Picking Up the Pieces

by Evilhumour

Chapter 22: Gentle Step, Hidden Dagger, Wind Breaker, Night Blade, Clear Back

Chapter Twenty-Two

Gentle Step

knock knock

Gentle Step raised an eyebrow as she went to peer out her front door. It was still very early in the morning, and she wasn't expecting friendly company; Memorizing Gaze had admitted to her the previous evening that he was going to be very busy today and wouldn't be able to stop by. Still, she supposed she ought to at least find out who was there.

At the sight of a changeling on her doorstep, albeit one who was clearly not the stallion she fancied - he was a lot shorter, for one thing - she raised her eyebrows even further, but opened the door. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Special edition, sir," the changeling replied before thrusting a folded newspaper at her. "The word's getting out all over the city."

Accepting the paper, Gentle nodded. "Thank you, young one," she said.

"You're welcome, sir," the changeling said, bowing and then turning and buzzing away.

Closing and re-locking the door, Gentle took the paper back to her table, and unfolded it, then stared at the headline. If she could have raised her eyebrows any further, they'd surely have seceded from her face.

Royal Guards Protest Unfair Treatment of their Captain, the paper declared. Below, a second smaller line read: Internal Affairs up in arms over Captain-General Gentle Step's romantic embrace with fellow Captain Memorizing Gaze. The article that followed described how her guards felt the initial newspaper reveal of this relationship had been a blatant violation of their captain's privacy, and that Internal Affairs had no business trying to punish her for finally finding love with one of the few ponies who could equal her in combat, essentially negating the reasons for the regulation that they were accusing her of violating. This, the paper declared, was why they'd gone to Mount Legion to protest, driven by their loyalty to their captain and their trust in their fellows to handle matters in their absence.

As she read the article, she saw that the writer, though intended to be neutral, was clearly showing sympathies towards her. Her lips curled into a thin smile at this, and she set the paper aside before heading into the kitchen.

She had a feeling she'd be seeing more IA agents on her doorstep soon, and she had no desire to go a day without eating because their presence had killed her appetite. She quickly prepared her own meal, nothing of the quality that Mems was capable of but it was satisfactory for her, and certainly better than the survival rations she'd relied on in the past.

---

It had only been two hours since she had retrieved the newspaper and made her meal but already a hooffull of Internal Affairs agents had tried to bother her multiple times to halt the protests. The operative word was try as she had refused to allow them more than a few seconds before closing the door on them. It was technically rude but she did not truly care about their hurt feelings as they were only trying to cover their own hides now that the public were turning against them. It would take a lot more than that sort of thing to get her to step in when she had plenty of time on her side and even when her vacation time ran out, she had other means to avoid a direct conflict.

Thinking on what it would take to force her to step up directly, Gentle Step frowned. She had her doubts that IA and its ponies would be able to go that far, but they could certainly try to avoid being in the wrong. Whether King Well Banded would listen to them, however, was another story. As her only real superior, he had the authority to order her to step up if he so chose, and she had to admit he did have a case to do so. It probably did not look good to have his elite Captain acting as she was over a potential lover, so ordering her to face IA to save face in regards to the world's stage was a distinct possibility.

However, she thought to herself. Even if Internal Affairs went directly to him to request that he give that order, they certainly wouldn't be able to make him do so if he didn't want to. As she had once heard him say, only the Goddesses, if they had lived to see this day, or another divine entity (and given the Nightmare's nature and that of the magic that the Six had wielded against it, it would not surprise her if there were indeed others of their kind out there), would have had the authority to order him around. And she could call Internal Affairs many things (most of which involved non-foal friendly language, if she had to be honest with herself), but divinity was most certainly not one of them.

No, Internal Affairs would not be able to force the King to order her to do as they said. Yet she still felt a twinge of concern. Even if they failed then, there was another option available to them, a contingency rule that allowed the governors to issue emergency orders in the absence of any members of the Royal Family. But she had her doubts that it would be successful. First, in order to even enact it, King Well Banded and his family would have to be outside Canterlot at the time, and as far as she knew, he wasn't planning to go anywhere anytime soon. Second, to succeed, IA would have to go through the same process that had pardoned the Fourth Tribe: a mass vote requiring a majority of the Captains and the twelve governors of Canterlot (this law having been set up for speedy emergency actions, it did not require the one hundred thirty six senators to be called in, since the process of summoning them would have only delayed things).

Shaking her head, Gentle Step looked around the room, trying to clear her thoughts. Life, she reflected, had gotten far more complicated than she'd ever expected since the day of the most recent Honor Festival. But while she had the distinct feeling that there were still more troubles to come, she had no intention of standing back and letting them overwhelm her.

When the time was right, she would act.

And she would remind them of just why they had made her Captain-General in the first place. Her integrity, her determination, and her loyalty to her country and her companions had all seen her through before, and she would not compromise those parts of her. Not now, not ever.

With that thought in mind, she headed downstairs. She may be waiting for the right moment to act, but, as she reflected to herself, she might as well do something else constructive until that time, and making use of one of her exercise rooms would serve that purpose just fine.

Hidden Dagger

Around the rest of Canterlot, the news was spreading as well, including the Blade family manor, where Lethal was looking over the morning paper as Hidden and her mother looked on.

"So that's why Crooked and Striking couldn't make it home last night," the family patriarch said. "They were with the protestors on Mount Legion."

His wife nodded. "I just hope they don't get in trouble for this," she said worriedly.

"I doubt it," Hidden said from her own seat at the table, where she'd just finished her breakfast. "Right of Assembly, including protesting, is guaranteed under the Equestrian Constitution. Also, if IA tried to charge the guards doing the protesting with dereliction of duty, they'd probably find they didn't have a case."

Lethal looked at his oldest daughter. "Have you run into this sort of thing before?" he asked.

Hidden nodded. "During one of my visits to Mareis to see Deep, I arrived right in the middle of a riot about some tax increase or another," she said with a shrug of her wings. "Not long before that, one of Mareis's Guard brigades had had one of its officers dismissed on what all his fellows felt was unfair grounds, so when the riots happened, that brigade's Commissaire assigned his people to act as a protection detail for the headquarters for the Ministry of the Interior. Ostensibly, it was to protect the ponies inside from the rioters in the other parts of the city, but the guards on duty were also all carrying protest signs, demanding reinstatement for the officer they were supporting." She paused for a breath before continuing. "When the case was finally brought to trial, the judges ruled that since the paperwork had been properly filed, they were legally still on duty, even if they were carrying signs while they were doing it, so they couldn't be charged with dereliction."

"Does that mean they could do the same here?" Sweet asked.

Hidden nodded. "I've read the law books, and they have a similar clause in place. So as long as Lieutenant Mist Flight has filled out the proper paperwork to assign them as a protection detail for Mount Legion during the griffon riots, none of the Guards over there can actually be charged with anything."

"That's a relief," Lethal said with a sigh.

Hidden nodded, then rose from her seat. "Mom, Dad, I hate to eat and run, but I got a call from somepony earlier, and I need to go meet with them," she said. "See you this evening?"

Both elder nox ponies nodded, and Sweet Dagger trotted over to hug her daughter. "Be safe," she said.

"I will Mom," Hidden promised. "Do you want me to wake up Deep and Serrated before I go?"

Sweet shook her head. "Let them sleep," she said. "They'll get up on their own soon enough."

Hidden nodded, while silently reminding herself to at least peek in on the two's rooms (like her, they'd opted to stay at the family manor the night before for safety reasons, instead of going back to their own apartments) and check to see if they were still sound asleep, like she had earlier on her way to breakfast. "All right, Mom."

Sweet smiled. "I know you care about them, dear," she said. "But don't worry about it for now."

Hidden nodded again, then trotted out of the room.

---

Once she'd gotten ready, Hidden passed by her siblings' doors and peered in, despite her mother's words. Deep was still snoring away, but Serrated looked to be stirring a bit and Hidden figured she would probably get up and join their parents soon after Hidden herself had left for the day. While both of them were still relatively young and their careers were not as potentially stressful as running the Blade Enterprises was, she couldn’t help but be concerned for them and still found herself looking after her younger siblings from time to time.

Bidding her parents one more farewell, Hidden went out the front door, then took flight.

Soaring over Canterlot, she frowned as she saw traces of the more rambunctious celebrations, and quietly hissed to herself as she flew past the Great (or was it Grand?) Library and saw there was still a group of anti-Changeling protestors outside, apparently having nothing better to do with their time. She hoped Page was still okay, despite their presence, and promised herself that she'd drop in later to check on the other mare and say hello at the least. While she had yet to see how Night and Page truly interacted, she was hopeful that she would join the family and she’d have another sister to spend time with. Besides, she had heard that Deep was planning to draw Page like he did Breeze for Crooked and it would give them all something to talk about. She blushed as she remembered Deep promising ages ago to do the same for her and Serrated when they got their special somepony.

Veering away from the Library, she flew for several more minutes to settle her face before landing at the manor where she'd be having her meeting, and knocked on the door.

The pony who let her in led her to the owner's conference room, where a chorus of voices greeted her with a cheery cry of "Hidden!"

Hidden Dagger slid into her seat with a smile. "Morning, everypony," she said, looking around. "Are we all here?"

"Just one more to go," one of the group said. "The stallion you recommended to us just the other day, and whom we reached out to after your call?"

Hidden nodded. "Well, once Stock Market gets in, we can start our 'meeting'," she said. "So, who brought the deck this time?"

One of the group held up a fresh, unsealed pack. "Got it right here, Hidden," he said.

Hidden smiled as she broke the seal on the cards. Whoever said all businessponies were stuck-ups who didn't know how to have fun? she thought to himself. These periodic gatherings to chat and have a friendly game or six (not anything based on finance, that way led to fierce disagreements, but others were good) helped she and her colleagues to all relax and enjoy themselves between the more strenuous times, and she had a feeling her new friend was going to fit right in.

Wind Breaker

A few days later...

It was the morning of the fifth day since they'd set off from their hotel, and though they'd made much better time than they'd figured on, Wind Breaker was still wondering how much further it was when he heard wings overhead.

Then a familiar griffon landed in front of them, a second by his side, and Wind recognized the first one and grinned. "Gareth!"

"Good to see you again, good sirs and madam," the disguised changeling said with a grin of his own. "How goes everything?"

"Well enough," Night Blade answered. "How about you?"

"Oh, about the usual," Gareth said. "My wife here and I decided to check on you all again, see how things were doing."

"Eh, depends," Vix-Lei said. "We're not entirely sure how far we have to go yet."

"A few hours still, on foot," the griffette by Gareth's side said. "We'll show you the rest of the way, if you don't mind the company."

"Not at all," the trio answered in unison.

Once they'd set off again, Vix-Lei ventured to ask, "So, did you-know-who ask you to come check on us again?"

Gareth chuckled. "Not hardly," he said. "I got to wondering how you were doing all on my own, and figured I should come by and see how you were doing. And my wife decided to come with me, since I'd told her about you."

Vix-Lei nodded. "Does she know about..."

Gareth nodded back. "She's known about my true form for ages," he said.

"Must have been a surprise on your honeymoon," Vix-Lei joked before cringing. "Oh, that was bad," she muttered. "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to offend you..."

Both the transformed griffon and the natural one traded glances, before laughing.

"It's no trouble at all," the griffette said with a laugh. "Actually, Gareth was the one who was surprised. The day I told him I knew about his real species was also the day I proposed."

Gareth blushed at her remark, rubbing the back of his neck with his wing. "Could never hide stuff from you, love,” he said.

The griffette nodded and smiled. "I'm Gwendolyn, by the way," she said. "It's nice to meet all of you."

"Likewise," Wind Breaker said with a smile of his own.

---

Looking back, Wind Breaker reflected that it had been a nice walk after that, with Gwendolyn asking him all about his life back in Equestria. He in turn had asked her what it was like growing up in the Griffish Isles, and the conversation had lasted all the way to the edge of town.

Finally, they came to a halt, and Gareth nodded.

"Well, here we are," he said. "Gwendolyn and I will wait here. But if you need any help, just call. I've got friends here who'll help out if you need it."

“Thank you,” Wind Breaker said, eyes flicking to the sky full of griffons and briefly wondering who else was a changeling among them before shaking his head. There was no real way of knowing and he could tell he was also starting to find ways to delay his meeting with his possible mother. “Everyone, I mean it, thank you.”

“You’ll be fine Windy,” Vix-Lei said, patting him on the back with Night nodding his head. “Come on, let’s go. Don’t want to be late, right?”

"Right," Wind Breaker said. Steeling himself, he marched across the town border, the other two at his side.

It took them some doing, but soon enough they'd reached the address he'd been given. It was a relatively big mansion with a lot of griffons coming and leaving the place, giving them an odd look. Wind Breaker wasn’t really sure where to begin, never being on this side of the whole working for the rich people before but Night had simply walked up to the door and begun to talk to a griffon in the calmest of tones, gesturing towards Wind Breaker as he spoke. He seemed to be getting angrier as he continued to talk before Wind Breaker decided to walk over.

The butler looked over him with a narrow gaze before tipping his head and began to walk towards the doors. “Follow me, sir,” he said in a tone that suggested it was painful for him to say it. “Her ladyship has been expecting you, sir, though I cannot begin to imagine why.”

Wind Breaker glared at him but kept himself from snapping at the other griffon. “If her Ladyship wishes to meet with me, then that is her business,” he finally said hotly.

“Does the young Equestrian even know her ladyship’s name, by any chance?” the butler sneered at him with Wind Breaker looking off to the side as they walked down the hallways.

"No, I don't," he said. "But I was assured by Chief Constable Gordon that she knows of me and wishes to see me."

The butler scoffed, clicking his beak hard in derision. "As you say, sir," he said. "But what her ladyship would want with a scruffy little-"

"Glyndwr!" A female voice rang out. "That’s enough."

Wind Breaker looked up to see another griffon with a satchel along their side hover into the hallway. She had a very stern look on her face and flew in to press her beak into the butler's. “Firstly, you’re going to get yourself fired if you keep doing it, you idiot,” she snapped, landing with a large thud. “Secondly, I thought you could read and realize who that is,” she pointed a talon at Wind Breaker. “Thirdly, stop being an ass to anyone from out of the country you bloody git and most importantly, you know that Gloria has been waiting for this meeting so stop being a dunce and giving our guest a hard time.” The butler grumbled loudly, his feathers and fur sticking up in anger with the other griffon, a large mountain griffon flashing Wind Breaker a smile. “Nice to meet a hero, Wind Breaker.” she said, taking his talon into hers and shaking it.

“Um thanks, but how do you know about me?” Wind Breaker asked, struggling not to wince at her grip. He thought Diamond Back was big but she was massive.

“Eh, you Equestrians like to try and keep quiet but the news always leaks out,” she said with a laugh, patting him on the back with a solid weight, almost as hard as Vix-Lei.

“I would say you must forgive Glinda for believing those trashy third party news organizations but then it would imply I care about either her or you,” the butler snarked, brushing his jacket off.

Glinda stuck her tongue out at him, then turned back to Wind Breaker. "I'll show you the rest of the way," she said. "Since he can't seem to behave himself and do what he's supposed to."

Glyndwr stuck his beak up in the air. "Very well," he said stiffly before turning and stalking off.

Glinda shook her head. "I swear, the only reason Glyndwr gets away with as much as he does is because of how he came to serve the old master," she said. "Though even he has his limits. But that's a story for another time. This way, please."

Wind Breaker followed after her, as she led him the rest of the way down the hall. When she stopped, she turned and gave him a very serious look.

"Lady Gloria is in here," she said, gesturing to the door. "I’m not sure exactly why she has been expecting you but she seemed to be very hopeful, more than I’ve ever seen her.” She then leaned in close. “So if I learn you did something to change that, then we would have a nice talk with me and my big brothers.”

Wind Breaker nodded. "Believe me, I have no intention of deliberately upsetting her," he said with his talon resting on the doorknob.

Glinda nodded back.

Taking a last deep breath, Wind Breaker turned the knob and went in.

The room's only occupant was facing away from him as he shut the door behind himself, and he tapped his talons nervously on the floor. "Um, excuse me? Miss?"

Slowly, the other griffon turned around to face him and Wind could see the resemblances in them right away. Their coats were similar but their eyes also were mismatched, just like Chief Constable Gordon had said. She stared at him and suddenly looked shocked and saddened. “Oh, Wind Breaker,” she lifted a talon to her beak.

And Wind could understand why.

While one of his eyes was blue and the other was gold, hers were green and brown, respectively.

Wait, that doesn't mean she isn’t-

“I’m so sorry,” she said, walking towards him with Wind’s heart beginning to race. “I... I am aware you've come a long way to meet with me on the chance that you...” she stopped, placing a talon on his shoulder while the other one held a letter. A letter that had the Canterlot adoption agency seal on it.

Oh.

“I’m sorry, but I am hope-” she began to say but Wind Breaker had already run out of the room, tears streaming down his face.

Night Blade

There was a sudden whoosh of motion, and Night Blade barely got out of the way in time. Looking up, he saw Wind Breaker flying out the door, and his eyes widened. "What the..."

"I'll go after him," Vix-Lei said hurriedly, rising and following Wind out the door.

Night nodded, then looked back as he saw another griffon coming into the room. Looking closer, he saw she had mismatched eyes, though not the same colors as Wind's.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.

The other griffon looked worried. "I'm... not the one he was looking for," she said quietly. “I just received a letter from the child I had given up so long ago.”

Night blinked, uncertain if he should congratulate her or not. "Oh." he said awkwardly.

Straightening himself, he approached the griffette and bowed. "My apologies for our disturbing you then, ma'am," he said. "We'll be on our way."

The griffon bowed back. "I'm sorry for upsetting your friend," she said. "I know he was so looking forward to finding..." She fell silent for a moment, then looked at him. "I hope you can find him," she said. "And that he can find the ones he's looking for."

Night bowed again, then headed out the door.

---

It was some time before he finally caught up with his friends. It had taken all his self-control not to take flight so he could move faster, but thankfully, another griffon had seen the direction that Wind had flown off in, and had already guided Vix-Lei after him. When Night had exited the mansion, the same griffon had gladly shown him the way she'd gone, flying with him.

Now, hours later, Night could see her some ways ahead. Hurrying on, he finally came to a halt next to where Vix-Lei was standing, a worried look on her face.

Wind was still some ways ahead of them, sitting on the edge of a rocky bluff that had a number of broken glass bottles scattered on the ground down below. Night couldn't see his face, but he could tell his friend was still obviously upset. Vix-Lei also looked like she wanted to say something, but for once she seemed to be at a loss for words.

Looking up at her, Night gave a nod, before the two backed away a little.

"We'll set up camp," he said quietly. "Then you rest. I'll keep an eye on Wind for a while."

Vix-Lei nodded. "Okay," she said. "Oh, and that griffon who gave me directions? I asked him to find Gareth and Gwendolyn, and tell them where we went."

Night nodded back. "Good thinking," he said. "I suppose they'll find us soon enough."

After that, the two went to work. But as they did, Night couldn't shake the feeling that he and his friends weren't alone, though he couldn't see anypony else around. He also had the strange sense that whoever was watching, they weren't hostile.

Looking out at Wind, who was still hunched over, Night shook his head. I'm sorry you couldn't find what you were looking for, my friend, he thought to himself.

But you'll always have us.

Clear Back

Miles away, Clear Back continued his private mission. Going towards the Crystal Empire had been an unfortunate fool’s errand; with a lot of precious time wasted even after attempting to reach the Royal Guards, who'd been all occupied with their efforts to try and track down the rebellious members of Princess Celestia’s defenders.

Maybe he'd have better luck with them, he thought wryly to himself. The members of the Order should at least have some idea of the cause he represented, and if they did, they'd be more likely to take him seriously, though reaching them had proven near impossible and had almost got him arrested and sent away to the currently undisclosed detention area the Royal Guards were keeping the rebels in.

Now he just had to find the new Bearers without getting caught leaving this city and having his belongings searched. All indications were that they were back in Canterlot, so he'd head that way as soon as he could, assuming he did not run into anything on the way.

But he needed to find the Bearers before he escaped.

Comments

[Asolem2]

Soaring over Canterlot, she frowned as she saw traces of the more rambunctious celebrations, and quietly hissed to herself as she flew past the Great (or was it Grand?) Library and saw there was still a group of anti-Changeling protestors outside, apparently having nothing better to do with their time.

Apparently not

Hidden nodded. "Well, once Stock Market gets in, we can start our 'meeting'," she said. "So, who brought the deck this time?"

Don't tell me you get a new deck every time

"Glyndwr!" A female voice rang out.

That's a pretty cool name