"Oh thank you! Thank you so much!" came the voice of an elderly stallion as he gingerly hoofed a bag over to a taller, cloaked figure. The elder, Iron Gear, was a pony in his early seventies. His iron gray mane and tail having faded into a wispy white, his brown coat showing the signs of the wear of time helped indicate his age. The only thing about his stallion that still spoke of youth was the mark on his flank, a pair of iron gears at work, which sat there proudly.
The bag, about as big around as the figure's hoof, jingled as they placed it into a bag on their back, indicating that it was full of coins.
Bits, to be precise, were the name of those particular coins, and they were the primary currency across the world known as Equis.
"No problem sir," came the quiet voice of the stallion in front of him, the deep tones of his voice giving away his gender.
"Still, I appreciate you helpin' out a poor old stallion with such a difficult task," Iron said with a smile,
"I wouldn't say fetching and chopping firewood is a 'difficult task'," the figure muttered under his breath, before turning to his elder, "anyways, it really wasn't a problem, sir." The figure, possessing four green hooves that poked out from the bottom of his cloak, spoke with a strange, lilting accent, painting him quite clearly as a foreigner, if the light growling from his throat didn't already.
"All the same," the elder spoke, "is there anything I can do for you sonny? You've been wearing that cloak of yours all day in the sun! Perhaps a drink? Or two?" he offered. The figure tilted his head for a moment, before shaking it.
"I appreciate the offer, sir, but I've somewhere to be," he said, completely ignoring the downtrodden expression of the elderly pony in front of him. His job was over and done with, anything else could take the back seat until he checked in.
"I understand," Iron said, sounding dejected for a moment, before he perked up, "Welp, better get back to the missus!" he chirped, turning right around and trotting happily over to his home, a bright wooden cottage.
The figure turned away as well, a pair of wings sprouting from his back in unison, their forest green feathers standing out heavily against the dark of his cloak.
Though, if one looked very closely, they might notice how unusually stiff his feathers seemed to be.
The stallion stretched for a moment, wincing at the soreness in his back, before he took off.
He'd been moving almost non-stop for a few months now. Thankfully, his latest mission was over, and he was clear to head back to Canterlot for some rest before moving out again. Honestly though, couldn't Celestia just petition the Dragon Lord for some extra precautions around the border instead of sending him across Equestria just to hunt down some criminals that weren't even their problem?
He sighed. Oh well, it gave him a job, and that was all he needed.
Still ticked him off. Those pathetic excuses for dragons weren't their problem. They'd broken the rules of the treaty and, as such, must be punished. That was fact. However, the least the Dragon Lord could do was actually put in a little more effort to take down his own kind instead of leaving it to Celestia, who would then have him do all the dirty work.
He coughed suddenly, causing him to lose some of his balance out of surprise. Looking around, he spotted a small lake a mile or two ahead of him, where he could stop for a drink. Feeling slightly rejuvenated by the thought, he sped forward towards the glorious liquid, where he gently landed, his relatively light form barely disturbing the grass beneath his hooves. Moving forward he pushed his cloak off, revealing himself to the world.
He was slim, built for power and speed. He stood a few inches taller than the average Equestrian stallion despite his thin frame and almost delicate appearance. As he stood now, his features were sharp, elegant, but fierce. His eyes were angled the slightest, a visual sign of his nature as a foreigner to Equestria. His onyx mane and tail, however, showed the wear and tear they'd suffered, as well as the visual sign of a lack of either care or time. It grew long, framing his face on either side, even falling forward into his eyes from time to time. His forest green coat suffered a similar fate, growing somewhat longer than was considered normal, but was still short enough to show that he, at least, kept it so. The only part of him that stood clear and cared for, was the bright white question mark on his flank, with the burning ball of blue fire that sat beneath it, serving as the dot.
Leaning downward he took a long drink of the cool, crisp water, feeling the dryness of his throat fade away. The cool liquid left behind a delightfully rejuvenated feeling within him, as if it had cleared away all his aches and pains in a wave of magic.
It was almost a shame he had to leave for Canterlot.
Once he finally drank his fill, he put his hood back on, and took off once more.
The sight of a large white castle resting on a mountain in the distance was waiting for him.
The throne room was always a beautiful work of art, in his opinion.
Even though he'd be the first to admit that he isn't the most fond of Princess Sunbutt, he wouldn't deny that the room, made from polished marble, lined with lavender across the walls, pillars rising up to the arched ceiling, and massive windows that let in the light of the solar diarch's celestial body, was gorgeous.
Although it was hindered slightly by the fact that Celestia still hadn't gotten a throne for Luna.
Princess Celestia was a tall mare, boasting the wings of a pegasus and horn of a unicorn, as well as the strength of an earth pony. Her coat, a shade of white with just the slightest hint of pink, was kept pristine and soft. Her mane and tail, longer than her own body, flowed in an invisible wind, the cobalt, cerulean, turquoise, and heliotrope blended together perfectly, not a single strand of hair overlapping each other. She had an almost ethereal look about her, as her mane and tail seemed to wave in an intangible wind, covering one of her magenta eyes regardless of the motion. Her muzzle was squared, almost like a stallion's, but with a combination of strength and warmth only a mare could possibly give off, which easily paired with the seemingly natural smile she wore, and it wasn't a surprise she was so popular. She was model slim in both torso and legs, but a thousand years worth of peace had left a layer of slight fat over her limbs, which gave them a rather soft and squishy look to the trained eye. The shining sun on her flank, her cutie mark, almost glowed in her radiance.
Beside her was Princess Luna. A mare whose dark blue mane flowed like her sister's, specks of white dotted them, sparkling like the stars she painted the sky with. She was noticeably shorter than her sister, but still a head taller than himself. Luna's features contrasted with her sister's gentleness, giving off an air of sharp elegance, complimented by the regal atmosphere her ethereal mane and tail gave her. Like her sister, her muzzle was squared, etched into a neutral stance, but with noticeable signs of recent smiling. Her body, slim and strong, showed obvious signs of being trained. A thousands years of banishment on the moon had done nothing to ruin the muscle one could see pulsing beneath the fur and skin of the princess. The crescent moon on the black splotch on her flank exuded a trained coolness. This mare was a fighter, through and through. Despite this, the way her cyan eyes held a hollowness to them spoke of a shy, lonely mare, but one who was steadily getting better.
Even if they had never put on that regalia, many would have likely still believed them to be royalty.
He didn't bother to hide his irritation at the singular throne, however, his eyes darting from the two of them to the throne several times.
Celestia noticed this, of course, and had to fight the slight grin she could feel worming its way onto her face.
"Alright, anyways..." the stallion finally spoke up, figuring he might as well get it over with, "The dragons have been dealt with and a message sent to the Dragon Lord explaining the whole thing. Not like the guy would mind anyway, he gets pissed whenever someone breaks the treaty," he said, idly scratching his nose.
He had discarded his cloak once he arrived, revealing himself to the two princesses in front of him. One thing of note, was the golden bracelet around his right hoof, bearing several dozen runes etched onto its surface. These particular runes specified a disguise spell that covered him without directly interacting with his skin. Of course, to any not well versed in runes, it would appear as naught but an unusual trinket.
Currently the bracelet was inactive, revealing that his sapphire blue eyes contained a slitted pupil similar to a dragon, leathery wings, and a set of fangs that poked out from his upper lip.
He was what was known as a thestral.
Hailing from the Tramplevanian Mountains up in the Frozen North, an empire of sorts, under the name Nocturne, resided. Since the Days of Chaos, it has resided with its main inhabitants, the thestrals, living peacefully amongst themselves. However, one fateful meeting between those thestrals and a particularly unhappy pony resulted in a clash that killed quite a few of the passive thestrals, before being repelled by, yet another, pony who calmed its sibling and made peace with the hesitant thestrals.
Since then, thestrals have harbored a cool dislike towards the solar diarch for what she had done, and loved the lunar diarch for having saved them from her sister's unholy wrath.
"I see," came Celestia's voice, before she frowned a little, looking just the slightest bit embarrassed, "I hate to inconvenience you, but... I'm afraid I'm going to have to send you off immediately," she said. The stallion leveled a small glare in her direction at that. His tensed muscles obvious underneath his coat.
"What? No rest for the wicked?" he asked, his tone obviously annoyed, "You of all ponies should know how important that is. I'm not performing at my best if you just send me off like that."
"I'm sorry, Emerald... it's just that this next job is rather... near to my heart. I'd rather you go off as quickly as possible, if only for the sake of my conscience."
"... It's about your student, Twilight Sparkle, isn't it?" the now named Emerald asked, sending a flat stare in her direction. Celestia stiffened slightly at the accusation, but Luna spoke up in her stead,
"Indeed," she said, stepping forward, ignoring her sister send her a smile at the save, "In the few months since my return, the Element Bearers have demonstrated an unusual knack for getting into trouble," she explained, grinning slightly, "My sister, as well as myself, fear that the defeat of Nightmare Moon may have given them a inflated sense of confidence that will get them injured, or killed. As such, we'd like to send you to divert any threats. Specifically at night."
Emerald stared for a moment, before sighing.
"What's the pay?" he asked, not even flinching when Luna chuckled at his blunt question.
"500 bits for each threat diverted."
"Rather small, but okay," he said, "how will you know I've diverted a threat?" he asked. Luna's horn lit up suddenly, before a blue flash appeared in front of her, and a brown, conical object hovered in her magical grasp.
"You will use this. Unlike my sister's student's dragon friend, Emerald, your fire is unable to transmit letters between you and myself. As such, this lighter will serve in their place. With these, the two of us have a direct line between each other, much like my sister and her student. Simply squeeze the center to conjure the flame, then light the letter on fire," she said, hovering the lighter over to Emerald.
He inspected the device for a moment, before placing it in his bag. It was a simple brown bag, but with a button of a white question mark as its only personalization.
"Alright... anything else?" Emerald asked. Celestia bit her lip, speaking up,
"Yes... nopony is to know that you are in town to protect Twilight and her friends. Feel free to state your connection with my sister and myself, and even your position as a guard to watch the Everfree. However, we'd prefer it if you didn't say anything about being a guard at all, though we recognize that it's not always an option. I'm sure you won't mind that at all, Emerald," she said, causing him to nod. "In all honesty, were Twilight and her friends to find out about this, I worry they'd do something reckless to prove that they don't need protection," she added, subtly swallowing the lump in her throat.
"That's understandable," he said, "but what if something happens during the day?"
"Simply observe," Luna replied, "If they require help, give it, by all means. But try to avoid getting involved if they don't. Stay alert regardless," Emerald nodded in understanding.
"Alright. If that's all, I have to go, don't I?"
"Hmhmhm. Good luck," Celestia said, giving the non-pony a smile as he casually flew out the window towards the distant town of Ponyville.
Silence reigned for a moment, before Celestia spoke,
"Do you think he'll get along with Twilight and her friends, Luna?"
"Well, I'm sure he'll try, at least. For his job if nothing else."
"I certainly hope so."