[Canterlot] Colts will be Colts

[Imagination]

Livid. Furious. Enraged... None of these words seemed quite right to describe how the Senior Drill Instructor was feeling. It seemed that not only did one of his Recruits have the nerve to leave the Training Depot in the middle of the night, but to be caught by the Royal Guard on PALACE GROUNDS? He couldn't wait to hear what kind of story this Recruit was going to cook up about it. There was absolutely no excuse for it.

The old tradition was that if a Recruit could take the helmet a palace guard and get it back to the Depot without getting caught, their training platoon would instantly graduate. Obviously it was a rumor passed down from Recruit to Recruit that wasn't true in the least bit. This Recruit in question, who had believed the old stories, managed to get into the Palace, only to be caught by one of the Princess' guards when he wandered onto the wrong floor. What was worse is that the Drill Instructor himself had to come and pick up this particular Recruit from the Palace dungeon... Though the Recruit would probably rather stay locked up than have to deal with Reveille.

He was wearing his usual daily attire: His tan collar with MSG rank and matching tie. On the Stallion's head was his 'Smokey Bear' with the golden sun badge of the REA. The sight of the hat alone was still enough to make some soldiers' spines shiver. Bad memories of training were usually at the hooves of the D.I.s. No mistake ever went unpunished, and a Recruit usually only had to learn once. Like burning ones hoof on a stove. They're not going to touch that stove again.

Getting into the Palace wasn't much of an issue at all once he informed the gate guard of who he was and what his business was. In fact, he thought he could recognize a few old Recruits that had moved up into the guard. Good for them. But he wasn't here to reminisce and chat it up with OLD Recruits. He had a new one to destroy. Though he had never been to the Palace dungeon before. He had been to the Palace itself for balls and functions, but wasn't as familiar with the place as he'd like. When he asked to see an on-duty NCO, a guard had left him to go fetch Sergeant Bonfire. Reveille had heard the name before, but was certain Bonfire had graduated from the Depot before he came around.

Why Sergeant Bonfire? Why not? Reveille was in charge of molding Recruits, just like Bonfire was, even if one was training regulars and the other was training Royal Guards. Two training NCOs should be able to get through the issue quick and dirty, right?

For now, he waited for the Sergeant to be brought to him. As nice as the Palace was, he didn't want to spend more time there than he had to.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Imagination

[Corsair]

Bonfire was was doing the part of his job he just loved the most; writing reports. His ceremonial golden helm sat on the desk while he wrote, his quill dancing erratically in his magic as it stabbed at the hated scroll. Bonfire was glaring at the scroll so intently that his gaze should have caught the blasted parchment on fire. Well, he could have done that too, but then he would have just had to start over.

Last night, some young recruit from the training depot in the city had somehow gotten past the outer gates and onto the palace grounds. He'd gotten caught trying to get into the armory, and was now cooling his hooves down in the magic-proofed jail cells. Bonfire had already had the perimeter guards in here to give a report, and he had reamed them up one side and down the other for being incompetent featherbrains. As the Sergeant on watch, he had to write up the arrest report, the extra duty report for the responsible guards, another report to the recruit's CO...

Most of the soldiers in the Guard knew about the 'tradition' of stealing a Guardspony's helm. Heck, some of them had probably tried it themselves when they were in Basic. But most of the time the recruits were caught before they even got close, and were sent back with a warning and word was sent to their instructor. Somehow this colt had gotten much further than that, and things had gotten more complicated.

Bonfire was finally signing off on the bottom of the scroll when he heard a knock at the door. "What is it?" he growled out.

A younger unicorn guard opened the door. "Sergeant Bonfire, Master Sergeant Reveille is here to see you?" the guard said. The kid almost looked scared when he said the other pony's name. Bonfire smiled despite himself. He didn't know Reveille, but he knew his reputation, and he had a feeling this kid knew him a bit more than that. Reveille must have come to fetch his AWOL recruit. This could prove to be entertaining.

Levitating his helm from the desk, Bonfire placed the flashy thing back on his head. Once Bonfire got outside, there was no mistaking which pony was Reveille. The white earth pony was in his full DI uniform, and he looked ready to chew nails. "Master Sergeant Reveille?" he asked, respectfully. "Sergeant Bonfire, Royal Guard Detachment. I believe I've got one of your recruits in my jail."

[Imagination]

At least he was finally able to connect a face to a name. Sergeant Bonfire introduced himself and got right to business. Good!

"I believe you do, Sergeant. Thank you for holding him still for me..." he responded politely... Or as politely as he could manage past his seething rage. Quite the interesting choice of words indeed. He was sure that if the Recruit learned that the SDI himself was coming to retrieve him, there may be an escape attempt or two. Fortunately, he hasn't heard any word about the former, so he assumed there was none. "When I get my hooves on him, Celestia herself won't be able to save him!" Obviously that wasn't true, but a good reflection of Reveille's wrath. The threat itself made a couple of the guards in the immediate area nervous, and they didn't even have anything to worry about.

That aside, what he was really interested in was how the Recruit had actually managed to get as far as he did. It probably didn't reflect well on the Sergeant's guards... It sure as hell didn't reflect well on Reveille and his DIs that a Recruit had left the depot and got himself arrested. Perhaps Bonfire would like to assist Reveille in a grilling of a different sort, as he was sure the Sergeant had some choice words for this Recruit.

"Perhaps you could give me a better idea of just what happened on the way to pick up my little idiot? All I saw were the initial reports of an arrest."

Edited April 4, 2012 by Imagination

[Corsair]

"Well, here's what my guards reported this morning," Bonfire replied. He floated a scroll out between himself and Reveille. "About 0200 last night, a pair of the unicorn gate guards reported feeling something strange in the magic flow near the southeast gate. Numbskulls didn't investigate it. 0230, one of the armorers reported being woken up by somepony knocking over a rack of armor in the repair shop, but they didn't see who had done it. 0245, aerial guards spotted your colt, decked out all in black, trying to make it back to the gate. Had a damaged unicorn helm in his saddlebags."

Bonfire rerolled the scroll. "Whatever this kid did, he's good. Nopony has gotten that close to stealing a helm in years. Seems he got over-confident at the end and got caught though. I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet, but if he found some hole in our security, I need to know about it yesterday."

[Imagination]

Reveille probably would've been proud if the recruit hadn't been clumsy in the armory and careless outside.

"Sounds like something out of a bad V Order story, though I'm sure we can get all the details from him when we see him."

So it began with some strange magic... Likely how he got in in the first place, but what did he use? He didn't know every single Recruit in the depot, as he usually only interacted with the ones that screw up when he's around. Otherwise it falls upon his other instructors to interact with their respective Recruits. That said, he didn't know about the magical ability of the one that was caught.

It took him a half hour later to get to the armory, so he either took his time and was careful up until that point, or he had to search for it. Either way, it seemed his first blunder was knocking over that armor. Speaking of which, Sergeant Bonfire had said the Recruit had a damaged helmet on him. "So he dinged up the helm... He break anything else?" Of course broken equipment was going to cost somepony some bits. Sure as heck wasn't going to be Reveille though.

[Corsair]

Bonfire quickly rolled through the scroll again, looking more closely at the details. "Actually, looks like the helm was damaged before he got there. Whole suit was in for repairs from somepony ELSE being stupid," he clarified. "Anyway, Master Sergeant, if you'll come with me, I'll take you down to the holding cells."

Bonfire led the way to a secluded door at the base of one of the palace's towers. Inside, a staircase spiraled up and down from the entrance. Taking the downward path, the pair descended for a couple of flights before reaching the guard station. Bonfire nodded a greeting to the guard on duty there, and moved toward a wooden door with a barred window. The unicorn paused then, turning back to the earth pony. "Just as a warning, the cells down here are shielded against magic, so it might feel a little... odd, even to an earth pony."

Bonfire pushed open the door and walked past the invisible barrier. He instantly felt like he'd been dowsed with ice water, like his internal 'flame' had gone out. He hated it down here, and it did nothing to improve his mood. The recruit was a unicorn too, and he'd been down here for a few hours at least. Between two NCOs and being cut off from his magic, this kid ought to talk rather easily...

[Imagination]

At least the recruit didn't break the armor, then. That's something.

The barrier didn't give him much of a chilling feeling as Sergeant Bonfire got, though he did feel a little bit of a numbing sensation. Oh well, it was a dungeon. Not supposed to be comfortable. But at last they reached the cell of the unfortunate recruit, a dark yellow unicorn with a similarly colored mane and a pocketwatch cutie mark, was sitting in the corner and trying to doze off. Of course, Reveille wasn't going to have any of that. Removing his hat, the SDI rapped the REA badge attached to it against the bars rather hard, making several distinct 'ping' sounds. "Rise and shine, sweetheart!" he shouted, his voice carrying through the whole dungeon. The recruit jerked to consciousness, and was immediately trembling at the sight of the Master Sergeant. "You have a lot of nerve leaving MY depot without MY say-so! You think you're miserable now, just wait till I get my forsaken hooves on your hide! What's your name, scumbag?!"

"M-My nam-" "WROOOONG! You are wrong! You think just because you're behind some bars that you don't have to address your Senior Drill properly?!"

"Sir, this Recruit's name is Private Tick, Sir!"

"Well you sure as Tartarus are sucking valuable time away from us like a tick, aren't you?! You think Sergeant Bonfire has nothing better to do than deal with some moron trying to steal his equipment?!"

Edited April 20, 2012 by Imagination

[Corsair]

Bonfire, who had been standing back a bit, moved forward so the recruit could see him in his full Guard armor. The armor itself was difficult to maintain, impractical, and would be only the barest minimum of protection in an actual fight, but it did command attention.

"Private, do you know what you've done here?" Bonfire asked him in a low voice.

Tick looked back, his eyes getting even wider, if that was possible. "Sir! This Recruit..."

Bonfire cut off the colt's explanation, but maintained his low, calm tone of voice. "You've broken the security of the Royal Palace. You've indirectly put our Princesses in danger by bypassing that security. You've put your own career in jeopardy for a foalish legend. But mostly, you've made highly-trained Royal Guardsponys look like idiots. When the Guards under me look like idiots, it makes me look like an idiot." Now Bonfire let some of his anger creep into his voice. "I do NOT like being made to look STUPID Private."

Bonfire leaned forward toward the bars and into Tick's face. Then he really let him have it. "Do I look stupid to you, Private!?" he roared. "Do you think you can make me into a joke? Because I am NOT laughing!"

[Imagination]

Reveille went off of what the Sergeant had said, continuing the relentless verbal bombardment. "What if some nutball just mimiced what you did and got in? What if anypony had made it to the Princesses?!"

He ceased his shouting to list off some things, tapping his hoof as he went through the items. "Absent Without Leave, Tresspassing, Theft, Endangerment of Royalty..." each charge seemed to distress the recruit more and more as the Senior Drill Instructor listed them off. Of course the Instructor knew the recruit likely wouldn't be charged with any of them... Though the rest of his time at boot was going to be hell on wheels.

"You know what? I should just leave you in here to rot. I'm sure Sergeant Bonfire wouldn't object, seeing as you made a laughing stock of his guards!" Again, not likely. Nopony was laughing at anypony... Well except the couple of dungeon guards snickering at the door. This incident hadn't, and hopefully wouldn't, become public knowledge yet.

[Corsair]

"You know what? I should just leave you in here to rot. I'm sure Sergeant Bonfire wouldn't object, seeing as you made a laughing stock of his guards!"

Bonfire nodded towards the senior NCO. "Oh, definitely, Master Sergeant," he said, in a slightly oily voice. "I think Private Tick should stay for a while. I'm sure Captain Shining Armor would love to meet him. You might have heard of him, Private? Head of Palace security? Married to a Princess? Blasted an ENTIRE ARMY of changelings out of Canterlot?"

Captain Shining Armor was nearly legendary among the young recruits now, particularly the unicorns, after repelling the changeling attack. Yes, it had been he and Princess Cadance together who had cast the shield bubble, but it couldn't hurt to inflate his reputation with this colt.

Things had been tense in the Guard since the changeling attack. Security had remained at a heightened level, even after the shield had gone back up and the wedding had completed. That Tick had chosen now to try to infiltrate the palace didn't make him seem all that bright to Bonfire, but the colt had succeeded, somehow.

Bonfire turned back to the private, the grin slipping off his face once again. "Unless, Private," he growled at the colt, "You tell us, right here and now, how the HAY you got into my palace without being seen by ANYPONY!"

[Dio]

It took practice to put on a service uniform. Jacket pressed. Collar starched. Tie neat. Rank boards straight. Name tapes and ribbons clean and proper. Shining Armor had had plenty of practice throughout the years, first in ROTC, then in the Canterlot garrison as a lieutenant. His promotion to captain meant he spent even more time in service uniform than ever before. The maintenance and donning of the uniform had finally transcended the level of “chore” and become akin to “arcane ritual.”

On the outside it looked to be nothing more than a suit with the military trappings of rank badges and name tapes. But the jacket, collar, garrison cap, and tie was no mere suit, it was the representation of Her Solar Majesty’s blessing upon her armed forces and a badge of honor for all who wore it. Thus, if ever a pony was to disgrace that uniform, there would be grave consequences.

And so it was that Shining Armor came trotting down the cold stone steps to the garrison’s dungeon, an adjutant’s messenger saddlebag slung across his back and a Guard report floating in front of him, bathed in the violet glow of his magic. Disgrace the uniform in deed. The captain furrowed his brow as he read. This particular guardspony had caused quite a stir at the garrison with his massive breach of security, especially with the recent Changeling incident...

Shining Armor shuddered at the thought. The medics said he’d be fine. His wife said he’d be fine. But it was still an ordeal that was not so easy to walk off. The captain shook his head to clear his thoughts, adjusting the garrison cap on his head as he walked. He’d have deal with that later. There were more pressing issues right now.

"You know what? I should just leave you in here to rot. I'm sure Sergeant Bonfire wouldn't object, seeing as you made a laughing stock of his guards!" a voice barked, a drill instructor’s sharpness immediately apparent.

"Oh, definitely, Master Sergeant," another voice echoed through the stone corridor in response. "I think Private Tick should stay for a while. I'm sure Captain Shining Armor would love to meet him. You might have heard of him, Private? Head of Palace security? Married to a Princess? Blasted an ENTIRE ARMY of changelings out of Canterlot?"

Shining Armor couldn’t help but smirk at the embellishment. NCOs, always playing up the officers to be messengers of the gods and the like. Cadence still teased him about the poster boy prank back in his 2LT days and the whole “Hero of Canterlot” business wasn’t exactly helping him stay low key. The captain tucked the report back into his saddlebag, suppressing a shudder as he crossed the arcane wards in the holding area, colloquially known as “the cooler.”

"Unless, Private," the sergeant continued, "You tell us, right here and now, how the HAY you got into my palace without being seen by ANYPONY!"

“Yes, please enlighten us,” Shining Armor chimed in, slipping out of the shadows behind both NCOs. “I’m sure this will be an excellent story...”

[Imagination]

Reveille almost flinched as the Captain in question appeared behind them, falling silent so Private Tick could tell his story.

The Private was already shaking in his cell from the bombardment of the NCOs, but now with such a living legend added to the mix, he seemed about ready to pass out. Thankfully he didn't though. Something about Shining Armor's presence made him collect himself, if only a little, as if his tale was a privilege to tell for the hero Captain.

"Well, Sir, I-I have a way with clocks... I hid in some bushes by the gate and used my magic at change the time on the clock in the guard booth. When the guard saw the false time, he must've thought his shift was over and wandered away long enough for me to slip through... F-From there it was just a matter of timing the patrols right..."

Reveille didn't seem at all happy with the story. "And I'm supposed to believe some maggot is that clever? Guards are not to leave their post unless properly relieved. There had to be something else!" He growled at the recruit, who just recoiled again, looking to the Captain "I-I-I don't know! I changed the time to three hours later and when the guard saw it he wandered off! I dunno what he was doing!"

The Drill Instructor sighed, stepping aside for the Captain and standing tall. "What do you think, Sir?"

Edited May 18, 2012 by Imagination

[Corsair]

“Yes, please enlighten us, I’m sure this will be an excellent story...”

Bonfire turned at the sound of the captain's voice and snapped a salute. He wasn't really surprised to see Shining Armor down here, considering the nature of the breach, but his timing could not have been better. "Good morning, sir," Bonfire said to the officer. "You've seen the reports I assume?"

Dropping the salute, Bonfire moved back a step and gestured toward the earth pony next to him. "Captain, Master Sergeant Reveille. Master Sergeant, Captain Shining Armor," he said to both of them by way of introduction. He then focused on the pony in the cell. "And this is Private Tick. Private Tick was about to tell us a story, weren't you, Private?"

"Well, Sir, I-I have a way with clocks..."

Tick's story did not do anything to improve Bonfire's mood. If all it took to draw a guard pony away from his post was a fake time on a clock, he was going to have to knock some golden-helmed heads together. "If those idiots are leaving their posts without being relieved..." he grumbled to himself. He felt sure his pelt would be smoking a bit if not for his lack of magic.

Bonfire put a clamp on his temper and addressed the officer. "Sir, if the Private is telling the truth, then I've got some serious questions for the guards on duty last night..."

[Dio]

“As you were, Sergeant Bonfire,” Shining Armor said, returning the salute and also issuing one to Reveille before nodding in acknowledgement. “Same to you, Master Sergeant Reveille.”

"Well, Sir, I-I have a way with clocks..."

Private Tick’s story was intriguing enough, but there was plenty that didn’t add up. As Master Sergeant Reveille had pointed out, Guards were not supposed to leave their posts until properly relieved by the next watch shift. There was something missing from the story, and Shining Armor was intent on finding out what it was.

“So let me get this straight, private,” the captain said nonchalantly, floating his report folio out of his saddlebags and in front of him. “You’re telling me you managed to bypass the palace perimeter, evade every arcane sensor in the Southwest Colonnade of the palace proper, and make it to the colonnade armorer’s stable because of a trick with the clockwork?”

They were already two NCOs playing bad watch commander and Tick probably didn’t need a third. The kid looked terrified as it was, and if he had found a security gap in the palace perimeter, the last thing Shining Armor needed was for him to clam up or start blathering nonsense in the hopes of stopping the onslaught of questions. The captain furrowed his brow as he rethought his methods.

“That takes cojones, kid,” he finally said, his tone softer than that of the NCOs. “Guts. A bit of luck, and a lot of crazy. I’m almost impressed. But like the sergeant said, something here doesn’t quite add up. Guards don’t leave their posts until relieved, even with the time swap. From what you’re telling me, they were never relieved. Is there something else I need to know?”

[Imagination]

Reveille was glad to have the Captain on this as well. Could get them the results they want faster, especially since the Private seemed to respect him a great deal.

At the Captain's words, Private Tick shifted a bit, idling kicking dirt around on the cell floor. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but he kept giving the two NCOs a cautionary glance. "Well... Sir... I-I..." The Master Sergeant hated having time wasted, and he felt the Recruit was stalling. But, with respect for what the Captain was trying to do with the whole 'good guy, bad guy' thing, he kept his muzzle shut. The building anger was ever evident though, still having a visual effect for Tick. "I-I may have had some... some inside help" he said at last. Reveille lost it, despite himself. "WHAT?!?! First you try to pan your story off to guard incompetence, and NOW you're trying to tell me that a guard was a DIRECT cause of a major security breech?!"

Of course this assault was probably going to continue unless he was stopped. Though what the Master Sergeant was really trying to accomplish was setting up a "Saved by the Captain" move for Shining Armor, the act of "saving the private from the raging drill instructor" likely giving Shining more favor from Tick, and likely getting more useful information out of him.

"Who was it then, huh?! A special friend on the night watch? I happen to know night watch ponies quite well, you think that makes us buddies now?! How'd you get past them sensors? I'll bet you have the entire Castle schematic in your footlocker, don't you?!"

"Sir no Sir!"

"You're a liar, Tick! I'm gonna tear that footlocker up so bad I won't even know where to find your trash! You been planning this awhile, son? Do you LIKE breaking into the palace? I bet this is a regular thing for you! Like a little Sunday outing with the guys, isn't it?!"

"Sir no Sir!"

"What's the deal with you, anyway, breaking into the palace? Are you trying to get to our beloved Princess, huh? Are you an assassin, boy?!"

And so on and so forth. Of course Bonfire was more than happy to join in, seeing as this was probably going to be more his problem than Reveille's.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Imagination

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Normally, Princess Luna was a deep sleeper. She had to be, seeing as most activity went on during the day, and there could often times be a lot of noise outside in the hall or, well, just outside in Canterlot. Even if there was a festival happening in the street outside her balcony, Luna could sleep through it. Canterlot was a large city, and during the day there was a constant stream of activity.

Of course, this had recently proven to be a bit of a problem. She'd entirely missed an invasion of Canterlot, been totally oblivious to it during her slumber. Luna had been absolutely appalled when Celestia explained the events to her later. She was flabbergasted that she could seriously sleep through such a major event, and she felt awful for not coming to her sister's aid.

So lately, she hadn't been sleeping well, more often than not dozing during the night when nothing was likely to happen. After all, she'd been on watch during the threat on Canterlot, but had completely missed the danger that she and Celestia had been trying to prepare for. Luna was starting to realize how Celestia must have felt for a thousand years, having to guard Equestria almost constantly.

And during a time when she was actually comfortable getting at least a few hours of sleep, she had been awakened by repeatedly loud voices from somewhere in the castle. At first, she tried to dismiss it, turning over with an irritated sigh and trying to fall back asleep. But the shouting continued, and with an angry snort she was out of bed.

Things echoed and carried through the castle like you wouldn't believe. There were often miniscule cracks littering the stone work, which wasn't a danger to the foundation of the castle, but still made hearing someone above or below that much louder. Plus, the castle naturally amplified anypony's voice a bit when they spoke, a purposeful design for spreading news around as quickly as possible when there were pressing matters. It maximized the space that one pony could be from another to hear them, so less time was wasted running closer or repeating things.

There was also a change in the aether, and that normally didn't bode well. Though chances were Celestia felt it too, it wouldn't hurt for Luna to check it out either. In any case, she was already awake, and was going to find the source of the yelling and reason for such raised voices.

As she exited her room, the guard's stood at attention. It looked as though they had both been lounging, probably not expecting her to be awake at all. Even though she had been awake during the day as of late, she still mostly kept to herself, reading or drawing or writing. She didn't want to worry Celestia just for her sake.

Luna's keen ears picked up the direction of the voices, which wasn't very difficult considering the volume. She couldn't recognize any of them, though that wasn't surprising considering how many ponies she hadn't met—including a lot of the palace staff.

She noted that the almost steady stream of voices came from somewhere inside one of the castle's towers. Well, that would explain it. Towers were generally compact, and carried noise fantastically up and down the walls in echos. She opened the door to reveal a spiraling staircase. She was getting quite close now, as the voices—all male, it seemed—reverberated up the stairs.

Still quite put out, she made her way quickly down the stairs as fast as she dared so she wouldn't trip herself. Luna acknowledged the guard briefly with a nod, though her eyes betrayed her irritation. She flung open the door and saw the three stallions just a little ways off. She didn't take the time to register who they were, although she knew Shining Armor quite well and had met Bonfire at least once before.

“WHAT IN EQUESTRIA IS GOING—“ The sentence caught in her throat as she stepped through the magical barrier, unaware of its presence.

There was a sound in her ears like a dozen marbles scraping against each other. She felt zaps of little electric shocks roll over her body in a wave. Her mane, normally levitated by her relationship with the aether, fell down around her shoulders and almost to the floor. Nearly half her tail now rested upon the cold stone as well. She felt warm and cold at the same time, flashes of each overlapping across her body. She felt a bit nauseous, even, and not at all normal.

Luna stood stock still in shock. She'd gone completely stiff when she hit the other side, her eyes going wide as the unnatural feeling hit her like a ton of bricks. Her mouth hung open just slightly where she'd stopped speaking. Indeed, not an inch of her moved. All four feet were planted firmly on the ground, and to an observer she may have been mistaken for a statue. She was completely frozen in place, her mind still trying to catch up with her body and process what in Equestria had just occurred.

[Corsair]

Bonfire had to suppress a smile at the grilling that Reveille was giving the recruit. The situation was serious, and this colt obviously knew something he wasn't saying, but Reveille's skill with words was allowing him to reduce Private Tick to jelly.

Taking an opening, Bonfire jumped in. "Even if you don't tell us, Private, we will find out. If you're lucky, you AND your accomplice will given dishonorable discharges and thrown out on your flanks," He growled. "If you're not so lucky, you'll get to know the inside of that cell very well." Really, he knew both of those punishments would be extreme, but the colt didn't know that. He put a small smile on his lips. "Unless you tell us now, that is..."

“WHAT IN EQUESTRIA IS GOING—“

Bonfire winced as the Royal Canterlot Voice boomed through the enclosed dungeon. He looked up in shock to see Princess Luna crossing the anti-magic barrier. What the hay was SHE doing here?? Luna would normally be sound asleep at this time of day. Bonfire knew; he still had a few hoof-picked guards keeping a eye on her comings and goings.

The Princess seemed to have been rather shocked as even her magic was dampened by the shields around the dungeon. Her normally ethereal mane and tail had fallen and become normal-appearing hair. Bonfire quickly made a mental note that the shield seemed to effect the Princess just like it would affect a unicorn; it was one thing they could use against her if she turned on Celestia again.

Quickly recalling his duty, Bonfire snapped to attention, but bowed his head. "Your Highness, we're sorry if we disturbed your sleep," he mouthed.

[Dio]

Shining Armor scrunched his nose, nonplussed at the sudden intrusion. Who had the audacity to barge into the dungeon yelling and screaming? Who would even come DOWN to the dungeon without a set of cuffs on them or a military uniform? The captain whirled around, expecting brass or some self-righteous adjutant. Obviously, this was not what he got.

“Princess Luna!” Shining Armor blurted, hastily snapping off a salute before he realized what was happening.

To say that Luna was in an awkward position would have been an understatement. Her jaw slack, her mane droopy and unkempt, and her pupils pinpoints in shock, she was the very image of something decidedly unprincesslike. She was not taking to the dampening field well at all. The boisterous cadet in Shining Armor would have been rolling on the floor laughing, but the army officer in him reined in the potential faux pas. This was the princess!

“Are you all right, your majesty?” the captain said, cautiously trotting up to her.

[Imagination]

Reveille had done likewise as the Captain, quickly snapping a salute once the Princess' mighty voice announced her presence.

Though upon seeing her negative reaction to being in the dampening field... Well, he was thankful he wasn't a unicorn. While the others went to her aid, he just shot a glare to the recruit in the cell. "Don't go anywhere" he told him sternly. Obviously a joke, but probably more for himself than for Tick.

That all said and done, he joined the others in checking up on the Princess. It was likely he who woke her up in the first place, but hey, that's his thing. He yells at recruits. Then again that wasn't what defined him as a Drill Instructor... at least he didn't think it was. It was probably the most memorable thing for recruits. Bonfire had already voiced an apology, and the Captain had asked the Princess if she was alright... So everything that was there to be said by Reveille had been said already. He stood by Bonfire and kept an eye on Luna, and he would certainly speak if spoken to.

Of course, he just hoped she only came down here to tell them to shut their gobs, and not for anything formal and time-consuming. They still had work to do! Then again, being the Princess of the Night and all that, perhaps she could be of assistance, since this pony that assisted Tick was a part of the Night Watch. With that in mind, he spoke up anyway. "I apologize for the noise, your majesty, though we're attempting to gather information on a security breech last night in the palace..." Hey, why not let her know? May as well keep her in-the-know if she was going to help... IF she was going to help.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

She must not have breathed for a full minute before her mind caught up with her. She finally took in a breath, as a shudder ran through her body. She felt... light, if that was the correct word to describe it. As if she woke up one day and was missing a limb, and she could feel it wasn't there but was overall fine without it, but knowing that missing one limb wasn't normal.

Luna took a deep, irritated breath, trying to compose herself. “Before I tell you why the hay I'm down here, it would be greatly appreciated if somepony explained WHAT JUST HAPPENED TO ME?!” Part of her anger probably just stemmed from being grumpy and woken up from the few hours of sleep that she had finally allowed herself. But without her magic, she also felt quite disconnected and out of sorts.

But still, she should remain calm. She was still a princess, and had to maintain control of herself and the situation. She was already feeling stressed and strained, which was increased when her magic was sucked away from her. It really was unnatural for her to be without it, and this was probably the first time in her life she'd been completely relieved of it.

[Corsair]

Bonfire watched as Shining Armor went to check on the obviously shocked Princess. After taking a moment to catch her breath, the Princess' voice once again filled the underground chamber. Bonfire's ears laid back involuntarily from the sheer volume of her question.

"Your Highness," he answered, "These are the palace's holding cells. Ponies who have broken the law in the city are held here for trial. There is a field in place to prevent unicorns from using magic while they are in custody. I don't understand the spell myself," he continued, "but the Captain and I are affected as well." He shivered a bit at that. He knew that this area was not any colder than the space outside the door, but it was hard to convince his body of that.

Bonfire gestured toward the unicorn in the cell with his head. "This recruit somehow sneaked through the palace's security last night. We were attempting to question him before your arrival, Princess." Bonfire was perfectly polite to Luna, but he thought to himself 'Now if you'd just go away, we could continue...'

[Dio]

Shining Armor winced, suppressing the urge to backpedal as the Princess addressed the company at full volume once again, paying no attention to his proximity. His momentary lapse in concentration resulted in the pages of the report spilling out of his folio and scattering about the room, borne on the sheer force of Luna’s pronouncements. The captain snuck a quick glance at the mug shot of Private Tick that had stuck itself to Sergeant Bonfire’s horn, replacing his all-business face with a flat image of a nervous and terrified enlisted colt. It was all he could do to keep his inner cadet from laughing it up in front of two NCOs and the Princess. A quick clearing of his throat gave him enough time to regain his composure.

Shining Armor sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as the “snowfall” of papers finally settled upon the dungeon floor. The same dampening field that kept magically-inclined jailbirds in check also greatly inhibited his ability to do even basic manipulations like holding his papers. Were he down here more often, he might have requested a more selective solution from the artificers. But for the moment, the cooler was the cooler, and Private Tick’s file was 52 pickup.

"Your Highness," Bonfire said, "These are the palace's holding cells. Ponies who have broken the law in the city are held here for trial. There is a field in place to prevent unicorns from using magic while they are in custody. I don't understand the spell myself," he continued, "but the Captain and I are affected as well."

"What the sergeant says is correct, Princess. By the way, welcome to the 'Cooler!'" Shining Armor said, attempting to inject a bit of levity into the situation. Luna was a bit shaken perhaps, but she appeared unharmed and was in no way distressed. If she was in pain, Shining Armor was sure that she would have let them know by now. After all, she was the far more vocal and direct of the two royal sisters.

"We were just in the middle of conducting an investigation," he continued. "If it pleases her majesty, we would like to continue."

[Imagination]

"If everything's settled, your Majesty... Sir..." he dismissed himself from the Princess and the Captain to continue his work. Perhaps he could use the Princess for leverage anyway.

Going back to the cell, it seems Tick had been busying himself with cowering... and trying to be as presentable as a prisoner could. This was a Princess in the dungeon, after all! Clearing his throat, the Master Sergeant continued. "Now then, Private, are you going to be so despicable as to lie in the presence of one of our beloved Princess? One of those whom such a security breech could pose a very real danger to?!" Indeed! What if the breech wasn't some overly-ambitious recruit, but an assassin! Or a thief! Or a prankster, looking to die somepony's mane polka-dots!

"Who was it that let you in, Tick? Try and tell me another one about switching shifts!" If needed, Reveille could try and fill Luna in on what they had been told, about the situation in general (if she hadn't heard already), and their progress. The Sergeant was actually hoping the Princess may want to ask some questions of her own. But, even he knew too many bodies trying to get the same answer would only likely hinder progress. The three of them trying to yank something out of the recruit was probably pushing it as it were.

The shaken-up Private seemed very hesitant to say a word... Most likely his biggest concern was getting his cohort into some serious trouble. He already had a feeling his career was in jeopardy, though he didn't want to destroy somepony else's too!

[MyLittlePonyTales]

At this moment, she didn't really care to monitor her voice, or who she was frightening with her tone and demeanor. But she took a deep breath before she replied to Bonfire, in an effort to try to calm herself and to keep her volume in check. Things tended to echo down here, making her already loud voice that much more intense.

“I am aware of where we are, thank you very much.” she said curtly to the red Unicorn. “Although troublemakers are usually somepony else's business, so I have no idea how long such a shield has been in place.” she rolled her shoulders, still trying to get used to the empty and somewhat helpless feeling that was crawling through her body. Surely, she was taller than most ponies, and that would give her an edge in a physical battle, but it was also unsettling not to be able to 'feel' the ground beneath her hooves, or for her horn to fail to produce light in such a dim area, or for her wings even to not 'feel' the air.

“I see...” she surveyed all those present, still not comfortable with her situation. “And apparently, you had to do it as noisily as possible.” Her sarcasm and irritation with the Sargent were evident. But though she didn't show it on her face, the mention of a breach in security did not go unnoticed. For the moment, she remained unconcerned, until she could gather more information.

At Shining Armor's 'welcome', she shot him an unamused glance. There wasn't anything pleasant about being woken up, nor about lacking any kind of magic, nor now learning that the guard patrol was obviously less than perfect. Luna would have assumed security would be tighter after the attack, but apparently somepony had been slacking off.

She walked stiffly over to the white pony, her first few steps obviously shaky and more slow than usual. She listened, trying to understand the situation, and glaring at the already scared pony inside the cell. Well, at least she got a good look at the pony that her anger should be aimed at. He was the troublemaker, and the reason for any of them being down here at all.

“So let me get this straight.” she spoke to the pony beside her. “A guard in training managed to get past the actual guards?” she paused. “Tell me, does this shield work on Changelings too, or just ponies?” With all the recent activity, one couldn't be sure. She narrowed her eyes at the prisoner, sizing him up and appearing perhaps a bit more menacing than she meant to.

[Corsair]

[colour=#b22222]Bonfire turned his attention away from the irate princess. The Captain could calm her down. Heck, he was part of the Royal Family himself. Plus, the unicorn didn't trust himself not to laugh at the alicorn's discomfiture. He made a mental note to speak to the unicorns that maintained the barrier down here. He might not be able to do the spell himself, but he wanted to know as much as as could about a spell that could de-power Luna in this fashion if she returned to her old ways...[/colour]

[colour=#b22222]The Master Sergeant had already returned to the interrogation, trying to get Private Tick to reveal anypony that might have helped him get in. Bonfire really hoped that none of the ponies in the guard had actually helped this colt. It was one thing to chew out a guard for poor performance. It was quite another to have to bust them down in rank, or, Celestia forbid, dishonorably discharge them. [/colour]

[colour=#b22222]Bonfire was about to add a few choice words to Tick, when he heard the princess behind him.[/colour]

[colour=#000080]“Tell me, does this shield work on Changelings too, or just ponies?”[/colour]

[colour=#b22222]No... it couldn't be... could it? This scared colt couldn't be a changeling, could he? Bonfire had no idea whether the magic barrier would affect a changeling, but just the thought that one of those bugs had gotten into the palace grounds...[/colour]

[colour=#b22222]Bonfire slammed a hoof against the bars and moved his head in as close as he could, his eyes seeming to burn. "Is THAT what's going on here?! Are you a dirty changeling?!" he shouted. "If I find out you're one of those bugs, I'll throw you in a hole so deep you'll never see Celestia's sun again!!"[/colour]