The temperature could have easily dropped ten degrees. In fact, as powerful of a creature Celestia is supposed to be and with this level of a bone-chilling stare of hers, I think it did. My body freezes up, completely resisting any movement I try to will into it. My arms are burning from continuously lifting Silver Star's weight, but Celestia's glare is preventing me from moving. My breathing becomes labored, and I swear to fucking God, I just sweatdropped big enough to fill a fishbowl. To make things worse, Celestia is not alone; Princess Twilight Sparkle stands on her right side, a worried expression on her face and aimed towards the larger alicorn. Celestia's face is completely blank, but her eyes say it all. Wrath. And fury, don't forget about unbridled fury.

Celestia chews on the inside of her cheek before speaking. "Put. Her. Down."

My mind instantly complies, sending impulses down my body and forcing it to bend down and release Silver Star onto the carpet. I put my hands up. "Princess Celestia, I-I can explain—"

"You are not to speak," Celestia says, anger dripping off every word. She inhales deeply, trying to compose herself, but stops herself. Another sniff, and another. Her eyes settle on my guard, then she squints at me. "...Twilight, close the door."

"But Princess—" Twilight begins, but the larger pony cuts her off.

"Either you can stay and bare witness to what is about to happen, or you can leave. Pick one, and close. The. Door."

Twilight nods, fear spreading across her face. She steps inside the room, as does Princess Celestia, which sends me scrambling backwards. I do not like anything that she has just said, and her tone spells possible death. The door closes, locks, and all eyes are on me. I take another step back as Celestia begins walking towards me. My heels hit the side of Silver's bed.

Celestia stamps her hoof twice. "...Chief Executive Silver Star. Front and center."

Timidly, my guard does as commanded. Silver Star stands a few feet from my side and salutes. "Y-yes, Princess?"

Princess Celestia's gaze never leaves my face. "...Why is she not wearing her armor?" she asks me.

I lick my lips and swallow. "Sh-she, um, t-took it off."

"Why?" Celestia asks, her tone collected and calm.

"I, uh..." I look over at Silver Star. "...She said she removed her armor... for comfort?" I squeak.

Celestia narrows her eyes. I step back again, but my foot catches the edge of the bowl sitting next to Silver's bed, and it flips over, sending the single item resting in it sailing across the room. Four pairs of eyes follow the object as it tumbles to a stop at the far side of the room. Princess Celestia's horn becomes enveloped in a golden aura, and the tooth Silver Star removed during dinner flies between me and the princess.

"...What is this?" she asks, knowing full well what it is.

Silver Star speaks up. "That is mine, your Highness. A tooth; I pulled it out while I was eating earlier."

"And why, pray tell, were you forced to remove it?" the Princess asks whilst glaring daggers at me once more.

Silver Star looks down at the floor, rubbing her ear with a hoof. "Well, you see, I was out getting Garcia's toothbrush, and, well... I kinda... went to see the guard physician, and he, uh..." Her voice dies when she looks up at the princess, seeing her shake her head.

Celestia inhales again, letting the tooth drop. "...Silver Star, this whole situation does not look good. Not for you, and not for you," she repeats, gesturing to me this time. "I have lived many millennia, and there are certain things that have burned their way into my memory, many things I have been forced to see, many things that I know." She looks down at Silver Star, whose ears are splayed flat against her head. "When I opened that door, I was on the receiving end of a very unpleasant odor, as well as seeing one of my subjects in the arms of a potential threat," she says while nudging the tooth on the carpet with a hoof. The princess waits a moment before continuing. "...My little pony... have you attempted sexual intercourse with this creature?"

Twilight 'eeps' and covers her mouth, and Silver Star's eyes widen. "N-no, Princess," she replies. "I have not."

"Did he force himself upon you?"

Silver Star, Twilight, and myself have our jaws hit the floor at the princess' accusation. "What!? No!" Silver Star and I yell in union.

Celestia purses her lips. "Then, do you care to explain how you, a professionally trained member of the Royal Guard, allowed yourself to be in physical contact with the human, without your armor?"

"Your Highness, it's not what you think," Silver begins.

"Yeah," I say quietly, "this is all a huge misunderstanding."

Celestia glances between us. "Explain."

I look down at Silver, and she looks up at me. "Do you want me to tell her?" I ask her. Silver Star doesn't reply. "Alright then." I return my attention towards the angry alicorn. "Princess Celestia, if I may, and if you would allow, I would like to properly explain the circumstances we currently find ourselves to be in."

The princess seems to look me over, but she's doing a very good job hiding her movements. Her horn sparks, and I step onto Silver Star's bed, much to my dismay. I look down, seeing my right foot on that one spot. Celestia doesn't seem to notice. "...Very well," she says, "but you have one warning; do not lie to me."

I hop away from the bed, clutching my wet foot in my hands. "Okay, but please, can someone open one of these windows and let this foul stench out? I don't wanna get shocked again." A second spark from Celestia's horn sends the windows jolting open, a fresh evening breeze blowing in. I sigh and wipe my foot on the carpet. "Okay, thank you. Now then, I guess I should start from the beginning... And my apologies up front if I say anything you may find offensive."

I begin to tell Celestia the details of our situation. Silver Star returning to the room with my dental needs, her attitude change, ec cetera. Some details are small, but enough to poke a response from Silver Star, her stepping in and saying what she needed when she needed to. When I get to the section of my tale regarding Silver's questionable antics, her face turns cherry red and attempts to hide in her mane. Celestia's expression seems to soften somewhat during the recollection, and every so often through the story her horn would spark. Eventually, she wore a face of sorrow and mild disturbance instead of her hate-mask, which seemed to be a good thing for me. With a little under twenty minutes killed, I end my tale and hug my arm.

"—and then when I was trying to get rid of her, well... You know the rest, your Highness."

Princess Celestia's horn sparks once more, this one a bit louder than before, and she nods. "...I see." We sit in silence for a moment for obvious reasons, Silver's being embarrassment, Twilight's being shock, and mine not wanting to be obliterated for speaking out of line. The quietness is strong, but tension is almost non-existent. Eventually, the lavender alicorn steps forward and positions herself next to her elder.

"Princess Celestia?"

The white alicorn returns her attention to me. "You speak the truth. But one thing bothers me." Celestia rubs her chin with a gold-clad hoof. "Well, several things bother me with this tale, but regardless..." She turns and looks down at Silver Star, who's recovered from her initial humiliation but still retains her reddened face. "...Chief Executive Silver Star, why did you not return home at the beginning of your estrus cycle?"

"Well, Princess Celestia, I did not... I didn't want to seem like I was shirking off."

Celestia's form slackens a bit upon hearing the pony's misplaced dedication. Her large wing extends over to Silver, and the princess lifts her chin with her wingtip. "My little pony, nearly every mare in the castle is at home, riding this ordeal out. As is instructed. While I may not be sure if your cycle started a day later, or if you thought you could power through it, it was not wise to stay."

"I-I-I tried to get my medication!" Silver Star protests. "But the guard physician said he couldn't administer it!"

"Because we are out of stock, my dear pony." Silver's mouth closes at the princess' observation. "We almost always run out of suppression meds in the early spring, you know that. Midsummer and early winter as well. You should be home. Nopony is going to think you are 'shirking off' just because you needed to take time off for your cycle."

Ruining the touching moment, I lean over to Silver Star and nudge her flank with my foot. "I told you so." Three sets of eyes glare at me, and I rub my neck. "Sorry. So, Princess Celestia?" I wait a moment and she nods, allowing me to ask my question. "May I pleeease be excused so that I may boil my foot?" Celestia's face contorts slightly with confusion, but a glance at the stained mattress on the floor behind me turns the expression into a grimace.

"By all means," she says calmly.

I bow my head and rush into the bathroom.

~ ~ ~ ~ ———— ~ ~ ~ ~

"Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross." The same word just spills from my mouth as I hold my foot under the steaming water falling from the bathtub's faucet. I didn't bother with the cold spigot at all, but I suppose I may have used all the hot water seeing as how it was turned to full blast and only shooting out water that felt warmer-than-warm. Regardless, I may have to burn the rag I'm using... Okay, I take that back; that was mean and uncalled for, even if I'm the only one who heard it. While it is fairly disturbing to step in someone else's bodily fluids, it wasn't completely Silver's fault. In fact, it was more mine than hers, seeing as how I was the one stepping backwards and such.

I turn off the water, and rub my foot vigorously inside the cloth cocoon I have just wrapped it in. The skin pinches as the towel scraps against it, and eventually I lose feeling in the limb. I really want to go home right now. Not to just get away from these ponies, but to go home and just feel the comfort of my Dad's presence. I've been gone for a few days, I hope he's not too worried. Mom shouldn't be back from her trips her job makes her take for quite a while, so hopefully I can convince Celestia to let me go before she gets home. That is, unless Dad called her home to help search for me.

That's right. I'm a great student with loving parents, perfect attendance, amazing grades, a few friends... I had no reason to leave, so why would I? Someone must have contacted the local police about my disappearance. Oh man, oh geez... I need to get home, and soon. Or at least send a letter telling them I'm safe.

My eyes glance over to the door. Maybe if Celestia's still out there, I can talk to her about it. In fact, I need to talk to her about this whole ordeal. This could be my chance!

Not bothering with the towel wrapped around my right leg, I slowly open the door.

"—do hope that you understand the responsibilities you are volunteering for," the princess says in a stern manner. I exit the room and see Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight, and two other ponies. One I recognize immediately; Silver Star's commanding officer, the General. The other... not so much. The stallion standing next to the general is clad in similar gold armor like Silver Star. His coat is a faint gray, almost white but not quite there. Very dark green eyes stare straight ahead as he's being briefed by the princess. His long black mane pokes out from under his helmet, matching the color of his tail. I also notice that, unlike most of the other guards, that the stallion is a pegasus; gray feathered wings sit folded neatly at his sides. A tattoo on his flank depicts a dark cloud shooting lightning onto a dark blue shield.

Come to think of it, all these ponies have those weird tattoos, even the princesses. Twilight has sparkles on her flanks, and Celestia has... some kind of roman sun on hers? The general's tattoo I can't see due to his flashy armor covering most of his body.

"I understand completely, you Highness," the pegasus says while saluting with his wingtip. "I will not fail you."

I clear my throat to announce my presence. All heads swivel to look my way. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything," I say casually, as if the unnerving confrontation with the princess that occurred minutes earlier had not even happened.

"Well, speaking of your duties," Celestia says while moving a wing to point in my direction, "here he is."

The pegasus moves into my line of sight from behind Celestia's massive wing. He salutes. "Swift Lightning, reporting for duty." He sits right where Silver's bed used to be. I guess they got rid of it. Another similar mattress, this one a dark red, sits close to the foot of my bed. The replacement for the stallion, Swift Lightning, I guess.

Celestia no longer looks at me with any type of dislike, but she still has a wary glint in her eyes. "Swift Lightning will be taking over for Silver Star until she returns."

I look the pegasus over. "...Fine by me." The princess nods, then turns to her general and Twilight. Nodding at them as well, they make to move to the door. "Wait, wait a minute," I call after them. Celestia stops and looks back at me. "...Um, Princess Celestia," I ask with rubbing the back of my head with my hand and shaking my leg trying to dislodge the towel from my leg, "I know I'm, well... a prisoner, here, under your rule, but... Do you think it's okay if I send a letter to my family?"

Celestia tenses as she turns to face me. "...Why do you want to send a letter?" she asks, her horn sparking again.

"I wanted to let them know that I'm relatively safe and alive." I pause before continuing my short explanation. "...I don't want them to worry too much. I've been here for a few days now, and I haven't been able to let them know anything. I've never been away from my father from more than a single night, because of a school field trip to a college campus, and I don't want to cause alarm." I finally shake my leg free from the towel. "Plus, I'd like them to start gathering homework for me for when I get back. I have grades to keep up in school."

The princess' horn sparks once more, and we engage in another staring contest. This time, I don't back down. Princess Celestia faulters and glances down at my feet.

"...Fine," she answers. "I see no problem with that."

Before I can stop myself, I ask "You seem to be a bit more trusting towards me. Any reason why?"

"Because you speak the truth," is all she says as she leaves the room. The general follows her out, but Twilight linger's a moment more.

"...The collar..." she says quietly, "...It doesn't bother you too much, does it?"

I wave her off. "Not at all. But listen, Princess Twilight..." I chew on my lip for a second before I speak again. "...I wanted to say... I'm sorry for deceiving you before."

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"The whole 'pretending to be a stupid animal' thing. It was a half-assed plan that tumbled downhill and it wasn't right, and I'm sorry for that. I didn't mean to, well, I kinda did, but—Argh." I pinch the bridge of my nose. "I'm sorry about that whole thing."

"It's no problem." Twilight flashes me a smile before closing the door behind her.

I look down at my feet, then reel back. The top of my right foot is covered in a thin layer of yellow crystal, just like my shoulders and arms. It's platelike, smooth, thin. Thin enough for me to see through it and into the inner workings of my foot. Flexing my toes causes the muscles to stretch and contort under the crystal's surface. It's strange, being able to see your body work from the inside out. Not only that, but what's stranger is that I'm not as shocked or scared as I think I should be... Or I'm just getting used to weird shit happening.

I bring my eyes away from my foot and look at the pegasus a few feet to my left. "So..." I start off, getting his attention. "Swift Lightning. My name is Maverick Garcia," I say sticking my hand out to him. "I suppose we'll be in each other's company for the next few days."

He extended his armor-clad hoof and I shake it. "It seems so. Under other circumstances, it would be a pleasure to meet you. But it still is." He takes his hoof from my hand. "You can call me Swift, everypony does." His voice is inexperienced in this type of conversation. He must be a hard worker. "I gotta say, I've never seen anything like you."

"I could say the same."

Swift's gaze scrutinizes me from head to toe. Eventually, his eyes wander to the open windows. I look over as well, wondering why they're still open. But then again, maybe Celestia realized I'm not about to jump out of them and plummet to my doom.

"Mind if I smoke?" I look down at the pegasus. He's already taken his helmet and hoof guards off, and has a hoof stuck under one of his wings. Seeing him without his helmet, his name makes a bit more sense; a thin zigzag of dull yellow streaks through his black mane. I shrug and he pulls out a small case. I lean forward as he opens it, curious about what type of 'smokes' he keeps with him. Holding the case in one hoof and opening it with the other, the lid flies back on a hind and reveals ten slots on one side and a brass flip-top lighter on the other. Seven of the slots are filled with slender hand—or rather, hoof—rolled cigarettes.

"I know we're not s'post to smoke on duty, but so long as the general isn't around, you know?" he says as he takes one of the cigarettes out of the case, as well as the lighter. With a flick of his wrist—or is it still an ankle on the foreleg?—a flame appears on the open end of the lighter, which he brings up to his face and promptly lights his smoke. He holds the case out to me. "You want one?"

I shake my hands at him. "No, thanks. I don't smoke."

"This ain't a normal smoke, you know," he says, casually puffing. "Just a smidge of tobacco for flavor, but the rest is natural incense and flower extractions." I look at him with a questioning face, but he just shakes the case. "It'll help ya relax~"

With a sigh and a single-shouldered shrug, I reach down and pick out one of the cigarettes. I wordlessly put it in my mouth and bend over to let Swift light it for me. I take a short breath, wait a moment, then suck some more of the smoke into my lungs. It feels... unusual. I've never smoked before, but when I asked my dad about it, he says that he should have never started. That those things were evil and terrible for your health if you smoked too often. That the first time he tried he nearly hacked up his entrails, it burned so bad.

But this wasn't burning, wasn't uncomfortable, just... flavorful. Almost like strawberries. Can smoke have a flavor? Well, this taste like strawberries. I let the smoke out of my lungs. "...Not bad."

"Atta boy," Swift says as he chuckles, smoke trailing from the sides of his mouth as he does.

"Won't you get in trouble for being the casual?"

"Not if they don't find out," Swift says calmly.

I walk back and sit on my bed. Another puff, another plume of smoke. Holding the cigarette between two fingers like I've seen my dad do, and take a small break from the experience. "Lemme ask you something Swift." He looks up at me. "From what I heard, Princess Celestia said that you volunteered, right?" Swift nods. "Any reason why?" I ask.

"Well, from the way Silver Star was talking about you when she was coming back from her first encounter with you, you sounded interesting."

"You mean when she forcibly stripped me down and left me in the bathroom?" I get a raised eyebrow from Swift, but he nods. "...Do you know Silver Star?"

"Of course I know her." He takes another drag on his cigarette. "...She's my step-sister." My turn to raise my eyebrows. Swift chuckles at my face. "My mom met with her dad at one of the recruitment rallies. We both signed up, and our parents hit it off. Been happily married for three years now."

"That, uh, must be interesting," I say quietly. "How old are you?"

"Twenty three years." He puffs again. "And to answer your other question, Silver's nineteen."

"Silver Star enlisted when she was sixteen?" I ask, a genuine expression of disbelief on my face.

Swift rolls his hoof. "Fourteen, actually. Our parents may have hit it off, but they didn't rush down to Las Pegasus to get a quick marriage certificate."

I look at the floor. "In the guard since she was fourteen... Why?"

Swift scuttles closer to my bed. "Well, you can't just become a guard, you have to go through training. Silver Star took the training courses and became a full fledged guard when she was sixteen, and immediately started her first term of service." He nods and cuts me off before I can ask my question. "A term of service is five years, and with that term, you get paid. Her dad and she needed the bits so she signed up and trained."

"Oh," I say, deflated a bit. "...Is Silver Star... Is she ever nice?"

"In her own way," Swift responds. "You don't like her, huh?"

"Am I that easy to read?" I ask.

"Kinda, yeah."

I nod. "How does it feel? To suddenly gain a sister like that..."

Swift Lightning rubs his chin. "...Well, she didn't like it at first. Silver Star, I mean. She disliked my mother as soon as she saw her at the rally, mostly because I was with her and we were hitting it off with her dad. Once they got married, and I recovered from the initial beatdown when we moved in under the same roof," he said that last part with a friendly chuckle, "we discovered how much we really had in common. Granted, we still annoy each other, but it's all in good family fun."

I mull this around in my head, think that there's a side to Silver Star I haven't seen, a side that's not completely and utterly disturbing or crazy.

"One more question." He looks up at me again, ready. "...This isn't gonna get me high, is it?" I ask while waving the cigarette in my hand.

Swift shakes his head. "These are just to ease your nerves." He takes another drag. "It's a stressful job; being a royal guard. One of these can help that stress go away," he says as smoke pours from between his teeth. "Silver doesn't like me smoking them, though. Even though her dad handles a pipe pretty well, she doesn't like it."

"So... no high?" I ask again.

He shakes his head. "Nope." Then he leans closer. "Those ones are in my locker," he says with a smirk.

I smile, my chest huffing in a silent laugh, and take another drag. This stallion isn't so bad. Not bad at all.

Author's Note

"I" before "E", except after "C." I do not like the way the English spell words. And comma placement! Geez, it's annoying. But, being proper has it's rewards.

Anyhoo, there ya go, another chapter. I'm also working on making the chapters longer, say around five-thousand words or so, maybe more. Till next time~