//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Soldiers Die // by Gimtek //------------------------------// Chapter 4 Lifting Weights Twilight's tears are wiped away by a small neckerchief that Luna provides. The princess gives her time to regain her composure and takes another sip of her drink. "That... was so beautiful and sad..." Twilight comments between sobs, slowly calming herself after blowing her nose. "And in the jar in the lab was that a paraspr--" "We will ignore the details of Star Swirl's failed experiments for now!" Luna quickly interrupts, buying time to think of a good change of subject. "Tia had come to see me prior to the funeral to speak of Xiphos's reassignment." Her eyebrow raises a bit. "You mean the disagreement you mentioned earlier?" Twilight discards the spent cloth and briefly stretches her forehooves over her head with a small yawn. "I believe I have a little bit more left in me before I pass out." "Oh my!" Luna suddenly jumps up and exclaims with a shocked look on her face. "What in the nine gates of Tartarus is that?" She points at something behind Twilight. Quickly the lavender unicorn hops up and spins around, alert and ready for anything when suddenly an aura from Luna's horn envelops her. Twilight suddenly feels full of energy and well rested. She realizes she had been had and turns back to Luna, her face dead panned. "You knew that invigorating spell all along didn't you?" She asks the obvious. It is replied with a satisfied grin and silent nod from the moon princess. "And you didn't want to risk me learning it from watching you cast it on me didn't you?" Again, an obvious question, met with the same nod and smile. Sighing in frustration, Twilight sits again with her attention focused on the smug princess. "A little divination mixed with alteration and evocation magic..." She mumbles to herself, trying to analyze the composition of the spell but silences herself as Luna continues the story. One by one, the mourners leave the burial site. Celestia offers her condolences to each family personally as they pass to return to their homes. Front Line and Onyx Daggers approach Xiphos as Star Swirl gathers up his Sister's funeral cloth and leave Xiphos to go to his mentor. "We're sorry, Xiphos." Front Line says "She was an awesome commander and friend." "I never even realized how much I cared for her," Xiphos bows his head to the ground, "then she was gone so suddenly." He hugs his friends, tears welled up in his eyes. "Thank you for your support guys." "Anything for you Xiphos, and we'll be there for you, we owe ya our lives after this week." Onyx pats his back gently. "We heard you got promoted, I guess when we are back on duty we'll be calling you Sir." She nudges him as she steps back a bit. "Word gets around fast, it was only last night." Xiphos wipes his eyes dry and sits in the grass. "I've got some big horseshoes to fill." He swore he saw Misty's pink mane fluttering in the corner of his eye, snapping his head aside he sees Princess Celestia speaking with Star Swirl, her pink mane looking so much like hers. "No!" He scolds hisself quickly and turns his head back to the ground in front of him. A scowl forms across his face. Front Line cocks his head to the side. "No, what?" He asks his comrade. "No-nothing! I'm just a bit upset still." Xiphos gets up, his sorrow over Misty Swirl replaced with a bit of anger at hisself for his thoughts. "You guys get some rest, once I find out our new assignment I will let you two know." He dismisses them with a quick salute. The two ponies stand at attention and salute back before walking back together toward the castle. "Thanks guys." He adds as they turn, with a genuine smile, his first in a few days now. Front and Onyx wave and smile back, saying their goodbyes. He turns to the only remaining ponies on the hillside, Princess Celestia and Star Swirl. Celestia catches his glance and leans down, telling her student something quietly. With a brief nod, Star Swirl charges his horn and teleports away in a flash of blue light. The Princess stands up tall and watches Xiphos approach her. His gaze averts to the ground quickly when he makes eye contact with her. "Commander? Is something the matter?" She says in a stern voice. Suddenly he snaps to attention, cursing himself for being a bit too casual with a superior. "No, my Princess." Xiphos replies quickly, "I wanted to thank you for everything that you have done for myself and for Commander Swirl." She turns to look at the graves, recently covered and the groundskeepers had already left. "I wish I could do more for all of my ponies. Every marker in this cemetary is a wound in my heart." Her hoof motions over the entire field, hundreds if not thousands of graves cover the landscape. "I thought after last night you wouldn't have been afraid of me like you were just now. I spoke with Princess Luna, but if you are going to fear me, perhaps I should not tell you of the results of the conversation." "I apologize, Princess, I didn't mean to offend you." He continues to stand at attention as he apologizes. "I just had not had much exposure to--" "To what?" Celestia looks down at him, her magenta eyes narrowed, making him think carefully next time he opened his mouth. "Such beauty, your majesty, you remind me of...her." He flinched the moment he uttered those words, two days in a row he had blurted out emotionally to both princesses, part of him regretting saying it, and part of him relieved as well. "You loved her greatly, and given the circumstances I understand why you may feel conflicted speaking to me. Misty cared much for Equestria and for you, please don't think you are betraying her by your thoughts or actions." She steps forward, turning to face him. Xiphos stands his ground and keeps his head held high, watching his princess's motions. "You truely do not fear my power, or my rank, or my status?" "N-no Princess." Xiphos stutters a reply. "I respect those." She smiles at the response, walking over to him, as big a stallion he is, she still towers a full head taller than him, leaning toward him a little. "I am relieved by your honesty, so many others would give me such insincere answers. As a soldier, and as a friend of my pupil, I have a mission for you." His eyes widen a bit at those words. "It requires that you dedicate yourself fully to the task and to not be afraid of me." "Of course, Princess!" He answers back. "Your beauty will not be a problem, princess!" He manages to not smirk at the silliness of his comment, however serious is was meant to be. Another chuckle later, the princess turns away to look back at the castle. "Star Swirl told me that he had never seen anypony resist his magic so strongly. It appears you have built up some sort of tolerance to magic, forcing even my great and powerful student to exert himself to try to hold you still. He wishes to have you accompany him and help with some research and testing with our project." She looks back at him. "I of course agreed, but as a commander, I have no jurisdiction over your assignments, as my sister handles troop deployments. I managed to 'convince' her to give you another assignment that will keep you here in the castle." "But princess, soldiers aren't stationed here, only the castle guard is, and with their duties I would have little time for research with Star Swirl." He breaks attention and steps toward his princess. "Starting tommorrow morning you will be assigned as my first personal bodyguard. Your job will be to accompany me whenever I am out of the main castle keep, which includes my time spent in my student's tower." She winks at Xiphos, getting a knowing nod back from him. "Princess Luna seems nervous about the relations with the dragon clans, so extra protection outside the keep is not unwarranted, but she was concerned that I chose you specifically and not a unicorn protector." Celestia explains. "A dragon is a formidable creature, many times more powerful than a gryphon. Which is why I needed to know if you feared me. For if you fear me, how can you protect me?" For if you fear me, how can you protect me? echoes through his head as he flashbacks to the gryphon attack. Did he fear Misty? Was he afraid of getting to close to her? Was that why he failed to protect her in the end? Visualizing Misty's death causes him the tear up again. He wipes his eyes as he ponders the question. The wind changes suddenly, tossing Celestia's mane at his face. He brings a hoof up to move it, gently pushing it aside. It felt like expensive silk to the touch, pink stands of silk specifically. The princess apologizes and whips her head around, snatching the strands from his grasp as he stood looking up at her beauty. He comes to a decision and bows to her. "I pledge myself to your protection, and will not falter in ensuring your safety." Celestia smiles and orders him to rise, which he does immediately. "Good to hear. Meet me tommorrow morning at sunrise in the keep. We will head over to Star Swirl's lab shortly afterward and there we will fill you in on our important project." Her wings open up and stretch themselves. "I have business to attend to now, I will see you after I raise the sun." "Yes princess!" He salutes her as she slowly raises off the ground with a few gentle flaps of her wings. Her reassuring smile filling his body with energy before she turns and flies away. Alone, Xiphos begins to head back to the castle at a slow pace. "I won't fail to protect anypony else, Misty..." He promises with determination, looking back once more at the grave behind him. Gyruss finishes sweeping up the dust and debris around Star Swirl's laboratory. The red unicorn puts away his broom and takes a seat at the famous student's desk, browsing briefly over the pages on top of it. He had been alone for a while now and looks around himself once more to be sure of that fact before lifting a few pages of notes off the table. With a small gesture, the papers are hovered near a candle and set aflame. His grin widening as nothing but ash remains of the pages. Getting up once again, he whistles happily as he picks up his broom and sweeps up the ash with the rest of the refuse. "I'm such a mule." Xiphos splashes water over his face, looking at himself in a mirror in his quarters. "At her funeral even!" He tosses the washbasin to the wall, spilling the water all over the floor. Please don't think you are betraying her by your thoughts or actions. he hears it in Celestia's voice in his head as he slumps down to his bed. "What am I supposed to do? I almost told a goddess that I was falling in love with her. I can't be her bodyguard now, I--" "So that's what it's all about huh?" A familiar feminine voice interrupts him from the window. Xiphos quickly hops up and spins to the sound of the voice to see Onyx Daggers' head and forelegs draped over the windowsill, the rest of her body hovering outside. "Wanna talk about it, commander?" He motions her in with a hoof before turning and finding a seat. "It's not nice to spy on other ponies." He plops down and eyes her as she flies in the window and leans against the wall. "How much did you hear?" Onyx massages her recently healed wing with her hoof, "Front Line was a bit worried, he sent me to come check on ya and invite you down for some dinner." She picks out a damaged black feather with a wince and tosses it aside. "I got to the window right when you confessed your love for our princess. What's this about being a bodyguard?" Xiphos stares at her incredulously, "That's all you wanted to ask? About my bodyguard offer?" He leans forward, staring down at the floor. "The princess asked me to be her bodyguard whenever she is out of the safety of the keep." A small grin appears on the black pegasi's lips. "And of course you said yes, because of your feelings for her?" "No, I mean, yes, I mean..." He sulks some, "It's complicated." He looks up at her, seeing that she is expecting more, he continues. "Onyx, you knew the commander pretty well. You know how she wanted Equestria to be safe and protected. I feel like I need to be close to Star Swirl and the princess to fulfill that dream of hers. After I failed her..." He is struck by a fast hoof to the jaw. Reeling back he rubs a hoof to his sore spot and gets angry. "What the hay was that about!" "I'm just getting past the pity party part of this talk! You did not fail anyone that day. It was an ambush, there was no way for you to stop what happened!" Onyx stands over him, breathing heavily through her nostrils. "So just stop trying to take all the blame upon yourself for her death, she would've hated to see you tearing yourself apart with guilt like this." She calms a bit and plops down on her rear. "You do what you need to do, but do it because you want to, not because you feel that you are paying off a debt!" He lets her scolding soak in a moment. Was there really nothing he could have done to stop her death? Was he agreeing to help her brother out of guilt, or because he really believed in her vision? "You.. You're right, Onyx." He says at last. "All my life I guess I had been doing the same thing, trying to make Equestria a better place. It's in my nature to protect, as sure as this shield on my flank shows." He looks at his cutie mark briefly before looking back at his friend. "I've been making promises all day now, to the princess to protect her, and to Misty to not fail in protecting anypony." "How about one more?" Onyx holds out a forehoof toward Xiphos. "Promise me that you won't let guilt cloud your judgement, and you become the best damn bodyguard to ever exist." Xiphos let's out a smile, his jaw still a little sore. He raises a hoof and shakes Onyx's. "I can do that, just go easy on me next time you feel like smacking me around." "Maybe I will, maybe I won't." The pegasus shrugs, "Now, about Princess Celestia..." "I was hoping you would forget about that." The tan earth pony frowns as the pegasus leans forward uncomfortably towards him. "I can't say much on that, just make sure you are honest with yourself and your reasons." She pats his shoulder with a hoof as she gets up. "And if you really care for her, then let her know." She walks back to the window and stretches her muscles in her wings and back. "The worst she could do is assign you back to the unit with me and Front Line." She lets out a giggle and takes flight, drifting out the window, turning around to look back in. "Come on down and eat, Front Line is waiting on us." Standing up, Xiphos gives an accepting nod to the pegasus, who quickly turns and flies away. He picks up the washbasin in the corner and sets it back onto the counter. Noticing himself smiling in the mirror, he turns his head side to side checking hisself before heading out the door to join his friends. He feels lighter in his trot, and happier than he has been the last few days.