A Just Cause

Chapters

Gala Gone Wrong
Best and Worst Night
Hornpoint
The Secret Passage
The Assassin
Just Cause
Amicitia
Survivors' Camp
The First Lieutenant
Promotion
Fort Beta
Glowworm
Replacements
The Final Alliance
Fort Alpha
The Final Assault
Denouement
It Is Finished?

Gala Gone Wrong

"Aww, come on Cadance? Just one more round, please?"

"Dear, ponies are staring at us. I thought the point of going to the hayburger joint was to avoid attention..."

"Who cares? Any and all ponies that would care are being bored out of their minds at the Gala right now, it's just the ordinary folk here! Now let's see if I can get some ringers here..."

Several other diners at the hayburger joint watch in interest as Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor levitates several larger onion rings from his combo meal, using magenta colored unicorn magic to fling them toward Princess Cadance, who was sitting across from him at the table. Cadance darts and bobs to catch the onion rings on her horn, similar to a ring toss game, eliciting a few cheers and thumps of approval from the restaurant's fellow patrons when she manages to get them all.

"Somehow that never gets old. Lot less messy than trying to do it with donuts, too!" Shining comments enthusiastically as the other patrons return to their meals.

"Yeah, you'll probably be doing it with our foals. Assuming they have horns, of course..." Cadance facetiously replies, carefully working the onion rings back off her horn as she speaks.

"Foals?! What are you even talking about? I mean, could it even 'work' the normal way? Because all the research into alicorn..." Shining begins replying in shock before awkwardly trailing off when he realizes the other patrons are beginning to stare again.

"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" Cadance replies with an impish grin, which Shining knew from experience indicated she was deliberately being coy in this case. Shining sighs and rolls his eyes, which prompts a giggle out of Cadance in response.

"I still wanna go see Twily..." Shining comments quietly, levitating up and taking a bite out of his hayburger afterward.

"Don't be talking like that!" Cadance replies. "I'm sure your sister and her friends are having a wonderful time with Aunt Celly! Besides, you know the Grand Galloping Gala bores me as much as it does you. Too stuffy, not enough action..."

"I don't know, I just got this nagging feeling that Twily and her friends were invited by Celestia because..." Shining begins speaking again, only to be interrupted by the noise of the hayburger shop door being thrown open and a Royal Guard in full armor rushing in at top speed!

Shining Armor and Princess Cadance exchange concerned looks as the guard works his way past the stunned and confused patrons, the situation drawing enough interest to bring the kitchen staff forward to the counter temporarily to watch what was going on.

"I thought I told the Captain that we were..." Shining Armor says to the Guard in annoyance as the latter stops near the table where Shining and Cadance were sitting.

"Sorry, sir, the Captain himself sent me here, as fast as I could go!" the pegasus stallion in Guard armor answers, putting up a salute as he does so.

"What's so important that Captain Gibraltar himself wanted to send you here?" Shining Armor naturally asks, and the Guard leans in to whisper the response in Shining's ear, apparently aware that what he was going to say shouldn't be said out loud.

The whispering makes it impossible for Princess Cadance to hear what is being said, but is naturally quite alarmed when Shining's eyes grow wide and he jumps out of his seat, all-but-galloping toward the exit with the subordinate Guard hot on his hooves! The rest of the crowd at the hayburger joint is riveted, first to Shining and then to the stunned Cadance.

"Shining, where are you going?!" Cadance exclaims, rising from her own seated position.

"Something's happened at the Gala! Captain wants me there as quickly as possible!" Shining calls back as he whooshes through the shop's out door, setting off a wave of speculative buzz among the staff and patrons of the establishment.

"So much for our date night..." Cadance sighs out in frustration, taking advantage of the intense buzz to hide her own exit and following after Shining back toward Canterlot Castle...

As Shining Armor gallops through the streets of Canterlot, Cadance hot on his hooves, he looks around for any signs of what has happened at Canterlot Castle. His first guess - some kind of attack by a giant monster - is quickly eliminated by visual observation of the castle surroundings, and the fact that the soldiers still patrolling the streets have remained at their posts rules out the next guess - an attack by some kind of rebel group on the Gala.

The picture becomes clearer as Shining, Cadance and their pegasus Guard escort approach the path leading into the castle proper, where all three can see a quietly milling crowd of upper-class ponies near the roundabout the carriages used to drop off and pick up their passengers - a few of said carriages were already taking on passengers and pulling out. Shining skids to a stop, breathlessly looking left and right for any signs of his sister or her friends. He quickly notices a unique apple-shaped carriage, pulled by the "off-duty" Guards Upper Class Caramel and Lucky Clover, but decides against diverting to talk with them - meeting with the Captain was more important at the moment.

"Usually the Gala doesn't let out for a... where did all these animals come from?!" Cadance exclaims, sliding up beside Shining and pointing a forehoof at a groundspony trying - and failing - to shoo away a meadowlark which was flitting about between the hats of the waiting upper-class ponies.

"I'm going in, you should follow me!" Shining calls back to Cadance, noticing the alarming amount of agitated critters in the area and wondering if somepony had opened the cages of the private zoo kept on castle grounds. The Lieutenant Captain plunges past buzzing upper-class ponies, and Princess Cadance scrambles to follow.

Shining and Cadance gallop up the short path and over the drawbridge leading into the castle proper, again not noticing Twilight Sparkle or her friends. The absence of Princess Celestia up to this point is also quite alarming, considering her role in the Grand Galloping Gala. The couple ascend the stairs into the main hall, Cadance sure she heard something crunch underhoof despite there being no obvious signs of damage to the castle...

As soon as Shining and Cadance burst into the main hall, both of them skid to a stop again, jaws falling open at the devastation around them! Both the hall's aesthetic columns and central "alicorn" statue are in pieces on the floor, joined by most of the tables and their contents. The few upper-class ponies still around the scene are trying to get out as quickly as they can, assisted by the Wonderbolts (a gesture that would help rehabilitate their seriously tarnished image). Princess Luna, not the expected Celestia, is in the center of the devastated room, trying to coordinate the mixture of Guards, some being batponies, with cleaning up the mess and rounding up a few animals still scurrying around amidst the debris.

"Shining, Princess Cadance, over here!" Captain Gibraltar's voice calls out in the commotion, and both Shining and Cadance turn to see Captain of the Guard Gibraltar positioned near a broken column piece, looking at a clipboard he was levitating with his unicorn magic.

"Oh thank goodness you both showed up!" the Captain continues, his head darting around every which way, after Shining and Cadance carefully make their way around the mess on the floor to join him. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't!"

"What happened here, sir?!" Shining exclaims, finally able to spit out his confusion and disbelief at the sight around him.

"Your sister and her friends are 'what happened here', Lieutenant Captain! And now look at this mess Princess Luna and I have to deal with!" Gibraltar exclaims in return, gesturing with a foreleg at the mess all around as he speaks. "What's worse is that your sister and her friends haven't been accounted for, and neither has Princess Celestia or Prince Blueblood!"

"Have you sent a search party out for them, Captain?" Princess Cadance asks, as she can see Shining is still trying to process the devastation around him.

"I can't spare the ponies for that, Your Highness. That's why I need Shining to do it for me." Gibraltar answers with a shake of his head.

"But where should we look? If Aunt Celly and Twilight aren't in the castle, they could be anywhere in the city by now!" Cadance exclaims again.

At this point, Cadance looks over at Shining, who had assumed a very thoughtful expression - the serenity starkly contrasting with the confusion around him - and the contrast causes attention of both her and Captain Gibraltar to be focused on him temporarily.

"I have an idea." the Lieutenant Captain finally says, almost too quietly to be heard among the noise. "I wouldn't know about Prince Blueblood, but I think I can find everypony else."

"Really? Where?" Gibraltar asks hopefully, but Shining doesn't respond to the question, instead immediately turning around and beginning to work his way back out the way he had came in.

"Shining, where are you going?!" Cadance calls after him, Gibraltar following her gaze at Shining.

"Just trust me! You should probably come too, Cadance!" Shining calls back in response before disappearing through the doorway again.

Cadance looks at Gibraltar, who just shrugs and returns to his work, before grunting out a sigh and states "I'M the Princess around here, why am I the one being dragged around everywhere?"

As Cadance follows Shining Armor back out of the castle, another royal figure is working their way through the streets of Canterlot, hoping to make it out of the city before the gates lock him in. Because, with him or without him, Lieutenant Troilus' campaign would leave southwest out of the city that night...

Best and Worst Night

As Princess Cadance continued following Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor through the streets of Canterlot, there was an odd feeling of deja vu that crept over her, as if she had traveled this twisting, turning path through the streets before for some reason. It wasn't until Shining finally stopped though that Cadance understood why - a small sign reading "Pony Joe's Delivery Entrance" began to jog her memory of years past.

It was a more innocent time, where the teenage Cadance would sneak out to have a milkshake and donut with Shining, first her Canterlot Academy sweetheart and then the promising young Royal Guard recruit. Or the two of them would take Twilight Sparkle in an effort to get her out of the castle library for a night - not that it ever "stuck", but Princess Celestia couldn't fault them for trying. There were also a few times she or Shining would go there alone to help Twilight with something she was studying there - that hadn't happened for years at the point Twilight moved to Ponyville.

"He's remodeled this place since the last time I was here." Cadance comments, noticing the sign was a different design than she remembered from her teenage years.

"Shhhh! Stay here!" Shining warns, gesturing Cadance to stay where she is as he rounds a corner of the donut shop to sneak a peek through the arched windows which lined one side of the building.

While waiting, Cadance cocks her head to one side in confusion as a muffled high-pitched voice reached her ears, singing a song that was definitely not part of the usual playlist with Pony Joe's: "You reach your right hoof in/You reach your right hoof out/You reach your right hoof in/And you shake it all about..."

Cadance didn't get a chance to listen to the rest of the song because at the end of the first verse Shining reappeared around the corner, eagerly gesturing Cadance over as he does so. His enthusiasm is silent though, so Cadance only trots over cautiously as a result. As soon as she follows Shining back around the corner though...

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaims at the sight through the windows in front of her. Sure enough, as Shining's intuition had told him, there was Princess Celestia munching away on a donut, along with Twilight Sparkle and her friends! The Gala dresses were naturally rumpled and dirtied by the events of the night, but otherwise everypony seemed to be OK.

"I guess that's Pinkie Pie I was hearing singing." Cadance comments, pointing toward the hyperactive pink earth pony in question "getting down" to her Pony Pokey tune in the far corner of the shop from where Shining and Cadance were watching.

"Spike looks good in a tux! Makes me wonder if Rarity struck out with Prince Blueblood though..." Shining points out, gesturing toward Rarity and Spike dancing a little less enthusiastically than Pinkie nearby.

"A lot of mares have struck out with him. Rainbow Dash may have had more luck with the Wonderbolts though..." Cadance answers, pointing toward Rainbow Dash staring wide-eyed at what she had to presume was a free ticket to their next show, whenever that may have been. The ticket in question was laying on a big circular table, around which the rest of the party was sitting happily munching donuts.

"I see Celestia brought Philomena along. Surprised the Captain didn't mention her missing as well..." Shining points out again, referring to the reincarnated version of the phoenix that was now chittering away with Fluttershy near Celestia.

"Captain has bigger things to worry about, probably... wonder where Applejack got those bits from though, considering all the food I saw was splatted on the floor..." Cadance responds, this time pointing toward Applejack counting out bits from a small sack on the table.

"Caddy, Twily noticed us! Wave, wave!" Shining exclaims in a stage whisper as through the window Twilight Sparkle's face lit up with joy and she began waving a foreleg toward them. Both Shining and Cadance also noticed Princess Celestia look over and give a wink as they returned the waving...

"30... 31... 32... Who ya wavin' at, sugarcube?" Applejack asks Twilight as she notices the enthusiastic waving, which interrupted her counting of the present of bits Princess Celestia had given her to make up for barely selling anything at the Gala itself.

"Oh, that's my... hey, where did they go?! They were right there in the window!" Twilight begins to explain, only to be stopped by the sudden disappearance of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance from the window where she spotted them!

Applejack follows Twilight's gaze, seeing nothing through the window, then turns back to her bit counting: "I don't see anyponies through those windows. I think those double chocolate donuts are playin' tricks with yer mind..."

"But I saw them there, I'm sure of it! You saw them too, right Princess?" a dismayed and confused Twilight asks Princess Celestia, turning to face the alicorn princess as she does so.

"Indeed I did, dearest student." Celestia replies with her usual gracious smile and tone of voice. "But I am sure they have other things to attend to tonight, they may only have shown up here looking for where we went."

Twilight immediately shows her disappointment, both ears and pose drooping at the thought she wouldn't be able to introduce her friends to her "Big Brother Best Friend Forever", along with the old fillysitter she still held in high regard even years later.

"Do not worry Twilight Sparkle, I'm sure you will be able to introduce them to your friends another time." Celestia adds upon seeing Twilight's disappointment.

"I guess you're right..." Twilight replies with a half-shrug, the disappointment lingering in her expression...

"You know Shining, this getting dragged around everywhere business is getting old real fast!" Cadance shouts in irritation as she found herself once again scrambling to keep up with the galloping Shining Armor.

"I know, I want to talk with them too, but I've got orders!" Shining calls back. "The Captain will be worried sick if we don't head straight back to the castle!"

"What about Prince Blueblood, then? Shouldn't we look for him too?" Cadance suggests.

"I don't have a clue where to start looking! Hopefully somepony will come up with one, or that he's just lost in the castle somewhere and the Luna shift will find him there." Shining responds.

"Let's hope he's still in the city somewhere, because they can't close the gates for the night until all the Gala guests have left the city." Cadance comments, worry crossing her face again...

MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE THE CITY WALLS...

As it turned out, Cadance's fears were well justified. After his humiliation at the Gala (and nearly getting trampled in the animal stampede Fluttershy triggered), Prince Blueblood took advantage of the confusion to make a quick exit from the castle, ditching his damaged clothing in the process to make himself less recognizable. Not used to galloping for long periods of time, he had to stop repeatedly and duck into side alleys to catch his breath, both bemoaning his increasingly dirty and sweaty condition and wondering how in Equestria the tactics he had hoped would convince Rarity to join the pro-unicorn rebellion had failed so spectacularly.

There was, of course, only one logical answer to the speculation, and that caused a simmering anger to begin bubbling with Blueblood. That, plus certainty of further humiliation if he was trapped in the city by the gates shutting for the night, was the only thing that drove him forward through the city streets and out southwest toward where he was supposed to rendezvous with Lieutenant Troilus and the rag-tag "army" Troilus had rallied together, supposedly to attack the remnant Agents of Chaos forces near the Las Pegasus road.

As soon as the city gate disappeared from view, the first signs of the pro-unicorn "army" appeared as torches huddled around a campfire just off the main path of the road. This "army" was certainly not an impressive sight for Blueblood to regard - several dozen unarmored unicorns, with large knives as their only real weapons. The only ponies with armor were Lieutenant Troilus himself and his two Guard subordinates that would join him in the illegal campaign, Guard Upper Class Lyacon and Guard Lower Class Petronius.

The gleaming of the armor made the three Guard stallions stand out, and Prince Blueblood headed straight for them, snorting from a combination of exhaustion and the building fury within him. Some members of the "army" stepped aside to let him pass by toward the campfire, giving a pronouncement that sounded rather hollow at the moment: "The True Prince of the Unicorns has arrived!"

"Good to see you, Your Highness. The sooner we can move out, the better. Is Your Highness ready to go?" Lieutenant Troilus asks Blueblood as soon as the latter stops near him around the firepit, his tone seeming to be completely unconcerned by Blueblood's condition.

The shrugging irrelevance of Troilus' tone was the last straw for Blueblood, who finally was able to vent his rage: "YOU FILTHY CAD! YOU LIED TO ME! EVERYTHING YOU TOLD ME ABOUT RARITY WAS A LIE! I MADE A COMPLETE FOOL OF MYSELF AT THE BIGGEST SOCIAL EVENT OF THE YEAR, AND I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO SHOW MY FACE AROUND THE CASTLE EVER AGAIN!"

Blueblood's outburst draws the attention of every unicorn around him, stopping all conversation in its tracks, and the prince quickly becomes painfully aware of this fact as he swings his head side-to-side after venting his rage. Lyacon and Petronius exchange worried looks, but Troilus remains unphased by the outburst.

The renegade Lieutenant instead assumes a confident smirk, and his reply has a calm edge in its tone: "Alright, I did lie about Rarity. I never visited her establishment or order any of her fine clothes. But fortunately for me, the die is already cast for Your Highness. Unless you'd think it a good idea to go crawling back before the alicorns to beg their forgiveness for treachery."

Blueblood's eyes go wide, and he looks around at the rebel unicorn "army" with their attention riveted on him. He spins around once, seeing himself completely surrounded by "supporters", and finally he realizes what his ego did not previously allow him to admit - all this was Troilus' plan all along, that the lowly Lieutenant had completely outwitted him and banked on Blueblood's ego not allowing him to bail on the dangerous assignment. He dared not go back, he could only push forward with the campaign, and the confident smirk of Lieutenant Troilus was the clearest indication of the truth of that statement.

Blueblood's eyes narrow into angry slits, and his voice drops very quiet as he once again approaches Troilus. The prince's words are icy cold and emphasized with a forehoof pushing into Troilus' armor: "I will serve as your ruling prince, but if I find you have lied to me about anything else, I will snap your neck with my own hooves, even if it means being cast into Tartarus for all eternity!"

"Of course, Your Highness. The army is waiting, we will move under cover of darkness and rest during the day. Let's get going." Troilus smoothly replies, the words punching above their weight as the final confirmation of the anti-pegasus campaign's start.

Prince Blueblood's "worst night ever" had ensured his entanglement in the illegal campaign headed by Lieutenant Troilus, and the trajectory toward future disasters was now unable to be altered. Blood and pain was set in the future of many Equestrians, even if they had no idea about it at the time...

Author's Note

(Some material about what happened to the Mane Six, Celestia and Spike in this chapter was referenced from AleximusPrime's "After the Gala" and used with permission. You can find "After the Gala" in fanfiction form here or in its original comic form here.)

Hornpoint

The cream-colored unicorn mare was racing through the streets of Canterlot, her normally well-coiffed mane and tail freeflowing and unkempt as she zoomed toward Canterlot Castle, hoping against hope she could stop disaster with the information on the scroll she was levitating with unicorn magic beside her. As she approaches the drawbridge leading into the castle proper, she notices said drawbridge is currently raised up and skids to a stop in front of the two pegasus Royal Guards posted, one on each side of the path, on the near side of the small creek that acts as a kind of moat for the gatehouse.

"Woah, young mare, what's the hurry? And what business do you have here?" one of the guards asks as he and his partner stare down curiously at the young unicorn mare.

"My name is Java Jive, sister of Moon Dancer, and I need to speak with the Captain of the Guard immediately!" the mare exclaims, still panting from her effort.

"What do you need to speak with him for?" the Guard naturally asks in return.

"I have an idea where Prince Blueblood might have disappeared to after he went missing last night!" Java Jive exclaims again, prompting the guards to exchange looks in surprise as a result.

The Guards whisper between each other for a moment, then the original speaker looks down at Java Jive, pausing a moment before speaking again: "My partner will open the drawbridge. You will come with me under escort. Any information which can locate the missing prince will be most appreciated..."

A LITTLE LATER...

A worn-out, sleep-deprived Captain of the Guard Gibraltar and Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor were huddled in a meeting with Lieutenant Captain Stratocumulus. As usual with the shift change, Stratocumulus was being briefed on the events of the previous night's Gala, including warnings for his patrols to keep an eye out for the still-missing Prince Blueblood. The entire Royal Guard was operating under the assumption that Blueblood was still "hiding" in Canterlot somewhere, perhaps in a hospital, judging from the ditched clothes that had been found during the initial searching efforts. This assumption was not only seriously mistaken, but it also prevented searches outside the city until it was too late for them to have been of any help.

"I hope that's good news, we could use some right now. Come in!" Gibraltar states to Shining Armor and Stratocumulus when a knock on the closed door interrupts the briefing. The door opens, and Java Jive enters the room with the pegasus escort beside her.

"Who is this, and why is she here, Guard?" Captain Gibraltar naturally asks the escort upon seeing the young mare.

"I know who she is, sir." Shining Armor interrupts. "Moon Dancer's sister, and it must be important if she asked to come to us directly!"

"That's correct, sir. She claims to have an idea where Prince Blueblood may be." the pegasus escort states.

Captain Gibraltar and Lieutenant Captain Stratocumulus exchange glances with each other, and then with Shining Armor. Finally, Gibraltar speaks to the escort again: "Well, we don't have any leads currently, so we might as well hear her out. Let's see what the young mare has in terms of information."

"Thank you, sir!" Java Jive exclaims, putting the small scroll she had been levitating with her magic on the briefing table. Gibraltar unrolls it, holding it open with hooves, as Shining Armor and Stratocumulus slide up beside him to read what was on the scroll.

"'Meet outside southwest gate, Hornpoint will begin tonight... lead by the Unicorn Prince and Captain Troilus'!" Gibraltar reads out loud, sending out a palpable wave of surprise through the room.

"Blueblood must be the 'Unicorn Prince' in the message, I don't see who else it could be, sir!" Shining Armor exclaims.

"Yes, but what is 'Hornpoint'?! If it's an operation of some kind, I didn't authorize anything like that!" Gibraltar responds, looking over at Java Jive as he speaks.

"I think 'Captain Troilus' came up with this operation all by himself, sir." Java Jive answers quietly. "He and the Prince were supposed to lead a bunch of unicorns against the Agents of Chaos supposedly still southwest of Canterlot, in two forts. My sister and I were supposed to be involved in it."

"Unarmed civilians? Against a position fortified by pegasi? Are those ponies out of their minds?!?" Stratocumulus exclaims in horror.

"Maybe, Stratocumulus. And even if they aren't, this operation is very, very illegal." Gibraltar replies darkly. "The question I have for the young mare is where is her sister and why she and her sister didn't go with them."

"We were supposed to go in this operation, sir." Java Jive starts answering. "But Moon Dancer wanted to try to talk to Twilight Sparkle at the Grand Galloping Gala first, however when she was trying to find a way to sneak into the castle she got caught up in an animal stampede of some kind. She got knocked around and scratched up pretty badly, so I had to take her to the hospital to make sure she was alright. By the time we got her bandaged up and checked out, the city gates were closed for the night and we couldn't join the group outside."

"I see." Gibraltar nods, knowing that at the Gala Fluttershy had indeed triggered some kind of animal stampede - the chasing of animals through the castle hallways to catch them had lasted a good portion of the night.

Silence briefly - and somewhat awkwardly - fell upon the room, Shining Armor and Stratocumulus exchanging looks as Gibraltar remains lost in thought. Finally, Gibraltar looks over at Stratocumulus and asks a question: "What was the status of Lieutenant Troilus during reveille this morning?"

"I was about to talk to you about that before the interruption, sir." Stratocumulus answers. "Lieutenant Troilus and two members of his squad were not accounted for at reveille - their cots were empty but the sheets were still made, as if they had not been slept in at all the previous night."

"Did the remaining squad members have anything to say about why the leader and two comrades were missing?" Gibraltar asks, his suspicions raised higher than before by the new information.

"The last anypony saw of Troilus and the two members was last night before the Gala, that they were headed down to the Quartermaster's office to restock supplies for the morning. I haven't yet checked with the Quartermaster whether they actually went there or not, sir." Stratocumulus replies.

"A very convenient excuse for disappearing into the city, especially considering the Quartermaster wasn't on duty that night and they would've had to leave the castle grounds to find him for authorization to take supplies from the store." Gibraltar comments with a scowl. "At this point, it doesn't really matter whatever they did, the career of Lieutenant Troilus and his two subordinates with him in the E.U.P. Guard are finished. As is the board of inquiry Troilus was supposed to prosecute."

Shining Armor and Stratocumulus again exchange looks at the last statement. Ending the board of inquiry over the riot at the abortive attempt at a Wonderbolt show without pressing a "trial" would let Shining Armor off the hook for any potential negative consequences, but certainly sow seeds of future distrust of the E.U.P. Guard in the process. And, as it turned out, that was exactly what Lieutenant Troilus was counting on happening.

At the moment, though, the circumstances of the time meant Captain of the Guard Gibraltar could not make a better decision than he did. He was about to start issuing a new set of orders when another pegasus Guard - different than the one that had escorted Java Jive to the meeting - gallops up to the doorway leading into the briefing room! At this point, the looks of those already present in the room become more worried than before.

"I can't take any more surprises at this point in the morning..." Gibraltar sighs out, before turning to look at the new arrival. "Please tell me that Prince Blueblood has been found alive and well."

"No Blueblood, sir, but there is something you should see at the groundskeeping buildings. We believe that there is missing equipment and possibly supplies, sir!" the newly arrived guard comments.

The worry in the room now turns into alarm, and reacting on instinct Gibraltar snaps out a series of orders, standing from his seat around the meeting table as he does so: "Shining Armor, come with me to the groundskeeping buildings! Stratocumulus, stay put here - we'll have to finish this briefing later. The young mare can be escorted back out of the castle. Everypony moving, doubletime!"

Everypony else was stunned just long enough for any thoughts of immediately objecting to fade away, and the others in the room take but a moment to respond to the orders given to them: Shining Armor following Gibraltar out, Stratocumulus shifting nervously to a more comfortable seated position, and Java Jive's escort beginning to lead her back out of Canterlot Castle. A blanket of urgency began descending on the entire scene, arguably much later than it should have...

Author's Note

(Moon Dancer's sister - who I initially called "Java Jive" in the first story I included her in back in 2015 - has been given a quasi-official name on the MLP:FiM Wiki as "Morning Roast". For the sake of internal consistency, I have decided to keep using the name I originally gave her, but if I ever rewrite the stories, I will definitely change the name during the rewriting process.)

The Secret Passage

Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor galloped to keep up with Captain of the Guard Gibraltar as the latter sped with a pegasus escort towards the groundskeeping buildings on the castle grounds. This took the three stallions past the castle's statue gardens, and Shining Armor took a passing glance at the "Statue of Discord" in it. Once again, he wondered why Princess Celestia had obsessed over it after "Operation Whirlwind" had failed, and why the traitorous Agents of Chaos behind that operation had once worshipped in front of the statue. He was sure that it had something to do with "The Chaotic One" the Agents of Chaos had claimed to be working to release upon Equestria, but the exact connection was lost to him. And he doubted even his sister, Twilight Sparkle, would know anything about it if Celestia had never told her anything about it. He shrugged off the questions and pushed on, unaware that he would come to seriously regret his curiousity...

The three rushing stallions stop in front of the small complex of buildings that housed the groundskeeping operations, in a secluded corner of the Canterlot castle grounds. Immediately, Shining Armor was alarmed to find none of the buildings were locked as protocol required - every single one of them had their entry doors wide open, and in at least one case the door showed signs of being bashed open!

Shining Armor shuffles beside the pegasus escort, who was briefing Captain Gibraltar on the situation: "I will have to verify the situation with the Quartermaster, but I believe from the preliminary inventory that both equipment and chemicals are missing, sir. I would estimate the thefts occurred shortly before the start of the Grand Galloping Gala last night."

"Then why didn't the Luna shift discover the thefts when they did inventory?" Captain Gibraltar asks.

"Luna shift never had chance to complete inventory, sir." the escort answers. "They were working through the night cleaning up after the mess at the Gala and rounding up loose animals from the stampede. By the time they were done, morning shift had already arrived to relieve them."

Gibraltar just returns a low hum to the explanation at first, but then gives another order: "We'll go through each building, one at a time. Lead the way, Guard."

"Yes, sir!" the pegasus escort replies with a salute. He then turns and directs his superiors toward a building labeled "Seed and Chemical Storage" over the front door, which Gibraltar enters. Once his eyes adjust to the lower light level inside the building, the Captain of the Guard sees he is surrounded by bags of grass seed and fertilizer, as well as a few manual spreader machines tucked away in the back.

"Guard, I expected a few seed and fertilizer bags to be missing because of..." the Captain begins saying toward the Upper Class pegasus escort.

"No, sir, check the secure locker, the one all the poisons are kept in!" the escort responds, Shining Armor taking a peek inside the building as well.

Gibraltar shuffles around a bit... and then a forehoof touches something metal. He steps back from it, then notices to his alarm the security locker his hoof has just touched was toppled, probably on purpose, onto the floor of the building! The door is open, its lock broken by the force of impact, and Gibraltar can see that, except for a few internal dividers, the locker is completely empty!

Gibraltar works his way back out of the building. He knew what dangerous chemicals that locker had contained - cyanide, rat poison, insecticide - and the fact that the locker appeared to have been deliberately ransacked was extremely worrying.

"All the chemicals in the security locker have been stolen. And I'm guessing that's not the only thing missing, Guard?" Gibraltar asks.

"That's correct, sir. This time, I'm going to take you to the light equipment building." the pegasus answers, pointing with a forehoof as he does so.

The Guard Upper Class pegasus escorts Captain Gibraltar and Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor over to a different building, this one labeled "Light Equipment" over the front door. Captain Gibraltar repeats the entry procedure from the previous building in this one, and this time is heard muttering various terms as he looks around.

"Sir, what's going on in there?" Shining Armor calls in from the doorway.

"I'm looking, Shining... yes, there's definitely tools missing, there's supposed to be spares but there isn't..." Gibraltar calls back.

"What's missing, sir?" Shining Armor calls again.

"There's supposed to be spares of some equipment, but there's nothing in here. The spare shovels, rakes, pitchforks... all missing. I think there are pruning shears missing, too." Gibraltar answers.

Shining Armor gives a wince toward the Upper Class pegasus upon hearing the Captain's report. The missing tools would certainly be a quick and dirty way of equipping an army without taking any of the specialized weapons from the armory, a much more difficult project to pull off on short notice. He also didn't want to think of what those unicorn rebels would want to "prune" with those missing shears.

Captain Gibraltar exits the equipment building, his worry now partly replaced by irritation at how all this had happened under his snout, particularly as the reforms implemented after Operation Whirlwind was supposed to prevent exactly this from happening.

"We're not done, sir. The heavy equipment building has items missing, too." the Upper Class pegasus states.

"But the machines in there are tuned to only be operated by specific unicorns, Guard. And even if they overrode the lock, how would they get the machines off castle grounds without being detected?" Shining Armor objects.

"I don't think he's talking about the machines, Shining. It might be the spare parts that are missing. Come on!" Gibraltar explains, beginning to trot over to the larger building labeled "Heavy Equipment Garage". Shining Armor and the pegasus Guard quickly follow in his hoofsteps...

Although the doors to let in and out the large cutting and planting equipment - devices controlled by unicorn magic, with Twilight Sparkle and her fellow Element Bearers later having to deal with a similar contraption in Ponyville - were still shut, a smaller access door had been forced open, and it was through this door the three Guard stallions entered the larger garage building. Gibraltar turned and passed in front of the larger machines toward a small office, while Shining Armor and the pegasus Guard worked their way between the machines toward the rear of the building.

As Shining paced back and forth behind the parked machines, he felt a draft coming from what appeared to be a solid back wall. Curious, he begins rapping on the wall with a forehoof, fully hoping and expecting to find nothing for his efforts.

"Well, as I feared, there's definitely spare blades and some other parts missing... what are you doing, Shining?" Captain Gibraltar asks after squeezing his way over to where the other two stallions were.

"One second, sir..." Shining answers, repeatedly tapping at one section of wall. After a few taps, he nods, then presses his right side against that area and begins shoving. To the surprise of the other two stallions watching, the section of the wall being pushed opens into a secret passage, gently sloping downward and away from the rear of the building!

Captain Gibraltar appears absolutely flabbergasted at what he sees - the rough cut passage is too small for the heavy equipment but the ceiling is just high enough for a single pony to walk through. Shining Armor steps aside to let Gibraltar look down the passage, the section of wall that had covered its entrance having been swung aside like a door when Shining pushed it.

"We spent over a week searching the entire castle grounds for passages like this after the failure of Whirlwind! Why was this not reported?! Who searched this area?" Gibraltar exclaims.

"I believe, sir, the area of the groundskeeping buildings was covered by the party lead by Lieutenant Troilus." the pegasus Upper Class chimes in.

Captain Gibraltar blows out a sigh in response: "Then we know for sure he lied on an official report, because it was documented by him this area was all clear!"

"What do you want us to do about this, sir?" Shining Armor asks.

"I want the Upper Class pegasus to go retrieve two brass lanterns. Shining, you guard the front door and make sure nopony else comes in here until the Upper Class comes back. We don't have a choice but to investigate this new passage here." Gibraltar orders out, the simmering frustration and anger inside him reappearing in his tone of voice.

A Prince was missing, and so was a traitorous Lieutenant and some more junior staff. Also missing were very dangerous chemicals and sharp implements, certainly enough to cobble together a fighting force with. All these missing things were not adding up to anything good or helpful for the future of Equestria, and the Captain of the Guard needed answers on how to stop it as quickly as he could get them...

The Assassin

Captain of the Guard Gibraltar, Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor and their pegasus Guard Upper Class escort start down the gently sloping ramp revealed by the secret door in the back wall of the heavy equipment building. Both Gibraltar and Shining Armor were levitating with unicorn magic brass lanterns that illuminated the walls of the narrow passageway.

"I had no idea there were so many tunnels in the Canterlot mountainside, sir." the pegasus escort comments, his words echoing in the tunnel as he speaks.

"The mountainside Canterlot was built on was once mined extensively for the ores it contained." Captain Gibraltar begins to explain. "The mining had mostly been played out by the time Princess Celestia moved her residence and seat of government here from the Castle of the Two Sisters. In her original decree establishing the city, she deeded the hollowed-out tunnels to the batponies that had once served Princess Luna 'as a perpetual residence for them and their descendents'. Unfortunately, the batponies never fully surveyed the interior tunnel network, and what surveys were done are very out of date now. These deficiencies, plus the presence of small tunnels that were never documented to begin with, have allowed all kinds of illegal things to happen there. Including the operations of the Agents of Chaos."

The weight of the last words Gibraltar spoke lingered in the echo of the tunnel as it took a left turn and then opened up into a small cavern. The three stallions felt the whispy brush of a natural air circulation and saw the light of their lanterns glinting off glassware of varying shapes and sizes.

"Woah, this place reminds me of a classroom Twily had a class in with her Canterlot friends as a little filly!" Shining Armor exclaims, referencing a common chemistry class Twilight Sparkle had with her old Canterlot friends Moon Dancer, Minuette and Lemon Hearts.

"So this is a lab of some kind? Somepony made stuff in here?" Captain Gibraltar asks, carefully moving his lantern around to catch a glimpse of the assembled glassware on the stone "benches" around him.

"I would guess so, sir..." Shining Armor trails off, also carefully moving a lantern around to better see what was inside the small chamber. His eye catches a small piece of parchment and he begins reading, vaguely aware the Upper Class pegasus had started trotting to the far corner of the chamber.

"Did you find something, Shining?" Gibraltar asks when he looks back to see what Shining Armor was doing.

"Sir, this parchment has writing on it!" Shining returns, which prompts Gibraltar to carefully turn around and make his way to a spot beside Shining. The Guard Captain stares down at the same parchment Shining is reading, and his eyes go wide as a result of what he reads!

"This is a formula!" Gibraltar exclaims breathlessly. "Let's see... mixing all those compounds together, all of them very dangerous on their own... and then applying a spell to have innate magic energy to prevent them from being neutralized... this must be for the supposed unbeatable..."

"Sir! Over here, we have a pony down!" the Upper Class pegasus interrupts, drawing attention toward his corner of the chamber. Gibraltar makes sure to carefully roll up the parchment piece with the "unbeatable poison" formula and tuck it away in the saddlebag he was wearing before following Shining Armor over to the far corner of the chamber, both lanterns hovering over the whole scene...

"This stallion is dead, sir." Shining Armor reports as Gibraltar rolls over the large light grey earth pony from a face down to face up position. As the Guard Captain does so, an almost empty flask and two different parchment rolls are revealed underneath, and Shining Armor levitates all three items up using his unicorn magic.

The first thing that strikes Gibraltar is also the first thing he says: "This is the Head Groundskeeper! See the uniform he's wearing, the collar pin shaped like an evergreen tree? He's not even supposed to be in the city right now, never mind dead in a hidden laboratory!"

"What do you mean, sir?" the Upper Class pegasus asks, as he looks down at the grey earth pony stallion, which is wearing a version of the E.U.P. Guard dress uniform.

"The Head Groundskeeper elected to use a week of vacation time starting the day of the Gala. According to everything he said, he should not be in the city, never mind the castle grounds!" Captain Gibraltar answers.

"I think that was a cover for something else, sir." Shining Armor interjects, putting aside the flask with a residue of blue liquid and unrolling one of the parchment rolls as he speaks.

"What's on that roll, Shining?" Gibraltar asks as he sees the parchment roll being unrolled, and Shining temporarily put aside the other parchment next to the flask.

"Hang on... I think this is a suicide note, sir!" Shining exclaims in response, eyes squinting to read the text in the low lantern light.

"What does it say?!" Gibraltar anxiously asks again, attention now completely riveted on Shining.

Shining Armor clears his throat and begins slowly reading the scrawled text on the parchment: "'To whoever finds this note, these will be my last words as a living pony, and all I can say is "I'm sorry". I'm sorry to everypony my actions in life caused injury or death or other harm to. And I'm sorry to everypony that will criticize me for listening to the empty promises of the Agents of Chaos. For here, in this secret lab with ingredients stolen from storage during the winter season to be replaced later, I made the poisons the Agents of Chaos used in their attacks. I am certain I have the blood of dozens of ponies on my hooves, but by the time I realized the words about prejudice against earth ponies were lies it was too late to escape their trap. Troilus found this lab somehow, but promised that he would keep the secret safe if I supplied the poisons to his cause. I was to join his campaign, but after delivering my poison supplies to him I was told my services were no longer needed. Since I am sure now I will die for what I have done, I have decided to swallow one of my own creations and leave this note along with my copy of his campaign map. Maybe, in this way, somepony can help stop him from taking other lives..."

Captain Gibraltar and the Guard Upper Class pegasus just exchange shocked glances after hearing the note while Shining Armor puts the suicide confessional aside and unrolls the other piece of parchment, which reveals a map of the area southwest of Canterlot, heading toward Las Pegasus and Applewood.

"This must be the plans of 'Hornpoint', sir." Shining Armor comments in a very heavy tone, flipping the map around so that Captain Gibraltar can see it for himself.

Gibraltar takes a moment to look it over himself, then pronounces his judgement in breathless horror: "Two different assaults against two different fortified positions... that is utter madness! It won't be a battle but a slaughter! Troilus is leading them to their deaths!"

"Then what do we do, sir?! What can we do to stop this before more innocent lives are lost?!"

Just Cause

"I know what exactly needs to be done, and I've just gotten the authorization from the briefing with Princess Celestia. We are initiating Operation Just Cause!"

It was now later in the morning, and this time the Lieutenant Captains in the meeting room were Stratocumulus and Fidelitas, Shining Armor having earned a well-deserved rest after finishing securing the secret lab discovered under the heavy machinery building in Canterlot Castle. Once that task was complete, Captain of the Guard Gibraltar went into a flurry of activity, seeing himself in a race against time to stop further lives from being lost to an unauthorized, demented "holy war" lead by Lieutenant Troilus.

Neither Prince Blueblood, who was supposed to be the figurehead leader of the unauthorized "Hornpoint" campaign, nor Lieutenant Troilus, the actual military leader of the campaign, had shown up in Canterlot, and Gibraltar was convinced neither of them were now in the city. He quickly went into a meeting with Princess Celestia, detailing to the sun princess the finding of the secret underground lab and receiving confirmation of Prince Blueblood's flight from the city following his humiliation at the previous night's Grand Galloping Gala.

"As part of the operation, I am stripping Lieutenant Troilus and all those cooperating with him in this illegal operation of their commission to serve in the E.U.P. Guard." Captain Gibraltar begins rapid-fire to Stratocumulus and Fidelitas. "From this moment forward, they are to be treated as traitors and criminals, and are to be brought back to Canterlot after arrest! I don't know what we're supposed to do about Blueblood because of the royal privilege, but we'll worry about that once he's brought back to Canterlot..."

"Excuse me, sir, but who's going to be in charge of the operation?" Fidelitas asks once Gibraltar reaches a pause in his speech.

"Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor will be in charge of the operation. I'm going to take some ponies from his shift and some from yours for this operation, Fidelitas. Including the two Lieutenants directly under his command. Some ponies are going to have to pull double-shifts, but I think we can make this work short term at least." Gibraltar answers.

Stratocumulus and Fidelitas exchange looks, then Fidelitas speaks again: "Sir, with all due respect the controversy over the board of inquiry makes me doubt the appropriateness of having Shining Armor lead the operation. Have Princess Celestia put me in charge instead, sir, I have fighting experience from the E.I.A. raid!"

Captain Gibraltar pauses for a moment, his face thoughtful as if trying to figure out how to phrase his response. When he finally speaks, it is in slow, deliberate words: "However true your assessment may be, Fidelitas, Princess Celestia made it very clear to me that she will accept nopony else except Shining Armor in charge of this operation. She has firmly made her decision, and I must abide by it. Besides, I am convinced the gossip rags and newspapers now want to do nothing else but spew hatred and disharmony, and I am done trying to pander to their sensibilities. The whole lot can go to Tartarus for all I care."

Stratocumulus and Fidelitas again exchange glances, the former giving a half-wince as he does so. Both of them knew that not even pretending to care about the opinions of the vain and conceited ponies in charge of the magazines and newspapers that circulated throughout Canterlot, particularly among the upper classes, was bound to boomerang back into future trouble. True, there were periods in the past where Celestia had outright ignored their opinions with no future ill effects on the kingdom, but this time both Stratocumulus and Fidelitas sensed that Equestria would not be so lucky. However, it would not be until the breadth and effectiveness of the Changeling infiltration was exposed much later that they would realize how right they were at the time.

When Captain Gibraltar saw there was no more verbal objection, he continued on: "Fidelitas, I will have Lieutenant Biro prepare new assignments to replace those of your command going on the operation. Stratocumulus, you will be informed once the operation assignments have been given out which morning shift ponies will have to pull doubles. And, once again, I will have Lieutenant Vesper of the batponies temporarily taking command of the night shift. We must move quickly, as there are lives on the line and the locations of both Prince Blueblood and Troilus' renegades are currently not known. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." both Stratocumulus and Fidelitas reply simultaneously.

"Good. I want you two to both stay here for the moment, Lieutenant Biro will be around to hand out the new orders and assignments." Captain Gibraltar affirms, turning to leave the meeting room as he does so.

When the door slams behind the Captain of the Guard, Lieutenant Captains Stratocumulus and Fidelitas are left alone in the room, quietly stewing in their own fears and uncertainties about the future. Both were afraid to speak their minds about what they feared would come from "Operation Just Cause", but an as-yet-unknown menace would eventually prove their fears well founded...

Amicitia

Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor looked up at the closed gate that loomed over the southwest road out of the city. The southwest road, which directly connected Canterlot with the region of Las Pegasus and Applewood, had lately become very important due to the notability of the ponies that had passed through or over it in recent months.

The first group was the remnant force of the failed Operation Whirlwind, which had rammed through the defenses to escape the city and apparently occupy two formerly-abandoned forts off the road, ideal bases for raiding the road's traffic to sustain their own operations. Shining Armor presumed this group was later joined by former Lieutenant Captain Aten, also known as the Agent of Chaos leader "Agent Snake", after two of his followers bailed him out of his death sentence and he disappeared out of the city.

The deceptions of Lieutenant Troilus, who had been sent to investigate the rumors and lied on the official report to cover up the truth, ensured the renegades several months of free reign to attack the road, and making it safe was one of Shining Armor's objectives. The other was dealing with Lieutenant Troilus' unauthorized "Operation Hornpoint", where he had gathered a civilian force operating under Prince Blueblood's puppet authority to take on the rebels himself. As "Hornpoint" was illegal under E.U.P. Guard military code, Shining Armor had authority to arrest Troilus and his collaborators, assuming they were still alive, and bring them back to Canterlot as prisoners.

But most of all, Shining's force was being sent to save lives. Lives trapped in deception by others hungry for power and glory, that did not really care about those they used and abused to get what they wanted. In hindsight, it would prove to be an odd foreshadowing of the infiltration of a shape-shifting enemy at that point unknown to the population of Equestria...

Shining is brought back to the present when he simultaneously hears his two subordinate Lieutenants reporting: "All present and accounted for, sir!"

The Lieutenant Captain turns to look down at the Lieutenants, Vigil and Vanguard. Both had been recommended by Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas as Shining's subordinates, partly because Shining had once served beside them as part of Fidelitas' afternoon castle guard command and partly to promote an image of a "mixed" command, Vigil being a pegasus and Vanguard being a unicorn. This was important in the public eye to fight the species-prejudiced opponents Shining's command would be facing, the Agents of Chaos being anti-unicorn and Troilus' command being anti-pegasi.

This "mixed" image was reinforced by the squads commanded by the Lieutenants, also chosen by Shining and Fidelitas for the mission. Some of Lieutenant Vanguard's command were old friends of Shining, including Guards Upper Class Gaffer, 8-Bit and Spearhead. The command also included Shining's former romantic rival for Princess Cadance, Guard Upper Class Buck Withers. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Vigil's command included Guard Upper Class Excelsior, the only griffon currently serving as a member of the E.U.P. Guard, and Guard Upper Class Flash Sentry, a young pegasus who had distinguished himself in fighting against Operation Whirlwind.

Shining Armor cleared his throat, deliberately placing his fully-armored self with the grand gate and down-sloping path in the background as he gave his final briefing to the assembled squads:

"Through this gate, and to the southwest of Canterlot, is presumed to be our objective: the renegade squads we have been ordered to find and subdue. I will provide no delusions of safety - this will be the first taste of combat for some of you, and these enemies have already proven they do not respect the law, order, or ideals of the Kingdom of Equestria. They will maim and kill if they believe it is necessary to preserve and advance their cause.

You might have noticed that although there are two very different sets of renegades we are facing, I am speaking of them the same way. The reason is that both groups have committed the same sin in different ways - violating one of the basic principles that allows Equestrian civilization to survive and thrive. Usually this is called 'friendship' today, but the ancient Equestrians from the time before the rule of the royal sisters had a different word: 'amicitia'. It was the word the founders of Equestria used to describe the magic that fueled the Fire of Friendship at the founding of Equestria, as relayed to us by the tales of Hearth's Warming every year. And it was also the word the ancient Equestrians to describe the magic power behind the Elements of Harmony after their usage by Princesses Celestia and Luna."

Shining Armor pauses long enough for the subordinates to take in what he is saying before continuing on: "To the ancient Equestrians, the opposite of 'amicitia' was called 'confusio', which has been rendered several different ways over the years - 'confusion', 'discord' and 'disharmony' have all been used at various points in time. According to documents found by raiding the secret headquarters of the Agents of Chaos, the 'chaotic one' they were hoping to summon is supposedly powered by 'confusio' magic. Both the Agents of Chaos and the renegades lead by Lieutenant Troilus are guilty of abandoning 'amicitia' to gain power from 'confusio', and using this power for self-serving and destructive ends. The corrosive power of the 'confusio' magic they practice on our society means they must be stopped, as quickly and justly as possible. We must ensure the magic of 'amicitia' - or 'friendship' if you prefer - is the one that triumphs!"

The subordinate squads give an affirmative shout in response to Shining's speech, which the Lieutenant Captain took as a very positive sign. Shining also noticed some civilians watching nearby joining in the affirmative cheer - after all, they as much as the current Element Bearers were the heirs of the power of friendship behind Equestria's founding.

The Lieutenant Captain briefly lets a smile slip, then gives his final orders as he turns to face the gate: "Squads, form up behind me in four columns, two for each squad. The Lieutenants and their chosen second-in-commands are to be at the head of each column belonging to a squad. We are to march until dark or until we encounter an encampment of some kind."

Several civilians watch curiously as the E.U.P. Guard members form up and begin marching toward the gate, which is opened by two Lower Class members as they approach. The closing gates by those same Lower Classes also mark the closing of any other opportunities to avert future disasters - the path was set, and the path was ultimately found to be filled with grief and suffering...

Survivors' Camp

"So, you said you heard yelling and saw flames in the distance last night?"

"That's correct, sir."

"And where do you think you heard and saw those things coming from?"

"To the north, sir. In the direction of one of the old forts."

"Thank you, ma'am. We'll let you pass to Canterlot now."

Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor steps aside on the path of the Canterlot-Las Pegasus road so as to let the earth pony mare he had been conversing with pass by with her cartload of goods toward the city of Canterlot, which still was visible in the distance from the location Shining Armor and his force were currently located. The two squads he commanded, lead by Lieutenants Vigil and Vanguard respectively, do the same shortly after. Once she and her cart are clear, the squads form up again, but do not immediately resume their interrupted march. Instead, Shining Armor calls over the two Lieutenants into a brief conference.

"What did she have to say, sir?" Lieutenant Vanguard asks his commander.

"Based on her description, there may have been a battle last night." Shining Armor answers. "But if there were any survivors, they'll drag their hooves in coming back to Canterlot. We'll still have to go get them."

"Where should we expect to find any kind of camp of survivors, sir?" Lieutenant Vigil now speaks.

"The best place to look would be where the old supply path to 'Fort Beta' branches off. The track would be worn and rutted, but still passable by hoof and cart. If there was an attack and they had to fall back, that would be the best place to fall back to."

"And how far a march would it be, sir?"

"It'll definitely take the rest of the day, Lieutenant. So best we get moving again. Return to your squads and we'll continue down the road."

"Yes, sir!" both Lieutenants answer simultaneously, giving a salute as they do so.

The two squads continue down the twisting, arid path, armor gleaming in the sunlight. The day dragged on for the marching members of the E.U.P. Guard, and as the last rays of Princess Celestia's lowering sun touched the surface of Equestria the force reached the fork that lead northward off to "Fort Beta". Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor saw the rugged, potentially hoof-twisting condition of the supply road leading northward and quickly decided not to try going up the path in the dark. Instead, he ordered Lieutenants Vanguard and Vigil to scout out for any sign of a survivor's camp.

The minutes passed slowly, Princess Luna's rising moon providing an oddly comforting reminder of why he was doing what he was doing. Finally, news arrived from Lieutenant Vigil - one of his squad had spotted a pair of campfires from the air, about a half-mile northwest of the fork. This news was both a relief and a concern to Shining Armor, who noted that area was unprotected and relatively close to "Fort Beta", which he had to presume was still occupied by a rebel force.

"Gather your squad and Lieutenant Vanguard's, and proceed immediately toward where you saw those fires. I suspect the Hornpoint survivors will be there. I will start there immediately, and provide a beacon to follow should I get there first." Shining orders, immediately starting in the northwest direction from the fork as he does so. Lieutenant Vigil's response is barely heard to Shining as the latter begins cautiously treading the arid surface, aware there were many potential hazards of going off the trail...

A half-hour passes, then an hour, and Shining is frustrated by his own tentative hoofsteps, necessitated by the dangers of the terrain. He takes a quick look around, and spots a pair of flickering lights about 500 yards off to the southwest, hidden from previous ground view by a semi-circular rock outcropping. Besides shielding the survivors from any wind on the arid plain, it would also prevent anypony travelling along either the main road or supply path from seeing them at ground level, although considering the pegasi composition of the rebels this wasn't as much of an advantage as it might've been.

The Lieutenant Captain turns to face the pair of lights, then his horn glows with magenta-colored magic. A few seconds later, a dome of magenta-colored energy encloses the entire area around the two fires, both trapping and clearly illuminating whatever is inside. As he presses closer, he sees a few pony shapes tentatively push against the magic barrier, as well as other ponies begin converging on the location both from air and ground. Shining doesn't yet know if he is facing friend or foe, but presses on regardless.

A few minutes later, he reaches the edge of the barrier he had generated, and can clearly see the ponies inside - eight in total, all unicorns, but none now resisting the barrier. To his frustration, Shining does not spot Prince Blueblood or the renegade Lieutenant Troilus inside that dome - only one pony does he recognize from the tattered and muddy E.U.P. dress uniform that still barely clings to his scratched-up body. He also notices two ponies by one of the firepits are lying facing upward, and Shining can only guess based on the broken horn of one of those ponies that they have been gravely injured.

All six that are still up and moving stare back with looks of guilt and shame, and at that point the Lieutenant Captain knows he's found the survivor encampment - or at least one of them, considering the initial Hornpoint force was much bigger. Out of the corner of his eye, several other members of his force begin converging from the air, and he brings down the dome temporarily.

"In the name of the alicorns of Canterlot, you are all under arrest for treason and participating in an unauthorized campaign." Shining coldly states as he steps into the camp, several members of his military group improvising a perimeter around the area not blocked by the rock outcropping. The unicorn leader now recreates a small sphere on top of the outcropping, blinking as a beacon to alert the rest of his group to the position.

There is no resistance from those in the camp - all give looks of guilt and shame, staring at him in a stunned silence. Doubtless the former Hornpoint members were still in shock from the apparent defeat and separation from the rest of their force when everypony had told them they would doubtless be victorious against the "unholy" rebels of the Agents of Chaos.

Shining Armor turns and faces the stallion with the tattered uniform - Guard Lower Class Petronius, now heavily scratched and bruised from what he had suffered. Petronius tried to shrink back, but backed into the rock outcropping and, recognizing the futility of further resistance, shakily assumed an at attention stance.

"Guard, tell me what happened to the fort to the north. And don't you dare lie to me, you are already in extremely deep trouble as it is!" Shining Armor yells in the verbal equivalent of a shove, recognizing Petronius as the closest thing to an authority figure here.

"Sir, I... I..." Petronius begins stammering out as Shining's squad begins moving into the camp.

"Wait a second, something is bothering me about your appearance." Shining adds, and but a moment later he uses magenta-colored magic to rip off the remnants of Petronius' uniform, dramatically tossing them into one of the firepits. As the dirty and torn cloth goes up in flames, the stunned shock of the entire survivor group is broken, and some begin quietly sobbing as Shining Armor's group moves in to arrest them, putting previously distributed horn rings on all but the unicorn with the broken horn.

All Petronius can do is look back and forth between Shining Armor, his glare steadily growing darker under the glow of magenta magic, and the burning remnants of his E.U.P. uniform until his indecision finally earns him a hoofslap across the face from Shining Armor.

"ANSWER ME, PETRONIUS! WHERE IS TROILUS? WHERE IS PRINCE BLUEBLOOD? WHAT HAPPENED AT THE FORT?!" Shining Armor shouts into the night, now going in full drill sergeant mode as his patience runs out.

"I don't... I don't know, sir. Both Troilus and Lyacon... they... they disappeared after ordering the charge at the fort." Petronius answers, his tongue finally released by the wrath directed his way. "It was chaos there... don't know what happened to Blueblood... the rebels were buzzing and ramming us... I had no choice but to run back..."

Shining Armor looks over at Lieutenant Vanguard, who had just arrived at the scene, and saw the shock in his eyes as he too realizes the implication of the words of Petronius. The campaign Troilus lead was indeed all a ruse, to lead ponies to their deaths and allow the rebels to capture or kill the very important Prince Blueblood. But there was the one vexing question of why - the motives of Troilus in doing this. Whatever the stated intent had been, it was just a ruse to ensure the plan would work - the real motives were as yet unrevealed.

"Vanguard, where is the rest of the group?" Shining Armor asks as he pauses his interrogation to address the Lieutenant.

"Lieutenant Vigil should be on his way with the rest of his squad. Everypony in my squad has been accounted for, and all survivors here had horn rings applied." Vanguard reports.

"Very good. Don't let anypony wander away from this site unescorted." Shining Armor answers.

"Yes, sir." Vanguard replies with a salute, before turning away to attend to the squad and arrested survivors.

"I can only hope that the righteous magic will protect the..." Petronius begins to speak again when Shining Armor turns back to face him, but he never gets to finish the sentence before getting another hoofslap, this one producing a fresh slice along his cheek that begins to dribble out a reddish liquid.

"THAT MAGIC IS A LIE, A DECEPTION! EVERYTHING HE SAID WAS A DECEPTION!" Shining Armor shouts out, returning to his drill sergeant mode in indignant rage and drawing the attention of everypony around him. "Don't any of you see what you are doing?!? You have all been deceived by the lies of the confusio magic, that will corrode and destroy our society! It gains hold of belief and power by appealing to the selfishness and ego within all of us. That's why we must all stand for the amicitia magic! What's wrong with amicitia that you would abandon it so eagerly?! What is wrong is being loyal? What is wrong with being honest, kind, generous, all the virtues of the Elements of Harmony?! Why did you turn your backs on amicitia to embrace the great deceptions of confusio?! ANSWER ME!"

Of course, the survivors of the failed Hornpoint had no answer to Shining's questions, and are left silent as the echoes of Lieutenant Captain's wrath are lost into the open plain around them. Petronius, and several other immobilized survivors, begin openly shedding tears, no longer unable to live in denial of their sins against their country and its ideals.

"I don't think they'll cause us any more trouble now, Vanguard." Shining Armor addresses his Lieutenant. "Your squad needs to remain on guard here, as soon as Lieutenant Vigil arrives with the rest of his squad we'll figure out our next move."

"Yes, sir." Vanguard answers, looking over from the shamed unicorn prisoners to the darkened plain around them and up to the moon glowing over all. The immediate future was still uncertain, but at least Hornpoint was well and truly dead. What would come next though, would prove far worse...

The First Lieutenant

"... Excelsior?! What happened to you?!?"

"I'll explain, but Flash Sentry here needs medical attention, he got beat up pretty badly!"

"Where's Lieutenant Vigil?!"

"He's dead, sir! So is the rest of the squad!"

"DEAD?!" Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor exclaims in shock as the bloodied and battered griffon Guard Upper Class Excelsior lands near him, the pegasus Guard Upper Class called Flash Sentry sliding off his back to the ground. Flash himself is dazed, badly battered and only half-conscious of what's around him. Several of his unicorn comrades rush to his side, starting to treat his wounds.

Shining Armor's command was still at the campsite of the failed Operation Hornpoint participants, and the "prisoners" are watched by Lieutenant Vanguard as they also join in assisting Flash Sentry, possibly motivated by guilt over their previous actions. The Lieutenant Captain watches in numb surprise, the only conclusion being the nighttime scouting mission he had sent Lieutenant Vigil on after securing the campsite had gone terribly, horribly wrong.

"Vigil had the group fly over the track to Fort Beta, like you ordered us to, and then we started getting knocked out of the sky, sir!" Excelsior begins to report, trying unsuccessfully to shake off the blood stuck to his fur and feathers. "We were ambushed in the air, sir, they must've guessed we were coming!"

"Curse that Troilus!" Shining Armor exclaims, bucking up a bit and stamping forehooves down in frustration. "Hornpoint made them expect another attack, but I didn't think they would be out in force in the middle of the night! I didn't even think there would be enough rebels stationed in Beta to attack Vigil's party after the Hornpoint attack!"

"I don't know if anyone else made it out of the ambush alive, sir, I lost track of everyone else in the confusion." Excelsior continues on. "I found Flash Sentry knocked out of the sky and was able to get him out of the trap, but I saw the enemies dive-bombing repeatedly on the squad members that went down - I can't expect any of them to survive that kind of assault."

Shining Armor gives a grim hum at the thought of the rebel pegasi dropping down at full speed on their fellow ponies, then looks over at the Hornpoint prisoners to think of what they must've suffered through with seeing their comrades and friends falling and being brutally murdered in such a manner.

As Shining Armor contemplates the scene, Lieutenant Vanguard walks up beside him and whispers in an ear to be heard over the commotion of the scene: "Sir, I'm not sure we can continue the mission without Vigil's squad. I have the prisoners to manage, and they can still escape even with the horn rings on. Additionally, there's the question of whether Troilus deliberately underestimated the enemy strength as part of his ruse."

"It has occurred to me, yes, but don't forget Lieutenant the rebels have very important prisoners of their own to mind." Shining Armor answers, puzzlement quite clear in his tone. "They should be stretched extremely thin and not have enough reserves to ambush a night patrol - it doesn't make sense for them to have these numbers..."

Shining Armor trails off, and Lieutenant Vanguard can think of no good response, so joins his commander in silently watching the events at the campsite unfold around him. The conundrum that lead to the deaths of Lieutenant Vigil and most of his squad would remain unresolved until the revelation of the existence of the Changeling race provided an answer.

"There's nothing more we can do tonight anyway, everyone should try to get some sleep. I'll think of what to do next in the morning." Shining Armor tells his Lieutenant, who just gives a nod in response. With Flash Sentry's wounds already being addressed, the activity level begins to calm down at the campsite, and Shining Armor settles in for the night...

Several hours pass, and most of the campsite is asleep, only the last glowing embers of the fire being watched by Shining Armor, seemingly unable to sleep due to his normal nightshift schedule despite his activity all the previous day. He has to be wary about intruders, particularly after the fiasco involving Lieutenant Vigil's squad. He didn't want to return to Canterlot without any very important ponies to show for it, but still had to figure out a way to deal with the ex-Hornpoint prisoners. He could only hope they would be cooperative...

A persistent licking sound nearby finally draws his attention. He turns to focus on Excelsior, the red mane and golden fur of the griffon faintly outlined in the moonlight. Shining expected some kind of preening behavior from the griffon at night - like the pegasi, the griffons had to do it regularly to keep flying feathers in good condition. But in this case, Shining noticed that Excelsior was going over the same areas repeatedly and insistently, as if trying to get rid of something that wasn't really there.

"Can't sleep either?" Shining Armor stage whispers to Excelsior, prompting the latter to quickly straighten up and flush a bit around his beak.

"At ease. I've seen worse when it comes to pegasi under my command." the unicorn Lieutenant Captain continues on, chuckling a bit as Excelsior relaxes, though the flush is still visible around his beak.

"These talons... I never thought..." Excelsior mutters, looking down at his forefeet as he flexes talons in and out, guilt beginning to crease the brow on his face.

"You did what you had to do. Just like in fighting Whirlwind." Shining Armor tries to reassure.

"Sir, it reminded me too much of where I came from. I didn't grow up in Griffonstone, remember?" Excelsior points out.

"Oh, that's right, you came from one of those splinter groups that was created when the griffon kingdom fell..."

"Those griffon prides I came from are not like the ones that live in Griffonstone. At least in Griffonstone, a pony with enough bits can get treated properly. Out there, in the wilderness prides, a pony would get raided blind, if not torn to pieces outright!"

"Goodness, not even the pegasi before the Equestrian unification were that bad! These pegasi rebels out there definitely acted more like those griffons..." Shining Armor comments, remembering from Academy classes how griffons in combat would regularly dive-bomb their opponents after knocking them out of the sky, a tactic that pegasi would only employ as a measure of last resort to stop an enemy.

"It's a life I thought I had gotten away from, after Princess Celestia rescued me from slavery and gave me... this." Excelsior states, pointing to the red and gold of his fur and feathers, the result of a "regeneration" process Celestia employed to save Excelsior's life. The red and gold colors were considered by griffons the same way white and purple were by ponies, so Shining Armor knew well what Excelsior was talking about.

"That's why we need to keep fighting, Excelsior." Shining answers, slowly walking over to beside Excelsior.

Excelsior is silent during Shining Armor's walking over to beside him. He can only cock his head in confusion as Shining returns to laying beside him, continuing on his previous thoughts with a smile: "Before you came around, most policy on griffons were based on the ancient history of their conflicts with the pegasi before being driven across the sea. Not only have you come far in the months since Princess Celestia put you in the guard service, but you've proven that a lot of our information on griffons was as lacking as that of dragons. I know now what I'm going to do tomorrow morning, but for right now we both should get some sleep. Commander's orders, Excelsior. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Excelsior replies, straightening up briefly with a salute.

"Good. Now, let's get to sleep." Shining Armor chuckles out before falling silent again.

Excelsior relaxes, briefly staring out into the moon-lit night, and as he watches his commander settle in to sleep - tired as he was from all the day's events despite his usual nighttime work hours - and realized that Shining Armor represented something important, something that the griffon race in general, and the extreme elements he had been rescued from, was sorely lacking...

Author's Note

(The skip of a post last week was deliberate, as to avoid something being mistaken for an April Fool's joke.)

Promotion

"All presented and accounted for?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"At attention for the morning briefing!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

The shouts of the assembled members of the E.U.P. Guard squads boomed across an arid plain touched by a recently-risen sun, causing the ex-Hornpoint prisoners to shrink back further against the rock behind them. The semi-circular nature of the rock prevented the unicorn prisoners from easily sneaking out behind the assembled Guard members that were about to be addressed by their commander, Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor. On the left, the column lead by Lieutenant Vanguard was lined up from highest seniority to lowest, while on the right was Guard Upper Classes Excelsior and Flash Sentry side-by-side, the only two left of Lieutenant Vigil's column which had been mostly killed off in an ambush while scouting the previous night.

"Let's get right to business, we have a full day ahead of us." Shining Armor addresses. "As you may be aware, last night Lieutenant Vanguard brought up a concern about the prisoner management hampering our ability to continue this operation, particularly in the light of the loss of Lieutenant Vigil and most of his squadron. However, I am not about to return to Canterlot without Troilus or Prince Blueblood, nor am I intending to order Lieutenant Vanguard to shepherd the prisoners back to Canterlot on his own. I have a different idea in mind."

Shining Armor pauses long enough to let his words sink in, causing a bit of a buzz in the prisoners in the back, before continuing: "I am about to do something unprecedented in the long history of the E.U.P. Guard. Griffons have served in the Guard before, but never above the rank of Upper Class. Today, that is going to change. I am giving Guard Upper Class Excelsior a field commission as a Lieutenant, for the duration of this mission, specifically to manage the prisoners we have in our custody."

The prisoners in question begin buzzing intensely, and even the assembled Guards begin exchanging looks at both each other and the stunned griffon Excelsior, who is left completely flabbergasted by what has just happened. Shining Armor gives a warning stamp of both forehooves together on the ground, which prompts the return of the group to an at-attention stance.

"That being said, there is another thing I need to do. Please move aside so that I can speak to the prisoners directly." Shining Armor adds. The group, not exactly sure of what else to do, does as commanded, Lieutenant Vanguard's squad to one side and Excelsior with Flash Sentry to the other...

Shining Armor steps between them, the prisoners again shrinking back as he approaches. Petronius, now officially stripped of his Guard Lower Class ranking but still considered the leader of the Hornpoint survivors, attempts to stand up as the representative of the group. Shining can see the haunting shame and mortification in the eyes still - perhaps Petronius was deceived as much as the rest of the prisoners, and he should not be punished as harshly as Troilus will be?

"What is it you want of us... sir?" Petronius asks cautiously, acting as if he was compelled to speak for the other prisoners.

"You and the others will be under the command of the griffon, as civilians. That is not to be objected or argued about, Petronius." Shining Armor answers, stopping in front of the former subordinate as he does so. "But you and the other prisoners can be useful as sources of labor. I am acting on behalf of the alicorns - mercy is what they would want me to give, and if you are cooperative for the rest of this mission maybe Princess Celestia can be persuaded to spare your lives when we return to Canterlot. Is that understood?"

"Ye... yes, sir. We understand... sir." Petronius replies, uneasily looking back and forth between the glaring Shining Armor and the other prisoners huddled behind him. He, and in fact all the prisoners, knew they were not going to get better terms from Shining than had what just been offered.

"Very good. Lieutenant Vanguard, beside me please!" Shining Armor barks out, and the unicorn Lieutenant rushes up beside his commander mere moments later.

"Yes, sir?" Vanguard naturally asks.

"I would like you to help Excelsior take our spare rope and help form the prisoners into a chain-gang." Shining Armor orders. "Horn rings are to remain on the prisoners unless I explicitly approve a request to remove them. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Vanguard answers with a salute.

"We'll take the prisoners with us as spare labor. As soon as the chain-gang is formed, we will cautiously proceed north toward Fort Beta."

"Yes, sir."

Working together, Lieutenant Vanguard and Acting Lieutenant Excelsior were able to improvise a chain connection for the prisoners by tying lengths of rope between prisoners, going as a loop around the body of one prisoner to one of the forelegs of the prisoner behind them. The head of the line was the ex-Guard Petronius, who would march directly behind Excelsior and Flash Sentry on the trip north.

The group proceeds north cautiously under the rising sun once the chain gang is completed, Shining Armor again at the head of the formation, constantly on the lookout for pegasi flying above that could be acting as rebel spies. Still, the lack of smoke coming from the north suggests the rebels are not there now, regardless of whatever happened the previous night.

The damaged Fort Beta appears on the horizon, its stone walls cracked and weathered due to exposure to the elements. Shining Armor notes there are no wisps of smoke or flags flying from that direction, or any other signs of occupation for that matter. He was still puzzling over the sight of the fort when a pony prisoner spots what seems to be a dead pegasus in a shallow crater just off the rugged path.

"Halt. Vanguard, come with me." Shining Armor orders, stopping the march and quickly peeling off in the direction of the crater. Vanguard has to move double-time to catch up with his commanding officer.

Shining Armor stops at the edge of the crater, confirming that one of Lieutenant Vigil's former squad members is lying dead inside. Medium-sized cracks radiate away from the edge of the crater, but Shining is surprised by the lack of gore or bleeding around the dead body.

"It doesn't look like he was dive-bombed, sir." Lieutenant Vanguard comments in a puzzled tone. "Based on the shape of the crater and lack of gory stuff, sir, they look like giant rocks were dropped on top of them."

"That doesn't make any sense, Lieutenant!" Shining Armor immediately counters. "Where would the rebels find the labor to carry those rocks, never mind using them effectively like this?! Nothing about what we're seeing here makes any sense!"

"Maybe so, sir, but I fully expect there to be more craters around if we were to scout out the area." Vanguard suggests. "And I recommend we do that before we proceed on, even at risk of our activity being discovered."

Shining Armor had to admit the Lieutenant had a point - honor, if nothing else, dictated that the dead of Lieutenant Vigil and his squad needed to be accounted for and buried with appropriate respect. He realized though, it would take through lunch and much of the afternoon to accomplish this process, and that another day might be lost in hunting for Prince Blueblood and Troilus.

"Lieutenant, pair up one of your squad members with the prisoners under Excelsior. We'll search the immediate area in pairs, then bury any dead we find." Shining Armor orders, starting back toward the rugged northward path as he does so.

"Yes, sir!" Vanguard answers, starting to follow his commanding officer back as he does so...

Upon returning to the main line, Lieutenant Vanguard immediately begins implementing Shining Armor's orders, temporarily undoing the chaining by untying the knots of the ropes between each prisoner without removing the rope around the body. He then began assigning partners to scout in one direction for a quarter-mile, reporting back upon discovery of any body or suspicious cratering. The sun is near the peak of its ascent when the partners begin spreading out in their assigned directions.

Left alone on the open plain, Shining Armor set up a shield bubble around himself - both to protect from surprise attacks and provide a point of reference for the search parties - and takes a light lunch as the scouting partners begin their work. He is grateful for the fact that much of Vanguard's command are personal friends of his - Gaffer, 8-Bit, Spearhead and Buck Withers - and even those that weren't had given no reason to not be untrustworthy.

"Friendship. Amicitia. That's what's holding everything together, what will keep this society together." Shining Armor affirms to himself. The group lead by his sister Twilight Sparkle was a sterling example of what society could be, but it did not yet have the "weight" to fight against the "confusio" magic itself. So, he knew, he and his own friends had to do that fighting themselves...

Fort Beta

As Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor expected, the search for the fallen of the previous night's ambush ended up dragging late into the afternoon. In the area south of the apparently abandoned Fort Beta, search pairs would sometimes report either to Lieutenant Vanguard or Acting Lieutenant Excelsior the location of a fallen pegasus, which then would be relayed to Shining Armor and noted for the final report of Operation Just Cause. Due to the lack of digging tools for use by the search pairs, all burial had to be done "the Diamond Dog way" (i.e. directly using hooves to kick dirt over the dead bodies). In the end, six pegasi, including Lieutenant Vigil, were accounted for and buried as best as could be arranged.

Shining Armor noted in the report that all the dead pegasi had been found in shallow craters, showing signs of being crushed although there were no signs of what might've been used to crush them. He also noted that throughout the day despite the activity of his squads, there was no signs of rebel scouts or any occupation of the seemingly-abandoned Fort Beta. The puzzles left in this report were referenced later to retroactively conclude Changelings were helping the rebels, a conclusion that would've been completely unconsidered at the time...

"Excelsior, reform the chain gang and prepare to continue north toward the fort. If what I remember of the sun-control timetables is accurate, we'll have just enough light to make it to the fort this afternoon. I will be in briefing with Lieutenant Vanguard if you need me." Shining Armor orders the griffon when all dead had been buried and accounted for.

"Yes, sir!" Excelsior replies with a salute as Shining Armor turns away to talk with Lieutenant Vanguard.

"Alright, Lieutenant. Tell me what you've learned from the prisoners about Fort Beta." Shining Armor asks Vanguard, the latter looking over a levitated sheet of parchment notes he had taken from talking with the prisoners during the previous night and earlier in the day.

"Well, sir, as you are aware the fort was initially abandoned after a buffalo attack cracked the walls and put a huge hole in the eastern one." Vanguard begins answering, looking down at the parchment as he does so. "Apparently, when the rebels occupied it, they piled the loose stones into the breech so as to force anything that couldn't fly to clamber over the pile."

"Buying time for the defenders who probably already knew they were coming." Shining Armor grimly affirms. "Continue on, Lieutenant."

"According to the survivor testimony, Troilus lead a charge toward the rockpile in the attack on the fort, but no one could account for him or Prince Blueblood after the initial charge was thrown back by rebel strikes. The survivors are sure both of them either were captured or fled the scene of the battle like lily-livered cowards, but nopony knows anything more specific than that, sir." Vanguard adds.

Shining spends a moment in thought, then speaks again: "Do you think there are any rebels there now?"

"Considering the lack of flying scouts and no other signs of occupation, I would say the fort was abandoned and whatever ponies were there moved to Fort Alpha, further down the Las Pegasus road. That's purely speculation though, sir."

"Good enough for me though. I intend to take your squad and Excelsior's chain gang and occupy the fort for the night, assuming there is no resistance met to such an action. It doesn't square with how the ambush last night happened, but to be honest Lieutenant there's a lot about this situation that doesn't make any sense..."

"No argument here, sir."

"Good. As soon as Excelsior reforms the chain gang, we will continue north and hopefully reach the fort by nightfall. There, we will plan our next move based on what we find there."

"Yes sir, understood sir."

With the sun dropping faster than Shining Armor would've liked, the two squads under his command cautiously approach the broken and weathered outer wall of Fort Beta. The Lieutenant Captain could see crude, but far from effective, attempts at repairing the walls by the rebels but, yet again, no signs of the rebels themselves. They first make contact at the southeast corner and slowly work along the eastern wall toward where the breech had been taken place.

As Lieutenant Vanguard had stated, the breach was partway filled with a rubble pile. The pile was too treacherous for the chain gang of prisoners as a whole to climb, and there always was possibility of an ambush from the other side, although that didn't seem likely to Shining. Shining's horn glows with magenta magic, and the breach above the rubble pile is suddenly filled with a magic barrier that also glows magenta in the fading light.

Shining then turns to look at Excelsior, at the head of the prisoner chain gang behind him, and gives this order: "Have the prisoners put into pairs with Vanguard's command again - they'll climb the rock pile this way. I'm going up myself to take a look."

"Yes, sir." Excelsior replies with a salute, and Shining only takes a glance back as he starts toward the bottom of the rock pile.

Once at the bottom of the rock pile, Shining quickly observes the pile is climbable - thanks in part because of the tracks of other ponies that tried to climb it before - but every hoofstep would have to be carefully executed. He carefully steps onto one rock, then onto another one slightly higher on the pile. The pile shifts a little bit, but does not give way. Encouraged by this, Shining carefully continues on, stopping a few times to look at his command gathering at the bottom of the pile and any potential of ambush from anything hiding inside the fort.

The rays of the sun had just slipped behind the fort wall when Shining reaches the top of the pile. He looks one way, then another, through the barrier he had cast before attempting the climb, expecting an ambush but finding something else instead. A chilling scene of how badly Operation Hornpoint had gone wrong during the assault on Fort Beta.

Shining turns back to look down at the squad, now assembled at the foot of the rockpile, and shouts: "We need everyone up here as quickly as possible! We've got quite the scene in here!"

Glowworm

Bodies. Bodies in Fort Beta. Bodies of ponies, both unicorn and pegasus alike. Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor counted at least eight of them from his relatively high vantage point, none of them seeming to be alive, and all of them having been sliced and gouged in such a way that their lifeblood had spilled into the dirt and dust of the fort's floor. In the fast-fading light, Shining could also see the tools of improvised war - rakes, shovels, axes and pruning blades wielded by one side and some kind of crude spears wielded by the other - scattered between the dead, some broken as a result of their grisly usage.

Transfixed by the horror, Shining Armor slid down the side of the rubble pile he had been on top of into Fort Beta proper, only vaguely aware his command were scrambling - some by airlifting their comrades - to follow him into the fort currently only occupied by the dead of racial hatred and rebellion. The magic barrier behind him is dissipated when he turns off the glowing magenta magic eminating from his horn, and he hears others sliding down behind him immediately after that.

Shining Armor darts desperately from body to body, catching glimpses of others in his command doing the same. A pegasus with his neck sliced open, a unicorn with a shattered horn and gouged-out eye, another pegasus with his belly sliced open to expose the desiccating insides... all are horrible images, but he can't find any that look like the two main objectives of Operation Just Cause: renegade ex-Lieutenant Troilus or the pretender Prince Blueblood.

When Shining next looks up from examining a body, Lieutenant Vanguard is facing him. Behind Vanguard, a few of his command are seen darting back and forth. With little sunlight left, they are desperate to find some supplies that they hope the rebels left behind in the hasty abandonment of the fort.

"Sir, I don't think the prince or Troilus are..." Vanguard begins to report, before being cut off by the shout of another voice.

"Sir, one of the pegasi is still alive! His breathing is shallow but steady!" comes the deep voice of Guard Upper Class Buck Withers from Shining's right. Shining spares a glance in that direction, then turns back to Vanguard.

"Lieutenant, you and Excelsior work together to try to secure some supplies and get fires started for the night." Shining clips out. "We'll have to deal with the mess when we have more light."

"Yes, sir!" Vanguard replies with a salute, turning away and kicking aside a broken part of a rake as he does so.

Shining now turns right and scurries toward where he heard the voice of Buck Withers coming from. In the fast-fading light, he stops in front of a badly-bruised but otherwise unhurt pegasus. Buck is looking down on one side of the pegasus, laying on his side with wings splayed open, the chest only very slightly moving with each breath. On the other side is the ex-Lower Class Petronius, who had come upon the pegasus the same time Buck did.

"Roll him on his back you two. Carefully." Shining orders, and the two subordinates silently comply in an appropriately symbolic display of cooperation. As the pegasus is guided onto his back, Shining can see the matted and dirty tight curls of mane and tail shift to reveal a scratched face, along with an upside-down apple symbol on the torn remnants of a uniform.

"The second Agent Deceit. The other rebels must've assumed he was too far gone, or otherwise deliberately decided to leave him for dead." Shining concludes based on what he sees.

The pegasus coughs a bit, then lets out a half-coherent moan: "Glowworm... my little Glowworm..."

"We won't be able to do anything more for him until we can get some fires going." Shining Armor concludes. "Get an emergency blanket on him, but don't do anything else for the moment."

"Yes, sir!" Buck Withers replies with a salute, the last Shining hears from him before turning away to continue surveying the area.

One hour passes, then two, the sun completing the Celestia-controlled descent and Luna raising the moon in its place. The quarter-moon's soft beams of light is a reassurance to Shining as his command finishes occupying the fort for the night. Some are busy cleaning up the dead ponies and broken weapons, leaving them in temporary piles in a corner of the fort. Some are busy distributing supplies the rebels left behind when they abandoned the fort, which is put to good use in building fires and supplementing rations.

It is only once everything else is settled that Shining Armor can turn his attention to the former Agent Deceit, the only prisoner of the former Agents of Chaos he has right now. Despite the condition the pegasus is in, Shining needs as much intel as he can get out of him.

A pair of large campfires is now burning steadily inside the walls of the fort, one of which currently has several pots of broth bubbling over it. Shining Armor uses unicorn magic and a ladle to pour a measure of the thin soup into a mess tin, which he then directs over to where the injured pegasus is laying, still on his back, under the thermal blanket.

Shining sits down facing the pegasus, which has been drifting in and out of consciousness, and guides the mess tin in front of the pegasus, speaking as he does so: "Here, have some. You probably haven't eaten anything in three days."

The pegasus initially gives a sniff and suspicious glance, but after a moment begins slowly drinking the hot liquid, alternating between slurping and lapping with his tongue until the tin was empty, at which point the pegasus slid back to his face-up pose and Shining moved the empty tin away. The Lieutenant Captain also noticed a few tears sliding down the face of the pegasus, and he was reasonably sure they weren't from burning his throat.

"You're the only one we found alive - everypony else is either dead or gone." Shining explains, and the response is immediate on the former Agent Deceit - a few more tears welling up and sliding down to the dirt floor of the fort.

"Glowworm, Glowworm... what have I done to you?!" the pegasus moans out, his face twisting into an expression of grief as he does so.

"I'm sure it hurts that they decided to leave you for dead, but I need answers, and fast. I need you to talk to me." Shining Armor firmly states to try to get the pegasus to focus, and the slow nodding between the tears in response shows his willingness to cooperate at least in principle.

"Good. Do you know if Prince Blueblood and Troilus were captured alive by the other rebels in the assault here?" Shining asks, the pegasus responding with a slow nod.

"What about afterward? Would they have been taken to the other fort still alive?" Shining asks, and again the pegasus nods in response - this gives the Lieutenant Captain hope that the two most important objectives of the whole operation could still be rescued alive, albeit a hope that was already slim and would grow slimmer with each passing hour.

"Thank you, you've been very helpful. Hopefully in the morning we can get you back to the main path and on the way to Canterlot." Shining affirms with a smile.

"My little Glowworm... I need to see her again, what are they going to do to her..." the pegasus continues rambling.

"'Glowworm'? Who is that? You keep talking about her, why is that?" Shining asks one more time.

"My filly... Cozy Glow... never said goodbye...what are they going to do to her?!"

"Your daughter is still in Canterlot somewhere?"

"Don't... know... need to... get back... to her!"

"I promise, I'll make sure you'll get back to her. In the morning, we'll medivac you back to the main road and then somepony will get you to..."

Shining stops talking when he realizes his words are not being heard by the pegasus, who has broken down in open weeping. The unicorn can only look down in somber horror as the pegasus cries himself back to sleep, realizing that this broken former Agent of Chaos was also a father that had made a terrible mistake, or more accurately a series of terrible mistakes, in raising his filly, doubtless the result of being blinded by the extremes of his former beliefs. Mistakes that much later would come back to haunt not just Shining Armor, but his younger sister and her friends as well...

Replacements

Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor, leading his command back from Fort Beta to the main Canterlot-Las Pegasus road, is both surprised and relieved to see a pair of pegasus stallions in E.U.P. Guard armor at the former campsite of the Hornpoint survivors. He had spent the whole morning at Fort Beta - mostly taking on supplies the rebels had left behind and constructing burials under stones for the dead there - and the sun had already reached its highest point in the sky when he lead the two squads out from the fort back toward the main road.

Shining Armor was not worried about the Hornpoint prisoners supervised by Acting Lieutenant Excelsior - as long as they were kept under some kind of watch they would be cooperative. What worried him more was the former Agent Deceit, stable but unconscious and carried on stretcher between two members of Lieutenant Vanguard's command. He did not relish the thought of having to send away two vital members of his command back to Canterlot for the purpose of getting the pegasus proper medical care. At best, it was a terrible inconvenience. At worst, he would have to delay the rest of the operation to track down and bring back the ex-Lieutenant Troilus and Prince Blueblood, an operation that had already suffered a number of delays and did not have time on its side.

In light of this, the unicorn commander jumping on the opportunity seemingly presented him to offload the prisoner by the rendezvous, and not stopping to properly credential the two stallions, was understandable. The carelessness, though, would lead to bad consequences down the road - not least of which being that the then-unknown Changeling menace had found a vector to be exploited in trying to take over Equestria...

Lieutenant Vanguard, a unicorn, and Acting Lieutenant Excelsior, a griffon, could do nothing but exchange looks as Shining Armor talked with the two pegasi in Guard armor. Vanguard in particular was surprised that his commanding officer never asked the two for their names and seemed to be more eager than appropriate to offload the captured pegasus to them. Vanguard could also see Excelsior slowly becoming more and more distrustful of the mysterious pair, fur and feathers rising in the same manner some cats did when around others they didn't like.

The inevitable order, nevertheless, came quickly to Vanguard: "Lieutenant, these two Upper Classes have promised me they will personally take the pegasus back to Canterlot and get him to a hospital. Bring the pegasus up and leave him on the stretcher."

Vanguard looked over at a perturbed Excelsior, who looked like he seriously wanted to object to the whole arrangement. If Vanguard was perfectly honest with himself, he would've began an objection, but glimpsing the long line of unicorn prisoners beside him and the arid conditions around the entire command, he reluctantly thought against it. He gestured the two in his command holding up the stretcher to step ahead of the rest of the squad so that the transfer could be performed.

As the transfer happened, Vanguard caught glimpse of two things: Excelsior subtly shaking his head, and the unhealthy greenish glow in the eyes of both pegasi, which seemed to have been either missed or ignored by his commanding officer. The unicorn Lieutenant could only blow out a long breath as the transfer was completed, and the two pegasi lifted off with the stretcher between them, following the ground track back toward Canterlot.

Shining Armor's obvious relief was quickly tempered by the skeptical looks of the two Lieutenants he commanded, but before either of them could object he quickly snaps out the following sentences: "I'm sure you are thinking I just made a major mistake, but it needs to be repeated, Lieutenants, that we are working against time and that lives are at stake. Entrusting the prisoner to them saves both time and vital stallions for the next half of the operation. Now we need to get as far down the road as we can, and are not stopping until sundown. Move out along the path!"

Shining turns away and starts down the path, leaving Vanguard to look with a shrug at Excelsior, who lets out a half-squawk of disbelief and irritation. Certainly both he and Vanguard think he did make a mistake, but have no way of proving it and are obligated to follow orders to continue with their squads toward Fort Alpha...

As Shining Armor's Operation Just Cause continued down the road toward Fort Alpha, the former Agent Deceit was being carried toward Canterlot. For 30 minutes, all seemed well, the former Agent of Chaos drifting in and out of consciousness, not really sure what was going on but knowing he was being taken somewhere.

And then suddenly, he wasn't. The pegasi simply landed back on the path, setting the stretcher down and leaving the Agent's mind clouded in confusion. The pegasi move standing side-by-side at the foot of the stretcher, glaring down in disgust. The green eyes begin glowing, and a hissing noise escapes from the throats of both pegasi.

"Wha... this isn't...?" the former Deceit tries to say, but is cut off by the speech of the other pegasi.

"You've sssssaid too much, Equestrian!" one of the pegasi spits out, both of them now revealing there was good reason to be distrustful of them.

The former Agent watches in horror as the "pegasi" are covered in green magic rings that move from top to bottom, stripping away the disguise and revealing their true black, bug-like nature - two Changeling drones, with a set purpose and insatiable hunger for emotion.

"There's... more... bugs?" the former Deceit speaks again, eyes wide in shock.

"We are many, Equesssstrian! We are an army, and we intend to feassst upon all of you! Our Queen hassss ordered it!" the drone that had not previously spoken explains.

"Queen?" the pegasus Agent speaks, in what would turn out to be his last word as a living being.

"Enough!" the first drone hisses out again. "You have betrayed usssssss with your words, and you have no love to give usssss, ssssso you must DIE!"

And before the former Agent of Chaos can do or say anything else, the glowing green rings pass over the drones again. One becomes a bear, that pins the pegasus down with a large paw, splitting the stretcher underneath him as it does so. The other drone becomes a fearsome amalgamation of three different snakes: the size and squeezing power of an anaconda, the fear-inducing rattle of a rattler snake, and the hooded and fanged menace of a cobra.

Primal horror fills the face and mind of the former Agent Deceit as the drone in its composite-snake form slithers up to him, the rattle of seeming death repeating insistently as coils wrap around the neck of the pegasus. The drone hisses in his face, showing fangs and hood as it begins squeezing the neck tighter and tighter - this would be the last thing the pegasus would ever see in its life.

The squeezing continues until the inevitable passing out from lack of air, then the drone applies a venomous bite that would be sure to finish the job. The snake-drone uncoils, letting his bear counterpart heave the soon-to-be-dead pegasus onto his back. The snake-drone then turns into a teenage-dragon form, and the bear-drone steps away from the broken stretcher as the other drone sets it aflame with fiery breath, ensuring only unidentifiable cinders are left of it when all is said and done.

The betrayal has been successful. No one else was anywhere nearby on the path, and the previous "replacement" of the two pegasi Upper Classes coming from Las Pegasus would ensure any serious investigation would end up going nowhere. Now, all that was left was to "replace" the former Agent Deceit.

"Follow me back to the rock which he's hiding as. We need to show him for a proper disguise to work." the dragon-drone says to the bear-drone, both starting in a direction south of the path heading toward where a third drone was hiding, disguised as a rock just out of sight of those travelling along the path.

"I really liked that snake thing you used. Where did you learn about that?" the bear-drone asks, trying to make small talk on the way.

"Another drone used it to scare Thorax. He showed me what exactly he did so that I could do it myself." the dragon-drone answers.

"Thorax? Isn't he connected to Commander Pharynx somehow?" the bear-drone asks again.

"Broodmates. I don't know what the Commander sees in him, I think it makes him weak. Now quiet down until we get to the disguise location."

"Alright, alright..."

The Final Alliance

"Halt! Somepony is approaching down the path from the other direction."

Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor thus stops his command of Operation Just Cause on the path between Canterlot and Las Pegasus. The command was marching in two lines, Lieutenant Vanguard leading his squad in one line while Acting Lieutenant Excelsior managed the ex-Hornpoint prisoners in a chain gang in the other. The time was late in the afternoon, the operation members determined to get as close as they could to the rebel-held Fort Alpha while Princess Celestia's daylight still shone over the arid land around them.

As the traveller approaches closer, Shining Armor and those travelling with him can distinguish more and more features. First, they can see he's an earth pony stallion, orange in color and wearing a black hat as well as a cloak patterned in black, grey and white. As he gets closer, they can see the stallion also has a poofy brown mane and tail partly concealed by the clothing he's wearing, as well as a rubber chicken balanced on his back. The latter prompts Shining Armor to give an eyebrow raise back to Vanguard and Excelsior, both of whom just shrug back in response.

When Shining Armor turns his back toward the approaching stallion, he sees the stallion stopped in front of him, slowly raising a forehoof in a salute, chomping a party favor as if a cigar, green eyes glowing fiercely in a glare under the hat. The Lieutenant Captain gives a puzzled look in response briefly, then clears his throat and asks a question: "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

"My real name does not matter, sir, but I will tell you the codename Princess Celestia has me operating under: 'Quesadilla Polka'." the saluting earth pony stallion answers, the ferocity of the glare unchanged.

"Codename? Are you on a mission the princess gave you?" Shining Armor naturally responds.

"I am under a codename because if the flying rebels ever found out about who I really am, they would have my head." the earth pony stallion answers. "I, along with Boneless on my back here, have dedicated my whole life to spreading joy and laughter around Equestria. The rebels put a bounty on my head when they took over the area, so I had to flee south to around Appleloosa for a while and work there, to help with the new peace treaty. But I knew your squad was coming, so I returned to fulfill a promise I had made to myself and others. I want to join your operation, and get rid of the rebels once and for all."

A somewhat surprised Shining Armor looks back briefly at Vanguard and Excelsior behind him, who mimic his surprise and puzzlement back at him. The rest of the command, having heard Quesadilla Polka's words, exchange whispered comments of surprise and confusion.

Lacking anything hard to go on, Shining Armor turns back to face Quesadilla, and sees the determination of the stare unchanged even with the salute temporarily dropped now. This prompts a cautious statement from the unicorn Lieutenant Captain: "Are you absolutely sure about this, Quesadilla Polka? I cannot guarantee your safety, and I have already lost good ponies to the attacks of the rebels."

"Sir, I am here because I know who I am, and I know who you are." Quesadilla Polka begins responding, his tone very firm and determined. "I know the sister you have in Ponyville, and her friends. And I also know one of those friends made me who I am today. I don't know when or even if I will ever meet that friend while I am still alive, but if I did not show courage and stand beside another one so deeply touched by the magic of that group, what kind of stallion would I be? If I don't have the courage now, will I ever have the courage then, meeting her again, sir?"

Shining Armor lets out a low hum after hearing the passion of Quesadilla's speech, then looks the earth pony straight in the eye after the latter uses a forehoof to temporarily push up the hat hiding his gaze. Shining is surprised to find the glint in the green eyes of the earth pony - the same one he carries, where the amicitia magic has transformed and empowered a pony to do extraordinary things in the name of friendship. And the sight of that glint settles the issue for Shining, despite the whispering concern of Vanguard and Excelsior behind him.

"Your offer has been accepted, Quesadilla. You will serve as part of the operation under the command of Lieutenant Vanguard. Welcome aboard, brave stallion." Shining Armor affirms with a smile.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. I promise I won't let you, or her, down." Quesadilla replies, misty tears forming in his eyes.

"How very sentimental. Too bad your little alliance won't last very long." comes a stallion's voice from the left of the party, dripping with sarcasm and contempt for what he was seeing.

All eyes focus on the source of this voice, and every single one is surprised by what they see. The surprise grows even more when two more ponies emerge from behind the first one, each on a different side, to sit beside him, forelegs crossed in an X over the chest.

"Aten! Or maybe I should say, Agent Snake!" Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor exclaims, horn glowing to generate a magic barrier as Quesadilla Polka scurries behind him for protection.

"I see that the passage of time and the unkemptness of my appearance hasn't tricked your eye." the traitorous ex-Lieutenant Captain comments, referring to the scraggly beard and sideburns, colored a dirty red, that had grown during his months in the wilderness. This was complemented by the shaggy nature of his mane and tail, and if it wasn't for the nubs of wings left over from the surgical removal that had previously been done Aten could've passed for an earth pony.

"Maybe so, but what are they doing here with you? They are the last ponies I expected to see with you!" Shining Armor exclaims again, pointing toward the two flanking ponies, who look exactly like Lieutenant Troilus and Guard Upper Class Lyacon, only with a more unkempt look to them. The Hornpoint prisoners watching in the chain-gang are now whispering intensely in surprise at what they are seeing.

The exclamation brings out a mocking laughter from Aten, and then the start of a monologue: "Prince Blueblood and those unicorns you have in a line are all complete fools! I have two shape-shifters in my command, and there's a whole army where they come from! My rebel forces easily brought in the real Troilus and Lyacon when they were sent to look for us, and drop in a pair of replacements that were designed to bring the prince and other hostages right into our waiting trap! Now we have the prince as a hostage, and Celestia will have to pay dearly to get him back!"

The shocked Shining Armor looked over at the ex-Hornpoint prisoners, and finds they share his shock - it was obvious none of them had any idea that the entire movement was a sham, and some of them begin sobbing, including the ex-Guard Lower Class Petronius at the head of the chain gang. They had thrown away their futures and lives because of listening to the confusio magic, but couldn't know at the time that the ripple effects would extend far beyond the effects on their own lives.

"There is an army, Lieutenant Captain. I have them aimed into taking Equestria by replacing those within, one by one, until the kingdom falls to their deceptions." Aten starts again, his eyes glowing a sinister green. "The process has already begun, and even if I don't live to see its conclusion you can be assured that the Agents of Chaos will have their revenge from beyond their grave when the shape-shifters enslave the citizens of Canterlot and all Equestria!"

All three enemy stallions then begin laughing in a mania, taking on an increasingly bright green glow as they do so. The laughter descends into a hissing, and the glow becomes so bright that everyone watching is temporarily blinded by it. When the glow fades, all three have vanished without a trace!

"Where did they go?!? Did anyone see anything?!?" Shining Armor calls back to his command, dropping his previous barrier as he does so. A guilty, awkward silence spreads through the ranks as they realize the three enemies are nowhere to be spotted.

The silence continues for a minute, Shining Armor debating about what to do next and his command stewing in a mixture of horror, shame and guilt of varying degrees. With the sun still descending fast, he wondered if a night assault on Fort Alpha would even be worth trying. But, and again to his surprise, it is Quesadilla Polka that breaks the silence.

"We have to attack the fort as soon as possible, sir. We have to. There is no other choice. More ponies will die if we don't." the orange earth pony stallion all but pleads, taking off his head to make the bright green pleading eyes clear to everyone around him.

The passion seems to ripple through the rest of the crowd, slowly pushing aside the grip of doubt and dismay, and finally Shining Armor gives a nodding ascent to the request of the newest addition to his command. Quesadilla Polka responds by taking the rubber chicken pet still on his back and putting it on his head, such that the hat would conceal it from view when put back on, and spitting out the party favor in his mouth.

"We have ponies that need to be saved. Let's get dangerous!" Quesadilla Polka exclaims, and with confidence returning he marches beside Shining Armor as the entire Operation Just Cause begins again down the road toward Fort Alpha, and whatever destiny awaited those involved...

Fort Alpha

Their determination and confidence renewed, Operation Just Cause lead by Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor marches down the path into the night, instead of stopping at sundown as previously planned. As they march, Shining Armor deploys a glowing magenta dome around the entire force, and quickly the necessity of such an action becomes obvious as the members of the operation see pegasi attackers rebound off the dome. The rebels must've known they were coming, but could do little about it.

For the most part, the rebel pegasi that made kamikaze runs at the barrier ended up unaccounted for. Most disappeared into the night - believed in retrospect either to have gotten lost in the dark wilderness or picked up by their Changeling "allies" to be taken to the hive far southward. Two were captured by the Just Cause forces, both having crashlanded after rebounding off the shield and unable to get away from ponies that sallied out from the protection of the barrier to grab them.

Only one pegasus attacker was able to make it back to Fort Alpha, reporting the strength of the force coming at them to Agent Snake in command. By this point, the Just Cause forces had already turned southward off the road toward the fort, and the magenta bubble in the distance seemed to be a harbinger of doom to those still there...

"How many are there?" Agent Snake asks the returned attacker in the "council of war" he was currently in. He had called this council after hearing the report of the oncoming Just Cause forces, consisting of himself, the remaining four seniormost Agents of Chaos - the second Animosity, the second Greed, the second Cruelty and the second Sadness - and finally the two Changeling "deep infiltrators" Agents X1 and X2.

"At least a dozen, sir. Various races. I think they replaced the losses from the ambush near Beta with the Hornpoint members, sir." the pegasus reports, giving a shaky salute as he does so.

"I was seriously hoping they wouldn't be able to pull off that feat." Snake comments in disgust. "You believe that they are headed for an attack tonight, as soon as they reach the fort?"

"That's correct, sir."

"They won't be able to break the fort's defenses immediately, but we don't have enough here to drive back the attack." Snake comments, before turning to the two Changeling agents (wearing a pony disguise so that the other members of the council didn't recognize them as Changelings) and asking them: "Are you absolutely sure that no more reinforcements will be provided?"

"Our Queen will sssssssend no more unlesssss sssssssshe gets more poniessssssss to feasssssst upon." Agent X1 answers in no uncertain terms.

"But the hostages are more valuable with us than...!" the second Agent Animosity begins to object.

"I am aware of that, Animosity. If we take the hostages to the lair of the shapeshifters, then we aren't going to get them back. I will only do that as an absolute last resort." Snake overrides.

"What about the cyanide shipment from Las Pegasus?" the second Agent Cruelty proposes.

"It won't get here until morning, I don't know if we have that long." Snake counters. "Even if the initial assault fails, which it might considering they don't have anything to break the weak point in the wall, they'll put us under siege and cut off the shipment from getting to us."

"Could we use 'the Flaming V' to drive them back once they begin their assault?" the second Agent Sadness proposes.

"We might not have much of a choice in the matter - we're running out of time and other options." Snake answers before turning toward the pegasus that gave him the report on the loyalist forces and giving the following orders: "Set up for five to be involved in 'the Flaming V', launched directly at the attackers."

"Yes, sir!" the reporting pegasus exclaims, turning and leaving the meeting.

A few moments of silence pass, then Snake speaks again: "Is there anything else we can do against them? Anything at all?!"

The members of the council look back and forth at each other, clearly lacking for any ideas as to what else could be done. Then the entire group notices a green flash coming from Agent X1, and is surprised to find he has taken on an imitation of Agent Snake!

"I will take charge of carrying out 'the Flaming V' and the defensssse against the oncoming attack." the disguised Agent X1 explains. "It will probably mean my death, but it will also give you chance to essssscape. Your tantalizing dessscriptionssss of Equessstria will ensssure welcome by our Queen and hive, and you will sssstill be able to open the gatesssss for ussss to get in. My partner will be able to take the prissssoners to the hive if we can't hold the fort any more."

Agent Snake pauses a few moments to consider the extraordinary offer, the other council members exchanging glances at each other as he does so. Finally, he smiles - a rare and reassuring sight - and gives his answer: "Your offer has been accepted, Agent X. Effective immediately, you will have command of all forces within and immediately around Fort Alpha. Prep all ponies that won't be involved in 'the Flaming V' to counter an assault against the northwest wall, and if you repulse the initial assault focus on evacuating the prisoners southward. Don't even wait for morning, they must be taken out now!"

"But what will you do, sir?" the second Animosity asks.

"Leave for the lair of the shapeshifters." Snake answers. "I am determined not to die tonight. Not by fire, or the hooves of those hunting me. Do not expect to see me again unless the plan succeeds."

Snake abruptly turns and ducks out of the meeting, before any other objections can be raised, and races to his personal quarters to retrieve what he can. As it turned out, it would be the last time anyone in that meeting would see him, alive or otherwise...

MEANWHILE...

Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor temporarily stops the march as he approaches the wall, its stonework reflecting the magenta-colored magic of the shield he was maintaining, to set up the assault with Lieutenant Vanguard and Acting Lieutenant Excelsior. Vanguard and Excelsior would each have command of one squad for the night assault against Fort Alpha.

"The main objective is to draw the enemy out and wear him down with pointless assaults against the magic shield, then storm the fort." Shining Armor begins explaining to Vanguard and Excelsior. "Vanguard and his squad will lead the right, heading toward the weak point in the wall facing us. Excelsior will command the prisoners on the left, mostly to keep any attackers occupied while Vanguard sets up the assault. Once inside, everyone is expected to search and rescue whatever prisoners might be inside, ideally alive and well. Understood?"

"Sir, how will we get past the wall? Airlifts will be both slow and expected by the enemy, and we don't have anything to batter at the weakpoint." Vanguard points out.

"The earth pony 'Quesadilla Polka' says he has a way to breach the wall. I don't know what that way might be, but lacking a suitable alternative I'm going to give him the benefit of believing he actually has something." Shining Armor answers.

Vanguard and Excelsior exchange looks, the latter giving a shrug at the former. They return attention to Shining Armor, who continues giving orders: "Excelsior, undo the chain gang and have Flash Sentry coordinate a horizontal advance of the prisoners. Vanguard, line up your command in two rows behind 'Quesadilla Polka' and make sure to keep your squad prepared to rush in as soon as the wall is breached. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Vanguard and Excelsior answer simultaneously, again exchanging looks. Whatever else would happen that night, it was certain they would at least try to storm Fort Alpha, the last stronghold of the Agents of Chaos...

The Final Assault

The Agent of Chaos leader Snake, also known as the former Lieutenant Captain Aten, was determined to melt into the night as the glowing magenta bubble representing the forces hunting him closed on Fort Alpha, his organization's last stronghold. He had already abdicated authority over all the ponies still there to one of his subordinates, a "shapeshifter" he called Agent X that would lead the defense of the fort. Now, he was galloping on hoof southward, shielded from view of the attackers by the fort itself, toward where the "shapeshifter" and his partner claimed was their hive and their Queen - Queen Chrysalis, as all Equestria would find out.

As a pegasus that had had his wings surgically removed, Snake hated "crawling in the dirt" like the earth ponies did, but knew he had little choice in the matter. If Fort Alpha fell, the Agents of Chaos would die, and he would surely have been executed for treason if captured alive there. He could only hope that the "shapeshifters" could coordinate defense of the position long enough to evacuate what forces were still there - and the valuable prisoners contained within...

MEANWHILE...

"Sir, I still don't understand how this 'Quesadilla Polka' managed to get his hooves on that huge wheel of hard cheddar, never mind how we missed seeing it before..." Lieutenant Vanguard asks of Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor as the two walk side by side under the magic dome Shining Armor was generating to protect the force from an aerial assault while it set up for the attack on Fort Alpha.

"I have no idea, Lieutenant, but I've heard of the same kind of weirdness being experienced by my sister with Pinkie Pie. I guess in this case we're just supposed to roll with it." Shining Armor answers with something of a shrug, looking up at the top of the giant cheese wheel nearby slowly and carefully being rolled forward by the earth pony "Quesadilla Polka" on top of it.

"Sir, that pun was terrible. Please don't do that again." Lieutenant Vanguard comments with a roll of his eyes.

Shining Armor chuckles and gives something of an apology in response: "Alright, I won't. We need to get serious about the assault anyway."

Lieutenant Vanguard steps away to the right, and Shining Armor looks around to assess the situation he faces. The weak point in Fort Alpha's wall, where it had been previously breached by a buffalo stampede, is protected by an improvised wooden barrier and would be the main target of the assault. Quesadilla Polka would roll the cheese wheel against it as an impromptu battering ram, allowing bucking attacks by the members of Vanguard's squad and Shining's own powerful magic to weaken it further and eventually shatter it, allowing the fort to be stormed.

Of course, Shining Armor expected a counterattack of some kind, although he had no idea what it would be. The rebels couldn't have many left to oppose him, and they might decide to fight inside the fort instead of outside. He regretted that he couldn't deploy "catch squads" to attempt to grab any rebels escaping on wing, realizing he would have to make do with what he had available to him.

Shining had placed himself in the center of the line, between the two squads under his command. To his left, Acting Lieutenant Excelsior was attempting to coordinate a horizontal march of the ex-Hornpoint unicorns, with the far left anchored by Guard Upper Class Flash Sentry and the ex-Lower Class Petronius, who still proved he had some use in coordinating the mostly-civilian squad. To the right was Vanguard and his squad, the Upper Classes 8-Bit and Spearhead airborne while the rest of the squad cautiously followed behind the giant rolling cheese wheel.

In the dim moonlight, Shining could make out the glow of a few fires inside the fort and the outline of a defiantly flying flag - asking for surrender would be pointless since he already knew the rebels would fight to the death to keep what valuable prisoners they had. There would be a fight tonight for certain, but how bloody and long it might be he had no idea...

As the Just Cause force closed on the walls of the fort, the remaining defenders prepared as best they could. Although initially confused by the giant rolling cheese wheel as well, they believed it in itself could not breach the weak point and that Shining Armor would be too distracted to contribute to the attack with his own powerful unicorn magic. Agent X1, already cloaked, lined up in a middle of pegasi stallions that were similarly cloaking themselves and turned to face his drone comrade X2, the only one besides the prisoner guards that would not be participating in the "Flaming V" counterattack.

Agent X2 was levitating a lit torch with magic, and his solid-colored eyes looked pleading as he spoke one last plea: "Let'ssss jussst go with the prisssoners now!"

"Ssssorry, I have an obligation to buy enough time for the Equessstrian traitor to get to the Queen." Agent X1 answers with a shake of the head. "I do not expect we will ssssurvive, but at leassst the Equesssstrian will tell of a way into their kingdom. Light the cloakssss, we will attack when the barrier comesss down to let the attackerssss out."

The Changeling X2 gives a pained look, but does what he is told, lighting on fire the cloaks his disguised comrade and the four pegasi lined up beside him are wearing. This kamikaze attack would be the only effective reply the defenders could give, and they had to make it count...

Shining Armor's force stops about 50 ft from the wall, squarely facing it, and he temporarily lets down the protective barrier so that his force could begin their attack. That's when the "Flaming V" takes off and zooms over top of the wall, the pegasi wearing the flaming cloaks arranged in a wedge-shaped formation and diving straight toward the forces on the ground.

The appearance of the "Flaming V" temporarily stops the advance of the ground force, and a surprised Shining Armor scrambles to put back up the protective shield. As the rebel pegasi scream across the arid plan just above ground level, the shield goes back up, forcing the members of the formation to scatter away to avoid smacking headlong into it. The flying members of the Just Cause force are outside the new barrier, and immediately race to intercept the rebel flyers.

A series of individual mid-air duels result as Shining Armor again orders the attack forward toward the weak point in the wall. Acting Lieutenant Excelsior scores first blood by slashing an eye of one of the attackers, instantly causing him to plummet groundward, then goes to help 8-Bit, closely pursued by one of the other rebel attackers. A well-timed ram to the side by the griffon saves 8-Bit from being grabbed and pulled out of the sky, and the pursuer instantly also plummets groundward from the hard hit.

Shining lets down the barrier again, and former Hornpoint members race toward the pair of downed pegasi, overtaking and capturing them - although the unicorns succeeded in removing the burning cloaks off the rebel pegasi, they had already been badly burned and would eventually die of those burns. Following previous orders, a pair stay in place to restrain each pegasus while the rest of the force rushes rightward to join the assault on the weak point.

One of the flaming attackers, unoccupied by an opponent, sees an opening on "Quesadilla Polka", who is currently focused on lining up for the ram on the weak point, and zooms toward him. A shouted warning by Shining Armor alerts the earth pony just in time - he feels the searing heat of the flames just inches above his head as he ducks the diving attacker. Before the rebel can come around for a second try, he smacks headlong into an improvised magic barrier created by Shining Armor and drops to the ground - before he can recover, several unicorns are upon him and he joins the ranks of the pegasi prisoners.

With three of the pegasi defenders captured and the other two engaged by the unhurt loyal forces, Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor orders the battering to begin, Lieutenant Vanguard coordinating groups that perform flying smashes with hooves between rolls of the cheese wheel at the wooden weak point. Quesadilla Polka, wearing a fierce expression the entire time, rolls at top speed toward the wooden barrier, the impact causing the timbers to shudder, although none of them break.

The shuddering impact causes Agent X2, still inside the fort's walls, to immediately realize he's in serious trouble - the entire plan he was operating under worked on the assumption the attackers didn't have anything that could break the weak point in the initial assault. He considers standing and fighting, but hearing the combination of whooshing overhead as the aerial battles continue and the shuddering timbers of continued ramming at the weak point convinces him it would be suicidal.

"What do we do, sir?" one of the guards of the access door to the prisoners asks X2 as the latter rushes up toward him. Immediately after the statement, all three hear the timbers of the weak point shudder again from an impact.

"We can't ssstay here. We need to evacuate the prisssoners, now!" X2 spits out in desperation.

"How? I don't think we have enough time for that!" the other guard shouts, and when the three hear the timbers splintering from another hit, X2 realizes there's no point arguing that.

Instead, the disguised drone charges past the guards into a torch-lit interior section of the fort. Inside are eight holding cells, five currently holding a single unicorn each behind a magic-proof lock. The prisoners - including a bedraggled, dazed and dirty Prince Blueblood - are temporarily roused from their torpor as X2 rushes past them into one of the holding cells, locking himself into the cell once inside. The subsequent bright green flash of magic and general darkness of the holding cells prevent recognizing the new disguise that X2 takes on - a Hornpoint prisoner that had died in their custody but would be assumed by the rescuers to still be alive. Another "replacement", and the way X2 would get back into Equestria without being recognized...

The two prisoner guards, now without any kind of superior authority commanding them, can only watch helplessly as the assault proceeds on Fort Alpha, shadowy figures with wings appearing on top of the walls. The figures belong to the Just Cause attackers, who have knocked out the remaining two pegasi attackers and landed on top of the wall to scout out any potential further resistance. The prisoner guards now panic and abandon their posts, but the winged attackers coming screaming down (literally, thanks to Excelsior's griffon screeching) after them from on top of the wall.

Meanwhile, the timbers of the wooden weakpoint have been cracked and buckled by the abuse of the hard cheddar wheel rolled against them and repeated flying smashes from the hooves of the attackers. A hole opens up in the wood, and Shining Armor calls a stop, recognizing that he can work the hole open with his own magic powers at this point. The attackers back away, Quesadilla Polka dismounting from on top of the giant cheese wheel, and Shining Armor launches small magenta spheres from his horn at the hole in the timbers. The impacts are shattering, like cannonball impacts would be, and after a few shots the timbers of the weak point snap apart and tumble down, leaving an opening for the non-flying members of Operation Just Cause to get inside.

Lieutenant Vanguard doesn't even wait for the order to be given, immediately leading a charge into the fort through the newly-created breach. The rest of his squad follows, as do the ex-Hornpoint members that aren't tending the captured pegasi. Shining Armor himself stays near the back, making sure the rear is protected before clambering over the remains of the wooden beams into Fort Alpha.

Vanguard and his command were already scattering through the fort when Shining Armor entered, linking up with the members of Excelsior's assault that had already cornered and captured the two prisoner guards. As the two former guards are hauled in front of Shining Armor, the latter sees Flash Sentry fly to the top of the fort's flagpole and rip off the tattered rebel flag from its mount - an important symbolic moment in fall of both the fort and the Agents of Chaos.

"WHERE ARE THE PRISONERS? I KNOW YOU HAVE SOME HERE!" Shining Armor spits out at one of the captured guards.

"Wha-what..." the guard tries a stammering reply, only to get a smack in the face from one of Shining's forehooves.

"I'M NOT GOING TO ASK AGAIN, WHERE ARE THE PRISONERS?" the unicorn Lieutenant Captain shouts again, and this time the captured pegasus points a trembling foreleg toward one of the fort's buildings, one not yet being investigated by the scattering members of the Just Cause force.

Shining is on it quickly, galloping towards the door leading into the building housing the holding cells. He turns his head slightly as he rams through the door at full force, skidding to a stop between the holding cells. The prisoners look up at his armored figure with some degree of hope, although stay back as he begins kicking open the locks with a hindleg one-by-one, already knowing the locks would resist any attempt to open them with unicorn magic.

As the locks are busted open, the weak unicorn prisoners slowly stand hopefully. As they do so, Shining Armor is relieved to find the unicorn Prince Blueblood among them, his usually well-groomed mane and tail dirty and scraggly, the white of his coat soiled by mud and dust, and his eyes bloodshot from fatigue and lack of sleep.

The prisoners cautiously form up behind Shining Armor, recognizing him instantly as their liberator, and Blueblood speaks his first words in several days, made hoarse by a parched throat and his fatigue: "I... don't think... I've ever been so happy... to see a pony in my life...I was sure... we would die... here."

"It's no less a fate than Your Highness deserves." Shining Armor replies with cold, biting words, accompanied by a glare that matched, if not surpassed, the chill and contempt of the spoken word.

Prince Blueblood immediately knew why the Lieutenant Captain had spoken those words, and was ashamed that he had no answer for them. His humiliation was not now ended, despite his restored freedom, but would continue all the way back to Canterlot...

Author's Note

(Yes, I know this took two weeks, but I think this chapter benefitted from the extra "cooking time". Just one more chapter to go before the story - and Season 1 - is finished!)

Denouement

After the fall of Fort Alpha, the forces of Operation Just Cause commanded by Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor spent the entire following day occupying the old rebel stronghold, processing the information and performing inventory on the supplies left there. Among the findings there was plans for the intended wholesale slaughter of the prisoners - shocking the loyalists on how barely they had averted another "harvest" of death - and mentions of "shapeshifter support squads", a thoroughly mystifying phrase that only made sense after the later Changeling attack on Canterlot.

Although Shining Armor was frustrated that the Agents of Chaos leader Agent Snake - aka ex-Lieutenant Captain Aten - had escaped capture again, he was confident from the pegasi captives he had taken in the assault that the Agents of Chaos now had ceased to exist as an organized threat. The scattered surviving membership was later believed to have either perished in the arid conditions surrounding Fort Alpha, taken up criminal activity as individuals elsewhere, or captured by and taken to the hive of their supposed Changeling "allies". The final flag flown by the Agents of Chaos over the fort, showing the eight-headed arrow symbol of chaos, was presented to Shining Armor as a war trophy.

The four uninjured pegasi that had been captured were extensively interrogated for what information they possessed, while the five burned pegasi (unknowingly including the disguised form of the Changeling drone Agent X1) were sent down to nearby Las Pegasus for treatment. Before they got to the hospital however, all lapsed into comas that they would never recover from, dying at the Las Pegasus hospital despite the best efforts of those that tried to save them. The loss of the five not only locked away valuable information from being revealed but kept the Changeling "secret" intact.

The secret continued to be maintained by the second drone which had been once part of the Agents of Chaos, now set in the disguise of a former unicorn prisoner liberated by the Just Cause forces. Those unicorns, still unofficially lead by ex-Lower Class Petronius despite Blueblood's rescue, were now required by orders of Shining Armor to wear horn rings at all times, saving the "chain gang" rope for the pegasi prisoners, and bear supply burdens for the trip back to Canterlot.

Late in the day, Shining Armor ordered the start of the march back to Canterlot, preliminary report drawn up and dispatches about the remaining fugitive rebels already sent out thanks to cooperation of the earth pony "Quesadilla Polka". Before leaving, the unicorn Lieutenant Captain ordered the wooden structures inside the fort to be lit on fire so that others could not use the old fort in the same way the Agents of Chaos had.

The acrid smell of smoke filled the air around the former Fort Alpha as Shining Armor lead the march out, the unicorn prisoners trailing behind him with Prince Blueblood at the head of line. Lieutenant Vanguard and his squad were managing the chain gang of the pegasi prisoners, while Acting Lieutenant Excelsior and Guard Upper Class Flash Sentry flew over the unicorns as a constant watch. The parade of humiliation would shred what was left of the self-respect of the captives - even Blueblood, realizing he had morally bankrupted himself by involving himself so deeply in Operation Hornpoint, rarely spoke during the trip. Although Shining could justify the treatment by the traitorous behavior of both factions, it would also create fertile ground for future strife to be sown.

The parade marched until long after the sun had been lowered by Celestia and the moon raised by Luna in its place, and Shining Armor was preparing for an open biovac camp for the night when a messenger from Canterlot arrived at his location. The Lieutenant Captain was relieved to learn from that messenger that "royal sanction" had been given by the alicorns to cover his independant command decisions - an act later interpreted by some as an outrageous carte blanche. He then sent the messenger back to Canterlot with the preliminary report about Operation Just Cause and a statement that he would "make sure the two abandoned forts could not ever be used by rebels again".

At the same time as the members of Operation Just Cause and their prisoners were leaving the former Fort Alpha, the former Lieutenant Captain Aten was arriving at the Changeling Kingdom to the south - a place dominated by a twisted, grotesque parody of a castle in the distance and nothing but arid death seeming to be for miles around it. It looked distressingly like a place where magic of any kind had been sucked out of it - and then there were the black moving specks in the sky as far as he could see, which only added to his unease.

"They weren't kidding when they said there were hundreds of them..." he comments breathlessly.

"Who are you? Do not move, Equessstrian! What are you doing here?" a drone on patrol hisses out from somewhere above, circling just over Aten as he speaks. Beside him, moving in sync, was a second drone as a patrol partner, and the two together made for an intimidating sight.

"I am the 'Agent Snake' that two of your fellow drones cooperated with for many years." Aten answers, putting on the bravest face he can as he does so. "Everything I have worked to achieve has been destroyed or taken from me, all I have left is my life. I was told to come to your queen and kingdom, that I will be able to let them into Equestria and exploit their love to satisfy your ravenous hunger. I beg for asylum in your kingdom, else the Equestrians will find and kill me!"

The two drones stop moving, leaving them hovering in mid-air and giving worrisome whispered hisses between them. Finally, one of them speaks: "We may have ssssome of your alliessss already. Follow ussss to Commander Pharynx, and he will decide whether you will ssssee the Queen or not."

The drones start in the general direction of the castle in the background, and Aten follows slowly behind them wearing the bravest face he has. All he could hope for was that this wasn't a trap and that Queen Chrysalis was in a mood to listen to his asylum plea...

It Is Finished?

The last official act of Operation Just Cause, commanded by Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor, was the brief reoccupation and burning of Fort Beta, having made a brief sidetrip there on the way back to Canterlot. Just like with Fort Alpha, everything wooden was ordered to go up in smoke to prevent reuse, and again the smoke filled the air as the forces marched out, this time not stopping until they got to the city gates of Canterlot.

Shining Armor must've realized the "smoke signal" must've tipped off their arrival, because with the sun due to be lowered by Princess Celestia in a matter of minutes the Just Cause group was given an escort and triumphant welcome. The unicorn Lieutenant Captain didn't exactly feel it was worth the effort, particularly after seeing some angry faces in the background of the cheering crowd, but knew Celestia had demanded it and played along nonetheless. He was sure, though, that this was storing up trouble in the future...

Soldier and prisoner alike was escorted directly toward Canterlot Castle, the sun being lowered just before entering the castle grounds and the moon rising as they stopped at the grand doors to the castle. All knew the gesture had been previously planned, just to remind rebel and loyalist alike who was REALLY in charge in Equestria. The doors flung open, and the escort sorted those present into three groups: the pegasi ex-Agents of Chaos, the former Hornpoint participants, and the loyalists that had served in Just Cause.

The former Agents of Chaos were marched in first, booed and hissed by the assembled mixed-race crowd and forced flat on the ground in front of the alicorn royal sisters, standing side-by-side in full majesty in front of the royal throne. The unicorn Hornpoint participants were lead in next, still wearing the horn rings and subject to more general critical shouts - Shining Armor noticed the anger building among some unicorns in the crowd over this, adding to his fears of storing up trouble in the future - and like the pegasi were forced flat on the ground in front of the alicorns, even the totally humiliated Prince Blueblood. Finally, the Just Cause participants were allowed to approach and bow before the alicorns, then returned to an at-attention pose behind the prisoners.

Celestia begins reading from a parchment she was levitating with yellow unicorn magic in front of her, a speech that had obvious preparation beforehand: "With the return of the forces of Operation Just Cause to Canterlot, we, the royal sisters of Equestria, declare the public threat of the Agents of Chaos completely and permanently neutralized. The pegasi that participated in that rebellion seeking chaos have killed and maimed their fellow Equestrians without showing remorse, and my previous ruling on their fate still stands. They must die, as they have destroyed lives in their quest for chaos."

On that cue, the escorting Royal Guards converged on the prostrated pegasi and began picking them up to haul away - Shining Armor would never see any of them again, and he could only presume they were executed. The watching crowd in the castle again began jeering and booing, but this time the pegasi did not join in the effort.

Celestia, undaunted or unaware of what was going on in the crowd, continues on her speech once the last pegasus disappears from sight: "Now, for the unicorn participants of the illegitimate operation. Your enthusiasm is certainly admirable, if very badly misplaced, and your later cooperation has persuaded me to spare your lives. However, we cannot ignore that you willingly collaborated with and followed the orders of a traitor. As such, we have decreed that you and your families are to be banished to the far north, where the Crystal Empire once was located, never to return to Canterlot upon penalty of death. You will be permitted 36 hours to organize your affairs and prepare for the escorted trip north - after that, you must leave the city."

Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor could hear sobbing in the crowd - doubtless this was a grievous blow to the families of the Hornpoint participants mixed in the crowd, some of which had worried they would never see those involved ever again. He also knew some would indeed never see those involved again, and the tears for them would be pure bitterness instead of bittersweet for the survivors. The escort guards lead the Hornpoint survivors into the crowd to reunite with their families, tears (and some anger) flowing aplenty as those involved realized what they had done to themselves and those they cared the most about.

Shining noticed that Prince Blueblood was not lead into the crowd like the other Hornpoint members were, and he guessed that Celestia must've have had something particular planned for him. And his hunch was quickly proven right when the escort guards nudged Blueblood in front of Celestia, who broke her previous seriousness to show a wisp of deep disappointment as she talks looking down at him: "For over a thousand years, I gave the rightful heir of Platinum the right to call themselves 'Prince' or 'Princess' to show my respect for one of those that founded Equestria. With your actions both at the Grand Galloping Gala and as part of the illegitimate Operation Hornpoint, you have shown yourself not worthy of that honor. I have decided you will be the last to carry the title of Prince. Recognition of the House of Bullion will end, and everything associated with the title will die with you."

Blueblood can do nothing but lower his head down in shame, but is surprised when Celestia continues instead of stopping as he initially thought: "There was once a colt that was so excited by their compass points cutie mark, that was so excited in that it meant he would get to see the world and represent Equestria in all corners of the globe. What happened to that colt? Where did he go?"

Blueblood remains silent - he has no answer for the questions Celestia is asking him, and the wincing pain in his expression is proof of that. This was a situation entirely of his own making, of badly mishandling two important situations and ensuring staining of the opinion of unicorns in general. Like Shining Armor, Blueblood feared for what would happen in the future.

The escort guards again nudge Blueblood, this time away from the royal sisters, and the Just Cause participants are allowed to approach in a bow one-by-one. Each in turn receives a kiss on the top of the head by the pair of sisters, Celestia first and then Luna, before stepping aside to let the next member approach. The order is determined by seniority, except for Shining Armor, who was deliberately held back for last.

When Shining Armor approaches, still wearing his gleaming ceremonial armor, Luna kisses him on top of the head before Celestia does - due to his commanding the night shift it was Luna's prerogative to go first in this case. When Shining looks up, he sees both alicorns with relief in their expressions.

"It is over, Shining. It is finally over." Celestia gives in a stage whisper, eyes moist as she speaks. "The last aftershock of my sister's return to Equestria has finally passed. Friendship and harmony will again maintain the peace in this kingdom, not to be disturbed further in this generation."

Princess Celestia would be proven wrong, though. Very wrong. Because at the time she did not know of the hungry race and its queen that had inherited the ambitions of the Agents of Chaos, nor of the discontent that was still under the surface, waiting for one serious failure to again breach into the public. The peace predicted was destined to not last long...

Author's Note

(Super-late, I know, but I don't really care. The story is over and so is Season 1 of the Canterlot Chronicles! :twilightsmile: )