What does a Hero Truly Need? Vol. 1: A New Age of Heroes

by zelkova48

Chapter 23: Drafted- Part 2

The building that was the armory was really nothing special, but when you thought about, a large secure warehouse meant to hold weapons of war (and I use the word very loosely) shouldn’t really be all dazzling and shiny. What Gondar, Rhasta, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash was staring at was a very plain building of wood, stone and steel that was designed to be a heavily armored bunker.

However, upon closer examination with Gondar’s trained eyesight he could see that while the bunker appeared to be reinforced to withstand some kind of attack, it’s design overall ranked in comparison to that of a three year olds block buildings. The building was sturdy, there was no doubt in that but everything else that was suppose to protect it gave Gondar and Rhasta the urge to smash their face into a brick wall multiple times.

The only real protection that they had were the stone walls and wooden beams around the bunker that were plated with a thin layer of steel, around the same thickness as a sheet of cardboard. That being said, the beams were only covered on the vital points of the structure but it was done so poorly it looked like it could easily be broken and toppled over if an elephant ran into it. Heck, even if it had a strong foundation of stone this building did not look like it was capable of surviving more than one siege. This armored bunker was a fort made of twigs in disguise, and the Shadow Shaman and the Bounty Hunter knew it all too well.

“Behold! The great armory of the royal guards!” Luna announced with fire “Here in this indestructible bunker we house all of the guards armaments. Though we prefer to go the route of diplomacy rather than violence, we are not without our defences. Should any other nation seek a skirmish there is no doubt that we have the capability to repel any attack they might throw at us!”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were staring at the armory with a slack jawed expression before expressing how amazing it was to be at such an amazing piece of architecture, one that was meant to help the guards defend Equestria in times of danger no less. That is if it didn’t involve some malevolent deity trying to rule the world but an evil king or queen could fit that role just as well as Discord or Nightmare Moon could.

Gondar and Rhasta’s feeling was completely opposite to the two mares. Instead of a feeling of awe and inspiration of sorts, they felt very underwhelmed. They might as well be walking into a room that was made entirely out of muffins. At least there they would be well protected and have an ample food source at the same time. Jokes aside, they dreaded seeing what the inside could hold in a world like Equestria.

“This place isn’t my most favorite locations to visit in Canterlot, but after ruling for so long we have come to learn that it is a necessity” said Celestia as the little group strolled into some sort of foyer where they had to be checked before they could enter the building “While we haven’t had conflict in an incredibly long time, we have always made it our business to research and enhance our soldiers armor and equipment to make sure that they are ahead of the times should a battle ever occur” she stated proudly.

After a couple of turns in the hallways and another check by some guards they entered the storage room itself. It was all so neatly organized. Row and columns of weaponry were all in their appropriate racks and shelves to where it would be almost impossible not to misplace and item in the room. However, that was probably the only thing impressive about it.

Again, only Rainbow Dash and Applejack found the room impressive while Gondar and Rhasta weren't exactly blown away by it.

“Ah! Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!” a brown stallion with a cutie mark of a hammer and anvil wearing a black apron walked up and bowed to the princess “Welcome to the armory your majesty. What bring you here on such a fine day”

“Hello, Forge. We’re here to help outfit the newest member of the elite royal guards with some equipment. As you can see, all he has so far is the clothes on his back” Celestia said as she pointed over to Gondar.

“Ah, yes. I’ve heard all about you today mister Yellow Devil” said Forge.

“Even though I like the sound of Yellow Devil, please, just call me by my name, Gondar” Gondar replied, trying his best to remain as professional as possible. Forge nodded  and motioned for the little group to follow him around the armory.

“I have heard quite a lot about you today and I must say, you and your friends are truly an inspiration for us all mister Gondar” Forge said quite cheerfully.

“Really now, in what way?” Gondar asked.

“About how you all gave up your criminal ways to join the guards and to serve the common pony. It takes guts to turn yourself in after so many years of working on the wrong side of the law. Ponies will talking about that for years to com!” Forge exclaimed.

“Oh really now, I wonder who told you all that?” Gondar said as he eyed the princesses behind him. They paid no mind to his stink eye and continued to walk as if nothing was wrong.

“Aha! Here we are. This is the armor hall” Forge announced as they all entered a room full of matching gold and white armor. It was frighteningly similar to the sea of guards that they’d encountered just hours earlier only all the suits of armor were empty and neatly stacked on each shelf

“Hoo doggie, that’s a lot of armor” said Applejack as her eyes scanned through the room. From wall to wall there was all kinds of metal armor and helmets that were created to suit each of the ponies special needs. There was a helmet will a hole at the center where the forehead was for the unicorns horn. Another set of armor has some holes on the side for where a pegasus’ wings could move freely without hindering movement “You should count yourself lucky here, Gondar. It’s a rare opportunity to wear such finely crafted armor”

“Yes, it is. Forge here is a master smith and has created some of the finest armor and swords that Equestria has ever seen. You might say that he is even a prodigy at such things. There is no one else in the world that can rival his craftsmanship” said Celestia which caused Forge to blush a little.

“Aw, come on, there’s no need for modesty” said Rainbow Dash ”You must rock at your job. You’re the one who helps all the guards with their armor and stuff, they should be honored to have you as the master smith”

“Oh please, stop it” said Forge as he regained his composure “All the armor here is normally one size fits all thanks to my impressive improvement made to the metal platings so that they can fit you no matter what the size” Forge’s expression shifted to a slight frown when he finally got a good look at Gondar, he was short that he was, and scraggier too.

“Hmm, I suppose I could make a custom fit for you” said Forge “I’ll have to get your measurements first before I can start making it”

“He’s got a point there buddy. You’re not exactly the tallest stallion Ah know” said Applejack with a snicker “They might have to chop the metal boots off of these things just to fit ya”

“Yeah, or maybe they’ll make you wear platform horseshoes just so you can wear the dang thing!” Rainbow Dash joked as she laughed upon the floor of the room.

“Sorry, but I don’t need armor, just some weapons” Gondar replied flatly which took everyone in the room by surprise.

“Whuah? Surely you must be joking. All armor is standard issue for guardsmen and they’re more than just for fashion, they’re suppose to protect you” said Luna, but Gondar wasn’t buying it. He wasn’t the type to wear a heavy suit of armor, it’d just slow him down. If anything, his notoriety scared people into wearing armor some that they wouldn’t automatically get eviscerated by him should their face ever appear on a wanted poster.

“I’ve done well without armor for as long as I can remember’ said Gondar “My pants, shawl. backpack, and some metal plates on my shoulder and hips were all that I ever really needed in the field”

“And they’ve lasted you all this time?” Forge asked, sounding a bit skeptical at such a notion “I find that hard to believe, you couldn’t have worn that all this time without some proper protection”

“Occasional I switch things up a bit with a new mask or some shoulder pads but they clearly lasted better than all of that special armor you made for the elites. They bent and crumpled like paper when I was through with them” said Gondar “Your design left about fifty soldiers trapped in thick metal shells as they were all internally bleeding and crying about broken bones and their mommies, nice job there buddy” Gondar shot back with a hidden smirk.

“Well, that would mean that I’ll just have to keep improving” said Forge, trying to show Gondar how offended that he was when he insulted his armor “But the point still remains, you are a guardsmen and armor is required fo-”

“Just take me to the swords” Gondar rudely interrupted Forge who was taken aback by such brashness “I don’t want to hear anymore about these screaming metal death traps, I’m only here for the weapons”

“Fine, but if you end up with an arrow through your arm then don’t come crying to me about not wearing any armor!” Forge shouted as he stormed over to the next room where all the weapons were held.  

“For the record, I’ve been hit by arrows plenty of times. I was still in better shape than the elites were with my clothes” he joked with a chuckle.

“Um, you were joking about the whole getting hit by arrows thing, right?” Rainbow Dash asked as she walked beside him.

“Wanna see my scars?” he offered nonchalantly.

“Uh... no, I’m good. Thank you for the offer though” said Rainbow dash as they strolled through another room where instead of armor there was nothing but weapons. Weapons like simple swords, spears, crossbows and the occasional black powdered rifles lines the racks and shelves this time and they all appeared to be in great shape.

“Here we are, my pride and joy of the entire armory! The weapon storage facility” Forge announced proudly with a grand gesture “You may have mocked my design about the armor but once you get a feel with these swords you’ll be begging for me to let you use one” Forge said rather smugly with a victorious grin on his face “Please, have a look around. I’m sure that you’ll find all of these swords and spears to be the pride of a modern age”

“Modern... yeah, right” Gondar whispered beneath his breath as he began to browse the room.

“What are you looking for in particular?” Luna asked “There is a variety of armaments here that you can use. We can help you find the one that you are most proficient at” she offered.

“No, it’s alright” Gondar replied “Right now, I just want to find something that I can actually use and not let it be just some useless paperweight” Gondar muttered quietly behind his mask. He scanned around the room and saw something shiny gleaming off the edge of his eyes. He turned to find that there was one sword that was unique from the rest. But unique in this armory was a two way street, Gondar was drawn to the sword but he could feel that something was a little off about it.

“Aha! I’ve seen that you’ve notice excalifur!” Forge exclaimed as he rushed over Gondar “This is my greatest accomplishment. It is perhaps the greatest sword I ever created, it took me an entire year and a copious amount of sweat, blood and tears to craft such a magnificent blade. This...” a single tear streamed down from his eye “This is the sword that will defend Equestria in it’s darkest hour!” he exclaimed as the waterworks started.

Gondar held the sword in his hooves. It was like a standard gladius blade albeit it was slightly longer and thinner. It was given the style treatment. As Gondar unsheathed the sword it shined and gleamed like a hundred diamond in the sunlight. There were several engravings and personal touches to the hilt and pommel that made it stand out from the rest. The bright polished silver shine of the blade nearly blinded Rhasta as he took a peek at it.

“My, my. What a beautiful sword. I must say, you really outdone yourself with this one, Forge. It really does look like something that a fearless hero will wield to vanquish the forces of darkness” Luna praised with a clap.

“Wow, that is a fancy looking sword” said Applejack with an impressed whistle afterwards “I think this is the sword that you’re looking for Gondar. It looks like something you would use”

“Yeah, I think it suits you. Plus it makes you look pretty awesome in my opinion, maybe even as awesome as me” Rainbow sounded particularly smug at the last part of her sentence “Well, what you do you think about it?” she asked.

“Yes, is this the sword that you seek?” Celestia asked Gondar. Gondar stared at the sword some more, all the while ignoring the smug look from Forge. He then turned to Rhasta who had been incredibly quiet during his entire tour of the armory.

“You haven’t talked much today buddy, but I can tell by the look in your eyes that you’re thinking the same thing that I am” he said as he twirled the sword in his hoof.

“I know I have not talked much, I just don’t like this place is all” said Rhasta as he stood next to Gondar “But yes, I know what you’re thinking as well” he ran his hoof along the flat edge of the blade.

“So, tell me. Is it amazing? Incredible? Brilliant? World savin-” Forge was going to finish but he was cut off by Rhasta speaking over him.

“It is a con my friend. I know one when I see one” said Rhasta as he pretended to clamp his nose from a bad smell, everyone in the room looked at him perplexedly “I’ve seen and sold so many swords that look like this in my years as a con artist that I can almost immediately tell a good looking sword apart from from a good sword” he finished as Forge’s jaw hit the floor.

“Wh-what!?” Forge shouted angrily, he was positively fuming right now “H-how dare you insult my work! I will have you know that this sword is worth more than you street urchins will ever hope to make in your entire life tim- !”

“This sword isn’t worth the metal you made it out of” Gondar rudely cut in.

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked “A years worth of beautiful work such as this must be worth at least a few thousand should it ever be on the market” Gondar shook his head before the princess.

“Uh uh, far from it” he replied “The metalwork is absolute crap. It looks amazing but that’s only because you’re distracted by the polished sheen of the blade. The core of this sword is incredibly flimsy and the edge and tip are so pathetically blunt I don’t think it could even cut through some thin parchment without bending like rubber”

“All of this decor doesn’t help either, it harms the blade in fact. The fancy wooden pommel and the deep engravings have off balanced this sword, it’s too heavy on the hilt. If I had to put a price on this, I’d say it would only be worth...a drink down at the tavern” he finished, leaving behind a room full of stunned ponies.

“E-excuse me!? A drink down at the tavern!? You can’t be serious!? I worked an entire year on this, it should be worth tens of thousands” Forge angrily shouted.

“It should be worth two drinks if you haggle enough with the barkeep” Rhasta added which did nothing other than drive Forge over the wall even more “Think about it, that’s more than one” he said with his signature grin.

“Wow, I didn’t realized how crummy that sword really was. You might want to choose something else there buddy” said Rainbow Dash.

“Quiet you!” Forge snapped at Rainbow “I’ll have you know that this sword would turn you into ribbons if you were to ever face it!” Forge boasted.

“Oh yeah? Then take a swing at me” Gondar demanded as he shoved the sword at Forge “Come on, I dare you” he said as he tapped his chest “Right here, I’m standing still so just plunge that sucker right into my heart”

“Gondar! That’s madness, you’re going to get hurt!” Celestia intervened “You don’t have to do this, if you would like another sword just find another one around the room! There is no need to go and prove anything!” she shouted

“Just watch, you’ll see. I’ll be fine” said Gondar as he helped Forge hold the sword then press it against his own chest ”Come on, do it!” he challenged. Forge acted on a whim after being badgered by Gondar so much that he didn’t even realize what he was doing. Without thinking, Forge went and plunged the blade right into Gondar’s chest... only to find out that the sword ended up on the ground in many little pieces.

Forge couldn’t believe it, his sword, his masterpiece, his life’s work shattered into tiny little bits and pieces of steel like a stain glass window upon even touching Gondar’s skin. All the ignored impurities and poorly worked portions of blade began to show itself as it crumbled like a chunk of dirt. The once glorious blade became nothing more than a forgotten memory.

Gondar didn’t say anything more. There wasn’t any need to. He just left Forge and the rest behind as he turned for the door and left without so much as a whisper. The room was stark silent, no one made a peep to break the incredulous mood in the air.

And who would say anything at this point anyway? They’d all just witnessed the sword that would defend Equestria in it’s darkest hour turn into a pile of scraps with a simple nudge to the chest. It was... hard to stomach, especially for Forge who just stared slack jawed at the floor without moving a muscle. Even the princesses were speechless, perhaps they have to rethink about the amount of funding that they put in the R&D department.

“Uh... what’d just happen?” Applejack said, clearly confused about everything that just happened.

“I believe we just learn that Forge’s metal working skills need a lot of improvement” said Rhasta as he began to leave with Gondar.

“W-wait!” Luna shouted “Where are you going! You haven’t been outfitted yet!”

“I’m going to find a tool shed!” Gondar shouted in the hall “I’ll just go make my own equipment!”
 
“Um... okay, what do we do with poor Forge now. Anyone?” Applejack asked as she poked Forge who was doing his best impression of a stone statue. He rocked side to side hilariously that Applejack couldn’t help but snicker at it, in light of his current misfortune “We can’t just leave him like this”

“Maybe we should put him out in the gardens” Rainbow joked “He’d fit right in now”

“Uh... we’ll notify the staff to clean this all up and have Forge here moved to the infirmary” Celestia said with a sigh “In the meantime we should just go find them, they’ll probably be in the garden. That’s where the tool shed is located...” she sighed again “Honestly, I starting to think these ponies are more trouble than they’re worth... but, it is for the safety of Equestria” she thought as the four left the armory behind.

“Heh, turns out the armory wasn’t as cool as I thought it was” said Rainbow as they were all walking towards a little brown shed out in the serene gardens. Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s thought on the armory turned around almost completely once they saw how faulty some of the stuff in there really were “I thought that sword looked kind of funky, I could totally tell”

“No, you couldn’t, Rainbow Dash” Applejack retorted flatly before she could hear the sound of pounding metal and sawing wood coming from the tool shed. The banging of metal and rumble of wood began to escalate to a crescendo with each step that they took “What in tarnation?”

“Such noise! What in Equestria is he doing in there?” said Luna as the noise grew louder and louder. As they approached the tool shed they could see that Rhasta was having a casual conversation with the elderly groundskeeper of the gardens, mr. Greenhooves himself. The two of them were enjoying some carrots that mr. Greenhooves grew himself in his own personal patch of soil in the castle gardens.

“Hello there, mr. Greenhooves” Celestia smiled as she approached the semi senile groundskeeper “How are you doing today”

“I’m doing great your highness. Have y’all met Rhasta? He’s a funny feller” he said “he knows all kinds of stories and jokes. Heck, he could pass off being about as old as me, heh heh” he chuckled

“How can you act so calm with all that noise in the background!” Rainbow shouted past all the industrial like noises that were emanating from the tool shed.

“Huh? A clam in the town?” Greenhooves asked.

“No, she said how can you act so calm with all the noise” said Luna past all of the ruckus.

“What? A palm of toys?” he asked.

‘“No! What they are trying to say is don’t you hear all that noise!?” Applejack shouted at the top of her lungs but she realized that near the end of her sentence the noise had died away already.

“I can hear just fine darling, you don’t have to yell” said mr. Greenhooves as Applejack blushed sheepishly. Before anyone else could say anything the door to the tool shed opened up to reveal Gondar and the fruits of his labor, labor that apparently took around half an hour to make with limited resources under less than exceptional conditions.

In his hooves were several oddities of the likes which nopony have ever seen before, it looked crude in both appearance and design yet there was a nagging feeling that told the group that the pile of cobbled together instruments were more reliable than most of the stuff they saw in the armory. He went and set all of the items he made on a small stump next to Rhasta and Greenhooves. Gondar ran a check on each of his newly crafted tools before turning back to the group.

“What took you?” he asked.

“We had to help the best smith in equestria moved to infirmary so they can figure out if his brain is broken or not” Rainbow crudely stated before trotting over to examine the stuff that he made. She fiddle around with what looked like three rocks tied together with a thin strand of rope, she didn’t know what the heck it was or what it did but she thought it was cool since it reminded her of something out of the Daring Do novels “Hey, Gondar. What’s this thing suppose to do?”

“I’m glad you asked, Rainbow Dash. It’s called a bola, it’s meant to catch and encumber my prey” he spoke with pride “It was one of the first things that I learned to make back home for my... occupation”

“It looks very... I honestly don’t know what to say” said Luna as she examined the weapon “I don’t get it, what makes this so much better than all of the other weapons in the armory?” she asked as her hooves got momentarily tied together before she shook them free.

“For one, they’re actually useful” Gondar stated “I prefer functionality over form any day”

“Really?” Celestia and Luna said together. They couldn’t believe that something like some rocks and string could be used to subdue somepony. Unless they were a unicorn, then they could just wrap others up with their magic “Could you perhaps provide a demonstration?” Celestia asked.

“Alright. Applejack, wanna help me out?” He asked.

“Sure thing, what do ya want me to do?” she asked as she stood beside Gondar.

“I want you to run, run as far and as fast as you can away from me. I’m gonna try and trip you up with the bola” said Gondar which gave Applejack a confused expression.

“Uh, okay?” she reluctantly complied as proceeded to run away from Gondar. Why? Well, she didn’t really know other than the fact that he’s going to try and demonstrate how a bola worked in concept. She thought about that to herself, how was he going to stop her? She’s going to find out in the next few seconds as she was a good twenty feet away from the group.

“You mean to tell me that you’re going to catch her from this far with that?” Luna asked as she pointed to the bola

“I defeated fifty of your best guards alone and you can’t believe that I can catch Applejack with a bola from far away?” Gondar asked flatly which clicked with Luna. She just shrugged her shoulder and sighed.

“Please, continue” Luna finished.

With that said, Gondar turned to the faraway Applejack with bola in hoof. He had to adjust his arm strength to the weight of the bola and calculate the distance of Applejack as well as his backswing. With instincts and skill leading his throw, he sent the bola whirling through the air.

It spun through the air hypnotically until it reached the back of Applejack’s hind legs. Almost immediately the ropes began to entangle themselves like thick vines, causing Applejack to tumble and roll onto the ground while she unintentionally hogtied herself. The more she tried to move, the more she could feel how futile her attempts were.

“Ooh, good throw friend” Rhasta commented as Greenhooves nodded with him.

“Hmm, impressive” said Luna as she teleported Applejack back to the group. Applejack was back in standing position but she was teetering back and forth, trying to maintain her balance since her legs were still tied together.

“Uh, little help?” Applejack asked as Gondar proceeded to untie the orange pony. Once Gondar was done Applejack gave her legs a good shake, feeling relieved to free from her bindings “Phew, thank you kindly, Gondar”

“No problem” Gondar replied, but even with his heighten sense he couldn’t see how Rainbow Dash was gushing behind him.

“Whoo! That was awesome! You have to teach me how to throw one of those!” Rainbow asked as she hovered beside Gondar.

“Sorry kid, no can do” Gondar replied, much to Rainbow’s disappointment.

“Aw, why not?” Rainbow asked as she drooped back to the ground.

“They’re clearly not toys, Rainbow Dash” said Celestia as she stepped in “Given Gondar’s.... unique profession, it’s clear to see why he can’t teach you any of his methods. You could harm yourself, or even unfortunate others on accident” Rainbow Dash moped a little but she shook it off.

 It made sense. Plus, given her track record with her bombastic personality and crash landings, there aren’t a lot of ponies out there that would like to walk out onto the streets knowing full well that Rainbow Dash was somewhere out there and that she had the skills to trip them up with a bola. It would probably be hilarious when you think about it though, Rainbow Dash with some bolas throwing skills.

“Can you at least explain to us what all of the other stuff are?” Rainbow asked. Gondar thought about it for a bit, telling them about the tools of his trade wouldn’t kill anypony.

“Alright, but I’ll only talk about a few so choose carefully” said Gondar as Rainbow Dash excitedly flew over and picked up one of the funnier looking tools. It was one of Gondar’s main weapon, one that he’s carried into almost every battle during his fight on the battlegrounds.

“Ah, the mancat-uh... I mean, the ponycatcher” Gondar said as he quickly corrected himself, hoping that the Princesses didn’t catch his slip up.

In his hooves was an almost perfect recreation of the harvester from his personal hidden hunter collection. To Gondar, it was an oldie but a goodie. Gondar basically took a simple field scythe and grafted a sharpened trowel head to the opposite end. He then took the handle of the trowel and made it into the handle for how he would normally hold it, which in his pony form worked just as well as his old bipedal self.

“I think the name of this speaks for itself” said Gondar “There’s really no need for an explanation”

“Yeouch, I can see why you don’t want me messing around with this stuff. I can’t imagine being on the opposite end of that thing” said Rainbow Dash as she winced at what the ponycatcher could do given the name. It may looked scrappy but the name made up for the appearance.

“Where the heck did ya find a scythe?” Applejack asked as he examined the ponycatcher “You’d think you would find one of these on a farm”

“Oh, that old thing” said mr. Greenhooves “I’ve been using that to cut the grass here for about as long as I can remember. I gave it to him since he asked for it, I’ve been meaning to buy a new one anyway”

“Alright, Rainbow Dash. You can pick one more” said Gondar.

“Sweet! Let’s see what else you got” she exclaimed as she rummaged through the rest of his tool. She rustled about it for a good minute until she pulled out what looked like a long chain with another sharpened trowel head attached to it’s end “Okay, this is weird”

“Oh, that. I haven’t used one of those in a long time” Gondar grabbed hold of the chain as he let it hang slack in his hooves “It’s called a chain linked spear, I used to use this to catch criminals off guard. They would hear the whistling sound of the chain as I readied it...” he said as he began to spin the chain much like a metal lasso “But by then it would’ve been already too late” he said as he threw the chain powerfully towards one of the branches of a nearby tree.

The chain flew straight as an arrow until the pointed end pierced right through the wood as it locked into place. Then, with a vigorous pull, Gondar snapped the entire branch off of the tree and pulled back it back to his hooves. Rainbow’s jaw hit the floor once she saw how brutal this thing was, but at the same time she admitted that it was friggin awesome.

“Heh, Pudge isn’t the only one who can use chains” said Gondar as Applejack raised an eyebrow at him.

“Who’s Pudge?” she asked

“A good friend of ours” Rhasta said with a wink.

“Oh” said Applejack until she realized that they were talking about their own world “Oh! I see”

        “Alright, that’s enough show and tell. I’m gonna have to pack these up so I can use them later” said Gondar as Rainbow’s expression noticeably deflated slightly. There was still so many neat things that she wanted to ask about how it worked since they were all hacked together from simple garden tools.

There was what looked like half of a garden shear that had been bent into place to act like a makeshift sword. Heck, if anything, Rainbow Dash thought that the garden shear sword was way better than the excalifur. Then there was the bountiful collection of short but balanced throwing knives that had been worked from common objects like chisels, cut outs from some sheet metal of an old rusty tin roof and the sharp part of a sickle.

“Land sake, how many tools did you own, mr. Greenhooves!?” Applejack asked as she looked over the pile of homemade throwing knives, eyes wide in disbelief.

“Little missy, how young do you think I am?” said mr. Greenhooves as he chewed on another carrot “I’ve loyally worked here for so long I could build a mansion out of all the tools that I own in that shed of mine”

“Well that was a very... enlightening” said Luna “You don’t think perhaps we could use some of those designs for our guards, could we?” she asked. as Gondar was packing up his knives and strapping his weapons on the side of the backpack he just shook his head.

“Not in a million years” said Gondar as he placed his backpack back on “If your smith can’t make a proper sword then how in the world is he suppose to make something like a bola? Save yourself the trouble and tell your boys to keep their hooves off of these things unless they’re looking to nick themselves on accident”

“If you believe so...” Luna said dejectedly “It would’ve have been nice to outfit the rest of the guards with some new equipment though. That bola thing looked useful for nonlethal engagement, and toning down that ‘ponycatcher’  could change the way how the guards could handle certain situations” she thought to herself.

“There you all are!” a gingerly voice spoke out from behind the group. They all turned and saw that Aiushtha and just about everyone else had shown up as well. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Jackal, Sven, Rubick, Twilight and Spike all walked up to them, expressions of exhaustion were all evident on their faces assuming that they had been working so hard while running around trying to find everyone else “We’ve been looking all over for you, I thought you went to the armory”

“We had a change of plans and decided to cut the visit short” Celestia half fibbed “Gondar here didn’t like the equipment that was shown before him and he insisted that he’d make his own tools”

“I’d take it the tools in this armory were a little lackluster?” said Sven with a smug grin on his face.

“More than you can ever think buddy” Gondar replied as he turned to Jackal “So, how’re you with the locals now?”

“Better than before, still a bit shaky but it is a massive improvement considering yesterday” said Jackal as he looked over to Fluttershy.

 She didn’t feel scared or threatened anymore after Sven busted her door down to apologize to her. It was incredibly awkward and terrifying but once she stopped hyperventilating from such a surprise and actually talked with Sven she became a bit more accepting towards Jackal and his species, it wasn’t a whole lot but heck it was better than nothing.

And since he was going to be sticking with them for a while she might as well be courteous to him since he had shockingly been courteous to everyone else once Twilight spoke to everyone.

She remained in the way how she would to most things given her personality. She was timid, bashful, shy but if she could open up to everyone else like she did in the past then why not now since there was really nothing bad before her. Just a misunderstood individual on the wrong end of things. She may have hid behind her mane and spoke about as loud as a gentle breeze whenever she tried to converse with Jackal but she’s doing her best in believing that something she thought was once scary is really not.

“It takes time, it always does” said Jackal as he averted his gaze away from the timid yellow pegasus who in turned sighed in relief.

“Let’s just call it a day already” said Rainbow Dash as she flew next to the group “The weddings only two days away and we already have everything up and running like clockwork. Let’s take a break before the big day” everyone nodded in agreement. Without missing a beat the rest of the group turned and went straight to the castle after another successful day of preparations. As the group was walking however, the princesses were having a private conversation behind them.

“The guard would benefit greatly from the tools that Gondar showed us, wouldn’t you think?” Luna asked her sister “I mean we would have to learn how to craft such tools first before actually putting them into the armory of course”

“Sister, how hard can it be to recreate some rocks tied with rope and an oblong looking stave?” she asked with a chuckle “I’m sure the scholars back at the castle can cook these up on a slow afternoon, it shouldn’t be challenging”

“If you say so” said Luna “How is their contingency plan coming along?” she asked softly, a question that caused Celestia’s eyebrow to slightly twitch upon mention.

“Swimmingly” Celestia calmly replied, trying her best to maintain her composure “I pray we won’t have to use it though...”

Today was the big day. Everyone’s hard work was finally going to be in play as the wedding began. It was a marvelous sight, everypony in Canterlot tuned in to perhaps the biggest event of the year; Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain Shining Armor’s wedding. It was an outrageous sight, ponies as far as the eye could see were all cheering and shouting with joy as the two lovers were about to be bounded in holy matrimony. Too bad the heroes couldn’t be there.

Far, far away from the actual castle itself were the newest members of the elite royal guards, and they were bored out of their minds. Rubick was stationed by the north gate of Canterlot and Rhasta had chosen to accompany him so that the grand magus doesn’t set something on fire just to tickle his fancy. Sven and Jackal stood watch around the east gate while Gondar was with Aiushtha to the west. The boredom of standing watch even though there was a gigantic bubble shield covering the city was absolutely maddening.

All that time that they were guarding Canterlot they’d actually wished for Rhasta’s fortune telling to be true. What they wouldn’t give for some sort of invasion of giant black shelled bugs to happen right about... now.

        A loud droning noise not unlike a cicada began to echo throughout the city. Perhaps it was something natural on a hot summers day but the droning got louder and louder before ear piercing screams began to throw themselves into the mix. Rubick and Rhasta turned around and to their surprise they saw that the sky was indeed filled with a swarm of black shelled insectoids. How they got inside the shield didn’t really matter to them at the moment but they were more than happy to see that there was some kind of invasion going on.

But there was none who was happier than Rhasta as he began to dance around ecstatically shouting the same thing over and over again deep into the noised filled air.