Demoted

by Nido_King

Morning Star

Late, late, I’m so very late!

Morning Star blew past a pair of maid ponies doing laundry, sending sheets and linens flying into the air as he yelled a quick “Sorry!” behind him. Of all the days to sleep through his alarm clock, it had to be Inspection Day. The earth pony had raced through his room in a panic trying to get ready, before making a mad dash for the castle. In the back of his mind, he couldn’t shake this nagging feeling that he was forgetting something, but he pushed that aside as focused solely on getting into position on time, lest he suffer through another earful from his Sergeant.

Or worse… be demoted.

Picking up speed and pushing his legs to their limits, he was elated to see a row of fellow guard ponies all standing in a line waiting for inspection. With one final vault, he slid into an empty spot between two other guards just as the clock on the wall struck eight.

Safe!

Right on time, the doors opened up as Princess Celestia trotted into the room, the line of guards all saluting in practiced unison at the presence of their princess. “Good morning, my little ponies,” Celestia greeted them with her usual warm smile as she walked up and down the line of ponies, inspecting them for a moment before giving a nod and moving to the next one.

However, she stopped when she got to Morning Star, her smile drooping into a confused frown as she looked the stallion over. Morning Star felt beads of sweat forming on his neck as he stood there under Celestia’s judging gaze.

“Morning Star… where is your armor?”

Morning Star went as pale as a ghost as his eyes slowly drifted down. He really should have listened to that nagging voice in his head, because only now did he realize that in his mad dash to get to the castle on time, he had forgotten the most important part of being a Guard: his armour.

“I… I uh… I don’t remember…” Morning Star replied, somehow maintaining his salute as he visibly shook in place.

Princess Celestia seemed to think for a moment before her warm smile returned. “I see. Not to worry, I have a spare uniform for you to wear.” Channeling magic into her horn, a soft yellow glow surrounded Morning Star for a moment before a brief flash of light enveloped him. When the light had faded, Morning Star had been dressed into a new uniform.

Except… Celestia hadn’t poofed him into guard armor. Morning Star’s face turned red as a tomato as he took in the maid uniform he was now wearing, complete with frilly skirt, headdress, and black slippers on his hooves. However, Celestia wasn’t done with him quite yet as she lit her horn once more, prompting Morning Star to actually break out into a cold sweat. Oh no… don’t tell me she’s…

Another flash of magic and the whole world suddenly seemed taller to Morning Star now. Her snout crinkled in defeat as she realized that Celestia had seen fit to make sure she now matched her new uniform.

“There, much better,” Celestia said as she continued her inspection. Once she was done, she looked over at Morning Star with a smile and said, “Try not to misplace this uniform, ok, Morning Star?”

“Y-yes, Your Highness…” Morning Star replied as Princess Celestia walked off, leaving the new maid to consider her new role in the palace.

The stallion on Morning Star’s left did his best to try and keep in his laughter until the princess was out of earshot, not wanting to share in Morning Star’s punishment. The other stallion next to the transformed mare just facehooved.

Author's Note:

And, that's all for now folks! I might write more if I have any ideas in the future (or more images pop up), but for now I feel like this is a good place to end it.

Comments

[Silent Wing]

Damn, I really liked those

[HB_DS2013]

I don’t really like having my gender changed against my will. I also think Celestia reeeeaaally loves maid outfits.

[DavisSentoV5]

I forgot that this story existed, nice to see it alive and kicking

[Chrome Masquerade]

Late, late, I’m so very late!

[Chrome Masquerade]

“I… I uh… I don’t remember…” Morning Star replied, somehow maintaining his salute as he visibly shook in place.

To quote Brock from Skylanders Giants:
"Wrong answer, pal."

[CyberDragon89ponies]

You could focus more on the interactions of the demoted ponies in their new positions and then adjusting to their new bodies and show the reason why some want to stay mares like because they got boyfriends or lesbian girlfriends you could also come up with stories of how they got demoted of your own this story was way to short
(Also I think it could be pretty funny if Autumn Burn turned out to be one of the demoted that wanted to stay a mare)

[white1498]

Please, keep going with this. It's very entertaining with how things go. However, we've yet to see a maid become a guard for a failure.

[PonyDragon]

Or worse… be demoted.

He had probably been tucking in his tail at that very moment.

“Morning Star… where is your armor?”

That's what Celestia said. Here is what Morning Star actually heard:
: "You dun goofed!"

Princess Celestia seemed to think for a moment before her warm smile returned.

Morning Star was sure that - for a short moment - he saw a pair of glistening fangs hidden in that smile...

---

Good chapter!
I enjoyed reading it.

Hopefully your inspiration strikes again, but don't feel pressured.

One idea I just got:
Celestia overhears some maid complaining Celestia wouldn't punish but reward stallion guards by demoting them to maids.
She would also say being a maid is an much harder job while being a guard is easy ("They only have to stand around being statues all day").
Celestia sees that as an opportunity to promote the maid...

[Herobrine1087]

This was a interesting story and funny at he same time. I guess being a guard is alot harder then we think, thats if you join the Royal guard not the night guard. Im sure the ponies that joined the night guard are like saying 'Thank celestia I didnt join the royal guard'. Its ashame it had to end, I really enjoyed it

[Proper-Noun]

'Demoted' makes it sound like a punishment. If anything, I'd say this is more like a special promotion than an incentive to improve. As you showed in the story, Silver Gleam (Which would actually work as a name for a stallion or a mare) actually prefered being a maid and decided to remain in her new position.

[Proper-Noun]

There's a new panel, if you haven't seen it already.

[Nido_King]

10734419
Oh, I have seen it. I'm already working on a new chapter, don't worry.

[Proper-Noun]

10735207
Great. I can’t wait to see what you’ll do.

[Onekingdom1]

Nice