//------------------------------// // III - Interviewing the Lunar Guard // Story: The Countryside Knight // by Dark Krystal //------------------------------// “Huuooh...” Twilight slowly breathes in and out while placing her trembling hoof against her chest as she tries to collect herself. Moonfall pats her back as he sits on the bench next to her, making sure she was stable. “I’m... Okay now... I think I got it out of my system.” She mumbles to herself. “You sure, ma’am...? You were frozen for a good while.” Moonfall asks with some concern in his voice as he gives the mare a look over. “I think you set a new record! Ehehe!” Dusk Blade says as she passes by the two, Moonfall glares at her. “Yeah... Yeah... I’m good.” She nods with a small smile on her face as she looks up to the stallion. Getting a better look at him, Twilight noticed he was... his appearance was unique compared to the others. His coat being a Light azureish gray coat that stood out from the other guard's more darker coats, Light opal eyes, with a Dark grayish fuchsia short spiky mane styled backwards. If it wasn’t for his mane and his bat features, Twilight could’ve sworn he was a member of the solar guard instead of lunar. “Okay, good. I’ll return to my training now… Feel free to call me over if you don’t feel well!” Moonfall removes himself from the bench and gives her one last look over before he turns and starts heading back to his section of the hall. “W-wait!” Twilight speaks out towards the stallion. Moonfall quickly turns around and looks at her, waiting for her to follow up. “Can I... Ask you some questions regarding the captain?” “Uhhhh...“ Moonfall turns his head around and looks up towards the hovering lieutenant, finding her looking back at him. She gives him a silent nod of approval before going back to practicing her aerial movement through the hoops. “Sure.” He looks back at her with a smile, which makes Twilight return a smile back. Moonfall sits back down onto the bench and the two position themselves to face each other, Twilight picks up her notepad and quill. “So... uh, since I just met you, um, captain just now and had that... ahem, reaction... I wanted to ask you how others reacted to him, did you guys know about him before hoof or…?” Twilight gives a sheepish smile before bringing her notepad up and hiding behind it. “Mnnn, I don’t know about the others, but… my first time? Hm...” Moonfall looks to the ceiling in thought, a smile coming on to his face with a faint blush after a minute of thinking. “Well… when I saw him, I had backed up against the doors and kept on until I fell down the hill and knocked myself out on a rock, Lieutenant Faded Light had to slap me awake.” After saying that, his smile fades and his face starts to heat up, a wave of embarrassment washing over him. “Now that I say out loud... oh Luna, that was an embarrassing first impression...” Twilight couldn’t help but let a small giggle upon seeing Moonfall put his face in his hooves as he groaned, her own shame feeling overshadowed. Twilight pats his shoulder for a bit and tells him it's okay until he calms down. “Okay, moving on… How would you describe the captain’s personality?” Moonfall brows furrow as he looks to his left. “His personality, huh...” Moonfall thinks about the question for a moment before giving an affirmative nod at something. “He’s serious, scary and somewhat... gloomy?” He narrows his eyes and tilts his head on the last word, clearly unsure about it himself. She nods at “serious” but raises a brow at “scary” and “gloomy”. “Scary?” “Yeah, he’s pretty quick to anger... but it's mainly when we have to do sparring matches against him… its, Ugh.” Moonfall places his hoof against his forehead as he shakes his head. “After sparring against him multiple times... I’m convinced that he’s like a lesser, maybe easier living example of what it must be like to fight our princess or Celestia. You’d never think somecreature so big could be so fast while keeping his strength...” He lets out a bitter chuckle before leaning slightly in to whisper to the mare. “If you want to know more, ask the lieutenant, despite her experience against him every time she’s faced him, she’s still nervous.” Twilight notes it down Moonfall’s description and Faded Light being nervous facing her own captain, putting down “strong and skillful” as a side note. “Okay, and what about gloomy?” “That's... Mn... hard to explain.” He frowns a bit and looks down. “It’s like, he’s not sad... but! He gives off an “aura” that he is sad... but he’s not sad! But you just… get the feeling that he is!” He says with narrowed eyes and hooves moving from front hooves moving from left to right, smacking the bench every time on the word “sad”. “Sooo... you’re saying he doesn’t look sad... but he gives off the feeling that he is sad?” Twilight says as writes down that description in her notepad. “I... Yeah. If you ask him if he’s okay, he gets confused and asks why you’re asking and... it just makes it awkward, you know?” Moonfall looks down, a frown on his face. “Yeah, I... understand that situation, too much.” Twilight frowned a bit, memories of when she sensed something was off about her mentor only to be questioned why she thinks something is wrong... but unable to explain it without making the situation more awkward. The two let out a synchronized sigh. Both shake their heads and recollect themselves again. “One last question, What does he do... uh, officially. Princess Celestia tells me he doesn’t go out of his house much, so I'm thinking he doesn’t get sent out on missions often, am I right?” He nods. “Yeah, since I’ve joined, I don’t think I've seen him go on a single mission... or say he’ll be out for a while. He’s always received orders that tell us to go on missions. I've assumed he’s so strong that if we, the lower ranks, can’t do it. Then he gets ordered to go out and complete the mission... maybe, I'm still unsure...” Twilight writes that down, then brings out a small circular sticker and places it on the edge of the paper, writing “MF” over it. “Interesting... Okay! That’s all! Thank you for taking your time to talk to me!” Twilight smiles at Moonfall, he in turn smiles and nods. “As I said before, ma’am, I’m at your service.” Moonfall stands up and gives a salute. “Moonfall! Come here, I need to try something!” Moonfall’s body jerks slightly upon hearing his lieutenant shout out to him. He quickly turns around and rushes over to her. “One down... I wonder if the others are willing to talk too...” Twilight wonders. “You’re a hybrid... of a hybrid...?” Twilight says, baffled at the statement the mare in front of her just made. “Yep! My Mom was a bat-pony and my dad was a Pegasus! One plus One equals two, and I was born like I am!” Dusk Blade puffed her fluffy chest out as she stated her origins. Twilight knew there was something off about her! But she thought it was just a rare mutation going on with her or hidden features, not a mixture of genes. She was notably shorter than the rest, but she still had the standard theme of darker-based colors going on her race, with her Moderate violet coat, Pale, light grayish turquoise eyes, with short spiky Raspberryish black mane. Yet she didn’t have the long tufted ears nor the slitted pupils, only having the wings and fangs that were smaller than average. Twilight was convinced that if she simply put on an outfit that hid her wings, she could easily be mistaken for an earth pony. “Do you have any special skills because of this?” Twilight leaned in slightly with interest. Dusk Blade jerks back as if she just got hit in the chest. “N-no... I... um... Don't really have good vision in the dark or... hear as good as the rest of them... B-but I can still fly just as good as them!” Dusk Blade exclaimed, panic on her face. “Oh.” Dusk Blade’s ears droop down upon hearing down. Twilight begins to panic and quickly follows up. “T-t-that’s fascinating!” Dusk Blade immediately perks up at that and puffs out her chest once again. ` She reminds me of Trixie... kind of... ` “Yeah, but um... before we get off-topic can I ask about what you think of your captain?” Twilight pulls back and prepares herself to write. Dusk Blade looks up for a few seconds in thought with a smile, then back to Twilight. “The captain weeeell... He’s a hard worker, he’s attractive for sure...-” Twilight nearly jolts off the bench upon hearing that. “-he’s a really good teacher, and he’s a good person. Yeah, I like him!” She gives a wide smile and tilts her head when she sees Twilight's startled expression. “Did I say something wrong?” “N-no it was uh... just a moth scared me!” Twilight gives a nervous chuckle. ` I really want to ask her what she meant by “attractive” I really want to ask her, I want to ask her, I really, really do but I’m scared of the answer! ` “Oh yeah! Sorry about that, we try to limit how much we use the door or else a lot of moths get in!” She giggles. “Yeah... ahem, moving on.” Twilight fixes her posture. “How much do you know about the captain?” “Ooh! A good amount, I think! I’m sure Faded Light knows more. I’ll tell you what I know, since when I first met him I um... Hehe...” Dusk Blade blushes and rubs her hoof against the bench. “I lost control of myself and hit him with a lot of questions... to the point where he gagged me for my entire first day...” Twilight’s ears perk up, ignoring the gagging issue on purpose, she listens closely. “He told me that he was a “Man” which I guess is what his people are called. He’s pretty old... I think I asked him, but he didn’t know, so I don’t either... but going from my dad's looks and his... I'd say he looks like he's in his sixties or forties maybe...?” She frowns at her own uncertainty. “I tried to get more out of him, but he just gave me “The rest of me is too complicated for you to understand, private. Stick with the basics.” hmph, I didn’t and got gagged after that...” She crosses her hooves and huffs. Twilight quickly finishes writing and looks up. “Anything else?” “Mnnnnnnn... Oh! Celestia comes by sometimes like, err... once every two weeks at night!” “Oh...?” Twilight feels the world around her fade away as she hyper-focuses on Dusk Blade, her interest hitting her peak as her mind craves for more hints of their connection. “Mhmm... She greets us, but she always darts up right to him when he’s out here and if he’s not then she just goes into his house, he complains, but he doesn’t seem to mind it as much as he says he does... One time, I peeked through the windows and saw them having tea together in his dining room! Every time I see her with him, Celestia seems... very happy, too happy. ~” Dusk Blade gives a coy grin. Twilight pauses as she raises a brow, concerned where she was going with this. “I think Celestia and the captain have a thing going on... or maybe Celestia has a thing for him...~” She whispers. Twilight’s quill darts across the paper and her mane frazzles from the small magical outburst as she looks at the guard with dismay. “What! No—” Dusk Blade puts her hoof against Twilight’s lips and shushes her. “Just think about it! A princess of the opposite side… visiting a captain that’s not under her, and doing it late at night where most ponies are asleep and at a time no pony would ever suspect the princess of day to be moving about. ~” She pulls her hoof back and grins more. “I don’t know about you, but this sounds like a love story being written as we speak!” Dusk Blade grins, ignoring the baffled expression on Twilight's face. Quickly she shakes her head and frowns at the guard. “I don’t want to burst your bubble but Princess Celestia having a... c-c-c-crush on a guard is not possible!” Twilight exclaims. “A princess and a guard relationship... that’s... Fairytale nonsense, taboo even! Princess Celestia is wise! She would know that pursuing this would clash with her sister since that’s HER captain!” Dusk Blade nods, acknowledging her argument. “Mhmm! You bring some good points, but you’re overshadowing one key factor!” Dusk Blade raises a hoof. “ Our princess believes Faded Light is the captain! She has no idea about him, and I heard from eavesdropping on her (don’t tell her please) that Celestia had told her to keep up the lie!” Twilight's mouth opened to argue but found nothing coming out, her brain working to combat this... this... taboo, dramatic, teenage love story being planted in head. “Why would Celestia keep her own sister in the dark about her OWN guard! Simple, because Celestia wants him all to herself! I’ve thought it over a lot recently since our princess came back... she and him have similar things in common, you know being alone... being dark and moody... both having blue eyes... Other stuff, maybe. They would be a good couple! An easier couple... but if that were to happen, then Celestia would get kicked out of the love triangle!” “Soo... Celestia keeps her sister in the dark, sends you to maybe warm the captain up to that idea of accepting others... gets together with him then tells her sister and tells her they’ve been together for years! Done, and finished!” Dusk Blade crosses her hooves and nods. She points a hoof at Twilight and smirks. “Plus, I’m pretty sure if our princess were to find out Celestia was going after her crush she’d probably turn back to Nightmare m—” Dusk Blade pauses when the sound of heavy, rapid breathing reaches her ears, looking at the unicorn she finds her rapidly huffing into a paper bag with a look of hysteria on her face. “A-a-ah...” Dusk Blade looks around in panic, seeing Fallen Shine walking over to them. “F-fallen I—” Fallen Shine hits her on the head with his hoof. “Too far.” He grumbles. The guards break away from training to calm the unicorn back down. “Ah! T-thank you.” Twilight gives back a canteen to Fallen Shine. He nods and takes his canteen back, as Twilight takes a deep sigh, eyes going over the corporal. He was similar to Moonfall, his grayish sapphire blue coat stood out only a little bit due to it being slightly lighter than the mares, grayish raspberry eyes, and Light yellowish gray short mane with a stick up on the front. “Can I, um, ask you some... questions?” Twilight looks at his face, trying to sense his reaction. She didn’t like how good his poker face was, a strong, uncreating look of pure contentment with life. “Mn.” He nods. “Okay... um...” Twilight hesitantly picks up her notepad and quill again and gets ready to write. “What do you think of the captain?” He nods. “I think he is a great leader for the guard. He dislikes small talk, and prefers to get straight to the point, which I like. He doesn’t sweeten his words like I've seen in the solar guard; he gives us advice and missions, blunt and simple.” Twilight writes that down, her mind wandering back to her interactions with the solar guard. Wondering if they really do sweeten their words... It does sound like something Shining would do. “What does he do regarding your training?” Strangely, the question gets a tiny smile out of the stallion. “Training... hm. he is a good teacher. He knows our strengths and weaknesses and takes them into account and gives us good advice. He is the one who introduced a new style and principles for the lunar guard in terms of fighting, after all.” “Interesting...” Twilight murmurs as she writes. “It's rare for the strong to be good teachers, or so I was told… by my father. So, I am grateful that I am able to work and learn under him...” He nods his head with a closed eye smile, an affirmative grunt coming from him. “Is he the strongest in the lunar guard? Moonfall mentioned he was tough in sparring matches?” “Yes, unlike the rest of us he managed to balance the bridge between strength and speed. I am unsure why he isn’t sent out on missions more often... I believe he can do our missions faster and maybe even better...” Fallen Shine looks down for a moment in thought. “I assume it's because if an accident occurs, and he is injured, there is no one close to his skill set that could replace him.” “Is he really that good?” Twilight asks. “Yes. No one in the lunar guard has been able to beat him yet.” He says bluntly. “Oh. Um... well, do you know anything about him other than his fighting prowess?” “Somewhat. He comes from far up north in a kingdom, the kingdom I have no idea of its name, but I think the only hint I have of it is his armor style. Though it’s a remake, it is unique.” “His armor?” Twilight eyes light up a small bit. Her memory goes back to the last time she saw her brother, when she last saw him he was wearing heavy purple and gold armor that stood out amongst the guard. “Yes, he doesn’t wear standard heavy armor, nor metal like the rest of us. I’ve seen it once but it was so...“ He pauses, trying to find the right word. “Unique… enough that I cannot forget it. It was brief, but I recognized his armor as something akin to the style of leather armor from the ponies of old, but with scales... thinking back on it, I believe his armor is made of Hydra scales. Twilight’s eyes grow wide as she shakes her head. “His armor is what!?” “Hydra scales.” He says bluntly Twilight nods, only to shake her again and chuckle. “C-can you repeat that?” She asks shakily. “Hydra scales.” He says it again, just as bluntly. “..........” Twilight stares at Fallen Shine in disbelief for a while before looking down. “Huh...” “The captain is a stubborn, rude, impulsive, lazy, uncaring, hermit, sack of moldy fruit.” Faded Light says with a scowl on her muzzle. Twilight stared at the lieutenant in shock. “Um... Wow, that’s...” “The truth.” Faded Light says with a roll of her eyes. “Because I'm the 2nd highest rank, I have to deal with him, and he won’t go out! We have to deliver his letters, attend his meetings, etc. It’s so annoying... He doesn’t make it any better either, always just telling me to go here, tell them that, do this, do that over there... all while just sitting on his large skinny flank!” She growls, anger clearly rising up in her face. Twilight scoots a bit away from her. “W-wow... sounds like h—” “That's not all, either!” She interrupts and leans towards Twilight. “You want to know something!? I became lieutenant not because I EARNED it... but rather because the previous lieutenant retired, and he needed a replacement fast... and because I was rising through the ranks quick already, he just decided to promote me because I showed “the skill set of a true messenger” do you have any idea of much of an emotional blow that dealt to me!?” She hisses. “He is a liar, a jerk, and a sadist!” She nearly shouts out, making all the guards turn their heads towards her, only from them to quickly look away and go back to what they were doing when she quickly gives them a glare. Looking back at Twilight her anger fades, a deep sigh escaping her mouth as her eyes look down. “And yet...” She gives a small smile to the ground. “He’s a good captain... he trains us well, makes sure we’re safe when we make it to the location, checks us for injuries when we get back... if we have any questions, he answers them the best he can. He prioritizes our lives before the mission, he’d even argue with Celestia if he believes our time was too good for her requests. He’s annoying... but I wouldn’t want to work for any other captain than him.” Slowly, she raises her head and looks back at Twilight with a smile. “Nothing I said really made any sense, did it?” She chuckles lightly. Twilight shakes her head as she smiles. “No, I think you gave me the most insight into his personality compared to everypony else.” “Really? Ehaha, I didn’t think letting out my frustration would give that much insight...” Faded Light rubs the back of her head. “Mhmm! Give me a moment to write it all down.” Faded Light nodded, and Twilight takes a few minutes to write down Faded Light's description of the captain's personality. Finishing up, Twilight looks back at the guard. “Another question, do you have an idea of why he’s out here?” “I assume it’s because he's, you know... different from normal ponies like we are. But, I’m not a hundred percent sure... donkey’s, minotaur's, diamond dogs, etc. While they’re somewhat feared, they’re tolerated. I do think he could fit in with the public... better than us at least.” Twilight looks down, poking her lip with the quill. ` I hadn’t even thought about other species... that’s right! Minotaur's, Diamond dogs, and donkeys are tolerated and accepted... So why couldn’t he? ` “...So why would Princess Celestia isolate him out here then...?” She mumbles out loud. “I did ask him... but he only grunted and ignored my question. It seems like something between him and Celestia. Maybe something to do with his race… After all, I have never seen any other creature like him before...” Twilight perks up, not expecting an answer but takes it into her notepad. “Weird... Do you have a clue on their r-r-relationship?” Twilight says with a faint blush on her cheeks. “Don’t let Dusk Blade’s dumb theory crafting get to you.” She scoffs. ”I've heard their interactions myself and to describe it is like... the popular mare of a school trying to befriend that one stallion who likes being in the corner of the classroom by himself...” “Huh... That sounds more likely... I think?” Faded Light nods. “It is.” Twilight nods and flips the page back to Dusk Blade's notes and writes Faded Lights takes on their relationship. “I also heard something interesting from Fallen Shine.” She speaks up as she writes. “Really now?” Faded Light glances over at Fallen Shine for a moment. “Fallen Shine said the captain introduced a new style and principals of the guard, is that true?” Twilight looks up at Faded Light. “Mhmm, I read before that the lunar guard used to fight similar to the solar guard and held up their principles.” Faded light coughs and gives a salute. “Protect Equestria and the princesses at all cost, when we march into battle you hold up the honor of Equestria on your back, every action you do while wearing your armor is a reflection of your princess’s beliefs and standards and blah, blah...” She rolls her eyes, and lets out a small groan of annoyance. “It basically made a big deal out of being a guard and spoke more about your appearance than duties.” Faded Light summarizes with a frown. “What's the new principle, then?” Faded Light perks up at that and straightens up. “Simple, protect Equestria and our princess while also prioritizing our lives at all costs.” “That definitely is much simpler... but what does that last line, mean, exactly?” Faded Light raises a brow. “I mean I-I understand it, but I thought guard duties were to... I don’t know, uh... sacrifice themselves for the princess or protect the princess at all costs...” Twilight says, while some sweat trickles down her cheek, nervous from the mare's stare. “You’re not wrong. The guards are supposed to dedicate their lives towards their princess. However, in the captain sees it differently, to quote him, “That junk is just for appearance and loyalty, if there was an enemy capable of taking down your princess then what chance do you have against stopping it?”. She quotes in a deep voice. “That... that’s... huh...” Twilight tilts her head as she looks up, her brain throwing a debate of morality vs logic. It was cruel to say “give up on your princess if there is an enemy on her level” but then again... ` What can the average pony do in that circumstance...? If the elements were still unfound and Discord was released. Would the guard be even capable of stopping somecreature like discord? ` Twilight pauses thinking about that question before asking Faded Light. “What did your captain say about what happened with Discord?” “Discord? Northern Light gave the captain a report about Discord and asked him what to do. He read it and then threw it in the trash, that’s all.” “Hm.” Twilight writes that down. If she wasn't an element of harmony and Princess Celestia had told her to seal him, she would've had the same reaction too. “So, going by what you’ve said... the lunar guard prioritize their lives more than the princess?” “That's correct.” Faded Light says it so bluntly that Twilight head reeled back as if we're in a chariot ride and just experience the guard doing a sudden stop while darting across the sky like their life depending on it. “He’s even put this principle down into our combat.” “H-how so...?” “The solar guard is all about appearance. It's even down into their combat style, all their guards are trained in a singular combat style while the higher ranks are able to gain new styles. Their style is all flashy, easy to learn, easy to teach. It mainly focuses on having others with you rather than individual skill...“ “Lackluster for a lackluster guard.” Faded Light huffs, Twilight felt somewhat angered at the comment due to her brother but bit her tongue for now. “The lunar guard on the other hoof can pick and choose any style we wish, spear, sword, wing blades, bow, crossbow, etc. As the captain says, the more variety we have, the more unpredictable we become.” Twilight writes along, she found herself strangely interested in the captain's way of doing things. “Even then, we don’t fight particular “honorable” to solar guard standards” “Honorable?” Twilight raises a brow. “Mhmm, in the solar guard when it comes to fighting each other you have to fight... “fair” using only your weapon or magic, stuff your opponent can see and expect, does that make sense?” She frowns. “You mean no dirty moves like tripping, biting, tackling or other stuff, right?” “Yes. The solar guard looks down on those moves while we, the Lunar guard, look up to those moves. To quote my captain again... Ahem! “Honor and dignity doesn’t matter when your opponent kicks you in the sack, watches you fall and just shoves his knife in your neck. The solar guard can keep their dumb appearance but the moment one of them faces us then they look weaker than the kids they’re supposed to protect.” Faded Light quotes with a smirk on her face. Twilight winces at the wording used but fails to keep the small smile off her face. “Our captain tells us to embrace those moves, because whenever you’re in combat you have to treat it like your life's on the line, even if it's just a simple dispute or street fight. We have to always carry the mind set that a wrong move to lead to our deaths." Faded Light says as she looks over to Fallen Shine practicing his foot work. "Our goal is not to look good, it’s to survive and finish the mission. The only time we keep up appearance is if our princess requests us to be at her side in public, but otherwise he declares that as pointless... to him out safety means everything” Faded Light gives a small smile as she stares past Fallen Shine, her eyes looking at the wall with a sparkle of strange admiration. “Wow... I... didn’t think the lunar guard could be so interesting...“ Twilight says as she looks up from her notes with a smile on her face. It was true, she already thought the bat-ponies were interesting, but to think the entire lunar guard would be so vastly different from the solar guard... and it was mostly due to the captain. Twilight knew Princess Celestia told her that the captain was good and had turned the lunar guard's attitude around, but... she didn't him to be this god. He didn't just change the lunar guard's attitude, he changed how the lunar guard works as a whole! “Ehe... Thank you.” Faded Light smiles and looks to her right, her eyes slightly widen and her smile growing as she spots something. “Speaking of our combat... it seems like a live demonstration is about to happen.” Twilight follows her gaze and sees Dusk Blade and Moonfall squaring off in the sparring mat. Moonfall, holding a wooden sword in his mouth while Dusk Blade was unarmed. Twilight gave a look of concern from Dusk Blade to Faded Light, silently asking if that was okay. Faded Light notices and nods before returning her attention to the scene. Dusk Blade rushes at Moonfall making the stallion look startled for a moment before steeling himself and swinging his blade at her. Unfortunately her small stature allowed her to easily go under his swing, without hesitation she slams her body against his front right leg. Moonfall lets out a grunt of pain and retracts his front leg upwards, his eyes quickly rush down to look under his muzzle and witness Dusk Blade launch herself up at and quickly wrapping her hooves around his neck and uses the momentum from her launch to spin herself onto his back. Tightly holding his neck with her hooves, she presses her body against his back and opens her mouth wide, showcasing her small fangs before biting down onto Moonfall’s neck. Moonfall’s eyes widen, and he lets out a scream of panicked pain. “GAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?” Moonfall blinks in confusion and looks down to see the nibbling Dusk Blade, a brow raised as he moves his neck around to find he feels nothing but Dusk Blade wet saliva and tongue against his neck, he does feel something poke his neck which took him a moment to realize it was her fangs. “Mhmhhmff I'we wun!” Dusk Blade declares while her mouth is clamped down onto the side of his large neck. “Ehahaha!” He laughs and looks at her with a devious grin. “With fangs like yours, you’ll be lucky to get any wins.” She pulls her mouth off his neck and lets out a hiss, Moonfall rolls his eyes, in silence he jerks his body to the side and easily throw her off onto the mat. “Eah! Hey! I wo—” Dusk Blade watches in horror as Moonfall collapses from his side onto her, pinning her down under size and weight. Her hooves stick out and flail underneath him as she gets buried underneath the stallion. “Whew! That fight kinda tuckered me out... might take a nap. ~” he says teasingly as he lays more of his weight onto the small batpony. The sounds of her muffled yelling echoes through the hall. Faded Light and Fallen Shine give small chuckles at the sight. Twilight on the other hoof was... awestruck, that fight was fast, faster than what she saw the solar guard in their training for sure, and the fact that both had made were mistakes that nearly cost them to lose the match... it made Twilight understood the captain a bit more. “I see what your captain means...” Twilight mumbles as she stares at the scene. Faded Light slowly turns her head and gives a confident grin. “Yeah, I told you our captain is go—” She is interrupted by the sound of the door suddenly opening, making everypony(except Dusk Blade) turn their heads to look. There they saw the captain standing in the doorway, now wearing a black short-sleeved low-cut neck tunic with a brown belting around his waist with a silver moon buckle, his baggy gray pants had some wear and tear on them, at the end he wore knee height leather boots. He runs his hand through his hair and grunts, his eyes slowly scanning the hall from left to right only to lock onto Moonfall crushing Dusk Blade on the sparring mat. He puts his hands on his hips and looks at the two with narrowed eyes before shaking his head. “Damnit, Dusk Blade.” He lets out a disappointed sigh. “Moonfall, get off her. Looks like I know who to help out tonight..." He closes the door behind him and starts to walk deeper into the training hall. Twilight watches him, her body too tense to move until Faded Light prods her shoulder. “There he is... time for you to start your mission.” Faded Light whispers to her with a smirk. Twilight frowned seeing the smirk, a reminder of the difficult task given to her. “Y-yeah...” Twilight slowly puts her notepad and quill back into her saddlebag and takes a stand, her eyes focused on the captain as he strides deeper into the room. Taking a deep breath, Twilight starts to approach him slowly, unwanted sweat starting to form as her nervousness starts to rise. "Celestia give me strength..." She whispers to herself.