Chapter 18
"Nope." Lyra smirked her greatest smirk at Blue. "Not since you were so insistent about how terrible my opinion is." His look of panic, though, broke her resolve. "Blue, you look amazing. Bread is already head over hooves in love with you—you have nothing to prove to her. It's the nobles out there you're here for, right?"
"What? You know I don't care about them. Not even the ones that passed your tests. I'm here and I want to be here for Bread." He knew she was ribbing him and distracting him, but today he couldn't stop himself from playing into her games. "Sweetie's ready?"
"Oh, of course she's not. She managed to become a captain and form her own branch of the E.U.P. despite being disorganized and unable to be anywhere on time." When Lyra spotted some of the tension in Blue's neck ease, she knew she'd hit a mark. "Loosen up, there's only one mare in there you need to worry about."
The struggle not to laugh finally ended and Blue smiled, then chuckled, and finally let out a good guffaw.
Flashing had known Lyra was the commander of a royal guard branch and he also knew she'd been put in control of the castle's safety while the princesses were away—but the relaxed and common way she spoke to a prince was hard to ignore. In the half a day between learning what Research and Acquisitions does, he'd researched the branch and gotten more of its history than seemed to be public knowledge.
While they weren't exactly secretive, Flashing had been forced to go looking for every scrap of information about them. It had been formed by Captains Sweetie Drops and Lyra Heartstrings, though Lyra had been a sergeant at the time. Some of the most interesting information had come talking to the older guards, though.
In a word, Flashing had been fascinated to learn that Research and Acquisitions had quickly become a key part of Equestria's defense against potential disasters. They often operated in supervisory roles for other branches, directing them to the best use of their skills for solving specific problems. He found himself liking it more and more with each new piece of the puzzle he put together.
That's when Flashing realized Lyra was looking at him expectantly. "Uh, sir?"
Blue laughed. "Lyra, where'd you find him? Is he a new recruit?"
Lyra shot Blue a pointed glance that made him immediately step back a pace.
"Sorry. Sometimes it's easy to forget you have so much contact with the recruits. Are the entire guard here today recruits?" Blue asked.
"No. You have Sweetie," Lyra said, getting her own droll look in reply. "Hey, I'd bet on her against any other guardpony in armor." She took a deeper breath. "But, there's also Sergeant Long Shift of the Royal Guard as Bread Basket's guard."
Recognizing relief on Blue Blood's face, Flashing couldn't stop himself from asking, "You have enemies here?"
Blue laughed. "I just assisted in the largest scale political and fiscal attacks on a group of nobles in the history of Equestria. They might have deserved everything that was coming to them, but their grandfoals will remember what I did this week."
A knock at the door cut through the conversation. "We're ready if you are!"
"We're coming!" Lyra called back, then looked at Blue. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah. Yeah I am."
The walk up the aisle felt like a triumph to Blue Blood. Shortly, in the eyes of everyone, he and Bread would be joined. When they reached the dais and Sweetie Drops was standing behind a little lectern, he knew he was almost done.
Lyra steered Blue and Flashing to one side, giving Sweetie a big grin as she did.
Blue was anxious. He started worrying about all the things that could have gone wrong that would mean Bread wouldn't show up. He'd never practiced one of the more advanced teleport spells before, but he was trying to remember the math involved when the doors opened.
Everyone in the room who wasn't looking directly at the door, turned to look at the mare framed by the light in the doorway. Wearing a long, flowing white dress, Bread Basket had her mane up in a way that had it pour back down like a waterfall. She looked up at Blue, and everyone in the room could see the love boiling in the air between them like a heat-haze.
At Bread's side, Long managed the barest flick of his eye toward the recruit opposite her, and they started walking forward. As if in a daze, Bread moved too due to the wonder of peer pressure.
Blue was unable to look away from his wife. The vision of her here, in the midst of the wedding they'd both been promised, made him want to sing. He didn't only because she looked like she'd break into song too if he did—and that might get embarrassing.
Waiting patiently for Bread to take her place, Sweetie began. "Fillies and gentlecolts, we are gathered here to witness today a royal wedding between Prince Blue Blood of Canterlot and Lady Bread Basket of Canterlot.
"Lady Bread Basket, do you take Prince Blue Blood as your husband?"
Her heart thumping like a drum, Bread nodded—then remembered she had to say it out loud. "I take Blue as mine."
It was off script, but Sweetie didn't care, and she was sure no one else did. "Prince Blue Blood, do you take Lady Bread Basket as your wife?"
"In a heartbeat." Blue realized he hadn't said it properly, but neither Bread nor Sweetie seemed to care.
Sweetie Drops felt the light of pure joy washing from the couple and was glad she could say, "Then I pronounce you stallion and—"
The doors at the end of the hall opened again. Striding through them, Celestia could pick up on what was going on. She looked at Blue—tried to give him her best we'll talk later glare—but he ignored her. He gazed into Bread's eyes. While she could have interrupted, she doubted that would ingratiate herself with anyone present. Instead, she took a seat.
Resigning herself to baking a cake, since it would mean she could spend time with Lyra doing so, Sweetie cleared her throat. "I pronounce you stallion and mare." Neither of them required any encouragement to kiss.
The applause, in the form of hoof stomping, was thunderous. Lyra and Long nodded to each other and turned as one. "Come on," Lyra said, "time to make your escape. We have to get you past Celestia before she blasts a hole in the hall."
"Do you have a plan?" Long asked.
"Well, since we're all unicorns, I don't have to worry about one of you grounding me out, so express trip to Blue's apartment in three, two, one…" Lyra didn't try to scoop up Sweetie too, lest her wife be using that earth pony specific power. They appeared together in the bottom floor of the tower that Blue already shared with Bread. "Sorry for the short notice, but I need to get back and start planning a cake."
Long Shift was trying not to laugh when Lyra reached out a hoof and booped him on the nose. The teleport spell was clean, despite passingthrough some of the more powerful magic wards in the country. He let out a soft sigh of appreciation as they both appeared in the entranceway of the hall the wedding had been held in. "Sometimes, when you hear about a pony who is exceptional at something, you have to wonder how much of the opinion is misinformed." Long shook his head.
"Oh, there is one lie that circulates about me. I can't play the violin. Guitar and even bass are fine, but violins are right out. There is a nice mare in Ponyville who plays an amazing cello." Lyra slipped in through the doors and watched as ponies were milling around and talking. Sweetie was doing her best to keep Celestia busy, or so it seemed, but when Lyra appeared Celestia changed targets. "Your Royal Highness."
"At least tell me it was his idea?" Celestia asked. Sweetie had already said it, but she wanted to hear it again.
"No, actually. Blue is compromised. He was mind-controlled by a mare demanding that they have a public wedding while there was a chance." Lyra shrugged her shoulders. "You gave me specific situations when it would be fine to override Blue's orders, Your Highness, and this wasn't one of them."
"You are technically correct. Very well, I want a chocolate mud cake." There was only one pony Celestia preferred to get apology cakes from, but with Stiff Peaks going on leave, she wasn't likely to get anything from him anytime soon. "At least two layers."
Bowing their heads, Lyra and Sweetie smirked to each other once they were at an angle Celestia couldn't see. "Your Royal Highness' word is law, of course," Sweetie said.
"Except when that devious nephew of mine is sitting on the throne?" Celestia spared them any wrath with a smile and chuckle. "I put him there; I should have seen this coming. Please tell me you found somepony to run the treasury?"
"The best. She's already taking things well in hoof." Lyra didn't explain further until Celestia looked on the verge of doing something Lyra would regret. "Upper Crust. I talked Upper Crust into the position. She made a lot of noise about strong-arming and leaving her no other way, but she is as happy as a pig in—"
Celestia couldn't help herself; she giggled. "Lyra Heartstrings, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were studying to take my job."
When the terrifying shock wore off, Lyra waved her hoof at Celestia. "Maybe in a thousand years."
"If that's what it takes, I'll try to hold onto the job a little longer." Reaching out a hoof to Lyra, Celestia brushed her cheek. "You don't have to make me a cake. It's not really—"
Lyra laughed. "No. We're making you a cake. It might not be an apology cake, though, but a thank-you cake."
"I see you're willing to talk about this more, now." Celestia nodded to Lyra's back.
A sideways glance revealed to Lyra that Flashing had kept up with them quite well and was doing his best to appear like he wasn't listening-in. "You know how I treat harmony and destiny, the problem this time was the pony who didn't want to accept the inevitable was me. Dad was right; I'm more stubborn than your average chaos god."
All of them paused and looked around, waiting. When Discord didn't show up, Lyra giggled. "I can do a reasonable impression of him, though I tend to fall flat with some of my jokes." Chaos magic loved nothing more than to make jokes, which is probably why Lyra had taken to it so well. A moment after saying so, she fell to the ground, completely deflated and flat.
Flashing was struggling to keep an even demeanor. He knew he was meant to observe and only act if his attached commander acts, but the familiarity and proximity of royalty was taking its toll. Having said commander deflate like a particularly cursed balloon was a step too far. "S-Sir?"
Reappearing back as her normal self, Lyra said, "Relax, Corporal."
"You should know," Sweetie said, "that my wife commits to her puns with devastating magic." Noticing Lyra looking at her funny, Sweetie raised an eyebrow at her.
Lyra smirked and gestured to the two ponies in sequence. "I should introduce you two, I guess. Captain Sweetie Drops, this is Corporal Flashing Smile. He was interested in joining Research and Acquisitions." The astonished look on Flashing's face was worth it. "But you'll all have to excuse me now, I need to bake a cake."
"I believe I'll join you. Spare your plus-one, I'm sure he and the captain here have some things to discuss." Celestia left the group with Lyra, glad she could slip away from a situation that, while it had caught her by surprise, held no ire from her.
Lyra knew all the secret ways to get around the castle, and led the way to the one that took them to the kitchen. "So, what's up?" she asked when they were out of the more public hallway.
"Flurry Heart, Shining and Cadance's foal, is an alicorn." Celestia was blunt. She had long-since learned that Lyra didn't need soft coercing and gentle direction. The look of surprise on Lyra's face told her Lyra knew that was significant. "There hasn't been an alicorn born for over a thousand years. Something big is coming, but more than that there is something bigger still on the distant horizon."
"You let me read through all the restricted sections, remember? The last alicorns born were you and Luna." Celestia's raised eyebrow told Lyra there was more. "Another?"
"Several. It was a momentous time. Not all took up the mantle of immortality, though. Whether it was fate or just harmony hedging its bets, only three alicorns from that period became immortal."
"There's a third?"
"Yes, but you will never have to worry about them. Now, I want the best teacher possible for Flurry. In my time, we had Star Swirl the Bearded. He was a fine teacher, if a little hard to please. He had notions about— Again, that doesn't matter. When she is of age to learn magic, will you teach her?" Celestia asked.
Lyra stopped in the hall and, after a moment, broke into laughter.
Stopping as well, Celestia waited for her companion to laugh herself out, then asked, "Well?"
"Like you had to ask. Like Cadance would have to ask. Are you forgetting I've helped train three of the four alicorns now ruling in some capacity. I'd ask to train Cadance, too, but I think Shining would have words about that. So, yes. Now, are you going to bake like that?"
"It's my castle, so yes."
"You'll have chefs bumping into you constantly. Oh, how are the new spells going?" Now it was Celestia's turn to freeze, to which Lyra could only smirk and ask, "Anything in particular you're having trouble with?"
Celestia could have tried to maintain her superior demeanor, but Lyra had proved she didn't believe in such a thing. "That third blast spell. I can't get the patterning right for it. I think it's too similar to an old spell that I use to extinguish fires."
"Okay, so show me the spell you're confusing it with," Lyra said, mentally switching gears to her teacher-self.
The paperwork was something Lyra wasn't prepared for. She looked at the pile in the In-Box and narrowed her eyes at it. "How many of you does Stiff ignore, I wonder? Let's see."
By the tenth report on a recruit who was fitting into their new role with one of the Guard branches she was starting to get used to what were definitely reports not written by the commanders of those branches.
Sorting spells weren't the easiest, but it was something that spending time around Twilight had taught her. Constructing it to identify the reports and push them to their own stack reduced the In-Box of Doom by almost a third.
Then she realized something and grabbed at the removed stack until she found one from Sweetie. It wasn't Sweetie's writing style, yet it was signed by her. Putting that into a third pile, she went back to the doom.
"Requests for recruits? These are weeks, months… and this one is a year old." Squinting at them, Lyra realized that each branch of the Guard seemed to use different paper. "I can sort these by texture."
Another huge slab was removed from the doom, leaving it far less doom—though now Lyra had more piles. She riffle-shuffled the requests together and set those aside for perusal. "Now, what do we have left?"
Reports from the training sergeants. Lyra read through those, taking particular note of the unicorn ones and what they said about the current techniques. She was, in her mind, barely getting into the meat of it when a knock announced a visitor. "Come in."
"Sir—I mean, ma'am. You asked for an hour's warning before—" Off his game from the get-go, Honey Glaze froze as he stared at the sorted stacks of paperwork. "You're tackling the in-box?"
Snorting in laughter at the incredulous tone, Lyra stood up from her seat and set down the paperwork she'd been reading. "Cleaning up, I gather, was something Stiff let other ponies do in his kitchen and his office, I take it?" she asked, nodding for the pegasus to proceed her out of the office.
"I wouldn't say that about him. He—" Honey slumped his wings a little and had to ruffle them to hide the motion. "Commander Stiff Peaks has a lot of duties he's responsible for."
"Good defense there, but unneeded. I know this is probably the hardest command of all the Guard, and that's why I wanted to give him some time off, but Stiff isn't the kind of pony to spend two hours reading through the reports written by staff sergeants from other branches, signed under their commanders' names, before tackling the important details." Lyra saw the blush in the stallion's cheeks at having what was probably the collective of every staff sergeant's secret.
"What gave it away?"
"One of those, I noticed, was signed by my wife, Captain Sweetie Drops. She is an amazing pony, and a brilliant organizer, but my dear love has never used an em dash in her life." Using her magic to teleport the offending evidence to Honey, Lyra led the way out of the building. "Now, let's go see what the mess is cooking up for lunch."
"You're not going to storm in and take control?" Honey asked, grateful for the change in topic.
"I am not Stiff Peaks. Sorry if I'll take a little getting used to, but I am not going to step on any hooves. Do you have a request pending for the treasury to approve any new purchases?" Lyra asked.
"I don't bother anymore. Until they get things under control with the new manager, nothing is going to get approved." Honey followed Lyra into the kitchen as a silence fell over everyone present.
"At ease. Anypony would think this is my first time in this kitchen." Lyra looked around the brigade and located Stiff's sous chef. "Please, tell me if you have some plans for lunch? I know there won't be many of us there, but I welcome all input."
The surprise turned to a grin. "Normally you're Stiff's commis, though. We normally take our lead from him."
"Well, for the duration of his time away, I want to see what you can bring to the table. You've been working under one of the most talented chefs I know—what have you learned?" Lyra pointed around to the brigade one at a time. "Pick somepony each day. Have them come up with the menu." The looks of pure panic fed Lyra's chaotic side. "But, if you want to start off easy, a nice curry would be good. Make it about… twice as hot as anything Stiff asked you to make."
Only when they were outside again did Honey let out his breath. "You're not just giving things a shake up, you're turning everything here upside down."
"How long have you worked here, Honey?" Lyra asked.
"I was a desk clerk for four years, then this last one I've been Stiff's staff sergeant."
Lyra was curious about the stallion now. She looked him over and, though he didn't seem to be in peak fighting fitness, he certainly wasn't out of shape. "And before that?"
"I worked two years as an accountant in Los Pegasus after I finished school. I didn't like the way that was heading—I wasn't as useful as I could be—so I decided to sign up and do the same work for a better cause. That led to my training and three years at a desk for Commander Spitfire. Stiff needed another clerk and the position involved less yelling, so I came down from the clouds."
"I've heard she has a pair of lungs that display her high altitude training quite well." The smile Lyra noticed on Honey's mouth, that only lasted a moment, told her she was getting somewhere with him. "Where to from here?"
"Huh?" The monosyllable slipped out before Honey could stop it.
"Are you content with working at this level for the rest of your career?" Lyra asked.
Narrowing his eyes, Honey was immediately on his guard. "Are you trying to promote me, ma'am?"
"I've been known to, but it's not what I'm getting at. Recently I have been reminded that life continues even outside the Guard. It's a strange concept, and I'm still trying to get my head around it, but I wondered if you might have your sights on anything?"
"Honestly, no. This is my life. I keep this section of the Guard running efficiently."
It made Lyra smile. "I'm glad to hear that. The Guard needs good ponies to keep the gears moving. If you don't mind me asking, your special talent…?"
"Cooking, of course. The commander tries to drag me into the mess every chance he gets. It's become a bit of a game, not that I haven't let him win once or twice. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy cooking, but I also enjoy having a Guard branch that functions efficiently." Honey Glaze hadn't realized it, but Lyra had led him to the training field. "What are we doing out here?"
"You were a sergeant in the Wonderbolts and I need somepony with experience using flight magic. Naturally, I could have gone to Cloudsdale to ask them myself, but that would have been a little obvious. I also needed a pony who was loyal to the guard and unlikely to talk—and given how well the staff sergeants have been keeping that little paperwork thing going, I believe I can trust you to keep quiet on this. So, can you teach me?" By the time Lyra finished speaking, they'd reached the practice field.
Tilting his head to the side a little, Honey asked, "Teach a unicorn how to use pegasi magic?"
"Whaat?" Lyra rolled her eyes and laughed. "Of course not. You can't teach a unicorn how to use pegasi magic." She broke the comedy bit and looked right at Honey. "I'm asking you to teach me pegasi magic."
"Ma'am, I am now confused and a little worried for a superior's mental health—which means I am definitely still in the E.U.P. Guard. Okay, so I'm teaching first steps?" he asked, and got a nod. "Then I would instruct the young filly to spread her wings for… me…"
It took Honey a few moments to collect his thoughts, but when he did he said, "Oh," his tone flat.
"It's complicated. So, what comes after stretching out my wings?" Lyra asked.
"Moving along then, as if this was completely normal. Okay! Close your eyes and feel the wind with your feathers. The way it moves, the way your feathers move it—every twitch and shift."
Doing as instructed, Lyra couldn't feel it at first, but as her attention focused on them, she started to feel all those vanes delivering minute information to her. She slowly nodded.
"Okay. That's the start of it. I want you to do this every day for as long as you can. At least a half hour. Each time you are to turn and face into the wind, feel how the direction changes the twitching of your feathers."
It was on the tip of Lyra's tongue to ask what this had to do with magic, but after all the time she'd spent learning and teaching unicorn magic, she knew that not everything would be obvious nor a good idea to explain. "Is there anything in particular I should be focusing toward?"
"Being able to feel the wind even while you're walking. This is the part where I'd tell a foal to walk around with their wings spread as much as they can—but somehow I think that might not be something you can do."
"If I told you it would be as easy as wearing a hat, and that if I hadn't been talking about being a unicorn and a pegasus you wouldn't have noticed—would you believe me?" Lyra kept her wings out. The wind blowing across Canterlot's magical plateau felt nice in her feathers. She also tried to keep focusing on the sensations that wind caused.
Honey had to sigh and admit, "I would believe you, but only because I haven't been able to get a fix on when you're joking or not. Are ponies really that blind to the obvious?"
"It's not that they can't see the extra limbs, but they build an image of a pony based on the first and most prevalent body part that's visible. If I walked around with a hat hiding my horn and my wings on display, a lot of ponies wouldn't recognize me as me because they'd see the wings first." When Honey nodded and turned to walk around her, Lyra felt the air on her wings change. It surprised her at first, but after the initial shock wore off, she found herself paying a lot of attention to her feathers.
"You can feel it?" It was a good sign for a pegasus to feel the movement of things around them in the air on their first try. Honey wasn't impressed, just surprised. "Good. Keep working on that every day. Can you answer why it is important that you can feel the air like this even when distracted?"
"I have new respect for my daughter's flying ability," Lyra said. "But I can assume this is so it becomes second nature when flying?"
"Earned your captaincy with brains, huh? On the money. This needs to become a habit. Once you are used to feeling the air around your wings constantly, then we'll throw you moving those things into the mix. Then, when you can feel me walking around you while you slowly flap, we'll talk about using magic." The truth was, while Honey hadn't specifically been a training sergeant, these were things every pegasus who joined the Wonderbolts in any capacity would know about. "Come over to the edge and feel the breeze."
Walking over, sensing the edge of the platform with her feathers through the turbulence it made, Lyra stopped when the uninterrupted breeze reached her at last. "Wow. That feels like—like if I can listen enough, I can feel all of Equestria with my feathers."
"Pegasi of old, it's written, could see beyond the horizon with the breeze on their feathers. We are the best scouts of the E.U.P. Guard for a reason, and it's not just flight and speed."
"Thank you. I promise I'll do this every day, and will come back and see you when I can walk, flap, and talk—while still feeling things around me." The skeptical look Honey Glaze laid upon her made Lyra laugh. "You don't trust me?"
"Not as far as I could throw you, ma'am, and from what I have heard, you are not an easy mare to throw." The relaxed conversation surprised Honey a little. In the past, it had taken far longer to square away a relationship with a commanding officer into easy banter. "Lunch now?"
"Yup! I want to see if they could add the heat without compromising on flavor. It all comes down to what chili they use to spice it up. A good dried chili, ground to dust, can be an amazing thing." Lyra tucked her wings away into her armor and walked alongside Honey.
"If things work as you say, you should leave them out. The air on them—even when folded—will help with your spatial awareness."
"I guess I should, then, but I'll need to adjust my armor for that. This was built so that when I close them, they fold away into the armor. Also, and you've probably spotted me doing this several times already, you'll have a pegasus sign up for Guard training with the next major intake." She gave him a wink.
Stopping dead in his tracks, Honey's face dropped. "Those discrepancies were your work?"
Annoyed with herself for leaving any breadcrumbs to follow, Lyra asked, "What did I forget to do?"
"Simple, you had the non-existent ponies get assigned to various branches, and while the actual paperwork matched—you didn't send the fake notification of integration. We were all confused about that, but there was no way to report it to higher ups, since that would give away our game."
It was an impactful statement for Lyra. The staff sergeants' little game of message-passing via paperwork, that harmed no one, had found what could have been a major problem—but they hadn't been able to report it without implicating themselves. "In this one instance, it was unimportant, but next time let somepony know, okay? I don't care if you're using unread reports to send messages around the country—there is still the changeling threat and likely others we're not expecting."
Ducking his head, Honey let out a sigh. "It started as a way to chat, despite being stuck in different parts of the world. Did you notice the cipher we use?" When Lyra shook her head, he continued. "Then we started using it to send reports on less-than-great Guardponies. Problems got cleaned up before they started thanks to our little—"
"You need a more reliable way to communicate, so let's do that. If this has helped the Guard, then it needs to grow and mature." Lyra led the way into the mess where some of the staff were already seated, eating, and/or chatting. Everyone stopped as she entered. "As you were."
Taking his seat beside Lyra, Honey watched as she took out a notepad and pencil and scrawled down priority communications for senior sergeants on a page. "Just like that?"
"Exactly like that. Or don't you think these wings count for anything?" Lyra was about to ask what types of information they'd need to move when the sous chef brought out two bowls. "Ah! I've been looking forward to this."
"One at the staff sergeant's normal heat, and one that burned up three wooden spoons during cooking."
Lyra laughed. "Perfect. Thank you." She sniffed, closing her eyes to savor the curry. It smelled hot enough that her eyes threatened to water. "Make out a list of what you want your special communications to be limited to, and then we'll put a proposal in and get it approved."
Honey watched a symphony of expressions play out over Lyra's face in the following seconds. Anticipation, surprise, delight, shock, panic, and finally pure joy. "I should sell tickets…"
"Wow, that's good. Plenty of kick and I can still pick out all the spices used. They know their stuff in there." Digging into the curry, Lyra gave Honey another glance. "Anything else I can do for you?"
It wasn't that Honey's work relationship with Stiff Peaks had been bad, he'd just never heard his commander ask him if he needed anything. "I'll put together a list."
The week had been good. Each day Lyra had spent trying to improve the efficiency of the training regiment one pony at a time. The staff sergeant was the first, then she'd seen each of the training sergeants.
"What's this?" she asked when Honey Glaze brought in an official notice.
His eyes locked on Lyra, but slid to her back where a pair of wings were clearly visible. "It is marked as being from Stiff Peaks, ma'am. Nice adjustments on your armor."
Looking over her shoulder, Lyra was still apprehensive about removing the hiding pockets. "Thanks." As she opened the letter, she tried to remember that so far Honey was the only pony to have noticed. "He wants another week. Well, that's easy enough. So long as he's back in time for the next training uptake."
"Would you like me to draft a formal reply?" No sooner had Honey asked than Lyra lifted out her typewriter. "The new communications protocol is working much better. We've been discussing ways to avoid the previous issue. All senior officers who have any kind of veto power on rules and regulations will be required to provide a passphrase unique to them. If they cannot do that, we will know something is very wrong."
"You know the passphrases, though, so doesn't that make the staff sergeants a weak link?" Lyra asked.
"No—to both. We only know how to decipher the passphrase. The officers can make new ones, but if they don't decode correctly, we'll know where the bad source is." He waited for her to make the next prod at his system, but when she didn't he sighed. "There are two ciphers. Each officer has two, and their phrase has to pass both. It's not hard to make one, or so I'm told. See, there's only five ponies who know both ciphers, and they've each provided us with a series of passphrases. Here's yours."
Picking up the slip of paper, Lyra examined it. "This is a whole sentence." She got a nod. "Well, you'll know best, but I'm going to have a pony try to break your system, okay?"
It didn't come as a surprise to Honey to hear that; not now he was getting a grip on Lyra's thinking. "Thank you. We'll be looking forward to it."
"Now, how goes applications? Anypony interesting?" For Lyra, interesting covered a lot of ground.
"More older guardponies wanting a refresher. Plus Princess Luna's school is letting out another group of graduates. We always get a surplus when that happens." Every time Honey Glaze mentioned alicorns or princesses, he couldn't stop himself glancing at Lyra's back, and this time she caught him doing it. "Sorry, ma'am."
"Do you want to go for a quick patrol?"
The question caught Honey up short. "Ma'am?"
"Of the city. Come on, let's go and see the sights. We could even go and stare at actual princesses if you'd like?" Setting her paperwork aside, Lyra made a quick note to reply to Stiff's letter upon her return and ruffled her wings—not entirely for Honey's benefit.
Honey could have feigned work, but without anything to actually do, he had no excuse than to follow his commander. Outside, he watched as Lyra flicked out her wings and gave them a good flap or two. "Ma'am, I wouldn't recommend flying in armor yet."
"Hadn't planned to, but my teacher tells me I should let my feathers feel the air as much as I can, so when they feel a little settled, well, I give them a fluffing." She repeated the process, smirking for all she was worth. "And, you know, I could walk around Canterlot all day and not a single civilian would notice I have wings and a horn."
"Five bits says you're wrong."
"I'll take that. Okay, let's go get a feel for the city. Did you hear about what happened up north?" Walking to the front gate, Lyra nodded to the two duty guards.
"That something involving the prince and princess' daughter, and that she was fine now. That's about it. We don't have a staff sergeant part of our network up there." With the griffon out of the bag, as it were, Honey had given up keeping that secret from Lyra. "There was more?"
"Cadance's foal is an alicorn. She shattered the Crystal Heart, but they had a spellcasting expert that helped cook them up some magic to repair it. Imagine a unicorn foal with all the usual magic outbursts, only with the vast reserves and burst power of an alicorn." Reaching up and tapping her horn, Lyra remembered back to her own magic mishaps when she first got her horn working. "There are, from what I've heard, holes clear through the castle that they're patching up as quick as they are made."
Laughing, Honey shook his head. "Better there than here. Okay, this is starting to get weird. Why doesn't anypony notice?"
"There are multiple research papers about it, all written by either Twilight or myself, studying this phenomenon. Don't worry, your name will be left out of the latest one."
"I remember a long time ago, maybe last week, when I was sure everything you said was made up on the spot. You sounded crazy." Honey tilted his head back and looked up at the bright sunny day. "But now I must be crazy too, because you make too much sense."
Thinking for a moment, Lyra laughed. "Good. Always thinking inside the box will lead to repeated mistakes that never get fixed. Flexible, smart ponies like yourself are essential to the Guard. Actually… When was your last holiday?"
"Nope. Sorry, Commander, you're not getting me with that one. I had a four week break eighteen months ago. The joy of not being in a command position is that I can step out any time I need to." Seeing bat ponies in Canterlot wasn't too uncommon anymore, but for Honey to see two adults and a foal was a surprise. He only realized that Lyra had stopped and was looking at him with a big grin when he almost bumped into a wall.
Winking at Honey, Lyra turned her attention to the bat ponies. "Hey, Mum, Dad, Gara!"
"Sis!" Garawang Mango poured on the speed and raced directly at Lyra with her legs pumping and wings reaching forward to grab hold the moment they were close enough. "Oooh! Cool wings!"
As soon as the words were out of her sister's mouth, Lyra knew she'd lost the bet. Shrugging, she helped Garawang onto her back. "Yeah, don't say it too loud or all the unicorns will want 'em. Out for a walk?" The last she asked of her mother, who was a little slower than Garawang in reaching Lyra and hugging her, though with no less enthusiasm.
"Lyra! I heard you were romping around in Canterlot this week. Where have you been hiding?" Her eyes straying to the uncovered wings, Joyce nonetheless squeezed her daughter for everything she could.
"I took over the Guard training regiment so its commander could have some time off. You know how these ponies get who are set in their rut, they'll never leave unless they know they can get another who won't screw up." Sitting down, Lyra wrapped her forelegs back around Joyce to return the hug. "Oh, this is Honey Glaze, Honey, this is Joyce, Tufts, and Gara Mango. My mum, dad, and littlest sister."
"She takes after me!" Tufts said, letting out a little screech of laughter.
"It's, uh, nice to meet you all." At a complete loss for what else to say, Honey hoped it wasn't obvious he was in such a state.
"Tufts is my dad, but my biology got messed with by magic, so I'm a unicorn. It's a long story, but trust me, they're family. I also have a sister back in Batstralia." Lyra wished she hadn't dropped Honey in the deep end, but it would give her something to laugh about later when paying him five bits. "Err, alicorn I guess, now."
"Are you always like this?" Honey asked Lyra. Her answering grin shook his conceptualization of Equestria and everyone's place in it to the core. "How?"
Laughing at the interaction with a little screech, Tufts put his wing over Lyra's back. "I am cursed to ever be eclipsed by the women in my family. Not that I mind—a bat's ego needs a little deflating from time to time." Giving Lyra a squeeze, Tufts let out a happy screech at getting a wing-hug back.
"The trick is to take life as it comes and always leave a place in a nicer state than when you arrived. The latest situation threw me a little, but I finally figured out that it's a far smaller change than the last one I had." Letting go of Tufts, Lyra flicked her wings and settled them back at her sides. "Be the change you want to be, and if you can't, get loud and find someone who can."
The logic was wild, but Honey could almost see it working. "It can't be that simple. When has it ever been that simple?"
"Well, I was asked to find a new candidate for the head of the treasury. I did, got them installed, and called on a favor to get her to look at the Guard's long standing projects as soon as she could. That was, technically, solving a whole mess of problems with a small task." At the look of shock Honey had, Lyra asked, "Didn't I tell you about that already?"
"It must have slipped your mind. So I should resubmit—?"
"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure Upper Crust has a small army of her new minions working through the backlog." Getting a look from Tufts and her mother, Lyra raised an eyebrow. "We were just taking a walk around—anything we can help with?"
The relief Tufts felt at hearing those words shifted a huge weight from his back. "It's the school holidays, and Gara has been asking about everything. Would you be able to…?"
"Hrmm, that's a tough one. Sergeant, what business do we have for the rest of the day?" Lyra asked.
"Commander, you did all the paperwork for several months both forward and backward in the last several days. We have a meeting at the castle later tonight, but I believe the afternoon has a schedule of showing a prospective recruit around the city." Having grown up in a large family, Honey knew when parents needed time off, and he wasn't going to lock Lyra down with something when it was obvious they were both bored.
"Excellent. Well, here we have a potential recruit." Lyra set Gara down and saluted her. The return was sloppy, but she wasn't going to critique her sister on that before she'd even reached ten years old. "I'm surprised there aren't any bat ponies in the Guard."
Joyce laughed. "And here I thought you had your finger on the pulse of politics. Technically, bat ponies are foreign nationals. While we're allowed to participate in society on an individual basis, things are still awkward at a larger scale. Inviting a foreign army into your ranks is always going to be an issue, but worse is the training requirements." As she got to the end, Joyce realized her mistake. "And now you're going to plan out training specifications for bat ponies?"
"No. Well, yes. There are other aspects to this. Equestria has a population of griffons who were born, raised, and lived their whole lives here. Why aren't they allowed in the Guard? Dragons, too?"
Honey felt like a small rowboat facing off with a tsunami. There was a mountain of work coming, he just knew it. "Ma'am, it's lucky you have another week to work on this."
Manic energy filled Lyra. She started dancing in place with an urge to move. "Come on, we have to think about this, and I do my best thinking at a gallop!"
"It's been nice meeting you, Honey Glaze," Joyce said. "Please don't let my daughter get too carried away. Despite what she might say, she does need sleep."
"I'll try. She's not easy to keep up with." Honey could already see the mare in question bunching her muscles, ready to take off at a run.
Laughing, Joyce gestured to Honey's side. "Use your wings, assuming she hasn't learned how to fly with her own, yet. We'd best be off. Thank you again for helping take care of Gara."
Left standing there with the two bats rushing off in one direction and Lyra starting to gallop in the other, Honey closed his eyes and looked up into the sky with a smile on his face. "I don't remember signing up for this." Spreading his wings, he drew magic into himself and out, shooting into the sky effortlessly. It wasn't long before he spotted Lyra and Garawang.
More in tune with the world around her, thanks to her meditation with her pegasi magic, Lyra was able to jink to the side before Honey crashed to the ground beside her. "Nice catch up!"
It was a test. Honey was nimble enough to have dodged Lyra at the last second anyway, but now he knew she'd been paying attention to her feathers. "Good reaction time. Can you run, though?" He poured on the speed and started to stretch out into the faster "pegasus gallop" that his tribe was known for.
Not for the first time in her life was Lyra challenged. She didn't have a great grasp on what her pegasi magic felt like yet, but even so she felt like she was on the verge of pushing into that faster gallop almost constantly. On her back, Garawang used her wings to pull herself closer to Lyra's ears.
"Open your wings a little. I can feel your magic there," Garawang said.
It surprised Lyra, but she figured it wouldn't hurt. Carefully spreading the tips of her wings out a little to catch the airstream, a shiver ran through her as that new kind of magic rushed up her spine and through her head, then out into her body. "Wo—"
She never got the last part of her exclamation out. When her pegasi magic reached her legs, Lyra strode through that barrier and into a faster gait that she'd never used before.
When Lyra caught up to his side, Honey let out a whoop of excitement. "Figured it out?"
"Nope! Gara did!" Lyra joined in with Honey's shout, her body feeling light as the air she was running through. "This is amazing!"
"Just wait until you actually fly!"
"I can already fly!" Lyra turned her head to look back at Gara, keeping one eye on the road before her. "Hold tight! Alley—OOP!"
Honey knew about Lyra's expertise with fast and precise teleportation, he had done a little reading on her background, so seeing her vanish wasn't a surprise. The air telling him that there was a falling pony some few hundred ponylengths above him, however, was. "What are you—?"
When she reached a point only a little above the road, she did an in-place teleport that simply redirected her momentum at an acute angle back upward. When she looked down, she saw Honey pumping his wings to catch her.
It was ludicrous to see. He'd not heard about this trick, but seeing her adjusting her momentum with teleportation was quite the sight for him. As she reached the apogee of her ballistic arc, he drew up beside her. "You're crazy!"
"Yes!" Lyra laughed, which had Garawang on her back laughing too. "Can you imagine how much—" The wind of her descent dragged her words away, so Lyra adjusted another teleport to skip her upward again. "… better it will be when I can do this and use my wings?" she shouted.
Tucking his wings, Honey left Lyra and Garawang to their impromptu flight while he glided back over the city, his thoughts his only companion. The last week had opened his eyes to weird new ways to do things. He knew some avenues weren't open to him, but he certainly planned to get a unicorn assistant who could learn the sorting spells Lyra had used.
Making sure to angle himself over the gatehouse of the Guard area, he sketched a salute to the guards on duty and aimed not for the office, but the practice field.
When his hooves touched the ground, some small measure of Honey's magic faded. It was always so with pegasi. Born to fly, destined to spend most of their time within a ponylength of the ground—except for those that lived their whole lives in Cloudsdale.
Lyra had seen pegasi doing their "dances" before. Complex routines of attack and defense designed to flow and give the pony's reflexes an extra edge. The motions were elegant, even if she could picture him wearing claws and armor and using the same motions to stab and slash.
Scootaloo had been training this way for some time, and recently Lyra knew her "little filly" had even made a new one, specifically with the motions to deflect and curve spells in it.
"What's he doing?" Garawang asked, her eyes drinking-in the smooth movements Honey made with curiosity bubbling behind them.
"A very special dance. Sit here and watch." Having observed Scootaloo many times, and recently spent time deep in training documents for earth ponies and pegasi, Lyra let Garawang down from her back and circled around Honey to stand opposite him. When the dance reached a major point, she stepped in to provide the duet.
Honey was surprised when Lyra started performing the training dance. Her form was terrible, but she kept time well enough that he could work around any mistakes she made. The two of them flowed and moved together, wings reaching out to adjust their positions and strike as well. When the dance reached its conclusion, he had to take a step back from her. "You need to work on your hoof placement and if I see you move your wings like that again, I'll ground you for a year. Not bad for a newbie, though."
"Thanks. I guess I'll have to get somepony to train me to do these properly, even if the more complex ones will have to wait until I can fly."
"Lyra!" Running up to her big sister, Garawang jumped and landed halfway up her shoulder before using her wings to pull herself up and on top. "You were dancing! Can I learn to dance like that?"
Honey thought about it, but shook his head. "Like that? Well, those dance moves might not work for such a clever filly. We'd have to get somepony to invent new ones just for you!"
"Really?"
"Yeah. I wonder if I could get Bluebelle to help?" Doing his best to ignore Lyra's manic grin, Honey asked, "Do you know any other bat ponies? I think Princess Luna has some guards that might be able to help if we asked them."
Lyra saw it. There was a glimmer in Honey's eyes that made her absolutely sure harmony and chaos had combined to show him a path to take. "We have a meeting in the castle tonight, remember? If you can get a proposal together, I can make sure we have the right ponies around to ask for help."
"Right. Yes. It's not like I could order one of the princesses' guards around." Waving his hoof dismissively, Honey froze. "You know them, don't you?"
"With luck Phil will be on duty. If not, maybe Sharp Fang or Fire Blossom." As she spoke, Lyra drank up the look of disbelief that Honey gave her. "It'd be best if we could find Dream Thunder, but I doubt she'd be in Equestria."
"How do you know so many ponies?" The words spilled out before Honey could stop them. In theory he knew she'd likely been up to a lot of things to become a captain and an alicorn, but to see her rattle off names that he had no reason to believe weren't bat ponies was a new shock.
"Well, the various guards for Luna I have met while helping them hunt down a monster from Batstralia. Dream Thunder is a foalhood friend of mine, and probably more powerful magically than anypony in Batstralia, including Princess Screech—but don't tell her I said that."
"Don't tell…?" It took Honey a moment to calm down. "You are infuriating."
"As for all the others, I move around jobs a lot. It isn't so much that I seek out to know everyone, but this last week I've added one more to my list of friends." With a reassuring smile, Lyra winked at Honey. "But, since we have another week, what else can I do to make this part of the Guard run smoother? Or, if you'd rather, your job easier."
"We still have that research on training non-ponies. Isn't there a town of griffons living somewhere south of here?" As soon as he'd said it, Honey knew this was a mistake. "You've been there."
"Nope! Haven't seen the place."
Narrowing his eyes, Honey looked over at Garawang, who was being rather quiet. "Is she part griffon?" When a giggling Garawang shook her head, he sighed with relief. "So what is your connection?"
"Would you believe I'm good friends with the mayor?" Lyra asked. "His name's Gavin."
"Of course it is. I shouldn't be surprised—No! I won't be surprised anymore. Humor me, though, how did you meet him?" Picking up Garawang, Honey slung the filly onto his back while they walked toward the office building.
"About a year ago there was a Grand Equestria Pony Summit. Twilight wanted to make sure the griffon town, Den, got a chance to not be encumbered by the hungry metropolises and nobles, so she asked me to chaperon Gavin around. I found him some not horrible ponies to help him get some trade moving, while Princess Luna herself took charge of building out the rail network to link Den up with the rest of Equestria."
"Ugh. Politics. How can you stand all that?" Honey opened the door for Lyra, letting his commander (even temporarily) precede him.
"The trick is they're still people. Take Upper Crust, she's the mare now in charge of the treasury. She made a killing of a profit selling Den's goods. It turns out that the right customers will buy anything handmade. Toss in them using griffon fur and feathers, and she was marking up goods nearly triple."
"That sounds horrible. Why didn't she pay them more for them?" Settling at his desk, Honey lifted Garawang around to sit on a chair beside him. Across the desk, Lyra got her own seat.
"She used the profits to invest more and more in the Equestrian rail system, doubling down her investments with her partner until they owned it all. Directing more effort toward linking small, growing cities became a big focus. Den's products helped get it that rail link, and helped other areas get one as well."
"You trusted her to do that?"
"It was a test, of sorts. But then, isn't everything you do in life—the actions you show others—a test?" Seeing her chance, Lyra reached out and booped Garawang on the nose. "What about you, cadet. Are you willing to pass the test?"
Eyes widening, Garawang stood as straight as she could and snapped a wing up and saluted. "Yes, Sis!"
"That's captain sis, Gara." Lyra was doing her best not to giggle at the filly using the wrong wing to salute. "Okay. Your first mission is to figure out where Stiff Peaks hides his candy. I know it's in his desk in there somewhere, but I'll be darned if I can find it."
Honey made room for a screeching missile to pass him and launch herself into Lyra's office. "Stiff keeps candy in there?"
"If he does, he's better at hiding it than I am at finding it. I am not Stiff, though. Third drawer down on the left side I have some of my wife's hoof-made candies. I'll gladly sacrifice some to make sure Gara has a reward.
"So, griffons, bat ponies, dragons if they want to. Can you think of any others we will need to address before they start showing up on our doorstep?" Lyra produced her notepad and pencil, then marked down the species she'd listed already.
"Diamond dogs. I know there are a few clans of them living in Equestria, but they never sign up for anything. How would we get the word out that we're recruiting these extra species?"
"Start with Gavin and Den's griffons. I think he said there were some dragons there too. I'll pay them a visit and see what I can drum up." The sound of excited screeching in her office tipped Lyra off that Garawang had found the candy. "Recruit! Report!"
"Aunt Sweetie's candies found in the—in the bottom drawer! I am dealing with them!" At least, that's what Garawang tried to say, but it was a little hard with one of the larger candies in her mouth.
"Good work, recruit. I'm glad you found all the poisoned candies." At the shocked stare from her sister, Lyra held out her hoof and took them from the filly's shaking wing. Quickly putting one in her own mouth, she grinned at Garawang and offered one to Honey too.
"You liar! You said they were poisoned!" Uncaring of the volume or pitch of her voice, Garawang batted at Lyra with her wings over and over until Lyra countered, tickling her back until her screeches of laughter became too much and she devolved into snorting giggles.
Giggling too, Lyra picked Garawang up with her magic and set her on a seat. "How'd you know they were Sweetie's candy?"
"Be-because she put a note with them!" Reaching for the box, Garawang pulled a slip of paper from the side of it. "She really, really likes you!"
Looking at the letter, Lyra couldn't help but get the warm fuzzies. "Yeah. I don't know how I got so lucky, either. She's one of the best things that ever happened to me." Booping Garawang on the nose, Lyra added, "Another is having an awesome little sister."
Watching the two interact, Honey was again struck by how different the two looked, yet were obviously deeply linked as family. He tried a candy from the little box, and almost melted into his seat at how good it was. He knew of Sweetie Drops by reputation and seeing her training recruits—he knew her cutie mark was literally candy. It didn't stop the delicious flavor from making him zone out for a bit in gastronomical joy.
By the time Honey could focus on something other than the sweet, he could see Lyra and Garawang were playing some kind of game that involved tapping out rhythms with their hooves and wings. It reminded him of Lyra's cutie mark being one in music, which was less common than food for the Guard.
"We have an hour until the meeting, right?" Lyra asked Honey.
"Huh? Oh." Looking up at the clock on the wall, and checking his itinerary, Honey nodded. "We do. You wanted to see some other guards there, right?"
"Some bat pony guards, yes. You get to come with us to the castle, Gara." Lyra stood and stretched, not surprised in the least when her sister mimicked her.
Garawang's eyes widened and she started to bounce on her hooves. "I get to see Aunt Celestia?"
Hearing her sister use that title for Celestia was like having harmony itself poke her in the ribs with an elbow. "Yup, but first we have other ponies to talk to."
It wasn't like Garawang hadn't been to the castle before, but she didn't get to go too regularly, and definitely not with her big sister. Even though her dad didn't let her go roaming all over Canterlot on her own, it didn't mean that Garawang hadn't slipped away from time to time for adventure. She knew what streets led where, how to get around without being spotted from above, and even how to duck over the side of the edge and hide under Canterlot—not that she needed to do any of those things with her big sister taking her to the most cool place in the city. So, prancing at her sister's side, Garawang didn't pay any attention at all to the cool alleyways and hidden places she knew were just off the main street.
Lyra hadn't missed her sister's ears looking like they were swiveling all over the place. Excitable was a vast understatement for young bat ponies, but then she had to take into account that even old bat ponies seemed to always be stuck in a higher gear than anyone else. Walking up the entrance to the castle grounds, she noticed her sister was even more excited still. "Doesn't Mum bring you up here very often?"
"She's always working when she's up here, she said, even when I know she's drinking tea in the garden. Sometimes Dad brings me, but he doesn't hang around long and I have to go home. He gets distracted too, sometimes, and I get to go on adventures." She'd been so excited that Garawang hadn't realized she was going to spill some of her secrets before they were out in the open. Looking up at Lyra, she felt worry until her big sister grinned.
"Sounds like fun. Just be careful, okay? Be the sneakiest bat you can be—unless Dad or Mum sound worried."
"Yeah. Dad figured out I come back when I'm bored, so he waits for me. I think he thinks I don't know he's doing it, but I do. Know, I mean." Garawang ducked her head, but not enough, when Lyra rubbed it. It took her a moment of work with her wings to recover.
"We're going to be talking about a lot of boring stuff, but for tonight I'll deputize you as a member of Princess Twilight's Royal Friendship Guard. Acting Sergeant Mango!"
"Wait," Honey asked, "can you do that?"
"I'm a commander. Who would stop me?" Lyra gave the Royal Guards at the entrance of the castle a salute as they passed. "We're here to see Princess Luna."
"You know the way, Captain. Staff Sergeant." A lazy nod was all that was required of Pace Setter after the salute.
"I'm a sergeant too!" Garawang said.
Peering down at the filly, Pace stiffened sharply, banged a rear hoof on the floor for emphasis, and performed another salute. "Yes, Sergeant! Sorry, Sergeant!"
Giggling, Garawang tried to dodge yet another mane-ruffling and failed as the huge hoof of the earth pony pushed around her whole head.
"She's a harsh sergeant, but fair. Come on, Gara, we have a princess to talk to." Lyra nodded down the hall and started off, letting Garawang and Honey keep up.
Waiting for the little group to depart, Pace turned and asked, "The commander is leaving her wings out now?"
"Seems that way. Guess she finally gave up fighting it."
"About time. She has a good head on her shoulders."
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Yeah the next one is UP!!!!
Great chapter, thanks : ) More species are better : )
This is a great chapter and it seems that Lyra is doing all she can to remove even the most minor issues in the guard. I'm not surprised that a foal did notice her wings even though it was her little sister.
Introducing more species in the guard is certainly usefull and whenthe kirin make their appearance Lyra will certainly try to get them into guard as well. Probably setting some new records in the process.
i have to work but . . fuck it, new chapter <.<
11654957 "Why is everything on fire?"
11655051
Well Captain, I was a teensy weensy bit angry and it seemed like a good idea at the time..
Two ciphers are like dual tone dialing, not just each, but theres far mroe combinations, and like music, you can send messages by playing tunes while the mesage itself has nothing.
If you use use four ciphers, then you can have enough levels of combinations that you can encode the mental state of the messenger as well.
And Lyra knows English.
She could call it the Four Candle Cipher.
Awww. Such a cute little sister!
amazing
chapter it looks like the guards and military is going to be getting a hole bunch of new recruits.
Ah, the disadvantages of being twice as tall as your subjects.
"This whole saga was planned out before G5 was a thing; that junkie won't bother anypony for another millennium at least."
You don't have to be crazy to defend Equestria, but it helps!
I get the feeling the crazy mare will be talking her into more.
Lyra acting as fate's instrument and enjoying every strum continues to be delightful. It's hard to say which new alicorn is causing more chaos, her or Flurry Heart. Looking forward to the further efforts to broaden the Guard to encompass all of those willing and able to protect Equestria.
To Blueblood and Bread Basket: Congratulations! Any plans for the honeymoon?
11656020
To be fair, this story was meant to complete at the end of G4. G5 has given me inspiration to lengthen it, keyboards, patrons, and rum willing. Though I am glad someone got that reference.
Military intelligence, by any other name...
11656037
I did realize that the third Alicorn Celestia Menitoned was Opaline Arcana. I had just forgotten about when I wrote my comment.
I do like the fact that G5 has inspired you to lengthen this story.
And I reach the end once again. Glad to see that you're planning to extend past G4.
Does it count as eloping if it's still exactly where and how you wanted it?
Here comes Lyra, prepare for chaos to come and lift you up into motion again!
Wonder what will happen when she subscribes Change into the mix?
Poor Honey stood no chance. 😂