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

	Chase huffed as he sat on his bed, tapping his chin thoughtfully. He’d spent the last little bit searching for his journal; he wanted to write about his day, more specifically about Trail Blazer and what he’d been learning from him. For some reason he just couldn’t find it. It wasn’t in his bag, under the bed, or even between the bed and the wall, where he thought it might have fallen. He asked his roommates if they’d seen a small blue book, but none of them had seen it either. 
The unicorn frowned, this didn’t make any sense, it wasn’t like he took it anywhere outside the room. He lifted up his pillow again and sighed, it wasn’t there either. Of course he knew it wasn’t there because he’d looked there already but it didn’t stop him from looking, no more than it would have stopped him from looking in the fridge even knowing there was nothing there he wanted to eat.
“Is anyone else missing anything?” he asked, looking around at his roommates. 
Thundermane and Cloud Runner shook their heads, “Naw, at least nothing important,” they said. 
“Weird, maybe we have boggarts or something.”
“Boggarts?” Sky Fire gave him a bemused look. “What are those?”
“Well, if my mother’s stories are to be believed they’re mischievous little monsters that like to steal stuff and mess around with everything. Like, mini Discord’s I guess,” explained Chase. “Of course, who knows if they’re even real to begin with.” 
“Even if they were why would they want an old book and a pin?” asked Thundermane. 
Chase just shrugged, “Who knows, I just hope they turn up soon”
“So how was your day?” asked Thundermane. “I thought I saw you out sword fighting earlier.”
“Oh that, I was practicing, Trail Blazer was teaching me how to use a sword. He said it’s a good idea I learn how to use one without magic in case something happens to me and I can’t use it,” said Chase. “He just got back from a tour out on the Equestria-Griffon Land’s borders, I bet he has a lot he can teach me. So what about you guys, how was it with your mentors?”
“I ended up flying through an obstacle course all day,” groaned Thundermane, wigs relaxing at his sides. “And then had to clean all his armour, and it was filthy. My hooves and wings are killing me.”
“Mine called in sick,” said Sky Fire. “So I couldn’t do anything, it was really boring.”
Cloud Runner yawned, “I had to help with weather duty; apparently even though he’s a guard, my mentor works part time with the local weather team so I got stuck helping clean clouds and stuff. Exhausting.”
“Not a weather pony huh?” asked Chase. “Given your name and cutie mark I kind thought you were one,” he admitted. 
“It’s not that, it’s just I’ve never done that much work before,” he said. “I was born in Cloudsdale and worked part time on the weather team there to earn some spending bits, then we moved here. They’re practically slave drivers in comparison. I’m exhausted, I need sleep.” The upper bed creaked as he flopped onto his side with a sigh. “So try to keep it down alright?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be quiet,” said Thundermane. “We’re probably all going to sleep anyways.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” said Sky Fire, making his way over to his bed.
Chase yawned as he stretched out, it was getting late and there was no sense in stressing himself over a missing journal and ruining his sleep. It was bound to turn up; it certainly didn’t wander away on its own. Maybe there really were boggarts, that would be interesting.
The lights flicked off, plunging the room into darkness and silence soon reigned.
Curling up Chase closed his eyes as he snuggled into the covers to go to sleep.



Chase galloped along through a jungle, the ground underfoot was slick and muddy, splattering onto his white coat. He wasn’t sure what he was running from, but he didn’t want to find out. The air around him was hot and sticky and the plants wide leaved and strange looking. From somewhere off behind him he could hear the deep, heavy breathing of some large creature. With a leap he burst from the bushes, only to find himself on the edge of a cliff, staring down over what looked like a giant ocean.
‘That wasn’t there before,’ he thought, taking a step back so as not to fall off. 
The bushes behind him snapped and cracked and Chase spun around to see what was chasing him. 
As he turned around, something wet and cold slapped against his cheek.



Chase’s eyes snapped open as his hoof flew to his face, a shudder rippling through him. While the dream itself was hazy, the wet, slapping feeling had felt so real. As he rubbed his cheek he shuddered, it was damp. 
“That’s weird, I don’t remember crying,” he thought with a frown, unable to understand why his cheek was wet. As he sat up he noticed something else odd, his sheets were all bunched up at the bottom of the bed. “Well, no wonder I’m cold. How weird is that, I’ve never kicked my covers off before.” He pulled the covers back up to his chin, wrapping himself as he wiggled back under and tried to go back to sleep. 
Unfortunately, Chase wasn’t the only one having problems trying to fall asleep that night. Every time Thundermane closed his eyes he felt a tugging on his ear, but when he opened his eyes to look around there was nothing there, as there shouldn’t have been what with him being on the top bunk. Rubbing one eye he looked around the room, everyone else seemed to be sleeping fine. Chase was snoring away as usual and Cloud Runner and Sky Fire were fast asleep, one of them mumbling in their sleep. With a huff he rolled over, drawing his blankets up close and went back to sleep. This happened several more times, a tugging feeling on his ear pulling him from his sleep. He groaned, burying his head under the pillow. 
“Just let me sleep,” he grumbled, ruffling his wings as he tried to get comfortable.
Needless to say, despite their best efforts, Chase and Thundermane were quite tired when they woke up, their sleep having been disturbed.
Chase yawned as he ate his breakfast, the bowl sitting in front of him on the table. “What a weird night.”
“You too huh?” asked Thundermane.
Chase gave him a curious look, “What do you mean?”
“It felt like something was tugging on my ear last night,” he said. “Every time I went to sleep it felt like something was yanking on my ear. It was weird. What about you?”
“Well, I think I kicked my covers off sometime in the night because I woke up cold and they were almost all at the foot of my bed. And it felt like something wet hit my cheek, but I thought that was just my dream.” He rubbed the spot on his cheek where he remembered being hit, “But when I woke up my coat was damp.”
“Maybe the dorm’s haunted,” suggested Thundermane, prodding around his food.
“I hope not,” sighed Chase, resting his chin on the table. “I like reading ghost stories as much as the next guy, but I’d prefer they stay there, in stories.” He stretched out, “I need to get going, Trail Blazer’s going to be waiting for me.”
“Yeah, I probably should too. Oh it’s going to be a nightmare, doing everything sleep deprived,” yawned Thundermane. 
“I don’t even know what I’m going to do today,” said Chase as he stood up. “See you later.”
With another yawn he started off down the hall. “I hope Trail Blazer slept better than I did.”



The sleepless epidemic and missing items seemed to be spreading through the dorm as Chase noticed he wasn’t the only one who was sleepy, as well as there being several sticky ‘lost item’ notes on one of the note boards. 
“What on earth is going on in this place?”
“You look a bit sleepy,” said Trail Blazer, looking up as Chase approached. “Did you not sleep well?”
“Not really, I guess my bed was just a bit lumpy or something,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”
“I hope so, I was hoping we could get in a bit of practice this morning before I head off to my rounds.”
“Your rounds?”
The large stallion nodded, “Mmhhmm, I may be back from a tour out on the border lands but I’m not retired. My rounds take me around the castle grounds, so you may get to see a bit more than you may have usually seen before. But I like to get in some warm ups before I go on patrol.” He kicked a wooden sword across the grass to Chase, “Why don’t you show me what you remember from practice yesterday?”
Chase picked up the sword, walking towards the practice dummy. He fought back a yawn; he’d drop the sword if he did that. He remembered the moves well enough and was sure he could execute them, but his sleepiness made it hard to concentrate. Taking a step back he trotted towards it, swinging the blade into the bag.
Trail Blazer watched him quietly, nodding as his attacks struck the training dummy.
Chase set the sword down, looking over at Trail Blazer hopefully; he hoped it wasn’t too obvious that he was tired.
“Not bad, you certainly have a good memory,” he said. “But, I need to get ready for patrol, so keep practicing till I come back.” With that he trotted off back to the barracks to get ready. 
Chase looked back at the dummy, picking up the sword. “Man, that was pathetic,” he thought. Only a hoofful of his strikes had made hit, the rest had glanced off or even missed all together. “Pretty sure he was just being nice. I think I need a nap later.” He took a few more practice swing at it before setting the sword aside to sit down and rest. There was no time for a nap, but being off his hooves felt nice.
“You think you can keep your eyes open long enough for a patrol around the grounds,” laughed Trail Blazer as he came back, adjusting his armour. “A sleepy guard is a fired guard, or a dead one depending.”
“I’ll be able to stay awake, don’t worry,” laughed Chase as he stood up. 
“Good, because the last thing you want to do is fall asleep on the job. Especially when your job is to protect something, or someone.”
Chase nodded as he followed him, Trail Blazer falling silent as they walked. While he’d been teaching Chase how to use a sword he carried with him a spear, resting it against a foreleg. Chase looked around as they walked, he wasn’t used to this area of the palace before. There were fewer ponies around and Chase began to wonder if the public was even allowed around these parts.
“So, where are we headed to?” he asked, trotting to keep up with Trail Blazer.
“The gardens, statue gardens and the west wing,” he said. 
“Does anyone go out that way?” asked Chase.
He nodded, “The gardens are public land, or most of them are, the only place we don’t get to go are the Princess’ private gardens. That’s reserved for her and her personal guard alone. The west wing houses the archives sections of the library you need permission to enter.”
“So like a restricted section?”
Trail Blazer nodded, “Something like that, it’s not restricted in that nopony can go there, but you can’t just waltz in. It’s mostly just researchers in there, a rather boring lot, so invested in their work. Chances are good they won’t look up at you; so don’t take it to personally. You’re more likely to find ponies in the gardens and statue garden.”
The last time Chase had been near the statue garden was the middle of the night, when the most grotesque statues looked even more fearsome and disturbing, and as if they could come alive at any moment. They weren’t so bad in the daylight though. 
“So is it just walking through those areas?” asked Chase.
“Walking and keeping an eye out for anything suspicious is pretty much it, though why anyone would want to break into the statue garden in the middle of the day is beyond me. Most of the problems happen during the night, that’s when you have to worry about the vandals and whatnot sneaking in.”
“Why in Equestria would anyone want to sneak into a statue garden at night?” asked Chase. “It’s not like it costs anything during the day as it is.”
“Usually to tag the statues, of course somehow I don’t think Discord minds, he probably enjoys the chaos.” He laughed and shook his head, “Of course being stuck in stone I’m not sure how much he’s aware of but I think he’d like it all the same. Anyways we’re almost there.” 
He trotted up to a guard, a Lunar Guard by the looks of it and they started to talk. The shadowy guard nodded before trotting off, leaving Trail Blazer and Chase there. 
“Just relieving the current guard,” he said, looking over at Chase. “He’s been up all night so his shift is over and mine starts. When you start your shift it’s always a good idea to find the guard currently on shift and relieve him or her by letting them know you’re there. It’s like clocking in for a job that way they know you actually made it on time.”
“What about if you’re sick and can’t come in?” asked Chase. “What do you do then?”
Trail Blazer rubbed the back of his head, “Well, the few times I was too ill to come in I had find someone to cover for me and explain my absence. Which isn’t always easy when you have the early morning shift and no one else is awake.”
“That sounds really tough,” said Chase. “I hope I don’t get sick.”
Trail Blazer adjusted his helmet and looked around before looking back at Chase. “I am officially on duty, so try and keep up.”



Chase wasn’t sure how the idea that being a guard was glamorous had ever gotten started, but he was pretty sure they had been lying. Patrolling the grounds was anything but that. The most excitement stemmed from a group of foals on a class trip through the garden, a group of very bored foals from the sounds and looks of it as the trudged after their teacher. The library was quiet, and a nice break from the screeching foals that were currently running through the garden, having been given free time at last.
“I’m glad I’m not their teacher,” he thought. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to control of that many foals at once, or even control one foal. 
While it was a large enough area to patrol, and was actually patrolled by several guards that way no pony could sneak in while a guard was in a different area, it got quite boring fast. They didn’t really talk much because there wasn’t anyone to talk with.
“I’m sorry it’s not more exciting,” apologized Trail Blazer. “But we’re in the middle of Canterlot, and in the palace nonetheless, not exactly a high crime area.”
“At least it’s peaceful and quiet,” said Chase. “The best way to be alone with your thoughts.”
Trail Blazer smiled, “That is true, I get some of my best thinking done when I’m alone. You just need to remember to keep your wits about you so you don’t miss anything.” He shifted the spear to his other hoof as they continued walking through the gardens. “And don’t disturb the bees. There’s nothing worse than angry bees getting under your army. I’d sooner take on an army of Changelings than deal with that. So if you see any bees don’t bother them, they’re usually calm if you leave them alone.”
“Oh don’t worry about that, I know bees. My mom runs a flower shop so the front of the store is always swarming with them in the spring,” laughed Chase. “The wasps are the worst though, you just look at them wrong and they’ll chase you to the ends of Equestria. At least I’m not allergic though, those stings hurt.”
A hoof clapped his back slowly with a laugh, “Well you’re definitely going to need to toughen up if you can’t handle a small sting. I assure you, sparring hurts a lot more.”
“Yeah, it looks like it could hurt a lot,” said Chase, “Especially if you do it wrong.” 
“Oh yes, so be careful when sparring alright?”
Chase nodded, he was definitely going to be careful from now on after the incident with his horn.
Chase’s next lesson involved breaks, specifically lunch breaks. If lunchtime fell when on guard duty they had two options, wait until their shift was over to eat if they had a short enough shift, or simply eat while working. The latter option usually involved sitting down to eat while at their post, which was what Trail Blazer was doing today as he didn’t get off till later and he was not about to skip lunch. Chase however was allowed to go and get something to eat so long as he came right back.
“I hope I can get a nap later,” he thought as he wandered into the cafeteria. “I need one before I fall asleep on my hooves.”



The rest of the day passed quickly enough, and Chase returned to his room after Trail Blazer got off duty, the older stallion telling him to go and try to get some rest.
With a yawn Chase flopped onto his bed, not even bothering to crawl under the covers this time. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a midday nap, not since he as a foal at least.
With a yawn he pulled his pillow close, hugging it to his face as he made himself comfortable for a nap.