//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: The Monster of Canterlot // by drnkntst //------------------------------// Chapter 10 This morning was a little different than the others before it. Today, I was awoken by not one maid, but rather two. Rarity’s week of punishment was to have her assigned as Dust Bunny’s partner in her day-to-day duties. I chose this punishment for her because Rarity seemed the best suited for tidiness. Plus, she seemed to be disgusted by my form more than the others. The other four mares had other jobs around the palace, their sisters had sent back to Ponyville as they had only run, not fought. I had thought about assigning her to Blueblood, but I wouldn’t wish Blueblood even on Blueblood. Besides, he had been banned from ever having a female assigned to him again. No, she would have to suffer with my upright posture, extreme height, long limbs and flat face. “Good morning, Bunny. Good morning, Rarity. I trust the uniform fits you well.” “Morning, Chris.” “Good morning, your highness. Yes, the uniform fits fine, thank you.” Rarity was being polite, but I could tell she was not happy. It was pretty obvious. “Still angry with me?” I got up and headed into the washroom. “Maybe this will stop you from lashing out without thinking next time.” “Indeed.” She and Bunny went about to cleaning the room while I showered and prepped for the day. “How can you stand working for that brute?” *SNAP* “Oh my, I seem to have broken my duster. I’ll go get another from the supply closet. Keep working, the prince may not have fur, but he does tend to get dirty often.” After Bunny left, Rarity was left to think to herself. “How does royalty get so messy?” She wondered out loud. She lifted one of my jerkins to look at it before her face showed revulsion. She folded it up and laid it on the bed, “and how can he dress so plainly? Honestly, who made this?” “My mother,” I said as I walked out from the washroom, “she couldn’t allow somepony to know my measurements or else risk my exposure, no pun intended.” “Oh, I see. I didn’t mean to offend you.” “No, you didn’t want to offend Celestia, you don’t care about upsetting me.” She didn’t seem to have an answer or argument. She simply puffed out her cheeks in frustration. “Hey, where’s Bunny?” “Oh, her duster broke and she went to fetch a new one.” “Hmm, alright. Well then, it would seem it’s time for breakfast. Let’s go, Mother worries when I’m late.” I stepped past her towards the door. After she raised her head and turned to follow, I could hear her gasp softly in surprise. I had a pretty good feeling I knew why. We never could get that crossbow bolt out of the door. It had become something of a trophy. We had met up with Bunny on the way to the dining hall and continued on together. Twilight was sitting in my normal spot, which was fine by me, she didn’t get to see Celestia much and I was still upset with her anyway. Instead, I chose to sit next to Luna. Blueblood was, as always, already there. Blueblood was ignoring me and that suited me fine. Sadly, it wouldn’t last. “Good morning, Chris,” Celestia greeted me. “Good morning, Mother, and also to you Aunt Luna, Twilight. Did you all sleep well?” “Yes.” “Indeed.” “Yeah.” The doors opened and Gurfon entered and sat next to me. “I see you’ve got yourself a new attendant, Chris. I just hope she can keep up with Miss Bunny.” “It won’t be easy for her, that’s for sure, but I think she’ll be able to keep up.” The kitchen doors opened and in came Applejack pushing a cart with several covered dishes. She actually looked happy even though we could hear Pinkie laughing up a storm in the kitchen accompanied by the sound of clanging pots and pans along with one very angry chef yelling in Prench. “Ah, Applejack, how goes working in the kitchens?” Celestia asked. “Ah’m enjoyin’ it, Princess. Ah’ve always liked cookin’ ‘n’ yur kitchen is top o’ thu line.” She started to set trays of fritters, dumplings, and pancakes on the table in front of everypony. “Though if Ah’m being perfectly honest, Ah can’t say Ah enjoyed all thu preperations.” She set a covered dish in front of me and another in front of Grufon. “Ah don’t know what thu griffon chef was cookin’, but Ah know it didn’t smell right.” “Yes, and just wait ‘til you get to clean up after the pans used to cook this. A fitting punishment if ever there was one,” Gurfon told her with a slight scowl. I took a big whiff before lifting the lid. “Mmmm… is that what I think it is?” “If you think it is bacon and a ham and cheese omelet,” Gurfon announced, “then yes.” I lifted the lid and practically bathed in the aroma. “You are the best uncle ever.” Everypony around the table cringed, Celestia and Luna doing the best at hiding it. “Blech! Your taste in food is as bad as your taste in help,” Blueblood observed from his end of the table. “Oh? I know you’ve never liked my necessary diet, but what is your problem with my attendants? Well, aside from the fact that Bunny turned you down.” “Your new, temporary, maid,” Blueblood indicated Rarity. “She is most uncouth.” I could hear Rarity practically growl. “Oh wait, is this because of what happened at the Gala last year?” I looked over my shoulder at Rarity, “nice work by the way.” “Yes, a filthy creature for another filthy creature. I hope you enjoy yourself with her.” It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he meant. I pointed a threatening finger at him. “You need to watch what you say. Remember what happened the last time you stepped out of line with a mare.” He went tightlipped, but still showed a deep scowl. Applejack and Rarity shared a look of confusion while everyone else who was in the know had a sly grin on the faces. We finished our breakfast over a light conversation. Afterward, I retired to the gardens and told Bunny and Rarity to leave me to my own devices. Both maids were cleaning my room whilst I was out. “Okay, so granted he stood up for me, but I still don’t understand why you are so fond of him.” “Of course you don’t. You and your friends prefer to just attack somepony rather than get to know him.” “Now, that’s not fair.” “No, what he’s had to put up with for the past fourteen years isn’t fair. He’s been hidden away since he first arrived, granted it was in a palace, but it was to protect him from ponies who would jump to conclusions and lash out in a panic. He doesn’t deserve this.” ***** I was sitting under my favorite tree in the gardens, simply enjoying the cool breeze and warm sunlight. Suddenly, a stampede of squirrels, rabbits and other small critters came by with an assorted flock of birds flying past in a panic. A short time later, a pink and butter colored blur ran after begging for them all to stop. It was the Gala all over again. It was just as funny now as it was then. “You’ll never get them to come to you like that, Fluttershy.” I had decided that Fluttershy be assigned to taking care of the animals in the gardens since that was her specialty. Also, she wasn’t nearly as involved in the beating as the other four. Upon hearing her name being called, she skidded to a halt and dove into the nearest bush. It was all just so… cute. “It’s okay, I promise I won’t hurt you.” She didn’t move from the bush, though I could see light glinting off her eyes. I grinned and let out a long whistle that swept up to an abrupt high pitch at the conclusion. I waited all of one point five seconds for an answer. I held my arm straight out and in a familiar orange and red bird flew down and alighted on my arm. “Philomena?” Fluttershy’s head slowly peaked out from her hiding bush. “That’s right. I heard all about that little trick she played on you back in Ponyville.” Fluttershy approached cautiously. “Philly, how’s about you give Fluttershy here a helping wing?” Philomena gave me a sideways glance. “Yes, I know you’re upset with her and her friends, but she never hurt me. This job is her punishment and she can’t do her job without some help. Will you help her?” The phoenix seemed to be pondering this question. Eventually, she nodded and shuffled her feathers. “That’s my girl.” Fluttershy was directly in front of me now, she had calmed down a lot my presence seemed to bother her less than it had before. As soon as Fluttershy sat down, Philomena fluttered over and perched on her head, making Fluttershy giggle. “I, um, w-wanted to thank you.” “Don’t mention it. Besides, Philomena’s going to be doing all the work.” Fluttershy shook her head. “No, I-I mean about before. During the fight.” “Oh? What about the fight?” “You saved me.” “Huh? Oh, you mean from that exploding gift box of Pinkie’s.” She nodded. Not an easy thing to do with such a large bird on one’s head. “You got hurt shielding me from the explosion. You didn’t have to do that.” “Hmph, yes I did. I was the one who threw the box at you. If it had gone off that close to you, it would have done some serious damage to one of Twilight’s best friends and the one and only Element of Kindness. Besides, I didn’t get much say in the matter. My body just acted on its own.” “Well, I’d still like to thank you, um, if you’d let me that is.” I chuckled. “Alright, you’re welcome, Fluttershy.” I stood up from my resting place under the tree. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Gurfon is about to depart and I want to say goodbye.” ***** King Gurfon’s departure was not unlike every one prior. His guards still were left outside by his dirigible that was his main mode of transport outside of normal flight range. He said his farewells to everyone in the foyer, we hugged, and he went through the doors to leave for his own empire. The only thing different this time, was the extra number in my entourage. Well, that and the new window washer. Even this far below her, I could still here Rainbow Dash grumbling away. What better way to punish a speedaholic than to give her a job that requires her to not only stay indoors, but also slow waaaayyy down? I turned to go back into the palace. Rarity was standing there eyeing the wooden sword I carried. I tracked her eyes to the sword then looked back at her. “What?” “I’m sorry for staring, I was just curious about that weapon you’re carrying.” “This?” I rested my hand on the hilt. “This is made of wood. It was a gift from Gurfon. I used it to spar with Shining Armor. Now I use it on anypony who steps out of line.” Rarity nodded in understanding, but I saw her mumble something under her breath. I couldn’t hear it, but judging by the look on Bunny’s face, it wasn’t a nice thing. I began to climb the stairs once again. I was followed by everypony. At the top of the stairs, I stopped and asked Rarity and Bunny to continue on without me. I waited until Celestia caught up with me. “Mom, can I talk to you, in private?” “Of course, Honey. Let’s go in here.” She led the way into a small room off the main hall. “What did you need to talk about?” “I just wanted you to know, I still haven’t forgiven you.” “Oh,” Celestia seemed to almost deflate, “I see. Well, if that’s all you wanted to say…” “Wait, that’s not it. I haven’t forgiven you, but I do still love you.” That perked her up a little. “What you did to me was inexcusable. You stole a whole world from me.” She couldn’t even look me in the eyes right now. “But, you gave me a new one too.” Now she looked up at me. “I know now about how badly you wanted a family and how nopony else cared about what you really wanted enough to forgo what they wanted. Luna told me about it. Having to spend all those centuries alone while pretending to be happy and content must have been unbearable for you. I understand, but I can’t imagine how hard it all must have been.” Celestia sniffed and wiped a tear from her eye. “Thank you, I love you too.” She sat back on her haunches. “Also, you’re right. What I did to you was inexcusable. I can only hope that one day you will be able to forgive me and we can move on from this. For now, can I simply have a hug?” “I suppose I can suffer through that.” We both snickered a little before Celestia stood and we wrapped our upper appendages around each other. It wasn’t long before she could no longer help herself and nuzzled me too. Her soft fur tickled like it always did and I giggled. After we separated, Celestia looked at me with a big smile on her face. “Thank you, Chris, this means a lot to me.” We were about to leave, when she stopped me at the door. “I want you to know one other thing.” “Oh, and what’s that?” “I have arranged for press conference in three days. I will reveal your existence to all of Equestria at that time. That is, if you still want me to.” “Yes, I do. Thanks.” The rest of the day went smoothly. I even managed to avoid telling Rainbow Dash she missed a spot about fifteen times, though the sixteenth was a little bit different. At this point, three of the five still hated me, one seemed to be warming up to me, and the last one seemed incapable of hating, or even being mad at, anypony for very long. The only hiccup so far seemed to be that the whole ordeal was driving poor Bunny crazy. I knew she could get defensive of me, but this seemed to be almost too much for her. Hers was the only suffering I wanted to stop. I came up to my room and heard shouting coming from inside. It was Bunny and Rarity. I quickened my pace. I opened my door just in time to catch a flying feather duster. “What in Tartarus is going on here?!” Both mares stopped what they were doing and looked around at the mess they had made. Then they both looked at me with a look of embarrassment. “Sorry about the room, Chris, but this… mare won’t stop talking about you like you’re some kind of beast.” “Well I’m sorry, but a stallion who displays a tool of violence like a trophy,” She pointed at the crossbow bolt in the door, “can’t possibly be all that civilized.” “Hmph, while I would say the honesty is a breath of fresh air, but that just hurt. Bunny, you can go on home now, I’m sure Iron Hammer and Cotton Tail are starting to get worried about you being out so late.” She glared at Rarity before wishing me a good night and trotting out. “Why is she so mad?” “Because you keep insulting me.” “But why would that make her angry?” “That’s her story to tell, not mine. Now go, you’re dismissed for the night. Be back early tomorrow though, you have a lot of cleaning to do. Goodnight.” And so, the first day of punishment had ended.