The Story of a Royal Guard: A Shield Contingency [OUTDATED/CANCELLED]

I stared at my reflection in the mirror with a frown. I had acted like such a foal last night, talking to Swordulan as if he were… ugh! I couldn’t even think about it. It made me want to scream and bang my head against the wall. I didn’t deserve somepony like him. He was Lieutenant of the Royal Guard, I was just a librarian. He deserved better.

I shoved those thoughts out of my mind and finished brushing my mane. I’d hate to tour the Empire looking like a mess. I left my room and spotted Swordulan entering the guest hall. He still had his bed-head and looked troubled. No doubt thinking about last night. I took a deep breath and trotted towards him. He saw me and stopped.

He opened his mouth. “Summer, I—”

“Swordulan, I’m sorry,” I blurted. “Last night, I shouldn’t have said what I said. I was just…" No, stupid filly, don't try to justify it. "I’m sorry.”

He gaped in surprise for a moment, then his jaw tightened. “There’s… nothing to be sorry for. I should be the one apologizing. The way I acted… was not the way a Royal Guard should act. Will you forgive me?”

Now it was my turn to gape. He thought he should be the one apologizing? His humility was becoming infuriating. Or was it pride causing him to apologize? I always thought Royal Guards would be the proud sort of stallions. I could hardly tell with Swordulan, which infuriated me all the more.

Still, I kept my composure. “There’s nothing to forgive, Swordulan. Let’s just forget it ever happened.”

He gave a weak smile—if only he knew how my heart melted whenever he did that!—but went right back to looking troubled.

“Perhaps that’s best,” he said. “Anyway, I’d like to go to the crystal caverns at noon. Earlier than planned, and the tour will have to wait until after, but I heard noon was the best time to go.”

“Oh. Okay, well, that’s okay.” Stop mumbling, you’re not a filly! “Is that all?”

He looked confused. “Um… yeah. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

I quickly nodded. “Yes, it’s fine. The tour can wait, but you seem a bit… on edge. Is everything okay with you?”

His face was blank, though I noticed a slight hint of surprise for a moment. “I’m fine. Still just a bit tired is all.” He cleared his throat. “Breakfast is almost done, I hear.”

I gave him a quizzical look. “Alright, but you first might want to get your mane fixed.”

He looked up at his hair and used magic to straighten it back to normal. “Thanks. So, breakfast?”

I nodded and made a small correction to his mane using my own magic. “Breakfast.”

I followed him to the dining room and we took our seats. Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor and breakfast joined us shortly after. The food was better than I expected, as usual. The conversation mostly centered around preparations for the Equestria Games.

“If you’d like,” Shining Armor was saying, “I can show you the stadium. It’s all finished, and you should have plenty of time before going to the crystal caverns.”

“I’d definitely like to see it,” I said, looking to Swordulan. He didn’t seem all that enthusiastic about it.

“Sure, I guess it wouldn’t hurt,” he said.

Breakfast was finished up and we prepared to head for the stadium, when a Royal Guard came in.

“Lieutenant Shield, Sir! A Miss Katana is here to see you.”

Swordulan looked surprised. He glanced at me for a moment—was that supposed to mean something?—and exchanged looks with Shining Armor, who nodded.

“Send her in,” Swordulan said.

The guard nodded and trotted out.

“Who’s Katana?” I asked curiously.

“My cousin,” he said instantly. “Just my cousin. I wasn’t expecting her.”

A moment later a light purple pegasus with turquoise eyes and a darker purple mane with an orange streak through it—a fashion statement if I ever saw—trotted in. When she saw me I swear she went red in the face.

“So you were telling the truth after all,” she muttered.

“What are you doing here, Katana?” Swordulan asked.

“Looking for you, conehead.” Rude! Who did this mare think she was? “I need your help. I found Stonehenge last night, but I lost him after he told me to leave and that you shouldn’t be here either.”

Swordulan blinked. Cadance and Shining Armor also looked surprised.

“Leave?” Swordulan asked. “I got a message from him this morning asking to—” He looked at me and sighed. “He asked me to meet him at the crystal caverns at noon.”

So that’s why he was acting all antsy. But who was Stonehenge?

“He did?” Katana asked, wide-eyed. “He must’ve changed his mind about you, then. And I bet meant for me not to get involved. Well, now I am, so you’re taking me with you.”

A little thought began nibbling at the back of my mind. Something always has to go wrong. Suddenly I desperately wanted this to be some horrible misunderstanding or simple accident. This couldn’t be going wrong, it just couldn’t be. Please let there be no real problem.

Now it was Swordulan who seemed to be going red in the face, though he kept a stiff posture. “Katana, if Stonehenge wants you to leave, maybe it’s best you leave. I can deal with him myself.”

“Would either of you mind explaining what’s going on?” Cadance asked.

Thank you, Princess!

Katana rolled her eyes and Swordulan reluctantly answered. “My cousin, her brother, Stonehenge, is somewhere here in the Kingdom and in trouble. I was going to meet him in the crystal caverns, hopefully without anypony else knowing, but I guess the cat’s out of the bag now.”

I frowned. No kidding. “You weren’t going to tell me?”

He looked at me apologetically. “I’m sorry, Summer. I didn’t think you really needed to know, that it would be simple to meet him at the caverns and find out what’s up. I didn’t want it to go this way. If you’d rather not go anymore, I’d understand.”

“No, I’m still coming with you.”

Katana rolled her eyes again. I glared at her, wondering where in Equestria she had learned her manners. If she had ever learned them. I wasn’t going to be dissuaded though, Swordulan was the whole reason I was here. I couldn’t let him go off with somepony as rude as Katana, even if she was his cousin.

“Alright,” Swordulan said, sighing. “I guess that’s fine. Nothing should go wrong, so long as Katana behaves.”

Katana went red in the face again. She was absolutely fuming. “You can bet your sorry hide I’ll do whatever it takes to get my brother back. I don’t care what I have to do.”

“Swordulan, can we speak with you privately for a moment?” Shining Armor asked.

Swordulan nodded, and he, Shining Armor and Cadance left the dining room, leaving Katana and me locked in a stare-down.

“So,” she muttered, “he really was telling the truth.”

“What was that?” I asked.

“You. You are his date, right?”

I gave her a sidelong glance. “Yes...?”

She seemed to be chuckling to herself. “You must have a strange taste in stallions to be with him.”

Was she trying to earn cold looks? Cause she got one. “And what do you know about him that makes you think so highly of him?”

She shrugged casually, apparently unaware of the stare I was giving her. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’ll take a lot more than pretty looks to tame him. He doesn’t act like a normal stallion, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“So? I don’t mean to ‘tame’ him, I mean to be his friend.”

“Oooh, only friend, huh? Cause the poor guy seems head over hooves for you. He flat out rejected to help me search for Stonehenge because he’d rather go to this special date in the Crystal Empire. When were you going to tell him?”

I gaped at her and felt my cheeks growing hot. “That’s not…” Did he really do that? Choosing me over searching for a lost family member? That’s ridiculous, a Royal Guard like him would never… would he? Was I really that important to him? “That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh, so you do mean to be his special somepony.”

Sweet Celestia, this ill-mannered, feathered bird…! No. She’s only trying to rile me up. Oh how I wished I could bash her teeth in, but I did not have the need to act like some witless animal.

I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself. “I mean to be what I mean to be, and that is for me to know and you to mind your own feather-brained business.”

Now it was her turn to be outraged, and it felt oh-so good. Her wings flared, eyes bulged, neck stretched. She was such a filly.

“You don’t have a single clue about—!”

She was interrupted by Swordulan and Shining Armor returning. Princess Cadance apparently had to run off for Royal Duties. Shining Armor gave a sharp look at Katana, silencing her completely.

Swordulan looked between us then walked up beside me and whispered in my ear, “Remind me never to leave you two alone together.” He cleared his throat and looked at Katana. “Let’s get going, I'd rather not miss the next train.”

He left the room with us following, though not before Katana could smirk at me in a ‘this isn’t over’ sort of way. I returned it with a ‘I know, and I can’t wait’ sort of smile.

I could hardly believe the audacity Katana had. This was not the time for foalishness. Summer at least seemed to be taking this smoothly, thank Celestia for that. I nearly had a heart attack when she looked at me after learning the truth, though luckily I was quickly distracted by Katana.

She apparently couldn’t stand looking at either of us on the way to the train station, so she flew a ways overhead. I was grateful for that though, as I could talk with Summer without her overhearing.

“You know, the outcome of this might not be what I expect,” I said. “It could be dangerous. You don’t have to come. I don’t want anything to happen to you by accident.”

She seemed to shudder for half a second before putting on a smile. “I’m not worried. But I wish you had told me about Stonehenge earlier.”

I cringed. I was such an idiot for not telling her. “I’m really sorry. I’ve just been so…” I wanted to use the word ‘stupid’, but couldn’t bring myself to do so.

“In shock?”

“Ye— oh… shock? I guess...”

She sighed. “It’s okay. I have been too.”

I looked at her wide-eyed. “You? But… you haven’t—”

She gave me a wry smile. “Haven’t what? If somepony had told me two weeks ago that I’d be going on a date with a Lieutenant of the Royal Guard at the Crystal Empire, I would’ve thought they were crazy.” She came closer to me and leaned her head against my neck. “But I’m glad they would’ve been right.”

The fur on the opposite side of my neck stood on end and a tingling sensation shot down my spine. It was so strange it nearly made me jump. I opened my mouth to speak, but it was hard for anything to come out.

“I’m… glad too,” I finally managed.

If something goes wrong, if something happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself.

I quickly shut that thought out of my head. Nothing was going to go wrong, I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. I lo—

You what now?

I… what does it matter? There’s nothing wrong with that!

You’re a Royal Guard. You couldn’t have her even if you wanted, it would only put her at risk.

Says who? Being a Royal Guard doesn’t mean I’m always at risk, doesn’t mean I can’t have… no, my job isn’t in the way, there’s no risk.

And if another major issue arises? What then? What happens when there comes a new Nightmare Moon, or Discord, or changeling invasion?

If she survived through those before, my being with her won’t change anything. There’s no risk. Besides, no one would go after her to get to me. All the villains are always up against Twilight and her friends anyway.

And should they fail some day?

SHUT UP! You’re wrong! That won’t happen, there’s no risk! That doesn’t even make sense, since when does Twilight Sparkle ever fail? That’s my job!

So you’ll fail Summer, won’t you?

…

You don’t deserve somepony like her. She deserves better.

Yes… she does.

“Swordulan?” Summer said, snapping me back to reality. She was still leaning on my neck.

“Huh?”

“What was it that Shining Armor said to you?”

I winced. “It was nothing important, just something about some paperwork he didn’t want Katana overhearing.”

She didn’t need to know. A part of me wishes I didn’t know either, but it was better that I did. A backup plan, in case something went wrong. I only hoped it wasn’t going to be necessary.

“Oh. How much further is it to the caverns?”

“We have to take the train.”

And the station was just in sight.