• Published 12th Dec 2015
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Possession in the Crystal Empire - Askre



Cadance and Shining Armor find a pony outside the Crystal Empire, possessed by an old enemy

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Chapter 4. You’re here about Private?

Chapter 4

Flash Sentry couldn’t say he was overly impressed when he stepped off the train station platform in Fillydelphia. Compared to things in the Crystal Empire, this city looked so ordinary and plain. The guard had gotten so used to the sparkling buildings and the towering crystal castle that seeing such an ordinary city just didn’t resonate anything with him.

His first stop would be the police station, he needed to inform them that the missing Unicorn was no longer missing. After asking for directions the guard flew off into the city proper. He landed in front of a plain looking brownish brick building that had a sign marked ‘Police Headquarters.’

The guard raised an eyebrow, somehow he had expected something a little grander for the peace officers of the city. Shrugging it off the Pegasus walked up the steps to the doors and entered. His eyes were immediately greeted with the sign of the busy lobby, officers in uniform were rushing through and regular ponies waited in line for whatever business they had with police.

Everything came to a halt when Flash entered and just about every pony in the lobby looked at him curiously. It took a moment for him to register why that was, the guard was of course in his armor and he was so used to it that he just never really paid much attention to it anymore. Of course it did stick out quite a bit now that he was in the company of the regular police and civilians.

“Oh great, a Royal Guard? What case do we not need to investigate any further?” a yellow Unicorn officer grunted as he came walking over to Flash Sentry.

Um nice to meet you too? Flash just raised an eyebrow. Shrugging it off he did the customary salute since they were fellow officers of the peace, though he was in the guards and not the police.

“I’m Guard Flash Sentry, I work in the Crystal Empire Royal Guards,” he introduced himself.

“Officer Hard Case, are you going to answer my question?” the Unicorn snorted giving Flash a hard stare. “Is this about the jewelry thefts?”

“Ah, no officer, I’m here about a missing pony report that was filed this morning. Your department sent notices to all police and guard departments in Equestria,” Flash Sentry told him, the officer was starting to annoy him with the attitude.

“What, don’t tell me you found him already,” Hard Case gestured Flash to follow him. “He’s only been missing for like a day or something.”

“Three and half days actually, guess nopony noticed the first two days since it was the weekend,” Flash corrected him. The officer looked at him and indicated for him to go on as they entered an office.

“Just about three and half days ago, the Unicorn Private Iceland was found at the peak of a small mountain called Little Crystal just outside the city by the royal couple. He was brought to the Crystal Center hospital in the Crystal Empire. He was unconscious for two days before waking up yesterday, he’s still being held at the hospital for further observation,” Flash explained to him.

Hard Case listened with hums and nods while going through a file cabinet. He pulled out a file and slapped it on the desk, it was the missing pony report on Private Iceland. Flash Sentry glanced at it but didn’t pick it up until the officer had nodded for him to do so.

“I guess we can close that case then. I suppose you’ll be going to the museum to let them know he’s been found,” the Unicorn grunted.

“I am under orders to do so yes,” Flash Sentry said, he took a note of the address and contact information given, but there wasn’t much else in the files. “What do you know about this Private Iceland?”

“Barely anything, we only started investigating today after all. The staff at the museum say he is a bit of a recluse, lives in the suburbs where he rents a house with two other ponies. That’s about it,” Hard Case responded and accepted the file back from the Pegasus.

A recluse who lives with two other ponies, this pony keeps adding to the mystery without even being here. Flash Sentry frowned a bit as he thought about this new information.

“Thank you for your help, Officer Hard Case,” he thanked the officer. The Unicorn just grumbled something before waving him off.

The guard left the police station not wanting to bother the officer anymore, it did seem that a royal guard presence annoyed him. Flash didn’t know why and it wasn’t important to find out, he had another mystery to unravel. He was really curious why a pony described as a recluse would live with two other ponies.

It didn’t take him long to find the History Museum, again he was rather unimpressed by lack of any flare to it. It was big sure and they even had two statues of Manticores guarding the stairway, but the gray stone building looked just as drab and uninspired as the rest of the city.

Would it kill them to use brighter colors? he thought as he entered the building. He went straight to the counter and greeted the pony behind it.

“I’m Guard Flash Sentry of the Crystal Empire Royal Guard, I’m here about an employee of the museum, Private Iceland,” he then informed her of his business.

“Oh, you’re here about Private?” the amber mare lit up, showing clearly she was familiar with the name.

“Just second, I’ll go get Dust, she is his supervisor,” she said and hurried off into the museum. Flash Sentry didn’t have to wait long, the counter clerk soon returned with a middle aged blue mare wearing a sea green vest.

“So I’m told you are here with information about Private?” Dust asked curiously but with a hint of worry on her face. “He’s been missing for at least a day now and he never misses a day at work. He even tries to come when he’s sick and should stay in bed.”

“Three and half days by now, ma’am, the royal couple of the Crystal Empire found him on the peak of a small mountain just outside the city and brought him to the hospital,” Flash told her.

“Oh no, is he alright?” the counter clerk asked cringing.

“That is what we are trying to find out, he was out of commission for two days and just woke up yesterday, he was rather uncooperative though when we tried to talk with him,” Flash Sentry said and raised an eyebrow when both mares chuckled.

“That sounds like him alright.” Dust smiled and noticed the confusion on the guard. “Private could out silence some of the statues we have here on display.”

“He doesn’t like to talk, especially with ponies he doesn’t know, he is not terribly social, bit of a grump but a nice pony over all,” the clerk added with a smile.

“Let’s go to my office, we can talk more there,” Dust gestured Flash to follow her, the clerk returned back to the counter.

Flash followed and was intrigued to see that the interior of the museum didn’t quite match the exterior. It had many colorful displays, statues and big signs with historical information. It was a nice change from the city outside and he wasn’t too surprised it was filled with ponies looking around.

They reached Dust’s office and when she sat down behind her desk, Flash began telling her what he already knew, how Private had been found and the past few days. The mare listened with a concerned frown, the Pegasus wondered if something in his explanation didn’t sit right with her.

“The way you describe how he keeps going silent when asked a question, definitely sounds like Private. Granted I don’t know him too well, even if he’s my employee, as we told you he isn’t terribly social and prefers not to talk too much with others,” Dust started and shook her head.

“He isn’t unfriendly though he doesn’t like ponies coming too close to him, his work usually keeps him in the back where he can work in solitude, though he sometimes helps in the front rooms. But I do know this, he isn’t terribly fond of travelling, even during his vacations I happen to know he sticks to the city,” the mare continued and shrugged.

“Then why did we find him in the Crystal Empire?” Flash wondered with a frown.

“That’s a good question, you would have better luck talking with this roommates, Dew Doe and Foxy Stripes. They rent a house out in the suburbs,” Dust told him and pulled out a pen and paper. “I’ll write the address here and directions.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Flash Sentry nodded, although he did remember the address since reading it at the police station, this gave him directions too.

“Is there anypony else that Private knows, just in case his roommates are not in?” Flash asked curiously as he accepted the paper.

“Well there are his parents, Hard Shovel and Mirage Rock, they are archeologists living in Trottingham, but they are very often out on digs from what little Private has told me about his family, so I’m not sure if they are in. He has a twin brother in Manehattan called Barricade,” Dust answered.

Flash Sentry nodded. He borrowed a pen from the mare and wrote the names and resident cities on the back of the direction paper. Now he at least had a lot of contact information and hopefully the mystery of this Unicorn would be soon solved.

“Right, thank for your help, hopefully we can return Private back to work here soon,” Flash Sentry said and folded up the paper, he put it in the secret compartment on his uniform.

“No problem, can you tell him we at the museum wish him well and hope he returns soon and tell him also to enjoy himself now that he’s actually in the Crystal Empire. He has plenty of vacation days to spare,” Dust chuckled. Flash nodded with a smile before turning to leave.

The mare watched the guard leave before sighing deeply. She glanced to her right, there was a door there leading to a file room, it was slightly ajar and it was rather obvious that someone stood in there and was listening.

“Alright, he came as you said he would. But why couldn’t I tell him that he knew you?” she asked.

The door opened fully, revealing an Earth Pony stallion with an hour glass cutie mark. He was light brown, with a dark brown mane and almost as tall as Private. He looked at Dust with a very grave expression.

“Private is at a very crucial point in his life, he’s finally confronting a terrible moment in his past, a moment that made him the pony that he is today. I can’t interfere, I can’t be involved. This is something he must do alone, as much as I wish to go and help him,” the stallion said with sad sigh.


Flash Sentry landed in front of a house in the suburbs of Fillydelphia. It was a nice little two story house with tiled roof and painted white with brown window frames. It had a front garden and the Pegasus noticed a toy fort in one corner of it and some other outdoor toys.

The guard looked at the address again and noted that he was at the right place. That meant a child must live in this house, either Private was a father or one of his roommates was a parent if not both. He quickly noticed that there was no sign of life, nobody appeared to be home.

The Pegasus entered the garden and went straight to the front door and knocked, there was no answer. He looked around and then towards the neighboring houses. The guard opened his wings and was about to simply leap and glide to one of them, when someone addressed him. A pony had arrived at the fence.

“Hey, are you looking for the residents?” she asked curiously.

“Yes, I’m Flash Sentry, I’m with the Crystal Empire Royal Guard, this is the house where Dew Doe, Foxy Stripes and Private Iceland live?” The Pegasus walked over to the fence, hoping this mare was familiar with them.

“Yes it is, but you won’t find two of them at least. Dew, Foxy and Foxy’s daughter Coal went to Los Pegasus few days ago, they are not expected back for at least two weeks,” the white-gray pony told him. “Private would usually be home but he hasn’t been here for over three days now, I suppose he went somewhere, Celestia knows he never tells anypony anything, except his roommates.”

“I’m Soft Trot by the way, I’m the neighbor over there,” she then introduced herself and gestured to the house Flash been about to fly too.

Great, Los Pegasus is on the other side of Equestria. Manehattan is closer, guess I’m heading to find Private’s brother. Flash cursed his luck.

“Well thank you for your information, it’s actually because of Private that I am here,” the guard then said and told her a little about where Private was.

“Oh my, I hope he’s alright. You could go to Los Pegasus to try and find them, but I don’t know where they are staying, you could always try his brother in Manehattan, but they aren’t very close, his parents are always on the move to dig up old things but they usually live in Trottingham,” Soft Trot informed him. About the only new information for Flash was that Private was not close to his brother.

Well close or not, he’s the closest living relative that’s within a reasonable flight and train distance, Flash Sentry thought.

“Do you know where in Manehattan his brother lives?” the guard asked.

“Somewhere in the Hoofington area, that’s all I really know from talking with Foxy, uh she and Barricade had a brief relationship. Coal is his daughter.” Soft Trot shrugged.

I’m learning more about this Private and his family by asking anypony else than him. Flash sighed a little but did nod at what she told him. He would be flying straight to Manehattan once he had visited the Fillydelphia hospital to see if there were any medical records on Private.

After thanking Soft Trot for the information the guard took to the air and headed back to the city. This time he had to stop and ask for directions to the closest hospital or medical center. Once there he quickly entered and he asked if Private Iceland had any medical records that could be copied and sent to the Crystal Center hospital in the Crystal Empire.

Flash had to be directed to a medical center closer to the suburbs Private lived in, since he had only been admitted to the hospital once, over ten years ago. Apparently, the stallion had been accidentally caught right in the middle of stampeding ponies running in the Fillidelphia Running of the Leaves event. He had not been a participant, just been unlucky enough to enter the road being used for the run just before the hoard of pones came trampling all over him.

At the medical center Flash asked the same and at the hospital. The guard was assured they would send a copy of their records to Crystal Center. Once that was done, Flash Sentry finally took off towards Manehattan, it was close enough that it would be faster for him to fly there than to wait for the next train.

And if I can’t find his brother, I’ll try Trottingham since it’s just a little bit further up north from Manehattan, but then I better head back to the empire and tell Prince Shining Armor what I’ve learned. It will just take too long to travel all the way to Los Pegasus, we’ll just have to see if Private Iceland wants his roommates contacted, Flash thought as he sailed across the sky at top speed.

But I got to say this has been great, going around asking questions, unraveling information, flying between cities to gather more information. Beats standing around all day, not that I don’t appreciate what I do in the guards, but a little excitement now and then doesn’t hurt, he chuckled to himself.

“And hey, even if it all turns out to just be a boring case of that Unicorn just slipping on ice and falling to the ledge and will be going back home tomorrow, I can at least say I got help solve the Little Crystal Mystery,” he announced and stopped flying for a moment to puff out his chest.

There was a moment of silence as it fully dawned on Flash what he had just said. He hoofed his face and blushed with embarrassment.

“Celestia and Luna, that was lame, good thing I’m alone up here,” he muttered and resumed his flight.

After few hours of flying he could see the first tall buildings of Manehattan. This city looked a bit flashier than Fillydelphia with its multiple designs for the skyscrapers and the Mare of Liberty standing guard at the small island just off the harbor.

Flash went in for a landing, not catching as many surprised looks as back in Fillydelphia. Manehattan was quite a bit bigger and thus had both police and royal guard headquarters. So the occasional royal guard visible wasn’t unusual.

The guard found himself a map of the city this time and on it located the Hoofington area. It seemed to be rather deep within it, away from the main tourist areas. Flash wouldn’t be surprised if it was mostly residential buildings.

It didn’t take him long to locate it and the guard frowned when seeing that some of the buildings clearly needed some maintenance. Flash landed on the side walk and immediately drew some attention, apparently a royal guard arriving here was very shocking judging by some of the looks he received.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” Flash addressed the closest pony, a bluish mare. “I’m looking for a pony named Barricade, you wouldn’t happen to know where I can find him?”

Flash arched his brow when the mare’s jaw dropped. He glanced around and saw that some of the nearby ponies were all just as slack jawed as the pony he had addressed. The guard wondered what kind of a pony Barricade was to garner this reaction at the sound of his name.

“I… uh, he should be at his gym, The Barricade, it’s just a few blocks from here,” the mare finally spoke up. “Is uh… is he in trouble?”

“What? No, just need to see him about his brother,” Flash was now really wondering about this Barricade, he could have sworn he saw a hint of disappointment in the mare’s eyes.

The guard took off again and headed in the direction given to him. He quickly spotted The Barricade, it was a long one story building with a flashy sign carrying its name. The Pegasus landed in front of it and immediately entered, cringing a little when the loud music violated his ears.

The moment Flash Sentry was noticed by the pony at the counter and the rest of the ponies exercising in the gym, the music went silent. Everything went silent, everyone was staring at the guard with a mix of shock and even terror. Some ponies, looking rather unsavory actually began backing further into the gym and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible.

Flash definitely took a note of this reaction, he refrained from frowning but he had been in the guards long enough to recognize when criminals felt they had been caught. The Pegasus glanced at few of the ponies and could definitely spot a rough appearance and scars, indicating a tough life. The fact that some of those ponies, who were swelling with muscles, were staring at him nervously, told him that they had done crimes before and had learned it the hard way to fear the royal guards.

Some of these ponies could bowl over me, but they probably are worried that I have a contingency of guards right outside to back me up. They know I’m allowed to use more force than the police. Flash Sentry walked over to the counter, manned by a grayish opal mare.

“I need to see Barricade if he is in,” the guard told her and smiled gently, wanting to show that he was not here for trouble.

It was so silent that the entire gym could hear what he said. All eyes immediately turned to a dark gray Unicorn with a blonde mane and tail, standing by some weight lifting equipment. He looked like a fit version of Private, safe for that his eyes were indigo colored and on his flank was a brick wall. He was the only pony who stared at Flash more curiously than frightened, yet he was wary and hesitated when realizing everyone was now looking at him.

“I’m Barricade,” he said.

End chapter 4

Author's Note:

The drab and boring look of Fillydelphia was pretty much drawn from the MLP comic Friends Forever #14 Where Luna and Spike go to Fillydelphia. I was rather surprised how boring they made the pony part of the city look and then went all out on the dragon town part. Anyway, Officer Hard Case is also from the comic and since big portion of the chapter happens in Fillydelphia he gets to cameo.

I don't know why, but my headcanon keeps insisting on letting the Royal Guards be sort of the über police, that is if they are handling the case, they outrank the police, sort of like the FBI or something. I realize the guards don't exactly have the most competent reputation but it's headcanon territory after all.

I also just thought it was more fun that one guard could make Barricade and his gang do what the Manehattan police couldn't, almost shit their non existing pants.