My Little Pony: Advent of the Goblins

by johntheanimefan

chapter 2: the bodyguard

Chapter 2
The Bodyguard

Twilight Sparkle, princess of friendship, was asleep at her desk in her study. Unattractive snoring spurted from her muzzle, as drool crept down her mouth to the scrap of paperwork beneath her head. Her slumber was interrupted, however, when a napkin was pressed to her mouth to prevent the drool from soiling the paper. Twilight let out a snort, then a groan, and lifted her head, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Twilight looked down to see that it was her assistant Spike, who had woken her up. "Glad to see you back among the living, Twilight," he said.

Twilight rubbed her left eye with her left hoof and groaned once more. "Spike, can't a girl get some sleep?"

"Not when she has literal tons of paperwork to get done," Spike replied, gesturing to the three stacks of papers on her desk. "And certainly not when there's a certain somepony at the door waiting on you."

"Really? Who is it?" Twilight asked. Spike simply replied with a knowing smirk. Realization hit Twilight like a freight train, her eyes widened, and her purple coat shone red. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I must look horrible! I forgot he was coming today!" Twilight sped out of the study, and in mere minutes, was back looking like she didn't just have the most uncomfortable nap seconds ago.

Twilight rushed down the stairs of the castle to the front door. Skidding to a halt, she assumed her best dignified pose and opened the large crystal doors with her magic. Behind the doors stood none other than Flash Sentry, who grinned at the sight of the princess. Twilight did her best to maintain her composure. "A-ah, sir Sentry. So good to see you once aga-"

"Twilight, nopony's here but us," Flash interrupted. Immediately after saying this, Twilight dropped her act, ran up and kissed him. After separating, Twilight nuzzled her face into his neck.

"I missed you," she said. For almost a year now, the two had been meeting in secret. Twilight hadn't even told her friends about her relationship with Flash, out of the chance, however small, that they might tell somepony. The last thing either of them wanted was the press and the gossip seekers breathing down their necks.

"I missed you too," Flash muttered back. The two stepped back, locked hooves, and stepped inside to enjoy each other's company in private.
---

Xanadu could see the castle just a few miles away. Seeing no reason to continue stalling, he made his way down the road. However, yet another obstacle came into existence as a small whimper caught his attention. Xanadu looked down and saw none other than Fluttershy, who, like Applebloom, was staring wide eyed at the newcomer, shaking like a leaf. Xanadu sighed, already growing tired of this routine, and moved to step around the mare. However, this simple gesture caused Fluttershy to panic, scream bloody murder, and speed off to god knows where. Xanadu rolled his eyes, and kept walking.

Something told him that this was gonna be a long stay.

Now if he could just get to that castle without something else happening. Unfortunately, the gods decided they wanted to screw with him some more, and a blue blur sped down towards his head. Xanadu, thinking fast, jumped back to avoid the incoming projectile that collided with the space of dirt he was previously inhabiting. When the smoke cleared, Rainbow dash was left standing in a small crater in the ground.

Xanadu pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. Screw lasting his stay here without incident, he'd just like to get through a single hour. Xanadu took off his hat, and stood up. "Can I help you, ma'am?" he asked.

"Yeah," replied the hot headed pegasus. "I want to know what you were doing, scaring the daylights out of my friend."

"With due respect, your friend just ran off screaming like a mad mare," Xanadu replied. "I apologize for scaring her, but I really must be going." Rainbow dash refused to move from her spot, continuing to glare at the goblin.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy had returned to the scene, flying over to Rainbow Dash. "R-Rainbow, I, I don't think this is necessary," she said. "I-I just overreacted, is all."

"Listen to your friend and let me pass," Xanadu said.

"Yeah, how about no?" Rainbow asked rhetorically.

"Rainbow, wait!" Fluttershy pleaded, but it was too late. Rainbow shot forth like a bullet towards Xanadu, who reached into his coat in preparation.

"Stop it, both of you!" Shouted a fourth newcomer. Xanadu and Rainbow were then coated in a light purple aura that, while it didn't completely hinder their movements, it did stop the two from colliding. Xanadu and Rainbow looked to their left and saw Rarity, huffing and puffing, as the spell she was using to restrain the two was no doubt taking its toll on her. "Honestly, Rainbow, how rude. This young Goblin-"

"I'm actually 49," Xanadu interrupted.

"This...middle aged, almost old Goblin, frightens Fluttershy-which I assure you sir, is not that hard a feat to accomplish-and you immediately try to eviscerate him, without even hearing what he has to say."

Rainbow Dash pouted. "How long you gonna keep us here?"

"Until you promise that you will not attack him if I let you go."

"Ugh, fine, whatever..." Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. Rarity heaved a sigh of relief and released the two from the spell.

"Thank you, ma'am," said Xanadu.

"Yes, that was very well handled," Fluttershy chimed in as she trotted up behind Rarity.

"Now then-" Xanadu pulled out the object he had grabbed from his coat, revealing it to be the paper he had shown the train worker earlier. "Maybe this will assuage your fears." He held out the paper for the mares to read. All three ponies eyes went wide as dinner plates. "May I please be allowed to go to the castle?" The three shook their heads to wake up from their daze

"O-oh yes, right this way," said Rarity, who walked ahead.
---

Twilight and Flash walked together hoof in hoof through the palace gardens. The various colors found throughout the foliage, combined with the gentle summer air, made for a relaxed and romantic atmosphere. "And then I tell him "Razor, sometimes you need to take a step back and ask yourself: how the hay did I get here?" And well, I'm pretty sure you can figure out what happened next," Flash said to Twilight, who giggled at his story. "The moral of the story is: Don't steal the princess's headache medication."

This time, Twilight let out raucous laughter, leaning on his shoulder for support. "You know, one of these days, I really need to meet these friends of yours," she said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Yeah, they're a bunch of numbskulls, but they're there for you." Flash sighed. "I'm really gonna miss them..." Twilight stopped, stepping in front of the yellow-orange stallion.

"W-what do you mean?" she asked.

Flash pursed his lips before letting out another heavy sigh. "No point in tip toeing around this anymore. Twilight, Cadance knows about us."

Twilight's eyes widened. "W-what? But how?"

"I don't really know myself. But considering we just tried to hide a relationship from the princess of LOVE, I'm guessing she has ways of finding out if ponies are together."

"Well, what did she do?"

Flash's face went somber. "She ordered that, effectively immediately..." The somber face then vanished, leaving a wide grin behind. "I am to pack my things, and move to ponyville to act as your official bodyguard, and personal servant."

Twilight's mouth hung agape before a fierce glare dominated her features. "You damn tease!" she said, lightly striking his arm with her hoof. "My heart was about to stop!"

"Why?" asked Flash through fits of giggling. "Like Cadance would honestly try to separate us."

"I know but still..." Twilight nuzzled her face into his neck. "Please don't pull something like that again."

"Fine, fine, I promise." Flash wrapped his hoof around her back and the two held each other for several minutes.

"Twilight!" Shouted Spike, who swung open the doors to the gardens, interrupting the tender moment.

Twilight, face beet red, was about to yell at spike for the interruption, but the color drained from his face and his dinner plate wide eyes cooled her down. "Spike? What's wrong?" she asked.

"T-there's someone else at the door. H-he's asking for you. I think you should go see him." Twilight knew her assistant well enough to know that he wouldn't be this tense unless it was serious.

She nodded and turned to Flash. "Well, we better go see him." Flash nodded in agreement, following the princess very close behind. Spike, meanwhile, hopped onto Twilight's back and wrapped his arms around her neck.

The three arrived at the door, and Twilight opened the door with her magic. Her eyes widened like spike's when she saw who was on the other side. Flash remained where he was, but his eyes narrowed. Not in anger, but in preparation.

Xanadu gazed down at Twilight. He removed his hat, held it over his chest, and knelt down on one knee before the princess of friendship. "Your majesty," he said, reaching into his coat and pulling out the paper, handing it to her. Twilight read the paper and digested the words. The paper read...

By order of Princess Celestia, mare of daylight, all who read this paper are to grant the goblin Xanadu safe passage through the land of Equestria. For he has been chosen to be the escort of royalty. The personal guard and protector of the princess of friendship, Twilight Sparkle.
So says Celestia...

Twilight looked up from the paper, her eyes having changed to a look of confusion. Flash had returned to his neutral posture, having full faith in the Princess's words. Spike had calmed down, but still stayed safely on Twilight's back.

Xanadu remained how he was, bowing before his new master. "I know what you must have thought when you saw me. I promise, you will have nothing to fear of me as long as you shall live."

Slowly, a kind smile danced across Twilight's face, and she stepped to the side. "Why don't you come in? You've clearly had a long journey." Xanadu rose back up to his feet and stepped into the castle.

Author's Note:

Wow, I have never updated a chapter so quickly! Also, I noticed a good many of you might not care for this story so far. If you have a problem, please tell me in comments and reviews. I'm not kidding when I say this is the first time I am writing these characters, so I'm probably getting some details wrong. But I cannot fix it if I'm not told what to fix.

Thanks for reading, see you in the next chapter!

Comments

[PonyJosiah13]

This chapter is probably the reason people are overreacting and giving your story several downvotes: you ship Flashlight. I do not have a problem with that at all—I ship them as well—but you do have to understand that that shipping was a risk. Having them already in the midst of a relationship was an even bigger risk, because doing so does not give the reader a chance to learn much about Flash's personality or how their relationship evolved. While this is somewhat excusable here for the sake of the story, I do want you to understand just why this is a problem for some.