The Reluctant Protector

Where sound would normally be absorbed by the surrounding forest, the sharp crack of elder wood on basalt seemed to reverberate around the landscape for miles, then all was silent. Darkness came next, stifling in is completeness. Then came the feeling of falling. Falling and falling with no end in sight. The anticipation of a sudden stop, maddening. And then it came.

A nudge.

Sound came back first. The ringing in my ears as deafening as the silence before it. “-ey” Is that… Someone talking? “Hey.” Another nudge. Lyra? “Hey are you okay?” The sound of someone retching.

Light came next, the afternoon sun beating down on my face, smothering in its intensity. I held up my arm to shield myself from the rays, water dripped onto my face. What the…? I shook my head free of the droplets and sat up. Something that shouldn’t have been as much effort as it was and something that shouldn’t have made a sloshing sound. I was lying a pool of water. No. no, that’s not right. I looked around. A fountain?

“Lyra?” I called.

“I’m… I’m here.” She coughed.

“Come on miss.” The voice from before called. “Get yourself up. I’m under orders to take you to the palace.”

I waved an arm in his general direction “Yeah, yeah. Hold your stinkin’ horses.” I stood up and waded towards Lyra, who was doubled over and breathing heavily. “Lyra? Lyra, are you okay?” I asked, taking her arm in mine and helping her stand upright.

“I… I will be.” She said, still coughing.

“Come on, lets get out of this.” I pulled her to the rim of the fountain, helped her over the edge and onto the gravel path.

I felt tapping on my side and realised, with some amusement, that she was trying to hit me. “You… you… Jerk!” I said nothing. “That was… That was…”

“Fun?” I asked.

“Try one of the worst experiences of my life!”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“Why would you do that to me?” She asked, with tears in her eyes.

“Well, it’s not exactly my preferred method of travel either.”

“If I have my way, I’m never doing that again!”

“And as the great philosopher Jagger once said, ‘You can’t always get what you want.’” She glared at me and went silent.

“Um, excuse me.” The stallion said. “I hate to interrupt, but we really should get going.”

“Where the hell are we?” I asked, walking up to him. He was surprised to see how much smaller than me he was and backed up a step. I towered over him. He had a white coat and gold armour. All the royal guards did. An enchantment to help hide identities.

“You're in the middle of Clyde Park, in Canterlot.”

I looked around. sure enough we appeared to be on a hill, with families playing on the grass and couples, young and old, sitting and enjoying the weather on picnic blankets. All trying their hardest to ignore the freakishly tall, pale skinned drunkard, that apparently just ‘poofed’ into existence in a fountain.

I nodded and looked to Lyra. “Are you good?”

She still looked a bit cross. “…Yeah.”

I nodded again and jumped a few times on the spot, trying to shake the last of the drowsiness from my body. Then something felt off, I looked around. Ugh, I’m such an idiot. Lyra watched with a raised brow as I climbed back over the rim of the fountain, waded back towards the middle, reached down and pulled my staff from the water. Lyra folded her arms, still watching me. I climbed back out of the fountain and gave her a sheepish smile.

“Are you good?” She asked.

“…Yep.” I replied, slightly squeakier than I meant, then started off towards the palace.

Canterlot Palace. Seat of Equestrian royalty. Able to be seen from hundreds of miles around on account of it being situated on the side of a freaking mountain, symbolising Equestria’s mastery over nature. The towers, made from enchanted marble brick, much like the rest of the palace, stretched high into the clouds, slicing them in twain, symbolising Equestria’s ability to go above and beyond any challenges faced. The golden domes sitting atop, shone whether day or night, acting as a beacon of hope, of harmony. That no matter how dark, there will always be a light.

It was kinda gaudy if you ask me.

And wouldn’t you know it, in the middle of the centre tower, was a balcony. On that balcony was a faint, golden light. She’s watching me… The light winked a few times, then went out.

After a good few minutes of walking through narrow cobbled streets, what I assume to be back roads that avoided much of the larger crowds, we finally arrived at a polished brass gate. I kind of expect St. Peter to read off my life story and send me through to Heaven. Or in this case, Hell. “Halt! State your business.” The guard inside the gatehouse said. St. Peter himself I presume?

The guard escorting us saluted. “Sir! One Guard and two guests, returning as ordered, Sir!”

“Understood. Proceed as ordered.” The guard in the gatehouse turned to the side and flipped a switch that was out of view. The gates started to open. Slowly.

I coughed and pointed to the gate. “So… Does this thing have a slow setting?” The gatehouse guard glared at me. Lyra held in a laugh. I looked down to her and winked.

He switched from glaring at me to Lyra. “Just get going. You don’t want to keep her waiting.”

I snapped to the sharpest salute I could muster. “Sir, yes Sir!” and marched forward to my inevitable doom. My apprentice and escort hurrying behind, trying their best to keep pace.

After walking through the main doors to the castle, I gave up on imitating a guard fresh out of boot camp and returned to my normal pace. I was not particularly fond of the stringent regulations that are required of guards when around their superiors. In my opinion, that wasn’t how you gained their respect. You gained their respect by talking with them about their daily lives, their families, drinking with them.

Especially drinking with them.

Not that it mattered to me, I wasn’t one of them. Our escort spoke up. "Um, do you want me to take you both to a guest room so you can get cleaned up?"

Lyra lit up at this suggestion, likely eager to get out of her damp clothes. I didn’t look at him, just continued walking, my staff tapping on the floor every other step. “No, lets just get this over with.”

We finally arrived at an ornate set of large double doors, beset with gold and silver filigree. On one door was a sun made out of some kind of yellow gem. Citrine maybe? With stylised amber corona. On the other door was a moon, half of which was made out of moonstone and the other obsidian. Very fitting.

I heard someone clear their throat. “Excuse me?” I turned to look at the voice. “Are you ready, or are you just here to stare at the doors all day?” The mare who impatiently got my attention had a white shirt with a red ribbon tied around her collar. She held a clipboard under her arm. Pitch-black hair was tied up in a bun with not a strand out of place, and glasses sat on the end of her upturned nose. She looked relatively young, perhaps mid to late twenties.

I straightened up. “Well it is a nice door, very intricate. Wouldn’t you say, Lyra?” The minty-mare smiled and nodded. I leaned in to inspect the door and whistled in appreciation. “The ebony wood was a great choice, really makes the details pop.”

The clipboard-wielding mare stared at me. “Quite.”

Uh oh. I’ve annoyed her. I tried to salvage the situation. “Um, but I didn’t get your name Mrs...?”

“Miss Raven Inkwell.”

Ugh. This mare... “Of course, my apologies. So, are you like, the greeter or the announcer or…?”

“I’m her assistant.”

I gave a slight nod of my head. It was my way of giving a polite bow when I couldn’t be bothered to actually do so. “My name is-”

“Yes, I know who you are. If you’ll excuse me, I shall go see if she’s ready for you.” She moved past me to open the double doors a crack and slipped inside. They closed with a heavy boom. And the hallway was silent.

I opened my grey wool cloak and took out my trusty silver canteen from one of the many inside pockets and took a sip. I stared at the doors again. “Well, that was rude.”

Our escort spoke up “Don’t take it personally Ma'am, she’s just doing her job. She likes to be very efficient.”

The hallway was silent. I put the canteen back in my cloak, crossed my arms and grumbled. A maid walked past; she was staring at me. She looked terrified. I may be a bit different, but I’m not that scary, am I? I mean, I have been away for a bit. But long enough for them to be scared of me? It’s like Ponyville all over again. What the hell has been written about humans? Something to look into later for sure. It's like she thinks I’m going to rip her head off. I glared at her. “What are you looking at?” With a squeak, she jumped a few inches into the air and hurried along until she was out of sight. The hallway was silent once more.

The guard spoke up “Ma'am, was that really necessary? I think you really gave her a fright…”

I looked to him. “I’m so sorry, we’ve been travelling together for a good half an hour now and I never got your name.”

“It’s Steel Shield, Ma’am.”

“Steel Shield? Nice name, you can go away now.”

Steel shuffled uncomfortably from one hoof to the other. “Ma’am, I’m under orders to-”

I held up my hand to cut him off “I don’t care if you’re on a divine quest. We can take it from here. Thank you for your service.”

He looked to Lyra who only shrugged apologetically. He nodded, turned on the spot and walked away.

Lyra put a hand on my arm. “What is wrong with you?” She asked in a hushed voice.

“What?” I asked making no attempt to lower my volume. “We’re here aren’t we? We don’t need someone to show us through the doors we’re literally stood in front of.”

“You could have been a little nicer to him, he was only doing his job.”

I crossed my arms and huffed. “I guess.”

“And that maid, what was that about?”

I huffed and leaned against the doors. “She was staring at me; I don’t like when people stare at me. What was her deal anyway? It’s like she’s never seen a Human before.”

She looked at me like I'd grown an extra arm. “Did that ley-line mess with your head? Of course she hasn’t seen a Human before!”

I stared at her. “Oh… Right.” Lyra smirked at me. “Well… That still doesn’t excuse her staring at me like I’m some freak show.” She sighed and shook her head. I changed the subject so I'd stop looking like a colossal idiot. “She’s doing this on purpose you know?”

“Doing what?”

“Making us wait.”

She scratched the back of her head. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m sure she’s just preparing for us.”

“‘Preparing for us’? She’s the one who summoned us for this dinner. We’re the ones who didn't have any time to 'prepare'. She's had plenty of time to ‘prepare’.” I started tapping my foot. “I mean, why didn't she just let us take the train, why tell us to take a ley-line?” I closed my eyes. “I’d get comfortable if I were you, I’m going to assume well be here a whi-”

The ebony doors creaked open and I jumped back to avoid falling, unfortunately my staff wasn’t so lucky and it clattered to the floor. Miss Raven Inkwell stepped out. “She’ll see you now.”

I leaned down to pick it up and Lyra walked past me and into the room beyond, giving me a smug look as she did. “You were saying?”

I rolled my eyes. “Shut up.”