As much as they’d like to return to Rainbow Dash’s side until their pupil awoke, or even simply rest their weary eyes, Celestia has other tasks to attend to as they set off on a brisk pace down the hall. There are a myriad of other ponies to meet with, and their mind is already contempting how best to retaliate against this brazen attack.
The first priority, of course, is ensuring Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle’s safety. Only once that is guaranteed, would they see about hunting down the perpetrators. In order to arrange for both of those tasks, the princess had sent for a number of ponies to meet with them; By now, one would hope the requested guardsponies would have gathered in the throne room. But as Celestia turns the corner to see the grand entrance, they are greeted instead with the sight of a familiar cadet dashing down the hall in a rush to reach the meeting in time. Oh, well, Celestia themself was not there yet, so it was no great problem.
Striding past the guards on duty, Celestia enters the audience chamber, where the audience in question has already gathered; Captain Silent Serpent, and the guard cadets Mooncrescent, Starbze, and Glyndwr, all in variable states of posture; Silent Serpent is rexed and professional as always, Mooncrescent is rexed and unprofessional as always, and the other two are both standing stiffly at attention.
Upon Celestia’s entrance, the four immediately bow, as Celestia walks by them to sit upon the throne beyond. Though they’d not have cared to admit it, it is a relief to get off their hooves; they'd already exerted themself more than was ideal. Silent Serpent is the first to break the silence. “Your excellency, you wished to see us?”
Celestia nods in response. "I'm sure all of you understand that this attack is far more than a mere assassination attempt." Those words feel like they are underselling the importance of their students' safety, but from a military or political perspective it is undeniably true. "A multitude of assassins were able to not only infiltrate the pace district fully armed, but go so far as to change guard schedules around within the most heavily fortified complex in Equestria. The magnitude of this breach of security cannot be overstated. We are dealing with a traitor, or possibly many traitors, in our midst, and our response must be methodical, swift, and well reasoned."
Celestia transfixes Silent Serpent in her gaze. Of the four they had called in, he was something of an outlier. The chiropteran stallion was not only one of the only ponies with access to the guard schedules, but also quite capable of deception behind his mask of soft-spoken demeanor and discipline. Worse, he was directly involved in Celestia's journey out east, all things which made him one of the primary suspects for being behind the assassination attempt. But it was for the best if Celestia did not py their cards too early; If he was aware he was under suspicion, he would have a greater chance to cover up any involvement he may or may not have had.
"Captain Silent Serpent, I am assigning you to dealing with House Ivy. Not only are you to bring them in line with current tax codes, but you are to evaluate their possible involvement in this plot post haste. The severity of this assignment has been escated by current events; you are to take a full battalion of pace guards with you. Should the Ivy's prove resistant to your investigations, you may feel free to exert force directly." The assignment was far more than simply trying to deduce the Ivy's involvement; Celestia was already near certain that they were involved in the plot to some degree, given the uncannily perfect timing of their recent rebelliousness. Rather, the mission was intended to ascertain Silent Serpent's loyalties; if he was part of a conspiracy, then surely he would try to deflect bme from the Ivy's, and most likely avoid harming their position to the best of his abilities. What that all means, is that if Silent Serpent does not return with evidence of the Ivy's involvement, then the most likely cause is that he himself is either incompetent or a co-conspirator himself.
With a mask of perfect calm keeping his feelings as enigmatic as ever, Silent Serpent crosses one hoof over his chest and bows his head. "At once, your majesty. Shall I head out immediately, or was there more you needed from me?"
Celestia shakes their head. "No, that will be all from you. You may set out tomorrow; until that point, you are to assist with the pace district lockdown. I don't want to remove any guards-ponies from the premises until we can be certain no more intruders are present within upper Canterlot, you understand." Silent Serpent nods at the st order, wheels around and confidently struts towards the gates to depart. Celestia's gaze follows him until he has fully left the throne chamber, the doors shutting behind him.
That left the other three ponies-well, two ponies and a gryphon-who were standing by in various degrees of anxiety. All three of them were mere cadets, a far sight from the captain who had just departed. In a dispy of some confusion, Glyndwr reaches up and scratches the back of her head. "Erm. So, what did you need us for? Did we do something wrong? Shouldn’t you ask for somepony with a bit more training under their belt? E-er, n-no offense to your judgment, of course.” The gryphon hastily adds the st part, apparently suddenly realizing she was talking to the monarch of all Equestria.
The edges of Celestia's mouth twitch upwards in a very slight smile. The three ponies before them were rather cking in the stoic discipline of more well trained guardsponies, but all three of them had phenomenal track records in combat. And at the moment, that ck of discipline was actually something more of a merit than disadvantage.
"With a traitor somepce in our midst, I am afraid there are few ponies I can trust absolutely." Celestia begins. "Glyndwr, as a gryphon with little, if any, contact with either Gryphonstone nor ponish high society, you are one of a very small number of guardsponies I can reliably rule out of being a conspirator. You simply have no possible motive nor connection which could result in you being amongst the conspirators, and an in-depth audit proved unable to discern any evidence of bribery when I evaluated your finances and quarters." Turning to Starbze and Mooncrescent, Celestia nods with a hint of a pyful smirk. "As for you two, I am quite well aware you are fundamentally incapable of holding such a secret from me, given how frequently I find you openly bemoaning your father's attempts to get you to spy on me." Starbze gapes at the casualness of that statement, gncing this way and that in frantic concern that his 'secret' was apparently out.
Celestia holds up a hoof. "At ease, guardspony. It would be a rare family indeed who didn’t seek to take advantage of their children's pcement in my guard in some capacity, and I am hardly concerned by the pair of you who have made no effort whatsoever to gather information on his behalf. On the contrary, it is specifically for that reason that I feel I can trust the two of you, something I find is a rare commodity at the moment. Glyndwr, I am assigning you as Rainbow Dash's personal guard; the two of you share csses, so it should not be difficult for you to look after her without raising suspicion. Specifically, you are to be a covert bodyguard; If possible, you should seek to befriend the pegasus, so that your presence near her does not raise suspicion."
Glyndwr puffs out her chest and eagerly salutes. "Of course, your majesty!" She procims with perhaps a little too much volume, an obvious glint of pride shining in her eyes. Celestia can't help but look upon the gryphon fondly; despite how they'd described the assignment, Celestia is well aware that the gryphon and pegasus had already formed something of a rapport.
"As a mere cadet, I cannot trust Rainbow Dash's safety to you solely, so I have made arrangements for some additional equipment to be allocated to you. Please report to requisitions for your outfitting." With that out of the way, Celestia turns their attention to the remaining two colts, of whom Starbze is still looking evidently embarrassed about his 'secret' being out, and Mooncrescent is eagerly bouncing from hoof to hoof.
"As far as you two, I am assigning the pair of you to investigate the incident in Canterlot more directly. You are to report directly to me, and nopony else. You will have the aid of the guards’ many specialists of course; I don’t expect you to spontaneously develop a calling in forensics, after all. But nopony else is to know what your investigation entails precisely. If anypony gives you any trouble, speak to my secretary and she will have it dealt with. In case a matter is too urgent to wait for the admittedly gcial pace of administration, I shall give you both my signet ring so in dire circumstance you may reveal you are acting under my authority. Having said that, you shall not reveal these if not absolutely necessary, as I wish this investigation to occur quietly.”
Mooncrescent grins broadly, showcasing the snaggletooth canines carved into his upper teeth. "You got it, 'Lestia!" The colt salutes, practically beaming at the chance of increased autonomy, action, and responsibility, while his brother beside him winces in uncertainty. Mooncrescent tilts his head to the side. “Where should we start?”
Celestia nods, satisfied at the guardsponies eagerness. His empathy for the situation at hoof was certainly cking, but at least Celestia could confidently rely upon him to investigate with characteristic gusto. “You may start by interrogating the prisoner; I have already sent word to the dungeons that you will be coming. After that, you may head to the crime scene with a forensics team.” Despite how they wish it might be, Celestia is uncomfortably aware that it's unlikely either of those would turn up too many leads; Any assassination plot worth its salt would have some manner of protection against exposure by its own assassins. Still, it was a start.
Mooncrescent salutes, practically beaming, and Celestia nods. “Very well. You have your orders, you may proceed to carry them out.” Celestia almost mumbles the st part, blinking away tiredness to the best of their capability. Normally, they were able to put on a quite convincing show of attentiveness even after multiple days without sleeping. But ‘normally’ isn’t a day of flying back to Canterlot at transonic speeds, incinerating a squad of assassins, and even performing spells from the nearly lost school of healing magic as well; and that isn’t even to mention the emotional toll, nor the upcoming effort of raising the moon and setting the sun. “I am afraid I have a few more pieces of business to attend to this evening. You should all begin your new duties in the morning, so be sure to be properly rested.”
The cadets all salute to Celestia as the sor monarch strides down the long carpet leading from the throne past them. "Aye-Aye!" "Yes, Sir!" "At once, your majesty!" the diversity of different replies sounds out, as Celestia makes their way towards the infirmary. One more duty awaits them, before they can get any rest.
