Stories in Stone, Luna's Royal Guard.

by TDR

Cold Hearth, Warm Heart [18] [E]

Stories in Stone
Luna's Royal Guard
By TDR

Cold Hearth, Warm Heart

“Wasn’t that fun, that was like the most fun we've had in a while, with the play, and the party,and the presents, and the party, and we were all like shut that window, and then the Windigo and,... Hey is any of this stuff coming up in your research at all Twilight?” Pinkie Pie rambled while bouncing around an exhausted looking Twilight.

“It hasn’t yet Pinkie.” Twilight yawned.

The train ride back after the holiday play had seemed shorter than she remembered, and it was some what disappointing. Every one was exhausted and had dozed off once or twice on the trip back on the red eye. Every pony could have stayed at the palace or at her parents place, but every pony had far too much to do in the few short days left until Hearths Warming.

While the short naps had helped every one considerably, only the resident pink party pony had immediately resumed her awakened state without any sign of her former tiredness.

Since Pinkie was still going to be at her place at least until after the holidays as the construction crew took far longer than she thought they would. The cheerful pony was going to likely be cooking something, again. Not that Twilight minded, Pinkie's cooking was great, but even Spike could only handle so much of it before he felt ready to pop, and she helped with the clean up too.

Still that would keep her attention for a while. Twilight herself felt she had slept enough on the train that she was ready to get back into her work. The practice for the play had taken most of her time lately so she had not even been able to think about the sword.

On top of the play there was also Pinkie's prediction, that bothered her a great deal as well. But since that first night Pinkie had not even bothered to acknowledge that she had said anything about it. Usually she just made up an excuse to head back to Sugar Cube Corner or some other reason to avoid talking about it if Twilight pressed the issue.

Eventually Twilight let it drop rather than drive away her friend. It well could be nothing or something not even having to do with death. According to what Twilight had seen Pinkie was good at reading her own senses, but new or rare ones were confusing to her.

Pinkie dropped her gifts from the Princesses off at the library before darting off, intent to check up on the repairs and what ever she was watching. That left Twilight and Spike alone for a while at least.

“Spike, does Pinkie Pie seem odd to you lately?”Twilight questions.

“Pinkie Pie seems odd to me all the time. You'll have to be more specific.”Spike responds with a smirk.

“Never mind. I suppose it might be nothing then. You up to keep an eye on me for a while?” Twilight asks.

“I suppose so, not like I plan to do much else with all that snow out there. Does the sword even fit into Hearths Warming?” Spike grumbles.

“The Hearths Warming events were before Luna and Celestia came to power, this swords only from a thousand years ago.” Twilight states.

“So did they celebrate it back then too?”

“Most likely. Any way lets see what I get shown this time. I think the spell has gotten to the point where it senses what I really want to see. After watching everyone fill out paper work and sleep for hours at a time. It's finally skipping the boring stuff.” Twilight grind.

“Well that's good. Alright go ahead I’ll put this stuff away.”

“Thanks Spike.”

It barely took any time to prep and fade into her research, the motions were well practiced now. The familiar stars and void quickly surrounded her. Her gaze shifts over them for a time recognizing the ones she identified as her friends and some of her neighbors, but still not seeing any that could bethought of as Spikes. While that bothered her, it was a study for another day.

She shook her head diving into one of the windows swearing to figure this place out sooner or later.

========================================================

The mare pressed softly against him, leaning up to lick lightly along his throat. Jer'rahd groaned softly meeting her lips with his, his tail curling up a bit twining with hers as they........

=====================================================

Twilight yanked herself out of that selection rather quickly, blushing furiously. Damned sneaky spell, making her think she had it under control and then hitting her with this. It senses what she really wanted to see, ugh, she really regretted saying that now. Well at least it was clear Jer'rahd was getting along well with his new mare friend Scarlet. Twilight whipped her head and shifts her focus on one of the other mirror shards floating in the void.

============================================

“So your family is having a Hearths Warming party?” Starfall questioned.

“Yeah, its a rather big thing every year. I know you have your own family deal, but hey its just the four of you right? Bring every pony by, I can guarantee you my mom made enough to feed fifty plus more than what we have coming.” Rhede chuckled.

“I'll see what they have planned, but it might be nice not to have to do any cooking.“ Starfall considered.

“There's a bonus too. “Rhede grins mischievously. “I found out Jer is going to invite his new mare friend as well. I hear she's stuck alone in Canterlot for the holiday. Knowing him he will bring her by just so she won't be alone Might be the first chance to meet her. Heck might be the only chance to see her until we get wedding invites with how secretive he's been. Bleu's not even met her yet!”

“How is that possible? Bleu goes every where with Jer'rahd.”Starfall asked confused.

“I think he's doing it intentionally.” Rhede pondered looking down at the coffee mug on the table before him.”He's probably worried about how Bleu will react. After all he was starting to date Bleu's former partner.”

“Considering how often Bleu has tried to set him up with random mares at the bar when we go, I doubt he should be worried.” Starfall rolled her eyes glancing up as some of the Royal Guard trotted into the Castles dining hall.

“His track record with mares is rather bad.”Rhede muttered

“There is that. Planing to invite any other ponies?” Starfall asked.

“Just Luna, On Celesta’s suggestion no less. “Rhede grinned.

“Really?”

“Yeah something about a private party she had planned that she would not be too thrilled about if her sister crashed it. Not very likely with how much Luna seems to prefer solitude. Celestia prefers a great deal of company. She also did seem a little upset I would not be able to make it to her party. Ah well. Can't win them all.”

“Odd you choose family over a personal invite from the Princess.” Starfall chuckled.

“That's how my loyalty goes. Family first, then friends, then the job, after that everything else.” Rhede shrugged.

“At least some of your priorities are straight.”

“Besides, my mother would kill me if I missed another Hearths Warming at the house.” Rhede shuddered.

============================================

Twilight pulled back as the conversation died out when the pair of them rose and went back to their duties.

She opted for a peek back into Jer'rahd's window as she was suddenly more curious about the mare he was seeing. .

=========================================

“This is a rather odd position, puts you in quite a bit more control too.” Jer'rahd commented.

“Problem with that love?” Scarlet grinned.

“Just reminds me of something Rhede once told me about something to do with a leash and collar......”

“Hmm maybe later Jer'rahd, a green one would definitely suit you though.....”

================================================

NOPE!!

Twilight blushed heavily yanking back and choosing another fragment. What was in this one?

================================================

Luna rubbed her eyes before looking down at the pages of the Red Tome again. The book was fairly useless to her. Most of the pages were blank and the ones that were not were filled with with descriptions of violence and gore that was chock full of spelling errors and words that made little sense. And that was just the few pages that had words, some had pictures. The book was unsettling to say the least.

What was odd was that The Book of Blue made numerous mentions of the red tome and what it said though Luna could find nothing matching what Discord referenced in the book itself.

The red Tome was far far older than the Book of Blue, though unlike Discords Journal on the Elements of Harmony it appeared to be much newer.

The Gray Grimiore was a different story. Discord's rants in the Book of Blue seemed to indicated he was scared, almost terrified of the book. The Grimiore actually showed a bit of it's age with faintly faded pages and a cover that looked a little rough around the edges, well cared for , but old.
Every spell in the book was something she could have used in the past and likely could use in the future. Several were spells boosted the power of the target of the spell. Some of them temporary enchantments, but there was one in particular that had held her attention. The materials she would need to pull it off were ridiculous, but if the description was correct the power she could gain would be immense, far surpassing any one who might oppose her.

With the spell she could very well defend Equestria from anything that dared challenge it. Perhaps she might gain the same recognition as her sister had from the populace as well. She was well liked in the Guards, but not so much by the civilian population. It was something that bothered her a little, but it had been some time since she had thought about it.
She smiled a little. She hadn't thought about her popularity polls since she had met Jer'rahd and the others. Perhaps her sister had been correct about making friends...

=============================================

Twilight pulled back in confusion. She wasn't sure if there was something wrong with the spell, but the pages Luna was looking at in the book appeared blank to her. Occasionally she would see something that looked like text out of the corner of her eye but when she focused the text vanished like it was being censored.

Time to move on to another window.

===============================================

“Gaaaah, harder Jer'rahd, aaaahah!!”

===============================

NOT THAT ONE!!

=================================

[“Sorry about all that Velkorn. Was the dress salvageable at all?”] Bleu pouts.

[“It was not your fault.... well the cake was, but not my dress. And no it was not.”] Velkorn grumbled taking a sip of her tea.

The pair of them were sitting in a small cafe just outside the palace sharing a table and ignoring the stares of others who walked by or took other seats at the small cafe. The owner and most of the wait staff were used to the pair as Bleu found this was the only cafe in Canterlot that offered Gemstone toppings on various dishes. It seemed it was a frequent stop for some of the students from Celestia's school for Gifted Unicorns. Bleu had not yet met another dragonling from the school , but she wasn't looking to any way.

[“Well at least you got to spend time with him afterward. Better than me, I've not seen anyone, including boss since then, its been little over a month too.”] Bleu sighed.

[“It does seem like he is spending a good bit of time with that mare he met. I gather they are hitting it off well?”] Velkorn added.

[“Far as I know. He's been rather reluctant to let me meet her. I guess he figures I would be offended he was seeing some one else because of Platinum.”]Bleu shrugs downing another cookie topped with ruby shards.

[“ Are you?” ] Velkorn questioned.

[“I don't know. I mean I don't expect boss to hermit up, and its been two years and it's not like they had even managed more than a couple of dates before.... you know. But I do feel out of sorts about it, I am happy for him. Though I would very much like to meet the mare.”] Bleu pondered.

[“You may just, Rhede is inviting her to his families Hearths Warming party.”] Velkorn smirked.

[“Really? Boss said he planned to invite her to his families Hearths Warming party Along with the rest of us.”] Bleu blinked.

[“I thought all his family was dead?”] Velkorn questioned.

[“So did I.”] Bleu wondered.

===============================================

Grahhh, stupid spell stopping everything but Jer'rahd's window. Honestly how long could the pair of them keep it up..... maybe she should research that later to check the average. Of course that would mean she would need a base line test outside of the spell. She could ask one of the others though they might not be completely honest simply due to how their relationship was going with said stallion thus she would have to go out and research it herself.......

Twilight slams the brakes on that train of thought before she turned permanently red. She stared at the window shard for Jer'rahd a moment longer before diving in and hoping they were finally done.

==================================================

The pair of them were finished with the more intimate enjoyment of each others company and were sitting in the kitchen of her friends mansion. Jer'rahd could not help his eyes wander over Scarlet's sweat soaked form as she moved about getting something to eat. He noted she said something, but it took him a moment for his brain to catch up.

“Sorry was a little distracted there. What was the question again Scarlet?” Jer'rahd asked.

“Ha, I bet you were. I asked what the deal was with your ranking The whole military structure seems odd to me especially after you seemed to have ranked up so fast.” Scarlet stated.

“Need something for your book again?” Jer'rahd grinned rather surprised the mare was writing a book about him. One she swore wasn't one of the torrid romance novels. Something he claimed he wouldn't mind if she did write given all the 'data' she had been collecting on that sort of thing.

“Maybe.” Scarlet grinned.

“Well outside the 42nd Equestria's forces are split in two The pegasus Air Force and then every other pony in the Guard. Rumor is Celestia has a deal with the sea queen to use Sea ponies as a naval force , but well we have not exactly had much conflict near the oceans anyway.

The bottom rung in both branches is Private, after a bit of time or work you rank up to Corporal, then Sergeant, then Staff Sergeant, then Master Sergeant and First Sergeant. Both branches use that tree for the general solders. There’s extra training to head into a officer position. Granted a great many nobles just buy the lowest officer rank for their children and just send them to that training to give their kids a cushy job pushing papers” Jer'rahd snorted at that thought, though Scarlet already knew his feelings about most nobles and was well aware she was one of the few exceptions.
.
“The officers are where the Pegasus and Guard split apart. Both still have Lieutenants and Captains, The ground has Major and Colonel, while the pegasus have Wing Commander and Air Commander. After that it goes to the five Generals.“

“Just five?” Scarlet asked.

“Just five and all of them are part of the forty second, or were part of it. Five Star is the one with seniority, that's General Mustang. Princess Luna only knows how long he has been about. The previous three star General retired which moved the two and one star up to fill the higher ranks. Evidently I preformed well enough to be put in the open position. Personally I have no idea how I got the rank. Likely due to princess Celestia's assignment for me.”

“Oh, was that the one you were talking about you came back from before meeting me?” Scarlet questioned.

“No, that was just some quest for some colored books in the Darklands.”Jer'rahd waved a hoof.

“Ooh books? Now you have me curious, I do love books.”

“Well that gives me a hint of what to get you for Hearths Warming. You wouldn’t like those books anyway. One was written by a god of madness of all things, just as likely to eat you as let you read it. Far to many crazy things in that place. Better those things stay lost where ever they are.“ Jer'rahd stated still somewhat guarded on the truth about the mission.

“ You mean, crazy things like a giant tortoise that was made into armor for you?” Scarlet smirked.

“I keep being told it was a turtle.” Jer'rahd admitted.

“Eyes are up here.... unless your looking for the best way to go another few rounds.”

“You are insatiable do you know that.” Jer'rahd grinned.

“Complaining?” Scarlet smirked with a flick of her tail.

“Not even a little”

=====================================================

Goddess, she hated this spell right now. It was like the damn thing was trying to tell Twilight she needed to get laid. Was it a subconsciousness thing? Or was the spell just messing with her?

She checked the others exhaling in relief as the shard of Bleu again seemed to let her in.

=======================================================

“So what did you need these things for again any way Princess? Boss likely will not be too happy that they went missing.” Bleu asked dropping a small chest on the table before the Princess.

“I have might have found some one to reforge them.” Luna stated flatly

“You're kidding? Boss tore the whole city apart looking for some pony to fix his sword. He didn't find shit.” Bleu stated.

“He does not have the connections I do. The problem is obvious however the sword cannot be fixed.” Luna explained opening the chest to lift the remaining shards of Jer'rahd's grandfathers blade out of the chest. The entire sword was here save six small pieces of metal from near the guard. Luna didn't have the heart to try and get those bits back.

“But you just said...” Bleu began.

“I said it would be reforged, not repaired Bleu.” Luna stopped her. “ I have access to some rather rare metal and a smith of a caliber long thought lost in Equss. I think having his sword reforged is a fitting gift for Hearts Warming is it not?”

“I see . I'm sure boss'll love it. So one other question then .” Bleu commented.

“What is that?”

“What do you want for Hearths Warming?” Bleu grinned.

“Ummm...”

“So let me get this straight your mom invites every one, every year?” Starfall demanded.

“Yep. Though the last couple years me and Jer have been way too busy to go and she's not too thrilled about that, this year we go, or moms threatened to drag us both their by our ears. She's a strong pony too, she can do it. She also invited every single pony that had any rank above us so that we would be able to make it. Well invited or threatened, hard to tell with her sometimes.” Rhede explained.

“What do you mean she invites everyone?” Starfall questioned.

“Any pony the family has associated with gets an invite. A few years ago when I was still in the Zebra lands she sent a invite that included the entire nation so long as Velkorn and I came. Jer'rahd also mentioned she sent a invite to every pony in Dullahan keep while he was there.”

“Wait, why didn't I get one then?” Starfall pouted.

“It was sent back, with a note from Stormsong about how you were too busy. Mom was not thrilled.” Rhede muttered.

“If my sister was not in love with that mare, I would strangle her.” Starfall growled.

“You got a personal invite for you and your daughter this year. Heck bring your sister as well and Stormsong if you are feeling nice.” Rhede grinned, “Though I somehow doubt you will be.”

“Well well you certainly look dashing in a Santa hat there fluffy tail whats the occasion.” Bleu grinned.

“Fluffy tail? Do you come up with these on the spot Bleu or make them up as you go?” Rhede snorted.

“Bit of both.” Bleu shrugged.

“Any way let Jer know mom is not going to take the, 'hes too busy' excuse this year and he needs to bring that mare friend of his as well to the holiday party.” Rhede stated looking down at Bleu as he stood in the doorway of the house she and Jer'rahd shared.

“Yeah would be nice to meet her finally.” Bleu rolled her eyes.

“You've not even met her? He's playing his cards close this time, guess he still doesn’t trust me after Silphy. Soo, Velkorn said you asked the princess what she wanted for Hearths Warming? What did she say?” Rhede smiled.

“A long winded speech that basically translated to, Don't get me anything unless you can figure out a way to make ponies less afraid of me.” Bleu grumbled with a huff.

“Hmm, a difficult task, but not impossible. A little image tweaking and she will be set. Apparently she has also never met Maw.“

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“You ever wonder why I act the way I do? That mare is afraid of nothing, and controls the family with an iron hoof. A hydra could stampede through the house and if mom said it was a invited guest the rest of my family would offer it a place at the table.”

“Oh, crap that's right, I might finally get to see what made you the lump of stud muffin you are today. Any available brothers about my age there ?”

“You could say that. I question available though. They are my family after all.”
Rhede grinned.

Jer'rahd stepped out the door glancing up at the sky as the first flakes of snow begin to fall. The weather ponies said they were going for an apple or two worth of snow just to give Hearths Warming a nice coat of white for the decoration but not enough that travel would be difficult. He glanced back at Scarlet's place smiling, the two of them had spent nearly every day since the Gala last month together. He had opted to use the vacation time he had never used. He had meant for only a week to be used but that had turned into a whole month.

The replacement blades had been delivered, all the paper work was caught up. All Jer'rahd really had to left to do was train.

General Mustang was thrilled when Jer'rahd requested the time off and practically forced him to take the whole month off just so he would not have to deal with him for a while. Mustang had called it the greatest Hearths Warming gift ever to have Jer'rahd out of his mane.

Things had turned a great deal more serious between Scarlet and himself. So much so he had spent most of his time over at her place. It had decidedly been worth it, if she had not wanted a little time to herself to try and write he would have still been there. She had said that even if he was not actively distracting her he was still distracting her while he was in easy reach. Taking that as a cue to step out for a bit, and perhaps do a little shopping, he left with the promise to return soon.

Rhede's mother would have sent the invite out by now. Likely his last warning letter as well. There was no excuse this time, granted the last two years there really had been no excuse either. Their home was not that far from Canterlot, he could have gone both years. Maw Pelt was likely perfectly aware of this and was going to make both sure he and Rhede paid for missing.... what was it, five years, six.... yes six years since that last Hearths Warming before he was sent to the Diamond dog front. Rhede had not even been able to make it due to what ever special training he was receiving at the time. Without Rhede there he always felt uncomfortable at these parties. Granted he always felt uncomfortable at the Pelt's any way even after living with them for a few years before joining the Guard. He had nothing against Rhede's family, they were all just a little too.... intense at times.

His hooves started crunching though the first few layers of snow collecting on the ground as he reached the door to his house. Kicking the snow off his hooves he spotted the red envelope and winced a little knowing who it was from and that it served as the last warning before Maw Pelt came for him. He had no intentions to miss this year and had already invited Scarlet as well. The mare was quite thrilled at the prospect of meeting his family, adoptive or not. This would be the first time any of his friends would meet her, he had no doubt they would all like her, he mostly just worried about Bleu's reaction.

He stopped in the hall way turning his gaze up to the painting on the wall, Bleu must have been cleaning the store room and found it. It was not like he ever unpacked anything but the bare necessities, but Maw Pelt had mailed this too him some of his things as soon as he had a place in Canterlot.

The painting showed four ponies and a little foal cradled in the lap of the only unicorn in the painting. The colors had faded leaving the whole thing in a wash of gray and brown save the bright pink brush stroke that was his mothers hair. This was the only image left of his family, and he only had it because Maw Pelt thought it was worth saving when the house was lost. Jer'rahd knew he was in no shape at the time to try and save anything. He was glad she had planned ahead and saved it.

He pushed his way back out the door into the snow. There was shopping to be done, still but after that little trip into depressing memories a drink or three was all he could concentrate on.

Author's Note:

Part one of this repair job. To be honest aside from splitting things up into three parts i added a great deal of fixes and new information about the way of things to these chapters.

New info on Luna's old Element bearer's new info on the order and new Maw Pelt goodness.