Chapter 1
It was a bright, sunny morning in the majestic city of Canterlot. A tall woman wearing a blue t-shirt and jean shorts was taking advantage of such a day. Her white hair was hanging down to her shoulders as it blew lazily in the gentle morning breeze. She decided she’d start her day by going to the local farmers market to buy groceries.
As usual the market was full of people coming and going, trading various goods. She only needed a few things such as pork tenderloins, garlic, and of course, apples and hard apple cider from Sweet Apple Acres. After getting everything else on her list, all that was left were the products from Sweet Apple Acres. Once she got to the apple product stand, she was met by the usual purveyor.
“Hey there Gala!” she greeted “How’re you today?”
The green haired woman looked up at her newest customer. “Aquamarine! It’s so good to see you.” Red Gala replied “I’m doing pretty good today.”
“Thats good to hear Gala.” Aquamarine said “You got my usual batch of apples?”
“Of course. I always have enough apples for one of my best customers.”Gala replied.
She proceeded to put a dozen apples into a bag but before Aquamarine could take the bag
she heard a cry in the distance.
“Help! That bastard stole my purse!”
Aquamarine turned her head in the direction of the scream and then looked back at Red Gala.
“Can you watch my stuff for me Gala?” Aquamarine asked.
“Of course Aqua. Go and do your thing.” Gala said.
Aquamarine thanked Gala and ran off in the direction of the woman's scream. She found the lady not far from her location and questioned where the thief had ran off to. Once Aquamarine got the information she needed, she took off in the direction the thief went.
She ran along the buildings until she noticed someone slip into an alleyway. She turned in and saw the perp walking quickly down the alley.
“Hey Dirtbag!” Aquamarine called out “I’d like to have a word with you about that purse you stole.”
The thief turned around and noticed that he had been followed, so he decided to turn back around and quickly take off.
“Why do they always have to run?” she asked herself.
Once again, she took off after the thief to confiscate the purse that he snatched. She took a left and found herself in a dead end with not one but several people and the thief standing triumphantly behind them.
“Thats her, boss.” The thief said “She was the one who was following me.”
“Is that so?” The one who was classified as the Boss asked. “Let’s see who this charming young girl is.”
The boss was a relatively large man with a grey t-shirt, black pants and boots and carrying with him a jet black cane. His black hair was slicked back giving him a greasy look.
“Allow me to introduce myself.” He said “My name is Slick Style and I run these streets. I needed to test one of my new initiates and he has, unfortunately, failed. Now, Miss, I’d like to know who it is I’ll be killing this fine afternoon.”
“You’re awfully polite for a crime boss.” Aqua stated. “I’d be more than happy to introduce myself. My name is Staff Sergeant Aquamarine of the Canterlot Solar Guard.” Aqua stated. “And you are mistaken about something Slick.”
“And what would that be?” Slick asked.
“I won’t be dying today.” Aqua stated matter-of-factly “You, however, will be going into custody.”
“We’ll see about that.” Slick said defiantly. “Get her boys!”
The five other men who were with Slick circled around Aqua, getting ready to attack her. Aqua looked around at the men who were trying to trap her, thinking of the easiest way to handle them.
“These morons don’t look like they’ve seen many fights.” Aqua said to herself. “I should be able to easily outwit these idiots.”
Just as she finished this thought one of the goons decided to strike. He lunged at Aqua getting ready to punch her, when she grabbed his arm with her right hand and threw him over her shoulder. A second goon charged at her and she quickly swung her left and kicked him in the gut. Another of the goons attacked with a lead pipe. He swung at her which the blue haired woman easily dodged. She squat low to the ground and punched him in the gut with her right hand and followed with an uppercut with her left. The last two goons had each managed to pull out a knife and began slashing at Aqua. The first goon stabbed at her, to which she replied with grabbing his wrist and twisting it. This caused the goon to drop the knife, which Aqua eagerly caught. This caused the final goon to turn and run away. However, Aqua wasn’t going to let him escape. She quickly swept her leg under him and knocked him onto the ground, rendering him unconscious. She grabbed his knife and turned to face Slick.
To say Slick was angry would be an understatement. He quickly drew the sword from his cane and charged at Aquamarine.
He swung his sword downward with which Aqua easily parried to the right using one of the knives she borrowed. He continued to swing his sword wildly at her and she continued parrying his sword blow for blow. Slick was getting angrier and angrier and his swings wilder and wilder. They were also becoming more predictable.
“One of the first rules of combat.” Aqua thought to herself. “Never fight angry. Your moves become incredibly predictable.”
He swung his sword horizontally and Aqua back stepped away from the blade. After his sword passed her she lunged forward, dropped the knife in her right hand, and punched him in the throat.
He quickly grabbed his throat, fell to this knees. and began breathing shallowly. Aquamarine walked behind him casually and using the butt of the remaining knife, struck him in the back of the head, rendering him unconscious.
Aquamarine looked around at the mess she had made and realized something. The thief had managed to slip away during the scuffle.
“Damn it!” Aqua cried out. “The bastard got away.”
“Is this the bastard you’re looking for Sergeant?” asked a voice.
She quickly turned around to see a large Skyborn wearing pure white armor with a golden trim. The symbol of her highness emblazoned on the left breast of his armor.
Aquamarine quickly stood at attention, saluting her superior. “Captain Shield!”
Adamant Shield, the Skyborn Captain of the Guard, stood in front of her with a squad of four other guards behind him. He took his helmet off to reveal the white hair hidden underneath it. He motioned for one of the guards to come forward bringing with him a scrawny man struggling to escape.
“Let me go.” the thief said. “I didn’t do nothin wrong.”
He grabbed the thief and handed the guard his helmet.
“At ease Sergeant.” Captain Shield commanded. “Is this the thief you were chasing?”
“Yes sir.” She answered.
“And..” He waved his hand at the 6 men on the ground. “These men?”
“Sir, these men are his cohorts and the one in the middle is their leader Slick Style.” Aqua answered.
Captain Shield raised his eyebrow. He motioned for another guard to come forward and handed off the thief to him. He walked forward to the one that Aqua had said was their leader. “Slick Style huh. You mean the leader of the Slick Street Gang?” He asked.
Aqua nodded. “Yes sir.”
He nudged his with his foot. “Is he dead?”
“No sir. Just unconscious.” Aqua Answered.
Satisfied with her answer, Adamant Shield ordered his squad to cuff and take the men to the dungeons. Once the other guards left he beckoned Aqua to follow him. Which she agreed to do.
“Aqua isn’t today supposed to be your day off?” He asked.
“Yes sir. I was enjoying it too until this all happened.” Aqua said. “I wasn’t expecting to run into a group of idiot gang members.”
“Well you did me a favor. We’ve been tracking this gang for about a month now.” Captain Shield explained. “I also just so happened to be looking for you as well.”
“What for?” she asked with a confused expression.
Captain Shield stopped walking just as they got back out into the open. He turned to Aquamarine with a serious look.
“You and Garnet have both been summoned to see Their Royal Highnesses Queen Celestia and Queen Luna. They wish to speak to you personally.”
Aquamarine was speechless. She never would’ve imagined getting summoned by the Queens themselves.
“You must be mistaken.” Aqua said. “Why would they want to talk to Garnet and I. We’re nothing special.”
“On the contrary.” Captain Shield objected. “You and Staff Sergeant Garnet are among the best that the guards have to offer. You have yet to fail a mission and thats what the Queens want to see.”
Aquamarine was speechless.
“You are expected in the throne room at exactly 1800 hours.” He said. “Is that understood Sergeant?”
She quickly saluted, “Yes Sir!”
Adamant Shield smiled. Out of all his subordinates, Aqua and Garnet had always been his favorites. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”
With that he turned and walked away leaving Aqua in his wake. Aqua turned to head home when she came to a realization.
“Shit!” She exclaimed. “My groceries.” and she took off back to the market.
“Excuse me?” asked Garnet “Care to repeat yourself?”
Garnet was a petite girl compared to her companion. She had short, fluffy, dirty pink hair that came down to her neck. Currently, she was wearing a maroon t-shirt and a pair of jean short-shorts. She was currently in her questioning stance, which involved her arms being crossed and her right eyebrow raised.
“You heard me Garnet.” Aqua answered. “Captain Shield told me that the Queens’ have personally asked to see us.”
Aqua had since changed her outfit to wearing a pair of blue gym shorts and a white undershirt. She has since done her hair up in a ponytail.
“Why would they want to do that?” Garnet asked. “It’s not like we’re anything special.”
“Thats exactly what I said, but Captain Shield said that they chose us, because we are two of the few that have a 100% success rate with missions both individually and with our squad.” Aqua explained.
“Makes sense I suppose.” Garnet said.
Garnet went to go sit on the couch, in the apartment that they shared. Once she was sitting, she proceeded to summon one of the bottles of cider, that Aqua had purchased earlier, with her lavender aura. Meanwhile Aqua had made her way into the kitchen to begin preparing for their lunch.
“You hungry Garny?” Aqua asked.
“If you’re cooking, than yea I’m hungry.” Garnet replied.
“Ok.” Aqua replied.
Aqua then proceeded to fry the pork chops she had purchased and seasoned them with a bit of salt, pepper, and garlic. While the pork fried, she began cutting the apples in slices to accompany their lunch. Garnet decided to try and sneak an apple slice from the kitchen using her magic. Her lavender aura surrounded the apple and it slowly began to lift. However, Aqua was prepared and quickly, and decisively, stabbed the apple into the cutting board. Realizing that she was busted, she quickly hid behind the couch.
“Oh Garny.” Aqua called out in a singsong voice.
“Yes Aqua.” Garnet answered warily.
“If you try that crap again” Aqua said pleasantly “I’ll make sure that the next thing I stab is your hand.”
This stopped any further theft and their lunch was finished and devoured.