I felt my body shake as it moved back and forth slightly with the pressure of a hoof on my arm. I could feel the firmness of the couch I was lying on. My consciousness slowly returned to me as I kept my eyes closed. I could tell that there was light on the other side of my eyelids. Listening, I could hear panicked breathing beside me.
"Jack," Twilight said in a worried tone as she continued to shake me.
I opened my eyes, and the light shining through one of the windows blasted them. The shaking in my arms stopped as my eyes adjusted to the light. Looking around, I could see Twilight standing over me, looking worried and relieved that I was now awake. I sat up slightly, rubbing my eyes as Twilight started to speak.
"Jack. Thank Celestia. You're awake," Twilight said.
"Yeah, I'm awake," I said tiredly as I finished rubbing my eyes before turning to Twilight. "Why were you shaking and yelling for me?"
"Wait, you don't know," Twilight asked as she stepped a bit closer.
"Know what? What happened?" I asked as I pulled the blanket off my body, exposing it to the room air.
"Jack, you were yelling and shaking in your sleep. It almost looked like you were crying as well," Twilight said.
I raised my right hand to my face and felt a bit of wetness under my eyes. She was right. I had been crying in my sleep, which meant that I had also been yelling. My mind went back to what I had dreamt with Princess Luna and the forest. I wiped the under part of my eyes with my sleeves.
"Sorry about that. I had a really bad nightmare," I said as I moved my body and placed my feet on the floor.
Twilight moved to sit next to me on the couch. "Why are you saying sorry? You did nothing wrong."
"I didn't wake you?" I asked, looking towards Twilight.
"No, Jack, I've been awake for an hour. I went and told Celestia what you saw last night," Twilight said.
"You did? What did she say?" I asked.
"Well, she said that she would have the guard look into it. She is also going to have the statue moved out of the garden in an attempt to prevent more … incidents," Twilight said, pausing for a moment before quickly continuing." I also showed her that drawing that you said they drew."
"Did she know what it was?" I asked as I rubbed the back of my hands.
"no. She said she had never seen it before," Twilight responded.
"Weird," I said, rubbing my eyes again.
The room fell silent again before Twilight started speaking," So you said you had a nightmare? What was it about?"
I sighed as I began to speak," I was back in my old room when I heard a knock on my door. I opened the door to find darkness, which Princess Luna stepped out of."
"Luna was in your nightmare?" Twilight asked, mouth a bit agape.
"Yeah, she had me follow her, and we ended up in a snow-covered forest," I responded.
Twilight fell silent, looking at the ground before speaking," Was it the forest your 'friends' left you in?"
I shook my head, letting her know she was correct, "They were there, too, but I couldn't see their faces. They were approaching me, and I couldn't move. My feet were stuck in the ground." I decided to leave out the part with the bald man nearly stabbing me.
"I'm sorry to hear Jack. If Luna was there, she must be trying to help," Twilight said as she put her hoof on my arm.
"that's what she said," I said before changing the subject. "Anyways, what time are we leaving?"
"We have to be at the train station in an hour. We should leave here soon," Twilight said as she stood up.
"Okay," I said.
I stood up, stretching my arms as I did before turning back to look at the couch I had slept on. The blanket I had been lying on was halfway down, and it was all wrinkly. Not wanting to leave a big mess for the cleaning crew, I picked up the blanket and started to fold it. Folding it neatly, I placed it in the middle of the couch before [picking up the pillows I had used and put them on top.
I picked up my backpack and made sure it was properly zipped up before I threw it on my back. Grabbing my shoes from the side of the couch, I sat back down and slipped them on my feet. Once the shoes were on my feet, I looked up to see that Twilight had nearly finished packing the mess that she had made on the desk last night.
I sighed, leaned back on the couch, and closed my eyes as I waited. Images of my still-fresh nightmare flashed into my head. The blank faces of my 'friends' and the bald man, along with the knife. My body shuttered at the images as I remembered to send the knife to Celestia later. I then felt a slight nudge on my knee, and I opened my eyes to see it was Twilight, who was all packed and ready.
"Ready?" I asked.
"Yeah, let's get going," Twilight responded as she started to walk towards the door.
I stood up from the couch and followed Twilight towards the door. As we exited the room, I turned to shut the door but was stopped by Twilight as she began to speak.
"Leave the door wide open so housekeeping can see that the room is empty and dirty quickly," Twilight said.
"Okay," I responded, turning back around and following Twilight.
We walked through the castle's many hallways, passing many guards and the occasional other guests. Most every pony gave me looks as we walked by, which I should have been used to at this point, but it just weirded me out. Twilight must have noticed as she started to speak.
"I would have thought you would have become more accustomed to everyone staring at you by this point," Twilight said.
"It is still all new to me," I said.
"I hear you. When the girls and I saved Equestria from Discord and his chaos, we would get hounded nonstop. For somepony, like Rainbow Dash or Rarity, it must have been nice, but for the rest of us, not so much. Especially Fluttershy," Twilight said.
I was a bit dumbfounded by what I heard before I shook my head and started to speak. "You have saved Equestria?"
"Oh yeah, once, or twice. With the help of the others," Twilight said nonchalantly.
"You have to tell me how," I said as we turned down the hallway towards the front door.
"Hmm, maybe later," Twilight said as we both stopped in front of the castle exit.
The guards looked at us before moving to push the castle doors open quickly. With light pushing, they were able to open the doors, allowing the sunlight to shine through. As they came to a stop, Twilight and I walked through the door, and they shut the doors just as quickly.
Standing at the top of the courtyard stairs for a quick moment, I could feel the slightly cold air on my face, along with the fresh air. It was warmer than it had been the past week but still a bit nippy. Twilight started to walk down the stairs, causing me to follow closely behind her.
The courtyard looked quite busy, with many carriages and wagons, guards, fancy-looking ponies, and a couple of other species, like what I could only assume could be a Griffen. There were still no humans in the crowd, and I thought that the only ones I would see were the ones from last night. However, I did not have much time to sightsee, as Twilight was on a straight path to the castle gate.
"No time to sightsee, come on, Jack," Twilight said as she continued to walk.
"Right behind you," I said as I picked up the pace.
We made our way to the castle gate, where a unicorn guard was stationed. The guard looked us over a few times before his horn started to glow brown as the gate pulled open. As the gate opened, Twilight and I Stepped out onto the busy cobbled streets of Canterlot. We walked across the streets dodging other ponies before pausing as we decided our way to the train station.
"Which way should we go?" I asked, looking at the road and the many pathways and alleyways.
"let's just continue down the street. We should walk by the human settlement so you may get to see another human," Twilight responded.
"Okay, sure, let's get walking then," I said as we both started walking down the street.
As we walked down the street, I noticed that we were in front of a bunch of businesses. Some were restaurants that looked very busy, with a lot of ponies in suits and dresses eating. One of the stores seemed to be a clothing store with really fancy clothes that seemed nice but did not look as good as the ones I had seen Rarity make. The last and most predominant stores seemed to be souvenir stores selling a wide variety of nick-nacks.
"They sell a lot of stuff in front of the palace, don't they?" I questioned to myself aloud.
"Well, duh, it is a major tourist attraction. Many of these places pay a premium to be here," Twilight responded.
"I get that, but wow. You would think that with all the competition, there wouldn't be so much, but wow," I said, walking past a group of ponies that had stopped to stare at me.
"You see how busy it is, right," Twilight said as she gestured to all the ponies around us before continuing. "I'm having to actually make sure I don't trot into somepony."
"Man, for a Tuesday, you think it wouldn't be so busy," I said as I dodged another pony.
"a large majority of high-class ponies here don't really work, so they have plenty of free time. The others are most likely tourists looking to see the castle, the human settlement, the princesses, or maybe even a human. Lucky for them, you mostly qualify," Twilight joked.
"Har, Har. Very funny," I said.
"It was, wasn't it," Twilight said as she turned her head to the left, and her eyes widened. "Jack, look, it's the human settlement."
I turned my head to my left and was slightly underwhelmed at what I was seeing. It was a large brick wall with a large golden gate blocking one side from the other. Inside the gate, I could see a bunch of fancy-looking homes. Some were stylized to look like the fancy homes that you would have seen back home, while others seemed to take on a mixture of human and Canterlot homes.
Looking even closer, you could see a few humans going about their normal everyday lives. Some seemed to be in fancy suits, while others seemed to be in more formal attire but still nicer-looking. While there were so few humans, I could see a few families walking down the road with younger-looking children following them. Seeing the children made me wonder if they were born here or if they woke up here. A shiver ran down my spine as I didn't want to think about what it would mean to wake up here at that young of an age.
"Wow, not as nice as you all made it out to be," I said as I crossed my arms.
"Speak for yourself. Very few ponies are actually allowed entry," Twilight said.
"So, who all have been in there?" I asked.
"The princesses and their personal guard, for one, and diplomatic emissaries requested by the human leader," Twilight said.
"Human leader?" I asked.
"Yes, he is a rich and powerful man named Adrian Static," Twilight said.
"Hmm. Have you ever been in there?" I asked.
"Well… no. I came close once when I was supposed to attend a meeting with Celestia with the humans, but it was later canceled," Twilight said.
"Unlucky. Why was it canceled?" I asked.
"I don't really know. All I was told is that Adrian canceled the meeting at the last minute due to an incident, and that was a few days before I moved to Ponyville," Twilight responded.
"Uh, that seems weird, but things do..." was all I could say as I heard a shop door open and a shop bell ring, followed by a loud thud.
Looking to my right, I saw that Twilight was on her butt, while rubbing her head as she had crashed into someone. Looking at who she had crashed into, it was a human male with brown hair. The male was on the younger side. If I had to say, he had to be between the ages of 18 and 20. He was slightly overweight, wearing a black suit, and was gripping his upper leg as he looked to be in mild pain.
"What the hell is wrong with you, dumb horse? Can't watch where you're going," the human said in a British accent as he rubbed his leg.
I felt a bit of anger well up in my throat at what he had just called Twilight as I clenched my fist.
"I'm … I'm…," Twilight stuttered as I could see tears start to form in her eyes.
"you're wha, wha, what? Sorry?" the human asked disrespectfully as Twilight shook her head in agreement, too choked up to continue as the human continued to speak. "Well, apology not accepted, you stupid pony. God, if you hadn't hurt me, I would be laughing at you right now. So fucking stupid."
I couldn't take it anymore as I pushed my way between Twilight and the human, crouching down to check on Twilight. "You, okay?" Twilight shook her head in disagreement. "Here, I'll take care of this."
"Oy, new dude. Out of the way. I'm not done yelling at the dumb purple horse," the human said as I stood up to face him, causing him to be taken aback by my appearance. "What the hell is wrong with you? You albino or something?"
I clenched my fist as I looked him in the eyes and spoke, "First things first, her name is not the dumb horse. It's Twilight Sparkle. Secondly, you are going to apologize to Twilight for all the messed-up shit you said."
The human stared at me before bursting out into laughter. He laughed for a minute before wiping his eyes as he started speaking, "Good one, new guy. Now out of the way before I think you're serious."
I did not waver my gaze as I looked him in the eyes, "Oh, I am very serious. Apologize to Twilight now!"
The human's face shifted from that of amusement to one of anger as he started to yell, "Like hell, I will. What are you gonna do if I don't?"
"I am going to make that 'pain' you felt a whole lot colder if you don't. Oh, and trust me, there is nothing you can do to hurt me," I said as I readied myself.
The human looked back and forth before looking me dead in the eyes as he spoke in anger, "Dumb horse and fucking albino freak!"
The human immediately tried to throw a haymaker, but he either had never fought or was just too sloppy. Ducking backward as the human stumbled forward off balance, I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt with my right arm and lifted him off the ground, holding him above my head. He grabbed me by the wrist with both of his hands as he struggled in an attempt to get me to release him. As we stood there, I barely noticed the mist coming out of both of our mouths, as if it felt colder around us.
I started to raise my left arm, making a fist as I did before it was caught and held down. Looking away from the human, I could see that Twilight was holding my arm down and shaking her head.
"Jack, he is not worth it," Twilight said as she continued to look up at me with the tears still in her eyes.
I let out a sigh before I turned back to the human and lowered him to the ground before pushing him away, "She's right. You're not worth it. Now go away before I change my mind."
The human took a step back, his face red with both anger and embarrassment as all the ponies around us stared at him. "Fuck you. You freak. Wait till my father hears about this," the human said as he stomped away toward the human settlement gate.
I shook my head at the Snoddy rich boy human before I turned my attention to Twilight, who was still holding my left hand. Crouching down, I made sure she was okay, "Hey, are you okay?"
Twilight did not respond, but she pulled me closer and started to hug me with a surprising amount of force. I sat there for a second before I wrapped my arms around her, rubbing her back like she did for me last week. Ponies around us avoided looking at us as she hugged me. She stayed there for a while before pulling back and staring at me.
"Feel better?" I asked.
"Yeah," she responded weakly.
"Good," I said as I helped Twilight to her hoofs. "That's good. We have to get going now. We don't want to be late for the train ride."
Twilight nodded as we started to walk down the street once more, bobbing and weaving through the groups of ponies on the sidewalk. As we walked, I could hear Twilight's occasional sniffle, and every time she did, I felt my blood boil. I don't know what is wrong with the humans here, but from all the stories and seeing firsthand, the humans who lived there were messed up.
As we walked further from the castle and human settlement, the crowd of ponies seemed to thin out. It never fully dispersed, and I continued to get started as we walked closer to the train station.
Turning the corner of one of the streets, we encountered a very busy station. The station was packed to the brim with guards, all dressed in armor, some gold and some black. Most of them were loading the back of a cargo freight cart with their equipment while the rest were loading personal belongings into freight carts for the rest of the guard. In the middle of all this organized mess was Battleborn, Thistle's Thorn, and Hidden Mist. Thistle's Thorn and Hidden Mist seemed to be barking orders at the others while Battleborn watched.
As we approached the station, Battleborn seemed to notice us. He turned to look at us, causing Thistle's Thorn and Hidden Mist to take notice as well. Battleborn had a lowered brow before he noticed Twilight's still slightly teary eyes.
"We were about to send a search party out for you two. What happened to her?" Battleborn asked.
"We were on our way here, and she accidentally walked into a human, and he went crazy on her, yelling and calling her a bunch of inappropriate names," I said as Twilight nodded in agreement.
"I see. Was that all that happened? What happened to the human?" Battleborn asked.
"Well, not standing for it, I stepped in front of them and told the human to apologize, but he got even angrier and threw a punch at me," I said.
"He did, but you don't seem hurt," Thistle's thorn said.
"I was able to dodge it pretty easily. I think that was the first time he threw a punch. The guy set himself off balance, and I picked him up and was about to give him the consequences of his actions before Twilight stopped me," I said as I looked down at Twilight.
Hidden Mist turned to Twilight with a mild look of disappointment as he spoke, "Why did you stop him? Too many of them treat us like that. I would have loved to see the look on the human's face."
Twilight shook her head in response to Hidden Mist's comment before speaking, "I told him he wasn't worth it, and it would have just caused even more issues later."
"Good choice, Miss Sparkle. Good choice, thinking with your noggin," Battleborn said.
"Thank you, Captain," Twilight said.
"Still think you should have given him a whopping," Hidden Mist said, pointing to me. "I mean, if he is willing to do that to someone as close to the princess, imagine what he would have done to a regular citizen."
"I don't think he knew who I was, but I really don't think he would have cared," Twilight said.
"Oh, to be a fly on the wall when Celestia learns what happens," Thistle's Thorn said, a devilish smirk forming on her face.
"Yes, well, you two board that part of the train," Battleborn said, pointing to a specific freight cart as he continued. "You two's cabin will be the first door on the left."
"Thank you, Captain," I said as Twilight, and I started to walk to the train before we were stopped.
"Oh, and human. Keep surprising me. I like it," Battleborn said as he turned his attention back to managing the guards.
"Yes, sir," I said.
Walking toward the train, I noticed that it was not the same train we had ridden to Canterlot on. It looked more worn and experienced but still well taken care of. It probably explained why we were not heading back to first class.
Arriving at the train door, Twilight and I climbed the stairs, followed by Twilight. Upon entering the train, I saw a few guards with bags of luggage on the far end of the cabin, but Twilight and I paid them no mind as we entered our designated area. It was on the smaller side, with two larger and smaller seats sitting across from each other, along with a small wooden wall table in the middle.
Twilight walked in, putting her bag on the ground next to the door, and took the longer seat, lying on her stomach. I followed her and took the smaller seat, placing my backpack next to me on the floor. Twilight's horn glowed, and she closed the door to the small cabin room. When the door was closed, I leaned forward putting my elbows on the desk and rubbed my eyelids. I could feel Twilight staring at me.
Twilight was the first to speak, clearing her throat as she did, "Jack?"
"Yeah, Twilight," I responded, lifting my fingers from my eyes.
"You know, when we get home, you have to put a bit in the swear jar. Also, thank you,' Twilight said as she made a weak smile and a very light chuckle.
My mind did not register the first part of what she had said only that she had thanked me, "You don't have to thank me. If it had been any of your other friends, I think they would have done the same. Well, maybe not Fluttershy."
"Yeah. She would have given him more than likely a stern talking to. Applejack or Rainbow Dash would have definitely hurt him," Twilight said.
"Man, I could only imagine Rainbow Dash crashing into someone on purpose. I can still taste the dirt," I said, causing Twilight to chuckle.
"You big worm," Twilight joked.
"The bookworm is calling someone else a worm. You ever hear about the pot and the kettle," I said.
Twilight's face hardened a bit, but as she was about to respond, a loud screech came from above me, causing both of us to jump in surprise. Looking up, I could see a small, slightly busted intercom.
As we started in at it, a voice sounding like Battleborn's voice came through with a bit of static behind it," Attention all guards, attention all guards. We will now be departing for Ponyville. Enjoy the two-hour rest because we have a lot of work to do when we arrive."
After the speech ended, another loud screech came through the intercom for half a second before it shut off. The train started to move, jerking Twilight and me forward a bit, causing Twilight to be pushed into her seat and me into the table. Pulling my chest out of the table, I rubbed it and looked out the window to see the station slowly starting to move away from us.
"That was uncomfortable," Twilight said as she unwedged herself.
"My ribs…," I said in slight pain before pausing for a moment before speaking again, "wait, you said swear jar?"
"I'll show you later. Now I'm going to practice my speech, and you're going to be the audience," Twilight said as she used her magic to pull a few scrolls and place them on the table.
"What don't I get a choice in the matter?" I jokingly asked.
"Nope. Anyways, let me start," Twilight responded, looking at her scrolls. "Fillies and gentlecolts…"
~~~~~~~~
Leaning back in my chair, I looked out the window to see empty fields and a very small town in the distance. The train was less than five minutes away from Ponyville, and Twilight had just finished repeating her speech for the seventh time in a row. I told her it was fine after the third time, but she had insisted.
"Hey, I can see Ponyville in the distance," I said as my view was blocked by purple hair.
"Let me see," Twilight said as she looked out the window.
"You sound excited," I said.
"of course, I am. I get to see the girls, Spike, and my books," Twilight said as she turned her head to look at me.
"Yeah, that does sound nice. I wonder how Stonehenge behaved while we were gone," I said as I leaned back in my chair.
"He probably did fine. I mean, he doesn't really do much. Save for when you and, oddly, Spike is around," Twilight said as she sat back down.
"Hey, Stonehenge and Spike are becoming friends. It will be good for both of them," I said, still watching Ponyville get closer.
"Yeah, and to be fair, Spike is going to get bigger someday, and they may have size in common," Twilight joked.
I laughed at Twilight's joke as I continued to watch Ponyville as we approached. Slowly, I could see the color of the cozy little town come into view. I could even see our home standing taller than most other homes near the edge of town. Nearing the edge of town, the ponies and their colorful bodies became more pronounced as we finally approached the station.
Slowly but surely, the train began to slow down, and the screech of the train breaks drowned out most of everything else. As we pulled into the station, I held the table to give myself support. With a slightly louder screech and a mildly strong jerk, the train came to a complete stop. I stopped grabbing the table as Twilight rose to her hoof.
"Come on, grab your stuff," Twilight said as the intercom made the same loud screech from two hours ago.
"Attention all guards, Battleborn speaking. Exit the train and start unloading. I want to be fully set up under the town hall by nightfall. Twilight Sparkle and Human, you may exit the train and head to the town hall," Battleborn said as the intercom made its loud noise as it shut off.
"I have a name, you know," I said as I stood up from my seat and grabbed my bag off the floor.
Twilight and I exited the cabin and made our way off the train. Stepping outside, I could see that the guards were already in the process of unpacking. We had been here for less than five minutes, and they moved that fast. A small crowd formed around the station with ponies watching the guards unpack their equipment. Hidden Mist made an announcement to the crowd.
"If you would like to know what is happening, please go to the town square for more information," Hidden Mist said.
With Hidden Mist's announcement, the crowd started to disperse a bit as some of the ponies began to walk toward the town hall. Twilight and I walked out of the staging area onto the dirt road, and we both started to walk toward the town square. As we walked down the dirt road, I heard a familiar equant voice.
"Twilight, Jack, you're both back," Rarity said as she approached Twilight from her right.
"Sup," I said.
"Rarity, it's good to see you. What are you doing?" Twilight asked as Rarity started to walk next to us.
"Oh, I'm on my way to get you and Jack so we could head for the town square. The others are waiting, and Mayor Mare said the princess was sending somepony to make an announcement on her behalf," Rarity said before pausing for a moment and looking at Twilight. "you're the one the princess sent. Ugh, I should have known."
"Yes, I have a speech ready. And no, I will not tell you ahead of everypony you're going to have to wait," Twilight said with a light chuckle.
"So heartless to one of your friends," Rarity said as she paused, putting one of her hoofs on the top of her head before sighing and returning to Twilight's side.
"you'll know In a few minutes," Twilight said as Rarity let out a gasp.
"Twilight dear, why are your eyes a bit swollen? Were you crying earlier?" Rarity whispered in her best attempt not to embarrass Twilight.
"Oh, um yeah, I'll tell you a bit after the announcement," Twilight responded.
"Uh, you sure, Twilight?" Rarity asked, a bit worried.
"Yeah, it's fine. I'll tell you after the announcement," Twilight repeated herself.
Rarity slowed down a bit and looked at me. She started to mouth silently to me, "What happened?"
I shook my head in response and mouthed back, "I would tell you, and I know you're worried I will explain later."
Rarity sighed and returned to Twilight's side as we entered the outskirts of the town square. There was a large crowd waiting in front of a medium-sized stage with a tan pony standing next to the podium on the stage. In the far right of the crowd, I could see Stonehenge and his very large figure acting like a beacon. Spike was on his right shoulder while I could only see the top of the hairs of the other sticking out of the crowd.
Twilight, Rarity, and I made our way around the crowd to find them talking among themselves. The ground shifted as Stonehenge was the first one to know that we were approaching from his blindside, almost like he knew we were there. The others, noticing Stonehenge, looked over at us.
"Well, look who's finally back," Rainbow Dash said with an amusing smirk.
"Twi, Jack, you're both back. How was Canterlot? Did ya'll have a good time?" Applejack asked.
"It was alright. Not the best trip, but not the worst," Twilight responded.
"It was fine," I responded as well.
"So, um, Jack, what did the princess want with you?" Fluttershy whispers, barely audible with the crowd.
"Yeah, what did Celestia want? Other than you know what," Rainbow Dash asked abruptly.
"Sorry, rainbow, but you're gonna have to wait till after Twilight makes her speech, and we're in a more private area with not so many ponies," I said.
"Boo," Rainbow Dash said.
"Twilight is the one speaking today. Oh, what is it? Did Celestia finally agree to International Cupcake Day," Pinkie Pie said as she put on a party hat with a cupcake on it.
"Pinkie, no, nothing like that. I'm going to head to the stage now. Jack, hold my bag for me, please," Twilight said as she placed her saddle bag in my hands before walking away.
Twilight made her way up the stage and began speaking with Mayor Mare for a few moments. The rest of us just watched until Rarity leaned over to me. As she was about to speak, Mayor Mare walked away from Twilight toward the stand and started talking to the crowd.
"Good evening, fillies, and gentle colts. I am sure most of you are wondering what is going on. It is with great pleasure that Princess Celestia has made major changes to Ponyville. I will now hand the stand to Twilight Sparkle, who has more information from Celestia," Mayor Mare said as she stepped to the side of the stand.
"Thank you, Mayor Mare," Twilight said as she walked up the stand, clearing her throat. "Fillies and gentlecolts, thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to listen. As of today, the royal guard will have a station in Ponyville."
A quiet murmur spread in the crowd as the ponies whispered among themselves at what they had heard.
Twilight waited for a moment for the whispers to slow before speaking, "Yes, as of today, you will see the royal guard patrolling the streets of Ponyville. Some of you may be asking why we need guards in Ponyville. The answer is with all the recent weirdness and with Discord's escape and reimprisonment. Along with the Everfree forest being so close, celestial has deemed it necessary for safety.
The crowd's whispers picked back up at the mention of this Discord individual. Twilight waited again for the whispers to die down before continuing.
"I am sure you all may be wondering who is in charge of the Ponyville royal guard. Although they are not here with us and are currently in the process of unloading the guard's equipment, I will still inform you of all of their names and ranks. First, we have Knight Commander Battleborn, who is the main leader behind the Ponyville guard. Then we have Knight Hidden Mist and Corporal Thistle's Thorn, who work under Battleborn to stage the guards." Twilight said as she gauged the crowd's reactions.
I felt a nudge on my leg as Twilight looked over the crowd. Rarity was standing next to me, looking up at me and attempting again to learn what made Twilight cry. Leaning down, I whispered in her ear.
"I know you're worried, but you have to wait. Twilight will more than likely invite everyone back to the library to explain," I said as Rarity let out a sigh and Twilight started to speak again.
"The royal guard will be temporarily located in the basement of the town hall. This is only temporary, as they plan to build proper guard barracks on the east side of town just past the bridge leading into town between the clock tower and the Everfree. Do any of you have questions regarding the guard?" Twilight asked the crowd.
The crowd looked among themselves, waiting for someone to raise their hand and ask a question. Twilight was looking over the crowd and was about to let everyone know they could leave when a blue unicorn raised her hand.
"Yes, Minuette?" Twilight asked, pointing to the raised hoof.
"How many guards will be in Ponyville now?" Minuette asked as she lowered her hoof.
"Ah yes, there will be forty guards. Forty-three, if you count the three, I told you about. Any more questions?" Twilight said as she looked around the crowd for more questions, but none raised their hoofs. "That is all I have for you today. Thank you, everypony."
Twilight took a step back from the stand as the crowd started to disperse. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash went over to the small set of stairs as Twilight walked off them. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie began to follow Twilight to the rest of us. As they approached, Applejack started to speak.
"Mighty fine speech, Sugarcube," Applejack said.
"Thank you, Applejack. Are you all free right now? I want to go over our trip with you all," Twilight asked as the group nodded in agreement. Okay, let's go to the library."
One by one, everyone started to follow Twilight down the dirt road. I paused for a moment to see a few guards carrying items in magic to the town hall. My attention was brought back by Stonehenge picking me up in his hand, allowing me to sit in his palm as he did the walking, letting my legs dangle freely in the air.
It wasn't a long walk before the treehouse came into view. As the girls approached the door one by one, they entered the library. Stonehenge used his other hand to grab Spike and set both of us down in front of the door before he walked over to his awning. Spike ran inside, leaving me the last one to walk in the door yet again.
Walking inside, I closed the door as Twilight walked over to me and whispered to me, "I'm gonna tell them. Is that all right?"
"Yeah, it's fine. They already know about the magic they can know about this," I responded.
"What are you two whispering about? Just tell us already," Rainbow Dash said as she flew closer to us.
"Yeah, don't keep us in suspense," Pinkie Pie said.
Twilight looked back at me before letting out a sheepish smile, "Well…"