Only in my dreams

Jesse eyes slowly started to lift from their short rest. The sunlight had finally become too much for him to handle, causing him to arise from his slumber. A strange and heavy presence made itself known on his side, but he ignored it as his head fell of his hand. He could also feel a strange glass like object in his other hand.

Suddenly, there came a loud tisking noise from in front of him. He slowly opened his eyes to find Celestia looking down at him, a disappointed look in her eyes. His brow furrowed in confusion, as he started at the pony Princess. “ Cel- Celestia?”

“ I am disappointed with you Jesse.” Her voice, instead of its normal motherly tone took on that of a person with power and responsibility. For the first time, it actually felt like Celestia was talking to him as a Princess instead any other person you could find on the street.

“ What?” He asked. “ Why?”

She motioned with her eyes down to his side. Sometime after he had fallen asleep last night, Moon Light followed after and fell asleep leaning against him. But the thing that really caught his eye was the glass in his hand. In said hand, he was holding a wine glass, still partially full from what he could only guess to be a misadventure of the previous night.

He looked around him for any more signs of beverages he didn’t remember, finding a half full bottle of red wine on his side of the couch. “ I… Uh… We didn’t.” he mumbled, barely able to get the words to come out of his mouth.

Celestias lips moved up in a small smile, only for that emotion to disappear immediately. She lifted her muzzle in the air, and sniffed around for a second. “The smell in here certainly tells a different story.”

Halflight started to shift around at his side, digging into Jesse’s side. “ I… We never did anything!” he said, spitting out words faster than he could think. “ I’m not into ponies like that!”

“ Then tell me, what did you do last night with Luna's guard?” She gave him a hard stare as she waited for a response.

“ We… Uh. We watched movies. Thats it.” Jesse started to shake in his seat, finding it difficult to keep calm in the face of a pissed looking Celestia.

Her brow raised and she said, “ I do believe it is hard to remember what happens when you are intoxicated. Maybe you did more than you remember.”

Jesse looked down at Halflight then back at Celestia. He repeated the process a few times before finally resting his head in his hands. “ I can’t believe I would ever do something like that.”

Celestia brought her hoof under his chin, raised it with a small amount of force. A small smile came to her lips as Jesse stared at her. He heard snorting from behind him, soon followed by someone else laughing. The laugh was clearly feminine, but he didn’t recognize it from anywhere.

Jesse leaned over the back of the couch, finding a Rainbow Maned Pegasus mare rolling around in laughter. He heard Celestia stifle a laugh behind him and turned to look at her.

Several moments passed before Jesses eyes went wide. “ Wait a minute!” He exclaimed. “ I can’t believe you! Celestia!” She bursted out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer.

At that point, Halflight woke up from the noise, trying to cover her ears. She struggled to open her eyes as she shifted her head to look between the three. “ Whats so funny?” She asked, struggling to talk properly.  “ Did I miss something?”

Celestia and the Rainbow maned mare went quiet as they stared at Jesse, waiting for him to respond. Following their gazes, Halflight looked up at Jesse with tired, yet questioning eyes. “ Celestia and this pony over here,” He gestured to the Rainbow maned pegasus, “ pulled a prank on me.”

Half laughed to herself for a second, before returning her gaze to Jesse. “ And what did they do?” She asked.

Jesse looked away, trying to shy from the subject. “ I’d rather not talk about it.”

She noticed a hint of redness coming to his cheeks, serving to make her even more curious. “ Oh c'mon,” she said, poking at his side, “ It can’t be that bad.”

His head sunk into his hands as he groaned to himself. “ I’m not talking about it.”

Moon turned her head to face the rainbow maned pegasus. “ What happened?” She asked, now fully alert. In response, the mare pointed at the glass that was still resting in Jesse’s hand.

“ The bottle says it all.” She responded.

Half looked at the bottle for several seconds before connecting the dots. As soon as she did, a wide blush came to own cheeks as she tried to hide her face with her mane. “ Thats not even right.” She mumbled.

This caused Celestia to quietly giggle to herself once more, before taking on a more serious look. “ However, since you are now awake and I have the spare time, Jesse, Shining Armor requested that you meet him in the armory around noon. And I believe it would be fair to introduce you to this mare that gave me the idea of pulling our little prank this morning.”

The Rainbow colored mare came around the couch and hovered in front of Jesse, holding out a hoof to him. “ Hi! I’m Rainbow Dash!”

Jesse took her hoof in his hand and shook it lightly before releasing. She leaned in close to his ear and whispered something about giving out full titles later, before pulling away.

“ Uh… Ok,” He said, unsure how else he could have responded. “ So why does Shining Armor want me to meet him in the armory?”

“ I’m not sure, “ Celestia replied, “ He was rushed and his explanation was a bit vague, but i’m sure he has a good reasons. Anyhow, that is all I have come for. Me and Rainbow Dash will be on our way.” She waved a hoof at him before going to leave the room.

She stopped in the doorway, turning back to Jesse and his batpony companion. “ And Halflight, try to get some sleep. You’ll spend the night with Jesse again.”

Half pumped her hoof in the air as Celestia closed the door.

“ What was that about?” Jesse asked, confused about her joyfulness of work.

“ I’ve never had so much fun being a guard. This beats everything else by far… Even with the little prank they pulled on us.”

oOo

Another hour passed before it was finally noon. Jesse wished he had asked Celestia about how to get to the armory, but unfortunately forgot. That left him alone in his room with only his phone for entertainment, as Halflight had decided to go home herself soon after Celestia and Rainbow Dash had left.

Walking over to the couch from his room, he followed the walls of the short hall until he entered the living area of the small suite. Once inside, he made his way to the couch, positioning himself so he would fall directly onto the soft cushions.

He let his legs collapse under him, yelping as he passed the point where the coach should have been. Arms swayed in the air as his butt hit solid flooring. Not expecting the lack of furniture, he fell back and hit a row of spears, causing them to collapse on top of him.

Seconds later, he heard a familiar laughing echo through the room. “ What?” He asked himself, taking in his surroundings. “ Shining Armor?” He called out.

“ I’m here, Jesse.” Jesse felt the spears lift off of him, removed my Shinings magic. Something he still couldn't fully come to cope with yet.

“ What happened?” Jesse asked. He looked around the room, finding several rows of spears and swords surrounding him.

“ Celestia teleported you to the armory.” Shining replied, still laughing from watching Jesse fall.

Jesse groaned in response, trying to take in what had just transpired. He took several moments before coming back to. “ So why did you need me?”

“ I thought you would be great practice for fighting Minitours or Centours in the case we ever have to fight them in the future.” He replied.

Jesse thought over that for a second, biting his lip as he did so. “ My fighting experience is limited to larping. And that doesn’t really count for much.”

“ Anything is better than nothing,” Shining stated, lifting a sword in his magic, “ Now take this.” He shoved the sword in Jesse’s hands and forced him to his feet with his magic. A door off to the right opened, revealing what looked like hundreds of guards in golden armor sparing with one another in a large, open garden.

Large stone gates surrounded the area, keeping away any onlookers while a few guards patrolled the top. Noticing where Jesse was looking, Shining Armor said, “ The area is restricted for pegasi. No one will fly over head so it’ll be ok for you to be out there. And their is a dome over the top to keep the cold out.”

Jesse continued to stare, staying just a step from the outside world. Shining pushed him outside with his magic before calling for the attention of all the guards. Instantly dropping what they were doing, they stood at attention, looking in Shining Armors direction. “ Today,” He started, “ we are starting some new exercises.” Again, he pushed Jesse forward. “ This is him. Have fun.”

Jesse gulped as a pegasus guard swooped down in front of him. “ Sir.” He said, calling to Shining Armor. “ We are to spar with him, is that correct?”

Shining nodded his head and the pegasus pulled Jesse off to one of the arenas set in the garden.

“ Do you know how to fight?” He asked.

“ Uh… I used to larp.” Jesse said in response.

“ Good enough.” The guard replied. Jesse wasn’t even sure if the guard knew what Larp was, but he didn’t seem to care.

The guard rushed him almost instantly, catching Jesse off guard and hitting his shoulder with the blade of the sword. Expecting a wound, Jesse flinched back, but was surprised to see that there was nothing but a new bruise on his shoulder.

Seeing his confusion, the guard said, “ The blades are enchanted to not do any damage.”

“Oh,” Jesse responded, still off about getting his with a sword, “ Thats cool.”

The guard pulled away, heading for the other side of the arena. “ Round two.” He said, as he rushed at Jesse again. This time, he was more prepared, and backed away from the blade. It had nearly connected with his jaw, but he moved just in time.

The guard put lifted his sword in the air, positioning himself to hit Jesse in the head. Again, he dodged with just enough time, and took a swing at the guard. He rolled out of the swing, easily dodging the sword with ease.

Jesse changed to a defensive position, holding his sword around his chest. When the guard came to swing again, he raised the blade to dodge, creating a loud clinking sound as metal hit metal.

With the guard trying to regain his sense from the ringing in his mouth, Jesse pushed the sword against the guards underbelly, taking the win.

By now, several other pairs of guards had come to watch the battle between the two. Many of them were cheering. Who for, he could not tell over the commission.

“ I was taking it easy on you.” The guard said, freshly recovered from his dizziness. “ But not anymore.”

Jesse laughed at the guard. “ Thats what they all say.”

oOo

Jesse laid spewed across the couch in his room, watching Celestia set the sun from the window. Over most of his body, he wore several fresh bandages, gained from his time in the arena. His left eye was swollen shut, and his lips puffed out as they oozed a clear liquid.

“ Wow.” Halflight said. She had joined Jesse just minutes ago, but had kept her silence for till now. “ What happened to you?”

Jesse rolled his eyes, keeping his head pointed towards the window so she couldn’t see. He shivered as he thought back to what had happened just earlier in the day. “ I’m not a fighter.”

The laughed at that, holding a hoof over her chest. “ What’d you do? Insult one of the guards?”

“ No,” He responded, “ Shining thought it would be a good idea if he had me help train the guards in fighting things like Centaurs or Minitours.” He sighed at the last part, thinking about how he managed to get himself into that mess. “ I managed to beat one of the guards… once. He was serious when he said he was taking it easy on me.”

That coaxed another laugh from the bat pony guard. “ I bet. Those day guards may not look the part, but they can surely kick some flanks in when they have to.”

Jesse sighed again, this time more pitifully. “ I take it you’re here because you want something right?”

Half raised one foreleg to another, scratching at it with her hoof. “ Uh, yea… Can we watch a few movies?”

“ Have at it,” Jesse said, “ My phone is on the dresser in the room. Just don’t watch anything that has a large R on it.”

Halflight squealed before running off to his room. The sound of his phone rang in his ears, followed by a Half starting to grunt in anticipation.  “ It won't work!” She yelled, returning to the living area with the device in her wing. “ It won't work.” She repeated.

Jesse chuckled to himself. “ Hooves. There should be a stylist in the side, but your hooves won’t work with the screen. Look for a small circle on the side and push on it.”

Halflight sat down, taking the phone in her hooves and holding it in front of her face. When she found what he was talking about, she used the tip of her wing to press down on the phone, causing a thin stick pop up from the side.

While Moon started with the stylus, Jesse turned his head over to face the back of the couch so he could think to himself.

Something about this room makes me feel so sad. It’s like I can’t remember something important… Eh. I’ll remember it later.