//------------------------------// // Life of the Apprentice // Story: The Prince's Mentor // by CodenameB4LYFE //------------------------------// Chapter 2 Looking down at his snout, Code thought hard on his life decisions, his nostrils were bleeding due to a completely justifiable disagreement with the pony that controlled the moon. The ending of the disagreement had forced him to walk down Canterlot, tending his wounds as he visited his new apprentices’ social life. The young colt seemed to trot happily with what seemed to be a tough and strong stallion that was tasked by Princess Luna herself to train him as his successor. Codes nose had started to stop bleeding when the small walk from the palace to the colt’s home had ended. In his hoof was a now crimson red handkerchief which helped stop the bleeding, “Great, I start the day getting beaten up by an Alicorn and now I am a literally a bloody mess with tattered clothes and barely bandaged wounds.” Code cursed out loud. Looking to the angry stallion, Shinning Armor expressed his worry, “Are you sure that you don’t want medical attention for those wounds, I can contact our family nurse or we could go to the community hospital once we get to our family house,” he replied with care. His worries were ended with a dead stare from Codes sole eye. “Okay, if you don’t want some help, I hope you could make yourself look presentable, ‘cause my parents will most likely wish to bring you out for dinner,” Shinning informed him. After that statement, Shinning soon recognized the some of the buildings, knowing that he was close to his home, he picked up his pace, trying to come home as fast as possible. The streets passed by Code as he moved faster and faster past the building, he honestly didn’t know what was worst, the pony that was practically dragging him to his house or the fact that this is the pony that he had to take care of him when he had no kind of idea where to start. As Code contemplated his life decisions that lead him to this precarious situation, he didn’t realize that he was just running down the street not following the precarious white little pony. Moving his head around, he scanned up and down the street for Shinning to see him entering an empty lot. “This can not be where this kid lives,” Code said to himself. Thankfully to Code’s surprise, this empty lot was a park, and he apparently didn’t live here as Shinning called out for somepony to come home with him. Looking around, Code found the stallion, walking towards a mare and a filly. Approaching them, he found saw the mare, a pony no older than Shinning himself, with a bright pink coat and a unique tri-colored mane with yellows, purples, and violets. Turning his full attention on her as he approached the three, he notice an oddity, the mare had wings and a horn, looking at her cutie mark, he saw a cyan crystal heart. Adding up everything, he came to the abrupt conclusion, the mare was Mi Amore de Cadenza, the princess of love. Once he was in hearing distance he heard Shinning thanking her, for what was assuming taking care of the little filly. Looking at the little filly, she seemed happy and enthused once she saw Shinning, she seemed two to three years younger than the other two, and a light fur coat of purple. Her mane was a darker shade of purple with a pink streak in the center. Once the three of them saw Code, his demeanor was changed by their reaction. The little filly runs behind Shinning once she saw him. “Twilight, its okay, this is Code, a friend,” Shinning said. Looking at himself, he realized the little filly’s fear was not irrational, the clothes on him could barely be counted as a uniform, he still has red bandages visible under the tears of the shirt, his face had a busted nose with some blood stained fur, and a he moved his right hoof to the eye patch on his left eye. Remembering what fears he had as a colt, he tried to make a good first impression, “Hello little pony, my name is Code, I’m friends with your brother,” He said. His statement had not changed Twilight’s mind as she stilled hid behind her brother. Turning to Princess Cadence, he bowed, paying his respect to a superior. “At ease, Night Guard,” Cadence replied. Cadences reply had seemed to have sparked curiosity in Twilight with a hint of confusion. “Hey, are you a special guard? Ooh, do you know the other princesses? Are you going to help my brother be the Head of the Guard? Wait, how come you aren’t a bat pony? Oh my gosh, I have so many questions,” Twilight asked. Moving to the little filly who had left her brothers embrace he laughed before he answered kindly with, “No I’m not a special guard, yes I talk with Princess Luna, yes I am training your brother, and any pony can enter the Night Guard as long as you pledge loyalty to Princesses Luna,” he answered. Looking back to the two older ponies, “The sun is setting so we should probably go back home, Cadence do you need an escort, I can call a guard for your trip home,” He said. She replied, “You don’t need to get a guard; I normally fly home so you can stay with Shining and Twilight.” Turning around, Shining pointed out “Our house is near here so it won’t take that long to get there, Goodbye Cadence, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” Turning back to the three of them, she waved goodbye as she started to ascend to her home. Looking back to the two siblings, Code had understood why it was important for Shinning Armor to be trained; he would have some sort of affiliation with the new princess. “So why was Princess Cadence here with little Twilight,” Code asked Shinning. Looking back to the stallion, he replied, “I have band practice after school, and our folks come back home from work a little bit after my practice, so on the days that I have band practice, Cadence helps our family out by taking care of Twilight, and then I pick her up once practice is up and by the time we get home we can just wait about 10 minutes until our parents come home,” Shinning answered. Nudging, his sister smiled and the pair paused in the street, and when Code turned around, Twilight jumped on Shining’s back and the two started to catch up to him together with Twilight riding Shining. Code replied with their action with a smirk, “What are you two doing?” He asked. Through all of his military and private experience, he had never seen any pony do that. “Back then, Twilight would get tired on the walk to our house, so I would carry her on my back, but we stopped doing that since she could start keeping up but I guess that she was tired today, isn’t that right,” He replied. Giggling and laughing, Twilight had replied his question with an enthusiastic, “Yay, thanks big brother,” She said. Smiling Code saw how kind Shining was to his sister, as if he mentored her. Moving up to his mentor at the street crossing, he instructed the stallion where to lead. “Our home is a couple blocks down on the left,” Shinning directed, and so the group turned to the family home. Once the three ponies were at the base of their home, Shining took Twilight of his back and then pulled out a set of house keys, unlocking the doors. The three ponies entered the dark home with Twilight and Shinning entering with muscle memory, leaving Code to invite himself. The door way showed a tidy and clean living room, one that seemed to hold everything the family would need, 2 couches; one large and one small, a coffee table piled with some simple refreshments, a wall of 3 bookshelves, and all floored with some purple and blue carpet. Past the living room, it merges with a kitchen of sorts, and when Code approached it, the kitchen had a stove oven and some cabinets filled with cutlery. To the left of the kitchen he noticed an open doorway gating a set of stairs leading to the second floor and the basement, looking through both of them; he noticed two sets of hoof prints in the carpet, one going up stairs and one going down. The set going upstairs was smaller and lighter, obviously indicating that Twilights room was up stairs, and the others set must mean that Shinning’s room was in the basement. Not wanting to trudge into the pairs after school rituals, he returned to the living room where he looked through the bookshelves. It had seemed that each shelf was individually organized with the shelf on the left being filled with adventure and action novels like the adventures of Daring Doo, the center to be filled with nonfiction and informative reading, and the right side being filled with fictional dramas and plays, most of them revolving around medieval times with some assumed fantasy but most of the writings, Code was not common with. His curiosity had led him venerable, as while Code was looking through the spines of the books and novels, he didn’t hear the mare and stallion pair behind him. Then a loud and audible Thunk filled the small home before Code fell to the ground, unconscious before he hit the floor.