//------------------------------// // 3. Beautiful start // Story: Stallions of Harmony - Longest Night // by Jetto //------------------------------// “TWIIILEEEY!” shouted Shining Armor, as he literally threw himself onto his sister and almost broke her bones with huggiest of all hugs, filled with joy and hope. And for Twilight Sparkle: pain. If his sister had anything to say, she couldn’t because the lack of oxygen, which was forcefully ejected from her lungs, made her words hollow. After her physical efforts proved futile, she instead glowed her horn, concentrated on a spell and blinked out of existence and reappeared right next to him, breathing heavily. “...I...almost...died....” panted Twilight. “Ehehe, sorry.” Shiny smiled uneasily and scratched his head, waiting for Twilight to recover from near death experience. Once she looked alive enough, he quickly started talking, before she shouted some unworthy words. “I don’t know what you did, but it worked!” “What worked?” asked Twilight, while her temporarily red coat slowly regained its glorious lavender color. “I just got the news from Captain. He said that Princess talked to him yesterday and I’m getting another chance!” Twilight gasped, this time for a different reason and proceed to hug her brother, albeit much less maliciously “Oh Shiny, that’s great! You’ve got your job back!” “Well, not really.” “What do you mean?” Un-hug. “You just said...” “That I got another chance, not my job back,” answered Shining Armor, as they started walking towards the university “See, Princess Celestia needs someone to...” “...protect you while you’re on your assignment.” explained Celestia to her nephew on their way. “You got me a bodyguard?” asked Prince Blueblood, positively surprised for a change. He couldn’t help but smile a little. Suddenly he felt respected and liked it very much. “Yes, I did. While Ponyville is a small, peaceful community, it is bordering with Everfree Forest,” explained Celestia ”Though monsters hardly leave the forest, so you should be fine. I would like you to have somepony by your side, just in case.” she continued, as they both walked towards the throne room. Aside from those two, the only ones around the hallways were three guards, among them Blitz Shield himself, walking a few steps after the royal family. Blueblood looked suspiciously among the other two guards, but admitted with relief, that neither of those two were the one who punched him yesterday. According to Captain’s information, he was suspended from duty. Good riddance. “So, which one will accompany me?” asked Prince, looking back at two low ranked guards “Private Shining Armor,” explained Blitz Shield. “My best recruit so far.” ”So, which one of you is it?” “None of them,” answered Princess Celestia while opening the gate with telekinetic push. “He’ll join us in a moment. First, I’ll need to get you up to speed about your assignment. First, you’ll need to...” “...inspect some stuff for Summer Sun Celebration, in Ponyville.” Shining Armor vaguely explained, as the unicorn siblings approached the castle gates. Truth be told, he wasn't told much, since it happened earlier in the morning. “Wow, that’s an important job there,” admitted Twilight, smiling brightly. “And all I did was asked for some mercy for you.” “And I’ll never thank you enough, sis.” He stopped just so he could stroke her hair, maybe a little too hard, as she walked back to avoid further hair damage. “Start by stop trying to kill me, please,” replied Twilight with a sarcastic tone. “Hehe, yeah, sorry. Again.” They laughed. It was a great day, especially after what went yesterday. “So,” started Twilight, “do you know which noble you’re going to protect?” “I think his name Blue Blood,” replied Shiny. “Prince Blue Blood.” “Prince Blueblood... hmm…” She stopped for a moment to think. “I feel like I know this name.” “Well obviously, he’s a Prince. Who else would Princess appoint for such a...” “...trivial and easy task,” added Celestia, as she concluded her briefing. Blueblood looked through the checklist he was given. It was a short one, barely filling one page and pretty vague in itself- food, music, decorations, weather, performance and safety protocols, along with some hoof drawn descriptions from Princess herself, which he skipped for the time being. All he had to do is meet up with ponies on the list, confirm a few details and that was pretty much it. A little colt could do it in his sleep, much less an educated young adult. “I guess so. Well, I guess I’ll be going then. Where is my bodyguard?” “It’s still early, but he should be here any minute. He’s a very punctual pony, from what I heard,” answered Celestia, handing him the rest of the notes. “Good. I’d like to see a competent guard for a change. No offense, Captain.” “None taken.” Then, there was an awkward silence, as both royal family and guards found themselves without a single topic. Blueblood looked over the checklist for details. Food was supplied by a single apple farm. Decorations were done by a local boutique. Music by bird chorus. Weather by local group of pegasi. All things considered, boring and primitive. There were supposed to be Wonderbolts performing, so there's one highlight of the day. Not like he was excited about them anyway, seeing as he attended their events regularly. His sudden train of thought was interrupted by Princess Celestia coughing to catch his attention. “Nephew, I understand you might be a little... underwhelmed by this assignment...” “No,” objected the Prince, very sarcastically though. “Why would I be underwhelmed by being sent to a small hole near a dangerous magical forest to check on things which a child could manage perfectly? I mean, really, they can’t be worse than my usual company.” And once again, Prince wished he could bite his tongue at the right time. There was one more topic he never wanted to move when near his aunt. “About that...” “Please don’t tell me you’re going to complain about that too?” he rolled his eyes and desperately wanted out of this conversation. “As far as I’m concerned, my nephew, you have no...” “...friends that are waiting for me,” said Twilight, as she noticed two unicorn mares waving from the distance. One was dark orange with red with yellow streaks hair, as if they were made out of fire, the other white, with red hair and purple streaks. Shining Armor recognized Twilight's school friends, Sunset Shimmer and Moondancer, respectively. The latter waved to him and winked. He wasn't quite sure why, but he waved back anyway out of courtesy. The University was right next to the castle, so they walked all the way to the gates together. They looked at each other one more time, before bidding their farewells. “Best luck on your assignment.” “Thanks. You have fun too, sis.” And so they finally parted ways. Twilight joined her two friends. “So, how's Shiny?” asked Moondancer “Great! Princess Celestia gave him an important mission. On my request, of course,” answered Twilight, specifically directing the last statement towards Sunset Shimmer. She snorted in response. “Yeah, I bet,” replied Sunset, matching her eyes with Twilight's. “Celestia would do anything for her little pet.” “Oh?” answered Twilight with sly tone. “I thought you said something, but I didn't quite catch up what. Only something about 'I'm so jealous I could die right now’ or something” “What did you say?” asked Sunset, shooting metaphorical daggers at her best friend. “Trying to pick a fight, Sparkle?” “Oh no, not at all,” Twilight hoofwaved. “I don't like to bully little ones.” “Hmph. Tough words for somepony who placed second to last in multi-dimensions. Unlike somepony who is actually, you know, smart. Like me.” Sunset added with sly smile, putting her hoof on her chest. Twilight turned completely red from anger and closed in with her face, so close they were touching horns. “Oh yeah? Well, apparently I'm not good at complete nonsense and absurd theories about dimensions that don't have any logical reason to exist in the first place. I prefer facts, not fantasies.” And so the bickering continued as always, trading insults that hurt nopony in particular. And their fights usually ended in stalemate; good thing that there was always a tie breaker. “Moondancer, help me out here,” asked both fighting mares, perfectly mimicking each other’s gestures. Moondancer was however, distracted by something else. “Yeah, sure, whatever.” Moondancer waved her hoof, as she continued watching in the direction of castle gates. The fight between Twilight and Sunset quickly stopped as they both facehooved at the same time. Sunset Shimmer walked towards her friend and blocked her view with her entire body. “Hey, no fair, I can't see!” complained Moondancer, as she tried to take a peek around. “Moondancer,” started Twilight, voice incredibly annoyed. “What did I tell you about making moves on my brother?” “Hey, there's no harm in watching!” answered Moondancer with insulted tone, as she finally had enough of Sunset Shimmer blocking her view of the hot stallion, so instead of trying to look around her, she leaned on her friend's head and watched a certain white unicorn stallion from that position. “...yeah, shake dat plot baby!” said perverted mare in the lewdest tone possible, much to her friends’ disgust. “Ok, that's enough for today, class is starting,” announced Twilight, as she magically grabbed Moondancer's ear and pulled her along with her, freeing Sunset Shimmer from being used as a stool. “Owowow, I'm going, I'm ...” “...not going to let you down, Twily!” announced Shining Armor to himself. He took a deep breath and entered the castle, full of determination. He was stopped before the entrance by other two guards, each blocked his entry with two spears. “Halt, authorized personnel only,” stated fiery red unicorn stallion guard. “Haha, very funny. Now let me in,” Shining deadpanned in response. “Authorized personnel only. Now scram.” Shining Armor rolled his eyes and looked at the two guards. “Fire Strike, Silver Sword, cut with the jokes and just get me inside. I’m late for an important meeting.” “Sorry Shiny, you’re not a guard anymore,” answered the other guard, a white unicorn. “We can’t let you in.” “Oh, you have got to be bucking kidding me.” He facehooved. “Nope, sorry, you need...” "...to find some real friends, Nephew," finished Celestia. Prince Blueblood stood there in silence for a moment, before replying. "Friends?" asked Blueblood. He snorted at the thought. "Pass. Friendship is overrated." "Friendship is the greatest power in the entire universe," started Celestia, once again repeating what he heard many times over. "You may not believe that, but it’s ponies I met and befriended over years that helped me establish Equestria you know." "Sure, whatever works for you," Prince answered dryly. Princess Celestia couldn’t help but sigh and roll her eyes. She really tried to open him up to other ponies, but no matter how many conversations they had, he was still as close minded as always. Can’t really blame him, after what had happened last time. "Still, I wish you could give Ponyville a chance, get to know who they are." "Farmers and plebeians. Not exactly my type of ponies." "And what is your type then?" "Simply put the ones that are not..." "...as incompetent as you, dimwit!" ended Shining Armor, after spending almost five minutes arguing over entering the castle like he was supposed to. He and the red unicorn guard were already butting heads and exchanging insults like drunken sailors on a stormy sea. "Not as much as you, Princess Puncher!" "Wanna say that again, Tie Burner?" "Oh I might, Knuckle Brainer!" "Oh then do, Paste Eater!' "SISCON!" "SOCKLOVER!" "GRRRRRRRR!" finally agreed two mature stallions, as they lost all comprehensive thought's and were about to finally start the action. Just as the two were about to get serious, the other guard, a white coated unicorn, stepped between them and telekinetically held some papers in front of Shining. "Two things," started Silver Sword, as he eyed both of them. "One, kiss already." "HEY!" they both exclaimed, awkwardly stepped away from each other. "Two, he’s on the list." the guard announced with a smile. "Wait, he is?" "Of course I am, dumdum." "Then why didn’t you say so, poopiemane?" "Because he was on a VIP list." The other two gasped, as they were shown a list of VIP ponies for today, with only one name listed on it. Shining Armor smiled slyly and looked at Fire Strike. "Told ya. Now, can I get in?" "Sigh, fine," groaned Flame Strike, opening the door and letting him in. Shining stepped through, but quickly turned back again. "So, Friday night poker still on?" asked a cheerful Shining Armor. "Sure. Get the chips." "Okay, see ya then, moron." "Douchebag." And then he was gone. They closed the door behind him and returned to their post. After a short while, Fire Strike spoke to his friend. "You knew about that list from the beginning." "Indeed I did." "Then why didn’t you say so?" "And lose the show?" snorted Silver Sword. "You two don’t realize how hot you look together." Fire Strike shuddered at the thought. "For the last time, I’m not into that, so shut up already." "Alright, I will shut up." and so did Silver Sword, as he ceased talking. For about ten seconds. "You know, if you could just give it a cha-" "Oh for the love of..." "...Princes Celestia, I apologize for the delay, he should be here any moment now," said Blitz Shield, as he checked his hoofwatch. "Best recruit, huh?" sighed Prince. "Guards these days have rather low standards, it seems." Princess Celestia gave him a mean look, to which he only shrugged. "Just saying." Before they could say anything more, the large doors opened and a very distressed white coated unicorn entered and immediately saluted. "Private Shining Armor reporting for duty, I apologize for being la-..." He couldn’t even finish the sentence, when his eyes landed on a strangely familiar, white coated blonde unicorn, with wide open eyes pointing his hoof at him. For a short moment there was a pause, a silence in the air with tension so dense, you could cut it with a knife. "AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" announced Prince Blueblood. "AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" agreed Shining Armor. "AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" both of them continued to scream in terror, which especially intensified once they both realized what awaits them. "Oh brother," Blitz Shield facehoofed and turned to Princess Celestia. "I hope you’re happy, Princess." Princess Celestia smiled brightly. "You have no idea."