Time passes slowly in the little town. When I'm not working, I try and stay in shape. Recently Jason discovered that's it's okay to eat fish in Equestria, so we quickly adapted that into our diet. Every morning I would go on my run to a river on the edge of the Everfree forest, then I would fish. Some days I had company, like Rainbow and Applejack, and others I would be alone enjoying Celestia's sun rise in the morning. After taking home the days catch, I would shower up and head to Rarity's. She had mastered making cloths for us, and we always need more. One morning Rarity went off topic from our normal discussions about why I only wanted black and white shirts.
"Oh. Did you hear the good news? The princess is suppose to be coming to town tomorrow." She said from the other side of the changing room.
"That's good. I haven't seen her since the summer sun party." I said while trying on a black shirt.
"She's going to be at Twilight's library if you want to see her again."
I chuckled. "I bet she's going to give us some kind of mission."
"The princess? Why would she do that?" Rarity asked.
"She has a tendency of being unpredictable when it comes to us."
"Oh you worry to much. At least stop by and say hi."
I stepped out in my new black shirt and light blue jeans. "What do you think?"
She looked back and smiled. "Oh this must be my finest work on you! I caught the shape and size perfectly. Now try not to rip this one doing work."
"Yes ma'am. See you at Twilight's." I said while leaving the shop.
Recently I've had to open a tab at Rarity's, because I was there so often that paying each day bothered her. She would say, 'oh no darling you don't have to pay for this one. I'm taking all of you hard earned bits.' Then I would feel bad because I would pay her. So we agreed to a monthly bill.
The day was pretty slow after that. I did some minor lifting for a pair of mares that moved from Canterlot. It was weird because one looked classy and sophisticated while the other looked like a wild party pony. From their cutie marks it looked like they had something to do with music. The unicorn and earth pony mares bickered for most of the move in, but in the end they kissed and made up. I got paid a hefty amount from the white unicorn. I was bothered because, the work I did didn't amount to what she paid.
"Hey uh... I don't deserve this much. It was a minor job and we charged 200 bits. There's like 1,000 bits here."
She looked at me and smiled. "S'all good. Besides you did almost all the work while 'Tavi and I fought."
Those eyes. "Well I can't accept this. It would be rude of me. You just moved here."
"Just chill. Trust me, me and Tavi have have enough to buy this house over and over again. We just want a quiet little town to enjoy each others company. Don't sweat the small stuff." She said while heading for the door.
I looked down at the bag of bits. "Thank you miss...."
"Vinyl. Vinyl Scratch."
The sun was setting on another peaceful day in Ponyville. When I got home Jason was cleaning his guns. We talked for a while before I went off to bed. Had an early start tomorrow.
---------------
The morning routine went by in a flash and before I knew it, it was time to head to Twilight's library. Jason locked up and we went to the library. When we reached the front door, there was a laugh from inside as we snuck in. When we reached the main room, 7 sets of eyes and smiles greeted us. We sat down for tea and joined the conversation.
Some time passed before Celestia steered the topic of conversation away from the lighter side of things.
"Well my little ponies," She began. "I suppose it's time for my departure back to Canterlot. I have quiet a bit on my plate regarding a event coming up."
Applejack was the first to speak. "Aw shucks your highness, T'ain't nothing to worry about."
"Yeah." Pinkie added. "We know your super duper busy with all your princess stuff."
Celestia smiled. "Thank you for the wonderful time."
"Thank you for taking the time to be here princess." Rarity stood and bowed. Her friends followed suit.
"Thank you. Girls could you go outside for a second. I have important matters that I must discuss with Jason and James."
We nervously shared a glance as the six girls went outside. When the room was empty, Celestia sighed.
"How have you been?"
"Great. The town loves us and we are doing better than ends meet." Jason said enthusiastically.
Celestia smiled. "That's great to hear. It seems to me that you've completely adapted to living in Equestria."
"Yes Ma'am." We said in unison.
"That's wonderful...but, I did not come here just for pleasure. I have an important job for you. If you complete the job, then I will pay twelve thousand bits."
I raised a brow. "Who do we have to kill?"
"Huh,, Oh no no. It's nothing like that. I need you to protect my nephew, prince Blue Blood. He is heading up north to the Crystal Empire to visit a mare he's been seeing over the past two weeks. The Royal guard will accompany him, but I would feel more safe if I had you two on board." The princess gave a warm smile.
I quickly followed up. "Would you mind If I asked some follow up questions? I don't mean to pry, but I think it will make me feel safer about doing this."
"By all means."
"Has there been threats toward him?"
"No."
"Does he have enemy's?"
"No."
"Does somepony want to over throw the throne?"
"No."
I tilted my head. "So there is no danger at all, but you want two professional killers to guard him?"
Celestia nodded. "I feel safer if you protect him."
I nudged Jason and motioned for him to move closer. "This is a cake walk. Easy money."
Jason nodded and smiled. "Sounds like a plan. Where are we meeting the prince?"
"I will dispatch my personal guards to take you to the Canterlot station." She said with a smile.
The princess said her good byes and left for Canterlot, and soon after everyone left Twilight's. The rest of my day was uneventful. Went home, balanced the expenses, and had a wonderful trip down memory lane while enjoying a fried fish sandwich. It was off to bed early for me. Had a big day coming up.
---------------
The guards were knocking on our door at 3 in the morning. Jason was first to roll out of bed, and he actually rolled out of bed and hit the floor. The loud bang woke me up. We gathered our equipment and headed out the door, we were no strangers to early morning starts. The cool morning air rushed past us as we were flown to our destination.
"So how you guys been?" Sun fury asked.
Jason cracked his neck and sighed. "Been good. Doing a lot of hard work around Ponyville."
"That sounds good. Everypony adapting to your presence?" Divine Wind asked.
"Yeah. Nopony really has problems with us." I answered.
"Good. You guys seem to be doing great here." Sun turned and smiled.
"Hey Sun, why does the princess need us to guard prince Blueblood?" I asked.
He chuckled. "Because he's a pompous rich pony and none of the other guards like him."
Wind nudged him. "Hey you aren't suppose to say that. You'll get us in trouble again."
"Nopony is listening and were up really high." Sun waved a hoof dismissively.
Wind sighed and rubbed his temple with his hoof.
"So we're guarding a ass hole..."
They both looked back. "Ass hole?"
"N-never mind."
When we arrived at the train station, the train was sitting in the station waiting for it's early morning passenger. The train cars weren't much bigger than me or Jason, but there was enough room to stand. We sat on a near by bench waiting for the arrival of the prince. After an hour of waiting, he finally showed up. His was a larger unicorn and just from the way he walked, he looked like an ass. When he noticed me and Jason, he stopped.
"What are these things doing here?" He asked.
Sun took a deep breath. "These are your guards. Jason and James."
We stood straight and saluted.
He closed his eyes in frustration and mumbled something under his breath. When he looked up, his face had changed from pompous to angry.
"I will not have these monsters guarding me! I swear if this is your fault I will tell my aunt and she will fire you. Doesn't matter how long you have been her personal guards, she trusts family more."
Wind interjected. "It was your aunt who hired them. You'll be safe from any kind of danger."
"Yeah and once you get to the crystal empire you'll never have to see them again." Sun added.
He sighed. "Ugh fine. I shall allow them to guard me."
Oh this is going to be a long ride.
---------------
The train departed from the station and headed north. Apparently the crystal empire was in the frozen north. The prince found a car that had rooms in it and stayed inside his room. Jason and I stood guard in the hall. We were talking about jobs that needed to get done when we got home. The train conductor came into our cars and greeted us with a smile.
"How's he doing?" he asked in a hushed tone.
"He's been sleeping the whole time." I replied.
"Ah that's good. I'll be back to check on you in another hour."
He tipped his hat and headed for the door. Jason tapped my shoulder.
"Hey.did you see something moving outside?"
I looked out the window into the dark early morning sky. "No. It's just your imagination."
Jason rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Yeah maybe."
Another hour had passed without incident, and the prince hadn't woken up. I was starting to get tired of standing around, so I started walking into different cars of the train. There were four standard cars and one food car that was empty. On my way back I saw something strange in the corner of my eye. When I looked outside the object was gone. I went back to the post and alerted Jason. Suddenly the lights in the train went out.
"What the shit?" I said. "Jason you got a light?"
"Yeah hol..." Breaking glass cut him short.
Jason's light lit up the hallway and we could see the glass on the floor. He pulled out his M9 and moved his left hand, with the flashlight, under he gun. Jason slowly advanced toward the glass while checking other rooms in the car. When he got to the glass, he shined the light out of the broken window and lowered his gun.
"I got nothing." He said.
I lowered my M16 and checked on the prince. He was still sleeping. The conductor came in with a candle and smiled when he saw us.
"Oh I'm glad to see you are all right."
"What caused the power outage?" I asked.
He set the candle down. "I'm not to sure."
I looked at Jason, but he was staring at something in the car ahead of us. "Hey Jason, what's wrong? Looks like you've seen a ghost or something."
"Yes my boy. Come here so we can make a plan to secure the car."
Jason shuttered and looked over his shoulder. "I would conductor..... But how can you be sitting over there if your dead in front of me?"
Jason took a step to the side, and the conductor was laying lifeless on the floor. I jumped back and grabbed my rifle.
"What the fuck?"
The 'conductor' chuckled. "I really wish you hadn't seen that."
Jason aimed his M9 and I raised my M16. "Hands..... Hooves where we can see them!" I yelled.
The conductor hissed and his body was enveloped in green flames. When the flames disappeared, a black four legged creature stood in place. Jason fired a round into it's side and it hissed. The black creature reviled bug-like wings and darted for Jason. Just before the creature could get to Jason, a door flew open and the angry prince yelled at the top of his lungs.
"WOULD YOU TRY AND KEEP IT DOWN! I'M TRYING TO GET MY BEAUTY REST!"
We all froze. The prince looked at me and huffed. "What are you doing, pointing that thing at me?"
The creature saw his chance and bolted for the prince. I pushed the prince out of the way and fired three rounds while holding the rifle with one hand and my hip. One shot hit the creatures eye and it screamed in pain. Jason quickly finished the job with two more shots. Jason approached the creature slowly and nudged it with his foot.
"Dead"
"Right. Prince Blue Blood, is there any reason somepony would be trying to kill you?" I asked.
He put his hoof under his chin. "Other than being extremely hansom and being a royal?"
"Yes other than that."
"Then nothing. I don't have enemy's."
I took a deep breath and looked around. "Well let's..."
"James do you feel the train slowing down?"
I hadn't noticed, but he was right. The train was slowing down. I picked up my rifle. "Prince Blue Blood, we need to get off this train right now. Somepony or something is trying to kill you."
He scoffed. "Let's wait for the train to stop."
I sighed. "Look these things are probably waiting for us, so now you listen to us. Princess Celestia put you under our care and now it's time to act. Jason take the prince to the last car, I'll cover your six. I'll leave a little present for our unwanted guests."
Jason pushed Blue Blood down the train, against Blue Blood's good wishes. I pulled out a single grenade and tore up a section of the carpet lining. I set the grenade down and wedged it behind a door. Using the carpet lining, I tied it to the pin of the grenade and set it across the hallway. Using another door, I pulled the slack and closed the door making a trip wire. Hopefully it was enough to pull the pin and turn the door into a wooden shrapnel cannon. I picked up my gun and started for the back of the train cart. As soon as I got in, Jason opened the back door and we got against the rail. The train was still going about twenty MPH, but we needed to get off.
"You're first your highness."
"I WILL NOT JUMP!"
Jason looked at me and I smiled. "Okay. Hold still."
We lifted the prince and threw him into the bushes and jumped off the train. We hit the brush on the side of the rails and quickly pushed prince Blue Blood down. We didn't know if we were being followed.
After a minuet of waiting we rose and looked around.
"Looks like a couple hours till sunrise. We need to get gone." Jason was looking to the grey area of the sky.
"Let's hoof it."
"Why me? I'm a prince! This shouldn't be happening to me."
There was a small boom in the distance. "Bye bye."