//------------------------------//
// The Power of Friendship 
// Story: The Night Guard 
// by Petrichor 
//------------------------------//

	It was just another typical evening as you did your nightly routine. From Sugarcube Corner to the edge of the Everfree Forest, you made sure that there were no threats while the inhabitants of Ponyville slept. Being a Pegasus made your job easier since you had a bird’s eye view of the entire landscape, and thanks to your dark blue mane and faded blue coat, it was a bit easier to fly incognito. To this day, you still had no idea why Celestia and Luna moved you to the graveyard shift. It would have made more sense if one of Luna’s night guards did your job, but you didn’t complain. After all, the graveyard shift paid double the amount the day shift did. Not many ponies wanted to work graveyard, which is why it paid so much. You also got 20000 bits extra per year since your particular position was “high priority.” 

After patrolling over Ponyville, you landed in the heart of the town to check specific areas that you couldn’t quite see in the sky, usually sketchy places like alleyways. Despite showing no sign of emotion externally, deep down you felt a bit nervous every time you came to work. Whether you were flying or walking on the ground, you were always being paranoid of an ambush. If it were to ever happen, you couldn’t call for backup. You were the only pony that patrolled Ponyville, and more importantly, the homes of the Elements of Harmony. They were most vulnerable when they slept, which is why your job was high priority. They didn’t realize it, but they would get some really strange guests every so often.

Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, was the local librarian of the town. She was the “smart” pony who often spent her free time studying magic and friendship. Unfortunately, she had a pesky unicorn by the name of “The Great and Powerful Trixie” come by her tree house a few times in the middle of the night. At first you didn’t think anything of it, until you caught her trying to break into Twilight’s tree home. You took her into custody and sent her to Canterlot for the Princesses to take care of her. A few weeks later, you found Trixie again trying to pull the same stunt. Either she was really stupid, or really determined. It wasn’t until later that Princess Luna informed you that Trixie was trying to sabotage Twilight by rubbing Poison Joke on her horn. Apparently, Trixie bragged about her magical abilities and Twilight showed her up.

Rarity, the Element of Generosity, was often visited by Diamond Dogs. They weren’t very clever, but you could never catch them. Right when you bust them, they always seem to dig underground and escape. If they really wanted to get to Rarity, they could have just dug underground straight to Rarity. But like you told yourself before, they aren’t very clever. She was the fashion diva of Ponyville and used gems in most of her works, which is probably why the Diamond Dogs pestered around her boutique so often.

Applejack, the Element of Honesty, was very problematic for you. Word on the street is that she is a very hard working pony. With a huge Apple Orchard, you could see why she was very hard working. However, every so often, ponies would come and try to steal apples off of their land. It was particularly a hard place to scout, since they had a ginormous orchard and there were plenty of places to hide. Fortunately, there was only one way out of Sweet Apple Acres, lest they take their chances in the Everfree. If it wasn’t the burglars, it was the pests. It wasn’t in your job description to be a pest exterminator, but you took it upon yourself to help the Apple family. After all, they did make the best tasting apples in Equestria.

One place you didn’t scout very often was Fluttershy’s Cottage. She held the Element of Kindness and had many animal friends. Rumor has it that she can communicate with animals on a different level than the rest of the ponies in Equestria. That would explain the reason why there were so many animals that surrounded her cottage, but this was the reason why you didn’t patrol the area as often as the others. If an intruder would come to her cottage, most of the animals would freak out so in a way, it would be like a natural security alarm.

Pinkie Pie was famed for her Laughter and her wild parties. She lived at Sugarcube Corner, which was near the center of the town. It wasn’t a place you scouted much either. Pinkie Pie was friends with everypony in town and everybody loved her. You heard that she was very eccentric, but meant well. 

The last Element of Harmony belonged to the self-proclaimed fastest flier in Equestria, Rainbow Dash. She possessed the Element of Loyalty. The rumors you heard about her varied and depended on who you talked to. At one end of the spectrum, you heard that she was competitive and athletic while at the other end you heard that she was a freak of nature. You had also heard that she tended to like mares. Her cloud house was outside city limits, but you still had to scout the area regardless. Every so often a griffon by the name of Gilda would fly circles around Dash’s house. Unfortunately for you, you had to confront the griffon, which only led to an argument and eventually to a fight. You managed to send her packing, but not without a few battle scars. This is why you were afraid to patrol alone. You always feared that griffon would come back with a few of her friends. Handling her one-on-one was tough enough on you already. To your relief, she hasn’t returned yet.

Despite knowing about the six mares, you never had the opportunity to personally meet them. Heck, you only knew what they looked like because of the pictures Princess Celestia had shown you. Never once did you see them walk around Ponyville or see them while they worked. Thanks to your Graveyard shift, your circadian rhythm was different from most ponies. You worked from 10pm to 6am every day, weekends included. You slept as soon as your shift ended and woke up around 5pm. By the time you head into town, the six mares would be off work spending time together, or going on adventures. It didn’t bother you, though. Your work and sleep schedule had kept you busy enough and despite the lack of a social life, you were very contempt. 

You inhaled deeply as you set your eyes on the clock tower, which read 5:10am. Your shift was coming to an end and it was time to fill out paperwork and send it to Princess Celestia. You took to the sky and landed at your house shortly after. It didn’t take very long considering the fact that your house was located in town. After shutting the door, you headed toward your desk and lit a candle. You reached in one of your drawers and pulled out a copy of the paperwork you needed to fill in.

It was your job to fill out your name, date, shift, shift position, location, and signature among other things. The most important part of your paperwork was writing a detailed report of your shift. That included what you were doing, incidences you encountered, the places you patrolled, list any arrests, list any suspicious activity, and so on. Luckily for you, most nights were uneventful so it made it easier to fill out your paperwork. Tonight was no exception.

After finishing your paperwork, you placed it in an envelope and sealed it with the “Royal Seal.” You made your way outside and found Derpy, the local mailmare, by your mailbox.

“Good morning Derpy,” you greeted. “A bit early today, I see.”

She looked at you with her eyes crossed and smiled. “Hi Mr. Guard! Eeyup, it’s a slow morning since its Saturday.”

You facehooved and made a mental note on keeping track of your days. You looked back at Derpy to try and correct your error. “Yah, it was a slow night for me too. Here’s the paperwork for the Princess, like always.”

You handed her the envelope and she placed it in her saddle bag. Derpy was the only pony you talked to in town, aside from business. It became a habit for you and her to meet every morning outside your house to give her your paperwork. Eventually, casual conversations ensued and before you knew it, she considered you her friend. You didn’t mind at all. Though she did have her blond moments, she was a relatively intelligent pony. She knew your name, but she always insisted on calling you “Mr. Guard” for some reason or another. 

“Thanks Mr. Guard.” She tilted her head and smiled. Even though her eyes were cross-sided, you knew she was looking at you. It was one thing you had grown accustomed to. You thanked her back and gave her a confidence boost telling her that she was doing a great job with the mail, even though sometimes she would mess up. You truly meant it too. Not many ponies tell others how they appreciated their services nowadays.

Before you were able to break the conversation and get some much needed sleep, Derpy asked you the most bewildering question. “Hey Mr. Guard, somepony wants to know who lives here. I know I’m not supposed to give any names or addresses out to other ponies, but she really wants to know. Is that okay?”

You didn’t know how to respond to this question. Most ponies found you boring enough to the point that they act as though you didn’t exist. It felt strange that somepony has taken an interest in you. You stuttered a couple of times before managing to form any words. “Who?” was all you could ask?

“Her name is Pinkie Pie! She works at Sugarcube Corner. She asked me if there was somepony that lived here since she saw me delivering mail one day, but she never saw anypony enter or leave this house. I told her I couldn’t give out any information or else I would get in a lot of trouble. So instead, she asked me if I could ask you if she could know if you live here.”

Pinkie Pie, one of the ponies you had protected for almost a year now wanted to know about you. Under normal circumstances you would have said no, but you knew about the pony. She was an element holder, a celebrity in a sense. If that was the case, you didn’t have any problem with that. “Sure, why not? Or more officially,” you began in a royal manner, “I hereby decree that Derpy Hooves, the local mailmare, has my permission to give my name and address  to Pinkie Pie, the one who possess the Element of Laughter!” You were acting like a buffoon, but she didn’t care. It did illicit a giggle from her, after all.

After your little dramatic declaration, you wished Derpy a pleasant day while she wished you a ‘good night.’ After heading back in your house, you made your way to your bed. You didn’t give any thought about Pinkie Pie; you were just so tired. Before laying your head down, you looked at your alarm clock, which registered 6:25am.





You groaned as you smashed your alarm clock. It was the third one this month. Unlike most ponies, you were slow to get up and any annoying sound that awoke you from your slumber suffered from your hoof of doom. That’s what you called it at least. After assessing of what you just did, you forced yourself out of bed. It looks like I have to start my errands early, you thought. You lazily made your way to the bathroom and began your morning routines: use the restroom, take a hot steaming shower, dry yourself, and most importantly, brush your teeth. You always had an obsession to keep your mouth clean, something that the local dentist who goes by the name Colgate, would be proud of. It’s not that you were obsessed with hygiene; you just wanted to make sure everypony didn’t suffer the wrath of your morning breath and body odor. This town was 80% female after all.

After completing your ‘morning ritual,’ you headed to your front door and made sure you had everything. As you opened the door, you were startled by a pink pony with a ‘poofy’ mane. She didn’t jump back when you opened the door; rather she looked at you with curiosity with her deep blue eyes. After composing yourself, you realized your guest was none other than Pinkie Pie. You had never seen her before, so you extended your hoof to politely introduce yourself.

“Good afternoon, my name is-”

Before you could tell her your name, you were interrupted from an over-exaggerated gasp coming from the pink pony, and before you knew it, she was gone.

“Well…what an interesting way to start off my day,” you mumbled. She definitely lived up to her rumors about her being eccentric. You shook your head out of the trance she left you in and walked to the market place.

The market place was filled with life. Ponies of different colors marched from tent to tent, browsing the many items this place had to offer. None of the ponies you encountered knew who you were and vice versa. That was a side effect of being the local hermit, so to speak. Now that you thought about it, there was some irony involved in that you excluded yourself from the community, yet you lived near the center of a small town.

Ever since you were a colt, you had always excluded yourself from society. It’s not that you hated social interaction; no it was the complete opposite. As much as you loved to communicate, you were afraid of what others thought of you. Even if it was a complete stranger, you were always sensitive to being criticized. It showed the most when you found out a group of your childhood friends were conversing about you. They concluded that, although you were a decent colt, you were selfish and too self-centered. When you found out, you lashed out in anger telling them that it was they who had to improve their attitude. Any other pony would have probably shrugged it off, but this stuck to your head like horseshoes stuck to your hooves.  This didn’t end your friendship with them, however. You just slowly drifted apart after graduating Flight School.

Ever since then, you avoided friendship opportunities at all costs. Well, avoid is a strong word. Rather, you didn’t care for friendship and didn’t spend your energy looking for it. You had to act a certain way to be a functional member of society, yet not overly-so to become everypony’s friend. The best example you could think of is when you joined the Royal Guard. You didn’t stray too far to be considered an outcast, but didn’t get too close to be considered a friend to any of your peers. That was your motto in the Royal Guard academy.

One thing you noticed about yourself is that if you befriended anypony, you would tend to act like a grade-A goofball. Not the class clown type of goofball, but the socially awkward type of goofball. You displayed that so well in front of Derpy this morning, but it kind of made you happy because she didn’t care. If you acted like that in front of your former friends or other guards, they would probably think you were a bit challenged. It was only another reason why to avoid other ponies.

You snapped yourself out of your thoughts. Apparently, you were on autopilot as you checked your saddle bag. You had completed all of your errands, including buying a new alarm clock. You were amazed on how your body could multitask. You looked up to the sky to find the position of the sun. It looked to be about 5:30pm. You had four and a half hours to yourself before heading out to work, but before you headed home you noticed that the market place was dead. Even the vendors had packed up and left. You shrugged it off and came to the conclusion that you were lost in your thoughts and didn’t pay attention.

As you made your way back to your house, you noticed that nopony was walking around town. At this hour, ponies usually wandered around, but now it looked like a ghost town. Derpy once told you the town would only get like this when Pinkie Pie throws parties. You facehooved for the second time today as you just thought of the realization. That was the only reason why the town was dead. Heh, must be an off-day for my brain, you chuckled. 

Every time Pinkie threw one of her parties, you couldn’t help but feel a bit sad that you weren’t invited. Everypony else was having a good time, while you just sat there waiting for your shift to start. Your sadness didn’t linger when you reminded yourself that it wasn’t her fault you weren’t invited. She didn’t even know of your existence until today, so it was perfectly understandable. Well, I hope everypony has a wonderful time, you smiled to yourself. You meant every word.

Once you made it to your house, you opened and shut the front door quickly and sighed. It was dark in your house and you forgot to switch on the lights before shutting the door. After mumbling a few curses to yourself about how stupid your brain was today, you were finally able to find the light switch and flicked it on. 

You made your way to the kitchen and set your saddlebag down on the table. You happily hummed ‘My Little Pony’ while you emptied the contents of your saddlebag. There was nothing special in there; just some basic necessities and a few groceries. After putting everything away, you grabbed your new alarm clock and placed it beside your bed. You made a mental note not to smash anymore alarm clocks.

After adjusting the settings on the new device, you noticed that it was around 7:30pm. Time was flying by despite the lack of any excitement. Your stomach growled indicating the lack of nourishment your body hasn’t received. You sighed inwardly as you made your way to the kitchen to grab a bite. Tonight, you decided to eat a simple salad with some tea. “Might as well eat something before work,” you chuckled.

After eating and lounging around your house, it was time to clock in. 10:00pm rolled around sooner than you expected. It was relatively easy to clock in. All you had to do was start patrolling. Before leaving your house, you were quick to make sure all of the lights in the house were off and all of the front door was locked. Before taking flight into the night sky, you made sure nopony was in sight. There was only one reason why you did this: you didn’t have a cutie mark. The only reason nopony knew about that was because you had a large wingspan. When folded up on your sides, your wings would cover your flanks and then some. Every night, you thanked Celestia that you were blessed to have colossal wings. Once you were certain a soul wasn’t in sight, you took off into the night sky.





The first three hours of your shift were uneventful. The only thing that was different was Sugarcube Corner. The lights were still on and laughter could be heard from within the building indicating Pinkie’s party was still going on. You shrugged as you flew by. If the Elements were still there, then you would come back later to check on them. After patrolling Ponyville through the air, you decided to check on Rainbow Dash’s cloud house. It was part of your job after all.

Upon reaching her cloud house, you froze in place as you saw Gilda circling the cloud house once again. Before confronting her, you took the time to check your surroundings. The last thing you wanted to happen to you was an ambush. You checked the skies, the clouds, the ground around Rainbow’s house, and the trees that occupied said ground. After checking everything, you flew up to Gilda, blocking her path.

”Hey, what gives…oh it’s you,” she said. Her tone gave way that she wasn’t amused. “You come back for another beating?” she threatened.

You shook your head. “Gilda, get out of here before I have you arrested,” you warned.

“Why, I haven’t done anything wrong,” Gilda said sarcastically proclaiming her innocence.

“Your trespassing, Gilda. Even though that isn’t enough to warrant hard time, you assaulted me on duty. You could be sentenced to at least 10 years,” you said. “Plus, your little circling habit is a threat to Rainbow Dash.”

“Go ahead then! Arrest me,” she boldly stated.

You scoffed. You knew that if you arrested Gilda, the Griffon Kingdom would declare war on Equestria. Griffons were known for their violence and you knew the tensions were already high between the two kingdoms. She was calling your bluff.

“Gilda just get out of here,” you coldly repeated.

“Why? Are you Rainbow Dash’s little boy toy?” she mocked.

Her comment made you blush. “W-what? I haven’t even met the mare!” You were trying desperately to maintain your composure. You thought Dash was pretty in her profile photo, but her statement was off by a mile.

“Then why are you so concerned about her?”

“I’m a night guard here in Ponyville. It’s my job to protect her!”

“Hah! Whatev. Oh wait, you’re right. What was I thinking? She may be lame, but she’s way too cool to be involved with someone like you.”

Now she was trying to provoke you to attack her. Unfortunately for her, your self-esteem was at an all-time low, so her taunts weren’t effective on you. Now was your time to try and coax her to leave.

“Listen,” you began, “a war is the last thing that both of us want Gilda. Whatever what happened to you and Dash in the past is irrelevant now. Think of your family and the rest of your griffon friends. There is a high chance that they could be killed in war. Both parties would suffer from the war. I don’t have anything against you or any other griffon. Please just think about the implications.”

Both you and Gilda flapped your wings idly in the air. You gave her a pleading look, while she was giving the death glare. You didn’t take your eyes off her, though. You had to get this message through for your sake and Equestria’s. Moments seemed like hours as you waited for a response. Her next action could decide the fate of the world.

Finally, Gilda broke her gaze, scoffed, and looked away. “Lame! I don’t even know why I’m even speaking to you. You are definitely the lamest pony I’ve met. At least Pinkie Pie wasn’t a party crasher.” After insulting you, she took off into the night. Apples and oranges, you thought.

You exhaled a sigh of relief. At least things didn’t turn out like last time.

You heard the sound of clopping behind you. You turned around and saw Princess Luna clopping her hooves together. She was sitting on a cloud. “Bravo!” she said mentioning your name. “I’m glad you were able to resolve a conflict with words rather than with hooves,” she said to you.

You were stunned. Had she been there the whole time? “Princess Luna, please forgive me! I didn’t know you were here,” you apologized as you landed on a cloud. You bowed to her and stood at attention.

“At ease soldier,” she giggled. You loosened your poise. “I just happened to be in the neighborhood and saw you with a griffon. I must say, you handled that very well. My sister will be pleased to hear about your performance.”

You couldn’t help but smile. Although the Princesses were very kind, it really made you feel special when they complimented you. “Thank you Princess Luna. I was just doing my job, taking Equestria into consideration before acting.”

“And for that you shall be rewarded. How about I give you tonight and tomorrow off? Does that sound fair?”

You were exhilarated to hear that. You hadn’t had a day off in almost a year. “That sounds wonderful Princess Luna. I’ll be glad to take you up on that offer.”

“Very well, I’ll let my sister know, but I must be going now. After all, I’ll be taking your workload for the next two days.”

You bowed to your co-ruler, thanked her, and wished her a safe flight. After taking a deep breath, you headed down to Ponyville. Before heading home, you reminded yourself to check Sugarcube Corner. You were relieved of your duties, but felt the need to check-up on them regardless. As you approached the candy house, you noticed all the lights were off. They must have gone home, or had a sleepover. So long as they were safe, you could relax in the confines of your own home.

After entering your house, you reminded yourself to keep the door open so Luna’s moon could guide you to the light switch. After flipping the switch, you shut the door with your hind legs and sighed.

“SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

To say you were startled was an understatement. You had literally jumped up causing your wings to expand. You immediately noticed your error and snapped your wings shut, causing you to fall to the floor. You hoped nopony saw your blank flank. 

After regaining your composure, Pinkie Pie bounced up to you and reiterated what the rest of the ponies had yelled. “Were you surprised? Were you, were you, huh, huh, huh?” Her infectious smile was getting to you and the fact that she had thrown a surprise party for you was the nicest thing anypony had done for you. Before you knew it, you were smiling just as wide as her and nodding your head up and down.

“Yay! I knew you would like it! When I noticed Derpy delivering mail to this house, I had to know if somepony lived here and when she told me that you lived here and I didn’t know you it made me so sad that I never saw you before. I would have thrown a surprise party for you sooner, but I didn’t know you were new here and that made me so sad, so I was like Hey, I’ll throw a late night welcoming party for you. And now that you have a surprise party you’re going to have lots and lots of friends!”

Your smile faded. Even though the surprise party did what it intended, hearing the word ‘friends’ didn’t sound appealing to you. You couldn’t let Pinkie know that, though. You were barely able to mutter, “That sounds nice.”

Your attitude didn’t seem to faze her. Instead, she grabbed your hoof and started introducing you to everypony. You shook hooves with everypony that somehow managed to fit in your two story house and exchanged names. Cloudchaser, Thunderlane, Lyra, Bon Bon, Berry Punch, Carrot Top, and Roseluck were only a few of some hundred that you could remember. Pinkie Pie then took you to her best friends, the one’s you have known throughout your stay in Ponyville.

“…and these are my bestest friends in the whole wide world!” she concluded. If a picture could say a thousand words, then reality was a novel. You could feel the vibe each of these ponies gave off. 

The first mare to introduce herself was Twilight. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle,” said the lavender unicorn. “I can’t believe we haven’t met you. New ponies usually don’t slip under Pinkie’s radar,” she observed. “Do you commute to work? I hypothesized that you did. It would only make sense, since we haven’t seen you around as much.”

“Nah, I’m a night guard,” you responded. “I stay up all night and sleep all day. I work every day, weekends included.”

“Well Ah’ll be…we got ourselves a hard working pony,” said Applejack. The country mare trotted up and offered a hand shake. You accepted and shook vigorously. You had heard of Applejack’s strength from Derpy, so you made sure to give Applejack a stallion’s shake. “Whew-wee, not a bad shake for a Pegasus. You must work out a lot. The name’s Applejack.”

“Yeah, I kind of have to since I’m a night guard. I can’t get overpowered, otherwise I’d be useless,” you responded.

“Whoa! Check out those wings,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. The first thing you noticed about her was her voice. It was scratchy. Not the hooves on the chalkboard kind of scratchy, but the cute kind of scratchy. The second thing you noticed was her tomboyish attitude. You turned to her and saw her eyes fixed upon your closed wings. “They have to be at least as huge as Celestia’s! I haven’t seen a stallion with that size of wings ever!”

“Yeah, they are pretty big. Thanks,” you replied.

She turned her gaze to you and waited. You were starting to feel uncomfortable with her staring at you like that. “What?”

“Well don’t just stand there, show us your wings and cutie mark!”

You were smarter than this. You should have seen this coming. It hadn’t occurred to you to come up with an excuse or lie to hide what wasn’t under those massive wings. In fact, you never had to come up with a lie, since you lacked a social life. The only ponies that ever knew about your blank flank were your peers at the Royal Guard Academy. You couldn’t really hide it from them, but thanked Celestia they were adults about it. Sure, you got the occasional “haven’t reached puberty” joke, but it was all in good fun.  Now that Rainbow Dash called you out, the rest of the mares were eager to see that special talent of yours. You weren’t sure how they would react to your lack of a special talent, but you sure weren’t going to show the whole town.

“Uh, sorry. I can’t show you,” you simply responded. You dipped your head and blushed to express your embarrassment. “It’s really complicated.”

“Whatever do you mean, darling?” Rarity stepped in. By the sound of her voice, you could tell she had that Canterlot kind of vibe. “A cutie mark is part of who you are and you shouldn't be ashamed of that.”

“Sorry, I’m just not comfortable,” you politely said. “By the way, what was your name?” Hopefully asking a question of your own could switch the direction of the conversation. Luckily, it worked.

“Oh, pardon my manners. My name is Rarity. It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr.-” You told her your name. “Ah, what an interesting name. By the way, this here is Rainbow Dash. Please forgive my friend’s rude behavior for not introducing herself,” she said pointing towards the cyan Pegasus. 

Apparently the Pegasus didn't like her flaws to be pointed out. “Well excuse me your highness, at least I don’t demand overly-proper manners every second,” Dash retorted. You couldn't help but stifle a chuckle. How were they friends if they were so different? 

After a little exchange between Rainbow and Rarity about manners, your gaze landed on Fluttershy, who was desperately trying not to be noticed. You extended your hoof in her direction and introduced yourself. She didn’t shake your hoof, but quietly said her name and retreated behind Applejack. The group of friends explained to you that she was shy around others, especially new ponies, but would eventually warm up to you the more you were around her.

After introducing yourself, you excused yourself and went to your room. You shut the door and sat on your bed. You smiled inwardly as you thought about the Elements. For the first time in months, you had gotten to meet the heroines of Equestria. They were a bit odd (especially Pinkie Pie), but you could tell they were some of the nicest ponies you met. You wanted to get to know them more and spend time with them.

No, that wasn’t an option to you. It would end up the same way like with your former friends. They would be embarrassed to be seen in public with you, thanks to your eccentric personality. They would criticize you and make fun of your talentless flank. But the thing that scared you the most was the heartbreak. When you had a falling-out with your high school buds, you were devastated. Sometimes you and your buddies would talk about being friends forever and being there for each other and that made you happy. Unfortunately things never turn out the way you want them to. It was your fault after all. You slowly withdrew from the group, wanting to spend more time with yourself. They were probably right, after all. You were selfish, boring, and lacked any kind of loyalty. The sad part was that after a small time passed, you were happy to be alone, despite missing your buddies. If that was the case, then it was best to continue being the local hermit.

The lights in your room were off as tears began flowing down your cheeks. Thoughts of hopelessness crept in your mind. Everything from feeling useless to being a mistake of nature circled in your head. This was the first time you ever felt loneliness.

A knock came from your door. Before you could answer, Pinkie trotted in and flicked the lights on. “Hey, silly-willy! We’re starting to play Pin the Tail on the Pony and Dash called dibs on being fir-” She stopped mid-sentence and noticed the puffiness in your eyes and the damp fur under them. She gasped and shut the door behind her. “What’s wrong, muffin?”

She came up to where you were sitting on the bed. You definitely didn’t want to be a charity case, so your natural instinct was to look somewhere else and not listen to what she had to say. Before you could tell her to leave you alone for a while, she nuzzled the side of your cheek. This elicited a gasp from you, not expecting her to do that. “What’s got you so down? Did we say anything wrong?” Her voice was soft and empathetic, something you didn’t expect from the party pony. You were still looking away, but anytime somepony tried to comfort you, you would end up crying. You turned to her to see her expression. She was genuinely concerned. You thought about the nuzzle she had given you, the party she threw for you, and the ponies she introduced to you. Now, here she was trying to lift your spirits up.

Tears were beginning to well in your eyes once again. Something was telling you to let friendship in your heart, to let her in your heart. Even your brain—the ‘logical’ part of you—was agreeing with your heart. She wrapped her hooves around you. “I don’t like seeing my friends sad and not smiling, especially at their own party,” she quietly said. “If you ever need anything, I’ll be here to listen.”

You couldn’t take it anymore as you returned her embrace and dug your face into her shoulder and cried. In between sobs, you attempted to open yourself up to her, trying to tell her what had been on your mind since Flight School. You had never opened up to anypony about your mental state. You told her about your past friends, how you spent most of your time alone, your experiences in the Royal Guard Academy, and even your time here in Ponyville. You even told her about not having a cutie mark. You felt relieved that somepony took the time to listen to you; to be there for you when you thought it was only you against the world. 

“Listen to me muffin,” she called you muffin again. You would think that Derpy would have called you that. “I don’t care if you don’t have a cutie mark, or how you act around your friends.” You were looking at her eye-to-eye now. She was smiling at you and kept a hoof on your shoulder. “As your new friends, we’ll do everything in our power to keep you smiling and happy.”

You broke the eye contact for a moment. Your sobbing stopped. You were beginning to take control of your emotions. “I know you guys will. It’s me that I’m worried about. I don’t want to have to put you guys through this because I’m too selfish to spend time with you guys.”

“Listen, I know you won’t do that. You’re a good stallion. Don’t think like that okay?” You unconsciously nod to her response. “That’s the spirit! Now how about a smile for your most bestest friend Pinkie?” 

You couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you Pinkie. Thanks for listening to me. Sorry if I worried you or anything like that.”

“Aw, don’t worry about it. I’m just happy you got that off your chest.”

Before you could utter a response, Applejack busted the door open. “Pinkie, ya’ll need to tell Rainbow to stop cheatin’! She was peeking through her blindfold!”

From across your house you could hear, “No I’m not! I’m just being resourceful!”

You and Pinkie couldn’t help but laugh.

“So what do you say? Shall we go and teach Dash a lesson?” Pinkie asked you.

“Heck yeah! Let’s go!”

Both of you started your way out of the room, but something came to your mind. “Uh, you go on Pinkie, I kind of have to do something really quick.”

“Okie-Dokie-Lokie!” 

Applejack had a quizzical look on her face. “Did I miss something?” she asked.

Pinkie giggled. “We’ll tell you later,” she said as she shut the door.

Now that you were alone, you grabbed a piece of paper and quill. You had no idea why you were doing this, but it felt right. You picked up the quill with your right wing and started writing on the blank paper:


Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, I have learned the magic of friendship. At first, I thought friendship wasn’t important in everyday life. However, one of the Elements of Harmony—Pinkie Pie—showed me how wonderful it is to have friendship in your heart. True friends will take your feelings into consideration and will be there for you no matter what, even if you tend to act like a goofball sometimes.
I also learned that friendship shouldn’t be taken for granted. Just because your friends are giving 100%, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do the same. Friendship is a privilege, not a right. I’m glad to have a great friend like Pinkie Pie. Hopefully I can learn more from her and her friends.
Your faithful Subject,

The Night Guard

You placed the sheet down and read over it. Satisfied, you wrapped it up and placed the ‘Seal’ on it. Hopefully Derpy won’t lose this. You really wanted the Princess to read it.

The sound of the party was still in full swing. It was your party that a good friend threw for you. It was time you went out and enjoyed it. It was time to learn about the Magic of Friendship.