While the real Royal Wedding had been underway, it had been up to the Royal Guard--both day and night--to help round up the wounded. Thankfully--and shockingly--there had been no fatalities despite the massive invasion of Changelings. They had outnumbered everypony at least 3 to 1, perhaps even more. The Royal Guard had been absolutely...well...useless. After all, Equestria was generally peaceful. While some saw combat with various monsters, it was rare, and the majority of the Guard had never been in a real combat situation. Training wasn't the same. Mock combat, drills...they didn't prepare you for that feeling you get inside you, that cold clutch around your heart when you were fighting for your life, or the lives of those around you.
Guards who had been on the job for years froze up. Many younger rookie guards had, too. The Changelings had done their job well. Confusion and chaos reigned, the guards had been overtaken and overwhelmed. When Shining Armor's spell had reactivated and sent the Changelings to Celestia knows where, it had been a relief. As the Royal Wedding preparations began again, the Guard, even those to the point of exhaustion, began the reparations of Canterlot and helping its injured citizens.
After Canterlot had been restored and its citizens tended to, new training regimens began. The ponies capable of magic began training with Shining Armor to learn the Changeling shield. Celestia had found out the hard way that having only one pony capable of such a thing could be disastrous. Granted, it was a very difficult spell, and to maintain it the way Shining Armor had would be nearly impossible for any one of the ponies alone, including the Pegacorn in the midst of learners.
Licorice Twist had to admit he was impressed. To uphold such a spell for such a massive duration, he couldn't fathom it. He'd been one of the ponies to run himself to exhaustion during the attack. He'd found a family of ponies and had protected them with his life, maintaining a defensive shield spell around them, having it battered, and dropping it to lash out with his wing blades, constantly moving, fighting, and using magic,. He'd forced himself to go through the night, however. He had a duty, and his duty was all he knew. That Shining Armor had been able to uphold such a massive, draining shield for so long made him feel almost...incompetent. But he'd been starting to be able to work the spell. Perhaps not to Shining Armor's extent, but at least he could perhaps do one pony at a time.
And so the days went by, the Royal Guard busier than ever with added training, twice extra for those learning Shining Armor's spell. They were also taught a signalling spell. The signalling spell would alert the Princesses that changelings, or perhaps a new threat, had made themselves known. Of course, the ponies would not question Shining Armor, but none knew why they would need to learn such a spell. That became clear quite soon.
Another week had gone by, then one by one those that had at least a usable grasp of Shining Armor's spell were called into the throne room. When it was Licorice Twist's turn, he was surprised to find both Princess Celestia and Luna standing before him. He lowered himself to one knee, his other foreleg stretched before him and tip of his horn touching the floor, bowing deeply before his Princesses.
"Your Highnesses," Licorice Twist greeted them humbly, standing once he'd been given acknowledgement.
"THOU HAST SERVED US MOST HONORABLY, LICORICE TWIST!!!!!"
Licorice Twist blinked his eyes a bit, feeling his mane and tail fluttering from the force of Princess Luna's 'Royal Canterlot Voice.' He also completely ignored Princess Luna covering her mouth with her hoof to hide a little chuckle. Would she never get over having a Guard named Licorice Twist? No, likely not. He'd learned to ignore it quite well by now. The first time she had met him, after her first Nightmare Night, she had actually downright laughed. Fell into a right fit of giggles. He'd been so angry and so...humiliated. She had apologized, of course, and had managed to--mostly--contain herself after. But that little snicker still got through every now and then.
"WE HEREBY AGREE WITH OUR SISTER AND BEHEST UPON THEE A SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT!!!!"
"LUNA!!!"
Luna giggled and gave her sister a little pout. "But SIS! I like that voice!"
Celestia made a face at her younger sister and looked down upon the still blinking, unique-looking pony before them. She bowed her head to Licorice Twist lightly and smiled. "What my sister is trying to say....we are assigning a special mission to you. We have picked cities throughout Equestria and those of you who have learned Shining Armor's spell well enough will be sent to keep watch. You will act as protector and warning bell. Should any Changelings appear, you will use the signalling spell you learned to immediately alert us so we can send reinforcements."
Licorice Twist used much of his willpower not to allow his ears to droop down. He was being sent away! Was it because he hadn't done well as a guard? Had he failed? HOW had he failed? He'd protected that family til he nearly fell over from sheer exhaustion! He'd worked so hard during the attack and the aftermath, even though he'd been dead on his hooves! Oh shit, had he missed something? Did he zone out? As all this raced through his mind, however, he simply nodded at this news. He would not outwardly question his Princesses.
"Am I to be heading back to Fillydelphia, Highnesses?" Of course, it was a natural assumption.
"No," Celestia shook her head. "My sister and I have discussed you at length. She did not want to lose you. But with what she knows of you and has told me, I have decided to send you to a city very important to me. You will go to....Ponyville."
Chapter 1 -- With a Dash and a Twist...
Ponyville....he couldn't believe it. PONYVILLE?!?! Practically a little backwater, podunk town....outside of the fact the fillies who caused the Elements of Harmony to resurface lived there, what was so important there? Licorice Twist sighed to himself as he made his way back to the quarters he'd enjoyed as head of his own regiment of Pegasi, though he didn't really have much to pack. Maybe the Elements of Harmony had something to do with it? But...they were kept in Canterlot. He knew the princess had them protected in the city, and those fillies hadn't even been able to get to them in time. To get to them in time....perhaps that was it!
Yes, that had to be it. He was being sent to Ponyville in case the Changelings did come back. And if they arrived in Ponyville first, he would provide a line of defense in order for the fillies to return to Canterlot and get to the Elements of Harmony. That simply HAD to be it. He could think of no other plausible reason. He knew a little bit about the ponies that embodied the Elements of Harmony. They had saved Princess Luna and had defeated Discord, so he'd made sure to learn a bit about them. He was sure he'd come across them at some point, but that didn't really concern him.
Once he'd arrived in his room, he'd paused to take a look at himself in the mirror. His pink and purple hair was longer on the left side than on the right, cut into sharp angles. His fur was so black it almost glistened, with pink swirl patterns that occurred naturally over the fur. His coloring had caused him a lot of grief in childhood, and sometimes even now. He was the odd pony out, he knew, and coupled with being an Pegacorn, it set him apart. He always felt the need to push himself harder, train extra long, just to prove himself. He didn't rely on magic. He used it, yes, but didn't depend on it or use it as often as Unicorns. He regiment had come to look at him as a Pegasus, albeit a rather unfriendly one too engrossed in his duties.
He did use his magic to dress, however, watching in the mirror as his black and purple chest guard opened and latched around him, the purple wing blades and guards settling into place over his wings. He used his hooves to put on the face plate carefully, He carefully stepped into his armored boots one hoof at a time, and stopped to look at himself in the mirror, nodding in satisfaction. This was all he needed to take with him. He had no mementos. The room was barren of anything personal, it was very...military. Just like he had wanted it. No distractions. With a soft sigh, Licorice Twist turned and made his way out of the castle, giving brief nods to guardponies as he passed.
Once outside he spread his wings and took to the air. Why take the train when he could fly, after all? It gave him a chance to get a bird's-eye view of the land, having never been down in the area of Ponyville. It wasn't a quick flight to Ponyville, either, so it gave him some time to think. He knew a little about the area. The Everfree forest had monsters in it and had never really been fully explored due to the dangers. He knew of a nearby swamp that had a supposed Hydra sighting.
Ponyville was home to Sweet Apple Acres, and he heard amazing things about their cider and apples. He recalled Soarin' raving about the pie he had bought during the Grand Galloping Gala, which had been sold to him by Applejack. Which lead him to the Element of Honesty herself. He figured she had to be honest, of course. That was a given. Friend with the other Elements, strong, a hard worker. He recalled Princess Celestia mentioning something about a heavy competitive streak, referring to some incident during the Running of the Leaves. Castle life...it was quite hard to keep a secret, really. Apparently she had been in heavy competition with Rainbow Dash.
Which brought his thoughts to the Element of Loyalty, the colorfully-maned cyan pony herself, Rainbow Dash. A hearty flyer, apparently Ponyville's top weather pony. Whispered words around the Gala spoke of how hard she seemed to be trying to impress the Wonderbolts, which made a bit of sense. A lot of Pegasi were in awe of the elite group of flyers. Though really, he was a bit surprised they hadn't invited her to the group yet. She had pulled off two Sonic Rainbooms and supposedly had done a third in her youth. She was a bit brash. Would do almost anything it took to win,from what he heard about the prior contest that caused the heavy competition in the Running of the Leaves in the first place. He figured Applejack and Rainbow Dash to be the strongest ponies of the group. And Rainbow Dash was one of two Pegasi that made up the Elements.
The other Pegasi was the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy. To be honest, he hadn't heard much about this particular pony. Apparently she was incredibly shy and wasn't fond of the limelight. There was that one period of time when Photo Finish was obsessed with her, of course. But even he could see she wasn't exactly fond of all the flashes and attention. The poor pony had nearly crawled into her own skin. It was also hard to believe that she was the raving lunatic pony that scared all the animals in the Royal Gardens, but he'd overheard Dirty Hoe and Fluffy Snatcher, two ponies who worked the Gardens, describe her perfectly. Apparently not being able to get those animals to like her had gotten to her. Perhaps Photo Finish had started her cracking, who knew. Apparently she spent a lot of time with Rarity.
The Element of Generosity had been taken in by many of the socialites during one of her stays in Canterlot, he remembered, and was the second Unicorn in the group. He remembered a lot of the upper class ponies talking after Rarity had admitted that the others were her friends, and how one of the biggest Socialites, Fancypants, had stood up for her and accepted her for who she was, and not the big upper class pony she had passed herself to be. She could perhaps be described as misguided, but sweet. She did have popular fashions. She ran her own shop in Ponyville. Another pony helped to run a shop in Ponyville too, he knew...
Pinkie Pie! That was her name. The Element of Laughter. Bright pink, fluffy-maned pony. Thank Celestia he wasn't pink all over like her. Oh, with her, it was fine. But he was a colt! It was bad enough having so much pink on him. As a very young colt, it was even worse, he remembered. Since the only known Alicorns were female, everypony assumed he was a filly, even in school! The horror. And he wasn't even an Alicorn! He could only wish to be like Celestia or Luna. He shook his head as he flew, pushing the thoughts away so he could concentrate on remembering what he knew on Pinkie Pie. A very...energetic...pony. He heard heard so much about her attempts at the Gala to get people to dance. It had almost made HIM laugh. And she had rid Ponyville of the parasprites. He remembered Celestia talking about it, having thought it was a parade...until she'd gone to Fillydelphia and seen the infestation herself. Those things had driven both her and Princess Luna almost nuts until finally Celestia had apparently gone back and gotten Pinkie Pie's help.
Finally, there was Celestia's student, Twilight Sparkle. Element of Magic. He knew...actually, he knew a lot about Twilight Sparkle. The Princesses talked of her often. Plus, she had lived in Canterlot for a time, and of course, he knew Shining Armor. Not on a personal level, of course. He didn't know anypony on a personal level anymore. Did he even have a personal level anymore? He shook his head to push that thought out of his head as well. Back to Twilight. She had saved the town from an Ursa Minor, an impressive feat. She had gone bonkers and made Ponyville fight over a stuffed animal. What if the spell had worked on Celestia? And then Luna? Equestria Civil War over a stuffed toy...even HE could have ended up fighting for the thing! He shuddered at the thought. That was enough thinking of Twilight for now.
Ponyville was just coming in to view now as it was, and he began angling in for his descent, slowing down and making sure he would settle along the outskirts of town. He figured a dark, armor-clad pony--even one rather generously splashed with pink--wouldn't go over too well. He was sure the news of the Changeling attack had been spread over Ponyville. He touched down on the road leading into Ponyville in the direction of Canterlot, ruffling his feathers before settling his wings down, taking the time to look around town. He noticed a multicolored blur of movement, but it was gone when he glanced towards it. Then he noticed it again from the other direction, but he missed it.
"WHO THE HAY ARE YOU!?"
And suddenly there was a cyan pony over his head. His tail jerked and nearly snapped parallel to the ground before he fought down the instinct, turning to narrow his eyes at the hovering pony. He'd never been startled like that in his LIFE! He was happy he'd been trained so well to keep stoic, but goodness. He took a few steps back so the other pony wasn't practically right over his head and frowned. Rainbow Dash. Of course.
Rainbow Dash landed in front of the other pony, her wings spread out and crouched down in a menacing pose, glaring at the dark-armored pony in front of her. She hoofed at the ground threateningly, her eyes locked on this new pony.
"I bet you're a CHANGELING!"
"Oh, of all the....do I LOOK like a Changeling?"
"They can look like anypony!"
Licorice Twist opened and shut his mouth and stomped the ground lightly with one hoof. His feathers ruffled in annoyance, as he was holding back from moving in a stance equal to Rainbow Dash's. The last thing he wanted to do was get into a fight on his arrival. He'd be discharged before he could blink.
"So that means YOU could be a Changeling!" He nodded, happy with that response.
Rainbow blinked and straightened up, frowning.
"I'm no Changeling! I'm Rainbow Dash!"
"I know who you are."
"How?!" That immediately put her on the defensive again, glaring.
"Oh, for....everypony knows who the ponies who embody the Elements of Harmony are!"
"Oh...oh, right! I'm a hero." Rainbow Dash posed proudly, grinning fiercely. "Rainbow Dash, protector of Ponyville!"
"Right..." Licorice Twist just stared at her. Seriously? He cleared his throat. "I'm Licorice Twist. I've been sent here from Canterlot to help protect Ponyville in case the Changelings decide to come back."
"Why? Ponyville's got ME! And..er, you know. The rest of my friends." She grinned sheepishly.
If it hadn't been so utterly against his training, Licorice Twist would have face-hoofed right there. Instead he simply frowned at the brash pony before him. Oh, he really did want to tell her to have at it, turn around, and leave. Ponyville was one of the last places he wanted to be. But he had his orders, and he could not disobey. He was about to open his mouth...
"I KNOW!" Rainbow Dash jumped into the air, her wings flapping as she did a back flip, landing with one hoof raised. "We'll RACE! Winner is protector of Ponyville! And I'M gonna win!"
His jaw simply dropped as he stared at her. Was she serious? Oh shit. She was serious. She stood there, giving him this huge grin, blinking at him, waiting. She was really, really serious. What the hay was he gonna do? Fly back to Canterlot, say "Sorry Princess, Rainbow Dash beat me in a race and sent me home?" He couldn't win against Rainbow Dash in a fair race. She was too fast. He chewed his bottom lip, thinking. He couldn't beat her.....in a fair race! That was it. Oh shit, she was going to hate his guts. Oh well...he had to carry out his assignment, no matter the cost!
"Fine....to where?"
"Uhm...." Rainbow Dash looked around and then pointed to one of the only clouds in the sky. "There!"
"Ok. Count of three, then. Ready?"
Rainbow Dash nodded and crouched down, wings at ready. He did the same and stared at the cloud. He began to count down. His horn began to glow at the count of two, and at the count of three he took off. Rainbow Dash would have been right behind him--or, really...far ahead of him--if he hadn't magicked her hooves to the ground. He let the spell go seconds before he reached the cloud. And she STILL almost beat him.
"YOU CHEATER!" Rainbow Dash was seething mad, advancing on Licorice Twist as the two stood on the cloud.
"Didn't cheat!" he said, standing his ground. Oh, she was mad.
"Did too! You used magic!"
"Never said you couldn't!"
Her jaw dropped and she glared at him, hoofing at the cloud in anger. "Rematch!"
"No."
Rainbow practically growled and spread her wings out. "Listen here, pinkie..."
"YOU listen!" His nostrils flared at the pinkie comment and he marched towards her. "I was sent here to do a DUTY! I'm pretty sure I like it even LESS than you do! I didn't have any choice in the matter, ok? So I'm here. So I COULDN'T let you win. I HAD to win. Because I can't just TROT back to Canterlot and tell Princess Celestia that I can't stay in Ponyville because YOU beat me in a stupid race!"
Rainbow Dash stared at him, eyes widening. She was furious and hurt.
"Ponyville doesn't need some stinkin' bright pink pony who thinks they're better than everypony else to protect them! Especially a CHEATER!" And with that, Rainbow Dash turned and zoomed away, leaving a brightly colored trail behind her.
"I'm not...!" but she was gone, and he dropped down onto the cloud and actually did face-hoof this time. "Oh, this is going just SO WELL...."
