"So, what happened at your first training Dad?" the foal asked.
"I woke up early in the morning, earlier than most of the guards even, a good hour before the trumpet blasted my ears out, so I was up and awake by the time the guards were just waking up." CloudStar said.
"It was quite a struggle to leave such a comfortable bed at such and early hour, but I managed to escape the wonderful grasp of the infirmary bed."
"Wow, this is a huge castle." CloudStar said, wandering through the countless halls. There were a few guards walking around here and there, but none were really awake. After a few minutes he noticed that they were all either half bat or had a perfectly white coat and gold armor and seemed to be going to the same place. The bat ponies made him feel a little uneasy, so when the next white guard walked by, he stopped to talk to him. "Hey, where are all of you guys going?" he asked.
The guard inspected CloudStar closely, as if assessing if he was safe. "Well," he said after a few seconds, "we are the elite guards. We are entrusted with protecting the princesses. As you can see, the sun is starting to rise, so we are switching duty, the bat ponies guard in the night, and we sentinels guard in the day. There is a room that only the elites, as we call ourselves, meet before the trade off. Though there are two guards who were enchanted by the princesses so they never need sleep. These two stick with them no matter what. Celestia's sentinel, Gleaming Sun, and Luna's bat pony, Shadowy Moon. These guys, never fuck with them. Last guy who called Shadowy Moon a whore got his jaw ripped off."
"Why would anyone call him a whore?" CloudStar asked quietly, looking around to see if any pony were near enough to hear him.
"Well, there's a rumor that Luna picked him because she uhh." The sentinel looked around too. "Because she likes him."
"Who started it?"
"Actually the same guy who called Shadowy Moon a whore."
CloudStar stared forward blankly, fear was just visible on his face. "So, how will I know if it's Shadowy or Gleaming?"
"Well, Gleaming's armor is always so gold it hurts to stare, and Shadowy's wings have a few rips and tears in them, and the ears on his helmet are slightly taller."
"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, how did you become a sentinel? And why do you all have a blindingly white coat?"
"I can't tell you how, but when you become one, you'll either wake up one day with this white of a coat, or be a bat pony. Your armor is magically bound to you so it will change too. Also, you're CloudStar right? Grats on joining the squad."
"Oh, thanks man. Hey, where am I supposed to go?"
"Well, you woke up really early, so the training or guard meeting or whatever you want to call it won't start for an hour or two, but it will be in the center gardens, or guard-ens. Ha."
CloudStar walked away, shaking his head in disappointment at the terrible joke. He looked around the halls, looking for some sort of map or sign or something so he could tell where the center gardens were. Obviously they were in the center of the castle, but CloudStar had no clue if he was near the center, or which way the center was, in his defense, it was his first time in the castle. He saw a few more elites in his search, but the few he talked to were any help.
"I'll ask the next one who passes by, if he ignores me, then I'll just find my own way." He said to himself quietly, still wandering the halls. After a minute or so, a sentinel walked by with a bat pony by his side. The sentinel's armor was almost mythically gold, and the bat pony's wings looked like they've seen hundreds of wars. They stopped when they saw CloudStar
"Good morning." The sentinel said.
"Why would a normal guard be up at such an hour?" The bat pony asked.
"I just woke up early, anyways, could either of you tell me where the center gardens are?" CloudStar asked.
"The center of the castle." The sentinel said.
"That way." The bat pony pointed a hoof down the left hall.
"Thanks." CloudStar started walking down the hall.
"You're welcome." The elites said in unison before continuing on their walk.
CloudStar went to where the bat pony pointed. He stopped just in front of the center gardens. Wait, was that Gleaming Sun and Shadowy Moon? He looked back just in time to see them one last time. Yeah, I think it was. Cool. CloudStar turned back to the gardens and went through the doorway into them. He looked around, it was a huge open greenhouse-like dome. The top was made of glass and formed seamlessly with the castle corridors around it. "Cool." CloudStar walked in. There was a flagpole in the middle, and two ponies were standing by it. One had some sort of flag on his back, the other levitating a trumpet in front of his mouth. The one with the flag stretched his wings and flew up the pole a little ways. He looked at his hoof for about a minute then pointed at the unicorn with the trumpet. The next thing CloudStar heard was a second of loud trumpeting then some ringing. The pegasus hung the flag on the flagpole.
Flash Sentry walked up to CloudStar. "Mmm hmmm, mm hm hm?" he asked.
"What?" CloudStar shouted.
"Hm mmm, mmm hmmm mm hm hm?"
"What?"
"Mmmm, hm hhm mmm hmmhmmm."
"What?"
Flash grabbed CloudStar's ear and blew into it roughly.
"OW!"
"Can you hear me now?"
"Yes."
"Were you too close to the trumpet?"
"Yeah, now what do you want?"
"Oh, I was just wondering how you beat the guards here, the infirmary is a good half hour walk from here."
"I woke up early."
"Oh, I see."
"So, what happened in the training pop?" The foal asked.
"I don't remember much more of that day, just that it was difficult and all my muscles were sore afterwards." CloudStar answered.
"Awww."
"I know, I wish I had a better memory too, I can't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning, but oh well. I still remember a lot of what happened while I was a guard."