“Keep moving! Keep moving!” Orchid shouted at the unit as they galloped around the track. She worked them hard during physical training, but from my perspective that was a benefit. Staying fit as a guard was important. Healthy ponies were less prone to injury and, in situations like Nordanver, were far more likely to survive.
That is one of the reasons I always galloped with my enlisted ponies. Not all officers attended unit physical training, but I thought it was best for morale. It also allowed me the opportunity to keep an eye on our newest unofficial members: Crimson Dawn and Tranquil Dusk. They’d asked to work out with me and I’d agreed.
“Alright, ponies, that is enough cardio,” Orchid instructed. “Pair off, it is time to work on those hoof-to-hoof combat skills. I don’t want you all getting rusty just because you stand around in the palace halls.”
Crimson started to head towards another pony and I reached out a hoof to stop him. “You two just watch for now. If you don’t know how to fall appropriately or pull your blows, you can get hurt. I’ll show you how it is done later.”
“Yes, sir,” he said, moving back to the sideline with his sister.
Nova approached me looking all sorts of confident. “If you don’t have a partner, sir, I can fix that.”
My brow arched. “You sound pretty sure of yourself. Are you certain you want to tangle with me, medic?”
Nova’s eyes narrowed and she settled into her fighting stance. “You only get to be the best by learning from the best, sir.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m the best, but you’re on.” I shifted back into my own stance and waited.
Orchid called, “Now listen up, this is practice! I don’t want anypony getting too crazy. When a pony goes down, that is the point. Fighters ready! Go!”
Nova was quick to react to the command and on me instantly. She was fast, way faster than me. Her forehooves caught me in the chest before I could even think about moving. Her blows had been measured and controlled with the right amount of sting to let me know she wasn’t playing.
My wings flapped as I hopped back and onto my hindlegs. She came at me again with the same intensity, but this time I was ready and she hadn’t varied her attack much. She swung at me with her right and I caught it in both hooves. Without really thinking it through, I shifted my weight and used her momentum to wheel her over me.
The mare flew over my head and landed with a painful thud. My body then moved on muscle memory, stepping over her and lifting a hoof to smash her throat. She was staring up at me wide-eyed while she tried to catch her breath.
That was when I turned off autopilot and kept my hoof where it was poised. There would be no strike to follow. Instead, I just turned it over and offered to help her up.
“That isn’t any Royal Guard maneuver I’ve ever seen,” she rasped. “Where did you learn that, sir?”
She was right about that. Royal guards didn’t put down ponies and follow up with killing blows. As I helped her up, I shook my head. “Sorry about that. Some signals got crossed upstairs.”
I’d been practicing that maneuver with a training dummy repeatedly at night. It was one of the first things an initiate learned.
“That’s okay. Should we go again?” she asked with less fire than before.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll try to be better behaved this time.”
Nova shook her head. “I can take it, sir. The way I hear it, gryphons don’t play fair when it comes to fighting in close quarters.”
“No, they don’t. Are you expecting to run into any gryphons?” I asked as we squared off.
“No, but I’d rather not come up short.”
“Fair enough,” I replied before adding, “Go!”
☾
The Hay Cafe was busy as usual, which made spotting ponies rather difficult. Every table was filled and none of the patrons looked like a master spy unicorn. My assumption was that Maya was a unicorn due to the voice-throwing spell.
I ate my meal very slowly and waited. Normally we’d be speaking by now, but there wasn’t anything normal about these meetings. The server pony came by several times to make sure my food wasn’t the reason for the slow consumption. After the fifth time I’d shooed him away, the voice hit my ears.
“What can I do for you?”
“We’re going to try to grab the package,” I said into my sandwich.
“I’m aware. Was it your idea to keep the locals in the dark?”
“Yes.”
“Smart. Unfortunately, our mutual annoyance is using local mail carriers for this job. He didn’t want to kick up any fuss by sending the pony express.”
My ear flicked in irritation. “We may as well just tell the package where to drop itself off. It would probably yield the same results. What are the odds of success?”
Maya’s pause went on longer than normal before she replied, “Not great. The locals aren’t really used to this sort of delivery, and I’m told the mail room is already full. I’d say to expect failure.”
I drank from my water glass and then nodded. “Alright. Anything you can do about that?”
“No. I’m good, but if I were to involve myself directly, I’m concerned we’d be discovered.”
“Alright, I can appreciate your position. Have we had any update on his motivation?”
“That is something I’m still working on. Finding the links are difficult. Some carriers went to great lengths to disassociate the package with the sender. It’s obvious, but not provable. I’ll need more time… or the package itself.”
“Alright.” I frowned down at my plate. “Listen, assuming this fails, I’m going to use it as an excuse to bow out of the standard work flow. It is pointless.”
She paused again. “Agreed… but it will look suspicious.”
I shook my head, which may have been a stupid thing to do. Who knew if she could see me? “Not the way I’m planning. I’ll throw a fit about using local carriers. Make unreasonable demands and tick off our postmaster. He’s been itching for a reason to remove me.”
“Valid point. I’m on board, then. I’ll hope you’re as good of an actor as you are a soldier,” she said dryly.
“Good. Listen, keep working the sender and, if you can, I have an idea. If we’re going to fail, let’s do so in a way that drives the package further north. I want to push it away from the south and towards the sea. Can you do that?”
Maya’s tone changed ever so slightly, picking up a hint of curiosity. “Maybe… I could have pony express near the border and suggest the local carriers pick up more routes there. Why?”
“I want to have the pony express hot on this package even if they can’t directly interact with it. They can drive it further north and into the sea. Turn the heat way up. Why not force it into a long journey to the one place it thinks it will never be found because no carrier would ever think to look for it there?”
“You’re crazy.”
“That isn’t a no,” I replied.
“I’ll get back to you. Enjoy your lunch.”
I turned back to my meal and started eating a bit quicker. That seemed to please the server, at least.
☾
It barely seemed like a moment but a week had flown by. It had been filled with secret late-night practice sessions, spending time with the nox twins, taking Crystal out once, and generally trying to get caught back up on everything that had fallen by the wayside while I was in Haven.
Today, I was leaning back in my chair, looking at the three ponies in front of me. One was First Sergeant Storm Rider, Sunny Day’s section NCO. He and I went way back. Generally, up to this point, he’d managed Princess Celestia’s House Guard without too much intervention on my part.
He’d brought me two palace guards. The first had a rich blue coat with a two-toned turquoise mane and a medic badge on his armor. His expression was extremely serious.
The second guard had a white coat like mine, a turquoise mane that somewhat matched the other pony’s, and a set of gold, square-framed glasses. His badge was unfamiliar to me and had what looked like a bomb on it.
“Sergeant, it isn’t that I don’t want to help you, I’m just confused. Why did you bring them here?” I asked.
“I couldn’t find their CO,” Storm Rider replied.
I nodded. “Okay… what about their company commander?”
The blue guard replied, “Out sick, sir.”
“Executive officer?”
“Paternity leave.” The blue guard’s expression stayed even.
My eyes flicked to the first sergeant and I asked, “Who is running this place right now?”
Storm Rider cleared his throat. “Well, sir. Lieutenant Day is on vacation, as you know. The section lieutenant for these two is missing in action, their company commander is down, Lieutenant Rook is at captain’s training, and Major Measure is at that ten-day conference in Baltimare. So… it is either you or Lieutenant Brook down in pony resources. I chose you.”
Excellent. I was suddenly the de facto palace commander. “Proceed,” I said.
The guard with the white coat said, “There isn’t anything to it, sir, honest!”
“Gryphon feathers!” the blue guard cut in. “You almost blew up the barracks.”
“No! I stopped the barracks from blowing up.” He tapped his badge. “That is what we do!”
“But you set the bomb!”
“For training purposes only! You’re just too—”
“Enough!” I rubbed my temples. “Did the barracks actually blow up and was anypony hurt?”
“No, sir!” they repeated in unison.
I pointed to the white one. “Name?”
“Unwitting Armageddon, sir.”
That seemed fitting. Weirdly so. I had to wonder if he was born with that name or chose it for himself later. “Alright, no more training exercises involving live bombs without command approval. Clear?”
“Yes, sir!”
I looked to the blue one. “Name?”
“Deep Blue, sir.”
“I appreciate your diligence. Next time, maybe go get a sergeant first before you take out the pony that knows how to disarm the bomb.”
“Yes, sir, understood!”
“Alright, dismissed. Sergeant, stay here a minute.”
The two guards went on their way. Once they were out the door, I stared at Storm Rider. “Seriously? Where is their sergeant? Their first sergeant? Their company sergeant?”
The pegasus simply shrugged. “No idea, sir. I just happened to be going by. Glad I was, too, or we might have needed a new barracks down there.”
“Fair point. From this moment on, assume I’m in command of the palace. Pass the word that the House Guard is taking over. Also, send somepony to find the palace guard lieutenant in charge of their section or any section. I want him, her, or somepony in my office immediately.”
“Yes, sir!” he replied before hurrying out.
I got up and followed him to the door shouted, “Sergeant Orchid, Sergeant Iridescence! My office, now!”
There was some scrambling from the offices next door before the two mares came out in a hurry and to my office. Both looked shocked. That was probably because I never shouted.
“Sir?” Orchid asked in confusion.
“Evidently, I am in command of the palace and, evidently, some pony almost blew up a barracks.”
Iridescence blinked. “How is that possible, sir?”
“There seems to be some problem with officers scheduling their personal lives over their work ones. They all seem to think there are more important things to do than being here.” I rolled my eyes and grumbled, “This is why you can never rely on officers.”
“If I could remind the lieutenant that you’re an officer, too…” Orchid put in, a slight grin on her face.
“Only in title. Orchid, I want you to go and assume command of the palace guard. I don’t care who is there; stomp them and take over until I get down there. Am I clear?”
She blinked but then nodded, “Aye sir.”
“Iridescence, you’re in command here. I’m going down to pony resources to inform Lieutenant Brook he is now the palace’s executive officer.”
The unicorn nodded and replied, “You can count on me. This will be one less headache for you.”
“I certainly hope so. Dismissed, both of you.”
They turned to go and I headed the opposite direction. Brook was going to love this.
I headed down to the pony resources area and stuck my head into his office. Thankfully, he was there. “At least somepony knows where he is supposed to be,” I said casually as I walked.
“Pardon?” Brook replied, looking up from a pile of paperwork.
“Every officer above us seems to be missing in action today. The palace guard is running itself. My CO and XO are gone and so are theirs. A few lieutenants are no shows and that means I’m in command and you’re my new executive officer,” I explained.
“Come again? Wait, why I am I the XO? I have more seniority than you,” Brooks said as he leaned back in his chair.
On that account, he was right. He’d joined the guard sooner than I had and without question had been an officer longer. I tapped a hoof on my armor. “I assumed House Guard trumped pony resources, but if you want to captain this ship, it’s all yours.”
Lieutenant Brook shook his head and smiled. “No chance, I just wanted to hear you say it.”
“Thanks for that. Listen, in all seriousness though, you and I might be it. So if you can toss all of that paperwork on Azurite’s desk and head out to the courtyard and show off that bar, I’d appreciate it.”
“Azurite is on vacation, but yes, I can do that. Are all the lieutenants really gone? Gate, walls, keep, and such?” he asked as he got up and put his helmet on.
I’d known that. Obviously, Azurite was on vacation with Sunny. Although he might as well toss the paperwork on her desk anyway. I doubted he’d have any free time now. “Storm Rider couldn’t find one, so let’s assume the worst and hope for the best. Although if you do find one, send her to me.”
“Sure thing,” he replied before walking past me.
“Thanks,” I replied before I caught sight of his clock. “Wait, where did the day go?”
His brow raised. “Into the past, minute by minute. Why?”
“I have to go, I have an appointment,” I replied before turning to gallop off.
“Wait! You were literally just talking about how every other officer has taken off! Where do I send the lieutenants now?”
My ears pinned back. Crystal would forgive me if I was a little late. She’d understand. It wasn’t every day you suddenly became the palace commander.
“You’re right. I’ll be in my office, so send them there. I’m going to get a plan in place before I leave.”
Lieutenant Brook nodded. “Alright, see you then.”
It only took twenty minutes or so for Storm Rider, Orchid, and Brook to round up every officer in the palace. Somehow that amounted to four lieutenants out of a five-section company. One of which had just walked in for her shift.
Without hesitation, they’d voted me commander despite my junior status to them. In my mind it was because nopony wanted to take on the responsibility. That was fine with me. I gave them the dressing down they’d earned and laid out my expectations until their CO and XO returned.
After that, I put Brook in charge and rushed off as quick as I could to Canterlot Academy. When I snuck into the auditorium, I was almost an hour late. All of the insanity at work had resulted in me missing most of Crystal’s graduation ceremony.
That didn’t matter now, though. I’d made it and I was going to watch my marefriend graduate from the back of the auditorium. All the good seats had already been filled.
Three years ago, I hadn’t bothered to go to my own graduation, but I still recognized the teachers, principals, and staff members. It amazed me that not only had I gone to school with Crystal, but that we had shared a club together. Of course, my mind had a single focus back then. Dad’s focus.
Quickly, I shook my head, chasing those thoughts away. The pony at the podium had started calling names and it was time to pay attention. He finally called “Crystal Wishes” and some polite, quiet stomping started.
Without warning, the unmistakable voice of Velvet Step shouted “Woo! Go Crystal! You’re mah gal!” which was followed with quiet laughter.
Even from my position, I saw Crystal blush on the stage and her eyes started scanning the crowd. They eventually found me and she smiled. It is hard to miss a large blue-and-white pegasus in full armor. I simply nodded at her and smiled in return.
The names went on and on until there were no ponies left to walk across the stage. After that, there were some closing remarks and then everypony was set free. It all made me grateful that I’d skipped mine. If it weren’t for getting to watch my mare, the boredom would have driven me insane.
I lingered in the back while Crystal mingled with her parents and friends. They all eventually took their leave, and she and Velvet sought me out.
“I’m sorry I was late,” I said. “You wouldn’t believe the day I had.”
Crystal shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I know you have a serious job. You were there when it counted.”
Velvet squeaked, “I was there, too!”
“Yes, and now everypony thinks even more that we’re a couple,” Crystal replied with a smile. “‘You’re mah gal’?”
We all laughed.
“Now, let’s move on to more fun things.” Crystal smiled up at me. “We’re still having game night at the palace, right?”
“Of course,” I replied as we started to head in that direction.
Velvet asked, “What are we playing?”
“It is a new type of card game,” I explained. “Everypony shares a center pool and you build a deck to use to buy estates and such. The pony with the most in the end wins.”
Crystal smiled. “Hmm… interesting. I want to play that Timberwolf game again, too. We’ll just have to make sure not to give Velvet a heart attack.”
“I’ll do my best, but I can’t control the princess,” I said before falling quiet.
Crystal and Velvet chatted about the graduation ceremony and future plans while we covered the remaining distance to the palace. When we arrived, all of the gate guards snapped to attention as I walked through.
By the time we arrived at Princess Luna’s chambers, everypony else had already arrived. The usual crowd of ponies was in attendance for graduation game night, with one addition: Miley Hooves. Our little club was growing and it had gotten to the point where it was easier to have two games running at the same time.
I sat with Crystal Wishes, Miley Hooves, and Runic Phial while Princess Luna, Iridescence, Winterspear, and Velvet Step were at the next table. One downside to this was that I wouldn’t be able to coordinate with the princess. She and I were a devastating board game duo.
Miley, being new to board games, was struggling a bit. “Sorry, sir…” she said as she just stared at her cards with a furrowed brow.
I waved a hoof. “There is no rush, Miley. Tonight is mostly about socializing, anyway.”
Princess Luna cackled. “Speak for yourself, Silent Knight! Tonight, we are out for blood!”
“Don’t mind her, sweetie,” Crystal Wishes said. “We threw Velvet in front of her so we could get you caught up.”
Velvet shot a glare from across the room. “Gee, thanks, Crystal. Love you, too!”
Crystal giggled. “We’re not dating anymore, honey. You’ll just have to take Luna on yourself. Just focus… and when she isn’t looking, peek at her cards.”
“Such treachery!” the princess said with a gasp. "I remember when this evening was civil.”
Iridescence reached for an estate. “Don’t mind me.”
Winterspear laughed. “If we keep failing to pay attention, Iridescence is going to win.”
“Oh, you hush.” Iridescence slid her card into place and smiled.
I chuckled softly and held my cards close to my chest. I was a little behind. My strategy of picking up bigger coins wasn’t exactly paying off. Figuring out what Runic was up to was also proving to be really difficult. He kept buying mines and workshops. It was time for a distraction.
“Miley, I noticed that your mane is back to normal,” I said innocently.
The little mare huffed a bit and glared at Runic. “Yes… we had a lesson on labels after that.”
Runic shrugged. “Could have been worse. The potion caught fire on the rock.”
Oh, rookie mistake there, cousin. Even I knew that.
“Caught fire? And you still let me try it?” Miley’s voice cracked as she clearly tried to not yell.
The stallion looked surprised at her tone. “Only the first few times. By the time you tried, it the formula was down to near zero risk.”
I subtly spent my coins and bought an estate. There weren’t many left.
“Near zero?!” Miley squealed.
“You’re awful,” Crystal whispered to me.
“Strategy,” I replied with a serious expression.
The evening went on late as usual, with many alliances made and destroyed. The game was interesting, but not a crowd favorite. We also weren’t thrilled about being split up, so the agreement was that we’d all go out and look for games that could accommodate us all.
Princess Luna stretched and said out of habit, “Silent Knight, please see Crystal Wishes and Velvet Step home.”
“My pleasure,” I replied and motioned to the door. “Ladies?”
“Why, thank you, Lieutenant,” Crystal said as she stood up.
The three of us left together. It was a familiar walk home: one I’d trodden with Crystal on a lot of occasions. I tagged along in silence while the mares happily discussed Crystal’s liberation from school.
“I’m so thrilled to be done. Think of all the free time I will have now!”
“Yup! Think of all the sleeping in you can do,” Velvet said with a grin.
The pair giggled and prattled on as the building drew closer and closer. We went through the front door and up the stairs to their unit.
Outside the door, Velvet announced happily, “I’m just going to head inside and right to my room! See ya, Silent Knight!” She then winked at Crystal and ducked inside.
“Bye, Velvet,” I called.
Crystal and I stood and stared at each other a moment. Usually, this was the part where we kissed. The mare waited a moment before asking, “Would you like to come in?”
My ears perked. It would be nice to spend more time with her, especially since I had been late and then betrayed her twice during game night.
I nodded.
Her voice lowered and she offered a hoof. “Would you like to stay?”
That made sense. It was so late that it was tomorrow already. By the time I got home and fell asleep, I’d barely get any rest before having to get up.
So I nodded again and took her hoof.
She giggled and replied, “It is more fun when it feels like we’re getting away with something. Come on.”
Quietly, I followed along behind her as she led me to her room. That made sense. We’d probably talk some before going to bed, and I wouldn’t want to keep Velvet up. That would be poor sleepover etiquette.
“I feel like I missed out on this experience in school,” I whispered.
“My parents would never approve. Especially when you were in school,” Crystal whispered back.
“Oh? Perhaps I should sleep out here, then. The pillows are fi—woah!” The mare’s grip on my hoof tightened as she tugged me inside her bedroom and shut the door.
With that ending bit, Silent needs a service bell on his desk. For reasons.
6148057
As...unique...as this Guard is, he might be better off with a gavel and a pair of dancing lobsters.
"Are you trying to seduce me, Miss Wishes?"
6148074 Well, now we know what Sunny Day and Azurite's punishments will be when they return
6148074
Doing a real bang‐up job there, guardsponies.
Great chapter. I enjoyed this, and I can't wait to see how things will heat up between Crystal and Silent.
Muwhahahhahahaha. :P
Solution to the alistar problem: amazon prime one day delivery
Solution to the alistar problem: amazon prime one day delivery
that is one of the best names i have ever seen
That Luna, so coy about passing things on to Silent Knight.
So, did Silent and Crystal...?
And that's the story of how Silent Knight started drinking Malox straight from the bottle.
Wow so much going on (well like nearly all the previous chapter), Poor Silent Knight ending with everypony looking for him. And Velvet being teased hard today :)
Looks like he finally got some.
Ohhhhh, card games! Was this sort of Monopoly on easy mode?
And other entertaining activities...
derpicdn.net/img/2013/3/23/277023/full.gif
6148570 Lol.
I'm betting that ally is either Tia or Moonbutt. Probably Tia. They both know far more than they normally let on, and Tia is being hinted at doing things behind ponies backs to get what she wants, and somegriffon tried to kill her little "sister".
6148057 I was thinking he'd run it more like a deli!
6148081 I would say she probably is!
6148118 Silent Knight can never rely on officers to get the job done it seems! Busy Canterlot pony officers.
6148149 Glad you enjoyed it!
6148153 That bit with Velvet made me so happy. I'm thrilled to see the Crystal's Wishes side of it
6148222 That may be the best answer to the problem. If only Amazon were in Equestria!
6148249 He is one of the cameos from the Cameo call actually! I thought it was pretty funny for that situation.
6148304 She's a meddler!
6148408 Left up to the reader's imagination. A gentleman would never boast and a lady never tells.
6148492 Exactly. Running the palace by day, stress by night!
6148525 You can never trust that Velvet not to tease!
6148570 I refer you to response three above this one ;D
6148678 It was actually a reference to the game Dominion. It is worth checking out.
6148788 Another fair theory! There are several on who the elusive Maya is.
6148915 My experience in a butcher shop is showing it seems
6148915 It's pretty obvious he got some.
6148788
I've been thinking it is Luna for quite awhile. My brilliant theory is Maya which points to Anzel either trolling us or really really trolling us.
6148408
Silent Knight is an officer therefore he can't get the job done himself.
Silent Knight can't provide commentary on something he isn't around for.
Combining these two statements we can conclude that Silent Knight couldn't get it done so he had to leave and tag Velvet in.
6149001 You know, I hadn't gotten a chance to look up any ancient history, but I think you're on to something there. My vote in on Maya being Luna. It's got to be one of the "sisters", since that long range speaking spell is probably really hard to pull off for a normal unicorn. And Luna would be very happy to have SK wanting to help her without any hints. After all, I believe that she probably has a lot of interest in him.
I'm pretty sure 'secret' training is supposed to remain secret, but kudos for muscle memory.
them guardsponies done fed up
oh yeah! he dun got laid! (or they just pony snuggled)
I almost wanted to read the sexy.... sorry.
6148915
"Stress by night" is a really peculiar way of saying "and also running the palace by night".
Seriously, Silent Knight is at the moment the Captain of the Guard, a position that no longer existed until circumstances required him to fill it.
Unwitting Armageddon has to be the best pony name... I have ever seen. ever. Silent shouting is a new one on me. Im glad game night was fun for them, and Velvet knows what went on last night -grins- Anyway this was a fun chapter, and the ending was a humorous one. At least he found some in it too.
6149245
I suspect Princess Meddling in this instance. All the officers disappearing at once is too much of a coincidence. We know they both like Silent and have long term plans for him and they have a "sink or swim," approach to teaching. Arranging for Silent to become "effective Captain," for a few weeks for a learning experience he couldn't get any other way seems like something they'd do.
Looks like I'm a palace pony. Fun.
Keeping track of this story and CW's story is getting more and more tiring - especially since they update at different paces. Still a fun little universe you two have built up.
Is this the first time Silent spends a night in bed with Cyrstal?
I said "Oh no," out loud when I realised the team were playing monopoly! Do you reckon that we might ever see a game of Battleships or Cluedo happen? No, we've already had Cluedo, haven't we?
Actually, I want to see them play a game of Cheat. Ever played that? It's fun.
Well, since I didn't have time to post on the last chapter, I suppose I'll throw my wild theories out here.
So Alistair is on the run. That's cool. But we still don't know who he's working for. It's pretty obvious that he's not working for either of the griffin nations, but that's about it.
I highly doubt that he got his position in the North without them knowing who he really was. So even if the North was trying to use him to frame the South and get some sort of advantage, they would lose more by allowing Luna to be killed on their soil and while under their protection than they would ever gain from that situation.
And the possibility of him working for the South runs into similar problems. His position makes him very easy to track as long as he's in civilization. Even if he was trying to use his position on the Northern guard to frame them, he would be too easy to trace back to his origins. The South would have just used a nameless nobody (preferably one actually recruited from the North) if that was their goal.
Which leaves some other organization. Barring the involvement of some other, as yet unnamed organization, the only group left that hasn't been cleared and would have a valid reason to get rid of Luna is Equestria itself. It rather neatly explains Maya's involvement as well, since it would explain why she needs to circumvent normal channels and speak to Silent at all. Until some sort of information surfaces pointing more concretely towards some other organization, I'm still looking at the Equestrians for who to blame.
As for who Maya is, these last two chapters have given us a couple rather interesting pieces of information. The first is that she is, in fact, part of the Equestrian intelligence service. In the last chapter we were shown that she gave Silent the exact same information he got from his known contacts. The only way she could make sure that the information was exactly the same is if she already knew what his known contacts would tell him. And then in this chapter she admitted to being able to influence the agents that would attempt to capture Alistair. That influence also proves that she's someone with a very high ranking position.
The possibility that it's one of the princesses is...interesting, but I'm not sure that I buy it. They have their own jobs to do and gathering, organizing, and controlling that kind of an investigation is massively time consuming. I just don't think they have the free time that would be needed in order to be Maya. It's possible that they're simply acting as the mouthpiece for the pony who's actually doing all that work, but if that was the case then why not just actually have that pony be the one to talk to Silent?
Pfft! At this rate they might as just well hand Silent a set of Captain's Bars and say "Congrats, Captain of the Guard..."
6150207 Devils advocate here again! I agree that it is unclear who he works for. I don't agree that it is obvious he isn't working for either nation though. In our world I'd fully agree with your point. Keeping track of someone is easy. In this particular case I'm not sure it would be evident who he actually is.
Excellent theory on the princesses as Maya and about Maya in general. You're certainly picking up a lot of the breadcrumbs I've been leaving.
6150123 They were actually playing Dominion ;D I've never actually played Cheat. I'll have to look into it!
6150085 He seems to be indicating that.
6149950 I'm not sure how to respond to "tiring" I'm glad you like the world though!
6149885 6149245 Almost! Almost! The Captain of the Canterlot Guard was also responsible for the entire Canterlot City Guard as well. So he got two out of three. We haven't quite throw him that far ;D
6149622 I'm glad you've enjoyed it! Velvet is one of my favorite characters to write.
6149139 Yeah, unfortunately practicing something over and over sometimes yields those results! He covered it up... uh sort of well.
6149015 Only two words for that: Oh my!
6148980 Not to the children! Think of the children ;D
6148916 Perhaps! Random fun fact: I once worked in a slaughter house.
6150253 Well, he has to go to captain school first!
6150275 yeah, I almost stabbed my dog once because he jumped on me when I was sleeping, and thankfully my sister is a freak of nature with her ninja reflexes, my throwing stars are coated with irritants that don't wash out....
I'm.. paranoid...
6150280 That's my point - at this rate they'll just hand him the rank because of his field experience!
6150275 [Insert Slaughterhouse Five reference here] Nice. I'm the shlep who sells the stuff you cut up and has half the skill the meat cutters have~
6150275
If he were any other griffin, I would completely agree with you on the tracking thing. But he's the grandson of the North's biggest rival. Him suddenly disappearing from the South would raise some eyebrows, and even if the king had a perfectly valid reason for why he was missing, the North would immediately try to track him down and, at the very least, confirm what they were already told.
The high profile nature of his position makes it virtually impossible for him to just disappear for the years it would have taken to get promoted all the way to the head of the Northern king's personal guard. If the ponies were able to figure out who he really was after such a short amount of time, I don't believe for a second that the griffins didn't know.
Not only that, we know that Alistair is very smart. He played Silent like a fiddle, forcing him to jump at shadows and react to false alarms the whole time he was in the griffin empire so that he wouldn't be on his guard for the real attempt. And if Ferrel hadn't given them that split second of warning before the ambush, it would have worked. The only reason Silent, Rook, and the griffin captain weren't all taken out in the initial volley is because they were already partially on guard and split up. If not for that, all three of them would have gone down at the beginning, Iridescence and Orchid would have been caught off guard while they regained control, and in that time their chance to break and run for the trains would have been lost.
Even on a successful assassination, he still would have been on the run like he is right now, and the ponies would have been able to gather the same information about his past and movements. He wouldn't take that kind of risk if there was even the possibility of it being traced back to his real employer unless he wanted them to have that information. Since neither the North nor the South really gain anything by having Alistair involved--or even having the situation happen at all--it's far more likely that he's using his high profile position to mask his real employer.
Oh good, SK made it by the skin of his teeth. I know that feeling of watching someone graduate high school. My sister graduated earlier this month.
Silent Knight aught to be more careful with his additional training. He could end up doing something to someone that he might regret. Hopefully he doesn't make the same mistake again.
And also with his little personal mission. Looks like things might not go quite as planned. But it seems our man has a back up plan for the back up plan. Prepared just doesn't quite say it.
Ha and that last part.
914electric.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/dmv_interior.jpg
Ugh *shudders*
6150275
Well, all that's left is for someone to do is write a one-shot, fill in the blanks, slap an 'M' rating on it and BAM! We have what we need.
6150275 Seems you're not the type to explore into heavy romantic scenes like that. That's fine. I'm sure that Crystal's variation would possibly show us what partially happened.
6150275
I'm not sure it's the intended reference, but Cheat may be another name for the card game (standard playing cards) also called Bullshit, Liar, I Doubt It, Russian/Canadian/Spanish/Chinese Bluff, Verish' Ne Verish', and probably several more.
The basic premise is that you try to get rid of your cards by putting a number face down and declaring them as a set of the same rank (e.g., "three sevens"). Other players may call bullshit, and if you were lying, you pick up all cards in the pot. If they call bull and you weren't lying, they pick up the cards instead. As you might expect from the wide range of names for the game, rules vary slightly.
6150275
There's time for that, yet.
6150323
On the topic of him being the grandson of the North's biggest rival, allow me to posit the following question: Are you sure about that? You've already stated that he is using his high profile to mask his true employer, but what evidence do we have aside from a report from Equestria's intelligence services — who have thus far produced no compelling evidence that they are actually any good at their jobs — that this is his actual identity.
Whoever he is, he's part of a major operation that's been in the works for years for it to be this involved and for him to get into the position he needed to be in. Perhaps we should seriously consider that the only reason Luna was targeted is because she was a target of opportunity. We know, after all, that without Ferrel there to provide that warning, pretty much the entire unit would've been taken down in the first volley, and the ambush party still have ammunition and resources to spare. I therefore also posit the following: Princess Luna was only a target of opportunity.
The original, real target was Princess Celestia.
6151210
The possibility that the Equestrian intelligence agency is just bad at their job and misidentified Alistair is an interesting theory, particularly because we haven't actually seen the facts they used to draw that conclusion. But I'll counter that with the same fact that I used in my original point: The grandson of the king is a very high profile position. In order for their identification to be wrong, that would mean that the real grandson is not only somewhere else, but no one knows where, or that Alistair isn't the real grandson.
That would be one hell of a feat to pull off. Technically possible, but far more unlikely than him actually being the grandson and the North knew but allowed him to be there either because of some agreement between their governments or for some reason of their own (keep your enemies closer and all that).
I can buy that Luna was a target of opportunity of a sorts, but I wouldn't take it as far as you are. I think they would have gone after whichever alicorn went to the negotiations. If they had planned to go for Celestia specifically, they wouldn't have gone after Luna just because it was an option. Celestia is by far the more dangerous of the two, both politically and in direct combat. Going after Luna, even if the attack had been successful, would have made getting Celestia significantly more difficult, possibly to the point of impossibility. Even getting Luna relied almost completely on having the element of surprise. The first attack is the only one they'll have that for. If they had been targeting Celestia specifically, they would have gone for her no matter what and taken Luna out later.
Granted, since I still think Alistair could be working for someone in the Equestrian government, I think they knew exactly which alicorn would be there and acted accordingly.
Why am I always shoving reading as the last thing I'm doing during the day?
I imagined a story where SK goes on a kill rampage across Canterlot. Like those crazy Cupcakes. It seemed so funny in my head from the sheer lack of context, it was so beatiful... also: a necklace from Luna's eye seemed as the most accurate thing there...
You could once in a while give the readers a mildly important detail that the audience will know and SK won't. Maybe a reason to something that would require SK doingsomething funny. You know - confusing situations.
Is the package an abducted, living griffon? For me SK just finished his transformation from Arnold Schwarzenegger into James Bond...
And man - that was beatif... *checks right spelling* beautiful! The moment I read "golden shades" I thought myself: ...something is not right..." then "bomb". Well, the barracks. I am literally crying right now.
SK gets it finally. Dayuum heartbreaker.
Number one joke was good. Like a damt office. [technicly it is one]
6151789 The story is written in first person from Silent Knight's perspective. It would be impossible for him to give the reader something he doesn't know. As far as the package goes they're talking about Alistair.
6151741 6151210 Both very interesting theories and a lot of great points made. I'll throw in that I still don't fully agree that the grandson of the king is automatically high profile. What if the king has six children who each have two or more children? Those are details we don't know yet. He could literally be the youngest child of the youngest child who would effectively be a nobody when it comes to any potential succession.
We also absolutely don't know if pony intelligence got it right! I was happy to see that point. There are a lot of variables out there still. Although they do seem to be moderately successful at what they've done since the incident. I kind of view it as a step up in intelligence gathering after someone tried to snatch a princess.
6150912 Ahhh, I am familiar with that game!
6150755 Yes, well I certainly want to avoid any potential "sex" tag for the story since it would be grossly misleading. Crystal may go into more details but she'll be roughly in the same boat.
6150410 Oh, no no no no no ;D
6150316 I dunno! Butchers are like surgeons to me. Most of what our plant did was just hack it into the larger parts.
6150356 He is a very prepared pony. Calculating, meticulous, and ready!
6151986 Huh, yeah. Unless you would have a part where SK tells others the story and then uses words "...but I didn't knew it back then..." to describe the critical detail. That could work.
Ooooh, it sure is getting steamy now!