Gosh it's quiet. Too quiet. Let me light this fuse... · 4:01pm Jul 16th, 2019
Some of you might remember Specialist Rose Petal from The Night Guard - Night Mares and several other stories. She's this middle-aged magenta unicorn mare who is just the nicest creature ever to be inducted into Luna's Night Guard. Just ask and she'll show you pictures of her children and grandfoals all day. Well, in Farmer Bruener Has Some Ponies (latest chapter under construction), she gets to show off a side of her that the readers haven't seen before (although several have made educated guesses). Below the break is a sample of the upcoming chapter.
Farmer Bruener Has Some Ponies
Newton’s Law
“Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my greatest friend is truth.”
― Isaac Newton
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Time: 2:15 P.M. Monday June 22, 2015
Location: Above the FBI Field Office, Kansas City, Missouri
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“So did you have anything you wanted to say before I turn this on, Rose?”
Kota arranged the ‘Press’ badge clip on his shirt and checked the battery indicator again. It was a nice bit of craftwork with ‘Dakota Henderson’ written in thin silver script right over the word ‘PRESS’ and a discreet ‘San Francisco Chronicle’ logo below, but the important part of the body camera was the wide-angle lens that blended right into the black plastic. Admittedly, it was fixed-focus and did not record in the dark very well, but it had provided more than one photo for the paper when unwary officials had made him put away his real camera. The air chariot was still relatively high in the air, but had just made a minor course change and started to descend, and the three Equestrians had begun talking to each other on their helmet communication systems, so Kota was taking this opportunity to get prepared. However, he was not prepared for what came next.
“I love you, I always have. Those lips, that smile, the way you always call me Rose instead of Specialist Petal. I don’t think I can resist your masculine attraction any more.” The unicorn stood up on her hind legs and put both forehooves on his chest, pressing Kota back into the chariot’s chair. “Kiss me, you fool.”
“Uhamanuawha?” Kota almost dropped his Nikon, which brought him back to reality with a snap. Seeing two thousand dollars worth of camera vanish over the side of the aluminum air chariot would have really made his day. He really did not catch what was going on until the giggling unicorn sat back down and brushed one lock of her pink hair back under her helmet.
“Oh, Mister Henderson. You make me feel like a young mare again. I just wanted to be absolutely certain you weren’t recording already.” Her face straightened back up again and she looked directly into his eyes. “Just to be clear, I’m happily married.”
Kota nodded, because he was not quite sure he was ready to say anything yet. At least the brisk breeze of the chariot’s progress allowed his cheeks to cool off.
“Good.” Rose nodded back. “I need your opinion, as a military human. Do you think your FBI will respond better to a female Equestrian officer ordering them to release Widget or a male officer?”
“Male,” said Kota almost instantly. “But if things go pear-shaped in a hurry, they’re far less likely to attack you. Men have this ‘thing’ about not hitting girls. Particularly on camera.”
“How about if it were a princess doing the asking?” There was a flare of green light, and a different Equestrian mare was standing on the chariot, much larger and darker. Rose’s mane flowed back over her shoulder in an ebon river with little glints of light in it, and a pair of wings now spread out over her back. It obviously was not a surprise to the twin pegasi pulling the chariot, because they glanced back to see what the light was all about, then returned to their regular flying without a single comment. The changed alicorn standing in front of Kota stretched her neck, gave a brief flap in the cool slipstream of the chariot’s passage, and cocked a curious eyebrow. “So, praytell, wouldst thy world’s guards give due courtesy to Luna, our Princess of the Night?”
There was another flare of green light, and when he could see again, there was a different alicorn standing in the wind. This one was a snowy-white with flowing mane made of pastel colors, and tall enough she could look Kota right in the eyes when she spoke.
“Or do you think I would need to pull out the big boss lady,” said Rose in a rolling alto cadence where each word seemed to be a statement. “Princess Celestia has more of a direct influence on anypony she meets, although I’ve never tried to use her visage before in a serious discussion. I’m not sure I could pull it off, and there’s no way I’m going to use Princess Cadence.”
Wait, what?
Wait, what!?
*heavy breathing intensifies*
I THOUGHT SO!!!
I just thought she might go in a different direction.
5089549
whaaaaaaaa
MOAR!!!
..pls?
If theyre going to realise theres a shapeshifter in town, thats likely to cause vastly more confusion than anything as iris scanners etc is slower than locker room banter.
Depends how accurate the Dragon form is, especially with dumb fire incidents?
THAT PONY'S A SPAH!
Well, at least we've been keeping her well-fed. Everyone here loves Rose!
So is she a changeling, or a changedling? Licorice, or skittlebug?
5089574 Considering the "Meh" reaction by the drivers, I'm fairly sure they know, and therefore so does her commanding officer. Details will come out eventually in The Night Guards - Wolf in the Fold which I'll get to work on soon really.
5089554 Oh, no. She's happily married to Pea Pod the grocer back in Canterlot, with three children who have grown up and are out on their own now, and a grandfoal or two on the way.
5089555 I had a couple of people guessing in that direction.
5089549 Hey, Princess Luna invited one female of each race of pony into her Night Guards. She's a very equal opportunity employer.
5089584
Not that. I thought she might go with a monster form as opposed to a princess.
You know, I REMEMBERED there was mention of one changeling being in the group, but they never pointed him or her out! THIS EXPLAINS IT!
Honestly? I think it's likely more trouble than it's worth. Tweaking the world's reflexes like that as every country in the world tries to get it's own diplomat to the middle of rural America on an instant's notice would cause, problems. And going "it's just a prank bro!" won't sooth those ruffled feathers.
Not to mention the issues arising from forcing the various intelligence agencies to contemplate shapeshifters impersonating government officials. You can't put that monkey back in it's box, let's leave it sleeping for as long as possible, yes?
5089628 "Ambassador Merriweather, why are you on the floor, on all fours?"
"Shutup! And ignore that big green cocoon behind the desk."
Looking forward to the next chapter
Yay!
5089584
>Wolf in the Fold
Yeeeeeesssss.
I would read an entire entry in your work that was just Queen/Princesses diplomatically faffing about.
I just, I just need more. More of this story . Soon. It's sooo gooood.
Personally I think Luna would be amazing. But I think the real Luna might actually start a war. " YOU DARE HOLD ONE OF OUR CITIZENS AGAINST THEIR WILL?!!!!! Yeah, that could go sideways.
Ooooh, I sense personal issues. Either she no likey the Princess who whupped their asses, or she has too much respect for Cadance to do so. Which'd make sense for a changeling.
Seeing as this story is past 20 chapters and a good bit over 100K words at this point, for those of us that are waiting for a complete tag before starting, how long do you expect this story to go?
5090387 For-evahaaaaahahahahah!
Seriously, I'll tie up the first arc in a couple of chapters when the return portal fizzles. On the plus side, I get to use Green Gardenia and her alicorn son Clover as they come over for a brief visit.