//------------------------------// // 1. The Pebble // Story: Why Are All the Guards the Same? // by Boom44 //------------------------------// Princess Celestia stood on her balcony, gazing fondly out over the courtyard. Her golden sun rose behind her, spreading its life-giving light across Canterlot. Assembled in the courtyard was a group of fresh guard recruits, or as the solar diarch preferred to call them, “my little cadets.” Rows upon rows of white-furred stallions with two-toned blue manes stood at attention. Not one wavered, not even as the sun reached the apex of its flight, brutal heat waves washing over the crowd. Celestia marveled at how well-disciplined the cadets were. With less than two weeks of training, even she found it difficult to distinguish between the group of cadets standing to attention below and a fully-trained company. The initial training must be truly thorough and equally intense. Celestia sometimes found it strange how most of her guards seemed to look so similar. More than seventy-percent of the Royal Guard consisted of white-furred, blue-maned, cyan-eyed stallions; and another twenty-percent had gray fur with white manes and amber eyes. As she surveyed the group, the princess idly wondered if perhaps the recruitment office targeted ponies of these colors. Celestia frowned at the thought. Color has nothing to do with the skill of an individual or their aptitude for the Guard. While she would agree (in her mind only) that the uniform colors were quite appealing to the eye, it would not be fair if recruiters were turning away ponies due to their looks. That would not do at all! Celestia firmly resolved to look into the matter more when she finished her more important tasks for the day. Speaking of which, she turned her attention back to the recruits. The princess was currently conducting an (unofficial, of course) evaluation of the new troops. Her gaze passed over each stallion, fully taking note of every single detail. Every spear held at the wrong angle, every patch of fur brushed the wrong way, every well-defined muscle rippling in the—Celestia snorted and shook her head vehemently. Bad thoughts! No, no, she was merely conducting a routine check, as every immortal ruler has a right to. Just making sure none of her little ponies lacked anything, whether they looked low on sleep, they had an injury which needed treating, or their fur was still wet from the sho—CLOP! Celestia stomped her hoof on the balcony, banishing the stray thought to the moon and beyond. This is a completely necessary part of her duty. Nothing more, nothing less. She paused as she felt a bit of drool threatening to escape her lips. "I must be hungry,” she thought. "Perhaps I should get some cake as I observe.” Down in the courtyard… Behind his mask of stoicism, Sergeant Iron Hoof was grinning from ear to ear. "Yet another outstanding batch of recruits this month! Those recruiters must be working twenty-hour shifts. I don’t know where they find so many ponies who have the perfect disposition to be a Royal Guard. You would think it to be a rare thing, a pony who can stand completely still, staring straight ahead for hours on end. However, this is the third batch this year where even past the two-hour mark there has yet to have been a single pony who has faltered!” A loud buzzing interrupted the sergeant’s musings and his eyes snapped to the source of the sound. His eyes widened as he located the offending insect. It was a red wasp! The wasp had just emerged from a hidden nest beneath the eaves. The little dear had explored half of Canterlot over the past three days, searching for the perfect location for a new nest. When exhaustion had set in, the rather large female had alighted on top of a long, flat building next to the castle. It was here she discovered the ideal spot to place her nest, and now she had just applied her finishing touches. All the ponies standing in formation had attracted her attention, so she swooped in low to investigate. “This will be amusing,” thought Iron Hoof with a grin. “Let’s see which of the cadets will break under the threat of a painful wasp sting.” The wasp flitted from pony to pony, wondering what their purpose was. She was quite confused by their faces, wondering what was in front of them that they were all staring at so intently. Whatever it was, it must be invisible to wasps. She dove in for a closer look, brushing against one unicorn’s ear as she did. A shiver ran through the poor cadet’s shaking frame. He had been standing underneath the grueling sun for a couple of hours now. His mouth was dry, his knees shaking. He had forgotten to brush his teeth after breakfast, and the taste of old bananas was permanently affixed to his tongue. Now, to top it all off, there was a wasp trying to sting him?! “I can’t take this anymore!” he thought. “I want to go back to bed. I want to eat anything to get this taste out of my mouth! Most of all, I do NOT want to get stung by a wasp!” All these thoughts flew threw his head in an instant, but they were quickly quelled when a new thought burst into being over them. An oddly familiar yet completely strange voice echoed within the recruit’s fragile mind: “Stand firm. Bear the pain. Serve the princess. Do your duty.” The voice faded almost immediately from the cadet’s mind, never to be remembered, but those four thoughts remained. “We will do our duty.” He resolved. “We will serve the princess.” Sergeant Iron Hoof observed the wasp as she swooped past one poor stallion. This recruit looked to be in a particularly poor state. The sergeant took note of his almost imperceptible shaking legs and glazed-over eyes. Yet, even as the wasp flew right past the cadet’s face, a change took place in his demeanor. His legs grew still, his eyes narrowed with focus, and his jaw set into a tight line. In an instant the recruit turned his appearance from struggling to determined. Even when the wasp had the gall to perch atop the guard’s plumed helmet, he did not waver. Iron Hoof harrumphed. “Well that’s no fun,” he grumbled. “Two weeks into training and I don’t even get an excuse to yell at them. Oh well, I suppose it IS about time to call it a wrap.” Out loud he called, “At ease, recruits! Take a breather and recuperate, then meet up at the training course in one hour. Dismissed!” Later that evening… Celestia sighed as she flopped into the comfiest chair in her office. Three hours of paperwork dealing with the petty squabbles of nobility was quite draining, even for an immortal. It was time for a break. Perhaps the kitchens still have some of that cake… No! I told myself I needed to cut back to only two slices a day. It had been especially disconcerting at court the other day when the princess noticed a few gazes in the crowd gravitating to her rear half. Granted, as Equestria’s head diarch she could do whatever she pleased, but a princess should set a good example for her ponies. Clearing the annoying thoughts from her head, Celestia levitated the papers up from the coffee table in front of her. It was time to focus on a more meaningful task. Namely, investigating the recruitment process for the Royal Guard. As the princess pored over the documents, she noticed an interesting pattern. More than half of the papers marking potential guard recruits as approved were signed by a “True Blue.” Celestia smirked. This was perfect. If this particular stallion handled most of the papers regarding recruitment, then surely he would know the reason why the guards tended to be one of two colors. She would be getting to the bottom of this mystery very soon! Now it was time to set up an appointment. "Let’s see, I could summon True Blue to come here, or… Oh! He lives in Ponyville. How convenient! I can make a day trip to see my dear student Twilight and meet with him before I go. Alright then, it is decided. I head to Ponyville tomorrow.” Across the room, a quill and inkwell lit up with a golden glow as the princess prepared to pen a letter. My dear Twilight, I plan to make a visit to Ponyville tomorrow afternoon. I have some business to take care of in town, and I would love to meet up with you after it is done. Be prepared to have me for tea around 4:00 in the afternoon.” Your loving mentor, Princess Celestia. P.S. Perhaps you could invite your friends as well? As I recall, the pink one makes excellent scones.