//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Prismatic Dusk 2 // by Blueninetails //------------------------------// "WOO-HOO!!!" Pinkie shouted at the top of her lungs. "Best After-Coronation Party Ever!" "I agree." Elusive nodded, "I'll admit this is the first time I have ever been so reluctant about leaving a party for a good night's sleep." "Whoever planned is totally a party genius!" "Uh, sugarcube, YER the 'party genius' who planned it." Applejack reminded her as she, Elusive, Pinkie, and Fluttershy started out of the grand ballroom. All four headed towards their respective guest rooms at the castle after a long night of celebrating Dusk becoming an alicorn. "Oh yeah." She remarked in wonder before promptly giggling. "Where's Dusk and Rainbow?" Fluttershy timidly asked as she noted their two friends weren't following them. "Aren't they coming too?" "I believe he mentioned about having a word with the Princess regarding a concern he has about his new position as prince." Elusive replied "An' ah'd bet a barrel of mah family's best cider that Rainbow's with 'im." Applejack added with a wide smirk. "Well, considering they're special someponies, that may be a given under many circumstances. Quite romantic really." "Yep!" Pinkie agreed. Applejack and Fluttershy remained silent in agreement as the four of them pressed on. Back at the Ballroom, Dusk stood there in front of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Rainbow wasn't too far behind as she stood behind Dusk, listening intently on the conversation. "You have no need to worry about that Dusk, I can promise you that near immortality is a trait that only Luna and myself hold. In all regards, you should have similar lifespans as your friends and everypony else." Celestia stated "We hope that's what you were hoping to hear." Luna added "Very much so Princesses." Dusk replied with a sigh of relief before feeling Rainbow take a couple steps forward so the pegasus was now directly beside him. Looking at her from the corner of his eye, he was greeted by the top of her head pressing itself onto the bottom of his chin. Both Princesses smirked at the scene in front of them. Luna was resisting the urge to giggle. "Also, we would like to apologize for how Princess Blue Belle acted tonight," Celestia added, "it was most unbecoming of a mare of her status." "Oh, it was quite alright. I really should be the one apologizing." Dusk stated with an embarrassed look. "I sincerely apologize for Rainbow's behavior towards Princess Blue Belle." He politely bowed. Rainbow turned her head away and scoffed. "Speak for yourself Dusk." "It's quite alright, I think I can understand Rainbow's motive for her actions." "Tis funny, isn't it sister?" Luna whispered to Celestia, "The first stallion she decides to court seriously, and he happens to already be taken." Celestia couldn't help but giggle in response. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot to mention. My faithful student, I unfortunately do have a unique request for you." "A request...?" "Yes." she replied with a nod, "During the party, a guard approached Luna and myself about a pony requesting an audience with you." "An audience...with me?" "I tried to explain that wasn't one of your duties, especially for a pony who was recently had his coronation, but he insisted that he must speak with you." "Well, um, who was this individual?" "He didn't say, but given his appearance I could hazard a guess." Celestia replied as her gaze fell on Rainbow Dash, "Though, I may not have been able to answer anyway, even if we had known his name." "Why not?" "He requested that I didn't tell you anything about him. He had heard how you tend to react under certain circumstances, and didn't want to cause you undue stress." "..." "In any case, I told him I would allow it as long as you agreed to see him, and that you would set the meeting place and time. Though, I would advise you to wait for at least four days to pass." "Four days...? Why four days?" "Considering his request falls as a royal audience summons, I need time to assign a few guards to act on standby for you. Unfortunately, I have my own duties to attend to, and Princess Luna is planning to visit Baltimare for a few days on business, so we don't have many guards available to act for that position." "Hm." Dusk thought about it for a brief moment, "Well, I'm not sure if I'll be able to see him for at least a month. I had already planned out my entire month, including time for friends and as well as Rainbow. I only really have the next two days available, seeing as the coronation had already forced me to take all my previous plans and put them on hold until I can return to Ponyville in a couple of days." "I suppose there are a few things that will never quite change with you, is there?" Celestia commented with a smirk, "It's still an issue though, a month may be too long." "What about his brother, Shining Armor?" Rainbow rang in, "Isn't he a former Royal Guard?" "Prince Shining Armor is a viable option, but I'm afraid he and Princess Cadance had already planned to leave tomorrow morning to continue their duties as the rulers of the Crystal Empire." Luna replied, "Not to mention the furthered training of their own guards." "Well, why don't I do it? I'm by his side anyway." Rainbow suggested "You...? You wish to fulfill the position of Prince Dusk's guard?" Luna asked with a raised brow. "Why not? I'm already one of Equestria's heroes, I already know how to fight a little bit, and I'm a guaranteed future Wonderbolt." Rainbow noted with a smirk on her face. "I'm uncertain that qualifies you for the position of a guard." "I think I can agree with Princess Luna, Rainbow Dash. There's more to being a guard than those things you just listed." Dusk agreed. "You're just saying that because I bet you don't want to be caught staring at me while I'm wearing a suit of armor again like you were doing during the last Hearths Warming Eve play." Rainbow remarked with smirk. Dusk didn't respond but turned his head away as a blush formed on his cheeks. Princess Celestia gave another giggle in response before a smirk formed on her face, "Perhaps not, but perhaps not completely a bad idea in itself." "What...?" Dusk asked as all three ponies shot the Princess a surprised look. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but Rainbow has spent a few weeks at the Wonderbolt training camp, has she not?" "Well..., yes she has, but what-" Dusk replied as he looked at Rainbow, who looked back at him, both sharing a curious expression on their faces before Princess Celestia interrupted him. "While only a few weeks at the training camp certainly does not amount to the training required for a guard, I did recieve a positive report from Captain Spitfire about Rainbow's leadership qualities, as well as her capabilities in respect to how well she managed each obstacle." Princess Luna brought a hoof to her chin as she thought about the matter as well. It was true, she had gotten a chance to look at the report herself, and Rainbow had done exceptionally well. "The first few weeks of basic training is actually somewhat similar to how any of the guards are trained. We test them for their endurance, speed, and response time, and improve them as needed through further training." Celestia explained, "Besides, I have a feeling this individual may be a pony that Rainbow can handle if needed." "Are you sure?" Celestia gave a kind smile and nodded in confirmation. "Well alright, I'll trust your judgement Princess. Any chance I can give him my response that I will be accepting his request for the audience?" "He mentioned where he'll be staying for the night at a nearby hotel." Luna replied, "I can personally give him the message myself. Just settle when and where your wish to meet with him." "Well..., what about some time tomorrow between 10am and noon? At the...let's see...at the library, maybe?" "You wish to meet with him at the library?" Luna asked as she raised a brow. "I was kinda hoping to do some light reading about flight basics before I started the actual flying lessons with Rainbow." "If that is what you prefer, than so be it." Luna stated with a shrug, "Shall I give him this message?" "Yes Princess, and...thank you." "Tis not a problem." She said with a smile before turning to leave. "Rainbow Dash, if I may ask, when do you usually awaken?" Celestia asked "Um, well...um...about 7am I guess. Just a bit after the sun rises." she replied "Good, I'll send a guard to fetch you and take you to the armory." she stated, earning a semi-surprised look from Rainbow. Noticing the expression, Princess Celestia explained by saying, "As I mentioned before, the request is of official royal business, so it would only be appropriate that you look the part as well." "Cool, so I do get some awesome armor to wear." Rainbow stated with a wide grin. "Indeed you do." Celestia replied with a chuckle, "It is of course only temporary since it will not be a perfect fit, and you by any regards will only serve as a temporary guard for Dusk." "Yeah, I think I can understand." Princess Celestia nodded, "Well, unless either one of you two have any further questions, shall we take our leave as well?" she stated as she started toward the door Dusk and Rainbow didn't object as the two followed behind their leader and left the hall as well. The following morning the group of friends were at Canterlot train station, along with Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. They were bidding the royal couple their farewells before they boarded the train, which seems to have been delayed, and returned back to the Crystal Empire. "Congrats again lil' bro. Still pretty unbelievable that you got the chance to be an alicorn on top of becoming a prince. I've never seen mom cry so much in happiness before." Shining Armor stated as he roughly rubbed Dusk's head, almost knocking off the crown that was sitting there. "Same goes for you, Shiny." Cadance remarked silently to herself as she smirked. "Yeah, I know." Dusk remarked as he readjusted his crown, "I just gonna figure out how to use these now." Dusk flapped his wings once. "Don't worry, it's not as hard as you might think." Cadance stated, "Are you guys sure that you can't come over to the Crystal Empire for Summer Sun Celebration? You're all more than welcome to come celebrate with us." "As tempting as the offer is Princess, I'm afraid most of us will have to decline." Elusive replied, "We've already made some plan or another for that day back at Ponyville." "And the Princesses want me to help out with the celebration here at Canterlot." Dusk added. "That's okay, we understand." Cadance stated as she nodded in understanding "Well, you're all welcome anytime to come and visit. Just send us a note first though, so we'll know not to schedule any important meetings at the same time." Shining Armor explained before his eyes went over to Rainbow, who seemed to be fighting with how the body armor piece was situated around her wings and hips. "Something wrong, Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow groaned as she flapped her wings a few times as she tried getting the armor to sit in a way that didn't press against the base of her wings without giving her the impression that she had a big butt, not really caring that every one of her friends were now looking at her. "It's this armor. How in Equestria do you guys wear this thing? It's annoying my wings, I can barely open them without this armor pressing into the base of 'em, and I'm pretty sure it's trying to hug my flank." "Well, remember, most of us guards are stallions. So I guess most of them don't really fit quite as well with mares." "I know Princess Celestia said it would be an imperfect fit, but I didn't think it was this imperfect." she complained, "Also, what the hay is wrong with the color? I thought I was getting a gold armor like the other guards. This thing almost looks bronze." The armor Rainbow was wearing really did look like the armor all the royal guards wore, minus the fact it looked almost bronze and the emblem that went across the chest was a yellow circle with a blue crescent moon inside it. "That's because what you're wearing is what most of us guards called 'Spit-shine armor'." "Spit-shine armor...?" Dusk asked in a curious tone. "It's the armor all the new recruits are given when they start training. The bronze look is because it's made of cheaper metals that offer the same protection, but would be cost effective compared to the actual one if any of the recruits managed to damage them." "That answers one question." Rainbow remarked. "But that don't much answer the new question." Applejack rang in, "Why's the durn called a 'spit-shine armor'?" "That's because most recruits get too lazy to properly clean the armor themselves, so they just spit on it and wipe it off with a rag." "Ew!" most of them remarked in disgust, especially Rainbow, who stuck her tongue out. "How unsavory." Elusive added. "Relax, we do clean them up properly when the armor is returned to the armory." Shining Armor explained with a chuckle, "That type of armor is really just meant to teach recruits to properly keep their armor clean, and store them away properly when were not using them. It's not really needed during basic training, since we're not really fighting anything, not even a training-dummy. It's meant to be re-useable as well, that's why it doesn't fit perfectly. Recruits just use it till they reach the point they decide they want to stay and continue training, or decide the guard life just isn't for them and leave." "And if they stay, then they're given the real deal right?" Dusk asked "Yes." he answered with a nod, "After that, they decide whether they want to be a Day-guard or a Night-guard and are measured for the armor that will be made to fit them personally." "I guess that's cool." Rainbow remarked, "At least I know it's clean. You're sure it's clean, right?" "You are talking to a former captain of guard, so I'd say Shining knows what he's talking about." Cadance reassured, just before they heard a train whistle. Looking to see, it was the Crystal Empire Express. "Well, it looks like Shining and me are off now. See you around Dusk Shine." She then gave Dusk a quick hug, as the train slowed to a stop at the station, "Hope we see you all again soon." "See you all later. Again, congrads on becoming a prince lil' bro." Shining gave final wave before following after Cadance and boarded the train as well. As soon as Shining Armor and Cadance were on board, the train door closed and gave one more whistle before it started moving. They remained there and waved until the train was well out of sight, then proceeded to look at one another. "Well..., shall we all head back to the castle then?" Elusive asked "Ya'll can if ya want. 'Shy and mahself are headed ta the heart of Canterlot." Applejack stated. "We were, um....thinking about getting a bite to eat. I mean if that's okay..." Fluttershy tried explaining as Applejack licked her lips at the thought of getting a hearty meal. "Ooo! You're gonna get something to eat? Can I come? Can I come?" Pinkie asked enthusiastically. "Hold onta yer horseshoes Pinks, o' course ya can tag along." Applejack replied with a chuckle. "Well, I hope you three have fun in the city. I may join you later if you haven't returned." Elusive stated before giving a quick yawn, "I for one plan on going back to bed. I'm still rather tried after last night's party." "What about you and Rainbow, Dusk? Are you and Rainbow going to do some flight training?" Fluttershy asked. "We're headed for the Canterlot library. I want to get some reading done on flight before I'm to meet a pony in regards to a summons." "A summons?" Applejack asked "It means somepony made a request to personally see Dusk in regards to a matter." Elusive explained, "Getting thrown immediately into the royal business, Prince Dusk Shine?" "I guess you could say that." he remarked with an embarrassed grin, "Also, it's just Dusk. I may be a prince now, but I'd rather that you guys don't address me that way. Your all my friends afterall, there's no need for formalities." "So where does that leave Rainbow Dash? I don't think she'd be too interested in such things." "As a matter of fact, I am." Rainbow rang in. "Apparently, according to Princess Celestia the summons is of official royal business, so guards are needed for the sake of my safety. Problem is though, there's not enough guards available for the job at the moment. So, Rainbow decided to volunteer." "Her...? A guard?!" Elusive asked incredulously, "Well..., she certainly is aggressive enough I suppose." "Oh! That's why she's wearing that armor that ponies apparently spit on to clean, but is actually clean because your brother said so, right?" Pinkie exclaimed. "Wouldn't 'ave been mah first choice fer a body guard." Applejack remarked with mocking smirk. "Hey! I can be guard if I wanted to!" Rainbow shot at the farm pony. "Princess Celestia approved of the idea. She trusts that Rainbow will be able to protect me if need be, and I'm willing to trust her judgement." Dusk explained. "Well, if the Princess thinks it's a good idea, then ah say go fer it." Applejack stated As the group of friends went their separate ways, Rainbow Dash decided to fly ahead of Dusk and Elusive back to the castle, figuring as a temporary guard she should make sure it was safe before Dusk arrived. Dusk didn't mind Rainbow did so, it gave him a moment to just talk to Elusive and catch up with the other unicorn stallion. The two mostly ended up simply chatting about Elusive's new business connection at Canterlot, and about a book that Fluttershy had recently taken a liking to and brought up rather frequently to Elusive during the last time the two hung out. As soon as they both arrived at the castle, the two friends went their separate ways as Dusk headed for the castle library and Elusive started back toward the tower where his room was located. As Dusk made his way to the library, he did notice something that made him raise a brow in curiosity. Despite Princess Celestia's statement the previous night about there not being enough guards on hoof to be around Dusk during the summons, there seemed to be plenty posted around the castle's perimeter. There were about three posted at the south-facing wall, two near the garden, and four were near the main castle entrance. As he made his way the library, he noticed Rainbow hovering near two guards that stood at the entrance into the garden, which he did understand was needed. At least 10 ponies entered the garden daily for the garden's upkeep, and maybe a family or two who came to visit the garden every other day; and, with two ways into the castle from the garden, it made sense that the garden always had a few guards posted either inside or just around it. From the looks of things, it appeared she was trying to get them to respond to a question she's probably asked for the up-teenth time now. Particularly though, she seemed to be focusing the question more toward the one on the left. "I'm gonna ask you again, and I want an answer. What's with all the guards? I thought Princess Celestia said there wasn't going to be a lot of you hanging around today." "..." "..." "..." "Well, are you going to answer me...?" Rainbow demanded as she shot the stallion a glare "..." "Rainbow...?" Dusk called out, making himself known to the pegasus, as he approached them. "Oh, hey, Dusk." she responded, not really turning to look at him, before regarding the guard once more, "Well...?" "Do I...Do I want to ask what you're doing?" "I think it's rather obvious what I'm doing. I'm asking why we were misinformed about the guards." Neither made a sound as Rainbow waited for a reply, though she was getting impatient. Dusk looked at the guard, who remained silently stoic as ever, then to Rainbow, before finally breaking the silence. "Rainbow, if I may, may I try asking?" he offered Rainbow didn't reply, but backed off from the guard before promptly crossing her hooves as she remained in a hover in the air. Dusk cleared his throat as he positioned himself in front of both the guards, "Sirs...?" That seemed to work, as both guards looked at Dusk. "If I may inquire. My companion and myself would like to know why there are so many guards seemingly available today?" Both guards remain silent as they look at one another, before the one on the left replied, "I'm sorry, your highness, but we don't quite understand. What do you mean by so many available guards?" "I'm expecting to meet a pony today in regards to aforementioned pony's request for an audience with me today; but, we were told that there wouldn't be enough guards available today to properly protect me if the meeting turns badly. Yet, it seems there's more guards posted around the castle than usual today." "That is actually due to the fact Princess Luna will be leaving for Baltimare soon, your highness." the other guard explained. "I'm still new to the whole royal status thing, so you can skip the formality and just address me as Dusk Shine." he interjected, as Rainbow landed back down on the ground with her mouth open. "As a result, much of the night-guard and Princess Luna's personal guard are still present around the castle." "Oh, so that's the case." "Yes, your..er, I mean, Dusk Shine. Also, while we are present, our orders are to stand guard where we usually are, so unless something happens that would require more than a couple of guards, we will stay where we are posted." "I understand. Thank you for explaining." "Wait, why did you answer him? I know he's a prince now and all, but I'm a guard too, even if it's temporary." Rainbow complained. There was a moment of silence as the guards seemingly didn't acknowledge Rainbow's complaint at all. "Are you two going to answer her question?" Dusk eventually asked, "It's rather rude to just ignore her." One of the guards finally turned to look at her before saying, "We apologize for the rudeness ma'am, but we have to keep an air of professionalism when working." "As you stated, we addressed him due to his new status as a Prince of Equestria; and, disregarded you due your position being temporary. It also stands that based on your armor, you're just a recruit, so we'd outrank you and it is not necessary for us to address you unless there is an emergency situation or potential security risk." the other explained, "Even if you are Prince Dusk's marefriend." "Also, there is the matter that a few of the guards know you just try getting a reaction out of us." the first guard added, which earned a groan from Rainbow. Dusk resisted the urge to audibly chuckle before pretending to cough into his hoof as he shook off the urge. "Well, if that will be all, we'll be taking our leave. If you will though, since you're both here anyway, let us know when the pony I'm suppose to meet arrives." "As you wish." "Thank you. Come on Rainbow, I'm already behind schedule." Dusk stated before proceeding into the library. Rainbow hesitated a moment to look back at the guard ponies before proceeding to follow Dusk into the library. Upon entering, Rainbow found Dusk already seated near a table and just about to open to a page in a Flight Basics book. Dusk opened the book to the first page then looked toward Rainbow, who proceeded to smirk before taking to the air and landing beside the new alicorn. For a few minutes, Rainbow remained by Dusk's side and see how nice it is to have a wing draped around her for once. Afterall, it was only fair since she had done it to him several times already, and that was beyond fair in her opinion; and, while she didn't like the idea of being too gushy, especially while wearing actual official guard armor, she would've been lying if she said the feeling of another wing draped over her wasn't at least a bit thrilling. Afterwards, Rainbow took a seat halfway between the desk where Dusk was situated and the door that lead in and out of the building, and tried to look as close as she could to a professional guard as possible. Though that seemed to be only just so as she quickly became bored just sitting there staring at the door, and quickly let her eyes wonder about the library. It did keep her busy for some time, mostly as a way to distract her mind from the silence that surrounded them, before that got boring too and Rainbow had to focus on another thing. This time she focused on her wings and started picking at her feathers with a hoof, seemingly going about cleaning her wings. Dusk occasionally looked up from his studies to look at his own wings, as well as see if he could open and close it on command properly, and to also look at Rainbow. Dusk took a unique interest in seeing how quickly Rainbow would get bored, seeing that Rainbow was never one to sit still for an extended period of time, with reading Daring Do, sleeping, and eating being the only real exceptions he knew about. So far, she seemed to be doing a pretty good job emulating a duty-bound guard, granted a bored duty-bound guard. After about an hour of waiting, Rainbow started to get drowsy and yawned audibly. Looking at the clock it was half-past ten, the pony had another hour and a half to get there before he was late. Giving another yawn, Rainbow started looking about for something to lay her head on for a brief moment. Unfortunately, the only thing within sight that looked soft enough to use was currently under Dusk as he had gone from the table to the one and only pillow in the room to use as he sat flat on his stomach reading a book. She was about to consider asking for the pillow, until another idea came to mind and she let a smirk form on her face. Rainbow quickly took to the air before landing right next to Dusk so that her back was turned to him, earning a curious look from him. Rainbow proceeded to pull the helmet off her head and put it aside before falling backwards and letting her head land right on the side of Dusk's abdomen. "Ooof...! Rainbow!" He yelled at her. "What...? Don't tell me a mare like me managed to hurt you that badly." She stated as shifted around to find a comfortable position. "Well...no...not very much; but, you could at the very least explain what you're doing." "Easy, I'm tired and you have the only pillow in this stupid building. Your belly is the next best thing." "You could've just asked Rainbow." he remarked before opening the wing closest to the pegasus and draped it over her, though it did cover just the upper half of her body. "Yeah, but that's not as fun as doing this instead." Rainbow decidedly nuzzled the purple feathers that were less than an inch in front of her face. As another hour passed, Rainbow completely passed out as her light snoring seemed to indicate. Rainbow had already re-shifted herself so she was now laying on her side. Dusk was back to reading, and had also already taken his wing off of her. Occasionally, he'd steal a glance or two, before letting a tender smile form on his face. Rainbow did always look more attractive when she was at peace. Dusk was about to look up at the clock when he heard a knock at the door of the library. One of the guards proceeded to stick his head in, luckily for Rainbow it was at an angle where the guard didn't notice her, before saying, "Excuse me sir, but your guest has arrived." "Oh good, give me a moment to return this book then you can let him in." The guard pony merely nodded before pulling his head back out and closed the door behind him. "Rainbow...Rainbow wake up." he nudged her with a hoof before using his magic to push her back into a sitting position. "Wha...huh...?" she mumbled as she woke up, "What's the big deal Dusk? I was having a good dream." "That pony is here. Hurry up, otherwise it won't be just me who will know you were sleeping on the job." he replied and gently placed the helmet onto her head, while also placing the book back onto the table. Rainbow gave a yawn as she tried rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes, before repositioning herself to try looking as official as ever. As soon as the door began opening, Dusk made one final adjustment to the crown that sat on his head for presentability sake. As the pony started walking in, Dusk and Rainbow were taken back by his appearance. The pony in question was a pegasus stallion who looked rather similar to Rainbow Dash, his coat was deeper blue color compared to hers, but had the iconic rainbow mane and tail. Dusk was about to open his mouth to address him, but Rainbow was quicker to respond. "You...?" "Rainbow Dash...? Is that...Is that you?" He asked as he got a closer look at her. "Dad, what are you doing here?"