//------------------------------// // When Laughter Meets Anger // Story: Pinkie Pie The Royal Knight // by Diablomuerte2 //------------------------------// When Laughter Meets Anger Steel Wall had risen before the sun, his disciplined schedule never broken. He would wake up before the sun deity herself and train his body. He was an older stallion but had the physique of a stallion in his prime. Steel Wall's regiment was excruciating but helped him be in top physical form and ready to take on anything the world could throw at him. Today he would learn that no amount of physical endurance was capable of withstanding the annoyance of Pinkamena Diane Pie. He hated that name without having met the mare, it only took her attempts to join the royal guards for him to despise her. He was already set on not giving her a chance because of her gender. It wasn't sexism but traditionalism that had made the stallion adverse to a mare in his ranks. His values came from a time lost where stallions were only suited for combat, and mares were meant for less strenuous activities. While training in the sunless morning, he was questioning the sanity of his ruler. He had no rational thought that could explain why Celestia, of all ponies, would allow such blatant disregard of tradition. She was supposed to be the keeper of order, it pained him to know she was the one who sent the messenger. He thought it probably was a prank, so he decided to meet her at breakfast to properly give a few laughs and congratulate her on a job well done. It's not everyday a pony pulled a fast one on Steel Wall. ____________________________________________________________ Luna was waiting for Celestia to get her flank up and lift the sun. She was tired and had plans of sleeping undisturbed, unlike last time she was ready for annoyances. She had created sound proof ear plugs that would allow her sleep to withstand Twilight's obnoxiously loud screams of pleasure. When Luna saw her sister arrive it made her smile a bit, "Finally up I see? I almost thought you were going to be late." Celestia chuckled softly, "I am sorry but it seemed while I was sleeping I was subject to hearing Twilight's adoration for Pinkie Pie... it was louder than I had anticipated." Luna yawned and headed off to bed, before leaving she carefully warned, "Sister, I don't know if your choice in allowing the Element of Laughter into the royal guards was such a good idea." Celestia, who finished raising the sun, had felt this talk would be coming. "Time's have changed Luna, and traditions that are archaic must die," she emphatically stated. Luna whispered something before finally taking her leave. She hadn't the will to challenge at such levels of fatigue and went off to sleep. Her whisper went unheard and it left Celestia in a bitter mood. ____________________________________________________________ Twilight Sparkle was slowly waking from her peaceful sleep. She opened her eyes and saw a blue pair staring right back at her. "Pinkie what are you doing up so early?" Twilight gingerly asked while rubbing Pinkie's face gently. Pinkie Pie was excited about the day, "I have been up for like hours just bouncing around waiting for you to wake up... I can't wait to start my first lesson, at first I was like 'I should wake Twilight' but then I remember you need your sleep or you get cranky." Pinkie's smile never faltered throughout her explanation. Twilight chuckled and leaned in to kiss Pinkie, in attempts to silence her. Their lips connected with such passion that it had been nearly impossible to contain. They usually started their mornings with a romp if they stayed over the previous night. The only issue was they had to be at breakfast and didn't want to keep the princess waiting. If it wasn't for that breakfast... they would have never left the room till exhaustion hit. Their kiss had stopped when Spike had walked into the room, he went there to see if they had already woken up. "Hey girls... I see you are both up now, so how did you two sleep? I slept like a baby." Pinkie chuckled and softly spoke, "Spike, you didn't hear us?" Twilight blushed and hid her face from her baby dragon. Spike smiled oblivious to what she was referring to, "No... I was on the other side of the castle. Celestia showed me this neat room but... I felt lonely." Twilight saddened at the news, "Spike, is there any way you can be transferred closer to us? I would hate to think of you being forced to spend your nights so alone." Pinkie Pie started putting her hoof on her chin, "Hmm maybe we can talk to Celestia about it at breakfast... which we should definitely get ready for, oh I hope they got cupcakes!" Pinkie wasn't well versed on the diet of royalty and would soon find out that cupcakes isn't a breakfast item. ____________________________________________________________ Celestia had begun a tradition of her own when Luna had been banished to the moon. With her heart feeling empty she had decided to heal her wound by allowing herself company for breakfast. It wasn't the grandest of ideas but it was definitely something she was glad she started. She was able to get to know her staff and subjects, by enjoying a meal with them, without the formalities of an audience. She had even been seen travelling to have breakfasts, or other meals, in different venues. Once she was in Ponyville having a meal with her subjects and it lead to an incident with Fluttershy stealing her phoenix. This morning, she had a more reserved guest list, she was going to discuss matters that were meant for the attending ponies only. She wanted Steel Wall to meet Pinkie before officially allowing her to take classes so he could prepare for her ... antics. Celestia felt it would be a shame if Pinkie was kicked out of the guards, based on her mannerisms, and wanted to avoid Twilight being angry about it. She watched as the guests had arrived. The first pony was Steel Wall, who was dressed in his finest tux and had his mane styled. The second guest to arrive was Spike who was naked as the sky was blue. The last two ponies to arrive were Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie wore a stallion's suit instead of a dress since she was informed that the instructor of the royal guards was going to attend the breakfast. She styled her mane to seem more stallion-like and even put on her signature mustache. Pinkie Pie was ready to impress Steel Wall. Twilight wore an elegant dress that Rarity had made for Twilight's many trips to Canterlot. It was an exquisite white gown with purple overlay. Twilight had her mane brushed, but not styled in any fashion since she lacked a hair stylist. She was hoping the stallion would not be offended by Pinkie's 'costume'. They all took their respective seats and the breakfast began with a speech by Celestia. "I hope you all had a lovely morning, and I wish you all well in the coming days. Pinkie Pie you have decided to embark on a journey that most stallions can't handle. The position of a royal guard isn't to be taken lightly and Steel Wall is a very tough teacher. Regardless of what you may think, I want your safety to always be priority. I'm sorry you have to be tested this way but, in order to maintain royal traditions, I must do so. I wish you luck in your trials and may you be successful." ____________________________________________________________ After the speech the ponies began eating their breakfast in silence. The silence became pregnant before somepony spoke up to ruin it. "So this isn't a joke Celestia?" Steel Wall nonchalantly asked. All heads turned towards the princess waiting for a response. Celestia sighed, "No, Pinkamena will be a student of yours and you will train her." Pinkie Pie smiled wide, "Oh this is going to be fun, I’ll be like Hiyaah and you will be like 'that's not how you do it.' Then I will be like 'I got it now' and you’ll be making me a guard in no time." Steel Wall's anger grew at her horrible masquerade, of a stallion, and her failure to mimic him correctly, "First of all, I will not be mocked and that attire isn't appropriate, now take off your clothes!" Pinkie Pie blushed, "Oh my... you should buy me a drink first!" She broke out in laughter. Steel Wall became even more upset, "No I didn't mean it in that way!" Pinkie Pie continued the game, "So angry pants, is this how you treat all mares who reject you?" Celestia could see how upset Steel Wall was becoming and intervened before things got out of control, "You both will stop this nonsense, this instant!" The silence was deafening and not a single soul dare utter another word while breakfast continued. The silence only lasted temporarily, Steel Wall had broken it with a question. "Celestia, what makes this mare qualified to be a guard?" He curiously inquired. She finished eating a piece of sliced apple before speaking gently, "I will have you know that her qualifications comes from her being one of the heroes who saved this world from Lu- Nightmare Moon." Steel Wall recalled that night when darkness had overtaken Equestria, he was busy giving Shining Armor specialized training during the events. "Shame I couldn't have helped I would have been a great asset." Celestia chuckled, "I am sure you wouldn't have been since you are not an Element of Harmony. It was the valiant efforts of the Elements of Harmony that were able to subdue Nightmare Moon and release my sister from her grip." Celestia's smile grew. Steel Wall was a bit impressed with Pinkie Pie, after finding out that bit of information. "Aren't the Elements of Harmony the same group of ponies who brought down that Disco thingy?" He inquisitively mumbled. "Discord," Twilight corrected. Celestia frowned upon that name, "Speaking of, I haven't seen him around lately, I need to ask him some questions about something I discovered... if any of you see him please let me know." The group at the table took note of her request and silently responded with a nod. They continued eating their breakfast in silence enjoying their meal, it was nearing it’s end as most of the ponies were either finishing their food or already finished. Pinkie Pie looked at Steel Wall and noticed his mood had shifted, she felt like this was her chance to talk to him. She tried using a more serious tone and asked, "Are we going to begin lessons today?" Steel Wall sighed and in defeat responded with, "Yes they do begin today, after breakfast as a matter of fact, But I am warning you, They won't be easy lessons and if you can't meet the expected goals you will not graduate... am I understood?" Pinkie Pie pounded her hood to the table and shouted, "Aye, aye, captain!" before saluting him intensely. Celestia couldn't help but chuckle at how Pinkie Pie was unintentionally making Steel Wall so angry. It wasn’t everyday she could see a usually calm pony go haywire, Celestia mentally noted to keep Pinkie Pie from disturbing Luna. Steel Wall was about to blow a gasket. He decided to excuse himself with the excuse of preparations. He felt like he was going to have to drink himself to sleep after a day of potentially dealing with Pinkie Pie. With him gone the breakfast became more lively and the conversation flowed effortlessly. The rest of the breakfast was talking about other issues like Spike’s living arrangements and the mention of soundproofing the area around Twilight and Pinkie’s room. The laughter and fun they had was soon going to end because breakfast was over. ____________________________________________________________ Breakfast ended and that meant the lovebirds would have to part ways. Pinkie Pie was reluctant to leave Twilight's side, enjoying her company immensely. "My dearest princess... I will miss you during classes," she softly spoke. Twilight kissed Pinkie's forehead softly and spoke,"Oh Pinkie... don't worry, I will see you at lunch and I will use my free time having spike teach me some baking skills, so I can make you a special cupcake for you to enjoy." Pinkie Pie was bouncing around at the news “That sounds great! I can’t wait to taste your cupcakes!” Spike, who was on Twilight's back, heard the brief conversation and was looking forward to spending a day with her. He noticed from the corner of his eyes a jealous looking Flash Sentry, it wasn't a fun sight to see. He couldn't have guessed why Flash would be jealous, of two mares being intimate, unless he was denied by a colt recently. Pinkie Pie was going to head off to class, not without kissing Twilight first. She gently pressed her lips to Twilight's and they shared a passionate kiss, only furthering the anguish of the hidden stallion watching the scene with disgust. Once the kiss broke off Pinkie Pie left and went on to begin her training. Twilight, who watched Pinkie walk off, kept the goofy grin on her face. When Pinkie was out of sight, Twilight walked towards the kitchen to begin her adventure in learning to bake. She didn't know she was being watched by a slighted stallion, who was wanting to speak to her about the wedding.