Ch. 2: Snapshot
“So Snapshot, how was Saddle Arabia?” Clue asked on the way back up to the apartment.
“It was amazing! The Saddle Arabians were so nice, the food and culture were vastly different then here in Canterlot, and I managed to snag some absolutely breathtaking photos of the local landmarks. The colts back at the office are going to be ecstatic when they see these beauties.” The unicorn looked as if she was going to explode with excitement. “And the article I have planned for these are going to be one that nopony is going to want to pass up.”
“That’s great to hear. You’ll have to tell me more about it once we’re back in.” As the couple reached their apartment door, he couldn’t help but notice how quiet Snapshot had become. “Ok, what are you planning?”
“Planning?”
“Yes, planning.”
Snapshot did her best to make her best insulted face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You’re quiet. You’re never quiet. Whenever you’re quiet, you’re planning something, and it usually ends up with somepony, namely me, at the receiving end of some sort of prank.” Clue Chaser’s face was completely serious. “Either you can tell me, or I’m going to figure it out.”
The unicorn continued to try and look mad, but the longer she stared into her coltfriend’s serious expression, the harder it seemed for her to keep a straight face. The fruit bat perched on her head was having an equally difficult time trying not to laugh. “Just go into the apartment already, silly.”
Reluctantly, Clue turned back to the apartment door and slowly pushed it open. “Sweet Celestia,” Clue whispered. That was the single largest cake he had ever seen.
“SURPRISE!” Snapshot cheered as she hugged Clue. “I knew that today was going to be special, so I made a custom order from this sweet shop down in Ponyville called Sugar Cube Corner for an amazing, out of this world congratulations-for-becoming-a-royal-guard cake to be delivered here by the time we got home.”
Clue looked in awe at the massive cake. From the doorway he could smell how good it must taste. He was so lucky to have a marefriend like Snapshot, and it made it all the more painful what he was about to say next. “Um, Snaps, you think you could let me go for a second?”
Snapshot complied, though slightly confused. “What’s the matter, Chasey? Did something happen at the castle?” She and the fruit bat tilted their heads to the side in sync, which got a small chuckle out of the earth pony.
“Yeah, I guess you could say that. Look, I know how much putting this party together meant to you, but the thing is, well…” He gulped, “I… didn’t pass the guard exams this year. I failed the physical portion of the exam and I’ll have to try again next year.”
Snapshot stared at him blankly for a few minutes. “You… failed? Oh, I see.” She closed her eyes and sighed. Clue knew what was coming, and he didn’t want to deal with it. All he had to do was wait. Three, two, one, and… she perked right back up looking as cheerful as ever. “Then that means this is a congratulations-for-trying-your-best-this-year cake. Come on before me and Cherry eat it all.” She gave Clue a quick peck on the cheek before happily trotting into the apartment.
Clue sighed and followed in behind her. He could never get over the fact that every time he failed, Snapshot never seemed to be phased by it, and even seemed happier every time he failed. “Why is it that you always seem so cheery after I fail the exams?” He asked as he closed the door behind him.
“Well somepony has to be there to raise your spirits, and who better than me?” She laughed as she carved a slice of the cake out for her and levitated a small piece up to Cherry. “Besides, it means I get to spend more time with you when I’m home, and who wouldn’t want to hang out with the smartest, most amazing stallion in all of Equestria?”
Clue could feel his face getting red, but he still felt miserable. “Yeah, but that also means that it’ll be another year until I can start going around and helping ponies.”
“What’s stopping you from helping ponies right now?”
“Because as a royal guard, I’ll be able to serve the princesses to the best of my ability. I want to be a beacon of hope and courage to little fillies and colts everywhere as somepony with the strength to go on, no matter what dangers I’ll face.”
Snapshot swallowed a mouthful of cake as she gave Clue a serious look. “Chasey, true strength isn’t about having the strength to go on, it’s about pushing yourself and doing all you can even after you’ve run out of strength. You don’t need some big fancy title to do that, you just do it. Today, even though you failed, I know you gave it 120 percent, and I know that even if you are pushed to your limit, you’ll keep going on no matter what holds you back. That’s why I love you. You never give up no matter how much the odds are stacked against you, and you’ll always be there to protect everything that you care about.”
She walked over and began nuzzling Clue’s face. Clue, who was pretty sure his blue coat had turned bright red, found it difficult not to smile at her words. “Snaps, I…” Clue was interrupted as a large slice of cake levitated itself straight into his mouth, chocking his words.
The fruit bat fell to the floor laughing and Snapshot herself began to giggle. “Now don’t try to make yourself feel any worse, or I’m going to be very cross with you,” she said trying to sound angry, but that was quickly drowned out by her own laughter.
Clue gagged on the cake for about a minute before he could swallow it. An intense burst of lemony sweetness filled his taste buds. “Oh you know I can’t stay depressed when lemon cake is involved. Pass me another slice.”
Another piece of cake, this time on a plate to Clue’s relief, was levitated over to him as the couple sat down. “You know, if you really want to get a job that’ll be in service to others, you could always use those senses of yours to go become a detective or something, like in those old mystery novels.”
“Please, just because somepony has heightened sense doesn’t mean they’ll become a detective. Besides, I’d have to wait for who knows how long to get clients, and they’d just be kids asking me to help them find their lost pets or couples who think their other is cheating on them,” Clue said between bites of lemon cake. Merciful Luna, he would never get over how delicious lemon cake was.
“Don’t you do that already?”
“Well, I do need to pay the rent somehow, but it’s not a permanent solution. I’d get a steady paycheck if I became a royal guard, and not to mention it would be much more adventurous.”
“Well, if it’s adventure you’re looking for…”
“I am not going the Daring Do route either. Travelling to exotic far off locations is your thing, and you do it for your travel articles.”
A sly grin crept up onto Snapshot’s face. “Speaking of, I haven’t told you about the big news I got when I was in Saddle Arabia.” The unicorn opened her saddlebag and pulled out a few photographs and a notepad and set them down in front of Clue. The photographs looked pretty standard enough. Some desert landscape, a few of the local buildings, a smashed museum display case, a dessert shop window, and…
Clue almost choked on his cake again as he did a double take at the museum photograph. The display case was smashed to bits, with local guards trying to keep onlookers back. “That, Chasey,” he overhead Snapshot say, “is my next big article. The legendary Kamaitachi! The boys at Equestria International are going to flip when I show them this.”
The Kamaitachi? “What in Equestria is a Kamaitachi?”
“I was hoping you would ask.” Snapshot made a throat clearing sound as she flipped through her notebook. “You see, a kamaitachi are mythical weasels that are said to live on the island of Neighpan. It’s said that they move at speeds that make them invisible to the naked eye and have to power to manipulate the wind.” She turned the notebook towards Clue to show him a drawing of what looked to be like a weasel, with the one major difference from a normal weasel is that instead of paws, it looked like it had large, knife-like blades at the end of each leg.
“Ok, so what does a mythical weasel have to do with a museum robbery?” Clue turned back towards the museum photo, taking a more thorough look at it.
“The Kamaitachi is also the name a master criminal that has been causing major thefts all over the world. The thief breaks in, steals his prize, and leaves behind the image of a kamaitachi. The picture I showed you is my rough sketch of the image left behind before the local authorities took it away for evidence.”
This caught Clue’s attention. “How much do you know about the robbery?” Clue set down his cake and picked up the photograph.
“But I thought you didn’t want to play detective,” Snapshot teased.
“It’s not detective work if I’m doing it for free or for you,” he replied.
She giggled as she rolled her eyes. “Well, the item that was stolen was an ancient urn that was from before the rule of the princesses, and I’m guessing it would have a black market price of about 500 thousand bits. The crime was around two in the morning, as that was when the guards heard the glass of the display case being smashed in. When they arrived, the urn was gone, and there were no signs of the kamaitachi anywhere.”
“And the other pictures of the crime scene?”
“What other pictures?” Snapshot asked slyly.
“The ones you took when the guards weren’t looking.” Clue extended a hoof towards Snapshot, his gaze not leaving the photograph.
Another set of giggles. “Ok, so Cherry may have provoked a guard or two so I could take additional photographs without being noticed.” The fruit bat gave a small bow before flying back over to Snapshot’s side. The unicorn rustled through her saddlebags and pulled out a few more photos. Clue took them and looked at them for only a few seconds before taking a deep breath. “I took as many pictures from as many angles as I could. I didn’t see anything else though that would lead to the identity of the...”
“It was a two pony job of one pegasus and one unicorn,” Clue stated, hoofing back all but one of the photographs. The earth pony looked over at his marefriend, smiling a bit as he looked at the surprised look on her face. “How do I know this you ask? Well, this photo explains everything.” Clue laid down the last photograph, which was a picture of a glass ceiling that hung above the exhibit.
“First, notice that if you look really closely to the bottom left corner of the glass ceiling, you can make out what looks like a green feather. Now, I know that some people might shrug this off as there are plenty of birds like parrots that have green feathers that live in Saddle Arabia, but if you look carefully enough, you can tell that it’s much larger than your standard bird’s feather, so that makes it more likely that a pegasus would be involved. Now, Saddle Arabia is a dry, desert-like region, right? So that would mean that there should be at least a small layer of dust on each of the segments of the glass segments, but if you look carefully, one glass tile is completely spotless, while all the surrounding tiles have some level of sand and dust on them.”
Snapshot looked carefully at the spots that Clue pointed out, seeing the feather and the cleaned piece of glass. “Alright, I see where you’re going with this. The green pegasus removed the glass tile, flew down, smashed opened the display, and flew off with the urn.” She looked over at Cherry, who mimicked the scenario using a small slice of cake, which got a chuckle out of the couple. “That sounds like a good theory, but there are a few holes in it. One, the ceiling was enchanted so that the guards on duty would be alerted if anyone tried to sneak in from that way, and two, no matter how fast our pegasus friend was, they would have been seen by the guards fleeing the scene after the sound of the case breaking.”
The only response Clue gave was a soft smile. “Those are valid points, but both of them can be explained. First, the enchanted glass. Remember the Unicorn I mentioned? They could have been skilled in counter-spells or had knowledge on how to disarm security magic. Using those magical skills, they could disarm the spell, remove the glass, and then reapply both when the robbery was finished. It would be incredibly difficult to do, but in theory, it’s still possible. The feather confirms a pegasus, and the need for magic confirms the unicorn.”
Snapshot nodded as Clue spoke. “Ok then, but what about the vanishing act?” The unicorn thought for a bit, then smiled with inspiration. “I got it, they teleported, didn’t they? The unicorn could have used a teleportation spell to get the two to safety!”
The earth pony shook his head. “That’s not it. If they did teleport, then they would have left a magic trail which authorities could track, and from what I’ve seen and heard about our thieves, they’re too smart to let something like that happen. Look again at the photo of the broken glass, and look very carefully this time.”
Confused, Snapshot lifted the broken display photo again, staring hard at the shattered glass. Cherry perched herself on top of the unicorn’s mane to observe the photo as well. It took a few seconds before Cherry noticed something and started flapping her wings. “What is it Cherry? Did you figure it out?” The photographer asked. Cherry responded by flying off towards the window and breathing on it, making the glass foggy. Snapshot looked back and forth from the picture to the window until it finally clicked in her head. “The glass shards are foggy.” she stated. “So foggy glass shards relate to how the kamaitachi escaped without being seen?” Clue simply nodded. Snapshot thought hard about the clues, but groaned in frustration. “Ok, I’m lost. Care to explain how foggy glass equals an escape?”
“With pride.” Clue took the photo from Snapshot and laid it down in front of them. “First, there’s another thing about the glass shards I want to point out.” He tapped the center of the broken glass as Snapshot leaned in. “Something I noticed about these shards is that they seem somewhat circular on the outer edge, and if you look carefully enough...” He made a circle motion with his hoof. “The shards come together to make a circle. This means that the display wasn’t smashed as initially thought, but carefully cut open to remove the urn.”
He looked over at Snapshot, waiting for his words to sink in. The photographer looked confused for a moment before the weight of his words hit him. “Then, if the urn was taken without shattering the display, then why shatter the display case at all?”
“To throw off the actual time of the robbery. The display was shattered at a later time to make authorities think that the crime occurred at a later time than it actually happened. How they did it? I’ll bet anything they used dry ice. Our thieves would have placed it inside the display case and reseal the hole they cut, where the dry ice would melt and fill the case with carbon dioxide, and that would do what exactly?” Clue motioned for her to fill in the blanks.
“The glass would get foggy, the internal pressure would cause the glass to shatter, and the delayed shattering would give the criminals time to escape!” Snapshot tackled her coltfriend into a huge hug. “You are an absolute genius, you know that?”
“Can’t... breathe,” was all Clue could mutter. Snapshot let go and he dropped to the floor, gasping for air.
“Whoops, sorry about that,” she giggled, “But you have to admit, you could count on your hooves how many people in Equestria could work out an entire museum heist from a couple of photographs.”
“It’s not all that impressive,” Clue stated. “All I did was establish how the crime went down and what types of ponies could have pulled this off. It doesn’t give us much on who the criminals actually are.”
“But you did do more than anyone else could have in such a short time. You’re too hard on yourself.” She floated another piece of lemon cake over to Clue. He looked at the cake, back to her, and sighed. He was going to have to find out one day how she was able to ruin every one of his bad days. On the plus side though, lemon cake. After that long explanation and analysis of the Saddle Arabia crime scene, he needed that cake now.
Or later, as fate would have it, as there was a series of loud knocks on the apartment door. With another sigh, Clue set down his cake. “I’ll get it.” He walked over to the door and swung it open.
Standing in front of him were the same unicorn and earth pony pair that he saw inside the Captain’s office. “Hello Mr. Clue Chaser. Do you mind if we step in for a moment,” the unicorn said with a smile.
Confused, the aqua pony stared for a moment. “Um, who are you two exactly?”
“Oh, sorry about that. Guess it was rude trying to barge in on you after what happened back at Mr. Valor’s office today and to arrive on your doorstep unannounced. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dusty Trails, and the pony with me is Quartz Stone.” The green earth pony waved excitedly behind Dusty. “As for why we’re here, well, let’s just say I have a business proposal for you.”
At those last words, Clue sighed. “Look, I don’t know what you’ve heard about me, but I’m not a detective or a private investigator. I’m just your average pony trying to get a job inside the royal guard.”
“And that is exactly why we are here,” said Dusty. “You see, I’m an amateur film maker from Los Pegasus, and I’ve been given permission by the princess’s themselves to conduct a project like no other, and that, Mr. Chaser, is where you come in.”
“Ok, so what does that have to do with me?”
“Well isn’t it obvious, mate?” Quartz spoke up. “We’re doing a documentary on the royal guard, and Dusty here wants you in it.”
It takes a lot to make Clue forget about lemon cake. It would take a moment so surprising and unexpected, that it would render him unable to process anything else. This was definitely one of those moments. “You want to put me in what?!”
Author's Note
And here is Chapter two. I had both chapter's one and two written beforehand, but expect chapter 3 and onward to have unset update times.
Hopefully I got my science right with the dry ice scene. I'm certain someone will correct me if I'm wrong though. Anyways, now that I've introduced our heroes, next chapter will focus on explaining the documentary itself as well as give us an intro to Dusty and Quartz, the director and director's assistent.
They're going to put me in the movies
“Like my assistant was saying, we want you to star in our upcoming documentary on the royal guard,” said Dusty. After the initial shock had worn off, Dusty Trails and Quartz Stone were invited in to sit down and talk more about the movie.
“Sorry, but I’m confused. I’ve been spending a lot of time at the castle lately in preparations for the exams, and this is the first time I’ve heard anything about a documentary,” said Clue.
“Yes, well, we’ve only been discussing this documentary for the last couple of months, and we didn’t want the press to know about it until it was official. The only ponies who knew about it were Captain Valor, Prince Armor, and the princesses,” Dusty explained.
“That why we were at Valor’s office today,” continued Quartz, “We were finalizing the paperwork to allow us to film at the castle, interview the guards, and all sorts of other red tape and political mumbo jumbo that bores everypony to death. Oh hey, is that lemon cake?” The green pony didn’t wait for a response he tore off a chunk of cake and began eating it. Cherry screeched as she dived bombed the cake thief. “Ack! Away foul beast. Get your own cake,” Quartz shouted as he frantically waved his hoof at the fruit bat.
Dusty rolled his eyes and sighed as he looked back at Clue. “As my assistant was saying, we were at Captain Valor’s office to finalize the paperwork. We asked him about you and learned about your track record with the royal guard exams for the past eight years.”
At those words, Clue felt like something had stabbed him. He turned away and sighed. “So I take it you want me to be in your movie because of constant failures?”
“Now just wait a minute,” Snapshot shouted, causing the director to jump a little, “Chasey here is one of the hardest working ponies I know and he pours his blood, sweat, and tears into becoming a royal guard, so I won’t have you come in here and make fun of my special somepony.”
All eyes were now on a fuming Snapshot as a dead silence hung in the air. “Chasey? What kind of cheesy nickname is OW MY EAR!” Quartz flinched as the bat bit him and flew back to Snapshot, giving the green stallion a raspberry.
Dusty shook his head quickly and cleared his throat. “Now hold on a moment you two, I’m not here to highlight his failures. It’s as you said, Ms. Snapshot, Clue here is a hard working individual and should be praised for the work he has put into becoming a royal guard. I want to put him in my movie because since he’s been through the process eight times, he knows more about the royal guard initiation than most civilians do. His story of hard work, determination, and his vigilant spirit will show all of equestrian just how much he cares for Equestria and just what he goes through to show that dedication.”
Clue and Snapshot both looked at the director, then at each other. Snapshot turned red with embarrassment, and Clue seemed lost on how to react. “So, um, what would I have to do? If I agreed, that is.”
“Oh, not much. We’d just film some of what you do in your day to day life, record what you do to train for the guard exams, have a couple of interviews with you, and just let us observe you being, well, you. Just act naturally and answer a few questions, and you get paid for your services as well as getting the chance to share your story with thousands of ponies across Equestria up on the silver screen. So what do you say, do we have a deal?” Dusty extended a hoof and gave a confident smile.
Clue stared at the hoof, hesitant to reach out and sake it. He looked over at his marefriend, who looked just as lost at the situation as he was, and then over back over at the director. “Thank you for the kind words and the opportunity, but I’m not sure how to respond to this.”
“By saying yes?” Quartz asked. “I mean, it isn’t every day you’re given the chance to be part of a major motion film production officially approved by Equestrian royalty.”
“While a bit blunt, what Quartz says is true. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for everypony involved and I would hate for you to pass this chance up. Here, we’ll even sweeten the deal,” Dusty said as he turned towards Snapshot. “Ms. Snapshot, ace photographic journalist for the Equestrian International. I must say, I am really a big fan of your work. I especially liked that article you did a few months back on the cultural history of the Deer Kingdom. It’s for this reason that if Mr. Chaser here agrees, I’ll give you and the Equestrian International the privilege of reporting the existence of the documentary, as well as the rights to report on the developments of what is happening as the documentary, within reason of course. Nopony likes spoilers now, do they?”
Snapshot nearly fell out of her seat at this news. “F-full exclusive rights? You’re not messing with me here, right?” Dusty smiled and shook his head. Snapshot quickly turned towards Clue, her eyes almost sparkling as she vigorously nodded her head.
Clue smiled and sighed as he thought the proposal over. What Quartz said was true, this would probably be a once in a lifetime opportunity, and Dusty just handed over full rights to media coverage to his marefriend if he agreed. He was having a hard time seeing any downsides to not agreeing with the film duo. “So if I agree, all I have to do is answer some questions and let you watch me train for the royal guard?”
“Pretty much,” Quartz said. “You say yes, you let us study you, and we pay you handsomely after the movie premieres.”
“Alright then.” Clue extended a hoof to the director. “I’m in.”
“Excellent.” Dusty reached out and shook Clue’s hoof. “If you could be at Canterlot Castle tomorrow, we’ll start with the initial interview. If your marefriend would like to come, we can introduce her to the rest of the film crew.”
“We’ll be there,” Snapshot said cheerfully as she pulled Clue into a hug. She then looked over at the film makers and gave a little salute. “Don’t either of you worry. I’ll make sure my articles get your film the best publicity it can get. I do have to get one thing out of the way first. Cherry!” The fruit bat stood to attention. “Get those photographs of the Kamaitachi crime scene to my room. We’re going to have to pull an all-nighter if we want to get this article out on time and be ready for tomorrow.”
While Snapshot was acting giddy at the new opportunity, Clue noticed the film makers giving each other a look that looked like a cross between confusion and surprise. “The Kamaiwhatnow?” they said in unison.
“Oh, just my latest story all the way from Saddle Arabia. I’m sure it’ll be the headline of tomorrow’s Equestrian International.” She giggled to herself, trying to contain her excitement. “I can tell you that it’s about the museum heist that happened there, and Clue here managed to figure out how the entire crime went down just from a few of my photos.”
“Is this true?” Quartz asked as he sifted his focus onto the aqua pony.
Clue gulped as he looked into the green ponies eyes. Something about the way he looked at him made Clue feel uncomfortable. “Um, yeah, I guess I kind of did. It wasn’t much, really. I just helped extract a few extra details for Snaps to right about.”
The film makers looked back for a moment before looking back at Clue. “Well,” Dusty said, “if what you say is true, then I’m sure we’ll be the first ones to check out your article tomorrow. Well, I think we’ve wasted enough over your time tonight. We hope to see you bright and early tomorrow at the castle for the first day of filming. Until then, have a pleasant evening.” Dusty bowed and proceeded to apartment’s front door. Quartz waved goodbye and shot the fruit bat a dirty look as he headed out to join his boss. Cherry gave another raspberry towards the assistant as the door closed behind them, and Clue could have sworn he heard the assistant making one as well.
Clue didn’t know why, but something seemed off about the way they acted as they left. “Hey Snaps, did Dusty and Quartz seem to be acting weird at all when you mentioned your article?”
“Not really. You didn’t know much about the Kamaitachi either until I brought it up, and I bet they didn’t expect you to be able to explain an entire crime scene from just my photographs, so don’t worry about it. What we really need to worry about is preparing for tomorrow. Cherry, double time!” The unicorn and fruit bat charged off towards their room and slammed the door shut behind them.
Clue looked at the now empty living room and what remained of his lemon cake. Today had certainly been interesting. He got rejected from the royal guard for the eighth time in a row, his marefriend comes home early and he ends up solving how an entire crime scene went down, and he ends the day be being recruited into a documentary. Clue could hardly believe his luck. However, something just didn’t sit right with him.
It was late, however, and he did have a long day. Perhaps he was just overthinking things, and maybe a good night’s rest would help clear his mind. Clue ate what remained of the lemon cake, cleaned and put away his dishes, and prepared himself for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day, and he had to be prepared for anything.
Author's Note
For those wondering where the title of this chapter came from...
Also, I apologize that yes, this chapter is just more setup for the plot. The next chapter is going to be Clue's first day working with the film crew, as well as some backstory to Clue's character. Once all that is out of the way, I promise that's when things will start to get interesting.
Again, any and all constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged so that I can improve on later chapters
Ch. 1: Rejected
“I’m sorry to say this, but you’ve failed the entrance exams.”
Rejection.
This was a familiar feeling for Clue Chaser. Eight times the aqua-colored earth pony has participated in the royal guard entrance exams. Eight times he was told that he didn’t make the cut.
“Captain Valor, sir, I know I can do this. Just give me one more chance, that’s all I’m asking,” he pleaded. “I know the course like the back of my hoof. I’ve memorized every obstacle’s location by heart and I know I can improve my time if you give me just one more go.”
Captain Piercing Valor sighed as he shook his head. “I’m sorry, but it clearly states that everypony gets one chance every year, and while I’m highly impressed with your scores on the written exam, your time on the obstacle course was the lowest out of everypony participating. You need to be both fit in mind and in body if you wish to join the guard. If you really want to join the princess’s service, I’m sure I can give you a referral to the information and tactics division. With these test scores, I’m sure…”
“NO!” Chaser shouted as he slammed his hooves on the captain’s desk, making him jump a little. “I-I mean, no sir. My dream is to become a royal guard. I want to be on the frontlines to protect my country. The thought of working behind a desk and not being able fight alongside my fellow Equestrians just makes me… I don’t know, but the thought of having a desk job irritates me. So could you make an exception for me just this once? I promise when I’m in the guard to work until I hit exhaustion to make myself physically fit and combat ready.”
The captain sighed again. “Listen, I applaud you for your commitment to wanting to join the guard. You’ve shown enough spirit and the knowledge to make an exceptional guard, but from what I saw out on the training grounds, if you were thrown into a combat scenario, you wouldn’t last five minutes. When I was made captain of the guard after Shining Armor moved to the Crystal Empire, Princess Celestia entrusted me with running the royal guard and selecting all the new recruits. I’m sorry, but I can’t give you another chance until next year’s recruitment test. However, if you work hard and stick to a daily training regimen, then I’m sure that next year you’ll be in the guard for sure.”
That’s exactly what Captain Armor told me the last seven years, Chaser thought to himself.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
“Huh?” Clue looked behind him towards the door to the Captain’s room.
“Oh yes! I almost completely forgot.” As Captain Valor got up from his desk, Chaser stared curiously at the door. He was the last pony scheduled today to meet with the captain about the entrance exams, so who was at the door?
As the captain opened the door, two stallions stepped inside. The first was a tan coated unicorn with a dirty blonde mane that covered his left eye, and the other was a bright green earth pony with a dark red mane wearing a thick jacket that matched his mane and sandals. What drew Chaser’s attention however were the cutie marks of the two. The unicorn had a clapboard for his cutie mark, and the earth pony had a large, purple gemstone. “I’ve been expecting you two. You’re a bit early though. I’m just finishing up with the last participant of this year’s entrance exams.”
“Not a problem,” the unicorn replied, “My associate and I have a habit of showing up earlier than expected. By all means, continue.”
“Right, right. Now then, Mr. Chaser,” Captain Valor said as he turned back to the aqua pony, “I’m sorry to say that you’ll just have to wait till next year. I hope you understand.”
Giving a sigh of defeat, Clue Chaser simply nodded as he got out of his seat and headed towards the door. He gave one look back at the three ponies in the room behind him before closing the door.
***
The walk from Canterlot Castle to Clue’s home wasn’t all that far of a walk, but today felt more tiring than usual. All he could think about was that he failed, again. It was the same thing year after year. He’d sign up for the guard entrance exams, pass the written portion with flying colors, and make a complete fool of himself out on the training fields. Captain Shining Armor was supportive of him, and kept telling him to try harder next time and he’d make it for sure. After seven years of constant failures and a new captain of the guard, he had assured himself that this would be his year. Thank Celestia that his marefriend was out of town. She would try to make him feel better about himself and try to rally him up for next year’s exams, but right now, all Clue wanted to do was go home and sleep the rest of the day off.
Rounding the corner, Clue made out the apartment complex where he and his marefriend lived. Seeing home, Clue smiled a bit. Just the thought of lying down and letting the memories of today fade away gave him comfort.
As Clue started towards the front door, he froze. It was only for a second, but he heard something directly behind him. Turning around, he didn’t see anything behind him. Now most people who have had a stressful day would probably just chart this off as paranoia. Not Clue, however. He knew better. Everything has a rhyme or reason behind it. Clue closed his eyes before taking a long, deep breath, and then opened them again.
First, surroundings. Only a few ponies on the street right now, most of them busy or on the move to some appointment, and no Pegasi flying overhead. There are no alleys on this street and not a lot of hiding places, so that would mean whatever that was is in the open. Next, ponies of interest. For whoever was behind me to just be gone, they would need to be fast, airborne, or both. None of the ponies here on the street seem to be like the types who would sneak up on somepony. The sound I heard sounded like flapping, so maybe a pegasus? No. Judging by the sound, the wingspan is much too small for an adult sized pegasus, and I doubt it was a kid, so maybe an animal? Lastly, motive. From what I’ve established, my best hypothesis would have to be some sort of small, winged animal, and this animal clearly wants to freak me out or surprise me for one reason or another. I don’t know of many mischievous animals who live near the area, except for one...
Clue looked around towards the top of some of the buildings in the area. Across the street from the apartment complex, he noticed what would look like a leaf to the untrained eye on the corner of a roof. Clue grinned, and shouted “I see you, Cherry. You can come down now.”
At those words, the head of a strawberry red fruit bat poked its head out from the rooftop. It jumped off the roof and circled Clue a few times before landing in his mane. Clue chuckled a bit before lightly picking up the fruit bat. “Hey little guy. I haven’t seen you in ages. Still trying to pull a fast one on me?” Cherry gave a look of innocence, pretending like nothing had happened. This got another small chuckle out of clue. “Well, I’m glad to see you. I’ve had a really stressful day, and I just need to lie down and relax. Once we get inside and settle down a bit, I’ll explain what happened with you and…”
Clue gasped. Cherry Smiled. How could he have forgotten? Cherry never goes anywhere alone, not without her.
“Oh Chasey,” Clue heard somepony call from behind him. Clue quickly turned around only to be greeted by a blinding white light.
“GAH!” Clue covered his eyes to protect him from the light, only to feel himself being tackled by the source of that light. As the pain from the flash subsided, Clue could make out the form of an eggshell white unicorn mare on top of him. She had a short, light brown mane and magenta eyes that just seemed to sparkle. Her cutie mark was a camera that looked exactly like the model that hung from her neck.
“Hiya Chasey! You would not believe how hard it was to schedule a flight to Canterlot today. I just back a few hours ago and thought hey, why not surprise my new awesome guard-in-training coltfriend to a welcome home he won’t forget anytime soon? Oh, and thank you too, Cherry, for being the best distraction you could be.” The fruit bat smiled and gave a little mid-air bow.
The initial shock of the situation wore off as Clue slowly began to figure out what just happened. He felt like facehoofing for walking straight into one of his marefriend’s little traps like this, but that wasn’t nearly as bad what he was going to face once he broke the bad news to her.
“It’s good to see you too, Snapshot.”
Author's Note
Well, here it is. Chapter one of my story. Any and all comments are appreciated. This story is going to start out slow, but It'll pick up pace in later chapters once we reach the documentary, I promise.
