Breakfast at Celestia's

by Voss-Corsair

Chapter Five

The whole city was on alert. Trains and motor vehicles had been halted and searched and every available soldier and Royal Guard joined the search. The mid-morning crowds of civilians made the effort all the more difficult.

Voss's own search was frustrated several times by guards stopping who they thought to be the impostor. Regardless, he kept at the search with Sergeant Henri Surcouf putting his intimate knowledge of the beautiful city to good use. He was Aquileian born, but had moved to Canterlot with his family when the First Republic fell.

They spent over an hour searching , so Voss considered visiting the Royal Guard headquarters to see how they coordinated this massive search effort at a strategic level.

“Down this alley, sir! I spotted movement!” the Sergeant called out before his superior could make up his mind,

They rounded a corner and found a unicorn mare.

Voss and Surcouf trained their weapons on her.

“Drop the disguise!” they yelled at her, “Do it now!”

“I can't do that.” she spoke calmly,

“Come on! Give it up!” demanded Voss as he clicked the fire selector to full auto,

“Do you know why I can't do that?”

“What do you mean?” snapped Henri,

“I'm not a Changeling.”

Voss and Henri looked at each other in bewilderment.

“I am a unicorn. A collaborator with the new order that is soon to reshape Equus.”

“Down on the ground, traitor!” Voss shouted before he suddenly felt his pistol twist free of his grip,

Henri too felt the tug of magic disarm him. Now the guns were trained on their owners.

“Step into that backdoor over there.”

They slowly walked forwards.

“Stop stalling!” she snarled, “Or I'll shoot your tail off!”

The sun itself suddenly rose in the cloudless sky to blind the collaborator. Bookish winced and glanced up at the silhouette of an alicorn. A second later, the captured pistols were wrenched from her magic grasp and exploded as a flash of heat-based magic struck them. The melted metal frames and cinders from the combusted wooden stock fell to the ground.

After a moment of dumbstruck hesitation, Voss and Henri tackled Bookish. The Royal Guards swept in to cuff her. A moment later, Celestia gracefully touched down. Without looking, she nudged the sun back to its correct position and caused the shadows to shift in compliance.

The two griffons stood with their beaks open in amazement.

“The princesses really do raise the moon and sun.” stammered Voss, “I-I thought it was figurative rather than literal.”

“Well now you know.” Celestia giggled,

“Oh, and uh more importantly, thank you for saving our tails.” Henri quickly blurted out, “Not that raising the sun is unimportant of course.”

“You're very welcome my dear friends.” Celestia smiled warmly, “Now let's get everyone back to the castle for a well earned lunch – right after I order an investigation into this terrible security breach!”

Her wartime stress subsided and she took a deep breath.

“But what about the Changeling that escaped? He took a lot of classified documentation with him, including Equestrian logistical theories and reports.”

“Don't worry about that for now, Voss. It's not your fault.”

“But-”

“My subjects have some more subtle ways of finding Changeling spies, so the search isn't over yet.”

Celestia motioned for them to walk with her.

“Oh, and Voss?” she stared into his eyes, “Consider your melted pistol as a warning not to pack undeclared firepower again or I will have you sent back to Griffonia. I know you want to defend yourself against Changeling infiltrators, but do you see how easily that gun could have been turned on everyone?”

“I understand and I-”

“That's enough.” she raised a hoof, “Let's take a break from this mess, shall we?”

Comments

[Godiswithus3]

“Oh, and Voss?” she stared into his eyes, “Consider your melted pistol as a warning not to pack undeclared firepower again or I will have you sent back to Griffonia.

*Raises hands up.* Yes madam.