> One in a Thousand > by ThreeLui > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > "This weed should make the donuts better" [Chapter 0] > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This seemed like a good idea at the time, but you are now having more regrets than ever. You reminded yourself that all you had to do is stand there and wear armor. That's it, easy bits. Not even work when you think about it. “This is a special moment in history, I'm going to be the first female guard ever,” you remind yourself. It wasn't working well as you still didn't want to go. Like a filly who doesn't want to go to school. But you have to, you already agreed to this. You make your way out the door and start heading to the castle of the two sisters in Canterlot. You see a donut store and figure since you have a few hours, you might as well get some donuts. You pay for your donuts and sit at the only table at the donut shop. This was the smaller one in Ponyville owned by a single pony. It was a small business, but he made enough to live. You sigh and bite into the donut. This is the best donut you have ever had. You couldn't tell why, but this was a really good donut, like wow, Great donut. Really great donuts. Holy Celestia this donut was good. Mmmmm. This donut. “Hello?” a voice said “Huh, what?” “Can I sit here? This is the only table.” “Sure, go ahead.” You said as you moved your bag of donuts closer to you. Did you really get hypnotized by a donut? “Thanks for letting me sit here, got a little worried I'd have to carry these home.” “No problem.” You look up at the mare, she had a pink coat with blue fluffy mane. “What's your name?” You said “Icy Candy" She opens her bag and starts to eat. After a bite or two, she seems to be hypnotized by the donuts. You coughed. "What?" She said, almost startled. "You kinda fell out of existence for a bit," you said. "Oh, yea... I guess I kinda just got carried away by this donut." “I had that same feeling two." "Really?" "Yea" "Do you think he did something to the donuts?" she said, “Should we confront him?” “Now why would we do that? He's not doing anything wrong, he is just a very talented cook, that's all,” You said “Maybe.." You both continue eating, the effect the donuts had has faded and all you feel is relaxation. You finish eating before her and reside to say one last thing before you go. " I'm going to Canterlot to start my guard training." “A guard? Really? You don't even look like any of them, and your not even a stallion?” “Yea, I'm kinda making history.” With that, you head out to Canterlot to start training. Here you are. Training. Everyone around you looks the same. You stick out like a sore hoof. Everypony was either a white or grey color. To this day you still wonder how in Equestria that happens. Do they force white and grey stallions here against their will? If so, how did Flash Sentry become a guard? Maybe him and me are the only ponies who have ever volunteered to do this. Who knows, maybe there is a more logical explanation you'll be told later. But for now, you are about to start. A white stallion walks into the room and order you all into a straight line. “I am going to teach you all to be guards. Understand?” “Sir yes sir!” The room said in a way you would expect a class of fillies to respond. The stallion didn't seem to care, he continued as if they said it perfectly. “You all will be handed your armor pieces one at a time, when you get them, put them on. Do you understand?” Again, they all said “Sir yes sir” in a not so perfect way. On your first week, You are given introductions, fitness assessment, rifle and drill lessons. Every week or so you do different training. This lasts for about 7 months. You are then dismissed to a different section of the castle, where real royal guards are. You are officially the first female royal guard. Now that you think about it, you were the first female royal guard in training, so you kinda already made history. But this is where it matters. You lay in bed thinking about all that you have done. You have trained so long to become a guard. It did teach you everything you needed to know. It wasn't much, after all, you would be standing still all day. But you did receive instructions on how to respond to ponies that are higher rank than you or you are guarding. That "Sir yes sir!" thing and what not. You where pretty sure that no one would want to be spoken to that way, but what ever. It's your orders and you are to never break them, unless you are promoted to the highest authority, where rules essentially don't apply. A loud banging sound caught your attention. You immediately started putting on your armor. You finish putting on all your armor, except one piece, the chest plate. That was the hardest part. The latches where so tight and hard to use you would always be in the last 10 ponies to finish putting on the armor. You were never last, luckily. As there was always a pony slower than you. There was no punishment for being last, but ponies would remember you as the pony who can't put on thine armor. You have no idea how they even remember who is who. They all look the same, and your the same species as them! "I AM SERGEANT HAZEL ECLIPSE. I AM GOING TO BE YOUR NEW COMMANDING OFFICER. YOU WILL DO WHAT I SAY WITHOUT HESITATION. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" "Sir yes sir!" Everypony said in unison. They had never said is so perfectly and so loud in their life. This new commanding officer was going to be way more harsh. "TODAY WILL BE YOUR FIRST DAY GUARDING THE CASTLE. THIS IS YOUR TIME TO SHINE. DON'T MESS UP. THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE SEVERE, AS A SINGLE MISTAKE COULD KILL THE PRINCESSES. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" "Sir yes sir!" Everypony said. "EVERYONE FORM A LINE DOWN THE CENTER OF THE ROOM. WE ARE GOING TO THE CAFETORiIUM TO EAT BREAKFAST. THERE WILL BE A GROUP OF FILLIES AND COLTS ON THE STAGE THAT WILL SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM TO HONOR YOUR FIRST DAY OF SERVICE WHEN YOUR DONE EATING. DO NOT GET UP AND LEAVE AFTER YOU ARE FINISHED EATING. I WILL DISMISS YOU." He said. How a pony could yell that much was beyond you. Practice makes perfect, right? You are near the end of the line, so all you had to do was follow who ever was in front of you. You arrive, get your food and start eating, like he said, a group of fillies and colts came on stage and started singing. ♫ Equestria, the land I love ♫ ♫ A land of harmony ♫ ♫ Our flag does wave from high above ♫ You started zoning out, thinking about other things. What if you were part of the group chosen to guard a single pony? What if there was an attack? The group finished and the guards cheered and clapped their hooves together. The commanding officer commanded everypony to put the trays away for the cafeteria workers to clean. You all went back to your room where you stayed. The castle was clearly intended to have guards. It was kinda a mix of prison, boot camp, and school. You all go back to the training room and stay there for hours. The boredom was real. Normally if they had plans for the group, they would have the guards reenact what the tourist might do so you can stay calm and avoid laughing. You would stand their while a guard would walk up to you and pretend to take pictures and what not. Or you would practice swapping out with other guards. But this time, you just sat in your bed. Doing nothing. After a while, a guard spoke up, and everypony started chatting. You didn't join in because you didn't know if you where allowed to speak, but somepony said your name and you perked up. "What?" you said, clearly confused. "How long do you plan being a guard?" a pony said. "Uhh. I don't know. Maybe a few years a guess? Don't exactly plan to spend my entire life here." Some ponies agreed while other disagreed. Some said that was to long, others to short. The group kept chatting while you laid back in your seat and fell asleep. A banging woke you up, it was time to switch out with the guards. It was time for you to official start guarding. You and your group head outside. It's night time and its snowing. You are then split up into smaller groups and sent to specific spots around the castle. You have been chosen to guard the main gate, the left side. You do the ceremonial swapping and stand there, looking forward. Ponies are walking in and out. You are to stop anypony visibly carrying anything contraband. You are also to stop anypony banned from Canterlot itself. Luckily, only a few ponies mess with you, as it's snowing and nopony bothers with guards while its snowing. Also, you are at the front gate. Most ponies want to enter the city first, before messing with the guards. Two hours pass and you see the next guards come by. One stands in front of you and you swap places. You turn to your side and start walking back. When you get inside, you lose the funny walk you do where you barely bend your legs and act normal. You go to your block and start putting up your armor. You fluff your hair and get in bed, a few ponies are already their, and some just arriving. You lay down and fall asleep. Hours later you are woken up for your 2nd round. You put on your armor and do the same thing. When you get back, you take off your armor and put them in your chest. You then leave for home. > "Didn't know combs could do that..." > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Life was going well. You got your job and you can now sit back and relax. You didn't have the best house in Equestria, but it worked as a floor to walk on and a roof over your head. You had no water, as you couldn't afford it. Hopefully, you can get enough bits to have running water. You haven't showered in years. The spa that you occasionally went to did have a shower room, which you used every time you went. It was nice having water. Something you had as a filly but lost when your parents died. You had to continue live by yourself. You could never get a stallion. Even the desperate ones had standards like showering and having clean teeth. You were a bottom class pony living in a middle-class world. You tried the save the bits you got from your parents will, but that only lasted a few years and now you had to get a job. Guarding wasn't the best paying job, but considering you didn't have to work much, it would do. You fall asleep, dreaming about your future. Your alarm clock woke you up at 6:30. You weren't used to using it, as you never needed to. You didn't have a job or went to school so the alarm clock was always just a normal clock. Just there to tell you the time. You got ready for work and headed off. You came up to the clocking in machine thing and clocked it. Never found out what it was called. Back in the day, the guards were pretty supervised, but now you could just walk in and start your job. You went to your chest to get your armor, and put it on. Again, leaving the chest plate for last. You almost wanted to go without it, but it was one of the most prominent things about the armor. You could most likely get away with it, but that's a risk you don't want to take. You put it up to your chest and start doing the first latch. It wasn't budging. You stood there with a hoof holding it up and another doing the latch. Standing upright like some weird bipedal ape. A guard walked into the room and saw what you were doing. “Need help?” The guard said You gave up and let him do the latches. He finished all three in mere seconds. “How do you do that?” you said in curiosity. “Practice.” He said in a smooth voice, hinting you should just keep trying until you get it right. “I didn't just come here to help you with your armor. I am to tell you to be at 5B in five minutes. You shouldn’t be late.” “Oh, Okay. I will get on that” you said. You made your way to B hall and found room 5. You entered and there was a line of ponies lined up at the wall. You went over to join them. You fixed your posture and faced the same direction. After a few minutes, a stallion walked into the room. He wasn't wearing any armor, but rather a very expensive suit. He walked very posh and looked up, showing his muzzle. He put his face down to observe the line of guards. He paid particular attention to the ponies on either end, you being on one of them. He walked up to you, standing directly in front of you, “I will take this one.” He said in a very fancy accent. You didn’t know how to respond so you just said “Sir yes sir!” “Good. Now follow me,” he said. You did what he said and followed him to his room, where he started to undress and hop into bed. You were standing near the door, guarding it. “So, I noticed you a mare. We don’t get many of those here.” You stayed silent, as you were not asked a question. Trying to obey standard royal guard protocol. A few moments past of nothing happening. He continues. “How long have you been a guard? I haven't seen you around before,” he asked. You couldn't remember, as you keep mixing up training with guarding. “I started recently, sir!” You said, hoping that would meet his standard. “I see, I never notice anypony new, They all look the same. I act like I am picking them out for a reason, but really, I am just pretending. But you, you're different.” Again, nopony says a word. “Ok, look. I am going to need you to reply when I say something, I’m not getting mad at you, I know it's your job, but, It’s just not my style.” he said while leaning back. “Sir yes sir!” you said, knowing you’ll be saying that a lot. “Good. Now take off your armor.” WHAT? You said in your mind. You didn’t have time to hesitate, so you start taking off your armor and placing it to your side, trying to act like this is normal. When you finish, you look back forward and go into a guard stance. “Look happy.” he commanded. You started to smile. “Now you just look awkward. Go back to that guard look.” You did just that, making no face and looking forward. “Now jump.” This was getting weird, but you weren't going to lose your job just because you didn’t want to follow his orders. So you jumped. Then went back into a normal guard position. “Now do a 360” You then did a 360. “Act like a video game character” You put up your hoof to your face like you were on a phone and said “Niko, cousin! Let’s to go bowling?” He clapped his hooves together. “Classic!” “Now quote a movie scene!” “Luke, I am your father.” “Noooooooooooooo!” He was crying of laughter by now, you were trying to stop yourself from smiling too. “Ok, ok, enough,” He said, still laughing a bit “I have another idea, some sit in my bed.” You hesitated, by began to walk to his bed, not sure if this was normal. You got to the side and calmly got in, trying to act as guard as you can while getting into a bed. Not easy. “Get lower, I want to see your mane.” He said, changing his tone from laughter to lust. You did what he said. This was getting more weird, but you didn’t mind. Being on a bed was a whole lot better than standing up for hours. “Lay on your side, face me. You did just that, laying on your side and face towards him, still trying to act like a guard. “Lose the pose, act like you're in you own bed.” You drop into the bed you're already laying in and get fully relaxed. Your eyes look up at him and you get a feeling of comfort. You finally feel the softness of the bed for the first time and it’s intoxicating. “Now, spread your wings.” You don’t even think about it, you just let them fly. Stretching them out. You never get the opportunity to use them, so they just sit there for hours on end without moving, cramped up in a folded position. He grabs your wing with his hoof and brings it down and cuddles it against his face. It felt so good to have somepony feel them. They never get the appreciation they deserve. He starts to fix your wings, putting feathers back in their lines and rows. It was the best feeling you have ever felt. You haven't been preened since your parents died. It gives you memories that you haven't had in years. Love. Does he really care about you? Does he care about your feathers, or does he just enjoy preening? It didn’t matter, he was preening your feather and you loved it. He stopped and got up. He went to the bathroom and returned with a comb. He smirked at you as he got back in bed. He placed himself directly in front of you. Your eyes gazed into each other. “Roll over on your other side.’ He said. You rolled over and scooted back so that you were closer to him. He used the comb to straighten your hair and coat while simultaneously using his other hoof to massage your feathers. It was the most pleasant thing you have ever felt. You haven't felt this way before, The bliss of having you hair coat straightened out and being preened was the best feeling you have ever felt. Didn't know combs could do that...