Chapter 10 - Calm Before the...
Arc and his companions head for the Crystal Castle’s Audience Chamber with Arc himself in the lead. Coming to the Audience Chamber he pushes them both roughly open causing the heavy doors to hit the walls on either side with a fair amount of force. Cadance and Shining Armor appear surprised at his demeanor as they hurry over to him.
“Arc! How did it go?!”
“Not the greatest.”
Hammer holds up the blueprints soberly. “We did get these.”
Auriel nods as she offers them the notes. “And the papers to go with them.”
Rainbow Dash grins. “The ship won’t be flying anywhere without major repairs either.”
Scootaloo nods. “And I did my part to direct Decimus on the path Big Brother wanted him on.”
Shining Armor appears relieved. “It sounds to me like your mission was largely successful, Arc. Tell me, how are the Hammer’s doing?”
Arc clenches a fist. “They’re at the hospital in critical condition.”
Cadance gasps. “WHAT?!”
Shining Armor grits his teeth. “Did something go wrong during the rescue?!”
Arc shakes his head. “No. I found them both in that state. Decimus must’ve ordered them tortured.”
Cadance shudders. “How much…?”
“Broken ribs, broken sternums, a broken back and possible paralysis.”
Cadance sits down on her haunches and puts a hoof to her forehead in an attempt to compose herself.
“This is… just so hard to believe, Arc. How could Decimus…? Are you absolutely certain of this?”
Arc nods soberly. “They were strapped into a torture device when I found them. It was the kind that broke their bones by pressing their bodies into each other. That thing forced them to hurt one another against their wills.”
Shining Armor turns to the princes. “This is monstrous, Cadance! We have to do something!”
“Yes, I agree.”
Arc folds his arms over his chest as he speaks. “Any ideas? Well, other than me going back over there and putting Decimus in that machine.”
Cadance sighs. “While he certainly deserves it, I don’t think it would solve anything.”
Rarity grimaces. “Right. He’d just come back.”
Scootaloo sighs. “Somehow.”
Fluttershy shudders. “Any clues on how he does that?”
Cadance shakes her head. “None, I’m afraid. And until we know, killing him is not going to help anypony. But we currently have larger problems.”
Applejack frowns. “What could be bigger than Decimus torturing innocent ponies?!”
Shining Armor sighs. “This.”
He walks over to Arc with a scroll. Taking it, Arc quickly reads it as he seethes.
“Decimus wants WHAT?!”
Pinkie appears hopeful. “Good news?!”
Cadance frowns. “Not in the least. He assumed The Equinox was flying here to the empire, and has ordered us to return it to Canterlot at once.”
Rarity raises an eyebrow. “For how long?”
Shining Armor grits his teeth. “Until further notice.”
Arc crumples up the scroll and tosses it aside. “He’s not getting my ship!”
Hammer clenches a fist. “Right! We don’t need some power hungry freak like him gaining air superiority!”
Rainbow Dash looks to Cadance. “You don’t actually have to listen to him, do you princess?”
Cadance shakes her head. “Legally, no. However, The Equinox is still owned by Equestria. Not me or Arc personally.”
Fluttershy appears nervous. “You don’t suppose he’d send somepony here to try and take it, do you?”
“No. That would be an act of war. As long as the ship is in the Crystal Empire’s airspace, that is.”
Shining Armor bows his head. “However the next time it crosses over into Equestrian airspace he could try to seize it.”
Rainbow Dash grimaces. “Decimus probably would too!”
Auriel turns to Arc. “You wouldn’t let him do that though.”
“Right! He’d have to take it over my dead body!”
Rose turns to Arc, confused. “I didn’t know you were so possessive of that ship.”
“Truthfully I’m not. But I know he wouldn’t do anything good with it.”
Scootaloo nods with conviction. “That we can all agree on.”
A guard enters the room and hurries over to the throne. Cadance frowns.
“I gave strict orders that we were not to be disturbed while in conference!”
The guard bows nervously. “Yes, your highness. Please forgive me, but a missive just arrived for you.”
Shining Armor steps forward and takes it. The guard rises and hurries out of the room. Giving the scroll to Cadance, she opens it and begins to read. As she does so the blood drains from her face. Pinkie grins.
“Now I know THAT’S good news!”
Arc raises an eyebrow. “More threats from Decimus?”
Cadance shakes her head. “No. This one is from Aunt Celestia herself.”
Sereb growls. “What does she want?”
“The return of The Equinox to act as her personal flagship and compensation for the damaged ship along with the Hanger.”
Shining Armor looks to Arc. “How much damage did you DO?!”
“Enough to allow us to escape with the Hammers.”
Auriel sighs. “He means a lot.”
Scootaloo grins. “We could have done more.”
Cadance nods soberly. “I assume it was justified?”
Arc clenches a fist. “Oh yes. But don’t worry. Like Scootaloo said, next time they’ll be a LOT more carnage! And you can tell Celestia that!”
“She’s also ordering the return of the command crew as well as the blueprints that were taken.”
Hammer scoffs. “And if we don’t comply?”
Cadance looks up. “That’s what has me worried. The last line of the letter says that she’s prepared to take ‘drastic action’.”
Rose raises an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
Sereb bares his teeth. “That she’ll do whatever it takes to get what she wants.”
Shining Armor shrugs. “Which admittedly isn’t much. Unless she’s willing to make an international incident of this.”
Scootaloo frowns. “She might though.”
Cadance bows her head sadly as she rolls up the scroll. “That’s very unlikely.”
Hammer frowns as she turns to the princess. “I don’t get it. How would it be an international incident if your two lands are all part of Equestria?”
“The Crystal Empire is technically its own country. However, Equestria annexed it after the defeat of King Sombra.”
Shining Armor nods. “Well, somepony had to be in charge. After the king was destroyed, there was chaos in the streets. The Equestrian military had to come here to restore order.”
Cadance sighs. “I was sent here as well to act as a temporary governor while the matter was sorted out. Surprisingly enough the citizens liked me so much that they overwhelmingly requested that my position become permanent.”
Shining Armor looks to Hammer. “They also willingly became part of Equestria, but kept their sovereignty.”
“How does that work?!”
Rarity puts a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “It must, as I’ve never heard of there being a problem until now.”
Applejack groans. “Well, that leaves the matter of what the hay to do kinda up in the air, doesn’t it?”
Cadance nods sadly. “Very much so, yes.”
Shining Armor looks to the princess. “So what should we do, Cadance?”
“I believe I shall write a letter back apologizing for the misunderstanding and politely decline Aunt Celestia’s request.”
Hammer frowns. “That doesn’t sound like much.”
Arc sighs. “It really isn’t. But the only other option at this point would be open hostilities.”
Auriel holds up the papers. “What about these blueprints and notes?”
Rose nods. “We can’t give them back!”
“I will say in my letter that I did not have anything to do with their disappearance. After all, I cannot return what I don’t have.”
Scootaloo giggles. “Gotta love loopholes!”
Applejack narrows her eyes. “That isn’t true though.”
Rainbow Dash grins. “Yes it is.”
Pinkie grins widely. “Right! Rose and Auriel have them!”
Auriel appears confused. “I don’t get it.”
Sereb turns to her. “It is so she can still be technically honest with Princess Celestia regarding the blueprints and notes.”
Applejack sighs. “That still sounds like a bad idea to me. I mean, what if somepony comes here for them?!”
Arc looks to Applejack. “Let me put it to you this way. If we give them up now Decimus will just use them to repair the airship and hurt others.”
“Yes, well… I’ll defer to you on this, Arc.”
“Thanks. But the contents of that outgoing scroll are totally up to Cadance.”
Pinkie raises a hoof. “Oh! She could say ‘having a wonderful time and wish you were here’!”
Rainbow Dash clops her front hooves together angrily. “So do I! After all, it would give me a chance to teach her a lesson!”
Hammer grins at the pegasus. “I’m with you, blue!”
Arc raises an eyebrow. “You two are getting along better.”
Hammer chuckles. “We came to an agreement.”
Rainbow Dash nods. “Yeah!”
“I suppose that’s good. But I do want to know one thing, Cadance.”
“Oh?”
“Just how far do you think Celestia will go?”
“You mean will she take action against the empire?”
“Yes.”
Cadance sighs. “I would hope not. After all, both our nations are similar in terms of military strength.”
Shining Armor nods soberly. “At best we would come to a stalemate.”
Fluttershy looks to the princess nervously. “And at the worst?”
“We would fight to resource exhaustion.”
Rainbow Dash frowns. “Um… not liking that second theory.”
Shining Armor shrugs. “I don’t believe she would go that far. After all, with both of our lands weakened it would be a paltry task for one of the surrounding nations to march in and take whatever they wanted.”
Cadance appears hopeful. “Aunt Celestia knows this, of course. So it would be unlikely things would get to that point.”
Arc clenches a fist. “Well, I don’t just want to sit around doing nothing!”
“I’m with Big Brother on this one!”
Sereb nods. “Indeed. We must be proactive.”
Hammer grins. “Could we beef up the land’s defenses?”
Pinkie appears confused. “Beef?”
Rarity rolls her eyes. “I believe that’s cow meat.”
Applejack sticks out her tongue. “Yuck!”
Hammer chuckles. “Don’t knock it till you tried it.”
Cadance clears her throat before continuing. “I’ve already put the military on high alert. We’re ready to defend the realm if the time comes.”
Shining Armor frowns. “That may send the wrong message, Cadance.”
“I understand that. However the safety of the citizens must come first.”
Arc nods. “Agreed. Now then, is there anything we can do to help at the moment?”
Cadance shakes her head. “Not really. I suggest we wait for more information from Equestria while you rest, Arc.”
“Me?”
Pinkie giggles. “Yes you, silly!”
Fluttershy smiles shyly. “It’s not like you have much time for things like that, Arc.”
Applejack chuckles. “Right. Gotta rest when you can.”
Rainbow Dash grins. “Yeah!”
Rarity looks up to Arc. “Might I offer a suggestion?”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Don’t you worry about a thing, Arc. I’ll handle everything with my friends here.”
Auriel sounds worried. “Not sure I like the sound of that.”
Sereb sighs. “They can be trusted, little one.”
Hammer raises a hand. “I’ll help too if you want.”
Rainbow Dash turns to the young woman. “We wouldn’t dream of leaving you out of this, cupcake!”
“Thanks.”
Arc frowns. “Um… admittedly I’m getting a little nervous about this too.”
“How about some time to rest then, Arc?”
“Well…”
“Shining Armor, escort Arc to our most lavish suite.”
“Right away.”
He turns to Arc.
“Follow me.”
Arc shakes his head. “While I do appreciate the thought, I’d rather go back to the hospital and see if there’s been any change to the Hammer’s condition.”
Rose turns to him. “If it would help, I could do that.”
Scootaloo raises a hoof. “Or me.”
Sereb turns to Arc. “Platinum Valve would most likely enjoy the company of another filly around her age.”
Arc sighs. “I suppose she would, but…”
Cherry calls out to him. “Remember, she can notify you telepathically if there’s anything you need to know, Arc.”
“That’s true. However…”
Rarity interrupts him. “Please, just trust us. We won’t let you down.”
She bats her eyes seductively as Arc sighs.
“Fine. Just let me take Scootaloo back to the hospital and speak to the doctor first. Then I’ll come back and rest.”
Sereb motions to his saddle. “I will take both of you there.”
“But I can walk.”
Cadance narrows her eyes. “Just take the ride, Arc.”
“Um… okay. Let’s go.”
Arc, Sereb, Rose, and Scootaloo leave the Audience Chamber together as everyone looks to Rarity. Applejack is the first to speak.
“So what ARE you planning?”
Pinkie grins. “I bet it’s a PARTY!”
Rarity giggles. “You’re actually pretty close, Pinkie.”
Rainbow Dash raises an eyebrow. “She is?”
Rarity nods. “Yes. But it’s not going to be a party like Pinkie’s used to throwing though. This one will be a very… exclusive one.”
Cadance cracks a smile. “I do believe I understand what you’re planning, Rarity. Please understand that you have my blessing and full support.”
Fluttershy appears confused. “To do what?”
Hammer scratches her head. “Yeah, I’m a bit confused on this one too.”
Rarity giggles as she looks around and smiles.
“We’re going to organize a very special time for Arc.”
Cadance smiles. “Good. Somepony needs to keep an eye on him.”
Pinkie straightens up and salutes. “Want me to tail him?!”
Shining Armor chuckles. “I think what Cadance means is that somepony needs to make sure Arc doesn’t burn himself out.
Rarity sighs. “Yes. He’s… not very good about doing that himself.”
Hammer raises an eyebrow. “Is it really that bad?”
Applejack nods. “Yeah. When he worked on the farm with my family he would often go without breaks to get the job done. Now I’m all for hard work, but that was a bit much.”
Pinkie frowns. “Especially since he was still hurt!”
Fluttershy bows her head. “It was a hard thing to watch.”
Rainbow Dash groans. “He never slows down! And while that is REALLY hot, I also know it isn’t healthy. I mean, look at me. Master flier AND nap taker!”
Cadance nods as she steps toward the doors. “Well, in any case… I leave this matter to all of you. Let’s continue the royal duties, Shining Armor.”
“Very well, Cadance.”
The pair leave the room together as everyone turns to Rarity. She smiles and motions for them to come closer as she explains her plan.
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mischief's girls
Ah, harem shenanigans
Tell celestia that if she cant just be saddened by the loss of the ship to everyone instead of getting it back, she doesnt deserve to have such expensive toys, especially when somone then abuses her trust by using them to enforce action on others.
11137271
Maybe tell her to come for peace talks which would hopefully get some sense into her head. She so busy holding what is probably a petty grudge and as he explained to twilight humans like ponies aren't perfect and we have our bad eggs just like them that she is refusing to listen to those who she should trust the most. The ones who would be there for her through thick and thin.
11136902
Well he does need some time after what happened on that previous mission.
11137069
The wife loves such things.
11137488
I think you'll like the ride. That and you came at the right time, as I was able to remaster the first two volumes. Sadly they were pretty rough as I'd never written anything before.