour this base."
"Depends." Fury quipped.
"I want information on everyone in my company; names, dates, vaccinations, family history, addresses, and even what they're afraid of. Pretty much everything they wouldn't readily admit on paperwork."
Fury wrinkled his brow. "Done."
"Until tomorrow." Skyfall nodded and watched Fury leave. It was clear to Sky why Celestia chose him. His powerful walk and stern gaze could win a battle before a sword was even drawn.
Skyfall sighed and let his eyes wander over to Fluttershy. While the rest of the group was talking amongst themselves about an old photo on the wall, she was looking at Skyfall.
Sunlight peeked through the ceiling windows, giving Fluttershy just the right amount of light to brighten her eyes. She took a second and gulped before walking over to Skyfall to talk with her usual quiet tone. "H-Hi. How are you doing?"
"I'm okay." Skyfall said in an equally quiet tone. "And you?"
"A little overwhelmed with all this military stuff."
Skyfall looked at the group and at the side door. "Come on, I think we can postpone the tour."
Fluttershy nodded and followed Skyfall as he left out the side door, looking back every so often to see her friends involved in their own conversations.
"So everything's okay?" Skyfall asked Fluttershy as they made their way behind the buildings that lined the post's walls.
"Mhm." Fluttershy smiled. "Where are we going?"
"Top of the command building." Skyfall pointed. "It should have a good view."
Fluttershy fumbled over her hooves and accidentally leaned into Skyfall. Her face turned red as she scrambled to get away, keeping a greater distance than she had before. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine." Skyfall smiled. "I didn't mind."
Fluttershy gulped. 'Maybe I should try.'
Skyfall found that his walking path was starting to intersect with Fluttershy's. For a moment, it looked intentional, but then their paths grew a little further apart before she bumped into him again. "My dear, I think you may have lost your balance."
Fluttershy mentally scorned herself. 'Too much!'
Skyfall examined Shy's features and saw a mental conflict raging, so he bumped her back, albeit a little stronger due to his size. When he did, he caught a whiff of her mane by accident as she smiled up at him.
"So." Skyfall mumbled. "What do you like to do on your free time?"
Farhaven Later that day
As the day went on, more and more of the forest was being sheared away to make room for the city's layout. Diamond Dogs, wolves, and much of the wildlife that occupied the forest, worked together to make ditches and haul debris around in preparation to start construction of the buildings that would make up the town.
Earlier that day, Farhaven had new visitors that agreed to be locked up until the Spirits could talk to them; Changelings.
River sat in the large vault room, examining the runes, trying to find a weakness. All of a sudden, a thick stack of folders landed next to her, making her fall and yelp out in surprise.
"Sorry, Riv-auntie." Cadance chuckled nervously. "The dossiers were really heavy."
River gave Cadance an incredulous look and saw through her nervousness. “I know this must be odd for you, having a bigger family. Just take your time, no one is forcing you to call me auntie.”
Cadance smiled. “I’m happy that finding my father allowed me to find everyone else. I’m just trying to fit in as best I can.”
“You’ll do fine, Freckles.” River said happily.
“Freckles?”
“You had freckles as a foal, a few Spirits called you that.”
Cadance clapped her hooves in excitement before looking down on what River had been doing.
"Whatchya doin?" Cadance said in a sing song voice.
"Trying to get into the vault. So far, I think I would have a better chance at restoring the Garden of Babylon." River said while she stood and brushed herself off.
"Babylon?"
"Forget it." River mumbled.
"Why do you need to get into the vault?"
River poked the vault door, igniting the floating blue runes. "Your father tasked me with tracking down Grogar and his prized bell is in that vault."
"Who's Grogar?"
River shook her head and looked up towards the ceiling. "It's a sad state of affairs when the education system fails like this."
Cadance turned her head in confusion before River waved her forward before ascending the large, winding steps. "I'll tell you while I go check on our newest guests. Oh, and grab the dossiers."
River made a long annoyed groan as she took the first steps. "Grogar was a philosopher and the ruler of what was known as Tambelon, a small kingdom that inhabited this land before the Everfree Forest reclaimed it. At first he was benevolent, he even sat in on a few meetings with Celestia, Luna, and what remained of the Spirit council after the war. Before all that though, he was a simple ram who made a living as a traveling peddler."
River's tone took on a more solemn tone. "He was good friends with the water elemental, Kaikō, and the Spirit of Death, but eventually turned against the Spirits and stole the secrets to necromancy. We never knew what turned him to commit such atrocities, but whatever it was sure was powerful. It took your father many years to find him and cost the lives of some Spirits to seal him. In the end, Grogar experimented on his body so that he would never die naturally. His coat took on a grim color and smells of rot now."
"And what's in the vault?" Cadance asked.
"Grogar's Bell, the same one he used to control the dead."
"And why does dad want to find him?" Cadance asked, appalled at Grogar's history.
"Answers mostly." River said. "In the time shortly before you and your mother were foalnapped, King Sombra unlocked to mystery behind necromancy and used it against the living, trapping ponies in their own body while he forced them to work like slaves."
"Wait, King Sombra?" Cadance asked.
"Yes, the same stallion you faced in the north was the one that took you and your mother away from Skies." River stopped and turned to face Cadance. "By all rights, you should be dead. We never recovered your body, but then again, we rarely recovered any bodies Sombra got ahold of. Your father grieved for you both for so long, he changed."
"Changed?"
River nodded. "Once, your father was very powerful and could influence a great deal. After… y’know, he became withdrawn and cold. The night you and him reunited, there was a fire I haven't seen in him in so long it almost startled me."
Cadance smiled.
"Keep smiling kid." River patted Cadance's head. "With you by his side and that brain on his shoulders, you're going to see the face of this world change. Now, let's go see the changelings."
The smiled on Cadance's face dropped. "Changelings?"
"What?" River asked curiously. "Don't like changelings?"
"I don't have a problem with changelings, per se." Cadance tittered. "It's just their queen lead an army of them on Canterlot, during my wedding."
River tapped her chin. "I guess that's something to look into. At any rate, these changelings look malnourished and hiveless."
Cadance followed River, but were both stopped when Quiet sprinted into view. "Lady Streams!"
"Yes, my dear?"
"Trouble by the eastern tree line." Quiet said urgently.
River glanced at Cadance before turning into her large, Otter form. "It's always something. What is it?"
"Ponies."
"Ponies?" Streams jeered. "Just capture them!"
"Can't." Quiet said.
"And why's that?"
"They smell like rotting flesh."
Streams mulled it over. "I will go. Take Cadance to the balcony and guard her."
"Come along, m'lady." Quiet used her head to push Cadance towards another stairwell.
"Fine." Cadance pouted, upset she couldn't help with the new guests.
Streams, however, was excited. She wanted to flex a little Spirit power before going back to her books. When she reached the enormous lake, she leapt right in and started to swim around so fast that a normal being would have their skin peeled off.
The wolves had herded the ponies into a circle and kept them in a tight group, when all of a sudden, the largest column of water they've ever seen formed into a cyclone before exploding, causing artificial rain. Each pony tried to back up, but only succeeded in crashing into each other before a giant otter smashed down in front of them.
River scowled at them, smelling the scent of decay on all of them.
The eldest pony limped out in front of the frightened group. "W-We surrender."
River sat on up her hind legs and looked down at the ponies with the most confused look she could muster. "Huh?"
Brought to you by the smooth tunes of NinjaSexParty.
An affiliate with Disney and other not-Disney products. Offer valid only at participating locations, which in this case means all locations. Not to be combined with other offers or somehow cleverly duplicated. Limit one card per visit. Please present this card to the cashier, but don’t be surprised when they keep it. Cash value 1/100th of one cent, which is pretty much nothing. This is the fine print, why are you still reading this? Cadance's mother likes honey.
Yay almost 500 likes, for me that's pretty awesome. For the occasion, I think I might write a one off side story, but am completely unsure what to write so I ask you, yes you reading these words, what would you want to read in the Spirits universe? Comment or PM to let me know, if nothing I'll probably write something regarding Sunset's side of the investigation.
As for this chapter, nothing too crazy, just a little light-hearted character development. Yay for upcoming stuff that I must tease. 
We love ya 
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Why is there never enough words to sate my thirst for entertaining material!?!
Also, number 500 was this guy.
For the side story, you should do how Skies and Cadence's mother met.
7224874 I shall make more words then.
And yyyyyyes.
vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/e/ec/FANMADE_Twilight_Clapping.gif/revision/latest?cb=20120228224010
So, the definition of "conflict" is "A state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state". There's an issue there, and it's in regards to using the word you are defining in the definition. Also, I don't think that's the definition of "conflict" but rather "war".
Also, as boot as this is, it's a story that needs telling because it fits too well into this story.
A friend of mine was going through Basic for the US Army, and after his platoon finished running some ways (as I can't remember the exact distance but it was a ways and uphill) with full kit* as some punishment PT, the drill sergeant said that the next time one of the recruits complains about something (again, can't remember exactly what) they'd run that route again. My friend decides to be a smart-ass and complains, very loudly, about that exact thing. Drill sergeant yells, "All right, you heard him, back up the hill!" By the time the platoon was about halfway to the hill, the drill sergeant ordered the platoon to head back to the barracks. This was because the drill sergeant was starting to fall out of the formation from how long, far, and hard they were running.
*Full kit means everyone has a fake weapon (with proper weight of the real version), fake ammo (also properly weighted for the real thing), and all of the rest of their gear in their rucksack on their back.
7224963 You're not wrong, what Sunset said is the definition for was. Conflict is a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one. I was using conflict in the sense to mean war, considering they were in a basic training setting, but I should go back and clarify. aaand done. :Yay:
I was in the Army for a few years and that sounds very very familiar. I remember going for hours in gear only to have 1 or 2 choice idiots open their mouths to make everything 10x as hard. I never used the word kit though, we just said 'battle rattle.'
A guy in my barracks snuck in his cell phone and was caught in his bunk at 3am, in summary that night/day sucked so hard after that.
yes this book is the highlight of my day when it is updated
7225020
Was Army ROTC myself for about 2.5 years before a back injury got me discharged (and in true green weenie fashion, I get zero benefits [even though I would never use them anyway] and a swift "don't let the door hit you on the way out" from my Battalion MSG).
And I've heard both battle-rattle and kit used interchangeably (both by the instructors and prior service cadets). Could just be different locations use one word or the other, or it's an older term that's slowly being phased out.
Only thing that saved my friend from getting "corrected" was that the platoon was too entertained by the fact the PT was called off due to lack of fitness on the drill sergeant's part. Many lulz were had when there were no drill sergeants around afterward.
Well... All new content here. Only familiar bit being potential future Skies shipping. That means I now have very little idea what could happen next.
Gonna make the waits between updates soooo much harder to handle.
I wanna see how Kies and the other spirits react to Sunset being from a Human world.
So what exactly is Cadance now? An alicorn SPirit hybrid thanks to Tia's meddling?
I like honey too.
7225020
In all honesty, in terms of modern parlance, there is no difference between "conflict" and "war," period. It's a propaganda buzzword. The only people who ever actually expect you do believe that the "Middle East conflict" is not the "Middle East war" are the same spin doctors who put out those headlines and only the most fanatical of mindless believers would actually buy that there is a difference between the two.
To everyone else, it is a given that those two things means exactly the same thing, both conceptually and in factual state of affairs.
That sounds weirdly appealing, actually.
You know, one thing I think this story hasn't explained yet is how Skies has such an easy time fitting into modern society. I believe a pretty big deal was made of the fact that Luna doesn't and they have, after all, been gone for about the same amount of time. Seems a bit incongruous.
Ain't that the truth...
Nice chapter, good work.
7226079
Well, he originally was human, it probably helped. And he probably got up to date during his first weeks in Ponyville.
7227072
7226079
He never changed. He spoke the same in the past as he does now. Every now and again a 'thou' or 'thee' might slip through, but all spirits speak how they spoke originally with little variant, though some spirits do still speak in ye olde english still, like Kaiko.
Modern Equestria speaking the way it does is just a bonus.
7226079
There is a very slight difference between the two being that War is an official deceleration between nations.
If this becomes important later, I'm calling it now.
7226079 because they are from a world that was originally at ours when he left. So in truth he and the other spirits from Earth have been waiting for Equs to catch up.
7227151
That's rather contrivedly convenient, but alright, I guess.
7232090
I'm aware of that. The part I was referring to is that after thousands of years of already living there, the variety of their language that they all currently speak is conveniently the same one that he spoke a thousand years ago - otherwise, everyone would have been kinda unable to decipher a single word of what he's saying for thousands of years, which is just silly. Luna, presumably speaking the exact same way as he must have done at the time, does the whole Ye Olde Englishe thing instead. It's just one of those story logic holes that you get sometimes. He either should be speaking like Luna, or she should not.
Then again, I can't quite remember if she has ever done that on-screen in this particular story, so maybe that ended up accidentally resolving itself before it could even become a problem.
7232098 It's not really contrived, but okay. As for the language, there's nothing necessarily convenient about it, the language he (they) speaks has been the same for the past 1000 years and 2000 years and 3000 years and so on. I didn't think it would be interesting to pretend that they created their own little exclusive language.
7232098 well if anything the current language is like our modern one so again easier to just default rather then learn Old English like he had to when he arrived.
7232121
I wasn't really speaking of any kind of special language - although speaking baseline English or German or French or whatever as they remember it from life would probably count for that - so much as that a thousand years is a rather long time for a language not to change any. Main point there was that Luna seems to have trouble with it and she's time-displaced from roughly the same period, so it seems rather strange that he would not be having any issues with it at all.
It's no big deal, really, just something I noticed. Maybe it's something you can revise a little if you ever go over the beginning of the story again. Maybe for right after when he tumbles out of his treesoleum there. It would get obnoxious over the course of an entire story, of course, but the wolves can have trained it out of him by the time the plot shifts to Ponyville.
It just seems like one of those things that should have been addressed in some fashion, even if not a big one.
Zombie ponies? From that lost village in the Everfree? Oh boy...
Also, Skies or Sif are almost guaranteed to say something silly in Sunset's presence and give the game up when she recognizes a Star Trek reference or something. ...oh god, Sif, don't mimic the Beggin' Bits commercial! It's not really bacon!
I'm loving this story. It's a tad confusing but I can still follow it. Can't wait for the next chapter.
What's the next chapter going to be like?
7247741 Somewhat relaxed.
OK, I can't wait
finally got around to re-re-re-reading this and i do not regret a second of it, even if it is three in the morning!
can i ask though? why the rewrite (again? was it rewritten once before or am i mis-remembering it?)
7253967 Thank you.
There was only one re-write. Someone brought something up to me in a conversation and I reviewed my own story and logically I had to agree with him even if it meant that I was agreeing that my story had a breaking flaw in it. It's my first published story and because of it it had flaws (all stories do, but ones I couldn't live with) I write fast and a re-write would only take me about two to three months time to catch up to where I was. All in all I fixed the issues and my team of sadists highly dedicated and merciful editors and readers keep me on the straight and narrow.
7254727
well i applaud you for your dedication and it really shows in your writing! i hope you keep it up
7257639
orig12.deviantart.net/c6d4/f/2011/009/1/1/reindeer_wolf_free_lineart_by_echophobia-d36sier.png
I'm joke, there isn't a Sif/Skies baby.Or is there?
7260796 Yes, but they never spoke.
It"s Wednesday.
New chapter was supposed to happen last week.
Waited another week
Are you done writing it?
Will it be Better quality?
Will gohan defeat frieza?
Find out next time on dragonballs-PeePee
vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/ultradragonball/images/5/5a/Goku_(PeePee).png/revision/latest?cb=20130219230331
Chapter 20, where are you?
7268849
7272655
Wednesday at 8pm-est. The chapter is finished, edited, and ready for love, but I hate releasing on weekends.
7272725
Weekends are when most have off though?
7273558 I know, I'm weird.
I decided wednesday is the day when I started out and I've been trying to stick to it in vain ever since.
Also, this way I can try and release a second story at the same time and maybe a SS one-off if it gets finished on time.
7273639 im rather ok with this
I have a rather good memory regarding characters and details. I find it odd that Fluttershy now gags at the mention of eating meat but in chapter 9 she ate meat... is the re-write up to speed or are there old and new chapters mixed? or just a simple slip up?
7658709 Simple slip up. It's fixed now.
So... Cadence's mother likes honey, eh?