Chapters “Cold, and darkness. Heh, everypony here is used to that. It’s the Arctic North, why wouldn’t there be cold and darkness? It’s not like we’re further south or anything, it’s just where the empire sits. I’m getting off topic now, so I guess I’ll just start. Here, my friends, is how our story started.”
The sun slowly rose over a cold, almost-barren slab of land, surrounded by ice-covered mountains. Down in the valley, lies the city of the Crystal Empire. Most ponies by now would be asleep. Most. Except those who work their lives to protect the empire.
"Come on, boys! Let's move!" Shouted a tall, well-built navy blue unicorn stallion, wearing fine silver armor that sparkled ten times more than the Canterlot guard armor, ahead of a line of stallions, each in color to literally make a rainbow. Every one of them wore similar armor, but it did not come close to the sparkle like the unicorn's armor.
Crystal ponies on that street stopped and watched the assemblage of crystal guards march towards the castle, a few mares in the crowd admired the armor-plated stallions as they cantered by. If you were one of those mares, you'd be lucky to have one of the guards briefly break march code and wave at you.
"Hmm," a white unicorn dressed in purple with gold outer lining armor with a shield on the center of the chestplate stood on the balcony of the Crystal Spire. His coat was whiter than snow, and his mane was a deep-night blue, with a cyan stripe down the side. He held a helmet in his hoof, which again had a purple paint, with a gold outer lining. Underneath his armor was a pair of dog tags that read ' CAPTAIN SHINING ARMOR ROYAL GUARD '. They were the new recruits who had already gotten their armor. Unlike Canterlot, Crystal guards received their armor while still a recruit.
The unicorn and the group of guards, all in three perfect rows, stopped underneath the spire, where the Crystal Heart was. The stallion then turned around to face them all.
"Listen up boys, Captain Armor's goal is to train a better guard ever since the changelings attacked Canterlot two years ago," he started, walking on the outside of the stoic-faced stallions. "We will crush the standards of the Canterlot guard, we will excel in our performance, we will be ten to a hundred times better than those boys in gold armor!"
"Hoorah!" the group responded in unison, in very rough voices.
"Very good," the navy blue stallion trotted back to the front of the line. "Come on boys, it's almost chow time."
The unicorn, along with the recruits, marched off to the main crystal guard base on the outskirts of the empire. After arriving, the stallion let off the others to the mess hall to get some grub, while he cantered back to the spire for an important meeting.
The unicorn ran into the castle without breaking a sweat, then slowed his pace to fit in, before looking around to find where he needed to go. He then came up to a door, and knocked once. A moment later, they seemed to open on their own, and the stallion slowly entered the dark bedroom, slowly unsheathing a combat knife from his armor and cautiously inching through the room, the doors slamming shut behind him suddenly, causing him to jump.
"Who are you?" A dark voice said, and the unicorn turned and saw a tall, but blacked out, stallion figure standing there.
"Uh. First Lieutenant Shield Spotter," he started, gulping. "Sir..."
The dark mass then slowly moved towards the unicorn, and Shield begun to get a sense of fear, but on the outside he remained hard as a rock, and he soon pointed the knife out at the dark figure.
"Stay back!" He said, before the curtains slid open magically, revealing the captain of the Royal Guard standing there, smiling.
"I've trained you well, Spotter," Shining Armor smiled.
Shield slowly lowered the knife, and flipped it back into the handle, before tucking it away in his armor. "Thank you sir, my apologies."
"Don't worry about it, soldier. I would have done the same thing most likely," Shining Armor walked to a set of tall doors that led to a balcony, the white unicorn motioning for Shield to come with him, which is what he did. "It's beautiful, is it not?" He smiled.
"Yes, sir. It is," Shield replied, looking out at the one hundred eighty degree view.
"Some day, I bet this empire will be all yours, when I'm not around," Shining Armor continued to look out at the horizon.
"Uh, I object sir," Shield said.
"What do you mean?" Shining Armor asked, turning to face Spotter.
"What I mean is, chances are if we live to full life, without any issues or wars or anything, I'd be dead before you could pass it on. Besides...I'm, not sure if I'm ready to lead an entire empire anyways. I don't think I would be good enough for that responsibility, sir." Shield Spotter replied with a stern tone in his voice.
"But, you never know. For all we know, you might become Equestria's next alicorn princess," Shining Armor bantered.
"What?!" Shield shouted, his irises shrinking to pinpricks, and taking a few steps away from the captain.
Shining Armor then burst out laughing. "I'm kidding, first lieutenant."
Shield then took a deep sigh of relief. "Sir, don't you ever do that to me again. I almost had a heart attack."
"Seriously? You know stallions can't become alicorns right? Or...princesses," Shining Armor stopped laughing.
"Yes, but..."
"But what?"
"I do know of somepony who is an alicorn...and he's a stallion."
"What?! Who?"
***
Shortly after the meeting with Shining Armor, Shield Spotter returned to the crystal guard base, where some were training, while others stood on patrol, and he was stopped at the door.
"How many times does the Crystal Heart glow per day?" The gate guard stood like a statue, staring at Shield and blocking him from entering as a security precaution.
"Twenty-four hundred," Shield answered, and the guard moved his spear out of the way, allowing him to enter.
Shield casually walked into the base, past barracks, a training field, and a couple of groups of guards marching, and then the flagpole, where some guards stood saluting the flag, which was purple with a crystflake in dead center. Afterwards, he went into the main building, which was three stories high.
"Afternoon," he said to the receptionist mare, who giggled some and blushed. Shield had a very strong feeling that she has had a crush on him for a while, which every time he thought of it, brought a smile to his face.
Shield then opened the door to his office, and saw a nice-sized package wrapped in brown paper with a basic string holding it down. He sat at his desk and pulled out his knife, cutting the string and paper, revealing a white cardboard box. He shook it gently, hearing a light thump against the side of the box before cutting the tape with the knife and opening it.
Inside the box was a snow globe with the Canterlot Castle, with a couple of guards playing together on what looked like a snowy field, and on the bottom was a picture of an extremely light green pegasus mare with a brown mane, smiling brightly with a red and white striped scarf around her neck, as well as an envelope taped to it. Shield took the envelope off of the picture, and opened it, levitating out a piece of paper which was written on.
Dear Shield,
I miss you so much, and I cannot wait for you to come home. How is the Crystal Empire? I'm not always busy, so you shouldn't hold yourself back from sending a reply. It always warms my heart to get a letter back from you, it just lets me know you're safe and sound, and how you are doing. Our neighbor has been asking how you are doing, and I never know what to tell him. Reply back when ever you aren't busy.
I love you with all my heart,
~Mint Spark
Shield smiled, and levitated a quill, ink, and a piece of paper to his desk, putting the letter off to the side, and he begun to write.
Dear Minty, my love,
Things are going great up here, I wish you could have come with me. The sights here are breathtaking, and i'm certain you'd love it here. I miss you dearly, and I can't wait to come home either. Tell our neighbor I'm doing fine, and that i'll be home in a few weeks to a month, before the winter season really gets worse around Equestria. I've told all of my buddies about you, and they are eager to meet you some day, if they are ever in town. I promise, once I get home, i'm not going anywhere without you.
I love you more, with all of my heart and strength,
~Shield Spotter
P.S.
Thank you for the snow globe and picture. Love you a ton.
Shield then set the quill down in the ink jar, reading over the letter to make sure he didn't make any mistakes.
"Writing to your marefriend again, are we?" A voice chuckled.
Shield scrambled on accident, knocking over the jar of ink onto his desk.
"DAWH. What gives man?!" Shield yelled, grabbing a paper towel and cleaning up the ink.
The stallion laughed. "Oh come on, dude. I've never seen your hooves move that fast in my life."
Shield grumbled. "That wasn't funny, Stratus."
"Yes it was! Admit it!" The stallion grinned. He was a large, muscular pegasus stallion, slightly bigger than Shield. He also had a mid-length, slightly spiky purple mane.
"It. Wasn't. Funny," Shield grit his teeth.
"Yes it was. Anyways, what did you write to her?" Stratus sat on the edge of Shield's desk and looking down at him.
"None of your business," Shield replied, shoving the stallion off of his desk.
Stratus landed on his hooves, then sat in a chair next to Shield's desk. "Aw, come on bro. I'm just tryin' to have fun with you. It's not like you're here forever. You are shipped back to Canterlot in three weeks, chances are pretty slim that we'll ever see each other again."
Shield sighed, putting his letter into an envelope. "I know. It makes me sad too, but it's just the way things are."
"Can't your wife move here? So we can all stay together? You told me when we met that you loved it here, possibly more than your home town," Stratus motioned a hoof.
"No, Stratus! If I'm going to start a family with Minty, it's going to be back in Canterlot!" Shield slammed his hoof onto the desk, startling Stratus.
Stratus jumped slightly. "Okay..." He sighed. "It's just, you are like my best friend."
Shield slowly sat down, calming himself. "And you're like my best friend too..."
"It's going to suck when you leave. I love hanging out with you and the others," Stratus' ears flopped down.
Shield then got up and walked around his desk, resting a hoof on Stratus' shoulder.
"If it makes you feel better, we should go to the tavern tonight and get a few drinks," He said, smiling.
Stratus' ears perked up. "Really?" He grinned some.
"Sure, it's not like we've been there recently anyways," Shield smiled still.
"Awesome. We bringin' Golden too? And Swifty?" Stratus asked, standing up.
"Of course, we can bring Glow and Swift too," Shield smiled.
"Sweet, another guys night out! I love it when we have stallion night outs," Stratus grinned.
"Me too, bro. Me too," Shield smiled, walking out of his office with Stratus.
***
Later that night, Shield and Stratus waited on a bench outside of a packed sports bar, not far from the spire, waiting for their buddies to arrive.
"Don't you think we should go in and get a table before it packs out?" Stratus asked.
"Don't be silly, it's not THAT packed," Shield replied, looking around for two familiar faces.
Soon after, a yellow earth pony stallion with a brown mane, and a white pegasus stallion with a dark-cyan mane trotted side by side up to them.
"Hey guys!" The yellow stallion, Golden Blade, shouted.
"Stratus! Shield!" Swift Sword called out, smiling brightly.
"Hey you two!" Stratus stood up and giving both of them a manly hug.
"What's going on, my brothers from other mothers?" Golden asked as Shield stood and hoofbumped them.
"Just waitin' for you is all. Come on, let's go in before it packs out," Shield smirked a bit.
"Wha...That's what I said!" Stratus' eyes widened, and the three laughed.
"Hah, no you didn't," Shield smirked more and trotted inside.
Inside, ponies drank ciders, ate food that was cooked in the kitchen, and watched games from hockey, to hoofball, to soccer on screens with projectors hanging from the ceiling. The four then got lucky enough to find four empty spots at the bar, where they ordered some food and ciders.
"Hey, guys," Golden spoke up, sitting at the end of the group, and he got the attention of the other three. "A toast, to Shield on his promotion to first lieutenant," he continued, raising his glass.
Shield's cheeks darkened in a blush and he smiled as the others raised their drinks. "Aw, come on, it's not that exciting."
"Oh yes, it is, shut up and take it," Swift joked around, and the four clinked their shot glasses.
"I also bid you good luck, for when you go back to your wife and your old job in Canterlot. We will all miss you bro," Stratus smiled at Shield.
"Hoorah," they said in unison, before downing their drinks.
Afterwards, the four joked around with each other and watched the sports until around midnight, when they all went home.
The morning following Shield Spotter's late night outing with his guard buddies was anything but abnormal. The navy-blue unicorn rose from his bed in his quarters. Unlike the Royal Guard in Canterlot, Lieutenants and anyone with a higher rank in the Crystal Guard received their own quarters as an alternative to overpopulating barracks until new ones could be built. Shield climbed out of his bed and without a moment of hesitation, showered and freshened himself up for work. Normally, work for him would start at eight-thirty, but today he was assigned early to watch over operations in the Spire.
He slowly slipped on his silver armor, it sparkled like a newly polished white diamond, complete with four identical hoof guards and the main piece. Instead of wearing his helmet, Shield left it on his dresser and set off for the palace to begin his duties. He didn't expect to run into any of his friends this morning, knowing they drank a lot more than he did and were probably still snoring in their beds. The unicorn was let into the Spire, no questions asked. The first thing he noticed was decorators setting up balloons and streamers everywhere as if a five year old was having his birthday party at the palace.
"What's going on?" He asked as a blue crystal mare walked by with some balloon strings in her mouth.
"We're getting weady for the Crystal Gawa," she turned and looked at the stallion, her voice slightly muffled by the balloon strings.
"Crystal Gala?" His eyes widened slightly. After only being in the Empire for a few months, he still had not learned everything about what events go on here, other than the Crystal Fair which he attended this year.
"The biggest gawa after the Grand Gawing Gawa. Aren't you excited?" The mare's eyes twinkled as she smiled, continuing to hold the balloon strings in her mouth.
"Oh, um, sure," Shield replied with a faint smile as the mare trotted off with the balloons. His smile dropped into a stoic face as he patrolled around the palace. The decorators seemed to be in every nook and cranny trying their best to prepare the place for the upcoming Gala the mare mentioned.
The thought of the upcoming Gala had the stallion uneasy, knowing that hundreds, maybe thousands of ponies from all over Equestria would all be jam-packed into the Empire for the Gala and whatever other events will be going on. He was used to the hustle and bustle of Canterlot during the Grand Galloping Gala, but knowing how well the Crystal Empire does things, it will certainly bring more of a crowd, not to mention cheaper passes.
"Lieutenant Spotter!" A voice broke his train of thought, his eyes briefly shrinking at the sudden booming voice. Shield snapped into his right mind and puffed his chest out slightly at the sight of a white unicorn, taller than himself, wearing purple armor with gold outlines approaching.
"Captain Armor." Shield tossed up a salute.
Shining Armor proudly returned the salute, before dropping it a moment later. "I am happy to see you here today, Lieutenant. Would you care to know why?"
"Why is that sir?" Shield continued to stare Shining in the eye, like any good soldier would.
"Not only did I wish for you to oversee the progress of the decor going up around the palace, I'm certain you've seen, yes?" Shining kept a stoic look on his face, while cracking a friendly smile to the smaller unicorn.
Shield nodded. "Yes sir, I have. Preparations for the Crystal Gala as one of the decor mares said."
"Well, I would also like to talk to you in private. Come on, let's let them work," Shining turned around and begun walking to the spiral staircase which lead to his office in the taller section of the palace.
Shield followed close behind, not making a single peep in case the captain was serious about something. A few slightly tiring minutes later from the walk up ten flights of stairs, the two stallions arrived at Shining's office.
Shield came to a stop behind Shining as he unlocked the doors to his office. "I'm just wondering, can't somepony install an elevator rather than have those stairs?"
Shining looked back, still flipping through his keys. "Exercise, first lieutenant. Besides, this place is over a thousand years old, one wrong move could actually destroy the place and send the empire into oblivion."
Shield gulped at the thought. "Fair point." He replied as the door unlocked and the two unicorns entered.
The captain's office was much bigger than his old office back in Canterlot, and had wraparound windows which gave a one-hundred and eighty degree view of the empire. Inside, there was a polished fine wooden desk with some stacked papers on it, a tiny Crystal Empire flag sticking out of an old ink jar, with the Equestrian flag sticking out at an opposite angle. The walls didn't have much, other than a wooden frame with a steel sword facing straight up, on the opposite side stood a stone statue of a Royal Guard missing his hoof guards, holding a real spear and staring proudly forward.
"Have a seat, soldier," Shining sat in his leather chair, shutting the door with his magic.
Shield sat in the chair opposite of Shining Armor, and looked forward at the white unicorn.
"As you know, we're still struggling to recruit, even after the Empire being back for a year. Right now, both me and Cadence have come to a decision where we will be transferring reserve guards from Canterlot to the Crystal Empire, like we did with you eight months ago." Shining put his hooves together on the desk, eying the navy-blue stallion.
Shield nodded, a sign he was listening. "Yes, sir."
Shining then pulled a drawer open and dug through it, moments later pulling out a folder and setting it in front of Shield, turning it around so it was not upside down for the lieutenant. Shield opened the folder and read through the papers.
"These are my papers," Shield's eyes narrowed further as he flipped through the papers.
Shining nodded. "Yes, they are."
Shield glanced up at the captain. "Is something wrong?"
"No, of course not. You're my best first lieutenant in the empire, Spotter," the white unicorn smiled.
"Then what's going on?" Shield levitated the papers into a neat pile, sliding them back into the folder and levitating it back to the captain, who put it back away and shut the drawer with a pink magic aura.
"You were only supposed to be here for nine months, just until we can recruit more ponies. But, recruiting levels have been abnormally low for the guard recently, and we've only recruited about fifteen ponies for the Crystal Guard, nowhere near the two-hundred we expected," Shining began, his smile fading.
"...What are you saying?" Shield eyed Shining.
"I'm asking you to stay...just until recruiting season is over, or until we have enough men," Shining stared at Shield with a blank expression.
Shield thought of things to reply back with at that moment, which took him about a minute. "I-I can't sir...Minty's expecting me back in Canterlot. She's expecting me to be back home next month."
Shining Armor sighed. "I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice, lieutenant. We need you more than anything, and with the Crystal Gala fast approaching, we need more men than ever. Especially if all four princesses are going to be here at once, with perhaps the Duke of Ponyton,"
"But, sir-."
"Please, Spotter. We need you to stay, I need you to stay. If we were recruiting as many as we originally hoped, I would gladly let you go home to your marefriend right this minute, but I am extremely sorry to say, that can't happen...at least not yet," Shining continued to stare at Shield.
Shield struggled to hold back tears, knowing no matter what, it could be up to a year before he sees the green mare he loves so much.
***
"So, you're staying?!"
Shield hesitated, but then nodded slowly as he faced a large white pegasus. The stallion wore a complete set of golden Canterlot guard armor, but instead of the typical blue mane and tail, his mane remained it's normal purple color. "Yes, Strat, I am."
Stratus jumped for joy and fluttered his wings. "YES! YES YES YES!" He yelled, acting completely like he just won the lottery.
Shield sighed and lowered his head and ears moments after. Stratus noticed and slowly landed, the bright smile fading from his face.
"Hey...are you alright?" The pegasus slowly approached the unicorn.
Shield looked back up at Stratus, his head remaining a bit low. "No...I wanted to go back to my marefriend...I-I wanted to propose to her."
"Oh..." Stratus' ears lowered. "But hey, don't be sad...you get to stick around for a little while longer!" Stratus smiled.
"More than a little while," Shield slowly walked around Stratus, his voice down and depressed.
Stratus' smile once again faded, his ears drooping as his friend walked away with his head down. He didn't like seeing him sad, but he also didn't want to bother him, after learning the hard way a few months before.
The unicorn walked the streets of the empire, looking around at the different assortments of stallions, mares and foals of all races. Of all of the ponies, he was most likely the only one with a down mood.
"I just want to go home...to propose and start a family. I miss Canterlot," Shield mumbled to himself, before stopping and gasping. "What will Minty say when I tell her?"
Shield sat cross-hooved on a red and gold cushion inside his quarters at the base barracks, his horn lit in a yellow aura as he used magic to turn the page of a spell book he was reading. Despite it being night time, he had kept candles lit around his quarters, giving off just enough light for him to be able to read. As his eyes scanned over the next page of the book, he levitated up a small white tea cup with the Crystal Heart printed onto it, before blowing on it and taking a small sip of piping hot tea. He politely set the cup back down on the small plate, his eyes still focused on the book as he moved his eyes from one page to the other.
Feeling positive that he had the day off, but still disappointed of the news he had learned the month before, he felt as reading was something he could do to pass the time until he was set to return home. Had he not been ordered by Shining Armor himself to stay in the empire, Shield would have traveled back to Canterlot, where his marefriend Mint Spark was waiting.
Turning the page once more and levitating the tea cup back to his muzzle, something caught his eye. The next page, page one hundred and fifty four, was titled Advanced Magic . The cup stopped just to the side of his muzzle, still held in a yellow aura. He sipped the tea after a moment, continuing to hold the cup to the side of his muzzle afterwards. With a hoof, he turned to the next page, and started to read over the first spell that came in the next category.
As his eyes moved across the descriptions of the spells and how to do them, he became more focused on them and stared in curiosity. Unlike the other spells before, these were different. He set the tea cup down on the plate and turned through five more pages, stopping just before one with a hoof-drawn picture above another much longer spell. Levitating the cup back, he started to read.
Shield read...and read. The two pages the one spell sat on seemed to be endless as his mind delved deeper into a trance of thought. Suddenly, his eyes opened wide when he realized just what the spell was. He let out a soft gasp, jumping a little and jerking the tea cup into his chin. He lost grip of the cup, and the tea spilled onto his chest and the bottom of the left page. He winced and yelped at the temperature of the tea.
"Gah," Shield scrunched his muzzle and stared heatedly down at the mess. He stood up off of the cushion, levitating the now empty cup that had not broken thanks to the carpet floor and bringing it to the small kitchen beside the front door, then walking back with a rag and dabbing it at his chest, managing to clean up what had spilled onto his chest, then down to the floor and the book.
Shield closed the book using his magic, sighing softly as he continued to clean his coat of the hot beverage. As he did, there was a quick knock on the door. Jumping once more, he turned to the door and unlocked it with a hoof, then opened it with a magical aura. Peeking his head inside from the hallway stood a white pegasus, staring in concern.
"I heard you yelp, boss. Everything okay?"
"Oh, o-of course, Swifty. I just spilled some tea on myself, that's all," Shield smiled sheepishly. "Everything's okay."
The pegasus nodded. "Just checking."
"Thanks," Shield smiled still. "Hey, what are you still doing up?"
"Late shift," Swift exhaled, his lips flapping with his exhale.
"Again?" Shield's smile faded into a frown.
"Unfortunately..." Swift remained at the door. "I get off soon though."
Shield nodded once. "I do hope the captain can find more ponies to join us, you look terrible."
"I'm fine, really," Swift smiled faintly, but was obviously sleep deprived. "I just um...I don't sleep as much as I used to."
"That isn't healthy for you, you know that?"
"I know, I know. But, its not like I have much of a choice. I'd rather not get on the bad side of the captain, especially with everything that's going on up north."
"Up north?" Shield raised an eyebrow.
"Oh," Swift's cheeks heated and turned red. "Well...its a bit classified. You'll have to discuss it with the captain himself."
"Uh...huh..." Shield kept an eyebrow raised as he nodded.
"Anyways, I should be on my way," Swift pulled back and looked in either direction of the hallway to make sure no one was watching.
"Oh, of course," Shield lowered his eyebrow and smiled faintly. "Carry on."
Swift nodded once. "See you tomorrow, boss."
"Likewise," Shield nodded in response, watching as Swift shut the door behind him.
Shield turned to a small clock sitting on the top shelf of a wooden bookshelf against the wall across the room from his small red couch and a glass table just before it. Sighing softly after reading the time and letting out a faint chuckle, he agreed with Swift. "Time for bed."
He walked through a doorway between the kitchen area and the living room, then up to a queen sized bed and crawling in. After pulling the sheets up to his chest with magic, he let out a quiet yawn and stared up towards the ceiling, before slowly closing his eyes.
***
The following morning came a lot quicker than Shield had anticipated, and soon the blasting sound of rise and shine trumpets filled the air, jolting him awake and in an upright position. He panted softly, and his heart briefly raced as he woke from his slumber. Letting out a quiet groan, he allowed gravity to pull his head back down onto the pillow with a thump. Shield yawned, then raised his hooves above him and stretched.
"Morning sucks..." he groaned, levitating the sheets off of him and sitting up off the side of the bed and scratching his back with a hoof. He stared in front of him into the darkened bathroom, his eyes just barely open and ears just barely perked up. Shield stretched one more time, then stood up and walked slowly into the living room, and then into the kitchen where he started to brew himself a cup of hot coffee.
Shortly after his coffee disappeared from its cup, Shield trotted back into his bedroom, and then into the small bathroom that completed his apartment. He levitated a clean towel onto the rack sitting beside the shower, then reached a hoof through the curtain and turned the knob. As he did, freezing water rushed out from the top faucet and poured into the tub, but didn't fill. He reluctantly held a hoof into the way of the water to feel for the right temperature as it slowly warmed.
Moments after starting the shower, Shield stepped into the tub and soaked his mane under the water, which somewhat drooped over his face. He levitated a bottle of shampoo to his mane and turned it upside down, squirting just enough to wash his mane before setting it back down to the side. Shield moved his hooves to his mane, scrubbing the shampoo in while also washing it out under the water, until it was completely out. Afterwards, he grabbed a brush and body wash and started to wash his hooves and torso.
Unlike before, his shower took a few minutes longer than it normally did in past times. Many thoughts were spilling through his mind as he washed himself down, one being the last page in the spell book that he had read the night before. Even when he shut off the water and stepped out to dry himself off, the thought would not leave his mind.
Trotting out of the bathroom, Shield immediately went for his recently polished armor in the closet and pulled the pieces out magically, then slipped them on one by one. He inhaled softly, looking over himself in a mirror and making a small adjustment to the main armor piece.
Minutes later, Shield was out the door and trotting down the hallway towards the stairs, where he walked down and outside onto the base grounds, which to his surprise wasn't nearly as busy as normal. As he walked towards his office inside the main building, he was stopped by a purple pegasus who's coat sparkled like diamonds, one of the region's many Crystal guards. To Shield, the guard looked worried.
"First lieutenant Shield Spotter?" The guard raised a hoof to his forehead and saluted.
"At ease, what is it?" Shield replied with a concerned expression, matching that of the guard's.
"Your presence is required at the Spire. Captain Armor is calling for an urgent meeting between him, the princesses and the high ranks, that includes you. You'd best be on your way if you don't want to be late."
Shield nodded. "Of course. Thank you, and carry on," he saluted the guard, then trotted off towards the gate, whilst the guard took back off into the skies.
Following a long walk into the city, Shield trotted into one of the four entrances of the Crystal Spire and up the steep, winding stairs before finally coming into a large central room with the crystal snowflake engraved into the floor, which sparkled even more than his armor did. Before he could go anywhere else, Shield was approached by a taller white unicorn. He quickly snapped his hooves together and saluted with one.
"Captain Armor," he said as he saluted.
"Don't worry about that right now, Shield. Please, come with me," Shining Armor said, the look on his face telling a thousand words, a thousand words that Shield couldn't completely make out. Before Shield could speak up, the white unicorn made his way towards a long hallway. Without much hesitation, the navy blue unicorn soon followed.
"What is wrong, sir? You seem off today," Shield asked.
"I can't tell you now, not until we're in front of the others. The princesses and I know, but you and the rest of the Royal Guard doesn't," Shining Armor replied.
Shield didn't say anything else, what the captain had said was confusing him even more than why an emergency meeting was required. The two trotted through the long hallway, and soon up to two tall doors with guards on either sides. Shining nodded to the guards, and the two pulled it open for them.
Inside the room and gathered around a wide, round polished wooden table sat Princess Celestia herself, Princess Luna, Shining Armor's wife Princess Cadence, and even the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle was there, all with distressed and worried looks on their faces. Filling the other seats except for two sat the Lunar guard's captain, as well as a few other high ranking officials Shield did not recognize until he was seated along with Shining Armor.
"Good afternoon, all of you," the sun princess started. "As all of you know, we are here for great import. Although, half of the ponies in this room, including me, know what is going on."
"Your highness, please excuse my ignorance, but if you would please get along with the reason of why we're all here?" Spoke up a pegasus guard dressed in golden armor, his emblem was of two pegasus wings.
"Don't be rude," Shining Armor said, glaring towards the pegasus, who eased himself back into his seat.
"Thank you, Captain Armor," Princess Celestia turned to him and nodded, then cleared her throat. "As I was saying, we are here to inform everypony about the recent conflicts going on north of Equestrian borders, in the Griffon territories. Unlike the past war we've had, this is something new. It turns out a former Griffon military leader has taken control of the many villages and cities in the northern Griffon kingdoms."
A collective, yet quiet gasp filled the room as the guards looked between each other.
"Please, everypony. If you would let me finish," Princess Celestia spoke up, her tone quickly silencing the entire room and startling the pegasus who had spoken up earlier, as well as Shield himself. "This old leader, Colonel Goldenspear of the New Griffon Army, was the highest decorated soldier of his class. Just a year ago, however, he was exiled from the military after ordering for his men to slaughter innocent civilians and soldiers of our country, which as you all know, is what triggered the most recent conflict we've had that broke out into a war that lasted less than a week, and still cost us many lives, both civilian and soldier," she stopped, turning to Princess Luna.
"After he was exiled, he swore revenge on both sides just before being dragged off to prison in the northern kingdoms, where he's been ever since. However, not long later, he was broken out by fellow comrades that followed him to the ends of the earth. It ended in a terrible firefight that took the lives of eleven soldiers, and colonel Goldenspear on the lamb. Up until a few days ago, we had not known where he was. Now, it seems he has full control over the northern kingdom's capitol, Talonto, and every town and village south of it. This also means, he has control of half of the country."
"With all of this, I am afraid this leaves us to help with the situation. Not only are innocent civilians in danger, but it will prove us worthy of a locked alliance with their leaders," Celestia sighed and shut her eyes. "Not only that, but a squad we sent up to try and evacuate those in the way to safety has gone dark when it comes to communication. We fear they may have been captured, or worse."
"And...what is it you wish to do, your highness?" The Cloudsdale guard captain asked.
Princess Celestia opened her eyes and glanced to the silver pegasus. "I am afraid this means we will have to ship more of our soldiers north to take care of the situation. From what we know, his army is of less than ten other griffons, that being said, they're highly trained soldiers also exiled," she then turned to Shield. "First lieutenant?"
Shield sat up straight. "Yes, your highness?"
"I ask of you to begin preparing a group of fourteen. If needed, you may come to Canterlot to select some ponies to accompany your squad on your journey."
Author's Note
Well, after an eight month hiatus, chapter three is finally here!
I hope you all enjoyed, because more is coming soon.
The door to Barrack #4 swung open and caught the attention of the three ponies inside it. In stepped a navy blue unicorn that wore newly polished silver armor that reflected much like a mirror in the light. The ponies, two pegasi, one taller than the other, and one earth pony stopped what they were doing and lined up beside each other, clicking their hooves together and standing at attention and saluting.
The unicorn moved towards the three ponies with a blank expression, stopping just before them. "At ease, fellas."
The three dropped their salutes but kept at attention.
"Listen up, we're all heading to Canterlot. Captain Armor and the Princesses have ordered that we gather a fourteen pony squad by the end of the weekend and report back to the Crystal Empire Sunday evening. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir," the three said in unison.
"Very good. Don't bother packing anything other than your armor, you won't need anything else. We will be gone for four days. No lounging, no drinking, no free time. Just recruiting. I expect to see you all at the train station at five," he then turned around and walked back to the door.
The taller pegasus leaned closer to the cyan-maned pegasus and spoke quietly. "Talk about a fun killer."
"Don't think I didn't hear you, Stratus," the unicorn turned and glared towards the pegasus, then back forward and out the door.
The purple-maned pegasus' cheeks heated in embarrassment as the others chuckled a bit.
"Well, you all heard the lieutenant. We'd better get ready," spoke Glowing Blade.
***
Shield stood on the wood-planked platform at the Crystal Empire's small train station where two other ponies stood with luggage, waiting for their train to Canterlot. The sun was beginning to move towards the western horizon, but sunset was still hours away. The air outside was cool with very little humidity due to the climate of the north.
Cold but calm breezes flowed across the valley landscape of the empire and was a constant, quick reminder to those not native to the area that warmer clothes were necessary to be comfortable. Being from Canterlot, Shield had a lighter coat which did not shield much to the cold, unlike the Crystal ponies who had much thicker coats and blood that meant they were used to the far-northern hemisphere climate. Shivering just the slightest, Shield zipped up his light grey hooded jacket and looked around for both the train and the others he was bringing with him.
Minutes later, three stallion figures walked—one floating in the air beside them—down the dirt path leading to the small train depot that caught Shield's attention. He narrowed his eyes onto them, then huffed in a bit of frustration. "About time..."
Gliding across the train tracks and floating just beside Shield smiled Stratus. "Hey boss, long time no see," he chuckled as the other two walked up.
"Oh please, we saw him earlier today," Swift Sword rolled his eyes and stopped next to Stratus who landed on the platform between them.
"I know that! A few hours is a long time you know..."
Golden Blade rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "Whatever you think buddy."
"At least you three made it," Shield said flatly. The three turned to Shield, then to each other.
"Hey, boss. Everything alright?" Stratus asked, furrowing his brow.
"Everything's just great, Stratus," Shield replied, still flatly.
"You're not usually this serious," Swift chimed in.
"Did you have another hard night of sleep?" Golden asked with a grin, Stratus and Swift gave him a strange look. The yellow earth pony's grin went away quickly and he cleared his throat. "Sorry."
"I will tell you all on the train, if it ever gets here," Shield turned his head in both directions, still no sign of the train.
"Is it because we're going to Canterlot?" Stratus asked.
Shield paused for a moment, then nodded once. "Yes. Like I said, I'll tell you all on the train."
Moments after, the ground shook in a low unnatural rumble as the train to Canterlot roared closer to the station and let out a long and short toot of its horn before it screeched to a halt at the platform.
“All aboard!” called the conductor, who trotted off of the train and was ushering ponies onto the platform and greeting each and every one of them to the Crystal Empire. Meanwhile, the engineer left the locomotive and went into the small building to grab a bite to eat before the next trip back to Canterlot.
Once the ponies on the train were off, the process of boarding began, only seven ponies including Shield and the others in total boarding the ten carriage train. Following a fifteen minute wait, the train was switched onto a turn-around track and sent back in the direction it came from.
"Talk to us, lieutenant. Why are we going to Canterlot?" Asked Golden Blade, sitting on the train seat across from the navy blue unicorn.
Shield moved his eyes over to the yellow earth pony and sat up from the window. Straightening his back, he looked to Swift and Stratus. "You two, over here."
The two pegasi sat down on opposite sides beside Golden and kept their attention to the lieutenant, ears up.
Shield inhaled a bit. "Earlier today I was called into a meeting at the Spire with the princesses and Captain Armor. Princess Celestia informed us that there's...things...going on up north in the northern Griffon kingdoms."
"What kind of things?" Swift tilted his head a bit.
"Bad things. Such as slavery and dictatorship that no one wants. As I was saying, I was ordered to gather you three and head to Canterlot to put together a fourteen pony squad. We will be deploying into North Griffonia by the time we are done."
From what Shield could tell, his fellow comrades' hearts sank into their stomachs at his last sentence.
"Deployment?" Stratus' golden pupils shrunk to pinpricks.
Shield nodded slowly. "I am afraid so."
"We...haven't had a war with the Griffons for decades," Swift gulped.
"That you know of," Shield cleared his throat. "The Canterlot guard was deployed to their kingdom across the ocean a year ago. It only lasted a week, maybe less, but there was still bloodshed. That won't be happening here. We're going against a rogue military leader and his men, not an entire country."
The three eased themselves, but remained nervous. Shield noticed this and sighed.
"I know you three might be nervous, or even scared, but we're guards. Soldiers of Equestria. It is our job to protect others, even if they're not from here. We signed up for this, there's no backing out now."
The other three remained silent, Shield sighed again and relaxed into his seat and looked back out the window, Stratus and Swift leaving to sit elsewhere in the cabin.
***
Around midnight that night, the train chuffed through mountainous tunnels and over tall bridges as it approached the magnificent mountainside capital city of Canterlot. Swift, Stratus, and Golden looked out the windows on both sides of the car, watching the city gradually move closer to them. The three had eyes of awe, having never seen Canterlot outside of pictures.
The train passed by a small outpost where two guards stood at attention, inspecting the train as it went by, then returning their focus ahead of them as the last car passed by at a slow speed and into the station where it screeched to a halt. At that time, the station was almost dead with little activity in and around it. Both the conductor and engineer left the train, swapping for a new engineer and conductor who greeted the passengers to Canterlot.
After checking out of the station, the four went out onto the street in front of the station.
"Listen up boys, the Princesses were generous enough to pay for two hotel rooms for us, so we won't be in barracks. Take your pick on who you would like to spend these next few nights with."
Swift moved to Stratus' side. The taller white pegasus smiled and wrapped a hoof around the cyan-maned pony's neck. Golden rolled his eyes, then stood next to Shield. "I'll stay with you, let them share a bed."
Immediately after, both pegasi's cheeks turned a dark red. "Heeeey, we're not gay for each other!"
"Suuuure you aren't," Golden smirked.
Shield raised a hoof to pause them. "The rooms have two beds. No one will be sharing a bed."
***
Checking into the Royal Crown Hotel in the downtown area of Canterlot, the four split up and went to their rooms beside each other. Swift and Stratus going into their room, Shield and Golden into theirs where they relaxed and immediately climbed into bed. Instead of going straight to sleep, Shield waited for Golden to doze off before levitating up the same book from a few nights ago.
He kept his horn lit just enough to shed light onto the pages, his eyes moving across the lines carefully.
Golden yawned and turned over, squinting his eyes a little before opening them and noticing Shield reading. "Lieutenant?" He spoke quietly.
Startled, Shield dropped the book onto the floor beside his bed with a thud and looked over at Golden. "Why aren't you asleep?"
"I was for a second," Golden yawned. "What about you? And just what were you reading?"
Shield froze, he looked around slowly. "Just some new spells that could be used for combat," he lied.
Golden furrowed a brow, then shrugged and turned back over. "If you say so," he yawned again. "Goodnight lieutenant."
"Night," Shield laid down, arching his back to stretch briefly and sighing.
***
The sun gradually rose over central Equestria, flooding the land with bright, warm light and served as a wake up call for everypony. The ponies of the city made their way out to begin the last day of work for the week. Shops opened, as did stands at the local market and around downtown.
With a yawn, Shield slowly opened his light green eyes and stared upwards, eyelids hanging halfway still. He reached a hoof out from under the sheets and rubbed one of his eyes, then sat up against the back of the bed. The navy blue unicorn closed his eyes, a cold chill went up his spine and he briefly shook. He opened his eyes again and glanced to his right, seeing Golden wasn't in his bed and that the sheets were slightly rustled about with the yellow earth pony nowhere to be seen.
Vision clearing completely, Shield climbed out of bed and looked around the small hotel room, then to a mirror hanging on the wall and noticed the reflection of the bathroom door that was cracked open with some steam spilling out into the room and evaporating into air. He eased himself, then sat back down on his bed and waited patiently for Golden to finish showering.
Minutes later, the bathroom door swung open and the light flipped off, and out walked a messy-damp-maned yellow earth pony with a white towel wrapped around the back of his neck. Golden whistled, then stopped noticing Shield was up. He smiled. "Morning lieutenant."
"G'morning," Shield replied, levitating a clean folded towel and standing up off of his bed once more. "Sleep well?"
"Sure did," Golden trotted over to the small dresser between their beds and combing his chocolate-brown mane until it was neat. "What about you?"
Shield shrugged. "Slept alright I guess. I had some weird dreams."
"What of?"
Shield stopped just before the bathroom door. "Just...things."
Golden turned to Shield and cocked an eyebrow. "If you...say so."
Shield then went into the bathroom and started a warm shower. They had a long weekend ahead.
Author's Note
So, in this chapter, there is a reference to one of my other stories. Can you name it?
So, after two long hiatuses and a previous cancellation, I regretfully must inform everyone that this story is cancelled for good at this point. To be quite frank, I had a great idea going, then that failed. Then a new one came along and with better ideas, but I quickly lost interest and motivation to write it, not to mention, as of recently the idea is sounding too much similar to another story I know well.
In short, sorry everybody. If I do ever return to this project, it will be under a completely re-written plot and chapters.
