BaronEngel
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🕑 Added 2018-10-10 20:17:58 +0000 UTC After drinking several quarts of water, many hours of sleep, half a tin of foalsmane, and several other pharmaceuticals including a foul tasting potion that Celestia given her sister, but Luna suspected it was just a bottle of ink. However the younger of the Royal Sisters felt like she might just survive in my Equestria dreamscape. Hangover The Princess of the Night had considered getting one of those new medical marvels a blood transfusion but decided against it.
Dinner was staying down which was good because as dessert was wrapping up one of Celestia's staff members came up and whispered in her ear. The Co-ruler of Equestria's face remained neutral but Luna noticed a slight twitch of her other ear. Whatever had been said was important. Her sister dismissed the staff member and then leaned over to her sister.
"Please finish your dessert promptly Lulu. We've got business to attend to in my office."
Luna nodded her head and finished the last of her fruit tart. With dinner completed Celestia rose from their table in the private dining hall and headed back to her office. Luna was surprised to see most of her sister's secretarial staff also arriving at their desks and removing their coats and panniers. Several appeared to have had other plans that had been cut short abruptly and there had been no time to change back into their regular work wardrobe. Most of them didn't look happy about this.
Waiting by the doors to Celestia's personal office was the night watch officer Gleaming Shield. The unicorn stallion bowed as the Royal Sisters approached. "Your Highness's. Sorry to have disrupted your evening plans, but I felt this required your immediate attention."
Celestia smiled. "We understand. Let us go into my office and discuss this."
The gaslights were already on when they entered. The curtains had been drawn and some pony had already set out a pot of green leaf tea along with carafe of coffee and selection sweet and savory biscuits. Also a ice bucket held a bottle of champagne and three glasses. As was typical of her in this type of setting Celestia played hostess.
"Gleaming Shield would you care for something to drink?" She looked at her sister. "My staff knows you're fond of champagne dear, but in light of last night I would understand if you decided to forego it this evening."
"I will have just one glass please." Said the younger sister.
In couple of minutes everypony had their beverages and refreshments. Celestia settled on to some cushions and took a sip of her coffee. Then she looked at night watch officer.
"So our sources say Blank Check has finally surfaced and she's going to try and get out Manehattan soon?"
The middle aged stallion set his cup of tea down. "Yes your Highness. We have reliable sources stating that she and her entourage plan to leave the city in the next 24 hours. We are trying to firm up where and how it will happen, but since she's the last critical piece in the investigation I knew you and your sister would want to know immediately."
Celestia was about to answer when True Note her senior secretary came trotting in bearing several clasp envelopes and a large ledger. "Here's the folders on the suspect your Highness, and here's a list of the available forces and resources in the area."
"Thank you True Note. Also you can get the timetables for all trains, steamships, and river boats leaving Manehattan in the next 48 hours please?"
"Of course your highness. I will get the staff on it right away. Do you want me to assemble a list of any airship and sky chariots services as well?"
"Yes. Please do that."
The unicorn mare repeated Celestia's orders and then left to fulfill them. Celestia looked at Gleaming Shield. "So how many are we expecting to be in Blank Check's entourage?"
The stallion consulted some notes he'd brought. "No fewer than 10, maybe up to 15 if our sources are correct."
Luna whistled. "Well that's most of her main team. That will be a dangerous group to apprehend if reports are correct."
Celestia was already flipping through Blank's dossier. "Yes but that also will make them a bit more visible. Also we have the advantage that Blank Check hates teleporting with a passion. She has serious side-effects from doing it. Which reduces the chance of them attempting a long-distance teleport out the city."
Luna was looking at the dossier for one of Blank Check's entourage. A unicorn mare named Flash Point. She finished reading it and whistled again. Then she levitated it back to the pile of them. "If the rest of them are as bad as her this will be one tough job!"
Gleaming Shield nodded his head. "Yes that's the problem. This group of individuals can take on the current Manehattan Police units with no problem. We might be able to overwhelm them with sheer numbers but we'll most likely take heavy casualties. Also we're not 100% certain of the loyalty of the units in the police force. Final evaluations and reviews are still ongoing for existing police force."
Luna was scanning another dossier. "How about military forces? What's in the area?"
The stallion flipped to a page in his notebook. "Nothing really suitable for this operation. The 93rd scouts from Appleloosa might have been suitable but they were sent home after the initial operation. They left Manehattan a couple of days ago. We couldn't get them turned around and back in time."
The Prussian Blue alicorn sighed. "Okay. Celly do you have any Mares-in-Waiting in the area that could apprehend them? How about sending Phoenix's team to take them into custody?"
The Princess of the Sun grinned. "Technically they still have another 36 hours before they come back into the rotation again. Phoenix would have recovered by then, but we don't have an airship available that can get them there in the next 24 hours. The Sky Dancer went down with a blown boiler yesterday. She won't be ready for another 72 hours."
Gleaming Shield grunted. "What about Half-Cock and her team?"
Celestia sighed and shook her head. "This would not be their optimal environment to operate in, and besides they left for an operation a week ago. They're already across Equestria's borders by now. This isn't Heartbreaker's type of op either. She's a fighter but not against these odds." The princess seemed to be weighing the odds of a choice in her mind. "Last Thing is in the Manehattan area...."
Luna cocked an eyebrow. She'd started reading another dossier "Do you think one pony could take them down?" Luna waggled the dossier with her levitation.
Celestia took a sip of her coffee and grinned impishly. "Oh it would be close thing. For the suspects that is. Blank Check might be the only survivor, but yes Last Thing could do it. However in light of the last operation when she pushed herself...."
"She was very unstable afterwards." Gleaming Shield looked rather uncertain at this idea.
The pale alicorn closed her eyes. "Yes. She'd need to be kept under close observation for awhile after the operation. She would have to stay here in the palace again until we were certain she was correctly synced, but Evening has been refining her anchor."
"What about teaming her up with some of the units already in Manehattan Police Force that we trust? They could act in support of her?" In spite of her insistence of just having one glass of it, Luna found herself refilling her own champagne flute again.
Her older sister grimaced. "Unfortunately Luna that's not really possible in Last Thing's case. You haven't seen her dossier before have you. As Celestia said this she levitated a folder with Crown Secret emblazoned in scarlet letters on it.
Luna took the folder and opened. For the next few minutes the mare was silent but she did make several odd facial expressions. Finally she set it down and looked up incredulously.
"Really Celly? Where in the hay do you find these mares?"
To be continued.
Comments
RECoyote
err Princess
RECoyote
As Mel Brooks would say "Its Good to be the King"
Generic Avatar
And stock up on said Zecora potions for future binge drinking.
Generic Avatar
"...including a foul tasting potion that Celestia given her sister"... Luna should have just gotten a sober me up potion from Zecora.
Baron Engel
She is and she's been the hardest one to write for.
Baron Engel
Almost all of Celestia's true Mares-in-Waiting are extraordinary individuals.
MishaFox
And Last Thing sounds stranger and stranger
MishaFox
Excellent question Luna!
Baron Engel
Stay tuned to find out.
ColdSilverD
Oh boy. You're making me really want to see Last Thing's abilities. Thinking it has to do with time and/or alternate dimensional sight. Synced can mean so many things, and we've seen hints at what she can do.
