Royal Guards of Canterlot

Canterlot

To protect and serve

In the center of Equestria lies Canterlot, the country's heart and soul. With Celestia's guidance, she made Equestria into a land of milk and honey. Of course, like all things made of milk and honey, someone else wants to take it all for himself. So that's why Equestria trained an army to fend off would-be invaders; and one unicorn will take up arms as well.

Our tale begins in Canterlot Castle in one beautiful morning with a young dragon trying to wake the said unicorn up.

"Hey Twilight!" he harshly whispered on her ear. He continuously nudged her before giving her a loud, resounding slap on the face.

"Oh, Spike!" she yawned, unfazed by the slap. "What's today?"

"Seriously, you don't know? Today's your priesthood!"

She quickly rose up. "Oh my, I almost forgot! We have to go, Spike!" She levitated the dragon to her back and ran to the royal hall where Celestia and all the palace guards, priests, and magi are all present for her initiation.

"Twilight!" Shining Armor greeted.

"Brother!" she greeted back. "Looks like I'll be in the royal army!"

"And you well deserve it." and he gave out a smile. Twilight smiled back and approached Celestia with anticipation.

"Good job, my child. All these years of preaching paid off." she warmly praised. She levitated a silver sword and gave her knightly vows.

"I know hereby announce you as a holy warrior of Equestria!" She handed her the silver sword. "This holy blade is now yours." Celestia also gave her a chest. "This chest contains your proper clothing to be a priest." Twilight accepted it with gusto as everyone stomped their hooves.

"Okay everyone, back to your duties!" Celestia shouted and everyone hurriedly left in droves, ending the initiation that lasted for some ten-to-fifteen minutes.

"That was the worst initiation I've ever seen." Spike jeered as Twilight started squeeing, completely ignoring his shallow remark.

"You wasted your childhood for this?"

"My brother wanted to be a knight and I wanted to be a priest, so zip it." she snapped and bolted to their room. Opening the chest, it has, like the lawful queen said, priestly clothes, a scabbard for her sword, an ankh, and a mace. Twilight immediately donned her clerical garb and stared at the mirror of her vanity. She looks more like a member of a marching band than an actual priest with that shako strapped on.

Spike snickered. "You look--"

"Amazing!" she interrupted.

"Yeah. You look good in green and white. So, what are you gonna do now?"

Suddenly, someone knocked on her door.

"Priestess, time for your first assignment." a palace guard said behind the door. The two walked out the door and was herded outside with a chariot ready with her brother standing next to it.

"Brother, you're coming with me?" she asked and he gave a single nod.

"We'll be going to Stormalong in Northern Equestria. This a perfect opportunity to show you the ropes."

"We're going to fight already?"

Again, he nodded to her and the three flew off to Northern Equestria. They traveled north, past the Crystal Mountains, past barren grasslands, and found themselves in the Kitty Hawk Mountains, the borders between Ib'xian and the Gryphon Kingdoms. After passing the mountain range, they arrived in Northern Equestria, the forgotten fifth country of Deondia.

What used to be continuous to Equestria, it is the smallest of the five and is often overshadowed and ignored by Camelu, Ib'xian, the Gryphon Kingdoms, and even Equestria herself. They soon reached Stormalong, a bustling port town and the trio got off the chariot. The strong gale gave the pegasi somewhat of a challenge to lift off, but in the end, they safely flied away into the horizon without even hurling out a comment nor remark.

"Brother! The winds here are strong!" Twilight shouted.

"You'll get used to it." he answered, unfazed, and they entered inside a nearby bar where they encountered three pirates stirring up a ruckus.

"Captain. Drink too much rum and you'll get drunk again." the blue unicorn said.

"Aye, lad--" The captain hiccuped. "--my coffers will be empty again."

"Typical drunkard." the dog sneered as he suddenly noticed Twilight.

"What's a fine lass like you doing out here?" he asked.

"It's been a while, Captain Finder." Shining Armor abruptly greeted, pushing Twilight back.

"If it isn't Shining Armor!" the gryphon greeted back before bellowing out another hiccup.

"It's nice to see you again." Shining continued.

"Is this the assignment you're talking about?" she whispered to his brother's ear and he nodded firmly.

"What are you doing here?" Finder asked.

"I'm just showing my sister how to fight. You see, she just recently turned into a priest and I would like her to know about, you know, combat smarts."

"Oh? Then so be it. Beat me and my crew and she will pass." and with some tipped bottles and a fallen table made by the drunkard himself, the three left the bar.

"Is this what Celestia ordered?" Twilight asked.

"No. Celestia wanted you to go to Ponyville and be its guardian. I just wanted you to test your skills before your leave."

"You know you're getting chastised for this." Spike butted in.

"Spike!" Twilight shot back and they went outside, meeting the blue unicorn.

"Hey there. Just so you know. If any of you three manage to talk to our captain at the docks, you win. Oh, and also, we're not holding back. So be careful." he said, giving out a prolonged bow before hastening to his crew.

"We're outnumbered!" Twilight shrieked.

"Relax." Shining reassured. "They mostly wield axes, and your sword is strong against axes. I wield a spear, but I can handle it."

"Yeah, I learned about the triangle by reading about it, brother."

"Just refreshing your mind." he sheepishly grinned, and their skirmish begins. Spike stepped back from the battlefield as he watched the siblings fight their way to the drunken Finder, as he was too weak to fight directly.

Following the weapon triangle, she managed to strike a pirate with her silver sword. The pirate counter-attacked with his axe but she easily dodged the chop. She striked again and the pirate collapsed; but not dead. Meanwhile, Shining encountered the dog with a steel axe on hand. The unicorn raised his spear and they dueled. The pirate got a few blows but Shining's armor mostly absorbed them. He then swiped the pirate with his spear, leaving a flesh wound on his torso and swiped again, knocking him down and lowered the spear to his chest, signaling his defeat.

"You're not going to kill me?"

"There's more to war than killing." He extended his right hoof to him, which the pirate grabbed.

Twilight inched her way forward as she fought the onslaught of pirates. She occasionally got hit a few times, but they were nothing too serious; just some cuts and bruises, and she continued on fighting, eventually meeting the unicorn.

"Hello there." he greeted. "Sorry there, but you're going to have to get past me."

"Fine by me." and she raised her sword, imitating what her brother did, but the pirate was wiser than her and simply threw his axe towards her that grazed through her neck, making her flinch. As she dropped the blood-soaked longsword, the pirate then tackled her to the ground as he quickly recovers his axe within his magical grasp. He was about to cleave her in half with it, but the unicorn was violently thrown away to a barrel-filled alleyway with a burst of her levitation. With her brush at death, she immediately bolted towards the docks and met Finder, ending this dangerous battle before she gets seriously wounded, or worse, getting killed.

"Looks like we won." she panted triumphantly as she gripped her bleeding neck, giving out a painful moan.

"Gya ha ha!" he heartily laughed. "But not in combat ye don't! Well, I'm a man of my word. Lads, the battle's over!"

After the battle, Twilight healed her neck along with the wounded with a levitated ankh and several prayers.

"Looks like you're not too fond with killing." the unicorn said as the concussion on his forehead healed.

"There's more to war than killing. That's what my brother always say."

After mingling and befriending the pirates, the cloudy afternoon turned beautiful sunset and the three were about to leave Stormalong.

"'Till we meet again." A sober Finder said. "And sorry for my rudeness back there." he apologized to Twilight.

"It's okay. You we're drunk." she chuckled before giving out a smile. Shining Armor's horn then glowed and they teleported to Ponyville with a bright, white flash.