• Published 23rd Jul 2019
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The Ghost of Coltistrano - EthanClark



There are stories children are told of a figure in black, emerging from the darkness to strike at those who threaten the goodness of the world. This creature is the Ghost, but for young Silver Spade, it's his last hope for vengeance beyond the grave.

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Chapter 13: “Morality does not staunch wounds”

Hooves clapped against the fluffy, powdery form of clouds as a smoaky grey pegasus struck them with mighty blows. He darted through the sky, piercing every cloud within sight, until warm beams of sunlight stretched down to the city below, unhindered. It was a beautiful day in Canterlot. Shops and vendors were packed with ponies and tourists all taking advantage of the sales for the Grand Galloping Gala. The streets themselves were lined with ponies, and even into the palace grounds itself. Servants and cleaning staff were doubled up, the extra ranks needed to ensure the castle was spotless and festivities grand. The garden was given extra special attention as florists and groundskeepers trimmed the beds with delicate care. In one of the gazebos, at a small table adorned with tea cups, sat two ponies.

“Out of your entire department, how many ponies would you say you supervise?”

“Nearly forty, who supervise another eight-hundred.”

“Impressive, and what of them? Do you have an outline of command?”

“It has been provided with all my other documentation.”

“Oh, wonderful. Next question: where did you get such a tasteful cravat?”

Shield Wall winced slightly at the question. He had been sitting in the royal gardens for nearly two hours, enduring a constant stream of questions from Rarity, not all of which had to do with his department or the armed forces. Instead, Rarity found room in her questionnaire to critique his personal attire. He could feel his composure slipping like butter on ice.

“It was a gift,” he said, forcing the same weary smile he had all day.

“Well, it’s lovely, sir. Truly brings out your eyes.” Rarity turned her attention to the parchment before her, scribbling notes upon it as Shield looked on.

“Thank you, madam,” Shield said through gritted teeth. “Though I must say, I am not the least bit surprised a unicorn like yourself has such taste.”

“Flatterer,” Rarity said with a giggle. “Though you should be careful with such compliments, sir. I hear you are rather close to Countess Glow, is that right?”

“The countess experienced tragedy, madam. I hardly think you, of all ponies, would fault me for being a friend.”

“Oh, of course not. I read the story years ago. Dreadful, truly. Now,” Rarity leaned forward across the table. “Tell me what, exactly, you do for the EUP Guard.”

“Well, that is a big question,” Shield began, straightening himself. “As one of four vice generals, I am responsible for advising the warmaster on all things regarding military engagement to recruitment numbers. I, specifically, work with the magistrate office with matters of internal affairs.”

“Very much like what you’re experiencing now?”

“Yes,” Shield winced. “I suppose so, but I am held to a very high standard of rectitude. My efforts are usually directed towards the lower ranks and smart-mouthed recruits.” Shield hovered his tea cup to his mouth.

“Do you enjoy it?”

The liquid caught in Shield’s throat in response to the question. He tensed, quelling all bodily reactions as he painfully drank the tea down. The cup gently landed on its saucer as Shield spoke.

“Pardon?”

“Do you enjoy it?” Rarity repeated, a subtle shift in her expression. “Your work, I mean. Protecting Equestria is such an important job, you simply must derive some satisfaction from it.”

“My service is payment enough, madam,” he said, projecting the most genuine smile he was capable of.

“Of course,” she hummed. Her quill scratched against the parchment, seemingly of its own accord. Try as he might, Shield Wall was unable to make out the writing from the other side.

“If that is all, Miss Rarity, I do have other responsibilities. Hard to have a good review if I miss my duties.” Shield Wall tried to laugh at the statement, but his patience was draining.

“Oh, of course, silly me,” Rarity said through a chuckle. “Nopony more than I knows the importance of punctuality. Are you off to meet your friend, Magistrate Gavel?”

“I… would hardly call us friends,” Shield said. “We work together, yes, as I oversee the disciplinary measures of soldiers, but we are more respected colleagues.”

“Oh, forgive me, the way you rushed to him during the princesses’ meeting must’ve given me the wrong impression.” Rarity scribbled again.

“There was much to do that day,” Shield Wall explained. “The meeting had already interrupted our morning routines. You understand.”

“Of course,” Rarity hummed again. Her quill continued to write, the sound of which dug into Shield Wall’s brain. His jaw clenched as he stood from the table and extended a hoof to Rarity, grasping it as she stood.

“I will be sure to send any other inquiries to your office,” Rarity stated, a self-satisfied grin upon her face.

“I eagerly await.” Shield gave one last half-hearted smile before turning away. His pace was swift, trying to keep some level of dignity as he passed over the threshold between the gardens and the castle proper. Once inside, and away from Rarity, a familiar pounding grew in his mind.

There was a tightness. His brain was throbbing with an almost masochistic force, fueled by the cascade of dark thoughts that filled it. Shield’s mind wandered back to Silver Spade, the only other pony he had ever held such enmity toward, and how he could remove Rarity in a similar way. The memory of the Compassion came to him, along with the crack of the rope and the sickening tear of flesh. A grin filled Shield’s face.

His trance broke at the familiar sight of an unguarded door. Shield took a breath, a deep one, to help summon what amount of calm he could before pushing the door open, revealing the sight of ponies gathered around the table. As Shield walked to the front of the table, though, he noticed two very odd things. One: across from Midnight Gavel was Serenade, adorned in bruises and cuts, and two: the silence was deafening. Shield Wall huffed before taking his seat.

“Chatty today.” Shield stated.

“Quite.” Midnight rose from his seat, looking out over the table. “The nobility present would like to make a collective statement. Their missive came this morning and-”

“Why was I not informed?” Shield interrupted, pulling his eyes from Serenade’s beaten shape.

“You were indisposed.”

Shield Wall’s breath hitched at Midnight’s words. He kept his eyes forward, giving a long sigh before he scanned the crowd. Those who were military sat firmly in their seats, unphased by their fellow conspirators’ nervous squirming. They were ponies Shield knew would follow him. The rest, however, avoided his gaze as it passed over them. Only one locked eyes with him. The bespectacled pony stood from his seat, never once averting his eyes.

“The time has come we discussed this game, Mr. Wall.” Fancy Pants spoke with a loud, firm tone. “It has been four years since you proposed your plans for Griffonstone, and in that time you have accomplished barely a fraction of what you promised these ponies. Secure borders, political reform, and, most egregiously, your twisted model of peace and unity throughout Equestria. How much longer do you plan to keep this table waiting?”

“As long as it takes,” Shield snapped. “You have been given recruitment and spending reports as you requested. Do not expect sweeping change to happen overnight.”

“We expect results, Mr. Wall, not to watch you burn through our money on frivolous endeavors.”

“Don’t make such claims, Pants,” Vice General Stratos yelled. “Victory in the political theater is half the battle in war, you can’t rush it.”

“Rush it?” Pants scoffed at her words. “Madam, the princesses secured that ‘theater’ only a few days ago, with nothing but words.”

“This allows us greater opportunity to move our influence,” Stratos spat back. “Even if we aren’t public, the government still agrees with us. We need greater security.”

“To do so is treason!” The ponies surrounding Pants shouted their approval.

“It isn’t treason to fight for your nation’s safety, by any means necessary!” The soldiers let out a bellowing ‘oorah’.

“If we have such resources then we must share them with the princesses,” Pants shouted over the raucous. “Surely, they will find a suitable use for us that is both effective and legal.”

“The princesses are tied by those same laws, you dolt,” Stratos shot back. “Even Princess Luna, who has the stones to make the hard choices, is still held to that standard. Change comes faster if we work outside of the law.”

“The princesses will have us hanged. We need their wisdom.”

“We can’t stain the princesses image with our actions. What we’re doing is selfless.”

“It’s treason!”

“It’s justice!”

QUIET!”

The room shook at Shield Wall’s bellowing yell. Everypony whipped their heads around to see the seething unicorn at the head of the table. Midnight reached a hoof out to his shoulder, but it was forcefully swatted away as the pounding grew in Shield Wall’s head.

“I am exhausted hearing how the princesses want Equestria to be governed! Look at the state of our nation! Our national security is entrusted to a rag-tag group of hooligans with magical jewelry, lead by some nopony who was made a princess on a whim!”

Fancy Pants raised his hoof to speak before another furious glare from Shield Wall scared him back to silence.

“We need order. We need control. What we do not need is some senile old bat with absolute power traipsing about Equestria, putting power into the hooves of ingrates who don’t deserve it! It is wrong. She is wrong!”

Not even the breeze outside could be heard in the quiet. Ponies sat with their mouths agape at Shield Wall’s fervent declaration, with tears forming in the eyes of some. Stratos strained to keep her composure at her colleagues words and stared at the table. Fancy Pants, however, stood firm in his place at the table.

“You lack faith, sir,” Fancy stated.

“And you lack a spine.” Shield said with words of venom.

“Our faith in the rule of the Two Sisters has never lead us astray. Don’t forget it was that ‘nopony’ who defeated Tirek and saved Eque-”

“The country was conquered completely before she even knew what to do!” Shield spat back at Fancy, with Midnight uselessly gesturing to keep his friend calm. “There were multiple instances, in broad daylight, when Tirek attacked that would have been stopped by a tighter security force. But because Celestia lacks vision, we are left vulnerable.”

“How dare you, sir! To speak ill of Princess Celestia is not only disrespectful but simply un-Equestrian.”

“And you think clinging to some thousand year old relic out of convenience will keep you safe?”

“It will keep my spirit clean, unlike the filth I find myself in whenever I am forced through those doors by your threats and blackmail.”

The room glared at Shield Wall. He grinded his teeth, his lips twitching into the shape of a snarl as he rose from his chair. Fancy Pant’s expression changed from stalwart to sunken as the vice general stood to his full height, a cold, slow tone drifting from Shield Wall’s voice as he spoke.

“I have been fighting this fight since before you even earned that ridiculous monocle. Everything you see before you: the money, the influence, the power, all of it has been built up because of what I have done. Do not criticize me with your morality. Morality does not staunch wounds.”

Shield shifted his attention from Fancy Pants, now trembling in his seat, to the rest of the nobles gathered at the table.

“Would you rather suffer crisis after crisis, year after year, for the sake of morality? Or would you rather do what must be done for the sake of our safety?”

The nobles shifted in place, darting their eyes between each other as if looking for an answer. Fancy sat stiff in his seat. Stratos, however, turned to her subordinates, who all shot her looks of concern and worry. She looked to the other nobles at the table. Each and every one of them, she noticed, had lost the look of determination and purpose they shared years ago when the plan was first formed. Now, they all simply looked afraid. All, that is, except Shield Wall. He stood at the head of the table, aggressively staring down his muzzle at the collective group.

“What is this about, Shield Wall?” Stratos asked, calmly.

“Service and protection for Equestr-”

“No,” she interrupted, now staring at the fellow vice general. “What’s in it for you?”

“Is it not enough that I wish to see my nation safe? Do I also need to have some grand scheme in place?”

“This table is proof of that,” Stratos stated, gesturing to the nobles. “I won’t fault you for undesirable tactics. That’s war, but Pants has a point. We’ve been supporting you and your mission for years now, and we are no closer to war with Griffonstone than we were back then. Now you tell us the problem isn’t with our borders, its with our leadership. The leadership, the same we’ve had for over a thousand years. They question your effectiveness, but I question your loyalty.”

“Are you backing out?” Shield almost whispered, glaring straight into Stratos’ face.

“I want to guide Equestria to a safer future and to get justice for our troops, just like I told Countess Glow I would. I don’t want to force a regime upon the ponies I’m sworn to protect, especially not against the princesses I serve.”

She stood from the table, her subordinates in tow. Together, they marched in formation toward the door as Stratos placed a hoof upon it. She turned back to the crowd behind her.

“I won’t tell anypony about this, for your safety, but I won’t be yanked around any longer by somepony who doesn’t value the things that make us Equestrian.”

“Need I remind you,” Midnight piped up before Stratos pushed the door open, “of the sizeable amounts of money you send to your mistress every month?”

Stratos froze. Her subordinates all turned to the chief magistrate wearing shocked expressions. Stratos turned and stared Gavel down.

“What did you say?” Her brow tensed at the words.

“I’m sure your family, your husband especially, would love to hear about all the ways you two have fun. It must be lovely to have somepony for both home and the road.”

“You snooping, ungrateful, little bug!”

“Careful, vice general,” Shield said. “Mr. Gavel is simply doing as I instructed. That is, digging up the dirty secrets of everypony at this table. Walk away and I will tell everypony who will listen all about the compromising positions you find yourself in with your mistress.”

“You bluff,” said another, a tall earth pony in a top hat beside Fancy Pants. “To truly breach the privacy of everypony here is a massive undertaking, yet you act as if you know everything about us.”

“And you act as if you had not renounced your son,” Midnight shot back. “Lemon Twist, was it? Or did you have him change his name, as well.”

The earth pony brought a hoof to his mouth. All around the table ponies squirmed under the invisible pressure the head conspirators had placed upon them.

“Make no mistake,” Shield Wall began. “Each one of you has something damaging to hide. Pull your support now and I will release this wealth of knowledge to every newspaper of every town across all Equestria. If you will not fear for your nation, then you will fear for your reputation.”

“Buck my reputation!” Stratos shouted from the other end of the table. This threw Shield Wall off guard as he snapped his attention to her. She stood tall, wings flaring a bit, her jaw firm.

“I don’t give a diamond dog’s ass whether you tell the world or not. Everything I’ve heard today tells me your main goal has never been about protecting Equestria, it’s about seizing power and being a bully. Well, I’m not going to play any part in your madness. If you tattle on us, then we tattle on you, and this whole little extortion racket goes down in flames, Wall, with you as the kindling.”

A low rumble of voices began to swell into a full-on verbal assault. From around the table, nobles and other ponies began hurling their own declarations and insults at Shield Wall. They laughed, cursed, and hollered as a single mob before turning toward Stratos and following her out of the door. Fancy Pants shot a final, smug grin at Shield before slamming the door shut. The room was now empty, save the three ponies. Gavel sat in shock at the display, looking back and forth between his co-conspirators. Shield Wall, however, slowly returned to his seat.

“Serenade,” he said, coolly. “I trust there is a reason you are here in such a sorry state.”

Serenade shook from his surprise and sat forward to meet his employer. He cleared his throat, bringing on a painful cough before he was able to speak.

“Yes, there has been something of an… issue back in Coltistrano.”

“Is it the kind that can be dragged through town and beaten to death?” Shield Wall held his cold, vacant expression.

“W-Well, yes, I suppose it is, but… I, uh, we were run out of town. A pony came in the night and ransacked the governor’s mansion there. The recruits did what they-”

A field of magic clamped down around Serenade’s muzzle. In an instant Shield Wall’s face pressed against Serenade’s, his cold expression replaced with nothing but vexation.

“Forgive me,” Shield said, squeezing the magic harder. “I must have misheard you. Did you say a single pony? As in just one?!”

A string of muffled words tried to escape Serenade’s compressed mouth, a blush forming from lack of air. Finally, Shield released his magic as Serenade fell to the ground, coughing from the sudden rush of air.

“Yes, yes it was just one,” Serenade coughed a final time and stood. “He came for me, to root me out and destroy our operation. But you should have seen him. He was graceful, powerful, I have never seen such a fighter in my life.”

“Was he a guard?” Shield asked, tensing his brow.

“No, of course not. They did not train us like that, even in the 22nd.”

“Perhaps an agent from the Crystal Empire?” Midnight suggested. “Our push into the north has met resistance. It’s possible Princess Cadence has finally noticed.”

“Crystal Empire scout parties are three ponies, minimum,” Shield replied. “Did he say anything? Anything about his motivations or mission?”

“Well, I had tried to make a deal with him… to distract him, of course! When I did, though, all he asked was for his father back?”

“And did you kill his father?” Midnight groaned, his face sinking into his hooves.

“To be fair, Mr. Gavel, I have killed many fathers, and this is not the first son to seek vengeance,” Serenade snickered at the thought. “But none, not one, had been so effective as to eliminate a dozen of my henchponies and raid my home in a single night. All while wearing a mask, no less.”

Shield’s eyes shot open at this. The pounding in his head stopped, leaving only a slight tingle in his chest, fluttering throughout his limbs. He didn’t turn to Serenade but locked eyes with Gavel.

“Did he…” Shield Wall paused for breath. “Did he wear a cape?”

“Pardon?” Serenade shot Shield Wall an incredulous look, who spun to face him.

“A cape, you buffoon! A mask, billowing cloak, slipping in and out of the night like a…” Shield Wall paused, simply mouthing the next word to himself.

“Nothing of the sort,” Serenade returned, hesitantly. “Sweet Celestia, who would even be caught dead wearing such a gaudy ensemble. He wore cloth over his face and covered his cutie mark, nothing more.”

Midnight kept his eyes on his friend, straining for any sign of instability. He knew exactly what Shield Wall was thinking. Midnight stood and walked to the others and placed a hoof on Shield’s shoulder.

“This has been a less-than ideal day, for all of us,” he said, keeping his eyes on Shield. “What we should do is regroup and formulate a plan for how best to proceed. Our sudden lack of support will make things difficult moving forward.”

“I cannot return to Coltistrano,” Serenade stated. “Now that I’ve been run out, the ponies there will be united again. Where are my agents, Mr. Wall? I sent them to you days ago.”

“They are here,” he replied, coming out of his trance, “and they will remain here until I am done with them.”

“What could you possibly need them for now?” Midnight stepped in front of Shield, next to Serenade. “The support is gone and the gala in two days. We hardly have the time to run any sort of operation.”

“They will serve the same function I had when I ordered them: to maintain our support.” Serenade and Gavel looked between each other, then back to Shield.

“Shield, in case you were not present for today’s meeting, our support has already left.”

Shield Wall pushed through the two ponies and marched to the door. With a bright flash of magic they flew open, smacking against the walls and leaving small dents from the impact.

“If they will not fear for their reputation, they will fear me.”

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