It was late in the afternoon in Canterlot as the celestial guards of the day shift were slowly transferring responsibilities of guarding the palace to the night guard shift. Celestia had not lowered the sun yet which was sitting just on the horizon. In the barracks several celestial guards were removing their armor and putting them away in their issued lockers. Many of them still had their weapons and were heading to the armory to turn them in. One Unicorn was undoing the buckles that held his armor in place.
His gold magic worked each buckle till it fell open and then he lifted his body armor off, exposing more of his grey coat and putting the armor on its rack inside his locker. He then slid his helmet off his head, gently pulling his light blue main through the top. Once his mane was free it fell into it’s combed forward style with half of his main falling towards his back.
“ Hey does’ anypony want to go for drinks tonight?” Asked one pegasus pony named Clear Wind. several guards said yes.
“ Yeah if you pay for a round.” replied The grey unicorn.
“ What ever Star, Don’t you get paid more than us?” Clear Wind said while trotting up to his friend.
“ it’s not my fault CO promoted me.” Star retorted.
“ Sargent Well?” Called the Unicorn’s commanding officer from the locker room entrance.
Star Well turned his head.
“ Here sir!” He sounded off.
“ Good! You didn’t leave yet!” L.T. Commander Fire Dust said while trotting inside. All the ponies inside stood at attention as their CO trotted past them.
“ At ease every one, but listen up! We have a traitor among us today!” Fire Dust said while looking around at the many guards under his command. They all stood quietly listening.
Fire Dust then pulled out a scroll with a broken military police seal on it. He cleared his throat and then began to read,
“ Dear L.T. Commander Fire Dust,
Our records have indicated that one of your subordinates, Sargent Star Well, has applied to our department's Special Crimes Unit. It is our pleasure and pride to welcome him into our ranks. His military experience as well as his schooling in the EUP military academy have qualified him for selection. By order of the Captain of the Guard, he is promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and is to be transferred to our department, effective immediately…” Fire Dust was only half way through reading the letter when the locker room erupted in cheering and hoof stomping. Star Well was being assaulted with back pats.
“ Sargant Well, It says you have to report to them tomorrow. Congratulations, you’re now the bane of our existence!” Fire Dust said with pride.
“ Thank you sir, and it’s been an honor.” Star Well Replied. Despite his calm demeanor, he was excited. For years he had been applying to the EUP’s military police. Many of his fellow guard ponies knew about his ambitions and were generally happy for him.
“ Hey L.T., now that you’re getting paid more, how about you buy us all a few rounds tonight?” Clear wind asked as he patted his friend on his back.
“ Figures. “ Was all Star Well could say.
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( that same night)
Princess Celestia was trotting with Twilight Sparkle through the halls of her Friendship castle. They had just come from an important meeting with emissaries from Saddle Arabia. They had been negotiating trade agreements the entire day and so everypony was ready to retire to their rooms inside the Castle. Twilight was particularly tired since she had stayed up the night before. She carried the drafted treaty with her in her magic as spike lightly snored on her back between her wings.
“ I’m glad that is over!” Celestia said with relief. Twilight smiled at her and said,
“ You said it princess, I can’t wait to go to sleep, It’s a good thing everypony decided to have this treaty signed and ratified tomorrow.” She then yawned.
“I’m glad I can count on you to work hard. If it weren't for you, we would have been here a lot longer. Negotiations with Saddle Arabia are always tricky.” Celestia added. She was also tired since she not only had to take part in the negotiations but because she just finished setting the sun. Luna Was still in Canterlot so her only que to raise the moon was the lowering of the sun.
“ Well they have a lot to loose usually, I'm just glad we got them to agree to let us trade in their kingdom.” Twilight said with a hint of exhaustion as they made it to Twilight's room. The doors were shut as she had left them two nights ago.
“ Are you sure you want to keep an eye on the treaty? I can have the Guards keep it safe.” Celestia offered.
“ Oh no Princess, I can handle it, I don’t think anypony is going to try and take it.” Twilight assured Celestia and flashed her a grin.
“ Well OK,” Celestia conceited. The two then opened Twilight's double doors with their magic. Celestia had a room to herself but she wanted to trot Twilight to her room so she could talk with her. The room was almost pitch black. The doors finished creaking open and the two alicorns began to trot inside. Twilight grabbed a candle from her desk and was about to light it, when suddenly the two princesses were assaulted with something sticky and black in their eyes. Immediately they both shouted in slight pain. Twilight dropped the candle and began trying to wipe the substance from her eyes. Spike woke up confused and alarmed only to not be able to see anything himself as it was dark. Celestia yelled for her guards who were now galloping down the hallway. Twilight managed to clean her eyes in time to see a figure of an earth pony pulling something out from his or her mane. It was a cannon of some kind. Twilight noticed the pony pulling on a string that set off the cannon, shooting out the window from her room. The pony jumped out the window and slid down a rope. Twilight ears were ringing from the report of the cannon and she was momentarily blinded by the flash. The pony got away.
The guards had galloped up to the princesses and pulled them out of the room while other guards stormed in. One Guard looked out the window and shouted to the other guards, asking them if they saw where the intruder went.
A squad medic was looking Twilight and Celestia over for wounds of any kind and helped them clean the substance out of their eyes. Spike was huddled on Twilight's back not wanting to let go of her wings. He was pretty shaken up.
“ Did anyone see where he went?” Asked a guard.
“ No sir!” replied the others.
“Seal the Castle and sweep the town and wilderness Now!” Said the pony in charge. His name and rank was Captain Steel Light.
Twilight was rubbing her eyes when she noticed something missing, The Treaty scroll was gone. She looked around the floor where she was attacked but it wasn’t there, just the candle that she had.
“ Oh no! The Treaty! It’s gone!” Twilight said in horror. Celestia finished rubbing her eyes and shouted to her guards.
“ Find that Treaty! We can’t afford to lose it!” The guards began searching the room and the hallway for the scroll. How ever, it was apparent it was stolen.
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( The Next Morning)
Star Well Made his way to Then EUP Military Police headquarters early in the morning. It wasn’t far from the Barracks so he managed to get a coffee and donuts on his way there. When he trotted into the building he went to the reception desk, which was right next to the processing office for the arrested. A pegasus mare was sitting at the desk looking over a list.
“ Hi, I’m Lieutenant Well, I’m supposed to be reporting to…” he began looking at a letter he had received, “ Commander Silver Glide.” He finished.
“ Oh you’re the new guy! Awesome! She’s down the hall to your left, you can’t miss her!” Said the brown Pegasus. Then she added,
“ I’m Sargent Dust Print by the way!” She said while extending her hoof.
“ I’m Star well, nice to meet you.” Star well replied.
“ Wait, is that Well as in get well soon or Well as in water well?” Dusty asked.
“ The latter.” Star replied.
“ Oh… OK well nice meeting you, Now go see the commander OK?” Dusty said. She then pointed behind her with her left hoof.
“ Sure,” Star complied and began trotting down a hallway going through the office area of the department.
Commander Silver Glide’s office was a few door down from the General of the military police. Silver Glide’s office had frosted glass panels with the fuzzy shapes of furniture and a pony figure sitting at a desk showing through. Star took note of the commotion that was running through the department. It seemed every pony was frantically searching through files, conversing with each other, or typing away at a typewriter. Star then knocked on the Special Crimes Unit Commander’s door.
“ Get in here, it’s open!” Said a somewhat angry sounding voice. Despite it being feminine, The tone was dry. Star pushed the door open and trotted in.
The Office was a complete mess with wall to wall awards, newspaper clippings and framed pictures. The desk was oak which was covered by a mountain of documents. As for Silver Glide, she was a pegasus mare in her late thirties, Her coat was light grey with darker silver mane and tail. her wings were currently folded at her sides and she was out of uniform. Her short mane was currently a mess as if she had just woke up. The truth was she had been up all night in her office. What did seemed to be out of place was a set of luggage sitting neatly next to her desk.
“Ma’am, Lieutenant Star Well reporting for duty!” Star reported as he saluted her. She didn’t even look up at him but instead started to sift through another folder she had pulled from her desk.
“ Sit down, I need to talk to you!” She said after a while of reading in silence. The file read, Lieutenant Star Well. His Cutie mark was embossed on the front of the file with the appropriate colors added to it. It was a depiction of a literal water well with a few stars looking as if they were coming out from inside it.
“ So You’ve been with the EUP for a couple of years now huh?” She asked now looking at him with her pink eyes.
“ Yes Ma'am.” He replied.
“ It says here you are certified in forensics, advanced levitation, transformation spells, and electrically charged spells. That's impressive.” She said.
“ Thank you ma’am. “ Star said. .
“ Right… well Welcome aboard,” she said nonchalantly. She then reached under her desk and pulled something out.
“ Here’s your secondary badge, keep that on you at all times. I want to you go to the armory and pick up a suit of armor and get packed because we’ll be leaving for Ponyville in an hour.” She slid the badge to him.
Star gazed back at her with a look of confusion.
“ Mam, What happened to orientation?” He asked.
“Look, something came up and I need you now. Do you understand?” Silver Glide replied.
“ Yes Ma'am.” He replied back.
“ Then get out of my office, You’re dismissed.” Silver Glide went back to looking over documents. Star picked up his badge, saluted her, and was about to leave her office when Silver Glide stopped him.
“ I knew your brother by the way. He was smart Stallion, I’m sorry about what happened.”
Silver added. Star replied,
“ Thanks. so am I.” Star said, he then saluted her again and left to get his stuff squared away.
