Squeaky Clean trotted happily down the castle hall, a large smile on her face and a cart of cleaning supplies hitched behind her. Her milky white coat had been brushed to a shine, and her fluffy pink mane, styled to perfection, bobbed with each step she took. She had been told there was a new pony in the castle, and rumor had it she was quite the interesting pony indeed.
‘And out of all of the cleaning staff in the castle, I was personally picked to help her settle in.’ Her pale blue eyes glinted in the light as she beamed to herself.
Stopping outside the room the new pony was assigned to, she excitedly tapped out a quick rhythm of ‘shave and a manecut’ on the door before announcing her presence. “Excuse me, Ms. Manet, I’ve come to clean your room, may I come in?” After waiting a few moments without a response, she opened the door just far enough to stick her head in and look around. “Ms. Manet, are you in here?” Hearing somepony in the shower, she shrugged to herself before fully opening the door and pulled her cart in with her.
Shutting the door with her magic, she parked the cart where it wouldn’t get in her way before unhitching herself and then began to clean and organize the room. With cleaning supplies floating in her pale blue aura, she danced around the room, alternating between singing and humming to herself.
When she reached the far end of the room, she stopped to pick up a set of saddlebags that had been thrown haphazardly on the ground, before gasping at what she saw on the floor.
“Oh dear… What happened here?”
The carpet in front of the balcony had been rolled up and set off to the side, and on the floor where it had once lain were four piles of some type of crystal. Upon closer inspection, she realized the crystals were broken up and laid out in different patterns on the floor, and that all of the piles were connected by a series of circles filled with even more weird shapes. In the center sat a single pillow, obviously meant for a pony to sit on.
“These weird shapes, they appear to be runes or glyphs of some sort, but none that I’m familiar with. If they are, then that would make this some sort of meditation circle.”
Having studied at the School for Gifted Unicorns for short time, Squeaky was familiar with runic arrays, but had never seen any herself.
“And if the rumors about this pony are true, then this array is for some type of foreign magic. Ohhh, I know more than a few ponies who would give their horn for a chance to study something like this.” She silently cheered to herself.
Tiptoeing around the array, she took in every rune, attempting to identify them. “Let’s see… This big one here looks like the rune for ‘heat’, or maybe ‘flame’. Which would make sense with the red crystals. But what are they made of?”
Squeaky slowly reached a hoof out to give the crystals an experimental poke…
“I wouldn't touch that if I were you, crystallized elements can be quite volatile if they aren’t handled properly,” came a voice from behind her.
Startled, Squeaky jumped to the side, away from the voice, tripping over the rolled up carpet. Hopping back to her hooves, she darted back to her cleaning cart before turning to the new pony in the room and bowing repeatedly as deeply as she could.
“I’m so sorry, ma’am! I didn’t mean to pry, I was just cleaning, and I saw the writing and crystals all over the floor and went to clean them up, but then I realized they were runes of some sort and I studied them in school a bit and I was curious and please don’t be mad at me, I need this job!”
Manet put a hoof over her mouth, attempting to hide her smile. “I don’t know, those were pretty dangerous crystals you were messing with, and had anything happened to them I’m not sure I’d be able to get replacements.”
“Oh, please please please! I promise it won’t…” Finally looking up, Squeaky saw the poorly restrained amusement on Manet’s face.
“Calm yourself,” Manet chuckled. “I was only joking, I have no intention of getting anyone in trouble.”
“That was a joke?” Squeaky’s face lit up in embarrassment, causing Manet to laugh harder. “I thought I was going to lose my job! Don’t scare a pony like that.”
“I apologize, it was never my intent to cause you such distress. I simply saw the opening and had to take it.”
“Still not funny,” Squeaky pouted.
Giving another apology, Manet walked over to the bed and started pulling pieces of armor out of a strange looking satchel that was strapped to her side, laying them out on the bed. Taking a moment to inspect her, Squeaky blushed as she noticed a few other things about Manet she had missed.
The first thing that stood out to her was Manet’s tail. Rather than a tail of hair like all ponies possessed, hers was long and serpentine with a multitude of gold bands covered in strange runes going up her tail. At the base of her tail was a larger gold band, this one containing a few small gemstones inlaid in the runes.
When Squeaky checked Manet’s mane, she thought at first it was normal, until she noticed Manet’s mane had small tentacles, the same color as Manet’s coat, coming out of it. Manet had two tentacles coming from her mane at the base of her neck that draped over her shoulders and ended about halfway down her chest. From the poll of her head, just behind her horns, she had two smaller tentacles that were tucked behind her ears that framed her face. Like her tail, these tentacles were wrapped in multiple gold bands, containing runes and the occasional gemstone.
When she moved on to the clothes that Manet was wearing, Squeaky’s blush deepened. Manet was wearing a light pink, sleeveless collared shirt that was so tight, you could see each individual muscle moving under it. Covering her flanks she had a pair of tight light brown shorts, made out of what looked like some sort of leather. Although they covered where Manet’s cutie mark would be, they didn’t cover much more than that, stopping just above her gaskin, and they definitely didn’t leave much to the imagination.
“What, umm, what’s with the clothes?” Squeaky asked, trying not to stare.
“What do you mean, is there something wrong with them?” Manet looked herself over, trying to figure out what was wrong with her attire.
“There’s nothing exactly wrong with them, it’s just…” Squeaky motioned to the shorts Manet was wearing. “They’re quite… umm, revealing. Usually ponies only wear that kind of stuff when they want… attention.”
“What do you mean, they’re just shorts. My leatherworker friend made them for me to wear under my armor. It prevents my chainmail from chafing, and pinching.”
“Well, yes, but… Do you need to wear them now? We go around naked anyways, and ponies might get the wrong idea if they see you walking around like that.” Squeaky scrunched up her muzzle as she looked the clothes over again. “Besides, how can that be comfortable, everything looks so tight.”
“I can assure you, it is quite comfortable. Everything is enchanted, it resizes to fit the wearer perfectly.” Manet took a moment to stretch and move around a bit to prove her point. “It would take too long if you had to take measurements for everyone you made something for… I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name.”
“Oh, of course!” Squeaky curtsied. “Squeaky Clean, at your service.”
“Yes, well, Missus Clean.”
“Please, just Squeaky. I’m not married, and ‘Missus Clean’ sounds like one of those cheap cleaners.”
“It sort of fits, you are a cleaner,” Manet teased.
“Yeah, but I ain’t cheap.” Squeaky joked back, giving Manet a friendly wink. “But seriously, those clothes are considered risque around here, you may want to reconsider wearing them.”
“Where I come from, wearing clothes isn’t an option, and this is all that I have with me. And like I said, it’s comfortable. If it happens to turn a couple heads, well…” Manet smirked. “That’s just a bonus.”
“If you insist…” Squeaky’s horn lit up as she grabbed her cleaning supplies again. “I was supposed to wake you up and help you get ready for breakfast. Seeing as you’re already ready, and I still have cleaning to do, the guards outside your door will escort you to breakfast while I stay here and clean. Once I’m done I’ll meet you at the dining hall.”
Manet’s stomach grumbled at the mention of food. “Ah, yes, food would be great. I fell asleep early last night, so I didn’t make it to dinner.”
“So I heard.” Squeaky giggled.
Grabbing her bags from where she had left them, Manet removed the satchel from her side and tossed it into the larger bag. Strapping on her bags, she made her way to the door. “Would you like me to save you anything? I don’t know if there will be any type of rush or anything, and I wouldn’t want you to miss a meal.”
“It’s ok, I already ate breakfast, thank you though. Besides, there won’t be any rush. It’s just you and the princesses this morning.”
Manet gave her a quizzical look. “If you already ate, then why are you meeting me in the dining hall?”
“Oh, you didn’t know?” Squeaky questioned. When Manet shook her head in response, she continued. “You’re being given dignitary status for the duration of your stay here. While you aren’t expected to do anything really, you are the first of your kind here. When a dignitary stays at the castle, if they don’t bring their own staff or guards, which most of them do, then the princesses assign them a maid and a few guards to assist them while they’re here.” Squeaky gave a smile and danced back and forth on her hooves. “And out of all of the cleaning staff here at the castle, Princess Celestia asked me!”
“So you’re what, my personal maid?” Squeaky nodded in response. “So what exactly are you supposed to do?”
“My duties as your personal maid include making sure your room stays tidy, escorting you around the castle, and assisting you in preparing for the day!” Squeaky beamed.
“Assisting me in preparing for the day?” Manet asked.
“Yeah! Bathing, grooming, stuff like that.” Noticing the perturbed look Manet was giving her, Squeaky’s smile fell. “Is something wrong with that? Oh! You said your people look down upon nudity, does that mean you don’t do social bathing either?”
“Not normally, no,” Manet gave Squeaky a sly grin. “Last time I bathed with someone, it wasn’t to get clean.”
Squeaky matched her grin with one of her own. “If you want that kind of service, it’ll cost you dinner. But enough of that.” She pushed Manet the rest of the way out of the door. “It would be rude to keep the Princesses waiting, these guards can escort you to breakfast.” Not waiting for a response, Squeaky ducked back into the room and pulled the door closed behind her.
Shaking her head, Manet turned and followed the guards as they led the way through the castle halls.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Princess Celestia sat in the private dining hall, sipping on her tea while deep in thought. ‘I hope Squeaky was a good choice for Manet’s assistant. Manet seemed so... tense, and guarded. Squeaky has always been such a kind pony, she’s friendly and knows exactly how to make a pony smile.’ A slight frown tugged at the corners of Celestia’s mouth. ‘Although, at times, she can be a little too friendly…’
Celestia set her empty mug in its saucer before reaching out with her magic, grabbing the teapot and pouring herself another cup of tea. ‘I’m so used to my ponies being so open and casual about things, that it hadn’t occurred to me until now that Manet make take offense to that…’
Celestia was so deep in thought, she hadn’t noticed her sister had joined her at the table until she began speaking.
“Is everything alright, Tia?” Luna questioned. “Thou appear to be quite lost in thy thoughts, and there is a frown upon thine face. Tell us, what troubles thee?”
Jumping slightly from the unexpected disturbance, Celestia took a moment to compose herself before answering. “Oh, nothing major Lulu, I just worry is all. With what she has been through, I want to make sure our visitor’s stay here is as comfortable as possible. But we know so little about her and her culture, and the little bit we do know is so vastly different from ours, that I worry any comfort we attempt to give her will be misconstrued.”
“Visitor?” Luna frowned for a moment before perking up. “Oh, thou means Dame Manet, correct?”
“Dame?” Celestia giggled into her hoof. “She isn’t a knight, so far as I am aware.”
“Are you certain, Tia?” Luna asked. “To be picked by her leaders to go on such a crucial mission, surely she must be a knight?”
“She hasn’t said anything of the sort, however, you are free to ask her when she arrives.” Celestia cast her gaze across the room, noting the various servants filing in and out of the hidden corridors. “I do hope she arrives soon, if we wait much longer to serve breakfast the food will get cold.”
Before Luna had a chance to respond, the sound of the doors opening drew their attention. First through the door were two solar guards, whom Celestia easily recognized as the two assigned to Manet. ‘Glad to see she accepted the invitation, missing two meals in a row wouldn’t be healthy.’
Following closely behind the guards was a mare that Celestia wouldn’t have recognized, had it not been for her unique features. The mare she had met yesterday was tall, well built, and took careful, calculated steps, as though she expected something to jump out and attack her at any moment. The mare before her, while still tall, was almost the exact opposite. While she still had an air of caution to her, the mare before her now seemed much more confident in her movements, and while Celestia would have sworn the mare under the armor would have had muscle mass on par with even the most fit of her royal guards, in reality she was actually surprisingly… scrawny.
‘No, not scrawny,’ Celestia corrected herself, observing Manet with a critical eye. ‘But lithe, the muscle is there, it is just hidden behind a thin, graceful form. Hers isn’t a build of strength, but one of agility. A predator’s build…’
“Ah, Manet, how wonderful of you to join us.” Celestia greeted. Putting on her warmest smile, she motioned to the seat across from Luna and herself. “Please, have a seat. I have to admit, I was worried when you didn’t come for dinner last night, skipping meals isn’t healthy you know.”
Leaving her escort in the positions they took by the door, Manet approached the table and gave a bow before taking her seat. “I apologize, Princess. After being shown to my room, I attempted to make myself comfortable,” Manet averted her eyes as her cheeks took on a rosey hue. “I am embarrassed to say that I allowed myself to get a bit too comfortable… Although, in my defense, it has been a while since I’ve had a bed to sleep in, much less one that comfortable.”
“Yes, I figured as much.” Celestia giggled. “When I sent a guard to fetch you, he reported that you were sleeping quite deeply. I decided it was best to let you rest, you’ve been through quite the ordeal the past few days, from the sound of things.”
“You speak of the Citadel, I presume?” Manet asked.
“Citadel?” Luna cut in. “What citadel doth she speak of, sister?”
Celestia opened her mouth to speak, before noticing the perplexed look Manet was giving Luna. “Ah, forgive me, Manet. I am so used to ponies recognizing my sister and I that introductions seem to have skipped my mind.”
“Greetings, Dame Manet.” Luna held a hoof out to Manet, toe pointing straight down. “Before thee stands Princess Luna, Avatar of the Moon and Diarch of Equestria.”
Manet stood from her seat and bowed to Lune with a flourish of her forehooves. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess Luna. As you’ve heard from your sister, my name is Manet, Shaman of the Draenei people, and adventurer of the Alliance.”
Luna sat quietly with her eyes closed and hoof help out expectantly as Manet looked questioningly from her hoof to Celestia.
“Luna,” Celestia stifled a laugh. “We’ve been over this before, ponies these days don’t kiss hooves as a greeting.”
“Ah, yes,” Luna withdrew her hoof with a slight blush. “Mine apologies, Dame Manet, We have been… away… for some time, and it would appear that We are quite out of touch with modern day etiquette. It has been hard enough for Us to adjust our speech to match modern day colloquialisms.”
“Something she still needs to work on, it seems, “Celestia teased. “But yes, Manet, I was speaking of the Citadel.” Celestia turned her attention to Luna. “The very same Citadel Manet and her allies had been climbing before she was sent here.”
“Thou said nothing of a citadel, Tia,” Luna argued. “Thou simply stated that Dame Manet and her allies were traversing a frozen wasteland in an attempt to slay a mad liche.”
“Oh, but I did, Lulu.” Celestia smirked. “You were simply too busy comparing her adventure to our own conquest in the frozen north.”
“I apologize for interrupting, Your Majesties, but why does Princess Luna keep referring to me as ‘Dame’?” Manet questioned.
“That is an excellent question, Manet, but let us wait for the food to be served before we continue our conversation.” Celestia said.
Celestia motioned with a hoof, and like the tearoom the day before, Manet sat in awe as ponies seemed to come out of the walls themselves carrying trays upon trays of food. There was a flurry of motion, and in the blink of an eye the table went from containing only a tea set, to filled from end to end with large silver and gold serving trays. Just as fast as they appeared, the ponies all disappeared, leaving the room empty save for the Princesses, Manet, and her guards.
Luna looked around the room in wonder, seemingly as impressed with the display as Manet was. “It never ceases to amaze Us how well trained thine servants are, Tia.”
“We’ve been over this before, Lulu.” Celestia gave Luna a stern look. “I don’t ‘train’ servants to do anything. Their zeal is entirely their own, they say it’s to ‘return a portion of the love and care I give to all our subjects’.”
Turning her attention to Manet, Celestia’s horn gave off a soft golden light, and the lids of all the food trays on the table where engulfed in the same glow. ‘Moment of truth.’
“Now, Manet, before we eat…” Celestia hesitated for a moment. “I couldn’t help but notice during our conversation yesterday that you had fangs, and I made a few assumptions. If anything present isn’t edible, or makes you uncomfortable, please let me know and I will have it taken away immediately.”
“What are you…” Before Manet could finish, the glow of Celestia’s horn intensified slightly and all the lids lifted away from trays, assaulting Manet’s nose with many a pleasant aroma. Her eyes swept across the table taking in the dishes, both foreign and familiar, before stopping on one tray just within forearms reach. ‘Is that…’
Reaching out, pulled the tray to herself and took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the dish before her. ‘It is! Oh, bacon, how I’ve missed you!’
The sound of someone clearing their throats brought her back to reality, and she flushed at the looks of amusement both Princesses were giving her.
“And here Tia was worried her choice of food would offend,” Luna smirked. “But We would think quite the opposite. In fact, from the look thou art giving thine dish, mayhaps thou would appreciate some ‘alone time’.”
“Leave the poor mare alone, Lulu,” Celestia chided. “We all know how you can get about your moon pies.”
Luna huffed and stuck her tongue out at Celestia before loading up her plate, taking portions that would make the healthiest eaters Manet knew blush. Noticing the Princesses were avoiding the meat dishes, Manet loaded up on those, not wanting the food to go to waste. Before she was done her first plate, the Princesses had both cleared their plates and had gone back for seconds, once again avoiding the meat dishes. She pondered their apparent distaste for meat, before a realization struck her.
“Ponies are herbivores,” Manet whispered to herself.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” Celestial asked, ears perking up.
“You’ve been avoiding the meat dishes. I was trying to figure out why, and then I realized… Ponies are herbivores, aren’t they?”
Celestia and Luna shared a look before Celestia responded.
“Well, technically, no. Ponies are perfectly capable of eating and digesting meat, and it actually contains a lot of proteins and other nutrients that are quite important for our health.” Celestia reached out with her magic and grabbed a piece of bacon, taking a bite of it emphasise her point. “However, having evolved from a prey species, most ponies find the act of eating meat quite… distasteful. A majority of ponies are vegetarians, we supplement our foods to make up for the lack of meat in our diets.”
“Tis true,” Luna cut in. “Even before our reign, when the winters were harsh and unpredictable and food was scarce, ponies only ever ate meat to make up for a lack of vegetation. It certainly wouldn’t be the centerpiece of a meal, like you would find in the gryphon kingdoms.”
“The only exception to that would be the pegasi,” Celestia fanned her wings, giving Manet a clear view of her perfectly organise feathers, each having a sheen to it. “The oils in fish is required to keep our wings healthy.”
Returning her attention back to her plate, Manet poked at her food, thinking on what she had been told. ‘I hope being a meat eater won’t be a problem… I don’t think they would have served it if it was, but I can’t help but think of a certain group of druids…’ Manet grimaced as she remembered her dealings with D.E.H.T.A..
‘Oh dear…’ Celestia fretted, noting Manet’s discomfort. ‘Breakfast started out so well, too.’
They ate in silence for a few minutes longer before Luna spoke up, breaking the silence.
“Thou doth not need to cease thine eating, Dame Manet. Just because we do not partake in the eating of meat ourselves, does not mean we will judge thee for it.”
“Indeed, you do not need to be ashamed of your eating habits.” Celestia bowed her head slightly. “I apologize if we made you uncomfortable, it was not my intention.”
“There is no need to apologize, Princess. I was just worried about making your ponies uncomfortable is all. You seem to share a lot of views with a group of druids I have dealt with in the past, however they can be quite… aggressive when others don’t agree with them.”
“Fret not, Dame Manet, while some ponies might shun thee for thine dining habits, they would go no further,” Luna assured her. “We ponies are quite docile by nature. But enough of that, how have thou enjoyed thine stay in our castle?”
“Well, the beds are comfortable, and it was nice to have hot, running water for a change.” Manet rubbed the back of her head bashfully. “Besides that, I can’t really say.”
Noticing that Squeaky Clean had slipped into the room at some point, Celestia decided to have a little fun. “And what of the staff, was the assistant I assigned you agreeable?”
“You mean Miss Squeaky?” Manet asked, getting a nod in response.” She was quite nice, if not a bit forward, and very curious. I’m ashamed to say our meeting nearly ended in her incineration.”
There was a moment of silence, and Manet could swear she felt the temperature in the room rise slightly.
“Care to elaborate?” came Celestia’s curt reply, and when Manet saw the look the royal sisters were giving her, she quickly realized her mistake.
‘Brilliant, Manet,’ she scolded herself. ‘Piss off the ponies with the power to literally move the sun and moon… Think before you speak!’
“Oh, uh, I mean…” Manet shrank back in her seat slightly. “It’s nothing bad, I swear! I constructed a meditation circle this morning using crystallized elements, which are quite volatile when handled improperly. While I was bathing, she entered my room to clean it and started messing with the crystallized fire.”
Celestia, having been directing a stern look at Manet, turned her attention to the maid in the room. “Is that true, Ms. Clean?”
Squeaky jumped at the use of her name, before stepping forward, mumbling under her breath.
“Yes, Princess Celestia, it is exactly as she said.” Squeaky's eyes darted back and forth between the two Princesses before her. “I went to her room to wake her, as I was asked, but she was already awake and preparing for the day, so I started cleaning her room. When I was cleaning, I found some crystals, and runes drawn on the ground. And, well…” She kicked at the ground bashfully with a forehoof. “You know what my major was when I attended your school. I got curious and started poking around… It’s my own fault, really! Don’t be mad Manet.”
Celestia’s shifted back and forth between the two ponies, before a small smile split her features. “It brings me joy to see you’ve made such a wonderful friend in such a short amount of time,” Her smile widened. “Standing up to her Princess in defense of a pony she met only this morning.”
Squeaky looked away in embarrassment and Manet slumped in her seat, feeling like she had just dodged a bullet.
“I have to say,” Celestia continued, “I was quite worried you’d have difficulty making friends here, Manet. I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you seemed quited reserved and guarded yesterday. I didn’t expect you to open up to anypony this fast. Tell me, what changed?”
Taking advantage of the subject change, Squeaky slunk off to return to her place by the door.
“Oh, well,” Manet sat back up in her seat, food temporarily forgotten, “your ponies have all been so kind and helpful, and so far you’ve not hesitated to keep a promise, so I’ve decided to be more open and friendly in return.” ‘It’s not like I’m giving you anything that could give you leverage over me.’
“That’s wonderful to hear, Manet,” Celestia gave her a motherly smile. “I understand your caution, but I hope soon you’ll be able to see that all I want is for you to feel as safe and loved as every other creature under our care.”
“Indeed, Dame Manet, ‘twould be a crime against our very nature to knowingly let one under our wing suffer,” Luna added.
Manet bowed her head in thanks before returning to her meal, only to pause as Luna’s words registered.
“That reminds me, Princess Luna,” said Manet.
“Yes, what can We do for thee?” Luna asked, giving Manet a kind smile.
“I wanted to know if I could get an explanation on the ‘Dame’ title you have given me.” Manet questioned.
“Oh, yes, of course. ‘Dame’ is a title given to a mare that has been knighted. Is that not how you refer to your knights back on Azeroth?”
“Knight?” Manet questioned. “I’m not a knight, back on Azeroth I was a simple adventurer. The highest title I hold is ‘Seer’, but even then it’s still fairly early in my training.”
Luna looked bewildered at the idea that Manet wasn’t a knight. “But to send thee on a mission of such import, surely thou must be a knight?”
“In the Alliance, the title of ‘Knight’ only goes to those that have proven their worth time and time again. Had our group been successful in slaying the Lich King, and had I returned with them, there is a possibility I may have been knighted.” Manet paused to take a bite of her food, wanting to finish before it got cold.
“As for my own people, we do not have knights. Instead we use the title of ‘Vindicator’. A Vindicator is a most holy title given to the strongest warriors of light we have, the beings meant to guide and defend our people. Being named a Vindicator was a great honor, not only to the individual receiving the title, but to their families as well.” Manet paused again as a pained look crossed her face. “My father was a Vindicator.”
Celestia’s smile fell, noticing the sadness in Manet’s voice. “‘Was?’”
“He…” Manet hesitated for a moment before steeling herself and continuing. “He did his duty.”
Luna opened her mouth to question her further, but a look from Celestia told her it was best to let the subject drop. They continued their meal in silence, and before long their plates were empty and the servants had cleared the table of leftovers. Manet stood to take her leave, but before she got more than a few steps Celestia called for her to wait.
“Just one moment please, Manet. We have one more order of business to attend to before I leave you to do as you please.”
Manet gave the Princess a questioning look but returned to her seat. ‘What else could we have to discuss? There’s the issue of them wanting the enchantments on my armor, but she told me to take my time coming to a decision…’
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of doors opening and Manet turned to spot two ponies walking into the room side by side. On the left was a light blue unicorn stallion with a darker blue mane and tail and golden brown eyes, as well as an image of a crescent moon within another crescent moon on his flank. Accompanying him was a light grey unicorn mare with blue eyes, a light purple and white mane, and three purple stars on her flanks.
As the couple drew closer, Manet couldn’t help but notice there was a striking resemblance between Twilight and this mare, making her wonder if the two were related somehow.
“Both Shining Armor and myself were able to give you our gratitude for saving young Twilight, but there are still two ponies who would like to thank you as well.” Celestia motioned first to the stallion. “I’d like you to meet Night Light,” and then to the mare, “and Twilight Velvet. The parents of Twilight Sparkle.”
Night Light bowed to Manet as he was introduced, but as soon as Twilight Velvet’s name left the Princess’s mouth, she crossed the remaining distance between her and Manet before anyone could react, and pulled her into a bone crushing hug.
“Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you!” Twilight thanked repeatedly. “Twily told us all about what happened down in that awful forest. I was up all night just dreading what would have happened if you hadn’t been there!”
“You… are… welcome…” came Manet’s choked reply. ‘By The Light, if she thanks me much harder she might break something!’
“Ok honey.” Night Light rolled his eyes. “It wouldn’t be a proper ‘thank you’ if the poor mare didn’t survive it, now would it.”
“Oh, dear, I’m sorry about that!” Twilight loosened her grip, continuing to hold Manet close. “I just get so worked up and sometimes I forget my own strength!”
“It’s fine,” Manet gasped for breath, using her now free forelegs to rub her sore chest. “Just please don’t do it again, I rather like breathing.”
“I do hope you’re okay,” Night Light apologised. “She tends to be very excitable when it comes to the kids, and…” Night Light’s words died in his mouth as he realized his wife was now feeling Manet up, much to her discomfort. His face met his hoof with an audible thunk as he questioned his wife. “Honey, what are you doing?”
“Well, she just looked so scrawny when we entered the room, I almost thought that Twily and Shiny were mistaken when they said this mare saved her. But seeing her up close, she is fit! And this lovely little outfit she has on just shows it off so well!” Manet flushed in embarrassment as Twilight ran a hoof across her chest. “Shiny said she was cute, but I didn’t she’d be this cute.”
Night Light’s facehoof seemed to deepen as Manet looked to the Princesses for help, both of whom were too busy attempting to hide their amusement to assist.
“Honey, please,” Night Light begged. “You’re making the poor mare uncomfortable. Let her go.”
“Oh, fine.” With a roll of her eyes, she released Manet and walked over to her husband, sitting next to him. “But really, if she didn’t want the attention, why dress like that?”
Manet stuttered incoherently for a moment, too embarrassed to answer, then said, “I dress like this because these are the only clothes I have! I’m not used to being naked all the time.”
“But your clothes look so tight, dear. How can that be comfortable?” said Twilight.
“They are tight because they have to be to fit comfortably under my armor,” came Manet’s indignant response.
“Well, I apologize for my forwardness, but with an outfit like that you’re just asking for it.” Twilight’s face lit up as she got an idea. “Oh, I know! We can go shopping! If you’re so against going around naked like everypony else, then to thank you for saving my daughter I’ll take you to pick out some more… appropriate clothes!”
“So you want to thank her by insulting her culture and personal tastes?” Night Light was facehoofing again. “Can’t we just invite her to dinner like we planned?”
“Why can’t we do both?” With a smile, Twilight grabbed Manet by the hoof and drug her away from the table. Pulling her out into the open, she began circling Manet, eyeing her up and down. “Hmm, yes… You have a very nice body you know? It gives me a lot to work with.”
Stopping her circling directly in front of Manet, she grabbed the pony’s shoulders. “And just think, by the time I’m through with you, Shiny will have no choice but to invite you to his herd!”
The color drained from Manet’s face as Night Light grabbed his wife in his magic and began dragging her to the door.
“Ok honey, that’s enough,” said Night Light.
“But Nighty, dear,” Twilight pleaded.
“And you wonder why I don’t bring you places,” Night mumbled to himself. Pausing by the door, he turned to address Manet. “If you're still interested in dinner, have Shiny show you to our house tomorrow night. Once more, thank you for saving our daughter.” With a final bow, Night Light left the room with his pouting wife floating behind him, muttering about a couch.
A full minute passed in silence before Manet finally snapped out of her stupor.
“Well, that happened…” Manet sat staring at the doors
Manet’s comment was more than they could take, and both Princesses burst out laughing, much to the chagrin of Manet.
As the Princesses struggled to get themselves under control, the doors opened allowing another guard to enter the room. He approached Manet’s guards and gave them a salute, before leaning in to give them a message. The guard gave a nod and returned the salute, acknowledging receipt of the message. His job complete, the new guard gave one more salute before leaving the room, returning to his previous duties.
“Oh, I apologize, Manet.” Celestia paused to wipe a tear from her eye. “But the look on your face was just priceless. I haven’t had a laugh like that in ages.”
“Verily!” Luna agreed. “Truly, it has been a pleasure to meet thee, Manet, but the sun is high in the sky and it is time We retire for the day.” Luna rose from her seat and made her way to one of the side entrances to the dining area. “We wish thee a pleasant day, and We hope to see thee on the morrow.”
As Luna left the room, Celestia rose from her seat and made her way to the main doors. “Unfortunately, my day is just starting and I have business to attend to. You are free to move about the castle as you please, and if you wish to go into Canterlot I only ask that you bring your guards. If you need anything at all during the day, just ask a guard and they will direct you to me.”
Finished saying her farewells, Celestia left, leaving Manet alone with Squeaky and the guards.
“Ma’am,” one of the guards stepped forward. “Captain Shining Armor has extended an invitation to the training grounds. The invitation includes full access to all facilities and equipment, as well as freedom to train and spar with the day guard, should you request it.”
“Training grounds?” ‘Sounds like the perfect way to get my mind off of… things.’
“Yes ma’am, I can show you the way if you would like.”
Receiving a nod in response, the guards took the lead and led Manet out into the halls and off to only they knew where. Squeaky following close behind.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The group had been moving through the castle for what Manet assumed was close to fifteen minutes, and her escort had been silent the entire time. She had spent the first few minutes of their trip conversing with Squeaky, but she had since excused herself and slipped away into one of the castle’s hidden pathways, leaving Manet in the silent company of her guards.
The wonder and majesty of the castle having begun to wear off, Manet began inspecting her guard to pass the time. At first glance they looked exactly the same as every other member of the guard, with their white coats and two-tone blue mane and tail. However, upon closer inspection there were quite a few differences between the two that made them distinctive up close. The guard to her left was an earth pony, built fairly stocky with a wide barrel and thick legs, quite obviously a stallion. The guard on the left, however, was a unicorn and, based on the body shape and proportions, was a mare. She had a noticeably thinner build than her earth pony counterpart, but while the mass wasn’t there, the amount of muscle on her frame made it more than clear that it wasn’t from lack of training.
As she inspected the guards closer she noticed that the golden armor they wore had a few differences as well. The unicorn had a Symbol of three upward facing arrows on her shoulder, and on her barrel Manet could make out the hilt of a sword hidden longways on her side. Instead of having a sword strapped to his side like his partner, the earth pony had thicker gauntlets on both his front and hind legs, obviously designed to make his kicks much more devastating, while on his shoulder was a single gold bar.
Any further inspection was interrupted as they rounded a corner and came to a halt in front of a set of large double doors. In front of the doors were two unicorn guards, and upon seeing the group, their horns glowed in unison and the doors slowly and silently swung open, allowing the heat and the light of the mid-morning sun to hit them in the face full force.
Manet raised a foreleg to shield her eyes from the sun as the group exited the castle, and couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across her muzzle at the foreign yet familiar scene before her. The training ground before her was placed in a large clearing, sandwiched between the castle and the mountain, with some of the facilities carved into the side of the mountain itself.
Looking to her left, Manet spotted a large, open field full of ponies in armor similar to her guards. A large group of ponies were gathered in the center of the field, a few drill sergeants amongst their ranks running them through drills and exercises. Circling the field was a large course containing multiple ponies, all wearing larger, heavier looking armor as they ran laps.
To her right were multiple small rings that Manet recognized as sparring rings. Scattered throughout the rings were ponies wearing what looked like light leather barding, wielding wooden training weapons using horn, hoof, and mouth. Manet noticed that some of the rings contained large training dummies for the ponies to beat on, while the rest were vacant of any type of training equipment, leaving nothing for the ponies to fight but each other.
Behind the sparring rings was a shooting range set against one of the walls encircling the complex, containing ponies using both magic and arrows attempting to hit targets of varying sizes scattered at varying distances amongst the range.
Straight ahead of them was a series of long, narrow buildings that ponies in various states of undress were filing in and out of. As the group made their way through the training grounds towards the buildings that Manet assumed were barracks, she began to notice that most of the ponies that weren’t actively training were stopping what they were doing to offer salutes and other signs of respect as they passed. Confused by the reception the group was getting, Manet decided to ask her escorts about it. “Are one of you some type of officer or something? We seem to be getting quite the reception.”
The earth pony spoke in a deep, rumbling voice, “Ah’m recently graduated from officers school, ma’am. But this welcome isn’t fer me.”
Both the guards looked back at Manet for the first time since leaving her room, and the unicorn spoke in a smooth, melodic voice. “It’s for you, ma’am. Word spreads fast here, and you made a lot of friends when you saved Twilight Sparkle. She is well loved, both among the staff and the guards. Most of the more senior guards see her almost like a daughter, having been in the castle to watch her learn and grow, and a decent number of the younger guard, myself included, even trained with her.”
“Trained with her?” Manet asked. “So she’s a guard?”
“No, nothin’ like that, ma’am.” The earth pony answered this time. “Bein’ the brother o’ the Captain of the Guard, ‘s well as the personal student of the Princess, it was decided that she needed ta take some guard level self defense courses. She’s a very important pony, so she needs ta be able ta defend herself should anypony decide ta try and ponynap her, or worse, ta attempt ta get leverage on the Princess or the Captain.”
Once they were passed the training grounds, the guards angled themselves to the left, moving towards the first building on the left.
“If that is true, then why couldn’t she defend herself in the forest?” Manet asked.
“From what we were told, whatever brought you here left a whole lot of loose mana in the air, making it impossible for even the strongest unicorns to cast any type of spells. Something you apparently had no trouble with.” The unicorn guard glanced back at her again. “Which I’m quite interested in seeing for myself.” The guard returned her gaze forward. “Besides, even if she has completed a few guard courses, she’s still a civilian. She’s never had to actually use any of it, much less in a life or death situation like that.”
Once they reached the building, the earth pony guard took up a position by the door as the unicorn lead the way in. Manet stopped and gave the earth pony guard a questioning look, to which he responded by motioning to the door with his head. Stepping inside the door, Manet was met with the sight of multiple bunkbeds lining the walls, each with a set of footlockers at the end. Manet hastened her step, doing her best to remain quiet upon noticing that a few of the beds were occupied by sleeping ponies. Reaching the end of the room, Manet followed the guard into a walled off area of the barracks revealing a room almost as large as the sleeping quarters full of lockers, toilets, and shower stalls.
“Welcome to the mares’ barracks.” The unicorn waved a foreleg at the lockers. “You are free to store any of your gear or bags you currently have on you inside any of the lockers. To lock the locker, you simply close the door and place a hoof on this gem here,” she pointed a hoof at a gem mounted on the front of the door, “and push a bit of your magic into it. It records your magic’s signature and will only open when magic of a matching signature is pushed into it again.”
Turning around, she motioned to the shower stalls. “You are also welcome to any of the other facilities in here, should you need them at any time. Should you require a bed and don’t wish to make the trip back to the castle, my bunkmate is currently deployed, so her bed is open.” Returning her attention to the locker in front of her, she removed her helmet and placed it on a hook in the locker. As she removed her armor, Manet was surprised to see her coat darken until, as the last piece of armor came off, it was revealed that she had a golden brown coat, and a black mane with grey highlights. Upon the mare’s flank was a downward facing sword with lines coming off the hilt and guard, making it look as though it were mid thrust.
Catching Manet staring, the mare gave her a coy smile. “Like what you see? Well, I’m sorry to inform you that it’s against regulations to form those kinds of relations with our charge.”
“Uh, no… nothing like that.” Manet’s cheeks flushed at the accusation. “I just didn’t realize that wasn’t your real coat color.”
“What?” The mare laughed. “You didn’t think we all looked exactly the same, did you?”
“Well, my people generally only come in shades of blue, although a rare few are purple or white. It wouldn’t have surprised me if white was a common coat color,” Manet defended. “Before I came here, I had never seen an equine in any color besides white, brown, or black, and white coats are highly sought after by the guard of one of our allies.”
“Really, only blue?” The mare scrunched her face up in distaste. “No offence, but that seems so… bland.”
“Maybe compared to you ponies, but we’re used to it.” Manet unstrapped her bag from her side and reached into it, the guardsmare’s eyes widening in surprise when her entire foreleg up to her shoulder disappeared into it. “Besides, my people care more about our horns than our skin color anyways. That’s what all the men look at, anyways.” Pulling out a black leather saddlebag, Manet hung the rest of her stuff, sans her clothes, in the locker and locked it the way the guard had showed her.
“Ready to head out then?” the unicorn mare asked, heading towards the door.
Strapping her bag to her side, Manet fell in step with the mare and followed her out the door. “Whenever you are.”
As they made their way through the barracks, Manet realized something. “I never got your names.”
“Well, that’s just because you never asked.” The guardsmare laughed, bumping Manet with her shoulder. “Name’s Decisive Strike, Sergeant in Her Royal Highness’s Solar Guard. The big lug outside is Lieutenant Heavy Oak.”
“That’s just because you two were doing such a good job of ignoring me earlier. In fact, you’re acting completely different now than you did even a few minutes ago. What’s up with that?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry about that. Heavy out there is a bit of a stickler for the whole ‘guards must remain stoic and unfeeling at all times’ thing. With him being one of my C.O.s, I do it when he’s around to keep him off my case. But I’m off duty now!” She beamed. “I was amazed when he actually talked to you earlier, he never does that while on duty! We all think it's ‘cus he has a stick shoved so far up his plot, if he opened his mouth it would fall out.” Decisive faked wiping a tear from her eye, laughing at her own joke. “He must really like you, though. I was surprised when he agreed to take the rest of this shift himself so I could train with ya.”
As they made their way out of the barracks, Heavy fell in step with them as Decisive lead the way out to the training fields.
“So what did you want to do first?” Decisive asked, turning around and trotting backwards as she talked to Manet. “We can head over to the track and grab some of the weighted training armor and run laps. Although,” she looked Manet up and down. “We may need to do a bit of adjusting to find a set that fits you. We can head over to where the other guards are running drills, I’m sure Short Fuse over there wouldn’t mind another pony to yell at!”
Heavy snorted and shook his head at his underlings lack of respect.
“Or…” Decisive hopped backward a step and crouched down like she was preparing to pounce. “We can head over to one of the sparring rings and you can show me some of those moves I heard about.”
Laughing at the enthusiasm of the young guardsmare, Manet turned to head towards the sparring rings. “Why don’t we head to the sparring ring. I’d like to warm up on a training dummy first, though. My magic seems to be acting a bit differently since I arrived here, and I want to make sure I don’t accidentally hurt anyone.”
“Of course you can!” Decisive jumped up and cantered to the first open ring she saw, grabbing a training dummy in her magic along the way.
With a snort and a roll of his eyes Heavy trotted after her, Manet having already sped up to catch her. Catching up to the two of them, he saw Decisive already had the dummy set up and was running Manet through how it worked. The dummy itself was one of the newer models, basically a log about as tall as a pony with multiple wooden ‘swords’ sticking out of it at different angles.
“Ok, so, these dummies we have are very different from your standard stationary dummies.” She pointed out multiple small circular plates on the ground. “Rather than sitting in a fixed position to let a pony mindlessly beat on it, they instead sit in these special couplings in the ground that contain ball bearings, allowing the dummy to spin when struck.” She demonstrated by kicking out at one of the ‘blades’ of the dummy, causing it to spin in place as one of the other ‘blades’ came around in an attempt to strike her. “It helps develop not only a ponies striking, but also their blocking and reflexes, as well as showing them how the momentum of their own strikes can be used against them.” Decisive smiled and flared her horn briefly. “If you ever fight a unicorn remember that with nothing physically holding the blade, a blocked strike can easily come around and back at ya.”
Moving over to the weapon rack, she levitated a sword off for herself. “Over here are the training weapons, they’re made of spell reinforced wood to keep them from damaging both the equipment and the ponies. You’re free to use anything up here.”
Manet approached the weapon rack and looked over all the weapons, picking up a few and looking them over before shaking her head and putting them back. “Most of the weapons up here are swords, which I was never trained to use. Do you have any axes or maces laying around anywhere, or even a fist weapon?”
“Fist weapon?” Decisive asked, looking confused.
“Yeah.” Manet held up a forehoof. “It slides over your fist, and you punch things.” She looked at her hoof and realized where Decisive’s confusion was coming from. “Although, I suppose here they may be called... ‘hoof weapons’ maybe?”
“Well, we have heavy gauntlets, like what Oak has.” Oak lifted one of his forelegs to show off his weapon. “Or, if you’re lucky, you might be able to get one of the night guards to part with a set of clawed gauntlets, but I wouldn’t hold your breath on that one.” Moving to a small crate on the ground, Decisive began digging through it before pulling out a set of small wooden cudgels. “These are probably the closest things to what you asked for that we have, not a lot of ponies use these these days, they mostly stick to either sword or spear.”
Taking the cudgels from Decisive’s magic, she held one in each hoof and gave them a few practice swings, testing the balance. “The weight is a little different than what I’m used to, but they’ll do.”
“Good, now, one more thing before we begin.” Decisive lead Manet over to some pony shaped mannequins, each clad in a set of leather armor. “We gotta get you fitted with some training armor.”
Taking a set in her magic, Decisive began putting the armor on, adjusting it to fit using a plethora of straps and buckles covering the armor. “This stuff is a bit of a pain to get on, but when you start taking hits you’ll be glad ya got it.”
Adjusting the last strap and sliding the helm over her head, Decisive moved to help Manet with her own armor. “Hmm, ponies aren’t normally as skinny as you, so I doubt we’ll have anything that will fit you perfectly, but…” fidgeting with some of the straps, she managed to get the armor to fit in a way that it wouldn’t hinder any of Manet’s movements “...I think we can make it work, at least for now.”
Picking up the helm, Manet ran her hoof over it, noticing the material felt different than she expected it to. “Is this not leather? It looks just like it, but leather is a lot smoother than this.”
“Oh, no. Ponies haven’t used leather for anything in years. That’s actually a plant fiber weave, with a few enchantments on it to make it a bit tougher. Same amount of protection as leather, but nothing needs to die to make it!” Decisive took the helm from Manet and looked between it and Manet’s horns a few times before shrugging and tossing it to the side. “You’re out of luck when it comes to a helm, unfortunately. The only ones we design with horns in mind are for unicorns.”
With both of them armed and armored, Decisive lead Manet to the ring, where the two of them began stretching and warming up for their training session.