//------------------------------//
// (2) Blunt force trauma and trains 
// Story: The shield of Equestria 
// by Senseisteel 
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Following the rest of the guards out of the barracks, Dawn Blade headed towards the throne room. Passing through the marble floored chambers he would always stop for a few moments to admire the rather prestigious collection of artwork that was on display all over the palace, he especially took interest on those of the night sky. Other guards would often say they would find him in a trance like state, staring into the painting like into a lover’s eye. Passing a large painting he kept pace while swivelling his head towards the fine artwork eventually the inevitable happened, he tripped on his own front leg and tumbled head over hoof into the throne room. Dawn rushed to his hoofs to try and avoid any oncoming laughs from the usual crowds of ponies here to visit the princess. But they never came, instead in his hazed vision he saw a small purple shape rushing down the steps toward him.

As Dawn regained his vision he saw it was twilight sparkle, the student of Celestia. He bowed, flinching slightly as his grazed jaw hit the cold marble.
“Please” she said worriedly “there is no need to bow to me”
“Aye but there is” he said opening his eyes and raising from his bow.
“The personal student of her majesty should be treated with all the respect she deserves” he explained proudly with his smirk hidden within the sides of his helmet.
She began to blush as she turned and headed back up the stairs, followed by dawn. 
“Were you just passing through guardspony, or where you here for an audience with the princess?” she asked as she turned and ascended the stairs backwards.
“Actually I am here looking for a guard who was summoned here last night” he explained as he climbed the stairs that seemed to go on further than normal. 
Twilight pondered to herself for a second or two before saying 
“ah yes I remember him, Private...Blaze was it” 
“Yes, that’s him” he breathed a sigh of relief, both for the missing private and the as well as the end of the stairs.

The pair was then met by Celestia who was busy reading a large scroll inscribed in something nothing like equestrian. As twilight cantered to the side of the throne to continue filing through a large pile of old books, Dawn brought his head down, this time placing his front hoof under his chin to save staining the carpet. 
“Captain Blade, you should save the formalities” she said in a jolly voice as she lowered and rolled up the scroll using the telekinesis. “I can clearly see something is troubling you, would you mind sharing?”She said in the same tone, tilting her head slightly to one side
“I can see you are busy my liege, I shall return at a better time” he said as he turned to head back down the stairs. But as he tried to descend he was levitated off the ground, bought back 10 hoofs and turned to face the princess. 
“Captain I can assure you that I am never too busy for my subjects, let alone a member of my guard” she stated with a reassuring smile. 

The captain Bowed once more, hissing in pain as his graze touched the fabric of the floor. “I am here in search of private Blaze. He was summoned to the throne room last night along with all of his possessions. However this morning I discovered he had left this” he reached into the small pouch under his armour to reveal the small gold necklace. Hanging it from his outstretched hoof Celestia lifted it to her eye level and examined it closely. 
“By the looks of it I would say this would be a cherished possession of somepony like blaze”. She squinted at the object before placing it on the side of the throne. “I will ensure it gets back to him”
“Thank you princess” dawn blaze said as he began to back away.
“However I have a more pressing matter I wish to discuss with you captain” she immediately caught the ear of Dawn Blade who stood to attention and asked
“And what may this matter be?”
“You” the captain jumped back a hoof with one brow raised, mouth agape.
“Me your highness, whatever is wrong with me?” he asked in a surprised yet concerned tone. This had even caught the attention of both twilight and the guards standing beside the throne who all scanned him for any physical injury he was trying to hide, bedsides the graze that blessed his chin.
“There is nothing wrong with you Captain” she said “It’s just the fact in all your five years, to this day to be exact of service, you have all but once set hoof outside the palace walls and even when you did was an accident”. The captain gave a small mischievous giggle from beneath his helmet.

“You’re kidding?” said a voice from behind the throne, shortly followed by twilight trotting around to face the captain.
“I most certainly am not, ever since he joined he hasn’t been on leave a single time, never taken day off, ill or otherwise, and I am pretty sure he has never been late to an event in his entire service to me and my sister” she began to show that look of concern, the same one she bore five years ago. The same could not be said for the guards and twilight that all had looks of complete disbelief plastered across their faces. They had never heard of somepony being able to withstand that much for so long. But Twilight was calmed by the Captain’s honest smile.
“I, Luna and Blaze came to the agreement last night that you need respite. Whether you like it or not” the kindness remained in her voice but there was an undertone of seriousness like a mother advising her foal.
“Well I guess it had to happen eventually. What is it you command of me your majesty?” his face remained with the same smile but his eyes dropped to the floor as if he was admiring defeat.
“On the contrary Captain Blade I do not command you to do anything, I simply wish for you to take a long overdue break from your duties here at the palace.” She was met by the captains smiling face giving a nod of gratitude and in turn he received the same gesture. 

The Captain proceeded down the stairs and back the way he entered, quietly closing the large wooden door behind him. As soon has the door lock snapped shut, the princess re examined Blaze`s necklace. With a flick the centre piece popped open to reveal two very small photographs along with a tightly folded note. Overcome with curiosity but restrained by her respect for Blaze she decided not to read the note. Instead she passed the locket down to Twilight.
“It appears I have underestimated the significance of this fine piece of craftsmanship” she added noticing the discoloration on the note that suggested it was years old. 
“Do we know where blaze is?” asked Twilight curiously as she slowly rotated the open locket in front of her face.
“I believe Luna requested to see him in private after our meeting.” She said one eyebrow rose trying to make sense of the situation, before passing the note down, placing it inside the locket, then gently closing it to avoid damage. “Twilight would you be so kind as to ask Luna of the location of blaze, I’m afraid I need to attend to these translations before the midday hearings” she explained raising the foreign scroll once again. 
“Of course princess” Twilight acknowledged as she began to descend the steps towards the main entrance “oh silly me” she turned to face the princess with a blush of embarrassment across her cheeks. “It been so long since I last walked these halls, could you direct me to her chambers?” 
“Captain Blade will be able to direct you” she answered peering over the top of the worn scroll.
“But didn’t the captain leave?” she asked furrowing her brows in a form of mild confusion. 
Celestia lowered the scroll and with a smile said “Knowing him he hasn’t yet left the main hall. If you hurry you can catch him”
Twilight nodded and rapidly made her way down the marble stairs towards the towering doorway. As she left the throne room Twilight looked left only to see an empty hall stretching into the distance but as she brought her eyes across to her right she noticed not far off a Pegasus guard sitting on his hind legs staring blankly into a painting that was at least twenty times his size. As she approached she noticed his pupils had dilated and he was almost in a state of somnambulism. She was unsure how to approach the situation, when another darker coated unicorn guard passed. Taking heed of her frightened expression the guard approached.
“Is there anything the matter Miss Sparkle? He asked 
“I’m not sure, is that guardspony alright?” she turned and lifted her right hoof in the direction of the seated Pegasus. The guard proceeded to sneak up behind the Pegasus before whispering into his ear
“Aaaaaaaaand your back in the room” with that the unicorn gave a light tap on the back of his helmet that seemed to snap him out of it. After the unicorn finished his giggle fit he placed his hoof over his colleague`s shoulder “I think that mare over yonder wanted to talk to you Dawn”. Dawn Blade wiped what looked like a tear from his eye, got to his hoofs and trotted over to bow to Twilight.
“What is it you need Miss twilight?” he asked while re centring his helmet.
“I was told by Celestia that you would be able to take me to Luna’s chambers”. As soon as she mentioned Luna his face seemed to lift, his stance became more loose and relaxed.
“Of course Miss Sparkle” he leant sideways and called out to the other guard “Hey Sky! You up for saying hi to Luna?” Sky shrugged his shoulders

“Sure why not”. The group continued through the twists and turns of marble, red carpet and stone until they came across a large door within a dark frame and plastered all over with symbols of the moon.
“You two might want to stand back” Dawn said while searching his pouch for something “aha!” he pulled a small key out from under his armour and into his mouth. “Here we go again” he thought to himself as he placed the key in the lock and opened the door. As Dawn disappeared within the dark room Sky nudged Twilight who looked over and saw him holding a pair of earplugs in one hoof and already had a pair in his ears. Twilight could hear the captain’s voice inside the chamber while placing the plugs in, and in an instant the world went silent for a few seconds before a thunderous roar erupted from through the doorway shortly followed by the captain flying backwards, his armour tearing splinters out of the door, smashing against the far wall and slumping in a heap . The pair removed their earplugs just in time to hear him say
“Yup she’s awake” as he rolled onto his front and found his hoofs. 
“OH MY GOODNESS, DAWN BLADE ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” A bead headed princess of the night galloped through the doorway towards the captain. 

“Yea, yea don’t worry I’m...  I`m fi...” the captain collapsed. It was pretty obvious he was suffering from a heavy concussion and was deeply winded from the impact. From Dawns eyes the world the world had lost all its sense of structure. The walls and floor seemed to mould into themselves like they were made of liquid, the ponies that were once clear had begun to dissolve. The whole world span as he began to fade out of consciousness. 
The darkness was interrupted by a small flash of light that began to pulsate. First small then it grew larger and larger until h managed to force his eyes open, revealing that floating mass of multicoloured mane floating between him and a sunlit ceiling. Dawn sat up rubbing his eyes with his forelegs.

“When I said take a break I don’t think I meant from consciousness” Dawn turned his head to see the silhouette of Princess Celestia standing between the large bed and the ruined door. He could make out from the small puddle of blood and the droplets that trailed toward him that he had been brought into Luna`s chambers and placed on the bed after being thrown from the room. 

“How long have I been out?” he moaned as he continued to survey his surroundings. The pitch black room had been transformed into what seemed like a marvellous piece of art. The floor was a ginormous crescent moon made of marble that was so clean you could see your face in it; the walls were decorated with large banners bearing the royal crest that rested upon a perfect re-creation of the night sky that surrounded the entire room. He continued his visual self tour of the room until his eyes fell on a very guilty looking Princess Luna, her eyes glued to the ground.  Lieutenant Sky seated directly to her right, trying desperately not to laugh gestured with a hoof in the direction of a large mirror situated in the far corner of the room with his hoof. 

Within resided an image that even made Celestia feel uneasy, the Captain`s armour was scuffed and dented all over, all the perfectly crafted golden sequences had become a tangled mess of creases and cracks. To top it all off Dawn began to see blood pour from inside his helmet down his face, the same process felt like it repeated all over his body. While he was busy wiping the blood away Twilight cantered through the open door holding a small wooden bowl filled with a steaming hot liquid, Celestia breathed a sigh of relief to see her asking.
“Is this the zebra concoction?” 
“Yes, sorry it took so long but Zecora`s instructions were a bit cryptic.” answered Twilight. Dawn meanwhile was attempting to climb off of the bed, but as he stood on the marble floor he began to cough uncontrollably. Sky rushed to his side stopping him from toppling over. “Whatever that stuff is it better work” he said while helping the captain find his hoofing.
As Twilight fed Dawn the strange mixture the royal duo approached closely studying the effects of the foreign medicine. Dawn struggled to swallow the liquid clearly in pain, but a few seconds later his eyes shot open releasing a blast of light that seemed to cover the entire room. When the light faded all the others saw was his broken armour plates strewn across the floor, the straps singed clean off. 

“Umm, you sure that wasn’t a potion for spontaneous combustion?” asked Sky. Twilight shook her head but before she could open her mouth she saw the princesses were looking up at something, as she brought her eyes skyward she saw what had become of Dawn. A dark brown Pegasus hovered in the centre of the room’s airspace, his short white mane bouncing with every flap of his wings. Celestia sensed something astray within the stallion and called out
“Captain blade?” A silence filled the room as the “captain” slowly descended towards the baffled group of ponies; as soon as he touched down he opened his eyes revealing their blood red colour. When he remembered where he was he knelt for the royal sisters.

“Yes Princess?” he said in a relaxed tone  the others were taken back by this, a pony that seconds ago looked like he was going to die was now looking healthy as ever. Celsestia sensed the return of Dawn and in turn her smile resurfaced upon her face. She then nudged Luna who was still consumed with guilt over his previous bedridden state. She nervously approached Dawn

“Are you alright” she asked flinching as if she was expecting some kind of outburst from Dawn Blade. But it never came.
“Yes princess I’m fine, actually I think I came out of that with a few more teeth” he answered as he proceeded to rub his chin with his hoof before adding “and I think that damn graze has gone too”. Luna began t shake slightly
“I cannot put into words how sorry I am for my actions earli-“. She was interjected by dawn who argued
“There is no need to apologise Luna, the equestrian voice is an ability that you will only learn to control through experience. *sigh* even if the one on the receiving end is me” he stated proudly as stretched his legs. Luna looked over her shoulder at Celestia who shrugged swearing she didn’t put the words in his head. Dawn continued “ I've lived here long enough to understand how these things work you know.” Luna nodded before asking
“I believe you were on your way here for something before the err accident?” 
“Yes, we were on our way here to ask of the location of a Private Blaze” forwarded Twilight. Luna with a smirk on the corner of her face cantered over to Celestia and whispered something into her ear, the pair shared a short giggle before facing the others.
“He is currently running an errand in the town of Ponyville” Luna announced. Sky’s ears pricked up with the mentioning of his hometown 
“I believe we have a way that you can take your break while running an errand of your own” said Celestia picking Blazes necklace up of the small bedside table and hoofing it to Sky.
“And what may that be you highness” asked Dawn, his voice slipping back into its serious tone from before.
“I wish for you to travel to Ponyville and deliver that locket to Blaze personally” she said in her usual jolly tone.
“As you wish your highness” Captain Blade said as he bowed for Celesta then Luna before leaving the chambers escorted by Lieutenant Sky.

The last hours of the morning were consumed by Blade travelling back to the barracks, collecting his things along with a small part of his mountain of pay. He entered the main entrance hall with nothing but a saddlebag, the sun shining through the stain glass windows and the tiny crack in the center of the door. The door guards stood to attention as he approached 
“At ease” the captain shouted trying not to look like such a pansy without his normal attire. Before he could open the doors he saw movement out of the corner of his eyes. It was a white unicorn with a vibrant light blue mane and deep purple eyes. The mystery stallion halted before dawn and saluted

“lieutenant Sky reporting for duty sir!” he said in a boisterous tone.
“What are you doing here lieutenant, and out of uniform?” Dawn Blade asked while inspecting him seeing he too had a saddle bag ready for travel. 
“I’m here to be your guide of Ponyville sir” he stated excitedly. 
“Very well, shall we proceed?” asked the Captain as he drew closer to the ginormous reinforced door. Before he could open it the energetic Sky rushed past him pushing the door open before he could lay a hoof on it. He was about to say something but his eyes caught a glimpse of the outside and where in awe.
It had been five years since he last set hoof outside the Palace and he had forgotten how beautiful Canterlot was. White towers shot into the blue sky tipped with red tiles; the streets were cleanly cobbled and were bustling with happy ponies going about their business. As they passed the local recruitment centre on their way to the train station a large line of applicants had formed outside. One of them saw the Captains cutie mark and began to chatter with the pony next to him. Eventually the entire centre was staring at him. The captain and Sky stood still for a few seconds before the orderly line of ponies saluted and shouted in perfect unison
“Hail, shield of Equestria!” 
“What?” the captain asked in disbelief. Sky then leant toward him.
“Yea you can thank the princesses for that” he said as he pointed toward a recruitment poster on the wall showing Dawn donning his armour with his marks displayed on large banners behind him. They continued cantering to the station. As they arrived Dawn saw more of the posters spaced out along the wall reading “BECOME THE SHIELD OF EQUESTRIA!” 
“You have become a bit of a celebrity around here” said sky as he scanned the station for the train. 
“I’m a little overwhelmed by all this” responded Dawn as he slowly paced back and forth on the wooden station platform. 
“They thought you might be” Sky responded as he saw their train and began to board.
As they boarded the large train they entered a cabin with two benches on each side of a window surrounded by green painted walls and darker shade of green carpet. 
“How far away is Ponyville?” asked dawn as he set down his bag 
“It’ll take a few hours” answered Sky as he threw his saddlebag up onto the cushioned bench. The two jumped onto their benches and began rummaging through their bags for something to occupy them during the journey. First Dawn pulled a small piece of solid bread out of his bag and began to nibble on the edge
“Rations really?” asked Sky with one eyebrow raised “your taking a break from all that, now here take this” Sky brought a ripe apple from his saddlebag and levitated it over to Dawn who caught it in his mouth, and began to slowly eat it. As Dawn began to clearly enjoy the apple, Sky lifted a large purple book out of his bag and began reading.

“ALL ABOARD FOR PONYVILLE!” shouted the conductor repeatedly as he marched along the side of the multicoloured train. Not soon after the train jittered out of the station and began to glide across the landscape toward Ponyville. Suddenly a green flash appeared in the window and a rolled up note shot across the room, only to be caught by Sky telekinesis. He slowly opened it to reveal it was a letter reading “Dear lieutenant Sky and Captain Blade, We apologise for forgetting to grant you accommodation in Ponyville and we have messaged the local Inn of our predicament and have requested that you be lodged in one of their rooms. We apologise if this has been of any inconvenience. P.S. make sure blade meets some of the locals, he can be a little nervous around new ponies without his armor, yours faithfully Celestia.

“What does it say?” asked Dawn as he finished the apple 
“It appears we are going to be spending our first few nights at the Apple tree” Sky responded with a broad smile. While he sank back into his seat and back into his book. Dawn had heard of the Apple tree, a small tavern on the edge of the town where sky had spent allot of his days before becoming a guard becoming so drunk he would fall asleep at the bar. He slipped into a trance of the image of his subordinate being unable to balance due to heavy consumption before opening his eyes to a dark cabin illuminated only by the light of the moon. He sat up rubbing his eyes realising he had just slept through the majority of the journey and could see the lights of a small village drawing closer through the window. He was about to wake Sky when a knock came at the cabin door.

Dawn hopelessly stumbled toward the small sliding door, where he could see candlelight seeping through the creased glass. He slid the door half open where he saw a young ticket mare
“Were approaching our destination, you may want to get up” she said gingerly. The captain was aware of his threatening stature and how much it was scaring her, he nodded and in the softest voice he could muster he said
“Thank you we will prepare immediately”. His eyebrows lifted as the mare simply trotted off down the hall and out of the carriage. He thought to himself that this meeting ponies business might not be as hard as he first thought it would be. He trotted over to Sky who was lying flat on his back with his book balancing on his snout. Dawn moved the book back into his bag before lightly tapping him on the shoulder with his hoof; he was responded with a low mumble as Sky simply rolled to one side. Quite annoyed Dawn moved and stood in the centre of the cabin and began to flap his wings, the cold breeze eventually forced Sky to awake from his slumber with a disgruntled series of moans.
“What...What? Are we here already?” Sky asked while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. As they gathered up their things the train slowed to a stop in a dimly lit station. They made their way of the train to see a quiet village sleeping under the glow of the moon, all for one building on the edge where music and laughter could be heard. Sky began to canter forth before shouting
“I don’t know about you but I need a drink!”