"Listen up soldiers, here are your orders!" Shining Armour barking commands at the small group of soldiers that stood before him, each one attentive to his presence and hanging off his every word. Shining himself was dressed proudly in a well pressed, fine silk officer's uniform that was laced with gold patterning that centred around his glowing chest piece, depicting his cutiemark. They were located in the Canterlot barracks, on a slightly chilly evening with the sun in its final stretch as it descends past the horizon. Shining knew he had to be crystal clear with the troops in order to truly prepare them for what was to come. He strolled down the line of the 6 other soldiers, sternly locking eye contact with each one of them; once he was satisfied they were at maximum attentiveness, he continued with his commands. "Now this is going to be a tough mission, and I'm afraid I can't promise you're all going to come home in one piece! Nevertheless, I have to lay down a few rules that you MUST follow: firstly, we stick together at ALL times, no separation! Secondly, we are a team, I expect you all to help each other out if the need arises! Thirdly, all food and drink must be rationed evenly! Finally, and most importantly... LET'S GET ROYALLY BUCKED UP! This is my big night and I'm gonna make sure we all enjoy it!"
The soldiers erupted into a roar of cheers and applause, watching on as Shining swooned them all out the castle gates for a 'memorable' night. But first, there was a certain orange pegasus they had to pick up.
------------------
Flash was blooming with excitement, this was his first night out with the troops and he had no idea what the night would entail. He sat at his bedside, his pink and orange saddle bag lay central with its main flap wide open and was surrounded by a number of various items that may or may not be brought with him on what he was certain would be a memorable night. His mother was downstairs preparing his outfit and Flash could hear her disputing with his father from muffled words through the flooring, most likely about whether or not they should allow him to go. They were very protective, his parents, even the fact they permitted him to become a guardspony was a blessing in his books. The items sprawled out on his bed were not those which one would expect to have on a stallions night out, in fact they were not even there by his own accord, most the items here were things that his mother insisted he bring for his own 'protection', such as a list of adresses to mail incase of an emergency, or a second layer incase it got too cold. He knew the time his friends were arriving was fast approaching, so he just stuffed the objects into his bag and moved himself to his mirror to begin combing his stiff blue mane.
The muffled arguments downstairs ceased and was replaced by the sound of hoofsteps heading up towards his room. At the sound of this, Flash hurriedly ended his mane styling session and dived to his seat, slumping his posture to give off the impression he had been waiting there for ages.
"Flashykins! Mummy has finished your big outfit for the night, but... are you sure this is the theme the other soldiers are wearing too?" His mum inquired suspiciously
"Sure, Shining told me himself that this was the theme!" Flash responded, with a hint of self doubt in his voice
His mum's face gave off a 'whatever you say' expression, "well anyway, did you pack all the things I gave you?"
"Yes mum, yes I did."
His protective mother persisted, "are you sure you have that list of adresses I gave you?"
"Gosh muuuum! Yes I do! Please!" Flash clearly growing impatient at the interrogation type atmosphere in the room. A large sounding chariot could be heard pulling up outside the house.
A now more empathetic expression was worn on his mother's face, "I'm sorry Flashykins, it's not that I don't trust you, if anything, it's more that I don't trust your friends, please don't let them get you into trouble tonight"
A feeling of blatant shock could be seen on Flash's person at what she had just said, "Mum please! These are MY friends no less! Not only that, these are royal Canterlot guards, hoof picked by princess Celestia herself! I think it's fair to say that these stallions know how to compose themselves in public!
"Calling sergeant faggot! SERGEANT FAGGOT!" a burst of group laughter was clearly audible outside the open bedroom window from the Captain of the royal guard's remark here.
"I guess YOUR friends are here then..." she uttered coldly to her son, who was now awkwardly shifting around in place, failing to make eye contact with her,
"Don't worry mum, I promise I'll keep them under control"
The older mare was already halfway out the room, holding no merit to Flash's words, "I hope so Flashykins, I hope so"
Once he was sure his mother had truly vacated the area, he donned his newly ironed outfit and made for the door himself; however upon reaching it, something caught his peripheral vision and he immediately halted. A photograph, a certain purple unicorn he'd seen about a year ago. He appraoached it with a concerned look, "everything I do tonight, I do it for you my love.". He then swiftly exited the room.
When Flash grouped with the others, he was met with the welcome he'd become accustomed to... mocking laughter at his expense, though the reason here was quite obvious; apparently the theme for outfits of the night was not to dress up as the opposite gender, he thought to himself as he stood there in a fine mare's frock, hair styled extravagantly and make up that was so finely applied that it would put Rarity to shame. Strangely though, the other stallions didn't seem exploit this mistake for too long, as there were more important things afoot.
"Here, drink this" Shining bluntly splurted out, forcing a bottle into Flash's hoof
Flash cautiously took a filly sized sip from it, before quickly spitting it back out in disgust at the drink's strength, "eeuurgh! What the absolute Buck is this?"
"This is one of 16 bottles of pure 65% alcohol Applejack Daniels! And you know what? You're gonna carry them in that gay little hoofbag you have there!
"16 bottles?" Flash asked, seeming somewhat unsurprised, "can I just ask you Captain, how drunk are you?"
"...Yes..." Shining replied, after a fair amount of thought. He then turned his attention to their chariot's hired driver, (who already looked like he wanted to kill himself), "oh Fondlesworth, do be a deary and take us to the bar, 'forgotten nights', please", he delivered in an overly posh accent.
"My name is NOT Fondlesworth!" The driver gritted as he reluctantly headed to the city centre.
Shining's attention was now fully back with the group, "gentleponies, and of course ..gentlemares (to Flash), now that we are all here, I would like to make a toast". The whole group gathered round the pony of honour and raised their drinks, except for Flash. "Whatever happens tonight, lets just make sure it's one we can talk about for a long time. What happens in Canterlot, stays in Canterlot...that means don't tell Cadance!". The stallions all shared a laugh together as they headed to their destination.
-----------Earlier-----------
"Are ya sure you know where you're going? Canterlot is a mighty big place!" Applejack asked Big Mac as they stood toether at the Ponyville train station. The station itself was scarce of ponies, most likely due to the fact the sun was on its descent to make way for Luna's rising moon, most ponies were likely at home at this time. Big Mac stood slumped, his eyelids hung low and there was an impatient tapping from his right forehoof, everything about his body language symbolised how very little he wanted to do what he was doing. Applejack was aware of this but she also knew that it was important that the Groom personally chooses what is on offer at the wedding in terms of food, as the caterers for the event, that meant this responsibility fell to them. "Are you sure ya don't want me to come with ya?"
"Nope, the type of night these stallions will be on today is absolutely no place for a mare!" He plainly replied. Applejack was about to object, but she dread to think about what sort of things stallions get up to for these sorts of things.
Several minutes passed of fairly light small talk between them, mainly about either the farm or what type of shenanigans Applejack and her friends have been up to in the last year. A sense of growing impatience and boredom was mutual between the siblings and there was an instance of relief when they saw the train arriving in the distance, though they tried to hide it from each other. As the train pulled into the stop, there were a noticeably larger amount of guards within the carriages of the train, ushering every pony out to make way for the departures. This didn't sit right with Applejack, she'd assumed it was just extra security for the wedding, but even for that, this was a bit excessive. The growing feeling of anxiety for Applejack just made her feel helpless to the situation; she wanted to aid her brother, but he wouldn't let her.
"Are ya 100% sure that ya don't want me to tag along?" She asked again,
"Nope, ah told ya, I'll be fine!" The tone in Mac's voice beginning to increase,
"Sorry brother, I'm just worried is all..."
Mac shot her an understanding and reassuring grin, "listen AJ, this is a quick and simple job, I go up to Canterlot, ask his 'highness' what he wants to eat, then I'm back here before you know it... I promise".
Applejack watched on as her brother boarded the train, which made no attempt to wait for any late-comers, and pulled of with a large cloud of steam in its trail.
"Back before I know it, I sure hope so..."