The Shipment: 3

>You are Krieg Grenadier 888211-115528-Killian

>You have not run so far, so fast since training
>You and Anton have been sprinting through alleyways, across lawns, anywhere that was away from...Her
>She is keeping up, yelling about how your attire needs to be BURNED and start from scratch

>The two of you stay ahead, out of sight
>You're running out of visual cover, however
>After several minutes of desperate evasion, you find yourselves exiting the town and running across an open field
>She will easily cover up lost ground and ensnare you when the two of you are in sight
>After gaining some distance from the town, you and Anton dive into one of the many heavily vegetated hedgerows
>Not your finest moment, but past experiences are making you swallow what little pride you have as She approaches

>"Anton.
>Killian.
>You know I can smell you, and when I find you I'll make sure nopony else will have to suffer such an affront to the eyes.
>Just come out so I may BURN those dreadful excuses for uniforms."
>You prepare to meet the Emperor as you carefully reach for your sword bayonet

>She continues on with that unnervingly sweet voice, and it seems another blessing has come in the form of the smell itself
>Its scent must be lingering on Her nose, making Her unable to pinpoint exactly where you two were

>You and Anton wait for a solid minute before continuing away from the town

>With the threat evaded for now, you and Anton make your way around the lush countryside
>The senior engineer sketches while you keep a lookout for Her
>A few minutes of relative peaceful marching pass, and you start to hear a faint melody
>Another minute of marching (and attempting to step to the rhythm), and the melody keeps stopping at certain times before then starts over

>Just before you march over an obscuring hill, you hear the Princess’ student greet someone, before a number of flying creatures scatter into the air

>A peek over the hill reveals the student apologizing to another flying native, this one a bright yellow with pink hair

>You and Anton lower to your stomachs and hold the stealthy position
>Neither of you want to run across town again

>The native lands and idles, not responding to the student
>Ms. Sparkle tries to know her name, but the native is so quiet none of you can hear her
>She eventually squeaks out something, but it’s still unintelligible
>Eventually the flying creatures return, so the student hesitantly leaves the music supervisor to her work

>The native remains silent, cowering behind her own hair
>That is until she spots the student’s assistant

>You and Anton slowly crawl backwards, certain to avoid this native as well

>The two of you continue to map out the surrounding area, weary of running into more /enthusiastic/ natives

>The afternoon goes by without incident, and you begin to sneak your way into town again
>Cautiously using alleyways, with you in front with your lasgun ready, Anton pieces the layout of the buildings together
>As the sky begins to change color, you move onto the final unmapped area

>In the center of it is a…tree?
>No, it’s a house that is inside a hollowed-out tree
>How the tree is not dead, you cannot figure out

>Anton is even more interested than you are, and the two of you advance to the side wondow
>A look inside reveals the lights are off, and for some reason Anton’s helmet-mounted torch cannot shine through

>You look around again, and spot the Princess’ student and her assistant appearing at the end of the street, heading this way

>The yellow native is following them

>You quickly get Anton’s attention, and he wants to map out the fraking treehouse!
>You protest, pointing out that the yellow one is heading this way as well, and they could be spotted
>The engineer reminds you that this is a tree, and there may be several hiding spots inside
>With time running out, you agree, and the technically-inclined Kriegsman pulls out one of his many tools to work the lock
>You watch as the trio come closer, and pray Anton really earned his title as Senior Engineer
>Thankfully the yellow one is directly behind the student, and her attention is focused on the student
>Ms. Sparkle herself is focused on the ground in front of her

>A soft *click* announces Anton’s success, and he hastily opens the window and climbs inside
>You follow, facing the approaching trio to make sure they don’t spot you as you enter
>You hop onto the windowsill and prepare to tuck your legs inward
>Instead something grabs the back of your coat and yanks you back
>You fall to the ground and the window is immediately shut and blocked, leaving you in darkness

>You spring up and ready your specially-made hellgun
>The improved laser weapon lets out a high-pitched whine as it draws power from the pack on your back

>You are about to fire when…something presses against your mask
>”Shhh!”

>Anton’s torch comes back on, revealing BY THE EMPEROR IT’S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU

>Krieg-grade discipline keeps you from shooting the pink native from earlier today
>She has her wide-eyed face millimeters from yours
>She’s pushing against the bottom of your mask, as if trying to keep you quiet

>Just as Anton’s light turns on, the pink one snaps her head around to face him
>Her voice reminds you of Vreni when she spots an idiot doing idiotic things

>”Turn that off.”

>Anton complies

>The native then pushes you and the engineer to the edge of the large room, opposite of the door, before forcing you to crouch down

>You have no idea what’s going on
>You can sense a number of other natives around you, and you can hear the faint sound of them shuffling around in complete darkness

>Since Anton is as still as you, you figure he’s as stumped as you are

>A few seconds pass, and you start to hear the Princess’ student conversing with the yellow one
>”And my poor baby dragon needs his sleep.”
>”No I don’t!” argues the assistant
>A bump and a thud later, and the student continues the excuse that’s irritating you
>”Aw, look at that.
>He’s so sweepy he can’t even keep his wittle bawance.”
>After a pause and the whooshing of wings, the yellow one flies through the door, holding the assistant and insisting he’d get to bed
>Ms. Sparkle quickly secures her charge and pushes the yellow one out the front door, stating she’ll get right onto that before bidding the native good night

>With the yellow one gone, you feel at ease, yet still curious at what’s happening
>An ambush?
>In case it is, you keep your hellgun ready, though you wonder if these stealthy natives are in league with the Archenemy
>Whatever it may be, you’re ready for anything

>”Rude, much?” asks the assistant, disapproving
>You disagree
>”Sorry, Spike, but I have to convince the Princess that Nighmare Moon is coming and we’re running out of time.
>I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time.”
>You wonder if all of the natives can roll their eyes in that fashion
>”Now where’s the light?”

>On cue, the lights flip on

>Streamers
>Strange cone hats
>”SURPRISE!”

>What pathetic ambush is this?
>You realize it’s a festivity of some kind
>Wasn’t there supposed to be one tomorrow?

>You look around, and the natives have given you and Anton respectable distance and are trying to ignore you
>The rest of them are preforming in various forms of activities
>You face the engineer, and he shrugs at all of this
>You look to Ms. Sparkle, and even though you can’t hear her over the volume of the crowd, you can tell this is the last thing she wanted

>The student spots the two of you and for an unknown reasin starts walking towards you
>She’s accosted by the energetic pink native the whole way

>Ms. Sparkle stops by the table the two of you were near, and nods to Anton
>She’s still ignoring you

>While she pours herself a drink (of hot spices?) the pink one is explaining her actions earlier
>She’s the one with all the contacts, and she throws a party for every new arrival so they can be acquainted with the residences of the town
>Suddenly, she’s on top of your helmet

>”Of course I wanted to throw a party for you two but then you came here before her so I had to change plans and-GASP-now I can throw a super-special-extra-muddy-Pinkie-Pie-welcome party in your FOB after the summer sun celebration!”

>How in the warp does she know of your FOB?

>Before you could ask…Ms. Pie, Ms. Sparkle turns around
>You notice the spices have taken affect
>”You alright, sugarcube?” asks the agri-worker
>The student’s hair catching fire and her zipping upstairs indicated she wasn’t
>”Aw! She’s so happy she’s crying!”

>You look to the pink one, a confused look hidden under your mask
>She’s now munching on a spice-laden miniature cake, and she seems to be more tolerant of the “hot sauce”

>You look behind her and-

>Oh no
>Both the fashionista and the yellow one have seen you
>You look to Anton, but he seems relaxed

>”Anton.
>Killian.”

>You look back to Ms. Rarity, now in front of you, and to your surprise she isn’t using that unnervingly sweet voice

>”I wish to apologize to you two gentlecolts.
>I may have let my… personal eccentrics take a hold of me, and I am deeply sorry for that.”
>You nod to her, merely relieved you don’t have to avoid her constantly anymore

>You look up to find the yellow one staring at you, hovering in mid-air
>You tense up, ready to move
>She somehow senses this, and backs away slightly

>Ms. Pie intervenes

>”Oh don’t by a little Timid Timmy, Fluttershy!”
>The festive native somehow grabs the winged one out of the air and brings her right in front of you and Anton

>”Anton, Killian, this is Fluttershy.”
>How does she know your names when she hasn’t seen your papers?
>”She takes care of all the animals around here, so if you need to know anything about Equiestira’s wildlife, she’s the one to go to.”

>Oh
>So she can actually help the Shipment out
>”Fluttershy, this is Senior Engineer Anton and soon-to-be-Watchmaster Grenadier Killian.
>They and twenty six other Guardsmen of the Death Korps of Krieg are here to make sure no meanies ruin all the awesome fun we’re having here in Equestria.
>Don’t worry, they may look like real meanies, but the only one you have to worry about is the Watchmaster.
>It sounds like she could be a big, albeit well-meaning meanie.”

>…
>How in the Emperor’s name does she know all of that?

>” Now we’re all friends here!
>So let’s get this party kickin’!”

>The festivities begin anew, and you and Anton are—almost literally—swept off of your feet and are dragged in

()()()

>You are Krieger 888-263-11555-55-Anton
>You realize parties are NOT your forte

>Even though Ms. Pie has broken the barrier between you and the natives, they still are weary competing in activies with you
>The activities themselves vary greatly in both form and parcticality
>One was an interesting test of your balance and sense of direction, and Killian proved himself by pinning the tail perectly on the pony’s rear

>While the Grenadier began to target other natives, you headed upstairs
>With a knock, you look into the student’s quarters
>She’s on an open loft, her ears locked down under a pillow
>She looks at for a moment, before sighing

>“At least you knock.“
>Sensing permision, you enter and hastily shut the door to close off the energetic music
>”Do you have to deal with this whenever you travel to someplace new?”
>You turn and shake your head

>What you usually get are either angry glares or complete rejection

>The student plops back down onto her bed
>”And I thought studying the relics that can stop Nightmare Moon would be priority for the Princess’ protégé, but apparently that’s well below making friends.”

>You take a step forward, curious

>Ms. Sparkle notices and becomes apologetic
>”I’m sorry, I’m just being a little grumpy shut-in, and I may be overeating to this whole prophecy anyway.”

>Another step, this time with more force
>The student turns to look at you
>”You… want to know about Nightmare Moon?”

>You nod
>The student of the planetary governess being concerned about it is enough merit to you
>”Well…”

>The knowledgeable student goes into detail, stating how her Governess’ sister, in a sense, fell to Chaos long ago
>Instead of purging her utterly, the Governess banished the night bringer to the moon, where she remained for nearly a millennia, a millennia that’s almost up

>”Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night.”

>A possessed psyker warp-bent on bringing everlasting night?
>Good thing you brought a flashlight

>As well as spending the entire day mapping out the town
>You bring out your sketches
>”I hope the Princess was right.
>I hope it really is a-“
>She sees your sketches
>Her eyes light up and look to you with a sense of wonder
>”You must be serious about this.”

>You nod
>For the next several minutes, the two of you pour over the fruits of your labor
>You analyze what forces the psyker could bring, and prepare a message for the Captain along with some of the sketches

>You realize to your dismay that you left the communications equipment back at the FOB, and the psyker could arrive well before then

>A solution presents itself in the form of an immature native

>”Come on, Twi-“
>”Spike, I need a letter sent, now.”

>The assistant rolls his eyes in frustration
>”Twilight, listen-

>”NOW, SPIKE!”