//------------------------------//
// 5-A Rocky First Day 
// Story: Dog Days 
// by Rare Twinkie 
//------------------------------//


Dog Days
By Rare Twinkie
Chapter 5: A Rocky First Day


"I'm mighty sorry about this, Rainbow Dash," Huck apologized. "If only I had made my train in time..."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Rainbow said, breathing a little easier. She looked down at the ground as Huck carried her out of the castle. "You can put me down here."

"You sure? You must be exhausted, what with havin' to carry me and all..."

"Dude, I told you to not worry about it," Rainbow said, impatiently flapping her wings. "You've apologized, like, ten times already. I would've done the same for any of my friends."

"Well...thanks for your help, Rainbow Dash. If you hadn't done that, I would've been fired on the spot," Huck answered. A small smile came across his muzzle. "Thanks a million, really."

Rainbow smiled back. "No problem, Huck."



When Huck made his way back into the room, he heard a low snicker come from the other side of the hall. "So...you're the new guy who wants to be part of the Royal Guard, huh?"

Huck turned around to face a brown-coated pegasus stallion with a yellow mane and lazy magenta eyes. "Uh-huh," he answered. "I'm Huckleberry Hound."

"Name's Blitzkrieg." The stallion got up from his position on the wall. "Since you're new, what with being a talking blue dog and all, I figure I'd better give you some advice. The road to becoming a member of the Royal Guard ain't easy."

"I kind of figured that, just from lookin' at Captain Thunderfrost," Huck said.

"Most ponies drop out after only two weeks of training," Blitzkrieg continued. "The regimen's pretty rough."

"I can take it," Huck answered.

"Trust me," Blitzkrieg said as they walked into the room, "you'll find yourself eating those words in three days."

Huck looked confused as he turned to face the rest of the assembled guards. Was this pony trying to scare him into leaving? It wouldn't be the first time some employees tried to spook him into reconsidering a job. After all, that's what Stinky Dalton had attempted to do.

"Alright, now that we have everyone here," Thunderfrost started, giving a particular glance over to Huck, "we can now begin this morning's training sessions. The rest of you will be working on your skills with the other trainers. I will be personally working with Huckleberry Hound."

"Special treatment for the new guy, huh?" a light blue unicorn stallion snorted. 

"He won't be getting any kind of special treatment from me," Thunderfrost boomed. "All of you who have trained under me know that well. He will undergo the same training course as the rest of us."

Blitzkrieg let out a noise that Huck assumed to be a laugh. "This is gonna be good," he said.

"Cut the chatter, Blitzkrieg," Thunderfrost snapped, and immediately the snickers stopped. "All of you to your assigned trainers, now!"

"Yes, sir!" 

"Huckleberry Hound, come with me to the courtyard," Thunderfrost said, and started walking away. 

"Right away, sir!" Huck jogged after the unicorn stallion as fast as he could.

Blitzkrieg and the rest of the ponies watched as Huck and Thunderfrost disappeared. "How many of you think he'll be able to last one week with the captain?" he said.

The blue-coated unicorn laughed. "I bet you he wouldn't be able to last two days. Most new recruits don't."

"I say we should give him a chance though," someone piped up.

Both ponies turned around to face a white-coated earth pony with an orange mane and bright blue eyes. Her face was dusted with a light pink as she realized that everyone was looking at her. "I-I mean, he could be pretty good at swordplay."

"You're just a novice yourself, Wallflower," Blitzkrieg said. "And you haven't exactly made a lot of progress either, especially for someone who grew up in a military family all her life. Then again, what else can you expect from a mare?"

"Hey, Blitz, knock it off," the blue-coated unicorn said. "What did she do for you to say that?"

"N-No, it's okay, Spot On." Wallflower's eyes were watering with tears, but she put on a shaky smile. "I've heard the same thing from everypony else in Canterlot, so it's no big deal."

"Keep going around with that attitude, kid," Blitzkrieg sniffed, walking away towards the training grounds, "and you'll never make it in the Royal Guard."

The doors shut behind him with an ominous boom.

Spot On turned towards Wallflower. "Come on. Let's get going before we get into some serious trouble," he said.

Wallflower nodded slowly, and neither pony said a word as they walked out of the room.



"Wow, these training fields are huge," Huck noted, staring at the large expanse of dirt in front of him. Ponies of every class were outside dressed in armor, practicing with swords, javelins, quarterstaffs and every other type of weapon one could think off. Grunts filled Huck's ears as they sparred with their trainers and fellow members.

"They need to be, as there are many members of the Royal Guard," Thunderfrost explained. "Now's not the time to dawdle, Huckleberry. Come along with me to the armory. We must have you protected in order to avoid any...gruesome injuries."

Huck gulped. He knew exactly what Thunderfrost meant by "gruesome". He followed Thunderfrost over to a small awning where an older unicorn stallion dressed in dark brown trousers was handing out armor to other stallions. He looked up from his work to see Thunderfrost and Huck walking towards them, and stood at attention. 

"Captain," he said.

"At ease, Old Iron," Thunderfrost said, waving a hoof. He then motioned to Huck. "This is Huckleberry Hound. He will be joining my regiment as of today, and he'll need armor, breeches and a helmet."

"Ah, a new recruit, huh? Well, this'll definitely be interesting."  Old Iron studied Huck up and down. "I've never made armor for a dog before, but it'll provide an interesting challenge. It'll have to be a little thicker than the armor I normally make."

"This won't come out of my paycheck, will it?" Huck asked.

"Not at all, sonny! It comes free with the training," Old Iron explained. "I should have your armor ready for you in a few hours."

"Thank you, Old Iron. In the meantime," Thunderfrost started, turning to Huck, "I'll take you down to the weapons room so you can get a good idea of what you'll be using. You'll probably meet some of your squadmates in there."

"As long as they're not rude to me like the ponies were this mornin', I should be able to get along with them just fine," Huck replied.

"That's good to know," Thunderfrost said as they continued walking. "You don't seem to be the troublesome type."

"I don't like causin' trouble for folks. I never hurt anybody unless they hurt me first," Huck replied. 

"And from what you stated, that's how you were fired from your last job, am I correct?"

"Yeah...one of the employees was really gettin' on my nerves," Huck explained. "He kept insultin' me. And when I tried to walk away, he threw me into the wall. That's when I let him have it."

"To be honest, I would have probably done so, too," Thunderfrost said. There was a hint of amusement in his voice. "I used to be your exact opposite when I was younger. It would take three ponies to drag me away from my opponent."

"That's mighty interestin', sir."

A few moments later, they were in the weapons room, which was a small white room inside the castle. Different weapons hung everywhere on the walls, and three ponies were sitting in the corner of the room, cleaning their weapons and talking. Huck immediately pointed out Blitzkrieg from the group, as well as the blue unicorn who had said that he would get special treatment from Thunderfrost. But he hadn't seen the white-coated earth pony with the bright blue eyes before. 

"You three!" Thunderfrost boomed in a commanding tone. "Come over here!"

At once, the three ponies jumped to their feet, standing at attention. "Sir!" they called out at once. 

"I want you all to meet the newest member of your squad: Huckleberry Hound," Thunderfrost said. "He's going to be part of the Royal Guard for the next few weeks."

The blue unicorn stallion that Huck had seen earlier stepped forwards, with a smile on his face. "The name's Spot On. They call me that since I've never missed a single target," he said.

"I remember seein' you," Huck started, "and I remember meetin' Blitzkrieg."

"Blitzkrieg is kind of famous in our group," Spot On said, sliding a sly look over to the pegasus, "for being such a jerk to the newcomers."

"You're not exactly known for being a gentlecolt, Spot On," Blitzkrieg replied. 

"Nopony is perfect," Spot On said. 

"And last but certainly not least," Thunderfrost continued, "we have the lovely Wallflower."

The white-coated earth pony looked up at Huck with shy eyes. "H-Hello," she squeaked, and promptly ducked her head. Her face was dusted with pink.

"Howdy, Miss Wallflower," Huck replied, tipping his hat. "It's an honor to make your acquaintance."

Wallflower's blush deepened, and Blitzkrieg laughed.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a ladies' man," he teased.

"I-I wasn't flirtin' with her or anythin'!" Huck protested, a small blush of his own on his face. "I was just bein' a gentleman."

"Yeah, sure," Blitzkrieg replied, a teasing smirk on his face.

"Boys," Thunderfrost said gently, "do contain yourselves. Now, I expect you all to get along well. In-fighting will not be tolerated. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," everyone said at once.



"So, Huckleberry Hound has started his work today, right?" Luna asked, looking over at her sister from her tea cup.

Celestia nodded. "He had quite a rough start, though. As it turns out, he was invited to one of Pinkie Pie's welcome parties," she said. "Rainbow Dash had to bring him here." She sighed. "If only I had known sooner, I would have told Thunderfrost that Huck could have started his first day tomorrow."

"And what makes you say that, sister?"

"I wanted him to at least get used to the air of Canterlot. Since he's going to be staying here in the private suite for a while, he's going to be interacting with a lot of the locals," Celestia explained. 

Luna nodded. "And we all know how they can be," she said, "especially towards other species." She set her teacup down and looked at Celestia. "I hope he doesn't become like that other visitor from that world."

"Dick Dastardly, right?"

Luna nodded. "I know that the Canterlot ponies are prone to gossip...but I think they are telling the truth about him. He's here for something," she said, "something that can only be found in Canterlot."

"Then I suggest we keep a close eye on Dick Dastardly," Celestia replied, "and make sure that he doesn't cause any trouble for Huckleberry Hound, my former student, or her friends. Besides, it seems that Huckleberry Hound is far from being suspicious, unlike Dick Dastardly. I received a letter from my former student detailing his protectiveness towards them when Dick Dastardly threatened to harm them."

"I wish I could have seen it," Luna said, a faint smirk on her lips. "It would have been most satisfying to see his reaction to that."



"Alright, Huck," Blitzkrieg started, leading his squadmates to the mess hall, "we all know what brought you here to Equestria. What did you do before you ended up taking up a strange job offer?"

"Well, I worked lotsa odd jobs," Huck said. "I was an electrician, a waiter, a desk clerk, a repairman and many more..."

Spot On whistled in amazement. "That's a lot of jobs," he remarked.

"It sure was," Huck said. "I'm just hopin' I don't have to take on too many jobs here in Equestria like I did back in my world. That would only stress me out even more."

"Why don't you find a job that you like and do that as a living?" Blitzkrieg said. "That would kill the stress."

"It's kinda funny," Huck said as they reached the waiting line. "Twilight told me the same thing."

The moment he mentioned her, everyone in the line turned and stared at Huck with wide eyes. Some of the ponies even looked jealous. Noticing the stares that he was getting, he asked, "Um, is everypony okay?"

"Y-Yeah, it's just...you know one of the princesses personally?" Spot On asked.

"What's she like?" Wallflower added. "I've heard she's really friendly...."

"What else would you expect from the Princess of Friendship, Wallflower?" Blitzkrieg scoffed.

"I don't think you'd expect her to be a serious bookworm," Huck said, which caught Wallflower's attention. "She also likes creatin' formulas, magic potions and stuff like that there."

"So...in other words, she's an egghead?" 

"I wouldn't quite put it that way..."

"Hey," one of the stallions said, "can you arrange for me to meet her? I always wanted to visit the castle!"

"Yeah! It must be grand!" another pony said.

Huck held up his hands to calm the ponies down. "One at a time, everypony," he said. "I-I'm not an ambassador or an assistant or anythin', so I can't really arrange for you to meet her..."

"With those mannerisms, we can tell."

Huck turned around to face the owner of the voice. The voice belonged to a tall, somewhat muscular unicorn with a white coat and a black and grey streaked mane. His expression was smug as he looked at Huck.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Huck asked, his face forming into a frown.

"Isn't obvious? I mean, I can see why Princess Twilight--no, Princess Celestia--took pity on you, and they decided to let you become a guest in their castles," the pony went on. "You must have been grateful."

"Of course I was grateful! I'm stuck in another world with no roof over my head!" Huck retorted.

"I've heard that the princesses are compassionate and merciful, but this is getting ridiculous," the pony said. "I mean, first that human and now you? How many more freeloaders are coming from that world into Equestria?"

Huck's paws were balled into fists. He started to march forwards, but Spot On quickly intercepted him, holding a hoof out to stop him.

"Huck," he said softly, "think about what you're doing here."

"That's exactly what I was going to say, Spot On," the pony said, smirking at the anger that crossed Huck's face. "You do need to think about what you're doing here, Huckleberry Hound. Do you truly belong here among the ponyfolk? Or are you that desperate for money that you'll take on anything that has 'job' tacked on it?"

"Alright, that's enough, Fading Glory," Spot On said, turning to glare at the unicorn. 

"You can't be mad at me if I speak the truth," Fading Glory said.

"How's about I come over there and make you eat those words, Fadin' Glory?" Huck snarled.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that," Fading Glory said. "You see, I have powerful friends who can ruin your life. You don't."

For a moment, all Huck could think about was walking straight over to Fading Glory and strangling him, just so he could make that smug smile disappear off his face. He really wanted to right about then, he really did. And yet, when he caught Spot On's concerned glance, he remembered what had happened before he got this job, when he'd given into anger. As much as he really didn't want to, he knew he had to back down. Someone had to be sensible and walk away from the situation, and it wasn't going to be Fading Glory.

Sighing, Huck said, "You know what? I don't really care 'bout what you think of me, Fadin' Glory. I may not be as fancy or proper as you Canterlot folks...but at least I know when to leave a situation alone."

"Oh, so you can do that? Interesting. The human was quick to violence when I spoke to him," Fading Glory said.

With your big mouth, anybody'd be quick to violence, Huck thought. 

"Alright, now that we've got that settled," Spot On said, carefully stepping away from Huck, "how about we all sit and have lunch, huh?" 

Huck turned towards Spot On, and gave him his best smile, even though happiness wasn't what he was feeling at the moment. "Let's eat. I'm mighty hungry anyway," he said.

Fading Glory only gave Huck one last disapproving glance before walking away. As soon as he was gone, most of the ponies turned around and started to gather their trays. Huck turned to do the same as well, but that was when he was stopped by Spot On. 

"That was way too close of a call back there, Huck," he said. "If you start any fights around here, you'll get suspended, or even worse, you'll lose your job."

Huck sighed as he pulled twelve bits and handed them to the cashier. "I'm a might sorry about that, Spot On. I don't get angry like that," he said. "But when someone starts insultin' me, it makes me angry."

"You didn't lose your cool when you confronted that human," Spot On mentioned offhandedly.

Huck turned to gape at the unicorn, who laughed at his expression. "What? You thought nobody remembered that? It was the talk of town yesterday," he said.

"And in Canterlot, anything and anybody can become the talk of the town," Blitzkrieg said, "especially ponies like Fading Glory."

Spot On sighed. "Oh, Celestia, not this again."

"Well, it's only fair that he knows who he's dealing with," Blitzkrieg said. 

"If ya don't mind my sayin' this, Blitzkrieg, I don't feel like talkin' about him right now," Huck interrupted. "I'm already kind of spent from dealin' with him."

Blitzkrieg sighed. "Whatever. Just trying to warn you, that toady is not a pony to take lightly," he said.

Huck was already lost in his own thoughts by the time they reached a table. Fading Glory's words were starting to take center stage in his mind.

Did Celestia think he was a freeloader?  

Were Twilight and the others being nice to him out of pity?  

Was he really so greedy that he would take on anything as long as he could do it? 

By the time lunch break was over, Huck realized that he had hardly eaten a thing. But with the dizzying storm of questions forming in his mind, he hadn't felt like eating much anymore anyway. 



Hours later

"Rest easy, troops," Thunderfrost said. "That'll be enough for today."

Huck almost sank to his knees in relief at this news. Every part of his body ached from the techniques he'd been learning for the last few hours. His blue fur was caked with dirt and his new armor was dented in places.

"Ugh...I'm sure glad that's over," he groaned. 

"Are you kidding?" Blitzkrieg laughed. "You've gotta go through this all over again tomorrow!" 

Huck thought he would faint. Blitzkrieg sighed as he got to his hooves. "So, what do you say now, Huck? Think you can keep this up for a couple more weeks?"

Huck grunted as he got to his feet. "I don't think; I know I can," he said. At least, I think so...

Blitzkrieg smiled. "We'll see about that," he said.

"No need to spook the new recruit, Blitzkrieg," Thunderfrost said. "Despite a shaky first start, he's gotten the basics down pat. It'll be the advanced techniques that'll really challenge him."

"A-Advanced techniques?" Huck repeated. 

"Yes. You'll be learning to duel with different weapons, as well as being put under strict disciplinary training," Thunderfrost continued. "In the span of a month, Huckleberry, you will make a fine member of the Royal Guard."

Already I'm startin' to regret takin' on this job, Huck thought to himself.



"So, I take it that you had a pretty busy day," Celestia mused as Huck practically slouched at the table. Beside him were a couple of pony waiters that looked at him disapprovingly as he did so. 

"It sure was," Huck answered. "I had expected the first day to be busy, but I didn't expect this." At the last minute, he pulled himself up in his chair in order to sit up straighter. "Sorry about that."

"That's alright," she replied. "What else happened to you?"

With a deep breath, Huck told her everything about what had happened at lunch, including the spat he'd had with Fading Glory. He sighed. "I haven't been here for a full day and people are already startin' to say bad things about me," he said. 

"That's to be expected from most of the ponies of Canterlot," Celestia replied. "But at least you managed to keep yourself from doing any harm to Fading Glory." 

"Yeah. I came real close to lettin' him have it, too," he said. "But he's got a point, though. I'm probably no better than a freeloader."

"Huck, you're not a freeloader," Celestia replied. "Freeloaders would take advantage of other people's generosity and not do any work themselves. But you're not doing that. Even though you came without any clothes or food, I can see you're ready to work to earn them. So I don't think you should call yourself a freeloader."

"That, and I've made some friends who are ready to help me out," he said. He sighed. "Shuckins, I guess I let Fadin' Glory's words get to me. I was startin' to wonder if I had any real friends in this place."

"Never doubt your friends, Huck," Celestia replied, pausing to drink from her tea cup.

Huck gasped. "Speakin' of friends, I forgot all about T.C., Yogi and the others! They must be worried out of their minds about me," he said. "Princess, is there any way I can talk to my friends from here?"

"Hmmm...come to think of it, there probably is," she said. "I once left a former student of mine a journal that she could use to contact me if she ever had any questions. Perhaps there is a spare one you can use."

"That'd be just swell for me to use," Huck said. "I'll have to see if I can get in contact with 'em tomorrow if I can. I told one of my friends, Top Cat, that if I didn't come back from my trip, he could forcibly drag me back."

Celestia giggled. "And isn't he the one who didn't believe that there was an Equestria?"

"Yup, that's him. I don't know how he'd get here," Huck said, laughing a bit, "but I've learned that T.C.'s unstoppable when he's got his heart set on somethin'."



Hoagy's Alley

"Come on, pick up the freakin' phone already," Top Cat groaned, drumming his fingers impatiently against the lid of his trash can. He'd tried this number three times and there was still no response from his old friend.

Benny looked up at Top Cat. "I think he might've changed numbers, T.C. Quick Draw does have a habit of moving from place to place."

"He'd better have a good reason for keepin' his friend on the other end of a phone for an hour," Top Cat replied.

Right when he was about to hang up and dial again, someone picked up the phone on the other end. A friendly Western drawl came in on the other end. "Hello?"

"Quick Draw, finally!" Top Cat said, relieved. "What the heck was keepin' ya?"

"Oh, hey there, T.C.! Baba Looey and I were at a fancy dinner party, and they told us to turn off our phones," Quick Draw said. "I had trouble turnin' the thing back on, then it fell in the punch bowl...."

Top Cat sighed. That sounded just like Quick Draw. "Okay, well, glad to hear from ya. I've got a request to ask of ya, anyway."

"Sure thing, T.C.! What's goin' on?"

"It's Huck. Apparently, he went to go answer some crazy job offer, and he hasn't been back since. I've left a whole bunch of messages on his phone, and there's still nothin'!" Top Cat explained. "I think somethin's happened to him, and we need to find out what it is."

"So, whaddya want me to do?"

"You and Baba Looey are comin' with us to find out where Huck went," he said. "You guys are great trackers, right?"

"We sure are! We'll be able to find Huck! And if anybody hurt him, we'll bring 'em to justice!"

Top Cat smiled. At least he could put some of his fears to rest now.

"So, when do you want us to come up to New York?" Quick Draw asked. 

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrrow?!" 

"I know it's short notice, but we've gotta figure what happened to Huck. If we wait any longer, the news could turn up somethin' about him bein' dead or somethin'."

"...Now why didn't I think of that?" Quick Draw sighed. "Alright. Baba Looey and I will be on the first plane to New York."

"Great. We'll meet ya at the airport tomorrow. And whatever ya do, don't oversleep." Top Cat hung up the phone, and then turned towards Benny. "Get the rest of the gang together, Benny. We're goin' on a rescue mission."