Picking Up the Pieces

by Evilhumour

Chapter Twenty-Five: Gentle Step, Mist Flight, Memorizing Gaze

Chapter Twenty-Five

Gentle Step

Gentle Step had finished getting ready and entered her living room to wait when the knock came on the door, and the pony on the other side called to her. "Sir? It's time."

Head held high, she opened the door and exited the house, where her escort team to the court hearing was waiting. Like her, its members were wearing their dress uniforms as opposed to their plate; this had been arranged in advance, as she had been informed by Captain Sun and Captain Surprise that it was felt that the latter would have sent the wrong message, as if they were escorting a common criminal instead of one of their own with important testimony. She had also discussed wearing her swords with her two fellows, but had been talked out of it.

She frowned inwardly, remembering the discussion; Captain Surprise had seemed oddly distracted at the time. There was something bothering her, though Gentle had to put it out of her mind for the time being.

Though her escorts were a mixture of all the six divisions (and she suspected there were more Hidden Guards surveying the area ahead for any possible danger), they each marched or flew with Royal Guard precision. She could not be prouder of her Guards and the work they had done so far and she would prefer that she would not need to leave them.

As they got closer towards the courthouse where this trial would be taking place, she saw more and more Royal Guards standing at attention and watching her pass, intermingled with Internal Affairs officers who were looking very nervous. No doubt they feared that if the trial did not go her way, she could ensure a far worse riot than the griffons did or another more extreme measure, one which she had no intention of enacting nor did she hope the Royal Guards would do. The protests were one thing, but she would not stand for them to betray their nation on her behalf. She had, after all, installed their loyalty to Equestria first, the King second, and herself third.

Walking towards the doors to the courthouse, Gentle could see Captain Sun, Captain Wall, Captain Lulamoon, Captain Surprise and Captain Gaze, along with Acting-Captain Flight, all waiting at the entrance in their dress uniforms, as were the Guards who surrounded them. She had been fully expecting this, and also knew that King Well Banded would be in attendance, having entered before all of them.

Acting-Captain Flight walked up to her first, parting the Guards acting as protection for him, and standing before her in perfect attention. "You are relieved of your duty, Acting-Captain Flight," she said. "I am prepared to return to my position as Captain-General, pending the results of today."

Mist Flight nodded. "I so accept," he said.

That done, Gentle Step looked around, acknowledging each of her Captains in turn, before marching into the courthouse. She would wait in the antechamber until the bailiff called her in, after the occupants of the gallery - her fellow Captains and the King among them - were all seated.

It was not too long before that happened, and she took her position at the defendant's table, with a lawyer next to her, though she had little expectation that she would actually need him to say anything on her behalf. At the same time, Internal Affairs' Commissioner and his lawyer also entered, taking a spot at the plaintiff's table on the opposite side of the room. She had never met the Commissioner until today, despite her invitation when she first became the Captain-General. It had been part of the procedures of her office to meet the different leaders of the nation and he had been the only one never to properly schedule a meeting in all the years since, rejecting or stating other business when she sent him a message in the prevailing years. As she looked him over, she saw he was a much older stallion, near Lieutenant Mist's own age, and he carried himself with the body gesture and appearance of a retired Guard, though he seemed to radiate hostility towards her, no doubt for forcing this trial to even occur.

Finally, the bailiff called everyone to order. "All rise. The honorable Judge Diamond Knot presiding."

The judge in question, a tall unicorn pony, entered and sat down at his bench, a calm yet serious look on his face as he studied the attendees.

"Judge Knot," the bailiff began, and Gentle Step watched the stallion's eyes narrow. "We are here today because of charges that have been brought against the defendant, Captain-General Gentle Step, on behalf of the plaintiff, Internal Affairs Commissioner Hardy Rule. She has been charged with a violation of Guard Regulation 600-20, paragraph 4-14, prohibiting inappropriate leader-subordinate relationships."

"I see," Judge Knot said, tipping his head towards the both of them, looking at Hardy Rule. "And I suppose there is a reason that you have not charged Captain Gaze with this violation as well? It takes two Guards to commit this violation, after all."

Hardy Rule scowled, but calmed himself. "Captain Gaze will have his day in court," he said, briefly looking at Mems. "It is the Captain-General, the higher-ranking of the parties involved, and whose actions are a direct inspiration and influence upon the rest of the Guard, who is the one we seek to have face justice today, not to mention the inaction the Royal Guards took during the griffon riots that have cost thousands in damages due to being more loyal to her than the crown."

"As I am understood, the protests were issued on the orders of the acting Captain-General at the time, while he was carrying out his duties as a protection detail for your own offices," Judge Knot said, narrowing his eyes. "And if you wish to be bringing lieutenant Mist Flight up on charges, then do so properly. This case is against Captain Gentle Step and it will remain on her. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir," Hardy said bitterly but respectfully.

"Now to you, Captain Step," he said, eyeing her. "You are aware of the rules and regulations of the Guards, are you not?"

"I am indeed sir," she said, aware that his omission of her full title was not a mistake but to make a point.

"And you are aware, Flare or Hollow, Captain-General or recruit, the rules apply to the Guards equally without bias or favouritism," he asked, driving the point forwards.

"Yes si-" she began before Captain Surprise gasped loudly from the gallery with Judge Knot banging his gavel.

"Order, Captain Surprise," he cautioned as she stood up.

"I'm sorry your honour, but I must momentarily depart," she said, bowing her head and showing more deferral to him than she ever saw of the mare. "This is both relevant and important to this trial, I assure you, sir. With your permission, sir."

"Approach the bench and tell me exactly what you mean, Captain," the Judge asked

"Sir, I object to this," the Commissioner argued, glaring at Captain Surprise as she marched towards Judge Knot. "This is just her trying to buy more time for a simple and shut case. I move that the Gentle Step either deal with her inappropriate interactions with Captain Gaze by terminating it or stepping down."

The Judge glared at Hardy, which only intensified as to whatever Surprise was telling him behind the sound barrier the bailiff had set up. "I will allow you to retrieve this piece of potential evidence; I have a team of experts in the building that are trained in carbon dating." He raised his voice. "Court is hereby recessed for one hour, so as to give the Captain time to recover the item in question." Captain Surprised nodded her head in thanks and actually teleported away.

"I object," Hardy Rule snapped, slamming his hooves onto the desk. "She is just using this as another excuse to keep an office she does not deserve. She was only a Guard for five days before her failure of a team did not follow proper procedure and made up a story of actually going inside of Tartarus when clearly she and her fellow squads just hid from everypony to sell their story. Her placement was an embarrassment and an insult for the senior Guards who served for years to be passed for a recruit then and the other Guards are making excuses for her now." He glared at her. "You do not deserve those stripes."

Judge Knot lifted his gavel to bang it and call for order again, but before he could, there was a burst of magic in the front of the court, revealing Captain Surprise.

"Because you thought you'd get them," she said with a bitter tone, two ponies behind her as she teleported back in. They both looked queasy; understandably so as teleporting was never easy for those experiencing it for the first few times. Thankfully, there were Luna Guards already helping them both and moving them to the rest of the audience. "I knew your name was familiar to me, Commissioner, and then it finally hit me. You were on the short list of Guards to be promoted to Captain-General, with it being the only way you could still serve as a Guard."

"Those are baseless lies!" Hardy Rule shouted. "You have no proof!"

"I have the original list of names right here," Surprise said, holding up a framed picture towards the judge. "I had gone celebrating the night after appointing the new Captain-General and had used the only piece of paper I had to write my number to both the stallion and mare behind me which was the aforementioned list."

"You cannot honestly expect to believe this," Hardy continued to shout, glaring murderously at Gentle and Surprise. "Her opinion is biased and she could have falsified those papers."

"Then Judge Knot will need to weigh the words of several Captains against your own," Captain Sun said through narrowed eyes as he, Captain Lulamoon and Captain Wall all stood up. "I do recall discussing your potential elevation to that of the Captain-General but I was not convinced of your temperament being suited for that which the role required. I am glad now that I was an obstinate old ass about it and refusing to consent to my other Captains' wishes more than ever now."

There was an angry muttering now from the audience, with Guards glaring at Internal Affairs agents and Internal Affairs agents beginning to light up their horns towards the overwhelming Guard presence.

"Order, order," Judge Knot banged his gavel against the bench, his voice cutting through the rising voices of discontent. "This trial will come to order!" the unicorn glared at her Captains. "Any of you speak out of turn again and I will hold you all in contempt." He then turned towards the Commissioner. "And for you," he said holding his gavel like a sword towards the unicorn. "There will be an investigation towards these allegations and you will step down in the meantime until we get to the bottom of this!" He glared one more time, then banged his gavel. "As Captain Surprise has returned, court is now back in session."

"I refuse to accept your damn ruling!" Hardy Rule shouted slamming the desk forward before glaring at Gentle. "You stole my rightful position and now you are doing the same damn thing again! I will not let you!" he said with his horn already glowing, preparing to throw a spell at her.

Gentle, of course, had seen the writing on the wall and was already acting. She had been preparing her own auraless magic spell in preparation and as soon as he took a step towards her, she unleashed a small prick of magic to each pressure point in his entire body, rendering him a non-threat as they both took a step forwards. As he began to react to her spell which she allowed to be seen, she rotated her body around to perform a textbook case buck into his jaw, sending him into the air before she grabbed him with her magic and slammed him down to the ground as to avoid injuring anyone with his body.

All of which transpired in less than five seconds.

That done, she turned to the bench and bowed. "Apologies for acting without permission, your honor," she said. "But as the plaintiff was acting with intention to cause harm, I reacted on instinct."

"I'll allow it," Judge Knot replied, a bemused look on his face. He then turned to the lawyer who had been sitting quietly next to Hardy Rule's seat this entire time, and gestured. "Do you have anything to say in your client's defense?"

The pony gulped nervously, fidgeting with his tie, then straightened himself. "Sir, as it would seem my client has managed to incriminate himself as a person of bias against the defendant, I would like to recuse myself. I cannot stand in support of him."

"You're excused," Judge Knot told him. He looked around the court once more, then banged his gavel. "As the claimant has been deemed a hostile witness and attempted to attack the defendant in clear violation of court regulations, I'm ordering court to be adjourned for a week. Captain," he said, gesturing to Captain Surprise. "We will still need to examine the item you have brought forth, as it is now evidence in a clear case against Commissioner Hardy Rule."

Sweet Surprise nodded, and hoofed the frame over. "Be careful, I'm going to want that back when you're done with it," she said. "It is a cherished memory for the ponies I eventually married and myself."

"We will, Captain," Judge Knot told her. "Now, as we are adjourned, I'd appreciate it if everypony would please clear the courtroom until such time as necessary. We will reconvene in one week, I will see you then." He rose, bowed in the direction of King Well Banded (who had been sitting quietly in the gallery the entire time, Gentle noted), and exited the room. A small troupe of guards followed him, holding Hardy Rule steady in the bindings they'd put around him after Gentle had turned to speak to the judge.

Gentle Step looked around. "I admit, I did not expect things to turn out this way," she said.

"Me neither," Captain Gaze said, walking towards her with the rest of the Captain. "I feel embarrassed and ashamed I didn't uncover this myself."

"Nonsense Gaze," Volet Lulamoon said. "There was no indication that he was acting out of selfish motivation and you had no reason to investigate him."

"Besides, as a person of interest in the case, it could have been said that you were also required to recuse yourself from any investigation," Blazen Sun told him.

Memorizing nodded. "Yeah, you're right," he said.

The other Captains, and Lieutenant Mist Flight, all smiled, before they heard somepony clearing their throat behind them. Instantly, they turned, eyes widened, and saluted, as did Gentle Step.

"Your highness," she said.

King Well Banded met her gaze for a moment, before smiling. "Captain-General, it is good to have you back," he said. "It has been an interesting trial today."

"Yes, sir," she said.

The King suddenly looked more serious. "Quite frankly, I believe there is already enough evidence to see that individual dismissed with prejudice from his rank, for his actions here today at the very least," he said. "There will need to be an official investigation and trial. But in the interim, I am issuing a Royal Proclamation. Scribe!"

"Yes, your highness?" another, smaller unicorn asked as they trotted over, scroll and quill in their magic.

"Here ye, here ye," King Well Banded said. "I, King Well Banded, on this-" and he gave the date - "do hereby declare that as the Commissioner of Internal Affairs, one Hardy Rule, has been taken into custody for crimes including attempted assault against the Captain-General of Our Royal Guards, he is hereby dismissed from his position pending investigation of his actions. Until further notice, Deputy Commissioner Iron Gates is hereby promoted to Acting Commissioner of Internal Affairs, and as such, is to discharge the powers and duties of the office of the Commissioner of Internal Affairs. Should the former Commissioner, Hardy Rule, be found guilty, Acting Commissioner of Internal Affairs Iron Gates shall be promoted to the full rank of Commissioner of Internal Affairs in his place, with all the powers and duties thereof."

Signing the document and pressing his Royal Seal against it, he beckoned to two other ponies who had been by his side in the gallery, and they placed their own signatures and seals on it in the place marked for witnesses.

When the ink was dry, the scribe rolled up the scroll, and King Well Banded nodded. "So it is written, so it is done," he said.

"My king," Acting Commissioner Iron Gates, whom Gentle noted must have also been in the gallery, said as she walked up to him and bowed, clearly not used to her new position or the proper procedures. "I will not disappoint you," she said before turning towards her and Mems. "Captain Gaze, Captain-General Step, I understand you two are involved with each other; I trust you two can use discretion and that this relationship will not interfere in any of your work."

Both of them nodded their heads. "If the latter starts to occur, we will begin to discuss means to address that situation." Captain Gaze promised with Gentle nodding her head in agreement again.

"Good, then as far as I am concerned, the matter is resolved," she said.

King Well Banded nodded approvingly as well, then raised a hoof. "Captain-General, I must take my leave now, but I also need to borrow your lieutenant for a while. If that is no objection."

"Of course." Gentle Step turned to Mist Flight. "I'll see you later, Lieutenant."

Mist Flight bowed, then followed after the King as he and his small retinue departed. Watching him go, Gentle turned her attention to Sweet Surprise. "My thanks to you for your part in this day," she said. "But now, there is something else I would have you do."

Surprise looked nervous, and Gentle had the feeling her fellow Captain already knew what she wanted. She said it anyway. "I would have you properly introduce your spouses to the rest of us, since they are present."

"I think that would need to wait, they will need time to recover from the teleport, sir," Surprise said, trying to delay the inevitable.

"That's alright, we're fine, Sweet," the red stallion said, walking beside the light blue pegasus mare. "Nice to meet you at long last, sirs." he said, holding his hoof out to Blazen Sun while their wife held out a hoof to Violet. "She's told us so much about you all."

"And yet we only have heard of the two of you so recently," Gentle Step said as she looked over the duo who continued to shake the hooves of her captains while the rest of the Guards watched them. "Except for Captain Gaze, of course. He knows everything about us."

The two ponies turned to him with odd looks, and he shrugged. "Who do you think is responsible for the protection detail you never knew was there? And don't panic," he said as Sound Mind started to open her mouth. "We don't spy on your private moments, if that's what you're worried about. Our mandate is to keep you safe, not to be peeping toms." It wasn't technically true as Mems told her privately. Though any overheard client details with Mind's patients, for instance, were sealed unless a situation was deemed important enough to open them up, along with the rest of them. It was a really odd compartmentalization Mems and his Guards could do without issue due to their Hivemind, take some memories and put it to the side.

Sound Mind closed her mouth at the drone's words, and nodded, looking rather relieved.

"I never have figured out where that expression came from," Hot Rod muttered.

"If our information is accurate... male cats, both Abyssinians and their non-sapient cousins, that like attention at the least convenient moments," Memorizing replied rather dryly.

"Right." Gentle rolled her eyes. "In any case, it is pleasant to see you two at last. Your wife was very indiscrete about your relationship; the rest of us only found out about you a short while after the Six returned to Canterlot with Prince-King Tizoc."

"As per our decision, ma'am," Hot Rod said, shaking her hoof. "We all knew what it meant for us being together and we decided not get into that headache of announcing of who we're married to. I sure as Luna's holy moon wouldn't be allowed to do my current job if there was a chance that the Captain's husband got hurt."

"And it will cause extra screening to be installed at my hospital now," Sound sounded unhappy at that. "Which could scare people away who need help."

"Technically, that sort of thing's always been there, in the form of my Guard," Memorizing pointed out. "It just hasn't been visible." At the looks they gave him, he shrugged. "Protecting the families of our fellow Guards, without their knowing, has been under the Hidden Guard's purview since it was founded a thousand years ago. Whether said family members were publicly known or not." He chuckled. "Though according to the records, some of them were more than capable of taking care of themselves and didn't really need protecting. We were standing by regardless."

"Dare I ask?" Hot Rod asked.

"Let's just say that one Captain had made some enemies, and they decided to get back at that Captain through their parents," Memorizing said. "The ponies in question had just tried to break down the door, and the Secret Protector of the time was about to move in, when the Captain's parents started pelting their attackers with crockery from an upstairs window. They had very good aim with the saucers in particular, from what I read." He chuckled again. "The attackers were all unconscious within a few minutes, so the Guard swooped in and took them into custody then and there."

"That reminds me of your Dad, Sweets," Hot Rod teased with Sweet Surprise blushing and groaning.

"Wasn't he a retired Guard himself?" Standing Wall asked.

"No," Sweet said, shaking her head. "Doesn't stop Dad being Dad."

"So tell us about this incident," Blazen Sun said, looking rather amused.

Sweet looked embarrassed. "Well..."

Mist Flight

King Well Banded had been silent since he and Mist Flight had left the courthouse, and now were both back in the King's private office, sitting across from one another. As he gazed down at the Lieutenant, he finally spoke. "So, I must congratulate you on your plan working out," he said. "Though I did not expect matters to take the turn they did."

"It did, your highness," Mist said. "And neither did I." He looked a little amused. "Who'd have thought Captain Surprise had the physical evidence we needed to back up our objection to that stallion's charges?"

"Quite," the King agreed. "And in doing so, she ensured I did not have to visibly act. I'll have to see about giving her a private commendation; something to thank her. She cannot know that I was already planning to step in if I had to though."

Mist nodded, albeit somewhat disturbed by the King's words.

This had been the plan all along, after all. Set up things so Internal Affairs would look bad by their prosecution of the Captain-General, via convincing King Well Banded of the good publicity that ending the Hatcheries would bring, and thus giving the Royal Guard the opportunity to slip away on an alternate assignment that would double as their protesting their Captains' treatment. Meanwhile, they would figure out a way to publicly embarrass IA so they wouldn't be harassing her any longer, if only through asking King Well Banded to personally pardon the two Captains when he knew they were both more than capable of handling anything that could come their way, and order Internal Affairs to back down. When Hardy Rule had started to lose his temper in public and Captain Sweet Surprise had come up with proof that would shut him down as a credible witness against Gentle Step, that had been more than enough to achieve what they wanted without the King publicly involving his hoof in things. Privately, he wished King Well Banded would give his public support to his Captain-General, but he understood his King's reasons for not doing that so soon after dealing with IA once before, in order to prevent them from prosecuting Memorizing Gaze for his species.

"Changing subjects," King Well Banded said. "Was young Wind Breaker leaving Equestria for a time an intended effect of your plan to publicly end the Hatchery system?"

"No," Mist said. "If I'd known he'd go flying off so soon, I'd have had a message delivered asking him to hold off until we could send some of our own with them, for his protection."

"Mm. And did you know he had family already here?" the King asked.

Mist shook his head. "That came as a surprise to all of us," he said. "It's a relief, it means he has less reason to want to leave the country. There's still a chance, we haven't been able to confirm the identity of either of his parents yet, so for all we know they are back overseas and he just missed them. I'm hoping he'll choose to stay regardless."

"Hmm." King Well Banded regarded him, then sighed, suddenly looking far older than he really was. "I wish I knew what it would take," he said, "For us to be sure that the Bearers would stay here. I have no desire to use force of arms against them, but quite frankly, we need them to stay here. The powers of Harmony have been centered in Equestria for so long, to have it slip away would be politically disastrous. And as I understand, it requires all six of them to be together; the Nightmare kept a tight guard on its thoughts, but it let that slip to me, at least. A detail we already knew, from the Scrolls of the Magi of Stars."

Mist nodded. "Though it would seem that at least some of the information about the original Six may not have been entirely accurate, based on the reports we've been getting," he said. "Wind Breaker has said, within hearing range of our Guard, that apparently the Stallion of Dedication is the one we got the most wrong."

King Well Banded frowned. "Oh?"

"He claims that while their symbol, the hat they wear, is right... the real Virtue was a mare, and that your ancestor got her mixed up with her older brother."

"And how much more do they know," the King asked, looking very sharp and intent now.

"We haven't been able to figure that out," Mist said. "I understand that Gentle was planning to interview them all about it at some point, once things calmed down."

"Good; at which point we can cross-check what the journal of King Blueblood the First said to see if we can glean any actual truths." King Well Banded looked at him, a very serious expression on his face. "Equestria's history must be confirmed and, if necessary, corrected to show the truth."

Mist Flight bowed. "Indeed, sir."

The King nodded back. "Now that that is settled, you are dismissed," he said. "I expect your Captain will have much to discuss with you."

Mist Flight saluted him, then left.

Memorizing Gaze

"So," Sound was saying. "I told her no I wasn’t mad, just really disappointed."

Memorizing chuckled as he slid another hayfry into his mouth. After they'd wrapped things up at the courthouse, they'd all gone out to eat - it was getting to be the lunch hour, after all - and let Sound and Hot Rod regale them with stories of their lives both before and after they'd gotten together with Sweet. Especially the latter. Violet in particular had been most interested in hearing what stories they had to tell about her friend, in part (as she had admitted) because she was still irked at having missed out on their wedding all those years ago.

Surprise had been accommodating to all the stories despite the embarrassment she displayed. She was actually enjoying this and was very happy, as well as her spouses. Even if he hadn't been a changeling, he knew he'd have been able to feel the love they all had for one another; it was radiating off them like heat off the sun.

Speaking of suns... He glanced over at Blazen Sun, who'd been most pleased to see Hot Rod. It seemed this wasn't actually the first time they'd met, though apparently it had only been in passing, when the Captain of the Celestia Guard had made one of his annual inspection tours of Canterlot's firehouses. They had spoken only briefly at the time, but Hot Rod's immediate superior had had nothing but praise for his work.

Memorizing doubted that Hot Rod would ever get promoted now, though. Far too many connections to the higher ups that it could ever be thought of anything else but favouritism or brownnosing. He wished it didn't have to be that way; the stallion was clearly a good person and a hard worker but Memorizing had to be realistic.

Sound Mind was also a good person, from all he knew of her, even before they were formally introduced. She had a spotless record, and her private practice was very successful. He doubted the knowledge of who she was married to would actually affect her too much in her career but now her practice would be under even more scrutiny.

Still, they were good ponies, and he and all the Hidden Guard who'd ever been assigned to their protection details would vouch for them if needed, though he would try to stay out of it as to prevent any accusations of bias due to his growing connection with the couple.

Speaking of couples... He stared at Gentle, and found himself smiling. Despite the feelings he'd had for her for years, he had not counted on he and his old foalhood friend coming into a relationship like this, especially not when she was his boss. It would be difficult to make things work between them now that he and their relationship were in the public eye, but he had faith that they would be able to do it.

Just then, Hot Rod looked at the clock on the wall. "I hate to say it, but I really need to get back to the firehouse now," he said. "Captains, it's been great getting to meet all of you. Sweet, Sound, I'll see you both tonight?"

The two nodded, embraced him, and once all had said their goodbyes, they watched as he headed out. Then, Sound Mind looked regretful. "I actually need to get going too," she said. "Like Hot Rod said, I'm glad I could get to meet all of you."

Violet smiled. "It was good getting to know my friend's spouses," she said. "And I hope we get the chance to sit down and chat some more soon."

"I'll make sure to do that," Sound told her as she took out a small notebook and wrote down a date for the two to meet up again.

Another round of goodbyes ensued, and then she left. Once she had gone, Gentle Step looked around. "Well," she said. "That was enjoyable. But we do need to get back to business now."

"What do you mean, Gents?" Memorizing asked.

Gentle Step looked at him, a very serious expression on her face. "Now that I've resumed my position," she said. "There's something I've been meaning to take care of, and I'm not willing to put it off any longer."

"Meaning..." five Captains said at once, looking at her expectantly.

Gentle Step looked at them all, then spoke.

"It's time we had a long overdue talk with the Six."

Comments

[Asolem2]

She had, after all, installed their loyalty to Equestria first, the King second, and herself third.

Very good

"I see," Judge Knot said, tipping his head towards the both of them, looking at Hardy Rule. "And I suppose there is a reason that you have not charged Captain Gaze with this violation as well? It takes two Guards to commit this violation, after all."

Pointing out some of the flaws in these charges from the beginning, I like him

Her placement was an embarrassment and an insult for the senior Guards who served for years to be passed for a recruit then and the other Guards are making excuses for her now." He glared at her. "You do not deserve those stripes."

"I knew your name was familiar to me, Commissioner, and then it finally hit me. You were on the short list of Guards to be promoted to Captain-General, with it being the only way you could still serve as a Guard."

Ahhhh, there it is, his real reason for this whole mess

The powers of Harmony have been centered in Equestria for so long, to have it slip away would be politically disastrous.

Using force of arms to keep them in Equestria would be even worse though, given their various connections and the fact that doing so would greatly increase the chance of them losing their connections to either their Elements, each other, or just outright refusing to use them to protect Equestria... so in short, "Don't do that"

"It's time we had a long overdue talk with the Six."

Should be an interesting conversation