The Guard And His Sword

by Himntor

Waking Up

Waking up was hard. It was a new experience for me, not wanting for the day to go on. I just wanted to go back to last night where everything had been perfect. How would things go from here on? If only I could see the future, maybe that would help.

Work… right. Back to the usual then, I could do that. I think. My mind was spinning from last night. I didn’t sleep so well, and it was also the first time I’d ever gone to bed and felt like something was missing, like there was something I didn’t wrap up during the day, and now if I left it alone too long, something terrible would happen. I probably needed to talk to Summer some more about travel plans.

…very, very happy.

Shut up dad. I’m making the decisions now.

Well, work needed to come first, so after a large breakfast, I strapped on my armor, shaped my sword around my waist, and headed outside. It was a clear, sunny day in Ponyville, nothing interesting going on.

“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” asked a voice above and behind me.

I looked back, and sunbathing on the roof of my house was, unfortunately, Discord in shades. Why was it always him? Why couldn’t there be somepony nice sunbathing on my roof every once in a while?

I sighed. “What are you doing here, Discord?”

He poofed beside me. “What do you mean? It’s my day off, you know. I go where I please, and I did say I’d be back last night, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but… why spend your time talking to me? I thought I was just a little too boring for you.”

Discord snorted. “Boring? Of course not! Though maybe a little overbearing, as all of you Royal Guard types tend to be. So, how did the date with Summer go? Tell me everything.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you have to know, it went just fine, even without you.”

“And? What, no details?”

“I don’t have to report every detail of my life to you. I outrank you, remember?”

Discord pouted. “Well, the legal documentation is rather vague on that part.” He snapped his paw and out popped a long form of paperwork. “Let’s see, let’s see, article one… section one, paragraph—”

I pulled the paper out of his claw with my magic. “I don’t care about the documentation! Goodness, Discord, I just want to have a nice, normal day without any spirits of chaos following me around.”

The document vanished, and Discord clutched at his chest. “You wound me, Lieutenant! Don’t you remember that I was reformed? I’ve changed! I’m not the same evil spirit of chaos I once was.” He poofed in front of me on his knees, claw and paw clasped together. “Please, let me make it up to you, like a good friend should. Can I get you anything? Anywhere you want to go?”

“No, I’m just going to work.”

“Done!”

Snap.

Next thing I knew I was standing outside the Royal Barracks, Discord still at my side.

“My payment to you, Lieutenant. Now remember, you owe me! Ahahahaha!”

Discord vanished with his laughter.

Owe him? I didn’t even ask for… ugh. One of these days I’m gonna take Discord by the neck and do… something. Probably not, but his interest in me was getting irritating. Or maybe he was only interested in my sword and wanted it for some scheme. I wouldn’t be surprised.

Justice walked out of the barracks and looked at me. “You’re here early.”

I nodded shortly. “Had a hard time sleeping.”

“Everything alright?”

“Went on a date last night.”

Justice gave an amused smile. “Alright then, sounds like that went well. You gonna go off like Shining Armor, get married and discover a lost empire?”

“Uh… can I go home now?”

Justice laughed. “Get to the walls you champ.”

I sighed and saluted before trotting off to Canterlot’s gates. It was slow going from then on, and it was pure agony. It was bizarre to think I had done this day after day for over a year now without getting tired of it. Why was I now having a hard time? Maybe it was just, in comparison to last night, today seemed a whole lot less wonderful.

Didn’t I like my job?

“Lieutenant Shield, Sir,” a guard called after me as I was patrolling the wall. I turned to him and returned his salute. “A Miss Dawn came to the barracks looking for you.”

My eyes widened. “Really? I… cool. As you were.”

The guard trotted off and I headed for the barracks a little faster than usual. She was looking for me already? That was surprising. Maybe she was a morning pony like me.

When the barracks came into view, I spotted her staring down a pair of Royal Guards standing stiff outside the barracks door. As I approached she turned around and smiled.

“Swordulan, there you are!” she said. “I’ve been waiting here for nearly fifteen minutes and these fellows still haven’t moved an inch. How in Equestria do they do it?”

I gave a sly smile. “Lots of training. Here, watch this.”

I stepped up to the guards and looked them in the eye, then ever so slowly let my eyes diverge until they were both focused on either guard. It was a weird trick I could do since I was a colt. Couldn’t remember the last time I did it though.

The guards glanced at each other, but neither moved nor spoke. Summer looked at me curiously.

“One of you can move so long as the other is being focused on,” I said, “but what if your superior officer can watch you both simultaneously?”

“You’ll not get us this time, Sir,” said the one on the right.

“Won’t catch us alive, Sir,” said the other.

I let my eyes refocus. “Good, but next time you’ll want your saddle armor to be buckled correctly.”

The guards’ eyes went wide and they looked back, finding their armor buckled just fine. They grumbled in resignation.

“Ponyfeathers. Third time, Sir. Well played.”

I turned around with a chuckle. “Always a pleasure. Anyway, Summer, I was on wall patrol and need to get back. Is it okay if we walk and talk?”

“Sure, that’s fine,” Summer said, following by my side as I headed back for the walls. “I wanted to say thank you for bringing me home last night, and that I had a great time.”

“Oh, yeah, it was no problem.” I blinked in confusion. Was there something else I should say? “It uh… wasn’t like I’d just leave you there. And I’m glad you enjoyed it, I did too. Er… was that all?”

Summer looked at me confusedly. “Are you feeling okay?”

I nodded quickly. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“You just seem a little, I don’t know, uncomfortable all of a sudden.”

I looked away. “I’m not uncomfortable, just a bit…” Luna said it’s good to let emotions out. “Frustrated, I guess.”

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing, really. I’m… hmph, alright that’s not totally true.” I looked back at her. “There’s just a lot on my mind, a lot of crazy things are happening in a real short amount of time, and I’m frustrated because I don’t know how to talk about it. I’ve never learned how to properly talk to others, or something like that.”

Summer looked at me funny. “What? That’s ridiculous, there’s no proper way to talk to others. You just talk and they’ll listen, or they won’t. Just relax, don’t worry about it. I wanted to talk to you about possible future plans. Your offer to go to the Crystal Empire still stands, right?”

I took a deep breath. “Of course, tickets to the Equestria Games. I could take you there even sooner if you’d like. Take some time to get to know the place beforehoof.”

Summer’s eyes sparkled. “Really? How soon do you think?”

“I don’t know, pick a date.”

“What about this weekend?”

I gave a nod. “Alright, done. Train to the Crystal Empire Friday late afternoon, you can meet Shining Armor and Cadance, we’ll get castle accommodations and stay Friday and Saturday night and come back Sunday afternoon.”

Summer gaped. “Can you really do that?”

“I’ll have to check with the Captain, but it should be fine. Other than that, I’m friends with Shining Armor and Cadance. I’m sure they’d be happy to let us stay a couple days.”

“That sounds perfect! I’ll be home and ready at four on Friday.”

“Great! I’ll check with the Captain when I get my first break and let you know what he says, but I’m sure everything will be fine.”

*

“No,” Justice said, neatly stacking a pile of paperwork on his desk.

“What?” I asked desperately. “Why not?”

“I need you here for basic evaluation. We’re going to be sending a number of new recruits across Equestria, and I need your good eyes to pick them.”

I groaned. “Can’t Spotter take my place for that?”

“Nope.”

I frowned and planted my face onto the desk. “Why… do you hate me… so much?”

“But I suppose I can make an exception, just this once.”

I looked up, eyes wide. “Huh?”

Justice smiled. “I’m messing with you. I know you need this, so you’re good to go. But, I don’t want to be seeing this happening all over the place, and I expect some extra hard work this week.”

I jumped from my seat. “Yes! Anything you say, Captain, and it’ll get done.”

Justice sighed with relief. “Good. Say hello to Shining Armor for me. Dismissed.”

I saluted. “Yes, Sir!”

I trotted triumphantly out of the barracks and carelessly threw my sword into the air with my magic. “Yes!”