//------------------------------//
// 29: of Armor and Meetings 
// Story: One Way 
// by jroddie 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 29

I sat and watched the Doctor enter his tardis. I sighed. Would I ever understand him? Would I even live long enough to be able to? These questions of mortality assailed my immortal mind. Meanwhile, Luna was taking to the mare that delivered our food. They exchanged formalities, and then the mare went off to go do something else. Luna softly closed the door, and I turned to face her. She was levitating the tray with magic, and I could see the two sandwiches and three peaches sitting on the tray. She looked somewhat surprised.
“Where did the Doctor go?” She asked. I shrugged. 
“He didn’t tell you?” She asked, placing the tray off to the side. 
“He didn’t tell me because he apparently did not know.” I explained. Luna smiled, walking closer to me. 
“He often does that. The Guard companies are having a meeting later and it is mandatory for you to be in attendance, so you should probably go find your scarf.” She said, arriving in front of me. 
“What scarf?” I asked. I did not remember ever owning a scarf in Equestria. Luna seemed somewhat shocked.
“Lieutenant Dash never gave you your Captain’s scarf?” She inquired. The memory dawned on me of the shiny golden scarf that the Lieutenant gave me. I struggled to remember where I left it. I opened myself to the Flow and conjured an image of the scarf. I could feel something soft brush against my neck, and then tighten. I opened my eyes and looked down at my neck. There it was, the golden scarf, tied loosely around my neck.
“Cool.” I said. Luna giggled. I was about to walk over to get the peaches on the tray when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. I gasped and nearly fell, but Luna ran up to catch me. My shoulder was throbbing, and I could barely set any weight on it.
“What happened?” she asked, startled. I clenched my teeth.
“It’s the one that got hurt.” I said, gasping.
“Is it getting worse?” She inquired worriedly.
“No, just set me down, it’ll go away.” I said, feeling the hoof on the injured leg shake slightly. Luna picked me up with magic and opened a door to the bedroom. She set me down on the big ovoid depression in the floor that was filled with pillows. I layed down on the soft surface and waited for the fit to subside. Luna stared at me intently the entire time. It took a good ten minutes for it to go away.
“Ow.” I said. 
“How long has this been happening?” Luna asked.
“That was the first time it ever happened.” I said. I got up shakily, testing the injured leg before I sat up. Luna scooted up next to me on my injured side and looked at my injured shoulder.
“Want me to take a look at it?” She asked. I looked at her with a surprised expression.
“Are you a doctor?” I responded. She laughed and shook her head.
“No. In my younger years I was rather bored with being a Goddess, so I decided to go to a college. I picked the massage therapy major at Canterlot University, and two years later I became a registered masseuse.” She said.
“Huh.” 
“Yes, It was a strange choice, but I was young. I tried my hoof at owning my own... Masseusery? I’m almost quite certain that that is the wrong word for it, but every pony that came in felt that it would be wrong to get a massage from their Deity. So, I turned away from that and became a Goddess once again. It was an interesting sabbatical, to say the least.” She said. 
“Huh.” I said. Luna rubbed her hooves together and started to rub my shoulder. It immediately became better, and my tension seemed to be pushed away under her skilled hooves.
“You’re very talented, Luna.” I remarked. It felt amazing, and Luna smiled.
“You’re very biased, Edwin, but thank you.” She said. She leaned into my shoulder, and a particularly stubborn knot was massaged into oblivion. I nearly fell over, but then there was a knocking at the door. Luna removed her hooves from my shoulder, and I got up to open the door. I put a hoof on the door, but I hesitated. I turned back to Luna, and then she smiled. 
“Go on, then.” She said, and I pushed the door open to see Antony with a hoof half-raised.
“Oh.” I said, feeling somewhat guilty. He nodded.
“Do you know who I just got finished speaking to?” He asked accusingly. I shook my head.
“Lieutenant Drizzle of the rear fifteenth. She told me that Captain Shell could not come and speak to me because, I quote, ‘He is fighting a pan-dimensional Hyperboar that spontaneously appeared in his quarters.’”
“She’s a terrible liar.” I commented. Antony nodded
“I felt the need to come and help you excise the ‘pan-dimensional Hyperboar’ from your quarters if that was indeed true, and found you alone with a Princess in her bedquarters. Now, if you are too busy... Personally... To come and talk to me, just say so. But do not lie to me, Edwin.”
“Oh, we weren’t- I mean- We were just-” I rambled as I felt my ear tips grow warm.
“You blush like a stoplight, Edwin. Just come with me, we need to get you in order for the meeting.” He said. He leaned over my shoulder.
“Is it alright with you if I borrow Edwin for the next few hours, Princess?” He asked respectfully. 
“Yes, It’s perfectly fine.” She said in an embarrassed fashion. Antony nodded his head and turned from me. I had no choice but to follow him through the study. I stopped him before we could get into the hallway. 
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t come earlier, Antony, but I was-”
“I don’t really care what you were doing, Edwin. I’m just glad that you aren’t impaled on the tusk of a ‘pan-dimensional Hyperboar’” He said somewhat sarcastically.
“Look, I’m really sorry that-”
“It doesn’t matter now, Edwin. We need to get you your armor and get you to the formal meeting room.” He said as he walked out of the door. I could see Lieutenant Drizzle with her silver helm and blue eyes, and Second Lieutenant Soarin’.
“Captain Shell.” Soarin’ said, nodding.
“Soarin’.” I replied. Our entourage preceded down the hall. without any more fanfare. I noted the absence of Lieutenant Dash, which struck me as odd.
“Where is Lieutenant Dash?” I asked of Soarin’.
“She asked for today off nearly three years in advance. A birthday of one of her friends down in Ponyville.” He explained. I nodded. We walked down the halls for much longer, then we reached a junction on the hallway. Soarin’ bumped into me as we turned, and I looked at him to apologize. He was staring at me intently.
“What happened to Spitfire?” He whispered hurriedly. I was too shocked to answer immediately.
“What?”
“We all know she’s gone. I want to know why.” He continued in a hushed tone. I gulped, not prepared for this. Soarin’ blinked, then looked at the floor.
“She would tell us. If she was going to leave. She isn’t like that, just up and fly away. She would tell us.” he repeated. He looked up, making eye contact with me
“She would tell me.” He corrected. I blinked, suddenly understanding. He needed to know because it was personal.
“She didn’t leave because she wanted to. Something made her.” I whispered back. Soarin’ shook his head.
“She would have told me if it was like that.” He retorted. I thought about this for a second, not sure how much he was allowed to know.
“I could tell you, but then you would be in danger.” I said, extremely hurriedly. Soarin’s expression melted into extreme confusion.
“What?” He asked. 
“Every single pony that I have ever talked to is in danger. Did you hear any rumors about Princess Luna last night?” I asked.
“Yes, but they were all completely made up. None of them could possibly be-”
“She was kidnapped.” I replied, and Soarin’s mouth fell open.
“I thought-”
“I will tell you eventually. But, Soarin’...” I trailed off.
“What?” 
“Trust nopony. I can’t tell you anything else, so don’t ask.” I said. He did as I advised and did not ask me anything else. I could see Antony talking to Lieutenant Drizzle, but they were doing so in hushed tones. I looked at Drizzle a little bit closer than before. She was a Unicorn, with a grey coat, just a little bit darker than Antony. She had a bouncy mane and tail, and both of them had pale grey highlights. I couldn’t see her cutie mark very well, but I could safely assume from what I saw of it that it looked like a cloud. I found this to be interesting, because most of the cloud cutie marks that I have seen were on pegasi. I thought about this as we continued to walk.
“Edwin?” Antony asked, turning his head to look at me. I looked at him, expecting a response.
“Would you say that you are... averse to bearing heavy loads? How much weight can you lift?” He asked. I pondered this.
“I think that I could if I needed to, but I would rather not. I don’t know pony units of weight, so I can’t really answer very well.” I said. Antony glanced to lieutenant Drizzle, and she shrugged. Antony rolled his eyes in a here-we-go kind of way.
“The smaller set will do.” He mumbled to himself. He rounded a corner and we were in front of two large doors. They were quite like the doors to the dining hall, but they were made out of metal. 
“Where are we, Antony?” I asked.
“The Armory.” He said. There was a small round hole in the door at about shoulder level. Antony raised a hoof and put it inside of the hole. The doors made a gigantic, resounding boom, and then creaked open. Antony gestured me inside, leaving Drizzle and Soarin’ outside. Antony pushed the doors closed with another loud bang. 
“Wow.” I said.
“Yeah.” Antony agreed, looking around at the scenery. The Armory was not as big as the dining hall, but it was certainly as tall. Gleaming helms and plates of armor filled the tall shelves to the ceiling. There was the occasional spear, the rare sword, but the majority of equipment was armor. Antony began to walk down the hall, and I hurried to keep up. I spied a small shelf full of many dirty, small glass bottles. They were all corked and had paper labels affixed to them. I stopped following Antony and examined one of the larger bottles. It was filled with a bright orange substance, and I raised a hoof to poke it. It stuck to the opposite side of the container, like cold honey would. I tried to read the label on the bottle. It was in a flowing script, and had a few too many e’s, but I managed to read it
“Dragon’s blood...” I said out loud. I immediately heard a sharp clatter behind me, like metal hitting the floor. I turned to see Antony rushing up to me. He grabbed me with his hooves and pulled me away from the bottles.
“Don’t do that! You do not want to touch those.” He cautioned. I looked at the unassuming bottles of liquids and smirked.
“But they’re just-”
“Incredibly dangerous. Let’s get away from them as fast as we can.” He retorted hurriedly, pulling me away from the unassuming shelf as quickly as possible. I got the gist after a few feet and walked of my own volition. Walking through the confined hallway, I soon forgot about the strange bottles in exchange for all of the other mysteries of the Armory. I noticed one thing to be missing from the grand hall of shiny things.
“There aren’t many weapons.”
“Mmhm.” He said.
“Why” I delved further. He sighed.
“Ponies aren’t a very aggressive race, on the whole. That, and most ponies that can use weapons usually have offensive magics of their own.” He said, as if that was summary enough. It was not, but I held my tongue. We continued to walk through the shiny halls. 

“How much longer, Antony?” I whined. He gestured to a shiny golden door to my left that was hiding behind an adventurous shelf of helms. 
“There.” Antony replied. I walked up to the door and pushed it open. It slid open on well-oiled hinges and revealed two pony mannequins on stands. They themselves were rather plain and dusty, but they were wearing... something. It made them look dignified, nearly frightening. One of them was wearing golden plates, silver mail, and was gilded from head to toe. The other one was a little bit less gaudy. It was made entirely of blued steel, with light silver trim. The silver trim, almost stenciling, was thin and woven together into curves and gentle loops. There was a large shoulder plate with nothing but a silver crescent moon on it. 
“You want me to wear all of this?!” I asked. The amount of metal on this little manniquin made me wonder why the little beam under it didn’t snap under the weight.
“No, only the left shoulder and the helm.” He replied. I shrugged and unlaced the left shoulder of the suit and set it down on the floor. I donned the helm, and felt the weight of the protection. 
“Why do I have to wear these?” I inquired as I figured out how to put on the shoulder.
“The monthly meeting of the Royal Guard is a formal affair. We don’t have much in the way of cloth uniforms, so we make due with armor instead.” He explained. I was belting on the last brown leather strap of the plating as Antony finished. I looked up to him, and was nearly blinded by the reflections of the perfect surfaces.
“Wow.” I exclaimed.
“I could say the same. It suits you.” He remarked.
“Really?”
“Yep. Take a look.” He said. I turned around and looked at one of the heavily dusted mirrors in the room. I looked pretty good. The helm was completely different than the other ones that I have seen, it was kind of pointy. It had two pointed bars ending just before the end of my jaw, and there was no plume. It did not have as much stenciling as the other peices of the suit did, but it had its fair share. I turned to Antony and he smiled lazily.
“Time to go.” Antony said, and started to clang out of the room. 
“I don’t want to walk back, grab my mane.” I said. He blushed.
“Edwin, You aren’t really my-”
“Shut up and grab my mane.” I replied. He walked over to me, and reached out to grab a mouthful of my mane. As soon as I was satisfied that he had a good hold, I thought of Second Lieutenant Soarin’. The cool breeze was joined by the windchime-like tinkling of Antony’s chainmail. I opened my eyes to see a shocked Soarin’ and Drizzle sitting in front of a square of parchment. Lieutenant Drizzle’s horn began to glow green and the parchment immediately disappeared in a puff of red smoke. She began to cough heavily. Soarin’ patted her on the back and she got better.
“Let’s go. It would be horrible to be late to our own party.” Antony said, and galloped down the hall. We all followed him down the lush purple halls.

“Here.” He said, stopping in front of a statue. It was of a rearing pony wearing armor not unlike Antony’s. Antony hopped up on the dais that the statue’s plinth was sitting on. He walked behind it an was about to raise a hoof t knock on the wall when he turned to us.
“You three might want to get up here.” He blurbed. The three of us hesitated, but then ascended the platform. Antony grinned, then he knocked on the door once. The response was three knocks, and he replied in kind with four knocks. The entire floor shifted under me and began to turn. I wobbled and saw that the entire wall was turning as well. I watched as an entire room became visible, filled with ponies in various types of armor. Antony walked around the stature and off the dais into the dark room. It looked much like the other meeting room that I had seen, except that it was much bigger, and there was seating past the first row of chairs. Antony gestured to the front of a large table nearest us, and I walked with him to meet it. Soarin’ and Drizzle broke apart to sit on opposite sides of the table. Antony sat down, and gestured for me to do the same. There was a large, flat, rectangular stone on top of the table, which was littered with various maps. Antony lifted a small marble cube that was by his feet with magic, and slammed it down onto the flat stone on the table, making an extremely loud bang. I nearly jumped out of my skin, but managed to control myself. Antony started to declare in a loud, authoritative voice;
“I call this meeting of the Equestrian Royal Guard Corps to order.”