Chapters Chapter 2: Day One (Revised)
The night was dark and the moon was high, Star Shield slowly trekked through a hushed forest, barely able to even hear his own footsteps.
He looked around for something familiar, something that would provide guidance to him. "I must be in a dream..."
A voice called out from the darkness. "Why are you here little pony?"
Star Shield's eyes darted around his surroundings, searching for the voice, he reached for his sword and was startled when he realized that it wasn't there. He looked into the shadows with confidence, and secretly fear. "Who are you?"
The voice laughed, it sent chills down Star Shield's spine. "We are fear little pony, run while you still can." The voice seemed to call to him from everywhere at once.
Star Shield looked down and saw the ground slowly consuming him, he couldn't budge, he couldn't move away from the darkness, all he could do was stand and wait for the damp earth to consume him. In the distance he could hear something, something that sounded like a whistle.
***
"Star Shield, wake up, the trains arrived!" Star Shield bolted upright in his seat, he looked around the carriage frantically, his eyes looked wild from his encounter with the being in his dream.
Moonfire jumped back from her friend. "Woah cowboy, calm down, theres nothing out to get you."
Star Shield's breath was rapid, slowly realized that he was back in the train, which had recently arrived at Canterlot Central, the main hub for all railroads in Equestria. He steadied his breath. "Sorry... I had a very, very bad dream." He still could feel the cold sweat on his back.
She gazed at her friend for a second, she shook her head and shrugged it off. "It's alright, come on, Ghost Platoon is ready to go."
Star Shield nodded, stood up, and stretched. "How long was I asleep?"
"You nodded off after we left Hoovington."
The two followed the rest of their comrades out of the train, since they were pegasi they quickly took off from the ground to avoid all of the station traffic. They flew high over the city towards their destination, Canterlot Castle, where the princesses of the night and day lived. They all landed simultaneously at the face of the Front Gate, a one of the Celestia's Royal Guard walked up to them.
"Are you Royal Night Guard, Company number 117?"
A volley of 'yes sirs' came from the new trained soldiers, the guard pony turned and waved up to the gate pony who disappeared from sight. A few short seconds later the gate slowly opened and revealed the Garden of Faust. "Alright recruits, just go down that way and to the right, you will see a medical building, go to it and get your transformations. After that go to the main grounds, Captain Shadow Song and Captain Shining Armor will be waiting to brief you on your new positions."
They all walked through the garden slowly, none of them could have ever believed that they would be in Celestia's palace, let alone living and working there. The medical building was easy to spot, it had a large red cross over the main entrance. The doctors were waiting for them, each of the troop were numbered and they told them to wait for the procedure. Star Shield had gotten there last, so he was to be transformed last.
The doctors were able to work quickly after year of experience, each cadet was in and out in less then five minutes. After about an hour it came down to just Star Shield, one of the nurses motioned for him to come into the room. He pointed to a platform in the center, four nurses were standing, waiting for the doctor.
"If you would just stand perfectly still and stare at that red dot." Star Shield focused on the small red dot on the wall, the nurses spread out in a circle, one in the front, back, and one on each of his sides. Small specks of light appeared on the end of their horns, four beams erupted from their horns and hit Star Shield, his body slowly began to glow from the magic.
After about a minute Star Shield was beginning to worry, nothing was happening, his wings didn't look any different than they had before. Is there something wrong with me? The nurses stopped after the doctor called out to them. The doctor looked at his clipboard and bore a look of profound confusion, the nurses also seemed to hold the same expression. "Is there something wrong doctor?"
He shook his head slowly. "No, nothing, as far as your medical charts you are in peak condition, I guess that your body can't seem to accept the transformation spell... very strange. None the less, you are ready to go, just because you can't take on the bat-like appearance doesn't mean you can't be a Royal Night Guard."
Star Shield sighed in relief and stepped off the platform, he quickly walked out of the hospital and to the main grounds where the rest of Ghost Platoon were standing. Moonfire spoke to him while staring at the balcony where Shadow Song and Shining Armor were looking down on them. "What happened, why aren't you like us?"
Star Shield shook his head. "The doctor didn't know, he said it doesn't interfere with anything so he dropped it."
Moonfire held the same peculiar expression that the doctors had. Star Shield rolled his eyes. "Forget about it."
Shadow Song stepped forward and addressed the platoon. "Welcome newbies, to Canterlot Castle, you have gotten here after extensive training and hard work. Since you all are the top of your class I am talking to you personally. You have shown exceptional skill in the arts of combat, stealth, and strategy, you have all been promoted to the Elite Guard. I must say even though you inherit this position, you cannot just go around like some stud. You will still obey chain of command and you will still follow orders to the key! Am I clear!"
They all shouted. "Sir, yes sir!"
She seemed satisfied with their response. "Now, you will all be put in the barracks closest to Princess Luna's part of the castle, this will be the only place you are allowed to walk freely in. Even as Royal Night Guards you are only allowed to talk to the princess if she deems it necessary, and you are not allowed without permission into Celestia's sector of the castle, am I clear!"
"Sir, yes sir!"
She nodded. "Alright, Captain Shining Armor has a few words to say to you, you had better listen up!" The captain of Celestia's guard stepped to the edge of the balcony.
"I only have a few things to say to you new guys, congratulations for being able to get here. I only have one question." His eyes turned fierce and his face grew dark. "Are you willing to die for the sake of the princesses, willing to put your life on the line for those in need?"
Not one stallion or mare hesitated. "Sir, yes sir!"
Shining's expression brightened at their response, he nodded to Shadow Song. "Good, I believe Captain Shadow Song gave you your orders, you are dismissed."
Ghost Platoon slowly broke apart, one of the stallions walked over to where Star Shield and Moonfire were standing. "How are you guys doing, I see that you got to keep your wings Star Shield?"
Moonfire smiled at the stallion. "Yeah, Star Shield's pretty special. How have you been Nightwing?"
He sighed. "The train ride was a pain, and my legs have been killing me since those last exercises."
Star Shield chuckled. "Are you kidding, Steel Hoof wouldn't have allowed us out of there without one last death run."
Nightwing laughed. "Yeah, I guess thats true."
Moonfire began to walk away, towards the barracks. "Come on guys, lets go get some rack before nightfall."
The two followed her over the castle grounds and to the Elite Guard's barracks, all of the ponies in there looked like total badasses. One very large white pony came up to the three. "Newbies?"
Moonfire, Shield, and Nightwing saluted. "Yes sir!"
The stallion chuckled deeply. "No need for that, we have some bunks open over there in the corner, make yourselves at home." They saw the three empty beds in the corner, Moonfire and Nightwing took the top bunks, Star Shield took the bottom, right by the window. The evening light seeped in through the window, though it was quickly expelled by one of the large guards, he covered it in a curtain and grumbled about how the light bothers his eyes.
Star Shield let sleep come over him, the cool air in the cabin allowing him to be very comfortable.
He opened his eyes to realize he had awoken in the same forest as before. "Aww, hell no, I am not gonna go through this again!"
The voice came again from the darkness. "You cannot escape pony, I am everywhere."
Star Shield shook his head vigorously. "What the hell do you want anyhow, all I wanted was a good nights rest."
The creature chuckled. "Nothing pony, besides total control over everything you ponies hold dear."
Star Shield scoffed. "World domination, how typical, you know Sombra tried that once and was crushed by a unicorn and a baby dragon... what do you think you can do?"
It laughed again. "Domination? I am looking for extermination guard. First the deaths of your precious Princesses, then the rest of your tiny pathetic race."
Star Shield could feel anger begin to burn inside him. "I'll stop you demon, come to me during the waking world and see how you fair.
"There will be plenty of time for that pony, plenty of time indeed."
Star Shield could feel the dream begin to fade, he yelled out to the voice. "Burn in hell!"
Star Shield's eyes opened, his ears were at attention, to the sound of snoring none the less. Nightwing and Moonfire were still asleep in their bunks, the night was young judging by the position of the moon, and how the dusk's light still flickered on the horizon. Well, time to get to work. Star Shield went over to the locker that was assigned to him, he grabbed the armor that was assigned to him, it was sleek, it's color was a deep purple. He donned the new uniform, it was surprisingly lightweight. In his locker was also a sword with a sheath, he wrapped the strap around him and put the sword in it's sheath.
He walked towards the door and sighed as the crisp night air filled his lungs, members of the Royal Night Guard were walking all around, usually in groups of two, sometimes three. They talked in hushed voices about days past, spoke of stories about great battles and of course their mares and stallions.
Star Shield walked about the grounds, marveling at the architecture and gardening, but most of all, he marveled the night. The stars and moon had always interested him, not in an astronomical sense, but more in a mystical sense. He had always enjoyed listening to tales of ponies of old, constellations made in their honor. He quietly thanked Luna for making and maintaining such a beautiful creation.
He slowly strayed from where the other patrols were going and ended walking into a garden, not like that of the Garden of Faust, it was much smaller, and overgrown. He must've wandered into some sort of unattended section of the castle. He walked through the garden and noticed a small flower, it was silver in color, it smelled sweet and gave off a stunning glow. Wow, who would they leave something like this behind? Star Shield continued on hoping to find some more rare plants, as he continued deeper into the hedges something caught his attention. It was a sound of sadness, the sound of a crying mare, he looked around for the sound but couldn't see anything. He continued on through the dense undergrowth to find a small bench, with a pony sitting on it. He already knew it was a mare judging by the sound of the crying. She was a unicorn and was draped in a dark cloak, her coat had a deep midnight color.
He slowly walked up to the crying mare. "Ma'am, are you alright? Is there anything I can help with?"
The mare raised her head and opened her eyes, they found Star Shield through a blur of tears. She seemed stunned at seeing somepony in this section of the palace, she wiped her tears away quickly and stood up. "No, I am quite alright, thank you. What is your name?"
Star Shield was confused. Well that was strange? "Star Shield ma'am, I am a new member of the Elite Royal Night Guard, Ghost Platoon."
She nodded, her eyes looked over the pegasus critically. "Very well, I think you already know who I am."
Star Shield became even more confused, he couldn't see her entire form through the cloak. "Ma'am?"
She dispelled the cloak in a cloud of bats, the moonlight caused her to glow, the thing that caused Star Shield's heart to stop was the pair of wings that were on her sides. Princess Luna? He stuttered over his words and bowed down before the Princess of the Night. "I am sorry Princess Luna, if I had known, I wouldn't have bothered you!"
The princess expression changed from critical to an uncomfortable smile. "It is alright Star Shield, I am surprised you found me. Are you new here?"
Star Shield stood back up. "Yes ma'am, my company came today from Fort Hoovington."
The princess nodded. "You may dispense of the formalities, I am trying to connect more with the new culture, if you are acting like my previous guard from a thousand years ago then it isn't doing much to help." Her expression faltered from awkwardness to sadness.
Star Shield felt a sudden sense of guilt. "Is everything alright, I wouldn't think the Princess of the Night would cry?"
She nodded again. "Yes, I'm alright, tonight's thoughts simply seemed to have taken a toll." She wiped her eyes again and looked up into the sky, Star Shield followed her gaze. Strange, I thought the princess would be a hardass...
The moon was high in the sky and the stars shown bright. "Your night is very beautiful Princess." Star Shield wished he wouldn't have spoken. Are you shitting me! Did you really just say that in front of your new boss! He mentally slapped himself and checked for the princess's reaction.
Luna's eyes had gone back to the ground and was laughing quietly to herself. She looked over to Star Shield with an amused expression. "Do you really think so?"
Star Shield could feel his face burning. "Yes... It always fascinated me when I was little."
"Well thank you Star Shield, it is always nice to hear somepony appreciate my night."
Star Shield rubbed the back of his head. "Anytime Princess."
Princess Luna began to go towards the passage back to the main ground. "Would you like to walk with me Star Shield?"
Shield was surprised, he nodded rapidly. "Yes ma'am."
She laughed again and the two set off throughout the abandoned section of the castle. They talked about a great many things since Star Shield managed to break the ice. It seemed to be pointed towards Star Shield's personal life though, Luna seemed intrigued by where Star Shield came from, Luna said that she knew the Elements of Harmony, who were in Ponyville, and said that she became good friends with the Element of Magic. Star Shield hesitantly asked about how this part of the castle was abandoned, Luna told him because it was unused and eventually forgotten, the castle was quite large in itself so sections that aren't used didn't surprise him at all. They eventually made their way back to the main grounds and the entrance to Luna's tower, she bade him farewell and disappeared into her room.
Star Shield sighed, he walked back through the large passages and to the barracks, Moonfire and Nightwing were waiting outside and were happy to see him approaching.
Moonfire smiled, she seemed almost embarrassed. "Thanks for not waking us up!"
Star Shield chuckled. "You two seemed alright where you were."
Nightwing looked at Star Shield. "You seem in a good mood? Something happen while we were snoozing?"
Star Shield thought about telling them how he talked to the Princess, but decided that it would be best to keep it to himself. "Just some basic patrols, nothing too serious..."
Nightwing didn't seem very convinced. "Uh-huh, well... glad that patrolling was fun."
Star Shield could feel his face burn. "Yeah, it was nice to see the castle." Star Shield also decided to keep the part of the castle that was abandoned a secret.
The two heard a loud grumbling, they both turned simultaneously to look at Moonfire. She blushed. "What? Come on, we can talk when we get some grub... I'm starving!"
Nightwing chuckled. "We can tell."
Moonfire glared at her friend. "Shut your trap!"
The dawns light slowly approached over the horizon and was beginning to cast an amber light onto the white castle, he could see Celestia standing high on a balcony and slowly raising the sun. Star Shield shook his head. "Thanks, but I could use some shuteye, I had a long night, unlike you two."
Moonfire shrugged him off and Nightwing waved farewell. "Good day sleeping beauty!"
Star Shield went back into the barracks and snuggled into his bed, the dawn's light had been blocked again by dark curtains, so sleep was able to come quickly in the dark barracks. He felt content somehow, and his mind kept drifting back to his Princess of the Night.
Chapter 6: Dinner at Eight? (Revised)
Chapter 3: A Flight in the Night (Revised)
The first few weeks passed as Star Shield continued his duty of a guard. Many moments were boring for him considering the fact that they would either stand around or walk around the palace all night. Though there were moments when things were better, like when he would find Luna in the garden, he loved to go to that area when patrolling, they spoke about a great many things. They would often walk through the aged part of the castle. They rarely spoke on Luna's life, Star Shield thought it was because she didn't want to talk about it.
One night he was back out on patrol when Captain Shadow Song walked up to where he was stationed. "Corporal Star Shield, Princess Luna would like to speak with you."
He was surprised. "Ma'am?"
She shrugged. "Princess Luna would like to speak with you, I would get there as quick as possible though, from my previous experiences she doesn't like to be kept waiting."
Star Shield quickly set off in the direction of her tower, which wasn't far away from where he was, usually the Royal Night Guard stayed near Luna's tower anyway. He quickly went up the spiral staircase and to the Princess' room, the door was large and closed. Two guards stood outside and nodded to him, one of them was Nightwing. He whispered to his friend. "Any idea why I'm here?"
Nightwing shook his head. "Nope, good luck man." The hell is that supposed to mean?
The door slowly opened and Star Shield walked inside, he had never gone into Luna's private quarters. "Princess, I'm here!" He called into the recesses of the room, it was very large, and lined with books to the ceiling.
He saw a shadow come down from someplace up above. Luna landed not far from in front of him. "Ah, Star Shield, good of you to come."
He cleared his voice. "You wanted to see me Princess?"
She nodded and closed the door with her magic. "I have been meaning to speak with you about something."
He listened intently. "Yes ma'am, what is it?"
Her gaze fell for a moment and she bit her lip. She seemed almost nervous before she spoke. Why would the Princess be nervous? Did I do something wrong? "You have been a good soldier, and I was thinking well...."
Star Shield ears were riveted to her voice. "Ma'am?"
She cleared her throat. "I was wondering, if you would... perhaps... want to be my personal guard?"
He could feel his heart stop, he must've heard it wrong, it couldn't be right. No bucking way...
"Ma'am?"
Luna began to look a little awkward. "Would you like to become my personal guard?"
He slowly nodded his head. "Of course Princess, I would love to!"
She let out a sigh and smiled. "Thank you, I was afraid you would deny my request."
He became confused. "Why would I?"
She smiled even wider. Luna then talked about what Star Shield would do as her guard, he would be with her at almost all times, except for when he needed to sleep... and clean herself. He would travel with her where ever she went, her next destination would be his hometown for Nightmare Night. His armor would be given a visual enchantment signifying his rank and would be promoted to Second Lieutenant. He couldn't believe that all of this was happening to him, to him it seemed like a dream, he could hardly believe that he would ever end up here, being in the Elite Royal Night Guard was enough of a surprise when he started out, but to become the Princess of the Night's personal guard was unthinkable!
She dismissed him to go back to his duties, and to pick up his new enchantment. As he walked out Nightwing must have noticed his expression. "You okay man, you look like your on Cloud Nine?"
He had a very goofy smile on his face. "I'll tell you and Moonfire later." He walked off quickly down towards the armory. He found Shadow Song and told her what had happened, she seemed surprised at first. She must've not known? Shadow Song led them to large room, Star Shield was astonished at the weapons that were on the walls, they were lined with all different kinds of weapons and armor.
He was a little confused as to why he was here. "Where are we Captain?"
"Princess Luna's armory." She motioned to the weapon racks. "She would want you to have one of her personal weapons, these were created by the Princess herself, so don't break them."
Star Shield looked through the amazing weapons, each were unique and seemed to have different attributes, only one weapon impressed him above the rest. It was a crossbow, but with a very strange design. "Captain, what's this?"
She looked at the crossbow. "That crossbow can fire an arrow of energy, the power level changes depending on what you set it to. It could be set for paralysis, or it could be charged to such a degree that it can take down very large targets. An all around very effective weapon, the recoil is the only drawback." She studied Star Shield's figure. "Though... I don't think it'll be a problem for you."
A unicorn walked up to the Captain. "We could go ahead and do the procedure now Captain."
Shadow Song nodded. "Very well, Star Shield, stand still, this is the visual modification to your armor."
Before Star shield could think his armor was hit with a purple ball of light, his armor's color quickly changed to a violet so dark that it looked almost black.
"Finished Captain."
Shadow Song dismissed the unicorn, Star Shield gingerly picked up the crossbow, it was heavy, heavier than even the crossbow he trained with. He walked out of the armory with a confident grin, some of the other guards were surprised to see him walking out of Luna's armory, Shadow Song disappeared, she apparently having to attend to some matters. Dawn was approaching over the horizon and Star Shield wanted to talk with Moonfire and Nightwing before they crashed, which they did consistently.
They were standing in front of their bunks waiting for Star Shield. When they saw his crossbow, they were surprised. Moonfire was the first to speak. "Where in the high heavens did you get that? And what happened to your armor?"
Star Shield looked at his crossbow. "Princess Luna."
Nightwing scoffed. "Your kidding me? Luna gave you one of her weapons?"
Star Shield stood proudly. "Well, what do you think?"
Moonfire smiled. "Not half bad, black looks good on you, what can that crossbow do."
Star Shield looked down at his crossbow. "Basically anything, whatever I deem it needed to use."
Nightwing nodded. "That is quite a weapon."
Star Shield chuckled. "Thanks."
Moonfire pressed on. "So why did Princess Luna give you these things, she sure as hell doesn't do that for everypony."
Star Shield motioned for them to come closer. He whispered to his friends. "She made me her personal guard."
Their expressions went from surprise at the new look, to surprise at the news of their friend. Nightwing could only say. "Your shitting me..."
Star Shield shook his head. "I know right, it was amazing, I couldn't even believe the news!"
Moonfire patted her friend on the back. "Getting cozy with our boss I see, nice one."
Star Shield's coat is thankfully black, so nopony could see his blush. "N-no, nothing like that, she and I have just been talking for the past while, maybe she sees me as a friend, or someone she can trust."
Moonfire's eyes turned wide at Star Shield's slip. "Wait, you've been talking with the Princess for how long?"
Star Shield shrugged, he was hoping this wouldn't become a big deal. "Oh, you know, just a few days, maybe weeks."
Nightwing simply just gave up at what Star Shield said. "Alright, I'm off to bed, I must just be dreaming you know." He jumped up in his bunk. "Good day Star Shield."
Moonfire didn't seem to want to drop it, but she did. She went ahead and crawled into her bunk as well. "Good work Star Shield."
Star Shield went off to his locker and dropped off his new crossbow and armor. Should I come up with a name for it? He went back to his bunk where both of his friends were already asleep. He stretched as he got into his bed and let tiredness sweep over him. What a night. He rolled over in his bed and thought about Luna, his thoughts eventually led him to sleep.
He awoke early the next afternoon so that he could have more of the night to spend with Luna. As always Moonfire and Nightwing were still asleep, he snuck out of his bed and to the washroom, he quickly cleaned himself and put on his armor, he hadn't gotten the change of appearance yet. He walked outside into the cool evening air, he took a deep breath and made his way up to Luna's tower, there weren't any guards outside her door. He quietly opened the door and made his way into the spacious room. He scanned the room for Luna but didn't see anything, he looked over to the balcony window, the curtains were moving inside from the outside wind, dusk's light seeped into the dark room.
He could hear humming coming from outside, he peeked around the corner and immediately disappeared from sight. From what he could see Princess Celestia was standing out on the balcony side by side with Luna. The humming stopped and he could hear a voice. "No use in hiding Star Shield." Damn.
He cautiously walked out from behind the wall. "Excuse me Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, I didn't mean to intrude."
She smiled warmly at the worried pegasus. "No need to fear Star Shield, Luna's told me plenty about you, you are more than welcome to join us considering you are her personal guard now." I guess it would make sense she already knows that...
He nervously walked towards the edge of the balcony and stood next to Luna, all three looked out onto the amber landscape, lights were beginning to flicker on in the distant town of Ponyville. He could hear the humming again, it came from the two sisters. It was sweet and light, it sent shivers down his spine, the sound was utterly beautiful. He recognized the tune, it was something his mother sung to him when he was young. Though he didn't realize it at first, but he had begun to hum the tune as well, he was lost in the sound, even so far as continuing when the princesses stopped, they looked at him with surprise.
After about a minute he stopped and felt the sudden silence creep in, he turned to look at the princesses who were still holding the same expressions, expressions of disbelief. He became very worried. "What, was it something I said?"
Celestia shook her head. She started slowly. "No, it's just that... very few ponies know that song. Where did you learn it?"
Star Shield's face began to heat up from the question. "Umm, my mother sung it to me when I was young."
Luna was the next to speak. "Do you know what that song is?"
He shook his head. "No... should I?"
"That is one of the Songs of the Ancients. It was the song of the Two Brothers."
Star Shield was confused. "The Two Brothers?"
Celestia nodded. "Yes, they're names were Angelikos and Erebus, they fought for ponykind against an ancient evil."
"What was it?"
Luna shrugged. "Nopony knows, that was lost long ago, historians were few back in that time, and they didn't know of what the evil was. Then again, history wasn't really recorded before that point. The song was sung after they Two Brothers had defeated this darkness, it was made in their honor and slowly became lost to time. Only a few ponies know of it, let alone know the melody."
"Why, or how, would my mom know of the song?"
"She must have had an ancestor that lived in that time, but that was long ago, your family must have been one of the few who passed it down."
Star Shield looked back out down into the valley. "Well... thats interesting."
The two sisters became quiet, it was several minutes before Celestia spoke again. "Would you like to see the setting of the sun?"
Star Shield looked to where the sun was at the crest of the farthest mountain range. "I would love to Princess."
Celestia spread her wings and quickly lifted into the sky, her horn glowed a bright gold, the sun seemed to cast the same color. Slowly the sun continued down, and sunk behind the mountain, Princess Luna then took off from the balcony as well. Her horn glowed a deep ocean blue, he looked behind them to see a bright white sphere slowly appear in the sky. It was an astounding view.
After their work was done the two landed back down on the balcony, Princess Celestia looked at her sister and the astounded guard. "I believe I will leave you two to it." She quickly flew off down to the castle grounds, he could see Captain Shining Armor waiting for her.
Luna and Star Shield looked out over the kingdom, it was rather beautiful in the nighttime scenery, clouds drifted over the valley, the moonlight cast a silver glow on everything it touched. Star Shield stole a glance at Luna, her coat glowed in the night light, her cyan eyes glistened brightly. She must've seen him steal his glance, since she looked at him, the two quickly broke contact and were blushing.
Star Shield was beginning to grow tired of the silence and awkwardness. "Princess?"
"Yes?"
He looked into the sky. "What do you say about having a little flight, you know, to stretch our wings?"
She nodded slowly and smiled warmly. "That sounds wonderful."
Star Shield took off from the ground. He turned to look at the Princess of the Night. "Then lets go." The two flew into the cool night sky, they soared over the valley and looked down onto the flickering town of Ponyville, Star Shield became lost in the flight. He had always loved the night, but at this point of view, and flying with the Luna made it even better. After what felt like hours they landed on fluffy clouds that were suspended in the sky.
Luna looked up to the moon and the stars, she smiled looking at her domain, her eyes strayed to the moon and her face changed, it became one of sadness.
Star Shield glided over to the cloud she was on. "Is there something wrong Princess?"
She looked away, her expression was bitter. "No, nothings wrong."
He looked at her with concern, his eyes were serious. "You know, you are a pretty bad lier."
She looked up at him, she glared at her guard, the expression quickly subsided though. "I don't know... its just that, I am saddened by the fact that nopony wants to look at my night. Nopony seems to have the time for it."
Star Shield sat down beside her. "Well Luna, the way I see it is that its quality over quantity. Most ponies may love Celestia's day simply because that is when they work and such, but it is the special few, like the Royal Night Guard, and myself that truly enjoy the night much more than Celestia's day. The day lacks a certain beauty that the night can provide, it is hot and bright while the night is cool and dark. Simply saying, in my opinion, your night is much better than the day."
She smiled. "Thank you."
He returned the smile. "No, thank you." He looked over the horizon to the sun coming back up, then he looked back to the palace and noticed the Princess of the Day on her balcony raising the sun. He could almost swear that he saw her smile at him.
He stood. "Come on Luna, let's go."
She got up from where she was sitting and brought the moon down, she looked at the sun as it raised, her gaze seemed much less bitter then it did in the beginning, but it was still sad. The two flew off towards the tower, they parted ways after Luna thanked him for the kind words, Star Shield glided down and landed beside the barracks. He walked inside and took off his armor, he felt some deeper sense of appreciation for some reason. He crawled back in his bed and let sleep overtake him.
Chapter 7: Thunderstorm (Revised)
Chapter 4: Nightmare Night (Revised)
Star Shield's dreams slowly drifted from the forest to a valley. "Must this happen almost every night?"
He scanned the darkness for the dark creature. "Good to see you like my company Star Shield."
Star Shield looked around. "Why do you keep bothering me, I haven't done anything to provoke you."
The being laughed, as it always did. "It is not that, a war is coming pony, I want you to be the first to see what will happen to your precious Equestria." The landscape around him changed to scorched earth, Canterlot was ablaze and the valley below was nothing but devastation, corpses of ponies, stallions, mares, fillies, and colts. The bodies stretched out as far as the eye could see, many of them were stabbed through with spears, some wandered aimlessly through the numerous bodies, screams could be heard in the distance. A wave of darkness quickly approached and enclosed around Star Shield, he gagged at the smell, his eyes could see very well in the dark, he searched for the creature. "This is what will happen pony, you are powerless to stop it."
Star Shield looked around in the darkness, it slowly began to burn his eyes. "I won't let you win, we can stop you!"
"What can you do, you ponies are nothing against me."
His vision became irritated from the thick smoke, anger boiled in his chest, he could feel his muscles tense up. He looked up, a ferocious growl escaped his mouth. "I will find you demon, and when I do, not even Faust can save you!"
He lunged at the darkness, it's laugh enveloped the furious guard and Star Shield awoke from his dream.
***
Star Shield raised his head quickly after being jolted from the dream and hit the bunk about him, he rubbed the mark. What the hell is with that thing, couldn't it go bother somepony else? He groggily got out of his bed and went to the shower room, he turned on the water and let the heat of the shower wash away the dream. He dried off and finished his daily procedure, he opened his locker and grabbed his armor, as he did everyday. Another night, another dollar. He walked out of the barracks and towards Luna's tower, just as he had the night before. Two guards were outside this time around, they nodded to him as he opened the door. Luna was sitting on her throne reading a book when he walked in, as she heard the noise she looked up from it, her expression turned from deep thought to happiness.
She stepped down from her throne. "Nice to see you Star Shield, are you ready?"
He wasn't very sure what she was talking about. "For what?"
She laughed. "For Nightmare Night of course, you surely haven't forgotten?"
Thats tonight?" He chuckled. "Guess I lost track of the days, we don't have a calendar for some reason in the barracks."
She smiled. "It is alright."
They walked out onto the balcony and flew down to Canterlot Central, many ponies were milling about down below, going to clubs and doing other such things to celebrate Nightmare Night. They landed by a sleek dark train in the station, quickly Star Shield could tell that it was Luna's. It was black, with violet accents, it was stunning to look at. Trains had become a much more used means of transportation, it took stress off of pegasi who would pull chariots. Science and engineering produced faster and stronger trains, since then Canterlot Central was created in the capitol and all cities around Equestria, stations were required.
They stepped into the train, it was cool and dimly lit, the ceiling was enchanted to allow the night sky to shine into the car.
Several Royal Night Guards were standing inside the carriage. They were drinking and cutting up at the bar, this was off-duty time, Nightmare Night is one of the RNG's favorite holidays, Luna allows them this night off, they all choose to go with her out of loyalty to her, and the fact that Pinkie Pie does some of the best parties in all of Equestria. As soon as Princess Luna stepped into the car, their entire mood changed, they tried to look professional, some were failing badly, one had already consumed enough cider to start wobbling where he stood.
Luna smiled. "As you were guards." Some of them tried to salute the Princess, but fell over.
The guards quickly returned to their chatting, Luna and Star Shield continued through the train until they arrived at the Princess' private carriage. Captain Shadow Song was standing in the carriage, drinking quietly as the train sped towards Ponyville, she saw the two walk in and waved at them.
They sat down on the couch that faced outside, they gazed out to the countryside, the last remnants of sunlight had disappeared allowing the moonlight to dominate the landscape.
The ride lasted a little over an hour, Luna and Star Shield sat and spoke to each other, Luna told him about the Elements of Harmony, he himself had never officially met them, let alone know their names. She listed them of, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. He mentioned wanting to see his family since he was going to be in town, Luna seemed excited at his idea, she apparently wanted to meet them.
Princess Luna walked out of the train and got up on a platform in front of the entire town of Ponyville, she spoke in her famous Royal Canterlot Voice. "Citizens of Ponyville, I thank you for being here on this glorious celebration! I wish you all the best and hope you have an enjoyable night! With that, begin the festivities!"
Star Shield was a bit surprised at the shortness of the speech, he thought that they would be standing around for at least a couple of minutes. As soon as Luna stepped down music pounded throughout the town from a white mare with an electric blue mane. This feels more like a party than a festival, or a celebration. He shrugged, quite frankly he didn't care, he would rather have a party as to a quiet gathering of the town.
Princess Luna motioned him to follow, they walked through the town, he hadn't been back in seemingly forever, it felt good to be home.
"So, where is your family Star Shield?"
Star Shield scratched his head. "If they are doing what they did last year, then they would be running one of the stands."
Luna smiled. "Would it be alright if we went and talked to them sometime?"
Star Shield still couldn't believe that the Princess of the Night seriously would want to meet his family. "Sure, I don't mind, they would probably be thrilled that you would talk with them."
Luna stopped, they were in town square, she looked around for something. "Is there something wrong Luna?"
She continued to look through the crowd and shook her head. "No, I am trying to find Twilight and her friends."
Star Shield raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't they be easier to spot from up above?"
She looked at Star Shield. She nodded sheepishly. "Of course." They flew several feet into the air, she pointed towards the outskirts of the crowd of ponies, to a tree specifically. "That is where Twilight lives, I believe they are there."
Star Shield shrugged. "Its worth a shot." They flew down towards the tree, Star Shield walked up to the door and knocked, loud music came from within. The door opened revealing a purple unicorn with a deep magenta and violet mane, judging by her excited expression at seeing Luna stand in the door, she must be Twilight Sparkle.
She smiled. "Luna! Come on in!"
Princess Luna rushed passed Star Shield, nearly knocking him over in the process. "Twilight, it is so good to see you!"
Twilight hugged the Princess of the Night, which surprised Star Shield. She looked at the guard standing on the doorstep. "Who is this handsome stallion Luna?"
Luna blushed. "Um, this is Star Shield, he is my new personal guard."
Twilight looked at the guard and smiled. "I'm sorry Star Shield, your welcome to come in too."
Star Shield nodded and walked into the tree, it was a very crowded library, ponies were everywhere, the music pounded against the bookshelves, a small dragon sat on the staircase railing with a lamp shade on his head. Ponies were dancing all over the place, the mare who was at the start of the celebration was the DJ here now. He could see a pink pony jumping around, she could easily jump over the heads of all other ponies. Pegasi were using the high arc ceiling to their advantage and were doing some weird air dance, while flying.
Princess Luna and Twilight pulled him along, up some stairs and into a room. Inside were five other ponies, and the dragon.
Luna spoke to the group. "My friends, this is Star Shield, he is my new personal guard."
The pink gravity defying pony jumped up and down. "Oh wow, this is super awesome, so your her personal guard, does that mean that you two are dating?"
Star Shield felt his face begin to burn, a cyan pegasus laughed at his sudden change in demeanor. "You hit the spot Pinkie Pie, he is as red as could be!" I thought people couldn't see me blush, is it that bad? She rolled in the air, still laughing of course.
Twilight glared at the cyan mare. "Rainbow, that is no way to treat Princess Luna's new guard." The mare came down from the ceiling and tried to stifle her laughter.
A orange earth pony mare walked up to him from the five, she held out her hoof, he took the shake and regretted it, he could feel his bones being misplaced as the strong mare nearly lifted him off of the ground. "Howdy, mah name's Applejack, it sure is nice to meet one of Luna's friends from Canterlot!"
He smiled and nodded. "Thank you." He rubbed his shoulder from the shake.
After Applejack introduced herself, the unicorn named Rarity spoke to him, Star Shield had heard of her before, next and last was a young yellow pegasus, she must've been Fluttershy considering it took five minutes to introduce himself.
After they had all gotten acquainted, they returned to the party, which was still going as strong as it was when they went to the bedroom. Each slowly got lost in the crowd, Star Shield stood to the outskirts. He could see a large red stallion standing alone, he figured that it would be nice to talk to him.
He walked up to the large scarlet earth pony, he had to nearly shout over the music. "Hey, my name's Star Shield, you?"
He held out a hoof, Star Shield cautiously took the shake and met worse results than he had when he shook Applejack's hoof. Judging by how his cutie mark was a large green apple, and Applejack's was three red apples, he assumed they were family. "Name's Macintosh, nice to meet yah."
Star Shield rubbed his sore shoulder. "Thank you. So who are you here with?"
He pointed to three small fillies. "Mah sister Apple Bloom wanted to come to the party with her friends, I was sent to supervise."
A brown earth pony walked up to the two, he hoof bumped Macintosh. "Hey Mac, didn't know you were here. Who's this?" He looked at Star Shield.
"His name's Star Shield."
The brown stallion looked Star Shield up and down. "Night Guard?"
Star Shield nodded. "Yeah, I'm here with Princess Luna."
The stallion raised an eyebrow, he analyzed the different look of his armor. "Personal guard?"
"Yeah."
The stallion held out a hoof, Star Shield politely refused, saying that his shoulder wasn't doing very well. The stallion went on to introduce himself. "My name's Time Turner, most ponies call me Doctor Whooves though."
"What's your doctorate in?"
Time Turner jumped over that subject. "So, how's being a personal guard?"
Star Shield was stumped by Time Turner's change in subject. "Um, it's pretty nice, the work is pretty easy. Princess Luna is a lot easier to talk to than I would have thought originally."
Time Turner nodded, his gaze trailed off into the crowd onto a pegasus mare, she was motioning for Time Turner to come to her. "It was nice to meet you Star Shield, but I think that mare needs someone to dance with." He walked off to the mare, she blushed and two began to dance with everypony else.
After Time Turner left, the three fillies walked up to Big Macintosh, the yellow one looked at Macintosh with pleading eyes. "Mac, can we go get some caramel apples?"
Big Mac nodded and smiled, he waved goodbye to Star Shield and the four went out the door. Star Shield stood alone for at least a half hour, he looked to the ponies dancing in the middle of the room, he almost felt sad that he couldn't join them. He wasn't left alone for much longer, Rainbow Dash landed beside him.
She looked at him. "Why are you standing over here alone Shield?"
He shrugged. "I don't really dance, and Luna disappeared."
Rainbow scoffed. "Are you kidding, you must not be looking." She pointed through the crowd to the lonely princess, she sat at a table, sipping on a drink and looking at the ponies dancing with a look that was pretty close to envy. "I see somepony whose in a similar situation."
Star Shield looked at Dash. "What's your point?"
She pushed him in her direction. "Oh come on, go dance with her, your acting like such a filly!"
Star Shield shook his head vigorously, he blushed at the thought of dancing with a princess. "No, no I can't do that, I just got on the job like a few weeks ago, I couldn't."
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "You guys are never going to dance if you don't engage, sitting will get you nowhere!"
Star Shield stood up straight. "Fine, alright, I'll go see what I can do." Rainbow nodded, her face smug as Star Shield sifted through the crowd.
Luna's gaze traveled to Star Shield as he made his way to her. "Hey Princess."
She smiled at him. "Hello Star Shield, enjoying the festivities?"
He nodded. "Of course, this festival is the best!"
He sat down beside her and took a sip from some punch, Luna looked back to the dancing ponies, Star Shield looked at her, she was a very pretty mare. What's the worst that could happen? He shrugged to himself.
He poked Luna's shoulder. "Would you want to dance Princess?"
She looked at him surprised, her gaze fell and blush spread across her face. She raised her head back up and gave a small nod, Star Shield held out a hoof and lead her onto the dance floor. They stood awkwardly in the middle of the crowd, each looked at the other with the same expressions, embarrassment, and bashfulness. Star Shield smiled to try and encourage her, they slowly began to dance amongst the crowd, the music helped get them started, the music was light and energetic. Rainbow looked at the two and smiled. Damn right Star Shield, you go man! After a few minutes the two began to get more intense in their movements, the heat of the room made sweat appear, the crowd had to part slightly to allow room, ponies on the edge of the room looked at the two dancing. Eventually less and less ponies were dancing until it was only the couples on the dance floor. Star Shield and Luna, after about a half hour the two came to a stop. The music continued on, but the two were spent.
Star Shield looked at the Princess, who was equally as tired as he was, he could feel his ears begin to burn, the blush from earlier returned. All he could do was smile, it was contagious, Luna did pretty much the same, she seemed even more embarrassed than he did.
Rainbow Dash approached them. "Great work Shield, I didn't know you had it in you."
The party continued on until dawn's light could be seen from the windows, many ponies had already left, by the time the party was over there were only a few left, it included the Elements, Time Turner, the gray mare who's name was Ditzy Doo, Luna, and Star Shield.
Star Shield looked out and saw the dawn, he yawned and spoke to Luna. "I think it's time to go Princess."
She returned the yawn. "Yes, I agree."
She waved goodbye to her friends, they walked outside into the dawn air, Star Shield let the cold air fill his lungs. They walked through the town, only a few ponies were still celebrating, the RNG had reported to the train, many had fallen asleep. Two stood outside the carriage entrance, they bowed to the princess and nodded to Star Shield. As soon as they stepped on board the train lurched forward, it sped quickly back towards Canterlot.
The train quietly pulled into the nearly abandoned station, there weren't any trains, or ponies on the platforms. Star Shield looked around and into the dark rafters. Something isn't right here. Shadow Song must've sensed the same thing. "Princess Luna, I would suggest you stay in the carriage."
Suddenly from the dark ceiling came an object, it fell into a bloody pile on the platform, it was one of the conductors. Star Shield looked at the body, it was torn to shreds, blood seeped out of the corpse and onto the platform, he then looked back up into the rafters where other ponies from Canterlot were suspended, bleeding, with sightless eyes looking at the ground, horror solidified on their faces. The whole of the Royal Night Guard was on high alert, any grogginess had disappeared, they looked to the ceiling for signs of the threat. They heard a screech, down from the ceiling came ten creatures, they charged the ponies and began to tear at the nearest guards. Star Shield was quick to pull out his crossbow, he fired an arrow into the closest creature, it vaporized right before them, the other two suffered the same fate at the hands of a the platoon of guards.
They looked at the dust that was left, Shadow Song walked up to the bloody conductor. "Star Shield, take the Princess to her tower, now!"
Star Shield nodded, Luna stepped out of the carriage. Star Shield told her what was going on, she looked at the corpse with horror, Moonfire and Nightwing flew beside the two as they rushed back to Canterlot Castle. Princess Celestia was there with Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, they all walked into a private conference room.
Star Shield looked to the double doors where the princesses and Captain Shining Armor were behind. He waited impatiently, eventually Shadow Song and the rest of the guard got to the castle. The Captain stepped into the conference room and closed the door behind her.
After a couple of hours they all came out, each held a solemn expression. Shadow Song addressed the entire guard, they had all assembled as soon as they heard the news.
"Guard at attention!"
All the ponies became riveted an organized, they looked to their Captain for news.
"As you all saw, one of the conductors was viciously attacked and murdered, we don't know specifically the origin of the threat, but the Princesses have figured out what it is, and where it could've came from."
The ponies nodded, but still looked at their Captain.
"Make no mistake fillies, we are now at war, an attack hasn't happened this close to the palace, the origin of the threat is believed to be across the Eastern Sea, on a remote island, one that until now has been inactive. Recent scientific reports have found that the volcano on that island has become active."
One of the ERNG's officers spoke. "Captain, how do we know that they are there, volcanoes aren't a powerful source."
She looked at the officer. "Princess Celestia has used powerful tracer magic on the evidence that I have brought in, before the trail deteriorated altogether, she said it went far east, over the ocean."
The same officer spoke again. "Do we know that this island is the right one."
This time she glared at the pony. "We don't, but that is what you will believe, if the Princesses think it's right, then hell be damned if it is the wrong one, we are going there! Understood!"
The guard saluted. "Yes ma'am!"
Chapter 3: A Flight in the Night (Revised)
Chapter 5: Fillydelphia (Revised)
Many of the Night Guard had their armor already on, even those who went to Ponyville for Nightmare Night had to wear their armor. The majority of them gathered their things from the barracks and flew off towards Canterlot Central, trains from the four corners of Equestria were inbound to the station. Luna's Express and the Ponyville Express were the a few of the trains that had already pulled into the station, on board of the Ponyville Express outbound for Fort Hoovington, that Star Shield could recognize were Ditzy, Time Turner, and Big Macintosh, Ponyville had gotten the news the quickest, many stallions and mares alike joined quickly and got on the train.
The Night Guard landed and the new recruits saluted them. Big Mac was easy to spot from the crowd of ponies, a drill instructor talked to them after the Royal Night Guard boarded the train. "Alright ponies, you know whats going on so I am going to skip over the obvious information, you will board this horse and go to Fort Hoovington, you will be trained in the art of war. Good luck!" The ponies saluted the sergeant and got onto the train, Time Turner and Big Mac waved to Star Shield before they got onto the train.
A few trains were pulling into the station, one as sleek as Luna's express, but this one had been themed white and orange. The Royal Guard landed and boarded the train, Shining Armor was with them, along with Princess Cadance. Luna came down about a minute after they arrived, she boarded the train with full battle armor, she didn't address any of the guards, they knew what was happening, they didn't need to be briefed. Star Shield and Captain Shadow Song followed the Princess of the Night to her private carriage. Princess Luna beelined to her room, she shut the door without saying a word.
Shadow Song sighed. "Alright, Star Shield you stay here of course, I wouldn't bother Princess Luna at this time. I'm going to be with the rest of the guard, I will see you when we get to Fillydelphia." She walked out of the carriage as soon as she finished, leaving Star Shield alone to ponder what war was going to be like. It's going to be bloody, that is for certain, after seeing what happened to that conductor was probably a mere taste of the enemies potential
He sat down at the bar outside of Luna's room, he grabbed a small bottle of hard cider and opened it. It smelled strong, but he downed the cool liquid, it burned his throat slightly. I wasn't expecting this to happen, one day everything's fine, the next war has broken out and I am heading off to Faust knows where. He took another swig of the cider and coughed, he still wasn't used to drinking anything alcoholic.
The scenery outside rapidly changed from the mountainous regions of Canterlot to a flatter surrounding, they quickly reached the coastline in a matter of hours speeding north towards Fillydelphia, the sea stretched far over the horizon, sand came up almost to the tracks. Star Shield stared in wonder at the great expanse of water, he had never gone this far away from home. He heard the door to the car open, Moonfire and Nightwing took a seat beside their friend, Nightwing poured up a cup of the cider and took a swig.
Moonfire sighed. "Couldn't imagine something like this..." Nightwing nodded at her words.
The three looked out over the ocean, to the north they could see a cove like area, there residing in the center of the cove was the great city of Fillydelphia, it's ports sent and received good from across the ocean, there at the port sat the First and Second Fleets of the Equestrian Navy.
The Express pulled into the junction where troops from even farther north were unloading supplies, weapons, medical equipment, armor, and anything else that would be needed on the war front, there was a great commotion, but nopony really spoke to one another. Many of the troops there were grizzly and older, some even towered over the crowd.
Shadow Song came into the car. "Alright ponies, it's time to get things moved to the Celestia ."
Moonfire seemed confused. "Wheres that?"
Shadow Song rolled her eyes. "It is the command ship of the Second Fleet, that is where we will be living for the duration of the campaign."
They all got up from the bar and began to walk out from the car, a voice stopped Star Shield though. "Star Shield, you would, stay in the car for a minute." It was Luna, she was still in her full armor, her face showed that she had and was thinking deeply. He nodded and looked at the other three, Shadow Song shrugged and lead the other two out.
Once they left, Luna walked up to the window which looked out over the port city. "Star Shield, are you sure that you want to participate in this war?"
Star Shield was baffled that the princess was asking him this. What the hell is she talking about, of course I would fight! He answered cautiously. "Yes, I want to be able to defend my homeland."
Luna sighed and gave a small smile. "Of course Star Shield, you are very brave."
Star Shield shook his head. "No I'm not, I just do what I can, even if I don't have the power to do it."
She nodded. "Alright, it's time for us to get to the Celestia ." Star Shield followed her out. They flew over the port city, ponies of all kinds were unloading and moving supplies, large groups of soldiers boarded the vast battleships. The Celestia was easy to spot, she was a carrier, pegasus pony divisions were landing on the vast carrier, the rest of the Royal Night Guard had already arrived and were moving below decks, even some of Celestia's Royal Guard had some to join the fight, they arrived an hour later, the passageways of the command ship were filled with staff and other naval officers.
They arrived at the bridge where Captain Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and Captain Shadow Song were standing looking out the viewport to the open ocean. A stoic earth pony was at the helm of the ship, Luna walked up to him, he bowed and spoke quietly to her. Luna went back over to Star Shield. "That is Captain Iron Jaw, he is Equestria's greatest naval officer."
Shining Armor and Cadance walked over to the two, Star Shield bowed before the other princess. She laughed. "It's alright, there is no need to bow. Luna has told us quite a bit about you." Shining Armor looked at him critically.
Cadance glared at her husband. Shining Armor cleared his voice and dropped the critical look. "Sorry, it is nice to meet you Star Shield." Star Shield gave an uncomfortable smile to the Captain.
Iron Jaw spoke behind them. "Princess Luna, the fleet will be ready to move in about three hours, troops from the westernmost regions are on their way, and supplies are still being loaded, we will deploy when we are ready."
Luna's face was serious. "Very well Captain, inform me when we are ready."
The two princesses looked through another viewport towards the harbor, ponies were still moving about supplies were loaded onto the large ships, crates larger than the tallest of ponies were pushed by magic onto the large supply ships. Star Shield was amazed at the ability of the ponies to mobilize, trains were pulling in at Fillydelphia Central and even more new and veteran troops poured out of the carriages.
Star Shield decided to go below deck, he still had things that he needed to drop off, his personal items were few but still weighed on him since he had his armor on, he was given a room near where the Princess would sleep. It was small but cozy, only consisting of a small bed, a cabinet, and a window to look out of. He dropped his stuff on the bed and walked back out of the room.
Throughout the ship there were ponies walking about, engineers were the ones who mainly moved below decks, he passed by the engine room, there were swarms of ponies working the engine panels, and checking gauges and things that Star Shield didn't understand.
Several times he bumped into ponies, he did see some of the other RNG, but most of them remained on the upper decks, and the runway platform.
***
Quickly the hours of preparation passed, Star Shield eventually made his way back up to the bridge, there Luna, Shining Armor, and Shadow Song were talking about the threat, what it had looked like, and how it attacked.
Star Shield had made it back to the bridge just in time for the horn to sound thorughout the fleet, it was loud and long. Ponies on the dock looked at the Celestia , the last of the supplies were loaded and the ships were cut of from birth. The other ships returned the call and the fleet moved slowly out of the dock and towards the entrance to the cove. Star Shield could see ponies on the docks waving to them, some were crying at seeing the Second Fleet go.
Star Shield stared at the open ocean, in the back of his mind he could hear a voice. Come little pony, time to show me what your made of
Chapter 4: Nightmare Night (Revised)
Chapter 6: Dinner at Eight? (Revised)
Dusk slowly set in on the Eastern Sea, the Second Fleet had made it out to vast open ocean, Star Shield hadn't ever seen the ocean, so he was impressed by the amount of water. In the distance he could see dense clouds moving towards the fleet, they were large and grey. A storm...
Shining Armor and Princess Cadance had already retired to their own living space, Shadow Song too had left the bridge and gone down to the mess hall. Luna stood alone by the viewport she too could see the storm coming, she looked down and away from the open ocean, he could hear her sigh even from where he was standing.
He moved over to the distressed princess. "Is everything alright Princess, you don't look very good... sea sickness?"
Her eyes went back to the storm that was approaching. "Do you think my sister made the right decision, letting me this operation?"
Star Shield nodded confidently. "Yes, Princess Celestia has been known to make the best decisions for her ponies, you have no need to worry. We all are confident in your skills at leading us."
Luna ripped her eyes from the ocean to look at the pegasus. "Are you sure Star Shield, even my sister has been wrong before."
Shield sighed. "Princess... ok, even if you don't think you're the right choice, the Night Guard will always be at your back, and of course myself. We have absolute faith in your abilities, so you can stop doubting yourself, alright?" He smiled at the Princess, trying to get her confidence up.
Luna smiled. "Thank you Star Shield, your words are wise."
He chuckled. "Oh, I try my best." Before Star Shield knew it, Princess Luna leaned over and nuzzled his neck.
He could quickly feel his face turning red at the gentle touch, her aroma began to envelope the guard, his body became less tense and allowed the gesture. Luna stood right beside him, her body almost touching his. Star Shield could hear his mind screaming. Dude! You can't do this, she is the PRINCESS, quit doing what you're doing before you hurt yourself! This time Star Shield retorted to his conscience. Shut up brain!
He could hear Luna whisper. "The ocean looks wonderful, so calm, those clouds seem complete the picture, don't you think?"
Star Shield still couldn't believe what was happening, all he could reply with was. "Uh-huh, they sure are."
Only Captain Iron Jaw saw what was happening, the majority of the bridge crew had already left for the night, the next shift of ponies would be there in a few minutes. He almost was surprised at what was happening, he had never seen Princess Luna, the usual hardass be so kind and compassionate to another pony, let alone a stallion. He looked out to the dark clouds. Those could be a problem... He shrugged it off. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.
Star Shield's mind was in a frenzy. Should I say something, come on! Think! He could feel a goofy smile spread across his face, his stomach was bubbly, he couldn't remember the last time he had felt such a feeling of bliss. Slowly he leaned back into Luna, which caused the Princess to let out a relieved sigh.
One of the naval officers walked into the bridge and to Iron Jaw and whispered something into his ear. He nodded his head, he almost felt sorry for breaking up such a touching scene. He called out to the two. "Princess Luna? Admiral Black Wave would like to speak with you."
Luna slowly pulled away from Star Shield, she turned and looked at the Captain, first she blushed because she figured out that he had seen her do that. "Yes Captain, is he here yet?"
Iron Jaw shook his head, a smile was stuck on his face, it cause the Princess to be slightly annoyed by is reaction. "No ma'am, he will be in a few minutes though."
Luna quickly composed herself, she looked at Star Shield, who was still stuck looking out the window. "Thank you Iron Jaw, Star Shield would you like to accompany me to this meeting?"
Star Shield continued stood there dumbly, he was barely able to register that she asked him to have audience with one of the highest ranking ponies in Equestrian military. "Sure, yeah, why not, I'd be glad to."
Luna walked into the command center, Star Shield snapped out of his bliss and slowly began to follow the Princess. Before he reached the door he was stopped by the Captain. "Guard, do you realize the gravity of what Princess Luna just did."
Star Shield couldn't take his eyes off of the Princess. "No sir, I don't really know."
Iron Jaw waved his hoof in front of Star Shield to get his attention. "Son, you need to realize that, that." He pointed towards the happy princess. "Doesn't happen everyday. Princess Luna hasn't ever done something such as that in my lifetime and trust me, I've seen a lot. I'm pretty sure Captain Shadow Song can confirm this, hell, even Shining Armor could."
Star Shield was a bit surprised by this. "You're kidding, she hasn't ever even nuzzled another pony?"
Iron Jaw shook his head. "No, she never has done that to a stallion ."
"Never?"
Iron Jaw nodded. "Never, or at least as far as I've seen."
Star Shield rubbed the back of his head. "Wow...."
Iron Jaw motioned for him to go ahead into the command center. "It would be best to keep such as that private, congrats son. You won't hear me saying a word."
"Should I be worried?"
Iron Jaw just chuckled. "You'll learn sometime. Go, follow your princess.
Star Shield walked into the command center and stood in one of the corners while Luna and the Admiral were talking, he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Wonder what the Captain was talking about? Maybe once I get back I'll ask that mare Twilight about this. Since his mind was elsewhere the meeting went by pretty quickly for him, it had lasted about an hour, General Silver Star came in later and the three discussed until late into the evening, even with standing there on, Star Shield barely felt tired and his limbs didn't ache from standing for so long. Once the meeting adjourned Luna stayed behind.
"Star Shield?"
Star Shields dreamscape evaporated as he came back to reality. "Yes Princess?"
"Would you want to have dinner with me?"
He looked at the Princess with surprise. "With you, like just you and me?"
She smiled sheepishly. "If it's too much of a problem...."
Shield quickly waved her off. "No, no, it's fine, I was just wondering. I would love to have dinner with you Princess!"
A grin spread across her face as she let a small giggle escape. "Great, I am in the Captain's quarters, I will see you around eight hopefully?"
He smiled. "Of course." I must be dreaming!
Luna walked out of the room happily and left the bridge. Star Shield was still in awe at the past few hours of events, he sluggishly walked out of the command center, he let the invitation seep in. Holy hell! I am about to have dinner with Luna! Captain Iron Jaw's eyes tracked Princess Luna as she left, she almost skipped out of the room, his gaze then moved back to the surprised guard.
"What did you do?"
Star Shield's mind was even slower than before. "Yeah..." He broke out of his trance and jogged out of the bridge and down to where his quarters were, he flew through all of the cloths that he had brought from his home, he was searching for something that would look official and nice. He quickly found what he was looking for, it was a tuxedo. He had worn it to his prom, it was jet black and dark violet enlaced with the dark threading to give it the look of midnight. He remembered that it was that white unicorn Rarity that did that for him. This'll do alright. He put the tux on and checked himself in the mirror, he combed his mane to make sure he looked alright, and ate at least three dozen breath mints.
By the time he had finished grooming it was approaching eight and Star Shield made his way to the Captain's quarters where Luna was. He knocked on the door lightly, in no time at all it opened revealing the Princess of the Night, she was in a dark blue dress that matched her coat that was laced with black and violet, a crescent moon necklace hung from her neck finishing the look.
She smiled at him. "Come on in Star Shield!"
Star Shield looked around the Captain's room, it was at least three times as big as his living area and had it's own table and bathroom. He kept glancing at Luna, not sure of what to say. He could almost hear Steel Hoof. Come on filly!
He cleared his voice as he saw her walking over to the small table. "You look very nice tonight Princess."
She blushed. "Thank you."
He walked up and pulled the chair out for her, an old move that his dad had told him about. "Would you like to sit?"
She sat down and looked at Star Shield as he went to the opposite side and sat. "Thanks, for doing this, it's not often that I get company."
Star Shield smiled. "It's my pleasure, thanks for inviting me."
The food was beyond spectacular and even rivaled his mother's cooking, and she could make a pretty wicked meal. The fleet had entered the storm because the cabin shook every few minutes, it didn't bother the two too much though. They were deep in conversation with one another, Star Shield told Luna of some of his experiences back in Ponyville. He told her of interesting times during school, and how he wanted to become a part of the guard after seeing her on Nightmare Night several years ago. They avoided the subject of romance, though they were running out of things to talk about so Star Shield was the first to ask.
"So... Princess... have you ever had a crush on anypony?"
She began to blush. "No, well yeah I guess I might have one. I've lived so long it's hard to not have one."
Star Shield could feel his face heating up. "Who was it?"
She turned her head away. "Oh, it was nothing."
He thought about it for a second, and decided to just let that part of the conversation drop.
Luna noticed the silence and brought the question back around to him. "Did you ever crush on somepony Star Shield?"
He chuckled nervously. "Well yeah, I guess anypony would have a crush during school... her name was Silkfeather, she was one of those ponies that every stallion wanted to go out with, I obviously developed a crush and it progressed from there. One day while I was out in town I saw her standing with a few of her mare friends and I must've lost my mind cause I walked up to her and asked if she would want to maybe hang out sometime, dinner, movie or something.... and then I quickly turned into a laughing stock among her friends, I don't know what I did wrong. After a while I realized how much of a bitch, excuse my french, she really was and decided to let it go." He didn't shed one tear, he simply laughed at the fact that he had wasted his time on that mare for so long.
Star Shield saw Luna's face turn from one of shock to anger. "Well that is downright unfair, how dare they, after you build up the courage to ask a mare if she would want to go out with you that she would blatantly turn you down and make you look like a fool! She doesn't know how lucky she is to have had your affection!" Her words tumbled out of her before she knew what she was saying, quickly her face reddened, her eyes slowly went down to the table.
Star Shield was shocked, puzzle pieces began to connect in his head. Captain Iron Jaw's words and Luna's just now gave him a new image of the Princess. "Luna... have you ever had a crush on somepony?"
She looked up to him with tears in her eyes, and then looked away, she whispered something quietly. "Luna. It's fine, you can tell me."
She swallowed and spoke in a quiet voice. "I don't know, it's just you have such a kind heart and are willing to do anything to make anypony feel great. I couldn't tell what it was, you simply took my attention, when we were talking during those days in the garden, and when you talked so confidently and warmly. It made me feel special, to be somepony for you to talk to, after all that you have seen, even though you hadn't left the boundaries of Ponyville..."
Star Shield nodded at her words, he was surprised to hear this coming from the Princess of the Night. The next sentence is what through him for a loop the most. "It is said that when an alicorn would see the one, that they would know for a fact. I have lived for several thousand years, I have seen good ponies come and go and suffered the loneliness of exile. I haven't ever seen a stallion like you Star Shield, your special.... to me." She looked up at him with a confident smile, her eyes were slightly red from her crying.
He was dumbfounded. After all this time, I am the only one that she has ever really felt for... The next events played themselves out, Shield got up from where he was sitting and walked over to Luna. He wiped away the tears that remained on her cheeks. "You are beautiful Luna... thank you. I would've never thought that something this extraordinary could happen to me." This time it was his turn to nuzzle her, he leaned down and rubbed his cheek to hers.
The two got up from the dinner table and went over to the larger bed that was on one side of the room and began to talk, never did the conversations turn tense, Luna laughed and opened up for him, telling him of stories from long ago, stories that were so funny that they could rival Pinkie Pie, and stories that were heart-wrenching, time was not a factor for them. They had moved closer to one another until Luna had leaned against Star Shield and fell asleep. He looked up to the clock, it was almost midnight. Guess I had better go to sleep as well. He looked down to the Princess who was contently sleeping and smiled. Who would've believed that I could catch the eyes of the Princess of the Night. He rested his head against the some of the pillows and let sleep overcome him.
Chapter 5: Fillydelphia (Revised)
Chapter 7: Thunderstorm (Revised)
Star Shield awoke the next day to the sound of a door opening and shutting loudly. He quickly and groggily opened his eyes and tried to focus on the pony that walked in. It was a pony of the Royal Night Guard and he was staring at the two with wide eyes and a slightly opened mouth. His gaze went from Star Shield to Luna and then back to Star Shield.
He cleared his voice loudly to wake the Princess which worked successfully, she slowly raised her head, her eyes quickly filled with shock and embarrassment. "What is it guard?" She yawned loudly after she spoke.
The guard stood straighter. "The troops are is waiting your go ahead, all ponies are accounted for and are ready to begin the assault."
Luna's eyes then filled worry, she got up and stretched. She walked to her closet and grabbed her armor. "Thank you guard, go and find your respective station."
The guard nodded and began to walk out of the room, he took one last look at Star Shield, his expression was unmistakably surprised. As the door shut Star Shield got up from where he was sitting and stretched as well, he thought back onto last night and smiled contently.
He looked at the clock and realized how late he was. "I need to go Luna, I can't imagine what Captain Shadow Song has in store for me."
She turned from the closet with her armor almost fully on. She gave a small sad smile. "Of course, good luck today Star Shield, come back safely."
He nodded confidently. "Thank you, I will." He quickly went out of the Captain's quarters and almost ran to get to his room. He donned his armor, crossbow and sword in a rush. He then sprinted up to the flight deck where the rest of the Royal Night Guard were waiting. All of the guards were looking at him, some smiled and they were all talking in hushed voices so that Star Shield couldn't hear what they were saying. He was a bit frustrated that the pony who saw them couldn't have kept that little episode to himself. Damn that blabbermouth, he must've spammed it to the whole crew! He couldn't have had more then ten minutes!
"Hey Star Shield, get over here!" Shadow Song looked very pissed, which cause Star Shield's stomach to twist.
He walked up to her obediently and saluted. "Yes ma'am?"
"Your late, for the record I couldn't care less what you and the princess did last night but do not let that interfere with an operation! Next time, be on time." She dropped her angry stare.
He stood straighter, he was expecting a much worse punishment. "Yes ma'am!"
"Alright, you'll be with me. Do not screw up."
He nodded and walked with Shadow Song over to where Moonfire and Nightwing were standing. They both held amused expressions. Nightwing patted him on the shoulder, and Moonfire was sporting a bigger grin than normal.
He stood beside her waiting for Shadow Song to give the order. "Don't you say a word until this is all over." This only made Moonfire smile even bigger.
Shadow Song positioned herself in the center of the Royal Night Guard. "Alright you fillies listen up! I understand that Star Shield's little escapade might've been entertaining for some of you but get your heads in the game! We are assaulting a dangerous enemy, they have threatened Equestria and it is our job to make them want to join the satan in hell! Let me tell you, Operation Thunderstorm could be essential to the survival of Equestria itself do don't you dare buck it up!" Many of the guards who were smiling and whispering to one another stopped and nodded solemnly.
Shadow Song seemed satisfied that she got their attention. "Alright, we are going to be split up into separate platoons, this is to better help the ground troops, our priority is to go for any instillations that is allowing the enemy to fortify. Are we clear!"
All of the guards stood straight. "Ma'am, yes ma'am!"
She nodded. "Now we wait for command to give the green light, standby." She looked to the beacon that stood by the bridge to the Celestia . The light lit up and a horn sounded. Immediately landing craft poured out of the supply ships and battleships. Small pegasus squads lifted off from the airships and flew in behind the landing craft.
Shadow Song turned back around. "Lets go fillies, get in formation!"
A flight deck pony waved a green flag and the Royal Night Guard rocketed into the sky, the mornin air was crisp and cold on the pegasi's wings, they quickly split into platoons they were assigned to and pursued the landing craft. The spread out to avoid running into one another if they needed to avoid any flak. The assault craft slowly disappeared behind them, they accelerated towards the island, which was only a few miles away.
Shadow Song called to her team. "Ghost Platoon on me!" The group of ponies moved into close formation and landed on the beach. Something had bothered Star Shield since they took off, almost as if he's been here before. Ghost Platoon was on high alert for the enemy, they hadn't appeared yet. Star Shield pulled his crossbow to bear and set the rounds to piercing, each pony scanned for targets, nothing was on the beach. Ghost Platoon slowly spread out, checking into the tree-line for any targets.
The assault craft were slowly approaching the beachhead, Star Shield sighed. I guess this operation won't be as big of a deal as we thought. It didn't take but a second after Star Shield assured himself that all hell broke loose on the beach. Out from the tree-line came arrow fire, it pierced the chest of one of the pegasi that was beside Star Shield.
One of the assault craft exploded behind them, Shadow Song yelled out to her platoon. "Defensive formation!"
Some of the assault craft had released their troops, unicorns poured magic into a barrier around the RNG.
"Fall back Ghost Platoon!"
Slowly the ponies fell back to the oncoming assault ships, earth ponies pushed to the front with large tower shields, arrows began to pierce into the phalanx. Unicorns sent beams of magic into the forest, incendiary spells began to light the trees on fire.
"Ghost Platoon! Recover and attack!" The pegasi leapt into the air and flew over the forest.
Shadow Song called out again. "Drop your explosives!" Each guard dropped several pounds worth of explosives down into the forest, fire flew up from the trees and enveloped some of the creatures. The guard then dropped down into the forest where they clashed with the oncoming darkness. Some of the creatures were rather large, one of them decided to charge at Star Shield. He quickly fired as many arrows as he could into the monster's chest, it fell before him in a pile of dust.
The forest was already inflamed around them, exposing the creatures, Star Shield was surprised at the astounding amounts of enemies there were. He could barely see back to the beachhead, there were ponies pouring out by the dozens from assault craft, some charged into the forest to assist the advanced forces. The secondary wave a pegasi came down from the sky and stomped out more of the creatures, it looked as though they were winning, slowly the ponies pushed back the darkness into the forest.
Star Shield pulled back out his sword and attacked the stragglers who were left in the area. It seemed as though the ponies had driven the deranged creatures back into the depths of the forest, a relief to some of the troops.
Something bothered Star Shield though, things had seemed too easy for the ponies, the creatures were dropped before they could land a hit, on any of them in fact. He looked to the sky with worry, something seemed out of place, but he couldn't exactly pinpoint it. Suddenly the forest shook surprising all of the soldiers who were in the vicinity. "Captain! Somethings coming!" Shadow Song looked at Star Shield with confusion.
A creature, darker than that of the others leapt into the air from deep within the forest, it's roar was deafening and speed was great. It flew towards the beachhead where ponies were setting up a foothold.
Unicorns targeted the new enemy and fired shots at the strange creature, it simply seemed to absorb the blows. Star Shield looked on with horror as the dragon-like animal opened it's mouth and released hellfire on the ponies who were still on the beach, it turned them into nothing but ash, not even skeletons remained. Ponies who were near the blast immediately suffered severe burns and those who didn't shield their eyes from the blast were blinded.
Star Shield frantically checked his crossbows charge meter, he still needed another minute before he could fire the shot he needed. Many of the ponies moved deep into the forest to get away from the dragon. Star Shield couldn't hear the voice of Shadow Song yell to him to retreat into the forest. He walked blindly onto the beach, almost possessed by some entity. The creature saw the brave pony, and seemingly intrigued he landed in front of Star Shield.
As the dragon looked at him something seemed to light in the creature's eyes, fear, anxiety and the reinforced need to destroy what stood before him. Star Shield looked on at the creature as it raised his head and readied fire, he didn't do anything to move. Glowing energy lit in Star Shield's eyes as the creature's fire consumed his entire body. Shadow Song couldn't believe what she saw just happen. Many ponies that were looking at Star Shield now had a cold fear coursing through their body.
Something called out from the fire. "This is the end for you creature! Burn!" A magical pulse expanded from where Star Shield had stood, the creature jumped in the air to dodge the magic. As the fire and smoke cleared it revealed a large black alicorn, his mane, tail, and eyes were as black as night. Rage filled the alicorn as he drew the crossbow that sat on the ground, rage for the ponies fallen and to the creature who had slain them. The crossbow's energy charged immediately, it increased beyond it's capacity, so much so that fire began to leap out of the front. Before the shot was fired a dark, booming voice came from the alicorn. "Goodbye demon!"
They could see a flash of light that would blind any normal pony and then an explosion that could easily be that of an atomic weapon come from the beachhead. A large beam of energy leaped into the sky and broke through the cloud barrier and into the atmosphere, it consumed the creature immediately, and after it subsided there wasn't anything left. The sand had changed to black around the alicorn, he turned and looked directly to the ponies in the forest, some were still riveted with fear, afraid that something would happen to them. The alicorn nodded to the ponies, in a flash of light the black alicorn disappeared, revealing a now passed out Star Shield.
One of the medical crews ran to where Star Shield lay and checked his pulse, it was faint. Shadow Song and the rest of the battalion walked out onto the beach and looked at the destruction. They gazed in horror of what that being had been able to do, the landing crafts were nothing but molten metal, the sand around where it had stood had turned black, almost as if the life force was sucked out of it.
The physician stood up and turned to the ponies. "He is alright, but unconscious." A sigh came from the ponies who could hear. Shadow Song, Moonfire and Nightwing walked up to where the medics were working. They couldn't believe what this lone pegasus had done.
A horn sounded over the horizon as they could see the Second Fleet came into view. Many of the ponies who were on the beachhead were sitting or squatting down on the ground weeping, many of their brothers and sisters had fallen on this day. Out of the battalion that had led Operation Thunderstorm, two thousand out of the three thousand survived. Unicorns had been able to stall against the creature using their magic barrier, it helped get some of the others to safety.
Star Shield was moved to the medical bay as the Second Fleet made port in a cove a few miles away from the beachhead that they had assaulted. Many injured ponies poured into the Genesis and Safe Haven , the two hospital ships that were with the second fleet, the medical staff had taken care of most of the ponies, even more deaths came from after the battle, only ten to twelve had died from battle wounds that were too great to heal, but the rest were from the burns that they had sustained from the dragon. Out of the two thousand, about nineteen hundred lived on.
Luna had gone to the Genesis where Star Shield was being taken care of, she had read the report from Captain Shadow Song and looked at the unconscious pegasus with wonder. How had he been possessed by him, he hadn't been seen since long ago. Tears fell down as she looked at him, the doctors told her that they wouldn't know when he would wake up. He was stable though and they asked if Princess Luna would want Star Shield on board the Celestia with her. She agreed and had him moved to the his quarters, all the doctors said that he needed was rest and plenty of it.
As night overtook the Second Fleet, the battleships Manticore and Dreadnaught were positioned outside the cove to protect the other ships from any attacks. Star Shield had been moved safely to his room and was sleeping contently. She smiled at his peaceful form. Wake up soon Star Shield, thank you for your bravery . She left his room and walked down to the Captain's quarters, she got into her bed and let her the night take her away.
Chapter 1: Recruitment (Revised)
"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...