Arrow Charge stood in front of the palace walls, keeping sentry like the " good bitch" he was. His thoughts turned dark at the remembrance of the comment. Sure it was made by a group of drunks at the bar last night, but that did nothing to stop the truth behind it.
Charge mentally shook himself out of his thoughts, seeing as the sunset was approaching. He internally smiled, knowing that he could finally go back home. He pictured his fireplace lit living room, with his chair and radio.
He looked to his left, relieved to finally see a unicorn with a dusty coal colored coat. A night guard. He marched over to the young colt. He was shocked at this, he almost never saw anyone younger than twenty-five in the royal guard.
He looked to be right out of training, lithe build, dark amber eyes. Charge put up a mental sticky note to look for him in the mess hall, he had always liked to talk to the new cadets. Everyone else liked to tell them that they should just quit, not waste their time. Charge on the other hoof, he liked to encourage them to stay. He'd tell them that it wasn't that hard or dangerous, plus it paid the bills.
Charge handed his spear to the young guard. He looked him in the eyes. He saw something he hasn't seen in a guard's eyes in months. Conviction.
"May Luna's moon guard you tonight," Charge bid the young sentry. It was custom to say such as a guard was leaving to the one taking their place. The young colt's eyes lit up at this. He nodded at Charge, a small smile present on his lips.
"Thank you, sir," The black coated colt said to him, excitement very present in his voice. Yep, he was definitely new. This made Charge all the happier. New recruits were a rarity these days. Ever since the elements came around... He pushed those thoughts back, not wanting to ruin his pleasure.
"Hey, kid," Charge spoke to the young colt, dropping his emotionless voice for his natural voice. The new recruit's head popped up in surprise, his eyes were wide as he gulped down air.
"Sir?"
"Relax, keep vigilant, but relax. If you have adrenaline pumping right now the time you need it you'll have started to grow weary from the previous adrenaline drop. Also, barely anything happens on this side of the castle at night, or so I've been told."
"Uh, thanks," The young colt said, eyes growing wide at his slip up. He straighten his posture and cleared his throat before correcting himself with a, "I'm sorry, I meant, thank you, sir."
Charge had a smirk plastered on his lips. He remembered being that careless at his age. By Celestia, he was only twenty-eight, what was he saying? He nodded at the young sentry before heading on his way back home.
The streets were mostly quiet at this time of day, everypony winding down. He saw the occasional mare or stallion here and there. Sometimes a romantic couple, both dressed up to the nines. He would have to bite his lip every time he saw an exceptionally lovely mare, repeating the mantra "You're in a relationship with a wonderful mare. You're in a relationship with a wonderful mare. You're in a relationship with a wonderful mare."
Charge approached a store, the only one in Canterlot that offered royal guards a significant discount. He gently pushed open the glass door to the small shop and was greeted with the smell of fresh, crisp, mouth-watering good bread and other fresh baked goods.
"Hey, Charge!" Said a young mare behind the counter. She had a plumper body than most mares her age, but she wore the extra curves well. She had a near stark-white mane and tail, with a subtle light blue sheen. Her coat was a light brown, with the exception of freckles on her face the same color as her mane. "Am I right in expecting you want your usual?"
"Actually, Sugar Cube, I'm looking for a present for Prism," Charge told the young baker/cashier of the establishment. Her eyes lit up more than they already were, if that was even possible, at the mention of his fiancé's name. He could hear her suppressing plenty of giggles.
"So, what I'm hearing is P's back in town?" Sugar Cube asked him in the most innocent voice she could muster. Charge knew where this conversation was going and nipped it in the bud.
"Yes," He said reluctantly. But he then shot the young mare a killer look. He put his right hoof on the counter and tapped on every syllable."But the future husband gets first dibs on hanging out with his wife to be."
"No fair!"
"I'd say it's totally fair," Charge said, a victorious smile playing on his lips. Sugar Cube rolled her eyes but went to the back of the kitchen, knowing exactly what to get. Charge stood next to the counter top, pondering whether or not to get some groceries while he was there. He felt a small itch on his scalp. He hated this Celestia-forsaken helmet, it was nothing more than an inconvenience to him, just something for show.
Charge sat down on his rump and pulled off the stupid piece of metal. He stared at it afterwards, or rather the stallion reflecting at him. Except for a select few ponies, he was just the butt of a sick joke to everypony. They hadn't had barely any new recruits in years. Ever since those damned elements showed up.
He didn't blame the bearers of the elements if anything he felt bad for them. Being forced into a position of high authority without their being able to choose, it must have been hell. He couldn't really blame princess Twilight either, he'd actually been at her coronation, she was a normal unicorn with wings in his opinion.
He couldn't really believe it, but he actually blamed Celestia, and to a lesser extent Luna. They always forced them to sit back and just watch the elements take care of everything that was theirs to battle. They would just make them protect the nobles and themselves. Yeah, protect the gods instead of the innocent civilians, makes perfect sense!
"You hoo! Hey, Charge, buddy, you're spacing out on me," Sugar called from the counter top. Charge looked at the brown earth pony, heart still in his stomach. He raised one hoof to mess with his natural strawberry blond mane. Some fillies and colts thought that the feathering on his helmet was his actual mane, so they were shocked to see that they had different color manes. He stared at Sugar Cube for a minute, not really sure what to say.
"Sorry," He mumbled under his breath as he stood up. Sugar gave him a sad smile, not wanting to pressure him into telling her what was going on. She then turned to a table behind her, grabbing a little brown bag with her teeth. She the set it on the countertop. Charge stared at it for a minute. "What is it?"
"A timber wolf," she said, picking up the bits that Charge had abruptly set on the counter. Charge had had enough for one night, he just wanted to get home. He double checked with Sugar Cube that he'd given her the correct amount of bits then exchanged goodbyes with the mare before leaving the mare to her own business.
The streets were almost completely abandoned art this point, most everyone in Canterlot were early birds so few people would be out at night. And if they were out at night, they'd be at a club or at a bar.
A bar. That sounded good to Charge. Just a quick drink then back home before Prism got home. Charge changed his route to run past one of his favorite bars. It wasn't exactly a nice place, but it was cheap and it had his favorite hard cider.
He could see the little tavern after just a few blocks. A small smile danced across his lips, he could practically taste the cider from where he was standing. He picked up his pace ever so slightly. He looked around, absent-mindedly. Just taking in the calm of this night.
He then heard something wrong. He could swear that he heard a stallion huffing and grunting. As if he was having... Charge walked up as quietly as he could to the next alleyway. He knew what was happening now, it was obvious if you knew what it sounded like. Charge peered around the wall to see what he knew he'd see.
He saw what looked like a stallion with a dark green coat was standing over... A filly. Charge felt his blood boil as he watched the horrid scene. He could see the stallion pumping himself into the poor filly, who was obviously drugged up.
"Hey!" Charge Called out at the stallion. He could see the stallion go visibly rigid. Charge ran up to the stallion, not wasting a moment in catching the sick motherbucker.
The stallion abandoned the filly, not wanting to face the consequences of the horrid sin he'd just committed. Charge took flight and easily pinned the, he could now see that he was an earth pony, to the alleyway concrete.
"Let me go!" The stallion said struggling underneath Charge's grip. "Let me go you damn princess pet!"
"You just raped a poor filly!" Charge shouted at him. Fury dripped from his words. He stared at the stallion's brown eyes with his own hate filled violet eyes. "Did she tell you to let her go?! You sick bucker, did she?!"
The stallion said nothing.
"W-what d-d-did he do?" Charge heard a small voice cry from behind him, followed by sobs.
~~¤~~
"Hey, babe," Prism called out when charge entered the home. Charge had long since shed his armor, getting fed up with the damn thing. Charge set down his saddle bags and trotted over to the couch. He then proceeded to flop down on it with a groan. His fiancè perked her head through the kitchen door, her eyes settling on the stark white Pegasus she called her lover. "Rough day?"
"Rough hour," he replied.
"What happened?" Prism asked as she tried to her soon to be husband. She blew a few loose strands of lavender hair out of her face before proceeding to pull up the ottoman. She sat there quietly, not going to pressure him into hurrying. Charge looked at his girlfriend, now fiancé, a small smile playing on how lips. The same happened for Prism. Charge sat upright, still feeling like just laying down.
"A sicko raped a filly in an alleyway," Charge told Prism, causing her to gasp. She pulled the ottoman closer to the couch so she could rest her head on his chest. "And, no, I'm not talking about a young mare. She was only eight. Her name was Daisy Chain. Ugh, she was drugged up too! She was raped by her older brother in a fricking alley!"
"Hey, hey, hey," Prism said in her most soothing voice. She lifted her head off of his chest and looked him in the eyes. "It's ok, Charge. You caught him right?"
"Yeah," He told her.
"Good, let's just go to bed ok?" She suggested. They both laid down in bed, unaware of what would happen in the near future.