The Night Guard

by Petrichor

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Main 6, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Romance
Length: 12378

Who protects the Elements of Harmony while they sleep?

The Mane Six--the spirits of the Elements of Harmony--have saved the world on numerous occasions. To this day, they still protect their country and the Princesses from any threats. Who then, protects the Mane Six?

This is my first attempt at Second Person POV. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Friend-shipping is the main theme to this story, with a side of shipping later (I am incapable of writing a story that doesn't involve shipping. Terrible, I know).

Published 2012-10-15 08:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-02-08 23:20:49 UTC

The Power of Friendship

It was just another typical evening as you did your nightly routine. From Sugarcube Corner to the edge of the Everfree Forest, you made sure that there were no threats while the inhabitants of Ponyville slept. Being a Pegasus made your job easier since you had a bird’s eye view of the entire landscape, and thanks to your dark blue mane and faded blue coat, it was a bit easier to fly incognito. To this day, you still had no idea why Celestia and Luna moved you to the graveyard shift. It would have made more sense if one of Luna’s night guards did your job, but you didn’t complain. After all, the graveyard shift paid double the amount the day shift did. Not many ponies wanted to work graveyard, which is why it paid so much. You also got 20000 bits extra per year since your particular position was “high priority.”

After patrolling over Ponyville, you landed in the heart of the town to check specific areas that you couldn’t quite see in the sky, usually sketchy places like alleyways. Despite showing no sign of emotion externally, deep down you felt a bit nervous every time you came to work. Whether you were flying or walking on the ground, you were always being paranoid of an ambush. If it were to ever happen, you couldn’t call for backup. You were the only pony that patrolled Ponyville, and more importantly, the homes of the Elements of Harmony. They were most vulnerable when they slept, which is why your job was high priority. They didn’t realize it, but they would get some really strange guests every so often.

Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, was the local librarian of the town. She was the “smart” pony who often spent her free time studying magic and friendship. Unfortunately, she had a pesky unicorn by the name of “The Great and Powerful Trixie” come by her tree house a few times in the middle of the night. At first you didn’t think anything of it, until you caught her trying to break into Twilight’s tree home. You took her into custody and sent her to Canterlot for the Princesses to take care of her. A few weeks later, you found Trixie again trying to pull the same stunt. Either she was really stupid, or really determined. It wasn’t until later that Princess Luna informed you that Trixie was trying to sabotage Twilight by rubbing Poison Joke on her horn. Apparently, Trixie bragged about her magical abilities and Twilight showed her up.

Rarity, the Element of Generosity, was often visited by Diamond Dogs. They weren’t very clever, but you could never catch them. Right when you bust them, they always seem to dig underground and escape. If they really wanted to get to Rarity, they could have just dug underground straight to Rarity. But like you told yourself before, they aren’t very clever. She was the fashion diva of Ponyville and used gems in most of her works, which is probably why the Diamond Dogs pestered around her boutique so often.

Applejack, the Element of Honesty, was very problematic for you. Word on the street is that she is a very hard working pony. With a huge Apple Orchard, you could see why she was very hard working. However, every so often, ponies would come and try to steal apples off of their land. It was particularly a hard place to scout, since they had a ginormous orchard and there were plenty of places to hide. Fortunately, there was only one way out of Sweet Apple Acres, lest they take their chances in the Everfree. If it wasn’t the burglars, it was the pests. It wasn’t in your job description to be a pest exterminator, but you took it upon yourself to help the Apple family. After all, they did make the best tasting apples in Equestria.

One place you didn’t scout very often was Fluttershy’s Cottage. She held the Element of Kindness and had many animal friends. Rumor has it that she can communicate with animals on a different level than the rest of the ponies in Equestria. That would explain the reason why there were so many animals that surrounded her cottage, but this was the reason why you didn’t patrol the area as often as the others. If an intruder would come to her cottage, most of the animals would freak out so in a way, it would be like a natural security alarm.

Pinkie Pie was famed for her Laughter and her wild parties. She lived at Sugarcube Corner, which was near the center of the town. It wasn’t a place you scouted much either. Pinkie Pie was friends with everypony in town and everybody loved her. You heard that she was very eccentric, but meant well.

The last Element of Harmony belonged to the self-proclaimed fastest flier in Equestria, Rainbow Dash. She possessed the Element of Loyalty. The rumors you heard about her varied and depended on who you talked to. At one end of the spectrum, you heard that she was competitive and athletic while at the other end you heard that she was a freak of nature. You had also heard that she tended to like mares. Her cloud house was outside city limits, but you still had to scout the area regardless. Every so often a griffon by the name of Gilda would fly circles around Dash’s house. Unfortunately for you, you had to confront the griffon, which only led to an argument and eventually to a fight. You managed to send her packing, but not without a few battle scars. This is why you were afraid to patrol alone. You always feared that griffon would come back with a few of her friends. Handling her one-on-one was tough enough on you already. To your relief, she hasn’t returned yet.

Despite knowing about the six mares, you never had the opportunity to personally meet them. Heck, you only knew what they looked like because of the pictures Princess Celestia had shown you. Never once did you see them walk around Ponyville or see them while they worked. Thanks to your Graveyard shift, your circadian rhythm was different from most ponies. You worked from 10pm to 6am every day, weekends included. You slept as soon as your shift ended and woke up around 5pm. By the time you head into town, the six mares would be off work spending time together, or going on adventures. It didn’t bother you, though. Your work and sleep schedule had kept you busy enough and despite the lack of a social life, you were very contempt.

You inhaled deeply as you set your eyes on the clock tower, which read 5:10am. Your shift was coming to an end and it was time to fill out paperwork and send it to Princess Celestia. You took to the sky and landed at your house shortly after. It didn’t take very long considering the fact that your house was located in town. After shutting the door, you headed toward your desk and lit a candle. You reached in one of your drawers and pulled out a copy of the paperwork you needed to fill in.

It was your job to fill out your name, date, shift, shift position, location, and signature among other things. The most important part of your paperwork was writing a detailed report of your shift. That included what you were doing, incidences you encountered, the places you patrolled, list any arrests, list any suspicious activity, and so on. Luckily for you, most nights were uneventful so it made it easier to fill out your paperwork. Tonight was no exception.

After finishing your paperwork, you placed it in an envelope and sealed it with the “Royal Seal.” You made your way outside and found Derpy, the local mailmare, by your mailbox.

“Good morning Derpy,” you greeted. “A bit early today, I see.”

She looked at you with her eyes crossed and smiled. “Hi Mr. Guard! Eeyup, it’s a slow morning since its Saturday.”

You facehooved and made a mental note on keeping track of your days. You looked back at Derpy to try and correct your error. “Yah, it was a slow night for me too. Here’s the paperwork for the Princess, like always.”

You handed her the envelope and she placed it in her saddle bag. Derpy was the only pony you talked to in town, aside from business. It became a habit for you and her to meet every morning outside your house to give her your paperwork. Eventually, casual conversations ensued and before you knew it, she considered you her friend. You didn’t mind at all. Though she did have her blond moments, she was a relatively intelligent pony. She knew your name, but she always insisted on calling you “Mr. Guard” for some reason or another.

“Thanks Mr. Guard.” She tilted her head and smiled. Even though her eyes were cross-sided, you knew she was looking at you. It was one thing you had grown accustomed to. You thanked her back and gave her a confidence boost telling her that she was doing a great job with the mail, even though sometimes she would mess up. You truly meant it too. Not many ponies tell others how they appreciated their services nowadays.

Before you were able to break the conversation and get some much needed sleep, Derpy asked you the most bewildering question. “Hey Mr. Guard, somepony wants to know who lives here. I know I’m not supposed to give any names or addresses out to other ponies, but she really wants to know. Is that okay?”

You didn’t know how to respond to this question. Most ponies found you boring enough to the point that they act as though you didn’t exist. It felt strange that somepony has taken an interest in you. You stuttered a couple of times before managing to form any words. “Who?” was all you could ask?

“Her name is Pinkie Pie! She works at Sugarcube Corner. She asked me if there was somepony that lived here since she saw me delivering mail one day, but she never saw anypony enter or leave this house. I told her I couldn’t give out any information or else I would get in a lot of trouble. So instead, she asked me if I could ask you if she could know if you live here.”

Pinkie Pie, one of the ponies you had protected for almost a year now wanted to know about you. Under normal circumstances you would have said no, but you knew about the pony. She was an element holder, a celebrity in a sense. If that was the case, you didn’t have any problem with that. “Sure, why not? Or more officially,” you began in a royal manner, “I hereby decree that Derpy Hooves, the local mailmare, has my permission to give my name and address to Pinkie Pie, the one who possess the Element of Laughter!” You were acting like a buffoon, but she didn’t care. It did illicit a giggle from her, after all.

After your little dramatic declaration, you wished Derpy a pleasant day while she wished you a ‘good night.’ After heading back in your house, you made your way to your bed. You didn’t give any thought about Pinkie Pie; you were just so tired. Before laying your head down, you looked at your alarm clock, which registered 6:25am.

You groaned as you smashed your alarm clock. It was the third one this month. Unlike most ponies, you were slow to get up and any annoying sound that awoke you from your slumber suffered from your hoof of doom. That’s what you called it at least. After assessing of what you just did, you forced yourself out of bed. It looks like I have to start my errands early, you thought. You lazily made your way to the bathroom and began your morning routines: use the restroom, take a hot steaming shower, dry yourself, and most importantly, brush your teeth. You always had an obsession to keep your mouth clean, something that the local dentist who goes by the name Colgate, would be proud of. It’s not that you were obsessed with hygiene; you just wanted to make sure everypony didn’t suffer the wrath of your morning breath and body odor. This town was 80% female after all.

After completing your ‘morning ritual,’ you headed to your front door and made sure you had everything. As you opened the door, you were startled by a pink pony with a ‘poofy’ mane. She didn’t jump back when you opened the door; rather she looked at you with curiosity with her deep blue eyes. After composing yourself, you realized your guest was none other than Pinkie Pie. You had never seen her before, so you extended your hoof to politely introduce yourself.

“Good afternoon, my name is-”

Before you could tell her your name, you were interrupted from an over-exaggerated gasp coming from the pink pony, and before you knew it, she was gone.

“Well…what an interesting way to start off my day,” you mumbled. She definitely lived up to her rumors about her being eccentric. You shook your head out of the trance she left you in and walked to the market place.

The market place was filled with life. Ponies of different colors marched from tent to tent, browsing the many items this place had to offer. None of the ponies you encountered knew who you were and vice versa. That was a side effect of being the local hermit, so to speak. Now that you thought about it, there was some irony involved in that you excluded yourself from the community, yet you lived near the center of a small town.

Ever since you were a colt, you had always excluded yourself from society. It’s not that you hated social interaction; no it was the complete opposite. As much as you loved to communicate, you were afraid of what others thought of you. Even if it was a complete stranger, you were always sensitive to being criticized. It showed the most when you found out a group of your childhood friends were conversing about you. They concluded that, although you were a decent colt, you were selfish and too self-centered. When you found out, you lashed out in anger telling them that it was they who had to improve their attitude. Any other pony would have probably shrugged it off, but this stuck to your head like horseshoes stuck to your hooves. This didn’t end your friendship with them, however. You just slowly drifted apart after graduating Flight School.

Ever since then, you avoided friendship opportunities at all costs. Well, avoid is a strong word. Rather, you didn’t care for friendship and didn’t spend your energy looking for it. You had to act a certain way to be a functional member of society, yet not overly-so to become everypony’s friend. The best example you could think of is when you joined the Royal Guard. You didn’t stray too far to be considered an outcast, but didn’t get too close to be considered a friend to any of your peers. That was your motto in the Royal Guard academy.

One thing you noticed about yourself is that if you befriended anypony, you would tend to act like a grade-A goofball. Not the class clown type of goofball, but the socially awkward type of goofball. You displayed that so well in front of Derpy this morning, but it kind of made you happy because she didn’t care. If you acted like that in front of your former friends or other guards, they would probably think you were a bit challenged. It was only another reason why to avoid other ponies.

You snapped yourself out of your thoughts. Apparently, you were on autopilot as you checked your saddle bag. You had completed all of your errands, including buying a new alarm clock. You were amazed on how your body could multitask. You looked up to the sky to find the position of the sun. It looked to be about 5:30pm. You had four and a half hours to yourself before heading out to work, but before you headed home you noticed that the market place was dead. Even the vendors had packed up and left. You shrugged it off and came to the conclusion that you were lost in your thoughts and didn’t pay attention.

As you made your way back to your house, you noticed that nopony was walking around town. At this hour, ponies usually wandered around, but now it looked like a ghost town. Derpy once told you the town would only get like this when Pinkie Pie throws parties. You facehooved for the second time today as you just thought of the realization. That was the only reason why the town was dead. Heh, must be an off-day for my brain, you chuckled.

Every time Pinkie threw one of her parties, you couldn’t help but feel a bit sad that you weren’t invited. Everypony else was having a good time, while you just sat there waiting for your shift to start. Your sadness didn’t linger when you reminded yourself that it wasn’t her fault you weren’t invited. She didn’t even know of your existence until today, so it was perfectly understandable. Well, I hope everypony has a wonderful time, you smiled to yourself. You meant every word.

Once you made it to your house, you opened and shut the front door quickly and sighed. It was dark in your house and you forgot to switch on the lights before shutting the door. After mumbling a few curses to yourself about how stupid your brain was today, you were finally able to find the light switch and flicked it on.

You made your way to the kitchen and set your saddlebag down on the table. You happily hummed ‘My Little Pony’ while you emptied the contents of your saddlebag. There was nothing special in there; just some basic necessities and a few groceries. After putting everything away, you grabbed your new alarm clock and placed it beside your bed. You made a mental note not to smash anymore alarm clocks.

After adjusting the settings on the new device, you noticed that it was around 7:30pm. Time was flying by despite the lack of any excitement. Your stomach growled indicating the lack of nourishment your body hasn’t received. You sighed inwardly as you made your way to the kitchen to grab a bite. Tonight, you decided to eat a simple salad with some tea. “Might as well eat something before work,” you chuckled.

After eating and lounging around your house, it was time to clock in. 10:00pm rolled around sooner than you expected. It was relatively easy to clock in. All you had to do was start patrolling. Before leaving your house, you were quick to make sure all of the lights in the house were off and all of the front door was locked. Before taking flight into the night sky, you made sure nopony was in sight. There was only one reason why you did this: you didn’t have a cutie mark. The only reason nopony knew about that was because you had a large wingspan. When folded up on your sides, your wings would cover your flanks and then some. Every night, you thanked Celestia that you were blessed to have colossal wings. Once you were certain a soul wasn’t in sight, you took off into the night sky.

The first three hours of your shift were uneventful. The only thing that was different was Sugarcube Corner. The lights were still on and laughter could be heard from within the building indicating Pinkie’s party was still going on. You shrugged as you flew by. If the Elements were still there, then you would come back later to check on them. After patrolling Ponyville through the air, you decided to check on Rainbow Dash’s cloud house. It was part of your job after all.

Upon reaching her cloud house, you froze in place as you saw Gilda circling the cloud house once again. Before confronting her, you took the time to check your surroundings. The last thing you wanted to happen to you was an ambush. You checked the skies, the clouds, the ground around Rainbow’s house, and the trees that occupied said ground. After checking everything, you flew up to Gilda, blocking her path.

”Hey, what gives…oh it’s you,” she said. Her tone gave way that she wasn’t amused. “You come back for another beating?” she threatened.

You shook your head. “Gilda, get out of here before I have you arrested,” you warned.

“Why, I haven’t done anything wrong,” Gilda said sarcastically proclaiming her innocence.

“Your trespassing, Gilda. Even though that isn’t enough to warrant hard time, you assaulted me on duty. You could be sentenced to at least 10 years,” you said. “Plus, your little circling habit is a threat to Rainbow Dash.”

“Go ahead then! Arrest me,” she boldly stated.

You scoffed. You knew that if you arrested Gilda, the Griffon Kingdom would declare war on Equestria. Griffons were known for their violence and you knew the tensions were already high between the two kingdoms. She was calling your bluff.

“Gilda just get out of here,” you coldly repeated.

“Why? Are you Rainbow Dash’s little boy toy?” she mocked.

Her comment made you blush. “W-what? I haven’t even met the mare!” You were trying desperately to maintain your composure. You thought Dash was pretty in her profile photo, but her statement was off by a mile.

“Then why are you so concerned about her?”

“I’m a night guard here in Ponyville. It’s my job to protect her!”

“Hah! Whatev. Oh wait, you’re right. What was I thinking? She may be lame, but she’s way too cool to be involved with someone like you.”

Now she was trying to provoke you to attack her. Unfortunately for her, your self-esteem was at an all-time low, so her taunts weren’t effective on you. Now was your time to try and coax her to leave.

“Listen,” you began, “a war is the last thing that both of us want Gilda. Whatever what happened to you and Dash in the past is irrelevant now. Think of your family and the rest of your griffon friends. There is a high chance that they could be killed in war. Both parties would suffer from the war. I don’t have anything against you or any other griffon. Please just think about the implications.”

Both you and Gilda flapped your wings idly in the air. You gave her a pleading look, while she was giving the death glare. You didn’t take your eyes off her, though. You had to get this message through for your sake and Equestria’s. Moments seemed like hours as you waited for a response. Her next action could decide the fate of the world.

Finally, Gilda broke her gaze, scoffed, and looked away. “Lame! I don’t even know why I’m even speaking to you. You are definitely the lamest pony I’ve met. At least Pinkie Pie wasn’t a party crasher.” After insulting you, she took off into the night. Apples and oranges, you thought.

You exhaled a sigh of relief. At least things didn’t turn out like last time.

You heard the sound of clopping behind you. You turned around and saw Princess Luna clopping her hooves together. She was sitting on a cloud. “Bravo!” she said mentioning your name. “I’m glad you were able to resolve a conflict with words rather than with hooves,” she said to you.

You were stunned. Had she been there the whole time? “Princess Luna, please forgive me! I didn’t know you were here,” you apologized as you landed on a cloud. You bowed to her and stood at attention.

“At ease soldier,” she giggled. You loosened your poise. “I just happened to be in the neighborhood and saw you with a griffon. I must say, you handled that very well. My sister will be pleased to hear about your performance.”

You couldn’t help but smile. Although the Princesses were very kind, it really made you feel special when they complimented you. “Thank you Princess Luna. I was just doing my job, taking Equestria into consideration before acting.”

“And for that you shall be rewarded. How about I give you tonight and tomorrow off? Does that sound fair?”

You were exhilarated to hear that. You hadn’t had a day off in almost a year. “That sounds wonderful Princess Luna. I’ll be glad to take you up on that offer.”

“Very well, I’ll let my sister know, but I must be going now. After all, I’ll be taking your workload for the next two days.”

You bowed to your co-ruler, thanked her, and wished her a safe flight. After taking a deep breath, you headed down to Ponyville. Before heading home, you reminded yourself to check Sugarcube Corner. You were relieved of your duties, but felt the need to check-up on them regardless. As you approached the candy house, you noticed all the lights were off. They must have gone home, or had a sleepover. So long as they were safe, you could relax in the confines of your own home.

After entering your house, you reminded yourself to keep the door open so Luna’s moon could guide you to the light switch. After flipping the switch, you shut the door with your hind legs and sighed.

“SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

To say you were startled was an understatement. You had literally jumped up causing your wings to expand. You immediately noticed your error and snapped your wings shut, causing you to fall to the floor. You hoped nopony saw your blank flank.

After regaining your composure, Pinkie Pie bounced up to you and reiterated what the rest of the ponies had yelled. “Were you surprised? Were you, were you, huh, huh, huh?” Her infectious smile was getting to you and the fact that she had thrown a surprise party for you was the nicest thing anypony had done for you. Before you knew it, you were smiling just as wide as her and nodding your head up and down.

“Yay! I knew you would like it! When I noticed Derpy delivering mail to this house, I had to know if somepony lived here and when she told me that you lived here and I didn’t know you it made me so sad that I never saw you before. I would have thrown a surprise party for you sooner, but I didn’t know you were new here and that made me so sad, so I was like Hey, I’ll throw a late night welcoming party for you. And now that you have a surprise party you’re going to have lots and lots of friends!”

Your smile faded. Even though the surprise party did what it intended, hearing the word ‘friends’ didn’t sound appealing to you. You couldn’t let Pinkie know that, though. You were barely able to mutter, “That sounds nice.”

Your attitude didn’t seem to faze her. Instead, she grabbed your hoof and started introducing you to everypony. You shook hooves with everypony that somehow managed to fit in your two story house and exchanged names. Cloudchaser, Thunderlane, Lyra, Bon Bon, Berry Punch, Carrot Top, and Roseluck were only a few of some hundred that you could remember. Pinkie Pie then took you to her best friends, the one’s you have known throughout your stay in Ponyville.

“…and these are my bestest friends in the whole wide world!” she concluded. If a picture could say a thousand words, then reality was a novel. You could feel the vibe each of these ponies gave off.

The first mare to introduce herself was Twilight. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle,” said the lavender unicorn. “I can’t believe we haven’t met you. New ponies usually don’t slip under Pinkie’s radar,” she observed. “Do you commute to work? I hypothesized that you did. It would only make sense, since we haven’t seen you around as much.”

“Nah, I’m a night guard,” you responded. “I stay up all night and sleep all day. I work every day, weekends included.”

“Well Ah’ll be…we got ourselves a hard working pony,” said Applejack. The country mare trotted up and offered a hand shake. You accepted and shook vigorously. You had heard of Applejack’s strength from Derpy, so you made sure to give Applejack a stallion’s shake. “Whew-wee, not a bad shake for a Pegasus. You must work out a lot. The name’s Applejack.”

“Yeah, I kind of have to since I’m a night guard. I can’t get overpowered, otherwise I’d be useless,” you responded.

“Whoa! Check out those wings,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. The first thing you noticed about her was her voice. It was scratchy. Not the hooves on the chalkboard kind of scratchy, but the cute kind of scratchy. The second thing you noticed was her tomboyish attitude. You turned to her and saw her eyes fixed upon your closed wings. “They have to be at least as huge as Celestia’s! I haven’t seen a stallion with that size of wings ever!”

“Yeah, they are pretty big. Thanks,” you replied.

She turned her gaze to you and waited. You were starting to feel uncomfortable with her staring at you like that. “What?”

“Well don’t just stand there, show us your wings and cutie mark!”

You were smarter than this. You should have seen this coming. It hadn’t occurred to you to come up with an excuse or lie to hide what wasn’t under those massive wings. In fact, you never had to come up with a lie, since you lacked a social life. The only ponies that ever knew about your blank flank were your peers at the Royal Guard Academy. You couldn’t really hide it from them, but thanked Celestia they were adults about it. Sure, you got the occasional “haven’t reached puberty” joke, but it was all in good fun. Now that Rainbow Dash called you out, the rest of the mares were eager to see that special talent of yours. You weren’t sure how they would react to your lack of a special talent, but you sure weren’t going to show the whole town.

“Uh, sorry. I can’t show you,” you simply responded. You dipped your head and blushed to express your embarrassment. “It’s really complicated.”

“Whatever do you mean, darling?” Rarity stepped in. By the sound of her voice, you could tell she had that Canterlot kind of vibe. “A cutie mark is part of who you are and you shouldn't be ashamed of that.”

“Sorry, I’m just not comfortable,” you politely said. “By the way, what was your name?” Hopefully asking a question of your own could switch the direction of the conversation. Luckily, it worked.

“Oh, pardon my manners. My name is Rarity. It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr.-” You told her your name. “Ah, what an interesting name. By the way, this here is Rainbow Dash. Please forgive my friend’s rude behavior for not introducing herself,” she said pointing towards the cyan Pegasus.

Apparently the Pegasus didn't like her flaws to be pointed out. “Well excuse me your highness, at least I don’t demand overly-proper manners every second,” Dash retorted. You couldn't help but stifle a chuckle. How were they friends if they were so different?

After a little exchange between Rainbow and Rarity about manners, your gaze landed on Fluttershy, who was desperately trying not to be noticed. You extended your hoof in her direction and introduced yourself. She didn’t shake your hoof, but quietly said her name and retreated behind Applejack. The group of friends explained to you that she was shy around others, especially new ponies, but would eventually warm up to you the more you were around her.

After introducing yourself, you excused yourself and went to your room. You shut the door and sat on your bed. You smiled inwardly as you thought about the Elements. For the first time in months, you had gotten to meet the heroines of Equestria. They were a bit odd (especially Pinkie Pie), but you could tell they were some of the nicest ponies you met. You wanted to get to know them more and spend time with them.

No, that wasn’t an option to you. It would end up the same way like with your former friends. They would be embarrassed to be seen in public with you, thanks to your eccentric personality. They would criticize you and make fun of your talentless flank. But the thing that scared you the most was the heartbreak. When you had a falling-out with your high school buds, you were devastated. Sometimes you and your buddies would talk about being friends forever and being there for each other and that made you happy. Unfortunately things never turn out the way you want them to. It was your fault after all. You slowly withdrew from the group, wanting to spend more time with yourself. They were probably right, after all. You were selfish, boring, and lacked any kind of loyalty. The sad part was that after a small time passed, you were happy to be alone, despite missing your buddies. If that was the case, then it was best to continue being the local hermit.

The lights in your room were off as tears began flowing down your cheeks. Thoughts of hopelessness crept in your mind. Everything from feeling useless to being a mistake of nature circled in your head. This was the first time you ever felt loneliness.

A knock came from your door. Before you could answer, Pinkie trotted in and flicked the lights on. “Hey, silly-willy! We’re starting to play Pin the Tail on the Pony and Dash called dibs on being fir-” She stopped mid-sentence and noticed the puffiness in your eyes and the damp fur under them. She gasped and shut the door behind her. “What’s wrong, muffin?”

She came up to where you were sitting on the bed. You definitely didn’t want to be a charity case, so your natural instinct was to look somewhere else and not listen to what she had to say. Before you could tell her to leave you alone for a while, she nuzzled the side of your cheek. This elicited a gasp from you, not expecting her to do that. “What’s got you so down? Did we say anything wrong?” Her voice was soft and empathetic, something you didn’t expect from the party pony. You were still looking away, but anytime somepony tried to comfort you, you would end up crying. You turned to her to see her expression. She was genuinely concerned. You thought about the nuzzle she had given you, the party she threw for you, and the ponies she introduced to you. Now, here she was trying to lift your spirits up.

Tears were beginning to well in your eyes once again. Something was telling you to let friendship in your heart, to let her in your heart. Even your brain—the ‘logical’ part of you—was agreeing with your heart. She wrapped her hooves around you. “I don’t like seeing my friends sad and not smiling, especially at their own party,” she quietly said. “If you ever need anything, I’ll be here to listen.”

You couldn’t take it anymore as you returned her embrace and dug your face into her shoulder and cried. In between sobs, you attempted to open yourself up to her, trying to tell her what had been on your mind since Flight School. You had never opened up to anypony about your mental state. You told her about your past friends, how you spent most of your time alone, your experiences in the Royal Guard Academy, and even your time here in Ponyville. You even told her about not having a cutie mark. You felt relieved that somepony took the time to listen to you; to be there for you when you thought it was only you against the world.

“Listen to me muffin,” she called you muffin again. You would think that Derpy would have called you that. “I don’t care if you don’t have a cutie mark, or how you act around your friends.” You were looking at her eye-to-eye now. She was smiling at you and kept a hoof on your shoulder. “As your new friends, we’ll do everything in our power to keep you smiling and happy.”

You broke the eye contact for a moment. Your sobbing stopped. You were beginning to take control of your emotions. “I know you guys will. It’s me that I’m worried about. I don’t want to have to put you guys through this because I’m too selfish to spend time with you guys.”

“Listen, I know you won’t do that. You’re a good stallion. Don’t think like that okay?” You unconsciously nod to her response. “That’s the spirit! Now how about a smile for your most bestest friend Pinkie?”

You couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you Pinkie. Thanks for listening to me. Sorry if I worried you or anything like that.”

“Aw, don’t worry about it. I’m just happy you got that off your chest.”

Before you could utter a response, Applejack busted the door open. “Pinkie, ya’ll need to tell Rainbow to stop cheatin’! She was peeking through her blindfold!”

From across your house you could hear, “No I’m not! I’m just being resourceful!”

You and Pinkie couldn’t help but laugh.

“So what do you say? Shall we go and teach Dash a lesson?” Pinkie asked you.

“Heck yeah! Let’s go!”

Both of you started your way out of the room, but something came to your mind. “Uh, you go on Pinkie, I kind of have to do something really quick.”

“Okie-Dokie-Lokie!”

Applejack had a quizzical look on her face. “Did I miss something?” she asked.

Pinkie giggled. “We’ll tell you later,” she said as she shut the door.

Now that you were alone, you grabbed a piece of paper and quill. You had no idea why you were doing this, but it felt right. You picked up the quill with your right wing and started writing on the blank paper:

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, I have learned the magic of friendship. At first, I thought friendship wasn’t important in everyday life. However, one of the Elements of Harmony—Pinkie Pie—showed me how wonderful it is to have friendship in your heart. True friends will take your feelings into consideration and will be there for you no matter what, even if you tend to act like a goofball sometimes.
I also learned that friendship shouldn’t be taken for granted. Just because your friends are giving 100%, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do the same. Friendship is a privilege, not a right. I’m glad to have a great friend like Pinkie Pie. Hopefully I can learn more from her and her friends.
Your faithful Subject,

The Night Guard

You placed the sheet down and read over it. Satisfied, you wrapped it up and placed the ‘Seal’ on it. Hopefully Derpy won’t lose this. You really wanted the Princess to read it.

The sound of the party was still in full swing. It was your party that a good friend threw for you. It was time you went out and enjoyed it. It was time to learn about the Magic of Friendship.

Unexpected Company

It was a cool summer night as you lazily glided across the sky by the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. The slight breeze that flowed through your mane and coat made you shiver slightly, but not because you were cold. Rather, you enjoyed the breeze because it reminded you of when your mother ran her hoof through your mane while she read you bedtime stories. You couldn’t stay up long enough to hear the end of those stories, but you didn’t mind. It was nights like these that made you breathe a sigh of content.

Your brief moment of nostalgia was ruined as you saw a small indistinct figure below by the Everfree Forest. As you tried to sharpen your senses, the figure mysteriously disappeared from your line of sight. You shook your head and tried to comprehend what you had just witnessed. One moment you see something right below you and the next it literally disappeared right before your eyes. Either your head was playing tricks with you, or you were failing your duty at being a vigilant guard. You weren’t sleep deprived, nor had you gone crazy the last time you checked. Regardless, you stopped and hovered for a moment to look around. Facing away from the Everfree, your eyes met nothing but a plateau of grass. Nopony could have run in an open field without you noticing. You had a bird’s eye view of the whole area after all. Turning your attention to the trees of the Everfree Forest, you noticed that it was far too dense for anypony to enter or exit without making a noise. In fact, the trees were so tightly packed together that you had to wonder how anything could get through them. You took a moment to silence your thoughts and focus on any noise that hinted to the figure you had just seen.

After straining your senses for about a minute, nothing had alerted you. You inhaled deeply and chalked it up to one of those things where you thought you saw something, but in reality never existed at all. It could have just been a unicorn teleporting, but unicorns had a distinct sound and aura. You exhaled and moved on.

After about four hours on duty, you decided to take your lunch break. The night had been long and uneventful thus far. You headed toward the nearest park and found a picnic table to eat. Tonight you were having a double Daffodil sandwich, a side of hay chips, and water to drink. The bright moon gave you the necessary luminescence to see what was in front of you (you thanked Luna under your breath as eating with no light could have ended in a big mess). You picked up your sandwich with your wings, took one look at your sandwich, and chomped down.

“-those wings!”

You stopped chewing. You heard a couple of giggles followed by a hush in a nearby bush. Was your hearing playing tricks on you too? There was only one way to find out. You really hated being interrupted while doing another task (especially eating), but your own safety was at risk. Who in the wide world of Equestria is still up in Ponyville anyways? And why are they spying on you? You got up with annoyance plastered over your face and began walking toward the bush. As you closed in on your target, your annoyance left your body and was replaced by curiosity. In one quick and fluid motion, you pounced on the bush. You flailed wildly within shouting to whoever was in the bush to ‘halt’ and ‘hold still.’

After fighting with yourself and a few twigs, you realized nopony was in the bush except you. You struggled to untangle yourself from the branches and hoped to Celestia that nopony saw that horrendous display of trying to catch somepony, whether it was the perpetrator that you tried to catch or a pony watching from the comfort of their home. After untangling yourself and setting yourself proper, you sighed (you had been doing that a lot, but who could blame you?) and went back to your food. You picked up your sandwich and continued eating, mentally scolding yourself in the process. Where in the wide world of Equestria was it okay to just throw your body at something? You never attack somepony or something first, unless they attack you first. Also, throwing your body at something is highly ineffective and quite dangerous (and makes you look like a foal, to your dismay). We’re supposed to be stoic, not jumpy, you thought. I swear, somepony is following me. That could have been the reason you took action first. Your senses were falling short, either by tricking you or leading you in the wrong direction. For all you knew, the perpetrator was probably hiding in another bush. That’s the last time I take a two day break.

After your midnight snack, you decided it would be best to take to the sky for the rest of the night. Not even twenty minutes had passed until you heard a few more feminine giggles behind you. “What the hay? I’m in the sky,” you muttered. You turned around, but lo and behold you found nothing but a single cloud that was slowly drifting by. You were beginning to feel agitated, which was uncharacteristic for you, but it was warranted considering the fact that somepony was following you. Wait a minute, you thought. You heard a noise behind you, and the only thing remotely close to you was a single cloud. That meant it narrowed it down to a creature that could only walk on clouds and manipulate them. Your thoughts immediately screamed the name Gilda, probably stalking you to see how you worked and moved. Then why would she be giggling? Is she making fun of the way you flew? Was she judging you? You hated nothing more than to be silently judged, especially by somepony who didn’t know your life. As an adolescent colt, you used to work in a coffee shop and brewed certain concoctions, depending on what the customer wanted. It was a mediocre job, and it helped your parents pay the bills, but there was one thing that always bothered you. As you turned away to make caffeinated flavored beverages, you could always feel the customer stare at you. It gave you a burning feeling on your back every time, knowing that he was judging your appearance and your movements. The difference now was that Gilda was probably trying to add insult to injury.

Deciding not to give her the satisfaction of irritating you, you decided to have a little fun. “Hmmm, I’m feeling a bit tired. I think I will rest on this here cloud for a bit!” You said it slow and precise. You glided over to the cloud and rested all four hooves on it. You thought you heard a grunt. Just as planned, you grinned mischievously. You let out a loud yawn, and laid on the cloud, shifting your body weight directly on it. You gently stroked the cloud with your forehoof. “Oh cloud, you so fluffy,” you said lazily. You slowly slipped your hoof inside the cloud, and sure enough you felt fur. You were having way too much fun with this. Hope Gilda likes massages. “And so furry, too.” You continued to stroke the fur, causing the cloud to moan by doing so. “Wow cloud, I didn’t know you made noises,” you chuckled. You hadn’t had this much fun since beating General Mit in a race back at the Academy. As your thoughts began to drift, you accidently hit the wing causing it to poof out of the cloud. Oops. Before you could let out a groan in disgust, you noticed the color of the wings. They were cyan and significantly smaller than that of a griffon.

“What the-”

You opened the cloud to look at its contents. Inside was Rainbow Dash, her face redder than an apple. Even though it wasn’t light out, you could still visibly see her red cheeks. Next to her was Pinkie Pie, which bewildered you.

“Why are you two hiding together in a cloud?” you asked them (that’s what she said).

Rainbow Dash bucked you off the cloud causing you to fall, but before any significant altitude was lost you flared your wings and pumped them. You returned to the cloud where the now standing Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were.

“Why am I hiding in a cloud? How ‘bout why you were fondling me, huh?” the irate pegasus reminded.

You were so surprised about your new guests that you forgot that you were stroking your new friend’s back and touched her wing. That only happens in pegasi mating practices. This could get awkward fast. Luckily, you deflected by rephrasing the same question you asked.

“Well you wouldn’t have been fondled if you weren’t stalking me all night. Why are you even up in the first place?” You mirrored Dash’s expression and scowled.

“Well Pinkie and I were going to see why we haven’t seen our new friend in all week and why we haven’t seen you leave your house in the evenings. So we decided to wait for you to leave your house. I didn’t know I was going to be sexually harassed.”

Ever since the party, you hadn’t seen your friends all that week because of the awkward schedule you had in relation to theirs.

“Well maybe you could have just asked instead of following!” you retorted.

“Well maybe you could have let us known that you knew we were here.” Was this mare serious?

“I did back at the park! I jumped in and said halt! That would be a clue.”

It was clear that she wasn’t backing down and neither were you. You didn’t mind losing an argument, but Dash’s attitude acted like a catalyst that somehow wanted to make you win this one.

Rainbow Dash was about to counter your argument, but was instead interrupted by Pinkie. “Oooohhhh, I remember that! You jumped in that bush and then started beating it up!” She laughed that high pitched laugh that you found adorable. “Boy muffin, you sure are funny!”

Although Dash was trying to stay in the heat of the argument, it was all lost when Pinkie brought back the recent memory. Unable to control her need to laugh, Dash started along with Pinkie.

“Heh, yeah. I’d never thought I’d see that from ‘muffin’ over here,” she giggled pointing at you. She also picked up the name Pinkie called you. “Boy, first Pinkie and now me. I know were drop-dead gorgeous, but I don’t think you can handle the both of us,” she teased, much to your embarrassment.

Trying to avoid any awkward situations, you turned to Pinkie. “So how in the world are you up here in the clouds?” you ask.

“That’s easy! I told Twilight I wanted to spend the night at Dashie’s house, but I couldn’t walk on clouds. So I asked Twilight to do the cloud walking spell for me and she did it and now I’m like Dashie and since I’m like Dashie I can now talk to you too and stuff. It’s so awesome! Dashie showed me some of the greatest sights from the sky and boy was it beautiful!”

“Oh, makes sense,” you said as your brain was trying to catch up on what she said. You were glad that Pinkie was here. She dug you out of a hole with Rainbow Dash, intentionally or not.
“So, what is it that you exactly do as a ‘night guard?’ Rainbow asked. You proceeded to tell them about all of your duties including patrolling over Ponyville and keeping the place safe, but avoided telling them why you were actually stationed out here. Being as broad as you could, you told them that most nights were uneventful save for a few adrenaline filled situations.

“Sounds kind of boring to me,” the brash pegasus responded. “Whatever floats your boat.”

You rolled your eyes. You couldn’t tell if she wasn’t amused, or if she was hiding her amusement. “Well as much as I’d like to stay and chit-chat, I have to get back to work.”

“Not so fast!” the brash pegasus ordered. What did she want now? Couldn’t she tell that you weren’t exactly in the mood to talk, especially after fondling her? She seemed to have forgotten about the recent events, though. Still, you didn’t want to make anything more awkward. “We haven’t seen you all week. We’re sticking to your side until the end of your shift.”

You opened your mouth to retort, but you realized Dash’s boisterous attitude wouldn’t take no for an answer. Trying to argue with her wouldn’t make a difference, other than just waste time. Besides, it could be a nice change from all of the lonely nights you had at work. “Fine, you can come, but on one condition.”

“Name it!”

“Try not to intervene with my work. If I get into a fight with somepony, just stay back and let me handle the sticky situation.”

This stifled a groan of dissatisfaction from the pegasus. She obviously wanted in on the action, but she’s still a civilian (regardless if she’s an Element of Harmony). Your primary objective was to protect her and her friends, after all. Meanwhile, the strangely quiet Pinkie Pie smiled widely, nodded her head and Pinkie Promised, gesturing with her hooves. Why was she so quiet? You had barely spent any time with her, but you knew all too well about her hyper antics. Unfortunately, you didn’t have all night to ponder. You made a mental note to ask her later.

“Alright,” you said. “Let’s get going.”

For the rest of the night, Pinkie and Dash stayed up with you keeping you company while you worked. Unfortunately, the laughs you shared didn’t exactly keep a low profile, but thankfully there wasn’t any trouble. At the end of your shift, you bid your buddies farewell and promised to spend more time with them. With your body spent, you dragged yourself to bed and dreamt of pink and rainbows.

Author's Note

Sorry for not updating. Life seems to interrupt my plans to write. Unfortunately due to all of these interruptions, I couldn't deliver a quality chapter (in my opinion). Hopefully this will hold you over till the next chapter. Thank you once again for your support.

Revelations

You awoke to the sun hitting your face. It was as if Celestia herself wanted you to wake up as the sun peaked over the horizon and shined through a perfectly placed window. You groaned to yourself and pulled a blanket over your head to shield yourself from the unwanted rays. When that didn’t help, you pulled a pillow over the blanket that was over your head. Unfortunately, you couldn’t breathe. Sighing in defeat, you decided that the only way to rid yourself of the unwanted light was to close the curtains. You began to get up, but felt the presence of somepony next to you.

“Wait, what?”

You shook your head out of your sleepy state to think clearly. You definitely weren’t in your room or your house. You were in the house of Twilight Sparkle. Instead of somepony, there were multiple ponies that circled around you in the abnormally large bed Twilight had. The whole gang was here: Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy.

What the heck happened last night? Wait…

Last night…that wasn’t right. You did go to work last night, didn’t you? You searched deep within your memory bank to try and find a suitable explanation of last night’s events and how you ended up in Twilight Sparkle’s abode with all of her friends. When nothing came up, you started to freak out a little. You lay back down and tried to calm yourself. If you skipped work, you would never hear the end of it from the Royal Sisters. They trusted you and skipping out on work for whatever reason was like a slap in the face. They always had your back you repay them like this?

In the midst of your panicked state, you failed to realize one of the girls beginning to stir next to you. It wasn’t until you felt a warm sensation on your chest. Looking down, you saw Rainbow Dash snuggling close to you. She probably felt you move because she tilted her head up to you, filling your vision with her beautiful magenta eyes.

“Morning,” she said in a silent and calm voice that could rival Fluttershy’s. Her gentle voice had calmed your chaotic mind and you could feel the oxytocin release in your brain by staring into those eyes. It felt a bit alien to you how she was acting right now. It was definitely a luxury to not see her so…brash, but it was a refreshing sight. You hoped you could see more of this side of Dash in the future.

“Morning,” you responded in the same way she did.

She yawned a bit in response. “Sorry if I snored. Applejack told me I snored like a horse.”
You chuckled a bit. “Don’t worry Dash. I don’t remember anything that happened last night. Speaking of which, can you fill me in?”

“Hehe, well long story short, Pinkie decided to throw a party for the seven of us and Applejack brought over some of her signature cider.”

This caused you to blush slightly. You were never one to drink, especially if mares were around. It’s not because you didn’t trust yourself around them; you just didn’t want to act like a fool and not remember what happened the night before.

“So what’s the damage?” you asked.

“Well, everything was pretty fine. You were definitely the life of the party.” She snuggled a bit closer to you.

“I didn’t do anything embarrassing did I?”

She giggled. “If you count dancing on top of Twilight’s coffee table and then knocking half the books off the shelves of the library, then yeah.” You felt all of your blood rush to your face, causing you to glow a bright red. “Hehe don’t worry, bro. We were all a bit tipsy last night. Well everyone except for me. I know how to handle my liquor.”

Her comment causes you to smile unintentionally. Sure, the rumors were true about her boastful and egotistical behavior, but she definitely had a soft side. You only saw a glimpse of it, but it was there. You wondered if she ever showed her soft side with her closest friends.

“Oh Rainbow darling, you know full well what happened to you at the party last night.” You turned your head adjacent to where Rainbow Dash was and found Rarity snuggling up to you. Normally you didn’t freak out with mares being close to you. After all, ponies did show more affection than any other species in the world. However, you knew Rarity as a pony that valued personal space and modesty. Her actions bewildered you.

Cocking an eyebrow, you returned your gaze to Dash. “So what exactly happened last night?”

“Rainbow Dash here would never admit it, but she was acting a bit crazy herself,” Rarity continued. “She had gotten a bit out of hoof and started showing off more than usual. If I have learned one thing about my friends, it’s that they can’t handle their cider. You were pretty mellow compared to everypony else.”

“It’s not like you were a princess yourself your highness,” Dash mocked with slight agitation in her voice. “You are the biggest drama queen when you’re on that stuff.”

Before Rarity could respond, you intervened before things got out of hoof. “Alright ladies, I think it’s time to get up. You two are starting to get a bit restless.” You began untangling yourself from Rarity and Dash’s grasp, only to face another obstacle. At the foot of the bed lay a sleeping Applejack, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie.

“Why am I in the same bed with mares?” you asked. You didn’t care, you were just curious.

“I haven’t a clue either, darling. It’s probably all of the cider we drank last night. I usually don’t sleep in the same bed with other ponies unless I trust them, even if I do drink more than a mare should. I guess that means we trust you. Or at least I do.”

You couldn’t argue with that, but you couldn’t help how these mares were so trusting. You had won them over at the party when you first met them. They had welcomed you with open arms without knowing who you were or what you did in life. For all they could have known, you could have been a thief (thank goodness that isn’t the case, though). You had remembered when you travelled to Manehatten a few years back for some training. Everypony in that place was skeptical of each other, closely holding on to their belongings from pocket thieves. In contrast, Ponyville was quite the opposite. You were literally innocent until proven guilty in this small town. Everypony gave you the benefit of the doubt, which is fine, but it was a bit naïve on their part. Even Fluttershy was starting to warm up to you.

“I totally trust this guy! He is a Royal Guard after all,” Rainbow interjected. “He wouldn’t try any funny stuff with us.” She looked at you for confirmation. “Right?”

“Right,” you replied. “I treat a mare with the utmost respect. I wouldn’t force her into anything she didn’t want to do.” You wormed your way out of the bed and stretched. “Well the other girls are still asleep, so I’m going to go freshen up in the bathroom.”

Both Rarity and Dash nodded at you as they too got out of bed. Before you headed out of the bedroom, you reminded yourself about work. “Hey guys, did I go to work last night?”

Rarity was about to say something, but Dash interrupted her. “Don’t you remember? Princess Luna said it was okay. She said you had been working a bit too hard lately, so she gave you the night off.”

Did she really say that? You had already had two nights off last week. It seemed unlikely that she would give you another day off just to spend time with them. You would have to talk to her later about it. Nevertheless, you felt a huge relief when they said that.

“Oh, okay,” you responded.

You exited the bedroom and went down the hall which led to the bathroom. Upon entering, you noticed how clean and organized everything was. On the counter by the sink, you noticed six towels folded up and stacked. They had all of your friends’ names on them, including one for you. You would have to make sure everything was in the same place after finishing your business, or else Twilight might go crazy. After taking a shower, you noticed your own tooth brush (which was neatly organized by six other brushes) on the counter, or at least it looked like yours. Apparently you had planned to stay the night if it was here at Twilight’s. Regardless, you were happy you could sate your oral obsession.

After brushing every nook and cranny in your mouth, you placed the toothbrush back on the sink and walked out of the bathroom. You heard multiple voices downstairs in the kitchen, probably the girls getting breakfast ready. Upon walking down the stairs, you noticed the library was clean and picked up. You had expected it to be destroyed according to was Dash and Rarity had told you. The girls probably cleaned up the place while you were in the bathroom, and you couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty for not helping them.

Up until now, the chatter going on between the mares was indistinct, but you did catch the last part of a sentence as you walked in a made your presence known.

“-wants more?”

“Hey girls, what’s up?” you ask.

“Good morning,” Twilight greeted. “Did you sleep well?”

“Better than ever, although the sun gave me a rude awakening,” you admitted. “I hope I didn’t move too much in my sleep last night. I’m not used to sharing beds.”

Your comment elicited giggles from the mares. “Don’t worry about that. You slept like a baby,” Twilight replied.

The rest of the morning consisted of idle chat and a nice home cooked meal from Twilight and Rarity. It was a bit ironic that the two ponies that made breakfast were unicorns. The earth ponies were more renowned to be great cooks and bakers such as Pinkie Pie and Applejack. Speaking of Pinkie Pie, she kept bringing up your little mishap from last night, which caused the girls to laugh. You didn’t even remember anything that night, but you laughed along too (even though you were slightly embarrassed). After breakfast, you excused yourself and said you needed to go and talk to Princess Luna. You just needed to know why she let you have the day off. Waving your hoof you bid them farewell.

It was only an hour flight to Canterlot. You weren’t the fastest pegasus, but you weren’t slow either. You could definitely hold your own in a race, thanks to the training you had back at the Academy. Not anypony could just join the Guard. It took a lot of personal training to even be considered for recruitment. One major requirement was a round the world endurance flight trip in two days. It was a brutal journey, but you came out in the end. In fact, now that you thought about it, it was a miracle that they actually recruited you. Before joining the Royal Guard, you were a highly unmotivated individual. According to the world renowned pony psychologist Sigmane Freud, you had a weak ego compared to the id. You preferred to procrastinate and indulge yourself in whatever you found pleasurable in you. Unfortunately, training for the Royal Guard wasn’t in your “pleasure queue,” so to speak. It wasn’t until you started taking Physical Education classes in Cloudsdale. It was expensive, but you needed to motivate yourself somehow. The academy changed you, however. They taught you things that you could never learn through the general education system. Though they did toughen you up a bit, your personality was still intact.

As you approached the massive city that housed the Royal Sisters, you banked slightly to angle yourself properly to your destination at the top of the castle where only members of the Royal Guard could enter. As you landed the first pony to meet you was Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you in a while! How have you been?” he greeted happily. Good ol’ Shining Armor treated you as a friend even while on duty. You weren’t exactly part of his squad per se, but he did make major decisions that influenced the Guard as a whole.

“Likewise, sir,” you stood at attention. Even though he talked casually, you didn’t want to act out of line.

“Relax soldier. You are off the clock right now, after all. No need for formalities. How’s Twi been?”

You immediately relaxed your body. “She’s doing fine. I spent some time with her last night along with her friends. I haven’t spent much time with her one-on-one, though.”

“I heard. According to the Sisters, they enjoy having you around. Twi has mentioned you a couple times in her letters to the Princess. I’m just glad we have somepony that’s stationed out in Ponyville.”

“Really?” you asked surprised. That was interesting. You barely spoke a word to Twilight this whole week, not including yesterday (which was still much of a mystery to you).

“Yeah, apparently she asked if she could teach you the Magic of Friendship, or take you under her metaphorical wing. I found it weird that she would ask you that, though.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, you seemed to understand friendship during the academy. You socialized with your comrades’ quite well. You seemed to have a firm knowledge about Friendship.”

You let out a laugh, but immediately changed the subject. “Yeah, but is Princess Luna still awake? I would like to request an audience and meet with her.”

“Oh, sorry to keep you waiting,” he apologized. “Unfortunately, Princess Luna has turned in for the day. Would you like to speak with Celestia instead?”

Well this trip turned out to be pointless. Princess Celestia did handle your paperwork, though. Maybe it was worth speaking with her. “Sure, that would be great.”

About two hours have passed and you still haven’t met with Princess Celestia. You didn’t have anything to do, but you did want to take a nap before going to work. You just sat there with a bored expression. Princess Celestia was the co-ruler of Equestria, after all. She had to maintain everything from the budget to negotiating with foreigners. You couldn’t blame her, but you did want some time to yourself before heading to work.

Finally, a pair of guards came forward. “Princess Celestia would like to see you now.”
They escorted you to the throne hall, which is where she sat.

“Ah, my faithful subject! It has been a while since I’ve seen you. How goes your stay in Ponyville? I heard you made some friends,” she greeted.

You bowed to your Princess before responding. “It’s good to see you as well, your majesty.”

Every time you were in the same room as her, you felt calm. Her regal and motherly voice washed away any fears and insecurities you had. Her white coat and majestic flowing multicolored mane left you in awe. Despite the pleasant aura she emitted, she contained powerful magic. You definitely didn’t want to get on her bad side, despite never seeing her harm another being.

“I am so sorry to be short with you, but I must ask you to be quick with your visit.”

“Well,” you began, “Last night I had spent some time with Twilight and her friends and apparently Princess Luna said that I could have the day off. I was just wondering why she has been generous with giving me time off.”

“My little pony, you have been protecting the Elements of Harmony for so long. Do you not think you deserve time off? You have even made friends with them, which surprised me to be honest. Even though it is your duty to protect them, friendship is what keeps this country strong. In fact, Twilight has recently asked to teach you the Magic of Friendship.” You lowered your head, while she continued. “I know you have been lonely, my little pony. I think it’s time I told you the real reason I stationed you in Ponyville.”

You looked back up to her. “There was an alternative reason?” you ask with surprise in your voice.

“Yes. It saddened me to see you in such a lonely state. I have been keeping an eye on you for a while now. It was quite strange that you didn’t have your cutie mark when I met you. As far as I know, you are the first stallion to not get his cutie mark. So I took it upon myself to watch closely over you. I know that some of my subjects can be a bit judgmental sometimes and can cast out ponies that don’t quite fit in. As I observed you, I noticed that you didn’t have any friends, nor had you made the effort to make any. You see, the real reason I sent you to Ponyville was for you to make friends, especially with the Elements of Harmony. They embody the meaning of what friendship is. If anypony can do it, they can. At first I was worried that you wouldn’t want to make any friends. I didn’t want to force you, but now I can see you are much happier.”

Wow…she really is like a mother. She sent you there because she cared for you. She had many things to deal with, but even with all of these distractions, she still found ways to help her subjects. You felt like crying at that moment. You had such a wonderful leader and she supported you to the fullest.

“So now to answer your question, we gave you more time off to be with your friends. It is important to form strong bonds with the ponies you love.”

You look down for a few moments to digest the information. You look back to your Princess. “Thank you so much,” you say quietly.

“You’re very welcome, but you still have much to learn. I will send a letter to my faithful student letting her know that you will be learning the Magic of Friendship along with her and her friends. Do you accept your new assignment?”

“Yes, your majesty! I accept.” You couldn’t tell whether to be excited or nervous.

“Very well, I hope to talk to you again soon. You will still be a guardian to the Elements of Harmony, though your duties will be more lenient. I do expect friendship letters from you as well. I received your first on a while back and I’m proud of you to say the least.” She paused for a moment. “I’m glad you made friends,” she said mentioning your name.

You thanked her again before bidding her a farewell.

“Wow,” you said as you entered Ponyville. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna never cease to amaze me.” You were still replaying what happened in your mind as you landed by your house. “I feel so lucky to have them as Princesses.”

Before you entered, Twilight came up to you in a panic. “There you are! We were looking everywhere for you! We need your help! It’s an emergency!”

“What’s wrong Twilight?” you asked.

“It’s Rainbow Dash…”

Author's Note

I'm quite surprised I was able to motivate myself to write this. I was worried I wasn't going to update for another few months. I try not to force it. I'd rather come up with a nice, well thought out story than a crappy half-fast one. So, if I don't update for a while, it's because I don't want to force anything with the story. Again, thank you for your support and don't hesitate to leave some feedback.