Dangerous Liaisons

18 June, 1006 A.N.M. (After Nightmare Moon)

My name is Revenant Wings.  Earlier today, I graduated from the school of training for the Royal Guard after two years of schooling in laws, fighting, and general education.  It was tough work, but I have never felt more accomplished in my life.  I graduated near the top of my class and was deemed both physically and mentally fit for work as a royal guard.

The achievement means a lot to me, especially after what happened to me back then.  I was accepted into the Royal Guard under most extraordinary circumstances.  Born to a family of salesponies in a small town just north of Canterlot, I was stricken with a fairly strange disease which prevented me from using my wings.  I could fly, but every time I did it was painful, and even attempts to hover a few feet in the air caused me to black out from exhaustion.  The doctors in my hometown were unsure if I could ever actually fly, which is a terrible thing for a pegasus.  You get called a bunch of names.  The ones named after birds like ‘chicken’ or ‘dodo’ are kind of funny to me, but then they call you worse things.  Things like ‘lame’ or ‘earth pony’ or just simply make fun of you for being weak; pegasi don’t have as strong of bones as earth ponies do, so we can’t just take over jobs down below on the earth.  I remember when I could actually get a job I didn’t because I couldn’t stand the thought of a boss who would hire me because of my wings then become embarrassed when he found out I couldn’t use them.

Our hometown is close to a series of hills.  The hills were so rich with gems that are used for things like jewelry or ornaments or even magical artifacts that a mine was built to get them out.  I had a friend whose family used to live in those mines, and he would tell me of the dark and cavernous areas within the hills that occasionally hid wild animals originally undisturbed.  Bats and rats were most common, but there were things like snakes and bears that made their dens in the hills, and I often saw members of the town guard be called up to the mountain with spears or unicorns with their magic to help protect the miners.  Working the equipment wasn’t as dangerous as having to watch out for the predators that would prey on ponies that accidentally disturbed their slumber or hiding places.

Once, though, some of the miners unearthed a den of creatures I’ve heard called Diamond Dogs.  They’re canine-like beings that stand on two legs and are so large that even when hunched over like they normally are they stand twice as tall as us ponies do.  I had heard of Diamond Dogs before, about that time they kidnapped a unicorn searching for gems in the hills near Ponyville, and I heard that the miners constantly lived in fear of finding one in the dark caverns; if one was alone they could be abducted without another pony able to find them.

It was due to bad luck that the drill uncovered a den of the beasts in the mountain.  Angered with the fact that the miners were drilling into their holes, the Diamond Dogs attacked the miners and killed many of them.  When they fled back to town, the Diamond Dogs decided to make things simpler for themselves and started attacking the residents.  Problem was our town was so poorly staffed in terms of guard they were quickly becoming overpowered, and Diamond Dogs are considered a serious threat at any time and are to be dealt with immediately.

I don’t know what drove me to try and fly to Canterlot.  I might have told myself that it was necessary to try and fly to the town that was across a small plain and up the side of a mountain.  I could have run to a nearby town, but none of them would be powerful enough to take on the Diamond Dogs.  I supposed the royal guard was the best chance for our survival and took flight.

I won’t lie.  It was hard to fly.  I nearly blacked out multiple times and it felt like I was being shocked continuously by a thundercloud, but I got myself to the base of Canterlot Castle.  Low and behold, I found myself at the hooves of two members of the royal guard.  I barely managed to spit out my warning of Diamond Dogs invading my town before I collapsed at their feet.

When I came to, I was lying in a bed in a hospital in Canterlot and was face-to-face with Princess Celestia, the ruler of all Equestria.  I wondered why I was speaking to her when she told me that she had heard of my valor and of my warning by the two guards and wanted to congratulate me for flying even on my bad wings.  Thanks to me, she said, the guards were able to rally together and went off to face the Diamond Dogs, capturing most of them and even killing a few, and that most of the town was saved.  My family and friends were okay and in good health, and they were sending me their wishes that I should get better soon.

But Princess Celestia had not only come with news of the saving of the town.  She said that if I so desired I could join the royal guard.  My courage and determination under such circumstances as I had been through marked me out from the rest of a recent pool of applicants (I recall her muttering something about poor souls and how they had strength but no heart) and would willingly give me a position.  I would be enrolled in a special academy and would do classwork for two years in general education with some classes for work as a Royal Guard, after which I would be put into field duty as an officer under a fellow guardsman.

I’ll admit the pay as much as the position attracted me to the job.  Even while training I would be housed in a set of dorms with others my same age and status and receive a steady paycheck so long as my grades were high enough.  In addition, doctors would be available to keep an eye on my wing, from which whatever disease that had inhabited them had left.  That meant more than the job offer; the simple fact that I could fly again was a joyous occasion, so much so that I told Celestia that yes, I would join.

I learned a lot at the Academy, but I am ready to face the times ahead as a guard pony.  In one month, I will be working as an officer doing field duty and basic training under Captain Shining Armor himself.  Hopefully with my training as a guard, my wing will strengthen again and I will be able to fly as a normal pegasus again.

R.W.