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Pony POV Series Season Six: Dark World/Shining Armor

by Alex Warlorn

Chapter 19: Episode 84: (Shining Armor) gninroM tsriF

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Pony POV Series
Shining Armor Part 3
By lz0291
gninroM tsriF-First Morning
Edited by Alex Warlorn, Kendell2, And the producer of the Pony POV Series Audio Adaption Louis Badalament.

"I love you and I respect you, Shiny, but... why do we have to go all this way?"

"To get the new season shirt of course," I replied for the fifth time.

Myself and my sister, Twilight Sparkle, were at that moment walking down a street in Canterlot. She was wearing only a saddlebag, advertising her status as a college mare. I, on the other hoof, as a respectable officer of the Royal Guard, wore a lovely red shirt, as well as a saddlebag. Spike meanwhile wore a Twilight Sparkle on his bottom while reading a newspaper.

"Yes, but there's good sports shops nearer the castle! We're about to walk past one! You're waving at one of the workers there!" Twiley protested.

"He went to my school and his brother is in the Guard. He's also more of a Cloudball fan," I explained my wave.

Twilight groaned as the shop worker in the Baltimare Ravens shirt waved back.

"And we still can't just buy a new shirt in there because...?"

"They might have touched TROTTENHAM shirts in there before hanging them up! You've no idea what kind of hooves have touched them afterwards either. Only at the Maresenal Store are you certain no greasy Lillywhite Spurs germs have touched your shirt!"

She gave me a look as a newspaper page was turned by the dragon on her back.

"...Are you serious?"

Was I serious? Was SHE serious?!

She then advised, "You should start following Caledonian Hoofball, then maybe when you're going crazy like this you'd be out of my mane for a week while you travel up north to buy your replica shirts..."

"I'd mail-order them," I quickly retorted.

Besides, Caledonian Hoofball was a two-pony race until mere weeks before that day, between the big two Clydesdale clubs, Manegers and Gaelic. The former however had dropped to Division Three due to massive financial problems. They'd even sold off their historic shares in Maresenal a few months ago.

"Why didn't you mail-order THIS?!"

"You know what the mail is like delivering to the barracks! Come on, Twiley, it's only a short trip away on carriage! Besides, you've not been to the stadium in a long while..."

"I'm not a big fan of hoofball."

"You liked it as a filly."

She fumed a little at that one.

"No, I liked reading the hoofball rule books you gave me! And why are you wearing the old one to buy the new one?!"

"It's a charity drive. Buy the new shirt, put in an old one as a donation, you get a discount because the club donates half the sales tax to charity. Help build drinking wells, afford more food aid, and some poor deprived Zebrafrican gets a chance to wear a real Hoofball team's shirt!"

"...Pretty sure most Zebra would prefer Neighcastle. Or Trotts County. Or Paisneigh Buddies. Or Foalventus." She muttered.

"Pha, Foalventus? Itallion lightweights!"

"...Foalventus four, Maresenal one."

"Four-three on aggregate! We had an away goal so when we were denied that penalty we were denied the win!"

"Ugh, this is why it's impossible to debate sports! There's always something. The referee got it wrong, the timer was started too slow, its not fair to have Fleetfoot be the lead flyer for the Wonderbolts team because too many other racers slow down to enjoy the view..."

Twiley was amazingly quiet for the rest of the walk. Spike was noisier turning newspaper pages. Then we neared the station. It was originally going to a magic powered-tram system, but the CCBC had dug in their hooves against that one. A small perk of both our positions was a discount on the Canterlot Bus Carriage Service, that was going to supposedly be replaced by a rail system in one year or two once they got a viable steam engine working (The Princess was very confident this technology could work. She already had the blueprints drawn up after wresting with the 'Conserve Canterlot's Beauty Committee.' Being...well, Princess Celestia, she'd worked out a compromise).

Our discount was better than a Mollusk card. We both produced the relevant identification to get the discount at the ticket office - my Royal Guard identification card, and Twilight's student pass (formality more than anything when you're The Princess' personal apprentice).

"I hate public transit. It's hot, crowded, and hard to read..." Twilight complained as we headed for the platform.

"Spike likes it. Don't you, Spike?" I prompted.

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

He folded up the newspaper, shoving it into one of Twilight's saddlebags, only to grab one of the free papers given away on public transport in Canterlot (sometimes its hard to believe he's still considered a baby dragon, especially given he's been around as long as Twilight in Celestia's gifted school). It meant when the bus arrived, Twilight simply tried to read the other paper and was complaining about its articles within a few moments.

"Ugh, another Sunny Day hatchet job. She's trying to claim Hogwarts and the Unseen University are both going to surpass the School for Gifted Unicorns next year."

"Everypony else just reads the fashion pages and the funnies before they do the crossword," Spike commented to no one in particular.

"Oh, and you read the fashion pages?" Twilight pondered.

"Well, yeah. Look at all those gemstones in the Autumn collection!"

"You know the princess laughs at the tabloids most of the time, Twiley," I replied. I didn't follow Sunny Day personally, but heard plenty about her and Celestia's laugh from the older guards.

"Yeah. Usually, she does. But tabloids are still awful filth. I'll never forget the outbreak of 'Molestia' articles that came out shortly after I began living at the castle." There was more than a hint of venom in her tone. "Celestia certainly wasn't laughing then. Neither was I."

"For the record, little sister, all the REST of us had sharp words with anypony who quoted that garbage at us. Mom, Dad, AND me."

There was relative silence, other than the hubbub of the other bus passengers. I enjoyed getting suspicious glares from posh-looking passengers who either preferred sports more 'cultured' (shorthoof for elitist and boring), or were Lillywhites.

After ten minutes, we reached the first stop, getting off the Celestia Line service at Princess Cross station, to catch a Picafilly Line service and then get off at Hollowneigh Road. That journey was shorter, and five minutes later we had just a short walk to Emareates Stadium, our route taking us right towards the official store, called the Armory.

"Still don't know why I had to come..." Twilight muttered as we started walking towards the stadium. Spike was back on her, back, and both newspapers were away.

"It's educational!" I protested.

I got another look for that. I didn't bother trying to justify the statement.

"Okay, you're here to stop me from going overboard and buying full Home, Away, and Limited Edition Historical kits."

"...How much would that cost?"

Ninety bits for the shirts, forty for the shorts, forty for the socks... A hundred and seventy a kit. Two hundred and ten for the historical... And I'd probably have looked at other things in the store as well. I might even have tried to buy a Season Ticket even though I rarely had match days off. The charity discount was only about ten bits.

"Probably close to nine hundred bits."

Ironically, it wouldn't have been any great loss to me to have spent my savings on all of that, especially since I could have just gave the season ticket to somepony else. I believe the word is 'D'oh.'

"Would it be that bad? All you've really got for civilian clothes is that shirt you have on right now."

"I have a hoody somewhere!" I protested.

"You gave that to me last winter."

Snow plus Unobservant College Student Wandering Around In It times Overprotective Big Brother ≠ Actual Maths, but does equal 'Twiley here's a jacket for the winter.'

"...Scarf?"

"Dad still has it."

"I know I had a tracksuit..." I tried lamely.

"Shrank in the laundry, you and your squad used it to make a Nightmare Night decoration to annoy a Trottenham supporter."

"Oh. Well, maybe I should buy a few more things..."

We neared the store, only for Spike to spot a possible problem.

"Hey, they've got big signs outside. What are they for?"

I began to read as we neared, and the information was not pleasant.

"...It says that they've been having shipment problems in replacing their stock recently and all they have left for new season stuff is what's listed there in those sizes." Twilight helpfully noted, and then the penny dropped as she noticed the key part of the list.

Only home kits in my size were actually in stock. Even the extra apparel like hooded shirts was all out - unless I wanted it three sizes too small, that is.

"...Which means I never had to come in the first place. But I suppose you had no way of knowing this would happen," she then said.

Hooray for a rational sister!

"Anyway, let's just get the shirt. And since you came all this way for nothing, Twiley, how about I get you something?"

"Wait, is that the Away kit?" She asked, pointing at the purple and black banded shirt in the window.

"Yep."

"Hmm..."

"I kind of like that too..." Spike confessed.

Of course, inside, there were a few other things of interest after all. We left the store, my bits having paid for One Stallions Home Jersey for the new season, one Mare's Away Jersey, one Junior's (Dragon's) Away Jersey, one large Stallion's Saddlebag with the club crest, and two books on the club's history. Sadly my Royal Guard ID didn't fit in the only card holders they had in stock. If it had, I'd have probably experienced a much easier morning a few days later...


I awoke. I hadn't been too surprised remembering that dream. Those events had occurred only a week or so before my promotion ceremony, and as it turned out, they were the last occasion on which I spent any meaningful time with my sister. The previous night had been uneventful, and my thoughts had been lingering occasionally on what I was leaving behind for two years. Waking up from that dream somewhat hammered the point home.

My sister, friends in the guard who hadn't come with us, Maresenal, radio shows, the occasional play, birthdays, and Hearth's Warming Eves. All to be missed for two years. I could probably catch up on new books as I knew that ships could get letters and small items sent to them eventually, but I wasn't kidding when I said it was tricky for Twilight to get letters to me.

Items can be sent to ships, via 'post-onwards' boxes in the Admiralty Section of Horse Guards, the administrative building in Canterlot City that deals with the paperwork for the Royal Guard. Unfortunately, items must come from the Royal Mail, be registered deliveries dispatched by courier, and would all be examined.

This meant that if she were to send a letter from Ponyville, the Postmisstress there would need to send a special courier out instead of simply chucking it onto a mail train to be sent to a sorting office in Canterlot. That made it more expensive, but you might think quicker.

Wrong. There's only ever about twenty on duty at once to check all incoming and outgoing mail with scanning spells, and they're also performing other duties besides scanning. All of it is sorted and categorized by those twenty Royal Guards, and each letter is given a priority based on the sender. Letters from family often get low priority.

On top of that, only a limited number of small physical items can be sent to a ship once per day through the anti-teleportation wards, as for security they're only lowered around the communications room for a brief period daily. A brief period in which the room is also full of Naval Cavalry ready to fight off any 'unwanted deliveries' and a blast containment spell for good measure.

I'd thought her returning to Canterlot following the Summer Sun Celebration would have eased all of that, as it cut out a large portion of it, but...well, you know what happens next.

Anyway, back to me waking up from the dream. We were by that point well underway, and it was oh five thirty hours according to the ship's clock. The time I usually get up anyway.

(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): Did waking up in a genuinely strange place disorientate you, Captain?)

Not really. At the time I had my mind on other matters.

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Hoofball and an inefficient mail system, apparently.)

Quite. As it is, cabins on ships are quite similar to quarters in the barracks. Quite a bit smaller, of course, with the desk designed to mostly fold away, and with some ship-board safety notices pinned to the back of the door, but overall, it was not wholly alien to me. The occasional turbulence did disorientate me a bit at first, but it soon passed. Oh, and they call them 'portholes' instead of 'windows.' Nothing to see half of the time anyway, just clouds and ocean, even when the sun is up.

I did feel a bit confused when I noticed it was still dark out, until I recalled Princess Celestia's earlier warning, and dismissed it. After yesterday it was a relief to put on my armor with my horn again. I'd been asked to meet Commander Shepard in her ready room at seven hundred hours, so I decided I would see about something to eat before that and catch up with whichever of my troopers were awake.

Instead, I was met outside my door by a nervous Hoofmaiden: a blue-coated unicorn.

"Oh, Captain! You're awake!" She said with obvious relief in her voice and body language.

"Is there a problem, ma'am?"

"Well, I'm not sure. Cade... The Princess said not to worry about the sun not being up yet, but I usually wake up later than this and for some reason I woke up at five instead. And then I saw that some of the soldiers on the ship seem to be wearing green armor and fatigues, and they were acting like nothing is wrong..."

"Ah, I presume you know that if the Royal Guard wears green it's supposed to mean they're expecting trouble?"

She nodded.

"Did you see any of my troopers wearing green, or just the Air Naval Cavalry from the ship itself?"

Air Naval Cavalry are basically members of the Air Naval section of the Royal Guard that, instead of being crewmembers on the ships, acted much like the regular Ground Guard did back on land, providing security and being there to respond to anything dangerous.

"I'm not sure..."

"Naval Cavalry would be wearing green berets instead of helmets, and have plumeless helmets hanging off their armor instead," I informed her of the differences to watch out for.

"All the ones I saw in green were wearing berets... Are they expecting trouble?"

"I don't imagine so. Air Naval Cavalry operate differently from the land-based guard. They wear their green armor and fatigues all the time. I think the tradition is when they're at sea or in the air, they're supposed to be ready for anything. And I think when the Air Navy are on alert they flash red lights."

We both took a glance at the electro-magic lights that gave a bright but artificial glow in the corridor.

"...Do they have to change the bulb?" She wondered.

"I think they might use magical bulbs," I guessed.

By the way? She was partially right. I would later learn that there was a minotaur Petty Officer First Class called Kryten who had the task of confirming bulbs were at the right alert status if a change in alert was called. Generally, if one was wrong, he simply hit it a bit until it changed color or, you guessed it, changed the bulb.

"Oh. So then there's nothing to worry about?"

"I don't think so... no."

She was satisfied by that and wandered off after saying goodbye. I headed for the ship's mess hall, as planned, noting that a few of the green-clad Air Naval Cavalry moving around, along with the Air Naval crew wearing their white sailor shirts and the flat caps they wear. I was suddenly a little jealous of their geeky but comfortable uniforms.

There, I found Sergeant Thunderchild, Lance-Corporal Apple, and Private Audience talking with an Air Naval Petty Officer by a table. I got a muffin and headed over to join them. None of them had any plates or food, but the sailor pony seemed to be nodding at something.

"Well, I'll try and speak to the Master Chief about that, if your officer is okay with that," he was saying.

"Good morning, troopers, Petty Officer. Something for my attention?"

"Morning, Sir. Quite possibly. You see, Private Audience here was wondering about some of the naval ranged arms, so we were asking Petty Officer Turnip if we could arrange him to try some..." Thunderchild began.

"Ah, yes. You're probably interested in their miniature gunpowder cannons," I said to Audience.

"Yes Sir. We never had any gunpowder weapons back at the castle and I was wanting to see how they compared to crossbows," He replied.

"They kick like a mule," the Petty Officer, an earth pony, said.

"Er, beg your pardon, Petty Officer Turnip but... How could you have fired one?"

"I didn't. Mister Broadside did." He motioned his head towards a nearby unicorn in naval uniform.

"So..." I wondered, but he continued.

"He pulled the trigger, lost his telekinetic grip on it, and the gun flew back and smacked me in the face."

"Sounds painful," I noted.

"Not really, I was rendered unconscious at the time, Sir. It was the headache afterwards that hurt."

"I see. Anyway, if you're wanting to ask, I can maybe speak to Commander Shepard about it..."

Turnip however raised a hoof to cut me off.

"Er, begging your pardon, Sir, but Commander Shepard will merely redirect you to the Master Chief Petty Officer in charge of the Cavalry. I could ask him for you."

"Very well, thank you, Petty Officer. If the Master Chief is willing to let a few of my troopers take a few shots I'm sure it'd keep them entertained."

The naval crewpony bid his farewell and promised to give me an update later in the day. And reminded the troopers not to stand directly behind someone holding the guns.

It certainly would keep the troops entertained, even the pegasi and earth ponies that couldn't fire the miniature cannons. I'd probably give it a go myself if I could, and be thankful for the lack of actual targets while the ship was in flight. This wasn't to say I can't hit the broad side of a barn. The problem was, I can and I did. And our archery range was three miles from the farm I hit.

Ah, well. Archery is rare in the Guard anyway. It's a fairly frequent special talent, true, but even unicorns with the advantage of telekinesis found bows tricky to use, even crossbows, which are much easier to aim. Most unicorns simply made do with their magic instead of a bow.

Suffice to say, with my shooting ability, I was one of the ones relying on magic, which even if I did have aiming talent, would probably still be the case, considering my specialty is defensive spells, which caters to a completely different style. Private Audience however was one of the best archers in the Guard. It helped he was skilled in using a long-range vision spell. Training with the miniature cannons would probably be a good way for him to pass his time.

Huh? What did I do to pass my time? Well, when it turned out I'd have more free time than I thought I'd have, I was bored stiff. I was way too used to having books on hoof with Twiley. I'd have even taken up a challenge from Spike for a game of Draco Kong.

We all fetched ourselves some breakfast and sat down at a table.

"So, how are the troopers settling in on the ship?" I asked Thunderchild as we made our way towards fetching breakfast.

"Well enough so far, Sir, but not many of them are awake yet, of course," he said.

"Of course. Have Sergeant Foaly and Sergeant Reinolds spoken to you about any duty roster plans?"

"I assumed you would want to discuss that with us all and the other NCOs after you saw Commander Shepard, Sir, but we've been having some informal discussions."

"I see. Lance-Corporal, what about your rung of the NCO ladder?"

"Not so much, Sir, we just asked Corporal Griffen a few questions about Griffin countries. I went to bed early 'cos I was traveling yesterday."

"Yes. I hear your family reunion had some sort of brunch to avoid."

"Yup. There was this one time me and my buddy Heath were at the reunion when it was in Savvaneigh, and Heath somehow got into an eating contest with mah cousin Applejack..."

"Er, Lance-Corporal..."

"...That was a draw so they tried a burping contest which Heath won, then a lasso contest, and then a horseshoe throwing contest..."

"Lance-Corporal Apple..."

"...then they decided to try swimming for a tiebreaker, all of us forgetting Heath can't swim..."

"Ellis, can this one wait? I was going to ask you about yesterday," I said.

"Oh! Right, sorry, Sir. Uh, I can finish that one real quick though. Long story short, Heath screamed every time she saw a swimming pool for the next six months. Anyway, what did you want to know about yesterday?"

"Just wondering how it went."

"Not bad. Ponyville's a nice town, and Sweet Apple Acres is a bit bigger than the farm back home even if they got less ponies workin' it. My cousins put some serious effort into it, Applejack and Big Macintosh are real hard workers, even by Apple family standards. And if you're asking about Twilight, yeah, they liked her alright. Applejack said she hopes they'll be friends before Twilight leaves, and some pink pony asked if I wanted to come to a 'welcome to Ponyville' party for her, but I had to go."

'Good luck with that,' I thought.

"Okay. You didn't see her in town, did you?"

"Not so much, saw her on my way to the train station when I was heading back, but Spike and her were talking to a yellow pegasus."

"Probably Weather Patrol stuff," Thunderchild added.

"Quite. Anyway, Thunderchild, quick question. Yesterday, you were offering to try and be with Twilight's chariot team, but you knew about this at the same time...."

"Ah, well, Sir..."

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Oho! Did you realize he might have been wanting to keep an eye on Twilight for other reasons?)

Actually, that was not what I was getting at. Besides, Thunderchild's primarily attracted to a mare's wingspans. Talks about them constantly. Ergo, Twilight is not his type. So what I actually said was:

"You knew you'd just make me check on the team that had been assigned to confirm everything was all right, didn't you?"

"Yes," he said bluntly.

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): And you believed him?)

Of course I did. I'm not going into details, but let's just say 'Spitfire of the Wonderbolts preening her wings' and 'catatonic state' and we'll leave it at that.

"Oh, Sir, what exactly is this country we're going to called anyway?" Private Audience wondered.

"It's called the United Republics of Columbia. All I know is they apparently vote for their head of state every four years, they've got a large Air Navy, their Air Naval Cavalry are called Marines and are a separate branch of the military, and that the city we're landing in, Liberty City, is about twice the size of Manehattan. While local independent griffin clans think being unified means Columbian griffins are insane. I was hoping Corporal Griffen might be able to give us more information at some point later today. I think the Princess felt somepon... someone with direct experience of Griffin culture would be more useful than books."

"...I doubt that, Sir," Lance-Corporal Apple said, nodding his head to point at something.

Private Running Gag was talking to said Griffin.

""...I'm the black and white stallion with the black and white armor, can I marry your daughter now?' And the king said 'Sure'."

"Well, that's his braincells committing mass suicide. The Black and White Knight joke. Ellis, do you mind giving us some story about your buddy Heath again in case Gag comes over here with a different bad joke?" I said.

"Oh, sure, Sir. Well, there was this one time Heath figured she could build her own rollercoaster..."

Despite the fact Heath had allegedly died seventeen times, Bitter Apple's stories were infinitely more friendly to the braincells than one of Gag's punchlines. Well, I say punchlines, but it was more like being pummeled by a crowbar...


Breakfast concluded with a story that apparently ended in Heath being the first non-pegasus to reach a nearby Cloud Village without the aid of magic, but sadly not staying there very long and landing in a lake that inspired another six month spell of aquaphobia. It was nearing seven, so I went towards the ready room. Commander Shepard and a Master Chief Petty Officer waited there.

"Ah, good morning, Commander." She said, confusing me for a moment until the whole ship-captain and royal-guard-commander thing came to mind.

"Good morning, Captain."

"Commander Sparkle, this is Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan. He commands the Air Naval Cavalry detachment in the Flotilla."

(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): Isn't that rank a senior non-commissioned officer in equivalent? Why would an NCO be the highest ranking Cavalrypony in the whole Flotilla?)

Air Naval Cavalry work differently. Officers are usually only found on Destroyers, Cruisers, Battleships and Carriers. A very senior NCO like the Master Chief would usually be in charge on a Frigate, and as the lead ship, the Frigate's commanding officers were in effect commanding officers to their departments on the whole flotilla. Besides, a Master Chief Petty Officer or a Sergeant Major usually have at least twenty years experience under their belts - Spartan probably had been a soldier a decade before I realized fillies did not have cooties.

Anyway, Spartan nodded as he was introduced.

"Pleased to meet you, Commander."

"Likewise, Master Chief. "

"We were going to discuss the security arrangements for the ship and for the Princess, but it occurs to me she might wish to be present. Master Chief was wondering if you would be okay with rescheduling the meeting to lunchtime?"

"I'd not object to it, but I'd hoped to clarify my unit's position aboard."

The Master Chief nodded.

"Easy enough. We'd need to clarify your platoon call sign for use with our own radios, but for ship-board security I think we'll probably be better off having a one to one mix of units, maybe put them in groups of four, two of yours, two of mine. Just so your ponies get to know the ropes a little faster."

"Seems reasonable. I've no idea about a callsign though. We're a bit of a misfit group from various regiments and companies." I admitted.

"Maybe just go with that, Commander? Use 'Misfit' for a callsign?" Shepard suggested.

"Misfit... if you're okay with being Misfit Actual, that's fine by me."

Callsigns were a unit's nickname using radio or even letter communications. My Platoon ended up being Misfit, making me and my command squad Misfit Actual. The first section or squad of ten ponies was Misfit One, commanded by Sergeant Foaly (who had previously been Hunter Two-One, apparently) and further broken down into two teams of five, Misfit One-One and One-Two. After that was a small specialist five-strong Scout team, Misfit One-Three, and then Sergeant Reinold's second section, Misfit Two.

As you can guess, I accepted that nickname for the unit. Unfortunately, it also gave Running Gag an unfortunate amount of ammunition for his 'humor.'

"Good. Well, we're halfway done from my perspective, sir. If you could maybe have a squad roster prepared so we can decide who to put with who that would be most useful."

"I'll try and get that done just now then, if I can beg your leave, Captain?" I said to Shepard. She nodded.

"Oh, Commander. I spoke with Petty Officer Turnip about your request. I'd be happy to accommodate some of your troopers to let them train with mine on the gun decks. I'll hammer out the details with you when we've got our rosters ready," Spartan added as I was leaving.

"Thank you, Master Chief."

And that was the end of the meeting. I went to my NCOs to try and figure out who would go where (which you can already guess: My squad remained my five-strong Command squad, Foaley got First, Reinolds got Second). By the time we were done, it was ten hundred, or ten AM, and the sun had not yet risen. A few of the civilians in Cadence's entourage seemed to be getting nervous, even knowing the sun would rise late.

And honestly, I was nervous too at that point. It didn't help that I'd looked out and saw the Mare In The Moon was missing, but I assumed it must just be an optical illusion or something.

(Interviewer Pegasus: Or were attempting not to admit your sister had been right about a mad lunar goddess being unleashed?)

Yes...there was that. I wasn't the only pony who observed the Mare In The Moon's absence, but thankfully military discipline kept talk about the apocalypse to a minimum. Only one or two suggested making Running Gag a live sacrifice, kidding!

By eleven hundred, I wondered if Cadence may have known more about this phenomenon, and sought out a hoofmaiden.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but where would I find Princess Cadence?"

The unicorn I spoke with named Twinkle Shine; white-coated with a pink mane and blue stars cutie mark. "Oh, Captain! She's, er... Wait, you don't know, do you?"

That wasn't good.

"Know what?" I asked, trying to sound polite. Minuette from before, then approached and answered.

"The Princess... Er, in summer months, she allows herself to sleep until the sun rises."

"...And no one realized this may have been a problem with the known fact of a delayed sunrise?"

"Well, yes, actually. We're instructed to wake her up if the sun hasn't risen by lunch time." Twinkle Shine said brightly.

"Oh! What a relief! I was almost starting to think if the sun does not rise again she'd never wake up."

The hoofmaidens giggled.

"Oh, no, Captain! Not at all!" Twinkle Shine managed to say.

"Ah. Hang on. She decided she wanted a long lie in, didn't she?"

"...She might have."

"Well, please inform the princess when she awakens that I was looking to meet her for lunchtime. Or breakfast... whichever she'd prefer after waking if it's noon."

The two hoofmaidens shared excited glance, like a pair of schoolgirls.

"...It's to discuss security with Commander Shepard," I then finished.

The two hoof maidens looked a little bit pouty at that.

"Er, okay, Captain."

As I was leaving, the sun began to rise.

"Go figure." Twinkle Shine muttered.

"Quite," I agreed. I didn't know why at the time, but that sunrise seemed more beautiful that day for some reason. I guess the slowly creeping fear in my mind that the sun may never rise again may have had something to do with it.

"If you'll wait here I'll see if the princess has awoken, Captain," Minuette then said, entering the room.

I waited with the other hoofmaiden. It had to be my imagination, but I could have sworn I saw the twilight sun sparkle a little in the shape of Princess Celestia as it rose.

"Ah, good morning, Your Highness..."

"Good morning. And Minuette, I've told you before, unless someone is there, it's Cadence, plea... Someone is there, aren't they?"

"Er, yes, Your Highness. Captain Sparkle..."

"Oh, I see. Actually, two things. One, it's okay to call me Cadence if it's just him. And tell him if it's just you and the other hoof maidens he can call me Cadence as well. Er, it is just him, right?"

"Yes, Your... Cadenceness."

"Okay. Two, I was wanting to speak to him, could you send him in please?"

Twinkle Shine seemed to stifle a giggle. I blushed just a little.

"...Right away, Cadence."

Minuette then returned.

"The Princess will see you now, Captain," She said, giving her fellow hoofmaiden a glance.

"Thank you," I said in reply, and awaited the inevitable...

"Oh, and Captain? Cadence would like you to know you can call her Cadence in our company."

"I see, very well," I replied, as they closed the door and began giggling.

"Ah, good morning, Shining..."

"She calls him Shining!" I heard from the door, accompanied by a small but audible squealing noise. And a duet musical number with Twinkle Shine starting, then Minute.

She calls him Shining, do you think there's a chance?

The guard and the princess? Maybe so.

It depends on how it will go

If there's a chance for romance.

Cadence stared at the door as we both blushed, which, unfortunately, was easier to see on white than her natural pink.

"...I have no idea what's got into them. Anyway, Shining, I was wondering if you could maybe bring Corporal Griffen up to my quarters at about lunchtime so you and I could ask him about the Griffin lands."

"Actually, Cadence, the Captain would like to see us both then to look over some security arrangements with Master Chief Spartan."

"Oh. Wait, I thought you were... Oh, ship captain and all that. Sorry, I just woke up. Er, what time is it anyway?"

"Just after eleven AM."

"Huh, and we moved across how many timezones . . . so it's about ... Nearly half a day late for sunrise back in Equestria. I wonder who Auntie was welcoming back anyway... Oh well, I'm sure I'll find out eventually. So, where would I meet you and Commander Shepard?"

"Her ready room. I could come and fetch you when it's time?" I offered.

"That would be good, Shining. Anyway, I've got to get ready. My mane must look a mess..."

I detected she wanted neither a confirmation nor a denial of this claim and bid her farewell until later. I passed the two giggle-stifiling hoofmaidens who finishing up the last verse of their song after I passed...

Do you think there's still a chance?

Well nothing happened yet
But with two years I bet.

There's a chance for romance.

I was happy none of the officers were there to see me be the subject of a cheesy love song with the princess, or else I probably would've died of embarrassment.

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Wait, that's it? You were in a mare's room right after she just woke up and all you did was talk like a gentlecolt? She asked about her mane and you thought she never wanted a comment?)

What did you expect me to do at that point, declare I really loved her mane? Anyway, after leaving her room...

(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Wait, what was she wearing?!)

Is that really relevant?

(Interviewer's Notes (Earth Pony): Is it?)

(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): No, it isn't. Please continue, Captain.)

After leaving her room, I then went off to find some of my troopers to see how things were going. I hadn't been speaking to Sergeant Reynolds about his team for ten minutes before the ship's announce system crackled into life and a voice rang out across all decks.

"This is the Captain speaking. Could Commander Sparkle and Princess Cadenza please report to the communications room as soon as possible?"

"...Why do I have a feeling that isn't good?" I found myself muttering.


The Communications Room of the ship was the only place that the anti-teleport wards could be partially dropped. I had been quite close to it when I had been summoned, subsequently finding Commander Shepard speaking to a lieutenant commander.

"Commander Sparkle, this is Lieutenant Commander Bond, my second officer, and chief of communications."

I greeted the unicorn, who didn't have a chance to make his own reply, before an Alicorn came barreling around the corner.

"What's wrong?! It sounded urgent!" Cadence said quickly, and then noticed that three sets of eyes were looking at her in some confusion. Yes she looked worried, what do you think?

"Your Highness, are you aware you have a hairbrush tangled in your mane?" Shepard asked.

"Er, yes. I did think it was urgent..." She was naturally a bit flustered.

"...Your Highness, maybe you had better finish getting ready before we start?" I offered.

"Um, no... Bit late for that now, Captain..." She mumbled.

"I asked you both to attend here as the communications room just received two requests to lower the barrier for urgent messages as soon as the sun came up. One from Canterlot and one from Liberty City."

Cadence gave a small gasp. "I see. Does the Canterlot message possibly explain what was happening last night?"

Shepard replied in the affirmative, as we entered the communications room. A couple of Ensigns saluted, then went back to sorting the mail that had arrived earlier in the morning. It was a small room, with a sealed-off area where scrolls and parcels were sent by magic teleportation. The room also held numerous machines: Radio arrays, a device to translate and transmit Horse Code, and finally, it had a small table with the two messages. One was a Canterlot scroll bearing Princess Celestia's personal seal, the other bearing the seal of Equestria and markings showing it was from a diplomatic mission. Cadence seemed a little reassured at seeing her aunt's seal.

Commander Bond then read the Canterlot scroll. The contents of that letter probably don't need any time spent discussing them, but after the five minutes of surprise and shock...

(Interviewer's Notes (Unicorn): Beg your pardon, Capitan, but could you perhaps cover the
aftermath of hearing about those events? I'm interested to see how you reacted to the news it held.)

Very well.

"To the Captain of My Vessel Invincible, to my beloved niece, and her Guard Commander. I am sure you may be curious about some recent events, especially the late sunrise. I informed you there was nothing to worry about, and I was correct. I am delighted to inform you that with the efforts of six brave mares, my sister, Princess Luna, has been returned to us..."

Cadence and I shared a sudden and surprised reaction.

"Sister?!"

"Auntie has a sister?!"

"...Yes, that's about how myself and Commander Bond reacted. It gets better." Shepard noted.

Bond continued.

"Princess Luna, has been returned to us and cured of her long standing illness. You see, a thousand years ago, to my everlasting regret, my little sister was lost. It's difficult for me to explain in detail how, but the most common history of what happened goes something like this: Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land... "

"The story of the Mare in the Moon?!" Cadence and I said together.

"...The story that Twilight was worried about yesterday?" Cadence then added, giving me a worried glance.

"Yes, the Mare in the Moon. In hindsight, anyone who read the story should probably have wondered about who the 'regal sisters' were," Bond noted.

"I, er, I asked Auntie about her family, once when I was a filly, but she said that she only had nieces and nephews left in this world. I assumed all her direct relatives were... no longer with us."

"Heh, 'left in this world...' clever wordplay, Your Majesty...." Shepard said.

Cadence then looked a little shaken.

"What is it?" I asked, a little concerned.

"I...I was having strange dreams last night about another Alicorn, nightmares is more like it...I thought I was just having a subconscious reaction to Twilight's worries...then before I woke up, I felt something strange, warm...like something was calling out to me..." she replied, seeming more than a bit confused."

"The rest of the message might shed some light on it, you do represent Harmony, correct?" Bond asked.

Cadence nodded. "Harmony, music, and bonds, yes."

"Please, continue, Mr. Bond," Shepard said.

He proceeded with his story, ending on the Elements of Harmony. Since we both knew the legend, we really should've expected that.

"I must now confess that the six mares who aided in freeing Luna were in fact the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony. A farmer named Applejack, the Element of Honesty."

Before you ask, yes, Lance-Corporal Apple was excited his cousin had helped save the world, after he'd recovered from fainting. Well, excited isn't exactly the word. Proud would be a better term. The Apples are apparently very tight knit, so Applejack saving the world will probably be a matter of great pride to the Apple family for a long time.

"An animal care-taker named Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness. A baker named Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter. A dressmaker named Rarity, the Element of Generosity. A loyal weather pegasus named Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty..."

Bond and Shepard then paused to put in ear plugs.

"Er, what are they for?" Cadence asked, but Bond continued.

"And my personal student..."

We both answered Cadence's question by loudly shouting "WHAT?!" I think Cadence may have used the Royal Canterlot Voice accidentally, but I'm not sure, I was too busy trying not to have an aneurysm.

"...My personal student, a unicorn wise beyond her years that Cadence and Shining Armor probably know, Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic."

Cadence and I both stood there stunned for a few moments.

"...Element of Magic, eh?" I managed to say, even as a train of though ran through my head, every carriage bearing my little sister faced down the Mare in the Moon, an insane goddess as passengers.

"I... Twilight... What... Captain, we need to turn the ship back! I have to make sure...." Cadence began, but Bond cut her off.

"At this point, my dear niece Cadence might feel tempted to turn the ship around. I am sure Twilight would like to tell you and her B.B.B.F.F. that she and her new friends are all fine, so you should keep going. Cadence, Shining Armor, I regret that you have had to learn of these events in such a manner as this, and for that, I apologize."

Bond paused. We were both silent. No one asked about my nickname. Bond continued.

"I will send you both more detailed personal letters from myself and Twilight later on, but as much as I would like to tell you about your newly returned Aunt, I'm afraid I must go now to get to know my little sister again. It has been a long time since I have seen her, after all, and she has missed much of the progress Equestria has made in the intervening time. Yours Sincerely, Princess Celestia Amaterasu Solaris Equestria."

Silence then fell for a moment, ruined a bit by one of the two ensigns banging a spanner off one of the machines in the room.

"...Ensign, is that the recommended method of maintaining the radio?" Shepard asked.

"It is, actually," Bond replied for the ensign.

"Oh. Carry on, then."

At that point, I was somewhere between internally jumping for joy, pride at being the elder brother of a mare who saved the entire world, fainting from shock, and imagining the likely priceless look on the faces of Prince Blueblood and anyone else who had ever belittled and/or bullied Twilight at that very moment. The fainting idea felt the most inviting.

"...There was a second scroll, I believe?" Cadence eventually said.

"Yes. It's quite a bit shorter but perhaps more worrying..."

"Look, Commander, Captain, I'm sorry, but if I could be brutally honest, I can't imagine what could at this moment worry me more than having just learned my little sister was involved in some sort of battle with an insane goddess!"

In hindsight, there are in fact a lot of things more worrying, especially given that Nightmare Moon didn't seem out to kill any of her 'new subjects.' Except those who 'got in her way,' I'd learn. In fact, forget hindsight, it was still worrying! But this was one occasion where what I said about thinking about things like that immediately blew up in my face.

"...Our ambassador in Liberty City reports that a Hooviet ship on a diplomatic mission arrived there an hour ago, and asked her directly if they could meet with Princess Cadence as soon as she has arrived and is ready," Bond said quickly.

I blinked for a few seconds.

"Okay, that's a pretty good thing that's perhaps a little bit less worrying," I conceded.

Cadence looked at us all in brief bewilderment before she spoke.

"Alright, I've got to ask now. This isn't the first time I've seen Guardsponies act strange the second the Hooviets are mentioned. You'd think they were collectively worse than the Mare in the... Oh, that metaphor doesn't really work any more does it..."

"From here on out, you might want to try substituting 'The Great Destroyer'. Griffin myth, a strange being with godlike powers that once ruled a foreign land and then ravaged their own lands for amusement," Bond advised.

"...Never heard of it, Bond," Shepard said.

"Me neither," I added

"...You two?" He asked the ensigns, who shook their heads.

"Well, the point is, you act like they're some huge problem or issue. Why is that?" She pressed on.

"Your Highness, what have you been told of the Hooviet Empire?" Commander Shepard inquired.

"Authoritarian one-party state where the lower classes are virtual slaves, frequently saber-rattlers, frequently tries to turn any diplomatic discussion to their advantage, tries to exert influence in other nations, and Equestria is currently on peaceful terms with them. They fought a war with dragons I did not want to learn more about. I know it's not exactly a happy land of gumdrops and rainbows, but that doesn't mean we have to be all... paranoid the second we mention their name. It's not like they're Lord Voldehorse."

She then gave a small and triumphant grin at having figured out a decent metaphor.

"A modern metaphor for a modern Princess. Fitting, Your Highness," Bond said.

"Quite. The issue, Your Highness, is not necessarily their ideology or how they run their country, but more their conduct abroad. They present a severe security hurdle as we were unaware they would be present, and no doubt they are present because of you. In fact, a great many other nations likely sent their own entourages. This presents an excellent opportunity for the Hooviets to test us."

"So they'll make some snippy remarks, maybe have a junior officer pick a fight with Shini.. er, Captain Sparkle or his troopers. What else are we worried they'll do, leave a bag of burning dog poop on the doorstep of the embassy?"

"Yes, actually. That and break in, possibly trying to take a few pictures of you sleeping, then mail copies to the Canterlot tabloids," I said.

Cue the whole room raising its collective eyebrow at me.

"It nearly happened once before to Princess Celestia!" I pointed out. Thankfully, they'd found Celestia wide awake (you don't live over a thousand years by being a heavy sleeper) who offered them tea and politely told them how easily this could turn into an international incident should she reveal it to the public (and that she now had their hoof prints on her tea cups to prove they'd been there). Needless to say, it gave us a little leverage in negotiation after that. Celestia may be genuinely benevolent, what's behind that pretty face can be scary sometimes.

"Yes, He does have a point. They could just as easily leave something behind to send the message that they broke through, or worse, actually do something," Bond agreed.

"Would they seriously risk being caught doing something like that?" Cadence wondered. "You'd think they'd be afraid of having my aunt, well, BOTH my aunts, enraged at them for threatening my safety."

"Your Highness, this is a nation that went to war against Dragons. I doubt there isn't anything they'd risk."

Cadence nodded at that.

"So what do you know about this Hooviet clash against the Dragons?"

"That it was violent and a lot of deer and dragons were killed in the fighting."

"That's probably enough for you to know in dealing with the Hooviets. It's almost enough for us too, except we have to remember one extra thing, don't we, Commander Sparkle?"

I sighed.

"Yes. The Hooviets don't care what they lose in regards to achieving objectives. They took much heavier losses than the dragons, lost territory and treasure instead of gaining any, territory they held onto was razed black, their air-fleet was made a crippled mess, and had to pay a tribute to Queen Tiamat to keep her from razing their capital to the ground personally. And they took it as a learning experience to try again later! If they want to do something, odds are good they'll be ready to try it by force even in the face of disaster."

Funny I said that really...

"Perhaps I should keep that in mind if I enter a discussion with any Hooviets. And if they want the last sandwich at the snack table to let them take it..." Cadence then said.

"Perhaps. Anyway, I think that's all for now, Princess. If we receive any further messages we'll let you know. But since we're almost all here, perhaps I can have the Master Chief come and meet us in my ready room to discuss security arrangements..."

And that's precisely what happened next. We brought the meeting, previously delayed until after lunch, back forward. Quite boring really, and probably not worth your time, so shall we move on?

Next Chapter: Episode 85: (Shining Armor): yrotisH-History Estimated time remaining: 45 Hours, 33 Minutes
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