Guard Tiara: The Grand Guard Games

Diamond Tiara leaned against the train window, half asleep. Her eyes stared outward, watching the hypnotic movement of the snow covered landscape moving by. The sight combined with the rocking of the car and the hum of the wheels moving along the tracks, the entire thing made her feel a little sluggish (although -- as somepony felt the need to point out -- it could just as easily be a minor case of motion sickness). Not quite enough to actually put her to sleep, but enough for her to feel kind of relaxed and in a partial trance.

The moment of peace and calm was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a sleep snort. It was enough to break Diamond Tiara from her semi-sleep state, a groan escaping her as she rolled her eyes. Turning, she then looked at her seat mates.

Rumble sat beside her, nice and quiet as he read. Dinky Hooves laid across his lap, one wing over her like a blanket. Her eyes were closed as she slept, snoring with a bit of drool running from the corner of her mouth. It was not the worst noise -- or fluid -- one of them had let out with her nearby.

Diamond Tiara's gaze then drifted. She looked around the rest of the car, and all of the other ponies in it. A fair number among them were doing as Dinky: catching what sleep they could. Others were reading like Rumble, staring out the window like she had been, or talking. One was even knitting. She had never seen a young pony do that before, much less a pegasus stallion. It was really quite impressive to see.

An entire train car filled with ponies, three to a seat, and all of them members of the guard. None of them were dressed in armor since they were not supposed to do anything directly combat related. They were going to watch the games, not participate. Seeing as they were the newest members of Princess Twilight Sparkle's guard, that made sense.

The front door banged open.

"Alright all of you," the commander called out. "Attention on me."

In less than a second, all of the ponies were awake, sitting up and looking forward.

"We are about to reach The Crystal Empire," the commander said. "At this time, it will be full of representative from other nations. So I would like to take this moment to remind everypony that even if you are not in uniform, you are still here as members of the guard. Thus, you are representing them, Ponyville, and Princess Twilight Sparkle. As such, you are expected to be on more than your best behavior. Any member who causes issues at this time will leave me disappointed. And you do not want to find out what happens when I'm disappointed in a pony. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," everypony called out.

"Good." Marching along the path, she headed out the other end of the car, and into the next. As soon as the door shut behind, the tension in the room went down. It sounded like one massive sigh from every pony at once.

Soon they were pulling into the station. With a final hiss and clank, the train came to a stop.

"Look at that," Dinky said as she stood up. "We managed to make it to The Crystal Empire, without anything happening."

"Yeah, yeah," Rumble sighed out. "But just think: if I had been right, I would have won the pool before we even got to the games."

"I still can't believe they're making bets on what's going to go wrong while we're here," Diamond Tiara grumbled.

"'They?'" Dinky asked, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean 'they' miss 'a delayed trap created by King Sombra?'"

"Hey, I'm not going to miss out on an opportunity," Diamond retorted, "but I'm not the one who came up with the pool in the first place. Besides, you're betting as well."

"That's right. If a dragon attacks us, I'm going to be rolling in it." A grin spread across her mouth as she thought about it.

"Do you think it says something about us that we are not only expecting something to go wrong during the games, but actually betting on it?" Rumble asked.

"It means we've learned from the past," Diamond Tiara replied. "This is a major event, and like ninety percent of the time, any major event in Equestria tends to end up with something attacking. Besides, somepony probably bet that nothing would go wrong."

"Maybe even the pony running it themselves," Dinky suggested.

"I suppose," Rumble conceded. He joined the others as they headed for the door, disembarking from the train and stepping onto the station platform.

The cold air filled Diamond Tiara's lungs, giving them a slight burning sensation. There was a small puff as ice as she exhaled. Reaching up, she pulled the scarf closer to neck and adjusted her jacket.

"Oh, this is the chance to try it out," Dinky called out.

Before either of them could ask what she had meant, the gray mare's horn lit up with magic. A dark blue dome formed over them, surrounding the three. The shield then faded, turning lighter and paler, letting light pass through, until it was nearly invisible save for a faint blue tinge to everything.

"It will take a little while to see if I did it right or not," Dinky said. "The idea is a thin shield that will keep cold out and heat in. If it works, then it will keep us warm until we get into the limits of the city proper. Come on."

She then started walking toward the edge of the town, Diamond Tiara and Rumble following not far behind. Diamond watched the shield around them as they went. Ponies managed to pass through it, although they seemed to notice that something happened to them (especially after they stepped out). However, it was keeping the snow and wind out. How well it was keeping the heat in was hard to tell. Diamond could not really tell a difference.

It was easy to tell the instant they stepped into the limits of the city, the snow disappearing from under their hooves. There was a clear line where the snow stopped, giving away to the crystalline cobblestones (was that an accurate thing to call them?). Once they had entered, Dinky dropped the shield. Her eyes went wide as she looked up, taking in the sight of the capital city.

"Wow," she whispered, eyes wide. "It's always so impressive. And pretty."

"And crowded," Rumble added.

Looking around, it was pretty true. Not just ponies, including crystal (naturally, since it was their empire) and even bat. There were also Saddle Arabian horses, zebras, griffons, minotaurs, and other races from around the globe. A large number of them were dressed in what looked to be armors of their own races. There were also some dressed in clothes to keep warm, and a small number that had indicators of being nobles or highly influential in their respective lands.

"I don't think I've ever seen so many different species in one place before," Rumble continued. "I mean, I know it was part of the idea and all, but still. Kind of makes me glad we aren't actually participating."

"But just think of all we might get to see and learn from spectating," Dinky said, hopping in place slightly. "We might get to see zebra combat magic, minotaur weaponry, maybe even griffon thundersteel. Not to mention the possibilities of combat styles and tactics." She let out a sigh, shivering for a second.

Diamond Tiara leaned in close to Rumble.

"Is she... turned on by this?"

"Looks like it," Rumble answered. "I think I should take her to our hotel room." He let out a smile. "Help her to calm down an--"

"I know what you're thinking!" Diamond snapped. "Just go already. I'll meet you two in..." she looked at Dinky, doing a calculation "... two and a half hours or so."

"Better make it three."

"Ugh." Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. "Fine!" Why did she of all ponies have to end up with these two?

"Come on Dinky," Rumble called out. "Let's go to the hotel and get checked in."

"Good idea," Dinky Hooves said, turning to walk toward the center of town.

"Remember," Diamond called after her, "we are supposed to be well-behaved during our time here. That means no trying to see how many noise complaints you can get from the other rooms."

"Aww," Dinky pouted, ears dropping. She turned to look at Diamond Tiara, lip stuck out and eyes wide and watery.

"That is seriously not going to work."

"Fine," Dinky said, her pout vanishing. "C'mon Rumble. It sounds like we might have to get a little... creative..." She grinned and licked her lips.

With a sigh, Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes and gave a shake of her head. She had no idea what "creative" meant to those two, but she had a strong feeling that it would be messy. It made Diamond wish she could have her own room. Unfortunately she did not have enough bits (something she never believed she would have thought growing up), and the rooms being paid for by the guard were to be used by each three pony team. Same as the rooms back in Ponyville.

The question was, what should she do in the mean time? She had been planning on going and seeing The Crystal Heart later, so she could probably do it now. Although that would kind of mean she would probably end up going to see it again with Rumble and Dinky. Maybe she could go take a tour of the castle, then head over to the field and see where the games were to take place. If she did, then she might even get a chance to see some of the other teams practicing. Would it make Dinky jealous if Diamond had seen some of the things she was gushing about earlier?

"Well look who it is," a familiar voice said from behind Diamond Tiara, causing her to jump. This got a snicker.

"You would think that as a guard, you would be harder to sneak up on."