9: Intimidation
Periwinkle sat at her desk, forcing her eyes open as they constantly strained and stressed to close shut. She continued to copy, scribe, and print her way through to the end of her shift. She had been in the business of administration for years now and had a routine she administered to the minute, making the day something worth waking up for. But this week had been anything but routine. Between discrete file shredding, late nights, and phone calls from anonymous ponies to her boss, it was a right nuisance. The Sergeant had started coming in with less than minimum sleep. She’d have to knock back her 8:43 pot plant watering a whole three minutes to make an extra two coffees, both were for him.
She didn’t care what work-related nightmare the Sergeant was under, as long it didn’t affect her schedule, it could have been total warfare with rampant, weaponised geese. But this was affecting her schedule, and she had a damn big problem with that. Far more than any armoured goose could.
The door opened, just the same as it had done in the past week, tense, and angrily. She had almost gotten used to the slight change in door movement, had it not constantly made her have to readjust her wig and send file copying back an average of two minutes and forty-five seconds per day. “Periwinkle? Shred this one for me will ya? This is the last one, remember to make sure nopony reads it.”
She rolled her eyes and cleared her out-file without turning back to the Sergeant hanging halfway out his office. “Whack it right here.” She could almost feel the nod as the stack of papers thicker than her hoof landed with a thud into the open tray.
“Thanks,” he huffed, returning to his office.
“Searge! Wait a sec,” Periwinkle reached under her desk and spun herself around to face the Sergeant in her swivel seat. “One of the guards told me to give this to you, and that you should read it.” She waved a large, rolled up newspaper out in front for her boss to see.
“I don’t read the news, load of rubbish, tell whoever sent it to not waste my time,” He almost slammed the door had Periwinkle not shouted to wait.
She tossed it to him, and he reluctantly caught it and rolled it tight, hovering it over the bin. “He said… you’ll really want to read it... It’s important, what he says.”
Sergeant Market Garden rolled his eyes and unravelled the newspaper, “I can promise you that whatever this trashy piece of crap has to sa-”
The Sergeant’s voice caught in his throat as he read the front page, he went over the desk and laid in front of both Periwinkle and himself, now scanning what was said under the title.
HATE CRIMES ON OUR BACK DOOR: GUARDS TO BLAME?
Periwinkle began to read the article out loud, the Seargant stood up in shock. “A former royal guard, who wishes to remain anonymous has made claims to the Crystal Times of incredibly violent attacks on LGBT members of the Crystal Guard by fellow members. Yadda yadda yadda… Upon further investigations made by the paper.... Yadda yadda... suspicious activities in the Guard head office have been witnessed, leading to the possibility of a cover-up led by Sergeant Market-”
“Stop… reading…” Seargent Market Garden for all he's worth would much rather be fighting rampant geese, at least there was no PR shambles or ethical nonsense.
“I’ve heard enough,” the Sergeant’s voice was harsh and shaky as he stepped away from the desk.
“It says they’re waiting to hear a statement from you, sir,” Periwinkle rolled the paper up idly, throwing it back to Market Garden.
Without batting an eye, he caught it, tightening the roll Perriwinkle had begun and threw immediately into the bin at the office door. “Don’t worry, I’ll be making a statement alright!” He huffed, sticking his hoof her direction. “I want a full report of the allegations against the guard by the morning, and possible leads to this… anonymous ex-guard. Although, I have a feeling I know who we’re up against here.”
Periwinkle stood up from her desk, knocking her neat row of pens slightly off their usual angle. “Sir, it’s ten minutes before my end of shift and I am no private eye.”
“Good, you’ll be getting as much as sleep as I am tonight,” And with that, Sergent Market Garden slammed his door shut once again, leaving the windows rattling, the wind in the office briefly lifted neatly folded papers from their perch, scattering them amongst the now far less neat desk.
Periwinkle turned back, witnessing the pencils, now skew and uneven sitting there, the papers lying scattered and the documents ready to be shredded. Then to her coat, lying on the coat rack, the white back of her letter still protruding from one of the pockets. She walked over the coat and pulled out the letter, turning it over in her hooves. She sighed, bowed her head, put the letter back and went to her desk to realign her pencils. It was going to be a long night.
Dear Silver,
What in Equestria do you mean you’ve quit the guards? You’re joking, that was your support! Your finance! You stupid colt, what for? Why? How? You’ve provided me with a very minimal letter on this whole thing. Of course, you can borrow my flat, you know where it is, the combination to the key is 16916. But please, Celestia explain to me why the heck you’ve been acting so covert. I haven’t heard from you since you went to the Crystal Empire on this job! Please just make sure the pilot light in the fireplace stays on once you light it and I’ll see you in a couple of hours, then you can properly explain what’s going on. You’re lucky I was thinking of coming up anyway.
-Your incredibly generous brother (and don’t forget it), Sky Soul.
Silver stood at the front door, using the combination on the paper to unlock the door, his single duffle bag of possessions flying onto the couch of the well-decorated apartment the moment he arrived. He switched on the sleek, built-in ceiling lights and took in that clean apartment smell, it was almost calming. The smell of springtime blossom permeated throughout the room from the outside, giving the place a warm glow. In any other time, Silver would have happily invited friends out onto the porch and enjoyed the weather with drinks and company. But this was not the time for celebration or warm gatherings with cheese plates.
Knock Knock Knock
Silver raised an eyebrow and looked over to the door. Someone, at the door of an apartment that’s almost always empty, his brother not due to arrive in at least six hours.
He wasted no time sneaking over to the fireplace, quietly picking up the metal poker resting against the sleek brick fireplace. Starting towards the door slowly, he quietly placed the poker just next to the frame, where it can’t be seen but just in reach, as he unlocked the door, he kept the latch over. He opened the door, peering out onto the porch where an older mare stood in a cardigan, yielding a comically oversized designer bag.
“Hello? Can I help you?” Silver asked, unlatching the door and opening it a bit wider.
“Evenin’ Silver Heart, mind if I come in for a cuppa?”
Silver tensed his jaw and narrowed his eyes, holding the door tighter and closing it by just a couple of centimetres. “Who are you? How do you know who I am?” He asked, looking over at the poker.
Her raspy, croaky laugh filled the patio as she dug into her cardigan pulling out a pack of Green Apples. She slid out a long, white cigarette and tapped it against the paper box, “Well love, to be perfectly honest, I’m no-one really, not a very important character.” She pulled out a match and scrapped it against the door to light it up, using it to ignite the end of the cigarette now in her mouth. She took a few drags, closing her eyes briefly and letting the smoke emit from her mouth and nose. “To you and your little escapades anyway. Wanna puff love?”
He frowned even harder and shook his head. “Look,” he said, gently pushing the hoof offering her cigarette away, “I don’t know who you are still, but can you please just make your business clear? Or you can clear off.”
She smiled, and raised a hoof, smirking and throwing the cigarette back into her mouth. She took a few more inhales before talking again, “Alrighty love, I can see when I’m not wanted. I might just go chat to Starry instead, maybe he could relay my little conflict of interest a little more politely.”
Silver swung the door open and raced in front of the mare, blocking her exit off the front porch. “Who in Equestria are you!” he glared angrily at her, his brow furrowed and his stance hostile.
She smirked again, leaning against the railings and taking another drag. “My my my, you changed your tune quick. You really must be a bit of a pecker sniffer, because it’s clear you haven’t had much experience with mares. If we meet again, I sure hope you’ve trained yourself on talking to the finer female form,” She cackled again, her voice went colder, but still just as raspy and wrinkly as before.
Silver was losing patience, confusion and anger we’re slowly building like a pit of ice in his stomach, but mostly, fear. Who was this hag? And how in Equestria did she know… everything. She puffed away at her cigarette, the smoke filling his nostrils, smelling toxic and chemical, just like the mare who smoked it. Everything from her caked artificial lipstick, to the hairspray sheen of her mane, to the botox face she wore.
“It’s okay love I guess I can humour your questions seeing as you suddenly care a lot more if I do leave.” She leaned against the wooden railings of the porch, taking another big drag and closing her eyes in bliss. “So, please, seeing as you seem to have the pants in this conversation, ask away.”
“Who are you? Who are you working for?” He blurted out without really thinking.
With total indifference, she put her bag on the floor and looked right at him, “wrong questions. I’m here for a reason aren’t I, come on mister stallion, lead the conversation, I don’t wanna be your mum now do I?”
Silver just looked over to her, his head tilted as he loosened some of the tension in his body. He stepped away from the exit of the porch, and over to the opposite side of the porch from her. “Okay? Well, what have you come here…” She nodded along in an over-exaggerated way, a condescending gleam on her face as she waited for him to finish. “To tell me.”
“If you wanna call it telling, love that’s fine by me, but I think it’s a bit friendlier than that. So before you get all huffy and puffy about what I’m gonna tell you, just know that I’m saying out purely out of the kindness in my heart. I personally prefer to call it warning, more so than telling.”
Silver sighed, and leaned against the railing, “What have you come to warn me about then.”
One side of her mouth twitched upwards, and her lip curled menacingly, and got off the railing and waltzed towards Silver like a predator hunts prey. “You’ve got balls, tipping off the press, you just raised the steaks a whole lot more than some pesky little internal affair. But balls and brains are two different things, Silver. Don’t pursue this, drop this now and you can run off and live your happy little life with your new boyfriend. But stay…” She looked at her cigarette, nearly at the butt already, she leaned close to Silver, to the point where he could smell her disgusting smoke-infused breath. She smiled one last time before smushing the butt of the cigarette on the supporting pole right next to his head before flicking it away into the scrub below the deck.
“We will put. You. Out.”
“So all of this wild wacky shit that’s gone down has all lead to a cover-up from the guards and a threat from some random mare literally a couple of hours before I got here?”
Nodd nodd…
Sky Soar let out an exasperated sigh, sinking in his chair, shaking his head, “I don’t know what princess you pissed off, but this is some serious cripe you’ve got yourself in.”
“Yeah I know, but I think I might have a solution… sorta,” Silver Heart bit back another long swig from his Coltrona longneck, craning his neck to look over at the sunset over the rolling hills outside of the Crystal Empire, just in front of the snowy nolls.
“What I wanna know is, why you continue to keep yourself tangled in this mess. Based on what you’ve said, you could leave any minute. Sure, Silver, this Starry Heart dude may seem like he needs help, but he has a family! He probably has other friends and a support network. Why do you want to sacrifice all of your progress in the guards, your job, your security, your lifestyle for some random sensitive sally you met like a fortnight ago?”Sky took a swing from his own Coltrona.
“Well that’s the thing Sky, I don’t know, but I see something in him… He’s special, he is different. I can’t peg it but I can’t leave him like that. He’s in a coma for Celestia’s sake. And I’m not too sure he even has a family, they haven’t visited once. I don’t even think the hospital’s even heard from them.”
“Dude. You sound like you’re crushing on him,” Sky laughed heartily, getting up from the porch to grab another beer from the refrigerator inside. Silver chuckled along half-heartedly, but awkwardly, and for a far different reason than his brother. He looked down and grimaced.
“Well, you see that’s the thing, Sky…” he started, waiting for his brother to get back from the fridge, “actually, can you get me one?!” he called out.
The sounds of rummaging and clanging glass bottles could be heard from inside the house. Silver rubbed the last remaining centimetres of liquid along his chest in an attempt to cool down. The coolness was calming, lessening the feeling his chest was gonna burst and his cheeks were going to catch fire. Eventually, Sky came back, tossing a fresh coltrona into Silver’s hungry hooves, he felt he was going to need one more swig to get what he wanted to say out.
The hiss of the liquid inside and the two stallions were quickly tossing another quick swig down their throats. “What’s the thing Silver?”
“Well… I think. I kinda, I really am crushing on him? I don’t know.”
“What? Uh…”
“What do you mean? Did I hear that right?” Sky raised his eyebrows and leaned forward in his seat towards Silver.
“I said I’m crushing on him, but I don’t know! He’s just… argh! I don’t know. He’s just so different, I’ve never met someone like him, but I like that. It’s weird, okay?” Silver sighed, taking another swig, he only just realised now how much his chest aching had amplified.
The two sat in silence, letting the warm breeze flutter around the porch. Not in a tense way, but in a way where Silver could think, and Sky could take it in. Both were struggling just as much with how to continue.
“So… does this make you-” Sky broke off, letting the rest of the sentence hang between them.
“Oh I don’t know Sky, I don’t know what I am. It’s definitely not… that. But I don’t think it’s straight either,” Silence again, except this one screamed tense. Silver could feel it, pushing against his chest and drying this throat. No matter how much cool refreshing liquid he swigged to try and force down the hoarse lump, causing him to finally break the silence with a loud cough.
“Well… okay, if that’s how you feel… that’s cool. But like, I still think you’re stupid for doing all this. But not, in a homophobic way. Like, a practical way and I think your stupid for doing these things but not in a romantic way just in a way that's...
Not… homophobic?”
“Man you suck at this,” Silver broke into a nervous laughter, Sky following suit. They both slowly progressed from nervous to genuine chuckles, the tension before slipping away like a cold drink on a humid night.
“So what next then? Seeing as you’re bent on taking on a government agency on not only hate crimes but the cover-up of said hate crimes… How do you plan to tackle this?” Sky asked, leaning forward in his chair, putting his near-empty coltrona on the deck.
“Well… I got ideas, bubbles floating around in my head.” Silver smiled sheepishly.
“Oh brother…You got bubbles in your head, but not the ones that are gonna help you.”
I updated! Please don't hurt me 
So... crazy happened. Faeces meet fan, fan meet faeces. I should be updating... later in November. Legit nothing I can do about that uni be driving me up the wall. But I hope you enjoy this actual advancement of the plot. Everything will be coming to a head soon!I really really hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you all soon 
-Milo
Stats
Page generated in 0.019 seconds
Total duration
780 users online
1,181,277 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
unfortunatly i know the 'actual' context behind your cover art so i cant really see it the way you want me to...nice story though so far, keep up the good work!
9196953
depends on the universe
trollestia is a thing ya know.
9236453
Yeah, I had a chat with the artist and he was like "Uhhh okay? weird story to use it for." And I checked the background... Oops, but I still love it and if you suspend disbelief then unno.... it kinda works?
But thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it, despite some of the newer chapters being... ridiculously old. I hope you continue to read!
9236459
well i mean it is still about 2 gaurds finding love...just one happens to be a changeling...and actualy a mare dispite looking like a stalion....and the crystal empire was involved...sort of...or at least cadence was in um 'borrowing' chrysalis so said changeling was kinda stuck in canterlot with nowhere to go...but um yeah...
least thats how i recall things going.
It's a bit problematic that this story leans so hard on the idea that gay people are too weak and sensitive to be effective in the military, but otherwise not bad. Not nearly enough M/M out there.
9236613
I like your feedback, its an interesting comment and something I may have overlooked. And I certainly don't want to advocate for stereotype, considering I'm not a very feminine person myself. I'm not exactly a mans man either but it goes to show the harm in stereotype. And I certainly dont want to stress a "straight devil" kind of message either.
But I don't think thats what this fic is about in my eyes. It's less so the idea that it's their sexuality that wants them removed and more so the homophobia that surrounds them. But both have explicitly said they want more than the guards, and both ponies have demonstrated that they are capable of being guards (how would they meet in the first place?)
I dont think they're not good enough for the guards, because as you'll see both are capable of so much strength, and I wanna stress here that that is both internal and external. I'm sure there are LGBT people who fit very comfortably in that role, but more so over the characterisation and the personal struggles of my characters came their displacement, certainly not their sexuality. Both will strive for more and I can promise you that they're not gonna take this lying down
9237116
I mean, there's the part where they both agree that they are terrible guards and they don't understand how they got through basic.
9237393
Fair enough, and I see how you can come to that conclusion. But I'm giving them strength in another fashion, and I already have plans that is going to prove silver's strength far beyond the other guards. It's in their particular case, but I'm going to emphasise that it's certainly not over their sexuality, but over their hatred for the job they did. Both said they wanted more, and i want to show that they are better than the military. To be honest I was stabbing at the military and my dislike for it moreso then starry and silver.
9237575
Loving the story, though I read through it too fast XD I thought there was a bit more than there actually was.
I’m sticking around, hope your muse is active!
9237748
Thank you so much for reading and faving! It means so much that you enjoy and comment! I hope you continue to read and enjoy my story
-Milo
A new chapter and congrats on getting this story of yours featured!!:)
May I suggest the addition of the ‘drama’ tag? I think by this point it is a pertinent tag, if it wasn’t before,
9245175
Oooooo I could have sworn it already was! Thanks for the heads up
Ya know, the whole leaking through the press is not only a concern for the Crystal Guard, but for the Empire as well. Think about it, that article is like a computer virus, think of what those Crystal Ponies must think if they see that - if even one pony from the guard was beaten up to a pulp by the other guards because he's gay, then what other groups will the guard not protect? Not only that, but Royals too would get the very first copy of every newspaper, and imagine what they would think seeing that too, especially when the Equestrian Games were coming up. These guards in a way are like the police, if the citizens found out that they're not willing to protect and serve their own, who else is excluded?
And for some reason, I can easily see the citizens making a new protest song for the guards.
9249338
That's amazing! I truly love that song, and i'd love to use in my actual fic on your permission. That would be brilliant. And a very due comment aswell!
9249347
Since I'm still royally pissed at the Guards, please, you're more than welcomed to it.
Here's the original tune and poem it's based on, a protest song from WWI:
9250644
After having finished, I am simply confused why there is now a secret group dedicated to keeping certain people unhappy.
I can understand thugs being idiots and bureaucrats going through the motions of “this is bad press,” but a scantly clad unknown dame giving out threats is spy/conspiracy level. That’s a level of organization for hate that is nearly ludicrous, considering hatred isn’t part of Equestrian culture.
So my question is, who would spend so much funds on this?
THIS IS THE BEST STORY EVER!!!!
9263629
Thank you so much! And thank you for the fave! It means so much you would stay with me this far! And I truly hope you enjoy it right through to till the end! I'll look forward to seeing you around
-Milo
Ah what a wonderful story put together we have Milo I've finally had time to read allll of it and Pecie By Pecie it manages to make me smile of how sweet and cute it can be (imo) I can't wait for more work of yours!
- TLB 💜
9372804
Thank you so much! I think that is the inspiration I need to finish my chapter next week! I kind if forgot how much I love writing AH and the beautiful amazing people I have the privledge of writing it for. Thank you so much for your comment and I hope you enjoy where I take this story!
Ohhh stars above!!! So warm and sweet and cute!!! Can you update more and more and more? Please please... I can’t wait!!! XD
9377172
An update may be sooner than you think
But seriously thank you so much for reading and commenting, it seriously means the world to me and I hope you stick around to see what happens
9377487
I’m really looking forward to reading an update:). I have been waiting for it for a long long time XD