The Mixer Chronicles

by Mixer

Sentinel

“Good morning Mixer,” Celestia's soft voice drifted over to me.
“Celestia?” I asked groggily.
“Yes, Twilight told me what happened,” she said, her voice sweet as honey.
“I’m sorry about that, I should have been more careful.” I said, still half asleep.
“Nonsense, you didn’t know that it would happen and you fixed the problem,” Luna said.
“Luna, you're here too?” I asked with a yawn.
“Yes, and I’m proud of you,” she said.
“Am, I dreaming?” I asked.
“No,” Luna said with a laugh, “you’re awake.”
“Then why are you giving me so much praise?” I asked.
“Because, you defused a situation that could have ended in disaster for both Equestria and Saddle Arabia,” Celestia said.
“Well, it is much appreciated, but it makes me feel a little uncomfortable,” I said. finally getting out of the bed.
“Alright, but you still did us a great service,” Luna siad.
There was a knock at the door, “May I come in?” Alim asked.
“Sure,” I said, stretching.
“Good morning Princesses,” Alim said after opening the door.
“Good morning Alim. We’ll leave Mixer to you now,” Celestia said.
She and Luna walked out and Alim walked in carrying a bundle on his back.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“This is a gift from Haakim, for a brother in battle,” Alim said, unwrapping the bundle to reveal an ornate scimitar.
“This is too kind,” I said taking the fine blade.
“It is a tradition to give somepony who saves your life in battle a sword,” Alim explained.
“I’m honored to receive such a gift,” I said with a bow of my head.
“I’m honored to count you amongst my friends,” Alim said.
“I have one favor to ask of you though,” I said.
“What is it?” Alim asked.
“Can you get me some plate armor?” I asked him.
“Plate armor, what do you want that for?” he asked.
“I have something I need to prepare,” I said.
“I will have the smith start on it right away, though it could be some time.” Alim said.
“Will it be ready before sunset?” I asked.
“It can be,” he said.
“Then could you?” I asked.
“For you, yes.” Alim said, then left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I went downstairs and looked around for Rarity. I found her admiring some of the local fashions.
“Oh, this is simply divine,” she said feeling a Saddle Arabian dress.
“Rarity could I ask you a favor?” I asked approaching her.
“What is it?” she asked.
I pulled out a piece of paper and drew a set of armor. The design was similar to the royal guard armor but it was more ornate and the plume on the helmet was longer.
“Do you have the material to paint the armor, the heraldry, and make the plume?” I asked showing her the drawing.
“Hmm, what color do you want the plume?” she asked looking the drawing over.
“Silver like moonlight,” I said.
“I think I can do that, but ah, where are you getting the armor?” she asked.
“I’ll have it delivered to you as soon as it is ready.” I said.
“Ok,” she said.
I left her to continue looking at different fashions while I went to the blacksmith to make sure he got the design I wanted.
“”What do you want?” the blacksmith asked, annoyed.
“I wanted to make sure you had the right design for my armor,” I said.
“Oh, my apologies, I thought you were just some lout asking me to fix some mundane little trinket,” the smith said turning from his forge.
“I have an illustration of the design that I want,” I said, showing him the drawing I had made while talking to Rarity.
“Looking for something fancy eh?” he asked.
“I just want something that isn’t plain, thus the more angled design,” I said.
“No problem, they don’t call me a master smith for nothing,” he said, getting back to the forge.
“Thank you,” I said.
He did not reply, instead he began forming the metal for my armor.
I did not have anything else to do so I looked for Celestia. I found her talking with Alim in the palace.
“You will find that we have developed many, unique, magics here,” he was saying.
“Like the sandstorm spell?” Celestia asked.
“Yes. Oh, hello Mixer,” he said.
“I'm not interrupting am I?” I asked.
“Not at all, Alim was just telling me about Saddle Arabian magics,” Celestia said.
“Could I have a word with you Celestia?” I asked.
“Sure, what is it?” she asked as Alim silently took his leave.
“I wanted to ask for your consent before I actually did this, but, I would like to form a Lunar Guard, for the purpose of protecting and serving your sister Luna,” I said.
“There are already guards stationed to protect her, why do you think she needs a dedicated guard?” she asked.
“Because, I could feel what it was like for Nightmare Moon to be separated from you,” I began.
“What do you mean?” Celestia questioned.
“She was angry at you, that is true, but she was devastated that it came to that, and that she was separated from you for a thousand years,” I said.
“And, what are you getting at?” Celestia asked.
“I don’t want to ever see Luna have to go through that ever again, and I don’t want to have to put you through that either,” I said, my voice shaking.
“I would have denied you before, saying that Luna had enough protection from the royal guards, but I know what you want to prevent, and I will not stop you from forming the Lunar Guard,” celestia said, a tear forming in the corner of her eye.
“I have a suit of armor being prepared right now, it will be ready before we leave,” I told her.

The rest of the day went by slowly, waiting for the armor to be ready. Later in the day Rarity found me and asked me to see the armor.
“It’s perfect,” I said.
The metal was black and shiny, with Luna’s cutie mark painted on the breastplate. The helmet had the face shields tapered and bent slightly inwards. The plume was a silvery color and went down almost to the back of the armor. there was a set of gauntlets as well, each having a swirling design on them.
“It does look beautiful, doesn’t it,” she said.
“Thank you for helping me,” I said.
“No trouble at all,” she said.
I put the armor on and felt the extra weight of full armor for the first time. After moving around a bit I got used to the extra weight.
“How do I look?” I asked Rarity.
“You look rather dashing in that,” Rarity said.
I said thank you once more and went to find Luna. She was talking with Celestia and Haakim before we left. As I approached I saw some of the others arrive as well.
“Mixer, what is that?” Luna asked as I approached.
“Luna, I am forming a personal guard for you,” I said with a bow.
“That’s unnecessary, there are already guards stationed to protect me,” Luna said.
“I already got approval from your sister for the formation of the Lunar guard, and as its founding memeber I want to swear an oath to you,” I said bowing on one knee. “Princess Luna, so long as I draw breath I swear to protect and serve you to prevent you from being separated from your sister ever again.”
Twilight and Rainbow Dash had bewildered looks on their faces, and Pinkie’s mouth was hanging open.
“I-I don’t know what to say,” Luna said looking around.
“I do, thank you Mixer,” Sombra said walking up next to Luna.
Luna’s face reddened slightly and she looked down at her hooves. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
“Is everypony almost ready?” Celestia asked, taking the attention off her sister.
There was a chorus of yeses as each one of them had arrived by now.
“Then let us be off,” she said.
We walked outside and Haakim bid us farewell as we prepared to take off. The pegasi readied their wings as I prepared a large crystal to carry the other five who could not fly on their own.
“All aboard!” I said as I levitated the large, wedge shaped crystal.
“Are you sure you can handle all of us by yourself?” Applejack asked.
“If I have to I can split it up between me Sombra and Twilight.” I said.
“Alright, if you say so,” Applejack said, stepping onto the crystal.
As soon as every pony got into a spot on the crystal I made some hoofholds so they would not slide off.

We flew north towards the mountains and I began to grow tired of levitation all six of us.
“Do you need to split us up?” Twilight called from my right.
“Yeah, hold on,” I said, as I separated the crystal into three triangular pieces, on for me and Applejack, one for Twilight and Rarity, and one for Sombra and Pinkie. The strain lifted as I only had to support the weight of two ponies instead of six.
We flew through the mountains and reached the San Palomino desert before dark.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was almost midnight by the time we finally trundled into Ponyville, I was barely awake and I could tell that I wasn't the only one.
“We're here? Finally,” Rarity said rubbing her eyes.
“Mixer, I don’t expect you to fly all the way to Canterlot in your state. You can report for duty first thing in the morning,” Luna said.
“Thank you,” I said with a large yawn.
I stumbled home and didn't even bother to take off my armor, I just fell into the bed and fell asleep.

The next morning I woke up and found that sleeping in armor was not the best idea. I got up, took off the armor and stretched before checking to see what time it was.
“Oh, shoot!” I said, as I realized that it was already sunup.
I got my armor back on and flew to the castle, taking the slow train was not an option.
I reached the castle and the guards let me in and told me that Celestia was waiting for me. Not wanting to make her mad I rushed to the throne room and skidded to a halt in front of her.
“Mixer, good morning,” she said.
“I’m sorry, I slept in,” I said, out of breath.
She simply smiled, “You’re not late yet, Luna is still asleep herself.”
I sighed in relief, “You wanted to see me?” I asked.
“Yes, since you need a headquarters, the barracks in the caverns will be the Lunar Guard’s base of operations,” she said.
“There’s a barracks down there?” I asked.
“Yes, much has changed since you last were down there,” Celestia said.

I rode the lift down into the Canterlot Caverns and was amazed to see that what was a small camp when I had left it, had grown into a complex of buildings built into the walls of the cavern. There was a large storehouse, a barrack, an armory, a mess hall, even a few houses.
A guard saluted me as I neared the barracks, “The Princess has asked us to clear this baracks out for your order,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said.
“So, uh, how would a pony go about gaining the Lunar Guard?” he asked.
“All applicants have to go through me,” I said.
“Ok, just curious, the other guards have been talking about it,” he said.
“Oh?” I asked, “What have they been saying?”
“Some say that it’s silly that you think that you can replace the royal guard, others think that you’re doing a great thing, and others simply see it as less work for them,” the guard said.
“And what do you think?” I asked him.
“I think that it’s about time they gave her a dedicated guard, we have been sufficient to cover for Celestia’s well being, but with Luna, it stretches us a little thin,” he said.
I went inside and looked it over, not much just around ten beds, each a double bunk.
“Sir?” I heard a guard ask from behind me.
I turned around and saw three guards, one I recognized.
“Trottson? What are you doing here?” I asked.
“We came to apply for the Lunar guard,” he said.
“Normally, applicants have to pass a physical test, but I think being royal guards qualifies,” I said with a chuckle. “But you all have to answer the entry question.”
“What is it?” another guard asked.
“First of all, I don’t want an organization of nameless soldiers, what is your name?” I asked.
“Phalanx sir,” the guard said.
“Good to meet you Phalanx, and you?” I asked turning to the gray pegasus the accompanied them.
“Stonewall, sir,” he said.
“Nice to meet you, now why do each of you want to be in the Lunar guard,” I said, dropping the more relaxed tone to ask the question as if it was the most important question they would ever answer.
“I want to protect Luna, she has been gone for so long, she needs all the protection she can get.” Trottson said.
“And you?” I asked turning to Phalanx.
“I’ve been with the royal guard for twenty years, and all throughout that time I have never seen Celestia look weak or vulnerable, until Luna returned. Celestia was so worried about her sister, she had been hiding the pain of banishing her sister for so long, when she returned, Celestia could not hold it any longer. I never want to see her like that ever again, so I will do whatever I can to prevent anything from happening to Luna,” he said.
“Stonewall?” I asked.
“I have been a guard for so long, with nothing to show for it, if being a Lunar Guard means more action, I’m all in,” he said.
I turned to Trottson, “I’m sure Luna will appreciate your protection,” I said. I then turned to Phalanx, “You will never have to worry about that ever again, I’m sure you will serve Luna well,” I said. Phalanx seemed to perk up as I turned to Stonewall, “You, are not worthy to protect princess, Luna, you should not even be a guard if all you sought was glory,” I snapped at him.
“What?” he asked, as if he had just heard a blasphemy.
“You are rejected,” I said flatly, turning away from him.
I heard him storm off, his hoofsteps fading into the distance.
“So what now?” Trottson asked.
“I will have your armor sent to be altered for your new positions, but for now, we will go to see the Princess,” I said.

We rode the lift and walked through the palace to Luna’s private chambers.
“Is Luna awake yet?” I asked one of the guards.
“Yes, she is awake,” the guard said.
I knocked at the door, “Luna may we come in?” I asked.
“You may enter,” the voice came from the other side of the door.
I opened the door and the three of us entered.
“I have a couple of recruits for the Lunar guard,” I said.
“Already?” Luna asked surprised.
“Yes, these two seem like the perfect candidates,” I said, motioning towards Trottson and Phalanx.
“And who might you be?” she asked them.
“I am Trottson, I was organizing the guards during the last changeling attack,” Trottson replied.
“And I am Phalanx, a loyal guard to your sister for twenty years,” Phalanx said.
“You two don’t have to take an oath like I did,” I said.
“What oath?” Phalanx asked.
Luna rolled her eyes, “He took a life oath to protect me.”
“And I’m still glad he did,” Sombra said walking in.
“You could have knocked first,” Luna said.
“It’s more fun just to drop by,” Sombra said playfully. “She still thinks that that wasn’t necessary Mixer,” he said.
“I’ll take an oath of protection,” Phalanx said.
“I will too,” Trottson said sitting next to Phalanx.
Luna covered her face and said, “Very well.”
Both of them swore similar oaths on one knee and rose when they had finished.
“I guess, that makes it official, you are both hereby members of the Lunar guard,” I said.
“So, your little order just tripled in size, and on the first day no less!” Sombra said.
“Not too hard when it was just me this morning,” I said.
“It is still an accomplishment,” Luna said, recovering from her slight embarrassment.
“I would like to get you two settled in in our barracks,” I said. “And your armor needs to be sent away as well.”

We went back to the barracks and I gathered their armor and sent it to Rarity to be recolored and given the right heraldry.

The armor came back the next day and we were officially ready to do our job, guarding Princess Luna.
We took the night shifts as much as the day shifts, often one after the other. I would take my shift alone while Phalanx and Trottson took theirs in pairs.

One day we we called to the throne room by Celestia.
“As you know, there is a new class of Wonderbolt recruits going through training camp this week,” Celestia said once the three of us were gathered. “I will be going to inspect the new batch of flyers with Luna, you will accompany her,” she said.
“Of course,” I said.
“I assume you know the cloudwalking spell?” Celestia asked.
“I am familiar with it, yes,” I said.
“Good, then we will leave shortly,” she said.

“How are you going to get to the training camp, you can’t fly, and don’t expect us to carry you,” Phalanx said.
“Don’t worry, I have ways,” I said.

We prepared to take off, Celestia had a guard of four pegasi and Luna had the three of us.
“So, how are you going to get to the training camp?” Trottson asked.
“My new shoes,” I said.
“Do you plan on walking?” Phalanx asked with a chuckle.
I activated the levitation enchantment on the shoes and watched as both their jaws dropped as I rose into the air a few feet.
“Are you ready to go now?” Luna asked.
“Yes princess,” the three of us said.
“Then let us be off,” Celestia said, taking off with her four guards.

Flying with the levitation shoes was not easy at first, I almost flipped over a few times, but I was able to make it to the Wonderbolts academy without incident.
When we arrived the trainees did a few exercises for the princesses, then they landed in their pairs and trotted off the air strip.
Celestia went to talk with the instructors about the trainees’ performance, while Luna went to personally meet with the prospective Wonderbolts.
I didn’t recognize most of them, they must have been from other parts of equestria, but I did recognize a few, particularly a certain mare with a rainbow colored mane.
“Mixer, What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked excitedly.
“I’m one of Luna’s personal guard now,” I replied.
“So how’d you get here?” she asked.
I activated my shoes and floated upwards.
“Cool,” she said.
“You’re not the only familiar face around here either,” I said, landing softly back on the cloud. “Somehow, I figured I would see you two here,” I said to Cloud Chaser and Thunderlane as they walked over.
“Wow, so you’re a personal guard to Luna?” Thunderlane asked.
“Yep, So how’s Wonderbolt academy?” I asked them.
“It’s the most amazing thing ever!” Rainbow Dash said, floating a little over the cloud.
“It’s tough work though,” Cloud Chaser said.
“But it’s worth it,” Thunderlane said.
“So when did you get accepted?” I asked Rainbow Dash.
“Just last week. Our friends were here just yesterday,” she said.
“And why wasn’t I told about this?” I asked.
“I thought you would have known already,” Dash said.
“Well, I know it’s a little late but, congratulations for making it, all of you,” I said.
“It was good to see you but it looks like the drill instructor is coming back, gotta go,” Rainbow Dash said as her and the others hurried back into formation.
“So, Princess Luna, what do you think of the new recruits?” Spitfire asked.
“They all seem like very capable fliers,” Luna said, the three of us gathering behind her.
“Yes, especially that Rainbow Dash,” Spitfire said. “Wait, what’s a unicorn doing all the way up here?” she asked, pointing at me.
“He is one of my personal guards, you might know his name, Mixer,” Luna replied.
“The Mixer? I heard about what you did, trapping chrysalis in crystal, it’s nice to meet a real life hero,” Spitfire said, extending her hoof.
I shook it and said, “Please, ‘hero’ is such a strong word. Now you, you’re a real hero.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, the world can never have too many heros,” Spitfire said.
“Indeed, the world will always need ponies to look up to,” Luna said.
“Are you ready to go?” Celestia asked walking over to us.
“Yes,” Luna said, stretching her wings.
We took off and headed back to Canterlot. On the way Trottson flew over to me and asked, “So did you see any flyers that caught your eye?”
“I know a few of the, I even fought beside some of them,” I said.
“Really?” he asked, cocking his head.
“Yes, you remember when the changelings attacked, I was in Ponyville at the time and Thunderland and Cloud Chaser helped us fight the changelings,” I said.
“No wonder they’re in Wonderbolt academy,” Phalanx said.
“Yes, they do have the heart for it,” I said.

When we arrived back at Canterlot it was well into the afternoon, so Luna dismissed us to go get something to eat. We went to the caverns and I was surprised that the food they had there was pretty good. I was expecting simple rations, but apparently the guards and miners that were down there liked to eat well.
Once we finished, Trottson and Phalanx went off to take their shift of guarding Luna, while I familiarized myself more with the cavern.
The homes were mostly just for the cooks and other kitchen staff, but one or two were rentals for miners.
I walked further in the caverns, remembering when I first came here, looking for gemstones, with the first expedition. We had so little equipment back then, just our own ponypower and some carts, now there were two rails running along the cavern with several side shafts where miners could be heard.
I neared the large cavern where the tunnels branched outwards and found a mining encampment with several workers bustling about.
“Well, I never thought I’d see you here again,” a yellow earth pony wearing a hard hat said as he walked up to me.
“Do I know you?” I asked quizzically, I recognized him but could not put a name to the face.
“You might not remember me, but I remember you. My name’s Gold Rush, I was with you when you we were trapped in that cave, you know, when Shining Armor and those others saved us,” he said.
“Ah, now I remember,” I said as the lightbulb went off, “Do you run this operation now?”
“Yessir, not a gem goes through here without me knowing about it,” he said.
“How far does the mine extend now?” I asked.
“These tunnels extend for Celestia knows how long, we haven’t even mapped most of em,” he said.
“Do you have a map of the caves so far?” I asked.
“Yeah, hold on a second,” he said turning to a pair of earth ponies hefting a large container, “YOU TWO BETTER NOT DROP THAT, OR I’LL TAKE THE COST OF IT OUT OF YOUR PAY!” he turned back to me, “Now where was I, oh yes, a map. I have one right over here,” he said pointing over at a tent near the center of the cavern.
We walked over to the tent and he showed me a map of the caves that they had discovered, along with a map of Canterlot. The caves snaked their way under the whole town, even far into the mountain itself.
“Is there anything near here?” I asked pointing to a passage that ran close to the outside of the mountain.
“Nope, we mined that area about a week ago, nothing there but empty tunnels,” Gold Rush said.
“Good, I had an idea for another building down here, but I needed it to be in the right spot,” I said.
“Near the outside of the mountain? What’re you planning on doing there?” he asked.
“Oh, a little side project, nothing concrete yet,” I said. “Thank you for your help, but I must be going,” I said, turning to leave.
“No problem, after all, without you I wouldn’t be the head of this here operation now, would I,” he said.

I left Gold Rush and the mines behind, returning to the surface just as the sun began to set.
I meet up with the other two Lunar guards and I relieved them so they could get some rest.
“Oh, by the way Mixer, Luna wants to talk to you,” Trottson said as he left.
I entered the room and saw Luna and Sombra sitting on the balcony, enjoying the sunset together.
“You wanted to see me?” I asked from the doorway.
“Yes, come in,” Luna said without turning around.
I walked in and shut the door behind me.
“Don’t be so formal, you may be her guard, but you’re also a friend,” Sombra said.
I walked over to the balcony doorway and stood there.
“So, what did you want to see me about?” I asked.
“I wanted to talk to you about the Lunar Guard,” Luna said.
“What about it?” I asked.
“I wanted to tell you that I really do appreciate what you three are trying to do for me,” she said.
“What, being your personal guard?” I asked.
“She means for being not only her guards, but her friends,” Sombra said.
“Are you ever going to stop doing that?” Luna asked him.
“What, I’m only telling him what you’re thinking,” Sombra said smiling.
Luna gave him a little cuf on the head but I could tell she was playing.
“I will always be there for you, both of you,” I said.
“Now, don’t make this all sappy, it was just a thank you,” Sombra said with a grin.
“Since when did you become the new element of laughter?” I asked, finding it impossible to hold a straight face.
Luna was smiling, “He’s been like this since we got back, I can’t shut him up.”
“Aw, you love me and you know it,” Sombra said putting an arm around Luna.
She slipped out of his grasp and Sombra fell to the floor, “You do know how to make me laugh,” she said cracking up.
“I’d say the fun has been more than doubled,” I said, rolling with laughter.
“Oh?” Luna said as she flipped me over with her magic.
Sombra burst out laughing as I looked at the two of them upside down. “It’s good to be in such good spirits,” he said.
Luna spun me the right way and set me down, “This had been fun, but I have to go raise the moon.”
“Ok, don’t take too long, you know I hate waiting,” Sombra said.
Luna took off and flew towards the horizon to do her nightly duty.
“You two are perfect together,” I said as Sombra watched her go.
He turned to me, “Yeah, and I have you to thank for all this.”
“Not all of it, you did good yourself,” I said.
“But if it weren't for you, I’d probably be in some changeling cocoon by now,” he said with a chuckle.
“If it weren’t for you, everypony would be in a cocoon right now,” I said.
“But, all joking aside, thank you,” he said.
“No problem at all,” I said.