MLP:FIM: Crystal Curse

Both captains exited the throne room into the main hall. The hall was tightly packed with the guardponies from the inspection that it was extremely hard to maneuver through it all. Duskshy and Opal Beam looked at each other with delight at the very thought of moving somewhere new and exciting in the hope of spending their vacation in quiet comfort while all the other guardponies busied themselves with preparing for the new year, allowing themselves time to celebrate at the end of it all. The two captains carefully tiptoed across the room so as not to disturb the others from their duties while they made their way to their bedrooms to pack up their essentials for the week ahead.

"I just can't believe it" whispered Opal to Dusk in childish glee. "Us two, getting a week off for our own pursuits" he continued. Dusk nodded in silent agreement at the very notion, he could not hold his excitement in as much as his friend could and bounced up and down quietly. "Off to ponyville eh? I cannot wait" replied Dusk as he continued his bouncing spree. Opal nodded to Dusk and the two carried on walking/bouncing their way out of the main hall. All throughout the castle was full of guardponies and worker ponies as they continued to make headway through the preparations. Each one was assigned a task to make sure that they were not slacking off in the middle of their duties.

Exiting the main hall, both captains made their way to the main gates when they were both stopped by five anxious guardponies who were flustered and red in the face. "Sir, its terrible, just terrible" began one as he jumped up and down in a panicked state. "Please captain, you must absolutely help us with this" continued another. Opal and Dusk looked at each other in a calm manner and nodded towards the group of nervous guardponies. "Fine, lead us to the problem but please hurry" replied Opal to them and they led both of them towards Canterlot Town. Once they reached the town square, the five guardponies pointed the captains towards the main problem: A statue of the princesses had fallen over into the fountain and another group of guardponies were desperately tugging at the statue trying to get it out and stand it upright.

Opal rolled his eyes at the group for failing at such a simple task. "You're meaning to tell me that I am missing valuable vacation time for something such as this?" Inquired Opal. All the guardponies nodded towards him in response and Opal rolled his eyes again. "Fine, first thing to do is actually get in the fountain and push it out and hopefully that will stand it upright, alright?" He asked. The group looked at each other and shook their heads in unison and disagreement. "But what if we get wet?" asked one of them "Yeah, we have the celebrations tonight and we want to look our best for it, why don't you do it since you're going on vacation today?" asked another.

"Fine, Ill get in the fountain and push it myself for you lazy ponies. Will you stop pestering me then?" Proposed Opal through clenched teeth and the other guards nodded in unison again. Opal sighed heavily and jumped into the fountain, DuskShy watching as he did so. Pressing his back against the top half of the statue, he asserted pressure onto it and caused it to move out of the fountain water gushing from it onto him at the same time. The statue landed on its base as was predicted and the other guardponies cheered at the success of the pegasus captain. Opal jumped out of the fountain and sighed quietly to Dusk who kept silent throughout the ordeal.

"Alright you crybabies, is that enough to keep you satisfied" Jeered Opal at the guardponies. "Yes sir, thank you sir" They replied in unison and they left the captains to continue their conversation "That should be that, now let's get out of here before..." Opal began before being interrupted by Dusk. "Uh, what about our luggage?" Dusk inquired. Opal shrugged at the suggestion and was about to say something when another guardpony attracted his attention. Opal, now irritated and completely wet rolled his eyes and turned back to Dusk. "Tell you what, go back to the castle and get our belongings sorted, I'll stay here and deal with any problems the workers here are having" he proposed.

Dusk nodded to Opal, turned back and ran off in the direction of the castle to collect their luggage while Opal walked to the struggling guardpony near one of the houses. He gave the pony a light tap on the shoulder to which he swung round to face him. "What's the problem?" Inquired Opal. "I'm trying to put this sign up on this house but I can't reach the roof, ugh, this would be easy if I was a pegasus" replied the guard as he tried to jump up to roof level of the house. Opal examined the guard closer and noticed he had a pair of wings like any other Pegasus guard and rolled his eyes again. "What If I were to tell you that you are a Pegasus and you can reach that roof no problem" he inquired.

"Well I just told you, I'm not a Pegasus so I don't have..." The Pegasus's voice trailed off when he looked to the side of him and noticed he indeed was a Pegasus. Opal, now almost fuming, put one hoof in front of his face as he tried to contain himself from berating the young Pegasus for negligence. "All... happy... now, just lift yourself up to the roof with the sign and get back to work" Opal said calmly and the guard-pony continued with his work. Opal sighed quietly and continued through the streets when he spotted a group of Luna's bodyguards trying to move an obscenely large statue on their backs through a narrow street.

Opal approached the group and the leader stepped forward to speak to him grinning to him all the while. "Captain Opal, what a nice surprise, what can I do for the most loyal of Celestia's subjects, haven't you got something else to do like, say sticking your nose high up in the clouds for instance" sneered the leader as he approached him. "Hello Sergeant, might I ask why you, the most competent of Luna's Royal Guard, are trying to move a statue as large as this through a small street that has very little chance of getting through, hmm?" Opal retaliated. The sneer on the sergeants face instantly dropped as he tried to think of what to say to him.

"Alright then captain, if you're so sure of that, why don't you help us get it through safely then?" he proposed to Opal. Opal rolled his eyes and nodded while trying to force a smile. "Of course, ill just take the middle of this statue and we'll get it through in no time" Opal said before sliding himself underneath the statue at the middle along with the other guards. The sergeant giggled alongside the others of Luna's guards and carried on walking with them with the captain in tow. As they reached the end of the street they stopped before the opening.

"Alright, on the count of three we turn this on its side and we try and make sure there is nothing is sticking out at the side" Opal instructed as they waited patiently. The guards nodded and proceeded to flip the statue on its side as instructed until there was nothing blocking the way for it. They then slowly edged the statue through the opening as they walked slowly. Once it was out, the group stopped at the destination with captain underneath. The sergeant gave a sly smile as he did the unthinkable. "Alright everypony, we're here, you can let go of the statue now" The guards on either side shifted out the sides leaving the captain still stuck in the middle.

Without anything to support the sides, the statue became heavier for Opal before it became unbearable and it placed great strain on his back. "Wait a minute, you forgot about m--!" he managed to utter in before his back gave way and the statue fell on top of him, squashing him. Luna's guards looked at each other before laughing hysterically at the captain's unfortunate "accident". The sergeant, a unicorn, used his magic to lift the statue up and flipped it back on its base while laughing himself. "Whoops, terribly sorry captain, I forgot I had this" he hollered, referring to his unicorn horn. Opal picked himself and shook himself to rid himself of his confusion.

The group continued their laughter as they walked off leaving the poor captain to compose himself. Now absolutely enraged, Opal picked himself up and started to rant. "You jerks, you wont be laughing when I make you clean the castle with toothbrushes!!" he barked even though the group was now out of hearing range. "How does Duskshy put up with this kind of attitude, they're his responsibility to train them, this stinks" Opal thought to himself and promptly left the statue and continued back to the town square. Opal waited by the fountain waiting for Duskshy when he appeared carrying twenty suitcases on his back full of items for the vacation. "Opal, can we get moving now, my back is starting to ache" Dusk implored.

Opal rolled his eyes and sighed gently before greeting Dusk with a forced smile. "Uh, maybe we should catch the train instead, I don't think we can carry this much on a chariot" he mused to Dusk and made his way to the train station. Duskshy, exasperated that he now has to walk all the way to the train station, followed his friend, carrying the suitcases with him.