Epilogue I - The Incident Report
Epilogue I
The Incident Report
Celestia glanced to the side at the little bundled scroll that fizzled into being beside her head. She claimed it with her magic, and glanced up to the rafters. The Commander's absence still felt strange, given how much of his life he'd dedicated to sitting in that spot. She spread her wings and slouched back in her throne, accompanying the motion with a long, slow breath. Only in total solitude did she dare commit an act of such bare and obvious fatigue, though she might have acknowledged the need in the Commander's presence.
Even stranger than his specific absence was that there was nopony else around. The broken remnants of the Honor Guard were in no fit shape to defend their Princess. Marathon was out carrying messages for Shining Armor, while White Flag and Mirror Image had yet to return from their respective missions. After those three, only Thunder Crack remained both alive and loyal. Celestia had to admire his stubbornness, trying to stand guard beside her with a shattered wing that was barely still attached to his body, alongside a myriad of less threatening cuts and bruises.
He'd argued that she needed somepony present if she were going to open the castle to petitions—it was impossible to perfectly check everypony coming in, and the risk would be too high after recent events. Celestia agreed, and simply declined the day's petitions, for the tenth day in a row. Then she ordered him back his room in the infirmary to rest. After that, there was only the occasional servant to peek in on her.
She hadn't come to the enormous room for any official business; honestly, her purpose had been to stare up at the missing space between the statues and contemplate what Equestria had lost to save her sister. But there was the letter in her grip, still begging for her attention. Reflection could wait. The parchment unfurled without protest.
Princess Celestia,
I got your letter here in Ponyville, courtesy of Spike, so here's hoping the response reaches you just as easily. I rolled up the report you requested from me (with more than a little bit of editing from Twilight), but it's on different paper, so I hope it reaches you as well; it isn't perfect, but it does contain all the information I have access to. If not, let me know, and I'll see about having a copy delivered. I'm sure you already know some of this material quite well, but it might help to refresh you if you've been staggered by the aftereffects of this as much as I have; in any case, I made the small edit you requested.
In response to your questions about Rainbow Dash, she seems as good as anypony could possibly expect. She's a tough mare, although given what's happened, her desire for space seems completely understandable. She didn't want to speak to me very much, but I did offer her an invitation to the funeral; though we still do need a formal date. In any case, she actually swore at me when I said we'd be burying the Commander—I'm not totally sure I understand why—but when I brought up Corporal Reckoning, she relented. I do note, however, that she asked if you would be there. I told her that was probably to be expected. She told me to tell you that she didn't want to talk to you there.
I know you probably didn't want to hear that at all, but I imagine it's better you know than that you try to talk to her and... well, I guess I'm not in much of a position to be giving you advice on other ponies’ feelings, am I?
As for nicer matters, I got a letter from Cadance yesterday; she knew Mark (Lt. Down), so she'll be joining us then as well. My shoulder is healing wonderfully to be honest, and I should be back to Canterlot in two day's time at most. However, Twilight has been unbelievably helpful managing the Guard and getting everypony back to their regular posts—I wish I had somepony half as competent around; I might actually be able to see the surface of my desk some days!
I've kept a few of my investigators and scouts searching for Soldier On, but given my experience with her (as you'll find in the report) I doubt she's much of a threat to Equestria as a whole.
I do have one request for you, though, Princess: I assume somepony has told you about the civilian I brought into the Palace with the severe burns. She's a very important contact of mine, and I want to make sure she gets the best treatment possible. I understand that it would have been more appropriate to take her to a real hospital, but given that you had the best doctors in Canterlot all gathering in the Palace Infirmary to begin with, I decided that would be the best place to get her healed. The last I had heard, however, she was still in critical condition. I can't help but feel responsible for her injuries, so I ask you to please do your best to take care of her. If any expensive treatments are required, I will gladly cover their costs.
Oh, also, thank you for arranging the Commander's records for me. Though it took Twilight, Spike, and I almost a full day to get them arranged in something resembling order, they did fill in several holes—particularly with Soldier On. Unfortunately, he seems to have spent about as much time writing reports as he did on organizing them: none. Either that or he kept a large portion of them somewhere else. There are enormous periods where he simply didn't keep record of any events at all; particularly around Princess Luna's return.
Regardless, thank you, Princess. I think we might finally be making progress.
- Captain Shining Armor, Royal Guard
Equestrian Royal Guard Case Summary & Record
Incident 0424-DP96
Compiled by Cpt. Shining Armor, with Commentary by 'Deputy' Twilight Sparkle
August 10th, 1452 A.S.
Of A Nightmare Sown
To whichever of my successors may read this, I hope you can forgive the title—when I asked my younger sister about the very earliest events of this enormous fiasco, she insisted I attach a 'mystery novel' title.
'Deputy' Sparkle here—that's so much fun to write!—transcribing and assisting 'Captain Armor's' report.
Normally, at this point, you would be reading a list of victims, charges, and dates, but due to both the extensive time and staggering quantity of serious crimes committed, I feel the narrative does a better job of explaining the issues.
On June 14th, 1452 A.S., a fluctuation was reported in the Changeling Detection matrix constructed around the Canterlot Palace by 2nd Lt. White Flag (HG) and Sgt. Mirror Image (HG). What little records the Honor Guard keep indicate that due to the absence of both mages, Cmdr. Cpt. Steel Lining (HG) reported to the site: the upper access hallway connecting Princess Luna's observatory to her quarters. Though this is speculation at the moment, this is likely the time at which Masquerade killed the Co Cpt. Lining, and replaced him by donning Hurricane's Armor.
Apologies to whoever is reading this for the scratch-work, but I'm taking this down as dictation with a quill with 'Starswirl's Illuminating Dictation', which tries to record exactly what is said aloud. As such, I have to go back and cross things out because 'Captain Armor' keeps calling this Captain Lining 'the Commander'.
Princess Celestia reports that starting around that date, th Cpt. Lining began to take frequent leaves from his position as her bodyguard, ordering 1st Lt. Morning Star to fill the position. She reports further, that this did not arouse suspicion for her or the Honor Guard because such activity was regular for The Commander (Cpt. Lining's 'nickname', that I cannot seem to stop using) in times of danger, such as immediately prior to the Nightmare Moon incident, during the Blizzard Revolution in Stalliongrad, and during the Griffon Border Crisis in Zebrica.
I remember him acting like this from when I used to live in the Palace with Princess Celestia. I never knew him very well, of course; in fact this is the first time I have ever heard his name. Nevertheless, it's certainly not hard for me to believe the Princess didn't suspect anything.
From that point, things remained quiet in the palace until August 1st, when the Royal Canterlot Academy's 'Arcane Studies Awards Ceremony' (or the 'Neighbel Prizes', as they are colloquially known'). Masquerade, still in the guise of Cpt. Lining, summoned me to his office. I was informed of a threat, but advised that it was likely against my sister or one of her friends—she even went so far as to suggest that somepony attacking one of the Princesses was a ridiculous notion. Given (seemingly) valid evidence, combined with fear for my sister, I focused my attention on the threat that had been presented. Magus Twilight Sparkle (my sister) traveled to Canterlot later that day, accompanied by her pegasus friend Rainbow Dash, due to the failure of the local train system. I left them in Princess Celestia's care and returned to my work hunting for this potential danger.
At approximately 4 P.M., Rainbow Dash was advised to visit Princess Luna in the hopes of challenging her to a race. Instead, Rainbow prevented a first attempt on Luna's life, trying to poison her with Gilded Lotus, a highly poisonous plant found natively in Suida. The butler who delivered the poison (in Princess Luna's tea) informed the young mare that the beverage had been delivered by Lt. Star, suggesting he was the traitor. In fact, an autopsy of Lt. Star's body determined he had been killed by suffocation. Mana burns directly on his lungs indicate the cause of death was Arcana, occurring approximately twelve hours prior to this event.
Thankfully, at Princess Luna's urging, Rainbow came to me rather than trying to confront the supposed traitor. Knowing that Lt. Star's alleged treason would be within Cpt. Lining's purview, I ordered extra security for the night's event and the palace as a whole, but decided not to intervene myself. Instead, it seemed obvious to me (based on the false information Masquerade had provided) that we were looking at a conspiracy, and that Lt. Star had not acted alone. Based on this information, I took Rainbow Dash to accompany me as we visited a contact of mine.
It took some time to locate her, but by 6:30 P.M., Rainbow and I identified Going Solo, a small-time drug dealer in the central Domain of Canterlot. After a short altercation with Rainbow, Solo was able to inform me that she had sold a full, lethal dose of Whisper Salt, ordering it in small doses (likely to avoid suspicions of its use as a lethal poison). A rough description was provided for a mare who, in retrospect, matched Masquerade, along with a location that I could expect to find her.
If she had access to rare poisons like Gilded Lotus and Phage Seeds, why buy Whisper Salt from a drug dealer? Research shows that even in cases of overdose, it has only a 17% fatality rate... maybe she didn't actually want to kill somepony?
Oh; Shining says she probably used it to capture Cpt. Lining alive, and kill him later. I wonder why she'd want to do that, though?
By the time we reached the site, it was almost 7 P.M.; expecting danger, I ordered Rainbow to remain outside. It took some coaxing for her to agree, and I entered the structure. Almost immediately, I was met with a rather obvious trap door leading downward into the building. I investigated the hidden basement, until another pony snuck in from behind and accosted me. Though this pony appeared to be Lt. Star, I now believe it to have been Masquerade under the disguise of her illusory magic. Given her apparent lack of military training, her hoof-to-hoof fighting skills were excellent. I took a shod blow to the face, and a second to the neck that drew blood. Despite this, as Masquerade was unwilling to reveal herself by using Arcana, I had the advantage. It was during this battle that Rainbow Dash intervened; her distraction gave me a clear shot which I believed had killed Lt. Star.
Meanwhile, after a short break to eat with Rainbow Dash, I staunched my wound and made my way to the Royal Academy in order to provide further protection for both my sister and the Princesses. Seeing the obvious threat ended, I gave Rainbow Dash my badge along with directions to report the events to the Commander.
When I arrived at 7:47 PM, I found the Commander present; I simply assumed that Rainbow would learn he had left the palace and return directly to us. I further decided that making the Princesses and my sister aware of the security issue would be unnecessary and inappropriate—nearly triple usual detail of guardsponies had arrived at the site, watching the crowd from the convenient battlements of the former castle that had become the Academy. Instead, I sat through the opening speeches while keeping my own eyes open for trouble. During this time, Princess Luna took to the sky over the audience, dramatically calling forth the night stars. Nothing went wrong until Rainbow returned from the Palace at 8:12, obviously concerned. She almost immediately attacked the Commander, and was quickly subdued.
Thankfully, Princess Celestia's cooler head prevailed, and she managed to extract an explanation regarding the presence of both the Gilded Lotus, and Lt. Star's body, in the Commander's quarters. Rainbow managed to remove the helmet of Hurricane's armor from Masquerade, but the assassin was clever enough to layer a further illusion of the Commander's true face beneath that of the helmet. Having seemingly proven her innocence, Masquerade continued to pose as the Commander, informing me that there was a traitor in the Honor Guard who intended to attack either Twilight, Rainbow, or one of the Princesses. In order to prevent panic, he advised that I take Celestia, Rainbow, and Twilight back to the Royal Guard headquarters, while he remain with Luna until she finished raising the moon.
Now, at this point, it might be prudent of me to explain why I agreed to this proposal. First of all, Princess Celestia vouched for Cpt. Lining's honesty, which was in my mind a powerful sign of faith. Secondly, though, was my assurance that Cpt. Lining could handle the situation if something did go wrong. He has had a very significant reputation within the guard, built up over a seemingly long career (though he looked to be no more than forty-five...?). Regardless, even back when I was just a recruit, there were stories about 'The Commander' and his incredible skill in combat during the Dragon Wars. He was something of a legendary figure within the guard, and so it didn't take very much for me to believe that he could successfully protect Princess Luna alone in the event of an attack.
In any case, I began to accompany the Princess, Twilight, and Rainbow back to HQ; we weren't long on our way, however, when Rainbow Dash turned back.
The following then concerns what Rainbow Dash later informed us about what had happened: apparently, the Commander had at some point in his career suffered a severe wound to one of his rear legs, which left him with a serious limp. During our parting, Masquerade had failed to maintain her performance of this trait, giving away her identity as an imposter. As such, Rainbow went back, and the two engaged in a short battle. Though Rainbow was ultimately correct, her lack of military training left her unable to combat Masquerade successfully; the assassin was able to poison Princess Luna while she was still in midair, using some magical artifact which we later identified as 'the Alicorn's Horn', a part of a set of potent but cursed charms (a description of the item can be found in the appendix).
Princess Luna dipped into what would prove to be a fatal fall, and Rainbow's only means of saving her was to perform a 'Sonic Rainboom' (her term), which produced an upward lateral shockwave which canceled much of Princess Luna's momentum.
- - -
Celestia's eyes jumped down the report, past an enormous segment which Shining Armor had apparently redacted following Twilight's edits. Beneath it, his report continued in a slightly different tone.
- - -
Its cost was a near-supersonic collision with the ground. Rainbow Dash was seriously injured, to the degree that non-medical ponies who witnessed the event erroneously believed her to have died on impact.
Princess Luna was hospitalized, comatose and growing worse despite the fact that the Alicorn's Horn which had stabbed her was no longer in her body. I lack any formal medical training, and as such my summaries on this topic will be brief. Preliminary tests were inconclusive, and the medical staff faced a great deal of difficulty in reaching a diagnosis as they were unsure how many of the Princess' symptoms were a result of the poison, and how many the result of her own unique magical powers and immortality.
Princess Celestia was able to assist in Rainbow Dash's recovery, and the next morning—August 2nd at approximately 8 A.M.—she summarized the above events for us: Princess Celestia, myself, and then-2nd. Lt. Soldier On (HG), who was the highest ranking of the surviving Honor Guard. After a brief discussion, we as the Guard settled on a course of action of hunting down Masquerade as quickly as possible, on the assumption that she would likely know of a cure, or at least a name for the poison or malady she had inflicted on the Princess.
I immediately made an appointment with Magus Cloudy Mirror, the instructor of illusion magic at the Royal Academy. He gave instructive lessons on Masquerade's likely magical influence (see her profile, below), and taught me a counter-spell for her most direct attacks.
Professor Mirror is a genius when it comes to illusions, but his academic rigor in explaining the subject leaves a bit to be desired. He could be a valuable resource for teaching the Royal Guard about illusions in the future, though.
During this time, Rainbow Dash volunteered herself for service in the Honor Guard and was briefly given the rank of Private. She has proven reluctant to discuss her own events during this period, and the tragic death of her partner (Cpl. Dead 'Deadeye' Reckoning) leave my account of her actions third-hoof at best. However, her part in saving Princess Luna's life cannot be overstated, and so I shall do my best to summarize her involvement within my knowledge.
Rainbow spent most of that day (again, August 2nd) receiving rather brutal hoof-to-hoof combat training with Sgt. Thunder Crack (HG); it is neither my place to comment on his methods, nor do they fall within the purview of this report.
Wait, what's that supposed to mean? Oh, am I supposed to be writing this...
The following day, August 3rd, Luna's chief doctor (Asclepius, MD, PhD, HPP, ECE, etc...) produced a strange diagnosis: the Princess was aging to death. Having no better alternative, he gave her his best guess of five days to live, much as he might an elderly pony in hospice. At this point, the burden of a cure fell almost solely on the guard, but I was unable to move out and pursue a cure; I had obligations at the Council of Nobles, and so was left to simply dispatch those guardsponies I could contact, and hope that one of them might track down a suitable lead.
One such pony was 1st Lt. Mark Down (RG), who identified a lead suggesting a traitor in the Honor Guard, beyond Masquerade's replacement of Cpt. Lining and Lt. Star. He further suggested that the traitor was Stalliongradi. In hindsight, his suspicions obviously pointed toward Lt. On, but at the time, my focus was directed toward the new Honor Guard Captain appointed that night: Cpt. Росчерк кровью (I assume this to be Stalliongradi for 'Red Ink', as that is the Equiish name he uses). Formerly the Commandant of the Stalliongradi Guard, known as the 'Black Cloaks', Cpt. Ink has a well-deserved reputation for inspiring fear by cruelty. Unlike Sgt. Crack, this is a matter that involves this report, and I will expound upon it further as its significance arises.
Uh... that translation is... pretty generous. On the other hoof, I wouldn't go by Росчерк кровью if it were my name either. I certainly wouldn't choose it as a name for a foal.
Shortly prior to the formal meeting of the Council of Nobles, but immediately after my introduction to then-Commandant Ink, I was informed of an incident taking place within my office at the Royal Guard Headquarters by Lt. On. I traveled to the site and found Lt. Down dead, hurled out my window into the training courtyard that it overlooks. After consoling the recruits who I had left stationed there after my previously mentioned dispatches, I headed up to the office, where I found a seriously injured Sgt. Crack, and the latter half of a letter from Lt. Down (which provided the information I listed above).
That night, Cpt. Ink was appointed, due to his previous encounters with Masquerade by my understanding, though the Royal Guard Archives have no record of her activity in or around Stalliongrad. Then again, given that we have record of only two other cases involving the assassin, I am prepared to accept his word on the matter. We further reached the conclusion that Soldier On was the traitor who had killed Mark Down, and added her to our list of potential leads on a cure for Princess Luna.
The next morning, August 4th, at dawn (~7 A.M.?), I followed a lead to a somewhat well-known miscellaneous criminal and enforcer named 'Grizzaloo' (Archive ID #003592), who in turn directed me to Cloudsdale where I would find a Smuggler and Drug Distributor named Go Between. Before I was able to secure transit, however, I was confronted by several of Cpt. Ink's 'Black Cloaks', who had been outright assaulting civilians in order to attain the same information I already possessed. I ended up in an altercation with one, whom I incapacitated.
The Black Cloaks, named for the heavy winter coats they wear, have a reputation in Stalliongrad for incidents like this. Despite (or because of) the fear they inspire, though, they are generally treated as heroes within the Domain of Stalliongrad, and the city itself in particular. Also, Grizzaloo? I thought Росчерк кровью was bad.
Similarly that night, Pvt. Marathon (HG) finished escorting Rainbow Dash to meet with Cpl. Reckoning in Zebrica. From there, I have literally no knowledge of her actions until the 7th, so I shall simply note that she and Cpl. Reckoning acted in pursuit of a cure for Princess Luna.
Later that same day, I reached Cloudsdale, and after a confrontation, I was able to apprehend Go Between. I confirmed that Masquerade had been in contact with him, but when I attempted to interrogate him, he was killed by an enchantment she had placed in his subconscious mind.
At this point the trail was dead, and I thought Masquerade had simply gotten away, until I had a rather fortunate encounter with Councilor Silver Lining (the famous cloud architect); after some small talk, he informed me rather accidentally that Masquerade had provided credit for the warehouse which Go Between had purchased from the Councilor. Masquerade's bank statement led to Baltimare, so I acquired the assistance of two of the Wonderbolts, and traveled there.
That night, at a time I have since forgotten, I met Lt. Flag, whom I knew by reputation but whose acquaintance I had never made. We ate dinner together, during which time I was apparently poisoned by either Masquerade herself, or somepony working on her behalf. At the time, I was unaware of the event, but I now believe that I was targeted by 'Phage Seeds', as Rainbow Dash would later describe them. Regardless, at the time our conversation seemed peaceful. Lt. Flag knew Masquerade had some sort of a 'base of operations' in Baltimare, but further informed me that Soldier On would be arriving in the area shortly. She had a trap set, but required my help, which I agreed to cautiously. In the intervening time, I acquired an address for Masquerade from the bank, and set about investigating it.
To my surprise, however, Soldier On was there, apparently for the same purpose as I was. We engaged in combat. Due to the poisoning effects of the phage seeds, and the incredibly confined space which lent the advantage to On's Endura, I was severely outmatched. She had the full opportunity to kill me, but instead spared my life. She then traveled away, apparently to save Lt. Flag from Masquerade's influence.
- - -
Celestia's brow inclined as Twilight's horn-writing grew slightly shaky, obviously concerned by the harm Shining was describing to her. It was a strange sign to see her emotions reflected in the writing of a spell, but with the young and potent Bearer of Magic, the Princess had long since learned to accept what would otherwise seem impossible.
- - -
Very late that night, or perhaps early the next morning (August 5th), I encountered Red Ink, who was more interested in following On's trail than Masquerade's (due to some obvious past conflict between the two), and had made his way to Baltimare for that purpose. Flag, On, he, and I met in a large market area rather by accident, at which point the three of us attempted to capture On.
I note that the potency of her magic cannot be underestimated. While I was forced to rely on mana from Platinum's Ward due to the phage seeds I had been poisoned with, I was nevertheless fighting as best I could; Flag did the same, as did Ink. She certainly struggled against us, but the fact that she was even able to flee when outnumbered so severely marks her as a considerable danger.
In any case, partway through this battle, Red Ink released his full Empatha. He clearly specializes in fire magic, which is naturally attuned to its user's anger and rage. Thus, when a civilian interrupted our conflict, he responded by not only attacking her, but setting fire to a large apartment building. Whether this was out of uncontrollable anger or an actual lack of care for the lives of civilians I do not know, but regardless, such action is unforgiveable of a guardspony. Further, his actions forced me to allow Soldier On to escape, as I instead focused my attention on assisting the evacuation of the building.
Wait, he just Apologies; Captain Armor had to remind me that it wasn't my place to make comments on this particular issue.
During this event, I was stunned to find that Soldier On had doubled back on both Lt. Flag and Cpt. Ink, and returned to help as well. Seeing not only that she was helping civilians, but that I was frankly incapable of confronting her on my own without mana to speak of, I allowed her to assist and then leave without further confrontation. I note that she headed in a westward direction, but given Baltimare's location that information was likely worthless within an hour. Prior to her departure she did tell me that her treason was not something she had done, but something she chosen not to do. Whether or not we are prepared to believe this statement remains to be seen, but it suggested to me that she was aware of the poison Masquerade had used, if not the plot itself, and chose to say nothing. Her motivations for this action elude me.
I returned to Canterlot, where I spent the remainder of August 5th managing an enormous pile of reports from across Equestria dictating that my squads had failed to find a cure. Nothing of note happened to me that particular day, though I am aware that in some capacity Rainbow Dash passed the time in the Griffon capital of Grivridge, a portion of which was spent in the company of their Emperor, Magnus. That night she discovered the Phage Seeds (or realized their significance) and flew back to Canterlot, arriving just after midnight on August 6th.
From this time, I assumed the intense urgency of locating Masquerade had been largely lost—while still obviously a threat, her capture was no longer a matter of life and death for Princess Luna. As a result, I began sending out dispatches to return the Royal Guard to regular postings and duties; this activity was cut off by a rather surprising letter delivered to me by a civilian mailmare, but addressed by the royal seal to Princess Celestia. I delivered the letter, and she revealed that it had apparently been sent by Cpt. Lining. At the time, I assumed it meant he was alive - though that was not the first thought on my mind. Princess Celestia has since informed me that while the contents of the letter were personal, they affirmed her suspicions as to the late captain's fate. As tragic as this realization has been, I can at least be thankful that we aren't looking at the security risk of his considerable military knowledge (let alone whatever secrets the Honor Guard has been hiding) falling into unknown, hostile hooves. All this information, however, was less pressing than the small connection I made at the very moment of the Princess' statement, however.
At this point, I must confess that I acted rather rashly: I knew that the letter had been delivered from Ponyville, and also that Masquerade was the only pony in a position to either forge a letter from Cpt. Lining or deliver a genuine one posthumously. As a result my assumption was that Masquerade was in Ponyville, most likely attempting to assassinate one of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. In fear for my sister as well as interest in my duty, I immediately enlisted Rainbow Dash's help in traveling to Ponyville. We arrived at approximately 1:30 P.M., and began to search for the target. Our arrival gathered quite a bit of local attention and I was forced to address the crowd, ordering them away from the site. To my immense surprise, and for reasons I still do not understand, Masquerade assumed the guise of Cpt. Lining and assisted me in this matter. Only when we were alone did she reveal herself, bluntly stating her intention to kill me (her words suggested that somepony—or perhaps someone is the correct term—had taken out a contract on my life, as well).
I'll spare you a blow-by-blow account, instead summarizing that Masquerade ultimately had me outmatched; while she had clearly fought a military trained unicorn before, I had no experience in battle against an illusionist, let alone one of her skill. I quickly received a severe wound to the neck, and in desperation, engaged in 'Iron Curtain's Gambit'. For those unfamiliar with the attack, it consists of teleporting both oneself and one's opponent high into the air, and then readying a counter-spell for when they attempt to levitate or teleport. Normally, there is a terrible risk that both parties will die, but I knew I had enough mana invested in Platinum's Ward to survive the landing without slowing down myself. I instead devoted my full attention to ensuring Masquerade could not do the same; I failed to notice the phantasm she placed upon me, and as a result, believed that she had died on impact when in fact she was able to descend calmly by levitation.
Iron Curtain was the Captain of the Royal Guard almost 750 years ago, during the Woodland War against the Elk. He used his 'Gambit' to defeat one of their major commanders, and turn the tide at the Battle of Lothlorielk Falls. Since then it's been taught as part of both military history and training for the more violent types of magical duels.
Following this altercation, Rainbow Dash saved my life by attacking Masquerade directly, and was in turn saved by the timely intervention of Princess Celestia herself. While I likely would have objected at the time to her involvement with such a dangerous opponent (especially with Luna's fate still unknown), I can now say with the benefit of hindsight her power was likely necessary to best the deadly combination of Masquerade's illusions and the power of the 'Alicorn's Horn'. She was petrified, and the resulting... object(?) is now in the custody of the Royal Guard.
Threat Analysis of Subjects:
Masquerade (Ball?): Unicorn, female. Age ~25. Dark blue (indigo) coat. Black mane with highlights in dark blue and dark purple. An average 3'2" at the shoulder. Cutie Mark depicts white frowning mask, as often seen on theatrical productions. I have been able to find no formal record of her birth or education; Cpt. Red Ink alleges she learned Arcana studying with a dragon named 'загадка' (Draconic for 'Enigma' by my understanding).
That translation is correct; загадка was a famous wyrm scholar who made some significant progress in the research of divination and predestination magic. Given the way he wrote, I'm surprised he'd teach magic to somepony like Masquerade, though I guess it's possible that he didn't know what she was going to do with it.
While no longer nearly the threat she had once been, Masquerade may still pose a significant escape risk when/if released from her imprisonment (an action I fully recommend in order to interrogate her regarding the other members of this conspiracy). A lodestone ring fitting would provide an adequate initial security measure, but her considerable magical talents suggest that her likelihood of saturating the stone and attaining escape would not be a matter of if, but when. I've sent orders for the remnants of King Sombra's 'void crystals' (almost four times as magically absorptive in nature as lodestone) from the Crystal Empire to be shipped to Canterlot for use in improving our dungeons and prisons in general, as well as for her specific containment.
In terms of combat ability, Masquerade 's favored tactic seemed to be a misdirection or illusion to leave the target vulnerable, followed by a single fatal strike. Her incredible talent with 'nightmare' illusions (as outline by Professor Cloudy Mirror), which were otherwise mostly unknown within Equestria due to Royal ban, was functionally irresistible to the average guardspony. As for a method of dealing actual damage, she seemed to favor some sort of heat- and age-based disintegration spell. She also used a great deal of indirect, telekinetic attacks based on rubble, blades, and whatever else she could find present; I attest, however, that this may have been due to her familiarity with Platinum's Ward, and her realization that a direct attack might only have made me stronger. I note that she only attempted her actual magical attack against me after she had managed to remove my helmet.
Though I wasn't present to see the spell, the description seems rather similar to ancient accounts of Dismal's Infernal Decay—though knowledge of that spell has been lost for more than a thousand years. Then again, a similar story could be told for 'Nightmare' Illusions. Her style overall resembles classical Bitalian Arcane Dueling, which emphasizes Focus and Speed over Power.
Ultimately, too many questions remain unanswered on this subject; an addendum, if not a full second report, will be written once I or another guardspony have had the opportunity to interrogate the subject.
Soldier On: Earth Pony, female. Age 30. Off-white coat. 'Eggshell' mane. Cutie Mark depicts a pair of inter-linked horseshoes. Stands nearly 4'1" at the shoulder; currently missing approximately half her right ear (my doing, from our first encounter in Baltimare)—though it may have healed (see below). Born in the Domain of Stalliongrad under the name 'Стойкая' (meaning 'Resistant', or 'Durable'), though formal records were lost during the Blizzard Revolution. Records of her life are conflicting and spotty until the Revolution, during which time she fought on behalf of Stalliongrad's reigning Baron, Frostbite. After his defeat and execution, she led a continuing resistance against Tsar Watchful Eye. Her motives for this resistance are unknown, as are the reason that she ultimately left to join the Honor Guard. Cpt. Lining only notes that "It was hard to convince her to leave her homeland, but she knew that her corpse wouldn't do any more good there." Tragically, his notes end there.
Wait, 4'1"? That's as big as Big Macintosh. How does she hide? You'd be able to see her over most wagons, let alone in a crowd.
Thankfully, information on her military skills are more complete, even within Cpt. Lining's incomplete set of records. On demonstrates incredible Endura, which is devoted almost entirely to her physical strength. She also displays a mild 'danger sense' and a magically accelerated rate of healing and recovery. While it still takes her an extended period to recover from most serious wounds, she demonstrates virtually no fatigue, able to stay awake and alert for as much as a full week without rest (provided sufficient food and water). This incredible magic may have been cultivated by phage seeds beyond its natural levels, though at the moment this is no more than speculation. Regardless, Cpt. Lining notes that she displays "No capability whatsoever in the cultivation of produce, being no more effective at farming than the average pegasus or unicorn."
In hoof-to-hoof combat she is familiar with Stalliongradi 'Sambo', though my personal encounters suggest that she both favors and is more proficient in the 'Trottingham Hoof-Boxing' style taught to Royal Guard recruits—albeit with a much greater focus on full-draw bucking and full body-blows than concern for her own defense. Despite her size, she is very fast, and also surprisingly flexible.
Outside of direct combat, Soldier On exhibits a peculiar skill in evasion and stealth, particularly in urban environments (likely a skill learned after the Revolution in Stalliongrad). In point of fact, she told me herself that she made a habit of kicking a hole in a wall, and then simply not going through it, in order to misdirect pursuers.
In terms of her motives for her treason, I have very little information. The first piece is that she is not directly hostile to other guardsponies—even those trying to apprehend her. She only fought me after I attacked. This statement is untrue of Cpt. Ink, due to their past conflicts, but nevertheless suggests that, free in greater Equestria, she does not pose a threat to the civilian population. Lt. Down suggested that the Blizzard Revolution may have had an effect on her reaction to Princess Luna, although given that the Revolution itself predates Luna's return, I fail to see a connection. The second part of her motive I have been able to gather comes from Cpt. Lining's profile of her. He says, in a description of his choice for Luna's bodyguard, that "while she is invalid as a choice for the same ultimate reason as most of the rest, the source of her hatred is unique." I suspect that, given Cpt. Lining's death, his meaning will only be discovered if we are able to ask Soldier On herself.
Continued Risk Assessment: In the immediate period the potential risk to Equestria seems very low. As described above, Soldier On is unlikely to pose a threat to Equestria as a whole, and her favored methods would make it very difficult for her to return and strike at Princess Luna directly without being detected by the guards I have stationed at the Palace.
However, in the long run this incident has revealed and affirmed a number of gaping security threats both to Canterlot and Equestria as a whole. The first and foremost concerns are Masquerade's so-called 'nightmare' illusions. While the royal ban on these spells is completely understandable, the fact that they have not been taught or studied leaves the Guard with a virtual inability to defend itself or Equestria against such attacks. Her methods have obvious parallels with the changeling invasion of three years past, however, and I hope that we will perhaps be able to adapt the Academy's changeling detection spells to help deal with similar illusions. On the other hoof, the fact that Masquerade was able to deliberately trigger one of these spells suggests that perhaps she (and others) could be aware of them enough to bypass their defenses. In point of fact, I am nowhere near a skilled enough formal mage to deal with this issue, but it does need to be addressed in some manner.
You don't give yourself enough credit, Shi- Captain Armor. Even if you didn't go to the Academy, you know an awful lot more about magic than the average unicorn.
I also observe that Cpt. Lining's methods apparently left some rather large gaps in the Honor Guard's integrity. While I do observe that his contributions in the past were integral to Equestria's security (notably, it was he who alerted me to the unknown threat that would prove to be the changelings, three years ago), his loss left the Honor Guard to essentially crumble in upon itself. In the future it seems apparent that some sort of redundancy, or at least a sharing of knowledge, be maintained between the Honor Guard and the Royal Guard.
Perhaps the most tangible—and at the same time most elusive—threat is that Masquerade was most likely hired to kill Princess Luna. While we cannot guarantee that she was not acting alone, several clues point to her having some sort of sponsor: notably, her possession of the 'Alicorn's Horn'. Unfortunately, like the rest of its set, the Horn's location was unknown prior to Masquerade's attack, and we therefore lack the ability to trace it back to a conspirator. Thus, for the moment, the assassin herself seems our most likely means of identifying the 'contractor' behind this conspiracy.
Actually, I know where the Alicorn's Amulet is; a... rival(?) of mine challenged me to a duel using it; I'll see if I can get in touch with her and find out where she got it from, though I'm not sure how far the trail will go.
Appendix—Artifacts:
The Alicorn's Horn: Part of a set of ancient mana focusing charms; Princess Celestia suggests they are 'older than pony civilization', and that they were made for Princess Luna as a means by which she could fight Discord, prior to the discovery of the Elements of Harmony. There are five pieces: the Horn, the Crests (essentially blunted Wing Blades), the Tiara, the Amulet, and the Hooves. Two (the Tiara, the Amulet) serve as both mana reservoirs and focusing matrices for all three types of magic. In laypony's terms, any pony could put either of those items on, and find their respective magic increased both in quantity and potency.
Wait, if there are four hooves, wouldn't that make nine pieces? I guess it makes sense to consider them just one for convenience, but it could be misleading. Do they not function without all four? That would fit the pattern of other major multi-piece magical devices, like...
The other three items: the Horn, the Crests (which are in fact paired by a small silver chain), and the 'Hooves' (metal boots) serve to enhance a specific type of magic: Arcana for the Horn, Empatha for the Crests, and Endura for the Hooves. They are thus only usable by their respective types of ponies, or by an alicorn.
All the items are cursed in their own unique way (I do not pretend to know the sources of these enchantments; the Princess only explained that they were not present when the items were created). When the item in question is de-petrified, I intend to have it turned over to the Royal Academy for research, but for now, its curse is yet another unknown in this enormous puzzle.
The Alicorn's Amulet (or Alicorn Amulet—I've seen it referenced as both in texts) corrupts its wearer, driving them to use its power more and more, often in cruel or arbitrary ways. I checked the text which described the amulet's curse, but unfortunately, its description of the other items was even less helpful than what we've already recorded here.
Hurricane's Armor & Platinum's Ward: Though these are two very different items, I list them here together for their surprising similarities. Hurricane's Armor and Platinum's Ward are magical suits of armor designed originally for the ponies in whose honor they are named: Commander Hurricane and Princess Platinum III. Both are physically resilient suits of armor designed to endure both direct physical attacks and to absorb mana directed harmfully toward the wearer. Hurricane's Armor achieves this by what I was surprised to learn was a coating to smoothed 'void crystals'—the same dark crystals later used by King Sombra to enslave the crystal empire. Platinum's Ward is an adamantine shell covered in plates of pure amethyst—the gem with the best overall capacity for the absorption of Arcana. Both store the mana they absorb, but to very different purposes.
Hurricane's Armor was given to him by Star Swirl the Bearded in exchange for his historical defense of the unicorn kingdom at the time (this predates the 'Hearth's Warming Eve' story by some twelve years). I had previously believed that the armor created an illusion on the wearer, but Princess Celestia explained that this was not the case. As the armor was designed for a pegasus wearer, it functions on Empatha rather than Arcana, by physically transforming the wearer into one of the four classical elements at their directive, or to survive a dangerous attack. Each form (Fire, Water, Earth, and Air) had its own strengths and drawbacks, but for now, I shall spare the full details. Cpt. Lining, the last owner of the armor, favored the 'earth' form, using it to disguise himself as a statue and slow his metabolism in order to remain on guard over the Princess for days at a time. Since its creation, the armor has undergone a number of small changes—most notably, it now has the ability to disguise its wearer as a 'generic guardspony', much like some of the older suits of traditional Royal Guard armor. The whereabouts of Hurricane's Armor are currently unknown, and will also need to be acquired from Masquerade; it is likely, however, that whoever hired her is now in possession of this potent artifact.
So the Commander actually turned into stone? I suppose that explains how he could sit still for so long. When I was learning how to control my telekinesis, Princess Celestia taught me how to fold paper airplanes. After I had about one hundred, she picked a few up with her magic, and started throwing them at the Commander. He just ignored them, but when I threw one, he swooped down and grabbed it out of the air like lightning. I used to think it was so much fun.
Platinum's Ward was Commander Hurricane's gift to Princess Platinum III, who succeeded him indirectly as the third Commander of Equestrian Guard, which would go on to become the Royal Guard. Since then, it has been passed down amongst the highest ranking and most powerful unicorn in the Royal Guard, and it is now my honor that it remains in my possession. Platinum's Ward serves as an enormous reservoir for Arcana, and also creates a simple barrier against incoming physical attacks, so long as it contains enough mana to do so. I learned recently that it can absorb attacks of Empatha as well as Arcana. Such threats are thankfully rare enough that I had no prior need of the information.
Princess Platinum III, better known as 'the Warrior Princess' to make her distinct from her predecessors, was rumored to be the offspring of Hurricane and one of the unicorn nobles in early Equestria. While research suggests that accounts of his virility and copious... activity... are likely overstated, he certainly did show a fondness for Platinum III, training her to be a warrior and allowing her to lead the Equestrian Guard in his old age. While it is well known that Hurricane commissioned the armor for her, the actual creator is unknown. By the time of her birth, Hurricane was nearly sixty, and Starswirl was long dead. Probably the best theory of modern archeologists suggests it was designed by Clover the Clever, but then actually assembled by one of her apprentices, due to her untimely death during the Eruption of Krennotets, in A.o.E. 29.
Looking back, I kind of got off topic a lot. Are you sure you don't want to redo this, Shining?
No. I need it done now. Also, your spell is still on.
What do you mean my
<<< End of Incident Report >>>
A huge thanks to my pre-readers once again, and to Keyesty, who has graciously agreed to assist me in the Russian translations for WLL.
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Okay, so here we are.
You'll note that I changed a few things about the story: the awkward Romance Tag intended for Act II is gone, and the TITLE HAS CHANGED!. These are the result of the vote:
Drumroll!
By an incredibly narrow margin, creating a 2nd story won out. I'll put a link to it in Epilogue II or III, once the story is created, so you can all see it. If you don't want to have to worry about that, you can just 'watch me' instead. (You are also free to consider this comment a debased way of pleading for more 'watches' as you see fit).
As I stated before, I didn't have a ton of opinion either way on this thing, but if we're gonna make this work, I need a little bit of help from you all:
As a separate story, Act 2 ("Ghosts of the Past") will need something very important: cover art. I've done my best to make something myself and realized that it wasn't up to snuff (as those of you who've seen my deviantart could probably tell). I can, of course, go trawling for a pre-drawn image from somebody else, but I don't have the $$ for a commission. As a result, here I am, basically begging for someone to draw me fan art! Don't I sound pathetic?
Seriously, though, I am a little stuck on this particular issue. I love the cover image I currently have for this Act (minus the fact that the vector of Rainbow seems ever so slightly squished in the X-dimension), but I think it would be a bit tasteless to re-use the cover for both stories, even if they are in some sense the same story.
For that note, I'll restate my general fan-work/spin-off policy here: do whatever you want, so long as you credit me, and let me know (I wanna see too!).
Given the delightful support you all have provided throughout the writing of this fic so far, I'm sure the next one will succeed just as well. Maybe we can even get featured; only time will tell!
-Loyal
Looking forward to act II mate!
Wow, you work fast! Awesome
One nitpicky thing..
"Masquerade 's favored tactic seemed to be a misdirection or illusion to leave the target vulnerable, followed by a single fatal strike. He incredible talent with 'nightmare' illusions (as outline by Professor Cloudy Mirror), which were otherwise..."
He should be her, I think. And maybe outlined too.
Wow... Nice job tying up the loose ends there. Me likey.
I like the inclusion of new S3 canon info. And having the AA being apart of a bigger set? Cool.
I like this chapter all in all and I await the sequel.
Also, Is Red Stroke a proper translation of Ink's name? Or is Red Ink a better translation? And what does his name mean?
1742450
Oh, man, first off, I owe Keyesty an apology; I have to edit my gratitude into the chapter, because I forgot:
For this an all future chapters, the wonderful Keyesty will be helping me with Russian translations. My first question was concerning Red Ink's name. See, the joke here is that he translated his name himself... and, well, he isn't very good at 'Equiish'.
Here's an excerpt from our conversation about his 'real name':
So, Twilight is reacting to the fact that his name would properly be translated as 'Blood Stroke' - the best name for a Pony, as I'm sure you'll agree.
Good question; glad you mentioned it.
-Loyal
1742496 I looked it up(read: Google Translate) and got Red Stroke(pronounced Roscherk krov'yu). So Red Ink used Google Translate for his Equiish name and his birth name is Blood Stroke? Wow, he must love his father(his mother died during childbirth right? Inspiration for the cruel name?).
1742627
Interesting; Google Translate gave me 'Stroke of Blood'; then again, I think we both know better than to trust Google Translate over a native speaker.
He has (or rather, had) a younger brother, so I'm afraid your theory doesn't hold. As for why he got the name: I'll leave it up to you to decide whether you think Watchful Eye just hated his 2nd son, or whether he had a more poetic reason for the name.
I wouldn't put it past Red Ink to consider Google Translate the end-all be-all of proper Equiish, though; he certainly learned his grammar that way.
1742627
Ahem, can't see how you made that connection, even with the well known power of Google translate.
Thing is, LoyalLiar stated that Red Ink selected his name not as direct translation to Blood Stroke, but actually tried for something not so obviously violent.
Don't be Twilight.
Personally, I played around his cutie mark, as I have theory that all ponies have their names connected to one of following:
- special talent (cutie mark);
- prominent character trait;
- appearance.
1742496 Aww, you so nice to me.
1741394 What kind of cover art picture you have in mind, as what it should have in characters/scenery? Dash making out with 3rd Brother will do?
Perhaps, if you can't commission it, one of us can.
1743717I was mostly being factitious, while trying to give him a Freudian excuse as to why he is such a violent, hateful stallion.
1743777
You bring up a fair point, as nobody knows what's going to happen for the purposes of my request. Allow me to explain.
My thought for the cover, were I to design it, was to draw Commander Hurricane's helmet with no head in it. Some of the metal would be dinged and broken, and blood would be dripping from the little pieces that extend along the jawline as it lay on its side on the ground, discarded or fallen. The background could be basically any scene of either desert or tundra, with overlayed text reading 'Ghosts of the Past'.
Alternately, here are some scenes which could be portrayed individually, or combined into a more 'movie-style' cover, featuring such wonderful elements as a guardspony flying through a stained-glass window over a crowd of ponies at a masked ball, and a train falling off one of those old-style trestle bridges as the bridge outright explodes. Or how about a bunch of Night Guard fighting the Honor Guard (either in illusioned armor, or if you're feeling brave, by their actual individual descriptions)? Or, if you think romance might spice things up, (why am I going to say this...?) add Luna and Dash. THERE! NOW YOU KNOW!
<G.I. Joe Joke here>
Uh, don't make that the cover alone, though. I do promise romance, but it isn't so much the focal point of things. In terms of a few final things that could work well, one could certainly make another image in the style of the current one; the only major change would be that Luna returns to looking like the more modern Luna body (magic hair, etc.), and the addition of, perhaps, the ghastly silhouette of Nightmare Moon lingering in the background.
Rainbow is fine in Hurricane's Armor, by the way.
Hope that helps! Thanks!
-Loyal Liar
1744806
Wow that is a lot of new info to work with. Really interested in that Night Guard vs Honor Guard thing. Maybe Soldier On is better that starting revolutions then we thought. Luna and Dash... didn't see that coming but I think I can see how that could come about. I also really like how you're brought magic artifacts like the armor sets and Alicorn's set. I don't know why but I'v always liked that kind of thing in books. So excited for more!
I was wondering while reading this chapter if Red Ink's untranslated name might end up having Blood in place of Red, I see that I was on the right path.
Love the inclusion of the Alicorn Amulet.
Can you give me just a tiny overview for your plans with act 2? Like what characters will be in it? So i can make a cover photo that makes sense.
Lol never mind, didnt see your comment.
1749747
So, I spaced on this one. See, my original plan was to have Smog bear a rather peculiar character trait that I later decided would be a better fit for a different dragon, appearing later in the story. You'll know what I mean when he shows up. For now, thanks for pointing that out. I'm sure Satoshi is hitting himself over that one (Rofl didn't pre-read that Chapter).
So i'm kinda new here and usually read stories that were complete but i've now realised that there's a lot more left to this story. I have 2 questions.
1. How long do you think it will be until the next Act is complete? Is it the final act?
2. When does the story get updated usually?
1777192
So I should start off by making not only you, but everyone aware that I have a blog post explaining some questions like this one. Unfortunately, due to the new layout, and associated bugs, I'm not sure how many of you actually received a notice of it.
To summarize quickly: WLL will be either 4 or 5 acts, so either way, Act 2 is not the end. The current one took something like 5 or 6 months to complete, but I'm a little bit uncomfortable extrapolating that over the others; I'd like a sample set of at least 2 done to be sure.
That being said, part of the benefit to an 'Act' structure is that readers who prefer things to be completed can move through without having a 1 million word monstrosity dumped in their laps; unless, of course, you prefer that. I could very well have just called things 'sequels', since they are self-contained stories in some sense. I do deliberately write them in a 'novel style' in terms of the way they pick up and leave off. On the other hand, I felt that the story being told does have a pretty clear intrinsic linkage - more so than many series works. I might compare it to The Lord of the Rings, which is technically considered to be a single novel despite being split formally into three volumes.
In case it was unclear, the Acts will be posted in separate 'stories'; this is the result of a vote I held a bit ago. You can read about it in the comments above, though beware of spoilers if you haven't read the story yet.
I update between around once a week most of the time, though my college schedule can sometimes constrain that progress. Updates average out to something like 11k words. This may not be true of the very initial part of Act 2, but it will certain return to being the regular state come the end of January. I don't have a specific day that I update on, as I generally just put things up once my pre-readers are done. That being said, FiMfiction's alert system generally makes it easy enough to notice updates that this isn't an issue (right, readers?).
I hope that helps; you've already demonstrated that you know how to reach me if you have further questions.
-Loyal Liar
Thanks for the informative and quick response. Answered my questions. Thanks again
Sheesh! For being the 'Honor' Guard, they don't behave very honorably at all, nor do they seem very loyal. Then again, given their lack of loyalty for the most part, I guess that would explain the lack of honor amongst them as well.
'There can be no Honor without Loyalty.'
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/000/681/what-you-did-there-i-see-it.thumbnail.jpg
In all seriousness though, I truly loved this fic, and I really have to question Celestia's ability to delegate and keep track of things if she can't even see, during this whole time Luna was back, that there was something very off about her very own Honor Guard, something so wrong that many of them outright hated Luna and wanted her to go away or have absolutely nothing to do with her. Then of course there's the whole issue with this having to do with Stalliongrad somehow....
....
If anything, I really hope that Celestia has the foresight and the intelligence to elect Shining Armor or somepony with the same ideals as Shining Armor to completely overhaul the ideals of the Honor Guard as well. They seem to be a very, very broken branch of the Royal Guard if many of them were willing to kill in cold blood, sacrifice innocent lives to catch criminals, and betray their own kingdom for revenge (in Soldier On's case). That's not even mentioning ponies like Dead Reckoning who, while loyal to the crown, despised Luna for something she technically didn't even do because she had zero control over Nightmare Moon's actions. On top of that, he was so mentally broken and gone, and emotionally he was a complete wreck! They were all so bitter and disillusioned and generally they just seemed to have complete disdain for ponies, griffons, pretty much all sentient life with how they thought of everyone.
In short, I can't wait for more.
red ink's name translates to stroke of blood. Ironicly, when said in russian it sounds beautiful
one of the best stories i ever read on this site mate! good show!
1794974
Can not tell about it right now because of <spoilers>, but I had a real laugh, when I thought his name over.
1798538
Ah, but what would be the point of doing that in a hiatus, when we could instead explore it *in* Stalliongrad from the pov of two major players throughout the course of Act 2?
I know it wasn't mentioned much, but the reason for (Dash) going to the jungle was at least in theory to protect her from Masquerade. Soldier On, and then subsequently Thunder Crack believed she would be safest there. On one hand (or hoof, for an in-story term), that was an incredibly stupid assumption, but on the other hand, it was founded reasonably in their knowledge of what was going on in Zebrica. Since kicking her off the guard had proven not to be an option, their alternatives were to send her off literally on her own, to send her to White Flag (which would have obviously ended very badly), or to put her in Zebrica and essentially hope Reckoning would 'babysit' her.
We have obviously seen how well that worked out now. In some ways, it was meant to reflect Soldier On's lack of real experience in that sort of military command. Since you bring up the revolution, I'll observe that her part in the 'counter-revolution' never involved a decision like that. It, like many of the other less-than-perfect tactical choices demonstrated by the Honor Guard, stems from the fact that Masquerade 'killed' their two highest ranking officers, and the third in line immediately proceeded to be proven guilty of treason. Out of 8 ponies (I guess 9 if you count Dash), that doesn't leave a lot of room for recovery.
For a second there, I thought that was a pony I'd forgotten about.
So my previous guess was right! Excellent! Now I just have to enslave humanity and rule the-- *ahem* I mean... Buy some popcorn... To celebrate... Yeah.
This was an interesting epilogue, even though it's the first of three. It nicely summarized the entire dang story, more or less, explaining things rather well. Now comes what I assume will be one of the saddest chapters of the story, and then the end of the story altogether. Can't wait!
~SolidFire
That was a fun summary, mainly thanks to Twilight intruding on the narration. And should I need to reference events of this story while reading future ones, it will serve as a great go-to.
Don't you mean "coating of"?