Daytime, it was the time where Princess Celestia was taking care of her royal duties while her sister was sound asleep, preparing herself for the coming night. So, it might come as a shock to see Princess Luna wide awake in the dining room. Quite unusual, even for her as she wasn’t exactly thrilled about being “on break”, not after these recent events.
The doors to the dining room opened slowly, with the guards behind bowing to an important figure as it made its way inside. A lavender alicorn carrying a baby dragon on her back.
“Twilight? What brings you here?” The lunar princess roused herself.
Twilight Sparkle stared her down, confused as to why she was here. “Uh, Princess Luna?”
“It’s just Luna.” The midnight alicorn corrected.
“R-Right. Luna, what are you doing here, awake in the dining room?” Twilight asked.
Spike swung to the side. “Yeah, aren’t you supposed to be sleeping in preparation for tonight?”
'Just' Luna sighed. “Tia didn’t want me to do my usual dream hopping routine. I’m ‘on break’ until I’ve recovered.”
Twilight eyeballed her from top to bottom. “Recovered from what?”
In response, Luna lifted a hoof, the one that was bandaged up, a dark red stain as clear as day giving the younger alicorn all the answers she needed. “She worries perhaps a bit too much.” she groaned. “I am no defenseless foal.” The alicorn noticed something curious about Twilight. “May I ask what happened to you?”
Instinctively, Twilight covered her black eye with a hoof. “Oh, that? Uh, he he, I may have gotten into a fight with an eldritch abomination taking over the body of a filly, nothing much.”
Spike crossed his arms. “Wish I would have been there to watch the show...”
Luna’s mouth stayed open for a bit, surprised by what she was hearing. “So, you did look into Olive’s mysterious magical surge. Wait, what was that about an eldritch abomination?”
Twilight scratched the back of her head, a sheepish smile on her face. “Yeah, turns out the cause of the magical surge was because of a mysterious power inside Olive that transforms her into a monster if she gets too worked up over something.
Oh, but rest assured; nopony got hurt during her transformation. Well, nopony except me and Aj, but we’re fine!”
“I see...” Luna responded, pondering over the last few days. “It is worse than we imagined. Very well, you may return to your research.”
“That... wasn’t what I came here for, honestly.” Twilight admitted.
“Then what do you seek?”
Twilight lowered her head, brushing her hooves against the castle’s floor. “Well, it’s just that... when I fought the transformed Olive, I didn’t do so well to defend myself. I couldn’t dodge her attacks and wound up hurt. I wasn’t good enough to stop her and it resulted in my friend Aj being hurt!” She sighed. “I’m not good at fighting, but as a princess I must be able to defend myself and those I love.” A determined look formed on her face as she lifted her head. “I need to learn to fight without relying solely on magic.”
Luna smiled. “A noble goal indeed. We know just the right pony to form you.”
Twilight blinked. “Wait, you mean you won’t be teaching me?”
“Then who will be teaching, Twilight?” Spike asked.
The midnight blue alicorn sighed. “As much as I want to, Tia put me in charge of dealing with the nobles for today. She seemed awfully excited too... but I assure you that this pony is even better at hoof-to-hoof combat than I am.”
Twilight gasped. “Even better than you?”
“Yes, and that pony is none other than...”
The door slammed open; a bat pony entered with a cup of cider in hoof.
“Mango!”
The newcomer stopped dead in his tracks. “Ayy princess! You callin’ me?”
Luna nodded. “Yes, Mango. We have a special job for you today.”
“What?! Him?!” Twilight exclaimed, pointing at the stallion in disbelief.
“I did say he was one of our best, didn’t I?” Luna responded with a slight chuckle. “You’ll see why soon enough.”
Mango circled the young alicorn, examining her with a sly smile. “Well then; guess we’ll be spending the afternoon together.”
“Mango, please refrain from making advances.” Luna ordered.
“Sure thing, Princess! I’ll make her into a warrior in no time!”
Inside the guard’s barrack, Mango took Twilight and Spike to an area where there was a big mat on the floor. The guard stepped on it and bounced a little, testing it before he deemed the mat was good enough. He took a sip of his favorite apple cider, taken straight from Sweet Apple Acre. It was clear he was a little drunk, judging by his constant swaying.
Many guards who were off duty also gathered around the trio out of curiosity and boredom. They only worked during the night and rarely ever did anything during the day, so they were understandably starving for action, especially for something out of the ordinary. To see an alicorn take to the mat with Mango was exactly the kind of thing they were looking for.
“Uh, is it necessary for all the guards to watch us?” Twilight nervously asked.
“Don’t they have anything better to do?” Spike added, now off the mare’s back.
Mango chuckled. “Afraid not, princess. We only work the night shift in here.” He took off his royal armour and tossed it aside. “Won’t be needing that.” he muttered.
With all eyes on her, it was understandably making her nervous. Twilight hoped that this training session would be more private, and Mango even seemed to agree, judging by the slightly displeased look on his face. Hey, come to think of it, I never realised that they’re all stallions. The mares are only maids or cooks in this castle...
“Is something bothering you? I know something is for me.” Mango asked, trotting around the mat.
“Uh, yeah, a little bitty thing.” Twilight responded. “I’ve never thought to ask Celestia before, but why are all the guard's stallions? Why can’t mares work for the royal guard?”
“Heh, it’s because they're not the right gender.” Mango answered. Twilight raised a displeased eyebrow.
Realising his mistake, Mango fumbled through his words to form a better answer. “Uh, well, mares don’t have the same capacities as stallions.” Twilight looked offended now.
“Ya see, stallions are physically stronger than... Argh! You get it, don’t you?!”
Twilight scoffed. “I do get it. I’m just not sure I’m fine with that.”
Mango winced. “You got a complain, don’t report it to me. Tell it to Princess Celestia.”
Spike’s eyes switched back and forth from the two arguing ponies, unsure of what was the issue. “I don’t get what’s the problem.”
Mango was quick to respond on behalf of Twilight. “Yeah, because it’s just boring grown-up stuff about ‘gender equality’ and ‘muh diversity’.”
“Want to run that by me again?” Twilight demanded, her eyes twitching with fury.
“Yeah, a bookworm like you can call themself a theoretical physicist. You desperately try to solve problems that shouldn’t even exist to begin with.” Mango snapped, slamming his hoof down. “I, on the other hoof, live a simple life free of pointless worries.”
“Really? Twilight scoffed. “What do you even do with your, oh so simple life?”
Mango blinked. “Well, uh, I fight and I f**k... I f**k and I fight.”
“Charming.” Twilight said sarcastically.
“Yeah, well that’s beside the point!” Mango facehoofed. “Look, let’s just start this lesson before we form any more bad blood between us.”
Spike rushed to the crowd of onlookers. “Does anypony here have popcorn?”
The royal guards near him sat down with a large bag of popcorn in hoof. “It’s our lucky day, baby dragon.”
Mango trotted over to a chest, where he picked up a necklace to put it on. “Well, let’s start the lesson by introducing you to this.” He poked at the necklace.
Twilight leaned forward to get a better view. “It’s a necklace. I suppose it must be special in some way.”
“Heh, and you’d be correct.” He tapped his chest in a daring manner. “Fire a beam at me.”
Twilight blinked. “Ex...cuse me?”
Mango smirked. “You heard me, princess. Shoot me.”
The young alicorn stood there, perplexed. She scratched her head. “Isn’t tha-”
“Come on, we don’t have all day.” That was a lie, Mango is just that impatient.
“Okay, if you insist.” Twilight rolled her eyes and fired a beam of concentrated magic, being thoughtful to not put too much power into it.
The beam struck the bat pony straight in the chest, but instead of being flung back, he remained in place without a single scratch. The beam dissipated around him, leaving Twilight in shock.
“What?! How?” She shouted in disbelief.
Mango chuckled as he fiddled with his necklace. “That right there is no ordinary necklace. It’s a magic nullifying ring.” He twirled it around for all to see. “It absorbs and destroys any magic that meets its wearer. It’s the perfect defense against magic.” he explained with a smirk. “And so far, no magic has been able to overcome it.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Why have I never heard of this before?”
“Maybe because it’s relatively new. They’re not explained in any book that’s for sure. We only got this one only two weeks ago.” Mango’s expression turned to a serious one. “Do you know how we got our hooves on it?”
“N-No.” Twilight responded, beginning to feel nervous.
“We found it on one of the Anarchists present during the burning of Canter Hotel. These guys are the only one who possesses such necklaces.” Mango frowned. “We believe Anarchy is the one responsible for their creation.”
Twilight gritted her teeth at the mention of that accursed stallion. “I-I didn’t even think this was possible. It’s so much more dangerous than a magic inhibitor ring!”
“So, you see where I’m going with this.” Mango continued. “You will be thrown into a situation where magic is damn near useless. If you want to survive such an encounter, you’ll have to rely on your pegasus wings and your earth pony strength to overcome adversity.”
“I see...” Twilight took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for this lesson. “I am ready to start.”
“Very well.” He motioned at her to come over. “Hit me now.”
Twilight’s brow furrowed. There’s a catch, isn’t it? Well, let’s see what he has in store for me. She complied with his request and raised her body to throw a hoof punch. The strike reached the captain and in one swift movement, he grabbed a hold of Twilight’s hoof, raised her high in the air and smashed down to the mat.
“Oh snap! That must have hurt.” Spike commented.
Getting up, Twilight shook the dizziness away. “Ow, what was that?”
“Just a throw, dear.” Mango mused. “Let’s just say you won’t be punching my face today.”
This stallion’s cockiness was getting to her head. “Is this a challenge?”
“No, it’s fact.” Mango motioned her to try again. “Care to try again?”
Eating his popcorn alongside the two other royal guards, Spike enjoyed the show on display. No matter how hard Twilight Sparkle tried, her face would always meet the mat. Again and again, she couldn’t land a successful hit on Mango. Some would call this a humiliating experience; others would call this humbling. Spike called it entertainment. “Getting back on her hooves. Princess Twilight Sparkle prepares her next move while Mango dances around the arena, his eyes locked on target. Oh! Looks lik-”
“Spike! You’re distracting me!” The alicorn complained.
Mango, in the meantime, turned to the crowd with an annoyed look glint in his eyes. “Hey! I know some of you are staring at my flank!” Before he could set his gaze back on the lavender alicorn, he was bucked in the face, landing flank first on the mat. “Low blow, princess. Low blow.”
“But it is a blow nonetheless.” Twilight snarked.
Mango’s annoyed expression turned to a soft laugh. Then, a hearty laugh. “I like your spirit, young’ing.”
In good sport, Twilight offered a hoof to get Mango back up. “I’ll admit, I may have let it all go to my head a bit.”
Mango smiled. “Just a bit, ay?”
Twilight blushed a little. “Maybe more...”
“Ain’t no shame in admitting it.” Mango stretched his back until he heard a satisfying crack. “Been a while since I got to throw down with somepony. I gotta thank you for that.”
“I should be the one thanking you. I’ve learned much just by observing your techniques.” Twilight responded, turning her head to her trusted assistant. “Spike! Did you take any notes?”
“U-Uh, sure! I did!”
Mango laughed, taking off his necklace. “Reading notes is just one part of your training! You’ll need to practice these moves with somepony if you want to and I quote ‘get good’.”
“Practice with somepony...” Twilight muttered, a hoof to her chin. Her eyes lit up once she thought of a good friend that’ll surely want to help her. “Rainbow Dash! I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to try these out with me.”
Spike jotted all this information down on a notepad. “Try these out with Twilight... Done!”
Twilight bowed before the older stallion. “Thank you for your help, Mango. I’ll admit I didn’t think highly of you before this session.”
Mango chuckled, amused by the sight of a princess respectfully bowing to him. “It’s alright. I don’t really care about having a good image. I prefer to stay true to who I am, even in public.” He placed the necklace back into its chest.
“Well, Spike and I better get going. We have lots of things to do.” Twilight said, lifting the baby dragon onto her back.
“Wait, just before you leave.” Mango trotted next to them, a sly smile on his face. “You sound like a busy mare.”
“Yep, that I am.”
“But like with all busy mare, you do have some spare time, don’tcha?” He continued.
“Yeessss?”
“I just want to know if I could, uh someday, come inside?” He chuckled.
“Come inside... the Golden Oak?” Twilight questioned. “Oh, sure you can! The library’s always open and happy to welcome anypony who sees values in books!”
“That’s great to hear.” Mango responded, holding his laugh.
After the alicorn left, he erupted into a powerful fit of laugh. “Oh my, not the kinda answer I was expecting but hey! Everypony’s gotta have their first time eventually!”
His peers glared at him, some looked jealous while others were repulsed. “Mango, you lousy motherb-”