“Dear Princess Luna,
I did it! I actually did it! I made it into the Guard! For a while I was worried that I wouldn't be able to make it! I have so much to tell you! I don’t even know where to start! The training was intense. It was constant work day in, day out but it is so worth it! It seems crazy to think that some pony like me could make it in! Some of the cadets didn't make the cut. But with the help of my new friends we all managed to make it in as a team! We weren't the fastest team in, but by Celestia we are the best one here. I can’t wait until you get to meet them. I’m sure you would love them. They pushed me harder than the drill sergeant did at some times and I’m really glad they did! I feel like a million bits. By the way, I’m sure you'll be happy to hear that I am ripped like Dwayne Johnson when he was just getting started. Ok not that ripped. Who is Dwayne Johnson? Picture a mass of muscle with just arms and legs. Once again, I do NOT look like that. I promise. Uh.. What am I talking about?
Oh yeah! Drill sergeant! Speaking of the Rock, his name is Maelstrom. Captain Sunfire got ahold of some minotaur to prep the cadets for their duties. This cool cat is a real character. He gets his kicks from screaming as loud as he can into the faces of unready cadets. He nearly made me faint from fear the first day, but it was all part of the training. I’m told that they do that to train the brain to not recoil from something intimidating. Makes sense at the core of it, I guess. So next time the party cannon goes off maybe I’ll be more ready. He ran us all through the course countless times. That course. It was crazy! It had eight segments that tested even the best of us. It makes me wonder what kind of shape I am in now in comparison to other human beings back home. Rain Gauge, Gilded Compass, and myself really had our work cut out for us.
Rain, she's from a family of Weather Researchers. Usually in Everfree weather. She is extremely nice and friendly but she's tough as nails when it comes to a fight. The forest made her tooth and nail gritty. She plays for keeps that one. I’ve watched her take down some of the toughest stallions when there were sparring sessions. I wouldn’t mess with her.
Gilded Compass comes from a family of Map makers, hence his name. However around here we have a different name for him. “Broken” Compass. He couldn't read a map to save his life, as strange as that sounds. He’s not great with a map but as a strategist he is a little genius. He’s usually the one to call the shots. He is our designated squad leader after all. I’d say he earned it.
As far as where I fall in the scheme of things I’m really not sure. I don’t know what I have that the others don’t as far as strengths and weaknesses. But it’s not really important right now because we made it. Perhaps it'll become more obvious as time goes on. Also I should mention that we are all Earth ponies. Sunfire personally told me that I didn't have a horn attached to my head so she was going to train me as if I had no magic. And that makes one-hundred percent sense. I would also prefer to rely on myself rather than magic that I haven’t always had.
Besides, I told you about how I accidentally smashed Fluttershy’s window from a good segment of a mile off. I really need to be careful, but I will continue practicing. I still go to Twilight for any magical advice. Of course I still have my magic bag of tricks. Good ol’ projection powder never ceases to fulfill my needs. Charms here and there always help to solve magical problems.
But enough about me. How have you been? I heard that you and everypony’s favorite Vampony have been getting along well. I hope she's well also. Maybe sometime soon I’ll be able to see the both of you. It’s been too long.
The night has been kind as of late. Maybe you watch me, Creep. Thats ok because I sit there and stare at the moon sometimes. I usually just think about things. Mostly about life, about what’s next.
And honestly… about you.
Okay maybe I kind of miss you. Fine. You know what you win this round, woman.
Maybe this has some weight, maybe it doesn’t. I never know what I’m doing when it comes to this kind of stuff so I apologize in advance.
*Ahem* That little thing we had during that month. Maybe it spawned out of boredom. Maybe I was getting a bit lonely. Maybe you were too. Maybe you had something else in mind. I’m not one to argue with a good thing. I’m glad you chose me. This thing that it has turned into. I think about it every day. I haven’t felt so alive since when I was on Earth. I feel at home again, as odd as that sounds. When I first got here I had plenty of help from ponies that understood that I had as much idea what was going on as they did. When they told me of the mirror, I understood why they did what they did even though I was a bit mad.
But then there was you.
My saving grace. Literally the mare of my dreams. Oh man that was corny… uh. Yeah. This is why I suck at life. Oh why did I write this in ink? I don’t wanna scribble it out or- dangit! Grr… Eh…
Where did you come from? Such a wonderful mare. It’s women like you that make boys want to do stupid things to impress you. It's quite a fantastic male trait let me tell you.
I know you’ve probably been told this a dozen times by your admirers but you are incredibly attractive.
You’re eyes are stunning. Oh great I’m blushing good. GOOD.
*Imagine scribbles here, Readers*
Oops. Sorry about that, Rain was trying to read the letter. Wasn't about to let that happen.
Also… I should probably tell you that I miss your smile. You know, that awkward one that you gave when I embarrassed your in front of, what I like to call, “Pony Parliament”. That group of old bat politicians? Come on! You remember! I know you do! Look! There it is! The smile! It’s on your face now! I can see it! Ok I really can’t but don’t deny you did it.
I suppose that’s all I have for today. Perhaps soon we can talk in person. Or is the proper term in pony? In pony? Am I in a pony? CRAP. That sounds dirty. GOOD. GOOOOOD that’s exactly what I wanted!
Well now that I’ve gone and muffed that up… I can’t wait ’til we meet again. Pardon my sloppy handwriting. Not hoof writing. I don’t have hooves.
Please tell Scarlett I said hello, send her majesty my regards. How is Sunbutt doing? I mean Celestia, I’m sorry. Please tell me you laughed. I’m such a nerd I’m sorry. Bear with me. This is painful for all of us, I know.
So I suppose for now I am saying goodbye. Once again, I can’t wait to see you again. I hope all is well. All has never gone better for the human in Equestria. So with that I say thank you, and goodbye.”
I paused for a moment because I was a little conflicted about how to sign the letter.
Love? No… not quite… not yet anyway…
Your friend? Uh no. Hay no..
Truly yours? GAH.. Why is this so difficult?! Not like I’m writing to a ruler of the entire nation or anything. An attractive one that appears to have similar feelings. Ah! So confused!
After quelling my inner turmoil I ended up signing it,
“Sincerely, Ben “Two Legs” Short”
With that I rolled up the parchment into a poster like tube that is standard for royal mail. I reach down into my pouch that always hangs from my belt loop. I reach in and pull out a magical seal. On the golden wax is an image of the moon. I wrap the parchment in the ribbon that also came with the seals. I take a candle off of the nearby table and burn the tip of the ribbon. I watch as the letter quickly ignites with a green poof and evaporates into the air in front of me.
My heart skipped a bit as I knew that she would be getting it almost immediately. Maybe I would get lucky and she’d be asleep so that when she wakes up theres a piece of crumpled up paper where she rolled over it in her sleep.
I smiled as I pictured Luna rolling all over the bed in her usual sleeping pattern that involved her mane getting completely out of line and usually ended with one or more of her legs dangling in the air whilst being knotted in a giant ball of blankets.
With that thought in my head I put away my writing utensils.
——————————
“How does that feel?” Asked the pony tightening the leather strap wrapped around my left forearm.
“Feels about right. Too much tighter and you’ll cut off my circulation.” I respond.
“The straps have to be tight because if they are just slightly off then the armor isn't gonna hold onto you right.”
“I understand.”
I stood there in the center of a room that was similar to the interior of the Carousel Boutique except with a more war-like vibe. Along the walls were various styles of armor. Shields hung from the walls and there were several well-armored mannequins about the room. I stood alone in the good old t-pose as I was once again getting fitted. This was the benefit and curse of being the only one of my kind. I had no shirt on and barely any undergarments as this small but stern pony took measurements and tightened various leather straps all over my body.
I hadn't even talked about the extensive medical survey they had to put into coming up with the concept of my armor. I had to describe in what best detail I could where my various vital organs were. They even called in the doctor from Ponyville who had done a little work on me before to see what he knew. They took a few x-rays and drew up some rough drafts. I hadn't seen them, but I imagine it was going to be a much more tedious task than designing for a pony who needed six basic guarded areas rather than the many, many, many joints and moving parts of the human body.
To put the task into perspective, my fellow squad mates already had their armor. Lots of ponies use refurbished armor. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. If it needs maintenance, fix it. With the Celestial Empire, things are usually pretty well taken care of. They typically go unchallenged so the armor is rarely damaged, and when it is, somepony has a special talent for damaged armor. Ponies are amazing what they can do sometimes.
Cutie marks really are an intriguing subject. Cutie marks make you wonder if fate is real or not. Maybe ponies are bound by fate. Maybe they aren’t, but that’s always the question isn't it? Cutie marks add extreme efficiency to the workforce. With cutie marks telling you what your special talent is then there is no, “I’m not sure what I’m good at” factor. Thinking economically then there is no lack of a labor force. If your special skill is to pull a lever in a factory, well thats your cutie mark, sucks to suck. Although its rare you find complaining because the special talent is a ponies passion. So usually you find ponies obsessed with something strange that no regular human in their right mind would like to do.
Usually the marks are revealed at a young age so the colts and fillies have several extra years to hone their special skills. I’ve always wondered if the pony defined the mark, or the mark defined the pony. Don’t think I don’t notice that Lyra’s special talent is playing a lyre or that Rarity’s mark is a group of diamonds. Some would call diamonds a rarity. I would put money on saying Scootaloo’s mark is gonna have something to do with her amazing scooter skills.
“Alright, relax. Now I need to hold your arm out here.” Said the armor pony as he directs my right arm out straight.
His horn shimmers a brownish red glow as a very fancy box slides from out of the corner of the room. As it comes to a rest next to the platform the latches on the side pop open one by one as if somepony wanted this very well protected. The five foot tall box opens quickly to reveal the most bad flank suit of armor I had ever seen.
“It’s- wait- I thought that I needed to get-”
“Measured?” Asked the stallion, “We had your general measurements on file. Any necessary adjustments will be made right here, right now. I fit the armor, I’m not the smith. Though I must say, by the looks of this suit you must have friends in high places.”
“You could say that.” I say as the first piece is floated out of the box.
“Okay soldier, this is how this is gonna work. You see those metal plates embedded within the straps we just put on you?”
“Yes.” I say eyeing the circular silver disks that were studded into the leather.
The pony lines up the forearm guard, or gauntlet some would say, to the two straps on my arm. One strap on my wrist, the other is at the base of my elbow. I notice that the armor, although pretty close doesn't exactly fit me to the exact- AAHHH
“AH FRICK!” I shout as the piece of metal on my arm heats up extremely fast. I shake my hand in an attempt to cool it down but before I know it the metal is back to room temperature leaving me with nothing but a slight sting.
“You see? Didn’t hurt a bit.” Says the stallion as he smirks at my pain.
“What did you just do?” I ask as I take note of how not only does the gauntlet now stick to my arm, but that the armor now hugs my arm.
“That is what we call a magical weld. It was a trick developed several years back, certain metals can conduct magic, that armor your wearing is no exception. What we did was instantly weld the metal on your arm to the metal in the armor. It stings a little but it only takes a millisecond of extreme heat to combine the metals effectively. Now we may need to take that off and clean up some edging around the metal, but it makes fitting a hay of a lot easier.” He explains.
I move my arm around to try and get a feel for it. The metal is light but it feels durable.
“May I test this really quick?” I ask
“Of course,” Says the stallion as I see a very metallic looking object come hurtling towards me at a very high velocity.
“Whoa!” I shout as I hold my arm up in defense.
I hear a loud *CLANG* as the metal bar bounces off of the armor as if it were made of rubber.
“Careful man! You nearly took my head off!” I shout as the stallion smiles at the smith’s handiwork.
I look over the armor that had just taken a pretty intense hit from what I could tell. However whenever I look for a dent, don’t see so much as a scratch in the armor. The armor glistens like it hadn't just been swung at by the equivalent of a metal baseball bat.
“Like I said, you must have some friends up high, this isn't the standard material. It didn't even scratch the metal.” Notes the pony.
I can feel my inner nine year old emerging as a stupid grin on my face that says nothing but, “SO. AWESOME.”
“Don’t get so excited, we aren’t even halfway done yet, kid!” He laughs.
He quickly begins taking out several bits of armor at once and begins to line them up on to where they need to go. My other forearm, my upper arms, my legs, and of course the always essential piece to guard the family jewels.
“3, 2, 1…” He counts down as I prep myself for the sting that comes with each piece of metal.
“Ow! Ouch! Dang it!” I swear internally as it stings for a moment then quickly fades.
Finally he pulls out the chest plate of the armor. He floats it towards me but pauses for a moment to inspect the piece. As he opens it up and takes a look at it his expression shifts to a slightly more confused tone.
“Something wrong?” I ask, still marveling at the magical marvel that is a suit of armor.
“No, nothing really too important, it just seems to be this chest piece has somewhat of a hole in it. I can change and fine tune some measurements, but I can’t just fix a hole, at least not with the training I’ve had or without sufficient materials. Although, it seems to have been cut this way… I don’t understa-”
“May I see it?” I interrupt.
He floats the chest plate to me and I reach out and grab it. I examine the chest piece and there is no mistaking the hole dead in the center of the chest. However something struck me. The cut was a perfect circle.
“Excuse me a moment, but I think I know exactly what this is missing.” I say as I step off the stand and over to where I placed my bag near the door.
I shuffle through the bag until I find the Aurum Amulet.
Holding the chest plate in one hand, and the amulet in the other I walk back over to the stallion.
“You said some metals could conduct magic?” I asked.
Without saying a word he grabs both pieces of metal and places the amulet in the center of the hole. It was a perfect fit. He places the whole deal on my chest and lights the fuse.
I grit my teeth as the metal stings a bit. When I look down again I see a faint glow coming from the center of the chest plate where the amulet glowed subtly. I looked in the mirror as the last piece of armor was secured to my body. The armor pony moved all of the measuring equipment away from the stand as we both admired his handiwork.
The armor itself was beautiful. It was golden and shone bright as the sun. It was fitting for a royal guard. The chest piece was a treasure in itself. I ran my hands down the intricate engravings down the metal. It was remarkable how the armor fit with the ponies. It was clearly not made for a pony but you knew darn well whose team I was on.
I pick up my legs and raise my knee until my thigh is parallel with the ground to test the motion. Unsurprisingly it restricted me very little. This really was well made. My shins were heavily plated as the smith took into account for the sensitivity of the shin bone. They had learned that during the medical exam, yet they didn’t sacrifice efficiency when they also kept my calves locked in. My ankles were somewhat plated but free enough I could still pivot and leap without an awkward piece of metal hindering my motion.
My arms were also no exception to quality. I rolled my arms in every direction that I could think off to test if I was limited in motion at all. Naturally there wasn’t any direction I was limited in. However, the arms were a bit more exposed than my legs. The arm pieces weren’t all one piece that you slide on like a sleeve. When the plates were put into position, they had to be put on in a specific pattern: the forearms went on first, followed my upper arm. That way the metal from the plates protecting my bicep muscle and tricep muscles protected the tendons and ligaments in my elbow as well as the veins in my armpit. My hands did not have anything protecting them. I actually would prefer it this way as I prefer to be able to use my hands. A metal glove around them would probably hinder my ability to do regular things as well as my ability to fight.
I glance down at my chest plate. The chest plate was pretty neat because the front and the back weren’t the same piece, but at the same time they were. They were on a little neat mechanism that let the plates slide past each other as I breathed. No blade would be able to get between them without snapping because that blade would need to be paper thin. Finally I admired the amulet that perfectly fit in the center like a little arc reactor. That little piece that was measured out made me sure that a princess paid and oversaw the specifications. It was probably Twilight and her knack for knowing anything and everything.
“I know I said this a few times already, but you have some friends in high places. Not just anypony gets such a pretty piece of metal.”
For a moment we just stop and stare. I once again stare at the amulet that was not permanently welded to the armor.
I look down at my hands in the armor. My legs well guarded. Each muscle group had its own plating. Each tendon was protected. Yet the armor breathed like it was clothing. The metal was only slightly heavier than aluminum but was as strong as iron. Lastly I observe the tiny power source in the center of my chest that somepony had so graciously thought to measure out. This drew a couple laughs from me.
“I guess I really am Iron Man.” I joke to myself.
“Well Iron Man, I have a few more things for you before you leave.” He says.
Using his hooves he hands me a golden helmet. It was similar to the rest of the guards minus the ridiculous looking mohawk. Facing the mirror I close my eyes and slowly put it on. I knew that when I opened them, I would be somepony entirely different. That there would be a new chapter in my life about to unfold. This moment right here was where everything changed. The helmet was now resting on my head. My heart was beating through my chest I prepped myself to see something new. It wasn't just a new look, this was who I was going to be. No longer a boy in the woods playing soldier. This was real.
I open my eyes and I stop and stare. There it was. I was a soldier. I was THE soldier.
“Attention soldier!” Shouts the armor pony.
I stand up straight at attention, eyes forward and expression unfaltering.
“About face!” He shouts as I pivot quickly on my heels.
He looks me dead in the eye.
“Relax!” He orders.
Then his horn lights up one last time as a different package floats, once again, from the corner of the room. This time however he just hands me the package.
“This is for you, from a friend.” He says and trots out of the room.
The strange package is about three foot long.
I unwrap the carefully placed paper packaging to reveal a leather case. Attacked to it there is a note. I take the note and put it in my lap. I pop open the three latches on the side of the case.
Inside sits one of the most beautiful crafted blades I had ever laid eyes on. Its blade was a light cerulean blue. The blade was two foot long. The hilt could be measured at about six inches for a grand total of two and a half foot long. Its shape was similar to that of a rapier. It was a straight, short, and thin blade that had no fancy curves. However it lacked a hand guard. In my hand it felt perfectly balanced. I could swing it like I was swinging a stick, and like the armor, it felt unnaturally light. I didn't need to test the metal, I had seen enough with the armor.
I slide the blade into its sheath and fix it to my belt.
I put my helmet on then open the note to read it.
“A gift from your favorite Princess” and written in very small script next to it was, “That’s Luna… In case you didn’t know”