Idol Hooves and the Mysterious Unicorn

The fallout of this revelation rocked the very seams of Canterlot Society in seconds.

The Royal Guards had barely withdrawn to the safety of the Radiant Walls surrounding the castle before the local populace nearly rioted, looking for answers about the mysterious unicorn. Mockingbird left me in charge of this matter leaving me little option than to grab the nearest guards next to me to hold the metaphorical line with little support save promise he would divert help my way when possible. So we held while the barrage of questions were lobbed at us.

“WHO WAS THAT!?”
“IS IT TRUE?”
“SHOULD WE EXPECT MORE PRINCESSES?”
“My cat is stuck in a tree!?

There were several more questions I couldn’t make out over the mob of ponies on the verge of breaking down the gates if not for the five hoof picked guards forming a semi circle in front of me and said gate. It wasn’t until the arrival of armed pegasi with spears did the crowd settle down now enough for me to attempt to soothe their bristled fur coats.

“Citizens! Please refrain from tarnishing the guard’s armor with your hoofprints! If you can’t be quiet then I can’t provide the answers you’re seeking.”

They yielded to my attempt like a foal being told no, yet even then they were struggling to be respectful, and not shout over them. A sign of the changing times.

Before Tirek’s rampage, ponies followed the teachings of Harmony closely without the need for an armed presence, or a desire to shout over each other, let alone an authoritative figure. I was struggling to maintain any sense of reasonable order when this inability was outsourced; the crowd suddenly quieted down, and took a step back before I heard the gates behind me lurched open from powerful magics to reveal the younger of the Royal Sisters, Princess Luna.

She stopped three hooves in front of me, scanned the crowd without a single word being uttered. There was a standoffish nature to her movements that abruptly ended when a few ponies of questionable intelligence began directing their questions toward her…

“CEASE THY PEDDLING! GO HOME ELSE I'LL CALL THEE A CUR! The princess noted the seriousness of this threat with a raised hoof as if she was trying to summon lightning upon the gathered ponies. The threat was purely speculative because the armed pegasi wouldn’t abandon their posts to fetch storm clouds without an official declaration, nor would any other pegasi willing discharge a loaded cloud without alerting bystanders to the action first.

The crowd doesn’t often see the Princess of the Night, nor is her reputation, past and recent, as spotless leading her actions to be taken at face value- the crowd backed off.

I waited as we watched the ponies hurriedly scatter unless they found out if the threat was true, and once most had scattered did Luna order the present guards to hold their current assignment until a proper relief detachment could be found. She spared me a glance and jerked her head in the recognized motion to follow, and without question I did as instructed.

The assumption we were making our way toward the Courtroom proved wrong when she deviated from the main path, and onto one of the several paths that skirted around the Castle Keep toward one of its many extensions and offshoots. This particular one weaved along the west wall where the Guard Barracks and Training field resided, and from here she banked right at the fork that led us northward to the outside area known for hosting outdoor parties or banquets for the aristocracy.

We passed this open space nestled between rows of hedges following the path until it once more forked either straight or left. We took the left path.

This path took us into Garden Commons where the Princesses' statue collection was on display for all ponies in the castle to enjoy during their free time, but this too was ignored in favor of the restricted section. At the very end of this path, off some ways toward the back was a large spanning hedge row with a single entrance flanked by two guards at all times to prevent unauthorized encroachment of the Princesses' private lounging. A more secluded retreat away from the modern responsibilities of Court Life, and a chance to let their manes down without wandering eyes watching their every movement.

The deer from earlier were flanking the door to my surprise, but already I had a good idea why that was.

Upon our approach they looked us up and down with a weary distrust, but did nothing to impede our advance. From the quick glance I was willing to spare, I noticed their antlers appeared uniform, almost regulatory. Why that was would be another guess.

In my decade plus of service, I’d never had the privilege to be brought back here, even when I was tasked with Luna’s recovery in the early days of her return; I never expected a reward for my service, but now presented with this moment I found myself wondering more about Topaz and her reaction to exploring this restricted section of the garden. It was when Luna stopped to turn and face me did I come galloping back to the current moment.

“Alright friend Idol, we shall make the explanation brief. Sister and I are on edge from this surprise, buck I would almost welcome Discord’s appearance right now.” She jab a hoof into my chest. “And don’t go informing that trickster of our admittance.”

“Crystal Clear my Princess.”

“Good. Mother makes us nervous. We assumed she departed during our time upon the moon, yet it appears her powers are extraordinary. She made no comment of Tirek, nor seemed affected by his rampage yet she’s still ageless, so we make our point. I want you to be her pony escort during her stay in our city. No! Hold thy tongue for now until you’ve heard Mother and Celestia before accepting. Trust us, you will want to.”

I nodded, following her order to remain quiet. Satisfied with this we resumed our trot, weaving through this mini maze of hedges until suddenly it opened into a small clearing with a single marble bench and gazebo painted to match Celestia’s coat. Within this clearing stood the other Royal Sister, Princess Celestia nervously pawing at the ground watching the mysterious unicorn resting on her personal pillow. Celestia shot Luna a look in that moment, but quickly fixed her attention to the unicorn who by all pretense reminded me of more than a few of the nobility.

Bored and unimpressed.

“Mother and Sister, we bring thee Idol Hooves. This guard has been one of our oldest serving and trusted servants, trusted enough to watch over us till our health recovered.”

“You were sick? Truly?” The unicorn spoke, yet her expression remained almost uncaring, but its tone didn’t go well with the sisters who only stiffened at the question.

“For a spell mother…”

“It happens sometimes, mother. Though uncommon to Lulu and myself, catching a cold is a natural process for ponies.”

Witnessing the princesses practically cower before their supposed ‘mother’ was not on my list of duties, yet I was under a strict code of ethics not to speak a word of this. Wisely so, as her majestic gaze moved between Luna and Celestia, I wasn’t immune to the wandering eyes that left me nearly trembling. Celestia tried to speak but was silenced by their mother.

“Enough excuses, dear. Proper unicorn’s don’t fall victim to the illnesses of the mortal races. I don’t need to stress how this is a byproduct of your choices bringing our kind into this unnatural setting.”

I can see where Luna gets her temperament. Her outer beauty and voice were anything but pleasing, yet in a strange way were changeling like, meant to hide the ugliness underneath. Strangely enough, she turned to look my way the moment I made that comparison.

“And this creature is to be my escort? Do you think so lowly of me you’ll fake a unicorn, and hope I wouldn’t notice, or perhaps you’re too ashamed of our kind that this was preferable? Which is it dears?“

“Neither mother. We find Idol’s performance and loyalty second to none. This stallion has earned his place among our halls well enough. The only insult would be exposing him to you mother.” Luna’s defiant remark was touching, and a moment I’d remember for many years in the future doing my best to continue living up to the standard.

Yet her remark didn’t anger the unicorn more than amuse her.

“My goodness! It seems Luna can still be ungrateful after so many years. Very well he will be welcomed enough. Celestia?”

“Yes mother?” The older alicorn asked with a tinge of worry.

“You can have your pillow back, I find it rather uncomfortable.” The unicorn effortlessly lifted herself off the ground in a single motion. Even her movements among the well trimmed grass produced little disturbance: sound and of the grass.

I felt Luna’s fear flicking, but found her resilience and willingness to stand by me comforting. Feeling this would be an appropriate time to divert some of the attention to me, I clipped my hooves together and bowed my head.

“Sergeant Idol hooves. Acting second in command of the Royal Guard, Ma’am.”

Her reaction was muted at best, and even if I wanted to taste her emotions I found the ability lost to me, as if she was actively blocking the attempts herself. Her judging gaze lingered uncomfortable, almost searching for some flaw, or reason to dismiss my offered services.

“My daughters claim you’re no insult, yet I have doubts. Tell me underling of the night, why do you mimic my kind so brazenly?” Her question was heavy enough a misstep would be taken out of context, or worse.

“To find acceptance, your grace. It was ponykind that took me in many years ago, and by extension the Princesses that gave me a purpose. I only seek the continued chance to repay that kindness.”

A simple, and truthful explanation. At times I consider myself a pawn and nothing more meant to further the story of other ponies, and that’s all I’ll ever be. A real life play with me as the background character meant to deliver the actors their lines or reasoning to continue telling the story Harmony has written out.

Today Harmony decided I would be the main character of this short story, for without warning the unicorn lowered her own head, but not much. Only enough to notice a small difference, but it was enough for Celestia and Luna to visibly gasp.

She turned to the princesses as she spoke now.

“He will do. Celestia. Luna. I shall depart for now because the excitement has exhausted me, let us continue later when the children have tired and turned in.”

Without waiting for their response the unicorn gracefully moved between Luna and myself, her hoofsteps careful to not disturbed the grass as she left with the princesses bewitched expressions the only sign of her lingering presence.

“That went rather well.” My statement was met with Luna’s hoof colliding against my shoulder.

“You devious canine! See sister, we told you Idol would be the pony for this task!”

“I never doubted you Lulu, but to see it first hoof? Why did it have to be mother of all creatures?” Celestia sighed, even collapsing to the ground with a solid thump as her legs parted in front of her. “Not even a warning before shattering everything with her obnoxious attitude and snide comments.”

“Derogatory comments aside, friend Idol, mother is set in her ways more than we are. You might say she’s old fashioned enough to remember a time before the founding of Equestria.”

“Then why isn’t she mentioned with the Pillars of Harmony or by name helping with Discord?” I asked Luna, but found my answers from the tired Celestia.

“That’s the second founding of Equestria. The first founding took place some decades after the first Heartwarming and the defeat of the Wendigos. Our mother is far older than the formation of the three pony tribes themselves.”

“Is her magic really that strong?” Luna was the one to answer this time.

“Nay. In ways we are more powerful than mother, yet in others she eclipses us. For one reason or another she always preferred the opened forests of old than the suffocating walls of a home. Come Celestia. Let us prepare for our first familial dinner in known time.”

“Please have the cooks deliver mine here, would you?”

“And explain the absence to mother? Perish the thought. You are the dawn, so don your big filly shoes and face the orchestra with us. Idol, your presence isn’t required but is strongly suggested.”

“Is that an order?” She shook her head.

“Never. But view it as a favor for a friend.”

“Ah the Most Excellent Friendship Code. Very well, I shall make myself ready for this evening once I return home…”

“Cersus is more than welcomed.” Celestia chimed as she held firm to lying prone on the ground making her mother’s claim about the pillow appear legitimate. It did seem flatter than a royal pillow should be, but I wasn’t familiar with the stuffing process.

“Topaz’s expedition to the Crystal Empire has proven fruitful enough to be funded for another two weeks. Cersus has expressed her sorrow sufficiently, but I worry how she’ll react to your newly returned maternal figure.”

“She is an overly curious filly, but that’s why I adore her.”

“You spoil the filly Tia, a bit too favorably we want on public record. If she’s not running wild under the help’s legs, she’s plotting.”

“Adding to the record, Cersus growth happened before Topaz’s departure, so the little filly is a big filly.”

“OH, how wonderful! She’s growing before our eyes, and soon she’ll be looking for colts…” Celestia’s eyes were alive with a sparkle I needed to contain before Cady learns of this development.

“Please refrain from the speculative talk, your highness. The idea of Cersus free roaming for colts is not a discussion I want to process just yet.”

“Regardless, her future conquests should be left for the future and not the present. You are dismissed until our evening meal, just after Celestia lowers her sun. Mother views the encroaching night for adults and not for children. The nymph’s participation will either soothe her temperament or rile her up to end the meal abruptly. Both are a victory in our ledger.”

With Luna’s parting words, and no more from Celestia, I bid each princess a farewell. The pathway out was straightforward with none of the strangeness often found leading to an uneasy feeling when the deer guards from before were also gone. Years in service had conditioned me to expect a certain level of uncertainty, yet its absence was unsettling, almost replacing what I had been expecting. A subversion of expectations.

Of course this was corrected as I walked past a particular row of hedges only to be ‘cat called’ by a certain filly.

“Idol! Idol! Over here!” The voice cried out, and following her calls led me off the designated path behind a row of statues to reveal her waiting under some brush. “Hey! Who was that really tall unicorn with the funny looking unicorns?”

“She is a very important delegate I will be meeting later this evening with the Princesses, Celestia says you’re invited as well.”

“Awesome! Auntlestia is coming through again!”

“Auntlestia?”

“Yea! You know, take the word Aunt and her name and fuse them together.” She demonstrated this concept by having her front hooves press together. I nodded, and changed the subject to a question I needed answered.

“How did you wind up in the gardens? Where is Honey Dew?”

“I left her behind with a note. I couldn’t see them from the street, and I decided to ask Auntlestia when I caught the unicorns leaving.” She crossed her hooves this time. “I think she saw me.

“She’s mysterious like that, but let us return to the how you got in the gardens.”

“OH, I used the tunnels, remember? The same ones I used to break you out of the dungeons. Turns out most hadn’t collapsed yet!”

The tunnels. I’d forgotten in the following years assuming they were buried in, and not as extensive Cersus was making them appear, yet here she was in the garden in the complete opposite direction of the underground cells.

“Make sure the entrance is covered and follow me. Most of the staff are used to seeing you, and we’ll use that to our advantage today. Don’t ask about the unicorn until we get home, alright?”

“Hmmmm alright. The tunnels were a little dicey anyway, but you promise you will tell me who she is?”

“What I know.”

Cersus nodded and shifted enough to show me the spot behind where she’d just been sitting and stuck her hoof in the dirt only to lift the small area up. She was beaming.

“It's already covered. I learned that trick from a spider!”

The temperature dipped, and I felt colder, more vulnerable. I looked around us for an explanation, but finding everything untouched quickly began ushering the nymph out of the bushes and onto the proper path despite her protests.

“It’s for the best that you avoid the tunnels for a bit.”

“WHY!? And how long?” Cersus was resisting my efforts to get away from the tunnel, and that grew more true with my demands.

“Because I said so, and only until the princesses marry and have a foal.”

“Are they getting married!?” She asked with a wonder I’d never seen, and almost felt bad when I shook my head no.

“To my knowledge they aren’t seeing somepony. They’ve remained single for their entire reign so far. Your best bet would be Twilight Sparkle, but my sources claim she too might follow that tradition.”

“So I’m doomed?”

‘Of course not, but the odds are certainly against you.”

“What if I help speed things along?” I nearly tripped at the suggestion, but the nymph took it as the right answer, and proudly began declaring her new business venture- Dating Coach.

Harmony and Order only know who heard the nymph, but somepony did because the rumors of secret lovers, and some more abstract theories persisted past the the reign of the Royal Sisters and well into the early decade of Twilight Sparkles rule. Eventually, the young alicorn did find a worthy mate…

…with Cersus’s help.