The princesses and the beast

After the meeting in which you had the honour of participating with Princesses Luna, Celestia and Twilight, in addition to being the subject, you return with the latter to Ponyville, where she lives. And where you will live from now on, your role being to protect her and all the inhabitants, ponies or not.

It was on the way that the Princess spoke in more detail about Equestria, for having only known the mountains of the North, you knew nothing about the rest of the pony empire. Your mission being to ensure the safety of all, you deduce that you will have a lot to learn before you can intervene in other cities. You listen to her attentively, seemingly forgetting every detail of the adventures she and her friends have experienced.

She tells you about her various feats of arms with five of her friends as bearers of the elements of harmony, a mysterious force that you will have to understand and deal with every day. She also tells you that the queen of the changelings that you almost defeated once and for all is called Chrysalis, and that she will surely come back, having a revenge to take against Twilight and her friends in addition to yourself.

The journey seemed much faster than before, you were so focused that neither you nor the Princess of Friendship had noticed you had arrived. You stopped thanks to your keen eye and landed right in front of her library and tree house in the center of town. You notice that Princess Twilight gently touches her wing on landing, which frightens you.

"Princess Twilight, are you all right?" You say as you kneel beside her, your face betraying no emotion because you had none.

"Yeah, don't worry Lance, I'm just not used to such long flights" she replied, stroking her right wing tenderly.

You took her word for it but couldn't help but take a look at the problem. You gently run your wing sized hoof over it, touching her purple feathers, to make sure she's okay. Your touch seems to soothe her, letting you do so for a moment.

Until she quickly retracts them, starts to blush furiously and turns her head to the ground.

"What is it, Princess Twilight, did I hurt you?" Ask yourself, you don't want to have hurt the person you're trying to protect, or hurt anyone else.

"No, I don't... Lance... it's just... my friends are watching!" She says it in a very low voice, but you still manage to understand her.

You turn your head and see five mares looking at you, all about the same age and size as Princess Twilight, approximately. They stare at you with various expressions.

The first one you notice is a cyan-skinned pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail, which you rescued yesterday morning and which was with Princess Twilight. She seems to be holding back from something, her eyes starting to shed a tear as she retracts her lips inside her mouth, her cheeks being abnormally swollen.

The second one you see is an orange earthen mare with a blond mane, all accompanied by a top of head with a very strange shape, your father never told you about such a model. She has slightly wide-set eyes, which reminds you of the first time you saw your father kill one of these monsters in the mountains.

Another earth mare of a colour you had never seen before, somewhere between the red and purple of the autumn leaves, you thought. Her tousled mane and tail are similar to her basic color. You don't know what's wrong with her mouth, but she can't help but lift each of her extremities to a height that seems impossible to you, you also wonder why she makes little goodies on her hooves while staying where she is.

A fourth mare, the only unicorn in the group, is pure white and healthy, glorified by a curly purple mane and tail. She seems to be staring at you, creating a star-like glow in her eyes. Her mouth is the same shape as the mare of unknown colour, while giving light, half-closed glances behind you to Princess Twilight.

The last mare is a cream-coloured pegasus with long hair of the same colour unknown to you. She hides her face behind this one precisely, preventing you from seeing hers as she steps back behind all the other mares in the group.

The situation makes you wonder why five mares are looking at you like this while you check the condition of the Princess' wings after a flight that is tiring for her. You end up standing on your hind hooves, casting your shadow over the group of mares as the sun illuminates the stage from your back.

"Hello ladies, why are you staring at me like that?" You ask after a long silence.

"Oh, and polite too, you've really found the right son-in-law Twilight!" Comment the white mare on your question.

"TWILIGHT, WITH A STALLION, HAHAHA!!" Exclaims the cyan mare insistently, before the orange mare cuts her off with a hoof over her mouth, not taking away her cheesy expression. You thank her inwardly.

"IT'S TOO AWESOME, TWILIGHT AT ONE STANDARD" finally bursts the earth mare by leaping several meters in one jump. Her abilities are impressive for a pony her size, you'd think, before you cut her off.

You manage to cut her off with your hoof as well, with your hoof completely wrapping her face. She doesn't move as she hangs two meters above the ground.

"That's not it, girls... come on, I'll explain everything inside" she said, quickly opening her door with her magic and rushing inside, out of sight for the moment.

As you are wondering if you are allowed in, the group of mares pass you by, staring at you with the same expressions.

"Lance, please come in too," you hear, and recognizing the sweet voice of Princess Twilight, you abdicate and bend down through the door that is twice too small for you.

You are in the library of Ponyville, which is also the current home of Princess Twilight. This is not the castle of Princesses Celestia and Luna, the available space is not as large as seen from the outside because of the omnipresence of several dozen rows of books, sorted by category you think.

You arrive with Princess Twilight and the five other mares in the centre of the room, where she sits in a circle. Twilight asks you to do the same, you obey and kneel down in front of her, placed between the cyan pegasus on one side and the white unicorn on the other.

"So Twili, why don't you introduce us to this charming young man?" Propose the unicorn and continue to stare at you insistently.

"That's what I was about to do, Rarity! But to do that, you'd have to listen to me," asked the princess.

Her name is Rarity? I'll try to remember it, you say to yourself. You put your spear at your side and place your front hooves in your lap as the Princess begins to sum up everything she knows about you.

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"And my brother Shining Armor will come tomorrow to meet him as he has become my personal guard" finally finishes the princess by catching her breath after her monologue that you listened to carefully in case she made mistakes, or more generally because she is a princess.

"Shining Armor is your brother?" Ask yourself without realizing you're asking.

"Oh yes, I forgot to tell you, sorry," she said, turning her head and bringing her hoof into her purple mane, combing her hair with her eyes away.

"THAT'S SO COOL! IT MEANS YOU'RE SUPER STRONG!!!" Then comment on the cyan pegasus next to you, her pupils like her white friend's earlier.

"I don't know your names" said to you without taking into account the comment that you don't understand anyway.

"Oh that's right, well, I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria," she said as she spread her wings and spun around in the confined space. Receiving no requests from the Princess, you do not intervene physically.

"Only from Equestria?" You say, however.

"FROM WHAT? Well, when I say that, I mean the whole world, of course, hey!" Nodding where she was sitting before with her strange mouth sound, she seemed insecure.

You can't pay attention to her anymore since a hoof is coming to you for attention. You turn to the white unicorn who is called Rarity next.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Rarity, a fashion designer who makes clothes and accessories, and I would need your measurements to make beautiful clothes for you," she said as she combed her hair and gave you an even stranger look, you will never see yourself making that kind of staggered look, not even in the mirror.

"Clothes?" You just say, not knowing what that word is. The unicorn then takes a relatively decomposed head like a wilting rose.

"Stop Rarity, you'll show him later, but not now" intervenes the stronger voice of the orange earth mare. "Hi, I'm Applejack, I'm a farmer who works at the Apple farm with my family, I could introduce you to them if you have a free moment" she suggests, giving access to her hoof.

Finally someone more normal, you say to yourself, or whose reactions you understand.

"Hello Applejack, it's a pleasure to meet you" she says to you accepting her hoof and being careful not to crush it under your force.

The next mare to challenge you is this earth pony hopping around again in the confined space of the library.

"OH YEAH, I'M GONNA BE ABLE TO THROW A WELCOME HOME PARTY JUST FOR YOU," AND MY NAME IS PINKIE PIE, BUT YOU CAN CALL ME PINKIE, THAT'S WHAT MY FRIENDS CALL ME. I'M GONNA HURRY UP WITH THE... " she screams.

Like a few minutes ago, you grabbed her by the hoof and stopped what you define as a spasm. It's when you look at the end of your arm that you finally ask her.

"What color is your coat and mane?" Ask yourself by showing her with your hoof free, bringing surprised looks to your person once again.

"What, my color's Lance pink, didn't you know that?" You answer her as you release her, judging that she's calmed down.

"It's the first time I've seen that shade of color," you explain. "You have the same light color for your hair, too," you then say, turning to the pegasus still hidden behind her mane.

"It's Fluttershy, she's quite shy" warns you the Princess Twilight as she sees her friend always taking precautions with strangers.

You've got to teach her to trust you, you don't want to scare those you have to protect.

"You don't have to have fear Fluttershy, my mission is to protect the people of Ponyville, you have nothing to fear now that I'm here" you say.

"Wait, you know the word fear?" Once again, the Princess Twilight intervenes. "Do you know what it means?"

"Of course, instilling fear in one's enemies is a very important factor before a battle, it can be won before it's even begun," you argue.

"Have you ever felt it?" Then you ask Applejack.

"No, never, it would be an affront for a soldier to feel fear when he is supposed to fight it," you say with conviction, still kneeling as the circle previously created began to re-form, the mares that had moved back to their place.

"That's right, fear is not cool!" Said Rainbow Dash, joining you, but not in the best way. What's "cool" supposed to mean?

"No Rainbow Dash, it's not about being cool or not being cool," said Twilight before going on. "Fear is an emotion and it's part of life. Even as a Royal Guard, it's perfectly normal to be scared, just like it's normal to be sad, happy or angry," she continues.

You don't know why, but Princess Twilight got up and started walking towards you, joining you in a few steps.

"And as part of friendship, we're going to teach you how to understand and control your emotions and make friends," she said, quickly followed by the other five mares nodding their heads in agreement.

"Friends?" Said you, recognizing a word you didn't quite know.

"Yes friends, Lance, that's the most important thing there is, the ones that make you smile," Pinkie pie tells you, even if you don't understand the word smile.

"They are the people you can confide in and who will give you good advice," Applejack continues.

"Those who will give you gifts and help you when you're in trouble," Rarity continued.

"The ones you can have a good time with and who make you happy," Fluttershy continued.

"And those you can trust and who will always be on your side," Rainbow Dash exclaimed triumphantly.

"That's right!" Exclaims right after Princess Twilight. "If you want to protect the people of Ponyville, you must earn their trust by becoming their friend," she said.

"I... think I'm beginning to understand!" Said you always kneel and look the Princess Twilight in the eye.

So now the princess has a mission for me too, you think. I have to protect her, and she and her friends will have to teach me to control my emotions, like being sad, happy or angry. These are concepts too vague for you, but if they are so important to your mission, you are willing to spend night and day experiencing them.

"Well, we're gonna start by introducing you to everyone, and for that we can count on..."

"I'M GOING TO HAVE THE BIGGEST WELCOME PARTY POSSIBLE!" Says Pinkie pie out loud.

"What's a party..." you try to ask.

Except that the pink mare had already left in a hurry when she broke down the front door, but without a scratch.

"I'm going to help her plan everything," the cyan pegasus informed the pegasus before leaving the room at the same speed as her friend, by air this time.

Her two mares are really fast, think you're impressed.

"I'd better get going, she'll need a lot of apple juice for the party," says the orange potato mare before leaving too, at a much quieter pace.

"Well, as for us darlings, we'll answer all your questions," suggests Rarity, capturing your attention, which is everywhere at the moment.

So you have three mares with you ready to answer your questions, and you start with the one you think is most obvious.

"Why do you have all the ends of your lips up when you're talking to me?"

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Rarity, Fluttershy and Princess Twilight herself have been taking care of your education in this library for the past few hours. After asking for some decisive definitions such as the word party, which followed the expressions fun, music, song and dance, you asked what was in the books that were there from the beginning and in great numbers.

At this request, Princess Twilight hurriedly exclaimed to the full shelves and began an account of all these books. You always listened carefully to what she was saying, even though you should have found the time long, not knowing much about the world you have to protect makes you concentrate, much to the Princess' delight.

You don't even see Rarity and Fluttershy anymore, only the Princess' explanations matter now. You ask questions about what you don't understand and flip through several books at the same time, realizing that this will be your favorite way to get to know this world. You will have things to read, apply and understand, but you will have to.

However, you are distracted by the library door opening with great pomp by two clogs, one pink and the other cyan, knowing to whom they should belong. The two mares entered with a bang and without any polite words in what you were described as joy and fun.

You're wondering if being a friend entitles you to this kind of inappropriate behaviour.

"IT'S OVER!" The two mares shouted really too loudly, forcing you to act.

Like earlier, you grabbed both their faces to shut them up. As Pinkie pieced himself for the third time, Rainbow Dash struggled to get out of the embrace between her face and your hoof.

"Throw 'em down, let 'em go!" Princess Twilight asks you fervently. You do it without question, putting them down as gently as possible on the ground.

"Hey, we did this for you, you should be happy!" This forbids the cyan mare to make a racket as soon as she enters the library, which is supposed to be a quiet place according to its inhabitant.

"I'll be glad when no one in Equestria's in danger," you reply without a shred of emotion, of course.

"Come on, everybody's waiting for you!" Pinkie pie replies, extremely anxious to get the party started that she's just thrown for you.

Twilight explained to you that it was a habit that she organizes a welcome party for every new face in Ponyville, with the desire to know everyone and make friends. It is true that having friends seems to be an advantageous relationship given the way it was described to you, especially for those who are protecting ponies you knew.

It is when you are lost in thought that you end up noticing that the two mares are trying to take you outside without your agreement, either by pulling you by your front hooves or pushing you from your back. Of course, none of this made you move, being physically much more developed than any pony here. You end up moving yourself to the exit, finding that the day is already well advanced and the sun is starting to want to set.

Then you notice the horde of foreign faces outside...