6) The Crisis at Hand
Hey Buddy!
Guess what? Cadence and I are getting married soon! Boon made me do a lot of stupid stuff just to set the mood for my proposal but she beat me to it when I nearly choked on something hard in my donut.
Turns out Cadence had Donut Joe bake the engagement ring into my food…
Actually, that sounds wrong.
Cadence had Donut Joe MAKE a donut and put the engagement ring INSIDE of it.
There we go!
Also, not to worry or alarm you or anything, but Hannibal is kinda wandering around the castle a lot more lately.
And I mean A LOT MORE.
That feathered demon keeps trying to get in to the mess hall and we've just had a surplus of cucumbers come in last week after the farmers found out that they’ve got an overabundance of them and thus donated them to the castle.
As much as I love the free snack, I really don't want a repeat of the library incident.
I swear, that swan is going to commit a nasty crime soon.
I already talked to Swansong about this but he just lets him roam around anyway saying that swans need their exercise. Sure, like attacking cadets and officers if they so much as tick him off or look at him weird for SOME REASON every other day wasn't exercise enough.
Anyway, can you visit Canterlot soon? Cadence is excited about the wedding and she really wants you to be our best colt, Twily will act as best mare and we've already requested her friends' help with the wedding too.
I know you hate talking to people and giving speeches but can you please accept? I know there are others, and that there’s Boon but he’ll already be passed out drunk before the reception even starts.
Just think of it this way: There will be a lot of ponies there, Celestia even, Princess LUNA even, a lot of nobles, and a lot of our friends from the Royal Guard. I am literally giving you the chance to commit mass murder with a pun-infested speech.
Side note: Cadence is definitely not sitting beside me while I’m composing this letter and glaring at me with her hooves crossed, nosiree! Definitely not being threatened by my future-wife because I just offered both her aunts to be victims of a ground zero pun bomb just so that you can attend! Nope!
Also, speaking of Boon, he left a few hours ago to resume his training with the Valkyrie unit, poor guy will probably get his wings soon. But he’s a tough colt, no? If he can survive Sun Rider’s training, then getting his wings replaced should be a walk in the park.
And I gotta cut this letter short. Red Ink is getting really annoyed with waiting for the documents that he wants me signed. He's really giving me a nasty stink eye as I write.
Do visit me when you can, I have to talk to you about something important, I can’t say too much because I haven’t ironed out the arrangements yet, but… Um… Let’s just say the Royal Guard will need you again, but this time… It’ll be your turn to be looked up to.
Sincerely,
Shining Armor
P.S.: By opening and reading this scroll/letter, you are now lawfully obliged and bound to attend my bucking wedding or else I will drag you here to Canterlot myself! YES. THIS IS ME, BUDDY, SO YOU BETTER TAKE THIS THREAT SERIOUSLY!
P.P.S: This is me, by the way, that passage above was from Cadence. Also, a biiiiiiiiit of a quick request from me? Well, not me, mostly from the other generals and other officers but… Can you please not steal too much of our ponies into working for your bodyguard company? We do appreciate the lesser workload since we don’t have to babysit every single noble but our retention rate is reaaaaaaaaaaaally terrible and I’m getting chewed out by General Armstrong real bad because La Keyes keeps on tempting soldiers with better stuff ;(
“You put the princess in a very dangerous situation, just what were you thinking in leaving her without a charge?!” said Col. Buckstack as he slammed his hoof of his table while glaring at Boon who was at the other side of the room sitting with his allies, or at least those that shared his views for the current matter.
“Oh, now yer suddenly concerned for Princess Luna,” retorted Boon sarcastically in the Chamber of Commons of the Royal Guard of Canterlot Castle as he and other officers continued to argue with each other and the topic at hand was becoming less and less more about the golem attack at Hooverheim and was more about their mutual dislike for the respective officers.
“Don’t give me that tone, Boon, you may be captain of the Luna Guard but you’re still wet behind the ears compared to me. You’ve taken up the job so act like it!” shouted Col. Buckstack.
“Oh, then I’ll take that as ye offering ponies from yer squad then so that the security detail of the princess will be satisfactory according to yer standards?” grinned Boon, twisting the other’s words to get back at him while at the same time testing the waters if the colonel was proud enough to give him guards.
Upon hearing that, the older stallion froze and shivered in place. “W-what? N-no! That’s not what I was talking-”
“Yeah, I thought so, what else can we expect anyway from somepony who couldn’t set his hoof even once in the battlefield,” added Boon, earning a number of chuckles from the attendees, even from Col. Buckstack’s side of the hall as his face went completely red in anger.
*SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!*
“Alright, I think we’ve had enough about whether or not was it right for Capt. Boon to leave Princess Luna unguarded, on a day off, that Col. Buckstack forced him to take, thanks to a memo he sent to Princess Celestia with terrible implications about rest day regulation violations, most of which are unfounded as none of you seem to want to give him the extra hooves needed to fill in the ranks of the Luna Guard, hence him being always performing overtime for the past year,” said Adjutant Red Ink as he lowered his gavel.
Although Boon and Buckstack had a lot to say to each other, they knew better than to challenge Red Ink now that he wanted to get on with the next agenda.
They were free to do so. Heck, everypony in the room was free to challenge Red Ink’s decision, but none of the ponies, experienced officers or otherwise, didn’t want to mess with Princess Celestia’s personal assistant.
If it was an issue that didn’t need the princess’s direct attention, then chances are the issue would be handled personally by the Adjutant in her stead.
Although the black-coated and white-maned unicorn’s true job was the ‘Treasurer of Equestria’, Red Ink held an unbelievable amount of power in the chain of command and the entire Equestrian Government, with some ponies believing that he is on par with Celestia with how much he can get done if he just wills it.
His talent, after all, was the handling of money, and on a whim, squads, departments, or even public officials or cities would not receive a single bit from the Equestrian Treasury without his approval.
But everypony knew otherwise.
His real talent was knowing if somepony was worth getting anything from the treasury.
Sighing, Boon got seated and Buckstack followed not long after.
However, before Red Ink could proceed, his attention was diverted as one of the bailiffs entered the chamber and poised himself to make an announcement.
“I would like to call upon everypony’s attention to announce the arrival of Prince Shining Armor-”
“Shit…” hissed Boon under his breath as he noticed the displeased, if not utterly disgusted, look on the faces of a number of officers in the chamber after Shining’s name was mentioned.
For Boon, this was not the best time for Shining to take his first public appearance in Canterlot.
It may have been a year and a half but the Royal Guard’s memory of him ‘failing’ them for being easily swayed by Chrysalis was still a fresh wound to a lot of officers, and for those who wanted to drag his reputation to the mud and so that they can take the title of Captain of the Guard ever since, the siege may as well happened yesterday.
“Where the hell is Flash Sentry and Spearhead when you need them?” asked Boon in a whisper to no one as he looked around, not really comfortable with having Shining enter a room where 90% of the ponies present wanted him gone.
There should have been news of Shining coming to Canterlot, a small announcement of sorts sent a few days in advance at least so that he would be properly greeted and so that the ponies that actually still respect and like him would be there to receive him and Princess Cadence but this was all just too sudden for his first public appearance since the Changeling attack…
As Shining proceeded take a seat, the officers near the bench that he was about to pick suddenly stood up and moved to a different row without a hint of hesitation.
Since there were no rules in the seating arrangements and that no pony can be forced to sit with those who they don’t like, and although this was personally disrespectful to somepony who was now considered a monarch, there was nothing Shining could do to the gesture.
Once Shining was seated, Red Ink waited for a few seconds to see if there was anypony that was stupid enough to cause a scene. When there were none, he slammed the gavel once to signal the resumption of the meeting.
“As I was saying, now that we’ve finished with Capt. Boon’s alleged violations of rest day regulations, let’s move on to the next agenda,” said the Adjutant who then took out a file from under his table with his magic and opened it without looking.
Instead, what he did was turn his head to the direction of Boon.
“Capt. Boon, I want you on the stand please.” He ordered, earning a number of low snickers from Col. Buckstack’s side of the chamber when they realized that the next agenda was still centered on Boon after all.
Groaning from frustration as he had just sat down a few moments ago, Boon stood up from his seat and went on the stand as was requested of him by the Adjutant.
If he didn’t know better, Boon swore that he was on trial.
Turning his head to the file that he had, Red Ink read through the document briefly before turning back to Boon who was now in the middle of the chamber on the raised platform that served as the stand so that the pony on it can be questioned by all of his peers.
“As our scholars and wizards are still trying to identify which organization or group, or who, could have instigated the golem attack on Hooverheim based on the magic used to deploy the creature, we will take a different approach. And since former Lt. Buddy Guard is still bedridden, I will have you answer my inquiries based on the fact that you are his brother-in-arm, more than anypony in this room, apart from one other pony. Do you find this demand fair?” asked Red Ink.
“I mean, I’m not a unicorn to know of anything about how the golem works or how it was sent there to Hooverheim, but I can guarantee ya that I’ll at least answer as honestly as I can,” replied a confused Boon.
“Very well then. For your first question… Scenario one: What are the chances that the attack on Hooverheim was instigated as a PR stunt so that Princess Luna will gain favor from the public?” asked the Adjutant as an uproar from the officers occurred when a number of them realized that the scenario that he presented was highly plausible.
“HEY! YA CAN’T JUST ACCUSE THE PRINCESS LIKE THAT! WHO THE HELL DO YA THINK YA ARE?!” shouted Boon angrily as he slammed his hoof on the desk of the stand.
This was followed by Red Ink hammering the gavel on the block a number of times to silence the furor that the question caused, steadily silencing the officers who were obviously displeased with the notion that Princess Luna had artificially manufactured a crisis to make ponies love her once she saved the day.
“Based on that strong reaction from you, I’m sure you have a good explanation debunking this claim?” inquired Red Ink, not bothered at all with Boon’s shouting at him.
“Uh, yeah! And that’s ‘Why wait until now when there were other stupid shits that she could have appeared in to save the day in one fell swoop like Discord or that stupid shit that is Bixie or whatever her name is or even the Changeling Attack’!” retorted Boon.
“Any of those events could have made her a big bucking hero if she were allowed by Princess Celestia to act on her own! And besides, why pick a town in the middle of nowhere where there’s barely any important ponies to effectively spread her heroism through word of mouth?” he added, turning to all of the officers present to see if they had a good reason against that.
Despite the displeased look on a number of ponies, including Col. Buckstack, what Boon said seemed to make sense.
If Luna wanted to engineer a fake crisis to make ponies love her, there were better scenarios and locations that she could have picked to do just that. Going to Hooverheim where nothing important was located, even with its paltry population since it was more of a border town than anything, just didn’t make sense.
When no pony voiced their opinions to deny the validity of Boon’s explanation, Red Ink brought down the gavel once and that was the end of that.
“Then we’ll move on to the second scenario: the attack is a PR stunt of Buddy’s Rays of the Sun so that they’ll entice more officers to join their ranks,” Red Ink read from his document before looking at the officers in the chamber.
This time, there was barely any reaction from them.
“Highly unlikely,” answered Boon. “If this was made by Buddy’s company, then it would only make ponies more hesitant from joining since ‘fighting deadly golems’ will be added to the list of threats that they’ll have to face once employed.”
Once again, Red Ink waited for anyone to argue against Boon but every officer seemed to find merit in his words. The Rays of the Sun may have more benefits and see more action but at the cost of them possibly facing something, like a golem, that they can’t handle on their own.
With a smack of the gavel, that was the end of that allegation.
“That would be all from you, Capt. Boon, you may return to your seat,” said Red Ink, a command that Boon gladly took now that he wasn’t the center of attention.
“Scenario three…” began the Adjutant before stopping for a moment as he read through the document carefully as if trying to make sure that he read it right before relaying the contents. “This is an act of terrorism from an extremist splinter griffon group.”
Once Red Ink had finished his sentence, the officers of the Royal Guard present could barely restrain the intense hatred they were feeling now that someone pointed out that this attack was possibly orchestrated by griffons.
Equestria and Griffontstone had never really been on the best of terms with each other with a number of skirmishes occurring within the questioned borders of the two lands, specifically in the areas of Trottingham and the Griffish Isles though it was not uncommon for Griffon nobles to lay claim to the border areas of Manehattan, such as the northwestern area even though the land wasn’t all that fertile to settle in.
“I hate to be the partypooper,” said Col. Buckstack whose voice was seething with anger. “As much as I want to put the blame on the griffons, why the hell would they attack a town in the middle of nowhere instead of going directly for Canterlot if not Manehattan or Baltimare where they could do more damage?”
“… Because of ‘Plan B’.”
Shining Armor felt the eyes of all the ponies in the room turn to him when he finally spoke, and although a number of them, especially Col. Buckstack, felt and looked annoyed with him suddenly participating in the discussion all of a sudden, nearly everypony in the room widened their eyes when they finally realized what he meant.
“’PLAN B’ AS IN ‘PLAN BUDDY’?!” roared Boon as he stood up and slammed a hoof on to his desk angrily, breaking it apart easily with a loud crash.
It did not take more than a second for the other officers to shout angry comments and suggestions to each other and at Red Ink, and although they were different in wording and intensity, everypony was calling for one thing: war.
*SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!*
“I WILL HAVE ORDER IN THIS CHAMBER OR I WILL HAVE THE LOT OF YOU THROWN OUT!” shouted Red Ink at the officers who barely settled themselves now that there was a credible threat to put their attention to, afterwards, the Adjutant pointed his gavel threateningly at Boon. “And you, Capt. Boon, I’ll have your pay docked directly for the repair of that table, labor, materials and all,” he declared before turning back to the assembly and Shining.
“That’s a rather harsh allegation you’re implying, Prince Shining,” the Adjutant pointed out. “Would you care to explain why would you even imply such a thing that could lead to a massive conflict without any evidence?”
Sighing, Shining stood up and took to the stand to give his explanation.
Even if he was no longer the Captain of the Guard, and even though many of the officers no longer regarded him in high esteem, he was still loyal to the Royal Guard and so he took it upon himself to participate in its affairs now that he had more power as a ruler of the Crystal Empire and had some sway over Celestia through Cadence.
“The report specifically stated that the golem exclusively attacked former Lt. Buddy Guard,” he addressed to the officers and Red Ink.
“According to Boon’s statement, which was corroborated with the border and town guards that were present during the incident, even though there were easier or closer targets, or that it could have gone on a rampage to do as much damage to Hooverheim, the creature acted as if it was made to only target Buddy. The same however could not be said for the second golem that appeared because Princess Luna immediately destroyed that. Based on the statements given to our investigators, however, the second golem, before it was disintegrated, was observed to be approaching Buddy and his companions,” explained Shining which prompted the officers to talk to each other in whispers, silently agreeing with what the monarch said.
“And who has more beef with Buddy than the idiots that lost a war on the first battle thanks to a spell of his,” added Boon whose words were greeted with agreements or nods from the others as the pieces seem to fall in place now.
“Again, I hate to be the partypooper, I really do, but are griffons even capable of deploying such creatures? Are they even magically capable enough to make such a thing?” asked Col. Buckstack who seemed to be doing a good job with playing devil’s advocate.
“Or if Griffonstone even has the bits to pay for one, much less two,” said one of the officers on Col. Buckstack’s side of the room, causing nearly everypony in the chamber to laugh at the notion that Griffonstone was too poor to even pay for the golems.
And considering the short-lived war of theirs with massive casualties…
“Remember, the main force that Plan B destroyed was a coalition, it wasn’t just 'Griffonstone' soldiers that we faced that day, there were troops from much better off-to-do griffon clans with the bits and resources to give funding for a localized attack like this,” explained Shining much to the dread of the others now that they’ve realized the grave implications of that scenario.
If the attack on Hooverheim was orchestrated by a private individual, or even just sponsored or funded by one, Griffonstone can deny any involvement…
Which would mean that a similar attack in the future were more likely to occur… Or attacks…
Suddenly, Col. Buckstack stood up from his seat.
“Excuse me, Adjutant, there are things that I will have to attend to,” he said before moving to exit the chamber after Red Ink gave him permission.
Not long after that, other officers began to follow his lead, and from what Shining can gather from their worried looks, it seemed like they wouldn’t waste any time to prepare their troops for another attack.
With barely any pony wanting to stay now that there was a possible threat from the griffons, Red Ink adjourned the session and allowed everypony to leave.
“Okay, what the buck are ya doing here without an entourage?” asked Boon after flying over to where Shining was, earning a smile from him now that he knew that there was at least one pony that wanted to interact with a failed captain.
And that was ignoring the fact that Boon of all ponies seemed concerned for his wellbeing.
“I’m pretty sure ‘doing what I want’ comes with the ‘prince’ before my name.” Shining chuckled before patting the Captain of the Luna Guard on the shoulder.
“Oh yeah, sure, let’s go with that, because if anythin’ happens to ya, Cadence will definitely not ask for my head,” groaned the pegasus with a roll of his eyes.
“But you don’t answer to Cady…”
“Not directly, I don’t! But one complaint to Luna from her and it’s technically the same!” he explained with another groan. “But seriously… Ya shouldn’t really just stroll in here like that, prince or not, a lot of the stallions still hate you for… Uh…”
“Being Chrysalis’s plaything that nearly brought down Equestria in one fell swoop, yes.” Shining sighed before shaking his head.
They didn’t have to beat around the bush about it. It was what happened and the ‘warm greeting’ that he got from the assembly was proof that the officers of Canterlot had barely any trust for him.
“How’s Buddy?” he inquired to the pegasus to try and brush off the atmosphere of awkwardness that his earlier response created.
Although the reports gave him a general outline of the events that transpired, Buddy was only described as ‘incapacitated’ and Shining found it vague at best.
“Eh… I guess ya can say he was doing rather well until he was forced to use the ‘Shining Armor’ spell,” answered Boon as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Really, I thought he was incapable of casting that ever again considering-”
That was all that Shining needed to hear.
Before Boon could finish his sentence, the former captain of the guard moved to leave the Chamber of Commons.
“What the? Hey! Where ya going?” asked Boon from behind.
“I’m going to play partypooper for once.”
Shining didn’t usually trust his gut instinct, not unless there was somepony that he could turn to to verify his hunch, but after the Changeling Siege of Canterlot, the unicorn realized that it was better to be paranoid to an extent than complacent to risks and dangers.
Walking out of the chamber, Shining headed to the office areas of the higherups at a brisk pace to confront a certain general, ignoring the stares that he got from other guards that had just seen him for the first time in a year and a half.
Normally he would feel terrible that the ponies that he once served alongside with now viewed him as a threat but right now there was something that he needed to know.
Upon arriving at the door of the office that he needed to go to, Shining opened it and helped himself in without bothering to knock.
“… Did the throne of the Crystal Empire make you forget how to knock?” asked a visibly displeased General Armstrong as he leaned back in his seat so that he can address the monarch properly but nothing more, not even a salute nor standing up to greet him.
That, Shining could ignore.
“Did you have a hoof in it?” asked Shining as he closed the door to the general’s office.
“Whatever are you talking about, your highness,” replied General Armstrong sarcastically, “I have a hoof in everything, from payroll stuff to duty rotation.”
“A few months ago, you sent me a letter asking me to give you ‘authorization to test Plan B’.” The prince growled, noticing the other blink in confusion before rubbing his eyes as if he was wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him. “I don’t remember giving you the go signal to ‘test’ a civilian to see if he’s still viable for service.”
“Oh those are rather grave implications you’re giving, your highness. You may now have the privilege to speak out your mind without fear of legal repercussions but I don’t think this is the place for you to do that when the majority of ponies in the Royal Guard would rather have you as far away as the Crystal Empire than be here.” General Armstrong smirked as he placed a hoof on his cheek.
“Then let me be more blunt, General. Did you or did you not have a hoof in the attack by anonymously leaking information about Golem Wizards to the Griffons so that they can assassinate Buddy just so that you can see if he can cast ‘A Knight in Shining Armor’ again?” hissed Shining as he readied to fire a spell at the general, his horn glowing green as he charged up the shot.
Whether it be lethal or just a stunning spell depended on the general’s answer.
“… You give me too much credit, Shining, you’ve always been the hotheaded one of the Idiot Three,” chuckled General Armstrong. “And no, I had no hoof in the attack, not even indirectly. I had a different plan in mind to see if Buddy can cast it again but not to the extent of an assassination attempt. That would be rather counterproductive if you ask me.”
Shining took a moment to gauge the earth pony’s response carefully but he couldn’t feel any hint of lying or maliciousness on him, perhaps a hint of ‘playfulness’ or ‘I proved you wrong because what I said was true’ but he couldn’t feel any emotion of deceit from the general.
Either Armstrong was saying the truth or he was the best liar in Equestria. No matter which of the two was true, Shining didn’t like it.
Scoffing, the prince let go of the shot and dispersed the magic back into his body.
“You really are Moondancer’s apprentice… For a second there I thought I’d have my brains blown out, and I’ve ticked her off for faaaaaaaaaar less than being accused of planning a convoluted test disguised as an assassination.” General Armstrong chuckled before sighing in relief, acting as if the entire situation that happened a few seconds ago was just a mere joke.
“So, what? We blame no pony? That your reports on the griffons are just fearmongering or hearsay?” asked Shining to the general.
“… And that’s when you don’t give me enough credit, your highness,” sighed the earth pony as he rubbed his brow a little. “No, as much as I’d like to try and downplay this, the griffons are stirring. I don’t know why, but my informants insist that the clan leaders are talking to each other again, and these griffons dislike each other more than we dislike them as they dislike us. For them to suddenly shove aside their backstabbing nature to each other so that they can discuss things… That’s definitely not something to be relaxed about. And we both know what occurred the last time that happened.”
"Besides, with or without my influence, the griffons would have discovered the Golem Wizards anyway," he added.
Just as when Shining thought that he could finally relax now that he knew that General Armstrong was not behind this, the unicorn now felt nothing but worry in the coming days for Equestria.
Although he did not serve in the Pony-Griffon War, as he was already Captain of the Guard by that point and Cadence had pulled every string she could to keep him away from the frontlines, Shining was still the commanding officer that granted Buddy the approval to use his forbidden spells against the griffons, which of course… Led to where they are now with Buddy being recognized as their most hated enemy.
But with him now crippled and unable to use anything more than a simple telekinetic spell…
“I’m… I’m gunna go and visit Buddy,” said Shining as he turned around to open the door of the general's office.
“You shouldn’t underestimate Buddy too much, your highness,” began General Armstrong with a hint of pride in him, causing the prince to stop midway from stepping out. "If worse comes to worst, Buddy only needs to cast ONE spell. One spell, and we’ll have an army of Alicorns,” he grinned.
Turning back to look at General Armstrong one last time, Shining stared at him for a few seconds before deciding against commenting on what he said, choosing to leave instead as he mulled over his words.
An army of Alicorns… But ‘A Knight In Shining Armor’ doesn’t turn targets into Alicorns… Not necessarily…
Sure, it enhances a pony’s capabilities to have Alicorn-like traits but…
Shining didn’t like how the general worded that, not one bit…
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Just to let you know, the new chapter is good.
Can't wait for Buddy's chapter!
Mostly the puns.
Btw, I like your original characters' creative personalities, they're really likeable.
Keep up the good work!
9671104
Hey there! I'm really glad that you liked the chapter and and my OCs' personalities, I was rather worried that the new characters introduced in this chapter might be seen as bland but it seems like I did an okay job :P
Buddy's POV will start in the next chapter, and although he won't drop puns immediately, expect him to drop a mean one later on in the chapter ;P
9700573
Hey there! And thank you for the kind words! :3
All of your questions will be answered somewhere along the way as the story progresses, it's going to be a biiiit of a slow burn for anything too 'major' to appear but I can assure you that it'll pan out one day or another.