Zero Point

Chapters

Transitions
Cloud Seeding
The Mule's Alliance
A Bat Shall Lead Them
The Waypoint
Communications Breakdown
Quills and Sofas
Captain's Colts
Saying Yes
Lesson Zero...
... Or Patient Zero?
Synchrony
The Ceremony
The Buried Lead

Transitions

"Ah, this week's friendship letter, right on schedule!"

The ruler of Equestria was quite pleased from the distraction from her usual load of paperwork as a sealed scroll appeared in front of her in a flash of green flame. Having materialized in mid-air, the scroll dropped onto the desk where the sun princess was working, and she used her unicorn magic to levitate it up again and unroll it, the proud maternal smile of anticipation spreading across her face.

"Dear Princess Celestia..." the princess began reading, "This week I learned a lesson about the value of teamwork and careful coordination in the effort to accommodate your request to return the defeated Discord back to Canterlot's statue garden. Not even a scratch will be found on the statue once it is reinstalled in its proper place! My friends have asked me many questions about why the statue needed to be kept intact, but I have learned to trust you have your reasons for wanting things this way. If at all possible, please relay any reports of damage to me so that the durability of his reimprisonment can be measured and documented for posterity. Sincerely, Your Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle."

Celestia cracks a chuckle after finishing the letter, muttering comments to herself afterward: "I'll have to see if there's enough footage for an episode, it's hard to tell if there is or not..."

Her train of thought is interrupted by the knock of hooves on the door leading into her office. "You may come in." she primly replies as the office chair swivels in the direction of the door under the influence of unicorn magic.

The door slowly swings open, and the solar princess observes the white unicorn stallion that is soon to be her next Captain of the Guard. Even now, his manner of approach is still as cautious as those of the freshly minted Upper Class guards, only swinging the door just enough to slip through before giving a slow bow of the head in Celestia's direction.

"Arise, Captain-to-be." Celestia states, cracking a smile at the modesty Shining Armor exhibited - a refreshing sight among the endless faces of those who brashly sought something from her.

"Thank you, Your Highness. The repetrified form of Discord has been reinstalled on the pedestal in the statue garden, just as you requested." Shining Armor answers.

"Splendid news. Of course, the tours won't be resuming any time soon - he left quite a mess behind, and I wouldn't blame anypony for not wanting to be anywhere near him for quite some time..." Princess Celestia affirms, levitating a cup full of tea from its place off to one side of the desk and taking a sip of the contents.

"Yes, Your Highness, in regards to that topic... I have heard from many in the lower ranks that it was a mistake to leave the statue intact, that surely it would be better to smash the statue to bits as quickly as possible..." the Acting Captain of the Guard awkwardly begins.

"Perchance do you share such beliefs, Captain?" Celestia asks with a raise of her eyebrow, a signal Shining Armor well understands that he needs to speak with complete honesty if he does not want to damage the trust of the princess in him.

"No Your Highness, I do not." Shining Armor confidently answers. "I know from the example of the rediscovery of the Elements of Harmony that you have your reasons for doing things in the way you do them, but I am struggling to provide an answer to their insistent statements that Your Highness is making a mistake. When they ask, what should be the answer I give to them?"

"The answer you should give is that you need to trust that I have other plans for the draconequus besides grinding the statue form of him to dust. Order and regularity are very good things to have, but in and of themselves they cannot provide permanent harmony." Celestia replies in turn, in the somewhat cryptic manner that Shining Armor had long since learned to not ask explanations for and just accept that she did have some kind of plan in mind for him (even if it would take quite some time to see what that plan was).

"... Yes, Your Highness." Shining Armor finally speaks out after an awkward pause of several seconds, not knowing what else to say at the moment.

"Very good. Now, while I have you here there's something else we need to go over." Celestia continues, pausing to take another sip of the tea in the levitating cup. "The vote for your confirmation as Captain of the Guard just passed through Congress this morning, which means the passing of the torch ceremony will happen a week and a day from today. This will be the day after your sister sends her friendship letter for next week, so there should be no problems with her being in attendance."

"And to be perfectly honest, Your Highness, I would very much like Twily to be in attendance for this." Shining Armor comments once the princess has finished speaking.

"As I expected you would, and as long as you remember to get that invite out promptly there should be no problem with her attending the ceremony. The confirmation vote was a closer margin than I expected it to be, and maybe even I have underestimated how much 'noise' will be raised against your appointment once it becomes public knowledge. I don't believe it will be anything that can't be dealt with, however."

"...Of course, Your Highness."

"Just keep a keen eye and a discerning ear on the tides of public opinion and everything should be fine, Captain. That is all I have for you at the moment, you are dismissed to your post."

And just like that the meeting with Princess Celestia was over - almost as soon as it had begun, Shining felt. Nevertheless, he decided to quietly turn away, heading back out of Celestia's office and leaving her to the paperwork once again.

He had barely made it back into the antechamber of the royal suite, however, when he abruptly stopped in his tracks, this time upon seeing the face of another princess he was quite familiar with. Her presence here, especially coupled with the expression on her face, resulted in an irritated sigh.

"Cadance, I'm on duty right now. I can't do anything until my shift is over at sunset." Shining Armor replies to the "hurt puppy" expression Cadance was displaying at the moment.

"I just wanna talk, though!" the younger alicorn explains with almost a whimper behind her tone of voice.

"Alright, if it's just talking..." Shining Armor replies, giving a sidelong glance to see if anypony else was listening.

"Shining, I'm tired of waiting!" Cadance begins ranting. "I know Aunt Celly wanted to put things off until Aunt Lulu had recovered her powers, but it looks like that process is mostly done. And you're going to be Captain of the Guard soon, so why am I still waiting?! Why can't I have the day I've been dreaming of ever since I came to Canterlot?"

"Hey, I'm not exactly thrilled about having had to wait most of another year either." Shining begins answering, relaxing a little bit as he does so. "But I can feel it in my bones the timing is just about right. I've been long yearning for that day too, and I'm sure it'll be amazing and like no other one in Equestria's history, but we're still not quite there yet. We just need to trust in the timing."

"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Cadance affirms, her mood drooping down a bit further as she does so.

"Besides, I have plans of my own. You'll see during the passing of the torch ceremony. Love you lots, see you at the O&O group later!" Shining Armor adds on, giving a quick peck on Cadance's cheek and starting away before the princess can ask any more questions.

Yes, the soon-to-be Captain of the Guard could sight the long-awaited day of the Canterlot Wedding on the metaphorical far horizon. But it still wasn't quite the time for it to arrive yet. He was sure, however, it would be OK to start the process toward reaching it in motion...

Cloud Seeding

"Hey, I'm here to pick up Miss Cozy Glow?"

"Relation to the patient, sir?"

"I'm her uncle. Her father sent me here in his place as he's tending to his... indisposed wife currently."

"... Fair enough, come with me sir."

The nurse on duty leads the pegasus stallion through the hallways of the Canterlot hospital, eventually stopping in front of a door that opened into a room with a curtained-off bed. The nurse slowly pulls the curtain back, revealing the filly Cozy Glow in a light slumber in the hospital bed.

The filly gives a light moan, then her eyes slowly open. Her words are slow as she tries to process who she is seeing in front of her, but finally she recognizes the stallion in front of her: "Uncle Kriegspiel?"

The uncle gently shushes Cozy in return, then explains his presence here as such: "It's OK, Cozy, I'm here to take you back to your dad in Cloudsdale. You'll be living there for a while, just until things calm down in Canterlot."

"Where's Mommy? I want to see Mommy!" Cozy Glow demands as she enters into a more awake state.

"I'm afraid your mom can't come to visit you right now. She can't leave because the guards will lock her up the same way they want your dad locked up." the pegasus stallion smoothly lies, preventing the filly from asking too many questions. He also shoots an acid glance at the nurse beside him, cowing her into remaining silent about what she just heard.

"But we can leave Canterlot, can't we?" Cozy asks again.

"Sure we can. Princess Celestia would never order the arrest of a little filly like you, and they aren't hunting for me, just your father. As long as he stays in Cloudsdale, he's safe."

"...OK. As long as I can see Mommy later."

"I'm sure you'll get opportunity to see Mommy at some point later. It just can't be done right now. Come on, let's go to your new home."

The pegasus uncle lets out a quiet sigh of relief when the niece quietly complies - the smooth lying would ensure Cozy Glow would not learn of her mother's death until much later, and was another hoofstep on the path toward the filly becoming a master of duplicity...

The trip back to Cloudsdale was for the most part uneventful, although Cozy Glow slept through most of it - she found it odd that the tighter she hugged her uncle, the sleepier she became and the more unusual sounds of pleasure he made during the flight. Later she recognized it was a critical early clue that she simply could not place at the time about what was going on.

Cozy Glow's dad, formerly the second Agent Deceit of the Agents of Chaos, was waiting for her and Uncle Kriegspiel at the edge of a designated arrival zone in Cloudsdale. The filly was completely asleep at the time, unable to take in the impressive cloud houses and weather factories in the great floating city arrayed in front of her. Uncle Kriegspiel gently set the sleeping filly down on a cloudbank a short distance away and greeted the father with an "crossed-hooves-over-chest" gesture, which the father returns.

"The filly is asleep - I have been feeding from her. It was bad enough having to take this identity..." the Changeling drone disguised as "Uncle Kriegspiel" whispers to his also-disguised comrade.

"But very necessary, considering you couldn't keep using Agent Sadness." the other disguised drone answers in the same whispered tone. "The natives here are very restless, we can feed from them until we can find a way to make contact with the Queen. And it will be very easy to provide ourselves with a steady source of food."

"How?" the first drone whispers in question form.

"You will see, the filly will be of great help to us in that. Just bring her to the house, and when she wakes I will show you how easy it is!" the second drone answers in whispered confidence...

When Cozy Glow finally wakes again, the surroundings are unfamiliar, but she does recognize the faces of her father and her uncle looking down over her.

"Daddy... Daddy, where am I?" the filly moans out.

"This is Uncle Kriegspiel's house. You'll be living here for a while with me." her disguised dad answers.

"What happened to Mommy? Why did you have to knock me out and leave me at that hospital?! I hated it there!" the filly continues whining.

"I know, Glowworm, and I'm sorry I had to do that to you, I really am. But you'll see in the future that the good of all Equestria depended on it." the disguised drone continues, once again smoothly delivering lies to her.

"For the good of all Equestria?"

"Yes, Glowworm, and for the good of your mom as well. If you help me with something, it'll make seeing her again and being back together happen a lot faster. What do you say, my little pony? Give your dad and uncle a hoof?"

"...OK."

"There's a good filly. Just do as you're told and everything will work out in the end, promise to Celestia's sun..."

Author's Note

("Uncle Kriegspiel" was loosely inspired by the OCs of "King and Queen Kriegspiel", created by AleximusPrime for an as-yet-unwritten story that will be featured on FiMFiction. You can find the vector art of the original OCs here and will provide a link to the story once it is posted on the site. :twilightsmile: )

The Mule's Alliance

"Silver Spoon, will you be quiet?! You're going to give us away!"

"What are we even doing here?"

"My parents brought us here, remember? Now shush!"

The fillies Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had ears pressed to the door leading into the office of "Mr. Mule" - a position they normally considered unseemly but in this case intense curiousity (and lack of other ponies around to observe them) overwhelmed their desire to look proper. Several voices, including that of both of Diamond Tiara's parents, flitter through the door.

Inside the office, the Rich couple was uneasily settling down under the gaze of both Chancellor Neighsay, who seemed to grumble with impatience in a seat beside them, and the earth pony lawyer "Mr. Mule", shuffling paperwork in front of him. A side door swings open, and a mint-green earth pony balancing a tea set on his head carefully steps through, working his way to beside Mr. Mule's elegantly carved desk.

"Thank you, Chiton... brilliant personal assistant, I've been relying more and more on his services ever since most of the staff quit following the attack." the long-faced pony lawyer states to his assistant as the latter carefully works the tray off his head and onto the desk.

"I can imagine." Chancellor Neighsay comments dryly, observing Chiton grasp the handle of the teapot with his mouth and performing careful movements to pour tea for each of the other ponies in the room.

"Shall we begin, Chancellor, Mr. and Mrs. Rich?" Mr. Mule asks, looking at each pony in turn as he speaks their name.

"You know, good sir, it would really help if you started out with a more sensible name." Chancellor Neighsay comments in barely-concealed disgust toward nopony in particular. "I know you're trying with your filly, but for all his faults my predecessor's name of 'Trailblazer' was a far better one than yours of 'Filthy Rich'."

An angry glare forms in Mr. Rich's eyes, but is immediately blocked by his wife leaning her stern expression into his line of sight, whispering a warning (and not for the first time that day either): "We need him, Filthy. Just bite your lip and hold on until we get to an agreement."

Mr. Mule clears his throat, bringing attention back onto him, and Chiton finishes his pouring tea effort, now slowly edging the cups on saucers with his forehoof toward the ponies arrayed around the table. Chancellor Neighsay, being a unicorn, has the advantage of levitation magic for handling the tea cup, and the overly loud first slurp he takes of the tea seems to be designed to highlight that fact.

"Chancellor, can we please focus here? The whole reason you called this meeting was because their business had some benefit for your plan..." the pony lawyer sighs out in an attempt to try to keep the meeting on track.

"Oh right, of course." Chancellor Neighsay comments, continuing to levitate his saucer and teacup as he speaks. "I think all four of us are in agreement of the need for 'compensation' by Princess Celestia for the damage caused by the release of 'Discord', which she really should've destroyed when she had the chance..."

"Most definitely." Mrs. Rich adds, glaring back at her husband to maintain his silence. "But the Princess will never agree to give 'compensation' unless the populace as a whole pressure her into doing it, by proxy of the Equestrian Congress."

"Hence the whole tack of the strategy." Mr. Mule explains. "Through the shops, we get the mares and stallions agitated. And through the schools, we get the fillies and colts agitated. Working together, we can reach a critical mass of agitation and force out the 'compensation', regardless of what has to be sacrificed to accomplish that goal."

"We are united by the righteousness of our cause and the profit we stand to gain from it!" Mrs. Rich exclaims, again her enthusiasm cowing her husband into silence.

"Agreed. All my potential rivals for the rank of Chancellor were 'eliminated' from consideration, so the princess can't very well get rid of me regardless of what I do!" Neighsay boasts, revealing the mindset that would later lead him into overconfidence in opposing Twilight Sparkle's School of Friendship.

"Very good, very good. A grand alliance it shall be then, between the unicorns and the earth ponies. Let the pegasi flutter and flap their wings in rage against it, they are outnumbered both in the populace and the Congress. Working together, there will be nothing that can stop us, not even the Princesses!" Mr. Mule tops off, after which he carefully grabs the saucer with teacup on it using his mouth and lifts it off the desk.

"A toast? Yes, we shall toast to that!" Chancellor Neighsay comments, giving a devious grin as he uses unicorn magic to levitate the cup into the appropriate position to clink it together with the other cups.

Mrs. Rich spares no time in imitating Mr. Mule's gesture with the saucer and teacup, although she never takes her piercing eyes off her husband until he reluctantly does the same. All four teacups are clinked together in the manner of a traditional toast, and a more jolly atmosphere begins to creep into the lawyer's office...

"But Diamond Tiara, if we're going to join in with this the only one of that trio we'll be able to pick on is..." Silver Spoon was whispering as the two fillies continued to secretly listen in to what was going on inside the office with intense curiousity.

"All three of them are annoying and pretentious. And they're still blank flanks, that's still reason enough to pick on them..." Diamond Tiara answers, doing her best impression of her mother's piercing gaze.

The whispered conversation was interrupted when the door both fillies were leaning against suddenly opened - the secretary Chiton had somehow heard the whispers through the door - and both Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara fell forward onto their sides in the doorway of Mr. Mule's office. After a brief period of disorientation, their faces showed equal mixture of both embarrassment and dread as Mrs. Rich temporarily stepped away from her husband and new comrades in crime to attend to the spying fillies.

Chiton watched with great concern - he was the only one aware of what she was doing - as Mrs. Rich started making angry mutterings about not wanting spies for fillies and dragging the duo of Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara away down the hallway. Intense disappointment on Chiton's part followed as the fillies began shouting in protest over the treatment Mrs. Rich was giving them:

"No, we're sorry, we couldn't help it!"

"We just wanted to know what you were doing, honest!"

"We wanna help you, don't hit us, please!"

"Please, don't break my glasses!"

"Or my tiara!"

"Ow, that hurts!"

"Mommy, please, don't hit us, I don't want to explain the bruises!"

"Everypony will be asking about it, please don't!"

Chiton lets out an unseen, unheard sigh and the following telling words as smacking sounds, followed by intense crying from the abused fillies, fill the hallway outside of Mr. Mule's office: "Dry, very dry. There is nothing to feed off of here..."

A Bat Shall Lead Them

"As with many things about my time in charge of this service, this mixes old with new. Never before has a batpony reached the rank I am about to bestow upon this stallion here, but as one of my most faithful subordinates and the last keeper of a secret promise Princess Celestia made to his race he is well worthy of the rank. Step forward, Lieutenant Vesper."

At the command of his senior officer, the lead batpony Lieutenant Vesper passes through the honor guard of fellow night shift members arrayed around him, with the Acting Captain of the Guard Shining Armor at the head of the line. Directly escorting the batpony leader were Guard Upper Class Arcturus, his number two among the batpony members of the guard, and Guard Upper Class Excelsior, the griffon defector that had served under Vesper's command until now. Vesper stops in front of Shining Armor and bows his head briefly to the white unicorn so favored by the alicorn princesses.

"As is tradition in the E.U.P. Guard," Shining Armor begins addressing, "a Lieutenant Captain about to become Captain of the Guard has right to pass his two rank stars to whoever he chooses, along with explaining their pedigree for the benefit of the future recipient. My first star marking the Lieutenant's commission was given to me by my uncle upon his retirement from the service, while the second star was a new issue when I was commissioned as the Lieutenant Captain of the revived Lunar Division. I do not need to tell anyone present why this unusual step was taken."

The nightshift honor guard all give subtle nods - the star was just as much a physical representation of Celestia's trust in Shining Armor as it was an indicator of a recreated service meant for the restored Princess Luna. Vesper finds himself fighting back tears as Shining Armor uses his unicorn magic to remove his two star rank pins and attach them in place of the single star Vesper had before on his dress uniform.

"I wish my father was around to see this, sir. He hoped to live long enough to see Luna's return, but he didn't get that far..." Vesper quietly comments to Shining Armor as the switch is performed.

"I sometimes feel the same way about my uncle, Vesper. He specifically wanted his Lieutenant's star saved for my time in service, as well as the ceremonial sash which I promised I would wear at my wedding to Cadance, but he'll never see those promises fulfilled considering the accident that happened shortly after Twily was born..." Shining Armor replies, giving some clarity to what happened to his favorite uncle.

When Shining Armor is done pinning on his two stars onto Vesper, he takes the one star Vesper had been wearing and pins it onto Guard Upper Class Arcturus, the traditional indicator of Arcturus being commissioned into filling the slot Vesper had just vacated by his promotion to Lieutenant Captain. In turn, he takes off the pair of stacked bars indicative of a Guard Upper Class Arcturus had been wearing and gives it to Excelsior besides him, a gesture that provokes a small buzz among the honor guard ranks.

"I'm sure you are wondering the purpose of giving Excelsior the double bars when he already holds the rank of Upper Class." Shining Armor begins explaining. "The purpose of this is to stand in for the star that has not yet been made for him. According to the will of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Excelsior will be the first standing griffon Lieutenant in the E.U.P. Guard, serving in the afternoon shift. For now, he will remain on the nightshift, but effective immediately he will be ranked as an Acting Lieutenant. Hail to the alicorn princesses!"

"Hail to the alicorn princesses!" the rest of the guard membership present in the ceremony repeats.

"Glory to Equestria, you are dismissed to your posts. Vesper, Arcturus and Excelsior need to stay for the briefing on their new responsibilities." Shining Armor orders.

"Glory to Equestria!" his subordinates again echo, giving a salute before beginning to turn and depart to their night-shift duties.

Vesper, Arcturus and Excelsior filter back toward the briefing room as expected, but Shining is surprised when he recognizes one Lieutenant - the experienced Aldebaran - approaching him instead of working his way out of the ceremonial hall.

"Is something troubling you, Lieutenant?" Shining asks when Aldebaran stops in front of him.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Aldebaran asks in turn, which really gets Shining's attention. He can feel the confused glances of the trio of just-promoted officers behind him, though, so he has to turn away for a moment to address that.

"Go on ahead, you three, I'll be along in a minute." Shining addresses the trio behind him, which causes an exchange of concerned and confused looks before they slip away into the briefing room behind them.

"Go ahead, you may speak now Lieutenant." the Acting Captain continues on to Aldebaran.

"Thank you sir. I've been... hearing whispers among the members of my squad about the idea of having to take orders directly from the batponies instead of just working alongside them." Aldebaran begins to explain. "I talked a bit with some other members of the Oubliettes and Ogres club after the last session, and they have been telling me that those whispers are in other squads as well. I am afraid there will be a negative general reaction to these promotions."

"I appreciate your honesty, Lieutenant, but I want to make something perfectly clear to you." Shining Armor replies sternly. "These promotions are directly the will of the alicorn princesses, that is the orders I have been given. If there are those who disagree with it, I will provide opportunity to have them state their concerns directly to the princesses. Do you understand, Lieutenant?"

"Yes sir, I do." Aldebaran replies - he understood that those who whispered negatively would generally not take up on the offer.

"Very good. If there is nothing else, you are dismissed." Shining Armor affirms, hoping that would end the conversation right there and then.

Aldebaran quietly slips away, much to Shining's relief, and he quietly sighs as he turns around to attend to the briefing of the newly-promoted officers. He knew that some would object to putting batponies and griffons in charge, but he was completely clueless at the time the how and the why of the simmering objections...

The Waypoint

"Lieutenant Crispin, am I correct in understanding that you will be heading to visit your Ponyville relatives in the Apple clan this weekend?"

"That is correct, Lieutenant Captain."

"Very good. Because Princess Celestia has informed me in confidence there is something you need to deliver to Granny Smith in Ponyville as soon as your hooves get you there. There is no urgency in the matter, but she DOES want it accomplished at the first opportunity you get. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"I will give you the scroll then. Princess Celestia has informed me that it is not to be opened under any circumstance before its delivery to Granny Smith - the message must be kept in confidence."

"Yes sir, I understand sir."

The earth pony E.U.P. Guard officer gives a funny look at the sealed scroll his afternoon shift superior officer, Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas, levitates in front of him, but he knew better than to ask too many questions about such things. Instead, he works his side saddlebag open to let Fidelitas direct the scroll with unicorn magic to drop into the bag. Crispin closes it again, then gives another salute to his senior officer.

"You are dismissed. Have a good weekend, and if you see Twilight Sparkle there make sure you give greetings from both myself and her brother." Fidelitas adds.

"I will, sir!" Crispin says looking back as he turns to leave the debriefing room.

Once off-duty, most E.U.P. Guard members, following the trend of the general populace, would've taken the express train that allowed travel between Ponyville and Canterlot in just a few hours. However, Crispin decided to take a different and slower route instead - the hoofpath that winds between the two locations, which was mostly occupied by cart traffic after the opening of the railroad line.

The reason for his choice had to do with the Guard members assigned on the route, commonly called the "ERS" (an abbreviation for "Emergency Relay Service"). This was a standing assignment placed at three "waypoints" evenly spaced along the route, and seemed to have been created by Princess Celestia as a way to quickly get information about the goings-on in the Ponyville area (which included the former Castle of the Two Sisters where the Elements of Harmony would be rediscovered) via relay running.

However, the spartan accommodations at the waypoints and the isolation such members had from typical Guard service meant that over the course of the Guard's history assignment to the ERS had been used as a place to "dump" problematic or unfavored service members, leading to an unsavory reputation of the assignment among the rank and file. Many in the service hoped that the temporary suspension of the ERS in the wake of Princess Luna's return (so that its members could help populate a new night service) would've been made permanent, but the internal political conflict between Lieutenant Captains Aten and Shining Armor lead to the ERS eventually being repopulated by those unfavored by either side.

The reactivation of the ERS was greatly concerning to Crispin, and as a result he kept close tabs on what he heard of those assigned to it. In hindsight, it made him an easy target for manipulation by rumor, and hearing an alarming (but untrue) rumor from a member of his command that the ERS members would abandon their posts in protest of Princess Celestia's handling of Discord's release prompted Crispin to take his unorthodox journey. It was only much later that it was realized the true intent of the rumor being spread...

The closest "waypoint" to Canterlot would be the first Crispin reached, and he was glad for that considering who had the standing assignment for that post - an old friend of his from Ponyville named Crusoe Palm. Crusoe, ranked as a Guard Upper Class, had been posted to service at one of the different waypoints for the vast majority of his E.U.P. Guard career, and Crispin felt this was 100% intentionally done by somepony in the upper ranks.

Crusoe Palm had a foalhood nickname of "Coconut", and Crispin distinctly remembered some of his pegasi comrades mercilessly using that nickname for mockery when both ponies were in the lower ranks. It hardly surprised Crispin then when he learned that the eventual Lieutenant Captain (and traitorous leader of the Agents of Chaos) Aten was part of that group, referring to Crusoe as "Private Coconut Head" on paperwork and several times ignoring recommendations for giving Crusoe a Lieutenant's commission. Crispin believed he had only avoided similar prejudicial treatment due to his connection to the Apple clan - Crusoe had no such luck.

There seem to be some hope for Crusoe to escape the place he'd been trapped in during the temporary dissolution of the ERS, when he served in the afternoon shift at the castle, but when the service was reestablished Crusoe was placed back there again by Aten, the official reason being "his years of experience with the waypoints" - a statement Crispin believed was simply a cover for Aten's contempt for earth ponies.

Aten's defeat and ejection from the E.U.P. Guard brought hope back again, and Crispin firmly believed that Crusoe would finally get his Lieutenant's commission. He just needed to wait a little longer...

The waypoint building was an unremarkable structure that would've reminded humans of an oversized toll gate. A bar operated by a hoof pedal inside would swing down to block the way across the path, allowing the pony staffing the waypoint to perform their day-to-day function of vehicle inspections and customs enforcement. Extending back from the booth was a small building where the waypoint operator would spend his off-duty time while assigned to the post. The waypoints would have a weekly cycle an Upper Class manning them for 5 days, then be covered by a Lower Class in specific customs training for 2 days.

As Crispin approached the building, he saw Crusoe poking his head out the window and giving an enthusiastic wave - possibly because he believed Crispin was bringing the relief pony. However, the enthusiasm faded as Crusoe saw Crispin was alone.

"Sorry buddy, I'm alone going home for the weekend." Crispin explains as an apology once he stops in front of the window where Crusoe was currently stationed. "Today's been slow?"

"Yeah, no chases or posh carriages going by. Just the usual cart traffic." Crusoe explains with a deflated tone of voice.

"Sorry to hear that. I'd love to stick around, but Princess Celestia herself wants me to do a special delivery for Granny Smith."

"Any idea what it's about?"

"No idea, the scroll's supposed to remain sealed until..."

"Sir? What's wrong?" Crusoe asks in concern as Crispin trails off, giving an intense stare off away from the path.

"I thought I saw something behind the building..." Crispin answers, remaining focused on immediate area around the building as he does so.

"Oh, it might be a critter trying to rob the food store again. I'll take a look in a minute. You have any idea when the relief will arrive, sir?" Crusoe asks again.

"Probably not before the sun being lowered, I imagine. Speaking of which, I'll have to be going if I want to get to Ponyville before that time."

"I understand, sir. These roads are a lot more dangerous at night. Goodbye, sir."

"Goodbye to you too, Crusoe. Captain Shining Armor will have his grand ceremony soon enough, and maybe then you'll finally get that Lieutenant's commission you've been holding out for so long..."

"I want to believe it to be true, sir. There's been a rumor..."

"So you've heard of it too? The idea of deserting in protest of how Discord was handled?"

"Yes, and it's completely untrue, sir. I don't know where it came from or who started it, but they deserved to be hanged!"

"Well, I'll ask at the other waystations, but its reassuring to hear it not being true coming from you. I'll be on the way then."

Crispin starts past the waypoint building, and after a brief check to see if anything else was approaching Crusoe decided to slip back, past the simple table and bed in the off-duty room, and out the back door to see what might've been back there.

At first, Crusoe spots nothing, either on the ground or flying above. But his attention is drawn to a rustling bush, which he approaches cautiously. The noise stops as he approaches, and only after another quick look around does Crusoe decide to shake the bush. A pair of raccoons scurry out and away from the direction of the trail.

"Low=life thieves, at least you don't get those in the tropics..." Crusoe mutters to himself as he works his way back into the waypoint building.

Meanwhile, the raccoons keep running from the scene until they see Crusoe is back in the building. From their far away vantage point, they can observe both the building and Crispin proceeding on his way down the path. They watch Crispin for a while, as well as making sure Crusoe didn't come out again, before a green flash of magic energy envelopes them both. When the green energy fades, two Changeling drones stand, unseen by anypony else, where the "raccoons" had been.

"That was too close... the traveling pony? Should he be the target?" one drone asks his partner beside him.

"We have our orders from the Queen. Replacement is going to be the easiest way to get in and gather intelligence on where the greatest threat to her plan is coming from." his partner replies.

"But will we be able to feed there?" the first drone naturally continues on.

"Food is a secondary concern right now. If we do our jobs right, we'll be able to feast on this entire kingdom. At least, that's what we've been told."

"I suppose we can find a source when we get there..."

"We should be able to anyway. Now get a move on before he disappears from sight..."

Communications Breakdown

"There he is - over there, talking with the stallion in the booth."

"So I'm replacing him?"

"Yes, you are. Now get down before he sees us!"

The two Changeling drones had been stalking Lieutenant Crispin for the second part of his hoofpath journey to Ponyville, disguising themselves as birds typical of those that populated the area of Canterlot Valley. After Crispin had stopped at the second waypoint, the stalking drones took advantage of the distraction to sneak behind the building in an attempt to get ahead of their target and eventually ambush him.

"Nice to see you again, Trafalgar." Crispin was saying to the unicorn stallion manning the second waypoint.

"Yeah, and I'm glad to hear Dad is doing better." Trafalgar, ranked Guard Upper Class, replies. "I had hoped I would be able to get to see him more in retirement with the transfer here, but I'm not sure how that's going to work out."

"At least you won't have to be helping him with his broken legs much longer." Crispin explains.

"Dad says Shining Armor will make a good replacement for him. Do you really think so? I'd rather not be wrong, considering what it cost me to get this transfer..."

"Trafalgar, I've spoken with Applejack - she's a cousin with one remove, I think - and I know that she believes that Twilight Sparkle will be a great leader of some kind some day. And even though I'm not familiar with her brother, I refuse to believe anypony that is a blood relation to Twilight Sparkle won't be a great Captain of the Guard and Prince Consort. This is an apple tree covered hill I will die on."

"... Alright, sir. But both of us had better hope you are right."

The off-duty Lieutenant decides its best to leave the conversation at this point and continue his journey - after all, he couldn't blame former Captain Gibraltar's eldest colt from having the attitude he did. Gibraltar had long wanted to bring at least one of his colts in the service to the Canterlot Castle division, but Princess Celestia had never been accommodating to requests in that regard, and even when she did approve the request (after the ejection of Aten and his fellow rebels from E.U.P. Guard service) it came with the stipulation that Trafalgar be permanently assigned to the waypoints. One of the rumors going around Crispin had heard was that as soon as Shining Armor fully took over as Captain of the Guard Trafalgar would be transferred to castle service, but he would have no idea about the truth of the rumors until after the transfer ceremony was complete.

As he proceeded to the third checkpoint, Crispin's mind was distracted by the many thoughts about the Apple clan and the new connection they had with Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor, and as such was not paying full attention to the road around him. Crispin barely even saw his attackers, who had waited until he was out of sight and sound of the previous waypoint to make their strike - two bugbears diving upon him, both to pin him to the ground and to muffle any cries for help! While one of the disguised drones held him down, the other slowly squeezed the life out of the earth pony, holding a grip until Crispin went limp.

Once the attack had succeeded, one of the drones immediately switched into Crispin's double while the other, still in bugbear form, looked to see if anything else was watching them. When satisfied that they were unobserved, the drone imitating Crispin immediately took the saddlebag off the real Crispin's form and turned it upside down to empty it of contents.

The two drones quickly go through the contents for whatever information they can find, the scroll sealed by Princess Celestia drawing their attention in particular:

"Oooh, this looks like its going toward a 'Granny Smith' - she must be important."

"Probably is, we'll learn soon enough when we get to Ponyville."

"What should we do with the message?"

"Burn it. The disruption of it not getting to its destination will work to our favor."

It was thus Princess Celestia's message ended up never reaching its intended destination, and the efforts it was intended to counter went unchecked. Instead, the scroll burned alongside the body of the pony intended to deliver it, the Changelings being careful to ensure the body could not be easily identified later. As the smoldering continued, the Changeling disguised as Crispin took up Crispin's saddlebag and continued south along the Canterlot-Ponyville road. Another "replacement" had occurred, and this one would provide Queen Chrysalis an opportunity to weaken the greatest defense Equestria had against her ambitions...

Quills and Sofas

"Twilight, be honest with me... did ya think there was somethin'... 'off' 'bout Crispin?"

"Whaddya mean, Applejack?"

"Well, OK, let me explain a little bit more 'bout him..."

"I'm listening." Twilight Sparkle says as she turns back to talk to Applejack behind her in line at the Quills and Sofas shop in Ponyville. With Twilight is her assistant Spike the Dragon, who is currently holding the small bundle of quillpens she is in the process of purchasing at this point.

"Well, even though Crispin isn't one of Granny Smith's foals," Applejack begins explaining, "he's still an Apple through and through. An earth pony foaled and raised in Ponyville, ya know."

"Yeah, sure, but if he's part of the Apple clan what is he doing in Royal Guard service? Why isn't he helping you on the farm?" Twilight naturally asks.

"Back when my parents were still alive as well as my grandpa to help with work, Granny Smith gave approval for Crispin to go join the castle guard instead of being forced to stay on the farm. I'm sure I told you Granny's family is the whole reason Ponyville's even here, right?"

"I... think so..."

"So since there's so many of us, even if you don't count those that have wedded in, Granny had OKed a few members to be in that service in Canterlot instead of having to stay here in Ponyville. Thought it was a proper way to show appreciation to Princess Celestia. 'Sides, there ain't 'nough earth ponies in that service..."

"Very true, the proportions of earth pony to pegasi to unicorn ratio in the E.U.P. Guard service have never followed the proportions in the general Equestrian population very closely. Princess Celestia is painfully aware of this, but has never had much success when it comes to recruiting earth ponies outside of Ponyville..."

"Yeah, what I was sayin', except in much fancier words." Applejack comments, which prompts Spike to start snickering as he stands at Twilight's hooves.

"Spike, will you focus please? I still need to find parchment for next week's friendship letter!" Twilight warns as she glares down at her young dragon assistant.

"Why not go to Rich's Barnyard Bargains? They have parchment there." Applejack comments.

"Not of the quality that I should be sending to the Princess!" Twilight indignantly replies. "Besides, I like to support the independent business. And while I mean no disrespect to Mr. Davenport or his business acumen, it still puzzles me why he doesn't sell parchment with his quills..."

"The higher-quality parchment is only legally available for purchase by stationary shops." Davenport explains as he gives the change for the quills being purchased. "And Rich's can sell the lower-quality stuff at a better price than I could. I've considering branching out into bedding and futons instead of just sticking with sofas, but even then that won't change the fact I'm hemmed in by the rules..."

"Hmmm, maybe I could do something about that with Princess Celestia... I don't think I'll be needing sofas anytime soon, though. Rarity always seems to leave a fainting couch behind wherever she goes during a dramatic spell, and I have no idea why..." Twilight comments in reply.

"It's like a lot of stuff Pinkie Pie does. Trust me, Twilight, it's the truth." Applejack adds on.

"Let's not bring her into this conversation, please." Twilight warns with an unamused look as both she and Spike turn to leave the shop. "Now, what was it you were saying about Crispin?"

"Well, ya see Twilight, Crispin's never really been interested in finding a partner, even though he's not much older than my brother." Applejack starts explaining again. "When not in Canterlot, he stays in a small apartment near Carousel Boutique. Don't even think it has a separate bedroom. Keeps to himself, it's only other Apple family members that generally pay a visit."

"So you're saying him coming here asking where he could buy a bed for two is something you wouldn't be expecting him to do?" Twilight asks.

"Yep, very strange. Especially since he just got off a duty shift in Canterlot - usually just heads straight to his apartment. What in tarnation would he be needin' a bed for two there? It's like Apple Bloom tellin' me she likes bananas!"

"Hmm, I see. Write that down, Spike!" Twilight exclaims, mostly out of habit.

"With what and on what? I don't have any ink on me right now..." Spike sarcastically replies.

"What? Sorry, never mind..." Twilight mutters, her face flushing a shade of red.

"And Twilight, you make sure you tell me if Apple Bloom ever does tell you she likes a fruit other than apples. Ya got it?" Applejack emphasizes.

"Yeah, sure... I'll do that..."

Captain's Colts

"Thank you, Vitorio."

"No problem, Pops. I'd love to stay and chat more, but I have to go relieve my brother on the waypoints."

"Don't let me stop you then. I'm sure your brother would love to meet with my replacement here as much as you did."

"So Vitorio is the younger brother?" Acting Captain Shining Armor asks the stallion he's replacing as he lifts a box with unicorn magic.

"Yes, Trafalgar is older, but only by about a year. Having you meet them face-to-face is part of the reason I wanted you helping with this move." soon-to-be-former Captain Gibraltar replies, his broken forelegs still wrapped in casts and propped on a wheeled platform to aid in movement.

"To be honest, sir, I didn't realize the Captain's apartment was a split-level. This is the best accommodation I've ever seen in the guard." Shining Armor states in admiration, looking around at what to an average guard would be the lap of luxury, while Vitorio takes his leave of the apartment.

"Another part of the reason I need the help - this thing doesn't do stairs very well." Gibraltar explains, looking down at the platform his forelegs are placed on. "It's not so much a problem here in the main room because I can still use magic, but in the upstairs office..."

"I can imagine, sir. Do you have any idea where you're going to go in retirement?" Shining Armor comments with a chuckle, setting the box aside and starting up the stairs as he does so.

"I don't know. Castile has told me Baltimare has been a great place to retire, maybe I'll join him there..."

"And your wife?"

"Well, it's very mixed feelings. On the one hoof, she really does like hob-nobbing with Canterlot's elite, unlike me. But on the other hoof, Canterlot can get quite cold in the winters. Hopefully the colts will be able to keep up some kind of contact..."

"Now sir, I know I can't promise you anything about them. You know how squeamish Princess Celestia has been about putting them anywhere near the castle..."

"Sure, but maybe once you're more established..."

"But I don't intend to stay just as Captain of the Guard for long, sir. You know what I'm talking about, right?"

"... So you do actually intend to do it? Soon?"

"Yes, I can feel the time is just about right for it. Cadance has been very patient because she understands how important getting Luna back was to Celestia, but now it's getting to the point where I shouldn't..."

"I understand, Shining. I don't think Celestia will tell you to hold off again. If you think you're ready to do it, you should do it."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"Oh please, you don't need to be so modest. This'll all be yours some time very soon..."

A LITTLE LATER...

Guard Upper Class Trafalgar was quite excited to see his younger brother travelling in his direction down the Canterlot-Ponyville road, because he knew Vitorio would be replacing him covering the waypoint for the weekend. The excitement stemmed not just from the relative dull of the duty, but the fact he had eagerly anticipating meeting Shining Armor for the first time during the weekend.

"Hey, Vit." Trafalgar greets his brother as the latter stops and temporarily removes with unicorn magic the pack of supplies he had been carrying.

"Hey, Alfie." Vitorio replies, using a nickname in the same way his brother had.

"You just came from helping Dad move?"

"Yep. If you hurry, you might still be able to give him some help today."

"Nah, I'm more interested in just meeting Shining Armor. Heard so many things about him..."

"Like what?"

"Well, most of them are very positive things. I think the only ones that have been bad-mouthing him are pegasi..."

"Those pegasi were a traitor's lackeys. A traitor that wanted more than just to be Captain of the Guard; you shouldn't have trusted a word any of them were saying..."

"But can I trust any pegasi left over now? I mean, maybe they were just trying..."

"To save their hides? Eh, it's a reasonable possibility. After all, so many of the louts were the rejects of Cloudsdale society that couldn't get jobs elsewhere..."

"Fair enough. Oh, Lieutenant Crispin passed by earlier. I have the details about what we talked about in the report."

"Let me guess, him just being his usual earth pony Apple clan self?"

"Pretty much."

"Alright, let me finish setting up inside. I'll read the report later..."

MEANWHILE IN PONYVILLE...

"What's with these giggling mares? That's the fourth time I've gotten one coming in the past two hours... is there a date night going on I wasn't told about?" the fashion designer Rarity asks herself, her curiousity temporarily overcoming her attention to her work.

The off-white unicorn mare's gaze follows where her last customer was trotting off to, and is quite surprised to see not only the customer stopping in front of a nearby building, but that the crowd in front of it also has some other customers that had just patronized her establishment! Now intensely curious, Rarity stops in front of the boutique's windows and squints to see what's going on.

"What are all those mares...? Wait, is that Lieutenant Crispin?!?" Rarity exclaims to herself in shock upon seeing what she thinks is the Apple family member in the middle of the crowd of fawning mares.

"This is very odd, he's never been the type to do something like this. I'll have to ask Applejack about this... or maybe Lucky Clover and Caramel next door, once they get back from their duty shifts in Canterlot..."

Author's Note

(Two quick notes: The Captain's apartment is the same place as the residence where Twilight first sees the fake Cadance draining love energy from Shining Armor in the Canterlot Wedding two-parter. The second is because of erratic work schedules striking again, the next chapter will be two weeks from now instead of one, on July 12th. Happy start of July holiday!)

Saying Yes

"She said yes!"

"Congratulations!"

"So happy for you, you'll have a wonderful life together!"

"Yeah, we're very happy for you!"

"Happy for who?"

"Captain?"

"I'm not officially Captain yet, Buck." Acting Captain of the Guard Shining Armor points out with a chuckle. Guard Upper Class Buck Withers begins flushing a deep red in response to Shining Armor's interruption, and the castle servants clustered to hear the news scatter away in the same manner as birds being shooed away.

"Sorry sir. But I'm very excited right now - Lemony said yes when I proposed to her!" Buck exclaims, referring to the mare Lemony Gems that was now his fiancée.

"Well that's wonderful, Buck! I wasn't even sure that it would ever get to this point, but I'm glad it has..." Shining Armor answers honestly, both stallions being keenly aware of the deception that the relationship had been built on at first.

That relationship, closely tied to the long-term courting Shining Armor had with Princess Cadance starting in the Canterlot Academy days, had nearly come apart once those deceptions were exposed. However, patience on the part of Lemony Gems as well as one of the many interventions for improvement conducted by Princess Celestia (with some help by Shining Armor himself) had allowed both ponies involved in the relationship to put the rocky start behind them. Now, shortly before Shining Armor himself intended to propose to Cadance, Buck Withers had taken the same step with Lemony Gems.

"I'm curious though, Buck, have you figured out where the wedding is going to take place?" Shining Armor asks the subordinate.

"We intend to use the solar chapel on the castle grounds." Buck answers, the "solar chapel" being a small but elaborately decorated building near the castle; for most of the time of Princess Luna's exile this building was used as a place of veneration for the "almighty" Princess Celestia. Of course, such things had long since gone out of fashion (and Princess Celestia in modern times gently discouraged such practices), but the idea of such a place being "sacred" meant it was still considered traditionally appropriate for such important events as weddings to be held there.

"The solar chapel..." Shining Armor mutters to himself. "Yes, I think that it would be appropriate for..."

"Sir?" Buck Withers asks, a look of confused concern crossing his face.

"Sorry, not to put down your efforts, but I think yours could be used as a dry run..."

"Dry run?... Wait, do you mean what I think you mean, sir?"

"Indeed I do. You only get one shot at a wedding, so yours could be used to iron out..."

"Ah, I see sir. But you haven't yet..."

"It'll happen soon, Buck. Just make sure to keep it a secret until the promotion ceremony."

"Yes sir, got it sir."

"Wonderful! So are you staying in the night shift?"

"No sir, I'm transferring to the afternoon shift. Princess Celestia recommended I do this, along with some other ponies, to make room for the new batpony recruits."

"Ah yes, Princess Luna says they need the experience since the rules about recruiting among them were relaxed. The royal sisters been trying to implement these as a prelude to opening recruiting in the guard to others, but it seems the paperpushers have been dragging their hooves about this..."

The conversation between Acting Captain Shining Armor and Guard Upper Class Buck Withers had been taking place as they walked through the castle hallways, and unseen to both of them two Lower Class unicorns posting to secure a door they just passed through contort their faces into scowls at what they were hearing.

Upon seeing both guards scowling at the same time, one of the guards suddenly looks surprised. After a moment, he shifts to sitting with crossing his forelegs over his chest - a known "secret signal" - and is both pleased and relieved when the other guard returns the gesture. Both return to standing pose and start engaging in hushed conversation that would've been very revealing if anypony had listened to it:

"Even more batponies in the night shift..."

"There's too many already, not enough diversity. And why won't they serve in the other two shifts? What do they have to hide?"

"They might be cursed. Maybe they're really pegasi that were cursed, and going out in daytime would reveal this..."

"But why not try to undo the curse?"

"Beats me. Maybe it has something to do with the royal sisters and neither of them want to fess up to doing it?"

"Could be. They definitely act like they're cursed, impulsive and savage..."

"We'll find out soon enough. They'll be easy to separate and ensnare under our control."

"And then we feed off them?"

"Yes, we feed off of them."

Lesson Zero...

"I can't wait to read Twilight's... what's wrong?"

"There's a lot wrong, Cadance."

"What do you mean?"

"You'd better let your aunt explain it to you..."

The extreme worry on Acting Captain Shining Armor's face very quickly brought down Princess Cadance's previously-perky mood, and by the time she is escorted into Princess Celestia's suite she is very somber indeed. Princess Celestia herself was at the moment somberly facing a floating magic screen, although neither Cadance nor Shining Armor could see what was on the screen.

"Aunt Celly, what's...?" Cadance naturally starts asking her aunt, only to stop and gasp in horror when she sees what Celestia was looking at.

"There was an 'incident' in Ponyville today. I had to go fix it myself." Celestia somberly comments, grimly staring at the image of Twilight Sparkle in the middle of the "freakout" that had happened earlier that day.

"Incident? Was it because Twilight...?" Cadance hazards a guess, basing her questions on her knowledge of Twilight's quirks of behavior.

"Yes, Cadance, it was." Shining Armor somberly answers. "Discord's attack, even though he didn't intend it that way, helped smooth over a lot of the problems that had been there previously. Twily couldn't find a 'friendship problem' for this week because of that, so it appears she tried to make one with the 'Want It, Need It' spell instead. And it got all the way to Class X as a result."

"Oh no..." Cadance comments, performing a facehoof with a gilded forehoof. The "Want It, Need It" spell - Twilight's variation of Cadance's own "eros" magic - was one Twilight had personally promised Cadance never to use without getting Cadance's permission beforehand. The usage of that spell meant that a "Class X" incident - which both Cadance and Shining defined as an incident which the misuse of magic directly threatened the health and life of other ponies - was very likely to happen.

"Fortunately, Spike was able to send out an advance warning in time for me to keep things from getting out of control." Princess Celestia comments. "Still, the fact she resorted to such measures makes me very worried that the calm isn't all that it seems..."

"You mean that Discord has affected the minds of others more powerfully than you initially thought?" Shining asks, it being his turn to hazard a guess this time.

"Yes, Captain." Princess Celestia answers. "The promotion ceremony will still proceed as originally scheduled, but I fear that this will be exploited to discredit all my efforts..."

MEANWHILE...

"Well sure Lieutenant, I'm glad to help, but wouldn't you at least take a look at the new tuxedo line before you go?" Rarity was pleading to the stallion already halfway out the door of Carousel Boutique.

"Sorry ma'am, but I've got a report that I need to bring back to Canterlot tomorrow!" Lieutenant Crispin shouts back as he speeds away.

Rarity is still trying to process the stunning speed of what had just happened when Applejack cautiously pokes her head in through the doorway to the boutique. She takes a look left, then right, before entering and proceeding to the workbench behind which Rarity had been working before her interruption.

"Was he just in here?" Applejack asks Rarity.

"You mean your cousin?" Rarity asks in return, still looking a bit dazed.

"Crispin, yes."

"What do you need him for?"

"Well, we don't need him for anything specifically. Granny Smith and I have been noticin' that... somethin' ain't right 'bout him."

"... So are you saying there's something wrong with him, like Twilight was at the picnic?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but he's been acting very strangely since last weekend."

"Yes, I've noticed that too. Caramel and Lucky Clover next door have been telling me Crispin has been having mares over frequently in his apartment, even bought a bed for two when he lives by himself!"

"I don't think I've heard 'bout that yet, but there's definitely somethin' goin' on with him. What was he in here for?"

"He was asking me some questions about what Twilight was acting like earlier today..."

"When she was all worried about Princess Celestia sending her back to magic kindergarten or somethin' like that?"

"Exactly."

"Hmm... well, I don't know if he's supposed to be making a report for his superiors or somethin' like that. I'll have Dash keep an eye on him. Why don't you ask your neighbors and see if they know anythin' about what's going on?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Anything else I can help you with?"

"Sorry, Rarity, gotta get back to work. Big Mac's found himself a new toy, somehow, and Granny and I are havin' a hard time pullin' him away from it."

"... I see. Well, good luck with that..."

Applejack silently turns away and back out of the boutique, leaving Rarity alone in her work again. She held her eyebrow raised expression for a minute, then shook her head, simply chalking up the events to the very strange day she had already experienced. As it turned out, she never did ask her neighbors about Crispin's report, which might've stopped his scheme in its tracks...

... Or Patient Zero?

The Changeling drone that had replaced Lieutenant Crispin was smiling to himself as he walked on the road back to Canterlot during the final hours of Celestia's day. His scheme to gather information based on Twilight Sparkle's behavior earlier that day had gone off without a hitch, helped by the fact that the ranking member of Ponyville's contingent - Lieutenant Meadow Song - had been kept busy on compiling the "official" report of the incident for his E.U.P. Guard superiors. This prevented him from ordering his subordinates to stop the drone's "unofficial" investigations, which would prove a valuable tool for sowing doubt and disruptions.

One problem still lay in front of him, though - a Changeling drone could fly faster than an earth pony could walk, but in order to keep up the disguise walking was the only method he could use. It was quickly becoming obvious that this method alone would be too slow to make it to Canterlot before the following morning - and haste was necessary for the misinformation campaign to work - but didn't know what else he could do. He was approaching the waypoint closest to Ponyville, so he hoped that he could manipulate the attending pony into aiding his cause.

When he stopped in front of the waypoint, with the sun already being lowered by Celestia, the disguised drone saw that the pony at the post was a pegasus. The drone knew that he was almost certainly one of the "unfavored" members of the contingent, and quickly changed his plan as a result.

"Hello, sir!" the pegasus stallion hails the disguised Crispin as the latter stops in front of his door.

"Hello, Guard, I have something for you." the disguised drone answers, a smile hiding his true intentions.

"Is it something related to what happened to earlier today?" the pegasus hazards a guess.

"Indeed, Guard. I have the report for Princess Celestia - it must be delivered to her as quickly as possible because I believe that Twilight Sparkle's behavior was triggered by some kind of effect caused by Discord." the drone answers, at best speaking a half-truth.

"Understood, sir. The Captain previously authorized me to fly at night to deliver the message up the chain." the pegasus waypoint officer answers.

"Good. I'll give you the report. The intended recipient is 'Chiton' - he'll be waiting at the Canterlot city gate to take it to the castle."

"'Chiton'? Is he a newer Lower Class?"

"Yes, he should be one of those watching at the city gate."

"Understood, sir. Will you cover the waypoint while I'm gone?"

"Indeed I will." the disguised drone answers, starting around behind the waypoint booth to enter it.

While going back around to hand off the fake report, the drone quietly devised the next phase of his plan. Once the duped pegasus passed on the report, the drone would "eliminate" him by what looked like a bugbear attack on the return trip, cutting off any short-term chance Princess Celestia would find the source of the deceit. He would then temporarily take over the waypoint, allowing further Changeling infiltration in the process. All he had to do once the pegasus was on his way was wait...

MEANWHILE IN CLOUDSDALE...

The pair of Changeling drones in Cloudsdale disguised as Cozy Glow's father and uncle were quite pleased at the line of pegasi waiting to be admitted into the meeting hall they had previously rented. This would be the first meeting of "PUP" ("Pegasi Uplifting Pegasi"), supposedly an organization devoted to combating misinformation spread about pegasi in the wake of Aten's rebellion but really concocted for more insidious reasons.

"So many of them..." Uncle Kriegspiel eyes in both surprise and eagerness, the licking of lips almost (but not quite) betraying his true self.

"You did a really good job with putting up those posters, Glowworm!" Cozy Glow's father praises, giving the filly a bit of a noogie as a result.

"Do you think that this will ensure that the pegasi finally get the respect they deserve after being put down by unicorns for so long?" Cozy Glow asks, looking up with hopeful eyes.

"It won't happen overnight, but it'll be a good first step. Now run along and see if any of your new school friends are in that crowd - I'm sure they'd be very happy to see you." the drone disguised as her father suggests, and Cozy Glow's eyes light up with excitement as she sprints off into the waiting crowd.

"I can barely contain my anticipation!" Uncle Kriegspiel quietly states to his partner once Cozy Glow is out of earshot, the salivation of the starved encountering an abundance of food already beginning to drip from his mouth.

"Easy, comrade. We need to get the crowd worked up first, only then can we feast. We don't need to drain them dry, just a little bit from each one..." his disguised partner cautions.

"Then what are we waiting for? Open the doors and let them in!"

Synchrony

"Woah there, stallion! What's the hurry?"

"I must speak with Captain Spitfire immediately!"

"... And you are?"

"Guard Upper Class Flash Sentry, sir! This is urgent, time is of the essence!"

"I'm sorry, Guard, but the Captain is very busy with paperwork right now. Perhaps it could wait until she's finished for the day?"

"No, sir, it can't wait! This is a threat to the very existence of the Wonderbolts as a whole!"

"With all due respect, Guard, I've heard too many crank theories to take what you're saying... hey, stop that!"

His patience having worn out, Guard Upper Class Flash Sentry decides to simply muscle aside Tight Ship, the coordinator stallion that had been guarding the entry of the Cloudsdale office where the Wonderbolts were currently working at, and charge straight into the hallways, startling a few Wonderbolts in the process as he zoomed by. Tight Ship, growling at the indignity and inconvenience this posed, gritted his teeth and chased after the young Guard member.

A few twists and turns down the hallways, and moments later Flash rams his way through the door, interrupting Captain Spitfire and Lead Wingpony Soarin busy with processing the day's paperwork. Tight Ship peeks out behind him, making an overexaggerated eyeroll in hopes of clearly demonstrating this wasn't his fault.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Spitfire shouts in indignity at her meeting being interrupted, prompting Soarin beside her to take a step back.

"I'm sorry Captain, but this news simply will not wait for anypony! There is a new group meeting in Cloudsdale's backrooms that threaten the existence of both the Wonderbolts and the Royal Guard!" Flash Sentry blasts out in return.

"And why should I care what a young buck in the lower ranks of the E.U.P. has to say about frustrated stallions you just managed to catch whispers of?" Spitfire asks dismissively, her tone showing she had no interest in listening to anything the Guard Upper Class had to say.

"But their numbers are already in the dozens, ma'am!" Flash Sentry tries explaining. "Each and every one of them has taken a personal vow to have nothing to ever do with the Wonderbolts or the Guard for the rest of their lives! I've seen foals in the crowd, Captain. And at one point they were all chanting in unison, and there was this miasma coming off of them and being drawn in by the stallions addressing them..."

"What nonsense are you talking about, young stallion? Are you out of your head?" Spitfire abruptly interrupts.

A charged, awkward silence follows, no pony seeming to dare speak. But Flash Sentry can see the Wonderbolt Captain's eyes betray her apparent lack of interest - confusion, then fear. And Flash Sentry knows exactly what that fear is - fear of knowing she can't afford to be wrong again, of what she stands to lose if she makes the wrong choice. He knows the Wonderbolts stand in a precarious position from her previous wrong decision, and that being wrong again would doom the entire organization. The fear becomes anger, and Flash's heart sinks in a vague uncertainty.

"Come back when you have something more solid to show me, stallion. I'm not going to act on hearsay and rumor when it has already cost me so much. Tight Ship, get him out of here so we can continue our meeting." Spitfire coldly orders.

"Aye, Captain." Tight Ship answers, and although Flash does not resist the escort out his plaintive warnings continue to echo through the office hallways.

Soarin, who had silently watched the whole incident, now gives a curious stare in Spitfire's direction, and he observes the same primal fear Flash had glimpsed - a quietly alarming fact as if there was something to the young stallion's claims it would hinder any response to them. The Wonderbolts had already bet wrong once, and badly suffered for it. But at the same time, he was reminded of the saying about what happens when good ponies do - or say - nothing.

"That stallion shouldn't come around again without hard evidence, otherwise I'm going to assume he's simply parroting the constant swirl of rumors..." Spitfire warns her main subordinate, the glare in her eyes a serious warning against objecting. Soarin is sure she can see the dismay in his own expression, but knows there is little he can do to affect the situation...

MEANWHILE, IN CANTERLOT...

"Mr. Mule, did Chiton deliver the story promised last night?" Mrs. Spoiled Rich anxiously asks the earth pony lawyer as she and her husband once again sit in conference in the lawyer's office.

"Yes, indeed, Mrs. Rich, and the story is quite a juicy one." Mr. Mule replies. "According to Chiton, it appears that Twilight Sparkle's erratic behavior was amplified by a 'viral agent' released by the entity Discord that infected her at some point during her fight against him."

"But I heard the official report was that..." Mr. Filthy Rich begins to object.

"The official report comes from a source that is personally biased in Twilight Sparkle's favor, Filthy. It is not to be trusted!" Spoiled Rich snaps out at her husband, cowing him into silence again.

"Indeed, no source that comes from Canterlot Castle is to be trusted without outside verification. Chiton says his source in Ponyville extensively interviewed many of the town's residents and they all confirmed the effects of a 'chaotic viral agent' infecting her mind." Mr. Mule adds.

"It's too bad the family was in Canterlot for business, I would've loved to give my own account of what happened... So are we going public with this info? In the papers and magazines?" Spoiled Rich impatiently asks.

"Yes, because we can't trust Princess Celestia to be truthful about what has happened." Mr. Mule affirms. "Once I can get Chiton to flesh out his report a little more, we'll forward it to all the papers and magazines. I trust that you will use both your company and your filly to warn about a potential epidemic of the viral agent?"

"We will, don't you worry about it." Spoiled Rich affirms in turn, at the same time giving a sidelong glare to her husband that keeps him quiet.

"Very good, we can spend the rest of the afternoon composing the warnings to be distributed out..." Mr. Mule comments, starting into an eager back-and-forth between the lawyer and the wife of the businesspony.

Meanwhile, Mr. Filthy Rich himself sits sullenly, nursing his growing worries as his wife goes further and further down this track he suspects will lead to no good. He cannot object, however, as long as his daughter and "heir" was held in thrall of what his wife wanted her to be...

The Ceremony

"Oh gosh, I'm so nervous..."

"Easy, Shining, you've been through this kind of thing before..."

"Yeah, but not anything this elaborate!"

Looking out on the arrayed guards in fulldress, it was hard to blame the nerves the Acting Captain Shining Armor had at the moment. The majority of the command he was assuming - rows of stallions in starched uniforms and gleaming insignia - were lined up in the castle's great hall, as was normal for the "passing the torch" ceremony. The three princess were all there as well - a tweak from the previous ceremonies which had only been attended by Princess Celestia.

He nervously looks down at the small velvet box he was levitating with his magic, hoping that the nerves weren't being expressed as a visible shaking of the box. It wasn't long before Shining noticed that the retiring Captain Gibraltar beside him noticed the box as well, considering Gibraltar's next words: "Shining, I don't remember putting the insignia in that box..."

"Please, sir, don't make this harder than it needs to be." Shining comments, his tone immediately tipping off Gibraltar that his replacement had other things on his mind beside the ceremony.

"Of course, Shining. I think we're on next. Just put that box in the sidebag until you need it for whatever you need it for."

Shining only pauses for just long enough to slip the levitating box into his saddlebag before following Gibraltar in parallel out onto the stage. Both stallions approach and bow before each princess in turn, then face the arrayed stallions in the great hall. Gibraltar starts his short speech, his voice echoing in the hall as he does so:

"As you all know, today's ceremony is a very special one. For the thousand years of the exile of Princess Luna, 173 officers came and went as Captains of the Guard serving Princess Celestia alone. When the torch was passed to me as the 174th officer to serve in that capacity, I was warned by Princess Celestia that the prophecies surrounding Nightmare Moon would likely be fulfilled in my time. Indeed that turned out to be case, and although it would be of little merit to restate those earth-shaking events here, it is still of merit to mention them, both because of Princess Luna's very presence here today and the fact that the one chosen to pass the torch to is a blood relation of the student of magic central to how those events unfolded."

At this point, Shining dares a sidelong glance at the princesses, and the modest smiles on all three tell him all he needs to know - his years of personal sacrifice for both country and family would allow him admittance into the ranks of Equestria's royalty. The anxious butterflies finally begin to settle down, although with the princess moving beside him as part of the ceremony they wouldn't entirely go away.

"Present the honor guard!" Gibraltar booms out, and the ranks of stallions at attention switch to saluting. A moment later, the great doors leading into the castle hall are pulled open by a pair of Lower Classes and a quartet of officers in their best uniforms begin marching through, movements in lockstep with each other. Shining Armor recognized the stallions in the quartet - one representative of each of the main pony races that served in the E.U.P. Guard at the castle, as was tradition for the passing of the torch ceremonies.

The four stallions of the honor guard stop and bow before the princesses when they reach the end of the middle aisle, and Celestia begins the ritual questioning of each of the stallions as part of the ceremony, each one answering as required as they are asked:

"Speak representative of the unicorns; do you recognize Shining Armor as the Captain of the Guard, the legitimate successor to Commander Hurricane?"

"I, Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas of the unicorns, do recognize and accept Shining Armor as the Captain of the Guard and legitimate successor to Commander Hurricane."

"Speak representative of the pegasi; do you recognize Shining Armor as the Captain of the Guard, the legitimate successor to Commander Hurricane?"

"I, Lieutenant Captain Stratocumulus of the pegasi, do recognize and accept Shining Armor as the Captain of the Guard and legitimate successor to Commander Hurricane."

"Speak representative of the earth ponies; do you recognize Shining Armor as the Captain of the Guard, the legitimate successor to Commander Hurricane?"

"I, Lieutenant Meadow Song of the earth ponies, do recognize and accept Shining Armor as the Captain of the Guard and legitimate successor to Commander Hurricane."

"Speak representative of the bat ponies; do you recognize Shining Armor as the Captain of the Guard, the legitimate successor to Commander Hurricane?"

"I, Lieutenant Captain Vesper of the bat ponies, do recognize and accept Shining Armor as the Captain of the Guard and legitimate successor to Commander Hurricane."

"The representatives are in agreement, then. From this moment forward, Shining Armor shall be considered now and forevermore a Captain of the Guard, to serve in the same role and responsibility Commander Hurricane held at the founding of the unified Equestrian state. Hail to the Captain of the Guard!"

"HAIL TO THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD!" the entire contingent of the Royal Guard booms out, the voices echoing in the hall.

Meanwhile, tucked away in a shadowy corner of the hall, two unicorns talk to each other in hushed voices, both of them levitating notepads with pencils furiously scribbling away notes as they speak:

"I would've thought at least one of them would've objected..."

"Same here, would make this story juicy..."

"Don't think it would matter, boss wants to bury it no matter what, the 'chaos virus' lead is going to sell more regardless..."

"Yeah, I guess, I mean, everypony's seen this coming for a while and... wait, is there something else going on up there?"

Author's Note

(I want to once again apologize for not being able to stick to a consistent upload schedule like I have been able to in the past. Besides my RL job, my time is consistently being drawn away by other projects I am working on, but I hope to finish with the story's final chapter next week...)

The Buried Lead

Although the mood was quietly optimistic in the main castle hall, all eyes - even those of the reporters shadowed in a corner - focused again on the newly commissioned Captain Shining Armor when he stopped in front of Princess Cadance. At first she was confused by what he wanted, but when she saw him levitate a small box out of the ceremonial saddlebag he was wearing she quietly gasped.

Shining Armor briefly paused as the hall fell silent again, the arrayed officers both in the hall and on other parts of the stage see what seems to be about to happen; the stallion on the verge of one of the most important moments of his life was grateful for the general cooperation of those also present there. In the shadowed corner, the surprised reporters being scribbling furiously at notepads with charcoal pencils.

Shining Armor bends down one front leg and has his magic open the levitating box, revealing a relatively simple ring sized to fit on a large unicorn horn, such as the one Cadance would have. Cadance quietly gasps again, and she quickly looks over at her aunts beside her. Both of them give subtle smiling approvals; Celestia's approval had been earned by faithful and sacrificial service, while Luna's approval had come because both Shining and Cadance had taken the lead in guiding her out of the darkness following her return from exile. And of course, they would gain the young mare both owed immense gratitude to as their niece-in-law, a member of the royal family in more than just spirit.

A tear trickles down Shining Armor's face as he begins his proposal, looking up at the alicorn he was speaking to: "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, when I first met you all those years ago, fillysitting little Twily, I was so stunned in your presence I could barely even put together a word to you. Both of us have come an extremely long way since then, not just together but as part of a group your aunt Celestia put together. Now Twily and Spike are in Ponyville learning about friendship, and leadership really, and your aunt Luna has been restored to her old position ruling the night and walking dreams. I believe now is the right time to take the next step in our lives, a step we should both take together. I promise to be the greatest husband I can be for you, and Twily would be a great sister-in-law for you as well... I guess what I'm trying to say is, will you marry me, Princess?"

The great castle hall is silent, not a pony in the room daring to even breathe as they wait for the answer to the question. Cadance, who had simply stared in surprised silence as Shining Armor gave his proposal, looks over one more time at the royal sisters beside her. The quiet smiles on their faces remain unchanged, which relaxes Cadance's surprise enough into a smile of her own. Finally, from essentially since the day she was crowned a princess of Equestria, a great hope and dream of hers was ready to start coming true.

"Oh you big dork, of course I will!" Cadance chuckles, meeting Shining Armor in a nuzzle as the latter returns to standing up, then switching into a kiss. The crowd breaks into a mixture of quiet cheering and sentimental awing, turning the previous quiet hope atmosphere in the castle hall into something more lively, the hope for the future soaring higher than it ever had before.

Meanwhile, in the shadowed corner, the two reporter ponies were still furiously scribbling away at their notepads, the hushed exchange lost in the sudden injection of optimism echoing in the castle hall:

"You got everything?"

"Yeah, did that. Absolutely sure we're still burying this?"

"Plans haven't changed, rookie. I'm sure the timing of the proposal would surprise some ponies, but it's not something that was unexpected. Burying it just the same."

"Alright, boss. But it'll mean having to do more work stuffin' it..."

"Let Chiton worry about that. We just need to get out of here before they figure out who we pinched the press passes from..."

THE FOLLOWING DAY, IN PONYVILLE...

Twilight Sparkle gave a skeptical look at Rarity beside her as both of them stood in front of a cart loaded with magazines, most of which being the "gossip rag" variety. One for earth ponies, one for pegasi, one for unicorns, one focused on Southern Equestria... if there was enough material to justify printing a magazine on it, the rack had it on display!

"Yes, Twilight, I double checked with Lieutenant Meadow Song to be absolutely sure you were supposed to look in one of the magazines here." Rarity comments, her own tone showing puzzlement. "I normally only indulge in the ones focused on Canterlot, but I have to keep them out of sight because Applejack thinks they're full of lies and doesn't want moi reading them. Gets real touchy about that."

"Well, I don't think she's entirely wrong... this one?" Twilight asks as she levitates a magazine off the rack.

"Yes, that one. Their focus is mostly on Canterlot high society, but I was told there was a special announcement related to you there."

"Alright, let's see..." Twilight continues on, focusing her attention on the magazine she was levitating in front of her with unicorn magic. "'A Chaotic Starting Point... Inside Source: Heroes Compromised, Royal Words Not To Be Trusted'... What kind of slanderous title is this?!?"

"Oh dear..." Rarity winces out as Twilight cautiously opens the magazine, scanning inside it for the headline story the cover title was referring to.

"Rarity, I don't remember anypony from this magazine interviewing me about the 'Want It, Need It' spell incident!" Twilight exclaims a minute later, a smoldering indignation beginning to rise within her.

"Didn't Lieutenant Crispin come by and do that for the report back to Princess Celestia?" Rarity asks, now gravely concerned about the implications of what Twilight was telling her.

"Yes, so either he leaked the information or somepony intercepted the report. And either way that pony had no business reprinting it here." Twilight growls out. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a letter to write to Princess Celestia..."

As Twilight Sparkle turns away to head back to the library she was residing in, she lets the magazine she had been levitating drop into the dirt below, leaving Rarity to handle the awkward conversation with the cart's owner about the damaged merchandise. The deliberately buried lead about Shining Armor and Cadance in that magazine was never seen by Twilight or Rarity, preventing either of them from finding out about the potential Canterlot wedding at that time. It was part of a series of communication breakdowns that allowed a grave threat to infiltrate into Equestrian society unnoticed...

Author's Note

(Yes, I know a week later than I promised, but I hope showing the actual marriage proposal was worth the delay... :raritywink: )