The Step

by Pointman

Chapter 1

18 months later (6 months after the coronation of Princess Sparkle)
1307 hours, Princess Sparkles Chambers, Canterlot Castle

“SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE”

The stout purple dragon ran through the door frantically, slipping on a rug

and flipping backwards eventually colliding with a stack of papers that had

overflowed from Twilight’s desk. Spike collected himself.

“What is it Twilight?”

“This is terrible, absolutely terrible!”

“That bad?”

“I’m missing the 188-077 forms, if we can’t get those files sent out then we won’t

get any shipments of parchment until next Tuesday”

Spike was, as usual, amused at Twilight's overreaction

“Oh, Twilight”

“SPIKE! This is serious, if we don’t find those forms-“

“You mean these forms?” asked Spike producing a stack of paper

“Where did you find those?”

“I was filling them out when you called me”

“Are they-“

“All taken care of, I just have to drop them off at the outgoing mail-room”

Twilight put her face on her desk in shame “UGH…I'm sorry Spike, it’s just that I’m-“

“Overworking yourself...again”

Twilight shrugged and mumbled “yes”

“Come on Twilight, you haven’t left the castle in over a week, we have lower

level ponies to file this paper work”

“But Spike, I’M the princess, if anything doesn’t get through, if there are errors in the bureaucracy

then I’m the one responsible for what doesn’t get done, if the proper paperwork isn’t filed then

we could lose crop planting time and we could be faced with a food shortage, then the citizens

would revolt against Celestia and then Equestria will be thrown in chaos and it’ll be ALL MY FAULT!”

“Uh, Twi…aren’t you, I don’t know? Over thinking that, just a little bit?"

Twilight collected herself and sighed

“You’re right Spike, perhaps I’m overreacting and we have been working hard lately”

Spike stomach rumbled for want of food, Twilight giggled

“Tell you what Spike? Why don’t I treat you to lunch? Anywhere you wanna go, my treat”

“Um…I know! There’s a place down on 5th avenue called the Leaf Shack and I

hear that they do a magnificent ruby shake”

“Alright, let’s get going then”

The pair left the office which was situated in one of the castles more remote areas so as to give Twilight, ever the diligent student, some peace to continue her studies and (much to Spikes chagrin) complete her paper work. Even in this part of the castle the hallways were magnificently adorned with painting from Equestria's best artists lining the walls, gold framed its doorways and marble pillars supported its great halls. The Royal Equestrian Guards stood at the entrance way to Twilight's wing of the castle, guarding against trespassers and with past events fresh in mind, Infiltrators. Twilight passed the guards and waved them off as they tried to follow her, this was simply a lunch run and she didn’t feel the need to bring them along if she could afford not to, at her heart Twilight was still the same awkward student and Guards just brought more unwanted attention to herself (Slightly less than her status as a princess, but still…)

Twilight stepped up to the open window at the end of the hallway, Spike knew instantly what

was about to happen

“Oooooooh no Twilight” the young dragon replied fearfully “Can’t we just teleport there?”

Twilight turned to the dragon “Oh Spike, what’s the point of having wings if you never use them?”

“But the last time you flew with me on your back we crashed into that night club”

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad”

“I almost hit the wall! If the DJ hadn’t caught me when she did, I would have been crushed”

“Oh, come on”

Twilight grabbed Spike and threw him on her back, jumped out into the air… extended her wings and glided out over the capital She looked down admiring not only the architecture as she often times would gazing out of her room back when she was a student but she also admired the hustle and bustle of the ponies of Canterlot. Its vendors lined the streets peddling their wares, young ponies were shopping the capitals array of fine fashion boutiques and construction crews were laying the foundations to future buildings. Twilight remembering her objective scanned the streets from above trying to pick out her destination; then remembering Spike was on her back (clinging to her out of fear) simply asked him.

“So where are we going again?” she asked casually

Spike barely squeaked out his answer “5th…and…Trottingham”

“Oh, right”

Twilight found their appropriate intersection and landed without incident, she turned to the young

dragon still clinged to her back, smiled slightly then picked him up and put him firmly on the ground

where he stood motionless.

“See Spike? I can totally fly and NOT crash. What do you think of that?” Asked Twilight

Spike however was still firmly shaken up and didn’t respond

“You know Spike? For a dragon you sure do hate flying”

Spike composed himself and responded

“BABY dragon, I still haven’t matured enough to grow wings ya know”

Twilight giggled to herself, “You coming Spike?” she asked as she made

her way to the Leaf Shack

Spike got up and followed her in, as they entered the fragrant smell of fresh greens reminded Twilight that she had skipped breakfast…and lunch…and dinner…and then breakfast again. Spiked rushed to the back of the long line of ponies waiting to order as Twilight looked at the menu that was hanging on the wall trying to decide what she wanted.

“Hmm, the asparagus wraps sound good, what are you getting Spike?” she asked

as she turned to the dragon.

What she saw instead was Spike at the front of the line with the line of ponies waiting parted in two.

“SPIKE! What are you doing? Get to the back of the line”

“I did, but these ponies wouldn’t let me”

“What?” Twilight asked flatly

One of the patrons spoke up “Well, your Highness, we understand that you have important

duties and we didn’t want to make you wait”

Twilight groaned at the special treatment, she was uncomfortable with fanfare for the most

part and she hated being placed on such a lofty perch. Twilight picked her words carefully

“I appreciate this, but please I wish to simply wait with everyone else”

The ponies gathered there all nodded in agreement and reformed their line as Spike returned

with his shake slurping happily. Twilight rejoined the line and ordered her meal without further incident.

“What was that all about?” he asked as they exited the cafe and sat down at one of the outside tables

Twilight opened the wrapping paper around began to eat “I don’t know Spike, maybe it could

have something to do with my wings” Twilight replied sarcastically between bites

“Fine, Fine, you don’t have to be so mean about it”

Twilight slumped slightly and sighed “I’m sorry Spike, it’s just that I don’t really like the attention is all”

“What about the Coronation? You seemed comfortable with the attention then”

“That’s different it was a public event, I had time to prepare, time to make it look like I was

confident and ready to take on this challenge…but really-“

“You’re not sure you’re a good enough princess…are you Twi?”

Twilight silently went back to her asparagus wrap

Spike finished his shake “You know Twi? You really are the right pony for the job, I mean you’re

smart and kind and you always know what time of the day it is…more than I can say for some ponies”

Twilight shrugged “Still, it feels like I have the weight of Equestria on my shoulders sometimes,

Ponies count on me to make decisions and if I screw up then…”

Spike reached out and held Twilight's hoof “But you haven’t screwed up yet, have you?”

“No, I suppose I haven’t”

Spike let go and replied jovially “Well, there you go Twilight! Everything’s going to be just fine, right?”

Across Town, Royal Guard Barracks, main barricade

The two guards that had pulled the day time shift watching the front gate of the main Barracks compound were busy debating which of the Wonderbolts they’d have sex with; bantering back and forth, neither able to get the other to see it their way. But that’s what you did when on guard duty: find random topics and argue pointlessly for one side or the other, just to make the time go faster.

“I’m telling you” started the Guard-Corporal “Spitfire is the hottest Mare in the whole of this

stallions army, I mean come on, those bedroom eyes, that flank, you’d have to be crazy NOT

to find her attractive”

His friend waved him off “Pfft, Spitfire is an officer, no good comes from them, now

Fleetfoot on the other hoof-”

“Is also an officer, ALL the Bolts are ranked Ensign or higher” the corporal replied sarcastically

“Ensigns don’t count, anyway. Anyway, Spitfire’s way too muscular, Fleetfoot on the other hand

is a nice balance of soft and fit, you know what I’m sayin?”

“You’re a moron”

“And you have unrealistic expectations”

“Yeah right like you would ever-“

The Private interrupted him “Hang on, who is that!?”

Two meters from the first barricade stood a single stallion in an officer’s long coat.

The guards looked at each other perplexed.

“Did…did you see him approach?” the corporal asked his companion

“We should have seen him before now, it’s not like there’s anything to hide behind in broad daylight,

it’s all open space”

It was true, the area in front of the barricade was all open ground and off limits from civilians,

if anything entered that area, even the most inattentive guard would notice it.

The officer for his part waited patiently for them.

“Is there anyone on the visitation list? Scheduled inspection?”

The Private looked the list up and down but couldn’t find anything on the schedule

“There’s no visitation until 1600…go see what he wants”

“Why don’t you do it?”

“You’re the ranking officer here, go and lead by example”

The Guard-Corporal sighed and glared at his fellow guard

“Fine, but keep your eyes peeled, I don’t like this one bit”

The corporal stepped out of the booth and walked up to their mystery visitor, saluted him and then asked

“What can I help you with today, sir?”

The officer wasted no time responding

“I believe you have a wanted stallion in your presence, Corporal”

It was only then did the guard take a good look at the officer’s well scared face, and at that moment the young guard’s jaw dropped. The other guard in the booth was already hitting the alarm button, sending the entire barracks complex on alert, and by extension the rest of the garrison.For his part the officer smiled, and gazed upon the mobilization of the guards as the corporal threw him to the ground and slapped a pair of shackles on to him. The Sergeant-At-Arms, a grizzled, old Unicorn named Stryker who was nearby had run over to find the source of the commotion.

He poke his head into the guard station

“Why the Tartarus ‘ave ye sounded the alarm and what in the name of Celestia gave ye cause fer it?”

He asked the private with a sharp, almost dangerous edge to his tone.

Stryker noticed the wide, frightened stare in the young stallions eyes and the private responded

merely by pointing to the officer on the ground

The chained stallion noticed the Sergeant, and looked up at his old friend with a smile and asked simply

“Well, did you miss me?”

Author's Note:

Sooooo, we jump to the main story. Now, I know that the whole "Villan getting caught as part of his evil plan" is starting to become a cliche in all story telling mediums, but trust me here guys, I'm going somewhere interesting with this. Hope you enjoyed it, more soooooon-ish. Travel Well <3