To Guard is to Protect

by TJHoofer


Chapter 5: Who Protects the Princess?

Hallway castle guards straightened up and saluted as Princess Cadance marched towards the throne room of Princess Celestia, with a serious and determined look in her eyes. All the way to the castle she had been thinking about her and Twilight's conversation with Shining Armor.

'Aunt Celestia needs to realize how serious this matter is!' She glanced at some of the guards she passed by. 'By Equestria, these are her personal guards! She must've noticed something was wrong!'

Upon finally reaching the throne room, Cadance used her magic and threw the doors open.

“Aunt Celestia! I need to speak-” She paused as the throne was empty apart from two unicorn guards standing next to the door. “Aunt Celestia?” She set her sights on one of the guards. “You there! Where's aunt Celestia?”

The guard saluted “Your Highness! Princess Celestia is in the gardens having tea with Princess Luna.”

'Of course...' Cadance groaned. 'It's tea-time! How could I forget?'

“Shall we escort you to her?”

“No need, thank you. I know the way...” She was about to leave, when she suddenly found herself glancing back at the guard. “Um... Excuse me. What is your name?”

“It's Strong Shield, your Highness.”

“I just want you to know, that you all are doing a marvelous job.”

He looked at her rather puzzled.

“Protecting the princess and Canterlot is an important and selfless task. And you and everypony here should be commended for it.”

Strong blinked. “Uh... Thank you.”

“I mean it! I don't know where any of us would be without the tireless efforts and undying loyalty of the Royal Guard. Having you all here makes me, us and everypony in the city feel at ease, knowing that if anything were to happen to us, you'll be here to continue the fight and defend us when needed.”

“Uh...” The guard didn't know what to say. He then began to blush slightly as Cadance suddenly raised her hoof and guided his gaze at her, looking him straight in the eyes.

“Believe me when I say that you and everypony in service to the crown are just as important to Canterlot and Equestria than me, Celestia, Luna or the Elements combined. And what happened at the wedding was nopony's fault. You all did your best. Very few ponies would.”

The guard was now speechless.

“Remember that, please.” With a gentle smile, she pulled away and headed out. “Thank you for listening. I'll leave you to your duty.”

As Cadance disappeared down the hallway, Strong Shield just stood there trying to understand what had just been said to him. A mix of emotions went through his mind as he did a little soul searching, while the other guard in the room called Sharp Point came over to him.

“What was that about?”

“I... I need to go!” Strong suddenly handed his spear to Sharp and quickly cantered off, leaving Sharp looking very confused. “Take over for me a bit, will ya?”

“Where are you going?”

“To the training room. Somehow guarding our all-powerful Sun Princess suddenly doesn't sound so easy anymore...”

As Strong Shield rushed in the direction of the training room, he didn't notice Cadance hiding behind a column watching. She sighed as she started to question her doubts about Forefronts accusations.

Clearly this was a problem...

*****

It didn't take long for Cadance to finally reach the gardens. As always, the day was bright and peaceful. The perfect day to spend the time outside with a warm cup of fresh tea and let the stress of running a kingdom melt away for but a brief moment.

“I really hope aunt Celestia can help...” Cadance spotted some more guards patrolling the garden and sighed. 'I must confess I never really thought that much about our guards. And the more I think about it now, I realize that we may have unintentionally been taking away their responsibilities in defending Equestria. We settle the more serious matters while they more or less just stay behind to keep the peace and maintain order. We barely give them a chance to join us in battle. It's not fair. Not to them.'
She then stopped for a moment. 'I suppose it's because we love them and don't want to them get hurt. Many have family and nopony should ever suffer the burden of losing a loved one in service. Even though they knew what they signed up for...'

Taking some moments to briefly admire the architecture, Cadance finally spotted Celestia and Luna. What puzzled her was the large amount of guards already present. Looking closely, she noticed that one group were Canterlot soldiers while the other were Luna's own night guard.
They were all facing eachother, perfectly still with a serious look in their eyes.

'Must be a training exercise.' Cadance thought to herself with a smile. 'Good. I guess aunt Celestia and Luna took the Changeling threat really serious and are now not taking any chances. I'm glad they at least still see them as real soldiers and not oversized toys to move around.'

She trotted up to both sisters and cleared her throat.

“Aunt Celestia! I must speak with you! I-”

“Hush...”

Cadance was slightly taken aback by Celestia suddenly shushing her. She then noticed that Celestia seemed to be in deep thought. Even Luna seemed to be seriously focused. Cadance quietly looked on, pondering what was going on until Celestia finally spoke out.

“3F to 5E.”

At that moment, a Canterlot guard started to move in an unusual pattern and approached a Lunar Guard. The Lunar Guard then calmly stepped aside, nodded and left as the Canterlot guard took his spot.

“Check!” Celestia smiled.

“Shoot...” Luna cursed. “Let's see...”

Utterly confused at first, Cadence took brief look down on the ground and noticed patterns on the grass, all of them a perfect square. Upon realizing what she was seeing, she rolled her eyes and sighed. 'You've got to be kidding me...'

“Aha!” Luna laughed. “I've got you this time sister! 3C to-”

“AND JUST WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?!” Cadances' loud and sudden outburst threw off Luna's concentration.

“-To... 2D!” Her Lunar Guard obeyed and moved to the marked square. “Wait! NO! Don-” But it was too late. She facehoofed and moaned as her guard moved away from a perfectly planned position and instead made herself vulnerable.

“Bad move Luna.” Celestia grinned playfully. “6D to 2D” Luna groaned as her vital 'piece' was removed from the 'board'. “Check!” Celestia grinned. “Looks like I'll win again...”

“Gah! Cadance! You made me lose focus!” Luna frowned at her.

“I'm sorry aunt Luna, but this is important...”

“Cadance!” Celestia beamed. “I'm so sorry, I didn't notice you! This is a surprise. We kind of expected you and Shining Armor sometime later this evening.”

“I know aunt Celestia and I'm sorry for arriving unannounced. But something important has come up and I need to speak to you. Both you and Luna.”

Celestia and Luna shared a look of concern. “What is it?” asked Celestia.

“Did something happen during your honeymoon?” asked Luna. She then narrowed her eyes and anger seemed to build up in her voice. “Chrysalis! The Changelings... Did they-?”

“The honeymoon went just fine aunt Luna! And no Changelings are involved in this. This is a matter that may affect us and the future of Equestria.”

The sisters shared another glance of concern. “Well don't keep us in suspense. Tell us.”

Cadance was about to speak, when she noticed the guards. “I will, but in private. Please?”

Celestia nodded and looked to the guards. With one silent nod, everypony but Luna dispersed and went back to their duties.

“Now then... What is it that's so important?”

“Before I start, may I ask you something?”

“You may.”

“What were you two doing just now? It looked like you were playing Chess, but with-”

“-Our guards?” Celestia couldn't help but giggle a bit. “We were, yes. Sorry about that...”

“My idea I'm afraid...” Luna answered somewhat sheepishly. “I got tired of doing it the old way and suggested we'd make it more interesting.”

“So we made our own chessboard and used our guards as pieces.” Celestia smiled. “Pretty clever, don't you agree?”

Cadance said nothing but frowned and trotted past them, looking over the 'chessboard'. “Nice to see you two are putting the Royal Guard to such fine use...”

Celestia and Luna noticed a rather disapproving tone in her voice.

“...All that training and education sure did pay off, didn't it? You must be so proud of them...”

“Is something bothering you, Cadance?” asked Celestia.

“As a matter of fact, something IS bothering me! A LOT in fact!” She turned around and faced them. “You're playing games using our soldiers!”

Both sister looked confused. “And..?”

“This is not what the Royal Guard is meant to do!!”

“Cadance! Calm down.” Celestia replied concerned. “I'll admit using our guards to play a game seems a bit... unorthodox, but it was just harmless fun.”

“Besides...” continued Luna. “...we didn't force them into it.”

“But you asked them, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

“If a princess asks a soldier to do something, how can he possibly say no?” She then glanced down on at the real chessboard and levitated a pawn. “Then again, I suppose the Royal Guard are more preferable to you as toys than real soldiers...”

“WHAT?!” That last remark by Cadance upset Luna. “How dare you accuse us of-”

“Calm down, Luna... Cadance, is there a point to this? If you came here to accuse us of mismanaging our guards, then we apologize. We won't do it again.”

“Actually...” Cadance sighed. “...that's not the reason why I'm here.”

“Then what?”

Cadance used her magic and materialized the letter she had borrowed from Shining and levitated it over to them. “Here.”

“What is this?”

“Read it.”

Celestia took the letter and started reading.

“What is it sister?” asked Luna.

Celestia lowered the letter once finished. “It's a Letter of Resignation...”

“Resignation?”

“That's right.” replied Cadance. “A Resignation! A pony named Forefront has decided to quit the Royal Guard!”

“Quit?” Luna seemed surprised at first. “So? What's so odd about that? It's not uncommon for a guard to resign...”

“Would you like to know the reason why?” Cadance narrowed her eyes at Luna, who still seemed unaffected by the news. “He's quitting because the Royal Guard is USELESS!”

Celestia and Luna gaped, dropping the letter. “What..?”

“And not just useless...” she continued. “...He says it's a JOKE!!”

“A-a joke..?” Luna stammered. She looked to Celestia. “What is this nonsense?!!”

“Cadance...” Celestia cut in. “The Royal Guard has served Canterlot and Equestria loyally for as long as I can remember. It has a long history of accomplishment and dedication. Why would anypony go about and call it useless?”

“Or a JOKE?!” exclaimed Luna.

“Because of the wedding...” Cadance sighed. “The Changeling invasion. We were all caught by surprise and neutralized. And the Royal Guard could do nothing to stop it.”

“Indeed...” Celestia cringed as she recalled that fateful day. “That was a terrible experience for all of us.”

“Not ALL of us...” Luna huffed. “I wasn't around for it...”

“But in the end you and Shining Armor saved the day. Even if they didn't manage to drive away the Changelings, the Royal Guard still did their best.”

“To somepony that BEST wasn't good enough!” Cadance argued. “Forefront is practically accusing the Royal Guard of being soft and incompetent!”

“Incompetent?” Luna fumed. “How dare he..?”

“That is a very serious accusation, Cadance.” Celestia narrowed her eyes. “I know for a fact that the Royal Guard have ALWAYS shown competence and dedication in service of Canterlot and Equestria!”

“Really?” replied Cadance. “Name one battle they've won without any of us!”

“Why the battle of...” Celestia was about to name the battle before remembering. “No wait, that was me. The riot of- no... that was me as well. Um... Well there was that time- No, that was-” Celestia pondered for a bit when her eyes suddenly widened and realization hit her.

“Tia?”

“I... I suppose I handled everything...”

“What?” Luna gawked in surprise.

“But regardless, the Royal Guard was always present!” Celestia quickly pointed out.

“Doing 'what' exactly?” Cadance asked her. “Keeping the peace and relax while you did all the work?”

Celestia was quiet for a moment before looking sheepishly away. “I... I just figured I could handle it better...”

“Sister..?” a visibly surprised Luna confronted her. “Do you mean to tell me that you have protected all of Equestria BY YOURSELF??! Our soldiers did NOTHING???!

Celestia bit her lips. “Um... They had my back...”

“This is exactly what I'm talking about, aunt Celestia...” Cadance sighed. “The Royal Guard has seen so very little action they've come to the conclusion that their real purpose here is to decorate the castle. That they aren't meant to do any real fighting because WE do it for them!”

“I don't believe it!” Luna argued. “I refuse to believe that our guards are mere decorations unable to fight!”

“Then perhaps we need a test?” Cadance pondered. She then narrowed her eyes as she got an idea. “Luna? Do you still master the illusion spell?”

“Of course. Why?”

*****

Nearby just outside the garden, two Royal Guards, a pegasus and an earth-pony, were calmly going about their rounds and enjoying the calm and cloudless day.

“Such a glorious day, isn't it Star Cloud?” asked the earth-pony guard.

“It sure is Beach Head.” replied Star Cloud. “All thanks to our Sun Princess-”

“HELP!”

The ears of both stallions twitched as a cry for help suddenly called out from garden. “What in Equestria..?” exclaimed Beach Head.

“Help us! Guards! GUARDS!!”

They both immediately rushed into the garden, following the desperate cry for help. The moment they arrived, they were met with a frightful sight. Princess Celestia was lying on the ground, unmoving and unconscious.

“HELP!”

They then turned their heads and were even more shocked as they saw Cadance being pinned down by the Queen of Changelings herself, Queen Chrysalis!

“At last I shall have my revenge!”

“What the-?!!”

“How did she get in here??!” shouted Star Cloud.

“Guards! Thanks goodness!” Cadance tearfully cried out to them with relief. Chrysalis turned her attention towards them and growled. “She was disguised as Luna. She has already taken out aunt Celestia. I'm too weak to fight! Help us!”

Chrysalis moved away from Cadance and confronted the already terrified guards. “You plan to interfere?” she cackled. “Pathetic foals! I'll drain you both with an inch of your lives!”

The two guards gulped and began to back away.

“Please! You're Royal Guards of Canterlot! Save us!” Cadance pleaded.

“Go get her Beach Head!” said Star Cloud.

“What??!” Beach Head exclaimed. “Why me?!!”

“You already have a sword. Mine is in the shop!”

Beach Head noticed much to his misfortune that he was the only one armed. “But... But I-”

“I'll be right behind you! You can take her!”

Swallowing nervously, Beach Head drew his sword and held it firm between his teeth as he slowly approached the Queen. He took his time, switching his sights between her and Celestia, praying that any second now the Sun Princess would wake up and save the day.

“What's wrong soldier?” Chrysalis laughed. “Aren't you going to stop me? Don't you care for your precious Princesses?”

Beach Head swallowed hard. He knew there was no way out of it. He mustered whatever courage he had and charged at her. “HAVE AT THEE, MONSTER!

The Queen snarled and bared her fangs at him. Before he could even deliver a single blow, Beach Head froze and dropped his sword. He was then swatted to the ground and pinned by the Queen. She leaned over his cowering form, drool dripping from her sharp fangs.

“Star Cloud! Help me!”

Star Cloud didn't move. With his friend down and helpless, he didn't know what to do. His legs were shaking. “D-don't do it!” He threatened weakly. “O-or y-you're gonna r-regret it-”

Chrysalis roared at him. Star Burst turned pale white and dropped down on the grass like a stiff goat.

As the Queen drew her attention back at him, Beach Head closed his eyes and cowered in fear. “No! Please don't!”

“That's enough!”

Suddenly, everything got quiet. Feeling nothing happening, Beach Head opened his eyes. He was startled to see Chrysalis still on top of him, but now she looked disappointed.

“That's enough, Luna. Let him go.”

'Luna..?' He recognized the voice and saw to his surprise and great relief Princess Celestia getting up from the ground unharmed.
There was then a flash and Queen Chrysalis disappeared. In her place, Beach Head was surprised to see Luna now standing over him. She moved away from him and allowed him to get back up. “Princess Luna? What..?”

Soon more guards arrived, having heard the commotion.

“Everything is alright, my ponies.” said Celestia. “False alarm. Return to your posts.”

Confused at first, the guards soon left as quickly as they had arrived with no questions asked. Beach Head trotted over to Star Cloud and helped him as he woke up. “I don't understand...” He looked to Princess Luna. “What happened? Where's-?”

“As you were.” said Luna, her disappointed look unchanged. “And thank you for your participation. You've been very helpful.”

“Participation?” replied Star Cloud just as confused. “I don't-”

“I said: AS YOU WERE!”

The two guards said nothing. Realizing they'd more than likely failed some kind of test, they turned around and left the Princesses. Celestia helped Cadance up and both shared a look of concern. There was no doubt about it now.

“Sister...” Luna muttered. “We need to talk.”

“I know Luna-”

RIGHT NOW!