Diaries of a Zephyrwingby -Chaotic Discord-ChaptersWednesday, 4/6: 'Sibling Lounge.' (NavelColt)Sunday, 4/10: 'What's with the Shield?' (Hammerhead)Thursday, 4/14: 'In Practice.' (Scyphi)Saturday, 6/11: 'The Pegasi's Pride.' (Melody Song)Wednesday, 4/6: 'Sibling Lounge.' (NavelColt)What is up, everypony? I hope you're all having a fantastic morning! Today, I am gonna show you guys how to style ribbon curves in your mane just like me. I'm totes excited, you guys! I bought a new mane curler last night out of sheer excitement for today! I smile a little to myself as I listen to Princess Pipp engage with her audience from down the hall. Thunder is absorbed in his phone next to me, watching her livestream. Normally I'd scold him about proper guard attentiveness etiquette, but technically he's keeping an eye on the princess, so I let it slide. I've always found something special in listening to Princess Pipp directly, even if from a different room. It makes it feel like I have an exclusive privilege. It's the fringe benefits of being a guardmare that make it all worth it. This curler has it all, everypony. Mattress mane got you down? Have no fear, this thing will deliver. I tried it last night just to be sure I was bringing you guys the very best, and it did not disappoint. First, let's go over the curl setting, and I can show you guys how I do my mane every morning. "Morning Zoom, Thunder." I suddenly leap to attention when a snowy coat passes by me. "Oh, good morning, Princess Zipp." "...Never gonna be just 'Zipp' with you, is it?" "Not while the helmet is on, ma'am." I smirk through my deadpan. She chuckles and shakes her head. "Off to get breakfast I assume?" I continue. "I believe Queen Haven had the kitchen staff prepare pancakes and over easy eggs with cheese." She looks at me with one of her coy little smiles. "That does sound good. Has Pipp eaten yet?" "She has. Your sister is in the lounge conducting her Wednesday morning livestream." There's a glint in her eyes, one I'm all too familiar with. "Oh she is, is she?" "Yes ma'am." We share a long look. She then quietly makes her way down the corridor without another word. Thunder, now off his phone, stares after her with me. The distance between each wave should be one and a half inches, everypony, with a medium heat setting. Once you've finished your first section I recommend inspecting your work. Until you get the hang of it you may need to redo sections that don't match up with the rest. Once you've checked that your distances line up, then it's time to— The princess cuts off with a gasp. I share a look with Thunder as Princess Zipp becomes audible now, too. Morning, Pipp. Uh, aha, Zipp, what are you doing? Just giving my little sister a hug. Aww, that's sweet of you, Zipp. But I'm in the middle of a livestream, right now. Can't you wait until afterwards? Nah, I wanted a hug right now. There's silence. Thunder fights to contain his snickering. It's rather rude to just walk up and interrupt ponies, Zipp. Just think of it as a cameo. This isn't a movie. Which means it has no plot to follow, right? Besides, your fans love when I drop in. I can see the emoticons from here. Thunder pulls out his phone again and refreshes the livestream. I have to admit that even I'm curious to watch, now. Princess Zipp has quite methodically pulled her sister into a hug with her forehoof and right wing. Her sister looks less than pleased, but it's hard to overstate how many little hearts and messages are popping up, saying things like "aww" and "best sisters." "What are you doing up so early anyway, Zipp? You're never a morning pony." "I took a nap yesterday after working on a project all afternoon, so I didn't need to sleep much last night. Heard you on my way to get breakfast, so thought I'd come say good morning." "Well, good morning, Zipp. Why don't you go eat breakfast so I can finish my product review in peace?" "So cold, sis. Can't a big sister come hug her little sister without being shooed away?" "Not when she's purposefully being a jerk with her timing." "Oh, okay. A jerk, am I? Alright, Pipp, we can play that game if you want." Princess Zipp suddenly grins at the camera. "Hey, you guys want me to let you in on a secret? This is big-sister-only information." "Zipp, will you please just leave already—" "Pipp has three ticklish spots." "Zipp!" "The biggest spot is right under her wing." "Oh my gosh, Zipp, get out of here!" Thunder is losing his composure, now. Princess Pipp headbutts her sister in the chest and begins sliding her towards the back of the lounge. "I'm just giving them some fun trivia, sis." "You're being a pest, is what you're doing. You can't just barge in and start embarrassing me on my livestream!" "If you wanted privacy you should have done it in your room, Pipp, not the lounge. I'm allowed to be in here as much as you are." "The lighting in my room and the bathrooms isn't great for showcases like this, Zipp, and I know I've told you that before! I'm here every week, twice a week at the same time. You're just trying to harass me in front of my fa—aanS!" Princess Zipp's wing wraps around her sister's side and begins to quiver. Princess Pipp giggles and jerks away, but she's held fast from escaping by lightning-fast hooves. Thunder is chuckling. I'm nearly there, myself. We watch the chat box overflow with further comments, ranging from complete sentences to chains of emojis. What are the other ticklish spots?? Don't leave us hanging, Zipp! Oml this is so wholesome, BEST SISTERS Zipp should do her own stream! #ZippLive #MoreZippCameos Pipp: *exists* Zipp: I'm going to end this filly's whole livestream. "So anyway, this is how you get back at your sister for calling you names on livestream, guys," Princess Zipp says to the camera. I've never seen her smirk so wide. "Notice the use of your primary feathers to execute the proper technique. Never use your hooves. They're far less effective, and you're gonna need them to hold your sibling in place." "Z—Zipp, knock it off!" "They might barter, beg, or threaten you, but you just gotta let it roll off you. This is about making a point more than anything." Princess Zipp shakes ceaselessly from her sister's struggling. It only serves to make her laugh. "You know I gotta say you're making it really hard to do this showcase with all your squirming, Pipp." "I c—can't believe you right now! Let go! You're such a bully!" "First a jerk, and now I'm a bully, too? All I wanted was a hug, Pipp. You're the one who got all impatient." "Just get out!" Another headbutt from Princess Pipp seems to do the trick. Her sister backs off at last, chuckling as she does. "Alright, alright, I'm leaving. Are you sure you've had breakfast already, sis? This is your hangry mood if I've ever seen it. You want me to bring you some pancakes?" Princess Pipp has resigned from even acknowledging her sister now. She groans and rolls her eyes for the camera. She begins to fuss over her mane, which is frazzled from the spat. "Sorry about that, everypony. Somepony is clearly in a deviant mood this morning. I am gonna ask my mom about getting locks installed for the lounge doors. The things a streamer has to do for a little privacy, am I right?" Princess Pipp returns to the topic of her stream. I look up to find Princess Zipp eyeing us as she walks out of the lounge and off towards the kitchen. We exchange amused looks. "Oh, actually, just one more interruption, Pippsqueaks. There's one more thing I need to address real quick." I quickly nudge Thunder in the side, and he frantically puts his phone away just as Princess Pipp pops her head out of the lounge. She's glaring at us. "Zoom, Thunder, what the hay was that?" "What was what, Princess Pipp?" She scoffs. "Don't give me that, Zoom, I know Thunder was watching my livestream this whole time—I could hear my echo out in the hall." I see Thunder wince. "Why didn't you guys do something?" she continues. "That was totally embarrassing! I'm gonna see tickle spot speculation and memes on my Pippit sub for weeks!" "Princess Pipp, we've been over this before," I say, offering a smile. "We can't intervene with your sister because she carries the same title you do." I glance at Thunder and nudge him again. "Uh, that's right," he stammers. "Queen Haven was very clear when she said her daughters carry the same level of authority. We can't do anything unless your sister were to actually put you in danger." "My dignity is in danger," she retorts. "Does that not count for something?" "I'm afraid not, princess," I reply, still smiling. "Tickle attacks and awkward hugs don't quite meet the criteria. But rest assured, Thunder and I will be right here if something truly serious ever does happen. You can count on us." The loudest groan yet signals her return back into the lounge. I look at Thunder. He's on his phone again, typing something into the princess's livestream chat. I glance over his shoulder and chuckle. Can confirm, that was adorable to overhear. #RoyalPalaceGuard Author's Note Welcome to my attempt at a community fic, and what I believe is the first community fic for G5. This anthology follows our G5 pegasus guards, Zoom and Thunder, and explores their daily lives looking after the Zephyr Heights royal family. Every chapter will be by a different author, with no consistency other than the pool of characters involved. For full details on how chapters will be posted and how to write one yourself, check out the blog here! For my entry, we have sibling fluff witnessed by our guard pony bystanders, because of course that would be my entry. I decided to contrast my characterization from How to Hug Your Pegasis. Now, Zipp is the one forcing livestream participation, much to her sister's annoyance. And on that note, I have two sources of inspiration for this chapter. The first goes to Quoterific, and his story, Pipp Sandwich. The second is from this artwork by the ever-inspiring Sockiepuppetry. Check out both if you haven't already! Sunday, 4/10: 'What's with the Shield?' (Hammerhead)All the guards at Zephyr Heights were ordered to attend an important meeting inside the palace, each guard was given a guidebook and took a seat in one of a row of seats in front of a projector. Once everypony was seated, there were light discussions about what boring subject the meeting will be on, what new excuse is given to provide more work. That was until the captain showed up, all ponies stood to attention in front of the Captain. “At ease, guards,” ordered the captain, as he made his walk to the centre of the room in front of guards returning to their seats. “The reason you’re all here is to inform you of new protocols in the event of foreign infiltration into Zephyr Heights. You should all have new issues of the Guard Guide in front of you, please open them up to page 42.” As the guards began to open their guidebooks to page 42, the captain went to the desk at the side of the projector screen to set up a Ponypoint Presentation. “Please pay attention, as all this is important to protect the royal family, our city, and our citizens.” As the Captain began to go through his slides, talking about procedures for dealing with non-pegasus creatures, one young green pegasus guard felt a distracting vibration by his flank. The vibration came from his smartphone, which had a blinking green light at the top. The pegasus looked left and right, only seeing his fellow guards looking ahead, before checking his phone to see what the buzzing was about. The screen displayed an alert, Pipp Petals, one of the Princesses of Zephyr Heights, was about to start a live stream. Beloved by all for her charm, beauty, and gift of singing, everypony on Zephyr Heights adored her, and eagerly watched her live streams, they were even reported on the news! The green pegasus sneakily hid his phone inside his guidebook and ensured the volume was low enough to listen without getting the attention of the other guards. He was too eager to pay attention to the captain’s presentation to miss it, guards work was important but to him, missing out on Princess Pipp Petals was even more important. “Hey! How’s it going, Pipsqueaks?” Pipp Petals opened with her harming smile and upbeat tone, which would send hearts fluttering and foals giddy with glee when they watched it. On the bottom corner of the screen, emojis sprayed upwards with hearts and faces of joy in overwhelming numbers, whilst new comments were popping up on the opposite corner. “Just received a new package and I cannot wait to show you what’s inside!” she followed, holding up a box and shaking it from side to side. The Princess then carefully placed her phone on a stand, positioning it at the correct angle so the camera pointed downwards towards her bed. She then placed the box in full view of the camera and then began to tear the box open. Curious fans pinged comments asking what was in the box, which wasn’t helped by Pipp obstructing their view with her gorgeous violet mane as she looked inside. Suddenly, she squeaked with excitement. “They’re finally here!” she exclaimed, before jumping onto the bed and planting all four of her hooves inside of the box, comments started appearing with the simple “LOL” and “WHUT” in response. After kicking the box off the bed to one side, Pipp Petals rolled onto her back to reveal what was in the box. “My new sneakers are here!” she said with joy, pretending to walk on her back to show off four sneakers, bright pink with violet soles and white feather-like strips along the side. Reactions were explosive, a fountain of hearts and smiley faces, with comments of “OMG!”, “CUTE!” and “WANT” pinging like crazy. “Designed by yours truly, they look so good to see it up close, comfy too.” As reactions continued to burst out onto the screen, Pipp grabbed her phone to continue the video stream hoof held with her lying on the bed, using her other forehoof to show off the sneaker. “If any of you Pipsqueaks want a pair of your own, I’ve been told they’ll be available to buy at all major retailers this Friday! Looking forward to seeing my fans show off their own set…” This green pegasus was glad not to have missed the new announcement, he had a passion for collecting sneakers, and after seeing them, needed that new designer set of sneakers for himself. He continued to watch the video from his phone, still hidden behind his Guard Guide, whilst the meeting turned lecture was still proceeding. “…moving onto unicorns,” said the captain, unaware of the green pegasus occupied with his phone, as he clicked onto the next slide. “We are aware of their predatory and violent tendencies, with their razor teeth, ability to read minds, and plenty of other dangerous abilities that they can do with the pointy horns on their heads. However, our top researchers have uncovered an old weakness.” He clicked onto the next slide, showing what appeared to be a scan of a very old piece of paper, tattered and torn in various places, faded and discoloured from old age. It depicted a scene of what looked like a large ballroom with a large white unicorn in peril, trapped and covered within a sea of a greenish liquid. That was at least how most of the guards could interpret it, some details of the scene looked strange, like why the liquid appeared to have a pointy mouth, and the white unicorn appeared to have wings judging by the very faded wavy lines. “As you can see in this old parchment, this large white unicorn was easily subdued by some form of slime monster” the captain explained, before turning to the guards. “Can somepony tell me why this unicorn isn’t fighting back, despite their biological arsenal at their disposal?” The captain scanned the room but didn’t take long to find one eager hoof raised amongst the group, from a light blue pegasus with a determined stare. “Sir, was it because of magical properties in the slime, sir?” The pegasus asked firmly. The captain smirked, clearly impressed by the answer. “I like your thinking, Zoom Zephyrwing, but no”. The captain then referred to the Ponypoint slide. “Based on a focused study of this parchment and other documents related to this incident, it’s been concluded that this unicorn was incapacitated because the tip of the unicorn’s horn was covered in slime, obstructing all magical and unknown properties.” The captain clicked on the laptop, and the image suddenly zoomed in to focus on the head of the unicorn, after which a red circle slowly faded focusing on the unicorn’s horn, where there was a small amount of slim covering its tip. “As such, all guards are now required to carry around with them, shields.” The captain proceeded to take out one such shield from his armour and reveal it to the guards. The captain could see several raised eyebrows and tilted heads, some guards winced, worried if they should say something about this shield. To the guards, these unicorn restraining shields look to be small, green, round, and fuzzy, nothing in the realm of high tech, nor the realm of the military. “I know they look simplistic and unconventional” the captain responded empathetically, “but our research department has assured us that these are most effective to attach to the hoof and suppress any magical properties.” He went onto the next slide, depicting a diagram of a pegasus unicorn with a green shield in its hoof placed onto the hoof of a vicious and razor-sharp teethed unicorn caricature. “Any unicorn that has been sighted, your priority is to get your shield and place it firmly into the tip of the horn. All guards will be trained to do this appropriately by the end of this week.” Finally, the captain went to the corner of the room, where an inconspicuous basket full of shields was waiting for him to pick up and move to the middle of the room, with the intention for guards to collect as they leave. “Any questions?” The captain scanned the room once more, nopony had their hoof raised, but something else caught the pegasus’ eye. That young green pegasus was still glued to his guidebook, paying no attention to the captain. Perturbed by the lack of attention on display, the captain made the green pegasus his target. “Thunder?” Upon hearing his name, the previously distracted Thunder panicked and fumbled with the phone and guidebook, before managing to clamp them between his hooves and looking the captain dead in the eye. “Uh… yes, sir!” he answered obliviously. The captain paused, having caught the green pegasus he waited for a follow-up. “…well, what’s your question?” All the other guards began to turn towards Thunder, waiting to hear what he had to say. Thunder started to sweat nervously, seeing all eyes on him, he desperately tried to think up a reasonable question to save face. However, as he hadn’t read the guidebook, all he had to go on was what was on the Ponypoint slide, the basket in the middle of the room, and whatever was in the captain’s hoof that didn’t add up. “What’s with all the tennis balls?” Thursday, 4/14: 'In Practice.' (Scyphi)Generally speaking, Queen Haven wasn’t really one to hold a grudge. Typically, once told the details of a given situation and understood what was going on and why, then she was usually more inclined to move on to whatever was needed to resolve the situation, preferably quickly and effectively, so to be done with it. It was actually what made her decent enough of a ruler, despite her having her share of personal faults, like all ponies ultimately did regardless whether or not they admitted them. Granted, her tendency to jump right to the first quick and effective solution meant she sometimes settled on one that wasn’t always the best solution…as the whole “lying about how the royals can still fly” scandal nicely demonstrated not so long ago. But the point was that Haven preferred being proactive about resolving and removing a problem, rather than dwelling grumpily about how there was a problem at all. And how both Zoom and Thunder were right now really hoping they weren’t about to become the one exception to that trend. Because the daggers their queen’s eyes were currently boring into the two royal guards was really making them wonder. It didn’t help that this had been going on for about a minute, following about another minute before that of Haven surveying in horror the destruction that currently surrounded them, which in turn all come upon her abruptly rushing into the room and letting out a shocked screech at what lay within. At first the prolonged silence had seemed like she was just at a loss for words, but now, if they weren’t currently the two being stared down by her, Thunder would be placing bets with Zoom that Haven was busy trying to reign in her anger before it exploded out of her. Finally, after making the two guards tensely sweat rivers during all that time, Haven finally found her voice. “Care to explain?” she asked. She said it in her usual, almost melodic, manner of speaking, but the darkness straining just behind it was obvious. Zoom and Thunder both jointly gulped. “Your highness, I know what this all looks like,” Zoom took upon herself to professionally attempt to explain. Haven raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I think what it looks like is rather self-evident at the moment, Miss Zephyrwing,” she replied bluntly. This caused both guards to wince a second time, having confirmed that they were probably in big trouble for letting this happen. “Well, the important thing is that the situation’s contained now, right?” Thunder offered, in an attempt to find the upsides. “I assume that is what my youngest daughter and a visiting guest are currently doing, then?” Haven asked pointedly, motioning with one hoof behind the guards. Just a couple feet behind them at roughly the center of the devastated room were the pegasus and unicorn mares in question. Both Pipp and Izzy were attempting to look casual as they watched the queen interrogate her guards, but this was mostly ineffective due to how they were currently using their combined body weights to keep an overturned plastic tub pinned to the floor. Inside, something was thumping around with such rapidity and force that it made the tub unexpectedly shift positions from time to time, suggesting Pipp and Izzy were the only things keeping whatever it was contained, and even then it was only just. “Yeah, that means no further harm’s being done, right?” Thunder reasoned simply in response to the question. “At the moment, I’m more concerned by the fact that any harm was done at all,” Haven stressed firmly, succeeding in making the two guards wince a third time and inwardly hate the fact that, as the only two guards in the room at the time, this made them responsible for the consequences. Unless they successfully shifted the blame, which was Zoom’s next plan of action as she jabbed a hoof at her partner. “Thunder was the one who thought it a good idea.” “Hey, no!” Thunder objected, scowling at the other pegasus, “You thought it couldn’t hurt to try too!” He then pointed a hoof behind him. “Besides, it was Princess Pipp who wanted to try it originally.” “Hey, don’t throw me under the carriage!” Pipp objected in a whine behind them as she all but straddled the shaking tub with her body. “And it was Izzy who first suggested it in the first place.” Beside her, Izzy shrugged while keeping both forehooves pressing down on the tub. “I just thought it might be fun to try now that magic is back and all,” she reasoned innocently. “Ponies,” Haven interjected at this point, interrupting the blame game before rubbing wearily at one of her temples. “…Try what exactly?” There was a moment as the other four ponies shifted awkwardly, looking around to see who’d explain just what had happened. Finally, seeing somepony would have to do it, Thunder stepped forward. “So you know all those protocols the royal guard had in place back when we still thought unicorns as vicious mind-melting pointy-heads?” “No offense to present company, of course,” Zoom swiftly offered, giving Izzy an apologetic glance. “None taken!” Izzy assured with a polite grin. “And you know the defensive measures we were to take should any unicorns try to invade or anything?” Thunder continued on undeterred. Haven simply nodded and motioned for him to continue. “Well, as I’m sure her highness knows, the first protocol said any unicorns encountered or captured within pegasus territory had to have their magic horns neutralized with the use of an anti-unicorn shield,” Thunder continued. He patted himself down so to pull one out as an example, but remembered he didn’t currently have any spares. He grinned apologetically to his queen. “I’d, uh, show you an example, but uh…” he pointedly sheepishly at the tub Pipp and Izzy were holding down, its contents still thumping around wildly inside. “They’re specially designed magic-blocking spheres that can be placed directly onto the tip of unicorn horns,” Zoom described, more familiar with the official text given in their guidebooks than Thunder was. “Once applied, the unicorn in question could no longer use their magic against us, and covered the pointy tip of their horns so to remove those as potential weapons too.” She paused and rolled her eyes upward in realization. “At least, that was believed how it’d work in theory.” “In reality, it’s basically just a tennis ball!” Izzy piped in unhelpfully, shifting her position as the tub under hooves suddenly and forcefully slid to one side. “I assume there’s a point to all of this then,” Haven remarked, not seeing how it all interconnected. “Well, I’d thought they couldn’t’ve been much point to them before, because there wasn’t actually any magic for unicorns to use, right?” Izzy explained at this point. “I couldn’t zap any ponies even if I wanted until after magic returned, and at that point, it was all moot, ‘cuz we’re all friends now, and friends don’t zap friends.” “We didn’t know that at the time,” Zoom mumbled under her breath, feeling obligated to defend the pegasi on the matter. “But it still got me wondering,” Izzy continued, “if unicorns did have their magic, would it actually work to stop it?” She shrugged again. “And since I do have magic now,” she lit her horn briefly as proof, “I figured we could test it and find out.” “So that’s when Izzy suggested the idea to me,” Pipp said, “and I thought it could make for a fun livestream for my Pippsqueaks, so we went looking for any free guards that would let us, you know, give it a try.” “And that’s when they found us,” Zoom concluded dejectedly, regretting being dragged into this. “And I happened to have one still on hoof, because the royal guard hasn’t stopped issuing them out to guards,” Thunder concluded and shrugged himself. “I figured it’d be good to know if it actually did work, just in case. Because we might be friends with the unicorns now, but you never know, there could come a day when we still have to stop some attacking unicorn. So…since she was willing, I stuck it on Miss Moonbow’s horn while the princess recorded it and we let her try her magic—see what happened.” Haven again glanced around at the room which looked like a tornado had passed through it. A tapestry that was vainly hanging on by only one wall-hanging chose that moment to finally thump to the floor. “I assume, then, this little test didn’t go as planned,” she deduced flatly. “Well, at first it looked like it did,” Zoom began. “It really did seem like it was blocking her magic like it was supposed to.” “For the first few seconds,” Thunder added ominously. “It was kind of like when you take a soda bottle and then shake it up so hard that the cork goes popping off like a cannon,” Izzy explained. “That was what it was like here, except my horn was the soda bottle and the tennis ball was the cork.” “That analogy’s pretty fitting,” Zoom agreed, “because that ball came shooting off her horn like it really had been shot out of a cannon and it started bouncing off the walls with the full level of force you’d expect from that.” “And then it just kept bouncing,” Thunder continued empathically, “Showing no sign it was going to ever slow down and stop at all.” He jabbed his hoof at the overturned tub again, the ball within still audibly bouncing around like crazy. “It took some pretty fancy flying just to get it trapped in that before it caused any more damage.” He motioned to the queen. “And that would be when you came in, your highness.” By now, Haven was rubbing both of her temples in frustration. “So…what you’re telling me then…is that a device that in theory was supposed to render a unicorn powerless…has instead effectively weaponized said device for that unicorn in practice.” The four ponies exchanged glances with one another before each individually voicing agreement with that assessment. “Good thing we unicorns are friends now, huh?” Izzy added with a big grin. Haven pressed her hooves into her temples harder. “…how, though?” she asked finally. “Well, Zipp was theorizing the other day that unicorn magic puts energy into things,” Pipp offered, “so maybe Izzy’s magic supercharged the ball somehow?” “Maybe we could see it if we do it aga—” Izzy began to innocently suggest. “NO!” everyone else swiftly interrupted. “Besides, Princess Pipp was recording it on her phone,” Zoom went on to reason. “So we could just review the footage from that, right?” “Well, we could, but uh…” with a pout, Pipp pointed sadly to one side of the room where her phone lay on the floor, its screen having been shattered in the chaos. “Poor phone…and after serving me for so long too.” “Pipp, that’s your fifth phone this month,” Haven reminded wearily, as Pipp needing a replacement phone was hardly a new occurrence. “But it had lasted a full two and a half weeks!” Pipp cried out, starting to lift up both hooves in protest before the tub shifting under her had her resume straddling it. “That was basically a record! And it was my fortieth phone, a nice round number! It was special! It deserved—” “So what do we intend to do about the ball?” Haven interrupted in an attempt to get them back on topic. They all looked at the tub Pipp and Izzy were keeping pinned to the floor. “Find a way to harness its kinetic energy as a form of perpetual power generation?” Zoom half-seriously suggested. This awarded her another glare from Haven. “It’s too bad Sunny isn’t here,” Izzy thought aloud, “She’d probably know of some past time where ponies of old found a solution to problems like this.” “Well, I’d call her and ask, but…” Pipp again motioned to her lost phone. “All right, I’ll call her instead,” Thunder offered, pulling out his own phone. “What’s her number?” “I don’t know, that’s why I had the phone, so it would remember for me!” Pipp replied in frustration. “I don’t think Sunny has a cell phone anyway,” Izzy pointed out, taking one hoof off the tub and raising it thoughtfully to her chin. Pipp made a stilted laugh at that. “Don’t be silly, Izzy, everypony has a cell phone.” “Well…I don’t,” Izzy reminded simply. Pipp made a horrified gasp and immediately jumped to her hooves so to make some indignant exclamation at this perceived injustice. The others all shouted for her to not to, but it was too late, and with Pipp’s body weight removed from the tub, Izzy’s remaining hoof on it was insufficient to keep it in place, allowing the supercharged ball within to finally burst free and resume its chaotic bouncing in the room. Zoom and Thunder both bodily pinned Haven to the floor so to shield her from harm while Izzy and Pipp dove for opposite corners of the room. Then, with the tinkling of glass, the ball managed to find the only window in the room and smash right through it and into the city outside. Realizing the danger had, quite literally, left the building, the five ponies slowly got up and gravitated towards the broken window to watch as the ball, still not slowing down, proceeded to wreak havoc within Zephyr Heights, ricocheting off of buildings, street lights, bridges, and basically anything that crossed its path as the populace all jointly dove for cover. One of the big broadcast screens mounted to the side of a building was smashed as the ball bounced off of it. The ball then briefly vanished from view for a second as it managed to find another window to crash through, presumably proceeding to chaotically bounce around the building it entered before exiting through a second window and back into the city streets again. By that point Haven had had enough. “All right,” she began firmly, turning to the two guards, “New order from your queen, effective immediately. You said all of the guards are issued these shield ball things?” When the two nodded, she continued resolutely, “Then you are to find and gather all of these balls from your cohorts, shred ALL of them, burn all the shreds, before going to the ponies who issue you your guidebooks, tell them to rip out all the pages for the protocols for these things and do the same thing to those pages that you did to the balls, and then tell them they are to issue updated guidebooks with those protocols removed straight away! Am I clear?” Zoom and Thunder both saluted. “Yes ma’am!” they jointly exclaimed. Haven nodded in confirmation before turning around with a huff. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to get an aspirin.” She then left the room. Once she was gone, the remaining ponies returned to their gazes to the ball flying around the city streets outside. “So what are we going to do about that?” Thunder finally asked after a moment. It was around then that the ball managed to hit the right combination of buildings to send it hurtling out of the city and zooming into the horizon far in the distance. “Never mind,” Thunder mumbled, seeing the problem had solved itself. “Bye crazy tennis ball!” Izzy called after it, waving. “Go find a nice lady ball and have some lovely baby balls with!” Saturday, 6/11: 'The Pegasi's Pride.' (Melody Song)“Zoom? You’ve been in there a while, are you ready?” Thunder knocked on the door of his longtime friend’s bathroom. He carefully tweaked the cufflinks on his suit – brand new, and it went perfectly with his Sky Slayer ZP Lites. The spring green pegasus stallion eyed the door that concealed his friend from view with an air of mild concern. Something told him that everything wasn’t going as smoothly as he’d hoped. “I-I… you know what, maybe this was a mistake, we should cancel our RSVPs. Sorry to bother you Thunder, maybe we can go get dinner instead-?” “Nope!” Thunder called cheerfully, sitting down and facing the closed door. “Come on Zoomster, you’ve already held off long enough with this. Every time, you chicken out. Well not this time. What are you so afraid of, Zoom…?” “Thunder…” A soft thud was heard, and Thunder knew his friend had sat down to face the door as well. “I’m not… I’m not as expressive as you are. I’m not as loud, as eager to show off… if I do something like this… it will make a scene… and I don’t want a scene.” “There won’t be one.” Thunder swore. “No one is going to look at you any more than usual, I promise.” “H-How can you be sure?” “Because that’s not the kind of behavior that the Royals will allow.” Thunder stated firmly. “You know them, Princess Pipp is always about encouraging positivity, and we all know Princess Zipp has strict rules against bullies in the palace.” “I suppose Queen Haven – long may she reign – is the supportive type as well… but, what about… Thunder, these things are always publicized and Princess Pipp already announced she was going to stream everyone’s entrances!” “Okay, well…” Thunder sighed and leaned forward to press his forehead against the door, attempting to transmit his calm presence to his friend. “I-look, you and I both know there will always be ponies who… who want to take away your right to be yourself. But you don’t have to listen to them, Zoom.” “Even when they’re screaming in your ears?” “Not even then! They don’t get to dictate how you live your life, Zoomer. Because they don’t know you, Zoom, you know you. And you’re awesome. I know you Zoom, and you wanna know what I see when I look at you?” “...What, Thunder?” “I see a strong, brave, courageous pegasus who is not afraid of what other ponies think. But right now, you’re holding yourself back because you’re worried that there will be a bad reaction from the ponies whose opinions you actually care about.” “I just… I don’t want the others to… to think differently of me. It’s not like I’ve changed, I just… look different…” “They won’t Zoom!” Thunder laughed softly. “You know them! And even if some of them do, you could totally kick their butts!” “...Well, I am good at kicking butts…” “Exactly!” Thunder smiled. “Do you remember back in cadet training, the old verse we were taught?” “Of course I do…” “Remind me again, how’d it go?” “...Pegasi are heralds of the wind and skies, free are we to soar and try. Even when the fiercest of the fiercest storms collide, we hold close to our hearts, the Pegasi’s pride.” “You’ve got plenty of Pegasi pride in you, Zoomster. What do you say? Are you ready to soar and try?” “...You really think it’ll be okay?” “I know so. Now… you ready to come out, or am I gonna have to come in there myself and drag you to the party?” “Okay, okay, fine. Step back, the door swings out and I don’t want to break your muzzle.” Thunder chuckled and stepped backwards, adjusting his tie and running a hoof over his carefully brushed forest green mane. He waited eagerly for his friend to exit the bathroom, beaming as the door slowly cracked open, and Zoom Zephyrwing stepped out. Zoom was wearing a deep indigo suit that perfectly matched the pony’s sky blue coat and violet mane. Thunder’s eyes trailed over the golden trails on the suit’s blazer, swirling around the lapels to bring ponies’ eyes up to the wearer’s face. Thunder smiled as his cyan eyes locked with Zoom’s amethyst ones. “There’s the Zoom I know. You ready to go?” Thunder asked, offering his hoof out to his friend. Zoom looked down at his hoof hesitatingly, before a small smile emerged, and he had grasped his fellow stallion’s hoof. “Yeah, let’s go.” “Alright! We’re gonna rock this ball! Come on, Zoomster!” Thunder cheered, practically dragging the poor stallion behind him in his haste. “Alright, alright, I’m coming! Wait up!” Zoom laughed, the door to his home slamming shut behind the two. “Hey hey out there to all my beloved Pippsqueaks!” Pipp squealed at her phone screen, the comment section of her livestream currently blowing up with responses. “As I’m sure all of you know by now, this is a very special broadcast. Everypony out there, I’d like to welcome you to the very first Unity Ball!!” Pipp flipped her camera to show her viewers the grand ballroom of the Royal Family’s castle, which was currently being filled up by guests of every pony race, who were milling around and talking to each other happily. Flipping her phone back, Pipp gave her audience a dazzling smile. “As you all know, the three pony tribes are friends now! And to commemorate this momentous occasion, my mother, Queen Haven, has extended invitations to the Earth Ponies and Unicorns to come to our very own castle for the Unity Ball, a creation of Sunny Starscout and Izzy Moonbow! And there will of course be a broadcasted performance by moi, don’t worry if you weren’t able to snag tickets, my lovelies!” “Pipp! Get down here, the guests of honor are arriving!” Zipp called loudly. “Oh! That’s my cue! Don’t worry guys, I’ll be bringing you along for this, you have to see which ponies our esteemed chairponies have extended Guest of Honor invites to!” Pipp waved to Sunny, Izzy, Hitch, and Zipp upon the mention of chairponies, joining her friends at the entrance to the ballroom, preparing to greet the coming ponies. The five friends stood together, Pipp eagerly recording as a few on-duty guards opened the doors for the guests of honor. “And first up, we have the unofficial ruler of the Bridlewood Unicorns, Sir Alphabittle!” Pipp beamed happily at the gruff, slate colored stallion. He seemed a bit confused as to why Pipp was announcing his arrival, but gave her and the others a friendly smile before entering. “Everypony welcome Alphabittle! He’s been doing a great job helping to establish ties with us, and his little armadillo friends are adorbs!” The comment section flooded with greetings from Pipp’s fans, as expected by the mare, and her smile grew even brighter. “Keep that positivity coming guys! Next to enter the Unity Ball is the one and only Miss Phyllis Cloverleaf, the unofficial leader of the Maretime Bay Earth Ponies! Let’s give her a big helping of cheers!” Phyllis, who was slightly more familiar with the technology that was Pipp’s phone, gave her a matronly smile and wave, before trotting out of the camera’s frame and further into the ball. Pipp continued to encourage and hype up her fans as more distinguished guests entered, mainly consisting of some of Pipp, Zipp, Hitch, Sunny, and Izzy’s friends from their towns. The newsponies of Zephyr Heights had just finished greeting Pipp’s fans when the next guests stepped through the double doors. “And here come the last Very Important Ponies, some of Zipp and I’s very own guards! I guess these two made a good impression on Izzy and Sunny, they immediately agreed when Zipp and I suggested them for the list! Please everyone, give a very warm welcome to Sir Thunder and Miss Zoom Zephyrwing-!” Pipp’s voice caught in her throat in slight surprise as she finally looked up from her phone after switching the camera once more. She, her friends, and her fans were now staring directly at the two off-duty guards – and Zoom’s attire. The pegasus froze the second he felt eyes on him, but Thunder was quick to gently guide his friend closer, smiling at Pipp and her phone. “Hey Pipp! The ballroom looks great, your decoration skills have never been more on point!” Thunder said eagerly. The compliment seemed to be enough to snap Pipp out of her stunned gaze, and she gave the two a smile. “Why thank you, Thunder! Don’t you two look dashing tonight! You must tell me where you got your suits!” Pipp then turned to Zoom with a sheepish smile. “I certainly didn’t expect-that is, not to say that mares can’t wear suits, but-” Zoom managed a smile back at Pipp. “Heh, uh… it’s alright, Princess, I should have done this a while ago, honestly, but… I go by he/him, if that’s alright with you?” “Oh! Oh, of course! So sorry Zoom, my mistake!” Pipp was quick to turn to her livestream, smiling happily. “A quick amendment, my Pippsqueaks! Allow me to introduce two of the best guards in the castle, the lovely gentlecolts, Thunder and Zoom Zephyrwing!” Pipp had her phone at just the right angle, and though Zoom didn’t mean to snoop, out of the corner of his eye he could just glimpse the flood of positive emoticons in the chat. A familiar blue, white, and pink flag was popping up a few times, as well – all proudly following “me toos!” and similar cries. “Well, welcome to the ball, you two.” Zipp took over for her sister, who was back to chatting it up with her viewers. “Have fun.” Zoom felt himself being tugged away by Thunder, the ever-curious stallion eager to explore the crowded ballroom. He gave one last wave to Zipp and her friends, before allowing himself to be dragged around by Thunder. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Thunder asked, turning to give his friend a smile. “Just one quick little conversation and it was over!” “Y-Yeah… thanks, Thunder, I… I’m really lucky to have you as my friend, you know?” Zoom gave the shorter stallion a fond grin. “I’m glad that of all the ponies that I have in my life, you were the first to know. Thanks for helping me, Thunder.” “Anytime, Zoomer.” Thunder nudged his friend in the side gently. “So, you wanna show these ponies how to party? I hear Pipp’s going to be singing later, we can dance to Glowing Up togetherrrrr~” Zoom laughed loudly. “Never change Thunder, please, never change.” “I don’t plan to.” Thunder retorted smoothly, grinning as he took his hoof. “Now come on, we’re the guests this time, let’s check out the refreshments booth! I want to see if they have those cupcakes we like!” “I thought you wanted to dance.” Zoom reminded the stallion, though he followed Thunder along anyway. It was nice, Zoom decided, as Thunder held up a cupcake in triumph before passing one to the sky blue stallion. It was nice to be out like this, for the first time and hopefully not the last. It was nice to be himself.
Wednesday, 4/6: 'Sibling Lounge.' (NavelColt)What is up, everypony? I hope you're all having a fantastic morning! Today, I am gonna show you guys how to style ribbon curves in your mane just like me. I'm totes excited, you guys! I bought a new mane curler last night out of sheer excitement for today! I smile a little to myself as I listen to Princess Pipp engage with her audience from down the hall. Thunder is absorbed in his phone next to me, watching her livestream. Normally I'd scold him about proper guard attentiveness etiquette, but technically he's keeping an eye on the princess, so I let it slide. I've always found something special in listening to Princess Pipp directly, even if from a different room. It makes it feel like I have an exclusive privilege. It's the fringe benefits of being a guardmare that make it all worth it. This curler has it all, everypony. Mattress mane got you down? Have no fear, this thing will deliver. I tried it last night just to be sure I was bringing you guys the very best, and it did not disappoint. First, let's go over the curl setting, and I can show you guys how I do my mane every morning. "Morning Zoom, Thunder." I suddenly leap to attention when a snowy coat passes by me. "Oh, good morning, Princess Zipp." "...Never gonna be just 'Zipp' with you, is it?" "Not while the helmet is on, ma'am." I smirk through my deadpan. She chuckles and shakes her head. "Off to get breakfast I assume?" I continue. "I believe Queen Haven had the kitchen staff prepare pancakes and over easy eggs with cheese." She looks at me with one of her coy little smiles. "That does sound good. Has Pipp eaten yet?" "She has. Your sister is in the lounge conducting her Wednesday morning livestream." There's a glint in her eyes, one I'm all too familiar with. "Oh she is, is she?" "Yes ma'am." We share a long look. She then quietly makes her way down the corridor without another word. Thunder, now off his phone, stares after her with me. The distance between each wave should be one and a half inches, everypony, with a medium heat setting. Once you've finished your first section I recommend inspecting your work. Until you get the hang of it you may need to redo sections that don't match up with the rest. Once you've checked that your distances line up, then it's time to— The princess cuts off with a gasp. I share a look with Thunder as Princess Zipp becomes audible now, too. Morning, Pipp. Uh, aha, Zipp, what are you doing? Just giving my little sister a hug. Aww, that's sweet of you, Zipp. But I'm in the middle of a livestream, right now. Can't you wait until afterwards? Nah, I wanted a hug right now. There's silence. Thunder fights to contain his snickering. It's rather rude to just walk up and interrupt ponies, Zipp. Just think of it as a cameo. This isn't a movie. Which means it has no plot to follow, right? Besides, your fans love when I drop in. I can see the emoticons from here. Thunder pulls out his phone again and refreshes the livestream. I have to admit that even I'm curious to watch, now. Princess Zipp has quite methodically pulled her sister into a hug with her forehoof and right wing. Her sister looks less than pleased, but it's hard to overstate how many little hearts and messages are popping up, saying things like "aww" and "best sisters." "What are you doing up so early anyway, Zipp? You're never a morning pony." "I took a nap yesterday after working on a project all afternoon, so I didn't need to sleep much last night. Heard you on my way to get breakfast, so thought I'd come say good morning." "Well, good morning, Zipp. Why don't you go eat breakfast so I can finish my product review in peace?" "So cold, sis. Can't a big sister come hug her little sister without being shooed away?" "Not when she's purposefully being a jerk with her timing." "Oh, okay. A jerk, am I? Alright, Pipp, we can play that game if you want." Princess Zipp suddenly grins at the camera. "Hey, you guys want me to let you in on a secret? This is big-sister-only information." "Zipp, will you please just leave already—" "Pipp has three ticklish spots." "Zipp!" "The biggest spot is right under her wing." "Oh my gosh, Zipp, get out of here!" Thunder is losing his composure, now. Princess Pipp headbutts her sister in the chest and begins sliding her towards the back of the lounge. "I'm just giving them some fun trivia, sis." "You're being a pest, is what you're doing. You can't just barge in and start embarrassing me on my livestream!" "If you wanted privacy you should have done it in your room, Pipp, not the lounge. I'm allowed to be in here as much as you are." "The lighting in my room and the bathrooms isn't great for showcases like this, Zipp, and I know I've told you that before! I'm here every week, twice a week at the same time. You're just trying to harass me in front of my fa—aanS!" Princess Zipp's wing wraps around her sister's side and begins to quiver. Princess Pipp giggles and jerks away, but she's held fast from escaping by lightning-fast hooves. Thunder is chuckling. I'm nearly there, myself. We watch the chat box overflow with further comments, ranging from complete sentences to chains of emojis. What are the other ticklish spots?? Don't leave us hanging, Zipp! Oml this is so wholesome, BEST SISTERS Zipp should do her own stream! #ZippLive #MoreZippCameos Pipp: *exists* Zipp: I'm going to end this filly's whole livestream. "So anyway, this is how you get back at your sister for calling you names on livestream, guys," Princess Zipp says to the camera. I've never seen her smirk so wide. "Notice the use of your primary feathers to execute the proper technique. Never use your hooves. They're far less effective, and you're gonna need them to hold your sibling in place." "Z—Zipp, knock it off!" "They might barter, beg, or threaten you, but you just gotta let it roll off you. This is about making a point more than anything." Princess Zipp shakes ceaselessly from her sister's struggling. It only serves to make her laugh. "You know I gotta say you're making it really hard to do this showcase with all your squirming, Pipp." "I c—can't believe you right now! Let go! You're such a bully!" "First a jerk, and now I'm a bully, too? All I wanted was a hug, Pipp. You're the one who got all impatient." "Just get out!" Another headbutt from Princess Pipp seems to do the trick. Her sister backs off at last, chuckling as she does. "Alright, alright, I'm leaving. Are you sure you've had breakfast already, sis? This is your hangry mood if I've ever seen it. You want me to bring you some pancakes?" Princess Pipp has resigned from even acknowledging her sister now. She groans and rolls her eyes for the camera. She begins to fuss over her mane, which is frazzled from the spat. "Sorry about that, everypony. Somepony is clearly in a deviant mood this morning. I am gonna ask my mom about getting locks installed for the lounge doors. The things a streamer has to do for a little privacy, am I right?" Princess Pipp returns to the topic of her stream. I look up to find Princess Zipp eyeing us as she walks out of the lounge and off towards the kitchen. We exchange amused looks. "Oh, actually, just one more interruption, Pippsqueaks. There's one more thing I need to address real quick." I quickly nudge Thunder in the side, and he frantically puts his phone away just as Princess Pipp pops her head out of the lounge. She's glaring at us. "Zoom, Thunder, what the hay was that?" "What was what, Princess Pipp?" She scoffs. "Don't give me that, Zoom, I know Thunder was watching my livestream this whole time—I could hear my echo out in the hall." I see Thunder wince. "Why didn't you guys do something?" she continues. "That was totally embarrassing! I'm gonna see tickle spot speculation and memes on my Pippit sub for weeks!" "Princess Pipp, we've been over this before," I say, offering a smile. "We can't intervene with your sister because she carries the same title you do." I glance at Thunder and nudge him again. "Uh, that's right," he stammers. "Queen Haven was very clear when she said her daughters carry the same level of authority. We can't do anything unless your sister were to actually put you in danger." "My dignity is in danger," she retorts. "Does that not count for something?" "I'm afraid not, princess," I reply, still smiling. "Tickle attacks and awkward hugs don't quite meet the criteria. But rest assured, Thunder and I will be right here if something truly serious ever does happen. You can count on us." The loudest groan yet signals her return back into the lounge. I look at Thunder. He's on his phone again, typing something into the princess's livestream chat. I glance over his shoulder and chuckle. Can confirm, that was adorable to overhear. #RoyalPalaceGuard Author's Note Welcome to my attempt at a community fic, and what I believe is the first community fic for G5. This anthology follows our G5 pegasus guards, Zoom and Thunder, and explores their daily lives looking after the Zephyr Heights royal family. Every chapter will be by a different author, with no consistency other than the pool of characters involved. For full details on how chapters will be posted and how to write one yourself, check out the blog here! For my entry, we have sibling fluff witnessed by our guard pony bystanders, because of course that would be my entry. I decided to contrast my characterization from How to Hug Your Pegasis. Now, Zipp is the one forcing livestream participation, much to her sister's annoyance. And on that note, I have two sources of inspiration for this chapter. The first goes to Quoterific, and his story, Pipp Sandwich. The second is from this artwork by the ever-inspiring Sockiepuppetry. Check out both if you haven't already!
Sunday, 4/10: 'What's with the Shield?' (Hammerhead)All the guards at Zephyr Heights were ordered to attend an important meeting inside the palace, each guard was given a guidebook and took a seat in one of a row of seats in front of a projector. Once everypony was seated, there were light discussions about what boring subject the meeting will be on, what new excuse is given to provide more work. That was until the captain showed up, all ponies stood to attention in front of the Captain. “At ease, guards,” ordered the captain, as he made his walk to the centre of the room in front of guards returning to their seats. “The reason you’re all here is to inform you of new protocols in the event of foreign infiltration into Zephyr Heights. You should all have new issues of the Guard Guide in front of you, please open them up to page 42.” As the guards began to open their guidebooks to page 42, the captain went to the desk at the side of the projector screen to set up a Ponypoint Presentation. “Please pay attention, as all this is important to protect the royal family, our city, and our citizens.” As the Captain began to go through his slides, talking about procedures for dealing with non-pegasus creatures, one young green pegasus guard felt a distracting vibration by his flank. The vibration came from his smartphone, which had a blinking green light at the top. The pegasus looked left and right, only seeing his fellow guards looking ahead, before checking his phone to see what the buzzing was about. The screen displayed an alert, Pipp Petals, one of the Princesses of Zephyr Heights, was about to start a live stream. Beloved by all for her charm, beauty, and gift of singing, everypony on Zephyr Heights adored her, and eagerly watched her live streams, they were even reported on the news! The green pegasus sneakily hid his phone inside his guidebook and ensured the volume was low enough to listen without getting the attention of the other guards. He was too eager to pay attention to the captain’s presentation to miss it, guards work was important but to him, missing out on Princess Pipp Petals was even more important. “Hey! How’s it going, Pipsqueaks?” Pipp Petals opened with her harming smile and upbeat tone, which would send hearts fluttering and foals giddy with glee when they watched it. On the bottom corner of the screen, emojis sprayed upwards with hearts and faces of joy in overwhelming numbers, whilst new comments were popping up on the opposite corner. “Just received a new package and I cannot wait to show you what’s inside!” she followed, holding up a box and shaking it from side to side. The Princess then carefully placed her phone on a stand, positioning it at the correct angle so the camera pointed downwards towards her bed. She then placed the box in full view of the camera and then began to tear the box open. Curious fans pinged comments asking what was in the box, which wasn’t helped by Pipp obstructing their view with her gorgeous violet mane as she looked inside. Suddenly, she squeaked with excitement. “They’re finally here!” she exclaimed, before jumping onto the bed and planting all four of her hooves inside of the box, comments started appearing with the simple “LOL” and “WHUT” in response. After kicking the box off the bed to one side, Pipp Petals rolled onto her back to reveal what was in the box. “My new sneakers are here!” she said with joy, pretending to walk on her back to show off four sneakers, bright pink with violet soles and white feather-like strips along the side. Reactions were explosive, a fountain of hearts and smiley faces, with comments of “OMG!”, “CUTE!” and “WANT” pinging like crazy. “Designed by yours truly, they look so good to see it up close, comfy too.” As reactions continued to burst out onto the screen, Pipp grabbed her phone to continue the video stream hoof held with her lying on the bed, using her other forehoof to show off the sneaker. “If any of you Pipsqueaks want a pair of your own, I’ve been told they’ll be available to buy at all major retailers this Friday! Looking forward to seeing my fans show off their own set…” This green pegasus was glad not to have missed the new announcement, he had a passion for collecting sneakers, and after seeing them, needed that new designer set of sneakers for himself. He continued to watch the video from his phone, still hidden behind his Guard Guide, whilst the meeting turned lecture was still proceeding. “…moving onto unicorns,” said the captain, unaware of the green pegasus occupied with his phone, as he clicked onto the next slide. “We are aware of their predatory and violent tendencies, with their razor teeth, ability to read minds, and plenty of other dangerous abilities that they can do with the pointy horns on their heads. However, our top researchers have uncovered an old weakness.” He clicked onto the next slide, showing what appeared to be a scan of a very old piece of paper, tattered and torn in various places, faded and discoloured from old age. It depicted a scene of what looked like a large ballroom with a large white unicorn in peril, trapped and covered within a sea of a greenish liquid. That was at least how most of the guards could interpret it, some details of the scene looked strange, like why the liquid appeared to have a pointy mouth, and the white unicorn appeared to have wings judging by the very faded wavy lines. “As you can see in this old parchment, this large white unicorn was easily subdued by some form of slime monster” the captain explained, before turning to the guards. “Can somepony tell me why this unicorn isn’t fighting back, despite their biological arsenal at their disposal?” The captain scanned the room but didn’t take long to find one eager hoof raised amongst the group, from a light blue pegasus with a determined stare. “Sir, was it because of magical properties in the slime, sir?” The pegasus asked firmly. The captain smirked, clearly impressed by the answer. “I like your thinking, Zoom Zephyrwing, but no”. The captain then referred to the Ponypoint slide. “Based on a focused study of this parchment and other documents related to this incident, it’s been concluded that this unicorn was incapacitated because the tip of the unicorn’s horn was covered in slime, obstructing all magical and unknown properties.” The captain clicked on the laptop, and the image suddenly zoomed in to focus on the head of the unicorn, after which a red circle slowly faded focusing on the unicorn’s horn, where there was a small amount of slim covering its tip. “As such, all guards are now required to carry around with them, shields.” The captain proceeded to take out one such shield from his armour and reveal it to the guards. The captain could see several raised eyebrows and tilted heads, some guards winced, worried if they should say something about this shield. To the guards, these unicorn restraining shields look to be small, green, round, and fuzzy, nothing in the realm of high tech, nor the realm of the military. “I know they look simplistic and unconventional” the captain responded empathetically, “but our research department has assured us that these are most effective to attach to the hoof and suppress any magical properties.” He went onto the next slide, depicting a diagram of a pegasus unicorn with a green shield in its hoof placed onto the hoof of a vicious and razor-sharp teethed unicorn caricature. “Any unicorn that has been sighted, your priority is to get your shield and place it firmly into the tip of the horn. All guards will be trained to do this appropriately by the end of this week.” Finally, the captain went to the corner of the room, where an inconspicuous basket full of shields was waiting for him to pick up and move to the middle of the room, with the intention for guards to collect as they leave. “Any questions?” The captain scanned the room once more, nopony had their hoof raised, but something else caught the pegasus’ eye. That young green pegasus was still glued to his guidebook, paying no attention to the captain. Perturbed by the lack of attention on display, the captain made the green pegasus his target. “Thunder?” Upon hearing his name, the previously distracted Thunder panicked and fumbled with the phone and guidebook, before managing to clamp them between his hooves and looking the captain dead in the eye. “Uh… yes, sir!” he answered obliviously. The captain paused, having caught the green pegasus he waited for a follow-up. “…well, what’s your question?” All the other guards began to turn towards Thunder, waiting to hear what he had to say. Thunder started to sweat nervously, seeing all eyes on him, he desperately tried to think up a reasonable question to save face. However, as he hadn’t read the guidebook, all he had to go on was what was on the Ponypoint slide, the basket in the middle of the room, and whatever was in the captain’s hoof that didn’t add up. “What’s with all the tennis balls?”
Thursday, 4/14: 'In Practice.' (Scyphi)Generally speaking, Queen Haven wasn’t really one to hold a grudge. Typically, once told the details of a given situation and understood what was going on and why, then she was usually more inclined to move on to whatever was needed to resolve the situation, preferably quickly and effectively, so to be done with it. It was actually what made her decent enough of a ruler, despite her having her share of personal faults, like all ponies ultimately did regardless whether or not they admitted them. Granted, her tendency to jump right to the first quick and effective solution meant she sometimes settled on one that wasn’t always the best solution…as the whole “lying about how the royals can still fly” scandal nicely demonstrated not so long ago. But the point was that Haven preferred being proactive about resolving and removing a problem, rather than dwelling grumpily about how there was a problem at all. And how both Zoom and Thunder were right now really hoping they weren’t about to become the one exception to that trend. Because the daggers their queen’s eyes were currently boring into the two royal guards was really making them wonder. It didn’t help that this had been going on for about a minute, following about another minute before that of Haven surveying in horror the destruction that currently surrounded them, which in turn all come upon her abruptly rushing into the room and letting out a shocked screech at what lay within. At first the prolonged silence had seemed like she was just at a loss for words, but now, if they weren’t currently the two being stared down by her, Thunder would be placing bets with Zoom that Haven was busy trying to reign in her anger before it exploded out of her. Finally, after making the two guards tensely sweat rivers during all that time, Haven finally found her voice. “Care to explain?” she asked. She said it in her usual, almost melodic, manner of speaking, but the darkness straining just behind it was obvious. Zoom and Thunder both jointly gulped. “Your highness, I know what this all looks like,” Zoom took upon herself to professionally attempt to explain. Haven raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I think what it looks like is rather self-evident at the moment, Miss Zephyrwing,” she replied bluntly. This caused both guards to wince a second time, having confirmed that they were probably in big trouble for letting this happen. “Well, the important thing is that the situation’s contained now, right?” Thunder offered, in an attempt to find the upsides. “I assume that is what my youngest daughter and a visiting guest are currently doing, then?” Haven asked pointedly, motioning with one hoof behind the guards. Just a couple feet behind them at roughly the center of the devastated room were the pegasus and unicorn mares in question. Both Pipp and Izzy were attempting to look casual as they watched the queen interrogate her guards, but this was mostly ineffective due to how they were currently using their combined body weights to keep an overturned plastic tub pinned to the floor. Inside, something was thumping around with such rapidity and force that it made the tub unexpectedly shift positions from time to time, suggesting Pipp and Izzy were the only things keeping whatever it was contained, and even then it was only just. “Yeah, that means no further harm’s being done, right?” Thunder reasoned simply in response to the question. “At the moment, I’m more concerned by the fact that any harm was done at all,” Haven stressed firmly, succeeding in making the two guards wince a third time and inwardly hate the fact that, as the only two guards in the room at the time, this made them responsible for the consequences. Unless they successfully shifted the blame, which was Zoom’s next plan of action as she jabbed a hoof at her partner. “Thunder was the one who thought it a good idea.” “Hey, no!” Thunder objected, scowling at the other pegasus, “You thought it couldn’t hurt to try too!” He then pointed a hoof behind him. “Besides, it was Princess Pipp who wanted to try it originally.” “Hey, don’t throw me under the carriage!” Pipp objected in a whine behind them as she all but straddled the shaking tub with her body. “And it was Izzy who first suggested it in the first place.” Beside her, Izzy shrugged while keeping both forehooves pressing down on the tub. “I just thought it might be fun to try now that magic is back and all,” she reasoned innocently. “Ponies,” Haven interjected at this point, interrupting the blame game before rubbing wearily at one of her temples. “…Try what exactly?” There was a moment as the other four ponies shifted awkwardly, looking around to see who’d explain just what had happened. Finally, seeing somepony would have to do it, Thunder stepped forward. “So you know all those protocols the royal guard had in place back when we still thought unicorns as vicious mind-melting pointy-heads?” “No offense to present company, of course,” Zoom swiftly offered, giving Izzy an apologetic glance. “None taken!” Izzy assured with a polite grin. “And you know the defensive measures we were to take should any unicorns try to invade or anything?” Thunder continued on undeterred. Haven simply nodded and motioned for him to continue. “Well, as I’m sure her highness knows, the first protocol said any unicorns encountered or captured within pegasus territory had to have their magic horns neutralized with the use of an anti-unicorn shield,” Thunder continued. He patted himself down so to pull one out as an example, but remembered he didn’t currently have any spares. He grinned apologetically to his queen. “I’d, uh, show you an example, but uh…” he pointedly sheepishly at the tub Pipp and Izzy were holding down, its contents still thumping around wildly inside. “They’re specially designed magic-blocking spheres that can be placed directly onto the tip of unicorn horns,” Zoom described, more familiar with the official text given in their guidebooks than Thunder was. “Once applied, the unicorn in question could no longer use their magic against us, and covered the pointy tip of their horns so to remove those as potential weapons too.” She paused and rolled her eyes upward in realization. “At least, that was believed how it’d work in theory.” “In reality, it’s basically just a tennis ball!” Izzy piped in unhelpfully, shifting her position as the tub under hooves suddenly and forcefully slid to one side. “I assume there’s a point to all of this then,” Haven remarked, not seeing how it all interconnected. “Well, I’d thought they couldn’t’ve been much point to them before, because there wasn’t actually any magic for unicorns to use, right?” Izzy explained at this point. “I couldn’t zap any ponies even if I wanted until after magic returned, and at that point, it was all moot, ‘cuz we’re all friends now, and friends don’t zap friends.” “We didn’t know that at the time,” Zoom mumbled under her breath, feeling obligated to defend the pegasi on the matter. “But it still got me wondering,” Izzy continued, “if unicorns did have their magic, would it actually work to stop it?” She shrugged again. “And since I do have magic now,” she lit her horn briefly as proof, “I figured we could test it and find out.” “So that’s when Izzy suggested the idea to me,” Pipp said, “and I thought it could make for a fun livestream for my Pippsqueaks, so we went looking for any free guards that would let us, you know, give it a try.” “And that’s when they found us,” Zoom concluded dejectedly, regretting being dragged into this. “And I happened to have one still on hoof, because the royal guard hasn’t stopped issuing them out to guards,” Thunder concluded and shrugged himself. “I figured it’d be good to know if it actually did work, just in case. Because we might be friends with the unicorns now, but you never know, there could come a day when we still have to stop some attacking unicorn. So…since she was willing, I stuck it on Miss Moonbow’s horn while the princess recorded it and we let her try her magic—see what happened.” Haven again glanced around at the room which looked like a tornado had passed through it. A tapestry that was vainly hanging on by only one wall-hanging chose that moment to finally thump to the floor. “I assume, then, this little test didn’t go as planned,” she deduced flatly. “Well, at first it looked like it did,” Zoom began. “It really did seem like it was blocking her magic like it was supposed to.” “For the first few seconds,” Thunder added ominously. “It was kind of like when you take a soda bottle and then shake it up so hard that the cork goes popping off like a cannon,” Izzy explained. “That was what it was like here, except my horn was the soda bottle and the tennis ball was the cork.” “That analogy’s pretty fitting,” Zoom agreed, “because that ball came shooting off her horn like it really had been shot out of a cannon and it started bouncing off the walls with the full level of force you’d expect from that.” “And then it just kept bouncing,” Thunder continued empathically, “Showing no sign it was going to ever slow down and stop at all.” He jabbed his hoof at the overturned tub again, the ball within still audibly bouncing around like crazy. “It took some pretty fancy flying just to get it trapped in that before it caused any more damage.” He motioned to the queen. “And that would be when you came in, your highness.” By now, Haven was rubbing both of her temples in frustration. “So…what you’re telling me then…is that a device that in theory was supposed to render a unicorn powerless…has instead effectively weaponized said device for that unicorn in practice.” The four ponies exchanged glances with one another before each individually voicing agreement with that assessment. “Good thing we unicorns are friends now, huh?” Izzy added with a big grin. Haven pressed her hooves into her temples harder. “…how, though?” she asked finally. “Well, Zipp was theorizing the other day that unicorn magic puts energy into things,” Pipp offered, “so maybe Izzy’s magic supercharged the ball somehow?” “Maybe we could see it if we do it aga—” Izzy began to innocently suggest. “NO!” everyone else swiftly interrupted. “Besides, Princess Pipp was recording it on her phone,” Zoom went on to reason. “So we could just review the footage from that, right?” “Well, we could, but uh…” with a pout, Pipp pointed sadly to one side of the room where her phone lay on the floor, its screen having been shattered in the chaos. “Poor phone…and after serving me for so long too.” “Pipp, that’s your fifth phone this month,” Haven reminded wearily, as Pipp needing a replacement phone was hardly a new occurrence. “But it had lasted a full two and a half weeks!” Pipp cried out, starting to lift up both hooves in protest before the tub shifting under her had her resume straddling it. “That was basically a record! And it was my fortieth phone, a nice round number! It was special! It deserved—” “So what do we intend to do about the ball?” Haven interrupted in an attempt to get them back on topic. They all looked at the tub Pipp and Izzy were keeping pinned to the floor. “Find a way to harness its kinetic energy as a form of perpetual power generation?” Zoom half-seriously suggested. This awarded her another glare from Haven. “It’s too bad Sunny isn’t here,” Izzy thought aloud, “She’d probably know of some past time where ponies of old found a solution to problems like this.” “Well, I’d call her and ask, but…” Pipp again motioned to her lost phone. “All right, I’ll call her instead,” Thunder offered, pulling out his own phone. “What’s her number?” “I don’t know, that’s why I had the phone, so it would remember for me!” Pipp replied in frustration. “I don’t think Sunny has a cell phone anyway,” Izzy pointed out, taking one hoof off the tub and raising it thoughtfully to her chin. Pipp made a stilted laugh at that. “Don’t be silly, Izzy, everypony has a cell phone.” “Well…I don’t,” Izzy reminded simply. Pipp made a horrified gasp and immediately jumped to her hooves so to make some indignant exclamation at this perceived injustice. The others all shouted for her to not to, but it was too late, and with Pipp’s body weight removed from the tub, Izzy’s remaining hoof on it was insufficient to keep it in place, allowing the supercharged ball within to finally burst free and resume its chaotic bouncing in the room. Zoom and Thunder both bodily pinned Haven to the floor so to shield her from harm while Izzy and Pipp dove for opposite corners of the room. Then, with the tinkling of glass, the ball managed to find the only window in the room and smash right through it and into the city outside. Realizing the danger had, quite literally, left the building, the five ponies slowly got up and gravitated towards the broken window to watch as the ball, still not slowing down, proceeded to wreak havoc within Zephyr Heights, ricocheting off of buildings, street lights, bridges, and basically anything that crossed its path as the populace all jointly dove for cover. One of the big broadcast screens mounted to the side of a building was smashed as the ball bounced off of it. The ball then briefly vanished from view for a second as it managed to find another window to crash through, presumably proceeding to chaotically bounce around the building it entered before exiting through a second window and back into the city streets again. By that point Haven had had enough. “All right,” she began firmly, turning to the two guards, “New order from your queen, effective immediately. You said all of the guards are issued these shield ball things?” When the two nodded, she continued resolutely, “Then you are to find and gather all of these balls from your cohorts, shred ALL of them, burn all the shreds, before going to the ponies who issue you your guidebooks, tell them to rip out all the pages for the protocols for these things and do the same thing to those pages that you did to the balls, and then tell them they are to issue updated guidebooks with those protocols removed straight away! Am I clear?” Zoom and Thunder both saluted. “Yes ma’am!” they jointly exclaimed. Haven nodded in confirmation before turning around with a huff. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to get an aspirin.” She then left the room. Once she was gone, the remaining ponies returned to their gazes to the ball flying around the city streets outside. “So what are we going to do about that?” Thunder finally asked after a moment. It was around then that the ball managed to hit the right combination of buildings to send it hurtling out of the city and zooming into the horizon far in the distance. “Never mind,” Thunder mumbled, seeing the problem had solved itself. “Bye crazy tennis ball!” Izzy called after it, waving. “Go find a nice lady ball and have some lovely baby balls with!”
Saturday, 6/11: 'The Pegasi's Pride.' (Melody Song)“Zoom? You’ve been in there a while, are you ready?” Thunder knocked on the door of his longtime friend’s bathroom. He carefully tweaked the cufflinks on his suit – brand new, and it went perfectly with his Sky Slayer ZP Lites. The spring green pegasus stallion eyed the door that concealed his friend from view with an air of mild concern. Something told him that everything wasn’t going as smoothly as he’d hoped. “I-I… you know what, maybe this was a mistake, we should cancel our RSVPs. Sorry to bother you Thunder, maybe we can go get dinner instead-?” “Nope!” Thunder called cheerfully, sitting down and facing the closed door. “Come on Zoomster, you’ve already held off long enough with this. Every time, you chicken out. Well not this time. What are you so afraid of, Zoom…?” “Thunder…” A soft thud was heard, and Thunder knew his friend had sat down to face the door as well. “I’m not… I’m not as expressive as you are. I’m not as loud, as eager to show off… if I do something like this… it will make a scene… and I don’t want a scene.” “There won’t be one.” Thunder swore. “No one is going to look at you any more than usual, I promise.” “H-How can you be sure?” “Because that’s not the kind of behavior that the Royals will allow.” Thunder stated firmly. “You know them, Princess Pipp is always about encouraging positivity, and we all know Princess Zipp has strict rules against bullies in the palace.” “I suppose Queen Haven – long may she reign – is the supportive type as well… but, what about… Thunder, these things are always publicized and Princess Pipp already announced she was going to stream everyone’s entrances!” “Okay, well…” Thunder sighed and leaned forward to press his forehead against the door, attempting to transmit his calm presence to his friend. “I-look, you and I both know there will always be ponies who… who want to take away your right to be yourself. But you don’t have to listen to them, Zoom.” “Even when they’re screaming in your ears?” “Not even then! They don’t get to dictate how you live your life, Zoomer. Because they don’t know you, Zoom, you know you. And you’re awesome. I know you Zoom, and you wanna know what I see when I look at you?” “...What, Thunder?” “I see a strong, brave, courageous pegasus who is not afraid of what other ponies think. But right now, you’re holding yourself back because you’re worried that there will be a bad reaction from the ponies whose opinions you actually care about.” “I just… I don’t want the others to… to think differently of me. It’s not like I’ve changed, I just… look different…” “They won’t Zoom!” Thunder laughed softly. “You know them! And even if some of them do, you could totally kick their butts!” “...Well, I am good at kicking butts…” “Exactly!” Thunder smiled. “Do you remember back in cadet training, the old verse we were taught?” “Of course I do…” “Remind me again, how’d it go?” “...Pegasi are heralds of the wind and skies, free are we to soar and try. Even when the fiercest of the fiercest storms collide, we hold close to our hearts, the Pegasi’s pride.” “You’ve got plenty of Pegasi pride in you, Zoomster. What do you say? Are you ready to soar and try?” “...You really think it’ll be okay?” “I know so. Now… you ready to come out, or am I gonna have to come in there myself and drag you to the party?” “Okay, okay, fine. Step back, the door swings out and I don’t want to break your muzzle.” Thunder chuckled and stepped backwards, adjusting his tie and running a hoof over his carefully brushed forest green mane. He waited eagerly for his friend to exit the bathroom, beaming as the door slowly cracked open, and Zoom Zephyrwing stepped out. Zoom was wearing a deep indigo suit that perfectly matched the pony’s sky blue coat and violet mane. Thunder’s eyes trailed over the golden trails on the suit’s blazer, swirling around the lapels to bring ponies’ eyes up to the wearer’s face. Thunder smiled as his cyan eyes locked with Zoom’s amethyst ones. “There’s the Zoom I know. You ready to go?” Thunder asked, offering his hoof out to his friend. Zoom looked down at his hoof hesitatingly, before a small smile emerged, and he had grasped his fellow stallion’s hoof. “Yeah, let’s go.” “Alright! We’re gonna rock this ball! Come on, Zoomster!” Thunder cheered, practically dragging the poor stallion behind him in his haste. “Alright, alright, I’m coming! Wait up!” Zoom laughed, the door to his home slamming shut behind the two. “Hey hey out there to all my beloved Pippsqueaks!” Pipp squealed at her phone screen, the comment section of her livestream currently blowing up with responses. “As I’m sure all of you know by now, this is a very special broadcast. Everypony out there, I’d like to welcome you to the very first Unity Ball!!” Pipp flipped her camera to show her viewers the grand ballroom of the Royal Family’s castle, which was currently being filled up by guests of every pony race, who were milling around and talking to each other happily. Flipping her phone back, Pipp gave her audience a dazzling smile. “As you all know, the three pony tribes are friends now! And to commemorate this momentous occasion, my mother, Queen Haven, has extended invitations to the Earth Ponies and Unicorns to come to our very own castle for the Unity Ball, a creation of Sunny Starscout and Izzy Moonbow! And there will of course be a broadcasted performance by moi, don’t worry if you weren’t able to snag tickets, my lovelies!” “Pipp! Get down here, the guests of honor are arriving!” Zipp called loudly. “Oh! That’s my cue! Don’t worry guys, I’ll be bringing you along for this, you have to see which ponies our esteemed chairponies have extended Guest of Honor invites to!” Pipp waved to Sunny, Izzy, Hitch, and Zipp upon the mention of chairponies, joining her friends at the entrance to the ballroom, preparing to greet the coming ponies. The five friends stood together, Pipp eagerly recording as a few on-duty guards opened the doors for the guests of honor. “And first up, we have the unofficial ruler of the Bridlewood Unicorns, Sir Alphabittle!” Pipp beamed happily at the gruff, slate colored stallion. He seemed a bit confused as to why Pipp was announcing his arrival, but gave her and the others a friendly smile before entering. “Everypony welcome Alphabittle! He’s been doing a great job helping to establish ties with us, and his little armadillo friends are adorbs!” The comment section flooded with greetings from Pipp’s fans, as expected by the mare, and her smile grew even brighter. “Keep that positivity coming guys! Next to enter the Unity Ball is the one and only Miss Phyllis Cloverleaf, the unofficial leader of the Maretime Bay Earth Ponies! Let’s give her a big helping of cheers!” Phyllis, who was slightly more familiar with the technology that was Pipp’s phone, gave her a matronly smile and wave, before trotting out of the camera’s frame and further into the ball. Pipp continued to encourage and hype up her fans as more distinguished guests entered, mainly consisting of some of Pipp, Zipp, Hitch, Sunny, and Izzy’s friends from their towns. The newsponies of Zephyr Heights had just finished greeting Pipp’s fans when the next guests stepped through the double doors. “And here come the last Very Important Ponies, some of Zipp and I’s very own guards! I guess these two made a good impression on Izzy and Sunny, they immediately agreed when Zipp and I suggested them for the list! Please everyone, give a very warm welcome to Sir Thunder and Miss Zoom Zephyrwing-!” Pipp’s voice caught in her throat in slight surprise as she finally looked up from her phone after switching the camera once more. She, her friends, and her fans were now staring directly at the two off-duty guards – and Zoom’s attire. The pegasus froze the second he felt eyes on him, but Thunder was quick to gently guide his friend closer, smiling at Pipp and her phone. “Hey Pipp! The ballroom looks great, your decoration skills have never been more on point!” Thunder said eagerly. The compliment seemed to be enough to snap Pipp out of her stunned gaze, and she gave the two a smile. “Why thank you, Thunder! Don’t you two look dashing tonight! You must tell me where you got your suits!” Pipp then turned to Zoom with a sheepish smile. “I certainly didn’t expect-that is, not to say that mares can’t wear suits, but-” Zoom managed a smile back at Pipp. “Heh, uh… it’s alright, Princess, I should have done this a while ago, honestly, but… I go by he/him, if that’s alright with you?” “Oh! Oh, of course! So sorry Zoom, my mistake!” Pipp was quick to turn to her livestream, smiling happily. “A quick amendment, my Pippsqueaks! Allow me to introduce two of the best guards in the castle, the lovely gentlecolts, Thunder and Zoom Zephyrwing!” Pipp had her phone at just the right angle, and though Zoom didn’t mean to snoop, out of the corner of his eye he could just glimpse the flood of positive emoticons in the chat. A familiar blue, white, and pink flag was popping up a few times, as well – all proudly following “me toos!” and similar cries. “Well, welcome to the ball, you two.” Zipp took over for her sister, who was back to chatting it up with her viewers. “Have fun.” Zoom felt himself being tugged away by Thunder, the ever-curious stallion eager to explore the crowded ballroom. He gave one last wave to Zipp and her friends, before allowing himself to be dragged around by Thunder. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Thunder asked, turning to give his friend a smile. “Just one quick little conversation and it was over!” “Y-Yeah… thanks, Thunder, I… I’m really lucky to have you as my friend, you know?” Zoom gave the shorter stallion a fond grin. “I’m glad that of all the ponies that I have in my life, you were the first to know. Thanks for helping me, Thunder.” “Anytime, Zoomer.” Thunder nudged his friend in the side gently. “So, you wanna show these ponies how to party? I hear Pipp’s going to be singing later, we can dance to Glowing Up togetherrrrr~” Zoom laughed loudly. “Never change Thunder, please, never change.” “I don’t plan to.” Thunder retorted smoothly, grinning as he took his hoof. “Now come on, we’re the guests this time, let’s check out the refreshments booth! I want to see if they have those cupcakes we like!” “I thought you wanted to dance.” Zoom reminded the stallion, though he followed Thunder along anyway. It was nice, Zoom decided, as Thunder held up a cupcake in triumph before passing one to the sky blue stallion. It was nice to be out like this, for the first time and hopefully not the last. It was nice to be himself.
