//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 Welcome to Everfree // Story: True Black // by Leonofsweden //------------------------------// True Black Chapter 18 Welcome to Everfree 15 of April Bender took in the sites around him, trying not to look too much like a gawking tourist. They had just gone across the stone bridge over the ravine situated in front of the three gates that finally led into The Royal Pony Sisters’ Castle grounds, Bender only being let through at Hammer Song’s firm insistence. It had taken them more than two weeks to make the journey back to the Everfree Forest, having to go slow because of Bender's injuries, and also to make sure no pony was following them or lying in wait in another ambush. Finally, he and Hammer had made it safely all the way, only for Bender to get in to trouble with the Royal Guards at the first wooden gate since they didn't like the way he looked for some reason. But they knew better than to argue with a Praetorian, especially since Hammer Song was well-known, being one of only two current Praetorian smiths. After passing through the wooden gate, the guards at the iron and steel gates caused them no trouble. On the other side of the gates that were part of a massive round wall with several guard towers on top of it, everything had been cleared away in front of the castle except for grass and stone pathways that lead up to the castle itself. It was all done so they drew the eye towards the castle; the intended effect was to make the castle look powerful and intimidating for any visitor, a function it performed admirably. The enormous compound of the castle itself stood proudly against the untamed wilderness, surrounding everything on the other side of the ravine. The castle was made mostly of large, white stone blocks, whilst the domed roofs of the multiple towers and the angled roof of the monastery-like main entrance gave the impression of being made of smooth, polished ebony; it almost looked like metal from its high polished shine. Covering the edges of the roofs, walls, windows, and entrances was pure undiluted gold. The front double-doors themselves were massive, large enough to admit even the legendary dragon without it having to lower its head. Even though they were so enormous, the doors were still made out of nothing but mahogany and studded with half orbs of gold from top to bottom. At the center of each door, golden knockers in the shape of pony heads could be seen gleaming in the sunlight. But even if the two doors were awe-inspiring in themselves, what truly caught Bender's eyes were the two blue glass windows situated above them. They ran from the door frame up to the roof high above. It was like watching two slices of the sea, just hanging there in the air between the windows framework. They didn't enter via the main door, Hammer instead showing Bender a side entrance, taking them straight in to the main garden complex. This would be a quicker way for them to reach the Praetorian compound. Inside the garden, the only evidence of civilization was the walls surrounding them. There were no torches, no magic lights, no statues, and no limiting passageways. It was just like a giant meadow; beautiful rare flowers bloomed all over in some unclear design, a couple of crystal clear ponds full with oddly colorful fish. The ponds could be seen throughout the gardens, like little oases of blue in a sea of green. Eventually there were some old weather-beaten, yet strangely majestic, trees. The only trees apparently allowed inside of the castle walls, they formed a canopy from the sky in one section of the garden. Or, they did when they were in bloom each winter, with their pink colorful flowers blocking out the sky overhead. “It's pretty impressive, isn't it?” Hammer Song asked knowingly, remembering how she felt her first time seeing everything. Bender managed to close his mouth and look over at Hammer. “I thought all the stories were exaggerated… But they truly aren't even close to doing this place justice at all...” Bender said reverently while he continued to shift his gaze around, taking in all the little details of how it was all constructed and put together. It must have taken centuries to complete all this, Bender thought as they continued walking on towards the Praetorian’s main compound, situated behind the castle itself. They were nearing the edge of the area where the strangely shaped trees stood, when an enormous black unicorn with wings slowly walked out from amongst them. She was enormous, easily towering over even Bender. Her dark astral mane and tail filled with sparkling stars swayed serenely in the wind while she walked. Her black pelt shone like obsidian, her unmistakable crescent moon cutie mark standing out against the purple splotch on her flank. On her chest rested a large black crest inlaid with a crescent silver moon, and, to remove any doubts, the alicorn was adorned with a sapphire-encrusted silver crown bearing rounded spikes. For the second time in a few minutes, Bender's jaw dropped when he realized who he was looking at; Empress Nightmare Moon had just graced them with her presence. Bender immediately fell into a low bow, although to his credit, he was able to continue looking up towards his Empress. Hammer Song made a much more graceful curtsy, as she recognized her Empress’ presence. Nightmare Moon, for her part had stopped, and was looking back behind her. “Twilight, are you coming?” Nightmare Moon called back. As Bender and Hammer Song look behind the night Empress, they could both see a small lavender colored unicorn approaching on unsteady legs. Her main and tail were navy-blue with a purple and pink stripe running through them. On her flank, a pink and white six-pointed Starburst was visible, surrounded by five smaller white starts. Her lavender coat was marked by a big bruise on her cheek, and large bruises beginning to cover her stomach. Even though she was moving stiffly, she still tried her best to catch up to Nightmare Moon. “Yes master… I'm coming!” she called out, sounding surprisingly happy considering the state she was in. Nightmare Moon looked at the little unicorn, deep in thought. As Twilight finally caught up to Nightmare, she sat down stiffly awaiting her master's wishes. Empress Moon looked down at the little unicorn with a sigh. “Go to your room and rest for now Twilight. I will send a servant to fetch you if I need you,” she said to the little lavender unicorn. Twilight bowed her head. “Yes master,” she answered, and stiffly started making her way towards the castle and her room. Immediately, Twilight perked up thinking of all the wonderful books she would now have the remainder of the day to study to her heart's content. Once Twilight had moved away, the Empress turned to look at the two ponies in front of her. The male earth pony was quite a large specimen, with impressive physique. He had a brown coat, fiery red mane and tail, and also, to her surprise, red eyes. Just like Daunting Hooves eyes, Nightmare thought, although that's where the similarities ended. As she checked the ponies flank, she could see he had two hammers crossed over each other. This made sense when she saw who he was with. The Praetorian, Hammer Song; one of their two smiths. The dark purple earth pony mare stood at attention in front of Nightmare, waiting for orders. Her solid dark blue mane and tail pressed was slick against her with sweat, most likely from pulling the wagon behind her all day in that lunar steel armor. The Empress’ eyes shifted back to the stallion bowing before her. Of course, a future Praetorian smith. Looking at him, he will have no trouble making the cut to enter the Royal Guard´s, he will most likely be a Praetorian within two or three years, Nightmare Moon thought, her gaze shifting to the wagon behind Hammer Song, which would be perfect for collecting the garbage she had left in the garden. She also spotted two more Royal Guard´s walking past them, a little ways behind the cart. “You two! Attend me!” Nightmare called out. The two golden armored white Pegasus guards both snapped their heads towards their Empress, and then hastily made their way over to stand at attention beside Hammer Song. “I want you to go collect a worm I left in the garden. He is someway in amongst the trees. I the worm is still alive, take him to the infirmary. Then, I want him stripped of all rank, and tossed out of the Royal Guard. He offended the honor of the Royal Guard greatly and I will not stand to have him in my sight again,” Nightmare Moon ordered. “Yes Empress!” Hammer Song and the two Royal Guards barked out in unison. Satisfied that they understood what she wanted them to do, Nightmare Moon slowly walked away, without another glance back. As she disappeared out of view, Bender let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding, and slowly staggered up on all four hooves. The two Royal Guards and Hammer Song were already on their way into the trees. Hammer stopped and looked back at Bender, still spellbound by the fact that he had just been in the presence of Empress Nightmare Moon. “Come on Bender, move your flank! We have to find the idiot that managed to piss off Empress Moon like that!” she called back to him. This brought Bender back to reality, and he immediately started following Hammer Song in amongst the trees, helping her navigate the wagon between them. It didn't take long for them to find what they were looking for; on the ground laid the crumpled form of Zephyr. He was wheezing in short, shallow breaths, and continuously stuttering out nonsense. His golden armor was completely collapsed in on itself, breaking bones, crushing his rib cage and making it more or less impossible to move or even take a full breath. It was quite a horrific sight, and the four ponies standing around him could all see there was nothing anypony could do at this point; he was slowly fading away. All the while, he stubbornly continued to gurgle out jibber-ish about something none of them could hear. Hammer Song, being the one with the highest rank in the small gathering, leaned in to try and make out what he was saying. Gasp- “slave…” -gasp- “just…” -cough!- “a slave…” gasp… “she's nothing…….” A very strenuous gurgled and wheezing exhale was then followed by utter silence. Hammer looked down at him, with a critical eye, and then carefully put the tip of her snout against Zephyr´s throat, trying to find a pulse… nothing. She stood up shaking, her head as she looked at the others. “He's dead,” Hammer stated flatly. “Zephyr… you stupid idiot. We told you to leave the slave alone,” the closest of the Royal Guards said quietly. “Slave? That little unicorn was a slave?” Bender asked out loud. “Yeah… Nightmare Moon's personal slave. And Zephyr has been hounding her ever since she arrived here more or less daily. Forcing her to do things he felt was beneath him, or could get him in trouble and then gloating to the rest of us about it,” the other guard filled in. “Any pony with half a brain can see that Empress Moon is quite fond of her little slave. She is teaching her magic and all sorts of things. The slave is most likely going to be Nightmare´s right hoof in the future. Hence, if Empress Moon happened to find Zephyr roughing her up or maybe even worse, she wouldn't be very pleased about that at all,” The first Royal Guard continued as he lifted up one of Zephyr´s hooves. When he let it go, it just fell back to the ground, lifeless. The Royal Guard just shook his head as he confirmed Hammer Song's diagnosis of death. “Eeyup… dead as a doornail,” he stated, looking towards Hammer Song. “Look, even if Zephyr wasn't the best pony in the company, he’s still Royal Guard, so we would appreciate it if you could let us Royal Guards handle this on our own. He did have a few friends amongst his fellows, and they would most likely like to take care of this from here on out,” the Royal Guard Pegasus said as he watched Hammer Song, who only nodded her consent. “I understand… had it been a Praetorian, we wouldn't want you guys taking care of it either. We'll leave you to it. Come on Bender, we have a lot to take care of ourselves anyhow,” Hammer said, and started heading for the Praetorian compound once again. **** It didn't take Hammer Song and Bender long to make their way over to the Praetorian’s compound, which stood separate from the rest of the Castle. The two of them quickly stored the contents of the wagon in the giant forge beneath the building. Just as they finished stowing away their gear, Bender was introduced to Forge Strike, who was a surprisingly skinny looking unicorn stallion of considerable age, more or less completely grey from top to bottom, except for his shining and sharp sky blue eyes. Forge Strike was also the current master blacksmith amongst the Praetorians. After eyeing Bender critically for a few minutes, he had demanded to see some of his work. He wasn't about to let some amateur run around the forge unsupervised. Hammer Song said that they couldn't stay and show Forge Strike any of Bender's work themselves, since they both had to report to Daunting Hooves immediately, but that he was welcome to look at anything they brought down earlier. Most of what they had brought down, not made of Lunar Steel, was Bender's work after all. They had left him rummaging through the pile of wears. As they walked through the compound, Bender was struck by the cozy and almost lovable atmosphere in the building. The Praetorians he saw were trotted about wearing the absolute minimum, smiling and chatting animatedly with each other. And every single Praetorian they encountered was looking at him openly and curiously. Civilian visitors weren't unheard-of, but extremely rare. As they were about to move into a hallway, Bender and Hammer Song almost collided with two Praetorians going the other way. “Hi Song! Haven't seen you in a while- Oooo… who's the stallion?” one of the two female Praetorians asked, putting her hoof against Bender´s still bandage chest. “Never thought you'd be one to bring home entertainment for us,” the mare said, giving Bender a smoldering look. Hammer Song gave the outstretched hoof slowly stroking Bender a playful flick with her own hoof. “Hooves off, Dawn! He’s mine and I'm not sharing,” Hammer Song said teasingly, moving to stand between Bender and the two mares now blocking their way out into the hallway. The two mares gave Hammer Song a pouty-faced look, and then swung their heads back towards Bender. “Are you going to let her do that? Just let her refuse you the best time ever in your life? You do want to come with us, don't you?” the other mare then asked, giving Bender an evil little grin while she put her hoof over her friend´s neck and pulled her in close to herself while they awaited his answer. Bender was staring wide-eyed at the two mares, sweating profusely as he felt the jaws of the bear trap about to snap close on him. No matter what he said right now, he'd piss off somepony you really didn't want to be angry with you. Just as he was about to decline their very generous offer, Hammer Song actually gave a little laugh. “Come on True Shot; don't tease him like that, everypony knows you and Crimson Dawn are together. Have been for ages now,” Hammer Song said, smiling at them. “Ahhhh… he didn't know that Songbird! You're no fun…” True Shot said with playful annoyance, as their little game came to an abrupt halt. “Not right now girls. We have to go see Daunting Hooves immediately, so we'll have to catch up later,” Hammer Song said while she pushed through the door. True Shot and Dawn both gave Bender a curious look. “You mean both of you? He's not just here for fun then?” Dawn asked, now truly curious, eying Bender as he tried to squeeze between the two mares in the doorway without there being too much touching. Which turned out to be impossible, especially since both the mares started running one outstretched hoof each along either side of his body sending a little pleasurable shiver along his spine. “No! I'm actually going to recommend he becomes a Praetorian!” Hammer Song called back, already having trotted halfway down the hallway. Bender froze where he was, standing between the two smiling mares. “WHAT?!” he exclaimed, surprised. Dawn and True Shot both covered their ears with their hooves because of the sheer volume of Bender's surprised outcry. He smiled sheepishly at the two mares before starting off down the hallway after Hammer Song. “Hammer! I thought I was just going to work to at the forge like I always do when I'm with a company,” Bender called after Hammer Song while he tried to catch up. “Doesn't work like that here Bender.” Dawn and True Shot heard Hammer’s answer as they disappeared around the next corner. “Hehe… She's got that behemoth wrapped around her little hoof,” True Shot said, almost giggling. “I knew getting out of the forge for a couple of weeks would be good for her, but I never dream she'd actually come home with a special some pony… our young friend is growing up nicely, isn't she?” Crimson Dawn said happily. “Most definitely.” True Shot said while the two of them started walking off again. **** The Prefect’s office was quite a messy place, since it also functioned as Daunting Hooves’ bedroom. Various items were strewn all over the place. How he could find anything in this clutter was beyond Bender, but obviously the white pegasus made do. He had a black mane and tail and, to Bender's surprise, red eyes. Bender had never met another pony with red eyes except his father. But the most noticeable thing about Daunting Hooves was actually what wasn't there; he had no cutie mark on his flank. The leader of the Praetorians was a grown up blank flank, although Daunting Hooves didn't seem to care. Even when he had caught Bender staring a couple of times, he had just smiled at him. Hammer Song was at the end of her report of what had happened up North, and on their way home. She told him about the fact that Nightmare Moon had just killed Zephyr, his nephew, for apparently attacking Twilight Sparkle, her personal slave. The Prefect stood quietly for a while, just absorbing the information and rearranging it in his head. Finally, he turned back to Hammer Song and Bender. “This ‘Avarice’ will have to be taken care of; no one attacks one of us and gets away with it unscathed! But… even if neither of you like Black Star, she seems to be a very knowledgeable unicorn, and therefore quite useful. I'm surprised I've never heard of her before, judging by what you have described. I suspect Avarice is keeping her hidden away like his own little secret weapon,” the Prefect said. “Well, she's a real piece of work that one, if you don't mind me saying so,” Bender said loudly. Daunting Hooves gave a little smirk. “My dear Bender, Black Star is dating your sister; I don't think you would have approved her even if she was Empress Celestia herself,” the Prefect stated bluntly. “Even so… I don't like her,” Bender answered stubbornly. “Duly noted…” Daunting Hooves said with a smile. “Speaking of Lightning Strike, I have heard a lot about her, and all of it positive. We have been keeping a closer eye than usual on The Grand Army as of late,” Daunting Hooves said with a bit of concern. Bender missed this, occupied by bursting with pride that someone as high up as the Prefect of the Praetorians, apparently knew how good of a Decurion Lightning Strike actually is. “What would happen if we asked her to turn against Avarice?” the Prefect wondered. “If she knew what I know now, she will slice him up herself,” Bender said without any hesitation. This seemed to go over well with Daunting Hooves. “Good. Now, this spirit Black Star summoned. What did you call it, a Dire Wolf? I would truly like to meet him. Since he let you live when he could have killed you Hammer, it seems he's not just a mindless beast. Not to mention the fact that he is a highly placed Guardian in his own realm. It's too bad he escaped; he might have become very useful for us in the future,” the Prefect said, disappointed. “Though, I have a feeling we won't have heard the last of him,” he added thoughtfully. “Now, that leaves only you Bender; what are we to do with you? Hammer Song here says that you're good enough to be one of us, even without taking your superb blacksmithing capabilities into consideration. But that still leaves one problem… We, more or less, only recruit from the Royal Guard. If we were to induct you straight into the Praetorians, it would draw too much attention to us right now that we do not need, and there's nothing I can do about that,” Daunting Hooves said apologetically as he started to rummage through his desk. “You mean you’re kicking him out; even after all I've told you he's done for us?” Hammer Song said sadly, and a bit bitterly. “Actually, that should be, what he has done for you, Hammer, not the Praetorians as a whole… although to answer your question, all I said was that we only recruit from the Royal Guard. Now where is it…” Daunting Hooves said while he continued to rummage through his desk, scrolls and notes flying in every which direction. “Ahh! Here we go!” the Prefect exclaimed, rolling out a scroll on the desk. He took a quill in his mouth and wrote on it before he quickly rolled it up again. “It should take two, maybe three, days for this to go through all the bureaucracy of a transfer, so. in other words. you have a little over forty-eight hours to pass the entry qualifications for the Royal Guards, Bender. It will be a nice little challenge to see just how good you are,” the Prefect said with a cheeky little smirk. Both Bender and Hammer Song looked at Daunting Hooves questioningly, and then they both started to smile as well. “You know, I feel very patriotic now that I think about it; I would very much like to join the Royal Guard,” Bender said while he grinned back at Daunting Hooves. “Good! Could you show him the way there Hammer Song?” the Prefect asked as though he didn't know the answer. “I'd be delighted to; I even think I'll stick around, just in the background to keep an eye on things,” Hammer said, nuzzling against Bender. “That would be a wonderful idea, especially since you’re the only one can control him if he gets a little upset,” Daunting Hooves said, and waved them both out with a hoof. They gave the Prefect two snappy salutes, turned around and walked out of his office. Daunting Hooves smiled to himself, quite at peace with the whole situation up North. Those two could become quite useful… Daunting Hooves thought, as he added a few more pieces to the game board in his head. Three for the enemy, at least for now; two of them might become powerful pieces on his side of the board. Then, he added Bender beside Hammer Song. Together, they formed a whole that was greater and stronger than its two pieces would have been separately. And lastly, a free spirit… which he suspected could become quite the wild card. He liked it when something new happening in the game. The Prefect made his way out the door, one more thing he had to do; look into just what the hell his nephew had done to Twilight Sparkle. I should probably go and give my congratulations to Legate Artillerus for not having to worry about that idiot nephew of mine anymore… Daunting Hooves thought a little bitterly, though he would of course say it in a much more tactful way. He had never been particularly close to Zephyr; having mostly been keeping an eye on him as a favor to his brother. Even so, he had seen some potential in the stallion, and it was a shame he couldn't keep his nose out of trouble. **** 18 of April Bender stood up from his deep bow, back straight, shoulders square and chest puffed out, highlighting his impressive physique. The golden armor he now wore looked even more impressive than it usually did on a Royal Guard. Bender had just recited the Oath of the Royal Guards, proclaiming his loyalty to the two empresses of Equestria. Celestia was sitting on the throne, looking at Bender a bit more intrigued then she usually did at one of these tedious oath ceremonies. She gave a smile, which looked and felt completely genuine. “Then, on behalf of me and my sister, I accept your oath of fealty, and I bid you take your place amongst your fellow´s, my dear stallion!” Celestia proclaimed loudly, and immediately several Royal Guards standing at attention behind him stepped up to Bender and welcomed him amongst their rank. Numerous jokes and laughs were traded, before Legate Artillerus was suddenly standing before Bender. Legate Artillerus and Bender were easily the two biggest stallions in the entire Royal Guard now, Artillerus still being the tallest at one hundred eighty centimeters, but Bender wasn't far off with his one hundred seventy two. Bender, however, was much more butch and solidly built, while Artillerus had more of an athletic build; more elongated, but well-muscled. Bender had a hard time believing the stallion was fifty-two years old even though his coat, mane, and tail had turned grey with age. The Legate still looked like he could wrestle with the best of them. He had plain steel bracers on his legs and a red robe with a blue sash about his waist. His one good eye was a deep brown, and it now looked at Bender critically. The other eye, Legate Artillerus had lost in a battle long ago. Over the scarred empty eye socket, a gold eye patch could be seen with the symbol of the Royal Guard on it; a star in between the sun and the moon. “You should feel honored, to be allowed serving in the Royal Guards stallion. And it pleases me to see that there are still virile specimens to be found in the Empire. Serve loyally and faithfully and I'm sure you will find as much fulfillment here as I have,” Legate Artillerus more or less barked out at Bender. “I will Legate Artillerus,” Bender answered, and gave a snappy salute. Artillerus nodded once and then moved off to catch up to Celestia who had already left the throne room. “Come on Bender, we have to be back at the training grounds for the morning roll call,” one of his fellow guards in the squad had been placed in called back to him, as they were also starting to move out of the throne room. Bender quickly made to follow them, and it didn't take his new squad long before they were back at the Royal Guards training ground where they all fell into neat rows and stood at attention, Bender being placed in the last row to left as the newest member. Onto the training ground walked their commanding Centurion. After the important business of making sure everything was nice and shiny, Bender could see a Praetorian walking up to the Centurion in charge of the morning inspection. To his surprise, he recognized her as Crimson Dawn, one of Hammer Song's closest friends. She gave the Centurion a scroll, then step back as he unrolled it. “You Praetorians here to try and steal another one from us…” the Centurion said teasingly while he unrolled a scroll and started reading. His face then turned in to a frown. “Are you joking?” the Centurion asked a bit gruffly. “I'm just here to collect him; if you have a problem with that, you have to take it up with one of the high commanders,” Dawn replied neutrally. The Centurion gave an annoyed grunt, then looked back towards Bender. “Tesserarius Bender! Up center on the double!” he bellowed. Bender immediately moved to comply, standing at attention before the Centurion and Crimson Dawn, who gave him a little smile. “Looks like you have been selected for Praetorian training if you should accept. Personally, I think you should wait. You haven't even gone through basic training for the Royal Guard yet, and from what I have heard about the Praetorians training, you should go through ours before you try theirs,” the Centurion said with a bit of concern in his voice. “Thank you for the warnings Sir, but I am a smith at heart, and a Praetorian smith is what I want to be,” Bender said with a nod to the Centurion, who raised an eyebrow. “Well that actually explains a lot… they have been looking for another smith to add to their ranks. Very well… Tesserarius Bender you are to accompany Imagnifer Crimson Dawn back to the Praetorian training grounds for evaluation. Good luck, you will need it…” the Centurion declared, motioning for Dawn and Bender to leave the training ground. Bender gave a salute, and then followed Crimson Dawn out of the Royal Guard compound. As they walked, Bender could feel many eyes following him, and with a bit of apprehension he realized many of them looking at him with concern. As he and Crimson Dawn neared the Praetorians training grounds, Bender finally spoke up. “Couldn't help but noticing… Many were looking at me like I was going to the gallows,” he said as they stopped in front of the gates leading into the training grounds. Dawn looked back at him over her shoulder with a crooked little smile. “Well… deaths do occur during training from time to time,” she said as she pushed the double doors open. “Well, that's nice to know,” Bender answered while he stepped through the double doors, and then froze when he saw what was waiting on the other side. The doors slammed shut behind him, and he stood face-to-face with every Praetorian who wasn't on active duty. All of them smiling widely at him. “Well what do you know… A good old-fashioned beat in,” Bender said, grinning back at them. “He's got balls that for sure!” Bender heard some pony call from the mass of ponies in front of him. “Hammer are you here!” Bender bellowed. “Yes honey! I'll be kicking your flank just like everyone else!” Hammer Song melodious voice rang out, followed by several laughs. “Did I ever tell you I love you?” Bender asked loudly. “Yes! And I'm still going to kick your flank snuggle bum!” Hammer answered to a roar of laughter this time. “Worth a try!” Bender yelled, and then rushed the Praetorians head-on. He gave a mighty battle cry, just as he clashed with the first of them. This is going to be so much fun! Bender thought while the red mist started to descend in front of his eyes. He knew he could let go completely, and Hammer Song would still be able to stop him from killing anypony. He would be able to truly let go and see what he could accomplish for the first time in his life. **** Bender gave a low moan as he woke up in a warm and comfortable bed, immediately feeling that he was not alone. He turned his head, winching a bit at soreness, and saw Hammer Song lying next to him. She opened her eyes when she realized Bender was moving. “Hello there snuggle bum…” she said and smiled at him. “Don't you ‘snuggle bum’ me traitor. I know it was you who kicked my hooves out from under me near the end! I think…” Bender answered in mock anger, then planted a fierce kiss right on her lips. “That was a damn good take-down, and, because of it, that's the last kiss you get from me this week!” Bender said and made to rise up out of the bed. He was quickly yanked back, giving a little outcry as his body protested against the fast movement. Then, Hammer Song´s lips were on his and she held the kiss for a long time, Bender not feeling too much like complaint though. Finally, they broke apart. “If you won't give me any snuggle bum, I guess I'll just have to take them,” Hammer said while caressing the side of his cheek, and then gave him another quick peck on his nose before she got out of the bed. “I hope I'm not interrupting,” Bender and Hammer heard somepony say from the door. They both looked over to see Daunting Hooves standing there and smiling at them. “Not at all Sir! Just having one of those lovey-dovey moments Sir!” Bender said happily. Daunting Hooves chuckled as he saw the lovely crimson color spreading on Hammer Song’s cheeks. She hadn't told the Prefect they were involved when she gave her report three days ago, although he definitely knew by now. It still felt a bit awkward to be caught so red-hooved by him. “Well Bender… You got yourself quite a lot of fans out there today with your little entry performance. Normally, it is to show just how far behind us Praetorians normal ponies are. We play with them until they literally fall down unconscious from exhaustion. But then it is true; you are not a normal pony yourself. I checked the records for our entry exams, the most I could find, any initiate managed to knock out, was two Praetorians on their first day… You get six before they knock you unconscious. I have never seen any pony take punishment like you before, and still keep on going,” the Prefect said enthusiastically. “I can't feel any pain when I'm in the red mist, and all the restraints a body places on itself to protect from injuries are lifted as well. The deeper I go into the red mist, the less restraints my body keeps in place. Which means that eventually I can use all of my muscle’s actual strength. Although, that doesn't mean a good enough blow to the side of my head won't knock me out anyway,” Bender said, and felt the sore bump throbbing away there. “That's quite a gift you've got, if you don't mind me saying so,” Daunting Hooves said. “Well there is a flip-side to it… If I go completely berserk, I will kill anyone who's within my reach. Unless Hammer Song is there to calm me down,” Bender said and looked lovingly at his marefriend. She nestled up against him quite happily. “Well, let's make sure you two are placed together from now on shall we. By the way Bender, welcome to Everfree. You're well on your way to becoming a Praetorian,” Daunting Hooves said with a smile. **** Thanks to Syvvak for the Pre-read/Edit