Trottingham
The cobblestone streets of the city of Trottingham echoed with the sounds of hooves making contact with the streets mixed with the rumbling of cartwheels rolling over the same avenues. Above this rose the hundreds of voices of the cities citizens conversing with each other over the days work and individual objectives of the day. The city, which many in Equestria referred to as "the city stuck in time" due to it's relatively old fashioned atmosphere, was very much alive that day.
The true heart and soul of the town was it's enormous town square. Here the local farmers and vendors set up their quaint little stands and sold their wares and crops to their loyal customers. The street was always filled with the small wooden stands with ponies lining up to purchase their favorite goods at all times. In the center of it all was The Harmony Fountain, dedicated to the Elements of Harmony, that had saved Equestria more times than anypony could count. The tall white marble pillar in the center of the fountain was adorned with the engravings of the Element Bearers' cutie marks with the mark of Her Majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle at the top.
Just across from the front of the monument was a small stone two story building with a wooden sign hanging in front of the door. The read in bold white letters ASHFEATHER: BLACKSMITH. From inside the shop, came the clank clank of a hammer striking metal. This was the work of a large griffon with ash grey feathers on his head and his wings, contrasted by dark black fur covering his body. His dark grey talons were covered by worn and charcoal smudged leather gloves to protect himself from his hot work. The griffon sighed with exhaustion after he delivered the last strike to the piece of metal that would soon take the form of a pick axe when it cooled down. He then lifted the goggles he wore on his head to protect his eyes to reveal that they were a light blue color that mimicked the summer sky. The burly griffon carried the still red hot piece of metal over to a water bucket nearby and dunked it into the liquid. Steam rose up immediately when the fiery metal made contact with the water with a loud hiss. Another well made piece of craftsmanship to line the wall of the small shop.
"Hey Ashfeather!"
The griffon turned his head quickly towards the sound of his name being called from the entrance to his workshop. Standing in the door was a light brown earth pony with a coal black mane wearing a white woolen vest, a red neckerchief around his neck, and a dark brown workers cap on his head. The ponies cutie mark was an oil miners lamp.
"Hey Mine Shaft." Ashfeather replied his black beak smiling. "What going on?"
"Come outside Ashfeather! Their's an officer from the royal guard here and he has some big news to share!" Mine Shaft then turned out the door of the shop. Ashfeather, now quite curious as to what could have his friend all excited, followed him out onto the square.
Outside, dozens of citizens were crowding around The Harmony Fountain. Standing on top of a large wooden crate, Ashfeather could see a royal guard unicorn officer dressed in full armor minus the helmet standing and looking out over the gathering crowd. Standing on either side of the officer were two enlisted guards holding their spears in their hooves and wearing their helmets. As soon as Ashfeather and Mine Shaft arrived in the crowd, the guard officer's horn lit up in a golden aura and pulled out a scroll from his saddlebags and unrolled it front of his face. He then cleared his throat, which the crowd to as a sign to stop chatting amongst themselves and listen to the message.
"Here ye! Here ye! An announcement from the capitol of Canterlot! By royal decree of the Four Princesses and the Equestrian Military, Her Royal Highness Princess Twilight Sparkle, head of The Friendship Council, has sent out a call for volunteers for her personal guard. All citizens of Equestria are offered the great honor of serving the Element of Magic and Princess of Friendship herself! All those creatures who wish to volunteer are to report to Ponyville for enlistment!" The officer then lowered the scroll and looked out to the crowd. "If anypony here has any interest in serving Her Majesty, my guards here have fliers with further information on the unit. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to grab one. Thank you all for your time."
On that note, the officer dismounted the box and the two guards pulled out and placed their own respective stacks of fliers in front of themselves. Slowly but surely, they had ponies lining up to receive them.
"Well ain't that something? Right Ashfeather?" Mine Shaft looked at his friend. However Ashfeather wasn't paying attention to his friend. Instead he stared at the line of ponies grabbing fliers from the royal guards with curiosity. Something in the back his mind was urging him to learn more.
"I think I'm gonna get one of those fliers." He finally said to his friend.
Mine Shaft looked at the black and grey griffon with confusion when he heard this. This lasted only for a few seconds though before the earth pony finally just shrugged and began to walk away. "Alright the Ashfeather, I'll see you around okay? I gotta get back to the depot. Lunch break is almost over." And with that, he made his way down the street towards Ebony Coaling Plant. Ashfeather waved at him before he disappeared around the brick buildings. He then strode on up to the right hoof line of ponies. There were only three other ponies left in the line in front of him, so Ashfeather found himself in the front quickly. When he got in front of the guard, the guard paused for a moment to look at him before he handed him the flier slowly. Ashfeather raised an eyebrow in confusion before he walked away, all the while conscious of the guard staring at him as he leaved. But it didn't matter as he soon reached his shop and sat down at his desk in the back to read the flier.
The flier had Princess Twilight's cutie mark at the top and beneath it were the requirements for candidates for the unit. Again it said that all Equestrian citizens were eligible and that the receiving center was in Ponyville. Other points outlined on the flier that had not been mentioned by the guard officer in his speech were that the max number of positions in the guard was 20, the candidates were expected to pass strenuous fitness, combat, and diplomacy tests before being accepted, and that the guards would accompany the Princess everywhere and at all times and that their personal loyalty to her had to be strong.
That last part made Ashfeather really think. He thought all the way back to when he first had arrived in Equestria some eight years ago. Back then, he had immigrated to the land of ponies due to the downhill economic, political, and social situation in the Griffon Kingdom. In particular, his home town of Griffonstone had been in near ruins when he had left his native country. When he had arrived in Equestria, he had been extremely wary of interaction with ponies from the start due to his imaginations on how they would react to a meat eater like himself. In fact there had been a few ponies who had made it known exactly what they thought of that.
Then the news came from Canterlot about a new alicorn being crowned princess. Ashfeather had heard of Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends before he had come to Equestria. Their victory in vanquishing the dark spirit Nightmare Moon and restoring Princess Luna had made them international celebrities due to their direct impact on the Griffon Kingdom and the other nations. Their exploit that had the most direct impact on Ashfeather himself was the Tirek ordeal. Some ponies hadn't realized that Tirek fed off of the magic essence of all living creatures and had been quite surprised when Ashfeather had fallen from the sky and landed on a stone wall breaking his right hind leg after Tirek had drained him of his magic. What had surprised Ashfeather the most was that many of the ponies that had been afraid of him due to his omnivore diet had immediately come to his aid and had helped to heal him even without the use of magic. Ashfeather then remembered the day that the Element Bearers arrived in Trottingham and restored the citizens' magical essence. Ashfeather would never forget the liberating feeling of his flight abilities returning to him, as if someone had breathed in fresh life into his body. Two days later all the Element Bearers arrived in Trottingham with Twilight Sparkle leading them, to announce that she had been deemed Equestria's Princess of Friendship. She had given a speech in front of the same fountain that the guard officer had stood earlier, speaking of the importance and value of friendship and harmony to the life of Equestria and all of the world. Ashfeather was present that day in a wheelchair that had been provided by the ponies that had helped him and he could've sworn that Princess Twilight had been staring right at him when she had said "All of us, every creature in the world, in harmony can thrive and reach unending limits." That had struck a chord within Ashfeather and a few days later, he found himself thanking all of the ponies that had rescued him when he had broken his legs. What surprised him was that instead of how griffons usually demand restitution for services rendered, the ponies asked for nothing in return for their kindness and said that all they would like was his friendship.
Ashfeather almost began tearing up when he remembered that day. It was the day that he had truly felt like he was a part of the community. These days he valued friendship more than anything in the world only second to his family, who he was glad to hear were now prospering back in Griffonstone thanks again to the efforts of Princess Twilight and her Friendship Council. In a way, Ashfeather realized that he owed more to the Princess than he had thought before. The idea of joining her personal guard seemed like the least that he could do to repay her for the impact she had had on his life. The young griffon got up from his chair and walked to the front of his shop. He flipped the open sign hanging from the door and flipped it to closed. He then closed and locked the black wooden and made his way upstairs to his bedroom to start packing for a trip to Ponyville.
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Ponyville
Coming down the main street of the sprawling community of Ponyville was figure with an equine build but with characteristics that distinguished her from the pony species, in particular her black and white stripes and her large gold earrings and dzilla neck rings.
Zecora had rarely ever ventured beyond her home in the Everfree Forest before. This had led to many of the citizens of Ponyville believing her to be a witch doctor or as her friend Pinkie Pie had once put it an "evil enchantress". But then when she encountered the six Bearers of Harmony when they became afflicted with poison joke, albeit they had come in with accusations at first, she had offered her expertise in the healing arts and earned their trust when she cured them of their ailments. Afterwards not only did the friends offer their apologies and friendship to the young zebra, they then went through town and got the rest of the ponies to warm up to Zecora and accept her as a friend. One particular act of kindness that she remembered fondly was when Twilight Sparkle came and personally apologized to her for her harsh accusations and for jumping to conclusions. Zecora had told the then young unicorn that there was nothing to apologize and that she was just glad that Twilight had accepted her as a friend. And ever since that had remained true.
Zecora soon found herself at her target destination: Roseluck's Flower Shop. She always visited this shop to purchase flowers for her various medicines that she created back at her home. Entering the shop, she was greeted with a wave of aromas emanating from the dozens of flowers lining the shelves and walls. Behind the counter stood the pale yellow coated and raspberry maned owner of the humble shop, who looked up from her copy of the Canterlot Times when she heard the door open.
"Hello Zecora!" Roseluck said happily. "How are you today?"
Zecora smiled. "Quite well Roseluck lady of the flower, and how are you at this fine hour?"
"I'm doing alright Zecora." Roseluck replied. "I assume that you are her for your daffodils?"
Zecora nodded. "Yes young mare at least twenty and two, the last ingredients for my brew."
Roseluck smiled and went over to the other side of the store and grabbed the requested amount of daffodils for her friend and customer. She then brought them back to the counter where she found that Zecora had already placed the required amount of bits to purchase the flowers. Roseluck placed the flowers gently into a bag and pushed it across the counter to Zecora who grabbed it with her mouth and placed the bag in her saddlebags.
"Will that be all for today Zecora?" Roseluck asked.
"Yes I believe so. I am afraid that now I must go. I wish you a good day my friend, and may the sun and stars of your life have no end." Zecora smiled and began to make her way towards the door. She had just placed her hoof on the doorknob when something caught her eye. Hanging on the left hoof side of the door was a poster with Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark on it. The Zebra mare was puzzled. What was going on with Twilight?"
"Roseluck my dear, I mean not to bother you at all, but what is this hanging on your wall?" Zecora looked back at the flower pony.
Roseluck looked up from the paper again to see what Zecora was talking about. "Oh that? Yeah some officer from the Royal Guard came by earlier and asked if he could put it up there."
Zecora glanced back at the poster with curiosity. "My dear friend if I may, may I take this poster on my way? Back to my home so that I may read more about what our dear Princess may need?"
Roseluck shrugged. "You can take it if you want. I told the guard that I really don't see the possibility of anyone who want to join the guard coming in here and seeing it."
Zecora smiled and pulled the poster of the wall and exited the shop. Once outside she placed the paper in her saddlebags and began to make her way back to her house in the forest.
Later
When Zecora finally arrived at her home, she set her bags with her supplies down next to the other various herbs, spices and plants that she used for her potions and medicines. She then brought the poster that she had gotten from Roseluck and set it on the table near her boiling pot and sat down to read it. Zecora was very intrigued when she saw that it was an announcement for the formation of Twilight's personal guard unit. What she found the most intriguing about the poster was how it stated that all creatures of Equestria were eligible to volunteer. This was quite different from the other guard posters that Zecora had seen before where they said that only pony citizens were allowed to join.
Zecora couldn't figure out why, but she wouldn't stop rereading the poster over and over again. When she finally did stop, she began thinking something she never would've thought before meeting Twilight; What if I joined her guard?
Zecora considered Twilight one of her closest friends. She had helped Zecora become a more accepted member of the Ponyville community after she had apologized for her premature accusations. She had come to Zecora time and time again seeking guidance which Zecora was always happy to give. When Twilight had been crowned the Princess of Friendship, Zecora had been touched when Twilight said that she would make it a point to push for harmony among all creatures in Equestria. And of course that included Zebras.
After going through every way that Twilight had impacted her life, Zecora realized that she had never, at least in her mind, truly shown her appreciation for it. Now there was this great opportunity to do just that. Zecora had made up her mind. She placed the poster back into the saddlebag and began removing the flowers from the bag and packing them with the items needed for a journey that one would not be coming back from for a while.
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Cloudsdale
Lightning Dust was depressed. She sat in one of the local Cloudsdale bars in sad silence. She had never been this depressed in a while. Not since she had been dismissed from The Wonderbolt Academy for reckless endangerment. At first when she had been furious when she was removed from the course and had immediately blamed her wingpony Rainbow Dash for reporting it to Spitfire. But as time went on, and she saw how well Rainbow Dash did in the academy and how the Wonderbolt Commanders were praising her, she began to see that she had been wrong. No not just wrong, dead wrong! Looking back on it, she questioned how stupid she could've been thinking that her methods would've been okay with the Academy. She also had begun to feel guilty over the fact that her dumb recklessness had nearly caused serious harm to the other cadets. With these thoughts, her depression began to take hold until she had lost all of her confidence and had resigned herself to her fate.
Then Tirek came. When Lightning Dust had felt her magic being ripped out of her, she felt as if the last remnants of hope and life had been ripped out with it. She had found herself on the ground, after having fallen through the cloud she had been standing on, too weak to move and unable to fly. She had literally dragged herself into a clump of trees somewhere and had laid herself down and assumed that this was just the last straw. She had squandered everything and now she was paying the price for it. But it was not the end for her. After a while, two other flightless pegasi came, wearing Wonderbolt Cadet uniforms, had appeared before her. She had recognized them as Thunderlane and Cloudchaser, her former classmates. At first, she was sure that they would leave her out of spite for what she did to them at the academy. But to her utter disbelief, they came over and brought up a canteen to her lips and urged her to drink. She didn't for a few moments due to the shock that it hadn't been that long ago that she had nearly killed these ponies for her own personal benefit and now they were aiding her in her time of need. They then stayed with her to make sure was okay, until suddenly a rainbow wave spread across the sky. It was then that Lightning Dust felt her magical essence return and in excitement had stretched her wings to fly, and was answered with a sharp pain that came from her sprained wing. It was then that she was surprised again by her former classmates when Thunderlane floated above her and grabbed her and flew her up to Cloudsdale where they delivered her to the hospital where other pegasi that had been injured during the whole ordeal.
Then Princess Twilight Sparkle visited Cloudsdale two days later, giving a speech on how she had been crowned Equestria's Princess of Friendship and that she would now make it her life's work to spread that harmonious message. What had struck deep with Lighting Dust was how Princess Twilight spoke of forgiveness and second chances for all ponies and all creatures. It made her feel that there was still hope for her somewhere.
So the young pegasus had gotten her life back together. She got herself a job working with the Cloudsdale weather factory and had worked her way up to foreman of the cloud production floor. She had made new friends with her coworkers and everything seemed to be going well.
That had been what it looked like up until now. Now it appeared to Lightning Dust as if her life was going nowhere anytime soon. She had a deep rooted sense that she wasn't really doing any sort of good with her life. She needed something new that felt more fulfilling.
Suddenly the door to the bar burst open as a blue green pegasus stallion came running in with a piece of paper in his hoof.
"Hey guys, guys! Have you all seen this?!" He said excitedly. The rest of the stallions in the bar, which was pretty much everypony else as Lightning Dust was the only mare patron, all gathered around the new arrival to see what was going on. Lightning Dust decided to just continue drinking her hard cider.
"What's going on Open Skies?" One of the stallions asked.
The stallion known as Open Skies placed the paper he had down on the table. "This here poster says that Princess Twilight is forming her own guard unit."
Lightning Dust's ears suddenly perked up. She quickly got up from her seat and hovered up above the group of stallions to see the poster they were looking at.
"Yeah." Open Skies continued. "It says here that it's going to be called The Harmony Guard and that it will directly serve Princess Twilight and the Friendship Council. All citizens of Equestria are allowed to volunteer. Looks like it's gonna be pretty elite because apparently they are going to only accept 20 candidates after they finish training."
At that moment, something in Lightning Dust's brain clicked. She now knew it! She knew what she now needed to do! She quickly left her tab on the table next to her drink and flew out of the bar towards her home. She now knew where her life was going to go and she didn't intend to let this opportunity pass by.