Guards and Listening Skills
"Uh... So captain? What do we do now?" he asked.
The captain shook away the visions of his demise at the hooves of a violet alicorn and looked around the library, "Well, she has dismissed us for the night, so... We're free to do what we want."
"Woooo! Let's find a bar!"
"Dasher! While on any other day I'd agree, we still need to stay focused. This is an important time: the transitioning in of the new princess so recently presents a threat those who might not like the idea of a suddenly adding another princess out of the blue. So while we may have been dismissed for the night, we are still going to do our duty." Captain Blue Blazer told his troops.
"While I'd rather go with Dasher's idea, I agree with the captain." Stonehoof said, "What are we going to do captain?"
Blue Blazer looked to the door, "The princess dismissed us, and we are technically not permitted to wear our armor off-duty so first we're going to shelve these uniforms, and then we're...."
Twilight looked at the pleading mare with a sad smile, "No, silly filly, I'm not going to banish anyone."
"Then... What are you going to do with us princess?" Brush asked, avoiding meeting the princess's gaze.
"You are all hereby sentenced-"
The other impersonating maids dropped to the ground. Brush cringed hard, as if trying to shut out what she was about to hear. Breeze was trying to hold back tears as Bristle butted up next to her to comfort her.
"-to-"
Now even Twilight's friends were concerned about where this was going.
"-stay here and help us clean up the party afterwards."
"-Please princess! Reconsider! We- Oh," she looked to her fellow condemned, "I think I heard that wrong, what did she say?"
"I said: you are sentenced to help us clean up after the party." Twilight said with a gentile smile.
"So... We only have to clean up? No banishment? No prison? No moon?"
"Nope, just help clean up. Well, and also you three need to change your manes. It's difficult to tell you apart from my friends (and to be honest it's kind of creeping me out.) Where did you even meet Vinyl?" she twirled her hoof at the spitting image of the DJ standing in front of her.
"She was at the spa with us when we did all this!" Cloud said, puffing out her chest at the announcement.
"Ok, well, I guess that resolves that. Anyway, it's been stalled too long already: Pinkie? Let's get this party started!"
In true Pinkie party fashion the room exploded as Twilight gave the call. Confetti rained down from the ceiling, music began playing, and the food spilled by the fights disappeared, replaced on the tables with whole and untouched plates of cakes and other treats.
The party had begun!
After a while of preforming general party activities Applejack pulled Twilight aside.
"Ya know, I gotta' say that I didn't even notice it myself until now, but you were more right than I thought."
Twilight looked to the farm pony. "What do you mean?" she asked, confused.
"Just look at 'em, what do you notice is different about her?" AJ said, pointing to the Rarity look-alike with barely hidden humor in her voice.
"Um... Nothing... What's different about them? She looks like a perfect copy with her mane like that." Twilight said, still looking for flaws in the white pony's disguise. "I mean with her cutie mark covered like that..."
"No Twi, think about what we talked about earlier."
Twilight looked to her farmer friend incredulously for a moment and then back to the doppelgänger.
Twilight face-hoofed as she joined Applejack in laughter.
"Wow... I can't believe I missed that!" the purple princess laughed, feeling silly about her now obvious oversight.
"It makes me happy that you didn't Twi, it really does."
The incognito captain couldn't tell what the princess was talking about, actually, he couldn't tell who she was talking to either. In fact, from his angle he was lucky to see the princess at all.
"Stonehoof, a little higher, she's almost out of view."
"Can't sir. Dasher can you push him up higher?" Stonehoof asked from the bottom of the three pony ladder.
"Nope, I'm already stretching as much as I can." the middle rung strained.
"Uh... Captain? I know I haven't done as many field assignments under my saddle as you do, but... Is it really a good idea to be spying on the princess like this when she specifically told us not to?" asked Bastion from where he stood eyeing his colleges, "I mean, I don't really feel comfortable just going around breaking her orders like this... Especially like this." he gestured to the trio, "I mean really, did we have to look through the highest window? We look- well, you all look ridiculous."
"All the other windows have the curtains drawn, and besides we're just making sure she doesn't hurt herself like before." Blue Blazer responded, "What if she hurt herself, and we weren't there to help like last time?"
"Sir, with all due respect, if we hadn't been there, she wouldn't have gotten hurt at all. It really seems that this little town doesn't have any threats that require- Wait! Who is that?"
Now, as one could expect, a well-trained soldier is conditioned to react quickly, a skill even more crucial to the members of the royal guard.
As such, Stonehoof, Dasher, and Blue Blazer were all quick to react to the call of possible danger. Any other time their quick reactions could be commended, but when being the rungs of a pony-based ladder, such sudden movement is not appreciated.
The tower of stallions fell down, conveniently toppling into the shrubberies nearby. Bastion followed them in as the cloaked figure approached the bakery.
"I don't like this..." Dasher whispered to the group. "Not one bit."
Silently the figure walked up to and knocked upon the door.
They watched as the pink kidnapper from earlier answered the door and upon seeing the cloaked figure, came out, closing the door behind her.
"What's going on? I can't hear them." Dasher whispered.
"Shhhh!" Blue Blazer commanded, "I think they're planning something..."
They watched as the figure removed her hood revealing a striped mohawk and fur pattern.
"It's a shamanistic witchdoctor!" Dasher screamed as loud as whispering would allow.
The other stallions simply stared at him.
"That's just silly. A witch doctor! Really!" After focusing on Dasher's outburst and Blue Blazer’s denouncement, every pony in the bush turned back to the mares to find an empty stoop and the last light of a closing door.
"Whoever she was, I'm certain there are no Zebras on Ponyville's census ledger, making her a non-accounted entity within our operational window. Gentelcolts, we have ourselves a job to do."
"Uh captain? Why don't we just go in and ask the princess if she's alright? I mean, we COULD just ask her if she knows the, admittedly very suspicious, Zebra in question."
This time it was Bastion that got the funny look from the group, "And why don't you just march up in there and tell the princess we were spying on her and broke orders?" Blue Blazer replied, "I just want the princess to be safe, that means not having her only protection sent back to Canterlot for breaking orders on our first full day on the job."
"Ok, then I will!" Bastion stood up from the group's leafy hiding spot.
"You better not rat us all out ya crazy-"
"Don't get your armor in a twist, I won't tell her anything about you guys. I'll take the heat alone if it comes to that." Bastion stormed out of the bush and entered through the same door as the suspicious cloaked traveler.
"He's screwed isn't he?" Dasher said as soon as the door closed behind his associate.
"Probably, but that's not our concern now. We have a possible assassin to deal with."
"It's very nice to meet you Miss Zecora," Bastion said with a light bow, "and thank you princess for clearing that up."
Twilight chuckled, "No problem, I should be thanking you for worrying enough about me and coming along despite my outburst before. I really didn't mean to explode like that. It's just I've had a tough day. This party is really helping with that though."
Bastion rose from his second bow (this one to the princess) and looked right at her with a smile, "Think nothing of it princess. It is my job after all."
"Regardless, thanks. You should stay and mingle, get to know my friends a little better, Celestia knows you'll be seeing a lot of them."
"Are you going somewhere princess?" he asked, ready to follow her.
"Just for a minute, Zecora here wants some help with a potion she's working on. It shouldn't take too long."
"Give me a moment, I'll come with you." he said as he made his way over to the cupcake assortment set up on the banquet table.
"No need, I'll be fine, you just enjoy the party"
"But princess!"
"That's an order, stay here and enjoy the party." Taking a page from Pinkie's book, Twilight used her magic to grab a cupcake and delicately land it on the anxious guard’s nose, "Seriously, you need to lighten up."
Twilight's calming reassurance (on top of the fact it is hard to stay serious when there is a confections on the end of your nose) made Bastion begin to relax.
"It's not like there's anything in the Everfree Forest that I have to worry about hurting me." Twilight said with a smile as she headed out the door with the zebra mare.
The cupcake fell off of Bastions nose as he processed what the princess had told him.
"The Everfree Forest!?!"
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THE EVERFREE FOREST!?
hahaha, I can see the guards getting into SO much trouble.
Yep, the everfree forest. It is a walk in the park for Twilight -- be back in a trice.
Zecora: "My good friend Twilight has learned from the best,
Those poor gaurds will not get a rest."
Relax guards, it's not like you'd have a reason to not trust Zecora when she's with an EoH. Not like there's a war going on which could potentially destroy both the zebras and the ponies and result in Equestria basically becoming a wasteland where ponies live underground.
2359589
a trice
cockatrice
I see what you (intentionally or not) did there
2359797
It was intentional.
2359589
More like back in a cockatrice!
Shesh, how thick are these guards? Time off, free to do what you want – how about attending the party?
*Sits down in a handy lawn chair*
"Now to sit back and watch the train wreck.........okay, where's my popcorn?"
*Sighs in defeat as he starts looking around for his drink*
2360047 yeah no kidding!!
I can just see those poor guards after Ponyville gets their hooves on them for bringing the ENTIRE Everfree population of timberwolves running through town because in their efforts to "protect" Twilight they destroy the wolves den site
2360652 While I could see those Guards getting chased by Timberwolves they wont be running through Ponyville, oh no.
Instead they'll be running through fields of Poison Joke
Though now I have to wonder if Poison Joke has any effect on Timberwolves and what that might be.
the guards awaken this time the ursa major trying to find twilight in the forest of everfree
and zecora says after twilight saves them
Even though you hold much pressure,
was it necessary to go to extreme measures?
and then poison joke happens to the guards
I'm pretty sure that Bastion is going to overreact and insist that The Princess does not visit Mistress Apothecary Zecora's house without a full escort - i.e. a company strength of unicorn and earth pony guards and a full squadron of pegasi air cover. You can imagine Fluttershy's reaction to a combined arms Recon In Force deployment tearing through the forest and blowing up anything they don't like the look of (i.e., everything).
Still, at least he's showing some common sense. All that really is needed at this point is for Twilight to make more of an effort to meet him half-way.
great chapter! just one thing though, what did twilight and AJ mean when they were talking about the fake-rarity?
Really Twilight I think this time you really do need your guards. That is asuming they don't start blowing stuff up. Because who doesn't love to blow stuff up?
You know, after that one i ahd liked to see a brief thought crossing Twi´s mind. Something like "I´m starting to understand Princess Celestia more than ever...". XDDD
Awww, poor over-reacting and oversensetive guards. See a threat to yoru precious princess everywhere. Paranoia is nothing to them. XD
At least Bastion got some common sense but everypony would ring all alarm bells when hearing Everfree Forest. Somehow i hope the guards can do "something" to prove, mostly to themselves, that they´re useful for Princess Twilight Sparkle whereas Twi learns more how to take her guards on. As in not letting her frustatrion out on them but give them tasks she could be sure of they won´t get into (too much) trouble while keeping them busy.
Also Twi should think about enlarging her tree house magically to fit them all in, buy a house for those guards/hoofmaidens or turn one of her study rooms into a big sleeping room.
After all the guards cant sleep on the couch forever nor can the maidens sleep in Twi´s bed for eternity. They gonna need their own rooms/beds sometimes.
But i what i really hope for is some cute and adorable romance between a guard and a hoofmaiden.
2361284 you win, or at least THEY do
2362080 even better
2362365 Twilight's handmaidens got it into their heads to find their individuality so in absolute Ponyville fashion..... wait for it....... they dyed their coats and manes so they looked like ponies from around town. One of them picked Rarity
2363531
i knew that, but what was so special about it? twilight and AJ were laughing.
Nice story.
2363562 Think about it... What were they talking about before? If you didn't pick it up from their conversation in the "prison" and at the party, just look at the scene with the hoofmadens (from s3 ep13 ) and think about the thing Applejack was freaking out about.
2364663
since she has fixed up her mane she ought to look just like rarity, besides the horn, i don't get what that has to do with their 'prison' conversation since applejack was freaking out about how she perceived twilight's actions.
sorry, i still don't get the joke
2359582 http://youtu.be/ZQTChkzDmCU
Another really good chapter
nice to see one of the guards is using his head instead of jumping to conclusions. That'll make it easier for Twilight to integrate them into Ponyville. Yes, she lost her temper earlier, but I think she's been rather patient all things considered. Sweet as she is, Twilight DOES have limits
2364793 The only thing I can come up with is the the Rarity clone (I believe her name is Cloud) doesn't have a horn. In the actual episode the maidens were Earth Ponies although that's easy to overlook between their bright coats and fair colored manes
Yes, the author wrote them as unicorns in earlier chapters, but also said he "overlooked something", and I suspect that's what he's reffering to, though I haven't received confirmation as of yet
Hey, you never did get back to exactly how Twilight twisted her ankle