//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: To Guard Equestria // by BleepBloop2 //------------------------------// Twilight hopped out of the sky carriage just behind me, stopping to give the pegasi pulling it a quick ‘thank you.’ After a nod, the pair took off back to Canterlot. “Where’s our first stop?” Twilight asked, looking around. Ponyville wasn't big, being a rural village supported mostly by farming. Twilight took the time to look around while I looked through the check-list the Princess had given us. I had opened my mouth to answer when a bright pink pony stopped to look at us. This struck me as a little odd. I could understand me being stared at. Didn't like it, but understood it. Twilight, though, I didn't get. I got even more confused when, after Twilight tried to say ‘hi’ to the mare, she let out a huge gasp, jumped her own height straight up, and took off without another word. Twilight and I shared a look. “Okaay. Moving on. Where’s our first stop?” “Sweet Apple Acres,” I said quietly. I always spoke quietly in public. Talking loudly brought attention, which I got more than enough of. That used to annoy her, but she was used to it now. It made hearing me a challenge sometimes, at least in Canterlot. “Its that way,” I said, pointing, and quickly fell in beside the purple unicorn as she started walking. A lot of ponies were looking our way now. Most of them had likely never seen a Royal Guard before, especially not one on two legs. I did look a little bit intimidating, I guess. And I didn't have the golden plate armour the rest of the Guard had. Instead, I have what's called ‘chain armour’, made of tightly linked steel rings, burnished and oiled until they shone. I had a set of padding under and over it though, which took care of the whole ‘metal on skin’ problem. Of course, if my shape and armour weren't enough, I was armed on top of that. They could probably see the hilt over my right shoulder. Twilight had asked my not to bring my sword, saying it made her nervous, but I had refused, citing the nearness of the Everfree as proof I needed it. She had reluctantly agreed. We walked in silence, unconsciously taking a route that avoided the centre of the town, where most of the residents would be this time of the day. When we were a few minutes outside of the village, we passed the first row of apple trees. Twilight said it should be a short walk after that, but the rows of trees just kept going. We had been walking alongside the orchard for almost half an hour when I stopped her, before walking over to the fence and waving at her. Curious, Twilight joined me and looked over the fence, which was just short enough for her to see over. Don’t know why. All she could see were apple trees. Lots and lots of apple trees. Twilight let out a squeak of surprise when I lifted her up and over the fence, before placing her gently on the ground. She turned around and glared at me. “Give me some warning next time, okay?” I nodded, climbed over, and waved her forward. She let out a sigh and started walking. I was close behind her. There was a dusty path between the rows of trees, leading away from the fence. After a few minutes walking, I could see the top of a red barn or farm house over the treetops. But before we could reach it,we met a large red Earth Pony stallion with an apple cutie mark, who was staring intently at a tree. Somewhat nervous, Twilight introduced herself. “Hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I've been sent here by the Princess to check on preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. Can I ask who you are?” The stallion looked over at her, his eyes flicking to me for less than a second. “Names Big Mac. You’ll be wantin’ Applejack. Gimmie a sec.” And with that, he turned back his attention back to the tree. He studied it for a second, before turning his back on it. With a dull thud, one of the stallion’s back hooves hit the tree, and the apples dropped from the branches into baskets on the ground, not one landing outside them. Big Mac then lifted the baskets into a cart on the other side of the tree before hitching himself onto it. When he was sure it wouldn't come loose, he turned to face a stunned pair. “C’mon. I’ll introduce ya.” I recovered quickly. Big Mac was pulling the cart along the right hoof side of the path. I took the middle, leaving Twilight to take the left. The three of us spoke little as they walked. Twilight tried to ask Big Mac about preparations, but his answer was always the same. ‘Talk to AJ.’ Eventually, we lapsed into silence, and a surprisingly comfortable one. A quiet caused by people who don’t feel the need to talk, rather than one caused by those who can’t think of something to say. When we reached the farm, Twilight was panting, and her coat had a slight sheen from the sweat. She glanced at us, and saw we weren't even breathing hard, despite the extra weight we had. She shook her head, and, not for the first time, I made a mental note to try and get her to exercise more. Big Mac pulled the cart into a barn and left it their, keeping the yoke around his neck. When he came out, he pointed at a tan Earth Pony mare with a trio of red apples as a cutie mark. “That's AJ,” he said to them. “Hey, AJ! There's a Miss Sparkle here ta see ya about food fer the celebration.” The mare in question turned when she heard her name, and trotted over. “Howdy, y’all. Names Applejack, but you can call me AJ,” she said, extending a hoof. “Hello, AJ. I'm Twilight Sparkle,” she said, quickly shaking hooves. “The Princess sent me to check on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. The Apple family is in charge of catering, correct?” “That we are,” Applejack said, voice full of pride. “You care to sample some?” “I guess, if it doesn't take too long,” Twilight said. Applejack just smiled, before looking over Twilight’s shoulder at me, her smile faltering slightly. “He won’t hurt anypony, will he?” she asked Twilight. “Only if they try to hurt me or Twilight first,” I said. Applejack gaped slightly, and Big Mac showed a brief look of surprise. “You, you kin talk?” she asked, confused. “No. You’re just imagining this,” I replied, doing my best to keep my face perfectly straight. Applejack snorted and stomped a hoof. “Hey now, no need ta get snarky.” “Oh really? What’s my name?” Applejack opened her mouth to reply, and then snapped it shut. “What is yer name then?” “Michael,” I said, extending a hand. At Applejack’s confused face, I said, “Shake it.” A quick hand/hoof shake later, and Applejack led us behind the house where a table had been set up. With a cry of ‘Soups on, everypony!” she began introducing her family. The names went by in a blur, all apple related. I could remember some; Caramel Apple, Apple Fritter, Applebloom, Granny Smith, one or two others. Most of the ponies avoided looking at me, as usual. There was just something about me they didn't like. It hadn't been as big a problem when I was younger. The only ones that didn't ignore me were Granny Smith, who simply treated me like she would anyone else, for which I was thankful, Big Mac, who kept an eye on me, and Applebloom, who stared at me. When she was sure nopony would stop her, the little filly walked over to me and tapped my leg. I looked down to see what it was, and saw a pair of big orange eyes. “Hey mister, what're you?” I looked down at foal. “If you mean what species am I, I'm a human. If you mean what do I do, I'm a Guard.” “What's a human?” Applebloom asked. “I am.” A small smile pulled at my mouth when Applebloom frowned. Damn, she was cute. “Well, where do you come from? I've never heard of humans before.” “Personally, I'm fae a city called Glasgow, in a country called Scotland,” I replied, slipping into my old accent for a bit. “But I really couldnae tell you how to get there from here.” “Oh, okay,” the yellow filly said. A seconds pause. “So, you’re a Guard? Have you met the Princess?” Instead of answering, I walked over to a tree near the table Twilight was eating at. Sitting at the base, I checked to make sure the unicorn didn't need my help. She seemed to be happily eating far too much pie. Though if it tasted as good as it smelled, I couldn't blame her. Applebloom followed me over. “So, have ya? Have ya met the Princess? Have ya fought criminals? Were they thieves? What were they stealin’?” “Yes, I've met the Princess. No, I haven’t fought any criminals, thieves or otherwise.” I leaned back against the tree, shifting slightly to get more comfortable. Judging by the amount of food on the table, we were going to be here for a while. “All I’ve done after basic is guarding Twilight over there.” I nodded towards the table as I spoke, making Applebloom turn to look. Applebloom tilted her head to the side. “Her? Why’re ya guardin’ her?” “Well, she’s the Princess student, but really, I do it because she’s my friend.” “Ya must really like her, to become a Guard just to guard her,” she reasoned, before letting out an adorable yawn. In place of an answer, I picked Applebloom up and placed the filly in my lap. She tried to complain, but instead let out another, larger yawn. “Long day, huh?” I asked her. She nodded silently, laying down. She mumbled something I couldn’t hear, and then she was asleep. A glance at the table showed me barely a dent had been made in the pile of food there, so I used a trick Twilight’s brother had taught me. It let me zone out slightly, enough to make standing guard for hours bearable, but not enough for me to be completely oblivious. When I zoned in, the sun had moved a bit towards its peak. It was around an hour later. The table only held empty containers now, and around it was a circle of ponies with full stomachs. As l looked around, Applebloom stirred. She looked up at me for a second, before settling back down. “Ah, up you get, Applebloom,”I said, lifting the filly. “Aw, but I don’ wanna!” she complained. “Well, I have to get up, so you do to. Now come on, lets see if there any food left here.” I managed to find some fruit - apples, funnily enough - and moved around the table to where Twilight was sitting. She had a small smile on her face, and was leaning back in her seat. I placed Applebloom on the table, and leaned down to Twilight. “Wake up, Twilight. We've got work to do.” The unicorn let out a sigh, and rolled out of her seat. She said her goodbyes to everyone. I only nodded at each of them. When every member of the rather large gathering had been wished a nice day, Twilight and I set off back to Ponyville, the former lagging behind every now and then due to overeating. We were just on the outskirts of town when I saw something speeding towards them. Towards Twilight. Before Twilight even knew it was coming, I had slammed into it, sending both of us into a puddle of mud. Twilight watched as I held the shape down for a second, before springing back to stand in front of her. It was a light blue pegasus with a rainbow mane, and a cloud shooting rainbow coloured lightning for her cutie mark. I looked at the muddy mare and said to Twilight, “I think this is Rainbow Dash, the pegasus in charge of the weather.” Twilight nodded, and walked around me. “Sorry about that, he can be a little over protective,” she said. When she got no answer, she took another step forward. “Are you okay?” “That. Was. AWESOME!” The cyan mare shot into the air. Completely ignoring Twilight, she flew over to me, hovering high enough to look me in the eye. “Where’d you learn to do that? Who taught you? How’d you move so fast?” “Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I taught myself. Practice. Are you Rainbow Dash?” “What? Yeah, I'm the Dash. Why, ya heard of me?” she asked, her voice making it obvious what she thought the answer would be. “No. But she,” I said, pointing to Twilight, “needs to talk to you.” “Cool. Hey, what’s your name?” “I'm Michael. That's Twilight Sparkle. She’s in charge of preparations for the ceremony. Go talk to her.” “Alright, geez, I'm going. But you and me, we’re having a rematch later.” The pegasus flew lazily over to Twilight, stopping about a bodylength away from her. “So, you’re in charge of things? Hows that working out for ya?” “You’re in charge of clearing the skies?” Twilight asked, ignoring the question. “Yeah. What of it?” In response, Twilight looked up at the sky. The cloud filled sky. Then back down at Rainbow Dash. And back up at the sky. And, finally, once more back down at Rainbow Dash. “Oh. That. I’ll take care of that after my training.” The blue mare flew up to a cloud, landing on it on her back. “Training? Training for what?” Twilight asked. “Only the Wonderbolts!” “THE Wonderbolts?” A nod from Rainbow Dash. “Fastest flight team in Equestria?” Another nod. “Going to perform at the ceremony tonight?” Another nod. “You think the Wonderbolts will take a pegasus that can’t even clear the skies, and keep them clear for one measly day?” “Please. I could clear this sky in ten seconds flat. Watch.” And then she was off. And true enough, ten seconds later, she was back. And there wasn't a cloud in the sky. She had even managed to get herself clean while flying through clouds. “Like I said. Ten. Seconds. Flat. I’d never leave Ponyville hangin’.” Twilight was gaping, and I could tell she didn't care. There wasn't a cloud to be seen for miles around. And there had been a fair number only seconds before. Rainbow Dash smiled as she looked from Twilight’s stunned face to me. I gave her a slight nod. “You two are alright. We should hang later. See ya around!” They both watched Rainbow Dash leave. After a second, I pulled out the check-list and made a mark next to ‘weather’. “Next is decorations. Over there.” I pointed at a tall building, one with colourful pennants waving from the roof. They entered, and saw the decorations seemed to be more or less finished. “This should be quick,” Twilight said, mostly to herself. “Hello? Is anypony here?” A white unicorn walked out from behind a curtain. “Yes, who isaaAAAH!” What she was going to say turned into a scream when she saw me. Twilight was shocked. Nopony else had ever reacted like that. Nopony else had screamed. “Look at you! You’re covered in mud. We simply must get you clean right away. Come along now.” With that, she walked away, the curls of her deep purple mane bobbing as she moved. I looked down and behind me, and saw I had been tracking mud. I had forgotten I had tackled Rainbow Dash into a mud puddle after the pegasus had cleared the skies. I looked down at Twilight, who nodded, and the pair followed the white unicorn, only a second or two behind. There, they found a dressing room, complete with a washbasin and a place to hang clothes. I took off my coat and trousers, mail showing for the first time that day. Secretly, I was glad it was warm. I couldn't wear my armour in the winter, the cold would kill me. I gave Twilight another look, and they levitated from my hands, floating over to the washbasin. Soon, the mud had been washed off, and a quick drying spell later, I was putting my clothes back on. Of course, the white unicorn, who introduced herself as Rarity, insisted on making Twilight something, and when she learned they were from Canterlot she turned the charm on full blast. While they was busy, I set about cleaning the mud of my armour and sword. When she realised Twilight wasn't a social pony, she turned to look at the rooms other occupant, only to realise we hadn't been introduced. “I say, you haven’t told me your name,” she said, her tone accusatory. “You never asked, and one should never make presumptions for a lady,” I replied,keeping my tone neutral, not looking up from cleaning my sword and armour. “That is true. But I feel I know you from somewhere, even though I know we haven’t met... “ She trailed off, before turning back to Twilight. “You are Twilight Sparkle, correct? The Princess’ personal student?” Twilight nodded twice, and Rarity turned back to me. “That would make you... Mishael?” “Close. Michael. Surprised you've heard of me.” “Well, I try to keep up with the going ons of Canterlot,” Rarity replied, flipping her mane. “How long have you lived there?” “Nine years.” “And where did you live before that? Assuming, of course, that you aren't nine years old.” The last part was probably supposed to be a joke, I thought. “Far away. Not sure where in relation to Equestria.” I lifted my sword closer to eye level, to get a better look at the edge. It wasn't much to look at, to me at least. Probably different for a pony. It was longer than most ponies were tall, double-edged, and I could use it with one hand just as well as with two. It had a groove in the centre on each side, which confused pretty much everyone, but really just made the thing lighter. As it was, I was thankful for all the heavy lifting I had done during basic. He looked up to see Rarity giving me a confused look. “If you don’t know how to get from here to there, how did you get here?” “Magic.” Rarity gave a silent ‘Ahhh,’ as understanding dawned. “If I may ask, who...?” she trailed off when she saw Twilight looking down at her hooves. “Not your fault Twilight,” I said, putting my sword away. “I know how you feel, but-” she began. “Not. Your Fault,” I interrupted. Standing up, I turned to Rarity. “Decorations. How are they coming along?” “What? Oh, swimmingly. They’ll be gorgeous.” The white mare licked her lips and looked between the two of us. Twilight still looked like a foal caught taking sweets, though I doubt she could tell how I was feeling. And not because Guard training involves learning how to keep your emotions from showing. “I hope I didn't open up any old wounds between the two of you?” “We’ll be fine.” Without looking, I reached over and gently flicked Twilight’s ear. This earned me a slightly dizzy glare, which I ignored. “Come on, Twilight. One more stop then we can check out the library we’ll be staying in.” That cheered her up a little, and we managed to get going with only one last ‘farewell’ from Rarity. A quick look at the map, and we were off. Towards the Everfree, to be sure, but if someone was living out there it couldn't be that bad. We found her, a pink maned yellow pegasus mare with a butterfly cutie mark. She was conducting a bird based orchestra. Twilight had been about to interrupt the song, but I stopped her. I waited until the song had stopped before clearing my throat. That proved to be a mistake. She flew at me like I had insulted her honour, stopping less than an inch from my face. “Are you okay?” she asked softly. “I'm fine,” I replied, just as softly. “Twilight here needs to speak to you about the Summer Sun Celebration.” The unicorn nodded. “I just need to know how preparations are coming along. Though I must say, it sounded lovely.” I doubt the pegasus heard her. She was hovering in front of me, looking me straight in the eyes. There was something about those eyes, that made them seem deep, like pools of water you wanted to fall into. With an effort of will, I threw off whatever mental magic she was doing and got my mind back under my control. This surprised her, though I think she hadn't realised what she had been doing. “Sorry,” she said, again softly. “I'm Fluttershy. What’s your name?” “I'm Michael. My friend is Twilight Sparkle. She is here to check on preparations for tonight’s celebration. How are they coming along?” “Oh, its coming all just fine. It’s nice, listening to birds sing.” “That's good to hear. We should get going.” With that, Twilight and I started to walk away. We were soon joined by Fluttershy, however. Had she thought ‘we’ meant her and I? Had she even noticed Twilight? “S-so, Michael,” Fluttershy began, glancing up at me before hiding under her mane. “C-could you tell m-me about yourself? If you don’t mind, that is. I ask, because I've n-never heard of an animal like you. Not that I think you’re an animal! Though you do have canines and incisors, which means you can eat m-meat.” She trailed off after that, her barely audible voice becoming even quieter. “It’s fine, Fluttershy. I don’t mind.” And so, I spent the rest of the walk to the library talking to Fluttershy. It was an odd experience. She was very easy to talk to, for some reason. I ended up telling her a fair bit about myself. Nothing from Before, though. And nothing violent, either. Eventually we reached Books and Branches, the library Twilight and I would be staying in. I stopped the two mares just outside it. “There are people inside,” I said, still in my Fluttershy voice. I stepped forward, out from between Twilight and Fluttershy. Fluttershy went ahead and introduced herself, which answered that question. I gently placed an ear against the door. I could hear giggling through it. With a sigh, I knocked on the door. “I know you’re in there,” I said, talking louder than I normally do. There were various sounds of disappointment from behind the door, followed shortly by it slamming open. In the doorway stood the pink mare from this morning, the gasping one. “How?” she, well, she begged me. I looked down at her for a second before answering. “Curtains moved, but there isn't a breeze. I could hear hooves moving on wooden floors, and also someone giggling. The food smells nice as well.” She looked up at me, then let out a sigh. “You’re good. But I'm better. I will surprise you. One day.” Then, with a breath that could in no way fit inside her lungs, she perked up. “Anyway, hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, and welcome to Ponyville!” Twilight and I were ushered inside, with Fluttershy following behind. Introductions were done lightning quick. I was starting to think she did have the whole town in here. Though I'm pretty sure I was introduced to the same pony multiple times under different names. That could just be because Pinkie Pie kept spinning me around. Eventually, I managed to escape by standing against a wall and looking annoyed. Twilight had no such luck. After a bit, she was swarmed by the four mares we had met to deal with preparations and Pinkie Pie, though it was hard to imagine them swarming anything. Well, except Pinkie Pie. Considering the things I had seen her do already (eating pretty much anything with hot sauce was the least of her tricks) I could imagine her swarming. And loudly at that. A few minutes later, Twilight got a mouth full of hot sauce and retired for the night. I checked up on her to make sure she was okay before heading back out to keep an eye on the guests. I doubted they would do anything, it being a public building and all, but Twilight asked me to. I spent the duration of the party answering questions. ‘What/who was I?’, ‘what did I do?’, ‘why was I here?’, ‘who was Twilight?’, ‘what did she do?’, ‘why was she here?’, and ‘was she okay?’ were the main ones. It may not sound like much, but I must have repeated the answers to each of those at least thirty times each. Then there was the follow up questions of ‘have you met the Princess?’, ‘can I see your sword?’, and ‘what’s the Guard like?’ Those were asked less often, around ten of each. I was pretty happy when it was time to move to the Summer Sun Celebration. The attention would be off me, at least. Of course, Twilight and I had our usual pre-meeting-with-Celestia argument. She wanted me to go unarmed. I did not. Now, I'm not going to lie. When it comes to Twilight, I have a tendency to do what she wants me to. And I don’t know if its because she hates the idea of anyone bringing weapons near Celestia, or if she’s just used to getting her own way as far as I'm concerned, but this argument, despite being short, usually ends in us not speaking for a while. I stood in the back of the hall, so as not to block anyone’s view of their precious Princess. The Mayor gave a speech, a fanfare was played, the curtain was lifted and Celestia... Celestia was gone. Fuck. The other Guardsmen were as surprised as I was, so it was recent and unplanned. Not good. The Mayor was trying to calm the crowd as nerves began to build. Nerves became panic when a dark mist appeared where Celestia should have been. An alicorn appeared, forming from the mist. It was maybe a fraction of an inch taller than Celestia was, and height and species were all the two had in common. The alicorn on stage was black coated, with black wings. It had an ethereal mane as well, but this ones was stars to Celestia shifting sunrise mane. Its cutie mark was a crescent moon surrounded by dark purple. She, I'm assuming she, as it looks like Celestia and sounds female, started going on about how she had been imprisoned. I stopped paying attention. Twilight would remember what she said. I had to get us out of here. The door was to my right, and there were more guards to the left, three pegasi, though they seemed too surprised to do anything. I started trying to sneak around the edge, behind the other guards, hoping my dark blue jacket would help me blend in with the shadows on the walls. Somehow, I managed it. The ponies had began crowding in the centre, taking solace in numbers. I couldn't kill her. The Guard had a strict ‘lethal force is a last resort’ policy. Plus, she might know what happened to Celestia. Twilight would be miserable if Celestia died. I spotted a stool near the black alicorn, to her right. A plan formed. My plans tend to come in one of two kinds. Either just crazy enough to work, or too crazy to not work. I hoped this was one of the former. I got hurt less with those ones. I just needed a distraction. Twilight locked eyes with me a split second, giving me an almost imperceptible nod. Then she stepped forward. “I know who you are! You’re the Mare in the Moon. Nightmare Moon!” Twilight now had ‘Nightmare Moon’s’ full and undivided attention. I was not okay with that. I walked forward as quietly as I could. When I was a few steps from the stool, I broke into a run. Step up onto the stool with my right foot, push off hard, get left leg over... success! I landed on her back, leaning forward and snaking an arm under her neck, the other gripping her horn. Fun fact about unicorn horns. They aren't very hard. Its why you never see unicorns stabbing something with them. They break easy. Alicorn horn felt similar to unicorn horn, though this one was longer and felt oddly oily. Nightmare Moon reared and bucked like a pony possessed, doing her best to get me off her back. I held on for dear life and prayed Twilight would know what to do next. “What have you done with Celestia?” Twilight asked. A good start, I felt. “Banished her to the sun, as she banished me to the moon,” was Nightmare Moon’s reply. And then the flaw in my plan became apparent. She turned back into the mist, leaving me to drop five feet or so onto my face. Then there was the sound of hooves upon wood, and Nightmare Moon reformed from the mist next to me. Opening my eyes, I could see her hooves a few inches from my face. I rolled over to see her leaning over me, a creepily huge smile on her face. A glow surrounded me, holding me down. “Yes, you will do fine. Your efforts, while futile, show daring and nerve. I am willing to offer you a high rank in my new Guard. You may name your price.” She gave me what I think was meant to be a sultry look. Oh hell no. “Meet me in the old capitol before the sun was due to set.” And then she did the mist thing again, and left. Well. Fuck.