The Guards-Man
The First Chapter
Load Full StoryAuthor's Note
What follows is a work of Fiction.
My Little Pony is the property of Hasbro and Lauren Faust.
No Copyright Infringement is intended.
The First Chapter
I stood stock still at the position of attention outside the golden doors of the throne room of Canterlot Castle, the seat of power of Equestria and overseen by the Diarchy of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. As I was standing at my assigned post I very suddenly noticed that I had to itch my nose.
'Confound it! Why do you trouble me with such irritation god? Have I done something to offend thee?'. I mentally shouted sarcastically while scrunching up my face to provide some semblance of relief to my poor assaulted nose.
None came.
I had to suddenly stop my fidgeting as I noticed that the doors were opening and me, thinking it was one of the princesses coming out, ceased all movement despite the assault continuing on my nose. It was for naught as another pony guard stuck his head out looking down the opposite side of the corridor that I was guarding before his head turned and his large blue eyes met my waist before making the journey up to my helmed head.
"Private Stahven, you are summoned by her majesties." The white pony who I recognised as Sergeant Falcata said to me before disappearing back into the throne room.
I took this opportunity to finally get rid of that loathsome itch I had and adjusted my helm to relieve the stifling of my head and neck. Having made myself as presentable as I could I turned on my heel and marched through the doors to the throne room.
The throne room truly was a sight to behold. Its white marble pillars that supported the majestic room reached up to about twenty meters or so while supporting many balconies that patrons could use to spectate when any of the royal courts were in session. I walked along the smooth red velvet carpet enjoying the reprieve my feet got from standing on stone for hours. As I made my way down to the thrones of Celestia and Luna I saw that not only were the royal sisters present but also Princess Cadence and her husband Prince Shining Armour along with the main six, Twilight Sparkle and her friends.
The assembled ponies were all chatting amicably with each other as I closed the last few feet leading up to the thrones.
I stopped and gave a sharp salute by way of straightening my spear close to my right side and bringing my round greek like shield to my front. The princesses and Shining offered a salute in return and I relaxed into an easy and more relaxing stance.
"Hello my little human, I hope I haven't come between you and your duties too much." said Princess Celestia in her soft melodic voice and motherly smile present making me feel more at ease than I was before. The rest of the ponies offered me a friendly smile and I inclined my head in a bow with a smile of my own.
"It is no trouble princess, I am happy to serve at any convenience. I am yours to command.". I said as my blue eyes kept contact with Celestia's gentle magenta orbs. I don't really know how she does it but every time I look into her eyes I get this feeling of serene peace washing over me and my smile grows just a touch wider.
"Now Stahven, you may call us by our names, we are not standing on ceremony here. Take off your helmet and have a seat with us. We are all friends after all." The white alicorn said as she gestured for me to come up the steps and sit on a cushion that had been very kindly provided by one of Celestia's staff. I sat myself down between Rarity and Twilight, taking off my helmet and shield and placing them behind me with the shield resting against my back and my spear was propped up against Luna's throne which was next to Twilight. I must say that it felt good when my head was released from its armoured covering, sweat was lightly glistening on my shaved head which was quickly wiped away by Rarity with a cloth held in her magic.
"Thank you Lady Rarity." I said as I gave a smile and a one armed hug to her which she quickly returned with both forelegs wrapping around my waist and her head on my shoulder. Now this wasn't the first time that Rarity or any of the other girls had embraced me like this, it shocked me at first but I was later told after my first few days in Equestria that physical affectionate contact was, by and large, the norm for the Inhabitants.
"You're welcome darling and might I say, you are looking just as handsome as the last time I saw you in that dashing armour." Rarity said as she pulled out of the hug and smiled at me before giving me an affectionate nuzzle. I looked back up at Celestia and proceeded to ask the question of why I was summoned here in the first place.
"We all just wanted to see how you were faring here in your role in Equestria since it has been some time since you arrived." She said in return to my question.
"I am faring well Celestia, I have a job I enjoy and good friends around me. I'll admit that when I first arrived in Equestria I thought I had gone Insane or had died. If it wasn't for Twilight and everyo- er...pony here then I don't know how I would've ended up." I replied as I gave Twilight an ear scratch which all the ponies seemed to love and often lead to me handing them out to everypony as is exactly what was happening right now as Pinkie Pie, the ever lovable ball of energy, jumped into my lap.
"OH ME NEXT, ME NEXT!" she demanded as she looked up to me with her light blues and quivering lip.
I never stood a chance.
"Oh, alright Pinkie, you win." I sighed out as I relented to giving her ear scratches while the others all giggled a little at my expense, even Shining.
"It is very good to hear that you have settled well here in our kingdom and have made such good friends here, my friend." Princess Luna said as she approached me and gave me a gentle nuzzle of her own. Luna and I have a strong friendship which was built from a mutual circumstance on being lost in a wold that was unrecognisable to us and having to adapt to it in all forms.
I met Luna shortly after I arrived here as a result of one of Discord's bouts of chaos before he was reformed by Fluttershy. Discord had the, somehow, bright idea to bring in another chaotic creature and I just so happened to be yanked from my own world because of him. After his reformation Discord said that he threw his magic out at random and because of that he couldn't return me home since he didn't know which world his magic dragged me from. After I was calmed down enough to realise that this was all real and not some mad dream I was having I turned my attention to the six ponies that had gathered around me.
After my not being able to go home was established the girls debated between themselves about where I should be accommodated, all the while Fluttershy was checking me over for any slight injuries and keeping me from going insane.
After some deliberation the girls had seemingly came to an agreement and I was greatly surprised to hear that Rarity had offered her home to me to sleep in and she would not take no as an answer apparently. Element of Generosity indeed.
After a few weeks of being in Rarity's household and I had finally accepted my situation and my new home world I set about looking for work as I felt a little guilty mooching off of Rarity as I had been. My first stop was the farm of Sweet Apple Acres, home of the apple family. After asking Applejack about work and a few failed attempts at farming and bruised feet later it came to the conclusion that farming was out of the question. It turns out I didn't have the aptitude for baking either, the smoke from Sugarcube Corner was a testimony to that.
As the days rolled by I had to think about what I was good at and what I could do realistically, I couldn't bake, couldn't farm, I had no idea about fashion and no interest in anything mundane. So my thoughts turned to what the human race was good at as a whole, something which we had never failed to stop despite our every attempt to do so, something that was ingrained in our very nature as a human.
War.
Now that I could do, I had tried to join my country's army back on earth but I failed the medical, but with the lack of my anatomy being known to Equestria then they wouldn't exactly know what a medically fit human would be compared to one who is medically unfit. With that conclusion I decided to sign up for the Guard the very next day.
