Phoenix Squad

by Cake Sparkle

Pride Without Prejudice

The casket was slowly being lowered into the grave as Daffodilly continued to sob into Cake's mane, the mare wasn't there for her team when they needed her and now they would have to bury another one of its members. Cake's headache combined with her feeling of guilt made her oblivious to the amount of moisture and mucus over her neck. A sight the press seemed to love almost as much as they did seeing Daybreaker attend the first and last military funeral of the Griffonia - Equestria war. Through it all, however, Yellow Diamond stood tall and brave as the grave digger began to shovel dirt on top of the wooden casket. She seemed to have been staring more at the sky than the grave, unlike every other pony present at the small gathering.

Daybreaker was the first to leave, nodding to Cake to signal that she wished to speak to her afterwards and giving the go ahead to nearby guards to make sure the reporters watching from behind the steel gate of the military graveyard would not be able to publish any of the photos they had taken. Even though the skies were clear that day, by order of the empress, Cake still felt that it was raining in a way, and that she had not truly seen the sun since she had awoken in her hospital bed earlier that week.

Daffodilly was the first to speak. “Let's just go, I don't want to be here any longer.”

Yellow Diamond nodded and took flight back into the palace while the two unicorns walked unenthusiastically behind her. Inside Daybreaker had already taken her place on the throne, while three others stood below her at attention, their eyes pointing forward but somehow looking directly at Cake. The first was a changeling wearing one of the newly designed Solar Invicta officer uniforms, with bright red highlights on a white robe with an orange steel helmet. The sight made Cake sick to her stomach, she instinctively reached for a spear she could not find and opted to pretend she was scratching her side. The second was a kirin, with a grey mane and brown coat, wearing nothing but a bright talisman around her neck in the shape of a small sun. Yellow knew immediately who the kirin was, remembering how the Griffonian Empire directly referred to her as a monster at one of the many peace talks Daybreaker had brought her to attend. The last was a modest earth pony stallion, wearing a full set of the orange steel royal guard armor, complete with a magically enhanced spear on his left side and a prototype magical rifle on his right which she could not identify.

Cake took a few steps forward and bowed to the empress before raising her head to hear what she had to say. “Sadly, Equestria’s finest little Octopus Squad has lost its leader to that whore, Mi Amore, and all I am left with to replace her is an arrogant little unicorn, a basket weaver, and a dog too loyal to its master to give commands... I am going to be promoting you, Cake, to lead it. As it seems I always should have done, instead of promoting a traitor. I trust that even despite your recent injuries you will be more than capable.” Daybreaker idly wrote Cake’s signature on a piece of paper before setting it ablaze. “And that hideous name, Octopus, we will need to change that. I'm sure you can understand why you will be hereby referred to as Phoenix Squad from now on.”

The promotion had indeed been for Cake to take Shining Armor's spot as head of the squad, not for her to be the new captain of the Royal Guard. A question which Cake did not have to ask the empress as she saw the helmet sitting on a marble pedestal in the corner of her eye. She would have been relieved by this, had her brain not felt like someone was stabbing pin needles into it and had the changeling standing across from her not been there. Daybreaker smirked as she saw Cake’s eyes constantly scanning the shape shifter as she stood and stepped down from the throne.

“Oh, don't you look so worried now my little pony, all who pledge loyalty to me are worthy of serving as my pawns. I expect there to be no trouble whatsoever with Wandler.”

Cake stood firm but her eyes refocused on Daybreaker, showing that she understood the command. The alicorn goddess returned to her throne and signalled her away with a hoof as she continued to sign new laws into the government and occasionally open one of the many letters from concerned ponies and foreign leaders, before lighting them on fire and laughing at their request. As Cake left the throne room, the three new recruits marched behind her in a constant rhythm almost matching her pace to the letter. After she left the castle and made her way out the gate and onto the sidewalk, she felt as if everypony was watching her, from the fillies with their mothers walking down the street to the stallion now inches away from her face, staring at her in anticipation.

“What are our first orders, ma’am?” he asked.

“To shut the fuck up and leave me alone, I’ll send you a letter when Daybreaker sends me one telling me what the fuck she expects someone who just got out of a fucking four month coma to do.” Her simple command quickly becoming a rant, she continued, “She could have at least given me a fucking newspaper or something…” Cake trotted down the street with Daffodilly close by, leaving the rest of the squad behind her.

Once inside the small restaurant Cake quickly brushed past the waiter who tried asking them if they had a reservation, before taking a seat at a booth as far in the corner as she could away from the other nobles enjoying their lunch.

“Last time I saw the Princess she wasn’t on FIRE! What in Celestia’s name happened?” asked Cake.

“She… she doesn't like to be called Princess Celestia anymore, she prefers Empress actually-”

“Yeah well she's about to get a call from me, informing her of my two week notice,” said Cake. “And what's all this about Shining being a traitor? Bastard didn't even show up for the funeral.”

“You can't quit!” Dilly blurted out. “You- you can't! She's already about to snap like a twig, Cake!”

“I can't lead, Dilly, I don't know what she expects me to do here, me not being able to lead was the only reason why I decided becoming a royal guard was a good idea instead of taking over the family business”

“I know, I know but- she would have chosen Diamond if she didn't believe you could do it.”

“And what in Tartarus’s name is up with her? She didn't say a word to me at the funeral, didn't shed a single tear when one of our own brothers got put into the dirt.”

“She… hasn't been the same since the rest of Octo walked out.”

Cake was silent for a moment while she considered this before reaching her conclusion.

“Daybreaker wants me to find them, that's obvious enough. Any leads?”

“We already know where they are, they took the Crystal Empire a few weeks ago after the- Empire War… Shining took some royal artifacts with him to super charge the Crystal Heart and to keep the shield up.”

Cake looked concerned for a moment. “Did- she go with him?”

“Twilight? No, she's, um… she doesn't like to be called Twilight anymore either.”

“I must still be dreaming… out of all ponies to lose their sanity I thought SHE would be able to hold it together.” Cake looked away as she kicked her hooves under the table, nervously looking out the window like she was hiding from something.

A waiter walked over, carrying trays and laying them onto the table, and Dilly looked up at the stallion in confusion. “We didn't order anything.” The waiter didn't respond as he walked away, leaving a small note on the plate of hay fries and grass sandwich in front of Cake, and another on the small pastry for Dilly. The timid unicorn quickly picked up the note and read it before turning her attention onto Cake who was staring out the window and tapping her hoof on the wooden table.

“When Violet died, I- asked Daybreaker if I could take my leave and she told me I could. We have to go get the others, Cake, before she does.”

Cake turned her head back onto the plate and began to eat the fries eagerly in her magic as her eyes looked over the note. It was a small thank you message from the staff, saying that due to their service they could eat for free, along with a small imprint of Celestia's cutie mark. Cake took one of the half eaten fries out of her mouth and pushed the plate away as she returned the note onto it, and Dilly did the same.

“We could get into the shield through a weak point in the Heart, simply taking a tank and starting to fire shells at it will cause the ponies inside to panic, then we can hit it there with a-”

Dilly put her hoof up to Cake’s mouth as she slid her note over to Cake, she opened it and inside was the same message, with a small addition about an eavesdropping pony in a booth behind them. Cake threw the note onto the table and stood up. Sure enough behind them was a unicorn mare pretending to look over her menu right up until Cake threw it out the open window and pulled her out of the booth.

“Shining should have known better than to send a rat to the exterminators!” Cake shouted as the mare quickly shed her skin for an exoskeleton, hissing as her horn flashed.

Cake’s horn flared up but was quickly suppressed by her painful headache, luckily the blast of magic missed her and hit the roof after Dilly delivered a kick into the jaw of the changeling, a ray of sunshine beaming down on the face of the bug from the new hole in the roof. Cake held her hooves to her head as small drops of blood trickled down from her muzzle, Dilly passed her a napkin as she dragged the spy outside. Cake looked up at the restaurant's other guests staring back at her, one still eating their meal with a smile on their face. Everycreature looked relieved in a way besides a single changeling, hiding undisguised behind their menu and shivering.

Cake trotted outside to see the new members of the squad talking to each other as they watched the unicorn mare struggle to pull the unconscious changeling onto the sidewalk. Cake signalled for them to help her as she looked around the tops of buildings and ponies on the street for anything else that may have been keeping an eye on them. Suddenly a young filly trotted up to the dazed unicorn and passed her a letter which she laid in Cake’s hoof. The small pegasus then bowed before flying off in the direction she’d come from. While the rest of the squad was loading the spy into a police carriage Cake ripped open the envelope with her teeth and began to read the letter.

Dear Apple Cake

Please report to the crystal castle in Ponyville as quickly as possible. Do not bring any other creature with you. Do not tell any other creature where you are going.

Sunrise Sparkle

Cake put the letter back into the envelope and tossed it into a nearby trashcan before rejoining the group.

“Take her to the CPD for interrogation, off the books, don't waste time giving her a trial or anything like that.”

After the rest of the ponies left, besides Daffodilly who stayed close to Cake's side, the pair looked at each other for a moment in silence, both waiting for the other to say something.

“Don't you want to give the interrogation yourself, Cake? You've always been good at them.”

Cake shook her head and leaned closer to Dilly's ear. “Secret mission time, come with me.”

The pair made their way back to the Castle where they boarded a pegasus driven carriage. The pair were silent to each other through the flight, with Dilly opening her saddlebags and looking through old photos while Cake looked over the changing scenery brought by the never setting sun. Large lakes had evaporated, fields of grass had become dry without rest from the scorching rays of light, and Cloudsdale off in the distance looked as if it had tripled in size, constantly sending off clouds to either block out the sun temporarily or give relief to the drier parts of equestria with rain. Cake wondered how Appleloosa had held together through it all, with the town struggling to get rain water before Daybreaker declared the Forever Sun Celebration.

Once they had arrived in Ponyville, the pair walked together into the crystal castle. The castle itself had changed greatly. The table of harmony’s seven crystal chairs gathered around it had been removed, with a single chair left belonging to Twilight. The map had disappeared and left only the crystal corpse of the table behind, the large remains of Golden Oak library which once hung overhead had been removed. Banners to Daybreaker were everywhere within the castle and it seemed as if it had been turned into a military outpost by an occupying force rather than a bastion of friendship. Sunrise Sparkle’s footsteps echoed audibly through the castle’s walls as the pair continued to look around at how much the place had changed since the last time they had seen it.

“Hello Cake, congratulations on your new promotion. I assume you must be proud considering you no longer have to remain in my brother's shadow,” the alicorn said.

The highlights on her mane had changed to a deep red, making her name stick like glue to her new appearance in Cake’s mind. Despite this she still decided to test the waters. “You know I'm not, Twilight.”

“Of course you aren't, not yet anyways. I meant to go see you when I got a letter saying you woke up, but sadly Daybreaker forbade me doing so until after… well… I suppose it doesn't really matter now. It is good to see you, both of you,” said Sunrise as she bowed to them.

Dilly returned the bow but Cake did not, standing with an emotionless face as she eyed over the purple pony in front of her. “I'm not surprised to see what you’ve done with the place, Sunrise, I take it the others did not approve?” Cake turned and faced the table.

“All in time, Cake, all in time. For now we have to deal with my brother, he has amassed quite a resistance in the crystal city. And the Heart’s only going to grow stronger everyday,” Twilight said as she joined Cake and looked over at the table. With a flash of her horn the map came to life, in the center was the large metropolis of the capital city of the Crystal Empire surrounded by a large pink shield. “He has taken a large number of heretics with him, turning the population of the city from… around three point six million into an estimated five million. The Crystal Heart has never been stronger with him constantly giving speeches and Daybreaker delaying an attack.”

“Delaying? Doesn't sound like her,” Cake commented.

“Watch your tongue Cake, it slips too often,” Sunrise said with a smile. “She is delaying it because she wants to test you, see if you can lead properly again.”

Cake scratched her head as her headache grew with the memory. “I can get in but I'm not sure what she’ll expect from me. Shining would have already surrendered if he wasn't confident, or maybe he’s trying to spark something bigger and biding his time with the shield. We could pop it like a zit with some strategic bombers, or just cut a hole inside.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “Which is why I’m coming with you, I can convince Cadence to stand down and Shining will follow her.”

“Won't Daybreaker be upset?” asked Dilly softly looking up at Twilight.

“No, maybe, I mean- she has eyes everywhere, if she had a problem with that then she would have told me, I think.” The alicorn stroked her chin as she thought this over.

“It doesn't matter, what does matter is getting this done quickly before whatever Shining is stalling for kicks off. Dilly, write a message to S.M.I.L.E., tell them we need three of those changeling cloaks from the Great War, the good second gen ones. We should go in early morning, if everypony is still on the same sleeping schedule and-”

A thundering of hoofsteps echoed through the hall as Yellow Diamond marched into the room with the rest of Phoenix squad behind her. She bowed to Sunrise who ignored her and turned her head over to Cake. “I thought I told you to come alone! I can excuse Dilly but not the rest of these freaks.”

Cake rolled her eyes as she looked back up at Yellow Diamond. “Report, I told you to stay in Canterlot and find out what the changeling knew.”

“Yeah, well, S.M.I.L.E. showed up with mages and kind of forced us to hand her over to them, they even had the nerve to wear the all black suits!” the blonde pegasus exclaimed.

“What? Did you tell those assholes that we have orders from Celestia and that bug was a part of that?”

“Yes, then they showed us a signed letter from Daybreaker saying S.M.I.L.E. would handle all the dealings with spies personally.”

“Fucking bureaucracy, I’m not wasting time writing the Prin- the ‘Empress’ a two page letter on why we should be the ones currently waterboarding a love sucker. Just take the newbies and get out, we’ll meet you when we have a plan.”

Yellow Diamond huffed as she took flight and stormed out of the castle, leaving Cake and the two other mares back to their scheming.

“You better be careful Cake, I'm supposed to remind all the little fillies still saying Celestia that it's Daybreaker now.”

Cake stopped and turned to look into Sunrise's eyes. “And what about you, why did you change your name?”

Sunrise turned a shade of red as her nuzzle recoiled. “Well, now that the sun no longer sets there really isn't a ‘Twilight’ anymore, is there?”

Cake shook her head and looked back at the map. “Yeah, I guess there isn't.”