7. Aftermath
Crystal Wishes and Velvet Step. Two civilians out when the giant cockatrices had attacked. The mere idea turned my stomach and sent me into a panic.
I worked over the details in my mind. First, I’d check the hospitals. If they weren’t there, I’d check Runic’s shop, Sunridge Sweets, and both of their parents’ homes.
No, it would be smarter to check those places first. The hospitals might be overflowing, and it was unlikely they’d have good records of who was who right until the crisis was over.
Then, if I couldn’t find them there, I’d get Winterspear. She and I could cover more ground that way. She’d be happy to help me find them. I knew Iridescence was fine, so she didn’t really have to worry about anypony... except for—
“Dot!” I shouted out loud.
Why were there so many ponies to protect now?
My knees started to shake and, for a moment, I was back in the gully. Gryphons were on both sides, shooting my ponies. Not my guards, but my friends, my family.
I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. Then three more. This wasn’t like that. It wasn’t going to be like that. Back to the task at hoof: check the places they’re the most likely to go and follow a logical progression. First find Crystal and Velvet, then Dot. I’d deal with the problems as they came.
The light spilling in from the doorway shifted as a figure walked in front of it and cast a long shadow inside.
“Hello?” came a soft voice. The greatest voice. “Silent Knight, is that you?”
When I turned, Crystal was staring into the place in confusion. I pulled off my helmet and let it fall to the floor beside me. In an instant, I closed the distance between us and wrapped my forehooves protectively around her. She melted into the embrace and I kissed her with all the passion and relief that I felt from hearing, seeing, and holding her.
As our lips parted, she swallowed and whispered, “I don’t know exactly what happened to you today but, good or bad, I think I approve.”
A bit of motion on our right caught my attention. Velvet was staring at us with both hooves held close to her grinning face. “Aww…”
I breathed a sigh of relief and held the unicorn against me. “I was worried about you. Both of you… but you.”
Crystal smiled and nosed my cheek. “We’re fine, Silent Knight. We’re both fine. Not a scratch. I’m happy to see you are, too.”
Reluctantly, I let her go and went to retrieve my helmet. “I have to go check on the others. Be careful inside. Everything has fallen and there is some broken glass. I’ll come around for you later, alright?”
The beautiful mare nodded. “Alright, we’ll be fine. Go be a hero.”
I smiled at her and hurried off to check on the others. I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I felt relieved. There was still a chance others were hurt, but knowing Crystal was safe gave me peace.
My flight took me over to Runic’s shop. It looked like a fortress from the outside and showed absolutely no damage whatsoever. If the cockatrices had tried to assault it, they’d failed miserably.
The back door was open and several ponies were streaming out, heading off into Canterlot to discover the damage there. Runic was standing proudly by and eagerly waved up at me. “Hi, Silent Knight!”
I landed by him, starting to feel relief. “Hey, Runic, looks like everything is okay here?”
“Oh yeah,” he said gleefully. “After the changeling situation I decided I’d never be caught unprepared again, so I turned the backroom into a bunker. That is why all of the neighborhood ponies came over. Those big chickens tried to get in, but I wasn’t having it!”
“You should get into private security,” I replied with a chuckle.
Runic waved a hoof. “Me? No, it was just to protect the store. Although I do have some ideas about armor. Who knows? Space comes first.”
Space? I didn’t have time to figure it out. I gave my cousin a brief hug. “I need to go check on Dot. Make sure everypony around here is safe, okay? I deputize you as the block captain.”
“Block captain? Okay! Will do, Silent Knight. See you later!” he called as I flew off.
There wasn’t such a thing as a block captain. Not officially, but it would keep him focused on helping others. Runic was a powerful force when appropriately directed.
Figuring out where Dot could have been was harder. Although, it was the middle of the day when this all started, so the most logical place would have been the school. I landed there and found it to be wholly intact.
Iridescence trotted out the door and smiled when she saw me. “Were you checking up on Dot?”
“Of course, I had to know she was okay. I assume this was your first stop,” I replied.
“You bet. The teachers have drills for this sort of thing. They all go down into the basement and wait for the royal guards to tell them it is safe. Dot is fine. She’s sleeping now. It was a scary night, so most of the foals are on their mats taking a nap. They’ll be safer here than at home while we sort everything out.”
That made sense. Keeping colts and fillies safe was a priority for any school. It was logical that they would have an area for them to hide in the event of something dangerous happening. Most of these plans had been put into place after the changeling invasion and it seemed like they were paying off.
My heart started to slow in its eager beating and the adrenaline that had been coursing through me for the last twenty or so hours started to wane. All at once, I felt exhausted.
Iridescence trotted over, a concerned look on her face. She set her hoof on my chest. “Are you alright?”
“I am. It’s just that when we were coming back, I realized I had ponies in the city to protect. Ponies to lose. For a minute, I…” I trailed off, looking away.
“You thought you’d lost them again and it felt like Nordanver,” she finished for me.
All I could do was nod.
She lowered her voice to a serious but gentle tone. “Silent Knight, let me tell you a secret. I have nightmares now and then. We’re back on that train and I watch you go down over and over. Only, Ferrel doesn’t make it to you. I wake up screaming sometimes. It’s okay. Just try to stay focused and if you need somepony to talk to, do that. Alright?”
I took her hoof in mine and lightly squeezed it. Iridescence had been my partner. She was my friend. She was also my subordinate, which meant I couldn’t really talk about this with her anymore. Still, it was good to know she cared. “Thank you. I’ll do that.”
She held my hoof a moment longer before letting go. “You should go get some sleep. We’ll have a lot of work to do in the morning.”
I’m not ashamed to admit that I regretted the loss of physical contact with another pony. “Yes, Sergeant, I’ll do just that.”
“Goodnight, sir,” she said in response before heading back into the school.
Sleep would do me good. It would calm my nerves and soothe my anxiety. Tomorrow would be another day.
☾
The Battle of Canterlot, regardless of how intense it had been for me, would not be remembered in the same way that the changeling invasion was. The response of everypony involved had been exceptional.
All told, the newspapers painted a very positive picture during the aftermath. The headline was The Royal Guard Saves the Day with the subtext, “City in chaos but no fatalities reported.” That had to be a miracle. There were some ponies seriously hurt, but not a single death.
What shocked me the most was the fact that in less than two weeks, the city had been repaired. Numerous crews that included special unicorns came out and made it as if the cockatrices had never been there.
My own ponies were almost all back on limited duty, too. A few broken bones here and there weren’t enough to stop them, and quick medical attention had resulted in better outcomes.
For a battle, this had certainly turned out the best way it could have. That was something I considered lucky. Much like myself, since I was in the company of a beautiful mare.
Crystal Wishes and I were sitting in the officer’s club. It wasn’t much more than a private lounge inside the palace for officers to find a little bit of peace. In older times, it had been far more opulent but command didn’t want too much disparity between us and the rank and file.
“Next time, I think you should come to the palace,” I said. “It would be far safer here.”
She shrugged. “I wasn’t that scared. Honestly, once we heard the alarm and saw what was going on, Velvet and I headed down to the basement with our neighbors. That place is basically a bunker, after all. Besides, it would probably have been more dangerous to try to get here. Could you imagine us running through the streets trying to get to the palace?”
Imagining that gave me the chills. One of the frightening things about dating Crystal was that she wasn’t a royal guard. When bad things happened, she was at the mercy of whatever threat was at hoof. Thankfully, nothing had happened during the recent attack and I tried to focus on that instead of the what-if scenarios.
“You’ve got a fair point there,” I finally admitted.
“You seemed awfully worried about me,” she teased before sipping at the drink we were sharing.
“I can’t lie to you. In the heat of battle, I was primarily worried about the unit and the princess. But once the adrenaline started to wear off and I saw that other ponies were thinking about their… their… special ponies, it hit me hard.”
She smiled softly and asked, “Which is why you flew straight over to find me?”
“Yes.”
She reached out and set her hooves on mine. “Don’t worry about me. I’m scrappy.”
My head tilted and I stared at her, one eyebrow raised. She stared back with determination.
After a moment, her composure broke into a pout. “Okay… how about I’ve got a good head on my shoulders?”
I nodded. “That I’ll believe.”
She smiled again and then her gaze focused on something past me. A curious look crossed her face. “There is a mare coming our way,” she whispered.
I turned to see Major Measure approaching. She had her helmet on and, even though I was off duty, I stood. “Ma’am.”
The major nodded. “Forgive my intrusion. I was walking by and saw you inside. Good work the other day, that was really something. It wasn’t princess protecting, but it was something!”
I couldn’t help but smile a bit. “They are overly willful, ma’am… and thank you.”
She then cleared her throat and nodded her head towards Crystal. I looked, too, and then it hit me.
“My apologies. Major Ruby Measure, meet my marefriend, Crystal Wishes.”
“How do you do,” the major said with a polite bow of her head. “I recognize that name. You’re on Princess Luna’s access list, are you not?”
Crystal returned the gesture. “I am, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Very good, then.” The major patted me on the back. Her tone changed from the usual military cadence to a more knowing, familiar one. “Please take care of my lieutenant. He is very useful and I need him in good shape.”
“Oh, I intend to. Have no concern there.” Crystal giggled.
Major Measure smiled and nodded. She winked at me, saying, “As you were.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I relaxed as she turned to walk away.
“She seems nice,” Crystal said once the major was gone.
I nodded and said, “She is. But she’s also a very different officer than most. If you’re doing what you’re supposed to, she just sort of ignores you.”
“Isn’t that good?”
“Yes, I suppose it is. It’s just different, and that can be off-putting, I guess. Some commanders are really hooves-on,” I explained and shrugged. “Either way, I like the autonomy. Enough about that, though. How is the book coming?”
Crystal grumbled, “It isn’t my best work. The draft is with the editor, but there was something missing this time. I was… struggling with myself instead of just letting my muse run wild. I think the stallion came out a lot more plain because of that.”
“Maybe you were preoccupied with pondering a stallion of your own?” I asked.
That gave her pause. She took a few, long sips, then said, “Maybe so. I was thinking about you an awful lot.”
I smiled and teased, “Perhaps next time, you should write a story about two mares that are just friends. It will probably be your greatest romance novel to date.”
With a snort, she rolled her eyes and waved a hoof at me. “Oh, laugh it up. If it were true, you’d be missing out.”
“You made a cute couple.”
“Hush!” she ordered and I complied.
We fell into a companionable silence, taking turns sipping our beverage. When we reached the bottom of the glass, I asked, “Ready? I imagine Miley and Runic are all set.”
Crystal rose, nodding. “Yup, this is going to be fun!”
I tossed a few bits on the table and we headed out of the palace and into Canterlot. I was still amazed at how fast earth ponies could rebuild things. Between them and the unicorns, a building could be repaired in a matter of hours.
It was hard to believe that one week, something could come through and destroy an entire town and… the next, everything would be as if nothing had ever happened. Magic paired with hard work was amazing.
We trotted casually across town, enjoying each other’s company and discussing the various ways our night could end. The unknown variable was Runic. When Miley had asked me for a double date, I’d readily agreed before really thinking it through.
Crystal had been on board immediately. She and Runic were friends, of course, but she wanted the opportunity to get to know Miley better. Their circles overlapped a lot, but the two were rarely together without a group.
As we drew close to Runic’s shop, both he and Miley came out and waved eagerly in our direction. Miley trotted right up to give a big hug to Crystal, who stiffened briefly before looping a hoof around the earth pony and returning it.
“Hi, Silent Knight!” Runic chimed offering me a hoof.
I bumped it in return and grinned. “Hi, Runic. Ready for this double date?”
“I am! I plan to be on my best behavior. Mostly because Miley said I had to,” he reported.
That parted the hug as Miley gave Runic the ‘you weren’t supposed to say that’ look that mares seem to acquire right after they get their cutie mark. Winterspear sure had a good one.
“You look lovely, Miley,” Crystal said, complementing the brown mare’s dress and defusing the stare.
It was odd, as I’d never seen Miley outfitted in anything but armor. Tonight, she was draped in a yellow sundress that really contrasted her dark mane. A mane, I noted, that was still really long thanks to Runic’s ever-growing hair potion mishap. At least now it met regulations when she braided it.
“Thank you so much! You, too!” Miley replied. She then clapped her hooves together and asked, “Where are we going?”
All eyes shifted to me as if I was supposed to have decided that. I looked at my cousin.
“Why don’t we go over to the Fillyharmonic?” Runic suggested.
“I’ve heard their food is excellent,” Crystal replied.
Miley cheered, “Then let’s go there!”
We set out together with Miley and Crystal in the lead making small talk about where the best places to shop for dresses were. Miley, apparently, preferred sundresses like the one she had on. Crystal, also apparently, had a guilty pleasure for ball gowns.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t understand mares. I especially don’t understand how clothes can be a ‘guilty pleasure,’ or why there are so many different types of dresses. Crystal called the pink scarf she wore an ‘infinity loop.’ I called it a pink scarf.
Really, it just makes me glad to be a stallion. Runic was wearing one of his nicer vests that didn’t have vials all over it or burn marks, and I had brushed my mane.
Runic looked over at me and asked, “Did you see the latest copy of Square Equis? The one that has the stallion with the massive sword on the cover?”
I had, in fact, seen that. The stallion was one of the fanciest miniatures ever produced. His sword was also unrealistically large. It wouldn’t be useful in actual combat. “I did. I also happened to see how many points that pony was. I don’t have enough figures to match it.”
“Yet!” Runic cheered.
“Come on now, surely you don’t want to grow our armies even larger than they already are? I mean, it’s clearly just a sneaky way of getting us to buy even more stuff,” I said.
“Obviously, yeah,” Runic replied. He sounded thoughtful, but the kind of thoughtful that sounded fake.
I glanced over at him to see a sheepish grin on his face.
When our eyes met, his grin widened. “And it’s working?”
My brow shot up. “I’m on a fixed income here!”
The grin fell and he huffed. “Fine, if I buy it, I won’t expect you to match it. It will go on the collection shelf and stare down menacingly at your pathetic little knights.”
Runic rarely engaged in boasting, but when it came to miniatures games, he was almost a different pony.
“I’ll remember that the next time your lizard-ponies are routing with their tails between their legs,” I chided.
“Now see here, I—”
“We’re here, fellas!” Miley chimed happily.
It was clear that there would be a wait to get into the restaurant, as the line was out the door. Crystal and Miley took care of that, however, by filling most of the time with conversation about Miley’s family back home. She had eleven siblings and that blew Crystal’s mind.
Runic and I had mostly listened to them, our conversation shifting to his latest experiments. I hadn’t been his lab assistant in a very long time, which was kind of sad. It was something I missed doing, but time was a rare commodity.
The hostess flagged us down and led us to a table. After a brief wait, another pony set a basket of rolls in front of us.
“Would you like a roll, sir?” Miley asked, holding the basket out to me.
Crystal giggled and waved a hoof. “You don’t have to call him sir, Miley.”
“Yes, I do,” Miley said right as I also said, “Yes, she does.”
The unicorn blinked in confusion. “You’re both off duty, though… We’re on a date.”
Miley met my gaze before she smiled and began to explain, “Yes, we are, but he’s an officer and we’re both royal guards. A royal guard is a guard twenty-four hours a day. If he wasn’t my commanding officer, we might be less formal, but think of it this way: what would everypony else think if they saw us sitting here and I treated him any differently than we were at work?”
Runic’s head tilted as he chimed in, “That he isn’t a stuck-up jerk?”
That made me chuckle and I shook my head. “They’d think I was favoring one sergeant over others. We’re fine. Miley and I will keep it professional. Everypony else can just be normal.”
Crystal pouted. “That doesn’t seem as fun… but okay. What should we get to eat? Does anypony want to share an appetizer, maybe cheese sticks?”
Softly, I cleared my throat and looked over at my marefriend. “Velvet said you had a bad experience with cheese.”
The mare turned red from ear tips to delicate neck. “I’m going to murder her,” she mumbled.
I tried not to smile. “I hope not, I’d hate to arrest you.”
Miley quickly suggested, “How about the potato wedges? That sounds good, right?”
“I do love potatoes!” Runic replied. “They make excellent batteries. Let’s do that.”
I raised one brow. “Make batteries or eat the potatoes?”
That gave Runic a moment of pause before he shrugged. “These are probably for eating, and I don’t really need any batteries tonight. So… eat?”
Crystal, finally returning to her usual self, nodded. “Potatoes it is!”
We placed our orders and idly chatted while we waited. Miley and Crystal had moved on from dresses to hats. I tried to be interested, but the topic was not one that caught my interest. The opposite, in fact. I’ve never trusted hats.
My attention turned to Runic, who was rather visibly staring off into space. He was far worse at hiding his disinterest than me. To our relief, the food began to arrive, starting with the potato wedges. That brought the conversation to a lull. I’d picked a pasta dish, which turned out to be excellent.
“I’m getting closer to visiting the moon,” Runic said out of the blue.
“Pardon?” I replied, noodles hanging from my mouth. Crystal and Miley looked equally confused.
Runic grinned. “You know, my plan to reach the moon. We’ve talked about it before!”
We had, but for the most part, I thought he’d been exaggerating. I’d warned him about the risks before.
Miley cleared her throat. “Runic, I thought we’d settled this. You’ve tried to fly up there and it didn’t work. I don’t want you getting hurt!”
Runic nodded in agreement. “We did settle it, I’m not going to fly there with my wings. I’m going to use a ship.”
A ship? “I’m not following, Runic.”
“Me either,” Crystal added.
Runic laid his fork down and set one hoof on the other. “Imagine a rocket filled with an immolation potion. You set it on fire and it propels you into the heavens.” His left hoof went higher than the other. “Then you land on the moon, collect some rocks, and come back.”
I nodded like I understood, even though I didn’t really. “Okay… but Princess Luna has already been on the moon. I don’t think she liked it. Why would I want to go there?”
“For science!” Runic smiled wide.
“Alright…” I saw that Crystal’s eyes were glazing over, so I changed topics. “Did you see that the Airship Armada starter box came out? That looks like a lot of fun.” For some reason, that didn’t seem to solve Crystal’s glazed eyes.
Runic brightened. “Yes! We should go get it right away. Oh, and the first wave, too. I’m ready to fly!”
Miley shook her head and stood up. “I’m just going to go to the filly’s room. Be right back!”
“I’ll go with you!” Crystal said a little hurriedly.
“Okay… wait, why?” Miley asked.
Crystal looked my way and then back at Miley. “That is what mares do in filly flicks and…” She motioned our way with her hoof. “This.”
“Right, okay!” Miley replied and they went off together.
Not everypony was into Airship Armada, I guess. Although, I’m not entirely sure how that was even possible. Turning back to Runic, I asked, “Did you see how big the Imperial class is?”
“I did! You could never field it, but I want two… or three. It’s ridiculous.”
My head shook. “No, NOT having two would be ridiculous.”
Not long after our conversation turned from Airship Armada to other board games, Crystal and Miley returned.
“Alright, boys, you know what time it is!” Miley chirped cheerfully.
Runic’s head tilted. “Nine?”
My ear flicked. I had a feeling that wasn’t the right answer.
Miley laughed. “No! It’s time to sing!”
Sing? Both ears shot straight up and I shook my head no.
“Come on, stud, you have to!” Crystal begged, doing her best to push me out of my chair. She was unsuccessful.
“I think not. I just build sets,” I replied.
Runic shrugged, standing up and walking away. “I’ll go first.”
I remained still as Crystal pushed against me again. “Still no. I had no idea this was that kind of place.”
Miley laughed. “It is called the Fillyharmonic, sir. How could it not be a karaoke restaurant?”
My expression didn’t change.
“Fine… fine…” Crystal sighed before she turned her chair to face the small stage that had previously been unoccupied.
I turned my chair as well and waited while Runic got set up. He flipped through a song book and then seemed to settle on one. The music started, words bubbled up in one of those magic unicorn lanterns, and what followed next was astounding.
Runic started belting out the song in a slow, steady rhythm. His pitch and tone were perfect, and everypony in the room sat in awe. Including me. Perhaps especially me.
“How does it feel, how does it feel?
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?”
He went on like that until the music drew to a close. Everypony in the room started stomping and cheering. Runic just nodded and came back to the table while all of us stared at him in shock.
“What?” He glanced between us all. “I have other interests.”
Over the course of the evening, I held my ground and managed to get away with just standing on stage as Crystal sang a song she apparently normally did as a duet with Velvet Step. Evidently, Velvet was better at it than I was.
All good and, in this case, embarrassing things had to come to an end, though. With our meal and song-birding complete, we headed outside the restaurant.
“You two have a good evening!” Crystal said as she exchanged hugs with Miley and Runic. “Let’s do this again real soon.”
Runic and I hugged, too. Miley just got a hoof-bumped. You can’t hug your sergeants. That was a pretty hard and fast rule.
Miley chirped, “Absolutely! Next time, we’ll go do something that the sir might actually participate in.”
“I just build sets,” I repeated for the ninth time that evening.
Runic laughed. “Goodnight, you two. See you around.”
After Miley and Runic headed off in the direction of the shop, Crystal beamed up at me. “That was so much fun!”
“Yeah, I enjoyed that. I’m glad you and Miley get along.”
“She isn’t hard to get along with. Walk me home?”
My brow arched and I replied, “Do you even need to ask? After you, beautiful.”
Crystal giggled, and we walked the familiar route to her condo, hoof-in-hoof. “You know, I fell for you when you walked me home one time. I think Luna was playing matchmaker.”
“Did you now? And in a year, you never thought to tell me?”
The mare winked. “You never asked.”
“Sure, sure. Well, anything worth having is worth waiting for, right?”
“I think so…” she trailed and then added, “So, you and Miley can’t be friends? What about you and Iridescence? She’s your best friend, isn’t she?”
I shook my head. “Life changes when you become an officer. I’ve had to start putting distance between us. That is just how it is.”
Crystal looked at me curiously. “And you can just accept it? That you have to put distance between you and your friend?”
I stopped walking. That was an interesting point. How could I just accept that distance so easily? Had I even considered it? Friendship had always been difficult for me and I may have given my first true friendship away for a silver bar. There wasn’t much choice, though. It was either me or somepony else.
“Silent Knight?” Crystal asked, staring at me. “Are you okay?”
My head shook as I tried to clear away the thoughts. “It is how things have to be. I don’t have a choice. Can we talk about something else?”
“Of course. What?”
What, indeed? I shrugged and nuzzled her cheek. “Let me just get you home safe.” I started moving again and she walked along beside me. Once we arrived at her building, I followed her up to her door to make certain she got in.
“I had fun tonight,” she said softly, lingering outside.
“Me, too.” This part was always the most awkward for me. I knew she didn’t want the evenings to end, but I had to go back to my place eventually. Even if I stayed with her for another hour, it would still be just as hard to part ways then.
“Good…”
My ears stood at attention and I leaned in to kiss her. It was brief but warm, and the mare shivered happily.
“Goodnight,” I said.
“Goodnight,” she replied with a smile.
I left the building and decided it would be best to fly home. Sometimes flying made it easier to think. After a galloping start, I leapt into the air and pushed for the clouds. Iridescence and I hadn’t spoken like we’d used to since I’d gotten back from school. I’d become all officer all the time.
Slowly, I circled around my apartment building as I thought about what I should do. It was probably time to at least explain my behavior to Iridescence and make certain she understood. Life just works out that way, sometimes you have to—
My eyes locked onto movement outside of my door. The figure was not Winterspear. It was also a little too late for most ponies to be haphazardly wandering around.
I flew down and landed on the balcony behind him. “Can I help you?” I asked.
“Argh!” the violet-coated unicorn yelped in surprise. “Goodness…” He straightened his glasses. “Do you always sneak up on ponies?”
“Only those wandering about suspiciously.”
“Suspicious? You’re suspicious! Who are you?” he replied.
“Silent Knight, royal guard. Who are you?”
“Oh! Excellent. I’m Avid Fiction, non-royal courier, and I have a delivery for you. If you’ll just sign here, please?”
The unicorn levitated a large envelope out of his bag. A clipboard and pencil followed after it, which I took and signed. “It is a little late to be delivering, isn’t it?”
“You weren’t home earlier, and the requester gave specific instructions that it had to be delivered today and directly to you.”
That was odd, but I accepted the envelope nonetheless. “Alright… sorry to scare you. Thanks.” I walked past him and opened my door.
Avid Fiction lightly cleared his throat, his hoof stretched out.
“Oh, right.” I reached into my bag and produced a few bits.
“Thank you…” His brow rose. “You know, it is late and if you’re alone in there I could co—”
I shut the door and wandered over to the table. The envelope had no return address, just my name on it. I pulled it open and found a single piece of paper inside. The message on it was typed out to read:
If you want more information on our mutual friend overseas, meet me for lunch at the Hay Cafe next Monday. Sit outside and come alone.
The letter was signed with a flourished M and nothing else. It was suspicious, but I’d been running in covert circles lately. It was also highly likely that this was the source that had sent me the most recent information.
I turned the stove on, set the missive on fire, and dropped it into the metal kitchen trash can. It looked as if I would have another date soon.
A well needed reprieve from all that is going on in Silent Knight's life. Plus a chance to spend some time with Runic. He is a lot of fun after all!
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Crystal's Wishes Companion Chapter: Wonderful Tonight
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I love the whole interaction between Miley and Silent!
Fantastic chapter, excited for the next one.
A very fun chapter. I love Silent's teasing. Also, Runic singing? I wouldn't have imagined it, but I'm delighted!
Pfft. I'd have loved to see Silent sing. Perhaps Crystal can convince him next time around.
Oh a cute chapter with a double date \o/
DUN DUN DUN. The plot thickens!
Equestrian Thanksgiving; the ending
Did not see that coming about Runic being able to sing.. then again.. Im not surprised. I sorta relate to Silent when it comes to Karaoke. I dont sing infront of other people. Or do plays.
All that was said pertaining to this reminds me of Battlefleet Gothic, and Warhammer 40k in general.
All in all this was a lovely chapter that does well after the chaos that was the attack from the Empowered Cockatrices. Miley is a lovely character in her own right and its a shame that he had to make things different now that he was an officer. I am curious to see what is going on about the Gryphons though
I keep imagining Silent Knight singing this with a Royal Guard video version playing behind him.
And yet, he still sings about rocks.
...
Eh. Seems legit.
6044230 There's no reason why my interests can't intersect.
Besides there's that whole genre of music devoted to geology! It has to be popular with other ponies too, this rock music. 
Maybe it's just slipped my mind, but what's the bad experience Velvet told Silent Knight Crystal had with cheese?
That was so beautiful in how Knight and Crystal had their first kiss together.
6044273
I said, "Seems legit."
6044535 It turned out nicely. He let his guard down and wonders happened!
6044319 Fun fact. This has not previously been mentioned anywhere. Crystal wrote a funny scene that never made it into the story. I made mention of it to make it canon ;)
6044230 As he said, those interests intersect!
6044205 Well, if you could get him anywhere near a stage ;)
6044152 It is like Battlefleet Gothic. Although in this case it is a parody of Star Wars Armada, which I am a big fan of.
6044124 I would certainly agree he was thankful she was safe!
6044065 Start strong end strong!
6044062 Yeah, I wanted to show what else was going on in his life. Especially after his scare. That would certainly snap him out of things for at least a minute.
6044042 He just builds sets!
6044031 Runic is full of surprises. Sometimes literally. Legend has it that he is filled with confetti and small rocks.
6044015 Thank you kindly!
6044670 I'm sure Crystal can convince him to make an exception~
6044683 Silent Knight would find your abundance of faith disturbing.
6044689 I didn't know John Earl Jones was cast as Silent Knight!
6044670 Damn straight. :P
And Runic sings perfectly...when it's about rocks. Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. And now we get to wait and see who the mysterious "M" is... I could start guessing, but somehow I think this is one case where I'll be wrong no matter what I say.
6044670 It also referenced the bird hunt. Turkeys ~ Cockataces.
Intense chapter. I love the romance between Silent and Crystal during this chapter. Thanks for the great job.
I´m not sure about that, but I think the "we" is too much.
6044670 Ooo nice!
6044696
.... From now of, James Earl Jones is Silent Knight. This is now canon.
Can I get an "amen"?
That was...fast-paced?. And lots of dialogue. As always, I think. I always imagined having ~3k words and that much dialogue in it to be a difficult thing to achieve, but you always find a way to have characters talk about something. Yeah, just a little thought I had on my mind for a while now.
Oh yeah, that reunion.
I feel like I've read one that was pretty good!
I'm not sure Silent is taking the right tack with Miley regarding the 'sir' issue, but that's just a potentially incorrect gut feeling based on no real military experience.
Exactly.
I want to know!
Oh, Runic.
Oooo, Runic the secret songbird, I like it! Same with the callback to Silent's set building days, that was great.
Speaking of gut feelings, this is such a bad idea.
I don't think Silent realizes how badly he may be risking his relationship with Crystal by focusing so much on Alastair. It's just a very dark sort of path he's on.
6044910 Amen amen
Time for SK to go full commando on gryphons!
Is Silent Knight getting hit on by a random deliverypony?
Up to five in the morning reading, let me just say it was worth it.
runic! you sing?
that rocks!
...
6044727 I think Runic can sing regardless of whether or not it is about rocks ;D As to the M... my desire to say something cryptic is high. So very high!
6044751 Thank you kindly. I was really happy with how the date went.
6044759 Whoops!
6044987 Thank you I think? :D I try to pack the chapters full!
6045088 Unfortunately enlisted personnel and officers have to be exceedingly careful about their relationships. Especially when you're talking about direct reports. Just one of those things.
I'm not sure that scene with Crystal will ever see the light of day. Only time will tell! What, you don't think mysterious letters from unknown individuals are a good idea?
6045121 Well, thus far he has been able to keep those aspects of his life separate. We'll see how that holds up.
6047157 Perhaps for now he's going to be more James Bond. There is still data to sift!
6047420 It sure looks like it!
6047765 I apologize for keeping you awake but I'm glad it was worth it!
6047845
I've stayed up longer reading it's perfectly fine.
6047845 I rather thinked abaut Arnold Schwarzeneger.
Good to see things have come back to normal after the whole cockatrice fiasco...I also can level with SK when it comes to karaoke. I just build sets.
Chapters 5 and 6 featured a comet.
Chapter 7, Runic mentions building a rocket to go to space.
SCREAMING NOISES
Also, that cliffhanger.
6050381
The comet wasnt his doing, it happend in the Comics and was the cause of the Cockatrice attack. The attack was also the reason why Celestia didnt help with the changeling invasion of Ponyville.
6047420
Yes. Yes he is.
YAY!!! I made my appearance!!
Yes you did Avid, but you also hit on the main character...
SO?! He's yummy! And hello!! Guardponies are gorgeous!! Gotta put myself out there somehow!!
*Facepalm*
Who knew that Runic could sing? Was not expecting that. Love it though. Also love how SK and CW's relationship is going.
Yay for awkward!!
Pretty good chapter. Good character development for our main ponies.
However, it seems that a LOT of commas were missing from this chapter. I'll send you a PM; I don't want to flood this comment with a litany of missing commas.
Strange. The whole talk between Runic and SK ranging from the 'potato battery' to the 'immolation potion' and the 'moon' 'for science' gave me an Aperture science vibe.
6257390 For all we know Runic founds the pony version of it ;)
Well with the amount of things that explode there.....
Make batteries then eat them? Get a nice tingle as they go down.
If the Imperial lives up to its awesome sounding name I agree with Silent on all points.
Oh dear. He seems to be getting into some REALLY secretive stuff now. This could go badly.
When I looked at how CW mentioned Luna playing matchmaker, I just thought of this:
Luna: I must find the perfect ship! It is my Destin--- IDEA! CWxSK! Brilliant!
*Luna takes two cutouts of both ponies faces and bumps them against each other, a crooked grin forming as she makes smooching noises.*
*Then SW enters the room*
SW: Princess? Is there something wrong?
*She throws her shipping map and supplies into the trash*
Luna: Nothing at all!
slight editorial error
made his shop so secure that if the cockatrices had tried to damage it, their attempts had been in vain.
dont you mean
made his shop so secure that when a cockatrices had tried to damage it, their attempts had been in vain.
7279924 In this particular case, as Silent Knight doesn't know if they did or not he says "if."
As in, "if they'd tried it it clearly didn't work."
Take this as good-natured nitpicking, but I CAN'T be the only one who realizes how ridiculous this is right? A storm shelter. In Canterlot.
They are on a mountain, in the middle of the continent, where ponies control the weather. WHY would a Canterlot pony ever need a storm shelter?
7992827 In Q&B, they don't have 100% control over the weather. Nature is its own force, after all. Weather coordinators are in charge of monitoring conditions and forcing things to go in other directions, but you can't go against nature forever.
Now, to your point, storm shelter may have been the wrong term to use here! It was a regular basement before, but after the changeling attack, it was bulked up to be able to withstand another fright like that.
The better term, I think, would have been to call it "practically a bunker"
I seriously couldn't help but laugh at the way Silent totally cut off Avid by shutting the door in his face LOL
6259748
When it comes time for dessert, will they discover that the cake is a lie? Or will they order the lemon flambe?
Moriarty!