Decades Lead to Every Day

In boot camp, royal guards are expected to get up as early as four in the morning, followed by about seventeen hours containing physical exertion of the highest caliber before it’s right back to bed. Once they pass training and get assigned to one of many towns across Equestria, they generally get to make their own sleeping schedule, as long as it doesn’t take much to wake them up and they don’t miss any of the training days chosen by the captain.

Winter, of course, has happily adapted to these rules, along with training days and actual dangers in town both being rare. He rarely gets a good night’s sleep, if he even sleeps at all, and so if he manages to stay peacefully unconscious, he enjoys it for as long as he can. Thus, on Wednesday, when he lumbers out of his bedroom in sleeping attire and still yawning, it is no shocker that it’s almost noon.

Mercury, who tends to get up long before his friend, looks up from his spot lying in the hallway near the stairs. “Look out, everypony! The zombies are attacking! There’s their king now!”

Winter just grumbles and walks down to the bathroom. Mercury gets up and follows him in, causing the unicorn to look at him with slight irritation. “Merc, have you not learned the concept of privacy?”

The fox chuckles. “Relax, I’ll go in a second. I just wanted to remind you that we’re leaving for Fillydelphia tonight.”

“Huh?” The tired unicorn rubs his ear. “Fillydelphia? Why?”

“Don’t you ever check the calendar?” Mercury rolls his eyes. “Tomorrow’s your mother’s birthday, Win. The one you actually promised yourself you'd go to.”

He blinks, then facehoofs. “Ugh… right. Can’t believe I almost forgot…”

“It’s fine, you’re just tired.” He turns to head out of the room. “I’ll be down in the living room when you’re ready to go gift shopping.”

Sighing, Winter shuts the door after his fox friend leaves, rubbing his eyes. “Should’ve gotten up earlier...” He shakes his head to clear the last bit of sleepiness and turns on the shower.

Eight o’clock in the evening. The sun is still barely visible on the horizon, beginning to trade places with the moon. For most ponies, this time of day in the middle of the week is not particularly optimal for leaving on a trip, but there are still a few ponies around the train station as they wait for their ride.

Among them is, of course, Winter Solstice, sitting on a bench with a large bag to his left and a silver fox to his right. As he waits for the eight-fifteen train, the fox leans closer and quietly asks, “We didn’t forget anything, right?”

The unicorn shakes his head, slightly hesitantly, before replying just as quietly. “I don’t think so. We picked up a gift, I told Twilight where we’d be for the next couple of days, we made sure the house was locked up, I put Combat Boots in charge of the guard until we return… there wasn’t anything else, right?”

Mercury shrugs. “I don’t think so. But it’s your stuff to take care of, not mine.”

Sighing, Winter tries to distract himself by looking around. Most ponies are chatting with one another, either having come to the station together or just making fast friends. But since he’s traveling alone - one talking kitsune aside - this leaves him with no immediate company, and the other waiting ponies don’t seem to notice him. Or, if they do, they quickly recognize him and avoid all eye contact.

Figures of authority: making the ponies they protect and serve feel awkward around them since the beginning of time. The unicorn slumps back a bit against the wall, boredom slowly making the transition to loneliness thanks to that thought.

“Why so down in the dumps?”

Winter at first opens his mouth to reply to Mercury, only to realize before speaking that the fox was not the one who spoke. Instead, looking up reveals that the speaker was another pony, who had approached him and was now standing beside the bench.

The first thing Winter notices is that she is a pegasus, with a butter-yellow coat and light blue hair. Her tail nearly touches the ground, while her mane is a fair bit shorter; both appear neatly groomed. Her eyes are a similar blue colour and show slight concern, and her cutie mark appears to be a picture of a heart with a bandage on it. She has a set of saddlebags on her back, as well as a large suitcase beside her, indicating that she too is waiting for a train.

“...I'm sorry?” Winter tilts his head, not sure what to say.

“I said, why so down in the dumps?” The pegasus sits down on the bench as well, Winter's own bag in between them. “You looked like you were ready to lie down on the tracks.”

The unicorn's eyes widen. “I did?” He looks at Mercury, who just looks confused, before turning back to the mare. “N-No, I'm fine... just bored and waiting for my train.” He tries to smile reassuringly.

She smiles back, much more genuinely. “Well, that's good... sorry for intruding.” She stands up to walk away.

He isn't sure what compels him to, but for whatever reason, Winter reaches out a hoof to stop her. “Hey, it's fine. No need to rush off.” She looks at him curiously, and he fumbles for something else to say. “I mean, unless you have somewhere to go…”

The mare shakes her head. “No, just waiting for the train to Fillydelphia.”

“Really? Same here.” Winter smiles, his bored and lonely feeling now fading. “I don't think I got your name?”

She smiles and sits back down. “I'm Asylum. And yours?”

“Winter Solstice.” He extends a hoof, which Asylum gladly shakes. “Sorry if I worried you.”

“Careful there, Winter,” Mercury warns quietly in words only his friend can understand. “Keep being so likeable, and she might fall for you.”

Asylum giggles, not hearing a thing Mercury says. “It's fine. Sorry for jumping to conclusions.” She rubs the back of her neck. “So, you're going to Fillydelphia too?”

He nods. “My mother's birthday is tomorrow, and she lives in Fillydelphia, so I decided to just take a late train and be there in the morning.”

“You're welcome for the suggestion,” Mercury grumbles. Winter idly pets him, and he rubs up against the unicorn's hoof. “That's close enough to a proper thanks in my book.”

Asylum now can't help but take a look at the silver fox. “Oh, is that your pet?”

Despite hating referring to his friend with such a term, Winter nods, that being the only explanation either of them have been able to come up with that doesn't reveal Mercury's true nature. “This is Mercury.”

The kitsune stands up and wags his tail, yipping at Asylum happily without bothering to actually say anything. The pegasus smiles. “He's adorable!”

“Dang right I am!” Mercury declares, which once again only Winter can understand, before lying back down and pretending to go to sleep.

Winter chuckles. “Yeah, he is.” He continues to pet the supposedly sleeping form. “So, how about you? You going to visit family too?”

The pegasus shakes her head. “My family all live here in town. I'm going to a friend's wedding, actually.”

“Aww, that's nice.” Winter smiles. Before he can continue, though, the glorious (to some) sound of the train finally rolling up to the station can be heard. “Hey, there's our ride now.”

Asylum smiles, standing up. “We better get on before all the bedroom carts are taken. Overnight rides on just a bench are no fun.”

The unicorn nods, levitating Mercury onto his back and grabbing his bag. “Need any help?”

“I'm fine, thank you.” The ponies who rode the train into town have finally finished vacating the train, and more passengers are starting to file on. “We should hurry.”

Nodding again, Winter starts walking to the train, his new friend right beside him.

Fortunately for the two, they were able to get on board before the last bedroom cart was claimed. Since each ‘room’ on this train has space for two ponies, rooming together is frequently an option, and one that both Winter and Asylum are forced into with only one room remaining.

“Well, this is definitely new to me,” Winter remarks as he drops his bag beside the bunk bed. “You want top or bottom?”

“I’ll take top. And what’s new? Riding a train?” Rather than using the ladder, Asylum just quickly flies up to the top bunk, leaving her suitcase and saddlebags on the floor in the corner.

Winter shakes his head as he sits on the bottom bunk, lying the silver fox down on it as well. Mercury proceeds to get up, shake himself off, walk in a couple circles, and then lie down to actually sleep. “Nah, I’ve ridden trains a billion times. I meant, you know… sharing a room with a girl.” He chuckles, trying to laugh it off.

Asylum peeks at him over the edge of her bed. “What? Is that weird?”

“Kind of, at least for me. I know a lot of places are co-ed with their sleeping arrangements, but back in training, just starting a conversation with the other gender put you on thin ice.” He sighs, smirking. “Ah, memories.”

“Training for what?” The pegasus tilts her head, curious. “The Equestria Games? No offense, but you don’t seem like the type of-”

Winter shoots her a look, holding up a hoof. “Look, I know where that statement is going, and regardless of the fact that you started your sentence with ‘no offense’, I will likely take offense to it, so please just don’t.” She shuts her mouth. “And for the record, I was referring to my guard training.”

“You’re in the guard?” Asylum raises an eyebrow, seeming a fair amount more incredulous than surprised.

“Yes, I am; captain of the Ponyville division, in fact. I know, I don’t look or act the part.” He chuckles. “But if you do your job well, does it really matter what your downtime is like?”

She smiles. “Guess not, really. I wouldn’t know, though. I got my job because of how I normally act, not despite it.”

He tilts his head. “What is your job, if I may ask?”

“Nothing too special. I’m the school nurse and psychologist at Ponyville Elementary.” She shrugs. “My talent leans more towards the medical end of healing ponies, but I find a lot of joy in being there for comfort as well. Somepony to talk to.”

Winter smirks. “Do you offer your services to adults as well?” She blinks and looks down at him worriedly. “Not for me. Couple other members of the Ponyville division could use some mental treatment, though.”

She climbs down from the top bunk. “I’ve heard of soldiers commonly getting various levels of post-traumatic stress disorder on the battlefield… is that what this is?”

“That, and just general sadness from losing a friend.” He sighs. “Not everypony can roll with the punches.”

“I see...” The pegasus sits beside him on the bed. “What happened?”

“Long story short: when I became captain, my squad didn’t listen to me because I was at least three years younger than any of them, and because Ponyville is so peaceful anyway that they had grown lazy and disrespectful.” He growls lightly. “So of course, the first time we had to deal with an actual danger, they didn’t listen to me. It took two of them dying to their own arrogance before the rest of the squad actually followed orders.”

Asylum flinches. “What danger was this? I only moved to Ponyville a few months ago.”

“...do you know what a gemhound is?” She shakes her head. “Imagine a diamond dog. Now, most diamond dogs are, while not particularly fond of ponies, at least able to be reasoned with. Some can even live peacefully alongside us. Gemhounds, however, are like the distant cousins of diamond dogs. They mine for jewels and such, but they can’t speak or even understand our language. So we’re just another source of food to them.”

Her eyes widen. “They eat ponies?”

“Well, they ain’t herbivores.” He smirks before going back to a stone cold expression. “Here’s the story as I remember it...”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The attack was sudden and unexpected. One moment, the ponies of Ponyville were going about their everyday lives; the next, a large paw had burst from the ground, and with one swipe, destroyed a carrot stand in the market before the figure it belonged to had even crawled out fully into view.

Panic struck quickly. The large, diamond dog-like beasts all came out of the ground around the same area before splitting off, chasing after ponies fleeing for their lives or just tearing stuff down for the sake of destruction. Compared to gemhounds, diamond dogs were tame and weak; these things were several feet tall and ripping through solid brick like it was dirt.

This all happened on a Monday, and so it was already training day for the town’s division of the royal guard. Not that they were getting much done; very few soldiers actually bothered doing as the new captain ordered, and just pretended until he walked away. They were like students misbehaving behind a substitute teacher’s back.

But when a gemhound literally smashed through the front door, that got their attention rather quickly.

Winter was the closest to the door, and his first response was to light his horn for a split second, then let it dull and jump out of the way as the gemhound tried to attack him. Within two seconds, six daggers flew in from another room to his side, and his horn glowed again as he took control over them all through levitation.

Glancing back, he saw the rest of the guard just frozen in place, and as he plunged two of his floating daggers into the gemhound’s torso, he turned. “You think this is a street performance?! Get your weapons! We’re under attack!”

For the first time, everypony listened. The guards scurried around, grabbing their individual sets of armour and weaponry. The gemhound was long dead before they were ready, but a look out the door revealed that he was nowhere close to the only one.

“What in Tartarus are these things?” One of the pegasi, Marauder, looked around at the chaos.

“Gemhounds,” Winter growled, twirling his Equinox daggers in his magic. “They’re-”

“They’re called diamond dogs, captain,” another guard spat, stepping up. Callus, an earth pony, was one of the strongest ponies in the squad, but far from the most pleasant; aside from his laziness and refusal to work, he was the only one who ever talked back at Winter, and no amount of punishment ever dulled his refusal to cooperate. “These guys are easy. Come on, guards!”

With that call, he charged forward, several others following behind him into battle. Winter was not among them, and he yelled at them, “Get back here! They’re not-”

Too late.

Callus drove his sword into the leg of one gemhound. The beast just reached down, grabbed the earth pony in one huge paw, and slammed him into the ground. The rest of the squad froze, before panicking and starting to run back when three other gemhounds saw them and began running over. One of them was too slow, and was dragged back literally by her tail before the gemhound holding her bit down on her torso forcefully. Her scream went silent as her blood poured out onto the dirt below.

The other two gemhounds leapt for the retreating guards, but both of them slammed into a translucent white dome. Winter, horn glowing brightly, turned to the arrivals with a deadly glare. “Are you trying to get yourselves killed?!”

“Captain-” One guard started to speak, but Winter cut him off.

“Oh, now I’m your captain?!” Winter turned to the rest of the guard, all safe within his provided shield, but none of them feeling particularly safe under the circumstances. “As soon as the town’s under attack and none of you have a Luna-damn clue what we can do to stop it, you finally acknowledge me as something more than a nuisance?!”

Another guard stepped forward. “With all due respect, captain, the town is under attack right now… is this really a good time?”

Winter glared at him. “Well then, what do you suggest we do, Private Grindstone? Charge into their big open claws like Callus and Dive Bomb? Real effective strategy right there!” When the guard didn’t reply, Winter continued, now addressing all of them once again. “Here’s what we’re gonna do, so listen up! I’ll open a hole in the shield! Private Boots, you and the other pegasi make a distraction! Get those things to notice you and use your speed to lead them to the outskirts of town, away from civilians! The rest of you, head out to the outskirts yourselves in groups of five, and no less! When a pegasus brings a dog over, take it out! Their stomachs are their weak point, so hit ‘em where it hurts with everything you got!” He took a deep breath. “And, if any more of you disobey my orders and try to be a hero, then if the gemhounds don’t kill you, I will make you wish they did!” The glow around his horn grew dimmer, and a hole in the top of the shield opened up. “Over! And! Out!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Eight dead. Thirty-nine injured. Thousands of thousands of bits in property damage… and we called it a success, just because we either killed or chased off all the gemhounds.” Winter pokes at his pillow, which at some point he had ended up laying his head on. “That was the first time any of those guys had seen one of their own die. Sure, Ponyville has a lot of issues; Everfree Forest creatures invading, usually. Or being the centerpiece of a villain’s quest for world domination. But rarely does the guard need to get directly involved, and never have any of them been killed in action inside the town. That sort of stuff only happens in bigger cities, like Canterlot or Manehatten, where even the ponies living in the town sometimes go rogue and start stealing stuff or harassing others, and attack any guards that try to stop them.” He sighs. “Never mind, that’s not really relevant. Point is… they just watched two ponies they had been very close to get killed. And not slowly or dramatically; just, one second they were on all fours, and the next they had half-broken bodies and were being torn up by gemhounds.”

Asylum hasn’t moved much. She’s adjusted to a more comfortable sitting position, but remains on Winter’s bed, watching him and listening in worry. “You keep saying ‘they’...”

He nods. “Yeah. They, them, whatever. The other ponies in my squad.”

“I know...” She tilts her head. “...but what about you?”

Winter blinks and turns his head to look at her. “What about me?”

“Well… didn’t it affect you somehow, too?”

Realizing what she’s getting at, the unicorn sighs and shrugs. “Not as badly as it did them. Before I was promoted and assigned to Ponyville, I was a part of Canterlot’s guard. I had already been on a couple missions where I had seen death and nearly experienced it myself. I wouldn’t say I was completely numb to it by the time the gemhounds attacked, but I was at least able to keep it all inside until I was alone.”

Asylum nods slowly. “And… how did you cope with it?”

“The anger of losing soldiers under my command? The sadness of realizing ponies had died? The trauma of watching them get eaten? Or the guilty relief that, if I was gonna watch anypony die, at least they were ponies I didn’t like much?”

“...all of the above, maybe?”

He sighs again. “I got over the anger by buying a ton of pillows and ripping them apart with my hooves. The sadness and trauma went away on their own after some funerals and vivid nightmares. The guilty relief? Still there. And frankly, I don’t care if it’s wrong, because I’m not gonna force myself to feel even worse about something I already feel bad about.”

She nods, albeit slowly. “That’s a way of handling it, I suppose… whatever works best for you.”

“It works better than wallowing in whatever ponies are supposed to wallow in. Mud or something like that.” Winter chuckles. “And on the bright side, everypony in my squad actually obeys me now.”

Asylum smiles. “That’s one way of looking at it.” Glancing out the window reveals that the moon is well into the sky by now. “We should get some sleep for tomorrow. The train arrives at seven in the morning.”

“Yaaay. Early wakeup times.” Sighing, the unicorn levitates his glasses and watch off, laying them on his bags. “Well, goodnight, Asylum. Thanks for letting me get all that off my chest.”

She nods, hopping off the bed to start flying up to her own. “Anytime. It’s my job, remember?”

He smiles. “Right.” Lighting his horn one last time, he flicks off the overhead lamp once the pegasus is up in her own bed, casting the room into darkness.