Orpheus and Josephine quickly amassed most of their magic, going from near silence and lazily moving orbs to making a noise like an air-raid siren with hurriedly moving orbs, and they continued to build. After passing through the higher stage of their magic, they went into the Chaos stage, sparks of electricity, the same colour as their coats, randomly leaping from their horns into the night air.

When the magic levels were sufficient, they two Herculeans then target Sholmes, who, after a brief burst of bright light, is covered in a dimmer plaid light. All present, from the dark hearts of Linford and Co, to the softer hearts of the Ponyville residents, were filled with a feeling of well-being, hope, and happiness. A crowd gathered, most of them from the festival but some from that district of Wipers, arrived to watch the spectacle.

"They've gone to plaid." said Jack, getting a temporary promotion to Captain Obvious.

"Oh really, now?" quipped Johnny.

After a few minutes, Orpheus and Josephine slowly began to decrease their magic, the plaid light covering Herlock dimming and loosing its colour as they did so. When their magic finally stoped, Herlock had been transformed into a Herculean. He was much larger than before, and sporting a new horn and two pairs of wings, the much smaller pair near his rump, like the other Herculeans. His cutie mark, a deerstalker cap and pipe, remained unchanged, but had shifted slightly to make room for another.

"Where...where did all this knowledge come from?" asked Herlock.

"Destry. He used to be the investigative Herculean, before he died." replied Josephine.

Twilight quietly noted that this conversion took longer and obviously required more powerful magic to complete than her conversion into an Alicorn. She correctly reasoned that she wouldn't even come close to performing anything like that, even with the help of Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. Orpheus took this opportunity to mention to Sholmes that he has a lot to learn about being a Herculean, while Josephine put the two young Herculeans under her protection and care. She then began to sing something in Latin.

When she finished, Orpheus lamented on how close Destry came to seeing the new Herculeans, reminding Herlock that his power had been bought at the price of another's life. Josephine approached Twilight, recognising her as the alicorn princess Orpheus mentioned several months ago, along with the mention of an assassin.

"This is not something you will want to forget in a hurry, Princess Twilight Sparkle, as it will be a long time, if at all, that a Herculean is created in the same ways that you witnessed tonight." stated the elderly Herculean.

"I've got a question: how did Bailey and Hester come into being?" asked Twilight.

"Through immense amounts of raw magic being compressed into a small space. We have no idea what causes this, but it is absolutely lethal for anypony to be be near one of these compressions when they occur."

"So you're mainly magic, then?"

"73 percent, to be precise. To put that into perspective, unicorns are only 17 percent, and alicorns are 52 percent. Pegasi and earth ponies are less than 12 percent."

Josephine walked off, the red cross on her flank well deserved.

Oz quietly made a comment to Jack

"Orpheus will be getting married to Josephine next summer" said the manservant.

"It took them long enough. Even in the base 36 I count in, the number of years they took to come to a decision still looks big." replied the sergeant.

In that month's Ypres Times, an article appeared, titled "Orpheus and Josephine go to Plaid", written by "A Foreign Johnny". It was satirical in nature, detailing a diplomatic visit by Orpheus and Josephine to the Land of Plaid, the inhabitants of which were very skilled at investigation. Any hostile animals were dealt with by Orpheus on a lyre.

The following afternoon, the entire naval might of Myrynion, consisting of a submarine, a destroyer, an aircraft carrier, a battleship, and a supply vessel, encountered a small incident along the coast, near the port of Menin.

"Unidentified vessels on attack vector, this is the Calder, please adjust course or be fired upon." ordered the captain of the battleship, Chesney 'Ugly Mug' Perry, over the radio.

He received no response. However, the hostile vessels started playing absolutely dreadful music at the Myrynion vessels.

"Is that how, and what, they want to play? Put some jazz on the loudspeakers. And commence firing the cannons." said Perry.

His crew responded willingly, and this was quickly done, the jazz rivalling the horrid music in a way not dissimilar to an organised military rivalling a lone pony with a javelin, that is to say, wiping the floor with horrid music. The hostile vessels began to retreat, now knowing that attempting to play that sort of music to the Myrynion navy was a very bad idea indeed, especially since they responded with force.

"All vessels pursue." ordered Perry to the rest of the Myrynion navy, which was undertaken with much vigour.

By this point, the aircraft carrier, Jubilant, the destroyer Otranto, and the supply vessel, Verity, had all started playing jazz, as well as the Jubilant having launched three jets, and, along with Calder, fired upon the hostile vessels. The submarine, Melpomene, submerged, and began stalking the hostile vessels, with lethal results, while the other three vessels continued their own engagement.

After a quick and decisive battle, the navy returned to Menin, where they restocked their ammunition, with naught but a scratch. The battle found its way into the national media, where the navy was praised for its actions. This incident was later referred to as the Jazz Versus Horrid Music incident, and it was remembered for a generation.

After convincing Celestia that her Royal Guard simply wasn't good enough, especially after a second attack by the Changelings, Orpheus sent Sergeant Linford and his squad to Canterlot to train them. The Divisional Chaplaincies also requested that Frere Tuck went along with them. Linford had the ponies assembled in central Canterlot, and was currently briefing them as regards his overall plan, waving a riding crop around for good measure.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sheila whispered to Johnny, as she watched her husband's slightly mad and malevolent side come out.

"Nope. That's why his promotion prospects are comical and unwise." replied Johnny.

Jack finished up his rant of a briefing, ending that he will train them to the standard of the Wipers City Watch.

"Any questions?" asked Jack.

One pony raised a hoof, and asked "Why's that chaplain here?"

"Suicide prevention. You'll need it." replied Frere.

That pony swallowed, as did several others. Another pony raised a hoof.

"Yes?" asked Jack.

"What do the Wipers City Watch think of us?"

"You're awful."

"What do you think of us?"

"You're a terrible disgrace to your country."

None of the others raised their hooves, so Jack cracked the riding crop, and got to work. After passing the Guards through the basic tests for the Wipers City Watch, and investing in several more riding crops, Jack split them into groups, to be trained by his squad, so that they would improve their skills further.

Johnny, a heavy infantryman like Jack, taught strength and endurance. Sheila taught First Aid and a rudimentary knowledge of machinery. The scout taught speed, agility, and recording of information. The spy taught the basics of his profession. The light infantryman taught the importance of following orders and teamwork.

During this time, Jack lamented to Frere about the fact that he had never seen such a bunch of useless, and incompetent, slackers. Frere replied that he'd had quite a few of them approached him with suicidal tendencies, and asked him to ease back on the riding crop.

Celestia was talking to Orpheus later that month, and commented that several of her royal guard had asked to leave, but, as a whole, it had improved dramatically.

A/N Please review.