//------------------------------//
// The meeting 
// Story: Return of the Lunar Guard 
// by DroshinNote 
//------------------------------//

Dusky was quite confused and a bit taken aback by the mare. To start with, he already knew her name. In Fact they were in the same batch of recruits during boot camp. About 150 ponies in total were trained by three separate drill sergeants in groups of 50. Thankfully they allowed for each batch to occupied their own barracks. Thinking back, Dusky could recall a number of things about the mare. She was usually the crankiest in the mornings, one of the most aggressive ponies during sparring, and had some problems with mood swings. 

Apparently his effort to remember his fellow recruits' names was quite wasted considering that she seemed to have no memory of Dusky. He sighed and opened his mouth to greet Whiplash, but by the time he had done so she had already scooted over to talk to a few other ponies who had sat on the opposite side of the table. A little irritated at this Dusky gave a soft huff.

“She tends to be all over the place. One tends to wonder where she gets all that energy.” Said a voice coming from Dusky s right. Quickly turning he found the voice belonged to another familiar face. The stallion beside him was a light blue unicorn with a seaweed color mane that was just long enough to threaten to cover his eyes. He spoke with a slight Canterlot accent that was almost easy to miss. Like whiplash this stallion was trained in the same batch as Dusky. His name was Credible Comeback, though most had shortened his name down to “Cred”. Cred then put his helmet on the table and leaned back in his chair a bit, waiting for a response.

Dusky realized after a moment that Cred was waiting for his response. “Oh, uh, yea I guess.” Glancing at the clock again he knew that he would be expected to keep this conversation going for at least a few more minutes. “Credible right?”

“Cred works just fine. No need to use full names when we are all among equals.” Cred said with a smirk. “We are both official guards of equal rank starting tonight.” He poked at his purple armor then at Dusky’s. “It’s only natural that we address each other in a more, comfortable way. Don’t you agree?”

Dusky squinted at Cred for a moment. He hadn’t really had the chance to interact with Cred during camp but something seemed off about him. He seemed so relaxed, so confident about every word. Maybe he just had some extremely high charisma? “Yea... So I’m guessing you and Whiplash are friends?” 

“Hm? Oh, yes! See miss Whiplash and I were partners in most of our training exercises.” Cred gave a small shrug and leaned his chair back to its original position.  “It was quite tough keeping up with her at times. While I took a few days to get used to the constant physical exertion of boot camp, she took to it like a fish does to water. Quite honestly I believe our instructor did this to get me in shape.” Cred then gave a tired laugh followed by a sigh. “If that was the goal I can say that it was quite successful at least. I have never been so sore or tired as I have been after coming here.” 

“I can imagine.” Dusky glanced to the other end of the table where Whiplash was talking off the ears of three of their fellow graduates. After a few moments of pony watching he turned back to Cred. “So where do you think we are gonna be post-” before he could finish his thoughts the lights in the makeshift auditorium started to dim. Everypony in the room turned their head towards the makeshift stage made out of extra tables pushed together. It seemed that the Military's budget wasn’t what it used to be. Though that would make sense considering how peaceful Equestria and its surrounding nations have been since Princess Twilight’s reign began.

Above this makeshift stage a few spot lights turned on and focused downwards, the beams of light converging onto one spot in the very center of the collection of tables. Standing under the spotlight was an official looking dark green earth pony with black hair wearing an official looking jacket only a shade darker then his coat and decorated with metals. The older stallion looked out on the crowd. “Hello. My name is General Long March. You all may call me General March. I may not be the first one to say this, but congratulations on passing your basic training course and joining the finest fighting force on the continent!” The general half spoke and half barked the beginnings of the speech into the crowd. Dusky sat, a little surprised a general would come to see the new recruits off. Equestria only had a few  generals, all of which worked directly under the Captain of Guard, which was currently being held by Princess Twilight's brother Shining Armor. How Shining Armor managed to juggle helping rule the crystal empire and commanding the Equestrian military all at once Dusky would never know.

“Today,” the general continued. “You will all be separated into groups. Each group will be posted to different Towns within Equestria to act as guardians and peace keepers. These groups shall be determined by the population of the towns, villages, or cities we shall be sending you to. Some of you will be leaving in groups of 12 to 15, others in groups of 2 or 3. Once there your groups will be joining the guards already posted at that location. Some of you will serve as replacements for ponies who are retiring from the service. I expect each one of you to remain vigilant while doing your duties! The dusk guard shall guard the land from dawn to dusk, the Lunar Guard shall watch while the moon hangs overhead and our civilians are asleep and vulnerable in their beds. While the moon is high, I expect Equestria to be safer than any other nation we know of. If it is not-'' The stallion leaned forward with a scowl. “I will Personally plant my hoof into the face of whatever fool DARES to endanger the safety of my home!” Straightening up the general cleared his throat. “Now as official guards there is only one more thing that must be done before you may all leave this room. Everypony here please put on your guard issued helmets.”

Dusky could hear the clattering of ponies grabbing their helmets and shoving them on their heads. Dusky looked over at Cred as he used his magic to smooth back his hair and slid the helmet onto his head and latched it in place. Dusky quickly did the same, though it took a bit longer using his hooves compared to Cred’s magic. 

“Good. Now,” General March then held up a small purple gem. “Each of you should of gotten one of these from the pony at the front door. Please insert these gems into the gem slot on the back of your helmets. This may take a moment, but once you hear the gem click in, give the rock a good smack.” As he spoke the General was thrown a helmet from a pony off stage. He quickly turned the helmet around to and slid the gem into a small indent in the back of the helmet.  

A bit confused, Dusky did as he was told, sliding the gem around the back of his helmet before feeling it click into the small slot made for the gem. He then gave the gem a slight push and held his breath. Blinking a few times Dusky realized the world around him was shimmering slightly. Looking around he could see what looked like purple sparkles covering his fellow ponies. The sparkles subsided and each of the ponies that were around him moments ago were gone, replaced by what looked to be a cookie cutter Lunar guard. It was quite a site, seeing a bright pink mare turn into a stocky grey pony that took the appearance of a stallion. Looking around some more he quickly realized that the only difference between the guards were their tribal features. Pegasi still had wings, Unicorns kept their horns, and Earth ponies seemed to be a bit stockier then the others. 

“Each gem has a small illusion spell infused in it.” The General explained. “We use these spells for a variety of reasons that you can ask you superior officers about when you reach your new homes. Until then just know this, if your gem gets damaged outside of duty, then you are paying for it. And these gems, plus the spell infused within cost quite a pretty bit.” The general let out a low rumble of a laugh. “Now each of you form up outside and your groups will be escorted to the proper train to take you to your first night shift. Guard the night well greenhorns! And remember, the moon watches us all!” The general then gave a quick salute before walking to the edge of the mashed together tables and stepping down.

“Well my friend,” Cred said as he got up from his chair, the illusion also affecting his voice slightly, making it harder to tell that it was actually Cred talking. The illusion magic took the smoothness from his voice and gave it a more rough gritty sound. “Shall we depart?”