//------------------------------// // The New Recruits - Part II // Story: The Veins Run Deeper // by Thunderblast //------------------------------// Sitting at the desk in his office the following day, Night Shadow waited patiently. His first appointment would be after the others had a quick morning workout session, a warm up of what was to come, so-to-speak. The first interview of the day would be Midnight Blade, followed by Eventide and Stellar Star. After them, Halfmoon, and finally, Duskbloom. Each one he expected should take no longer than thirty or forty minutes. Then again, he had fellow colonists to deal with, ones that literally followed him all of the way to Canterlot. His eyes moved up to the moon-shaped clock hanging up on the wall off to his side. Midnight was running late, but only by a few minutes. This wouldn't help her out in the long run if she continued to run tardy, however. With a yawn, Night relaxed into his chair, waiting for the knock of hopefully his first interview, and not news regarding one of them pulling a muscle on the track. A knock did finally come, a gentle one at that. Even Night could just hardly pick it up, despite his heritage and genes giving him enhanced hearing as well as vision in the dark. He straightened his spine and put his hooves on the desk. "Come on in." At his word, the dark purple thestral mare entered, closing the door behind her. "Take a seat, Midnight." The mare sat down in one of the chairs opposite of Night at the desk, her outward appearance telling Night that she was slightly nervous—a massive change from the day before. "Before we get started, is there anything you wish to enlighten me on?" "Just the fact that this isn't at all what I expected is all, captain," she replied honestly. Night could only chuckle softly. "You haven't even started yet." The horror that ignited in Midnight's look told him more. "You're kidding." "You wish I were." Midnight let out a deep exhale, sitting back into the chair. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Night asked. The purple thestral stared up at the ceiling, her blood-red pupils not budging from there. A response didn't come. "If you don't wish to be a guard, that's entirely up to you. I can wipe your enlistment from the records and nopony will think to come after you for leaving." More silence followed. Then, after another deep sigh, Midnight made eye contact with Night. "Could you give me the day to decide?" "Is that what you want?" "Yes. Please, let me think this through." "I take it you didn't get much time previously to?" "No..." "Then alright. Come back to me once you've made a decision. If you say yes, we'll start. If not, I'll have somepony escort you to the train station." Midnight nodded slowly. "I am sorry." "For what?" "For wasting your time, captain." "This is somewhat new for me, so there is no need to apologize." Midnight gave a single nod, standing up out of her seat. Night gave a brief salute, and the mare returned it, before exiting. When the door closed, Night thought to himself. One down, two to go. *** No more than fifteen minutes passed before another knock came. This one was, again, gentle in its nature but still audible. The polished wooden door swung open with a light creak, and in walked a dark blue—almost navy-colored—thestral mare, taking a seat across from Night. He raised an eyebrow, sitting upright in his seat and eying the mare carefully. "Please, shut the door." "Oh, right!" The mare hopped back up out of her seat and nudged the door shut with her hoof. It bounced back open, having not clicked to the lock. She nudged it once more, the same occurring. Finally, she took the handle and shoved it shut with a loud thud. "I hate doors." Night's ears pinned back at the door slamming, wincing as he once again eyed the pony before him. "I can tell. Have a seat," and so she did. Night glanced down to a file with information on the mare, going over it one final time. "Alright, Eventide. First off, how was your exercise?" "Exhilarating, captain," she gave a toothy grin at Night. "It got my heart pumping." "That's good to hear," Night nodded once. "It will be for these next couple of months." "Perfect. Just what I need," Eventide continued to give a sly grin. "You'll regret it sooner or later. Alright. So, again, before we can start, I would just like you to know that if you don't meet my qualifications, you can still be on track to make the Lunar Guard itself, or the Guard Reserves. While you may prefer action, either way, you'll be seeing just about the same anywhere you go," Night explained. "Then I will do my best, captain. I won't let you down!" Eventide saluted. "Lower that hoof, I'm not done yet," Night scowled. "I said you have to pass my expectations. I hoof-pick my guards for the job. If I have the littlest reason to overlook you, then it is that I shall do. Already, I have plenty, but you can change that for me right here, right now. Back home, they may tell you I'm a sweetheart. That's only around friends and family. This is a whole new atmosphere, Eventide." "And... what are those reasons?" Night began to bare one of his razor-sharp fangs. "Reason number one: You practically wished to track me down to Canterlot to, reason number two, try and immediately become one of Princess Luna's guards like it's as easy as one, two, three. Reason number three, you have practically already ticked me off enough to the point where I may take you and that fancy little bracelet on your hoof and toss you to San Prancisco! "Yeah, didn't think I wouldn't notice that little trinket, would you? In case nopony told you at the recruiting center, absolutely no jewelry is allowed to be worn on the Guard barrack premises if you are a trainee. You're lucky you haven't begun training yet, otherwise you would have lost it in the muck somewhere. Now, I would very much appreciate if you leave that in your hooflocker back at your barrack from now until you graduate. The last thing I need is for you to come crying to my office, saying you lost it. Is that clear?!" Night had practically stood up on his chair, forehooves pressed onto his desk while he loomed over the poor dark blue bat pony, whom pressed herself back into the seat, one hoof over the small piece on her other. Her purple-slit irises had shrunk to the size of marbles. "C-captain, sir..." She sputtered in her speech. "Please, calm down, I d-didn't know!" "Well, now you do!" Night gradually eased back into his seat. "That's just a warning. Now, let's actually get started, shall we?" *** Next up was Stellar. While rubbing the side of his head near the temple gently, Night hoped and prayed it would all be over soon. His guess was afterwards, the two remaining meetings would not nearly be enough to make him blow his top again. With yet another knock, Night waited, clearing his throat and then observing the dark thestral stallion enter cautiously, shutting the door behind him and taking a seat at the desk. "Sir, if... if I may," Stellar paused, appearing nervous. "I would like to apologize." "For what, exactly?" "For myself, Eventide and Midnight." "Why apologize for them?" "I am the one who brought you up to them." "I don't really care, Stellar. That part comes later. Now, how was your morning exercise?" "It was... new." "New?" "I'm not used to it. Like, at all." "It takes time, but you'd better get accustomed pretty quick. You have a good two months ahead of you, then another month of weapons training," Night replied, glancing up to make eye contact with the stallion. "Might I also add that this morning was just a warm-up. The real hard stuff comes tomorrow." "I knew it," Stellar muttered to himself, briefly looking off to the side, then down at his hooves. "Alright, sir." "Is something wrong?" "No, sir. It's just..." "Yes?" The grey thestral remained silent. After a few short moments of dead air, Stellar raised his chin and stared Night directly in the eye. "Nevermind, it's nothing. Let's continue," he smiled weakly. Night's brow lifted, scanning the pony carefully but briefly. He, however, nodded and looked down at the file on his desk. "You are nineteen years old, correct?" "That is correct, yes." "And you have..." Night trailed off, hoof sliding down the paper and stopping beneath an added note. This made him freeze completely. "You have bipolar disorder?" Hearing this made Stellar's blood run cold. His pupils shrunk, and he lowered his head slightly, giving a slight nod. "Could you... elaborate a bit more?" Night asked, eyes moving up from the paper. "I would prefer not to." "If you're going to be a Lunar guard at all, I would appreciate if you did. This is serious business we're discussing here." Undoubtedly he was going to be hesitant with his answer, Night thought. This was serious. He knew very well this would change the dynamic on everything. Although, when no response came, Night jumped in. "If you prefer, we can discuss this at a later time. Just you and me." Stellar nodded instantly. "I would... really like that, captain." Night nodded back, and began to smile slightly, enough to try and calm the likely frightened thestral. "Before we get started, however, there's something else I must get you up to speed on. This is the case with everypony else I'm interviewing." *** Three down, two to go, Night mumbled to himself as Stellar exited the room. Much to his surprise, this prior discussion was quite calming—more than what he expected, that was for sure. The afternoon from there was certainly to run like clockwork. Both Halfmoon and Duskbloom agreed as well to go in together to help Night finish sooner. Typically, this wasn't something he was used to doing, albeit the two had a point. The sooner they finish, the sooner he can arrange his work schedule. As expected, the two ponies walked in after knocking politely, taking their seats across from the pegasus' desk. Upon slightly closer inspection, Night took note that Duskbloom definitely had a slight build, signalling he prepared in advance for training. Halfmoon was there as well almost, although, to Night, she was his sister in another body. "Alright, you two. Shall we get started here?" Night spoke up, grabbing both of their files out of his desk and opening Dusk's first. "Duskbloom." The stallion stiffened in his chair. "Sir." "Twenty-two years old, from Hollow Shades, decent weight and build, eye color, gold, okay flyer, this sounds pretty good," Night closed the file. "New to the guard or soon-to-be graduate?" "Actually, I'm a private, sir. Recently graduated and looking to be a part of the Zodiacs," Dusk replied stoically. "Impressive." Night nodded once. "I suppose that explains the discipline. I like that. Now, Halfmoon..." He opened up her file. "Twenty-three, also from Hollow Shades, a bit underweight but not by much, eye color, green, also an okay flyer," Night glanced up at Halfmoon. "Why does it say on here, ask for fears?" "Sir, I—" Halfmoon began to blush profusely. "That's a little... strange, heheh, how did that get on there—" "Captain, sir, if I may interrupt, Halfmoon here has a slight phobia of spaghetti," Dusk cut in. "Slight is an understatement!" Halfmoon proceeded to punch Dusk in the shoulder, squealing her response out. "A... fear of spaghetti..." Night repeated with plenty of confusion in his tone. The idea of it was hilarious to him, but that would be quite unprofessional to burst into a fit of laughter right here. "What scares you about spaghetti?" "Please, don't ask," Dusk rubbed his shoulder, then facehoofed gently. "Then I will personally bring you lunch when they serve it in the mess hall," Night said, looking back down to the paperwork. "Any more unspecified, strange, cooky phobias I should be concerned about?" "No, sir," replied Halfmoon, glaring at Dusk while he rolled his eyes. "In that case, let's take a look at your training scores, shall we?" Night glanced at the two of them, replacing the paper with their information with their scores received while training. Both Halfmoon and Duskbloom stared at the paperwork, unnerved. "Ninety-eight in physical, Duskbloom. Not bad, not bad at all. Eighty-six in combat and weapon identification. Impressive, though I suppose we could work on that a little more." "Yes, sir," Dusk replied. "Halfmoon..." Night shifted to her scores. "Ninety-one in physical, ninety three in combat and weapon identification. This is quite impressive, I must say," he then closed their files and looked between the both of them. "However, it's not all what I'm looking for. The commander looks for ninety-percent scores in both, I look for a ninety-five. That being said, there's plenty of room for improvement. Duskbloom, all that needs work is your combat training. Halfmoon, you have both physical and combat training to be concerned about. Not to worry, I will provide as much help as I find necessary. At the same time, I would very much appreciate seeing decent effort come from the both of you. "This is the Zodiacs, we only accept the best of the best. You two are already extremely close. If you reach that goal, I will provide a written test which will determine your fate. If not, there's plenty of open space within the Lunar Guard. I can't imagine Captain Fallen Star won't be happy to accept bat ponies into one of his squadrons." Both Duskbloom and Halfmoon nodded in understand, still appearing unnerved at what was ahead of them. "Yes, sir," they replied in unison. Night Shadow nodded, putting their files back into a drawer in his desk. "Very well. You two are dismissed." The two stood out of their seats, saluting Night. He briefly returned it, shifting his focus to some undone work in a small steel grated box on his desk. As the thestrals left, the door didn't shut completely. Night didn't glance up, but knew it was open. "Hey, you two, close the door, please." Nothing happened. "Duskbloom, Halfmoon!" He glanced up, freezing when he caught sight of a purple draconic-winged mare standing in the doorway. "Captain, I've made up my mind." *** Later that evening, Night finished what little work that needed to be completed by that evening, delivering it outside Fallen Star's office, then returning to lock up. Figuring nothing else was in need of arranging or finishing, he returned to his quarters to relax for the remainder of the night. For the first week of the new recruits' training, he had assigned Lodestar to handle getting the five settled. After that, both he and Night would work in tandem over the three months duration of boot camp. To Night, his sergeant was the most trustworthy of the group. Of course, his rank explained that, although, Night put all of his trust into them all, not just Lodestar. Even then, he knew very well that none of the ponies in his squadron had ever been in the face of true combat. As a guard, and as a captain, neither was he. As Night unlocked the door to his home, his ear swiveled just slightly to the side. He grinned softly, staring directly at the door. "You're lucky I stopped fiddling with the lock when I did, Scarlet." Turning to look behind him, Night caught sight of a dark grey thestral mare, dressed in Zodiacs armor. She removed the helmet, shaking her head slowly to let down her dark blue mane. Afterwards, she gave a toothy grin. "One of these days, you won't hear me coming." "Perhaps, perhaps not," Night grinned right back at Scarlet Iris. "You're up early." "Says the pony who isn't nocturnal for his roots," replied Scarlet. Night shrugged. "We were kind of forced to when we built a city on a cloud to live in rather than a cave." "Sure, sure, whatever," Scarlet waved a hoof, flicking a strand of hair out of her eye. "I simply figured I would stop by to check up on my captain." "Your captain? The way you put it makes it sound like we're dating," Night furrowed an eyebrow. "Exactly my point, I love that face you make when I trick you into thinking that," Scarlet let out a soft chuckle. "You've never tricked me." "I just did." "You—" Night stopped, eyes widening. "Shoot." "Bahahaha!" Scarlet trotted up, playfully punching the stallion's shoulder. "Gotcha," she whispered, sliding her helmet back on and starting down the hallway. "You know, one of these days, we oughta go to a club somewhere for karaoke. I think you'd enjoy it." Night watched the mare go, lifting a hoof to his muzzle to yell after her from far down the hallway. "One of these days, you oughta actually show up to one of our meetings so I don't have to keep reminding you what's going on!" "Yeah, yeah, whatever!" She replied, disappearing around a corner. Night rolled his eyes and shook his head. There were two jokesters in his group, or, more like, Scarlet wasn't much of one. She was just an open, bubbly mare. In the slightest way, sometimes, she would make an attempt to flirt with Night. It was common knowledge within the Guard that no two guards were allowed to date, even if they truly wanted to. He couldn't be completely sure if she was for real sometimes. Returning to what he was doing, Night unlocked the door and pushed inward, entering the cool comfort of his quarters. All that remained to do was shower, eat something, then sleep. That let alone described the majority of his evenings after clocking out. Kicking off his hoof guards and hanging up the main piece of armor in a wooden cabinet between his bed and the window, Night sauntered around and into the bathroom, starting the water in the shower and waiting briefly for it to warm up. When it reached an adequate temperature, he stepped in, soaking his mane first, followed by his wings, and the rest of his body. Sighing in relaxation, he closed his eyes, thinking of the days to come. The steam rising up in the shower eased his muscles, despite the tension occurring in his mind. Even with minimal paperwork, dealing with the recruits would still come out to be an issue. Not once in his six-year career has he had to deal with five newbies at once. Changing matters, Night washed his mane, scrubbed his wings and body, then dried himself off. Despite his efforts, the poor pony's coat again puffed up, forcing him to mat it down for the following ten minutes and hope nopony would come knocking at his door. Now comfortable once more, Night left the bathroom, pausing in the center of the room. Slowly, he scanned around him, not out of suspicion, but questioning what to do. The sun was still visible over the horizon, leaving at least another hour and a half of sunlight. Needless to say, Night was disinterested in staying in all night. He wanted to do something. He knew Princess Luna was likely busy, or sleeping, and his guards were either just getting off of their shifts or about to begin. Sharpblade was quite possibly at home, working out, and Thunderblast was away, off somewhere in Equestria on a mission of some sort. With a loud, deep sigh of boredom, Night collapsed backwards onto his bed, hooves spread out and eyes focused on the ceiling above. He absolutely needed to do something. Too much energy pulsed in his body to be more willing to stay in his quarters. A workout wouldn't quite cut it, although Night could admit, he could use one of those. What could he possibly do? Continuing to stare up, he relaxed the rear of his head onto his hooves, pondering carefully and thoroughly. His eyes opened a bit, and he jumped up off of the bed. From there, his hooves took him to the twin-glass doors that led outside to his balcony. Stopping, a warm breeze swept through his soft coat and feathers. Night took in a slow, deep breath, the wonderful scent of the palace's gardens taking over. Mixed in to that was a light smell of rain. Tonight will be a good night's sleep, he thought. Spreading his wings to full length, the dark grey stallion leaped from the deck, gliding through the air above the business district of the city. Down below, numerous ponies packed the streets as the night life began. With a gentle smile, Night looked ahead of him, toward the approaching mountainside. His bright-gold eyes moved across the grey and brown wall in front, then off to the side where multiple areas of grass and trees rested, directly beside one of the many waterfalls known in Canterlot. Night gently pulled his wings back to slow his descent, landing with a muffled thump in a grassy, tree-shrouded knoll that overlooked the city. Folding his wings up, Night turned to face out from the cliff. A warm smile crossed his muzzle as he laid on his stomach near the edge, the gentle trickle of water seeping down into a small pond close by in the ambiance. In the sunset, the palace's golden domes and spires echoed the light, creating a glow that enveloped the whole city and could likely be seen from as far away as Ponyville, or Cloudsdale. This special little spot was Night's. Before, it was reachable by all ponies. That was later limited to pegasi, and very few unicorns, after the only mountainside path partially collapsed in a minor landslide caused by heavy rain during one period. As a result, the Royal Guard was dispatched to rid of what was left to avoid causalities. However, this event benefited Night. The chances of ponies being present around him had lowered significantly, thus making the area far more peaceful and relaxing. Already there had been a couple of instances where Night fell asleep in this exact location, only to be found by guards the next day after causing a slight scare. Since then, he's made certainty that if he yawned in the slightest, he would simply roll into the pond to let the cold water wake him back up. "Captain?" Came a soft voice from behind. Turning to look behind him, Night blinked twice to make sure his eyes didn't deceive him, for standing there was a dark blue alicorn mare, mane sparkling and twinkling like the very stars in the night sky and waving in a breeze that just wasn't physically there. "Princess!" Night sat up quickly, surprised to see her there. "I didn't hear you coming." "We know thou didn't," Princess Luna replied, sauntering to his side and sitting down beside him. "We did not intend to scare thou." "What have we gone over?" "Right," the princess nodded. "What's on your mind, Night Shadow?" "Nothing awful. Why do you ask?" Night glanced over to the Lunar princess. The regal alicorn made careful eye contact with the grey pegasus. "You seem distressed." "Partially, but, that's not why I'm here." "Then why are you here?" Princess Luna asked softly. "No particular reason, just..." Night faced out toward Canterlot. "I felt the need to get out of the palace." "I see." Princess Luna replied, too looking over the city. "This is quite the view." "It is, isn't it?" Night smiled warmly once more. "Sharp showed it to me way before the landslide. Shame he can't come here anymore." "He could." "What?" "He has the magic to be able to." "He... doesn't know teleportation spells. He told me that himself." Night glanced to the princess with slight confusion. "He does, he just has not yet realized it," Princess Luna looked at Night. "He will discover what he is truly capable of in time. While I may not be the Princess of Magic, both me and my sister are well aware of what unicorns can do individually. It could be called a sixth-sense of ours, shared between us alicorns, and occasionally, powerful unicorns, such as Starswirl the Bearded." "Is that so?" Night's head slightly tilted. "Then I suppose I'd better not ruin the surprise for him. I'd hate to screw up his potential." "It would happen nonetheless, Night Shadow. It would simply be far more challenging for him if he saw it coming." Night gave a nod at that. "It will certainly come in handy in the future, I'm sure." Princess Luna nodded back, smile fading. "Yes, yes it will."