In Need of Answers
Flash sighed heavily as he left the barracks. Word had just gotten out that Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony had saved the day yet again. He was grateful for their protection, honestly he was. Them, Discord, the Princesses, and just recently the Pillars were brought back from Limbo! He sighed again at the thought. It was all well and good that there were so many powerful forces keeping Equestria safe... But where does that leave the Royal Guard? Are they even necessary at this point anymore? With questions and doubt plaguing his mind, he decided to pay a visit to Prince Shining Armor. As a former Captain of the Royal Guard, he must have some insight to set his mind at ease.
As he passed by several houses that shone brilliantly, he came across a giant blue statue of a familiar-looking baby dragon. He had one hand on his hip and the other was outstretched, holding up an oversized replica of the Crystal Heart. Flash's ears drooped. Even a baby dragon was more useful, he thought miserably. He trotted at a slower pace until the underside of the Crystal Castle was within view.
No matter how many times Flash would come to the castle, the sight of the Crystal Heart always put him in a serene mood. He smiled warmly as he galloped to the underside of the Crystal Castle and closed his eyes as he neared the light blue heart, listening to its humming. A soft and warm wind blew, something he rarely felt since he was in his uniform most of the time. He took a deep breath, then exhaled. He opened his eyes, then trotted up to one of the four entrances. He went inside and ascended the stairs, hoping that Shining wasn't too busy. He may have felt better from visiting the Crystal Heart, but he still needed to get these frustrations off his chest.
--------------------------------
Flash reached the throne room to see Princess Cadance reading a magazine. She looked up and smiled. "Hello, Flash," she said, spreading her light pink wings. "What brings you here?"
Flash had been a part of the Crystal Empire's Royal Guard long enough to know the need to call Cadance 'Your Highness' or 'Your Majesty' instead of her name was only on either an official basis or in the case of an emergency. Today, however... "I need to speak to Shining Armor. I've been having some, well, uncertainties," he said, drooping his ears.
Cadance tilted her head. "Oh," she asked. "Maybe I could help."
Flash smiled. "I appreciate the offer, Cadance, but this is about the Royal Guard."
"Ah," Cadance said with a knowing smile. "I see." Flash became visibly confused at the Princess's reaction. "Never mind me," she said with a laugh, "He should be back soon, he's just putting Flurry Heart down for a nap." Flash nodded in understanding, then sat down. "So," she said with a sly grin. "Any mares catch your eye lately?"
Flash's wings unfolded immediately, shocked by Cadance's sudden question. He began to sweat and kept his gaze away from her as heat rose to his face. "I-I... ummm... I... I..." He stammered, then stopped when he began to hear hoofsteps behind him and turned around to see Shining Armor. "Oh, thank Celestia," he exclaimed in relief.
Shining took notice of this and arched an eyebrow at Cadance. "Honey, were you teasing Flash about potential love interests?"
Cadance giggled, then rolled her eyes and smiled. "Maaaaaybeeeee," she said in mock innocence.
Shining trotted over to Flash, then leaned into him. "Don't worry, she does that with just about everypony," he whispered with a reassuring smile.
Flash heaved a sigh of relief, then recoiled momentarily as the scent of mashed peas and dirty diapers filled his muzzle. "Oof," he exclaimed as he covered his mouth with a foreleg. "I'm guessing Flurry didn't go down without a fight."
Shining grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that. Even with all the spells Sunburst cast, she's still quite a hooffull." He then blinked, as though suddenly realizing there was a new pony in the room. "Why are you here, by the way?"
"I wanted to talk to you in private about something, but could you please take a shower or something first," Flash asked, his voice muffled by his hoof. "I can hardly take the smell!"
--------------------------------
Shining shook all the water off of his body, then trotted up to Flash. "So," he said, "What's up?"
Flash took a deep breath, then sighed. "Lately I've been feeling wondering why we even need a Royal Guard," he said. His ears drooped. "Between Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, Tirek, and countless other threats, I and my fellow guardsmen have been either swatted away like flies, incapacitated, or otherwise rendered..." he sighed heavily. "...useless. It's like we don't even matter! We're hardly making a difference, if even that," he exclaimed, throwing a foreleg up in frustration.
Shining nodded attentively.
"Meanwhile, there's many, many forces of good out there that save the day on what seems like a daily basis! Every so often, another new group of heroes will appear, and it just..." Flash paused for a moment, then continued, averting his gaze from Shining. "It just feels like there's no point, you know," he asked quietly. "Do the Princesses even need us? Each of them has more power than countless armies. I mean, for all we non-Alicorns know, they could even be holding their power back out of fear of endangering us!" he sighed again, then lowered his head. "I'm starting to wonder...'why bother?'"
"Hey, now," Shining Armor said as he put a shoulder over Flash's neck. "Let me tell you something that'll put some things into perspective."
Flash nodded.
"Think about this," Shining said, extending a hoof. "Somepony in the streets is getting mugged. Could you imagine one of the Pillars, Elements of Harmony or Princesses stopping it?"
Flash quirked an eyebrow. "Of course not, that's basically overkill."
"Right," Shining said with a smile. "Now think about this. Why are the Royal Guardsponies always the first to charge into battle?"
Flash scoffed. "Well, that's easy! We're..." he paused as his eyes widened in realization. "We're the first line of defense!"
Shining grinned widely.
"And the Pillars, Elements, Princesses and such would be wasting their energy if they just worried about all the small things!" Flash smiled widely.
"Now you've got it," Shining said.
"I knew you'd be able to help me. You used to be Captain of the Royal Guard, after all."
Shining laughed. "Well... that and the fact that you're not even close to the first pony who's come to me for this sort of thing."
Flash's eyes widened again as another realization dawned on him.
"I appreciate the offer, Cadance, but this is about the Royal Guard."
"Ah," Cadance said with a knowing smile. "I see."
Flash smiled and laughed. "Thank you, Shining Armor," he said with a salute once he calmed down.
Shining smiled and returned the salute. "Any time, Flash. Any time."
Filled with renewed confidence, Flash Sentry galloped back to the barracks, proud to be a member of the Royal Guard.
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9407412
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/subnautica/images/a/a9/I-see-what-you-did-there.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20161018133118
Too be fair they are mostly ceremonial but are certainly not pushovers (just a small force who are not made for paranormal foes), Shining himself despite being a loveable goofball on the outside and a softie is quite a badass when needed and held his own against Sombra and kept his cool and stood his ground (but didn't act the fool and fight) Tirek. His only weakness was the love for his wife and child and his issue with Changelings. Heck he's like my counties greatest WW2 legend.
By the way a good comparison for the Royal Guard in the series would be the Swiss Guard at the Vatican.
Well that was anti-climatic. Good story though.
9407461
it amazes me how many people look at the villiens the shows has people equipped with magical super weapons(The EOH) and such or require some other super magic to stop and then say the RG are worthless.
Every foe the show has ever shwon them engage has been a world ending level threat, insane alicorn, chaos being who warps reality, a being who stole nearly all the magic in the land.
Or a surprise attack from shape shifters.
these are threats no normal solution can handle which is what the guard is for, dealing with standard threats and in the Sombra Timeline we saw them holding their own agisnt an enemy army which is something that is actually on there level.
I've never been able to stand the idea of "The guards are there so the Princesses can just look at them" becuase it ignores the level of threats they face on camera, the fact they even engage these threats despite clerly having no chance at winning makes it clear they do have a duty to protect.
Honestly i want to thank you for actually seeing the guards do have value and aren't just incompentent people that can't do anything.
9407660
Thank you! =)
This was really nice to read.
9407718
Thanks!
9407660
No problem. Heck it's implied they put up a fight against the changelings but were surprised, overwhelmed and simply not up too it. True they are mostly a formal/ceremonial unit but like the aforementioned Swiss Guard they are not pushovers just limited in what they can do. Here is an example https://en.wikipedia/wiki/Battle_of_Dasman_Palace those blokes knew what will happen but did their job.
Hell Shining himself is no pushover.
9407674
I'd like too see an episode where they are doing an honest job.
9407739
Not to mention it was a surprise attack by an enemy that could be anyone or anything, hard to mount a resistance when the only people you can trust are the people you were directly beside when the attack started and if you get separated you are effectively alone.
They could be the officers giving orders, that defensive line of guards, those civilians in need to rescue, or as later episodes showed, that bit of rubble or debris on the street.
Order would break down faster then you could say "Winter Wrap Up"
And without order you can't defend a store front much less a city.
Pleasant, was honestly expecting a more cynical take.
9408105
Glad you enjoyed it! =)
9408008
I wouldn't be surprised Cadence wasn't the only one mugged and replaced.
This story perfectly matches my headcanon: the Guard isn't made to defeat supervillains, but the common criminal, and, with proper preparation, an army of average soldiers.
9408008
Yes. The Changelings were able to carry out the perfect decapitation strike.
There's also another good explanation I've seen that expounds upon yours: If the Royal Guard had assumed that the threat was a small group, they'd deploy in small squads in order to effectively cover Canterlot, but then an army of Changelings came, and to compound that problem, squads with an infiltrator in them would have had to face an overwhelming attack from the outside and a suprise attack from the inside. Things would be better if the Guard concentrated their forces at one rallying point.
What a nice little story featuring everypony's favorite blue-maned, orange-coated pegasus guard. I liked how this story addresses every Brony's questions about the Royal Guard's true place and purpose in Equestria. I especially liked the scenes where Shining Armor served as a guiding mentor figure for Flash Sentry by assuaging his doubts and concerns.
I also like to point out that the Season Eight finale "School Raze" did managed to show the Royal Guards as being useful when they showed up at the School of Friendship to prevent Cozy Glow's escape. I hope we get an episode in Season Nine where the Royal Guards such as Flash Sentry and Shining Armor are given a respectful portrayal and a chance to shine.
The resolution happened a little too quickly for me, but I still like it. Good job.
9411922
Thanks. =)
Great premise, but I believe this could use more expansion. This went too fast. It could get better, but it was a great start.
9413505
I'll keep that in mind the next time I make a one-shot. =) Thanks for the constructive criticism!
Nice story =)
A very good story you have here. I could see the same thoughts running through the minds of any of the royal guard, whether they live in Canterlot or the Crystal Empire. Have an upvote and a fave.
9902558
Thanks. =)