Castle Endgame
The next three days were exhausting in every way possible. 24-hour shifts. Minimal food. Less rest. The emotional sustenance that Topaz had provided wasn’t nearly enough to make up for my expenditures during the invasion. My energy reserves were running dangerously low. I was forced to take desperate measures.
“You are off-duty now, Corporal. Go back to the barracks until your next shift. It’s the only rest you’re likely to get for the next couple of days.”
“But sir, being around the foals picks me up more than anything. And Miss Chalkboard likes the help.”
A vise-like grip constricted around one of my forelegs. I looked down to see a diminutive thestral mare staring up at me intensely. “Who is Best Princess?” she demanded imperially.
I nodded my head most respectfully. “Why, you are, of course, Your Highness Moon Mist.”
I felt a surge of pleasure run through me, emanating from my trapped leg. Her sharp, toothy smile grew wide. “Hee, hee, hee, hee!” she exclaimed.
“Funny Guard! Funny Guard!” I turned to look at the classroom. It seemed I had been discovered. “No! It’s my turn to be Best Princess!” “Well, I want to be Best Prince!” “Funny Guard! Can you read the story with all the farting noises?”
How offensive! I jerked my head upwards. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Peals of laughter washed over me as the rest of the class poured out into the hallway. Their teacher’s commands to return unheeded and most likely unheard. One by one, they latched onto their favorite play toy. Meanwhile, Moon Mist marched up to Lieutenant Steel Barding and glared at him haughtily.
He glanced up at Miss Chalkboard. She smiled back. “Corporal Hooves has such a special touch with the foals. And no one can settle them down for naptime like he can.”
He wilted. “Oh, alright. Never let it be said I contradicted the order of Princess Moon Mist.”
The foals burst out in cheer and practically carried their trophy back to the classroom.
The next day, I rotated to a new assignment. It was still a few days before the revised wedding date. I had hoped getting assigned to the Throne Room during Day Court would let me rest and maybe recover some strength from the citizens telling their stories to Princess Celestia, Captain Shining Armor, and Princess Cadance. Instead, every pony was overwhelmed by grief caused by injured ponies, destroyed businesses and homes, family fleeing the city, or loved ones rendered insensate by the changelings. Guilt wracked me with each tale, and I found I couldn’t hold myself properly at attention. My head sunk lower and lower, my tears forming a pool on the tile floor in front of me.
Celestia listened to the stories of woe and always had kind words and encouragement for her ponies, offering hope and help to all—her gentle tone buoying the spirits of her subjects. How did she do it? How could she provide sympathy without being overwhelmed by empathy? I could not.
The last petitioner moved to join the others at the sides of the chamber. I knew what I had to do. I left my spear behind and walked to where the last pony had been in the center of the hall. I slowly, regretfully removed my armor and placed it beside me. I bowed my head. Shining Armor looked alarmed, but all three on the dais did not interrupt.
I cleared my throat and chose to end a chapter in my life. "I am responsible for what happened. I do not deserve to wear the armor of the Royal Guard. In the years before today, I could have chosen a hundred different actions to prevent this, but I failed to act. And when Equestria needed me, I abandoned my post."
The citizens around me murmured. I could feel their surprise. Celestia looked down at me placidly. I could not detect any emotion either on her face or being radiated from her. Did she already know? “A number of ponies acted against their orders or left their posts during the invasion. They have been disciplined and are still soldiers of Equestria. What makes your offense so unforgivable?”
I took a deep breath. This was going to be harder than I thought, but there was no going back now. “I recognized Queen Chrysalis the moment she walked down the hallway with Shining Armor. When she ordered me to block entry to Princess Luna’s chambers, I did so until I realized her true intent.” The crowd of ponies along the sides of the Royal Court started to talk louder.
“And how did you recognize her?”
I steeled myself and changed to my natural form. “I was born into her hive.”
The talking grew into shouts and I felt the waves of anger crash over me as the citizens of Canterlot rushed forward.
“HOLD!” shouted the Royal Canterlot Voice. Then in the firmest voice I had ever heard from her, Celestia commanded, “This pony is a member of the Royal Guard until I or Captain Shining Armor say otherwise! He will not be harmed in my presence.” The anger reduced to a trickle and the ponies all retreated to the sides of the chamber.
Shining Armor was thoughtful for a moment. "What were the first words I spoke to you?"
I considered. "You told me to face the other way because I was not doing so."
The soon-to-be prince nodded and turned to Celestia. "It's him."
"And then you told me to shut up."
Shining Armor turned back. "Thank you, that's–"
"And then you told me to be quiet again. And then we did hoof ups, and then–"
"Enough! You've convinced me that you are the real Idol Hooves!"
I wanted to ask him how I could not be, but the glare from my Captain made me reconsider.
“Guileless?” Celestia asked Shining Armor.
He guffawed. “Idol defines it.”
Celestia turned to face me again. "Why did you abandon your duty, soldier?"
"I...I came to finally understand the meaning of love. And at that moment, I felt I had to protect the pony I now know means more to me than my old hive, my career, my oath to Equestria, my friendships, and even the princesses."
I heard Princess Cadance catch her breath. Her fiancé turned to her slightly, grinned, and rolled his eyes. What this interchange meant, I had no idea. Maybe it was a code only married (or nearly married) couples knew?
Celestia spoke privately and quietly with Shining Armor for some minutes while I waited patiently. She then turned to me. “Normally, I would allow Shining Armor to handle discipline in his ranks, but these are exceptional circumstances. We do not hold you at fault for the invasion. You had every right to privacy about your birth species before then, and after Chrysalis discovered you, neither of us can conceive of a way you could have impeded her actions. If you had opposed her, you would have died a meaningless death. I believe you are sincerely remorseful for leaving your post, but beyond your birthright, how can we trust a Royal Guard who has betrayed his oath? Is there anything else you would like to say in your defense before we pass judgment?"
I racked my brain, trying to think what my true rulers would want to hear, or want to see in me.
"No, Your Highness."
"Very well. Corporal Idol Hooves, for your actions..."
Suddenly, an idea burned to the front of my mind. I raised my head. "Wait! There is something I can show you!"
Celestia paused. I continued, "It is...a gift, but I believe Princess Luna would want to be here also."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"
I bent my head in supplication. "I don't know the princess very well, but I believe she would be very upset if she were not present, and I can only give this gift once."
Celestia sat for a few moments then turned to a page standing near the throne. "Please awaken Princess Luna and ask her to join us at Day Court as soon as she is able."
"At once, Your Highness!" the small pegasus replied, quickly flying down a nearby corridor.
Everyone waited in silence. And waited. And waited. Well, as long as no one else is talking, I might as well get a question or two answered. “Captain Shining Armor–”
“It will be Prince soon.”
“Captain Prince?”
“I’ll be marrying a princess, so I will take the title of Prince instead of Captain.”
“Oh, I see, sir!” My spirits rose immensely. I would soon call my friend “Prince Shining Armor” from then on! Finally, a pony rule that made sense.
“But you can still call me Shining.”
I deflated.
“Anyway, you had a question?”
I tried to determine how I should address my current Captain, Prince in a few days, and longtime friend for years… and failed. Just the question then. “Would you tell me how you were able to defeat Queen Chrysalis?”
Shining Armor smiled and nuzzled his fiancé. “Together, Cadance and I were able to restore the shield and repel the changelings. The power of Cadance’s love restored my strength.”
Yes, that made sense. “Ah, yes. She has the same effect on me.”
Shining’s smile turned into a look of shock. “Yes, I…wait, what?!” For some reason, Cadance brought a hoof up to hide her mouth.
I felt I had to reassure my captain. “Absolutely! I feel energized every time she touches me. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have a little changeling in your blood, sir.”
Shining’s expression changed to one I hadn’t seen in some time. In fact, the last time was during a sparring session when I had snuck the blunt end of a polearm under Shining’s guard and thrust it into his stomach. Cadance looked briefly at her husband-to-be and turned away. She closed her eyes and her shoulders began shaking lightly. Was she ill?
I was fairly sure Shining didn’t understand the compliment I was giving him. Trying to be helpful, I searched my memory for what mares thought of as the stallion ideal. Ah, yes! Topaz mentioned Tommenjerry dancers years ago, and Honey Dew provided many details about how she felt about their proportions without actually answering my question of what their purpose was. That would do. “Well, it’s not all bad, being a changeling. You can make your size smaller or bigger to make your partner the happiest.”
Shining Armor’s face turned red while Princess Cadence toppled to the floor. Tears were streaming from her closed eyes, her shoulders shook uncontrollably, and she would occasionally smack the floor with a forehoof.
“Ponies don’t change shape like that,” Shining replied.
“SNORT!” came the response from a prone Cadance, with more floor pounding.
I opened my mouth to say more, but Shining Armor's glare stopped me. At this point, his face was as red as his uniform. Had I erred?
Eventually, Cadance seemed to recover from her fit on her own. Shining had always been such a gentlestallion with her, why hadn’t he helped her up right away? Was this one of those “marriage things”?
She rose beside her fiancé once more, apparently still a bit shaky. After taking a few deep breaths, she smirked and whispered something into Shining’s ear while surreptitiously stroking one of his hind legs with hers. Just as surreptitiously, Shining swatted her rump with his tail. This resulted in her closing her eyes again with more shaking from her shoulders.
“Great news, Your Highness!” All eyes moved to the earth pony entering the Royal Court from the back.
“And that would be?” prompted Celestia.
“Doctor Positive Attitude at your service! There aren’t many maladies that a chipper outlook won’t clear up, but I must say, this latest one took a bit more effort.” He came to a stop next to me, either not noticing my appearance or too wrapped up in his enthusiasm to care. “The emotion sapping malady has been cured!”
A gasp came from the crowd. Celestia smiled. “How was this made possible, doctor?”
“Ah! Well, it turns out that the patient just needs a good jolt to get out of their doldrums. It took a while, but I was able to convince the duo Sigfriesan and Roan to bring their tame manticore up from Las Pegasus! Then we set up a demonstration for the beast to watch a big earth pony pretend to scare some show ponies from the theater district. The show ponies would then run off and the stallion would get the manticore’s favorite treat. Candied yams! Can you believe it?”
There was no response from those assembled. The doctor cleared his throat and continued. “Well, in any case, the manticore got anxious. I suppose it thought there weren’t going to be any snacks left for him! Before we knew it, he picked up that earth pony like a toy and roared in his face. Well, I don’t know if the earth pony was acting, but he made pegasus-time getting out of there! Actually, we still haven’t found him, so maybe not...Ahem...Anyway, everypony clapped, gave the manticore his treat, and we started with the real patients. After that, it’s just a matter of catching up to the frightened ponies, calming them down, and keeping them under observation for a while. So far, about half of the afflicted ponies have been cured, with an almost 100% success rate!”
“Almost?” enquired Celestia.
“Ah, yes...Umm...Heh. Well, it turns out one of the ponies we identified was not emotionally drained after all—just very old and slow, hard of hearing, and nearly blind. When the manticore picked her up and roared at her, she became very energetic indeed and gave him a lashing with her cane that was quite a surprise to everyone! A-heh.” He shuffled his hooves a bit, looking down. “Anyway, Sigfriesan tells me the manticore got his feelings hurt and recommended that he sleep it off. He should be right as rain in the morning and we should be able to finish all remaining treatments by tomorrow sundown.”
Celestia smiled broadly. “Excellent work, Doctor. You are to be commended for finding the cure.”
“Oh, it wasn’t me, Your Highness. A Royal Guardsman named Idol Hooves gave me the idea.”
“Is that so? You might be surprised that Corporal Hooves is standing right next to you.”
“Really?” He turned to look at me. “Aha! So that explains it! Capital idea, Mr. Hooves. Well done!” He grasped one hoof and shook it furiously. “Oh, and don’t worry about seeing a doctor about your stench. After all, you’ve seen one twice already? Am I right? Eh? Eh?”
The hoof shaking was accompanied by more shoulder pounding. Of course on my sore shoulder. I felt I needed to respond, if just to get him to stop. “Quite so.”
“Ah, yes. Ehem. I think I missed my calling as a comedian at times.”
I decided to be helpful, despite the risks so recently demonstrated. “You could try ‘Open Mic Night’ at The Laughing Pony. Every Saturday evening after dusk, anypony can take their chances for a free drink.”
“Oho, can they! Brilliant, my lad! I just might do that! Can’t have too many cutie marks, can you? That was a joke by the way. See? You’ve really got me started now!”
Celestia interrupted. “Please let us know your progress towards rehabilitating the remaining ponies, doctor.”
The pony looked back up at the throne. “Ah, of course, Your Highness! You’ll be the first to know! Unless it’s time for Night Court then your sister will be the first to know!” The doctor looked at me and sighed. “Well, off then.” He then turned and walked out of the Throne Room just as abruptly as he had entered.
A few moments later, Princess Luna glided in from the corridor the page had taken. She landed at speed and gracefully slid across the marble, rotating slightly as she went. Her slide stopped in the exact position she normally held, just to the left of her sister's throne.
"Thou rang, my sister?" Luna couldn't hide a smirk.
Celestia rolled her eyes and smiled. She then nodded at me. "Corporal Idol Hooves has a gift for us."
“Indeed?” Luna looked forward, noticing me for the first time. She blinked twice then studied me for a few moments. "Proceed," she ordered.
I exhaled in preparation, closing my eyes, remembering the image from the poorly-built temple so long ago. I mentally ran through the steps used to assume the form of the flame-haired alicorn. I felt my body grow. My chitin turned to hair which turned white. As before, my mane turned from red to orange and then to flame. When I opened my eyes, I was deeply pleased with the heart of the kingdom that I saw. All the little ponies around me gasped in awe. Even the two rulers were shocked speechless. No matter. It was for me to speak.
I reared, flaring my wings slightly to emphasize my grand appearance. I bellowed in Old Equish, “Avetote, O Equulae Magnae! Fundito caelum tibi laudes, Regina Diei, atque praestato tu gloria tua semper, Noctis Imperatrix!”
Switching to the common tongue, I proclaimed "Praise to the Grand Rulers of all under the Equestrian Sky!"
Throwing back my head, I spread my wings to their fullest. I called out in the Royal Canterlot Voice, shaking the rafters with a male alicorn's roar for what I knew was the first time.
"HAIL!"
Every non-alicorn present instinctively yelled at the top of their lungs "HAIL!"
Lowering my head, I smiled endearingly at my equals. Despite their numerous differences, I knew they had never more appeared to be sisters. Both wore the same wide-eyed stare, had the same gaping mouth—they both even craned their necks forward at the same angle.
My flaming mane flickered then sputtered out. I felt myself shrink to my normal size, then I staggered. I fought to keep my balance, but darkness claimed me before I hit the floor.
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it looks good but im not gonna read it so i dont off balance the story
Ahahahahaha! Luna. My sides... I can totally see her doing that, and it being just pure awesome.
So, what does Celestia do when she wants to have fun with her entrance?
7589774
Be warned! I kidded vdrake77 that by my exacting abacus calculations, my grandkids would be in college before the 10-12 years of Equestria time had elapsed at his writing pace. He, of course, corrected me and instead pointed to the Heat Death of the Universe as a much more reasonable timescale!
I did tell him I would not publish if anything in my story was spoilerish for the version he would (eventually) write. He assured me my imagination took a different train than his and I could publish ,then just be very, very, very patient!
so in the end the fire alicorn was somepony the sisters knew (i am guessing parental figure of sort) excellent job
7589787
Tragically, Celestia knows that she has to be a shining example of restraint and grace for all ponies, so she never gets to let her mane down. Now, her sister however, she can reap the benefits of youth for being basically in suspended animation for 1000 years....
7589791 yea like i said not gonna read a spinoff
7589822
I could see Celestia being much more subtle about it. Like... casting a spell that dissuades others from paying attention to her, and then using it to reach and sit on the throne without anypony noticing. She breaks the spell by clearing her throat and nopony is in "proper position" for court to start - screwing with their heads. "How'd she get there?"
Well, this might not be the ultimate fate of Idol Hooves, but it certainly was an entertaining one.
7589822 I want more!
7590030
Thanks for the encouragement! I'm working over an original tale in my mind right now. It has to do with a certain alicorn mare that happens to be in your avatar image.
7590087 Vinyl?
This was very, very pleasing. I would not mind to see more of this.
7590089
** Looks more closely ** Eh. Oops. No. But Vinyl will be in the story as a background character.
7590219 alright then! Can't wait for it!
P.S. Have a Follow!
I didn't really like it, the pacing was extremely rushed, the stakes were super low, the relationships between the characters weren't well elaborated, everything was wrapped up too quickly, the resolution of Idol's conflict was way too rushed, and the resolution was unsatisfying.
want to know what happened when he woke up
7589804 Maybe Faust?
Have a follow and a Liked Changeling Stories shelf.
HAIL!
It feels like an epilogue is missing. Still, I enjoyed this side story a lot. It was funny and endearing.
7592970 agreed.
7592970
I might follow up this story in a while, but I have a couple of original ideas I want to work on first.
That should have a question mark.
Overall, a really fun little story. You've got Idol's character pretty much down, and I think this'll tide me over until the next chapter of CotG comes out. (vdrake pls)
7593608
Thanks for the heads up. I'll get that fixed.
On another note, front page?!?! Seriously?!?! A-hahahahaha!
Wow. Thanks everyone for reading my story. All credit goes to vdrake77 for his incredible universe and characters and his thumbs-up for me to publish my fanfic of his fanfic.
Really neat story, my dude. I certainly enjoyed it! Congrats on making it up top!
thees storeh is verra nize.
I give you two jaegerkin for it.
7597551
Yah! Und doze guys goze great vit my hat!
7597871 That is true, either would work. Although if you want to be anal, on a horse they are called the withers.
Great story! I think you did a decent job capturing Idol and his hilariously oblivious nature. It also makes a great "What-if?" story to appease us with Idol's perspective of the invasion, while we will have to wait a considerable time for the official version.
My biggest problem with it is that while we get a glimpse of the repercussions of who and what Idol is, the story suddenly stops when it feels like it had a bit more to tell. It's bugging me.
...no pun intended.
I liked it, just blew through this and a changeling of the guard in a night well spent.
I would like to point out the latin though as "Laudate ad high Liberator dierum! Illustrissimae praeesset nocti laudes!” is grammaticaly flawed and doesn't make a lot of sense, to the first part, better would be "Ave Liberatrix Diei" if you wanted to say "hail, freer of the day" the other part of the sentence I don't know what it was trying to say so I can't translate it, though it looks like "praises would be present(but isn't) for the illustrious night" but it's singular and irrealis. If it's a salutation to both luna and celestia it would be "Avete Liberatrix Diei, Illustrissima Nox" which would be "Hail Freer of the Day, Illustrious Night"
Congrats on having reached front page! There are some things about the story that need to be worked on, though, which heirofaniu’s already mentioned.
7591106 The rushed pacing was what I noticed as well. To give an example, the scene where Idol was stuck in the forest totalled 237 words before skipping to his return to Canterlot, which isn’t enough words for any events to happen.
Also, to add to heirofaniu’s comment, there was more than one instance where every sentence in a paragraph started with ‘I’ and had generally the same sentence structure, which was distracting. Incidentally, the above forest scene was also an example of this.
7598992
Thank you for the comments. I agree with much of the feedback I've received and will use it to improve my later stories.
That's it.... I feel like we need one more chapter here. Just to give some closure. You end it on a cliff hanger of what happens to him...
7598992
7599022
I view Idol as a very Tarzan type of character. A person in an environment that is not his forced to survive and integrate amongst a species that is very different from his own; this naturally lends itself very well to interpersonal conflict when Tarzan meets Man for the first time. Now he's faced with many difficult questions that don't really have any easy answers and raises a conflict between the civilized and savage nature of Man.
This conflict would be even worse for Idol due to the fact that his situation is even more complex. Idol wasn't raised into a society that wasn't his from birth with no knowledge of his own heritage, Idol was forcibly removed from his native social structure and cast adrift within an alien society. He isn't a very good changeling, but neither is he a very good pony, and his reasons for wishing to return to the hive are equally as legitimate for his reasons to want to stay with the ponies. That is a very good set up for some very legitimate drama. But due not only to the tone of this story being confused as to what it wants to be, but also due to the fact that this story's chapters have word counts roughly half the length of its source material means that all of these issues are glossed over at best, and out right ignored at worst. We're not made to care about these characters nor are we shown what it is they stand to lose before the confrontation, nor are we given any time to register any significant emotion on the character's part, it's just a couple of quick face-heel turns and BOOM resolution. You can't get me invested in something i don't care about unless you're paying me hourly.
I think a rewrite would serve this story well, to really go back and explore the characters more; especially as the source material for this story is a heavily character focused work and derives its storytelling from the cast's interpersonal relations more than anything else.
7598161
I agree there needs to be more. What is the sentence, does he confess his love for topaz? I think Cellestia would make him prove himself and then make him a diplomat. Maybe him and Torax could be diplomatic counterpoints. I really liked it good work!
that was really good and a really good finish if a little bit sudden. seems like you could squeeze another chapter, but i like it as something that can also stand to act as a portion in a short story compilation.
7599896
Yes, these are all possible directions for Idol and Topaz in the future. I'm going to let my ideas marinate for awhile and possibly get back to them after I finish an original story or two.
Thanks!
7598687
With help from Azrael Chiaroscuro, I changed the Latin text near the end of the story to: "Avetote, O Equulae Magnae! Fundito caelum tibi laudes, Regina Diei, atque praestato tu gloria tua semper, Noctis Imperatrix!" Translation below from our Latin Scholar.
This translates to "Hail, O Great Ponies! May the heavens shower you with praises, Queen of the Day, and (may you always excel in your glory)/(may you always exceed your glory), empress of the night" and it also sounds really old, even by latin standards, as it uses the command forms from ancient legal texts. Luna's praise is also can be interpreted in two ways, that's why the translation says two different things for hers.
I REALLY like that one doctor. He's a riot. Idol was Idol, I don't think there is anything more I can say on the subject. Excellent story. Wish there were more like it.
7615839
Thanks! I'm glad you liked him! Working on an original story now but may return to Idol at some point.
The ending seemed pretty sudden, but otherwise I liked it.
What?
Where's the end? This is a bloody cliffhanger.
I like the story, but this seemes more like the second-to-last chapter, or the fourth-to-last.
7639913
I might follow up this story in a while, but I have a couple of original ideas I want to work on first.
7639913 This story is written in the far future of another's story, so maybe that's why it seems like it isn't a full story yet.
only Idol Hooves could say something like that with a straight face! you've certainly kept true to the original.
7687071 I am very well aware of that, The Changeling of the Guard is one of my favorite stories. Hell, it's why I read this one.
What I meant by that comment is that this story feels as if you took a book and removed the last three chapters. The pacing before the end and the plot threads left unresolved makes it feel like it's working its way to an ending, but then it just cuts off.
Dig?
7697255 have you seen how fast they were traveling? Hitting a wall head first, his brain is mush, no matter the armor it supplies.
7697263
Yeah, 100 mph into a stone wall ..,,. there were no changeling witnesses to what happened in Topaz's basement.
In fact, there was a scene I couldn't make work just outside of Luna's chambers. Royal Tasks returned with guards just before Shining's shield spell hit from below. A dozen changelings burst like balloons against the ceiling, dropping their ichor all over the earth pony. To say the least, a bit outside what his life experience prepared him for.
Just as well. Didn't really want to add the "Gore" tag to the story.
Needs another chapter for a reaction.
I can say a exultant story, I bit short but I would and will recommend this at any one.
This actually predicts how Thorax responded to a similar question in the finale
It's canon; Changelings recite things verbatim until told to stop