Chapters Royal Bodyguard: Fire and Ice
Chapter 1: Hearts and Hooves day
The light blue unicorn walked through the Canterlot gardens, admiring the scenery. Too bad she was just passing through though.
*
Halcyon didn't text Blaze straight away the next day- there was some event that wasn't an emergency but required her attendance at work. She had to leave straight away the next morning, heading to the castle.
Royal Bodyguard: Fire and Ice
Chapter 2: Welcome back... Or not.
Just as a note from the author- the dislike-like ratio is quite disturbing for me. As the author, I really couldn't place a hoof on what I'm doing wrong- or what expectations I'm failing. Please leave a comment and tell me! The ratio right now is killing me... But anyway. Here's chapter 2.
"Uh-oh." was all Blaze said.
Royal Bodyguard: Fire and Ice
"Hal..." Blaze kneeled down beside his fallen comrade.
*
"Keep... Running..." Blaze huffed and puffed as they climbed up the hill.
*
The night came in fast. Halcyon opened her eyes, the dullness in her mind gone but every inch of her body aching. She could feel warmth on her left half, while it was freezing on her right.
*
Blaze abruptly woke from his dream as his instincts kicked in, his ears twitching as he picked up talking. His reaction was to sit up, and he hit his head on a brand above him. He quickly covered his mouth, tears filling his eyes as his forehead throbbed. Wiping away the tears, he peered down.
Royal Bodyguard: Fire and Ice
Chapter 4: Well That Escalated Quickly
Author: Sorry to all that actually liked this story. Was unexpected, as the story barely has a storyline. Just me, writing whatever comes to mind- and that can be very slow at times. This chapter is pretty rushed... But I'll try up the quality back to normal standards in future chapters.
"Oh buck... Thanks Hal, if it weren't for you we wouldn't have- EEK!!" Blaze jumped away from Halcyon's right arm, which was slowly forming a puddle of blood in the grass. He backed away from it, constantly rubbing his eyes and not believing what he was seeing.
*
Two months later, Halcyon's hospital ward.
"Well. It's almost coming back." Halcyon said, looking down at her new arm.
Royal Bodyguard: Fire and Ice
Chapter 5: Short Time Off
A few more months pass- and Halcyon finally has her arm fully back. Now they're at their favorite place in Canterlot- the ice-cream shop.
*
Night time finally arrived. The stars rose above the tree tops, following the bright moon that lit up the darkness. The streets were slowly emptying out, only a few stores remained open. Most of the buildings that still had lights on were distant apartment blocks and pubs and bars.
*
Halcyon woke up on a bed, Blaze next to her watching TV. She briefly remembered the events from earlier, but couldn't remember anything from the point where she thought she fell asleep in the tub. She just couldn't help it- she felt so dizzy. In fact, she still feels dizzy. That was only physically- mentally she felt terrible too. She could only imagine what she put Blaze through.
*
Nightshade was peacefully asleep when her alarm clock went off. Her immediate response was to teleport to her saddle bag, whip out an EMP knife, and throw it across the room. The knife lodged itself into the LED clock's screen, denting it inwards. Then the EMP went off, taking out the clock with a wave of blue sparks. Unfortunately, the clock wasn't the only thing damaged.
Author's Note
Sorry that this story is coming along pretty darn slow-_- but it's still going! I know it isn't doing particularly well, but it's been quite enjoyable to write. So won't stop for the time being. You guys probably already forgot about this fic didn't you -.-
Royal Bodyguard: Fire and Ice
Chapter 6: Turn of Events
Blaze and Halcyon were in a waiting room, its plain walls reflecting their glum mood as they clunked around in full armor.
"Oh great. A few days off, and we're back in straight after almost dying. Nightshade, you bastard." Blaze muttered.
"Hey- the captain must have her reasons." Halcyon nudged him in his full body armor, her own clinking loudly as she shuffled. "By the sounds of it it's pretty big too."
"Yeah, well... No bigger than my-" Halcyon hit him before he could finish. "What? I know you can testify to tha- OW!"
"Stop with the inappropriate jokes." She said.
"Oh come on, I know you love me as a whole." Blaze said, giving her a quick squeeze.
Halcyon just rolled her eyes and sighed. But then nodded. "Yeah. But it gets annoying sometimes."
They heard a light knock on the waiting room door, and immediately snapped up straight and raised their heads up high.
"Alright lads." Nightshade said, shoving the door open and striding in.
"Captain." The two guards saluted. Then Blaze relaxed, and took a step forward. "Wasn't expecting you ma'am." He said.
"Don't suppose." Nightshade shrugged. That tends to happen to her- being able to teleport, and all. "You two ready?"
"Yes ma'am. Spells have been cast." Halcyon said articulately. They had to cast spells on each other so they could walk on clouds. They were already in(on?) Cloudsdale, the concrete structure which was perched on the edge of the city's airport landing strips specifically placed so earth ponies and unicorns could receive spell treatment so they could stand on the clouds.
"We're all set for deployment, again." Blaze's voice lowered significantly for the last word.
"Yeah, about that." Nightshade said. "Listen, I know you two want to spend more time together- but I hope you know what's important. It's important enough for me to completely ignore the fact that you-" she nodded at Blaze. "-just insulted a superior officer by calling her a 'bastard' a few seconds earlier." She said, then chuckled at the uncomfortable look on Blaze's face.
"Sorry captain- he was just-"
"Oh don't worry officer." Nightshade laughed, and patted a worried Halcyon on the shoulder. "You can say whatever you want, but just don't let my bat ears pick em up." She winked, then laughed again at Halcyon's even more worried expression.
"Sorry ma'am." Blaze said sheepishly, which was the least he could do in this situation.
"Haha! Just don't tell anyone else." Nightshade said, putting on a hysterical face as she strode out of the waiting room. "You two better get ready now. And if you're busy with something else, don't let me hear it!" She said, and with that closed the door.
Blaze and Hal stood silently, staring at the closed door.
"Wait, what?" Blaze frowned.
Halcyon face-hoofed, and sighed. "Gah... Just get ready." She said, her face almost as red as Blaze's flames as she helped him put on a few remaining pieces of armor which were in rather awkward places(and would've been even more so if they weren't a couple).
*
Nightshade's hysterical mood immediately dispersed as she entered the hallway. That had to be the dumbest act she had to put on- but it was always fun to make the lower ranks feel uncomfortable.
"How come when I said something behind your back and got caught, you made me wash two months worth of the entire ATLANTA HQ's dishes?" Bluefyre moaned a complaint as she joined Nightshade down the hallway.
"Because I was having a bad day." Nightshade said simply. "That's why ponies avoid me on bad days. Too bad I can teleport- no pony's running anywhere." She said, which was followed by silence as they trotted down the hallway.
She raised an eyebrow, and looked behind her at Bluefyre. Without giving so much as a warning, she grabbed her on the shoulder and teleported them to the Best Young Fliers' stadium.
"That was a joke. You were meant to at least chuckle at it. Ha-ha-ha." She said, continuing on walking down a cloud-laden hallway with Bluefyre, both ignoring the change in scenery. Traveling as Nightshade's assistant got Bluefyre used to her unnatural teleportation ability.
"Sorry ma'am. You just seem so... Serious, all of a sudden." Bluefyre said. "Didn't want to risk another two months."
"Understandable, officer." Nightshade sighed.
Bluefyre raised an eyebrow. "You okay ma'am?"
"Yeah." Nightshade said, contradicting everything she's done so far. "Just don't feel that good about the intercepted letter."
"It's a trap, and we both know it." Bluefyre said.
"And yet we're walking straight into it." Nightshade said, shoving open a double door.
"Yeah, but it's like walking onto a bear trap with armored boots and priers. And a blowtorch." Bluefyre noted, and followed. After all, they were throwing everything they had at this one potential assassination.
"Without knowing how strong or big the bear trap is." Nightshade retaliated. "Maybe it even has lasers, or something."
"Now that's just stupi- I mean-" Bluefyre stuttered as she tried to find the right words.
"Lucky save there soldier, you just avoided four months worth of dish-washing duty for the whole of ATLANTA." Nightshade said.
"I try my best."
"And you realize I could've made you do it anyways just for fun."
"That I do."
"Lucky you then." Nightshade said, shoving open a double door. They walked out onto a platform, directly opposite to where the Princess would be when the competition starts. She cast a gaze over the rings of seats, surrounding the obstacle course below. "I want ponies here especially. It's a direct shot to the Princess. And secure all other platforms like this."
"As usual." Bluefyre sighed, jotting down some notes on a clip board.
"And that sniper I asked you to contract?" Nightshade tilted her head just enough so Bluefyre was within her line of sight.
Bluefyre tensed. Not at her superior's terrifying reptilian eyes but at the question. "I have used the military funds to hire her." She said, her words strained.
"Listen, I know you two had a past together. But don't let that get in the way of the job. Ignore her if you have to." Nightshade said, turning back away from the platform and heading the way she came.
"Yeah, we have a past alright." Bluefyre muttered. It was back in military academy, when she mysteriously disappeared- only to be the ambusher of Bluefyre's entire squad of guards who were escorting a convoy later on. They all went to hospital with serious injuries- close enough to death to mentally scar them and with their mission failed. Bluefyre included.
"I don't like her much either. She already cost the military a few thousand dollars. But she's the best and she knows it. We know it." Nightshade sighed, walking down the hallway they had come. "How much pay again?"
"Not much, since there wasn't the promise of a kill. It was only a threat after all, so she only asked for five hundred bits. But once targets start appearing, each target killed will be an extra hundred- every target wanted captured an extra two hundred." Bluefyre said.
"Good enough. Hopefully we don't get any double-crossing. I'll keep an eye on her in case she tries anything funny." Nightshade said, a dark expression flashing across her face as her hoof clearly made an unconscious twitching movement to the rows of throwing knives in the pouches on her belt.
*
"When I said 'don't let me hear it', I really didn't mean get back to whatever the hell you were doing." Nightshade said sternly, Bluefyre snickering and trying to cover it behind her as they stood at the open doorway.
Blaze and Halcyon were frozen in place the moment Nightshade had entered, like deer who had been spotlighted. The only way to describe the situation was that Halcyon was riding Blaze, and in a much explicit manner- but thank Celestia they weren't actually doing it- yet.
"Piece of advice- get a room that has a functioning lock." Bluefyre said, noticing the door which didn't have any sort of locking mechanism whatsoever. It was held in place by a spring device which kept the door closed.
"Boy, I sure hope the Princess never catches you two." Nightshade face-hoofed, turning away as Halcyon got off Blaze, both of their faces red as the reddest AppleSoft all of Equestria and giving off sheepish expressions. "I just came to warn you two the Princesses have departed Canterlot. It is advised you be stationed at the welcoming party." She checked her watch. "The convoy should arrive in about ten minutes, so you don't have long to finish off." That made the two blush even harder.
Nightshade turned to leave, but had to drop in one last sentence before doing so.
"Also if you're into the sort of stuff, there are chains in the maintenance shed."
"Chai...? Oh. OH." Halcyon looked away, covering her face while Blaze stood awkwardly to one side as Nightshade and Bluefyre walked away. They could swear they heard the two laughing their heads off once they were out of sight, which didn't make matters any better.
*
At least the embarrassment wasn't brought up again as the stadium started filling up with ponies, Blaze and Halcyon stationed at the entrance by the road where the Princess would be arriving. They had their usual royal guard faces on, completely ignoring the fillies and colts walking by them as their teachers led them into the stadium. No matter what, they had to keep a straight face; and not even blush at that. They're just hoping Nightshade or Bluefyre(or both) don't come back to joke about... Intimate things.
They had been equipped with much more modern weapons. Standard issue pistols were strapped to their belts, in their fore hooves and neatly tucked to one side were long assault carbines with crafted wooden handles to give them a more traditional look. In reality it was just a high power carbine. Of course they were issued with melee weapons, their original weapons locked away. Those were for real combat, but these crappy and poorly maintained daggers- these were just for show. And the two couldn't help but think that the projectile weapons were too, especially the carbines.
"Blaze and Halcyon." A light blue mare with a modern looking dark mane stood to one side, letting the line behind her pass as her eyes darted between the two guards.
Blaze and Halcyon were surprised at the direct mentioning of their names. They didn't even know who this mare was! So how did she know them?
They decided to keep standing still until she could reveal more about herself, or go away.
Halcyon had a split second to analyze the mare. While she did seem to have a short mane front on, her hair drifted to shoulder length behind her and around her sides. Still cleanly cut, and quite civilized too; Halcyon noted. She was wearing some sort of white suit, and through the relatively thin fabric Halcyon swore she could see traces of armor underneath. But she later concluded it was due to the folds of the odd fabric. The suit also covered her cutie mark.
She had dog tags chained to her neck though.
"State your business..." Blaze stepped forward, halting the stranger. He read the dog tags dangling over her chest. "...Snapshot."
"Hey, just a news reporter." Snapshot smirked. "Got my equipment and stuff." She held up a suitcase. This one was certainly suspicious, provoking stationary guards.
Halcyon eyed her for a second, taking into special account the suitcase. She turned and yelled out.
"Hey! Storm! Can ya check this dear little news reporter's suitcase? Just give it a quick eye-through. I gotta receive the Princess."
"Copy, royal bodyguard." A royal guard sighed, trotting over and saying the last two words in a sarcastic manner.
"That's MISS royal bodyguard to you." Halcyon whinnied, head held high as Snapshot went to hand the suitcase to Storm.
Storm gave it a quick check. Just a disassembled camera, some pad, and pens. He closed the case and gave it back to Snapshot, nodding to Halcyon and Blaze who stepped aside and made a little more room for the earth pony.
"See ya then. Stand tall, or else it ain't gonna look good on the front covers." Snapshot waved a hoof as she walked past, grinning.
"Odd." Halcyon muttered under her breath. Still doesn't explain how she knew their names- but that was minor right now, as they could spot the Princess's convoy in the distance.
Per procedure, she and Blaze marched forward and stood solemnly at the crossroad, waiting for the cars to turn the corner; their magic energy powered engines slowing in near silence as they approached.
Then the armored SUVs came to a complete halt, their golden and white paint jobs gleaming under the midday sun. Thank goodness cooling was one of Rarity's focuses for the bodyguards' armor, or else they'd be cooking inside the metal shells.
By now everyone had already gone inside the stadium, the entire place bustling with activity. They could hear it from out here quite clearly, and there was no one on the streets but the royal guards standing watch in their golden armor.
"Glad to see you finally making it, Princess." Blaze gave a light bow, opening the SUV's side door while Halcyon took the other.
"Oh, spare the formalities you two." Celestia let a bit of her tongue show as she looked around. "Nopony's watching."
Halcyon and Blaze gave each other raised eyebrows, but said nothing.
"Sister, you could've at least spared the glowering heat for us ponies. Perhaps a bit of a less radiating and intense sunshine would be nice." Luna said, a black cap on her head with some sort of games logo woven onto it. Green letters 'MW3' were scrawled across the bottom of the icon.
"It's for the cameras. Lense flare~~" Celestia sang. "And take that cap off."
"Not until you lower the sunshine and heat levels."
"Why don't you ask head of weather control?"
"Because you're BIGGER than the head of weather control." Luna growled, Blaze and Halcyon giving each other shrugs as they fell in behind. They heard the convoy drive away behind them as they entered the stadium.
*
The usual proceeded. The Princesses' welcoming ceremony, with Blaze and Halcyon standing guard either side(Blaze taking Celestia's right while Halcyon took Luna's left) of the two royals. Admittedly, Celestia's decision to turn up the sun's brightness levels was taking a slight toll on the two bodyguards. They had to be on high alert with the threats issued the other week, and the heat wasn't helping a single bit. And neither was their code to stand absolutely still, unless to inspect suspicious elements. Their eyes were constantly darting from reflections to camera flashes, on watch for any sign of a reflection that might have come off a scope.
Then the bullet came zipping across the stadium, completely out of nowhere.
All the two guards heard was a loud crack as the bullet impacted a mere centimeter above Celestia's forehead and hit her crown. It came flying off, the bullet bouncing elsewhere off the magically enhanced crown without so much as leaving a scratch.
Then the loud bang followed up with the super sonic bullet, Blaze and Halcyon only having a split second to tackle the two princesses to hide behind the balcony edge.
"SNIPER!!" Blaze yelled out the obvious, the royal guards all around him running in all directions and arranging extraction for the royals.
"Was that our sniper!?" Halcyon yelled out, covering Princess Luna's head as she ducked down behind cover. Another bullet hit their cover, sending a small cascade of debris raining down on them.
"Not the one we hired." A voice said after a bright flash and pop as Nightshade teleported to the stand. "Princess! Are you alright?"
"I am fine..." Celestia said, looking a bit shaken. If that bullet had been aimed just a little lower...
Halcyon noticed something about Nightshade... Her voice sounded a little off. And was she just a little bit taller than she usually was? Or was it due to the boots... But did she look... Older? Perhaps the barest hints of grey streaks in her mane were just an illusion caused by the sun...
"That's all I needed to hear. You two! Go get that bloody sniper. I've got the Princesses covered." Nightshade growled, waving the two ponies on.
It was a highly objectionable order, as Blaze and Halcyon were meant to guard the Princesses. But an order none the less, and even less questions asked when the Princesses agreed.
"Go on you two. We'll be fine." Luna nodded.
Blaze and Halcyon looked at each other, then nodded and swiftly moved off.
The stadium was filled to the brim with chaos now. Ponies were screaming, fleeing the other side of the stadium and away from the gun shots.
"I didn't expect that to work." Nightshade said, then with a bright flash a seemingly younger version of herself teleported to the scene.
"But you've seen it work." The younger Nightshade said. "Also, the sniper's dead meat. Our sniper spotted him before I did, heh. Starting to like her."
"I also remember myself saying this." The older nodded. "Commence the decoy." She then spoke into a mic in her ear.
"If we may continue." The younger gestured for the two princesses to leave out the back of the stadium.
"Good work everypony. That was still quite a scare for me though." Celestia laughed, trotting towards the waiting SUVs as the older Nightshade teleported away.
So far, all had gone according to plan.
Author's Note
No this isn't going to turn into a clop fic.
