“She is singing again…” Said Flash Sentry, the young lieutenant that was slated to replace Captain Shining Armor as Captain of Equestria’s Royal Guard. There was much pomp and circumstance around his appointment, and the joy he felt when he was called into Captain Armor’s office and informed that HE would be his replacement, after the wedding was announced. Since Princess Cadence would be relieving the Captain of his duties for a while for their honeymoon, a temporary replacement was needed to fill Captain Armor’s spot.
He chose Flash Sentry.
Flash never really knew WHY he was chosen, but the look in Captain Armor’s eyes when he told him, and the smile on his face, seemed to do all the talking for him. “Trust me, Lieutenant, I know what I’m doing.” He said.
To celebrate, a few of his fellow Guardsmen took him out to a bar, the Old Avery Tavern it was called. It was the oldest bar in Canterlot, here ever since Princess Celestia returned from her self-imposed exile almost a thousand years ago. No one knows why she named the bar like this, or why she would EVER sanction the creation of a bar of all places, but no one seemed to mind, and the drinks here were, somehow, THAT much better than the other bars in Canterlot, making it a go-to destination for, well, pretty much everypony.
Then, the same, sad song was carried through the air, and all the noise in the bar hushed. You could hear a pin drop on the floor, as all the customers were silenced, listening to Princess Celestia’s song, sorrowful and mourning as it was. The song ended almost as quickly as it had begun, but the bar was still in silence, as if contemplating the meaning behind her song.
“Aye mate, that she has. She’s sung that same song every night for the past millennia. Always wondered what it was about…” the bartender said to Flash. He was certainly a strange pony. No one could place where his accent came from, though it seemed to be a blend of Canterlot and Trottingham. He wore the strangest white robes, though they were browned by years of use. Leather armor was placed on top of the robes, covering his forelegs and shoulders, and partway down his back. His hood was down, revealing a well-tended to beard, bits of grey creeping into the roots, as well as unicorn’s horn. No one knew the bartender’s real name, everyone just called him ‘Mr. Jackdaw.’
“Really, Mr. Jackdaw? The same song?” Asked a young filly, who was visiting the bar. Now, before you go reporting off to the Guard about there being a young filly in a place filled with spiced rum, a little background information. The filly, Amber Guard, was a young Pegasus, unfortunately orphaned from a fire that consumed half a city block some three years ago. She had wandered into the bar, where Mr. Jackdaw had offered her a place to stay, and ever since then, she had basically become his unofficial daughter. Rumor has it, she’s the only one who knows Mr. Jackdaw’s real name.
“That’s right, lass! The same ol’ song, every night.” He said, a smile on his face, patting the young filly on the head and giving her a glass of ice water. “Now, off to bed with you! You don’t want to miss school tomorrow, don’t you?”
Amber giggled. “No way daddy! I don’t want my friends to suffer through math class alone!” She said, walking up the stairs to her room with the glass of water. The patrons all bid her a goodnight and a good day at school tomorrow as she passed by, commenting on Mr. Jackdaw’s kindness, letting the poor filly into his home!
Flash smiled softly, watching the filly walk back to her room, carefree and happy as she did. He couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly Mr. Jackdaw was able to cheer her up like that. It’s like he has prior experience with raising children before… “Oi mate, she’s much too young for you! Besides, don’t you have the hots for… oh, whatshername… Twilight Sparkle?” Came Mr. Jackdaw’s voice, his face wearing a mischievous smirk.
Flash, who was unfortunately drinking his spiced rum, the Old Avery’s trademark beverage, did a marvelous spit-take, blasting the rum everywhere in front of his mouth. His friends thumped him on the back, laughing merrily. The blush on Flash’s face could have lit the room were it pitch dark. “I-I do not have feelings for my Captain’s sister!” He declared. The other patrons in the bar smiled and shook their heads, returning to their drinks. Flash’s attraction to Twilight was so obvious… if only the poor Pegasus wasn’t so denying!
“Sure, and I’m Princess Celestia’s long dead husband, brought back to life through ancient magic older than the world itself to serve as a bartender.” Said Mr. Jackdaw, his voice as sarcastic as could be, but that smile on his face… it rang a few bells in Flash’s mind. That was the smile of a pony who knew more than he or she was letting on…
“Oh, and I suppose you would know something about that?” He said, calling Mr. Jackdaw’s bluff. “Princess Celestia never got married, she’s been single her entire life, and even if she did have a husband, we would all know about it.”
Mr. Jackdaw poured another glass of rum, sliding it on to another patient at the far end of the bar, showing years of practice with the technique. “Of course we’d all know about it, but there WAS a period of time in history where no-pony knew of her whereabouts, am I right?” Asked Mr. Jackdaw, still wearing the same smirk on his face as before. “It’s entirely possible that she could have gotten married in that time, and we’d not know of it.”
Flash opened his mouth to retort, but closed it after a few seconds, coming up with nothing to say in response. “I suppose you have a point there…” He said, conceding.
He felt a hearty ‘smack* on his shoulder, coming from one of the other bartenders here, a Zebra simply named Adewale, known for his signature pure black fur, a rarity amongst ponies nowadays. “Good try, friend, but I’ve yet to see a pony that could get the one-up on Ol’ Jackdaw so easily nowadays!” He said. Unlike Mr. Jackdaw, Adewale’s accent could be very well placed, around one of the islands in the Tropic seas.
Flash rubbed his shoulder, returning Adewale’s laugh with a pained smile, though it was all in jest. “I swear Ade, with those kinds of muscles, you could give Applejack down in Ponyville a run for her money!” He said, his squad mates, as well as the patrons, joining him in a merry laugh that filled the bar. Everyone knew of the legendary strength the farm-mare possessed in her legendary hind legs, and just what kind of damage they could d!
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far, braddah, but I must say, I think I come close to it!” He said, smacking him one more time, then returning behind the bar to his fellow bartender’s side. The huge grandfather clock struck twelve, closing time for the bar.
“Alright, lads!” Called Mr. Jackdaw, standing up on the bar and lifting a tankard filled with spiced rum. “Last round of the night’s on me! Come and get it!” He said, and with the help of the rest of the bars employees, consisting of some of the roughest looking stallions around, but bearing hearts of gold and were very kind and polite to their patrons, passed out tankards full of rum to every patron. Even Amber Guard was included, having sneaked downstairs again to try and sneak a sip of rum. Mr. Jackdaw’s response was to shake his head, though he chuckled merrily, and gave her a glass of Sweet Apple Acres cider. She was, after all, a little young for spiced rum!
“To the Wedding of Princess Cadence, and Shining Armor! Let their love blossom, and may they have many happy years together!” Cried Mr. Jackdaw in a joyous toast.
“CHEERS!” Roared the patrons in a hearty collective, downing their drinks in one breath.
And with that last toast, the bar slowly emptied, leaving Flash Sentry as the last patron left, nursing one last bit of spiced rum. He placed the empty tankard on the bar, gave a polite farewell to the employees, and walked to join his comrades back at the barracks. Once he was about to leave the establishment, however, Mr. Jackdaw bid him stay for a moment.
“Congratulations on your promotion, Captain Sentry. I believe you’ll do a fine job.” He said, a small smile on his face. “Oh, and if you happen to catch Princess Celestia alone, with just the two of you, and with plenty of free time on your hooves, ask her if she knows anyone by the name of Edward James Kenway. And make sure you mention my name, alright?”
Flash cocked his head at the strange request, not really knowing what to make of it. What kind of a name was Edward James Kenway? It didn’t sound like a Gryphon name, nor a Minotaur name. It certainly was no pony name, for that matter… “Well, if I ever stumble upon a situation like that, and I think I never will, I’ll be sure to ask her.” He said, a confused smile on his face.
“There’s a good lad!” Said Mr. Jackdaw, giving Flash a hearty thump on his back. “Oh, almost forgot!” He said, walking back to the bar and coming back with a small wooden box. “It’s for you. Open it!”
Flash slowly opened the lid, revealing a pair of steel vambraces, polished to a sheen so bright that he could see his own reflection in them! With a look of awe on his face, he gently lifted them out of the box, instantly discovering that there was more to these things than meets the eye… attached to the vambraces was a fetlock[1]-blade, approximately the length of his foreleg[2]. He placed them on, finding them to be a perfect fit, and with a simple flick of his right fetlock, the simple, yet elegant and deadly blade sprang out to its full reach, another flick placing it back.
“When I heard that one of my favorite regulars here was getting quite the promotion, I had to come up with a suitable gift, so Ade and I forged these blades for you. I hope you never have to use them, but at least if you get capture by changelings tomorrow, they won’t suspect that you’re not completely unarmed!” Joked Mr. Jackdaw, escorting Flash out the door. “Now go get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow.”
Before Flash left the tavern, he turned around, giving Mr. Jackdaw a wide, thankful smile. “Thanks so much for the blades, Mr. Jackdaw! I’ll treat them with care!” He said, running off towards the barracks, Mr. Jackdaw calling out after him: “And don’t forget what I told you!”
A few seconds passed before Flash disappeared into the night. Adewale had took it upon himself to coordinate the tavern staff to cleaning up for the night, leaving Mr. Jackdaw to his thoughts.
“Oh yes, tomorrow is going to be a busy day… and a day that will be remembered for centuries to come. Because tomorrow…” He said, reaching into his robe and removing a small, golden sphere, softly glowing with a golden light.
“We will finally be together again… Anne…”