Even the Strong Need Help

by Charlie_K

Nineteenth Entry

Celestia had seen a lot of things in her time as a ruler; that much went without saying. That just went with the territory of being an immortal alicorn. But what was presently before her really wasn't something that she could recall seeing before. She was fairly certain that something like this would stick out in her mind if it'd happened.

At the moment there were four very guilty looking maids all standing before her in her office.

Correction. Three guilty looking maids, and one imposter currently dressed up as a maid and looking as equally guilty as the rest of them.

"So then," she started as she slowly looked each of them over in turn. "Who wants to start and tell me what exactly happened here?"

The four silently looked at one another in an almost conspiratorial manner, as if psychically having a conversation about who was going to speak up first, and what they were going to say when they did.

Finally, one of the four stood themselves up a bit straighter and taller, before breaking the silence.

"It was all my idea, Your Highness," the imposter spoke up, in a voice that was far too deep to be any mare. "I take full responsibility."

She hadn't immediately known that the imposter was actually Thunder Strike in disguise at first, although she'd known that something was out of place and not quite right about the whole thing.

"Oh really now?" she asked him, not really believing a word of it.

The maid attire had gone a long way in disguising the bulkier aspects of his build and helping him more readily blend in with the rest of them. She could believe that he'd done that much by himself.

But his broader squared muzzle had been another story. It would've otherwise stuck out like a sore hoof under the hat he currently wore. But whoever had done his makeup had obviously known what they were doing. This wasn't some sloppy, inexperienced job by a first timer, but an expertly done application of just enough touches to convey a sense of femininity that would help hide the fact that he was a stallion.

Honestly, it'd taken her more time than she wanted to admit, to realize the truth for herself.

"Yes, Your Highness," he confirmed simply. "It was all my idea. The others had nothing to do with it."

Again, she didn't believe a word of it. But he wasn't really gibing the others an opportunity to speak up and contradict his account. So what could she really do?

"Alright then," she replied as she turned her attention to the others present. "The rest of you are free to go."

The maids looked between themselves, Thunder, and the door to her office, uncertain of what they should really do in response.

"I... can't do that, Princess," one of the maids spoke up. "M-my name is Posh Polish, and if Thunder is in any trouble, then I'm just as much at blame as he is. I'm the one that did his makeup," she admitted.

Celestia quirked an eyebrow at the admission.

"Oh really now?" she asked. "I certainly appreciate your honesty. And your willingness to step up and take the blame when you didn't need to. But I'm also quite curious. Why did you put Thunder in makeup to begin with?"

"W-w-well, Your Highness, it's like this. H-he was already in the getup when I came onto the scene and found him with some of the other maids. He... he honestly looked a little ridiculous like he was at the time, one thing lead to another, and when we had a few minutes in between duties we... got a little silly."

Celestia looked back over at Thunder again, and the state of his makeup. That had been done in the span of just a few minutes? If that were the case then Posh Polish's talent and skill was being wasted as a maid. But that was neither here nor there.

"So I can see," she replied. "I'll admit, I'm curious about why he's dressed like a maid to begin with. But more importantly, why was he found helping with the cleaning duties at the time of the incident?"

"... Because he volunteered to help us with our duties. Or at least that's what I heard when I met up with the others at the start of my shift," Polish explained.

"Oh, he did, did he?" Celestia asked as she slowly looked back at Thunder where he currently stood. "Very well then. I believe I've heard enough to get an understanding of what happened. The three of you are free to go now."

The three of them looked between themselves, and back at Thunder again, trying to figure out what their best course of action was. But right now there was really little that they could do besides heed and depart from the office.

Leaving only her and Thunder behind, once again.

"I certainly didn't see this one coming," she freely admitted. "Do you have anything you'd like to say on the matter?"

"I need to start saluting the cleaning staff a lot more, Your Highness. They deserve just as much respect as any member of the Royal Guard," Thunder stated simply as he tried to shift where he stood. "I underestimated just how hard their daily work really is. After six hours of working alongside them, they were still going strong like it was nothing for them, whereas I feel like I can barely even keep myself standing up right now."

Celestia had to stop herself from asking him why he hadn't spoken up sooner, knowing that there was no point in getting into that discussion right now. His stubborn refusal to heed his own weaknesses and simply not speak up when he was in need, was what got him into this mess in the first place. Retreading established ground wouldn't do any good.

Instead she simply grabbed the chair in front of her desk and levitated it over to where he stood, all but shoving it under him so he could sit down before he fell down. The fact that he didn't even try resisting as he flopped down really wasn't a good sign as far as she could tell.

"I'm glad you have respect for your coworkers and the work that they do. But that isn't what I was asking about," she clarified. "Why were you helping the cleaning staff with their assignments?"

The most immediate possibility that leapt to her mind was one of the maids being sick, and him deciding to pitch in and help pick up the perceived slack, much as he'd done with the other guards.

"It was the only thing I could think of to do," he stated simply, his gaze unfocused and not fixed on her as he spoke. "Doctor Malar said that I'm unfit to return to duty. That he'd be violating his oath if he let me return to work. That the only way I'll ever be fit to return is if I stop trying to be a Royal Guard all the time."

He paused, leaving her unsure if he was done talking or not, as he slowly raised his head to look at her.

"It seemed like it was a good idea at the time. If I can't perform my normal duties, then I can at least do something to be useful. Something other than standing around and doing nothing, all the while feeling useless while all others are busy working," he continued. "I understand that isn't actually the case, but every instinct is still telling me that my not working is undeniably wrong. It feels wrong to be walking the palace hallways while not having the familiar weight of my armor resting on my back. The flooring feels weird against my bare hooves when I walk on it. Everything about this is... I don't know what I'm supposed to do, Your Highness."

As he looked at her, Celestia really didn't know how she should respond. This wasn't exactly a plea for help coming from him, but it was probably the closest that she'd ever seen from him.

But the question was, just how was she supposed to help him in this case? Helping ponies was one thing, but helping a guard who didn't know how to be a pony was an entirely different matter.

"I understand that you feel you should be working, Thunder Strike," she started as she tried to search for just the right words to offer up. "And I wish I knew just what to say, that would help puts your instincts at ease, so you don't feel like you have to work yourself into the ground at all times."

Truth be told, she'd just about kill to get those words right now. Not just for him, but for anypony who found themselves in such a situation.

"If you don't mind my asking, Thunder Strike, why exactly are you dressed like a maid anyway?" she eventually asked him. "Helping with the cleaning, I can understand that much. But the getup has me confused."

"Ah, well..." Thunder paused, seeming to be genuinely confused and uncertain of what to say in response. "I really don't understand it myself, Your Highness. But some of the maids thought that it was a worthwhile idea, and it really wasn't my place to argue with them on the matter," he explained.

Celestia tried not to frown too hard in response to the statement about his casual acceptance of what'd happened to him. She was obviously going to need to say something at some point down the line... once she figured out what and to whom.

"I'll admit, the uniform is a lot more comfortable than I initially thought it might be," he added as he looked down at himself and shifted his position. "It's lightweight, it breathes, it flows freely as you move. It's a lot different from the armor I'm used to wearing. I guess that makes sense, seeing just how much physical work is done in them."

The effort to not frown suddenly morphed into trying not to laugh.

"Although... maybe I should have argued with them about it. If I had, the whole incident with Sergeant Kowalski might not've happened. Or at least not the way that it had," he continued.

Hearing this, she straightened up and got back to being serious. Now they were getting to the issue that had brought them all here in the first place.

"Yes. About that. I've already heard from the others who were there at the time, but I'd like to hear your account of what happened. I'm rather curious."

"We were... working in the palace's southern wing at the time. Sweeping and mopping floors, dusting and polishing light fixtures, scrubbing toilets, even changing bedding and fluffing pillows. It was all quite a physical workout; I haven't done work like that since my time at the Academy," he started, a faint hint of a brief smile forming on his lips, before suddenly vanishing like it wasn't even there. "It was all going well, other than my inability to keep pace with the maids I was working with. Up until we encountered Sergeant Kowalski. He wasn't the first Royal Guard we ran into during that time, which is concerning in itself since the first three we encountered didn't notice anything out of the ordinary."

"More on that later," Celestia interrupted, sensing that the conversation was about to go off topic if that line of discussion were allowed to continue. "Get back to Sergeant Kowalski."

He nodded, before continuing. "Unlike the other Guards we encountered, he actually spoke to us. Spoke with us. He and the others were having a casual conversation, asking them how their work was going, if they had any plans for later, things like that. I let them do the talking, because I honestly didn't know what to make of what I was seeing.

"And then he noticed me. He didn't even recognize me. He started talking to me, asking me questions, trying to start up a conversation. He was... he was fraternizing with us, Your Highness. Fraternizing with me. I was too stunned to even get a word out at what I was seeing. And by the time he got around to asking if I'd like to join him for drinks in the palace cantina after my shift, I... reacted."

"You reacted," Celestia started as she glanced down as the notes Raven had transcribed of Kowalski's account of what happened, "by suddenly addressing him like a Drill Sergeant and reciting regulations from memory?"

"We are the noble Royal Guard. Our duty is to serve and protect the ponies of Equestria; not merely within the confines of the palace, but also beyond its great walls. We aren't here to be socializing like a bunch of snot-nosed school-aged foals on a day trip," Thunder stated sternly.

Celestia was caught off guard at just how harsh the statement had been. Far harsher than anything she'd come to associate with Thunder in any sort of capacity. The sentiment behind his words really didn't feel like his own either. And combined with what'd happened previously... she really didn't like the implications behind any of it.

"Thunder Strike," she spoke up slowly, "as I've said before, I appreciate your dedication to your service. But in all of the centuries I've overseen the growth of the organization, not once have I ever done or said anything to suggest I expect the guards to not have social lives. I've even officiated quite a few weddings between guards who found love while serving. I have no idea what your definition of "fraternizing" might entail, but I can tell you that nopony has ever been reprimanded for having friends and loves ones."

It was only as she finished speaking, that an uncomfortable notion settled over her mind.

She remembered the last time he'd been in her office and said that he didn't have any friends. Something that was preposterous to consider, and quickly written off as him simply not understanding that ponies could be both friends and coworkers at the same time.

But in light of what she'd just heard, what if that wasn't actually the case?

Just the thought of something like that even being a possibility sent a chill up her spine. She'd really, really prefer not to think of the implications related to such a train of thought. But it was something she couldn't actually refrain from thinking about.

He was sitting right there. She could ask him for herself and get a definite answer. But at the same time she feared what that answer might prove to be. If she heard him say how he believed being a guard required him to live a solitary life devoid of any social contacts, she didn't know what she'd do. She already had to deal with the fact that he was sneaking around to do work he wasn't supposed to be doing, especially in his current condition.

But at the same time...

"You do know that you're allowed -and even encouraged- to have friends, right?" she asked.

"It's never come up before, Your Highness..." he replied simply.

The urge to groan and facehoof was tempered only by years of experience at maintaining a neutral expression, regardless of what she felt on the inside.

"Well you do have permission for it to come up," she clarified. "Now then. Why don't you see about getting some rest and something to eat? There were other matters that I wanted to discuss with you today, but after the day you've had I really don't believe right now is the appropriate time to get into that."

Thunder grunted in response, unable to suppress the noise as he slowly pushed himself up from his chair in order to stand up at attention once again.

"I can keep going, Your Highness," he insisted, doing his best to remain steady.

"I don't doubt that, Thunder Strike. I have no doubt you'd try and power your way through your current condition in the name of being a good guard. But I'd prefer to wait for you to be better off than you are currently, when your attention would otherwise be split between trying to stay upright and what's being discussed," she insisted. "Now please, worry less about trying to be a guard, and just take it easy. Get some rest, get some food, enjoy a hot bath and let your muscles relax for a change."

Briefly, she was certain that he was going to protest, try and insist that he was alright to have this discussion. The fact he kept his expression neutral throughout made it hard to tell exactly what his intentions were.

Finally, he responded.

"As you command, Your Highness," he stated, and had to fight to keep himself upright as he saluted her.

Yes, she was certain that now wasn't the right time.

Once he had made his way out the door, she opened a desk drawer to retrieve a separate piece of parchment, quill, and inkwell, before going to work.

"Dear Twilight," she read to herself as she began transcribing, "I'm afraid I have to report a slight delay in our plans..."

Comments

[Bronycommander]

He took it more calmer than i thought he would be?

[Wishesshecouldwritegood]

11706096
Maybe that means he’s making progress….? At least I hope.

[Bronycommander]

11706217
you and me both

[hydra30]

What did Kowalski do when he realized it wasn't a mare in that uniform? Did he want to go to the nearest shower and scrub himself bald for what he said and was thinking about?

[Wolfwaffe]

I am kind-of interested to see Celestia finally getting fed up with that stick-up-the-plot behavior and actually becoming angry.