Armor
*Note: This Chapter Takes Place 7 Years Before The Show*
------------------------------------------------------*Shining Armor*--------------------------------------------------
“I can’t believe my little colt is joining the Royal Guard,” my mother, Twilight Velvet, says while hugging me as I stood up from the breakfast table, trying to leave.
My father, Night Light, looks up from his newspaper smiling, “Ease up on him dear. He needs to get ready for his first day of training.”
“I know, but I still can’t believe that my Shiny’s all grow up. It makes me feel so… so…”
“Old?” I ask.
“Excuse me, young stallion, what did you just call me?!” She shouts.
“I was just trying to finish your sentence,” I say putting my hooves up.
My dad just chuckles, which makes my mom glare daggers at him. “I… uh… Y-You look as young and beautiful as you did on our wedding day.” He then says with a nervous smile.
` “Uh-hu, that's what I though.” My mom says to my dad with a wink.
“Uh… can I go now? You know I have to get to the training ground and whatnot.” I ask before this turns into either an argument or something nopony should ever see.
My mom just gives me another hug and says, “Just remember to stretch before you do a drill.”
“Of course, mom,” I reply as she let me go. I then grab my dufflebag and I walk out of the kitchen. “Bye mom, bye dad,” I quickly said to them before I left.
I start making my way out of the house when I hear a small voice come from the stairs, “Aren’t you going to say bye to me?”
I look over to see a small, purple, unicorn filly, “Sorry Twily. I thought you were still asleep.”
“I was till now,” she says before she giving a quick yawn. “Sorry. Late night studying.”
“A growing filly does need her sleep.”
“You sound like mom.”
“I heard that!” Our mother calls from the other room.
Twily just walks over to gives me a hug, “Good luck bro.”
“Thanks, Twily.”
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After leaving home I made my way to the castle, and as I was almost to the training ground when I suddenly feel two forelegs wrap around me.
“There you are!” a very familiar voice says.
“Hey, Cadence,” I say with a smile.
“I went over to your house, but Twilight told me that you had already left. So I came over here as fast as I could. So Shining, trying to avoid your marefriend?” She asks, while playing with my mane a bit.
“I’m sorry I left. It’s just a big day for me, and you didn’t let me know you were coming over. I swear I wouldn’t try to avoid you.”
She gives me a peak on the cheek and says, “I know.” She then lets go of me. “Oh, and just so you know, that the drill sergeant is a bit of a… Well you’ll see.” She says to me before she walks off.
I myself trot through the gates of the castle into the training ground. It was a rectangular area with the ground itself being nothing up dirt. There was an obstacle course in the distance, and off to the side were some pony shaped mannequins. Towards the center I saw a group of about eight ponies lined up and joined them, taking a space between a dark blue pegasus and a grey unicorn.
The next thing I knew, two wooden doors were bucked open to reveal a lime green unicorn mare with a cherry red mane, red eyes, and a cutie mark of two spears crossing each other forming an X. She wore the traditional golden armor of the guard looked like she was in her late 20s maybe early 30s. She looked at us and said, “Well look what we have here, a bunch of colts… and one filly who think that they’re good enough to become part of the royal guard.” She says before she stops in front of the blue pegasus next to me, “Tell me rookie, why are you here?”
I see him get a grin and say, “Well I’m more doing this for a job, but after meeting you, I can say that this might have more benefits than just the bits. Tell me, what’s your name sweet cheeks?”
She just glares at him and says, “I am Lieutenant Righteous Fury. Oh, and don’t think for a second I don’t know what you’re trying to do. There’s always one guy like you who thinks that we female guards are for your own amusement. Ponies like you are usually the ones who quit within the first week because they can’t handle it.” She then walks off and stops at the other pony next to me. “Oh, who’s this now?” She says to him, “Tell me your name rookie?”
“Steel Wall, Ma’am.” He says in a very deep voice.
“That’s what I thought, you’re Colonel Rattlesnake’s Colt aren’t ya?”
“Ma’am, Yes Ma’am.”
‘Wait he’s the son of Colonel Rattlesnake? THE Colonel Rattlesnake. The one who lead Equestria to victory in the Great Orc War 20 years ago. Granted he wasn’t a Colonel back then, but still.’ I thought to myself.
She then turned to me. “Oh, looks like we got Princess Cadence’s lover colt here too. Well Poneo, don’t think for a second that you’ll get any special treatment just because you’re dating Princess Celestia’s niece”
“I wouldn’t want any anyways, Ma’am,” I say.
“Good. Now all of you! Through those doors and to the left there are your sleeping quarters for the time you’ll be spending here training. Each of you pick a bed, put your belongings under said bed and return out here ASAP. Got it?!”
So we all did as she said. While putting my stuff away I heard what sounded like a slap. I turned to see the dark blue pegasus from before rubbing his cheek and fluttering over to the grey unicorn.
“Well, bit of a warning if you want to talk to that mare over there,” The pegasus said pointing to the one mare in the group. She was a light orange earth pony with a red mane, not much stood out about her. “She’s a bit of a bitch.”
The grey unicorn, Steel I think he said his name was, just rolls his eyes and says, “Seriously Light? You’ve been here for five minutes and you’ve hit on two mares, and been slapped by one of them.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault that they’re sexy. What am I supposed to do, not try to get laid?”
Steel facehooves and says, “It’s almost like you want to get kicked out.”
“No, I just…” Light began to say before Lt. Fury’s voice grabbed our attention.
“Legacy, Horndog, Poneo! Let’s go!”
It didn’t take me that long to realize she was talking about the three of us, and we quickly rush out to the training field.
“Well now, good to see that you three listened.” Lt. Fury says as we all get out there. She then points her hoof to the obstacle course, which the other trainees were already going through. “Whoever comes in last will have to clean the bathrooms, and everypony else had a head start on you three, so I would get to it if I were you.”
With that the three of us started sprinting as fast as we could, though I paid more attention to myself. I bobbed and weaved through some cart tires, climbed up a cargo net, to jump down the other side, as well as jumping over and ducking under any other obstacles. I ended up passing two other ponies, yet I did notice that Steel guy passing me at one point. I finished the course, not out of breath, but a little tired. I then look to see that the last pony to finish was that pegasus, Light, who was breathing hard.
Lt. Fury walked right up to him and says, “Why am I not surprised? Well Horndog, you came dead last.” She levitated a toilet scrubber to him. “I want those stalls to be so clean I could eat off of the seat.”
“Why would you want to do that? Clean or not a toilet seat is still a toilet seat.” Light said in a snarky tone.
Lt. Fury just looked at him like she was ready to slap him in the back of the head and with a flash of her horn, the scrubber was replaced by a toothbrush, “Any more comments and I won’t give you anything to clean with at all, got it?”
Light just sighs and says, “Yes Ma’am.”
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Later that night at the dining hall I saw those guys Light and Steel sitting at one of the tables. I walk up to the table and ask, “Is it okay if I sit here?”
“Knock yourself out,” Light says in a monotone voice.
“What my friend here is trying to say, is feel free.” Steel says.
“Thanks,” I say to them them and sit down, “So yeah, my name’s Shining Armor.”
“Steel Wall.” Steel says.
“Light Arrow.” Light introduces.
“Yeah I heard your names earlier when you were talking about that mare.” I say to Light.
“Yeah, she’s still a bitch, but hey you don’t have to worry about that.” Light says with a smirk.
“Huh?”
“Come on, I heard Lt. Fury earlier. You’re dating Princess Mi Amore Cadenza right?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re already are dating royalty. Why would you wanna waste your time on other mares? You’re basically set. Yet, that raises the obvious question, why would you be joining the guard? I mean if you marry her, you’ll be the one who’s being guarded.”
“Well, I joined because I’ve wanted to for most of my life. My uncle was in the guard, my grandfather was, his father was, and it stops there so I can’t really say so on and so forth.”
“I can.” Steel chimes in, “My family traces back to some of Princess Celestia’s first guards after the fall of Discord. So yeah, I’m part of a thousand plus year long legacy. Though my father probably is the most well know of them all.”
After taking another bite of the tasteless mush they gave us I asked, “So you were kinda forced into joining?”
“Yes and no. I did want to join, but if I didn’t I probably would have been kinda forced to so the legacy can keep going.”
“Only child?”
“No, I have a younger brother, but my father thinks he’s not guard material. Let’s just say he’s… part of the other troup.” It took me a second to get what he meant.
“Oh, well what does that have to do with anything?”
“Not sure, but my father’s like that.” There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before he spoke again. “So Shining what about your family?”
“Well, my mother’s an author, my father’s a business pony, and I have a sister.”
Light smiled at that, “Oh really?”
“Yeah, in fact she’s Princess Celestia’s personal student.”
“Really? Well...”
“Well what?”
“Is she hot?”
“Who? Princess Celestia?”
“No, I’ve seen Celestia before, I know that she’s got it going on. I meant your sister.”
“Well one, I wouldn’t be able to say so, I mean she’s my sister for Celestia’s sake, and two she’s only thirteen.”
“Oh, nevermind then… Wait, do you think she’ll be hot in five years?”
At that I stand up and shout, “What the buck is wrong with you?!”
“Jeez, no need to get so touchy about it. I was just asking. I mean when she’s legal who knows, maybe I could be a good coltfriend.”
“Light, the more you talk the creepier you sound.” Steel says while glaring at him.
“I’m not trying to sound creepy, I’m just curious.”
“Well look at it from his point of view, your sister was around the same age right?”
“Yeah,” Light responded sounding a little sad. I had a good feeling why due to the use of the word ‘was’.
“Well, what if some guy the same age as you was asking you the same questions?”
“I’d think he was a creeper and put an arrow in his skull… oh.” He looks back at me and awkwardly rubs the back of his head, “Sorry man, I wasn’t thinking of what I was saying so clearly. Don’t get the idea that I like little fillies or anything. I’m just… um…”
“Very desperate?” I ask, sitting down.
“What? Desperate? No, not at all, I’m more…”
“Extremely desperate?” Steel said with a smirk.
“I’m not desperate! And you’re one to talk, Steel, you’re single too.”
“Umm… no I’m not.”
“Wait, you’re not? Who in tartarus are you dating?”
“You remember that mare from the hospital, Violet Charm? About a week after I brought you to the hospital, I ran into her at the grocery store, we talked a bit, and she asked me out. We’ve been seeing each other ever since.”
“What? You got to be bucking kidding me! I asked her out like fifty times! I mean come on what wrong with me?!”
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
“Oh, buck you.”
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Over the next month or so Lt. Fury made us go through the drills every day, making whoever finished last have some sort of punishment, that pony usually being Light Arrow most of the time. One night though, I walked in on him while he was cleaning the bathroom yet again.
“Hey Light.” I say.
“Oh, hi.” Light replies.
“So how are you doing?”
“Well, I’m once again being forced to clean this Celestia damned bathroom. So as good as I could be right now,” we were both silent for a few seconds before he spoke again. “Hey Shining? Can I get your opinion on something?”
“Umm… sure, what is it?”
“Me. Do you think I have what it takes to even be a guard? I mean look at me, I’m scrubbing these toilets till they’re brighter than Celestia’s sun, all because I keep being the last to finish every damn drill we do. I mean, Lt. Fury flat out said I wouldn’t add anything to the guard, so I may as well quit. Should I?”
“Well, I don’t know, do you want to?”
Light remains quiet for quite some time before he responds with, “No. Shining can I tell you something?”
“Sure.”
“Remember when Steel mentioned that I had a sister?”
“Yeah.”
“You see, the key word there is had… I did some things that I’m not terribly proud of to pay for her medical bills, and I feel that if I do something with my life… I don’t know, I think it would be my way of making it up to her. I mean I wasn’t responsible for her death or anything, I just…”
“Want to live your life because she was unable to live hers?” I suggest.
“Yes, exactly!” He says. “Still do you think I’ll add anything to the guard if I make it through this?”
I had to think about that for a few moments before responding. “This is the royal guard, their job is to protect and serve not only Princess Celestia, but all of the citizens of Equestria, whether they be pony, griffin, buffalo, minotaur or whatever. Adding anything to the guard is irrelevant as long as you do the one thing a guard should do, protect.”
Light turns to look at me for a moment, then turns away and after a good 10 seconds of silence he says one simple word. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” I say to him before walking out to go to dinner.
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You know here’s some irony with that big speech I made to Light, that very next morning, Lt. Fury had several mannequins set up for a test to see if any of us had any special skills to add to the guard.
She went down the list in alphabetical order and soon it was Light’s turn.
“So Lieutenant, you want to see what skills I have.” He says with a cocky smile.
“Yes, why? Are you saying you have none?” Lt. Fury asks.
“Oh, you’ll see. Give me a bow and some arrows.”
Lt. Fury just rolls her eyes and calls for one of the privates to get said bow and arrows from the armory.
When Light got them he took at look at them, “Hmmm… rounded safety tips, not my choice, but hey we’re in training, I can see why you gave these to me, I just hope you’re not actually protecting Equestria with these instead of real arrowheads.”
“Are you going to talk or take down that training dummy?” Lt. Fury says.
Light smiled and spun one of the arrows in his hoof before putting it in the string of the bow. He pulls back and fires it right at the pony shaped mannequin, hitting it right between the eyes, or at least where the eye would be. Light gets a bigger grin and quickly fires another arrow, and another and another, just rapidly firing them till he was out. When he was done there were one in each eye area and the rest were forming a smile.
“Well good to see he has a face now, though he seems to be really happy despite having an arrow going straight through his head,” Light says with a cocky smile.
“Hmmm, surprisingly impressive.” Lt. Fury says, looking legitimately impressed.
“Oh that’s nothing, give me some real arrows and a moving target and I’ll have a real show for you.”
Light walks back to the lineup after that and Lt. Fury calls the next pony, and this keeps going until it’s my turn to go up.
I light up my horn until a magenta magical bubble shield forms around me, I then expand it to grow large enough to cover the whole training area. Not to sound like I’m bragging, but I know I could do even better, though I figured that this would be enough to get my point across.
“Hmm… nice shield size, if you’re able to keep this up then I could see some good use for you.” Lt. Fury said, “Any offensive spells?”
I put down the shield say, “Beyond a simple magical beam, not really.”
“Very well, you may go back to the line up.”
I salute before walking off.
“Okay, and now Steel Wall.”
Now Steel walks up without saying a word or even changing the expression on his face. If I had to use one word to describe what look he did have, it would be focused.
He turned and stopped when he was about 20 feet away from another mannequin. His horn glew with a light blue aura, which then formed around his front hooves. He lifts both of them off the ground and slams them both down, which literally causes a wave in the ground to go right at the mannequin, which gets sent flying into the air. Then, while it was still in the air, Steel lifted several rocks straight out of the ground and sent them right at the airborne fake pony, smashing into it, taking off one of the ears and two of the legs, one front one back. It landed upon the ground, but he wasn’t done yet, two large stone slabs rose straight out of the ground and instantly slammed into each other, sandwiching the mannequin. He then separated them, putting them back into the earth. The mannequin itself was in bad shape, one could only imagine what that would look like with a real opponent.
“Well… uhhh…” is all Lt. Fury was able to say.
Steel just saluted and joined the rest of us, who were also in just as much awe.
Not much happened after that, like one other pony did something, but I didn’t pay that much attention to it.
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About a month later it was graduation day for us. We all got fitted into some golden armor, and stood as Lt. Fury went to make a speech to those who showed up to celebrate.
“My fellow Equestrians, it is with great honor that I welcome these fine ponies into the royal guard. You all proved that you have what it takes to protect and serve the citizens of Equestria, and may we hope that you serve those citizens proudly.” The Lieutenant said aloud, to get cheers from our troup’s friends and family.
She turns around to salute us and we all salute back before we all break from the line us to talk with our families.
I joined up with my parents, Twily, and Cadence, who all congratulated me. Cadence did so with a kiss, and with a whisper of activities later on, so I can say I prefered hers. We all talked, my mom started to tear up a little, saying that her little colt’s all grown up now, my dad just wrapped a foreleg around her and snuggled up to her.
While this was happening Light came up to us. “Hey, Shining Armor.”
“Oh hi Light. What’s up?” I ask.
“I just want to thank you for the advice you gave me last week, I really needed it. You’re a good friend. We are friends right?”
“Of course, and don’t worry about it. It was no problem.” I say before I then pointed over to Cadence, “Oh yeah this is my marefriend Cadence, Cadence this is Light Arrow.”
Light put on a smile and says, “So this is the Princess huh? Well I can already tell that she’s a keeper.”
Cadence giggled a little and replies, “Thank you, but I would hope that Shiny here is dating me for more than my looks.”
I blush a bit, mostly because she called me Shiny and exclaim, “Of course I am! I love everything about you.”
Cadence snuggled up to me and says, “I know.”
“Well this is starting to get a little awkward for me,” Light says, “I guess I’ll be heading off.”
“Well my family, Cadence and I were going out to eat to celebrate, maybe you could join us,” I suggest.
“Thanks for the offer, but I want to go see my sister to tell her about me joining the guard.”
I just nod and say, “I understand.”
After he flew off Cadence asks me, “Why can’t he just join us with his sister?”
“Well… how do I say this… she… passed away.”
“Oh… Poor guy.” She said looking over at where Light was.
“Yeah, but I think he’s trying to not let it bother him too much,” I was quiet for a few seconds. “He’s a good stallion though.”
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Five Years Later…
Light and I we both dressed up in nice new suits and we went to see Steel, who was also dressed up as well, though not surprising for what was about to happen.
“Hey, there’s the groom!” Light exclaimed the second we came through the door.
“Oh, hey guys.” Steel said, actually sounding nervous, which was weird to me. During the past five years I’ve known him, I have not once heard any signs of nervousness in his voice till now.
“Something wrong?” I ask.
“Oh no nothing. I guess I’m just excited. I mean remember how happy I was when Violet said yes to my proposal? And now that the day has come... I’m just feel on top of the world.”
“I don’t see how you could,” Light says. “I mean this is marriage. Your freedom as a stallion will be forever gone after this.”
“Well you may see it that way, but I disagree.”
“Whatever you say. Next you’ll be telling me that you want to have kids.”
“Well, not yet, but maybe someday. Gotta add a new branch to my family’s legacy.”
“And if you don’t, you’ll be looked down upon by the big bad Major General Rattlesnake. Yeah we know.”
“What does my father have to do with anything? Eh, nevermind. Oh, Shining could you thank Cadence for me. Violet and I really appreciate her talking Princess Celestia into letting us have the wedding at the castle garden.”
“Sure, though Cadence did tell me that Princess Celestia said you could of just asked yourself.”
“Really? But, I’m only a Chief Warrant Officer 4, I think I should be a Captain before I personally can ask for something like that.”
I just roll my eyes and say, “You don’t have to worry about things like that, Princess Celestia is an understanding pony. Now you ready to get married?”
Steel takes a deep breath and says, “Yeah.”
“Well be prepared to kiss your freedom goodbye.” Light says.
“If what you did at the Magical Mare last night is freedom, then I think I’ll be fine with losing it.” Steel said with a smirk.
“Hey, it’s not my fault! The stripper was so coming onto me. At that point the no touching rule should be irrelevant.”
I laugh a little and walk off with them.
Five years ago I joined the royal guard. Five years ago I sat down to eat with a grey unicorn and blue pegasus. Five years ago I met my best friends. Five years later they are still my best friends.