The Mixer Chronicles

by Mixer

Gathering the Guard

Two days after our visit to the Wonderbolts academy, I was taking a walk through the castle while Trottson and Phalanx were on their shift.
I was walking past the gardens when I head hoovesteps behind me. I turned around to see Thunderlane escorted by a guard.
“This pegasus wanted to see you sir,” the guard said.
“Ok, you may go,” I said dismissing him. “Now, why would you be here,, and not with the Wonderbolts?” I asked Thunderlane.
“I, uh, wanted to ask if I could join the Lunar guard.” he said, kicking at the ground.
“You sure? You could still be a Wonderbolt,” I said.
“Yes, I’m sure,” he said, a little more confident.
“You obviously pass the physical examination, you fought the changelings and were in the Wonderbolt academy. Now why do you want to join the Lunar Guard?” I asked.
“Don’t tell anypony this, but I personally think that Luna is better than princess Celestia. Don’t get me wrong, Celestia is a great leader, but I think Luna is more down to earth, more like the average pony. I want to be able to say, ‘I know Princess Luna, and she knows me, not as a guard, but as a friend,’”
“Indeed, you have good cause to be in the guard. Go to the caverns and get fitted for your armor, I will have to order a set for you,” I said.
“Thank you,” he said and dashed off towards the lift.
I headed off to tell Luna about her newest guard.

“Thunderlane?” Luna asked cocking her head sideways, “The Wonderbolt recruit?”
“Yes, he said he would rather be your guard,” I said.
“It seems you have a fan club,” Sombra said.
“He has been the first non guardspony to enlist with us,” I said.
“I wonder how many more will come?” Luna asked to no pony in particular.
“I don’t know, but I make sure that the Lunar guard isn’t just a band of misfits and fan ponies,” I said.
“True enough,” Luna said. “Though, no more oaths of protection, I don’t need an army of ponies indebted to me for life.”
“I will agree to that, three is plenty,” I said.
We heard a knock at the door.
“Come in,” Luna said.
Trottson and Phalanx walking in with Thunderland behind them.
“Ah, met our newest recruit have you,” I said to them.
“I thought so, he said he was down there to get fitted for his armor,” Trottson said.
“Yes, I sent him to get fitted for a set of armor, I’ll have to order every new member a set,” I said.
“So, Thunderlane, how does it feel to be a Lunar Guard?” Luna asked him.
“I am honored to have this opportunity Luna,” he said with a bow.
“Rise, you don’t have to be so formal, we’re all friends here,” Sombra said.
“That’s good to hear,” Thunderlane said, perking up.
“I think I like this guy,” Sombra said.
“Well, now that there are four of us, we can go two to a shift,” Trottson said.
“Yeah, but we still have to wait for his armor, which will take a day or two,” I said.
“Well, at least we can mix up the shifts a bit now,” Phalanx said.

The next day Thunderlane’s armor came in and he spent his free time flying around the castle to get used to the weight.
I took my shift with Trottson that night.
“So what do you think of being in the Lunar guard?” I asked.
“It’s definitely different from being one of Celestia’s guards,” he said.
“How so?” I asked.
“For one I’m not just another guard, I’m Trottson,” he said.
“I understand how you kind of lose that sense of individuality as one of her guards. Most of them all look the same, white coat, blue eyes, mostly pegasi, at least your brown, that gives some variety,” I said.
“Yeah, nothing like being in the Lunar guard though, everyone knows each other, even Luna calls all of us by name,” he said.
“That’s kind of the whole purpose of having us be small, we have the ability to know one another, it makes us work better together,” I said.
“I suppose it does,” he said with a chuckle.
We stood there for a while longer in silence.
“So what’s your story?” I asked.
“Excuse me?” Trottson asked looking at me funny.
“We don't have much to do right now, Luna is out raising the moon and won't be back for an hour or so,” I said.
“I guess you’re right,” he said with a sigh.
“So how did you become a guard?” I asked.
“It was a few years ago, I was working at an inn in Dodge city. A bit of a misnomer calling it a city, it’s little bigger than Ponyville,” he began.
“What did you do at the inn?” I asked.
“I helped the owner load and unload supply crates, I was little more than a chore colt to him,” he said. “Then I saw a poster that said there were positions open for the Royal guard. I took all the bits I had and took a train to Canterlot. I was a lonely pegasus form a backwater town looking to join the most well known order in Equestria, and I could tell that they all knew it. The citizens of Canterlot were ok, but the guards were sceptical. They were wondering why I had come to Canterlot and wanted to join the guard. I told them that I wanted to enlist so that I could protect Equestria, a fact that is not at all false, and they slapped some armor on me, gave me a stick and told me to fight another pegasus that came to enlist,” he said.
“So you fought another the other pegasus?” I asked.
“Not at first, I didn't know how to fight, neither did he. We both kind of just swung the sticks at each other hoping that the other would back down, the guards were watching us and it looked like they were making bets on which of us would get in the first hit. After beating on each other’s sticks for a few minutes I finally asked why we were fighting. The guards laughed as the other recruit took the chance to hit me over the head with his stick. ‘Looks like this one’s a little slow,’ one of the guards said. I glared back at the other pegasus and he came rushing at me again. This time I was ready for him and I caught his stick with mine and disarmed him with my wings,” he said.
“So then what happened?” I asked.
“I threw the sticks away and asked the guards why we were fighting to get into the guard. One of them laughed and said, ‘You need to be able to protect yourself.’
‘Yes, but you also have to know when to show compassion,’ a voice said as a large white unicorn walked up to the guards.
‘Shining Armor sir, we were just, hu, testing the new recruits,’ one of the guards said.
‘It looks to me like you were just making these two fight for your amusement,’ Shining armor said giving them a dirty look. ‘Now you two want to be in the royal guard?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ both of us replied.
‘Then I suppose it’s good that you already have armor, welcome to the guard,’ Shining Armor said.
From that day onward I looked up to him, I even served under him directly on a few occasions,” Trottson said finishing his story.
“Wow, that was one heck of a story,” I said.
“So what about you?” Trottson asked me.
“You might not know this, very few ponies do, but I’m not from Equestria,” I began.
“Trottson’s jaw dropped, “What?”
“Yes, I was born and grew up in a faraway place called New Pegisopolis, the capital of my homeland,” I said.
“What was it like?” he asked.
“There were tall sky scrapers everywhere. The city itself was far larger than city here in Equestria, most of the our homeland is frontierland, only small pockets of civilization exist outside of New Pegisopolis,” I said.
“Wow, that sounds, different,” he said.
“It is, especially with the advancements that they had, large metal ships, instant communication between far away places, it was a wonder world of technology compared to Equestria. That’s the problem though, in my homeland we were plagued by wendigos for years, much like the ancient tribes from before Equestria’s founding. We were unable to find friendship like Equestria, but we found strength in each other. With the unicorns’ inventions, the earth ponys’ courage, and the pegasi’s military skill, we drove the wendigos away, restoring some form of order to our land. After the wendigos were driven from our lands for good, three leaders, one of each race, met where a town had been buried in snow by the wendigos and founded New Pegisopolis together, beginning the formation of a unified nation. From the innovations that were used to stop the wendigos came new technologies that made life easier for all three pony races. We have been at peace for hundreds of years now, expanding our city and living in harmony,” I said.
“Wow, I never knew, never imagined that another civilization was out there,” Trottson said.
“Neither did I, until I was transported here after an experiment went wrong, or maybe it went right. I like it better here in Equestria, even with all that New Pegisopolis has to offer,” I said.
“It looks like we spent most of our shift telling stories,” he said.
I yawned, “Yep, looks like we did,”

The next day I woke up a little past sunrise and donned my armor to see what was happening that day.
I was walking past the garden when I was greeted by a beige colored earth pony mare with a flowing mane that was two shades of green, one a lime green, the other a grassy green.
“Oh, um, is this where I can sign up to be in the Lunar guard?” she asked me.
“Yes,” I said looking her over.
“So, uh, how do I sign up?” she asked.
“Well, first you have to tell me your name,” I said.
“My name’s Ivy. What’s yours?” she asked, her light green eyes brimming with excitement.
“My name is Mixer, and I am the head of the Lunar guard,” I said.
“Oh wow, I didn't expect to run into you first,” she said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You know, I thought you would be off doing something with the princess, not taking a stroll past the gardens,” she said.
“We’re not always on guard duty, we have free time in between shifts,” I said.
“So how do I go about joining?” she asked.
“You first have to pass a physical examination,” I said.
“What kind of physical examination?” she asked.
“Follow me,” I said, heading off towards an open courtyard. When we arrived at a suitable location I turned to her and said, “Your test is to spar with me, you have to prove that you can fight to protect Luna.”
“But you’re in armor,” she said.
I took of my armor and set it aside, “Better?”
“Yes,” she said getting into a ready stance.
“Begin!” I said and watched as she sized me up.
I was larger than she was and I also had the advantage of not having my armor slow me down. She would have to use her size and quick thinking to beat me.
I made the first move and moved in closer, just out of arm's reach, and she stood her ground, waiting for me to attack. When I did not oblige her, she went for a swing at me, a blow I easily dodged and returned.
She was more cautious after getting cuffed on the side of the head. She kept more distance between us, forcing me to have to charge at her to get an attack in, which I did.
She held her ground until the last second, when she sidestepped me and kicked me, sending me crashing into a wall.
“Not bad,” I said getting up.
I kept the pressure on her from then on, making sure to keep her close enough to lunge at.
She kept trying to get more space between us but every time she would dash away, I would close the gap before she turned around.
Eventually she did a dash like she would try to put distance between us, but she rolled instead, lifting me up and throwing my over her when I lunged.
I landed upside down and recovered just before she got to me. I met her mid charge and me started grappling, each one trying to floor the other. Her size made it easy for me to overpower her, but she kept rotating us around whenever I got close to toppling her.
Eventually I got a good hold on her and fell to the floor, dragging her with me. When we finished rolling I was standing over her.
She looked a little crestfallen, “I suppose that means I’m not good enough to join,” she said, her eyes starting to water.
“Nonsense, you fought very well against an opponent who was bigger than you,” I said, helping her up.
Her eyes brightened again, “Really?”
“Yes, even though I was going easy on you at first, you still managed to send me flying twice, using my momentum against me, that’s quick thinking,” I said.
“So what now?” she asked.
“Now I have to ask you a question, why do you want to join the Lunar guard?” I asked the now familiar question.
“Why do I want to join? Hmm, I guess because some part of me wanted to prove that I could, but mostly because I always wanted to be one of the royal guard, but I never got the chance. Now that it’s so close, it almost seem unreal, almost like a dream. I hope that’s what you’re looking for,” she said.
“Why did you always want to be a royal guard?” I asked.
“Because, they always seemed so noble and they have such an important role as protecting the princess, but they don’t accept earth ponies, and I had to stay home to help my parents,” she said, drooping a bit at the last part.
“Well, we accept all kind of ponies, and you should be proud to be the first earth pony to join the Lunar Guard,” I said.
A smile ran across her face, “Thank you so much.”
“So what do you do anyways? I noticed that your cutie mark was a flower of some kind,” I said.
“I had a garden at home, I would always find new plants to grow, I learned a lot about herbs and their medicinal properties, I guess that is what got me my cutie mark,” she said.
“A medic, good. Should you want to further your knowledge of herbal remedies there are a few books in the Canterlot library that you have full access to as a Lunar guard,” I said.
“Ok, I think I’ll check those out,” she said turning to leave.
“I’m going to tell Luna about you, when I come back you should go get fitted for your armor,” I said.
“Ok,” she replied as she walked off towards the library.
I was on my way to Luna’s room when a guard came up to me and said, “Sir there is an applicant for the Lunar guard here to see you.”
“I know, I already dealt with her,” I said.
“No this applicant is a different applicant,” the guard said.
“Two in one day, show them to the courtyard be the gardens,” I said.
“Right away,” the guard said as he hurried off.
I returned to the courtyard and saw that I had forgotten to put my armor back on. I decided to leave it off since I was going to be examining another recruit.
The guard brought with him two unicorns, one was a rose colored mare that looked barely old enough to be a guard, and a larger dark blue stallion with a twelve pointed star cutie mark.
“I thought you said there was only one applicant?” I asked the guard.
“We go together,” the stallion said.
“But you barely look old enough to fight,” I said to the mare.
“I can do enough fighting for both of us,” he said protectively.
“So how are you related?” I asked, knowing a protective relative when I hear one.
“She’s my sister,” he said.
“So why drag your sister along?” I asked.
“Because, we don’t have any parents to stay with, so I had to stay with my big brother,” the mare said.
I knew that if I passed one I would have pass them both, but I knew that I could not split these two up.
“Ok, you two have to pass a physical examination before you can enter, but first what are your names?” I asked.
“My name’s Star Shine,” he said.
“And I’m Rose,” she added.
“A fitting name,” I said.
“So what about this physical examination?” Star Shine asked.
“Normally I would have you fight me one on one, but you can both fight at the same time,” I said.
“Are you sure?” Rose asked.
“I think I’ll be alright,” I said.
“Ok, ready whenever you are,” Star Shine said, dropping into a fighting stance.
“Since we can both use magic, I’ll allow it,” I said, getting into a defensive posture.
“Careful how many handicaps you give us,” Star Shine said.
“Oh, so confident are we? Ok then, lets go,” I said.
As soon as the words left my mouth he was on me, trying to get in a punch wherever he could.
I blocked each successive hit but failed to see Rose in time before she tripped me. Star Shine was on me in a flash, trying to pin me down.
“Star, don’t hurt him,” Rose said.
He was distracted for a second so I pushed him off and got to me feet.
“Now see, I let him up, now he’s gonna be wise to us,” Star Shine said.
I rushed him while he was talking and we started grappling, trying to overpower each other.
Star Shine eventually decided he couldn’t win so he pushed me back. I thought he was giving that up, but it was just a chance for Rose to use him like a springboard and try to land a hard kick on me.
I dodged out of the way of her outstretched hoof and caught her before she could hit the ground.
I tossed her over to Star Shine and said, “Good tactic,” before Star Shine and Rose started to circle me.
I focused on Star Shine and watched as they gained speed, until both were running in opposite directions. I thought they were trying to confuse me, until their horns started glowing, then I was suddenly surrounded by two rings of ponies, one of Roses and the other of Star Shines.
My eyes grew wide, that was no novice level spell!
As I tried to locate the real ones I saw their horns glowing brighter.
I was not able to dodge the jolt of magical energy that they used on me, so I took the hit and got some singed hair for my trouble.
After they discharged the spell the copies faded away and the real ones got next to each other.
I stood up and dusted myself off, “Ready for more?” I asked.
“We can give you punishment all day,” Star Shine said.
They both started attacking in tandem now, Rose apparently losing her unwillingness to fight.
I held them off until a russet colored stallion with an even larger build than Big Mac charged in and tossed Rose at a nearby wall.
“Rose!” Star Shine exclaimed as he turned to fight the newcomer.
I teleported over to Rose and checked to make sure she was ok.
“I’m ok, just a little sore, but what about Star Shine?” she asked, looking on with terror as Star Shine tried to fight the much larger stallion.
“Enough!” I shouted, bringing the fight to an end. “Who are you?” I demanded
“I came here to join the Lunar guard and I find two ponies beating on you, that’s not a fair fight,” he said in a gruff voice.
“That was an examination for their entry into the Lunar guard!” I said.
“Oh, sorry,” he said.
I sighed, “Do you usually make such good first impressions?” I asked.
“Yeah, I do,” he said in a sarcastic tone.
“Well, I have no doubt about your physical abilities, so as far as I’m concerned all three of you pass, but what’s you name stranger?” I asked.
“Brick,” he replied.
“Your joking,” Star Shine said.
“You want to argue with me fancy boy?” Brick asked provokingly.
“Enough you two,” I could see this was going to be fun, “Well, Brick, you and the others have have to pass the entrance question,” I said.
“There’s an entrance question?” he asked.
“I have to screen members, this is how I do it. Why do you want to join the Lunar Guard?” I asked.
“I want to join the Lunar Guard so that I can give my sister a proper home,” Star Shine said.
“What about you Brick?” I asked.
“I’m not the best at making friends so I was always treated like brute, like I could do anything but do hard labor, I want a chance to prove I can do more good than just help put up buildings,” he said.
“But your cutie mark is literally a brick wall,” I said.
“That doesn’t mean that I have to lay bricks for the rest of my life,” he said.
“I suppose that it true, welcome to the Lunar guard, all three of you. You should go to the caverns and get fitted for your armor sets,” I said.
I went to go look for Ivy, so that they could all get fitted at once.

When I drew close to the library I saw Celestia through a window, talking with Ivy.
I rushed inside to see what they were talking about.
“Just who I was looking for,” Celestia said as I skidded to a halt.
“Yes princess?” I asked.
“I hear you have a new recruit,” she said.
“Actually we have four now,” I said.
“Oh, well then, I would like you to prepare them and meet me in the throne room in one hour,” Celestia said.
“Of course,” I said.
“I'll be looking forward to it,” she said and left.
“Oh boy,” I said, turning to Ivy. “You go and get the other three, tell them to meet me in the garden once you have all been fitted,” I said as I went to go get Trottson and Phalanx.

I told them about it and we gathered the four recruits and Thunderland and walked into the throne room when it was time, Trottson and I in front with the four recruits following behind and Phalanx and Thunderlane bringing up the rear of our little party. When we had all entered the four recruits spread out in a line facing Celestia with Phalanx and Thunderlane on one side and Trottson on the other, with me standing front and center.
“I present to you the Lunar guard,” I said to Celestia.
She got up and examined the four newest members, so you think you have what it takes to compare with the most well trained guard in Equestria?” she asked in a challenging tone.
I lost most of my cool right then, it didn’t help that Brick felt the need to respond.
“With all due respect, why can’t we?” Brick said in an equally challenging tone. “Just because we don’t look like much doesn’t meant that we are weak. If we work together why can’t we be just as good as the Royal Guard?” he challenged.
“Yeah, if we work together to cover each other’s weaknesses and play to each other's strengths there’s no way we couldn’t be just as good if not better than the Royal guard,” Ivy added.
“That’s the whole point of us isn’t it? To work together to protect princess Luna, as a whole?” Rose asked.
Phalanx and Thunderlane were dumbstruck, the four of them were standing proudly and Celestia had a look of annoyance on her face.
“They are right, if we do work together, we will be able to protect Luna from anything, that’s the advantage to having such a small group, we work more like a family than a military unit, and I will be willing to defend them too,” I said, joining the growing ranks of crazy ponies.
Celestia’s frown turned into a smile, “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. Your strength is in each other always remember that,” she said.
Trottson let out a held breath and Phalanx and Thunderlane looked even more dumbfounded.
“Thank you princess,” I said.
“Thank you, for gathering such a capable group of ponies,” she said.