The Angel of Equestria

by Robobrony

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The morning sun beamed through Charles’s window, stirring him from his sleep. He sat up, stretched and yawned. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and just rubbed his face with his hand. Soon, memories of the dream he had came flooding back into his head. He had a meeting with the former king and queen of Equestria, they had warned him of a looming threat to the country and asked him to try and find an ancient power known as the elements of life. The power to control the elements of nature. Charles debated as to whether or not inform Twilight of this news just yet. It was a lot to take in and he had some time before he had to actually attempt to go after them.

He was told there was an ancient and forgotten temple in the southern regions of Equestria in another forest there. He figured it was best to save this information for later until he was sure about everything himself. He got up, made his way to his bathroom, took a quick shower and dawned his black outfit with his red coat and placed his staff on his back. Upon exiting his room, his nose was met with the pleasant aroma of breakfast being made, it was the unmistakable smell of pancakes. He made his way to the kitchen where the table was.

Upon entering, he was greeted by Twilight who was already seated and waiting for her number one assistant to finish cooking and serve them their meal. Twilight looked up from a book she was reading while waiting and greeted Charles with a smile. “Good morning Charles, did you have a good sleep?”

Charles removed his staff from his back, leaned it against the table, and took a seat across from her as he responded. “Yeah, I did, how about you?”

“Fine, Sorry about Discord last night, that’s just how he is….unfortunately. I hope you’re not too upset about it.”

Charles didn’t respond right away. “I just don’t like being laughed at. He better not do something like that to me again.” Charles then turned his attention to Spike who was standing on a stepping stool in front of the stove cooking breakfast. “Good morning Spike, I…..hope you’re not still upset over what happened with Rarity.”

Spike didn’t turn around. He just kept his eyes on the stove as he responded. “Whatever.” He said almost too low for any to hear.

Twilight whispered to Charles. “I’m afraid he’s still a little upset about what happened. I’m sure he’ll get over it soon. Just…..give him time.”

It wasn’t long before Spike was done with the pancakes, he served up every one at the table and just sat there in silence as he ate.

“MMM, delicious as always Spike, you are such a great cook.” Twilight complimented in an attempt to cheer her number one assistant up.

“Thanks.” He said again in a low monotone voice.

“Yeah Spike, these are good. Don’t think I’ve ever had pancakes this delicious.” Charles said in an attempt to try and start on patching things up with him.

Spike looked up from his meal and glared at Charles for a moment before going back to his meal. The rest of the meal was spent in awkward silence as the trio ate. Once Charles was finally done, he got up, took his plate to the sink and said his farewell. “Well, this is going to be my first official day on guard duty, so I’ll just be on my way and report in to the captain, I’ll see you all later.” Charles collected his staff and made his way out the door, but not before getting a goodbye from Twilight.

Upon exiting, Charles took notice of the weather, it was a bit of an overcast and there was a chill in the air, he also noticed some of the leaves starting to change color. “Must be fall here." Charles said to himself. Charles spread his wings and took off for the center of town.

Sometime after Charles left, Twilight and Spike had finished their meal. Spike took the plates to the sink and began to wash them. “Spike, I need to catch up on some studying in my room, can you take care of the library for a few hours?”

Spike didn’t take his eyes away from the sink. “Sure, no problem.” He said with all the enthusiasm of a rock.

Twilight frowned that her little dragon brother was so down over the whole Rarity thing. “Come on Spike, cheer up, I’m sure there’s some pony for you out there somewhere just waiting to find you, you just can’t lose hope, ok.” Spike didn’t respond. “I’ll be down in a few hours, try to cheer up Spike, I don’t like seeing you so upset.” Twilight then turned and headed for her room.

Once Spike was finished with cleaning the dishes, he made his way into the main room of the library to begin his duties. “It’s not fair, I saw her first, why did he have to show up and ruin everything for me, I just know I could have won Rarity over eventually.” Spike muttered to himself. Before he could continue, there was a knock at the door. Spike made his way over and opened it to be greeted by Derpy Hooves.

“Good morning Spike, I have a special delivery for you.” She greeted him with a smile.

Spike looked up at the wall eyed mail pony with confusion. “A special delivery, for me, who’s it from?”

Derpy used her wing to open her saddle bag and reached her muzzle in to pull out a small pink and white envelope. She let Spike take it before answering. “Sorry, but that’s confidential information. I better get going, plenty more mail to deliver. Have a great day Spike.” Derpy said before taking off. Spike closed the door as he eyed the strange envelope in his claw. He made his way to the center of the room and opened it up. He pulled out the letter inside and read it.

Dear Spike,

I am sorry about what happened between you and Rarity, but I hope this letter will cheer you up. I have admired you from afar and hoped for a chance to finally tell you this. I know this is a long shot, but I hope that you and I can get together some time for a kind of date. If you want to meet me, I will be waiting in the park under the tree at the center of the park this afternoon at four. From, your secret admirer.

Spike wasn’t sure what to make of the letter, the wording was squiggly and looked like a little kid wrote it, but still, what stuck with him was the fact that there was somepony out there who had a crush on him. He just couldn’t believe it. “Some pony has a crush on me? Who could it be? Should I meet with them this afternoon?” Spike just wasn’t sure what to make of this, for the longest time, ever since he and Twilight first showed up in Ponyville, he had eyes only for Rarity, but now that was just a distant dream that was sure to never come true. Should he pursue this and try to move on? It was going to take some time for him to think about this, luckily, he had until four this afternoon to decide whether to meet with his secret admirer or not.

***

Charles just landed in front of town hall and made his way to the captains office. “Captain Lightning Thrash sir, Charles reporting for duty sir.” Charles said as he entered.

Lighting Thrash looked up from some papers he was going over. “Good morning private, good to see you finally reporting in.” He joked.

“Sorry I didn’t report in on time like I was supposed to captain but-“ He was cut off from the captain’s laughing.

“HA HA, relax private, you had a perfectly good reason for not reporting in, I was just messing with you. Now then, before you get to work, I have something for you.” Captain Thrash then opened a drawer on his desk. He pulled out a small brown pouch and set it on his desk with a jingling sound coming from it. “This is your pay Charles.”

“But sir…..I haven’t been on duty.” Charles said confused.

“Not officially, no, but you still performed the duties of a guard ever since you got here, protecting Twilight and her friends, coming with us to rescue Rarity from those diamond dogs and taking down that big one. I’d say you’ve earned it, all 150 bits. Now take your pay and go out to protect the town, just go wherever and help out how you can.”

“Yes sir, thank you sir.” Charles took the pouch, put it in his pants pocket, and left. Upon exiting the building, Charles took his badge from his jacket pocket and pinned it on his shirt.

Charles just wandered around a bit, keeping an eye out for any sign of trouble. It was a lazy morning for him so far, nothing was happening. He was greeted by the other ponies as he walked by with smiles and waves, he just returned them with his own. “Man, I could definitely get used to this, this place is so nice and pretty, maybe-“

“Good morning Charles.”

“Oh no.”

Charles’s cheerful mood had now dropped like a stone upon hearing the voice of the last creature he wanted to see today. “Hello Discord.” Charles greeted in a monotone voice.

“Well, you seem like a ball of sunshine this morning, care to tell me what’s wrong?” He asked as he floated by Charles who just kept his pace.

“What do you want Discord, why aren’t you hanging out with Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy since they seem to be such good friends of yours.”

“Well I would, but I’m afraid they’re busy at the moment, Pinkie is busy helping the cakes with baking for today and Fluttershy is too busy taking care of her animals at the moment.” Discord said as he continued to hover around Charles.

“What about the other ponies, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, or perhaps Applejack?” Charles asked, trying to hide his annoyance.

“They don’t exactly share their enthusiasm of me being here like Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, I think they still don’t trust me.”

“Gee, I wonder why?” Charles asked with sarcasm thick in his voice.

“So I thought to myself, why not hang out with the new guy, he’s sure to be a barrel of laughs.” Discord said upon producing a barrel full of gags and pranking items. “What do ya say new friend, care to spread some light chaos for fun?”

Charles stopped in his tracks and looked at Discord. “Look Discord, I’m on duty right now, so I don’t have time for any silly games with you, second, I am still mad at what you did to me at the party last night, so you’ll have to excuse me if I’m not all that happy to see you.”

Discord made the barrel vanish. “Oh come now, your still mad at me for that harmless little prank I pulled?”

Charles got a little mad as he furrowed his brow. “You got every pony at the party laughing at me, and I do NOT like being laughed at.”

“I said I was sorry didn’t I?” Discord said as he crossed his arms and put his head up.

“You know what, why don’t you just stay here in town while I patrol the borders of the town or something, because I’m not sure I’m ready to forgive you just yet.”

“Well fine, if that’s how it’s going to be, then have it your way. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some mischief to catch up on.” Discord then vanished in a flash. The next moment, a scream was heard around the corner from a mare. Charles ran in the direction to the source, thinking there was trouble.

Upon rounding the corner, he saw a mare getting sprayed with tea by a tea pot and the cups on the table were dancing around. Charles looked on in confusion, not sure what to make of the scene. Then he heard a familiar laugh, he looked up and saw discord laughing as he hovered over the mare. Charles furrowed his brow and left.

***

Charles soon found himself on the path to Sweet Apple Acres. He figured maybe some time helping Applejack with her orchard would help him take his mind off his current encounter with the mischevious god of chaos. He was given free roam and told to help out wherever. He made his way up the path to the farm and saw Applejack coming from around the barn with a few empty baskets stacked on her back. “Hey there sugar cube, good mornin’ what brings ya by here?” Applejack greeted.

“Hey Applejack, I was just wondering if you might need any help with harvesting apples, I just need something to distract me from an….unpleasant encounter I had today.”

“Well, shoot, what kind of unpleasant encounter?” She asked.

“It’s not important, I just want to take my mind off it. So what do you say, need a hand?” Charles asked as he held up a hand and waved it.

Applejack chuckled a little at him. “All right, you can help me carry a few more baskets and set em’ up under a few trees. They’re in the barn there, once ya get a good stack, follow me.” Charles nodded and went into the barn to gather a few baskets. Charles carried two large stacks on his shoulders out of the barn while keeping them balanced with his hands.

“Right this way.” Applejack instructed. Charles followed Applejack through the orchard to an area of apple trees with numerous baskets under them. Applejack came to a group without baskets and told Charles to set them up around the trees. Once done, Applejack continued with instructions. “All right then, now we just need ta buck the apples out of the trees.”

Charles looked at Applejack in confusion. “Buck em’?”

“Here, I’ll show ya.” Applejack walked up to a tree, turned her backside to it, reared her hind legs and gave the tree a good hard kick, causing it’s fruit to fall neatly in all the baskets around it. “See, like that, now you try.”

Charles gave a smile. “I have another way to do it if you don’t mind.”

“As long as you get the apples out of the trees, what’s this other way of yers?” She asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Charles took his staff from his back, gave it a twirl and swung it hard against a nearby tree. The apples all fell out of the tree into the baskets around it perfectly just like with Applejack. Applejack smiled at Charles. “Well all right then, I’ll get ta buckin, and you get ta whackin.” But before Applejack made it to another tree, Charles started flipping and swinging his staff at all the trees in the area, he did so in fluid motions, it was like a dance, he moved and swung so fast, giving each tree a single whack, Applejack didn’t get the chance to make it to another tree. Within five minutes, every tree in the area had been cleared of its fruit.

Applejack was stunned at how fast the trees were cleared. Charles walked up to Applejack and placed his staff on his back again. “Well, how was that, we all done her or what?” Applejack didn’t answer. “Appleack, hey Applejack!” Charles’s shout snapped her out of it.

“Huh, what, oh Charles, well um…….that was some fancy hoof work there, thanks a lot, I figured it would take me at least half the day ta clear all these trees.”

“No problem, glad I could help, so where do we take the apples?”

“Now we need ta haul them back to tha barn. Come on, pick up what ya can and haul them back.” Applejack then managed to stack two baskets on her back to take back. Charles picked up three in each arm and started following Applejack back to the barn. Applejack took notice of the six baskets Charles was carrying. “Well I’ll be, I ain’t never seen Big Mac carry so may baskets at once, you sure are strong.”

“Thanks, I try to stay fit.” Charles responded. Charles didn’t see the slight blush on Applejack’s face after she faced forward again.

One thing Applejack liked to look for in a stallion, was strength, and Charles was demonstrating that with how he cleared so may trees in such a short amount of time, and how many baskets of apples he was carrying all at once. She also hadn’t forgotten how Charles saved her and her friends from the timberwolves a few days ago.

Within the hour, thanks to Charles’s help, all the baskets were put in the barn. “Thanks again fer helpin me with the harvest today Charles, I’ve never gotten through a day’s work so fast.”

“Hey, like I said, I’m glad I could help.” Charles said with a smile.

Applejack blushed again as she started to wrestle with a thought in her head. Eventually, she decided to let it out. “Say Charles, I was wonderin, after you get off a guard duty today, maybe you and I could-“

Before she could finish that sentace, a trio of screams pierced the air. Charles and Applejack turned around and faced in the direction of the screams. “That sounded like Applebloom and her friends!” Applejack exclaimed.

Charles didn’t miss a beat, he got his staff off his back in his right hand, jumped into the air and took off in the direction of the screams, his armor appearing in mid-flight. Applejack galloped behind on the ground.

As he flew, Charles was scanning the ground for any sign of trouble, it didn’t take long for him to find it, he spotted a lone timberwolf near a tree with a small house built into its branches. Charles came down, formed his swords, and readied himself for a fight. The wolf did not move, Applejack then came up behind Charles and gasped when she saw the wooden wolf. What she was really gasping at was a red ribbon the wolf held in its jaws. Panic raced through Applejack’s mind. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MA LITTLE SISTER YOU MONSTER, I SWEAR IF YOU HARMED ONE HAIR IN HER MAIN, I ‘LL BUCK YOU CLEAR TO TARTARUS MYSELF!”

Charles first looked at Applejack as she had angry tears stream down her face, then back at the wolf and saw what she saw. The timberwolf tossed the ribbon over to them. The wolf then turned to its side and made a motion of its head as if to say ‘follow me’. Charles wasn’t sure if he saw what the wolf just did. “You better not have harmed that little filly bark brain!” Charles called out. The wolf seemed to glare at him and did the same motion a little fiercer as if to say ‘come on’. Charles was hesitant. “I think it wants us to follow it.” He said to Applejack.

“Are you NUTS! It’s a timberwolf, a savage pony eating monster, it may have already eaten Applebloom!”

“Then why did it have her ribbon and just toss it to us, I know this seems strange Applejack, but I think something is going on here, my gut says something is up.”

Applejack thought about it, it was strange that a timberwolf would do what it just did. She reluctantly agreed with Charles. “All right you, we’ll play along, but if Applebloom is hurt, don’t think I won’t follow through with my threat.” Applejack said to the timberwolf. The wolf then faced in the direction to go and started to run, Charles and Applejack behind it.

Soon , the timberwolf led the two to the edge of the Everfree forest where there were three more wolves standing guard over three little fillies. “APPLEBLOOM!” Applejack called out upon seeing her cowering with the other two fillies.

“Applejack, help us!” Applebloom cried out with tears in her eyes.

Charles stepped forward with his swords at the ready. “All right, we followed you here, now let those fillies go right now!” Charles called out.

One of the wolves stepped forward, Charles noticed it had a strange symbol on its chest, a circle with strange arcane symbols and a star. The timberwolf sat in front of them and, to every pony and human’s surprise, it spoke, it spoke with a growling voice. “Creature, our king wishes to meet with you, you will come with us and we will release the little ponies unharmed.”

Applejack’s mouth hung open in surprise. Charles was the one to speak. “Did….did that thing just talk?” He asked Applejack.

“I……I think it did.”

Charles didn’t waste any time, there were three scared fillies in need of help. “Listen up, you better let them go right now or else.”

The wolf spoke again. “We have no intention of harming them.” One of the two wolves that were guarding the fillies motioned with its head for them to leave. Applebloom and the other two wasted no time, they ran forth to Applejack and all four hugged eachother.

“Applebloom, thank Celestia yer all right, and you two as well, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, are you gals all right?”

Scootaloo, a little Pegasus with a dark orange coat and a hot purple mane and tail responded. “Applejack, we were so scared, we were on our way to our clubhouse when these timberwolves showed up.”

The other little filly, a white coated unicorn with a two toned mane and tail, light pink and light purple, cried out. “We thought we were goners, but then that talking one said we wouldn’t be hurt as long as we did what it said.”

Charles didn’t take his eyes off the timberwolves as Applejack comforted them. “It’s all right girls, yer safe now, you don’t have ta worry anymore.”

“All right, what’s the big idea kidnapping and scaring three little fillies just to let them go, what’s going on here, and how are you able to talk?”

The lead timberwolf lifted its left wooden paw and used a claw to point at the symbol on its chest. “This symbol allows me to speak in your language. We took the three young ponies to get your attention creature, our king wishes to speak with you.”

Charles answered back. “And why should I go along with you, how do I know this isn’t a trick?”

The timberwolf snarled. “DON’T think that just because we are savage beasts we are without honor.”

Applejack cried out as she continued to hug the three fillies. “And what honor is there in scaring three little fillies half ta death?!”

“It was the only way we could think of to get the creatures attention.”

Charles then barked out. “I’m a human, not a creature, and why should I go with you, the fillies are safe and that’s all we wanted.”

“Because if you don’t, we will come out of the forest in such great numbers you won’t stand a chance, we will overrun the town and kill all the ponies. Now will you come with us or are we going to make a meal out of the ponies in the town?”

“Your not giving me much of a choice here, I will go with you.”

Applejack looked at him in shock. “Charles no, they just want to make a meal out of you!”

“If I don’t go, they’ll make a meal out of Ponyville, I’m not about to let that happen, I’ll be fine, I promise, you need to get those three out of here and to safety, they’ve been through enough, now go on, I’ll be fine.”

Applejack gave a reluctant nod and led the three away. Charles turned his attention back to the wolves. “All right you termite bitten mongrels. Let’s go.” He said with a scowl. The talking timberwolf turned around and started walking, Charles followed behind into the unknown dark of the Everfree forest.

Comments

[Autumn breeze24]

Vos nii bo mal dovah. Hi los gut wah goraan.

[HooskerKat]

6810904
Go home dovakiin, you're drunk