The Guard And His Sword

by Himntor

A Wasted Day

I wasn’t sure where Discord would be, but I figured somepony would know. First, I went to the royal barracks (did the guards standing outside it just exchange bits when they saw me?) and found Justice still inside.

“Back already?” he asked. “Swordulan, look—”

“Where’s Discord?” I asked.

“What? I’m not sure, you should ask Princess Celestia. Why?”

“Something or someone is switching cutie marks around in Ponyville, and the only one I know who might be able to do that is Discord.”

“Ah. Well, I can have one of the officers inform the Princess, you don’t need to—”

I began trotting out. “Nope! I’m going.”

Not like he could do anything about it, I was on a break, hah!

I went to the castle and found Celestia in the throne room carefully looking through a scroll about the length of a flagpole. I was glad I never needed to do paperwork that long.

“Princess Celestia,” I said with a bow, “Do you know where Discord is? I think he’s stirring up trouble again in Ponyville.”

Celestia turned her attention to me. “That can’t be, I have Discord busy with something in Manehattan today. What’s going on in Ponyville?”

“Well, for one thing, Rarity has Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark and is controlling the weather with her magic.”

Celestia smiled. “I see. Thank you for informing me, I will look into it.” She returned her attention to the scroll. “Have a wonderful day.”

I gaped at her. That was it? Uh…

I awkwardly turned around and left the throne room. What else was I supposed to do? If Princess Celestia was going to look into it, she’d look into it. Yet it didn’t seem like a great concern to her, so… should I be concerned? The changelings had been defeated, so… that really was Celestia’s answer. Who else but Discord could be switching cutie marks though? Unless there are some new magic spell shenanigans going on, or maybe something from the Everfree Forest. Everfree has always been worth investigating when strange things are happening.

As I made my way out of the castle, I happened to cross paths with Princess Luna, unfortunately.

“What are you doing here, Swordulan?” she asked curiously. “You are supposed to be taking a break.”

“I know, I’m going back to Ponyville,” I said half-heartedly. “Gonna find somepony to talk to and everything. Should be easy enough.”

“I’m sure it will be. Are you feeling alright?”

“Oh yeah, just fine.” Give me five thousand stacks of paperwork. “You wouldn’t happen to have seen Discord around, have you?”

“No, I believe he is in Manehattan. Why do you ask?”

“Just wanted to, uh, chat with him about something. I’ll be off now. Good day to you, Princess.”

I walked past Luna, but not two seconds later, I slammed into a magic wall and was levitated around to face the Princess again. She simply stared at me.

“What?” I asked, but she only continued to stare. “I am taking a break, you know. Not wearing this armor for any reason, I just haven’t had the time to take it off. Why are you still looking at me like that? I have to get back home, there’s a book I need to return to Twilight, and—” Twilight! What if she could have been the one who changed Rarity’s cutie mark? That seemed… no, that was stupid, she’d never do that on purpose. Couldn’t be her. “—and… there’s a… sweet horse-apples, would you please stop looking at me like that!?”

“Swordulan,” Luna said sternly, “what did I tell you?”

“When? Just now or last night? Well I guess in both cases you told me to take some time off.”

“Not only that, I told you to make some friends and go see your family. I’m aware that Captain Morningstar has ordered you to socialize, and though I understand his intent, I disagree with such discipline. Making friends does not quite work when under pressure like that, and there is more required than just socializing. For that reason, I am rescinding the order. You are free to do as you please in your time off.”

I blinked. “Really? Even go back to work?”

Luna sighed. “If that is your wish, yes, but Swordulan, I hope you take the time to consider what would be best for you to do. I must go now, but please think about it.”

Luna walked off, and I stood in place for a moment, confused about what had just been said. I was free? I could go back to work? That was what I wanted, but… how could I now? Luna asked me to think, probably hoping that I’d choose to try to make a friend or go see my parents, and if I chose to go back to the walls, would I have let her down? What would she say? What would Justice say?

I couldn’t bear to think about it, so I left the castle and began flying back to Ponyville. I wasn’t sure who I’d talk to, but maybe it would be easier than I thought. After all, I was a Lieutenant of the Royal Guard, so perhaps somepony would want to talk to me on that sole basis.

As I neared Ponyville, I looked to the Everfree Forest. Maybe it was still worth checking out, just in case. I did have three days to kill, so it couldn’t hurt. I veered left and flew down to the edge of the forest. Flying would be no good, so I hopped off my sword and shaped it around my neck like a collar and cast a light spell on it. It was always eerily dark in Everfree.

I walked into the forest and began using my magic to scan for any abnormal… abnormalness. The forest sure had a strange way of being strange like that. I doubted that anypony had ever discovered everything or even half of what was inside of it, and to call this place a mystery was such an understatement that it sounded like an insult.

Aaand I’m lost.

Why in Equestria did I come in here?

There’s a tree… there’s a rock… there’s a mushroom… is that a different tree? I couldn’t tell, so I transformed my sword, flew straight up and out of the forest, straight in one direction, then back down and in. Yes, this place was different. Kind of. There were still trees, rocks, and mushrooms, but it was somewhere else at least.

I continued wandering with nothing being picked up by my magic, and it was starting to get late. At least, I thought it was. I had lost track of time. Before I could fly out of the forest again to check where the sun was, I heard a twig snap, and it was not my hoof that did it.

“Is someone there?” I asked, aiming the light from my sword in the direction I heard the snap.

A Timberwolf jumped out at me, followed by two more. I blasted them into oblivion with magic and frowned.

“No friends to make among the wolves I guess.”

“No wolves for Lieutenant Shield,” a voice said, making me nearly jump out of my coat, “but for this zebra will you yield?”

I turned around and found Zecora standing not far behind me. I breathed a sigh of relief. “Sweet Celestia, Zecora, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

I had met the zebra only once before. It was on a weekend while I was doing some grocery shopping in Ponyville when Zecora came into town, and Pinkie Pie happened to be around to introduce me.

Zecora looked at me curiously. “For the wolves you are so bold, but a familiar voice scares you cold?”

“Hey, it was an unexpected familiar voice. I was ready for a Manticore to jump out when I heard that twig snap. Timberwolves are nothing.”

“Fair enough to say, but what brings you into Everfree today?”

“I was looking for some sort of magic anomaly that might have swapped somepony’s cutie mark, but I haven’t found anything. Probably looking in the wrong place, and I guess I got a bit lost.”

“Of cutie mark switching magic I have not heard, and truth be told that sounds quite absurd. The magic here does not have malicious intent, it would not strike out to cause torment.”

“Perhaps not, but I figured it would be worth a shot. Oh well. Maybe it is Twilight’s fault. Anyway—” My stomach interrupted with a loud growl. “—uh… what time is it?”

“An hour until the sun will go down. Might I invite you to dinner to ease your stomach’s frown?”

“Yeah, I’d appreciate that, thanks.” I really had lost track of time. Just another one of Everfree’s mysteries.

Zecora led me through the forest as if she had the place memorized. Her home wasn’t far, which surprised me considering that I’d heard it was only a few trotting minutes away from Ponyville. How far into the forest had I gone? Did I simply loop around? Ponyfeathers, oh well.

“Interesting masks,” I said, dimming my light spell. “They for scaring off the wildlife?”

Zecora smiled. “No, treasures from my homeland. This one speaks ‘hello’, and this one ‘welcome’.”

“Huh. So, what’s for dinner?”

Zecora let me inside. “I am making salad and stew. I hope you do not mind the brew, some ponies say it is too strong, and others say altogether wrong.”

“I’m not picky.”

It was actually delicious, though it did leave a strange aftertaste I didn’t understand. Zecora said it was because of the mushrooms.

“You have your own cutie mark problem I see,” Zecora said as I was finishing up. “May I ask how that might be?”

I glanced at my flank and frowned. “I don’t know how. I’m told I’m losing touch with who I am, but I don’t understand how that’s possible. It’s clear to me who I am. I’m a Royal Guard.”

“Oh? Is that all?”

I tilted my head. “What do you mean?”

“Do you not see yourself as anything more than a career?”

“Uh… I guess I’m also a unicorn, but I mean, everything about me is obvious.”

Zecora clasped her hooves together. “So everything about who you are is on the outside? As I look at you now, there is nothing more I could learn that would tell me who you are?”

“Well… no. That’s not what I meant though.”

“Then what did you mean?”

Ponyfeathers, that was a hard question. Of course there was more to me than the outside, but… “I meant that everything important about me is just… plainly seen. Why bother with anything else? It’s not important, I only need others to know I’m a Royal Guard that will do his duty.”

Zecora grimaced. “What is within yourself is more important than you realize, my Lieutenant friend. Putting who you are to such shame may have consequences you do not intend. It is not humility to think of oneself as such, you have been hard on yourself too much. I perceive that what you seek is not found without, but within, for you must answer one simple question therein: what sort of pony are you?”

I stared at my empty bowl. What sort of pony was I? That didn’t make any sense, I already knew that. I was the sort of pony that any Royal Guard ought to be. Loyal, obedient, brave, use… less. Incompetent. Slow. Out of our depth, and…

I sighed and pushed the bowl away. “I don’t know anymore. Thank you for dinner, Zecora. I think I’m going to head home and get some sleep.”

Zecora stood up with me and followed me to the door. “Before you go, there are a few more things you must know. Think of the things you admire, and change them if they are not what you desire. Forgive the one you fear, the one you hate yet hold dear, and remember those who give you cheer.”

I looked at her uncertainly. “I’ll try. Thanks again.”

I recast my light spell and began making my way through Everfree again, this time on a recognizable path. The trek gave me time to think. For the most part, I was upset about what Zecora had said. Think about what I admire? Find out what sort of pony I am? What did that even mean? And I wasn’t being hard on myself, I was just being honest. There’s no shame in that. And what was all that about forgiving the one I hate yet hold dear? That didn’t make any sense, there was nopony in my life like that. How could any of this solve my problem?

Rrgh. I bet Twilight never had to deal with this sort of thing. She had probably solved the cutie mark issue in half an hour while I just wasted my day away. Ever the unfailing, powerful, intelligent unicorn to save Equestria.

I finally made it out of the forest and headed for home, taking to the sky on my sword. I needed to sleep and think about what I’d do tomorrow, but a short way into town I stopped. A bright sparkling light had appeared out of nowhere overhead, and in a blinding flash, it changed into… Twilight’s cutie mark? It descended to the ground and flashed once again, then was gone.

What the hay…

I slowly flew forward to see where the light had landed and stopped over the roof of a house, finding a group of ponies standing around the spot, only there was no longer a light, but instead what looked like the silhouette of… an Alicorn? Suddenly I recognized the group of ponies as none other than Twilight’s friends. What were they doing here?

"Twilight? Is that you?" I heard Applejack ask.

My eyes darted back to the Alicorn, and I squinted to see if Applejack was right. But that couldn’t have been… that was imposs… by Celestia, it was Twilight! I gasped in sync with the rest of her friends.

“Wha… I-I’ve never seen anything like it!” Applejack said.

No bucking kidding! Nothing like this had ever happened before! At least to my knowledge, I couldn’t recall any history books with such a tale. There were only theories and myths.

I stopped paying attention to what the others were saying as I tried to think how it happened. Was it related to the cutie mark issue? No, that didn’t make any sense! You don’t become an Alicorn by solving some random cutie mark issue. Or if you do… I better get some wings after I figure mine out. But how? Maybe I was just really tired and hallucinating, or I had already fallen asleep and this was a dream. I flicked my horn, but nothing changed. I wasn’t dreaming. This couldn’t be happening… Twilight looked like a bona fide Princess for Celestia’s sake.

“That’s because she is a Princess,” an all too familiar voice said.

Princess Celestia had appeared out of nowhere. I couldn’t believe my eyes or ears. Celestia herself saying that Twilight was now a Princess?

“A… a Princess?” Twilight asked confusedly.

Yes, Twilight, a Princess. Congratulations, you’ve somehow done the impossible.

“Since you’ve come to Ponyville,” Celestia continued, “you’ve displayed the charity, compassion, devotion, integrity, optimism, and of course, the leadership of a true Princess.”

“But… does this mean I won’t be your student anymore?” Twilight asked.

That was seriously what she was most worried about? Then again, I guess she was really close with Celestia, but that still seemed silly to ask.

“Not in the same way as before,” Celestia said. “I’ll still be here to help and guide you, but we’re all your students now, too. You are an inspiration to us all, Twilight.”

Celestia knelt down and bowed to Twilight, and the rest of her friends followed.

My jaw almost ran through my sword. I couldn’t handle this, I flew off in a burst of magic to my home. I was done with today. I put my sword away, drank a large cup of cold water, shed my armor, jumped into bed, made an effort to not think about everything that just happened, and fell asleep.

Comments

[Himntor]

Big spike in viewership on April 12th & 13th. Where on Earth did that come from?