Guardian of the Night

"Star Shield?  Star Shield wake up!"

Star Shield rolled over in his bed and covered his ears with his his pillow.

An annoyed huff came from the doorway.  "Star Shield, you're going to be late!"  Feather Wind walked over to the bedside and pulled the cover away.

Star Shield moaned and slowly raised his head, his eyes immediately went to his clock, he sprang out of bed and sprinted down the hall to the bathroom.  Sleeping late could only mean one thing, Comet must've changed my alarm again!  Star Shield took a quick shower and dried off, he brushed his teeth, mane, and tail in a frenzy.  Comet had a tendency to mess with Star Shield's alarm clock, especially if he knew that there was an important event to be at.

He could hear his mom calling from downstairs.  "Star Shield, you have five minutes!"

He finished cleaning up and ran back to his room.  "Be right down!"  He grabbed his satchel off of his bed, threw it over his shoulder, and went downstairs.  His father, Dusk Oak, and Feather Wind were standing by the door.

Dusk Oak gave his son a smile and a hug.  "Good luck son, I know you'll do well."

Star Shield smiled.  "Of course, thanks dad."

Feather Wind embraced Star Shield, her eyes were filled with tears.  "Do well honey, try to write when you can."

Star Shield nodded.  "I will mom, see you guys!"  He went out the door and waved a few last goodbyes.  He sprinted off to the station, the conductor was just about to signal the engineer to go.

Star Shield sprinted up onto the platform.  "Wait, I have a ticket for Fort Hoovington!"  The conductor took the ticket and nodded.

Star Shield quickly got on the train, it lurched forward as soon as he was on board.  He found an empty bench in the corner of one of the cars, he dropped his things beside him and sat down by the window.  He sighed deeply.  Man, if I had been a minute later, there wouldn't be a train to get on.  He thought about getting back at his little brother, but he dropped the thoughts, he would never do anything mean to the little guy.

He could see a mare come in from one of the other carriages, she was looking for a seat, everypony had already filled up the car except for where Star Shield sat.

"Hey, theres a seat here if you want to sit."  The mare walked over to him, she had a dark grey coat, teal eyes, and a dark red colored mane.

She plopped down on the bench opposite of him.  "Full train huh?"

He nodded.  "What's your name?"

She smiled and held out a hoof.  "Moonfire, you?"

He took the shake.  "Star Shield.  Where are you going?"

She puffed her chest proudly.  "Fort Hoovington, I'm going to be a Royal Night Guard."

He was surprised, not many Ponyville resident's want to join the military.  "Awesome, same here."

The two lapsed into silence, they're eyes slowly strayed towards and out the window.  The countryside of Ponyville had already disappeared changing into mountainous land, the tall peaks seemed to stretch towards the highest points in the sky.  Since the ride was a couple of hours Moonfire decided to take a nap, Star Shield on the other hand looked out to the unknown countryside with wonder, he had never ventured past Ponyville, he had always wanted to though.

As Hoovington's station approached he shook Moonfire lightly to wake her up.  She raised her head groggily.  "We there yet?"

"Yeah, we're there."  She got up from the bench and stretched explosively.

He smiled.  "You slept like a rock."

She yawned.  "Yeah, I know, I have natural talent."

The train came to a halt at the station, it was the last stop on the route so it would turn around from this point at a nearby railyard to make the turn and return to Fillydelphia or Canterlot.  A soldier came on board, his face serious, and looked at the ponies that remained on the train.  "Alright you meat sacks, welcome to Fort Hoovington!  Meet drill instructor Steel Hoof in ten minutes after you have dropped your shit at the barracks."

All of the ponies abruptly got up from where they were sitting and filed out of the train.  They were guided to the barracks by a few officers, they were assigned numbers that would tell them where their bunk was.  Star Shield received the number seven, he found the bed and dropped his things on it.  He and the other recruits made their way to the training ground where a buff, gray earth pony was standing.  He looked critically over the recruits, his eyes were glistening red.

The last few of the ponies came out from the barracks, they slowly trudged to the training ground, several minutes late.  Steel Hoof looked at the late comers with annoyance.  "I am your drill instructor, Sergeant Steel Hoof, you all have the unfortunate privilege of being trained by me!"  He continued to look at the late arrivers.  "Since your fellow recruits found it fitting to be late, you all will do thirty laps around the track.  Now."

Some of the recruits in the back groaned, they were the few who were late.  Steel Hoof glared at the hesitant recruits.  "Make that fifty!"

Dumbasses, you don't complain!  Just shut up and do it!  Star Shield began his running, the sun was still relatively high in the sky, he started out strong for the first twenty or so laps.  Ponies slowly began to gap from one another, some of the already fit, earth ponies who had worked for the majority of their live's lead the pack, after about twenty-three laps he could feel his limbs begin to burn with the strain, his pace was beginning to slow.  After about forty he was ready to just give up like some of the others had, but the instructors were on them in seconds, forcing them to do one hundred pushups.  Come on Star Shield, just five, more, laps!  He could barely feel his limbs under the burning sensation.

After he had finished, panting, he was told to return to the training grounds by a trainer.  He walked back at a moderate pace, he figured that it would look good if he came back still with a little juice.  Steel Hoof looked at him and some of the other recruits with him with a small hint of approval.

After they had all finished Steel Hoof spoke again.  "I bet that got your attention fillies, we do not support laziness, or lateness at this fort, if you are going to be Royal Night Guards then you had better learn quick!"

The exhausted troop stood at best attention they could, many of them were ready to collapse, breathing was heavy on the training ground, one of the mares passed out and fell to the ground.  Medical staff was quick to get her off the field, some of the ponies looked at her as she left, fear began to seep into their eyes

Steel Hoof chuckled.  "Alright fillies!  Give me two hundred push ups!"

Not a single recruit groaned this time, they didn't want any more punishment that they were already getting.  Star Shield began the exercise at a decent pace, he had been able to recover a bit since it took the others quite a bit of time to finish the running.  He felt the burn come back  with a vengeance about halfway through, he forced himself as he did before to finish it.  Only he and a few other ponies could finish the exercise, the others curled up and began to vomit after the physical exertion, Star Shield was barely able to hold himself from doing the same.

Star Shield was sixth to get back on his hoofs.  Steel Hoof was eyeing all of those who finished his activity.  After all ponies were done he continued.  "Good job fillies!  My grandmother could have done that exercise faster than you did!"  He motioned for the trainers to bring out the water.  Each recruit quickly drank the warm liquid, many just sat down on the ground, sweat dripped off of everypony, the late day sun didn't help very much either.

"Recruits, at attention!"  They all quickly got up as quickly as they could and stood at attention.  "Our next activity will prove your aptitude to working in the night, you will be separated into squads of five, your objective is to capture the enemies flags.  You will have multiple opponents, you will be outnumbered, this will teach you to fight at odds, and hopefully, it will teach you to be a silent killer."  Some of the ponies feared that they would be killing one another.

Steel Hoof quickly banished this idea.  "You will be each given a crossbow with stun arrows, these will impair your enemies and take them out of the fight."

Dusk was slowly approaching, they were given their basic uniforms and were on standby for their squad designations.  There were forty recruits, the squads were divided up by Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Sigma, Omega, Theta, and Epsilon.  Star Shield and Moonfire ended up in squad Omega.

One of the recruits piped up.  "How will we have enough room for eight teams without being crowded?"

Steel Hoof nodded.  "Fair question recruit, you all will be given a map of where your flag is, and the area around it, that will be where you defend.  See these mountains and valleys, this is the environment that you will fight in.  You will not be allowed back into the base until all the other flags are taken or every enemy pony is paralyzed.  We will supply you with basic equipment so that you will be alright for the few hours."

Wait, they're sending us out into the night, for several hours, with no support, and the only way to get out is by winning or being stunned.  Great... just great. A trainer handed Omega Squad each a crossbow and a pack of supplies.

Steel Hoof checked over them one last time.  "Alright trainees take your maps and find your flags, the exercise will start in an hour!"

They all gave a definite 'Yes sir!' and walked out of the base towards the mountain.  The cool night air began to ease their tired muscles.

Star Shield, Moonfire, and the three others quickly separated from the other recruits and made their way towards their location, it was near a river and west of a large tree.

Night had already shaded the mountain range when they reached their location, the river was moving at a rapid rate, their flag was waving on a stand.

Two of them were out of breath, they were a part of the few who gave up during the running exercise.  "What the hell, first day and we're already having to do all of this shit!"

Moonfire was quick to silence him.  "You should've known what you signed up for you dumb shit.  Now shut your mouth and defend the flag, Star Shield and I are going to kick some of the other recruit's asses."

The one who made the comment glared at her, the other simply was trying to catch his breath.

Star Shield looked at the third.  "Your in command here, you know what to do."  The third nodded.  Even I have no idea what I'm doing...

Moonfire was already going into the forest, Star Shield jogged to catch up with her.  They moved quietly through the valley, they waited for the signal of the activity starting.  After about ten minutes of sneaking through the forest they could see a flare shoot into the the sky from Fort Hoovington.

Star Shield whispered.  "Let's get moving, if we stay to the outskirts they won't notice us."  Moonfire followed him towards the mountain range that helped box in the valley.

They walked in complete silence, about every half hour they could see a chariot come to pick up the stunned.

They could see firelight through the trees, Star Shield motioned towards the light, Moonfire moved to the left, flanking around the other recruits.  Star Shield moved down the middle, straight to the fire lit up the trees.  He stepped into the clearing, the two guards that were there stood, momentarily stunned, one quickly recovered and charged Star Shield.  Shield raised his bow and shot an arrow, hitting the first straight in the chest, he fell to the ground paralyzed.  The second was tackled from above by Moonfire, she hit him over the head with her hoof and knocked the pony out.

She nodded Star Shield. "Good work, thats one flag."  Moonfire grabbed it and put it in her bag.

Star Shield looked back into the forest, his adrenaline was pumping.  "We need to get moving, we don't want to be last do we?"

The chariot came out less and less, every few hours they could see ponies being picked up.  They could see the dawns light come over the horizon and begin to shroud the valley in amber light.  They heard a horn sound and a green flare fire from the fort.

Star Shield watched the flare fall from the sky.  "That must mean the activity is over."  They spread their wings and flew off towards Hoovington, Steel Hoof was there to greet them.

"Good work trainees, you survived the night.  Your team came in third, Delta Squad came in first, and Gamma came right before you."

"Thank you sir!"

He looked over the battle report.  "Information coming from our sources says that you only encountered one group of recruits, Alpha Squad's defensive team, and dispatched them quickly.  That was the only combat that you were involved in?"

They both nodded.  "We were trying to gather the flags with minimal casualties."

He nodded.  "Interesting strategy trainee..."  They saw their other group members come in, only the one who was in command was left.

"Recruit, I understand that you said the other two didn't obey your orders?"

He saluted.  "Yes sir, they were complaining about the exercises and wouldn't listen to me after they left."  He pointed to Star Shield and Moonfire.

Steel Hoof shook his head.  "I'll have a talk with them, if they aren't willing to obey orders then they aren't allowed here."

"Yes sir."

Gamma Squad and Delta Squad walked over to where Omega and Steel Hoof were talking.  He looked at all of them.  "You ponies were the top three squads, good work, your roster will be altered so that you will work side by side."

Star Shield was confused.  "Sir?"

"You all will be Ghost Platoon, this exercise is what separated the recruits, those who had combat and stratigic aptitude were placed up higher, then the group who had an average score, then those who are... less likely to succeed.  Since you all were the top three groups, you will be put together, though any members who were paralyzed have been removed, it will only be you."

Star Shield looked at the other two squads, Gamma had only two left like them, except they were a defensive team, Delta kept all five.  They were doing the same thing, everypony was summing up what each other could contribute.

One of the Delta ponies, a tall smug looking pony, turned to Steel Hoof.  "Who will be the leaders?"

"We will determine that based off of your performance during the next exercise."

All of them seemed satisfied, Steel Hoof walked off to talk to the other squads.

After he talked to the others he stood in front of the other squads.  The remainders of Beta, Alpha, and Epsilon Squad were paired.  The dropouts, Sigma, and Theta squad were paired.  "These squads may be altered depending on how you preform throughout the rest of your training.  Ghost Platoon is for those who are the most likely to survive in combat situations, Wolf platoon is for those who are in the middle, or average, and lastly Joker Platoon are for the slack-offs and other useless pieces of garbage, I only have one thing to say, don't be in Joker!"

Star Shield couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, he was with the top.  Ghost and Wolf Platoon saluted the Sergeant.

Steel Hoof nodded to everypony.  "Now off to bed, tomorrow will be an shorter day, and longer night, considering the fact that its daylight right now, you will wake up later for dinner, you will learn how to be nocturnal.  Everything will be held by night from now on."

Ghost Platoon went off to their barracks, Star Shield got into his bunk and closed his eyes.  Not half bad for a first day, the exercises suck, but I pulled through. The soreness of yesterday, and the night following, set in, his body slumped against the bed and he drifted quickly off to sleep.

***

Come now pony, do you really believe that you can do anything against me?

***

Ghost Platoon stood at attention, it was graduating day for Company 117 of the Royal Night Guard.  Only ten of the ponies that had started training had to drop out or were kicked out.  Eventually Joker Platoon was expelled, many ponies were convicted enough to stay out of that group.  Wolf Platoon had grown to a large number, Ghost Platoon had only increased by three or so, the original few were still in the group.

Steel Hoof stood up on the platform and spoke to the graduating ponies.  "Great work recruits, you all have shown exceptional military prowess during your training, you may have come in here disorganized fillies but now you are soldiers, willing to fight for Princess Luna, you will report to Canterlot once I am done, there Captain Shadow Song will sort through you.  To you of Ghost Platoon you will be assigned to the Elite Royal Night Guard, under the personal guidance of Captain Shadow Song and Princess Luna herself.  One of you though will be selected to become apart of Luna's Personal Guard.  To those of you in Wolf Platoon you will become the bulk of the Royal Night Guard, work hard and you too will become officers.  Ghost Platoon, I am promoting you to the rank of Lance Corporal, to Wolf Platoon, I promote you to the rank of Private.  Good luck soldiers."  He stepped off of the platform and the whole of Company 117 saluted Sergeant Steel Hoof.

Star Shield followed Ghost Platoon over to their private car on the train to Canterlot.  Each of them during their training had evolved into formidable ponies, their physical strength was at least doubled, their minds honed in the arts of Science, Mathematics ,and History, though for Star Shield couldn't do math worth anything, he excelled in Military Science and strategy.

As they stepped onto the train and gave one last look to Fort Hoovington.  Star Shield felt saddened that they were having to go, they became at home with the mountains.

The train pulled out of the station and slowly accelerated off towards the city of Canterlot.  Star Shield looked forward, towards the large plain, and then to the great city.  Royal Night Guard, here I come...