Decades Lead to Every Day

“Attention, passengers. We will be arriving at Fillydelphia in approximately ten minutes. Please ensure all of your belongings are accounted for and prepare to exit the locomotive. Thank you.”

Asylum sighs and shakes Winter again. “Come on! We have ten minutes!”

The unicorn groans and swats her hooves away, pulling the covers up more. “I just got to sleep… lemme sleep.”

“You were asleep when I woke up thirty minutes ago,” she says dryly.

“Exactly.”

Asylum grabs the blankets and tosses them to the side. “Just get up already. There may not be a shower on the train, but you at least need to brush your mane and smooth out your coat before you go out in public.”

With a loud moan, Winter forces himself into a sitting position. “Why…?”

“What do you mean, ‘why’? You look like a mess!”

“I thrive on your constructive criticism. Thank you.” The unicorn cracks his neck in both directions before standing up, stretching. “First off, I’m gonna shower when I get to their place anyway. Secondly, my mane and coat look just fine, at least for me. And third, they might not recognize me if I look too different from the last time I saw them.”

Asylum raises an eyebrow. “And when was that? Four, five months ago? Six?”

“About three and a half years.” He notices her eyes widen, and he chuckles. “Last time I saw them was the day I left for boot camp in Canterlot. Which I did as soon as Hearth’s Warming vacation was over after I turned seventeen.” He shrugs. “Then training took over my life, and when I was assigned to Ponyville, the trip to Fillydelphia was still too far and too expensive to be worth it on anything but special occasions, like birthdays. But whenever one of their birthdays came up, or it was a holiday, I was either already out on an assignment or unable to get a ticket before they were all taken.”

“Wow…” She blinks. “Wait… seventeen? How old are you now?”

“Twenty.”

“How did you become a captain as such a young age?” she asks, incredulous. “Doesn’t that take years?”

He tilts his head. “Becoming a captain? Yeah, back in the days when squads were still being formed. But now that every town’s division has a captain, new ones are only assigned if one dies, goes MIA, or is declared unsuitable for work.”

“So the captain of Ponyville’s division was killed, or something… and you got promoted?” she asks, trying to clarify.

“Actually, he retired. But yes.” He notices her open her mouth for another question. “Before you ask: the princesses, along with other select high-ranking guards, mark down possible candidates based on their skills and strategies, their level of experience, and any of their outstanding accomplishments. Apparently, what I did on my first assignment fit nicely into the last category.”

“...now I’m curious. What did-”

“Attention, passengers. We are now arriving at Fillydelphia. Please prepare to exit the locomotive. Thank you.”

Winter chuckles, grabbing his bag and starting to nudge Mercury awake. “That story will have to wait until the ride home. What day do you leave?”

She smiles. “Saturday.”

“Hey, same here. Keep an eye out for me at the station.” He smiles back, letting Mercury sleepily climb onto his back and curl up. “Have fun, Asylum.”

“You too, captain.” She smirks, and they get ready to depart as the train slows to a stop.

“You willingly signed up for the second-most dangerous job in all of Equestria behind being a criminal.”

“Yes.”

“You went into battle numerous times with just some knives as your weapons.”

“I know.”

“You became the captain of your own division and earned the respect of everypony who ranks less than you even when they’re twice your age.”

“I was there for that.”

“So why is knocking on a door such a scary and difficult concept?”

“Because I haven’t seen the door in three years!”

The argument is conveyed in hushed whispers between a cobalt unicorn and a silver fox, both of them walking up and down a street to avoid seeming out of place. The fox, resting on his friend’s back, sighs. “Would you rather chicken out and not show up for the birthday you spent so much time planning to attend, or see your family again?”

“It sounds so easy when you phrase it like that...”

“That’s because it is!”

“What do I say?” Winter snaps. “‘Hey, mom and dad! What’s up? Long time no see!’”

Mercury shrugs. “Pretty much.”

“Really?! These are my parents, Merc! And they haven’t seen me in three years! This is gonna be the most awkward couple days ever!”

“Yeah, hanging out on a street corner because of your nervousness would be pretty awkward,” the fox agrees sarcastically.

“...point.”

The next time their casual walking takes them to the house, Winter stops and turns to the door. He sighs, and Mercury pats him on the head. “It’ll be fine, Win.”

“Let’s hope so...” Taking a deep breath, the unicorn lifts a hoof. Before he can convince himself not to, he knocks loudly three times on the door. “No going back now.”

After a second, they both hear hoofsteps growing louder as one of the inhabitants of the house comes closer to the door. A moment later, the door opens, revealing a dark turquoise earth pony mare very familiar to Winter. She takes one look at the unicorn in the doorway and blinks, surprised.

Winter just smiles, albeit nervously. “...hey, mom… happy birthday.”

“Who’s at the door, dear?” a masculine voice calls from inside the house.

Perma Frost coughs before turning to call back. “I-It’s… Winter!” When the other voice goes quiet, but hoofsteps take its place, the mare turns to her son once more, this time with a smile on her face. Quickly, she pulls him into a hug. “Winter… it’s been far too long...”

“Believe me, I know.” He chuckles, hugging back as best he can and trying to ignore the fact that they’re doing this in public view. “We’ve got way too much to catch up on… mind if I come in?”

She releases him from the hug and steps back to allow him entry. “Why would you need to ask? I don’t care where you live now. This is your home just as much as it is ours.”

He walks in, smiling and nodding gratefully. “Well, sorry for coming home a little after curfew.” Mercury stands up and yips happily at the mare. “Careful there, Merc. You might fall.”

“Aww...” Perma coos, petting the fox. “Is this your pet?”

Before Winter can respond, the basement door opens, and out comes a black unicorn who recognizes the other stallion immediately. Smiling, he trots over and pulls his son into a hug. “Long time no see, Win.”

“Way too long,” Winter agrees. He feels his mother join in the hug as well. “So, what’d I miss?”

They both laugh, and Perma nuzzles him. “We could ask you the same thing… captain.”

The younger of the two unicorns in the room sighs. “Mom, it’s weird enough for my friends to call me that. It’s even weirder from my parents.”

“Hey, no talking back to your mother, young man,” Bulwark warns, a playful smile on his muzzle.

Winter smirks. “Sorry dad, but I outrank you now. Dare you risk being charged for insubordination?”

“Dare you risk being grounded?”

“Can’t do that. I’m already grounded.” He motions to his side, grinning. “No wings, see?”

Perma sighs despite her smile, shaking her head. “Boys, boys, boys...”

The catching up is far from boring for any of the ponies involved. While Winter’s parents learned about his life since training thanks to various letters, they’re just now finding out different details, such as how particular missions went or any plans for the future. While the former makes for good conversation, the latter only elicits a few shrugs from the cobalt unicorn and a couple remarks about how “life is good as is”. Mercury, already knowing all of this, has fallen back asleep on the arm of the couch, Perma consistently petting him idly while speaking to her son.

“So, dad, how’s your work going?” Winter asks, trying to see if he can finally divert attention away from himself. “You’re a scientist now, right?”

Bulwark chuckles. “Close enough. I prefer the term ‘magic mechanic’, since I don’t do much of the technical parts. Just the arcane ones.” He taps his own horn. “As for how it’s going? Pretty good. Hoping to start testing the Zodiac Initiative soon.”

Winter tilts his head. “The Zodiac Initiative?”

“Just another military experiment to enhance the capabilities of the royal guard.” He rubs his son’s mane. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll hear more when we start getting actual guards involved.”

“Right...” A little worried despite his dad’s reassurance, Winter stands up. “I’ll be back in a second. Just need to shower.”

“Long trip?” his mother asks, giggling.

He nods. “Long, and hot. How is it we can fight off creatures fifty times our size without getting a scratch, but we haven’t put air conditioning on trains yet?”

Neither of his parents have an answer for that. The cobalt unicorn makes his way to the bathroom, remembering the layout of the house even after three years, and starts a refreshing shower for himself.

As the water warms up, Winter glances in the mirror, noticing his mane looking even messier than usual. He tries to flatten parts down with his hoof, but they just spring back into place. Maybe I need a haircut… I haven’t had short hair since I moved to Ponyville. He looks back at his tail, which almost touches the floor. Could get my tail done too. Hay, my entire body could go for a reworking at this point...

He sighs as he turns back to the mirror to take in his full appearance. His mane and tail look like they’ve only ever received minimal brushing to remove tangles, which is more or less the case, and his coat just barely qualifies as ‘smooth’. Then there’s his freckles and glasses, making him look like he belongs at the front of a classroom with his foreleg raised. And while he definitely has the muscle structure expected of a guard, that fact is contrasted by his noticeable belly bulge, making it hard to tell whether or not he’s out of shape.

While Winter is normally not one to care about appearances, he finds himself spending a good moment trying not to smash a mirror.

One shower later, Winter is feeling a bit better. His anger has dissipated, leaving him wondering where that thought process had come from in the first place, and his mane and tail have both flattened out. Using his hoof to wipe a circle into the steam-covered mirror, the unicorn then takes a brush and runs it through his mane until it returns to its normal state. He then starts to do the same with his tail.

Once he’s back to his regular look, he opens the bathroom door and steps out into the hall. He turns to head back to the living room and immediately has his vision completely obscured by a wall of turquoise.

The unicorn falls over onto his back, kicking his back legs and trying to push his assailant off until he feels hooves around his sides. He quickly realizes what’s going on, and with a playful roll of his eyes, returns the hug. “Happy to see you again too, Limelight.”

The earth pony who glomped him soon stands up and offers a hoof to help him stand as well, allowing him a full look at his younger sister. Her coat is a turquoise several shades lighter than her mother’s, while her mane and tail are a magenta colour; in contrast to her brother’s naturally scruffy appearance, her own hair appears to be greatly cared for, and therefore is brushed neatly. A black headband rests in her mane, and her orange eyes meet with Winter’s own green ones before she pulls him into another hug as soon as he’s stood up.

“You’ve been gone way too long,” she states simply, nuzzling him.

He smiles, nuzzling back. “Believe me, I know. But at least I wrote, right?”

“Yeah...” Limelight frowns. “I still wish you would’ve visited more often, though...”

“Sorry, Lime. But you could always come visit me too, you know.” The unicorn grins. “So I’m not totally to blame here.”

She pouts. “Wiiiiinteeeer...”

“Alright, alright. My fault.” He nuzzles her again. “Come on, cheer up. I don’t like it when you’re sad.”

Limelight giggles, nuzzling back before looking him over. She hums. “You know… I kind of expected more.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Aren’t you a royal guard now?” She pokes his foreleg. “You’re bigger than when you left, but aside from that, you look pretty much the same.”

“Change and I aren’t the best of friends.” He shrugs. “What did you expect? A buzz cut? A uniform? Coat completely dyed a new colour?”

She grins sheepishly. “All of the above? I mean, most guards have white coats, don’t they?”

“That’s just an optional enchantment in their armour,” Winter explains. “It’s purely aesthetic and only used when protecting any of the princesses. Ponyville doesn’t bother with it, since it’s more of a Canterlot thing.”

“And what about the hair and the uniform?” she prods.

The unicorn rolls his eyes. “I like my hair long, and I left my uniform at home. This is a family get-together for mom’s birthday, not a medal award ceremony.” He glances down the hall. “Speaking of which, we should get back to mom and dad.”

Limelight nods, grinning. “Right! Finally, the whole family’s back together!” She practically prances off back to the living room, leaving her brother alone.

Winter blinks, then sighs as he slowly follows, looking down at the floor. Not all of us…