To Guard Equestria

by BleepBloop2

Chapter 3

I woke up in my usual room in the Canterlot castle hospital. My armour was off, and I had bandages on my chest and head, though a quick check showed no broken ribs. I would need to thank the smiths. Need to stop by there to pick it up again anyway.

Ignoring the twinges of pain, I sat up and reached leaned down to the foot of my bed, picking up my chart. I was admitted two days ago, but the Princesses. Plural. Guess Luna’s back in charge already. The little alicorn reminded me of Twilight. She used to hide behind me as well.

I read through the chart. I had broken one rib and bruised a few others, but the broken one had been magicked better. Those, along with a minor concussion and a punctured lung, the latter of which had been fixed with magic, made up the worst of my injuries. A nurse came in as I put the chart back. Nurse Tenderhoof was always assigned to me when I came by, which was quite often. I donated blood every other week, so they always had enough on hand. They could magic some up if they wanted to, but the magic stuff dissipated after a while.

Tenderhoof smiled at me when she entered. She was always happy to see me, and happier to see me leave.

“Good to see you’re awake Michael,” she said. She was soft spoken without being quiet, if that makes sense. She was a pale grey unicorn with a sky blue mane and a bandaged hoof as a cutie mark. I smiled back at her. “You really should stop ending up in hospital, you know. You gave us all quite a fright. Twilight was almost beside herself.”

“I’ve had worse, and I heal quickly,” I said. “Besides, what would you do all day if I never came by? And where’s Twilight?”

“I think I’d manage somehow. Twilight’s with the Princess, I think. Sorry, Princesses. That’ll take some getting used to. So, what was it this time?” she asked me. “Come on, spill.” She always like hearing about what I did to end up in this bed. As she spoke, she put an IV drip on the stand next to the bed, passing the needle my way. I slipped it in first go.

I nodded, asking “How much have you heard already?”, not knowing what I should tell her. Celestia and Luna probably wouldn’t want it known the latter had tried to take the former's place two days ago.

“Not much. No one has. All I was told was that two days ago, you helped Twilight and some other mares rescue Princess Luna from the Mare in the Moon.”

I could work with that. I spun a tale about the Mare in the Moon taking Celestia’s place at the Summer Sun Celebration, of the group coming together and the trip to the ruins, of the Mare in the Moon holding the young Princess hostage, having taken her with her when she was banished a thousand years ago. I spoke of the fight, and how Twilight and the rest didn’t use the Elements, but were the Elements. Twilight had said something to that effect last night, before the rainbow hit me, and I felt it was a nice touch. I named no names other than Twilight, though. I’m not an idiot. Most of the time.

I spoke of being hit by the Elements as well, and how they banished the Mare in the Moon but spared Luna, of how I spoke with Luna and of the first meeting between the sisters in a thousand years.

Over the years, I’ve gotten pretty good at putting a good spin on the stories I told Tenderhoof. She had just started when I was brought here. She gave me food and talked as she worked, even though I didn’t understand. She was a friend.

“Theres a visitor waiting to see you, by the way,” she said as she checked my bandages. “Princess Luna. She refused to come in without somepony asking you if you wanted to see her.”

“Send her in when you’re done.”

She just nodded, and a few minutes later said I would be good for another few hours before I had to change bandages, but to avoid moving as much as possible for the next few days. I nodded, knowing the drill, and we said goodbye. Luna came in a few seconds after Tenderhoof left. Must have been waiting right outside.

Luna was bigger than she had been the night before. Not by much, barely enough to notice, but it was there. Her mane, while lacking her sister’s ethereal quality, seemed much wavier than it had, and she stood taller, with a longer horn and wider wings. Less than an inch taller, less than that longer and wider, but it was there.

She studied me as I looked at her. She hadn’t known what I was last night, but had probably been informed. She seemed fascinated by me. Yeah, she was a lot like Twilight.

“You’ve grown,” I said to her.

“INDEED, WE HATH GROWN SINCE LAST WE MET,” she said loudly, walking towards the bed as she spoke. It wasn't quite shouting, merely speaking loudly enough to make me lean back.

I looked at her for a moment. Either she thought I was hard of hearing, that was how she spoke a thousand years ago, or she was making a very odd joke. All things considered, it was probably the second one.

“I take it the past few days haven’t been going well for you,” I said. I mean, if they had, she wouldn’t be here. The look she gave the floor was all the answer I needed. “Want some advice? Stop shouting, and learn how to talk.”

“BUT THE ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE IS THE TRADITIONAL MEANS FOR ROYALTY TO INTERACT WITH PEASANTRY! AND OUR METHOD OF SPEECH IS THE PROPER ONE, NOT THE-”

I cut her off my holding her muzzle closed with a hand. Given she came up to around my knee, the hardest part leaning down to reach her.

“Speak quietly or not at all,” I told her. “Learning how to talk can come when you don’t make people’s ears bleed. Understood?” I made her nod. “Good. I’m going to let go now. Say something without shouting.” I let her go and looked over her. Ears flat against head, tail low, legs locked, eyes wide. She was scared. Good. Fear is the best teacher, better even than pain. No one knows how to hurt us like ourselves.

Luna swallowed and wet her lips before trying to speak. “Is, is this better?” she asked. At first it seemed too quiet, but I realised that it was only when compared to how she had spoken first. I nodded.

“Thats good for when you’re with a few people. In large groups, you’ll need to raise it a little to be heard. But the Royal Whatever is not to be used, got it?”

“The Royal Canterlot Voice,” she corrected, “and yes.” I looked down at her. “No. Pray tell, what should We have?”

“Understanding.” She gave me a confused look, her head tilted to one side. “In that context, ‘it’ is comprehension. If you have ‘it’, you understand. In that case, you understand the Royal Canterlot Voice is not to be used.”

“Ah, in that case, We do ‘got it’.” She frowned. “That doth not sound like proper Equestrian.”

“It ain’t. Equestrian is my second language. I still slip into the patterns of my first when I talk.”

“Ah. Got it.” She beamed up at me. “Aha! That sounded much better, did it not?”

“Next lesson,” I said, shifting a bit to the side and waving her up. She jumped onto the bed with a small flutter of her little wings. She lay down, tucking her legs under her. “Next lesson. Drop the royal ‘We’. You’re one pony, Luna.”

I spent the next few hours teaching her modern Equestrian. A half hour or so into it, her horn briefly lit up as the sun fell and the moon rose. That seemed to take a lot out of her, so we broke so she could go get something to eat, but were right back to it afterwards.

Luna nodded off a few hours before sunrise, and I was out not long after.

---

I woke up before Luna did. The alicorn filly was curled up next to me. Going by the position of the moon outside the window, the sun was going to rise in about half an hour. I shook Luna awake and let her know. I had a quick wash, taking care not to get my fresh bandages wet - how they got them on without waking me I would never know - and ate the breakfast Tenderhoof brought. She seemed surprised to see Luna still there, asking when she had arrived.

“She never left,” I told her between mouthfuls. It was a salad, sadly. Heavy on the beans and such, like most of the food I eat. Got to get protein somehow, and Celestia refuses to get me meat. Though, honestly, I am sick of beans, and nuts too, for that matter.

“She spent the night?” Tenderhoof asked, smiling slightly.

“Yeah. I helped her with her Equestrian, she raised the moon, we got something to eat and she passed out. I nodded off a bit after that.” The smile that grew on her face made me instantly uneasy.

“So, the Princess, that you helped rescue, spent the night in your room?” she asked me.

Not this again. I went through a similar thing with Twilight, when she was twelve and I was thirteen. Of course, she knew all this. I had explained it to her when I ended up in here after some bullies called Twilight some rather horrible names, many of which involved the work ‘bucker’.

I ignored her taunts, instead focussing on Luna’s blushing. Which reminded me, I wanted to ask something. “How do ponies blush?”

I got a complicated answer that amounted to ‘we aren’t actually sure, so it’s probably magic’. I nodded, and finished breakfast as Tenderhoof checked me over again. One more night before I could check out, apparently. When Tenderhoof left to check on her other patients - a few spoiled noble children wanting a day off school, from what she said - I turned to Luna.

“So, why’d you visit yesterday?”

“We, eh, I wanted to see thee, ah, you,” she said, nervously.

“Why yesterday? Why not wait until I was out?”

She let out a huff before starting to rant. “We were bored! Our sister will not let Us resume Our duties except the raising and lowering of Our Orb, and We had naught else to consume Our time! Nopony would explain why Our speech made the common pony run in fear! Nopony would converse with Us! But thee! Thou thought to check Our sister was herself before dropping thine guard around her! Thou called her by her name! Thou would speak with Us, We were certain!”

She was panting by the end, having said it all in one breath. Quite impressive, given her size. On that topic, I gave her a closer look. She was a slight bigger already. She had grown during the night. I only noticed because I was looking for it.

She looked like she expected me to say something. The silence seemed to be weighing down on her. I took pity on her.

“Fair enough. List your mistakes during that rant,” I said. She was a good student, and teaching her would kill time. She went through her mistakes, not entirely happy about making so many, and the lessons continued. We talked, and I made her correct herself when she was wrong.

I wasn’t gentle about it. I wasn’t kind. I laughed at her more than once. I probably insulted her more in that one lesson that she had been in her entire life before Nightmare Moon. I’m pretty sure she enjoyed it.

Twilight didn’t visit that morning. It worried me a bit, but she was important. She would have things to do.

She didn’t visit that afternoon. But she was probably just really busy figuring out the Elements or something.

She didn’t visit that evening. Luna had left just after sunset, wanting to show her sister how much better her ‘Modern Equestrian’ had become after just a day and a half of lessons. Apart from Tenderhoof coming to check on me every four hours and twenty eight minutes, I’d had no visitors since Luna left. I couldn’t sleep.

She didn’t visit that morning, when I was discharged. I dressed quickly, feeling odd outside my armour, and made my way to the throne room. I wasn’t exactly an uncommon sight in the castle, but I still got a few odd looks. Most of the Royal Guard wasn’t exactly fond of me, so that was probably why. Something to do with me mentioning when Celestia should have done something differently. I got on well with servants though. They seemed to feel I was alright, and I got a few ‘hellos’ as I walked.

I slipped into the throne room through a servants entrance. It blended seamlessly into the wall from inside the throne room, so if someone hadn’t been looking I’d appear from nowhere. This particular one was also behind the throne. Thrones, now, actually. Well, I say thrones. It’s just pillows. Celetia had a real plush looking one in reds and golds, while Luna had a smaller one in blues and silvers. I liked hers better.

I walked over to Celestia and asked her where Twilight was. From the way she jumped you’d think I’d threatened her with a knife. When she saw it was me, she relaxed, at least externally. I don’t think she ever actually relaxes.

“Twilight is in Ponyville, with her friends. The other Elements of Harmony,” she explained. Ah, makes sense. Fighting an ancient evil has to bring you closer together. “She has decided to move there.”

“Okay. I’ll pack up and move out there this afternoon,” I said, turning away.

“No, you will not. You will be staying in Canterlot.”

I stopped moving after the first word.

A few years ago, Celestia and I had come to an agreement, of sorts. We never actually said anything to one another, but we both knew what was going on. I would keep Twilight safe. Celestia would keep Twilight happy. It worked pretty well. We both spent a fair bit of time with Twilight, which meant I got someone who didn’t flinch when I smiled, and Celestia got to treat someone like a daughter. We got what we wanted, Twilight got what she wanted, everyone was happy.

“And who will be guarding Twilight, if not me?” I asked her. My tone was probably harsher than it should have been, because I saw the Guards tense up.

“Twilight is the most powerful unicorn I’ve ever seen. She doesn’t need a Guard,” Celestia replied, waving a hoof.

“She doesn’t have it in her to kill something, and she’ll be living near the Everfree,” I pointed out. My voice rose slightly. The Guards got tenser.

“How do you know she doesn’t?” Celestia asked me, infuriatingly calm.

“Ponies don’t like hurting things, let alone killing them. Don’t deny it, you know its true.”

“Oh, and you do?” she asked. She was leading me along, I could tell she was. But she was smarter than me. If I tried to shift the conversation, it would end up with me admitting to plotting a coup against her or something.

“You’re right. I don’t. But I’ll do it without blinking if I have to. I don’t hate them like ponies do. It won’t weigh on my mind, or keep me up at night. Besides, better I do it than Twilight does.”

“The fact remains Twilight could teleport away. She does not need a guard. Besides, I have another task for you.”

“What about the other Elements?” I asked her.

“Nopony knows who they are,” Celestia said. “Aren’t you going to ask about this ‘other task’?”

“No. It’s teaching Luna how to speak and act in modern Equestria.” I would never forget the shocked look on her face. It would make me smile whenever I thought of it. I love being underestimated. The little Princess was giggling at her sister’s face. I guess even she hadn’t seen her shocked that often. “You’re reasoning is that I’d be the best teacher, as I’d mention things ponies wouldn’t think to.”

She recovered quickly. “Yes, that is correct. In addition, I’m assigning you to the Night Guard. You will be serving directly alongside Shining Armour as Captain, reporting directly to Luna and myself. You can begin interviews for your subordinates next week.”

I wasn’t being given a choice. These were orders. So all I could do was nod and say, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Take the next few days off, Captain. Dismissed.”

I turned and walked the length of the throne room to the huge double doors at the far end. Working alone as I did, I had, had given me a great deal of autonomy. It was going to be a while before I was used to following protocol. Twilight was going- no, think abiut something else.

Then again, as Captain, I’d have some say over protocol for the Night Guard. And Celestia had said Luna and herself, meaning Luna first. I will admit I’ve never gotten on well with Celestia. Its rather childish, the reason. We both want to be Twilight’s favourite person. Favourite pony, in Celestia’s case. Celestia had a head start, being Princess and all, but I spent more time with her when we were younger, putting me at a close second. Now, I was out of the way, just like she had convinced Twilight’s parents to not visit as often, and then not at all.

I’m not saying she made Twilight’s parents stop visiting so she could replace them. You might infer that, and I might not deny it, but I will never say thats why she did it. She just wasn’t upset with them when they stopped coming. And her brother rarely had time to visit either, despite living in the same building. This might just be paranoia talking. And Celestia always put Twilight first. Well, within reason. She treated Twilight like her own daughter.

I checked a clock as I walked through the castle, and did some mental arithmetic. Next train to Ponyville wasn’t for a while. I could go to the smithy and still have some time to kill.

So, I stopped by the smithy and picked up my armour and sword, putting them on. A captain’s badge had been added to the shoulders, a golden olive branch above a shield with Equestria’s flag on it. While I was there, I got some practice with a crossbow they had been making. They actually let me keep one. It was their more recent attempt, and pretty good. Not a lot of kick to it, and it lined up almost perfectly. I thanked them, paid, and left.

I made it to the train station in time to get a good seat on the train to Ponyville. It left ten minutes after I sat down, and I zoned out for most of the four hour train ride.

When the train pulled into Ponyville, it was fairly empty in my carriage. I got off the train and headed to the centre of town. I stopped the first pony I recognised. It was the Mayor, and she didn’t look happy to see me. Then she saw the badges on my shoulder, and turned on an obviously fake smile. I asked her where Twilight was, and she pointed me towards the library. A quick thanks, and I was off.

I got more than a few stares walking through town, but I ignored them. The whispers were harder though. Loud enough for me to hear one word in a handful, and enough hushed conversation going on to make sure I heard a lot of words. Most were of the ‘what is he?’ variety, but some weren’t. I guess some of the ponies remembered me from two days ago. Hardly surprising.

I got to the library within five minutes of getting off the train, despite it being across the town. I hesitated, and then knocked. Twilight answered quickly, gasping when she saw me.

“Michael!” she said, hugging me around my waist. “I was so worried! You were so hurt when we left the ruins.”

Not worried enough to visit, I thought but didn’t say. I didn’t say anything, just picked her up and returned the hug.

When I put her back down, she waved me inside. The five mares from a few days ago were there as well. They looked at me with mixed emotions. Fluttershy was worried, or scared. Pinkie Pie was happy. Applejack was wary. Rarity was nervous. Rainbow Dash was frowning at me, which could mean a few things. Either she was angry or she was confused.

“How are you, Michael? When did you get out the hospital?” Twilight asked me, concerned.

“I’m fine. Got out this morning. Worst thing was a punctured lung, but that was magicked better. Other than that, only one broken rib, one cracked and two bruised, a minor concussion and a mess of bruises. I’ll be good in a week or so.” They were all staring at me, silent. It was getting on my nerves.

“I wanted to visit you, but the Princess said it was best to let you sleep,” Twilight said, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.

“Its fine, Twilight. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“‘Glad she’s okay?’” Rainbow Dash said, incredulous. At least she stopped frowning at me. “You get the stuffing kicked out of you by an evil alicorn, and you’re worried about her? Dude. What the hay?”

“I’m a Guard, Rainbow Dash. It’s what I do.”

That calmed her down, I think. She seemed to flare up at the oddest things. “Oh, no need to call me ‘Rainbow Dash’. Just ‘Rainbow’ is fine. Anypony who can get beat like you and worry about their friends is good in my book.”

“Anyone, not anypony,” I corrected. “And thanks, I guess.”

She looked confused, so Twilight explained why I insisted on using ‘one’ in place of ‘pony’, even when talking to ponies. It took longer than it should. Meanwhile, the others seemed to have gotten over their fear of me. Rarity came and looked over my armour.

“What are these marks, on the shoulders?” she asked.

“Symbols of rank,” I said, taking a sandwich from Pinkie Pie. Where she got them from, I’m not sure, but there were suddenly a couple plates of sandwiches sitting on the table.

“Oh, yes, you’re a Guard. But I don’t remember you having these yesterday. What rank are you?” she asked.

“Captain. Got promoted this morning.” I checked to make sure no flowers or hay were lurking in my sandwich before eating it.

“You’re a Captain?” Twilight and Rarity said simultaneously.

I nodded and looked down at the sandwich. It was pretty good. I finished it and had another. Twilight had a different reaction to hearing about my rather large promotion than the others did. She was happy for me, don’t get me wrong. But she knew what it meant. I wouldn’t be coming to Ponyville with her. I gave her a small smile, and got one in return.

“You CAN smile!” Pinkie Pie said, pointing a hoof at me. She seemed genuinely surprised by that. I just nodded, and she turned back to her conversation with Applejack. Although, I’m pretty sure she glanced at me when she thought I wasn’t looking.

I spent the rest of the day and a fair portion of the night like that. I didn’t do much talking, happy just to sit back and listen. I’ve never been much of a talker. Eventually, the others went home, leaving me and Twilight alone in the library.

“So. This is it, huh?” she said when the others were gone.

“I’ll visit when I can,” I told her. “It’s not much of a train ride between here and Canterlot. And I’ve got the next few days off, too.”

“The Princess finally got you to take a day of, huh?" she asked, giggling a little. "Still. I thought you’d be coming here with me.” She kicked at the floor with a hoof, leaving a small scratch in the wood. “Now you’ll be too busy to spend time with me, just like Shiney.”

“I’ll always have time for you, Twilight,” I told her.

She let out a sigh. “Thats what Shiney said as well. I barely see him anymore.”

Well, you never tried to visit him, is what I didn’t say, mostly because it was my fault she didn't. Her brother and I do not get along. “If it gets to that point, I’ll resign as Captain and transfer out here.”

Her head jerked upwards, her face torn between happiness and anger. “No. I can’t let you do that. Not for me, not for anypony, anyone.”

“You also can’t stop me,” I pointed out. “I’ve got pretty much all my pay saved. And all my leave. And we both know you wouldn’t object to me staying here.”

“Just, just don’t do it right away, okay? You’ll be busier the first few months than you will be after that. Give it time to settle down. Please?” She started giving me puppy-dog eyes there. She does that quite often to me, despite never having needed to.

“Okay. I’ll give it six months. Half a year. And if, after that, we go more than say, two weeks without seeing each other more than in passing...” I left the sentence hanging. She would take that as a challenge, if I knew her half as well as I thought I did. And I knew her as well as I knew myself. Maybe better.

I was right. Her eyes narrowed. “Deal!” she said, holding a hoof out to me. We shook on it, and then I hugged her. She was soft and warm and hugged me back. “I’ll tell your brother to visit more often when I see him next. And he’ll do it if I have to drag him here.”

“Thanks,” she said, with a laugh. “Try not to hurt him too much.”

“No promises.”

Nothing much happened in the few days I spent in Ponyville. I got a letter from Luna, telling me what would be expected of me as her Captain. On the last day, a Twilight got a letter from Celestia with a pair of tickets for the Grand Galloping Gala in it. She offered to take me, but I’d probably be there for work anyway. She started fretting about which of her other friends to take, so I wrote a quick letter asking for more tickets and had her send it to Celestia, claiming it was a thank you letter. A few minutes later and she had five more tickets, enough for all her friends. Problem solved.

I spent my last night in Ponyville, having swapped my (almost non existent) sleep schedule around, reading quietly with Twilight. It was wonderful. We criticised the books, pointing out any mistakes or continuity errors, and drank tea. Twilight nodded off a bit before dawn, having been up all day before, and now all night with me. I put her to bed and left, catching the first train to Canterlot.

I arrived with the sun, my train pulling in just as the first rays of light flowed over the horizon. It was an express train, thankfully, so it only took two and a half hours. I got to the castle as the guard changed, and made my way to Luna’s tower.

She had grown even more while I was away. She was still a fair bit smaller than Twilight, but she was obviously not a foal anymore. She had different proportions though. Slimmer in the legs and chest, with a longer face and horn.

She smiled when I entered. “Good morn, Michael. Have you eaten yet?” I shook my head. “Very well. Accompany me to the dining hall, so we might eat.”

The trip to the dining hall is a long one, unless you know the shortcuts. I do. We made it in ten minutes.

I don’t think Luna was expected so early, because the servants scrambled to set a place for her.

“I must say, Michael, that you know the castle very well,” Luna said. She had some sort of salad with flowers in it. Roses, mostly, though a few others. I didn’t eat, just having some tea.

I shrugged. “Spend most of a decade in one building and you learn it pretty well.”

“Have you given any thought as to who you want below you in the Night Guard?” she asked between mouthfuls.

I finished my tea before speaking. “One or two people I want to talk to. We’ll want a mix of vets and recruits. But before I do anything though, I need to know; what will we be doing?”

“Guarding me, of course,” Luna said.

Squashing a yawn, I said, “You don’t need a guard any more than your sister, or Twilight does. The Day Guard handle all the Guarding needs already, we don’t need two sets of Guards in Equestria. So, what will we be doing?”

“We will talk about your duties later, Captain. After breakfast.” She sounded annoyed, or possibly angry and trying to hide it. The rest of the meal went by in silence. I managed a couple more cups of tea before Luna finished. She really packed the stuff away, going through three or four servings. Maybe more, I had to blink a few times, so I might have missed them with how fast she put them away. Makes senses, given how fast she's growing..

We got back to her tower ten minutes later. She slammed the door closed behind us.

“You should not question Us in public like that!” she said. Angry, then. “When We tell you something is so, you accept it as such until we are alone!”

“Yeah, not going to happen.” Probably shouldn’t have said it like that, it just seemed to make her madder. “Look, Luna, listen. I’m not going to blindly follow orders. I didn't do it for your sister, I'm not going to do it for you. I’m going to question your decisions until you prove I don’t have to. I’ll do it in private where I can,” I said, mostly out of self preservation. If looks could kill, the one she was giving me would kill me so hard I’d die four years ago. “But if you order me to do something immediately, and I don’t like the sound of it, I’m not going to do it just because you told me to.”

“Very well,” she said, through gritted teeth. “I will endeavor to prove myself to you.” God, I could feel the venom in her voice.

“So, what will the Night Guard be doing?” I asked her. She had to visibly work to calm herself down before answering.

“Technically, you will be protecting me. You are correct, however, about the Day Guard being sufficient to protect Equestria. Historically, my sister has handled domestic affairs, while I have dealt with other countries. The Night Guard protects me on diplomatic escursions, and also provides protection for settlers. They have also been used as a... strategic intelligence gathering outfit, both domestically and abroad.”

“So, spying.” It wasn't a question, really, but she nodded.

“Spying, and any... covert operation Equestria requires. Over the past millenium, the number of ponies employed in such a role has dropped. In truth, there is only one creature in that line of work, two now you are a member of the Night Guard.” She paused, a hoof tapping her chin. “You may know of him. He works in the Library. His name is Spike.”

Author's Note:

New chapter!

Next chapter will probably be in two weeks time, as I barely got this one satisfactory. I've already had to re-write the next one twice, and I still don't like how its going.

But I don't want to leave you without anything for two weeks, so I was thinking of doing a short chapter (most likely under 2k words) from a ponies perspective (pony in this case meaning not Michael, so possibly Spike). I was thinking maybe Twilight or another of the Mane 6, but Luna is an option. Any thoughts?

Comments

[Wolfinsheepsclothing]

nice chapter looking forward to more

[Some random Rapidash]

Wait... So Spike is a spy... Awesome! *fist pumps till hand explodes* Worth it!

[BleepBloop2]

3098693
Glad you enjoy it. As I said, next chapter will probably be two weeks, barring a huge surge of inspiration or an interlude chapter of some sort.

3098934
No, no, he just happens to pass on to Celestia what he hears around the Castle. Is it his fault ponies seem to think the Library is a good place to have cladenstine discussions? [/sarcasm]
In all seriousness, though he operates entirely within Canterlot at the time being. He is ten years old.