Guardian of the Princesses

by Darth Annihilator

Interlude I: Winter's Day Off

Interlude I: Winter’s Day Off

We re-join our friends in Equestria the next morning in Winter’s hut, where the white stallion was sleeping peacefully in his bed, completely oblivious to what would happen in a few short minutes.

“GOOD MORNING WINTER!!!” came a cheerful voice as Equestria’s Solar Princess came crashing through the roof and landed on his bed, scaring the living daylights out of the Unicorn in question.

“WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO SMASH THROUGH A PONY’S ROOF WHEN HE’S JUST LYING THERE SLEEPING?!” Winter made his displeasure known, rather loudly.

“You said I could come and visit, so I’ve come to visit” Celestia replied, completely ignoring how angry the Unicorn in front of her was as she gave him a dazzling smile.

“I said you could come and hang out ONCE! Not that you could smash through my roof!” Winter snapped before something dawned on him “Wait, shouldn’t you be holding the morning court right now or visiting Twilight… or doing literally anything other than breaking into my house?”

“Ah, court was cancelled because the throne room somehow got flooded and set on fire at the same time. No idea how exactly that happened but apparently a cult worshipping Discord has claimed responsibility…” Celestia answered cheerfully, her eyes shifted from side to side a couple of times nervously when she mentioned the state her throne room was in, though Winter didn’t notice.

“Alright, but that doesn’t explain why you’re not bothering Twilight instead of me” Winter said grumpily as he started trying to exit the bed, which was proving difficult as he had an Alicorn on top of him who did not seem inclined to move.

“Well, somepony woke up on the wrong side of bed today” Celestia remarked as she rolled her eyes, ignoring Winter’s attempts to get out of bed “Anyway, she left a note saying she’d gone to Appleloosa with her friends for the weekend. I mean, how rude! The one day I get off and she goes gallivanting off across the country without even as much as a by-your-leave.”

“Yeah, almost as rude as somepony crashing through your roof when you’re asleep” Winter said sarcastically, getting a playful glare from Celestia.

“Oh, shut up. Most ponies would give all their hooves to have me crash through their roof, so stop complaining” she said as she sat down, making it even harder for Winter to get out of bed.

“Well, they don’t have to deal with fixing their roof afterwards, do they?” came the snappish reply as the Unicorn gave up on trying to get up until Celestia decided to get off his bed.

“Is that what the problem is?” Celestia asked with a slight mocking tone in her voice as her horn glowed with a golden aura and the pieces of Winter’s roof began to float upwards, sealing the hole she’d made in the roof. As Winter watched the repairs to his roof, he was distracted by Celestia suddenly popping up next to him in his bed (under the quilt) and laying her head next to his “Hm, do you know that you’re a quite comfortable pillow?”

“ARGH, GET OUT OF MY BED!!!” Winter roared, shoving the unfortunate Alicorn out as he rolled over to the other side of his bed and also fell out, though a tinge of pink could be seen on his cheeks as he did so. Celestia got up off the floor and – if the look on her face was anything to go by – was not amused.

“How rude! Don’t you know that you never shove a princess out of bed? Have you no manners?” she snapped at Winter, who got up with an equally unamused expression on his face.

“What did you expect me to do when you suddenly appeared in bed with me?!” he retorted, glaring at the princess.

“Accept the compliment and enjoy my company?” she answered innocently, a genuinely bemused look on her face “Isn’t that one way friends spend time together nowadays? What do they call it… forking?”

“Not in this house and not usually if they’re not in a relationship, which – I may add – we are NOT” Winter deadpanned, his words making the Alicorn blush slightly.

“Oh…” she said sheepishly with a sweatdrop, before she took a closer look at Winter and noticed the bags under his eyes. Upon seeing them, she got serious “Trouble sleeping?”

“Nightmare” Winter answered, the word making Celestia give him an understanding look.

“I know how you feel, I could barely sleep after I exiled Luna. Want to talk about it?” she asked, placing one of her hooves on his shoulder “It does help.”

“No, it was just a silly dream, nothing to worry about” he replied with false cheerfulness before deciding to change the topic “Anyway, you could’ve done anything with your day off, why come here?”

“Because I’d rather spend my time with you and Twilight than in Canterlot, especially at this time of year” Celestia answered, muttering the last part quietly enough for Winter not to hear it clearly, though he chose to ignore it.

“Argh, fine. Wait downstairs and I’ll be down in a moment to make breakfast” Winter groused, watching as Celestia practically skipped downstairs, his face adopting an expression of relief when she was out of sight “Thank goodness I forgot to take my cloak off before bed last night, it would’ve been awkward if she came in expecting Winter and found someone else.”

He walked over to his wardrobe and exchanged his cloak for another, putting the one he’d previously worn into a basket for cleaning and watching as his image in the mirror seemed to swim in and out of focus and the colours changed from blues and whites to reds and blacks before changing back again. His horn then lit up and the bags under his eyes seemed to vanish, leaving no traces of his nightmare besides the memory of the event.

He then headed down to his kitchen where he was greeted by the smell of cooking food and the sound of the princess humming. When he entered, he saw Celestia standing at the hob of his oven, making a traditional full Equestrian breakfast, as he entered, she turned and gave him a smile.

“Ah, sorry about using your oven without permission but I figured I’d cook us both breakfast as an apology for breaking in through your roof earlier” she explained as she started dishing out the servings onto some plates she’d found.

“You didn’t need to do that” said Winter, waving a hoof nonchalantly to emphasise his point before he got a mischievous look on his face “Besides, it’s not like anypony would hear a complaint against their beloved Solar Overlord anyway.”

“No, you’d be thrown in jail for suggesting it” Celestia laughed as she placed one plate in front of Winter and kept one for herself. The two descended into a comfortable silence as they ate until Winter broke it after a while.

“You know, you’re not how I expected you to be at all” he said, getting a puzzled look from the Solar Princess.

“And what did you expect me to be like? A pampered, pompous pony princess who thought of nothing but the privileges the crown gives her?” she asked, watching with amusement as Winter immediately held his hooves up in denial.

“No, no, no, not at all. I mean I expected you to be a bit more… cold and distant. You’ve lived a long time and I’d have thought that you’d decide to never get close to somepony to spare yourself the pain when they died. Or something like that” he explained, not noticing Celestia silently giggling as he continued to ramble, her face taking on a more serious look as Winter finished.

“You’re not the first pony to think that and you certainly won’t be the last, but one thing I’ve noticed is that none of you ever stop to wonder if I was always like this” Celestia’s words prompted Winter to raise an questioning eyebrow, so she decided to elaborate a bit “I’ve lived a long time and while I may be young for an Alicorn, I’ve been a lot of ponies from the pony you see now to the pampered pony princess who cared for nothing but herself and her title.”

“Oh? What happened to cause you to change so drastically?” Celestia’s face darkened in response to Winter’s question.

“I was forced to seal my sister in the moon and I banished my best friend, leaving me alone with a bunch of power hungry nobles who tried to take advantage of my fragile state. Needless to say, it didn’t take me long to learn how lonely it is at the top, which in turn taught me to hold onto true friends with everything you have when you find them” Celestia’s eyes grew distant as she spoke, losing herself in her memories for a moment before she seemingly remembered where she was and her face brightened “But enough about that depressing stuff, what’s the plan for today?”

“The plan? I was planning on having a nice, relaxed day but since you’re here, I guess I can scrap that plan” Winter grumbled, earning himself a raised eyebrow from Celestia.

“And why would you do that?” she asked him, getting a roll of the eyes from the Unicorn in return.

“Because – and don’t take this the wrong way – you’re you. Because you’re a princess, the ponies of Ponyville will get extremely excited and start following you around, trying to help you out or do you favours and as a result, I won’t get any peace at all” As Winter was explaining this, he didn’t notice Celestia’s horn lighting up before it seemingly vanished as her mane and tail ceased flowing in a non-existent breeze and bled to white from their usual aurora-like colouration and her Cutie Mark changed slightly, with the flares from her sun becoming slightly more angular in appearance. She got Winter’s attention by tapping him on the shoulder with her wing.

“Ta-da! What do you think?” she asked, spreading her wings dramatically as Winter stood there in confusion.

“Wh… Wha… How…” he spluttered as Celestia tried to keep herself from laughing at the look on his face.

“It’s a form I’ve perfected over the years for when I want to escape the boredom of castle life. I originally tried a Unicorn form, but then I found that hiding the horn is a lot easier than hiding the wings, since the wings naturally move about a lot more than the horn does” The look of confusion was slowly fading from Winter’s face as she continued proudly talking about her disguise “I call this particular variant of the form Sunlight Shine. I even created an ID for her and everything.”

“Yes, I figured that part out, but what I don’t understand is why your mane is white” Winter interrupted and Celestia rolled her eyes.

“Oh please don’t tell me that you’re one of those ponies that subscribes to the ridiculous notion that my natural mane colour is pink” she scoffed “My natural mane colour is white, but – and don’t ask me why because I couldn’t tell you – for some reason, when my mane comes into contact with my magic, it changes the colour to the combination you’re more familiar with and makes it flow like it does, and since my magic is constantly flowing around my body, it’s a constant effect unless I consciously choose to stop it.”

“So, all those windows and paintings…?” Winter couldn’t finish his question due to Celestia interrupting him

“…Were all made by artists who were a bit too liberal with their use of artistic licence” she grumbled before she decided to move the conversation along “So, where to first?”

“Hm, I was thinking Sugarcube Corner. Maybe order a milkshake or something” he answered, a plan Celestia wholeheartedly agreed to.

“Well then, let’s be off… And remember, my name in this form is Sunlight Shine” she said, practically dragging the poor stallion out of his house.

The duo got a few odd looks from the ponies that knew Winter when they saw him being dragged about by an unknown mare, a sight that was extremely uncommon due to his reclusive nature, but nopony decided to question it as odd sights were becoming a fairly common occurrence in Ponyville since Twilight Sparkle had moved in.
Eventually the two arrived a Sugarcube Corner, where they were greeted by Mrs Cake.

“Mornin’ Winter, don’t normally see you down here this early. Who’s your new friend?” she greeted him, Winter opened his mouth to answer but Sunlight (Celestia) answered before he could.

“I’m Sunlight Shine, it’s a pleasure to meet you” she said, getting herself a smile from the other mare.

“The pleasure’s all mine, so how do you know Winter here then?” Mrs Cake’s question made Winter’s eyes widen as he hadn’t thought of a cover story yet, but Sunlight didn’t seem fazed by the question.

“Oh, didn’t he tell you? I’m his marefriend” she answered, getting surprised looks from all who were within earshot.

“WHAT?!” Winter cried incredulously, though everyone ignored him.

“Yeah, we met through that dating agency P-Harmony. We’ve hung out a couple of times to see if we’re compatible as friends, but this is our first real date” Sunlight continued, completely ignoring Winter’s attempts to protest before she leaned in as if to whisper to Mrs Cake “Ignore Winter’s denials, he’s just a bit shy.”

“What? Look, I’m not… We’re not… Urgh…” he started before letting out an aggravated groan “Forget it, two milkshakes please; Chocolate Fudge Brownie flavoured for her and Mint flavoured for me.”

“Comin’ right up, there should be a free table for two at the back there, give you and your marefriend some privacy” said Mrs Cake as she wrote down the order and missed Winter’s glare.

“No, no, we’re not…” his protest was cut short by Sunlight dragging him off to find the table Mrs Cake had spoken of. As they sat down, Sunlight noticed Winter’s glare.

“Okay, what’s that glare for?” she asked, making Winter give an annoyed sigh.

“Just what was that back there?” he hissed, making Sunlight narrow her eyes in response.

“Me giving a convenient and believable excuse for you suddenly turning up for milkshakes with a mare nopony’s ever seen or heard of before?” she replied “Look, I’m sorry I sprang it on you unexpectedly, but it was the first excuse that came to mind.”

“Urgh, it’s fine but I’m now going to be dealing with a load of gossip about it now because apparently ponies have nothing better to do than talk about other ponies’ love lives” Winter sighed, his voice getting louder and taking on a more annoyed tone towards the end of his statement as he cast his glare over to the other patrons of Sugarcube Corner, who were either watching them or attempting to eavesdrop. When they realised they had been caught, they either hid behind their menus or had the decency to look away sheepishly.

“That bad?” Sunlight asked, now genuinely curious about how bad the gossip would be.

“It wouldn’t be so bad if I dated before, but since this is the first date I’ve been on that these ponies know about, it’ll be a popular topic of conversation” Winter grumbled as Mrs Cake brought the milkshakes over to them.

“Well, on the bright side, you get to go on a date with me” Sunlight told him cheerfully as she took a sip of her drink.

“That’s the bright side?” Winter deadpanned, smirking mischievously though Sunlight didn’t appear amused if the look on her face was anything to go by.

“I am armed with a milkshake” she threatened, waving it threateningly and making Winter put his hooves up in surrender.

“Okay, okay, it’s an honour to spend a minute in your presence, just don’t throw that on me” he mock-grovelled, Sunlight smirking at his words.

“And don’t you forget it, peasant” she said pompously. The two sat in silence for a moment before they both broke down with laughter. Sunlight soon calmed down and wiped the tears from her eyes “So, what should we do next?”

“I’m honestly not sure, I hadn’t planned anything after this” Winter answered with a thoughtful look, pondering on what they could do next when a suggestion came in the form of Mrs Cake’s husband.

“Well, you could go to the funfair that came into town yesterday. I hear they’re having a couples week since they missed Hearts and Hooves Day when they were last here” Mr Cake suggested. Sunlight’s eyes lit up at the suggestion but Winter was less enthusiastic.

“C’mon Winter, let’s go” she exclaimed excitedly after she downed the remainder of her milkshake in one gulp.

“No” the stallion in question replied.

“But it’s been years since I last went to a funfair!”

“Don’t care.”

“Aw, come on…” The white maned mare started listing off reasons for why they should go but Winter ignored her after she started repeating herself until he had a thought:

Scene Change: Winter’s Imagination

Sunlight was sat on a roller coaster carriage with a sign pointing in the same direction as the tracks that read “Occupied for a While”. Winter then pulled a leaver that sent the carriage rocketing off and he waved at her until she was out of sight before he headed over to a nearby bench and sprawled out on it, intending to doze off while she enjoyed herself…

Scene Change: Sugarcube Corner

“Lightbulb” Winter muttered as a smile spread over his face “Okay, let’s go.”

Winter finished his drink and the two headed over to the funfair, Sunlight practically prancing around like an excited foal as they entered the gates. She immediately dashed in the direction of the largest and fastest roller coaster the fair had and Winter followed at a slower pace. When it was their turn, Sunlight jumped into the carriage and Winter turned as if to leave.

“See you later, have fun” he said as he began to walk off when he was stopped by a hoof on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw it was the teen that was operating the ride.

“Uh, sorry dude but it’s Couples Week. She can’t ride without a partner” the teen said, pointing at Sunlight over his shoulder as she stared at Winter with a raised eyebrow before she raised her wing and shook it invitingly.

“What?!” Winter barked incredulously before he rolled his eyes and joined Sunlight, an unimpressed look on his face. The roller coaster soon started, with the typical slow ascent before a rapid drop and quick corners, the carriage they were in reaching some impressive speeds and generating some considerable G-forces in the corners, but Winter’s facial expression remained unchanged until the ride stopped.
Sunlight bounded off the ride and went into a building as Winter exited at a more sedate pace. As he got to the entrance of the building Sunlight entered, she came tearing out with something in her hooves.

“Like the photo?” she asked when she reached him, showing him the photo that had been taken on the roller coaster of Sunlight looking like she was having the time of her life and him looking more bored than an unwilling guest at a traditional wedding.

“You seriously bought one?” he asked and she nodded.

“Yeah, why not?” she answered before she caught sight of something else and headed off to look at it. It was a small stuffed toy in the shape of Nightmare Moon “Aw, that mini Nightmare Moon is adorable.”

“I’m sure she’d be dead chuffed to hear that” Winter groused, rolling his eyes.

“Well, she might not like it, but I bet my sister will” retorted Sunlight as Winter came over to her.

“Bah, fine” he looked at the owner of the stall, a light coloured Unicorn with green eyes and a red and white two-toned mane, he was wearing a straw boater and a blue and white striped shirt “How much for the mini Nightmare Moon?”

“Well, it’s not for sale per-se, but all you gotta do to win it is hit and knock down that little Thestral there with that bow and arrow” the Unicorn answered, attempting to wrap a foreleg around Winter’s shoulders, but the stallion pushed him off with a glare.

“Oh puh-lease, I once hit an apple off a Unicorn’s horn with an arrow at some thousand yards” Sunlight boasted as she handed the Unicorn a few bits and grabbed the bow and arrow. The Unicorn pocketed the bits with a smirk and pressed a button, causing the Thestral to move around erratically. Sunlight’s eyes followed it around as she drew the string back and carefully took aim, but before she could release the arrow a buzzing sound rang out with a sign dropping down in front of the Thestral that said “YOU LOSE”.

“Hang on, you said nothing about a time limit!” Sunlight snapped at the Unicorn, who smiled innocently and held his hooves up.

“I do apologise, it must have slipped my mind. Would you like another go?” Sunlight gave him some more bits with a glare, the Unicorn’s smile widened and he pressed the button again. This time, Sunlight quickly drew and shot the arrow, the projectile flying and striking the Thestral in the chest, though the buzzer rang out and the sign dropped down again.

“Whoa, what was that? She hit that perfectly!” Winter barked at the Unicorn, who put a foreleg around Winter’s shoulders.

“Let me explain somethin’ to you. You see that little Thestral and more specifically how it’s NOT knocked over? And you know what that means professor: it means you lose and you don’t get the toy!” the Unicorn said arrogantly before leering at Sunlight “Better luck next time sweetheart.”

“Okay, my turn” Winter growled, paying the bits and watching the button get pressed. Quickly he shot a beam of magic at the stall, which froze everything in it except the prizes. Then his horn lit up again and everything that was frozen split up into millions of snowflakes.

“Knocked over!” Winter called tauntingly as he strode off, the owner of the stall giving Sunlight the toy before collapsing into sobs as Sunlight rushed to catch up with Winter.

“That was amazing! Come on, let’s go ruin another game designed to make us fail” she said cheerfully, darting off. Winter watched her go and a small smile spread over his face as he followed her.

Scene Change: Winter’s Hut

A short while later, the two entered Winter’s hut laden with various prizes they had won and laughing merrily. Winter closed the door and Celestia dropped her disguise as Sunlight Shine.

“Well, I haven’t had that much fun in years. Thanks for taking me Winter” Celestia said, when she had calmed down enough to speak normally.

“I suppose it wasn’t horrible” Winter replied, a mischievous smirk decorating his face as Celestia pretended to be offended.

“Not horrible? You spend a day on a date with a princess – an opportunity most ponies would give their hooves for – and all you have to say is that it wasn’t horrible?!” Celestia playfully snapped, drawing herself up in a pompous manner.

“Most ponies don’t have the princess smash their roof in” Winter deadpanned, making Celestia roll her eyes.

“I fixed the roof, what more do you want?” she asked sarcastically.

“Do you want a list?” Winter retorted just as sarcastically and the two glared at each other for a second before dissolving into more laughter. Shortly afterwards, the two had a bite to eat and then found themselves on Winter’s roof, looking up at the starlit night sky.

“Winter” Celestia began, not taking her eyes off the constellations.

“Hm?” he grunted inquisitively.

“Thanks… for today. It’s nice to get out of the palace and be treated like a regular pony for once” she said, tiltng her head slightly to hide the embarrassed blush that came with admitting this to her Unicorn friend.

“No problem” he said, paying her statement no mind. The two sat in silence for a while longer and if Celestia’s wing wrapped itself around Winter’s shoulders and Winter’s head rested itself on Celestia’s shoulder, neither bothered to say anything about it.

Author's Note:

Hello there folks.

Sorry about the long wait for this chapter, I hope it meets expectations.

There are a couple of extras to go with this chapter that are currently only on FF.Net, I will be bringing them over to FIMFiction, but if you want to read them, they're currently at the end of this chapter on the story on FF.Net (same account and story name).

Anyway, that's all I have to say, so please let me know what you think: Should I do ore chapters like this? What did you like and what can use improvement?
Please let me know in a polite and comprehensible manner so I can make the best use of the feedback
And Until Next Time...

Darth Annihilator - out.

Comments

[Mezilsa]

Hah! it isn't dead! Hussah!

Edit says:
And It's cute :D

[crazybee]

Stalked this story for a bit snd I freaked when I saw this. This was super cute and I definitely would love to see more of the side shenanigans like this. Thank you, mate!

[Shadowblade019]

Why is he nice to the white horse?

[Jamesonboo22]

Update any time soon?

[Jamesonboo22]

Update?