My Farrier Lady, Sunspot
Carrying the Torch
Captain Periwinkle. It had a nice ring to it, but Perry did not have nearly enough time to appreciate his promotion to Captain of the Royal Guard. There was an endless series of tasks that needed his attention, paperwork with unfilled lines, reports on all of the things he was going to be responsible for within the next few months, including one that the outgoing Captain Stone merely referred to as, “You’ll find out.”
Despite an ever-growing mountain of papers awaiting his attention, one thing he could not put off one more day was his new shoes. The old ones practically rattled on their worn nails when he walked, and the last thing Perry wanted was to throw a shoe when he walked up to Their Highnesses during the promotion ceremony, the last official act of the Royal Sisters until they stepped down and Princess Twilight Sparkle became his boss.
He’d probably fall right on his face and die of embarrassment.
“Last hoof, please.” Golden Hammer, the Royal Guard farrier, was a big stallion who always made Perry feel like a young colt again, although all he could see of the pleasant fellow was his slab-like side of rusty red hide with a golden hammer cutie mark. Plus, Hammer let Perry move himself down to the shoeing brace instead of picking him up like a toy, which was nice of him and slightly calming.
“I’m just glad you agreed to stay open late tonight, Mister Hammer,” said Perry while moving. “I’m probably going to be working until past midnight again.”
“You said we were going to have dinner this evening,” came a familiar female voice from the shop’s sliding side door, which was open to let the cool evening breeze in. “We had it planned last month.”
“Bunny?” Perry tried to turn so he could see, but Hammer kept him pinned while pulling out loose nails. “Bun-Bun, honey?”
“Keep him right there, Mister Hammer,” said the fuming pegasus mare as she came around to his limited field of vision. “He can’t duck out on me this way.”
Hammer said nothing, because he was holding a file in his teeth. Lucky stallion.
“Look, Bunny,” started Perry in a forlorn attempt at reason, “you knew when we started to date that there would be times when the job comes first. Like Mister Hammer here. He’s staying open late so I can get my new shoes before I get promoted.”
“Actually, we’re catching up on some backlog while waiting on our marefriends,” said Silver Nails, who had just leisurely sauntered out of the enchantment booth to one side of the forge area. “Hi, Dust Bunny. The girls are shopping for some foals’ things this evening, so when given a choice between working a little late and that...”
“It was an easy choice,” said Hammer, once he had put the file to one side. “Why don’t you two come along with us tonight?”
“I can’t,” said Perry in what was supposed to be a decisive tone, usable for giving orders to his fellow Royal Guard, but which he suspected sounded more like a whine.
“You never can when it’s something I want to do,” said Dust Bunny, sticking her bottom lip out and pouting in the way that always liquefied his heart.
“But it’s important,” he managed. “I’ve got mountains and mountains of paperwork to cover—”
“You have subordinates now,” insisted Bunny. “You don’t have to do everything yourself.”
“Not everything!” said Perry. “Besides, there’s a problem that just came up when I was reviewing the last Captain of the Guard’s files. I was going over the logs for Their Highness’ evening schedules, and there are holes...” Perry slowed to a stop. “Bugger.”
With a low clucking of his tongue, Nails shook his head. “Not even on the job and you’re already leaking secrets. So Their Highnesses sneak out at night sometimes. Who cares. They deserve it.”
“I need to know where they’re at every minute of the day or night. I’m going to be responsible for them,” he hissed, giving Dust Bunny a sideways look of ‘Oh Please Don’t Say Anything Because I’m In Enough Trouble Already.’
“Seems to me princesses are pretty responsible all by themselves,” rumbled Hammer, who had given his hoof several expert strokes of the hoof rasp and was examining the results. “I remember the first order Princess Celestia gave Cadet Periwinkle when little Twilight was here, getting her worn-out shoes replaced. You got to escort her back to the palace.”
“Seems like so long ago,” chimed in Nails. “They grow up so fast.”
“And when she got her first set of shoes as a Princess, you were assigned to stand guard outside the forge,” added Hammer. “That was a lot of responsibility for the both of you.”
“I’ll say,” said Nails. “After what we went through to get her last set of shoes enchanted, I’m starting to think you were protecting the city from her, more than protecting Twilight.”
“Spike stops by the shop whenever he’s in town alone,” said Hammer. “I think he likes our brand of coal. He’s got all kinds of stories about her.”
“Please, don’t go spreading stories about Her Highness,” said Perry, wincing a little when Hammer gave a rough spot on his hoof an extra stroke of the rasp. “Are you about done, Mister Hammer? I still have a lot of work to do.”
Dust Bunny gave off a sharp whinny of frustration and pounded one hoof against the floor of the forge, which did not seem to hurry Hammer’s extensive examination of his last unshod hoof one bit. She might have continued to berate Perry, if not for the welcome arrival of two mares who strode through the side door of the forge room and right up to their respective coltfriends.
“Good evening, you big stud. We found all kinds of gifts around town for Star’s new little one, and dropped them off at the house so we can wrap them later for the foal shower.” Autumn Sunspot, one of the multitudinous clerks and aides at the palace, gave Hammer a quick peck on the nose, then turned to Dust Bunny. “Hello, Dusty. Haven’t seen you in ages. Are you taking Captain Periwinkle out for dinner this evening?”
“He’s busy!” the young mare fairly spat.
“It’s important!” countered Perry. “Mister Hammer, will you please put my last shoe on!”
There was a short but silent pause, and Hammer shook his head. Perry tried to break free and fly back to the palace, but the big stallion just leaned on his shoulder and trapped him in the shoeing brace.
“Hun,” rumbled Hammer. “Think your new Captain of the Guard needs some Away time.”
Perry turned to face the palace servant and found himself eye-to-violet-eye with Sunspot, who had a serious expression of such intensity that he had only seen it once before.
On a much taller mare.
“Sister,” she called out in a calm but affectionate tone of voice. “Please stop kissing Nails and come over here for a moment. I believe Mister Hammer has a point.”
The taller dark pegasus came strolling up from behind Perry’s field of vision, tucking a mussed strand of grey mane back behind one ear. “Yes?” she asked.
After leaning a little more on Perry’s leg in order to suppress any further escape attempts, Hammer cleared his throat. “Your new Captain of the Guard is working too hard. Seems he found out that Their Highnesses skip out some evenings, while he won’t. He’s determined to work overtime until he finds out why and that’s causing issues with his marefriend.”
“A most serious accusation, indeed.” Shadow turned toward Dust Bunny, who appeared confused, but still angry. “Miss Bunny, how many times has Our Captain promised a romantic liaison and failed to deliver?”
“Lots.” Bunny obviously was picking up on the change of tone in the room, and her eyes flickered back and forth between Sunspot and Shadow, as if she were seeing something new about them. “He is awfully busy, though,” she backpedaled. “He’s so dedicated to his job. It’s one of the things that attracted me to him in the first place.”
“Hm…” Sunspot pursed her lips. “A strong, committed fellow. I understand the attraction.”
Shadow added, “Do you think he shall make a good father to your foals?”
Dust Bunny promptly blushed bright pink around the tips of her ears, something that Perry had always found unspeakably adorable. “Yes,” she whispered. “If we can ever get the time.”
Sunspot turned back to Perry and regarded him with a frown that needed no words behind it.
“Once things slow down,” he started, only to be cut off cold.
“You are off-duty tonight,” said Sunspot. “I recall a memo sent to you that ordered it. And even so, you are going to return to work, to do your duty although you are off-duty?”
Despite the difficulty in standing his ground while having one hoof trapped in the shoeing brace, Perry put as much effort into his words as he could. “It would help if the Princesses would stay put!” he snapped. “What am I going to have to do when I become Captain of the Guard, chain them in their rooms at night! This is my duty.”
“Duty.” Sunspot’s voice was calm as a millpond, with a thread of pain under it. “You have no idea what duty entails.”
“Sister,” cautioned Shadow, putting a hoof on her shoulder.
After a long, deep breath, Sunspot continued, “Duty can be a terrible master. It can isolate you, turn you away from everypony who cares until you feel all alone in the world. If Cadence had not shaken me out of my mindless devotion to duty, if Twilight Sparkle had not given me hope, my duty would have blinded me to events, and I never would have regained my sister.”
“I… Uh…” The correct words escaped Perry’s frantic verbal grasp. Autumn Sunspot was staff in the palace, but she was speaking from the same position of authority as—
“It is unbecoming of our Royal Guard to break their word of honor,” announced Shadow. “Your duty doth not apply merely to thy lieges, but to those whom you love.”
There was a long, awkward pause as the puzzle pieces came together. The small pale pink earth pony with the larger dark pegasus at her side. The absences of Their Highnesses during certain evenings. The far too familiar look that he was getting from both of them. The prickle of cold sweat that was starting to trickle down his wingpits.
“Understand yet, Perry?” whispered Hammer.
Perry nodded, because there was still something wrong with his voice. Even Dust Bunny was looking on with wide white eyes and apparently trying to decide between a curtsy or a faint.
“Good.” Hammer stuck the last shoe on Perry’s bare hoof and prepared to begin the nailing process while talking around the handle of his tools. “Because I’m going to give you a piece of advice that a wise stallion once gave me. You let that one go and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
“Agreed,” said Sunspot. “Opportunity is knocking, Captain Periwinkle. If you don’t answer that door, it could get away from you. Take a little time off this evening. Take this young mare to someplace where the two of you can have a few drinks, get something to eat, and relax. Otherwise, you are going to miss something very special.”
“Oh, I’m not that special,” said Bunny just as fast as she could form the words. “You don’t have to do this on account of me.”
“You are too very special,” countered Perry. “You have to be in order to put up with me.”
He hesitated, only to have Shadow lean closer and whisper, “Would it help if We made that apology dinner an order, Captain Periwinkle? I would hate to think We selected the wrong guard for this position.”
Bunny’s big dark eyes got even larger. “Oh!” she squeaked, obviously coming to the same conclusion that Perry just did. His eyes darted around the forge area as the crushing metaphorical weight of his position settled onto his shoulders. Once he had made sure there were no civilians lurking in the shadows, he choked down his intended shout into a forced whisper.
“Your Highnesses! Why was I not told?”
“You did not need to know,” said Sunspot.
“And now you do,” said Shadow. “You need it in the worst possible fashion.”
“You need a break,” said Hammer as he finished swaging off the final nails on his shoe.
“Tonight,” added Nails. “Captain Periwinkle. Miss Dust Bunny. Would you care to accompany us this evening?”
“Sure,” said Bunny, sounding more than a little stunned. “Where are we going?”
“Away,” said Shadow. “Where the beer is good, the food is novel, and the companionship beyond compare.”
“Sometimes, even we need to get out of the castle and let our manes down, Captain Periwinkle,” declared Sunspot. “Or shall I just call you Perry for this evening?”
It deserved an answer that he could not give. Perry looked between the disguised princesses, then over at Bunny’s lovely eyes. She swallowed, nodded once, and gave him the courage to say, “Yes, Your… I mean Miss Sunspot.”
“Please,” said Nails as he helped Perry out of the shoeing brace, “as long as we are Away, you have to call her Spot. She does this little wrinkled-up nose thing if you catch her just right, which is just the cutest ever. Shall we be off?”
“Not all of us quite yet,” said Shadow with a wing-brush along Perry’s flank that made him hop toward the door. “The proprietors need to get a quick shower before they join us, and I believe it is your turn to buy the first round, Spot.”
“No way,” protested Sunspot. “I bought the first round last time.”
Bunny blurted out, “Perry just got promoted. Shouldn’t he buy?”
“Excellent idea,” proclaimed Shadow. “A fitting wit to be paired against our new Captain.”
And Periwinkle allowed himself to be led away into the city and in the direction of tomorrow.