It was late. At least, late for me. Aurum and Quartz were still catching up on everything that had happened in the last few months. They were talking about it while sitting on the couch. My bedroom, more or less.
Interrupting them just seemed rude. Being in the room also felt awkward. I wanted to both be there and not be there. Despite all of Aurum’s assurances at dinner that we’d all look after each other, I still felt like I was suddenly an outsider.
Those were feelings I couldn’t express out loud. What kind of friend would I be if I was upset that a mother and son were reunited? An awful one!
It would have been better if they’d been reunited in Aurum’s bedroom, though. At least then I could have had my couch! I’d go to sleep and when I woke up, they’d be all talked out. Or talked out enough.
When I was certain the two of them were too caught up in the moment to notice, I stole a glance at Mr. Peepers. He looked back at me and blew an equally put out bubble. It was past his bedtime, too. He and I both went to bed early so we could be up early.
I didn’t have class the next day, so they weren’t really inconveniencing me other than the fact that I was being denied four hugs from O. C. Topus. I was also tired and starting to get cranky.
With a soft huff, I settled my forelegs on the windowsill and looked out into the night. Canterlot was relatively quiet and the street lanterns cast a warm, golden glow from their unicorn magic. A few ponies walked here in there, wrapped in their scarves and coats.
There hadn’t been any snow yet, but it wouldn’t be long before the weather team started in on that. I’d need to get some new boots. My old ones were showing their age and the cute little whale that was painted on the side was starting to come off.
Had I always been so obsessed with sea life? When was the last time I’d even been to the ocean? I should go to the be— “Youch!” I shouted when a bright pink light burst through my window and right into my eyes.
Aurum was immediately up and over to me. “Azurite, are you okay! What in Equestria was that?”
I swatted away the spots and then looked out the window again. The night sky had disappeared only to be replaced by a pink, translucent sheen. “I’m not sure, but look at that!”
Aurum and Quartz both pressed up against the glass to peer out.
This was a big deal. Something had happened! Were ponies going crazy outside? I pulled my gaze down from the sky only to find the few ponies out were just looking up in confusion and pointing. They didn’t know any more than I did, but at least they weren’t panicking. Should we be panicking?
“What do we do?” Quartz asked.
Aurum looked between him and I. “We wait here until the authorities tell us what to do,” she said with certainty.
She was right. I took a deep breath and tried to keep calm. Nopony was freaking out. The authorities would let us know what to do. The Royal Guard would— I sat up straight. Yes, the Royal Guard would know, and I was a royal guard.
I was the authorities. I wanted to be a scared filly right then and hide under a blanket, but in my heart, I knew what I had to do.
My body moved automatically as I turned from the window and went over to my drawers. When I pulled the bottom one open and levitated out the folded uniform, Aurum called out to me.
“Azurite, what are you doing?”
“I’m getting dressed,” I replied as I started to pull my uniform on. Why are we doing this, Azu?
“I see that. That isn’t what I meant. What are you up to?”
“I’m a royal guard. I’m getting dressed so I can report in. They’ll need everypony they can get their hooves on for whatever this is,” I explained as I tried to keep my magic steady enough to button my tunic. It was hard to focus.
Aurum trotted over and set a hoof on my shoulder. “Azurite, you’re right. You are a royal guard. A royal guard on medical leave pending retraining.”
“Right, a royal guard,” I repeated, without looking up at her. If I did that, she’d know I was scared. This could be exactly like last time. It could be worse than last time.
“Azurite, look at me,” Aurum said in her mom voice.
I shook my head no. “I need to go.”
She hooked her hoof under my chin to tilt my head up. When our eyes met, hers softened. She leaned down and pressed her forehead to mine. “You don’t have to do this.”
Warm tears pooled at the corners of my eyes. “I do have to, Aurum. I’m a royal guard. If I don’t go now, will I ever go? Will I always just be the one guard that hides in her apartment waiting for the other guards to do the work?”
“You can go when you’re stronger,” she whispered.
My hoof was shaking but I lifted it and set it on her chest. “Aurum, I might be scared. I might be off mentally. I might talk to fish. I might be a lot of things, but I don’t think I’m a coward. I would rather go out there, panic, and fail than be here wishing. Please, let me go.”
She hooked her hoof around my back and squeezed me tightly up against her chest. “Oh, Azurite, I’m so proud of you.”
I hugged her back and nuzzled into the crook of her neck. It was warm and safe there. It would be easier to stay but I was a royal guard. I had to go, scared or not.
We broke the embrace and I wiped my eyes. “I want you two to stay here until you hear from somepony officially that it is safe to go out.”
“Okay,” Aurum said softly.
I pointed at hoof at Mr. Peepers. “And you, you stay in, too.”
He bubbled in response.
On the way to the door, I looked over at Quartz. “Keep your mom safe, don’t let her chase after me,” I ordered firmly.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied.
Then I went outside into the dark, alone. All alone without a partner. That was alright, though. I was going to be surrounded by royal guards soon. Soon would be good. Immediately would be better.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. This was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay. Central command would be the best place to report in without a regular unit. I started off in that direction, keeping to the side of the street and close to the buildings.
When I hit Mane Street, I was relieved to find ponies in uniform or armor trotting in the same direction. Others weren’t dressed yet, but it was clear they were guards. The pair in front of me clearly had a military swagger.
“What do you think is going on, boss?” the mare that wasn’t that much taller than me asked her partner. He was an unnecessarily large pegasus stallion. I wasn’t even aware they made ponies that big.
His gaze was focused straight ahead as he replied. “Some kind of magic outside of my understanding, but the alarm bells aren’t ringing, so it must be minor. We’ll check in and find out.”
That confirmed they were guards and what he’d said hadn’t crossed my mind. There weren’t any alarm bells. When something was a major emergency, they rang all across the city. Loud bells. Just like during the Summer Sun Celebration.
With a vigorous shake of my head, I chased that memory away. At least the big brute was right. No bells meant no imminent threat to life. For all I knew, I’d check in and be sent home. That would be nice. The less time I spent standing around, the less likely it would be the others would notice I was shaking.
Each hoof step towards command was excruciating. Minor emergency or not, going back to work was frightening. It is what I had to do, though. It is what I needed to do! I was a royal guard first and a wreck of a pony second.
When we drew closer to central command, there was already a large group of ponies sorting themselves out. Crowds normally bothered me, but not when it was other royal guards. They’d do whatever it took to protect me.
“City guards, thank you for coming, but please head to your precincts for instruction!” a young-looking lieutenant was calling from the top of a wagon.
Opposite him was a major waving ponies forwards, “Palace guards, command staff, and other central ponies, please come this way.”
I guess I fell into the category of other central ponies, so I started to trot towards her. As I drew closer, the line came to a sudden halt and I heard some loud discussion from the head of it.
After a minute or two, I peeked around the pony in front of me to see what was going on. There was a yellow mare in disheveled gold armor arguing with the gate guard.
“I hash to sheck in!” she blurted.
“Ma’am, please, you’re drunk, you can’t check in!”
The yellow mare poked a hoof at the pony, her hoofguard falling off. “I wash osh duty! No duty tomorrow! Then thish bubble! Checking in!”
The pony picked up her hoofguard and awkwardly tried to put it back on her. “Lieutenant, I appreciate that, but you’re barely in uniform.”
“Ish enough! I losh my helmet!” she said way too loudly. Her helmet was literally sitting on her rump. A shapely rump at that.
The major trotted over. “What is going on? What’s the hold up, Sergeant?”
“This lieutenant is—”
“Lewtenish Day!” the mare cut in
“Lieutenant Day is drunk and trying to check in,” the sergeant said.
She needed to get her big, dumb, drunk rump out of the way. Standing in the line outside of the walls wasn’t helping my nerves. She was so inconsiderate!
The major took the lieutenant by the collar of her armor and pulled her to the side. “Carry on, Sergeant, I’ll get the lieutenant in form.”
“Mah form ish perfect!” she wailed as she was tugged off.
With that done, the line was moving again. When my turn came, the sergeant looked down at me in confusion.
I stood as tall as I could. “Guard Azurite reporting!”
He blinked at me and looked at my uniform. “Guard or trainee?”
“Guard Azurite, formerly of the City Guard, currently a soon-to-be graduate of the Warrant Officer school. Reporting!” I said with as much confidence as I could muster.
“Ah, I see. Thank you for coming. I don’t have any specific instructions for unassigned guards yet. If you’ll just go inside and head to that area over there, please,” he said, pointing to where a group of clearly mismatched guards were loitering.
Some wore armor from other cities. Others were in various uniforms. We were the mismatched and misfit. We’d just shown up as per protocol. Somepony in command would figure out what to do with us later.
“Howdy there,” a lean, black-and-brown speckled stallion in a stetson hat called as I approached.
“Hi? Howdy!” I replied and immediately felt silly.
He grinned down at me. “Welcome to the Irregulars, missy.”
Irregulars? “Huh?” was all I managed.
A pegasus mare in a formal Baltimare Guard uniform waved a wing at me. “Don’t mind Paco, he’s decided to name this group. Nopony else is really buying it.”
“Paco’s Irregulars, and yes they are,” Paco said proudly.
The other ponies in the crowd gave various non-committal shrugs.
Paco’s Irregulars was certainly not any sort of sanctioned unit. At least I didn’t think so. Surely the Guard wouldn’t allow that some random pony to just form a unit?
The pegasus set her red-feathered wing across my back. “See, Paco, you’ve just confused another one. She’s just standing there trying to figure out if you’re serious or not.”
Paco brushed his hoof across his chest. “I’m as serious as a heart attack, Bloom. Seeing as I’m the most senior pony here, it’s my duty to organize this show.”
“Most senior?” I asked, finally finding my voice.
He nodded. “Yep, you bet! I’m a master sergeant. Unlike some other pony, I just didn’t reckon I’d need my uniform when I was on leave.”
My nose wrinkled. He was a senior non-commissioned officer. Most of the ones I’d met were grouchy and serious. Paco didn’t seem like that. Was he really a master sergeant? Even if he was, he wasn’t technically the most senior now that I’d arrived. I’d be graduating no matter what. Which meant—
“I’m a warrant officer,” I blurted out.
“What’s that now?” Paco asked in surprise as he pushed his hat up.
“Warrant Officer Azurite. That’s me,” I chimed. Why was I lying? What was I doing?
Bloom—I think that was her name—pulled her wing back to her side and looked me over in confusion. She then shrugged. “Nice to meet you, Azurite. First Sergeant Rose Bloom. What sort of warrant officer are you?”
Paco took his hat off and held it to his chest. “Don’t tell us! Let us guess? You’re a foal care warrant?”
“Paco, be nice!” Bloom hissed. Her tone wasn’t one two ponies who barely knew each other would use, either.
Foal care! There was no such thing as a foal care warrant. Was he making fun of me? That wasn’t appropriate for an NCO to do with a warrant officer. I lifted a hoof to give him a piece of my mind, but then something struck me as odd.
Paco and Bloom didn’t seem like two ponies that had just met. In fact, they seemed really close. Was this whole thing some sort of joke or setup? “Do you two know each other from before tonight?”
At that point, Paco pulled his hat down over his eyes. “Now, where are you getting an idea like that? We’re playing guess the warrant.”
“You’re from somewhere out west, clearly,” I explained, “and Rose Bloom is obviously from Baltimare but the way you two are interacting really doesn’t match two ponies that barely know each other. I’m really good with details. That is why I’m a warrant officer.”
Paco muttered, “You must be one of them fancy detective warrants.”
I wasn’t, but I liked the sound of that. Not that warrant officers usually became detectives. I shifted to Rose Bloom. “So, I’m right, right? You two know each other.”
Bloom’s cheeks turned pink. “You could say that. We’re both took leave to visit Canterlot so we could get married. Today. This was literally our wedding night.”
My ears shot up. “You got married today? Today, today? Congratulations!” I squealed.
Paco took his hat off and waved it at me. “Shhhh, girl. Bring it down.”
“Aren’t you happy?” I asked a little too loudly before lowering my voice. “I mean, aren’t you?” This was amazing! They’d just been married, that was beautiful.
“Is a cactus prickly? Of course, but we don’t want the Guard getting funny ideas like not letting us help tonight just because it is our special day. This looks serious.”
Rose Bloom nodded firmly. “Yes. Wedding night or not. Pink bubble in my bridal suite window or not. We’re royal guards first and newlywed ponies second.”
That was something I understood. Even with all of my fears I’d responded, and I was glad I’d done so. Just being around other guards was giving me confidence. If these two had just got married. Wait, had she said her wedding suite?
“You were already in your suite? Were you two—”
“Alright, everypony, listen up!” a gruff voice called from over my shoulder.
We all turned and stood at attention as soon as we saw the voice was from an older pony with a major’s pin on his armor. “I appreciate you checking in. I’m going to take all of your names and ranks and send a note to your superior that you did so.”
“But…” Paco said.
“But you can go home, this is a precautionary shield spell in advance of the wedding. The Captain of the Canterlot Guard saw it fit to erect it just as notice was going out. The how and why are above my pay grade.
“At any rate, there is no present threat or emergency. This is just one of those things that looks frightening, but it was really just a matter of word not getting out soon enough. The newspapers are already getting the story ready to run. You can read about it in the morning headline.”
Rose Bloom and Paco exchanged brief glances, smiled, and then smiled a bit more. Too much more.
The major then took all of our names and dismissed us. The flow of ponies from the central command was now going the opposite direction. I started to relax. There wasn’t going to be any sort of big fight. No ponies were going to get hurt.
I wasn’t going to have to use force on somepony again. Thank all the stars for that. Now all I had to do was get home, but the streets were busy now. The spell had brought out the curious ponies. They were busy looking up, pointing, and talking about how pretty a color pink was.
Pink was pretty, but blue was far superior. If they were looking up, though, they weren’t looking at me and that made it easier to keep my emotions in check. The high from being a guard again, however briefly, was starting to wear off and the broken pony was coming back.
One positive outcome was that I was more sure than ever that I wanted to get back to work. That might give me some normalcy instead of sitting in fear, thinking about what was to come. It was a shame it was only Friday.
I wouldn’t have another class until Monday, and now I had to deal with the fact that Quartz was here. Life was going to change in some way, and I wasn’t sure I liked that.
Fear ruled so much of my life. Fear of crowds. Fear of the dark. Fear of having to be violent. Fear that Quartz was going to take Aurum away. Fear that Aurum would let him. I was getting feared out. Maybe I should go see Mindful Soul before Monday? She usually took weekend appointments on short notice if it was an emergency. This kind of was.
As I approached my apartment, the lights were all on inside and out. I could see Aurum staring through the window. She wasn’t looking up; she was looking out. The moment she saw me, she moved away and threw open the door.
“Azurite!” she called out into the cold night.
I picked up the pace, trotted quicker, and closed the distance between us. “I’m home, everything is fine!”
Without another word, Aurum pulled me into a tight hug against herself, burying my face in her soft coat. “I was so worried, but I’m so proud of you.” I could hear her heart beating quickly. She was really upset.
“It’s okay, really. It’s just a precaution,” I said, suddenly not worrying about myself and instead trying to soothe her fears.
“Good, good. Come inside. It’s cold out here. Let’s get you some hot chocolate and some nice socks. I made up the couch for you and sent Quartz on into the bedroom. He can sleep in the bed and, if you don’t mind, we can share your couch. At least tonight?”
Maybe I’d been overreacting before. Aurum wasn’t just going to up and leave if she felt like this. My hooves tingled with warmth and I squeezed her. “I’d like that. Thank you, Aurum.”
“You’re welcome,” she replied.
We could deal with change tomorrow. At least tonight, it would just be Aurum and me.