A Guard's Day during Tea [Open]

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It was a quiet day at the Castle. The Princesses were enjoying some tea time, so most of the guards got light duty around the palace. SUre there was some Official nature of the Meeting, but when it came to tea time, the alert for the Guards was greatly reduced to help provide a calm atmosphere. Sure thee wall patrols were set for extra rounds, but inside the castle, hoof patrols were reduced and the stations were relaxed. Mainly to keep a militaristic feel off for those attending a calming event. And Flash was one of the lucky half to be placed on Standby. He had to stay in armor, stay near the guard house, but he was basically there just in case of attacks. As an Officer, and Adjutant at that, this meant he was at his desk. Fortunatly, as a pegasus, he got an awesome desk position near a large open window. With no real stack of paperwork, he could just enjoy the crisp day and keep an ear out. That and enjoy lunch. He had stopped at The Neighpon Restaraunt he really really liked for Take out, Kazuma. He had a tray of magic wrapped Rain rolls; a nice bed of rice with pressed in carrot strips, wrapped in seaweed, and topped with a tangy sauce made with fresh Rain water. He had a pot of green tea brewing near by to complete the culinary experience. Foodie Guard with a nice quiet Autumn afternoon during a Princess Tea party. It was for days like this that he was alive.

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Despite her recently having to move into a night-based schedule, Trixie still found herself getting up and walking around during daylight hours. Lifetime habits were hard to break she supposed: hopefully she would adjust soon enough. Still, there was no point wasting her time awake lamenting difficulty being awake later, so she figured it would be a good time to get a good feel for the castle she was now staying in. Using the little trick Luna taught her she was able to get from her room to the library in no time at all. Since she would probably like to go places other than the library, however, she wandered off path to start seeing the rest of the castle.

As lunch time approached, however, she realized she had not figured out how to get to the kitchen. At least, she could not figure it out from wherever she was. Even now she could begin to hear the gurgling of her stomach, the slight rumble suggesting it was time for her to get something to eat and fast. Trudging onwards, she sincerely hoped that she would find a way to get to some food soon.

She stopped, however, upon catching a hint of some kind of scent in the air. Sniffing a bit, she could smell some kind of tangy sauce and tea being brewed. Whatever it was, it smelled edible and close buy. Hopefully whoever was the owner of this food would be willing to share, just a little bit. It wouldn’t be hard to pay them back, right?

Following the smell, she eventually found herself by the guard house where a particularly orange-coated guard was enjoying his lunch. Errr, how polite was it to ask a guard for food? More importantly, was she allowed to bother them while on duty? Then again, if he was just sitting there eating food and making some tea he couldn’t be on that high of alert now could he? A another rumbling of her stomach told her to stop waffling and just take the risk of contact.

”Hey there. Nice day isn’t it?” she said as she approached. She knew better than to ask right off the back: some nice conversation first to get the guard’s guard down and then she would strike. Or maybe she would get lucky and he’d just offer food out of the kindness of his heart. Either way worked for her.

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Flash didn't even bat an eye as Trixie approached. He did notice her walking through the courtyard earlier. It also spread like Wildfire when Princess Luna decided to take the traveling Magician on as a pupil. So for her to walk around the courtyard was no issue. The pot started to whistle as she came up to the window. The opening was large enough for even the Princess to easily fly through. Made leaving the desk for an emergency really easy. "Yeah, it is one of the better weathers for a tea party. Would you like a cup? Authentic Green Tea from Neighpon?" He was already setting out a couple cup on a platter flanking the pot before bringing it over to his desk. The roll already seemed divided up between two. They were still on the same tray, Half for now and half for later. Normally the guards don't get much casual conversation, unless a nose is broken some how, so it was kind of nice to have one of the royal residents to talk to. After setting the tray down, he turned the platter of rolls to line one side up with the Magical student, sort of a silent offering of the food. "So how are you adjusting to life in the castle?"

[Trixie Lulamoon]

"Oh, yeah, a cup of tea would be great," Trixie said, glad to see that her ingenious plan to get some lunch was working. Granted she wasn't a tea expert so she had no idea what any of what he just said meant. Still, free drink!

Glancing down at the roll she saw it was split up, but she refrained from assuming he was sharing. After all he didn't say she could have it. For all she knew it was just his way of saving some for later. Still, she did eye it just a little bit to subtly drop the hint she would appreciate some.

"Oh, uhm, I'm doing okay. The night lessons are still a little tiring to get through. Not quite a night owl yet I guess. And still getting a bit lost at times, but the Princess showed me a trick to help find my way around."

Opening up her cape a little bit, she levitated out the book with the smell-illusion spell in it and set it on the window sill.

"Working on trying to get this spell right for our next meeting. It's an illusion spell but for smells. It's a whole new sense to play with so it's a little intimidating," she said, although the grin on her face and the puffing out of her chest a little suggested she was more showing off the difficulty than lamenting in it.

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Flash poured the cups and slid on to her, when he noticed the subtle hint towards the tray, he used a wing to push the tray a little closer to her, not wanting to really break up the conversation. The tea poured out a beautiful light green and the scent was that of rice. Seeing the book levitated to the window seal, he turned and pulled out a guest cushion and placed it on the other side of the seal for The Noble to use so she can sit, if she so liked. Lifting a piece up and popping it in his mouth, he heard that she was learning scent illusions. He had a small chuckle after swallowing. "Well if you want intimidating scents, go to Taco Belle just on the other side of the wall an hour after the dinner rush ends. That will scary even Celestial Beast." He worked around guards and mainly Officers, a good quarter of the position was Politics, so he was a little unfazed by the posturing of the difficulty, and took it as a sign that she was proud of what she was faced with. "You know if you need help staying awake for Late nights, I can tell you a small trick, non magical mind you, that I use during the Graveyard shifts."

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Based on his movements, Trixie believed that this guard was offering some food to her. Seeing as he was making the offer then, Trixie levitated one of the rolls and began to munch on it. Based on the look and sauce she had to guess it was Neighponese or something. Not exactly her favorite thing in the world, but it was tasty enough and satisfied her hunger. She would have to locate some other restaurants in the area, however. There had to at least be one good oatburger joint nearby.

In any case, his description of a smell almost ruined her appetite, but she was able to keep her food down.

”Thanks for the tip,” she said, her voice monotone and flat. If he was willing to talk like that to her, then she figured he was not one easily impressed. Then again, if you worked around the princesses and other high nobility all day a pony like herself probably didn’t seem that impressive.
With that thought in mind then, she slumped down a little into a more comfortable position as he continued chatting.

”If you want, but I’m planning on attempting to adapt to Luna’s schedule soon enough that it won’t be a problem for long.”

As she contemplated that, she recognized that maybe he would be able to help her out with her food problem.

”Know any good restaurants open at two in the morning?”

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Flash smiled eating another peice. After siping some tea, he just looked to her. "Actually that was part of the trick. There is a burger place that caters specifically for those of the Nocturnal Shift. It's called The Belfry. They are only open after sunset and close at Sunrise." Pulling out a map of Canterlot from his desk he passed it to her and waited to see if she would unfold it. "While their signature deal is 12 miniature oatburgers for 6 bits, they do sell other foods of that variety. Also, that map will give you the locations of all the really good food joints in the city. The Orange Circled ones are Daytime, Blue for Night time, and the Black is for 24/7." The map seemed a bit worn from excessive folding and unfolding, multiple ways across the creases. It almost looked like a faded ink treasure map of a pirate who hated rolling paper. The Circles were numerous. Almost every other block had one good place. Many of the circles also had symbols to easily denote what was there. The Haystack across from the wall was marked with a big burger, which was drawn over with a Moon. Pony Joe's was marked with a guard symbol.

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Well, going to a burger joint seemed one way to keep busy at least. Although, now that she thought about it, eating a big greasy meal might just make her drowsy; eating a big meal did that to ponies after all. Still, she was glad to know that such places would be available once her internal clock started to get more nocturnal-oriented. Not that this would be the only food she would eat of course. As a showmare she fully well understood the importance of keeping healthy and putting on your best appearance. It was just she couldn't exactly deny the pleasure of a 12-pack of miniature oat burgers.

As she looked over the map, she did notice that alongside the symbols he mentioned, there was a few others as well. The guard one she figured probably meant the owner was friendly towards guards or something, but the moon symbol seemed odd. After all, blue was for night-time, so why did it need a moon as well?

”So, what does the moon and guard symbols mean then? Must be pretty special if only two places on the whole map get them after all.”

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Flash took a look at the map to double check what she was talking about. "Ohh. The Guard Symbol is for places that are not only friendly to the Royal Guards, but also do something extra for them. Pony Joe tends to give us an extra donut when we buy a dozen. Something for the one who has to travel with them so they don't eat the whole box. Ya know." When he looked at the one over the Haystack he moved back into his seat and sipped some tea. Biy that was a wild day. The Nearly Broken nose, the forehead kiss, the mane flairs that hit him in the face. Oh yeah and the Break down. He wasn't much sure what happened after that. The rest was fun though. "Oh the big burger symbolize that they are the best in Canterlot. The other one I'm a bit surprised you just called it a moon. I thought that especially you would recognize that Cutie Mark." While he did notice alot of other ponies had a moon mark, the vast majority were Waxing or waning on the thin side, including his current guest's mark. But the Princess's was Waning just after a half moon. Maybe he didn't capture the mark just right. "Though I suppose without the dark clouds around it it is pretty plain..."

[Trixie Lulamoon]

The guard symbol was about what she could have expected…although didn’t bakers usually throw in an extra doughnut anyway? What was that called, a baker’s dozen or something? Ah whatever, wasn’t that important to her anyway. The burger simple was more relevant for her needs, if his claims of them being the best in town were true. It would have to be something she would see for herself. Oh my such a terrible task that would be…

The moon symbol, however, he decided to be annoyingly unclear in an answer. Mentioning the cutie mark, however, jogged something in Trixie’s mind.

”Okay then why do you have Luna’s cutie mark on your map? What, does the place have some special treat or something the guards have to sneak out to get for her?”

Honestly, if that was the case, Trixie thought it kind of cute. Maybe she would even stop by and bring something to the next lesson as a surprise. Even the princess had to have some kind of indulgence somewhere after all.

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Well at least she didn't need to be pointed much more towards who it belonged to, but in doing so he inadvertantly forced himself to reveal the reason. His hoof came to the back of his neck and rubbed it a bit before moving closer and whispering. "I'll tell you because you are her student but you can't let it spread to the other guards or the other Princesses ok?" He took a drink of his tea and sighed. He had a small look of uncertaintly and fear in his eyes. But a small smile on his face as he remembered that day/night. Taking one more look around to make sure no other guard was around, he looked back to Trixie. "I'm using that symbol to mark where I have taken Princess Luna to eat." There was a small blush of embarassment, mainly from the way that day ended. There was the whole shut down and reboot process and he was still unsure about how he got into her bed. Despite being charming and a gentlecolt, he always had sarmassophobia, or a fear of dating. When he realized that their outing had looked like a date to other ponies, it was all over for the poor guard's mind.

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Well, this apparently was going to be quite the secret it seemed, what with the way he was being all secretive and suspicious about it all. After promising to keep quiet, Trixie leaned in to listen. For all the build up, however, Trixie was rather unimpressed by the actual meaning.

"That's it? It's just a place you took her to eat?"

Sure, the way he was blushing suggested that it might have a bit more meaning to him, but Trixie couldn't exactly imagine the princess doing anything uncouth. On the other hoof, she couldn't blame him for being a little bit embarassed. Knowing how Canterlot tabloids could be, seeing the princess and a guard on some late night...

Ooooooh, now she got why he was blushing, and the realization caused Trixie's eyes to widen a little bit. Again, she doubted that they actually would do anything, but the perception alone could be a little embarassing. Probably best to move off topic.

"So, uhm, was there anything there that she really liked? I might swing buy and pick it up as a gift or something..."

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Flash settled down and allowed his wings to droop a bit. It seemed she caught on a bit that the subject was kind of something he didn't want to talk about. In all actuality, it was because of him fainting at the thought that the two had a date. Taking a deep breath in he brought his wings back up and thought a bit. "Food wise, I think she enjoyed the basic burger and sasparilla. But I think the most delight she had was either seeing a pony in roller skates or jumping on the stool at the bar and getting a few spins in. I'm not too sure though. It was nice to see her just a little carefree." Finishing his half of the meal, he looked to her. "So if you became a new Princess, where would you want your castle?" He seemed to talk about himself more than enough, time to see what Trixie was really like.

[Trixie Lulamoon]

Okay, burgers and sasparilla were easy enough to get. Trixie preferred a good root beer but, hey, whatever Luna wanted Trixie would be sure to sneak in for her. The second set of things Flash mentioned, however….

”Right…I might get her a burger, but I am not going to deliver it on roller skates,” she said, her tone flat but betrayed by a slight curl at the corner of her mouth. It was kind of funny to imagine the princess spinning around on a barstool or fascinated by ponies in roller skates. Trixie just wasn’t interested in being one of those things.

Flash’s question caused Trixie to stop mid-bite on one of the wraps lest she start choking in shock. Sure, she had that thing with the mirror and thinking of herself as a princess, but she wasn’t exactly feeling all that great about having such thoughts. The fact that the idea intrigued her when she was trying to “reform” brought about a really uncomfortable mixture of satisfaction and guilt.

”W-why would you think I’d become a new princess?”

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Flash just smirked as she said no to the Roller skates. Truthfully he didn't say she should deliver it on roller skates, but the image was a bit humorous. She then started choking. His wing instivly came out and patted her on the back to try and work the choking piece loose. She then answered with a question of her own. "Something just told me that Princesses take students they feel might one day take over for them. I don't know though. I'm just a pegasus guard." New phrase new image as he brought it up. The image of Trixie raising the moon every night with an extra treat of Fireworks. Sure the bat ponies might not like it, but he knew foals would.