//------------------------------// // Bees and Beatings // Story: Bat and Bug // by Silent Quill //------------------------------// “So… who are you? Exactly?” Two glowing eyes turned on the stallion, their lack of pupil not hindering the way they seemed to gaze into his very soul. She spoke, her voice with tones of spring blooms, honey, and many moons of experience echoing into the world around them. “I am one of the unconsidered, a being with soul and heart of one of your own, but a body which has struck fear into the hearts of many.” She looked down at herself, gesturing with a foreleg vaguely at her body. “Gaze upon the last of her kind, as many have. Be afraid of the unknown, as many are. The only thing that differs between all who have stumbled upon me has been their reaction to this fear and uncertainty. Most flee, afraid of something beyond their comprehension. Some have attacked, attempting to end my existence if only to silence the terror in their soul. “Yet I stand. I have met these challenges and found myself victorious. I am not immortal, unlike those who rule the lands, but I do not age like you.” Her gaze drifted skywards and stared into the blue abyss above. “I suppose it has been many moons since last I discussed my longevity, the days blur together after a point unless one makes a point of counting them or they have any particular important value. More than eight hundred cycles of the seasons I have seen in my lifetime, most of them without much merit. “So now we come to your presence, the first in almost three lunar cycles. What will you do with your fear, hmm? Run in terror and tell tales of the monster you met? Cower until I move on and then return to your home? Or maybe you’ll attack me like so many others, and join them in the graveyard I manage, to add to the soil some nutrients for my blossoms? What you will do I have yet to see - but never have I been wrong in my predictions of the mortal world.” After voicing these words, she grew silent and only watched in disinterest the stallion as he contemplated her speech. With slightly trembling hooves, he began to walk towards her, his breath catching in his throat as she moved to ready herself into a defensive stance, only to freeze as his lips met hers. Her brow launched skywards and her eyes grew wide with shock as he pressed himself into his kiss, as brief an affair it was. It was not long before he pulled back and only gave her wide-eyed disbelief a cheeky smile. She found her voice unwilling to cooperate for a few moments before she managed to breathe, “That… was unexpected.” She focused her gaze back upon him, now curious and untrusting; “For what purpose did that serve, save that you can say you have kissed a monster?” He chortled amusedly. “You sell yourself short, calling yourself a monster. You stated it yourself, you have heart and soul like any of my peers; your eyes betray your aloof display untoward myself, windows to the soul as they are. If within my eyes you could see my fear and doubt unto yourself, imagine what I can see, for I see not a monster, but a mare that has gone without peer, without company or contact of intelligent life beyond that fear and doubt. I see a mare who is lonely, desperate for warmth, companionship; a mare desperate for someone to help shoulder her burdens and her own fears. “I don’t see a monster poised to brutalize me or which seeks to impose fear, I see a soul who is hurt, and is desperate for somepony to soothe or share her pain. Tell me, what is your name, dear girl?” She gave a heaving sigh through her nostrils before replying. “Pitaya, that’s what my mother named me.” “A suiting name for an element of nature,” The stallion commented, “especially so for you, Miss Dryad.” “In what way could you mean?” He smiled disarmingly, “the Pitaya, or Dragon Fruit, comes from a type of cactus. It is suiting, as within the thorny embrace of your outer visage and attitude lay a sweet and beautiful delicacy; untouchable by all but the most daring.” She blinked down at him, curious as to his peculiar analogy before speaking again. “Pray tell, what name did the world grace upon you? Such a curious young unicorn must have been named aptly.” His smile turned cheeky once more, running a hoof disinterestedly through his dark brown mane. “It was a cruel fate that I would be best suited not for magic like my brethren.” He said. “Though I suppose what my parents called me is but another showing of the world’s oddities; my name, fair Dryad, is Oaken Orchard.” “And what is this… oddity of which you speak? It sounds perfectly normal to my ears.” He stole another kiss from her lips, catching her off guard before breathing into her ear, “I’m an Arborist, my de-“ “Miss Ruby, are you down here?” The voice of Stalwart Drone called, effectively pulling her from the little world in which she would secret herself when engrossed in a book. It had been an interesting read so far, this book written by some stallion out in Trottingham. The story told of a unicorn stallion born in Canterlot who was spurned by his peers for his odd talent based in the environmental world rather than magical. Late one night he heard tale of a monstrous creature with pony-like attributes, a creature of wood and leaf and bark. A Dryad, a spirit of nature which few had seen, that dwelled in the forests surrounding Canterlot Mountain. While the other listeners had only heard tale of a horrific and dangerous monster, he had heard of another like him, spurned by the world around them simply for being different. She felt she could relate. “What do you need, Captain Drone?” She called back, tilting an ear to the sound of his hooves coming down the stairs. It had been almost a week since she had nearly been run out of the Crystal Empire, and her project for Princess Luna had been completed and taken to the Crystal Palace for later shipping to the princess herself, or whatever her Highness wanted to do with it, Ruby didn’t really mind. She’d done her task to the best of her ability, poured her heart into her craft like usual and created something she was sure that the princesses would like. The mentioned thestral wandered down the stairs into the basement wearing his guard armour and eyed the rack of finished and half-finished wooden training weapons off to one side. She’d presented the first of these to him the day she’d finished it, and the only feedback he’d given was ‘it’s perfect, more like this.’ Admittedly there were things that he thought they could do without, like the scrollwork on the wooden blades and handles, but he figured that trainees would be somewhat encouraged by the fancy look to the spears, swords, and shields. “I’m headed off to my shift for the evening. You have a visitor waiting for you in the lounge, I would advise going up and greeting her before long.” He announced. “Once she’s gone, you know the drill; lock the doors, secure the windows, use the ventilation I showed you, and no magical crafting after dark.” “Mm-hmm,” she hummed in response while sliding a bookmark into her novel, hoping to get back to it later. His hooves thudded away back upstairs and through the house, eventually fading altogether after the sound of the front door opening and closing moved through the house. Not wanting to leave any particular guest waiting, nor to leave herself in the lurch over who the guest might be, Ruby absent-mindedly dawdled upstairs and through to the lounge, where she was quite surprised to find Princess Luna seated upon the couch and levitating a cup of what appeared to be coffee before her. Well, ‘seated’ is a loose term, really. The princess didn’t so much sit on the couch as lounge into it, reclining gracefully on one side as she sipped gracefully at her coffee. She glanced over at Ruby, who quickly ducked into a polite curtsey. “Ah, Miss Ruby; please sit, much to discuss.” Ruby blinked confusedly before complying with the princess and sitting in a nearby chair, finally noticing the two Night Guard bat ponies standing at attention inside the room, one giving her what she would call a ‘murderous glare.’ She wasn’t sure she would enjoy them being here, though she was certain that she did not like the staring. Lune only smiled disarmingly to her, taking another sip of her coffee before lowering the cup to the coffee table between them. “I take it that your stay within the Empire has been quieter than your travels?” She asked. “There was a… slight hiccup on the first day, but it’s been rather quiet since, your highness. I’ve been tasked with building training weapons for the guard, and they’re coming along nicely.” “I am told that the commission I ordered has been completed?” Ruby nodded. “I had it taken to the Crystal Palace to later be delivered to you, your highness.” “I see; tell me, do you know of where bees might be purchased nearby?” “Stalwart goes on and on about some beekeepers in the northern parts of the empire whenever we’re eating lunch, though I’m not sure of the exact address.” She replied in a detesting manner before cringing. “I’m sorry, princess I didn’t mean-“ The princess waved a hoof dismissively. “Tis quite alright, Ruby, I am well aware that what interests one may not interest another.” She drank the last of her coffee before looking over to her guards. “If one of you would be so kind as to head to the castle and fetch the beehive, I believe I shall look into the bees myself.” A guard gave a quick salute before stepping out, and the princess turned her gaze back to Ruby. “Thank you for your hospitality, Ruby -as brief a visit as this was.” “Of course, princess; I hope you are not offended if you can show yourselves out, I have some work to get back to in the basement and I’d rather my first order not be late...” “It is no trouble, have a pleasant evening, Ruby Swift.” Luna replied before gracefully leaving, her guard following close behind her. After a moment of catching her runaway nerves, Ruby returned to the basement, where she lifts a wooden shaft into a lathe and begins the arduous task of carving it into a handle. * “Your highness, if I might take a moment, I wanted to ask Miss Swift something pertaining to your commission?” Luna’s guard asks, not looking in her direction as is his training. “Of course, do not dawdle, however.” “Thank you, highness.” He turned and hurried back into the house, navigating his way down to the basement where he could hear her carving something. With a quiet series of movements he shifted down into the makeshift workshop, grabbing what looked like a wooden spear from a rack near the stairs as he crept closer. ‘This is for Canterlot you Moon-blasted monster.’ * He returned soon to the side of his princess, closing the front door behind himself. He’d made sure that he was free of wood dust or chip, clean of any sign of his prior task, and he gave the princess a respectful bow before spreading his wings and following her flight to the northern parts of the Empire. * The guard that had been sent to the Crystal Castle arrived without incident and landed at the check-in point for visitors, waiting for a superior to allow him access to the castle proper. As he was a lieutenant, it would take a Guard Captain to clear him access. He didn’t mind the wait, really; the castle was a marvel of gemstone engineering and he was indeed marvelling at every inch his eyes could see. A set of hooves behind him pulled him from his inspection of a support column and drew his attention to a fellow bat pony who looked down at paperwork in his hooves, supplied by a nearby crystal pony guard. “Storm Striker…” Stalwart mumbled to himself as he looked through the paperwork, “Princess Luna Entourage, Lieutenant first class, address blah, blah, blah… You check out, Lieutenant; welcome to the Crystal Castle. You were at my house when I left for work, weren’t you? What need has the Princess for us?” “Princess Luna has sent me to retrieve the craftwork of Miss Swift designated for her highness. I’m to meet up with her back at your home, so it would be good to not dawdle, hmm?” “True, true.” Stalwart chuckled as he signed a visitation permit, folded it, and slid it into Storm Striker’s chest piece. “That has you permitted to be within the castle for the next four hours. Do not lose it; I loathe signing a second one.” Storm Striker laughed and waved Stalwart on. “Of course, sir.” He chuckled. “If you’ll lead me to the pickup I can be on my way.” Stalwart nodded and began walking, waving a wing. “This way, Lieutenant; the interior is a no-fly zone except in emergencies so we’ll have to walk.” “That’s fine; gives us time to catch up.” “It does.” After a minute or so of awkward silence Storm Striker tried to break the ice. “So, Stalwart, how’re you liking the Empire? I heard the trip up was… less than as advertised.” “The Empire is a nice enough place I suppose, and ‘less than as advertised’ is understating it quite substantially. I almost lost my wings on the walk in, Striker. My wings. After leaving for the Empire in the middle of the day with not a peep from any of my so-called friends to see me off, it would have been the cream on the cake of bucking terrible weeks.” “Stalwart, we didn’t know!” Storm Striker protested defensively. “We weren’t told until our shifts that evening! Tartarus, who do you think coined in on the driver arriving at the station? One of Crescent Squad was doing his rounds in the station when he popped out of thin air and tried to act all cool. Took us a day to break the stallion, and we were setting up search groups when the letter from Princess Cadance arrived. I volunteered to join Princess Luna on this trip. Your parents are still being cleared through Canterlot customs, but at the rate those lot work they should be up here by the weekend.” Stalwart grumbled. “At first I thought it was a joke, some stupidly elaborate prank orchestrated by Princess Luna and Prince Armour themselves just to poke fun at how far the Night Guard would be willing to be pushed before we snapped. Egg’s on my face, I live up here now.” He signed and waved dismissively at a Crystal Pony guard who gave him a look. “Not that I don’t like it, it’s just different. You try being uprooted and moved in a day without being told beforehand.” He said, managing to get the guard to look pensive before nodding. “So, anyway, Stalwart; tell me about that… young lady you’re bunked with.” “Ruby you mean?” “That’s her. What in the name of Princess Celestia’s ruby boxer shorts is a Changeling doing out here, and why’re you living with her?” With a sigh, Stalwart fixed Storm Striker a stern gaze. “Storm, you remember that enquiry that swept the nation at Princess Celestia’s order? That investigation into Changeling activity at select towns that went on for a week or so that the princess ordered?” “… Yes?” “Ruby Swift is the reason for that enquiry; she’s effectively here under Sanctuary from her Hive, which has orders to kill her on sight, according to her. She’s… had a rough life. I trust you saw how underfed she is? She’s been out of house and home for the last three months. Poor filly walked all the way up here because she couldn’t afford a train ticket.” He snorted faintly, “She had a coat to protect her from the blizzard we walked through, but she lost that before she got into the Empire proper. She almost starved to death on the throne room floor when she got here petitioning to have Princess Cadance and her husband put her out of her misery.” Storm Striker gave him a confused look. “What’re you saying to me here, Stalwart?” “She doesn’t live with me because I want her to, Striker, she lives with me because she has to. I’m practically her bodyguard. It’s like the Witness Protection program, only there is no foreseeable end. Tell me, were the doors locked when you left the house?” “Not that I know of, sir.” Stalwart sighed as they stepped into a balcony courtyard, where the craftwork that Ruby had made was waiting alongside a cart. “Alright, hitch this thing up onto the cart and then we’ll head down; I’ll just go find a Lieutenant to cover for me a little while.” “Yes sir.” With a deliberate pace, Stalwart stepped back into the castle and flagged down another guard, one of the few mares who held an overnight shift. “What’s your name and rank solider?” “Lieutenant Emerald Shimmer, sir!” She barked in return, her face holding a stern expression that he found rather cute -ah, the perks of the job. “Alright, Miss Shimmer;” “Mrs, sir.” He chuckled at her intrusion. “Not every captain would take interruptions lightly, but thank you for the heads up; I’m still getting through the personnel files. Now, Mrs Shimmer, I am headed out for a short while to check in on a safe-house civilian, I need you to ensure that anything that requires my attention is either queued or sent to me via gem-channel, got it?” “How will I know the difference between them, sir?” “If it needs my immediate attention, call me. If it can be postponed for a little while, instruct them to wait or petition the princess at their earliest convenience. If anything comes up within the ranks, I want it recorded and filed to my desk for future review, understood?” “Understood, sir.” “Oh, and one other thing; don’t file a boat-load of sexual abuse reports based on the behaviour that the boys may send you through, alright? Just write a list of names and place it with the folder on my desk marked ‘Internal Affairs.’ It’s magically sealed, so don’t try opening it or you’ll be bucked down the ranks so hard you’ll have a flat arse when you land.” She chortled at the mental image. “Yes sir.” He nodded to her and snapped a salute. “Alright, Lieutenant, carry on. I’ll come find you when I return.” He informed her before walking back out to the balcony where Storm Striker was buckled onto the carriage. How he’d managed to buckle himself up when it was a two pony job was beyond Stalwart, but it at least saved time. Spreading his wings wide, he kicked into the air, flying a little away from the castle and waiting for Storm Striker to lift and join him. After a short wait for him to get close, Stalwart began to lead him to his home. It had taken a few days for Stalwart to commit to memory where his home was from the air, the Empire looked so different from above after all. It didn’t take very long for them to arrive at the building. Stalwart assisted Storm Striker in unbuckling from his carriage before walking to the building and trying the front door. After a quick jiggle of the handle it popped open, evidence that Ruby had not locked up the house. He sighed and waved Storm Striker in. “C’mon, make yourself at home for a minute while I check on Ruby. If you hear the Princess at the door, get her a cup of coffee or tea in the living room.” He stalked through the house to the second floor, knocking on the door to Ruby’s room. “Ruby, are you in there? It’s Stalwart; I came to check on you?” After a moment or two of no responses he clicked the door open and looked inside gingerly. He’d only done this once before, and she’d nearly yelled his ears off for breaking her privacy. In one corner an array of vials could be seen around a gas burner, her efforts into ‘mutating’ her tree seeds and saplings into faster-growing trees. It was rocky and dangerous business, but she’d managed to get a tree to age five weeks in one already, so she must have known what she was doing. Sadly, while there were books and bed, and even a marequin in a corner that she had hung her cloak on, there was no sign of Ruby. He closed her door and checked the bathroom, knocking loudly and calling through the door, again earning no response. He couldn’t hear water running, so he knew she wasn’t in the shower, so he turned and tried other avenues. His next destination was the kitchen, where he supposed she might be making dinner for herself. Instead all he found was a bare countertop and Storm Striker eyeing the cider in their fridge. “Water, Lieutenant.” He hissed, fetching out the cooled pitcher. “You’re still on duty and I greatly doubt that Princess Luna will appreciate you drinking when you have a carriage to fly to the station. I am not filling out that paperwork.” Storm Striker chuckled and poured himself a glass as Stalwart headed back through the house to his last ditch hope that he didn’t have to call a missing pony case, the basement. The door was ajar, and he gently nudged it open and called down. “Ruby, you down here?” When his call managed to get no response, he eased his way down the stairs, looking out into the basement proper. All pretence of not startling her was thrown to one side when he saw her on her side, a broken training spear laying near her and her natural body armour covered in cracks and oozing blood. He looked her head and neck over, finding a large bruise on the back of her head where he assumed she had been struck, and he could hear her breathing in heavy strained wheezes. “Oh by the moon and stars, Ruby! Ruby, wake up! Striker, call an emergency!” Ruby coughed and opened her eyes faintly. Her eyes drifted up and looked into Stalwart’s face and she stretched a hoof out to him. “St-Stalwart… the cabinet… in the corner;” She paused to heave in a breath, “Aid… kit.” He hurried over to the cabinet and wrenched the door open, almost off its hinges, and pulled out the large red first aid kit, along with a pillow that he knew she had down here for if she wanted to rest for a short while without leaving the room. He paused when he returned to her side to place the pillow beneath her head before popping open the kit. Her injuries were severe, he’d once seen this sort of beating when a flying pony had to crash land through a wooded area. No bones appeared to be broken, her chitin taking most of the beating for her, but she certainly had bruised lungs and a mild concussion. Storm Striker came hurrying down into the basement and wordlessly took up place opposite Stalwart, taking some bandages and alcohol wipes and beginning to bandage the worse of her injuries. “Stay awake, Ruby, help is on its way. Don’t talk too much; your breathing is laboured so lungs might be bruised.” Stalwart said calmly as they finished wrapping her. “Can you remember what happened, or who did this? Was it a Crystal pony?” She shook her head faintly, groaning at the pain this action brought her, before pointing feebly at Storm Striker. “One… one of them… one of you, but like... him.” “A bat pony?” She nodded. “I thought… it was the princess… at first.” She wheezed, her eyes drooping slowly. “I… I want to sleep. So tired.” “I know you’re tired, Ruby, but you need to stay awake until the medics get here, alright? You’ve been struck about the head and you have a concussion. You need to stay awake until they let you sleep, okay?” “Okay...” She replied sleepily. Stalwart glared across at Storm Striker angrily, but he only held his hooves up defensively. “Hey, don’t look at me like that; the Princess and Dizzy were still here when I left. I headed directly for the Castle, no stops and no delays. You know me, have I ever been the sort to do this kinda crap? Tartarus, I let my wife kick the hay outta me when she found out she was pregnant, despite it being her idea to have a foal.” “Tell me about Dizzy, I’ve not heard of him before, and I was training some of you lot.” “Dizzy Spin, Lieutenant second class, Princess Guard division, he got his posting because his father is one of them hoity-toity nobles in the Rise and he had leverage behind him.” He sighed faintly. “His dad’s a pompous jackass who backed an attempted petition to have the Changelings hunted down from within Equestria like vermin. And a petition to have Gryphons barred from Canterlot… and one to have Zebricans searched when they cross the borders… come to think of it, the only subgroup he hasn’t protested against are us.” Storm Striker said, scratching his chin at his last comment. “The dude swings his ‘noble rights’ around like Prince Blueblood the Pompous himself.” Their ears twitched as loud knocking sounded from the front door, and Storm Striker hurried up the stairs to get it. He returned soon after with a couple of crystal ponies in medical uniforms with a large bag carried in one of their mouths. Close behind came Princess Luna, who had a worried look on her face that only became more worried when she saw the state that Ruby was in. “What happened?” Stalwart released Ruby into the custody of the medical ponies and stood, putting a hoof onto Storm Striker’s shoulder. “Stay here, report to me anything important. If they need to move her to the hospital, tell me; I am not coming back down here to find it empty, got it?” “Sir.” Stalwart turned his glare at the Princess and saluted before growling, “Your Highness, where is Dizzy Spin?” The princess balked at his short and sharp tone before regaining her composure. “For what reason do you require him, Captain?” He pointed back at Ruby’s prone form on the floor, the words of the medical ponies cutting the silence as they informed her that she was clear of any internal cranial damage and that she could finally rest, and he gave her the shortest look he could manage. “Questions.” She nodded silently before sweeping back up the stairs, shifting a wing to indicate that she wanted him to tail her. For a short few moments they walked to the front door, and here she told him she wanted him to wait with a silent and minor shift of her wing before she stepped out, turned to her left, and -for lack of a better word- bellowed. “Lieutenant Dizzy Spin, attention at once!” Her words were not so much her voice causing the air to vibrate into audible and recognizable sound; rather it was like she had weaponized her lungs and throat into the most powerful hypersonic device imaginable. Dizzy Spin had, all at once, stood to attention, jumped a foot into the air, and fallen over like a fainting goat. Stalwart leaned back a bit in mild shock; he’d heard tales of the Royal Canterlot Voice from Storm Striker and Sunny Springs (that poor girl’s father, a Pegasus, had been blind, and therefore his taste in names was unnoticed by him as Sunny Springs is a horrid name for a bat pony with a black coat.) He’d heard that it had whipped up a storm, how it had made almost the entire town of Ponyville cower in their horseshoes as if she were Nightmare Moon once again. She shifted her wing again, the signal that he was to come forth and do his duty by detaining his subordinate. With a steady and heavily restrained pace he stepped out into the early night and turned on the stallion who was struggling to stand to attention. “Lieutenant, I have a question.” Stalwart began with, again, as much restraint as he could manage to muster. “Yes, sir?” Stalwart bared his teeth and bore down on him. “Who, in the name of Princess Luna’s moon, do you think you are?” “… Sir?” “Answer me!” Dizzy Spin sighed. “Lieutenant second class Count Dizzy Spin, Princess Guard division; heir to the Highcollar estates-“ “Wrong!” Stalwart bellowed, cutting Dizzy Spin off rather abruptly. “You are a Royal Guard; name, title, social status, they all mean nothing once that uniform is about your coat! I don’t give a damn who you are when you’re at home with your mommy, here you’re bound to the rules for a damned good reason, you understand me, Lieutenant?!” “Yes, sir.” “So tell me why Miss Ruby Swift is currently lying in my basement, battered and bleeding, and telling me that one of us is responsible?” “I don’t know what you-“ Stalwart pressed his nose against Dizzy’s. “Lie to me again, Lieutenant, and I’ll see if I can have a new rank created below private and cadet just for you;” He snarled, “A rank which will involve nothing but cleaning out the latrines in a lacy pink apron and a matching maid’s hat.” “Captain, I believe that would be a bit demeaning.” Luna informed from behind him. “I mean, where would we ever find somepony with low enough self-esteem to make such a thing?” “Y-you can’t just threaten me, I’ve done nothing wrong!” Dizzy protested. “And my father would never-“ “Your father has no say in Guard business, regardless of who he is.” Stalwart snarled. “I apologize, Princess, but I am about to say some rather uncouth things.” “Go ahead; I have yet to hear all of the colourful language of this era. My sister tells me that there have been some improvements in the less than courtly words over the last thousand years.” Stalwart chuckled. “I’d say,” he muttered before glowering at Dizzy Spin, “Your father is not here, and I couldn’t give a damn whose spawn you are, you little shit. You are a Royal Guard, you protect one of the most important ponies on the planet for a living, you protect Equestria for a living, and you spit on the honour of the Guard by thinking that your daddy can pull your worthless arse from the fire whenever you buck up. Well let me tell you something, cupcake, your daddy isn’t here. I am. Miss Ruby Swift has positively identified one of our kind, a bat pony, a thestral, as her assailant, and of the only three in the Empire at the moment, you are the only one who I both know nothing about and don’t know your movements after I left this residence. So you’d better have a really Celestia-damned good excuse, you son of a mule.” “Clearly there is another thestral in the Empire you don’t know about.” Stalwart’s eye twitched, and he looked back to the Princess. “Your highness, I request assistance in this matter before I beat this pompous little bastard into a crater and leave him for the city’s caretakers to scrape up.” “Now see here, if you did your homework you would find that I am of a most prestigious stock, you’ll find no poor breeding-“ “Be silent, sergeant.” Luna hissed. “Captain, I would suggest you go inside and check on your charge. I will take over here.” Stalwart nodded before giving Dizzy the dirtiest glare he could and snorting in his direction spitefully before stalking back inside with heavy, rage-draining hoofsteps. “The hell is his problem?” “Sergeant," she spat the word disdainfully, "when a guard is tasked with protecting a civilian, they become quite invested in the task. Failing such an assignment is a failure of the highest regard, and it has ended lower rank careers rather unceremoniously due to the ponies in question ‘retiring’. Tell me, sergeant, how he should feel that his assignment to protect Ruby Swift has been failed?” “Like a useless-“ “Mind your words, sergeant, he is your superior officer and I have read far too many cases of guards with such assignments committing suicide over such failures; I doubt that he will be as drastic, however. Stalwart is too intelligent for such a thing. No, he has instead some very justifiable anger that the pony who has caused this fracas is not some civilian out for blood, but from within the guard itself clearly acting on some form of self-righteous vendetta. “I may not know all the newest and most interesting cusses, sergeant, but I assure you that I will at least call you a mule. You… dare to assault a civilian while in uniform, and then act like nothing has happened? You dare to breach the faith and trust my sister and I have in the guard so you can assault a changeling? You dared lie to me about your intentions when you returned to the house before? The Captain was right when he said your father cannot help you, as you’ve done more than just break the law and assault a mare in her own home, you’ve besmirched the Night Guard’s reputation and lied to your Princess.” She snorted at him in disgust. “What say you, corporal?” “They assaulted Canterlot! Threatened to take over Equestria! They made a mockery of the Royal Guard and Princess Celestia!” “She was in Coltorado at the time, unaware of the actions of her kind.” Luna hissed. “We had a rather interesting investigation into it, actually, the result of which has sparked an internal investigation into the Royal Guard ranks. If she had been in Canterlot, she would most likely have been assaulted by those Changelings as our ponies were. When we get back to Canterlot, private, there will be a strict hearing on your actions and further disciplines will be inflicted should they be required. You will be sent back through training like a rookie because you acted beyond your station and don’t seem to understand your bounds. “I will be having words with your father about his reach within the Guard, and they will be most unkind!” She almost shouted at him. “I am not afraid of the nobles, and I am not beyond stripping their position from beneath them. Do not think I am, is that understood, private?” “W-wait up, you can’t just take my rank from me on a whim, who do you think you-” He managed before shoving a hoof over his own mouth. “I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria, Regent of the Moon and Night Sky, commander in chief of the Night Guard.” She hissed. “I answer to only my sister, and she me. Don’t you dare question otherwise. “Do I make myself clear, private?” * Stalwart returned to the basement door to find Storm Striker waiting for him, and the Lieutenant gave him a quick yet lazy salute as he approached. “How is she, Striker?” “She should be alright. They’ve done what they could and are waiting for you to guide them to her room so they can put her into bed for the night.” He said before sighing. “Dizzy really bucked up, I’ve never seen the princess this angry, not even when Philomena burned her bed into ashes.” “That phoenix needs to learn who not to prank.” Stalwart grumbled in acknowledgement before brushing Storm Striker aside and opening the door to the basement. “You colts need me to guide you to her room? C’mon, let’s get moving.” The two medical ponies carefully carried Ruby up the stairs and onto the first floor before following Stalwart through the house and up to Ruby’s second floor room. There they gently lay her on her bed, placed her thick blankets over her heavily bandaged form. They pull Stalwart back out into the hall and close the door to her room. “She’s to get plenty of rest for at least three days.” One said quietly. “She’s taken quite a beating, though much of it is relatively superficial. Her natural armour seems to have taken most of the blows, but she has managed to get minor damage to her left lung and her windpipe. She is not to exert herself, and if she wants to use her magic to do any woodcarving in the basement, as we assume that is her workshop, she is to wear this.” He held out a cloth face-mask for Stalwart to take. “Sawdust will not help her internal injuries.” “Thank you for getting here so quickly. I’ll see to it that the fee for this is taken care of out of Guard responsibilities.” The two medics nodded and wordlessly left the house, returning to where they had come from, most likely the hospital on Aquamarine Avenue. Stalwart grumbled and pressed his head against her door. “You’re a lot of trouble, kid.” “She has her more fussy side, I must agree.” Luna’s voice called from the stairs. “But I doubt that this will continue for too much longer, ripples upon ponds eventually settle. Now, Captain, I believe I owe you a debt; come with me.” Wordlessly he followed her through the house and out into the back yard, where the beehive that Ruby had built was being set up by Storm Striker. He was currently sliding the last of the hoof-made and carved frames into place. The wood around the lattice was exquisitely carved with minute detail, everything coated in something to keep rain from ruining it. The main hive was painted a midnight blue with a large white crescent moon carved and painted onto the front. What etching and scrollwork was on it was painted in careful strokes of silver paint; the whole thing looked fit for the royal apiaries. “I commissioned Ruby Swift to craft it not telling her what it would ultimately be for,” the princess began, “her work is rather stunning if I say so myself. You should find a box of ready-to-hive bees with the Lieutenant.” At the mention of his rank, Storm Striker blinked and took a wooden box from his armour and held it at hoof’s length now that he knew it was full of bees. Stalwart sighed and stepped over, gently taking the box from him and opening it before pouring its contents into the open beehive and closing the lid. “They’re asleep, Striker. Magic boxes like this have been used for centuries for transferring bees. They go to sleep in the box and will wake up with the next sunrise. They’ll wake up, place their queen in a safe place, and then establish a hive. I’ll have to make some sugar water for them quickly if I don’t want them to starve…” “The keeper who sold us the bees actually gave us a bottle.” The princess said as she procured the so-named bottle of nectar. “While I am unsure as to its actual function, I’m certain that you know what to do with it.” Stalwart nodded and took the bottle, moving over to the house and finding a stray nail in a toolbox and using it to poke small holes into the lid. He looked about, then finally at the beehive, before grumbling faintly and placing the bottle down on a windowsill. “My feeder is in the attic, I’ll have to fetch it down later.” He said before bowing. “Thank you, princess.” “No thanks are needed, Stalwart Drone,” she replied with a dismissive wave of her hoof, “I am merely repaying a debt. Now, unless there is any other business to attend to, I believe that I shall take my leave. Storm Striker, fetch your subordinate from the front of the house; I believe you’ll find him strapped into the cart on which you brought this apiary. We shall walk to the station; the night is young, and that stallion has much demeaning to endure before we are through with him.” Storm Striker gave a chuckle that the princess did not seem to mind in any way before he saluted to her and hopped into flight, soaring over the roof of the house. “Thank you for taking over that unfortunate incident earlier, Princess.” Stalwart said as she spread her wings. “Any longer and I may have done something unbecoming.” She gave him a wry grin. “As you say, Captain; it was our duty to see to your subordinate’s unruly behaviour, and I believe his father wouldn’t want him alive after this fiasco; it’ll be a nice stain on his noble family name.” “You have it out for the nobles, if you don’t mind me saying so, your highness.” “Few are what they should be; the Sparkle and Fire households in the minority of actually noble families. The rest have become greedy with power and the lax eye that my sister had over them has given them much more than they deserved. They are steadily finding that I am not so forgiving or naïve as they thought I was when I returned.” She grinned spitefully. “If Prince Blueblood hadn’t tried to get us to allow him to privatize the medical systems for Equestria, we may have never noticed how weedy they had all become. This will be but the first of them that topple from their own self-righteousness.” Stalwart bowed to her. “As you say, Princess Luna; I shall see to having two guards sent down to watch the front and back doors of this building for added security for the night, should you approve.” She nodded. “Please do, and say hello to my niece and nephew for me. That will be all, Captain; goodnight.” He watched her fly over the house before sighing and stepping back inside, locking the back door behind him before going to check on Ruby. He found her still asleep in her bed, having not moved since he had gone outside, and he left her where she lay. His only other stop was the attic, where he recovered his beekeeping tools, almost all of which he left in his room. He strolled out the front door, making sure to lock it behind himself, before flying over the house and affixing the bottle of sugar water to a feeder he had taken from his tools and placing it in a likely looking spot on the hive. After one last look at his home to ensure that all was well and he hopped into the air, flying back towards the castle. How he hoped that Emerald Shimmer hadn’t made a mess of the rank and file while he had been gone.