Chapter 1 (non-gore)
Don’t get provoked, kid, just stay calm. You’re on duty, remember how important your service is to the Princesses and the city. Keep a straight face, show no emotion and… well done, cadet!
“Anyway, sergeant, it looks like it’s my shift now,” a stallion called Lance Tail stated, snapping me out of reverie. “I feel bad for the guys, you know? They always seem to be getting the worst hours!”
I chuckled, knowing that the fellow guard was absolutely right. Still, it made me proud that even during the said worst hours – which manifested themselves in the form of rather disconsolate merchants of the Traders Guild – my squad kept performing admirably. Especially that young cadet, the latest addition to our team, who had just defused the growing tension all by himself.
“Guard the Fortress, sir!” Lance said, to which I responded with a nod.
Bah! The guys were really fond of that name, even if it was nothing more than a cramped booth with a table, two oaken chairs, a schedule of stationed guards’ duties and a small window overlooking the Aphelion Gate, a massive ivory arch being the main entrance to the Canterlot Castle grounds.
Our sentry post was nothing spectacular, and calling it ‘the Fortress’ was vastly exaggerated and far-fetched, but it was important to me and my squad. Besides, we were content with the state of things. We were Their Royal Highnesses’ soldiers, and we didn’t require – we wouldn’t require – anything more than that.
The stallion grabbed a steel-headed wooden spear from a weapon rack and paced outside.
Hailing from a family of soldiers, Lance always lived in the shadow of his brother, Sword Tail, who was also of the Royal Guard. Although the latter turned out to be better than his younger brother in almost every task during their academy years, and thus advanced higher in ranks, I believed he lacked a certain virtue that Lance had: a good heart. I mean, a really good heart. For Lance, being a guard wasn’t about shining with your armored flank during parades or diplomatic events. It was about proving that underneath the steel and gold surface there was a living, breathing stallion who cared deeply about the safety of every single citizen of Canterlot.
I watched through the window as Lance was relieving the other guard, Quick Bronze. With a certain ceremonial, the stallions raised their hooves and put them to their star-emblazoned chests, nodded, and then switched places in perfect unison. That marked the beginning of the next shift at the ivory arch.
Quick Bronze entered the booth.
“I tell you, sergeant, this kiddo will be a pride of the Guard one day!”, he put the spear away and removed his helmet – a mere piece of uniform, one could say. But there was something more into that. It was a sign of affiliation with all the ideal the Royal Guard adhered to: courage, duty, devotion, to name a few. And it was magical!
Few ponies did realize that the members of the Royal Guard weren’t all white and gray. Although there was nothing more heart-gripping and respect-inducing than a sight of perfectly aligned rows of almost identical soldiers, we actually came in all kind of shades and colors. It was the enchanted armor that made us all look alike, spreading the illusion altering our coats, manes and irises. Some high-ranking guards, for example captains, had a privilege of showing their native colors and thus marking out their position and expertise.
As Quick Bronze put his helmet away, his eyes went back from azure to dusk-violet shade. There was even a saying among the Guard: to know somepony to his eyes, which essentially meant knowing him very well or having served with him for a long time. And I knew my boys to their eyes, even the unicorn cadet.
“What about him?” I asked.
“You should have seen his face when these ponies of the Traders Guild came by with their remorse!”
“Was it… disoriented?”
“Unstirred!” Quick Bronze replied with a grin. “He talked them out of causing a ruckus, politely explained why they cannot see the Princess today and kindly asked them to clear the area. And they complied!”
I glanced outside. The merchants were still out there, although they moved a few good paces away from the gate. From what I reckoned, they were chattering lively but I could spot no immediate threat in them.
“I don’t know his background well,” Quick Bronze continued, “but choosing to join the Guard was a great decision. He fits so well!”
“Do you know why did he enroll to the academy in the first place?” I asked, to which the stallion shook his head. I chuckled in return and leaned forward.
“Our dear cadet, Zealous Charge, wanted to…” I deliberately paused for a while to intensify the drama, causing Quick Bronze to respond with a frown, “…impress his marefriend.”
“No kidding?” the guard’s eyes widened as he fell on the chair. “Really?”
“I know, right?” I replied. “We’re making all these promotional posters and campaigns encouraging to join the Royal Guard, talking about the importance and responsibility, and all we get is a bunch of wannabe brawlers who don’t have the slightest idea where’s left, yet alone right during the drills. And then a random colt who probably lost a bet turns up and becomes the most promising candidate!”
“She must be worth it,” Quick Bronze stated, rocking back and forth on the chair.
“She probably is,” I nodded. “He told me he’s taking her to the Acquarellion place this weekend.”
“Aw, the sophisticated restaurant? Then she is most definitely worth it! But how can he even afford that luxury, being a full-time academy student and all?”
“Academy scholarship.”
Quick Bronze’s chair movement suddenly stopped, landing loudly on the floor. Uneasy silence fell on us, and I knew exactly why. Using a military jargon, I’d say I just achieved a tactical victory, leading the conversation towards the issue of money, the only topic that was rather avoided by otherwise talkative Quick Bronze. And not without a reason.
“How is she?” I asked, looking at the stallion and catching a glimpse of sadness in his eyes.
“Didn’t get any better in weeks,” he turned away and paused for a while. Then he continued, his speech becoming a whisper with each word spoken. “I fear that… you know, she doesn’t have much time left,” another long pause. “Yeah.”
Remember what I told you about Lance Tail and his brother? Well, Quick Bronze didn’t have an easy life, either. In fact, what he went through would be enough baggage for two or three ponies. He grew up without a father – the less told about him the better – and had a pretty rough time on the streets of Canterlot when he was a colt. And I don’t mean those squeaky clean streets like the Promenade of the Rimway, I’m talking about dark alleyways deep in the less-than-noble parts of the city. Contrary to popular belief, Canterlot did have those districts. Perhaps not as wide as the corrupted city of Manehatten, but equally shady.
Somepony got him out of the world filled with violence, drugs and crime and offered him a place amongst the Royal Guard. Reluctant at first, young Quick Bronze could not only save himself, but he also managed to earn the academy scholarship, most of which he allocated to help the family budget and his growing filly sister, denying any luxuries to himself.
And now his mother was slowly fading due to some incurable disease, that kind of disease in which medication could only ease the pain and did not provide any actual treatment. I probably knew more than I should, but I always considered in my duty to take care and provide moral support for the rest of the guys.
“I understand,” I simply said.
Quick Bronze didn’t want to be patronized at all, but I felt he needed that once in a while. He didn’t want to bother anypony with his problems, which he shared – just like he shared his past – only with that certain stallion who helped him out.
“I’m going to check on the cadet now,” I stood up. “Guard the Fortress, Bronze.”
“Yessir!” he replied, straightening up and saluting as I was passing by.
I went outside to once again welcome the day, as peaceful and pleasant as every other in Canterlot. I immediately felt a gentle, soft kiss of spring breeze on my cheek. The fact that the Sun was rising in the east and setting in the west was something brought by Her Royal Highness, but the weather itself was something administrated by the ponies.
Unlike most places in Equestria, which depended on their pegasi Weather Teams to run the weather issue, our city had its unique, specialized Weather Corps, a team of skilled unicorns who excelled in realigning the cloud patters, bringing the rain and creating all sort of weather phenomena. The magically controlled weather was a great innovation, and although I didn’t really trust the magic itself, I had to admit that the unicorns could put it into a good use – I felt it in the gentleness of the breeze, in the liveable temperature and the rain which came usually when everypony was safely inside their homes.
I marched towards Zealous Charge, winking to Lance Tail. A corner of the latter’s mouth moved up slightly, but his face remained steady overall. He knew what was about to happen.
The instructors at the Hurricane Academy, named after a famous pony warrior of the past, had issued that every cadet’s individual progress during a field practice had to be monitored, inspected and evaluated by their superior officer, which in that case meant me. I never really liked the formalities, but I had to make it look like an inspection, at least. And fill a ton of paperwork afterwards.
I took a deep breath.
“Attention!” I exclaimed loud enough to cause a stir amongst the still blabbering merchants.
“Sir, yes, sir!” Zealous Charge replied with passion. He was so focused on his responses, so tense in my presence that he hardly even blinked. Truly, he was earning his name every day.
“Cadet, report!”
“Sir! No immediate threat to the Princesses or the Castle, sir! The Aphelion gate outpost guarded and secured!”
I trotted around the unicorn several times, like some kind of fearsome veteran trying to find a loose strap, a stain or a scratch on the armor – namely anything that would lower a cadet’s overall score and mark. I found none.
“Very well,” I said in a much less formal tone, nodding in appreciation. “Cadet, you bring honor to the Royal Guard. Keep at it.”
“Thank you, sir!” Zealous Charge beamed with pride. He tried to hide it, unsuccessfully, but I intentionally overlooked that, and simply walked away. He surely had a hard time with the instructors at the academy, I didn’t feel it necessary to put more pressure on him.
And just when I was about to enter the booth, I felt that something was wrong… with the air. The breeze was no longer gentle, but rather harsh, the temperature dropped palpably and I was under the impression that an unscheduled storm was about to rip the sky apart.
I turned around and saw a stallion approaching my guards. He definitely wasn’t a merchant – which merchant would wear a black cloak covering the top half of his face and body? Only his horn, gnarled muzzle and dark grey limbs with even darker hooves weren’t covered. That enough sufficed to classify the stranger as a potential danger.
“Hold right there!” Lance tail said, and the guards’ spears blocked the passage, denying entrance to the hooded figure. “State your business!”
The stallion raised his head and spoke. He sounded like any other stallion would, but there was also something sinister about him, something elusive in his voice. It’s difficult to explain, you just know that when you see a chap like that.
“I am here to speak with the Princesses,” the stallion said. “All three of them.”
“You are not allowed to enter the Castle just like that,” Lance tail continued. “State your identity.”
Maintaining a firm grasp on his spear, Lance paced towards the stranger. With his unarmed hoof, he reached towards the stranger and removed his hood. And just when he did, and we saw a spiky, white mane and unhealthy yellow eyes with slits for pupils, the unthinkable happened.