Honour Bound

---

"Reporting for duty, sir."

Turning his head, Anonymous welcomed Honour Bound with a slight smile. "Hello again, Corporal. Enjoy your lunch?"

"Yes, sir."

Shutting the door as she took up her appointed position in front of it, Corporal Honour Bound assumed her duty as bodyguard to the Very Important Pony (who isn't actually a pony), Anonymous, By Appointment To Their Majesties Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the Royal Engineer of Equestria.

It was a little after one o'clock on Sunday, and Corporal Bound had just returned from her lunch break. Anonymous was sitting on the sofa, his back to the door, with a glass of water in one hand and the day’s newspaper in the other.

And there was something that had been gnawing at Honour’s mind ever since yesterday’s battle at Newstirrup Bridge.

"Could I have a moment of your time, sir?"

Her VIP twisted around again to face her. "Yes, Corporal? Is there a problem?"

Honour closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before exhaling through her nose and opening her eyes as she started. "I wanted to apologize for my actions yesterday..."

Anonymous lifted an eyebrow as she spoke.

"... You relied on me to make the correct decision regarding the 'Pas de Sabots', and I let you down by making the wrong choice. I want to apologize for the incident; it won't happen again."

Anonymous let the paper drop into his lap and turned around even more, draping his arm on the back of the sofa. "Are you second-guessing yourself, Corporal, just as I was doing yesterday? That's a slippery slope to fall down."

She shook her head. "It's not a guess, sir. Opting to fight was the wrong decision. Without your intervention, we would have lost the battle."

"What makes you so certain?"

"My own observations during the fight. Both Specialist Sparkshower and Specialist Glamerspear have said so as well."

"I see. I take it there was some discussion that occurred upstairs, after we returned to the palace last night?"

'Some discussion' was a technically correct summary of, 'Sparkshower and Glamerspear yammered away at each other about the battle until the early hours of the morning.'

"There was, sir."

"Well, Corporal, I'm afraid I can't accept your apology..." The Royal Engineer put down his drink and stood up, facing her. Shrugging his shoulders, he casually slipped his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "... Because I don't understand what you're apologizing for. You won, just like you said you would. Where's the failure?"

It didn’t come as a surprise to her that the Royal Engineer would want to dig into the root of the matter.

"Sir, I made the decision to fight without taking into account the fact that Sparkshower had no experience in one-on-one aerial duels, or the fact that Glamerspear was not trained as a solo anti-air unit."

Anonymous stepped around from behind the couch and walked up in front of her. "When you made the decision, did you even know those facts, Corporal?"

"I did not, sir. I realized them only afterwards."

Her VIP shrugged his shoulders again and shook his head. "Then what are you apologizing for? You made a decision with incomplete information; it's only natural that the decision might have been wrong."

"As the leader of your bodyguard detail, sir, it's my job to know the abilities of the soldiers under my leadership. I failed you in that duty."

"You've known Glamerspear and Sparkshower a long time, then?"

"No, sir. We met just before Lieutenant Violetta presented us all to you."

Honour Bound’s mind drifted back to less than a week ago when this assignment started. It was just supposed to involve guarding a colt who sat in his office and did paperwork all day, not squaring off against Equestria's finest air duellists.

"That doesn't seem to me like very long at all, but if you think you should have known, then I'll accept your apology for that."

"I do, sir; thank you."

Anonymous nodded. "All right, then it's settled. Apology accepted."

Honour returned the gesture in thanks, and the Royal Engineer stepped away from her, over to the wall mirror beside the doors and leaned in to inspect himself. Brushing some crumbs off of his cuffs, he adjusted his cravat.

"I should apologize as well, Corporal Bound..." Satisfied with his appearance, he glanced over at her. "... Perhaps I made it seem like your choice was between fighting or handing over a hostage. But if you'd said 'no' to battle, my next question was going to be whether you thought Sparkshower would be safe. And if you'd answered 'no' once again, we would have simply turned around and come back..."

The Royal Engineer turned and looked over at the large lighthouse clock in the center of the room. Inside its glass bell, it was marking the time as a quarter after two.

"... I wasn't going to hoof over one pony for abuse, while trying to investigate another for corruption." He turned to face her once more. "... If I made you think otherwise, then I apologize, and shall endeavour to be clearer in the future."

"That's good to hear, sir. Thank you."

As he walked back toward the sofa, there was a quiet knock on the door behind her.

She turned and pulled open one of the doors just a crack. A colt dressed in an elegant red jacket and wearing a stern expression stood facing her on the other side. "Mister Mustang is here to see the Royal Engineer."

Honour nodded, and shut the door to address her VIP. "Sir? Mr. Mustang is here to see you."

Anonymous, halfway into sitting back down, stood up again. "Ah, good; please let him in."

Turning back to the door, Honour depressed the handles and allowed both doors to swing wide open. The same colt came walking in, accompanied by two mares and another colt, all wearing a matching set of uniforms that made them look like bellhops at a fancy hotel. But their heavy sabots and the soft clinking of metal bands sewn into their clothing made it clear they were the bodyguards of somepony very important.

Not unlike yesterday, she got the feeling like she’d just been ambushed by an imposing force.

‘Wait... 'Mr. Mustang?’

"Ah, Anonymous, it is good to see you again!"

"Mr. Mustang, it's been too long!"

The bodyguards parted to let in a large, well-dressed colt with a big moustache hanging under a large nose that supported a pair of pince-nez glasses.

"Come now, since you're our 'Royal Engineer,' I told you to call me 'JP.’"

The Royal Engineer walked up and bent over to casually shake the hoof of one of Equestria's richest citizens.

JP Mustang.

Financier, investor, property magnate, and more.

"Sorry, JP. Old habits die hard."

"They certainly do. But that's why you're here, after all: to kill off some old habits."

Anonymous smiled and beckoned towards the pair of club chairs set next to each other, and the two of them stepped away from the doorway. Without even looking in her direction, JP Mustang's escorts closed the doors and imposed themselves in front of and beside them. Honour was forced to take a position further off to one side.

"I prefer to think of it as introducing new ones, JP."

"Call it as you please, Anon. Either way it's an exciting prospect for the future."

Anonymous offered a glass of water to the pony who owned a sizable chunk of the whole country, pouring it himself from the carafe on one of the end tables. 'JP' took it with a smile, sat down in the left chair, before pulling out a cigar from a vest pocket and placing it in his mouth. As Anonymous sat down beside him, the financier started to fish around in his pocket for some matches, before stopping, embarrassed.

"Oh, I forgot; you asked me not to smoke in here, didn't you."

"I don't want to deny you your creature comforts, JP, but I'd appreciate it."

JP grinned with his teeth and batted a hoof in the air. "Ah, well, it tastes fine unlit, and anyways I'm just stopping in for a quick visit, so you won't be denying me for very long, ha-ha!"

His laugh was quick and brusque, more of a 'huh-huh' than a 'ha-ha.' Anonymous just smiled and leaned back in the chair, folding his hands.

"So, what business brings you to Canterlot this weekend?"

The colt chewed on the cigar a bit; holding it in his mouth made his Manehattan straight accent sound more like an Appleloosa drawl. "Business itself, that's all. There's deals to be made and papers to be signed that can't be done over in Manehattan. Sometimes you just have to go to the head of matters..." Leaning back, he pulled the cigar out of his mouth and licked his lips. "... But there is something I wanted to bring up with you. It's about Galloway Bitsmount."

He paused briefly, watching Anonymous' reaction. "... I understand you paid him a little visit yesterday."

The Royal Engineer unfolded his hands. "When I heard about the mine collapse, I decided to make an inspection, yes."

JP put the cigar back in his mouth. "Don't mince words with me, son. You did more than just inspect."

Honour’s VIP rubbed his hands together, his elbows on his knees. "Well, when I determined he wasn't following standards for safe mine operation, I served him with a warrant to show himself at Day Court."

There was a long pause.

JP Mustang turned the cigar over, moving it to the other side of his mouth.

Finally, he took a deep breath. "It is a real shame, you know. Risking pony lives trying to save some bits on timber. These young fellows sometimes..." JP Mustang closed his eyes and shook his head, leaning forward. "... They think money amounts to everything in life. But it is the loss of life that counts. It is that frightful death."

He opened his eyes.

Anonymous said nothing, so the colt settled back into his chair again. "... I'm not here to tell you he is innocent. But he is a friend of mine, and since you are, too, I'm here to ask you to give him a second chance."

Anonymous rubbed his chin. "JP, he's been treating the Equestrian Rescue 'Wonderbirds' as his private clean-up squad for so long, they considered stationing a permanent detachment in Bitsmount Town. And he could have gotten somepony killed with his bit-pinching."

The financier raised his eyebrows and pulled the cigar out of his mouth to point at Anonymous with it. "I know that. And he knows it, too," came his brusque reply. Replacing the cigar, he composed himself once more, and spoke evenly. "... Believe me, you got to him right and proper when you served him with that warrant. He wrote me a letter that sounded like he was going to burst into tears. So I'm not here to get him off the hook, Anon; I'm here to ask you to hoof over his correction to me."

JP put one hoof to his chest.

"... You know I don't care much for the public stage. Well, he's the same way, and I can appreciate what it means to him. If you can keep him out of the day court, then I'll make sure there's never another incident at Bitsmount Mine."

Anonymous sighed and shook his head. "I can't, JP. That warrant really did come directly from Her Majesty. If he doesn't show up, then she'll ask me if his mine is all right after all, and what will I tell Her Royal Majesty, then?"

The colt raised his eyebrows and his voice. "I'm not suggesting that you lie to Equestria's divine ruler, Anonymous. Go ahead and tell Her Royal Majesty that Bitsmount is a scoundrel. I'm just asking that you do it in private, rather than let him be dragged through the mud. Believe me, I am going to put some very tight reins on him for a long time. He'll be chomping at the bit."

The Royal Engineer gestured with his hands. "But it's not just about punishment, JP. It's about sending a message -- he's not the only mine-owner who was doing this, he's just the one who was doing it the most flagrantly. Putting his misdeed out there in public tells anypony else trying to trade safety for bits that they'll be facing real consequences. When we start getting steel production up, there are going to be hundreds of mines opening up across Equestria; hundreds of would-be Galloway Bitsmounts thinking about cutting corners in order to cut out their competition. We've got to stamp it early and hard."

Staring at the Royal Engineer, JP Mustang licked his lips and shifted his cigar around, chewing on it for a few tense moments.

"You're set on this, then, are you?"

Anonymous looked apologetic. "You know I owe you my position, JP. You're the reason I'm here doing this work. I can appreciate you wanting to do a favor for a friend, and I want to do you a favor as well, but I just think this has to be done."

The financier pulled the cigar out of his mouth and stared at it, turning it over in his hoof.

"Well..." Sighing, he put it back in and chewed on it some more. "... I suppose you are right. An example has to be made. I just wish it was somepony else."

Anonymous reached for his own water-glass and picked it up. "I'm sorry, JP. I want to help you out, but I can't betray Celestia's trust."

After the Royal Engineer took a sip of water, JP waves dismissively with one hoof. "Don't apologize for following your conscience, son. The first thing in business is character; before money or anything else. Celestia's not the only one who trusts you to do the right thing."

"Thank you, Mr. Mustang."

That regression to formality seemed to amuse the millionaire. "Oh, so now it's 'Mr. Mustang' again, hmm? Alright, I suppose it's deserved..." Slowly getting to his hooves, he nodded at his bodyguards, who instantly formed up and opened the doors for him. "... Well, as I said, I'm in Canterlot for some unrelated business, and just wanted to stop in quickly to say hello."

Anonymous stood up with him. "My doors are always open for you, JP."

JP Mustang smiled, and they shook once again. "Likewise, son."

Yawning, the financier headed for the door. "... Excuse me. It's been a long train ride from Manehattan, and I came to you straight from the station. I'll take my leave and let you get back to your work."

"Of course. It was my pleasure."

With a final nod, JP Mustang left the room, his escort preceding him.

After they'd left, Anonymous sits back down in his chair and puts one hand up to his chin. His visitors' hoofsteps echoed down the hallway as Honour quietly shut the double doors.

That was a strange encounter.

The Royal Engineer seemed to be deep in thought. Even though it seemed to end amiably, JP Mustang obviously did not get what he wanted. And saying 'no' to a millionaire could have consequences…

Finally, Anonymous snapped out of his reflections and got to his feet, so Honour spoke up.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Corporal?"

"Did you know that Mr. Mustang would be visiting you this afternoon?"

The Royal Engineer reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of white card-stock. "Yes, he had his calling-card sent to me just after you left for lunch."

‘So it wasn't just an ambush.’

"In the future, sir, you should apprise your guard detail of any such major visits."

"I should? Why, are you worried something might go wrong?"

"No, sir. Something did go wrong..."

Now she had his full attention.

"... You allowed yourself to be outnumbered."

Anonymous blinked, seeming confusedly amused by her suggestion. "Outnumbered? Corporal, it was a one-on-one conversation."

She wanted to express her frustration with his ignorance, but she kept her proper place. She was Anonymous' bodyguard, after all, not his fussy aunt. "I'm referring to his escort, sir. He brought four bodyguards to this meeting. You only had one. That's a breach of social contract."

Turning the calling card over in his hands, Anonymous furrowed his brow and looked it over, then glanced up at her. "Could you elaborate on that, Corporal? My knowledge of Equestrian social customs is limited."

That much was obvious. Since this was likely to come up repeatedly during her term of service, Honour decided to give him the big picture.

"The right to a retinue of bodyguards, and the size of that retinue, is tied to a pony's social standing. A VIP with fleeting fame or a minor accomplishment under their hat, like a champion of the games, a moderately successful artist, a general or war hero, or a wealthy patrician such as Mr. Bitsmount, is permitted to have one guard at a time. More notable VIPs are granted two or three; most members of the Court have at least three. Four at a time is the maximum escort size for anypony not wearing an actual crown..."

The Royal Engineer listened attentively as she lay it all out.

"... A pony may employ more than that number, of course, in order for their retinue to keep reasonable shifts, and they may have as many as they like serving in their own household, but when in public or with another member of society, those are the limits."

She nodded her head back at the door, glancing at it briefly before turning her eyes back to her VIP.

"... Mr. Mustang isn't a member of the Court, but he's wealthy and recognized enough to have earned the right to the full complement of four bodyguards, referred to as a 'quaternion.' But you're a member of the highest advisory court to the Crowns -- the privy council. Despite Mr. Mustang's accomplishments, you therefore outrank him in society, and it is considered improper for you two to meet except on equal terms, or with you holding the advantage."

Anonymous held up the calling-card. "But how would we know the size of his escort on a given day? There's nothing on this but his name and the requested time of the meeting."

She shrugged. "The exact number doesn't matter. The important thing is to show up with either your full retinue or at least as many as he could have. You may then dismiss your bodyguard detail, as desired, after he arrives. Lieutenant Violetta will be able to find out how many somepony is permitted; allocations are done in formal ceremonies and written records are kept by the Heralds of the College of Arms."

The Royal Engineer smiled at her. "All right, I understand. But then there's another problem: even if I'd called you all down here for the meeting, there are only three of you."

Honour tilted her head slightly. "Yes, sir, there are. Yet you should be eligible for four; even the guards' quarters upstairs are set up for a full quaternion."

She shrugged. "... To be honest, sir, I don't know why you were only allocated the three of us. Perhaps whoever made that decision didn't think you would be conducting private meetings with the elite of Equestrian society."

Anonymous sighed and walked over to a small card-cabinet beside his set of large bookshelves.

"Up until now, I suppose they would have been right. But that's all going to be changing with the first book entering publication."

This statement piqued her curiosity, and she craned her head to the left to follow him into his office-area. "Sir?"

The Royal Engineer quickly filed away Mr. Mustang’s calling-card, before leaning back to look over at her. "Oh, I thought you knew? Well, come over and I'll show you."

Stepping away from her post, Honour joined Anonymous at the angled reading-table in front of and perpendicular to his main bureau. He gestured at an enormous, cursive-script manuscript that sat open on the bureau, its bindings loose.

"... This is it, Corporal Bound: the first major step in bringing about an industrial revolution to Equestria, and the sum total of my accomplishments here so far."

At his invitation, she leaned forward and skimmed the text. It seemed to be describing something referred to as a "steam injector," with a number of mathematical formulae describing its properties. A diagram on the opposite page showed some kind of strange plumbing apparatus.

"I'm not sure what I'm looking at, sir."

Her VIP chuckled amiably. "Well, it's a lot easier if you start from the beginning..."

Standing next to her, the Royal Engineer delicately flipped back through a few hundred sheets of paper to get to the title page.

'SCIENCE & INDUSTRY, PART 1: THEORY'

"... I assure you, I've written the text such that anypony should be able to understand it if they really put their mind to the job. What you see before you is the handwritten manuscript I produced; the accepted final draft is at the publishers', being printed and duplicated. By summer, there'll be two dozen available at the Canterlot Royal Library for whoever wants them."

She looked up at Anonymous as he continued.

"... This is what I've been doing for the last eight months: writing down every single scrap I know about scientific and industrial advancements in my world. It was my business back where I come from, but there's gaps in what I can recall, and the theory alone isn't enough: we need to start building the devices described in these pages, validating the theories and establishing the rules of engineering for each of them."

Honour turned back to the book, feeling a little more reverence for its contents. The book was easily over a thousand pages long -- and they were large pages at that, with what must have been hundreds of diagrams accompanying considerable amounts of text.

"... So, yes, for the most part I've been secluded in these chambers, meeting with others only occasionally. It's only in the last month, going back and forth with the publishing house and dealing with edits and revisions that can take days to be prepared, that I've found the time to start socializing more. I suppose that was the impetus for assigning me an escort in the first place."

Anonymous turned around and stepped over to one of his bookshelves.

"... Here, it looks much nicer in the real binding." He reached down to an enormous tome and lay it on the reading desk beside the manuscript. "... This is last week's pre-production draft; there were only a few minor typesetting errors, which I've noted in the margins."

Printed on thicker paper and properly case-bound, with a stiff, elegantly decorated leather cover wrap, it didn't just look nicer, it looked even more impressive than the already mighty manuscript alone. And this was just part one? The librarians at the Royal Library must have balked at trying to find space for two dozen copies on their shelves.

"I had no idea, sir. It looks fascinating."

"Well, if you're interested, by all means take it with you at the end of your shift. Subject to a few rules for safety, everything in here is being published publicly for the benefit of all Equestrians, after all."

"Thank you, sir. I'd like to give it a try, at least..."

She reached up and opened the cover, seeing the same title-page inside, accompanied with a signed note from the Royal Engineer.

'Reviewed March 22. See corrections pp. 83, 201, 204, 232, 253, 297, 302, 382, 787, 858, 923, 933, 1063, 1064, 1172'

Closing it again, she looked back up at her VIP. "... And as for your social situation, sir, I'm sure if you asked Lieutenant Violetta for a full quaternion, pointing out today's meeting, then one will be provided for you."

The Royal Engineer shot a glance toward the lighthouse clock in the middle of the room. "Well, perhaps we might get the ball rolling immediately, then. It's not even three o'clock yet, and the Lieutenant told me she keeps office hours on Sundays until three-thirty."

"Yes, sir." Nodding, she made her way back over to the door.

After quickly checking himself in the mirror and finishing his glass of water, the Royal Engineer walked over. She opened the door, allowed him through, shut the door behind him, and then quickly trotted up so as to walk slightly in front of and to the side of her charge. As they both proceeded down the carpeted corridor toward the barracks, there was just one question on her mind:

‘Who will Lieutenant Vi assign as the fourth member of your quaternion?’

So far, Honour had a hyperactive war-hero unicorn anti-air cannon, an armored pegasus with plenty of skill but still a bit wet behind the ears, and herself: a veteran soldier who was feeling disenchanted with her career choice in the Royal Guard. But she had to admit that disenchantment had been seriously challenged by the last two days. It seemed she wouldn’t be protecting a paper-pushing bureaucrat after all.

Hopefully, the fourth member would have plenty of experience with formal society. Honour could really use somepony who could help discreetly guide her fish-out-of-water VIP through Equestrian customs. Right now it was really just Glamerspear and herself who understood Canterlot society. Sparkshower was a fast learner, but she just didn't know what was going on.

A soldier from a respectable Canterlot family, with good breeding and an effortless grace in public society; that's what Anonymous needed.

She would send a message to Lieutenant Violetta after her shift to make sure it happened. Then the next meeting with JP Mustang wouldn’t see her being metaphorically shoved aside by the tycoon's armored bellhops.

Next Chapter: Chapter 20 Estimated time remaining: 34 Hours, 18 Minutes