Chapter One: When It Falls

Chapter one: When It Falls

The light of Celestia’s sun shone down on Ponyville, the usually quiet town buzzing with activity for the ceremonies later that day. One pony in particular however, did not join in with the preparations, choosing instead to gaze sullenly at an open heart-shaped locket in one hoof while absently taking sips from a cup of black coffee in the other.

What are you doing here, Flash? He took another sip of his coffee, it doesn’t matter how much you want things to change, she’s not going to forgive you. With a frustrated grunt, Flash Sentry clicked the locket shut and tucked it back into his aviator jacket.

“A bit for your thoughts, mate?” A familiar voice said, its owner setting his own coffee cup down in front of Flash’s.

Flash grinned at his old mentor. “Hey Phil, long time no see.”

“Same to you, Flash,” Phillip Finder said, taking off his signature grey trilby and sitting down in the chair opposite of Flash. “Last I heard, you were doing detective work in your hometown.”

“Yeah,” Flash took a sip of coffee, cringing at the bitter taste. Maybe I should have put more sugar in there...

“Flash, you all right?” Philip asked, waving a hoof in front of Flash’s muzzle, snapping the young pegasus out of his trance.

“Yeah, I’m still here Phil,” he replied, shaking his head slightly.

“Have you been sleeping okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a little out of it is all.”

“Come on Flash, you and I both know you’re lying. Your eyes are baggy and bloodshot, your mane’s a mess and you haven’t shaved in a few days, not to mention your wings are improperly preened and I saw you looking at the locket again. You’re worried about Twilight, aren’t you?”

Flash sighed ruefully; Getting past his old mentor’s power of deduction was next to impossible as usual.

“Had to try, didn’t I?”

“I wouldn’t be much of a detective if I couldn’t make out something as obvious as that, mate.” Philip took a sip of his coffee. “It’s about that incident, isn’t it?”

“Right again, detective.” Flash said, sighing again.

Philip stared at Flash in silence for a moment before reaching out and touching Flash’s shoulder. The former Guard stiffened slightly at the unexpected show of affection.

“What happened wasn’t your fault. You know that.”

Flash chose to take another sip of coffee instead of answering.

“You might as well go see her now before the changeling dignitaries arrive, you won’t get the chance later.”

Changelings. A lot had certainly changed over the past year. The biggest was Equestria’s recent peace talks with the supposed new changeling queen. A race that was once a gigantic mystery to ponies and received with open hostility after the Canterlot wedding fiasco were now attempting peaceful coexistence with what amounted to their main food source. Relations had been somewhat rocky at first, but now peace seemed to be a definite possibility.

“I might,” Flash said. “Are you going to the ceremony tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Philip said. “Not that many cases lately with the increased guard presence.”

“They’ve really pulled out all the stops for this one,” muttered Flash, taking yet another sip from his rapidly diminishing supply of the hot beverage.

Phillip nodded. “Depending how these talks go, we could be looking at peace or war with the entire changeling race. Hopefully not the latter.”

“We’re closing in on the target.” The heavily armored figure spoke into the small gem embedded into the faceplate of his helmet, “ETA ten minutes.”

“New orders, pull back, extend timetable by thirty minutes. Unexpected delay in the arrival of package alpha.” A voice replied through the earpiece in the armored figure’s helmet.

“Copy, pulling back and resuming communication silence.” The figure turned to his partner next to him. “Just how long are we gonna be pulling this thing?” he moaned, jerking his head back towards the covered sky chariot they were pulling.

“Oh quit complaining,” his partner said. “This’ll all be worth it when it’s time to move in.”

“I hope you’re right about that.”

“Please, they won’t know what hit ‘em.”

The large, empty halls caused the sound of his hoofsteps to echo, the easy rhythm lulling him into a trance.

Suddenly, his chest impacted something soft and fleshy rather than one of the crystalline walls of Friendship Castle.

“We’ve really got to stop bumping into each other like this,” Flash said, looking down at the exasperated purple alicorn glaring up at him.

“We really should,” Twilight huffed, picking up the stack of flashcards that had fallen to the floor with her magic, instantly reorganizing them. “What are you doing here, Sergeant?”

Flash sighed, he was expecting this.

“I’m not a Sergeant anymore, princess. I retired a year ago.”

“I’m aware of that, but doesn’t explain why you’re here, in my castle.”

Guess she just didn’t want to use my name then. Flash thought ruefully, “I’m just doing some sightseeing before the ceremonies… and I’d be lying if I wasn’t reminiscing a bit too.”

Twilight stared at him with a stoic expression.

Well, her poker face has certainly improved, must be from hanging around Phil so much.

“So… peace with the changelings, huh? Never thought I’d see the day.”

Twilight’s features softened somewhat. “Yes, it wasn’t easy, certainly not with the queen's’ brother being so stubborn, but I believe it might finally be possible with the signing of this treaty!”

She always did love her work. Flash thought, a small smile touching his lips.

“Anyway, I have to get going, Dawn Shield doesn’t like it when things don’t go as scheduled.” Twilight muttered, shuffling through her cards again.

“Who’s Dawn Shield?” Flash asked, cocking his head. The name was familiar, but he couldn’t place a face to it.

“He’s your replacement,” Twilight said, glancing up from her cards. “You didn’t expect me to go without a bodyguard forever, did you?”

“Ah, I see. Is he good?” Flash asked, trying to keep the small sting to his pride out of his voice.

“At his job? Yes, but he takes it too seriously. I once caught him spying on me when I went to visit Applejack with Starlight.”

Flash chuckled. “Guess I better stay out of your mane then.” He turned to leave, “See you later, princess.”

Twilight remained silent as Flash made his exit towards the castle’s main corridors before letting out the breath she had been holding.

“Twilight?” A soft voice said from behind her, startling the lavender alicorn.

Twilight spun around to see her student, Starlight Glimmer standing there with a sheepish grin on her face. “How long were you listening?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow at her student.

“The whole time, sorry!” Starlight said, as if she were a filly who had gotten caught with her hoof in the cookie jar again. Twilight sighed, shaking her head, turning to leave.

“Don’t you think you should forgive him?”

Twilight paused, turning back to Starlight. “What?”

“I said, don’t you think you should forgive him? It’s been a year, Twilight! I think he’s deserved your forgiveness by now.”

Twilight sighed again, “I know, Starlight, I know! It’s just… how can I? He’s the reason that they...” She couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Starlight put a hoof on her mentor’s shoulder, “I know, Twilight. But what happened wasn’t his fault! Look at me, I’m the mare who ended up destroying Equestria over multiple timelines, and you were able to forgive me!”

“That’s different! He could have saved them, but he didn’t! He just stood there!”

“So did I! I stood by and continually ruined Equestria’s future, not caring what horrible outcome resulted from what I did!”

Starlight took a breath. “Look, I know it hurts, but can you please give him a second chance? I know he still cares about you, he wouldn’t have come here otherwise.”

“I thought you didn’t care about him,” Twilight stated, looking sideways at her pupil.

“I don’t,” Starlight replied evenly. “But I care about you. And I know that, even if we had our disagreements, Flash was one of your best friends—more than that. And when you lost him, it hurt you badly.” She paused. “One of the friendship lessons that you taught me was that you should give ponies a second chance. And that’s what I think is best for you; to let him in again.”

At that moment, there was the sound of a throat being cleared. Turning around, Starlight and Twilight saw a unicorn Royal Guard adorned in polished golden armor standing at the other doorway. He had a pale golden coat, mane and tail and sky blue eyes that focused on Twilight with a neutral expression.

“Your Highness, Queen Synthesis and Prince Antithesis will be here within five minutes,” Dawn Shield said in a gruff voice. “You need to get ready.”

Twilight remained silent for a moment, then nodded turned on her heels and trotted away., following her Guard into the main hall. She had a welcoming speech to prepare for.

The changeling dignitaries arrived with as much fanfare that Ponyville could offer, a crowd of ponies gathering for the appearance of the changeling dignitaries for the peace summit. The sound of buzzing and wingbeats filled the air as Hive Honor Guard and Equestrian Royal Guard kept watch for any and all threats to their respective leaders while staying out of each other’s way.

Suddenly, an excited murmur erupted through the crowd as the Hive royal sky chariot closed in, coming to a stop in front of Friendship Castle. The two royal siblings stepped down from the chariot, a pair of Honor Guards landed on either side of them, escorting them to the castle gates.

Twilight Sparkle awaited them at the gates in full royal regalia, a gracious smile on her face. Dawn Shield stood stony sentinel just a few paces behind her. “Your Highnesses, welcome to Ponyville,” she said, bowing briefly. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me for this negotiation.”

“Thank you for your gracious welcome, Princess Twilight,” Queen Synthesis nodded in reply. “Let us proceed inside to finalize the treaty.”

Behind her, Prince Antithesis glared at Dawn Shield, issuing a silent challenge. Dawn met his gaze with a silent, professionally detached expression. The entourage turned and proceeded into the castle, escorted inside by the cheers of the crowd.

As she started to climb the stairs, Twilight glanced to one side and spotted Flash standing at the forefront of the crowd, Phillip standing next to him. Flash smiled brightly at her. She turned away, choosing to barely acknowledge his presence and maintaining her cold mask. Two steps behind her, Dawn Shield briefly shot Flash a glare as he passed by.

The doors closed behind the group and the crowds began to slowly scatter. Flash remained where he was standing for a moment, his shoulders slumped and his head lowered in disappointment.

“C’mon, mate,” Phillip said, patting him on the shoulder and gently guiding him away.

Meanwhile, stationed up in the gazebo on top of Carousel Boutique, PFC Zipline watched the proceedings through the scope of his rifle, panning his view carefully over the crowd. His earpiece radio clicked on. “This is Bastion, all callsigns report.”

“Overwatch one, all clear.”

Zipline pressed his hoof against the button on his throat, “Overwatch two, all clear.”

“Overwatch three, all clear.”

“Roger that, all Overwatch callsigns clear.”

Zipline sighed as he clicked off his radio. He was supposed to be taking Scootaloo camping today when Princess Twilight’s bodyguard had shown up on his doorstep and requested that he take up position as a replacement sniper, as the one that was supposed to take this position had injured himself when his gun had misfired during target practice. He was happy to help in any way, but the look of subtle disappointment on his little girl’s face as he explained they weren’t going to Rainbow Falls that day broke his heart.

“Let’s just hope that this goes without incident...” Zipline muttered as he readjusted the zoom on his scope to give him a wider field of view. There wasn’t going to be another Celestia shooting today, not on his watch.

“Package alpha has arrived, begin your approach,” the voice said.

“Copy, beginning our approach,” the armored figure replied before turning and nodding to his partner. “It’s showtime!”

“Fury one to Bastion, come in Bastion.” Spitfire said into her radio as she hovered in the sky over the Whitetail Woods

“This is Bastion, what is it?”

“We may have a problem here. Unidentified sky chariot, covered. No perceivable markings of allegiance.”

“Engage and contain, lethal force is authorised if they do not comply.”

“Copy, Fury one out.” Spitfire released the button on her radio collar, flashing hoof signals to her wingmate, a fresh-from-the-academy Wonderbolts recruit by the name Airstrike. Good kid, great instincts, Spitfire thought. He just needs a bit of experience.

Airstrike nodded, following Spitfire as they flanked the mysterious chariot.

“Attention unidentified sky chariot, you are in a no-fly zone. Please clear the premises or you will be fired upon.” Spitfire called out to the armored figures pulling the chariot.

No response.

“Hey, didn’t you hear her? Clear out!” Airstrike shouted, moving closer to the chariot.

“Airstrike! Don’t -” Spitfire began, when suddenly, the cover of the sky chariot flew off, revealing another heavily armored figure pointing a minigun at the recruit.

“EVASIVE MANEUVERS!!!” Spitfire screamed, breaking away from the sky chariot as the minigun finished spinning up, unleashing a stream of high-caliber tracer rounds into Airstrike, his bullet-ridden corpse dropping like a rock.

“Fury one to Bastion, mayday mayday, we have an enemy sky chariot inbound, Fury two is down, I repeat Fury two is down!” Spitfire shouted into her radio, only to receive static in response.

“Bastion!? Come in Bastion!” Spitfire said again, only to receive more static.

The minigun wheeled around, a line of tracers closing in on Spitfire, who used all her stunt flying experience to avoid getting hit. “Bastion, come in! Overwatch, anypony!”

Nothing but static.

Suddenly, her right wing flared with pain as a tracer round shaved off some of her primaries, causing her to lose control and spiral towards the ground. Spitfire tucked her head behind her hooves and braced herself for the inevitable crash into Whitetail woods.

She crashed through the trees, branches whipping at her as she fell and hit the ground with a thump that resounded through her bones. Her body rang with pain for a moment, and she blacked out. A few moments later, she regained consciousness, laying still on the forest floor. Spitfire groaned, clutching her aching head, her right wing hanging limply, broken by the fall and tracer round. She glanced up, spotting the enemy sky chariot as it changed course for Ponyville.

Grunting a bit, Spitfire began to limp in the direction of the main trail through the woods, moving as fast as she could.

Gotta warn somepony!

Twilight led the pair of dignitaries into the castle’s throne room, the six thrones providing enough seats for the meeting that was about to take place.

“Your highnesses, I would like you to meet my friends, Fluttershy and Rarity, the Element Bearers of Kindness and Generosity, as well as my student, Starlight Glimmer. They will be here to mediate the negotiations.” Twilight said, gesturing to the two unicorns and pegasus standing next to their respective seats.

“It is a pleasure to meet you all,” Synthesis said, bowing her head slightly. Antithesis only glared at the three.

“The pleasure is all ours, darling, and I must say, you look absolutely divine! You simply must let me draw up some designs for you when this is done,” Rarity gushed, eliciting a soft chuckle from the changeling royal.

“I may just take you up on your offer, Miss Rarity.”

“Just ‘Rarity’ will do, darling. We’re here to discuss the beginning of a friendship between our peoples, that would in turn make us friends, would it not?”

“I suppose so,” Synthesis smiled at the mare, causing her brother’s scowl to deepen.
“Perhaps we should proceed with these peace talks instead of exchanging pleasantries and self-serving drivel,” he opined, taking a seat in the Loyalty throne.

“Yes, shall we proceed?” Twilight asked, gesturing to the remaining empty thrones.

Nodding, Synthesis took a seat in the throne of laughter, while Rarity and Fluttershy took seats in their respective thrones, leaving the throne of Honesty for Starlight. Dawn Shield took his position next to Twilight, standing like a stone statue, his gaze encompassing the entire room, but occasionally flickering to Antithesis.

Twilight clapped her hooves, and a large, round table grew up out of the floor before them, displaying a map of the Principality of Equestria and the surrounding territories.

“As we’ve previously discussed, our race simply wishes for an end to hostility between our respective groups and to live in peaceful coexistence with the Equestrian nation.” Synthesis began, her face becoming one of a shrewd politician.

Twilight nodded. “We understand this. However, there are some concessions that Equestria would like to put on the table, namely the registration of all changelings living within Equestrian borders.”

“What nonsense is this!?” Antithesis growled, slamming his hoof on the table. “What reason would you ponies possibly have for monitoring our citizens in such a manner?”

“Brother, please!” Synthesis hissed, fixing her brother with a stern glare before turning her attention back to Twilight. “I would also like to know the reasoning behind such a measure, however.”

“Simply put, the changeling ability to change their form to whatever they will it presents a large security risk to Equestria; the possibility of changelings using their disguise magic for malicious purposes is one we cannot simply ignore.”

Twilight summoned several copies of a document detailing the registration process, distributing them among the table’s occupants. “The registration itself is no different than the registration process for Equestrian citizenship, with a few additional measures for changelings,” Twilight began. “We understand that each changeling selects a preferred form unique to them as part of their individuality. What we propose is that registered changelings only be allowed to shift between their natural states and their preferred disguise. Whether or not they choose to reveal what they are to the public will be left to their discretion.”

“Ummm… I’m not sure that would be very fair to the changelings, their ability to disguise themselves is just as important to them as my wings are to me.” Fluttershy said, hiding behind her mane. “But… that’s just my opinion...” she added, more quietly.

“I’m not entirely sure this is just for the peace of mind of the Equestrian nation. This wouldn’t happen to be related to the sect of my late mother’s loyalists, would it?” Synthesis asked, raising an eyebrow at the young alicorn diplomat.

“Yes, in addition we hope that these measures will restrict the movements of the terror cell known as the ‘Dread Ringers’.” Twilight confirmed.

“Such traitorous filth do not deserve to be known as members of our race.” Antithesis scoffed, crossing his forelegs over his chest. “Loyalty to one’s queen is one thing, but to abscond from their mother’s hive simply because of my sister’s ideals of peace makes them nothing more than scum.”

Synthesis read the terms once more before nodding, “We agree to these terms for the sake of the security of our two peoples.”

“Excellent,” Twilight pulled up another set of documents, “The next order of business is to acclimate ponies to changelings living among them,. We’ve already laid the groundwork, but we need to do something more concrete to show our solidarity...”

“And now, we wait,” Flash muttered, rubbing his face in his hooves to stave off the sleep that he’d been deprived of over the last few days.

Philip took a seat next to him, keeping an eye on the crowd around them. Something didn’t feel right; his crime sense had been going off all day, yet no location or crime had been revealed to him yet.

“So, where’s Daring?” Flash asked, for no other reason than to distract himself.

Phillip grinned. “She’s off in Yakyakistan, apparently she got a lead on yet another long-lost relic, something about a giant sapphire that can grant immortality.”

“Guess we’ll be getting another Daring Do book soon.” Flash remarked.

Phillip nodded, turning his attention back to the tired pegasus. “You know, it gets easier if you vent once in a while.”

Flash pulled his face out of his hooves, “What do you want me to say, Phil? I bucked up in the worst way possible, I failed her in the worst way possible.”

Phillip sighed. “There wasn’t time to save all of them: you had to decide who to save, and your duty was to protect the Princess. What happened was not your fault.” He paused for a moment, staring out at the crowds of ponies without really seeing them, then continued: “The hardest thing you learn about the job is that you can’t always save everypony.”

Flash grunted before propping his head on a hoof. “You hear about that new terrorist cell lately?”

Phillip nodded. “The Dread Ringers, a group of changeling loyalists to the old Queen Chrysalis. Didn’t really take too kindly to their new Queen’s ideals of peace. Bunch of wankers if you ask me.”

“Is that Uncle Flash and Uncle Phil?” A small voice called out, followed by the sound of tiny hooves galloping towards them.

“Tootsie, Lyra! Slow down! I can’t keep up!” A tired voice called, the speaker wheezing slightly.

“Flash! It’s been donkey’s years since I last saw you! How are things?” Lyra said excitedly, chasing after her filly.

“I’m fine Lyra, where’s Bon Bon?” Flash asked, plastering a faux smile on his face.

“Here...” a voice moaned from behind the pair of overly excited ponies, as the wheezing candymare made her way to the rest of the group.

“Bonnie, you really need to get into shape,” Lyra chuckled, bumping her wife with her flank, earning a sour look from the candy maker.

“I wouldn’t be out of breath if you and Tootsie would stop suddenly running everywhere!” Bon Bon wheezed, trying to regain her breath, much to the amusement of Lyra and Tootsie.

Suddenly, Phillip’s crime sense spiked. His head turned of its own accord, looking up at the incoming armored sky chariot that was bearing down on the town His eyes narrowed at the distinctive shape of a cannon extending from the chariot’s side. His hackles rose so fast he barely had time to react.

“GET DOWN!” Phillip shouted, tackling Lyra and Tootsie while Flash tackled Bon Bon, seconds before the bench they had been sitting on seemingly tore itself to splinters from the tracer rounds ripping through it.

Screams began to fill the air as the sky chariot began to unload another burst of bullets further down the street, turning several ponies into swiss cheese.

“We’ve gotta go!” Flash shouted, shocking Bon Bon out of her stupor. “Phil, get them somewhere safe, I’ll go warn Twilight!”

“Wait, Flash!” Phillip shouted as the pegasus galloped off toward the castle. “Bugger,” he muttered, turning to the two mares and their filly. “We’re going, stick close and follow me!”

“Come on, Tootsie, get on,” Lyra said, lowering herself so her daughter could climb on her back. “Look right at mama and nowhere else, okay?”

The filly nodded, wrapping her forehooves around Lyra’s neck and burying her muzzle in her mane.

With the filly secured, Phillip spared one last glance towards the castle, saying a silent prayer for Flash before leading the two mares away, careful to stay out of sight of the enemy sky chariot.

This wasn’t supposed to happen, there was no way that sky chariot should’ve been able to enter Ponyville airspace! Zipline took a breath. Calm down, Zipline. Panicking isn’t going to help anypony right now.

He clicked on his radio, “Bastion, this is Overwatch two, be advised there is a rogue sky chariot in restricted airspace, currently gunning down civilians.”

Static.

“Bastion, come in Bastion! Damn!” Zipline clicked off his radio, before peering down his rifle’s scope again, No choice but to make a judgement call here.

Slowing his breathing, Zipline aligned his scope with his target: the visor that was the only gap in the faceplate of the chariot’s pilot. His mind buzzed with numerous calculations, taking into account wind speed, bullet drop, and the speed of his target.

Zipline drew in a breath, gathering all his fears and doubts into one package in his gut before exhaling and expelling said package, leaving his mind empty except for the sheer need to hit his mark.

Zipline slowly dragged his scope along the chariot’s flight path, and fired.

This was proving to be more boring than the first chariot driver thought, dully flying around while the gunner in the back was having all the fun, cackling as he toyed with the ponies below before ending their suffering, like some mad god as he cut down ponies, guard and civilian alike.

He was cursing his terrible luck at drawing straws when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. “What the—”

He was silenced as the sniper round flew into his visor, instantly turning his head into jelly before pinging around inside his thick helmet, as if the bullet had a personal grudge against him.

His body slumped down, a trail of jellied grey matter and bone fragments spilling out from the gaps in his helmet. The sudden deadweight caused the chariot to spin out of control, tossing the gunner from his perch, sending him screaming to the ground below where he broke his neck in front of a pony wearing a grey trilby and two mares.

The other pilot screamed like a school filly, struggling to right the chariot before he too met a similar fate, crashing to the ground with a resounding crash.

“Princess, we have a situation,” Dawn Shield said, clicking off his radio, all heads in the room turning to him.“If you would all follow me to the panic room.” This was punctuated by a loud boom echoing from the castle gates. “Preferably right now,” he amended, wincing slightly.

Twilight nodded. “Everyone, please follow Dawn Shield’s instructions and head for the panic room,” she said calmly.

“What’s going on?” Starlight asked, panic in her eyes.

“I can guess...” Antithesis grumbled. “We should have expected for the Dread Ringers to make a move, this summit was too good of a target for them to pass up.”

“This way please,” Dawn Shield said irritably, looking as though he was tempted to forcibly drag the attendees out if necessary.

The ponies and changelings followed the guard out the chamber doors, flanked by members of Royal and Hive guard as they made their way to the panic room.

Flash rounded a corner as the rogue sky chariot crashed in the marketplace. Good riddance, he thought darkly as he unfurled his wings, using them to boost his speed towards the castle.

What’s the point? Dawn Shield will take care of everything, you can just run away like last time.

“Shut up,” Flash growled as he closed in on the castle gates. The guards that had once protected the gate were now bullet-ridden corpses, cut down by minigun fire. His stomach lurched at the sight, and his heart grew cold at the thought of Twilight and his other friends trapped inside.

Suddenly, the gate exploded outward, the large doors slamming into Flash and knocking him onto his side. His head impacted against a rock.

The last thing Flash saw before he blacked out were black forms brandishing submachine guns rushing for the now open gate.

Author's Note

Whew! Gotta say, the struggle was REAL for this one! Hope you all enjoy. Thanks for reading and be sure to leave your comments/opinions below!

(And Happy Birthday Josiah! LEST I FORGET AND BRING ABOUT THE WRATH OF PINKAMENA)