The Guard

Being the only member of your species is a strange feeling. It makes you feel emotions of hopelessness, fear, and anger. A question most asked in your mind of Why? Instead of the warm peace of the afterlife your old faith assured you of, you were unceremoniously ripped from the gates of heaven and placed in the next available universe, Equestria. Was there a glitch in the system or was this truly what was meant for those who passed.

You were roused from your monologue by the sounds of shoeless hooves running past your chambers. The guard was most likely being drilled again.  Equestria was currently in a time of war. Fear of the changeling Queen was at an all time high, having lost a majority of her hive to the actions of the youngest princess, the bug Queen was backed into a corner, and like all dangerous creatures when threatened she lashed out. The discovery of those townships burnt to cinders gave the Equestrians (much to Celestia's dismay) no choice but to end the long-standing peacetime and declare war. The noise of the guard soon passed and you allowed yourself to reflect on your new life in Equestria.

You remembered nothing about your past life. You knew that you were tired, exhausted, then... nothing. You woke up in a field next to a dark forest while the memories of your old life faded. It was like a dream, you struggled for hours to remember the details but to no avail. You looked around for signs of civilisation. Your eyes locked to a cottage in the distance. As you approached the door the memory grew bright. You knocked on the cottage door and heard a voice inside alert you to their presence. The door opened and you look upon a yellow miniature horse with wings. If an onlooker was there, they would have seen the two creatures shriek in horror and faint.

The next thing you knew you were in front of a larger, whiter version of your previous encounter. The differences though were quite noticeable, the harsh look of its eyes were quite piercing, as though they had access to your very soul. The appearance of both a horn and wings again where you were sure the other one had only a set of wings. Lastly and most importantly, this creature had a crown adorned on its head. When you put the three pieces on information together you had a very pissed off, powerful looking royal that had its targets locked on yours truly. The horn above the white ones head glowed a brilliant golden hue and your world once again met darkness.

The next events passed quickly almost like a blur, the memories vague and hard to process. The white one addressed herself as Celestia, Princess and co-ruler of the land Equestria. When your name was asked of you however, you drew blanks until the Princess, sensing your struggle, gave you the name 'Anonymous'. With names exchanged she explained the basics of pony culture, cutie marks, the three pony tribes. Her tone darkened however as she explained the current diplomacy issues they were having. Fighting a war against an enemy that used shady and evil tactics, her co-ruler and sister fighting on the front-line. Celestia also made it clear you to remain on castle grounds at all times for both your and her subjects safety. With no reason to piss off the god pony you agreed to her terms.

The sound of marching hooves met your ears again, breaking your concentration. Two training drills? You looked over at the clock on your bedstand. This early in the morning? Suddenly a loud smash was followed by a shrill scream. Heart racing, you opened your chamber doors and poked your head outside to see the guards, spears drawn, rushing to the scene of the scream. You walked as calmly as you could behind them only to see a broken window at the far reaches of the hallway. You pushed your way past the guard and peered outside, a mass of ponies had gathered underneath. You turn around and meet the eyes of the guard looking for your reaction. Your silence confirming their fears, a murder had occurred tonight.

On cue, the castles sirens wailed, signalling all to proceed to the evacuation point. The news had hit the Princess. Not a word was spoke on the walk down to the ballroom, many not able to find any words to say, others unable to speak over the sirens waking most of Canterlot. The entrance to the ballroom was covered by a light green veil, two high ranking officials were ushering ponies through one at a time. The veil felt oddly cool against your skin as you passed and took a seat on the floor waiting for the next to come.

It was an understandably sombre mood in the ballroom where the occupants of the castle had been gathered. Many brows were furrowed in confusion while some of the guard who knew the victim were teary eyed at losing one of their number. All eyes met Princess Celestia as she entered the room ready to address the crowd with her orders.

"Everypony please, I have a few announcements-- as you well now know, a changeling was earlier spotted in the castle. A detachment of guards were sent to patrol the area when one of their number was singled out."

Celestia took a moment to compose before continuing.

"Silver Shield was taken from our number tonight, the changeling assassin overpowered her and cast her from the 7th floor. As such, pegasi only will be allowed to patrol above the second floor until further notice. Furthermore, we believe that the changeling was disguised as one of us during the attack and as such, all guards will undergo magical screening upon entering and exiting the castle from now on"

Well at least you know what the  green veil thing is now.

"Does anypony have any questions?"

The hall remained silent, stunned at the harshness of the Princesses words, they were free of compassion and caring. The warmness of her eyes turned cold and dead, it was as if this act had  eliminated any thought in Celestia's mind of this conflict ending peacefully.

"No Questions?-- Good, regiments two, four, five and six, armour up and prepare to be activated in the morning"

As if following those words the sun broke the horizon, bathing the ballroom in an orange light, the sun continued its path upward until it rested at a 45 degree angle to the land.

"The rest of you may return to your quarters--" she turned to your direction "--except you, Anon, we have much to discuss."