The day started off as slowly as any other training day. Moon pulled the covers off him and jumped down from his second bunk. It was still dark out, which got him curious to the time; the clock showed that it was four in the morning.
Moon thought to himself, ‘Why am I up so early? Well, at least I can take a walk around the battlements.’
He opened up his locker and took out his armour quietly so as not to awaken his roommates. First on was the ever awkward body armour. First it had to be thrown onto the back, then tightened using straps on the chest and stomach. It was quite easier to do with two ponies, but Moon was used to getting it on himself. Next were the shin guards. He really had to tighten them a lot, since the quartermaster didn't care for his complaints of them being too large. Lucky for him, he got a helmet that fit his head perfectly. His ears slid perfectly through the holes on top of the helmet as the cold steel enclosed his head. Lastly, he threw his sword belt over his head and made sure his sword hung comfortably at his side. Prepped for the day to come, he opened the barrack’s door and walked out, closing it quietly behind him.
As soon as Moon was outside, the cold morning air invigorated him, making him fully awake at last. The moon was high in the sky among an armada of stars. They seemed like they were an army, waiting for the orders from the moon to move and attack someone.
On top of the battlements, the morning breeze was colder and stronger than on the ground. The cold was one reason the night watch never fell asleep on duty. It was a softer breeze than most mornings however. It felt good against Moon’s face as he trotted onward. He started to think about his upcoming deployment against a small mercenary group nearby. The mercs had been ransacking towns for supplies and members, killing all that didn’t agree to join them. According to reports, they always left at least a few survivors in order for them to spread fear of the group. Luckily, some of the survivors had gone to Princess Luna for help. Upon hearing of her subjects being harmed, she sent word for their camp to be raided as soon as possible. Fort Frozrin was the closest fort to the encampment, so forces were to be sent from there. Moon just happened to be stationed at Fort Frozrin. According to the scouts, the mercs numbered around three hundred. The fort had a force of seven hundred ready to fight.
Moon’s shin guard slipped down his leg and clanked off of the battlements. “Halt!” A guard faced him quickly, sword in mouth. “Identify yourself!” Moon walked into the light of the closest torch. “Oh, it’s just you Moon Friend. You surprised me there.” He sheathed his sword. “With a coat that dark of a blue, you would think you’d be a scout or something like that. Then you take your battle test and prove to everyone that you’re a fighter. Is there anything you can’t do?”
Moon replied, “Come to think of it, I've never been too good at cooking. Then again, maybe that IS another talent of mine; I can create poisons the likes of which have never been seen before.”
The guard chuckled. “Great, you’re a comedian too.” This guard looked familiar, but he couldn't quite put his hoof on it. He obviously knew who Moon was, but there are so many soldiers in the fort; it’s hard to keep track of them all. It was possible he knew him from training. His face brought up memories of snoring and ringing. Why does he remember ringi-?
The guard hit him on the side of his head, sending his helmet into wild vibrations. Moon faintly heard through the ringing, “Hey, I asked you a question.” He brought his hoof up again, preparing to hit him again. As the hoof came down, Moon deflected it with his own hoof and quickly knocked the guard down on his back with the other. He put his hoof on his chest and drew his sword to his neck.
“Whoa, hey, I’m on your side! It’s me, Ritzy! Don’t you remember me?”
After a brief moment, Moon stepped back and took his hoof of his chest and sheathed his sword. As Ritzy got up he said, “You should know better than to strike a fellow Lunar Guard member.”
“Well you should know better than to pull your sword on a fellow Lunar Guard member!”
“Did you not pay attention in the self-defence class?”
“I did. The sergeant said to only use as much force as necessary to stop an attacker.”
“That is what I did. I stopped you from hitting me a second time. Also, you are less likely to try hitting me again in the future. I am merely protecting me at this moment and later on.”
Ritzy let out a ‘Humph’, straightened out his armour, and then stood back on his watch. He was in the same tent as Moon during basic training. No one ever liked him much due to his constant hitting of ponies and his snoring. Luckily, Moon had Angel Shimmer to help him keep his sanity. He first met the fellow pegasus in basic, though never actually talked too much until second year training started. She had a beautiful dark red coat with a brown mane and tail. Her mane was usually worn in a ponytail, as with Lunar Guard Uniform Standards, though when she wore it down it reached around half of the length of her neck. Her eyes, mixed with green and hazel, lit up when Moon asked her to be his marefriend. It was however, short lived. She was unfortunately stationed at Fort Sogtefan, closer to the castle, but they stayed in touch with letters. They expected a letter from the other every other day, due to the day-long trip it took to deliver the mail.
The rest of Moon’s walk was rather uneventful. The rest of the guards on duty either said a simple greeting or didn't pay him any attention at all. Soon enough, it was time for daily training. The platoon went through the usual fighting drills, ranging from sword-fighting to unarmed combat.
Back in Cloudsdale, he was used to fighting unarmed. It was simple enough to add a weapon to it all. He was sore from having to do it all with armour on. Most ponies never landed a hit on him in their spars, so Moon had asked the sergeant if he could train without his armour. The request was of course denied.
“Sergeant, with all due respect, having me train with this armour is slowly tiring me out. I am used to fighting without it and have yet to lose. Tiring me out just makes me weaker for future combats.”
The sergeant quickly responded, “While that may be true, not every fight on the battlefield will be as easy as these one-on-one spars. You may have an opponent that gets lucky and hits you in the chest.” He poked Moon in the chest with the tip of his hoof. “You may have your attention on one foe while another surprises you.” The master corporal helping teach the class cracked a wooden spar stick across Moon’s back, knocking him to the ground. The sergeant lowered himself so he was speaking right to Moon’s face. “A stray arrow may come across and puncture that skull of yours.” The master corporal kicked a rock at his head.
“You listen to me and you listen well, Private Moon Friend. If you don’t wear that armour into battle, you are a lot more likely to die. When you die, we have one less armed stallion out there fighting for our nation. The enemy that was meant to fight you is now free to back-stab your best friend. Now we are down two stallions. That’s two more enemies unattended to. The number will keep growing and growing until we are out of ponies out there and we lose the battle. All of this will happen because you didn't want to get tired from wearing your armour. I am making you tired with the armour now so that you don’t get tired of it later on in battle. Do you understand?”
Moon gave a weak reply, “Yes sergeant.”
“Good. Now that all of that is cleared up, everyone is to don their armour and do five laps of the training field.” When no one moved, he yelled, “Now! Go!” Everyone got their armour on as quickly as possible as was off running.
By the end of the day, everyone was tired. They all gave Moon a dark look before they retreated to their barracks for the night. When Moon entered his own barrack, he noticed a letter on his bunk. He got his armour off as quickly as he could. Once undressed, he jumped on his top bunk and picked up the letter. As he had expected, it was from Angel.
‘Dear Moon Friend;
‘I have just recently told my family of us being together and they are already sending me letters asking when grand kids are expected. Before you start to panic, they joke like that all the time, so don’t worry.
‘In response to your last letter, I hope you get back from your mission quickly. I don’t want to have to go for too long without reading one of your letters. Sorry for such a short letter today but I am on duty tonight. I've got to go.
Love,
Angel Shimmer’
Moon got out his own piece of paper, a quill, some ink and began to write a return letter.
‘Dear Angel Shimmer;
'Sweet Luna, how many of your past coltfriends did your family scare away with that one? Luckily for you, I am not as easy to get rid of as most stallions.
'As you said, sorry for such a short letter, but with us marching out tomorrow morning, I need to get as much sleep as I can. With that, I bid you farewell.
Love,
Moon Friend'
He sealed the letter in an envelope and brought it to the mailbox near the mess hall. He then returned to his bunk, pulled his blankets on top of himself, and quickly fell asleep.
As they marched forward towards the mercenary encampment, they had to try hard not to be blinded by the rising sun. It was even with the horizon, so any attempt at looking forward was quickly followed with his gaze returning to the ground. Moon was unable to look more than three metres in front of him without being blinded. They had started marching about an hour earlier, but it felt like they had been marching for hours on end already. The sun didn't seem to rise at all. It seemed to just stay still at the horizon, as if its only purpose was to blind the marching army. It was all too perfect.
The front line didn't stand a chance against their assailants as they popped out of trenches. They were grabbed, stabbed, and pushed aside before the soldier even knew what was going on. The rest of the army quickly stopped, dropped their supplies, and drew their swords to fight. Before the second and third lines could even advance on the enemy, a volley of arrows rained down on them and wiped out almost the entire lines. The few survivors were still injured from the volley and quickly dispatched of by the ground troops.
Already a good quarter of the army was killed and not one mercenary has dropped yet. Some of the soldiers turn to run, but were quickly picked off by the archers. The remainder of the army charged forward. A howl of battle cries echoed out over the valley. Cries of pain quickly followed. The mercenaries had the rest of their forces charge forward, creating a sickening crunch between the two walls of armoured ponies. Moon quickly killed one mercenary after another, but they seemed to keep coming endlessly. He was suddenly headbutted in his chest, knocking him backwards. Someone smashed something into his back, causing him the collapse to the ground. A stray arrow flew by and bounced off of his helmet, though it left him dazed. Moon had trouble telling what was really happening. He saw soldiers falling all around him, cries of pain from all sides. He felt a sharp prick in his left side, then his right side. When he examined it, his eyes grew wide with shock, his voice gone from him. A sword had pierced right through him, from one side to the other, right underneath his armour. He looked up, in desperate hope that someone would help him. No one seemed to pay him any mind. They all kept fighting the battle. They killed. They died. They cried out in anger. They cried out in pain. It was all around him. He couldn't move.
A figure was visible in the distance, standing on top of the mercenary camp. It was mostly a light grey, though it seemed to have a blue mane. The figure just stood there, watching the battle with it's eyes. A strange light started to emit from the figure, almost as if from their hooves. They held up their front hooves, and the light disappeared. Nothing special seemed to have happened. The figure just confused Moon more than anything.
Suddenly, the mercenary forces closest to the camp started to fly into the air. Screams of surprise and terror echoed from them, from the moment they lifted off, to the moment they landed with a crunch. It was as if a giant wave of air was pushing all the mercs into the air, but the Lunar Guard seemed immune, as if it was nothing more than a light breeze. The wave of air continued to move farther out from the camp, gaining speed as it traveled. It was quickly upon Moon. He started to rise.
His eyes bolted open. He sat up and looked around. Moon was still in his barracks, laying in his bunk. He soon realized that it was a dream. The strangest thing was that Moon understood most dreams rather well. Faces you saw are faces that you have seen before in your life, no matter how long ago or how briefly. The question was, where did that light grey figure come from?
Author's Note
This has been a work in progress for months upon months, but I never really got around to working on it very often. Most of the time spent on this story was either earlier than 09:00 or later than 01:00, so some mistakes may be present. Any comments are appreciated. I will continue this story, though the more that people like it, the more I will work on it to get chapters out sooner.
