//------------------------------// // The first day of a Lunar Guard // Story: LunaSqueak: adventures of a Lunar Guard // by Kaliann25 //------------------------------// The first day of a Lunar Guard At the next day, the new cadets woke up and put on their new armors, recently invested with the Moon Emblem. It was almost the same that they did when they were still trainees but now, instead of heading to the training field, they headed to the bulletin board. The board had several lists with the names of the officers in charge and the soldiers they would have under their command for the day. They were really proud of themselves. This was their first day not as rookies, but as official soldiers. “It seems that I am part of the Sector C patrol.” read Cold Fusion out loud. “Sector D.” read Reality. “Cool!” The others found their assigned chores, and went to join their respective units. Now that they have finished their training, they won’t work as a unit on their own anymore. Now they would rotate every day with the rest Lunar Guard. It was a shame since they grew really close during that four months. But at least they still shared dorms, and a table during the meals. After saying goodbye to his companions, Pip joined his unit. The day’s assignment was the most boring of them all. But also the most important for the Lunar Guard. Princess Luna’s escorts. Once the unit was complete, they headed to Princess Luna’s room. Pip smiled nostalgically as he remembered all the sleepovers with his favorite Princess/best friend. When he was little he even stayed on Luna’s bed, and even bathed with her. Then when Pip grew older, he stayed on a sleeping bag and eventually, the castle’s guest’s rooms. But each time he visited he spent most of the time at the Princess’ room. They arrived to the door, and took positions in front of it. They won’t go any further. They respected the Princess’ privacy. Pip nodded and adopted a rigid position at the left of the door, but his companions laughed and invited him to relax with a gesture. “Easy pal, there’s no need to be so formal if the Princess is not seeing you.” “Are you sure?” asked Pip. His captain, a unicorn called Total Eclipse, smiled. “Of course, we are strong but not made out of stone, kid. Who do you take us for, Solars?” The rest of the unit laughed. “Yeah, they spend most of their days learning to stay still. What a waste of time!” “No wonder why we always kick their flanks when we fight!” celebrated a pegasus one, flexing his powerful wings. When they calmed, Total Eclipse gave an evaluative look to Pipsqueak. “Hey, now that I look at you closely, aren’t you that kid who used to follow Princess Luna everywhere?” Pipsqueak saluted. “Yes sir! Recruit Piper Squeak, sir!” Total Eclipse raised an eyebrow at this. “Don’t you mean ‘cadet’?” Pip blushed. “Oh, you are right!” Total Eclipse simply put a hoof on Pip’s shoulder. “Easy kid, it was hard for me to get used to that too.” “Yeah, just try to relax, okay?” advised an earth pony mare. “Just get firm when the Princess, or somepony else passes by.” “Except for Celestia. You can ignore her all you want!” added another earth pony. “I think he gets it!” joined the pegasus. “Remember that he was the one who made fun of Celestia on his first week!” Pip smiled. “Yeah, I’ve been with the Princesses plenty of times and I knew I could get away with that. It was fun.” The soldiers gave Pip a friendly slap on his back and then they recharged against the wall to pass the time. And most to Pip’s surprise, they weren’t quiet. No, everypony was telling jokes, exchanging opinions about the Hoofball League, or talking about their families. “There’s something wrong, Squeak?” asked commander Eclipse. “Eh, nothing. Is just that I’m surprised that we are allowed to talk during shifts.” “As long as we don’t bother the boss, we can talk as much as we want.” explained the pegasus, Flaming Ink. “And when she sleeps, there’s no power in Equestria that can wake her up. You should know better than anypony!” Pip giggled and finally was able to relax. Two hours later, the doors opened, letting pass Princess Luna. Immediately all the Guards saluted her, firm. She raised a hoof. “Rest, soldiers.” The soldiers bowed and said in unison. “Good morning, Princess Luna, your Majesty!” One of the voices called Luna’s attention. She quickly turned around, and smiled in delight. “Pipsy! It is you! Oh, this is so great. I can’t believe this is your first assignment!” She approached to hug the stallion, but Pip moved backwards and raised a hoof to make the Princess stop. “Princess Luna, please stop. I politely ask you to stop calling me by that nickname during my shifts. As long I am wearing this armor, I am Cadet Piper Squeak. But when my shift ends, feel free to call me however you like.” Princess Luna sighed. “I get it, this is not the time.” She couldn’t complain. It was Luna herself who told Pipsqueak that they couldn’t be as close as before if he joined the Guard. The Princess headed to the dining room, where she would have breakfast with her older sister. As they advanced through the hallways, Pip noticed that Celestia’s soldiers moved away to let them pass. Both the Princess of the Night and her Royal Guard were feared by the Solar Guard because of their combat skills. They arrived to the dining room, where once again, the soldiers had to wait outside while the two Princesses had some private time together. Princess Celestia opened the door to her sister, seeming really happy to see her. “Good morning, Luna.” “Good morning Tia.” But out of nowhere, Total Eclipse shouted. “Hey Solars, do you know the new one about Celestia?” Celestia cursed, and shut the door with her magic much to the Lunar’s and Luna’s amusement. “Damn it, they never fail!” “Tia, do you realize that if you keep reacting like this, they’ll continue?” asked Luna. “Just ignore them.” “I have a better idea, you nullify the damn royal decree that allows them make fun of me!” “It allows them to make fun of Twilight and Cadence too.” reminded Luna. “Then why they only pick on me!” “Come on! For example Beatrix Lulamoon likes to pick on Twilight Sparkle and she doesn’t complain!” Celestia frowned. “She complains. Last time she made her cry!” Luna better kept quiet. But yes, she had to admit that her captain of the Undercover Police always went too far when she insulted Twilight. Unlike the other soldiers at Luna’s command, she did not stop by making jokes about Twilight. She kept insulting her, saying how she would never be friends with somepony as naïve and dumb as Twilight and such. To the point Applejack and Rainbow Dash had to beat her up to make sure she wouldn’t cross the line again. But she was an especial case. The rest of the Guard limited to irritate Celestia. Luckily Celestia forgot about the joke and she and Luna had their breakfast without incident. In the meantime, Pip and his companions dedicated to mock the Solars, trying to brake their concentration or make them move with jokes, funny faces and even challenges to fight. When the Princesses finished their meal, Luna made a sign to her soldiers, and she returned to her chambers. The doors closed and the soldiers went back to their positions laying on the wall, and chatting happily. “This is what you do every day?” asked Pip. “You mean mock the poor excuse of a Guard Celestia haves? No, only when we’re escorting the Princess, or patrolling the hallway that connects both of the castle wings.” They didn’t have to move during the rest of the day. In certain point, a few servants broght Luna’s lunch. They got inside the room, left the food, and retired without saying a word. Finally, at four P.M. Princess Luna exited her room wearing her light blue armor and sword at her waist. It was training time. She leaded her soldiers to the training field, and unsheathed her sword. It was well-known by all the Guards that their Princess loved to fight. Of course the Black Swordsman and the Lightning Flash were much stronger than her, but that didn’t apply to the rest of soldiers. The veterans could give her a bit of a challenge, and even had a few victories but those times were rare. As for the captains, they were on their own league. Only Lightning Flash could defeat Black Swordsman, and only Black Swordsman could defeat Lightning Flash. “Who would be our first opponent?” asked Princess Luna looking around. Finally she aimed her sword to a certain young cadet. “How about you, cadet Squeak?” “I pass.” said Pip. Total Eclipse tilted his head. “Ehem, you know it’s a great honor that the Princess choses you as her first opponent, right?” Luna nodded. “Yes, cadet, why are you refusing me?” “Because I know, you, my Princess. And you will give me the advantage.” Princess Luna raised an eyebrow. “Why would I give you the advantage, cadet?” Pip gave her a blank stare. And he wasn’t the only one. Also Black Swordsman and Lightning Flash were giving her the same look. And all the soldiers who knew about Pip and the great friendship he shared with the Princess. Luna blushed. “Ehem, what if I promise to not being easy on you?” “You won’t fulfil that promise.” said Pip. “Yeah, you won’t.” said Black Swordsman. Pip smiled, as he made his case and turned to his commander for the day. “Commander Eclipse, would you make me the honor of being my first opponent for tonight?” “Of course, cadet. You have to have guts for challenging me!” Princess Luna looked sadly how Pip and Total Eclipse walked to one of the arenas, when sompeony dragged a sword right behind her. “Princess, I’ll be your opponent.” said a cold and emotionless voice. Luna turned, only to see one of the new recruits. “Hey, aren’t you one of Pip’s training partners?” “Cold Fusion at your service.” “Nice to meet you cadet Fusion. Let’s fight!” The two of them crossed swords. Luna was incredibly strong and an experimented fighter. With thousands of years of experience, she defeated Cold in less than a minute. As for Pip, he managed to entertain Total Eclips for five minutes. But in the end, the victory was for the veteran. Black Swordsman was looking at them, and made a small nod. “Next!” Another soldier came in, and challenged Cold Fusion, who despite being defeated not so long ago, accepted the challenge. In the meantime, the Black Swordsman himself helped Pip to get back on his hooves. “Thanks captain!” “Go look doe your next opponent.” “But I just lost.” “So? There are three fights per night. Per soldier. Go and choose somepony else, that’s an order.” Pip nodded, when he heard a pair of wings flapping right behind him. He turned to see his training partner Acid Javelin. “Hey Piper, I want to fight you!” Pip grinned. “Let’s do this!” Acid started to shoot at him with her ballista, as Pip began to dodge the constant attacks and block them with his sword. Pip was bulk, but that didn’t mean he was slow. He used his strength on his four hooves to make big strides making difficult for Acid to aim her weapon. The only problem with his technique, he was going to get tired soon. But suddenly, he jumped to get Acid’s backhooves, using his weight to make her fall. She tried to resist, and delivered a couple of punches to Pip’s face with one forehoof (she was holding the ballista with the other). But Pip was strong, and he resisted. He started to climb getting her wings to make her impossible to fly. She fell, over Pip, but he was ready for that. As soon as his back touched the ground, he pinned Acid to the floor and began to smash her head against the ground until she fell unconscious. Black Swordsman chuckled. “He’s becoming an expert in bringing down snippers.” Luna nodded, proud of her little friend. “He did managed to defeat Sinon, right?” “Yes. I expect great things from him.” Assured him. “Now, let’s go to our business.” He attacked the Princess if the Night with one sword in each hoof. Elucidator and Dark Repulser. She tried to block him with her own sword, but as soon as she blocked the Elucidator, Black waved around Dark Repulser cutting her sides. Luna groaned in pain as she started to wave around her own sword trying to block Black’s frantic attacks. His attacks kept Luna busy, making impossible for her to counterattack. After ten minutes, he finally finished the Princess with his signature attack. “STAR BURST STREAM!” And, as always, Luna ended up crashing against the wall. She groaned in pain. “Great job as always. Tomorrow I’ll fight Lightning.” Lightning Flash nodded. “I’m looking forward for it.” When they finished their training, everypony went to the showers and then to the dining room. “Hey Pip, how was your first day?” asked Reality Slash when they returned to their dorm. “It was fun. We picked on some Solars.” Reality Slash laughed happily. “Yeah, my group did that too. I didn’t know how afraid they were of us until today.” Cold Fusion glanced at them from behind his book but didn’t say a word.