Ponyville's 5th Divisionby Arctikfox
Chapters
Training Schedule
Phase one: Recruits will receive orientation and receive their issued equipment. Basic tactical training begins, followed by magical, biological, and chemical prevention, magical casting defense and military movement. Basic specialized training follows for each of the pony biologies; ground, magic, and flight.
-End of phase training exercise: Motivation Field training.
Phase Two: Recruits go through marksmanship and combat training. Engagement Skills and Situational Training Exercises. This training is intended not only to teach Guards valuable skills, but also to instill confidence in what they're learning. Specialty training; light, heavy, medical, mage. Team training. Land navigation. Naval training. Strategy. Gas chamber.
-End of phase training exercise: Intelligence Field training.
Phase Three: After becoming familiar with the use of their equipment and weapons, recruits put their training to the test as they must overtake various field courses; both day and night infiltration. Night training. Survival day/night training. Various advanced training courses.
-End of phase training exercise: Nerve Field training.
Phase Four: History. Logistics, statistics, and advanced strategy. Official ranks assigned. After passing all their tests and challenges, they congregate for Rites of Passage.
-End of phase training exercise: Discipline Field training.
Chapter 1 -A Harsh Reception-
-A Harsh Reception-
A crackle from the fire popped, echoing into the night. An old stallion sat, warming his hide against the cold while four small beings sat just opposite the fire doing the same. Sounds of clashing metal, cannon explosions, and incinerating magic rang out only in his ears. As he focused on the fire, he could almost see creatures dancing.
"Ugh, mister?"
The old Pegasus looked up with a wary expression, he saw their expectant looks and their camping gear. His blue coat was graying in areas that weren't scared and his white mane was cut close to his head, the same mane cut he wore since his first day of his guard career. He shifted on his haunches and let the saddlebags he wore slide off and scratched the right side of his body where a wing once was.
"I take it you four want me to start tellin' you that story your parents demanded you be older for?" The stallion grinned at the vigorous nods flying his way from the group; A Griffon, Changeling, Unicorn, and a Diamond Dog, each no older than ten.
"Mr. Marne, you promised." The filly Unicorn pouted.
"That I did." With a long breathe, Marne unpacked his saddlebag and produced an ivory pipe. It was a large, carved masterpiece that he favored for many years, being given as a retirement gift so that he would smoke a pipe instead of the cigars he clung to. He looked at the impatient younglings with amusement while packing a blue ball of foliage before lighting it. As the as filled with his puffing, he hummed to himself.
"In my day, life was very different." Marne said before removing the stem from his mouth and pointing it at the younglings. "See, back in my day, you four would have been enemies. Ponies ran Equestria and everyone else was at odds with them."
"Why?" The Griffon asked. "Aren't you married to a Diamond Dog?"
"Aye." Marne's laugh was deep and cheerful. "She certainly was a catch when I met her, she saved my life and I feel for her. Hook, line, and sinker."
"But you were enemies?" The Diamond Dog asked.
"We were. I grew up learning that the Diamonds were vicious bandits." Marne's smile faded into a content, wry look as he kept looking into the flames. "Then war happened and in my first ever real engagement I was shot down with anti air magic that shot my chest full of searing plasma." He stopped at the younglings' looks and became quiet.
"We can take it, Mr. Marne, we aren't afraid of a little gore." The Unicorn smiled.
"I'm just thinking about what your mothers are going to do to me." He chuckled and continued. "I was hit with plasma and crashed. She was a field medic that had been running with the Farhaven wolves when she found me. I was worried she would eat me, but I was nursed to health and my eyes became opened."
"So you didn't like Diamond Dogs?" The Changeling asked.
"We feared them. But now that's in the past." Marne smiled, remembering a life to be proud of.
"What changed?" The Unicorn asked.
"Some would say it was with the formation of an equal species council, or that our society just took the next step, but from a life spent on the fighting edge-" Marne looked to their faces. "I can say it started with the return of the Spirits."
The barracks echoed with a soft roar, eighty ponies milled about as they tried on their specialized armor that was hidden in boxes beneath each bunk. Most of the room was still groggy from the long train ride from the far side of Canterlot mountain that ferried them from the main command base where each of them received their briefing, some of them for the first time.
Few ponies were particularly thrilled with receiving sudden orders for their change of station, even fewer that it was to a located on the outskirts of a quiet farming village.
"Signal, give it a rest." A tall, green stallion chuckled. "So they're new, who cares?"
"I'm just saying, why did we get transferred from the Fourth stable and why to a hick town with a bunch of flappers?" Signal, an ornery, red unicorn groaned as he struggled to don his new armor. "I'm surprised you aren't complaining, Bastion."
"Brother, no one is complaining but you." Bastion said.
"What is with this armor?" Signal seethed as he used the edge of the wall locker as leverage to seat his chest piece into the block of armor that ran down the side of his body. "Did the quarter master mess up the sizing? Maybe the Quarter Master is a green horn too."
"If you don't like being here, leave, no one is holding you here." A thin mare shouted from the other side of the room.
"Who said that!" Signal barked.
The room traded looks as the Unicorn paced. "Which one of you civilians said that, you aren't even guards and you come here thinking you can talk to a real stallion like that!?"
"Signal, chill, you're embarrassing yourself." Bastion sat on his bunk and smacked a small, round can of tobacco on his knee. "Your nasely voice probably annoyed them."
"They can deal with it. Civilians should be kissing the ground we walk on anyway."
"And that mindset is why we get dirty looks wherever we go." Bastion sat back and watched as Signal threw a bottle cap across the room to the group of locals that had joined. "Now why'd you do that?"
The thin mare that spoke up from before emerged from the group across the room and approached. "What is your problem?"
"Here we go." Bastion groaned as he looked out the window to see a large silver Pegasus and Captain Spitfire, among others. "Yall, we should cool it before our new Captain comes up and tears us a new hole."
"I'm not afraid of him either, he's a green horn like these foals." Signal said before tripping and falling on his face, sending the barrack's bay into uproarious laughter.
As Signal continued his tirade, Bastion rolled his eyes and saw a young blue Pegasus shamble through the door. He looked from locker to locker until he saw his name written in permanent marker next to Bastion's.
"This your bunk?" Bastion asked as he pointed to the bed next to him.
"Yes, sir."
"Dude, chill with the manners." Bastion chuckled in his deep voice before holding his hoof out. "Name's Bastion."
"Marne."
"Well, Marne. Welcome to the fifth Division. The best unit between Ponyville and the Everfree." Bastion welcomed.
"It's the only unit between Ponyville and the Everfree?" Marne asked.
A flash of light caught Bastion's attention long enough to watch as an angry, blue unicorn broke away from the outside group to enter the barracks. Bastion stood tripped Signal to stop his complaining before he pressed a giant hoof onto him. "Knock it off, command is coming."
"Ohhh, our new Captain is going to scream at us and put us in the corner." Signal chuckled from the floor. The looks the room traded were mixed, it was obvious that Signal's words stirred up uncertainty among the guards as faint hoof steps turned into stomps.
"Guard! Why have you pinned that stallion to the ground?" A blue Unicorn shouted as the door flew open and banged on its stopping peg.
"Sir, he tripped and I wanted to make sure he didn't hurt himself!" Bastion said, causing snickers among the other guards.
"Get him up." The unicorn said as he turned. "Hoof to line!"
The ponies that had spent years in the guard snapped to and stood on a faint yellow line the stretched the entire room just in front of each bunk. The ponies that were new, however, tried to copy, but did so haphazardly.
With a quick glance, the angry unicorn examined the Fourth stable guards before walking over to the new guards. He began to help each one individually with their hoof placement while explaining the purpose of having the lines.
"Wow, are you serious?" Signal voice before a strong, icy feeling chilled his skin. Then, a pair of blue eyes faded into existence before him.
"Why is a trained guard speaking out of turn?"
Feeling the familiar dread of trouble, Signal sputtered. "Captain, teaching them hoof to line is something meant for basic guard training."
"I'm not your Captain, I'm his second in command." The unicorn said coldly. "My name is Nimbus, but only address me a Sir."
"Wait, you aren't a guard?" Signal stepped on his line and passed Nimbus, not even earning a curious glance from him. "I'm not going to take orders from a-"
A resounding boom echoed through the room as Signal's locker flew from it's position and onto its owner. Signal growled as he stood and turned to lung at Nimbus before being lifted into the air himself and slammed, back first, onto the ground.
Bastion opened his mouth to apologize for his friend, but shut up, deciding involving himself would make it worse.
"You want to try?" Nimbus asked Bastion, only receiving silence in return.
Signal tried to sit up, but a hoof pressed down on his chest. He wheezed and tried to lift the hoof, but would have had better luck lifting a boat from it's moorings. "Heavy!"
Nimbus' eyes met Signal and he relented. "You are a guard, but all that amounts to in this era, at best, is a thug. You will fall in line, or I will have you removed. Clear?"
"Clear." Signal said, eager to get himself out of trouble.
Nimbus poked at Signal's uneven wear of armor and squinted. He straightened out and swept the room, finding that each pony had put on their armor before being asked to do so. "Everyone, outside, in formation, now. Older guards, I expect you to straighten out the stragglers. Fall out."
Nimbus strode to the instructor's office as the guards started to remove their armor. "Keep it on!"
"Good going, Signal." Bastion whispered as he passed.
Whispers and hisses filled the stairwell as everyone descended to the first floor before filing out into the bay and then onto the parade grounds, all in their tight, uncomfortable armor.
Bastion nudged Marne as he appeared next to him. "New to guard duties?"
"Is it that obvious?" Marne smiled weakly.
"It is, but I'll watch out for ya.'" Bastion slapped him on the back before filing out of the stairwell and onto the parade grounds.
The brief feeling of sorrow washed over the platoon as they stood at attention before their new Captain and the Captain of the Guard. Captain Skyfall looked at the platoon for a moment before speaking with Captain Fury and Nimbus. For a moment, Captain Skyfall looked annoyed, but smiled as he passed Nimbus. Then, the dread started again as a devious look graced his face.
Nimbus whipped his tail and cracked his shoulders. "Since everyone here likes to pretend to be a real warrior and dress the part, that means we're going to act the part and train like we fight." Nimbus inhaled and looked left quickly to make sure nothing was blocking his marching route. "Company!"
The company of ponies looked around nervously. "Right face!"
After the company turned in a sluggish and uneven manner, Nimbus looked at the group and cringed at the wear of some of the suits that the ponies wore. "Awww, y'all are going to chaff. Excellent. Since you all couldn't wait for instruction on the proper wear and fit of a suit of armor, that must mean that I'm useless! You see, when I feel useless, I get restless, and when I get restless, I like to run and that's what we're going to do, run until I get tired!"
A loud collective groan echoed through the crowd. "Huh? Y'all said five miles?"
A few more groans escaped the crowd. "Ten?"
"Oh come on, you're horseapples!" Signal shouted from the anonymity of the crowd.
"Mares and gentlecolts, welcome your first blue falcon!" Nimbus let out a long, loud laugh. "Right, I'm horseapples and you're all running twenty miles. That's thirty-two kilometers for those of you foreign to imperial measurement."
Before anything else could happen, Nimbus inhaled sharply. "Forward, march! Double time, march!"
After a few seconds of bumbling around, Nimbus shouldered one of the walking ponies and threw the commands out the window. "It means run! Run now!"
Twenty miles would take most guard units three or four hours to complete as a platoon at a slow pace. Perhaps five with full armor. But, Ponyville's new guard unit was out of shape and worse, they wore restrictive armor, so as the large clock chimed through the parade ground for three o'clock, the tip of the running group made their way through the main gate.
"Seven hours." Skyfall thought aloud as he watched many of the guards collapse onto the grass, their coats giving off a red hue as the armor wore their skin raw.
"Would you like me to start administering aid, Sky?"
"No, Inko, that's fine. They need to learn." Skyfall glanced at the lithe earth mare and her groomed cream coat, auburn mane, and red eyes. He browsed the information on his clipboard and stuffed it under his wing. "Inko, if you want to prepare for when they're released that's fine.
"Okay, I'll go in a bit to get the salve."
As he took another look at his clipboard, Skyfall called to his Lieutenant. "Desert?"
"Yes, Captain?" Desert answered from behind him, her tone filled with venom.
"How much do you know about first aid?"
"Captain Fury told you I was to be your medic because I have a medical degree."
"Enough of the sass." Skyfall ordered. "I asked you a question. You might have a degree in spiritual healing and I don't need you chanting my recruits to death."
"Basic medical procedures, emergency trauma, combat trauma, and poison control both magic and natural." Desert answered.
"Good, then you're shadowing Inko while she administers first aid." Skyfall squinted as Nimbus followed the last pony in, a red unicorn. "Nimbus knows to send them into the lower bay when they're done, that is where the first aid will take place."
Inko had taken that as the order to leave, but Desert remained.
"Question, Desert?"
"Yes, why did you run them so hard? I heard what you said earlier about how they need to learn to wait for orders before making bad decisions, but that can't be the entirety of it." Desert moved to Sky's front so she could look him in the eye. "I'm an officer, but I know what the regular guard goes through for their training. Compared to that, this is cruelty. Are you a sadist?"
A moment of silence passed between them as Skyfall stared into Desert's pale blue eyes, examining her. Her ash blonde coat and chocolate mane neatly groomed for what was her first appearance at a new unit.
"If you want to transfer, all you need do is ask and I'll draw up the papers." Skyfall's emotionless tone pierced Desert's mind. "Princess Celestia asked me to command this unit personally, so it stands to reason that there is something she believes I can do that regular Equestrians can not."
"But why-"
"You are dismissed, lieutenant." Skyfall turned and walked towards the platoon that was clumped together so they would resemble something in the image of a formation. Nimbus scowled, disappointed in his troops.
Without a word, Skyfall and Nimbus traded salutes and the latter trotted off to the rear of the formation.
"Do you all understand why it is important to wait for instructions?" Skyfall asked, receiving affirmation in the form of breathless shouts.
"Twenty miles, in uncomfortable gear, and on an empty stomach." Skyfall mused. "Nimbus, is everyone accounted for?"
"Yes, sir. We had a few ponies stop running, but they found new energy when motivated with extra training."
'So all of you finished?' Skyfall thought. "I see you've had a nice little jog."
The groans made Sky chuckle. "In a minute, I want you all to go into your lower bay and remove your armor, it is clear now that that much responsibility was too much too soon. Once Inko and your new Lieutenant, Desert, treat and dress your wounds, you will need to report to the main meeting room in the basement of the command building. Your first class starts in one hour."
"Our first class?" A mare asked, upset by the news.
"Low crawl to the bay from where you're standing." Skyfall turned and started to walk. "You have one hour until class starts."
"And everyone is late." Skyfall grumbled before the large door to the rotunda opened. "Honos, Inko?"
"Yes, Sir." Honos strode into the room, a white stallion clad in golden armor. "I'm sorry I'm late."
"No, you're early actually." Skyfall gestured to the room. "My troops are late."
"That's probably because Nim is drilling them for speaking out of turn. Again." Inko said.
"Either way." Skyfall turned to face his friends. "This give us a little time to talk over why you're here."
Honos nodded and sat. "I was curious as to that myself, my lord."
"It should come as no surprise, Honos, but I want you to train the guards in basic combat. There is no one better suited for the job." Skyfall ran a hoof through his mane. "I would do it myself, but I simply can not do it all. Farhaven, my daughter, diplomacy, tracking down certain parties, and trying to do it all while seeming like a regular pony."
"Say no more, Sir, I accept." Honos gave a small bow. "If I may, I thought Nimbus was here to train them?"
"Nimbus is here for them to hate. If they hate him, their petty differences will disappear an they will unify faster." Skyfall said plainly. "You are to teach them how to fight and how to act as one, cohesive unit. I will teach them tactics, strategies, and then when the time comes, special skills. I can do most of the lecturing, but you must be the one to take them out and mold them into fighters. I will help when and where I can, but sadly I cannot dedicate all my time to this."
"These ponies have the potential to be our enemy, Sire." Honos reasoned. "Do you want me to train them to a lower standard so that when the day comes to fight, they will be easier to cast aside?"
Honos' tone was not of annoyance, but more of regret that he may need to hold back, but his lord's subtle wave of hoof, he smiled.
"My goals are not so simple, Honos." Skyfall smiled. "I fully intend on receiving compensation for my investment. I want you to train them, in every way a warrior should be trained. Mold them like the sentinels of old."
"Are you sure, my lord?"
"Yes, and Inko?"
"My Lord?"
"I want you to accompany Honos in the training. In the past, you've proven yourself in battle and would be a wonderful instructor." Skyfall gestured to her form. "However, I do not have any armor for you."
"It's fine, I'm sure River has an extra set, she wears everything so tight that anything of hers should fit me."
"No hammers."
"Oh come on!" Inko guffawed.
"No. Hammers." Skyfall asserted, but relented at her pouting. "Fine, but only one. And only during live training exercises."
"What happens if one of your guards mouth off at me?" Inko asked.
"Then teach them respect." Skyfall said. "So far, they haven't done anything to earn it. They think that this base should have safe spaces and snack time. The world will turn, when it does, the more creatures prepared for it, the better."
"Faster!"
"And here they come." Skyfall looked to the main door as it opened suddenly before the rushing flow of bodies poured through, with Nimbus roaring at their rear.
"Seats! Now!"
Skyfall looked out onto the crowd, it was clear they were all terrified and weary of their new assignment. That or Nimbus' raving lunacy startled them a bit too much. Each of the new guards wore a clean, grey uniform with a small red pin on the chest. They shifted in their unifroms, the bandages over their wounds having barely been set.
"Thank you, Nimbus, if you could, please meet with Captain Fury to retrieve the items I requested."
"Sir." Nim nodded and whipped his head around, daring anyone to meet his gaze before he left.
'Yeah, definitely fearful of his lunacy.' Skyfall thought as the room shut behind Nimbus. He sat up and clapped his hooves to gain the attention of the room. "Welcome to the fifth division, an Equestrian guard stable. I am Captain Skyfall, your commander."
A powerful, uneven stomp came from the guards that were already established as a signal of understanding.
"For those of you new to the guard and military organizations, when I finish a sentence that requires your understanding, you stomp your hoof on the ground to show that you understand. Understand?"
Stomp.
"Good." Skyfall gestured to the mare that had taken a seat to his left mere moments before. "This is Desert, she is this unit's officer, official second in command. Before today, she served in the third stable's forty third guard unit stationed east of the Crystal Empire, in the company known as the albatross. She is no stranger to unknown situations and for this she was chosen by Captain Fury and Princess Celestia to take up this assignment."
Desert stood in quiet shock at her Captain's knowledge as the classroom stomped once more.
"To my right are two ponies you will come to know as your instructors, Sentinel Honos and Sentinel Inko. When addressing them, you will call them by either the 'Sentinel' moniker or the moniker followed by their name." Skyfall gestured to his companions. "I have served with them through many conflicts and they are masters in their own rite. My hope is that you can emulate a fraction of their technique, if you can do that I will have confidence in you as warriors." He paused for a moment and looked at each of his guards. "They will be forwarded the same respect you give me, if not they will educate you on proper etiquette."
Skyfall wrote the numbers on the board before a floating image appeared in the center of the room. "Fifth stable, sixth company, first unit."
"Sir?"
"Yes?" Skyfall looked up to a raised hoof. "Bastion?"
"Yes, Sir. Some of us were wondering what is going on."
"I am conducting your orientation." Skyfall looked at Bastion incredulously, knowing full well what he was asking.
"Sir, what I meant to ask was; Why did they make a new detachment here in Ponyville? It's in the heart of Equestria making it one of the safest places in the nation. many of us were taken from units going to contested regions. Not to mention claiming a Lieutenant from the Albatross."
"Not pulling your punches, huh?" Skyfall chuckled. "You're here to train."
"But-"
"You're here to train." Skyfall placed his marker down, punctuating his statement. He turned fully to look at Bastion. "As to the mission, that is on a need to know basis. Such reasons are meant for warriors under my command."
"We are warriors under your command." A red unicorn spoke up.
"Signal. Shut it." Bastion growled insistently.
"It's fine." Skyfall held up a hoof to Bastion while glaring at Signal. The mood in the room shifted as silence realization fell onto the room they may have to run more. "Your name is Signal, right?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah?" Skyfall asked. "So must be the blue falcon from earlier."
"My name is Signal Hertz, not Blue Falcon." Signal corrected.
"Blue Falcon is a slang term." Skyfall rolled his eyes. "It's a name for someone that does nothing but cause trouble for their team mates."
Air caught in Signal's throat as he was informed of his pettiness.
"It's obvious you come from a rich family." Skyfall said as he turned to continue writing on the board. "Either way, you will change or be weeded out."
Signal scowled and shot his mouth open to scorn his Captain, but found two golden eyes glaring back at him, shutting him up.
"Now, all of you have had a harsh reception to this guard unit. Many of you are new to the military, I'm sure many of you have surmised that this isn't your typical introduction." Skyfall continued to write as he spoke, his inflection changing as he stood up and crouched down while doing so. "My goal is to mold you all to a standard set forth by me and Nimbus. We are on a time constraint, but I will work with the six months the Princess allowed me."
Whispers rose from the crowd, earning an amused look from Skyfall. "Be thankful it's six months, had I had my way I would have started your training at age seven."
"Age seven!?" A mare barked in surprise, earning a glance from everyone in the room. "Sir, that's despicable. Foal-guards have been outlawed in most civilized nations for hundreds of years."
"Ease down, Peak Performance." Bastion eased with a hoof. He recognized her as the one that called out Signal from the barracks earlier and knew that if she tried the same thing Signal just had they may all pay for it.
"No, I need an-"
"Explanation?" Skyfall asked. He stepped toward the group of would-be guards, wearing a fake smile. "There is no easy way to say this, but I must. In this training, I will test you mentally, physically, socially, morally, and in every other way a warrior should be tested." He leaned back onto his haunches. "To clarify, I did not mean foal-guards, I merely said training. To have a more effective fighting force, one needs to begin training at an early point in a ponies development so that necessary connections can be made in their biology; eye sight, hearing, feeling, thinking, and especially temperament."
He looked over the room slowly before grabbing a laser pointer from the plain, sheet-metal table. Aiming the green light at his first drawn-out point of a board full of military jargon, he sighed and began.
Phase one: Recruits will receive orientation and receive their issued equipment. Basic tactical training begins, followed by magical, biological, and chemical prevention, magical casting defense and military movement. Basic specialized training follows for each of the pony biologies; ground, magic, and flight.
-End of phase training exercise: Motivation Field training.
Phase Two: Recruits go through marksmanship and combat training. Engagement Skills and Situational Training Exercises. This training is intended not only to teach Guards valuable skills, but also to instill confidence in what they're learning. Specialty training; light, heavy, medical, mage. Team training. Land navigation. Naval training. Strategy. Gas chamber.
-End of phase training exercise: Intelligence Field training.
Phase Three: After becoming familiar with the use of their equipment and weapons, recruits put their training to the test as they must overtake various field courses; both day and night infiltration. Night training. Survival day/night training. Various advanced training courses.
-End of phase training exercise: Nerve Field training.
Phase Four: History. Logistics, statistics, and advanced strategy. Official ranks assigned. After passing all their tests and challenges, they congregate for Rites of Passage.
-End of phase training exercise: Discipline Field training.
"I won't be going in depth about everything on the board. This is one of your classrooms and you're welcome to come in here on your off time in the event you want to see this again." Skyfall circled the entire board with the wisp of his laser pen. "This is your training schedule to get you to the readiness I have to be content with. As a guard you never truly stop training, but you all are so behind that this training will drain you."
"Throughout your phases, we will randomly test you by giving you tasks to complete. They can range from helping with a task to handling a mock emergency. Or real emergency, I haven't decided yet."
The room shifted uncomfortably. Skyfall looked back to see small wet spots on each of their uniforms, indicating that the ointment for blisters was causing them to sweat.
"Physical training is at six every morning or whenever I deem necessary, first formation is at nine, dismissal is at five. Idealistically, you would live on this base, however, Monday through Friday seems reasonable. On weekends, you may sleep at home if you have one here." Skyfall looked at the clock on the wall reading Three-fifteen. "Today you'll spend time with each of your instructors and get a tour of this base. Each guard unit is assigned a name, for example, lieutenant Desert's old unit is known as the Albatross. Your job this week is to have a name for yourselves, should you not have one, I will name you. Understood?"
Stomp.
"Dismissed." Skyfall said and watched the room empty of everyone minus Desert and Inko. "Question, Inko?"
"No." She said as she looked at a report she just received from Honos who had ran back before disappearing again to see current Captain of the Guard, Fury. "Captain Fury forwarded you the name of one of your guards that was seemingly caught behind Hayburger with... wow, classy."
Skyfall held out his hoof to the snickering mare and snatched the letter to read. He took in each word and sighed angrily. "So one of my would-be guards is behind a fast food restaurant having sex with the janitor? On duty, what?"
"Well, maybe he needed his pipes cleaned?" Inko began laughing at her own joke.
"Long Shift?" Skyfall murmured. "I know this name, who is it?"
Inko calmed from her laughing. "That would be Scootaloo's father."
"Right... well, this can't go ignored." Skyfall said. He turned to Desert and gave her the letter. "Take this to the mayor and get a copy of every file that has his name attached to it."
"Sir, I can't, that's unethical." Desert said.
"So is-" Skyfall snatched the very detailed letter. "-and then they both stared at me awkwardly with him still raised up as his armor was still half on and her skirt was down to her-"
"-okay, I got it." Desert took the letter and turned to leave. "What do I tell the mayor if she refuses?"
"Wing it." Skyfall shrugged. "You're a pathfinder, you'll get it done."
After Desert left, Inko's giggly mood disappeared.
"When the time comes, what should we do with her? It's clear from reading her file she is loyal only to the crown?" Inko sighed. "Honos can mold the troops and you can teach them the reality of what the world is, but she's a learned mare. People who are stuck in their ways are the hardest to change."
"You're asking permission to kill her should it come to that?" Skyfall asked.
"Y-Yes."
"She's seen too much not to open her eyes to what is really going on. I said Celestia and Fury requested her, but in truth that was my doing. The albatross are pathfinders for new lands. They're based in the empire, but they run operations everywhere. She is the closest pony to becoming self aware." Skyfall looked to Inko's glowing red eyes, a sign of what laid within her. "However, if her loyalty to the crown beats out her own reasoning, consider her an enemy."
"Also, your daughter sent for you." Inko summoned a letter in pink flame. "Something about tea time?"
Skyfall smiled and began to leave. "Rest easy, Sentinel. The fun begins tomorrow."