Who Dares Wins

by Peliikvuld

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Original Character
Length: 3351

Side-Story/Sequel to "The Final Cutie Mark Crusade". NOT CANON WITH STORY ARC. Phalanx Spear is requested by Parliament to help train an elite task force of stallions, the Special Equestrian Service, and become its leader.

Side-Story/Sequel to "The Final Cutie Mark Crusade"

NO LONGER CANON WITH "THE FINAL CUTIE MARK CRUSADE" STORY ARC

Six Months after Rabil's death, Phalanx Spear is contacted by the Equestrian Parliament, who wishes to see him in Canterlot as soon as possible. Reluctantly going, Phalanx learns that they wish for him to train and lead a top-secret elite unit, the Special Equestrian Service, to which he hesitantly agrees.

Published 2012-12-30 05:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-30 05:00:02 UTC

April 21st, 1003

Well, it’s been awhile since I have actually written in a journal, surprising, eh? I had actually just thought of it this morning, after Apple Bloom had made some mention about Claymore’s old journal. Anyways, after telling her I had kept a journal before that bastard came, I went and bought one from a recent book stand that was set up here. When I came back, Apple Bloom was waiting, showing an envelope that was addressed to me, directly from Parliament. “Ditzy gave this tuh me a few minutes ago.” She said, “Listen Ah gotta get goin’, the construction workers are waitin’. Ah’ll see ya later.” She gave me a kiss and went off, and I turned back to the envelope.

I opened it up, wondering what they would want. Sure, I had helped not even a year ago with stopping that bastard, but still, I had resigned from the guard, and I had made it clear that I didn’t want anything to do with the military anymore. The letter read:

Corporal Phalanx Spear (Ret.),

Your presence is requested in Canterlot for a Parliament briefing. Please arrive no later than April 23rd, as this matter is of utmost importance.

I frowned, what would be so important that I needed to be there in two days? I sighed, I could probably catch the train to Canterlot if I left within two hours. I decided to go and see if I could find Apple Bloom, she was helping with rebuilding a school. Speaking of her, well, I won’t go into too much detail about how I met her, but after she killed that bastard, Parliament had literally authorized 10,000 bits to be given to her monthly, as a token of gratitude. But, although she appreciated the gesture, she decided to “work” for the bits, doing odd jobs that required tools around the slowly rebuilding Ponyville, entirely for free. As for me, well, I haven’t really found much of a niche for me, unfortunately. I walked to where the construction site of the school was, and sure enough Apple Bloom was helping cut apart some beams. She noticed me, and after finishing a beam, came over to me.

“What’s goin’ on?” She asked, knowing something was off.

“Parliament wants me to come to Canterlot for some briefing. It didn’t say what for though, except that it was important and I had to be there by Saturday.” I explained.

“Well, then go.” She said, and I was honestly a little surprised, we had both been very hesitant to get ourselves involved in political matters. “Goin’ beats havin’ a bunch of letters askin’ where ya are.”

“Alright, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I told her, and she looked at me oddly.

“Just make sure ya get done whatever needs tuh be done.” She said, and she gave me a kiss. “Say hi tuh Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle for me if ya see them!” She yelled as I went off to the train station.

“Will do!” I replied, and when I got to the train station, I bought a ticket to Canterlot. Just as well, I barely made it onto the train in time. Ah well, I’m going to get some sleep, I feel like I’m going to be in for a long day when I get to Canterlot.

Author's Note

Alright, I'll admit it. This chapter is SUPER SHORT! But I really couldn't think to much for this chapter, and the story will get better, right now I'm just wanting to show how Phalanx really doesn't know what's happening, and that the whole thing seems, weird.

The Author

April 22nd, 1003

It’s kind of odd, when I got up this morning, the sun hadn’t even rose yet, and the train still hadn’t arrived at Canterlot. Guess it goes to show just how much that bastard’s short-lived rule screwed up everything. In fact, when I got up, I saw outside the window a bridge that I had known had been there for years being reconstructed. On the bright side, less than half an hour after that we were arriving at Canterlot, and as soon as I got off, it took me a moment to recognize my home city. The city walls still stood, but almost all the buildings had been rebuilt, with the only building to rival the castle being the Parliament building. As I walked through the city, I saw the usual sights that were seen before, businesses, stands, and the like. But I also saw several new buildings that had labeled on them different titles: “Equestrian Department of the Sun and Moon”, “Equestrian Department of the Interior”, for example. The city seemed different, and at one point, much to my own embarrassment, I actually became lost. But, after getting some directions from a food vendor, I finally arrived at the Parliament building. It is a very interesting building to look at, it is large, yet it feels humbling, like those who work inside are not any more important than the ones outside. As I walked inside, I saw a variety of different ponies, some were in business attire, others looked like they worked on a farm. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, in fact, it slightly ticked me off to see the businessponies, who seemed just as surprised to see me. In the line of ponies, I saw a familiar face, Babs Seed, Apple Bloom’s cousin. She waved, and I waved back, but I was called over by a receptionist.

“Do you have an appointment with one of the legislators?” The receptionist asked, looking skeptical of my presence here.

“I’m Phalanx Spear, I received a letter yesterday that said I was supposed to come here from Ponyville for some briefing.” I told them, and they looked at a list.

“Phalanx Spear... Phalanx Spear...” They muttered, their hoof going down the sheet of paper. I would have rolled my eyes, but that would not have been a particularly appropriate gesture at the time. “Oh! You’re Corporal Phalanx Spear, the Parliament wasn’t expecting you this early!”

I nodded, resisting the urge to sarcastically say, “Uh huh, and?”

“Please, follow the guard to the hall.” The receptionist said, gesturing to a guard who had walked out of the door. I smiled a little as I recognized it as Harthan, a former fellow Royal Guard. He smiled as he gestured to follow him, and as the door shut, he looked over.

“How are you, Phalanx, I haven’t seen you for awhile.” He asked, seeming genuinely curious.

“Alright, I just wish I knew why I was called out here.” I replied, and he chuckled.

“It’s odd, I usually know what the Parliament is going to be doing each day, but they’ve been abnormally secretive about you.” He told me, and I looked at him.

“How so?” I asked.

“They have refused to even tell us guards what the briefing is about entirely, save that it is important.” He replied, and he stopped in front of a doorway. “But, I’m getting ahead of myself, go on in, they’re expecting you.”

I heeded his word, and went through the seemingly small doorway, which surprisingly led into a large chamber, filled with at least a hundred desks all facing towards the center, where I was. It made me feel a little on edge, and when a stallion spoke up, it served to only enhance the feeling. “Corporal Phalanx Spear?” The stallion asked.

“Yes.” I answered, trying not to immediately ask why I was here. Apple Bloom might have been able to get away with that, but I sure as hay wasn’t.

“Former Royal Guard, husband of Apple Bloom?” The stallion asked.

“Yes.” I replied once again, trying not to sound annoyed.

“Corporal Phalanx Spear, I suppose you are wondering why you were called here, am I correct?” A mare asked.

“That is correct.” I replied.

“Corporal Spear, as of April 19th, the Parliament has authorized the formation of the 103rd Royal Equestrian Company, code-named ‘Special Equestrian Service’.” A stallion informed me.

“With respect, how does this involve me? I retired from service six months ago.” I asked, wondering what they were thinking.

“Corporal Spear, this information is classified, and none of this briefing is to leave this room, barring your wife, whom we know can be trusted.” A stallion told me plainly. “The SES is a special task force that is being formed for covert and high-risk operations.”

“I thought that was the Royal Guard’s duty.” I said, starting to have an inkling of where they were headed with this.

“The Royal Guard has their hands full making sure all the departments, the castle, and this building are secure. This task force is being formed so we have a strike force that is able to be put into action at a moment’s notice.” A mare told me, on her desk there was a plaque that said “Surprise”.

“What we’re asking you to do, Corporal Spear, is to train and lead this task force, as your tactical capabilities have been quite clearly noted.” The first stallion said.

“I did retire, you realize. I do not wish to have any more involvement with the military. And besides, I am not leaving Ponyville to train a company in Canterlot.” I replied, getting annoyed, and I didn’t care that it was showing.

“Corporal Spear, first of all, the training is not going to take place in Canterlot. We are having it trained in Ponyville, as the secrecy of the force would be easily compromised in such a high-population area.” Surprise told me, taking her glasses off, I realized she looked like Pinkie Pie, except instead of a pink coat it was white, and her mane was a blonde. She also was a pegasus. “And Corporal Spear, as implied before, you are the prime candidate for this job, and from what we understand, you have been looking for something to do in Ponyville.”

I resisted scowling at her giving a logical argument, because the fact was, there was no reason not to do this. I would be out of the limelight, and I could help train some soldiers that it sounded like Equestria might need. “I also am twelve years of age.” I replied, and the first stallion smiled.

“That doesn’t matter, Corporal Spear, we believe you are fit for the task.” The stallion told me, “In addition, you will have access to anything you need, and will be sent dossiers of the SES candidates. Lastly, you will be promoted to Captain, for official purposes.”

As much as I wanted to say no, I knew that if I came back and told Apple Bloom what I was called here for, she would be saying I should have done the complete opposite and accepted the job. Because of that, I said the thing I didn’t want to say, “Fine, I’ll do it. I know a good location for the training grounds anyways.”

“And where might that be, pray tell?” Surprise asked.

“Lake Starpool, it’s near the Everfree Forest, and is in a relatively hidden location.” I informed them.

“Good, we’ll send you back with a team of engineers and supplies, the sooner we get this company trained the better.” Surprise responded. I looked at her, waiting for anything else. “That is all, Captain, you are dismissed.” She said, smiling.

Anyways, almost eerily fast, when I returned to the train station, there were a whole bunch of ponies waiting for me. “Captain Spear?” A stallion asked. I nodded, and got on the train. Before anything else, I have to remember to talk to Apple Bloom. She’s definitely going to be interested in this. See you tomorrow.

April 23rd, 1003

This has had to be one of the longest ordinary days I have had, I say that because the longest days I have ever had were because of that bastard. But, on to a happier note, when I got up, we were arriving in Ponyville, and surprisingly, Apple Bloom was waiting for me on the platform. As I walked out, she met me as soon as I exited the train.

“What did they want?” She asked.

“I’ll tell you, can we at least go with the engineers?” I replied, and she looked over to see the engineers exiting, carrying several boxes. She nodded and went to help the engineers, to their surprise. I just nodded over, and they handed her a few boxes. After we started walking, the engineers seemed to be a little surprised at the state of Ponyville, a lot of it was still under reconstruction, and half the time a former group of houses would be their support frames. Half an hour later, we arrived at the lake, and true to what I had said I explained to Apple Bloom what happened.

“They want me to train and lead a secret task force for special operations.” I told her, and she smiled.

“Good fer ya, Phalanx, Ah know ya have been bored.” She said, “Well, if ya need any help buildin’ this, ya know where tuh find me.” I honestly felt a little relieved, I knew she would say that, yet I had been paranoid she would wonder what I was thinking.

As she gave the boxes to the engineers, one of them walked over, and pointed towards a relatively flat clearing in the forest surrounding the lake. “I think that would be a good spot for the shooting range, wouldn’t you agree?” He asked, and I was confused. What did he mean by shooting range?

“Oh that’s right, you probably didn’t know!” He said running over to a crate. He came back with some shaped piece of metal that had several parts, the only thing that looked similar that I had seen were crossbows. “This is the Machine Pistol Five, or MP5 for short. It’s a recent development, in fact, I believe it was patented along with a bunch of other automatic firearms a month ago.” He said with eagerness, but I was stopping in my tracks. Firearms were the weapons of science fiction, Equestria had the capability for many years to produce them, but there was the problem of hooves. You couldn’t really use one unless you were a unicorn, and even then, they were hard to make. Had they really done this within a matter of months, where it would have taken years?

“I can definitely see what you’re thinking, just to let you know.” The engineer chirped, “How it works is with a similar grip to swords, it has the adhesive material used. But, how you actually use it, is by innate magic.” I looked at him, still wondering. “Everypony has a bit of magic within them, it’s how pegasi are able to fly, and why earth ponies are so strong. In the design, it is actually sensitive enough to it, that you can go and want to fire it, and it will do so.” He grinned like a foal on Hearth’s Warming Eve looking at presents.

“This is a joke, right?” I asked with all seriousness.

“Nope, I would give a test fire, but I think it wouldn’t be safe. Ponies will be wondering what the huge booms will be anyways, no need to give them an early start.” He said, packing away the gun.

I was definitely impressed, but I decided not to keep thinking about it, for now at least. “How many candidates are there?” I asked the engineer, he had to know what he was here for.

“Standard company size,” The engineer answered, “But I know I’ll be sleeping easier at night knowing we have these soldiers.” He got out a cardboard box, with tape sealing it that was labeled “TOP SECRET”. “There’s the files, standard selection protocols, pretty much all the paperwork in here.” He gave me the box, and I found a place to sit down, and opened it up. On the left side there was a whole thing of folders, presumably the dossiers, so I looked at the folder that was on its face on the right, which was labeled “SPECIAL EQUESTRIAN SERVICE”.

I opened it up, and after reading through the Parliament authorization, I looked at the standardized selection protocols, which had come from the General at the Equestrian Department of the Military. It read:

FROM: GEN. IRONHOOF, DEPARTMENT OF THE MILITARY
TO: EQUESTRIAN PARLIAMENT
CLASSIFICATION: ALPHA
SUBJECT: SPECIAL EQUESTRIAN SERVICE SELECTION PROTOCOLS

As requested, I have come up with a standardized selection for the new task force, and have also sent a list with the best candidates for the company. These protocols mainly require that:

Candidate must be at least twelve years of age. due to Equestrian Constitution Article XVI, Section III, which explicitly states that a pony may join military service when they turn twelve.
Candidate must be male. Although according to Equestrian Constitution Article XVI, Section II, all genders and races must be given the opportunity to join service, it also states that in the case of special task forces, it’s qualifications are at it’s commanding officer’s discretion.
Candidate must have served for at least one year. Although the Royal Guard was severely depleted six months ago, there are still candidates in the Equestrian Guard who qualify, even if they were not on active duty.
Candidate must have no criminal record. It is in my opinion that a secretive task force such as this one cannot be compromised by questionable stallions who have had criminal activity.
Candidate must have scored above 136 on their Health Evaluation, taken within the past month. This task force will need stallions at their top health.
Candidate must have scored above 140 on their Combat Aptitude Test, taken within the past month. This task force needs skilled and experienced soldiers, who are ready for situations.
Candidate must be willing to keep minimal contact and secrecy with others. The task force needs secrecy.
These protocols I believe will be the most optimal for the candidates, and I also know of a great candidate for commanding and training the company, though you’re going to have one hay of a time convincing him to do it. His name is Corporal Phalanx Hoof, who is retired, and he is married to Apple Bloom, and resides in Ponyville.

The general’s protocols seemed good enough, though I knew in training I would still have to weed out the ones who truly wouldn’t be able to do what was necessary. I got out a folder that was labeled “SUGGESTED STANDARD-ISSUE WEAPONS”. I opened it up, and it had another letter:

FROM: SUPPLY REQUISITION, DEPARTMENT OF THE MILITARY
TO: EQUESTRIAN PARLIAMENT
CLASSIFICATION: ALPHA
SUBJECT: SUGGESTED ARMAMENT FOR SPECIAL EQUESTRIAN SERVICE

In this message is listed suggested weapons for the task force:

MARELER & COLT MACHINE PISTOL FIVE: .35 CALIBER SUBMACHINE GUN
COLTING HIGH POWER PISTOL: .45 CALIBER SEMI-AUTOMATIC PISTOL
CANTERLOT MANUFACTURING MK II FRAGMENTATION GRENADE
CANTERLOT MANUFACTURING MK 45 CONCUSSION GRENADE
MANEHATTEN TECH MK IV NIGHT-VISION GOGGLES: USES INFRARED SPECTRUM VISION
CANTERLOT MANUFACTURING COMBAT VEST: CAN TAKE 4-5 .30 CALIBER BULLETS WITHOUT PUNCTURE, HAS 3 SPARE AMMUNITION POUCHES
CANTERLOT DESIGN COMPANY MULTICAM FATIGUES: CAMOUFLAGE PATTERN PROVEN EFFECTIVE IN SEVERAL TRIALS
CANTERLOT DESIGN COMPANY COMBAT BOOTS
CANTERLOT MANUFACTURING MARK VI GAS MASK
CANTERLOT MANUFACTURING MARK II COMBAT KNIFE

This all sounded extremely advanced, how would a small company have way more advanced technology than the Royal Guard? Perhaps Parliament is putting more faith into this than anything else, something that is kind of inspiring and frightening. I spent a couple of hours looking through paperwork, authorizing my command over the force, and surprisingly the fact that the SES wouldn’t report to the Equestrian Department of the Military, but directly to Parliament. I am not sure if this is good or bad. When the lead engineer tapped me and told me it was getting dark, I decided to head home. Apple Bloom was already asleep when I got back, so I just took some time to write in here. Anyways, I’m getting tired, see you tomorrow.