Seven ponies stood before the currently empty throne in Canterlot castle; Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadance, along with Solar Guard Captain Shining Armor and Lunar Guard Captain Vladimir Vespertilio. Beside the two captains stood their executive officers.
Celestia addressed the group. “You all know why we’re here, recently our city came under attack by a previously unknown species called changelings, and the queen replaced my niece, Princess Cadance and brought down the shield meant to protect us. Now we must decide on our response.”
“Your highness,” Vladimir addressed with a bow. “There are stories stemming all the way back to the ancient thestral colony, well before the formation of Equestria, that detail such creatures. Perhaps research into the ancient literature could provide some information on the species?”
Celestia nodded in agreement, but it was Luna who answered. “Very well, Captain. I will have some of our scholars look into it.”
Vladimir nodded, but he shuffled on his hooves, looking as if there was something else he wanted to say, but was unsure how to say it.
“Is there something more, Captain?” Celestia asked.
“Yes, there is. You see there are some… disturbing rumors going around the city, and even has started to leak into the rest of Equestria. Some of the guards who fought against the changelings in the castle claim that they witnessed your student, Twilight Sparkle, turn into one of… them. What I want to know is… is it true?”
Celestia inwardly cursed, she had hoped that information would stay between them a little while longer; now she would need to make a public statement before the rumors got out of control.
“Yes Captain, it's true,” Celestia sighed. “However, I must iterate that I do not believe she had anything to do with the attack, and was taken very much against her will. Her rescue is one of the things we must discuss.”
“Discuss? There’s nothing to discuss!” Shining Armor’s XO, Commander Broad Sword, suddenly blurted out. “These creatures have made a declaration of war on Equestria, we should assault their hideout, and burn their chitin clad flanks off the face of Equus.”
“Commander, that is enough!” Shining Armor barked.
Princess Celestia gave Broad Sword a hard disapproving glare. “We are not monsters, Commander. And may I remind you that in reality the changelings didn’t kill a single pony throughout their entire ‘invasion’. While they may have acted hostile against us, under the circumstances I will not commit to any hard military action until we have more information to go on.”
Broad Sword went to say something else, but the glares of everypony around him stopped the words ever forming. “My apologies, I spoke out of line.”
Luna continued the discussion. “Now, we know that the hive is located in the Badlands, though knowing exactly where in the region is another matter. A diplomatic team is currently off the table, so I recommend sending in a small three pony recon team into the Badlands to scout out for the hive.
Shining Armor stepped forward, “I volunteer for this mission your highness. Changeling or no changeling, that’s my sister out there and I will find her.”
Vlad nodded in agreement, “I also volunteer. You will need the best for such a mission. No rookie could survive the hardships of the Badlands, and I have the added bonus of being able to see in the dark. Our XOs can lead the Royal Guard in our absence, we trained them well enough.”
“I agree with Captain Vespertilio,” Shining added. “The commanders have proven themselves capable over the years, and should be able to lead effectively enough without us.”
Luna nodded. “Which leaves only the third member in question.”
The group mused for a few moments before Celestia spoke. “I suggest we assign an experienced soldier, somepony from the EUP military with experience in recon and tracking. If I recall correctly, Sergeant Longshot of the 4th Cavalry, would make a good choice.” The closest thing to a smile graced Celestia’s face for the first time of the day, as she remembered how she met the Sergeant. “And as an earth pony, he will complement the group nicely.”
“Good idea,” Cadance said. “With the unrest down in Canterlot, we can hardly spare any more guards than we have to. On the other hoof, the military is seldom used these days. Aside from the occasional monster attack, or rogue griffon raiding party it spends all its time training, so its soldiers should be readily available.”
Vladimir chuckled, “Yes, well that’s the thing; we haven’t had a major fight since the Griffon Expansion Wars, shortly before the fall of Nightmare Moon - no offense intended your highness,” Vladimir quickly added.
“None taken, Captain,” Luna reassured. “I will have this Sergeant Longshot re-assigned at once, anything else?”
“Only what the guard should do in the meantime,” Shining added. “There could be more of these infiltrations all around Equestria.”
Broad Sword spoke up. “I recommend we have the Canterlot Royal Guard, and the City Guard forces of other towns begin investigations into any and all possible changeling infiltrations, or weird cases. We can’t have threats such as these walking around Equestria freely. As for the towns without any major policing force, we can assign some EUP regiments to take control of these towns and perform their own investigations.”
Celestia pondered this for a few moments, before answering. “I agree, the Royal Guard and City forces will begin investigations, however I will not install martial law onto the smaller towns like Ponyville.”
“Then, your highness, how shall we investigate these towns? We can hardly spare any guards from Canterlot.”
“We can’t, at least not until things have calmed down a little. When that has happened, we will be able to spare a few platoons to perform investigations. The smaller settlements are not likely to have been targeted, unless they have strategic value. I also want to reiterate that all discovered changelings shall be captured, not killed, or unnecessarily harmed. Is that understood?”
“Yes, your highness!” Both commanders saluted the Solar Princess.
‘The fool is too soft, how are the guard supposed to get anything done if she coddles the population to such a degree?’ Broad Sword mused to himself. 'No matter, it won't interfere with my plans.'
“That is all, you are dismissed.”
The next day, Fort Harmony, just south of Manehatten
Fort Harmony was currently home to the 4th Earth-Pony Cavalry, the 5th Pegasi Rangers, and 1st Royal Engineers, along with a few Wonderbolts that were giving the Rangers a special training session in advanced aerial combat. The EUP personnel wore silver combat armour. It looked the same as the gold and blue of the Solar and Lunar Guard, but was far more durable.
The base was alive today. With the recent event is Canterlot, every base was on high alert, and the reservists had been called in. This meant that the base was slightly over stocked with troops. The sound of drills being run, the stomping of hooves on tarmac, and the Drill Sergeant's shouting filled the air. Or as Sergeant Longshot called it, music to his ears.
Longshot, a light brown earth pony with a short black mane, was currently enjoying a free slot in his timetable, and he walked across the base with a scoped crossbow was slung over his back. He had chosen to pay a visit to his pal in the Engineer Core, Solid Sapper. While he claimed that he had gone to the motor pool to see his friend, that wasn’t the whole truth.
The real reason was he wanted to gawk at the new toys the base had received. Meeting up with Solid, he was taken to look at one of the new helicopters that had recently been assigned to a select few bases around Equestria. Currently, only two were requisitioned to Fort Harmony. It was a long slender craft with two large open bay doors just behind the cockpit, out of which could be fitted two large repeater crossbow turrets. Longshot was a stallion who prided himself on accuracy, especially at range, but the idea of using a weapon that big still made him feel like a foal in a candy store.
His tour of the ‘bird’ was cut short as an armoured pony clanked up behind him. “Sergeant Longshot; of the 4th Earth Pony Cavalry?” a voice called out.
Longshot turned to see a Solar Guard Pegasus mare.
He was surprised to see a royal this far from Canterlot, but when he caught sight of the single bar on her shoulder it stalled any questions. “That’s me ma’am,” he reported as he threw a salute. "What can I do for you?”
“You’re being reassigned, orders from Princess Luna herself,” the guard produced Longshot’s reassignment orders with the royal seal embellished on it.
“Re-assigned? Bloody hell, we haven’t pissed somepony off and started a war have we?” Longshot joked.
The guard raised an eyebrow at Longshot’s language, but chose to ignore it.
“Negative. All I know is you will be under the joint command of Captains Shining Armor and Vladimir Vespertilio, for a special mission into the Badlands. The details of this mission are on a need to know basis, and you will be briefed further on your arrival in Canterlot, and introduction to the princesses.”
Longshot’s lower jaw hit the ground. “The princesses are organizing this mission directly? I suppose I should feel honoured, when do I leave?”
“Immediately, I am to accompany you on the friendship express back to Canterlot.”
Longshot chuckled. “I know a quicker way.” *TINK TINK TINK* - He lightly tapped on the helicopter behind him.
“That… would work; we’ll speak to the base commander and have it cleared with air traffic control.”
“Awesome, I’ve always wanted to fly in one of these beauties; they need to see some use anyway.”
Solid just shook his head and wore a bemused expression. “Just don’t let him near the controls, and please, try and bring it back in one piece.”
The two left the helicopter behind as they trotted in the direction of air traffic control.
“So, do you know anything at all about what this mission entails?” Longshot questioned.
“It is, as I said, a very need to know mission. And I, for some reason, am not considered important enough to need to know!” the Lieutenant growled out.
“Ah.”
She chuckled slightly at his response. “Ah indeed, however, I do have a theory.”
“Go on.”
“Well, if I had to take a wild guess? The Inclusion of Captain Armor would likely suggest it has something to do with the fact that, well, his sister, and Princess Celestia’s personal protégé, turned out to be a changeling.”
“Wait… what?!”
“I know! I’m probably not supposed to say anything until the Princess’ formal announcement tomorrow, but yeah, there it is.”
“Damn, what the hell went down up there? Something tells me that the situation is hardly black and white though.”
“What do you mean, Sergeant?”
“Um, nevermind. I will find out the truth of the matter soon enough anyway,” Longshot said, pondering on this new information. He probably would’ve given the mare the inside scoop later, but she never told him her name.
Canterlot
Commander Broad Sword sat just outside the barracks speaking to one of his subordinates. He had assigned the only guards he knew he could trust to his unit. Currently, the Commander was conversing with another guard, a grey unicorn.
“How many now?” Broad Sword asked.
“Including us, thirty two overall have pledged to our cause. Around sixteen are actual guards while the rest are volunteers we are going to kit-up and give basic training.”
“Good, I know of a large cave near the Everfree Forest where we can set up shop; it’s both out the way and hidden enough that nopony should stumble across us by accident. Have the others outside of our unit, including the volunteers, meet there.”
“OK that leaves… eleven of us here, that's including us, while the other twenty one will go to the cave until they have further orders.”
A great rumbling sound suddenly graced their ears. It started far away, and then went right over them. Catching their attention, they looked up for the source and spotted an object flying through the sky over Canterlot.
“What they hay is that?”
“That, is a ‘helicopter’. A flying carriage for earth ponies and unicorns. On board would likely be the princesses’ latest pawn, Sergeant Longshot, arriving for his ever so ‘important’ mission.” Broad Sword sighed. “They would have us drinking tea with those monsters rather than dealing with the actual threat they pose!”
“Speaking of monsters, Private Monroe reported that a local pizza delivery pony has been acting weird, and may not be who he says he is.” The guard smirked while levitating a report towards Broad Sword.
“Huh, nice work.”
“What are your orders sir?”
“We know where he lives, discreetly gather the others. Tonight we will make sure his filth is cleansed from our streets, one insect at a time.”
The guard saluted before marching off to carry out his misguided orders.
Broad Sword went over the report one last time, before looking up to see the helicopter come in for a landing on the other side of the castle. “While the cat’s away, the mice shall play.”
Screw Broadsword, some one get me an Apache and shotgun.
I hope Broad Sword ends up getting thoroughly beaten up.
i really like how celestia wants peace while broadsword wants war and decides to kill changelings while celestia is away on recovering her student
6658564 I'm for him taking his name-sake up the ass and out the mouth
Oh Broad Sword, you so crazy.
I'm wondering if collateral will even enter his head.
Broad Sword is gonna be really screwed. Hell he even called himself a treacherous rat at the end.
Ugh, I hate that nearly every single changeling story has to have that one bloodthirsty military leader. If he becomes prominent in this story I may have to stop reading it, I can't stand this trope.
Ugh... a population of thousands, or tens of, vs a tiny terrorist cell, that reminds me of the McCarthy trials. What an idiot. I really hate people who are very thin and narrow minded. They didn't even HURT anyone. if anything it should be a riot control situation, not a war.
Broad Sword is really crazy, rebellious and dangerous. Whatever punishment he gets in the end, he will truly deserve it. It would be terrible if he tried to hurt Twilight. Bring on the Elements of Harmony!
*eye twitch*
*clenches teeth* Broad Sword, could you kindly GO TO HELL!!!!!
This is like vren55's story, Celestia: The Changeling Queen or something like that, in that changelings are being targeted. This is the-what, 20th time that I rage over it? Some Celestiadamned ponies just make me want to snap their spines!
Broad Sword, I hope you die soon.
If not, I'mma hunt you down myself!
6658603
Would probably need a spear for that though, unless there's a really really long sword lying around somewhere.
6658652 I agree a bit, there is always some sort of chlichee in such storys, like there is always, or often enough a Villain in a adoption story.
I somethow bet he is starting to kill random ponys, and once he noticed that they aren´t Changelings he is going to get crazy, and more radical.
I somehow hoped to see more of Twilight and Chrysalis, but well we need to see this side too. I know what they are saying makes somehow sense, but I can´t help to be on one side with Chrysalis, but at least they aren´t trying to do anything bad to the Changelings.
To be honest I somehow thought that maybe Celestia could just go there with a huge amount of guards, and actually ask to speak Chrysalis, they could still fight them after that, I guess only Chrysalis would be able to fight against Celestia. Then again if they outnumber her, they maybe could get Celestia too, that is if they don´t give her some OP attack.
I got confuse by the helicopter, are they anthro or still ponys?
I´m not sure where I want Twilight to be, maybe they can just build a hive near Ponyville if they get accepted in the end, or something like that, at least the way they could visit each other easy enough.
Changelings revealed, there is one of the Royal Guard that wants to kill them all.
Pokémon arrive on Equus, there is one of the Royal Guard that wants to kill them all.
Can we PLEASE get a story of a major change happening to Equus that does NOT have a Royal Guard pony that thinks EXTINCTION is the proper course of action?
"...and a daffodil isn't a broadsword, BUT I STILL WON THE LAST ROUND!"
*cheering*
6658556 I can get you the shotgun. As for the Apache...are you meaning a helicopter or a native American? If it's the latter, I can substitute something just as good. If it's the former, you're outta luck.
6658709 Ironically it'll probably be the thestral that ends up doing that then considering his name.
6658652
Word. We all know he will go nuts with his creed of cleansing Equestria and then will either try to kill an actually important character or do something messed up in front of Celestia.
And I'm done. The other common theme in changeling fics is a dipole reaction of friendship and tolerance against genocide. The idea of a proportional response is never even mentioned, much less debated or acted upon. You want Celestia and Luna to come off as wise rulers? Don't make them forget that they have a military for a reason.
Attacking Canterlot is an act of war. Kidnapping Cadance is an act of war. Kidnapping Twilight is an act of war. The absence of casualties is an interesting factor, but casus belli has been more than satisfied and some form of responses is mandated.
Final grade: D. This started as a better than average take on a common premise but has since degraded below the point where it is worth reading. The author's determination to villainize military actions has generated strawmen characters and increasingly out of character actions by the original cast. Particularly egregious is that these standards of behavior only apply to ponies, while Chrysalis is allowed to justify her acts of violence and espionage against civilian targets.
6658834 Whatever will aid in killing him.
Eup, nor uep
6658850 Yes, it's shocking that a land of magical ponies from a show subtitled "Friendship is Magic" might want to negotiate with a potential enemy who gave rather mixed signals.
6658933 Uh huh. Now if you can point to a reason I should care, you might have something that approaches an intelligent statement. Maybe. Bad writing does not suddenly become good because of a tag.
6658850 Those are indeed acts of war. However, the fact that the Princesses' plan is not a massive counterstrike is in character with how they've been depicted in the show. Also, Broad Sword has disobeyed his leaders by murdering someone who had no involvement in the attack, and even if he had, that would not be grounds for execution. His actions are treason.
There's also the fact that Chrysalis may be prepared for a counterattack, and as such Celestia and Luna aren't stupid.
Is this the best in the genre? Maybe, maybe not, but even so, one cannot plan against an enemy they know almost nothing about.
Well, now we know how Broad Sword got the information about that pizza boy. I actually hope Broad Sword actions cause war with a different changeling clan.
Blatant referencing of <blank> the hive series aside, good job so far. Looking forward to more.
There's always some crazy guard trying to be good, I hope he gets punish.
6659023 Did I say, at any point, massive counterstrike? Did I say, at any point, that a strike is called for at all? Stop putting words in my mouth and think.
The entire section this came from, I feel is a Team Fortress 2 reference. Especially with Longshot having an Australian accent, or at least saying "Bloody Hell!"
Longshot is propably a ling. And broad sword will die killed by eather Twilight or Celestia. Or a swarm of changlings. And BS's squad propably will kill normal ponies mistaking them for bugs.
That notes tho. XD
6659063 I'm sorry, but that's what would be called for if the ponies were going to fight; finding the Changeling hive and attacking it, or assaulting the lands surrounding it.
I apologize for "Putting words in [your] mouth" as you put it, as that wasn't my intention.
PPPPPEEEAAAALLLLSE! Sompony take down Broad Sword before he starts a civil war!
6658738 Gyrocoper, helicopter, candycane-copter... it's canon to a degree. A heliocopter isn't too far fetched with the disparate levels of technology in Equestria. Not to mention "magic" can fill in a lot of the gaps our modern tech would normally occupy. Pull a propeller off an airship and spin it fast enough, it'll lift anything. If you need further "inspiration" for ponies to discover it, look to nature, ponies are all about nature; the sycamore helicopter seed pod.
But I suspect this chapter's comments will be all about the hate on Broad Sword.
6658709 no you just need to to brake the back in 3 or 4 place and fold
6658640
I highly doubt that, seeing as he will most likely attack and kill any pony that is "Acting strange" without doing any form of recon as to why said pony is acting strange. Not to mention that the ponies of Canterlot especially will be on edge after the attack and just feed his "Cause" and reports ponies "Acting strange" believing them to be changeling's. Rumors had already gone out that Twilight was a changeling, now if we see this from the scared ponies viewpoint, if a changeling managed to infiltrate the castle and get that close to the princess, then no one in there eyes are above suspicion.
What I would actually want to see is that suspicion turn on Broad Sword after he and his men kill the first innocent pony.
But that's wishful thinking at best.
will commander broadsword die a slow and painful death? please say yes!
6658850
So let me get this straight. You hate this fic because Celestia, Luna and Cadance are not being depicted as trigger-happy warlords eager to spill changeling blood. But were instead depicted as wise and tolerant rulers that (because of the lack extreme aggression by the changelings), wanted to look at the attack from every angle and gather all of the facts before deciding weather or not affirmative action was even needed.
6659113 Did I say going to fight?
Turn this on its head. What is stopping Chrysalis from sending a few hundred changelings to overwhelm these three soldiers, drain them dry, and leave them to rot in the badlands? Does Celestia have any reason to trust whatever answer you just came up with? Remember: Chrysalis said that with a good enough reason she has no problem hurting ponies.
6659223 No. If I hated this fic it would have received a failing grade. I rated it so poorly because it doesn't realize there's a middle ground between "all out attack" and "let's not defend ourselves from the things that just attacked us, are holding our citizens prisoner, and prey on us for food." And I am increasingly dismayed by the number of actual people who agree with this perspective. Military force can be used to apply diplomatic pressure, secure borders, defend a negotiation team, and rescue hostages. None of these actions are considered attacks and all can be done in a way that minimizes the risk of casualties. By not taking any action, Celestia is saying she doesn't care if Twilight Sparkle lives or dies.
And if you don't consider kidnap, espionage, untold counts of assault, and invasion an act of extreme aggression, there is something very wrong with your standards.
6659204
A few ponies might even use this to settle old grudges.
Man, I'm reading fiction and I know the first thing I would do after Broadsword's opening outburst would be instant reassignment to some place where he can't cause damage. He showed in an instant a massive level of xenophobia, a bloodlust driving him to want to use excessive force against deliberately non-lethal combatants on only the barest hints of a threat... If not straight out of pride, and the gall to think he knew better than a ruler who's been running the nation longer than most nations in real life have existed.
He is obviously, from the moment he appeared, the racist plug-in thug for the story and a poorly injected one at that. His outburst alone is unreasonably strong and makes me question how he even got his rank. Anyone with half a brain would see his reaction and IMMEDIATELY deem him unsuitable for any operation involving changelings, and wary of him being in any position of command where he could go behind the Princess' back and do damage in the name of doing her a favor. And this would carry into his service history. Xenophobic reactions for no reason, tendency for heavy-handed tactics. Likely a predisposition for ignoring orders in favor of his 'gut instincts' over and over again.
Quite frankly, I can't see him making the rank where he is now and having as much pull to go AWOL on a crusade against creatures he didn't know existed hours prior. He's unprofessional in his duty before he's even doing it.
Arguably, he's obviously the catalyst for the big racial conflict to follow in the coming chapters. He will likely end up confronting twilight and try to kill her. Perhaps almost succeeding for extra drama, and getting captured or killed.
My suggestion to the author: Write his flank out of the story ASAP, and don't go down that path.
That, or turn him into a running joke the rest of the fic, or even into a love interest for Twilight so the story can make him confront his own un-pony-like behavior. Anything is better than 'Racist Warmonger #2254.' The Morality Anvil couldn't hit the reader any harder if it was dropped from Low Earth Orbit.
No, no, and yes.
That name doesn't really fit in with pony names in general.
6659302
And considering how the fandom have taken a liking to portray the nobles, this could potentially become a nightmare both politically and socially.
6659313 Yeah, kind of have to side with this guy here.
I know its your story, and he was probably ejected in order to make some conflict external conflict, but I can't really get behind his character. He is beyond cliche, he somehow picks up a cult following, without anyone noticing and reporting him to Celestia, like the Admiral said he seems far to unstable, impulsive and egocentric to be a commander in the royal guard, which considering their duty, would have been handpicked by either Celestia or the guard captain from the regular army, and he has almost no depth. He is just an antagonist, who has more power than is reasonable, and no reason to be where he is, yet he is there and he is going to screw up the story for the sake of conflict.
I've enjoyed the rest of the story so far, but this guy is simply destroying it, like the Admiral said, please avoid this path, write him out of the story, or at least give him a hilarious anti-climax, it would make more sense than him somehow succeeding in his plans. All it would take is just one guard they approached and attempted to recruit to go to the princesses, and then the whole organisation goes down the plughole, please consider it.
6659313 6659472 The thing about Broad Sword, is that he a minor factor in the overall planned story for the change universe, and while he may seem a big part right now (and perhaps that is true right now) in reality... well that would be spoilers now wouldn't it.
6659205 Maybe
Um... what?
6659485
Smells like backpedaling. If you were trying to make him a 'small' part of the story... Naming an entire chapter after him and focusing on his xenophobic activities is pretty counterintuitive. From a narrative standpoint, you just put up neon signs and blaring sirens saying: "SEE THIS GUY!? HE'S IMPORTANT! PAY ATTENTION TO HIM!!!!!"
6659525 I would elaborate on what I meant, but it's difficult to do so without spoiling the entire damned plot.