//------------------------------// // Body Guards // Story: Broken Feathers // by That Avi Nerd //------------------------------// "You're my body guard!?" Rainbow Dash yelled with fury in Phantom's face. "I don't need any body guards." "Princess Celestia seems to think differently. And you should too. Of all of Princess Sparkle's friends, you are potentially the biggest target. There's already been one attempt this week to get rid of you, which nearly succeeded; then there was that explosion earlier that you just happened to be over, which also nearly killed you." "Well, Soarin' was with me. Maybe somepony's after him, not me! Are you protecting him too?" Dash noticed that the skies were still clear of the light blue stallion. A worrying thought was beginning to linger at the back of her mind. Surely he would come and check on her. Right? "Me? Personally? No. I'm assigned to you. We have other ponies looking out for Soarin', well, once we find him they will be." "Well, you can go back to Shining Armor or Princess Celestia, whoever you report to, and tell them that I do not need protection." "I'm not going anywhere, Miss Dash." Rainbow Dash glared at him. "Fine." Then she trotted away, heading for the other side of Ponyville. "Where do you think you're going?" Phantom yelled, flying after the cyan Pegasus. "To the hospital. I have an appointment to get my wing looked at." Seeing that Phantom was flying after her, Rainbow Dash took off in a full sprint. The surprising burst of speed caught Phantom off guard. He grunted, and sped up after her. "Think you've got what it takes to catch the fastest flying in Equestria?" she mocked him. "I'd bet I'm just as fast. Besides, you're not flying, you're running. And there's already one pony who holds that title." By the end of his sentence, Phantom had caught up with her, and was lazily flying on his back by her side. "Did I mention I'm also one of the fastest runners?" Slowly, Rainbow Dash began to pull ahead of Phantom. She checked over her shoulder to see where he was, only to discover that he was missing. "Ahem," Phantom called. Rainbow Dash looked ahead at the noise. Phantom was flying backwards in front of her, their muzzles nearly touching. Dash blushed before quickly regaining her composure and making a sharp, ninety degree turn into a side ally. Phantom sighed to himself before reversing direction and flying up and over the buildings, falling in behind the cyan Pegasus once again. "Miss Dash, there's no reason for you to run. You'll just arrive exhausted. Now, please slow down before somepony gets-- humf!" Phantom came to a sudden halt, slamming into the concrete sign of the Ponyville Hospital, and falling to the ground below. "Hehehe," Rainbow laughed. "Maybe you should pay more attention. I'll catch ya later!" Rainbow happily skipped inside, feeling victorious for losing her pursuer. Or so she thought. If she had cared to look around, she would have seen Phantom struggle to his hooves, and limp inside after her. New plan, He thought. Be your namesake. Phantom then did what he did best, disappeared. Ponies could still see him, but nopony had any care to take notice. Rainbow Dash was too caught up in herself to pay any attention, and nearly ran into Nurse Redheart. "Oh, hello Rainbow Dash," the nurse greeted. "What can I do you for?" "I’m supposed to see the doctor about my wing?" Rainbow grumbled slightly. "Oh yes, follow me, please." The white mare turned away, leading Rainbow Dash through a double door into another corridor. Phantom trailed after the two. He followed the mares as they turned left, following the signs that indicated towards the examination rooms. Along the way, they passed several signs saying that nopony was allowed back there unless they had an appointment. Good thing Phantom was the best spy in the Equestrian Military. He swiped a lab coat from a nearby laundry cart outside of a room and threw it on. When they passed a nurses station, he managed to take hold of a chart and clipboard. He made the occasional glance at the charts to appear busy. Nurse Redheart opened the door to a room and ushered Rainbow Dash inside. Phantom was too far behind to hear what she was telling the Pegasus aside from muffled mumbles. The door shut quietly as the white earth pony turned to leave, nodding at Phantom as she walked past. The midnight blue pegasus took his opening and slipped inside the hospital room. Looking around, he was alone. An empty, bare white room, with only a hospital bed and other vital equipment. No other ponies. No Rainbow Dash. There was however, another doorway on the right wall, that probably led to the restroom. Phantom pushed his way further into the room, allowing the main door to quietly shut behind him. Before he could get within ten feet of the bathroom door, he found himself laying on the ground with a pain and weight on his back. He wrapped his wings around the unknown object and slid it off of him before rising to his hooves, ready for further combat. Instead of seeing some random pony that was trying to kill him, he saw a familiar one wearing a very mischievous grin. "Miss Dash," Phantom began. "You mustn't do that. Especially with my occupation." "Hehehe, lighten up, Phantom. And you know, you're not that sneaky. Hay, Tank is probably sneakier than you..." "Who's Ta—" The door suddenly opened. In trotted a sandy-coated unicorn stallion with a chocolate-colored mane and tail. His cutie mark was that of pulsing heart monitor. He was wearing a white lab coat, had a stethoscope around his next, and was levitating a patient chart in his magic. "Okay, Miss Dash. You broke your wing last—" The actual doctor stopped short upon seeing Phantom in the corner of the room. "Oh, hello. You would be...?" "Phantom," the pegasus replied. "Why are you wearing a lab coat? You're not a doctor... unauthorized ponies are not allowed back here." Phantom sheepishly threw the coat off, pretending to have completely forgotten he was even wearing it. “Uh... research... for the... uhh.. book I'm writing! Yes! The book that I'm writing involves doctors, and I uh, wanted to get some perspective."' "But that doesn't explain why you're back here with my patient..." "That's because... I'm... Rainbow Dash's biographer!" Rainbow Dash rewarded Phantom's lie with a raise eyebrow. The doctor turned towards her for confirmation. Phantom in returned sent Rainbow a menacing look, non-verbally instructing her to go with his lie. "Uh... Yeah. He's my... biog...raph...er..." "Hmm. Well, as Miss Dash knows all too well, I am Doctor Stable. Now, if you'll climb up onto the bed here, we'll take a look at that wing and change out your bandages." "You wanted to speak to me, sir?" a stallion voice asked. "About your plan, yes," replied another. "Sir, I can explain what happened, see—" "I. Don't. Care. Your plan failed, and now that pegasus is still alive." "But the fireworks—" "No buts. Give me one reason not to strike you down and solve this situation myself." "I can do it. By the time of the Wonderbolts' performance is supposed to occur, that Pegasus won't be able to show." "Better not. We've had enough trouble as is. And now security is being stepped up." "Don't worry, I won't fail again." "And what about Shining Armor? He's in town, commanding all of these guards. How will you deal with that?" "I said 'Don't worry.' I'm meeting with Shining Armor later, so I'll be able to see what he's going set up. Once I see the flaws in the security, I'll be able to kill that pegasus with no trouble at all." "For your sake, I hope so. And remember to make it look like an accident! I don't need murder rumors running about town, disrupting the rest of our plans." "Of course. And sir?" "Yes?" "What should I do about the Elements of Harmony? I don't know where they're held." The other stallion sighed. "Didn't you listen? Once you kill one of the Elements, the others are useless! That's why Nightmare Moon failed, that's why Discord failed, and that's why Queen Chrysalis failed." "But, Queen Chrysalis almost succeeded again." "Because she tried to kill one of the Elements of Harmony! Celestia, aren't you listening!? That pathetic Princess Sparkle probably has the Elements of Harmony locked in her library. If you don't want to be a grown stallion and kill somepony, then steal them!" "Yes sir." "And remember. Once you step outside, you'll be followed. So be very, very, careful." "Don't worry sir, I'm already working on a new plan." Rainbow Dash and Phantom exited the hospital an hour later. Anypony around could tell exactly how upset the cyan Pegasus was. "Five whole days!? Five!? I can't believe this! I have to wear this stupid bandage for five days!" "Well..." Phantom treaded lightly; even though he hadn’t know Rainbow Dash for long, he knew you were not to get on her bad side. "You technically won't have to wear that bandage for five days. You're supposed to change it every morning. And it could have been much, much worse. At least now you'll be in flying condition for the Wonderbolt's performance. Speaking of the Wonderbolts, there's Soarin'." "Soarin'? Where?" Phantom pointed towards town. The light blue stallion had just swooped down from the skies and landed in front of Sugarcube Corner in the distance. "C'mon, let's talk to 'em." "Miss Dash, wait!" Before she could hear him, the stubborn Pegasus already took off after her idol. Phantom sighed to himself. Why me? he thought before remembering the conversation earlier. "Phantom." Shining Armor spoke, trotting into the Royal Guard's H.Q. in Canterlot Castle. "Yes, sir?" Phantom responded, sitting up from his desk, nearly knocking over several stacks of paper filled with top secret information. "How much do you know about a Pegasus mare named Rainbow Dash?" "Claims to be the fastest flyer in Equestria. Obsessed with being a Wonderbolt. Full of herself, extremely egotistical. She's the Element of Loyalty, and will protect her friends no matter what. She's performed the Sonic Rainboom three times. Why do you ask, sir? And isn't she here today?" "She was. Her and my sister left already. Also, she did another Sonic Rainboom last night." "Is that what that explosion was? And what in Equestria for? There were no special events going on last night that would have called for one." "It was her birthday. And Queen Chrysalis made an attempt on her life. She tricked Rainbow Dash into believing that she had ponynapped her parents in order to get her away from her friends. Lucky for her, her friends showed up and saved her." "I see. What does this all have to do with me?" "Princess Celestia is holding a fair in honor of my sister in Ponyville. We're going to go run security. I'm assigning you as Rainbow Dash's personal body guard." "What!? Sir, you can't be—" "Quite. You're my best spy, and one of the fastest flyers I know. Once you get past the attitude, you should be able to handle Rainbow Dash fairly well, especially since her wing is broken." Shining Armor threw a dossier onto Phantom's desk. Held onto the cover by a paperclip was a picture of the cyan pegasus. "Read up. Train leaves in a half hour." Phantom sighed. "Yes, sir." "Is there a problem, Staff Sergeant?" Shining Armor didn’t often use his rank, since he was in the Intelligence division of the Guard, but when he did, it was your cue to know he was frustrated. "No, sir... well... kinda... Why do I need to protect her? It sounds like she can protect herself." "Judging by last night's events, she can't. Princess Celestia is afraid somepony is going to try to go after Twilight, and the smartest way to do that is to take out one of her friends, so that the Elements of Harmony can no longer work. Rainbow Dash would be the toughest opposition if left alive to try to protect Twiley, and she has a broken wing which makes her that much more vulnerable, on top of her go-get-em attitude. So please, make sure nothing happens to that pony." "Yes, sir." Phantom saluted Shining Armor as the unicorn left his office. Once again in solace, he sighed to himself, staring down at the dossier. "Hey, Soarin'!" Rainbow Dash called, galloping up to the sky blue stallion. He was just entering the door to Sugarcube Corner when he heard his name being called. "Hey, Rainbow Dash," he greeted, holding the door open for the mare. Rainbow accepted the good gesture and trotted inside, followed by Soarin'. Rainbow’s mood was quickly turning sour. "Where in Equestria did you go after the explosion, by the way? You kinda left me hanging after I fell helplessly and almost died!" "I... uhh... Spitfire! Spitfire wanted to talk to me about important... Wonderbolt... stuff. Yeah, she wanted to go over some of the more complex moves that we’re going to debut." Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "The other Wonderbolts are already here? We never even talked about the arrangements." "They... wanted to fly down early to get a good look on things. We're having some barracks set up so we can sleep in them." "Okay... Hey, you want a pie? It's on me." "Shouldn't I be buying you a pie? After all, I almost killed you." "And I already forgive you. I wasn't expecting you to be able to carry my awesomeness, hehehe." Rainbow pulled a few bits from seemingly nowhere before tossing them up onto the counter Mr. Cake stood behind. Mr. Cake in turn pulled out a freshly made, delicious-smelling apple pie. "How's business, Mr. Cake?" "It's great, Rainbow!" The smile on Mr. Cake's golden face easily stretched from ear to ear. "It's only the first day, and not everypony has arrived yet, and already I'm running low on food. Applejack sure is working her flank off to get more food here." "That's good. Hey, Phantom, you want some..." Rainbow turned to where she thought the midnight blue stallion was, only to discover that he was nowhere around. In fact, she couldn't even remember him coming into the shop. Did he come into the shop? "...thing?" "Who's Phantom?" Soarin' asked. "Somepony I should know?" "No, no. He's just my bo... iographer. My biographer." As much as she felt like telling Soarin' the truth, she couldn't. She understood the loyalty behind duty, and the importance of it. It wasn't her place to get in the way of Phantom’s job, even if it involved her life, and every other pony's around them. "I see. Well... do you want to have lunch together sometime?" "Wha...? Lunch? Together? You and me? Ohymygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!" Rainbow started bouncing up and down uncontrollably. "Hehe, yeah? Tomorrow sound good?" "YES!!" Rainbow's eyes were as bright as diamonds. Quickly realizing how excited she was, she regained her composure. "I mean, yeah, that would be very nice." "Okay then, hehe, I'll find you tomorrow. Right now I have to go find Shining Armor; somepony told me that he wanted to talk." "Yeah, I would have told you but you disappeared." "Sorry about that. And thanks for the pie." Soarin' walked over to the counter, and picked up the pie. "See ya tomorrow!" he barely mumbled through his teeth as he left. When the door opened, and he stepped through, Rainbow could see Phantom slide his way past Soarin' and inside. "Miss Dash," he spoke softly. "Please, Phantom, stop calling me 'Miss Dash,' it sounds too... coy? I don't know, just please, stop. Call me Rainbow, or Dash, or Rainbow Dash." "Miss... Rainbow Dash, there's a problem." "Problem? What kind of problem?" "Something's happened. You must follow me. Now."