Clyde

by paintingthemelodies

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Luna, Original Character, Adventure, Princess Celestia
Length: 2251

Being rejected from the Royal Guard, Clyde (accidentally) becomes a part of the Lunar Republic Guard.

A pegasus stallion from Haywaii named Clyde had always wanted to be a part of the Royal Guard. After getting rejected, he goes surfing to clear his mind. As his mind wanders, he doesn't realize the storm coming, and Clyde is swept under the waves, becoming unconscious. He wakes up in a place he never thought he'd be: The Lunar Republic.

Published 2015-01-03 13:00:06 UTC
Last updated 2015-02-11 03:32:13 UTC

Rejected

It was a cloudy day in Haywaii. Clyde rushed into the house, the door slamming shut.
"Did it come? Did it come? Did it come?" He energetically repeated.
"You'll have to check the mail, Clyde." Clyde's mother said with a smile. He flew over to the pile of mail that stood waiting for him on the counter. Quickly, he searched through the mail until he finally found what he was looking for. The teal Pegasus held his letter up triumphantly.
"It's here!!!" He shouted. Ecstatically, he ripped the letter open and read it.
"Dear Clyde,
The pegasus royal guard is impressed by your skill and determination, however we are not capable of accepting you into the guard academy because we have and overflow of guards in training and cannot afford another student. We understand that you desired this very much, but there's always next year.
Signed,
The Royal Guard"

The letter fell to the ground as Clyde's wings drooped.
"So" Clyde's mom said, walking over. "What did it say?"
"I'm gonna go surf for a little while, mom." He murmured.
"Well, okay... Be careful out there!"
"Mom. I'm seventeen, you don't have to worry."
"I know." She responded, hugging him. "I love you Clyde."
"Love you too."

Clyde had been surfing since he was little, just as he had been fascinated with the Royal Guards. For his entire life, he trained with his older brother so that he could serve Princess Celestia as a guard. Surfing was just his hobby, though he ended up getting a cutie mark representing both his goal and hobby. Surfing was also a way to get Clyde's mind off of things, so he decided he could relax for a while in the ocean before going back to the disappointment he had just received.
Clyde walked to the beach with his surfboard on his back. He placed it in the water, and was soon riding the tide as his dull expression faded into one of happiness. As he continued on the waves, his mind wandered back to the letter. He could only think of one word: failure. What would he do? Continue training for another year, only to be possibly disappointed yet again?
Sighing, he pressed his hoof against the shark tooth necklace that was on his neck. His father had given it to him when he was only a colt. It was his reminder that his family loved him, no matter what. He closed his eyes. "Everything's gonna turn out just fine." He said to himself. "I hope."
When he opened his eyes, his heart skipped a beat. Before him was the biggest wave he had ever seen; coming right at him. The wind tossed and turned any calm water that was there before and he couldn't find any way to get away from it. Instantly it hit him, sending him deep underwater. The storm going on above tossed and turned him everywhere until his head collided with a rock, causing everything to go black.

Author's Note

Heeeeey Shimmerz
Thanks for encouraging me to post this!

The Lunar Republic

Clyde opened his eyes to see a brown hut. As he tried to move, he felt immense pain in his wings. While looking around, he noticed that he could see things clearer than he ever had before. Where was he?
"Oh, you're up! Thank goodness!" A voice from behind him said. As she came in front of him, he noticed something very off. She looked like a regular unicorn with dark red fur and a wavy crimson mane, but something was different. He realized that she had tufts at the end of her ears, she had a slanted horn, and her eyes... Her eyes were slitted, like a bat pony's would be.
"Excuse me, but I have a lot of questions..." He said, unsure. She laughed lightheartedly and answered, "I should hopefully have the answers!"
"Okay," he started. "First of all, are you a bat pony?"
"Yes."
"Where am I?"
"You're in the village of the Lunar Republic."
The lunar republic... Clyde had heard that name before, but where? He then remembered that a few months ago he had read about it. The Lunar Republic was an island not too far from Canterlot, and it had an exceptional detail about it: all the ponies there were bat ponies. For years, the hybrid ponies were outcasted because they were so different from everypony else, so they all moved to an island where they could be left alone. However, when Princess Luna came back from being banished to the moon, she found the bat ponies. Instantly, she accepted them in and thanks to her acceptance, other ponies' hearts were softened as well. Since then the island was named The Lunar Republic and bat ponies were able to live in harmony.
"Wow, the Lunar Republic." He gawked. "How did I get here?"
"Dear, you washed up on the shore two days ago, all scratched and unconscious. I hate to say it, but you almost died! So I got in contact with Princess Luna- I'm her jeweler so she's a good friend of mine- and she helped me save you, but the only way to do that was, well.... To do this to you." She looked at his wings with a sad smile. "But you're okay now, right?"
"Of course! I'm fine, and thank you, but what do you mean this?"
She levitated a mirror over with her magic, giving it to him. As he looked at himself, he was terrified at what he saw: he was a bat pony.

"I'm very sorry, dear... But it was the only way to save you!" The bat pony said to Clyde as she saw his terrified face. As Clyde looked harder, though, he realized that though he had grew bat wings and had a darker coat, he had also gotten a heightened sense of vision and hearing. Taking a deep breath, he decided that this was a good thing, and he owed his life to the bat pony standing in front of him.
"Don't worry, I'll get used to this;" he said, smiling at her. "Thank you for saving me. What's your name?"
"Ruby Moon," she answered. "My husband Cynder and I have lived in this village our entire lives, and trust me, it's an amazing place to live."
At this time, Clyde was able to sit up and spread his new wings which suddenly caused pain down his spine.
"Careful, dear!" Ruby said, using her magic to numb the pain. "You're far too weak to move too much right now. Just stay right there and I can get you anything you need."
"Thank you so much." Clyde answered. "You know, you remind me of my mom. You had kids, right?"
"No dear..." She replied, a sad smile reappearing on her face. "You see, my husband and I found out after we were married that we weren't able to have foals of our own..."
"I'm sorry to have brought that up"
"No, it's okay. It's not your fault." The sadness leaving her face, she said, "Now, do you want something to eat or drink? You must be starving because you were out for a few days."
"I wouldn't want to trouble you." Clyde hesitated.
"Ah, it's no trouble at all!" Ruby replied with a smile. She trotted over to their kitchen, making Clyde a sandwich.
"Thank you for everything." He grinned. "When should I be able to fly back home to tell my family that I'm okay?"
"You're doing really well, so I think you should be able to make the trip in a week."
A week? Although he was very thankful for Ruby Moon and her hospitality, he hoped that his family wasn't worrying too bad...

New Life

As his eyes flitted open, Clyde slowly got up. "There we go, not too much pain." Slowly, he stretched out his new bat wing. Wincing a little, he continued spreading it out until it was finally fully spread.
"Yes!" Clyde was finally able to spread his wings out fully. It had been three days since he'd come to the Lunar Republic, and staying at the Moons' house had been not very exciting. He was very grateful for everything they had done for him. However, Ruby wouldn't allow Clyde to go outside until he could move his wings with little pain. Finally, after three days of practically laying in their guest room doing nothing, he was finally able to explore the Lunar Republic.
"Now Clyde..." Cynder said as he saw the new batpony getting ready. "You should take it easy out there. You know how Ruby worries."
"Yeah, I know." Clyde replied with a smile, strapping a saddlebag to his side. "Don't worry, I'll be fine!!"
Walking outside, Clyde looked around with his newly sharpened hearing and vision.
What he saw was astounding. All the ponies walking around were bat ponies, just like he was. He actually felt like he was accepted in this new place, and smiling he walked around to explore. He walked down the house's cobblestone pathway and into the small village. In the small town, most of the buildings had the same design. They had thatched roofs and simple yet cozy interiors. Lots of merchants were out, and one caught his eye. Clyde walked over to a small outdoor shop that contained wooden trinkets. Picking a small one up, he gasped confirming what it was. The wooden sculpture was of a Lunar Republic guard, in the stance with his hoof to his forehead. Clyde was very attracted to it for some reason, probably because it reminded him of the royal guard.
"Umm, excuse me?" He asked the pony standing at the front desk. "How much does this carving cost?"
The merchant looked it over and said, "3 bits, sir."
With a smile, Clyde reached in his saddlebag and pulled out 3 bits.
"Thanks!!" He said, waking away with his newfound treasure. As he continued exploring the island, he finally got to the shore. Telling from the lighting he knew it was sunset, but couldn't see the sun because of the buildings. Walking past the bustle of the city, Clyde took a path that led to the shore. There was something interesting about the water though... But what was it? As Clyde reached the shore, he saw that the water glimmered more than he had noticed back at home. Or could he just be imagining things? He sat down. This was definitely a magic place, but he didn't know if it could make water shine differently. Reasoning with himself, Clyde agreed that enough things had happened recently that were beyond belief that different looking water might not be too far fetched. As the sun peacefully set, he realized that he was right: as the night sky changed, so did the ocean. Glimmering, it changed from clear blue to a dark navy shade. The deeper the water, the thicker the color scheme became and at the top, the water was mostly clear. All the while, the water was sparkling with dots that looked like stars.
"Wow." He said to himself.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Clyde bowed as he realized who it was. "P-princess Luna!"
"Don't be afraid, Clyde. She said. "I came to check up on you. To see how you were fairing as a bat pony."
"Oh, it's very nice. And thank you." He said, bowing again. "For saving my life. If you need me to do anything, Princess, I will."
Luna chuckled. "Thank you, Clyde. But you can just call me Luna. I'm just glad that you're okay and doing well in your new state."
"Mhmm. Hey Luna?" He asked.
"Yes?"
"When do you think I'll be able to let my family know I'm okay? I know that they're worried about me, but I can't do anything about it..."
"Not to worry, Clyde. If you'd like, you could right a letter to them and I' have one of my guards deliver it to them."
Excitedly, Clyde said, "You can do that??" Princess Luna nodded.
"Thank you so much, Princess!!!" She raised an eyebrow. "Um, I mean Luna." They laughed.
"It was nice talking to you, Clyde. I'll send a guard to get your letter in an hour."
"Okay, thanks again!" He replied, waving to her.
Rushing to his temporary home, Clyde started writing the letter to his family. It included everything from when he went surfing to right then, and was a few pages long. Finishing up, he said to himself, "that'll do." A few minutes later, he heard a knock at the door. Answering it, he saw the guard that Luna sent. It hit him at that moment that the Lunar Republic Guard was almost exactly like the Royal Guard, the thing he had trained his entire life for. Maybe he didn't have to wait another year to apply... Maybe he could work as a guard for the Lunar Republic.
"Umm, hold on." Clyde said, quickly scribbling on a piece of paper. "Okay, here you go." He said, handing two sets of paper to the guard. "Can the first one go to my family in Haywaii and the second one go to Princess Luna?"
"Sure thing!" The guard replied.
"Thank you! Travel safely!!"
Closing the door, Clyde smiled. He had found a new goal in his life. It wasn't to get into the Royal guard anymore. It was to get into the Lunar Republic guard.