Playing our part
Sadly, I’ve never really belonged. My name is Dazzle Treat,and I have the misfortune of being a unicorn. I know, isn’t being a unicorn and a stallion to boot supposed to be great? Well, its not. In foal school, everyone expected me to be able to perform all these amazing tricks, but at best my abilities are average. To add insult to injury, my adopted pegasus sister, who was the same age, knew more about magic back then. But I had come a long way. This was my ninth year in school. I would be attending Manehattan High. In fact, everypony would be attending, but they didn't really have a choice. On this particular day in Manehattan, it was dreary, and raining quite heavily. I guess the pegasus teams were on strike, wanting higher pay again. It was disheartening, because I knew what would happen to them.
This city was not a good place to call home, which is why I did my best to not form any attachments to it. Maybe someday I could leave. As I walked to school, my annoyingly cheery sister followed along. As much as I didn’t like to admit, we were very similar. I passed by my oldest, and best friend, Blueberry, who also happened to be my only friend. She was waiting outside her living complex for me. The building was a dull grey, like every other building around us.
I used to get teased for my light red fur. I had always wished my fur was light blue, like my sister’s. I was almost my sister’s complete opposite. Her mane was red; mine was blue. Blue was a unicorn, with a light purple coat, and an alternating blue and purple mane.
“Hey Blue!” I called out, smiling slightly.
“Don’t sound too happy now, someone might think you actually are,” said Sugar.
My only reply was an eyeroll.
“Hey Foaleo, you ready?” As an afterthought, she addressed Sugar. “Oh, hey Squirt.” Blue was the only pony I liked using that nickname, and she ensured she was the only one who did. Not even Sugar dared to use it around her.
“Yeah Iron Will, how about you?” I always loved talking with Blue. She almost felt like family.
“Always,” she said, smirking.
As usual, she took the lead, with Sugar and I following along slightly behind her. “So, I heard the government is cracking down on rebels,” said Blue.
“ Yeah, I heard. Do you think Softy will be safe?”
“I hope so, he made the best ice cream,” said Sugar.
“I wouldn't worry, that old pegasus could talk his way out of a firing squad.”
“Yeah,” I chuckled, “you're probably right.”
Softwing was an old pegasus, who had run an amazing dessert shop before the takeover. He used to act as if it was his duty to make sure everyone got a free sample of everything. We had loved Softwing, but in reality he was a separatist agent. He had to flee when the N.E.S.B found out.
Up ahead, Manehattan High loomed tall. Built of dull grey cinder blocks, it was reinforced with steel. If it was possible, the inside was even more lifeless looking. Flanking the main entrance were two red and grey banners, which displayed the cutie Marksist party logo with an equal sign. As the stallion and mares walked down their street towards the massive structure, they walked past many similar banners and posters. Ponies walked along with their heads down. Some were off to their assigned jobs, while other students, like them, were heading towards school. Everypony walked past buildings which were the same dark grey, unless they happened to be brick, then they were left unpainted. Most of the old, and all the new buildings recently constructed, were made of cheap wood from Phillydelphia. The concrete, like the brick buildings, were left unpainted. There were no street lights. They had all been replaced by signs. When ponies complained about it, the city council was forced to make up some excuse. It’s not like they could refuse an order from the fuhrer.
“ You would think ponies could remember they had a new government by now. All these stupid posters make me want to do is buck Glimmer in the face,” said Blue.
“Don't we all,” I replied.
“C'mon Lard Legs, better hurry. If we’re late, Witch is gonna kill us.”
“ He already does that every day,” said Sugar.
“Try and keep up, Lard Puddles.”
Blue, Dazzle and Sugar walked into the classroom, already bored thinking about the day ahead. Manehattan High only had twelve teachers, one for each grade. Massive barren grey walls and ceilings, except for a minimum of light fixtures, made it feel like one of several prisons around the city, rather than a school.
“I didn't think I could get more disgusted with the new architecture, or the fuhrer,” grumbled Blue.
“Quiet,” I whispered, “not near the cameras. You know they can pick up audio,” I reminded her.
“You worry to much,” chuckled Sugar.
Once away from the obvious cameras, I did my best impression of the old stallion the students secretly called Witch. “Now scholars, pull out your communist party history textbooks and complete chapter five. If I hear you insult our most sexy of leaders, Starlight, gift from above, I will report you.”
It was well known the perverted old stallion we called Witch had a crush on Fuhrer Starlight Glimmer. Blueberry laughed, loud enough to draw heads. She had a weird laugh, but ponies quickly turned away. Blue was not a pony you could insult and get away with. Normally, I didn't like making fun of teachers, because I was afraid someone would tell Witch about it. However, if it made Blue laugh, it was worth it. I liked her laugh. Sugar just rolled her eyes. She never did appreciate my humor.
“Class, pull out your books and turn to chapter seven on the overthrow of Equestria’s former corrupt diarchy,” drawled Witch.
After several hours of boring classes, the students were finally free to return to their living complexes. “So, have you signed the petition to get a park built yet?” asked Blue, as we walked back to our respective homes, if you could even call them that. The city council had the right to evict somepony anytime they chose.
“I have, but I doubt it will work. Three of the five city council members don’t think we need trees,” I replied.
“I’d love a tree. Everything here is a blur of grey.” Sugar was right, it was.
“When are those idiots gonna start thinking about morale?” asked Blue.
“Probably not anytime soon. Between both of our parents, we can influence two members of the council. They both agree a park would raise morale. Why can't they get at least one more to see we need this,” grumbled Blue.
“I don't know. We should be able to.”
At that moment we turned a corner, and walked into a pair of N.E.S.B officers (New Equestria Security Bureau). Taken by surprise, Sugar and I couldn't react in time to stop ourselves, and ran into a middle aged looking stallion and mare. Unfortunately for us, this caused the stallion to spill his steaming cup of coffee down his clean, but wrinkled, uniform. “WATCH IT, BRAT!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.
Grabbing Sugar roughly, he violently pulled her face up to his, and shook her. The mare charged, and held me down. The stallion received a set of hind legs to his flank from Blue. I threw my head back into the mares face, and was rewarded with a nice crunch. Sugar fell, with a hard landing. The mare holding me down rolled off me, clutching her bleeding muzzle.
“ I’m Blueberry, daughter of councilman Silent Snow, and this is Dazzle Treat and Sugar Dancer, son and daughter of councilman Whisper Dawn. I order you to return to Enforcer’s Hub immediately!” shouted Blue, as she shoved her identification papers at them. With terror mounting on their faces, they examined the papers. They quickly shouted their apologies, and ran.
“Are you alright?” I asked, reaching a hoof down to help her up.
The only thing more annoying than Sugar, was some pony messing with her.
“Im fine, just a little scraped,” she replied.
“Good, I’m not hurt. Let's just get back home.”
I knew we hadn’t meant what we said. I just waited for what I knew Blue would say next. She hadn’t believed either of us.
“Come with me to my living complex. Our maids can patch both of you up.”
Since our parents were members of the city council, this gave our families certain small privileges.
“No, I’m fine,” I said. “Our complexes are almost right next to each other.”
“ You just don't want to come because my father heard rumors we were courting. I keep telling him it's not true.”
Only slightly hurt by that statement, I relented. “Fine, I’ll come with you, but I can't stay long you know.”
“ Finally seeing sense coming on. Both of you can also stay for dinner.”
“ We really can't stay for dinner,” I said.
“ Shut up. You knew you were going to agree the moment you gave in,” she smirked.
She was right. That was the whole reason I agreed. Spending more time with Blue beat out even her terrifying father. And besides, it was just past noon. He wouldn't be back until nightfall.
“Thank you for the delicious ration packs, Mrs. Berry,” I said, struggling not to cough any up. I should be calling Blue’s mom Mrs. Blizzard, since her husband’s full name was Silent Snow Blizzard. The first time I met her though, I called her Mrs. Berry, and it just stuck.
“Come off it, future son in law.”
“MOM, WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THAT?” yelled a blushing Blueberry. One time I made the mistake of calling her Cranberry when she was mad. The impact shattered my left front foreleg.”
Blue and I, with a miracle of coordination, simultaneously yelled, “WE ARE NOT COURTING!’ Sugar was sitting down near the end of the table, where we had been eating. She was barely managing to contain her laughter.
“Hmmm, how unfortunate Daz,” replied Mrs. Berry.
Both of us were blushing wildly at this time. I tried to change the topic by asking,”Have either of our parents found a way to push the council for construction of a park?”
“Yeah,” Blue quickly chimed in. “I need to see some green around here. I can't stand all these asinine posters of Glimmer. If there were any, I’d buy a Glimmer stress doll the first chance I got.”
“How is True Equestria holding out?” I asked, still trying to get Blue’s mother to stop thinking of our possible courtship.
“Silent says it’s holding out well, but if they aren't relieved soon, Canterlot will fall.”
A few years ago, a mysterious mare named Starlight Glimmer had appeared. Glimmer’s political and philosophical ideas had quickly won over the dregs of society, and most of Equestria’s poorer eastern quarter. The poor, at Glimmer’s goading, rose up and overthrew all the local governments. The guards were unwilling to hurt former friends and family, or let them get caught up in the crossfire. Since few were willing to fight, there was no hope of ending Starlight’s rebellion. The western border of concordia stopped at the Crystal Empire and Canterlot. Concordia’s eastern border was the coast, and it stretched down to the jungles far south. This was the size of Fuhrer Glimmer’s new country. There had never been a bigger misnomer.
“Surely there must be something we can do?” asked Blue.
“There isn't anything you can do, much as I wish there were,” replied her mom, thankfully off the courtship idea.
“Ugh, why did we ever have to leave Ponyville? We would still be living in True Equestria,” said Blue, looking disgruntled.
“I told you I don't want to talk about that. It doesn't matter. At the current rate, Canterlot will fall in weeks.”
“HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? Don’t you have any faith in the princesses?” Blue was always annoyed when someone doubted True Equestria’s ability to weather the storm.
Appearing not angry, but tired, Mrs. Berry replied, “I believed at the start, but True Equestria is nowhere near as industrialized as Concordia. Just think, unless Princess Twilight and her Council of friends were to escape Final Sight, Manehatten’s most secure prison,
there’s simply no way they can resist forever. Not even the power of three alicorns is enough to resist forever.”
“I know, I know, but dad’s been looking for a way to get them out. Hasn’t he found anything?”asked Blue, still using a raised voice, but calmer now.
“Your father and Whisper have been looking non-stop for a way to help them escape. They know everything about the prison. However, there is no way in Celestia's great wide land of Equestria that they could force a prison transfer, or anything that might give True Equestria commandos a chance to free them.”
“But aren't there more secure prisons up in the northern mountains?”
“Yes, there are, but the fuhrer is too lazy to go all the way there whenever she feels the need to interrogate them. You can’t get much deeper into Concordia than Manehattan.”
“Couldn’t our father’s forge orders from the fuhrer?” I asked, still wary of Blue’s anger.
“It could be done, if we had the seal she signs all her orders with, but she never parts with it. Only military commanders receive orders from Glimmer unless…”
“That just reminded me, Starlight is going to be coming here for a State of the City Inspection.” State of the City Inspections weren’t really inspections. All the fuhrer did was get drunk on the local leader’s wine.
“That would be the perfect opportunity to steal her seal!” Now Blue was looking excited, all trace of anger gone. I wondered if she was bipolar.
“It is, but we have no… NO I will not let you put yourself in harms way alone.”
“But it's the perfect-wait alone?”
“Yes, alone. Perhaps if Dazzle were to agree to this, I would let you.” Mrs. Berry was smirking, because she didn’t think I would agree. Mrs. Berry was wrong.
“C’mon Mrs. Berry, I can't let Blueberry have all the glory, can I?” Mrs. Berry’s left eye twitched, and the sound of her teeth coming together was audible.
“Well, I’ll just see what your father thinks about this.”
That was good news. Blue was spoiled by Silent Snow. Silent would do anything to please her. “Dazzle, would you mind coming by tomorrow around 7:00? Silent should be home by then.”
“Sure,” I said, because her dad was scary enough, even when I wasn’t discussing getting in harm's way with her daughter."
“Oh, we should wait to tell Whisper Dawn about this,” I said, as I was about to walk out the door. “If we convince Silent Snow to go through with this first, it will be alot easier to convince Whisper.”
“If you say so, but he might not appreciate being left out of the initial planning when you tell him,” said Mrs. Berry.
“Don't worry. I can't remember the last time he got mad at Sugar and I.”
N.E.S.B officers were on every corner. In the afternoon, I walked with Blue and Sugar back to Blue’s complex. The city council had just this morning released information about Fuhrer Glimmer’s arrival. From now, until after Glimmer’s departure from the city, the N.E.S.B would be out in full force, trying to ascertain all was orderly, without any hints of an uprising. One might think the number of ponies rushing around would increase, but one of the few rules the city council had no control over, was the flow of movement. Everypony had to move at a slow and orderly pace through the checkpoints, or the N.E.S.B was authorized to use tear gas. It’s a stupid rule, but I guess while trying to check every pony's identification, there had to be contingencies. After being roughly shoved through the line, and receiving an apology for being city council kids, we were finally spit out on the other side. I was ready to go anyplace that meant a break from the crowding that came with checkpoints.
“So Blue, do you think he will go for it?” I asked.
“I don't know. I tried to ask him about it last night, but he refused to talk to me. He said we would discuss it tomorrow, when we were all there, but he didn’t seem mad, so that’s a good sign." We had purposefully left Whisper Dawn out of this, because he was a lot more prone to worry than Silent Snow was. As the trio approached the complex, Daz started remembering some not quite so pleasant memories. On Blue’s third birthday, I had tried to levitate her cake, in order to impress her and her family. It hadn’t ended well. I had dropped it (I still blame Sugar). It had splattered all over Silent Snow's legs, and coat. He had laughed it off, but that wasn’t the only incident. Ugh, I remember the ti-.
“Hey Dazzle brain, we’re here. Maybe you should stop before you run into my door.”
“Oh, we’re here already. Wow!”
“Yeah, time flies when you're brain dead,” she said jokingly. “C’mon, we're going to eat dinner first. Hopefully that will put him in a better mood.”
Mrs. Berry greeted us at the door. “Well,it isn't the romantic candle light dinner you wanted, Dazzy honey, but I’m sure it will work out,” she winked.
I must have visibly turned green, as I felt vomit coming up the back of my throat. “No need to be green with envy. I assure you,” Mrs. Berry said with a wink, “she won’t become another stallion’s fillyfriend.”
“Um, what are we having tonight M-”
“Please, just call me Berry, and we’re only having sandwiches and hay fries.”
Relieved she went along with the obvious change of subject, we went to see Blue’s terrifying father. As we entered the dining area, or rather poor excuse for one, I was surprised I didn’t see Sil-. Suddenly, I had a dragon trying to break my ribs.
“AYYY, HOW'S MY FAVORITE FUTURE SON- IN- LAW?”
That dragon was the father of my crush, and also the pony who had nearly killed me on several occasions. Finally, after he noticed my lips turning blue, he set me down. “Ahh, finally get to talk about your first mission. Isn't that exciting?”
At least now I wasn’t blushing like fire, but I was short of breath, and felt queasy. “This will be such a good time to bond, the two of you together. Did I ever tell you I’ve always felt more like a second dad to you?”
“Only 5,124, but who’s counting?” there you have him. Sometimes I was more scared of Silent, than I was of Whisper.”
“Come on, eat. Let's leave the boring stuff for later.”
Silent Snow acted more like a colt than a stallion, which might be why he was so popular, now that I thought about it.
After a rather tasteless ration of sandwiches and hay fries, then a hurried trip to the restroom, everyone had finished.
“So, Dazzle, now about this proposed operation?”
I expected him to be hard to convince. I had already prepared my argument, but as I opened my mouth, he interrupted me.
“I’m absolutely fine with this. Most friendships start through sharing a difficult experience. You two are already friends. This will be so good for both of you.” Shocked, and turning bright red again, I sputtered, trying to find an appropriate response. Before I could, I was spared the need.
“Don’t worry, I’ve thought this through. There shouldn’t be any real danger. Even if you
are caught hanging around Fuhrer Glimmer, you can just pretend you’re patriotic and wanted to personally meet her, or get her autograph. Our loyal reputation, and your youth, should protect you.” This didn’t really comfort me. I could tell it didn’t help Blue’s or Sugar’s nerves either.
“The fuhrer will need to use the maresroom some time during the night, or perhaps retire to an upper bedroom. When she does, we need to be ready to take her seal. Glimmer carries it somewhere on her person at all times. Be sure to look for bumps in her uniform, before you go for it.”
“All the guards in the council building are utterly loyal to us, not the fuhrer, and will help you where possible, but you must be careful. Your youth may protect you from some things, but if caught red handed, there isn’t much we can do to help.”
“So wait, you had already decided?” now I felt like I could vomit. I was still slightly red and confused.
“Yes, I’m so glad you went to the trouble of bringing this up for me. It saves me the trouble of convincing you.”
I glanced at Blue and Sugar, to see them just as shocked as I was. “Wait, if you had decided all along you were going to support this, then why have us meet?” Blue asked.
“Isn’t is obvious?” Silent chuckled, “I wanted to see my future son- in- law.”
“Dad, please don’t-.”
“C’mon honey, I’m just joking. It’s customary, and I wanted to make sure you knew all the details.” Silent winked at me.“Remember, ten days from now, you need to have your dress clothes ready, okay Dazzle and Sugar?”
“Um, yeah, they’re always kept ready, in case there’s a surprise visit from a higher up, or my parents need to go to a political party, or something like that.”
“Good, because the fuhrer will expect things to go smoothly, no riots or anything like that.”
“Umm, thanks for the rations. I’m glad to know we can be of use.” I was wanting to get out of there before Silent and Mrs. Berry could arrange my marriage to Blue.
“Wait till Whisper comes home tomorrow to convince him. I’ll try to soften him up to the idea. This might be our only chance to spring Princess Twilight and her council." Nice way to relieve pressure.
I started off the next day with my normal routine. I woke up, shouted outside my sister’s door so she would get up, ate breakfast, then headed towards Blue’s complex, and school. There was a minor exception though. I was thinking about how best to convince dad to let me do this, instead of fantasising about Blue being my fillyfriend. The day went by in a blur. When we were finally released by the bell, I startled awake, coming out of a daydream. I was tired of thinking about how to ask dad, so I started thinking about Blue instead. I realized I knew next to nothing about her family tree. “Hey Blue, any interesting relatives or ancestors?”
Blue giggled in her annoyingly cute way. “C’mon, I know you’re socially awkward, but that's the best you got?”
“Probably,” chimed in Sugar. “He thinks being antisocial makes him cool.”
Trying not to blush, like I seem to do so much around Blue, while simultaneously rolling my eyes at Sugar, I wondered why my parents ever thought adopting her was a good idea. “I was just curious. We’ve been friends for so long, yet we don’t know much about each other’s family history, do we?” Besides, if it would start a conversation with Blue, I would talk about anything.
“I don't really know my ancestors. I've never cared how far back they go, beyond my grandparents,” Blue replied.
“I don't really know much about mine either, but we think Sugar might actually be nobility,” I said.
“We don't know. What are blood tests supposed to prove anyway?” she grumbled. Sugar did not like the idea of being nobility. I could kind of see where she was coming from though. Being royalty put you in the spotlight, which she didn’t want. Besides, why would a noble abandon their child?
“Dont worry Squirt, even if you were Celestia’s daughter I wouldn’t treat you any differently.”
Sugar laughed, “I believe you.”
I'm not sure why, but I wondered if maybe… “Hey Blue, would you stay while we finish your father's work on convincing dad?”
“Sure, it’s tofu night over at my place. Take your time.”
Everyone chuckled at that. I just hoped I wasn’t too nervous. It’s better to seem confident when arguing a point. Having Blue there for moral support would help, by making it about 20% easier to explain.
I was laying on my bed, only slightly more comfortable than most ponies were allowed, wondering how I could fix this mess. I don’t know where it went wrong. Everything seemed fine, until we started talking about the dangerous parts. It's not like he didn’t have a point. If I was caught red hooved, it would be hard to explain, and Sugar was never good under pressure. She could easily wreck, and this mission could afford no mistakes. No, I shouldn’t be agreeing with him. I had already agreed to do this, and I would, with or without his consent. I would feel alot better having his consent though. It turns out, having Blue there had just made it awkward, but it still helped me stay calm.
A thin crack of light appeared, widening near the door. Leaning up, I could see a hoof motioning me over. Groggy,and wondering just what time it was, I walked out. I hoped it was worth my time to get me up this late, or was it early?
“Hey, are you awake enough to not need coffee?”
I didn’t know what time it was, but thought this had better be good. Swaying, I said, “I can do this.” I was hoping to get back to sleep afterwards.
“Good, I would like to further discuss our earlier subject.”
Ok, so he was nervous. Hopefully he had changed his mind. He better have, if it was worth dragging me out of bed.
“Let's go to the living room. “Your sister’s there waiting.” Yeah, he rethought it.
“So,” Sugar was looking rather lively to be so early in the morning. Oh wait, she had coffee. Was it too early to go back to sleep? It was 5:30, so there was really no point.
“Actually, mind if I get something to drink before we start?”
“Sure,” Whisper looked tired despite his half empty coffee mug sitting next to the couch. Once I had settled down, Whisper took a few seconds to prepare himself, then started. “I just wanted to tell you I changed my mind. You can do this, if you really want.”
“Wait, is that it?” Sugar asked, seeming disgruntled.
“Yes. Good morning. I’ll get breakfast ready.” The relief I felt was slightly muted by being given the news at 5:30 in the morning.
And so, it begins. The day was finally here. If only there was some insecticide to kill the parasprites devouring my confidence. It was a Saturday, and unlike most of my other classmates I and my family, they were too close to just be called friends except Blue she would hopefully become family soon enough. We were preparing to steal an important item from Fuhrer Glimmer herself. The rest of the day passed by in nervous silence. Hours were spent in Blues complex reviewing details, studying the fuhrer’s honor guards and even her medical records. Every scrap of information on Glimmer was scrutinized one last time, and committed to memory. Well, at least if we were caught red hoofed, there might be another chance to steal Glimmer’s seal. Who knows when that would happen though. True Equestria needed her princess back now.
“It’s time to leave everypony,” said Whisper. His voice was solemn, and carried a sense of finality that was made ironic by the fact we were going to a party.
“Last one to the the carriage is a rotten carrot!” It truly was a valiant effort on Sugars part, trying to lighten the mood. At least it did help to distract from the weight of the task before us. Our parents were already there. They had been part of the setup team. Not even sure if I should, I felt a cautious sense of optimism. A favorite phrase in Equestria had been, “ Friendship is Magic.” I realized family also has a magic to it, if possible one even stronger than friendship. These were the ponies closest to me. I trusted them with my life. Whatever happened, at least it happened while I was surrounded by ponies I loved, which is more than a lot of ponies could say. The rest of the trip passed by in silent determination and companionship. Up ahead, the gates to the council building stood tall and open, as inviting as a predator luring prey into its den. A greeter was waiting there. Few guards were necessary. Very few ponies were dumb enough to try to get in without an invitation, except us that is. After all the usual greetings had passed, we set about our task. Glimmer wasn’t hard to find. She was surrounded by lesser district managers and advisors, along with two monstrous stallions as guards. It would be awhile before an opportunity presented itself. In the meantime, I had to socialize, so as not to seem weird or out of place. Glimmer was eating and drinking plenty of refreshments. She would have to use the maresroom soon. I searched for Sugar in the crowd. The plan was to find each other after a while, and wait to make our move. Once Glimmer started looking towards it, I would accidently spill my drink on Sugar, giving her the perfect excuse to rush off and clean up. Glimmer would take some time once there, as she would have to remove her uniform. It was immaculate, as much as I hated everything it stood for. It just was. Sugar would have plenty of time to search for her seal. She couldn’t exactly order her stallion bodyguards into the maresroom. Well, she could, but the point is, it would be embarrassing. A country’s leader does not simply embarrass themselves in public.
Glimmer could always tell Sugar to leave while she was there, but forcing a mare out could also make her look bad. As a leader, your power relied on everypony either supporting you, or standing out of the way, in Glimmer’s case. In the thick crowd it took some time to reach each other, but finally we pushed through.
“So, Fuhrer Glimmer appears to be enjoying our refreshments.” Unfortunately, the crowd limited Glimmer’s actions, which also limited our words. It sounded odd discussing whether or not our country’s leader was about to use the maresroom. Soon enough though, Glimmer started speaking loud enough to talk over the crowd around her, and announced she needed a little time alone.
“Ugh, you klutz!” queuing our looks of apologetic embarrassment and anger, she stormed off, the crowd once again providing a blessing by preventing the fuhrer from making fast progress.
Out of my hands for now, I was left with the important task of twiddling my hooves. Hopefully, Sugar could just quietly nab the seal while Glimmer did her business, but what if she took the uniform in the stall, or checked her pockets? The replica replacing it was the same shape, size and hopefully weight, except for the bottom, of course. Due to past city inspections, we had been able to see what part of it looked like. We had no access to stamps of her seal. Only military commanders on the front lines got orders straight from her. Besides, orders had to be burned after they were read, or else spies would report it to the fuhrer herself, and the only punishment for treason was execution. Glimmer shouldn’t need her seal tonight. There was no need to authenticate any orders when she was there in person. Our hope was to maintain our cover of loyalty. If it were necessary though, we were ready to bolt at a moments notice.
A sickening mix of relief and anxiety threatened to overwhelm me when Sugar finally emerged. She looked really worried.
“She hung it over the top of the door. I didn’t want to risk it.” That was plan A. Now we would be forced to use plan B,
which would leave us with no other option than to bolt afterwards.
“Can you still grab it if we distract her?”
“Of course I can, but it needs to be foolproof. I have a pretty good idea where it's at, but I didn’t have a chance to search her suit.”
I waved over Blue. She was going to have to tell the others to get ready to leave. “Blue, plan A failed. Let the others know to get ready to leave. Stay with them. This spell can get pretty nasty”
“Gotcha. We’ve checked, and security should be able to handle the guards. Glimmer only brought ten, including the two with her now. The others are waiting at her carriage.”
“I hope I practiced this spell enough, because if you feather this up, we’re done.” Trying not to be annoyed at Sugar was sometimes hard. “Sugar, I’m going to target the band. DO NOT look at it, remember?”
“Yes, you’ve only explained how this spell works fifty times.” Horn glowing, hoping desperately I was doing it right, I cast the “want it need it spell” on the microphone the lead singer was using. I kinda felt bad, because the poor pony was about to be mobbed. However, a large number of ponies were looking at the band. Therefore, it would have the fastest effect. Silence fell as I finished casting the spell, then rose to the volume of a riot, as everypony rushed to the microphone, desperate to have it. I guess cutie marks really were intertwined with your destiny, because Sugar was in and out with the seal in the time it took me to come up with an excuse as to why I sometimes spaced out looking at Blue.
“Well, come on. We don’t want to be around here when the spell finally breaks.” Wow, it really was an advanced spell. I felt exhausted, which was all the more reason to hustle out of there. Our parents and closest guards were waiting. Whisper and Silent had several prewritten orders that would ultimately free Twilight, and give Concordia’s war effort a buck to the face. It didn’t take long to magically send them, once they were sealed. No words were exchanged, as everyone climbed in, except two guards pulling the carriage in stolen armor. The ride through the city went smoothly. I desperately wanted to gnaw my hooves off as we approached the gate, but we were in the fuhrer’s private carriage. No one would dare stop us. Only once we were well past city limits did everypony dare to let out a sigh of relief. “So, just how badly did you hurt Glimmer’s campaign?”
Whisper and Silent both started chuckling. “Well, the orders we sent were not only for a prison transfer that was less secure, and much further up, but also had them abandon the entire front to retreat 5 miles.” And that is how we traveled through the night, with a wonderful feeling of companionship and relief.