“Et ihesum benedictum fructus ventris tui, nobis post hoc exilium ostende,”

August, 18th, 2555…

Neptune System…

Equestria...

Ponyville…

Princess Twilight Sparkle…

2101 hours…

The Ponyville Police Department. The shining light in darkness of the local ponies, the law that lays the line between good and evil, the badge that strikes fear into miscreants everywhere. I had approached the building slowly and stopped to marvel at it for a moment, feeling the weight of its presence overwhelm me, as if I felt safe, just by standing near it. It was an impressively massive structure, it was elegantly built with a modern architectural design. It’s three stories tall, and made out of strong grey concrete, with lined blue colored stone accents marking each floor, wrapping around it twice till it reached the top, like a belt, all topped off with a black flat roof. Just by standing near this structure I could feel an overwhelming sense of right take over me, as if it was prompting my soul to make a difference, make a change in my community. Something that I had already been doing my whole life but now, it felt justified, amplified as if a wave of patriotism invaded my mind as soon as I read the big white letters on the entrance sign.

“Ponyville Borough Police Department, Fidelis Ad Mortem,” The last bit was ancient lettering that read, ‘Fidelity Unto Death.’ A motto in which I could definitely tell that the Police had taken very literally. I have seen that they held such honor and respect for each other, and for the ponies of Ponyville. Such respect for law and order, and for the flag that they wear on their arm, and the flag they salute. They took a pledge and had gone through proper training, to fight and protect the innocents of the land, something I had never really done before. Sure I had defended Equestria before, but, I wasn’t a Police Officer, or a Soldier, heck, I didn’t even have a rank, well besides the Princess of Magic & Friendship. But it’s not like I was a Captain, or a sergeant or whatever. I was just a civilian, now a politician.

But maybe if I hold myself with the same amount of professionalism that I do as a Princess, as I do as a public servant especially around them, maybe I could earn their respect. Well besides the respect that I have already earned, having done countless things in the past that they would have done themselves if they had my power.

I walked up the stairs to the massive building and approached the set of four clear glass doors. I looked around for anypony as if I was to go in another way, or that somepony was waiting for me, but as I didn’t see anypony, the most obvious way in, was probably where I was supposed to go. So I pushed the doors inward, and they didn’t open as I bumped into it roughly. I narrowed my eyes and looked at the door for a moment, before pulling on it. And sure enough, it opened right up. Everything I had thought about, professionalism, being a public servant, was compromised right there, as I couldn’t even open a door. I looked around in embarrassment as I felt my cheeks grow a bit red. I cleared my throat and walked inside quickly trying not to be seen in the act.

I walk past another set of doors almost immediately and enter a lobby. It was well lit and was very clean. I was happy to see this to say the least. Along the walls were chairs and benches with coffee tables in between. On the coffee tables were pamphlets, leaflets, and other informational circulars that were of course neatly stacked. Besides the occasional door or water fountain, the walls were lined with light fixtures and paintings, most of which depicted Ponyville in its youth, or famous ponies to the Police. The paintings were not pictures taken by cameras, they were full brushed paintings. I stopped for a moment to admire one and found them to be of impressive quality. But, not wanting to waste anymore time, I carried on.

At the back of the lobby was a counter, behind reinforced glass was a pony, a stallion that was sitting at a chair behind a desk, reading a book. And though of course my curiosity was peaked on what book he was reading I had other things to do at the moment, besides reading. My hooves echoed across the empty hall as they crossed the floor to the receptionist. I assumed he heard me for the book came down slowly, and as his eyes met mine I could tell he was caught off guard. His pupils grew wide and the book fell to the desk quickly, nay, he nearly dropped it. He then straightened his blackish blue uniform, and straightened his police cap, and crossed his fingers on the desk, all before I made it to the counter. Though I would not have cared how he looked, I admired his ability to present himself, of which I was satisfied with.

“Good evening Princess Twilight, it’s an honor to have you in my lobby today! How may I help you?” The Police Officer spoke with a deep and clear voice, it sounded pre recorded as if he had been practicing. It was so perfect it caught me off guard. But not enough for it to show, as I maintain my composure. He had a rank on his shoulder, so he wasn't a mere Officer, I knew that much. Being around Shining when I was young, basically forced me to learn some things about soldiers, and military stuffs, as he would always be talking to Guardsman around me, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough that I could call the stallion by rank. So I figured I would guess, and hopefully not offend him.

“Yes, a good evening it is uh.. Sergeant..?” I spoke with unease in my voice. The Officer looked to his rank and smiled bashfully, he shook his head lightly.

“No ma’am, Corporal, Corporal Frankpledge,” He said, looking back to me, I nod in understanding and smile too, mirroring his.

“Yes Corporal, I’m here to help with the TimberWolves problem, I brought the dossier I was provided with earlier,” I quickly reach into a saddlebag I had strung over my shoulder, bringing out the folder that was given to me by the chief. I go to put it down on the ledge, assuming he would want to take it back, but as he saw it come out and heard what I had said, he reached down to his desk and pressed a button and spoke in a small microphone. He then pointed at the dossier and then to my saddlebag. I guess that meant he didn’t need it, so I put it away quickly

“Sergeant Huecry, Lieutenant Falchion, the Princess is here to deal with the TimberWolves and take part in Operation, Lighting Spear,” Operation Lightning Spear, I don’t remember them giving this mission a name, let alone a name with such a violent title. The Officer looked up at me and nodded quickly.

“They’ll be out momentarily to retrieve you, just wait a few seconds please your majesty,” The stallion said with his professional tone of voice.

“Operation Lightning Spear? I don’t remember that name being said in the dossier,” I said to the Officer, confused, hoping that he would shed some light on the situation for me. He continued to look at me with a smile, before it dropped off a bit into a look of suspicion, he nodded his head and looked around cautiously, as if looking for somepony around us. Finding nopony near, he beckoned me with his hand and following his motion, I quickly came closer.

“I’m technically not supposed to tell you this but, a few weeks ago, around the same time you were given the option to join the mission, a Lieutenant in the Royal Guard, by the name of Iron Falchion walked into the station with two other Guardpony’s. The two under his command were carrying a massive wooden crate that required both of their strength to lift, and when they walked in, they requested to speak with the Chief of Police when he returned from the Ponyville Town Hall. He showed me some papers that, looked in order and I even ran it by my sergeant, but in the end, he disappeared into the station and I haven’t seen him since,” When the Officer was finished talking a wave of dread grab me.

Royal Guard? Mysterious Crates? What kind of mission was this? But, I guess I could see why this wasn’t added into the mission dossier, this happened after it was given to me, and I guess they didn’t want whatever was going to happen to get out to the public through me, so they just never told me. But if, that was the case, what exactly is going to happen? Why all the secrecy? I have so many questions that I needed to say, and needed answers to, but I knew asking the Receptionist wouldn’t help, seeings how he is just as lost as I am.

Luckily I didn’t need to wait for answers much longer, for a set of doors on the right wall of the lobby opened up and two figures stepped through them, and approached me. Their hoof steps were perfectly in sync and they were almost perfectly the same height and build. One was dressed like the Officer at the desk, except he was wearing a black leathery belt around his waist with lots of equipment around it. His fur was a moderate shade of blue and his mane was a silvery black. It was combed back over his head, but it was mostly hidden by his officers cap. His eyes were a hot shade of yellow that were as bright as the sun, and almost seemed to glow from the rest of his colors.

The other one was, what I could only assume was the mysterious Lieutenant that was in question. He wore, a strange looking Equestrian Guard Uniform. It wasn't a officers dress, like something Shining would wear, but it was a full battle ready set of armor. It held an impressive polish and glowed against the lights of the lobby. It fit his frame perfectly as it covered his chest, abdomen, and neck, there was even a piece of armor that descended to his groin which kept that safe too. The lower half of his body was covered in similar armor, as his knees were protected. And though it seemed in order, this armor was, a very different looking uniform set.

I had been around guards before, at my palace, at Canterlot, and the Crystal Empire and I had taken time, mostly out of boredom… I think, to stare at the bodies and the form of the guards as they marched about the grounds. They were akin to knights and each one of them seemed as if you could have bucked them in the chest as hard as you could and they would probably push you away. For they were all covered head to hooves in knights armor with chainmail underneath, with spears and swords.

But this Guard, wasn’t like that at all. His uniform lacked the whole Knight look, there was no chainmail, and he wasn’t even wearing a helmet. This armor seemed more streamlined, as if he took the Knight look, and stripped it down to the basics. The chest armor was held in place by leather straps that connected it together underneath his arms and around his sides. His leg armor held that same design as it held up the armor bits up by brown leather straps, that were around the back of his legs.

But beneath all of this, was a uniform, no chainmail at all. It was blue and made out of cloth. And he wore a pair of black boots as well that had his blue uniforms pants legs tucked into. This whole ensemble looked so simple, yet foreign to me at the same time, to the point where I couldn’t help but stare at the shocking differences he had, compared to what I had come to expect the Guards to look like. But I guess it really didn't matter, a Guards uniform was his uniform, and plus, times change the way things look, so I didn’t make it a big deal.

“Good afternoon your majesty it is a pleasure to finally meet with you face to face. My name is Lieutenant Iron Falchion,” The Guard said as the two finally came to a rest in front of me.

But as they came to a rest, the guard reached forward with his hand, and grabbed ahold of mine. I assumed it to be a handshake, and smiled, ready to begin to shake. But was caught immediately off guard as he raised it to his lips and planted a tender kiss on it, as he took a bow. It lasted but a few seconds, but the shock of the stallion performing it made it last forever to me. It sort of felt good in a way... and it made my eyes widen up a bit as I looked down at him, while my cheeks burned red hot. Nopony had ever really done that to me before, let alone a Guardspony, so to say I was embarrassed was a extreme understatement.

And as he let go and regained his composure I stared at him for a moment catching my breath while lowering my hand, back to my side, still feeling his lips on my fur. I was supposed to look professional in front of the Police, and now I needed to impress the guard, and I was off to a rough start already compromising my cool. Maybe I was overreacting, or maybe a blush was what he was looking for, maybe he was trying to impress me as well, maybe I was overthinking things? So clearing my mind, and apart from the blush and a quick clearing of my throat I smiled again and nodded in response to his name.

“Pleasure to meet you sir. I was not expecting your arrival or presence during this mission, but it is a welcome sight to see,” I say in response. In which he nods his head once and smiles confidently.

“I assure you ma’am, my presence here is solely to make this mission flow much smoother, while also improving the protection of the common pony here and abroad ma’am,” The Police Officer, seeing an opportunity to make an impression on me made himself known as I looked over to him, by cocking a quick salute while introducing himself.

“Sergeant Cuff Huecry, Ponyville Police Department, ma’am. It is an absolute honor to be working with you today. I was your original point of contact for this operation, as explained in your mission dossier, and I am pleased that you showed up on time. Then again, there was no doubt in my mind that you would not show up on time. I am just pleased that the night is off to a good start already,” He came placing his arms behind his back, while standing at the position of attention. The lieutenant looked over at him and nodded.

“That makes two of us Princess, and in keeping with the mission Schedule, I believe we have swapped pleasantries for long enough, I think it is time for us to get down to brass tacks and move on with our evening, if you would not mind following us,” The guard turned to his right and motioned towards the doors they came from. I nodded in response quickly trying not to waste time, and trying to overshadow my blushing from earlier.

“Of course, the sooner we deal with this TimberWolves problem the sooner I can give the go ahead for the Fall Festival, which has been the topic of many conversations between I and the Mayor of Ponyville,” I say as the two stallions turn and begin to lead me further into the station.

As we walked we talked about many things, and as we did I looked around us and marvelled at the interior of the Police Department. Room after room that were all mysteries to me, the knowledge of their use completely flying over my head. I had no real knowledge of what went on in here, but I did know that every room had a purpose and everypony that was employed here was doing there part to make Ponyville and Equestria a safer place.

But it still annoyed me that I was lost in this environment, that I was ignorant to something I did not understand, I wanted to learn about this stuff before the mission but I was to busy and couldn’t get around to it. Reading about the lives Police Officers, Protecting Ponies in a lawful manner, and what any of these ponies were actually doing in here. I always crave knowledge of things that I do not know, and this made me feel… stupid. But as I moved further into the Police Station, and listened to the Sergeant ramble on about protocols and codes and other things, I began to forget about my lack of knowledge and just, listen and learn as he talked. And soon enough, I was just happy to be apart of something bigger. And because of this, I didn’t really care that I was ignorant anymore, In fact I didn’t even care that the Royal Guard was involved now in someway, in fact I welcomed it. I wasn’t sure what came over me, but it felt good, it felt good to be in here. It felt good to be an official public servant.

We finally reached a room that I had the fortunate ability to enter, alongside my more experienced friends, and upon entering said room of which was at the end of the hallway we had been walking through, a wave of excitement washed over me. The room was an armory, I could tell that much, the walls were thick and strong looking and the lights, of which now hung from the ceiling, were much brighter than the Lobby. Lining the walls were lockers and racks for weapons and uniforms, and in between the lockers were benches for getting dressed.

Ponies walked about dressed in Police Uniforms, while also wearing armor that was unique to the Police, but still looked like Military gear to the uninformed eye. It was Knights armor through and through, but it was a little bit watered down from its Military counterpart. It lacked the arm armor and was without the chainmail underneath. The armor wasn’t Gold, but a Midnight Black, and ‘Police,’ was written in white lettering on the front left of the breastplate, and in bigger lettering on the back of the armor from shoulder to shoulder. The helmet matched the Knight look, accept for the Visor, of which was made of Plexiglass instead of steel. I could only assume that this armor that the Police wore was Riot Gear, for I had never seen it before as there had been zero riots in Ponyville, thank god.

All of the Police Officers were armed with very odd and long looking black riot batons, they seemed to have a large rectangular bulb at the end, and were as long as there chests were wide. A holster for this weapon was provided to each officer, and were slung over their chests and rested at their hip. The only other two stallions in the room that didn’t look like them were the Royal Guardpony’s that were apart of the Lieutenants group. They walked around without any weapons in there hands, and were dressed in a similar way to the Lieutenant.

Except they were wearing helmets, of which much like the rest of their armor, looked much different than before, or what I had come to assume that there armor looked like before now. It lacked the blue fur mohawk at the top, and exposed the back of their necks. Their ears were hidden as well. Where they should have popped out at, were two little nubs that had vents for, what I assumed was hearing. The helmet covered most of the head, except the front, of which was left open around the eyes and the snout. The front of the helmet came to about eye level, and curved out a bit with a small lip. Despite all of the differences this new helmet had over the old ones, it was the Guardpony’s helmet, and it was still part of their uniform, so I needed to respect it.

But I wanted to look at it more, admire its shape and ingenuity, but as I started walking left of my group towards the two soldiers, a voice crashed over the room.

“The Princess Approaches!” It was coming from the Lieutenant, and it echoed across the walls and reverbed around us, it was almost ear shatteringly loud, and made me stiffen up like a wooden board. The entire room dropped what they were doing and rushed over in front of us and knelt before me, then silence came. The whole room went from lively to calm in but a few seconds, and I was impressed. No, I was proud, that they were able to perform this act in such a small amount of time, and it was all for me. And seeings how they were kneeling before me, it was up to me, I assumed, to dismiss them, which I guessed is what they were waiting for, for a few seconds passed, and nopony said anything.

“A-At ease!” I said loudly with a strong undertone of confidence, and a shred of resurfacing embarrassment. And much to my relief, the stallions before me rose and went about their business once again, now much quieter than before. I nearly giggled at that quick bout of power that I held over them, but then remembered the professionalism of those around me, and so I went back to keeping calm, and pushing forth my confidence and suppressing my embarrassment. The Guard Lieutenant walked in front of me and beckoned me with an open hand, while the Police Sergeant went off to tend with his Officers.

“Please your majesty, follow me. I have mission critical information to share with you before we leave the Station,” This sounded as if my answers from earlier that I had created in the lobby were about to be answered, at least I hoped, so I quickly followed in his hoofsteps. We walked towards a portion of the staging area that was clearly made for the soldiers to work in. There was chairs, tables, maps and other charting Equipment that looked military like. And in the far corner of the room in the space that was reserved for them, was the crate I had heard about earlier. It was wooden and looked new, it was a deep Olive Green, and held black and white lettering on some of the sides. On the top panel was a white Celestial seal. Basicly Celestia's Cutie mark with the words, ‘Official Equestrian Government Property,’ around it. The lieutenant walked up beside it and looked over to me, placing a hand on the roof of the crate before he started to talk. His voice sounded more serious somehow than before as he talked in a more room temperature sounding tone.

“This, is Operation Lightning Spear,”

The Guards, that had now returned to their little slice of military heaven had walked up next to the crate and stood at attention. But as their leader spoke, and finished speaking, they began to move to the crates sides and open it up while the lieutenant quickly removed his hand from the top. The lid came off and one of the Guards reached in, carefully bending over the side, and pulled out a device. It rose from the box and it seemed to gleam and shine off the lighting of the room, it's radiance and secrecy making itself known to me, as it’s foreign design and shape confused me.

The machine they had presented to the Lieutenant, looked absolutely alien, it perplexed my mind as I tried to comprehend what it was. As the lieutenant held it in his hands and turned to face me revealing it in better detail, I scanned it quickly.

It was rectangular in shape, well at least for the most part. The whole thing was made of, from what I could tell, by researching Minerals, Metals, and Refined Products, back in school; Titanium and Carbon Fiber and some other new components that I had never seen before. The front and mid section was just a massive rectangle, while the back looked as if it was built to be held by a ponies hands, for it housed a handle that came down, and a large stocky looking metal pad in the rear, that was connected to the handle. The Lieutenant then performed an action, which made the devices purpose shockingly clear to me. He raised it to his shoulder and placed his hand around the handle or grip, and rested a finger beside a trigger. His other hand came around and grabbed the long rectangular base of the device, he then leveled it with his eyes and narrowed his lids overlooking the top of it.

It was a weapon. A weapon I had never seen before.. It wasn’t a spear or a sword, it was something new.. He then spoke to me as he lowered it

“This, your majesty, is going to change how the Equestrian Public sees the Royal Guard. It’s going to change modern combat for eons to come, and possibly change Equestria if not the world, forever. And tonight, we plan to use this, in its first verified combat role. I present to you, the Guardspony Focus Spear, or G.F.S-1,” I was absolutely dumbfounded.

I had my questions answered… But now I had so many more! Why did we need it? Who designed it? How did they build such a machine? What did he mean by change modern combat forever? How does it work? I was frozen staring at the weapon, then up at him, then back at it. I tried to speak but found I couldn’t form a sentence, the weapons foreign looking design and its purpose was just to great for me to ask anything. I was breaking, my mind was getting assaulted with so many different questions, and I had such little time to ask them all, I was practically panicking! So the only word that escaped my lips after a while of staring was…

“Explain,”

And explain he did. The weapon was created and built by a small government funded scientist group in Canterlot, of which was made up of ponies of science, wizards, and high ranking guards. I asked for a name of the group, but he said it was classified. They were tasked by Celestia herself, which was hard to believe to begin with, to create a universal weapons platform that could improve Equestrias defence and military tenfold. Celestia's reasoning was founded by some serious claims that, spears and shields could only do so much, and that they needed better offensive and defensive capabilities.

Which then brought me into a mindset that, Equestria needed better offensive and defensive capabilities to begin with. Equestria really didn’t have that many enemies, and the enemies we had come across, we had defeated, without much help from the Royal Guard to begin with. Of course I wasn’t thinking that they didn’t have a place in our nation's defence but, they really weren’t needed all the time, which is why they had spears and shields to begin with, because our military was, rarely used at all. But now, all of a sudden their getting new weapons and more modern looking armor? Something was going on, and I knew it, I just wasn’t going to say anything now, but I was going to keep an eye out in the future for something suspicious, and maybe send a letter or two… or twenty to Celestia, asking questions...

The weapon itself, from what he said, shot magic in high energy bolts to inflict ballistic damage upon an enemy. It used these batteries called MMCC’s or, Micro Magic Casting Cells, to charge and discharge the weapon, and when the charge is gone, it requires a new battery, simple enough I guess. So it could essentially hit a target, at range, without needing to get close to the target at all. Impressive claims no doubt, but I needed to see it in action before I could believe anything.

And so, after much talking and explanation on certain parts of the weapon, he finally finished speaking, and looked over the weapon one last time before looking up at me, with a smile, knowing that he had done what he was told to do, and then some. And luckily for him, I was satisfied with my answers, even if I still had more questions on top of them, and nodded with my arms crossed contently.

“Alright… It seems you have a good understanding on how this weapon works… And whether or not we’ll use it tonight will determine my stance on this weapons usefulness. I may not approve of such a weapons existence for multiple reasons that I won't exactly voice now, for I’m sure you won’t be able to answer them. But I’m sure Princess Celestia has her reasons for having such a machine built into existence,” I say to the stallion as he turns around and gives the weapon to one of the Guards.

“Princess Celestia is the wisest pony in all of Equestria, so I’m sure she knows what's best, and I’m glad you think that too,” He then looked down to his watch, and I saw his eyes widen up. I heard him curse underneath his breath as he turned around and yelled into the room again, this time I saw it coming and I braced my ears with my palms, curling down a bit.

“Were moving out in T-minus 10 minutes get your things together and report out front of the building ASAP!” He hollered. Then as I took my hands away from my ears I heard a massive amount of shuffling and stagnation in the room. I then turned around and watched the Group of officers quickly bolt from the room and into the hallway we had entered in from, all in riot gear, and holding their weapons, now with the added bonus that there other previously unoccupied hands were gripping massive clear shields that read, ‘police,’ on the opposing side. I then turned around and watched the three Guards get themselves ready as well, at impressive speeds.

They all had now gained a Focus Spear for themselves, as they quickly inspected the weapon before they placed it up against the wall nearest to them. They then reached into the crate again and pulled out a bandolier, of which was made out of blue cloth material that was the same shade of blue as their uniform, as they all quickly threw it over there chests. And one last time they reached into the crate and pulled out these grey black rectangles that I assumed were the batteries that charged the Spears, they shoved about four into each of their bandoliers holsters and then reached down and picked up the Spears again.

The lieutenant quickly walked over to a table and picked up a helmet I had not seen until now and threw it onto his head, and then turned around back towards me while strapping the chin strap around his snout, as did the other two Guards, as if he had reminded them to do so by performing the action himself. His helmet had a, from what I could tell, a black lieutenant insignia on the front. The three guards approached me slowly, as the two behind the Lieutenant gained a bit of speed as they tore off towards the door, I watched them as they went. I watched them carefully, as I admired their confidence and new found militaristic power, I looked at their bodies build and muscular frame, and seemed to get lost in it for a fraction of a second.

‘They are.. an impressive bunch,’ I thought to myself getting a bit lost in the moment. I watched them until I felt a hand touch my shoulder, I then spun around and looked at the lieutenant again with a smirk on my face, for a reason I didn’t understand myself. Maybe I was happy that I was about to serve along side Guards and Police officially, or maybe, it was… something else, maybe it was that something else that was making my cheeks burn a bit red as I looked up at him, and made my eyes stare at those Guards the way I did. What was wrong with me?

“Don’t think we’ve forgotten about you Princess. As said, you are going to be providing support, magical support. Protection Barriers and such, maybe some concussion spells to disorient the Wolves? I’ll leave that up to you, but I’m not having you walk out there in… well a dress,” He looked down to my body, and I looked down too, and sure enough, throughout all of this talking and walking and… stuff, I had forgotten what I was wearing. I was wearing a purple dress shirt and a small black dress that came to about my knees. I sigh and blush even more, rubbing my arm sheepishly.

“I uh, I guess I could have dressed a bit down huh?” I say in embarrassment. He laughed, it was a low chuckle but, it felt nice to make him laugh.

“Yes, but, what I mean is, I’m not having you walk out there without armor. Luckily for you,” He turned around quickly and placed his weapon down, “I have something for you…”

Author's Note

The next chapter is already being made, and remember to leave a like if your are enjoying!