PART 1 - Posts, Plumage, and Performance
~ Part 1 Start ~
The rhythmic, echoing, clip-clopping sounds of marching hooves on stone roused me from my stupor. My relief was here. As the two guardsmares rounded the corner, gold armor gleaming in the torchlight against the dark stone wall behind them, it took all of my considerable powers of concentration to keep my face from betraying my excitement. This was always the best part of the worst part of the day. It’s hard to adequately express how insufferable it is, standing still as a statue for four hours every day, so you can understand how I feel when it’s finally over.
Stone face, Lightning. Stone face.
The new guards walked sedately toward my partner and me, who I hadn’t so much as looked at since we relieved the pair before us. Finally they reached us, stopped, and inclined their heads to us. I did the same, and a slight movement in my peripheral vision told me my partner did at the same time, then the four of us did the little circular dance of the changing of the guard.
Oh, my muscles. After four hours of standing stock-still, I had almost forgotten I had any. And I still couldn’t stretch. We were still in “presentation” mode, after all. Being relieved would be nicer if it happened all at once instead of being stretched out like this.
Anyway, my partner and I walked away at the same pace our replacements arrived, and we left them to stand pointlessly in front of the giant locked door for the next four hours. Stone face, eyes ahead. Two hooves in front of the others. This was my life, folks! Eighty percent of the time, at least. Not quite as exciting as the life of a Royal Guard is made out to be, though I guess I should have seen this coming. And not nearly as exciting as my life might have been, but there’s no use in looking backwards, not when I have such an interesting and promising career to look forward to in the Guard!
The long walk back up the ten flights of stairs to get to the ground level of Canterlot Castle didn’t seem as long as it had back when I was first put into rotation, but I think that was mostly because I had timed it once and found out it took about fifteen minutes and twenty seconds, give or take. Before that I could’ve sworn it took at least half an hour.
Technically we were on patrol when going on and off duty, so we were supposed to be attentive and check down side passages we passed. But in the more than eight months I had been stationed here as a castle guard there had been exactly zero incidents, so I wasn’t exactly expecting to find anything. And it wasn’t just me; all the guards I had taken this trip with gave it about as much effort as I did, or less. At least I tried to do my job well. I’d been starting to think they’ve all realized that there’s a limit to how good of a guard you can be. On the other hoof, everyone keeps going on about how amazing the old captain used to be, so I was holding out that it is possible to break the mold. Of course, it might have just been because he was a unicorn.
We finally got to a small side door in a side chamber off the throne room that led to the castle barracks, passing about five ponies on the way. I couldn’t keep myself from hurrying a little as we reached the end of public-accessible space. Off-duty mode, activate.
Oh, it felt good to stretch. My partner and I shared a look, wordlessly empathizing with each other over the ordeal that was the daily post. We kept moving, heading for the supervisor’s office in the awkward silence that comes when you don’t really have anything to say, but feel obligated to start a conversation because you’re finally allowed to speak after four and a half hours. You know how that feels, right?
Luckily for me, she took the jump and spoke first. “Hey, aren’t you that courier? The one I always see delivering things around town?”
The question made me brighten a little, but I quickly hid my little burst of elation and got control of myself. Cool, casual, disinterested. I don’t know who this mare is yet. “No. Not yet, at least. I want to get transferred from post to courier, so I volunteer to take messages whenever I can.” If this mare actually thought I was a courier, I must be doing something right. As a rule, my partners and I hardly ever knew each other. There were just too many guards in the Guard to get the same one twice in less than two months or so.
“Ahhh,” the mare said. “Okay. I was pretty sure that was you, but I was confused, you know, because you were clearly on post with me. That makes sense. What’s your name?”
I gave her a quick look. Earth Pony, white coat and blonde mane, and way more friendly than any guard had business being. So far, not very impressive. “Lightning Dust.”
“Lightning Dust,” she repeated. “I’ll watch out for you. I’m Pirouette.”
“Hey.” Weird name. Dancing talent? Wonder how she ended up in the Guard.
“Not a fan of post, huh?” she asked, smiling at me knowingly.
“Not at all. I’m a flyer. I hate standing still.” I answered, not smiling back.
“So courier.”
“Yeah.”
“Lucky,” she said, looking back at her own lack of wings. “Most I can hope for is a promotion or desk work. I wouldn’t mind being a trainer someday. Teaching is fun.”
I just grunted. We just had to make our report and then I could ditch this mare. She must have sensed something of my mood, because she slipped back into silence.
We finally got to the office and quickly filled out the paperwork for our report. In all my career in this place, I don’t think I’ve ever written a word differently on those sheets. Nothing ever happens in the bowels of the castle, but the Princesses and the captain insist on maintaining a watch at every important-looking door in the whole building.
I hurried from the front desk and out the door, impatient to get to my lunch. Pirouette stopped me outside the doorway for goodbyes. Ugh. “Well, it was great to meet you. Good luck with getting that transfer!”
“See you.” I left her at the door and leapt into the air, flapping my way through the corridor and through the doors of the mess hall.
The hall was built with high ceilings to reduce crowding by letting pegasi get off the floor, which I was very glad of as I loosened up, zipping up to tap the ceiling before gliding back down to where the food was. I had missed breakfast hurrying to get to my post on time, and now I was paying for it. I hate morning post. Actually, I didn't hate it any more than any other slot, but I still hated it. I just hated them all equally, and each one had its own special reasons for loathing it.
I loaded up with as much as they would give me, and took the tray back into the air to look for a place to sit. The mess hall was only about a third full, since most of the Guard were working somewhere at any given time, but that still left me with a whole lot of choices. Luckily, wings are easy to spot, especially from the air. I spotted a table with some pegasi that I recognized and remembered getting along with, so I swooped down to land near it.
“Mind if I sit here?” I asked, walking up on three legs.
The three pegasus guards at the round table looked up at me, then at each other. “Sure,” said the only one I didn’t know, a mare wearing sergeant insignia on her armor and sporting a country-ish accent. She smiled and scooted over on the bench to make room for me.
“Thanks,” I said with a smile, taking the spot, slapping my stupid helmet down on the table and immediately digging in. After I swallowed my first bite, swiveling my ears to get some feeling back into them, I looked up at the two guards I recognized, a mare and a stallion. “I remember you guys,” I commented, gesturing to them. “What were your names again?” They each looked expectantly at the other, as if they were both hoping the other would speak first. I smirked at them.
The mare introduced herself first. “I’m Moonracer.”
“Basalt,” the stallion grunted, putting his attention back on his sandwich.
Really? “Basalt?” I asked, leaning back to double-check that he had wings. “I think I’d remember a name like ‘Basalt.’”
“Yeah?” Basalt asked levelly, with raised eyebrows. The two mares shifted in their seats.
Okay, sensitive subject. Totally understandable, I guess.
The mystery mare who made room for me broke the tension with a smile that seemed a little wider than the mood at the table warranted. “I haven’t officially met you yet. You’re Lightning Dust, right?”
I grinned at her. Not only did she head off that Basalt guy before he could make things worse around here, she was setting up my first impression for a superior almost perfectly. If only she had led with ‘aren’t you that courier?’ like the other girl from before did. “The one and only. I guess you’ve heard of me?”
“Oh, yeah. Your reputation gets around.”
Basalt suddenly buried his muzzle in his sandwich and closed his eyes tightly. I gave him a look out of the corner of my eye that he didn’t see, and then leveled my gaze at the sergeant. “Hey, any talk is better than no talk, right?” She looked away and gave a noncommittal shrug. “What’s your name?”
“Daisy Duke,” she answered with a coy smile. “I hear you’re fishing for a courier assignment.”
I brightened right the heck back up. “That’s right! Do you know if they’re looking for candidates?”
Her smile softened into what a more cynical mare might call ‘patronizing’, and suddenly I felt my respect for this sergeant begin to slide. “You might say so. Apparently there’s one opening and they are looking to fill it, but right now the favorite to get the transfer is Corporal Plumage,” she said, nodding towards a spot over my shoulder.
My blood froze and boiled at the same time, and I snapped my head around to look behind me. Four tables away, sitting alone, was the stupid jerk of a stallion who tricked me into this dead-end job with the Guard, with a generic Royal Guard blue mane and white coat, eating a salad and reading a book.
I twisted back around to face Daisy Duke with wide eyes. “Plume?” I asked in incredulity. “They want Plume as a courier? Instead of me?”
She shrugged, still smiling that stupid smile. “That’s the word coming from the officers’ mess, at least. But that word ain’t often wrong.”
Basalt and Moonracer both snorted. My reputation in the Guard, such as it was, invariably included my hatred of Corporal Plumage, and his more passive-aggressive hatred back at me. I had no delusions about ponies talking about me behind my back, but if there was one guard you could be sure had it worse than I did, it was Fluffy-Feather Plume. The colt was just annoying, but most ponies in the Guard could at least stand him. He even got along pretty well with a couple of them, though not enough to sit with them in the mess, apparently.
But no one seemed to hate him nearly as much as I did. The few times I had had to talk to him after really getting to know him, I had to hold myself back from kicking his smug face in. Plume was arrogant, snobby, contentious, and generally an insufferable know-it-all.
I hated him, and I let him know it. Because of that, and, I strongly suspected, because I had joined the Guard and risen to his rank of Corporal all while he stayed in the same duty rotation, he didn’t hide his feelings toward me either.
I looked back and forth between Daisy Duke’s eyes, looking for some explanation. “But. . . . Why? Why him? I’ve seen him fly; he’s not that good!”
Now apparently it was everyone else’s turn to smirk at me. “Well, he was good enough to beat you, wasn’t he?” Moonracer asked with a nudge to my side.
Jeez, how much talking did these ponies do behind my back? Did everyone know that story? I glared back at her. “Hey. That doesn’t count. Any other day, I could fly circles around him, and he knows it.”
Okay, there might be one more reason I didn’t like the guy.
Moonracer shrugged. “Maybe. But maybe no one told the Courier Division.”
I gave up on conversation and went back to my hayfries, trying to sink all my anger into them as I chewed.
“So you gonna show ‘em?”
I looked back up from my food at Basalt, who was ignoring his sandwich and looking at me expectantly, still with that stupid smirk.
“Who, the Courier Division? They don’t exactly hold tryouts, Rocky.”
Basalt's smile fell away and he rolled his eyes at the nickname that he had probably heard a few hundred times in flight school. “Not officially, no. But their recruiters are always looking out for good fliers. You know that.”
I gave him the look he deserved. “Yeah. Which is kinda why I’ve been doing all these volunteer deliveries. Sounds like you’re suggesting I do what I’m already doing.”
He shook his head. “No, I mean with Plume. Set something up where the two of you can fly side-by-side, so the recruiters can see if you actually live up to all your boasting or not.”
I wasn’t a fan of this guy with the funny name, but I liked this idea of his. Of course, I had already thought of doing something special to show the Courier recruiters what I could do, but the thought of doing anything with Plume voluntarily was one I actively avoided out of principle. But now that someone else had done that part for me, I realized I could appreciate a plan that involved me leaving the Downy Wonder in the dust in front of a bunch of recruiters.
But that still left me with the same problem I had when I was thinking these things up on my own: that I had no idea how to go about it. “Sure, but how? I can’t just challenge him to a race and get the recruiters to watch.”
Basalt just gave a shrug that basically said, “Dunno, not my problem,” and went back to his food, but Moonracer and Daisy Duke were both looking up in thought. Interesting. I had written them off on helping me to find a solution to my problem, but apparently it interested them enough to give it a try.
Daisy Duke looked up at a different corner of the ceiling than she had been examining previously, scrunching up her face a little more. “Well, you could try to get parade duty. It’s a good way to show off your flying skills, but the stupid traditionalist coordinators have only used one or two mares in their shows in the past decade, so good luck with that.”
“Parade duty, huh?” That was another idea I had once entertained, but I gave up on it even before I found out about the weird sexist thing they had going on. Their shows were cool enough, though not nearly Wonderbolt material, but what turned me away was the sort of performance they encouraged. Daisy Duke was wrong; Guard parades weren’t a good place to “show off” at all. They were all about coordinated flying and perfect timing. Nothing they actually did was very impressive, and I could tell just by watching them rehearse that it was just as boring as post duty, only with about four times the effort involved. Not a very good option for showing up Plume, either. They actually punished you for trying harder than the others. “Maybe.” Nope.
Moonracer spoke up. “You know, whatever you end up trying, you’ll have to talk Plume into going along with it to compete with you, and I can’t see him agreeing to that. Maybe you should be looking at the stuff he does to see if there’s anything in his duty rotation you can use.”
Good point. “Yeah, but I don’t know his rotation. I don’t know if you noticed, but I don’t exactly go out of my way to run into the guy. I’d have to get a copy of it somehow.”
We both looked to the sergeant at the table, who raised her eyebrows and held up her hooves. “Don’t look at me. I’m not a part of this. If you want Corporal Plume’s duty rotation, you’ll have to talk to his supervisor. I’m not gonna take the time to get it for you.”
Moonracer, who had been leaning forward a bit, sat back in her seat and relaxed her shoulders as she and Daisy both resumed eating. I pursed my lip at her. Apparently Daisy backing out was all it took to get her out of helping me, too. So much for friends.
We ate in silence for a few more minutes while I tried to come up with a working plan. No luck. I cycled through frustration and on to depression. I could almost say I came to terms with the idea of losing the courier position to Plume, but, of course, that would be ridiculous.
Basalt finished his meal first, and left with only a quick goodbye. The amount of off-duty guards in the hall stayed about the same, as some came and others left. I still had an hour until my next post (two in one day!) and I was hoping to get in a power nap and then maybe a little exercise before then, so I finished my food as quickly as I could. I was just getting up to leave when my attention was stolen.
“Corporal Lightning Dust!”
Woo, that’s always a shock, let me tell you. I whipped around to see who called for me, and saw a lieutenant at the main doors of the mess hall, reading from a sheet of paper. I waited for further instructions, hoping against hope that this was about the courier opening. What he said instead simultaneously stoked that hope and chilled it.
“Corporal Plumage! Report!”
Heads turned to watch the two of us make our way to the lieutenant. Weird, I had never felt this mix of nervousness, excitement, and anger before. I was more worked up over this than I had been about the Wonderbolt Academy, and I didn’t even know what this was about! Maybe that was why. Maybe this competition thing would care of itself. Or more likely, I was just gonna end up doing something unpleasant with Plume. Of all the ponies in the Guard, it just had to be him, didn’t it?
We both got to the stallion at about the same time and stood at attention. “Sir!” we chirped together. Plume was standing as still as I was, but for some reason I got the feeling he was purposefully avoiding looking at me. I might have just been imagining it, but it annoyed me anyway.
“Follow me,” was all the lieutenant said, turning about on two hooves and marching through the open double doors into the main hallway of the barracks, and Plume turned to allow me to go first. When I was sure no one could see, I let my mask slip and rolled my eyes.
To try to get control of my nerves, I placed bets with myself on where we were being taken. (Don’t judge me; when your job is to stand perfectly still for hours on end, you start doing weird things in your head.) I wasn’t entirely sure where they would be taking us if this was for the courier application, but I did know that the location of their office was nowhere near where we were going. Highest odds were on the gym judging by our current route, but I couldn’t think of a good reason for taking us both there.
Then we took a right turn I wasn’t expecting. That only left one possibility, unless we were going to janitorial. I tilted my head to look past the lieutenant, and I could almost feel Plume’s glare of disapproval on the back of my helmet. Chill, dude.
Just as I thought, the lieutenant led us outside to the parade grounds, where a civilian pegasus stallion stood by the flagpoles with the new captain, Fine Line, facing a row of guards of assorted rank standing at ease. The captain was floating some papers up for the civilian to read. Personnel files, judging by the way the two of them looked up to the line of guards from time to time.
“Corporals Lightning Dust and Plumage, sir,” the lieutenant reported to the captain when we reached him, giving a salute. Fine Line nodded to him and then turned to the two of us. “Fall in, Corporals.”
We turned about and marched into place next to the other guards, and waited while the captain talked with the civilian out of our earshot and the lieutenant headed back inside. With the captain himself right there I didn’t dare to even glance to the guards at my side, but I was pretty sure from my earlier cursory glance that they were all pegasi. If I were holding a tryout for a position in the Courier Division, this is probably how I would go about it, but I couldn’t figure out what the captain or this civilian were doing here. As subtly as I could manage, which was extremely subtle, I examined the mystery stallion.
He was. . . slim-ish. Little, really, but that might have been just because he was standing next to Fine Line. The captain was a pillar of a stallion. The pegasus had a pale green coat, a shaggy mane of streaked brown hair (part of how I could tell he wasn’t in the Guard), and watery blue eyes. In contrast to his slighter-than-average build, his jaw seemed disproportionately chiseled, defined further by a line of brownish stubble. Between that and the unkempt mane, he looked like a mess. I guess you could make a point for ruggedly handsome, but I just didn’t go for that sort of thing.
I lost interest in the new guy just in time to see the lieutenant come back out of the barracks leading another pegasus guard. Wow, was that Basalt? It was! The lieutenant presented him to the captain just like he had with us, then Basalt joined us at the left end of the row. This time Fine Line didn’t send the lieutenant away, and he lowered the papers to his side. Then he turned to address us. “Guards! Attention!”
As one, we all straightened up and clicked our hooves together. He went on: “Corporal Updraft, Private Storm Spark, Corporal Windfurl, dismissed.” Huh, didn’t see that coming. Three guards at the other end of the lineup, two stallions and a mare, turned about and marched away back inside. Now I was regretting that I hadn’t counted how many guards there were in the line before taking my place in it. I didn’t really have any clue how many of us were left. The tension was killing me, but luckily the captain had more to say.
"At ease!" We spread our hooves and relaxed a bit. "Here is what will happen. You will all stand by till your name is called by Lieutenant Seaworthy. At that time, you will report to Ambassador Olive Branch for an interview. Afterwards, follow any instructions he gives you. Is that understood?"
In unison, we all replied, "Yes, sir!"
"Good." To Seaworthy he said, "They're all yours, Lieutenant." With that, the captain made his way back inside to deal with whatever business he had, leaving us alone with Lieutenant Seaworthy, as the guy who must have been Ambassador Olive Branch went off on his own to the far corner of the parade grounds.
Well, looked like I was missing out on that nap. Maybe they had someone else lined up to cover my post. Celestia, I hoped so. I wondered how long this little meeting had been set up for. I watched as the lieutenant called up the first guard, a stallion I had never met but had seen doing parade rehearsals. That first interview took all of about two minutes, but it looked like the stallion had been standing at least fifteen to twenty spots away in line when he had been called up, so even if they all ran that short, I was still going to be standing here at ease for a while. Time to zone out. It was really depressing to me that I had learned to pass hours at a time doing absolutely nothing, but it was inevitable in this line of work. The alternative was going crazy.
Have I told you how much I wanted that courier spot?
The parade stallion came back and took his spot in line, sending the next poor fool up for her turn. I spent my time sizing up my competition, estimating the top speeds and minimum turning radii of the other pegasi. Of course you couldn’t tell much just by looking, especially from distances like these, but I like to think I have a sense for this sort of thing. I did have years of practice with it, after all.
Needless to say, the wait felt like an eternity. Not only that, but the worst kind: a measurable eternity. A familiar ache started to creep back into my neck. Dang it, I just stretched that out!
The time finally came for Plume, standing to my right, to go up for his turn. And of course, that triggered my heart rate again, just like when I was called up in the cafeteria. Sheesh. In the old days nothing would have gotten to me like this, but now every little thing was setting me off. I really needed to get out of this line of work. All this standing around was making me lose my edge.
I used all the time Plume gave me to try to calm myself down. Come on, Lightning, control. You’re the best, and there’s no reason to get excited over a stupid interview!
Or scared.
Wow, was it just me, or was Plume taking an especially long time? Was…. Was this ambassador guy actually considering him for… whatever this was about? What was this about? Why would they have an ambassador interview us for a courier position? What else could this be?
No. No more worrying. Whatever’s gonna happen is gonna happen. Heh, it can only go up from here! Nothing worth doing but facing it head-on. Push the limits. Go out and get whatever this guy can give me. Whatever it is he wants from us, I’m gonna be the one to do it.
I took a deep breath and felt my heart rate get back under control, and I allowed myself a small smile as I watched Plume heading my way, with what looked like a spring in his step. Enjoy yourself for now, Plume. You’re not getting this spot.
The smug pest came up to me and nodded, then took his place to my right. I took another breath, and started walking. The ambassador was sitting on a bench by the castle wall, looking down at the papers the captain left with him. As I got close enough for him to hear my hooffalls against the grass, he looked up at me with a friendly smile and motioned for me to take the open spot on the far end of the bench. I sat down and waited with the super-equine patience I had gained in the first week of post for him to say something. His smile grew wider as he shuffled the loose sheets of paper into a neat pile. He was stalling on purpose, wasn’t he?
I nearly flinched at how suddenly he looked me in the eye, the smile frozen on his face. Whatever sense of control I had over the situation was gone. There was no way to hide from those eyes.
“Corporal Lightning Dust?”
It took me a second to realize he was talking to me. I gave my head a shake to clear it. “Yes, sorry. That’s me.”
His smile widened again, and his face crinkled with lines I hadn’t noticed before. “Oh good. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. You have an interesting record.”
I actually blushed. I never blush! “Yes sir.”
The smile never left his face, but he did relax, leaning back into the shade of the castle wall. The sun was so bright out here it was noticeably harder to see him there. “So, Miss Dust, you were suggested to me as a talented flyer. I want to hear about it from your own mouth. What are some of your accomplishments?”
I glanced quickly down at my open file on the bench between us. Hasn't he already read all about me? There’s not really anything else I could tell him that isn’t in my record. “Well, sir, I got my Cutie Mark winning a flight school stormrace, I won the Los Pegasus Junior Flying Competition two years running, and graduated basic training with a special commendation for aerial performance.”
He leaned his head back against the wall and folded his forehooves over his stomach. “Right, I guess I should have phrased that better. I want to know who you are as a flyer; what you’re capable of. There was something in your file about the Wonderbolt Academy. Did you attend it?”
Well, I guess this had to come up sooner or later. “Yes sir.”
“But you didn’t graduate.”
“No, sir.” And here comes the follower. . . .
Nothing.
I blinked at Ambassador Olive Branch, but he was just watching me thoughtfully. I waited some more. Still nothing! Everyone asks why I didn’t make it with the Wonderbolts. Was he really not going to?
Apparently not. The ambassador gave another small smile and tilted his head down to look at his folded hooves. Even looking into the shade with the sun in my eyes, I could see his piercing blue eyes meet mine. “Corporal, how would you describe your talent and ability in flying?”
He asks this instead? Right after that? Jeez, normally I’d have a response ready and waiting before he finished his sentence, but bringing up the Wonderbolts on top of all the rest of this. . . . “Ambassador, sir, flying is what I live for. I don’t feel alive unless I’m in the air, working hard to push my limits.” Wow, where did that come from? I’ve never been this sappy. What’s with this guy?
There was a pause as he nodded to himself and looked back down at his papers. “There’s also a note here about an injury.”
My spine shivered. I didn’t like remembering that. I didn’t even know the Guard kept a record of that; it was before I had even really considered enlisting. “Yes sir.”
“Sounds pretty bad,” he commented, raising his eyes to look me straight in mine again. Something about his expression reminded me of the one time I had made eye contact with Princess Celestia. He had something of the same smug confidence, and gave off the same impression that you were a part of his plan and always would be. I was starting to develop some unpleasant feelings for Ambassador Olive Branch. I don’t like feeling manipulated. “Does it still bother you?”
I shivered again, this time in a surge of anger. Old anger, I had to remind myself. That was an unpleasant time for everypony involved, but it was over. “No sir. I recovered fully before enlisting with the Guard.”
He smiled and nodded again. “That’s great.” He flipped over some papers and found a spot on the bottom page with his hoof. “One more question, Lightning Dust.” I bristled a little. Sheesh, I must be a career guard now if I object to ponies leaving out my rank. “What would you say is the farthest trip you’ve ever flown?”
Oh. Wasn’t expecting that one. I had to think a little. Cross-country flying wasn’t something I had ever seriously tried. Too boring. And the only traveling I had done was when I was too young to fly myself. “. . .Los Pegasus to the Wonderbolt Academy outside of Cloudsdale, I think,” I answered, nodding in confirmation to myself. “I don’t know how far that is, though,” I added.
“That’s fine,” Olive Branch said around a pen he was using his mouth to write with. He finished, set down the pen, and closed the folder with a hoof. “That’s not a bad distance, for an amateur.”
I frowned at him out of habit. That was a word I objected to, no matter the context.
“Alright, Miss Dust, we’re all finished,” he said, shuffling his papers together. “Wait here, please.”
I blinked at him. Was he not going to send me back to fetch the next candidate? Did I make it?
He stopped himself as he was getting off the bench. “Oh, actually, I think the lieutenant might want to do this formally. You should go take your place in the line again.”
I tilted my head as I watched him hop off the bench and start making his way to the flagpoles to speak with the lieutenant, presumably. Huh. Do what, I wonder?
I shook myself and hopped off after him, marching back to my spot between Plume and Basalt. When I turned around to face the flags with the rest of the guards, Lieutenant Seaworthy straightened up. “Atten-tion!”
We followed suit, and I waited with anticipation for good news.
“Corporals Plumage and Lightning Dust, accompany Ambassador Olive Branch for briefing. The rest of you, dismissed!”
No! Both of us? Really?
I barely matched the salute with the others to my sides, only doing so out of habit. My mind was completely elsewhere.
What in the wide world of Equestria did an ambassador want with us? Why were we both being called up for briefing? I didn’t like where this was going one bit.
I numbly followed Plume to wherever we were going, my mind racing over the same track over and over and over again. I noticed changes in our surroundings from time to time: a sudden darkening as we went inside, a transition from stone corridors to paneled walls and carpet, up some stairs. Finally we reached the end of a hallway, and I realized we had reached the captain’s office.
I had actually never been in here before. It wasn’t nearly as grand as I had been expecting. The drapes were deep red velvet and the frames on the paintings on the wall looked like gold, but the office itself was no bigger than any of the others I had been in here in Canterlot Castle.
Captain Fine Line was seated at the large wooden desk, his back to a bay window looking out over the green parade grounds we had just been standing in. I was brought back to reality by the little shock of making eye contact with Plume, who was already sitting in a simple chair in front of the desk. There was an empty one next to it and Plume wasn’t the only one with eyes on me, so I quickly took my seat, blushing just a little bit. I saw Olive Branch seated against the wall, watching me with a smile.
Fine Line straightened in his chair. “Well, if we’re all ready, let’s get started with this briefing. Corporals, Ambassador Olive Branch has picked you to be his escorts as he travels to his new mission in Minos.”
Wha-hu-what? That wasn’t the phrasing I expected for ‘you’re joining the Courier Division!’ Minos? Where even was that? What was that?
I realized the captain was still talking, so I hurriedly refocused on what he was saying. “. . .You are also being reassigned to the Equestrian Embassy in Minos, under the ambassador’s command. You will fill whatever role he chooses to assign to you once you get there. You will carry out the remainder of your respective tours there, and you will retain the standard non-transfer bonus if you elect to stay in the embassy for future tours. Your assignment details are here, along with the standard transfer paperwork.” He slid two identical manila folders to us across his desk, and suddenly I regretted paying attention again. It was at times like this, I reflected as I opened the folder and scanned the contents blankly, that I wished I had been here when the old captain was in charge, before he went off to be a prince or whatever. Everyone says he was great about this stuff. Apparently the new guy was much more of a stickler.
“Ambassador?”
I looked up at the captain's voice, and then followed his gaze to Olive Branch, who apparently had something to say.
“Thank you, Captain. Corporals, it’s up to you if you want to take this assignment or not. It’s a big trip and an even bigger commitment, so if either of you want to back out, I can find someone else.”
Oh dang, he was giving us a choice now? And he caught me off-guard again! Any other time I would go along with it out of personal policy alone, but this time I stopped to really consider the options.
It’s true I would rather be doing almost anything else than stupid post twice a day, but was it worth going off to some weird foreign land for years with Plume? How big were embassies, anyway? Maybe I could avoid him like I did here.
“Sir?” Speak of the devil. I looked to Plume on my right, who had one eyebrow raised in unease. Idiot. Suddenly I knew I wanted to take the assignment, if only because Plume seemed unsure. I did promise myself I would do whatever it was Olive Branch wanted us for, after all. “If I may ask, why do we have to fly there?”
Wait, what?
Olive Branch gave him a wicked smile, like we were all planning a big prank on someone important. “It’s urgent. It’s a special assignment straight from Princess Celestia. We don’t have time to take a ship.” What? We’re going somewhere ships usually go? Hold on a second!
Plume bit his lip, then nodded. “I’ll go.”
Okay, I wasn’t going to be outdone by Showfeather. I just needed to know one thing first. “Um. . . . Exactly how far away is Minos?”
Oh gosh, the smile grew teeth!
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Looks like Dusty's finally gettin' that temper in check to be able to join the Guard.
Hopefully she won't slip and beat everyone up.
Wait.
Oh god, she's gonna be in the middle of a political crisis in a foreign nation or whatever...
This can only go well.
...
...
...
5861400 Sure, why not. Might be updated by then, but probably not.
5862937 Don't forget this is Equus, where clouds don't move on their own. If she wants to ride a cloud, she'd have to push it. And that's just like flying, but with extra effort and a place to sleep. She'd die of dehydration and exposure long before she saw land.
Wow. This was good. Also, I'm sorry I missed it two days ago.
That prologue was intense, nice twist there, interesting way of writing, I don't think I've seen that before.
On Posts, Plumage, and Possibilities I've got a few things.
1: Wonderful job showing exactly how boring it is on post. Or on any kind of militaristic deployment that mostly involves guard duty.
2: I'm liking the characters so far.
3: Ranking officers never salute first. You had the lieutenant salute them and then they returned it, but it should really be the other way around. In fact, at least in the American armed forces, a working party, detail, or formation (for parade, etc.) don't all salute individually (unless the formation is explicitly ordered to with "present arms") the commanding officer or ranking enlisted would salute and everyone else would continue on their way.
That's kind of nit-picky and doesn't really matter, but you had everything else so perfect I wanted to point it out.
Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
5866839 Well thanks. I've had two veterans involved in production for this, and somehow that slipped past both of them, and me as well. I think I'll go fix that.
5867167
No worries mate, I'm just glad I could be of help.
5867174 Actually, I can't find the part you're talking about. The lieutenant who leads them around salutes to the captain, and the lineup of guards salutes him when they're dismissed. I can't find anything else like what you're describing.
5867384
I may be misunderstanding but I'm pretty sure this is the captain saluting the formation, and then them saluting back. Having looked at it again all other instances seem correct.
5867675 Aha. I missed that somehow. But looking at it, I'm not sure there's a more appropriate way to let them know he's done telling them stuff. I'll look into it.
5867757
I know what you mean, and it's probably not important at all if no one else is pointing it out. It works fine in context, besides, their military customs don't need to be exactly ours.
5867802 Believe me, that excuse has come up multiple times already.
5867757
If I may suggest:
"At ease!" We spread our hooves and relaxed a bit. "Here is what will happen. You will all stand by till your name is called by Lieutenant Seaworthy. At that time, you will report to Ambassador Olive Branch for an interview. Afterwards, follow any instructions he gives you. Is that understood?"
In unison, we all replied, "Yes, sir!"
"Good." To Seaworthy he said, "They're all yours, Lieutenant." With that, the captain made his way back inside to deal with whatever business he had, leaving us alone with Lieutenant Seaworthy, as the guy who must have been Ambassador Olive Branch went off on his own to the far corner of the parade grounds.
With whatever changes you feel you need to make it fit, of course. Just my thoughts on that particular piece.
5915546 Never thought of that one, thanks. What do you think about him saluting first right before that? Is that weird?
5917980
Yeah, it kinda does feel weird. I can't remember any kind of formation where the Officer/NCO in charge saluted the group, and the group saluted back. When they reported to him, then I could see him saluting, but before giving orders, not really.
Finally getting around to reading this, and it's pretty great. Your Lightning Dust is not somepony I mind hearing the thoughts of.