Lily Glamerspear

---

Things were just about to get interesting. The unforeseen arrival of flowers from the Royal Engineer, and the regretful note accompanying them, had completely stupefied Corporal Bound. Ordinarily, Lily would have been all up in her face with questions about it, but this time she’d taken it slow; Honour Bound didn't look like she was in much condition to answer. From the shared reaction of the Sergeant and the Corporal, they had probably already discussed what happened this morning. And the delivery had been so unexpected as to strike both of them dumb.

Lily even had to point out, after a very long and awkward silence, that the flowers ought to be put in a vase. Not that the Corporal had one, of course. It wasn't exactly on the Royal Guard's standard Table of Allowances. A canteen would do in a pinch -- she'd used one herself on a few occasions, when dealing with particularly flirtatious or romantic salt-licks. But it was a bit... 'field-tent chic.'

Luckily, the small buffet server in the living room area had a second copper water jug in it. It was perfectly sized to hold the bouquet, and Lily remembered somepony telling her that copper vessels kept flowers fresh for longer. Something about the metal?

Whatever.

In short order, the sweet-smelling bundle was sitting pretty on the coffee table, adding a little color to their otherwise fairly humble servants' quarters. And since neither Sergeant Ebonshield nor Corporal Bound had been in any kind of talking mood, Lily had let them be, going to do her PPT exercises as previously planned.

Yeah, the horngear had earned Lily a few funny looks in the training fields. The damn cone kept bouncing around, clonking into her helmet, and the shackles jangled heavily with every hoofstep she took. That was the price of wrecking one of her creepy exes, though, and the medical attachments were only going to be with her for a few more days.

Hopefully.

With Lily’s Pony Physical Training routine taken care of, she’d gotten lunch, returned to her quarters for a quick shower, and then started on some more of that ancient 'De Magia Unicornis' treatise.

That was three hours ago.

While Ebonshield had retreated into privacy, before leaving to begin her shift, Honour had remained in a stupor, shuffling idly between her bedroom and the sofa, and still half-wearing her armor. She'd spent a lot of time staring at the flowers.

And a lot more time just staring at the wall in her room.

It wasn't just boredom, though. Lily could tell the corporal was on edge about something. Heck, she’d even flipped through the issues of 'Cosmoponitan' and 'Canterlot Match' scattered on the coffee-table. Not with any real interest, just as something to do. That big book penned by the Royal Engineer, though, was conspicuously absent from her idle reading activities. There was definitely something going on, and as soon as Sparkshower got back, Lily was going to get some real dirt on the situation.

The clock on the wall softly ticked away the minutes. Lily spied the Corporal glancing up at it as well, and the unicorn knew she was waiting just as anxiously for the next shift change as her. It was ten after four; Sparks should be up any second now…

There was the unmistakable clomp noise of four hooves in heavy sabots touching down just outside their shared rooms, and the door opened. Specialist Sparkshower walked right on in, with a smile on her face.

"Hi, Honour! Hi, Lily -- Oh, good, you got the flowers! Aren't they pretty?"

Instantly, the Corporal bolted upright and scrambled to her hooves, more animated than Lily had seen her all day. "You knew about them?!"

Sparkshower laughed off the question with a playful giggle. "Well, of course, Corporal! I was on duty with the Royal Engineer when he bought them."

As the armored pegasus pulled off her helmet and headed to her room, Lily’s brown earth-pony Corporal moved to intercept her. "What happened? What did he say? What do they mean??"

Artemis paused in front of her door, her smile turning to amused confusion. "I don't understand, Corporal, don't you like the arrangement? I helped him choose a little bit, you know! I thought they were really pretty when we left the store."

Honour shut her eyes and sighed, and Lily got the sense that she truly was exhausted. That was probably as much from the late night full of drinking -- combined with whatever happened that morning -- as it was from the tension of waiting for Sparkshower to come back with fresh news.

When Honour opened her eyes again, she took a deep breath and focused on Sparkshower. "Could you just tell me what happened when you took over my shift?"

The golden-maned pegasus shrugged. "Sure, Corporal. It's not really complicated. I reported in, and the Royal Engineer asked how the quaternion was doing. I said we were all getting along well since yesterday. He said that was good, and he asked if you were alright. I said that you seemed to be. Then I asked him what had happened."

Honour leaned in towards Sparkshower, her voice taking on a slightly frantic edge. "How did he answer?"

The pegasus just shook her head and smiled. "Just that he'd said something mean which had upset you. And that he wanted to apologize. He asked me if I thought flowers and a card would be appropriate. I said I thought they would, and then we went straight out to a really fancy flower-shop -- Eliza's Efflorescences in Floral Street, near the Royal Opera House. They had a huge selection of fresh spring flowers. The salespony was recommending roses for an apology bouquet, but they weren't really in season. I suggested the daffodils and the tulips, and Anonymous agreed, and he picked out some nice crocus and bluebell, too, then the salespony finished it with--"

Honour cut her off. "That's all he told you? That he'd said something which had upset me?"

Sparkshower almost looked disappointed that she didn't get to finish describing all the flowers in the bouquet. "That's all. I didn't want to pry into the details..."

She frowned and looked down at the ground. "... Though, I didn't think the Royal Engineer would ever say something upsetting. He seems like a real gentlecolt..."

With pleading eyes, Specialist Sparkshower looked up again at Corporal Bound. "You'll accept his apology, won't you, Corporal? I wouldn't want to have to leave such a nice VIP, or to break up our team, especially not now when we're really getting along so well!"

Honour looked the same way she did when the flowers first arrived: stunned, with a glazed-over look in her eyes. It took her a moment before she shook herself out of it.

"Yeah, Sparkshower. I'll tell him I accept his apology tomorrow morning during my shift."

This pleased the pegasus. "Oh, good! Okee, I'm going to get changed and have a quick rinse before dinner."

Corporal Bound gave their comrade a half-hearted nod, and from across the room, Lily shot an approving glance in Artemis’ direction as well.

As the pegasus headed into her room with a smile on her face, the Corporal slowly plodded towards her own door -- right next to the card-table where Lily was sitting.

"Corporal."

Failing to get her attention, Lily tried again, leaning over and speaking more loudly. "CORPORAL?"

With a snap, Honour looks up at her, wordless.

‘Geez, she was really out of it.’

"Are you all right?"

Frowning, Honour licked her lips. "Yeah, I think so."

That was hardly confidence-inspiring. And she was supposed to be in charge of the quaternion like this?

"O-kay... And are you going to tell Sparkshower and me what really happened this morning?"

Ah, the familiar dispassionate, vaguely disapproving gaze returned to the Corporal's face. It was a welcome sight, prompting a grin to grow on Lily’s own mug. "I didn't ask earlier because it seemed like you needed some time to figure something out. Since we share the same professional relationship with the Royal Engineer, I figure we ought to stay on the same page, right?"

There was a moment where Honour tensed up, annoyed at Lily’s prying into her private affairs. Then she relaxed again, nodding. "Tomorrow, after my shift."

It'll have to do.

"Sure thing. You going to come to dinner with us?"

Honour stepped into her bedroom just as Sparkshower emerged from her own, fully stripped of her armor, and heading for the washroom.

"Yeah. Holler when Sparkshower's done with her shower."

Two doors closed, and Lily was left alone in the living room. She turned back to her book, but she didn’t have the energy for heavy theoretical reading right then. Whatever happened that morning, it seemed like Anonymous considered himself at fault. But from the way Honour was behaving, either he didn't just say something outrageous, but actually did something outrageous...

...Or else he wasn't the one with anything to apologize for.

Hrm.

If Ebonshield really did get the full story out of Honour while Lily was in medical, then who knows what she could be telling Anonymous right now while she was working the evening shift…

---

Purity Ebonshield

---

"Specialist Sparkshower, I relieve you."

"Sergeant Ebonshield, I stand relieved."

Stellar Purity Ebonshield had just realized that she forgot to ask yesterday if there was some kind of ritual exchange that she should be conducting during shift changes. Thankfully, Sparkshower had rolled along with her more ordinary instruction.

The young pegasus gave her a cheerful smile as she passed out of the room. She was deceptively sharp, that pony. With a little more experience under her saddle, she would do very well.

As Ebonshield settled into her place in front of the door, she surveyed the scene before her. It was as Corporal Bound described; the study of the Royal Engineer had been partially transformed into some kind of workshop. A thankfully clean and neat kind, at least.

There was no smell of the oils as in a smithy or the strange herbs as in an alchemist’s shop. Instead, it was simply a series of workbenches, covered in what, to Ebonshield, appeared like nothing more than scraps of metal and various tools.

"Good afternoon, Sergeant."

Anonymous, the Engineer Royal -- Royal Engineer -- had turned around in his stool to face her. The white smock he wore over top his suit had a couple of small oil blotches, but was otherwise pristine -- a testament to the cleanliness of his environment of work.

Ebonshield closed her eyes and gave a respectful bow. "Good afternoon, Great Lord."

Raising her head again, she found that her VIP was still looking expectantly in her direction.

His thoughts were obvious.

"...There is a matter I should like to discuss, if the Great Lord can spare time for his humble servant."

Anonymous turned slightly to put down the strange device he was holding in one hand. "By all means, Sergeant."

She took a few steps forward into the room. "This is in regards to the matter I raised two days ago, as to the Great Lord's relationship with his guardsponies."

The Royal Engineer's eyes went wide, and Ebonshield could see his cheeks go beet red. It was a bit mean of her to tease him this way, but she couldn’t help herself. And besides, she was educating him.

Anonymous raised his hand, holding up one finger, and started to babble as only a colt could. "Now, Sergeant, I'm worried that you may be misconstruing my action here..."

Now standing comfortably in front of him, she feigned ignorance. "Which action is that, Great Lord?"

Instantly, the Royal Engineer's panic disappeared, and he looked at Ebonshield askance, concerned that he'd misunderstood her. Well, he'd misunderstood her actual intention, but he certainly fell right into her trap.

"I was referring to the flowers I had delivered to Corporal Bound. They did arrive upstairs, didn't they?"

Lifting her eyebrows, Ebonshield pretended to act surprised. "Oh, that action. Yes, Great Lord, the flowers arrived shortly before lunch-time."

She left things at that, as if that was all there was. There was an awkward pause before Anonymous prompted her to continue.

"Er, and did the Corporal... say anything?"

"Of course, Great Lord. She had a great number of things to say..." Taking a deep breath, she glanced away momentarily. "...But I should not wish to steal her words. The Great Lord will be pleased to hear them from the mouth of the Corporal herself tomorrow morning."

Furrowing his brow, Anonymous looked down, fidgeting with his hands for a second, before looking up, somewhat confused. "But... does she accept my apology?"

Allowing herself a few more theatrics before getting to the real point, she once again appeared indifferent. "Accepts? Why yes, Great Lord, I believe that she does."

A warm smile filled the Royal Engineer's face once more. "Oh, good. I didn't want to think that she'd be leaving my service over my amateur failure to understand Equestrian culture."

Taking a breath of relief, he waggled his finger and shook his head. "Heh, you had me worried there for a moment, thinking that she had taken it the wrong way."

Oh, this was an opportunity altogether too good to pass up. One more little teasing prod wouldn’t hurt.

"Which way is that, Great Lord?"

The smile disappeared, and the frown returned. "Well... When you said you wanted to talk about my 'relationship' with guardsponies, I thought you were, er... talking about..." He trailed off a bit, seeming to have difficulty finding the words.

These Equestrian colts and their inability to speak straight!

Then again, the Royal Engineer was not truly Equestrian. Though the batpony got the sense that the society he came from was probably closer to the local culture in her taboos and sensitivities than to the culture of Ebonshield's people on the Moon.

She once again made an exaggerated motion with her head. "Ahh... The Great Lord thought I was implying that the elegant bouquet had been treated as a romantic gesture. I can assure the Great Lord that this was not the case..."

Relieved, the Royal Engineer deflated himself, slouching in his chair, and looking away.

"It would have needed at least a box of chocolates as well to be considered as such."

Anonymous paused, blinked his eyes, and then looked back at her with a critical eye. He paused to look her over.

"Sergeant, I have the distinct impression that I'm being toyed with."

Ebonshield smiled. "Yes, Great Lord. I trust this has been edifying, and entertaining, also."

That was a risky admission, but there was a relief -- and a confirmation of what she’d observed of the Royal Engineer -- when his critical eye was replaced with a wry smile.

"Alright, Sergeant, that'll do."

He turned to get back to his work, so she spoke up. "I beg the Great Lord's forgiveness, but there is actually a matter I wished to discuss in seriousness -- that of arranging for the training in combat."

Anonymous returned to face her, a somewhat wary look on his face. "And? I already agreed, didn't I?"

Ebonshield gave a courteous bow. "Indeed, and I have already begun to make preparations. However, there are some details to discuss. Firstly, there is the matter of the panoply of the Great Lord..."

He lifted an eyebrow.

"Without the equipment proper, conducting the training is both inappropriate and dangerous. Yet, as the Great Lord is not any kind of pony, such equipment may be difficult and expensive to procure. Knowing this, does the Great Lord still wish to proceed?"

The Royal Engineer considered for a moment, before shrugging. "I have a personal stipend from the Princesses; I suppose I might as well spend it. This stuff..."

He looked over and waved at the table full of tools, wood, and metal. "... doesn't count against it. Anything related to my actual business is expensed directly from the Royal Treasury. I suppose a suit of armour and a weapon are reasonable uses of my allowance, given the circumstances."

Anonymous turned back to her. "I still don't think I should have to fight, but as you made clear on Tuesday, that may be inevitable, and I agree it's better to be safe than to be sorry. The nobility of Equestria are, on some level, still expected to be defenders of the realm, and I suppose I am a kind of noble, after all."

A commendably logical answer. Ebonshield bowed in acknowledgement. "Excellent. I shall make the necessary arrangements with full confidence of the Great Lord. However, as I myself am somewhat of a stranger here, I should also require the services of Specialist Sparkshower in this quest. Does the Great Lord know if his schedule would permit the absence of two members of his quaternion for much of a single day -- perhaps even tomorrow?"

"You mean do I know if I'll be having any visitors? Hmm..."

The Royal Engineer got to his feet and walked over to his writing-desk. Once there, he flipped through a small appointment-book.

"... I don't have anything scheduled, but things do sometimes come up at the last minute..."

He looked up at her from the desk. "... How about I make the decision in the morning, will that work?"

She nodded her head. "The Great Lord is most reasonable."

Anonymous walked back towards the workbench. "All right. Was there anything else?"

Shaking her head, she gave a salute."No, Great Lord. That was all I wished to discuss."

He nodded, and Ebonshield headed back to the door to take up her post.

"Sergeant?"

She turned around to find Anonymous standing next to his stool, leaning one hand on the seat while the other was planted on his hip. "... Are all batponies teases, or is it just you?"

‘Ah, flattery!’

Ebonshield smiled as she turned around and sat down in front of the doors. "As the Great Lord will doubtless meet more Children of the Stars in short order, having been charged with a quest by the Mother-of-Stars herself, I trust that he shall be able to decide that issue for himself."

The lips of the Engineer Royal wrinkled up into a knowing smile, and he nodded at her, before sitting down with a chuckle.

Settling in to her evening shift ensuring the safety of her VIP extradimensional, Ebonshield did sincerely hope that Corporal Bound came out of her stupor and managed to return to duty. While true that the sitting in front of the doors, watching somepony scribble the words or tinker with the tools could be quite mindlessly dull, for her to leave would be a waste of what seemed to have already been, and promised to continue to be, a most interesting assignment!

Next Chapter: Chapter 46 Estimated time remaining: 29 Hours, 27 Minutes