Warhammer 40k:Night Guards Stallion

by chaoswarboss0201

Day job

CHAPTER 1: Day job
<Training Ground, Canterlot Castle>:
The wooden sword flew over the grey pegasus stallion’s head in an overhead chop, missing the top of his black mane at the last moment due to the older stallion ducked and leaped forward and closer to his opponent and lashed out with a hoof to the back of the fore-leg. The younger stallion, his cloak the color of honey, buckled and fell face-first into the dirt covered floor of the training ground. The grey stallion then turned around and raised his hoof to grab at another sword coming down at his flank before pulling both sword and wielder towards him, using the momentum of the thrusting blade again its user. The second attacker, a pegasus with turquoise cloak and leaf-green mane, found himself pulled downward and onto his partner, who is attempting to stand up, forming a heap of young stallions. Both stallions were scrambling to rise when the toll of a bell prompted them to fell again, both letting out a relieved sign.

“Saved by the bell, eh?” The grey stallion approached the two prone ones. His black eyes scanning around the edge of the elliptical training ground, taking in the sight of a group of injured young ponies before settling back to the two younger stallion, now standing wobbly on aching legs, their wooden practice blade on the ground next to them.

“Quicksilver, Avalanche, you two has improved from last time, lasting a full three minutes and thirty seven seconds today, but it is still more than a minute away from the required time. Ten laps around the castle then get you flanks to the infirmary. ” He addressed the two stallions in front of him before looking behind to see that the rest have assembled in a neat line and waiting for his instructions. He bellowed.

“And you all, each of you have failed to survive even a minute. What a disgrace! I wonder what kind of horseapples you all have for basic training because it is not up to my standard and therefore failed to meet the standards the princesses required in their officers! Twenty laps around the castle for each of you and I expect all to be here tomorrow by sunrise, latecomers will receive thirty five laps around the castles as punishment. Dismiss!”

“Sir, yes, sir!” All of the assembled ponies saluted in unison before scrambling towards the archways that led out of the training ground.

“Isn’t that a bit harsh?” A calm, quiet voice asked from the shadow of one of the pillar surrounding the training area.

“That’s basically the point, they will get better, in time, just like the last batch.” The veteran instructor grinned as he turned towards the newcomer. Stepping into the arena-like area is a unicorn with a bone-white cloak and an azure mane, his demeanor regal but firm, a mark of a noble warrior, which contrast him with the grey-cloaked instructor, whose gruff and abrasive manner speaks of one born to fight and little else.

“You know, I never pegged you as a drill sergeant nasty type, Loud Blade.” The newcomer commented as he picked up a discarded training blade and twirls it around in his hoof.

“Oh trust me, I’ve seen a lot worse drill sergeants, this is nothing new. I don’t hurt them … much. So, got any free time, Paper Bullet?” Loud Blade asked, picking up the other blade.

“Not enough for a spar if that’s what you mean. I have to get down to the infirmary to do inventory. Luna wants the report tomorrow. You know I can’t beat you with a blade anyway so why waste my time?” Paper Bullet replied, levitating the blade before him using his horn before telekinetically tossed it towards Loud Blade.

“Heh, I guess you’re right. I could hang out at the Pickaxe for the rest of the day.” Loud Blade caught the second blade in his mouth before putting them back at a rack on the edge of the training field.

“Right. We’ll meet you there after we’re done.” Paper Bullet said as he and Loud Blade parted ways.
“If you can get our mutual friend away from his work, that is.” Loud Blade replied before he galloped towards the castle main entrance.
“Well, I’ll try.” Paper Bullet said to himself.

<Infirmary, Canterlot Castle>:

Doctor Soul Healer looked down at his patient with an intense disapproving glare.
“I remember explicitly telling you, Prince Blueblood, to refrain from engaging in strenuous activities.” The black orbs of his eyes bore into the royal youngster in front of him, making the young royal stallion flinched and squirmed.

“But I have to join the annual bingo tournament hosted by the Canterlot Nobility club! It’s tomorrow. Can I leave for just one night! Please!” The begging is downright out of character for the young prince and Blueblood was eternally grateful that he is the only patient present in the infirmary at the moment.

“I said “No”. If you disobey my order to stay in bed one more time, I will amputate your hooves and reattached them back, which will take two weeks instead of the three days of bed-rest I initially prescribed.” The doctor growled. The nurse standing next to him, a slender cream colored mare with light blonde mane wearing a nurse shirt, tried hard not to wince at her boss just threatened a member of the royal family.

“But you can’t…” The prince was silence by another glare, which convince the royal colt that the doctor meant what he said.

“My infirmary, my rule, the princess themselves have to concede, if they know what’s good for them, do not presume you can tell me what I can and cannot do.” Soul Healer’s monotone retort somehow seems more intimidating to the blue colt.

“B-b-b-b-but…” the blue young stallion stammered, but never got to finish what he said.

The doctor’s horn glowed, the ash grey magical aura seems contrasting to his profession. In an eye-blink, a small syringe flew from a tray on a nearby table and jammed itself into the neck of the protesting stallion. He widened his eyes for a second before slumping backward.

“Glad to have that handy.” muttered the older stallion. “Thank you, nurse Cotton Pad.” He added.

The doctor then made his way towards his office, the nurse following closely behind. He is a tall stallion, one of the few in Equestria matching the height of a princess. His cloak is a dark shade of blue, like the darkest of starless night. His mane, however, stand in contrast with the bright platinum cropped neatly, forming a militaristic crest atop his head. As a doctor in the royal infirmary, he was wearing a white lab coat, covering his back and concealing his cutie mark from others.

“Your vacation starts tomorrow, nurse Cotton Pad?” The doctor asked.

“Y-yes doctor Night Healer.” The nurse answered, using the doctor’s official name on paper.

“You can leave early, you know? Not much work left to do.” The doctor continued.

“I-I can?” Cotton Pad stammered, genuinely surprised.

“I know I drive my nurses hard, but I know when to give you breaks.” Soul Healer said, stopping at the door to his office at the end of the long hall of the infirmary.

“You can go now.” He said, looking at his still confused nurse. “I hear Appaloosa’s weather is nice these days. Enjoy your vacation, you have earned it.”

The dumbstruck nurse just nodded her head, unused to the fact that her normally aloof and stoic boss just utter more than two sentences that is not instructions or reprimand, before nodding dumbly and trotting towards the infirmary’s exit.

“Luna’s right, I really need to work on those pony skills.” The doctor grumbled before stepping into his office.
It was a small, orderly haven, with neatly stacked file cabinet surrounding a desk, with writing utensils and basic medical apparatus lining perfectly in order. He approached his desk and about to sit down when a knock on the door made him turned his head back.

“Come in.” Soul Healer said, unsure of who would want to meet him at this time of the day.
The door opened to reveal a pearl pink unicorn with a light purple mane. As she made her way shyly into the office, Soul Healer could see that her cutie mark is a blue heart-shaped jewel with white wings adorning either side. She looks just like any other unicorn, just with a slightly more slender built than most of his nurses, but the doctor noticed something different about this mare.

“How can I help you?” the doctor asked, trying to force his voice to deviate from the normal monotone.

“I… I heard the infirmary is looking for part-time nurses?” The unicorn mare answered softly, her voice gentle and possesses a certain melodious quality to it.

“Indeed, we are.” The dark blue stallion answered as he telekinetically pulled a chair towards his desk. “Please sit down, I would like to ask you a few questions, miss…”

“You can call me Cadance, sir.” The pink mare answered the unspoken question before gracefully sit down.

Soul Healer’s eyebrow rose slightly. He recognized that name from the list of family members that he and his brothers learned from Luna. It is a commonly used alias of a royal princess named Mi Amore Cadenza, a young alicorn with powerful emotion related abilities. The reason she is in front of him, disguising as a unicorn and looking for a job however, escape the doctor as he asked her the routine questions he always asked his other applicants while silently observing her.

“This is something new alright. I need to speak with Luna and the rest later.” He thought. “Meanwhile, I could indulge this for a while.”

“One of my nurses is on leave, so I guess you could do her work starting tomorrow, at seven. Do not be late. I have to warn you beforehand though. I have high standards for my assistants, regardless of whether they are part-time or full time employee. I expect the best from you, Cadance.” Night Healer told Cadance as they both stood up.

“Thank you very much, doctor Night Healer.” Cadance replied, offering a slight bow of respect.

“Now that’s rare, a royal with humility.” Night Healer thought, cataloguing in his head the royal members who could be related to the young mare in front of him as she was leaving his office. “I guess I really need to talk to Luna tonight.”

<A bar, somewhere in Canterlot:>
The cyan stallion sailed through the air, across rows of tables before passing through the opened door and landed in a heap at the steps leading up to the pub, joining four other young stallion of various color and state of consciousness. It was a rowdy night in the “Salt mine and Pickaxe” or “Pickaxe” for short, a seemingly humble establishment that served saline consumables to ponies who looks for some intoxication in life as well as the allure of dancing mares. As with any other bar and pub in Canterlot, when someponies got drunk, it gets rowdy and sometime messy.

Today is such a day.

It started out with just a group of young stallion having fun but after a few Sea-salt Bomb too many that some stallions got grabby at one of the dancing mares and a fight broke out. Fortunately, this particular establishment has someponies who can stop brawls and more.

The pony who sent the cyan stallion flying across the pub, the owner of the “Pickaxe”, is a hulking giant of a stallion, almost as tall as Princess Celestia herself, with brass-color coat and a blood red mane, the mark on his flank is that of a frothing mug of liquid. His eyes are currently narrowed in annoyance as he looked around at the bar for anypony else trying to start trouble.

“Any pony feels like fighting in my bar?” the brass stallion growled, his voice deep and sibilant, as if containing a great rage bubbling just below the surface.

The eerie silence of the bar was the only response he gets.

“I thought so.” grumbled Night Drinker, before raising his head high and bellowed “SORRY ABOUT THAT, EVERYPONY! JUST A ROUTINE TRASH CLEANING! FREE SEA-SALT BOMB FOR EVERY PONY!”

The whole bar cheered at that. And with the free drink being passed around everypony forgot the beat-down that just took place.

“Night Drinker, Boss, you need to stop beating up troublemakers then give every patron free drinks.” Shakey Glass, the barpony said to his boss. “It’s bad for business.” He added reluctantly.

“Why? Everypony is happy, they are not scared of this place, and me. I say it’s a good trade.” Night Drinker replied before
making himself a Sea-salt Coco, one of the stronger drinks that the bar offered. It is made from 2 ounces of sea-salt, freshly brought in from the coastal city of Hippocampa and a shot of hot dark chocolate. One such shot is enough to force anypony to call it a night and head home, but night Drinker is not just anypony. His enhance physiology allow him to enjoy the half salty, half bitter taste without feeling its debilitating effect.

A gentle tap on the bar counter shook the big brass stallion from his enjoyment to look at he looked from behind the counter to see a grey stallion as tall as himself standing and tapping his hoof on the counter, grinning.

“Saw the pile before I got in. Too much sea-salt?” Loud Blade asked.

“Little punks think a few Sea-salt bomb can make them tough stallion and can grab my dancers. Doesn’t sit well with me.” Night Drinker replied as he downed another shot of Coco.

“Lucky for them I guess. I just got off shift at the academy and the colts there could give me a warm-up even when they work together.” Loud Blade chuckled.

“I bet. Name your poison, brother.” Night Drinker grinned.

“Whatever you’ve been drinking.” Loud Blade replied. “And where’s Craggy?” He asked as the brass stallion fetched the drinks, looking around for his favorite hoof-wrestling opponent.

“I’m here, Blade.” Came the rumbled reply from a large stallion sitting close to the performing platform where a young, pretty mare is dancing, swaying her body inside a large spinning lasso held in her mouth. “Drinker gave me the night off, I’m just chilling here.”

Craggy Face, or just Craggy to his friends, is the bouncer of the Pickaxe, the one who usually take care of trouble makers. As tall as Loud Blade and Night Drinker and just as strong, they have made fast friends the moment Night Drinker opened the Pickaxe for business and need a bouncer. Ponies who have met the scarred and brutal-looking draft stallion always said that the he has the rotten luck of being born in the wrong era. They said he would be right at home in the ancient era before the reign of the Royal Sisters, swinging his weapons into the face of some unfortunate windigos or griffons.

“How are things around these parts these days? Anything new?” Loud Blade asked as he downed a shot, enjoying the bitterness of the Dark Chocolate in his throat

“Just the usual. Although there are a couple of royal guards the other day that said something interesting. Tell me, Blade, is this true that old Silver Lance is retiring?” Night Drinker asked as he put a shot of Sea-salt Coco on the counter.

“The Royal guard Captain General? Yes, I heard about it from the recruits. About bucking time I say.” Loud Blade answered.

“Anyway, we could ask Paper Bullet later. He handles paperwork for everything in the palace, so he got all the juice on that.” The grey stallion added as he downed the drink in one gulp.
+++++
<Everfree forest >

Scare Hunter dropped into a clearing in the middle of the forest. He looked behind him to ensure that his pursuers are not on his tail, surreptitiously or otherwise, before dropping onto his haunches and perform an assessment of his own injuries. His side throbbed painfully, both from the two cracked ribs and the strain of running non-stops for nearly a day. Along his indigo back, there are bruises and cuts that come from the relentless assault of squads after squads of changelings. Blood is slowly seeped from a gash on his flank right atop his cutie mark, a dagger crossing a cloak, where a changeling officer’s horn scores a lucky hit. His right wing is still suffering from spasms, the muscle disrupted from the barrage of changeling magic that now make him temporarily unable to fly.

It was supposed to be a simple recon mission into the Barren Waste beyond the Everfree forest, near the border with the Griffin Empire. Scare Hunter, the lucky stallion that he is, stumbled upon a force of changelings, nomadic, parasitic emotion eater with somewhat equine appearance like that of the ponies of Equestria. From what the stallion overheard, they are one amongst numerous vanguard groups that is secretly arriving and hiding in various wilderness across Equestria.

At least, that’s what he can overhear before being discovered.

The response of the changeling company is efficient, which leads Scare Hunter to conclude that this is a military force instead of a group of straggling nomadic changeling. Most ponies would never have stood a chance against such professionally trained soldiers.

Scare Hunter, however, is not most pony.

The changelings blocking his escape soon found out to their detriment that the charging stallion can hit with the power of several sledgehammers, trampling and tossing them away like insignificant insects. Others seeks to close in and tackle him, only to be met with powerful bucking from metal-clad hooves, crushing bones and carapaces, breaking legs and rupturing skulls. As the changeling threw themselves at the escaping stallion, he employed other means to fend them off. From the bottom of his right hoof, a hidden blade popped out, short but deadly. Scare Hunter slashed at a leaping changeling, the metallic blade met the chitinous plate of the chageling’s scale and cut through, dark green ichor jetted out, drenching the surrounding combatant, distracting them from the stallion, who now turned back and leapt through their ranks, stabbing and cutting his way through the horde.

Scare Hunter knows even a stallion such as himself, who is a powerful warrior, could still be overwhelmed by superior number and he was beginning to regret not bringing his armor with him. But in this situation require another, more counter-intuitive solution. As he fought, Scare Hunter observed the small horde of changelings, looking for weaknesses. There are the grunts, who throw themselves into melee combat with the stallion, hoping to overwhelm him, these are easy to cut down, but their sheer number make it exhausting to fight them all. Then there’s the changeling magician, foot soldiers with limited magical attacks. Sickeningly green bolts streak from the horn-like appendage crested on their foreheads towards the melee, hitting the grunts more frequently than their intended target. However, once in a while a lucky shot connected, like the one damaging Scare Hunter’s wing. Behind them all, stood the commanding changeling, slightly taller and broader than the soldiers under its command and sporting a short cloak and helmet to signify its position, this changeling coordinate its brethren into a cohesive fighting force and ensure their objective is done.

Scare Hunter cut a path towards this particular changeling.

The changeling commander was barking out orders for the others to keep firing at the melee when a large shadow leapt over him. The last sight he saw before dying is the flash of a blade….

Scare hunter was shaken out of his recollection by a long howl.

“Timber wolves.” The wounded stallion murmured. “Just my luck.”

Then he smelled it.

Fear.

A cursed legacy from a previous life, Scare Hunter’s ability to locate and absorb the fear of others to temporarily strengthen himself in combat is a handy ability, if still somewhat unwelcomed. It makes him a great tracker of criminals and spies but also make him shy away from large, busy cities like Canterlot, where the fear is much more abundant than out in the wilderness, to avoid overdosing on it.

The fear he is smelling is coming closer, the sweet scent invigorate the wounded stallion’s body, making him ignore the pain from his wounds and trotted carefully towards the direction it is emanating from.

Poking his head out of the bush, Scare Hunter saw a pale yellow Pegasus mare with sweet girlish pink mane, the source of the intoxicating fear, being cornered by a pack of timber wolves. She looked terrified as she backed up towards a tall dead tree while the wolves surrounded her, their wooden body taut and coiled, waiting to pounce.

Ignoring his own body’s protest, Scare Hunter leapt out of the bush.

Fluttershy is scared.

The pale yellow mare with rose colored mane being afraid of something is nothing new to the ponies that know her, but the fear she is feeling now is debilitating, making her forget the wings on her back and her ability to use them as she ran from the pack of wooden canine that seems intent on harming her. She was coming back from Zecora’s hut, bringing back herbs and medicine to help with an outbreak of flu that had struck most of her animal friends, Angel the bunny included, when the wolves leapt out and started pursuing her. She ran, hoping to discourage the timber wolves but they are relentless in their pursuit and eventually the young mare tire and was cornered.

Trembling as the largest timber wolf approached her, Fluttershy sobbed out “Sorry… Angel” and closed her eyes.
Instead of the wolves’ claws tearing into her body, Fluttershy feels a gush of wind blow by before opening her eyes when she heard a loud crash.

What she saw amazed the pale yellow Pegasus.

Standing between her and the pack of timber wolves is a towering Pegasus stallion, as tall as princess Celestia herself, with light indigo coat and chocolate brown mane. Lying twitching a short distance away is the largest timber wolves that were chasing her, the alpha of the pack, its lower body shattered into numerous splinters. The other wolves, enraged at their leader’s loss, pounced at the stallion.

They never stood a chance.

The next ten seconds seems surreal to Fluttershy as she saw the stallion laid waste to the wolves, with precise bucks and kicks from steel-clad hooves that turn the timber wolves into piles of wood splinters. However, upon closer observation, she could see that the stallion is wounded. Along his side and across his wings, cuts and bruises can be seen, some still are bleeding. Too scared to speak, the mare could only observe the brutal melee.

When it was over, the stallion turned around and Fluttershy could see his face. A long, masculine face with hard, angular jaw and a short-cropped chocolate mane. But it was his eyes that caught the mare. It is old, scarred, like it belongs to somepony eternal, immortal like the princesses. It carries a weight of knowledge profound and terrible.

“I guess these mutts won’t be bothering you anymore…” The stallion said, his voice tired as he cracked a friendly smile. “So… How are you?” he asked, noticing the stunned look that she was giving him.

“I-I-I ….” Fluttershy squeaked out weakly.

“It’s alright…”The stallion said, still smiling. Then he keeled over and lost consciousness.

Comments

[chaoswarboss0201]

1010017
I am, brother. I am.

[BenRG]

Poor Flutters! I'm wondering just how a hardened Space Marine would respond to waking up in Fluttershy's bed with her fussing over him?