Private Shining Armor's Ultimate Challenge.
Shining armor had just been given orders by the Captain of the Royal Guard to stand post at the foot of the stairs that led to the Princesses bed chambers. Only high ranking officers, the royal family, including Prince Blueblood unfortunately, the right hoof maids and butlers of the royal family memebers, and, as he would have guessed, his little sister, were the only ones allowed past this point.
Had Shining Armor's little sister not been taken as Celestia's personal protege not so long ago, Shining Armor would have had the hardest time turning his LSBFF away. And he couldn't imagine what his mother would do when he was able to head home for a visit had that been the case.
Today though, it was just normal routine, stand guard, turn away anypony who was restricted from the Royal Quarters, and of course bowing in respect and taking what orders were assigned by the royals.
At first, the day was going smoothly. No suspicious activity, Trumpets sounding off in the distance of Princess Celestia's arrival to or departure from the castle grounds, and nobles taking a stride by the royal quarters, but not entering the area. Just as Shining thought that this day was going to remain relatively monotone, just then a familiar face appeared. "Shining Armor! Hi BBBFF," chanted his little sister Twilight.
Twilight came trotting towards him, with saddle bags on each side and of course one of them carrying the new baby dragon Twilight had hatched at her exam, whom she decided to call Spike. "Hello little sister. Is there something I can help you with?" Shining Armor asked.
"Actually, I just got a whole bunch of homework from Princess Celestia. She wants me to do a report on beginners spells as well as calculate how much magical strength is required to move a brick compared to a stone. And then...." Twilight prattled on as Shining Armor smiled, knowing how inquisitive Twilight was to learn, about magic and any other knowledge she could be given.
But Shining Armor worried. His sister did have some friends, but she barely payed them any mind. Not that her friends were complaining. They liked that she would teach them new things that she helped them better understand. But Shining Armor was scared that when Twilight got older, she might get too focused, and not even go to see her friends at all.
Just then his attention shifted, as he heard a tiny 'clank' that sent a small vibration through his armor. He had to stand at a proper stance, but couldn't help but look down. Twilight had just taken the liberty of making her brother's armor a bulletin board, using what appeared to be magnets that he saw on the family's fridge back at the sparkle residence. He found this a tad humorous. He saw Twilight getting comfortable next to him as she had set Spike down near her and pulled out one of her books and began reciting what was on the pages to him.
He would have smiled and listened on, but then two mares came into view. He snapped to attention as he saw Princess Celestia, and Princess Cadence, trotting towards them. It was too late that he realized that Twilight still had her papers magnetized to his armor. With the princesses walking by, he couldn't move. As much as he tried to hide his embarrassment in front of the royal alicorns, Shining Armor's face cheeks turned bright red. How could have gotten himself into this situation. As Cadence trotted past him, she gave a cute giggle. This made Shining Armor start to wear a goofy look.
As Celestia trotted by, she stopped for a moment and said, "Thank you Private Shining Armor, for helping your sister with her studies and protecting our private quarters from uninvited visitors. I'll be sure to send my regards to the Captain of the Royal Guard. Keep up the great work Private Shining."
"W-Without fail your m-m-majesty," Shining stuttered.
Cadence giggled from behind at how the filly she loved to sit for the most brought her big brother's masculinity down a peck with the simple act of making him her personal bulletin board. All Shining Armor could think at this time as his legs began to feel like jelly, was "If the Captain or the other Guards see me like this, how will I ever live this down?"
Sometime later, after Twilight had made her way with her paper work and Spike to Celestia's private teaching quarters, next to the her resting quarters, Shining Armor was relieved of his duties, and was told to report to the Captain of the Royal Guard. When he removed his armor, and donned his clothed uniform to meet with the Captain, he made for the Captain of the Royal Guards office. Once inside, the Captain motioned him to sit down. Shining Armor did so, and soon the Captain spoke, "Private Shining. Your task today was to stand watch at the stairs that led to the royal chambers only few are allowed to enter. Including your sister I understand."
"Yes sir," Shining Armor replied.
"And as it was observed you never left your post once. But what has caught my attention, is that the Princess's personal protege' took the liberty to study where you were, and not only that. She used your armor as a place to hang some of her work from refrigerator magnets," the Captain continued.
"Y-Yes sir," Shining Armor stuttered.
"And not only that. When the Princess of Day, and her niece, the Princess of Love, trotted by, you were still being used as a magnet bulletin board and stood there at attention," The Captain added.
Shining gulped, "Yes sir."
Shining Armor prepared for the worst that could happen to him, as the Captain finished, "Private Shining. Never in all my years of service, have I seen a member of the Royal Guard, be dedicated to his duty, 'and' his family. That is not a trait that is found often. You went above and beyond the call of duty, and for that, it is only fitting, that I give you, a promotion."
Shining Armor was surprised, "A Promotion? But."
"No protest please. From this day forth, you shall be known as Staff Sargent Shining Armor. Keep this up young colt, and you'll soon be my second in command," the Captain said.
Shining's mouth went agape as the Captain left to let him process what he just heard. The Captain of the Royal Guard, had just jumped the ranks and made him Staff Sargent, and he'd only just been accepted into the Gaurd after the basic training, and that was a week ago....... Oh, would his Aunt Silver Horn be envious of his achievement when she heard this.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- MontyCS · 14k words · 18 0 · 328 views
- tosety · 1.8k words · 46 0 · 855 views
- SuperPinkBrony12 · 5.3k words · 28 6 · 1.7k views
- Cloperella · 2.7k words · 49 10 · 1.5k views
- Damaged · 1.1k words · 101 13 · 3.6k views
- Reviewfilly · 1000 words · 87 3 · 1.3k views
- PixelMoon · 1.2k words · 61 11 · 3.4k views
- FabulousDivaRarity · 1.7k words · 45 1 · 1.6k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.203 seconds
Total duration
1,128 users online
1,674,021 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
thanks for the luagh I need it.
A little rough around the edges, but a cute story nonetheless. Have a like!
This was way too cute!
Read this sentence carefully and delete one of the doubled words.
You can solve this.
Okay; let's talk ranks.
First, why is Shining an enlisted. We know that the end state is that he becomes a captain (R), this means that he needs to spend several years as an officer. He would be a cadet in training, then a 2lt., then a 1lt., then a captain (if you consider army promotions, navy would be a whole other story as captain (N) is a flag officer position. Further, there is no way any officer can just promote a soldier (battlefield promotions are a messy thing and I'm going to disregard them due to dubious legality); there are promotion boards and stringent (kinda, it sometimes depends on the command, but assuming that the unit protecting the palace is considered to be one of the best, it's almost definitely stringent) processes. There are also a whole bunch of rules on how long you have to serve before you can be considered for another promotion. The problem here is that Shining could have been placed on a promotion list and be rocketed to the front of it, but as he is a private, the best he could hope for would be corporal. There's also a massive change in responsibilities; the ability to stand guard regardless of what's going on might be a good trait for a private, but as you get more responsibility, the ability (and showing this ability to the promotions board) to think for yourself and on your feet becomes more important than following orders blindly (though that still does play a vital role).
Not bad but this feels a little on the short side and void of real connection. I want to like this, but it's too fast and there's not enough details. It's worth a thumbs up, as it is cute.
8085518
It was a short story. And would have been shorter if I didn't have to have minimal of 1000 words. I had to think up something fast for the end cause I wanted people to enjoy this story. I may make some modifications soon. I just wanted to get this short story out there before it left my mind for good.
8084694 I do agree. He's more likely to be a lieutenant, maybe thanks to going through an ROTC course at High School, or maybe a sergeant at the very minimum, attending the Officer's training course. Either way, he has thirteen years to make Captain in between Twilight's elevation to Celestia's student and the wedding.
But apart from that... Totally cute! I could so imagine Twilight doing that to Shining Armor as she worked next to him.
It needs an editor to fix some spelling/grammar mistakes.
8087002 True, but that's still a lot of promotion for 13 years in what's presumably one of the most competitive spots. Even having done a JROTP, then an ROTP that's four years (probably more) followed by three ranks in the Royal Guard. Possible, but I don't really buy it happening. It's all pretty irrelevant though.
8087715 Again, I do agree. If he'd started as a lieutenant, especially with Twilight as Celestia's protege, then he's got a much better chance of going up through the other three ranks to Captain (Who would most likely have to be appointed by Celestia herself, mind you) than starting up from the very bottom. It's not impossible, with the way he's jumped already in the story, but it's much more difficult.
8088659
8088659
I understand this has some military aspects to it. But can we please use our imagination here a bit, and say that the way ones get promoted is different in Equestria's Military. I myself am military and know all about how the ranks work. But this is an imaginary world, and in this reality, the military rules we go by are not the same as in Equestria. Please just bare with me on this.
Okay, that was absolutely freaking adorable.
I think we can all agree that the royal guard is fucking weak. They've never seen violence and war, and their weapons and armor are outdated. There is evidence for this, an example being when the Changelings attacked Canterlot. Shining armor, one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria at the time and the rest of the royal guard, were so unbelievably weak that they allowed the entire changeling army to invade their city, capture their monarchs, and defeat their military. It got so bad, that 6 bridesmaids- BRIDESMAIDS were more capable than the entire royal guard!
How many rank did he skip?
9365608
To be honest, I don't know the ranking system of Equestria. As for how many were skipped. I'm gonna say, maybe, two. It's a fanfic, just role with it. Don't bring real life technicalities into the mix.
9301274
I mean the 6 bridesmaids did have magical artifacts known for... Let me see... Turning Discord to stone, sending a pony to the moon, and stripping all the evil off a pony. So basically forcefully shoving harmony into someone and if they refuse punish them severely. Oh no the guards suck too, I'm not defending them.
This is a pleasant read, with just enough cuteness from filly Twilight and just enough worried courage from Shining Armor to balance things out. IMO the "Random" tag isn't needed, and could actually be misleading. This is a very simple, straightforward and heartwarming art-prompted vignette. Nicely done!
Even now, there is one thing I'd like to say...
MMMOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!
11432616
11434968
No problem 😊 although it's the pony and wolf you'd want to thank ❤️
11437247
I am very thankful for them doing it. Honestly, I was surprised they read it and recorded it. Not that I'm complaining, I just never figured the story was worthy enough to be given an audio reading. The way he reads it also makes the story itself enjoyable from audio.