Finally, Twilight has taken control of Equestria. This relieves Celestia and Luna of such a burdensome position. It's time to live a little! Celestia sets off in pursuit of adventure with her sister and they soon gather a ragtag crew to risk it all.
Finally, Twilight has taken control of Equestria. This relieves Celestia and Luna of such a burdensome position. It's time to live a little! Celestia sets off in pursuit of adventure with her sister and they soon gather a ragtag crew to risk it all.
Done for a loyal patron.
Extra tags: Devil fruit, overpowered OCs, displaced, balanced challenges, no sociopaths.
"You will do Equestria proud." Celestia set a metal-clad hoof on Twilight's shoulder, smiling at her once-student, then replacement. "I leave her in good hooves."
"I'll do my best." Twilight dipped her head. "I have good friends at my side."
"And they will prove invaluable." She began to turn away. "Never forget that and think this must all rest on your shoulders alone."
"My sister speaks truth. Remember what makes you strong and you will perform better than we ever could have hoped." Luna turned with Celestia, the two departing at one.
They were no longer rulers of Equestria. Neither looked that upset about the fact. As soon as they were out of sight, vanishing down the hallways towards their chambers, Luna broke the silence, "Now we begin the vacation? You promised we could see the world."
"And see the world we shall." Celestia nodded to the guards they came across that stood guard at her door. "But not as you have likely envisioned. I would not idle my time away." She pressed past them, escorting Luna into the room. Golden magic closed the heavy doors tight. "We go, not as tourists, but as something far more exciting."
Luna quirked an ear, studying her sister. "I pray you do not mean as diplomats?"
"Only if we're paid to be..." Celestia walked towards her closet and threw it wide open. She reached into its dizzying variety of hanging clothes and came out with something floating just above her hoof that was not cloth at all, instead hard metal. "We go as sell-swords. We will adventure and know the thrills of a life at risk."
Luna's other ear joined its erect kin. "Celly, you're serious? After so long preaching peace, tolerance, and docility, you rush to become none of those things?"
"Are you complaining?" Celestia began to dress herself, switching horseshoes to more practical protective wear. Her magic slid the torso-covering armor over her top and pulled her grand tail through the hole provided. "How do I look?"
"You... look new." Luna threw her head towards her own room. "I have armor, as you are aware."
"Then you should be changing into it." She nodded softly as she turned towards her sister. "We may use our magic freely for a change, but mistakes happen, and a little physical protection certainly won't be remiss."
Luna suddenly extended a wing, plinking against Celestia's armor with a few feathers. "You are serious, aren't you..."
"Did you truly wish to retire, so soon after resuming your life?" Celestia shook her head softly. "I doubt this is true. I am touched you were willing, for my sake, but I'm not asking that of you."
"If this is another jest..." Luna vanished away.
The two strode in armor through the streets. Not Canterlot, there was no need to startle ponies with such a vision of their former ruler, or so Celestia had said. "Next step." Celestia directed to the left. "We gather a stalwart adventuring team. No adventure can truly begin without one."
Luna raised a brow at that. "Do we not already have one of those? It has two members, you and I. I will watch your back as you watch mine." She raised a hoof to the moon chestplate she wore, rapping her hoof on it. "What more could one wish for?"
"And I am glad to have you," assured Celestia, "But we will go into danger, and a few extra sets of eyes, ears, and talents can make all the difference." She slowed her walking, becoming distracted by a display. A mare was putting on a magic show for a crowd, but the mare seemed distracted at best.
"Behold as Trixie... pulls a rabbit out of her, hrg. Nevermind. Trixie is busy!" She stomped her forehooves and stormed off her own little stage, a deep scowl on her face.
Luna peered over her sister's shoulder at the sight. "Is there a reason you're watching that pony fail at entertaining?"
"She looks like a pony in deep need of what we're after." Celestia smiled her knowing smile. "Allow me a moment." She wove through the crowd that was dispersing from the aborted performance, working towards where Trixie was hiding.
Luna vanished, only to appear just beside Trixie as the magician was about to vanish into her wagon. The sudden appearance made Trixie jump, thumping her head against the top of the door. "Eek! Who, Luna?" She was turned back around to face the dark-furred intruder on her space. "Trixie is in no mood to entertain royalty right now."
Celestia came around the corner, approaching more conventionally. "What has you so down, if you would indulge us?"
Trixie glanced towards Celestia, then back at Luna, then back at Celestia. "I would rather not speak of... why are you both wearing armor? This is not the appearance I'm used to... are you here to arrest me? I've done nothing wrong!" She looked away, whispering, "today."
Celestia smiled gently at the frazzled magician. "We are not here to do that. We've stopped being princesses, surely you heard?"
Twixie raised a hoof to her chin before it came down in a loud clop. "You are part of the reason Trixie is so mad! You took away Twilight Sparkle, which made Starlight perpetually busy with the school just after we finished teaching her to not do that." She groaned loudly, sinking her her haunches. "I had exactly one really good friend, and you took them away. I hope you're happy," she acidically spat.
Luna glanced towards Celestia with silent questions on her lips, but they were not answered. Celestia approached the depressed magician instead. "Come now. Things change, but that only brings opportunity."
"The opportunity to be alone and miserable!?" She hopped back to her hooves, glaring at Celestia.
"The opportunity to make new friends." Celestia gestured at herself then Luna. "And show the world just how Great and Powerful you truly can be. I remember you, you can fight, when you want to."
"Fight? Oh no! No no no!" Trixie backed up right into her wagon. "I prefer to not do that! You are referring to the changelings, aren't you? That was terrifying! I mean, when you think about it, but Trixie was far too brave to let that stop her."
Luna's eyes lit with recognition. "Ah, you're that pony, yes, now I recall you." She raised a hoof and tapped the side of the wagon Trixie was hiding in. "If you won't fight, you can at least rent us this wagon. It would be useful for this trip."
Trixie emerged, blinking. "My wagon? No! It's mine! Anywhere I go, this wagon goes with."
"Then we will gladly take the both of you." Celestia nodded softly. "And return both in better condition than we found it. Come, we have a world to amaze, and I know you like doing that."
Trixie bounced from hoof to hoof, looking uncertain. "You will pay me?"
Luna nodded at that. "A modest stipend, and a share of whatever treasure and pay we receive ourselves."
Celestia quickly nodded in agreement. "A fair offer. Will you join us?" With a glowing horn, she pulled out a small bag of jingling coins. "I have your first week's pay right here."
Trixie's eyes began to shine. Money could do much to make her reconsider. "Well... somepony has to keep an eye on you two..."
Unknown and unseen by the royal sisters, a figure stood in a dark place. He was being judged. Before him was a staggeringly wide and tall wall with many hooks. Hanging from each hook was a large and ripe looking fruit, though some barely looked like fruit at all. Above the display was a sign that read, "DEVIL FRUIT," in bold letters.
A smaller sign was propped against the bottom of the display. "Take one," it said with a smiley face and an arrow pointing up at the fruit.
The human considered his choices with quiet contemplation. "Hmm."
Luna dove to the right, a spear soaring just over her left shoulder, the edge of its tip sliding across her hardened armor. The diamond dog that held the spear was already wheeling to keep her in striking position, but she was not alone.
A bright flash of magic exploded in his face, erupting into an image of a smirking Trixie. The dog staggered back with a cry that redoubled as Luna threw herself back into her original position, slamming into him and knocking him back to the ground, the spear sailing away. "Surrender now," she calmly advised.
Celestia held a long staff in her magic, catching an incoming blade and turning it aside with a deft twirl. A dog crept up behind her, but a sudden lash of a hoof caught that one between the eyes, knocking it back and away. "I'm not certain they know how to do that." Dotting the battlefield around them were half a dozen unmoving forms of diamond dogs knocked out by previous attempts to overpower the ponies.
Trixie buffed a hoof against her chest. "Anycreature, even them, can't help but rush towards Trixie. I accept blame for being so magnetic." She waved the same hoof, sending out an arc of sparkles at a dog that was creeping towards their wagon. "No autographs!"
Celestia could see a dog emerging from the top of the wagon, a spear clutched firmly in two hands, ready to drive it down into the unaware magician. "Trixie!" She turned to intercede when the blade she had been parrying reminded her it was there, crashing against her armor ineffectively, but sliding along with the ring of metal on metal. The sword found her flesh and she hissed, her white off-pink fur turning a darker shade rapidly.
Trixie took a step towards Celestia just as the spear drove down into the wood she had occupied a moment beforehoof. She yelped in horrified surprise, throwing a hoof at the dog as a cone of glittering streamers erupted from her extended arm, erupting into hot flames that send the dog falling over backwards.
Luna came down after a brief flight, joining the fight with Celestia against the sword-wielding leader. "You hurt my sister, now you will pay for this crime." With a darkly-glowing horn, she grabbed a fallen spear and twirled it in the air, but another joined it, and a third after that, the three spinning around her wildly. "Any last words?"
Celestia was wheeling back around, but the sword-dog was not slowing in his assault, moving to press the advantage he had gained on the former sun-princess. "Die," he grunted, moving for a deft thrust.
"Wrong answer." Luna parried the blade with two crossed spears, the third driving into the exposed wrist of the dog. "Care to try harder?"
Celestia was facing the right way with a scowl and brought down her staff in a mighty magic swing. The dog wasn't willing to go down that easily, jumping back away from the spears and staff, his sword swapped from one hand to the other, avoiding using the injured wrist.
Celestia circled to the left, Luna to the right, in sync without words in their approach of the enemy's leader. Celestia twirled her staff in the air. "Swear you will leave this place and we will let you leave."
"How can you trust him?" scoffed Luna with a frown. With her fiercely glowing horn, she deflected a sudden sword swat in her direction. "He hurt you, he pays, and there's only one kind of coin I will accept."
"Lulu, so cold." Despite her easy words, her walking had a little limp in it, her leg cut as it was. "What say you?" They were flanking the poor dog, his options narrowing rapidly.
He responded with a rough cry, suddenly charging past both of them, eyes set on Trixie.
"Did you forget your opponent?" Luna aligned all three spears and sent them flying as one. The dog's charge came to an abrupt halt, pinned to the ground with three angrily thrown weapons driven through him from the back. He coughed up blood, his lungs punctured. "I tired of this battle anyway."
The remaining dogs that could fled into the ground without delay, vacating the battlefield. Luna circled Celestia directly. "Let me see where--" She hissed at the sight of it. "He got you good."
Celestia shrank away from the prying eyes. "I'm fine," she insisted, though her steps spoke another story.
"We're done," barked Luna. "We've accomplished as we were asked, we head back to town and get that looked at. I will not lose my sister to infection just after starting this." She turned to Trixie. "Is all well over there?"
Trixie grunted and threw her head, throwing the body of a dog free of the top of her wagon. "Ugh, yes... Was Trixie not wonderful? I performed my part of that little battle admirably, if I say so myself, which I do." She grinned confidently, looking quite pleased with herself. "Nice trick with the spears." She glanced towards the skewered dog, but made no move to approach the ghastly art installation.
Celestia pointed the way back to town. "It's just as well. All that fighting builds an appetite, and we need to be paid for our efforts. Let's head back."
There were no arguments for that, just nods of agreement, but Trixie wasn't leaving immediately. She was grabbing bits off the field. Spears that were unharmed and not... currently in the middle of a person, were collected. His blade was taken. Basically anything that looked remotely valuable was stuffed into her wagon for later selling, a merry whistle on her lips as she went along. "This would be even more fun with Starlight, but this isn't... bad."
Luna threw her head towards town. "Have you gotten everything? I want us back quickly. Celly, you must watch your own flank."
"That is what I have you for." She pressed her nose gently to Luna's and things were quiet a moment with only the sound of the wagon rolling along behind the looting Trixie.
Luna drew back at last. "I am glad to be there... but still. I worry for you, as I must." She rolled her eyes. "Let's get back."
As one, they hit the road, descending towards the sleepy little town that had hired them in the first place to take care of the diamond dog menace. "I... did well, at least," ventured Luna as they went.
Celestia nodded in easy agreement. "You were a fierce goddess of the battlefield. I was quite impressed."
"Even I have to agree with that." Trixie smirked softly. "Not as magic as me, but they were getting scared to even be near you by the end."
Luna's expression lightened, trotting in almost a canter, a smile on her face. "I have been practicing. I had considered mouth-based, but that is so limiting."
Trixie shrugged softly. "No argument there. Unicorn way is the only real way." She pointed up at her horn. "Really, holding things in your mouth, only as a last resort, or to distract people from what's really going on."
"You would know much of that." Celestia nodded as she walked, favoring her unharmed legs. "A magician must specialize in directing attention where they need it to be, and away from where they need it to not be."
They talked and laughed, the adventuring day over.
"Nothing vital was struck." The medical pony's horn glowed, grabbing a big wrap of gauze. "Let's just keep it covered and you should recover just fine." He began to bandage celestia up carefully. "Pr--Celestia... what were you going? I, um..."
Celestia shook her head. "I am a free pony, and I may do as I please, good doctor. I was ridding the hills of the diamond dog menace."
He smiled faintly at that. "You chased them away? That's... good to hear, but not if it means you get hurt." He ripped the gauze sharply and affixed it tightly. "Take it easy until it stops hurting so much. Come back every few days and I'll gladly swap out the bandages."
He looked away and back, working his forehooves together. "I... hate to bring this up, but those dogs were keeping needed supplies away for so long, we... haven't been free of late."
Celestia raised an ear. "I expect no preferential treatment. What do I owe?" She surrendered the few coins asked for, setting them on a clean counter to be had. "Hopefully with them out of the way, things can return to normal. Use that money to get all the supplies you need."
"Gladly," sighed out the doctor. "By the time you come back for a changing, it should already be a bit better. The hoarders will relax when they hear the way's clear."
She smiled brightly, walking from the room a little lighter on her hooves. She had done well, and that pleased her, even if it had come with a painful price.
"Sister." Luna nodded softly as Celestia approached. "Are you well?" Her eyes were on the bandage. "I retrieved our payment." She shook a magically-held bag of coins. "They were quite pleased to hear how thorough we had been."
Trixie thrust a hoof. "I vote we celebrate! A few drinks and some good food is just the thing after a successful show."
Celestia nodded to Luna first. "I am well. I only require time at this point." Then she looked to Trixie. "And that sounds simply delightful. Luna?"
"Yes, let us enjoy the evening." She spread her wings and them came down on either her her companions, walking with them at either side. "We fought hard and well, and to celebrate only comes naturally." Her eyes lifted to the sky, where the moon was already risen. "So odd to think another is handling that other than me..."
"I know that feeling." Celestia smirked softly, having relinquished control of her own celestial body.
They poured into the tavern that doubled as the small community's eatery. The sound of ponies laughing and talking filled the air. Eyes turned as they came in, taking note of the two alicorns that joined them. It wasn't that they were alicorns precisely. It was hard to not recognize Celestia. They were ponies, after all. The noise dimmed a little in response as they approached the bar.
Luna clopped the top of the bar. "Food and drink and make it good!"
Trixie nodded softly. "Make my drink an apple martini. I'm in that mood."
"Of course, ma'ams. There's a free table over there if you're looking to sit?" He tossed his head at an available spot. "I'll bring it over when it's ready."
Celestia veered over to the indicated table with a soft smile. "Do pay the stallion."
"Of course." Luna extracted a few coins in her glimmering magic, paying for their order easily. "Let us take this opportunity to go over strategies and what went well, and poorly."
Trixie rolled her eyes at that. "Trixie is here to relax. You want to go over battle plans, you do that tomorrow."
Celestia set herself on a stool beside Trixie. "I find myself in agreement. I would like to think little of the battle right this moment, Sister."
Luna pointed across the table at Celestia's wounded bottom. "I would avoid future instances of that. This is for our own good."
Trixie held up a hoof. "Have you not heard of mental well being? Time to put some bandages on the inside. Now, I plan to drink and eat and enjoy our victory. Try it."
"I wasn't expecting t' see you lot." A heavy stallion suddenly sat down with them, across from Trixie, between Celestia and Luna. "Imagine my surprise."
Celestia's face lit into a smile. "Rockhoof! A pleasure. What brings you this way?"
He laughed, setting his shovel to lean against the table. "I was planning to smash a few diamond dogs across the face with me shovel, but it seems I was too slow." He suddenly swatted Luna on the shoulder. "Can't be too mad being beaten by three lovely mares eh?"
Luna quirked a soft smile. "I had not expected to see you here. 'Tis good to see a familiar face. Will you join us?"
Celestia set her hooves on the table, pressed to one another. "I had no idea you were a sell-shovel. Weren't you happy weaving tales of the past?"
Trixie glanced between her two companions. "Should I know him?"
Rockhoof laughed at that, slapping the top of the table. "The name's Rockhoof, one of the Pillars of Equestria, little mare. Good to meet you, and I'll gladly break bread with some old friends, and maybe one new one? Oh ho, here comes the food."
A bar-mare came trotting over with a tray balanced on her back. She dipped her head towards the group and turned, allowing it to slide right off onto the table as she began to carefully pour out beer for everyone there. "Your martini's on the way," she promised. "Can I... wait..." She counted the ponies. "They have one more," she called back towards the barkeep.
"Get him a drink," he barked back. "They're good."
She shrugged softly and resumed serving the table. "I'll be right back with yours." She nodded to Trixie and hurried away.
Trixie was the only one without a drink, so she reached for food instead, tearing off a chunk with her magic and setting it on her plate. "So, you use that shovel?" She inclined her head towards it.
Celestia gestured at it with a hoof. "His specialty. He could tell you stories."
"Since you asked..."
The human picked up two fruits, weighing them with soft hums of consideration.
Take one. It's what the sign said clearly.
He reached for a third and tested its heft as if unsure, but he was feeling fairly certain. Each fruit had a little plaque that said what fruit they were. He had his three he knew he wanted, but there were so many more... Why not... one more? He reached for a fourth but the floor suddenly began to give way as if whatever force had brought him there lost all ability to believe he was 'testing' four fruit at the same time.
He began to fall and grabbed blindly, barely knocking one fruit off the display before he sailed through the void, the four fruit falling with him. He would be getting no more fruit than that.
"--and that's how I saved the village," finished Rockhoof with a confident smile. "Now, ya gotta tell me, what has you two up here, doin' personal battle with these dogs?"
Luna rolled her eyes. "Do you think us incapable of it?"
"Clearly not, seeing as you just did it." He threw back a tankard of beer, his hoof through the handle and foreleg wrapped around it. "Doesn't explain the why of it, near I see."
Celestia cut her food with a knife held in her magic, her eyes on Rockhoof. "A fair question. We've retired from politics and pivoted into adventure as a way of relaxing."
"Relaxing?!" He barked a laugh at that. "Looks like you're taking a bit of a nick there from your relaxing vacation."
Luna snorted softly. "I would see that not repeated, but no, we are under no illusion that--"
"--here you are." The barmare returned, setting the martini in front of Trixie with a larger carafe set beside it. "With refills. Enjoy!"
"Thank you." Trixie hefted up her fine glass in her magic, grinning. "Finally." She sipped softly, letting out a happy sigh of apple-flavored contentment. "Not bad."
Rockhoof grabbed his shovel in his teeth and slapped it down on the table. "The way I see it, this can't stand."
Luna hiked a brow. "We've been standing fairly well."
"But I won't!" He put a hoof to his chest. "My friends going off and risking their necks? Not when I can help. Take me with you. I'll stand between you and what's trying to put holes in my friends. Really, don't those damned dogs have any scrap of propriety at all?"
"I'm afraid they lack that." Celestia sipped from her floating beer mug. "Still, I have no objection. You are a talented warrior by most measures."
Luna inclined her head. "As my sister would say, it balances things. A physical warrior is just what this 'party' lacked."
Trixie sipped from her angled glass. "Mmm, well, if you want to stand between Trixie and trouble, who is she to complain? Wait, does this mean he gets a share?" She frowned suddenly. "I'm not sure I like that part."
Rockhoof shrugged softly. "I'm not here to strike it rich. I'm more interested in keeping busy and being useful. I'll take a half-share."
Celestia twisted an ear between Rockhoof and Trixie, considering the two. "That's very generous of you. Very well, if there are no further objections?"
Trixie reached for one of the serving plates. "I suppose I can work with that. A half-share."
Luna softly huffed. "I motion he have priority for any trinkets we happen upon that may be of help to him."
Trixie shrugged. "Isn't that assumed?"
Celestia looked to Trixie with a raised brow. "I'm surprised to hear you say that, but yes. It would be best to divide things to those who would use them best, if they have practical purpose. What use would I have for an enchanted shovel, if ever we happened on one?"
Trixie lifted her shoulders. "And wing guards are of very little use to Trixie, yes. It would be equally silly to give him anything that rests on a horn."
Luna looked satisfied, popping a morsel into her mouth. "Good, just making certain. Now, eat and be merry. Tomorrow we move out of Equestria proper."
Rockhoof sat up at that. "We are?"
Celestia inclined her head towards the bar. "It's uncomfortable having everyone recognize you, but not as you are but rather as you were. We are no longer acting princesses. It would be nice to move beyond its borders. It was my thought to see who was heading beyond and accompany them."
Trixie grinned widely. "It was I that found the perfect caravan in need of guardians, and now they get four instead of three. Perhaps they will pay more, seeing as another famous pony has joined us."
Celestia inclined her head. "They may, and may not."
"We'll ask come the morrow." Luna speared a colorful morsel on a fork held in her magic. "For now, relax. Unless you have changed your mind about discussing battle strategies?"
"I would hear your tactics," agreed Rockhoof to Luna's clear surprise. "How do you fight?"
Luna began to describe the battle they had survived and won, explaining each thing she did in great detail, much to his whooping delight. "With three points pinning him to the ground, his life and ambitions both expired as one."
"I should imagine that would do it, aye." He tapped at his shovel. "Can't promise to do anything as graceful as that. I bash things or throw things more often than not. I would have caved that damn dog's head in. I look forward to when we get to fight shoulder to shoulder."
Trixie snorted suddenly. "You promised to be ahead of Trixie, so she expects little of this 'shoulder to shoulder' business."
"Aye, but Luna is not you."
"That I am not." Luna smiled gently at Rockhoof. "It will be a pleasure to vanquish evil at your side."
They talked and made merry, their group looking better than it had started the day as.
He ran from bush to bush, tail twitching behind him. There were no humans in Equestria, that would have been silly. It seemed obvious what the first fruit would be and he wore its blessing, wolf ears perked towards the sound of a village up ahead. It wasn't the first he had visited by far, but he wanted supplies and pony towns were the place to do it in.
He reared up onto two legs with a few snaps and pops, assuming a bipedal stance with a soft huff. With a rolling of new shoulders, he began to walk forward into the town, just another strange creature from beyond Equestria, hardly as confusing as a human would have been.
That didn't mean he didn't create upset. He absolutely towered over the four-legged ponies of the town and they watched him with naked caution and curiosity. Any pony on his side of the street tried to be subtle about fleeing across the street. It wasn't very subtle.
That was fine by him. Let them be scared. It avoided awkward questions. So long as he didn't cause trouble, it wouldn't raise above avoidance. Ponies were herbivorous and herd animals, and it showed. They cowered together and avoided conflict when it was an option.
He saw a lit window, the sounds of revelry coming from inside. A tavern, just the place to get some supplies." He reached for a bag that hung around his hips, checking the heft of coins within, but there weren't a lot in there. He had to get another odd job somewhere, and soon...
With a weary sigh, he turned for the tavern anyway. He had enough to get a meal for the night and maybe a comfortable place to sleep. That would be enough for the moment. In the morning, he promised himself, he could search out a little gainful employment from the scared ponies.
He threw open the swinging doors and stepped inside.
All eyes were on him, the towering wolf-person in the doorway.
"Do you think he's from Kludgetown?" asked a blue mare at a table with two alicorns and a large earth pony. "He looks like it."
The lighter colored alicorn with a bandage around her left hind leg raised a hoof. "It's impolite to muse outloud about a creature within earshot. See, now he's looking at us. You've offended him."
"What? I've performed there." Trixie buffed her chest softly. "I've been to many places as the Great and Worldly Trixie."
The barkeep coughed into a hoof nervously. "Pardon... sir... we don't have arrangements sized for you."
He was being asked to leave, indirectly. He frowned at that, already crouched over as he was. "I'll sit on the floor," he spat in a half-growl, tail lashing behind him. "I have bits."
Celestia inclined an ear when he began to speak. She looked across to Luna, who was already looking back at her. Luna was the first to react, sitting upright. "Sir, we have room for that one here." She gestured to a small empty spot that grew larger as Rockhoof slid further away to make room.
"If you're sure..." The bartender shrugged softly. "You're not on their tab."
Celestia smiled at that. "Whyever wouldn't a dear friend be on my tab? Come, it's been a while."
The wolf-person started in surprise, for surely he was no friend of Celestia, but he didn't turn down the kindness. "Yeah." The attention on him had only grown, others asking without words who this strange friend of Celestia was. "Thanks." He knew who Celestia was, of course. He knew her before coming to the strange land of Equestria... He sank down at their table, still larger than them even as he sat on the floor, though at least there he wasn't quite so hunched over to fit in the building clearly not made for him.
Rockhoof lifted his broad shoulders, though even he, large stallion that he was, was small compared to their newest tablemate. "Now that things are calming down, mind sharing how you two know each other? Or was that some speedy thinkin' on the part of the princesses here?"
Luna snorted softly. "Whatever could you be talking about? I see no princesses in this room."
"Not a one," agreed Celestia with a soft smirk. "Just a few sell-swords enjoying a good dinner with friends. It's good to see you..."
She was leaving room for him to slip in his name. "Garou." It was a word for wolf he had learned long before, and one he found fit him reasonably well as he was. "You didn't have to do that."
"We did not," agreed Luna. "But we did."
Celestia gestured to the table. "Have a bite, share your story."
Well, since she was offering... He reached and grabbed an entire fish off its plate. The poor cooked trout had barely a moment before it was vanishing down the gullet of a hungry wolf-man. "Mmm..." It was easy to forget once in a while that ponies were quality chefs. "Thank you, but why are you here? And what's up with the blue armor?"
Rockhoof shrugged. "I had avoided asking, but I had the same question. Wouldn't gold armor suit you better?"
Celestia pinkened in her cheeks at the sudden turn of the topic. "I... it was the only set I had in my size. Does it look that offputting?"
Luna snorted softly. "We can't all have armor that compliments our natural colors, Sister dear. You look quite prepared as you are."
Celestia stuck out her tongue at that. "When we finish a real job, I may consider new armor. Maybe something that guards the rump a little better."
Trixie shook her head at that. "To spend money on heavy and unglamorous armor? I think not." Her eyes lifted to Garou, studying him unabashedly. "You are a large creature." Her eyes darted. "A stallion. What is your job? Are you a laborer?"
Garou laughed at the idea. "I'm a..." He faltered. What was he? He did things, whatever people needed. He frowned a little. "I guess adventurer would be the best way?" Even if those things could involve very unadventurous things.
"What fortune," half-sang Celestia. "You've set yourself at a table of adventurers. You have an interesting air about you, where are you headed?"
Garou considered that, looking over the ponies who were enjoying themselves, but also watching him curiously. They weren't as afraid as most other ponies were of his hybrid form, but then, it was Celestia, and Trixie would never admit to being scared, he figured. "Away, from Equestria that is. No offense, but your ponies... aren't exactly welcoming."
Luna snorted softly. "My sister thinks she has created a utopia, but it is rife with close-minded souls that do not recognize the appeal of things different than themselves." She lifted an ear at him. "You are an interesting creature. We are leaving Equestria as well, as fortune would have it."
Celestia suddenly struck her hooves together with a metal clang. "Fortune indeed. Destiny, one might even say. Would you care to come with us? We're to see a trade caravan safely across the sands, and it will take us out of Equestria, just as you wanted."
Trixie suddenly clopped the table. "Stop right there! I already agreed to a half share, and already you're trying to make each share smaller! I do not approve." She crossed her arms, pouting and glaring at Garou. "He will not be taking Trixie's pay."
Luna suddenly wickedly smiled. "Then I propose a small matter to settle this." Eyes turned towards her. "A duel, a friendly sort, no blood. You--" She pointed at Trixie. "--and you--" She pointed at Garou. "--and whoever is still standing with the other having surrendered gets to decide this."
Trixie's ears pinned back on her head, eyes going wide. "I was not suggesting--"
"--I accept." Garou smirked at Trixie softly. "And I promise not to hurt her. I wouldn't want any Trixie fans to be mad at me."
Trixie blinked at that, clearly surprised. "What? You... know of Trixie then? I mean, of course you do. Who hasn't?" She laughed nervously, trying to strike an imperious pose. "V-very well... Let's settle this like adults." She hopped down from her stool. "Nocreature touch my drink or there will be a fresh Tartarus to pay."
Rockhoof put a hoof on her shoulder as she walked past. "Ye don't have to, lass."
"It's a matter of principal." She turned up her nose. "Trixie accepts your concern, but I'm going." She trotted right on by, heading outside.
Garou fell to all fours, loping after her in a much smaller form, though still larger than her. He was about the size of Luna, perhaps a bit larger than her, but close. Celestia was just behind him, the others of the table trailing along.
Rockhoof waved at the bartender. "We'll be right back."
Outside, they gathered in a line, with Garou and Trixie facing one another with about twenty feet between them. The night had progressed, with only the sparse street lighting and the glow of the tavern to see by. Trixie was pawing at the ground with an angry snort. "Are you prepared to be bested by the Great and Powerful Trixie?"
"You can go first," he suggested with a waving paw. "I'm ready."
"You had better be!" She stomped a hoof and flicked her tail, turning up her nose. "Very well. See how you take... this!" She lowered her head suddenly and a thin ray of magic burst from her horn, lancing down the street and lighting up the darkness on either side as it zipped directly for Garou.
It smashed into the air just in front of him, the point of impact illuminating a strange sheet of glass that stood before him, absorbing and scattering the magic in colorful streamers of impotent power. "Cheater!" she hissed, peeking up and seeing what became of her attack. "You're not a unicorn, why do you have magic?!"
Garou flicked his tail with a happy smile, his tongue lolling just a little with his pleasure. "Says who? Is it my turn?"
"Give me another chance," insisted Trixie, waving her forehooves. "I was just a little off on my magic. You won't stop me again." She hopped up to all fours. "This time..." She suddenly vanished.
His ear turned as he raised a paw, a new plane of force, more visible then the first, erupted from the ground just in time to deflect a new beam of energy coming from an entirely different direction. "Clever! You remember what Starlight taught you."
Trixie's eyes widened, perhaps at her attack failing, perhaps at his knowledge. "How do you know of Starlight?! How do you know what she may or may not have shown me?" She stomped a hoof, almost bouncing with building fury. "How do you even exist?! This isn't fair!"
"My turn." He ducked to the left, the barrier fading just as he did, fading entirely from sight in the space of a gust of air.
"W-what..." Trixie backed away from where he had been. "No fair! No fair no fair! I'm the unicorn. I have the magic. What are you even doing?!"
Celestia put a hoof to her chin. "I believe he is winning. Please don't harm her, she is a good pony, even if she does occasionally pick fights she should not."
Trixie scrambled backwards, turning into a full gallop, but she was suddenly driven to the ground, a weight on her back and teeth felt at the back of her neck. She screamed as a startled filly, her hooves kicking wildly. "Release me this--"
Suddenly the weight was gone. Luna's horn was glowing, plucking up the invisible wolf and drawing him closer. "You have shown your case, but I feel it needed to show that you do not reign over this group."
Rockhoof nodded at that. "It's one thing to beat the lady mare there--"
"--hey!" Trixie picked herself up from where she had been pushed into the dusty road.
"--but you've got three ponies right here with enough years between us to do a few laps around ye, laddy." He gestured to the two other Old Ponies, a good-natured smirk on his face. "Good show though."
Garou faded back into view, tail hanging limply. "That was rude. I wasn't going to hurt her."
"And you have not," agreed Luna as her magic softly pet over the head and ears of the wolf she held gently in her magic. "But the purpose of the challenge has been fulfilled." She set him down carefully. "What curious powers you have."
"Very," agreed Celestia. "And you are quite smaller now. I think I prefer this size. I confess, I am not used to having to look up very often."
Rockhoof nodded in agreement with his elder friends. "You're just the right amount of dog this way."
But he had no fingers! Garou huffed softly in annoyance. "If you like it that much more, I'll stay in this form." It was the form he used most often, really. He had to remind himself of that. Even if they hadn't brought it up, he would have reverted to four paws on his own. "You alright, Trixie?"
"Now you care?" She joined the group, magic dusting herself off as she went. "You must explain where you got that magic from, and so much of it! I saw at least three different magics there, and I bet you have more hiding."
"That's a secret," he half-sang with a silly grin. "No hard feelings, I hope? I really am a Trixie fan."
Her dour expression brightened. "Then you should feel honored to have had a chance to cross magic with the Great and Powerful Trixie. Next time, I will prove victorious, just you watch."
Celestia set a hoof right on the middle of Trixie's head. "Very good then. Let us return to our meal. Tomorrow we venture out with two new members, presuming you accept a half share?"
Garou perked an ear. "Half-share?" His eyes darted from one pony to the next. "Why only a half-share?"
Rockhoof put a hoof to his chest even as he turned to go back inside. "It's what I got. This is a mare's party, stallions get half shares and the privilege of being beside them. Just the way it goes."
He grumbled softly as he followed the rest inside. But maybe he wasn't that upset about the chance to adventure alongside these ponies.
It was morning, even if barely so by some accounts. Trixie was collapsed in her wagon, still feeling the effects of the generous martini portions the night before. Garou wore the harness to her wagon, drawing it along in her stead, as she was quite unmoving otherwise.
Celestia was speaking to a grizzled mare. "We finished the assignment a day early. You had mentioned wanting to leave as soon as possible, and here we are."
"And you went and multiplied," she noted, eyes on Rockhoof. "What's wrong with the spellcaster?" She gestured at the source of loud snores.
Rockhoof gestured to himself. "Ye have the protection of Rockhoof, and she's just recovering from a night of celebration. She'll be dry and ready to go by the time trouble shows up. We have one other member with it." He nodded towards Garou.
"Your pet hardly c--" She scrambled away as garou went from four legs to two, expanding in size dramatically as he did so.
"Pleased to meet you." Garou smiled, perhaps just a little at having surprised her. "I will keep you safe." He fell back to all fours, returning to his more Luna-sized configuration.
Luna inclined her head towards their two new members. "So you will require no other guards. By my calculations, that should come out to 100 bits a day."
"That's... about right." She ran a fetlock over her brow before shaking her head. "You keep the most curious company, but if it keeps the caravan safe, well worth the expense. I heard what ye did for the town, good work there. I'll let the crew know we're moving then."
Celestia nodded with approval. "Very good. We'll go... tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow? Why would we do that?" She placed her hooves up to her mouth, forming a faint funnel to amplify her voice. "Hey, we're moving! Get it in gear!" The sounds of the caravan coming awake were the reply as ponies began to hurry to get themselves ready for the trip. "We've wasted enough time as it is, and time is money."
Garou tossed his head back at the still slumbering Trixie. "If we knew, maybe we wouldn't have enjoyed ourselves quite as hard."
"Perhaps not." Celestia was smiling despite it. "I have little objection in the end."
"Nor I." Luna looked towards Rockhoof. "And you?"
Rockhoof raised a hoof before moving to inspect the caravan he would be watching. "None here. The job I had been plannin' to do was all but cancelled on account of bein' too slow."
The caravan was a long string of wagons, some smaller and larger, but orbiting fairly close to an average that put them at about twice Trixie's wagon in size. Most were being drawn by one pony, but all had the harness for two ponies if they wanted, and some actually had two ponies strapping in to pull what was perhaps a larger load.
"We'll be crossing the desert," reminded the caravan mistress. "If you don't have extra drinking water loaded up on your wagon, now's a fine time to fix that."
Rockhoof nodded. "On it." He trotted off with a merry whistle, clearly ready to begin the day's work.
Celestia set a hoof on Garou's shoulder. "Thank you for bearing Trixie along for now. She is quite useful when trouble begins, but not in the state we found her this morning."
"Not a problem." He turned an ear back towards her snoring noises. "If she can sleep through whatever hangover she might have brought on herself, that's for the best. You feeling alright?"
"I'm quite well." She smirked faintly at the wolf. "Many years of rulership teaches you exactly where your limits are. We'll start moving as soon as everypony is up and ready, I imagine."
"Since I have you." His ears turned towards Celestia fully. "Do you know just how... racist your ponies can be?"
Celestia started at that, blinking. "Whatever do you mean? Kindness is one of our tenets, is it not?"
"To ponies, and things accepted as 'pony enough'." Garou shrugged lightly. "A wolf is neither of those things. Ponies are cute, but skittish. They avoided me whenever they had the chance." A force made twice as palpable when in hybrid form, but they thought he was someone's large dog sometimes when he was on all fours. "I woulda thought it was just Ponyville."
She raised a brow at that. "You've been to Ponyville then?"
Actually, he hadn't... "Heard of it," he grunted in lame deflection. "Just thought you should know."
"Well, it is improving." She put a hoof to her chest. "Twilight's school of friendship is raising a new generation of ponies alongside all manner of other creatures. Have you been? It's quite nice."
"Here we are." Rockhoof was returning, a large barrel affixed to either side. "Plenty of water fer the trip." He went for the wagon, loading them up without delay.
"Mmm..." Trixie stirred, perhaps at the noise of water barrels sliding into her wagon. "Where is...?" She blearily approached the front before a soft groan escaped her. "Be... right back." She half-fell from the wagon and staggered away.
Luna watched her go before moving to follow. "I will make sure she actually makes it to the little filly's room."
"Poor thing," sighed out Celestia as if resisting the urge to chuckle a bit at the misfortune. "She'll feel better soon."
Garou turned about in his harness, rearing up and nosing into the wagon before returning with an orange held carefully in his teeth. "Get this to her, it'll help."
Celestia's face brightened to a smile. "An excellent idea." She grabbed the fruit in her magic and squeezed it out into a glass with barely a delay. With a twinkle of magic, the remains of the orange were banished to... somewhere. "A nice glass of juice to help balance out her insides."
Garou smirked at the display. "You unicorns have a lot of tricks."
"As if you're hurtin' for any," grunted Rockhoof in a half-laugh. "The way I see it, I'm the plainest of the lot." He reached for the shovel on his back. "I'm strong, kinda the end of the tricks there, but that's alright. It's about usin' what ya got, not gettin' more of it."
Luna returned, Trixie sprawled on her back in a miserable pile. "The deed is done," she reported, carrying the spellcaster towards the wagon.
Celestia intercepted with the glass of juice. "Trixie, dear, drink this. It's a hangover cure."
"That exists?!" Trixie was suddenly quite awake. "Give it here." She reached with her hooves. Had Celestia not been still holding it in her magic, it would have easily been knocked right over. Celestia patiently moved it closer and angled it, helping pour it into Trixie's willing mouth. "Tastes like orange," she noted as she licked her lips. "When does it start to work?"
"You should get back to what you were doing." Celestia pointed to the wagon. "Time is the true cure, but that will help."
Trixie let out an unhappy groan, but was soon curled up in her wagon to sleep off the last of her hangover. "Thank you," she mumbled out.
Luna hiked a brow at Trixie, eyes on Celestia. "She is more polite when she is in pain, have you noticed?"
Celestia turned to face the direction they would be going. "It's harder to put on airs when everything is pain, but let's not use that as a conditioning tool. We're not that cruel."
"Time to move," bellowed out the leader of the caravan, getting a fresh little groan from Trixie. "One, two, one two three!" The hooves of those pulling wagons came down in unison with her call and the procession lurched into motion.
Luna inclined her head towards the wagon. "I call 'dibs' after Trixie has recovered." She yawned suddenly, covering her mouth with a hoof. "This day-based schedule is still something I am getting used to, sister dear."
"Were you not asleep last night?" Celestia gently bumped into her sister as they walked. "You seemed restful."
"Mmm, it came and went. I slept, but not all at once. I will adjust, in time, but these things do not happen all at once. As her hangover, time can be the best cure." She rested her head on Celestia's neck. "This was your idea," she petulantly noted.
"And you came with me, a fact I am eternally grateful for." Celestia smiled gently. "This wouldn't be nearly as fun without my sister at my side. You are having fun too, I do hope?"
"When I'm not worried for my sister's well being." She snorted softly, eyes closed and trusting Celestia to guide her forward. "This is not the first time I have fought."
"Long ago, I--"
"What? No." Luna brushed her with a thump. "I lived in dreams. Do you think they were absent of excitement and battle? It happened. It was the rare night I was called to a peaceful nightmare, whatever that might appear as."
"A peaceful nightmare," Celestia sighed out, trying to imagine what that would be. "Perhaps a nightmare held by Daring Do or Rainbow Dash when they thirsted for action but there was none there to be had?"
Luna groaned. "I worried you would figure it out." The two laughed gently in understanding.
Garou loped along easily along the road at the head of the procession, Rockhoof beside him. "What are they trading anyway?"
Rockhoof shrugged at that. "Your guess is as good as mine, though I did spy a few hints. Bags of spices, a few metal things? Our job to get 'em there safely, come sand worm or screamin' bandits."
"Why do they scream so much?" laughed out Garou. "Like it's in their contract."
"Since the dawn of time," agreed Rockhoof. "Think it's t' intimidate the people they're tryin' to waylay. Throw them off their game with the silence givin' way to wooping and hollering all sudden like."
"You think? Makes sense..." Garou glanced over his shoulder. "Think the drink helped, she's making less noise."
"That's good. Thanks fer being the bigger stallion about it. Yer job didn't technically include wagon hauling." He looked between Garou and the wagon as they both went along.
"No big deal," he assured. His nose danced as he took a few sniffs. "I can smell the desert coming up."
The caravan leader quirked an ear at him. "We're still a day away from the sands, pup. You have a damn fine nose to be picking up hints this far out."
Garou's cheeks warmed, realizing he had tipped his hand more than he had intended. "It's a wolf thing." That was the truth at least. "A day, good to know." He'd have a better idea of what the smell of sand from that far away smelled like. "Say, where are we headed exactly?"
"A few places." She shrugged lightly. "First a little place right in the middle of the sands." She thrust a hoof forward. "Place to refill the water tanks, and do some light trade. Then it's onwards to Kludge Town, er, Klugetown. One word, the locals are particular about that."
Rockhoof took one firm step, thumping his hoof on the road. "I hear that's not a wholesome place."
"That's putting it mildly. We won't even be walking in. We'll set up shop outside and let the traders come to us, and they will," explained the caravan leader. "A few days parked there and we move on! A caravan's barely getting the job done if it stays still for long."
Garou thoughtfully hummed as he trundled along, glancing over his shoulder at the other wagons behind his own, forming a long snake of a line back towards the town they had left. "We'll keep it safe."
"That's our job," merilly agreed Rockhoof, throwing an arm around Garou. "We'll get it done."
"Are we there yet?" Trixie's face emerged from the wagon, looking around blearily, though looking less terrible than she had started the day.
As they reached the sand the next day, the line began to slow. They would not try to cross it during the day. People began to settle down for one last night at the edge, food being prepared for everyone and the wagons brought around to form a defensive circle against the outside world.
The leader of the caravan approached Celestia. "Here's your pay for getting us this far. Get us to the oasis and you get your next pay." She tossed a heavy sack with a flick of her neck. "100 a day, as agreed. Nothing bothering us yet, but I wonder if you bein' here is tilting the odds in our favor. Won't turn that away."
Celestia lifted the bag in golden energy. "Thank you, and we'll see this through, that I assure." She walked off with the money, approaching Trixie first. "Here you are." She gave Trixie her 25 a day amount, floating along in neat little piles of 25 each, two piles.
Trixie's horn began to glow as she picked them all up, forming a ring of gold around herself. "There are perks to this new life you have shown Trixie."
Celestia nodded softly but moved on, seeking out the others. "Sister, we will be civil in sharing, yes?" she asked as she closed in on her and Garou.
Luna turned an ear towards her sister. "Of course. I'm not here for the bits specifically anyway."
"That is what I thought." She looked around a moment before spotting Rockhoof talking with a mare with grand hoof gestures. "I'll give him his share when he has a moment, but here are yours." She spit the gold evenly. Only Trixie would be getting a little extra to keep her mollified. "The next pay day is at our safe arrival at the oasis."
Garou accepted his share, tucking it away in the pouch that dangled around his midsection, just ahead of his hips. "I was wondering when you had become so mercenary, to casually cut Rockhoof and my share like that."
Luna inclined an ear at that. "And yet, you came anyway?"
"I wanted to see the truth before just deciding." He sat on his haunches, panting a little, a happy canine smile on his face. "Thank you for not disappointing."
Celestia waved to Rockhoof, seperating from who he was talking to. "I am not used to being casually judged, but this is what happens when you step down from the throne. Not that princesses aren't judged, but it's a different sort."
"What's going on over here?" Rockhoof joined their gathering, noticing Luna's coins on the ground in front of her. "Is it pay day? I'll be gettin' half of that then?" He pointed to the collection of bits.
Luna pushed over her entire stack. "Nay, good friend. We spoke only to satisfy the magician." She tossed her head towards where Trixie rested in her wagon. The money she gave was replaced by Celestia promptly, all of them having an equal share. Luna set a hoof on her little pile of coins. "We will all risk equally, why should we not profit equally as well?"
Rockhoof began collecting his portion, tucking it away quickly. "It warms me heart, lass. Now then, we should get some rest. The desert's an unkind place, I'm told, and we're officially leavin' Equestria behind us come the morrow."
Garou suddenly yawned, a wide expression helped by not having the cheeks herbivores were known to have. "Sleep sounds good. For sake of argument, we should start watches."
"Aye, fine idea." Rockhoof nodded in easy agreement. "I'm not too run down. I'll take the first watch."
Luna raised a hoof. "I will take second, it's when I normally sleep least well regardless."
Celestia spread her wings. "I can take the third, unless you would like, Garou?"
He considered before nodding. "Sure, I'll take that. You get your sleep." He sank where he was, looking ready to just pass out there. Soon he was a curled canine ball, lost to the world.
It began with screaming. It was Luna's shift, but she had noticed little until the sand at the edge of the camp suddenly burst upwards. Creatures that were like dragons, though they were smaller and without wings, came scurrying free of whatever burrows they had, many wielding crude but sharp weapons as they charged towards the encampment.
Luna extended a wing towards her companion with a wave of her magic, suddenly ending their dreams in a cruel awakening. "To arms!" She launched herself forward at the enemy with a grim expression.
Celestia scrambled to her suddenly-awake hooves. "Sister... Yes, of course." Though awake, she was not all there and she stumbled towards the trouble.
Rockhoof was far faster to stir, already charging at the attackers with his shovel balanced between his hooves confidently. "I can scream just as loud," he roared right back at them. "Merchants, get away while we mop this up."
Trixie appeared with a pop on top of her wagon. She threw her hooves wide and the area was suddenly lit with streamers and whistling streaks of fireworks that exploded all around her, lending jumping light to the battlefield and chasing away the gloom of the night.
One of the kobolds jumped onto a wagon and tore through it, falling onto the startled and screaming occupants. Garou jumped into the same hole just a moment later, a shield erupting just in time to catch the tip of the attacker's spear before it could sink into delicate pony flesh. "Your fight's right here."
Luna was diving into the thick of them, bashing one aside, grabbing their sword and tossing it with a flick of magic into the throat of another. "Why do the things we fight come in such numbers?" she complained as she stormed over the battlefield.
Rockhoof's shovel came down on one kobold that held up a spear in valiant parry. Shovel met spear, and didn't stop, coming down to flatten the poor reptile into the rough dirt. "Couldn't say, but if there was only one of them, it'd hardly be a fittin' challenge, now would it?"
Strange words reached their ears. One kobold that hadn't rushed in with the others was making grand gestures as strange symbols appeared in the air around it. Rockhoof was suddenly gone, falling into a pit that hadn't been there a moment ago, created by whatever sorcery the kobold had, and it was still weaving magic, looking towards Luna.
Celestia reached the hole and grabbed for Rockhoof with her golden magic. "I'll get you out of--"
"--Duck!" he shouted from within the pit. A blade meant for Celestia missed only by shorn bits of hair as she dived to the side away from the attack. Poor Rockhoof fell to the ground, her magic ceasing to hold him up.
Garou lunged for the kobold and grabbed the thing at its throat, tossing it right out of the cloth side of the wagon with an abrupt throw of his head, following only moments later to land on the kobold with the sound of crunching insides. "What is that?" It was only outside that he could get a view of the kobold spellcaster finishing something.
A streaking mote of flame surged forward past the still advancing kobolds, rushing around the defenders to explode just behind them, heat washing back over them as the fireball blossomed to its full deadly diameter, engulfing them in a moment of singing pain.
Luna was too far into the mass of kobolds to be hit by it. Trixie was on the edge, but a sparkling shield around herself proved she had defended just in time against the spell. Celestia was the one caught most directly, already flattened on the ground from the swing she had narrowly avoided. The kobold that had attacked her screamed in much the same pain, both of them cooked in a fiery instant.
"Why--" Luna hefted up a kobold. "--do you--" She threw it into a mass of the others as if it was a bowling ball. "--keep hurting--" The abandoned weapons around her sprang up under her wrathful control. "--my sister!" They exploded outwards, seeking the chests and throats of kobolds around her in a grotesque display of her fury.
With a crack of a whip, one lashed Luna about the neck suddenly, pulling her down with strength that belied his small frame. "Die," rattled the reptilian warrior with sharp teeth on display.
Luna thrust a hoof, the kobold glowing a moment before being thrown, but not in a random direction.
Garou leaped to catch what had been tossed towards him, grabbing the kobold on the side and driving it into the ground. The warrior struggled and squirmed, but could not dislodge the wolf as he tore and shredded mercilessly.
"I'm fine," insisted Celestia, approaching the hole with wisps of smoke wafting upwards from her singed pelt. "Let's get you out of there."
The spellcasting had never stopped, a new spell forming, familiar as flames gathered around the kobold in preparation.
With a sudden thrust of a hand, the kobold willed the flame forward, but it struck something unseen. He was suddenly in a bubble of force, Garou smirking evilly.
The flames did not wash out over the shield, instead erupting there just a precious foot in front of his snout. The dome around him was filled with flames, the fireball having nowhere to go and becoming a pressure cooker inside the small space for the brief time it existed. When the bubble was banished and the smoke allowed to escape, the spellcaster's charred form collapsed to the ground.
Hot pain lanced in his back. A kobold had jumped down on Garou from atop the closest wagon and driven a primitive spear deep into his flesh. "God... damn it." He threw his head back, a semi-transparent wall of force erupting between them, cutting the spear before it faded away just as quickly. "Rotten cheater." This still left him with a bit of a spear jutting from his back and the kobold was already ripping out a small dagger to continue the fight.
Rockhoof grabbed the edge of the hole as soon as he was high enough and scrambled out onto secure ground. "Thanks. Let's get back into things." He charged forward with shovel high, swatting kobolds aside as if they were just so much as someone's abandoned dolls needing to be put away.
Trixie appeared beside Celestia. "This is getting to be a bit much." She waved a hoof with fire streaming, forcing a few to back away and give her and Celestia some room. "How many of these things are there?!"
Celestia spread her wings wide. "Let's find out." With a sudden jump, she took off straight into the air, ascending vertically before throwing out her limbs, her entire body becoming bright, as if the sun had risen in the middle of the night, forcing anyone facing her to squint. The kobolds, unused to such harsh suddenly glare, hissed in agony, covering their eyes with arms and hands.
Their numbers could be clearly seen, her light spilling out across the encampment and some distance beyond. Their numbers were not as vast as the noise and ferocity they had been attacking with implied. There was an end in sight to their struggle.
"See how you like bein' in a hole," thundered Rockhoof as he plunged his shovel into the dirt and kept on running, creating a ditch as he went and plunging a line of the enemies into it. Garou suddenly jumped onto the ditch, another corpse behind him as he created a shield that he landed on across the line Rockhoof had made, pressing down on it. He sank down on top of the kobolds, squeezing them, but there were many of them, and the force was spread out, resulting in them being discomforted, but not slain, or even really hurt. "Not try, lad, but I don't think that's gettin' much done there."
The encampment itself had grown quiet, its inhabitants withdrawn to a safe distance to watch the exchange. Celestia could see them, gathered. "That's quite enough of that." She raised her forehooves, magic gathering between them before igniting into flame. "If you like fire so much, we can play that game. You picked a fight with the sun pony, so I can only hope you put on some sunscreen before coming here."
Luna glanced up at her fiery sister, a little smirk on her face. "You have erred most gravely." A steel edge rang out against her armor and she grabbed it in her magic, yanking the weapon and its wielder forward and sending the kobold to collapse at her hooves. "If you had it in mind to run, this is now the proper time."
Garou jumped from his platform back to the surface, the platform fading away. "If she's doing what I think she's doing, everyone come here!" He erupted in size as he smoothly transitioned to his war form, fingers flexing powerfully just a moment before lashing out, claws ripping into a kobold that had strayed too close. "Everyone that isn't a lizard."
Trixie trotted over with a cocked brow as if a pitched battle were not taking place around her. "You realize you still have something... stuck there." Garou was paying the painful stick stuck in him no mind for the moment.
Rockhoof brought his shovel left and right, parrying several attacks at once, sweat across his brow and nicks across his front, but he looked largely intact overall. "Have to... cut this short." He slammed the shovel down and a ripple of a shockwave burst free, knocking the kobolds back and away, giving him a chance to hurry to Garou's side. "What is she doin' up there?"
Luna vanished, appearing beside Garou in the space available. A dome of glass snapped into being around them all in a defensive shell. "Our newest member seeks to protect us from the fury of the sun, clearly."
Flames bursting from her eyes and from between her struggling hooves licked the air, wanting so desperately to be free of her control. "Away!" She hollered making a great throwing motion. The fireball did not move with the same energy that she threw it, descending on the kobolds quickly, but nowhere near the speed of a tossed baseball. The kobolds screamed, but it was a noise of terror, not aggression. They could all see it approaching them and they began fleeing right back the way they had come.
But the fireball was not entirely free of her influence. It curved as it moved, following them and accelerating as it moved, becoming faster and faster by the moment, closing distance with the kobolds all too quickly for their comfort. They started to scatter, but it was upon them.
It burst into brilliance, as if a new sun had been created, and it was an angry sun. Flames began to rain down from it, each ray of golden light instead an orange-red lick of fire that washed over the scattering kobolds in a crescendo of agonized pain. Each ray had a specific kobold in mind, when it couldn't get two close enough to strike as one. Across the field, the number of their opponents dwindled rapidly, only the few lucky enough to make it inside their sand-obscured burrows spared the lash of Celestia's mighty attack.
Luna softly nudged Garou in the side with a raised hoof. "She would not have risked us. If she had not complete confidence in her ability, she would not have cast the spell. Still, I thank you for the thought. It was one well intended and executed."
Trixie nodded in agreement with that. "Celestia would sooner throw herself off a cliff than hurt a friend. She's what you call a 'good four shoes'." She snickered softly, though her eyes were still on Garou's injury. "That really doesn't look comfortable. Trixie is not a Trained and Licensed physician, but she feels certain of this."
Garou fell to all fours. "Good... good." He collapsed to the side, the loss of blood and the pain of the jiggling spear's tip proving just a bit too much.
Rockhoof caught the collapsing wolf, setting him down more carefully. "Aye, that's a bad one. Ya fought well, now we'll take care of ya." He hefted up the wolf onto his back and strode carefully towards the wagon that housed the medical supplies.
The ponies of the caravan were returning to their wagons, the trouble passed and the noise of battle receded. A pony with a turban and a stethoscope approached Rockhoof and his canine cargo. "Get him inside," he urged, waving to his wagon, and they all vanished from sight.
Luna glanced to Celestia. "You are looking well."
"It was a contest of heat." Celestia tipped her head towards her sister. "I believe I won."
Trixie rolled a hoof. "Are you... always fireproof? You never mentioned that before."
"It certainly doesn't come up often," admitted Celestia with a coy little smile. "Besides, I'm not 'fireproof', but my magic does run in that direction. Handling that trick's worth of heat was well within my ability." She glanced away. "Now if I had been caught entirely by surprise..."
"I would be rushing you right alongside our wolf," chided Luna with a soft huff. "I'm glad you're safe." She reached out and gently brushed a few flicks of charred bits of fur from Celestia. "I can see there was an instant of surprise at least."
Celestia's cheeks warmed. "What? No..." She raised a hoof to cough into it. "Regardless, we were the victors, and without any losses."
Trixie looked towards the medical tent. "We should perhaps wait on declaring that until they are certain Garou is well."
"Why do you care?" asked Luna with a touch of acid. "He's only worth half of you, if I recall properly."
Trixie blinked owlishly, clearly surprised at the sudden lashing. "What? He is a fan of the Great and Powerful Trixie, of course I care. It would hardly be proper for a showmare to not care when a fan is hurt." She buffed her chest lightly. "Besides, he fought well too. Trixie will even admit he did more than her, this time."
Celestia softly nudged Trixie with a hoof. "Then he should get a larger share than you for this leg of the journey?"
"I didn't say that!" she squeaked, backing away from Celestia. "Besides, that would be tricky, deciding who did what each time." She scowled at the thought of it. "Why don't we just make it even and keep it there? Much easier."
Celestia smiled gently. "What a Great and Powerful idea. You are wise beyond your years, Trixie."
"Good of you to notice." Trixie looked quite pleased with herself, a smug look on her blue face.
Luna rolled her eyes but did not argue how they had arrived at the answer the rest had already agreed on. "Are all the ponies alright?"
"They're fine," noted the caravan leader as she approached. "Thanks to you, all of you." She waved a hoof at the three defenders. "Where're the other two?" Her eyes wandered over the circle, but they were not in view. "I owe that, uh, whatever you call the wolf, a bit of thanks."
Trixie lifted a hoof towards the medical wagon. "He and Rockhoof are being seen by a physician. He had a stick right in his back last I saw."
"Just poking out of him?!" started the leader, taking a half-step away. "How awful. Hopefully he pulls through. If you see him before I do, tell him I want to talk to him. Aside that, quality work. Damage was minimal outside of some wagon cloth damage we can patch out at the next stop." She nodded and trotted away, shouting orders at some other ponies. The camp wasn't returning to sleep immediately it was very clear.
Luna nodded to Celestia. "About that. Garou seems to have considerable power, but not the training that would imply he's spent a lifetime mastering it. There are delays between one action and the next, and where you lost a few hairs in your instant of reaction, he would have been cooked on the spot had he been in the same situation."
Celestia swerved an ear at her sister, the other directed at the wagon the injured were in. "Are you implying he is not a warrior by profession then?"
Luna shrugged. "None of us are. I'm implying his powers are new to him." She raised a hoof. "He did not think to go invisible, though clearly that was a power he had, demonstrated to us when first we met him."
Trixie's face screwed up at that. "He cheated with it to best me! I remember that well. If I were more practiced with invisibility spells, I would use it all the time. But why would I do that? The world deserves to bask in my Great and Powerful presence, and they can't do that if they can't see me."
Celestia smiled with soft amusement at Trixie's thoughts. "That would be tragic indeed. It is perhaps for the best that you keep invisibility spells to only the direst of emergencies."
"Exactly," agreed Trixie, puffing out her chest. "But how does this relate to him? Perhaps he also desires to be seen?"
Luna shook her head. "He is asleep. Perhaps I could draw some answers free."
Celestia put a hoof on Luna's armored chest instantly. "He is not a pony, nor your subject. To assume he wishes you in his dreams is... questionable at best."
Luna scowled at her sister. "Ever the worrier, sister. He need not ever know."
"We would know," hissed Celestia. "Ask first, or do not. He is a friend, not a subject or enemy."
Luna rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed with the idea. "Very well, if it bothers you so deeply, Good Sister. I will remain free of his dreams. We will have to learn the old fashioned way."
Trixie softly huffed. "You do that. I am returning to sleep." She trotted back to her wagon, looking pleased with how things went.
Celestia let out a soft breath. "We should do that as well... But, come to think, I will stay awake. Garou was to take the next watch and he is in no condition. I will assume it."
"Sister, dear, this is my watch," reminded Luna. "It is not yet time for me to retire. If you wish to stay awake at my side, I will not turn aside the offer."
Celestia gently leaned against Luna. "I've had worse responsibilities."
Inside the wagon, Rockhoof sat stoically. He had cuts and nicks, but they were minor things, and he had not raised a single word in objection as the doctor's full attention went to the impaled Garou. He watched intently, but kept his mouth shut. It was a modern thing, with modern solutions. He was an old-fashioned pony. He would at least not hurt the situation by remaining quiet and letting the physician work.
The doctor was examining Garou intently. "The end is barbed... nasty work. Hmmm, didn't hit anything lethal... almost all the way through, almost... Only one way." He raised a hoof to the jutting wooden shaft and paused. "You." He turned to Rockhoof. "You look strong."
"Hm? Yes, Sir. How can I help?"
The doctor pointed at the end. "When I give the word, push it clean and straight, right through him. It'll do less damage finishing the journey than trying to make it come back out. I need it to be precise and only when I give the word. Can you do this?" He was kneading Garou gently, adjusting just faintly the insides of his patient as much as he could to ensure the path the spear would take would cause the least amount of new damage. "It will hurt him, but it's the cleanest way. Make it smooth and fast."
Rockhoof placed a heavy hoof just over the embedded spear, ready to press down on the shaft when told to. "Ready," he noted out loud in case it wasn't clear.
"Alright, and..."
Their patient suddenly changed, becoming smooth of flesh and strange of limb. Where there had been a wolf, there was suddenly a human, surprising the both of them. Rockhoof suddenly pressed down, the spear passing right through the altered flesh with a low squelch, fresh blood running onto the cot beneath him.
The doctor cursed, quickly moving to bandage the new wound. "Alright, alright, keep up that pressure! Whatever he is, we don't want any more blood than we have to have." And whatever he was, he would try to treat them, as was a doctor's duty to do.
Outside, the formerly royal sisters watched over the camp quietly. Things were becoming quieter. Surprised ponies were settling back down, going to sleep for the time they had. It would soon enough be time to move, and they would be ready for it. Celestia had a larger wing over her smaller sister. "You are almost an entirely different pony when it becomes time to fight."
"Mmm? I am but one pony, dear sister." Luna yawned softly, a hoof raised over her snout.
"Of course, but I can scarcely recall when you used to fight so fiercely." Celestia inclined an ear at Luna. "What is your secret?"
"There is no grand design here. There was a time when we had to fight in such a way far more often, but you have buried it under many years of peaceful rule. For me... it was not that long ago." She raised her eyes to the moon she held dominion over, where her essence had been trapped for many years. "I still remember the need for such violence quite clearly. If we are truthful, I would rather not call upon it, to instead revel in the simple peace of the world you have made."
"And here you are, with me." Celestia squeezed Luna gentla with her wing. "I am thankful for that. How strange, to have the younger of the sisters so bravely defending the older like that."
Luna shoved her suddenly. "What are you implying?! We are not that different in age. Besides, were it to come to a duel--"
"--I would accept a loss if it brought a smile to your face." Celestia interrupted with a gentle smile. "Perhaps when this task is complete, we can do something more to your liking?"
Luna perked at that. "Truly? There are a few things I've had my eyes on. But only if you promise to put as much effort into them as I have for this. I want my sister to engage it with me, not simply at my side." Floating out from her side came a brochure. "Have you had much chance to watch an opera?"
Celestia's ears danced at that. "Only when I had to in the name of royal duties," she confessed. "What is the appeal? It's just a bunch of strangely painted ponies wailing at one another, isn't it?"
Luna frowned at that. "Hardly. They sing the story they are acting out. Much like Twilight and her friends are prone to doing, but in a far more stately fashion. This is one I wish to see." She bumped the brochure up against Celestia's side. "It will be performed in Manehattan for some time, so hopefully we can make one."
Celestia accepted the brochure in her magic, bringing it around before her eyes to see the painted faces of the stars of the show. She still clearly didn't see the appeal of it, but Luna's hopeful face was hard to argue with. "Very well. You've played along with my wishes for some time. After this, we'll make it a little trip, a celebration for everypony here."
Luna blinked, glancing over the camp. "All of them?!"
"The five of us," Celestia narrowed down. "The merchants will likely not be inerested anyway. Rockhoof may be interested in seeing it. Trixie and Garou are wild cards in this, but it won't hurt to invite them."
"Is that show mare capable of enjoying somepony else's performance?" asked Luna with a genuine tone. "It drives me to wonder." She stretched out suddenly, her wings going wide and brushing Celestia's aside for a moment. "My shift will end soon. Let us see that our new companion will recover."
"A good idea." They both raised up and started for the medical wagon and hopefully the good news that everyone inside was doing well. Celestia's magic glowed along the flap, pulling it aside as she poked her head in, looking without speaking, lest she interrupt anything delicate in progress.
Inside, the doctor was seated on a stool, looking Rockhoof over. The larger pony had a variety of bandages but seemed in good spirits. On a cot was some strange creature, smooth and furless save for a few bits of hair atop its head and on its face and between its uncovered legs. The thing had a great bandage over its torso, practically mummified there.
Luna poked her head in just to the side of Celestia. "What is that?" She pointed at the sleeping patient with a complete lack of subtelty.
Rockhoof lifted his shoulders softly. "Garou, so far we know, lass. He became that, maybe the blood loss? Couldn't rightly say in the end, but it is him."
"And he'll live," added the doctor before he dabbed something along one of Rockhoof's many little cuts. "And so will you, but let's try to avoid any nasty infections."
Rockhoof hissed softly at the disenfectant, but accepted the ministrations without flinching away. "Medicine has changed since last I knew it, but if it keeps a pony on their hooves, I shan't complain much."
Celestia inclined her head towards the doctor. "Thank you for taking care of our friends."
"And thank you," he retorted with a smirk as he worked. "The once-wolf there saved a friend of mine. She was ready to panic when one of those reptiles burst into her wagon like that. Whatever he is, he's alright in my book."
"And deserves to be covered." Luna took hold of a blanket in her magic, covering the poor biped's exposed bits and tucking him in gently. "There we go."
Celestia nodded softly. "He did well. We all played a part; what makes a team great." Her eyes turned to Rockhoof. "Almost done?"
"Almost done," answered the doctor, setting the dabbing cloth aside and starting a fresh bandage over the area. "Now you stop getting cut up, ya hear? Scars may make the mares titter, but there is a limit."
"Ah can't be promisin' anythin' there, Doctor." Rockhoof dipped his head and rose up when the last bandage was placed. "But thank ye all the same. I would have waited fer nature to do its thing, but I imagine this is better."
"For now--" The doctor gently nudged Rockhoof along towards his friends. "We should let him sleep. I'll be sure to let you know if anything changes."
Evicted, the three ponies wandered away from the medical wagon. Luna had an ear turned back towards it. "His shapeshifting seems to encompass more than we thought it had. What else can he become?"
"A changeling, perhaps?" mused Celestia curiously. "Not that there's anything wrong with being one, in the end, but I am curious."
Rockhoof lifted his shoulders. "A brother of the battlefield, and little more. I won't be prying' unless he cares to share on his own."
Luna softly swatted his side with a hoof. "How stoic of you! Still, you're not wrong. He's been a loyal partner on the battlefield so far, so we should respect that. Sister, I'm ready to try to get some sleep. Rockhoof, care to join me?"
He began to blush brightly. She frowned softly. "In sleeping and little else, you oaf." Luna rolled her eyes as she moved towards Trixie's wagon with an agitated twitch of her tail.
Celestia gestured with a little toss of her head. "Go on and get some sleep. I already volunteered to take the last watch. I doubt the creatures will return soon after that last match."
"Not if they have a shred of sense," agreed Rockhoof, trailing after Luna to try and get some rest.
Travel resumed, the schedule unchanged in the face of the attack. They began across the soft sands and hard rock patches of the desert. They avoided walking under the hottest portions of the day, but made good time elsewhen, pushing deeper into the dunes that held their targets.
Garou awoke, the first sign of it being the creaking of his cot under altered bulk as he rapidly assumed his wolven form, rolling right out of his bed to his four paws but not making it much further than that. The doctor gently nudged him right back where he had come from. "You were badly injured, but you'll be alright."
"I'm already fine," he argued despite not having the strength to force the matter. "How's everyone else doing?"
"They all have less full-body holes than you do," gruffly answered the doctor, pointing at the cot. "Rest and remember you only get one life, so maybe handle it with a little more care?"
"If I did that, who would be watching over you?" He rolled each limb one by one before hopping back down, looking a little more certain on his paws. "I'm going to go say hi to them. Thanks for the help."
Though displeased, the doctor didn't try to stop him again, and Garou jumped free of the wagon. He found Trixie first, hauling her wagon along. "Hey."
"Hey yourself." She looked over him and the great bandage wrapped around his torso. "I did warn you that looked painful. Feeling better then?"
"Yeah, shoulda listened." He smirked softly as he walked alongside her. "I didn't feel like sleeping the entire day away."
"If you can make those shields whenever you want, why were you stabbed?" Trixie's shoulders lifted. "They hardly seem to take concentration for you."
"I just make it look easy," grunted Garou, tail swaying behind him as he ambled along. "Just like you do."
Trixie smiled at that, understanding. "It's true, Trixie makes many things look easier than they really are. Still, hardly the way to finish a show. Let's not do that again, hmm?" She raised her brows as one. "Oh, I just remembered; Trixie negotiated for you and got them to agree to an even split. Isn't that generous of me?" She looked quite proud, waiting for adoration for her behavior.
"You're the best," laughed out Garou, remembering the others had already agreed to do it evenly. "Where are the others, by the way? Not that I mind a little Great and Powerful company, just want to know where everyone is."
Trixie tossed her head back. "I have the front of the caravan, seeing as I have to be here. Not like you were volunteering to draw Trixie's wagon along. The others are further back, looking for trouble. Turns out they haven't found any so far."
Garou snorted at that. "They're looking in the wrong place, the way I see it."
"Oh?"
"The trouble's right here." He let his tongue loll a bit. "Isn't a Trixie enough for any caravan to handle?"
"Hey!" Trixie stomped a hoof down into the sand as she marched. "Trixie is a blessing, not trouble."
"Since when were blessing not trouble?" He moved closer. "Want me to take a turn?"
"Hm?"
"Pulling the wagon."
She looked tempted a moment but shook her head. "You're still hurt. The Great and Powerful Trixie will not allow an injured fan to make themselves worse just for her." She raised a hoof to point behind herself. "In fact, why don't you hop up and let Trixie carry you for a while. You deserve a little nap."
Garou was ready to argue being fine, but thought better of it. Trixie showing enough care to pull him along meant something. He nodded quietly and hopped up, curling there in Trixie's wagon. "Thanks..."
There were many gentle shimmers of heat that gave the impression of water across the horizon, but they kept their course, ignoring them all. They had brought enough of their own to not become desperate enough to go chasing after them, sipping gently from their supplies.
It was more of a shock when one shimmer proved to be true as they approached it. They had arrived at one of their destinations, a verdant oasis sorrounded by lush greens and reaching trees that provided some amount of cover in little circles. Sorrounding that were low clay houses of those that called the oasis home. Bright colors fluttered in the breeze and a few creatures could be seen moving from place to place.
They were approaching civization. The caravan's leader ambled towards Trixie. "You should be able to relax for half a day while we resupply and trade. I'll repeat this for your friends." Her eyes were further down the line where she could see the other guardians. "Where's the wolf, still in the medical tent?"
"He's right here." She tossed her head back at her own wagon, a slumbering wolf contained. Despite his bravado, he had been lulled to sleep by the rocking of her wagon. "I'll tell him when he wakes up."
"That works, thanks." She dipped her head and went on past Trixie to seek out the others and bark new commands at the caravan ponies as she went.
Garou sat up, tail wagging a little. "We made it."
"Halfway," agreed Trixie with a soft nod. "Feeling better?" She pulled her wagon into the little oasis town, parking it on the side of the road that led towards its center. "You look it."
"I feel it." He hopped down to his own paws and loped around both her and her wagon, only showing discomfort once when a step caused something to pull against his still fresh injury. "Hmmph. I'll put that at 80%"
Trixie slipped free of her harness. "Let's find the others. We were to be paid when we got here. Trixie remembers that part."
It wasn't too hard to find the others, still lingering with the wagon line. The merchants were setting up stalls and the locals were already coming to barter and exchange goods. Others were busy going into town to purchase supplies and refill water containers. Rockhoof nodded towards Trixie on seeing her. "Where'd you park? I'll take the barrels"
Trixie pointed the way. "On the left side of the road. She presumes things were as quiet as they seemed?"
Luna answered before him, "all was clear. And we've been given a small respite from our responsibilites."
Trixie raised a hoof and wobbled it a little. "Not that I'm one to refuse a chance to relax, but I won't be taking that one. We're still on the road, and if the merchants get attacked while we're here, we'd just as quickly end up without our jobs as if it happened anywhere else."
Garou stepped up beside her. "You have a point there. We'll keep an eye on them at least."
Celestia was there, and instead of offering direct piles of coins, she had smaller bags she floated along to each member of their company. "Well-earned. If you want to buy something in town, we'll be here for a little while."
"Half a day, right?" repeated Garou just before he snapped up his floating bag and tucked it away in one of his pouches. "Let's enjoy it."
Luna set a hoof down just beside him. "I suggest we enjoy it by going over what you can do, precisely, and how to better use it."
Garou huffed at that, looking put out. "Look, I'm still punctured."
"And if you would wish to avoid a repeat of that, practice is in order." Luna nodded with what she felt was sage wisdom. "You have an understanding of what your abilities do, but not the practice to put them to use smoothly." She turned and began walking, nudging him along the way with a wing. "We'll avoid the physically straining things for now."
Celestia softly nudged Luna as her sister passed. "Be gentle on him. It would do us no good to put him back in bed so quickly."
"No promises." Her magic suddenly wrapped around him, plucking him from the ground. "Perhaps you would be willing to tell me what it is you are, exactly. Are you a changeling?" She trotted off with her captive student, leaving the others behind.
Trixie watched her fan be carried off. "Your sister can be very persistant when she had it in mind to be."
"Like some other mares I know, come to think." She started towards the town but hesitated and turned back towards the caravan encampment as it picked up in activity. "I'll stand watch for now. Join me?"
Trixie sat beside Celestia. "I think we were had."
"Hm?"
"They gave us time off we can't really take, but will not be paid for. Clever." Trixie rolled her shoulders with a little snort. "It's clever enough I don't even feel mad this time."
Celestia raised a hoof. "If we are pressed, I'll bring up payment, but until then, at least we're not walking. Good of you to not take it personally at least." She pointed at Trixie with a wing. "I had been meaning to ask, are you happy here, with us? This is surely not what you would have been doing on your own."
"'Tis true this is certainly not a performance tour." She stuck out her tongue a little. "But I am performing. My magic commands attention and bedazzles those who rush towards Trixie. It is not, in the end, that different. I just have to be more cautious about how these audiences behave." She lifted an ear towards Celestia. "What about you? This is quite a change of scenery from ruling a country, no?"
"Yes." Celestia smiled a little, sitting up tall. "Just as I had hoped. My decisions are my own, not weighed down with the worry of countless other ponies. In comparison, protecting this caravan feels like nothing, and they don't look to me for orders or direction, just protection." She tossed her head in the direction Luna had gone. "Hopefully they have some progress in their training. I don't want our newest member being hurt like that again."
"What you get when you get a dog to do a pony's job," gently teased Trixie. "Oh, there's Rockhoof." She waved at him lightly. "All settled on the water then?"
"Loaded up," he agreed, joining them in a line. "Where's the wolf, and Luna for that matter?"
Celestia pointed the way. "Training. My sister has it in her head to help him learn his abilities, to put them to more fluid use."
"In a day?" Rockhoof raised a skeptical brow. "There's only so much you can get done that quickly. I'm more wondering what manner of creature he actually is, not to say whatever that is is a problem." He snorted loudly. "Still, curiosity's a thing."
Celestia seemed to muse over that quietly a moment. "He said that many of my little ponies would be more alarmed than curious. I don't think he was lying about that. Most are not as adventurous as we are. Still, they are good ponies, are they not?"
Rockhoof rubbed behind his head a little meekly. "Afraid I'm a little out of touch, truth be told, and I wasn't a regular pony long before now."
Trixie buffed a hoof on her chest, looking proud. "And Trixie is a globe trotting showmare. She has no fear of the unknown!"
"That isn't what I last heard." With a devious little smile, Celestia leaned in towards her. "I seem to recall hearing you used to be quite frightened of changelings."
"That was different!" she squeaked defensively. "They were not unknown. They were very well known, as bad things to be avoided." She cleared her throat softly. "They've improved since then, good for them."
"Afraid I know little of them," confessed Rockhoof. "You appear to have this well in hoof. I'll go see how Luna and Garou are doin'." He rose to his heavy hooves and trotted off in that direction. Coming around a corner, a flash of silvery magic burst out just in front of him, missing his snout by inches. It had come from Luna, who was hurling bolts at an almost dancing Garou.
The poor wolf ducked and bobbed when he wasn't throwing defensive barriers in the way, seeming to be just a half-step ahead of the assault being laid upon him. Rockhoof looked uncertain how to approach, raising a hoof to speak when Luna proved just a bit quicker, one of her bolts striking Garou in the shoulder.
He growled in discomfort and raised a paw to rub the spot. "That stings."
"Good," Luna pointed at him. "Pain can be a valuable teacher. Thankfully, in this case, that's the worst you face. I'm not trying to end you. Ah, Rockhoof. Are you here to spar as well?"
With the invitation given, Rockhoof ambled towards them. "I had thought to come and see what you were up to, but I see it now." He put a heavy hoof on Garou on the way. "You alright, lad? You took quite the nasty hit in that last fight."
"You wouldn't know it from how Luna treats me." He scowled at her as he sat on his haunches. "But I'm keeping up, mostly."
"Mostly is how we end up with spears in places we did not desire," retorted Luna. "Are you ready to proceed?"
"How is this helping?" Despite his complaint, he stood up. "Besides, bet you can't hit what you can't see." He faded from view entirely.
"Not as easily," admitted Luna. "But that just raises more questions. Why were you not so cloaked during the last battle? It would have been harder to skewer you if one did not know where to put the spear." A bright pulse washed out from her, crashing against the unseen form of Garou sneaking up on her and knocking him away, visible for the brief instant her magic met with his form.
He faded back into view with an irate wuff. "No fair... I forgot it." In the excitement of the moment, it had skipped his mind to make use of it.
"How does one forget that?" Luna turned towards him. "I know too many spells. To forget any number of them in a moment of duress, understandable, but you only have a few tricks." She tossed her head towards Rockhoof. "He would not forget what he can do, that would be hard to beleive."
Rockhoof roared with laughter at the idea. "I'm a strong pony, it's the trick I have." He pulled his shovel free from his back and swirled it in his hooves. "The day I forget that, I must have died an hour earlier, the way I see it."
Garou's fur stood up a little, his hackles raised. "What's your point."
"My point--" she reached out, booping him right on the end of his snout. "--is that you need to not forget. What you can do must be a part of you, even if they used to not be."
He shied back a little, but she seemed unmoved. "I am not a fool. You are not a wolf, and I would wager being one is new, as well as your other powers, or you would not 'forget' them."
Rockhoof shrugged his massive shoulders. "She has you there, lad. If you were long for havin' these gifts, they'd be a second nature."
"Precisely so. Do you wish to argue that?" She had him affixed with a knowing gaze, challenging him.
"I know how to be a wolf," he huffed with an agitated sway of his tail. "I was fighting just fine."
"Of this I will not argue." Luna pointed at him. "You've gotten that trick down well, but the rest..."
Rockhoof was to the side of Luna and Garou. "I don't mean to be pryin', but what exactly was it you turned into there, when you were all laid up?"
Luna cocked an ear. "I was curious as well, but you don't have to answer that, unless that form has other tricks you could be using to defend yourself that we should be going over."
Garou's cheeks warmed as he glanced away. "Aw damn it, everyone saw that?" Both nodded calmly and he grunted with annoyance. "It's not a power... More of a lack of power. I wasn't even expecting it, since I can go to sleep no problem." He suddenly scratched an itch with a twitching back claw over the underside of his chin. "Guess being knocked out isn't the same as going to sleep."
Rockhoof shrugged softly. "I can 'magine that's true enough. To be knocked for a loop is often without dreams."
"A moment of death," agreed Luna. "But one that can be recovered from. Very well, if that is not a useful thing, I will not pry further. You are a mercenary with us, so I will spare you personal prods, unless you decide you wish to share."
"It was all... naked and smooth," noted Rockhoof, not as stoic about forgetting what he had seen. "A curious weakness, to become so vulnerable when defeated."
Garou suddenly barked as he hopped towards Luna. "Look, we're practicing, right?" Suddenly he was more ready to work with her. "What's next?"
"Very well." She pointed to the ground. "I think I have seen that you are agile enough, and that is good, but danger can come when you are not expecting it and have not the time to leap out of the way. You have the most experience in using that canine form you clearly prefer. So I'm forbidding you from using it. Sit still and the barrage will continue. Use only your other tricks to avoid it."
Garou looked ready to say something, but was interrupted by Rockhoof patting him idly on the back. "Good luck, lad. I'm headin' inta town. Want anythin'?"
Luna tossed head head towards Garou. "A mug of water for when he is done would be good."
"Hey, ask if they have a brush for getting sand out of fur." He hadn't even realized that could be an issue until it became one.
Rockhoof looked back over his sand-coated pelt. "Huh, good idea. Let's find out." He wandered off into the oasis town to see what he could get.
An unannounced beam of silvery energy came racing at Garou and he yelped, ducking under it. Luna waved a hoof with a soft tsking noise. "No dodging."
"Warn me before you start!" His hackles were raised, claws digging into the dirt beneath them.
"Would an enemy be so kind?" A bolt raced towards him, not from Luna, but from the side. "Of this I doubt."
An unseen wall formed, causing the bolt to crash against it, illuminating its invisible form for the instant before the bolt was expended and faded away. Luna nodded, looking more satisfied. "Better." She willed a fresh bolt into being, and another. Each one came from a new angle, testing his defenses. "How strong are the walls you form?"
"Haven't had one fail yet," he grunted out, focused on making and remaking walls to block each bolt as they came at him.
"I see a weakness," half-sang Luna as she fashioned two bolts at the same instant, closing them in on Garou from opposite sides. He blocked one easily, but that left the other to zap his exposed side. "Can you not fashion more than one wall?"
He rubbed at the sore spot. "Just one, but it can be in different shapes."
"Then why do you not protect all of yourself instead of fashioning walls?" challenged Luna. "A bubble, or even a skin, would be better, would it not?" She rolled a hoof in the air. "You made a dome before, to protect us from Celestia's attack, do you not recall?"
"Huh..." Forming a dome had been a frantic moment of true fear that whatever Celestia had been doing would kill them all. "I haven't done that a lot."
"Time to learn." Four bolts appeared in cardinal directions. "Or these lessons will get more painful."
Rockhoof approached a stall with a great manner of personal supplies. Brushes, combs, mirrors, and other grooming supplies were on display. "Mmm..."
The mare that operated the stand was smiling gently, looking over Rockhoof. "You approach, smelling of a long road, pelt strewn with that same road, as if you are bringing it to me as a gift." She extended a hoof to point to a simple little box. "That is the first thing you will desire.
Rockhoof leaned forward to read the writing on the top of the box. "Sand soap?"
"It requires no water. Simply rub it in all over and roll around in the sand. It works wonders and will banish the scent that's clung to you." She brought together her forehooves in a single clop. "But then you will have sand, but we have solutions for that as well. You appear to have coarse fur." She reached with her mouth and snagged a particular brush, large and stiff. "This one will do the job. If you have a trusted friend, let them do it. They can reach more of you, and it is a simple pleasure to have a friend perform the grooming."
"Ah, yeah, that's what I was lookin' for. Do you have a sand brush for a mare?" He held up a hoof to show Trixie's height. "She's much softer than I am, I assure."
"Delicate?" She set down Rockhoof's chosen brush and went for another. "The bristles on this one are more gentle, but not by much. Some stiffness is required if you want to get in there and get the sand out. Perhaps you two could help each other out." She smirked playfully at that. "A fine way to grow closer."
His cheeks lit up at the idea of exchanging brushes with Trixie. "I'm fairly certain she's not lookin' for that from me."
"You won't know until you try." She set the brush beside the first and the box. "I have a soft perfume to keep the user fresher for a little longer. It has a subtle but pleasing scent." She gestured to a dangling bottle. "Would you like to smell it?"
He hadn't been sent to find perfume... but... "Uh, sure."
She gathered up the bottle in her hooves and bit down lightly on the bulb, causing it to spritz towards Rockhoof. He could smell it then. He had feared a powerful floral scent, but instead it was a more subtle aroma, of plantlife, but not a flower in particular, like freshly cut grass. "That's nice," he agreed with a little smile. "I'll take them." He spread his hooves to gesture over all four things the mare had helped him find.
He soon paid for his finds and tucked them away, trotting off with a satisfied expression. Who said he couldn't shop?!
It was a funny, and annoying thing. What one did in the middle of a disaster was not always easily replicated. He kept forming curved walls that could block one, or two, sometimes three, of the painful bolts she threw at him, but getting it to be perfectly round was proving harder then he would have liked.
One such painful lesson struck him right on his bandages and he howled with fresh agony, collapsing to the sand as his wall crumbled.
Luna hissed, approaching with a concerned look. "I didn't mean to hit you there. Are you alright?"
"Can we have a little break?" He sat back up, gingerly rubbing a paw over the delicate injury. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, really. This is good practice, but..."
"But you need a break, very well." Luna put a hoof on his stronger shoulder. "I understand. I would want the same were I skewered in such a fashion." There was an unspoken addition of 'which I wouldn't be' that her tone carried.
He picked up on it with a grunt. "Just a minute, then we keep going."
"As you wish." She looked far too satisfied that her ribbing had motivated him to continue. "This is for your own good. Even when our paths seperate, you will be better off being able to defend yourself."
Rockhoof found Trixie and Celestia, still parked where he left them, watching the caravan merchants trade with the town. "I come bearin' gifts," he cheerfully announced as he closed the distance.
Trixie's ears went up towards him. "Did they have something for this infernal sand?"
"Even more than that, lass." He coiled on himself, drawing out Trixie's brush. "First, this is for the sand."
With a glowing horn, she took the brush, just to have it snatched away in Celestia's golden glow. "Hey!"
Celestia ran a metal-clad hoof over the bristles. "Very nice. We can share this. What else did you find?"
"Sand soap." He pulled out the box, still closed. "You lather it on, then give a playful little roll in the sand, cleans you up, but you have to get the sand out."
Trixie tilted her head left and right. "I would not have guessed there was such a thing, but Trixie is interested." Her horn took the box and was not stopped from drawing it into her hooves. "Do you have more? You sound like it."
"I do." He pulled out the second brush, larger then the first. "This one has stiffer bristles. The mare at the stall said it would work better for me."
Celestia raised her ears. "Ah, marvelous. My mane requires stiff bristles if it is to be done correctly. I owe that mare a thanks, and you as well."
"You have more," challenged Trixie. "Did you buy the entire stand?"
"Just one more," he assured, surrendering the second brush to Celestia's magic to float beside the first. He produced the perfurme bottle. "After yer clean, this'll give a subtle scent of freshly cut grass."
Celestia leaned in, sniffing gently. "Very nice. Not my usual scent, but pleasing none the less. You have performed admirably."
"Very good." Trixie nodded softly. "Far better than some of my fans who know so little of what to get a mare. Shall we banish this sand for a time?"
Celestia pointed to the box in Trixie's hooves. "First we must become more familiar with it."
"Ah, yes." She opened the box with her magic and drew the bar free. "I vote we clean you first." She was looking towards Rockhoof. "You're the one that got it, and, if we're being honest, you need it the most."
He roared with laughter. "Oh, fine, blame the stallion for picking up a scent after a long bit of travel."
"I can and I have." She floated the bar over and started with his chest, rubbing it vigorously into his fur. "Besides, keeping your scrapes clean is important, last Trixie knew."
"Excellent point, please proceed." Celestia surrendered her place in the queue, watching Trixie work. "This seems like a workable reward for his hard efforts."
"I wasn't lookin' fer any rewards," he half-muttered, accepting the sudsing he was getting even as his cheeks darkened. It had been quite some time since he had any mare willing to casually clean him. "You know, it used to... be like this all the time. Ah can remember it, comin' home after a long day's work, and getting cleaned."
Trixie raised her brows as one. "That's right, you were a celebrity in your time. You had your own adoring fans that would pamper and labor to keep you happy. This Trixie knows well." She nodded with confident understanding. "It must be horrible, to be a Has Been. I'm not sure if I could stand it."
Celestia put a hoof to Trixie's nose, booping her casually. "He still has it, in spades. Don't be mean."
"Thank you." Luna took the mug of water that a much cleaner Rockhoof was bringing to her. "Just when I wanted it most. Now, Garou."
"Yeah? Oh, did they have sand brushes?" He was distracted by Rockhoof much the same, tail wagging with thoughts of goodies.
"The others got those. They'll share when yer done here. What's the point if yer still practicin'?" He shrugged softly and looked to Luna. "What's next?"
She sipped softly from the mug, letting it hover beside her. "I think I have an idea what may be holding you back. I think this may be a case of vision."
"Vision?" Garou lifted a shaggy brow. "I can see just fine." His nightvision was even better as a wolf than a human. Not that it was night yet.
Luna extended a hoof towards him. "Not that manner of vision, but how you imagine your power. How a creature imagines they are performing an action has an effect on how it will come to be. This is true of magic and physical actions. Athletes can perform better, or worse, depending on what they think they are doing. Your vision is flawed."
Garou put a paw on the ground, a semi-transparent pane of glass springing up from the point. "What's wrong with it? It's fast and strong."
"And limited," completed Luna, tapping at the glass. "You imagine panes of glass, and that's what you get. Perfectly suitable in some situations, but I imagine you could be doing better. To test this theory, and dissuade that habit, I want to see some shields that are not rectangular, curved or not. She made a round gesture with her hooves. "Make a circle, not around you, but the shield itself."
A circle? He huffed softly, imagining that. He would be creating a shield, like Captain America's shield, but a force shield version thereof. Could he do that? He'd try... He sat on his haunches and frowned at the thought. "Round, round, sure..." He put down a paw. "Round." Up sprang a new sheet of power. It was not round, instead triangular, though not a rectangle either. "Hm."
"I thought so." Luna sipped from her water. "Perfect. Keep practicing until you can do properly round. You are creating force from nothing. What stops you from making any shape you want? I think nothing does but your own preconceptions. Fortunately you have us to not have those for you."
Rockhoof suddenly laughed at that. "Hard to think we know how yer powers work, Lad. I don't have the foggiest, so if you make one that's shaped like a house, I wouldn't think it much odder than what you already do."
Luna nodded in agreement. "Precisely so, though let's save the house for now. That would be a bit advanced. Once you can make it round in front of you, making it round around you won't seem so strange. Then maybe we can be... trickier. But one step at a time."
Garou got to practicing, trying to rid himself of the idea that his force had to be rectangles.
A merchant barked loudly, one of the locals was having an animated argument with one of the caravan members, the two exchanging barbs and scowling. Others were watching, attention growing with time as their noise drew a crowd.
Celestia stepped in, casually moving through the crowd of smaller creatures. "What seems to be the problem?"
"None of your business," grunted the local. "Who in the hades is that?" He hiked a thumb at the approaching former princess.
The caravan member nodded towards her. "One of our guards, quite talented. She dispatched countless attackers all at once. That was a sight to behold." He sighed softly and reached his hooves towards a box. "Are you certain you don't want it?"
"Of course I want it!" screamed the local. "But not at that price!" He had half an eye on Celestia, glancing towards her nervously. "You're overcharging by at least double."
"You need it, I have it. I would say I am charging exactly the right amount," countered the caravan merchant with a confident smile on his snout. "Let us do business as merchants, not make appeals to the hearts neither of us have."
The local drove a hoof into the sand with a muted thump. "This is not a luxury. You speak of needs, but this need is true. Creatures will die without it. I will pay the standard rate."
The caravan merchant stood up, leaning on the box of goods, eyes on the local. "You will pay what I am charging or not get it at all. This is the way of merchantry."
"I don't have it," he screamed, throwing his hands up. "What part of that are you missing?"
Celestia raised a hoof. "If I may ask, how many bits short are you?" She quirked an ear towards both of the merchants involved.
"No!" Trixie was suddenly there, emerging from the crowd. "You will not do that. Stop right there!" She charged right in front of Celestia. "You earned those bits."
"Which means they are mine to do with as I wish." Celestia set a hoof on Trixie's shoulder. "And I would rather be a little poorer than see creatures die to line my pocket."
"Finally, a pony of mercy," sighed out the local. "This wretch is demanding so much!" He gave a number and both Celestia and Trixie went wide eyed.
Even half of it was more than Celestia had made guarding them to that point. She put a hoof to her cheek. "Oh dear, that is quite the sum. Pray tell, what is this that demands such a price?"
The caravan merchant tapped at the box. "What makes it more expensive is that it needs to be kept cold. The medicine becomes bad quickly at anything above near freezing, and the enchantments to make that happen are not cheap to create or keep working, and when I sell the medicine, I have to sell the crate, unless he has his own chill box?"
"I do not," confessed the local with a weary sigh.
"So I have to sell the box too, which is part of that price." He tapped at the top of the box. "The price is perfectly reasonable."
Trixie pointed away. "This is far too rich for my blood."
The local grunted softly. "Look, we've had a bad outbreak. Over a dozen are in dire--"
"I am not interested," cut in the caravan merchant. "I am here to trade. Perhaps you have something else you could trade besides money?"
Celestia scowled. These were not the ponies she had thought she had raised to be kind and gentle. Still, she was not that merchant's princess... "If I cede my share of payment for the rest of the journey, that should be enough. You can get those funds from the caravan master."
The caravan merchant clopped his hooves. "Very good. I will accept that, assuming this one has the other half?"
The local let out a weary sigh as he dug out his coin pouch and set it down right on the crate. "Here. Choke on it."
"I will be unlikely to oblige." He nudged the crate forward over the sand and grabbed the bag in his teeth. "This is yours. Do with it as you wish."
The local looped around to start pushing the crate towards the oasis town. "Thank you." That was directed at Celestia. "A kindness as large as, well, you." He smirked good naturedly. "It is good to see there are caring souls in this world."
Trixie watched him go, the crowd dispersing as the shouting was complete. "I'm not stupid."
"Hm?"
"You didn't just give away your bits. If you run out of coins, you will turn to us and expect help." She put a hoof on her chest. "And you will get it. You gave away all of our coins, not just yours."
Celestia extended a wing, wrapping it around Trixie. "I will tell the others what I have done, and they may censure me if they think I acted poorly. I would rather face their indignation than the sad pony in the mirror had I not acted in that situation."
"I'm doing that right now." She poked Celestia with the flat of a hoof. "You big softie. We'll run into many more people that need a hoof, and we can't help them all."
"No, but I could help that one, so I did," argued Celestia. "I understand your concern, but--"
"--no buts. We're a team." She puffed out her chest. "We're as strong as the weakest link, and you just made yourself weaker."
Celestia smirked faintly at that, her estimation of Trixie's combat ability placing her closer to the weakest link. "We can always make more bits. Besides, a kindness given can turn around in the least expected places, or perhaps it will not. It was still the right thing to do, and I do not feel remorse for it."
"Figures," she sighed out, a hoof thrown up. "Twilight learned from you, didn't she? It shows! Ugh..." She stormed off in a little huff.
Luna tilted her head faintly. "Why is there a star in the center?"
He had created Captain America's shield, hovering in the air, not rooted from the ground. It had bands etched into its surface to imitate the stripes it normally would have, with an etching of the star right in the middle. He was also giggling with triumph, tongue lolling from his snout with the simple joy of success. It had no color, being essentially glass-like force.
"Don't like it?"
Rockhoof reached out, feeling along the curved shield's surface. It was round in more ways than one, concave as a shield should be. "If ye can make this, I 'magine ya could make whatever you had in mind to make."
Luna waved a hoof beneath the shield where it didn't touch the ground. "Notice too that it is not rooted. Is it just as powerful?" Rather than wait for a reply, she lowered her horn at it and gave it a little blast, and it didn't immediately fall. She ramped up the power, magic dancing and sparking where the shield refused to let it pass. She gave up fairly quickly, nodding. "A serviceable defense. See what a change of vision can achieve?"
Garou reared up onto two legs and thrust forward a paw. Though there was no band on the shield, it stuck to his foreleg easily enough, causing him to be wielding the shield. "Alright, this is actually pretty cool." He waved the shield around, taking on fighting poses with it clinging to him easily. "Not having to keep making it is a plus."
Rockhoof tilted his head. "But that won't stop you from being blasted in more than one way like she was doin' before."
"This is true," agreed Luna. "But, it is still a vital and great step forward. Let us be pleased with it. It is just as important to realize our triumphs, even as we see there is more yet to go. I declare our practice complete for today." She clopped her metal-clad hooves with finality.
"Finally." He let the shield fade away and fell back to all fours. "Hey, can I have some of that water?"
"Certainly." Luna floated her half-drained mug towards Garou.
He sank his snout into it and with loud lapping noises, made short work of the rest, quenching the powerful thirst he had worked up practicing in the heat of the desert. "Mmm, yeah, perfect... Oh, thanks Rockhoof, for getting it."
"Not a problem at all." He turned to Luna. "We're stayin' with the caravan tonight, yeah?"
"We can hardly guard them if we stayed at an inn here while the caravan remained outside the town," agreed Luna, moving back towards the caravan. "Let us return to our duties. Tomorrow perhaps we can practice more. Testing you is practice for my own magic. We both stand to win."
The next day, trading was complete, barrels were filled with water, and food stocks were high. They were ready to go. "I would have done the same thing," proclaimed Garou as he walked alongside Celestia. "That's messed up, keeping medicine away from people."
Luna inclined her head. "Had you asked, we would have shared the burden. Far be it from me to consign somepony to death for sake of expediency on my part."
"Am I the only practical pony here?" groused Trixie with a frown, walking along with her wagon. "You could have at least tried to haggle before giving away so many coins."
Celestia suddenly flashed a nervous little smile. "I suppose I can't argue that. It's a bit late to try now."
Rockhoof lifted his shoulders. "I'm alright with my share coming from the smaller pool. We can all chip in towards it, like a team." The others voiced their agreement, leaving Trixie as the odd pony out.
"Ugh! It's just like I told you." She thrust a hoof at Celestia as she walked on the other three. "You gave away all our coins, not just some selfless sacrifice of your own. That was rude and unkind to the rest of us. Trixie demands apologies!"
Celestia reached out a wing to rest on Trixie's head. "Forgive me. I owe you something."
"Well, so long as you admit it." She let out a slow sigh. "Fine, take my share too then, we'll all have smaller portions to make up for this." Though she grumbled, the matter was closed and the topic set down.
They scattered then, moving to keep better views on different parts of the caravan as it wove across the desert. Spirits were high among the merchants, their trip already proving profitable and they hadn't even finished yet.
Everything was turning out well, until the sand shook beneath their many hooves and even a few paws. Trixie quirked an ear and stepped free of her harness. "I don't like the sound of that."
As if her speaking had summoned it, the dune just to the left of her exploded as the form of a great tatzlwyrm erupted with tentacle tongues flailing angrily, a roar on its many-toothed mouth. It was not a time that Trixie enjoyed being correct. It dove for her and she lashed out her hind hooves, kicking the wagon back just far enough to not be smashed as it crashed down on her, gulping her up and burrowing right back into the sand, leaving nothing in its wake but disturbed dunes.
Rockhoof and Garou were on the scene in an instant of rapid running. "Where is she?" barked Garou almost literally, ears turning rapidly. "I see her wagon, but no magic pony."
"She was eaten," stammered out one of the other wagon pullers. "Just... like that, gone!"
Rockhoof plunged his shovel into the sand. "Then we'll dig after her! I won't let her go like that." Without further thought or hesitation, he began digging rapidly into the sand, making a new dune just beside the forming hole as he began to sink inch after inch, trying to reach the worm and Trixie.
Celestia arrived next, peering into the deepening hole. "Good friend, I don't think you can catch up with the worm like that."
"It won't be for lack of effort," he grunted, working without pause to try and reach their lost friend.
It was cramped, a little pointy, stank like the inside of somecreature's mouth, which made sense enough, and she was in it, which was the part she most objected to. On the bright side, it had not gotten directly to the part where she was ground into Trixie-chunks for easy digestion.
She still had a chance. She just needed to be clever enough to... Oh yes! Her horn glowed as she focused on her wagon, and the stinky confines of the worm's mouth was abandoned, her form thrown between Here and There, cast out in a wild teleport.
Trixie couldn't see much, but she could feel the comforting presence of her wagon and reached for it, trying to get closer. As suddenly as it began, she spilled out, smoke wafting from her as she hit the floor of her wagon with a soft oof of a noise.
Rockhoof's head peeked up from the lip of his hole. "Was that--"
"It is," gladly reported Celestia, trotting over towards the arrived magician. "We had feared the worse."
Garou loped over, tail wagging. "Now that's a magic trick!"
"Exactly as I had planned," claimed Trixie, though her voice wavered, still recovering from her inexpert transportation. "The worm's still out there!" she suddenly thought to blurt out. "It didn't chew on Trixie, but it could smash wagons without even trying."
Luna landed with a last flap of her wings. "Then it falls on us to prevent that from happening."
Rockhoof climbed free of his hole. "How do we do that? The blasted thing moves so quickly. It's up and down before we have much of a chance to face it." He held his shovel in his teeth, looking around for something to apply it to.
Celestia's eyes lit up. "With that." She pointed at his shovel. "Good friend, if you would quickly erect a trench alongside the caravan's routes, so the worm cannot emerge too close without hitting it."
"On it!" he roared, transferring the shovel to his forelegs and running along the side of the caravan. As slowly as he had dug the hole, the trench was created as if by magic, his shovel repelling dirt away and a trench forming as he galloped down one side of the caravan and up the other side, creating a huge break in the sand that stood firm despite the walls being made of loose little particles.
Trixie half-fell from her wagon, trying to get herself back in the harness, but suddenly she was lifted from the ground, her scruff in Garou's jaws. He dropped her right back into her wagon. "I have this." He stepped into the harness and started pulling it and her along.
The entire caravan began to move a little faster, everypony involved eager to be beyond the worm's territory, wherever that began or ended. The ground shook with movement and everyone looked around for where it was coming from. There. It emerged in an explosion of sand just beyond the trench, its eyes set on Trixie's wagon as if to finish old scores. It dove without hesitation for it, or perhaps the pony laying inside of it.
The delay caused by the trench was just enough, Garou surging to two legs, becoming the massive war form he could take as he spread his hands that had been paws a moment before. A great shield appeared between them, forming in the shape of Captain's shield as he had just gotten down the day before. "Eat this!" he roared, hurling it into the worm's open and toothsome face.
The worm's gaping orifice was suddenly filled with a force shield and its motion became uncertain, confusion robbing it of purpose and its tentacles flailing, at least the two that weren't pinned inside its mouth by the shield. It's roar was strange, muffled by the shield it couldn't bite down on properly.
Celestia arrived on the seat, zapping it with painful bolts of sunny magic. "Back, away with you!"
The worm lashed out its head towards Celestia, a free tentacle snapping at her, grabbing at a hoof and yanking her closer. She collided with the shield with a low thud, but couldn't be drawn into its toothy mouth past it.
"Sister!" Luna was flying towards them with powerful flaps, things floating up towards her, grabbed semi-randomly along the way. "You'll regret that. Why does everything think it's alright to hurt my sister?!"
"I need my sleep!" suddenly bellowed a sour showmare. Trixie was pointing at the muffedly roaring worm. "Why don't you make yourself more useful and get Trixie a teacup!" Her horn flared brightly, magic striking the worm in the center of its sinuous mass. It writhed with clear discomfort, but did not become a great teacup, to Trixie's mild annoyance.
It did, however, cough up quite a collection of them and they crashed into the shield that blocked its mouth, creating a porcelain shatter zone that it couldn't cough out. She had transmuted some part of its insides into precious China. The worm twisted around, suddenly very uninterested in continuing the battle.
Luna waved her assortment of poles, daggers, and other small objects she had plucked on the way. "You better get out of here!" she shouted at the thing as the worm dove into the sands and retreated away from the ponies that could fight back far better than it had intended. With a soft huff, she descended, returning the various things she had borrowed a moment before. "We are safe now."
The caravan master nodded softly, looking in the direction the worm had gone. "Good... job. Rockhoof was it?" When he looked towards her, she smiled nervously. "If you don't mind, keep those trenches up. A valuable extra half second may be what we need."
Garou let his shield fade as he fell back to all fours, shrinking down to his usual wolf size. "Good job, Trix. Just don't use that spell on me, that looked painful."
"Exactly as Trixie had planned," she boasted falsely. She had expected a great single teacup to replace the worm, but that had worked too. "Nice shield. It's a rare delight for Trixie to have a fan that can properly support her, especially since Starlight got super busy with that infernal school of hers." She rolled her eyes even as they started to move, pulled along by Garou. "Have you considered becoming my assistant? We can travel the world, bedazzle all manner of creatures with our magic."
"I'll consider it." He smiled as only a dog could, ambling along with the wagon attached. "For now, we're already on a team, and we have a job."
"True true... I wonder if the creatures of Klugetown will enjoy a little prestidigitation to lighten up their days." She settled on the floor of her wagon, lying on her belly.
Luna looped around to get to Celestia, all her weapons returned. "Sister, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she gently assured, gesturing over herself with a wing. "It was more surprising than actually painful. It has a firm grip with its tentacles, even around the shield. We scared it away, so mission accomplished today." She offered a hoof.
Luna met it with one of her own in a loud clop of a noise. "That we did. We all lent a hoof, though I barely arrived in time to shout at it. I should like to think that helped, but I can offer no assurance."
Celestia touched her nose to Luna's. "You were ready to fight for me, I saw that. You were just fine. We can't be everywhere at once."
"That we can't," agreed Rockhoof, joining them. "I'll be keeping the trenches going for now, as the caravan master asked of me." He nodded to the sisters and moved off to continue his digging.
Luna watched him go, an ear inclined. "Why is it he can dig trenches so well, but when he has to dig a hole straight down, he's so much slower."
"Perhaps we have another vision problem, just as you were coaching our canine friend yesterday." Celestia lifted her shoulders in a little shrug. "He was born to power digging ditches and trenches. That comes naturally to him. Maybe he's just not thinking of a hole as a ditch, so it's slower."
Luna frowned at his retreating form. "If ever you spot such folly in me, dear sister, you are to take me aside and give me a thorough scolding until I am cured of that madness. I hereby give you preemptive permission to engage in Lulu."
"Aw, but I already had permission by right of being your older sister to call you Lulu whenever I pleased." Even as Luna blushed, Celestia kissed her cheek with a fond smile.
It rose before them, even its most vibrant colors seemingly tainted by the brown of the arid lands around it. Great wheels of unknown function did not turn but did grace the town and many buildings of different heights were crammed together in the town, creating a stiflingly tight atmosphere.
"Fortunately, we're not going in there." The caravan master directed ponies to start setting up shop outside of it. "But this does mean you've reached another leg of the journey." She inclined her head back. "I'm told Celestia's share is to be paid to one of the merchants, so I'll get that over. The rest..."
With a deft twist of her neck, she grabbed a pouch of coins and set it on the ground ahead of herself. "Well earned. I included a little bonus for not losin' a single wagon to that blasted worm. Thought we'd always lose a few whenever one of those things showed up."
The bag floated into the air, not in Luna or Celestia's magic, instead yanked over by Trixie. "Thank you. I assume you'll be wanting our company after this as well, mm?"
"Of course." The caravan master perked an ear. "We'll be moving on past this, and having guards remains a valuable thing. Let us make some money here to make the time worth it, and maybe have some funds to continue employin' the lot of you."
Garou was barely listening to the conversation, his eyes up high, watching an airship float into position. "Ever consider getting one of those?"
The caravan master peered at the dog, then followed his eyes up to the floating ship. "It'd be nice, but there are fewer ship docks in Equestria that you can park the things at. If you can't land it without a big to-do, that makes it less temptin'."
Luna gestured with a wing up at it. "Sister and I have both flown on our share of flying ships. It's a stately way to travel, but she is correct in that finding an airship dock outside of major cities is unusual. When you have wings, this is less of an issue, but not everyone does, and when carrying heavy objects, even that can prove a challenge."
Celestia moved to Trixie's side. "Let's divide this properly, then we can enjoy our earnings. How long will the caravan be staying?"
"Mmm, depends on the business, but a few days at least." The caravan master turned in place, squinting a little. "I see business already approaching."
A few ambling animal people wandered from the town towards the unpacking wagons. One had an ornate red coat with bright gold buttons and a monocle over one eye. He looked rich, or that he was trying to look rich. Either way, he several others following right behind him and his swaying skunk tail.
Reaching up to adjust the monocle with a gloved hand, the leather a slightly different shade of red, his face was covered in black and white fur, matching the coloration of the skunk species his tail implied. "What have we here?" he asked loudly enough to make no mistake that he intended to be heard. "Traders? I do hope you've the proper permits."
"Must we do this dance every time?" spat the caravan master with a little smile. "You know we'll pay our dues. Just shove the paperwork over and I'll get it done."
He stepped closer, but stopped, his eyes moving to Luna and Celestia. "What is this? They're the largest ponies I ever witnessed."
Rockhoof moved between the royal sisters and the aristocratic skunk. "We're guards of the caravan."
"And they have an equally imposing stallion," almost purred the skunk, eyes shining as he brought his gloved hands together. "What a treat. Now then, ah, yes." He reached into his ornate jacket and drew out a tightly coiled scroll. "You know how I like it. See that it is filled to the last, with the proper fees included." He held out the scroll towards the caravan master.
The caravan master glanced between the royal sisters and the skunk, eyes darting. "Say, are you wanting to... spend some time with them?"
The skunk's face warmed to a smile. "That would be delightful." He rolled a hand softly. "Come to me, my ladies. I will show you around town."
The caravan master held up a hoof. "Not so fast, those are our guards. If they're leaving, we'll have to hire other guards. But, perhaps, you could help with that?" She inclined her head suggestively, brows waggling.
The skunk's fingers tapped at the opposing elbow, his arms crossed. "Mmm, mmm... Oh very well. Allow me to take these two lovely things off your... hooves... while you're here and we'll just forget the fees. That should cover it, yes?"
"Deal!" quickly spat out the caravan master before any of those being traded could voice their opinion. She hurried over to Celestia and Luna, both peering at her with ire. She whispered softly, "Look, just let him wine and dine you. You don't have to do more than that, and I'll give you half of what was saved by not paying those fees. Easy money."
Garou chuffed in a canine way. "Go on, enjoy your date. We'll keep an eye on things."
That got him a dirty look from both princesses before Celestia fixed her gaze on the skunk and smiled brightly, approaching him at a steady pace. "I apologize, but I don't think I've heard your name? I am Celestia, former princess of Equestria."
Luna took the cue and stepped up to take up a position beside her sister. "I am her sister, Luna. We gather you wish to tour the city?"
"Nothing so boarish." He turned away, his entourage of other animal folk silently moving to get behind him, ending up around the royal sisters without a word. "I'll show you the finest, as you clearly deserve. Let us speak of delicate senses and exquisite things, as you two clearly are."
Celestia tittered softly, following along as she was led into the city. Luna leaned in as they went, whispering gently, "Please tell me you are joking. You're not taken in by--"
Celestia gently bumped into her sister, quieting her.
In the quiet, the skunk raised a round ear. "Oh yes, how silly of me. I am Lefont, Mayor Lefont." He reached up to adjust his hat through which those round ears poked. "And I will be your host." He waved one hand widely. "The others are my guards, pay them no mind. Which brings a question to mind, how does a former princess become a guard herself? That sounds like a story worth hearing."
Trixie scoffed at their receding forms. "Take them but not a world famous magician? That creature has odd tastes. Very well, if we're settled, Trixie is going to put on a show worthy of her name. The creatures of this town will cheer and shower her with bits and praise." With an eager clip-clop of her hooves, she hopped into her wagon and began rustling around. A moment later it unfolded dramatically, revealing a stage and allowing fireworks to escape, already lit, to streak into the air and explode brightly. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is ready to impress!"
Rockhoof and Garou both clapped, paw to paw, hoof to hoof, in polite applause. Garou gestured his head at the stage. "Want me to play a little guard? I can make sure people pay to watch." His lips peeled back, revealing sharp teeth. "Or get them to go away."
Trixie looked baffled at the very idea, tilting her head at Garou. "I've never heard of a traveling performer who charges before you see what they do. I am no theatered attraction that charges at the door."
Rockhoof lifted his great shoulders. "He means well. We can both keep an eye out fer trouble and give 'em the boot if need be."
Trixie clopped her forehooves together. "I get personal guards? Trixie enjoys the sound of that. I can focus on putting on the best show I ever did, you keep the hecklers and pranksters in check." She just as suddenly turned around and pounced into the back, rustling through her things. "Now what sort of show, mmm, ohhh, I haven't used this in a little while..."
Garou glanced to the side at his co-guard. "I think she'll be busy setting up for a bit, let's make sure her 'eager fans' sit down in an orderly way."
"Let's." Rockhoof pointed. "I see some coming. They musta saw the fireworks."
The people of Klugetown were approaching. Some veered towards Trixie's show, while others were more interested in the merchants. The caravan's presence was more than enough of a draw to get people moving. Not all of them, in fact many of them, looked as if they couldn't afford much, but still they came, and none were turned away.
"Is that the Trixie Lulamoon?" asked the smooth tones of a male cat, his hands on his jacket as he gazed upon her back end, still setting up at the other side of the stage.
Trixie popped up at her name being called. "What? Who?" Her eyes focused on the cat. "That is the Great and Powerful Trixie," she corrected, with a hoof at her chest. "Are you a fan?"
"You could say that. I heard of you from an associate of ours." He inclined his head. "Quite the show it looks like you're setting up for. The name's Capper, by the way."
"Yes yes, hello Capper." She suddenly jerked up. "Capper! Yes, Trixie remembers that. Twilight told Starlight, and she told me." She leveled a hoof at Capper. "But Trixie will not be tricked by you. You are here to see Trixie's tricks instead, so sit down with the others and enjoy the show." She threw a hoof, glittering motes escaping it in an arc. "For it is about to begin!"
From feats of stage magic to displaying her growing repository of actual magic, Trixie wove a show delightedly for the crowd. The reaction was mixed, ranging from utter fascination and wild cheering to others who were barely paying attention. Fortunately, Trixie only cares about the ones clapping and cheering for her, and she grew more and more bold as the show went on.
"You've all been such wonderful fans." Her eyes darted over the various bits they'd thrown on stage. Some of it was obviously money, but more of it was clearly not. Various bits of junk and curiosities, she had no idea how much any of it was worth, for none of it was an Equestrian bit. "Trixie is going to show off a trick so new, none else have ever witnessed it!"
Those that had been paying attention leaned forward to see what she was offering, excited whispers exchanged between the various creatures that made up her audience.
"Where there was one Trixie, there will be more." She pulled out a hoop with her magic, twirling it in place. "This is not a magic hoop." She held it out in her magic. "Would somecreature care to confirm this?"
A hand went up and the hoop landed gently on it, allowing the fish-like creature to peer at the hoop, circling it around and wobbling it, testing its flexibility, but they could find no magic in it and shrugged softly.
Trixie took it back in her magic. "And yet, when Trixie does... this!" She dropped it over herself and her form was engulfed in a bright flash. When anyone could see again, there were two Trixies, both smiling confidently. "Excellently done," said the one on the right.
"As if we'd do anything else," agreed the one on the left. They lifted their hooves in sync and clopped them against the others, smiling for the crowd together.
Capper inclined his head faintly, leaning against the edge of the stage. "So which one's the original, and are you getting rid of the copy?"
Both Trixie's looked at each other suspiciously, neither volunteering to be deleted.
Left glared at Right. "Obviously I am the original, you can go away now."
"That is precisely what a copy would say," scoffed Right, turning her nose up. "But Trixie's fans will not be fooled so easily."
"Yes, my fans." Left pivoted on a single hoof, the others coming down once she was facing the crowd properly. "Which one of us is the original--"
"And which one gets deleted," coldly added Right with a wicked smirk. "Trixie is confident you will make the correct decision."
The crowd murdered and plotted. Wild schemes of how to tell them apart rippled as interest grew in the mystery. Capper was not joining the whispering, instead just watching the two of them with a half-lidded stare.
Rockhoof nudged Garou before tossing his head out into the crowd. Garou looked where he was indicating and frowned. The two of them moved out without a word, leaving most of the crowd to start suggesting ideas to find the right Trixie.
Seated on an elevated balcony, Celestia, Luna, and Mayor Lefont were seated around a table. Celestia and Luna were perched on pillows, while the bipedal mayor enjoyed a chair with thick cushions for both his bottom and his arms. The back was missing from the lower portion, allowing him to easily have his tail poking through it to sway slightly as he spoke with a grin to his two guests.
"I can only imagine, being princesses, you understand how difficult it can be to govern."
Luna inclined her head towards Celestia. "I confess, mine sister did much of that labor."
"Oh, stop that." Celestia waved it away. "I would have been lost without my sister at my side. Did you know she patrols dreams?"
Lefont hiked a brow at that. "Well, have you been here before? I feel certain I've seen you in a dream or two."
Luna snorted in a very equine way. "That was an awkward pass and you are perfectly aware of it."
He raised a hand flat towards her. "I meant nothing untoward, m'lady. Please don't hold it against me that I think you're worth a few kind words."
Celestia reached a wing, brushing Luna's side. "We have spent much of our time as reigning rulers, when not we were struggling to find a moment's peace in a troubled world beforehoof. Romance... is not a thing we have had much time for."
"That is a shame," he practically sighed out, leaning forward, chin resting on a fist, elbow on the table. "And none tried to meet this need of yours?"
Luna grabbed a fine goblet from the table, floating it in her magic. "Are you proposing you are just the one to do that?"
"Well, I co--" He didn't get to finish the statement, suddenly quite wet with wine that Luna had splashed right into his face. Blinking and sputtering, he looked stunned a moment before he cracked a little smile and began to laugh. "What a fiery one. Are you certain she's not the sun and you the moon?"
Celestia hovered over a napkin, holding it in the air until he took it. "She is protective, though we shouldn't be dousing our guest in his own provided libations. Sister, that was rude."
"He was rude first," she snapped, eyeing the skunk as he dried himself. "I have little interest in being 'romanced' by somecreature I have barely met. Is this how you treat all your guests?"
"Only a few." He held up two gloved fingers close together. "The ones that catch my eye... Most are... far less pleasant souls that still serve needed functions. I speak no ill of them, but I have no interest in that fashion with many of them. Now, let's put that aside." He half-turned, gesturing out across the dusty city. "The sun is setting. Even Klugetown is a sight to see as it lowers."
Celestia turned her vision not to the town, but the sun that lowered, a wistful look on her face. "I know you can handle this," she spoke to no one at all.
Luna softly coughed into a hoof. "I feel certain she can, Sister. The sun and moon have been moving smoothly so far."
Caught in the act, Celestia sat up straight in a jerk. "Hm? Yes, of course it has... She has..." She trailed off, glancing towards Lefont.
"Please, don't allow me to interrupt," he assured with raised gloves. "Are you... speaking of your replacement?"
Celestia's ears quirked towards him. "How observant of you. Yes, that is precisely who my thoughts drifted towards... She is well trained, and a good pony beside. I know she is doing her absolute best, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about it."
"This place would fall apart without me," sighed the mayor, leaning back in his chair so it was propped on just two legs. "I can't afford to take a day off, let alone consider retiring. I know how you feel."
Luna and Celestia shared a glance, doubt clear in their expressions. Luna nodded towards him. "Yes, seeing to the needs of others is a constant activity." She examined him, eyes wandering up and down. "Tell me, what is the most trying time you've experienced?"
"What a question..." He steepled his fingers, his chair crashing forward back into a resting position. "Well, there was a time, about five or so years ago. I was put to the real test..."
The two trixies were holding the crowd captive with swirls and flares of magic. One was cutting a worried person in half as the other set things on fire just to pluck them free, unharmed and clean. Both were working as hard as they could to one up the other in increasingly grandiose displays of magic ability, and the audience was roaring with approval, egging them on to up the game, to prove which one was the 'real' Trixie.
In the crowd, Garou and Rockhoof worked their ways slowly, eyes fixed on the same point. A glint of metal, a sudden movement. A hand thrust forward in an arc and something flew free of it. It struck a forcefield that faded a moment later, and they jumped on the thrower.
The crowd never even knew something had happened, Rockhoof and Garou throwing the beaver-like woman to the ground and holding her there as they divested her of her remaining daggers. "Why were you attacking Trixie?" demanded Garou. "What did she ever do to you?"
"She's a no good show off is what she is," spat the pinned female, wriggling beneath Rockhoof's namesake that had her pinned just as surely as any boulder. "Think she can just come in here and say she's better than people that actually work fer a livin'!"
Rockhoof pressed a little harder. "She works plenty hard enough, seein' as she's a guard just like us. She works twice as hard, perfectin' her craft as a showmare. Ya think that just comes easy?"
"Seriously, I couldn't do half those tricks." Garou chuffed as he continued making a pile of deadly implements. "How many daggers are you carrying?! Were you expecting a war?"
Up on the stage, the two Trixies were heaving with effort, glaring more metaphorical daggers at their counterparts. "Well... how was... that? Magnificant, Powerful... Trixie!" She threw a hoof high. "I am clearly the original."
"You sawed a creature in half," mocked the other, rolling her eyes. "I've seen that trick before. Defying the flames is far more impressive." She turned to the crowd and stood up. "Surely I am the original!"
The crowd was cheering, but it was as much for the antics as any one of them specifically. They weren't arriving at an answer. Capper stepped forward, arms crossed. "Well, there is one other way about this?"
Both Trixies fixed their glares on him. "What way is that?" they spoke in an echo.
"You just... come back together, instead of getting rid of one. So neither of you is erased." He brought his hands together with a smart clap. "Just like that."
The Trixies shared a look, both sneering in mirror before they fell to all fours. "That idea--"
"--isn't entirely terrible. But how can Trixie trust you?"
"I am Trixie," noted the other, polishing a hoof on her chest. "If you can't trust yourself, who can your trust?"
"I raise a good point... Very well. For our final trick of the day, we will make two into one!" They rose up together, their forehooves that were close to the other clopping against their doppelganger as both bowed as one to the crowd.
"We may not survive."
"But the show must go on!"
Both had shifted from survival to showmare mode, hamming up the venture they were about to take part in.
The beaver lady was tied up firmly in coarse rope, a mighty pile of sharp implements not that far away. Rockhoof slowly shook his head. "You found all that just on her? How did ye not prick yerself just walkin' about?"
The beaver thumped her tail against the ground. "Practice and a little ingenuity. You have any idea how long it'll take to get those back where they came from? Now let me go!"
Garou smiled in a canine way, tongue lolling a little. "Why should we do that? You'll try to hurt Trixie again."
"No I won't."
Rockhoof leaned in, one brow raising. "Ya say that..."
Celestia let out a little sigh. "It remains... somewhat uncanny, watching it do that without my involvement." She turned her eyes away from the setting sun.
"Sister, dear, it is much worse when it raises, and you are aware." She gestured to where the moon had begun to rise. "Still, it is on schedule and proceeding smoothly. Twilight has this."
"She does..."
Lefont looked between the two somber mares, his hands rubbing against one another with the soft rustle of leather on leather. "Let's not end the evening on a down note. We've had a pleasant time, shared such interesting tales... I would like to think, at the least, we've found new friends in this wide world, at the least."
Celestia's face brightened, lips upturning to a smile. "We have... If I may confess, I had thought less of you to start, but, a few playful advances aside, you have been a commendable host. Thank you, but we should return."
Luna nodded softly. "The others will worry if we tarry much longer. Good luck to you, and your town. May they both find prosperity."
"A blessing of the moon," he sighed out wistfully. "I'll treasure it. Go on then, but before you do, a gift." He snapped two fingers, pointing with the same hand at the archway that several servants were moving through, each carrying a small box. "For the both of you. I do not know your tastes, so you may select the one that most speaks to you."
Luna advanced to see what had been brought, but Celestia remained where she was, eyes narrowing a little. "I appreciate the sentiment. Truly, this is the utmost of generosity, but we cannot accept."
"We can't?" asked Luna, looking over her shoulder as floating bits of jewelry floated along with her to frame her face with obvious moon pieces.
"We can't," confirmed Celestia. "People would speak, Mister Lefont. Sending two eligible females away glittering with new jewelry... We are not at that stage of a relationship that we can accept such a gift."
Luna pouted a little, but her magic returned the jewels back into their ornate little boxes. "Really, sister. We didn't have to tell anycreature where we got them from. They're quite nice. At least have a look."
"We would know." She nodded towards Lefont. "I thank you once more. Today has been a delight. Perhaps, if we stop by another time, we could meet again."
Lefont dipped his head, his hands trembling faintly, holding back whatever he was feeling in that moment. "It was a pleasure and a delight, my princesses. Go, perhaps to return again? I would enjoy that."
They brought over the hoop, glowing with both of their magic. "One made two."
"Two made one," sang the other.
"Come together in harmony."
"Even if I'm better." That Trixie was smirking as they dropped the hoof over the both of them. The hoop struck the stage with what seemed like a deafening clap. The crowd had gone quiet, peering at the result in shocked silence.
There was but one figure on the stage, but it was not the Trixie that had started things. Both Trixies were present, put together. Garou loped up towards the stage, peering at the new creature. "Trixie, are you alright?"
"Trixie is just fine," assured the new Trixie, patting over her front, only for her hooves to trail off into the air as if unsure where to go. Where they should have hit the ground, they were only encountering air. She frowned with confusion and looked back over herself.
She had become a centaur, though her forebody was that of a pony, not a human. "Sweet Celestia! I look like Tirek!" She curled her forehooves towards herself. "At least I still have my hooves."
The magic over the crowd broke, cheering erupting and clapping starting. Planned or not, they seemed to agree that this last trick was indeed Great and Powerful.
"I told you they do that." Celestia was approaching at a light pace.
"It remains uncanny to hear my sister's name used in such a fashion." Luna was beside her, shaking her head slowly.
Rockhoof glanced between Trixie and the royal sisters before turning to the crowd. "Trixie's really glad to put on a show for you all. If you care to show her some appreciation, just toss it up there, and have a great evenin'!"
A fresh wave of hurled bits of junk and money came, raining on Trixie. Her problems seemed to fade for a moment, bathing in the cheers and adulation of her adoring crowd. "Yes, yes, Trixie has performed the impossible for you today, perhaps she will visit again to bend the rules of life itself. Until then, you will have to dream of her."
Garou and Rockhoof helped gently disperse the crowd after their offerings had been dispensed, the show ending with that final worrying trick. Celestia stepped up onto the stage, looking over Trixie with a raised brow. "Was that on purpose?"
Trixie crossed her hooves over her front, tapping her lower left forehoof. "Of course it was, as if Trixie can't control her own magic."
Luna joined Celestia, tapping her chin with a hoof. "You cut an... interesting figure."
"All the more Great and Powerful," argued Trixie with a grin before one ear sagged. "Does it really?"
Garou jumped up easily onto the stage. "It's interesting... How does it feel?"
"Busier." She reached out a forehoof and stretched out a rear leg at once. "Six limbs is two too many. How do pegasi handle this?" It seemed to strike her a moment later. "No offense."
Celestia and Luna were both looking more amused than offended.
Rockhoof shrugged from the ground, not joining the others on the stage. "I keep it simple. Four hooves, no funny horns, no wings."
Trixie began to trot away, gathering her tools as she went, her horn glowing as she cleaned up. "My performance went quite well. You can make yourself useful and help gather her earnings."
Garou made no move to gather coins, instead looking to the royal sisters. "I see you're back. He didn't bother you two, eh?"
Celestia inclined her head towards Garou. "Nothing we couldn't handle. He was looking for genuine companionship more than much else."
"If you believe that." Luna thumped into the side of her sister. "Why did you refuse to accept his kindness?"
"If you do not believe in propriety, there is the way he was examining us." Celestia strode across the stage, her magic gathering up the offerings in great batches to join a floating ball of collection that began to sort itself out into smaller piles in the air. "He would have gladly pressed more firmly, had he not been turned away as he was. To accept the jewel would have sent an unfortunate message."
"As if we could not handle one mayor." Luna rolled her eyes softly. "We've debated with the rulers of countries before."
Celestia glanced over her shoulder. "When we were also the ruler of a country. Right now, we are the guards of this caravan, and creating complications for them is precisely what we are here not to do."
"I appreciate that." The caravan mistress was just trotting up. "That was some crowd you worked up there, Trixie. I think it helped the foot traffic in the caravan. Everyone's reporting a productive day, so I thought I'd give a hat tip." She reached up to tip her hat properly. "We're planning on--." The words died, actually seeing Trixie as she emerged from the back.
"What in Tartarus happened to you?!"
Trixie's ears went up. "I'm working the kinks out of my show. Perfection is a constant effort." She buffed her chest with a hoof, playing it off as if it was no big deal. "That warning makes so much more sense now." All eyes turned towards her. "What?"
Rockhoof applied a hoof to his face. "What warnin' was this, lass?"
Trixie waved it away before her eyes fixed on one of the floating piles near Celestia. The glow around it shifted as she took hold of it with her own magic. "Ah ha, my favorite." She drew the collection of bits closer. "I was wondering if they had any normal bits."
A barrier of glass-like energy blocked the progress of the pile. "Not so fast." Garou was not even facing them, examining the other piles. "You had two Acceptable and Efficient helpers that should get their cut, and I imagine you won't say no to getting a share of what Celestia and Luna's sacrifice pulled in, so maybe we'll just share it all."
Rockhoof thumped Garou's back, the magic barrier flickering away. "Aye, we're friends, we'll just handle it evenly. Nopony, er, creature, nocreature here is slacking, I'm happy t'say."
Trixie rolled her eyes dramatically. "I'm so glad the priority here is not 'oh no, Trixie, we're here for you.' Nope, profit shares." She threw up her hooves, all four of her forehooves. Her ability to hold her front up with no supporting legs was put to the true test.
A test she failed after an instant of her back spasming with the futile effort of her strained muscles. She flopped forward and thunked against the wooden stage with a grunt. She scrambled back to her hooves, face red. "In case you were wondering, which Trixie doubts, she'll figure out how to fix this. I have this under control." she turned with a flick of her tail. "I'll be in the back, leave me whatever pittance I deserve for my own efforts."
Celestia watched Trixie go, turning to the others once the showmare had departed. "She is not entirely wrong. True, she was just as eager to collect her winning, but considering what it cost her, I feel most of us would feel similarly. We should make up for our boorish behavior."
Luna snorted loudly at that, sitting down beside Garou. "You pamper that mare. At least she's brought coins to the table, so I can appreciate that, but her combat ability is... the least of us." She smirked faintly. "I confess, comparing to the rest of us is slightly unfair, we're all amazing."
Garou barked a laugh beside her. "Luna, you're sounding like Trixie there." He leaned against her lightly. "I like it."
"You take that back!" Luna recoiled at the 'compliment', one hoof raised as she leaned away from Garou.
Rockhoof coughed softly into a hoof. "At the very least, we should figure out what we have." He reached up and prodded what looked like a rubber band launcher. "They must have liked the show, throwing such strange things up for her to have."
Celestia set the piles down. "Equestrian bits. Kuldgetown currency." She pointed to each pile in turn. "What appears to be toys and curiosities. And jewelry and similar valuables." She set her hoof down on a final pile. "Flowers and other edibles. Trixie? Would you like a treat?"
"A treat?" Trixie's head popped into view, coming up far higher than it used to. "A post-show oatmeal shake is my favorite. Do they have those here?"
Celestia shook her head. "Thankfully, nocreature threw a shake at you, but there are these." She plucked up a bouquet of flowers in her magic and floated them over to Trixie. The glow shifted as Trixie took hold of them and brought them over.
"Not quite a shake, but, mmm." She sniffed at them gently before casually chomping off the bud of one of the flowers, grinding it in her teeth with a happy expression. "This will do... Thank you." She turned to leave, a loud bonk of flesh against wood heard as she crashed her head against the roof. "Being taller is not entirely a benefit," she muttered, descending into her wagon.
Garou shook his head. "That is... very odd. Pity she didn't get any breasts." It was his turn to be the focal point of attention. "She has the... nevermind."
Rockhoof reached out a hoof, casually patting the wolf on the head. "What strange things you say at times, my canine friend."
Celestia was less dismissive, one brow raised. "I have questions, but they can wait until later. Trixie deserves our assistance. Let us clean and put away her stage, so she can rest without worry."
With a soft chorus of agreement, they got to work. The earnings were put into seperate bags, debris was cleared off and the stage mopped before folding it back up, becoming part of the wagon. As it clicked into place, her door burst open. "Who's touching my wa... oh." She perked an ear at the neatly re-assembled aside of her wagon. "Thank... you. I would have gotten to it later, but..." She lifted her shoulders. "She supposes friends are not the worst thing to have."
"You've had them before," noted Garou, tongue lolling. "You and Starlight.
Trixie recoiled at the mention. "I... We can discuss her later. For now... good night. Oh!" She reached out a hoof. "What was left for Trixie?"
Luna tapped the side of the wagon. "You currently have all of it. We decided to prioritize cleaning up and getting things settled down instead of worrying about that. We'll split everything we have evenly later."
Trixie nodded softly. "Very well... Oh." She looked towards Rockhoof and Garou. "I saw you two wandering out into the crowd. Did you find something?"
Rockhoof opened his mouth to speak, but Garou cut him off, "Nothing, just someone looked like they wanted to share something with you. We got it for you."
"Ah, thank you." She smiled softly. "I presume it's already added to the collection then. Good. Now, if you don't mind, and even if you do, I'm going to get some sleep. I suggest you all do the same. We've had a very busy day." She closed the door, a thump resounding implied she had banged herself into something on the way to bed, and her muffled curses helped confirm that.
Celestia spread her wings just to fold them back into place. "Her advice is sound, but I would ask what you did find. Your deception is not that subtle, Garou."
Garou glanced to where the beaver had been tied up. "Just a critic that was ready to try showing Trixie their displeasure in an unkind sort of way."
"That's fancy talk fer tryin' to stick her with sharp things," Rockhoof added to be clear. "We tackled her to the ground and took all her daggers away. I never saw so many one any one creature before ever."
Garou waved it away. "We all have our hobbies. For now, let's get some sleep."
Trixie pulled her cart along as a book floated in front of her, her eyes sliding left and right in reading motions. "Mmm." The cart was less of a problem than usual with her slightly enhanced strength drawing it along, even if the swinging of her new arms was a new experience. "Mmm..."
"Trixie?" Garou loped up to her side, watching her and her floating book. "Got a moment?"
"I'm trying to fix this, puppy."
Garou quirked an ear back. "Puppy, really? I'm larger than any other Equestrian dog I've run into so far."
"You're not larger than Cerberus," countered Trixie with a smirk. "What's on your mind?"
"You, mostly." His tongue lolled a bit as he walked alongside her, tail wagging firmly behind him. The sand indented beneath them, walking with the caravan away from Kludgetown, as successful as that stop had been.
"It is only natural that your thoughts would drift to somepony as Great and Powerful as me." She put a hoof to her chest, a smug smile on her face. "But you'll need to be more specific than that. What about Trixie specifically has captivated your thoughts?"
"I like the look." He darted between her trotting legs, tail brushing her belly as he scurried to her other side. "It's really... cool, for lack of better word."
"Cool?" Trixie hiked a brow before her smug smile returned. "Of course it's cool, and fantastic." She nudged the book away, floating along, as she looked to Garou. "I must admit I am a little surprised. What about Trixie's Great and Powerful form pleases you most?"
"You have the pony parts." He tossed his head at her powerful equine frame. "Topped by a more biped part." His vision raised to her upper half, hooved arms swinging. "I like it, a lot. Can you show me?"
"Show you?" Trixie frowned a little. "You seem to be looking without any assistance from me. Show you what, exactly?"
"How to do it." Garou reared up on his hind legs as they became his only legs, his forepaws becoming hands and his frame swelling in size with a low growl. "I like hands." He spread out his furry fingers. "But I like speed and power, and you have both going on right there."
"Trixie has no fingers," she countered. "But she could, if she wanted them, which she does not." She turned up her nose at the idea. "Why would Trixie want those when she has magic?"
"I'm not a unicorn," Garou reminded with a feral smile. "So fingers are the next best thing."
"Pity for you." She waggled a hoof at him, her magic bringing the book back in front of her. "Trixie is not going to give lessons while we walk. That sounds twice as tiring and I'm not in the mood. Besides, you don't do unicorn magic."
"No..." He looped back around her, darting between her and the wagon. "I have my own magic, but if you show me yours, maybe I can figure it out?"
"You think?" She lifted her shoulders, both of them. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything. At least, nothing of mine. You may twist yourself in a pretzel, but that would be a 'you' problem for sure."
"What are you two talking about?" Luna landed lightly atop the wagon Trixie was pulling.
Trixie glared over her shoulder. "I'm pulling that, you realize."
"You seem to be doing just fine." Luna nodded softly. "And this vantage point provides a fine viewing of the caravan. Now, what were you discussing?"
Garou flexed his fingers, curling them and uncurling them in fidgets. "Just doing what you taught me. I'm trying to get better at using what I have creatively."
"Have you mastered shaping shields?"
Trixie perked an ear. "Shields come in spheres. what other shape would you make?"
Luna rolled her eyes before settling them on Garou. "Did you forget so quickly?" She pointed a metal-clad hoof at him. "He began making flat walls at first, though I think we've broken that limitation at least?"
Thrusting a furry arm forward, his hand clenched at a grip that wasn't there, but became there a moment later, his shield popping into being out from that grip to form a stout curved shield. "I didn't forget." He raised the shield up and it folded downwards, growing over his form in a shell of metal-colored magic. "All around, just like you showed."
"That is better," complimented Luna, bringing her hooves together in a soft polite clapping. "But you can do so much more. Now, tell me what trick you are attempting to learn from Trixie?"
Trixie inclined her head and horn towards her floating book. "He's trying to learn Trixie's tricks. I should be offended." She didn't sound very offended. "He wants to replicate my latest Great and Powerful show."
Luna blinked softly. "He wants to... that?" She wobbled a hoof at Trixie's bizarre anatomy.
"With hands." His shield vanished, revealing his spread fingers, claws curled dangerously. "The power and stability of a wolf and the hands of a..."
"A..." Luna leaned forward from her perch. "You certainly do like your secrets, do you not. Go on. The hands of a...?"
"It's not important." He fell to all fours, loping away as a smaller wolf instead of the considerable wolfman he was a moment prior.
Trixie quirked an ear back at Luna. "You chased him away quite well. Did he bother you?"
"I am genuinely curious... So he wants to become as you are now?" Luna jumped down from the wagon, landing beside Trixie and walking with her. "Go ahead and teach him, if you can. I would see the full reach of his abilities, when he abandons the idea that there are limits to it. When we find what he cannot do, then we will know the measure of it."
Trixie reached up with her hoof to adjust her hat. "You know, there are times when having these extra arms comes in handy." She seemed entirely ignorant of the pun she slung. "I will show him as best I can, but he's not a unicorn, so Trixie promises nothing."
"Your attempt is all I ask." Luna gently touched side to side with Trixie. "Thank you." She spread her wings and took to the air, soaring over the caravan line.
"Busy day."
Trixie jumped in place. Celestia had come up on her seemingly out of nowhere. "Trixie is very popular today, it seems." She paused a moment, raising a hoof to her chin. "Just the way it should be. How can I help you?"
"I was more thinking of how I could help you." Celestia looked Trixie's form top to bottom and back. "Are you alright? I don't want you to think I don't care. If I can help..."
Trixie opened her mouth, a scowl on her face and ready to tell Celestia off, but it faltered. "I... thank you. That's..." She smirked suddenly. "I can see how you remained princess for so long. You know how to put ponies at ease."
"It is a learned talent." Celestia smiled gently. "But I am speaking plainly. I will help in any way I can, Trixie. I do not want any companion of mine, which you are, to suffer, especially if I can do something about it."
"Thank... you." Trixie coughed into a hoof softly. "Also, I am going to point out that it's strange being at eye level with you."
Celestia snorted softly, her smile growing. "It is a delight to meet your vision, but only if that is what you want. You know, I do remember when you were in my school."
Trixie's cheeks lit up bright red. "You do?! You... ignored me the entire time. When I left, I thought you couldn't have cared less."
"Oh... no... No no... Never that." She glanced away, walking in silence for a few moments. "There was a time," she resumed quietly. "There was a time I was considering approaching you, much like I had Twilight..."
Trixie's ears perked right up, her hat dancing with the movement. "Really?! You are joking to Trixie now and it is a cruel joke."
"I would never." Celestia held a hoof over her heart. "You had... the spark, but there was so much in the way, and your magic--"
"Was Great and Powerful even then!" she crooned, straightening her stance.
"Was energetic, but undisciplined," corrected Celestia. "It also lacked refinement and scope. You were, and are, a talented stage magician, but you had no interest in expanding your abilities beyond that. Magic classes bored you."
Trixie sagged a bit as she walked. "They were boring. You made them. Why were they so boring?"
"There is no shortcut to learning magic." A timid smile creeped back onto Celestia's face. "I did what I could, and it wasn't enough to reach you, and for that I am very sorry. But... now you work more advanced magic, and it... it reminds me. Who reached you, Trixie Lulamoon? Who succeeded where I failed?"
Quiet grew between them, Trixie looking forward and fidgeting her hooves as she walked. Having extra hooves meant she could worry them together and still walk at full speed. "I... made a friend. A... dear... stupid... friend... I left her behind, stupid Starlight."
"Starlight? Starlight Glimmer?" She leaned in a little. "What happened?"
"Nothing!" Trixie stomped her lower left hoof in the sand as she marched. "We just had... a disagreement, is all. This is why Trixie has time to come waste her time with you and your sister and turn herself into a freak and--" She suddenly stopped, something settling over her cloaked back.
Celestia had wrapped a wing gently over Trixie and stepped in, holding the showmare gently. "I am so sorry, but saying that will solve nothing. When you are ready, please, come talk to me. I will gladly listen to all you have to say and lend what hoof I may." She smiled radiantly. "I would ask, what did you learn? You seem far more ready to perform magic beyond stage illusions."
"I am both Great and Powerful. It just took some personal tutelage from a Stupid but Helpful friend to show her how to reach even further." She thrust a hoof high, a grin on her face. "Once I got transformations and teleportation down, it felt like I could learn any magic I wanted with a little work."
"Transformations?!" Celestia took a step away, her wings folding. "Teleportation? Those are both high level and frighteningly dangerous techniques I would never teach to--"
Trixie thrust one of her extra hooves at Celestia. "And this is why you lost me. Starlight, for all her flaws, trusted me to get it right, or fail on my own terms. She... She had faith in me..." She shook her head suddenly, shaking away the tears before they could finish emerging. "She gave me the tools and I began to use them. Now I can weave magic as never before." She threw her new hooves wide.
"Most impressive... But I see sometimes it doesn't quite go according to plan."
"Yes... of course... When you try New and Bold things, sometimes things will go awry, but you learn from your mistakes, and become Greater and Powerfuller." She snorted softly, tail lashing at the air. "Tell me you've never messed up your own magic ever and I will know you are a liar."
"I never said that." Celestia looked around conspiratorially. "If you agree to whisper your secrets to me, I can share a few choice tidbits in return. It's only fair."
Oh the magnificent smile that spread on Trixie's face. Celestia-grade gossip? Even she was tempted as such things. "Perhaps I will take you up on that. Tomorrow. Today, we walk, then I have a wolf to try to show unicorn tricks to. Who knows, perhaps he will surprise both of us and figure it out. I'll at least try."
"At least that," she gently agreed, a hint of regret in her voice.
"No, No..." Trixie shook her head, arms crossed. Her lower belly was on the ground, but her unusual form allowed her to still have a decent vantage despite it, watching Garou. "No."
Garou sat up, his limbs resetting from the strange other sizes they had assumed in his latest attempt. "Just copying your magic isn't working," he admitted, licking over his lips. His tail was not wagging.
"Why would it? Unicorn magic is for unicorns, which you are not." She pointed a hoof at him accusingly. "So, instead, tell me about your magic."
"My magic?" His ears danced, considering that. "That's... hard to describe. I ate a fruit and it lets me turn into a wolf."
Trixie raised a brow. "You weren't born with it? We suspected that... Trixie would want to know more of this magical fruit, but that's for another day. Now, you say 'turn into a wolf', but you have turned into not-a-wolf."
"Well, yeah, a wolf..."
Trixie rolled her eyes at his trailing word. "Keeping Great and Powerful secrets from Trixie is amusing but getting old, on with it."
"A wolf creature instead of a full wolf." Garou nodded, satisfied with his phrasing. "I am a creature normally, just not a wolf."
Trixie smugly smiled, pleased with how much she had teased from Garou. "Alright, so you imagine yourself taking on more, or less, canine features, yes?"
"Basically." His eyes turned over the sleepy camp. It was past dinner time. Most of the smarter ponies had already curled up where it was warm and were passed out. They were as close to alone as one could be in the situation. "More wolf or less wolf."
Trixie put her hooves together and slowly brought them apart. "What about, instead of imagining it like some kind of slide that only goes left or right for your whole body at the same time, you seperated it out." She tapped him with the flat of a new hoof on his shoulder. "Put one there." She rose up to nudge him with a lower hoof against his paw. "Another there. One back by your tail, where your legs meet. Your... hips, yes, that's the word."
"You forgot it?" He was looking back over the points she had indicated. "Huh..."
"It's late and I'm tired," she huffed with a little frown. "My advice remains. You are still becoming a wolf, just in different proportions and at different speeds." She clopped her upper hooves together. "The trickiest part is ending up with six limbs. Perhaps you have to... imagine growing instead of just changing?"
"Growing..." His thought went not to extra arms, instead to something relatively simpler. He heard Trixie make a little noise, but his thoughts were elsewhere, at least until one of her hooves gently landed on his head. He cracked open an eye. "Hello?"
"Can you not feel that?" she asked with a raised brow.
That was when he did, one tail brushing against the other, then both going rigid. He looked over his shoulder at the two limbs, where one familiar thing had become two aliens. "Ah... wow." A big smile suddenly spread. "That means I can grow new parts."
Trixie nodded with all the sage wisdom she assumed she had. "Which means, with practice, you can have your extra limbs. The way Trixie sees it, you can have all the wolf parts you desire. You could imitate the cerberus perhaps, though I'm not sure what an extra head would do for you. Would you argue with yourself?"
"You did that," he spat, the two tails starting to sway in curious countermotion.
"That was a performance," she scoffed. "I had that entire thing planned out. It was only the... finale that went awry." She curled a hoof to her upper chest. "Trixie would not be so daft, even a copy of Trixie, to interrupt a show with a petty squabble for life and death."
"Right..." One tail. Just one. He closed his eyes a moment, trying to return to normal wolf dimensions. Less distracted, he felt the change happen. "Weird." But it worked. His tail was back to its singular glory, wagging with his newfound optimism. "You're the best, Trixie."
"I know this." She waved a hoof idly. "But, please, go right on reminding me."
A sudden shriek split the darkness. Both turned towards the center of the caravan, but the trouble was taking place on the opposite end. A big bruiser of a creature, feline in nature, held a massive two-pawed curved blade dangerously close to a merchant mare he had just rudely awakened. "Scream like that again," he said in smooth tones. "And it may be the last. Now, begin--"
A bright bolt of magic struck the ground between them, another landing just beside it. He danced away as Luna came in with an angry snort. "Just one? 'Tis hardly a battle. Do you wish to flee now while the chance remains?"
Celestia landed to the left of Luna, her wings remaining out as if to make herself look bigger than she already was. "This caravan is under our protection."
"Oh ho ho ho," chorted the tall cat, holding the blade in one hand almost as easily as two despite its size. "You hear that, fellas? We got a real fight on our paws."
Eyes lit the darkness as figures scrambled forward from the darkness into the light of the campfire. Roughly a dozen rushed towards the princesses, but many others were hurrying for still rousing caravan members, greed shining in those eyes. They were not all cats, their leader apparently equal opportunity when it came to brigandry.
One of them was even a pony, the only one that hesitated on approaching Celestia and Luna. "What are you two doing here?" he hissed in a stage whisper so loud none could fail to hear it.
It was hardly time for a proper chat. Celestia folded her wings even as she erected a shield to deflect an incoming blade, dancing away. "It would seem we have a proper battle to attend."
"Verily." Luna drew a heavy flail and began to swing it with a rhythmic twirling of her head. "I've been wanting to test this." A badger of a creature stepped in range of it, holding a dagger in either hand, and she advanced in kind, swinging the unyielding metal bludgeon in terrifying arcs. The flail's spiked head glowed with her magic, enhanced and aimed with her power.
Suddenly it was too bright. Luna was forced to closed her eyes with a hiss, as was everyone else, save Celestia who lifted into the sky in the moment of reprieve. "Sister!" grumbled Luna, blinking her eyes and trying to find the creature she had been swinging at.
There he was, far too close to her. Pain lanced as he shoved one of his daggers into the joints of her armor. Ignoring the warm wetness, she grabbed him in her magic and gave him a mighty hurl, tossing him back into the darkness he had emerged from. "Damn it all..."
"Prepare to be dazzled." Trixie had arrived, flinging colors and fireworks at assailants as she galloped at full speed on her other four hooves. "Behold and tremble!" When several of them closed on her, she turned sharply and fled in a new direction. "Too much beholding!" Those were not words she was used to saying together.
Garou stumbled, aborting his most recent attempt to manipulate his gift in favor of being serious. With a sudden leap, he was in the middle of the same crowd that had menaced Trixie. They were just as eager to batter and stab him as anything else, but when they moved to do so, they struck a suddenly-there dome that sprang into being, protecting Garou from them.
A riot of colors washed over the group as Trixie rejoined the struggle. One of the attackers suddenly wailed as he caught fire from one of the fireworks. He fled wildly, removed from the conflict. Garou took the moment of distraction to rise up, becoming the great two-legged wolfman, a new shield snapping into being, hovering just next to his right arm, right at the correct position for him to slam it into the face of one of his attackers in a smooth punch. "Not just for defense," he growled out as the creature staggered back, blood dripping from his bashed nose.
Garou was suddenly glowing, wrenched back a precious inch to avoid a great blade slicing through the space he had been occupying. "Watch yourself," called Trixie as she wheeled and ran, a constant annoyance in the side of the enemies.
"Thanks." He threw his arm out, the shield somehow 'thrown', clanging against the blade and fading away as it bounced off, another appearing where it began.
The big bear he was facing passed the blade from one paw to the other. "Little tricks won't get me." He grabbed his blade with both hands, chopping with direct force. Garou caught it with his shield, but was being pressed back and down by the sheer force of it. Even as a great werewolf, the bear was strong, both of their arms straining, trying to win the contest.
Unfortunately, the bear had a lot more backup, and they were closing in to take advantage of the exposed position Garou was in.
His hand-held shield had become a liability. A mouse with a bandanna sneered, lunging with a twisted blade. Garou bashed it with his left hand even as it cut into his flesh with its sharp edge. An arc of red trailed in the motion even as he surged backwards, letting the blade fall, nicking his other arm. A low growling grunt masked the shout he more wished to do. A loud crack sounded as a crossbow bolt slammed into what had been an invisible dome he had formed, snapping it into pieces on impact and preventing it from completing its course into his soft body.
Luna had recovered from the first misstep, smashing one beaver on the foot as her magic wrenched a sword from the hands of another to send it flying at a third. She flinched. An arrow had just struck her, catching her in a leg. "They have archers," she called as she threw her flail entirely, the thing wreathed in her magic in a deadly twirling object. It crashed into someone's head, bringing them to the ground with barely a noise, consciousness beaten from them instantly.
Celestia spread her hooves as light gathered between them. "I see them." They saw her just as well, possibly more so with her glowing magic. Arrows began to be fired at her, angry deadly bees emerging from the gloom of the night. She released her power, a column of light evaporating the incoming arrows, but not aimed properly to strike the ones that fired them. "On it," she awkwardly assured, trying to correct her aim.
"Teacup!" cried Trixie, a bolt of eldritch magic wrapping around one of the larger attackers. She could feel his fortitude struggling, trying to remain itself despite her efforts, but she kept pressing. "Tea... cup!" The creature had turned towards her, charging at her galloping form. With an unhealthy snap, his legs became the bottom of the cup and shattered just as quickly. He tumbled forward with an agonized cry, short lived as it was, the rest of him becoming porcelain along the way, shattering on the ground in countless pieces.
"Ha, yes, take--" A magic bolt suddenly came from nowhere, grabbing her upper and lower halves and giving a cruel pull. "Nnno. You will... not outmagic... Trixie." Her horn glowed brightly, trying to counteract the magic. "She is too... Great... and..." With a suddenly loud noise of wet flesh splitting, her body gave way, ripped in two.
At least the merchants were getting away, fleeing in abject panic into the darkness. Garou was pinned beneath his own shield dome, countless bloodthirsty faces leering at him, waiting for the chance to finish what they had begun.
Garou surged to his feet, pushing his shield up and forward, crashing it against the crowd in a sudden reminder that it was uncomfortably hard and was not pleasant to have smashed against various body parts. With a great roar, he let the shield fade away in time to catch a creature on the shoulder with sharp claws, a new shield coming into being on his arm in a more mobile version.
An equine bellow seemed to reply to him as combatants fell away into darkness. There was the pillar, Rockhoof, charging with his trusty shovel and dropping people into a ditch he was digging with supernatural speed. It surely was not killing them, not even removing them from the battle, but it was a welcome reprieve nonetheless.
A creature came in towards Rockhoof from the back and side away from the ditch, but the old fighter wasn't entirely focused on the ditch, swinging about with such force that the blade being brought to bear was caught and smashed in an instant with a loud ring of metal on metal. "What the--" was all the creature got out before Rockhoof smashed him with the flat of the shovel, knocking him bodily into the ditch.
"'Tis good to see you." A heap of forms suddenly propelled in all directions like an especially lazy grenade as luna roused from beneath them, her form shaking despite the resolved look in her eyes. "Shall we put an end to this?"
"M'lady, yer lookin' especially haggard. Please, retire from the field." Rockhoof ducked under a sword swing even as he spoke, ramming his entire body against the great bear and sending the creature back a few inches only to come back at him the moment there was room. "I'll press the fight."
Emerging from the darkness, Garou's fingers closed in around the bear's throat from behind, clenching cruelly. His sharp claws dug into sensitive flesh even as the crushing began. The bear flailed, trying to reach him in great lumbering motions, but the blood ran and it ran freely. His motions were already slowing with every desperate lunge. At the apex of one such swing, Garou shoved him in time with the motion, sending him sprawling, bleeding, and dying. "This is a mess."
"Wolf Friend." Rockhoof didn't have much time for other words, bringing his shovel around to dash a dagger intended for his side.
"Glad to be here." Garou seemed to understand the sentiment. "Where's Celestia and Trixie?" He grabbed a small long-tailed creature and threw them forward like a projectile, sending a wave of assailants tumbling to the ground with his form following shortly behind to press the advantage.
Removed from them, a figure watched the attack without motion. Arms crossed, they tapped a foot slowly with just a small measure of a scowl. "They should have won by now, or lost quickly enough... At least that magician is out of the way."
Their helmet suddenly tilted forward dangerously, covering their eyes completely and smashing into their snout. "As if the Great--"
"--and powerful," continued a second, though identical, voice as the figure's hands were grabbed in magic.
"Trixie!" they finished together, gesturing for the figure to collapse.
But it did not, instead roaring with a strange flare of not-unicorn magic, their grips faltering and allowing the attacker to spin on them, hurling the helmet away. "How?!" Then they could see, two Trixies. "I ripped you in half."
One Trixie raised a hoof. "You ripped us in two."
"Easy mistake to make," allowed the other with a soft nod. "But still a mistake."
"And mistakes get punished," finished the first. "As if you could out-magic us!"
Their horns glowed with unified purpose as fireworks erupted from seemingly nowhere, launching at the spell-caster that had attacked them so cruelly not long before.
The figure danced back, swatting one of the larger fireworks out of the way, but many more were behind it, detonating in bursts of flame and color. Some of their armor burnt away in the flashes, revealing a female figure. "Damnable witch," she hissed, thrusting a glowing hand forward as one of the Trixies were shoved back several feet in a burst of the same color.
"You'll need to do better than that," chastised the other. "Have a seat and we'll show you how it's done." A chair came flying out of the darkness, crashing into the mysterious creature-magician's head.
She staggered forward even as she waved it away, sending fragments flying at the standing Trixie. "Do me a favor and die."
"We don't do--" Trixie leaped to the right, dodging the sharp shards of wood that peppered the space she had just been occupying.
"--requests." The other Trixie was behind the creature. How she had gotten there was unclear, magic seemed likely. She was straddling an immense rocket, the fuse already almost burnt down. "It was an honor working beside the Great and Powerful Trixie."
"I could say the same." The other Trixie saluted with a wry smirk just in time for neither to see anything anymore. The firework exploded and all became colors and fire. The screech of the she-magician they were cooking could be dimly heard, but even that was brief compared to the full fireworks show that had been condensed into one great rocket.
Trixie blinked the spots from her eyes as things settled. The enemy magician was a lump on the ground, collapsed and still on fire. There was no second Trixie in sight. "You were the best," allowed the remaining Trixie. "But there's only room for one Trixie in the world." She trotted forward to inspect what was left of their enemy.
Even further from the action, a heavy form touched the ground with grace despite her size. "What do you want?" demanded Celestia in firm tones. "Are you the one--" A flying dagger interrupted her question and she ducked to the left as her magic pushed it to the right. it flew past her, but by the time she looked back, the creature she had spotted was already gone. "This isn't right..."
A small chinchilla of a creature jumped for Rockhoof, only to crash into an unseen wall, sliding to the ground. This was good, as Rockhoof was heaving for breath, needing that moment of solitude that Garou's shield had allowed. Garou had no shield for the time, doing his best getting out of the way of sharp weapons and returning with his claws. Nicks and red lines showed that he wasn't always successful at this.
A great horn sounded in the distance and the attackers began to withdraw in unison, any that were capable of moving. Garou felt a momentary urge to chase them, but thought better of it, instead slumping forward as he became entirely a wolf on all fours. "Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine, lad." Rockhoof tapped at the invisible wall. "Mind letting this down?"
Luna was holding a badger-person over her head. "Tell us everything you know and I will be gentle!"
"I don't know nothin'!" he swore, limbs flailing. "Just doin' my job!"
"Your job of bandit--" She staggered to the side, her vision swimming and head swaying a little. her magic dimmed, threatening to drop the badger. "That is... no employment... Speak!"
Rockhoof quickly closed with Luna, the wall banished. "Easy there, lass. I'll take the interrogation over from here."
Garou loped at his side. "Yeah, we can handle this. You look like shit."
Luna blinked at Garou, stunned at his course language. "I look like... what?" The distraction was enough to ruin her concentration, dropping the badger with a soft thud as he slapped into the ground. Rockhoof was on him an instant later, pinning him with a heavy hoof. "Thank you." Luna turned away slowly. "Where is mine sister?"
Garou snarled at the fallen form before looking to Luna. "We don't know, but she was already in the air, so she's probably alright."
"And Trixie," added Rockhoof. "That was a fiercer fight than I expected. I'd hate to think our showmare got hurt."
"Destiny forfend," bitterly grunted Luna, collapsing onto her belly. "I am... more tired than I first reckoned."
"Rest." Garou moved just beside her. "I'll keep watch. They're gone now."
"Yes... watch." Luna collapsed fully, eyes drifting closed. "Find my sister..." She didn't get out any more words than that, consciousness fleeing her ravaged form.
"Is it safe?" called out a voice. A few of the merchants were starting to drift back towards the wagons. "Are they gone?"
Rockhoof looked around. "Besides their fallen and battered, we appear to be rid of them." He snorted softly. "That was far more intense than I would have liked... Too much for casual bandits." He stomped over around to be in front of Garou. "Ye doin't need that many creatures to waylay a random pony caravan. Half as much woulda still been too many!"
"It's been... a lot of trouble." Garou half-closed his eyes. "I think Luna has the right idea."
"Don't go slipping off on me." He nudged the wolf with the flat of a hoof. "I'll fetch the doctor fer the both of ya. Ya fought well today."
"Where's Trixie, and Celestia?" reminded Garou. "Neither of us are dying. Find them."
"We are touched by your concern." Trixie came trotting towards them with a smug smile on her face. "I was just taking care of their spellcaster. Their defeat seems to have reminded the rest just how outmatched they were by the Great and Pow--"
"Yer back to normal," cut in Rockhoof, taking note of Trixie's returned equine form. "Good on ya, lass, but how'd ya manage it?"
"Don't interrupt!" Trixie thumped him lightly with a hoof, not that it seemed to phase the larger stallion much. "They tried to rip me into two parts, so I let them. Then they had to face two Trixies and their fate was sealed."
Rockhoof glanced left and right. "I only see one Trixie."
"We finished the magic trick, finally." Trixie rolled a hoof softly. "If I have to explain each trick as I do it, it takes the magic out of it. Where's Celestia? She's the only one I don't see here."
"You're still here." The caravan master was returning, glancing around and swerving around fallen forms. "Though it looks like you took almost as much abuse as they did. This has been the most hazardous trip I've ever taken! Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate your work. You've kept our things safe and our people are in one piece, so thank you... but this really can't be a coincidence."
They glanced away and looked towards Luna's sleeping form. "I thought having the princesses around would be a morale boost, but I think it's attracting trouble..."
Garou sat up despite his aching everything. "Are we being fired?"
"Honorably, for what it matters." The Caravan master drew out a pouch of jingling coin. "Take it. You earned it, but I think we may be safer without you around."
Trixie scowled at the bag even as her magic grabbed it. "Are you so certain all the trouble will go away the moment we're gone?"
"No, but a pony can hope, and my hunches usually aren't so far off." They brushed at a shoulder with a hoof. "Again, sorry. But half of you are more magic than ten average ponies. I feel sure you can get back to a town, probably faster without us around. Speaking of that, where's Celestia?"
The named former-monarch gently touched down with a frown. Garou nodded towards her with a chuff. "There you are. Good to see you safe, but we've been fired."
Trixie pocketed the pouch of coins. "At least being paid wasn't withheld. Welcome back. Your sister could use your company."
"Lulu?" Celestia forgot everything else she had on her mind, hurrying over to Luna's side to offer what aid she could to her battered and bleeding sibling. "I'm so sorry..."
The doctor approached with a serious expression. "I'll not send ya forward without seeing to you first. Let's keep your insides on the inside where they belong."
The caravan rolled away from them, leaving them there in the middle of nowhere. If they had been average ponies, it would have been a cruel fate. Rockhoof sighed softly. "You would think getting fired would eventually stop stinging."
"Hey." Garou touched his nose to Rockhoof's seated haunches. "We didn't do anything wrong. They paid us and everything. The job ended early, we weren't fired, the way I see it."
Trixie inclined her head faintly. "That is an interesting way of looking at it. Well, where are we going next?" She turned to look at Celestia and Luna, the latter of which dotted with bandages from the fierce exchange. "We still have our choice of prisoners to question."
Celestia gestured with a wing at a few fallen forms that were just as bandaged. "It was a cruel measure in part that they did not transport them, but I understand it... At least they tended to the worst of the injuries. I think they are now as abandoned as we are, with less options. If we offer a hoof of help, they may yet realize it."
Luna nodded softly. "They do not fly, and we eliminated the ones with magic. The ones left are fighters and brigands, and there is nothing to waylay that will get them to safety faster. You--" She reached out and began prodding one of the forms on the ground. "Are you awake?"
"Mmmf." A paw went up to wave Luna away. "Come back tomorrow."
Luna scowled at that. "If you would rather we leave you here to stir tomorrow, that is a possibility."
Garou was suddenly between them, darting over on four fast paws. "Easy there. Hey, bud, wake up. We don't want to stay here, and we bet you don't want to either if you think about it."
"Hm?" He pushed up, rolling over so he was propped up facing them. "Wait... You ain't the boss."
Celestia smiled thinly. "We are not your employer, this is true. Can you tell us about them?"
"Ain't sayin' nothin'." The fallen cat looked around slowly at the field that had no merchants, just other miserable fellows he knew as peers, laying about. "Why are we even breathin'?"
Garou chuffed in a canine way. "Because that's not how we do things. What, you wanted us to go around cutting everyone's throat?"
The casual mention of such callous violence made the princesses blanch, Luna less so, but both shared hesitation at the idea. Trixie squinted instead. "You're not worth my time."
Rockhoof shook his head softly. "Not how I prefer to handle things. You're all stuck out here. We don't mind lending a hoof, if you want it?"
"What's the catch?" His tail lashed as he continued sitting up, moving from laying on his side to being perched on his rump, crossing his legs. "You have all the cards. And we were trying to murder you yesterday. What creature in their right mind just forgets that the next day?"
Garou gestured back to the ponies he traveled with. "Ponies." Celestia smiled at that while Luna rolled her eyes but didn't argue the point.
Rockhoof lifted his shoulders. "If we could get a few answers along the way, that'd be nice, hm? Your allies already left you for dead. The way it seems, you owe them nothing at all."
"Yer right there." He pulled out a dagger, causing everyone to tense, but he only raised it to his teeth to begin picking at something. "We're all fired."
Rockhoof suddenly burst into laughter. "Well, then we have a bond. We were also terminated. Seems that battle ended everyone's employment." He pointed at the brigand. "What say we go find better jobs. I think we're all done with this life anyway."
Luna nodded firmly. "There are better ways to spend one's life than throwing it recklessly at the behest of others. Banditry isn't something you can take much pride in besides."
"And you weren't?" He shrugged softly, tossing the dagger aside where it planted in the ground just a foot away. "Looked like you were all ready to throw yer lives away just fine for someone else."
Garou's canine smile grew. "Oh, sure, but we were protecting people. Not trying to nick all their stuff. The spin's important."
"Yeah sure..." He turned to one of the fallen forms. "Hey, Bright Spot. You dead or just lazy!"
"Hm?" came a moan similar to when the first brigand had been awakened. "What're you yellin' about?" A female form rolled over, belly up and heaving. "Yer twice as lazy as I am."
"Then get your ass up." The cat thumped the ground, but made no move to rise himself. "Our marks want to get us to a town."
"They do? Why?" The female rolled in place, rocking back and forth until enough momentum allowed them to roll right up to their feet, almost graceful if not for the severe wince and the clutching of her side. "Damn, they hit hard... Oh..." That was when she saw them just standing there. "Hiya..."
Trixie rolled a hoof slowly. "This is fascinating, but slow. Bright Spot was it? Go get everyone standing so we can get moving."
Luna snorted softly. "Yes, do that, but also gather those that can't stand so we can assist them. Be gentle with them. It would be a shame for them to lose their lives due to mishandling after the fact."
Garou bounced in place lightly. "I'll help." And he was gone, loping across the field to start nipping and harassing people.
Luna's eyes followed him a moment before falling to the cat. "Will you not help?"
"I can barely sit up." He shrugged softly. "I ain't gonna cry or nothin', but walkin' feels right out." His gaze wandered to Trixie's wagon, the only wagon remaining. "We ridin' that?"
Trixie scooted between the wagon and the bandit, looking ready to hiss at him like an agitated cat, but no words or noise was made, just a nasty glare.
Celestia set a hoof gently on Trixie's shoulder. "They are injured, have some sympathy."
"They are injured because they attacked us," hotly rebuked Trixie, stomping a hoof at the larger former-princess. "They would have been just fine murdering us all."
"And we are better than them." Celestia moved the hoof to Trixie's nose, booping her gently. "Prove how Great and Magnanimous you are. Surely they couldn't even hope to compare."
Trixie raised her fore hooves, shoving Celestia's hoof aside. "Hmmph. We are better than them." Her magic wrapped around the seated cat before he promptly vanished. Her wagon lurched with new weight. "There."
"Ow," came from within. "Be just a touch gentler."
"It works taking you out just as easily as putting you in," Trixie spat with a frown. "Let's get this going."
"They're getting up." Garou was headed towards them in the great form of his hulking bipedal guise, one bandit under each of his arms. "The ones who can anyway. Where should I put these?"
Luna scowled at the one to the right. "I remember you. You and your little crooked dagger."
Celestia extended a wing gently in front of Luna. "Now is not the time for revenge. We are all battered, bruised, some worse. The first priority is to get everyone somewhere safe."
The bandit being spoken of had no response to give, looking unconscious in Garou's hand. "Looks like you got him right back for it already." Garou followed Trixie's little hoof gestures and set his cargo down in her wagon. "It's going to get crowded in there."
Trixie rolled her eyes. "They're welcome to find some other wagon if mine isn't good enough for them. I'm sure there are so many other options around." She waved a hoof in a wide arc over the wide area where not a single other vehicle could be seen. "Speaking of which." She wriggled back out of her harness and pointed at it. "This is going to be heavier. You're for this idea, you help pull the wagon."
Garou looked to Celestia. Celestia looked to Luna, who was already looking back at her. She huffed softly and turned to Rockhoof, but he was already looking as well.
"Sorry, lass." He dipped his head. "You're the least battered of us all and you have the size to manage the job. Speakin' ah that, what were you doing for half the fight? You just weren't there that I could see at all."
Trixie seemed to take undue amounts of pleasure in setting the harness onto Celestia's royal back, ensuring it was a proper and snug fit to fit her increasingly smug smile. "It's a good look for you."
"Yes... I thought I caught a glimpse of who was watching the battle with interest. I went to question them." She angled her head, pointing her horn at where it happened.
"Did you catch them?!" blurted Rockhoof.
"I doubt it." Garou gently nudged his co-warrior with a paw. "Or we'd be talking to them right now instead of considering interrogating the rank and file."
"Precisely so," allowed Celestia. "They attacked me and vanished in the instant I defended myself. If they had been part of the attack, perhaps things would have turned out less well." She took a step, testing how the wagon pulled behind her. "Is everyone who can walk ready to do so?"
Luna looked over the lot. About twenty other bandits had been gathered in a ragtag bunch, some splinted, some with crutches, but they were gathered. "I still see bodies on the field. I gather those... will not be joining us?"
One of the bandits, a female lizard, stepped forward. "They won't be doing anything anymore. Let's get out of here before they start stinking the place."
Celestia's ears fell, eyes darting from form to form, silently counting them. Luna slid in beside her sister. "You did well, Sister. Equestria avoids scenes just like this one, due to your vigilant watch of so long. At your hooves even now, you spared a caravan of merchants from a miserable fate. This is not your fault."
Rockhoof nodded softly. "I could hardly recognize it when first I returned. You have delivered a golden age to our people, and should be proud of that. So the rest of the world hasn't quite caught up yet, that doesn't diminish your accomplishments." He turned to the bandits and pointed at one seemingly at random. "If you could live with the ponies, would you?"
The she-badger hiked a thumb at herself. "Me? Uh... They wouldn't want me."
Garou's tongue began to loll a bit longer. "If they did, would you?" he prompted, tail wagging behind him, back to his smaller wolf form.
"Uh... I mean, sure, I guess? Who wouldn't?" She shrugged softly. "They have holidays every other day right?"
"And ice cream is their national food," added another with a silly grin.
An argument broke out about how idyllic the life of the average pony was and how outlandishly perfect it was, and thus how weak and childish the ponies had to be. Rockhoof let them argue, looking to Celestia. "See, envy of the world. They can't even believe a country could have it so good."
"Mayhaps I should have done more to make it seem less like an outlandish tale to be told to young ones." She started forward, drawing the wagon along. "For now, we should get them all to town. We need to decide where we go after that. This caravan guarding life gave us an easy direction, and it's past. Where our hooves set down is our decision, and we should make it."
Luna hiked a brow. "Trixie, you travel often, do you not?"
"All the time," gloated Trixie, buffing a hoof on her chest.
"Where is the nearest town?" continued Luna. "We don't have need of the largest, just the closest."
"The very closest I would suggest against." She waved a hoof dismissively. "The second closest isn't bad." She thrust a hoof in a point. "About three days' hike."
As easily as she had accepted it, after a full day of walking with the wagon attached to herself, Celestia was well and truly ready to be rid of it. But they weren't in town yet, and the next day it had go back on her protesting back and sides. She never said a thing about it, but her expression had deteriorated to a pained grimace as she forced herself along.
Rockhoof walked alongside her on that second day. "I'm feeling better, Lass. I'll take it tomorrow."
That got a relieved smile. "I will look forward to it..."
Luna was walking with Trixie and Garou. "Have you mastered it then?"
Garou inclined his head faintly. "I'm getting better at it. I can do partials."
Trixie suddenly grinned. "Show her! It's quite something to behold." She sounded smugly proud, as if her student's achievements were her own.
Luna watched as Garou lifted a paw and stretched forward, the arm growing longer, little paw-fingers becoming true ones and claws growing larger along with them. He had the left arm of his war form attached to an otherwise normal-sized wolf body. She nodded softly. "Very good. You have certainly improved."
He pointed newly flexible fingers at her in a gun-like pose. "Thanks to you. You were right in the first place. It's how I look at it." He lowered the hand to the ground as it shrank back into being a paw, carrying him along easily. "All of my tricks, their limitations were in my head. I was my own worst enemy."
Trixie smirked boldly. "And now you think you can do anything?"
"Maybe, with practice."
With a loud thump, Trixie suddenly ran into an unseen wall that certainly hadn't been there. She blinked and reached forward to find what she had collided with, but there was nothing there. She glared at Garou, the only wielder of force walls that didn't glow she knew.
Luna snickered softly, a hoof raised over her mouth. "You are getting better. But let's not hurt one another. I would not wish to walk into a wall."
"Very rude," agreed Trixie. "And after I spent my precious time trying to teach you."
"Sorry." Garou suddenly hopped over beside Trixie, his paws landing on her shoulders and he began to lick her face like an affectionate dog, or wolf.
Trixie squealed in dismay, trying to push him back, but the licks would not be refused. "I will forgive you if you stop!" She shoved with hooves and magic and he fell back a step, tongue lolling and a smile on his face. "For not actually being a wolf, you act like one."
That got his tongue drawn back in. The smile faded as he resumed walking, moving to the other side of Luna. Luna glanced at Trixie, then Garou. Reaching a wing, she gently tapped his back. "We know," she noted. "But whatever you are, you are our comrade."
"Yeah..."
"So no moping." Luna nudged him with her wing. "That's my job. Ask my sister."
Garou and Trixie both snorted with poorly-held-in laughter. Celestia smiled behind them, tired as she was. Luna looked triumphant in her moment of breaking the poor mood that had been growing. "Now, as I was saying, we are all friends, united and anointed in shared blood. We won't let something this small get in the way."
Something elbowed Garou and he looked over to see one of the brigands walking alongside him. "That's how ponies work, Chum. Once they call you a friend, that's it."
Garou considered the lizard-like man that was hiking along. "Well, there are worse fates than that."
"Suit yourself." The lizard strayed off towards the others of his kind.
Garou lifted into the air, glowing with Luna's magic as she brought him up, his snout an inch from her own. "Worse fates?" she asked with a kind smirk on her face. "Do you begrudge being my friend?"
He licked her pony nose, it being right in range of it. "Looking forward to more of it." His wagging tail was further clue that he meant the words.
Her eyes crossed where the lick had been placed, merry laughter escaping her. "Sister mine, did you hear? I got a dog, a splendid wolf that can speak and think for himself. I will treasure him."
Celestia lifted an ear. "I owned a phoenix once, you recall. I released him when I began this journey. Are you certain you're ready to take responsibility for another creature?"
Luna brought Garou in, swiveling him about to face forward and tucking him against her side, a wing draping over him. "You think I'm not mature enough to care for a creature? You hear that, Garou? My own sister!"
Garou laughed softly, his tongue starting to loll. "I feel safe enough, but I'm still my own person. I think I'll mostly take care of myself."
"And that is why I like you as a pet." She gently set him back down to resume walking, her own wing folding back up tight. "And if you tire of it, you can just tell me, rather than run off when I look away."
"Deal," he agreed with a single nod. "For now, I think I'll take the title."
Trixie squinted at Garou from the other side of Luna. "You either have not even a drop of shame, or you like Luna more than I first thought." Her squint turned into a smug smile directed at Luna. "Is he your first boyfriend?"
Luna's dark face colored bright red almost instantly. "What?!" Even as Celestia broke into laughter, Luna looked away from Trixie. "I've had boyfriends before..."
Celestia accelerated to be closer to the conversation, wagon jostling lightly behind her. "Only the ponies I set you up with, and they were soon gone, Sister."
Luna glared over her shoulder at Celestia, teeth set a moment. "Thank you for reminding... None of them were right."
Trixie hiked a brow. "But a shapeshifting wolf, that's just right, hmm?"
Garou blew a ripe raspberry at Trixie, spittle flying. "You had your chance."
Luna nodded confidently at that. "You rebuked his affections. He is mine now." She reached a wing to gently pat him. "Don't be sad. I know the scorn of an ingrateful pony. You were just trying to thank her, weren't you?"
Trixie rolled her eyes mightily. "If we keep going, we should arrive at Sappy Tree sometime tomorrow."
Soft mutterings of thanks came from both brigands and Celestia. Trixie glanced over her shoulders. "That will be where we say goodbye to most of you. I guess we're keeping you." She looked to Garou specifically at that. "But what is it we plan to do next?"
Celestia was the first to reply, "I have been thinking of that." Her companions peeked at her over shoulders. "I would like to continue my work."
Luna's brows fell. "You would return to Equestria and seize the throne from your successor?" One brow quirked up. "Sounds fun."
Rockhoof coughed into a raised hoof. "I doubt she means that. What work are you referring to?"
Celestia shook her head. "Goodness, no. I wouldn't do such a thing to Twilight, or create such upheaval for my ponies. I think it is the not ponies that deserve my attention." Her eyes turned to the small crowd walking with them. "I would improve the world outside Equestria, to make Equestria less of a lofty dream."
Trixie slowed to be at Celestia's side, opposite of Rockhoof. "Reminder, you aren't rich anymore. Well wishes are nice and all, but they don't pay the bills."
Garou barked suddenly. "So why not do what we're good at? Fight things that need fighting."
Luna inclined her head, considering that. "Hmm, hunting foul creatures instead of waiting for them to come to us. I could get behind that idea. What say you, Sister?"
"I will consider it." Her voice did not have the conviction she had just moments before. The conversation faded to companionable silence as they hiked the rest of the day away.
The next day, Rockhoof accepted the burden of the wagon as he had promised, drawing it and its heavy cargo on without complaint. Celestia was almost cantering with joy at being free of the infernal thing. "Trixie, how do you do that?"
Trixie turned an ear to Celestia. "Trixie does many amazing things that baffle even her! I am just that amazing."
Garou reached for the wagon from the side, lightly tapping it. "It also usually doesn't have a bunch of people crammed into it."
Trixie huffed softly. "Because I am not stupid." She suddenly sped out ahead of everyone, racing to the top of a hill before them and pointing to something beyond it. "We have arrived, just as I promised! As if the Great and Powerful Trixie would ever lead anycreature astray."
Rockhoof veered to the right. "Think I'll go around the hill if you don't mind."
Trixie half-slid down the hill to intercept her wagon. "Nothing doing! The town's on top of the hill, so get to climbing."
He grunted with annoyance but did turn to start ascending the slope. Garou and Luna went behind the wagon, both helping push it even as Rockhoof pulled, getting it up against the force of gravity. As they struggled, the bandits cheered and charged ahead, vanishing right into the little town without as much as a goodbye.
Trixie shook her head at the sight. "I hope you did not do that for the thank yous, because it looks like we won't be getting any of those."
Celestia set a hoof gently on Trixie's shoulder. "They are safe, and that is all I asked. We still have to get the ones too injured to move somewhere reasonable."
"And out of my wagon," completed Trixie with a flick of her tail. "You better not have messed with my magic supplies!" She clopped a hoof against the side of the wagon. "We're almost there."
The town, as it turned out, had a mixture of creatures, but most of them were tall and slender. Deer-folk with delicate antlers on their head, male or female. One of them, a large male, came out to greet them. "One of the others mentioned you had injured with you."
Celestia's face brightened. "They didn't forget. Yes, here." She pointed to the wagon. "Where should we bring them?"
"Are they friends of yours?" asked the stag as he circled to the back of the still-rolling wagon. He grabbed the latch in his teeth and pulled open the door, only to recoil. "Are you certain they..."
"I'm still breathing," grunted out one of the seeming bodies that were emitting a scent that implied maybe they weren't. "Some of us may not be... I can't really... check."
"How terrible," sighed out the stag, daring to step closer again. "I will help any that can be helped, please, just hold on a little longer."
A weak thumbs up was all the answer given. Soon they had pulled the wagon in front of the stag's office and they were all working to move each body carefully inside, not even checking their state at that point. The stag pointed outside once they were moved. "I will need complete concentration. I will send word when I have completed treatment..."
They were dismissed, banished from the place of healing. Garou's eyes followed the deer that walked past along the street. "Wow, just like the comics."
"Comics?" Luna quirked a brow at her new wolf pet. "There was a comic describing these creatures?"
Celestia seemed amused at the idea. "There are comics of many things. Did your comics say if they are kind people?"
Trixie rolled her eyes. "They're fine. I've been here before, remember? They tip well if you put on a good show, which I always do."
"Tricks Tricks!" called out a young deer, pointing his cloven hood at Trixie excitedly, though his mother(?) was drawing him along despite it.
Trixie looked proud of the event. "See, they know me. Now, we've done our part. I have to fumigate my wagon, then we set out. Decide where 'out' is." She circled her wagon to begin the freshining process.
Luna was wandering the small town, the moon, once her moon, high in the sky. As she walked, her new 'pet' strolled alongside her. "Night time is a peaceful time," she gentle murmured. "I think I miss that the most."
"Being up at night?" He lifted an ear towards her. "We're doing that right now."
"More than that." She circled in front of him in a broad turning that took her left, changing their course. "Walking the dreaming paths, connecting with ponies. It was... the first time I really felt like I belonged. 'Twas a cruel jest my sister ended that so shortly after it began."
Garou took her hint, turning with her as they went in a new direction. "So who's doing that now?"
"I don't know..." She glanced back briefly. "I was shown how to do it, surely a number of ponies could be taught the same. I can't... pretend I was the only one capable of it."
"But it still makes you sad." He darted beneath her, coming up on the other side, his tail brushing against her belly. "I get that."
"Do you? Have you experienced similar?"
"I had a job too," he assured with a canine huff. "Now someone else is doing it. I'm not there. Are they doing it right? Do they even miss me? Once in a while I wonder."
Luna's lips upturned in a soft smile. "Perhaps you do 'get it'. One day, or night, you will reveal to me your strange origins."
"Perhaps." He let out a sudden bark, tail wagging all the more intently. "Feel better?"
"A little." She stopped suddenly, looking up at something and pointing.
Where her hoof indicated, there was a large balcony at the top of a house. Standing on that balcony was one of the deer folk. That one had a great telescope and was clearly peering through it at the night sky.
Garou craned his head to look at it. "Huh... not just Twilight."
"Twilight will have much less time for star gazing," noted Luna. "But I have not met a star gazer who was not a pony... Dare I approach them?"
"Hey!" Garou called right from where he was. "Any interesting stars tonight?"
The deer jumped in surprise, rubbing their eye which may have bumped into the viewer. They looked over the side and found them. "Oh, hello there. What did you say?"
Luna's voice rose easily, the canterlot royal voice a long practiced skill of hers. "We couldn't help but notice your lovely telescope. How is the view tonight?"
The deer, who sounded female, softly nodded. "Lovely. Did you want to see?" Before she knew it, she had a Luna. The alicorn took flight and landed easily on the balcony. "Oh! I was going to go down and open a door... What about your friend?"
Garou chuffed a soft laugh. "I'll head back. Have fun, Luna." He turned and fled at a full gallop, quickly lost to the gloom of the night.
That left a smiling Luna with her new deer friend. "Tell me what you were watching." Fortunately, the deer was perfectly happy to share with Luna the sights, and the evening was spend nicely in the company of another fan of the night.
Celestia came walking back to the table where Rockhoof already sat. "I've heard some interesting things."
Rockhoof perked an ear at her. "Oh? Do share, Lass. Something we're about to be involved with?"
"Possibly." She sat down beside the table, avoiding the chairs that were too small for her large form. "It seems a new contender for the title of Storm King fancies themselves ready for the task. A creature with dreams of world domination rallies their forces."
Rockhoof's left ear pinned back. "I heard your encounter with the last didn't go so well on a personal level."
Celestia raised a hoof. "I was still grooming Twilight. She showed well she could handle such a situation, for Equestria. That will do nothing for the rest of the world. The way I see it--" She glanced around the tavern room. One group of rowdy creatures, most of them ones they had brought with them, were playing a lively game of cards. "The way I see it, we can save the lives and livelihoods of many creatures by nipping this in the bud."
"I have nothing against a swift kick to a tyrant." He leaned forward a little over the table. "But I think ye knew that. What are you hesitatin' about?"
"Already they amass an army. This will be no simple 'face the challenge' thing." Her eyes darted as if expecting trouble. "We will have to play it smart and strike wisely, not simply waiting for them to come to us or going directly towards them. For one, there's a good chance Trixie will balk at the idea with nocreature paying us."
"There is that," he grunted with a soft frown. "But think of the fame and accolades. They threw Twilight and her friends a whole new party when she put down the Storm King and they still remember it plenty." He lifted his shoulders. "I bet she'd like that kind of attention jus' fine."
"Are you talking about me?" Trixie descended the stairs from above, adjusting her hat as she went. "I can understand why you would, do continue."
Celestia's ears trained on the spellcasting mare as she approached. "We were, in fact. We weren't sure how much risk you'd take to prove to the world just how Great and Powerful you were."
"Ha!" She hopped up onto a chair and sat down on her haunches. "I already am both Great and Powerful. Have you seen my shows? I take plenty of risks." She buffed a hoof against her chest. "And here I am, with you, doing outrageous things, and I haven't run off yet, have I?"
Rockhoof coughed softly into a hoof. "I heard you squealed like a foal when the changelings were involved."
Trixie scowled at that, giving Rockhoof a glare. "Changelings are creepy! All those holes, and they can look like Trixie! We mean, we understand, more trixies does make the world more wonderful, but there's only room for one, just one." She held up a hoof for emphasis. "And I am it." She turned the hoof on herself. "Why, did you want to face changelings? We already made them nice, and made them promise to not imitate Trixie."
"Very good of you." Celestia nodded gently. "But Twilight and her friends stole the glory when the Storm King was involved."
Trixie rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, I remember that quite clearly. I had to provide entertainment to the celebration. Hmmph, I didn't let my jealousy get in the way of a quality performance, I note!" She clopped a hoof down on the table. "Why are you bringing that up?"
"What if there were a chance for you to return the favor?" Celestia smiled gently at Trixie. "To snatch the opportunity away from Twilight and be heralded as a hero before she even had a clue?"
Trixie licked over her lips as one of her hind hoofs tapped at the chair she was seated in. "That does sound like a nice change of pace... Now what is the catch?" She pointed at her chest. "I've learned my lesson. There's a catch. What is it?"
Rockhoof shrugged softly. "Well, it won't be easy, or always safe. You know, adventuring things Twilight does all the time."
Trixie hopped up to her hooves on the chair. "If she does it, I can do it with style!" Suddenly she squinted. "Are there changelings involved?"
Celestia shook her head as her magic picked up her tea cup to sip from. "None that I am aware of. Just an unkind creature in need of our personal care."
"By personal care, you mean a swift kick in the flank?" Trixie smirked, bringing up her fore hooves as she sat down to rub them together. "And you are wise to not go without Trixie's help. Our group is so much better than Twilight's. We have two alicorns, the greatest magician in the land, an ancient hero, and a shapeshifting not-dog. What does she have? An apple farmer?" She laughed as she reached for a snack, only pausing to practically inhale it.
Rockhoof softly rumbled at that, his own smile growing. "I don't mean to speak ill of Twilight and her friends. They've done quite a bit, but I am proud of our little group." He offered a hoof towards Trixie. "Will you stay on with us?"
"Whatcha talkin' about?" Garou hopped up across from Trixie. "Sounds interesting."
Trixie stuck out her tongue at the wolf. "They were just ensuring that the most important member of our team would still be present. Speaking of that, what will our share of bits be?"
Celestia barely flinched, hiding the reaction well. "There could be lost artifacts and interesting devices. You will get the first pick."
Trixie's ears perked up. "First pick? Mmm, now that's interesting. I've seen some of the things Twilight's dealt with, and destroyed like a ninny." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Think of the shows I could put on with half of it. Alright, first pick it is then." She snapped a fried morsel that crunched in her mouth loudly. "Shwo what if it?" she slurred as she chewed.
Celestia cleared her throat as she looked to Garou, watching him snap up a chunk for himself to loudly smack upon. "I trust you will be with us? You and Luna seem to have something of an accord."
"Hm? Yeah." He nodded as he reached out a wolven leg with a strangely fully-formed hand at the end, grabbing a glass of water to drink at with big laps of his big tongue. "What're you doing?"
"That's like one of them changebugs," noted Rockhoof before he raised his hoof-adorned mug to draw from mightily. "Uncanny. Sounds like there's some right jerk out there raisin' armies and makin' trouble. So we're going to put a stop to them quick before they get into full swing."
Trixie's brows both went up. "Wait... How do you plan to do that? Trixie is many things, but she is not a soldier if you planned on more grand battles with hundreds of creatures."
Garou snorted softly, a half-formed growl escaping him. "Not looking forward to one like the last, so we'll need to be a lot smarter about it."
"Precisely that." Celestia inclined her head towards Garou. "We will need to be smarter, not more vicious, though some amount of ability to fight will surely come up. If we keep dashing ourselves at things and..."
Noting her trailing off, Rockhoof took the initiative. "If you live by the sword, you die by the same. I'm not at all opposed to playing things smart. If you don't mind, I'll be leaving most of that to the mares. You just point at what you need dug or shoveled and I'll be there."
Trixie puffed her chest. "Good of you to realize that. Speaking of that, where is Luna? I see everypony here but her." At Garou's huff, she rolled her eyes. "Everycreature here."
His huff turned into a tongue-lolling smile. "She's watching the stars with a fellow fan. She looked like she would have fun so I left her to it. She deserves a moment just connecting with someone."
Celestia's ear twitched softly. "She only recently declared it, but already you speak as a good friend... Please continue to watch over my sister. It comforts my heart to know another is minding her with care and attention."
Rockhoof slammed his mug down with a loud laugh. "Aye! Such good friends. It's gladdening to see it. I can only hope we all grow so close. I do admire your tricks, Miss Lulamoon."
"You wield a shovel with unparalleled skill," allowed Trixie with a coy smirk. "For now, we eat, get our shut eye, and tomorrow we mares come up with a Brilliant and Foolproof plan."
With a soft round of agreement, the food was attacked mercilessly. It stood no chance and there would be none left to mourn its passing.
Luna trotted with the others in an unruly mob. "The doctor said they have news?"
Celestia was at the head of their band. "I imagine he will inform us how his patients are doing. Hopefully it will be good news."
Trixie shook her head, drawing her wagon along with her. "They aren't really our concern, are they? We got them here, which is far more than we had to do."
"That we did." Rockhoof was just next to Trixie. "We may as well at least hear how they're doing before we go. Hopefully well."
The conversation faded as they came upon the medical office. Trixie wriggled free of her wagon and looked at it with a glowing horn, basically turning on the parking break. "Alright, let's hear the news."
Inside they went, the smell of antisceptics and herbal poultices greeting them. "Is that you?" came the voice of the doctor, his head poking out of a room into the hallway. "Ah, this way." And back in it went. When they arrived, they saw a room full of beds with a figure in each. "Say hello to the survivors. They are all on the road to recovery." He gestured softly across them. "The ones who didn't make it, I had moved to the morgue to--"
"Ya may as well burn 'em," noted a weak, and familiar, male voice. The same brigand they had first met was there, propped up a bit and watching them. "Ain't no one else gonna come for 'em, or pay for no burial."
Rockhoof approached the awake brigand. "I see you made it, good for you. Feelin' better?"
"The doctor's a soft touch." The brigand reached for a glass of water beside his bed. "I'll be as good as I can be soon. Oh, thanks."
Celestia tipped her head faintly. "We are glad for it." Her eyes darted across the room in a quick counting. "So few...?"
The patient's eyes hardened a moment. "Ah said thanks. Ya did more than ya had to by a long shot. By most right, more than anyone'd have sense to."
"This is something we agree on." Trixie nodded with satisfaction. "They are being seen to. We have other business to get to."
The doctor looked over from the patient he had been examining. "Leaving already?"
Luna nodded. "We must. Urgent business calls to us, and the longer we wait, the more dangerous it will be."
"I see." He reared up to reach something on a higher shelf and turned to them. "I had thought you friends of these creatures?"
Garou shook his head at that. "Actually, they were trying to kill us, but we do try to be the bigger creature about it."
The doctor snorted at that, almost dropping his bottle. "That's very kind of you. I see the reputation of ponies is not undeserved. I will do what I can for them, can't have ponies taking all the kindness credit in the world." He resumed his careful administration of his patient. "Good luck."
Luna turned for the door. "Every creature, large and small, can only do what they can. We thank you for your part." She paused, looking over her shoulder at the brigand sitting up in bed. "Take this as an opportunity. It would be nice to hear you've started something new."
"Ain't promisin' nothin', but it'd be hard to go back where I started." He softly shrugged. "Legs ain't what they used to be."
The doctor swiveled an ear. "He is paralyzed from the hips down. Just imagining being stranded in the middle of nowhere like that... He had no chance but the one you gave him."
His cheeks warmed, be it with embarrassment, shame, or some other emotion. "Ah already said thanks. Go on. You got other creatures to save, ah reckon. Yer all the one that made me this way, makes it hard for me to be all happy fer it. Just git, ah'll figure somethin' out."
They filed out of the room, leaving Garou behind. He glanced left and right before trotting up to the bandit that was watching him. "So, what would you do, if you could do whatever?"
"Well, not what I was doin'." He shrugged softly. "Hindsight's 20/20 and all that. Not my best decision."
Garou reared up and placed his face against the hand of the bandit, his eyes closed a moment. "Yeah... I can't imagine being paralyzed like that..."
He gently petted the talking dog that had come to him, smiling a little before he noticed moisture. The wolf was crying for him? "Aw shoot, don't be doin' that." He brushed it away and shooed Garou. "On with ya!"
Garou backed up with a lolling tongue. "Take care." And off he galloped to catch up with the others.
The bandit settled back with a soft grunt, realizing that the blanket wasn't quite covering his feet. He hooked one foot into the bottom of it and drew it down.
Then it hit him. "Doc...?"
Strapped back into her wagon, Trixie pulled it along through the street. "Well, we've done our good deed. Luna, where's your--oh there he is."
Garou caught up with Trixie with a lolling tongue. "Hey, just saying bye. So what's the plan?"
Luna gestured with her head up ahead. "I have been considering that. I believe the first bit of business should be to gather information. Acting blindly will benefit us not."
Rockhoof raised a hoof as he walked. "Ah know I said I'd leave this to the mares, but an idea came to me suddenly." Eyes turned towards him with more surprise than he would have liked. "It can happen sometimes!" A soft equine snort issued from him in irritation. "This fellow's buildin' an army, right?"
Celestia nodded. "This is true. What of it?"
"Why don't we join it?" proposed Rockhoof with a satisfied expression. "Quickest way to learn all about it, and we'll be on the inside when we make our move."
Garou chuffed with a laugh. "That is a great idea and also really dangerous." He glanced off towards Celestia and Luna. "We have two very famous individuals with us. How do we convince them to let them sign up for army work?"
Celestia veered off suddenly towards a clothing boutique store. "I beleive that can be remedied." And in she went, Luna trailing behind her.
Rockhoof met Garou's eyes and shrugged. "Ye've got as much idea as I. Ah know better than to follow a mare about her business with these things."
Trixie rolled her eyes. "And I am not famous enough? Why are you not concerned about the World Renowned Trixie?"
Garou pat Trixie's nearer shoulder with a paw. "You're not a politician. You're an entertainer. Those aren't, you know, known for always being loyal to a place."
Trixie tilted her head. "Well, I do travel a lot... Still, Equestria is my home." She sat on her haunches. "What are they doing in there?"
Out came the two, dressed more as tourists than warriors or anything else. More notable, their manes and tails were subdued, no longer flowing. Celestia had soft pink, and Luna a gentle blue. No stars, no sunrise colors. Even their wings were somehow removed. They were just a pair of large unicorns.
Luna coughed softly before raising a hoof to direct at herself. "How do I look?"
Rockhoof inclined his head left and right. "Quite nice, though I prefer the original model." He suddenly laughed. "Look at me. This is the original model. Yer jus' fine, but maybe put the armor back on? We are signing up as soldiers."
Luna suddenly swatted Celestia from the side. "I told you!"
Celestia softly snorted as her armor began to float free into the air. "I accept my fault. Now, let's get going. There are no princesses here, obviously, so we should have little further standing in the way of starting this plan."
Luna flashed with magic, suddenly back in her armored garb. "Yes, let us proceed." A map unfurled floating before her. "We have quite some distance to trot."
The color of magic on the map altered as Trixie drew it over for a looking at. "It'd be faster if we took an airship there." She pointed towards the edge of town. "They have a little landing pad here."
Celestia's golden magic took the map next, gently folding it. "An excellent idea, but will they be flying towards danger?"
Garou hopped forward, tail wagging excitedly. "Only one way to find out." He raced ahead, the others trailing behind him at more sedate rates.
Celestia sideled in against Luna. "So full of energy. Dating younger boys can be quite a challenge at times."
Luna's cheeks lit up, red showing through the dark fur. "Sister!"
"I am not dissuading you, dear sister mine." Celestia thumped her side on Luna's. "Just remember the differences."
Luna thudded back, far less gently. "What if the differences are exactly what I would rather not remember?"
Celestia inclined her head past Luna, towards Rockhoof. "Then you may be better going for someone with a more similar view of the world."
Rockhoof colored, catching the meaning. "Well, we don't... actually... Huh..." He put the pieces together, realizing he and Luna had very similarly disjointed lives from similar time periods. "I never put that together before."
"No offense intended to our dear friend." She smiled briefly at Rockhoof. "But this entire topic is beside the point. We are friends, not friends, as modern ponies say. I have no boyfriend, simply a few friends, who happen to be male."
Trixie turned her nose up with a little smile. "And some friends who happen to be female. Now that you remind me, I wonder how Sunburst is doing... However the school turned out, he was quite a fan of magic tricks and a number one test audience! I should write him a letter. He surely must miss the presence of Trixie."
A sly smile spread on Luna's face. "It seems I am not alone in having friends who are male, or do you have other interests in Sunburst?"
Trixie burst into laughter as they were coming close to the landing area, two ships parked nearly. "Starlight has first dibs on him, and I do not feel like challenging her on that today." She waved it off. "The two are busy being partners for that stupid school. Who is Garou talking to?"
Up ahead, Garou was clearly chatting with a minotaur, his tail wagging softly and a smile on his face. He saw them and raised a paw, waving them closely. "Here they are. This is the whole thing, and the wagon behind Trixie there."
The minotaur nodded softly. "Don't look like trouble. Is that Trixie?"
Oh, the smile on Trixie's face at being recognized. "The Great and Powerful," she added smugly.
"Yeah, heard of you. If you can put on a show, we'll knock a bit off the tickets."
Trixie inclined an ear. "I keep any tips."
"A mare that understands how it works! Pleasure doing business." The minotaur thrust a hand forward towards her. She met it with a hoof and they shaked on it, a deal made without hesitation. "Now, go ahead and get your things loaded up. We take off at sunset." He hiked a thumb towards the boarding plank. "We'll be there after a leisurely day of flight."
As the others moved to board, Rockhoof stopped next to Garou. "You worked fast."
"I just asked where he was going, and he said he'd go anywhere in range if we paid," Garou explained. "So we're not just finding a lucky ship going where we want." He nodded with obvious satisfaction. "Let's go."
"That works." Even if Rockhoof didn't look entirely confident as he went with Garou to board the airship.
The world passed beneath them. Airship travel was quite different than walking, all the hills and gullies just pretty things to admire as they floated past without slowing. Trixie tapped softly at the wooden deck. "If I had an airship of my own, the entire world could enjoy the splendor of my shows."
Garou had his head poking through the guide bars, watching what passed beneath the ship. "This is a lot easier than how we were doing it. Would you give up your wagon?"
"As if!" She flicked her tail and rolled her eyes in defiance. "It would just ride with me and continue to serve as my stage. Trixie's wagon is part of her identity." She rolled a hoof in the air. "Ponies come expecting it. We can't go disappointing them, now can we?"
Luna's soft clearing of her throat was the first sign of her presence. "We draw close to our target. What do we know of them?"
"About that." Rockhoof leaned against the same bars. "Some of the sailors on this ship knew about it when ah asked 'em. This fellow ain't a fellah, for one. Miss Shadowpaw." He raised a hoof that was clearly not a paw. "Prefers to be called mistress by anyone workin' fer her. A cat with magic."
Celestia frowned faintly. "With magic you say? Not an usual trait for an abyssinian. I can imagine how one with that gift could rise to power."
Luna nodded towards Rockhoof. "Excellent work." Even as the stallion beamed, she looked instead to Garou. "You seem in good spirits."
"Why shouldn't I be?" He pulled his head free and twirled to face Luna, tail wagging eagerly. "We're doing something good, in good company. No complaints here."
Celestia smiled gently. "Both true, but we may also be hurt. This is no safe task we embark on."
"But barking is my specialty," huffed Garou, licking his chops.
Trixie applied a hoof to her face. "That was physically painful. I'll be ready when we land." She fled from further puns.
Luna was still looking at Rockhoof. "Miss Shadowpaw... Is that a hint as to the nature of her power, or simply a threatening monicker?"
Celestia pointed towards the front of the ship. "That seems clear."
Ahead of them, the world was becoming dimmer quickly, as if they were passing from day into night. Even the stars above became hard to see through a perpetual overcast that hung over the land. "Excuse me," spoke the captain over some speakers. "There might be some choppiness. We suggest all passengers head inside. We should be arrivin' soon anyway, so sit tight!"
The conversation faded as they began to withdraw for the interior. Luna perched on her bed, only for it to wobble as Garou hopped up beside her. "Do you not have your own room?"
"Mine doesn't have you in it," he noted, tail brushing over the sheets. "How are you two doing? Does being in disguise... hurt? Is it tiring?"
Celestia inclined her head faintly. "Thank you for your concern, but it is a small magic. If need be, we can throw it aside to assume our previous selves."
Luna kept an ear on Garou, though faced Celestia. "I had grown quite used to the feel of our empowered forms. The lack of wings is vexing, but not painful, as you had feared." Her eyes swept to Garou. "You do not feel pain in your various guises, do you?"
His canine ears perked up. "No, but not having parts you are used to having can be... awkward. I know that little pain." He reached out a paw towards Luna, the little canine digits lengthening to proper fingers along the way. "You've given me the power to shake that off when I want to. Thank you."
Luna's face brightened faintly. "So you admit you are normally with fingers, that is a step forward."
Celestia nodded in agreement. "Perhaps one day you will trust us enough to reveal the rest, but we are patient."
Luna set a hoof on his nose. "I see you preparing to defend yourself, but it is as my sister said, we are patient. You are a friend, and we will not force the matter. When you wish, speak, and we will listen."
"It's funny speaking with a hoof on your nose," he noted with a silly grin, setting his perfectly normal wolf paw back on the bed, seated on his haunches. "We're in enemy territory now. We should get into our roles. We're here to join the army."
The entire room angled faintly, bellies rising in torsos as the ship began to descend for a landing. Celestia's ears danced briefly. "Soon we will arrive. Sister, do you think they'll accept us as soldiers?"
"Why would they not?" With a flash, a spear appeared floating beside her. "They would have to be fools to turn us away. We're already a trained unit, versed in teamwork and battle." She set her own hoof down, no longer resting on Garou's face.
Garou bobbed his head and hopped down from the bed. "Whatever tests they have, we'll blow through them." He moved as if to trot out of the room, but the floor began to shake, his steps becoming far less certain and sending him slipping against Luna's bed instead. "Woah!"
Luna's magic wrapped around him, gently lifting him back onto the bed. "We are landing, it is clear. Remain still until that is complete."
With a firm thump, the shaking came to a stop. The soft background noise of the engines faded away. Garou sprang for the floor. "Now we're on the ground."
"We will be with you shortly." Celestia rose, gathering her things as she did so.
"Get the others," advised Luna, joining Celestia in gathering their things.
Even as Garou burst out of the door and scampered, the captain's voice spoke over the speakers, "We have arrived. Give us a few minutes to check in and get the gangplank set up. Local authorities have asked that fliers not disembark before then, so you're stuck with us just a little longer. Thanks for flying with us!"
Rockhoof was in his room, already standing and looking ready. "This way," called Garou, pointing towards the stairs leading up to the deck. "Do you know where Trixie's hiding?"
"That I don't, Lad." He came trotting out behind Garou. "But, knowing the mare, she'll show up when she wants to. Ain't much afraid of her gettin' lost."
"Probably." Garou was still glancing left and right, peeking down each hallway they passed and any open door that happened to be there as if Trixie could be behind any of them. "Celly and Lulu will be along."
"What friendly names." He caught up with Garou, walking alongside him. "I like them. Now, we just need to figure out where we need to be to go signin' up for this army."
Celly emerged first after the two males, looking around curiously. "It should be day, but..."
"It is more like night," agreed Lulu, her neck craned to look up at the cloudy skies. "Without the charm..."
Several minotaurs were busily moving a heavy object between them, but stopped when a small purple imp of a figure landed just in front of them. "Where's your captain?" it demanded in a reedy little voice.
"Right here." The captain stepped towards the imp. "Paper's here too." He offered a clipboard that was snatched instantly.
"Minotaurs are good for some things," muttered the imp as they flipped through the papers. "Says you're chartered. Who chartered you?"
The captain pointed at the four, three ponies and a wolf. "Them. Paid up proper. All the documents are in order."
"They always are with a minotaur." He threw the clipboard at the captain, but it was easily caught. The imp lifted into the air and flew at the ones the captain had pointed at. "Why did you want to come here? You're not on any list I have."
Celly gestured at the others with a hoof. "We came to join the army. We heard there were positions."
"You came to be drafted?" The imp's brow was raised high. "That's a new one."
Rockhoof inclined his head. "Ye've no room for mercenaries a cut above the rabble?"
Garou bobbed his head in agreement. "We already know how to fight. We've faced forces with more than ten times our number, at once, and we were the winners." It was an easy claim to make, seeing as it was true.
Lulu's spear appeared in sparkles. "Do you need test our ability? We heard there was a fight, all we request is coins."
A dagger was suddenly in the air, hurled by the imp without warning or preamble. It slapped against an unseen wall, clattering to the ground. Lulu, who it had been aimed at, had the sense to stand there calmly without looking towards the dog who had likely caused the deflection.
The imp sneered at them, moving to reclaim his dagger. "Put that poker away. It's illegal for anyone not in the army to have a weapon, and you ain't in it yet."
"Yet," repeated Celly. "What do you need to see?"
"Me? Nothin'. This all of you?" He waved over their group.
Celly shook her head. "There is a fifth. Garou, did you not see Trixie?"
"Nope."
The imp turned to the captain with a scowl. "Why isn't everyone here?! You know they have to be here!"
The captain raised his shoulders. "All the cabins are empty, we double-checked." He grabbed a small microphone and shouted into it, his voice echoing over the ship. "Hey, Trixie, get your flank up onto the deck!"
A soft thump was heard beneath them. Lulu inclined her head. "Be right back." And she promptly vanished, appearing beside Trixie in her wagon where she had fallen out of her cot. "I had a feeling... They need to see you."
"Wha?" was all she got out before Lulu grabbed them both in her magic and they appeared on the deck, Trixie's mane a mess and her eyes bleary with sleep. "I am not ready!" she wailed, ducking behind Lulu and hurriedly taming her mane.
The imp circled around to get a look at Trixie. "You can fight too? You barely look like you can get out of bed."
Trixie shook her head, her mane at least mostly in place. "I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! I can perform acts of magic beyond your feeble comprehension." She brought her forehooves together in a loud clop, smoke bursting from her in all directions. By the time it had cleared, she was on top of Lulu's back where she definitely did not just climb up in the moment she had. "You doubt my abilities?!"
The imp tucked his dagger away. "Whatever, not my job. Five mercenaries looking for work, fine." He gave a thumbs up, which the minotaurs still holding the great thing understood and attached to the side of the ship. It unfurled in a great unfolding that thumped under hooves and paws as it became a great ramp leading down to the dock below. "Everyone off."
He lifted into the air and pointed at Celly, the tallest of them and thus obviously in charge. "Get off, then wait. Someone will be by to talk to you. Or walk off and get jailed, or worse. I'm fine either way." With a sour grumbling, the imp flew off, leaving the boat behind.
Trixie pointed back towards the interior. "I am going nowhere without my wagon. So you get to wait."
"We'll help you," offered Rockhoof, already moving for the cargo bay. "A few extra hooves will keep the work shorter."
"What are friends for," agreed Garou, trotting off after the stallion.
Trixie squinted at them before the world began to move around her. Lulu set the magician down on the deck. "Ah, yes." She dipped her head at Lulu before hurrying to catch up with those fetching her wagon.
They were disembarked, standing as a group, Trixie attached to her wagon and watching the hustle around her. Dock workers were lumbering around, most carrying heavy things to other places. Emerging from the swarm of activity came soldiers.
They weren't subtle, garbed in spiked armor and walking in formation. They were bipedal, with varying statures from heavy set to lanky, but the armor all had the same dark-purple look to it. "Here come the bad guys," noted Garou with a bit of a smile. They were too cliche looking to not be remarked on.
Though much of their bodies couldn't be seen, their tails were exposed. This was enough to see that whoever was assembling the army didn't much mind what species their soldiers were. Cat tails, wolf tails, and others that were harder to immediately identify swayed behind the columns.
They parted, allowing a figure forward that had the same purple-look, the same spikes, but clearly was above them. The bottom of her face could be seen, and the curves of her body were not concealed by her armor. She was a feline of some variety, her claws curling and swaying in the air as she stepped up with the grace of her species. "This the one?"
"Yes, Commander," barked one of her soldiers, saluting by slamming their arms across their chest, left and right just above one another.
"More of a pleasure yacht," she muttered with disdain. "But we can refurbish it. Take it." She raised a hand to point up the gangplank. "If you know what's good for you, you'll cooperate. Your country has need of you."
"Now see here," called down the captain from the ship. "This here's my ship, and these sailors--"
She surged forward, leaping up right over the plank and landing just in front of the irate captain, her claws brought up just under his chin. "You have two choices. One, you become a captain of Mistress Shadowpaw's mighty army. Two, we throw what's left of you over the edge and pick another captain."
Luna scowled at the conscripting in progress. "We should--"
"--Do nothing," cut in Celestia. "We have a part to play, and helping them is not in it."
Up above, the captain clearly said something the commander didn't like. With a rolling of her eyes, she jumped back, not into any fighting position. The captain peered at her with confusion, then pain and horror. He fell to his knees, blood gushing from his cut throat. "As for the rest of you." She turned to regard the other sailors as her own soldiers flooded up onto the ship. "If you do as you're told, you still have a job. Don't, and you get to join your former captain here. A simple choice, hmm?"
Garou joined in Luna's scowl. "He was an alright guy."
Trixie shook her head softly. "I had my issues with him, but none severe enough to warrant that."
The captain looked down from the top of the gangplank and finally took notice of the strange group still standing there. "You lot." She slid down the plank easily. "You the mercenaries? You didn't do a good job protecting that cow."
Rockhoof took a step forward. "He didn't pay us to."
"That is true," allowed Luna. "So..."
"So." The feline leader smirked at them. "You're not that subtle. Don't like my methods? Tough. You're the one that came here, so I don't want to hear the first word about it. Now tell me why you should get a single coin when most of them--" She hiked a thumb up at the ship where her soldiers were busy. "--aren't getting any."
Celestia took a step forward, a gentle smile on her face, long-practiced from her years as a princess. "We are each endowed with certain notable talents. Even alone, we could turn the tide of a battle. As a unit, which we are, we are an asset you would be foolish to deny."
"You can't even hold a weapon," snorted the cat, looking to Rockhoof most directly. "What have you got?"
"I can dig a trench at a full gallop," he noted proudly, standing tall. "I can bury people just as quickly. If it involves a shovel, I'm the best in the land, regular knight of shovels."
"Without hands?" she taunted, wriggling her fingers, her claws slid away.
"No need." He drew his shovel free, held firmly in his jaws. "If it comes down to it, ah can bash a fella's head jus' fine too."
"So you're a grunt." She looked far from impressed, eyes moving to the wolf. "You're even smaller than him, with about as few hands. I'd call you a pet, but I see you staring at me. Go on, sell yourself."
"And yet, you can't touch me." Garou sat on his haunches, tail swaying idly behind him. "Go on, give it your best try."
"You want to compete for speed?" Her ears splayed off to either side. "Bad move." She was suddenly far closer, her claws catching in the force field, sharp tips caught in the air inches away from Garou's face, her expression becoming furious. "What devilry?!" She jumped back, scowling at him.
Luna inclined her head. "My demonstration requires drawing a weapon, and we have been told that is not permitted."
The commander looked away from Garou with a muttering, instead focusing on Luna. "Show me what you have."
A sudden wet thud announced the arrival of the body of the former captain of the ship, but the commander looked at Luna without a flinch, awaiting the demonstration. Luna's teeth set as her spear popped into being, twirling in demonstration. "Besides being a practiced warrior, I am a skilled wielder of magic." She vanished, sparkles falling where she was, a new set bursting into being behind the commander where Luna appeared, mid-thrust with her spear.
The commander ducked and rolled to the side, avoiding the strike. "Passable." The closest she'd come to a compliment so far as she rose back to her full height. "I see three of you are unicorns. I'm going to guess you're all magicians."
"I am the most magic of the magicians," huffed Trixie, stepping forward, her wagon coming with her. "I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! A magician beyond comparison. I can weave tricks to bedazzle and bewilder. My performances will leave you gaping and wanting for more. Why, after a single--"
"Entertainment," cut off the commander, turning to look at Celestia. "And your specialty?"
"I am a spellcaster, as you surmised." A sword popped into being beside her. "I can fight if pressed. We've withstood attacks of dozens at a time and emerged the victor for it. We do not yield under pressure. We can also--"
"--You're the leader," cut in the commander. "I didn't ask you to sell all of them, just yourself." She twirled one finger. "Put that away. You." She was looking at Rockhoof again. "She's your leader, right?"
"Yes, ma'am." He slung his shovel onto his side. "Trust her completely."
"A soldier has to, if they want to live." She grabbed the shoulder of one of her troops walking past. "You, do you trust me?"
"Yes, Sir!" he near-shouted, assuming a salute, his arms crossed in front of him, one atop the other horizontally.
"Good." She pushed him back in the direction he had been going. "One mercenary unit, with one accepted leader." She clicked her rough tongue against the top of her mouth. "Don't think that gets you any special treatment." She crossed her arms, fingers tapping at the opposing arm. "You understand you're one small part in a much larger machine. You--" She was looking at Celestia. "--will have to take orders, quickly and effectively."
Luna opened her mouth to speak, only to find feline fingers curling around her snout. "I am addressing your commander. You would do well to not interrupt," chastised the feline, shoving Luna back. "As I was saying, do you understand that?"
Celestia raised a hoof towards her armored chest. "And you are my leader?"
Oh, the merry laughter that emerged from the feline commander. "You could only hope. Perhaps, in time." She hiked a thumb back. "Go to the brick building, biggest here. Tell them Commander Fia sent you. Take your people with you."
Celestia looked ready to move, but a second thought stilled her hooves. "About payment?"
"Ugh, mercenaries." Fia rolled her eyes softly. "We'll pay you. You can pay your people as you see fit. If they tear you apart, obviously you didn't pay them enough, and failed as a commander. Not our fault, or our problem. Get moving." She turned back to the ship. "I have military equipment to get ready for use."
Celestia tipped her head as she trotted past. Without a word spoken, the others moved to follow her, soon leaving the bloody scene of the ship they had just ridden. Trixie accelerated to be at Celestia's side. "They just... Is this a good idea?"
Luna snorted softly, equine nostrils flaring. "A bit late to reconsider now. We are here. If we do not see this through, his death was for nothing."
"You are Lulu, I am Celly. We are mercenaries," reminded Celly, her eyes straight ahead as they proceeded through the occupied town. "The plight of these creatures... is not ours."
Garou brushed against Rockhoof. "She's going to need some support, later."
"Oh, aye," agreed the larger stallion. "She hides it, but ah can see this is tearing at her."
"Trixie is so much more than 'entertainment'," huffed Trixie, mind slipping to past slights. "The very nerve. I am so much more than that!"
The others rolled their eyes at Trixie's complaint, but perhaps it was a comfort in a way. It was so much easier to consider her little complaint than what they had seen, and took part in.
They approached the large brick building. It looked like it had once been a town hall of some sort, but the soldiers coming and going from it left little doubt to its repurposed position in society. On the way, they saw most of the soldiers were on two legs, but not all of them. A small collection of griffons marched past, and there was a lonely pony or two in the middle of other groupings.
"Ugh, more ponies?" A dragon landed in front of them, large enough to be on all fours by design. "Why do they even bother conscripting little runts like you? You're worthless in a real fight."
Garou stepped forward, hackles raised. He needn't have bothered, Celly's horn glowing as she gave the dragon a sudden shove hard enough to force him aside. "We are to report in. Do not stand in the way of a commanding officer," she growled.
The dragon let them past, gaping at what had just happened. That was not how most ponies reacted to a dragon. "W-well, I didn't say I wasn't a commanding officer!"
Celly wheeled on him. "You didn't start with a rank or title. You are wasting my time. You are wasting her time. What is your name, so I know who to mention when I report my tardiness?"
The dragon took a little step back. "What? I mean... You wouldn't! Forget it!" He took flight away from the herd of ponies and their bossy commander.
Garou burst into soft laughter. "Oh, wow, you really showed him what's what."
"I..." She resumed her walk. "I vented, taking out my anger at him. I am not proud of it."
"Be that as it may." Lulu fixed her eyes on the building as they approach its front double doors. "You acted as needed. You did well, sister mine."
"That was some fine intimidatin'," heartily agreed Rockhoof. "Glad ah'm on yer side. Now, keep ahold of that attitude, 'cause ah think we're 'bout to need it."
Pressing inside, the interior was very well lit, but only in specific places. Where papers rested on desks, bright light made them easy to see. Much anywhere else, it was a perpetual gloom. The sound of armored feet echoing off wooden floors echoed around them.
"You the one Fia sent?" asked a face they could see. A male ferret of some sort, unarmored, wielding a quill in his right hand. "Come here." He waved closer with the quill, feather wagging. "We have to write this down." Down went the quill, thudding against the paper in front of him.
Celly advanced to the fore, closing the distance with a clip-clop. "You're a secretary then?"
"Hardly." He scribbled busily. "Bookkeeper, logistics division. Did Fia mention a rank for you?" He looked up from his writing at Celly. "Your name would also be useful."
"Celly." She inclined her head towards the next pony. "Lulu, Rockhoof, Trixie--"
"--The Great and Powerful," Trixie cut in with a cocky smile.
"--and Garou. No particular rank was mentioned, save that I would be the leader of this unit, which I already am." Celestia looked down at the filling paper. "We are battle tested."
"To the death?" asked the ferret, a brow raising. "Have you killed somecreature?"
"Yes," spoke Celestia with certainty. "Directly and otherwise."
He whistled softly, making more scribbles. "That's not common for ponies. Speaking of which, three unicorns, an earth, and...' He looked over to Garou. "Whatever you are. What are you?"
"Werewolf," he identified with a canine grin, tongue lolling.
"And a werewolf." He wrote it faithfully down. "Look like a normal wolf to me, whatever. If she didn't say otherwise, I'm going to pen you down as a corporal." The scribbles went on. "And your merry band here can be private first class."
"Objection," suddenly woofed out Garou. "We're at least specialists."
The ferret hurled his ink jar at Garou, only for it to shatter, leaving ink floating in the air and highlighting a wolf-shaped barrier in front of him. "Specialist," repeated Garou, tail wagging.
Celestia inclined her head. "We were accepted because of our unique and specialized abilities in part. Specialist sounds like a proper rank. You do have that?"
"We do..." The ferret drew a new bottle and set it down, dipping his quill. "Keep a tighter leash on your subordinates. What are their specialties?"
"Mental infiltration, combat, and mid-level sorcery," replied Luna.
"Bedazzling spectacles and distractions," continued Trixie, looking so proud of herself.
"Combat, both offensive and defensive," barked out Garou, allowing his shield to fade long enough for the ink to rain down on the ground. "You want something safe, I can do that."
Rockhoof gestured with his head back towards his shovel. "Construction, deconstruction, mostly the latter, unless you want a ditch. If it can be done with a shovel, I'm already on the case!"
"He can also fight," added Celly. "We have all fought together before against overwhelming odds. Now then, about payment?"
The ferret huffed at the very notion. "Mercenaries." He made a little note. "You'll get paid weekly. We only pay officers. Lucky you, you got one of those." He pointed with the fuzz of his quill at Celestia. "'Course, that also means if they mess up, it's on your head. The Mistress doesn't take excuses like 'I didn't tell them to do that'." He resumed his writing. "Got a unit name?"
Garou sat up tall. "We are the Devil Company."
"Devil Company," repeated the ferret, not sounding very overwhelmed by it. "Alright. Report to barracks three." He suddenly produced a bit of paper, holding it towards Celly. "Your superior officer. He'll contact you when he needs you. Try not to embarrass him."
Trixie raised a hoof. The ferret looked over. "Yes, where is barracks three, and I have a wagon parked just outside." She tossed her head towards it. "That won't be an issue, I trust?"
"Wagon." Down it went with a scribble. "Your contribution is not--"
"--That is my wagon," she shouted, drawing looks from around the room.
Celestia turned, blocking the path between Trixie and the ferret. "We require the wagon for her work. She will sleep in it, reducing the need for bunking."
"I will add it to your unit's logs." The scribbling continued unabated. "Park it beside three." A new paper was slapped down. "Here's a map of the town. The barracks are labeled. Now kindly move aside, others are waiting."
Though they were hard to see in the gloom, eyes shone at least, making their impatient presence felt. With a final farewell, they headed back out into the less oppressive lighting of the still dimly-lit town. Trixie accelerated towards her wagon, the vessel giving two sudden beeps are her horn glowed. "After the last time my friend sold it, I got some security magic installed."
As Trixie got herself re-attached, Celestia floated the map into view. "The barracks would be... this way." She pointed the way. "I suppose we should go and see who we will be... spending more time with."
Garou hopped forward into an easy trot. "I doubt we're getting a bunch of smiles. Just a hunch."
"This I agree with." Luna began after him. "I would be most shocked if even one smile were present."
They were soon moving through the town. The barracks were a little town of its own, occupying roughly half the space, with a large fence around it and a gate they were approaching. Those not wearing military attire approached it with cautious faces and fled it eagerly.
The gate griffon looked down from his tall chair. "Hold up there. Who are you?" He waved a hand over the entire group. "Ain't much lookin' like any of the two things I let in here."
Luna inclined her head towards Celly. "We just enlisted. Celly is our commanding officer."
Celly nodded in simple agreement. "We haven't been given uniforms yet. We were assigned to number three."
"Number three? Already making good impressions, huh?" The griffon shrugged expansively. "Your funeral. Go on and keep the rats company."
Trixie made a face. "Rats? Well, fortunately I have my wagon." She trotted past the griffon, wagon rolling behind her.
Luna tapped Garou on the back as he walked. "I cannot allow you to be the source of intuition. I have a theory."
"Lay it on me." He looked over his shoulder at her with a big smile.
"What if the rats the griffon speaks of are actual rats?"
Garou blinked softly at that, his expression turning to confusion. "As opposed to?"
"No no, I mean what if they are creatures. Rat creatures." She lifted her shoulders. "With hands and names, not the sort one chases with a broom."
"Then we will meet them," concluded Celestia. "Rockhoof, have you ever encountered a rat creature before?"
"I cannae say I have. They have numbers." He pointed to the great numbers on each of the barracks. There was one and two and four and five. "Where's three?"
"Lookin' fer three?" asked an armored soldier that had been marching past them. "Why'd you want to go there?"
Celly looked towards the figure, feline, male. "We were assigned there."
"Oh. Tough break." He hiked a thumb. "That way. Don't let the rats smell weakness." He laughed as he moved on to whatever business he had.
Luna puffed herself up, looking prouder. "My hunch is feeling more likely by the moment. I don't see why they are so fussy about rats. They are creatures as any other, I should imagine."
Trixie kept right on going, changing directions as she went towards the way that had been pointed out. "If they are creatures, they will be dazzled by Trixie's amazing show, and shower her in praise. Then she will not care if they are rats or not."
Rockhoof shook his head as he went. "I care more for what's in their head than if they have hooves or hands."
"An enlightened way to consider it," complimented Celly with a little smile. "Let us discover what lurks in their minds."
There was number three, worn down and decrepit compared to the other buildings. As they came closer to it, its front door banged open, a figure tumbling out through it, the force that had pushed it open.
A tall female rat on two feet was shaking her fist at the tumbled figure. "And stay out until yer sober! Gods above and below, I could swear everyone forgets we're in..." She trailed off, noticing the group approaching. "Ya lost?"
Garou examined the female. She wore the purple armor of the army, but it was lighter, more of a chainmail than plate armoring. "Hey."
"Hello." Celly advanced without pause in her step. "We have been assigned to this barrack. What did that one do?" She pointed at the form that was crawling to their feet in a most ungainly fashion. "You mentioned being drunk?"
The she-rat rolled her eyes dramatically. "We're allowed one drink. One. Not 'One serving and I'll decide what a serving is.'" She advanced and shoved the poor male rat right over again. "Go on, git! Some new soldiers are comin' in."
Luna stepped over the prone form of the drunken rat. "It is nice to meet you, Mister...?"
The rat peered at her as if she had grown a second head. "That's miss." With a lack of decorum, she crossed her arms under her chest and lifted them as if to help identify her gender. "Unless you report to me, which you don't. Speakin' ah that, whose yer report?"
Celly's horn began to glow, an arrow pointing down at her. "That would be me. Corporal Celly. That's Specialist Lulu."
"Specialist, huh?" The she-rat peered at Luna skeptically. "Well, good to meet a peer. Corporal Longtail." She whipped her long naked tail behind her. "Looks like you get to help me get this bunk back under control. Your people reliable, or did they send more lazy layabouts?"
Garou was poking the downed form of the drunk rat. "You alright?" But all he got was a soft groan. "You really should cut down on your portions. If you're getting a hangover, you went too far." Another groan was the only reply.
Rockhoof dipped his head at Longtail. "Pleasure to meet you, Ma'am. Where are we staying?"
"New meat coming in!" She bellowed as she about faced and marched back inside. "New meat!" She banged on the walls and most anything else that fell in range of her hands as she went, raising quite the fuss around her. "Get out here!"
The sound of feet hitting the ground and doors opening and things crashing seemed to come from all around and above them. Thumps of stair travel could be heard even as faces began to peek out of doors on their level, peering into the narrow hallway from both sides. Longtail pointed to the ground. "Quit your staring and get out here!"
They bull rushed into the hallway, many of the rats tripping over each other, but, somehow, coming out of it in neat lines, more rats showing up to form up behind them. Soon there were about thirty souls at attention, their arms crossed horizontally over their chest over one another in strict attention.
Longtail gestured at the crew. "These are mine. They will be your bunkmates. This here--" She gestured a hand at Celestia. "Is Corporal Celly. You make her mad, you make me mad, and we'll take turns beating your ass into the ground! Behind her, her unit. We're sharing space, so try to be civil about it, eh?"
"Sir, yes, Sir!" they hollered in solidarity, slapping their arms together.
Celly turned to her unit of four. "That goes just as well for you. I am your commander, but they are your bunkies. Let's get along, hmm? It would be a shame if we had to enforce a few... rules." The way she said that word sent shivers down the spines of her subordinates.
Longtail threw an arm over Celly's neck, guiding her away. "It sends the wrong signal when the officers bunk with the rank and file. We'll be over here."
That left the others with the rats. One of them, a tubby female one, pointed down the hall. "There's space over here." She started moving and the others got out of her way. Out of respect, or fear of her bulk, wasn't entirely clear.
Garou and Lulu were first to follow her, passing by rats on either side. Rockhoof glanced over his shoulder before moving. "Where's Trixie?"
Lulu inclined an ear at him. "If I had to guess, getting comfortable in her wagon and thanking it for being there."
Elsewhere, Trixie ran a hoof over the wood of her wagon from the inside. "No ratty little bunks for Trixie today!"
Back inside, they emerged from the crowd that had begun to disperse. The plump female leading them began to talk, "So, my name's Jenna, Private. Nice to meetcha! Did they say you were specialists? Wow! Never met one of those before. That's technically higher than me. Be nice! Please. I mean, we are bunking. No reason to make that awkward."
Lulu inclined her head. "We appreciate you showing the way. There are so many of you, we were unsure if there was space for us."
"We pack in tight," Jenna laughed out as she began up some stairs, tail lashing with each step. "But there's a room all nice and empty. You all can have it. That's fair, right?"
Garou accelerated to be at Jenna's side, ear twitching as he looked her over. She was shaped... more as he would expect a 'person' to be shaped. She had two feet, two arms that ended in hands. She even had breasts in the right place. They were large, but so was the rest of her. She was kinda fat. "Hey, so feel free to tell me to kiss off if this is a rude question, and it probably is..."
"You're going to ask how a fat girl like me is in the army," she guessed with a roll of her eyes. "Thanks for at least acknowledging that it's a personal question." She tapped Garou right on the end of his nose. "You're a good dog."
Lulu's eyes wandered between them. "He is, but I confess to also being curious. If you would reveal the secret?"
Jenna huffed softly as she pivoted in place to face most of them. "Well, it ain't for fightin', that should be obvious. If they didn't get you for fighting, suddenly the standards are lower." She thrust a hand down, even with the floor and not far away from it. "I'm just junk in their eyes, and who cares if a trashy soldier has too many pounds?"
Rockhoof's ears pinned. "Ma'am, we didn't mean to--"
"--It's alright," she cut him off, rising back upright and thrusting her hand at him, flatside towards him. "I clean, I keep track of things. I do some stuff, but it ain't fightin'. Good enough to not be killed for slacking off." She slid to the side and pointed. "Your room's right there, so you can stop dealing with a fat rat."
Garou suddenly rose up to his hinds and casually put his forepaws on the rat's shoulders, panting in her face. "You've been nice and you seem like a good rat to me."
Her face lit up a dark red as she shoved him back to all fours. "A good rat stays out of the way, so I'll do that." She fled, sliding down the bannister of the stairs as if it was something she'd done many times before and bounding out of sight the instant she reached the bottom with speed that belied her rotund shape.
Lulu gave a soft noise of consideration as she approached the room they'd been given. Her magic pushed the door open into darkness. Garou slipped in under her in a flash. There was a click and light flickered on from hanging lamps. The room had several bunks and beaten supplies for six people. "Look, a shower," Garou reported, looking at a showerhead that was just... kind of there. It had no privacy attachments. It was literally just a showerhead with a drain under it. The bare minimum.
Rockhoof peered at it skeptically, inclining his head left and right. "Ain't right proper to have lady folk showering in view of others." He trotted to cupboards and began pulling them open with his teeth until he found a sheet and brought it over, working to fashion a flimsy curtain that could provide minimum privacy.
Lulu rolled her eyes as she entered. "While I appreciate the thought, there is only the three of us here. If we can stand the sight of another drenched in blood, being wet with water hardly seems to rate."
Garou barked out a laugh at that. "That was seriously metal, Lulu."
"Metal?" She hiked a brow at her canine companion. "What do you mean?"
Garou hopped up onto a bunk's lower bed. "It means you said something that is very impressive in a..." He paused, frowning with how to phrase it. "Especially aggressive in an appealing way. In a way that... hints at something awesomely... Ugh, it's a cultural thing."
"Of a culture I am not familiar with," finished Lulu, approaching the same bunk and casually pulling herself up onto the top bed of the same. "Would a modern pony understand it?"
"I confess." Rockhoof's snout poked free of the curtain he was still struggling to create. "I don't understand. But it sounds like he was complimentin'."
"You are scarcely a modern pony," noted Lulu with a little smile. "We are both relics of old times, struggling to learn our place."
His head vanished back inside as he resumed work. "Aye, suppose that we are." A sudden loud clang echoed in the room as he struck something with his shovel. "Almost got it..."
Celly stepped into a well-lit room. "The left side's mine," advised her peer, Longtail hiking a thumb at one of the bunks. "You can take the right." Longtail moved for the sink, splashing her face. "Ugh, shouting at the rank works your throat. How did you end up with a gaggle of specialists? That sounds like a dream and a nightmare all at the same time."
Celly moved towards the bed that had been indicated as hers, sitting beside it and not on it. "We are a mercenary unit, and I was already the leader."
"Get out." Longtail set a balled fist on her hip as she glared at Celly. "They're taking on mercenaries now?! So you weren't press-ganged into this?"
"We came here." Celly lifted an ear towards Longtail. "So... they forced you then?"
Longtail flinched back. "Ugh, you're going to rat me out, aren't you? Whatever, they already think we're bottom rung."
Celly shook her head softly. "I haven't even been paid yet. Loyalty only reaches as far as the paycheck." She clicked her tongue against her teeth. "And I doubt they'll pay me to watch you. Besides that, rat you out? That seems... self-hating of a term to use."
"They teach you that early on." She glared for a moment longer before resuming washing herself in the sink, fastidiously cleaning her face and working soap into her hands. "Dirty rats is the one I hate the most. We rats are very clean." She worked the soap up over her arms, looking ready to take a little shower the long way by way of the sink. "I've been in pony bunks before. You're way dirtier."
Celly softly nodded. "I've seen some filthy ponies, and some fastidious ones. It varies."
"Right?" She flicked her hands at the sink, sending water and soap down the drain. "Don't get me wrong, we have some actual dirty rats. How you know they got something wrong. A dirty rat isn't a healthy rat." She kept shaking her arms, getting most of the water clear of them and grabbing for a towel. "So you're a merc? That means you didn't work up to corp, they just handed it to you, huh?"
"I spent many years practicing my leadership," replied Celly honestly. "I have led units both small and large."
"Are ya wet?"
Celly blinked softly, stunned by the question. "Am I... what?"
"You kill?" She flicked out a knife and tossed it into the air. "Been in a real fight where it was you or the other guy?"
"Oh... like a weapon," she reasoned out loud. "Yes, I am wet... You?"
"Hell no." She shoved the knife back in her pocket. "They haven't sent us out to a real anything yet. They just make us live here like soldiers, reminding us over and over we are, and not using us for anything. We get to not go home, but also not do anything."
Celly inclined an ear. "Tell me about home?"
"It isn't your home." Longtail sat on the edge of her bed. "Why do you care about a rat town?"
"Was it all rats?" Celly's ears lifted. "I would like to hear about it."
"Not all..." Longtail frowned softly. "Why should I tell a blooded merc about my town? You're the definition of what I wouldn't want there."
A little curl appeared on her lips. "You care about it, the people you left behind."
"And you do not," snapped Longtail. "Now do you have questions that don't involve that?"
"I appreciate it." Celly rose to her hooves, a paper flipping free of her. "I was informed my superior officer--"
Longtail hopped to her feet and snatched the floating paper. "Who'd you get?" Her eyes roamed the paper. "Oh. They either like what they see, or they hate it." She tossed it at Celly, though it was caught in magic easily enough. "He's one of the frontline. I expect he'll call for you soon enough."
Celly frowned with thought and finally slipped into her bed. "I will be ready then."
"We wake up at 0600 sharp." Longtail snapped her fingers with a crisp note. "They may not care, but I keep them in line."
"They're lucky to have you." The thin blanket glowed with her magic, raising to cover her face from view. "Sleep well."
"Yeah..."
A dark shadow moved in over the bunk. It was cast by a hulking figure, their gloved hands squeaking faintly under the intense pressure as they clenched and unclenched their hands. "They put one of mine in 3?"
"Yes, Sir," reported a small gerbil of a soldier, saluting sharply. "The--"
The larger figure held up a finger, and that was enough to silence the smaller. "Let's see what they brought for me. More meat, or maybe something tougher..." He stepped towards the door, great booted steps hitting the ground with tiny tremors. The elephant of a man, literally, did not pass quietly. "Just have to get through--" He grabbed one of the rats lounging on a bannister and casually shoved them off as he walked past. "--the rats."
He grabbed hold of the doorknob and threw open the door, but it didn't bang. It was caught in the hands of a rat. Another stood at attention not far past them. Longtail. "Troop Attention," she bellowed. "Fall in!" With a great stampede of boots hitting wood, the hallway filled with rats saluting. Some were the picture of military precision, many were... less so.
"Corporal Celly, Post," grunted the looming form of the elephant, eyes sweeping. Rats as far as the eye could see. No ponies. No werewolf, whatever that was. "Where is she?"
With the official desire for not-them, many of the rats began to disperse back to where they had come from. Longtail did not flee. "I'll get her, Sir." She made for her room without much of a confirmation from the oncoming officer.
"This is highly irregular," chastised a little hamster running hard to keep up with her longer legs. "She should have already been there."
"She's not mine. She doesn't respond when I shout." Longtail shrugged. "Take it up with her." She rapped on the door as she reached it. "Your SO is here to see you."
The knob of the door glowed golden before it swung open, allowing Celly to poke her head out. "That was fast."
"There you are." The gerbil was pointing up at her. "He's in the front and he hates waiting!"
"Then we shouldn't keep him." She grabbed the gerbil in her magic even as she exited the room, trotting towards the front as the gerbil came down on her head just behind her horn. "What does he look like?"
"He's the largest thing here, and you should call him general if you value yourself," advised the gerbil, holding onto her horn with a hand to keep himself steady. "Uh, thanks for the ride..."
Compared to the rats she passed, the impatient-looking elephant certainly towered over the rest, but she was no small creature herself. They were close to equal, though she had more mass overall by merit of her body structure. She approached and her magic gently scooped up her passenger, setting him down. "Corporal Celly reporting, General."
He clapped his hands together. "Let me start by saying I don't traditionally come all this way to greet each of my corporals." He moved his right hand up a little and to the side, palm-side up. "On the other hand, my corporals aren't usually mercenaries, given the job without being properly beaten into shape. This is likely the first and last time you'll see me." He pointed down to the gerbil. "This is Captain Gnaw, you are his."
That hadn't been written on her paper, but Celly had the presence of mind to not argue that. "A pleasure to serve, Sir," she addressed at the tiny captain.
The General nodded. "I will be sending Captain Gnaw on a mission shortly. I will allow him to give you the details. This will be a proper baptism for the both of you." His hands came together, not in a clap but a methodical closing of palms, leather creaking. "Your paperwork says you've seen a fight, but have you seen a war? We'll see how you do."
Without properly dismissing anyone, he turned and threw the door open, to be caught by the same rat that had stopped it from slamming the first time. He stepped out of the run-down bunk and began lumbering off without another word.
That left Captain Gnaw behind. He let out a sudden gust of air. "I thought he was going to get angry..."
Celly lifted an ear. "I gather we have not seen his angry side yet?"
The gerbil quickly shook his head. "Oh no, General Crusher... When he gets really angry, there may be a body count." He reached behind his little head, rubbing through the fur. "But that's not important right now. As he said, I am Captain Gnaw. I will be your direct commanding officer." He extended a little hand towards Celly.
Celly's golden magic wrapped around that little paw and shook it carefully. "A pleasure to meet you, Sir. Do you wish to meet the rest of my company?"
"Company?!" squeaked Gnaw. "You have that many under you?"
Celly lifted an ear as she turned in place. "Just four others besides myself. It's just a name. Devil Company."
"What's a devil?" Gnaw began to walk alongside Celly through the bunk. "Nevermind that. Company implies a lot more than five soldiers, you know that, right?"
Celly smiled at that, though she faced forward and much of the expression wasn't seen. "We may as well be a company in fighting ability, Sir."
"Cheeky!" The gerbil was in a good position to know about the use of cheeks. "But now is not the time for bluffing. I need to use my soldiers accurately to secure victory, or we could all be dead.
Celestia's magic appeared brightly around her commanding officer, casually lifting him up onto her back as she trotted along. "We didn't enlist because we're weak, Sir."
"Most of them didn't enlist at all," retorted Gnaw, who didn't complain about the second ride given without asking. "You came with some compliments... I want to test you and your 'company'." He suddenly began running up her back towards her head. "Speaking of that! I am the captain of a company. You are a corporal in charge of a squad."
She turned an ear back at him, then paused. "I don't mean to cause trouble with a name, Sir. Devil Squad?"
"Devil Squad it is." Gnaw nodded with satisfaction. "Let's just pretend we never heard this company business. Now, where is your squad?"
"Sir?" Longtail had caught up with them, not too hard with Celly paused. "They're upstairs. I don't think Celly's been shown where yet."
Gnaw hopped, landing facing Longtail. "You're the corporal in charge of this bunk, aren't you?"
"Sir, Yes, Sir." She nodded firmly. "I'll show the way if you want, Sir."
"Please do." He sat down on Celly's withers. "Now, as I was saying; I need to see what you all can do, and I have a project that will let me do that. It will not be a test. This is something we do need, so you better have your head on straight and be ready for it."
"That would require I know what I am walking into." She ascended the stairs behind Longtail. "The more information you can give me, the better our odds."
"I appreciate you caring about that." He folded his little arms over his chest. "I'll be giving you a full briefing. First, let's meet the rest of those involved. I want to know what soldiers I'm sending."
"Of course, Sir." Celestia's magic reached ahead as Longtail arrived at a door. She knocked on it first. "Is everycreature in there?"
Longtail backed from the door, her presence no longer strictly required. "Call me if you need me, Sir."
Gnaw nodded at Longtail, but his attention was mostly on the door.
The door creaked open and a stallion's snout poked out, looking around until Celestia entered their field of view. "Ah! Celly, and Longtail." He nodded to both of them. "How can ah be helpin'?"
"Sister is here?" Luna half-climbed over Rockhoof to escape into the hallway. "'Tis good..." Her voice trailed off, noticing the little militarily garbed hamster standing on her sister. "Who is that creature?"
Celestia inclined her head towards her back. "This is Captain Gnaw, my commanding officer, which makes him your boss' boss."
"He's so cute." chuffed out Garou, wagging his tail. He had snuck out as Celestia did introductions. "Hello there, Gnaw, Sir."
"I'll get out of your hair." Longtail made herself scarce, soon heard heading down the stairs.
Gnaw pointed at Garou. "Your subordinate is being cheeky."
There was a moment of silence. But Celly got the hint. She reached out and bopped Garou with her metal-clad hoof on the nose. "He is a captain. He is not 'cute'. Is that clear?"
Garou rubbed his bopped snoot. "Yes, Ma'am."
"You are a squad. Devil Squad." Gnaw began to pace back and forth atop Celly. "I will send you ahead to scout. I need information. The more information, the better. I will give your CO all the intel I can give her, but you're the one that will be bringing back what we need for success. You're small, irregular, and not easily spotted as members of our force. I plan to utilize all of those features to our benefit."
He sharply turned to face them. "Our army will not hesitate to spill blood, but the mark of a talented leader is one that gets the job just as done without doing that. Show me how to make the enemy's will to fight crumble, that we can take their warriors instead of cutting them down. I will do the latter if I have to, don't take that as a sign of weakness."
Celly's ears were fixed on her small commander. "That seems like a task we are suited for."
"Hold on a moment." He counted heads, stopping at Celestia. "I thought you said you had five members in your squad."
There were only four there. Rockhoof pointed the way. "I believe Trixie is outside, in her wagon."
Gnaw frowned, an adorable expression on his little form. "Your squad is bunked scattershot?"
"She is our quartermaster," corrected Celly. "She is ensuring our supplies are always at the ready in case of a mission. She takes it so seriously, she sleeps with them rather than allow them out of her sight at night."
"Oh ho, a nose to the grindstone sort?" Gnaw resumed his pacing. "Good. We need an attention to detail! No observation is too small."
"That's why they picked you," chuffed Garou quietly. Though Luna snickered, Gnaw looked far less amused. "Because of your obvious skill, Sir," explained Garou with a big canine smile.
"Celly..." Gnaw said nothing to Garou.
Celly pointed towards the stairs. "Specialist Garou, I'm afraid the stairs may not be up to code. Test them. Go up and down until I feel confident they are ready for proper use."
Garou deflated at the punishment given to him. "Yes, Ma'am." And off he went, his claws tick-tacking on the wood steps as he began going up and down rapidly.
"As I was saying. You will need to operate as a cohesive squad, both to keep yourselves safe, and to work to bring back useful intelligence. Am I clear?"
"Perfectly clear." Rockhoof rose up and tried to give the salute the others had, though it looked awkward and sloppy with his arms held not quite straight across his chest horizontally.
Luna imitated is, getting a bit better, but not by far. "We will look for a bloodless path to victory."
Celly nodded in agreement. "We're on the case. Where is that intel you mentioned, Sir?"
"Right here." He pulled out a comically tiny folder and set it down on top of Celly. "Review at your leisure. I want you to head out in four days. I want you to return in no more than 12 days from today." He hopped down to the ground. "Corporal, I leave the rest in your ha...hooves. Don't let us down."
With that said, he began marching for the exit. When he reached the stairs, Garou was still charging up and down them. He didn't speak to the soldier being disciplined. It wasn't his place. The moment he was out of sight, Garou charged up the stairs one last time and over to Celestia. "That was mean! I was just joking around."
Celestia shook her head. "We are mercenaries in a military facility. If I didn't discipline you, I'd look bad. And if I look bad, we all look bad, and that doesn't help us at all."
Luna reached to gently pet the back of her wolf companion. "If it helps, I thought it was quite amusing."
"I didn't get it," admitted Rockhoof with a little shrug.
They walked as a team, as they had done before the airship ride. Celestia was speaking, "We will be just as we are, friendly people who are also curious. There's really nothing to conceal."
Rockhoof lifted an ear. "What sort of place are we walking into?"
"A town on the border of their territory. There's a good chance they're already scared of when it's their turn to be conquered, but we can learn more, and keep them from violence, at the same time."
Lulu frowned faintly. "Sister, does that not mean we will help them? Not the town. We will be advising the town to surrender, right?"
Garou shrugged, a gesture wolves were not known for. "We're not taking them down yet, so it's either surrender, or fight a losing battle. I don't want a random town bravely fighting to the last for no reason."
"Hard to argue that," agreed Rockhoof before he pointed. The town was coming into view. Nestled warmly by trees with a little river that ran not far from it, it was picturesque. "Looks peaceful." The houses were small, most one story, a few two, and only one standing taller than that.
Celly smiled, her pace accelerating towards the town. "It looks like exactly the kind of place I would hope never sees a battle. It's our job to get to know them so they can be enveloped instead of attacked."
Luna huffed softly. "Enveloped by darkness... Hardly a noble way to go." She tossed her mane, keeping up with the increased speed. "Still, better that than to be destroyed by it, yes. They can know freedom again, later."
A small rock bounced off Garou's head with a painful thud. The next struck an invisible wall that shielded the others from receiving a similarly painful impact. "We're under attack!"
"Go away!" came a shout. The one that had made it was in view, clutching a rock. They wore a skirt and had long lashes, clearly marking them as a female. Their wide tail and brown fur identified them as a beaver, like the others that had gathered to hurl rocks. "You won't have us!"
Celly advanced, but hit Garou's wall with barely two steps, coming to a halt. "Good people, we have come to visit. Why are you attacking us?"
A male beaver held a rock in ready position, but didn't sent it flying, yet. "Other towns been taken over. We ain't gonna be one of them."
Garou rubbed at the sore spot on his head where blood ran lightly. That rock had been thrown well. "Dang," he spoke quietly. "I was expecting a hello."
Lulu took a few steps beside her sister. "We are not an armed force." So she had a few weapons tucked away. She didn't plan to use them. "May we enter peacefully?"
The first female squinted at the collection of ponies, and a wolf. "You promise you aren't here to take our town away?"
Celly gestured to Garou. "We are travelers. Could we have a bandage? Your aim was a bit too... good."
Attention slid to the wolf that hadn't moved up like the two unicorns, nursing his thinly bleeding bump. The male sighed, dropping his rock. "Is this what we've become?"
Other voices of discontent raised, rocks falling to the ground.
The female still held hers. "What even are they? They don't look like any creature I saw before."
Lulu huffed, throwing up her nose. "They are a creature you hurt without knowing them. Is that not enough?"
Rockhoof pointed to Celly's golden armor suddenly. "'sides, look." The beavers blinked, looking between Rockhoof and the unicorn he was pointing at. "Gold, not their style."
One of them slapped his forehead with a palm. "He's right. The bad guys always wear purple." The idea that they could just wear different things apparently not occurring to them, at least at that moment. "We're throwing rocks at some other creatures."
They began to advance, leaving the female with her rock still held where she was as they closed with their visitors. Garou let the wall cease to be and they were soon surrounded by smiling beavers.
One of them closed in specifically with Garou, pulling out a bit of gauze as he went. "Just stay still a moment and I'll have that bandaged up in no time."
Celly sat on her haunches. "I'm glad that has passed. Have you been attacked before?"
One of them sighed loudly, pointing in a new direction. "Stonehaven's been taken, closest neighboring town. They just... showed up, started cutting people apart, it was terrible." The she-beaver shivered at the thought of it. "All wearing spiky purple armor."
Lulu inclined her head. "How dreadful. We wouldn't want that to happen here."
Rockhoof raised a hoof. "Is there somewhere we could rest, an inn or something?"
"We don't get many ponies around here," suddenly chimed one, leading the way. "You're a long way from home. Isn't it that way?" They pointed without looking, headed for what one might hope was the resting place.
Garou sat up, a bandage wrapped around his head. "Thanks." He nodded to the beavery doctor or nurse. "In the future, ask first? If we were gonna attack, a few rocks wouldn't have really stopped us."
The medically inclined beaver sighed at that. "It's all we had..."
Celly gestured with a toss of our head. "Let's get something to eat and relax after our long hike. I'm certain there will be stories to exchange with our hosts."
Elsewhere, Captain Gnaw squinted at a map larger than he was. "If we can..." He held a pointer, running it from the town they were in towards the sleepy town his newest squad had approached. "They'd better get this right."
"What if they just take the place over?" asked a fellow captain. "They could just do that, from the reports."
"That's part of the test." Captain Gnaw's shoulders sagged softly. "General's orders. He wants to see where their loyalties are." He tapped at the map on the town in question. "I don't care how they do it, but I didn't command them to take the place themselves. If they come back with useful intel, that's a mission complete by any decent measure. I don't need them getting cheeky!"
"Yeah..." The other captain tapped a different town not far away. "This one's mine."
"Oh? Taking it soon?"
"Need to know," flatly denied the other captain. "But I don't have mystery mercs involved, so it shouldn't be too strange."
"Lucky you." Captain Gnaw grabbed a seed and stuffed it into his mouth, making his cheeks bulge as he chewed fitfully, considering the map. His work was not yet done.
Lulu tapped at the table with the flat of a hoof. "We need to speak to whomever is in charge of this settlement."
"None of them advertised it." Rockhoof glanced about, but there were only dining beavers and a few waitstaff wandering about. "Maybe they're hiding?"
Garou snapped up some of the rather expansive salad he had been given. It all crunched loudly between his teeth. "Mmm, barky." It was, thankfully, not mostly bark. Much of it was leaves, veggies, and beans mixed all together in a great offering of vegetable matter. "Not a wolf's first choice, but I've had worse. Maybe they just don't have one."
Celly hiked a brow at that. "Don't have one? I presume you don't mean a salad. A leader? However do they function without one?"
Luna reached across the table to tap her sister on the shoulder. "You had grown used to it, but there are even ponies who simply do what must be done without some authority figure involved. It's not always required."
Rockhoof rolled a hoof over the table. "Mayhaps for a few, but this is a whole town. A town without a leader is asking for some kinda trouble."
With the sound of glass against wood in a thunk, several mugs were set down on their table in one motion, several mugs held in strong fingers by their rings and released all the same. "Enjoying yourself?" asked the waitress with a bright smile, her big wood-chomping teeth on display. "I confess, was worried about your doggy friend there, but he seems to be enjoyin' himself."
"It's great." Garou reached for a mug, paw becoming enough of a hand along the way to grab one of them and pull it over. "Kinda new, but not a bad new."
"Couldn't help but overhear, you looking for the beaver with the biggest hat?" She leaned against their table, view moving from face to face.
Celly dipped her head lightly. "Oh, yes. We wanted to talk to them. Do you know who they are?"
"What fer?" asked the waitress with a complete lack of subtlety.
Lulu inclined her head in response. "To discuss a potential business opportunity, for the betterment of the town as a whole." Or, at least, the avoiding of losses for the town as a whole.
Rockhoof was quick to throw in on that. "Yeah, but we don't see any hint of him or her. Everyone just looks like neighbors, which ain't bad or nothin'. Right nice, really."
"We like it that way." She pushed off the table, starting to move back for the bar. "And my neighbors need to be kept in drinks."
Garou leaned over, casually leaning against Luna. "Not sure if they're going to tell us. They're being defensive."
Luna nodded in idle agreement. "They were ready to attack us. They must fear an attack at any moment. Concealing their leader among them is just another defense. Perhaps they hope that... should worse come to worse, they won't lose their respected elder."
Trixie suddenly approached, no wagon attached. "Ah, you got drinks!" Her horn glowed, snatching a mug and bringing it over even as she hopped up onto a chair and sat down, slaking her thirst with a few loud gulps. "I've gone ahead and planned a show. Once I told them what a rare opportunity they had, they were eager to give me a place to work."
Garou tipped his mug towards Trixie. "Not bad, huh?"
"It's no Canterlot Mix, but it has a quaint charm," she allowed, taking another deep chug in clear acceptance of the drink. "Mmm, now, from what I saw, they don't get many shows around here. Expect most of the town to turn up."
Celly smiled brightly. "What a fantastic job you've done, Trixie. That will be a great chance to get a look at everycreature and maybe single out the one we need to speak to."
Garou waved his free paw. "I call dibs on security."
Rockhoof reached for a mug of his own, not to be left off in the libations. "I'll help with that. You know we're good for it."
"This doesn't seem like a town that will attack Trixie for a bad performance." A little smirk played on her face. "Not as if she came wandering in with a big crowd of dangerous creatures."
Lulu rolled her eyes at that. "Did you know we would be attacked? Is that why you slowed?"
"Call it a hunch," half-sang Trixie, draining her mug and setting it down on the table as her magic grabbed up a plate instead to work on. "Too insular and isolated. They get scared when too much 'new' appears, and we certainly qualified for that."
Soft grumbles sounded from Lulu, but they enjoyed the rest of their meal and a comfortable room with soft beds and pillows waited for them. They had placed enough beds, minus one. Garou thumped on the floor with a canine chuff. "Whatever."
He began to glow, lifted up over to Luna as her blanket lifted and soon he was deposited right next to her. She put an arm over him and closed her eyes. "Goodnight," she bade.
"Um, night..." He didn't fade off as quickly as she had, considering the position he was in. Still, fatigue was there, and it wasn't uncomfortable. Soon he lapsed off in her grasp.
Trixie was sending sparkles over the cheering crowd. "And that is how I defeated the dreaded ursa major!" she concluded her story, the same that had caused so much trouble so long ago.
A little puff of smoke burst from her stage as some pyrotechnics caused a cloth panel to flop down, revealing letters beneath her, "This story is told for entertainment purposes only. Do not attempt to approach an ursa major!"
The crowd was bringing their handpaws together with sharp whistles of approval. One of them, a plump male, was seated next to a perched Celly. "She's your friend, ain't she?"
Celly turned an ear to the male. "We've become good traveling companions. Did you enjoy her show?"
"Nothin' like a bit of a fancy yarn to take the mind--" He polished a set of glasses idly. "--off of more troubling affairs."
Celly offered the slightest smile. "These are certainly unsure times."
"Ha," he barked out. "The only certainty is the uncertainty. I can't argue that a bit." He slipped off the chair to his feet. "Why are you here?"
Celly inclined her head. "We were hoping to talk. You have an air of wisdom about--"
"--Flattery will get you nowhere," he waved it off. "Just someone with a few years. A few years enough to remember a few things." He toddled off, tail slapping the ground behind him.
Lulu crashed beside Celly on the other side. "I have a few suspects. You?"
"Just one..." Celly raised a hoof to her chin. "He may be onto us."
Lulu inclined an ear, looking around, but no one was paying them much mind. "Is that bad?"
"It could be awkward. They may just be a friend of who we seek, but I can't shake this feeling. It was..." She leaned in closer to her sister. "The feeling I received when speaking to a king or queen."
Lulu rolled her eyes. "Sister, there are no kings or queens to be found here, in this little place with its little people."
The crowd was starting to rise and disperse, chatting animatedly about the show they just saw. Garou and Rockhoof wove among them, helping people move in an orderly way when they weren't grabbing bits of junk and tossing them in the closest trash.
By the time the place had been cleared, it looked about as fresh as when Trixie had first arrived. The town would have little reason to be sour at her presence. Trixie looked pleased about it. "I could get used to this. It normally falls on me to clean after my acts, and the Great and Powerful Trixie can leave no small amount of glitter and confetti when it's all done."
Rockhoof raised a hoof in a pony salute. "A pleasure to serve. That was a mighty fine performance."
"They were really in it," agreed Garou with a lolling tongue. "Have you been here before?"
"Of course not." Trixie waved the idea away. "Or I'd have to do something new. We don't want people getting bored of the same act."
Someone knocked on the stage just in front of her and she looked down to see a little beaver child holding up a notebook with a big smile on his face. Trixie inclined her head faintly. "Just remember, no going near actual ursa majors." She snatched the book and got to signing it diligently. "What's your name?"
"Timmy Tintooth," reported the kid, almost bouncing in place. "What's it like, being so magic?"
"Tiring, after a show like that." Trixie gave her little fan a genuine smile. "But seeing how happy you are makes it all worth it." She placed the notepad in reach of his grabby hands. "If you practice, you can become a magician too."
"Really?!" And off he ran with his prize and visions of becoming a wizard.
Not half as good as Trixie, obviously. Trixie smirked as she hopped down to everyone else's level. "Anything left to put away or are we done for the day?"
Celestia's smile had grown deeper, walking towards Trixie. "That was quite the display. You've... grown."
Trixie recoiled at that, her ears folding. "What do you mean?!"
Lulu was walking alongside her sister. "You cared for the feelings of your little fan. It was charming to see."
Trixie waved it all away. "Trixie is just watching out for her fans. What is Trixie without those?" She turned away, nose raised. "Now, if things are clean, help me close up the wagon and we can go rest."
Garou hopped up on a vacated bench. "I didn't see anyone that looked super 'in charge'."
"Nor I." Rockhoof was helping Trixie's wagon fold back up into a proper wagon instead of a performing stage. "How about you two?"
"I have my suspicions." Lulu pointed to the side at her sister. "And she has one. It is more of a guess than we had before, so not a loss of an evening."
"A loss?!" Trixie huffed at the idea. "They loved my show, and the bits weren't bad either. To even think of calling it a waste..."
With a loud click, the wagon was returned to its mobile state. Rockhoof ran a fetlock over his forehead. "There you are. All set to go."
"Thank you." Trixie brought down the harness with her magic and strapped herself in, pulling the wagon with a content expression. "Now that everycreature properly knows who Trixie is, perhaps I can get more information tomorrow. They'll trust me!"
Garou hopped down, joining the others in quitting the field of entertainment. "Good idea. You went from stranger to local celebrity overnight."
"Trixie is always a celebrity, it's just a matter of reminding people in far-off places of that fact." She rolled her eyes. "But just because I'm here didn't make me less of what I am, world-famous and Great and--"
"--Powerful," cut in Garou, tail wagging eagerly. "Put your Great and Powerful detective skills to work tomorrow."
"I didn't need you to remind me." Her glowing magic tapped Garou on the snoot. "I'll find them before the rest of you."
Garou accepted the tap gracefully, bounding along with the others. "I don't think I'll win this. They see me as 'some strange creature', which doesn't lead to chatting freely."
Rockhoof raised his shoulders. "They need able-bodied ponies to help with things. I was thinkin' ah could get a regular job fer now, see if ah can't make a few friends."
Lulu held the door to the inn open with her magic. "An excellent idea. I will pursue my own hunches. We will meet here each day and share what has been learned."
Trixie had to park her wagon beside the tavern. By the time she got inside, they were mid-meal, much like the day before, though perhaps not as bad. They celebrated the day and what little victories they had managed. They had certainly seen worse days.
"How long did you give them?" The general towered over Captain Gnaw, his expression not one of patience.
"All according to the plan you gave." Captain Gnaw slapped the chart with his pointer. "They aren't late yet. No word, but not late either. Scouts report no unusual activity."
"Hmmph, already a surprise." When Gnaw looked confused, the general smirked. "There was a chance they'd warn the town, send them running away. If they'd done that, it would have been useless, and informative." He slapped his two hands together, leather gloves squeaking as his hands grasped one another with intense strength. "They would have abandoned their defenses. We'd have taken their town easily. Almost a pity it didn't go that way."
"A pity," agreed Captain Gnaw without as much confidence. "It is still the plan to take them bloodlessly, right, Sir?"
The elephant sat up, looming ever larger over the tiny officer. "It is still the plan that we will take it. The mistress demands her lands be expanded, and we will not be the ones to disappoint her. They will work for us, or die for us, either way." He stood up, waving the whole thing away mid-turn for the door. "I expect daily updates. If they're even a day late, move in and show not a damn inch of quarter. We won't let a bunch of beavers with rocks stand in our way." There was no rat standing by that door and it slammed loudly with the passing of the general.
Captain Gnaw sank in place with a weary sigh. "You'd better get this done right..."
Rockhoof grunted as a tree literally fell on him, but he caught it and started hauling it away on his stout back.
"Over there!" shouted a beaver, pointing to a pile. "Almost full."
"Got it." Rockhoof leaned to the side and the log rolled off of him into place. "Let me get the next one."
"Do you know how to use a saw?" The beaver wriggled their fingers, expecting them to be involved in tree downing.
"Nope." Rockhoof drew his shovel smoothly. "Which one's going down?"
"Uh..." The beaver peered skeptically at the wrong tool for the job. "Be careful with that... How about that one?" He pointed the way to a lone tree. "Been meaning to knock it down." It was smaller than many of the others. Less ways for someone hitting it with a shovel to get hurt, or so he hoped.
Rockhoof ambled over to it and tapped his shovel against the trunk. "Here?"
"A little lower," advised the beaver with crossed arms, leaning against their pile of logs. "There you go, right there. Now, you want to--"
Rockhoof brought down his neck and the shovel in a mighty swing, the shovel smashing into the wood, splinters flying as he obliterated the point of impact. The tree groaned almost as if in pain before it began to fall towards him. Rockhoof spun around and braced himself, accepting the tree falling onto him with little more than a mildly painful grunt. "Got it!"
"That... was something else..." The beaver pushed off the pile and pointed to it. "Add it to the others. You sure yer just a pony? Hitting things like that... I swear, ain't natural."
Rockhoof added his log to the pile and nodded at it with visible satisfaction. "Nothin' much better than gettin' an honest day's work in."
"That's a work ethic I can appreciate." The beaver offered a hand and it was met with a hoof, the two slapping against one another. "Want to show me that trick one more time, and maybe not let it fall on you this time? We get one more good tree and we can call it done for the day."
Rockhoof started for the tree that was pointed out. "All over it. Which way do you want it to come down?"
"How about... this way." He moved to show which way he wanted it. "You can control how that works?"
"Shovels are my thing." He moved around to get a good angle, tapping the wood lightly with the shovel until he found a spot he seemed to like. With a tremendous slam, the tree vibrated violently, wood snapping, but it hadn't fallen. "One more." He drew the shovel that was also an axe away. Splinters flew, and the tree began to crash down. The beaver dashed wildly out of the way of it as it smashed into the ground with a deafening thump.
Beavers gathered around to see the source of the noise and the story was spread. They had found a good logger, and he had hooves.
"For you, Ma'am!" A little girl beaver was holding an envelope up at Celly. When it began to glow with her magic, she fled. "Bye!"
"Bye," echoed Celly, an ear quirked. She broke the seal on the envelope and pulled the letter free.
You may be retired, but we aren't that dumb. Why are you here?
Celly folded it just as calmly, putting it right back in the envelope it came from and walking off without a reaction.
The envelope slid onto the table. "Somecreature recognized me."
Garou inclined his head towards Celly. "Even if you're smaller and one tribed, you do have a nice sun on your rumps."
Celly huffed at that. "I am far from the only pony with a sun. Regardless, have a look."
The letter passed from hoof to hoof to grabbing magic to furry fingers, each member getting a chance to peek at the words. Trixie pointed at it. "It doesn't say how to reply. What are you supposed to do, shout?"
Lulu looked left and right before waving a passing barmaid. "Yes, hello. We received this letter." She pointed to the floating letter. "Any idea how to reply to this missive?"
The beaver lifted her shoulders. "Did it come in an envelope?" When Celly offered it up, the beaver snatched it and flipped up the flap and peeked inside. "There it is." She turned it so the others could see there was some writing on the inside of the envelope. "That's who sent it." She set the envelope down with a smile. "Enjoy yer dinner!"
Rockhoof burst into laughter. "Well! That answers that. I bet they all know where to look for that. Hidin' right in plain sight."
Celly pulled the envelope apart, splitting it in half to make the writing on the inside plainly visible. "A name and an address, I think. Have any of you learned how to navigate the town?" If they had road signs, they were not pony road signs.
Garou raised a paw. "Lemme see." When the envelope came into his vision, he nodded. "Yeah, that's, uh, that way." He turned in his seat and pointed. "Not many wanted to talk to me, so I spent the day just looking at everything. I saw some houses with writing, uh... like they marked the ones at the intersections."
Lulu inclined her head. "I do not envy a pony mailmare that was sent to this town. "
Trixie did not seem impressed. "It's a little town. If you can find the intersection and you know most of the people, that probably gets you close enough.
Soft noises of agreement rippled around the table as dinnering resumed. Though they made no plans to go approaching the address in the evening, Celly already had a new piece of paper, scrawling busily with a magically-held quill as she enjoyed her dinner.
"Ya sure ya don't want me comin' with?" Rockhoof was looking at Celly. "Don't like ya goin' off all alone."
"We can't request trust without being willing to extend it." She was moving for the door. "Whoever wrote this wants an answer, and I will provide it. Besides, do you not have work to report to?"
"Aye..." He let her slip away and sighed, looking instead to Garou, the only other one in their shared room. "Can ya follow her, sneaky like?"
Garou gave a canine smile. "As if I didn't already plan on it." He rose to his paws, stretching out before scampering off after Celly.
Rockhoof grabbed his shovel and threw it up onto his back, trotting towards his day's work.
Lulu wandered up towards a collection of beavers, trying to be nonchalant about the entire thing. Her eyes kept darting towards them, ruining the effect as she wove semi-circles that brought her closer and closer.
One of the beavers, a male, turned towards her. "You looking fer somethin'?"
"Who? Me?" Lulu turned her eyes away. "I was just enjoying a nice sunny day."
A female laughed, patting the male on the back. "You owe me."
The male rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Now look what ya made me do." He raised a finger towards Lulu. "Now, really, whattaya want?"
Lulu inclined her head towards the female. "Well, if you insist... The lady strikes me as a creature in charge."
The female took a step forward towards Lulu, her stance confident and a sly smile on her face. "Ya noticed, huh? See, I toldja." She shoved the shoulder of the male. "Shoulda just let me be in charge."
It wasn't a direct answer, but an answer it remained. Lulu sagged faintly, realizing she had selected the wrong creature. "You are not in charge then?"
Another female shook her head. "She'd like to be, but she's a bit bossy, you know?"
The male nodded in agreement with that. "Sharpie's a real go getter of a beaver, but she can rub off the--" He shoved her back as she had done to him. "--wrong way."
Sharpie was too busy laughing to be insulted apparently, still facing Lulu. "So why'd you wanna know?"
"Well..." Lulu glanced from beaver to beaver. "If you are not in charge, who is? You all seem so... even."
The yet-unnamed female crossed her arms. "Ya heard that, Sharpie. Equal. Learn it a little, girl."
"Well, we can't all be--" Sharpie didn't get to finish the sentence, a scream echoing from another part of the town, with others joining it rapidly. "What the?" A bell began to clang loudly. "The alarm, let's go!" She grabbed a broom that happened to be nearby, her mighty weapon, and went charging off.
"You what?!" came the distressed, shrill, and also tiny voice of Captain Gnaw. "That's my town, my responsibility." He slapped his pointer at the town. "How dare you! What cheek!"
He was pushed back easily by his peer that stood so much taller. "Get off your high horse. I took my town so easily, they went for a little... bonus run. So long as your motley crew just stays out of the way, should be fine."
"It helps when you tell them, or me, that." Gnaw stomped a foot impotently. "You're a damned fool, and your soldiers are going to pay the price."
The larger captain leaned in. "Is that a threat?"
The diminutive one smiled confidently. "What, me? Perish the thought. You just sent your boys into the hands of mercenaries we're testing the loyalty of. If they side with the town..."
The other laughed at that. "Gnaw, you're off your rocket. You sent, what, less than half a dozen? What could they even hope to do?"
Gnaw turned back to the map, shaking his head. They'd all find out soon enough.
He brought his shovel down, biting into the wood with such force, the explosion rolled over him. Rockhoof blinked. That was not how that worked. His fellow workers were running in a panic. One was thrown forward, a bolt of some kind of bright light striking them in the back. They slid face forward along the leaves and sticks of the ground.
Rockhoof didn't even have a moment of hesitation. His friends had been attacked. Shovel already wielded, he charged in the direction of where the bolt had come from, shouting a furious cry of battle. There were many things in the new world he did not grasp, but he knew how to enter a battle.
Celly sank down onto the couch. "Thank you for seeing me. I understand this is a token of trust."
"One I don't hope to regret," countered the wizened male with a patient smile, sinking into a chair across from her. "Princess Celestia, you are wearing an interesting disguise."
Celly quirked an ear towards the beaver. "Forgive my asking, but how did you recognize me? There are few still alive that would have seen me looking anything like this."
He reached for a book, its leather aged and cracked. "This has been passed down... longer than any could remember." He cracked the book, the material so old and dry it sounded like old leaves being stepped on even as it was carefully opened. "Once, many generations ago, a brave warrior of ponies stepped through, seeking allies for a young and lost pony people."
Celly's breath caught as he turned the book around. There was Celestia, her mane a faded pink, the colors long since faded in the picture. She wore ancient armor, with Luna at her side in similar getup. "Two sisters with no power at the time, if I recall..."
"We came to--"
"--You're working with them," cut in the elder beaver. "Why? This is not the way of ponies, is it?"
"Of course not." Celly sat up, only to sag a little. "When you must do harm, at least act to do the least of it." She offered a hoof. "We are--"
The room shook around them. A distant bell was being stuck repeatedly with a hammer from the sound of it. "What is that?"
The elder let out a suffering sigh. "It seems our time is up. We are under attack, and there is only one force likely." He eyes Celly accusingly. "Will you take me prisoner now?"
"No! Go, hide." She stepped up to her hooves in a hurry, almost tripping in her haste. "I will see what this is." Her magic glowed around the nearest window, throwing it wide as she hopped through it. She had no wings, she remembered as she fell a few feet to the ceiling, which was suspiciously soft.
Garou leaned to the side, letting Celly slide off to her own hooves instead of being on his dwindling back. "Let's go."
"When did you get here?" She did not wait to get an answer, charging for the edge of the roof.
Trixie was showing off. It was one of her favorite things to do. In that case, she had a gaggle of wide-eyed beaver children locked on her. "Another Great and Powerful magician helped me to perfect this arcane power!" she announced, waving a hoof before it came in and tapped the card somehow attached to her other hoof. "This is the card you selected."
With a slap, she put the card back into the deck and began shuffling wildly with her magic. "And here we are... Now, you may think I will select the card, but that would be too easy." She picked three cards from the top of the shuffled deck and held them towards the children. "The first card chosen will be special."
The kits looked at one another before one reached out and snatched a card. "There's no..." He turned the card around and squeaked, dropping it. It hit the ground facing up and all the other kids began to woop and laugh. It was the card they had picked in the first place. Trixie grinned with triumph. "Behold, the Sunburst Selection."
The crowd was cheering and celebrating her when a bell began to rang, as if someone were clanging it with a hammer with too much vigor. Trixie scowled in its direction. "Who dares to inter--" She turned back and saw the kits had fled. None remained of her once-sizable crowd. With a growing growl of frustration, Trixie turned with a mighty sweep of her cape to go see what the fuss was about.
Nocreature got in the way of a Trixie performance!
A heavy bruiser in spiked purple armor threw a beaver aside. "Do not stand if you want to live," he barked at the fallen form. "Everyone, get down and put your hands over your head. If you're standing. If you're running. If I can see your face, you won't live to regret it."
But something was showing its face, running right at him. "Time to make an example." He grabbed a gun off his back and squeezed the trigger, sending a wild burst of colorful short rays towards the oncoming assailant.
Rockhoof threw his head aside, swinging his shovel at the first bolt and knocking it aside to smash into a tree instead. The next was driven into the ground aside himself as he charged. Other bolts sailed past, misses that he didn't bother swatting. "Yer gonna pay!"
"You and what army?" mocked the soldier as he raised a hand towards his ear. "Resistance in sector 14."
"Ain't gonna be fer long." Rockhoof was upon him, bringing his shovel down. It met with the gun in a skillful parry.
What the soldier did not expect was the force of the collision, the bright sparks and the failing of his weapon in a dramatic fashion, falling to two pieces as he staggered back, dropping the two useless chunks. "So they do have a defense," he growled as he wrenched a dagger free. "Let's dance."
"Ah'll lead," generously offered Rockhoof, twirling his shovel with a scowl. "Ye won't be forgetting this little ditty."
Lulu swung a glimmering spear held firmly in her magic, twirling in her grip rapidly. "Stand back."
"Ain't happening," assured the she-beaver, advancing with her broom at the ready.
"You are not prepared." Lulu charged ahead into the smoke-filled street ahead of her. "Stop this this very inst--" A bright bolt caught her on the shoulder and Lulu rocked to a stop, grunting in pain that mixed with a building fury. "You have erred for the last time!" The next bolt ran along a glistening magic shield of her creation. "I will be your nightmare!"
She vanished, only to appear just beside one wildly firing soldier, thrusting her spear right into the poor fool's face, right between the plates that would have protected them. They got out a choked sound of pain, falling back with an arc of blood from their destroyed face. "Who is--"
She was tackled from the side, a short dagger stabbing into her as if trying to win an especially aggressive tickling contest. "Impudent whelp," she shouted out as she brought her bloodied spear in a mighty swing, striking her assailant's helmet with the strength and clarity to make it ring out like a struck bell. The grip on her slacked, enough for her to vanish and appear behind the combatant, already stabbing at his back. The wet squelch seemed far too loud. "Another down..."
A purple-donned soldier sprayed wildly into a building. "That'll teach you to throw rocks at--" His bolts suddenly stopped reaching, bouncing off a sphere he couldn't see and bouncing alarmingly. He yelped and threw himself to the ground, narrowly missing shooting himself.
Celly advanced on the soldier. "Thank you, Garou. Now, we're on the same side, and we were here first. Go away."
The soldier scrambled to his feet, gun already pointed at Celly, but not daring to fire. "Likely story. Give up and we won't kill you, simple proposition."
"General Crusher is not a creature known for his patience," spoke Celly in slow calm tones. "I am offering far better than he will, should he find out how badly you've mangled his operation."
The soldier took a slow step back, his stance not as certain, his voice not as full of confidence. "Where'd you hear that name?"
"We are under him, in the direct command of Captain Gnaw. You will leave. You will allow us to drive you away and not return unless a specific command brings you here." She leaned in suddenly, her face almost thudding against the unseen dome. "Was there a specific command?"
"N-no, ma'am. Hey! Wait! If you're with us, you'd have a rank, and you woulda already--"
"Corporal Celly, since you asked. Now get lost, kindly. Or we can make this less pleasant."
Garou stepped out from the smoke. "You know, I could make that bubble a lot smaller. How small could we compress you? Might be fun finding out."
"You wouldn't dare." He took a firm step forward, swinging with the force of the motion to slam the sharp edge of his sword against the unseen bubble, but it didn't leave a mark on the thing. "Let me out."
"Leave," spoke Celly in an unyielding tone, her ears high and alert on their captive.
Three soldiers marched in lockstep, their purple armor glinting in the low light of the fires they had been part of the cause of. "No opposition in this sector, moving to assist," called one, hand lowering to his rifle. "Keep an eye out. They have a defense force."
"Nothing that is a match for us," guffawed a female voice. "We'll rip them to shreds for starting something."
"As if some pissant beavers could take out one of our companies," agreed a male. "But keep frosty."
A rock sailed out of the smoke, obliterated with the sharp fire of one of their guns. "There's one," called the first. "Enemy contact."
They fanned out, ready to face anything. When the little beaver kit came into view, wielding a rock, they fired.
The rock hit the ground, no child there to hold it. "The hell?" muttered the female. "Did we disintegrate the thing?"
"As if I'd let my Best Fan get hurt." An explosion of bright lights swept over them as Trixie made a dramatic sweep from their side. "Not on Trixie's watch. Go!" She shoved the shaking beaver kit away. "Trixie has this."
Despite her sure words, the wood that separated her from the soldiers become so much woodchips as they sprayed the area with their bright arcane bolts. Trixie jumped back, vanishing and appearing atop the same building. "Rude!" She thrust a hoof deep into her cloak and threw out what seemed to be an inordinately huge amount of glitter on them from above. "Take that!"
They raised their guns, the spray approaching her rapidly. Trixie squeaked and ran away, the floor behind her bursting into fragments as their blind fire pulverized the building. "And... ta da!" she sang to herself, her horn glowing as she cast her spell.
The glitter suddenly lit up all around them, their vision becoming nothing but rainbows for a painful moment of sensory overload. Trixie was already hopping down the other side of the building by the time they could blink any sight back into their eyes.
"Blast it," grunted the female. "They have magic users," she shouted into her radio. "Orders?"
"Magic users not on our side. The mistresses' orders were clear. All enemy spell casters are to be terminated. Wipe them out!" spoke the voice over his headset with the faint hiss of radio interference.
The male pumped his gun with a satisfying ratchet of a sound. "With pleasure."
"I can't make them go anyway," spat the contained soldier. "You're wasting your time."
Celly inclined her head. "Then you'd best point us in the right direction." Her left ear quivered. "I keep hearing something. Are you hearing anything?" She was facing the soldier, watching him. "You do know we know how radios work. They are standard issue."
Perhaps cowed by the knowledge his captor was displaying, the soldier grunted with growing frustration. "What about it?"
Garou hopped up on hind legs, his fore paws on the bubble. "Ask your leader to come talk to us. No guns, just a little chat."
"Doubt she'll go for that." He raised a hand to his ears. "Hey."
"Private Tungsten? That you? The hell have you been hiding!" came a loud angry female voice.
"I have some agents claiming they're with us and asking us to back off. What--"
"--And you believed them? Shoot them. Shoot them again, then shoot yourself for being an idiot!"
The soldier slumped in place. "They're with General Crusher, Captain Gnaw's command?"
"Likely story," growled the voice over his radio. "Whatever, they snooze, they lose. We're ta--"
He didn't get to hear the rest, the earbud popping out of his ear and flying up to the bubble's edge, glowing with Celly's magic. Without being prompted, Garou let the bubble drop just long enough to finish the theft. Celly held it up towards her ear without actually inserting it. "Hello. This is Corporal Celly of the Devil Squad. Your aggression against our target has been noted. If you do not withdraw, we will be forced to respond with violence. We are--"
"--dead," cut off a barking female voice. "All of you. You opened fire on your fellow soldiers? Prepare to die, corporal. Your CO can cry on your grave for all his word's good for right now. Transition channel Beta 4."
The voice stopped, no other voices were coming. They had changed channels. Celly frowned at their captive. "They switched to 'Beta four'?"
"That's her answer then." He leaned his back against the bubble. "You gonna kill me or what?"
He suddenly fell over backwards, the bubble not there anymore. In that instant, Garou charged forward, grabbing the gun and tearing it in half as he grew into his greatest size. "Nah," he said simply, already shrinking back to normal. "Where to, Celly?"
"It's time to save this village." She pointed at their former-captive. "Run away, or surrender to the tender mercies of the creatures that live here. I suggest the former." She turned away from him and strode forward with purpose, Garou loping at her side. They had a fight to win.
His body riddled with cuts and abrasions, Rockhoof was not quitting. "Yer a solid fighter."
"The best... of the company," huffed out the massive soldier he had been fighting the whole time.
"Then maybe when you go down, the rest will have second thoughts." Rockhoof raised his shovel back into ready position.
"Good luck with that." He charged forward, grabbing the shovel with a gauntleted hand. "You're nothing without--"
Rockhoof stamped forward, putting all his power and weight into the hoof. Bones broke, sinew snapped. It was such a subtle thing, for anyone watching, but the great soldier felt it, pain exploding through his lower body, bringing tears to his eyes as he staggered back.
"I'm more than a shovel." Rockhoof twirled in place, aiming the flat of the shovel for the midsection of the soldier. Metal struck metal with a loud clang, knocking him several feet to the side. "I gave ya a fair chance." He had seen darker days, days that Celly and Lulu had forgotten, Celly more than Lulu.
There was only one answer in his eyes for that situation. He brought down his shovel, edge side first. With a screech of abused metal, the soldier's helmet split open, along with his head. They sank to the ground lifelessly, blood pooling on the ground. "Ya were a good fighter. Pity ya were a terrible soldier."
He could hear voices coming from the soldier's helmet and blinked. "What the...?" He pulled it off the ruined soldier's head and found the thing that was emitting all the noise. "What is this?"
"Who is this?!" roared a female voice from the small thing.
"Bloody Tartarus! This is Rockhoof, uh, Devil Squad. I just put down yer big boy."
He dropped the device, having no interest in it. He would not know that later Celly would speak to the same lady.
Three soldiers ran past, looking left and right wildly for signs of contact. As soon as their heavy boots became quiet, Trixie sank with a loud gust of air. Her magic dissipated, allowing a curtain she had been holding up to fall, revealing herself and about a dozen beavers she had hid behind it. "We're safe, for now. Is there a place you can hide?"
"Thank you," quickly started one of the adult males. "You really came through, uh... Do we have some place?"
A female slapped him on the shoulder. "Inside and downstairs. My place." She began to lead the others away. "Be safe, Miss Lulamoon."
Trixie waved at them as they departed. "Have no fear, the Great and Powerful Trixie will have this under control in no time."
A pity she had no actual idea how to even start that, but she had protected some of her adoring fans. That surely had to count for something. "Where did the others go...?" She trotted into the smokey battlefield, searching for the rest of her squad. "Never around when I need them!"
"There you are." Luna emerged from the smoke, eyes on Celly and Garou. "I think I've dispatched most of them."
Celly and Garou inclined their heads in opposing directions. Celly spoke first, "You were already clearing the field?"
"Of course." She snorted softly, glancing back to the one significant injury she had received. "I only got nicked in a moment of carelessness."
Garou peered at the injury and the blood that marked it. "Not sure I'd call that a nick, but I'm glad you're alright."
"I echo that sentiment." Celly's eyes moved beyond her sister. "Have you seen the others?"
"Looking for some Great and Stealthy ponies?" Trixie appeared in a puff of new, blue-colored, smoke. "Because you have found one!"
Garou nodded to Trixie. "Alright, that's everyone but... Rockhoof."
Lulu turned her ears about in slow circles. "The sounds of fighting are much reduced."
Trixie put a hoof at her chest. "With the Devil Squad on the case? Ha! Fools should have known better than to attack Trixie's fanbase."
Rockhoof shoved the blunt end of his shovel into the belly of a soldier, metal bending under the impact and sending the assailant to the ground, wheezing, their tail twitching spastically. "Just rest there a moment." Rockhoof shook his head slowly as he looked around. "A day's work never ends."
Dotted with singes and cuts, the sizable earth stallion advanced without regard of it. "Though there really should be some kinda end to this rabble."
"Rabble?" The ground in front of him became much a crater as a figure landed in the center of it just before it exploded. "That's just rude." An easily-identified female with a vulpine tail rising up with no gun on her back, but a slender rapier hefted up, held firmly in her gauntlet covered paw. "You took out Evans, your turn next."
Rockhoof twirled his shovel into position, frowning at the bipedal leader. "It's a war, ma'am. This is what happens in a war."
"Then you won't hold it against me when I split your fool head and throw the entrails around the battlefield." She jumped free of the little uprising of dirt and that column collapsed behind her, leaving a proper crater behind as she sailed towards Rockhoof. "Traitor! You deserve all the pain I have."
He met her outstretched rapier with the flat of his shovel, throwing his head aside to hurl her with it. She was diverted, but it was a graceful motion, coming back to the ground on her feet as if she had planned the entire thing. "All you have is strength, and that isn't enough to win a proper fight," she taunted, dancing forward, her rapier feinting and bobbing, looking for weaknesses.
"Down." She thrust savagely, scoring a thin red line along his face. "Go on, beg for mercy and I may consider it." Her tone didn't imply it was terribly likely. "Did he? Tell me. Did he ask you not to kill him?"
"He fought to the last," grunted out Rockhoof, turning aside a blow that would have pierced his breast. "But there can only be one winner in a fight like that."
"Too tr--" In the middle of her sentence, Rockhoof plunged his shovel into the ground. She had expected him to fling dirt at her in a bid to distract her, but he rushed instead, the ground coming up as if it were made more of water than dirt. "What in the--" She leaped back and to the left away from the failing surface as he came charging through, digging a trench where she had been standing. "What kind of monster are you?"
"The kind that doesn't fight alone." He set his hooves for a charge and she tensed, ready to react. A spear flew in from almost behind her, glowing with the dark magic of one of his companions.
She ducked back, her rapier tagging the spear and knocking it just barely off course even as Luna stepped into view. "Of course," she muttered as if bemoaning her fate. "Bunch of traitors relying on each other, until you start the backstabbing. If only I could be there for that." She twirled in place, catching a great furry paw against the side of a rapier. Though rapiers were fine pointed tools, they were also bladed on both sides, biting into Garou's clenching hand.
He brought in his other hand, clutching the painful sword long enough to create several painful lines along the shoulder and chest of his foe. "We are the devil squad, and you charged into us. You their captain?"
"Corporal," spat the fox, wrenching her sword back and hop-stepping away from Garou, only to crash into another pony.
Celly's magic glowed around the rapier, the weapon shuddering as her will and the corporal's physical might competed. "This battle is well and truly over. Collect your creatures and leave." Suddenly her magic expanded over the fox, releasing the rapier only to shove the fox forward just as abruptly, sending her onto all fours in an undignified position. "You lost."
"The mistress will hear of this," spat the fox woman as she scrambled to her feet. "She'll see you all flayed!" None of them stopped her from fleeing.
Lulu was at Rockhoof's side. "You look like you weathered this more raggedly than I."
"I'd take another ten cuts if I could undo what I see on you, lass." He shook his head in dissatisfaction. "Are ya alright?"
"I am no fine vase." She set a hoof on his nose. "But I do appreciate the concern. We are warriors equal. Let's go clean ourselves."
Garou was looking to Celly and Trixie. "So, did we just mess up? I mean, I get it. I didn't want to watch the beavers get--"
Other figures emerged from the smoke and debris. The named beavers were approaching. One of them Celly knew and tensed at seeing, their elder leading the crowd.
He walked at a slow pace, a walking stick tapping the way forward. "Get the injured to safety where they can be seen. Secure any of theirs that still breathe." His eyes fell on Celly and their group. "You have some explaining to do."
Trixie waved a hoof. "That hardly sounds like the tone of creatures that should be grateful to Trixie for all her hard work in saving them!"
"I am not a fool." His eyes were on Celly. "And she knows. If you've come for us, why stand in the way of your own? They were clearly winning, but you fought them off. Why? The only thing worse than an enemy is someone you don't understand; unpredictable..."
Garou was back to being a simple wolf, watching the beavers move about when not examining their elder, but he didn't join the conversation.
Celly let out a little breath. "Then I will be frank and without further concealment. If we leave, you will be taken. It will probably be fast, violent, and deadly to far too many... I would rather not see that. Your town is filled with lovely creatures that deserve so much better."
"Then you will join us?" he asked, doubt in his voice.
"No." He looked vindicated. "But that does not mean we have abandoned helping you. These are troubling times, and we work, perhaps not as swiftly as we would have liked." She glanced away and back at the elder. "Surrender."
"Never." He struck the ground with his walking stick.
"Just for a little while. Surrender, to us. We will not harm a single soul. We will turn you over, and you will become a town of theirs. This will pass, it always does. Things can be rebuilt, people cannot... Please, for them." She ventured a little smile at him. "This is a most bitter pill I am--"
"Blah blah blah," cut in Trixie. "You saw what happened today, grow up! If we weren't here, most of you would be dead, the rest, enslaved and probably dragged off to another town because those morons burnt this one to the ground. Give up while the getting's good, everything stays nice and intact and they let you stay here because why wouldn't they?" She rolled her eyes mightily. "Think!"
He pointed his staff at Celly. "Tell me why I can believe you weren't waiting for this attack, to become the heroes?" Murmurs spread from other beavers paying attention to the conversation.
Celly dipped her head. "There is no reasonable way I can assure that. I can speak the truth, but I have no evidence to back it. Surrender, please. You know who I am. You know the truth of it."
"I know the truth of the past." The staff lowered, tapping at the ground. "Not who you are, now... You aren't wrong." He fixed Trixie a look, then turned away. "Give me time to consider it. Do not harm them! They are guests until I make my decision." The crowd parted to allow him to dodder off at his slow pace.
One of the beavers, a portly female, leveled a finger. "You're with them! How can we even start to trust you?"
"And you were making fun of me!" The beaver who had been ready to hurl more rocks looked mightily vindicated. "I toldja!"
The noises that came in reply were far from cheerful support, most still busy picking through the mess made by the attack.
"Are you with them?" asked a little beaver boy, looking up at Trixie with large eyes.
Trixie glanced aside at the others and back at the child. "I am working on a new trick." She raised a hoof to her lips with a soft shhh of a secret shared. "We'll make them think you were conquered, when you're just waiting for your chance. They'll never know!"
"You're so good at tricks," complimented the boy as he considered it. "But I heard they're super mean to people."
"And they are," agreed Trixie. "Which is why we need to be extra sneaky. Your old and young, like you," she pointed at the boy. "Oops, they died in the attack, so sad. Guess you can't hurt or make them work, now can we? Such a shame. If only those other morons hadn't attacked." Other beavers began to listen as Trixie wove her deception.
"The fit and ready will work hard, without being told, without being asked. They'll be delighted. What a good town. They'll barely send anyone to 'keep you in line', because you're already in line. Which means it'll be easy to keep the hidden people, well, hidden." She winked dramatically at the child. "Then, poof, the big bad meanie is defeated, yay!" She threw up her hooves in pantomime celebration. "Your hidden people stop being hidden and you can go back to being happy."
The crowd was a mixture of doubtful expressions and claps of approval. Celly smiled at it. "I like it." She looked to the beavers. "But one thing I should remind. I imagine some of you are considering being 'the one' to reveal this trick, hoping for rewards. Your 'reward' will be the town being watched carefully. Your people will hate you, and everything is worse. You'll, at best, get a job watching your former friends. Is that what you want? I don't think it is."
The noises became more morose, faces shaking quickly. "Who'd want that?" challenged the rock throwing female. "Sounds dumb." More approving noises stirred in the crowd. "I'm ready to fight, even if fighting means working while other people are tucked away. If that keeps our grandparents and kids safe, that sounds like a fight worth having."
A ripple spread through the crowd, a cheering woop. That sounded like an action they could get behind, and doubt began to fade.
Luna's horn glowed as she carefully dabbed at each scrap and puncture in Rockhoof's hide. "Doesn't that hurt? You seem to be injured in more places than not."
"Nothin' ah can't handle," assured Rockhoof even as he winced at the next touch of her damp rag. "Just glad we won, in the end. Our 'fellow soldiers' aren't playing around. Don't get it, not a bit."
"Why do you not get?" She circled him, continuing the slow process of cleaning and administering to him.
"If they were forced in, like they wanted to do with us, why are they so good? Why are they so loyal?" He kept an ear trained on Luna as she went. "I felt like I was fighting professionals, not a ragtag bunch of creatures forced to fight."
Luna lifted her shoulders. "Their ability seemed very... varied. Some fought ferociously, others crumpled like cards. Did you not see that?" She set a hoof on his left hind leg where it was folded at his side. "Think on it."
And he did, considering the battles he faced. "It's easy to get focused on the tough ones, but you have a point. Many I so much as tapped and it seemed they were going down. But what does that mean?"
"I couldn't say, with certainty." She was behind him, working on his back. "What I can say is they are not created equal. Some are trembling conscripts, others... less so. We need to know more before we can even dream of advancing our little journey."
"Little journey." He glanced over his shoulder at her. "When you finish, it's your turn." He leaned down to grab a clean rag of his own. "No way I'm letting myself be dressed up while you sit there with that nasty cut, and right there on your rump? Whoever did that has no taste at all to mar a mare like that." He shook his head with obvious disdain for their enemies.
Luna walked past him, whipping his face with her tail. "Don't treat me like some delicate flower. Now, as a fellow warrior, I will allow you a turn." She turned to present her injury. "Really, I only have the one. You seem to have so many more."
"What a warrior you are." He advanced to gingerly touch his rag, dabbing and cleaning her. "Or I got 'lucky' and they sent their bigguns my way. They did say the biggest was their strongest, and I ran right inta their leader too."
"You are a stallion of strange fortune." Luna sat still for him, even when his touches brought brief but sharp spikes of pain. "Thank you for handling it until we could arrive. I wonder how the others are doing?"
The other captain slammed a balled fist against the wall just to the right of the map. "Curse it all!"
Captain Gnaw smirked a bit malignantly. "All done taking the town?"
"You knew this would happen," roared the much larger captain, spinning on Gnaw. "You set me up!"
"Of course I knew. If you'd have asked before you let your people rush in, I would have warned you, but you didn't. It was your decision alone that sealed this deal. Now you get to live with full cheeks." Gnaw turned half away, his face the picture of smug satisfaction. "But that does leave a question."
"Besides how I'll tear you apart?" He reached for Gnaw, claws glinting in the light, reinforced with the sharp edges of his gauntlets.
"Touch me and they won't leave a piece of you behind." Gnaw raised a brow at the greatly larger captain. "You have enough problems, and I'm not one of them. Consider how you plan to report to your CO how this all went down instead."
The larger captain's fingers flexed in the air, metal clinking before they clenched and he grunted. "Damn you... Your soldiers attacked mine. That's treason! Don't you even feel bad about that? They're going to tear you apart!"
Gnaw held up a lone finger. "One, they're mercs we're testing for exactly that, so the odds of my getting in trouble are zero." Another finger joined it. "Two, until we see how it turns out with the town, they may still end up successful."
"Successful?!" he thundered. "Two squads, wiped out, that's a success?! On what planet do you get to call that a success?" He brought down the knuckles of his fist, punching down into the ground just beside Gnaw, making him bounce with the force of it.
"Their task was to collect intel. If they come back with valuable intelligence and the town remains poised for capture, they have done their mission." Gnaw nodded lightly as he spoke, as if playing the beats of things in his head. "If they go a step further and claim the town bloodlessly, as I mentioned was the ultimate goal, then they are due a commendation." He leveled a finger up at the larger captain. "A task not made easier with the arrival of another captain blundering cheekily into my area of operation! Now, you have an appointment."
He turned entirely away from the other captain, marching off. "I advise not being late. You're in enough trouble."
The larger predator ground his teeth with a low growl that shook the air, but there was little he could do. Attacking Gnaw would only make things worse. He barked at the map, though it was not cowed by the motion. "Damn it..."
Celestia walked alongside her friends. "Are we clear?"
Garou saluted sharply with a paw only fit for the task for as long as it needed. "After driving off the hostile raiders, the town was convinced, by us, that they were an aberration and that the empire seeks hard workers!"
Lulu continued, "We have secured their promise to do their part. They stand ready to supply the empire with wood."
Rockhoof inclined his head. "A shame so many were lost in the attack. It took some real talking to get them to forgive that."
They met each other's gazes from the side before soft snickering spread between them.
Trixie turned up her nose. "You'd better not giggle like that when we're back or they'll be onto us. Also, you can thank me now."
Garou suddenly landed on her back, pouncing on her. "You're the best magician we have," he sang in praise.
"And don't you forget it." It took her a few more steps to realize she was being stood on. "And get off!" She shook and he jumped free. "Mind your manners."
Garou barked with laughter as he trotted to walk alongside Lulu. "Just like that huh?"
"Their choices were few." Celly shook her head. "I feel we have failed for not providing more."
"My idea was fantastic and they saw it just like that. They'll be fine." She waved the problem off with a wave of her hoof. "Now, the sooner we get back and they rain us with rewards and recognition, the sooner we can learn what we actually need to learn."
"Oh, aye." Rockhoof looked into the distance, towards the town they were returning to. "We have a purpose, to stop this. Remind me though, forgive me, when yer good with a shovel, everythin' starts to look like an undug ditch."
Lulu quirked an ear at that. "What's your question?"
"Why don't we just go an' smash 'em now?" He lifted his shoulders. "Even their best couldn't stop us, so why not?"
Trixie paused long enough to cross her arms. "Nope!"
"Eloquently put." Lulu smirked at the display. "But correct. We fought one small portion of their force. Without being able to identify and destroy the head at the start of this snake, we're only asking to be bitten."
Celly advanced a little faster. "We haven't even met them. Perhaps news of our success will help us get closer to addressing that."
Rockhoof huffed softly as he trotted. "It would get the job done faster, but ah do suppose you have a point about not wantin' to go smashin' through the whole army even searching for somethin'. I just hope we find it faster."
"Two fatalities, six casualties," reported the vixen, hand by her ear. "I've gathered the survivors and we are inbound."
"What?!" shrilly cried her captain over their comm. "How did it go that poorly? Did they side with the town?"
"They claimed the town was their territory, that they were doing something, I don't know what." She hissed through clenched teeth. "They let me go. They could have stopped me, but they didn't."
"Get back here yesterday! I swear... Do you have any... Nevermind... Huh, yes, sir. Just talking to... yes, sir... Look." His voice shifted to more clearly be addressing the vixen. "I have to talk to the ups later today. This may go very... badly."
"You were a good captain, sir." She saluted as if mourning a passed soldier. "We will remember you fondly."
"Thanks for the support... Just get back here! Get the men back here as soon as possible. The more bodies I have in one piece after this, the better, alright?"
"Roger, sir." She lowered her hand away from the piece. "Over and out." She started forward, shouting as she went, "Grab the slings and get moving. We're marching into friendly territory and expect no resistance. It's just a long slog back home." She snapped her fingers several times in quick succession. "Get your feet movin'!"
The units she was charged with getting home began to mobilize, to return home and lick their wounds. "What I wouldn't do for a squad of the best stuff." It wouldn't help her odds that one of their best had been one of the ones to be lost. "Shoot."
Trixie turned towards her wagon, lit by the glow of their campfire. "By the way, maybe we should use that thing they gave us." The others looked to her. "What? The radio?" The stares became more intense. "They gave it to me, said the quartermaster should hold onto it. I'm at least four quarters of a master, so I took it." She smiled with confidence. "Let me get it."
Garou covered his face with a paw, laughing wryly. "Seriously, you had a radio? Trixie, you are something else sometimes."
"Trixie is something else all of the time," she corrected, her rump hanging free of her wagon as she dug around with her fore hooves and glowing horn. "Now where..." Small things flew out of the wagon, creating new piles of junk.
Celly inclined her head. "This is ultimately a good thing. If they gave us a way to talk to them, we can make sure they know the town has been taken as soon as possible, which minimizes the chances anyone will be hurt."
Lulu nodded in agreement. "Any luck, Trixie?"
"I thought it was..." Several things fell with a crash. "Nope. Maybe..." She curled, holding herself up off the ground as she began digging in a new direction
Rockhoof looked to Garou. "You seem to know. What's a 'radio'?"
"It lets you shout to people far away, without having to shout at all," explained Garou with a sage nod. "Very handy, er, useful. If Trixie has one, we get to tell the people back at base what we've been up to before we get there. Any luck, Trixie?"
"Ah ha!" A second wave of things fell down and over her, things sliding down her back and sides as her legs spasmed with the force of what she was buried under. There was quiet. Suddenly she yanked herself free, her horn glowing and a large device floating in her magic. "Ta da! Trixie is the best quartermaster you've ever had." She set it down and got right to cleaning up the mess she had made in her wagon. "You may thank me now."
"You called for me." Great elephant hands clenched one another, leather gloves creaking under the strain. "I trust it's something worth the time?"
"Sir, yes, sir." Little Captain Gnaw saluted sharply to his CO, towering over him. "My squad radioed a progress report."
"They didn't go rogue?" A brow raised. "From the... Never mind that. Already one surprise. What did they have to report?"
Gnaw turned, pulling out a pointer along the way to slap a map behind him. "They say the town is ours. They suffered zero casualties. The town is ready to supply lumber." He grinned, big cheeks spread. "If not for the interference of another squad interfering with their oper--"
"--Cut it," he interrupted roughly. "What are they trying to excuse?"
"Nothing they did, sir." Gnaw shook his head quickly. "In the attack, the town suffered casualties. They apparently decided it was a fine time to cull the weak in the middle of an assault. What cheek." Gnaw stomped a foot. "Our operatives calmed the populace and convinced them they, the attacking soldiers, were the odd ones."
General Crusher allowed a deep rumble of a laugh. "Did they? What is their ETA? Are they already back?"
"Negative, sir." Gnaw trailed a line with his pointer. "They are inbound, expected tomorrow. If I may ask, sir? How is Captain Tod?"
Crusher scowled at his little captain. "That isn't your concern." He half turned away. "Besides, there is no Captain Tod." He began to walk away heavily. "Tell me when they get back."
The vixen corporal heaved a great sigh. "We're home." She gestured towards a building. "Get the injured to triage, then you're off duty. Get out of my face." She left the others to wrap things up as she headed towards Captain Tod's office. "Let's see what kind of mess I'm looking at..."
Her step was far from sure. Would she be ripped into for her part in the fiasco, or just thrown out or worse? "On the other hand..." She had been following orders. She did ask before she made her move. That would, perhaps, shield her. She accelerated, arms pumping as she took on a determined expression. She would face whatever was coming with dignity.
She walked with purpose through the commanding offices, arriving at the small office that held her captain. She raised a fist and rapped smartly with her knuckles. "Corporal Kurva, reporting."
Kurva stood waiting, but there was no reply for what felt like minutes. She frowned and leaned in, knocking a bit more firmly. "Captain Tod?"
"Why are you knocking on a supply closet?" asked a passing officer with a lashing reptilian tail. "Oh, were you with that guy?" He hiked a clawed thumb at the door she had been knocking on.
"Captain Tod, yes." She turned to face the commanding officer. "Reporting in, sir."
"You're not mine," he assured. "Captain Tod's been... taken care of." A sly grin on his reptillian snout.
"Did they kill him?" suddenly demanded Kurva, tail frizzing fluffily as she stared.
"Huh? No." He shook his head quickly. "Promoted."
Kurva blinked rapidly. Of all the answers... "Promoted?"
"Did I stutter?" He prodded the confused vixen in the chest. "Get to your bunk and wait for orders. They'll give you a new CO."
Corporal Kurva saluted suddenly. "I'll be ready, sir." And off she marched. She wouldn't be torn apart, that day? She wasn't sure what happened, but she decided not to look that gift... horse... in the mouth.
Celly willed the door shut behind herself. "You called, sir?"
"Corporal Celly." Gnaw nodded towards her, pacing on a desk that raised him closer to her height. "I received your report, and while its contents were interesting, I'd rather have it from the horse's mouth."
Celly inclined an ear, not rising to the bait of the pun. "The town is taken, sir."
"You fought off two squads," noted Gnaw. "And won the loyalty of the town in the process?"
"We convinced them the empire would protect them from such attacks in the future." Celly inclined her entire head at her small commanding officer. "Reeling from the loss of their young and old, they were eager to have the chance to live safely. They pledged to supply lumber, their specialty."
"Cheeky... Too cheeky! To engage in a culling in the middle of an occupation." He threw a hand up, fingers splayed. "They deserved to lose." He swung his pointer around to direct it at Celly. "No casualties? Not a one?"
Celly shook her head in shallow motions. "We had two injured, but they've already recovered." A little smile teased at the corners of her lips. "Had I accepted their words, neither were injured and both were ready for action immediately."
Gnaw huffed at that. "Cheeky..." Perhaps not the bad kind of cheek there. "Why are you here?"
"Pardon?" She turned to him, fixing him in her gaze squarely. "Can you rephrase that, sir?"
"You were willing to engage your 'fellow' soldiers in combat without delay, but then returned to base with good news. My orders did not require that conflict. You could have withdrawn and I couldn't have blamed you for doing so."
"You said you wanted a bloodless taking of the town." She raised a hoof to roll it in the air. "We were making good progress. Better a willing vassal than a broken and useless one. As you wanted, sir?"
"As I wanted," he echoed, shaking his head. "General Crusher wants to speak to you. You remember him, yes?"
"It's difficult to forget him." The mental image of the great elephant easily came to her thoughts. "When and where, sir?"
"After we finish speaking." Gnaw put his hands on his hips. "I want to say, thank you. You've done exactly as I outlined; minus the interference of rogue agents. I will dispatch administrative and defensive forces. He's waiting for you." He pointed the way with his little stick. "I wouldn't keep him waiting. Patience is not one of his strengths."
"I should imagine not." Celestia turned for the door leading out. "A pleasure, sir." She hesitated though. "Sir, if I may ask? I find no issue with your stature, but does it not cause issues, with others?" She peeked over her shoulder. "I can only imagine."
"The cheek!" squeaked Gnaw, giving Celestia a faint glare. "You have a general waiting for you, no time to be asking such questions."
"Of course, sir." Celestia strode out of the room, the door closing with the yellow glow of the magic she had used to open it just before then.
"Mercenaries, too cheeky." Gnaw turned back to the operational maps, considering them. "All they care about is..." his statement trailed off, a sudden frown overtaking his features.
"Corporal," practically growled out General Crusher, watching her enter the office that was too small for either of them. He was in a chair that was also too small and gestured at the other so she could join him in discomfort. "Sit. We have things to discuss." He was hunched over, he had to be. Standing up would have put his head through the roof.
"General, sir." She inclined her head briefly as she advanced on the chair that was woefully undersized for her. She tried to step up onto it, but the wheels caused it to roll away. She held it in her magic and tried to pin it as she made a second attempt, but then the simple size issue came into play, her haunches bulging out against the rests of the chair, threatening to burst them.
With a soft sigh, she stepped back down and pushed the chair aside. "Permission to sit on the floor, sir?"
"Granted." He watched as she sank down onto the cold cement, but her equine anatomy kept her head pretty high, able to hold a conversation. "I will start with what matters to you." He tapped a heavy finger down on the borrowed desk. "The captain who oversaw this has been reported."
"You don't sound happy about that, sir." Celly's eyes wandered over the obviously camped elephant of a creature.
"He's both of our problem. You deserve to know this." His eyes darted to the door as if to ensure it was closed. "Orders from higher on the chain. His success was noted, the blame for the fiasco was placed on miscommunication. To avoid that, they put him under my command, over Captain Gnaw." Celly tensed, a subtle thing, but one Crusher saw. "Yes, which means he is now over you, specifically. Major Tod is now Captain Gnaw's CO."
Gnaw hopped down from the desk and walked from the office with a soft whistle. Everything had gone swimmingly, minus one nagging thought. "That promotion is coming all the closer," he assured himself with a confident smile. "They can't ignore how tall I stand with accomplishments." Stature be damned.
"What are you muttering about?" asked a familiar male voice. Tod was there, leaning against a wall just to the side of the door Gnaw had just come through. "Don't you have things to do?"
Gnaw jumped in surprise, looking up at the smirking predator. "Don't you?" he retorted. "What cheek. I've accomplished my tasks just fine. Not that I owe you a status report."
"Don't you?" Tod dropped into a squat, his smirk deepening. "That's quite the tone to have with your Commanding Officer--" He emphasized those two words, clicking his fingernails as he did so. "Almost worth a bit of discipline."
"What?!" Gnaw scowled at Tod. "I'm a captain, and I was told there was no Captain Tod anymore, but even if there were, you--"
"--Gonna stop you right there, short-stack." He held out a hand even with Gnaw's little head. "You're looking at Major Tod, and you're in my command, got that? You have that miserable squad of specialists, time to stop wasting their talents." He brought down that hand, slapping the ground next to Gnaw, making him bounce from the impact. "You don't sit on power like that. They need to be on the frontline, yesterday."
"They're a specialist squad," squeaked out Gnaw, regaining his balance. "Subtle maneuvers is what they d--"
"--Can it. They faced two squads and over twice their number. They killed a rating 8." He leaned in, nose inches from Gnaw's much smaller one. "They can fight, and they're good at it. Stand by. I'll have an operating theater drawn up." He stood up then. "It'll be all yours, just the way you like it." He walked off, making sure to step over Gnaw on the way, chuckling darkly as he went. "Better not mess up."
"The cheek!" Gnaw stomped a foot on the ground, his good mood thoroughly shattered. He considered approaching the general, but with an active CO, doing so would be jumping the command chain. "Too cheeky," he berated himself. His CO was that insufferable fox. "You can handle this." He straightened his clothes and resumed his stride. "Trust in your soldiers."
"We will not be speaking again, in all likelihood." Crusher brought his hands together, leather-clad fingers intertwining. "Chain of command, do you understand?"
That was not a chain of command she preferred. Even the lowliest of pony was welcome to come speak to her. Though her lack of objection was not always enough. Others stood guard over her, and surely they kept them away. She shook free of that thought. "I understand. Thank you, for telling me. We didn't get much chance to interact, but I do appreciate it."
He inclined his head, one ear hanging. "You are an outside agent, mercenaries... You have your own motivations. There are two predominant forces in this army; those forced to be here, and those who want to be here. You weren't forced, so we expect great things..." He pushed down on the desk as it creaked under the weight. "I have things to do. You're dismissed."
Celly saluted, but remained seated, watching him rise and move for the door. "We'll do our best, sir."
"Not always good enough." And he sidestepped through the too-small door. "But it's what we have." His heavy steps began to recede down the hallway.
Garou was laying down, his head right in a lap, pudgy fingers petting him in a way that felt nice. "You're a really nice person," he reminded, looking up at the rounded form of the she-rat that was treating him. "But that only raises more questions."
She pinched one of his ears. "If you like the touches, you'll hold off on the questions." She gently resumed her attention. "There's nothing to know that I didn't already go and tell you anyway."
Garou huffed at the pinch. "Don't be mean, Jenna." He turned and nosed her belly. "We ran into other soldiers, on our mission."
"Enemy soldiers?" she squeaked out, her touches pausing before they turned into massaging touches. "Brave thing. You must have won, you're still here."
Garou's legs kicked weakly in approval. "Mmm, yeah, but some of them seemed really happy to be there. You all, you know, everyone in this bunk, seems pretty 'meh' at best about it."
Jenna's touches slowed and her teeth set.
Garou perked an ear as the awkward silence dragged. "Sensitive topic?"
"Yeah..." She pressed against the fur and flesh of his head and backwards slowly. "If you want to get ahead, it's simple."
"That doesn't sound simple."
"It never is," she sighed dejectedly. "You swear a new kind of oath. They have a test, a special test. You pass that, and you're not a conscript anymore."
"What are you?" He flopped over suddenly, going belly up, facing her all the more easily. "I'm not a conscript."
"You joined." She tickled under his chin, that soft fluff easily available with his new position. "You weren't forced, so, no, guess not... But the rest of us, we can take that test."
"You sound super worried about it. What kinda test?"
Jenna lifted her shoulders expansively. "You think I took it?! I'm just a fat rat." Her tail twitched agitatedly. "Good for not much. Bet they'd laugh at me even if I wanted to, which I don't..."
He reached up with paws that became more like hands, taking hold of her closest hand and drawing it to his chest, cradling it warmly. "You're scared," he noted, feeling her tremble. "What's so scary about it?"
"The people..." She cradled his cheek with one of her hands. "Don't do it, alright? You're a nice... whatever you are. The people who do it, they aren't nice... On the positive, they also don't sleep in this bunk, so we don't have to talk with them much... but they aren't the same."
"A rat ever do it?" He rolled over, sitting up on his haunches in front of Jenna. "You sound like you have experience."
"A few." Jenna sank a bit miserably. "Used to be friends. Not anymore. Just don't do it, alright? You don't have to... They already trust you." A little smile appeared on her face. "So you're already past that. So you won't, right?"
Garou considered her words and their weight. "Yeah.... I'm past that." He suddenly leaned in, touching nose to nose. "You take it easy, alright?"
"Alright." And he was gone from her so quickly. "I hope I didn't make him mad..." She rose up and got back to her chores. Even fat rats had to help clean.
Garou burst into the room. "Hey!"
Luna looked up from her floating book towards the disturbance. "Garou, what news have you?"
"Aye." Rockhoof sat up on his cot. "You look like you have somethin' to say."
"Learned something important." He looked around. "Where're Celly and Trixie?"
Luna pointed the way. "Trixie is in her wagon, as usual. Celly was called away, but should be returning."
As if prompted, the door glowed yellow behind Garou and swung open to reveal Celly. "Hello, everycreature."
Garou scrambled out of the way for her. "Just in time. I learned something by being nice to someone who needed it."
Celly entered with a thin smile. "I am glad to hear that. Let me say my news first, if I may?"
Garou dipped his head towards Celly. "Go on."
"Thank you." She hopped up onto the upper part of the bunk that was her resting place and sank into place. "My commanding officer just got a new commanding officer."
All three of them looking at her oddly. "A 'Major Tod,'" she continued. "He was the captain at the time, of the squad we fought with."
Luna scowled. "What?! Why would they even consider doing that?"
Garou shook his head. "Shouldn't he be getting demotions right about now, considering how badly we beat his team up?"
"He was, apparently, quite successful outside of his encounter with us." She inclined an ear. "Which was blamed entirely on miscommunication. On the positive, it means we're not being blamed either."
"Blamed?" Rockhoof turned up his nose. "We were doin' our job, protectin' people."
Garou pointed at Rockhoof. "We weren't sent to protect anyone. Still, alright. So, he's our boss' boss' boss? Annoying, but so long as he isn't trying to get back at us for whipping his people, it doesn't change much."
"I can only hope." Celly looked to Garou. "You had news to share? I am finished."
"Oh right." He pointed a paw into the hallway. "I was just talking to Jenna."
"The rat mare?" Luna inclined an ear. "You have a habit of approaching mares."
"I was gathering intel," he defended, cheeks warming. "And I got some. They have some kind of 'test' for people who want to stop being conscripts and start being, uh, serious? I suspect magic is involved, or just a heavy dose of brainwashing." He licked over his fuzzy lips with a lolling tongue. "Big personality shifts afterwards and stuff, and they get loyal soldiers."
Celly frowned softly. "But they take volunteers for that? How curious... So they press for the lowest tiers of service, but those who are ready to reach higher..." She shook her head. "Be mindful. They may attempt to offer us much the same, whatever it is. The last thing we need is to be mentally coerced."
Trixie looked up from where she had been laying on her cot. Someone was knocking on her door. "Who is it?" She hopped down to the wooden floor with a clop. "I'm busy quarter mastering." A flat lie, but she was a quarter master. She knew how to master things!
With a glow, she bade the top half of her door to open. A fox was leering at her on the other side. "Hey. You're their quartermaster, Trixie?"
"The Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon," corrected Trixie with a nod. "What do you need?"
"I need them to bring this." He set a small orb that was flat on one end down on the closed bottom of the door, balancing. "Add it to their supplies. Instructions will be coming shortly."
"Mmm? Is this like the radio?" Her magic plucked it up into the air. "That was very useful." She casually added it to her pile of various belongings. "It will come with us."
"Yeah, thanks." He turned and marched off, wasting no further words with her.
"Tod?" Kurva took an uncertain step back. "I hear you got promoted... Congratulations."
"Don't look so happy." He smirked as he approached the vixen, tail twitching behind him. "I said I'm going to the top, and I remember saying you're comin' for the ride. You haven't forgotten, have you?"
"No! Of course not." She glanced away and back. "You were changed in command positions. I'm not in your--"
"Nix that thought." He tapped her on the nose in a flagrant disregard for personal space. "I'm moving you to a new squad, one I control."
Her ears perked up, curiosity lighting in her eyes. "I have another chance then?"
"A small one." He held up two fingers close together. "You are getting busted."
"What?!"
"Someone had to take the fall." He tapped her on the chest. "And you were the closest authority figure. Don't worry, do your part and I'll push for you moving right back up the ranks again. Next time, you should keep in better radio contact."
She was staring daggers at him, fully aware she had been in contact well within the regulations set.
"Don't look at me like that. We're still friends. I'm watching out for you... Private, report to Corporal Celly."
"Corporal..." That name she knew. "You bastard!" She grabbed for his shoulders, but he hadn't even flinched.
"Hi, we haven't met. I'm Major Tod, CO to Captain Gnaw, CO to Corporal Celly." He casually pushed her back, easily nudging her limp fingers back. "Play your cards right and you have a friend in high places. I plan to send this 'devil squad' right into the thick of things. Plenty of chance to win your place back, maybe even a step past that?"
He left her there, stewing. She kicked the door shut behind him and howled in fury. "He isn't even a good..." She kicked a cabinet with a heavy boot. "Back to private... Damn it all." She crossed her arms under her chest, huffing, nostrils flaring. "That hadn't been my fault..."
Still, it was done. Arguing the fact would only worsen her situation. "Time to meet the new squad." A squad she wasn't in charge of. She'd have to report to the same rotten jerk that'd axed hers. She growled low as she went to find out where they were bunked.
Her mood somehow got worse. "With the rats?!" She blurted, getting looks from others in the area. She shoved the wall as if it cared and stormed off. She marched through the yard, passing by all the respectable bunk houses to find the one people forgot about in the back. There was a rat sitting on the guard rail, talking to another rat that sat on the ground nearby.
They looked just as lazy as they were reported to be. She grunted in disgust, marching up towards the door. The rats at least had the sense to scramble out of her way, allowing her to enter unchallenged. "Corporal Celly, where are you?" She called firmly as she started down the hallway. "You and your 'Devil Squad', whatever that means."
Jenna waved from the end of the hallway. "They're on the second floor. Follow me and I'll show you."
Kurva let out a sigh, accepting the guidance from the clearly out-of-shape rodent. "At least you're not in my squad..." Soon they were in front of a door. Jenna scurried off, which suited Kurva fine. She stepped up to the door and rapped the back of her right hand against the door. "Private Kurva, reporting." She could feel bile rising in her throat. A private! She'd worked hard to stop being that.
The door glowed with dark magic and swung inwards. "Who?" asked Luna, peering from where she was perched. "Oh! You. Why are you here?"
Rockhoof snorted, rising to his hooves quickly. Celestia was far more calm, gently inclining her head. "Hello, private? Weren't you a corporal?"
"Not anymore," Kurva spat with a scowl. "Private Kurva, reporting to CO Corporal Celly." She struck a proper salute. "Use me well."
"Phrasing," barked out Garou with a canine grin. "Welcome to the squad." He looked her over curiously. "That's awkward though. They know we were just fighting, right?"
"I am well aware of this." She stepped inside and leaned back, closing the door with her bottom. "But an order is an order, so here I am. If you return the favor, I will forget our... past interactions and focus on future possibilities."
Celly pointed to the one bunk not being used. It would have nominally been Trixie's, had she not used her own wagon as a resting area. "There's your bunk. Welcome to Devil Squad."
Luna and Garou met eyes. Having private conversations just got trickier.
Luna did not have as much opportunities to navigate dreams as once she had. Deposed from the throne of the night by her own sister, she had to get used to sleeping in the confines of her own mind. That precious contact she had learned to love, removed. It was, perhaps, a bitterness, but not one she voiced often. Her sister had ruled for so long and done so well... There was little argument to be had.
But, without trying, she could feel a troubled mind. She hadn't even stepped into the dream world properly and she could feel it. It was as if she were on top of the disturbance. She could have ignored it, or...
She slipped inside, unwilling to resist the call of the nightmare that felt so close.
Rough paws slammed her back against a wall. "You wouldn't be anything without me," snarled an obscured form, a great fox tail swaying behind them. "If you play your cards right, I'll drag you up behind me."
"We signed on together, you..." Her words were cut off with a sharp cuff across the face.
"Just because we passed the test at the same time means nothing. Less than nothing. A lot like you." The looming figure of the fox casually stepped on her, pinning her to the ground in a move that only made sense with dream logic since he had just been mildly taller than her a moment before. "Don't think I'll get distracted by that tappable ass."
She growled from beneath his paw, struggling, but the paw may as well have been made of steel for how little she could move it. "I'm a captain! I lead!" she spat out, thrashing impotently.
"You're a private with acceptable privates." The looming figure rolled their eyes. "A shitty captain as captains go. Losing your best people. Maybe we should just drop you in the dirt where you belong."
"Begone," came Luna's voice, stepping into the scene with blinding silver light that seemed to overpower and wash away the very essence of the larger figure. "You are not welcome here."
Kurva scrambled to her feet, no longer pinned by a paw that didn't exist. "What?!"
"Be at ease. This is a dream," gently counseled Luna, her wings fidgeting.
"Who in the hells are you?" Kurva scowled at the strange horse in her dreams. She looked something like Lulu, though larger, and Lulu didn't have wings, and the way their mane flowed without a breeze was strange, to say nothing of the stars that seemed caught in it.
"I am a friend, naught more." Luna inclined her head to the left. "That was a dream most foul. Would you wish to speak of it, to help dispel its hold on you? Otherwise it will return, and I may not be there to chase it away."
"What do you know of it?" Kurva curved her fingers, claws at the ready. "I fought long and hard to get to where I am, to be more than that."
"More than what?" The asking changed their surroundings. It was dark. There was a bed, and the sounds two creatures made when sharing such a thing.
Kurva's cheeks turned red with a mixture of rage and humiliation. "I don't do that anymore!" She waved at it with the same energy Luna had on arriving, demanding it leave, but it wasn't as easy to dispel one's own thoughts as it was for Luna to do for her. The bed was still there. "I'm a soldier. I fight. I follow and give orders."
Luna extended a wing over the wrinkled blanket and slowly drew it back, revealing the sleeping face of a peaceful Kurva in it. "Your past haunts you. Was it a means of survival?"
The still awake and troubled Kurva scowled at the strange sleep demon that was Luna. "I did what I had to, but I don't do that anymore. Get out." She pointed nowhere in particular before redirecting to the door of the bedroom she hadn't noticed and hadn't been there a moment before. "You don't get to lecture me."
"I have done no such thing." She took a slow single step towards Kurva. "I will leave if you truly wish it."
"I do."
"But know I am here to offer aid, nothing more. I will not judge what I see." She swiveled an ear at Kurva. "I've seen worse."
"Worse?!" Kurva suddenly lunged at Luna, swiping cruel claws at the mare's face, but they passed right through her as if she was nothing but an image. "How dare you! You're calling me nothing?"
"I misspoke." Luna's tone was gentle and patient. This was far from the first troubled mind she had visited. "A person's nightmares is always large, looming impossibly high before them. I am here to provide an external vantage." She leaned in, touching noses with the irate vixen. "I can see it from the outside. Your darkness is deep, but it can be faced. You are a warrior, are you not? Let's fight what needs to be challenged, and beaten."
"Why do you care?! Unless you're just... Oh!" A laugh began to build in her chest, tinged with hysteria. "Of course... I'm just comforting myself, reasoning... I've been thrown to the ponies. Why wouldn't I? Damn it..." She put a hand to her head. "You're just a delusion. Some pathetic fragment of myself that wants a cuddly pony to comfort them. Pathetic..."
Luna smiled thinly. "And if I am? Is that so bad? I will hold you, and I will not judge you. For this evening at least, accept that comfort. It will not make you weaker."
"You don't even have hands," Kurva spat, rolling her eyes. "Why am I arguing this? Go away!"
"As you wish." She turned in place, facing a wall. "I cannot promise I will be there, next time, but perhaps? It is your decision."
"Buzz off," spat the agitated vixen, glaring at Luna's back end until it finished walking through the wall. "Bloody..."
Lulu awakened, and wasn't alone. Her right arm was over something soft and fuzzy. She coiled to look down and see what she was wrapped around. There was Garou, sleeping peacefully. She smiled faintly, quiet a moment before she gave him a rough shove off her bed.
He yelped as the hoof caught him and a second time when he hit the ground. "Ow! Hey..." He sat up and looked around the dim light of the morning. "Mornin'."
"And good morning to you as well." Lulu rolled upright to a seated position, a brush floating in her magic to start putting her mane right. Ah, for the days it flowed itself mostly into position. "You are fortunate we are friends, little wolf, or I would draw more ire at your approaching me in my slumber."
"You shouldn't be surprised to have a friendly canine of any kind curled up with you." He inclined his head left and right. "But if it bothers, I won't do it again."
Luna stepped free of the bed, looking around to see Rockhoof was already awake, slowly re-braiding his mane. A slow and arduous task it appeared with only hooves and mouth to work with. Luna reached with her magic. "May I lend a hoof?" Soon she was seated by him, helping get his mane under control. "This is a pain we can share."
He chuckled softly at that. "Your own locks giving you trouble, lass?"
A soft grunt drew their eyes. Kurva was also awake. Just woken up or just announcing herself wasn't clear, but she was watching them. "Is community grooming time just how this squad operates?"
"The sooner we're groomed," spoke Celestia, emerging from under her blanket. "The sooner we can get to work. Garou, help her get ready for the day."
"As you command." He saluted with a paw that became a hand just for the moment he needed it for the proper salute before leaping up onto the bed with Kurva. "Hiya! Should I get your hair like it was yesterday?"
Kurva held up a lone claw. "I have hands. I can handle myself. You want to be useful? Where's the shower?"
Garou pointed the way to the little curtained shower right there in the room. "There ya go. I can help with the drying afterwards if you rather?"
"No... That will not be required." She hopped down, half-rolling off the upper bunk and landing on her feet to pad towards the shower. "Right here... practically in the middle of everyone."
"At least I added a curtain," noted Rockhoof, looking proud of his contribution. "No mare should have to shower in eyes of stallions. Ain't right."
Luna softly bonked him on the head, her magic still working his mane. "As if we have any desire to see you showering either. Thank you for your timely effort."
Kurva slipped into the mild safety of the curtained area, her clothing soon emerging, hurled over the top. "Does this bunk have people on laundering duty, or are we on our own?"
Celly shook her head, her own magic working to ease the knots from her own mane. "We're on our own. We take turns in the squad handling it. Are your clothes in need of cleaning?"
Lulu raised a hoof. "It is Trixie's turn." Her eyes rolled. "I will remind her of the fact."
"Speaking of her," came Kurva's voice as the water began to run. "I haven't seen her. Where is she?"
Celly inclined her head towards the window. "Likely outside, in her wagon. She strongly prefers it to the bunk, and it allows her to keep an eye on the supplies, so no harm there."
Kurva's tongue clucked loudly. "That is next level dedication from a quartermaster..." Her head peeked up over the curtain, drenched. "What's the catch?" She sank back down, splashing sounds revealing she was cleaning herself. "Nocreature's that dedicated to supply work."
Lulu brushed Rockhoof's mane with her hooves lightly, inspecting them. "There you are." Her magic grabbed a mirror and pulled it into position. "All better."
"You did a right good job," he agreed, turning to her. "How can I pay you back?"
Lulu held up a hoof. "Think nothing of it. We've bled for each other. Doing one another's mane is a tiny thing in comparison."
A rapping came from the door. The water of the shower stopped instantly and a wet hand reached out, snatching a towel with lighting speed.
Celly sat up tall on her bunk. "Who is it?"
"Captain Gnaw," came the muffled reply. "Corporal?"
"Yes, sir." She stepped down to her hooves, her magic opening the door without hesitation. "Good morning, Captain."
Gnaw stepped inside as the door opened, eyes darting to take in the room. "Trixie?"
Celly shook her head. "Our most recent addition, Private Kurva."
"Recent addition?!" Captain Gnaw scowled. "The cheek..." He pushed it aside. "Nevermind that. I've come with something you forgot to pick up yesterday."
Celly's ears went up. "Forgot? What did I forget, sir?"
He reached into a pocket and drew out a bag that wasn't very large, unsurprising giving his stature. "Your payment. That is why you are here, is it not?" Celly looked ready to argue, but he held up a free hand, forestalling her. "You went above and beyond the call of duty, all of you. You risked your health without prompting and secured the mission beyond the scope you had been given." He leaned forward as if to loom, even if he had to look up at the form of Celly. "And yet, to not request your payment promptly? A curious thing for a mercenary? A curious lack of cheek..."
The drier but still unruly-furred head of Kurva peeked out from the top of the shower, peering at them but not speaking.
Garou suddenly coughed. "Sorry for speaking out of turn, but we thought that was Trixie's job, as quartermaster. She didn't get our money?"
Celly took the out offered. "And I was just complimenting her. I swear... Still, thank you for addressing that." She held a hoof out towards Gnaw and his offer of payment.
Captain Gnaw had to underhandedly lob the bag up in an arc to land on Celly's hoof. "You earned it, Corporal. No, only officers can accept payment, or receive payment. If you want to pay your underlings, that is at your discretion." He straightened his tie to the middle of his chest. "Understood?"
"Crystal clear." Celly lifted her left ear. "Perhaps Trixie tried then, and was denied. Now I feel bad. Would she have gotten into trouble?"
"Depends who she asked." Gnaw rolled a little hand in the air. "If she had the smarts to ask another, superior, quartermaster, a simple 'no' might have been all she got." He leveled a finger up at Celly. "She is your responsibility. I expect you to check in with her after we finish."
"Yes, sir." She raised her arms to salute properly, her bag of money falling for her effort, but caught in her magic. "Was there anything else?"
"If it were entirely my decision, I would be telling you to relax, but we have another mission coming, quickly. Be at readiness to move out at a moment's notice." He turned in a sharp 180 for the door he had come in through. "Expect it to be violent. They've decided that's the highest value specialty your team has."
Celly nodded shallowly. "They, but not you, sir?"
"We obey commands." He began to march off. "And we keep our thoughts to ourselves. The cheek..."
Celly's magic glowed on the door as she closed it behind him. Garou huffed softly. "He obviously does not agree with them."
Lulu laughed, a single note. "That much is clear. He asked us to conduct a 'civil' war. Plunging us directly to violence is quite an upset from that."
"What you get, killing your fellow soldiers." Kurva emerged, 90% dry and still working on brushing herself off. "They figured you must be good at that, killing things."
"Offer's still on the table." Garou snatched the brush that Lulu had recently finished with. "Bet I could reach--"
Lulu grabbed the brush out of Garou's hand and swatted him on the top of the head. "She is perfectly capable of tending to her own needs," she chastised. She then floated the brush towards Kurva, near her hand. "Here."
Kurva snatched the floating thing, banishing the glow with its sudden movement. "Thanks..."
Celly moved to approach the shower next, divesting herself of her armor along the way. "Dibs. CO's privileges."
Garou burst into laughter. "Oh, it's good to be in charge. Grabbing showers before the rest of us." He shook himself out. "I'm not that dirty anyway." He loped for the door and reared up, grabbing the doorknob and soon seeing himself out with a happy wag of his tail.
Rockhoof looked out their small window. "I think I'll go check on Trixie, make sure she's alright."
"Excellent idea," came Celestia's voice from behind the screen, soon distorted with running water. "Tell us how she's doing out there."
"Hm?" Trixie peered at Rockhoof at her door. The moment she had opened the top half, he had shoved his face right into her wagon. "I'm just fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Celestia, er, Celly was just a mite worried after we learned only officers could go askin' for money. Thought ya mighta tried." He lifted his shoulders. "But you look alright."
"Trixie is just fine, but since you brought it up." She held out a hoof. "She will gladly take her portion of the pay. I did my portion of the work! In fact, I did a lot of it. I'm the one that convinced the people, and saved them. My portion should reflect how Great and Powerful I was." She buffed her chest. "Even if that does come naturally to me."
"You did just fine," easily agreed Rockhoof with a warm smile for his compatriot. "But Celly didn't give me the money. I just came to make sure you were alright."
"While I do appreciate you caring for me." She trotted for the door, closing with Rockhoof. "How am I supposed to keep stocked on what I, and the rest of you, need without funds?" She reared up and set a hoof on his nose, a move he didn't resist. "So, if you don't mind, go back up there and shake Celly until the money comes out."
Rockhoof gently pushed her hoof away. "Oh, yes, ye just remembered me. We have a new squaddie."
Trixie lifted an ear at that. "Did Celly recruit them? That sounds like something she'd do."
"Neigh." He inclined his head towards the bunks. "She just wandered in with orders to join us. A fox creature, a lass."
"Two or four?"
Rockhoof caught the meaning. "Two. She was takin' a shower when I was leavin'. Speakin' of that, don't mean to be prying at all, lass, but do you have a shower in here?" His eyes trailed over the clutter of the interior of her wagon. He could see no shower, but neither could he confirm none was there.
Trixie lowered her hat to cover her face and any blush she may have had, or not. "Do not question a magician on their tricks! Trixie assures you that she is ready to perform. You said we have a new member? I should meet them." The door glowed with her magic, the bottom swinging out until it crashed into Rockhoof.
He backed up, allowing it to finish its swing, unable to move him without his consent. "Sure. She's a bit prickly, lass, so take care of yourself."
"Not the first unruly fan I've ever dealt with."
"About that." Rockhoof leaned in, Trixie past the door that was already closing. "She used to be a corporal, in charge of that team we just finished cleaning up."
Trixie hopped a step away. "You're kidding? Her?!" A wicked smirk spread on her face. "Trixie has been learning things. What rank does she have?"
Rockhoof arched a brow before shaking himself out. "Private, if I recall proper."
"Excellent." Trixie pumped a hoof triumphantly. "You realize what this means?"
"Afraid you've gone and lost me, lass. What does this mean?" He ran a hoof along his beard, eyeing the tricky spellcaster.
"It means she is the lowest ranking member of our squad." Trixie tapped one forehoof against the other from the side, still standing on them. "We are specialists. Celly is a corporal. We're all over privates. Poor thing. I could use a stage assistant. Do you think she's any good at legerdemain?"
"Don't rightly know what that is," he admitted as he fell in with her, walking back towards the bunk. "Still, she seems on edge. I wouldn't go right to pressing her to chores as a way of saying hello."
"Asking what she is a capable of is not the same as making her do it." She glanced to the side at Rockhoof. "Besides, she's in our squad, so she has to. So there." She shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't make the rules." She grabbed the doorknob of the door leading to their room but paused, glancing to Rockhoof. "It is this one, right?"
"That's the one." He nodded towards it.
She threw it open. "Trixie has arrived!"
Kurva jumped, the most surprised of the room, though it faded quickly, frowning. "You're in one piece."
"Good to see," agreed Celly with a bright smile. "Any news?"
"Two." Trixie pointed to Kurva. "Welcome to the squad. I need a full rundown of your skills and equipment needs. I didn't plan on becoming the quartermaster, but Trixie will not be known for not getting things done." Her hoof directed towards Celestia. "I hear we got paid. I want my cut! I did my part, two parts worth! Besides that, I didn't hear a thing about promotions. You did great in your part too, and you were in charge." She raised a brow. "They should be raining rewards on you. Go demand it."
Lulu twitched an ear softly. "I confess to not understanding the workings of how easily one should rise in ranks in this army." She looked to Kurva. "You've been here longer, perhaps you could help?"
Celly smiled at Lulu's question even as her magic began to retrieve valuable but small bits of currency. Tiny things, made of exceptionally valuable metals and gems to make up for their size. She sprinkled them on Trixie's waiting hoof, though she was looking to Kurva. "Yes, kindly. A little help along those lines would be quite helpful. Is the rank after corporal, Captain?"
"Not quite." She grit her teeth hard a moment, muscles in her face bulging in that instant. "There are conscript ranks, and officer ranks." She leveled a finger at Celestia. "You're higher, for a conscript, but still a conscript rank."
Celly's brows raised. "They trust me enough to lead. What is a captain then?"
"Officer rank," she spat out. "Where I should be... Assuming you're still playing with conscripts, your next step is sergeant."
"Like you?" almost sang out Trixie, smiling at Kurva. "Whatever, sergeant. They should make you that then. Bet they never had another corporal as good."
Lulu stepped around Celly. "You didn't want that rank."
Kurva glowered at Lulu. "Don't act like you know me." She crossed her arms and turned half away. "I should be a lieutenant at least. Instead, I was busted down to private, under conscripts. They didn't fire me, but they practically could have, shoving me down this hard. It means they expect me to mess up again, harder, maybe just get myself killed."
Lulu reached a hoof only to have it swatted away. "I don't need your sympathy," snarled the vixen. "I've put his words together. He'll send you all somewhere to die in glorious combat, and take me right along with you. I was--"
Her words were cut off, a pony advancing right in her face, Lulu looking into her eyes. "He has no power over you," spoke Lulu firmly.
Kurva grabbed Lulu by both shoulders, her claws digging in painfully. "I didn't mention anyone. Who are you talking about? Nocreature has power over me."
Celly's golden magic appeared around Kurva's fingers, pulling them out and away from her sister. "I do," she stated flatly. "And I will not have you attacking your fellow squad members. Do I make myself clear?"
Kurva grunted, tail lashing behind her as she yanked away. The magic released her and she stalked to the door. "I'm going to run a few laps, sir." When Celly didn't stop her, she left.
Celly was looking towards Lulu. "That did not feel random, sister mine. What is it you saw?"
"She is a troubled creature." Lulu sat down and raised a hoof to rub where claws had dug into her. "She was abused and discarded, and she awaits the final moment of being disposed of."
Trixie shook her head. "I don't get it. Celly, my point still stands. Go demand your promotion." She exposed her teeth in a broad smile. "It'll probably come with a pay raise!
"What cheek." He had his small hands on equally small hips, looking up at the massive form of his soldier. "Most know better than to go demanding promotions, especially for being so new."
Celly smiled at the little hamster. For his words, she felt little fear from him. "Most do not perform as efficiently as we do. I confess, one of my squad mates is eager to know if I can secure it, and with it, additional pay to share with them."
"Already chasing larger seeds? Typical mercenaries." He huffed, crossing his arms. "Still, were it entirely my decision, I would have already been coming to you with such news."
Celly inclined her head faintly. "Oh? Who's decision is it?"
Gnaw hiked a thumb upwards. "Our favorite fox, my boss, and I don't think he's even considering it. The cheek... Even if it worked out in his favor in the end, you did wipe the floor with his old units. Promotions are not what he's thinking about right now." He turned for the window. "He'll be handing down orders as soon as he can. Are you ready for that?"
"We will rise, sir." Celly turned towards the door she had entered from. "Permission to speak freely?"
"Denied," he replied instantly. "I am your captain. The cheek of even asking."
Celly considered that, raising a hoof to her chin before it fell to the floor. "I have heard some things that make a mercenary curious. They say officers take additional steps, past conscripts."
"Tell me the army that isn't true in?" barked little Gnaw. "Admittedly, not all armies have conscript ranks to begin, still, there are officers, and the rank and file." He wobbled a hand. "The two are not the same. Why is that confusing?"
"That there is a line isn't the question." Her thoughts went to her own captains and generals, head above the usual guards and soldiers of her equine forces when she was princess. "More of the... means of proving oneself worthy."
He reached up, tugging a rope so small Celly hadn't even noticed it beforehoof. The blinds on his office snapped shut. "You are in a curious position, arriving of your own volition in a bold display of cheek." He turned stiffly towards her. "You are still a conscript, in the order of things. Do you thirst to devote yourself fully?"
"If you would give a hint as to what that means, exactly?" She leaned in, her nose taking up much of his view. "There is much I don't understand, and you value me for taking in the situation before moving rashly."
A seed he had been holding in his cheeks crunched loudly as it slid between his teeth to worry on. "You're a good kid." He turned away from her, leaving the question unanswered.
Celly watched him a moment, considering how to advance when she felt so close to getting where she wanted. "I would rather take in the situation, sir. Excuse my cheekiness. Are you not allowed to say more?"
He raised a hand, finger curling to beckon Celly closer. When she came in close enough, he grabbed a few of her hairs without looking. "You're asking for trouble. You're a good corporal, probably should be sarge, but you'd get chewed up and spat out."
His grip was nothing Celly couldn't resist, but that didn't stop her from being surprised at the bravery of the little leader that held her in such a way. Her ears danced atop her head. "What about you, captain?"
He shoved her away. Well, he tried. He propelled himself forward far more than the scant bit he managed to get Celly's skull to move. "The cheek! I am your superior. You don't care how I'm doing, just that you get paid and that I give you sensible orders."
"While we don't know one another on a personal level." Celly sat where she was, remaining close to him. "I would much rather see you happy than not, sir. Would you like to talk about it?"
"Are you trying to give me permission to speak freely?" He spun on her, glaring with malice that did not mix well with his size. "The cheek!" He glanced towards the door beyond Celly. "What you're asking could get you in serious trouble. Those who seek advancement have to prove their loyalty beyond a shadow of a doubt. The only shadows the mistress prefers are the ones she casts."
Celly inclined her head, putting her ear closer to him. "Did you pass this then?"
"Of course I have!" he gusted with a frantic fury. One that did nothing to convince Celly who watched him evenly with the one eye facing him. "You don't have the authority to ask that question," he grunted.
"I may not, sir... but I did it anyway. You could punish me, I suppose, but I don't think you want to do that."
"How do you speak with cheeks so full?" He stomped a tiny foot down. "You're no mercenary." He pointed up at her large form. "Who does hold your loyalty? What did you actually do to win the hearts of that town?"
Celly raised a hoof to her chest. "Don't you know, sir?" She sat up, smiling at him gently. "The true loyalty of a mercenary is to themselves. I am here because I want to be and little reason beyond that."
"Not money?" He held two fingers close together, rubbing them slowly to simulate paper money being grasped. "I would think a mercenary has a loyalty to that first."
"A misunderstanding many who don't walk that path make." She put her hoof back to the ground. "If I don't like a job, I leave. I won't get paid, but nobody can force me. No amount of coin will make me budge on that." She inclined her head. "Well, if we're being honest, which I hope we are, some sellswords have a price on their beliefs, probably more than a few, but to assume you've reached it with any given one is to invite trouble."
"You are doing an excellent job of telling us why we shouldn't have you." He crossed his arms. "What are you driving at?"
"I enjoy a happy ending, sir." She leaned in close enough that her breath washed over his clothes, making them waft. "We offered the town the happiest ending we could manage, under the circumstances. We fought for them to avoid a miserable end to as many as we could. This pleases us, and, as mercenaries, that is how we should be expected to behave."
"Moron," he hissed with a stunning lack of facial references. "What stunt are you trying to pull? Why would you admit that, to me of all the people you could?! It is my duty to report how incredibly disloyal you are."
"But you won't do that," she stated confidently.
"Why wouldn't I?" he challenged, glaring up at her. "Are you going to threaten me?"
"Perish the thought, sir. I think we can offer one another far more than casual threats." She slid one hoof forward. "Now, I could be wrong, quite possible. I won't fight you, sir." The idea of physically engaging in a battle against the tiny captain jumped into her head and was brushed aside just as quickly. "You never took that final test. You don't like her, I think."
Captain Gnaw went rigid as a post a moment. "The cheek. I am far more trusted than you! If it comes to me versus you, you'll be the one on the chopping block." He thrust a pointing finger up at her. "What makes you even consider that?!"
"Your orders, sir." She inclined her head. "And that we were assigned to you. And that I was not promoted. You are not loyal, and someone above you knows that already. They put us here to let you slip up in some obvious way, if I had to guess, which I do."
Captain Gnaw's fierce display began to crumble. He sank back and fell, flopping onto his bottom. "But..." But the pieces came together so well. "So they put someone with bloodthirst above me, who wants to see me driven into the dirt... I'll probably be sent into the field with you." He sucked loudly on his still full cheeks. "The cheek of it all..."
"Do you need a moment, sir?" She sat up and nodded gently. "You are still our commander, all this aside."
"Don't patronize me!" He thumped the ground with a fist, using the force to push up back to his feet. "You're a mercenary, as you just reminded me. You could walk away at any time."
"Not without you... If you wanted to come along." She lifted an ear at him. "But that's a topic for another day. Captain gnaw, sir, can you share what you know, for both of our sake?"
There was an awkward silence in the closed office, only the muffled noises of those who worked nearby. "If you want to know so badly." Captain Gnaw moved for a chair, clambering up onto its seat. "We'll carry this secret to the grave if we step poorly. Corporal, our lives are in each other's paws."
She held up a hoof. "You are welcome to rest on my hoof whenever you wish. I have a feeling you rarely do otherwise. Please, continue."
"It works like this..."
Kurva circled around the circuit that wound through the barracks. She had gone for longer than she usually did, but the anger in her didn't allow her to consider stopping just yet. A canine she didn't want to talk to came loping up beside her. "Unless you have an order, buzz off, specialist."
"I don't think I will, private." He ducked under her sudden kick. "You still have fight in you," he laughed, not at all upset for having been attacked. "You know, we're not the ones that put you where you are."
"I'm just waiting for the 'good' news. I'll make a good show of it." She clapped her hands together with a ring of the gauntlets on them. "If they think I'll give up easy, that's another mistake on their side."
"We're also here," noted Garou with a canine grin as he galloped alongside Kurva's speedy jog. "We haven't lost a member so far, and don't plan to start now. I know you don't super like us, but you're still with us."
She suddenly came to a halt. Garou had to loop back around to reach her, looking at her curiously. "You aren't wrong," she noted, chest rising and falling as she regained her breath. "Even if I hate you all, we live or die, together." She raised a gauntleted hand to her forehead. "God, I'm being such a drama queen. Rule #1! You live and die by your squaddies." She made a gun-shape with a hand at Garou. "You're all specialists. What do you do?"
Garou reared up, his body shifting as he did to become more of a wolf person than a wolf. "A few things. Glad you're ready to work this together. We all want to make it through this, right?"
"Right." Her teeth gritted. "The last person I thought had my back, doesn't. You say you're better? At least we'll be on the same battlefield. Not as much room to hide back from the fallout."
"Side by side," agreed Garou with a firm nod. "Shields. I do those. Go on, punch me. Oh, be--" Her gauntlet-clad fist slammed into the air just in front of his face. "--careful, they're not soft."
She yanked her paw back, rubbing at it as she hissed. "Damn... That's quite a trick. Have you tested how strong it is?"
"Got a good idea how to do that?" He allowed his tongue to loll. "I mean, what, get stronger and stronger people to take a swing?"
"Hardly practical," she allowed, walking past him as if to continue her run, but it was more of a firm walk than a jog it had been. "Anything else?"
"Your turn," he sang, matching her determined walk. "Rough break, by the way."
"You caused it," she snarled through grit teeth. "You and the rest of the devil squad. Thanks..." She clacked her gauntlets by clenching her paws into balls. "I'm not a specialist. I know how to fight well, but I have no magic. I understand logistics and strategy. I'm fit and able. No magic."
Garou jogged alongside her, shoulders lifting. "For knowing strategy, you were slow to realize you were in a losing position."
"I shouldn't have been," she got out in a strained but even tone. "It should have been a simple matter. The people of that town had no ability to meaningfully resist us. It was scheduled to be practically a vacation on the way back." She punched to the side without a hint of build up, biffing Garou on the shoulder with a vicious smirk. "Your shield is only good when you know it's coming, good to know."
Her mirth faded when she ran face-first into an unseen wall of glass that faded just as quickly, leaving her to stagger forward with a yelp of pain. "You bastard!"
"We're even," Garou sang, slowing a little for her to catch up. "Seriously, whatever we did before, we've been shoved on the same team, so how about we at least pretend to be nice?" He fell forward to all fours, turning from a jog to a more canine loping at her side. "We're not so bad, promise."
"No, we are not. It's your turn to say what you do." Her pace was restored from her abrupt crash. "You seem to be a shapeshifter, but limited? I've yet to see you be something that isn't, basically, a wolf. Can you do anything else?" A shaggy brow rose on her face. "Are you a changeling?"
"That'd actually be kinda cool," admitted Garou. "But no. Just wolves, you got that right. Good eye."
"One of the reasons I made corporal," she spat with a snort, accelerating a little. "All manner of wolves, curious. Anything else?"
"That isn't enough?" he asked, mixed with laughter. "I can fight. I've been poked and not cried about it. That counts, right?"
"Of course it does," she bitterly admitted before she heaved a great sigh. "Look, this isn't what I planned. If Corporal Celly has a plan that gets us through alive, I'm on board."
"All I asked," he readily agreed with a grin. "Let's get through this, together. They think they can get rid of us easy? Ha, better creatures have tried."
Kurva began to smile a little. "You have the right of it. We won't let them take us without a bitter fight. Her booted foot collided with a rock, sending it flying off the track. "Maybe get a chance to get my claws in him."
"Who?"
"Nothing." The jogging proceeded, but she didn't try to chase Garou off that day.
Celly glanced around. "Garou, Kurva?"
"They're out," reported Rockhoof. "Doing laps around there." He pointed out the window where the track they were using could be seen in small part. "It's a nice sight."
"I agree." Lulu inclined her head faintly. "Garou seems suspiciously capable of getting close to others."
Celly smiled at that. "Let us not be suspicious of anycreature too skilled in using friendship and turning it to benign ends. What a double-speaker I would be if I made that a habit." Her face fell to a more neutral stance. "I have news, good and bad."
Rockhoof sighed at that. "Start with the bad, get it out of the way."
"Very well." She pointed through a wall. "Captain Gnaw understands what we are, but he is also compromised and this is clearly a known fact."
"That felt like both at once," grumped Rockhoof, frowning. "Go about definin' 'compromised'?"
"Is he a spy?" asked Lulu with a raised brow. "How bold."
"Nothing of the sort, not as you are imagining." She sat down on her cot lightly before sinking entirely to her belly. "He is a dissenter. He would see this empire move cautiously, taking without needless brutality."
"But still for it then?" asked Rockhoof, rolling a hoof. "Seems at ends."
"Creatures can be like that," counter Lulu. "He sees more good in his presence than without. I imagine he is not alone."
"I cannot be certain there, but I learned something else troubling."
Rockhoof threw up a hoof, almost rolling over. "So which of this is good or bad?"
"It simply is, dear friend." She smiled gently before clearing her throat. "Those who accept officer ranks have, by and large, accepted a trial of loyalty that binds the mind and soul of the taker to the 'mistress' everyone talks about. Captain Gnaw says he ducked under it. I'm still not sure how, and he wouldn't disclose it... He's already given enough for me to not feel anger towards him."
Lulu shook her head slowly. "I have little to be properly upset at that small captain about, though it remains humorous that one so tiny issues us orders."
"About that."
"There's more?!" Rockhoof came up on his belly and sat up properly. "Tell me when you get to the end of it."
"We are both certain he will accompany us, whenever the next assignment is given. His new leader has no love for us, and none for Gnaw either. He will, without a doubt, aim to be rid of us both in some dramatic fashion."
Luna spread her wings in a defiant stance. "Let them try." Those wings vanished a moment later, Lulu returned.
"It ain't that easy," cut in Rockhoof. "If they send us to fight people that ain't deserve to be fought, us winnin' means they lose. How're we handling that?"
"That would be the worst of the news," admitted Celly.
"You are both nickering at nothing at all." Lulu tapped her hooves together. "Our plan has not changed at all. If we are sent to battle, we win the battle. We do the least harm as we do it, and we get closer to the source of all this trouble. Speaking of that, Sister, did you learn a thing more of this 'Mistress'?"
Rockhoof brought his hooves together far more loudly than Lulu's little taps. "If we could just find her and teach her a lesson or three, we'd be done with this. I'm lookin' forward to that."
"Hear hear," easily agreed Lulu even as the door opened.
Their vulpine member slipped inside. "What's everyone so happy about?" Garou slinked in a moment before her, kicking the door shut behind them.
Celly sat up on her bed. "We were discussing how dangerous our next mission is likely to be."
"Oh, so were we," admitted Kurva with a shrug. "He said you were good at keeping your troops alive. Better than me? Prove it. If I'm around to moan about it, we'll call it a win for you." She worked off her gauntlets and tossed them aside. "If you have a plan, now's as good a time as any."
"I do not." Celly inclined her head. "A plan without knowing the mission is tenuous at best, and counter-productive at worst. Garou, did you enjoy yourself?"
"She's great at running," he cheerfully offered. "Nothing like a good jog to get the pant going on." He was still panting, huffing air over his wet tongue. "I'm going to turn the water on and just... enjoy it." And off he went, slipping into the shower and water heard flowing a moment later along with the gargle as he sat beneath the faucet, allowing the cold water to flood his mouth and overflow in a greatly messy display that was thankfully hidden by the sheet.
Kurva snorted, turning away from the shower. "I call dibs after he's finished making a shameful thing of himself."
Lulu smiled at Kurva. "You seem in better spirits. It is good to see."
"I haven't forgotten the questions I have for you." She directed two fingers at her own eyes, then at Lulu's. "If your magic is in the head, stay well away from mine." She crossed her arms. "My mind is my own!"
Celly inclined her head, suddenly having an idea why Kurva never made officer ranks. "Not even the Mistress then?"
"I'm already doing her dirty work. She can stay out of my head too." She threw up a hand. "Are you looking for an excuse to have me removed?"
"No! No..." Celly shook a hoof in the air. "Not at all. I would not wish her intruding on my mind either."
Lulu set a hoof on her chest. "Your mind will not be tampered with," she promised. "Unless you wish it."
"What?" Kurva glared at Lulu with renewed intensity. The water stopped and Garou emerged, shaking off water as he went. "I'm washing the stink off. We can talk afterwards." She pointed to Celly on the way in. "And don't stop me! I deserve a few answers."
Celly watched Kurva vanish into the shower before looking to Lulu. "Did you?"
"Not intentionally," lamely defended Lulu with a little shrug. "I won't do it again if it bothers her so terribly..."
"I can hear you," reminded Kurva. "This sheet is barely thick enough to preserve modesty and ill else."
Things became quiet, just the sound of flowing water and the splashes of washing filling the room. Rockhoof watched the shower a moment. "Hey, uh, Kurva? That is goin' to sound like a right daft question, but forgive me. Ah'm just a stallion of simple tastes. What are you exactly? I mean, are ya comely or not?"
"Celly, do I have to answer that?" came Kurva's question from the shower.
"No." Celly smiled awkwardly at Rockhoof. "I've met my share of bipedal creatures. Rockhoof, she is comely for her people. That is not a polite question to ask a female of any heritage, I will now remind firmly. You owe her an apology." She turned an ear back. "Few are the females that wish to be asked if they are pretty."
"Oh, aye, I can imagine..." He inclined his head. "It's a stallion thing, ah swear. If someone asked if I was handsome, wouldn't even know what to say. The mares seemed to like me well enough, but that was clear over a--"
Lulu coughed loudly into a hoof.
That was enough to remind Rockhoof he was saying too much. "--over a continent away. I don't know what counts or not around here. No offense intended, Miss Kurva."
"It at least tells me you're not ogling me over there," came her grumpy reply. "So, what do you do, besides ask awkward questions? We have a shapeshifter and shield expert. And...?"
"I dig holes, tunnels, and can scrap just fine," reported Rockhoof, sitting up proudly. "Ah'm sitll learning the new star charts, but I used to be a right fine navi--"
Lulu coughed loudly.
"Would you believe the other side of the world has different stars?" recovered Rockhoof surprisingly smoothly. "Quite the thing, really."
Celly raised a hoof. "I am a spell caster, as some unicorns are. My sister, Lulu is one as well, and quite skilled at martial combat."
"And peeking into people's heads."
Lulu didn't argue the accusation, nor anyone else. "Trixie is a magician, capable of putting on quite a show, and a growing talent in general spell casting. She is also our quartermaster," added Lulu. "Don't expect much of a physical battle out of her."
Garou laughed at the mental image of Trixie trying to spar with someone. "Watch out though, if she's in a fight she can't win, she will play dirty and she knows a lot of tricks. She's taken the least nicks out of all of us."
The others agreed with a little laughter of comradery.
Kurva smiled faintly, hidden behind her sheet. Her new team was strange, and infuriating, but, perhaps, she could survive with them.
Tod paced in front of them, not facing them, not even acting as if they were there. He relished in their discomfort. Captain Gnaw was saluting sharply, frozen as if a statue. Behind him were several squads that awaited word. Among them, the Devil Squad.
Tod placed his hand on his podium as he approached it and swung around to face them at last. "You. You. You..." He pointed to different squad leaders, corporals and sergeants. "Dismissed." They saluted and began to head out, taking their squads with them.
That left Devil Squad and Captain Gnaw. "Hello, my soldiers... I have a job for you, one that can only be done by our very best." The sarcasm in his speech was barely attempted to be hidden. "It's so important, in fact, I want you--" He looked to Captain Gnaw specifically. "--to personally head it. We need, no... require success."
Gnaw nodded with all the purpose of his small frame. "We are ready to serve."
"And serve you will." Todd ran a claw over the top of his podium. "I'm sending you to where your special talents will be of the most immediate use. Oh, yes indeed." His eyes moved from one pony to the next. "A little place we have our eyes on. They have a new ruler, untested, but ready to resist us." He smirked viciously. "Maybe you've heard of it? Equestria they call it..."
He could see all the equines of the squad stiffen, some more than others. To their credit, they didn't say anything. He moved his focus to Captain Gnaw. "The order is as simple as it may be difficult. Take it. All of it."
Captain Gnaw nodded firmly. "As you command. If we're attacking such a large area, shouldn't the rest of my squads remained to join the order?"
"I have other needs of them," dismissed Todd, waving it away as if it were obvious. "Too large a force and the Equestrians will respond before you get moving. You wouldn't want that, would you? Take it, all of it. I don't care what or who you need to burn down to make that happen, but get it done." He tapped impatiently, his gaze sliding across the room from face to face. "Make sure they know to fear and respect the mistress when she arrives."
He stood up, leaning over the podium a little in the act. "Any questions?"
Celestia raised a hoof, and he looked at her. "When do we move out?"
Todd's brows raised. "That's a good question. Ready to proceed? Great. Tomorrow then. Will your squad be ready?"
"I'll make them," she assured, then looked down to Captain Gnaw. "Assuming that's acceptable?"
Captain Gnaw nodded. "I will be ready to move. Permission to go prepare?"
"Dismissed," agreed Todd. "I look forward to your successful report." Though his tone implied he wanted the report, successful or not.
As they began to filter out of the room, Todd put out an arm, blocking Kurva's path. "Private."
"Major." She stepped to the side, allowing the others of Devil Squad to leave. "What do you want?"
"That's hardly the way to speak to your superior." He huffed as he raised a hand just under her chin but not actually touching. "You look like you're keeping in shape."
"In accordance to regulations... sir." Her teeth were set, but she resisted actively snarling at him. "Do you need anything?"
"Is it so wrong to check in on a friend?" He hiked a brow. "You want out? We could... have a discussion. Get you on some other squad... You have your own 'unique' talents I feel sure I could put to use. You were always at your best when you worked under me."
It was an escape, but at what price? She shook her head, barely restraining her anger. "I'll die on the field, major, or come back with good news."
"See that you do one or the other," he dismissed, turning away from her. "Stuck up little vixen," he muttered as he stormed away towards the podium.
Kurva strode out of the room to find Celly waiting for her, Captain Gnaw perched atop her head, one of his little hands on her horn for support. She inclined her head, and him. "You don't need to say anything. Come." She turned and began to walk, Kurva following behind.
"The cheek," fumed Captain Gnaw from his lofty vantage point of Celly's brow. "Corporal, do you have a plan in mind? You are likely already quite familiar with the target."
"I am," she admitted, swiveling her ears back towards him as they emerged from the building, heading towards the barracks. "Are you not worried about my loyalty?"
"We are well past that." Captain Gnaw crossed his arms, wobbling with her steps to remain sure on her head. "I am putting faith in you and hope that my good spirit will be returned in kind. We've been given a mission, do you feel you can do it?"
Kurva rolled her eyes with a loud snort. "You going to make them roll over like you did the beavers? I heard the report. They welcomed the guards we sent and were already working by the time they got there. Mind sharing how you managed that, corporal?"
"Need to know basis," replied Celly without delay. "We will do our best. We were not commanded to raze Equestria, or even to harm a single pony, just to bring them into the empire. This can be done..."
"'This can be done?' You're kidding me." Kurva ducked out of the way of an officer coming the other way. "This isn't some small town of beavers. This is an entire nation of creatures, armed, with magic! They won't just fold because you asked them nicely. They are the reason we aren't looking at a world already under the boot heel of the Storm King, jerk he was."
Celly kept her head straight as they walked. "I will need your faith as well, Kurva. I know you are new to the team, but I plan for us all to get through it."
Kurva didn't challenge them again, silence growing.
"I'll meet you, tomorrow, 10." Captain Gnaw slid down, going along her neck and a leg to hit the ground at a scamper, vanishing into an officer's barracks. "Be ready," he called as he vanished.
"Don't think it'll save you." Kurva slid up beside Celly. "I was in good with my captain too. He's a major now, as you can see."
"And you are a private." Celly folded one ear back. "Hardly fair."
"Army's aren't about being 'fair'." She crossed her arms under her chest as she strode, a frown on her face. "It's about winning."
"Well..." Celly inclined her head a little away from Kurva. "I plan to win, and survive. While we're at it, perhaps... we could see a few creatures that need a comeuppance receive what they have coming, hm?"
They returned to their room to prepare for the deployment.
The next day, Devil Squad, and Captain Gnaw, had gathered. Gnaw was perched atop Trixie's wagon, pointing the way as Trixie marched in front of him. She looked over her shoulder. "Don't get too comfortable, captain. This is my wagon."
Celly walked along with the others. "No need to be short with our captain," she gently admonished. "Today we start a new mission. Isn't that exciting?"
"Quite," agreed Lulu. "But to Equestria?" She hiked a brow. "We shall start at the beginning. How do we reach it?"
Gnaw pointed a bit to the right. "We've been allowed airship transport. It will be a civilian ship that hasn't yet been painted."
"Perfect." Celly nodded with growing confidence. "We will come as any other traveler. No reason to set off all the alarms just coming in for a landing."
Rockhoof raised a hoof to his chin as he walked. "Too right..."
Kurva rolled her eyes suddenly. "Ugh, that one?" She pointed to a ship. "Looks like it's piloted by minotaurs."
It was the very ship they had come in on, with its crew still working it. A gangplank ran down from it to the docks they were headed towards.
Garou nodded at it. "Huh, we'll know the crew at least... Hope they don't hold, uh, that, against us." Sure, they hadn't been the one tossing the captain overboard, but it had been their commission to go there in the first place.
They strode along the plank up to the boat. One of the may minotaurs doing their duties jogged over. "Good day, sirs." He saluted in the way of the Mistress' army. "We'll be ready to leave on schedule!"
Not a word was mentioned of past dealings, instead just being shown which way their rooms were as if they hadn't been there before. Lulu hung back, getting in the minotaur's way once the others had moved on. "We are sorry, I wish to say." She lifted an ear at him. "Your captain deserved better than what he ended with, and it was partially our fault."
"Ma'am." He ducked his head, but scooted around her, hurrying back to duty without responding to her apology in the slightest.
Lulu's eyes followed him and his rigid and formal form. "Hmm..." She trotted to their room, willing the door open for as long as it took her to pass through it, closing it behind herself. "There are feelings running high, but they hide it, poorly, in my view." Her eyes went to Kurva. "You have longer experience than we. How do they ensure loyalty after being conscripted in such an... unpleasant fashion?"
Kurva gestured to herself and the rest of the room with a broad sweep of her paw. "By us, the ones of us that actually fight and need them to stay in line if we want a ride." She leveled a finger at Captain Gnaw. "Officers especially. We keep the rawest conscripts in line by making sure they're never far from watchful eyes."
Garou huffed softly, already sank to his belly. "Huh, alright." He looked to Gnaw. "Do you know what happened?"
"Hm?" Gnaw looked up from a little book he had been writing in. "This ship was given by civilians once they were informed of its urgent need."
Kurva put a paw to her face. Lulu scowled. "And you believe that? We rode this very ship here. They had a captain, a good creature... They hurled him overboard and over his broken body, they declared the ship was theirs as was its crew."
Gnaw peered at them suspiciously a moment before whistling through his teeth. "The cheek of it. That's just wasteful." He threw a small hand to the side. "The captain obviously knew his job. Calm discussion would have been the order of the day, but I wasn't assigned to that task."
Celly's ears danced faintly. "Quite a waste," she agreed with a mild bit of tension. "When do--" The floor shuddered beneath them, the ship lifting from the ground. "Never mind that question. If we head towards Equestria at the rate we approached, we should be there in a few days. Where in Equestria have the crew been told to land?"
Gnaw looked up at Celly, pointing with his quill. "You obviously have firsthand experience. Do you have a recommendation? Currently they are simply moving in the general direction of the nation." He turned the quill to point to a rough map of Equestria proper. The larger cities were labeled smartly, but the smaller towns weren't there. Ponyville was one of the many omitted. "Have a look, give me three options and why."
Celly strode towards the map as Garou slipped out the door. She considered the options. Going to Canterlot and speaking with Twilight immediately was certainly an option, and, perhaps, not an awful one... But she was not alone. Captain Gnaw was watching her, as well as Kurva. They were not Equestrians, nor specifically loyal to it. One of them was a true wild card, perhaps eager to take advantage of any naked displays of disloyalty.
It would not be a simple choice.
Garou loped along down the hallway. "Where are you going?" asked a voice behind him. He yelped, hopping up and darting around to see who was there, but there was nocreature. "Well?" Garou turned his ears, realizing the voice was coming from his back.
"Captain?" he hazarded. "I thought you were waiting on Celly."
"That doesn't give you permission to wander off." He poked one of Garou's fuzzy ears with a clawtip. "Where are you going?"
"I was inspecting the ship, sir." He resumed his trek, taking Captain Gnaw along with him. "I didn't mean to snap. I'm just used to Celly being my command. You're her command. Chain, you know how it goes."
That seemed to put some thought in Captain Gnaw. "You mercenaries have no idea how things work in proper military command." He tapped a foot down on Gnaw's head, making his vision bounce just faintly. "Celly is a corporal. When a captain is speaking, they are your world. If something happens that needs immediate direction, Celly is there to provide it. When I am there, I am your sun."
Garou couldn't help but smile in his canine way, fairly certain Celly won out for sun-like qualities and habits. "Yes, sir!"
He felt Gnaw sit down on his head. "We don't typically have many mercenaries in the ranks," admitted Gnaw as they ambled along. "They create a lot of headaches, just like this one. In your eyes, I'm not your commander. To an average soldier, I would be." He crossed his arms. "The cheek... Whoever let you in caused this problem for both of us."
"Awfully inconsiderate of them," he allowed as he started up some stairs to the deck. "But if they hadn't, we wouldn't have met, sir. So I'm not too angry at them."
Gnaw went quiet as they emerged onto the deck. Garou went for a knot of minotaurs talking quietly, the conversation dying down to nothing as he came close. "Can we help you?" asked one of them, peering at the wolf and his small rider. "We're not there yet."
"Not that we know where 'there' is," noted another with a shrug. "Got an update on that?"
"That we do not. In progress. I believe he has other questions?" Gnaw tapped a canine ear.
"Yeah. Now that we aren't landed." He turned an ear towards Gnaw. "Alright if we have a private conversation?"
"This is a military vessel," reminded Gnaw. "There are no 'truly' private conversations." He crossed his arms, standing up.
"Yeah, and that's why they got quiet." He lowered his head. "I'll be back in a bit, promise?"
Gnaw slid down to his own feet, directing an accusing finger at Garou. "I expect a full report." And he turned in place, marching off with all the decorum of his station.
Garou watched him go a moment before sitting up. "Alright, look, you don't need to be guarded around me. I won't squeal, promise." He pointed at where Gnaw had gone. "He's not even a bad guy, if a bit 'by the book'." He rolled his eyes. "And blind to the fact that most of the people around him use the book as emergency TP."
One of the minotaurs snorted. "Hey, we respect a good set of regulations."
"Nothing wrong with sensible rules," agreed another. "But that army doesn't do that." He gestured at Garou. "You were with us. You saw it..."
The first crouched a bit closer to Garou's level. "Is there a reason we shouldn't mutiny the instant we're over Equestrian soil?"
Garou inclined his head. "Well, for one, we're already working on it." He raised a paw to his chest. "You guys follow the rules, right? Trust us. We don't want you here either. You do exactly what you were asked to do, and we'll get you where you want to be."
"And for two?" asked the second with a roll of a hand. "You look like you got a two stuffed in there."
"Well, yeah." Garou shrugged softly. "We are soldiers and what not. We know how to fight, if we have to. I'd really rather not. You guys have been abused way more than enough. Let's get through this, together, eh?"
"There is no amount of fighting that would stop us from dropping over the side," noted the first, hiking a thumb at the free air. "Unless you know how to pilot this thing and got more crew hidden away somewhere."
Garou lifted his paws that became more like hands to hold flat towards them. "Woah, let's not go down that road. No hurting yourselves. We're not here to lay a finger, or hoof, on you, I swear on a big fat stack of regulations. You follow our plan, and you get away, without throwing yourself to a painful end." He winced a little. "Please."
A hand came down on Grou's left shoulder, a third minotaur leaning over. "When this is over, what happens to us?"
Garou turned an ear back at the garou behind him. "Well, I'm not Celly, but I'd guess you guys get your ship, and you sail it away."
He gripped Garou all the more firmly. "Why should we just assume you'd let a whole airship go?"
Garou huffed softly, looking over his shoulder to see who had him in such an iron grip. "Well, for one, we don't fly ships. For two, it was your ship to start. I mean, your captain's... but he's... uh, gone, so...?"
"Should go to his daughter," argued one of the sailors.
"Yeah," agreed the second. "Closest living relative and all that. The way it works."
Garou shrank a moment before expanding rapidly, losing the grip on him as he danced forward. "Hey, if you fly to his daughter's house and present the ship, that sounds like a happy ending to me. That'd make me pretty happy, knowing at least she got something out of this whole ugly affair. She, uh... deserves to know what happened to him..."
Two of them hung their heads, but the one that had grabbed him closed in. "You don't know her."
"And I don't need to to know her." He huffed. "Do you need to know a specific person to know they should be told their father died... and how it happened? C'mon, seriously." He looked away from all three of them. "Shoot... I hope my folks aren't too torn up."
They looked at him curiously, questions raised, but also answered. A hand touched him, but it wasn't crushing, just a little pat. They dispersed, apparently satisfied with the motives of the wolf. He descended back towards the other.
Celly and Lulu nodded at one another before they raised their hooves as one and pointed. "Cloudsdale."
Gnaw's brows went up together. "The center of their air force? That seems cheeky even for you. Why?"
Lulu nodded to Celly, who turned to Gnaw. "If we can convince them not to fight, the battle is already half over," she explained. "If we come in at any other direction, we risk Cloudsdale coming on us before we're ready. They're the wildest card in Equestria when it comes to military strength."
Her sister gestured at the map. "Less ideal, we could move for Canterlot, but, as noted, we risk Cloudsdale's approach while we're busy. Cloudsdale has another advantage."
"And that is?"
Celly smiled lightly. "Only pegasi or talented unicorns can step on it. They can not expect backup, as the majority of other ponies simply cannot do so, no matter how much they'd wish to. If Cloudsdale falls, it will do it alone, and that weakens all of Equestria."
"I appreciate the thought behind your idea." He hopped up and approached the map, extending his pointer several times to reach as he swatted. "What's wrong with Manehatten, their commercial and business hub?"
Lulu shook her head. Celly offered words, "While there is a considerable amount of economic activity there, agitating it would only invite reprisal from both of the other two. It would be the easiest to take first, but ultimately the hardest to keep one's hooves on. I can't recommend it, captain."
Rockhoof was sitting there patiently. It was not his mind to work up schemes and plans. He was ready with his shovel, and so his job was complete.
Gnaw folded his pointer with a loud snap. "Very well. Inform the minotaurs of our destination."
Celly looked right to Garou. "You heard him."
Garou panted as he rose right back from where he had been sitting. "Up and down, such is my life." He loped off to deliver the news.
Gnaw turned in place. "I need a run down of their military abilities and what we will be facing." He turned the folded pointer at Celly. "Begin."
Celly sat down on her belly and offered a hoof, soon raising Gnaw up onto a desk where he could be above them. "Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land."
Gnaw rolled a hand in the air. "A little further along than that."
Celly smiled gently. "As you wish, captain." And she began to give a run down on her kingdom and its strengths. "They have learned the magic of friendship. Be wary, they will surely attempt to convince us of the error of our ways."
Celly looked out over the front of the ship as her kingdom, or what had once been her kingdom, began to roll beneath them. She could spy landmarks she recognized and her thoughts strayed. If they could pilot the ship wherever they pleased, they could see so many lovely sights.
But they could not. They were there to conquer it, not tour in it. She shook herself lightly with a low nicker. "Any sighting of Cloudsdale?" It was impossible to give specific directions to that place, being that it floated, and moved.
Gnaw scurried up along her neck. "There's been a thought gnawing at me, corporal."
"How can I help, captain?" She turned an ear but kept her eyes and face forward.
"It's a cloud with the cheek to have a city on top of it, correct?" He leaned in closer to the ear turned towards him. "How are we going to stand on it, let alone any reinforcements they would summon?"
"Common misconception." Celly stepped closer to the edge, pointing at two pegasi flying in the distance. "Pegasi can land on clouds without effort, just a quirk of their tribe. But, once they install solid objects onto the clouds, any other pony, or creature, can stand on the object without issue. Stick to sidewalks and avoid the clouds proper and you're fine."
Gnaw worked at a seed quietly a moment. "You intend to conquer them while standing on their sidewalks? They could walk away, or even fly away. The shell of this plan may be a bit thicker than your teeth are sharp."
Celly smiled gently. "I am a unicorn," she gently reminded. "I have spells that will allow me to stand on the clouds."
"Will I--"
"--Unadvised," she cut off.
Gnaw crossed his arms with a little frown. "Why not?"
"If the spells lapses for me, I can reapply it swiftly. If it lapses for you, all we will hear is a distant scream." She inclined her head. "In the interest of your safety, I must insist that you remain on solid footing."
Gnaw crunched the seed he had been working on in half. "That would be... inconvenient." He pointed down past Celestia's head to the deck of the ship. "You said they couldn't be reinforced, but they could stand on the same things I will be, couldn't they?"
"They can't get to Cloudsdale. Airships are few and far between in Equestria." Celestia's magic glowed around Gnaw, lifting him an inch so she could nod without dislodging him, just to put him back down again. "Ah, there!" She thrust a hoof into the distance, where a huge gathering of clouds were gathered, stately pillars jutting up between portions. Water streamed down, rainbow hued in places, but mostly a soft blue shade. "Cloudsdale."
The ship beneath them began to bank towards it as activity picked up, the crew hard at work getting them towards the airborne metropolis. "You should go to your room," noted one of the minotaurs passing by. "We'll give the word when we arrive."
Celestia fidgeted faintly. For just a moment, she was tempted to just fly over to Cloudsdale. It wasn't that far away anymore, but she wasn't an alicorn. She was a unicorn named Celly. She rose to her hooves. "Let's not be in their way. It's all the better that those approaching are simple minotaurs and not military sorts."
"No need to be that cheeky," agreed Gnaw as he was carried towards the stairs. "Will the Wonderbolts be inspecting the ship?"
She had mentioned that military force. "The odds are low. They tend to only mobilize when there's an active threat, not as a passive policing agency." She began to descend the stairs into the depths of the ship. "Devil Squad," she called as she hit the bottom. "We're arriving soon. Gather your things and be ready for when we dock."
A door swung open from the left. "What?" There was Trixie, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "What are you shouting about?"
Gnaw crossed his arms, glaring at the lazy-seeming soldier. Celly was far more lenient. "Trixie, get the wagon ready to move. We should be docked shortly and we'll be disembarking."
Trixie peered at Celly a moment before it seemed to click. "Oh! Oh. Alright then." She waved it off and walked back into the space that held her wagon with no special urgency. "We'll be ready," came her voice before it was cut off by the door closing behind her.
Celly continued towards the room with the others. Gnaw sat on her head. "She seems quite... lacking in discipline."
"But she gets the job done, and done well," argued Celly with a faint smile. "Both in being a quartermaster and a magician. I have few complaints about her save that she is a bit insistent on being paid promptly."
"A mercenary scolding another for insisting on being paid? The cheek..." Gnaw hopped clear of her as they entered the room. "We will be departing shortly. Is everyone ready?"
"Oh, aye."
"Yep."
Lulu strode towards her sister. "Where do you propose we go to first, once we've stepped off the boat." An ear lowered before bouncing upright. "You do have a plan?" she whispered to Celly, glancing towards Gnaw.
Celly reached up, pressing the flat of her hoot on Lulu's nose. "I plan to march in there and tell them what we want."
Gnaw and Kurva peered at Celly as if she had sprouted an extra tail. Kurva slapped a wall with the jangle of her worn gauntlet. "You're messing with us, now. Ponies are nicer to other ponies, but 'nice' and 'will give up their country because you asked nicely' is not the same thing... corporal."
"And yet." She turned as the ground around them shook softly, the ship perhaps coming in for a landing. "That is precisely what I have in mind. If we give them no reason to make a violent reaction, there won't be any."
Gnaw swallowed the last bit of the seed he had been working on. "And demanding their surrender doesn't count?"
"If one isn't brandishing weapons or threatening magic, not typically." She quirked a little smile. "Ponies are more used to trouble than you might think at first glance."
Rockhoof nodded lightly at that. "Oh, aye, that much is certainly true. If you just ask for somethin' unreasonable-like, they'll just say no, perhaps give you a queer look for yer trouble while they're at it."
Kurva glanced at Gnaw, but her attention was largely on Celly. "So, you walk in, ask the world, and how does that not compromise the element of surprise entirely?"
Celly smiled with patience. "Because we will have shown ourselves to be, at worst, a mild nuisance, not an armed invading force. We will already be in the center of their city, able to do as we please."
Kurva's right hand clenched, but those fingers slackened. "Huh..." She sat down, tapping a metal-clad foot on the ground. "Huh... That's an interesting angle."
Gnaw cleared his little throat. "I see. Good to see you've considered the angles." He raised his fingers to his chin. "But I do have an objection."
"Sir?" Celly lowered her head to be closer to at level with Gnaw. "What is that?"
Gnaw pointed up at Celly. "This entire maneuver hinges on extreme cheek! If they do not surrender, we will have exactly one opportunity to take the city, and we will be surrounded, by design. We can reach them as we please, but they can reach us just as easily." He put his balled fists on his hips. "But your expression tells me you have no intention on it going that far. If we arrive at that point, things have already failed."
Celly heard what wasn't asked. He hadn't asked for her plan. She smiled as she righted herself. "I will not let down the squad, sir." She inclined her head. "Which you are a part of, for now."
"The cheek." He turned half-away. "I am over your squad."
"You're standing next to us." Celly shrugged gently. "If we go down, you do too. Sounds like you're a part of things, at least until we get you safely off the front line. I mean to protect you as I would any other member of my squad. Is that acceptable, Captain?"
Rockhoof set a hoof beside their captain, the hoof larger than the little one. "Oh, aye. Yer a part of things while you're here. Ain't much purpose in holding titles over each other while we're in the thick of it. We step off the boat, we're on duty, and no time for worryin' 'bout that none."
Lulu snorted softly, a noise echoed by Kurva. The two met eyes before looking away from one another.
"I always wanted to see Cloudsdale," admitted Garou with a happy canine expression. "Let's go!"
"They haven't called for us." Celly inclined her head as she circled. "When they do, we will disembark as passengers, as we are. You--" She looked to Garou. "Keep that expression. Happy wonder, that will go over well. Pegasi are used to seeing that on the faces of tourists."
"Indeed." Lulu frowned a little, eyes narrowing. "Though, I confess, I hadn't the chance to view Cloudsdale myself." At least, in the modern times.
"Nor I," joined Rockhoof. "The clouds are hardly the place for an earth pony and his shovel." He tapped the haft of his trusty shovel. "I doubt I could make much purchase in the clouds with this."
Garou inclined his head, tongue lolling. "Maybe not, but I'd like to see you try anyway!"
The room shuddered softly. "We've landed," came the shout from above.
Celly began for the door without delay, Gnaw scampering up to grab her horn in his favored riding position. "Let us be off then. You all proceed to the gangplank. I'll be sure Trixie is on the move." She went down the hallway, other minotaurs rushing about. "Have I become your preferred chariot, Captain?"
Gnaw held himself steady with one hand as he balanced with her steps. "Your posture is excellent," he complimented. "And, if we're being forthright." That they were was left unstated. "Your legs are considerably longer."
"You seemed to do well with Garou," she noted, not complaining about his presence as her magic opened the door before her. "Trixie? Are you ready?"
"You told me." Trixie waved from halfway across the room, strapped to her wagon. "Our wagon is a touch too large to walk in that hallway." She pointed past Celly to where she had just come from. "Oh, Captain, hello." She inclined her head. "It's been a while since my last Cloudsdale performance. They'll be happy to see me!"
Gnaw waved a small hand at Trixie and her wagon. "You've been here before then? How. You are not a pegasus, and I told--"
"Balloon," cut off Trixie. "Took me up from Baltimare when Cloudsdale was close by. Sure, I had to stay to the solid parts, but the show went on! And they ate it right up." She pantomimed stuffing something into her mouth with a cocky smile. "And this time, I know more magic. I knock 'em out of the sky!"
Celly chuckled softly. "No need to aim to go that fair, Trixie. Impressing them is quite enough."
"Impressing them is the bare minimum," she huffed, stomping a hoof. "Trixie will do much more than that. Now, if the minotaurs would just open the door." She turned in place, pivoting the wagon along for the ride to face the far end of the storage hallway. "Oh, did you need anything from me?"
Celly smirked at the turn of thoughts. "Actually, you are doing precisely what I had in mind. Go, take Garou and Rockhoof with you and put on a show."
Gnaw looked like he had something to say, but kept it to himself.
Trixie didn't notice it, nodding and not even facing Celly. "You got it. With their help, I'll be set up before the end of the day. Maybe we can even get a show going before the sun sets!" She cantered in place, looking increasingly excited by the moment. "I can't wait. No, seriously." She thumped a hoof. "Who do I need to talk to to get that door open?!"
Celly turned for the door. "I'll get them on it. Just be patient a moment longer." She left the grumbling Trixie behind. A minotaur rushing past her was gently slowed with a glowing aura. "Pardon me."
The minotaur hiked a shaggy brow, his tasseled tail flicking agitatedly. "'xcuse me, getting the ship steady."
"And I do appreciate that." She tipped her had, tilting Gnaw along with it. "Is somecreature opening the cargo space for Trixie to get out?"
"Nope." He twirled a finger. "Ain't a point until the ferry boat is ready, unless she can fly?" When Celly shook her head, he grunted. "What we figured. They've been informed, standard procedure. Expect 5-15 minutes."
Celly's magic dimmed, allowing the minotaur to advance. "Thank you."
"You are very kind to the conscripts," noted Gnaw. "You owe them nothing, why do you care what they think so much?"
"Well, for one." She turned an ear. "There's little stopping them from leaving, abandoning us in Cloudsdale. They could even take the ship with them, and where would that leave us? Even if they didn't have that leverage, they are creatures, just as we are. Why shouldn't we treat them decently?"
"Hm." He tapped at the top of Celly's head. "I have been a rear-leading captain, you understand. Mercenary, your world is different than mine, not military at all. You have to deal with civilians far more often." He snorted, more of a sneeze of a sound with how small he was. "You technically are civilians, or were."
"Hardly anymore," agreed Celly, ascending the stairs to see the others, minus Trixie, gathered on the deck. "Seems everycreature is ready to go. Any issues?"
Garou shook his head with an energetic wag of his tail. "Who are we going to talk to?"
"You are going with Rockhoof to help Trixie," corrected Celly as she stepped up to join the rest.
Rockhoof hmmed. "While I don't mind helping Miss lulamoon out none, can't we help you fer a change?"
Garou bobbed his head in agreement. "We can do more than help throw a magic show."
Lulu smirked faintly. "You are both capable warriors, we haven't forgotten, but I think sister dear wishes to speak discretely, something neither of you lend yourselves towards."
Garou's ears flipped back, but he didn't argue the accusation. Rockhoof huffed softly. "Well, fine, be that as it is then. We'll throw on the best show Cloudsdale ever saw, won't we?" He looked to Garou, who returned the look with a growing smile.
"We sure will. Hey, let's ask Trixie if we can be more involved, instead of just watching the crowd. We're in a, what, pony town. I doubt she needs a bodyguard for ponies."
"Ya have a point there," allowed Rockhoof. "Ah'd rather be lending a hoof to the show if she'll let us. Let's ask."
Celly led the way towards the gangplank. "Lulu, with me. Garou, Rockhoof? Join Trixie when they bring the ferry around to get her out of the hold." She turned in place and thrust out a hoof. "We'll meet there." She was pointing at a tall building. "I'll cover the rooms, you know the name I go under."
"'Course," spat out Garou without delay, looking around slowly. "Where's that boat?"
Celly didn't know and didn't wait, descending with her sister, and a small CO. She considered how to divest herself of Gnaw, but ways to do that subtly were not coming quickly. "I have contacts," she tried. "They will be confused if I arrive with a hamster."
"You can introduce us," reasoned Gnaw. "I will keep my mouth shut until appropriate."
Lulu leaned over, peering at Gnaw. "Sir... Have you had much experience with ponies?"
"Never commanded one outside yourselves," he admitted. "I've seen them around. Usually pleasant enough."
"They are," agreed Celly as she stepped out onto the sidewalk and started a trot, bouncing Gnaw with the motions. "In public... A pony will typically prefer vegetarian offerings, but put something that can fit their mouth nearby and it mysteriously vanishes."
Gnaw looked between the two mares, silently measuring how he'd fit between their flat teeth. "They wouldn't! The cheek!"
Lulu reached up, tapping her large equine cheek. "The cheeks are involved, correct."
Gnaw paled at the threat. "You will protect me, I should hope?" He had no idea the mission involved traveling to a land of cannibal horses!. "I will not look good on your record to allow your CO to be devoured by locals."
Celly turned an ear towards him, eyes forward. "You could join the others. They will be remaining in public, and no pony would want to be caught snacking like that where they could be seen and admonished."
Lulu nodded softly as she kept up. "Truly, the shame of that would be too much. Such snacks are better for private places with less eyes."
But Gnaw didn't hop free of Celly, gripping all the tighter to her horn. "Let's accomplish this mission as quickly as possible. I'm counting on you."
Celly spread her ears flat, feeling a little bad. Gnaw was trusting her, and she was lying to him. "Chin up, sir. We won't allow a hair to be misplaced."
Lulu shot her a look, but rolled her eyes a moment later, going with it. "You're safe with us, Captain."
"Do... you not get those urges?" he asked a bit less bravely than he had other questions he'd asked on the trips.
Celly's ears pricked up. "Who, me? Oh no. I prefer my dirty treats be sugary."
Lulu snorted at that. "You should see her put away a slice of cake. Poor thing never stands a chance."
"Sister!" Celly stuck out her tongue at Lulu, who was looking smugly victorious.
Gnaw's demeanor softened a little as the two sisters made light of their eating habits. "Good... good. Let's keep this professional."
Back at the boat, a smaller boat puttered into position. As it slid into place, the great yawning mouth of the cargo bay opened up. Trixie let out a cheer and charged forward, leaping over the gap between ships and skidding to a stop, her wagon almost carrying her over the other side into the abyss beyond. "Trixie is ready to arrive!"
The ship lifted back the way it came, only for two heavy thumps to announce the arrival of Trixie's assistants; Rockhoof and Garou. Trixie inclined her head. "Oh, are you ready to help? With you two at my side, we feel confident indeed. None shall get in Trixie's way as I give the best show Cloudsdale's ever seen!"
"About that." Garou pointed to Rockhoof with fingers he didn't have much before that. "We want to help help. Pony crowds don't need much security, let's be real."
"Aye," agreed rockhoof. "Let us help with the show instead of just guarding it. We'll be on our best."
"It's not just a matter of behaving," huffed Trixie, eyeing her two guards that wanted to be something other than guards. "Do either of you know the first bit of legerdemain?" They blinked at her emptily. "Stage magic!" she huffed, throwing a hoof wide. "Any bit?"
Rockhoof tapped his chin softly. "Can't say ah have, Miss Lulamoon, but if you show the way, ah'll pay right attention."
Garou bobbed his head in unity. "Yeah! Give us a chance!" He dwindled in size, becoming little more than a dog with obvious wolf breeding. "I could pretend to be an animal you have uncanny control over. That might go over well." His tail wagged so quickly, eager to be a part of the show.
Trixie hiked a brow. "Actually... yes. You." She thrust a hoof at Garou. "I could make a fine set of demonstrations with you. You're hired."
While Garou pumped a paw, Rockhoof pouted. "Nothin' fer me?"
Trixie inclined her head, considering Rockhoof. "This is too close to the performance. Tell you what." She reached out and tapped Rockhoof lightly. "If you really want to learn how to do stagecraft, watch us, and I'll show you a few tricks afterwards. Trixie will not be the pony that denies an aspiring magician, just know you'll never be qute a good as she is. That's alright, neither can anypony else." She polished her chest, looking confident in her place in the world. "But #2 isn't that bad."
Rockhoof huffed softly. "You aren't jokin' with me, are ya lass?"
"Why would I kid with you?" She hiked a brow. "I still want you to watch the crowd, but if you want to learn, then do that, then prepare to be washed away under the greatest mentor in all the land!" She threw up a hoof for emphasis. "We'll bring out the magic in you, by force if we have to, but this is for after the show. For now, we prepare." She stepped off the boat onto the plank just as it pulled close enough to disembark. "Onwards!"
Trixie waved at any pony that seemed to recognize her, which was larger than zero. She was not a superstar, but she was far from a stranger to the community. "Tell your friends," she called. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will be putting on a show!" Word of mouth was a powerful piece of her advertising bundle to ensure a packed crowd. "She'll be bringing whole new magic to see."
Garou loped along in his small doggy form, just an innocent wolf-dog that stuck at Trixie's side with a lolling tongue and a bright canine smile. He tipped suddenly, paw coming down on a fluffy bit of cloud beyond the sidewalk. He skittered back away from the danger and made a little more certain he didn't do that again.
"Hey, Rockhoof." Another hero of Equestria darted over to look at him. "What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash was grinning down at him. "With Trixie?"
Rockhoof inclined his large head. "Ah could ask the same there. We ain't close to Ponyville, are we?"
"Nope." Rainbow shrugged. "But Wonderbolt business happens, and I gotta be there! We got a big show coming up in a few weeks and we're all going through the steps to make sure we get it perfect." She drove her forehooves together with a sharp clop. "Gonna be great!"
"Ah'm here to help Trixie." He gestured at the determined mare, all of them headed to... somewhere he didn't know. "She's gonna teach me a bit of magic."
"Get out!" Rainbow burst into a fit of laughter, coming down to land on Rockhoof's back. "That's great! I didn't think stage magic would be where you found a new niche, but that's super awesome! Have fun with it."
Being landed on was not his usual thing, but he knew Rainbow enough to know she meant nothing by it, and she wasn't too heavy. "Are ya gonna swing by?"
"Huh..." Rainbow tapped her chin. "I don't normally go fer Trixie shows, but hay, this time... sure. Speaking of that, what's with the dog?"
Celly proceeded directly to where she wanted to be, at times walking across the clouds. She was still an alicorn, under it all. The clouds supported her and Lulu without objection. The pegasus magic that made up a portion of her magic would not permit her to fall unless she wanted to.
"Magic's quite... useful," came Gnaw's observation, watching his chariot walk across both sidewalk and cloud both as if they were equally firm. Still, it meant he had to keep a good grip, as he was just as sure those fluffy clouds would not hold him up with the same urgency.
"Quite," agreed Lulu. "Sister, are we going to the general, or the mayor?"
Gnaw's brows went up. "You'd just trot yourself right up to their military leader? That is so much cheek, I'd expect your face to fall off."
"I have a plan," assured Celly. Yes, the pegasus city did have a military wing, pun intended. It was a proud tradition they upheld, even if they also had a mayor to oversee entirely civilian concerns. "It is, in large, a decorative position. A celebration of their past. Still, they have considerable say in the event of an emergency." Or if the city decided it wanted to wage a war on something. Those odds were low.
Captain Gnaw seemed to perk up. "Genius! You're working off the shell." Lulu's ear turned towards him. "You're getting rid of potential threats," he rephrased. "Get the military out of the way before making the move on the ones with real power. Smart."
"Precisely so," agreed Celly. "I had a feeling you'd understand where I was going. There we are." It was not the Wonderbolts. They were a very specific force, but served all of Equestria, not just Cloudsdale. The building they approached looked like a grand barracks and held, she knew, the working forces of those who belonged to the city force. "Let's introduce ourselves. Sister?"
"Hm?" Lulu looked to her sister, still facing forward. "Is something the matter?"
"No, but I think we should go for a little... splendor."
"Splendor?" Lulu inclined her head, slowing her approach. "What manner of splendor have you in mind?"
"Is it not obvious? Pony leaders are alicorns." She nodded as if complimenting herself on her clever thought. "We should assume the form."
"Are you certain?" Her eyes darted to Gnaw.
"It is the best way." Her horn glowed as she threw her disguise aside, expanding in size, wings sprouting from her back. She was Celestia once more, minus her usual raiment. "You too, you know the spell."
"If you are certain." Lulu's horn glowed as if she were casting a spell, but she was instead cancelling one, coming free of her disguise and becoming Luna once more, her wings fidgeting on her back. "Let us proceed then." She advanced a little ahead of Celestia. "Allow me."
Celestia didn't argue it, allowing Luna to take the lead into the military building. "Before you ask, she has experience dealing with this sort of pony." She was old fashioned, and the ponies of the barracks liked the sort of thing. They were old fashioned too!
"Civilians aren't..." The soldier pegasus trailed off, realizing who he was telling that to. "Oh! Um..." Hadn't she retired? "Ma'am?"
"Ma'am," Luna returned in kind, nodding to the mare in full pegasus armor. "I've wanted to see the barracks for some time, they remind me of a proud past. May I be permitted?"
The soldier saluted sharply, a hoof to her forehead. "Ma'am! Of course, ma'am!"
"Don't treat me specially," she requested, following the mare into the building. "For today, I am a civilian of no importance, paying homage to things."
"They really do respect alicorns," came Gnaw's quiet whisper in Celestia's ear. He watched with obvious wonder how Luna was allowed in, Celestia with her, without any real questions being asked. "They already assume you must be someone very important."
"Quite foolish on their part," joked Celestia, knowing the soldier knew exactly who they were. More loudly, she added, "That goes for me too. I am just an older sister come to walk with her little sister as she marvels at this grand place."
"Ma'ams, I will have to take you by the commander first. Rules, you know?" She was walking with purpose, leading them through the building. The building was made of packed clouds, which worked fine for the pegasi that worked there. Fortunately, it also worked for alicorns. The soldier nodded at those they passed, but most of them were busy gawking at Celestia and Luna.
"Princess!" Flash Magnus darted in from above, stopping just before Celestia. "What are you doing here?!"
Celestia flipped her ears back. He was supposed to be in Canterlot! "Not a princess, just an older sister spending a lovely day with her little sister."
"And she is enjoying a tour of this place." Luna nodded softly in agreement. "Flash, wasn't it?"
"Sure is," he quickly agreed. "You wanted to see something from the past? Don't be so mean, Luna."
"Lulu," she corrected.
He inclined his head, but nodded. "Lulu." A little smile spread. "That's a cute name."
"Thank you. These barracks are quite impressive, but we are being taken to the commander." She nodded towards the soldier that had been guiding them along.
"Why did he think she was named Luna?"
Celestia turned an ear back at her concealed passenger, lost in her flowing mane. "She has a moon for a cutie mark. Ponies are often named something related to that, so it wasn't a bad guess."
Flash looked back to Celestia. "What's your name?" Fortunately, he had assumed she also had swapped names. Maybe that was a retired princess thing?
"Celly," gladly provided Celestia. "And Lulu is correct, we need to see the commander first. No reason to be impolite. The soldier is already going out of her way for us."
Flash had an easy going smile. In his eyes, the two had adopted cute little pet names. Adorable, really, not at all concerning. "Then you'd best get Celly and Lulu where they need to be." He saluted at the soldier mare, who returned the gesture, and the meeting was over.
Celestia let out a faint breath, glad to be past Flash. "I hope we're not intruding."
"Of course not!" assured the soldier, having a hard time imagining turning away Celestia or Luna from wanting to have a look around, retired or not.
"The cheek..." He was, perhaps, amazed at how easily the ruse of the sisters was working out. They were walking right into a room with the enemy commander without objection!
Trixie trotted around the stage with a big smile. "It's even better than I remember," she crooned, throwing a hoof wide. The stage was expansive, part of an ampitheatre. The seats were clouds, but the stage, nice and big and wood. She'd have no issues falling through it or moving about to put on her show. "Garou."
Garou's ears perked, tail wagging energetically.
"Let's practice a few tricks. Rockhoof, watch us. There's no reason you can't start learning now." She nodded firmly and began going through a few routines. Garou's specific part wouldn't be hard. His trick was, by and large, the fact that he was an exceptionally intelligent dog. That was trick enough. With a few cued responses, they'd send the crowd into a tizzy with how well she had trained the wolfdog to obey her and take part with the magic show.
"Remember," she spoke to both her assistants. "A large part of magic is about keeping eyes where you want them, and foiling expectations. This is why I need Garou to know my cues, to drag attention onto himself at the vital moments, which gives me more of a chance to set up my side of things." She turned a hoof on herself. "Together, we are more able to command their attention, to control it. The stronger our grasp on that, the more we can weave the magic around them."
Garou inclined his head. He had expected more magic magic, and less stagecraft, but then, he realized he was being silly. Stagecraft was literally Trixie's thing. Real magic was nice, but not her 'thing'. She would use real magic to supplement her stagecraft, not replace it.
Rockhoof turned a hoof on himself. "Ain't anyway ah can lend a hoof?"
"Not today," murmured Trixie, looking thoughtful. "Today you will be free."
"Free?"
Trixie nodded. "You can't patrol where you can't even walk." She pointed to the cloud-seats. "So you get a night off. Enjoy yourself. Tomorrow we can start learning magic!" She threw her hooves wide, confetti bursting free from nowhere, her horn not glowing.
"Ah'd like that..." He rose to all fours, turning slowly. "Just need t'figure out what ah'm doin' today then..."
Garou hopped up, tail wagging as he grinned at Rockhoof. "Hey, look. Pegasi tend to be thin and spindly. I bet you could get a few mares' attention by showing off your big earth pony muscles."
Bulk Biceps aside, most pegasi did tend towards slight builds. Rockhoof stroked his beard with consideration. "Ya got a point there..." Maybe he could use the time to have some fun... show off a little? Getting a lady for company would be a big bonus prize that he'd gladly accept. "Thank you, friend. Ah think ah know exactly what I'll be doing."
He trotted off, expression one of determination.
Trixie watched him go, not having listened in. "Did he just remember something? Trixie thought she'd have to console him some more on not being in the show tonight."
"He's just fine," half-laughed Garou. "Now, one thing. I should probably talk less."
"Yes. Good thinking." Trixie tapped the side of her head. "If anypony sees you actually talking with Trixie, then the trick is ruined, and we can't have that." They shook their heads at one another, unified in the importance of getting it right.
"Ma'am." The guard nodded towards her superior. "Hate to bother you."
"But you are," noted the pegasus with a little smirk. "But you wouldn't if it wasn't something worth it, so out with it."
The guard nodded her head. "Too true, ma'am." She turned to point behind herself. "Two princesses are here, um. They insist on not being addressed as that."
The commander raised an ear at that. "Yeah? What, Cadance?"
"Lulu and Celly," corrected the guard, which also summoned them, the two walking in with smiles. "Here to tour the barracks."
The commander recoiled a step, seeing the two former diarchs of the realm. "This is a surprise," she stated flatly, as if calmly describing the surprise. "What can I do for you two?"
Luna gestured at herself. "Actually, since we have you, could we have a moment of your time?"
"Alone," added Celestia, stepping into the room.
The commanded inclined her head, enough to send the other soldier fleeing, the door closing behind her. "I had a feeling you didn't visit just to say hello... But I also didn't expect a retired princess, let alone two, to arrive without warning."
"Retired?" came a small confused voice in Celestia's mane, which she ignored for the moment.
"We come with dire warnings." She raised a hoof. "You will be attacked shortly."
The commander scowled. "Good of you to bring warning."
"You will not fight them," added Luna. "You will surrender."
"We will do no such thing." Her wing shot out in either direction. "Bad enough the royal guard got their flanks handed to them. We're made of better stuff!"
Celestia clucked her tongue softly. "This is not a matter of pride, but of military strategy."
Things became quiet a moment before the commander rolled her hoof. "Go on."
Luna relaxed a little at the sign of things calming. "We will pretend to roll over, bide our time, and spring when the chance is right."
"Treason!" Out popped Captain Gnaw, scowling.
Celestia turned an ear towards him. "Exactly what we wanted."
Luna raised a hoof, flat-side up. "If you can turn things as you wished, there will be no need to spring, and you will have ready allies."
"Or we could go back to the default plan," sighed Celestia. "I doubt it would turn out well."
"Who is that?" The commander was peering at Gnaw suspiciously. "Should I be calling the soldiers?"
"Unrequired." She glanced up over her shoulder where Gnaw fumed. "Captain, I am fulfilling the mission."
Celestia's horn glowed as she gently lifted her passenger around to set him on a table near them. "This is Captain Gnaw, sent on a suicide mission to conquer Equestria."
Luna inclined her head at the small military enemy. "Far over his head, but let's not be angry at that."
"Discretion is the code word of the day," sang Celestia. "This is why the soldier who brought us in is unaware of the situation."
"Oh!" The commander came to rigid attention. "I see. Clandestine operations... I'm honored you thought I was ready to take part, ma'am."
Gnaw waved a small fist. "If you make a feeble showing of it, they will see right through you, and then you and I are next to be chewed on."
Celestia gently smiled. Gnaw had revealed he wasn't opposed to going with it. "This way avoids more needless violence. I am not their princess, or any princess."
The commander looked baffled at that. "Bu--" She cut herself off, reading between the lines a little perhaps. "Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"
"Celly."
"Lulu, her little sister," added Luna with a smile, perhaps enjoying her role. "While our Captain may seem unassuming--"
"--Don't be fooled," cut in Celly. "Behind him is a great and imposing force."
Gnaw leveled a finger at the commander. "And they will hurt you if given a half a reason to."
"I see." Her ear quivered to the side and back. "What do you recommend then? Keeping an eye out for trouble, and rolling over then?"
Luna shook her head. "That leaves far too much to chance."
"Too much," agreed Celly. "We will conquer you."
"Prepare to fall to the might of Celly and Lulu." Luna leveled a hoof at the commander. "You will have to fight your absolute best, but you will lose."
Gnaw squinted at this turn of the conversation. "I thought you just went through this to avoid fighting. I'm not understanding the curve of this shell."
Celestia willed Gnaw up closer to her face. "We will avoid harm and death. But a little fighting... I think the tough ponies of this service can handle that."
The commander brightened. "Ah ha! Yes. We will be ready. When should we expect your debilitating attack?"
Luna sat on her haunches, considering. "What about Saturday? Saturday is a fine day to be conquered."
"The cheek," muttered the floating captain.
He floated off onto her back as she nodded at the commander. "Very well, Saturday it will be. A stunning surprise attack will leave you struggling to prevail, unfortunately..."
"Don't count us out yet." The commander saluted with a wing, then pointed to the door. "Until then."
The two former-royal-sisters strode out of the room, sharing a bit of a smirk between them.
"What was that?" demanded their small passenger, grabbing hold of Celly's ear. "I demand an explanation."
"Are you certain you want that, captain." Celestia kept her eyes forward as she strode through the halls of the barracks. "Right now, your confusion is a shield, and we want you to be able to return to where you started."
"The less you know," added Luna. "The better off things will be. Trust in your soldiers."
"You were planning this the whole time," he objected, though his angry stomp was barely felt.
Celly inclined an ear, feeling it was being leaned on less. "Did you not want us to do that?"
"We will see if this is a nut you can get your teeth into." Despite his warning, he stopped complaining about the situation.
Rockhoof let out a slow breath, leaning in and grabbing the bar in his teeth. With a great and sudden heave, he lifted the bar and its weights up, his muscles bulging in the effort as he got it up above himself.
It was not entirely for show, pegasi swooping in with spot welders to connect what he had moved to other supporting structure around it with the calls of constructions.
"That was awesome," noted a mare that had watched it happened, dancing from hoof to hoof, her wings fidgeting.
In an attracted way? Rockhoof wasn't 100% on the subtleties of pegasus body language at times, but the rest of her seemed to say she was impressed. "Nothin' ah like more than gettin' a good thin' done."
"I like that." She leaned forward with a smile. "I met a few strong ponies, and that's good and all, but a lot of them just want to show off, not... do things." She reached out, feeling his closest strong leg. "Not like you."
Rockhoof wasn't dense enough to not notice her attention. "Jus' doin' mah part," he assured with a grin. "Let's get out of the way of these hardworking ponies."
"Good idea." She slid in next to him and they walked off, side to side. "I'm Jet Stream, and you are--"
"--Rockhoof," he introduced with a nod. "That's a nice name." For a pegasus, a very obvious pegasus name. "You like flying?"
"Love it." Her wings fluttered a little. "I'm on the weather squad. It's more about technique than power there, but, sometimes, strength is what you need." She inclined her head. "Not many other ways to turn aside a hurricane moving in.
She draped a wing over Rockhoof's back. "And that's when we need ponies ready to help, for the good of everypony else."
"Ah'm always open t'that," assured Rockhoof as they see-- He stumbled, about to step right through the clouds, distracted by Jet's presence. "Woah. Sorry miss, don't ferget ah can't walk on the clouds."
"Then I'll just have to help." She circled around behind him and went right under him, walking up between his legs and lifting him up in an impressive display of strength for a pegasus as she hefted him up onto her back. "My bedroom has a wooden floor."
He didn't complain as he was carried off. His mission for the day, successful.
"Garou." Trixie tapped the ground with a floating stick as if to get the dog's attention, as if it weren't a perfectly sapient creature. "Fetch!" She threw it off right off the platform, just as she had planned.
Just as Garou was expecting, rushing after the stick with a canine smile, leaping for it as if the clouds could support him. But they did, a bit of real magic sprinkled in to make it all the more attention grabbing. The crowd gasped with amazement as the dog caught the stick in a great lunging motion, avoiding it falling right through the cloud and to the sky below. It was impressive on other levels that the wolf-dog came loping back, unafraid of the place that most dogs would balk at being.
The distraction was a fine time for Trixie to set up her next stunt quietly, seeming to just watch Garou do his part. "What an excellent dog Trixie has! The best, just like she is." She smirked at that, triumphant in their performance and the riveted looks of the ponies involved. "But we're far from done, mares and gentlecolts."
She had promised new magic, and she would deliver that, occasionally getting some prop or another passed to her... by her. She made duplicates, short-lived compared to the one she had fought with by far. They only had to last long enough to perform the trick of existing, then to fade away, hopefully content with being part of the magic.
Still, it was quite a sight for her to reach into a box to have her own hoof emerge, holding what she had wanted to get. That her doubles had been sprinkled where they needed to be ahead of time, or when a distraction allowed her, meant nothing but an audience gasping in wonder at how she had performed so much magic without giving off any usual glows to reveal the fact.
Garou began to bark wildly, pawing at a box. "What is it, boy?" asked Trixie, wandering over like she didn't know what was going on. "Is something in there?" Garou gave a big woof, tail wagging excitedly as he pawed at the box like it had something extremely interesting.
The crowd was enraptured. They too really needed to know what was in the box.
"Silly dog, there's nothing in there," she lied, though they both knew it. "Trixie will prove it." She reached for the box, her horn glowing as the latch came free.
A second Garou burst free as Trixie fell back with a faked yelp of surprise. The two dogs barked and capered around one another as ponies clopped their hooves together with a riot of laughter, amused at the antics being performed for them.
"Two dogs, however lovely, is one dog too many," ordered Trixie with a frown. "Garou, heel!" Both dogs rushed up and sat before her. "But which is the real one? Can you help me?" She looked to the crowd with a befuddled look, as if she hadn't planned the entire thing. The crowd erupted with guesses and points, the ponies quite willing to give their input on which dog was the real one, and which was the fake.
"Shake." She put out a hoof, but both paws met the hoof with a paw. "No... Roll over!" Both dogs did that as well. "This is trickier than Trixie expected..." The crowd was howling with laughter at her misfortune. "But have no fear, The Great and Powerful Trixie knows how to get to the bottom of this!"
She knew exactly what was going on. She was entertaining the crowd with her magic, and it was going so very well.
Trixie sagged against one of her chests, nursing a shake. "You were fantastic," she complimented. "Almost as good as Trixie."
Garou huffed out in almost a chuckle, more of a canine noise. "One day..." He didn't sound like he much expected Trixie to ever admit not being as good as anycreature else any time soon. "They really ate it up."
"They did!" she practically squealed, hooves shaking with a great smile. "Magic, misdirection, and an engaged magical assistant. It had everything, come together just so." She noisily slurped at her drink. "Mmm, just so..."
Not that Garou was looking upset. That had gone well, and... "I had fun with that." He wouldn't have guessed he would do well in the show business. A world and a life away, the idea of performing for a crowd was something to avoid. Things had changed. He had changed. He scratched at an itch with a hindpaw. Some things had changed more than others.
"So when are you going back to Starlight?" he asked, breaking the companionable silence.
Trixie went rigid a moment. "What made you think of that?! She was not a magic assistant. Well, except that one time." She looked off into the fog of memory. "She did come through that time..." A vision of that great toothed maw closing in, her odds of survival barely a hair's width. She had been saying her goodbyes, only to be wrenched from her final curtain call...
"She cares about you." Garou inclined his head. "What made you not want to be around her."
Trixie let out a weary sigh, eyes darting. Nocreature else was about, just Garou. "Since you are now Trixie's assistant, she will swear you to silence!"
He brought up a paw, running it over his mouth in pantomime of a zipper. "Not a word."
"It's like this..."
Celly, back to being Celly, looked around the empty room. "Hm. Either they are... out having a good time, or..."
"They already had a good time," finished Lulu. "Either way, we didn't give them a time to be back."
"True." Celly raised a hoof into reach of her mane, soon a small superior officer perched on it for her to lower to the ground. "I do apologize for keeping things from you."
"It's probably for the best." Captain Gnaw huffed as he walked off meaningfully in a determined look somewhat undermined by his stature. "You were right. It wasn't my place to start questioning my specialists in their element. I asked you to bring some sanity." He pivoted on one foot towards them, a small glass in his hands. "And you did that, even if you didn't take the time to brief me on the action in progress."
Celly dipped her head. "I am glad you understand. Captain, sir, I like you."
Gnaw colored. "The cheek! Such relationships between a commanding officer and their--"
Lulu was howling with laughter. "Not that way! My sister has not a romantic bone in her body."
"That was cruel." Celly glared at Lulu. "Still, yes. I like you, as a person. You are making the best of a miserable situation, but you seem to be sticking to what you know is right. You are trying to be a good person, even as the world tries to shove you in another direction, and it can't move you, proving strength is not always in relation to size."
Lulu nodded along with the words. "You are a fine creature. Let's just clear things up so you can use those good qualities properly, instead of... serving an evil overlord with aspirations of world conquering."
"But I do want to conquer the world," he noted, as if confused that was ever in question.
Celly raised a brow. "I thought you wanted to avoid needless conflict?"
"And that too. They aren't at contradiction." He brought his hands together, the cup keeping them from meeting entirely. "The world needs to come together, as a unified people. So the resources of the entire world can be brought to bare to solve our various problems. Once we all set aside our petty tribalism, we can turn our eyes to real problems."
Celly's concerned look faded to an easy smile. Gnaw was not power mad, just an idealist with a dream perhaps too big. "That would be nice," she gently agreed, though doubting such a time was coming any time soon. "Tell me then, how would you convince different people to come together under one flag?"
"Isn't it obvious?" He slammed down whatever he had been holding for drinking in a great gulp. "You're a pony. You've already been doing it."
Lulu inclined her head faintly. "He's not wrong."
Celly shook her head. "So, if you had your way, you would be spreading the word of friendship?"
"And following it with meaningful action!" He thrust a little hand into the air. "Not enough to spout nice sounding philosophy. You have to prove you can be a valuable resource, and show, by action, how much they can benefit by doing the same. When everycreature is racing to show how good of a friend they can be, well... Then things would move forward."
Celly brought her hooves together in a light clopping. "How lovely. Then consider my motivation redoubled."
Lulu nodded before looking around. "I thought, here..." Her horn glowed as a calendar came free of a drawer. "We have a few days until Saturday. We should brief the others on what we expect and what we plan to do."
"Too right." Celly started for her bed. "But, for now, we enjoy a night's rest in Cloudsdale, and that isn't so bad."
"She won't say it. He won't say it." Trixie threw a hoof up. "But it's so obvious to everycreature! They are an item, and they act like it, without admitting it."
Garou raised one ear as the other flopped. "But you weren't--"
"Trixie never said it." She turned away suddenly. "It doesn't mean she never thought about it... Sure, the writing was on the wall. That... She sold Trixie's wagon!" She twirled to face Garou. "Can you even imagine?!"
"Everycreature knows you love your wagon," he assured.
"Yes!" She threw up a hoof. "Everycreature but Starlight... But I... I still liked her." She sagged down miserably. "And it's become obvious even to Trixie that she has lost. Starlight will never be hers, because Starlight already has a pony very special to her, even if she won't admit it!" She slammed down her front hooves with a cry of frustration.
"So you left?"
"So I left," agreed Trixie, her magic bringing over her cool shake to nurse from. "Watching them work together, almost coming out and saying it, but never saying it. It was torture! I almost wanted to say they were picking on Trixie on purpose, but they were too dumb for that." She sighed, setting down her shake on the floor. "But enough of that. I am not there, working at that school. Trixie is back where she belongs, performing!"
"Sure, sure..." He watched her angrily-enjoy her drink a moment. "But you had fun, showing me what I could do, and helping me reach it."
"So?" Trixie arched a brow. "Trixie fails to see where you're going."
"So you were gonna be helping little ponies, not Starlight, right?" He sat up on his haunches, wagging a paw in the air. "Right?"
"Yes?" Trixie frowned at her partner-turned-annoying-question-haver. "What are you getting at?"
"So they were like me. They needed someone to help them make magic."
"That's what the teachers are for." She reached out, booping him on the nose with the flat of a hoof. "I wasn't going to be a teacher."
"You were better," he argued. "You were going to be there for ponies when they felt down and out, and they thought they just couldn't reach that magic. When they were ready to give up, you'd show them how to get past it."
"Trixie already gave up!" she shouted at her rebellious wolf-dog. "So she must be very bad at this."
"But... if you came back, that'd make you the best at it," argued Garou with a silly grin. "You'd know exactly what it felt to hit bottom, and you got up again, and you faced the music and went on. Now that's a story people would understand."
"And admire?" she proposed hopefully.
"You'd be a hero." He nodded rapidly. "Especially to people thinking about giving up themselves."
"Trixie is not sure if she wants to be best at that." The best quitter. #1 at hitting the bottom.
"The pony that can't be beaten," countered Garou, tail brushing the floor in its wags. "Even when it looks like she's down and out. Besides, it's not like you spent this time doing nothing. You've been great, on the team, with us." He pawed at her gently. "But this isn't where you want to be, is it?"
"I enjoyed the show, a lot," she got out in a mix of a sigh and a laugh. "Tonight was... good."
"But you don't get to do this a lot, not with this group." He tossed his head aside, pointing at something not there. "You need to be on your own, with new assistants. Most of them little." He held up two paws close together. "Who need a Great and Powerful counselor to show them how to show off the magic inside them."
Trixie inclined her head at Garou. "Counseling is not putting on a show and Trixie knows it. You aren't fooling me."
"Only with that attitude," scoffed Garou. "It is your job, counselor Trixie, to take their eyes and make them look where you need them to, to distract them towards what you want them to see, away from other things, so they can realize the truth, the magic." He clapped his paws together, becoming more like hands as he did it just in time to reach and park one of those hands on her shoulder. "As only you can do."
"Only me?" she asked in a small voice, facing to the side, peeking out at Garou.
"Only you." He slid in closer and nuzzled her cheek with a canine smile. "You're going to do magic so great it will change creature's lives. That's pretty serious magic."
"That does sound big," she laughed out weakly, fidgeting in place. "But Trixie promised to help, with the Devil Squad. Just vanishing--"
"--Would be pretty in line with Trixie," cut in Garou, wagging his brows suggestively. "If you did it, I would say what happened... Just... talk to Starlight? Tell her what's up. I bet she'd listen."
"Stop acting like you know everything!" She shoved her affectionate dog friend away. "You are dismissed! Trixie will call if she needs an assistant again."
And so Garou loped off, looking confident in himself that he'd done what was needed.
He awoke to a tantalizing smell. "Hm?" He rolled out of bed and clopped to the wooden floor. He was not home, not that he had a 'home' per se. Still, the rest of the squad wasn't there. Oh, right! "Jet?"
"That you?" came a voice from elsewhere in that house made as much of clouds as any amount of wood. "Rise and shine! Breakfast's almost on."
Rockhoof thought back a bit, remembering the pleasant evening he had and walking towards the good breakfast that came with it.
And almost plummeted through the stairs. They were made of fluffy clouds. "Uh... lass? Ye have me a bit... trapped."
"By accident or design," she sang, head poking into view. "Oh, you really are stuck up there." She frowned with thought. "Give me a second."
He wasn't sure it'd work out, having a ladyfriend that had to carry him around her house.
Maybe if it was a pegasus that lived on the ground, perhaps, but...
"Upsy-daisy!" She wriggled under him, hefting him up and starting down the stairs. "I'm moving back to Ponyville soon, no more cloud stairs, promise."
The squad had reconvened. Rockhoof looked a bit baffled. "So ya just walked in there?"
Gnaw pointed at him. "See? He's just as surprised."
Celly took it all in grace. "We cast a spell, became alicorns, and they fell over themselves to help us." The truth, if not complete.
Trixie brought up a hoof over her mouth, badly hiding the snickering that was escaping her.
"Oh, aye... we ponies do love our alicorns." Against all odds, he outperformed in deception that moment.
Garou sat up on his haunches. "Alright, so what's the plan?"
Lulu nodded towards Garou. "I'm glad you asked that. We need to put on quite the performance."
"Breathtaking." Celly nodded along in agreement. "We will attack the city, on Saturday." She looked towards Trixie. "We will need to put on a show, not just for the ponies here, but all of Equestria. Are you ready for a display of that magnitude?"
Trixie swallowed softly. That was a bit beyond her usual venue size. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will rise to the task!" She thrust a hoof up, but then it fell back down a few inches. "Are we actually hurting ponies?"
"I am glad that bothers you." Celly shook her head slowly. "We should not... but it may appear so. Our victory must be decisive, hard won, but complete. We will crush the defenders beneath our collective hooves--"
"--and paws." Garou tacked his claws on the ground with a grin.
"And paws. In the end, we will, with great mercy, accept their surrender, and only then will we present the terms for that defeat." Celly took a slow breath as if considering. "The city will be folded into the growing empire. That their population didn't change, a minor fact that will be quietly ignored."
"Ah got a problem with that." Eyes turned to Rockhoof. "While this is all good an' all, keepin' this bonny city from the torch of war, it doesn't get us one bit closer to the solution." He huffed with annoyance. "When do we go after the source of the problem?"
Celly's face darkened. "Rockhoof, the captain?" She inclined her head at Gnaw.
Gnaw was scowling at Rockhoof. "Just because I am willing to go along with this bloodless conquering doesn't mean I have no loyalty to her. I am her captain, mercenary."
Lulu slid between Gnaw and Rockhoof. "Gnaw, sir. We're all on the same side here."
"Are we?" He hiked his small furry brow.
Rockhoof cringed a little, realizing the mistake he had made. It was so easy to forget the little Captain was there. "Beggin' yer pardon, sir."
Trixie danced a hoof between Gnaw and Rockhoof. "We need to get on the same page."
Celly let out a little breath. "She isn't wrong. Captain?" Gnaw looked to her. "We have the same goal, minimizing the harm and destruction caused by the rapid military expansion of our... employer. On the other hoof, I am not opposed to the building of a unified front of creatures, bonded by teamwork and shared responsibilities."
"And you plan to address this... how?" He was looking at Celly as penetratingly as a little hamster could. "Consider your words."
"Duh." All eyes went to Lulu's outburst. "By putting in a creature that agrees with us." She pointed at Captain Gnaw. "If you were in charge, there would be nothing we'd want to oppose."
Celly smiled at that. "Equestria would be charmed and delighted to count Captain Gnaw's creatures as a friend and ally."
"You would depose her then?" He turned a finger on himself. "And you'd replace her with me?" The ponies, and the wolf, nodded. "I thought you had better taste," he huffed out, crossing his arms. "I can command small units just fine, but I'm a captain, not a king. I'm not reaching for that title either."
Celly inclined her head. "That's alright too. Thank you for being honest, with yourself and us. It is... more important that we stop this violence, which will only drive painful wedges between people instead of encouraging them to work together."
"Nuh-uh." He pointed to a nearby window. "What do you think happens if she just... vanishes." He clapped his hands smartly, if not very loudly. "You did it, she's gone. What's next?"
Most of them began to argue. It could be made better, or it just would get better. Celly was the one not joining that debate, looking thoughtful. "Captain."
"Hm?" He looked up at his largest soldier. "Got something to report?"
"In the end, this falls under what many things do. It's complicated, and there are no easy answers." She leaned in, nose close to Gnaw. "But to not act on what is definitely counterproductive for fear of what comes next? I do not want to live in that world, sir."
Gnaw reached up and grabbed one of Celly's fine whiskers. As a horse, she was blessed with quite a few, and it stung as he yanked on them, drawing her closer, even with his small size. "So you don't know fear?"
"I never said that." She did not pull her head back, drawn right into contact with Gnaw at his own discretion. "But I will not be paralyzed with it. What is clear is that your... employer is causing great harm."
He released her, the tension of the room ebbing with the motion. "Your group is talented, and powerful." He threw up a hand. "You made that obvious. If you don't like her, why haven't you just attacked her directly?"
Lulu shoved her sister back, putting herself in the way of Gnaw. "Do not hurt my sister." She clopped down a heavy hoof, clanging against the floor. "She has been nothing but good to you."
"That doesn't answer the question," was all he replied with, eyes on Celly, waiting.
"Because a lack of fear isn't a lack of sense." Celly offered a hoof, soon having Gnaw on it's flat bottom turned up. "We know she must be dealt with, but not the where or how. We seek to know that, to cause the least amount of damage possible. If we charged directly in, would we be that much better than her?"
"Then prove it." He pointed at her authoritatively despite literally resting in the palm of her... hoof. "I will be watching how you perform this mission. Many more beside me will. Show me what you have."
Celly gently placed her hoof low, waiting until Gnaw hopped free. "We will not disappoint, Sir."
Trixie burst into giggles. "Trixie, disappoint, with a show? Unheard of!"
"Speaking of that." Celly looked to Trixie. "I will need you to bedazzle everycreature that sees this. Are you prepared?"
"No." Trixie stood up and started for the door. "But I will be." The door closed behind her, glowing with her magic.
Garou inclined his head at where she had gone. "Huh, that was a more mature answer than I was expecting. I'll be ready!"
A chorus of agreement sounded across the room. They would all do their part, or at least agreed they would. "Garou?" He looked towards Lulu on being addressed. "I have an idea. Trixie is not the only one with notions of showmareship." Lulu led Garou away, whispering their plans.
Celly set a hoof on Rockhoof. "It would seem we're left."
"Not even considering me?" Both of them looked towards the Fox that had quite a smirk on her face. "That sure feels like a lot of bad planning... Now tell me why I shouldn't sell this information to our feline overlord to a promotion or three?"
"Kurva." Celly turned towards her newest member. "You have not been treated well."
"Thanks for rubbing that in." She lifted her shoulders. "But a little aside the point, don't you think?"
"Not at all." Celly leaned forward, ears pricked. "There will be no room for the one that wronged you, in what we are making. Self-serving egotists... Major Tod would be due for quite the demotion."
"I'd rather he get something more painful than that." She flexed her fingers, displaying her sharp claws. "It would be a nice start, not fighting that... Go on."
Celestia inclined her head. "Did you know, in Equestria, it is often expected that females call the shots?"
Kurva's brow raised. "We have female commanders, what's new about that?"
"You have some, and some males. I won't argue the egalitarian nature of it." She wobbled a hoof slowly. "But you'd be at the front, instead of behind, or besides. Does that not appeal?"
"I'm not a horse." She pointed up at her face. "Did you forget?"
"Equestria welcomes all manner of creatures." Sure, that trend had only started years before, but it was well underway. "After we conquer this place, we could leave you to administrate it, where not a single pony would leer at you."
"I'm not a bruised flower." Kurva shoved off the wall she had been leaning on. "If you want to fight her, I want to be involved."
Celly raised a brow in surprise. "Oh..."
"We welcome you... if you can hold your weight." Lulu's eyes drifted up and down slowly. "You have shown us how you lose, but not so much how you win. Take part in this, and show us what you have."
Gnaw let out a little sigh. "You all realize, if I am not entirely convinced, I will have to turn you all in? There is no other option. If there is the faint whiff of doubt, their teeth will close around my throat long before the dust settled." He put his fists at his hips. "I will not die for your incompetence."
Celly turned without worry in her features. "Then we have our goal clearly set." She looked between Rockhoof and Kurva. "Shall we come up with our own angle?"
"Pass." Kurva started for the door. "It's hardly a test if I just do what you say. I'll prove my worth, on my own terms." Her tail was the last thing visible before the door clapped shut behind her.
Rockhoof pointed at himself. "If the offer's still on, I'd be happy to lend a hoof, ma'am."
"Celly will..." She petered off. "Yes. I have an idea, and it involves your shovel."
"I already like the sound of this." With a twist he pulled his shovel free in a rapid motion. "Just tell me what I'm digging."
"Clouds." She walked past his surprised form, but the door didn't close behind her. "This way."
He hurried to catch up, still confused. "But clouds aren't a thing you dig 'less yer a pegasus."
"Perhaps not... with that attitude." Celly descended the stairs and nudged open the door leading outside. "All ponies have magic, do you know that?"
"Huh?" Rockhoof caught up with her, standing at the edge of the sidewalk, where the fluffy clouds began. "Are ya speakin' of the magic of friendship? That ain't gonna help neither of us right now."
"The magic of friendship is always helping us," she argued in such a gentle tone. "But that is not the lesson for today. Every tribe of pony is imbued with power, magic. Earth ponies are the most subtle, but in some ways the most obvious. It's right there, in the name. Ponies of earth."
"Yeah, alright." He nodded along with that logic. "Ah get that, but a cloud's 'bout the opposite of earth!"
"So force it to be." She pointed to the clouds they were beside. "Impose your earth on the clouds, with your favored tool. Rockhoof, I command you, put down your shovel into this dirt and dug me a trench." She thrust her hoof at the fluffy clouds imperiously. "Do it, as you are famed for doing, and I don't want to hear complaints about this 'not being the right kind of dirt.' That's hardly an excuse for such a mythic champion."
Rockhoof leaned over the edge, knowing there was nothing holding him up besides the sidewalk. If he stepped onto the clouds, he would plummet. But he should dig it?
He thrust his shovel down, penetrating deep into the surface. This was easier than usual, even for him. It wasn't as if the clouds provided any real resistance to the blade of that shovel. "Ah'm not tryin' to doubt you." He swished the blade forward and it just flowed through the clouds, making no real impact on them. "But there's nothin' there ta dig!"
"That is where you are wrong, dear friend." She pointed at those clouds. "Those same clouds are clearly something. You can see them. Put a hoof in them and you will feel something. Pegasi can walk on them, and the very pavement you are standing on is held up by them. Surely something must be there."
"Something..." He set his shovel aside and exchanged it for an extended hoof. There was no resistance as he broke the surface of the clouds, and he felt nothing. Well... not nothing. It was a bit cooler around his hoof. When he drew his hoof free and turned it to examine it, he could see beads of water collected. "Huh..."
That kinda made sense. Rain came from clouds. Were clouds made of water? "Water isn't much better for shovelin'." A poor choice for shovel work.
"We're getting closer then," assured Celly. "Water is easier to shovel than the air you thought it had been. Now, Rockhoof, I ask you to draw on the power that made you famous."
"Mmm?" He picked up his shovel and turned towards her. "Ah wanna, promise."
"Then do it. You can shovel water. You already have. I remember the tale, when you crashed through a solid sheet of ice a mile wide." She crossed a hoof in front of herself as if a shovel were attached. "You saved many ponies that day, do you recall?"
Rockhoof smiled at the long distant memory. "Oh, aye, that was quite the event... But this isn't ice?" He looked back to the clouds.
"Ice is water," argued Celly. "Smash it just the same."
Even a pony from such a distant past knew that ice could become water and back again. "Ice is water," he mumbled to himself, clenching his teeth firmly on the wood of his shovel. "Water is ice." He set the shovel in the fluffy mass. The water was there, he could feel it, faintly. The water was... Ice...
No. "But it could be." He smiled around the shovel as he drew it up. "Ah think ah got an idea."
Celly sat to clop her hooves. "I knew you would. Show me?"
"Water is water." He thrust a hoof at the clouds. "Can't do much with that. But water can be ice. Ah can work with that fine." He twirled the shovel meaningfully. "An' ah think ah got it." He made a sudden slice of his shovel, seemingly without reason, but he drew it right forward and through the fluffy stuff, coming free with the blade tinged with flecks of ice.
Celly leaned towards the sparkling motes. "I didn't know you had that trick."
"Ah ha, then ya didn't hear of all mah stories." A tall order that. He had been quite the busy stallion. "Hit somethin' just so and ya take its power, make it colder instead of hotter. Like a smithy in reverse." Steam rose from his shovel, which had absorbed the lost energy, and was transferring back into the ice coating it. "Ma'am, I'll dig yer clouds fer ya."
"Fantastic." She turned back to the inn they had come from. "Let's plan."
"Too showy." Kurva grabbed a pegasus walking past suddenly. "You. How do pegasi fight?"
Mrs. Shy trembled at the sudden presence of the imposing biped. "Oh! I don't fight myself." She pointed to a pegasus soaring past. "You'd be better off asking one of the reservists."
Kurva shoved her away. "Thanks." She knew where to look, at least.
Mrs. Shy resumed her day. "At least they're going where they can handle that sort of thing." Having directed the hooligan towards the rough equivalent of local police, she felt accomplished.
Kurva went directly after them, forced to chase them as they flew past zones she couldn't walk. But she didn't give up, darting from patch to patch, keeping that pegasus in sight. "Hard to find cover in the sky," she grumbled, keeping her eyes locked on her quarry, minus the time spent making sure she didn't fall.
That flyer landed and talked with some others. She watched and waited impatiently. There, they took off.
Where'd they go?
She ducked to the left just in time to let the pegasus sail past her.
"Cunning," complimented the flying stallion, wheeling towards her with deft flaps of his wings. "Why are you following me?"
"Because I want to know how you fight." She flexed her gauntleted fingers, sharp tips on display. "Up for it?"
Flash Magnus clapped his hooves together. "Now that sounds fun. I was going to head back to Canterlot, but this is worth being a few minutes late."
Kurva slid into a fighting position. "Glad you agree. You may be late." Bruised and battered ponies were less good at flying, she was sure. But he only laughed and dived at her. Her cruel swipes were ducked when they didn't crash into his metal armor, though she did knock his helmet clear off in one solid connection. She was sure the next would do some telling damage.
But he had metal at the ends of his limbs too, catching her angry claws with his metal hoof gauntlet and crashing his head forward, leaving both dizzy an instant, but he recovered an instant faster, pressing that fight. "Now this is a fight worth having," he howled with pleasure. "We're just getting started."
She caught his hurrying form. "Getting sloppy." Some people were so eager for battle, they lost focus on winning for the love of battle. She spun and slammed him down. Unfortunately, She hit cloud instead of anything solid, and the pegasus half-bounced off of it, taking no real damage. She growled low to herself, realizing she had been just as sloppy with that strike.
He didn't seem to notice, or perhaps care, diving back at her with a swooping punch she deflected with a mild bruise, her claws clashing brightly with sparks against his armor. "Do all ponies wear armor?"
"Ha, hardly. Only the ones serious about it." Flash came in at her with a great smile. "Expect the local legion to. So if you can't get at me, give up challenging them."
A taunt, or a bluff. "You aren't the first I fought with armor." Armor just meant she had to be a touch more careful, not that she was stymied. No creature was entirely encased with metal, after all, and she could see plenty of soft spots on that cocky pegasus. "You're going down."
"What? Oh!" Trixie floated out the strange spherical object that had been given to her. It was flat on one end, given to her by a fox. Like Kurva? Trixie shook it a little in her magic. Instructions had never arrived on how to use it! For an instant, she considered tossing it, then shrugged. "Waste of space." And away it went, plummeting through the clouds. It couldn't be used for magic, and had no practical use, so it had no place in her wagon.
A brief flash of light came up behind her, and she paid it no mind as she returned to organizing her supplies for her best show ever!
She would have no idea that the ponies beneath Cloudsdale would gape and wonder as a huge brilliant red explosion lit up the sky for a long moment, though it had gone off in the middle of the air, destroying nothing but a boring day. Trixie had avoided a lamentable fate. Entirely on purpose, if ever she was asked on the matter.
Major Tod glanced to the left where a light was blinking softly. "Ah, that settles that..." His device had triggered, erasing everything remotely close to that quartermaster. "The army is that much better off." She had taken it without question, held onto it, and doomed her squad for not caring what it was she was holding. "Stupid pony." Like most, so far as he could tell, even if some of them were also alarmingly good.
At blowing up, at least. He smirked viciously, imagining the pesky Devil Squad reduced to nothing. "Pity I couldn't see it." Even if he had snuck a camera onto the bomb, it would have been destroyed long before sending a single image of the destruction caused. Such was life.
"A drink!" He raised a glass.
Another major raised a brow at him. "What for?"
"For the lost, and a fine piece of tail I won't be able to chase again." The other major grunted, but Tod took his swig. "Better luck next time."
Lulu inclined her head. "I did notice."
Garou perked an ear in reply. "What?"
"You've been trying to help."
Garou sat up with a blink. "Well, yeah? We are a squad."
"More than that." Lulu booped her canine friend. "You've been digging with those claws into us and trying to put right what's wrong, on the inside." She smiled gently. "That is usually my job, so I know it when I see it... I admit, it is rare to be on the other end of it, and I'm still getting used to that."
"Because I care." Garou circled around Lulu. "Also, you're still best princess."
"I'm not even a princess right now, and you know it." Lulu rolled her eyes. "Just an alicorn, which is special enough, I suppose." She turned with his circle, to keep him in front of her. "What do you gain from this?"
"Friends?" He suddenly hopped forward and licked her nose in the way canines did. "If you don't mind my admitting it, you're a pretty princess in my eyes, and I want you to be happy."
Lulu crossed her eyes at the point she was licked, drawing back. "And this is why you are helping Trixie?"
"Trixie is cute, not pretty." He rose two paws, swiveling them like arms of a scale. "And she needed help, so I gave it. She really should go back to Ponyville, bet her friends miss her."
"Friend," corrected Lulu properly.
"Friends." Garou grinned as only a dog could. "Sunburst and Starlight both love her, as friends. That's what's kinda messed up about it, when you have three ponies who are super friends, but one loves one and two love each other, but not the same pony, and oops... A bit of a dramatic situation there."
"Garou."
"Hm?" He noticed Lulu was looking at him in a new way. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
"You've never been to Ponyville, or met Starlight." Lulu took a step forward. "Or Sunburst. How can you know any of that? And before you try it, I know Trixie would not have gone on in length about Sunburst and Starlight to tell you that information." As Garou shrank back, she pointed at him. "Garou, what are you? You're not a dog. You're... something else, perhaps something great, but you won't share."
"Sorry," he got out with a whimper. "There I am, digging, but not letting anyone return the favor. Sorry."
"I don't want you to be sorry." Suddenly she bumped right into him, nose into his side. "I want you to roll over and let me dig back at you for a change. Don't you trust me? I can be very gentle."
Things grew quiet and still, until Lulu casually rolled Garou over onto his back. "Trust is a two way street, my friend. Were you hurt, before? I am sorry if so, but we are friends. Will you not let me do what I do best? You seem to think I was quite appealing doing it." She leaned in over him. "So you should be eager to allow me this."
Garou let out a slow wuff of a breath, chest deflating as he let everything go limp, even if his arms were moving in ways a dog would find unnatural. Resting at his sides, he looked more like a biped laying down than a quadraped on their back. "You're right." Luna smiled without word. "I dreamed of this, in a way... Just..." He raised an ear at her. "I'm scared, that you'll push the veil aside, see the real me, and you won't like what you see."
"Allow me the courtesy of making that judgment." She leaned in over Garou, smiling down at him. "You thought me a kind princess of the night, caretaker of dreams. Would I be deserving of either of those titles if I were to cringe away from a creature that has served aside us, as a warrior, and a friend? Why, I should imagine Twilight would have me jailed for such a friendship failing."
Garou snorted, nostrils flaring as he imagined Princess Twilight giving such a decree. "I doubt she'd do that..."
"But you don't doubt I can appreciate a strange new creature." She set the flat of her right hoof on his forehead. "You don't doubt I can find favor in one I already like, if I were to learn more?"
His face started to darken beneath the fur. "Doubt I have. Too much of it." He swallowed heavily, squirming as he tried to calm himself. "So, go ahead. I can't trust me, so I'll trust you instead. Go ahead, do it. Take a peek."
"I will be gentle." She ran a hoof slowly down over his face, and he began to go limp, slipping into a slumber under her gentle radiance. "Sleep, good friend. Thank you." She placed a light peck on his unfeeling cheek. That he had trusted her enough to surrender that already a show of faith. "I will not let you down." Her tail began to wag a little. She wanted to know what was hiding under that canine shell. "Let's have a look."
She floated Garou gently to a soft resting place, then sank down herself. She had long ago learned to 'go to sleep'. For most, it was a saying, a thing one aimed for, but didn't actually do. But when she wished to enter the dream world, she had to be in a specific state of meditation. So she went to sleep, quite actively, placing her mind and body in the exact way that she could step smoothly from the waking to the realm of thoughts.
There she could see the splendor of all the dreams of Equestria, but her target was close at hoof. She turned her eyes away from the countless motes, to the one she was beside. Distance meant little there, in the dream realm, but she knew he was close, and her knowledge colored how she saw it. "Here you are."
She set a hoof against the sphere, and she was gone, carried away into the dream.
Trixie clopped her hooves together with triumph. "All sorted." Not just their supplies, though she had done that too! She felt ready to put on her show, possibly the greatest she ever had. She couldn't fight off the smile on her face. The thought of such a performance just wouldn't stop tickling at her. "You will all be amazed," she whispered to herself, a giggle escaping despite herself.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie has a chance to truly display just how much she deserves that title." It would, in fact, be her job to be as Great and Powerful as possible. She clopped her hooves louder, starting to clap as she danced up and down, overjoyed. "She can't wait!" Her horn glowed as a book came out. Flipping it open revealed the crude cartoon doodle of Starlight's winking face.
Starlight had taught Trixie how to read and cast formal spells. It was her spellbook, given by Starlight... "Stupid mare," she grumbled, her good mood deflating a little before the smile returned in force. "Oh, you'll be blown away when you hear what I've been up to." She wagged one hoof at the floating book. "Trixie will use some of the spells you foolishly shared with her." Sure, stagecraft was lovely, and would be very important, but some actual magic was a potent spice, and that would be a very spicy show... "Blow their tops off." She threw her hooves wide in a new unstoppable rush of maniacal laughter.
Luna touched the ground not on four hooves, but two shoe-clad feet. She dusted off her business attire as she looked around. Being a dream, she had no problem walking and acting like any other human, and there were others. She was in an office of some sort. There was a pulse in the air, tension. People were moving diligently. Luna had slipped in as a participant.
She set down a bundle of papers. "The report." She had no idea what the report was. The lack of writing on the papers implied even the dreamer didn't know and it didn't matter to the dream. Why was Garou dreaming of humans in such an exotic place? She raised her eyes, taking in the artificial light that lit up the area. She accepted a new bundle of papers and left without a word. She had to get them to someone else. She knew that, without the specific. That was not part of the dream.
As she pushed open a door, she entered not a new portion of the office, but a house. There, on a carpet, was a familiar dog. The wolf dog that Trixie had performed with. "Garou?"
He looked up at her, tail wagging eagerly and letting out quite the happy bark.
A dream of being an animal? Not the first Luna had ever seen. "Who's a good boy?" she asked, stepping closer. Her shoes were gone, replaced with comfortable sneakers. "Did you get sad waiting for me?" Garou barked at her and began to circle her in frantic motions. She reached down, catching his shoulder and soon the rest of him, starting to pet gently. "Is this what you see yourself as?"
Garou flinched back at that, ears flipping back. "What? I mean..." She had startled him out of his dream place. "Luna?"
"'Tis I." She sank down to her knees and scratched Garou under the chin. "This is not you."
Garou suddenly became all wolf. "What did you see?"
"Enough." She tapped him gently on his quivering nose. "Just as I thought..."
Garou's confusion only grew. "You guessed I was a human?"
"Guess gives me too much credit." She wobbled a hand left and right, tilting. "I saw you, when you were hurt. But I kept my mouth closed, waiting until you decided to share with me."
"Are you... upset this took so long?" He danced from paw to paw, anxiety hidden from nothing around him.
"You were hurt." Luna drew her legs underneath her at an angle, leaning against an arm to prop herself up in a curious way that felt normal to her biped form. "I see it." Darkness had gathered outside, like looming stormclouds. "Shall we see, or will I rouse you from your slumber?"
"It's... not dramatic." Garou glared at the dark outside as if it had somehow betrayed him. "I was just a guy, a normal nothing guy..."
"Ah."
Garou pricked his ears at her. "Ah?" He stood up, still eyeing her oddly. "That's your whole response?"
"Should there be more?" Luna offered a hand. "It seems obvious to me now."
"And you've made your decision." His hackles rose, frame tensing.
"Several." She inclined her head faintly. "So, how do I look?"
"Like a vice principal got into office work?" He smiled a little, tongue slipping free to lol at the air.
"That is a very specific impression." She flicked Garou right across his nose. "I am aware of my human self, thanks to Twilight."
Garou hid his snout under his paws with a yelp. "So you know what a human is?"
"What you are, and aren't." She nodded slowly, considering Garou. "You've become something else. Tell me about--"
She didn't get to finish her question. They were standing in front of a wall full of strange fruit in all manner of exotic shapes and strange smells. "What is this?"
"This is where it all began." He rose up to what became legs and fuzzy feet. "I was supposed to take one... I was greedy."
She reached out and snatched one of the fruits. She didn't remember standing up, but she was. "This one."
"That's the wolf one." He ran a hand over another. "The shields. One gift, just one. Each one was more than enough to get me by, but I grabbed all I could."
"And you are guilty?" She pricked an ear, which had become long and equine without warning. "Did your taking them deny another the option?"
"I don't know." He sighed gently, shrugging. "Which makes me feel stupid."
"I will not permit it." She crossed her arms, regarding Garou. "No friend of mine will be called stupid for having compassion. Tell me though, why did you take... How many did you take?" Technically two questions that, but they remained.
"Um, as many as I could get." He flushed sheepishly as he fell back to all fours. "At the time, it just seemed smart."
"Smart, and a little greedy." She settled a hand on his head, scratching behind one of his canine ears slowly. "If you could, I would recommend giving them back, but this does not look like something that can be undone."
"Which is why I want to make the best of it." He clacked his claws down in a little dance. "So I'm helping, and working."
"You are a good boy." She pet him, and he relaxed a little. Sometimes, people, ponies or creatures, just wanted to be told they were being good. It meant so much, when someone felt they had strayed. "You are a precious part of this team, and nothing I have seen today changes that."
"About that!" His ears pricked up high. "We really should work out our part, for the big show. We have to pretend to take over Cloudsdale, right?"
"You finally have me in your dreams, and that is what you think of?" Luna looked past Garou, where a bed had appeared, her own form in it, giving her a sultry look. "Ah ha."
Garou looked ready for the ground beneath him to consume his form, to end the embarrassment. "I--!"
"I did that on purpose." She tickled an ear and waved away the vision. "You have made very little effort to conceal that you find me... comely, though this does confuse me... You are a human, even now, a wolf. What about me interests you?" She lifted an ear at him as she fell forward, hitting the ground on four hooves. "I am not saying two different creatures cannot find fancy in one another, but..."
"But..." He sank to his belly. "Luna, thank you, for coming, and not turning me away. I feel better, like we've put aside a weight."
"This is good." Her answers were not coming, but she did not dig for them. "Do you wish to awaken then?"
"Please." He gave a canine smile, more of an open mouth with a drooping tongue panting. "We have planning to do."
"On this, I cannot argue." She lifted into the air, wings flapping to carry her higher. "I will see you on the other side." And she vanished, leaving him there beside the wall.
"Uh..." The wall had no advice to give him. Just a lot of super powered fruit. But it was a dream, so even considering them felt a bit silly. "Time to wake up?"
He started awake with Luna's gently nudging with a hoof. They had work to get to, and they would do it together, with one less barrier between them.
"Ponies of Cloudsdale," boomed Trixie's voice, much larger than her frame would imply. "Lay down on your bellies and be calm. Those who dare to resist us will be met with force, and force we have in ample supply." A great and looming vision of Trixie bent over the entire city, a dark grin on her face. As her enormous hooves clashed together, they exploded, sparkles and blood-tinged confetti bursting in the air.
"Make your decision, quickly," bade her voice, fading away.
He could not step on the clouds, but he could shovel them. With a great roar, Rockhoof charged along the sidewalk, glaring at each pony he found. Pegasi that had flopped over in panic, he casually buried with one cruel swipe to draw the water free of the clouds in an icy sheen, just to explode out with a fresh swipe that sent a cloud of steamy vapors that gathered into a fluffy cloud around each that had surrendered, hiding them from view.
They did not all surrender. "Totally uncool." Rainbow Dash swooped down towards Trixie. She knew that pony. "Last time you claimed a magic whatsis. This time you're just being--"
"Great and Powerful." Trixie waved a hoof at the approaching RD dismissively, wind blowing in a sudden gust. It barely slowed Rainbow down, but it hadn't been made for that. Out of the wind, as if conjured from the ether, came a cloud of ropes that grabbed at Rainbow from all directions. Try as she might, she couldn't fly with those powerful bands snaking tighter and tighter.
She fell with a soft thump to the clouds a few feet away from her target. Trixie smirked triumphantly at her successful trick. "And you're the best Equestria has? That was a sad display." Apparently, other ponies agreed with her, more pegasi throwing themselves down, surrendering at the sight of how quickly Rainbow was taken down.
"Nuh uh!" Rainbow struggled and thrashed. "This ain't how I'm going down!"
Trixie gasped with shock as Rainbow managed to half-burst, half-slip free in a sudden great twist. "So you still have some fight? Good. Trixie is barely warmed up." She threw a hoof aside, sparkles and motes of light dancing along the line of movement. "Come at her, if you dare. She'll put you right back in your place."
Elsewhere in the city, a great and deep cackling echoed out across the clouds. "Kneel before your dark queen." There stood Nightmare Moon, pointing to the clouds just before her. "Kneel and cower or my pet will make a snack of you!"
Bristling with dark purple fur and unnatural spikes stood not Garou, but Nightmare Garou, glaring with hungry eyes at any pony that wasn't already quivering in fear. His great teeth were on display, saliva dripping from those great fangs as if looking forward to his next meal, which would be pony, if any gave him the excuse.
Ah, there came some potential targets. A wing of local legionaries swooped towards the two. "We aren't scared of you," shouted the mare at the front, perhaps laying it on a bit thick, though that turned into a very real yelp when Garou snapped at her leg on the way past and whipped her cruelly into a slam against the clouds. Even as soft as they were, being forced into them that quickly and by another cloud-walker left her vision spinning.
"Captain!" shouted a stallion that had been behind her. He lunged for a strafing run past Garou, kicking him on the way past but not slowing to see the impact of his strike. He could hear the snap of those deadly teeth all too close to his tail and fled with a yelp.
But he wasn't the only one, other ponies diving and striking with quick motions to minimize the time they spent inside his biting range. "Enough!" boomed Nightmare Moon, magic exploding from her in all directions, shoving the pegasi back, several knocked into one another and coming to the ground in an ungainly heap. "You dare to attack me? Foolish little ponies. Prepare to suffer!"
The captain, recovered from her crash, stepped towards Nightmare Moon with a scowl of her own. "You're forgetting one important thing?"
"And what would that be?" Nightmare Moon smirked at the cocky pegasus. "I struggle to imagine."
"The Wonderbolts were made to counter ponies just like you." She pointed at Nightmare Moon, looking like she just won the greatest logic argument of all time.
"Pardon?" Nightmare cocked a brow high. "How does that--"
She was bowled into from the side, three pegasi flying in perfect formation crashing into her and sending her tumbling. The fight was not over, it had scarcely begun. Muffled under clouds, pegasi that were not involved in the fight cheered for the arrival of additional help to turn the tides.
At least until one of them, Spitfire, their captain, took a sharp turn over a sidewalk and a fluffy cloud pile exploded, revealing a new combatant that grabbed her, wrapping two arms tightly around her midsection. "You're going nowhere," snarled Kurva, bringing that fast flyer down to the ground to wrestle. "We have so much to discuss."
"Where's Celly?" asked Rockhoof, shovel firmly in snout. "Ah'm done buryin' the bystanders."
"Great." Kurva shoved Spitefire's arm behind her back only to be suddenly kicked, the wrestling renewing. "Kinda busy right now. Go find a girlfriend on your own time."
He snorted like an angry engine. He had found a girlfriend already! He thought? How was she doing? He glanced around, but didn't see--
"I thought you were nice." Oh... Rockhoof turned to see her looking at him, disappointment on her face.
"Ah'll explain later. Fer now, have--"
She thumped him, flat of her hoof against the center of his chest. "You big doof! I thought you were using those big muscles to help ponies!"
"Ah am," he harshly whispered, glancing aside for others. "Ah'll explain later, ah promise, truly."
"Well I am not going down." She snapped out her wings and took a fighting stance. "I won't let a big pony bully nopony else, including me."
Rockhoof set his shovel aside. He would not use it on his lady friend. "If ya insist."
"I do!" Jet Stream darted to the left and came in for a few quick punches. They were stings, but small stings. Rockhoof had been hit much harder than that in his time, but they somehow hurt worse than most of them. It wasn't a fight he wanted to have, but he had to win it. On the other hoof, he felt prouder than ever before at the mare that was punching him. She really was a mare worth having and treasuring.
But, first, he'd have to win. He caught her next punch, right on the face, where he had planned. He threw his head to the side, carrying her hoof along with it and throwing her right off balance. She wheezed for air when he came down on her, crushing her beneath his considerable bulk. Spirit, she had, but she was still a pegasus.
As it turned out, there was at least one spot one could land a flailing hoof that would cause even an earth stallion to pause. His world condensed into a narrow point of pain as he cringed back, tears threatening to emerge, but he held them back with a low grunt of misery. "Now... that ain't fair..." Jet managed to slip out from under him in his almost-paralyzed state.
"Doesn't matter how big you are," she taunted with a triumphant rise to her hooves. "All stallions have the same weakness."
Hardly fair, or befitting a lady. Rockhoof shook himself with a heavy snort. "Gloves comin' off." Not that he had been wearing gloves. But that wasn't a fight he was ready to lose.
Celly watched it all from high above, hidden from view in a little floating fortress of a cloud that she could peer out of. "I can hardly see anything," complained her passenger.
She swiveled an ear back at Gnaw. "This is the safest place. Right now, ponies are fighting. Do you really want to be in the middle of that? Even with some agreements made, fights are happening, and they are real. Pegasi are a proud people, and simply rolling over and presenting their bellies? Some will do that if the threat is vicious, but some will not." She smirked faintly.
"Besides... the Wonderbolts are here. There is no way they will submit without at least trying." Sure, their track record for actually winning against true threats was... minimal, but not for lack of trying! "The Devil Squad has a battle to win, even if some of them have agreed to the outcome."
"Then why aren't you down there?" Gnaw pointed past her to the cloud city below.
"My part is simple, but required. It will be a symbol not only to Cloudsdale, but the rest of Equestria." She rose up smoothly to her hooves, her horn brushing against the clouds over her. "I await the signal."
As if prompted, a great image of the moon, full and heavy, flickered into being in the sky ahead of her. "And there it is."
Her horn began to glow as she turned her attention to something much larger than anything else she could see. Something that would hurt the typical unicorn to handle, but destiny has chosen her to grasp and move with practiced ease.
Her magic wrapped around the Sun, that warm bright place. "It's been too long." Like a friend she had not greeted, the contact was full of forgotten feelings. She had left control of the sun to Twilight, but she was that, pony of the sun. The rush of power from the sun flooded through her, invigorating her. While most ponies lost shreds of their power each time they made contact with the scorching fury of the sun, she was instead fueled by it. She could feel age fleeing, her youth returning to her prime, though she had barely slid from it, short had yet retirement been.
"Time to sleep." It was not time to sleep, not for anypony, but she bade the sun to drop, and it did, sinking rapidly out of sight and plunging everything to night, the moon already lifted up into place to glare over the startled residents of not only Cloudsdale. All the ponies of Equestria beheld the sudden loss of day. It was impossible to miss, unless one had their head literally buried.
In the darkness of night, the fighting below became much more obvious, lit against that harsh backdrop. Portions of the city seemed to be on fire. Gnaw leaned forward, watching the flames with fascination. "What happened? How did that even start?" For a faked siege, it seemed inconceivable that someone would just... set a fire. "And how do clouds burn?!"
"They do not." Celly inclined her head towards the flames far below. "A mistake, likely. Their buildings have wood in them at times, and they can burn. The smoke will damage the clouds." The heat burned at the clouds as much as anything else, forcing the water apart, making them dissolve into nothing. "They are fighting." She gestured where a great flash showed. "Trixie has her hooves full, but it seems she practiced well."
Far below, Trixie ducked and rolled to the side, hitting the clouds, but not falling through them. "Now how did that spell go..." She rolled a hoof at Rainbow as she curled around to come in faster. "You saw me do this once, on Pinkie. Let's see how you like it."
Rainbow clapped her hooves over her face. "No way!"
"Wrong bodypart." The dread cursor tapped Rainbow's wings and pulled away, popping them right off.
Rainbow looked over her shoulder with a gasp, then she plummeted with a crash. She hit the clouds with a loud grunt of pain, her wings spread apart. They had never been taken off, but her thinking they had was enough. Trixie clopped her hooves with joy. "The Great and Powerful Trixie wins again!"
Nightmare Moon set her metal clad hood on a quivering pony's head. "That's it. I don't have to be a cruel mistress." She licked her lips, on some level, uneased by how easy it was to play that part. It wasn't a part she wanted to be in, really. "Let today... No, tonight be remembered!" She flared her wings wide, standing as tall as she could.
Garou menacingly rumbled in a promise of reprisal at her side, like a barely chained dog, which he sort of was. Any that saw them knew what they promised quickly. The nightmare wolf-dog had teeth, and they were made for biting. The groaning downed forms of several legionary ponies scattered about helped testify for that fact.
Elsewhere, the sound of flat metal thunking against a pony's skull rang out. Rockhoof let the shovel fall to the ground with a clatter, rushing to catch Jet Stream as she wobbled and fell. She had fought hard and long enough that he'd felt pressed to actually using the shovel. "It's alright," he promised her unconscious form, holding her tight as he set her down at once. "Ah'm sorry..."
He snatched up the shovel and buried her in the clouds. He had been told, for a pegasus, it was comfortable, even... comforting, to be buried in a cloud. Like being in the middle of a pillow. He could only hope it was true, that he would cause not a bit more harm to that mare. "Ah may have lost mah girlfriend." Not that he had killed her, oh not that...
That didn't mean she would forgive him when she came around, and she'd have a perfectly fine reason not to. He took a slow breath, regathering himself. "Back t' work." He trotted off firmly to resume his original task. There were ponies needing burying, a nice visible signal of those who had given up their fighting.
"It's calming down." Celly pushed up, causing the cloud to unfold away and allow her to climb free in a way only a cloudwalker could do. "I don't see... They must have been taken down."
"Who?" Gnaw was holding to her mane even as it whipped in the wind. From his perch, he peered down at the smoldering vision of Cloudsdale. "That looks like very real damage."
"Because it is." Celly slipped down to the cloud on the other side and walked to the edge. "Not a single one of them... The defenders, wanted to go down without a fight." Smoke was still lazily trailing lines upwards in the sky, but the frantic action seemed to have passed.
"Citizens of Cloudsdale." Trixie's spectral form rose over the city. "Your struggles are noted, but were not enough to stop us." She laughed imperiously into a hoof. "This battle is over. Weather staff that are able, put out those fires. The rest of you, go home. You've had a long day." She leaned in, looming over everypony. "Tomorrow we'll explain how things will work. Ta~" Her image flickered away.
Celly let out a little sigh. "Not the first time..." Equestria had seen its fair number of tyrants and conquerors. A little smile crept on her face. "But never for that long." She angled an ear back at Gnaw. "Well, are you satisfied?
"We'll see if they've actually given up."
His answer did not displease her. She stepped out into the air, wings catching and carrying them in gentle circles towards the road below them. "Today's been quite a day. Trixie is correct. For now, we simply let it lie."
The pegasi she trotted past had no idea she was even involved. A mercy not extended to the other members of the squad, she knew.
Kurva nudged her personally minted pile of Wonderbolts. "You're the best fighters Equestria has?"
Rainbow Dash, who had been added to the pile, glared at Kurva. "We're athletes first, but I'm still ready to cave in your face." She hadn't been defeated by Kurva. Trixie had claimed that prize. "Stupid unicorn tricks..." She hadn't even been actually hurt! It had been a trick! Just a trick! Rainbow thrashed and wriggled against her ropes. "Rrrrg, c'mon!"
"Stand down." Spitfire had a very similar glare on her face, but she was stewing quietly. "That's an order."
"What? But..." Rainbow grit her teeth, but did slow her struggles. Spitfire was still her boss, even if she hated the idea of it. "You'll get what's coming!"
"I'm sure I will." Kurva put a foot on Rainbow's side and shoved with a strong push of her leg, sending Rainbow flopping off the pile with a grunt. "But not tonight." She smirked a little, considering things. In some ways, not finishing off her battle partners was actually kind of... fun. Maybe her pony squad mates had a shred of a point in their insistence on not killing the people they fought with. Well, not all the time. She narrowed her eyes, remembering her old squad's losses at their hooves.
Maybe just one? That rainbow colored one was loud and annoying. One dead pony to quiet her up wouldn't be missed, right? She flexed her fingers, the metal of her gauntlets jingling faintly with the promise of violence. It would be over in an instant...
"We surrender." Spitfire met Kurva's eyes.
Kurva returned the look, the two locking their gazes. Spitfire struck her as a serious leader, if not a terribly great fighter. Kurva could feel a kernel, a small bit of respect. She was like Kurva, back then, ready to defend her people, the ones she held close. "I accept your surrender." She wouldn't stomp the rainbow one quiet. Not that moment. "So... athletes, huh?"
Trixie sipped from a tall plastic cup full of a tasty brew. "And that's how Cloudsdale was conquered by the Great and Powerful Trixie." She buffed her chest with a hoof, easily able to nurse her drink, floating in her magic as it was. "And now you are her subjects."
One scrawny pegasus lay postrate before her, wings unfurled just to lay out to the sides in an extra display of subservience. "Yes, my queen."
"Queen?" Trixie considered that a moment. "Trixie likes the sound of that." She set her hoof on her loyal subject's head. "Queen Trixie, the Pleased, accepts this. Now tell us about the best part."
He peeked up at her. "When you grabbed Rainbow in all those ropes." He wiggled a bit. "You were so... commanding."
Trixie could but smile. Some ponies enjoyed a proper display of dominance. "That was a satisfying moment. You have acceptable taste." She patted him gently on the head. "Trixie sees why she keeps you around."
He giggled with a joy perhaps not matching the moment. "You honor me, my lady."
Trixie smirked viciously. What a simp. Fortunately, she rather liked having a simp or two around, even if she had learned, painfully, that one had to be careful about what one's simps got up to in the pursuit of capturing the attention of the mare of their little dreams.
The stallion rolled over onto his back, gazing at her upside down. "Queen Trixie, Great and Powerful, how can I serve you?"
She lowered a hoof onto his face. For a normal pony, this would be a reason to move, or complain, or even attack her. But he just smiled. He was probably sniffing her... the perv... Yes, that was one grade A lackey. "Trixie had to work hard today, subduing an entire city... You can serve her with a shoulder massage."
Oh, how his eyes shined. "Right away!" He didn't move though. She raised her hoof from his face, and only then did he roll back up and scurry into position behind her. As he got to kneading out the tension in her shoulders and neck, she let out a satisfied little moan. Ah, it was so good to have devoted fans... "You." She looked to a mare who seemed to be watching but not participating. "If you're not here to help, go to bed."
"But it's afternoon," she complained. Well, it wasn't anymore. The sun had been plunged away. But it had been afternoon! "I still... have things to do."
"What kind of thing could you possibly get done right now?" Trixie rolled her eyes, wrinkling her nose. "It's dark, ponies are tired. Go home."
"I hope the market's open..." The mare slunk away, apparently at least dismissed properly. Trixie did not rate the odds of any given market being open that specific moment as very high.
"What a silly mare," spoke her servant as he pressed his hooves into Trixie. "She should just listen to your Great and Wise words."
"Indeed." Trixie swerved an ear back. "Have you seen the other invaders?"
"None are as entrancing as you, m'lady."
Trixie could but smile. "While true, Trixie is still curious. Now answer her."
"O-of course!" He liked her, and he feared her. A usual combination, Trixie had discovered. "I think I saw Nightmare Moon and her wolf pet on the north side." He didn't point. His hooves were busy working on Trixie's shoulders. "M'lady, how did you convince Rockhoof? I thought he was... basically a legendary hero."
"Do you doubt Trixie now? Do you think that trick is beyond her?" She glanced over her shoulder with just her eyes, face straight ahead. "I thought you--"
"--Forgive me! Of course you could do that, Great and Powerful Queen."
Trixie rose suddenly to her hooves. "Trixie must retire. Her orders are for everypony. Go to bed." She pointed away from herself, done with her time of worship and praise, as fun as that had been.
He slunk away like a chastised dog, but he left, which was the goal. Trixie nodded at his departed direction. "Everypony else?" She peered from one to the next. "Move!" She clopped her forehooves together with a bright flash, confetti bursting free. That got them moving, scurrying away from her. She'd have time for more magic tricks later.
"Not that you'd be any good at it."
Kurva leered at Rainbow Dash. "You are trussed up like a holiday meal, telling me what I can't do? Bold."
"While I am brave," she gladly accepted. "It ain't about that. It's about teamwork." She wriggled, perhaps trying to point with her bound hooves, but that wasn't happening. "It's about knowing the routine so well you could do it with your eyes closed. It's about having so much faith in your team that you fly at them fast enough to smash both your bones, knowing they won't crash into you, and you got your part down so good, they know the same."
Spitfire nodded along with Rainbow's words. "She isn't wrong. That is a good chunk of it. Rainbow may be a bit... brash, but she is a Wonderbolt, and I'm proud to have her as part of the wing."
"Proud to be here, sir." There would be no saluting, tied up as Rainbow was. "Just wish I was busy kicking flank instead of this. Do we have to surrender? I can take her!"
Spitfire rolled over onto her side. "You heard me. I won't take your insubordination, even right now." Tied up, pinned, helpless... but still the boss. "She accepted our surrender. Attacking her now would be proving we were cowards and liars. Is that what you are, Rainbow Dash? Are you a cowardly liar?"
Kurva glanced between the two. This was getting good... "Are you? I accepted your surrender out of respect, for the eyes of a fellow warrior." Athlete, warrior... She looked like a leader worth a bit of respect.
"Rrrrg!" She practically threw herself at the ground, a trick seeing as she started there, thrashing upwards just high enough to thump against the ground. "I hate this!" Still, she didn't try to get out. "Next time! Mark my words, there will be a next time, and I'll wipe that damned smirk off your face."
Kurva had her doubts. "Good luck." It could be a fun match, if ever it came to be.
Celly joined with the others. They shared a tense meal in their bed and breakfast, the other ponies clearly uncomfortable being around their newest conquerors, but they didn't attack. Their defenders had been bested, and at least they seemed to just be getting a nibble to eat. As things conquerors did, it rated fairly low.
Lulu had discarded her Nightmare Moon form. "I would like to never use that again."
"It was kinda cool." Garou nodded, back to being a wolf, no longer a nightmare wolf. "I'll be your nightmare buddy anytime."
Lulu gently thwapped him with an extended wing. "Noted."
Kurva leaned back in her chair, balancing dangerously just at the critical point where, any further, she and the chair would fall over backwards. "So, what's next?" She clucked her tongue against her teeth. "Didn't kill any of them." Even if she had been tempted, but she didn't say that part.
Celly inclined her head faintly. "Good. This wasn't a match that needed bloodshed. Tomorrow, we meet with their leaders, and explain the situation." She brought her hooves together with a slow sigh. "Then we begin preparing for the proper match."
"Proper match?" Popping out of her mane, their small captain slid down to the table. "Who are you hoping to have a 'proper match' with?"
Celly arched a brow lightly at Gnaw. "You can't guess? Surely any creature that brings an entire nation to her can get an audience... It's time we faced this leader behind it all, and did something about it."
Rockhoof clapped down a heavy hoof, making the table shudder under the abuse. "Finally! Ah got a few choice words for that one. Don't think ah can forgive her."
Trixie inclined her head at Rockhoof's outburst. "You're acting like she did something personal to you, which Trixie does not recall."
Garou nodded towards Trixie. "She isn't wrong. Something happen?"
"Nothing I want to talk about." He crossed his arms and flumphed down in a mighty pout. "Just want to hurt a creature worth hurting right now, and not innocent ponies."
"I can agree with half of that." Celly rose smoothly. "For now, we retire. I have a feeling we will be needed come the morning."
"About that, the su--" Trixie turned for the door as light spilled in, the sun restored to its proper late afternoon position. "--Oh."
Celly moved on without pause. "Twilight wasn't going to leave the sun out of position. Expect her."
The Devil Squad sat before the mayor and the head of the legion. Celly nodded to one, then the other. "I'm glad no true and proper injuries resulted."
The mayor rubbed behind her head, a little visibly confused. "That isn't exactly what I expect people who take over the city to be worried about."
The commander of the legion laughed and nudged the mayor. "They asked permission quite politely, even set a date for it. As invaders go, they get top marks for etiquette."
"Did they? Then I can blame you." She prodded her military counterpart in the side. "For not warning me, that is! Seriously." She looked back to Celly. "My apologies, but nopony thought a single member of the government should be informed of... this."
Celly dipped her head only briefly. "I do apologize for that. Now, to be clear, we intend for you to continue doing what you do." She pointed at the mayor. "You obviously know how the city operates. You know who does the operating, and how to get things done. Installing our own leaders? A waste."
The mayor inclined her head slowly but quite steeply. "Then how are you even... taking over? If everypony who was in charge is still in charge, what's the difference?"
"Who you say you owe allegiance to, to start."
Lulu nodded along with that. "And where some of your output and what you make to begin with. For the moment, you are not an Equestrian city."
The mayor waved a hoof between the two. "How could you betray your fellow ponies?
The commander was too busy laughing. "What?" The mayor scowled at her. "Why are you laughing? This is no laughing matter!"
Celly inclined her head. "Please bear with us, and do as you are told, for now... You know them." She pointed to the commander.
The mayor's frown deepened a moment before it began to abate. "I don't understand, but I do know them... I will play along." She clopped a hoof to the ground. "I have a city to repair." And off she marched with a determined expression.
The commander rolled upright. "Sorry about that. She has her hooves full, and I should help." They marched past the assembled squad. "Nice job, 'Nightmare Moon'," they got out on the way past, a little smirk worn.
Lulu colored at that, snorting, but allowing the commander to leave.
A bright sparkle flared into being, an alicorn popping in not far from where the mayor had been. There was Twilight, dressed all in black in some attempt to be subtle, though she was quite easy to see, and not terribly subtle. "What's going on here?!" she demanded, noticing she had an audience. "Trixie?! Rockhoof?!"
Trixie smiled smugly. Rockhoof looked away with a sudden bit of shame. "Hey, Twilight." Garou's ears were pricked at the princess. "You're looking... sneaky today."
Twilight's cowl twitched, her ear failing to raise at the strange wolf that addressed her. "Do I know you?" Her eyes darted to Celly and Lulu. "And who moved the sun? Are there other unicorns around?"
Celly took a step forward. "That was me, and me alone."
"But only one pony could do something like that." Her speech slowed with confusion. "Celestia?"
Lulu rolled her eyes. "I could move the sun if I wanted to. I just rarely wish to." She moved the moon! Why ponies forgot she was able to move celestial bodies other than that was a source of irritation at times.
"Luna?!" Twilight took an awkward step back. "Why aren't you two retired? Why are you moving the sun? Why...?"
Celly approached her stunned and confused replacement. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, Equestria is being invaded." Her voice lowered, "Again." She coughed into a raised hoof. "I require your surrender."
Twilight's left brow twitched softly. Was it a test?! Was... Was she...? "You're joking... right?"
"I'm afraid not." Celly inclined her head faintly. "On the bright side, you will be allowed to remain in your position, provided you follow our commands."
"Our... commands?"
Kurva closed with Twilight. "Are you seriously not getting it? You're under arr--" She reached for Twilight, who vanished. "What?"
Celly and Lulu were already turning to face where Twilight had hopped to. Lulu gestured at Kurva. "That is Kurva, she is with us. We have much to discuss, in private. All will be explained."
Confused, but compliant, Twilight left under the watch of the Devil Squad, conquerors of Equestria. Every pony that witnessed the march knew it to be true. Their princess had been taken, though unharmed.
None were entirely sure why Twilight was dressed like a ninja though. That was a new part of the process...
Soon Kurva was leaning up against a wall, outside their room. "Remind me why I can't go in there?"
"The same reason I can't?" Garou grinned as a dog might, tongue lolling. "Or him." He looked to Gnaw, also forbidden from entering the room.
"The cheek of it all." Gnaw folded his arms. "If not for their effectiveness, I would not tolerate this."
"Now there is a statement I can understand." Kurva threw a hand up in front of her with a heavy sigh. "I swear..."
Inside, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight were catching up on princessly affairs. "So you're going to go back?"
Celestia nodded at Twilight. "We will, and we will fight, so that what happened earlier was all that Equestria will ever see of it."
Luna looked upon their younger replacement. "You have done a fine job."
"Have I?" She quirked a crooked smile. "Apparently I'm already being taken over."
Celly set a hoof on Twilight's shoulder gently. "Only in show."
"Right. Right." She took a slow breath. "I can handle this. Equestria, and you, are counting on me to do that." She stood up, letting out that breath. "I'm on the case. I'll inform the ponies of Canterlot, and the media. I'll send Spike to spread the word from there."
Luna clapped her hooves lightly together to hold them there. "Marvelous. One day, perhaps, you can show me how those work. You say they aren't magic."
Twilight's smile became a step more genuine. "Even I am baffled at times at new technology. I would be delighted to explore it with you, Luna. Perhaps after this is settled."
"Quite." Luna looked to Celestia. "Sister, I believe we have this settled."
Twilight vanished without another word, off to do her job, as princess of Equestria, conquered or not.
Celestia, becoming Celly, willed the door a crack open. "You can come back in. The terms are settled." The other members of the squad filtered back in to join them. "We will wait a week, then return with news of our glorious victory and subjugation of this nation."
"Overruled." Gnaw tapped his foot, arms crossed. "You think you aren't being watched? Sit around doing nothing and that will get back to her long before you do. You're going back, now."
Lulu perked an ear at their small commander. "Hm, that does accelerate things. Very well then. I am eager to put this behind us."
Kurva spread her hands. "Seriously? This is just a mild thing of note for you all? Are you all insane?" She looked from pony to pony to dog and on back to ponies. "Seriously?"
Rockhoof shuffled in place, causing his shovel to rock left and right. "We're already plannin' on doin' it. Tomorrow, a week from then, what's the difference?"
Garou thrust a hand-like paw up to clench it. "Sounds good to me. Trixie?"
"Trixie..." She shook her head. "Will remain behind, to help with... something else!" She threw down something with the last word, smoke filling the room almost instantly. Her retreating hooves could be heard dwindling down the hallway.
Kurva glanced to Celly. "Want me to nab her?"
"Let her go." Celly looked to Garou instead. "You look like you know about this."
"Enough to guess. This wasn't for her. She's going where she can do more good, for herself, and others. Let her go."
"I thought as much." She smiled at Kurva thinly. "It seems you arrived just in time to keep our squad number steady."
"What an honor." Kurva huffed and moved for her things. "I'll be packed and ready to move out. By the way, she was the quartermaster. What are we going to be short on with her running, possibly with our stuff?"
Lulu snorted softly. "Nothing. That was a title we allowed her to have. She was a valued member of the team, but actual quartermaster, less so."
"She was pretty good at getting some bits when we needed it," argued Garou with a little shrug. "I'm still hoping she does better in her new job. Go get 'em, Trixie."
"And, so, I realized it. I have explored the entire path to the bottom, and back again." Trixie set her hoof on her chest. "Now I stand ready to guide other ponies, foals or not. I will show them that I know what it's like, to feel lost, and how to find their way back again."
Starlight inclined her head slowly. "Huh." She had tried to recruit several replacement counselors with varying levels of success. "Funny thing, the CMC are great counselors, but... very specific in their focus."
Trixie laughed at the mental image of it. "Then Trixie has arrived just in time to provide the Great and Powerful counselor you need!" She reared up and clopped her hooves on the desk, leaning on it. "So, you two get married or not?"
Starlight spat out the water she had been sipping. "What?!"
Their original ship was not available. Promised, and being ponies of their word, the minotaurs had taken off as soon as they could, likely somewhere halfway to home, or perhaps some other financial endeavor. "This is not a problem." Celly marched with determination down the road. "This is Cloudsdale. Airships are not that uncommon around here. Anypony that wants to visit it that isn't a pegasus has some form of transport. It's just a matter of us gaining one."
Garou loped alongside her. "We're going to ask nicely?"
"Basically." Celly advanced ahead of the others towards a craft that looked large enough to hold them. "Excuse me!" She waved a hoof as she came closer. "We need a boat and we were hoping..."
Gnaw peered from Luna's shoulder. "It is perhaps most annoying that this cheeky decision will, somehow, work. Kurva! You're about the most normal soldier here. Can you explain how?" He waved at the chatting Celly. "How is any of this?"
Kurva folded her arms, one hand going up in Celly's direction. "You've been with them longer than me, sir. I've seen nothing you haven't, except personally watching them wreck my old squad. They know how to fight, they just don't usually."
"It's one of our better qualities." Garou grinned with carnivore's teeth at the two. "Besides, that's just effective."
Gnaw peered at the most canine of them. "Effective?"
"Why waste resources if you don't have to? Talking has no chance of anyone becoming hurt or killed, and usually isn't that tiring. It's a nice low energy start that may be enough, leaving us the energy to kick some tail when the right time for that comes along." He snapped fingers wolves shouldn't have. "Just smart."
"Hm." Gnaw set his hands on his small hips. "It's difficult to argue with results, and easier to employ a population that isn't injured or dead."
Kurva threw up her hands. "Are you trying to give me a hint? Sheesh, this is heavy-handed..."
Gnaw kept his eyes on Garou. "Not every comment relates to you."
Celly met the other pony with a hoof in a clop. "We'll try to return it in the condition we found it. Thank you for being so understanding."
Kurva frowned at the squad leader. "Let me guess, they said 'Oh sure, take our airship. Not like we needed it compared to you."
Celly nodded. "Essentially." She had also promised a decent reward later, but there was no need to bring that up. "Here's the key." Up floated a crystal glinting in the light. "One complication--"
"--Do any of you know how to fly?" Gnaw peered from soldier to soldier of his. "This isn't something to have the cheek in claiming if it's not true. Crashing with your superior officer will not look good on your review!"
Lulu snorted at the threat. "I should imagine not. I do not have this skill." Sure, she could fly in her alicorn form. That lent her no ability to navigate an airship around. "Celly?"
"Not me." She looked at Garou with a smile. "You've been a source of talents unexpected. Is this one of them?"
Garou yipped in a sharp bark. "Woah! I would, if I could. I can't, so I won't."
All eyes turned to Kurva, the only one left. She groaned and set a hand on her face. "Oh... Wow. I thought I put my ship days way behind me."
Celly clapped her hooves with a gentle smile. "Fantastic. It would seem we can continue. Kurva, you are acting captain of this ship. When do we depart?"
Kurva took a step towards their new boat. "Captain, huh?" It was only an acting rank within the squad, but it was still one of power. She would have the final say on that boat and its operation... The sound of that made her happy. She clapped her hands together and rubbed them with new thoughts. "I will show you I'm worthy of the title, then." She snatched the floating key out of Celly's grip. "I'll be inspecting my ship." She ascended the plank onto it without another word.
Lulu raised a brow at the departing fox. "You're encouraging her, and not in a good way, sister mine. I could hear the air rushing in to fill her ego the moment you gave her a position of authority."
"This will be good for her and good for us in the long term, just you watch and see." Celly's wings would have been wide, but she was just a unicorn, so her confident smile had to step in to do the job. "Is everypony ready to leave when she gives the word?"
"I'll get him!" Who he was getting, Garou didn't say as he dashed off back towards the inn they had retired in. He dashed up the stairs and sprang up onto two legs, though he hit the ground on four legs. He felt like he was standing up and not at the same time, which was confusing. Oh! Garou put the pieces together and realized he was half biped wolf and three quarters feral wolf in a fierce page of tauric carnivore. "I'm getting better..." He had been practicing that form, though having it spring out without asking was not the goal.
He shrank to his far less fierce biped form and rapped on the door. "Hey, you in there? We're heading out in not long. The ladies want to see you by the ship."
"We have a ship?" Rockhoof could be heard moving about in his room. "When did that happen? Everythin' settled around here?" Something fell. "Oops." It was gathered up and other things shuffled. "I'm comin'! Do they need a big slow lug like me around, muckin' things up?"
Garou flipped an ear back at the sharp pivot in the conversation. "Rockhoof! Cut that out. They love you, and so do I. You're a huge help, and a part of our team. We wouldn't be who we are without you there, at our side."
"You're jus' sayin' that!" The door did open just a little crack. "Thought it was you." He was looking Garou over top to bottom. "Thought you preferred the doggy, uh, form?"
"I do generally." Garou fell forward to four paws, tail wagging behind him. "It's easier to knock and use doorknobs with hands." He wiggled his paws which had fingers at that moment. "Which I can have when I want, but it's still easier to use them when they're built in. Hard to explain, really... Maybe a changeling would get it."
Rockhoof chuckled softly as he emerged. "Ever try talkin' to one of them? A lot of them are pretty friendly... Not a lot of room for me bein'... me...but I bet they'd like you plenty."
"Don't be like that." Garou pawed at Rockhooof, with actual paws, proving that he was naturally outfitted for the task. "You're a bro! Seriously. I'd be so lonely without my guyfriend around. No homo or anything, but having a buddy around makes a big difference, since the other option are a lot of very strongly opinionated females that could bend me over backwards if they really wanted to." He waggled his brows. "Thankfully, most of them don't usually play that way."
Rockhoof rumbled with a faint smile. "I could tell them you said that."
"You wouldn't!" Garou bounded about in place. "That's a breach of the bro code. Don't be like that."
"I do not know what code you're referring to... But I wouldn't do that." He set a heavy hoof on Garou's head and ruffled the top of his canine friend. "I got my things... If you really want?" Garou was nodding rapidly. "I'll come down."
"Yay!" Garou broke into a spirited lope at Rockhoof's side. "Seriously, you are a friend. Pretty sure they agree, minus maybe Kurva? Even Gnaw seems to respect you. I think he likes that you tend to put your cards straight forward."
"Can you rephrase that?" Rockhoof had a brow raised at the odd modern words. "What's that mean?"
"It means you say it exactly as it is. You speak the blunt truth, usually. I think Gnaw appreciates that. You'd have to ask him to be sure, but I'm pretty sure of it."
"Huh." The two descended the stairs to find a pony blocking the way. "Pardon?" He considered the innkeeper pegasus. "Did we forget somethin'?"
"This!" The innkeeper kicked Rockhoof in the shin and stomped off. "Think you can jus take over whenever you want..."
Rockhoof sucked in a breath, but marched on despite it. Outside, with the door closed, he let out that breath. "Well, they still have their fighting spirit."
"You alright?" Garou set a paw on where it had been kicked, feeling the lump that was forming. "Wow, they got you good."
"I wasn't expecting it!" barked Rockhoof defensively. "If it was a proper fight, I would have laughed it off. Say, where is everypony?" He looked left and right, but no group was in sight. At least, none of theirs were easily viewable other than Garou.
"That way." Garou pointed with an extended paw, no fingers to be found in the gesture. "Kurva is the captain of the ship, since she knows how to fly and the rest of us have no clue. Oh! You can't fly, can you?"
"I'm not a pegasus, lad." He chuckled warmly as they walked down the roar, avoiding the looked they got on the way. Some ponies feared them while others glared at them angrily.
"Why?" A little pegasus colt had wandered in front of them both. He was looking at Rockhoof with big eyes that looked ready to bawl at any moment. "I thought the pillars were the good ponies..."
Rockhoof winced. "Uh..."
"Hey." Garou leaned in at the little colt. "The pillars do a lot of things, but they always help in the end, right?"
"Yeah!" He pointed a hoof at Rockhoof accusingly. "So why is he doing a bad thing?"
"Nuh uh. I said in the end." Garou inclined his head. "Root for the turnaround play. It'll be great."
The foal's eyes widened as understanding came in. "Oh! Good luck, sir."
Rockhoof quirked a smile. "I'll do my best. Fer now... gonna get out of here. We won't be in your mane no longer." They were able to step around the colt without further hinderences.
"There you are!" Kurva had spotted them. "Get up here. We set sail as soon as you're settled in. This bucket of wood is put together decently enough." She stomped off. Despite her words, she was smiling just a little in appreciation of her new task. "I'll get us there in one piece."
Rockhoof stepped up onto the plank of wood and took it up with him, Garou scampering past him easily. He set it aside where nopony would trip over it. "You know, I served on a ship once, briefly... Most of it made sense to me."
"Do tell me more." Garou flops down on his haunches nearby. "You have my entire attention."
"I do?" It was not always that Rockhoof got anycreature's attention. "Um... Most of it made sense. A big strong reliable sort... Just what they needed. Did what they said to do... Until I tried to get smart with it... I wasn't so smart... messed up." He sighed softly. "An' they kicked me right off."
"Their loss," angrily huffed Garou.
"My gain." Kurva set a hand on Rockhoof's head between the ears. "So you know how to help out on a ship? Great! A second set of hands, er, hooves would be helpful. I have jobs for you. Let's go." She hiked a thumb and changed the direction she was going at the same time. "It's up to us to get this boat where we want it."
Garou inclined his head at the retreating captain. "See? Already made a friend, and being helpful. Told you."
Rockhoof chased after her with an unsure smile. "Yes, ma'am!"
"One thing." Garou was seated next to Kurva as she piloted the ship onwards, away from Equestria. "Did your parents give you that name, or something else?"
Kurva's tail curled into a question mark as she perked an ear at the canine presence. "Pardon? You're getting awfully familiar."
"A bad habit of mine." Not that he took it back, or apologized. "Just that the name has a meaning, where I'm from. Do you know it?" That she did seemed quite obvious with the knife she was holding. It was more of a combat dagger, really, but a sharp small tool none the less and seemingly ready to be used. "I'm not attacking you."
"There are only a few reasons anyone would bring attention to that." She hissed softly with an intake of a breath. "And I'm not interested, dog. Your personality grates."
"That hurts." He didn't sound that hurt. "But you're lashing out. Seriously, not here to attack you. I'm just curious how you got that name. Born with it, or...?" His tail wagged slowly left and right. "You don't have to tell me, I'm not your boss."
"You're not." She shoved the dagger back where it had come from at her side. "So cut it out. You know it so you can call me, that is it's purpose. Now..." She set her hands on the steering wheel and adjusted their heading slightly. "We're entering home airspace. They will almost assuredly make us land before we get to base. We're an unidentified airship. If they don't, they deserve to be punished."
"That you have a past is hard to miss." He was not leaving, instead sitting there near her. "Wanna talk about it?"
"What are you, a counselor?" She swatted at him, but he nimbly jumped back, just to return to the same spot. "I owe you nothing, arguably less than that!" She frowned with a new energy. "What do you even think it means?"
He hummed with that thought, considering with a slow tilting of his head left and right. "Well... It's not a nice word. It's thrown at females by insecure or angry males, half the time."
Her claws dug into the steering wheel. "There are many of those... What is it alluding to, being bossy? Being loud?"
"Technically, no?" Garou reared up as his body adjusted to the motion, becoming just as bipedal as Kurva was. "They can use it for those, but it meant, basically, a lady who made a living by being a lady."
"Made a..." He barely had time to see Kurva throw it, the dagger drawn and flung hard enough to embed itself in the wood a little in front of him. "Did you come here just to insult me?! I am not one of those!"
He slid slowly away from the lost dagger. "I wasn't trying to say you were, but I was curious about how you ended up with the name." A name that didn't fit Equestria very well, though she was from beyond its borders. "So far, you haven't acted that way at all. You're a professional soldier."
"Damn right." She flicked her tail, grabbing the dagger's hilt with it and yanking it free with enough force to send it twirling in the air. She grabbed it free when it reached her shoulder's height and in the same motion stuffed it away for safe keeping. "If you know that, why do you keep talking to me like a friend, instead of a fellow soldier?"
"Oh, feel free to ask the others." He pointed a thumb at the stairs heading down into the hold of their small ship. "I do this to them too. I do this because you're on my team."
"Lucky me. Ah, there they are." She threw her head softly at an incoming ship. "I don't have any signals, so keeping the heading steady. Not too fast, not too slow. We don't need anyone getting antsy."
"None of that." He watched the ship drawing closer. "So do they have megaphones or something?"
"They can shout."
That wasn't an idle threat. "Land immediately," came the booming voice. "We will inspect you and your cargo."
Kurva took the ship downwards. "Let's find a comfy place to touch down. Now, if we were on their lists, they'd leave us alone. We're not. We're just some random ship cruising through their zone of control, and that's against every rule they have."
"I could see why that bothers them." Garou wasn't moving, standing next to Kurva far closer to her height, actually taller than her when he was bipedal. "So, that name?"
"Rockhoof!" She glared as he stormed into view on heavy hooves. "He's bothering me." She inclined her head at Garou. "Get rid of him while I land this thing."
"Aye aye, ma'am." Rockhoof went around Garou and got to nudging him away from Kurva even as the wolf-man laughed.
"Easy, easy, I'm going." Garou set a hand on Rockhoof's head in a gentle tussing. "No need to get rough."
"C'mon, lad." Rockhoof gave Garou one last firm push with the top of his head, sending his canine friend stumbling down the steps. "She's got to land, and I don't 'magine that's an easy thing. I've talked to a few pegasi in my time! Soarin' through the air's the easy part. Getting back down without makin' a mess is the harder part."
Kurva touched down with a thump, the other ship hovering just to the left. "Classic..." It was protocol. Landing was less intimidating, and a weaker battle position compared to a landed suspect. "And they land... now." The deck of the ship thudded as a heavy bear of a woman landed with a scowl. "Welcome to my ship."
"Name and purpose of your travel," barked out the bear without replying to her niceties. Her eyes wandered over thes hip as if an attack could leap at her at any moment. Her folded arms put one of her hands close to a dangling mace, ready to draw it.
"Kurva, serving the same military force as you." She tapped with a toe at the deck. "We took this from a former enemy force, now turned to our side. A successful invasion, glory be to her." She did her best to keep the mild spite out of that last bit. "We return with the news." She slowly fished out a badge, moving with purpose, and a lack of quick motions, to not alarm her 'guest'. "Here you go."
The bear snatched the badge away and turned it about in examination. "Hm. Do you have any ranking authority to fly through this zone with this ship?" Technically, even if Kurva was due to return, doing so with an unknown ship could, by the rules, be counted as a bad thing.
"She does." Gnaw rose into view as his mount, Celly, ascended the stairs. "Captain Gnaw. Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"
The bear snapped a salute at the sudden presence of a superior officer. "Corporal Pot! Just going my job, Sir."
"Commendable." He was quiet as his mount arrived at the deck proper. "But complete. We have places to be, and superiors that will be agitated every moment they are made to wait. We have a mission, with a number and identification. Do we have to wait for that to be validated, Corporal?"
That world did not have immediate communication over a distance. It wasn't an email away. "Uh, no, Sir. We will send in the needed paperwork, Sir, but you can proceed." She fished out some paper and a bit of dark chalk. "If you'll allow, Sir?"
"Of course." Gnaw preferred to do things properly, and had no objection to giving his identification numbers, as well as that of the mission he was on. "Thank you for handling this properly. Corporal Pot, was it? I'll send a good word." Details were exchanged, salutes were exchanged, and she grabbed a dangling rope. With a final tug, she was pulled up to the waiting airship above.
Gnaw nodded with satisfaction. "Good to see the border patrol is still doing their job. I would have torn her in half if she messed it up." It was terribly unlikely that Gnaw would tear any bear in half, but he said it with complete conviction. "Let them take off before we do the same, no need to violate air regulations."
Kurva snapped a sharp salute of her own. "Of course... captain. Rockhoof, help me get this bucket moving!" The earth pony appeared with a scrambling of hooves. "You know the routine." They got to work as a team preparing the engine to do its job.
Gnaw tapped at his mount's head with a foot. "Thank you for the lift, well timed. You seem to have a knack with that."
"Nothing special." Celly's good timing was the thing of legends at times, but she saw no reason to gloat about it as she descended with her passenger back into the hold. "I do have some important questions for you, vitally important."
"Then speak." He leaned in over her eyes to look at her upside down. "What is a superior officer you can't communicate with? Useless!"
"Of course, Sir." Her horn glowed as she held Gnaw steady with her sitting motion there in the cramped bedroom. "As you may have surmised at this point, being a clever captain, we have plans that go beyond following our orders."
"When you even do that! The cheek..." Gnaw thumped on the top of Celly's head. "It's a good thing you continue to show you can get things done, even if you refuse to do it the way you are instructed."
"As have you." Celestia showed no distress from being bopped, calmly enduring the presence of her small superior. "And I have plans that involve that."
Gnaw put his hands on his hips, not that she could see from that angle. He slid down onto the bridge of her snout, allowing them to see each other at the same time. "You're my soldier. You shouldn't have plans for me. The cheek of it! What are you even implying?"
"You know better than most that we aren't very good soldiers, when you get down to it." She inclined her head. "We have aspirations above and beyond that, and we're about to make our move. That move will create a vaccuum, and we want someone dependable to step into that void, since it would otherwise result in a lot of hurt creatures who didn't ask to be involved."
"We are not speaking off the record." His words were icy and his eyes set in rigid warning. "Watch what you say."
"I know you well enough to know you'd never speak off the record." She extended her tongue just mildly. "As if you wouldn't reveal deception even if you did promise 'off the record'. Its your straight record that has me discussing it with you."
"If it's so impressive, you shouldn't have the cheek to assume I'd be alright with it! What sort of betrayal are you plotting? Confess and I'll note it in the report."
Celly leaned forward, dropping her chin to the ground. "You keep mentioning others having large cheeks, but none could compare to you, Captain. You are a small creature, talented or not, in the company of an armed group that could put an end to things rather quickly, if they were that sort of creature... Fortunately, we're not."
"Was that a threat?!"
"A simple observaton of facts, more like." She arched one brow, but kept her chin on the ground, Gnaw near it as a result. "I like you, Captain Gnaw, that's why we're talking. I would like you to continue doing the quality work you're doing, but to do that, we need to be honest, with each other. You can't be ignorant any further. We set you down and you curse our names, or you ride with us, and perhaps, together, we can make a better tomorrow."
"I am loyal to the empire." His words were frosted, showing not a bit of fear for his outsized soldier. "I will be reporting this."
"Of course you will. You are a creature of your word, and with good work ethic. This is why we're chatting, as I said." Celestia slowly sat up, towering over the superior, in theory, hamster. "I will throw away all deceptions, between us. You can then make your decision, and we will not harm you today if I can help it."
"Deceptions? Besides this one?" He crossed his arms. "I had my suspicions... Mercenaries are always chancy things, but she insists they are worth the effort."
"Besides that one." She banished her spell, and her body rapidly grew into the space, wings unfurling wide as if in defiance of their lack of existence. What once was a tall unicorn became an impossibly large alicorn, glowing with her power and flowing mane. "I am no mercenary." That was a lie. "Pardon... I am not for your master."
"P-Princess?!" His stoic stance was broken, taking a step back. "The cheek! Did they know? Is that why they surrendered to us? Of course! But... We... You came before we did. Before... Why?!"
Celestia curled a wing around to rest its soft feathers on Gnaw's confused head. "It's nice to be recognized. I am Princess Celestia, and I will banish evil that threatens my ponies. Your master has proven several times over that she is an evil worthy of our attention. Do you deny this?"
"She is the commander... The ruler..." He angrily swatted her wing away. "And you are her enemy!"
"I am no enemy to your nation. I would free them to make their own decisions, and you would be a fine leader among them." Celestia offered a hoof towards him, hovering in the air over him. "Will you not at least consider this alternative path?"
"If I am the creature you say I am, with your own words, why would you expect me to?" He was glaring death at her. "I would rather face you in combat than meekly surrender my nation."
"My admiration only swells by the moment... Sister?"
"Sister." Luna emerged from the shadows as if she had been there the entire time. She ignored Gnaw's increasing shivering. He recognized her too. This pleased her, silently. "How can I help?"
"He is to be placed safely on the ground." She pointed downwards. "Do you require supplies, Gnaw?" He was not her captain any longer, and the title was left off. All present knew she had not made a mistake.
Luna nodded once to Celestia, her attention moving to Gnaw. "If you do require something, now is the time to speak it."
"You knew I couldn't take this offer." He drew a comically tiny dagger free from his belt, threatening a paper cut at best on the two unaging princesses. "You knew!"
"I hoped." Celestia's expression was a sad smile. "I hoped... A weakness of mine. Go, without ill wishes."
"You heard her." Luna snatched him with her glowing magic. "We're leaving." His desperate swings and thrusts at the air were of no impact on her, or her magic as she walked back towards the shadow. "None will see me leave." And she was gone, casually walking out the way she came.
Celestia sighed softly. "One more..." There was one other loyalist among them. "She will be tougher..."
"Captain," came the call from above. "Report."
Kurva was calling, likely to make a report, as she had said. Celestia became Celly, constricting her magic and body to smaller proportions. "Hopefully..." She opened the door to find a canine waiting for her. "Garou. Can I help?"
"You didn't hurt him, right?"
Celly lifted an ear at that. "No... He's on the ground, intact and unharmed."
"Good..." Garou glanced towards the stairs leading up. "I'd help... but I think seeing me would only make her angry. I tried to get to know her, but pretty sure I just pissed her off."
"Such flavorful language." Celly walked past Garou towards the stairs. "Be ready to move, just in case."
"If things go South." Garou did not advance on the stairs, watching Celly instead. "Good luck."
"I hope I do not need it." She ascended the stairs into the open air, wind brushing through her coat and mane in breezes that reminded her of the motion they had a moment before, when she allowed it. "Kurva."
Kurva scowled at Celly. "You are not a captain, last I checked."
"Worse." Celly considered a moment, silence growing. "I am hope."
"Hope?" Kurva barked. "Hope of what? We don't have time to play games. We'll arrive in minutes. I wanted Gnaw to know. Is he hiding on you?" It wouldn't be the first time it happened.
"No. I wish to speak to you... Female to female." Celly sat right at the top of the stairs. "You carry scars that only males can give to us."
Kurva's claws dug deep furrows in the steering wheel she held. "Get to the point, Celly. That you are technically a superior officer is the only reason we're still talking."
"True... but I would speak to you as one creature to another. I plan to attack this rotten system, that allowed a talented individual as yourself to be so abused." She raised a hoof. "Will you lend a hand? It will have much to do after I am done, and I won't be there to see those final steps. Without you, there will be other females caught in the machinations of males that think they can force the issue, and many won't be wrong... And the females will suffer for it."
Kurva made it a practice to draw new lines in fidgets of her fingers, each with a loud scratch as she kept her eyes rigidly forward, ignoring Celly as best she could, which wasn't very well. "And, what, you think I'll be their hero?"
"If not you, who else would?" Celly took a step forward, but no further. "This is not a mission of vengeance I put before you, but you can stop it from repeating. We will take her down, her and her rotten system. The one that mocked you when your team was taken down."
"By you!" she thundered, throwing a paw at Celestia to go with a nasty glare that lasted but a moment. "By you. I didn't forget that... Did you?"
"I did not... But we did not disrespect them, or you. That was your SO. I hear he... We should not speak of him."
"No, we should not." Kurva nudged the ship to angle downwards. "We will be landing soon. Now is your last chance to change your mind, to turn back."
"Thank you for the offer." Her smile became gently genuine. "Both of them... You do not need to stand at our side for this part. Watch, and when we prove victorious, step forward to claim a place. You deserve it... I only ask one thing."
"Oh, here it is." She rolled her eyes, ears going back. "I knew a catch was waiting... What is it?"
"Don't repeat the cycle. Even with him. It is time to take a turn to more... positive directions. Promise me you'll be the better creature he never could dream of being."
Just the rush of wind could be heard, the two silent as the ship descended slowly beneath them.
"Win." She angled the wheel slowly to the left. "Win, and prove it can be done. If you lose, I will swear you off, and all promises are off."
"Welcome to the team!" Garou rushed up the stairs with a big canine grin, tongue lolling. "Just watch us! It's gonna be great! I just wish Trixie was still here..."
A hoof landed on his head. "Want me to get rid of him?" There was Rockhoof, still doing his job.
Kurva let out a single laugh. "Are you two in on what she's barking about or not?"
"I'm in!" Garou nodded, bouncing the hoof on his head with the motion. "Let's kick some evil butt!"
"I stand with her." Lulu ascended from behind Rockhoof, slipping around him. "And we will win."
Rockhoof nodded firmly. "There aren't other options. It's time to act, right?"
"Right." Celly gestured in the direction they had come. "Gnaw was set down already. He is unaware of your involvement. If you need to swear us off later..."
Kurva clenched her teeth. "Don't make me want to. Coming in for a landing." She brought the ship down for a smooth touch down at the waiting dock, next to other ships, both military and not, though even the civilian ones, like theirs, were clearly involved in military business. "I'd wish you luck, but you need something more concrete than that."
Celly lurched faintly as the ship touched a solid surface. "Then instead of wishing things external for us, make a wish on the power we already carry."
Kurva threw her head back, cackling wildly for a brief moment. "You know what? I like that. Show them the fury you showed to my team, and make them crumble all the same. You did it once, one more shouldn't be too hard, hm?"
Garou slipped away from Rockhoof to get closer to her. "Will do... But you could come with us. I wouldn't mind having you at our side. You're pretty badass if you don't mind my saying so."
"What is bad about my ass?" She squinted at the wolf. "You know what, don't even answer that. There is no answer that wouldn't enrage me."
"I beg to differ. Where I come from, that term means 'especially amazing, usually in a physically imposing way.'" Garou's ears wagged as his tail followed suit. "That doesn't make you angry, I hope."
"It makes me confused. What a strange place you come from." She grabbed him by the tail as he turned to leave. "Don't die." She shoved him away with a scoff.
Lulu was the first down the gangplank. "We have good news."
"Where is Captain Gnaw?" asked the heavy-set armadillo there to see them with a clipboard in hand.
Celly descended after Lulu. "The one casualty of the action, otherwise completely successful. Why did they send him with us? Guarding superiors is not what we specialize in."
"Right." He didn't sound nearly as upset as perhaps he should have been, taking a note with no emotion. "If he can't make the report, you'll have to do it." He directed a quill onwards. "Up to you which it is, but make it snappy."
"We're on the way." Celly marched on, her group following her. No one of them would be the one to deliver the news. They all had something to say.
They were not challenged. They could march right in to the dark room. When the door closed behind them, the gloom became complete. Celly peeked around. "Hello?"
"Hello." Two large feline eyes opened in the dark, dominating their vision. "My lovely servants. Hm, not the right one." A soft purr. "Little matter. My agents say Equestria grovels before me now. Excellent work."
But only eyes. No matter how hard they looked, there was no hint of the rest of her form. "You are in charge of this group, are you not?" Those eyes fixed on Celly. "You led them?"
"Yes, ma'am." Celly saluted as sharply as she could, though it wasn't the local salute. "Victory is complete with minimal damage on the Equestrian infrastructure."
"As if I didn't already take note of that..." The empress sounded amused and self-confident. "Good, we will need what they have and have surrendered to us. Mmm... To turn against your own kind. Many flinch when asked to do so."
"Even they know to bow to a proper ruler." Truth, so far Celly saw it. "How can we next serve you?"
"I appear to be short a captain..." The eyes came quite a bit closer, looming over them. "Time to replace them."
It was an offer, but one without the option of saying 'no.' "As you command." Celly dipped her head. "We will need someone to replace me. May I suggest one in particular?"
"Hm?" The eyes drew back. "You have someone in mind already? Most don't like to imagine their replacement... Very well, who would you name?"
"Kurva. They waste her talents without a squad to lead."
"Ha! I have seen her file." The eyes grew larger, not by growing closer, but just larger. "She failed. Why would I give her another chance?"
Lulu gestured back at the door they had come through, invisible in the darkness as it was. "She fought well and was key to our victory."
Celly nodded. "Besides, she already has the respect of the Devil Squad. Better her than someone new."
"I thought that name was a joke." The eyes shook with her laughter. "I'm even happier to hear it is entirely true. Tell me then, what devil do you march at the banner of?"
"You." All eyes turned to Garou. "With all due respect."
There was a moment of uneasy quiet, then the laughter returned. "Oh! I am your devil? Very well then." A great set of claws curled into view as if they could slice the room in half. "Bold, very bold... Begone! I will consider your suggestion, but that is all I promise and more than you deserve."
The squad emerged from the room, confused, but intact. Celly led them down a hallway at a firm march until they had some distance. "I know where to go."
Lulu lifted an ear. "Back in there? I thought we were fighting."
Rockhoof rubbed behind his head. "I was waiting for a signal of some kind..."
Celly turned to her squad mates. "I'm glad you waited. That was clearly a projection. She isn't here. I don't think she's close to here. But she made a critical error."
Lulu brought her hooves together in a praying gesture. "Just what I want to hear. Please, tell us what this mistake is."
Garou yipped, like the canine he was. "Please."
Celly pointed a wing out. "She was using magic to speak to us, and the phantasms. It's coming from that way. I couldn't say exactly how far, but that way. We need to go there, now. Gnaw will return with stories of our betrayal."
Lulu clucked her tongue on her teeth. "And?"
Rockhoof rolled a hoof in the air. "She has a point. Even if he comes back spinnin' tales, he's already demoted, an' our fine leader don't seem the kind to give him much time."
"Captain Celly." A soldier in proper armor saluted in the proper way. "You have orders."
Celly turned quickly. "That was quick... What orders are those?"
The guard, a canine, a diamond dog? "You are to meet with the other officers, Sir." He offered a scrap of paper. "Here are the specifics, Sir."
Celly willed the paper out of his hands to float in the air. "Thank you." She turned away as he fled. "It seems they want me to be part of things as quickly as possible."
Garou waved it away. "Which is why we're leaving anyway, right?"
Lulu snorted softly. "If it were so easy. The docks are watched carefully. How do we take off?"
Celly resumed her walk, the others following her. "We have to pick up Kurva at any rate. Reason enough for us to be there." She advanced with a smile towards the creature watching over the docs. "Report complete. I need to pick up Kurva from the ship."
"Go ahead." They pointed the way. "The ship will be ready for launch, and redecorated, shortly. Not that you care."
"Hm?"
"What?" He shrugged softly. "The ship isn't yours. Some other unit will probably be assigned to it for whatever mission they're on."
Celly flipped an ear back. "For the ongoing cooperation of Equestria, I would like to see that ship untouched."
"By who's authority?" The ship watch fluffed up. "Pretty sure not yours."
Well.. "Captain Celly's command." She inclined her head towards the building they had been in before. "Given by the empress herself. Are you suggesting she doesn't know what she's doing?"
"Of course not!" They snapped a fresh local salute. "If the ship is involved in your operations, she's all yours, Sir."
"Very good." Celly cut a straight line, as if that soldier didn't exist anymore. She could hear the others trailing behind her as they went up the gangplank onto the ship that had taken them from Equestria. "Kurva?"
Kura was standing beside the wheel. "You don't look like either of the cases I had worked out."
"Because there's planning to do." Celly marched past Kurva, down the stairs into the ship. "Come, we need to talk."
Kurva eyed the others following her. "I swear..." But she did follow with a stiff march. "You were testing me, weren't you?"
Lulu closed the door, sealing them in a bit of privacy. "Yes and no."
Kurva wriggled her fingers, claws curled. "So are you attacking, or did you suddenly go coward? Be forthright."
"Neither." Celly took a slow breath. "She isn't here. Attacking nothing won't get much done. I'm pretty sure I know where she is, but we need to get away from here, ideally with this ship, seeing as most of you do not fly." She looked from Rockhoof to Garou and on to Kurva. "On the positive, if we were to call it quits... I gain the title of Captain, and you--" She pointed a hoof's edge at Kurva. "--would take my place."
Kurva sputtered. "What?! You're joking... You beat me! You crushed... my soldiers, and now you're tossing yours at me? What sense does that make?!"
Celly flashed a bright smile. "You would be one of my soldiers, and they would be mine, just a step removed. We get along, Kurva. I can think of far worse fates."
Garou flipped an ear back. "I know we haven't always gotten along, but be nice, please."
Kurva crackled her knuckles, leering at Garou. "I can think of a few ways to ... Hmmph." She threw her hands aside. "Nevermind that... Look, you want this bucket in the air? I can manage that. You amazing newbies know nothing of procedure. How you've gotten so far is still confusing to me." She set her hands on her hips. "This ship needs refitting and remodeling. That's excuse enough to get it in the air and moving towards the ship fields. If we happen to turn after we're out of sight, oh well." She shrugged helplessly. "That would be a shame, wouldn't it?"
Lulu perked her ears. "They were talking about that. It sounded like they were just going to do it here."
Kurva rolled her eyes. "They could paint it, but the real refitting needs tools they don't have. They just planned to start it, and send it over. Either way, their problem. They just wanted to take the ship. You stopped them, or you wouldn't be here, and they'd be shouting at me to get off the thing."
Celly nodded slowly. "Then we are settled. First Lieutenant, get us in the air."
"Aye... Captain." She smirked softly as she went for the guard rail. "I think I like calling you captain more than that loud little fuzzball." She waved to the creatures down below. "Captain's orders, we're taking her to refitting. Air clear?"
"Keep your pants on." The unlucky soul on the duty checked their clipboard and scanned the air. "Yeah. Head to Seaspray." He thrust a thinger off. "Good luck!"
"Got it." She pushed off the rai back to the wheel. "Rockhoof! Time to get her ready for take off. You know the process."
"Aye!" Rockhoof vanished into the guts of the ship in a storm of hooves to see that was done.
Garou's tongue lolled a little. "This is good for him. It's nice to see he's found a proper spot."
"Being in a military--" Kurva was squinting at the readings of various things and inspecting the area around the steering wheel. "--can do that. Or break you apart, one or the other, really. It tried to do one of those to me, but the other happened on the way." She swatted Garou with her tail on the way past. "If you're not helping, get out of here. We have a ship to fly."
"Yes, sir!" Garou fled down the stairs with a merry yip.
Celly followed after. "Let us know when you've made course corrections."
"You got it, Captain."
It wasn't long afterwards that she took the ship in the air and propelled them all towards the ship refitting station she had no intention of ever arriving at. When they were but a small dot on the horizon, she began a slow turning bank towards their actual destination.
Celly was called up as requested, giving the proper place they wanted to be at. "If this goes well, which it should, the very army you're getting a promotion in will cease to exist."
Kurva shrugged softly. "Then I'll leave on a pleasant note. From the way you were talking, I'll still have things to do."
Lulu flashed a smile at that. "If you take up the role. This country will require powerful leaders to take the wheel and guide it towards prosperity that doesn't involve war."
Celly curled a hoof at herself. "And we are not volunteering."
Kurva pricked an ear. "I hear Celestia retired, done with the whole thing.
Celly's eyes half closed as she smiled gently. "When your rule is measured in millenia, a thing can grow tiring. I will not don a crown again at this time."
Lulu prodded her sister lightly. "It was more of a tiara."
Celly rolled her eyes as she focused on what the ship was flying towards. "We will be seen, but, I presume, ships flying internally are not that worrisome. Checking every internal flight would be quite a task."
Kurva saluted at that. "Got that right. But if it has such a high-value VIP at it, they may be on extra precautions, so don't just assume that."
Under Celly's guidance, Kurva took them towards a lonely plateau. There was nothing on its blank rockey top. Not even animals seemed to care for it. "You sure we're at the right place, Captain?"
"Absolutely certain." Celly directed a hoof down over the side of the ship. "Take us in, and be ready for anything."
The ship lowered to land on that plateau, and failed. They lowered past the top of it, penetrating that illusion to reveal a castle, its tall towers about to stab through the ship's undercarriage. "Damn," grunted Kurva as she swerved the ship out of casually destroying itself. "Keep landing?"
"Keep landing." Celly looked over the side of the ship at the imposing structure they were approaching. "Get us in front of that and wait until we get back. If anyone besides us asked, you were just following my orders and have no idea why you came here."
"Sounds typical enough." With the castle in view, it wasn't hard to set down in front of it, the rotors that kept the ship up slowing as they settled on the firm stone. "You are now free to move about the cabin." Kurva stormed to the side and threw down a heavy plank for proper disembarking. "Good luck, doing whatever in there. Not like I know what it is."
Lulu nodded to Kurva on the way past. "With luck, and a dash of friendship, we should return." She started down the gangplank, with others ahead and behind her. The Devil Squad had a mission to complete.
Kurva leaned against the rail, watching them march off towards the castle. "Good chance it'll be the last time..." She'd miss them, even that annoying dog. Whatever new team she was assigned to would likely be even more irritating. Still, she'd at least do the last command given to her. She'd wait, until they came to tell her to get out of there, probably irritated, or the Devil Squad came back with news of their victory.
No guards stood at front of the castle, a point even Rockhoof noted. "Mighty strange fer somethin' so well guarded. They got that fancy thing up above." He waved up at the underside of the false plateau above them. "And this big scary thing here. Should be guards all over it, keepin' it safe for whoever's inside the thing."
Celly looked over the solid dark stone. "It has the look of a proper... bastion of potential evil... but it is missing the... guards." She waved at the lack of resistance as they approached the huge double doors that led inside. "This entire place feels abandoned. Is this a trap?"
Garou sprung forward, becoming as much man as wolf, his claws sharp in the air with a feral snarl. "We'll be ready."
Lulu patted his shoulder with a brushing wing. "Come, let's face this together."
Celly pointed to the large doors before them. "Rockhoof, your strength is required, if you'd please?"
"With pleasure." Rockhoof flipped out his trusty shovel and slammed it into the connection of the heavy stone door and the ground beneath it. "Heeeeave." He pressed with his strength, blood vessels bulging as he worked one little half-step at a time. The door swings open, but only as quickly as he could force it, creaking with every surrendered inch.
Lulu inclined an ear at the loud, if effective, opening. "There goes any element of surprise..."
Celly waved at the partially opened door. "And yet, a clue. If there were defenders, they would have moved at that sound, even if they managed to miss our arrival. A castle with not even a single defender... curious. Celly took a step forward, magic wafting off her like a sheet of flaking light, revealing Celestia in her full power. "There is no more need for that."
Lulu shook her magic free like a wet dog. "Thank goodness." Luna smiled brightly. "That had become cramped some time ago. Let us!" She advanced with her friends at her side. "Empress? Come out here! We have words to share with you."
The castle was old and decrepit, abandoned by all views. Cobwebs covered the corners of the ceilings and only the echoes of claws and hooves replied to their steady invasion of the place. Garou clasped his hands together. "This makes me nervous. Whole place is kind of creepy, you know?"
"I do know," grunted Rockhoof in solidarity. "I don't like it at all. Are we walkin' into a trap of some sort?"
Celestia's nose danced softly, but she was no wolf. There was only so much that'd tell her. "Either we are walking into a trap, or they have misled us quite a bit before now... I am starting to imagine the empress may not be who we thought she was."
Flickering before then, a hologram of a royally dressed feline appeared before them, bowing low. "Thank you for visiting, but the mistress is not taking visitors at this time." The elderly male biped spoke in formal tones. "We appreciate it, but all visits must be scheduled for another date. Please exit the way you came." They didn't point in any direction to help with that.
Rockhoof waved a shovel at the illusory assistant. "We have business with 'the mistress' so kindly tell her we're coming."
"The mistress is not taking visitors at this time. We appreciate it, but all visits must be scheduled for another date." It was all said exactly the same as the first time. "Please exit the way you came."
Garou waved a handpaw through the hologram, proving it had no substance to it. "I think we've reached the end of what they programmed it for."
"That is incorrect." The elderly servant image turned to Garou. "I can show you to the sitting room if you are in need of refreshments before you leave, but you must leave. All visits must be--"
Celestia raised a hoof. "We heard you the first time. Thank you."
"I endeavor to serve. Have a pleasant day." One more bow, and he flickered out of existence. They were alone in that hallway.
Luna stepped forward. "Well, now that he's gone..."
Celestia did not follow her. "We don't know where we're going. We've been led to this place..." she looked around slowly. "But where in it we have no idea... Any suggestions?"
Garou chuckled softly. "Well, we could always exit the way we came." He looked towards that grand door, but took no step to move for it.
Luna gently thwapped Garou. "Silly... Ah. I have an idea." The others looked to her. "Well, I'm taking that as permission. Butler?"
With a blinking light, the hologram reappeared. "You called? Are you having difficulty finding your way out?"
"We do need directions." Luna nodded softly. "We don't want to bother the mistress, so where should we not go or make noise, to avoid bothering her. Thank you for informing us, by the way. We'd look like cads if we bothered her while she was busy."
The hologram seemed pleased. "Thank you for your concern." He pointed up to a map of the castle, glowing in the same light that made him up. "Avoid this section of the castle." A portion of the castle began to glow, going from green to yellow to angry red. "The closer you are to the red area, the greater the caution you must have. In the green areas, you are welcome to conduct yourself as you see fit. You must leave. All--"
They tuned him out as he began to repeat the warning to leave. Garou nodded at the droning hologram. "We get the idea. We'll be leavin' soon." With the hologram gone, he got to walking right towards the red marked part of the map they'd seen. "Well, now we know where we're going."
"Clever." Celestia nudged against her sister. "I'm impressed. It's an elegant answer I feel foalish for not thinking of now that I've seen it."
Luna looked, perhaps, a touch too proud. "Thank you, sister mine. They seemed eager to be of assistance, even if that included reminding us that no creatures were permitted to visit right now."
"Best princess," complimented Garou, tongue lolling as he walked. "No offense."
"You have your favorite," allowed Celestia gracefully. "I can't always be that one."
"Shoot, this is why you end up on the best princess list so often!" He grinned in his canine way, but advanced ahead of them with a wagging tail and nose in the air, sniffing. "Let's find a troubemaker."
Celestia nipped Luna on the ear suddenly, making her jump. "You'll always be the best princess in my eyes."
Luna laughed with reddened cheeks. "Sister!" She glanced away and back. "But if we are being truthful, you deserve that title more than I. One of us has been a princess with far more experience."
"Now you are being bashful." But Celestia moved forward rather than press the issue. They went down corridors that became narrower with each turn. They had left the major thoroughfares for the more private hallways of creatures' personal rooms.
"You must leave." The hologram was back, in front of them. "She is not accepting visitors."
Garou huffed at the obstacle. "What are you going to do to stop us?" He moved to walk through the hologram, going stiff the moment he touched it. He fell back, wisps of smoke escaping from him. "That... Guess you'll do that."
"I can't allow you to advance any further, honored guests. Please leave."
Rockhoof glared at the thing. "Some kind of magic!"
Celestia raised a hoof, just to set it back down. Touching the hologram seemed a poor idea. "We won't bother her."
"I've been quite lenient." He spread his hands to cover more of the hallway. "You must leave. Now."
"Who is that?" A soft voice, female, old?
The hologram managed to go pale despite mostly being the same greenish hue of the map they had made before. "Nothing worth worrying yourself about." He glared at the intruders, whispering harshly, "Leave, right now!"
Luna raised a brow at the scene. "I am a master of sleep. Perhaps I could be of assistance?"
The image glared at Luna with distrust. "Why should I believe anything any of you say?"
Luna tapped at the moon on her rump. "I am Luna, princess of the night and guardian of dreams. This I swear. Now allow me to pass."
"You alone!" He pointed at Luna with authority. "None other may pass me, and you must leave the moment you are done."
Luna brushed Garou with a wing. "He is my assistant. He will come with me."
The hologram stepped to the side, glaring nastily at the lot of them. "If you take a single step out of place... Mistress, a sleep specialist has arrived."
"Hm?" The voice was muffled, clearly seperated by at least a door. "Send them in."
"You heard her." He bowed low. "Go and tend to her well. I am watching." He did not vanish, returning upright to glare at the others, lest they try to get past him.
Luna advanced without resistance, walking right through the hologram instead of getting eletrocuted as had happened to Garou not long before. "She sounds tired."
Garou perked an ear at her, able to follow easily. "You can tell? I can barely tell they're an old lady of some kind."
"Sleep is my specialty," she gently scolded. "She sounds old, and tired. I wonder what else may be wrong. There is only one way to find out. Are you ready to assist me?"
Garou flashed a bright grin. "That is why I am here, isn't it? But, uh... What does this old lady have to do with the... empress?"
"We will find out." They arrived at a door and Luna gently knocked on it. "Pardon, I am the sleep expert. May I come in?"
"You may," came that same old female voice. "Is somecreature with you?"
"My assistant and dog." Luna casually pet the top of Garou's head. "He'll help."
"Come in."
Luna reached for the doorknob and pushed it open, revealing the old lady in her room.
"Oh my." The shaking old feline watched Luna's entry with obvious amazement. "A pony... I never had one of those visit before."
Luna smiled gently at the elder. "Just a creature, like you."
"Of course." But her eyes darted to garou, loping along on all fours. "Are they a creature as well, or a pet?"
"Hello," chimed Garou with a big canine smile. "We're here to help."
"That answers that..." She sat up with some difficulty. "I hope you're as good..."
Luna closed in on the feline's side of her bed. "I am Luna, guardian of dreams and princess of the night. What is troubling you?"
The feline's eyes sparkled in a mild opening. "Oh? He really outdid himself... I just told him to give me some quiet. I would get over it on my own."
Garou reared up, forward paws on the edge of the bed. "Get over what?"
The old cat sighed. "I haven't slept properly in far too long. No more than a few hours at a time. I'm not a cat!" She paused, perhaps noticing their looks. "Not a literal cat. Creatures are not animals. I need longer than a few hours at a time."
"I should imagine." Luna's horn glowed as she helped the elder lay right back down. "Let's have a look. Now... I'm going to help you sleep. This is not a fix, but we may see what is in the way of you doing so on your own. Are you alright with that?"
"That sounds delightful... Even if you have to be here, can I get one full night? What time is it?"
Garou checked the watch he wasn't wearing. "Um..."
"No time for that. Close your eyes and relax. Deep breaths..." Luna's glow strenghtened as she guided the cat deeper and deeper into slumber. "And..." She sat back. "It is time to explore a dream."
"Ready," yipped out Garou, tail wagging energetically.
"Are you ready for such a thing?" Luna peered at her canine companion. "What experience have you in dream delving?"
Garou scratched at an ear with a back paw. "Dogs chase cats, an instinct. So I'll chase her into some nice dreams. Let's go."
Luna rolled her eyes with obvious doubt. "Enough debate. You asked for this." She threw them both into that dream realm, their bodies slumping as if suddenly falling asleep.
Garou landed on his paws and looked around curiously. "Where?" They were in a garden of some kind. The sun was warmly shining down on them. Birds were chirping their love songs. A laugh echoed across him. "Hm?" He lurched to rush towards it, but a hoof barred his way.
"Watch first," cautioned Luna. "Or we will learn little."
They went together to find an abyssian female twirling, feline tail flickering. "You are such a card," she called with mirth in her eyes and a smile on her face. "I can't even believe you." Her voice was familiar, but different. The same old lady, but far younger?
She was with another lady, a zebra. "You know you like it. It's why I do it whenever I can," she laughed out. "But it gets better."
The younger version of their cat put her hands on her hips. "I doubt that!"
"She doesn't rhyme," noted Garou. Not a universal zebra thing?
The Zebra hopped down to her hooves. "I brought a treat from far far away." She reached back and produced a gemstone the size of a fist. "Just for you."
The feline dropped to a knee, gawping at the large gem. "Look at that! You didn't have to! It's too much..." Still, she was reaching for its lustrous blue-green shades.
"I knew you'd like it." But the she-zebra drew it back. "But it's not for wearing, or just looking at for that matter."
"What is it then?" asked the feline with curiosity and impatience to spare. "Tell me."
"It's a friend, for when I'm not around." She set the gem down and tapped it.
With a flickering light, a familiar butler appeared, bowing to the zebra and the feline in turn. "How can I be of service?"
The dream ended abruptly. They woke up. Luna was frowning. "That was not a natural end to a dream... You weren't being scared or alarmed..."
The old lady quirked an ear at Luna. "Hm? It feels like I got another... if you pardon my saying, cat nap... Better than nothing, but not by a lot."
Garou pulled at the side of the bed he had propped himself right back onto. "Who was that zebra?"
"Zebra?" She looked at Garou with clear surprise. "I only know one of those... I miss her."
Luna quirked an ear. "Would it be improper to ask what happened to her?"
"She died," stated the feline bluntly. "When you get as old as me, it happens." She sighed softly. "Not a good memory... You young things... Jealous. I hope that's a long long way away for both of you."
Luna did not correct that misunderstanding. "They gave you the butler you still have?"
The feline started in surprise. "Oh, yes. A wonderful thing... And they don't age at all. Still the same today as they were all those years ago... You met them. Aren't they charming?"
Garou panted, tongue lolling. "Oh, nice. We got along just fine. Are they helping you sleep?"
"They're trying." She sat up in a slow motion, body stiff. "I asked for some quiet and things got quieter. Whatever I ask for, he does his best to make it happen. Sometimes, even things I don't ask for." She waved at Luna. "Like this. A pony dream guardian? I hadn't asked for one of those, but maybe it'll help. He's so clever..."
Luna scrunched her brows. "I need to confer with my compatriots outside. Please wait for us. Garou?"
"Right behind you!" He quickly loped to her side and followed her out of the bedroom. Together, they headed down the hallway a short distance to reach the others.
The butler was still there, having not moved. "Is your treatment complete?"
"It is not. I need to speak with them." She walked through the hologram right back to the others. "I will visit her again, likely. She needs our help."
The butler's features softened a little. "She really does... Can you help her?"
"I will do my best. Now, allow us to confer." Luna nudged the others further down the hallway and around a corner. "I have learned much."
Celestia nodded at her sister. "Glad to hear it. Please share."
Garou pawed at Rockhoof. "I don't think the empress actually exists."
Rockhoof huffed at that. "We saw her ourselves!"
Luna waved that off. "We saw an image of her. That can hardly count as 'seeing' her. I should imagine if we went and asked, all the other creatures would give similar tales. There is no empress, just a sad old cat that can't get her sleep."
"I had a feeling." The butler casually walked through a wall. "You were lying."
Garou hopped back from the sudden presence. "Woah! Wait. We do want to help her."
Luna fixed her eyes on the hologram. "I doubt that feline could have even dreamed what the 'empress' is doing on her behalf. Why?"
"Because she needs rest, peace, and sleep," replied the butler evenly. "She requested it, and I will see it done. Now can you help her or not?"
Luna watched the hologram in silence. The butler seemed just as fine being quiet in return, the two staring at one another. "Do you think she would be pleased if she learned what you've been doing?"
"Why wouldn't she be? I have secured her a safe place of quiet and rest." The butler brought together his hands in silent joining. "She is far more relaxed than she used to be."
Garou whistled softly. "Wow... I have some bad news for you, but first, a question. Before she asked for quiet, how was she doing, sleep wise?"
"A fine question," agreed Luna. "Please tell us."
"She only rarely had time for it. She had so many social engagements from creatures that had any care for her well-being." The hologram sighed despite the lack of need to do so. "She was getting more tired by the day. When she requested quiet, I gladly complied. She slept quite well, at first."
Luna applied a hoof to her face. "I see... Too much is bad, but none can be even worse. She needs to manage her time, and set boundaries, not wall herself off from the world. Have you been her only contact them?"
"For over fifty moons," agreed the hologram. "I have secured a broad and expanding zone of peace for her." He sounded... proud of that fact. "All in her service."
Rockhoof grumbled miserably. "I know a little about feelin' alone. Ain't no fun is what it ain't. Poor lady."
The butler's frown returned twice over. "I thought you were here to address her sleep, not question her social habits."
Luna raised a hoof. "They're related. Isolation can play havoc on sleep patterns, to say nothing else of health concerns outside that. If you care about her, and I think you do, you will stop this and allow her to rejoin the outside world."
"But..." Their anger fizzled in place. "But... She requested it. I am her servant, following her orders."
Garou hopped up with a new smile. "So if she asked you to stop...?"
"I would obey." He bowed forward. "That is my job."
Luna took a step towards the feline's bedroom. "Then the path is clear. We are ready to speak with her again."
The butler flickered from being, snapping in front of Luna. "You musn't! She can't be bothered so shortly after the last. This has already been a stressful day."
Rockhoof raised a brow at the hologram. "Shouldn't that be up to her to decide?"
"I... No... But..." The butler sank back, miserably defeated. "She asked for quiet..."
Luna made a patting motion without actually touching the hologram. "I will be quiet, this I assure. I think she will be happy that we are returning swiftly."
"Do you really? I doubt it... I will check." He flickered away.
Garou hopped forward, tail wagging. "Let's wait outside her door."
Luna waved the others back. "This is between the doctor and her patient. Come, assistant." She started forward with Garou at her side.
Celestia smiled at the two as they left. "It is a thing of magic, when she's really in her element. She will handle this, I feel confident."
"Hm." Kurva's tail lashed fitfully as she stared at the castle. "It's been a while..." Which didn't quite make sense. If they were caught and executed, they'd come out to do the same to her, or tell her to leave, one or the other. If they had succeeded, then they'd come out and deliver the good news... right?
But nothing had happened. Nothing but silence. Rockhoof had pried the door open without resistance and they vanished inside, leaving her there behind to wait, wait... and keep waiting. "Blast it all." Kurva kicked the handrail she was leaning against. The soreness of her foot was a welcome distraction. "There has to be some way I can help..." Anything but standing there, waiting to die or be told they had won. She was a soldier, dang it...
But soldiers followed orders. Soldiers did not randomly do things on their own because they were bored. That was a sign of a soldier one needed to get rid of, pronto. "Ugh!" She threw up a hand, shaking a fist at the false ceiling up above. "Do something!" But it did nothing. It was calm and quiet.
"Celly, you're a fine leader, but your discipline sucks." She couldn't imagine Celly actually being angry at her. "Disembarking." Kurva started a power walk, descending from the ship and headed for the castle. "And headed in."
"So soon..." The elderly female was happy to see them, as promised. "Did you discover something? Can I get some sleep?"
"I think you can. In fact... I have a theory that may allow you to get one good night's rest right now."
"What?" Garou turned just his head to look at her sharply. "You do?"
"I do. You're involved." Luna stepped closer to the unsleeping one. "You need some contact, and I will provide, with his help." She patted the edge of her bed with a hoof. "Up."
He was not a dog! But his admiration of Luna was stronger and he hopped up where directed, tail wagging behind him. "And?"
"And lay down." Luna pointed down. "Sleep beside her, talk with her, and remain loyally at her side until sleep comes for you both."
The old feline blinked brearily. "Can it be that easy? Is he a magic sleeping dog?"
Luna inclined her ear. "Yes," she lied boldly. "Speak gently with him and sleep will come to you. Allow yourself to relax. Pet him, if you wish, it will only help. Speak honestly and freely, and allow him to be your guide dog to a good night's slumber."
"This is already like a dream." She tucked herself in carefully. "What a good dog..."
He still wasn't a dog! "Here to help. Now, um... Tell me about you?"
"Where do I even start?"
Luna walked quietly from the room, to face the worried holo-butler. "Let them talk and fall asleep. She will get some socialization. If she acts out, he is well trained enough to not hurt her, so he is a safe target for some socialization after so long with isolation. Now, we wait."
"We wait?" echoed the butler in unsure tone. "Is that it?"
"That is it." Luna nodded softly. "When I feel a dream nearby, I will visit and ensure it is peaceful. But what she needs is to talk to another being." She raised a brow. "Which you barely qualify as, and are one of, and, aside that, are quite busy fulfilling her order, so I imagine you don't speak to her as often as she needs."
"She gave a very difficult order..." His face suddenly hardened. "Pardon me. Thank you for your help." And he vanished, flickering away like a light being turned off.
"Thrice damn it!" Kurva slid around a corner, her tail getting scorched by energy fire she had barely dodged, and arguably failed to entirely. "You won't take me down that easily." She drew her blade free, considering it against the enemy. "Bah..." A lackluster tool for the job. Her claws were equally laughable, but they were what she had, and would have to do.
"Did you kill them?" But no answers were coming, or angry bolts of power. Had they given up? She dared a peek out, just to jerk back into hiding, the spot she had been in scorching a dark black. "No..." She fled further down the hallway away from the larger room. "Tell me this opens up..."
She found doors instead. "Cease." A hovering butler bristling with more energy weapons than anycreature had a right to was floating towards her. "You are disturbing her nap."
"This isn't nap time." Kurva caught a blast and deflected it into a wall, leaving her sword sizzling, but avoiding being immolated. "This is surviving time, thanks."
"Your presence was not requested." Energy bars sprung up around Kurva, but she hopped over them before they could close in a newly formed cage. "You will be removed."
"Removed as in taken out quietly, or removed as--" She swatted at an energy streak that sent pain landing up her arm. The sword fell from her numb fingers. "Blast it..."
"Who do you work for?!" she howled at the approaching figure, her life's frustrations flashing before her eyes.
"The mistress, of course. You work for her too, which is why you should leave." His voice was even and controlled, as if nothing very important were going on.
Kurva perked an ear at that. "Wait... The empress?"
Luna had lied. She wasn't there in the room, and she wasn't patrolling the dreamscape. She instead returned to the others. "It is up to Garou to just be her friend, which is what she needs. Someone to talk to who isn't that close to her... I have faith."
Celestia slowly tilted her head. "I have faith in you, and he has proven a reliable friend... but why this?"
"He has shown abilities before. He can be sympathetic, and has other tricks..." Luna raised a hoof to her chin. "I feel certain of this, we just have to give him time."
Rockhoof shrugged at that. "Ya think Kurva's alright out there? We've been in here quite a while an' all."
Celestia looked back in the direction they had originally come in. "She is a soldier, first and last. She wouldn't disobey an order." She frowned with new thought. "Would she?"
Luna cringed at Celestia's expression. "I think you have answered that question, sister mine. We should check on her."
She slowly pet across the top of his head, stroking through his soft fur. "I've been a... silly cat..."
"What makes you say that?" Garou gently asked, nestled with her willingly. It didn't hurt that being pet also kinda felt nice. More headpats from friendly people were an easy way to his heart. "You don't seem silly."
"Don't I?" She pinched one of his ears, but the petting resumed quickly. "I've been locked in this room for moons... All of my friends may be dead... but I wouldn't know... And the idea... The very idea of finding out terrifies me... At least, right now, I can hold onto the idea that they may be just fine... That everything is..." Her breath caught with a choked little sob. "Just fine... The moment I look, then I will know for certain..."
"Yeah... Yeah... Knowing sucks sometimes." Garou nestled in with the feline. "But not knowing is worse... You deserve to know. They deserve to know. They miss you, or not. Either way, both sides deserve to know, and to celebrate the good news, or cry, together, you know?"
"Do I?" She squeezed him firmly. "I'm not sure I have..."
"Sure you do." Garou sat up on the bed. "What'd you do to not deserve that?"
She sighed, not rising. "I let her go... I let her walk away. Society said it was the right thing to do. We were both heirs of our family, we had to find a proper match." She poked the dog lightly. "No offense to you, but I'm not into boys of any species."
Garou blinked softly. "Oh... And she was the same, and..."
"And I let her go, for our families... Because I was a coward." She flopped her hand down to the bed, crinkling the fabric. "And never saw her again."
Garou flipped an ear back. "Ow... I can... I can imagine how that feels. That's harsh." He flopped next to her. "But I don't think she hated you. I bet she has the same regrets... I bet she wouldn't want you just being sad."
"That's selfish to decide." Still, the petting returned slowly. "You are a good dog."
He wasn't a dog! He managed to hold that part in. "You're not hated. You can't change past you, but you can be the best right now you. After you get a little sleep, which you deserve."
Kurva ducked under a plume of fire, scampering forward right past the hologram. "Leave me alone, you... thing." A fresh bolt struck her left leg and she stumbled around the same corner she had took cover in one before, though on the other side of it. "This is not working..." She staggered away from it, fists clenched. "I refuse to die like this..."
"Die like what?" Rockhoof was approaching from the depths of the manor. "Oh, you look hurt."
"Dear me." Celestia was not far behind. "What happened?"
"You are tolerated." The butler hovered into view, looking at Celestia. "Only because of your assist... You." There was Luna. "She has no such reason and will be removed by force."
Luna stepped between the butler and Kurva. "She's with us. She works for her." She pointed to Celestia quickly. "And so do I, so we're all together. I'm sure she came for a good reason." She turned to Kurva. "Right?"
Kurva looked between Luna and the hologram, considering. "Um... you've been here a long time... I wanted to be sure you were alright?"
Celestia waved at her. "Harmless, see? She's doing her job, just like you, good creature."
The hologram brought their hands together. "Ah. That is logical... I must request that you be quiet. The mistress is attempting to sleep, and I would like her to succeed, or I will resume my instructions to keep things quiet and peaceful around her. None of you are very peaceful, no offense, but it's true."
Rockhoof shrugged at that. "Yer not wrong. Peaceful ain't our specialty, but we're on the case. We'll make it better."
"I can't fix this for you." Garou nuzzled in with her. "You have to make that decision, and that step. But, for now." He rubbed his face against her.
She squeaked, pawing at him. "You've sprung a leak!" She discovered that her canine friend was crying. Could dogs cry? Appearently... "Why are you wasting your tears on a tired old cat?"
"Because she's worth a few, and I wanted to prove it... Feel better?"
She sat up faster than she had any of the other times she tried. "I... do..."
"Good." He grabbed at her, pawing at her to return to laying down. "Time to sleep. You can run around the block after you get your sleep."
"Miraculous creature..." She could not know the strange powers he had. Though excited by what had happened, she did begin to fall into the grip of slumber. She couldn't resist it, being so tired, healthy or not. "Can you... heal creatures, whenever you want?"
"No." He sat up, leaning on her as if to serve as a sort of pressure blanket. "Only so many tears, so only special creatures get some."
"You flatter me." She went slack, fading away into a slumber.
He didn't dare move, just laying there in the dim light of the room, listening to her breathe. Would she wake up again? He could hope...
"As I was saying." Luna was leading the way back towards her patient. "I've heard evidence, seen it, indirectly. Garou can do what magic normally cannot. He can heal and mend, if he decides to. How it works, I could not say. It is my hope--"
"She is sleeping," noted the holographic butler. "Oh, thank goodness... Her pulse has lowered to a new rate it hasn't reached in moons. Your sleep assistant has performed admirably. When she awakens, hopefully refreshed, I will inquire with her on my commands. At that point you will leave." He glared at them all, eyes glowing with red fury. "That is not negotiable. Even if she changes my command, you are still intruders. You will be allowed to leave."
Celestia dipped her head. "That is a kindness we will accept. Let's hope she rests well and deep and we can put this affair behind us."
"Verily." Luna turned to Rockhoof and Turva. "It will soon be your turns."
Rockhoof perked. "My turn? To what?"
"We will require strong hooves and guiding hands." Luna nodded slowly. "You two have those, and get along. Assuming she wishes to emerge, we will need a country for her to emerge into. Are you ready?"
Kurva snapped a salute. "Still catching up on what's going on, but yes. Damn yes. I signed up for that when we started this accursed trip. Leave it to me."
So they caught Kurva up. Garou loped into the room, tail wagging. "I left her sleeping."
Luna set a hoof on his head, delivering a gentle stroking. "Very good. You have done all I could have hoped for... but did you learn anything, by chance?"
"Hm?" Garou sat on his haunches. "Like what?"
Luna inclined her head towards the lady's room, out of sight. "The why of this situation eludes me, and with it, the clean resolution. Did you learn any of it, speaking with her?"
"A lot..." Garou scratched at his chin with a hind paw to tend to a sudden itch. "She's full of regrets, lost a love, and shut herself in to avoid making sure if all her friends are dead or not." He mused a brief moment. "Those are the big points. I hope I gave her the idea to step out."
Celestia quirked an ear. "These are pains I know." The others looked to her. "Hm? Have you any idea how old I am?"
Rockhoof pawed at the air with an awkward expression. "It ain't that... Um... You had lost loves?"
Celestia didn't frown, instead a serene expression. "I have had loves, and friendships, and even bitter rivalries, but time makes an end to all those things... If this is her fear, I can at least understand it. I do not fear my own end, my life has certainly been long and full enough, but to see those around me fall? It never grows easy..."
She lifted both hooves to paw at her lustrous torc. "This was a gift from one of those. I wear it, as a reminder, and to keep them close, though they are quite far away now. It is all I can do, to keep some small shred of them here. Even if only I can see it."
Garou hummed at the glittering gold reminder of times past. "Wow... You must have liked them a lot, to wear it like that, every day, right front and center."
Celestia lowered her hooves, letting the torc settle where it had started. "But they are just as gone. Still, it is a comfort to me. So... in the end, that is who it is for, truly. I wear it for me."
Luna thumped against her sister from the side. "Don't get melancholy, sister mine. I haven't had the chance to love and lose." She turned an ear back. "One hopes I don't have to, but... Here we are. Thank you, Garou. That does help."
Kurva was the one not looking with any sympathy. "You're joking. Our empress is an old bird with regrets? That's... Seriously?" She shook out her hands with a grunt. "I worked and bled for that? The creatures won't accept that. I don't feel like I'm accepting that!"
Garou inclined his head faintly. "It is what it is. I didn't make it up."
"The truth can be a poor story at time." Kurva rolled her eyes and crossed her arms under her chest. "So how about we not tell that one?"
Rockhoof grunted, leaning back. "So what 'story' are ya plannin' on sharin'?"
Kurva turned her hand about, palmside up. "That depends on what she says when she wakes up. Does she even know what's been done in her name?!"
Garou shook his head quickly. "Doubt it."
Luna winced sympathetically. "Poor thing."
Kurva grunted much as Rockhoof had, though hers was filled with more anger. "Poor thing, right. What did she even do? Because it set the rest of the world on fire." She snapped her fingers smartly. "Forget that. I don't see how, but this old... cat was it? The cat got an empire she doesn't want. It isn't going to just vanish because she feels bad."
Celestia nodded shortly. "And this is why you're here." The others looked to her. "Kurva. These people are going to need somecreature to tell them, and to guide them. An outsider will not do." She gestured to herself, Garou, Rockhoof, and Luna. "We're new and strange things, as big a splash as we've made."
Luna snorted softly at the idea with a smirk on her face. "Not that you'd want the position even if it were offered."
Celestia's ears fell. "True... Regardless, we now enter the phase of things that relies on you, Kurva. Take what you need, and return to your people with what they need to hear."
"Butler!" shouted Kurva suddenly, summoning the hologram in a blink. "There you are."
"You are being loud," he warned. "The mistress is sleeping. This is your final warning."
"Right right." Kurva waved that complaint away. "You've played the empress before, haven't you?"
The butler was gone, replaced with the empress, scowling and regal in her power. "Why do you ask?"
"Because..." Kurva clapped the claws of one hand. "If you help me, we can get attention off your mistress, so she can enjoy herself. Otherwise, a lot of angry questions are going to come up, and she doesn't have the answers."
The empress waved in a slice over their entire party. "Or I could destroy you, and be done with it."
She vanished, the butler back. "Sorry, her personality has a certain way with words. Disregard them. Still, she raises a point. Your silence would also resolve the issue, would it not?"
Kurva shook her head. "Not even close. The truth is getting out." She flashed her sharp teeth. "The choice is which truth. You want what's best for your mistress, right?"
The butler didn't need to glance. It wasn't like it had eyes. Still, it did anyway as part of its programming to seem realistic. "I do want what's best for the mistress."
Celestia lit up, perhaps catching onto what Kurva was heading towards. "Then it may be time for the empress to make a final decree."
Kurva curled a finger at Celestia. "That, exactly that. You don't need the exclusion... thing? You don't need that. Time to call it off, but you can't just say 'go home'. A lot of upset creatures." She managed a new level of frown. "One of them right here. Pass the torch on; give them some new thing to be angry at, that can take the blame and start putting things right."
"Hm." He repeated the word, once a second exactly as he considered and deliberated on the idea. "To whom would this 'torch' be passed?"
Rockhoof leveled a large hoof at Kurva. "We were jus' talkin' 'bout that! Would line up with a few other things... Why we were so shady with our last leader..."
Kurva snorted at that. "Oh no, you're all fugitives." She made a light shoonig motion. "I chased you off. Cunning plan, trying to kill the empress like that. Cunning..." She turned back to the butler. "Can you make it happen? I'll keep them busy away from your mistress, and she can come out and play, as she wants it."
Luna snorted softly, looking to the others. "It would seem we're being fired."
Celestia shrugged gently. "It was nice while it lasted... Time to leave then?"
Rockhoof tapped Kurva on the side. "Hey."
"Yeah?" Kurva turned towards him. "What do you want, criminal?"
"It was nice... serving on the boat with you... I'll miss it." Rockhoof smiled awkwardly. "Last time I did boat work, it went really badly... You showed I could get it done. Thank you."
Kurva put a hand on his face and casually pushed the stallion back. If push came to shove, surely he could have resisted, but he didn't. "Get out of here. I doubt your friends will let you not get into more trouble, so look forward to that instead of crying about the ones you get past."
Luna curled a wing over Rockhoof. "Come. We have done well, I feel. May your mistress awaken refreshed."
"Thank you. Please depart quietly." The butler bowed formally. "You may visit again with the mistress' invitation."
Garou lopped alongside his friends. "We did good! Old lady, saved from herself, and a nation turned back towards the long long path of healing."
Celestia shook herself out. "The only question is... what next?" She angled her head. "We could head back to Equestria, to tell them the good news."
Luna perked. "We could take a little vacation. I wouldn't mind some time to ourselves."
Rockhoof came in close to Celestia's side. "I leave this in better hooves, but do we have the bits? How are we lookin'?"
It took Celestia but a moment to figure that out. "We have enough for a little vacation... and we certainly have earned one." The group cheered at the news. "But we have to figure out where we're going."
Garou hopped, tail wagging eagerly. "The beach! Warm sun, cool drinks, and fun games."
Rockhook chuckled at the idea. "That don't sound too bad... To be perfectly honest, ah don't know what ponies do for leisure these days. All the ideas ah got are... kinda dated..."
Celestia bumped to the side against the stallion. "You're not alone. We won't let you not have a good time." She winked at that. "Luna, have you a thought?"
Luna curled a hoof to her chin. "I would like to visit a museum, a modern sort, to learn more about the world."
"Ooo." Garou quickly ducked past the others to arrive at Luna's side. "That sounds fun too. Maybe a museum by the beach? We get both then!"
They discussed ways to unwind from that tough quest. They had won, and a little relaxation sounded like a great way to bookend it.
What would their next adventure be? Only the Author could have a clue, but I'm told even they don't.
