The Story of a Royal Guard: A Shield Contingency [OUTDATED/CANCELLED]

The rest of the trip back to Canterlot was long and tiring. I had to walk all the way around Foal Mountain and across half of Equestria. It was already after dark by the time I reached the city gates. The night guards patrolling the walls spotted me and let me in. Someone at the wall must have recognized me and said something because Captain Morningstar was the first one to greet me.

“Swordulan!” he said while running up to me. “Where have you been? What happened to you? You look terrible.”

There were definitely a few rings under my eyes. “Yeah… I’m sorry I just up and left like that. I feel horrible. I’ve been walking all day without a bite to eat just to get back to Canterlot.”

“Why didn’t you take the train?”

I motioned towards my sword strapped to my back. “That thing was causing problems. Didn’t want to risk anyone getting hurt. It broke along the way.”

I didn’t think telling anyone about the dragon, zebra or portal was such a great idea. Better to keep that to myself.

The Captain nodded understandingly. “I see. Do you need a place to stay? I can offer you an empty bunk.”

“I'd be very grateful for that, thanks. And, uh… It’s not too late to get back with the Royal Guard, is it? I’m so sorry about what happened before, I was not acting like myself and made a really stupid decision.”

“I’ll have to review some documents first, but I believe it’s a possibility to get you back in tomorrow. And hey, it looks like you’ve got your cutie mark back, congratulations.”

“I have?” I looked back at my flank in surprise. There it was, sword, shield, six stars, as if nothing ever happened to it. “I never noticed. That’s… interesting.”

“Interesting? I’d say it’s great! It’ll be good to have you back to your normal self. The Summer Sun Celebration is only a couple days away, I could definitely use the extra help. Come on, let’s get you a bunk, you look like you’re about to collapse.”

I nodded eagerly. It was about time I got some sleep.

As we made our way to the barracks my stomach wouldn’t stop rumbling, so we made a quick stop at a restaurant so I could get a midnight snack. I nearly fell asleep on my food. Once I finished eating we continued to the barracks and I was given a temporary bunk. I hopped in and went out like a light.

I was awakened with a shake.

“Sir? Sir!” I heard someone call beside me.

I rubbed my eyes and saw a set of guard armor and a helmet being pushed towards me.

“Orders from Captain Morningstar, Lieutenant Shield,” said the guard. “He needs you outside right away.”

I jumped out of the bunk and took the armor in my magic, strapping it all on in seconds. “Thank you.”

I ran outside to find the Captain issuing orders to squads of multiple guards, and the most peculiar scene taking place in the sky. There was the sun, and there was the moon, sitting side by side. It looked like it was the middle of the night, yet also a ways into the afternoon.

I walked up to Morningstar. “Captain, what’s going on? How come the sky is--”

He held up a hoof to silence me. “There’s a problem. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are both missing. We’ve been tasked by Princess Twilight to search for them. Meanwhile, the Everfree Forest appears to be invading Ponyville. Things are quickly getting out of control. I need you to fly down to Ponyville and see what’s really going on, then do whatever you can to help them. Evacuate the town if needed.”

“Uh, Captain, I can’t fly anymore. My sword broke, remember? It’s not much use other than being a sword now.”

“Yes, I remember, it’s not a problem.” He pointed to a chariot with two pegasus guards ready to fly. “I’ve arranged a chariot to take you there. Are you prepared?”

I held up hoof up in salute. “Yes, Captain. I’ll keep a look out for the Princesses too.”

“Good, I’m counting on your keen eyes. Get going.”

On the ride to Ponyville we encountered strange dark clouds with odd spikes protruding from them. As we approached one it fired a lightning bolt, which we barely managed to dodge. The cloud gave pursuit and I tried to swipe it away with my sword, to no avail. We were forced to land outside of Ponyville, and what a strange sight it was. Black vines with thorns were growing like crazy everywhere.

“Sir? What should we do?” asked one of the guards.

I watched as the vines grew and begin to entangle a house. I heard somepony within scream.

“Start cutting away the vines and rescuing the townsfolk, we’ll figure the rest out later!” I said as I charged to the house and began cutting my way through.

I managed to get through and help the ponies inside escape. Up in the sky I could see Rainbow Dash trying to clear away the clouds, or rather, the clouds trying to clear away Rainbow Dash. As I spun my sword around in my magic to cut away more vines my magic slipped away from my control and the sword went flying.

“What in Equestria?!” I cried as the sword nearly chopped off my head.

I zig-zagged as the rogue sword chased after me. I looked up at my horn and gave it a flick, shutting off its magic and causing the sword to fall to the ground harmlessly. I tried using magic on the sword again, but it only went haywire. I was forced to wield it manually.

I hate having to use things manually. Picking things up with my mouth, disgusting. The handle tasted like grass. Well, maybe that wasn’t so bad.

For the next hour I organized any Royal Guards in the area to cut away at the vines and help evacuate the town to the train station. I caught glimpses of Twilight and her friends in the background, no doubt trying to learn how to stop this chaos. As the remaining citizens of Ponyville reached the train station I noticed Discord waving goodbye as Twilight ran off into the Everfree Forest.

I walked up behind him. “Where’s she off to?”

Discord turned around and held his arms wide as if he were expecting me. “Ah, Sword Shield! What a delight it is to see you again. Your glorious leader Princess Twilight is off to find her friends and save the day. Why don’t you go after her and give a helping hoof? I’m sure she could use it.”

I rolled my eyes. “I doubt it. I’ve got a job to do here anyway, and this mess is only going to get worse. You wouldn’t happen to be the reason behind it?”

“No, of course not! Why ever would you think that?”

“I’ve got a couple of reasons. If you’re not responsible, why are you here?”

Discord chuckled. “Silly pony, it’s not important why I’m here, but what’s interesting is why you’re here. I see you’ve gone and gotten your cutie mark back, though for quite a hefty price. I honestly would have never made that trade, totally not worth it.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? What price?”

“Your sword’s power, obviously!” Discord snapped his claw and teleported my sword into his hands. He looked over the crystal with great interest. “I see the little rascal has escaped its crystal prison. How happy it must be to be free.”

“You’re saying I got my cutie mark back because whatever was in my sword escaped?”

“Well I’m sure that’s not exactly how it happened. However, it is odd that something of its raw power escaped my eyes. Do you perhaps know where the entity went?”

“Not really. It could be in some parallel universe for all I know.”

Discord sighed. “Of course… always a parallel universe. What a shame.”

“Right. Anyway, it’s been a pleasure talking to you, Discord, but I need to get back to Canterlot. If you’ll excuse me.”

He waved as I trotted back to the train station. “Farewell, mon petit cheval!”

What an uneventful trip back to Canterlot. Sure everypony on the train was worried what had happened to the Princesses, if they could ever go back to their homes, if Canterlot was any safer than Ponyville. Of course it was only half way through the train ride when Twilight and her friends finished cleaning the mess up, so once we arrived in Canterlot everyone just got right back on the train to Ponyville. Evacuation protocol got everyone free rides too. Some of the passengers even decided to stay in Canterlot for a while. Why not, I guess?

Celestia and Luna also returned and the sky resumed its normal, repetitive schedule. When I returned to the barracks I was informed that I was officially reinstated to my station at the wall as a Lieutenant. No new armor, unfortunately. I really thought I’d look good in blue, too.

Nothing had really changed since I left, but everything still felt different somehow. Perhaps it was different, a lot had changed in such a short time after all. My sword's enchantment breaking, my cutie mark coming back. I wasn't sure how much I had changed. Then again, who ever notices changes in themselves? Perhaps time would tell me one day.

I returned to my usual post on the wall for the rest of the day. It was good to be back, I had missed the wonderful views of Equestria from the wall. The forests, mountains, rivers, Ponyville. It was all as beautiful as I remembered.

The other guards on the wall welcomed me back with smiles and salutes, all ready to serve under my command. Not that there was much to command for now, all basic procedures and watch rotations. I just made sure it all went along smoothly and precisely. There were some preparations being made for the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow, but I was mostly left out.

After my watch was over and was relieved of duty I headed for the train station and got a trip back to Ponyville. My old home stood patiently in wait for my return and gladly accepted me back inside. To my dismay, the fridge was empty and my stomach was growling at me.

Knock, knock, knock.

I looked curiously at my door, and it burst open before I was able to open it. Standing outside was my ever excited cousin, Katana.

“Heya there, Swordy!” said Katana with a wave of the hoof. “I happened to see you walking by and thought, ‘What the hay, my cousin’s back! Let’s pay him a visit!’. You don’t mind me poppin’ by, do you?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, not at all. It’s good to see you’re alright.”

She tilted her head. “Huh? What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I be alright?”

“I- oh, sorry. I was just thinking of a dream I had a while ago. Your hoof was cut off. Nevermind.”

She raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “You dreamt my hoof was cut off? Gee, cous’ you sure have nice dreams. Anyway, you wanna get a bite to eat? I haven’t seen you since you rescued me.”

“That was only three or four days ago.”

“How do you know? The way the sky was acting up today, it could have been weeks! There’s no way to tell! Anyway, it just feels like it’s been longer. Guess big problems like that get to you in weird ways. So you wanna come with me to Hay Burger, or do I have to go all by myself?”

I nodded. “Sure, I’m right behind you.”

Hay Burger wasn’t really my first choice for food, or my second, or third. It was pretty low in my list actually, but I was too hungry to care. The salads were alright.

Whoah, okay, maybe a bit of an overstatement on the ‘alright’, it was horribly average. Excessively mediocre. Definitely not alright. But at least it filled up the tank.

“So, Swordy, why do you think you were dreaming about me?” asked Katana as we ate.

I shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s not like I have any control over my dreams. I’ve been going through the motions for the past few days, so it’s been hard to collect my thoughts. I’m just trying to focus into getting back to my job for now.”

She rolled her eyes playfully. “Whoah there, you might poke somepony's eye out with that much excitement. You should really loosen up some more, make some friends, have some fun. You got that really cool sword still, right? I bet you could show off some awesome stuff with that and everyone would just love you.”

“I can’t, it broke.”

“It broke? How does… how does that even work? Can you fix it?”

I chuckled. “I wish it were that easy. The crystal cracked, enchantment exploded, power’s gone. The other crystals still have some enchantment left in them, but it doesn’t make that big of a difference.”

“Well that sucks. How are you going to be cool now? Without the sweet abilities of your sword you’re just an ordinary, stick-in-the-mud Royal Guard.”

“Why do I have to be cool?”

“I dunno, I thought all you stallions from Canterlot were supposed to be like that. I guess you could get all the mares with those good looks of yours but...” She snickered. “I dunno why anypony would go for you for your oh-so charming personality.”

“Gee, thanks for the confidence boost.”

“You’re not helping yourself you know.”

I huffed. “Well what am I supposed to do? Choose not to be myself? I’m not going to pretend to be somepony else, that’s stupid.”

“So you wanna be the same, stuck up and dull Royal Guard all your life?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying--”

“So you DON’T want to be a Royal Guard? You’re starting to confuse me, Swordy.”

That was it, I couldn’t take her nonsense anymore. I stood up and tossed a few bits onto the table for the meal and turned to the door. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you later.”

Katana shrugged. “Alrighty then, but you gotta choose to do something with your life, cous’. And try not to be so grumpy all the time.”

I… what!? I’m not grumpy all the time! Ugh.

Sleep. That’s all I needed. A good night's rest in my own bed.