All was quiet in Canterlot Castle on the fine summer morning. The guards were patrolling, the maids were bustling about, and the Princesses were overseeing events. This was shattered by a thunderous explosion rocking the castle.
The explosion was caused by a black unicorn with a red and orange, flame-like mane. He was currently covered in scorch marks from his latest failed experiment. "Well," he declared as he pulled up his googles, "that's another for the reject pile." He then tossed the twisted metal and various parts into the trash drop near the door. He looked over at his blackboard with a pensive stare. He levitated a piece of chalk with his red aura and starting doing calculations. "Maybe a stronger metal or a less powerful fuel source?"
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden bang of the door being thrown open. "Renegade!" shouted an annoyed, but familiar voice. Renegade turned to see a green royal guard with a black mane and moustache whom he recognized as his older brother.
"Hey, Checkmate."
"Don't "Hey Checkmate" me, that explosion rocked the entire castle! What in the world were doing up here?"
Renegade smiled widely and replied, "Glad you asked." He proceeded to grab Checkmate and showed him the muddled mess of chalkboards. "You see I've been working on a new invention that will revolutionize travel. I have pretty much everything in place except for a fuel source. I decided to use a substance called gasoline and it worked, but my analysis showed that over time it would harm the environment so I scrapped it. I've tried everything from kerosene to nitroglycerine, hence the explosion, and nothing works. I'm at a loss!" He finished as he collapsed on his desk.
"When was the last time you cleaned this place?" Checkmate asked while trotting over to his brother
"That's fascinating Renegade, really," Checkmate sighed with heavy sarcasm, "but I would really appreciate you not blowing up the castle. Princess Celestia didn't give you this tower so you could blow up, poison, or irradiate everypony."
"It only happened once." Renegade defended.
"Besides the point, whenever something goes wrong up here I'm the one who has to deal with it. I didn't spend five years advancing through the ranks to clean up after you every time you mess up. It's just like when we were colts." Checkmate stated with an sigh.
"Ah it's nice to know you care." Renegade said with his best puppy dog eyes which in response, Checkmate bashed him on the head.
"You are no fun!"
"I never was when we were young, why would I be different now?"
"You so need to get laid. There are dozens of stallions in the royal guard and not one of them tickle your fancy."
"I don't have time for romance, and you're one to talk, when the last time you had a date?"
Renegade then became very interested in his notes. Checkmate rolled his eyes and then took a look around the lab. It was a mess like always, Checkmate often wondered how Renegade kept track of everything. There were half empty vials, flasks, various mechanical parts, and of course discarded, dirty lab coats.
"When was the last time you cleaned this place?" Checkmate asked as he trotted over to his brother, "Better yet when was the last time you bathed?" he asked as the smell confirmed his answer. "Oh never mind." he gagged.
"I hope you'll clean up for my big dinner tonight."
"Yes the dinner, Thursday, I've got plenty of time." Renegade responded.
"Today is Thursday you idiot!"
"What?" Renegade responded. He then quickly used his magic to move the various junk around until he found what he was looking for, the calendar. "Sweet Celestia's Plot, how'd I lose track of the days, I better find my tux, I think its under the pile of Bunsen burner ." he then looked under the burner and found it folded up. He turned to Checkmate who had a shocked look on his face.
"You had your tux under the open flame."
"I needed something to prop it up a bit. Stop complaining it's just fine."
"Just make sure you look and smell decent, remember Princess Celestia will be there."
"Ah, Princess Celestia." Renegade said dreamily with visions of him and the immortal princess dancing.
Renegade was shaken out of his daydream with Checkmate saying, "You do realize that she is older than our great, great grandmother's great, great grandmother right?"
"Ah Checkmate, but you forget that the heart knows not age!" Renegade stated with in his best dramatic voice.
"Maybe , but still she is a practically immortal alicorn, and you're a crazy scientist from Southland Equestria. It'll never work."
"That's what they said about my telephones, now they're all over Equestria, smart guy!"
"Look there are tons of mares in this castle and city, just pick one that's at your level. Why do you always try to go for the impossible."
"Ha, I'm a scientist, I don't believe in impossible, I continue until it blows up."
Checkmate groaned and then implores, "Just promise not to embarrass me, please. This is the biggest day of my life, heck this a historic day for all Equestria. I am going to be the first Earth pony to ever be promoted to the Captain of the Royal Guard, so please don't blow up things, tell stupid stories, or flirt with the princess."
"Don't worry I won't embarrass you" then whispered, "intentionally."
Checkmate then did what he always did when he was stressed, he took out a flask and took a swig.
"Is that Scarlet Nectar?" Renegade asked.
"Yes why?"
"Can I see it?" he took the flask before he could respond and using his magic, scanned the chemical makeup.
"Wait It's full strength, you haven't drank enough to be immune to the poison."
"It's perfect!" Renegade declared as he rushed around getting chemicals and equipment. He started mixing chemicals, putting into machines until he shouted, "Eureka!" He poured it into a contraption that Checkmate assumed was his latest project. Renegade flipped the switch and the machine roared to life. "I did it, I did it, I did it!" he shouted as he began prancing around, "I finally found a fuel source that won't blow up or poison the environment, or ponies for that matter."
"Uh, congratulations, I guess." Checkmate responded, "Well I need to get back to work so later." Checkmate then left with his brother waving without really looking away from his engine.
The Party
The ceremony was a bit small with only three of the princesses, Former Captain Shining Armor, and the soon to be Ex-captain, Silver Shield. There was also high ranking members of the EUP guards, theirs dates (if they brought any), and some nobility. Everypony was chatting among themselves until Princess Celestia spoke, "Thank you all for coming everypony. Tonight is a very special night, for tonight we honor a pony whose acts of heroism have proven that he is more than qualified for the title of Captain of the Guard." Celestia then gestures towards Checkmate who is noticeably nervous before continuing, "Silver Shield has served as the Captain for several years now, and has done a wonderful job and it is very sad to see you leave."
"Thank you, Your Highness, but to be honest I'm happy with the whole situation. Now I'll be able to be with my family more often and open the Bed and Breakfast I've always wanted. Plus there won't be any monsters to deal with anymore." Everypony chuckled before he concluded, "I can leave the Guard now that it is in good hooves with Checkmate, here. I will admit that upon first seeing him, I thought he was this short, overweight stallion who wouldn't last a week. However, he surprised me and every other pony with his determination and hard work. I soon learned that he was highly intelligent, and that he was a great strategist. What confirmed that he was the right stallion for the job was when he led a battalion in order to slay a dragon! Hey Checkmate why don't you tell us about that."
Checkmate stood up and cleared his throat with obvious anxiety radiating from him. "First of all, " he began, "I could like to clarify that it was a group effort, everypony seems to think that I did it by myself, but this isn't true. It all started when my unit was called in to inspect a possible dragon sighting. We found one alright and it seemed to want nothing more than to wipe the village. Apparently the dragon used the near by cave for a nap every few thousand years, and recently a town sprouted up. Our commanding officer tried to reason with the dragon, but failed miserably. He then ordered a retreat. However this would have put everypony in town in danger as we couldn't evacuate everypony in time, so I did what I felt was right. I had to knock him out, which is why I had to get my helmet replaced." Some ponies chuckled at this before he continued, "I took command and told them that we had to delay the dragon until the villagers were safe. I ordered the pegasi to distract it while the unicorns cast shield and blasting spells. The other earth ponies and I went to get some supplies from the village."
He paused to take a sip of water, "We collected some grappling hooks and lots of rope. Afterwards I recalled the pegasi and had them use the grappling hooks to bind the dragon's wings. I was able to help further with a few potions I always carry around with me. You see while my talent is mainly strategy by thinking of the situation as a chess game." He emphasized this by showing his cutie mark, a black chess king with a silver shield background. "However growing up, my grandmother taught me everything she knew about potions. I have made it a priority to carry a few around with me on missions. Anyway I gave them a swig of strength enhancing potion and ordered them to bind the dragon down. It took them a while and we had a few injuries, but they finally wrapped him up and got him on ground level. Then I ordered everypony else to bring down the mountain. It took a few bucks and blasts, but we finally made a huge rockslide. It buried the dragon enough where we could approach. We tried to bind his mouth, but that failed, so I used the only thing I had left...My flask of Scarlet Nectar." When Checkmate said this, he noticed everypony was a bit confused so he clarified, "Scarlet Nectar is a drink made from a poisonous plant from my hometown. Its safe if you drink half strength nectar and after a while he can build up an immunity and can drink full strength, which is poisonous to anyone without the immunity. So you can imagine that the nectar did not agree with the dragon. It was an agonizing minute before the dragon died, and to be double sure we took of the head." Upon saying this Spike paled and was comforted by Princess Twilight to which Checkmate, "Sorry, but this dragon was a genuine threat and far less cute." The dread quickly turned into annoyance and Spike declared,
"I'm not cute and I can just as ferocious as any dragon." Everypony then giggled under their breath. Spike was double embarrassed so Twilight pulled him closer and reassured him.
Checkmate cleared his throat and continued, "Anyway, I have to admit that I'm surprised that instead of being court martialed and thrown in a dungeon, I'm being honored and promoted for disobeying and attacking a superior officer."
"Well Checkmate, normally this would have gotten you in trouble, but considering the situation, we believe that what you did was the right thing. Now Silver Shield, I believe that we should make it official." Celestia declared.
Silver Shield nodded and both he and proceeded to stand in front of the Princess and said, "I Silver Shield hereby resign my post as captain of the EUP Guard and give you Checkmate the title and all responsibilities that the position entails."
"I, Checkmate hereby accept and relieve you of your duties, and swear to protect the Princesses and the citizens of Equestria to the best of my ability." Checkmate responded.
"I Celestia, Princess of the Sun and Equestria hereby name you Captain of the Royal Guard, and to honor your bravery in the field of battle I hereby present to you the Medal of Courage." The princess levitated a golden medal around Checkmate's neck and then he saluted the Princess and Silver Shield to the sound of applause.
After the ceremony, everypony was talking among themselves. Checkmate was talking to Shining Armor and Silver Shield about the new duties he's saddled with while Renegade noticed that the Princess was chatting with Luna and Twilight Sparkle. Renegade manage to work up the courage to go over there and speak to the Princess. He had spoken to her before, but always in an official or formal capacity. This maybe the only time he could talk with her on a personal level.
He approached the alicorn with every step making his heart faster and faster with every step. He finally got up to the royals and coughed to get their attention, "Good evening Princess."
"Oh, good evening, Renegade how are you?"
"Fine, fine,...well I did completely forget about the dinner until Checkmate reminded me." he laughed nervously, "Oh, by the way sorry about the explosion earlier, I was trying to complete a new experiment."
"Oh did it work?"
"Actually no, but Checkmate's drinking problem," he could feel his brother's glare on the back of his head, "helped me discover that Scarlet Nectar with a little tampering makes a perfect fuel for my internal combustion engine."
"What's that?" Twilight interrupted with a fascinated expression.
Renegade smiled and stated, "Well Princess, it is an engine that is more effective than a steam engine, and it has massive applications for domestic travel."
"Wow that sounds incredible! Can I see it?" Twilight asked before Celestia interjected,
"Why don't you present your finding at the next monthly meeting. I imagine the other nobles and representatives will be interested in this...internal combustion engine?" she asked uncertain to which Renegade nodded. She then smiled.
Twilight excused herself upon seeing Princess Cadence and Princess Celestia started to mingle with other ponies. Renegade was convinced that he blew it. He spent the next few minutes drinking punch and standing in a corner until he noticed that Celestia was by herself looking out the doors to the garden. "It's now or never." Renegade thought so he finished his drink and trotted over to the Princess.
Once again he worked up the courage to speak to her, "Nice night eh, Princess." he immediately regretted that statement as felt embarrassment welling up inside him.
"Yes it is, my sister made sure that tonight would be beautiful." Celestia responded which made him relax.
"She did a great job, by the way where is Princess Luna?" Renegade inquired.
"Oh, Luna hates these types of gatherings. She finds them boring and to be honest so do I, but being Princess means I have to deal with these things. Although that story about your brother leading a battalion in order to slay a dragon was the high point of the evening."
"I got to admit that I still can hardly believe that he did that no matter how many times he tells that story. He was never the adventurous type, heck he was the one who always tried to avoid anything dangerous. I can't believe how we've changed over the past 10 years."
"I've never asked about your hometown, I don't think I've every visited it either, please tell me about it."
Renegade was practically jumping for joy when she asked this and answered, "Well Checkmate and I grew up in a town called Center Hill in Southland Equestria. Most ponies don't even know that it even exist. It's a nice town, if you can get over all the native plant life being poisonous and the large wild beasts that try to eat us on a daily basis."
"Oh dear, it sounds like a dangerous place."
"Not really we have hunters to deal with the animals, and the plants may be inedible, but they're great for potions. Although from what I hear the conditions were evening worse for our forefathers. They had to eat onions for a year until they resorted to eating the wild animals." The Princess was visibly shocked by this. "If it helps, the animals aren't sentient and would eat us if they could." The Princess was still a bit shocked, but her expression eased a bit so he continued, "Anyway this led to the later generations being omnivorous." He emphasizes this by showing off his sharp canines. The Princess again was taken aback by this revelation so he quickly said, "But I haven't really eaten any meat in a while since I moved here. I hope that you don't think that I'm a freak or something." he finished looking down at the floor.
His fears were cleared away with the Princess placing a hoof on his shoulder and saying, "Of course not, I admit it is strange to think that a pony eats other animals, but so do griffins and other creatures, so don't worry I appreciate all my subjects even the freaky ones." she finished with a giggle.
"Thanks Princess I appreciate it." Renegade felt a weight being lifted of his shoulder, "You know I really appreciate you giving me this job and putting up with all my nonsense."
"Think nothing of it Renegade, I realized from the first seeing you at the university that you were special. I have a talent for seeing potential in others."
"Thank you anyway Princess." Renegade paused before asking, "Princess do you ever get lonely?"
Celestia turned with a confused expression for a moment until she finally said, "That depends on what you mean by "lonely". I have my sister, my subjects, and plenty of friends."
"I know I just mean that do you get lonely, you know like mares do when they don't have a special somepony."
A veil of sadness came over the Princess's face and remained silent for several seconds before answering, "There are times that I would love nothing more than to have another pony to hold me, kiss me, and be with me, but I am immortal so I would have to watch them grow old and die while I would live on. I have my sister, but there are times that I would like to have a stallion to be with me." She started crying as she finished her sentence.
"I'm sorry Princess, I shouldn't have brought it up."
"No, it's alright I resigned myself to this life centuries ago. I am glad to have a friend like you to talk about it." Renegade didn't like being friend zoned, but said nothing. "You know you remind me of Starswirl the Bearded. He was a close friend to me and he was a lot like you."
"In what way?"
"Well you're both exceptional brilliant, have excitable personalities, and are so full of energy."
"Did you have feelings for him?"
"Oh no he was always a mentor and father figure to me. I did have a brief romance with a pony from another world that I visited through a magic mirror Starswirl invented."
"I've heard about that, I don't suppose I could see someday it's sounds like it has fascinating applications."
"Certainly it's in the Crystal Empire I'll show it to you one day. Anyway our love was doomed from the start I should have known better, but I was young and foolish."
"Don't say that! Celestia you are the most selfless, beautiful, and amazing mare in Equestria, and you deserve a little happiness for all you do. Some stallions would give anything just to even be near you. Stallions like me." That came out before he really had a chance to think and then instantly teleported back to his lab.
Renegade then ripped off his suit and went to his bed angry for making a fool of myself.