Darkness had set in long ago, and the cool night air was blowing hard across the fields and trees of the area. Ponyville, having long since calmed down for the day, showed no sign of activity, with its residents all safe and warm in their own homes rather than being out tonight. But the town was far-away now, and two lone ponies journeyed together beyond its outskirts in the gloom of the night, bearing serious looks of professionalism about them. Shining Armour, Captain of the Ponyville contingent of the Equestrian Guard, walking alongside Captain Aurora Dash. Though this was far from the first time these two ponies had worked together, the sight of them both operating as one would have still seemed like a strange thing for anypony who'd been observing them, especially if they knew them well enough. For a time, neither of them said anything, but as they reached a particularly grassy-looking ridge, Shining raised a hoof, silently suggesting that they stop.
Aurora, for her part, did as instructed, halting just behind him as Shining narrowed his eyes. His ears twitched for a time, trying to listening out for some sound in particular, and soon, Aurora caught it also. There was someone or something out there, though who, they didn't know. Slowly, Shining began to crouch down, moving towards the ridge in a slower fashion than before. Aurora followed suit, furling her wings and trying to keep as quiet as possible, which was certainly helped by the loud blowing of the wind that dogged their every movement. Eventually, they managed to reach the ridge, and then looked down. Below, there seemed to be a small fireplace, and around it were a trio of what looked like bipedal canines, all gathered around the flames for warmth. Raising an eyebrow, Aurora turned to Shining, who answered her unspoken question.
"We call them Diamond Dogs."
He narrowed his eyes at the trio below.
"Equestria has had trouble with them before. A few centuries ago, they used to be a real danger, kidnapping ponies and putting them to work in their mines. But now? Now they just do their own digging...for the most part."
Aurora frowned at her companion.
"And the kidnapping?"
Shining sighed.
"Every once in a while, they get it into their heads to try their luck at it. But the Guard have been there to stop them for generations now. Any time they try it, we stop them."
Aurora looked to the Dogs herself.
"Then let's stop them now, before it gets to that point!"
Shining turned to her with a disapproving frown.
"We may have been under your command during our last mission, but this is my turf! Here, you follow my lead!"
Aurora grumbled at that, but nevertheless accepted his words, relaxing herself a bit.
"If these beasts have given your people that much of a headache, why wait? You know they'd only come this far to Ponyville because they want to try taking another pony, right?"
Shining nodded.
"Perhaps...but we're not going to start a fight here unless we have to."
His companion rolled her eyes.
"You're a soldier, Shining. Soldiers fight the enemies of their people. They keep them safe. Say we wait here and see them wander off. What then? They go away, maybe to some Equestrian village that doesn't have a squad of guards there, and attack!"
But Shining simply shook his head.
"We will not start a fight, Captain Dash...but if a fight does start, we'll finish it."
Aurora chuckled.
"Tough talk, Captain."
For a time, it was once more silence between them, but after a while, the mare looked to her partner for the mission with a degree of curiosity.
“Tell me...why did you join the military?”
Shining looked to her and raised an eyebrow.
“Why do you ask?”
Aurora shrugged her shoulders.
“Dunno. You Equestrians never struck me as being soldier types. Everything I heard about you before coming over tended to paint you as...well...pretty soft.”
Rolling his eyes, Shining once more focused on their targets for the night, and when he finally did answer, it was with a more serious tone.
“It was my Father, I suppose. From the time I could walk, everypony kept telling me how proud I should be to have somepony like him in my life. A soldier renowned throughout Canterlot. One of Celestia’s best. I guess...I just wanted to follow in his hoof-steps.”
Taking that in, Aurora too looked to the Dogs as she replied to that.
“Not much difference on my side of things. Both my folks were in the Guard. It’s how they met. Everypony in our kingdom is always told how service to your nation is the greatest thing you can do. It’s why so many colts and fillies dream of enlisting, or at least helping to provide for the country in some other way. To follow the Queen, to aid her in keeping our nation strong...it’s the best thing a Lunar pony could ever ask for.”
This time, it was Shining’s turn to look to his partner with curiosity.
“Do you truly believe that, Aurora?”
Aurora turned to him, frowning slightly.
“I’ve been living this life since I came of age, Captain. Believe me, nothing has made me happier than knowing my actions, and those of my troops, have helped keep my people safe from the monsters of our world.”
He knew what the answer was going to be, and yet hearing it didn’t put him at ease any more so. So, instead, the stallion did his best to ignore her comments, focusing instead on how the Dogs, finally, were starting to move off, putting out their fire before heading father away. Shining gestured to Aurora, who nodded to him before starting to follow him. In the dark of the night, with the wind howling around them, it took little effort for them to stay hidden from their quarry, never getting close enough to be heard or seen. As they journeyed, however, Shining looked back to his cohort for the night and, wanting to soften the mood somewhat, spoke up again.
"Tell me...how do you like Ponyville so far?"
Aurora shrugged her shoulders.
"Hard to say. I've never spent this much time away from my homeland. Your sister's alright. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. Applejack too, but the rest? That's trickier."
They stopped, seeing that the Dogs had begun to do some digging at a nearby cliff-face, the sound of their pickaxes doing much to obscure the ponies' presence to them.
"That Mayor gets on my nerves though. How she ever got a job of leadership, I'll never know."
Shining chuckled.
"Well, that's democracy for you."
Aurora raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, right. That big idea of yours of letting everypony have a say in who leads them. Trust me, you'd be better off having somepony who's spent their life being trained for the job."
Shining frowned to that.
"Say what you will, but we like having a voice in politics here. Helps keeping one pony from getting too much power."
Aurora, in response, shrugged her shoulders.
"You may say that now, but if you get yourself a weak or ineffective local leader, you might not like it quite so much."
A smirk came to her.
“Heck, given how poorly the Mayor reacted after your sister was nearly taken by Changelings, you probably already start to feel that way.”
Shining said nothing as she carried on.
“I mean, what was it she said? She was shocked and appalled at the situation? Didn’t hear much in the way of solutions to that massive security breach, now did we?”
The stallion, naturally, was a little irritated at her words, but tried instead to focus on the Dogs ahead.
"Hmmm...from the looks of it, I'd say that they're too far away from Ponyville to really be a threat to the area."
Aurora nodded.
"So what now?"
Shining faced her again.
"We go back, we inform Canterlot of their position and movements, and we let them know that it's unlikely that they'll try to harm the locals."
Again, the mare considered that, and as they moved away from their position, she glanced back over her shoulder.
"My offer still stands, Shining. One good fight and they and their kind be too terrified to even think of coming near here again, or near any other pony for that matter."
Her frown deepened.
“If nothing else, I don’t want to end this mission without feeling like I've actually accomplished something.”
But Shining shook his head.
"That's the difference between you and me, Aurora. When I see an enemy, I don't want to keep them as my enemy."
Aurora stopped for a while, seeing her partner in this mission walk away briefly before smirking to herself.
"Yep...you're Twilight's brother alright."
