Chapter 16: Spies

Walking triumphantly into one of the secluded meeting rooms in Canterlot Castle, Twilight cannot help but smile brightly as she crosses towards the table in the room, which has been set with tea for four.

Reaching the table, Twilight gently levitates her tiara off and places it on the table as she turns to look at the others who have entered the room behind her.

First, wearing his polished dress armor complete with medals, comes Commander Dawn who is holding his head high with a small playful smirk on his face. He crosses to the table, quickly followed by the former Wonderbolt Wind Rider who is likewise in good spirits, and finds a seat beside Twilight before removing his helmet.

Lastly, comes the newest addition to the upper echelons of Canterlot’s noble society. Dressed in her Royal Equestrian Air Force dress blues which also bears a few medals for bravery and other such things, Daring’s scowl could almost curdle milk or perhaps cause a few hearts to stop from sheer fear.

Chuckling at Daring’s expression, Twilight smiles to her friend. “It wasn’t that bad, Daring,” She nods towards the last seat, pouring some tea with her magic. “You did a wonderful job speaking our case to the nobles.”

“My mouth tastes like I’ve been kissing plots,” Daring grumbles as she come over to the table to sit down. “Anyone have a breath mint?”

Reaching into a pocket on his flight jacket, Rider offers Daring a few breath mints with a smile. “I always keep a few of these on hoof in case I have to talk to a bunch of nobles,” He pops one into his own mouth. “Always leaves a bad taste in my mouth too.”

“I hope I’m not included in that statement,” Twilight smirks as she finishes pouring the tea. “Anyway, the nobles are onboard with our plan, if all goes well we should be able to sort out the last pocket of Shadowbolt resistance without further problems.”

“True,” Daring sighs as she puts a mint into her mouth before smiling. “And, I would never include a fan such as you in a group like that, Princess.” She then picks up her teacup, which Twilight had just filled, and sips from it causing a smile to spread over her face. “Is this one of Fine’s blends?”

“Yes,” Twilight admits, a small blush on her face. “I mentioned to her that I really liked this blend, and she just sort of gave me a few full tins of it as a thank you for showing up and helping save the city.”

“Ha, sounds like her alright,” Daring chuckles before sipping her tea again. “This’ll go a long way to counteracting the dull buzzing in my ears, and the ache between my eyes.” She sighs and looks to Dawn and Rider. “But, then, we’ve got business still to attend to, don’t we?”

“We do, I fear,” Dawn agrees as he puts his own teacup down. Looking to Twilight, his gaze takes on a sharper edge, making Twilight blink a bit as he instantly becomes professional. “Princess, while discretely attempting to give orders to my guards, I fear a servant overheard me. I thought nothing of it, but that same servant soon after left the Castle and headed towards the Secure Savings bank. They were apprehended and brought back to the castle for questioning.”

Taking a slow sip of her tea before slowly lowering to rest lightly on the saucer before her, Twilight sighs. “I didn’t want to think that there were those within the Castle who worked for the Shadowbolts,” she looks to her companions, a frown forming on her lips. “But, I guess such beliefs are now unfounded, and we must entertain the idea that the Shadowbolts have agents inside the Castle, and may yet learn of our plans, if they have not already.”

“Well, what are we going to do?” Daring asks slowly, her eyes narrowing. “I’m not about to let all the hard work I just went through to kiss up to all those stuffy nobles go to waste.”

“We won’t let it go to waste,” Dawn chimes in, a sad smile on his face. “But, we’re going to need to plug the leak now that we know it might exist.”

“How, exactly?” Rider asks, frowning. “We can’t just round up everyone in the Castle on the grounds that they might be a Shadowbolt. That’d only give Earl Grey more to toss at us at the trial, give him grounds to claim that Blueblood was right.” He looks over at Dawn and gestures with one hoof in a circular motion. “Did you get anything out of the servant who was going to warn Secure?”

“Not as much as I would have liked,” Dawn admits, earning him a raised eyebrow from Twilight. “We asked him, without forcing him, to tell us who he was and why he was working for the Shadowbolts, and if there were anymore within the Castle’s staff.” He sighs, slumping a bit in his seat. “He told us nothing, even spit in my lieutenant’s face.”

“Well that gets us nowhere,” Daring says with a shake of her head. “I’d suggest letting me talk to him, but I don’t think Twilight would approve of my methods.”

“No, I don’t think I would,” Twilight agrees before sighing and putting her face in her hooves. “We can’t stoop to torture. It’s against Equestrian Law, so we’ll just have to come up with something to keep everypony located in the Castle currently in the Castle until we take care of Secure.”

“Knight and I can inform the staff that we’re running a drill?” Dawn says slowly as he scratches his chin with a hoof. “Possibly get the Reserves in on it too, or at least Daring and Wind here,” he nods to Daring who smiles, and Wind who shrugs, “make it look like we’re prepping for a just in case scenerio.”

“That could work,” Daring admits, her smile growing. “Could rope the entire garrison into it? Inside and outside the Castle, to make it seem like a universal thing. Keep it going up until the day we strike Secure Savings’ bank and we’d have a good cover for moving troops around.”

“It’ll draw a lot of attention, though,” Rider comments as he sips his tea. “Though, that might be what we want, get the city focused on us training and draw attention away from the real activities.”

“That solves some of the problem,” Twilight states as she looks between the other three with her. “But, the servants and civilians in the Castle will still be wandering the halls.”

“Not if we tell them that we’re restricting the movement of all non-military personnel,” Dawn answers, his brow furrowing. “They won’t like it, and I hate to order it, but we can make it seem like it’s part of the exercise.”

“It sounds like we’ve got the start of a plan,” Dawn nods before looking at Twilight. “You’re going to be busy, though, when we put this into effect. A lot of ponies are going to come to you to complain.”

“Sounds like a normal day to me,” Twilight sighs, rolling her eyes. “I’d never realized how much ponies complain or seek others to solve their problems before coming into my crown.” She leans back and looks at her crown, a small smirk on her face. “But let them come, if it helps you all catch the bad guys, I’ll smile and weather the storm.”

“We are deeply honored that you’d do this for us, Twilight,” Daring smiles as she refills her teacup. “But, I think if we’ve got the military stuff out of the way, we should turn to the more domestic stuff.” She frowns and holds her cup between her hooves and looks at it. “The power has yet to come back on, and in light of our plan I think it’s time we start thinking of suspending the majority of the…” She pauses and looks up at Twilight, an unsure expression coming over her face. “We should suspend the recovery efforts and focus on clearing spaces to set up tents and other non-permanent shelters for civilians.”

Twilight stares blankly at Daring for a few moments, her teacup suspended in front of her face as the words slowly sink in. The others at the table are likewise staring at Daring, except for Dawn who is nodding slowly as he looks down at the table.

“That might be for the best,” Dawn says softly, his ears going back against his head. “We need to look after the living first.” He looks up at Daring, his face taking on a hard expression. “I suggest we focus near the train station, a lot of the buildings around it were businesses, we shouldn’t run into too many… bodies there, and once we’ve got the spaces clear we can focus on getting the trains moving again, get fresh supplies in, and refugees out.”

Shaking her head -- as well as pushing aside the twisting feeling in her gut at how two of the city’s top commanders have decided to give up on recovering the fallen in Canterlot -- Twilight puts down her tea and clears her throat. “Admiral Star has offered the use of the Naval Air Supply and Logistics Fleet to resupply Canterlot as well as to get civilians who wish to leave out of the city.”

“That’s all well and good, Princess,” Rider says warmly, his own tea now on the table as well. “But, ASLF is based out of Fillydelphia. The trains would offer a larger range, and more destinations. We can’t get everything from the Navy at this point, nor from the CAG, we need to get the civilian services up as soon as possible.”

“I-I guess that makes sense,” Twilight sighs. “I just don’t want to stop all the recovery efforts, we owe to the ponies who’ve lost loved ones to… to find them as soon as we can, and allow them to say their goodbyes.” She shakes her head and takes a deep breath. “It’s a horrible feeling, not knowing if you’re friends and family are still alive, and I will not allow my ponies to suffer any more than they have to. I will not order the recovery operations to be suspended.” She pauses for a moment, allowing her commanding tone to sink in before continuing. “But, I will order the majority of those who are working on it to do as you have laid out, and clear spaces around the train depot. Once we have it operational again, we can bring in new workers along with the supplies…”

“Your ponies, eh?” Daring asks with a chuckle, causing Twilight to blush slightly. “You sound like Celestia, I like it.” She drains what remains of her tea and stands up. “Hold onto that courage, Twilight, you’re going to need to be every bit as courageous as your mentor in the coming days.”

----

Humming softly as she sews a small red cape together, Foxfire’s eyes stray every so slowly up towards the young colt sitting beside her on the couch, his eyes purple fixated on a book in front of him. Every few lines in the book, which is about wildlife, he narrows his eyes and quietly mouths the word he is stuck on slowly to puzzle it out. The action causes Foxfire to laugh silently, but she otherwise does not comment.

However, as she watches the young colt read, her attention is inevitably drawn to the other occupants in the room, especially the large form of the pegasus mare sitting at the table a respectful distance away from Foxfire.

In the day since her husband had left, Foxfire had gotten to know the former Jaeger, and had grown to, if not fully trust her, at least like her. Yet, the more she had gotten to know Grace, the more Foxfire saw something familiar in her. The way she did things, especially her way of treating the foals, reminds her quite a bit of her husband. Currently, however, the large mare is pouring over paperwork along with another former JSS experiment, both of them looking as if what’s written on the pages is the most important thing in the world. And, quite possibly, it might be.

It might also be vastly important to her, too.

Admitting that to herself, even silently, causes her to smile warmly as she puts aside her sewing and carefully extract herself from the side of the colt beside her. He gives her a sad, almost scared look, as she steps off the couch, and moves to close his book and get up with her.

“You should keep reading,” Foxfire says softly, gently nuzzling the colt’s neck.

“I don’t want you to leave,” he replies softly, the scared look in his eyes remaining even as he opens the book as if on instinct. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“I’m not leaving the room, little one,” Foxfire responds gently as she points over towards Grace and Dee Seven. “I’ll just be over there talking with Dee and Grace.”

“Oh, okay…” the colt quietly offers, lowering his head down towards the book as he pulls his wings tighter to his body.

Lingering for a moment longer, Foxfire’s smile slips and she slowly looks away from the colt before turning and walking away. As she reaches the table, she finds Grace looking at her, a smile on her face. The large pegasus looks over to Dee and makes a few quick gestures, earning a nod from the other mare.

“Grace wishes me to inform you that she believes that young colt looks up to you,” Dee states as Grace makes a few more motions. “She believes it is a good thing, and that he could not have chosen a better pony to attach himself to.”

“Thank you,” Foxfire replies, her smile returning slightly. “How are things over here?”

“Our work progresses at an acceptable pace,” Dee comments, returning her attention to the paperwork before her. “I did not, however, realize there were this many forms required for what we are attempting.”

“You work with the navy, Dee,” Foxfire chuckles as she takes a seat between the two at the table. “I would have thought you would be used to this much red tape.”

“The forms in the Navy, and the ones here, do not have any red tape attached to them.” Dee informs Foxfire with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s an expression,” Foxfire sighs, her smile growing. “But it’s not important. What is important, is offering the foals a chance at a better life.” She looks over her shoulder at the young colt on the couch. “They deserve that much after all they’ve been through.”

A tap on her shoulder pulls her attention to Grace, who once more makes gestures so that Dee can speak for her.

“She wants to know if you’ve figured out a name for him,” Dee translates.

“I was thinking Fox Tale,” Foxfire replies slowly. “He seems to really like reading, and his coloration fits…”

Smiling brightly, Grace nods in fervent agreement.

“An accurate name,” Dee agrees without looking up from her paperwork. “Perhaps the rest who wish to be adopted will gain names such as that, and be free of their past.”

“Well, so far everypony that has opened their homes to the foals are good ponies,” Foxfire states confidently as she looks over the forms. “I mean, Fine Brew and Holly Sweep, Distant and her husband,” she flips to another page. “Fancy and Fleur! Honestly, I think the foals are going to good homes, Dee.”

Dee opens her mouth to respond, but is cut off as the door to the room opens and a voice comes through.

“Come on, Mugsyyy!” the voice whines, “You promised you’d take this seriously!”

“Rain, I don’t know,” a second voice replies to the first. “I mean, do we have time to take care of a foal?”

“Of course we do!” the first voice states enthusiastically as a sapphire blue pegasus stallion skips in, a wide smile on his face. “If Dusty has the time, so do we!”

“Fine, we can at least ask about it,” the second voice, obviously ‘Mugsy’, sighs as a light brown unicorn walks in. “Just don’t get your hopes up.”

“Magic Mug? Purple Rain?” Foxfire asks slowly, a confused look on her face.

“Miss Foxy!” Rain greets Foxfire in a sing-song voice. “We heard there are some foals for adoption, and we were interested in seeing if we’d be allowed to adopt one.”

“I wouldn’t be opposed to it,” Foxfire shrugs with a smile. “I mean, I know you two from around Ponyville as good ponies.” She then turns back to the table and chuckles. “Plus, I was wondering when I’d see you two. Mug’s sister was in here earlier, and is adopting two herself.”

“My… sister?” Mug says suddenly, ears standing up straight. “She is adopting a couple foals?”

“Your sister is Viscountess Grey?” Dee inquires from where she is sitting, bringing the attention of the two stallions to her.

“Yes she is…” Mug starts slowly as he looks Dee over with confusion.

“It sounds just like Brewsky to open her home and heart to poor orphaned foals,” Rain sighs happily, a smile on his face as he wanders over to the table. “What with her daughter adopting that poor unfortunate little colt, I would expect nothing less of dear Brewsky!” He looks between the three mares, his smile growing. “So! How do we go about this?”

“Well, if you want to adopt one-” Foxfire starts.

“We’re adopting two,” Mug cuts in, coming over to the table.

“Really!?” Rain gasps, wrapping his arms around Mug’s neck. “TWO!? Is it my birthday!?”

“You say that now, but remember the condition for adopting one?” Mug says with a serious expression.

“I can’t flirt for a whole month,” Rain sighs heavily, slumping his shoulders as his lower lip quivers. “I guess you’ll want to make it two now, right?” He stops hugging his husband and puts the back of one hoof to his forehead. “I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I guess I shall do my best to endure such torment, if only for the foals!”

“Yes, yes you will,” Mug states calmly. “However, it’s not going to be two months. If you want to adopt these foals, it’s no flirting for the whole summer.” Rain looks over at his husband with a stricken look, opening his mouth to complain, but Mug’s stern expression cuts him off “No arguing, or you’re sleeping on the couch for that entire time too.”

“Oh, poo,” Rain sighs, crossing his arms. “I guess I’ll just have to keep busy shamelessly spoiling the foals.”

“That’s the spirit,” Mug chuckles before looking at Foxfire and the others. “So, how do we go about this?”

“Well, we have you fill out the forms, and then introduce you to the foals who want to be adopted,” Foxfire says with a smile. “Then we’ll go from there.”

“Right, got that Ra…” Mug starts looking over to where his husband had been moments before, only to find him gone. “Oh great… where’d he go now?”

“He went into the next room,” Dee states calmly as she writes on a form. “He seemed to have gotten bored of waiting, and went to go see the foals.”

“Leave it to him to skip the first couple steps…” Mug sighs with a roll of his eyes before looking at Foxfire. “Alright, well I’d better fill out a form for two foals before he comes back out here with more than that.”

“That may be for the best,” Dee once more says calmly. “Your husband seems the type to want to adopt all orphaned foals, and I do not think you could support all of them.”

“Can’t be that many,” Mug shrugs as he sits down and levitates a pen out of a pocket of his jacket.

“There are over a hundred in this wing of the Castle,” Dee replies with a serious expression.

“That many? Our house is a little too small for that many…” Mug chuckles weakly as he takes the form Foxfire floats over to him. “So, how many have been adopted?”

“Eleven,” Foxfire says proudly. “At least, out of the ones Dee and Grace here are looking over. They’re the ones who want to be adopted, though.”

“Ah, I see,” Mug smiles slightly.

Foxfire watches him fill out the form, occasionally helping him where he needs it, and smiles warmly as he signs his name. As she levitates the form over to the pile of finished ones, her tail is slightly pulled, and she looks back to find Tale standing behind her with a hesitant look on his face.

“Yes?” Foxfire asks softly, her smile turning motherly.

“I got lonely…” the young colt admits, looking down and scuffing the floor with a hoof.

Without saying another word, Foxfire scoots back a bit and levitates him up to sit in front of her. He scoots back against Foxfire’s chest, and nuzzles into the bottom of her jaw before he starts to just silently observe.

Smiling, Mug gives Foxfire a knowing look as she gently strokes Tale’s mane with a hoof. He opens his mouth, most likely to comment on the fact that Foxfire has a vested interest in helping adopt out the foals, when loud giggles suddenly echo from the other room.

The giggles are followed by Rain, who prances into the room with a couple of fillies under his wings, a triumphant smile on his face.

“I think I found the chosen ones, dear husband,” Rain purrs beside Mug before gently letting the two fillies down from beneath his wings. “Allow me to introduce you to your daughters!” He sits down between the two fillies, and gently rests a hoof on the first, who is a pegasus. “This is Raspberry Beret,” he puts his other hoof on the other who beams up at Mug. “And this is Pink Cashmere!” He then wraps his arms around both of them and pulls them close. “I’ve been telling them all about Ponyville, and they’re really excited to come home with us!”

“You’re going to want me to serve drinks named after them now, aren’t you?” Mug sighs, attempting to sound stern despite a smile spreading across his face. “Like after we got married, and you wanted me to name a drink after you.”

“Aww, but you loved the drink I came up with!” Rain says with a pout. “Besides, you might have been able to say no to me, but you’ll never be able to say no to all three of us!”

Mug opens his mouth, but stops as he looks down at the three who are all now giving him looks that make even Foxfire’s heart skip a beat at just how adorable they are. Much like Rain had done earlier when he had pouted, Cashmere and Raspberry are giving Mug wide-eyed stares, their lower lips quivering with their ears flat against their head. Silently, Foxfire muses that the only thing that could tip it any further in their favor is if somepony started playing sappy music.

“Oh, fine!” Mug breaks down, throwing his hooves up in the air. “But if they don’t sell in a week, I’m taking them off the menu.”

“Does this mean we’re adopting them?” Rain asks slowly, his expression remaining.

“Of course we’re adopting them, you silly fool,” Mug replies with a smile as he gets down from his chair and pulls Rain and the two fillies into a warm embrace. “I already signed the paperwork.”

Watching the new family hug, Foxfire can’t help but wrap her own arms around the colt sitting with her and gently nuzzle the top his head.

“You know, they’re not the only ones who’ve been adopted,” she says softly. “What’cha think, want to make it official? Me tucking you in at night?”

“Do you mean it?” he asks softly, looking up at her with wide eyes.

“Paperwork is all filled out,” Foxfire states warmly, once more nuzzling his head. “So, if you want, you can be my little Fox Tale.”

For a moment, the colt says nothing, but simply blinks slowly. Then, tears form in his eyes and he turns around and hugs Foxfire tightly as if she is the most important thing in the world.

“I’d love that,” Tale says as he presses his face against her chest before looking up at her with a look that makes Foxfire’s own eyes tear up. “Mom.”

----

Walking down the brightly lit corridor of the Castle, Blueblood can’t help but hold his head lower than he usually does. All around him, evidence of his sins stare him in the face in the form of the broken windows, and empty eyes of the ponies. Though he keeps a straight face, his heart aches with every blank look aimed at him, or every time a pony spits at him before turning away.

Worse still, perhaps, is his ‘honor guard’. The heavily sound of their armored shoes, and loud clanking of their armor, reminding him that he is not a free pony by any means even more than the ring securely fastened to his horn.

Yet, a part of him won’t surrender to the overwhelming shame he is feeling right now. A part of him -- instilled into him by the rough side of his father’s hoof and the sharp side of his mother’s tongue -- refuses to show anything but the calm and collected expression of his station. This causes more than a few to try and advance towards him, profound anger in their eyes, only to be stopped by his escort.

“I know it’s hard for you,” a voice states calmly from Blueblood’s left, “but you really should at least pretend to feel guilty for what you did.”

“I do, Yearling,” Blueblood says softly, his eyes falling to the floor as he walks. “I know it’s hard for you to understand, but this is my city. The injury I’ve done to it and its ponies? It’s like stabbing myself now that my head's clear.”

“All the same,” Daring replies, bringing Blueblood’s attention over to her. “Let's just get you to your new rooms before one of the staff decides to actually stab you while me and the other ponies guarding you suddenly get amnesia.”

“You’d enjoy that, wouldn’t you,” Blueblood sighs, a small smirk creeping onto his face and breaking his stately mask. “But I like not being full of holes, so you’ll have to not develop memory problems.”

The group picks up pace, causing Blueblood to canter to keep up with the guard ponies as they enter into the undamaged guest wing. They pass by Twilight’s rooms, as well as a room that has a soft blue glow coming from beneath the door, and even a pair of stallions carrying two giggling fillies on their backs. The giggling stops, though, when the fillies spot the Guards, and the stallions stiffen when they spot Blueblood. Turning his eyes forward, he tries his best to ignore the small voice that echoes to him from one of the fillies.

“Papa Rain, who is that?”

“A very bad pony, Raspberry,” the reply comes, causing Blueblood’s ears to flatten in shame.

And then they’re at a door.

Pausing long enough for Daring to open it and dismiss all but two guards, Blueblood is ushered through and into a spacious and well furnished common room. Looking around slowly, Blueblood spots a few dusty and somewhat scorched trunks that he recognizes as being from his home, as well as a few other personal items.

“Twilight figured you’d want to have at least something from home,” Daring answers Blueblood’s thoughts. “And we were already poking around in what’s left of your house, so nopony objected.” She walks forward towards another door in the room, pausing slightly to look over her shoulder. “Though, I’m sure you understand if not everything we salvaged made it here.”

For a moment, rage boils up in Blueblood’s chest causing him to take a step forward. But as he does, he steps in front of the large windows and his attention is drawn outside to the state of the city. And, overlaid over the scene of destruction and sorrow, is the twisted and rage filled reflection of his own face. Instantly, he feels a stab of horror at that expression, so similar to his own father’s, and he looks back to Daring as the rage dies out. With a sigh, he looks towards the carpet and speaks softly.

“To the victorious go the spoils,” he offers, turning towards a couch to go sit down. “Just, make sure one of the swords in my collection goes to you and to that stallion who was fighting me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Daring shrugs as she opens a door, peeking inside. “So, this little suite comes with two bedrooms, a kitchenette, and a fully stocked bathroom.” She closes the door and frowns. “Quite frankly, it’s a lot better than what me and my husband have, so I hope you realize just how lucky you are that Princess Twilight doesn’t hold a grudge.”

“Perhaps she is simply giving me the proper respect due an Archduke,” Blueblood deadpans. “Even under arrest, I am afforded a certain amount of respect and comforts.” He gestures to the room, a small smirk playing on his face. “Such as this room, it is nicer than yours because you are nothing more than a lowborn noble, nor are you a high ranking officer, or even for that matter rich.”

“Well, forgive me for only being a Marchioness who has to work for a living,” Daring quips back with a roll of her eyes. “I didn’t make the cut to sit on my flank and drink expensive wines, and kick dirt in the faces of the servants.”

“Yes, well,” Blueblood coughs as he looks around again. “Speaking of such, was I assigned a servant? My-”

“Yes, yes, ‘your station demands certain things’, I get it,” Daring sighs, putting a hoof to her face. “And no, we didn’t forget, or rather, I didn’t forget. Twilight wasn’t going to assign you one, but I convinced her otherwise.” She lowers her hoof and smiles a bit too wide. “In fact, I found the perfect one to be your personal bodypony.”

“Well?” Blueblood asks, raising an eyebrow and making a circling motion with a hoof. “Where is he?”

“In the kitchen, I asked him to prepare some lunch for you,” Daring remiles, her smile growing, if that is even possible. “He said he knew all your favorite dishes, so I didn’t argue, can’t have you being uncomfortable after all!” She turns and heads to a door between the two leading to bedrooms. “I’ll go get him.”

Shaking his head, Blueblood slides off the couch and goes to one of the trunks. Opening it, he shifts through the contents, which is mostly just clothing and various personal objects like smaller pictures and keepsakes. Pulling out a clean, though very wrinkled, suit jacket Blueblood changes out of what he had been wearing down in his cell, resolving to get a shower later once he is free of his dear cousin. As he pulls out a pocket watch and handkerchief, both of which are put into a pocket, the door opens to the kitchen and the smell of food drifts over to him. Despite his desire to turn around and see what’s for lunch, Blueblood stays with his back turned, continuing to sift through the mess inside the trunk until he hears the sound of a tray touching down on the table behind him.

“I see lunch has finally been served,” Blueblood sighs, turning around with a look of disappointment on his face. “I had hop-” he gets no further has his neutral expression not only falters, but shatters upon seeing the pony standing next to Daring.

“I trust the food will be up to your standards, m’lord,” the sea-green earth pony states calmly, his chocolate brown eyes sparkling despite the professional look on his face. “I remembered how you liked everything, and thus have done it exactly like that.”

“Sea?” Blueblood whispers, blinking slowly. “They got… you?!”

“Yes, m’lord,” Seabiscuit replies calmly. “Princess Twilight and Master Sergeant Yearling came to me the other day and requested I serve as your personal aid and servant.” He smiles slightly, the professional mask dropping ever so slightly as he blushes. “I may have jumped at the chance.”

“You hugged Princess Twilight and I and thanked us profusely,” Daring chuckles, rolling her eyes. “I didn’t think anypony could be that excited to do whatever Blueblood wanted.” She then shrugs. “But then, I do recall a certain scandal back when we were younger, something about a certain heir -”

“What have you done?” Blueblood asks slowly, as he stares at Daring, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks as he realizes what she’s done, what she is implying.

“What I thought was right, dear cousin,” Daring replies, a knowing smirk on her face. “See, while I was hardly a high ranking noble before your uprising, I did hear things.” She takes a plate from the tray, which is laden with what looks to be small sandwiches, and makes her way over to a chair. “And, I know that they’re all wrong. You don’t need a mare in your life to keep you under control.”

“Don’t you dare say it,” Blueblood growls, his eyes narrowing.

“But, it’s only the truth, Blueblood!” Daring insists, putting a hoof against her chest as she picks up a sandwich with the other. She takes a bite of her food and hums contently and smiles warmly. “Ohh, Sea how are you still single… and can you teach Leaf to make these!?”

“I can try, m’lady,” Sea replies, blushing. “And, as for your other question, I guess you could say I’ve already got my sights set on somepony.”

“Oh no,” Blueblood growls. “No. He will not be staying here. I will not have him as my personal servant!” He points a hoof at Sea, who shrinks back a bit. “My parents would not stand for this! I will not allow myself to be dragged into the gossip columns again!”

“You’re parents are dead, Blueblood,” Daring states flatly, putting aside her tray on the arm of the chair. “And I’m not asking permission to assign him as your personal servant. He is your aid, period. End of story.” She stands up and crosses to stand beside Sea, a wing going out and draping over the earth pony’s back as he looks between Daring and Blueblood with a conflicted look.

“M’lady, if he doesn’t want me…” Sea starts, ears back against his head.

“Then that’s too bad for him,” Daring replies curtly. “You accepted the post, and you’ve got it. We never said it’d be easy.”

“So, what I don’t get any say in the matter?” Blueblood shouts, stomping his hoof against the carpet. “I am the Archduke of Canterlot, I am affo-”

“No, you are not.” Daring snaps. “Your title is hollow right now, Blueblood. It’s a fancy thing to put in front of your name, but you have no more power than a common pony right now.” She gestures at the ring on his horn. “Right now, you’ve got more in common with Sea here, than you do your fellow nobles. So get used to having him around, because he isn’t to leave your side for anything except to sleep and when his tasks require it.”

“I will n-” Blueblood starts, his voice rising in both volume and pitch as his anger flares, but he is quickly cut off by a knock at the door. Everypony in the room freezes for a moment, before Sea blinks and crosses to the door to do his job.

Opening the door, Sea speaks softly to the pony outside for a few moments before allowing a unicorn stallion carrying a covered tray inside.

“Can we help you?” Daring asks slowly, eyeing the unicorn up and down.

“Yes, I was told to bring lunch to the Archduke,” the unicorn replies. “However, if he does not wis-”

“No,” Blueblood states coldly, “I would love to see what you’ve brought, as the lunch prepared here was not up to my standards.” He looks over at Sea pointedly, causing him to flinch and lower himself a bit in shame. He walks over towards the servant, his neutral mask once more in place.

As he draws closer, the unicorn pulls the lid off the tray and the smell of a delicately seasoned salad -- a rarity in the weeks since the Shadowbolt attack -- makes Blueblood’s mouth water. He instinctively attempts to take the plate with his magic, however due to the inhibitor ring he earns himself a sharp pain at the base of his horn for his troubles.

“Here, allow me, Archduke,” the unicorn says with a knowing smile and levitates the plate off of the tray and over towards the table. Turning his back towards the unicorn, Blueblood follows the salad, his stomach grumbling loudly.

As he is about to pick up a fork and dig in, Sea exclaims loudly from where he is standing, and Blueblood suddenly finds himself crashing to the floor as a dagger flies through the spot his head had just occupied a moment earlier. Landing heavily on his side, Sea on top of him, Blueblood feels the air rush out of his lungs causing him to gasp sharply as he watches Daring rush forward to engage the assassin.

“G-get off of me,” Blueblood wheezes as he pushes against Sea weakly. “I will not take this insult lying down!”

“I have to protect you, m’lord,” Sea says softly, ears back against his head. “I won’t let you come to harm again.”

“Again?” Blueblood growls. “Get off of me, you useless lout!” He pushes harder against Sea as his breath returns, easily dislodging the other pony who yelps as Blueblood dumps him to one side. Rising, Blueblood grabs the tray that has the sandwiches on it, and moves to join the small brawl that has ensued between Daring and the unicorn assassin. Before he reaches the assassin, however, the unicorn turns from fighting Daring, and shoots a beam of magic at Blueblood, who barely gets the tray up in time to block the beam, which deflects upon the polished silver surface and strikes the door.

“Stay out of this, Blueblood, I can handle this alone!” Daring shouts as she pushes forward, bringing a hoof up to strike the assassin. Her blow is dodged, and she barely blocks a buck from the unicorn who continues to try and fight Blueblood with magic.

“He is making an attempt on my life, dear cousin,” Blueblood growls from behind his tray as yet another magical attack strikes it. “I shall not stand idle while he does so!”

Daring growls in response, but says nothing more as the two continue to try and combat the obviously experienced fighter. They’re soon joined by the Guards, who burst through the door with weapons drawn and quickly fall upon the Assassin with deadly intent.

Seeing himself outnumbered and likely to be overwhelmed, the assassin starts to fight savagely with reckless abandon for his own safety. Using all at his disposal, from his teeth, hooves, and magic, the unicorn assassin holds his own for a few minutes, and is even able to land a few blows on both Daring and the Guards. Blueblood, as well, does not escape injury as he is struck by a blast from the Unicorn and sent flying into a wall where he impacts hard enough to knock both the wind and the senses from him.

Fighting back the encroaching darkness around his vision, Blueblood fights to get to his hooves as he watches the failed assassin become overwhelmed and get tackled to the ground by the guards. Sea comes to his side, and lifts one of Blueblood’s arms to rest around his neck to help steady his lord. Absently, Blueblood shivers from the contact, a thing he silently prays Sea does not notice as his breath returns, along with sound.

“Stay down, or I swear to Celestia, your doctor will never have to give you another prostate exam!” Daring growls from where she has an arm around the assassin’s neck. The guards have managed to immobilize his arms and legs, causing him to thrash weakly despite the threats.

“You’ve only delayed the inevitable,” the unicorn states as he stops struggling. “He has outlived his usefulness, and like all tools that have become blunt he shall be discarded!”

“Yeah, well we sorta still need him,” Daring replies, her hold on the stallion’s neck remaining as she glares at the back of his head. “Mind telling us who you work for? Because if you’re JSS I’d love to introduce you to a certain former Jaeger.” She leans forward and whispers sharply in her captive’s ear. “And even if you’re not, I might still do it. I hear she can be quite persuasive with her whole silent act.”

“I am not one of those witless mercenaries,” the unicorn growls back sharply as he tries to thrust his head back to strike Daring. The action earns him nothing but her stranglehold growing tighter.

“None of that now,” Daring coos softly. “I’d hate to break your neck just yet. So talk, and we can escort you to a nice room in the dungeon.”

“You’ll have to torture me” the stallion starts before Blueblood, who has been watching the entire exchange with a look of bored disgust, picks up the knife that had been thrown at him earlier and offers it to Sea.

“Sea, you have to follow any of the orders I give you, right?” Blueblood asks.

“Yes?” Sea replies, eyeing the knife.

“Good, I’d like you to geld our unwelcome guest,” Blueblood states calmly, nodding to the now wide-eyed assassin.

“M’lord, I… I don’t know if I-” Sea starts hesitantly.

“That’s an order, Seabiscuit,” Blueblood continues, his eyes narrowing.

“I… yes sir,” Sea swallows as he takes the knife and looks to the assassin who has started to struggle again.

“No! Y-you can’t!” the unicorn shouts, trying desperately to get out of Daring’s grip.

“I can stop him,” Daring says, winking to the guards who are both looking at her for instructions. “But you have to tell me who you work for.”

“Never!” the unicorn wails.

“Okay, well I hope you weren’t planning on having foals!” Daring shrugs before looking at Sea. “Might want to heat that up, first, don’t want him to get an infection, now do we!”

“Yes, ma’am…” Sea says slowly, furrowing his brows.

“ALRIGHT!” the unicorn yells as he desperately attempts to cross his hind legs. “I work for the Shadowbolts! They don’t pay me enough for this!”

“You all seem to be coming out of the woodwork as of late,” Daring sighs as she looks towards Blueblood.

“Well, I guess I should start locking my doors,” Blueblood sighs as Sea returns with the red-hot blade and looks at Blueblood. “You know, it’d be a waste to not use this now…”

“Blueblood, you’re not gelding him,” Daring frowns as the Shadowbolt squirms and whimpers.

“You seem to forget that I am, apparently, an evil pony, my dear,” Blueblood says softly as he looks back at the Shadowbolt. “I do have that unwanted reputation to uphold.”

“Blueblood…” Daring growls.

“Fine, I’ll let you take him to my old room downstairs,” Blueblood sighs. “But do take out the nice pillows and sheets you gave me, they’re far too expensive to be use by such a poor excuse for a stallion.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Daring smirks as she shoves the unicorn to his hooves. “Now, come with us quietly, and I promise I won’t let the guards turn you into swiss cheese.” She pushes the unicorn forward, and he offers no resistance save to stare at the knife Sea is still holding until they’re out of the room.

Once Daring and her group is gone, Blueblood walks over and closes the door before turning around and looking at Sea.

“If I order you to leave, will you do it?” Blueblood asks, narrowing his eyes.

“Not even if you threatened me,” Sea replies, putting aside the knife and standing up tall. “I told Princess Twilight I’d stay by your side, and I meant it.”

Sighing, Blueblood hunches his shoulders and closes his eyes. “Fine. If I cannot be rid of you, then please make yourself useful and clean up this mess while I go lay down…”

“As you wish,” Sea smiles warmly before starting on his task.

Despite himself, Blueblood smiles slightly at the words as he walks towards one of the bedrooms. No matter how hard he tries to deny it to himself, he finds that, perhaps he won’t hate being locked in here. Because, if nothing else, the company is at least mostly tolerable.

Author's Notes:

So, here is chapter 16! We got to see Twilight, Daring, and Co explain to a bunch of nobles how it'll be in there interest to attack a bank!

We also saw the JSS foals getting adopted, including Foxfire and Prose addopting the young colt that was under Tank's wing, and Rain and Mug addopting two very happy fillies who they'll spoil to no end ;3

Oh, and Blueblood got attacked, that happened.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Until next time,

~Sylvian