Moon and Star

Moon and Star

“As I’ve told you again and again, you don’t meet the basic requirements for becoming a royal guard.” said a golden armored pony

“I know what you’ve said, sir, but you have yet to tell me what these ‘requirements’ are.” Starburst said in an unmoving tone

The guard places a hoof to his face and rubbed his nose, “Fine you want me to be blunt about it, fine. You don’t meet our basic physical requirements for the royal guard. In other words, you’re far too small in height, weight, and muscular mass. As you are now you’d be more of a liability than anything else.”

Starburst growled on the inside. That excuse has been the biggest road block of her young life, and she was long past being fed up with it. She knew that she could handle the difficult training that was associated with being a member of the royal guard.

“I am fully capable of handling the rigorous training involved. All I ask is that you give me a chance to prove my abilities.” Starburst said firmly

“I’m sorry miss, but no is no. Now go home and stop bothering me.”

“What’s going on?” came a mature female’s voice

The mysterious voice came from behind Starburst, and when she turned to see who had spoken her jaw dropped like and anvil. The mare was easily one of the tallest ponies she had ever seen, not including the princesses.

Her height wasn’t the only thing that caught her attention, she was also an alicorn. The mare had long wings that covered her flank and the leading edges of her wings were a beautiful violet colored rose pattern. Her head was crowned with a broken unicorn horn with a pair smaller spike horns on either side of it.

The alicorn features weren’t the only things that Starburst had taken notice about this dark purple pony. She also had the deepest red pair of dragon eyes that she had ever seen. As if they could pierce her to the core.

The recoupment officer had also noticed this stranger and nearly had to force himself back to his senses, “Sorry ma’am, but this is a private matter. Official guard business.”

“Oh? The way the two of you were discussing it in front of the palace makes it hard for somepony not to take notice. Why don’t you just fill me in.” She says with a commanding smile

Starburst spoke first, “He is refusing my admittance into the royal guard.”

“Why’s that?”

“Mostly because of her physical condition. She doesn’t meet the minimal requirements to permit her entry.”

The strange mare looked at Starburst, “What if I train and vouch for her?”

The recoupment officer scrutinized her for a second, “Sorry ma’am, but who are you?”

She raised her wings to reveal a mid-evil shield with a sun and moon inside of it, “My name is Moon Shadow.”

The stallion looked at her in a mix of confusion and respect, “Chief Captain Moon Shadow?”

“The one and only.” She replies with a grin, “So what do you think of my proposal?”

“Well if she can meet your standards, then I suppose we could make an exception.”

“Good to hear.”

“Hold on a second. Who are you anyways?” Starburst interrupted

Moon Shadow looked warmly at Starburst, “An old friend of your mother.”

xxXxx

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, it’s good to see you.” Moon Shadow said as she hugged Twilight

“Moon Shadow, you know it’s perfectly alright for you to just drop the title.”

Starburst looked at her mother and at Moon Shadow in confused amazement, “You two actually know each other?”

“Of course we do, dear. Moon Shadow is quite the hero in Equestria. There’s even an entire book series about her and her adventures. I think that I have them in the library.”

That wouldn’t surprise Starburst one bit. She felt that her mother had almost every book that was ever written lied in the family library, all of which Twilight has had read at one time or another.

“So what can I do for you?” Twilight asked

“Well I caught this young filly fighting with the recruitment officer outside the palace. Apparently she wants to be a member of the royal guard.”

“Starburst, how many times have I told you to stop pestering the recruiters.” Twilight said sternly, the with a proud smile, “But it’s nice to see that you still haven’t given up on your goal.”

“So I take it that this isn’t the first time that you’ve tried to enlist.” Moon Shadow stated as she looked at Starburst

“No it wasn’t, and I’ll keep on trying till I am finally a member of the royal guard.”

Moon Shadow grinned devilishly at the young mares statement, “Very well, you’ve convinced me.” Then turned to Twilight, “Princess Twilight, with your permission, I would like to take your daughter on as my apprentice and train her to become my successor.”

Twilight looked back at Moon Shadow with wide eyes, “Are you sure? I don’t think that you’ve ever had an apprentice before.”

“You’re right, I never had one. But I have trained quite a number of other ponies in my time, all of which have done very well in their respective duties. And I feel that the same will hold true for Starburst as well.”

“Hold on a moment. Don’t I get a say in all of this?” Starburst said

Moon Shadow gave Starburst her attention, “And what is it that you would like to say on this matter?”

“Well first of all, you still haven’t told me who you are.”

“For somepony that wants to get into the royal guard, you don’t know the all that much about its most pivotal members.”

Starburst just looked at Moon Shadow, uncertain as to what she meant. It was her mother that had to explain it to her.

“Moon Shadow was the first mare to become Captain of the Royal Guard, and later the very first to obtain the rank of Chief Captain. She is the last of the warrior heroes in Equestria. And also the last of the devil ponies in the whole world.”

Warrior hero was something that Starburst had recognized. Her father would tell her storied of special ponies that lived during different times of the kingdoms history that had battle evil. There weren’t many, and admittedly she didn’t know each and every one. But one of the descriptions given did remind her of Moon Shadow.

But the other descriptions that her mother gave she wasn’t so sure about. There have been too many kinds of ponies that have held the position of Captain of the Royal Guard. Not to mention that she has never heard of a Chief Captain or of devil ponies.

“I’m sorry, but you’ve still lost me.”

Twilight looked warmly at her daughter, “don’t worry about it too much, dear. The two of you are going to have plenty of time to get to know each other.” Then she hugged Star burst with her wings, “If you survive your training with Moon Shadow then your acceptance into the guard is guaranteed.”

Starburst was still confused about the whole thing, but she trusted her mother’s judgment. “Okay I’ll go along with this training program of yours. What do you need me to do?”

“For now, just stand there.” Moon Shadow said, then she stood tall before the young mare and stretched her wings out away from her body, “I am Moon Shadow. Former Captain of the Royal Guard and Former Chief Captain of Equestria. I have been proclaimed by Princess Celestia as a warrior hero of the second age of the kingdom. And last of the devil pony herds. I do here by take the daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle, one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and Flash Sentry, member of the Royal Guard, as my apprentice.”

After speaking Moon Shadow lowered her head and placed her broken horn upon Starburst’s brow. She then backed away and looked at the young mare, “Now that the formalities are taken care of let’s get going. Go and pack only your basic of needs for the months of training that you’ll be going through.”

Saluting with her right wing, Starburst answered, “Yes ma’am. Right away ma’am.”

Twilight watched her daughter rush off to her room to pack her camping gear and other supplies, “so you really think that this is a good idea?”

“At the very least it’ll keep her out of trouble.” Moon Shadow said with a half grin