Ice turned and walked up the stone stairs towards her office just as the disappearing shadows indicated Celestia’s Sun was dropping below the Crystal City skyline. It was shaking up to be another hot and muggy night, the light rain of the previous evening having done nothing to break the sweltering heat. A light sheen of sweat hung on her midnight gray coat, making it shine with wetness in the evening Sun. Crickets chirped their mating calls and the loud buzzing of cicadas droned like construction ponies with buzz saws. Again, a thunderstorm would be nice to take some of the Luna damned heat out of the air. She passed under the familiar shadows of the Ponies of Justice with the pan balance scales in their mouths and entered the building, absentmindedly making her way to the Department of International Justice Affairs section of the office. She pushed open the door with a forehoof.

“Evening, Ice,” Aspen said, passing her on her way into the office. It was practically a ritual. The crystal earth pony always seemed to be leaving right about the time she arrived for her shift. That was a pity, really. Every time she was near him, her heart fluttered just a little, her body got just a little bit warmer. She had, once or twice, even considered asking him on a date. But other than the fact that he was half her age, she doubted any earth pony would want to date a thestral who had basically been transformed into an earth pony with fangs by losing one wing in an explosion, and having the other surgically removed. Nevertheless, she still wished she had more time to talk to him. But it seemed they were always ships passing in the night.

“See ya, Aspen. Have a great evening and night,” she responded, completing their evening ritual of greeting and parting as he stepped out into the office hallway. Ice wasted no time before going to her own office. A new folder sat in her inbox which she quickly picked up, pulling out the report inside of it. As she expected, it was from the Pegasus Guards who had been searching the aircraft. Not surprisingly, the report stated that they had found no camera equipment, audio listening equipment, or any other reconnaissance equipment on board. She cursed under her breath. Now she’d have to rely on the ground team finding the objects they had thrown out of the aircraft. But there was nothing in her inbox from them. Time was rapidly ticking away.

She left her office, stepped out into the sweltering heat again, and made her way to Crystal Palace. Upon entering, she turned left, making her way down a lavish corridor lined with elegant tapestries depicting various royal crests, famous ponies in the history of the Crystal Empire, and so on. She stopped when she reached two grand doors, adorned with crystal trim. Two replicas of the Crystal Heart were embedded in the doors about half way up, reflecting the light of the torches. Four Crystal Unicorn Guards were stationed outside. She addressed the highest ranking one.

“I need to see Her Majesty about my case.”

“Princess Cadance has retired for the evening. However, she did say to admit you.”

He motioned to the three other guards who unlocked the massive doors and pulled them open. Ice nodded her thanks and stepped inside. The doors closed and locked behind her with a clang that echoed off the long corridor. She made her way to the double doors of the royal apartment’s interior. One of the Crystal Empire Guards stationed outside turned and called through the door.

“Your Majesty, Agent Ice Moon is here to see you.”

The edges of the door glowed with a golden aura and opened. Ice stepped into the receiving area of Cadance’s royal apartment. A large hearth made from pink quartz adorned the wall to her left, although thanks to the muggy temperatures, there was no fire burning in it. In the center of the room was a sparkling crystal table with plush pink sitting cushions along its length. Princess Cadance stood waiting for her, although she was not standing behind the table. It seemed she wanted to keep the meeting informal. Ice extended one foreleg, folded the other, and bowed.

“Please, stand,” Cadance said. Ice did so. “You have an update on the case involving the human soldiers?”

“I do, Your Majesty.” She then proceeded to tell the Crystal Princess everything she had learned from talking with them. She also told them about the Pegasus Guard search of the aircraft, and that they had found nothing to suggest that this had been a reconnaissance mission.

“Do you think the humans are telling the truth?” Cadance asked when Ice had finished.

“I think some parts of their story are true, but I think they are lying about some other parts. I think they are telling the truth about accidentally entering the Crystal Empire. I don’t think they intended any harm or threat to the Crystal Empire. But they also claimed that the objects the scouts saw them drop from the aircraft were just trash. Coffee cups, spoiling food, that sort of thing. I’m almost certain that part of their story is a lie. The fact that they dropped the objects right after CADC made their first attempt to contact them by radio also suggests to me that they heard the radio call and then, knowing they were going to be forced to land, dumped something they didn’t want to be caught with. I don’t think they realized they were being physically watched by scouts. I’m also inclined to believe they may have sabotaged their own radio to make their story about radio failure sound credible. The fix was trivial. They should have easily been able to fix it in flight. Spare fuses seem like the kind of thing they would have available, although apparently they didn’t.”

“And do you have any guesses as to what’s really going on?” Cadance asked.

“My best guess is that they dropped narcotics. That they were probably drug trafficking. The false radio failure, lack of nav lights, and low altitude they were flying at suggests they were trying to avoid detection. It seems clear to me that they were trying to hide from someone, but I don’t think it was us. After all, once they knew we’d discovered them, why continue to ignore radio calls? It had to be someone else they didn’t want to find them. I also don’t think the Crystal Empire was the intended destination for the narcotics. I think they just dumped them to avoid getting caught with them once they realized they were probably going to be forced to land.” She sighed, looking at the floor. “Of course, this is all guesswork on my part. I can’t prove any of it.”

Cadance nodded and was quiet for a few seconds before speaking again.

“What’s your recommendation?”

Disappointment, mixed with a bit of anger welled up inside Ice as she responded.

“Charge them with littering. Defer the payment of the fine since I doubt any of them are carrying any cash on them. The understanding is that they must mail their fine payment to us. Of course, in reality, we both know that once they are outside of the Crystal Empire, we’ll never see payment. But there’s nothing we can do about that. I’ll get them to plead guilty to littering by agreeing to seal the charge so that their own military commanders won’t find out about it. Assuming they agree and plead guilty, I’ll have them on their way home tomorrow. If the American government’s got any dirt on them, let them deal with it.”

Cadance nodded. “Very well.” Then she smiled, raising a forehoof and placing it on Ice’s shoulder. Ice looked up at her, her face reflecting the confusion she felt.

“I’m very proud of you, Ice Moon,” Cadance said with a smile. “And I know Celestia and Luna, and Prince Armor will be as well. You handled this case with integrity, you upheld the values of the Crystal Empire and of Equestria, and you didn’t let your personal biases and grudges influence your judgement. All four of us knew you would not disappoint us.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Ice said with a forced enthusiasm that did not match how she actually felt.

“If there is nothing else, I’ll let you get back to your work.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Ice bowed again, then turned and left the royal apartment.

As she made her way towards the dungeon, the feeling of disappointment began to rise in her again. She had really hoped she’d be able to charge the humans with something more than a petty littering offense. The dark part of her mind had really been looking forward to punishing them for her injury of twenty years ago. The injury that had ended her military career, changed her life forever, and made her … not even a thestral anymore. After all, weren’t wings and flying one of the things that made a bat pony … well, a bat pony? She tried to console herself with the knowledge that she’d maintained her integrity. She’d lived up to the ideals of The Crystal Empire, upheld the Uniform Code of Pony Justice, and served her Princess and Prince well. Cadance had even told her that she was proud of her. And besides, if nothing else, at least the humans would be out of her mane by tomorrow and she could be done with this case. She reminded herself she hadn’t wanted anything to do with this case or its damn humans to begin with.

She decided to visit Rover the diamond dog first. After all, she’d already made him sit in his cell for more than a day. The longer she could delay meeting with the humans, the more time she could buy the ground team in the hopes that they might find the incriminating evidence she was certain existed. And besides, she reasoned, the humans weren’t going anywhere for at least another day anyway. It wouldn’t hurt them to wait an extra hour to meet with her. Let them sweat about their fate for a bit longer.

She approached Rover’s cell, finding the dog crouched in a corner. There was a bed and two sitting cushions in his cell, but the dog had chosen to sit on the floor, his knees drawn up to his chest, his head buried between them. He was a pathetic and pitiable sight. He looked mangey. Large clumps of his fur were missing as if he’d gotten into a fight with a gryphon and her claws had shaved his fur for him. What fur he had looked clean and his scent was relatively fresh, but that was probably only because the guards had made him take a shower before they locked him up.  He was probably homeless again. And probably going through withdrawal again.

“I wish I could say I’m happy to see you again, Rover. But I’m not,” she called out to the canine.

He raised his head from his knees, looking at her with a pitiful expression on his face, but he said nothing in response. She felt genuine compassion for the poor dog and motioned for the guards to open the cell door. They did so, and she stepped inside, the guards closing the door behind her. She went over to the corner he was in and sat on her haunches in front of him.

“Rover, you can’t keep doing this.” She spoke quietly, her voice was laced with concern. “This is the third time you’ve been caught sneaking into the Crystal Empire and stealing from the gem mines. If it happens again, I won’t be able to get you off without a dungeon sentence. I let you stay in here overnight so you’d get a taste of it. But if you do this again, it’s gonna be ninety to a hundred and twenty days in here.”

“Better off in pony dungeon,” Rover responded in broken Equestrian with a heavy Dimondian accent. “Pony guards feed me. Only vegetable food, but they feed me. Give me medicine for missing fur. Give me pills that stop headaches. Give me showers. Better off in pony dungeon.”

She felt her heart ripping in two for the pitiful canine in front of her. “To spend the rest of your life in and out of dungeons, prisons, and jails? Rover, I know that’s not what you want. And you know it too.”

“Nothing else to do. Can’t get job. Can’t get paid. Can’t buy food. Can’t afford place to live.”

“Your social worker in Dimondia told me you dropped out of school again. And that you left the turnaround house. She also tells me you got caught with roach weed again.” Ice thought of the humans in the cell down the hall and the narcotics she was sure they had been trying to traffic. It was because of bastards like them that teens ended up like Rover. Not that the humans would actually care, as long as their drug trafficking made them a pretty profit.

“Classes too hard. Won’t let stay in boarding house if not going to classes.”

“The classes only seem too hard because you’re sabotaging yourself with the roach weed. It screws up your mind. Makes it so you can’t remember what you learned in class. It’s also what’s causing your headaches and making it impossible for you to concentrate on your studies.”

“Not smart enough,” Rover said, dropping his head between his knees again. Ice reached out with a forehoof, placing it under his muzzle and pulling up gently to lift his head and make him look at her again.

“Yes, you are smart enough. And if you stay off the roach weed, and you apply yourself and study hard, I know you’ll do well.”

“Need help.”

“Then ask for it. That’s what the counselors at the turnaround house are there for. That’s what your social worker is there for. You don’t have to go it alone. There are dogs who want to help you. There are ponies who want to help you. I want to help you.”

The diamond dog lowered his eyes and she took her forehoof away from his muzzle. He kept his eyes lowered, but didn’t drop his head again. A few seconds later, he looked at her again, a questioning, pleading look in his eyes.

“You’ll get me out of pony dungeon?”

“I’ll get you out. But on one condition. You have to promise me that when you get home, you’ll ask for help. That you’ll stay clean, and that you’ll go back to school. And you have to promise me you won’t quit trying until you graduate.”

He was silent for several moments before responding.

“Promise.”

“Good. And make sure you keep that promise, because if you end up back in here a fourth time, they are gonna think I’m being too soft on you. That and I’m probably gonna have to put the moves on your social worker to get her to agree to this. So if you break your promise, you are gonna get me in trouble.” She said it with a tone that was halfway between serious and light-hearted.

“Promise to keep promise … If I graduate, you will come to my graduation?”

She smiled at him. “When you graduate, I promise I will come.”

She reached out with her forelegs, pulling him into a hug, reminded of the reason she’d gone to law school after her military career had been ended. It was because of moments like this. Moments where she could take someone who had hit rock bottom, pick them up, and give them hope that there was a brighter future ahead for them, if they only dared to reach out and take it. She released him from her hug and stood up.

“Guards,” she said, over her shoulder. The two guards opened the cell door for her and she stepped out. After they had closed and locked the cell, she spoke to the senior guard.

“Arrange for a transport to take him to the Dimondian border checkpoint the morning after tomorrow. I’ll contact his social worker and arrange for someone to pick him up there.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the guard responded. She turned and looked at Rover again.

“You’ll be out of here the morning after next. I’d like to get you out of here tomorrow, but I doubt I’ll be able to coordinate transports with your social worker that quickly. And remember, the next time I see you, it better be at your graduation,” she said with a smile.

“Promise you won’t see me again before graduation.”

“Take care of yourself, Rover. Be good and stay in school,” she said as she turned and made her way down the corridor towards the cell block where the humans were being held. She savored the moment with Rover, the moment that allowed her to forget about her injury and the depression that came with it. She felt alive. She knew what she was living for. For the moment, everything was right with the world. She treasured moments like this. They didn’t come nearly often enough. And when they did come, they were fleeting, like a falling flower from a cherry blossom tree before it hit the ground.

The sight of the human prisoners caused her mood to turn dark again, the thunderstorm of emotion to redevelop inside her. She reminded herself that they’d be out of her mane by the end of tomorrow. All five of them rose from their bunks as she approached. Except for Colonel Stetson who maintained his usual, experienced coolness, all of them had anxious looks on their faces. They were waiting for her to pronounce their fate. The thought gave her a feeling of satisfaction. If she couldn’t punish them with a dungeon sentence, at least she could savor their anxiety. All except Stetson. She resisted the urge to glare at him. He was like a rock stuck in the frog of her hoof. It annoyed her to no end that she couldn’t get under his skin like she could the others. None of them said anything, so she spoke first.

“The Pegasus Guard has completed their search of your aircraft and found nothing of concern. So there aren’t going to be any espionage charges.” The tension drained from their faces like water from a tub after the stopper had been pulled. A pity, really. She continued speaking.

“But there is a littering charge because of the … trash you threw out of the aircraft. It’s a petty infraction, of course. No jail time. But there is a fine of sixty-four bits. That works out to about eighty American dollars. Since we know you likely aren’t carrying any cash on you, we are willing to defer payment of the fine if you’ll agree to mail the payment to us when you get home.”

Of course, she knew full well the Crystal Empire would almost certainly never see the money. She paused for a moment before continuing. She really didn’t want to tell them what she had to say next. I have to be fair to them, she told herself, then continued.

“My advice to you is to plead guilty to the littering charge. If you do that, I’ll seal the charge, meaning that the U.S. Marines will never find out about it – unless you choose to tell them, of course – and you’ll be out of here by tomorrow morning. Of course, you have the right to contest the charge. But if you do that, we’ll have to hold you here until a court date can be set, and the charge will become public record because under the Uniform Code of Pony Justice, court proceedings are public. I’d also have to notify the U.S. Marines of the charge because they’d want to know why we are continuing to hold you. There’s little point in contesting the charge since you’ve already confessed to the littering and there were witnesses. So you are almost guaranteed to lose if it goes to court. So again, my advice to you is to plead guilty to the charge and agree to the deferred payment.”

It had been so tempting not to offer that advice. Part of her hoped they would contest the charge. If they did, she’d have a reason to hold them, which would give the ground team more time to find the objects they had dropped. Those objects were incriminating. Probably seriously incriminating. She thought of Rover again, and the amount of damage that narcotics trafficking did to teenage lives.

Colonel Stetson looked at his five companions. Within a few moments all of them had nodded. He looked back to her and nodded as well.

“Alright. We’ll plead guilty to the littering charge.”

She nodded, suppressing a frown. “Very well, I need to return to my office and draw up some papers for you to sign. I’ll be back in an hour or so. Tomorrow morning, a transport will take you to your aircraft and the Pegasus Guard will escort you out of Crystal Empire airspace.”

“We’ll uh … need fuel. We burned up more than we intended because of our … accidental detour.”

“Speak to the commander at CHF when you get there. He should be able to arrange it. They do accept U.S. Department of Defense purchase orders. Occasionally they do get U.S. military aircraft at the field on … legitimate and approved flights.”

Colonel Stetson shifted slightly and his subtle body language said had finally produced a minor flesh wound. He was a cool customer who didn’t get nervous or frightened. But apparently, even he wasn’t above getting embarrassed over his navigation blunder.

“I’ll be back shortly with the papers you need to sign,” she said, turning and starting to trot away from the cell.

“Thank you, ma’am … For helping us to get this straightened out so quickly.”

She stopped in her tracks as a feeling almost like an electric shock went through her. This time, Stetson had caught her off guard. The last thing she’d expected from any of them was a thank you. She shivered slightly as a crack formed in the wall she had put up and been reinforcing by adding layers and layers of new bricks for the last twenty years. No, I’m not going to let them tear down my wall with their bombs and missiles. She acted quickly, patching up the crack that had formed.

“It’s my job,” was all she said, without turning to look back at them as she started trotting again, making her way towards the dungeon exit, and eventually, the palace exit.

After a brief trot, she turned and started to climb the stairs of her office building. The two Ponies of Justice loomed above her, bathed in the lights that shined on them at night. The walkway lights caused their giant shadows to loom over her. She refused to look up at them – she never looked up anymore – but it was as if their crystal eyes were boring holes into her mind. Into her very soul. Watching her. Weighing her on their scales. Judging her. She shivered, a sense of coldness flowing through her veins like liquid ice despite the oppressive heat. Would she be found wanting?

She sped up to a brief canter until she was out from under their shadows and the light from the magical street lamps shined on her coat once again. “You’re cracking up, Ice,” she told herself, slowing down again and pushing the doors to the building open.

As she walked towards her office, she thought about Colonel Stetson and his apparent embarrassment over his navigational blunder that had brought them into the Crystal Empire. He’d blamed a navigation system failure. However, she had decided that their story about nav failure was probably false. That they had deliberately sabotaged their own radio and navigation system sometime before landing. They probably really had made a navigation error and hadn’t intended to enter the Crystal Empire. But if navigation system failure hadn’t caused it, then what had? Stetson’s look and his calm, unshakable demeanor suggested he was an experienced pilot. Probably with tens of thousands of flight hours. Not the type of pilot who would normally make an error like that. Was it nervousness? Preoccupation with some fear about being discovered or caught? Something definitely didn’t add up with all of this.

She turned her thoughts away from that. After all, it didn’t matter anymore. The humans would be out of her mane by tomorrow morning. And like she’d said to Cadance, if the Americans had some dirt on these Marines? Let them deal with it.

She entered her office, grabbing the strap for her saddle bag in her mouth before flinging it off of her and onto her desk. After that, she contacted Rover’s social worker. The social worker was hesitant, and as Ice had expected, was not thrilled with giving the dog another chance in the turnaround house. It took a lot of finessing on Ice’s part, and a lot of emphasizing that Rover really intended to keep the promise he had made. Eventually, the social worker agreed, although a transport couldn’t be arranged in time to get him out the next day. No surprise there. He was gonna have to wait until the morning after. She thanked the social worker before ending the conversation. She took a few moments to enjoy the feeling she got from helping Rover and others like him, then let the moment fade into anger and darkness as she turned her thoughts to the humans again.

She turned on her computer. Although computers had existed in Equestria before contact with humans, their use was not widespread outside of being used to power video arcade machines. It was only after contact with humans that Ice herself had started using one, although she really only used it on the rare occasions when she absolutely couldn’t avoid communicating with humans. Equestria and the Crystal Empire had established private and secure instant messaging systems with several government offices in various human countries, and it seemed the quickest way to communicate with them, as well as the fastest way to get a response. Best of all, it meant she didn’t actually have to talk to them and hear their monkey-like voices. She opened a shell window and begin to type using the special keyboard designed for ponies.

% ptalk gfaulkner::usmc.us.mil

Ponytalk v 5.8, Connecting to usmc.us.mil . . . . . . . .

Connection established … U.S. Marine Corps, General Faulkner

Ice Moon: You there?

General Faulkner: I’m here.

Ice Moon: Couldn’t find anything on your boys. Releasing them and sending them home.

General Faulkner: Good to hear. Thx for expediting this matter.

Ice Moon: We were able to fix their radio / nav systems. They will fly out tomorrow morning. Pegasus Guard Interceptors will escort them to the border.

General Faulkner: Negative. Insist that you NOT allow them to leave on their own. Will send transport to get them and new aircrew to fly their plane home.

She raised an eyelid at that, her curiosity burning like hot oil. She started to type a message asking him why. She stopped, pressed the delete key several times. What did she care why? If that’s how they want to do it, fine with her. Let them deal with the humans. They’d be out of her mane tomorrow, she reminded herself for the umteenth time.

Ice Moon: If that’s how you want to do it. Will transport them to CHF where their aircraft is. You will need to contact General Firefly at CADC for permission and to file special flight plan.

General Faulkner: Will do.

Ice Moon: Anything else?

General Faulkner: Don’t think so. Goodnight, Ice

Ice Moon: Goodnight.

Connection closed.

%

That was definitely an interesting twist. Curiosity pestered her. Like a buzzing fly she’d slap away with her tail, but that kept returning for another go at her. She tried, rather unsuccessfully now, to remind herself again that she didn’t care. If she couldn’t punish the humans, then she just wanted them gone. But the desire to have them gone was rapidly being overwhelmed by a burning desire to know just what was really going on here.

She opened a filing cabinet next to her desk, fishing out a folder and removing several forms and documents from it. She spent the next several minutes filling out various spots on the forms, explaining the agreement she had made with the human prisoners. When she had finished, she placed them into her saddle bag, then grabbed the strap in her mouth, slinging it back over her and buckling it in place before leaving her office again, passing under the giant shadows of the Ponies of Justice staring down on her with their scales again. She emerged from underneath them and made her way along the now very familiar route to the palace. As she walked, she thought about the conversation with General Faulkner. It hadn’t occurred to her before, but his decision to send a transport to get the human prisoners would delay their departure for at least two or three days. By that time, there was a very good chance the ground search team would have found the objects they had dropped from the aircraft. She smiled at the thought, her desire to punish the humans burrowing itself to the surface of her mind again.

She entered the palace, making her way down to the dungeon and over to the humans. They were all lying in their bunks, but stood up when she approached.

“Alright. I just have some forms for you to sign acknowledging that you are pleading guilty and acknowledging that you agree to pay the deferred fine after you leave. The forms also acknowledge my part of the agreement in sealing the littering charge so it won’t be public knowledge.”

She used her mouth to open her saddle bag, taking out the forms and passing them through the bars of the cell, giving one to each of the humans. Then, she gave them each a pen, and gave the paper containing the details of the agreement to Colonel Stetson. He read over the agreement, his companions gathering around him and looking over his shoulder. When he had finished, he looked at them all. None of them offered any objections. He signed the form he had been given and waited for the others to sign their own forms. He collected them all and passed them through the bars again. She took them in her mouth and put them back in her saddle bag.

“Alright, that should be it,” she said. “I probably won’t be seeing you again. In a few days, you’ll be transported to CHF field and you can leave.”

The humans looked at each other for a moment, their expressions uncertain. Then, Colonel Stetson returned his attention to her.

“An hour ago you told us we’d be able to leave in the morning. Now you are saying it will be a few days?” He had a note of accusation in his voice. A distinctive impression of mistrust and sense that he had been betrayed was evident in his tone.

“I’d thought you would be able to leave in the morning. But the U.S. Marine Corps was very insistent that we not allow you to leave on your own. They are sending a transport to get you, and another crew to fly your aircraft home.”

Colonel Stetson, turned and looked at the rest of his companions. Again, their scent and their body language gave them away. They were nervous … no, they were terrified. All except Colonel Stetson himself. As usual, he was a pillar of calmness and unreadability. Shortly, all of the humans nodded at Stetson, as if giving their consent for some priorly agreed on plan of action he was to invoke should things go badly. Stetson turned his attention back to her and spoke in a halting tone. For the first time, he seemed unnerved.

“Ma’am … At this time … On behalf of myself and my companions, I formally request that we be given asylum in the Crystal Empire.”

Ice felt as if she’d been struck, her jaw practically dropping to the floor. Her mind was blank. She knew she should give a response, but she could think of nothing to say. Next Chapter: IV Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 18 Minutes