//------------------------------// // Lower Canterlot // Story: Dawn Of The Silver Sun // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// "Why didn't I just fly?" That was the first thing on Straw Basket's mind when he groaned, trying to make his protesting body get up. Lying curled up on a rather hard piece of iron, the whole night and a big part of the next day had been a grueling experience, but despite his unusually long sleep he still felt exhausted. "Probably just like the time when a falling tree broke my wing. The body needs its sleep." Banishing the memory of his younger self barely dodging a mass of wood set on crushing him, he yawned and looked at the little bit of sky he could see from the empty space between the freight cars. Before he could gather his wits a cacophony of noises coming from brakes told him everything he needed to know. Barely keeping his balance when the train started slowing down, Straw stuffed his tent/blanket/raincoat/flying carpet wannabe in one into his backpack and waited for the movement to stop completely. As the train reached walking pace, Straw spread his wings and, careful not to clip anything in the rather small space protecting him from prying eyes, took flight. Several suspicious glances in his direction gave him a pretty precise answer why being sneaky was better than safe. Right now, at the end of the trip, nopony cared about a silhouette leaving, but had he tried that back home he would have had a pony on his back soon enough. Soaring through the sky, he still hissed as his wing muscles tugged at his wounded chest, but aside from pain itself his movements hadn’t been hindered in the slightest. Canterlot mountain towered above him with its peak lost in the clouds. At the base there was a city where he'd arrived, an unremarkable collection of houses without the tall walls and white spires the name Canterlot promised - lower Canterlot. What made his eyes go wide and mirror his smile was the larger part of Canterlot, the bastion of law itself. About halfway to the clouds there was the miracle of architecture, the city built on the side of the mountain where the rulers of Equestria and the highest nobility lived secure within high, white walls. Straw couldn't see much more than just a half-circle casting shadow under it from down here, but his imagination filled the blanks rather easily. His plan for today was clear - find a quick route towards the castle, ask around about the recruitment details, and return back to lower Canterlot for the night. For ponies able to fly there was no obstacle but as Straw got higher and higher he noticed a long line of carts and travellers heading up a highway carved in the side of the mountain. There was a second set of train tracks leading that way as well, meaning that wealthier clients could take a ride straight to the city itself. When Straw landed on the city walls, startling a unicorn guard snoozing on watch, he realized he grossly overestimated the time he'd need to get to the castle. The white fortress was separated from the city by a second set of walls, although smaller than the city ones, and from up here he could see large stretches of well-kept greenery, which had to be the legendary gardens. The city was clean, white, white, and more white, although some ivory towers were decorated with gold and ornate brass. The ethereal feeling of the entire place was lessened somewhat by shabbier houses close to the mountain itself, which must have been built by and for the less noble part of the population. In short, Canterlot was a bustling metropolis, the like of which Straw had never seen before. Before he could get lost in watching ponies, mostly unicorns, going after their business or simply lazying around, the slowly fading sun reminded Straw he should rush to the castle before the Royal Guards might consider him a possible burglar. He didn't need to follow the long line of guests and visitors queuing on the long gravel road leading from the inner walls to the castle gate. After all, he just needed to find some guard and ask them few simple questions. Strangely enough, or possibly due to the supposed lack of personnel, there were only two or three pegasi flying around and one squad of guards roaming the grassy grounds around the castle. Not wanting to disturb them, Straw slowly landed in front of a side entrance guarded by a brown earthpony mare with dark brown mane sticking in places from underneath her golden helmet. On the other side of the door there stood a strange, sleek metal construction resembling a very slim pony. The guardsmare watched him carefully as he floated down, trying to look as harmless and non-intrusive as possible. Straw bowed when the mare took a step towards him and coughed. "Ummm, can you help me, miss?" "Wellll, you are at the service entrance without a discernable reason so I should probably beat you up and drag you to the dungeons, but I feel charitable today and you don't seem dangerous," the mare snickered. From the voice and her stature Straw realized she had to be few years younger than him. "Errrrr," he took several steps back and the mare burst out laughing. "Just teasing you, it's not illegal to walk the castle grounds, at least not for two more hours. What can I help you with?" "My name is Straw Basket. I-I'm here to join the Royal Guard. I read in the news that the recruiting happens tomorrow so I wanted ask around who to look for so I didn't seem stupid." "Oh right!" the mare smiled again, "The second pre-training event was supposed to start this week, riiiight." "Pre-training?" Straw interrupted. "Yeah, the official training starts after new year, but last year, due to some serious scheduling trouble, there was a group of ponies who arrived here in Canterlot for retraining and general physical fitness tests early. Since the Royal Guard had free space in the barracks, they offered them a chance to train for few extra months and then join the official recruits. I was one of them, although for a very different reason. So, you're here for that?" "Ehhh, yeah?" Straw was currently repeatedly facehoofing- facetaloning mentally. Had he misunderstood the Royal Guard ad in the newspaper? Was he here at the wrong time and would he have to live in Canterlot until some spaces in the Guard open? "Good for you, coming in on the first day! Anypony can join at any time during the pre-training but the trainers like ponies who take things seriously.-" "Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! I almost died for this and it wasn't necessary at all?" "-Are you okay?" the mare asked concernedly while looking at pale Straw whose talons drew deep grooves in the lawn. "Well, I had an accident on the way here and now I know I didn't have to rush." "Chin up! As I said, ponies who are here on time usually get few bonus points towards the monthly evaluation exams." Straw Basket's smile was way too forced. "Thanks, miss-" "Dawn." "Miss Dawn. Where and when does the whole thing start?" "Uhhh, Bucket?" Dawn looked at the statue. "No need to curse, I'll ask somew-" The metal statue hummed quietly and moved like a panther ready to pounce. Blue circles appeared where a pony would have eyes, but the 'whites' around were very much 'blacks'. The blue circles disappeared for a moment and Straw realized with horrified fascination that the statue blinked at him. Raspy, slightly distorted, but somehow pleasant voice came from it: "The first phase of Guard recruitment starts tomorrow at thirteen o'clock for the Royal Guard and twenty-three o'clock for the Nightguard. The meeting place for both groups is the visitor's entrance of Canterlot castle. Applicants will be shown a tour of the training facilities, accommodated in the barracks, and their physical prowess evaluated. Tomorrow's tour guides are private Dawn-" "WHAT?! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Dawn hit the metal pony softly. "-and agent Bucket. Officer responsible for recruit accommodation is sergeant Oakenshield.-" "Hey, he had me last year. Oaks is a pretty cool guy unless you try really hard to piss him off," Dawn winked at Straw. "Good to know." "-The trainers performing the physical evaluation are ambassador Cromach and drill sergeant Rising Thunder," Bucket, the mechanical pony, ended his report. "Oh dear," Dawn blinked. "What's w-w-w-wrong?" Straw stuttered. Dawn's sudden panic was super contagious, "Are they going to kick me out on the first day or something?" "Huh?" Dawn shook her head, "No, that would be counterproductive now, would it? Why would they refuse a recruit for knowing nothing before they taught him anything? It's gonna be fine, just... just get ready for some serious beating. Ambassador Cromach makes you do some crazy physical exercises and sergeant Thunder just enjoys his recruits beating the living daylight out of one another." "Sooo... it's alright? Do I have to bring something with me to the meeting?" "No documents are necessary," explained Bucket, "After first week, new recruits will present themselves for examination needed in order to make their temporary guard badges. This and much more information will be presented during orientation tour. Do not worry." "Thank you." "May Celestia's light shine on your steps," Bucket 'closed' his eyes again and returned to his disguise as a strange decoration. "See you," Dawn waved as Straw jumped to the air, "And don't be so scared!" Flying out of the castle grounds, Straw landed in the city itself, decided to walk his way downtown to get the feel for its layout. After all, Royal Guards had to know their city's streets by heart he supposed. Posh unicorns all around, a nice guardsmare, scents never before encountered by the frontier village colt, and mechanical ponies who could talk! Canterlot was everything he'd dreamt of and much more on top. Smiling nervously but happily, he wandered his way through upper Canterlot to the gate leading to the mountain highway heading down. Back at the castle, when Straw was out of sight, Dawn nudged Bucket. "What was that supposed to be?" "What was what supposed to be?" the mechanical pony answered in a much less official tone. "The I'm just a beep boop machine talk you did in front of the poor guy. Even I didn't find it funny and I know you. It wasn't possible for him to get the joke." "That wasn't a joke, Dawn. I didn't want to lose the element of surprise. There's some divine power inside him. Hostile, from what I can assess." "Should we tell somepony or follow him?" "I will deal with it. As far as I can tell he isn't dangerous or in immediate danger. We've met some straight up deadly forces before and this is insignificant compared to those. I'll go warn our Black Ops friend, he'll know what to do." "Don't laze around too long, I don't like having to talk to myself." "Of course," the service entrance shut behind Bucket. With the sun setting, Straw Basket entered lower Canterlot and looked for the nearest tavern. There was way too much new stuff for him to digest so he decided he should sleep on it and get into the rhytm of the big city step by step whenever his training allowed. Unfortunately for him, the tavern closest to the entrance was also a place which somepony looking for fun at lower price than in Canterlot city would choose. The inn was filled to the brim with ponies enjoying themselves after a day of work and Straw was more sure with every step that he wouldn't find a room for rent here. His worry came true when the bartender shook his head and explained that due to the yearly event of guard recruits graduating, the hotels and taverns in both parts of Canterlot had been filled to the brim for past two days. His head low, Straw sighed and got ready to spend another night outside. "What's a half-breed doing here in Canterlot?" snickered a white unicorn as Straw plodded back to the entrance. He was sitting at a table with mares on both sides watching him and giggling. The ornate and mostly empty bottle of wine on the table told a sad tale of money being the biggest aprodisiac known to ponykind. "I just needed a place to stay for the night before joining the Royal Guard tomorrow," Straw smiled politely. There was no reason to be hostile to one of the locals, possibly a member of nobility. "YOU, a Royal Guard?" the unicorn slammed the table with his hoof, laughing, "Listen to me, hick. The Guard is a sacred institution devoted to the protection of Equestria. Only the best of the best should be allowed to join. Somepony like me, for example. Your kind can never stand up to a real unicorn anyway so why don't you save yourself the hassle and go home... plant some carrots or something." "Hmm, there's posh and then there's downright insulting. No reason to waste time here. Wait... did he say he wanted to join the Guard as well?" "Uhm, sure," mumbled Straw noncommittally and walked onwards. *Thud!* At least to the point when his muzzle met the floor to the open laughter of the sycophantic mares around the rude unicorn. "Inbreds," the unicorn shook his head, "can't even walk straight." "You tripped me!" scowled Straw, standing back up and dusting himself off. "Are you talking back to your betters, drifter? I'll have to teach you a lesson then." Straw gritted his teeth as he took in the details of the unicorn in front of him. Even slightly off balance, the enemy stood up from the table with his clearly toned muscles mirroring his every move. Cocky grin, long horn, and blonde mane roguishly falling over one of his eyes made it clear what the mares around him were here for. Sneering unicorns aside, Straw took a step back to an area less congested with tables. He wasn't a weakling himself, hard work in a frontier town made sure of that, but compared to the unicorn in front of him he definitely looked out of shape. "Look, I don't want any trouble," Straw raised his talons defensively in front of him. "A coward as well? Thought so," the unicorn hiccuped and crossed his eyes, "You should have thought of that before spitting your slander at me." Unseen blow hit Straw's muzzle. There wasn't too much power behind it but it stung, not more than the unicorn's grin though. "Just smash his drunk face." A sudden wave of rage came over Straw and, without thinking, he swung his talons. The untrained punch grazed the enemy who was now laughing openly. "A guard, really! Seriously, go home and bang your sister or something you rednecks do. I'm sure she's gonna give you a bunch of retarded foals you so like." Another invisible slap. "Damn unicorn magic!" "Just for now... a little will be enough." A surge of energy responding to Straw's wish to cave the unicorn's head in burned through his body. Moving much faster than ever before, his right hook connected and knocked the unicorn down on the dirty floor. With mud staining his golden mane, the unicorn's eyes now promised pain and murder rather than simple humiliation. Spitting a wad of blood out, he stood back up and his horn shimmered with a brilliant glow. A crushing blow from above awoke all Straw's previous wounds and he screamed. Not for long though, as another blow made him bite his tongue. With growing concussion, he could only register his head being repeatedly slammed into the floor. "Okay, that's enough," said a voice belonging to someone new. It took Straw a while to realize the dull thumping of his muzzle on wood stopped. His world was swimming and his face was covered in snot, blood, and tears, but he believed he could, once all his thirteen legs cooperated, stand up. Maybe... tomorrow... next week in the worst case... "Oh great, another half-breed. What did YOUR mother get knocked up by, a minotaur?" *Click.* "Go ask the barrel." Finally standing up and able to turn his head without his stomach declaring independence, Straw measured the creature who saved him from more beating. The voice spelled female, but Straw didn't have enough knowledge about the world to tell him more. She was standing on her hind legs, which were brown and furry just like pony ones, but longer. She DID resemble a minotaur, as far as some forgotten memory of his early school days said, but there were no horns on her head and her face lacked muzzle and any sort of hair aside from her brown mane. Her entire upper body was covered by a brown jacket lined with pockets and she held a strange metal tube aimed at the unicorn in one hand, making him breathe heavily and stand VERY still. All in all, she looked like a cowmare without a stetson. "You wouldn't dare!" the unicorn snarled. "Blow your head off? Nah. Shatter your kneecaps? Sure!" The outside door clicked and the entire tavern went silent. Two sets of hoofsteps approached the standoff between the unicorn and... the minotaur-ish being. A tall and astonishingly well-built white griffon wearing a simple, long sleeved, black jacket followed by a grey, red-maned pegasus mare in full Royal Guard plate mail froze the atmosphere in the tavern. The griffon tapped the strange two-legged girl on the side. "AAAH!" she screamed. *Bang!* The unicorn pissed himself, slowly turning his head to the smoldering hole in the wall. He collected himself rather quickly despite his hind legs still getting wet. "Thank you, officers. Can you please lock this trash up for firing a gun in a public place?" his snooty tone returned. The griffon ignored him and looked hard at the girl. "Got anything to say, Fortune?" "SORRY, SIR! THAT WASN'T INTENTIONAL," she saluted. "Unintentionally aiming a pistol at a unicorn's head... how do you do that?" "Um-" Straw coughed but was stopped by the griffon's glance in his direction. "Later." The offending unicorn's grin grew wider and wider. "Sir, this unicorn provoked the hippogriff who was just looking for a place to stay the night," Fortune nodded at Straw, " and attacked him. When it became clear he didn't stand a chance I stepped in to stop the senseless beatdown." The griffon sniffed around the unicorn, scowled, and waved at the silent guardsmare next to him. "An assault while drunk. Ruby, grab him." As the red mare reached for him, the unicorn slapped her hoof away. "Don't you dare touch me! Don't you know who I am?" he barked. "A drunk brat dangerously close to being charged with assaulting an officer," Ruby simply stated. "My name is Leo Goldhorn, son of Elhart Goldhorn! I can't believe the Royal Guard would bother hiring a griffon or protecting a bunch of halfies." Ruby scowled but the griffon just grabbed the unicorn's mane and tugged firmly. "What an irony, your name is half griffon and so is your father's." "My father will get your sorry flank kicked out of-" "Waaaah, waaah, waaaah," the griffon started to pull the protesting unicorn towards the exit, "You say something but all I hear is 'I am nothing without my dad, I am completely worthless, blah blah blah'. I wonder how would old Elhart react to to his son being in a newspaper tomorrow." Leo whimpered and stopped resisting. "Good colt." Straw Basket was in no position to object when the guard called Ruby pointed at him, at Fortune, and then at the door. "Come!" Wondering why no one was bothered by Fortune still being armed, Straw followed the other four outside and through the night streets of lower Canterlot. With Leo, Straw, and Fortune obediently walking behind the pair of guards, the griffon nudged Ruby. "So, how about you, me, my place tonight?" he said carefreely. "No." "Come on!" "No." "Come ooooon!" "No. Besides, aren't you going to Manehattan for next week?" "Yeah, that's not for two more days though. So..." "No!" "You can't keep that trained flank to yourself, that's selfish!" the griffon slapped Ruby's behind. *Tink!* "OW!" "I had a backplate added to my armor when I heard they paired me with you," Ruby snickered at the limping griffon sucking his talon. "I'm not sure whether I should be glad I'm recognizable or mad at what I'm recognized for," he grumbled. "See," Fortune grinned at Straw, "This is what you'll be working with in the Guard." However, the griffon's attempts weren't over. "How about I do this," he tripped Ruby and as she lost balance he slid under her mid-fall, hoisting her on his back. Straw gasped at the griffon's strength when his addled mind finally reacted to someone carrying a muscular mare wearing a full plate armor without slowing down at all. "Fiiiiiiiiiiine," Ruby grumbled, just hanging there in defeat, "Let's have a dinner and then we'll talk." The griffon turned his head to the young trio. "See, kids? Perseverance!" Ruby just groaned. "ONLY dinner!" "That's what you're saying now but-" "Grrrrr!" "Nevermind." After a while the group arrived at the lower Canterlot guard house where a very annoyed unicorn mare was eyeing the reception. "What now?" she sighed when she saw three barely adult visitors led in by a pair of guards. "The unicorn goes to the drunk tank, Holly," the griffon ordered, "give the other two a free cell." "WHY?" Leo protested. "Because they're not wasted. Now be a nice colt and sleep it off." Straw was barely awake at that point so the prospect of not being rained at tonight was inviting despite having to spend it with a heavily armed female of unknown species and intentions. Holly ushered the two into a cell next to the drunk tank while Leo got shoved into the company of five other mumbling, and fiercely stinking, ponies. "This is both disgusting and unforgivable!" he objected loudly and quickly lowered the volume when a drunk pony swung his hoof at him, "Nnnngh!" Holly just snorted. "If you feel somepony grabbing your flank, just bite the bars and try not to make too much noise." "You can't be seri- EEP!" Leo rammed his butt into the wall as the pony next to him put his muzzle on his back. On the other side of the bars Fortune just propped her head using her backpack as a pillow and closed her eyes. Straw coughed nervously. "I can lend you a blanket if you want. It's big enough for a pony but since you're so much taller..." Fortune snored. Well, at least he had a free place to stay. Despite, or maybe because of, everything around being so overwhelming, Straw drifted off quickly as well. Not that it stopped his internal chant of: Canterlot is AWESOME!