Inside the Walls of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters

The inside of the castle was something that not many normal ponies would see within their lifetime. While the outside made it look more along the lines of drab, just the walkway after the gate held many of plants and statues. The Princess of Day and Night found themselves slowly leading the rather peculiar creature, known as Cheshire, forward. The air was still as they sought to take the estrange being back to the Royal Dining Room. Not a single word was spoken between the three and the only sound in the night air was the occasional clinking of armor as the occasional guard pony bowed to them. Slowly they found their way through the Royal Gardens, which led towards the main doors of the castle, Cheshire's attention being turned towards the various plants that they wandered past. Many of the strange plants that grew in these gardens weren't entirely native to the Everfree which sought to control nature on it's own. The most peculiar sight, though, was of a pair of guards slowly painting, what appeared to be, white roses. Slowly their brushes touched each individual white rose to turn them black.

"Hmm... Peculiar I really must say. Why not plant a black rose bush instead? It certainly would save time in the long run." Cheshire mumbled, one of his hooves absentmindedly rubbing at his muzzle as he trudged along in the middle of the two princesses. His mumbling, having caught the ears of Celestia, caused her to merely smile softly as she watched Cheshire think about it from the corner of her vision. "Though, obviously a motion towards Princess Luna, it's strange to place black roses in the garden, as they do usually mean black magic." Cheshire mumbled, the grin on his muzzle only seemed to pull wider as they slowly came to a set of stairs which led up to the doors to the Main Hall.

Of course, waiting on the stairs was none other than the familiar, General Spearhead.

"Princesses! I see that thou hath detained the wicked beast!" General Spearhead announced, bowing to the two princesses who merely nodded their heads in response to his bow. Cheshire, on the other hand, only seemed to stare forward with those two large yellow disks for eyes and a wide grin. The announcement from General Spearhead only seemed to radiate outwards and the soft sound of stamping hooves in the garden could be heard, a meager applause to the act of capturing Cheshire. The applause was also followed by the soft plunk of paint in the background, followed by a scream.

"AHHHH, MINE EYES!"

"Yes, we hath captured the beast which terrorized our little ponies." Luna said, taking a rather softer approach to speaking towards the General who had cringed away from her, mostly expecting her Royal Canterlot Voice.

"Yes, do tell the rest of the guard not to worry if they spot this creature. We hath things to discuss with it. There might be times where it might wander." Celestia said, her eyes closing as she nodded her head, this action causing General Spearhead to bow to the both of them once more.

"By your word, Princess." Spearhead said, the large earth pony rose, only to about face before single-handedly push the massive doors open and bowing to the princesses once more. Slowly the trio made their way up the stairway before wandering through the doorway. The sight that met the three of them would have made any treasure collector absolutely break down and cry on the spot. Drab was one way to describe the castle from the outside, but the inside was almost like a literal gold mine. To some, this was truly the sight that heaven was believed to be. Expertly cut stone, various armor, tapestry which would make most rich pony appear poor, hand made and stained glass. The sight alone would have brought a tear to anyponies eye had they viewed such a sight for the first time. Too bad Cheshire wasn't just anypony.

"A very interesting castle, princesses. A little bit too fancy for my tastes, though." He said, his multiple-hued purple tail only seemed to slowly flow in the air behind him in a most uncharacteristic way, for ponies.

"Nothing is too fancy for the princesses of Equestria!" Luna said, her cyan gaze turning towards Cheshire, only to once again be looking at thin air. Quickly her eyes began to dart around before they slowly trailed up towards the two tapestries which hung from the ceiling. One pictured the sun, giving life to the lands, beneath the rays of light many a pony were playing. The other depicted the moon, giving relief to the tired lands, beneath the rays of darkness many a pony were resting for the next day. Atop the moon tapestry a purple feline came into existence with that, all too familiar, grin.

"I know, dear princess of the night. I am merely, as they say, pulling on your leg." Cheshire said, the grin only seemed to grow wider as he rolled onto his tail and began to pull on one of his legs as if to get his point across. His tail slowly rose him before planting him onto his stomach. Slowly his head rolled onto his forearms as he seemed to dance his head back and forth and hum to himself. "Hmm... Hmm... Hmm... From on high, the sister shall cry, her fall from grace shall will bring about change. Banished afar, the sister shall wait, for the perfect chance to reciprocate." Cheshire sung, his voice was soft as he continued to slowly hum to himself, bobbing his head up and down to an imaginary beat. Both sisters merely glanced to one another before giving a deep sigh, for to them he was merely singing nonsense.

"Come with us, dear Cheshire. We hath much to discuss." Celestia said, waving her hoof to the feline, said action merely caused the cat to grin wider, should such a thing be possible, and disappear from the tapestry. Before long, Celestia heard a soft squeak radiate from her left side. Her eyes quickly darted to her sister, only to be met with the sight of Cheshire standing upon her back and two of his paws covering her eyes.

"Guess who I might be, fair lady. Should you be right, I shall give you sight." Cheshire said, his scratchy voice rang out which only seemed to cause Luna's muzzle to scrunch up and a growl to come from deep within her chest.

"Stop thine foolish games, Cheshire." Luna said, obviously not pleased by the games that this Cheshire Cat seemed to love playing with her. It especially didn't help that she could hear Celestia giggling at her misfortune.

"Oh me, oh my, here I thought that the challenge would be a little harder. Maybe next time I will be able to fool you a little better." Cheshire said, slowly rising from her back as he slowly soared forward through the air before landing in front of the two princesses. His tail seemed to flick in every which direction as he slowly lowered himself to a laying position on the ground. "One should not worry their little heads. I'm merely trying to lighten the mood. I would think that, maybe, you both were taking me to my execution with how silent you both have been." He said, merely twirling his right paw in the air before he once again returned to a standing position and wandered in between the mares. "Such a thing I do fear, but if it is not, shall we continue?" He said, twisting a comment into a question as he peered up to the two princesses who glanced to one another. With that, they gave a little nod to the feline and once again led him up two flights of steps.

"You needn't worry about your head. We don't execute those who hath not commit a dire crime." Celestia said, being straight forward with Cheshire as herself and Luna led him down the hall to their Royal Dining Room.Both princesses were well enough surprised when they reached the Royal Dining Room without any interruption from Cheshire. Luna couldn't help but glance at the feline to make sure that he was still with them, with how quiet he had been. There he was, slowly pattering along between them, his head bouncing still to an imaginary beat as they sought to reach the Dining Room. Once they finally reached the Dining Room, Luna slowly pushed the door open to reveal an empty table being tended to by maids. The trio slowly entered as the maids bowed to the arrival of their princesses, while casting nervous glances at the feline which followed. The princesses gave them a nod and slowly the maids left the room to the three, while the chef returned to obtain the princesses orders.

"What about the... Feline?" The chef asked, his eyes darting back and forth between the princesses who merely glanced to one another before shrugging.

"If you are wondering about me, then don't fret. I don't eat much outside of what I find in the forest." Cheshire said, his large grin and yellow eyes seemed to burrow into the chef who visibly twitched at the sight before quickly bowing and leaving the three.

"Please, do have a seat, Cheshire." Celestia said, closing her eyes as both she and her sister slowly lowered themselves onto their respective floor pillows.

"Don't mind if I do, princess." Cheshire merely said, disappearing from sight to which Celestia glanced about the room before glancing to a snickering Luna from across her.

"What is so funny, dear sister?" Celestia asked, the snickering slowly evolving to giggling as Luna's hoof rose and pointed to Celestia's head. Slowly her gaze turned to look past her own ethereal mane, only to be met with the sight of Cheshire laying upon her head with her own crown upon his head.

"That is not what we meant, Cheshire." Celestia said, scrunching her own muzzle, much how Luna had earlier, which only caused a soft hum to come from the cat resting upon her head. Slowly the cat hovered from her head and landed to her side, from there he slowly rose himself onto his tail and seemed to rest upon it much like a chair. He seemed content with himself, at least until an alabaster hoof flew out in front of him which caused him to look towards Celestia. "My crown, if you may." Celestia said, a slight frown on her face, her action and command causing the cat to look upon it's head. The grin seemed to slowly lessen in size as he slowly pulled the crown from his head and rested it upon her hoof.

"I certainly don't know how your crown ended upon my head. You really should watch where you place it. I could have wandered off with it upon my head, on accident." He said, closing his two large eyes and nodding his head as he crossed his arms in front of his body.

"Yes... Well... Shall we discuss what we hath came to conclusion?" Celestia asked, earning a very faint nod from the feline which only caused her eyes to brighten as she nodded her own head once. "We have came to the conclusion that we would like thou to serve under us-"

"Sister thou cannot be serious!" Luna bellowed, shaking the room with the might of her voice as it seemed she was rather irritated with such an idea. "We shan't allow such a being into our castle! He could be dangerous!" Luna screamed, both of her hooves smashing into the table with a loud bang.

"Dear sister, where he shalt be considered higher in rank than the guard and archmages, I feel such an idea shalt be for the greater good. He hath magic neither of us knew existed." Celestia said, hinting towards his ability to completely disappear, taking any trace of existence with him until he once again appeared. There had been a reason why Celestia and Luna always had trouble finding him when he disappeared. Where one could sense the magic an invisible or teleporting unicorn, Cheshire seemed to cease to exist until he once again appeared. Such a power would truly prove invaluable to the crown if they were able to have him serve it.

"Sister you think of the now! What if this is his ploy?! What if he is an assassin!" Luna returned, once again slamming her hooves into the table in front of her, casting a nasty glance towards Cheshire in the process. Cheshire on the other hand seemed to be ignoring the two for the most part, seeking refuge in what ever he was doing as he bounced up and down on his tail. "An agent of Discord he could be! He could kill us and release that Demon of Chaos!"

"Discord?" Cheshire said, looking up at the two who merely turned both of their own gazes in his direction, one seeing possible enlightenment, the other thinking she might be correct. "Both he and I could never really see eye to eye." Cheshire said, rising up on his tail, he placed a paw across his mouth as he gave a whisper to the two. "He was a little mad." He whispered, his grin growing in size as he threw his hands outwards. "Though you could say we all are a little mad!" He said, his teeth opening holes into his mouth as a small wacky song played from his mouth until he promptly hit himself on his head to stop himself.
Celestia couldn't help but giggle at the antics that Cheshire was putting forth for the table and she turned her gaze to Luna to expect the same. In reality, she was met with the sight of Luna giving her one of the most deadpanned looks she had ever seen in her life.
"Please, dear sister, give him a chance. I feel that there is goodness in his heart." Celestia pleaded, her magenta eyes going rather big and puppy like as she quivered her lower lip. This action on it's own only caused Luna to cross her hooves in front of her body as she sat up, pouting.

"Fine, we shalt give him one chance. If we feel thee might be evil. We shalt warn our sister and be rid of you in an instant." Luna said, sighing as she heard the soft clapping of Celestia's hooves in the background, obviously happy that she got Luna to agree to her harebrained scheme.

"So what do you say, Cheshire? Shalt you join and serve the crown?" Celestia asked, obviously giddy at the idea of having such a strange and possibly powerful creature working for her.

"Hmm... The offer is tempting... So long as I have food and board I shall gladly serve you both." Cheshire said, his eyes looked between the two of them before he reached his paw out towards Celestia. Celestia herself quickly pushed her hoof forward, taking hold of Cheshire's paw and shaking it before turning to Luna.

Luna seemed not to happy since she had been the main focus of the mischief that Cheshire had caused the two of them earlier. Reluctantly, she reached forward across the table, her hoof being met by the paw and slowly they shook paw and hoof.

This was the start of a new and professional relationship.

Author's Note

Well, here is chapter two for anyone who is still willing to follow along with this strange story. I decided that it would be best to put this chapter together and put it up for view now, since the likely hood of me being on a computer for the next few days is slim. I do certainly hope that you enjoy this chapter and hopefully look forward to more in the near future. The next two chapters will still be along the lines of the past before it beings to cut and divide the main plot of My Little Pony. Like always, please leave some comments on if you enjoy or despise this story for every little comment does help me in the long run whether it be criticism or just comments on how much you enjoy the story so far. Thank you for taking the time to read The Silent Guardian and hope you stick around for what might turn into quite the ride!