Prancing along the battlements of the palace walls was kind of my thing. They were mine, after all. Well, mine for one shift out of three, four times a week. Still, mine! The walls and the gift shop. I was their sentinel! I was all that stood between rampaging grandmothers, curious foals, and the occasional angry critter and the princesses.
Okay, so it was actually me and my entire section… and then all the guards actually inside the palace. Plus, the house guards. Fine, there were a lot of ponies between the grannies and the princesses.
That didn’t matter, though! I was Lieutenant Sunny Day and I liked it! I liked it a lot. This is what I’d always wanted. Not being some pin-up filly. Although I certainly didn’t mind looking at pin-up fillies! It was just weird seeing my flank on a calendar.
Weird for me, anyway. Celestia knows I’d looked at my share of pin-up fillies. I was really curious to see who would be in the next C.O.C. I’m sure they’d find some ponies that were glamorous. Either way, it wasn’t my problem anymore; I just had to pay the bits.
I set my forehooves on the battlement and peered out into the city. It looked pretty quiet. Like always. That wasn’t a bad thing. All of the more adventurous stuff took place in less civilized towns.
The word around the palace was that Ponyville was starting to be pretty interesting. It was close to the Everfree Forest and all kinds of monsters lived there. In the past, they’d mostly been content to stay in the forest but, for whatever reason, they’d started roaming into town. The Royal Guard would then have to chase them out and relocate them.
Strange times! Of course, in general, it was all harmless. It did make things interesting for those guards, though. Thus far, nothing exciting had happened to me or my guards. Other than that pegasus foal with the sniffles. He sneezed so hard he flew right past our perimeter.
Poor little fella. All of those scary pegasus gua— “Lieutenant, how is the view?” came a familiar voice from behind me.
With my musings interrupted, I hurriedly turned around and straightened to attention. “It’s wonderful, sir!”
Captain Armor nodded and smiled. He had a great smile and a hot body! There was a lot of muscle under all of that white. It was a shame he was dating Lady Cadence. Or was it… I wonder if she was into mares?
“Isn’t it always? This is one of the best views ever. Although the towers are pretty great, too. Cadence and I hang out up there sometimes. You should check it out.”
Is he coming on to me? No, you’re reading too much into that invite, Sunny!
“So, you’ve been here about two months now. I’m pleased with your performance. How are you liking the role? Is it the reward you were hoping for?”
“Yup, yes, for sure! I love it, sir! I’m a palace guard. I’ve got a section of palace guards. I get to hang out on the wall and have a great view. What pony wouldn’t like that?”
“Good, glad to hear that. We’ve had a lot of new faces here rather suddenly. I’m just trying to make certain they’re all fitting in. We do have some flexibility, after all. That is kind of a new thing to the palace.
“It has been a whirlwind around here after such a long time without change. I guess that is how it works, though. Everything remains the same for a while and then you have to shake it up.”
“Yes, sir!” Okay, now I know he is coming onto me. Everything remains the same? Shake it up? Is this going to turn into the threesome of my dreams? I’ve been eyeing that little pink unicorn since the moment she trotted her heart-stamped flank by me in the gym!
His tone shifted to a bit more serious. “I want to ask you something.”
Yes! Yes! Oh, absolutely yes! “Yes!” Ease up, filly. I cleared my throat, “I mean, yes, sir!”
He waved a hoof in a circle. “That night you found Princess Celestia, you said you could see… what was it, a dark mist?”
Nooo! Business? He wanted to talk about business? He gets me all worked up and he wants to talk about mist? When I got off work, I was going to have to go find Soarin or Diddle or both and show them what a frustrated Sunny looks like! Where was Soarin right now, anyway? On tour somewhere. Bleh.
Okay, so he wanted to have a serious conversation. That kind of ruined the mood and the view. I nodded. “Yes, sir. A cloud of some sorts. Dark blues, purples, and evil twinkles. Felt like someone rubbing ice on your face. Pretty nasty stuff. Why?”
The captain cleared his throat. “You don’t still see it do you?”
I blinked. “Not like that night, no. I mean… sometimes I think I see little wisps of it now and then, but it’s hard to be sure and I have to really be concentrating. It is probably just my imagination.
“Thankfully, it was all gone when I woke up! Just blue skies and happy little trees. Believe me, if I still saw it, you’d know. Plus, ponies would be doing weird things. Abnormal things!”
He nodded. “Yeah… but then again, perhaps there is a less obvious version? Who knows? Either way, it is good that you don’t see it. If you do, however, you’ll let me know, right?”
Not after blocking me out of your threesome! Fine. “Yes, sir! Now that I know that you’re looking for it, I’ll be diligent. I’ll do my part, don’t worry.”
“Good mare.” His attention shifted to the courtyard below. “Ah, my next meeting.”
Princess Luna was walking toward the palace. She had a single house guard trailing along behind her. The big white and blue stallion. Silent something. Rumor had it she’d just walked off grounds earlier in the day right before we’d come on shift.
“Going to go wag a hoof at the princess?” I asked.
Captain Armor chuckled and shook his head. “No, I don’t think this little act of rebellion is worthy of hoof wagging. I’m going to go talk to the guard on duty, though.”
Ah, that poor pony. He’d broken protocol by letting her leave the palace unannounced and without a proper escort. Wouldn’t want to be in his hoofguards! Well… I mean I would. They were big hoofguards which meant big—
“Have a good day, Lieutenant,” Shining Armor said while casually saluting.
I saluted the Captain in return and he trotted off. That meant I could go back to peering off the wall and planning this evening’s festivities. Perhaps somepony would ask me out? Say Yes More Sunny! That was me.
Although, for now, the view would do fine. Canterlot was a beautiful, sparkling city on a hill. A paradise by comparison to a lot of places. I was lucky to live and work here. Even luckier to own a home here and have friends that loved me. My mother had been right to send me. She was a smart cookie.
All told, the thing that made this particular view so sweet was that I could see everything important to me every day I worked. If I looked inward, almost every one of my guards were visible from here. I knew they were doing their jobs and that they were safe. From here, I could protect them.
If I looked outward, I could just make out the Mare Contraire in between some of the taller buildings. That is where Dolly and most of my friends were. If anything ever happened, I knew I could get there quick to handle any situation.
Finally, I could even see my new condo. It was all mine! Dolly and Mom and helped me negotiate the price down and move in. And the club that was going to be built under it? The neighborhood board hadn’t approved it! Instead, I’d gotten a yoga studio. How about that!
Every morning when I went to work, I could look in the glass window and see a bunch of tight pony rumps looking back at me as they practiced their downward facing puppy. The universe was truly looking out for me.
For so long, I’d floundered through my life and career, not really sure what I wanted. Now I finally had direction, purpose, and a stunning set of armor that really helped me pick up mares and stallions. It amazed me how often ‘Excuse me, miss, I’m going to have to arrest you.’ ‘Oh my! Why?’ ‘For stealing all of my attention.’ worked.
Mmm, I should totally go to the Mare tonight.
“Good thoughts, Lieutenant?”
I turned and bowed low. The princess’s voice was unmistakable. Radiant Orchid and another House Guard were off behind her.
“Yes, ma’am. This is my favorite spot in the world. What brings you out to my wall?”
Princess Celestia’s brow raised. “Your wall? I was under the impression this was my wall.”
“I see! You’ve got the whole kingdom and you’re really going to cheap out and not allow me to have at least one little wall?”
The princess softly chuckled and set her forehooves on the battlement. “Oh, Sunny…” Then she looked down at me quite seriously. “Of course I am. This is my wall. Build your own.”
That… that was unexpected. She was kidding, right? My mouth hung open as I tried to figure out what to say in response.
Finally, she started giggling. “Gotcha. You’re pleased with your life, then?”
I waved a hoof at her. “You did. I am. I was just telling Captain Armor the same. This is great. Thank you so much for arranging this.”
“Well, it was the least I could do for one of my top students.”
“My grades were horrible.”
“One of my average students,” she amended.
“Well, I appreciate it.”
We fell silent, just looking out across Equestria. I’d been told that the princess had a fondness for doing that. She kept telescopes in the towers just to look over her wonderful kingdom.
Silence isn’t really my thing, though, so I pointed a hoof at my condo. “I live there.”
“Oh? It looks lovely.” She then pointed a hoof at the palace. “I live there.”
We giggled at that together.
“Princess! Princess!” a voice called, getting closer with each repetition.
“Duty calls,” Princess Celestia said with a huff. “See you around. I just know you’re going to do great things.”
I bowed and smiled. “Thank you, Princess, enjoy your afternoon.”
The regal alicorn turned and left to meet the pony hurrying her way. It was her assistant. I’m sure they had somewhere important to be.
I, on the other hoof, got paid to stand right here and look at the world going by. That filled me with happiness. So much so that marching on patrol like normal wasn’t enough. There had to be a bit more flare to it for me.
That is why I had to prance. Nothing did any better to sum up who I was and who I’d always be: the pony that wasn’t supposed to graduate from school and somehow ended up as an officer in the Palace Guard.
All it took was a few great friends, a mentor or two, and an attitude that I’d never give up no matter what. Princess Celestia said I was going to do great things. Greater than I already had? From anypony else that would be hard to believe, but when she said it, it felt like fact. That is why I decided to keep working hard and never let her down.
That is who I am: the pony that never gives up and always puts one hoof in front of the other.