• Published 16th Feb 2015
  • 729 Views, 76 Comments

The New Guard Order - colt alchemist



A new program has been launched to help Twilight pick the perfect guards. Can Shira Blitz survive said program and prove she's got what it takes to be a warrior? Or will her mysterious past and the Princesses new rules ruin her chances?

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Ch. 3

Another opening song for this chapter. Because, why not?

It was 5:30 in the morning and the sun was barely rising, all the homes in Ponyville looked like silhouettes and the air was freezing outside. Shiras eyes twitched and fluttered open. She slowly rose up from her comfy bed. Once she was up, Shira stretched her limbs until they cracked and let out a big loud yawn. She rubbed her eyes and looked at her little clock on the dresser. It also read 5:30 am, just as she thought. She peaked out the window and noticed that the sun hasn’t even risen above the fields yet.

“Looks like I’ve gotten used to the early wake up calls from camp,” she said to herself as she rubbed her eyes some more. She looked over to her partner, Tacitus, who was still sound asleep in his bed across from her, snoring up a storm.

“How did I sleep through that?”

She shrugged it off and leapt out of her bed. She tiptoed towards her door and made sure not to wake her snoring roommate.
After she exited her room and shut the door, she made her way out of the building. She was outside of her living quarters and quietly closed the door behind her. Once she touched the cold and hard ground, she immediately started galloping into the distance.

She jogged all around Ponyville, from Sugar cube Corner, to Sweet Apple Acres, to the Carousal Boutique, everywhere. She enjoyed the morning breeze flowing through her face and mane as she ran. Eventually she stopped for a water break and then continued on with her morning. She enjoyed the sight of the blue and orange sky she would see in the morning, it just looked so beautiful to look at, as well as run under. The only thing that she could think about was the whole program and its missions.

Today is our first mission. I think. C’mon, they said that it would start soon. But I doubt it would start this soon. Would it? She thought to herself. Is it starting now or never? Hey, that would make for an interesting song.

“Morning!”

Shira turned her head around to see who called out to her. She was surprised to see Terra, without his armor, was running right behind her. Terra gained speed and was soon running right beside Shira.

“Hey…Terra right?” asked Shira.

“Yeah. And you’re Shira, correct? One of the mares who came in late?”

“Uh, yeah I think. And you called me out on it.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” he apologized as he ran.

“No worries,” she replied.

“So, you enjoy morning runs too,” he panted.

“Well, back at camp, we ran every morning before the sun rose and I sort of gotten used to it,” she admitted.

“One of the struggles to becoming a guard.”

“I’ll say. But I actually don’t mind running in the mornings now. Especially if it’s this cool out.” She started to pick up speed as more of the cool morning wind blew in her face, cooling off any sweat she was dripping from her brow.

“Yeah, it is rather nice out today.”

The two continued to run with each other as more light began to shine in the sky and makings it’s war towards the rest of the town.

“You excited about our first mission?”

“Is it today?” wondered Terra.

“Maybe. The elements did say it would start soon.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it started today.”

“Me neither. I’m getting pumped up!”

“Just remember. These missions are important to us. It’s good to have some fun, but don’t get too carried away when some of these missions are meant to be taken seriously,” Terra advised.

“I know that. Trust me, I know when to get serious.”

A loud bird screech echoed above them. She looked up and noticed a big phoenix soaring right above them, leaving a trail of light in its path. Shira grew a big smile, she was very amazed.

“Whoa! A Phoenix! So cool!” she exclaimed. “I want one! It’s so pretty!”

“Yeah, real serious,” chuckled Terra as the firebird flew right next to him. “This is my bird, Fenix. You met him at the ceremony.”

“Oh yeah!” chirped Shira, as she remembered that he did have a similar phoenix with him when they first met.

The two, and the phoenix, continued their morning run. After a few more miles, they all made it back to their living quarters. They were all resting by the front door and panting like crazy. Terra’s pet bird rested in his shoulder as he took a breather.

“Well, that was a good run,” panted Terra.

“Yeah. Now I need a shower,” added Shira.

“Aw, don’t you too look all cute and sweaty,” said a voice.

Both Shira and Terra jumped at the sudden voice. Shira spotted a nearby tree near the entrance and noticed a familiar blue and green big-winged Pegasus resting on a branch. Spinout was nonchalantly laying back in the tree reading a Power Ponies comic, looking down on the two ponies.

“Spinout?” wondered Shira.

“The one and only.”

“What are you doing up there?”

“It’s highly unlikely for somepony like you to wake up early for a morning jog,” added Terra.

“What can I say, my body works in strange ways,” he shrugged. “Sometime it will let me sleep in until I feel like dying, and others it won’t leave me alone until I’ve woken up. It’s really weird.”

“What kind of explanation is that?” asked Shira.

“Mine.”

“What are you really doing up there?” demanded Terra.

“I told you Mr. Formal, I just felt like waking up early today. Plus, I’d figure I’d catch up on my reading.”

“That’s a Power Ponies comic,” pointed out Shira.

Spinout flipped his book to look at the cover. He then looked down on the ponies below.

“Don’t judge me.”

“Too bad,” laughed Shira.

“Anyway!”

He leapt out of the tree and landed on the ground, but it wasn’t exactly a perfect landing. He lost balance once his hooves touched the earth and began to wobble like a broken wagon.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” he exclaimed as his legs struggled to stay still. They kept on wiggling until all the weight was left on one side. He fell on his haunches while Shira and Terra looked down on him.

“A little rusty on your hooves?” teased Shira.

“I do better when I’m in the air,” he corrected as he picked himself up. “Anyway, did you two hear? Our first mission is supposed to be today.”

“What?” asked a surprised Shira.

“You don’t know that,” spoke Terra.

“Yes, I do! I overheard the elements yesterday planning to throw our first mission at us tomorrow. Which is today!”

“Our first mission so soon? I knew it!”

“He could be bluffing, Shira,” assured Terra. “I’ve dealt with ponies like these back at the academy. They always spread lies just to throw some newcomers off.”

“I assure you, I’m not bluffing. Do I look like a deceiver?” He asked with an innocent smile.

“Well,” started Shira.

“Sort of,” finished Terra.

“You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to, but don’t blame me when it does happen today. Anyway, I’ll leave you two sweaty birds alone,” he chuckled as he made his leave.

“We were just jogging together!” she yelled at him.

“Just ignore him,” advised Terra.

“Is our first mission really today?”

“I don’t know. But it doesn’t hurt to be prepared just in case.”

The two ponies then made their way back inside and back to their rooms. As they were walking, Shira couldn’t help but wonder about what Spinout said.

Our first mission really is today? This is so soon. Might as well make the best of it.

A few hours later the rest of the guards woke up and began their day. Everypony was on their way to take their morning showers. They reached the shower area on the first floor near the training center and when they all entered the room, they were far from surprised.

When they entered the showers, they were all expecting to be one room for the stallions and the other for the mares. However, that wasn’t the case. They all entered the room to find one big, open area. They were all standing in an empty square rooms with about fifteen showers attached to the walls. Three of the four walls had their own set of shower facets and handles, five for each wall until it all added up to fifteen. The group was surprised and confused, they didn’t know how to react.

“Um, where’s the mare’s room?” wondered Selune Darkeye.

“I didn’t see another shower room,” added Spinout.

“I think we have to share this one,” deduced Flash Cache.

This caused an array of confused mutters and whispers among the guard ponies.

“M-Mixed showering? Who came up with that?” exclaimed Tacitus who was growing a shade of red on his face.

“Don’t you remember?” asked Shira.

The Previous Night

The elements were standing in front of both entrances of the training center and the showers and explaining the situation to the large group.

“Now, in front of you is where you will be training and/or showering in your free time,” Began Twilight. “On your right is the training center, which we will go over later. On the left, is the shower room. However, because of the lack of space, we couldn’t afford to create two separate showers. So, you will all have to share the same one.”

“Huh?!” most of the yelled. They were all taken back by this.

“What do you mean ‘lack of space’!? I thought you said Discord made this place,” snarled Artemis Featherclaw.

“Yes, well, for whatever reason he decided to only include one showering room,” admitted Twilight.

“Figures,” sighed Terra.

“Look, in the meantime, you will all have to share the showers. We’ll sort this out with Discord,” assured Twilight. “Eventually.”

Present

“Oh right, I forgot,” chuckled Tacitus.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t mind,” giggled Short Fuse. Everypony soon glared at him or slowly sidestepped away from him.

“Come now, everypony,” spoke Iron Sted as he rolled in on his wheelchair. “We shouldn’t let a small situation like this take up most of our day. So what if we have to share the same shower room. Most of us are already naked so why should this be any different?”

Most ponies in the room whispered to each other agreeing to his statement. It’s not like this is a trial that puts Equestria at risk or anything.

“Yeah. We’re all adults here right?” agreed Terra.

“Eh,” sighed Shira.

After more discussing among each other, they all decided to share the shower room. All of the showers were turned on and everypony was starting to clean themselves. Iron Sted had a stool he could sit on while he showered and the rest stood and took their time. All while both Tacitus and Shira stood there like stiffs as warm water soaked their bodies. Unable to move and completely red faced.

One awkward experience later, the rest of the ponies decided to get some breakfast at the mess hall next door. Shira sat at a table all by herself, trying to process the fact that she just showered with other mares and stallions for the first time.

“Mind if we sit here?”

Shira turned around and noticed Selune, Terra, and Tacitus with their breakfast on their trays.

“No, go ahead.”

The three took their seats and ate their breakfast in silence. Shira could tell that this was their first time as well.

“So, that was an interesting experience, huh?” spoke Terra.

“Yep,” replied Shira. She didn’t want to remember in full detail what it was like.

“Here’s to our first awkward moment together,” joked Selune as she raised her glass of orange juice.

The others did the same and tapped glasses. They continued to eat as Shira had a lot of things in mind. Not only of the new shower rules, but also the first mission rumor, wondering if she’ll survive this program, and how her family is back at home. She knew her mother was doing fine but her brother had moved away to college a few years back. It was the only thing that popped into her head to take her mind off of things. While they were eating, the doors of the cafeteria flew wide open. Everyone turned and noticed Spike was standing at the entrance.

“Attention everypony!” announced Spike. “Once you’re done with breakfast, come out and meet us at the edge of the forest. You’re first mission is about to start!”

With that, he took his leave. Silence entered the room, most of the guards couldn’t believe their ears. They were all motionless.

“Knew it!” yelled Spinout.

Later

Everypony was exiting the cafeteria and making their way towards the edge of the forest. Most of them couldn’t believe that their first mission would start so soon. While Terra and Shira couldn’t believe that Spinout was actually right. Each of the guards had brought their gear with them. Terra had his golden armor on, Chill Wind was carrying his spear, Crusher carried a large amount of heavy weapons on his back, and even Shira brought her metal guitar case with her.

“Our first mission is today?” queried Tacitus. “Isn’t this a little soon? We haven’t even trained yet.”

“Well most of us are already experienced, so it should be no problem,” shrugged Selune.

“Yeah, but what about the recruits that are fresh out of the academy who have no experience whatsoever? I mean me!” exclaimed Tacitus as he pointed to himself.

“Don’t worry, as long as you remember your training from the academy you should be fine,” said Shira.

“But I didn’t really sign up to become a guard who fights monsters, I signed up to become an investigator to fight crime!” he admitted.

“Oh, then you’re screwed,” teased Terra.

“Dude!”

They all laughed but still felt sorry for the young stallion. They knew not everypony here was exactly a guard and they figured Tacitus wouldn’t be the fighter type.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure this first mission won’t be that hard,” reasoned Shira.

“Congratulations.” They all turned and noticed Starsabre Jr. glaring at them as he walked. “You’ve been jinxed. When you’re all resting easy in the belly of an Ursa Major, you have emo guitar girl to thank.”

“Hello to you too, Starsabre,” replied Shira deadpanned.

“Hey who invited you here?” snapped Selune.

Before he could answer, they found themselves at their destination. All fourteen guards came to a halt and stood at the entrance at the Everfree Forest, where the elements were waiting there patiently.

“Good morning everpony,” greeted Twilight. “I hope you had a pleasant day so far, because your first mission begins today!”

The guard ponies weren’t really surprised by this anymore, they just stood there anxiously.

“Tough crowd,” remarked Applejack.

“Anyway, we decided that your first mission should be simple and easy to follow.”

“A race through the forest!” blurted out Rainbow. Everypony’s heads tilted at her outburst.

“A race?” wondered Flash.

“Through the forest?” added Crusher.

“In a way, yes,” explained Twilight. “You will all race with your teams to reach the finish line at the end of the forest. And that finish line, is at the Castle of the Two Sisters.”

The guards could not believe their ears, their eyes were wide with anticipation. They had to run through the forest to reach the abandoned castle where Celestia and Luna used to rule.

“Whoa! No way! Cool!” they all exclaimed.

The Castle of the Two Sisters? This is so cool! Now I can see where Celestia used to rule Equestria. Maybe there are hidden secrets there I can unlock, thought Shira.

“Now, this is a team race, so if you and your partner make it to the castle together you will earn ten points each,” continued Rarity.

“But if you leave them behind or arrive at the castle by yourselves, you’ll only get half points,” added Rainbow.

“No pony gets left behind,” spoke Twilight firmly. “As you may know, the forest is filled with dangerous creatures and deadly plants. So if you feel the need to defend yourself, don’t hesitate to do so.”

“B-but if you could be gentle with the wildlife, that would be great,” softly spoke Fluttershy.

“You will have exactly six hours to navigate yourselves through the forest and reach the finish line.”

“Only six? That doesn’t sound so bad,” said Spinout.

“The forest is a lot bigger than it looks. Don’t underestimate it,” insisted Twilight.

“And whoever gets there first will earn double points!” informed Rainbow.

The group gasped at the possible outcome. They couldn’t believe they would throw out points like that. Especially Shira.

I will win this thing!

“This will be easy,” chuckled Artemis.

“Everpony, take yer places!” ordered Applejack.

The ponies gathered in a straight horizontal line at the entrance of the forest. Each of the teams gathered side by side, staring intently into the forest they were about to enter. They could already feel the unsettling breeze flowing from within.

“I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die,” muttered Grassy Fields.

“You’re not going to,” assured Crusher.

“Why did you bring that?” Starsabre asked Shira, pointing to her guitar case. “You going to play the monsters a song until they die?”

“You’ll see,” she retorted.

“On your mark!” yelled Spike as he raised a green flag. “Get set!”

“Go!” Pinkie’s part canon shot confetti everywhere and the blast made Spike yelped into a tree.

Regardless, the ponies took off and ran straight into the forest. Except for Short Fuse, who was still standing at the starting line picking his ear with the tip of his hoof. He soon noticed everypony had started.

“Oh, we’re going now? Ok.”

With that, he ran off to catch up with his teammate, Spinout. The elements stared off into the forest until the recruits couldn’t be spotted anymore. Twilight formed a small grin on her face, she had full confidence that they would all make it out alive.

Author's Note:

Sorry it's been a while. I was just busy with stuff. I said I would get a new chapter out and I did it. I hoped you enjoyed this little chapter and I plan to get the next one out real soon. Let me know what you think. Thanks.