Team Fortress 2: Operation Friendship

(Author’s note: Back in the habit of 1 chapter daily!)

Chapter 6

Princess Celestia sat in the meeting room with her sister and co-ruler of Equestria, Princess Luna. For a while, neither of them said anything. Then Celestia sighed and put her face in her hooves. “What am I going to do, Luna?”

“About what, dear sister?”

“Earlier this morning, an assassin attacked one of the mercenaries. He was disguised as one of the royal guards. He was a changeling too! I had counted them among my potential allies, and the fact that the Griffons got to them first is very bad.”

“Thats terrible!” gasped Luna in shock.

“I know. The Spy saw right through his disguise too. And the worst part is that I was the one who stopped him from taking out the assassin. He had the assassin in his sights, and I ordered him to holster his weapon. Thanks to me, there is a good chance he will die!” Celestia thought she saw a quick smile cross Luna’s face for a moment, but quickly discarded the idea. There’s no way she would betray me, Nightmare Moon is dead and gone, she is the co-ruler of Equestria, she would never turn against her kingdom! thought Celestia. After staring at Luna suspiciously for a while, Celestia heard a knock on the door. She opened it and found a guard waiting for her.

“Princess, there is somebody here to see you by the name of......Derpy?” said the confused guard.

“Ah yes, send her in if you please.”

“Yes Princess”

A moment later, a grey wall-eyed pegasus walked in with a grin on her face. “Hi Princess!” she said joyfully.

Celestia couldn’t help but smile. Derpy was just so carefree and innocent, that her smiles were contagious. “Hello Derpy. I trust you got my letter?”

“Yep! I’m ready to fight!” she said, putting a hoof on her forehead in a salute, but quickly lost balance and fell over. She got back up and made another salute.

“You won’t be fighting just yet, Derpy. I have a special assignment for you.”

Derpy’s eyes grew wide. “A special assignment!”

Celestia smiled again. “I’m glad to see you’re so enthustastic! Your assignment is to accompany a group of mercenaries and teach them what it means to be a friend. Can you do it?”

“Yes Princess!” responded Derpy, giving another salute.

“Good. Meet Twilight Sparkle and her companions in the bunk rooms down the hall. My guard will lead you there.”

As Derpy was led away, Celestia shut the door and sat back down. “All due respect sister, but why her?”

“She is innocent, and I believe she has what it takes to change RED for the better.”

“But why do you want to change them at all?”

“They are capable warriors, yes, but they are flawed. They cannot succeed without the magic of friendship to guide them. Also, I believe the ponies I enlisted can benefit from the partnership as well. For instance, Fluttershy is scared of almost everything, and I think that by spending more time with the Medic, she will learn courage.”

“But they have no combat training! They won’t be equipped to deal with war!”

“I was about to get to that. Shortly after the stabbing, I received word that Warlord Bloodtalon III passed away due to a brain tumor. As is customary in Griffon culture, a new Warlord will be picked and crowned immediately, all of this taking roughly three weeks. I intend to use this time to strengthen our front line and have RED train the ponies. I must go check on the state of the Pyro, if you would excuse me.” And with that, Celestia rose from her chair and left.

Luna watched her sister depart, feeling nothing but the deepest loathing. Proud fool... she said to herself. She went upstairs into her room. She pointed her horn at her mirror. Her horn glowed and the mirror projected the visage of a large black griffon.

“Hello, Luna, how goes everything?” the griffon asked.

“Hello Blackfeather. I have recently discovered that Bloodtalon died. Why was I not informed of this sooner?”

Blackfeather looked uncomfortable. “We meant to tell you, but as you can imagine, it’s been pretty crazy over here.”

“Next time, you will tell me immediately or suffer extreme consequences. Am I understood?”

Blackfeather gulped. “Yes Princess.”

“Good. Now then, who seems like the most likely candidate for warlord?”

“That would be his nephew Deathclaw IV.”

“Excellent, he will make a fine replacement. Make sure he is the victor using any means necessary.”

“Yes Princess”

“So how goes the war effort?”

“Very well, your highness. We were planning a surprise attack on Manehattan, but had to return for the choosing of the new Warlord.”

“Good.”

“Did the assassination go as planned?” asked Blackfeather.

“Still no word. The assassin was skilled, but so is their medic. With luck, the poisons will take effect and he will die.”

“That's good to hear. Anything else, Princess?”

“No, you are dismissed. Thank you Blackfeather.”

“My lady” Blackfeather said as he bowed.

Luna stepped away from the mirror. You thought you had eliminated me as a threat, sister, but you were gravely mistaken. The moon shall rise and the world shall have eternal, glorious night! And there is nothing you can do to stop it. Because at the end of the day, even the sun must set.