Idol Hooves at A Canterlot Wedding

by Airy Words

The Exciting Life of a Royal Guardsman

I sighed again and slouched. Guarding my small section of hallway in the castle from nopony-knows-what was just as boring as guarding a small section of the Canterlot Wall. Probably more so. I had most sensibly asked the Sergeant if I could at least guard the opposite wall a few strides down the corridor. That way I would be able to see outside, searching for any threats. “Outside is being taken care of by other ponies! Do your duty, soldier!”

I used to love the monotony of just following orders, no matter how senseless. When did this change? When did escaping boredom become nearly as important as my duty? Maybe something would crash through the wall, giving a moment of excitement before smashing me to smithereens on the far side. Vaguely, I wondered if I would ever get so bored that I would prefer this. Eventually, my ears picked up two sets of hooves approaching.

I had made a game of straightening my posture at the last possible moment. It made the long periods of nothing, which pretty accurately described the job of a soldier, a bit more entertaining. I had noticed that many enlisted soldiers also played this game. To be honest, a changeling had an unfair advantage over ponies. I could detect the emotional state of anyone within earshot if I concentrated, pinpointing when they were about to come into view. Sometimes, I could even identify the person just based on a familiar mixture of boredom, love, anger, and the dozens of other emotions that filled their thoughts. It was like a hoofprint, but each pony would have an angry hoofprint, a daydreaming hoofprint, etc.

Today I pulled myself up straight early. It felt like Shining Armor was one of the two approaching, an exhausted Shining to be specific. But I couldn't feel any emotions radiating from his partner. How was that possible?

Standing at attention, I turned an eye that direction. When they started to round the corner, I first saw Shining quietly engrossed in conversation with his companion, then as they continued around the bend of the hallway I saw her. As in HER, her. My Queen. Chrysalis.

Visually she looked like Princess Cadance, but to any changeling's senses, they could not have been more different. The real Cadance shined like the sun. The sheer output of her radiant love could passively feed a dozen drones to their fill in minutes. If any drone was foolish enough to try to drain her emotions, it would burn them out in seconds or make them explode—possibly both.

To my emotional senses, Queen Chrysalis was more like a dark hole floating through the air, constantly sucking love from her companion. I froze, unsure what to do. Where was the real Cadance? Would the Queen link me back into the hive? Why was she here?

They hadn't noticed me yet, but they surely would if I ran away now. I realized my choice was made for me, and I continued to stand stiffly at attention, hoping to be unnoticed. Shining would pass closest, so perhaps Queen Chrysalis would not notice little, insignificant me. A sudden surge of pleasure and a punishing pounding on the shoulder brought that illusion to an end.

"Idol Hooves! How are you doing, buddy! It's been too long! Here for our big day, huh? That means it will have to be your turn next, right?"

I forced a smile and looked my former camp-buddy in the eye. "It's good to see you too, Captain. I hope the day is not too big for you."

Shining laughed. "Same old Idol! You're avoiding my question, though. You're still living with, umm, Topaz Showers, isn't it? You need to start thinking about your future!"

I saw that "Princess Cadance" was studying me closely now, frowning. Surely she had noticed my lack of a pony's emotional radiance. At a loss for what to do, I waggled my eyebrows at her. A familiar green glow lit her horn for the briefest of moments, and her eyes flew open. "Oh, it IS Idol Hooves! I do remember now! Dear, would you go on ahead for a moment and let me catch up with him about…uh…Citrine Something. I would really appreciate it." The last part was emphasized with an uncharacteristically firm tone accompanied by a slight green glow from her horn.

I saw Shining stammer for a moment as Chrysalis both sucked love energy from him and pushed a different kind of energy into his skull. He seemed especially subdued when he replied "Uh, OK. Whatever you say, dear."

Shining turned back to me with a bit of a green glow and a dazed look in his eyes, quite different from the too-many-beers dazed look I had seen before. Then he shook his head and his eyes and expression were back to normal. I felt his emotions spike again. "Idol! You and I will be sharing a few drinks tonight, buddy!"

"I prefer to drink my own drinks, if it's all the same to you, sir."

Shining laughed then continued down the hall. “Don’t be late for the rehearsal, honey!”

In front of me, “Honey” splayed her front hooves out, lowered her head slightly, and stared at me most intently.

“Oh, I won’t be.”

Comments

[Shachza]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand... dodge now!

[Devildogg20]

7589687 and follow up with a spell to her center mass! Knock her out and reveal her!

[Asolem2]

Shining laughed. "Same old Idol! You're avoiding my question, though. You're still living with, umm, Topaz Showers, isn't it? You need to start thinking about your future!"

He is really out of it if he can't properly remember Topaz's name

[Airy Words]

Indeed. He’s exhausted.

Also, I imagined that Shining and Idol’s friendship grew more distant as Shining climbed the social and military rank ladders. Meanwhile, Idol stayed content in his role as the closest equivalent to an anonymous hive drone that Equestria had available.

[Black--Soul]

This would be a AU of the Idol Hooves story now. Looking forward to enjoy the difference