Welcome to the New Lunar Republic
Swiftwind couldn’t believe what he just did. Especially considering his motivations. He knew, or at least thought he knew, that dreams were just products of the mind while let loose as the body slept, and that the Lunar Sister of Princess Celestia wasn’t to be trusted. But then again, dreams, in his experience, never had a tendency to give him such blatant and extremely clear directions and visions. His dreams always consisted of the abstract and impossible, so a dream involving Princess Luna herself telling him about how he could be so much more than what he was under the Solar Army, with its antiquated traditions, rigid rank systems, and often highly restrictive regulations stood out vividly.
So now he found himself quite literally crossing the border between the Solar Empire and its breakaway region under the direct control of Princess Luna, using the name of the New Lunar Republic. Using his knowledge of the border crossings, he managed to slip by patrols from both sides, wanting to avoid being caught defecting by the Solar side, and illegal border crossing by the other. Despite the name of the region, Shade Valley did not appear to be as dark as he always thought; even in the dusk hours, when he knew both sides changed shifts, the region remained well illuminated.
Regardless, though, Swiftwind took to the air and made haste for the nearest and only major city of the young Republic, Vanhoofer. Seeing that it stood as the capital city of the NLR, he found a rural homestead where he landed and snagged a hooded cloak to conceal his identity. While the Solar Empire and NLR did not see eye to eye on many things, they retained an extradition treaty, and he didn’t come all this way just to be forcibly sent back to Canterlot to face a court marshal for desertion and possibly treason.
Hooded cloak now equipped, Swiftwind trotted to the still-open city gates, without so much as a glance by the rather frightening thestrals that comprised the bulk of the Army of the Lunar Republic. It was about this time when he knew, deep in his heart, that he made the right decision. Throughout his time with the Solar Army, he often lamented how his ability to blend in got put to waste time after time, with the requirement to wear ostentatious armor at all times while working in any official capacity.
In the dream that lead to him defecting, Princess Luna spoke of a time when all ponies’ strengths were put to the best possible use, rather than lumping everyone into the general service, and only allowing them to express their true talents once they managed to impress the right ponies. It was the idea of developing the skills at which he already excelled rather than building up a totally unrelated set of skills in hopes of one day being able to develop the other skills for which he already had a raw talent that drove him to realize that he would likely never come into his own in the Solar Army.
Once in the city, Swiftwind immediately confronted a city guard, another thestral.
“Sir,” he asked, “I’m looking for an audience with the Princess…”
“Isn’t everyone?” the thestral sighed, “audiences with Her Majesty the Princess of the Night are held between the hours of 11 P.M. and 2 A.M. Her castle is a straight shot along the road behind you,” he explained, his tone of voice sounding like an overly rehearsed speech.
To Swiftwind, though, this proved a positive development, since that indicated that his request was a common one, and not one upon which suspicion gets cast.
“Thank you, sir,” Swiftwind replied.
“Be on your way, citizen.”
Without further insistence from the guard, Swiftwind trotted through the bustling urban center, doing everything he could to keep his hood as far over his head as he could manage while still being able to keep a wide field of vision and at the same time not draw undue attention to himself. As he walked, ponies clearly not from the town strode through, garnering the attention of Swiftwind, and also that of a few ponies with less-than-noble intentions.
Swiftwind checked the giant clock tower in the skyline, just close enough for him to make out the hands. It read as 10:25, giving him enough time to tail the rich earth pony and make sure he did not fall victim to the local muggers. At least, he figured, he could use this instance to brush up on his social stealth skills he honed while growing up in the slums, and potentially his combat prowess he honed to a greater extent in the Royal Guards.
“Ok,” he whispered to himself, “first mistake, not checking his surroundings; he is only looking straight forward with barely a hint of eye movement or head swiveling. Also, he’s looking down, meaning he’s trying to avoid eye contact, for sure, and also attempting complete amateur’s method of avoiding unwanted attention; he seems too rich to realize that his choice of attire consisting of a suit, tie, and monacle is doing him no favors out here. Lastly, it’s late at night, and I doubt even the rule of Princess Luna changed the fact that crimes tend to happen at night. The only thing that could make this worse is if he-“
And just on cue, the rich earth pony turned into a dark alleyway.
“For the love of the Princess, is he trying to get mugged?” Swiftwind whispered to himself, exasperated, and followed the pony to the corner of the alleyway.
Upon reaching the corner, he leaned his left broad side against the building, looking as if he awaited someone or something. However, with the help of a curved mirror in his pocket, he saw into the alleyway without arousing suspicion, making it look as if he simply checked his appearance.
Sure enough, the rich earth pony met with two burly figures. Cloaked in darkness, Swiftwind barely made out the fact that the burly figures had cloaks and did not possess horns, but nothing else. From the trembling of the earth pony’s legs, Swiftwind could easily see the fear rolling off of him. If a mugging took place, he had to be ready. Hastily, he extended his wings and flapped up to the roof of the building beside him.
Unfortunately, to his horror that caused his heart to nearly stop and his stomach to sink, four Lunar Guards in full combat armor lay prone, two on each roof on either side of the alleyway, looking down towards the rich earth pony and cloaked strangers.
The nearest thestral immediately noticed Swiftwind, and without a word, sprang to tackle the stunned pegasus. The sheer unexpected sight above him caused his joints to lock, and merely stumbled before the thestral pinned him to the roof and knocked him unconscious with a hoof to the head.