//------------------------------// // Guarding a Fyre pt. 2 // Story: In the Royal Guard // by J8ck78 //------------------------------// "I can't believe we're being pinned down by pies!" said David As he finished his rant a pie broke through the painting they had set up for cover and impacted on the wall. David sighed as Crescent grabbed it and sent it back at them. "Is there anything we can do?" asked a Earth Pony Guard who had joined him and Crescent "Nope. Just sit and here and take the pie." A projectile splattered on the wall they were looking at and Crescent walked up to it. "Actually, this looks like cake." claimed Crescent David just sighed in stress. "Come on! You guys are Pegasus! Can't you do something!?" asked the Earth Pony "No, we're Pegasus! We control the weather. You Earth Ponies control the ground, and Unicorns control magic! Never in the history of Equestria did the ancient pony powers figure who would control the powerful and mystical powers of PIE!" He finished punching a rioting Earth Pony who ran up to attack them He sat there as the attacking Pony fell limp from the punch when David suddenly brightened. "We control the weather!" "What?" asked Crescent "We control the weather Crescent! That's how we take back air superiority! We use the storm against them! Come on! Uh, you two Guard I'll need your brawn." The Guard leaped from their positions and attacked the surprised rioters and overran their positions. ---- Elsewhere in the palace, the heavy doors of the palace ballroom shuddered with the fighting outside. This ballroom had, by accident, become the main staging area and as the Royal Guard fought back with more ferocity as intended, Ponies were making their way to it to regroup and rejoin the fight. Now, word had spread the the Captain of the Lunar Guard herself had whipped together a group of Guards and were just outside those heavy doors. The few Unicorns present tried to keep it closed, but they could hear the screams of their comrades outside getting closer and closer. Pegasi flew in, pies ready to fire as the doors continued to shake from their hinges. Earth Ponies stacked their pastry weapons high behind makeshift fortifications. Even the wounded prepared themselves for a fight. Their nerves held, all stubbornly holding onto their belief that the two regal Pony Sisters had the only right to rule, not Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. By that logic, Blueblood should be ruler too and that was just as bad as Discord ruling. Secretly, all thought they were in way over their head this time, the Royal Guard organized faster than they expected and already the rear gate to the palace had been secured, and they were cut off. All that was left for them was the fact they still controlled the skies. It was then they heard something that shook them to their very cores. Pleading, begging, screaming. Their comrades outside desperately calling out for their fellow ponies to open the doors. It tore them apart as they knew the Guards would act upon this, taking the initiative to assault the ballroom when the doors were open. On the other hand, those were friends out there. They were in a panic, screaming the Guards were closing in, picking them off with Unicorn Guard one by one. They could hear it, the screams as pony after pony fell to the Guard's advance. Others in a terrified frenzy as they saw the Lunar Guard Captain just walking up the hall casually as if nothing was going on around her, her red eyes fixated on the door. Then, with one final petrified scream that echoed in their horrified minds, all went quiet. Not a word was heard, the only accompaning sound was the rain and thunder outside. One pony gulped in fear as others were too scared to move. Then the doors began to shake. The few Unicorns keeping it closed struggled with their magic to keep the doors that way, but the Guard was stronger and more numerous than they. They burst open in a cloud of magic and dust landing just before the rioters forward defenses. "FIRE EVERYTHING!" came the order Pie after pie was thrown. They couldn't see through the dust and threw as they grabbed. The steaming hot sugary projectiles sailed into the hall, splattering against something they hoped were their targets. Several Pegasus flew in to strike home and more accurately, but they never returned. As the rioters grabbed for another pie to throw, they were out. Every last pie, enough pie to feed a village for weeks, had been tossed into the hall. The creepy silence filled the ballroom again as they had their hopes they had stopped the Guards advance with their barrage of pies. it almost seemed like it, until they heard the sound of galloping hoofs, and the metal clanking of armored shoes to go along with it. From the dust sprang a line of Earth Pony Guard that met the first line of defense and broke through them with ease. With no pies left to defend themselves, the rioters broke and ran or tried to fight, only to be defeated all he same. Those that had managed to avoid the Guard assault soon came under fire from Unicorns who fired volley after volley against them. Pegasus dove in to cover their friends, but a sight above caught their eyes. At first it was a flight of feathers as Solar and Lunar Pegasus guards fought them in dog fights. A few more Pegasus flew in carrying a cart of pies and many quickly ran to it to get ammo, but were quickly set upon by guards, all lead by a Lunar Guard Corporal. They took aim and fired. "Whoop, missed me!" said Flower actually enjoying the fight now, "Missed me again! Ooh! Eeh, Ooh! Ah ha ha! Can't get me!" Starlight herself grabbed every pie thrown at her with her magic and tossed it back. They were colder than they should have been by now, but they still served their unintended purpose of striking the rioters down. As the cart was about to be overtaken, a large gruff Pegasi flew in, two pies in each hand. He laughed down at the seemingly helpless Guard before a golden and pale green blur took him down. He landed out cold as the Earth Pony bucked the two pies that he had dropped mid flight into two Pegasi flying by. He then bucked the cart over, spilling the rest of the pies and turned to bask in his accomplishment. "Charger!?" yelled Flower Charger lifted his leg to show the bandage on his groin, yet he seemed better than ever. "Just about missed it." he laughed, "I couldn't leave you guys to all the glory now could I?" They smiled and agreed with Charger before going after more rioters to fight. Amongst all this chaos strode in Captain Shadow, who looked on at the broken back of the riot and smiled. Her plan had worked perfectly just as she planned to. It was all based around terrorizing the rioters to the brink as she effortlessly used her Guard to scare the Ponies outside the ballroom into petrifying the ponies inside the ballroom until their hair stood on the edge. When the doors were to be opened, she had enough Unicorns to easily open the doors, but she chose to blow them open, and the rioting ponies played their parts flawlessly. In fear, they threw every pie that would have taken out many of her Guards were thrown harmlessly into the halls as the others took cover at the sides. Now nothing stood between them and taking this Ballroom. Despite this, and her terrifying persona, she ordered each one taken prisoner instead of outright killed, and the Guard followed her orders to the letter. Most were already huddled into groups and watched by the firm eyes of the Royal Guard as she walked onto the balcony. Below her was the main entrance, under rioter control, not to mention the rest of the palace they had taken. Two pies landed next to her, spattering into the ground and she looked up to see Pegasus flying in to support the riot the best they could. "Any time now David." she said "Ma'am, ballroom secured." reported Flower as he walked up "Good." she replied Alert the palace to this, hopefully this riot will end by tonight-what was that?" She was mentioning to the sound of heavy winds behind the palace. She looked up and in a lightning strike could swear she saw the silhouette of a Pegasus flying in the clouds. Her mind was abuzz as to who in their right mind would even think about flying through a thunderstorm of this intensity outside a air show. Then it all made sense to her and she smiled. Lightning stuck from the clouds striking the rioting Pegasus where they flew, knocking them out and turning their pies into harmless black crisps the crumbled upon the touch. One by one the Pegasus were struck by lightning and fell as Guard Pegasus, both Lunar and Solar, flew through the clouds waiting for one to cross their sights. When one did they would buck the cloud, sending lightning down upon them. several of the rioters flew up into the clouds, only to be met with the business end of several Guards hooves and fell to the ground out cold. Not far away was David watching with sheer amusement that his plan worked out. Once he had collected enough Pegasus they flew out of the palace and into the clouds, taking a few Pegasus with him. He himself had snagged a pie during so, and savored it's apple flavor as he took a bite. He turned to a second wave of Guard, each one holding a piece of the thunderstorm in their hooves and nodded. Crescent was leading this charge, and he dove through the clouds until he could see all of Canterlot and the palace. His sights were on the front courtyard as he lead his flight, while others flew into the palace. A few pies flew up at him as the rioters tried to take him down, but Guard Pegasi went through this in training and it was virtually nothing to them. However, the sheer amount of pies being thrown up meant some were bound to hit, and they did, exploding the clouds the Pegasus were holding, or just hitting the Guards causing them to fall. Crescent dodged several as he looked around for a target of opportunity and saw it in a circle hedge near the front gate. Several ponies having taken cover and bucking pies into the air to try and defend themselves. He flew in low and fast, making a bee line right for them. They didn't even see them as he flew in and dropped the cloud he was holding with a signature "Bombs away!" call before he pulled up steep. He looked back to see the cloud impact and shock the ponies into unconsciousness and hoof pumped in victory. Up above, David saw that the second phase of his plan had worked quite well. The bombing raid had scattered the rioters into a full scale retreat. Yet, nothing is ever perfect, and he saw several still holding on in the eastern Courtyard. Finishing his pie he used a old trick he learned working on the farm by accident and carved out a handle in the cloud next to him. Aiming the thundercloud itself down at them, he cranked the handle with his wing and lighting shot out and down upon them, destroying their defenses, burning their pies to a crisp, and scattering them as well. He finished just as the cloud handle he was spinning broke away and the cloud lost all it's static power when he saw a bright light coming from the tower. He looked over to see the two Royal Princesses, their horns glowing bright with their regal magic. Making a straw out of the cloud he had just used as a weapon, he made himself a drinkable cloud and watched as the Princesses light shined all over the castle, lighting it up with a brilliant display. The thunderstorm went away save for David's cloud he was drinking from, and the rioting ponies fell to the ground unconscious. ---- Once again, the Guard had proven themselves to be victorious in the face of total surprise, however, they were not without their own scars. Several Guard were severely wounded, disfigured, or worse from he pies that had attacked them. Worst off was Captain Fyre, who had taken a pie to the face and lost his eye in the process. He had came too not a few days later, and many were congratulating them on his service or had come to give him company. Many as well, including David, went to hear how he knocked Blueblood in the head right before the battle and enjoyed it so. He was not down in the dungeons filled with every other rioting pony who were waiting for their trial. Many, especially the Guard, wanted them all to be sent to Tartarus for endangering the lives of Canterlot, committing treason for assaulting the Palace, and other charges for the damages they caused. However, the Princess were much more understanding than the hot headed Guard, and were not so hasty to send them down that road, yet. All in all, it was a grey day for ponies. The castle had been attacked by disgruntled ponies, but the Guard had stood firm and sent a clear message that Equestria was safe from all enemies no matter what, or who, they were. This celebration especially resonated in a few Guards in the Canterlot Palace. After all the fighting and duty they've seen, they were finally getting recognized for it, and they couldn't contain their jubilation and glee. "I can't believe this!" cheered Charger, "We, some random Guards have been hoof picked to be part of the new Silver Guard!" "Protecting Captain Armor and Princess Cadence!" said Crescent, "I can't believe this!" "Our parents would be so proud of us right now." said Charger "I think we're forgetting somepony here." butted in Flower "Hmm?" asked Charger "Starlight here!" Cried Flower, "Just a few months ago she was a homeless beggar living in the sewers. Now she is protecting the Princess!" Starlight blushed a little at this and smiled as the others congratulated her. "Not bad Guard. Not bad." said a voice they all recognized They looked to see David walking up, a smile was strewn across his face that showed pride, but not for him, for them. "You're to report to the central Courtyard where Spirit, Armor, Cadence, and Fyre will be overseeing your training. Enjoy it Guard, you all earned it more than anypony I've ever seen." He walked on past them, whistling a old Guard tune. The others looked on puzzled before Starlight spoke up. "Wont you be coming Sarge?" David stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Starlight. He half smiled and walked up to her but looked at all of them. "Not this time." he said in a somber tone, "No, I declined the position. I wont be joining you." This hit them all like a train wreck. "But, but, Sarge!" stammered Charger "Don't give me that Charger. I make your lives miserable as is. You really want to spend the rest of your Guard careers with me?" "Yes." said Starlight Flower, Crescent, and Charger agreed. "You really do care Sarge." said Starlight, "How could you turn that down?" "This old Guard has his life all worked out for him. Someone has to man that desk in the hall. Besides, you'll still have Spirit." "It's not the same without you Sarge." said Crescent "I'm not going anywhere. You'll find me at the desk reading the paper. Go and make something of yourselves Guard, something that Shadow and I will be proud to say we served alongside you with." One could almost see a tear in his eyes as he snapped up straight and firm and called out: "ATTENTION!" The Guards snapped to attention as he looked upon them one last time as members of this Squad of Royal Guard as his squad. Heavy hearts filled their bodies as they looked upon their Sergeant for the last time as their Sergeant. David let out a heavy sigh and smiled one last time at them: "Dismissed." _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Howdy Alright, this story is done! Done, done, done, complete, and done! I'm not going back to it, nothing else, it's over! I've got a thousand more views, still no dislikes, yippee, I'm done with this story for good. You've been dissmissed by David, that's my final call. And for those of you who decided to read it this far: Thanks for reading and, becasue I have no dislikes, enjoying this story. I really appreciate it. All these Characters will appear in The Scrapper. They also may make appearences in BrassThe Brony's stories as that's where this crossover story came from. So, I'm out!