The following days after Thunderblast and Rainbow Dash's date in Canterlot went like a breeze, and soon enough, he had to return to the city to continue his part-time job and full-time training. Thunder said his goodbyes to his family and Rainbow Dash, then boarded the train, and just a few hours later, he was back in Canterlot.
The train arrived in Canterlot, and he managed to get off before everypony else did, then he left the station and flew to the castle where he could let Iron Armor know that he is back to resume his duties. Thunderblast walked up to Iron's office door, which was in a small tower on the east side of the castle, and he knocked.
"Come in." Iron Armor said, not looking up away from the massive amounts of paperwork on his desk.
Thunder opened the door and walked in. "Afternoon, sir." he said.
Iron Armor looked up and smiled. "Ah, Thunderblast. Ready to continue training?"
"Yes sir, I am." Thunder said.
"Good. Have you learned your lesson?" Iron asked.
"Yes sir. I promise I won't ever do something stupid like that ever again." Thunderblast said, putting his hoof up to his chest.
"Great." Iron said, and Thunder turned to walk out the door, only to have Iron stop him. "Shining was worried about you this whole week. He wasn't sure if he wanted to believe your note you left him."
"He was?" Thunderblast stopped and turned to face Iron Armor.
"Yep. He thought you were leaving for good." Iron said. "It'll be a nice surprise for him to see you back." he said, smiling.
Thunder smiled back. "It sure will. Where's he at now?" he asked.
"Probably lifting weights or doing some other training." Iron Armor said. "If you want you can join him, you're un-suspended."
"Yes sir. Thank you sir." Thunderblast said, turning back and trotting out the door, then flying off of the balcony stairs to find his friend.
"Augh.... Dang it..." Shining Armor said, sinking into leg-deep mud and struggling to get out, far behind other trainees also trudging through. A recent heavy rain washed out the dirt path, turning it into what it is now, and causing many problems for the training system.
Thunderblast saw his friend struggling down below, and flew down.
"Woah, you alright?" Thunder said, hovering just above the ground.
"I'm fine. It's just mud." Shining said, not noticing Thunder and struggling more.
Thunder flew closer to Shining, grabbing his hooves and helping him out.
"Whew.. Thanks" Shining said, wiping his sweaty forehead, then looked up and saw Thunderblast. "Thunder?!" he said, smiling and glomping him.
"WOAH!" Thunder said, laughing, being squeezed by the unicorn. "Glad to see you too Shining!"
"I thought you were leaving for good!" Shining Armor said, squeezing Thunderblast, getting him dirty as well.
Thunder squeaked like a toy when Shining squeezed him. "Of course not! When I wrote that note, I wasn't lying about anything." he said, still pinned under Shining's hooves.
"I'm so glad you're back... You're my only friend other than my uncle..." Shining Armor said smiling, then getting off of Thunder and helping him up.
Thunder smiled back. "You're my only friend too. I couldn't just leave you, especially with that Spear." he said.
"I know, but he doesn't bother me that much." Shining said. "Come on, let's go clean up. I'm sure Iron wouldn't be happy to see us like this."
"Alright." Thunder chuckled, and they went off to the shower room to clean themselves up.
For the next year and a half, not much had changed, and Shining Armor still hadn't received his armor like he expected. He told his uncle, that if Thunderblast didn't get his armor, he didn't want to receive his, not until Thunder received his armor. The two grew stronger every week, slowly working their way up to becoming guards. However, Thunderblast and Shining Armor were oblivious to the fact that a major event that every recruit had to attend was coming up fast.
On a warm spring day in April 2006, Thunder and Shining sat down and ate their lunch at the mess hall.
"So, Thunderblast, how do you feel that you have just over a year left?" Shining asked, just before eating some sliced carrots.
"It feels great. Although, I still wish we could just become guards sooner, now that we're pretty much at peak physical condition, and, you know you don't have to call me Thunderblast." Thunder replied, smiling.
"I know, I just want to be official and call you by your name." Shining chuckled, chewing on some food.
"Yeah, but I like being called Thunder. I don't exactly like being called by my full name." Thunder said back.
"Well, alright." Shining Armor said, finishing up his lunch.
During the quiet part of their lunch break, they overheard some other guards talking and laughing about...
"A fight? What fight?" Thunderblast said, a large question mark filling his mind.
"I don't know. We should probably ask the capt-."
"ATTENTION! CAPTAIN IN THE HALL!" yelled out a random voice of a guard, walking into the Mess Hall in front of Captain Iron Armor, and the only sound following that was armor and hooves moving around, and every stallion in the room stood up.
"At ease, men." Iron said, and everypony sat back down, but continued looking to Iron. "As you all know, the annual Royal Guard Gladiator Fight is just a couple of weeks away, and i'm advising that you all, every single one of you, are ready to fight." he said, pointing to a few guards at the front. "Now for those that don't know, you won't be fighting enemies, or machines or anything that you would consider a fight. Instead, like always, you will be fighting your fellow guards and/or brothers." Iron continued.
Thunderblast and Shining Armor's jaws dropped at his last words, then turned to look at each other.
"W-we're fighting each other?!" Shining stuttered. "But sir, I don't see how this is disciplining us if we're fighting our own."
"It is, but it teaches you all how to kill. Royal guards are born warriors, we all need to know what to do." Iron said to Shining. "Carry on, men." he said, walking out of the room, and everypony continued eating and talking. When Shining Armor turned to talk to Thunderblast, all he saw was a grey pegasus, shaking like a leaf in the wind.
"W-w-we have t-to f-fight each other?!" Thunder stuttered, still shaking, irises the size of peas.
Shining sighed. "I guess that's what we have to do. Look, Thunder, it'll be alright. We just gotta train harder." he said.
"I-I guess." Thunderblast said, still shaking slightly.
After finishing their lunch break, the two did some easy training exercises, Thunderblast doing wing ups, push ups, and crunches, while Shining Armor tested some of his tactical magic skills, by shooting at targets.
While doing wing ups, Spear came over to Thunderblast and stomped on his wing.
"AAH!" Thunder screamed in pain, falling to the ground and struggling to yank his wing out from under Spear's hoof.
"Dirty bird can't fly with a broken wing, can it Thundercrash?" Spear chuckled, putting pressure down on his wing.
"G-get off!" Thunder cried, punching Spear's hoof and knocking him back.
"Oh no you didn't." Spear growled, getting back up and charging at Thunderblast to attack him, tackling Thunder and rolling around with him, throwing punches at each other.
"HEY! Both of you!" A unicorn guard yelled, pulling Spear off of Thunder, who had a bloody muzzle.
"He started it! Punish him!" Spear claimed, shoving the guard off of him and dusting himself off.
"I'm pretty sure that was all you, Spear." Iron Armor said, who was walking by at the time. "Fifty laps on the track, on the double." he grumbled.
"But...!" Spear stuttered.
"Make that one hundred. GO!" Iron ordered.
Spear groaned, lowering his ears and trotting off to the course.
"You okay?" Iron asked Thunder, lending a hoof to help him up.
"No sir. I'm not okay." Thunderblast replied, wiping his muzzle.
"What seems to be the problem, recruit?" Iron asked, straightening himself out.
"This guard fight coming up, I don't like knowing that we have to fight our brother guards." Thunder answered.
"Well, i'm sorry to say, but you have no choice, Thunder. You wanted to join the royal guard, and this is your chance to show that you can fight alongside other guards when the time comes that we have to defend our country. Are you saying you didn't join to fight and defend?" Iron Armor said.
All Thunderblast could do at that moment was sigh, and say...
"Yes sir. I did join the royal guard to fight and defend." Thunder replied, throwing up a salute, Iron Armor returning it and trotting away, lowering his head and ears slightly after the captain left his sight.
Shining Armor walked up beside Thunderblast and put his hoof on his back. "Hey, it'll be alright. It's just one day. If it helps, I don't want to be in it as much as you don't, and if it comes to where we have to fight each other, I want you to beat me senseless." He said, turning Thunder's head so he could look at him.
"I can't do that Shining. I can't fight my friend. I was raised too well." Thunder said, a tear rolling down his face and onto the ground, then he walked slowly back to their barrack, Shining Armor watching him leave and sighing, then returning to his training.
Back at Thunder and Shining's barrack, Thunderblast layed down on his bed to try and push the thoughts of fighting Shining Armor out of his mind, but nothing worked. Instead, further painful thoughts invaded. At that moment, he turned face down and cried quietly into his pillow, trying not to make too much sound to attract unwanted attention. He had just two weeks to prepare.