In Duty's Name

by Cloudhammer

01 - Pushing the Limit

Chapter 1: Pushing the Limit

Canterlot, the glorious capital city of Equestria, was quiet as its inhabitants tiredly finished yet another busy day. The city’s white spires shone a fiery orange in the light of the setting sun, looking as though they were forged from flame instead of stone. Here and there ponies could be seen trudging slowly along the streets, mostly delivery pegasi or castle staff preparing for a good night’s sleep. However, one area set towards the rear of the castle was still echoing to the sounds of hooves on cobblestone, shouts and barked orders. One of the throats giving voice to those orders belonged to a snow-white stallion, his armor meticulously polished until it glittered under the fading light, his sky blue eyes narrowed as he paced back and forth in front of a line of recruits, disdain evident in every word he spoke and every step he took. The breastplate he wore bore the sigil of Celestia herself flanked by two spread wings, denoting him as a Captain. His helmet, however, was unique among the other captains drilling recruits, bearing no crest; instead a bladed ridge with a sharp hook at the front ran the length of the top, making his appearance particularly brutal.

“You recruits have to be the sorriest excuses for pegasi I’ve seen in all my years of service to the Princesses!” bellowed the pegasus, making a recruit here and there reflexively shrink in place. They already knew what would happen if they took a step back. “Honestly, you’d think they’d send me proper stallions to work with, but instead I get a bunch of colts barely old enough to fly out from behind their momma’s flanks! However, you are just in luck, for it is my sorry duty to take you all and forge you into Guards to be proud of, impossible as it may sound!”

The stallion stopped in front of a recruit and glared at him for a few seconds, causing the younger pony to quiver inside his training armor.

“YOU! Why do you want to join the Equestrian Royal Guard?”

“B-because I want to p-protect not only my family and the Princesses, but all of Equestria!” The recruit stammered out.

“A tolerable answer, but just WHAT do we protect them from?”

“Well, the monsters in the Everfree Fore…”

“WRONG!” The stallion’s harsh voice cut across the recruit’s like a sword. “We protect them from whatever Celestia or Luna tells us to, and we do it gladly and without complaint. Furthermore, when you address me you will always do so by my name and rank. DO YOU ALL UNDERSTAND ME?”

“Yes sir, Captain Cloudhammer sir!” At that the captain snorted approval.

“That’s more like it. Now, we’re going to go through the airborne obstacle course again, and this time I want it perfect. And try to avoid making a fool of yourself like yesterday, Recruit Firesong, if it’s not too much trouble.” The recruit in question tried not to let his embarrassment show as a couple other recruits snickered under their breath. Cloudhammer decided to ignore the breach of protocol for once and led them to the start of the obstacle course, consisting of a series of hoops set in an erratic pattern, some so close together that making it through them without touching the sides would be considered a miracle anywhere else. Others were so small that unless one was aligned exactly they’d get stuck, or knock themselves out hitting the edge as Firesong had done the previous day. Taking up the lead position, Cloudhammer flexed his wings and hindquarters, letting the feathers on the ends of his wings sense the wind, before snapping them up and down to launch himself forward. Passing through the first set of rings in a gold and white blur, he shot a look back to see the recruits managing the same moves with relative ease. He turned his attention forward as he navigated the second set of hoops without any real difficulty, the muscles in his back starting to burn a bit as he pushed himself forward. The recruits managed to keep up, though Cloudhammer sighed as he heard a few hooves clipping the edges of the rings.

His moment of relaxation ended as he came up on the last part of the obstacle course, known unofficially as Manticore’s Sting, a particularly brutal combination of three hoops, one set high above the ground, then the next not fifteen feet away at ground level, and the last even higher than the first. The middle hoop was also barely half a hoof wider than a fully armored pegasus with their wings folded, requiring nearly pinpoint accuracy while traveling at high speed to pass through. Cloudhammer cleared the first one perfectly, wings pumping smoothly as he dove straight down, preparing to launch himself through the middle hoop. He started to feel a pinching sensation in his left wing as it folded in tight against his side.

“Horsefeathers not now, not now…” he muttered as he cleared the second hoop with plenty of room to spare, planting his rear hooves on the ground and snapping his wings out to launch himself upwards to clear the final hoop. As his left wing extended, he could almost feel it rolling down the wing and into his body, a searing wave of pain as the pulled muscle protested the sudden movement. Gritting his teeth, he fought through it and managed to make it through the last hoop, gliding to a stop and gingerly folding the wing back against his side. Turning, he watched as the recruits finished the course, though two of them clipped the last hoop and Firesong scraped his head on the middle hoop, pulling some of his mane out. Shaking his head, Cloudhammer waited for them to form up in a line and once that was accomplished; he paced back and forth in front of them, before stopping with another exhaled sigh.

“That was… barely passable.” The recruits all relaxed slightly, but Cloudhammer wasn’t finished yet. “However, before you get dinner, you’re going to make up for it by flying twenty laps around Canterlot, and if anypony tries to skip out, they’ll be getting a look inside my office.” The recruits all froze, as all of them had heard from older recruits that anypony who got to see the inside of Cloudhammer’s office, would be doing so with his dismissal forms in hoof. Cloudhammer started to take a breath to continue berating them when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye.

“RECRUITS! FORM UP!” He bellowed as a large white pony with a flowing, multicolored mane, wings and a unicorn horn landed gracefully in front of them. The recruits as one straightened their line, and in unison with Cloudhammer, bowed low enough for their chins to scrape the dirt.

“Oh, no need to be so formal my dears.” Princess Celestia said, gesturing with a hoof for them to stand back up. The recruits got to their hooves, though none of them looked Celestia in the eye. Cloudhammer moved in front of the row and inclined his head.

“Princess, a pleasure to see you as always, but what brings you out here? Shouldn’t you be preparing to lower the sun?”

The princess laughed warmly, “Oh, Luna’s going to try her hoof at it this evening, so I decided to see how this year’s batch of recruits is doing.”

“I’m sorry you had to see them give such a sorry performance Princess, sometimes I wonder if the Guard’s ever going to get a decent batch of recruits to work with.” The princess frowned slightly at Cloudhammer’s remark.

“Now Cloudhammer, there’s no need to be so harsh on them, I’m sure they’re doing the best that they can…” Cloudhammer cut her off with a hard snort, and the entire line of recruits sucked their breath in as one, certain that their captain was about to make a very grave mistake.

“Now see here Celestia, I know what it takes to be a Guard. I know for sure these recruits aren’t anywhere near ready enough to serve, and I for sure don’t need you coming along behind me, second-guessing my decisions and undermining my authority, when you frankly aren’t making the best decisions yourself! I mean come on, letting Luna handle lowering the sun?” And as if to punctuate his point, the final rays of day hesitated for a few moments before finally sliding below the wall. Cloudhammer gestured impatiently with a hoof. “You see? She can’t even get one measly sunset done properly!”

With each part of Cloudhammer’s ranting, the look on Celestia’s face grew darker and darker, and the recruits would take a half step back, putting some distance between themselves and their captain. After finishing, Cloudhammer turned as if remembering the recruits were still there.

“Well what are you waiting for, an invitation? GET MOVING AND DO THOSE LAPS!” As one the pegasi leaped into the air in a jumble, before arcing over the wall and out of sight. Cloudhammer and Celestia waited for another moment before Cloudhammer snorted, then both started laughing uproariously. Celestia put a hoof to her mouth and stopped first, turning a reproachful gaze onto her captain. “Now, I do think you went a little far that time, did you see the looks on their faces? They probably think I’m banishing you to the moon as we speak.”

Cloudhammer chuckled. “That’s nothing, wait until they see me walk into the dining hall without a scratch on me.”

Celestia smiled, before turning her eyes to his left wing, which was still twitching slightly. “So, how bad does it hurt?”

Cloudhammer looked at his rebellious appendage sternly, forcing the trembling to stop. “It’s nothing Princess, just a little stiff this evening is all.”

“Indeed, now Cloudhammer, please don’t lie to me, I could tell from a hundred feet away that you overdid it again. You’ve done more than could ever be expected of a pegasus, you could accept the promotion I keep offering you each year…” Cloudhammer cut her off with a heavy sigh.

“We’ve been over this, I can’t stand being cramped up in an office all day, and my place is here with the recruits.”

“If this is about your son…” The glare Cloudhammer shot her was enough to give even somepony as ancient as her pause, before she decided to lay aside that conversation for another time. “In any case, you’re going to get that wing looked at, even if I have to make it an order.”

Cloudhammer sighed acquiescence and the two began to walk towards the Canterlot medical center. Once there, the entire waiting room tried to bow to Celestia, much to her chagrin and Cloudhammer’s snort of amusement. She motioned for everypony to please stand, as the doctor, a unicorn with a stethoscope for his cutie mark trotted out into the waiting room, dropping the chart he had been levitating as he spotted the princess. “Princess! It is truly an honor for you to grace us with your presence this evening. If I had known you were coming, I’d have had the staff clean up a bit first.”

Celestia smiled warmly. “Oh that wouldn’t have been necessary, I was just walking with an old friend to make sure he was okay.”

The doctor looked puzzled at this before he spotted Cloudhammer standing next to her. His expression instantly soured. “Oh, you again? What’d you go and do to yourself this time? Well no matter, let’s take a look at you.” His horn lit with a soft red glow as a similar cloud appeared around Cloudhammer, brushing swiftly over him before stopping on his left wing. “Ah, I see, hmm, looks like a strained joint, pulled a tendon too, nothing too severe, though we are going to have to put that wing in a sling for a few days, let it get some rest. And I don’t want to hear a word of complaint from you.” The doctor had taken care of Cloudhammer many times in the past, and knew full well what that ugly look in his eye meant. The doctor motioned for a nurse, who quickly brought a bundle of bandages and a sling, and with a few deft pulses of magic, Cloudhammer’s wing was bandaged and held firmly against his side by the sling. The doctor examined it for a moment, then nodded. “You know the drill by now, you can take the sling off to take off your armor, no taking the bandages off, and nothing more advanced than a gentle climb.”

Cloudhammer nodded sullenly, before brightening a bit and cuffing the doctor on the shoulder. “Thanks again Scopes”

The doctor’s expression soured even more, much to Cloudhammer’s amusement. “I’ve told you a thousand times not to call me that!” With a huff, the doctor turned and stormed off down the hall, the nurse and Cloudhammer both trying not to laugh. Celestia shook her head ruefully before turning her head curiously as the sound of running hooves could be heard from outside. Suddenly, a stretcher carrying an unconscious unicorn stallion pushed by two earth ponies burst through the doors, narrowly swerving around Celestia and coming to a halt. The earth pony in charge called down the hallway. “Doctor Silverheart, we need you right now!”

Silverheart wheeled about and galloped back to the stretcher, horn already lit as he cast his magic over the unicorn. “What happened?”

The earth pony shrugged, “Dunno, witnesses at the scene said he was walking by carrying a few items with his magic when he suddenly dropped them. When he tried to pick them up again nothing happened. Apparently he then suffered a panic attack and hyperventilated until he passed out.” Silverheart nodded and together with a nurse took over, wheeling the cart down the hallway. Celestia looked onward, concern written on her face, and started to follow them. With a sigh, Cloudhammer trotted after her, catching up with her as the stretcher and Silverheart passed through a set of double doors. Celestia stopped there, before sighing and taking a seat on a bench. Cloudhammer took up a standing position next to her, and started to settle into the usual thousand-hoof stare before Celestia’s voice jolted him back to attention.

“Is your wing still bothering you?” He looked down at it, flexing the muscles and wincing a bit as they protested the movement. “A little, but it’s not too serious. Don’t worry yourself about me Princess.”

She smiled at his confident tone, and looked ready to say something else, but the sound of the doors opening caught her full attention as Silverheart pushed the doors open. Celestia was on her hooves and focusing her gaze on him. “Is everything alright?”

He sighed before meeting Celestia’s worried gaze. “He’s stable for now, though something did concern me. As I was examining him, I felt his magic shift and lessen, as if he were casting a spell, though no actual spell was cast. I’m not sure what that means, I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years as a doctor.”

Celestia frowned, but nodded her acknowledgement of what Silverheart had said. “Well, let me know if anything else develops. Captain, if you’d follow me please.” With that she turned and trotted briskly down the hall, Cloudhammer having to canter just to keep up. Once they were outside, she stopped, allowing herself a moment to enjoy the sight of the moon, which was just starting to peek over the walls.

“Cloudhammer, I’m going to go look into some things, I’d like you to go get some rest, and take it easy on that wing.” With that, Celestia leaped into the air, flapping her wings once before gliding out of sight behind one of the castle spires. Cloudhammer watched her go before sighing wearily and making his ways along the streets towards his home, not looking forward to explaining to his wife the reason for this new injury.

Comments

[Rust]

Well well well, what do we have here? I've seen you around this site, mate, and i'm pleased you put something up. This has the promise to become an excellent story. If this is your first submission, i congratulate you, good sir. A job well done, indeed. Five starred. I will be following this work with interest.

[Cloudhammer]

72677 Thanks a lot, I've had this idea for a while, just wanted to make sure that I'd gotten the characterization of actual canon characters down pat. I also spent a lot of time working on Cloudhammer's character background, is a habit from roleplaying, in that when I'm making a new character I actually start out from their birth or early childhood, and get a general idea for how they grew and developed into the character they are in the 'pesent'

[Rust]

Thorough character development is a good thing. Pulling a half-assed job on an OC runs the risk of self-insertion. Then again, self-inserion isnt necessarily bad, provided your psyche is interesting enough when schlepped onto your character.
If ya need any help, throw me shout-out. I released my own first story not a four days ago, so I guess I could say we may be in the same boat.

[Da Bunnana King]

All I can say is tracked

[katarjin]

track this i shall

[Butterscotch Cream]

I have read the first chapter, and I already like this story. I will definitely be reading the rest!
(after I get some sleep, though!)

[Rainbow Sparkle]

An interesting start. I certainly enjoyed the bit where Cloudhammer was berating Celestia. He's a true officer alright, not afraid to tell the folks in charge how they can kiss his flank
Hmmm...a loss of magic. Foreshadowing, I sense. Important, this will be in future chapters.

Didn't spot any errors of any sort, or if there are any they weren't glaring enough that my brain couldn't auto-correct them as I read.

[Borg]

I imagine suddenly losing your magic suddenly would be a good reason to panic. Kind of like if you abruptly lost the ability to move your hand (on very rare occasions, one of my fingers gets stuck bent a little backwards, and there's always a moment of "AHHHHH HELP WHY CAN'T I MOVE IT" before I get it to behave. It feels deeply wrong to what seems like an excessive level). I suspect suddenly not being able to move your hand could be pretty traumatic.