Of Iron and Crystal

by King-Mac-13

A New Structure

Author's Note:

New Year, new story! Let's party!

Anyway, hope you'll all enjoy this one as much as the others.

“Get the lead out!” Around midnight, at an abandoned warehouse in Manehattan, ponies were moving large crates inside. “We don’t have time to mess around. The boss wants this stuff ready for resale by tomorrow!” A large, magenta earth-pony stallion with a golden-blonde mane stands by the gate, ordering the others around. He knew what the common workers didn’t and he was going to keep it that way. Those crates were filled to bursting with stolen gemstones, ready to be carted off and sold throughout Equestria. Nopony would figure them out until it was too late.

“Contra Band!” Another stallion ran up to the first. “We’ve got trouble!”

“What now?”

“I… I’m not sure how to explain it. Come on!”

The stallion ran off, followed by Contra Band. When they arrived, they found several ponies lying on the ground, unconscious.

Contra Band looked over the scene. “What the hell happened?”

The other stallion shrugged. “I don’t know. I found them like this. I tried to look them over… make sure they’re all still alive, right? Well, they’re all okay and I couldn’t find any sign of a fight. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Wait a second,” Contra Band moved through the group, “This was the team carrying box 22. Where’s the crate?”

“I couldn’t find it.”

“Damn it! That had a serious score in it. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” Contra Band kicked one of the unconscious ponies in frustration. “They must have been jumped.”

“I told you before, they weren’t attacked. Until you kicked one, anyway…”

“You want to put that by me again?”

“No! Sir!”

“Don’t forget who’s in charge right now.”

“Alright… but, I have to ask, what was in that crate that was so important?”

“It was a gem we dug up from under Canterlot. It was the size of my head! It would have been priceless! To lose a score like that…”

“Wait… I thought all the stuff was… appropriated. You dug that one up?”

“Would have been the only one we could sell on site… Plenty of bits from those stuffy snobs… Damn it!”

“You said that already…”

“And I’ll say again if I want to! I’m pretty mad, after all!”

“Right… Anyway, we should go tell the boss about this.”

“Damn it… Alright… let’s get moving.”

\/

“Let me get this straight…”

Contra Band reported the incident to his boss, Ersatz Heart. She was a stern criminal with a reputation for brutality. The cyan coated, pink maned unicorn had a penitent for deception and negotiation in the criminal underground. She scared anypony that meets her, and those are her good days.

“…You lost my one of my crates. And what’s worse, you lost the only gem we could sell on the open market! That gem would have bought me the city if I wanted! And you lost it!”

“I didn’t lose anything! I left it in the care of team 22. They’re the ones that lost it!”

“Under your watch, Band. What they do is your responsibility. That’s how a chain of command works.”

“I plan to punish them appropriately.”

“That’s all I ask. I don’t want to read about it in the paper, understand?”

“Yes, ma’am. However…”

“Hmm?”

“Something doesn’t add up. There was no sign of a struggle. There weren’t even signs of an attack. No injuries, no drag marks for the crate, nothing. It’s like they all fell asleep and the crate just… disappeared.”

After a minute of silence, Ersatz Heart replied, “Is that it? Or do you have another irrelevant thing to tell me?”

“Uh… no, ma’am. That’s it.”

“Good. Dismissed.”

Contra Band bowed to his boss and left the room.

Ersatz looked out her window to the streets. “To lose such a payday… My reputation won’t be tarnished since we dug that one up from the ground, but a loss is a loss. I’m not taking this lying down. I will find the pricks that thought they could steal from me…”

“Boss!” Her thoughts were interrupted by a subordinate barging in.

“What do you want?”

“We’ve got company!”

“The police?”

“No, ma’am! Military!”

“What?!”

She rushed to her door and found the Equestrian military pouring into the compound. She fled back into her room and prepared her alibi. Having her subordinate tie her to her chair and place her in the middle of the room, she took the roll of the hostage. She was ready for them.

She could hear their armor clanking outside her door. After a second, her door swung open and two soldiers entered the room. “We found a hostage!”

Ersatz remained silent, playing the part of the scared civilian, unsure of what was happening. She couldn’t risk an arrest. Not if she wanted to control the criminal world of Manehattan.

One of the soldiers approached her, “Are you okay?”

“I… I’m fine. I don’t know why they took me… I’m nopony special.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll get you out of here!” One of the soldiers escorted her outside. She could have hit and run, making her escape, but that would attract unneeded attention and make things worse for her. For now, she’ll keep playing the game.

When she reached the outside, she was glad she didn’t try to run. The building was surrounded by Royal Guards. She was led to a table with a detailed map of the warehouse and seated nearby. From her new vantage point, she saw more guards then she had before, more than were stationed in Manehattan. Did her operation attract royal attention? Did one of those morons botch her orders of restraint and discretion? She didn’t have too much time to think it over when one of the officers trotted up.

He was a yellow-orange pegasus with a blue mane and blonde accents. He wasn’t dressed in the usual guards’ armor, instead he wore a black uniform with gold accents on his sleeve and gold cording on his shoulder. He carried himself with a level of confidence and power that told her he was in charge.

He trotted over to her, “Name?” His voice was calm, smooth, and denoted a calculated personality.

She had to keep up her ruse for now, “I… I’m sorry?”

“Your name. What is it?”

“Oh! Um… I’m Ersatz Heart.” She knew her name was safe since she never let anypony know it, not even the few ponies who saw her face on the job.

“Well, Miss Heart, you don’t need to worry anymore. Lieutenant Grey Hat will escort you home.”

A new pegasus arrived, dressed in Lunar Guard armor. He looked similar to the commanding officer, just with a brighter blue mane and a face that says ‘leave me alone.’ He saluted the commanding officer, “Lt. Grey Hat, reporting for duty, Commander.”

“Excellent. Take Miss Heart to C-14.”

Ersatz looked between the two in confusion. “What do you mean? I thought you were taking me home.”

Grey Hat looked down to Ersatz, “I am.”

The Commander continued, “Straight to your new home in the East Manehattan Penitentiary. You get three meals a day and access to exercise equipment. Granted, you’re going to have to share.”

Despite genuine confusion, Ersatz was positively livid but had to keep up her act, “What are you talking about? Why am I going to prison?”

“This warehouse has at least 82 counts of stolen property, all in gems, for one. You’ve covered your tracks well, but pony-error was going to catch you eventually. We know who you are, what you’ve ordered, and what you’ve done personally. You’ve broken a lot of laws, Miss Heart.”

“I know my rights!” She burst out, the act ruined, “You can’t hold me without substantial evidence. And I know you don’t have that. What’s more, I have a right to a trial. You can’t just cart me away to prison!”

“If this were any other force in the Guard, you’d be right.” The Commander placed a hoof under her jaw and forced eye-contact. “But we’re not ‘any other force.’ All these ponies are under my command, making this an operation of the Black Gold Guard.”

“The what?” She knew every branch of the Royal Guard, her job made it rather necessary, but she had never heard of a Black Gold Guard.

“It’s not really important for you now. Let’s just say, I have certain powers the common guard doesn’t. Take her away.”

“Yes, sir!” Grey Hat grabbed Ersatz and started to fly off, accompanied by the sound of her protests.

As she was dragged off, the Commander turned to an oncoming soldier, “Well?”

“We found all of the stolen gemstones, but something seems to be missing.”

“You just said it was all here. What do mean something’s missing?”

“We found all the stolen gems, like I said. But looking through the crates, one of them seems to be missing.”

“How can you tell?”

“If nothing else, Ersatz was organized. Each crate is numbered and stacked in a specific spot. Crate 22 seems to be missing.”

“Is there any indication as to its whereabouts?”

“No sir. It may have been taken in transit.”

“That’s unfortunate… for now, send a report to Princess Celestia. We’ve completed our objective and captured the enemy leader. Leave our mystery crate out until we find out what was inside. After you send the primary report, comb the city for any sign of the crate. We can’t be too careful.”

“Yes, Sir!” The soldier ran off, leaving the Commander alone.

“Commander Bastian!” Without a moment to rest, another soldier made his way to the command table.

“Sweet criminy… What is it now?”

“We found Crate 22!”

“What?!”

“It was found by the riverfront.”

“The contents?”

“Empty, sir. But we were able to find a manifest for the crate.”

“Just the one?”

“Yes, sir. It seems to be the only legitimately acquired item in the lot.”

“Item? Singular?”

“Yes, sir. According to the manifest, it was a gem approximately the size of a grown stallion’s head.”

“What kind of gem?”

“There was no identification yet. Apparently, it was light blue.”

“Sargent…”

“Yes, sir?”

“When Lieutenant Grey Hat returns, tell him to file his report with Princess Luna. He’ll likely forget to do so. I’m off to the Crystal Empire.”

“The Crystal Empire? Why would you…”

“You are never to ask me ‘why’ I do anything. Your job is follow my orders and protect Equestria. The only acceptable reason to question me is if I betray Equestria or my orders would harm civilians. I’m leaving for the Crystal Empire, that’s all you need to know, understand?”

“Y-yes, sir!”

“Good.” Bastian turned to leave. As he left the area, he looked out over the city. “I have a bad feeling about this…”

\/

File: EDF-3

Subject: Black Gold Guard

A special branch of the Equestrian military crated after Princess Twilight’s altercation with the monstrous Tirek. Events during the conflict had proven to the Equestrian Royalty that they needed a new command structure and a dedicated team for magical research for defense of the nation. Of late, there are seventeen officers and sixty enlisted. However, this is partially false. All but one of the officers are military research personnel (trained, but not experienced). All enlisted follow the orders of the Commander.

The Commander

The Black Gold Guard is led by a single officer dubbed, the Commander. Said Commander holds a rank comparable to the Captain of the Royal Guard. This was a decision born from the fact that the Captain lives in another country at the time of formalization of the BGG and cannot be expected to deal with emergency situations when needed. When the Captain is outside the city, command of the Royal Guard falls to the Commander of the BGG. The first Commander was a pegasus named Steel Bastian.

The Princesses

This is important! The only ponies the BGG answer to are the Princesses. What’s more, they are granted the discretion to disobey an order from any of the Princesses other than the ruling princesses (i.e. unless they sit on the throne and directly run the affairs of the nation of Equestria, their orders are just suggestions).

Comments

[Mkchief34]

Epic. I like the premise a lot. Keep this up.