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Backgrounds of Fate: Dissent

By Slowanon
Created: 2020-12-21 13:09:05
Expiry: Never
manos: hands of fatemanos

  1. This is a side green to Manos: Hands of Fate by Human Superiority.
  2. The first part was found here: http://pastebin.com/QBMRbrPv
  3. Since Pastebin nuked it I'll also link the earliest thread I could find in five minutes looking in the archive: https://desuarchive.org/mlp/thread/24621019/
  4.  
  5. For the Manos threads. HEIL MANOS!
  6.  
  7. >Another box is checked off with a flick of your quill.
  8. >Exits are open and easily accessible.
  9. >You are Cinder, fire chief of the Canterlot Fire Department.
  10. >It's that time of the year again which means you have to go through and inspect all government buildings for fire hazards.
  11. >Normally, you hated this time of the year for that very reason but you were rather upbeat today.
  12. >You were due to retire after these inspections were done.
  13. >You've spent sixty-five years in the fire department and it was high time you got out anyways.
  14. >With a glance to your right you see an orange unicorn levitating a clipboard and checking off boxes as well.
  15. >His name, coincidently, was also Cinder and you named him as your successor.
  16. >He glances over to you with a long-suffering look and sighs.
  17. >"I don't understand where all this extra space is coming from. There's no way that the royal mint is this big."
  18. "You'd be surprised, Junior."
  19. >Finishing up on the level you were on you went downstairs to star on the basement.
  20. >The first place on the list was the cafeteria where you found something you hadn't expected.
  21. >In front of you was a shield wall of glowing blue magic blocking your access to the kitchen.
  22. >"Maybe they didn't want us to look at what's inside," Cinder pipes in from your right.
  23. >You sigh and your horn lights up.
  24. "I doubt it. Probably some filly or colt from Celestia's school that thought this would be funny," you reply with a grimace as your magic probes the shield.
  25. >You were no Twilight Sparkle but you knew a thing or two about magic.
  26. >It took you a little while but you got the shield down with some difficulty and gained a migraine for your trouble.
  27. >"You'll need to teach me how to do that if I'm going to run into crazy strong sheild walls like this."
  28. "I don't see why not," you agree before making your way into through the double doors.
  29. >You stop shortly after.
  30. >The kitchen has been absolutely trashed.
  31. >Pots and pans everywhere, tables overturned and mining explosives bundled around the support column in the center of the room.
  32. >You sniff the air and pick up the smell of natural gas as well.
  33. "Junior, I'm going to make sure nopony else is in the building," you say slowly backing away. "I need you to go alert the guard. Now."
  34. >"Y-yeah. I'll be back quick. Don't get yourself killed doing something stupid before you retire, alright?"
  35. >”Yeah don't take too long. After you alert the guard head to the fire house. We may need them if things go south.”
  36. >As if to punctuate that thought, a gem atop one of the explosives started to glow.
  37.  
  38. >You are Ardent Wind and boy did it suck to be you right now.
  39. >Trotting down the streets in your golden armor, you glance around at the throng of ponies moving about.
  40. >You and your partner separated for the moment to cover more ground.
  41. >You catch sight of a lunar guard who spots you and grimace to yourself.
  42. >Splitting up maybe wasn't the best idea.
  43. >As soon as he sees the gold he narrows his eyes at you.
  44. >You move past and keep going.
  45. >It's been a hectic few weeks for you in Canterlot and you are starting to get the idea that being in the guard is a bad idea.
  46. >You were lucky you weren't deployed to Vanhoover but then again maybe you weren't.
  47. >As you pass by a shop you make out the reflection of two lunar guard trailing you.
  48. >Great.
  49. >This was exactly what you needed today.
  50. >They haven't confronted you yet which was good.
  51. >If they're content with tailing you for now then you'd have time to make it back to your partne-
  52. >"Guards! Thank Celestia! There's explosives in the Royal Mint! Come quick!"
  53. >A pit forms in your stomach.
  54. >This was it.
  55. >This was the real deal.
  56. >You look behind you at the lunar guard to make sure they heard.
  57. >One takes off flying in that direction and the other towards the castle ignoring you completely.
  58. >You spread your wings and join the guard heading to the Mint.
  59. >During your flight you feel nothing but absolute dread.
  60. >Your head scans the skies back and forth for black shapes.
  61. >Not seeing anything didn't put you at ease.
  62. >If this was a prelude to an attack they could already be in the city which put on edge even more.
  63. >Others responding from the castle could deal with that but it worried the heck out of you.
  64.  
  65. >You are Cinder and by Celestia there was more than that one bomb.
  66. >After the first bomb did nothing after it started glowing you went to find somepony else but you found another bomb first.
  67. >You've already alerted the staff and they're taking care of the evacuation.
  68. >You should have waited for the guard before going deeper into the building but a few things didn't sit right with you.
  69. >The shield, the bombs; all of it.
  70. >Explosives like those were rarely ever used because of environmental concerns and because of this they were hard for somepony to get their hooves on.
  71. >The shield was another thing entirely.
  72. >Why put a shield around something you were going to blow up anyways?
  73. >Furthermore why that one spot?
  74. >You've found at least three more bombs and all were without shields.
  75. >The only difference was the other bomb sites were tucked away and hidden.
  76. >It's as if somepony wanted that one to be found.
  77. >And besides that how had nopony come across the bombs sooner?
  78. >You stop when you hear voices down the hall.
  79. >"Hey Peddler, you got the last of it?"
  80. >After creeping the rest of the way down the corridor you were in you poked your head around the corner and saw two unicorns levitating large bags.
  81. >"No but the wagon is full anyways. I don't think we'd have enough time for another run as it is before it's time. Let's just blow the place and leave. The others will do it when we do anyways."
  82. >"I suppose you're right."
  83. >You weren't stupid.
  84. >Confronting them was out of the question.
  85. >There were already two of them and there very well could be more.
  86. >And if these were the same ponies who planted the bombs then doing so wouldn't bode well for you.
  87. >You waited until you heard a door open and close in the distance before you took off in a gallop back towards the stairs.
  88. >The mint was a large building but you could make it to the front.
  89. >You needed to to warn the guard that there were more explosives.
  90. >For the next minute you ran through corridor after corridor and finally made it to the lobby where you see a few more ponies exiting the building.
  91. "RUN!" you shouted at them while closing the distance with the doors.
  92. >Suddenly you heard a muffled 'CRUMP' just before the stone floor heaves and buckles along with a wave of heat.
  93. >Stone and marble shower you as the floor beneath you caves in swallowing you into the dark.
  94. >As you fell you could see the ceiling coming down after you in your fall.
  95.  
  96. >You are Ardent Wind.
  97. >You spot the roof of the building and land in front of it.
  98. >That same lunar guard from earlier sees you and waves you without so much as a grimace or look of suspicion.
  99. >If there's a silver lining to any of this it's that.
  100. >"Head around back and keep an eye on that door. I flagged down two more guards and they're funneling everypony out the front. If somepony leaves from that door, arrest them."
  101. >You nodded and turned to leave but stopped.
  102. "How long until we get reinforcements?"
  103. >"Five minutes, now go."
  104. >You took wing and flew over the building, landing on the roof.
  105. >From this vantage point you could see the alley behind the building.
  106. >...and six ponies loading large bags into the back of two trash wagons.
  107. >Those definitely weren't bags of trash judging by the sounds they made when they hit the cart.
  108. >That wasn't the kicker though.
  109. >That came in the form of the Lunar Guard that was keeping lookout for the other ponies.
  110. >There were too many of them for you to confront.
  111. >Seeing few options, you step back and take off heading to the front of the building to get assistance from the guard up front.
  112. >Just as you clear the roof you hear a muffled blast and see clouds of dust billow out the front door.
  113. >Another explosion sends out a wave of heat which knocks you from the sky.
  114. >The next few moments were lost to you but when you came to the first thing you noticed was that the grand building that had once been the royal mint was now a pile of rubble.
  115. >You could barely make that out through the thick cloud of dust that wafted around the area.
  116. >Ponies who weren't just lying still on the ground stumbled around covered in a coat of gray from the dust.
  117. >You just stare at the scene in front of you as your brain struggles to catch up.
  118. >And if your hearing wasn't gone you would be able to hear the other blasts.
  119.  
  120. >You are Peddler.
  121. >Fate shines on you this day.
  122. >You pull your cart through the street and watch as multiple columns of smoke rise above the rooftops.
  123. >The plan went off without so much as a hiccup.
  124. >Your job was simple.
  125. >Collect the new bits from the basement of the Mint that weren't counted and placed on record by 'mistake'.
  126. >Take them to the rally point where they would be divided up into smaller amounts so the could be funneled out of the city to fund resistance in other cities with those faithful to Lord Manos.
  127. >You pull your cart into an alley behind some houses and drop a bag of bits into a trash can with a red ribbon tied to a handle.
  128. >Those belong to the lunar guard that made this possible.
  129. >You then spend the next few minutes emptying the trash cans in the alley to cover the bags of bits in your cart.
  130. >Afterwards you pull out of the alley and keep moving.
  131. >You see guard pegasi finally scrambling from the castle and splitting off towards the columns of smoke.
  132. >You smile inwardly to yourself when another few explosions rock the city.
  133. >This little operation was just an example.
  134. >An example of what a small group of ponies could do and an example of what will come.
  135. >While most of the ponies you pass look to the smoke with looks of dismay and horror, you look instead with a smile.
  136. >Not only did you help pull this off under the princesses muzzles, but from your cut of the bits you're hauling you'll be able to smuggle your family out of Equestria and to the glorious Reich to the north.
  137. >All in all, it is a good day.
  138.  
  139. >You are Luna.
  140. >Smoke rises from Canterlot.
  141. >From your city.
  142. >"Your highness, the castle hasn't been cleared yet. It is not safe here," a guard says from the group behind you.
  143. >You heave a heavy sigh and turn from your balcony.
  144. >Manos and those traitors will answer for this.

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