A Royal Guard and His Filly

Lily was definitely feeling better after I cheered her up. The next day at school she even tried to increase her wingpower average and managed to get it up to 1.7. It’s still pretty low for a pegasus filly her age but hey its something and besides she was happy with it so who cares. Hearing about her day definitely made me feel better especially since I had a pretty awful one. Turns out that after my shift ended Princess Celestia decided to push up the royal court date to Friday. In case you’re wondering there are two solar guard shifts during the day. I work from 8 am to 1pm and then new guards come in to take over the 1pm to 6pm shift. Anyway with the court date pushed up I had to work hallway duty which basically meant I patrolled one long hallway and guided any lost pony back to the court. I did that for 5 hours it was awful and the Aristocrats were annoying me, well except for Fancy Pants he’s cool. Worst of all though I saw my brothers. Unlike me they’re both unicorns, well everypony in my family is a unicorn I’m the only Earth Pony. Just like Buckler I come from a noble family but unlike him I don’t always see eye to eye with them. Anyway my brothers recognized me from my cutie mark and decided to chat me up while waiting in line and possibly skip ahead. I wanted to bash my head into a wall when I saw them trot over. I knew it was gonna be a long day.

***

“Dingy! Dingy!!”

I whipped my head around to see who was calling me and saw that it was the last two ponies I wanted to see, “Castor...Pollux.”

My brothers. Twin Unicorns and the first sons of House Belle. They both had dark blue coats and black manes with a white streak going through it. The only difference between them is that Castor has magenta eyes and a bow and arrow cutie mark while Pollux has green eyes and a spear cutie mark. They’re both great hunters and have won a lot of timberwolf hunts together. The old stallion was proud of them when they won their first hunt up in VanHoover. I wasn't there for it but my sister, Flora, told me about it. Said it was pretty amazing.

Castor was the first to greet me,“Dingy good afternoon”

I was on duty so I had to keep up my stoic appearance up, “Castor, Pollux.”

Pollux was just eyeing me over, all while having his usual arrogant look plastered on his face, “Not happy to see us Dingy? Honestly you could show some enthusiasm when greeting us. Its not everyday you get to meet the two sons of House Belle.”

“House Belle has three sons.”

“Notable sons.”

It took everything I had to keep from swinging at Pollux, “Royal Guard isn’t good enough or something?”

I could see Pollux about to mouth off a response but Castor cut him off, “I must agree with Dingy on this point brother. He is one of the first ponies in Equestrian history to be stationed at the castle after completing the Academy and for fighting off a manticore no less. He’s done quite well for a mud pony. Wouldn't you agree?”

“Well I suppose he has done quite well. Even Father was proud of his achievement. I suppose your accomplishment could be labeled as something notable.”

“Could be something notable? I held off a manticore and saved who knows how many ponies from it.”

Without missing a beat Pollux gave me the response I expected, “Yes but you needed a thunderhead to assist you in doing so.”

“There was a unicorn amongst them as well brother.”

“Yes Castor I’m aware of that. That noble unicorns presence is perhaps the only reason I would even consider Dingy’s……...accomplishment a noteworthy event.”

Castor and Pollux hadn't changed a bit. They were both still the same racist unicorns I had known growing up. Then again most of my family is racist. The apples didn't fall too far from the tree I guess. The only tolerant ones in my family are my sisters. Flora and Aqua. They’re both great ponies….I should visit them sometime….

“Noble patrons….if you do not require my assistance then I implore you to return to the line.”

“Ahh yes now that you mention it I don’t suppose you could bump us ahead in line? We’re going to meet mother and father for lunch today and we do not want to be late.”

“Pollux you know I can’t do that.”

“Come now Dingy just bump us up a wee bit.”

“Castor no.”

“Di…”

“GREETINGS MY FAIR SUBJECTS!”

The sheer volume of Luna’s voice made Castor and Pollux reel back a bit. It didn't bother me in the slightest since I was used to it already.

“Volume Princess.” I said as I was bowing to her.

A blush slowly started to form on her face as she raised a hoof to her muzzle and coughed trying to forget about what just happened, “Ahh yes indoor voice. This concept is still...foreign to us.”

With her blush gone she regained her regal posture and turned to face my idiot brothers who were still trying to regain their composure, “ We apologize for any….damage we may have done.”

Both of them muttered something along the lines of “don’t worry about it.”

Not like they could actually say something back to her, she is the co-ruler of Equestria after all. After a few more seconds they were able to get back into form. “It is truly an honor to meet you Princess Luna but me and my brother must……...head back to the line. We do not want to lose our spot.”

With that they bowed and made their way back to line. I was still pretty pissed but seeing them gallop away had made me feel better.

“We….I had hoped that in my absence bigotry such as that would have been abolished by now. I am saddened to see that it is still present and in our capital no less.”

“You heard all that?”

“I did. Did you not wonder as to why I randomly greeted my subjects instead of sleeping as I normally am?”

“Uhh no I just assumed you were gonna prank a pony or something.”

A small blush formed on Luna’s face as she tried her best to keep form, “Ah yes well….there are ponies here today. It would be...unbecoming of me to prank them while they wait for their turn.”

“Suuuure. Anyway Princess is there any reason why Celestia decided to move up the court dates.”

Her blush quickly fades away and is replaced by a grin, “What day is it tomorrow?”

“Saturday?”

“The Winter Solstice.”

I knew I had forgotten something but I didn’t think I could forgot something as awesome as this, “The Lunar Rave!!!!”

The second those words were uttered Luna scooped me up with her magic and brought me into a rather painful hug, “Yes!! The Lunar Rave!!”

I suppose I should explain this as well. As we all know Princess Celestia has the Summer Sun Celebration in her honor. Luna has her own day as well, the Winter Nights Festival. The thing is after she was banished most ponies stopped celebrating it, with her not being there it seemed pointless. When she returned she wanted to celebrate it but she wanted to make a few changes. The Summer Sun Celebration is well known for being a family holiday; Luna wanted to make her special day one for….the mature crowd to enjoy. So she rounded up a few DJ’s, posted up flyers, and sectioned off a majority of the castle for what she dubbed “The Lunar Rave.” Unfortunately when the day finally came nopony showed up. They were all still scared of Nightmare Moon and thought that this event was nothing more than a trap. Luna was heartbroken, Celestia was disappointed, and the rest of us in the guard, Solar and Night, were pissed. She was a good pony with a kind heart so we decided buck everypony else we’ll party without them. So first we all went home to tie up any loose ends we might have, in my case I asked Star’s grandma if she could watch Lily for the night, we came back, sealed off all the entrances and then began partying our flanks off. When Luna and Celestia came to check what the noise was they were greeted with the entire guard partying in honor of the Princess of the Night, half of us already smashed in her honor too. Luna shed a tear upon seeing this while Celestia smiled as wide as the sky itself. Luna raised the moon in front all of us and gave a speech basically saying screw everypony else we’re partying the night away. Which is exactly what we did, let me also tell you that you haven’t lived until you've done body shots off a bucking Princess. Towards the end Luna gave another speech saying that one day she’ll share the Lunar Rave with everypony else but until then this a day only for the Royal Pony Sisters and their loyal guard. I have an awesome job don’t I?

“L luna….st..strength….”

I fell to the ground the moment I muttered those words out, “My apologies Dingy. Are you unharmed?”

It took me a sec to get up but I was okay for the most part, “ Yeah, no worries Luna.”

“Very well then. I suppose I shall go help sister with the court. Perhaps with my help we could end the day even sooner.”

She trotted off soon after muttering to herself about helping as many ponies as possible. As for me I got back to patrolling and after a while my shift ended. I met up with Star and Buckler and we made our way over to Lily’s school to pick her up. Star had agreed to help out Lily with her flying again and Buckler wanted to hang out. He didn't really like going home mostly because there was nothing to do at his house. His teenage sisters were always out and about and his baby brother could be a pain in the ass at times so most of the time after work he just hung out with somepony. Somepony usually being me and Star.

“Dingy!!!”

I was unprepared for the creamy little flash that rammed into me, “H hey Lily.”

School must of have been good. She had a huge smile on her face, “Guess what!!”

“You knocked someponys teeth out?”

Star. Real charmer that one.

“Huh? No I increased my wing power to 1.7!! I got faster!”

Star tackled my filly and started nuzzling her. She had a soft spot for Lily after she learned of her situation. Star lost her parents when she was a kid too and was raised by her grandma afterwards; her situation was almost identical to Lily’s. That’s probably why she helps me so much with her. I’m grateful that she helps me too especially when it comes to things like wing preening and….mare things.

“Thats great Sky!!! You’ll be soaring through the sky in no time!!”

While Star and Lily had their cuddle session me and Buckler did what we usually did when we picked her up. We intimidated the crap out of everypony. We did this by doing our usual stoic, unblinking guard routine. It kind of amazes me that ponies are still scared of us, especially when you take into account that Equestria’s best line of defense are 6 mares with magical necklaces.

Anyway she hopped on my back and we made our way to Star’s grandmas place.  Hammer Star was always a really nice mare. She used to be a member of the Royal Guard and was notorious with her skill with a war hammer. Seriously when she has her hammer with her she’s more terrifying than Nightmare Moon. She was also really protective of Lily too and was always pretty willing to scare the crap out of them school colts for me.

It didn't take us long to get to her place and just like her granddaughter she was cuddling with filly and asking her about her day. Hammer was a pretty good looking mare despite her old age. Her shiny straight black mane that she chooses to leave hanging, her dark red well groomed coat. Her war hammer cutie mark resting on her old yet curvaceous flank. Expertly preened powerful wings that could lift a hammer high above her head. She was like a sexy fine wine, a fine wine that could destroy you with a mighty swing if you pissed her off. Star eventually broke up their cuddle session and began Lily’s flying lessons while Buckler and me were shooting shit with each other. Said shooting of shit only intensifying when Hammer joined in. The words that come from that mare’s mouth cut deep….

“M my pride….”

“Buckler’s pride……”

“You two are morons you know that?”

“Bite me Hammer.”

“Well if you insist.”

“NO, no. Bad mare. Bad lusty old mare.”

“Hmph your loss. Anyway a friend of mine at the castle told me you ran into your brothers today. How is the Unicorn supreme race these days?”

“Broken…”

“Cram it Buckler. They’re as arrogant as always.”

“I take it that they pissed you off again. What they do this time?”

“They basically said that I’ve done pretty good for a mudpony and that stopping the manticore during my academy days wasn't very noteworthy since I needed the help of a thunderhead.”

I could see the look of disappointment on her face, “Does nothing please House Belle?”

“Not really. You’re better off not trying.”

“I suppose. How are things with everypony else?”

“The same really. Trying to use me for my Royal Guard status as always. Flora and Aqua stopped by last week and spent some time with Lily and caught me up on a few things so that was nice.”

“I see. How are you Dingy?”

“Retarded as usual.”

And here I thought Buckler was still sulking over getting burned by an old mare, “I’m fine.”

“Are you really?”

“You have been out of it as of late Dingy.”

Dingy, that stupid name again, “Yea just you know worried about whether I can raise Lily or not.”

Hammer would be better off in my place. She can actually teach her what it means to a pegasus. She can show her how beautiful the sky is. She can teach her to be free.

I failed to notice the wing drape over me mid sulk, “You’re doing fine Dingy, Lily’s a good respectful filly who always has a smile on her face. If you don’t think you’re doing a good job then you must be blind.”

“Blind and retarded, what a charming combo Dingy.”

This moron. Always bringing a smile to my face, “Least I don’t get my feelings hurt by an old mare.”

Buckler and Hammer just laughed my comment away, “ You’re doing a fine job Dingy.”

“Yea I know. Just can’t help doubting myself sometimes you know? I’m just….a Dingy pony after all.”

Hammers wing retracted and was replaced by a perplexed stare, “Castor…..Pollux...Flora and Aqua. Now that I think of it Dingy doesn't seem like a name that House Belle would give to one of its members.”

It isn’t.

Buckler knew this story, thats probably why the smile on his face vanished, “Nobility is a harsh mistress Hammer….”

“Yea like Buckler said.”

“Beg pardon?”

“Its kind of a long story.”