//------------------------------//
// Chapter Nine 
// Story: A Squire's Tail 
// by BBkat 
//------------------------------//

	Chase panted, flopping onto his stomach on the floor of the cleaning room, the armour sitting in front of him and several oily, dirty rags off to the side. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been cleaning and polishing, but his forelegs were sore and beginning to ache. The helmet was polished, the shoes shined and the body armour oiled till it was like a mirror.
“And you have to do this everyday?” asked Chase, looking up at Trail Blazer.
“Just about, unless I’ve been doing a lot of work a simple rub down is all it needs. A full, thorough cleaning is best saved for the most extreme times.” He picked up the helmet to inspect it, turning it over in his hooves. “You did a good job for your first time, but there’s one last thing to do.”
Chase groaned, “More?”
Trail Blazer, “Don’t worry, it’s not that hard. Once you finishing oiling and polishing, a light coat of wax will help to seal it up and keep dust and dirt from sticking.” He gathered up the dirty rags, taking them to the bin with the rest of the dirty ones and grabbing a few clean ones. “The waxing shouldn’t take as long.”
“Any special way to wax?” asked Chase. 
“Not really, just follow my lead.” He unscrewed the jar of wax and dipped the cloth in, picking up the helmet in one hoof. He rubbed the helm with gentle, repetitive circles. 
After watching him for a few moments Chase moved closer to the body armour and started mimicking his movements, rubbing the wax over the metal. As he worked his ears perked up at a noise from beside him. Turning he noticed that Trail Blazer had started humming while he worked, seemingly oblivious to Chase watching him. He nodded his head slowly as he hummed.
Chase worked quietly, not wanting to disturb the older stallion as he hummed to himself. He wasn’t sure what the song was, he didn’t recognize it; it sounded nice though.
“So, what are you humming?” he finally asked during a lull in the music.
Trail Blazer made a startled noise, lifting his head, “Oh, was I humming again?” he said. “I hope I didn’t bother you to much. Sometimes I start humming to pass the time when I’m working on something.”
“It wasn’t a bother,” said Chase, waving it off. “It was a nice break from the silence, sir.”
“Please, you don’t need to be so formal. I told you I’m not that high ranking, just a regular soldier. As for the song, it’s just something I picked up while serving, you wouldn’t believe how boring the job can get sometimes.” He looked over at the armour Chase was working on, “How goes the polishing?”
“Good, I think?” Chase looked down at the armour he was holding, it was certainly very shiny. “I’m definitely going to have shiny hooves after that’s for sure.”
“You’re still going to want to wash them though, the wax and oil with get into your coat and make a real mess,” he wrinkled his nose. “And that’s not coming from a vanity standpoint either, the stuff really is messy and it makes it hard to do anything with your hooves. Hot water and soap, the best way to wash it off.”
“I will definitely remember that,” said Chase, setting down the waxy rag so he could stretch. “Man, I never thought being a guard would mean so much cleaning.”
Trail Blazer nodded, “At least it’s just dust and not blood, that’s even harder to clean off.”
“Have you ever had to clean blood off your armour before?” asked Chase.
He sighed, “Only once. I was helping break up a fight and things got really out of hoof. It wasn’t my blood thankfully; it was one of the combatants due to all the kicking and biting. You wouldn’t believe how many times we get called out for stuff like that.”
“So you do riot control too huh?”
“I suppose that’s one way to put it yes, from crowd control at any large event to breaking up particularly nasty fights between ponies, we guards do them all,” he said with a nod. “It’s not all glamorous that’s for darn sure so I hope you didn’t join hoping for something like that.”
“N-no, I told you why earlier, I want to protect ponies and help them. After the Changeling invasion,” he shuddered and shook his head. “I want to be brave, but the idea of facing something like that is a bit frightening.”
“That’s a very noble reason, you wouldn’t believe how many ponies join hoping to get fame and glory. And I wouldn’t worry about getting scared, everypony does at some point in their lives.” He looked back at the armour, then over at Chase. “I think that’s good enough for today, you go wash up while I put this stuff away and meet me back in the court yard.”
“Really?” asked Chase. “I mean, shouldn’t I help clean up or something?”
He shook his head and waved him off, “Don’t worry about it I can handle this. You did good and you could use the break.”
“Thank you,” said Chase with a nod before trotting off to wash up. 
Trail Blazer watched as he trotted off before picking up the body armour and a cloth to finish waxing it. “I must say, for his first time he did pretty good, and he’s a fast study, he could go far,” he thought. “He just needs a bit more confidence in himself.”



Chase shook his head and hooves dry, flinging water off as he finished washing himself. Trail Blazer was surprisingly nice and almost laid back. Of course he’d just come back from a really tough sounding job out at the border, he was probably super tired as well.
“I wonder what else he has planned for today,” he thought. “Maybe we’ll do some practice, maybe he wants to see what I can do.” Chase gulped, the very thought made him nervous, compared to a fully trained guard he wasn’t very strong or good at anything. “Well, I guess it’s back out to courtyard to find out what’s next.”
He dried his hooves off before trotting down the hall and back to the courtyard.
Trail Blazer was already waiting, a pair of wooden swords lay on the ground near his hooves and a large punching dummy stood a few feet away. The punching dummy was a glorified bag filled with hay and sawdust with a dopy grin that looked like it had been drawn on by a foal. Common consensus was that the foal of one of the higher ups had helped draw the face on before it was brought to the training halls. 
“I was wondering if we could see how well you handle a sword,” he said. “I have the rest of the day off so I’d like to get to learn more about what you can do, although I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you much with your magic.”
“A sword? I’m afraid I don’t know much about using one,” admitted Chase. Most of his practice had been limited to using his magic or hoof-to-hoof combat, but nothing really with a weapon save for the occasion where they practised with staffs.
“Well, then I guess practice is good for you,” he said, knocking a wooden sword towards him. “They’re just wood so that way you won’t hurt yourself.”
“How, how do I hold it?” asked Chase with an embarrassed blush. “Should I carry it with my magic or without?”
“Why don’t we practice without? I can be of more help to you that way, plus this skill may come in handy should your magic be incapacitated in some way. Just follow my lead.” He picked up the sword in his teeth and nodded for Chase to do the same, waiting till he had a good grip. Usually the guard’s weapon of choice was a polearm, it had a long reach and allowed an easy grip in the hoof, while a sword allowed the user to get closer but was a bit awkward to hold without magic or wings. The handle itself was quite long so that they could hold it comfortably in their mouth when fighting.
“Very good,” he said through clenched teeth with a nod. 
Chase wobbled, trying to find a comfortable way to hold the sword, it felt so odd to hold it in his mouth when every instinct was telling him to pick it up with his magic. Trail Blazer seemed to know what he was talking about though so Chase wasn’t about to question him. “This is so weird,” he said. “I feel like I’m going to mess up.”
“Ahh chin up, yer doing great,” said Trail Blazer, trying not to laugh. “Jus’ don’t drop it. Now, follow my movement alright?” He took a fighting stance, holding the wooden blade out in front of himself, pointing towards the dummy.
He drew his head back to one side before swinging the sword out, striking the dummy across the middle with the wooden blade. The soft dummy buckled where it was hit, bouncing back several moments later. “Now you try.”
Chase took his position in front of the dummy as Trail Blazer stepped off to the side, trying to position himself the same way he’d seen Trail Blazer do. Taking a step forward he swung the blade at the dummy, only to miss and fall on his face, the sword slipping out of his mouth. 
“Ohh, that hurt,” he groaned, rubbing his snout. “And that really didn’t work as planned.”
“That’s alright, just try again.” Trail Blazer gave him an encouraging nod and smile.
Rubbing the dirt off his nose Chase pulled himself up to grab the sword and try again. He walked back to his position before charging the dummy again. It took him several attempts before he landed a halfway decent hit on the dummy. 
“This is a lot harder than it looks,” he said, resting the wooden blade in one hoof.
“It is, now imagine trying to do that with a metal blade, this one’s just plain old wood.”
Chase gulped, “That sounds really tricky. I’m not sure I’ll ever get the hang of it.”
“That’s no way to talk little one, no one ever gets it right on the first try so I’m not expecting you to either.” He knelt down in front of Chase, setting the sword down. “Did you get any of your spells right on the first try?”
“Well, no I guess not,” said Chase.
“Alright then, and if you couldn’t get that right on the first try, you’re not going to get this right on the first try.” He placed a hoof on his shoulder gently, “So you just need to get back up, pick up the sword and try again until you get it. Think you can manage that?”
“Of course,” said Chase with a nod. “Let’s try again, that dummy won’t be smirking anymore.”
Trail Blazer laughed as he stood up, “Good, that’s the sort of spirit I like to see. Now get that sword and let’s give it another go.”
Chase picked up the sword again and turned to face the training dummy, he wasn’t going to let it win, even if it didn’t actually attack back. He landed several blows in succession, his accuracy improving with the more swings he took. He stumbled over his feet less and less, leaving impact marks in the dummy as the wooden sword struck it. It was a basic form, a swing and strike, the sword making a soft thump as it hit the dummy. It wasn’t sharp, being made only of wood, but he knew if it had been made of steel the impact marks would have been cuts and the stuffing would be spilling out.
He tried to find a way to hold the sword in his hooves but he kept dropping it and went back to holding it in his mouth to strike the dummy. He didn’t doubt that to the outside viewer it much look strange, a unicorn practicing like this, but he kept at it, no one had said anything yet and he hoped to keep it that way.
“This is tiring,” he panted, dropping onto one knee to catch his breath as he set the wooden sword down. His legs were shaking with exhaustion, ears pinned back to his skull. He’d been at it for hours, following Trail Blazer’s instructions on how to stand, how to swing and how to hold the sword.
“It’s supposed to be tiring, that means you’re doing it right,” said Trail Blazer. “If it didn’t push you to your limits it wouldn’t really be practice.”
“It’s also making me hungry, I think I missed lunch.”
“Well we can’t have that,” chuckled the large stallion. He scooped up the swords in one leg, “Why don’t you take a break and get something to eat, no sense practicing on an empty stomach. I have a few things I need to take care of in the mean time.”
“So should we just meet back here?” asked Chase. 
“Ah, how about you take the rest of the day off? I think I’ve worked you enough for today, besides I don’t know how long things are going to take. We can meet here tomorrow first thing after breakfast alright, before I start my shift.”
Chase nodded, “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
With their goodbyes said Chase trotted off to the cafeteria to get something to eat and hopefully stop the growling in his stomach.
As he passed his room he stopped, raised voices were coming from inside and they didn’t sound happy.
“I told you I don’t know where your dumb pin went,” snorted Cloud Runner. “Maybe it’s in your bed somewhere, that’s things a mess.”
Chase shook his head, with how messy their room got it was a wonder more things didn’t go missing more often. The only time it was ever remotely clean was inspection day, and that was only because none of them wanted to end up on latrine duty or worse. 
“It’ll turn up eventually,” he thought, turning away from the door to head to the cafeteria. Stuff that went missing always did. He sniffed the air as he neared the dining hall and licked hip lips, something smelled delicious.
Alfalfa salad with spiced dried apples and honeyed nuts. Chase drooled as he looked at his lunch, he had half a mind to just dig right in, cutlery be darned. He held he bowl between his hooves as he sat down, stomach grumbling at the site of the food. 
“Oh, poo with what they think,” he thought before sticking his muzzle into the salad. The apples were dried and flavoured with cinnamon, while the nuts, a whole variety of them, were sweetened with honey, all things he enjoyed. His tail swished happily as he ate and his ears wiggled. 
“I’ll have to remember this so I can make it myself later,” he thought as he polished off his salad. Having eaten his meal Chase made his way back to his room, hoping the noise had quieted down. 
Pushing the door open he stuck his head in and looked around, it had quieted down, but it was an even larger mess than he’d ever seen it before. Sky Fire was the only one left and was flying around, digging through anything and everything.
“Lost something?” asked Chase, stepping into the room.
The white pegasus sighed, wings drooping as he landed on the ground. “I think I misplaced my dad’s silver pin,” he said. “It’s my good luck charm.”
“Well, where did you last see it?” asked Chase.
“In my bag, but I’ve been through it several times, I even emptied it all over the floor to look.” He sighed and bowed his head sadly. “I can’t have lost it, this is awful.”
“I’m sure it’ll turn up,” said Chase, placing a hoof on his shoulder reassuringly.
“I hope so,” said Sky Fire. “I really hope so.”
Lowering his hoof Chase looked around the room then back to Sky Fire. “So where is everypony else?” he asked.
“I think they went to eat,” said Sky Fire. “I should probably do the same.”
Chase grinned, “You should, they have alfalfa salad today.” Sky Fire perked up at this and nodded saying goodbye to Chase before he left. Once alone Chase pulled his bag out and began digging through it to find something. “Huh that’s odd, my journal should be in here somewhere.”