Chapters Deep in the caverns below Canterlot, hunched over a stone shelf "desk" illuminated by a single candle, Agent Snake in the Grass reads a letter coded in his organization's "chaotic" cypher, a frown passing over his face. Rendered in plaintext, the letter went as follows:
"We are requesting immediate support. We have been affected by poison joke and are unable to safely leave our hideout in the Everfree Forest. Our current supplies are dwindling rapidly and any attempts at raiding in Ponyville would be disastrous. Requesting an Agent to be sent with emergency resupply as soon as possible!
Snake grumbled under his breath. He couldn't fault the other Agents for the dilemma they were in - poison joke exposure was a serious risk factor in the previous operation that had failed - but was annoyed that the apparent effects had precluded the raiding that the Agents were using previously to keep themselves supplied. Having to send supplies from Canterlot was riskier, but now needed because Snake needed those two Agents in Ponyville regardless of whatever it cost to keep them there. Fortunately, Snake had a solution to this problem.
"I'll give Agent X this job. His special talent is perfect for this kind of operation. I'll write a note to Agent 4 to fetch him." Snake says to himself, using a hoof to push aside the note and then pull down a fresh piece of paper to write on.
"Agent X" was both Snake's best and least known subordinate in the Agents of Chaos. This Agent claimed his special talent was the capability to imitate any grown stallion's appearance (and in a pinch any grown pony if the mission didn't require verbal communication with others). Snake had never seen Agent X's true appearance - the Agent claiming that it was for security reasons - and was only able to see through his current disguise with a special sign X gave when in contact with another Agent. But despite that fact, Snake would trust no one else with such a sensitive mission...
MEANWHILE, IN THE EVERFREE FOREST...
"You know P1, I really hope that letter got to Snake. We only have a supply for a few days in the fort, and if we run out we'll probably end up manticore food or somethin' nasty like that..."
"Quiet, P2! It's bad enough we have glowing stripes to cover up, and your yammering is not helping!"
Agent of Chaos P1 lets out an exasperated growl as he and his partner P2 try their best to conceal themselves in the brush surrounding Zecora's treehouse, hoping to surprise the zebra and raid her pantry for whatever foodstuffs, strange or no, she had. One reason was the need, the other for revenge for Zecora indirectly making them looking like fools as well as causing their poison joke affliction.
The smell of apples wafted out of Zecora's window and into the nostrils of the two spying Agents - the result of an apple-based recipe Zecora was trying for the first time. Unaware of the spying Agents, Zecora put her new concoction out on a windowsill to cool, humming some kind of tune as she worked.
The two Agents were eyeing Zecora's dish hungrily and working on how best to snatch it when a small round creature flew into their field of view. The small creature, a round bug around the size of a typical pony's hoof, landed on the dish, it's transparent wings and precociously cute expression making it seem quite harmless.
What happened next, though, thoroughly shocked the Agents. Before anyone could react, the small insect (which they later learned was called a "parasprite") stretched its mouth comically wide open and swallowed the whole dish in one gulp! The Agents heard Zecora let out something that might've been a startled cry, and then yelps of alarm as the bug puked out what looked like another of its kind right on the windowsill!
Zecora shouted what the Agents could only guess was profanity in the native zebra language (which they couldn't understand) as she rushed over and shooed the two bugs away from the window. As soon as the bugs were gone, the two Agents caught a glimpse through the window of a great deal of alarm and worry on Zecora's face.
"Hmmm..." Agent P1 contemplated as one of the bugs flew over to in front of where the two Agents were watching, letting out a cute chirruping sound as it stopped in front of them, perhaps hoping for more food. P1 and P2 look over at each other, and the glimmer of a mutually-acquired idea passes between their expressions.
"Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin', P2?" Agent P1 says to his partner with an evil grin on his face.
"I'm thinkin' that's a very good idea." Agent P2 replies, now wearing the same evil grin on his face too.
"Forget about the raid. With any luck, Ponyville will be clueless to the chaos-causing potential this bug can generate! Let's see if we can get it to follow us there." P1 states.
"Yeah, but once we get it there, what pony do we target to start the mayhem?" P2 naturally asks.
"The yellow pegasus, the one bearing the Element of Kindness. There's no way she'd squash it on sight, and once it gets food we're good to go." P1 answers.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" P2 exclaims.
They did not know at the time just how successful their strike would be using the parasprite, nor how much delicious chaos they would unleash upon the citizens of Equestria. It ended up affecting not just Ponyville, but Canterlot and the Wonderbolts as well. How, you ask? Read on and find out!
Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor moans with annoyance as he hears a loud knock on the door to his officer's quarters, interrupting his attempts to sleep. The only light in the darkened room is slits of sunlight spilling around heavy shades, but the relative darkness is no guarantee of good sleeping, and Shining has been unsettled all day for a reason he can't quite put a hoof on. The knocking comes again, and Shining groans again as he realizes he's not going to get any more sleep right now.
"One minute." Shining replies groggily, slowly getting onto his hooves and then using magenta-colored magic to pull up the shade, wincing as the sunlight spills freely into the room.
Shining hears the knocking a third time, more insistent than before, as he tries to adjust to the changed brightness, and he shoves down an urge to start chewing out whoever is on the other side of the door, well aware of who could be knocking. He was vaguely aware that Princess Celestia had been scheduled to visit Ponyville earlier that day, but he'd left explicit orders that any report of that visit could wait until he was on duty and that his sleep was not to be disturbed over it, so he wasn't sure why this knocking was happening.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Shining exclaims as he slowly walks over to the door to his quarters and uses his unicorn magic to pull it open. He is only partly surprised by who is on the other side of the door: Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas escorting Princess Cadance. Alone, either of them wouldn't have concerned Shining, but both of them together might've been a cause.
"Something wrong?" Shining asks as he tries to read the meaning of the concern shared between Cadance and Fidelitas. He flushed slightly, aware the grogginess in his voice and unkempt mane was not flattering in the least.
"We just got out of a long meeting with Celestia. She wanted you to read this." Cadance replies wearily, levitating a sheet of paper with her light blue magic.
Shining gives a worried look as he "takes" the sheet using his magic, then slowly begins to read the text written on it, which gave a summary of the catastrophe that had engulfed Ponyville earlier that day. The Guard stallion presumed that Celestia had gotten the information somehow after an aborted visitation attempt, although it worried him that Twilight had apparently not be able to stop that disaster from happening.
"Half of Ponyville got eaten by a swarm of insects? I hope you two aren't pulling my leg with this." Shining dryly comments, looking back up at Fidelitas and Cadance.
"I can assure you Shining we are not pulling any legs here, and it gets worse. Keep reading." Fidelitas replies, a touch of mortification in his voice.
Shining looks back down in worry again, continuing to read on from where he left off. And it was not long before he found out one of his younger sister's spells misfiring had contributed to the problem instead of solving it.
"Oh no, not of one those ...!" Shining exclaims after reading of Twilight's misfire, gesturing to cover his face with one of his forehooves and coming to the conclusion that his night was already ruined. Hearing of his sister's spells misfiring was never fun, particularly when he had to help clean up the mess afterward, as had happened in the past and might happen again now.
"Afraid so, Shining. I was hoping she would be more careful in Ponyville without us around, but it looks like that's not going to be the case." Cadance states, her tone sharing Fidelitas' mortification.
"Great, Aten's going to leverage it against me... is Twily in trouble?" Shining sighs out to Fidelitas and Cadance.
"That's the topic in the meeting we just came from." Fidelitas starts to explain. "I don't know how Celestia knows - she has ways of finding out this stuff we'll never understand - but she says that because Twilight made a good faith effort, her only punishment is Celestia forcing her to supervise the rebuilding effort. There'll still be a board of inquiry, of course, but no punishment."
"So Twily'll have to come back to Canterlot?" Shining asks, allowing himself a brief glimmer of hope.
"I asked Aunt Celly that myself. She only wants Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter bearer, and Zecora, that zebra in the Everfree Forest, to come to Canterlot for the board of inquiry. Nopony else, apparently." Cadance answers with a resigned tone.
"Of course there's immediate relief being sent to Ponyville and Lieutenant Crispin, so some of your shift are going to have to pull doubles because of the shortages. Hopefully there should be a list of who needs to do doubles waiting for you when on your desk." Fidelitas adds.
"Oh... alright... thank you." Shining slowly replies, his tone rather deflated. "Anything else I need to know?"
"Keep eyes and ears open for Agent infiltrators. This is a place where they could do the most damage, and we can't vet everypony going in the emergency relief squad to Ponyville. We've lost too many good stallions to them already, we can hardly afford to lose any more." Fidelitas cautions.
MEANWHILE, IN THE CAVERNS BELOW CANTERLOT...
The ever-alert Agent Snake in the Grass abruptly jumps up from his work when he hears echoing hoofsteps coming from behind him. He hisses out for the approaching pony to stop in the nearest torchlight and identify themselves, turning around as he speaks to see what pony it is approaching. The intruder, who seems to be a pegasus stallion wearing the uniform of a Guard Upper Class, stops in the torchlight, sits on his haunches and crosses his forelegs over his chest in an "X" shape.
"Ah, Agent X, nice to see you again. Glad you could make it back here." Snake replies to the gesture, a slight relief in his voice after recognizing the gesture.
Agent X grunts out an acknowledgement - Snake knew X tried to avoid speaking whenever possible, as his imitations of voices were never quite perfect, having a hissing or buzzing undertone to the voice Snake had never heard coming from any other Equestrian, even the bat ponies. Snake didn't begrudge him this secrecy, because X was the best Agent in his ranks and they needed to trust each other.
"You know why I summoned you here?" Snake asks, and X shakes his head in response.
"It's very simple, this should be an easy mission for you since you don't have to change your disguise." Snake begins to explain. "There's two Agents in Ponyville that need emergency resupply, and the recent parasprite infestation provides an easy cover to get you there. Your current assumed identity has already been assigned to go to Ponyville - once there, you are to sneak away at earliest convenience to deliver the supplies and then smuggle some parasprites from the forest back to Canterlot. You understand, X?"
X grunts out an affirmative response - he had done similar smuggling missions under different assumed identities before, so this wasn't anything new to him. And he didn't even need to change his cover identity, as he usually had to do in such cases, which made things easier all around.
"Good. Besides the supplies, I want you to give this to the two Ponyville Agents." Snake states, pointing with a forehoof at a closed envelope on his rock shelf "desk". "The Agents have the codes P1 and P2, they should recognize you once you make the X sign. Understood?"
Agent X grunts out in understanding, using the "feather fingers" of a wing to pick up the envelope and put it into the Guard-issue saddle bag he was wearing. The message was presumably confidential, meant for the two Ponyville Agents only to read.
"Good. You're dismissed, X. I will be eagerly waiting your successful return to Canterlot." Snake states, and X replies by doing his crossed-forelegs gesture again before turning to leave.
As X turns to leave, Snake smiles like a filly on Hearth's Warming morning - he would have so much fun with those parasprites once they were in Canterlot, and he already had a target for the parasprites to wreak chaos on...
"Well, I think everything's coming along nicely!"
"I think Ponyville should thank Celestia your magic can fix things as well as they can break them..."
"Please Spike, it's only right that I take charge of fixing things up. I helped make the mess after all..."
"You weren't so enthusiastic about it when you got the order from Celestia."
"Spike, I don't know how she found out when she was only in Ponyville for a little bit, but since she knew what else I could do?"
"Did you really think you could've hidden that oopsie from Celestia, or were you just hoping she would cut you a little slack?"
"I'm not in Canterlot anymore. It's not like I could bring Canterlot Castle down from all the way over here or something. I understand why Celestia had me clean up my uncontrolled magic in Canterlot. Really I do. Except for the first time, because I didn't know my own power any better at the time. And you can't put a baby dragon back in its egg anyways..."
"And what would you do without me to hold your checklists and send your letters for you?"
"I didn't say I didn't appreciate you being around, Spike."
"Whatever. We're at the meeting place."
All around Twilight Sparkle and Spike the dragon are signs of rebuilding and recovery from the parasprite attack - walls and roofs being patched, half-eaten signs and windows being removed for later replacement, the various pony races teaming up in an impressive display of harmony and cooperation. All of it supervised by Celestia's orders by Twilight Sparkle, Spike helping with a necessary checklist.
Several ponies scatter away as a small mixed squad of stallions in Royal Guard armor approach Twilight and Spike's location. The lead stallion, a grey pegasus wearing the single star of a Lieutenant, orders a halt in front of Twilight and Spike, smiling down at the latter two after the squad has halted.
"Nice to see you again, Miss Sparkle. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances, but still..." Steelwing comments, looking around at the recovery effort.
"I'm sure you're right on that, Lieutenant." Twilight Sparkle comments, flushing a bit as she speaks.
"I trust then Lieutenant Crispin's command has the recovery effort well at hoof?" Steelwing asks, nodding at the signs of progress already made he can observe.
"Yes indeed sir. Coordinated by myself and my assistant, of course." Twilight answers, Spike also helpfully holding up his checklist for the stallion to see.
"I see. Well, my squad will just check in with Lieutenant Crispin, and we'll proceed with the incendiary extermination of the parasprites in the Everfree Forest." Steelwing replies with a tone that belied the morbid mission they were assigned with.
"... Wait, 'kill it with fire' to the parasprites? Is Celestia serious?" Spike comments, looking up at Lieutenant Steelwing with concern and alarm.
"At least the Captain is serious. But yes, we do need to do it." Steelwing replies with a smirk. "Cute as those things are, your friend leading the swarm into the Everfree Forest just temporarily solved the problem. We need to finish it by 'killing it with fire', as Twilight's brother would put it."
Twilight and Steelwing share a chuckle - as Lieutenant Steelwing had been under the command of Shining Armor previous to becoming a Lieutenant himself, he was aware of Shining's common usage of Oubliettes and Ogres terms as informal shorthand, including 'kill it with fire'. Nevertheless, the air could not be cleared of the morbid implications, which quickly settled in again as Steelwing returned to his Royal Guard composure.
"Yes, anyway, we'll rendezvous with Crispin before doing anything else. Please keep either him or myself informed of the recovery progress." Steelwing concludes after clearing his throat.
"Yes sir, sir!" Twilight replies with an overdramatic salute that makes Steelwing briefly chuckle again...
LATER...
At the edge of Ponyville near the Everfree Forest, Lieutenants Crispin and Steelwing were comparing notes as a unicorn from Steelwing's squadron was outfitting ponies from both commands to participate in the "incendiary extermination" operation. Since the citizens of Ponyville were handling the recovery effort pretty well by themselves, the Lieutenants could afford to spare a few stallions from each squad for the operation.
"So then once the stallion come back with the food and water rations, we'll be able to proceed with..." Crispin was saying, when the cry of an alarmed filly interrupted the conversation and drew the attention of both Lieutenants in its general direction.
"Filly, let go of my leg!" the outfitting unicorn was saying in annoyance, trying to shake off a hindleg the clinging-on yellow pegasus filly with a pink mane. Several Guard stallions show annoyance, if not mortification, at this interruption of his task.
"Fluttershy, you're being ridiculous! Let them do their work!" Rainbow Dash exclaims as she flies onto the scene, obviously chasing down Fluttershy's misguided effort to stop the incendiary extermination.
"Who told her about that?" Crispin asks Steelwing with a curious look, the response from Steelwing being a simple shrug.
"No you can't! Think about those poor little things, and all the other critters in the forest!" Fluttershy was pleading the unicorn stallion, seeming to be near inconsolable tears.
"Fluttershy, those 'poor little things' just ate half the town! We don't want to have to go through all that again!" Rainbow Dash exclaims in exasperation, landing near the clinging Fluttershy in preparation for trying to pull her off.
"Filly, we have our orders and you are getting in the way! Let go of my leg!" the unicorn shouts out in quick addition.
"But those things were just hungry ! They have to eat too!" Fluttershy pleads again.
"Filly, none of us care about that fact right now. And even if you were Princess Celestia herself, you would not be able to deter us from our duty. Now let go of my leg before I have to put you under arrest!"
Fluttershy continues her pleading stare up to the unicorn stallion, but turns to face Rainbow Dash when the latter taps a forehoof on Fluttershy's clinging form. Rainbow sighs as she sees her fellow pegasus breaking down in tears - certainly she felt sorry that Fluttershy had to experience the traumatic mental image of parasprites being burned alive, but Dash knew it was for the best to not let Fluttershy have her way.
"Come on Fluttershy, let's go. It's not pretty, sure, but it'll be better for everypony in the long run." Dash says, her expression one of frank sincerity.
It takes a few agonizing seconds, but Fluttershy does let loose her grasp. Lieutenants Crispin and Steelwing sadly shake heads as Rainbow Dash escorts an inconsolable Fluttershy away and preparations for the incendiary extermination operation continue.
"What I want to know is who felt the need to tip off that filly about what we were doing? And where in Equestria is that stallion with the supplies?!?" Steelwing asks in extreme annoyance.
"I can't tell you the answer to either of those questions. And that worries me..." Crispin comments, looking over the preparations for the operation once again...
The pegasus stallion was heavily burdened moving through the Everfree Forest, having had to make off with as many supplies as he could carry before the Guard Lieutenants caught on to the fact he was not going to come back with them. The stallion - really the disguise appearance of Agent X - was still in his uniform of a Guard Upper Class, and he was worried that on approaching Fort Chaos' location he would get shot at.
The fears of X are confirmed when, as he's staggering under his load, he hears the thoowsh of something go right past him and then a thunk. He turns around to see a crossbow arrow embedded in a tree just to his right. He hears another thoowsh and thunk and looks down to see another arrow embedded in the ground just in front of his forehooves. He looks back along the track of the arrows, wondering if the shooter was only trying to get his attention or was just a bad shot.
"Don't move a muscle! Identify yourself!" a grey-coated pegasus wielding a crossbow shouts from the top of a crumbling stone wall nearby, the obvious shooter of the near-miss arrows.
At this, Agent X relaxes a little bit. He lets baggage slide off and down to the ground as he goes to his haunches and makes his usual crossed-forelegs signal in the direction of the crossbow wielder.
The crossbow wielder lowers his weapon, his eyes bulging in some degree of surprise, and he turns to call back to his comrade. Agent X is pleased - his signal was interpreted correctly, and now the first part of his delivery job was almost complete...
A LITTLE LATER...
"So sorry about that, X, can't be too careful about intruders around here." Agent P1 explains as he and companion Agent P2 each take a load of supplies that had been dropped off at the foot of Fort Chaos' crumbling walls.
Agent X grunts out an acknowledgement - all the monsters in the Everfree Forest and the proximity to "incursions" from Ponyville meant any intruders had to be assumed hostile until proven otherwise. X was no stranger to assignments like that one, so sympathized with the dilemma of the two fellow Agents.
"We're honored to have you supplying us, X! You're like a living legend - Snake says you've never failed a mission before!" P2 exclaims in enthusiasm as he shoulders a supply pack. X just grunts out another response - whether the rumors were actually true or not, they were important for maintaining trust in this organization that had to operate in the shadows.
The three Agents work together to haul the stolen Guard rations - both food packs and canteens of water - up crumbling steps and into storage niches for later use. Fort Chaos wasn't big - a ruin with just enough space for two stallions - but it was easy to defend, which was the most important thing for the Agents of Chaos.
"So what are you going to do now?" Agent P1 asks X when the task of stowing the rations is finished. X points a forehoof to his saddlebag and pulls out the letter he had gotten from Snake back in Canterlot.
"Is that for us?" Agent P2 asks, and X nods as he transfers the letter to P1.
P1 studies the odd letter for a few seconds, and P2 looks over P1's withers with nervous anticipation as P1 opens the letter. The letter is written as a message from Agent Snake addressed to the two Agents, with two different Guard Lieutenant stars pinned to the bottom. As usual, the message was ciphered, but in plaintext it was rendered as follows:
"To Agents P1 and P2:
Congratulations on the spectacular success of the parasprite strike on Ponyville. Because of this, I have assigned Agent X to provide you with supply rations every two weeks. Additionally, your identities in the Royal Guard have been promoted to Lieutenant rank. The rank pins provided have been taken from fallen Agents that once held that rank. Do not let the Loyalists recover them or you will be held responsible for their dishonor. Hail to the chaotic one.
Agent Snake in the Grass"
Agents P1 and P2 look at each other grimly and then down at the star pins at the bottom of the letter. The "promotions" were a clear warning from Snake - P1 and P2 would be assassinated if they ever surrendered to loyal Guard officers or any other opponents. If the Agents couldn't escape an attack, the only honorable option was suicide, and the grim looks show the Agents show they are fully aware of this.
"It's a good thing we have a way to blow up this place should we need to..." P1 grimly replies to P2.
MEANWHILE, IN THE MINES BELOW CANTERLOT...
"Take this notice aboveground to 4, Agent 20. WA and WD should be along any minute now." Agent Snake was saying, passing a scroll of parchment out of his personal chamber to a younger pegasus stallion wearing the uniform of a Guard Upper Class nervously waiting just outside.
"Yes sir." the younger pegasus nervously replies, taking the scroll and doing his best to muffle his hoofsteps in the caverns as he makes his way back to the surface. On the way, he passes two other pegasi in Wonderbolt dress uniforms, a mare and a stallion that he can't identify more specifically in the darkness, and stops for a moment to return their salute before continuing onward.
It's not long before the two pegasi - Agents WA and WD, or Misty Fly and Lightning Streak, respectively - in Wonderbolt dress uniforms arrive at Snake's chamber themselves. Although not the only members of the Wonderbolts in the Agents of Chaos, they were by far the most important ones, which is why the two of them were summoned together now.
"Come in, I've been expecting you two." Snake says to the renegade Wonderbolts as he escorts them into his working chamber - the two don't trust the red glow in his eyes or unicorn horn attached by headband under the cloak, but have little choice in the matter considering the disorienting trip down the mine shafts here made it easy for them to get trapped without hope of easy rescue.
"Here's the outlines of the next phase of your operations." Snake explains, leading them to his rock shelf "desk" and pointing a covered hoof to the large sheet of parchment on the shelf.
Both Misty Fly and Lightning Streak lean over the parchment sheet, trying not to block the candlelight source of light as they scan over the drawings and text written by quillpen on the parchment. As soon as they are finished, they give each other concerned looks and then turn back to look at Snake.
"You understand the plan?" Snake asks in a hopeful tone.
"Princess Celestia will be attending that show. Are you sure you want us to do it with the princess there?" Misty Fly asks warily.
"The presence or absence of the princess will not affect how the plan is carried out. All that matters is that you carry out your part of the plan in time for the release to be executed. WA will cover the Captain, WD will cover the First Wingpony. You both understand?" Snake replies, his tone making it clear he had anticipated their concerns.
Misty Fly and Lightning Streak again look at each other in concern, wondering what exactly they had gotten themselves into, but nod in response to Snake in the Grass' query. They much too far into it, both physically and metaphorically, to back out or down now.
"Good. As soon as X returns from his mission, you will be provided with what you need to carry out the plan. Make sure they go where exactly they are supposed to go, and do not feed them once you have them! You got it?" Snake asks.
The two Wonderbolts nod obediently, and Agent Snake keeps his pleasure concealed. The citizens of Canterlot were going to get a show they would never forget, and provide a way to further wedge open the Wonderbolt ranks...
"Good morning, Philomena. How are we doing today?" Princess Cadance asks as she stops by the cage containing the old phoenix in the royal aviary, where she had been summoned for a special meeting with Captain Gibraltar.
The old bird responds with a sniffling noise, running her beak through her feathers. Cadance notices with concern some fiery red feathers scattered below Philomena's perch on the cage floor - already the phoenix was beginning to lose the normal bird-of-prey regality and take on the "sickly parrot" appearance that would deceive Fluttershy later.
"I see we've lost a few more feathers... too bad Twilight isn't here, she would be fascinated by the whole rebirth process..." Cadance says to herself, eyeing the loose feathers at the bottom of the bird cage.
"Your Highness?" a masculine voice calls behind Cadance, prompting the latter to look behind her to see where the voice came from.
"Oh, sorry Captain, I was checking on Philomena while I was waiting. What are we doing here in the aviary anyway, and why you just need me?" Cadance asks in return after noticing Captain Gibraltar flanked by two Guards Upper Class, one unicorn and one pegasus, behind her.
"Celestia already knows what I am going to show you. This meeting is more informational than anything else, but Celestia did want one of these things in the royal menagerie. Observe." Gibraltar explains, pointing to the small birdcage covered in a white sheet and being levitated by the unicorn escort guard's magic.
Cadance moves closer, observing the cage intently as the cover is whisked off by the unicorn guard. Underneath is revealed a parasprite of a dark blue coloration, that chirups and smiles back at the curious Cadance.
"Is this one of those parasprites I've been hearing a lot about? It doesn't look so dangerous..." Cadance comments as she continues to observe the flitting dark blue orb of an insect.
"Appearances are quite deceptive, as you will see now." Captain Gibraltar comments, pulling a piece of "hardtack" Royal Guard ration out of the saddlebag he is wearing and levitating it using his unicorn magic into the cage beside the parasprite.
Cadance's look remains curious as she returns her attention to the cage containing the parasprite - the thin sheet of bread barely fits through the bars of the cage but is still bigger than the parasprite itself. The younger alicorn is quite surprised then to see the parasprite comically open its mouth to swallow the sheet of bread in one gulp, then shortly after vomit up a chartreuse-colored copy of itself beside it in the birdcage!
Cadance is stunned for just a brief moment, and then manages to get out one word as her face contorts into disgust: "Ew."
"'Ew' indeed." Captain Gibraltar replies in a very dry tone. "Why Celestia wants one of these ticking time bombs here in the castle is beyond me, but she had me order Lieutenant Steelwing to send one back anyways..."
"They multiply just by feeding them?" Cadance asks the Guard Captain, trying to make sure she was understanding the situation correctly.
"Correct. That's why there was the swarm in Ponyville - somehow one of them got out of the Everfree Forest into the town, where they proceeded to multiply rapidly and terrorize the entire town. Twilight Sparkle's misfired spell trying to stop them didn't help matters. In the end, the Laughter Bearer lead the swarm into the Everfree Forest, which is where the original one of the pair in the cage now was founded and captured to take back to Canterlot." Captain Gibraltar explains, referring to Pinkie Pie by her associated Element of Harmony instead of her proper name.
"Hmmm... maybe Aunt Celly just wants one for the board of inquiry?" Cadance speculates, continuing to stare curiously at the pair of parasprites smiling back at her.
"Still, it's very dangerous to have even one here. And why she can't just show footage... it doesn't make sense, Your Highness." Gibraltar replies, shaking his head as he speaks.
"Aunt Celly sometimes works in ways that only she herself seems to understand. There must be a reason she's doing it this way, even if we can't understand what it is." Cadance answers in a tone that belies the confidence normally associated with such words.
Captain Gibraltar observes Cadance with a face showing his confusion, and then shakes his head again before replying: "I'm sure whatever Celestia's reasons are, we will find them out in due time. If there are no other questions, I will take the cage back into secure storage now."
"There are no other questions, Captain. You are dismissed." Cadance replies affirmatively, some feeling of relief showing on Gibraltar's face.
A LITTLE LATER, IN THE MINES BELOW CANTERLOT...
"Is everything ready, Agent 4?" Agent Snake, disguised as usual in cloak and stockings, asks the pegasus stallion beside him in the cavern "office" situated below the city, cut off permanently from Celestia's sun and Luna's moon.
"Yes sir, it is." Agent 4 replies affirmatively.
"Good, send them in. I cannot wait to see the glorious prize we have won to use against harmony!" Snake eagerly orders.
Agent 4 pushes open a false rock wall leading into an old mineshaft and gestures unseen figures forward. A bewildered and disoriented unicorn stallion, wearing the uniform of a Guard Upper Class and magically levitating a birdcage containing two circular objects inside it, is prodded forward into the room by two pegasi stallions with pikes - each pegasus had wrapped a wing around the shaft of the pike to wield it.
"We'll just take that right off your hooves now." Snake says to the captive unicorn as Agent 4 uses both forehooves to yank the cage out of the magic "grasp" of the unicorn stallion.
"Bow, horned one!" Agent 4 exclaims next, prompting a sharp prod from the pike-wielding pegasi that causes the unicorn stallion to drop flat on the ground.
"Close enough. Agent 4, secure the cage with the parasprites. Don't give them any food unless I explicitly order you to, understood?" Snake says to Agent 4.
"Yes, sir!" Agent 4 replies, giving a salute with one forehoof and cradling the birdcage with the other while standing on his hindlegs. He begins hovering just above the ground, and flies out of the room and into the darkness of the mine tunnels.
"Which one of you is X?" Snake asks the guards, and one goes to his haunches in response. Snake is pleased, and the captive unicorn horrified, to see the sitting pegasus crosses his forelegs over his chest - the indicator of Agent X being present.
"Excellent work, Agent X. With these parasprites under our command, we have the power to make one mighty strike - not the whirlwind itself, but the one that will sow the seeds of the whirlwind." Snake exclaims, his red eyes glowing bright with eager anticipation. "X, you are to assume the identity of the unicorn. The real deal will be dehorned and tossed in with my herd - I'm sure they'll appreciate the company of a different stallion for once."
Agent Snake watches as X grunts out an acknowledgement and touches a forehoof to the sides of the unicorn stallion. A greenish glowing ring of magic passes over X's body, and when it passed completely over X his appearance had been changed from a pegasus to match the unicorn stallion he had just touched. The captive unicorn can only watch in shock as he is lead away to his fate.
Agents Snake and X share a sinister smile - both of them know what to do with the parasprites, and the target that would be affected by them...
"Cupcake, sir?"
"Thank you, don't mind if I do!"
Lieutenant Captain Aten rolls his eyes as he watches Captain of the Guard Gibraltar levitate up a cupcake from the tray beside the eagerly smiling Pinkie Pie and takes a bite. Pinkie, along with Zecora, had traveled together (and at Princess Celestia's request, it was just the two of them) to Canterlot to participate in the board of inquiry regarding the recent parasprite infestation of Ponyville. Lieutenant Crispin was also there from Ponyville to testify about the parasprites, but Pinkie Pie and Zecora were the star witnesses. Zecora would speak first, then Pinkie Pie, then Lieutenant Crispin and finally whatever "expert" opinion about the parasprites.
Both Princesses Celestia and Cadance would watch the proceeding, as would Captain of the Guard Gibraltar. The participation of Gibraltar and his secretary meant that Aten would be the ranking officer available for any issues that came up over the morning shift, which as it turned out was exactly what the Agents of Chaos wanted to cover their operations. Beside Aten, "co-conspirator" Lieutenant Amarna was busy processing paperwork, sharing Aten's low opinion of the guests but unable by virtue of his workload to show it.
"These are good cupcakes, where are they from?" Gibraltar asks Pinkie Pie as he takes another bite of the cupcake.
"Sugar Cube Corner in Ponyville, I help the Cakes out baking in exchange for my room and board. I live there because the rest of my family doesn't live in Ponyville." Pinkie Pie replies with an eager smile and chipper tone in her voice.
"Does Twilight Sparkle hang out there a lot, like she used to do with a place in Canterlot?" Gibraltar asks again.
"Sometimes, mostly she stays in the town library though."
"Makes sense, considering what she did in Ponyville..."
"So you're a Captain of the Guard? Must be exciting getting to order all those guards in their fancy armor around!"
Gibraltar chuckles before replying to Pinkie's statement: "It's not as exciting as everypony seems to make it, and I have to always be accountable to the princesses for what I do."
"So both to Celestia and Luna?"
"Indeed, filly."
"I see. I wish Luna was here."
"Nighttime work, remember. Still, I empathize with your desire to see her improvement since she arrived in Canterlot."
"Ah well. You want a cupcake?" Pinkie turns to ask Aten, who had been observing the whole scene with increasing annoyance in his expression.
"No thank you, earth filly." Aten replies with a cold stare.
"Well you don't need to be a grumpy hooves about it, sheesh." Pinkie replies with an eyeroll.
"Don't mind him, filly. He's always like that." Gibraltar states reassuringly to Pinkie.
"We're supposed to be..." Aten begins to object.
"Aten, there's nothing wrong with socializing with young mares. Particularly if they are Element Bearers." Gibraltar overrules with a cautionary undertone.
"But she's not an Element Bearer, sir." Aten objects again, pointing to Zecora, who had been sitting quietly beside Pinkie Pie enjoying her own cupcake. She had tried to stay out of the conversation, but Aten now decided recklessly to bring her into it.
"And what do you think of the zebra?" Gibraltar asks, which should've been a warning to Aten - a warning that went unheeded.
"An earth pony with stripes and pretensions of magic use." Aten replies without missing a beat, unaware or uncaring that his bigotry was showing in his statement.
Pinkie Pie glares at Aten with unsurprising indignation, but Zecora was more than up to defending herself and after finishing her current mouthful of cupcake replied thusly: "If you are willing to describe me with language rude, then you sir are a stallion most crude."
"What?! Why I oughta...!" Aten exclaims, indignant at the rhyming insult Zecora had just delivered.
"Aten!" Gibraltar warns, reminding the hot-headed pegasus he was in full view of whatever would happen next.
"But sir, you heard...!" Aten objects again, gesturing in Zecora's direction.
"Don't 'but sir' me, Lieutenant Captain!" Gibraltar cuts off. "She is entitled to her own opinions, and I will remind you that she is here because Princess Celestia ordered. If you have a problem with her being here, then I suggest you take it up with the Princess directly. Now, enough of this nonsense, is the paperwork ready?"
"Almost, sir..." Lieutenant Amarna pipes up as Aten's rage rapidly deflates, the rapid scribbling of charcoal pencil on paper filling in for the silenced growls of Aten unable to vent his spleen. Aten gives another glare at Zecora but dares not say anything more.
A tense minute passes, the only sounds being the scribbling on the paper and the quiet murmur coming from the crowd assembling in the courtroom nearby for the inquiry proceedings, before the pegasus Lieutenant finally finishes his papers and uses a wing to transfer them to the Captain. Only the background murmur remains as Captain Gibraltar uses brown unicorn magic to levitate the paperwork and look it over.
"Good enough, that'll do until I get back. No guarantees that won't be before the shift change though. You two are dismissed to your posts." Gibraltar says after finishing looking over the paperwork.
The tension spikes up again as Aten and Amarna do not immediately turn to leave, looking at each other as if debating whether to make any more fuss about Pinkie Pie and Zecora being there. Amarna shakes his head once though, and immediately after that both pegasi turn to leave. Pinkie Pie and Zecora exchange raised eyebrows, then change to looking curiously at the departing pegasi as Gibraltar sighs and rolls his eyes in annoyance.
"Never mind about them, you two. The Princesses are waiting, so let's get going with the proceedings." Gibraltar states, and the lack of objection is indication of approval enough...
"Open the doors for us, Guard. The Princesses are waiting for us."
"Yes, sir."
"Mares first into the courtroom."
Both Pinkie Pie and Zecora looked around in amazement as the doors into the castle's grand courtroom were opened and Captain of the Guard Gibraltar escorted them inward to take their places in the witness box.
The vaulted space was buzzing with curiousity and anticipation, those watching mostly members of the press and academics eager to learn more about the behavior of the parasprites and Everfree Forest creatures in general. Pinkie Pie looked around for any familiar faces, but only recognized two - Lieutenant Crispin, already in fulldress and sitting in the witness box, and Princess Celestia herself watching the proceedings from a private box high up on the back wall. Princess Cadance, though neither Pinkie nor Zecora recognized her at the time, was beside Celestia to the right in the private box, and the third seat in the box to Celestia's left was reserved for Gibraltar himself. Pinkie raised a hoof to give an eager wave, but she saw Celestia shake her head a moment and went back to her proceeding.
As soon as Pinkie Pie and Zecora made it to the witness box, subjected to uncomfortable camera flashes the whole time, Gibraltar proceeded up to the private box. As he took his designated seat, he could see the central figure of the inquiry board - some kind of academic figure, Gibraltar had to guess - levitated with unicorn magic a gavel, banging it down several times to calm the buzzing crowd.
"Thank you gentlestallions and mares. We will now take public testimony for the Board of Inquiry of the Ponyville Parasprite Pestilence." the gavel-banging unicorn stallion states as the crowd buzz fades, only identified by his "Chair of Board of Inquiry" placard in front of his central position. The watching Captain Gibraltar rolls his eyes at the official title of the inquiry board - "pestilence" was not a good word to describe what had befallen Ponyville, but the alliteration seemed to have been carefully crafted for maximum media attention. The old Guard Captain gives a sidelong glance at Princess Celestia, who returns a reassuring smile - obviously she would not hesitate to intervene if something happened she did not approve of.
"As per standard protocol, all testimony is being recorded for archival purposes." the board chair continues, pointing the levitating gavel toward a unicorn stallion facing the witness box. This stallion, a Guard Lieutenant by the name of Xergraphos, had a unique talent of being able to "record" and "playback" images of certain events, which made him invaluable for jobs such as this one. Gibraltar watching from the private box couldn't quite tell if the Lieutenant's presence made the mares in the witness box even more uneasy, but was sure it probably didn't help things.
"The Board of Inquiry calls Zecora the zebra to testify in public witness." was the next statement of the board chair, and Zecora hesitated just a moment before rising from her sitting position and moving to stand at the edge of the box facing the array of the inquiry board members. Gibraltar could sense her normal confidence wavering - not surprising considering all the attention focused on her.
"Your name, for the record please." Lieutenant Xergraphos says to Zecora.
"Zecora of the Forest Everfree... that is my name, you see." Zecora replies, her voice with an unusual hesitation.
The rhyming immediately produces exchanges of strange looks among the inquiry board members as well as quietly spreading amusement among the watching crowd. Captain Gibraltar and Princess Cadance share the exchange of strange looks, while Princess Celestia snickers between them.
"Did you know about the rhyming?" Cadance asks Gibraltar in a stage whisper.
"Celestia didn't tell me anything, otherwise I would've told the head of the board to get a written statement instead!" Gibraltar replies in the same stage whisper.
A moment passes, and both Cadance and Gibraltar look up at Celestia's amused chuckling and share a sigh - obviously Celestia had kept the fact to herself for the sake of her amusement at the public reactions.
"Ma'am, is the rhyming really necessary for this?" the board chair was asking Zecora when Gibraltar returned his attention to the proceedings.
"It is a curse of the poison joke you see, passed through the generations down to me." Zecora answered, the closest she offered to an apology.
The confused and skeptical looks reappeared on the inquiry board members, as well as on Captain Gibraltar and Princess Cadance. None of them could quite tell whether she was telling the truth or merely attempting to dodge the question, but it would be more trouble than it was worth to go on a tangent to find that out. The proceedings pause as the board members engage in hushed conversation between themselves for about half a minute.
Finally, the board chair speaks to offer an explanation for the pause: "We've agreed to accept written testimony in place of oral, to facilitate the proceedings. Hopefully that will be an acceptable alteration to protocol considering the circumstances."
Celestia, who could tell that the board chair was speaking to most of all, gave a subtle nod back down from her position, and with Zecora also nodding in agreement, a silent breath of relief spreads over the board members - rhyming would not obstruct their progress after all...
MEANWHILE...
Lieutenant Typhoon, a grey pegasus stallion, nervously looks around to make sure nopony else is watching. He didn't need any awkward encounters with any of his fellow Royal Guard members right now, considering the sensitive nature of the meeting he was going to be involved in. Although covered by his position as one of Lieutenant Captain Aten's inner six and Aten's own orders assigning him to cover the section of the city the meeting would be conducted in, it was still a fairly risky encounter that could expose everypony involved as Agents of Chaos.
Typhoon spares one last look before ducking down a darkened ally, whereupon he sees what seems to be a unicorn levitating a birdcage, the glowing magic a sickly green color. As Typhoon approaches, the unicorn goes onto his haunches and crosses forelegs in an X shape.
"Nice to see you, X. You have them?" Typhoon asks in a whisper.
Agent X, in his unicorn disguise - which Typhoon already knew about because X "replaced" an unliked subordinate of Typhoon's - points toward the levitating cage. Typhoon can just barely make out through the glow several small spherical shapes inside the cage, and immediately smiles in glee - both Aten and Agent Snake would be most pleased.
"Good work as always. I'll escort you to Agent WA, she's waiting to take the transfer." Typhoon explains.
Agent X grunts in affirmation, and both stallions share evil grins - neither Canterlot nor the Wonderbolts had a clue that the "Swarm of the Century" would soon be ready to strike again...
"I wonder how Twilight deals with that earth pony's exuberance, Captain..."
"I wonder how anypony deals with that exuberance..."
"You'll see, you two. Just sit back and watch."
Both Captain of the Guard Gibraltar and Princess Cadance look up at Princess Celestia's knowing grin, then back at each other with confused looks. They exchange shrugs before returning attention to the proceedings.
"Your name for the record please." Lieutenant Xergraphos was saying to Pinkie Pie, the unicorn once again "recording" for the proceedings.
"Pinkamena Diane Pie, you can just call me Pinkie though." Pinkie replies without missing a beat, the eager smile unphased on her face.
"Right." the chair of the board of the inquiry affirms in deadpan, unimpressed or unmoved by Pinkie's energy. "We need you to explain to the board how you managed to know exactly how to deal with the parasprites, knowledge that does not seem to be possessed by anypony else."
"Well sure, but is this going to be a full exam or a pop quiz?" Pinkie asks, prompting a facehoof from the board chair and a twitter of chuckling that passed through the witnessing crowd. Princess Celestia watching from her private suite also joined in the chuckling, while Gibraltar and Cadance again exchanged confused looks.
The board chair levitates the gavel in front of him to bang it down a few times, trying to restore order to the proceedings. This took a few seconds as the twittering laughter was stubborn in subsiding, not to mention the eager reporters scribbling down notes for their gossip rags to repeat.
"Well this is going well." Gibraltar comments deadpan, pointing to the reporters hard at work.
"Never mind about them, Captain. I'm sure Aunt Celly won't let them get too out of hoof." Cadance replies reassuringly, and Celestia's smile seems to affirm the truth of Cadance's statement.
"Well sir, I learned about the parasprites and how to deal with them from my father." Pinkie Pie begins eagerly explaining. "You see, I come from a family of rock farmers, and all the ponies around the area I grew up farmed rocks instead of, say, apples. Naturally as a curious little filly I asked why we farmed rocks instead of something we could eat."
"And what was the answer you got?" the board chair asks.
"My dad told me a little story about my Granny Pie, and how she got accepted into his family. Like me compared to the rest of my family, she was very different from those around her. Not only was she a brightly-colored pegasus among earth ponies, I also got her energy and enthusiasm!" Pinkie continues explaining, grinning all the while to further emphasize her point.
"I see." the board chair comments, using his unicorn magic to scribble something using a quillpen on parchment laid in front of him. "Granny Pie is your father's mother, I'm presuming?"
"Mm-hmm." Pinkie replies with a small nod and a smile.
"Understood, continue on."
"Right, so anyway before my Granny Pie arrived in the area the ancestors of my family would try to plant crops after farming out all the rocks they could in a field. But every year, a swarm of those nasty, greedy parasprites would swarm over the fields and eat all the crops! It was bad times, the ponies never had enough to eat! And nopony knew how to keep them away from the fields!"
"Yes I see, continue on Pinkie."
"Well, one year with everypony dreading the oncoming parasprite swarms, a young pegasus mare comes flying into Rockville, claiming that she knew how to prevent the parasprite swarms from eating all the crops. Nopony took her seriously at first, of course, but when the swarms came she lead them away playing the instruments the same way I did in Ponyville."
"So she taught you how to do it? That's how you knew what exactly to do?"
"Mm-hmm. My family still farms rocks only out of tradition, but there are other farmers that are able to farm crops because of my Granny Pie leading the parasprite swarms away elsewhere. It wasn't long before she was accepted and married my grandpa, and that's how Equestria was made!"
"'How Equestria...'? Never mind..." the board chair shakes off in confusion as chuckles spread again, this time both through the witnessing crowd and other board members as well.
"Am I done now?" Pinkie asks with hopeful perkiness as the board chair continues scratching pen on parchment, letting the chuckling subside naturally this time.
"Almost. I just need you to check over that the reports of the particular method are correct, don't leave until after Lieutenant Crispin gives his testimony." the board chair answers.
"Okie-dokie artichokie!" Pinkie exclaims eagerly.
"Well that worked out reasonably well." the watching Princess Celestia affirms with a smile, looking at her adoptive niece as she speaks.
"I dunno, Aunt Celly, the Captain looks concerned for some reason." Princess Cadance replies, pointing to a Captain Gibraltar with great concern on his face.
"Captain, something wrong?" Celestia asks, causing Gibraltar to be snapped out of his thoughts.
"Sorry Your Majesties, I just can't stop thinking Aten is up to something while I'm not watching. I can feel it, like a sixth sense." Gibraltar replies with great honesty in his tone of voice.
"I don't think Aten would have time to get into trouble with his workload. And even if he tried anything, you would be able to get back to your office before the afternoon shift changeover." Cadance states reassuringly.
"Well, if you say so..." Gibraltar replies again, the uneasy expression still prominent on his face...
MEANWHILE...
Sadly, the confidence over not causing trouble was misplaced, mostly because the window of opportunity was used to execute already-laid plans. At that moment, both Lieutenant Typhoon and the disguised Agent X were slinking through the streets of Canterlot, the former covering the latter under secretly-crafted orders from Aten himself to prevent exposure. They would rendevous with Agent WA - Misty Fly of the Wonderbolts - near the cloud "elevators" to the pegasi colony above Canterlot, done in order to prevent Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire from catching on to the real reason why Misty Fly had volunteered to perform a supply run usually done by a more junior member of the stunt flying organization.
"So glad you're here. You have them?" Misty Fly says as she sees the two armored stallions approach, the pegasus mare wearing a Royal Guard dress uniform both to help hide her identity and prevent bystanders from getting too curious about what she was doing there.
"Yes indeed." Lieutenant Typhoon replies, pointing to the covered birdcage levitated by the sickly green magic of Agent X in a unicorn disguise.
Misty Fly gives a skeptical look in the direction of the Guard stallions as she uses a forehoof to lift part of the sheet off the birdcage and take a peek at the parasprites inside. She jumps back, the sheet falling back in place, as the parasprites inside chirrup back at her.
"Surprised, huh? Considering how the press has been playing them up like dragons, I don't blame ya." Lieutenant Typhoon comments.
"I still don't know, I mean, we are going to release these at a show where Princess Celestia is watching..." Misty Fly states, the unease clear in her voice.
"If you do your job according to the instructions given to you by our leader, you will be in a position to execute the next phase leading to the whirlwind." Typhoon replies, the phrasing just cryptic enough to block out understanding by anypony that wasn't already an Agent of Chaos.
Misty Fly's expression suddenly brightens up, as if a realization had dawned on her, and then she gives a determined glare as she shares her enlightenment: "Of course, that's when the invitations can be sent out. The Captain won't be able to do anything during that time frame."
"Exactly. Now be careful with that cage, don't let the little guys inside out!" Typhoon warns as X using unicorn magic floats the birdcage to a position where Misty Fly can reach out with feather fingers to take it.
"I thank you, my fellow Agents thank you, and the chaotic one thanks you. Now I must go - the Captain will wonder what I'm up to if I take too long." Misty Fly says with a politely sinister tone as she turns to leave.
Lieutenant Typhoon and Agent X share Misty Fly's sinister grin as she leaves with the concealed parasprites. The following Wonderbolt show would be one that nopony watching would ever forget...
The day seemed to be perfect for the Wonderbolts. The sun was bright in a sky kept clear of clouds, there was a roaring crowd in the huge stadium in Canterlot below, and Princess Celestia was very much enjoying the performance.
It was unfolding as the kind of day Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire was hoping it would. But sabotage had already been performed, and things were about to go wrong, very and horribly wrong...
The first clue was the seeming squirming coming from their smoke release packs. Spitfire, as well as her partner Lead Wingpony Soarin', dismissed it as a result of unusually high nerves coming from performing in front of Celestia herself. The packs were used in a dual crossover stunt that would decorate the skies above with intricate helical patterns of multicolored smoke.
Spitfire and Soarin' first noticed the squirming as Tight Ship, their stunt coordinator, helped get the packs on and strapped to the back. Each was surprised by the squirming, and a quick glance at the other showed this surprise was shared between them. If Tight Ship knew about the squirming (it would later become a very important open question how much he knew about the sabotage), he declined to share that information with the other two Wonderbolts, and they in turn decided against asking him if he had sensed anything wrong, again assuming it was entirely the product of nerves.
As soon as the packs were secure, Spitfire and Soarin' stepped out into the world of their show element - clean blue skies, the roar of a multicolored crowd arranged in circular tiers of seating, and the box where Princess Celestia herself watched with anticipation that she shared with the crowd. Although the crossover stunt wasn't a "signature" move in any way, it was one of Celestia's favorites and a guaranteed crowdpleaser, so whenever Celestia was watching a performance the Wonderbolts always included some version of it in their routine.
Spitfire and Soarin' take off in opposite directions, but make sure to not spread apart too far so that they can maintain visual contact - very important for a crossover stunt like this. Higher and higher they ascend into the crystal-clear sky, mood lofted by both the roar of the crowd below and the vibrant blue of the air around them. Once they reached a certain height, they would cross once, then pull a string attached to the pack to open the smoke canister inside - this smoke would trail behind them as they circled and crossed in a helix pattern all the way back down.
The first crossover passed without incident, but when the strings were pulled to start the smoke trail both Spitfire and Soarin' realized something was wrong - instead of the expected hiss of the smoke being released from the canister they felt something solid streaming out of the packs. Glimpses of colored bits seeming to fall toward the stadium below lulled Spitfire and Soarin' into concluding that confetti canisters had been accidentally loaded in place of the smoke canisters - an oopsie to be sure, but not a big one.
Both Wonderbolts were committed to the routine and continued their helical crossing over pattern, even as whatever was coming out of their packs stopped coming - raising concern again in both Wonderbolts as confetti canisters were supposed to last long enough to get through the full routine, even if their use was a mistake. As Spitfire and Soarin' continue to criss-cross closer and closer to the stadium, they can hear the crowd sound changing from excitement to panic and horror.
This initially was mysteriously worrying - the first thought was some kind of injury or an imminent collision. But on the last crossover, where the two Wonderbolts were close enough to see what was going on in the crowd below, they can see the panic and agitation in the crowd below as well as fast moving yellow-colored beams - a human would call it "laser-like" - coming from Celestia's box and shooting at seemingly random locations in the crowd!
Seperately, and for reasons of not wanting to get zapped even by accident, Spitfire and Soarin' abandon any attempt and continuing the show and land again backstage. Tight Ship is nowhere to be seen - the two Wonderbolts later learned he'd been grabbed by Royal Guards before he could figure out what was going on - and yelps and screams of panic can be heard coming from the seating above them. All the pair could figure out was that something had gone horribly wrong, but had no idea what it was or why it had.
The two gallop side-by-side, looking into several deserted rooms in passing, until Spitfire hears Soarin' exclaim something about pie and rush through a doorway. It takes a moment for her to turn around and follow him through, into a break room that was strangely empty considering the other Wonderbolts had been there before Spitfire and Soarin' had left to do their routine.
"MY PIE! GET OFF MY PIE!" Soarin' was exclaiming, standing on his hindlegs to shoo away something off the pie he had left to eat after finishing the show. On closer inspection, Spitfire recognized two things - the attackers of the pie were parasprites and the pie was already partly eaten by said parasprites - that caused her stomach to sink down to her hooves.
As if confirming her oncoming sense of dread, Spitfire hears several loud male voices and stomping hooves coming their way! Spitfire immediately realizes what has gone wrong with the Canterlot show, but it's far too late to do anything about it.
"Soarin', I think we have much bigger things to worry about than your pie!" Spitfire exclaims, and mere moments later four Royal Guards in full armor burst through the doorway into the break room!
Before either Wonderbolt can react, the Guards split into two pairs and each pair goes after one of the Wonderbolts. Spitfire and Soarin' are in too much shock to put up a fight and quickly are put under arrest, the world quickly becoming a surreal and bizarre place that hindered memory of subsequent events...
A LITTLE LATER...
All Misty Fly could do in face of a raging Princess Celestia - who had to deal with the parasprite release all by herself and naturally was irate a high-profile show had been ruined by sabotage - was nod in agreement to her demands as she was dressed down alongside her fellow Wonderbolts in assembly. With Spitfire and Soarin' under arrest, Misty Fly had automatically become Acting Captain of the Wonderbolts and was forced to bear the brunt of Celestia's wrath, which included agreeing to compensate for the lost business of affected vectors in the stadium and refund the tickets to the show for anypony that wanted it.
What Celestia didn't know was that the plans of the Agents of Chaos had gone off without a hitch - Misty Fly and her faction allied with the Agents were at least temporarily in charge, and the large financial hit the Wonderbolts would suffer as a result of the parasprite release would drive a further wedge between the two factions in the Wonderbolts.
The members of the pro-Spitfire faction present - Fleetfoot, Surprise, Blaze and Rapidfire - were too worried about the fate of Spitfire and Soarin' to even entertain the possibility that Misty Fly's faction - which included Misty Fly herself, Lightning Streak, Wave Chill, Fire Streak, High Winds and Silver Lining - had engineered a takeover, at least for the moment, of the Wonderbolt organization. The financial and reputation hit would seem to be a small price to pay for the chance to shatter Captain Spitfire's authority irrevocably and do things their own way...
Wonderbolts Spitfire and Soarin' had been imprisoned in a cell for around 48 hours, and at least one of them - Spitfire - had already had more than enough of the boredom and confinement. Putting any pony in a cell was bad fate, but for pegasi used to free skies and open flight it was doubly agonizing.
Spitfire had had plenty of time - probably too much time - to think about the Wonderbolts and her place in them. There were historical figures, such as General Firefly and Commander Easyglider, that all Wonderbolt leaders were measured by. There were retired legends like Wind Rider who Spitfire dreaded earning the ire of by demeaning the organization. Even her own mother, Stormy Flare, a retired Wonderbolt herself who helped and supported Spitfire as she rose through the ranks of the Wonderbolts, would not be pleased by what had happened at that Canterlot show.
Then, of course, she thought of "the next generation". It was always a struggle to get recruits that were both qualified and cooperative enough into Academy - Spitfire seriously hoped that whatever bump in interest had come from Rainbow Dash becoming an Element Bearer would not now be squandered by this miserable twist of fate. And there was also the thought of losing Rainbow Dash herself as a Wonderbolt - a fear which became strangely embedded in her mind despite all reasonable attempts to get rid of it.
Eventually Spitfire figured out the why of the persistence - the parasprite swarm in Ponyville was almost certainly somehow linked to her current dilemma, and of course it did the Wonderbolts' public image no favors that an earth pony had been the one to solve the problem. The bigger thing eating at her, though, was Twilight Sparkle's misguided spell making the infestation worse.
Princess Celestia was fairly obviously intent on letting her former student mostly off the hook for any responsibility for the parasprites, and that brought up a quiet prejudice that was shared among many pegasi - that Equestrian society was secretly rigged to favor unicorns. After all, why did Celestia have a school for "gifted unicorns", but not "gifted pegasi" or "gifted earth ponies"? Never mind that the Wonderbolts themselves were usually seen as the "gifted pegasi" school or that the earth ponies didn't want a special school for them - the whole thing just reeked of favoritism!
Normally, Spitfire would've suppressed those quiet suggestions inside of prejudice and injustice, but here and now she was willing to listen to them, shoving down her screaming conscience with the argument a unicorn was at least partly responsible for her current situation and was seeming to be protected from suffering a proper punishment for it. It was thus dangerous and destructive seeds were planted, to eventually bloom into a very great tragedy indeed...
"I want pie..." Spitfire hears Soarin' moan behind her in the same holding cell, for what seemed to be the millionth time since the two Wonderbolts had been locked together in the same cell.
"WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR BUCKIN' PIE?!?" Spitfire turns in snapping out to Soarin', finally losing her temper.
Soarin' immediately shrinks back, and the tears forming in his eyes makes it all too obvious to Spitfire that she'd went too far.
The nominal Wonderbolt Captain lets out a loud, frustrated sigh and gives what sounds like a drawn-out, awkward apology: "I'm sorry, Soarin', I didn't mean it personally, it's just... all this. I don't even know how we got in here, how those things got in our bags..."
The hurt look on Soarin's face indicates that her apology might've been accepted, but still wasn't enough to make him feel better. An awkward silence passes for a minute or two, then the two Wonderbolts hear the hoofsteps of the patrolling guard - one of a member of an auxiliary branch of the E.U.P. Guard tasked specifically with guarding high-profile prisoners. Who is with the guard, though, is quite surprising to both Spitfire and Soarin'.
"Captain Gibraltar, what...?" Spitfire begins to ask the armored unicorn stallion with the guard, but a hoof to the mouth motion by the stallion silences her.
"Shush, it's hard enough considering the predatory gossip rag columnists just outside the prison. I'm trying to get you two out of here as discretely as I can." Gibraltar replies to Spitfire as the prison guard with him unlocks the cell door.
"Get us out?" Spitfire asks as Soarin's ears perk up in hope.
"Yes, Princess Celestia's dropped the charges against you both. You're free to go, for now." Gibraltar begins to explain. "There's a double agent embedded in our enemies that confirmed where your menacing parasprites came from. Basically, you were framed for what happened."
"Framed? How? And who would do it?" Spitfire asks in eager curiousity as the cell door swings open.
"I've been ordered to escort you back to the Canterlot Wonderbolt offices, I'll explain on the way there." Gibraltar answers.
A LITTLE LATER...
Captain Spitfire slinks down out of view of the barred windows of the armored van she was travelling in. It was bad enough that she had to deal with a mob of gossip rag columnists as she was escorted out, but Soarin' insisting on stopping at a Rich's Barnyard Bargains on the way to get an apple pie was absolutely exasperating!
She couldn't really blame Soarin' for having a pie obsession, though. His grandmother was a pony with a special talent for baking, and she would always spoil her grandfoals with pie whenever they came to visit. She died when Soarin' was in Wonderbolts Academy, and the pie obsession seemed to have developed as a coping mechanism for dealing with the stress and grief that resulted from her death.
Spitfire is relieved when she sees Captain Gibraltar bundle Soarin', pie and all back into the armored van. Shortly afterward, the van's pullers start off again, and Soarin' starts into his apple pie, Spitfire giving a cynical look at her fellow Wonderbolt.
"Real sorry about that, he sure knows how to get his way though..." Captain Gibraltar says to Spitfire sheepishly.
"Can we start with the explanation story now?" Spitfire asks with flat impatience.
"Yes, sorry, we'll get to that now that Soarin' isn't being so pesky." Gibraltar answers quietly, clearing his throat before continuing on. "You are familiar with the concept of 'chain of custody'?"
"Sure, it's something related to criminal evidence, right?" Spitfire asks.
"Yes, but in the E.U.P. Guard we also use that term in the handling of paperwork and sensitive material. When this 'chain' breaks, Captain, bad things can happen, and because of such a break bad things have happened to you." Gibraltar explains.
"What?! What were parasprites even doing in Canterlot in the first place?" Spitfire exclaims in sheer disbelief at what she was hearing.
"Princess Celestia wanted live specimens for the board of inquiry regarding the swarm in Ponyville. And trust me when I say, Captain, I considered it as dangerous as you do. But the Princess insisted, so I gave the order for the recovery team to bring live parasprites from the Everfree Forest."
"So what happened for them to get in my show?"
"That's where the break in the chain of custody comes in. After the live specimens arrived in Canterlot, care was assigned to two Guard Upper Class subordinates of Lieutenant Captain Aten, one pegasus and one unicorn. They had joint custody when I showed the live specimens to Princess Cadance, before the board of inquiry."
"What happened after you showed the parasprites to the princess?"
"The day before the board of inquiry, I got a notice from Aten that the pegasus had transferred his share of the joint custody to the unicorn, and that the unicorn was placed on reserve to make sure that the parasprites were secure until the board of inquiry could convene to see them."
"Sounds like everything was fine to me."
"So did I, but when I went to get the unicorn in question he wasn't anywhere to be found on the castle grounds! His squadmates, as well as the Lieutenant in charge of his squad, had no idea where he was. Aten insisted the Guard was there during the morning checks and showed the signoff sheet to verify this, but there was no shift change verification sheet provided." Gibraltar explains.
Spitfire gives Gibraltar a skeptical look when he pauses. One part of her thinks this was the result of Aten being incompetent or covering up treacherous activity, but another part thinks Aten isn't really at fault and the unicorn Captain of the Guard is covering a fellow "horned one" at the expense of a fellow pegasus. She decides to let Gibraltar finish before making her final judgement.
"... So did you consider him AWOL at that point?" Spitfire asks, when she realizes Gibraltar is waiting for her to continue the "interview".
"Yes, at that point I considered him AWOL and the parasprites missing, because him going AWOL broke the chain of custody - no way to track them, you understand." Gibraltar answers in a tone that seems to indicate nerves creeping in, fueling the anti-unicorn prejudice growing in Spitfire's mind.
"Of course. Did you find the unicorn that had the parasprites last?" Spitfire asks again.
"Yes, but only because a maintenance worker found him in the maintenance access tunnels two days later. He was dead and his horn had been cut off after he died. I guess whoever had the parasprites took them directly to whoever caused the sabotage in your show, if the two ponies are not one and the same."
"Mm-hmm... Captain, I hope you realize that the story you've been telling me sounds like a load of donkey dung?" Spitfire bluntly replies.
In response to this statement, Gibraltar recoils back - probably feeling personally offended - and Soarin', who had been happily munching away at his pie over the course of the whole conversation, looks over at Spitfire while paused in mid-chew, bits of filling and pie crust smeared over his muzzle. An awkward silence passes over the van for a minute, nopony daring to break the silence at first.
Finally, Gibraltar collects himself enough to respond in a professional manner: "Captain, I'm going to be perfectly honest with you that I don't care what you think of my story, it is the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And furthermore, that statement you just made exudes either a lack of appropriate professionalism or ingratitude at the mercies just extended to you by Princess Celestia. Either way, you're trodding on very thin ice, Captain. I suggest you not make it worse, at least not until your position is more secure."
The irritated Spitfire folds forelegs over chest in a pout, refusing to respond in any other way. Gibraltar represses a sigh and rolls a sigh, and the awkward silence descends over the van again. Soarin' waits a minute, then assumes it's safe to continue eating the pie. He starts chewing away at the apple treat again.
It's not long before Spitfire has had enough of Soarin's chewing, and in an impulsive jerk yanks the pie tin - along with the uneaten part of the pie - off of Soarin's hooves and tosses it at the barred window of the armored van, apparently forgetting the pie was too big to go completely out of the window. Spatters do escape through the bars, but the tin and the half-eaten pie clatter to the floor of the van, smearing apple filling all over the wall and floor.
Spitfire resumes her pouting posture, and Soarin' looks over at Gibraltar with a shocked and betrayed expression. Gibraltar immediately realizes the problems seem to be running deeper than he realized, and that some kind of disaster is imminent, or at least inevitable. The stunned silence continues for the rest of the trip toward the Wonderbolt HQ in Canterlot, and a very dark turn of events...
Both Captain Spitfire and Lead Wingpony Soarin' were greatly relieved to arrive at the Wonderbolt HQ in Canterlot, in the pegasi "colony" of clouds located above the main city. Although the actual main base was located at the Wonderbolt Academy in Cloudsdale, this "HQ" was where most of the bureaucratic business was conducted, taking advantage of the proximity to the center of Equestrian government and E.U.P. Guard.
The rest of the Wonderbolts were waiting, saluting at attention in two rows arranged in order of most to least senior. After Gibraltar formally released Spitfire and Soarin' from custody, the two Wonderbolts pass between the rows of their comrades and picked up the Captain's and Lead Wingpony badges from Misty Fly, restoring their previous positions in the Wonderbolts.
Although back in authority, Soarin' could tell Spitfire was still unhappy and nervous about what she would face once back in her office. Misty Fly, as Acting Captain, certainly had enough time to make a big mess of things if she really wanted to. Soarin's expression showed he shared Spitfire's nerves, but could do little to influence whatever was waiting for the Captain in her office. He gives her a sympathetic glance of concern as she disappears into her office.
As soon as Spitfire settles down to the expected mountain of paperwork, her heart sinks to her hooves at what she finds. Most of the papers are the Celestia-commanded bills to repay the damaged citizen as a result of the parasprite release - quick calculating shows the damages to be in the thousands of bits, a bad enough blow for the Wonderbolts to bear. But it's what else Spitfire finds that is what finally breaks her.
Spitfire sees, as Acting Captain, Misty Fly had signed off on "full rides" for dozens of cadets, many of which she knew had previously been expelled or flunked out of Academy before. Even if not all of the offers were accepted, this easily represented a commitment of hundreds of thousands of bits! It would've been the vast majority of the yearly budget of the Wonderbolts, money that the organization simply did not have at that time and would not have any time soon!
The Wonderbolt Captain buries her face in the paperwork, trying to fight back tears as she feels her world crumbling around her. Her enemies had won - the Wonderbolts still had to finish out their performance season, including the upcoming Best Young Flyer competition, but after that there was no avoiding the demands of Celestia and the perversely twisted spending which seemed to be deliberately designed to push the Wonderbolts into bankruptcy. She couldn't even suspend Misty Fly or demand a court-martial because that would cause an immediate "civil war" and backlash that would force her into resignation!
Spitfire hadn't even really wanted to be a Captain of the Wonderbolts when it came down to it, and now it looked like her days were numbered to a disgraceful resignation, the end of her dream and maybe the end of the Wonderbolts entirely. It was in the moment of crisis that the event the Agents of Chaos were counting on finally happened; just like Luna had given into the jealously and resentment to become "Nightmare Moon", Spitfire gave into the secret prejudices and contempt pegasi held for unicorns.
She started to hate, to utterly loathe and despise "the horned ones", blaming them internally for all her problems. And she knew which unicorn would be the first target of her wrath. Spitfire would start sowing the wind that would reap Operation Whirlwind...
"Good evening, Captain."
"Good evening, Shining Armor. Captain Spitfire has requested that you visit her office before you start your shift."
"... What does she want, sir?"
"Beats me. She didn't explain the why, she just wanted you."
"... I'll visit her, sir."
"Good. The daily report will be waiting for you when you get back."
Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor's face showed great puzzlement as he traveled to the office that had long been reserved for short-term use by the Wonderbolt Captain - a privilege Spitfire had not been afraid to exercise. Misty Fly's short term as Acting Captain did not involve using this office, so that added to the impression Shining had it was acting as a refuge for Spitfire from the turmoil that had enveloped the Wonderbolts as a result of the show sabotage.
Shining was aware of the disorder within the Wonderbolts, and desperately tried to avoid getting involved in it, dreading that the conversation would quickly turn its focus onto his sister and the degree of her involvement in it. Now, it seemed, Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire was determined to bring him in, regardless of Shining's efforts otherwise.
The sense of dread only increases in Shining when he arrives to a very irritated expression on Captain Spitfire's face. He opens his mouth to greet her, but Spitfire slams a hoof down on the desk, prompting a quick salute instead. The Wonderbolt Captain practically leaps over her desk and lands in front of Shining Armor, who is sweating nervously but retains his salute.
"Do you know why I summoned you here, Lieutenant Captain?" Spitfire challenges with fiery eyes.
"I can't say I do, ma'am." Shining replies honestly.
"It's because you're a symbol. A symbol of everything wrong with Equestria. A unicorn releases parasprites to wreak havoc and Celestia lets her off easy. A pegasus releases parasprites to wreak havoc and gets jail time and fines in the tens of thousands of bits! The favoritism is all too obvious, Lieutenant Captain, and I will not stand for it any more!"
Shining stands in stunned silence as Spitfire rips into him, knowing that she is mimicking Aten's own charges of prejudice and inequality and quite surprised by it. The rage in Spitfire's ranting continues on: "It's obvious you will be the next Captain of the Guard, and I will not stand for that either! You haven't earned that rank, and maybe even not your current one! I would rather resign as Captain of the Wonderbolts than ever accept you as an equal, but I'm hoping that Aten will succeed in making sure that never happens. Buck the Princesses and buck you for showing how pegasi are treated as second-class citizens!"
Spitfire finally pauses to catch her breath, and Shining can barely believe what he's just heard - Spitfire has abruptly pivoted back into Aten's "faction" in the Royal Guard, and it seems like she won't switch back. He opens his mouth to say something again, but a growl from Spitfire shuts his mouth again.
"Don't say anything! Get out of my office, and don't ever come back in here again!" Spitfire roars out in a final blast of anger.
Shining pauses, trying to figure out how to respond to this, but in the end he decides to just turn and leave. He half expects another berating, but all he hears is Spitfire snorting like a bull as he leaves the office.
The snorting continues for a minute, then it slowly transitions to heavy breathing. Spitfire lowers her face to the desk, the heavy breathing continuing. She does not regret what she has said and done, but knows she just set herself up for much trouble.
Spitfire jolts back up straight when she hears another male voice: "Quite impressive, Captain. You've made your position quite clear."
"Aten?! What are you doing here?! Get out of my office!" Spitfire exclaims when she recognizes the speaker, after sitting back up.
"That would be a mistake, Captain, considering you've now made enemies out of just about every other high-ranking officer in the Royal Guard. Maybe even the Princesses too. I'm sure you don't want to get zapped by Princess Celestia?" Aten points out.
"Well... no. Of course not." Spitfire replies in an indignant quiet tone, realizing she couldn't escape Aten's logic.
"Then join me again. I am the only one that can protect you from their prejudice. What other choice do you have?" Aten again points out, giving Spitfire a (completely insincere) smile.
Spitfire looks back and forth between the walls and Aten looming over her desk, a bead of sweat forming on her forehead. Aten has made a convincing argument for joining with him again, but their past bad blood between them makes that idea loathsome. There are two different voices - her voice of reason saying no, and the voice of powerful hatred saying yes. She is at a crossroads, and the way she chooses will impact Canterlot and the Royal Guard forever...
