//------------------------------// // The First Day // Story: A Day in the Life of a Rookie Royal Guard // by LegionofPony //------------------------------// It was the first day of guard duty for Obsidian Aegis. He had just finished advanced training the previous day; the hard and rigorous regiments preparing and hardening his body for whatever the princesses may need, no matter how physically demanding. He was also mentally trained, teaching him the basic tactics and wielding techniques for the various weapons available to the Royal Guard should they be needed. As he was a Pegasus, he was also given the aerial combat training regiments to teach him how to counter and combat an aerial assault on the castle. Obsidian virtually galloped past the castle gates, the emblem of Equestria hanging on the large banners hanging on either side of the open drawbridge. He moved quickly, cursing to himself as he rushed to reach his goal of the command barracks behind the castle. He he mentally slapped himself for having overslept on his first day, nearly ten minutes late for duty despite having flown at his maximum speed from his home in Ponyville. He also cursed his alarm clock for not going off, having thrown it against the wall in frustration before he'd left the house. He finally reached the command barracks and looked up at the large grey building, the same banner as the front gate hanging above the entrance. Obsidian pushed the door to the barracks open and stepped inside the stout grey building. After checking in at reception and being told he was late, he proceeded to gallop to the office of the Captain of the Royal Guard in order to be briefed for his duty, nearly colliding with a pony pushing a mail-cart in his hurry. Pushing the office door open, Obsidian stepped inside the relatively-drab-looking and saw Shining Armor sitting behind his desk, looking up at him as a small squeak from the door hinges betrayed his entrance. “You’re late,” said Shining Armor, causing Obsidian to visibly tense up. Shining then looking back to the paperwork on his deck, clearly interrupted in the middle of a task. He lifted his hoof and pressed it to a pad of ink, then pressed down on one of the papers - a black hoof-mar left on the paper as he signed it and then placed the paper aside. Obsidian observed as Shining opened and sorted through a nearby folder, seeing his picture paper-clipped to the front. Shining Armor started reading off his details; "Name: Obsidian Aegis. Gender: Stallion. Eyes: Grey. Coat: Light Blue. Mane: Light Yellow. Build: Average-slash-Muscular." Shining then looked at the new recruit: he indeed had an average build for a soldier - lean but muscular, with his well-trained muscles slightly visible beneath his light-blue coat. Then he looked to his flank, wanting to see the mark that distinguished him from all others. His cutie-mark was of a large light-grey shield embossed with a flowing red ribbon, depicting not only his power, but also his naturally-protective nature. Shining Armor wondered how he'd earned it, and made a mental note to ask later. Shining looked up to Obsidian. “Obsidian Aegis?” Obsidian stiffened up and saluted, barking out a “YES SIR!”, with his deeply booming voice taking Shining slightly off-guard. Shining returned the salute, then signaled for him to be at ease. Obsidian let himself relax slightly then seated himself after he was invited to by Shining, sitting on the floor as he awaited his CO's next command. As Shining continued to look through Obsidian's folder, he suddenly stopped and looked up at Obsidian. “So, why did you want to join the Royal Guard?” Obsidian relaxed slightly more, taking the personal question as a good sign that he wasn't in any major trouble. “Ever since I was a little colt, I’ve always wanted to protect ponies sir. So what better place to protect ponies and all of Equestria then the Royal Guard, sir?” Shining smiled at the sentiment, then nodded. “So why are you late?” Shining asked, causing any tension that had relived itself from Obsidian to return in a moment - causing his irises to contract to the size of pinheads as he anticipated the inevitable yelling. After a short but awkward silence, Shining cocked his head at Obsidian - asking for a response. “I…I…” Obsidian awkwardly stuttered, unable to form the words as he was being stared down by his commanding officer. “…Overslept?” Shining finished the sentence for Obsidian flatly, causing Obsidian to tense up further as he nodded in confirmation. He closed his eyes tight, bracing in expectation of the harsh reprimand that was sure to come. Instead of a berating shout however, Obsidian heard a calm response. “At ease, soldier, you're not in trouble. These things happen sometimes - nothing you can do to prevent them. Just don’t let it happen again, yeah?” Obsidian cracked an eye open, only to be surprised by the softly smiling face of Shining Armor. He was completely surprised at the reaction and relaxed partially once more, put at ease by the calm voice of his CO. Had this been his drill sergeant in basic, he would have virtually chewed his wing off for being even a minute late - let alone ten! Obsidian stood completely still as Shining circled him, looking him over. Shining stopped at his right rear side, his curiosity once more grabbing hold as he saw Obsidian's cutie mark. “So where’d you get your cutie mark?” Shining asked, finally letting the question he was pondering this whole time be released. Obsidian was slightly taken aback, not expecting such a personal nor casual question from his commanding officer. “Sir?” he asked, slightly confused by the question. “I asked where you got your cutie mark, soldier.” Shining asked again, this time putting a slight authoritative edge to his question to get a response out of his subordinate. Still unsure of why Shining would ask this of him, he started recounting his cutie mark story to Shining; “Well…” ~ ~ ~ Obsidian, at the age of ten, looked down at his younger sister of eight from the cloud. “But I don’t want to!” he said in a whining tone, stomping a hoof on the cloud in rebellion Obsidian's sister Summer Storm rolled her eyes at him as he rested on that fluffy mass of floating water, a mocking tone in her voice; “C’mon you chicken! You said you’d take me to the ground, and show me around! You promised, you promised!” Summer started flapping her dark-yellow wings rapidly and jumping around on the ground, before making the sound of what she was imitating; “BA-CAWK! You big chicken!” She followed it with a loud, constant laugh and continued to hop and flap around while Obsidian looked on in disdain at her actions. Obsidian rolled his eyes at his sister’s immaturity, and couldn't help but chuckle as he saw the dark-yellow Pegasus continue to hop and flap around - looking like the real chicken here! Eventually though, Obsidian finally gave in; “FIIIINE! I‘m coming down!” he shouted down from the cloud. He stepped off the edge and slowly lowered himself, flapping his wings to slow and balance his decent to the ground as his sister looked on with a huge grin. “YAAAAAAAAY!” Summer shouted, then started bouncing in place on her hooves. She had stopped hopping around -now only bouncing in place- but couldn’t stop her wings from flapping in her excitement. The smile of anticipation on her face was huge, and grew only larger as her brother finally landed softly on the ground and moved towards her. Moments later the two foals entered the dark forest beneath Cloudsdale, the lighting quickly fading as they traveled under the interwoven canopy of trees. “Oooh this is so cool!” shouted Summer, a huge grin crossing her face as she looked around the dark forest, her youthful enthusiasm manifesting as her wings continued to flap in her excitement. Her fascination with the rarely-seen ground was quite extensive as she constantly pressed deeper into the woods, wanting to see more and more of the unfamiliar landscape. All of this was much to Obsidian’s dismay - he didn't like this. Not at all. A feeling deep in the pit of his stomach told him something wasn't right here, and that they needed to leave now. “OK, we looked around! Come on, let’s get back home before our parents notice us missing and we get in trouble!” he said with authority, trying to get his sister to leave this place without revealing his own strong unease at the situation. Instead -and to his dismay - Summer continued to press in deeper still, ignoring his demand and leaving him only able to follow her closely. A few moments of traveling later, Obsidian heard a soft growl and stopped in place- realizing that his sister was completely oblivious to the sound. “U-um, Summer? We need to leave.” Obsidian said, a hint of panic in his voice. Summer frowned at him, flicking her tail in annoyance. “Aw, c’mon you chicken! Can’t we just stay a little longer? This place is so cool!” “NO! We have to go NOW!” said Obsidian, hearing the growl starting to get louder and more threatening. Summer heard it too now, her ears flattening against her head as she saw the glowing yellow eyes appear behind her brother. “RUN!” Summer suddenly shouted, and just like that they were off at a gallop. Obsidian bumped into the timber-wolf - a species of towering creature made of living wood- feeling the rough bark of its body scrape against his side. He let out a yelp at the minor pain - a few strands of hair getting caught in the cracks in the rough surface of the timber-wolf's bark-skin at the close contact. Obsidian and his sister ran at a full gallop for want seemed like forever, unknowingly heading deeper into the forest as the timber-wolf constantly trailed them. They occasionally heard its jaws gnash at the air, eager to sink its teeth into the young ponies’ flesh - the sound causing them to whimper in fear and press themselves to run faster. ~ Moments later both foals looked ahead and saw a dead end, the path ending in trees too thick to get through on all three sides. As they reached the end both started to panic, running around in desperation as they looked for any hole they could fit through and escape the beast quickly closing in on them - its jaws still gnashing in anticipation of its pony meal. Summer was hiding behind Obsidian now, shaking in fear as she cowered behind her big brother. Realizing there was no escape, Obsidian instead felt his survival instincts shift their focus, feeling tension in his haunches and rear legs. If he couldn’t run from this beast, he’d just have to fight it! With a howl of rage -the intensity of which was greater then what even the timber-wolf threatening them could have mustered- Obsidian shouted "FOR EQUESTRIA!" as he charged at the lumber creature, taking on a persona he used when he played Power-Ponies with his friends. When he was in range, the timber-wolf lunged at him -intending to bite into him with its teeth of wood splinters- but instead was met with two hooves kicking hard into its lower jaw. Obsidian bucked into the wooden beast as hard as he could, feeling the impact as his back hooves met with the wooden jaw - the recoil of the collision vibrating through his rear legs as well as the rest of his body. The timber-wolf howled in pain as it felt its jaw loosen - some of the vines attaching it to the rest of its head breaking at the hard buck. As the timber-wolf was dazed from the first hard buck, Obsidian pressed the advantage - rearing back and delivering another powerful buck to the creature's jaw, this time breaking the remaining vines and causing the lower jaw to fly off of the timber-wolf - hearing it smacking against a nearby tree trunk from the force. There was complete silence for a few moments before a soft whimpering was heard - coming from the timber-wolf. The wounded creature quickly turned tail and ran away, defeated. Obsidian was panting hard - exhausted from the exertion of running, and then putting all his force into the two bucks. He felt his adrenaline fading as he sensed the danger leave - the rear end of the timber-wolf barely visible now in the dark forest, its large form but a murky speck in the darkness. Obsidian looked back to his sister a few yards away, seeing her still shaking hard and covering her eyes with her hooves. He approached her and placed his hoof on her head, unwittingly causing her to scream and flare her wings instinctively - her instincts encouraging her to take flight to get away. She calmed down instantly upon seeing his face however, and wrapped her hooves around his neck when she realized it was him - crying into his shoulder as she let it all out. Suddenly a very bright flash of light lit up the surrounding trees, originating on Obsidian's flank. Both he and his sister looked back at his flank, and as the light faded they saw a red-ribbon-embossed silver shield appear on his flank. His face lit up with a smile at the realization - he'd just gotten his cutie mark! The two foals spent the next half-hour finding their way back to the entrance of the forest, following the light as it got brighter towards the exit. After breaking the tree-line, the two immediately took flight and landed on the clouds above. They never shared their story with anyone else at the time to avoid getting in trouble, and the origin of his cutie mark was never divulged for many years. ~ ~ ~ As he finished recounting the tale of his cutie-mark story, Obsidian looked up at Shining armor’s face and was greeted by a dim grin on the latter’s face. “Well, that’s quite the tale. Glad to see we've got such a naturally protective guardian for Equestria." His tone then shifted to a less awestruck one as he cleared his throat. "Do you know why I asked you of where you got your cutie-mark?” Obsidian shook his head side to side. “No sir.” Shining moved himself up to the front of Obsidian and looked him in the eyes. “I asked you so you might calm down and relax a bit. You’re more tense then my sister before an exam!” Shining said with a grin. Obsidian let loose a soft chuckle as the captain did the very unprofessional action of giving him a brief noogie. “Enough chit-chat though, you need to get on-duty. You don’t need to worry too much - there‘s nothing really going on right now that requires us to be too on guard, and as such you will likely only be needed for standard patrolling. You will be patrolling here…” Shining Armor said, dragging his hoof along the south wall on the map, “...and here.” - then pointing to the south-west watchtower. Obsidian nodded, and was dismissed from the office with a salute, Shining Armor wishing him good luck on his first day. After Obsidian had left, Shining couln't help but let out a somewhat girlish squeal that he'd been holding in since the middle of Obsidian's recounting. "THAT WAS SO AWESOME!" ~ After Obsidian left the office, he headed to the armory to get his armor and helm. Before he was permitted to enter, he was asked by the unicorn to stop and submit to the uniform spell being cast on him. Obsidian nodded his consent, then watched as the unicorn's horn started glowing with a soft green hue. He was always fascinated by this spell, and looked down to watch his hooves as he felt the familiar tingling across his whole body - watching as his hoof changed from light-blue to snow-white as the spell took effect - his vision then blurring momentarily as his eyes changed from their normal light grey to a stunning blue. The spell complete, the unicorn caster stepped back and nodded, allowing him to proceed. He moved onwards, stepping up to the armory window and acquiring a standard-issue set of golden armor and a golden helmet with a blue crest. The armorer came out and helped him put it on, tightening or loosening the various straps and buckles until Obsidian confirmed it was comfortable and fitting properly. As he left the armory, Obsidian placed his helmet on his head - smiling as he realized that he was now looking like a proper guardian of Equestria should. ~ ~ ~ Obsidian spent the first half of his shift either patrolling the south wall, or standing outside the south gate watching for any potential trouble from the Everfree Forest. Hours in, his muscles started to fatigue from the constant walking and standing but he pressed on - ignoring the soft ache starting in his flank as he proceeded on his patrol. As Obsidian passed by the south-west rampart, he looked over and saw the distant sight of Ponyville. As Obsidian saw the large windmill softly spinning, he felt a pang of homesickness. Obsidian's family had moved to Ponyville from Cloudsdale not long after he'd gotten his cutie-mark, and he had grown up near there - in the house just next to that windmill. He remembered the small of warm bread entering the house every morning, and the fresh bread he used to have as a colt. He remembered a particular time when they’d gotten 2 whole loaves of bread from there and made sandwiches to take on a picnic, and the fun he had that day. Even though he was supposed to hold only a stoic expression throughout his shift, Obsidian couldn’t help but let a small smile cross his face as he continued on his patrol, more memories flowing through his mind as he observed his surroundings. ~ ~ ~ At noon -the twelve gongs of the nearby clock-tower announcing its arrival- Obsidian was dismissed for lunch. He traveled to the mess hall, and proceeded to place a bowl of tomato-noodle soup, a large slice of fresh bread, a large red apple, a small bottle of apple juice and a large chocolate-chip cookie on a tray. He then sat down at a table, alongside a few of his fellow guards. “Hey, how’s the first day going?” one asked. “How’s the 'Equestrian Defender' doing? Those walls would have surely conquered us all if not for you watching them!” another jeered, a large grin crossing his face as he poked fun at him - clearly being somepony who knew him since childhood to know that nickname for him. When he was younger, he would always wrap a blanket around his shoulders and claim to be The Defender of Equestria, donning a clear bowl as his Helmet of Justice. “It’s going fine, but I had to kick one of the walls to keep it in place!” Obsidian exclaimed, causing the others to chuckle. He ate his lunch while continuing to banter along with the others, occasionally flapping his wings when the conversation got particularly exciting. A half-hour later, the bell rang to indicate the half-hour mark and the end of his lunch break. The conversation had distracted him somewhat from his lunch, with him having only finished part of it. The rush to get back to his station caused him to stuff half of the large cookie into his mouth at once, a soft 'mmm' escaping his lips as he tasted the distinctive flavor of Sugarcube Corner’s unique recipe. ~ ~ ~ After Obsidian clocked in and returned to his post, his mind soon after returned to memories of his past - especially the time he'd saved his sister in the forest, the memory brought back to him by recounting it to Shining Armor earlier. He suddenly stopped moving and jerked his head to the side as a very faint rustling in the distant Everfree Forest knocked him out of his reminiscing and took his attention, causing him to tense slightly and prepare himself to take flight and alert the others if more happened. Given the Forest's distance from the castle, even a small noise or movement that could be observed from such a distance meant that something massive must be moving through the Forest. After a few minutes of tense observation -his wings flared open in preparation of take-off- nothing more did happen. He sighed in relief as he proceeded on his patrol. It looked like Equestria would be safe another day after all. Nothing else out of the ordinary happened for the duration of his shift, except for a small piece of stone falling from the wall and startling him. Finally as the sun had started to lower in the sky and the clock-tower gonged five times, Obsidian stopped patrolling and headed to the armory. He surrendered his helmet to the clerk, and felt as the armor was loosened and removed - leaving him his natural self once more. As he checked out, the same unicorn from before cast the reversal for the uniform spell on him - letting him watch again as his hooves changed back to their natural light-blue color. His eyes again blurred as they desaturated to their natural steel-grey color, and he saw as the unicorn gave him a nod - indicating the reversal spell was complete and that he was dismissed. He then left the castle after signing out, spreading his wings and taking off as he headed to his home in Ponyville. ~ ~ ~ Obsidian arrived home ten minutes later, and was greeted out front by his three foals - one filly and two colts. After hugs and kisses were given all around, he looked up to see his wife Blooming Field standing in the doorway - noticing a smile on her dark-green face. He approached her, but almost tripped over the galloping foals as they ran past - engaging in one game or another as they were wont to do. He rolled his eyes with a smile as he heard fake, exaggerated sounds of the 'bad guy' getting defeated, and continued on to his previous goal. Upon reaching Blooming, Obsidian met her lips with a soft kiss, then wrapped his hoof around her and pulled her into a hug. “So how was your first day of guard duty, 'Guardian of Equestria'?” she asked softly into his ear, a small smile on her face as she eagerly awaited his response. He told her with enthusiasm that -despite it being pretty lackluster- it was nice to know that all of his fellow guards were nice, and his commanding officer was a great guy. Blooming's smile grew slightly at hearing of her husband’s happiness, still holding him in a hug. She sighed happily - pleased that he was finally able to live his dream of protecting Equestria… if only in his own little way. ~ After playing tag with his foals for a while, Obsidian heard his wife call them in for dinner. They ate the daffodil-grass sandwiches and a fresh garden salad, all but the bread gathered fresh from the garden his wife so lovingly tended to - with the bread being bought fresh from Obsidian’s favorite grain-mill and bakery. While the children discussed their day at school, their parents listened in interest until it was bedtime for the children - tomorrow being a school-day as well. The children begged Obsidian to stay up for just a little longer to finish their game, and with a roll of his eyes Obsidian looked to his wife to see what she had to say on the matter. When she nodded softly and Obsidian told his children they could finish up, an uproarious cheer from the three nearly deafened the parents as the three foals ran off to finish whatever game they were in - more cries and jeers coming as the 'bad guy' was once again vanquished. Obsidian and his mare chuckled softly, happily watching their three children playing in whatever game they’d come up with - two Pegusi flying in the air with their feathered wings while the other ran along, quickly catching up to the other two on hoof - his Earth-Pony speed allowing him to keep pace with them on the ground. Five minutes later and the foals were in bed, still panting from the game they were playing even after they’d brushed their teeth and gotten into bed. They asked for their bed-time story, and upon their demands Obsidian once again donned the small clear bowl and told of the origins of his cutie-mark, marveling at the gaping mouths even as this must have been the hundredth time he’d told them it. After ending the story at him and his sister flying off into the sunset while only slightly dramatizing the event, Obsidian saw as his three foal’s eyelids fluttered shut with smiles on their faces at the happy ending. He removed the bowl from his head and set it aside, knowing he'd be using it again soon. The foals shuffled slightly as he kissed each on the forehead before leaving the room, leaving the door open a crack so some light could seep in. Obsidian then walked to his bedroom, seeing Blooming already laying on the bed with her reading glasses on as she read over whatever non-fiction book she was reading now, guessing on gardening though - he knew she loved ecology and botany books the most. He went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth before climbing into their shared bed himself, sighing in relief as his tired muscles finally had a chance to relax. He leaned over and gave his wife a kiss on the back of the neck, getting a soft sigh from her at the sensation. She set down her botany book and glasses on the side table before turning over to him and planting her lips on his. “Glad you had a good first day, dear.” she said softly after breaking the kiss, putting her hoof through his mane affectionately. Obsidian smiled as he looked into her eyes. “Thank you darling. You know I love you, right?." Blooming couldn't help but tease. "Oh I know you love me. The question is - do you POWER love this PONY?" she asked, putting extra emphasis on 'power' and 'pony' as she teased her mate about his so-recently-indulged Power-Pony persona. Obsidian chuckled and rolled his eyes at her. "Of course I 'power-love' my little 'super-mare'!" he responded, earning him a big smile from Blooming in return. Both simply looked at each other after all was said and done with a soft smile - the couple sharing a nuzzle before Obsidian felt the hoof go down from his mane, and finally down across his cheek before breaking contact with him altogether and ending up on the pillow beside him. "Goodnight, Bloom.” he said as he felt his eyelids start to grow heavy. “I 'power-love' you too, and goodnight dear.” Blooming said, giving one last chuckle before turning away from him as she got comfortable. Obsidian rolled over on his back, staring at the ceiling as he thought of his day. Not bad for the first day of The Equestria Defender. he thought to himself, a chuckle escaping his lips as the old Power Pony he’d imagined himself as as a child came to his mind. At that thought, he felt his eyes start to grow heavier - eventually closing as he felt his body relax, drifting off to sleep as he rested. For tomorrow was another day of protecting the land as the Defender of Equestria.