"Bring us to a halt above Ponyville, we fear we shall not be able to land within the crowd" the Princess ordered.

With a swift reply in the affirmative, the two pegasi brought the carriage to a hover above the crowd of costumed ponies, both young and old. "Jump with me Captain, let's give these ponies a good first impression" she said, both of us then jumping as the same time, the violent winds ripping past us at a thrilling rate. As she slowed her landing with a flare of her wings, while I landed on both feet, ducking into a roll and stopping at a kneel.

I looked up to see the citizens of Ponyville bowing before the Princess, many shaking in fear from the sight of us. One pony within the crowd stood out though a lone purple unicorn, the one known as Twilight Sparkle, a member of the recently formed Elements of Harmony. "Princess Luna!" The pony, adorned in a wizard costume said before being quickly pulled down by her assistant spike, a dragon, would you believe it? I didn't at first, it took shining a trip to the library, two books and five pictures of spike and his sister to convince me. Looking at this small dragon was making it hard not to laugh, his costume being rather confusing, he was dressed in a purple dragon costume, a dragon... In a dragon costume...well, to each their own. As I pondered this, the Princess had advanced towards the citizens, still shaking in fear in front of the Lunar Princess.

The princess slipped from her hood and flared her wings, causing all before her to shake. "Citizens of Ponyville! " her shout making ponies grip the earth to stop themselves from being flung from where they stood by the wind the Princess' voice created. I knelt on the floor, clutching the ear I had facing her and slipping my ear defenders on.

Before she started again, I ran over to her. "Ma'am stop! Your hurting them!" I shouted, indicating the shivering and whimpering as they attempted to back away. "I'm sorry to interrupt you Ma'am and I know it's not my place, but this is not the best first impression."

"But... This is how we address our subjects, is it not?" She asked, feeling slightly confused. "The Royal Canterlot voice is how we are to adress our subjects. How else are we to ensure they hear us?" She asked.

"Perhaps not deafening your subjects would be a good start to allowing them to hear you Ma'am. Perhaps using a normal voice and allowing someone else to herald you in would be a better alternative Ma'am that is what your sister and other leaders do." At this she rose an eyebrow, considering the idea.

"Perhaps, one's image before her people is vital to a leader in holding their hearts and minds. I shall have you herald for me then, my bodyguard, show me how it is done." She grinned, waving a hoof towards a crowd.

"Mares and Gentlecolts, Her Majesty Princess Luna graces you with her presence this night in the hopes that she may befriend and understand her citizens. Much has changed before Her Majesty returned, I expect you to bear this in mind when Her Majesty addresses you. Furthermore, her majesty wishes to take part in these celebrations, so please, do attempt to treat her as any other normal pony. Thank You for your time, you may return to your festivities ponies." I exclaimed, loud enough to be heard across the town, yet quite enough not to hurt the ponies ears.

"That good enough Ma'am?" I asked, turning towards the princess. She replied with a small nod and we then approached Twilight sparkle.

"For now Captain" she stated.

"Hello my name is-" Twilight was cut off by the Princess before she could finish.

"Starswirl the bearded, thou even got the bells right." The Princess commended her sister's student.

"Thank You, see Spike, I told you somepony would get it!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going to find Pinkie and see if I can get in on that candy." He grinned as he waddled of towards the sound of chicken squawks.

"Ok then, don't eat too much!" Twilight called after him."Sorry Princess, as I was saying my name is- " she was once again interrupted by the Princess.

"Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic and mine sister's faithful student. Thou are the one who freed me from the dark forces that warped my mind and body. For that I am very grateful." The Princess said with a smile, bowing her head slightly in gratitude towards the smaller pony.

"It's ok Princess, there's no need to thank me, I just did what was right." Twilight said with a nervous grin. "Would you like me to take you around town? I'm sure you'd love to meet my friends and take part in the celebrations." She paused to allow us to follow her. "I have one question though, what is that thing following you? Is it a golem? Is it an automiton? Or is it... Oh what did Lyra call those things?... Oh yeah, is it a human?" This caused a giggle from Luna.

"I think you'll find I'm a human, Miss Sparkle, not a robot or magical construct. I'm a living, breathing, Human being. Albeit one in the wrong place and serving a magical pony Princess as a bodyguard. I am Captain James Parker, but you can call me James.

"OK James, so you're the Princess's personal guard then? Judging by the badges on your uniform, that is." She asked, poking the Lunar emblem upon my arm.

"Yes Miss Sparkle, you assumed correctly, although I'm not exactly in uniform. I'm not even wearing my armour, this only protects me from the weather, although aparantly the Pegasi have that handled." I said, looking to the sky to see a small amount of dark clouds hovering in the night sky.

One cloud in particular caught my eye though, this one was moving across the town, pushed by a pony with a multi-coloured tail, the pony was lightly snickering while pushing the storm cloud closer to our group. As she neared closer, I decided to stop Miss Dash's fun with a little of my own. "Miss Dash, this is the Royal Guard, disembark the cloud and land immediately!" I shouted, winking at the confused pair in front of me.

At hearing my shout, Rainbow yelped and fell off the small cloud. "Whaa! Please don't throw me in prison!" She wailed, whipping her head around to find the golden armour.

As she searched, I approached her slowly, using the shadows to hide my presence. When I was close enough, I slowed to a crawl and rustled through the bush to the side of her and stood. Upon seeing my form, she screamed and backed into Twilight, who was currently giggling away at her usually calm and cool friend. "Do not be afraid Miss Dash, I am merely Princess Luna's guard, you can't seriously be afraid of me can you?" I asked mockingly, chuckling a little myself.

"Pfft, nah. Why would I be scared of a thing like you?" She said, still shaking from fear.

"I don't know, do you Ma'am?" I asked the Princess, pulling out my Knife and idly sharpening the blade of the perfectly balanced knife.

"No, Captain Parker, we could not procure reason for such a reaction. Perhaps she is just scared of everything?" She grinned, playing on to the joke.

"Maybe, but I heard Miss Dash is fearless, so this must not be her. Ah well, such a shame." I said, shaking my head slowly.

"I am fearless, I am THE Rainbow Dash, THE fastest Pegasus in Equestria. Wait a minute... Did you just prank me?!" She complained, huffing as she stomped a hoof on the ground.

"Yes Miss Dash, but only because you were planning on doing the same. Serves you right for trying to scare us anyway, your lucky I didn't just shoot you down." I warned, my tone growing serious as I frowned beneath my balaclava.

"Ha-ha, with what!? You don't even have a horn, you can't do magic and you certainly can't fly!" She teased, giggling along with the other two ponies.

"A human may not have magic, may not naturally be able to fly or have amazing strength. But a human is smart enough to use this to its advantage, a human can use the tools it makes to keep itself at the top of the food chain and survive no matter what. The human race is the most deadly and destructive force on earth, maybe even here as well." I stated, sheathing my knife and leading the group towards the crowd. " But enough about Miss Dash and I, lets get involved in the festivities. That's what we were here for, shall we Ma'am? The town awaits. " I stated, bowing with a gesture towards the many stalls for games.

"We shall, wait for me at the town hall, I wish for some private time with Miss Sparkle while we enjoy the festive celebrations." She said, pointing a hoof briefly towards the stage set up in front of the building. " I assure you I shall be safe, you spend some time to yourself."

"Of course Ma'am, I'll be sat in the alleyway I think, get a bit of a nap in before we meet again." I said, walking towards the small alley across from the stage.

"Ok, enjoy your nap James!" Twilight said, waving with a smile.

"I shall, you go and enjoy yourself now, shoo!" I chuckled, placing my back against the wall and sitting on the floor. As their hooves drifted away, so did I, accepting the embrace of sleep once again as I rested, fading into the darkness of the night.

Author's Note

I'd like to thank Bethesda and their game Fallout 4 for sidetracking me so much. But I've finally got this chapter out, cut it shorter than I wanted, but that's because I have something planned

What... You thought this chapter would be a Nightmare scene?
Nah, I'm not putting poor Woona through that! Don't be silly!