The old world

“Ahhh!” Shining rose from his sleep, panting heavily. Looking to his left, the stallion sighed in relief, Cadence still fitfully asleep. For some reason though, he could still feel an odd stabbing pain in his gut. After quickly glancing down, Shining couldn’t help but smile. Andromeda was, like all the others, sleeping soundly, her claws digging slightly into the pony’s skin. It wasn’t too painful, and he did not wish to wake the youngling, so the unicorn slowly laid back down, returning again to his slumber.

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Luna awoke from slumber, groggy to say the least. The rising and falling chest of Whitehooves brought back a flood of memories, causing a smile to creep over Luna’s face. She quickly wondered if she had gotten enough sleep, but ignored the thought, dragging herself out of bed. Her clock indicated that the sun had not yet risen, but she was already behind schedule. It was only an hour before six o’clock, at which time she would have to send a letter to her sister and have all the equestrian citizens ready to launch. It was important that the fleet took advantage of the entire day. All the carriers from the previous night had already been packed away, leaving just the sailing crews to be prepped.

“John, wake up, we have to get ready.” The stallion in question replied with an agitated groan. Luna rolled her eyes, levitating a wooden mug of water towards the bed. She smiled mischievously as the water poured over Whitehooves’ face. Unfortunately, the reaction elicited was little more than for the Admiral to bat away the mug and get up to a sitting position.

“Alright, alright, I would have gotten up.” Little could be said for John’s or Luna’s appearance. Both had frizzy manes and appeared considerably unkempt. A mirror and comb quickly remedied the situation, but time was slipping away. The Admiral donned his commander’s coat, which was now a day old, and needed a wash. In contrast to John’s expectation, Luna placed her regular ceremonial armour away, choosing instead, a coat similar to her mate’s, but with a deep blue exterior and creamy white lining, rather than the bright red which the stallion wore. Golden epaulettes adorned the coats shoulder pads. The lapels and collar also had golden markings, giving her an air of authority. To top it off, she donned a black front facing bicorn hat; the front tip had a hole in it to accommodate her horn, while the back jutted out above Luna’s neck line. The outfit was befitting of any admiral. This too, was adorned with gold lace.

“What do you think?” Luna asked her mate, slightly apprehensive of what his response might be.

“It’s… different. Can I ask what prompted the change?” Luna frowned slightly. She had worked in secret for weeks to organise her new uniform.

“I don’t want to be the shadow of my sister. I need to be my own mare, show the citizens that I am worthy of their respect.” John couldn’t help but laugh. The Princess’s petty worries were quite amusing to the stallion.

“Oh Lulu, you don’t need to prove yourself. Every pony here would lay down their life for you, hell, I dou…” The Admiral was interrupted by Luna, who threw a pillow at him.

“I’m serious John, I know you mightn’t think so, but everypony’s respect for me is simply an extension from their reverence of Tia. Most of the aristocracy still think I am a war criminal.” The tears which Luna was now fighting back were clear, memories of Nightmare at the forefront of her mind. John knew exactly who she was talking about; Blueblood. He moved forward, nuzzling his mate’s cheek.

“Alright, let’s go out there and prove it.” John smiled briefly, before adding; “You look beautiful by the way, a hint of danger clearly makes a good replacement for jewellery.” The remark succeeded in forcing out a choked laugh, one which the stallion joined in with earnest. The Admiral donned his own tricorn hat, before exiting with his mate.

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Most of the crew was either still asleep, or only just waking when the ships finally launched from the docks. Due to the attack on Twilight and Cavalier, the scheduled departure had been moved to early morning, decreasing the risk of unwanted stowaways. The dozen or so sailponies scurrying around the deck of the “Chalice of Hope” were fresh and well rested, allowing a quick exit from the curious island. John watched the far horizon, an expanse of dark blue, broken only by the golden sky of the pre-morning. Luna had, as he was told the previous night, relinquished control over the setting of the moon to her sister for the time being, allowing her to more effectively deal with affairs of state. However, the Princess still wished to be in control of the moon’s assent each night, in fear that she may become obsolete. Whitehooves understood well enough, the nobles in Canterlot were like ravenous timber wolves. If any thought Luna was incapable of performing her duties, they scrambled at the opportunity to usurp her position. The most troubling of all had been Blueblood. When Luna had proposed the move from an absolute monarchy to that of a constitutional form, the pompous unicorn had fought against it, bitter and vicious. He claimed that the earth ponies would rise up against the nobility, pulling Equestria into chaos. Of course, none of this ever happened, but it was damaging to Luna’s reputation. Thankfully, Celestia supported the idea in full, silencing the troubling stallion as much as possible. This was only partially successful however, as Blueblood still held a large amount of sway, especially in the unicorn dominated districts.

“If she can betray Equestria once, she will do it again.” This had been the mantra that Blueblood and his more vocal supporters, had used to oppose her actions. If it were not for his then lowly position, John would have kicked his flank to The Changeling Kingdom. Then there was the issue with the “Bill of Rights”, brought in after The Great War. The bill was designed by Luna and the parliament which she had created. Its own drafting was a process which caused huge uproars within the parliament, as was the nature of discourse between two competing parties. But, after minor modification it had passed for submission to the noble’s for a vote, the aristocracy still serving it’s now diminishing purpose. The Bill entailed that individuals all civilised species that wished sanctioning within Equestria, would be subject to the same laws as any pony. In addition, nations which were protectorates of Equestria, namely the Nation of Griffona, would be able to act autonomously in the formulation of their taxation laws, administration and to a limited extent, armed forces. Finally, it entailed that taxation within Equestria be accorded to annual income, unlike before, where taxation remained constant despite one’s position in the economy. This last reform was the one which angered Blueblood and his supporters the most. Fortunately though, the populous loved the idea, so the aristocracy had been forced to take more desperate measures. They said the bill would allow changelings into Equestria, which was technically true, but in their scare campaign, the nobles forgot to mention that all individuals crossing the borders would face a screening test capable of telling those of harmful intent from otherwise. There were posters all over Canterlot depicting the royal wedding between Cadence and Shining, along with cartoons of ponies being sucked dry. The ignorance of some ponies had truly been astounding to John. Had they bothered to research Changelings, they would know that there were in fact many different kinds. Those lead by Chrysalis were only a small minority, one of the more militant of the changeling factions. Despite the anger of Blueblood, most of the Aristocracy was not overtly opposed, thus the “Bill of Rights” was passed. Soon, changelings of many tribes began the process of immigration. It was slow at first, only a few hundred deciding to live in Equestria, but after showing that they could feed on love without the need to take it by force, ponies began to trust the newcomers. Some ponies even became friends with the misunderstood species, which allowed the process of reconciliation after the wedding to finally begin. There had even been talk of a few individuals falling in love. It was still an extremely touchy issue, fought by Blueblood all the while, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Admiral, the Princess has new orders for you.” The sound of the night guard’s voice brought Whitehooves back to reality.

“Go ahead, Private” John motioned with a forward tilt of his head.

“The two prisoners are to be shown around the ship at their leisure; however they must be accompanied by Shining Armour and two guards at all times.” The guard extended the scroll he had been reading from, revealing the remainder of John’s orders. “In addition, Princess Luna requests that the elder prisoner be sent across to “The Explorer” just before sunset. The Princess would like to speak with it personally.” Although John had been, at first, quite disdainful of the Praetorians, he knew from experience with changelings, that there wasn’t any way he could denigrate an entire species. Frowning at the guard’s terminology, Whitehooves made a mental note that he wouldn’t tolerate any taunting of the pair, who were after all only children by any standard.

“Him, not it, Private, and they are our guests, not prisoners. Don’t make me remind you again, dismissed.” The guard blinked in slight confusion, but did not question his superior.

“Yes, Admiral, my apologies, Admiral.” Although undetectable to the average pony, years of practise allowed John to notice the slight insincerity present in the night guard’s voice. He could only watch as the guard flew back to “The Explorer”, eventually turning towards the stairs so that he might inform Captain Armour.

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“Thanks again for looking after her. I know Sparkling can be quite a handful.” Shining tried to levitate some bits over to Sorrin and Swift, but the latter pushed them back with a hoof.

“There is no need, just make sure Twilight makes a full recovery.” Swift replied, receiving a smile from his mate in agreement.

“Well, in that case, could I ask a favour?” Both stallions nodded in reply. Shining wondered if they were related to fluttershy. Kindness was a value that many ponies seemed to lack, much the Shining’s dismay. “I am currently looking after two Praetorians, both of which are the equivalent of Sparkling’s age, one of them even younger.” The Pegasi’s faces hardened slightly, but the waited for the Captain to finish. “I also understand that you are currently off duty, but I would appreciate it if you could accompany us while we roam the ship. Unofficially, they are simply guests, refugees even, but officially they are still technically prisoners and require a guard. I would proffer it to be ponies I trust, but if you decline I shall understand.” To Shining’s surprise, they both said yes, but Sorrin did offer a warning.

“I can guarantee everypony on board is not going to like the situation.”

“The officers should, within the next half hour, receive a note explaining the situation.” Armour offered a confident smile. “Don’t worry, if anypony steps out of line, I’ll take care of them. In either case, you two are quite the heroes. There is quite the possibility that your presence will help keep everypony happy.” Swift raised an eyebrow, partially mirroring his mate’s expression.

“We only did what any guard would do.” Despite the modest look the Pegasus tried to present, Shining could not help but notice a hint of pride emanating from the stallion.

“I suppose that is true, none the less, do not shirk your new found reputation so lightly, everypony could use a boost in moral.” Shining gave both stallions a nod, gesturing their dismissal. “Be outside my cabin in one hour.”

“Yes, Captain.” The pair replied in unison, turning to trot down the hallway. The unicorn was left with his thoughts for a moment before opening his sister’s door behind him. She needed the support, plus it would give Shining a chance to become more aquatinted with his sister’s comrade and, it seemed, mate; Cavalier.