//------------------------------// // Sergeant Thunderblast // Story: The Veins Run Deep // by Thunderblast //------------------------------// Canterlot was busy. It was definitely the capitol city of Canterlot with how many ponies filled the streets. It was hard for Bloodvein, now officially calling himself Night Shadow, to navigate with the crowds and keep up with the guard who he met at the recruiting station. Of course, they could have just flown over the crowds, but Canterlot had strict flying bans, especially near the castle. Eventually, they broke through the last crowd and ended up beside one of the main entrances to the Canterlot Castle. "Here we are," the guard spoke, then began walking on the sidewalk running against short hedges and wrought-iron fences separating the street from the castle grounds. Trees were everywhere, which were the homes to many different colored birds ranging from blue jays, to cardinals, finches and hummingbirds, as well as many squirrels which scampered around searching for nuts. Night was amazed at how well kept the city was, and wished back home looked somewhat like Canterlot, which it obviously didn't come close to. He looked around in awe, taking in a deep breath of the warm autumn air as a decent breeze brushed through his mane and feathers. As he did, he noticed they actually were at the castle. "Uh...aren't we going to a base sir?" The guard stopped and turned around, raising an eyebrow. "Base? This is our base. The castle is home to the training grounds of the Royal Guard. It is our home." "Oh. But, where are the barracks?" The guard didn't reply. He felt annoyed by Night's questions, which made Night blush in embarrassment. Eventually, they turned at another sidewalk, which took them through the most beautiful gardens known to Equestria. Flowers of all color on the spectrum were still bloomed in patches all over, as were rose bushes, cherry blossoms, and rhododendrons. Birds chirped and sang as the two ponies passed by. The gardens seemed to go on for a long way, until the guard led Night through a doorway, entering the castle. Inside, there were paintings from all points in time, some dating before the Lunar rebellion and even around the time when Faust passed. Above, there were extensive skylights which were as long as the hallways themselves, which always ended at intersections of the castle or corners. At every crossing, dead center above were massive diamond chandeliers which shimmered in the sunlight and made small rainbow circles and squares on the red carpet, about the size of a foal's hoof. Night was again peering at his surroundings in pure awe at the interior design, which was beyond anything he had ever seen before. Another thing he noticed, he couldn't hear his own hoofsteps. The carpet below him was made of one of the softest materials, and absorbed any hoofstep, which granted the royalty who lived at the castle sleep, even though the rooms were already soundproof. After a five-minute walk in the ever so long castle halls, the guard and Night Shadow exited through another door. Outside was a whole new sight; barracks lined up side by side, then in another row across the courtyard. In between, there was an extremely tall flag pole, topped by the one and only Equestrian flag. Ahead, numerous stallions and a couple of mares were seen jogging on a long dirt path, which extended through a pine forest separating that end of the castle from the long fall off the mountain. Elsewhere, ahead of a line of different colored stallions marched a dark green unicorn wearing what appeared to be a park ranger hat, but with a gold star on it, implying he was a drill sergeant, forcing Night to shiver a bit. Suddenly, the guard stopped, and Night bumped into his rear end by accident and jumped back in surprise, landing on his own rear. "Watch it!" The guard snapped back at Night, then growled. "On your hooves!" Night quickly stood back on all fours, brushing himself off. "My apologies sir!" "Captain on deck!" A stallion yelled out of nowhere, and everypony snapped their hooves together and stood at attention as a tall, white unicorn walked through the training camp wearing purple and gold armor. "At ease boys," the stallion spoke, having a slight west-coast surfer accent. He looked around, then spotted Night Shadow with the pegasus guard and walked over. The guard snapped his hooves together and puffed his chest out as well as the stallion approached. Night noticed the stallion, then gasped a bit. "It's the captain!" "Good afternoon, sir," the pegasus saluted, returned by the unicorn. "Afternoon. So, is this him?" "Yes sir," the pegasus dropped the salute, and stepped to the side a bit, allowing the unicorn to approach Night. "Are you Night Shadow?" The unicorn spoke, keeping a serious look on his face as he stared down some at the grey pegasus. "Y-yes sir," Night stuttered some in fear, then saluted with a shaky hoof. The unicorn chuckled. "At ease Night," then turned to the guard and nodded, who then trotted off. "So, you think you've got what it takes to be a guard?" "Well, I'm not sure. It's worth giving a shot though," Night chuckled awkwardly. The unicorn chuckled again. "It is. I am Shining Armor, it is nice to meet you Night," then extended a hoof. Night noticed the hoof, and extended his. The two shook hooves, just as the pegasus returned with another guard. This time, the guard was another pegasus, but his coat was a lighter grey than Night's, and his mane and tail were black as night, while his eyes were a deep blue. After they shook hooves, the white pegasus left, leaving the three. "This is Sergeant Thunderblast, he will be your instructor and trainer, and he will make sure you're in top shape to become a guard." The pegasus, Thunderblast, smiled proudly with a slight smirk at Night. "That's right. You'll be a guard when I'm done with you after these next few months." Shining nodded, then turned to Night again. "Well, I better leave you to it. Thunder, if you would please, show Night the way to his barrack." "Yes sir," Thunder nodded, then saluted. Shining saluted back, then walked away. Thunder then turned back to Night Shadow and smiled once more. "Nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you too!" Night smiled, hiding his fangs while doing so. "Please, follow me Night. Your barrack isn't far, and lucky for you, you'll have one all to yourself," Thunderblast turned, then started walking with Night following by his side. "So, what made you join the guard?" "I...um...a few reasons actually." "I've got time." "Well, first, I was homeless these past couple of months. I need the money, and I've kind of wanted to be one for a while now." "Homeless? Why?" "I ran away from home. My dad was acting like he was going to try and kill me." Night sighed and lowered his head some. "Man, that really sucks. At least now he should respect you when he sees you in armor." "I guess...but I don't know. I slapped him hard before I left." Thunder turned and stared at Night with eyes widened. "You actually did that?" Night Shadow simply nodded. "I-I couldn't hold myself back. He needed it." "Well, I agree there are some times where parents need a wake up call. I never hit my parents though...not that I knew them longer than seven years." Thunder faced forward, sighing a bit. Night looked up, then eyed Thunder as he walked. "What does that mean?" "Mine died when I was a colt." "Oh. I'm sorry." "Thanks. It was hard moving on...even now it still hurts." "Probably. Things like that would hurt for a lifetime. But look at you, you're a sergeant in the Royal Guard. I bet your parents are smiling down at you," Night smiled. "Perhaps. I don't know though, I've done pretty bad things in my life, Night Shadow." "We all make mistakes. It doesn't change how much your parents love you though," he sighed. "But that's you. My parents probably hate me by now." By the time Night had finished speaking, the two had reached the empty barrack and Thunderblast pulled out a key, then unlocked the door. He twisted the knob and pushed the door open, and the two walked in. Inside, the temperature was very warm, tallying one con up already. Around the room were eight bunk beds, night stands, hooflockers under the beds, two wooden desks, and two small bathrooms with showers. It wasn't the most comfortable room, but Night had to live with it. "Here she is. You may pick any bed you want, nopony else is living here. Well, yet," Thunder smiled a bit. Night looked around, then took in a deep inhale. "I could get used to this," he chuckled a bit, then turned around. "Thanks." "Oh, don't thank me. There's no need to. But, you're welcome anyway." Night walked up, then pulled Thunderblast into a hug. It shocked him slightly, but Thunder slowly hugged back and smiled. A moment later, the hug broke and Thunderblast walked back over to the door. "Get some good rest when lights are out, we'll all be up early tomorrow, then we'll get started." Night Shadow nodded. "Yes sir," then saluted. Thunderblast saluted back, then trotted out of the barrack, shutting the door gently behind him with a faint click, then walked past the window as he left. Afterwards, Night walked around, trying to decide which bunk he should choose. It didn't take long, and he chose one of the beds in the middle of the right-hoof row, on the top bunk. He had never slept in one before, but he knew he'd have to get used to it quickly if he is to survive training. Unlike the other guards, he didn't have anything to put in his hoof locker, but that left him with room to store other things he needed as he progressed, and until he could hopefully get a place of his own. Suddenly, Night was startled by a horn from the outside, followed by a bell from across the camp. He looked to the clock on the wall, which read one o'clock, meaning the guards were heading to the mess hall to eat lunch. Night's stomach growled loudly, and he decided to go as well, no longer caring what they might be serving. He trotted out of the barrack, then followed the other guards, some without armor on, to the mess hall. When they arrived, it was a large one-story building with only a few windows. He slipped into line to enter, which went pretty quickly until he got inside. There were numerous tables, which some already had stallions sitting and eating, others talking and laughing, with fans spread around the room to keep it cool, as well as the annoying broken light which flickered every millisecond which would give one a throbbing headache. The line wound around the outer edges of the building as the chefs raced to get the food ready for all of the ponies who weren't eating out or didn't bring their own lunches. It seemed like forever, but eventually Night was at the front portion of the shortening line. His hooves trembled slightly, and he grabbed a dark red tray and panted weakly, now starving. Minutes later, he was just behind two guards when the chefs announced they didn't have enough food to give the rest of the ponies in line. Night groaned and set his tray back down, then went to go sit down at an empty table, now unable to eat. He sat down and laid his head on his hooves, looking down at the table and the tiny crumbs that weren't cleaned up yet. "Hey." Night's eyes moved up, and they met a familiar grey guard, who was frowning a bit. "Hello sir." Thunderblast sat down in front of Night, across the table. "Didn't get food either huh? And, you don't have to call me that right now. Just call me Thunder, alright?" "Sure, whatever you say," Night groaned more. "I'm so hungry." "Same here," Thunder groaned, but then perked up. "How about we go into town and get some food?" "I don't have any money though." "It's on me silly," Thunder chuckled, and Night smiled, raising his head. "You really don't have to, Thunder," he smiled weakly. "Oh come on, it's the least I could do. Besides, you were homeless for a while and you need something to eat. Come on, let's go."