Standing guard wasn’t a hard job by any means. Stand up straight, eyes forward, don’t speak. Do that for six hours and rotate out, that’s what you got paid to do. The only downside was that it was painfully boring most days, you can only admire the walls for so long before they lose their intrigue.
I was in the middle of counting how many candles were in each of the numerous chandeliers dotting the ceiling, for the third time, when a light shove from the left broke my concentration. Irritation flickered inside my chest, but faded just as fast when I saw that my partner, Azure Mist, was here to relieve me of my post.
Azure was a slender unicorn of average height, but still small to me since pegasi were built larger. With a mane like thick fog and her coat akin to a cloudless sky, it’s no wonder where her name came from.
“Having fun?” She asked with a teasing lilt.
“Oh, sure, tons of fun. Did you know that there are sixteen candles per chandelier in this hallway? I did. I even had time to triple check.” The sacrasm was light, yet obvious in my tone.
“Oh yeah? Well i’ll have you know that there are 92 sconces in the north hallway.” Azure countered matter-of-factly, barely suppressing a grin.
I sank down into an exaggerated half-bow, somewhat limited by the armor “you have bested me, madam.” I tried my best to keep a straight face until I heard Azure laugh, and then I joined in.
“Hey, let’s go out for lunch sometime, maybe tomorrow? I wanna get away from the castle for a bit.” she said abruptly as I rose out of my mock bow.
Azure must have seen my muzzle scrunch up, because she quickly amended her statement with “I got Blue Streak to cover the last two hours of my rotation, if that’s what you were confused about. Only took 10 bits and the promise of two ciders.” She grinned at that.
The thought of getting some fresh air away from the castle did seem appealing, as did getting out of this armor; sure, it was decently lightweight, but that only meant more layers of padding to cushion the barrel. Couple that with it being a rather humid day out, and you get a not-so-nice combination.
“You...bribed—nevermind, that sounds like a plan” I said, shaking my head. Azure nodded back and took my place at the left side of the large, marble doorway leading to the throne room.
If there was one good thing about standing guard there, it was that, depending on your shift, you were around for Day Court. Now, You’d think the line of ponies gathered before Princess Celestia would just have mundane concerns like needing loans, or questions about tax cuts, right? Well, you’d only be partially correct. It is mostly those types of common things, but the Court has had its fair share of odd occurrences.
Now, I can’t vouch for the credibility of this one, but one of the older guards said that one time a pony came swaggering into the throne room, presented the Princess a flower, and then tried to press his nose to hers! That’s just downright crazy, trying to kiss the Princess like that. I think there was another part to the story too, something about a bean? I’m afraid I don’t quite remember, my memory is a little shoddy at times.
My tired hooves quickly find their way to the dorm Azure and I share, and I’m happy to rid myself of the plate and padding, if only for a little while. My armor finds itself resting on the rack, and I find myself resting on the cot nestled in the leftmost corner of the room. My stomach would hate me in the morning for not eating tonight, but I had taken a double shift and wasn’t going to say up a minute more than I had to.
Author's Note
If you get the reference in this chapter, you’re a really cool person.
