//------------------------------// // Fifth Entry // Story: Even the Strong Need Help // by Charlie_K //------------------------------// Slam Fire winced as she removed the last of her armor, before placing it back on its stand for the day. Five days later and she still had a twinge of pain flare up if she moved the wrong way at the wrong time. It was genuinely surprising just how fucking heavy Strike had been at the time, all water logged and dead weight and such. Hoisting him up onto her back without jostling his broken leg and injuring him further had been just about impossible in his condition at the time. Hauling him to the infirmary without dropping him or slipping in the trail of water left behind in their wake had been equally just short of impossible. But he'd been in need, she'd been on the scene, and she'd done what needed to be done. Galloping down the halls as fast as her legs would carry them, using her wings to try and keep him stabilized so he couldn't fall off, and hoping to Faust that her heart wouldn't explode under the strain until after she'd gotten him to somepony who could do something for him. "Stupid heavy Strike," she grumbled, "got all that toned muscle on him like he thinks he's an earth pony or something. Probably outweighs me by a hundred pounds on an empty stomach." Would she do it all again if the situation presented itself? In a heartbeat. They were guards, and guards stuck together no matter what! That didn't change the fact that he was still heavier than any unicorn had any business in being, though. This was going to take a while before she stopped feeling it entirely. "Lieutenant Fire." And then she heard the familiar voice behind her, and immediately turned to see him standing behind her. All negative thoughts suddenly vanished as a sense of relief washed over her, driving her forward to throw her forelegs around him in a big hug. "Strike, my dude! It's good seeing you again!" she stated, before pulling back to look him over up and down. "You're looking good! When did you get back?" "About an hour ago," he replied simply as he stood there, his forelegs never leaving the floor. "Thank you for finding me when you did. According to everypony who's commented on the matter, I would've been dead if you hadn't found me when you did." "Yeah you were pretty bad at the time," she agreed and nodded. "You barely had the strength to tremble from how cold you were. I was afraid you were gonna die on my back before I got you to Doctor Malar." She needed to keep herself composed, and she knew it. If she lost control and started crying at the memory, she'd never hear the end of it. Because she'd never let herself hear the end of it. "But, hey, you're looking good now, so it's all good and fine!" she stated with a fake positivity that was sickening even to her. "So when are you getting back to work again? The halls feel weird to walk without you around." "I don't know," he admitted. "Princess Celestia doesn't believe that I'm fit to return to duty. She thinks that I'm a liability." "What? Seriously?" Fire asked, flabbergasted and in disbelief. "How? You're the most straight-laced guard in the palace. How could you of all ponies be a liability?" "She's worried that I may die of exhaustion during the course of my duties," he explained. "Oh," Fire replied, caught off guard by the bluntness of his statement. And despite trying to think up something to say in response, she was coming up with nothing to dispute the idea. Time to change the subject. Fast. "Strike, listen, there's a whole palace worth of guards here. They need to earn their keep too if they're gonna work here, right?" she asked. But even she wasn't believing her own words. "We've got a poker game going tonight in the barracks' common room. Why don't you just let the other guards worry about things and swing by? Poker can be very relaxing and just the thing to take your mind off your problems," she suggested. "I don't play poker. But thank you for the invitation all the same," he replied simply. "I think I'll just get myself presentable again and try to sleep. Perhaps if I'm better rested, Princess Celestia will view me as less of a liability and I'll be able to get back to work." Fire wanted to sigh, but she couldn't even manage that right now. "Strike, listen," she started. "You know we're here if you ever need to talk, right? You... you're not in this by yourself, you're one of us. We-" Words failed her in this case. So she did the only thing she could under present circumstances and hugged him again, holding him tightly in her forelegs. "Put as much focus and care on your own health as you do on being a guard, alright? You're not a tool like a hammer or a broom. If nothing else, at least pretend that you're worth the same level of consideration as everypony else, okay?" "... I'll try," he replied slowly, almost sounding like he was reluctant to even say that much on the matter. The day was officially over and giving way to evening. Celestia could feel that little detail down in her very bones, needling and prodding her to attend to her last official duty of the day and lower the sun so the moon could rise. But at the moment that needling sensation just wasn't quite enough to get her up and out of her office chair. The pile of paperwork occupying her inbox had eventually migrated its way to her outbox. But if asked about the finer details of what she'd processed, she wouldn't be able to give much of an explanation. Her mind had been elsewhere the entire time, leaving her more or less running purely on autopilot for the majority of it. It was only when she felt a shod hoof prodding at her side, did she really come to and take note of her surroundings. "Bit for your thoughts?" Luna asked her while giving her a look that only a sibling could manage. "If only," she sighed as she rotated to better face her. "Thunder Strike was released from the hospital today." "And yet you are not happy about one of our little ponies being in apparent good health," Luna noted. Celestia shook her head in response. "The first thing out of his mouth when he got back was expressing a desire to get back to work." "Somehow that does not surprise me. Although I do wish that it did," Luna huffed. "I didn't want to believe that this could actually be a serious problem. I wanted to believe that this was something that was being blown out of proportion and could be attributed to foalish youth not yet being tempered by reality. But I was wrong," Celestia groaned. "Everything that I tried to get past the guard and to the pony failed. I couldn't make him understand how important it was that his life not revolve solely around his profession." She groaned again, and leaned back in her chair as she covered her face with her hooves. "They take the job, knowing full well they could be required to forfeit their own lives and well being in order to protect us from harm. The job is dangerous, the hours are long, they're made painfully aware of this, and yet they still sign up to become our guards. And yet, when we learn about them being the ones in need, there's nothing that we can do for them? Is that truly the situation we find ourselves in?" "There are those who might say it is not proper for us to concern ourselves with the daily matters of a single lowly guard and view their situation as being important enough to worry about, when we have an entire kingdom that needs our attention far more," Luna acknowledged. "To those who would hold such beliefs I say "Go fuck yourself!" Yes, they are our guards, and it is their job to provide us security. But at the same time they are still our subjects and we have a duty to look after them! If not us, then who?" Celestia smiled in response. Outburst aside, she needed that forceful energy and enthusiasm that Luna had right now. "Rest assured, Sister, we will do everything we can to help Thunder Strike the pony. We simply must get past Lieutenant Thunder Strike, the Royal Guard." "And how do we do that?" Celestia asked, curious exactly where this was going. "It is all quite simple. But first, you and I get something to eat because I am starving and of no use to anypony on an empty stomach!" Luna stated. "I have been waiting nearly an hour for you and I refuse to wait any longer. Now move!" Celestia wanted to comment, but was interrupted at her stomach growling at the mention of food, effectively shutting down any discussion on the matter. "Well when you put it that way..." "ACHOO!" The scent of lavender hung in the air of the palace. As did the pollen at accompanied the blossoms. For some that worked the night shift, it brought a bit of pleasantry to an otherwise quiet and dull period of time when nothing was really happening. "Gesundheit." Unless one was unfortunate enough to be like the night guard who went by the name of Fritz. Then all it brought was allergies and a need for antihistamines. "Thank you," he grumbled. He was like some, who had signed up for the night shift specifically because it meant working for Princess Luna. But had he known that it would mean doing battle with specific allergens that were prevalent during the time... well he still would've signed up regardless, because the Night Princess was the Fun Princess. But he would've been a little bit more hesitant about the whole thing. But the matter was pushed to the side as the sound of approaching hoofsteps were heard coming down the hall from around the corner. And then it was forgotten about entirely as a day guard slowly made his way into their view, approaching at a slow but steady pace. "Now what've we got going on here?" he asked. "I dunno," his partner, a mare best known simply as Lily, replied and shrugged, before trotting over to meet with the other pony. "Uh... Fritz, could you come over here for a sec? I think something is wrong." Fritz, curious by this, moved to join his partner in investigating the matter, and blinked at what he saw, not entirely certain of it himself. Standing before them was Thunder Strike in his armor, but something looked... off. Something that he couldn't quite put his hoof on. "Strike, what're you-" he started to ask, but stopped as Strike simply continued walking past them as if they weren't even there. Fritz looked to Lily, who looked back to him. Something was definitely up, and as guards it was their duty to investigate. So they trotted behind him, waiting to see just where this and he were going. This eventually continued until he just sort of stopped, and remained stationary as he stood at attention at the edge of the hallway. "Is this some drill or something we weren't told about?" Fritz asked. "I dunno, but whatever it is I don't like it. His eyes were all glassy, he looked like he was asleep or something," Lily stated. Fritz raised an eyebrow in confusion, before looking back in Strike's direction and trotted over to where he stood, to investigate the matter for himself. There was definitely something not right, but what that was, he didn't know. He raised his left hoof and waved it back and forth in front of Strike's face, looking for any signs of eye movement but ultimately saw nothing. "I think you might be right," he said as he set his hoof back down and looked to his partner again. "I think he's sleepwalking." "Sleepwalking?" Lily asked. "What're we supposed to do about that? Do we take him and put him back to bed?" "Well we could. But he might just come right back," Fritz replied. "He's not really hurting anypony. I know, go stamp his time card for him! If he's just gonna be standing there, he might as well get paid for it." "Isn't that kinda dishonest?" Lily asked. At this, all Fritz could do was shrug. "He's already got his armor on. Be kind of a shame to waste that. And who wants to be woken up just to go back to sleep?" Lily just sighed and shook her head, before trotting off to go find and stamp Thunder Strike's time card to go along with Fritz's idea. If anything went wrong, it'd be his fault.