Checkmate looked around the sky. It was empty, save for Scootaloo, himself and a few clouds below them. They flew along, searching the ground for their target. Check recognized this area. Scoots did too, he could tell by the look on her face. They were only a few minutes of flying away from the border between Equestria and Pegasopolis. If that cart got across the border the chances of them seeing it again would become next to none.
“C’mon Check, we gotta find it,” Scoots said. There was an urgency in her voice that he rarely heard. They both knew how important that simple cart was.
As they approached the border they saw a faint plume of dust on the ground. It was hardly a minute ahead of them, but it might as well have been an hour. It was on the other side of the border. It had gotten away.
The two armor clad pegasi slowed to a stop at the border. Check looked over to Scootaloo and tried to read her reaction. It wasn’t hard. She was, to put it bluntly, pissed; her anger was evident on her face. He slowly flew the few feet over to her and hugged her, causing a faint ‘clank’ from their armor. He was trying to comfort her and prevent her from doing something they’d both regret, they both knew that if she went after the wagon then he would as well.
“Hey, it’ll be fine. We’ll get the next one,” he said. She sighed and lightly hugged him back.
“I know we will,” she said as she gave him a weak smile, “Do you think we cou-“
“No,” He cut her off, “you know what Rainbow Dash said about crossing the border. We don’t want to cause an international affair.” Rainbow Dash had specifically told them not to cross the border. Chances were slim that it would cause a problem, but with the current turmoil shared by both countries they weren’t taking any chances.
It had been ten years since the fall of the Solar Empire and the rise of both the Lunar Republic and Pegasopolis. In those ten years the nations grew and prospered. About half of Pegasopolis actually extended over Equestria in the form of cloud cities. The actual land controlled by Pegasopolis was miniscule compared to the country as a whole. If it was possible, Rainbow Dash would have preferred having their young country reside wholly in the clouds. For the first few months that worked, as they simply traded and bought food from the farmers of the land below them. Eventually, as the population of Pegasopolis grew, the farmers couldn’t produce enough for the nation, so Princess Luna, she officially dropped the title of “Princess” upon the creation of the Lunar Republic but everyone still addresses and thinks of her as such, gave the new nation a large enough piece of land for farming.
As more and more pegasi migrated to Pegasopolis, a few earth ponies and unicorns decided to try their luck in the budding nation state as well. In time they formed towns and a few cities of their own. In a matter of years Pegasopolis went from a group of pegasi in the clouds to a relatively large and prosperous nation. But the seeds of hate sewn by the late Princess Celestia still held root in some hearts and minds. At one point a group of mostly earth ponies, a fair number of witch were soldiers for the Solar Empire, attempted to boycott Pegasopolis by refusing to buy anything made there, protesting outside the capitol of Equestria in Canterlot and even going so far as to try and block the roads into and out of Pegasopolis. They apparently had forgotten that pegasi have wings, so you can imagine how well that went.
In Equestria shops owned by pegasi were boycotted, some had mobs gather outside them, barring the entrance to other ponies. There were even a few reports of broken windows and the occasional looting. The Lunar Republic’s police forces were doing their best to stop this, but the cases were to few and far between to truly stop them.
Check lightly pushed her chin up so she was looking him in the eye.
“We’ll get ‘em eventually Scoots,” he said. She nodded and a bit of the fire left her eyes.
“I know we will,” She started, “It just gets so frustrating, you know?”
“Yeah, I know. C’mon, let’s head back.” With that he gently turned her away from the border and back towards the capitol.
~*~*~
Five years after the Discord incident three pegasi moved to Ponyville. The father and mother were both to be a part of the weather patrol. Their son was to just do as all colts his age do.
It was the first day of school. Checkmate stood in the shadow of a tree across from the schoolhouse and watched all the fillies and colts playing. From what he could tell they all had a distinctive mark on their flank, the cutie-mark that he distinctly lacked.
‘Great’ he thought, ‘First day and I’m the only blank fla-‘
“Hi there,” Came a voice from behind him. He nearly jumped into the tree, if he was better at flying he might have. Instead, he ended up hovering a few inches off the ground as he turned and faced the three fillies behind him. There was a white unicorn with a curly pink and purple mane and tail, a yellow earth pony with a red mane and tail and an orange Pegasus with short purple mane and tail. They were looking at him with a smile on each of their faces; it took him a second to realize why. They didn’t have their cutie-marks either.
“Jeepers, he’s more jumpy than Fluttershy on Nightmare Night,” The earth pony exclaimed with a slight southern drawl.
“I’ll say,” the unicorn said, giggling a little.
“So what’s your name kid?” asked the pegasus.
“U-uh, C-Checkmate," he told them as he planted his hooves back on the ground.
The trio eyed him suspiciously. They looked him up and down, from his black mane to his dark blue legs, over his faded leather saddlebags and blank flank.
“Well, looks like you’re in the same predicament we are, uh, Checkmate,” the earth pony drawled. Check raised an eyebrow.
“I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself Applebloom, we haven’t even introduced ourselves,” said the unicorn.
“Oh, right. Well, I’m Applebloom, this here’s Sweetie Belle,” she waved a hoof at the unicorn, “And that’s Scootaloo.”
“H-hi,” Check stuttered.
“You’re new here ain’t ya?” Applebloom asked.
“W-well, um, yeah,” He managed.
“C’mon, we’ll give you the grand tour!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
“O-okay,” he said, though his attention wasn’t on Sweetie Belle or Applebloom. He was focusing on the pegasus, Scootaloo. She was staring off to the side, trying not to look at him. There was just something about her that was. . .Different, in a good way. He would have said something, but he was far too shy, and besides, he just met her. Little did he know that she was feeling something similar to him.
“Well, c’mon then!” Applebloom said. He turned to see that her and Sweetie Belle were already walking off, heading towards the playground. He quickly trotted after them.
She waited a few seconds to make sure he was gone. As his hoof beats diminished she turned and watched him trot away. Something about him made her feel odd. Like there were butterflies in her stomach. She didn’t like that feeling. She made a mental note to ask Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy about it later. Maybe she would even ask Twilight. She shook her head to clear it and galloped after her friends and this newcomer.
Over the next few months Checkmate and the Cutie Mark Crusaders became great friends. He became an official Crusader. But the feelings both himself and Scootaloo had when they first met never went away. They diminished with time, but they were still there. Those feelings would eventually see the light of day.
~*~*~
Almost a year after Check’s arrival the Cutie Mark Crusaders were out trying to get their marks yet again. Check and Scootaloo were out in the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres, on their way to the club house. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were already there and hard at work trying to think of something to do.
They trudged along in silence, appearing to be lost in their own thoughts. Check was looking at the multi-colored leaves underhoof when he felt something slip around his wing and against his side while something warm pressed against his wing. He looked up and back to see it was Scootaloo’s wing. He blinked to make sure what he was seeing was real before he looked over at her to see her face was a bright red, just as he could feel his own becoming.
He opened his mouth to say something, but she leaned in and kissed him softly before he could make a sound. He felt the blood rush to his face as he kissed her back. They stood there a moment after breaking the kiss, the whole time spent lost in each other’s eyes.
Only after a sudden gust of wind sent a chill through Scootaloo did they continue on to the clubhouse. They trotted off to make up the lost, but far from wasted, time. Check's wing was around her shoulders and Scootaloo’s head was nuzzled into his neck. When they reached the edge of the clearing where the club house sat did they separate, but not by far.
Scootaloo ducked a little to make it under the doorframe. Check was right behind her and had to duck a substantial amount. He looked around the small clubhouse. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were sitting around a small map of Ponyville in the center of the room, Scootaloo had just joined them. When he stood beside Scoots, Applebloom looked up at them and smiled a bit.
Unknown to each other, they had both approached Applebloom with the same dilemma. She was the first to know of Scootaloo and Check's feelings for each other, though Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had their suspicions after Scootaloo had asked them about the strange feelings she was having. Applebloom told them both the same thing, some time in the near future she’d try and get them alone so they could express their feelings for the other. Neither of them had suspected it to have been so soon, but Applebloom figured ‘the sooner the better.’
Check felt the blood rush to his face again and he could see the blush forming on Scoot’s. Applebloom’s smile just widened. Sweetie Belle, who wasn’t ‘in the know’ about Check and Scoots, just looked from them to Applebloom and back.
“Alright, back to the task at hand,” Applebloom began, “As you can see, our club house is a little. . . Small. We need a new one, somethin’ more our sized. Any ideas?”
Check looked to each of the girls. He didn’t know of any open or abandoned buildings in Ponyville. From the looks of it, neither did any of the other Crusaders. After a minute of silence Sweetie Belle spoke up.
“What about that old barn on the other side of the orchard?” she asked.
“That’s perfect!” Applebloom exclaimed. “We haven’t used that ol’ thing in years. I’m sure Big Mac and Applejack would be fine with us using it. Let’s go check it out!”
“Um, Applebloom,” Check began, “Shouldn’t we ask before we start using it?”
“Oh, yeah, you’re probably right. Alright, well,” she thought for a moment before continuing, “Me an’ Sweetie Belle will go and find Big Mac or Applejack. You and Scoots go and check out the barn. We’ll meet you there as soon as we get permission. C’mon Sweetie Belle, let’s go!” With that, she jumped up and galloped off. Sweetie Belle was completely surprised and took a moment to follow suit.
“Well, that was. .” Scoots began.
“Interesting?” Check offered. Scoots nodded.
“Something like that.”
“Yeah. .” he trailed off. “Well, let’s go check out that barn.” With that he turned toward the door and waited.
“Oh, yeah, okay,” she turned and brushed her wing against his side, “You’re it!”
Check barely had time to realize what happened before Scoots shot out through the door and in the direction of the barn. “Oh, that little,” he muttered as he chased after her.
~*~*~
Scootaloo and Checkmate landed softly outside the capitol building. They were met by a white pegasus in the uniform of an office assistant. It was evident that he wasn’t used to dealing with any form of soldier, as he seemed to cower into his jacket at the sight of the two armed and armored pegasi in front of him. He informed them that they were to follow him. Scoots gave Check a look of annoyance as the assistant turned and began walking towards the large double doors.
Check nodded to the guards posted on either side of the doors as he walked through. They each wielded a spear and ceremonial armor, but he knew that they would be more than a match for even the highest trained attacker, regardless of the fact that the attacker would most likely be wielding at least one fire-arm. Scoots took a moment to roll her eyes before tromping after him.
The assistant lead them to the prime minister’s main office. He was about to knock when Scootaloo not so gently shouldered him aside and walked in. Check gave the assistant, who was now on the ground, a look of apology as he walked by the sprawled form. He looked back through the doors and into the hall before closing them behind him.
Scootaloo had walked up to the desk and was looking back at Check as he caught up. Check saluted as the chair behind the desk swiveled around. Rainbow Dash hovered over the desk to hug Scootaloo. “Check, what have I told you about that?” She asked, shooting him a look, “We’re like family. And if my intell department is any good, then we will be, right Scoots?”
Scootaloo gave a bashful smile and blushed a little as Check lowered his hoof. Rainbow Dash just smiled at them both, backing up to sit on her cluttered desk. Check looked over to Scoots, his eyebrow raised in its signature place when he was wondering something. Scootaloo smiled a little more and looked down.
“So much for saving it for later, eh?” he jokingly asked Scootaloo.
“Well, I had to tell her. She is basically my sister after all,” She replied.
“Basically? Are you forgetting those adoption papers again?” Rainbow Dash questioned.
“Um, no. Okay, I had to tell her, she is my sister after all,” Scootaloo corrected.
“That’s better. Oh just wait until Fluttershy hears about this!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
Check just rolled his eyes. He could see where this conversation was going. He sat down and waited for Rainbow Dash to get back on topic.
~*~*~
Check hovered at the top of the barn, a hammer in his mouth. Big Mac was pulling a cart of boards and paint for the new CMC clubhouse. Almost a month had past since Applejack had allowed them to use the run down barn as CMC headquarters, though the term Cutie Mark Crusaders was rather redundant since they all had earned their marks. They had decided to keep the name for some reason no one but them understood. He didn’t even understand, but he left the decision making to the girls, it simplified life.
He hammered the last nail into the roof, completing the exterior rebuild to the barn. The interior had been completed for a few weeks, but that’s the convenience of having three girls working inside compared to just Check working outside. Scootaloo didn’t want to work inside, but Applebloom and Sweety Belle had insisted. Now all three of them were out with Rarity and Flutthershy, searching for decorations. Check didn’t enjoy shopping so he decided to stay and finish up the exterior, despite some protests from Scoots for him to come with them.
He glided down and placed his hammer on the back of Big Mac’s cart.
“Got anything else I could help with Big Mac?” Checkmate asked.
Big Mac thought a moment before replying, “Nnnope.”
“Well, alright. I guess I’ll head out to find the girls then,” Check said while flying away. Big Mac just nodded and left the cart before heading off towards the house.
~*~*~
Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo had gone on about the wedding, what was going to happen, who would be there, things that you’d normally think Rainbow Dash would be more inclined to leave to Rarity, for about an hour. After that, she realized why Scoots and Check were originally there and got back on track. Another hour or so of post-mission debriefing led into more talk of the wedding, mostly where it would be so everyone could be there, it was decided they would have it in Ponyville, and Check eventually slipped out.
He flew back to his, and recently Scoots’, bunk room, took off his armor and placed his carbine back in it’s place in the closet. He then headed out to meander around town until he was either found by a messenger calling him back to RD and Scoots, or found by Scoots herself. He found his way to his favorite bar and ordered a glass of cider to pass the time. He wondered if Applebloom had worked on this batch, the bar got authentic Sweet Apple Acres cider shipped up from Ponyville. It was far more expensive than the local stuff, but it was worth it. He looked around the bar and noticed a few ponies who he’d never seen before sitting in a corner booth. This was a favorite bar for a lot of military personnel, and everyone knew everyone, so to see strangers sitting on their own was uncommon, but not unheard of. He was about to get up and greet the newcomers when they left. He thought it rather odd that they hadn’t order anything, but he decided to leave it be.
The following day Check returned to the bar with Scootaloo after they had finished their shifts on duty. He glanced around and saw the usual assortment of ponies, mostly military, from a group of new Privates huddled around a table listening to their Sergeant tell a war story to a Colonel getting a little to friendly with one of her Lieutenants, though it didn’t look like the Lieutenant minded all that much. The ponies he’d seen the previous day were in their corner booth.
Scoots sat at the bar and ordered for them booth. Check sat next to her, discreetly watching the new ponies out corner of his eye. They appeared to be deep in conversation, though their table was bare again. One of them glanced back at him before hurriedly rejoining his companions in conversation.
After a few hours of Drinking and talking Check and Scoots left, much to the dismay of a few of Scoots friends from flight school. The ponies from the corner booth had left over an hour ago and Check had completely dismissed them from thought. As they walked down the road, they heard a commotion from a few streets down.
“I’ll go check it out,” Checkmate told Scootaloo while ascending about a dozen feet up. The age-old rule of “Ponies rarely look above their head” was true of even pegasi, though most ponies had a tendency of looking strait up when looking for pegasi, not a few feet above the ground.
“Well I’m coming too,” Scoots said, ascending right beside him.
“Well, alright,” he said after a moment’s thought, “But be careful.”
She just gave him a look as they hovered over to the edge of a warehouse. Peering around the corner revealed two pegasi standing beside an oddly familiar cart, which was parked in front of an open warehouse. Three more pegasi were loading wooden boxes into the back of the cart. Check recognized the boxes as rifle crates. From the looks of it there were at least a dozen crates loaded, with about as many stacked just inside the warehouse door.
“Those are military crates,” Scoots said, looking up at Check.
“I know,” he replied. He had seen the cart somewhere before, he just wasn’t sure where.
“Shouldn’t we report this?” she asked.
“You mean shouldn’t we stop them?”
She smiled and laughed a little before replying. “You know me too well.”
“Well, we have been together for how long?”
“True.”
Check glanced back around the corner to see a police officer had seemingly materialized out of the drizzling rain. He watched as the officer confronted the ponies as to what they were doing. Much to Spooks dismay, the officer was focused on the ponies at the cart and hadn’t noticed the remaining pony in the warehouse. Lightning flashed overhead, causing a crack of thunder. Before the sound had resided the officer had hit the ground. A small pool of blood was slowly forming around his head.
“What just happened?” Scootaloo asked, rather confused.
“They shot him. The thunder masked the report of the rifle,” Check replied coldly. A plan was already forming in his head. Scoots just stared at the collapsed form in the street. Her anger was growing, evident in her eyes. Check noticed it and pulled her back around the corner. “Hey, calm down. We’ll get ‘em,” he told her softly.
“I know I know.”
