Upheaval: Breaking Point

Chapter 34: Observations

Among the various divisions within the Equestrian Legion, none was the subject of more speculation than Special Operations. Whether it was their method of recruitment, the nature of the tasks given to them, the things they did to accomplish those tasks, or even the way they were organized, stories continued to promulgate. There were the old, persistent ones that had been around for centuries such as the one about Special Operations assassinating ponies who went against Prince Terrato's wishes or those about horrifying rituals that each aspiring member had to go through.

There were also more recent stories. The general opinion was that the blame for losing FangBreaker Fortress lay mostly upon their shoulders and that they had spies among the populace "removing" anypony spreading defeatist talk. It didn't help that a lot of ponies had disappeared recently.

For Vanguard Clash, Special Operations was a far cry from the entire sinister mystique that the rest of the Legion often accorded to it. They were ponies just like the rest of Prince Terrato's subjects. They had their role in the Legion and they were subject to both success and failure just like any division. Then there was the tedious task that Special Operations shared with its fellow divisions: paperwork.

In his small office within one of the many buildings now appropriated by the Legion, Vanguard sifted through the pile of papers before him before setting them on a neat pile by his desk. He had just finished sending a report about the section of the city he had been assigned to make a sweep of as well as the chosen he had been monitoring. For this morning, two days after Pyre Valor's attempt on Bastion City, he was going through recommendations.

Vanguard was well aware that he still needed a unicorn mage and an earth pony skirmisher for his squad. Both Magical and Infantry had sent him their recommendations. Special Operations was flexible enough to let him decide on who goes into his squad, but he was also reminded that the sooner he got it back at full strength, the better it would serve the Legion. He looked through the list of unicorn candidates and frowned. He respected the abilities of these legionnaires, but he also knew that Pyre would have plowed through them in single combat if she was still here.

'I have to stop comparing them to Pyre or the position will never be filled,' Vanguard reminded himself. His former vice-captain was both a gifted genius and a very driven pony. Such a combination was a rare thing indeed. The ones recommended by Magical had one or the other, but not both. He did know of such a unicorn however...he shook his head. He couldn't involve that pony.

The thought reminded him of another thing. As of the present, Scarlet Rabbit was his acting vice captain by virtue of being the only member of his squad. That didn't sit in too well with him. Scarlet was a reliable pony: fast, strong, and utterly fearless, but he didn't belong in any sort of leadership position. It was only acceptable now because there were no actual ponies taking orders from him. That left the position to his two potential new members. As he continued to study the candidates, the door to his office opened. He looked up to find his mother walking up to his desk. "Do you need something, Flight Captain?" he asked.

"Yes, I do," Tailwind replied. "I need to know how long you plan on keeping Scarlet Rabbit hanging around my flight."

"I've already explained his purpose there," Vanguard said.

"It's not his mission that's problematic, it's the manner he's going about it!" Tailwind thumped Vanguard's desk with a hoof for emphasis. "Tell him to watch subtly from afar instead of constantly fraternizing with Rainbow Dash!"

Vanguard frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Did he get her in trouble?"

"He introduced her to the fine art of boozing the other day," Tailwind said. "He was smart enough to make sure that she could show up for duty the following morning without falling over herself. Otherwise, I would have had to introduce her to the whipping post."

"It seems to me that Scarlet is showing some restraint for once. He's also offering her some camaraderie. Shouldn't that be a good thing for a chosen?"

"It would be coming from any pony besides Scarlet Rabbit," Tailwind retorted. "You should see for yourself as to how those two look at each other. Rainbow Dash sees a target, a pony she can chase in order to be the best. Scarlet…her potential's got him interested. You know that's bad news."

"You're the one who insisted that I bait Rainbow Dash into racing against him."

Tailwind's face twisted slightly, a sign of embarrassment as Vanguard had come to learn. "I underestimated her speed. I knew she was fast from what you said, but I didn't expect her to be fast enough to catch his eye. What's worse, I've underestimated that pride of hers."

"I'll tell him to keep his distance," Vanguard said with a sigh. "I can't reassign him. You've seen her speed. He's the only pegasus for the job."

"You'd better. I'm not excited about covering up another mess like the one with Overcast."

"Noted," Vanguard replied.. He returned to looking over the recommendations. When Tailwind didn't leave his office, he looked up at her.

"You still haven't picked replacements for your squad?" Tailwind asked.

"I've given it plenty of thought."

Tailwind looked over the papers from her side of the desk. "These are some good candidates," she said, "but I suggest you get Twilight Sparkle. I saw her spar yesterday. It's ridiculous how quickly she's improving."

"No," Vanguard answered. His response was so quick and vehement that Tailwind looked at him with concern.

"Why not?" Tailwind asked. "So she's only been in the Legion for less than a month. You can work with that. A month or two of action and she'll either be dead or one of our best legionnaires yet."

"She's out here because I listened to a stupid impulse. She's had to kill wolven, get whipped on my account, and get beaten up by Pyre Valor for a grudge she doesn't deserve. I'm not going to subject her to the things Special Operations gets up to." Vanguard's mind went back to the time he saw Twilight after her first battle and the conversation they had after that. That was just for killing wolven. For killing wolven, Twilight had lost something irreplaceable. Special Operations dealt with ponies and wolven. He didn't know if he could ever forgive himself if he let her lose more by joining Special Operations, whether his squad or somepony else's.

"Yet you took the time and effort to convince Owlsight to skip protocol and give her some of the advanced spell books. You can't have it both ways, Vanguard. You can't give her the tools for the job, then tell her she can't do the job." Tailwind raised an eyebrow. "Now that I've mentioned it, why did you go out of your way to help her out like that?"

Vanguard looked away. "She could use all the help when it comes to fighting wolven," he replied.

"So does every unicorn mage in the Legion," Tailwind retorted. "I don't see you tripping over yourself to help them."

"It sounds like you have the entire story plotted out in your head." Vanguard set aside the papers and focused on Tailwind. "Why don't you just tell me what you think?"

"You want to protect her from the worst of the fighting, but she bats her eyelashes at you and asks for more spells. What do you do? You hurry over and hand her what she wants. You've fallen for this mare, Vanguard, and she's got you running in two directions at once."

Vanguard sighed. Not this again. "You think I've fallen in love with her or you want me to fall in love with her?" he asked.

"Both," Tailwind said without so much as blinking. "Nothing wrong with me wanting my stupid son to settle down with a mare is there?"

"Your stupid son is settled down, mother. I have a lot to do and little enough time to do them without having to waste some chasing tails and grabbing flanks."

"Marrying your work isn't going to pop out any grandchildren for me. I'll be fine with any mare." Tailwind paused. "Except Nightcanter. I don't want that grimy nag for a daughter-in-law."

"Equestria will do just fine without more wolven-blooded foals running about."

"As if one-sixteenth would even mean anything!" Tailwind walked towards the door, but looked back one last time. "Whether it's love or recruitment, you'd better move fast with that one, Vanguard Clash. She's not going to be available forever."

"Good day, Flight Captain," Vanguard replied. As Tailwind opened the door to leave, another pony was just about to enter.

Nightcanter slid past Tailwind, ignoring the disapproving look from the older pony. "Vanguard, we've got them!" she said as soon as Tailwind had shut the door behind her. She lowered her tone as she continued. "Three rebel cells are meeting up tonight and we've managed to get the time and location."

"That's an unusually good bit of news."

"About time, I say. Time to hit these malcontents hard."

Vanguard looked over the candidates one more time. Ever since his squad had been reduced to just him and Scarlet, he had been working closely with Nightcanter's squad. "So when is it and what's the plan?" he asked.

"Tonight," Nightcanter answered. "We're working with Blaze Trotter's squad for an ambush."

"Good," Vanguard said. He wasn't a thrill seeker like Scarlet Rabbit, but the past couple of days had been uneventful and he was feeling restless. They had threats outside the city and threats within. Even a few hours of not dealing with either made him feel like he was wasting time. "We'll be ready by then."

As another day ended, Twilight Sparkle made her way back to her quarters at a steady, satisfied pace. Today had been routine: boulder catching, target practice, several sparring sessions with the senior unicorn mages, then a few hours of study. It seemed so strange that she could find some routine when the city was under attack. It was a siege, as Mage Captain Owlsight had reminded her, and the wolven were here for the long run.

Despite that routine, today had been beneficial. With each passing day, she was becoming more and more attuned to the magic of the Barrier Lands. Casting spells was becoming easier and she was able to lift more with her telekinesis. She had added a few more spells to her repertoire as well.

"Hey, Twilight!"

Spike's voice surprised Twilight. While Mage Captain Owlsight didn't want him around, Hammer Chain was glad to let him help out. "What are you doing out here, Spike?" she asked. "Shouldn't you be with Rarity?" She stopped briefly to allow Spike to climb on to her back before continuing.

"I thought I'd watch how you trained from afar," Spike answered. "I saw the sparring and stuff."

Twilight raised her head slightly. As modest as she wanted to be, she was a little proud of her accomplishments. Even the senior unicorn magi were impressed. Mage Captain Owlsight himself remarked on her mastery of multiple schools of magic, something few unicorns were capable of. "So how was it?" she asked.

"You were pretty scary back there, Twilight," Spike said. "Scary and violent. I thought that third pony who was fighting you had died!"

The feeling of satisfaction and pride disappeared. "I did push a little too hard with him," Twilight said. "But he was fine! He said so himself. And there's no need to be scared of me, Spike. I'd never hurt you or any of my friends."

"You're right," Spike replied.

Although Spike's mouth had agreed with her, but it disturbed Twilight to notice that rest of him didn't follow suit. Though he said nothing else, she felt the need to defend herself further.

"The sparring is necessary," she said. "It lets us sharpen our skills without being thrown into actual combat and all its risks. It looks dangerous, but it's all controlled."

"It may be 'necessary', Twilight," Spike replied. "But necessary doesn't mean you have to be so in to it. I heard the other unicorns say that you've been sparring almost non-stop ever since you came back that day with your face all swollen up! It's like all you've been thinking about these days is how to beat up ponies and wolven!"

Frowning, Twilight looked back to the last couple of days. Everything seemed to be a blur of activity. When Nightcanter defeated her with a simple illusion, she delved into methods of countering that: noticing when a pony had turned invisible, telling a false image from the real thing, and purging invisibility. Each time she thought she had her bases covered, another method of attack came to mind. Each spar brought more insights which had her searching for more and more means to improve herself. It wasn't just a wide range of spells she needed. There were so many little things she had learned to be mindful of: noticing spell casting in the heat of battle, dodging, timing, feinting, noticing feints…it was all so much to take in. She had a long way to go before being able to hold her own against the strongest spell casters of the Barrier Lands and she refused to believe that Spike was right about her obsessing about this.

"I've been thinking of other stuff too," Twilight muttered.

"Like what?" Spike asked. A few ponies walked past them in a hurry. With evening settling in, the streets were quickly becoming deserted. It seemed that, ever since the incident with Pyre Valor, civilian ponies were becoming afraid to come out at night. They feared clashes between the Legion and infiltrating enemies.

"Well…I have been meaning to write a friendship report of sorts," Twilight said. That wasn't quite true. It had been simmering in the back of her mind for some time now, but she never really managed to focus on it. Still, it would mollify Spike for now.

"A friendship report?" Spike asked. "Why? I mean how would you even send it? And what for? We're not exactly learning about friendship out here."

"That's where you're wrong, Spike. We're always learning about friendship whether in the Barrier Lands or the Heartland."

"And what's this friendship report about?"

"It's not really a report. More of a…friendship thesis, if you will. I want to show Princess Celestia that ponies can still be ponies even out here in the Barrier Lands. I'll worry about how to send it later. If I can prove that harmony is stronger than any violence or bitterness that fighting fosters, she'll see that there's no need to keep up this division."

Spike looked at Twilight. A small measure of relief crossed his face. Just a small one. "I hope it is," he said muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight snapped.

"N-nothing!" Spike backpedaled. "S-so...uh, how are you going to go about this friendship thesis?" he asked. "Can I help?"

Faced with Spike's questioning, Twilight was briefly at a loss. The idea had been sitting in the back of her mind, but it was half-baked at best. Maybe not even that. Discussing it with Spike, however, did seem a good idea. "I'll start with observation." she replied. "I'll gather as much proof as I can, then present the best of them with my arguments in an agreeable manner, just like the princess taught me."

"I can help with the observing part," Spike said. He brightened at the idea. "So who have you been watching so far?"

Twilight stopped. This was bad. She had to come up with an answer before Spike found out that she hadn't even started anything. Her mind latched on to the first Barrier Lands pony that came to mind. "Vanguard Clash," she answered.

A few moments of silence passed between the two of them. "Vanguard Clash, huh?" Spike asked. His tone was more than enough to put Twilight on the defensive, albeit for a different reason.

"What?" Twilight asked. "What's wrong with Vanguard?"

"So you've been spending your time between beating up ponies and staring at Vanguard?"

"I don't stare at him! Besides, this is for research!" The wheels began to turn within Twilight's head. Though she had answered out of impulse, ideas came naturally when her mind grasped the concept. "I mean, he's perfect as an example! Princess Celestia is afraid that the ponies of the Legion are becoming more and more like wolven. Vanguard actually has wolven blood, but I can honestly say that he is as true a pony as any of our friends back in the Heartland. If a pony with an actual wolven lineage can be a true pony by Princess Celestia's standards, any pony from the Barrier Lands can be too."

"How'd you figure that?"

"Well, he's honest even if it means he's going get hanged, he's loyal to Prince Terrato and the Legion as well as his friends, he showed all of us kindness when we all arrived in this place for the first time and he's generous enough so that he shared his food with me and paid for our stuff."

"You missed Joy."

"What?"

"You've got Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness and Generosity. You're missing Joy and Magic."

"Oh, uh…he smiles often? It's not exactly fits of laughter, but he knows how to take joy in things whenever he can. He's just not the sort of pony who bursts into fits. The magic of friendship is what binds these things together and he's able to befriend others."

"That joy part comes off a little weak, Twilight," Spike said. As he said so, both of them noticed that they were already by their quarters. He dismounted and walked ahead. "So does that mean you're going to observe other ponies now or are you going to continue 'observing' Vanguard? Maybe try to get him to smile some more?"

The snicker that followed the question put a slight frown on Twilight's face. "Spike!" she chided him.

Spike raised his hands in mock surrender before opening the door. It seemed that they were the first to make it back. "I'm glad that you're doing other things besides getting better at fighting, Twilight," he said. "Now, I'm really hoping there's something that can be done with my dragon fire so it can send messages again and..."

Fire. The mention of the word burned out the pleasant mood Twilight found herself settling into. She remembered the burns that still hurt around her underside and the mild pain still all over her face. Pyre Valor's enraged face loomed in her mind. Not every pony was going to be a good example. Some ponies out here were just cruel, prejudiced, violent, treacherous, hateful…

"Uh…Twilight?" Spike stepped back. Fear marred his expression. Twilight found it a little disturbing. Why was Spike acting as if she was an angry word away from attacking him? Had he forgotten that they were practically family?

Twilight forced a smile and headed over to her desk. "Sorry about that, Spike. I think I'll hit the books some more before resting." She opened one book on a spell that had grabbed her attention earlier.

Spike nodded silently, then sat as far away as possible from Twilight. She barely noticed this, however, so engrossed was she in learning even more.