Guards: The untold story

by Joseph_Tanner

Chapter 1: Pains of a mother

“Push! Push a bit more!” Yelled a doctor to a mare giving birth, while her husband was away on duty, unaware of the situation. The mare screamed out and pushed as best she could, successfully giving birth to a Unicorn colt, whose eyes, mane and coat were pitch black.

“Congratulations ma’am. Here’s your son,” Said the doctor, levitating the foal over to her with his magic. She only smiled resting on her bed, looking at the fruit of her labors.

“You’ve got your daddy’s eyes…” She muttered to him, before a nurse took him to do the basic procedures.

“He’ll be fine, we need to do a few things to make sure he’s okay,” She explained. The mare trusted the staff and closed her eyes to rest. Before she knew, Celestia’s Sun was rising once more, bathing everything underneath in the light of dawn. She felt happy, knowing her pains were over, and her son was alright as well, not to mention finally being able to return home. Her thoughts were running wild on how the foal was going to grow up, the memories they will have together, the good and bad times they may have together, when the door opened with a creek, a nurse came through with the breakfast on her back.

“Good morning,” Said the nurse with a grin.

“Good morning,” Replied the mare.

“Here’s your breakfast. At noon the doctor will come and examine you. If everything is right, you can go home,” She informed her.

“Okay, thank you,”

“Good luck,” Said the nurse, then left.

Cobalt Rose ate her breakfast, and waited eagerly for the doctor to arrive. It felt like an eternity, but at last the moment had come, and the doctor arrived, levitating a clipboard in front of him. “Good day ma’am, are you ready for your examination?” The doctor wondered. Rose only nodded. The doctor put his stethoscopes on, and checked her breathing pattern. “Breathing is okay, nothing out of the ordinary…” He noted, then listened to her heartbeat. As the stethoscope stopped moving and he heard the pace, he grinned. “Nervous for the results, or just too happy to handle?” He wondered with the same grin. In the end, he checked her blood pressure as well, but found nothing wrong. “Good news.” He said, and no more, since they both knew what it meant. In the hour Rose was home with the colt in its cradle. The mare did her best to keep the foal well, while her husband was on duty at the Royal Guard. Which meant he could rarely visit. He couldn’t spend more time than a day each month, so the foal, who they agreed to call Mithril Blaze barely knew his father… It was around 6 years later, when Ardent Blaze, the father was meant to arrive once again, but instead of him, Rose found a small scroll at the other side of the entrance, with a black ribbon tied around it. She hoped it was a mistake, or just a bad joke… She took the scroll and locked the door to her room, then opened it with wet eyes.

"Dear Cobalt Rose…

We regret to inform you, that your husband, Ardent Blaze suffered a fatal accident at the barracks last night, while he was packing his belongings for today’s visit. Please accept our most sincere and deepest condolences, as his passing hurt us as much as it does you. At the same time, allow us to show our gratitude for his ever-lasting loyalty and service throughout the years, by paying for his funeral, and giving you his salary for a year straight.

Best wishes, Princesses Celestia and Luna." Said the scroll. Rose felt something die inside of her. She didn’t know what it was, but she knew what she felt. Grief, and she knew all the five stages… Which she did her best not to let surface, as she felt it was best for Mithril. She cried for an hour or so, then regained her composure, which only lasted until she saw her son, staring at the entrance door.

“Mom? Mom? When is Daddy going to come?” Mithril wondered.

Rose did her best to keep a tear in, and mastered all her strength to do so. She made her way to her son and sat down next to him, closing a wing around him. “Mithril… Sweetie… Dad… Dad’s not coming home…” She managed to reply.

“Why? Does he not love us anymore?”

Every single one of the foal’s words cut deep into her heart, but she took it. “He does, no, that’s not why…”

“That means we’re going to see him instead!” Exclaimed the now all too excited Unicorn.

“No… We aren’t sweetie… Dad… Dad can’t see us anymore…”

“Why?”

“He…” Her voice began to change to that of crying, so she stopped for a moment. “He was so tired doing his work, that he fell asleep…”

“Did he miss his train then?”

“Daddy won’t wake up anymore, sweetie. He’s too tired…” She managed to say, knowing too well the moment her lie is uncovered was closer from that day on. The foal looked at his mother with a confused face, and after seeing her cry, he used his magic to wipe them away with a handkerchief.

“What’s wrong, mom? Why are you crying?” He inquired.

“When you get older, you will understand…” She replied. Mithril was doing well in school, then again, he was only in second grade. Their days went on, and the funeral came. Rose couldn’t prevent Mithril from going, as she couldn’t come up with anything to convince him. It started, and the semi-massive group gathered in the graveyard. The coffin had already been covered, to avoid at least that much pain.

“Mom, mom? Who are all these ponies? And why are the royal sisters here?” Mithril wondered.

Everybo-*cough* Everypony heard it, Rose checked, everypony felt their souls torn at. “They knew daddy. They are here to see if he does sleep well,” She replied.

“Oh, okay!” Mithril exclaimed. The sisters chose not to tell a speech, most of those present knew Ardent Blaze well anyway, as they too were part of the Royal Guard. Each of them placed a single flower on the grave and left, except the royal two, who instead of leaving headed for Rose’s home. The sisters sat down in the kitchen, while Rose prepared some tea, and sent Mithril up to his room.

“Lovely house. I’m surprised he never told us about it,” Celestia noted.

“Thank you for coming,” Said Rose.

“It’s the least we could do. And as we said, we are willing to help you for a year, and…” Luna replied, but stopped, unsure if she should continue or not.

“And?” Rose wondered.

“Should Mithril desire to follow his father’s hoof-steps, he’s more than welcome,” She continued.

“I’ll keep that offer in mind for him, but not for now,” Rose replied thankfully. “I… I have something to ask of you,”

“Oh?”

“It might sound selfish, or rude, or anything else negative... “ Rose continued, gathering the strength of what she had on mind. “I’m pregnant… I don’t want to leave them alone, nor to kill this filly, but I just can’t live like this… The pain… It’s just… Too much…” She began to cry, sobbing on her side of the table. It took a few seconds for her words to set in for the sisters, and they came to a conclusion.

“We understand your choice. We are willing to take your children in to raise, and alter their memories, so they will not miss you, or their father… Yet, they will not see us as their parents,” Celestia exclaimed.

“Please, keep in mind, that nothing will change except their memories. You will still have existed and lived, as had Ardent. I also urge you to think again, since by the nature of what you’re about to do cannot be reversed,” Celestia tried to warn her.

“I understand, and am convinced… Thank you…” Rose replied.

“We promise to take care of them as if they were our own, and wish you farewell for your… Journey,” Luna said, focusing magic into her horn.

“What will you do to this one?”

“I will use a spell to give it birth, then age it a little, then take them to Canterlot. Celestia is putting them to sleep as we speak, and replacing their memories,” Explained the lunar princess.

The two did as promised, and the next thing the foals knew, they woke up to a sunrise they grew used to, in their rooms. “Good morning, Blaze, you overslept again!” Said his little sister, Gentle Blossom, who also was a Unicorn. Her coat was blue, and her mane was cyan, with green eyes.

“Again? Damn!” Replied her brother.

“You should hurry, it’s your big day!” She said, chuckling.

Blaze bolted out of his bed and got his stuff together on the way. When he left, he literally ran into a still sleepy Celestia. “MY BAD!” He yelled back as he ran past her. “Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit…” He muttered all the way, until he arrived to the barracks.

“ROLL CALL!” Yelled a pony out loud, and all those present formed a perfectly straight line standing aside one another. “Tender Wind!”

“Present!”

“Cobalt!” Said the general, waiting for the soldier bearing said name to confirm their presence. That word always gave Blaze a weird feeling in his gut, but he didn’t know why.

“Present!”

“Jackpot!”

“Present!”

“Silver Feather!”

“Present!”

“Mithril Blaze!”

“Present!” Blaze yelled.

“Midnight Comet!”

“Present!”

“Golden Gust!”

“Present!”

“Good! Now that you all are here, the sisters chose to give me the honor of officially declaring you as trainees of the 4th battalion! Your training will last until you’re deeped ready for your final exam!” Said the General, informing them all. “That is, if you live that long, or don’t give up… Tomorrow we will begin your theoretical training, come right here tomorrow at 7 am, dismissed!”

Blaze was relieved, he barely made it in time. It would’ve been a terrible impression to be late on the 0th day. He sighed, and turned around to set off back to his room, when one of his superiors approached him. “Good morning, trainee. Who’s your designated General?” Asked one of the Captains of the Royal Guard.

“General Onyx, sir!” Blaze replied.

“Good,” Replied the Captain. “What’s your name?”

“Mithril Blaze, sir!” The Captain seemed terrified hearing the name.

“And who was your father?” Blaze tried to remember, but failed to come up with a right answer. “Oh, forget it…” Muttered the Captain, and walked off. Blaze looked after him and lifted a brow.

What’s his problem? Eh, probably just his duties… He thought to himself, and returned to his room, where Luna and his sister were having a conversation. “Oh, am I interrupting anything?” Blaze wondered.

“Nothing too important,” Luna assured him. “We were just talking about a few spells and such. Would you like to join?” She continued.

“I’m not much into theory when it comes to magic. Sure, I’m good at using them but, you get the point,” Blaze replied.

“C’mon, big brother, you could come with me to Celestia’s School for gifted Unicorns!” Exclaimed an excited Gentle Blossom.

“Yeah, uh… Sounds charming, but I must decline. Studying two extremely different things at once may be too much for me,” Blaze said.

“Does it sound like too much of a challenge to you?” Asked Luna on a mocking tone, raising an eyebrow while doing so.

Blaze didn’t let the mock fly by unanswered. “You know what? Count me in!” Blaze replied.

“The school begins at 8 am and lasts until 2 pm,” Blossom said.

“Yeah, I won’t be able to attend,” Her brother informed her.

“My sister or I could have you enlisted as a private student, Blossom could bring the day’s curiculum home for you to learn, as she and they all would have work and exercise books,” Luna offered.

“Could you make it so? That would be great,” Blaze said thankfully.

“It’s the least I can do,” Replied the oldest mare. “In fact, I’ll see to it right away,” She continued, and left.

“So? How’d it go?” Blossom wondered.

“It was just a roll call, tomorrow at 7 am it starts,” Blaze replied.

“I’m so proud of you, big brother! Finally you get to join the guard!”

“Only thanks to the sisters… Sometimes I wonder why they took us in, why are we being treated as their offspring… Most importantly… How did they even get to know about us…” Blaze said, pondering.

“Come on! Don’t ruin the moment!” Blossom said again, chuckling to herself. She was the kind of mare who could always cheer him up… From outside she seemed like a cheerful, simple, and rather unintelligent pony, because of her carelessness. She was the polar opposite, tho, as she knew more about magic than her brother, while he had more talent and experience using it. Blaze, on the other han-hoof… He was a rather down to ground and reliable colt, muscular, and preferred close combat, tho had no experience in such thing.

“You’re right, let’s go, grab something for breakfast…” He exclaimed, closing a hoof around her as they walked down the corridor. Blaze in his trainee’s armor, Blossom in her novice’s outfit.

[End of Chapter 1]

Comments

[quipdoesmc]

amazing start to what looks like an awesome story