Luna opened her eyes as the morning sun pierced her sleep, the ray of light had shone through the window and put itself directly over her eye. The mare turned slightly, but already her faculties were starting to assail her. She could feel the morning aches in her bones, the heaviness in her eyelids. She could also feel a pair of arms around her torso, and something against her back. She froze and peeked over at Dominic, he had his knee pressed firmly against her back as he snored loudly. Luna let out a small sigh and adjusted her position, then murmured happily in the man’s arms.

This was what she’d longed for, to wake up in the strong arms of someone who cared about her. Of course, she knew it was far from what she actually sought, but it was close enough for her to smile. As she closed her eyes again, she imagined that it was never going to end. The aches and heavy eyelids faded into the background, replaced by a feeling of warm happiness. The mare smiled and rolled over to face Dominic, she pushed his mouth shut with her hoof and his snoring dissipated.

Slowly she felt him shift and she opened her eyes, she could see his eyes beginning to open. The man looked at her with a blank face, as if he was too tired to comprehend exactly what was happening. Luna didn’t say a word and instead leaned her head against his chest, to her surprise Dominic didn’t protest.

“Luna…” He said, looking around the room. “I’m still upset with you…, but thanks…” Luna nodded and wrapped one of her wings over him. She noticed that his eyes had settled on the blade he’d cast aside the night before. She flinched as he reached over and picked it up, but relaxed as she saw him silently look it over. He set it down once more and took his remaining arm from Luna, he folded his hands on his chest and stared up at the ceiling once more. “What the hell is wrong with me?”

“What doth thou mean?” Luna asked, adjusting her postion. She was mildly saddened by the loss of his arms around her, but didn’t think it really mattered at the moment. Dominic looked at her with a stoic expression.

“I’ve made saying ‘No’ something I do often, but I can never say it to you…” He rubbed his eyes and went back to staring at the ceiling. “One way or another, you talk me into things. Why can’t I just say ‘No’ to you?”

“Because, Dominic, thou art not as cold as thyself would have thee believe.” Luna replied, she patted his chest with her hoof. “Thou wish for something serene in thine life, something pure, in here you yearn for a small measure of peace.”

“How can you tell that?” Dominic asked, not taking his eyes off the ceiling.

“We see into thine nightmares. We see pain and suffering, blood and gore, flames and brimstone. What we do not see is lightness or serenity.” Luna explained, sitting up in the bed and looking at Dominic with a sincere tone. “If a nightmare is what we do not wish, then the conclusion is obvious.” Dominic was quiet as he felt her words begin to sink in, he remained that way for several minutes. Luna watched his eyes flick about, almost as if each move ferried one thought from one part of his mind to another.

“What do you think my ‘small measure of peace’ is.” Dominic finally asked, his eyes not moving from the ceiling above. Luna wanted to say so many things, but she knew she had to tell the truth. That truth, as much as she hated to say it, was that what he wanted was his own choosing.

“Thou must decide for thyself, only from within thine soul can thou reach it.” She looked at him further, his eyes moved with his thoughts once more. She could see them begin to grow wet, the man sniffed and rubbed them. “Take time to think, whatever thou choose, we will do all we can to make it so.”

“I’ll think about it.” Dominic said in an almost determined tone, his face became one of pensive thought. “Now, however, I have to get up. I have some things to look over.” Luna raised an eyebrow as she watched the man roll out of bed and stand up. “You said you would help my people, right…?”

“Of course.” Luna responded, Dominic silently took the map from his desk and held it up. Luna levitated the map over, her expression became one of confusion. “What is this?”

“My people deserve a home, Luna.” Dominic said with a serious tone, his tiredness was nearly faded even after such a short time. “Select two of the remaining four and dispatch teams to inspect them, the rest I shall deal with personally.”

“We… We cannot simply give away land.” Luna said quietly. “The nobles would-”

“Then I will buy it, conquer it if I have to.” Dominic interrupted her. “The concerns of your nobles are not the concerns of my people. Make a decision, I’ll be back.” The man turned away from the princess and made his way into the room’s bathroom. Luna heard the sound of the shower turning on, afterwhich she looked to the map.

He’d narrowed down over fifty choices to four, four otherwise abandoned strips of land with basic structures. Luna wasn’t against his choices, but she had to contend with both the media and her sister. Already she had gone over Celestia’s head once, she was certain Celestia would be livid if it happened again. At the same time, Luna was no longer to one sit idly by, she had just as much authority as her sister did.

The princess examined the map closer before magically levitating a quill from the desk and circling the southern and eastern options. Afterwards she quietly stood up and straightened her mane, she assumed that Dominic would want to speak with her after he was done with his morning rituals. She quietly looked around the room, noting numerous items of his world were spread about.

His leather jacket was what intrigued her most of all. She hadn’t understood the need for a jacket of such length, but seeing the numerous fixed rips and patched holes, she was starting to get an idea. Her eyes wandered to the patch on the shoulder, faded and threadbare, she still found it odd that he knew of Twilight Sparkle, even if it was entirely by coincidence. The patch, he’d said, was a gift from Maria. It was no wonder why Dominic wore the jacket, even in its state. It was likely the only thing he had connecting him to her. Luna couldn’t help but frown at the thought, a lifetime friendship commemorated only by a bit of embroidery.

Luna looked away from the jacket and back to his other items, the next most interesting was his helmet. A family heirloom, he’d told her, used by his grandfather during the Second World War. The princess lifted the helmet with a hoof and looked it over, it was dented and the paint was chipped or rusted. This time she understood why Dominic continued to wear it, he was proud of his heritage. Luna had never truly examined the items in detail before, but now certain aspects about Dominic that she’d been missing were falling into place.

With a small sigh, Luna set the items back where they’d been and made her way over to Dominic’s desk. She could see that his revolver sat out in the open, the sinister looking item sent chills down her spine. Thoughts of how it had come to Dominic’s possession flooded her mind and she was forced to close her eyes and shove them out of her mind. He had every reason to doubt himself, but Luna knew he was stronger than even himself imagined. She could see it in his eyes. Beyond the doubt and self loathing, beyond the pain and despair, she could see a ray of light within him.

The mare turned away from the desk and trotted towards the window, she could still hear Dominic’s shower running and assumed she still had time. The view she took in was less stellar than her own, she had a wonderful view of the sky without the city. Luna noted, however, that she could see ponies in the streets below. She stood and watched them go about their daily lives, at one point she imagined what they may be doing or saying.

The door to the bathroom opened with a creek, causing Luna to turn and look in its direction. To her utter shock, Dominic wasn’t wearing a towel. He also appeared to not be expecting her, as he quickly shut himself back in the bathroom.

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph! What the hell Luna!?” He yelled from within, Luna blinked a few times as she attempted to forget what she’d just seen.

“We art sorry, we believed that thou still wished to speak!” Luna called through the door.

“Yes, just not when I’m naked! I thought you’d go, you’re normally busy on petition days!” Dominic yelled back, Luna suddenly became quiet as she thought. “You forgot it was petition day, didn’t you…”

“No!” Luna retorted, though she was surprised to learn she’d lost track of the days. “We simply loathe nobles.” There was a sigh from behind the door. “We could wait for thee in the cafeteria?”

“That’d be great.” Dominic replied quickly in an annoyed tone, Luna quickly began trotting to the door. Once she’d reached it, she stepped out into the hallway and closed the door loud enough for Dominic to hear. After a moment the man emerged and made his way to his dresser, quietly muttering under his breath. He was halfway through pulling on his second sock when the door opened once more.

“Good morning, Mister President-” Sonar began, only to stop. “I’ll just go.”

“Thank you, Sonar.” Dominic deadpanned with a sigh, he heard the door close once again and wasted no time in finishing dressing himself. “It’s gonna be all day with this shit, I can just tell…” He muttered to himself. With a final tug, he’d donned his usual attire, sans his jacket. He still had to fix a few tears and didn’t want to risk making them worse. With his boots laced and knotted, his holster on his waist, and his grey t-shirt tucked into his jeans, he grabbed the map from his desk before walked to the door and exited.

“Oh, Mister President! I’m sorry! I didn’t see anything, honest!” Began a very concerned looking Sonar, Dominic just held a hand up as he walked.

“It’s alright sonar, just knock next time?” The man stated, Sonar nodded and went back to standing next to the door. Dominic’s boots echoed through the halls, alerting all those within his general vicinity to his presence. He rarely walked to the cafeteria, but he assumed that Luna had said it because she needed some place to go. The man scowled slightly, thinking back to the incident that had happened not fifteen minutes ago. He couldn’t believe she’d seen him naked, more importantly, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t assumed she was still in the room. The man smacked himself in the face and ran a hand over his still damp hair.

His echoing boots were soon drowned out by the sound of ponies yammering away in an unintelligible cacophony of brain cell killing blither. The man braced himself, as he realized he was walking past the petitioners waiting area, which would no doubt be filled with ponies waiting to see Luna. Dominic nodded to one of the guards that stood at the threshold of the area and received a nod in return, then continued on without pause. The noise died down as the ponies all turned their stares on him. He ignored them and continued on his way, the whispers and statements were all ones he’d heard before.

With a quiet sigh the man walked on by and entered the far more trafficked portion of the castle, there were a few ponies looking at the art and what Dominic assumed was a high school field trip group. The students all looked at him and began whispering more than the others, but again he ignored them. His gaze remained locked forwards and his grip on the map in his hand was firm. That was until he felt something hit one of his feet, the man stumbled and hit the floor with a thud. He heard giggling behind him.

“Fuckin’ kids…” Dominic muttered as several guards moved to help him up, the man waved them off and stood to his full height. He brushed himself off and looked at the group, the teacher had since noticed that something had happened.

“You okay, sir?” Asked one of the guards, Dominic nodded and sighed. He turned and started on his way back down the hallway while the guards looked at the student responsible. “You’re outta here.” They proceeded to haul the student to the front door, his fellow classmates and teacher protesting all the way, before tossing him out onto his ass. “And stay out!”

Dominic entered the cafeteria rubbing elbow that was now somewhat sore from his fall, he normally would have said something more but he was too annoyed to give a damn. He also knew that the palace guards really hated high schoolers for some odd reason, Luna had told him that students regularly tried to get together in the supply closets on a regular basis. The man just shook his head and looked around the room, it was lined with uniform looking tables and plain walls. The windows lended it some light, but they could do nothing for the deserted look the room held.

Truly, aside from a few guards and palace staff, and Luna sitting in the far off corner, the room was empty. Dominic didn’t have to wait in line at the food station, he ordered a burger off the griffon menu and grabbed a can of what the ponies called ‘Cherry Fizz’, in fact it was just cherry soda. The man took a tray with his food and put the meal on his tab before walking over and sitting down across from Luna.

She herself was eating oatmeal with little blueberries on the side.

“Thou art eating that so early in the day?” She asked, looking at his food.

“Yup.” Dominic replied, he winced as he put his elbow on the table, something Luna noticed immediately. She said nothing, however, as she saw the man lay the map out on the table. He noted that she’d already marked two places. “Huh, thought it’d be harder to convince you.” Luna shrugged and took a bite of her oatmeal. “Can you tell me anything about these two that isn’t in the reports?”

Luna hummed for a moment, then nodded.

“The eastern location is rather overgrown.” She said, tapping the map. “We know because Celestia often sends her guards there for jungle training.” The man looked at the northern location next. “As far as we know, they simply stopped checking in when trade dwindled. The region rather extreme, you see? The rail line cuts short, then there is a bridge that must be crossed.”

“I see…” Dominic shrugged. “Well, I won’t know for sure until I actually get some on the ground information. Today seems like a good day to do that.” He folded the map and tucked it into his pants pocket. “I’ll send Sonar and a few others to inspect the northern site, I’ll take a team to the eastern site.”

“These will be difficult places to live, we urge thee to reconsider.” Luna began, Dominic shook his head. Luna saw the look in his eyes, the look that said there was no discussion to be had. “Very well, we too shall dispatch survey teams to the other sites.”

“Good. If we get this done right, we’ll have a place to call home before the Spade teams get back.” Dominic replied with a slight grin before he picked up his burger and took a bite. “Mind passing the ketchup?” Luna levitated the bottle and floated it over to Dominic, he nodded to her and opened it. In another portion of the castle, a certain spectacled thestral got the sudden compulsion to begin packing an overnight bag.

[♦]

It was nearing ten o’clock in the morning by the time the teams had prepared, Dominic and all eight extra thestrals stood in the castle’s motor pool as the two American chariots were outfitted with supplies for a two day journey. The president had to say he was proud of his people, they’d certainly mobilized fast when they heard how important the task at hand was. Sonar had already packed her duffle bag, oddly enough.

“When you get there, I want you to examine the structures and the surrounding area.” Dominic informed her as the other soldiers loaded the chariots. “We’re going to need some form of trade route, but most importantly, the buildings have to be at least repairable.”

“Oh, I’ll be real careful about looking ‘em over.” Sonar replied, she cast a look over to one of the soldiers loading her chariot. “He says he used to work construction, so I’m gonna have him help me.”

“Good.” Dominic said with a nod, he patted himself down and felt a pair of objects in his pocket. The man quickly remembered what they were and removed one. It was a milky white crystal which pulsed a light blue energy. That was, until he picked it up, at which point it was just a milky white crystal. “This was a gift from Princess Luna, it’s an emergency beacon. If anything happens, crush it under your hoof and state the emergency.” Sonar took the crystal and stuffed it into the fatigue jacket that had replaced her dress uniform.

“I’ll try not to need it.” She replied.

“I hope no one does, but better safe than sorry.” Dominic said, he looked over his shoulder and watched the soldiers begin loading the last of the supplies. “Looks like it’s time to get a move on. Good luck, Sonar.”

“You too, sir!” The thestral replied happily. Dominic walked towards one of the last crates where his jacket, helmet, and other items had been placed. The man rapidly dressed himself proper, first came the jacket, then the bandoliers, topped off by the helmet and backpack. Dominic slung his shotgun’s strap over his shoulder and made his way towards the chariot. Sonar watched as he stepped on before she too took her spot on her own transport. They would each need to rely on two pilots each, while two would wait in the back as relief.

Dominic paused and looked towards the main entrance to the motor pool, as if waiting for someone. After a minute he sighed and raised his arm then moved his hand in a circular motion. The thestrals at the front of the chariots opened their wings and began moving forwards, after a few tense seconds the two transports lumbered into the air. Sonar could see two more chariots begin to roll out into the motor pool as they left, accompanied by Princess Luna and her own teams.

For the first few minutes of flight, the chariots flew next to eachother. Sonar could see Dominic chatting with his two relief pilots, occasionally laughing or nodded as they spoke. The rushing wind made it difficult for even her to hear what was being said, but she didn’t mind. It wasn’t like she needed to spy on her superiors to know what they wanted, she just had a stethoscope in her desk because she liked to hear her own heart at times.

Sonar watched the chariot begin to bank off, Dominic shot her a quick wave as it began flying east. Sonar turned away from the chariot and sighed, then looked at her own travelling companion. He was rather muscled with an expression of concentration across his muzzle, his hooves were busy cleaning the gem chamber of his spellbow. Sonar gave him a small smile, one he returned silently before going back to his work.

The world beneath them rapidly had shifted from bustling city to grassy fields, the whipping wind had drowned out any real possibility of conversation. That left Sonar to wander her own mind, and it quickly went the thought of her family. She smiled as she thought about her son, lovingly named Wavelength, and how he’d always seemed to operate differently from his classmates. She sighed, as she knew she wouldn’t be there to tuck him in, but took solace in knowing that she would be looking for a better place for him. Better than the ‘apartment’ she and her family shared in Canterlot, an actual home. Her salary as a guard wasn’t much, at least, not compared to the raise she’d received upon becoming an American.

The next five hours went by slowly for Sonar and her fellows, the flight was smooth and boring, enough for her fellow relief pilot to fall asleep. Sonar wasn’t as lucky, an odd feeling was welling up in her gut as they flew further towards the northern site. The air was colder, the green fields beneath the chariot were rapidly browning, a small voice in the back of her head began yelling at her to turn back. She ignored it, she had to be brave.

Even on the ground when she and the other relief pilot took over, the dirt didn’t crunch right. As the sun began setting and she finally caught site of the ghost town she felt the odd feeling morph into something more. Dread.

“There it is.” Said the stallion beside her, Bolt Cutter if she remembered his name correctly. “We should set her down here for the night, hoof it the rest of the way.” Sonar nodded and the two of them slowly lowered the chariot’s altitude until they’d touched down on the dusty soil. Sonar shivered as she felt the dirt on her hooves. “Cold?”

“No, just nervous I guess.” She replied as she undid her harness and began unloading the supplies from the back with the original pilots. They made a small campfire, then set their sleeping bags out. All the while, Sonar’s gut screamed at her, pleaded with her to just run away. To not crest the next hill and enter the town. She beat this feelings down, however When the camp was finally set up, they quietly cooked their rations over the fire and began to converse.

“So, we should probably introduce ourselves…” Recomended one of the original pilots, the thestral adjusted his fatigue jacket as he felt the cold night air rush over his fur. “I’m Dawn Chaser.” Sonar waved at him quietly as she took a bite from one of her rations.

“My name’s Bolt Cutter.” Bolt Cutter said, he’d wolfed down his rations when they had finished cooking, and was once again meticulously working on his weapon. Dawn Chaser and the other thestral nodded towards him while Sonar quietly pondered his name. The other thestal cleared his throat and smiled. She recognised him as the stallion that would be aiding her examination of the buildings.

“I’m Flint, just Flint.” He said, the others smiled then all eyes turned to Sonar. She blinked owlishly at them and adjusted her glasses.

“Uh… I’m Sonar.” She tightened her jacket around her shoulders as she felt a mildly chilly breeze run against her fur.

“We all know who you are.” Said Bolt Cutter with a smirk, Sonar felt somewhat uncomfortable about it. “You work with the big guy, don’t you?” Sonar nodded quickly, unsure of what the stallions wanted. “What’s he like?”

“He’s a nice guy, I guess.” Sonar said, her nerves relaxed a tad and she was able to smile. “I know he’s been working really hard to find us a place of our own.” The stallions gave her a ‘No, really?’ look. “He also doesn’t really listen to Celestia, he’s very calm about it too.”

“Really?” Asked Dawn Chaser, Sonar nodded.

“Yesterday she barged into his office and started yelling at him, he didn’t seem to care.” Sonar responded, she ate a bit more of her rations and sighed. “I’m glad I made the change, I feel less intimidated by him than the princesses.” The other Thestrals nodded.

“Is it true he and the princess have a thing?” Flint cut in, Sonar froze up at the question. The others looked at her expectantly, she nervously tugged at the collar of her jacket. “Well? Come on, I’ve got twenty bits riding on it.”

“I can’t say…” Sonar said.

“Come on!”

“I’ll take it as a yes.” Said Flint with a smile, Sonar sighed and finished her rations. The fire began to die down, indicating they’d burned through their wood for the night. “Alright looks like we should hit the sack, who wants first watch?” Bolt Cutter raised his hoof, prompting Sonar and the others to climb into their sleeping bags. The fire gradually died down to burning embers, Sonar had trouble falling asleep. The feeling of dread in her stomach continued to torment her. The sound of Bolt Cutter checking his weapon put her at ease enough for her to drift off into a fitful slumber.

[♦]

Sonar was awoken by a prodding at her side, she groaned and rolled over to see Dawn Chaser standing over her with tired eyes. The sun was starting to glow in the distance, but the air was still crisp. The spectacled mare sighed.

“My turn?” She asked, Dawn Chaser nodded tiredly. Sonar pushed her way out of the warm sleeping bag, her bones popping as she adjusted to the cold air. Dawn silently made his way to his own sleeping bag as Sonar walked to the chariot that was parked a few feet from the sleeping area. From within she pulled her spellbow. She checked that it was loaded before making her way to sit beside the now barely glowing embers of the fire.

It seemed her dread from the night before had left her like a bad dream, Sonar smiled slightly as she watched the sunrise. For an hour there was nothing but her and the silent land that seemed to stretch forever. The warmth of the light on her face was rather pleasant, even if she still preferred the chill of the night. Bolt Cutter was the first to wake up, followed by Flint and Dawn Chaser. Breakfast was quiet, as they were all tired beyond belief.

“I suppose it’s time we move down into the town.” Suggested Dawn Chaser, Sonar and the others nodded and quickly packed up their camp site. While Flint and Bolt Cutter put the supplies back on the chariot, Sonar took an opportunity to look over the hill at the town while Dawn Chaser answered nature’s call. Sonar rubbed her eyes as she looked down at the town, she wasn’t sure what she was seeing was real.

It was something she’d never imagined she would ever see, a ghost town that was alive and well. There was only one street, uniform cottages lined each side with a single building standing at the end of the street. Ponies of muted colors trotted about, some wore odd clothing. The sight was something to make her drop onto her stomach with her weapon close to her chest. She didn’t know why, but just staring at the town made her feel wrong. Her sudden drop didn’t go unnoticed by her compatriots, and very soon they had taken up positions beside her, Dawn Chaser included..

“What the buck…?” Asked the stallion. “This is supposed to be a ghost town…”

“Well obviously it isn’t.” Bolt Cutter said, he sounded somewhat annoyed. “This was a wasted trip.”

“But I delivered the report on this site personally, no one’s checked with Canterlot for over two years now.” Sonar stated, her fellows remained quiet.

“We should go down there and see what’s up.” Flint suggested, the others looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Well, if it is an actual town we can resupply. If it’s some criminals, we run them off and we’ve got a well maintained place to live.” Bolt Cutter and Dawn Chaser appeared thoughtful before nodding. All eyes fell on Sonar, she gulped before sighing.

“Alright, but I think it’s kind of scary, you know? We should be careful.” She finally said, the others nodded and secured their weapons on their straps.

“We’ll leave the chariot here for now until we know what we’re dealing with.” Dawn Chaser said, another round of agreement passed over the group. They stood up and opened their wings, then glided down the hill towards the town. The ground beneath them was even dustier and browner than it had been on the hill, as if even the dirt in the town had something wrong with it. Their fatigues rustled on their bodies as the wind passed over them, the air sent chills down all of their spines.

They landed carefully just before the first pair of buildings, the ponies there all turned and looked at them. Bolt Cutter was the only one who didn’t seem to shiver at the sight of their wide, creepy smiles. Most notably, and bizarrely, they all shared the same grey equal sign as a cutie mark. He stepped ahead of Sonar and the others with seemingly as much confidence as the commander in chief himself.

“Welcome!” Said one of the ponies.

“Welcome!” Immediately echoed another, then another, and another. Even the foals seemed to be welcoming them. Sonar and the others followed behind their brave comrade, their ears swiveling around for any possible threat.

“This has got to be the creepiest place on the planet…” Flint whispered to Sonar who only nodded. Moments later another pony ‘Welcomed’ them from seemingly out of no where. Sonar practically dove to the ground at that. She could tell something bad was going to happen, her entire body had been screaming it at her since she’d left Canterlot. Her hoof almost reached for the emergency beacon in her jacket, but she realized she would only be able to use it once.

“Welcome!” Said a particularly close unicorn stallion, his fur was a dull blue while his mane was a darker navy color. “Pardon my forwardness, but are you a-”

“We’ll ask the questions.” Bolt Cutter interrupted him sharply, an all white earth pony slowly came up from the side.

“At least let me ask what brings you to our town?” He asked, Bolt Cutter turned to him with a stern expression.

“We’re here on orders to inspect the town for refounding.” He informed the earth pony. “Officially, your town has been labeled Abandoned.” The earth pony never lost his smile at the notification, considering that all those in the town could be ousted, it was unsettling. Still, Bolt Cutter kept up his front of an intimidating military muscle head. “I’m Sergeant Bolt Cutter, these are my subordinates. Corporals Sonar and Dawn Chaser and Private Flint.” His statement was correct in the order of rank, but he left out that Sonar had been put in charge for the mission.

“None of you have cutie marks!” Stated the earth pony.

“Thestrals don’t get cutie marks.” Bolt Cutter mentioned. “We don’t want to make trouble for you folks, but we have to do our jobs.”

“Trouble? I don’t think we’ve ever had trouble here.” The white pony said with a smile. “Maybe we should introduce you to our founder Starlight Glimmer!” Bolt Cutter simply nodded and gestured for the pony to lead the way.

“Keep on eye on them, this is spooky as hell.” He said quietly to Sonar and the others, she nodded and kept looking over the citizens of the town. The walked for a short time past other ponies that welcomed them until they reached the house at the end of the street. It loomed over the thestrals, as if its mere existence would squash them. The earth pony approached the door and knocked several times.

“Starlight! Some visitors have arrived!” The pony said cheerfully, the door opened widely to reveal a colorful unicorn mare with light magenta fur and a styled mane of similar color.

“Welcome! I’m so glad to have you here.” She said happily, the white earth pony gestured to them with a wide smile.

“This is-”

“We can introduce ourselves.” Bolt Cutter interrupted, his annoyance seeping into his tone. “Our names aren’t important, our purpose here is.” Starlight Glimmer looked them over, it seemed she was the only one to notice they were armed and wearing uniforms. Sonar noticed for a brief moment that she seemed to frown.

“Oh, of course!” She turned to the white earth pony. “Double Diamond, feel free to see yourself off.” The earth pony nodded and gave a happy wave, then trotted away. “What can I do for Equestria’s finest?”

“It would be best if we spoke inside.” Bolt Cutter said, Starlight smiled and stepped aside. The four thestrals entered her home carefully. The mare closed the door behind them, in that instant Sonar knew that whatever was happening would happen soon. She discretely placed her hoof near her spellbow’s trigger and steeled her nerves, she thought about her husband and her son, when it came down to it she would fight so she could see them again. “Thank you, the matter is extremely serious.”

“Can I get you anything to drink?” Asked Starlight as they entered her living room, it was bland with a couch and a chair positioned before a fire place. A painting of the grey equal sign was hung crookedly on the wall.

“I wouldn’t mind.” Bolt Cutter replied as he sat down on the couch while Flint and Dawn Chaser took up positions on the wall. Sonar stood nervously for a moment before sitting down beside Bolt Cutter. Starlight nodded and smiled, then stepped out of the room.

“I don’t like this…” Sonar said with a shiver. “I can tell when something’s wrong, you know? And this has bad written all over it.” Flint and Dawn Chaser nodded in agreement.

“We’ll see what’s what, if I think it’s anything we can’t handle we’ll bug out.” Bolt Cutter said, he looked towards the kitchen where Starlight Glimmer had entered. “As it stands, they haven’t threatened us, but I agree there’s something wrong here.” All conversation stopped as Starlight returned to the room with five tea cups in her magic.

“You’re in luck, I was just making some tea before you arrived!” She levitated a cup to each of them. Sonar looked at the tea for a moment before taking a sip, her comrades also began to slowly sip their drinks. “Now, what seems to be the problem?”

“Your town is listed as abandoned on the Equestrian registry. The princesses are considering selling this land to a private party so that they may re found the town.” Bolt Cutter explained, he’d made up half of what he was saying just so he didn’t give too much away. “We represent that private party.” Starlight raised an eyebrow.

“But you’re uniforms…”

“We work for a private military contractor.” Sonar quickly added, Starlight raised her eyebrow at the term. “It’s a company that deals in security matters that aren’t exactly government related.” Sonar was extremely glad that she’d paid some attention to the random ramblings of the president. Starlight hummed, still not fully understanding, but not caring. She had been watching closely as the thestrals drank their tea. Sonar was the slowest of the group, having only taken the first few sips.

“So, if the land is sold…?”

“You get the boot.” Bolt Cutter said coldly. “But that doesn’t happen until after we’ve looked over the buildings to see if they’re structurally sound. Which they appear to be, so our work is done.” Starlight scowled at the stallion who took another sip of tea. “Very nice tea, by the way.”

“I’m glad you like it, it’s Dream Pedal tea.” Starlight replied coldly, all four guards stopped and looked at their tea cups. Dream Pedal had been made illegal in Equestria after numerous industrial accidents occurred as a result of its quality’s as a sleeping aid. Not so much an aid, really, as an intense sedative that could make a pony near comatose for hours. Bolt Cutter didn’t even get a chance to say anything as he slumped forwards, next went Dawn Chaser. Flint tried to raise his weapon, only to fall forwards with a groan. Sonar forced herself awake as she slammed her hoof against her jacket pocket.

“Go to sleep…” Glimmer said sweetly, she was taken aback as a massive burst of blue energy exploded from the pocket. It washed over her and everyone in the room just as Sonar collapsed to the floor.

“H-Help…” Sonar said weakly, Starlight Glimmer blinked her eyes and approached the downed mare.

“No one can help you now.” There were several frantic knocks on the door moments later, the town’s folk had obviously seen the blast of energy. She trotted away from the four collapsed thestrals and to the door. Sonar lost consciousness moments later as she felt herself begin to be dragged away.

Author's Notes:

Here's another one for you guys. I'll shoot for 8k next time. I wanted to play with a few different perspectives aside from Dominic's and Luna's. I'm not sure how this chapter will be recieved, but I hope it goes over well.

As always, like, comment, and favorite if you want.