The following day of the guard fight that took place at the Canterlot City Arena, a few royal guards took Thunderblast to celebrate his victory, as well as his promotion. A few other ponies also swarmed Thunder, most of them having seen him on TV. He made a few new friends that night, and he felt great that not only did he surpass his own expectations in fighting, but he also took a step up in his life, and is just a few days away from living his dream.
Thunder and his new royal guard friends sat down at a bar restaurant in Downtown Canterlot, which was packed with ponies. They were immediately given a table, a typical treat for those who fought, or were there to attend and watch on the day of the fight.
"So, Thunder. How does it feel to be a guard now?" Steel Shield, a dark grey unicorn sitting across from Thunderblast asked.
"It feels great," Thunder replied, smiling. "I honestly didn't expect any of what happened yesterday to actually happen."
"Neither did we, but what did happen was amazing. You completely changed the future of the royal guard fights, bro," a large white muscular pegasus stallion by the name of Titan Tank said.
"Well, I couldn't just kill Spear, even though the way he's treated me for the last two years," Thunderblast responded, taking a sip of his soda.
"We know. You did the right thing. I think everypony can agree," Steel said, looking down at his menu.
"Thanks guys," Thunder said, smiling. "And thank you for all the support out there."
"Anything for a friend," Titan said, smiling back at Thunder.
After they had dinner, they each went back to their barracks at the castle, which coincidentally were right next to each other.
When Thunderblast got back to his barrack, he walked in, and stopped at the door and looked around.
It was empty. Emptier than normal. Was he missing something or somepony?
"Shining," he mumbled to himself, sighing and remembering his friend was beaten out of his mind the day before.
Thunder laid down on his bed, belly up, and stared at the bottom of Shining Armor's bunk, leaving the covers off of himself. He then turned over facing the wall, and slowly fell asleep, thinking to himself that tomorrow, he will have changed yet again.
After what felt like just a few minutes, and at times a few hours, Thunderblast rose out of his bed slowly, not sleeping well that night, and stretched. He turned and sat on the edge of his bed, zoning out almost immediately after, and staring at the door across the room, not flinching one bit.
Suddenly, the door opened, and his ear twitched, snapping him out of his trance.
"G'Morning, Thunder!" Rang out the voice of Whiteblade, one of the stallions that saved Thunder from falling uncontrollably during the flight training a while back.
"Ah, good morning!" Thunderblast said, standing up off of his bed.
Whiteblade shut the door behind him and trotted up to Thunder. "I have some news from the captain."
"You do?" Thunder said.
"Yep. He sent me to tell you that training for today is not required unless you want to, and that the only thing you have to do today is pick up your armor," White smiled.
Thunder's eyes widened. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I must just be tired from last night," he said, chuckling.
Whiteblade also chuckled. "Well, Iron also said you may go to the armor fitter any time you want, there's no time set up, but the fitter does know you and Shining Armor are coming."
"But, Shining's in the hospital," Thunder replied.
"Not for much longer, the doctor is sending him back today. His wounds are healing much faster than expected, not to mention the help of a new potion Cadence developed," White smiled.
"That's great! I'll wait for him to come back so we can get our armor. Thanks for letting me know, White," Thunderblast said back.
"Ey, no problem. See you later," Whiteblade said, turning around and trotting out the door.
"Alright, see you," Thunder said, before walking over to a small desk shared by everyone in that barrack, and he pulled out his diary.
Dear Diary,
It's been a long time since I wrote in this old thing, and I have a feeling I won't need it much longer. This was written just a few hours before I can officially call myself a Royal Guard, and I will receive my armor alongside my best friend, Shining Armor. Turns out my worst fears drove me through the fight, and I learned and did things I never thought I could do.
I can't wait to get back to Ponyville to show my family, and my love Rainbow Dash. This will be quite an adventure.
Thunder checked over his writing to make sure everything was the way he thought it all up, then he closed his diary and put it back in his locker under his bed.
Not long after, he went out for a jog around the castle, which was much easier to do than it was two years ago. While doing so, he got a few friendly waves from ponies walking by, and a couple of hoofbumps by some foals. Thunder liked that his troubles of being the doormat of the group was behind him, and that he finally befriended who was before his worst enemy. After his morning jog, he took a shower, feeling quite fresh afterwards. What could go wrong?
BOOM!
A loud crash of thunder rocked the castle, the sound echoing through the tall buildings in the area, amplifying the sound to be louder. Moments later, clouds filled the sky and it started to rain, then ponies scattered for shelter. It wasn't a normal drizzle either, you could compare it to a monsoon.
"Darn it, I thought it was supposed to be sunny today!" Shuriken said, running into Thunder's barrack and shutting the door behind him quickly, soaked in rain water.
"Me too. The weather ponies must know something we don't," Thunderblast looked out the window, jumping back when a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky like a giant arm, followed by a loud boom which shook the entire castle.
Not long later, a white unicorn wearing a hoodie jacket and bandages around his hooves ran up to the door and quickly unlocked it, then walked in.
"Wow. What a storm," the unicorn said, shivering slightly before shaking like a dog to dry himself off, then pulling back his hoodie.
"Shining!" Thunderblast shouted, running from the window up to Shining Armor, who put his jacket on a coat rack.
"Thunder!" Shining Armor smiled wide.
"It's great to have you back buddy!" Thunder said, standing in front of the stallion.
"It's great to be back! The doctor wants me to keep these bandages on for a while though, he said my wounds should heal by the end of the week," Shining said.
"That's good. I'm glad it's not worse than we thought it was," Thunder said.
"Me too. So, my uncle told me that you and me are getting our armor today," Shining said back, smiling.
"Yep! I told him what you said about you waiting until I get my armor to get yours, and he arranged that we get our armor together." Thunderblast replied.
"Awesome! When should we go?" Shining asked.
"When the storm clears up, if not when it calms down slightly," Thunder said, walking over to the window and looking out at the sheets of rain flying by the window, as well as some trees bending in different directions from the high winds.
"Alright. Hopefully that'll be soon," Shining said, coming over to the window and looking out with Thunder.
Out of their luck, the storm raged on for another hour, and they finally decided to just go to the armor fitter, despite the deteriorating weather.
"Aaaagh, I hate the rain!" Thunder yelled, running through the rain, getting pelted in the face and eye many times by hard, cold rain drops.
The winds did not help much either, and it slowed them down on a walk that would normally take ten minutes, instead it took almost twenty, just to get to the side of the castle where the fitter is located. They made it into the castle, and a guard offered them a towel to dry themselves off, to avoid leaving a wet and muddy trail through the castle. After drying off, they walked casually to the northwest side of the castle, and down into the lower parts where the dungeons are located. A pretty funny place to put an armor fitter, but they didn't mind at all.
"Ah, Thundahblast aynd Shinin' Ahmor," Said a brown unicorn stallion in the armor fitter room, who was the fitter himself. He had an accent similar to Thunder's family back in Ponyville.
"Oh, uh, hello. Are you-"
"Metal Forger? Yes siree ah am," The stallion replied, finishing Thunder's sentence. "Are yah here ta get yer armor?"
"Yes sir, we are," Shining Armor said.
"Aaaalrighty, come with me!" Metal Forger said, leading them to a back room, lined with shelves with golden and dark blue helmets, golden for the day guards, dark blue for the night guards, as well as the main armor pieces in both colors, and hoof guards.
"Woah," Thunder gasped, looking at the different assortments of armor, then just before he took another step, Forger set down golden armor in front of Thunderblast.
"Go ahead, trah it on!" He said, sitting down on a stool.
Thunderblast put on the main armor piece, which was much bigger than him, and would most likely fit a stallion the size of Iron Armor. He tried on the helmet, which slipped down over his face, and the hair piece was plain white. Then, Thunder tried on the hoof guards, which did not fit to his hooves at all. In fact, every time he lifted his hoof, they stayed on the ground.
"Uh, these don't fit at all, sir," Thunder said, looking at himself.
"Hold on, just give it a minute. The magic inside of it will fit to yer shape," Forger said.
A moment later, the armor glowed a bright yellow, and slowly it conformed to Thunder's shape.
"Whoa!" Thunderblast yelped in surprise.
"Easy, it's just fitting to yer size. It'll also most lahkly change yer coat and mane color too," Forger grinned, helping Shining Armor into his set of armor.
Thunder closed his eyes, getting a sense of fear that his coat and mane colors changing will be painful in some way. Suddenly, everything went calm. He opened his eyes, and the armor was fit onto him perfectly. The helmet sat on his head neatly, the main armor piece fit to his body and was slightly warm from his body heat, and his hoof guards stuck to his hooves like they should, almost like glue.
"Woah... Thunder?" Shining Armor said, looking at the stallion in awe.
"W-what color am I?" Thunder stuttered, afraid to look at himself.
"Grey..." Forger's eyes widened, also staring at Thunder.
"Eye color?" Thunder asked.
"Same as before... Blue," Shining said.
"M-mane?" Thunder stuttered.
"Black..." They both said.
"What?" Thunderblast said, turning and looking at himself in a mirror. "Oh my gosh..."
"Yer armor....Ah don't understayund. It should have changed yer coat and mane!" Forger said, checking Thunder out.
"I don't understand either... Did the magic fail?" Thunder asked.
"No, Thunder," Shining said.
"What is it then?" Thunder asked, still looking at himself in the mirror.
"My uncle told me a while back, when I asked why royal guards were all white and grey, he told me that's because the magic in the armor changes their coat and manes to colors. It's like a camouflage, it's to prevent assassinations I guess, but he also told me that very rarely, the armor chooses to leave some stallions' manes and coats alone. It only does that to guards that the magic thinks are special," Shining explained.
"Special? I'm not special. Am I?" Thunder said, checking himself out.
"You're special to me, buddy," Shining Armor replied, smiling.
"Thanks, Shining. But I don't mean that kind of special," smiled Thunderblast.
"Oh, well... I don't know. Only time will tell," Shining said. "I must say though, you look pretty good in that armor."
"You think so?" Thunder asked, looking at Shining through the mirror and smiling.
"Yep," Shining replied.
"Ah think ya look good too, Thundah," Forger said. "Yah both look good."
Thunder then turned and looked at Shining, who's coat did not change as it was already white, but his mane also stayed the same.
"Wow, you look great Shining!" Thunder said to Shining, smiling at him.
"Thanks. Now I really am Shining Armor!" He said, and they all chuckled.
After leaving the armor fitter, they headed back to their barrack to show off their armor, which got them slightly popular in theirs and the barracks to the left and right of theirs.
Dear Diary,
This is it. I'm a changed stallion. I am no longer a trainee or a recruit, but I am now Private Thunderblast of the Royal Guard. I received my armor, and I also found that due to my armor not changing my coat or mane, but instead fitting to it, I might have something greater in store for the future. According to Shining Armor and his uncle, mane and coats staying the same while wearing armor means the magic embed in the armor has chosen you to be somepony special in the future. Only time will tell, but for now, i'm excited for my future.
Two Years Later
While Thunderblast, Spear, a new guard named Stormfire, and a couple of others were talking in their barrack, Shining Armor opened the door slowly and walked in. Something was not right.
"Hey Shining, what's wrong?" Blue Skye asked.
"N-nothing," Shining Armor replied, walking by slowly to his bed with fear stamped all over his face.
"Something is wrong. What is it?" Spear stood up and walked over to Shining.
Shining then collapsed just before reaching the bed, breaking his fall with Thunder's bed.
"Whoa, are you okay?" Thunderblast asked, running over with Spear and Blue to Shining, helping him onto the bed.
"I-I'm fine. Really," Shining cracked a small smile, that everyone could easily see through.
"I can sense you're lying, Shining. Tell us what's wrong," Shuriken said, trotting up behind Thunder and Storm.
Tears built up in Shining Armor's eyes, then he lowered his head and started to cry slightly.
"My uncle..." He started.
"Iron Armor? What happened?" They all asked.
"He collapsed and hit his head on his desk. They think he had a heart attack or something," Shining cried.
"A heart attack?!" Storm's eyes widened, turning and looking at the others.
"Yeah... He's fine now, but they don't think he's in the condition to lead," Shining said, crying a little bit more.
"But, who's going to lead?"
Shining sighed. "Me."
Then, a collective gasp filled the room.
"That's right... You told me a few years back that Iron would make you captain once he couldn't go on any longer," Thunderblast said, scratching his chin.
"Yep," Shining sighed. "I don't want to be captain yet. I want to work my way up to it, not get promoted from a Corporal to Captain of the whole Royal Guard."
"Shining... Even if you are the next leader of the guards, I'm sure you'll do great," Spear said, resting his hoof on Shining Armor's shoulder.
"You guys really think so?" Shining looked up at them, wiping a tear away.
"Mmmhmm," they all said in unison, Shining smiled.
"Thanks guys..." Shining said.
"I, Shining Armor," Princess Celestia started, reading a large book in front of her, standing in front of Shining Armor, who was being sworn in.
"I, Shining Armor," Shining Armor repeated.
"Take responsibility of Captain of the Royal Guard," Celestia stopped.
"Take responsibility of Captain of the Royal Guard," Shining repeated again.
"And swear on my life that I."
"And swear on my life that I," Shining repeated yet again.
"Will defend my friends and family from harm and chaos," Celestia stopped.
"Will defend my friends and family from harm and chaos," Shining repeated.
Princess Celestia then smiled at Shining Armor.
"Congratulations Shining Armor. You are now Captain of the Royal Guard," she smiled, and everyone in the room, royal guards and a few others, clapped their hooves and cheered, as Princess Celestia lit up her horn, and in a bright flash, Shining Armor was wearing the Captain's armor, which was different from his uncles when he was Captain.
"Thank you, your highness," Shining happily said, bowing his head to her.
After being sworn in, Shining Armor walked out of the castle to find Royal Guards lined up on both sides of the sidewalk, and immediately threw up a salute, which appeared as a wave as he walked down the aisle of guards, including Thunderblast, Spear, Stormfire, and the others.
A new era of the Royal Guard had begun.