22. A Canterlot Wedding - Part 3
It was two hours before I got that officer I requested: Shining Armor himself. That gave me some peace of mind. His expression was a mix of concern and relief. The cleanup was just underway and he came to my side.
“Are you married, sir?” I asked him, trying to lighten the mood, even just a little bit.
The captain shook his head. “No, turns out the bride was a changeling queen that feeds off of love.”
“We’ve all been there, sir,” I said and he actually laughed.
We stood in silence for a while and then he sighed. “What a mess. Is it true Astral Dyke froze up when it counted?”
Ending another pony’s career is a tough thing to do. Having bad officers was even worse, however, so I nodded. Besides, what did it matter? A dozen ponies had been there when he froze and my career was over, too. I defended my mare instead of my princess. It was not exactly a banner day for the Royal Guard.
“You saved a lot of ponies today,” he went on, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Sir?”
“You kept your promise, Silent Knight. When all the cards were on the table you rallied everypony and kept them focused. Dyke froze up. You did your duty and that saved lives.”
Did my duty? I had done nothing of the sort. No, I’d acted like a fool. It's true that I had filled in for the lieutenant, but any of the others could have done that. I stood silently. I should just tell him now and be done with it.
“Are you okay to hold the floor here while I handle everything else? The whole city is a mess, there is a lot to take in, and I don’t have anypony to spare. The injury list just runs on and on.”
“Yes, sir,” I said. Better not to burden him with one more thing right then. It could wait until the more pressing matters were handled. He was responsible for the House Guards, the palace, and the city, after all.
Shining Armor nodded and said, “Good. Thank you… Oh, you’ll need this.” There wasn’t much ceremony to it. We didn’t have time. He took the rank pin off my armor and replaced it with a sergeant’s pin.
Looking down at the pin, I shook my head. “I don’t deserve that.”
The captain looked at me, confusion playing across his face. “Well… I don’t have time to argue it with you and I don’t have enough guards, so you’re stuck with it. Carry on, Sergeant,” he said before heading off to attend other matters.
“Yes, sir,” I said once he was gone.
☾
“Sergeant, huh?” Iridescence asked me from her bed in the infirmary.
It was the first time I had been able to get down to see her… two days later. I had been busy filling in our gaps, going over security, and getting things back together. Canterlot was a mess and all of the extra guards were trying to handle that. That left a whole lot less of us for the palace and the princesses. Then there was the fact that I simply didn’t want to face her.
“I guess,” I said, looking her over. She was on her back with a hoof up in a sling. She was bandaged around the body, both legs, and on her head.
She reached out and took my hoof in hers. “Princess Luna isn’t going to say anything.”
I shook my head. “I don’t care if she does or not. I made a decision. Part of me regrets it but the rest of me is overjoyed I did. Let them relieve me. You’re safe.”
Iridescence nodded and smiled… but it was a sad smile. “About that. Listen, Silent Knight, please don’t take this as me being ungrateful. I am very grateful…” She squeezed my hoof. “I… I don’t want to be a burden to you, nor do I want to be the reason Luna gets hurt.” Slowly, she shook her head. “I don’t think you can do your job with me around.”
“What?” I blinked. “Iridescence, what are you saying?”
She swallowed. “I’m saying you had to make an impossible choice that nopony could win. You made it and it worked out. Next time it might not... but there can’t be a next time. I don’t want to be responsible for ruining your career. When I’m well enough to travel, I’m going home for the rest of my injury time. Then I’ll use my leave time. After that, I’ll probably put in a transfer.”
Gently, I let her hoof go and set mine down. “What about us?” I asked, already suspecting the answer.
Iridescence didn’t say anything for a while. I just stood there. If we were going to do this, we were going to do it now. “I don’t honestly know if I’m coming back,” she started. “It wouldn’t be fair to you, anyway. Long distance just doesn’t work and then there are the regulations… I… I think we should call it quits. Okay?”
My chest hurt. Even though I knew it was coming it felt like somepony had hit me right in the gut. I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I finally said, “Okay.”
“Are you okay?” she asked, worry creeping into her voice. “Silent Knight?”
“Okay,” I repeated. I backed out of her room and then trotted quickly away from the infirmary. Under the weight of my armor, I was having trouble breathing. I had to get away and hide. None of it was worth it. The hard work, long days, pain, and stress hadn’t paid off. I had been one of the elite. Now I had nothing. This was nothing like what I had dreamed of.
My heart pounded as I galloped into the palace, half blinded by pain. I found somewhere to hide. A small room off of the main hall, I think. I tossed my helmet off before I collapsed behind a couch. My body shook and I laid my head on the floor.
“Hello? Is somepony in here?” a pristine voice called.
Oh, no… I was going to be found in this sorry state. What did it matter? I tried to be still behind the couch but my armor rattled as I shook.
Hoof steps came closer and the couch illuminated with golden magic. It gently slid away, revealing Princess Celestia. She raised a hoof in surprise. I must have been the most pathetic pony she had ever seen. “You are… Silent Knight, are you not?” she asked, her voice full of concern.
Words failed me at that moment. I just nodded at her and to my surprise she settled onto the floor at my side. The princess wrapped her wing around me and asked, “What has gone wrong, my little pony?”
I told her everything. Every last detail. At least what I could manage as I fought hard not to sob. It was the confession of a pony with nothing to lose.
Princess Celestia just listened. The ruler of a kingdom, a living goddess, just held me while I unloaded my petty concerns on her. That was just the sort of pony she was. No judgment, no anger, just love. That is why I had wanted to protect her so badly and yet she was protecting me.
Eventually, the shaking stopped and I wiped my eyes. The princess lightly stroked my mane and finally said, “I can forgive you, but it will be meaningless if you can’t forgive yourself. Will you do that for me, please?”
“I still have to face what I’ve done,” I said quietly.
She nodded. “Yes, but that is only part of it. Can you forgive?” She rose and I did the same. I squared myself away and looked up to her.
“I will princess. Whatever it takes, I’ll move forwards,” I promised her.
Princess Celestia smiled and replied, “I’m glad. We’re better off with you than without. Good day, Silent Knight.”
“Good day, Princess.” I bowed deeply. She left me to my own devices and I put my helmet back on. I was still shaking but some things in life are like a bandage. They’re easier to deal with if you rip it off quicker. I decided then and there that it was time to inform the captain.
☾
My account to Captain Armor was similar but lacked the sobbing and most of the shaking, thankfully. He listened to it all without any expression. When I finished, he looked at me and said, “I’m honestly surprised.”
I nodded and said, “I’ll clean out my footlocker, sir.”
The captain shook his head. “Ease up there. You made a mistake or two. A few mistakes that have to be weighed against all of your accomplishments. Dating your peer isn’t against regulations. You also didn’t lie about it. You just didn’t mention it was as serious as it was. Obviously, now that you’re a sergeant, you couldn’t be together…” He winced. “Sorry. Poor choice of words.”
“It is fine,” I said, but it felt like throwing salt on a fresh wound.
“As far as I’m concerned, you made a decision that needs review. The regulations say we investigate it and decide if you acted in a fashion that makes the most sense. Nothing is as black and white as you seem to think. You weighed saving a life against protecting the princess from a clearly smaller threat. Even if your judgment was clouded by affection, it was still a decision any of us would have to consider.” Shining Armor paused a moment and paced back and forth.
“Furthermore, the investigation would likely agree that you saved Irid—a fellow guard’s life without exposing Princess Luna to too much danger. Over and beyond that, Princess Luna did not report this incident, which means the investigation would have to agree that she did not feel at risk or that your decision was wrong. Finally, you could have said nothing. You could have hidden this. You had every incentive not to come here and tell me and yet you did. Your personal integrity is without question.”
This was not going the way I had imagined. It sounded like the captain was proud of me. Maybe he just didn’t want to kick me while I was down.
“Silent Knight? Are you paying attention?” he asked. I had gotten lost in thought again.
“I’m confused, sir,” I admitted. “I feel awful and like I let you and the princess down. You’re not angry. You’re… making excuses for me.”
“Is that what you think?” he asked sternly, a bit of temper rising in his voice.
I stiffened and blinked. “I—I don’t know,” I stammered. He had broken my cool just like that. I wasn’t accustomed to the captain being angry with me. It was startling but I managed to recover.
“Listen up and listen good. Mistakes are part of the job. I made them and I’ll make more. You’re not going to last long if you let every small thing eat you up inside. Is it just that you want to give up? Is that it? That certainly is easier,” he continued, his tone firm and unyielding.
“No, sir, I couldn’t imagine life without being a royal guard.” I replied.
He stamped a hoof. “Then act like it!” he shouted. Not angrily, but like our instructors had in the academy.
“The ponies that make it are the ones that make mistakes and learn from them. You have to do better the next time. It is the ponies that keep making the same mistake that concern me. Which sort are you? Are you going to make these mistakes again?”
I shook my head. “No, sir, never again. I learned a hard lesson.”
“You’re right, you did.” he said, his voice dropping. “Now I could refer this to command for an inquiry but that would be, in my professional opinion, a waste of time. The princess would speak for you. You’d get through without even a mark on your record. Do you want me to waste my and another officer's time or do you think I’m making excuses for you?”
“No, sir,” I said loudly.
“Very good. Then would you agree it is time to actually get to work? I’ve got a laundry list, I need a sergeant to handle it... ” His tone changed slightly. “...and I imagine you need something to keep you occupied for now.”
“Yes, sir.”
“About time, then,” Shining Armor said before motioning me over to his desk. He had schedules and rosters there. Sergeant Windchaser was injured and I was taking over her squad temporarily… or so I thought. Over the next hour, I found out life was going to be different after today.
Sergeant Windchaser was retiring, Iridescence was going on extended leave, and we were getting a new lieutenant that was solely assigned to Princess Luna’s House Guard. Over and beyond that, high command had decided it was time for additional expansion to ensure our unit was close to the same size as Princess Celestia’s. That meant new faces and a lot of training.
I looked it all over and then across the desk at the captain. “Perhaps we could revisit the part about me quitting?”
“Too late now, Silent Knight. You’re in the thick of it,” he replied and honestly, I was glad. The Royal Guard was there for me and I was going to go back to giving myself wholly over to it.
And so the wedding arc comes to a conclusion (among other things). I hope you've all enjoyed the first little glimpse into pony combat and my take on what happened that day.
Thank you again for reading, commenting, and giving me the thumbs up!
If you are enjoying this story, please consider taking a look at Crystal and my's website QuillnBlade.com for extra content such as mini stories, an Ask Us form to submit questions, responses to said questions, and special rewards for the awesome folks who support our Patreon.
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JOHNSON: Is the Air Force the only thing keeping you two apart? Rules and regulations? Cos if it is, you're making a very big mistake.
O'NEILL: And you know what I should do?
JOHNSON: Retire.
O'NEILL: Again.
so have silent and irid(dont recall ful name) officially broke up or is it like one of those where the relationship is put on hold while one person is dong one thing or vice versa?
But otherwise very good story *i see you followed through with what you said you were going to do on tumblr
5467866
As I got it, it's more like:
Irisdicense concludes that Silent has his own life and career, and as long as her (and their relationship) is around, that life and career will be jeopardised, for one or other reason. On the paper, she's making it over between them. (The; you got your life, I got mine, and we'll be too far apart excuse)
There's that full disclosure I was hoping for a couple chapters back. I'm disappointed that Iridescence called it quits on their relationship, but hopefully it won't end up being permanent. If anything, transferring out of Luna's house guard is the perfect opportunity to put her in another chain of command and clear up any issues that Silent being an officer would cause.
5467866 From what Silent wrote (I am being coy here) it is pretty clear he feels like she is breaking it off completely and that does seem to be her intent.
5467945 You read her right. She feels that one will always conflict with the other and therefore one has to go.
5467970 Thank you. I was excited to see a bit of the royal guard in action. I can't imagine them all standing around. The resolution does open up some options for Silent Knight for sure.
Will Luna get an airship to her disposal? It would be great! Imagine the Air Navy!
Also it would be cool to have abaut 20 secret commando ponies hidden in random places in the guard hierarchy as a sleeping taskforce for unforseen situations. I imgine them having colour swaping armour with hidden plates that would slide to conseal their body as they would work undercover. Also the armour color magicly changeing to green would be fitting to inform of a commando.
I imagine after the changeling attack there will be an army reform and army growth. Airships, I say...
Great chapter. I was surprised thought at Iridescent decision. I hope Silent recovers and makes some friends to help with his feelings. Great job.
Sorry for not reviewing for a while.
Anyway, I am ... actually, I don't know how I feel about Iridescence's decision. I mean, Silent did what anyone in his position would do, he chose a loved one over a VIP. Then again, it was unprofessional of him. Then again, Princess Luna should be more than able to take care of herself, especially against a threat like that. Then again, you can't really assume anything in Silent's line of work. Yeah, it goes on and on with all sorts of argument on both sides.
Perhaps she shouldn't have cut him off entirely (at least that's the feeling I got from her words). Some time off and careful thinking should have produced a solution. Perhaps a transfer to Celestia's guard? That way they would work separately and wouldn't be close enough for each other to affect their duties, but they could meet up when off duty. Of course, with Silent's promotion, dating isn't an option anymore. So there's that... Wow, the situation really is an unpleasant one.
Anyway, despite what Iridescence said, I doubt this is the end of their relationship. Those two are just too cute for them to break up and I doubt you wrote so much about them just to split them apart. Sooner or later, they will be back together.
As for the remaining events, looks like Silent is about to get a real taste of what it means to be in charge of other guardsponies.
Oh yes! A perfect, much needed pep talk from S.A. about mistakes happen and nobody is perfect. That is just what S.K. needed. I'm certain he has learned from it and will apply his knowledge gained from the experience for future situations. Ahhh, a one way ticket on the break-up train preceds a rough ride. While I have never had a girlfriend I can totally understand what S.K. is going through. I've had to end a simple friendship with a girl and that was painful still. I have a very good idea what he is going through, but I know he will bounce back from this. This was a good chapter to read. Some more good character development and plot progression. Very good keep at it!
I feel bad about the break up. I can see logically why it needs to happen, but honestly I cannot relate. I've never valued a job or career above and beyond relationships with loved ones.
Obviously Silent Knight is cut from a different cloth. Great work though, on quite the interesting story! I love fics with realistic and insightful character development.
5468506 Glad to have you back and posting! Relationships are tricky things ;) As far as the royal guard business goes he is most certainly going to be getting a lot deeper.
5468363 Friendship is essential for that sort of thing. We'll have some new ponies added shortly!
5468841 I'm glad you liked the chapter. To be honest I've been really worried about posting it. Most of my plot has been prewritten for a while so as I approached this I was getting nervous about sharing.
5470504 Mixing logic and relationships in general is a tough thing for sure. Especially when it is mostly one sided.
Thank you all for the comments (and not setting me on fire)!
Are you by any chance a Band of Brothers fan? Is that where all these names I recognize are coming from? Cause if it is that's pretty cool.
5471821 Very much yes but only one name/situation specifically ;D I needed a "Dyke" for the purpose of the story!
It's a shame I can't thumb-up individual chapters. This just gets better and better. I really felt for the characters and I was having little sympathetic pangs for Silent Knight. What was refreshing and enjoyable, was that none of the characters' actions felt forced, it all flowed naturally and felt in character, not too many authors really nail that bit.
I'm really looking forward to see how the story progresses.
5472393 That is very high praise! Thank you very much. I'm doing my best to be true to who they are and also focus on the fact that they're still normal ponies. I'm glad you're enjoying the story!
Yeah. Yeah. After last chapter, I knew that one was coming. Actually I saw that one coming for a while.
'Which one' you ask? ... Basically all of it, now that I think about it. We've sort of been on the road to this point for a time, haven't we? We finally hit it, and... now I don't know where it goes next. ... Let's go see!
As a shipping nut
and for the rest of me i see lots of paperwork in the future.
5467840 Stargate?
5481568
Yes.
Poor Silent Knight... But, at least he has his work.
5467981 I agree completely.
It's one of the few things that (usually) makes me stop reading stories: Heartbreak over a break-up just because it gets a little tough...
I guess it reminds me a little of my first (and so far, only) time dating someone.
ohhh, S.K., my bby...
Welp, now comes the tubs of ice cream as I weep for a fictional relationship that in real life does not affect me in any way. Again.
Jokes (mostly) aside though, I doubt this is the end of their romantic relationship together. You don't write a couple that cute just to break them up permanently like 10 chapters later. This is gonna be like a comic book romance where they break up because of X plot device, another love interest comes in for one or both of them, then much much later they get back together.
What are sides?
5861419 I don't quite follow?
Well, my hype train has been derailed.
5919661 A tough chapter for sure, but there is so much more waiting!
NO!!!! That beautiful ship! It's just sitting out there in the fricking harbor! Burning! And sinking! Why!? Why can't I have nice things!?
Now, silliness aside, freezing up as an officer is one of my largest fears. I don't think it should be an issue as I tend to take action when things go bad, but you never know until you get there. Combat is different than first response and affects you in ways you can't prepare for entirely (from what I've been told by everyone I've met that has seen it.)
Still not sure why he didn't draw his weapon when outnumbered 12-1. Or why that wasn't considered important by his commanding officer.
6105447
Changelings have carapaces, or something similar. It's not clear how effective these are as armor, but it's entirely conceivable they're thick enough to make sword strikes difficult. Especially since a mouth-wielded sword will be poorly positioned to thrust effectively. (Well, honestly it will be poorly positioned for just about anything - one of those ideas that just doesn't make sense for ponies - but, eh, artistic license. Unless they can do most of the swinging with their tongues alone.)
Crushing blows make more sense, and ponies have four ready-made weapons for that. Not to mention body weight and armor weight when running at a good clip.
I read Silent Knight pulling his sword at the end as a last-ditch hope that maybe they are softer than they look.
Video games tend to teach that a weapon of any sort is better than none unless you are some kind of martial arts master, but it's got to be the right tool for the job.
6384473 Force = Mass x Acceleration. With any blow the force is divided by the area of impact, big circular hooves having more surface area than the edge of a sword. Furthermore the changelings are rather circular, being composed of cylinders... which means of course since they are covered in chitin you are punching the top of an arch. Organic armor like that also tends to be more flexible which only increases its strength against blunt force trauma, there is a reason that crab pliers have those spikes and ridges inside.
Also, while it has been a while, I seem to remember there being mention of the guards being issued spears
Ohhhh. Mixed chapter all around for Silent. He got a promotion, but he also broke up with Iridescence, and it happened shortly after he SAVED HER LIFE. Even though I knew it was coming it still hurt.
I really enjoy your Shining Armor. He's great.
6384473
Dude have you seen one piece? Zero is still a badass with that silly mouth sword. We don't know how he does it, but you don't really want to question the guy with three swords.
Ah, finally. I was hoping for more action and drama.
The first few chapters were very promising, but then it turned mushy and mundane in my opinion.
Thank you for bringing the guard factor back into this, I really enjoy it.
Wow. Did not expect it to be Iri who made the move, nor that she'd make it such a sharp cut. Or a clean break, perspectives pending.
The run in with Celestia again caught me out. She does choose her moments. Shining Armor has the right of it, it's nice to see him get it.
Honestly, I’m kind of glad this happened, for the exact reasons she described. I like her as a character, but she’s right; Knight can’t focus solely on his duties if he’s worrying about Iridescence too.
Aha! I was wrong, and once again my pessimistic tendencies serve me well. Classic misdirection... and now the development we got was easier to take. Still felt awful for them both though.
Holy crepes, from the talk with Iridescence down to the Celestia talk then armor....i was Misty eyed the entire time. :'C
5861514
He's saying that it was so funny that you made him lose his sides. So much so that he no longer even has memories of his sides.
Momlestia takes over. I LOVE seeing this part of her, it just feels so right.
Ow!/10 is this chapter.
Called it.
When misdirection becomes a Promise? When there's too much of it.