Day Dreams

by Z0

Chapters

Chapter 2: The Second Bell
Chapter 3: Junk for the pile
Chapter 4: Polish
Chapter 5: A New Day
Chapter 6: Night Watch
Chapter 7: Going for a Run
Chapter 8: Castle Rumble
Chapter 9: Debrief
Chapter 10: Some Morning Fun
Chapter 11: Developments
Chapter 12: Bar Flies
Chapter 14: Moonlight Strolls
Chapter 15: War Games Day 1, Part I
Chapter 16: War Games Day 1, Part II
Chapter 17: War Games Day 2
Chapter 18: War Games Day 3, The End Game
Chapter 1: The first Bell
Chapter 13: Preparations

Chapter 2: The Second Bell

*Dong*

It was eight o'clock and the first of the eight chimes echoed down the castle hallways. Jack took his position between Star Screech and Moon Shadow as always. Slightly on time this evening, for a change. Between his fellow guards he saw some exchange glances as the bat ponies smile and smirk at him. Leucippe in particular smiled at the two and gave a light blush.

*Dong*

Leaning over her wispier in Star's ear, “Why do I think they heard us last night.”

*Dong*

Star continued to look forward, giving only the slightest hint of a smirk.

*Dong*

“I have no idea what you're talking about Jack. I had one of the best night's sleep in a while.” Star smirked, enjoying the teasing she was inflicting on Jack.

Jack told himself he wasn't quite so found of it, but his slight blush argued otherwise. He was unaware of what Star had told several members of the squad earlier.

*Dong*

“Stow it you two.” Moon Shadow's voice was quite, but forceful, and behind it was the almost ring of venom and hate as well.

*Dong*

“Besides the whole castle heard you two last night. Should have known by your name that you were a screamer Star Screech.” Star felt her cheeks warm from Shadow's statement. She sensed hostility from the stoic guardpony. A part of her winced at the thought, but she wouldn't show it.

*Dong*

“Heh, better to scream in pleasure then cry in laughter.” Star whispered just loud enough for Jack to make out. He didn't quite understand her meaning, but responded whit his own smirk just the same.

*Dong*

With that last bell Princess Luna walked around the corner, her head held just a bit lower than normal. “Attention.” Night Blade barked his usual orders, and the Night Guard stood at attention as the Princess Passed through them all.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack watched Luna walk by. For some reason she seemed a bit different tonight, it was hard to explain. Luna always seemed to have this slight aura of sadness around her, but tonight she just seemed more down then usual. It almost radiated off of her.

She walked up to the balcony and raised the moon with her magic, staring at it for a moment but saying nothing. Slowly she turned around to face the Night Guard in the chambers. Again Jack was in awe of her magic and the imagery he saw. However this time he was careful not to look directly at the princes. He also made sure to stay well in formation. She was sill beautiful, though the night seemed darker then usual.

Luna placed her wings tightly by her sides and began a brisk trot towards the exist. She glanced at Jack for a brief second, too quick for even him to notice. She troted forward, her tail and ears not quite matching the rest of her stature as she forced her head to be held high.

In the back of Luna's mind, she wondered if she shouldn't have been so forceful and proper yesterday. She really did like the attention. Despite her beauty, her position and attitude made it very difficult for anypony or anyone for that matter to get close to her. In truth Jack was the first guard in a long time to visibly take interest in her. Even before he became a guard he was kind to her and she had enjoyed his company. 'No, we are a princess. It's not proper.' she reminded herself. She really wanted someone to talk to about what she was feeling.

Reaching the end of the throne room she paused for moment, as if considering which direction to go in. Instead of her normal left, Luna took a right this time and head off down a long corridor towards her sister's room. Perhaps Celestia could talk to her, before she went to sleep for the night.

Night Blade watched his princess walk down the wrong hallway and grew concerned. “At ease” Night Blade barked as he trotted down to follow the princess. It was clear he was afraid for her and about her. Seeing the Princess in an unusually despondent attitude was not a good sign. A long time ago, back when Princess Luna was first returned to the castle, Night Blade had been warned about certain things. Things he needed to watch out for, a change in attitude like this was just such a warning flag.

“I wonder what that was about?” Leucippe asked with slight concern. Most of the guards shrugged and prepared for their normal duties. One however, stood in place, remembering a faint fragment of a dream from last night a creature that was almost but not quite a silhouette in it. The human began to feel a bit disconcerted, feeling he might somehow be responsible for the oddity in the Princess's behavior, yet he could not fully explain why.

With their captain indisposed, Moon Shadow picked up the extra duties as a second in command should. Walking between the rest of the Night Guard he barked a set of orders, “You all know what your jobs are, so get to it.”

The crass noise of orders snapped Jack out of his trance. He made a mental note to try and stop day dreaming so much.

Both Jack and Star knew their daily routines well by now and each proceeded to walk away, together for their nightly patrols. They were unexpectedly stopped by shadow's hoof, “Not you two. I want you two working in different areas tonight.” The acting captain's face, was a stoney gray and just as cold.

First he pointed to Star, “I want you to handle the first half of the watch. After that head down to the stock room and help Mani with the inventory.” His voice was emotionless as he assigned her duties.

Then, he turned his attention to Jack and looked up at the human, the cold expression had a subtlety too it that was hard to explain. As if some measure of scorn lay behind the muzzle, hidden from view. “As for you ape, you need to go wash the latrines, and scrub the baths while you're at it.” This time, there was a clear air of contempt behind the orders.

Jack raised his eye brow at the chore and Shadow's word usage. “Seriously?” he asked with a sigh.

Shadow came in as close as he could to Jack's face, but even standing on his hoof-tips his head fell a few inches short of the taller human “If you got a problem with that rookie you can feel free to quit.”

Not waiting for a reply or come back, Shadow turned around and began walking down the hall to complete his own nightly runs away from the troublesome guard. No one could see the subtle hints of tears in his eyes or hurt in his voice.

Most of the squad were still around when Shadow started barking his orders to Jack. Leucippe in particular stood by Star's side and spoke what was on her mind “Wow, that was a bullshit order. “

Some of the other guards nodded in agreement, before turning away to begin their own runs. Three decided to for go the start of their own runs, Star, Leucippe and another night guard, the third in command, Mani stayed behind to offer Jack a bit of support.

“Hey Jack, we'll help you clean up. Leucippe is right, that was a bullshit order.” Star spoke with her usual bluntness.

Mani stood next to Star, a slight bit taller than the normal sized bat pony. His golden eyes looked at Jack behind the midnight black fur of his face. His steel blue-gray mane shook with his head as he nodded in agreement, “You may want to talk to Night Blade later. Shadow can't push you around or talk to you like that.”

But Jack just shrugged at the suggestions, “He outranks me, and he's second in command. He can order me to do anything he wants. You guys really shouldn't shrug off your normal duties to help me. You'll get in trouble too, and besides, it's nothing I can't handle.” His face turned up into a smile which was only slightly forced.

As the human guard turned from group he quickly began the walk towards Guard's Bath works, hoping to complete the dirty and labor intensive chore as quickly as possible. His heavy footsteps carrying with it a heavy thought. 'Maybe Shadow's right and I should just quit.' He thought. It wouldn't be the first time he quit on something, maybe he could actually do it right for once.

Behind him, he heard the clop of some hooves as a bat pony came up next to him. Looking to his side he already guessed it would be Star Screech who had followed him. “You know the way to the grounds is in the other direction, Star?”

She looked up at the human “Oh, yeah I know. But the Bath works are this way.”

Jack sighed. “I guess I can't convince you otherwise?” Star just smiled and trotted ahead of Jack.

The guard's bath works comprised two areas, the wash room which held showers and than the lavatory which of course held the toilets. The pair took a right when they entered, the latrines were the worst Jack's mind and would be best to start on first. Plus, he reasoned he could finish off by taking a shower once he was done everything.

Star was right behind him carrying two buckets, a mop and some brushes. The way the pony balance the two buckets on her back was nothing short of impressive. Using the mop as a rod to connect the two. Jack was always amazed by the ponies ability to improvise and operate just like a human, even with out true hands.

She dropped the two buckets on the floor. Jack went to pick up a brush and one of the buckets. “I'll grab the toilets, you start with the floor.” With that, both Star and Jack went to work scrubbing the grimy ammonia tainted tiles and porcelain.

There was some mild chit chat between the two as they worked on cleaning the smelly room. Talking about the most recent hoof ball games, their fellow guardpony, and even some gossip about the local pony nobility. According to Star Screech’s griffin friends, Fancy Pants was a colt cuddlier and had a thing for certain guardpony.

Of course, the conversation naturally drifted to their current duties.

“I really wish I knew what Shadow's problem is with me.” Jack spoke with mild annoyance. “I mean, I know he's serious, but even Leucippe and Gray Sky slack off more then I do.”

Star gave slight sigh, “I don't think it's you Jack... I think it's me.”

Jack stopped cleaning the last toilet in the room. “What do you mean by that?”

The bat pony's head and ears sank a bit. She wasn't sure she wanted to tell Jack this, but as she looked at the human a part of her wanted to tell him. The part that wanted to get closer to him. She took a breath, “Well, when I first started in this squad about nine months ago I noticed him. He was a bit stuck up, like he had a stick up his ass, but he was kind of cute.” Star blushed slightly thinking about it.

She shrugged off some of the emotions she felt. “I thought I could maybe thaw him out a bit. We ended up going to the midnight well a few times, and one night... We each had a few drinks and, well, one thing lead to another, and I found myself in his room.” She paused for a moment, clearly a bit distressed by what ever had happened.

Noticing the distress, Jack became concerned. The thought that Shadow may have hurt her was eating at him, “Are you ok Star? He didn't hurt you did he?” He ask with no sense of subilty.

“What? No, Shadow didn't hurt me...” She sighed, and looked down again it almost looked like she was going to cry. “He didn't hurt me Jack. I hurt him.”

“We were in his room, and he was as ridged as always, in more ways then one. I could see he was horny and that wanted me bad, but there were still so many barriers up. I would try and kiss him, try to force him to kiss me back but it was...”She paused looking for the right words. “Cold. I thought I could warm him up a bit if I started playing with him, but when I felt him he was... small. I...” Her blush deepened and she held her head down again. “I laughed a little when I felt him.”

Now Jack understood. “Oh.” Was all he could managed to come out with. Jack knew how sensitive human's were regarding their size. He could only imagine that it was the same with colts. Not knowing what to say or do he went back to scrubbing. There was a growing uncomfortable feeling with this discussion's sudden direction.

Star continued, “You know, it's not even that his size was the problem. I've been with other males that were smaller then he was.” She tried to suppress a laugh as another though came to her mind “I was even with a few griffins. Now those guys are small!” The laugh escaped as she thought about it more.

Jack stopped scrubbing for a moment as a thought occurred to him “How many partners have you had Star?”

Another laugh came over her and she smiled, a tad grateful that the conversation moved from her failures to her conquests. She tapped her hoof on her chin as she tried to think “Oh you know a few... maybe twenty or so?” She shook her head trying to get some of the nasty thoughts out of it. “But that's not the point Jack. He was small sure, but I could have dealt with that. He just couldn't accept that I didn't mean to laugh. He put his armor back on and left. Ever since then he's been cold towards me.” She paused for a moment, lost in thought before going back to scrubbing the floors.

Jack tried to think of something to say, “I think I can understand. Why he would be upset about that I mean. I know for my people size is... well something that's a bit sensitive.”

“But I didn't mean to laugh!” Star snapped at Jack. She stopped all pretenses of scrubbing the floor and looked up at him, he could see her eyes were watery. She wasn't crying but was on the verge of it.

“Star I didn't mean...”

She interrupted him. “No, I know you didn't Jack.” She rubbed a hoof over her eyes. “It's just I know Shadow had a crush on me, and I broke his heart. I didn't mean too. You know he's not a bad colt, he's just stuck up. His whole life he's worked to make something of himself. His legacy, his desire to be somepony. It's a part of him.”

Jack stopped what he was doing to think for a moment. “Star, it's not your fault. You didn't mean to laugh, and Shadow is... Well we both know how he is.” With that he looked around the room.

It wasn't perfect, but it was a magnitude better than before. Seeing how it was mostly clean and knowing a change of atmosphere might do them well, Jack suggested that they leave the latrines and head over to the lavatories, remarking that “This place stinks” when he picked up his bucket and brush.

Star forced another smile as she picked up her bucket and brush, small dark spots on the floor showing her failure to properly clean.

Thankfully the showers next door were much easier to clean and overall less messy then the toilets proved to be. The shower room was just a straight run of silver shower heads and off white tiling that helped to hide the ancient shower spots and mineral deposits. The ponies here would be supprised to learn that the title in this room was almost as old as the castle, but thanks to the constant displin, mostly by the Night Guard, it was kept in nearly spotless condition. At the end of the shower rows, closed to the far wall were a few baths. Built just after the showers themselves it had been designed for some of the more unique inhabitants of the guard. There were times when Jack had considered using them, but apparently such activities were frowned upon unless it was necessary.

Which was really a shame, because Jack would have been more comfortable in a bath than a shower, since the showers were unisex. The tub would have provided a modicum of modesty to the normally clothed human. Even if he never really looked at mares in a sexual light, well, until recently, it still made him feel awkward due to his constantly exposed genitalia, which occasionally attracted the odd off comment. Especially from the mares. The thought of which came into his head as he stood there remembering the sexual comments as the water would drip off their fur, and their manes clung to their necks and sides. Once or twice he was sure he saw a few of them 'wink' at him.

'Now was not the time to be fantasizing about such things' he thought with a shake of his head. Carrying cleaning equipment to the nearest shower head he began to work on the shower floor, while Star started on the lower walls. In the back of his mind, he had hoped that the work would help clear his head.

Yet Jack had a single thought that wouldn't leave his mind since it was placed there by Star. A thought which only grew louder as memories of the other mares comments flooded in. For a moment he stopped subscribing to ask a single question, “Star I have to ask, how do I compare... size wise to Shadow?”

To her credit Star did her best to suppress a laugh and answer honestly “Well, you are definitely bigger then he was, but that isn't difficult to imagin.”

Pausing she thought about it further, “You're actually one of the bigger ones I've had, but not the biggest.” Jack could see Star's cheeks start to blush a bit as she thought about it. “Anyway, size isn't what really matters Jack. It's the motion, the touch, the intimacy which really gets a mare off.”

As she looked at Jack, there was a slight fog in her eyes as lust glazed over them. “One of the best fucks I ever had was smaller then Shadow. He was a griffin who knew how to use his tongue better then any pony I've ever been with.” Star gave a slight shiver at the thought.

The red flush on her cheeks began to grow as her lust started to form a silent fire inside of her. “You know Jack, you can do amazing things with those fingers of yours.”

Slowly, Star began creeping towards Jack. The thought of her getting wet in the shower started playing through his head as he grew more aware of the pony's advancement towards him.

Trying to ignore the lusty pony, he went back to scrubbing, quicker than before. Jack wasn't really paying attention to her, until he hit a hoof he wasn't expecting. Her hoof. Star was standing over him. Clearly interested in something more then just scrubbing the floors.

“Uh, Star maybe we should finish cleaning first?” He looked around at the nearly clean shower room. It was already more then adequate for most other commanders, but Shadow would have an issue with it of course. He always did.

“We've been cleaning for hours now. We do get breaks you know. Come on Jack.” She put her hoofs on his shoulders and brought her mussel in for a kiss. “You know you want this too…” She purred.

Swallowing back his fears and uncertainty, he brought his mouth to her's, kissing her deeply. Quickly the two dove into their passions, their kissing becoming faster as their tongues played with each other. Jack was careful this time to stay away from her fangs.

A familiar tight pressure started forming beneath Jack's armor. Ignoring it for the moment, he reached his hands around her sides moving towards her flank. Giving her a quick slap on top of her exposed flanks.

She yelped in pleasure before reached her hoofs down to Jack's leg armor. Her hoof made quick work of the bindings, much faster than last night, moving straight to his underwear which was immediately removed. More foreplay would have been fun, but they both knew to be quick about it. Even if it was the middle of the night, anyone could ignore their “closed for cleaning” signs and come in for a late night shower.

Star wasted no time and turned around, pointing her plot at Jack's face. She lifted her tail and felt the air over her warm wet slit. She turned her head back towards him, a sligh pout on her lips as she spoke. “Well, what are you waiting for. Don't you want to fuck me, Jack?”

His cock throbbed as he placed it in position behind Star. He trusted a few times, letting His manhood rubbed against her marehood, coating his lower self with her slick love juices. Her cunt twitch and pulse as his ran his dick over her slit. Occasionally he felt a small nub appear, as Star winked. The sensation of his dick stroking her clit casuing her to gasp and laugh as tingling pleasure flowed from her cunt.

His cock, now slick and ready, pushed at her entrance and slowly he penetrated her outer lips. He could feel her liquid heat around him. Coating his every inch as he filled her's, slowly bottoming out in her depths. His balls taped against her gently kissing her winking clit.

“Mmmm, you know you can move faster then that” .She turned her head back, her half lidded eyes glazed over with lust. “I won't break.”

Star shivered and let out a quite moan as Jack pulled out and then moved deeper inside of her, speeding up with each thrust. She needed this, all the stress of the night, all her mistakes she had made slowly leaked out of her with his every thrust. The faster he moved the closer she came to release.

Tiny pulses of pleasure flowed over her as Jack touched her flanks. Star let out a yelp as Jack gave another slap against her ass.

His fingers ran over her now rosy cheeks, squeezing them. It was then he saw her ponut twitching in tune with her marehood. A slight evil smirk came over him and he stuck one finger in his mouth thoroughly wetting it. Lowered his head towards her earhe whispered, “So you want to know what I can do with my fingers.”

The now very wet fingers ran over her anus, eliciting a moan of approval beneath her heavy breathing. Star gasped as she felt one of his fingers pass inside her anal cavity. Star gave a smirk of approval, “Oh Jack. You Aaaah! Are dirty.” She moaned and panted between words. She was already very close, and the fingers in her ass twitched and pulled her closer.

His figure passed her outer ring as he moved a second finger inside her, stretching her rarely used hole.

Star couldn't stop shivering at the sensation of being double penetrated. She was right about Jack's fingers, they were amazing. Never before had she felt anything like this, even the rare times she took two stations it never felt quite this good.

The sensation of the two things moving inside, stroking her inner walls was driving her over the edge.

Star's body tightened and she gasped as a big orgasm washed over her body. Her muscles clenched and pulsed around Jack's cock, her body milking him for all it was worth.

It brought Jack to the cusp. He could feel her clench around his fingers as her anus pulsed in tune with her cunt. Jack kept thrusting as star started coming down. He was close, and Star knew it. She looked back at him, “Jack… cum inside.” Her tongue lazily ran against one of her fangs.

Jack felt his balls tighten, and his cock started to pulse as he sent sticky rope after rope deep inside of Star.

She could feel each sticky strand shoot inside of her. Each one causing a pleasurable tingling that grew into it's own little wave of pleasure as a second smaller orgasm filled her. Slowly Jack stopped cumming, but his cock continued to twitch inside of the twitching mare-cunt.

The two stayed connected for a while longer. Each trying to catch their breath, until Jack slowly pulled his cock and fingers out of star with a subtle pop.

“Mmmm... Jack.” Star moaned as she let her legs collapse under her. She spent a moment just letting his warmth trickle out of her onto the once clean shower floor.

Standing behind her, Jack watched Star's marehood twitch as a small stream of their love fluids leak out. He felt himself twitch once or twice while looking at her. It was still an odd mix of emotions when he thought about her as a lover. Star wasn't a horse, but she was still different. He laughed once, choosing to ignore the odd feelings. It just wasn't worth thinking about.

“Something wrong?” Star's head was on her front legs. She herself was lost in thought.

He shook his head 'no' as Star looked back at him. Her smile smoothed out, she didn't want to say these next words. “You know, we can't have a relationship, but that doesn't mean you can't try with someone else.” There was almost a hint of sadness in her eyes and voice as she spoke.

Still slightly out of breath, he managed a single response. “Who?”

“Well, there's already someone you like. Why not talk to her?”

It took a few seconds for Jack to process this statement, unsure at first who Star was talking about. “Luna? Didn't you tell me earlier that it wasn't a good idea?”

“I thought you just wanted to get your rocks off. If you actually care for her like you said, then...” she paused to consider how to word it “t might work.”

She thought about it for a moment more, “Just be prepared. If it doesn't, she may take you off of Night Guard, or even out of the Guards entirely. Actually...” She put a hoof to her chin. “That might actually work out for you thought. Not being in the guard I mean.”

Missing the subtle innuendo in her voice, Jack thought about her words. He did find Luna interesting, more then just that. Since he first met her, there was a connection that he felt with her. If he had never joined the Night Guard he might have even been able to get closer to her. It was a bit of irony, that by being physically closer to her, he felt farther than before.

Looking down at his armor, his gaze naturally drifted to the moon crest on the one shoulder. 'Give up the Night Guard?' he thought. He had given up on so many things in his life. Would this just be another clump of junk in a growing bag of trash he carried?

“You think it could work?” His voice held a hopeful ring.

Star pushed Jack off of her and started to walk away from him back to her bucket. “Look, I know it might sound sappy coming from a bat pony, but I believe in love. If you care about her and truly love her like you seem to think you do than, who knows? Beside, I don't know a mare alive who could refuse those fingers of yours.”

Star went over to one of the newly cleaned stalls and turned it on. She was a bit of a mess after the cleaning and fun they had. “Shining Armor made it work. Why not talk to him?”

She spread her wings out letting the water wash over them. Jack could only watch her in awe, as part of him started to perk up. She gave her lust filled smile at Jack and winked once, “Why not join me Jack.” She turned around to show him her plot. “I could use some help in back.”

Outside the Showers a single pony hidden in the shadows peaked in. He quickly walked away once he saw what the two inside were doing.

Author's Note

Originally edited by Tiwake

Reedited on Dec. 31, 2015

Chapter 3: Junk for the pile

It was just a touch past noon as Jack stretched out in a yawn. It took him a few blinks to get used to the brightness of room and his usually early wake up. Taking his time he pulled himself out of bed and began meandering about the room. Looking about he sought out to find his plate armor which he had haphazardly scattered across the room last night. He was grateful that Star had retired to her own bunk in the morning, rather than trying to crash in his bed like the night prior. Having her around might have been fun, but it would have made getting up on time a bit more difficult.

After gathering his armor Jack caught sight of himself in his mirror. The dull shine of the metal reflecting with the afternoon light, he took a deep breath as a mall pang of shame washed over him. In the mirror, he could see the armor wasn't in the best of shape, especially for being only a month old. Small scuffs and scratches dotted the surface, there was evidence of small stains on the metal. He needed to do something about the condition. So he sat on the edge of his bed, and with a bit of cloth took a few moments to polish some of the scuff marks out, making sure everything was above reproach.

As he cleaned, his hands shook slightly with nerves. The only interactions he had with the Captain Prince hadn't gone that well and the guard always seemed to have an air of distaste for the human. Even before he became a guard, Shinning armor was cold towards him. Not to mention that the Captain was a known stickler for details. If Jack was to have any hope of getting advice from the Captain he needed to make a good impression today. It had to be today of course, since Shinning was scheduled to head back the Crystal Empire later in the day after his inspection and training session was completed.

With one last scrub Jack was satisfied with the armor's condition. Before he left his room, he took a moment to stand in front of the mirror and carefully attache everything just right. Taking his time, he hid each strap, and ensured each snap was snapped.

Time was running out, and he quickly wandered the hallways, trying to find the captain. The castle was large and he had no idea where the Captain would be. Since this was Shining Armor's last day in Canterlot he was bound to be doing some final last minute surprise inspections. Jack spoke to every guard he passed, asking where Shinning Armor was. Each guard pointed in a different direction sending the human jogging on a wild goose.

“Oh Shining? Yeah I saw him in the courtyard I think.” Responded one guard.

With that Jack made his way to the courtyard, passing a few of the Day and Royal Guard on his way. Most ignored him; a small few were puzzled to see the notoriously late Night Guard up so early.

Once in the courtyard he wandered around, looking for the captain. After several minutes of aimless wandering, he gave up and asked a blue coated colt walking around in golden armor.

“Shining? He was here an hour ago. Should be in the barracks now.” the guard pony responded with a shrug.

Taking a few breaths, Jack started jogging towards the barracks, vaguely aware of the time passing by.

Arriving at the barracks he found himself empty handed again. The frustration in Jack's face evident to all around him. Reaching out he grabed the nearest guard he could find and asked him between grinding teeth where Shining Armor was.

“The Captain? Should be meeting with Celestia in the throne room I think.” The guard responded with an air of fear at human's unstable behavor.

Jack sighed, partially out of breath at this point. If nothing else this was giving him a much needed work out. Picking up the pace, he nearly ran to the throne room, aware that his legs were burning. In his mind, he made a mental note to try and pick up jogging later.

Entering the distant throne room he found there where a handful of Royal Guards who squinted at Jack with mild disapproval. In the center of the room was one of the Rulers of this kingdom, Princess Celestia. Jack immediately realized his brashness and saluted the Princess.

Noticing the human, she smiled warmly to him and put down the scroll she was reading. “Well, if it isn't Jack, one of our newest Night Guards. Is there something I can do for you?” Her slight smile belied a hint of knowledge having some idea what the human wanted. Even though the princess was clearly busy, she was also sincere in her desire to help him.

“Uh, begging you pardon Princess, I was just looking for Shining Armor. I was told he might be here.” Jack held back his nerves but a small shake in his voice could be heard.

“Oh? You just missed him actually.” Celesta looked back to the scroll and signed something with a floating quill, before setting both down again.

Jack sighed, and was about to turn around when Celestia stopped him “Jack, before you go may I ask you a question why you're here?”

“O-of course Princess Celestia. What do you want to know?” Jack stammered slightly as his nerves began to over take him. He was not used to talking to Celestia. Even with her caring and soft demeanor, she was always a bit intimidating. The only princess Jack had talked to at all recently was Princess Twilight, who made it a point to talk to Jack at least a few times a month.

Celestia continued to smile at Jack, as she motioned for her guards to leave them alone for a few minutes. Once the guards left Celestia shut the chamber doors with her magic. A faint click echoed through the chambers as she locked the doors.

*Click*

“So, have you spoken with my sister recently?” Her voice was soft, but Jack could sense something slightly amiss from behind it.

“No, not recently. Since I've become a Night Guard Luna has kept her distance.” Jack rubbed the back of his head and looked down in a bit of shame. He thought he knew what Celestia was going to accuse him of.

“Yes, my sister always tried to be more formal then myself. Even when we were foals she tried so hard to fit into her crown.” Celestia had a looking of longing, as if the thought of a younger Luna pained her.

“My sister is quite beautiful, isn't she?” Celestia's smile grew slightly as Jack's expression of shock and embarrassment grew across his face. It was not the question he expected.

Celestia chuckled very lightly under her smile. “Don't worry Jack, you aren't in trouble.” He could almost sense that there was an unspoken 'but' at the end of her sentence.

“Luna came to my chambers yesterday to talk about some... things she had been feeling recently.” A slightly concerning frown crossed her face.

“I remember when you first arrived in Equstria a year ago. Luna spoke of you quite frequently and fondly; you seemed to connect with her. Then when you became a Night Guard, she stopped.” The look of longing ebbed slowly into sorrow for just a moment.

“Jack, you aren't in trouble, but my sister is still very delicate. Please try not to hurt her.” Celestia reopened her chamber doors as her guard walked back in.

“Thank you for the time Jack, but I must get back to work.” She picked up another scroll and began reading it over.

“Oh. Just one more thing. I think you'll find the Captain down the next hall over.” Jack returned Celestia's smile and jogged out of the room.

As he turned the corner of the nearest hallway, he nearly ran over the poor captain he had been searching for.

“Watch where you're going Night Guard. If there's not an emergency you shouldn't be running around.” Shining berated the human and turned to walk around him.

“Sorry, Captain Shining Armor. But I was hoping you had a minute?” Jack held up a hand to try and stop him from running off.

He took breath and began to explain his request to the Captain who was quickly becoming more annoyed with the human as the conversation went on. Shining had all he could do not to sneer as the human finished by asking the crux of his concern “I hope to one day become a Captain myself and I was wondering, how you became a Captain?”

With that question Shining Finally had enough, “Ha!” he laughed at the human.

“Are you serious?” Shining shook his head and turned around, walking away from the annoying human, not wanting a response to his rhetorical question. Shinning Armor would take the long way if it meant leaving this annoyance behind him.

But instead Jack caught up with him and jogged next to the unicorn, trying to keep up with his quick trot. “Shining, I get that you probably don't like me, but I could use the advice.” Jack spoke with an almost pleading tone.

Shining rolled his eyes, “Liking you has nothing to do with it.” He shook his head, “Look rookie. Becoming a captain is hard work. It took me six years, and I'm considered by most to be a military genius.”

Realizing that the human wasn't just going to leave Shining Armor slowed down to more of a walk. “Why do you want to be a captain anyway? You aren't just interested in Princess Luna's plot are you?”

Jack thought about what to say. While Shining's question was crass and direct, it wasn't wholly inaccurate. Jack reasoned he could just lie to the captain, but his mind winced at that idea. He looked at Shining Armor, the captain's head was held high, there was pride in his walk. It was obvious to anyone that Shining cared about being a guard, he cared about his duties and protecting this kingdom. Shining Armor was an honorable colt, and Jack couldn't just lie to him. The human had to much respect for the Captain, even if the Captain wasn't fond of him.

Taking a deep breath, Jack began clearing his mind. “When I first came here I was confused. This world this place is so different from where I came from. I was lost and I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going…” He paused to collect his thoughts. “Honestly, I guess it wasn't that different from my world. I had no idea what I was doing with my life back there. But here, after talking with Luna about things...” Jack took a big breath and shook his head, that wasn't the right thing to talk about.

“This place, Equstria it's great; it's peaceful, happy, and prosperous. I wanted to...” He searched for the words. Words he had said a long time ago on another world. “I want to protect it, and to ensure that it remains that way. No place should this good or kind ever have to worry about war, or the safety of its people, errr ponies I mean.”

Shining raised an eyebrow at Jack's credulous statement. “And that's all this is? Just a desire to better protect the realm?”

Jack couldn't look him in the eye of course there was more, “No...” he looked Shining in the eyes this time “I...” He took another breath. To say the human was nervous would be an understatement. Truthfully, he still didn't fully understand all the reasons himself, but in his heart he knew this was the right choice. To become captain, to be with Luna.

“You weren't completely wrong, about the princess I mean. I do like Luna. I thought If I was captain, maybe I'd have a chance to be with her. Like how you became captain and married Princess Cadance.”

Shining shook his head, and quickened his pace. “I knew it.” he huffed under his breath.

Shining tried to dismiss the human, but he still wouldn't leave. “Look Rookie, I knew Cadance before I became captain. My relationship with her is separate from my rank. If you want to get in Princess Luna's bed then find another way.”

“Captain, please don't just dismiss me. I'm serious about this.” Shining Armor stopped in his tracks and gave a long hard look at the Night Guard Rookie. There was something in his tone that made the Captain think.

He nodded the human, “Ok, you say you're serious than convince me.”

“Ok, I do have an interest in Princess Luna, I won't hide that. But my desire to save this world, to help Equestria is true. On that I swear my life” Jack pleaded with Shining, hoping he might listen to him.

Shining Armor was never one to question a solder’s loyalties, he wanted to trust that what he heard was true and pure, but there was just something different about this human. Something he had a hard time trusting and believing in. “Jack, even if you're serious, I don't know what advice I can give you. I'm the wrong captain to talk to. You'd need to talk to Night Blade. He's your captain. If you want to know what you need to do better talk to him. Now if you excuse me I have some more training and inspections to do before I head back to the crystal empire tonight.” Shining picked up the pace again glad that the human stayed in the hallway behind, no longer following him.

'The nerve of that ape. Just wants to get in the princess's bed.' The captain thought to himself while walking. For just a moment though, a single thought crossed his mind 'Maybe there really is more?', he quickly shook that thought out of this head. That ape only had one thing on his mind, Shining reminded himself.

The hallway grew empty as the Captain turned the corner, leaving Jack alone for a moment. He took that moment and thought about what little Shining had actually said. The fact was he didn't give Jack much to work with, and it was clear the Captain didn't trust in his abilities. His relationship with Cadance existed before he became captain, so there wasn't too much he could help with there. Shining Armor's position felt so different from his own.

'Is this really what I want?' Jack thought to himself. Did he really just want to get in Luna's bed or did he want to actually be a better guard too? He walked up to the nearest window and looked outside at the Canterlot Castle court yard. A small formation of new recruits stood in formation. They were Royal Guard ponies. New Rookies just like Jack was.

One day if they worked hard they would become first class guards, maybe 3rd class and eventually Squad leaders, one or two might even become captains. It was barely half a year ago that Jack saw a similar site on his first visit to Canterlot. Princess Twilight Sparkle was with him, along with her friends.

They had brought Jack up to Canterlot to watch the Hearth's warming eve play that was shown during the winter months. The play was ok, but what came before it had changed the direction of his life. Jack had wandered around the city, lost in thought. Twilight had followed behind him, trying to find and help the human company on that cold.

Up till that point Jack had survived day to day just doing odd jobs. Trying and failing to start a new life in Equestria. Truthfully a large part of that effort was because of his friend Twilight. She blamed herself for Jack's predicament. She had said as much, and on more then one occasion Jack knew she had cried for him.

Twilight had done everything in her power to make jack happy and comfortable, but it wasn't enough. There was something missing in his life, that had always been missing. It was one of the things him and Luna had discussed many times before.

Then just as they had turned a corner on their way back to the castle to rest for the night, they encountered a small squad of new recruit for the Day Guard. Being marched thought the city by their Captain.

In that moment, Jack had a realization. He knew what was missing in his life. Even if he had screwed up on earth, he had another chance here. A chance to get it right this time. It was in that instant Jack had deiced to join the Equstria Guard.

He gazed through that window, the thoughts of that winter's night melting away as he remembered the real reason why he joined. A reason beyond just Luna's plot. Jack knew he had to talk to Night Blade about this, but he was dreading it.

“JACK!” a very familiar voice yell his name from across the hall. Behind him, a smaller purple princess was waving at him.

A smile grew across his lips and he waved back at the peppy Alicorn “Hey Twilight. What brings you to Canterlot?”

“Visting my brother and talking with Celestia about issues in Ponyville.” She responded as she trotted over to him. Twilight nuzzled into his side ing a pony sort of hug. Jack returned the hug as best he could, but their was something missing from it.

Twilight picked up on Jack's absent mood immediately. “Are you ok Jack?” Twilight gave an empathetic frown, hoping to coax the human into talking. She knew from experience that he could be very tight lipped about his feelings.

“I'm fine princess, just thinking about somethings...” he trailed off.

Standing still made him uncomfortable, he needed to move. So he continued walking down the hallway, towards Night Blades office. Twilight followed him in tow, the silence between the two was almost painful. Jack not saying anything in fear of upsetting Twilight, and Twilight doing the same. Finally, she broke down and just asked.

“Well, do you want to talk about it?” She queried meekly.

“Yeah, I suppose. I just got done talking with your brother about something.” Jack felt a rush of different emotions as he thought about the conversation again, and descended once more into silent thought.

After several moments, Twilight realized that the only way this conversation would continue was with her leading. “So, what were you talking about? Nothing serious I hope?”

He shrugged and looked out a nearby window, “I asked him about becoming a captain, and what it takes.” He finished with another shrug, seeing at the futility of his own statement.

The comment was unexpected and for a moment Twilight wasn't completely sure she heard him right. It was something surely lacking the last time he talked to her. Even in his entire time in Equstria, the human never seemed to be all that responsible, and never focused on tomorrow. Seeing Jack looking towards his future here brought a smile to Twilight's face, it was a good sign that he was finally becoming comfortable in Equstria. Ultimately, it was a large weight off her shoulders too. Still, the question burned inside her, what changed in him? “Well, I can understand why you might want advancement. But why captain?”

'Why indeed,' He though. Uncertainty rolled off his face as he debated what to tell her exactly. He could lie, there was no real reason she needed to know about his love life. Telling Twilight the truth could be awkward, she might even try to convince him it was all a bad idea. Thought she probably wouldn't be wrong about that.

The deep magenta eyes of the small Princess sparkled at him. Those eyes, he couldn't lie to them. She was for all intensive purposes the first friend he made in this world, and she was far too over protective him. Even after a year and a full absolution by Jack, Twilight still held herself responsible for the ascendent that him to Equestria. If she knew he had lied to her or with held the truth, it would crush her. He couldn't do that. “Honestly... I was hoping that if I was captain...” He paused, trying to figure out how to say this with out sounding sappy, pathetic, or just horny. “That maybe I'd have a chance to be with some pony. Some pony special.”

The ears on Twilight's head perked up at his confession. “Oh? Does my friend finally have a very special some pony in his heart?” The small smile on her face belied the great excitement in her chest. This was great news she thought! Not only was Jack considering his future, but he was willing to open up to somepony. One of Twilight's greatest fears was being lifted off of her shoulders. If Jack could find true happiness here, maybe she could finally forgive herself.

“Yeah.” A lump in his throat stopped him from saying anything more, much to Twilight's annoyance.

“Well who is it?” Twilight was practically gleaming at this point. If she could find out who it was she might be able to help, or get her sister in law to help! The possibilities for her to play match maker seemed endless.

Closing his eyes, Jack took a deep breath before speaking, “Princess Luna.” A sweet and sour mix could be heard in his voice. Hidden beneath was the somber thought of how far out of his league she was and how foolish his desire actually was.

“Oh.” Then it really hit her “Oh! You're serious?”

She paused for a moment in thought, putting the pieces all together. Luna would be a massive challenge. Over the past few years she had already rejected numerous suitors.

“Well, my brother was able to marry Cadence because he was captain of the Royal Guard.” She waived her front hoof in the air in front of her, as if she was reciting to a class. “Historically it's actually not that uncommon for a princess to marry a captain or general, but it's not really considered appropriate by traditional standards. Even if it did happen frequently.”

Her hoof rubbed at the fur on her chin as she fully considered the actual gap between Jack and Luna, and the difficulty such a union would pose. “But with Luna, I don't know. Being a captain is the only real choice for a normal pony to marry into royalty. But Luna is much more traditional then Cadance or myself, plus there's also the age factor.”

Age had never even occurred to him, “I don't see how age is a factor Twilight?”, queried Jack.

“Well, Luna is much older than both Candace and I, she will also be around much longer then the two of us. Longer then even you Jack.” Her voice rang with a somber tone.

Jack had never really considered the immortality factor when thinking about Luna. “Are Celestia and Luna really immortal?”

Twilight shrugged, “Honestly, I don't know. No one does. I'm not even sure they know.”

The human's expression sour some. This wasn't what she wanted to do, Twilight didn't want to crush him, just bring him back to reality and make him realize that this wouldn't be easy. “Look Jack, I'm not saying it's impossible. But it will be very difficult.”

A rather unpleasant thought hit her as she considered what his motives might actually be, “Hey, you're not just after her plot are you?” It was a crass statement she knew, but in the back of her mind was the worry that Jack was just listening to some primal ape instinct.

Tossing his hands up with mild bemusement and anger, Jack responded “No! Why does everyone keep asking that?”

Twilight reeled from Jack's loud response, “Oh, sorry. It's just that...” Pausing to consider what to say, something that wouldn't upset her human friend and still explain everything. “Well it's just that you're an-”

“An ape?”, He interrupted.

“Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just... I've heard some rumors today and...” Twilight pushed her ears back and put her head down. This wasn't the direction she wanted this conversation to go. She had no desire to upset her human friend, but they were so different that at times it made things difficult.

Any eyebrow went up over Jack's eye, “Rumors? What rumors?”

“That you're involved with a Guard, a bat pony or some such.”

“Oh... You mean Star Screech.” The thought of what Star and him had done making him blush slightly. His face turned from Twilight in mild embarrassment. In truth Jack did like the bat pony, but only as a friend. All be it one with benefits. Still, he wouldn't say they were involved in anyway, serious or otherwise.

“So the rumors are true?” Twilight queried.

“I mean, I've been with this one Guard a few times, but it was nothing serious. We're just friends. Honestly, Luna is the one I want to be with.” As Jack spoke those last words a slight bitter taste appeared in his mouth. He did like, no, love Luna. But he didn't feel right just dismissing Star Screech like that.

“Ok...” Twilight frowned and thought about it for a moment. She didn't like the idea, but Jack was different from her, with different ideals and ideals. Maybe she was just being a prude? “Well, so long as you don't let this relationship with that bat pony hurt Luna, I guess it's not an issue?” The last part of her statement was more of a question. Probing Jack's feelings and thoughts, she was just out of her game here.

Jack stopped walking and sighed. “Celestia kind of said the same thing to me...”

“Celestia talked to you about your feelings for Luna?” A slight air of surprise escaped her voice. If Celestia knew, and hadn't locked him in the dungeon or banished him to the moon, than that had to be a good sign.

“Not exactly, apparently Luna talked to Celestia about somethings. I don't know what though, she said for me to be careful not to hurt her sister. I'm not sure if that was a threat or not.”

Jack wanted to go back to the original conversation, he could deal with the ape prejudices later and courting Luna later. After be became something worthy of courting her. “Anyway, how would I become captain?”

“Well, it usually takes years, often decades. Shining did it in less than ten years, but he's a prodigy.”

“Like you Ms. book worm?” Jack smirked at the slight ribbing he gave his friend.

“Hey! It's princess book worm thank you very much.” The two both shared a laugh at that.

Jack wanted to talk with Twilight more, but he had things he needed to get done, one thing in particular. “I have to get back to work princess.” Jack hugged Twilight before departing.

She spent just a few more moments then necessary watching her friend walk away. She felt like there was more she had to do for him. He was her friend, and ultimately she considered him her responsibility, like she was an older sister.

“Good luck Jack.” Twilight whispered as she thought about what more she could do.

Author's Note

Reedited on Dec. 31, 2015

Chapter 4: Polish

Slowly Jack made his way deeper into the castle, towards the wing that held the military commanders offices, and ultimately Night Blade's. His gaze was absent and not really fixed on anything in front of him as he walked forward. Lost in thought: he worried over what Celestia had told him; thinking about some of the things Shining had said to him; and reminiscing over times with Twilight.

No matter what Jack may have wanted for himself, the biggest thing to him was not to hurt Luna. Once not that long ago, Jack thought that maybe they had shared a connection. That connection a major reason he felt attracted towards her. But maybe it was time to let that go? It wasn't like they ever dated, and the feelings could easily have just been one sided.

'What did Luna talk to her sister about? And why?' He pondered to himself.

Soon, all the castle windows disappeared and Jack took a right at a large crossways. The long corridor was empty, and no one was in sight, it made the hallway feel eerie somehow. This area of the castle was buried into the mountain side was less ornate then the rest. Since it was litterally in the mountain it had no windows and was some what cold. The hallway itself was quite clean, and well maintained, but also very spartan, with no wall hangings or ornamentation, other than some large support pillars and the natural stone work. About every 20 feet or so there would be a closed and often times locked door. These were offices for high ranking Guard officers.

Jack stopped in front of one such door. On it were three lines of text:

“Night Blade”

“Captain”

“Night Guard - Royal branch”

With a nervous pep in his step, Jack quickly walked up to the door and took a few deep breaths. Trying to calm himself down. He had never talked to Night Blade outside of normal duties. The guard captain always seemed more than a little intimidating. Part of Jack hoped the captain was actual in, another part hoped he wasn't. It was still early for the Night Guard so either was possible.

Jack brought his hand up to the door.

*Knock, Knock, Knock*

A moment of silence passed before the sound of shuffling could be heard behind the door, then the sound of clopping hooves.

*Click*

The door opened and standing there was a slightly irritated Night Blade. The bat pony was quite a bit shorter than Jack, but his stance and stature made it feel like he towered over the Human. Even in his relaxed stance he stood as if he was at attention.

Once he saw the look of disdain in the captain's eyes he realized that forgot about his own posture. Quickly he straitened up and saluted the Captain.

“What is it rookie?” Night Blade's voice was simple and direct, but held a slight air of annoyance to it. There was a stack of paper work on his desk that needed to be taken care of by the end of the day and he didn't want to waste time on hopeless cases like the rookie in front of him. Not to mention a few other things he rather be dealing with.

“Well sir I wanted to ask you about promotions, and what I can do to be...” Jack paused he had asked this question to himself several times already but still found himself hesitating. “...to be a better soldier. Sir.” Night Blade snorted at the human, and turned around apparently ignoring the rookie. He walked back to his desk and sat down. Jack didn't know whether he should follow him in or not.

Blade started to go back to his paper work, stamping a few documents and trying to read another. “I don't have time for your games rookie.” His voice barked with annoyance.

Jack was flustered. He had expected Night Blade to give him a hard time but not to ignore him like this. He took a breath and walked into his office, and stood at the front of Blade's desk.

“Captain, sir. I mean no disrespect. I'm not playing any games here, and I'm serious about wanting to do better.” Night Blade put down a paper he was reading and looked at the human. Blade's eyes were tired and Jack could tell he was on the edge of disciplining him for interrupting the paper work he so desperately had to finish.

Blade looked up with red in his tired eyes, “What's your angle rookie?”

“Sir? I don't have an angle. I just want to be a better soldier.” His voice was coated with sincerity. Unfortunately, Blade didn't believe him.

“Ha!” Night Blade's laugh carried with it a large amount of Venom. “You want to be a better soldier?”

Jack nodded his head “Yes sir.”

“Ok rookie. Let's start with you actually trying to be a soldier first.” Night Blade eyed the rookie in front of him, waiting for the human to do something or make some kind of response.

The first response Blade received was a cocked head from the human. His mind turned as he was not quite sure if he heard or understood Night Blade correctly, “I don't understand sir I-”

Night Blade turned his back on Jack and went fishing through one of his cabinets behind his desk. After a moment, he pulled out a single scroll with a broken red seal.

Quickly he handed it to Jack, the sound of the parchment crackling like some demonic laugh in his hand. “Read it Jack.” Blade barked again.

The scroll opened as Blade went back to his paper work. The first thing of note was just how short it was, barely a paragraph and a few sentences:

“By order of Princess Twilight Sparkle,

It has come to our attention that the human Jack was rejected from the Guards after failing basic training. It is our belief that Jack has much to contribute to the Guards in spite of his performance in basic and should be given an opportunity to prove himself.

We would like Jack to be placed into the Guards as soon as possible in a suitable position, with suitable title.

Please reconsider your position.”

At the bottoms was a series of scratches that Jack recognized as Twilight's name in her own horn witting. The rest of the letter was clearly written with Spike's clawed hand.

As he held the scroll for a few minutes, a numb sensation washed over him. Slowly and quietly the scroll rolled up. Seemingly by magic, the scroll grew in weight. It felt like he was holding the anvil that just struck his chest and head. “I don't understand?”

“What's to understand rookie? You failed basic. You can't perform your normal duties. The only reason you're even here is because one of the princess took pity on you.”

“But I...” Jack stammered trying to process what he just read.

Night Blade hit his desk with his hoof causing some of the papers to go sliding. “Jack you're a disgrace. You were supposed to go into the General Guard, but General Maximus threatened to resign if they let you in. They threw you into the Night Guard, specifically this branch because it was the least difficult. They though you could at least handle this much work. It's clear they were wrong.”

Jack wasn't sure what to say or do. He felt so many emotions, anger, fear, sadness and confusion just the top of a long list. He focused on the kernel of Blade's statement and retorted, “What haven't I handled sir?”

“Ha!” He went back to signing and stamping paper work.

No, Jack thought, he was not going to be ignored. “Sir I'd appreciate an answer, what haven't I handled?”

“Ok, fine.” He slammed his quill on the desk. “Let's start with your normal duties. On no less than five counts you've been late to your post, and numerous times you've been seen running down the halls trying to make it on time.” Jack felt what could only be described as a weight on his shoulders.

Blade continued, “You've fallen out of attention on more than a few occasions when the princess are around.” The weight grew heaver.

“My second has reported back to me that you have been negligent in many of your duties and failed to complete them in a satisfactory manner.” Still heavier, the mental sound of bones cracking could almost be heard.

“Then there's also the fact that you're sleeping with one of your fellow soldiers.”

'No,' Jack thought, as Blade tried to levy this one last weight on top of him. This was something he wasn't going to let Blade put on him.

“There's no regulation against it sir. I was even told it's acceptable by more than one other Guard.” Jack picked himself up, shrugging some of the weight off as he did.

Blade rolled his eyes, “Sure the occasional roll in the hay might be over looked, but so far you've been at it with the same guard twice in the past two days. Once while on duty. You're fraternizing with her. If you were anypony else I'd have you thrown out of the guards just for that.” He slammed his hoof down on his desk, “You're a lousy soldier Jack, and a disgrace to this branch.”

The truth was what Night Blade said to Jack stung more than a bit, but he did his best to suck up his emotions. “With all due respect sir. I am a good soldier or at least I have the potential to be.”

“Oh? And what makes you say that? Do you think you can fuck your way out of battle?” Jack winced slightly from the sharpness in Blade's voice.

He tried to shrug it off, “There's more to being a soldier then just shining your shoes. Give me a real challenge. I can prove to you I'm capable.”

Blade scowled, “Ha, a real challenge? You can barely be trusted to clean the floors.”

Blade's demeanor soften just slightly, he owed it to all his guard to at least try and help them. “Look rookie. If you are truly serious about this, then get your act together. The princess forced us to let you in. So far you haven't proved yourself even once.”

Night Blade looked at the paper work in front of him, he still had a lot of work to do. He paused for a moment to consider what more to say to Jack. The thought about just sending him to talk to Fire Wall appealed to him. An idea which grew even more appealing as he thought about it. “You want to know what it takes to be a solider?”

Jack just nodded his response.

“Fine. Then go talk to Fire Wall. He's the general of the Night Guard. He's a real soldier, a true fighter who's actually seen combat. I'm sure he would love to talk to you about this.” Night Blade's response was sarcastic and he rolled his eyes one final time before going back to his paper work.

“You're dismissed rookie.” He spoke without ever looking up.

As Jack walked out of Night Blades office he couldn't help but feel a bit despondent. He knew Night Blade was right about much of what he had said. Yet still, Jack knew he could do it. He would prove it, he was going to talk to Fire Wall and he was going to get that chance. Even as he told himself all this one single thought kept creeping in his mind 'Blade is right, I'm no soldier'

Walking further down the hallway, he considered the irony of it. Back home, on earth the ROTC never really appealed to him much. Enrolling in it was done at his parents behest when they refused to pay for his college, he had to do it for the scholarships. Yet here in Equstria, he actually wanted this. Over the past year Jack had come to call this place his home. Perhaps even more than any place on earth, he finally began to felt happy here. He wanted to protect this kingdom, this world. This was his special talent, all that was left was proving it to everyone else, and to himself.

The more and more he thought about it, the more certain he became. He had been fucking up sure, but he didn't need to continue. There was hope, he just needed... Jack paused in mid thought, what exactly did he need? He asked himself that question before, and he never really had an answer.

The hallway was very long, perhaps the longest in the castle and each step brought Jack deeper into the mountain that Canterlot Castle had embedded itself in. The further you walked down this hallway, the colder it got.

Eventually Jack found the door near the end of the hall. A single sign hung by it:

“Fire Wall”

“General”

“Night Guard”

The first thing noticable about the door was its size. It was about twice as big as Night Blade's. Where Jack had to duck slightly to enter Blade's office, he could easily walk in here. 'Probably to allow the princess easier access' Jack thought to himself.

*Knock, Knock, Knock*

The large door amplified the knocking so that it rang throughout the entire hallway. It was intimidating, and meant to be so.

“Come in.” A loud voice, gruff and harsh from age called from inside.

The double doors crept opened, its old hinges whined and cried as it was forced to move.

Inside the room was poorly lit by a single large fire pit at the center of the room. Along the walls were shelves of books. In between the shelves was the occasional weapon or shield hung on the walls as well as a few paintings of what Jack surmised must have been historical battles.

A single old bat pony sat in appertain meditation on the opposite side of the room, not too far from the fire. Jack stood at the entryway considering the room and its occupant, unsure if he should proceed.

“I told you to come in didn't I?” The old pony spoke at Jack.

“Yes sir.” Jack entered the room, closing the massive doors behind him.

The bat pony had a long gray beard, which mirrored his gray mane. His dark brown coat was covered in small and large pink scars. He opened one eye and stared at Jack. Jack wondered for a second why he didn't open his other eye, before realizing the a large scar over it.

The old Pony got up and walked slowly towards Jack. His walk was slow and deliberate, he could see the slight pain the bat pony's joints from age, and what appeared to be a lot of fighting. Yet still he shrugged it off, his face showed none of the discomforts his body clearly did. Fire Wall had an air about, something almost dark, powerful, and dangerous. In truth, it set Jack on edge.

The one old and glazed eye looked Jack over, recognizing him immediately, “Why are you here Jack?” His voice, full of force and certainty. Even though Jack was physically taller than him, Fire Wall towered over Jack, far more then Night Blade ever did or could. He dare say he was more imposing then even Celestia in all her power and glory.

“Sir, sorry sir. Night Blade told me I should talk to you. Sir” Jack's body felt ridged as he tried to stand as straight and tall as he could.

Fire Wall gave a half smirk, “Ah, good old Night Blade, always pushing his problems off to other ponies.” His one eye pierce through into Jack's, “You would do well, not to emulate him Jack.”

The old pony turned around and walked back to where he was sitting earlier. “Jack, relax a little. You're bound to pull something being as tightly wound as you are.” He looked at Jack and pointed to a spot in front of him.

A sigh escaped from Jack and loosened up just a bit. Then nodded as he got the idea, and walked over to sit with the old pony.

He sat on a large pillow, and crossed his legs. Between the two was an old wooden board with squares and circles painted on it. Two sets of color pieces lay on the left and right side, they were black and white stones respectively. The game looked strangely familiar to Jack, but he couldn't place why.

Fire Wall tapped at a piece on the edge of the board, “Tell me Jack, do you play games?” He asked.

The question caught him a little off guard. “I'm sorry sir, Games?”

“Yes, games. You do know what games are don't you rookie?” The general's words were short and slightly hostile. He didn't like having what little his time remaining wasted.

“Of course sir. I enjoy games, but...” He looked down at the board, “I'm not sure I know how to play this game?”

The general picked up one black piece from his side and placed it in the center of the board. “Oh, the rules for this game are simple. We each take turns placing pieces on the board. Trying to surround and conquer your opponent's pieces. At the end of the game we count how much territory each player had. The one with the most, wins.” The general rubbed his old beard. “It's been ages since I've had anypony to play this old game with.” The general picked up a white piece and gave it to Jack. “White traditionally goes first.”

As the stone played between his fingers, Jack considered the bead. It was a smooth rounded stone, possibly marble. His eyes drifted to the board and it's many squares and spots. All of them were open and he could place the stone practically anywhere. The game seemed so familiar to Jack, but he couldn't place why. 'Somewhere near the center.' The thought echoed through his head. It made sense, control the center of the field to limit the enemy's movements.

Jack reached down to place the stone at the very center of the board but hesitated for a moment.

“What are you thinking, Jack?” Fire Wall spoke with a flat tone. Neither chastising nor lauding, merely probing.

“Well, I was thinking about placing a stone near the center. To control the center of the board.” He was slightly uncertain of his own idea, and his voice rang more like a question than a statement.

Fire Wall nodded his head, taking the center was an aggressive move, not easily supported. The human's logic was sound, but his lack of experience and wisdom made him consider a poor opening move.

“In order to be at the center of a battle, you need a good supply line. Starting in the center, would force you into an immediate defensive posture as I surround your pieces and cut off your routes to attack, and escape.” Fire Wall pointed to the corners of the board. “I would recommend starting at the edges and working inwards.”

Jack nodded his head. Fire Wall's argument made sense. Jack chose a spot a few squares off one of the corners. “Like I said general, I've never played before. You'll have to excuse me for not knowing.”

The general considered the rookie's first move 'He takes advice well, without being too literal.' He thought to himself. The general picked up his own black stone and placed it a few squares away from his own corner. “I don't want your excuses Jack. Not knowing is an excuse. If you're in the middle of a battle your opponent isn't going to stop just because you made a mistake.”

One of the general's wings twitched and tingled slightly as he remembered one such mistake.

For a few moments the two placed stones back and forth on the board, creating simple patterns and formations. Eventually the silence got to Jack and he spoke, “I'm sorry general, I enjoy games, but I came here for advice on advancement.”

The general seemingly ignored the rookie and placed a black stone on the board. One of his black lines was surrounding a smaller formation of Jack's. It appeared to Fire wall that he was about to complete the first capture of the game. Jack sat for a moment trying to make sense of the game he was playing, and the reason behind it. He wondered if there was a deeper point to this than he could see.

“I know you play games, but do your people?”

The question knock Jack off guard again. “What? Yes, my people play games. A lot actually, but what does that...”

The general interrupted him “Games are important Jack. Let me guess, some of your games mimic war? Also, it's your turn.”

Jack stammered about, trying to find a piece to place on the board. There were several spots that seemed like good choices. “Yes, we have games about war. A lot in fact.”

The piece fell down next to a large white formation, completing a circle around a few black pieces. Fire Wall was not expecting the human to be so aggressive with his moves, normally a pony would have chosen to shore up his own position rather than attack. “Hmmm... Looks like you have the first capture Jack.” Jack started to pick up the black stones and return them to their respective container by Fire Wall.

Fire Wall placed a single black stone by a large white formation. The position on the board prevented Jack from placing any white pieces near it. “But capturing isn't the only important thing. Controlling the board can be done without the direct use of force. Sometimes the mere presence of a unit can decimate another general's plans.”

Jack tried to understand what the general was saying. Much of it seemed like basic knowledge he had learned in ROTC the rest seemed cryptic. The general interrupted Jack's train of thought, “It's your turn again Jack.”

He reached for a piece and tried to find a good point for it, but noticed that a large part of his recently acquired force was blocked by small clusters of black stones.

“To answer your question Jack, games are an example of strategy. Playing games can sharpen a pony's skill, and provide a simple and elegant method to test somepony else's skills.”

Jack finally found a spot to place his piece. It wasn't ideal, but given the current board no place was. Fire Wall was very good at this game.

“Interesting move Jack...” The bat pony considered his own move. It would seem that Jack's placement had altered the general's plans, though Jack couldn't really see how. “You have potential Jack, of this I'm sure.” The general spoke with a nod as he placed his piece near one of his smaller formations.

The words echoed through Jack's mind. Did he really have potential? 'How could I' He thought.

“I couldn't even pass basic, general. If it wasn't for Twilight I wouldn't even be here.” Jack placed his piece in the only spot he could see. He really didn't like the way the board looked.

“Your right about one thing Jack, you didn't pass basic.” Fire Wall put one black stone down completing a line that captured one of Jack's smaller formations. The general picked up Jack's pieces and returned them to their container.

A long sigh escaped Jack's mouth and darted his eyes around the board nervously. He didn't understand the point of this. Was the General just trying to point out that Jack should quit? That he should leave?

“But Twilight wasn't the one who brought you into the Night Guard.” The old pony opened his eye wide and starred into one of Jack's own. It felt like his gaze was reaching into his very soul.

“I did.”

Jack wasn't sure he understood the general, or if he heard him right. “But I saw the letter from Twilight-”

Again Fire Wall interrupted Jack, “Twilight sent that letter after I approved your application personally. I doubt she was aware of it at the time.”

This sudden revelation left Jack in awe and he didn't know what to say. The only think he could think of was, “but why?”

Once more the general looked down at the board with mild annoyance at the pause in game play. Jack took the hint and picked up another smooth white stone. He took his time considering where to place it. “I've heard of your people Jack. From the stories you tell of them to what the princesses have said about them, let me ask you, have you ever heard of the ape and baboon tribes of the south?”

There was an incomplete white formation on Jack's side of the board that was being threatened by the now massive black stone army. “Not much. A few of the ponies I've meet seem to think I come from there. I didn't of course. I didn't come from the mirror portal either.” He placed his piece between the formations, protecting both for the next move.

The general surveyed the board, he held far more territory then Jack. He knew he was going to win this game, but still wanted to continue with the discussion. “I know you didn't come from there. The ape and baboons war with each other constantly. They are quite violent and aggressive.”

The general took his black stone and considered his next move. “We have a treaty with them, but that mostly comes from their limited industrial capabilities. They are little more than in the stone age. If they had technology, weapons or worse yet, magic. Things would be very different for us, I'm sure.” The general paused remembering the battles that made up most of his life.

“But you Jack...” He looked over the human, so similar to the apes in appearance, yet far more controlled and pony like in his attitude.

“You and your people are advanced. You know of war, as do your people.” The general finally settled on a board spot, and placed his stone.

“You your self even said you were training to be a warrior before you came here.” A hoof pointed at Jack, as if emphasizing something. Jack couldn't help but notice the many scars and old wounds along its length. It was slightly crooked like it had once been broken, and not properly set.

“I fought the apes many times long time ago. Despite their lack of civilization and technology I would never want to face them again.” He reached his right hoof up to his lost eye.

“If you have even half their combat skills, then I want you on my team. I want you in the Guards.” The General placed another stone on the board.

There was another lapse in game play as Jack lost attention to the board again. “But I've never been in combat. I don't know real war.” He protested.

A hoof slammed on the table, shaking some of the board pieces. “Neither do we! We've been at peace for most of the past four hundred years. If someone was to attack we would not be able to defend our self.” Another memory came to the general's mind, this time of something much more recent.

“You weren't here for the changeling invasion or for the Crystal Empire or Terik or anything else.” The general remembered how all the guards were useless in every instance, how only the princesses stood in the way of annihilation.

“We have lost our ability to defend ourselves. I think you can help us with that, Jack.”

“I...” Jack was lost. “I'm not sure what to say? I was never a real solider, I was in the ROTC. It may have led to a military career, but-”

Fire Wall interrupted him again, “Look at this board Jack, what do you see?”

Jack considered the board, Fire Wall held a clear advantage. Most of the board was his, and Jack's main formation was threatened on all sides. Agitation began to over come him and he started twiddling his piece between his fingers. “I'm losing” With that he put one last piece in his formation. Closing a ring around some of Fire Wall's units. Jack began the process of removing the few pieces, realizing that it was a losing battle.

The general nodded his head in agreement, “Yes you are, but you've played with me longer than most have. Your placements and tactics have been chaotic without being truly random and they're different from what I'm used to.” The general held one last piece in his hoof. “Most of our tactics are traditional. They are taught, but not understood. Our Captains and even Generals don't know how to adapt and change. Alter one thing in the middle of battle and many will falter.”

“You shape yourself up in the next few months and I'll put you in the spring war games we have. Maybe there you can show us all your real skills.”

“War Games, sir?” The general placed one last pieces completing a circle around one of Jack's clusters, including the large formation Jack just took.

“Games are important Jack. They are more than entertainment.” He proceeded to pick up the pieces from around the circle and change them out with his own.

“They can teach us, and lead us to understand our weaknesses. Weaknesses that nopony here is aware of.” He finished and looked over the board. “And hone our strengths. I think I've won this game Jack.”

The old pony got up from his spot to walk to his equally old desk. “I enjoyed this game, perhaps you'll come back to play it again. You know the way out.”

It took a second before Jack stood up. He was a slight bit confused as he walked out of the room. The massive doors creaked as he closed them behind him. He stood outside of the general's office for a few moments, considering everything that Fire Wall had talked about. 'Layers.' He thought to himself. 'The General, didn't want to be clear, because he wanted me to think.' Jack started to walk down the hallway.

He was going to be a guard. Not just to win Luna's heart, but to prove to himself that he was finally good for something.

Luna walked down the hallway in the direction he was walking. Neither were expecting to see the other. Jack Noticed her approaching and he stiffened up and saluted. A bead of sweat formed at the crown of this head as she stared at him as she passed by.

She stopped in front of the human, “Jack...” The Princess spoke to him.

Jack released the breath he didn't even know he was holding. “Um, yes your highness?”

There was a slight look of pain in her eyes at those words. As if she didn't want to hear her own title.

“Would you have a moment to discuss some things with us?” There was an air of sadness in the princess's voice.

“O-of course Princess wh-” Jack stammered before she interrupted him.

“Please, Jack, just call me Luna. When in private.” Her voice reeked of agitation.

I know we are friends Prin, err Luna. But is it appropriate for me to be so informal around you?”

She paused her sad look descending further towards darkness. “All day and night long, all anypony seems to talk to us about is royal matters. All I really want is a friend to talk to. Not about the kingdom necessarily, but just about... informal things. Do you not wish to be informal with us, Jack?”

“I... Of course I do Luna. It's just I remember when we first met you told me that you stand on formality.” He looked at the floor a slight smile coming over him. “I actually miss our little talks.”

“So do I.” Luna's frown quickly turned into a smile and eyes lit up. “Then it is settled! We shall be friends once more!” Luna half yelled as she gripped Jack in a hug.

The hug released all the tension out of Jack's body and the two began to talk like old friends. Luna bring Jack up to speed on all the new things happening in the castle and her life. She had a particularly humorous story about how Tibbles managed to get out and gorged himself on a visiting Saddle Arabian diplomat's date horde. The poor opossum was indisposed for a week while his tiny body tried to process all the fruit.

Jack told Luna of his time in basic, how he took twice as long as all the others in his platoon to run the race track, and how by the time they hit the mess hall all the food had to be recooked just for him. He was a failure, but his basic mates loved him for getting them the first truly hot meal they had in weeks.

Then there was his time as a recruit in the Night Guards and his difficulty in actually getting up at nights. The regular verbal beating Moon Shadow gave him, and the scorn from Night Blade.

But once Jack turned the conversation towards one of his squad mates Luna's bright smile dimmed slightly.

“Jack, I'm aware you've...” She stammered and blushed slightly before calming her composure. “This guard pony you've been... with. Star Screech I believe her name is?”

Jack could only nod his response.

“Do you love her?” The blunt response seemed flat, like Luna was hiding a wave of emotions by forcing them all down.

The question took Jack by surprise. “I... No. I mean I like her sure, she's kind of cute I suppose, and a bit of a pain in my ass. But I don't think I actually love her.” Jack wasn't quite sure he believed those words. A few nights ago, he just thought of Star as an annoying friend, but after the past few nights, he was no longer sure.

“Jack, I know it's not really appropriate, but we... I would like to spend more time with you. Outside of our normal duties.” The smile on Luna's face was happy but uncertain. She hoped for a positive response.

To which Jack gladly gave her such a response. “I'd like to spend more time with you Luna.”

Jack gave his princess one last hug, that lasted longer than it probably should have before letting her go.

The two parted ways as the sun began to set. They each had responsibility to attend to this night.

Some time passes when suddenly, there is a loud clanging noise through out the Castle.

*Bong*

Jack stood with his squad in the throne room. He as vaguely aware of Night Blade's eyes staring at him all the while. He couldn't tell if Blade was just watching him or scowling.

“Attn-hut!” Blade called out as his squad quickly stood in formation.

Princess Luna made her slow graceful entrance, giving the slightest hint of a smile towards Jack as she walked by.

Jack did his best to respond in kind without falling too much out of formation.

Not wasting any time on the balcony, Luna preformed her normal moon rising ceremony before walking back out of the throne room, smiling one last time at Jack.

Night Blade turned to follow her but made it a point to stop in front of Jack before he ran off. “Remember what I said Jack.”

Jack huffed slightly as Night Blade ran the corner. Giving his head a slight shake he drop the frown. Night Blade had a point or two. Jack needed to improve. He needed to start being an actual soldier.

Star Screech made her usual crass remarks as Moon Shadow came up to the two and levied some night assignments for them. He seemed oddly distant compared to most nights. Usually he would scowl at the two, but instead he just seemed to not care. He also placed them in the same area, which was very odd to say the least.

“Come on Jack. We need to go guard the walls tonight. You might need to climb on top of me too... look over some of the higher points.” Star Screech tried her best to give Jack a not so subtle hint in her voice of what she really wanted to do with him.

As the small gray pony rump shook in front of him, Jack was forced to considered Star Screech, and how he felt for her. To say he was conflicted would have been an understatement, but in his heart Jack believed he knew what had to be done. “Star, I think we need to talk...”

Author's Note

For those who don't know, the game Jack and Fire Wall were playing was based on a real world game called Go. That's not actually the name of the game in this world, and some of the rules are a bit different (hence the reason for white having the first move).

Reedited Dec. 31, 2015

Chapter 5: A New Day

*Ring, Ring, Ring*

*Slam*

A fist slammed on top of the metal alarm clock next to Jack's bed, silencing it. A burning feeling scratched at his eyes as they blushed red with tiredness. Reaching up he tried to rubbed the sleeplessness from them. It was going to take some serious work for the human to get into his new routine of waking up early.

The room was unusually well kept, all of Jack's cloths had been cleaned and put away nicely the morning before. Even his armor, which was usually just scattered about, was now sitting on its dress doll for a change.

Once Jack got out of bed he moved to the armor on its stand, examining it with his hands and eyes. As he ran his fingers over one of the many small scratches on the chest plate Jack couldn't help but sigh. While the armor was not in horrible condition, it had clearly been neglected. There were small scuffs on the chest plate; bits of dirt still clung to the boots and leg armor. It was clear that the armor would need some love and care to bring it up to code.

With that in mind, Jack took each piece of armor of the stand and started polishing them, smoothing out the scuffs and small scrapes that had built up. Once he finished, each part shinned and gleaned with new life. He did this for every part of the armor, from the overly large cuirass down to the smaller spaulders that protected his shoulders. Finally, he held the last armor plate in his hands, a tasset that protected his upper right leg. The tips of his fingers traced the shallow grove on the inside and began to realize just how much work was put into fitting his armor to him. Sure he had been aware of the extra measurements and time it took to fashion the metal sheets. But until now, Jack had never really paid close attention to the level of detail and work that had gone into his custom armor; the slight trim around the edges, and small pop marks in the rounded corners. It really was quite exquisite and deserved more attention than he had given it. The more he focused on it, the guiltier he began to feel.

Jack shook his head at the intruding thoughts. 'That was going to change,' he told himself. He was going to do what he should have done to begin with. He was ready to start being a real solder, to maybe make something out of himself. Maybe he would even have the chance to win the hand of the princess.

'Hand?' That word rang in his mind causing him to pause. Jack put the armor piece down and rubbed his eyes trying to clear both his vision and his head. Small little things he was used to saying and thinking were still so different here, even after more than a year he still wasn't used to it all. In the back of Jack's mind that intruding whisper crept back into his ear 'She not human, none of them are.'

Of course Jack knew in his heart and perhaps somewhere a bit lower, that it shouldn't really matter. Yet his head screamed otherwise. Why did this still bother him so much? He had already been with a pony; a few fleeting images of Star Screech and him ran through his mind. Jack didn't have time for this. None of it matter. Different or not, they were human enough to him.

As Jack stood up he saw his slightly distended stomach and his mind switched gears. After spending the better part of an hour on his armor, it was time to polish something else, his physique. To be fair, he wasn't really out of shape just pudgy, but he knew this was something else he would have to work on. The worries of is love life left his mind for the time being as there were now other things that Jack needed to occupy his mind with.

The clock on his desk showed he still had two hours till his shift. The guards were required to complete a small set of bi-daily exercise, but in truth most slacked a bit when it came down to it. Especially Jack.

Outside his window he could see a few guards doing laps around the perimeter of the courtyard. These laps were often used as a form of mild punishment by the captains. Jack watched them move about, and a thought crossed his mind. A few laps around the castle would go a long way towards removing his extra flab.

Inside his dresser were some older clothes he rarely wore anymore: An old T-Shirt with Air Force written on it, and some sweats that he had arrived in Equistria with. They would do well as make shift exercise gear.

Wasting little time, began putting them them on, finding that the shirt in particular was somewhat tight, but not unbearably so. His sweat pants expanded, taking the little extra girth with no signs of complaint. A glimpse of himself passed by the mirror as Jack made his way out of his room. Had it been possible, he would have sworn his image nodded at himself in approval.

Quickly he headed out into the castle corridors and then out to the castle exterior. There was a certain pep in his step as Jack moved with purpose and effort. At least one Day Guard paused to watch the human wander.

The castle court yard was rather large. The inner perimeter of it traced a path that was just short of 2km and very near the mile he used to run back on earth. Most guards were required to run the whole thing twice a week, with guard captains adding extra length for various demerits. A twinge in his back legs reminded Jack that it was no small occurrence.

A large gathering of ponies made note of Jack as he was walking towards the starting marker. Jack's joints popped and cracked as he started to stretch at the starting point. More than a few of the guards watched the human with mild amusement. A few random comments were made; one asked if he was being punished. Responding with a shrug he simply said, “I just feel like a run.”

Just before he could start his run, he was interrupted by a loud annoyed voice, “Jack? What are you doing out here?” Night Blade had walked in front of the rookie, preventing him from starting his run.

“Just going out for a run sir. Thought I could use the extra exercise to be honest.” Jack tapped his belly fat around his tight shirt as if to emphasis the point.

The captain was more than a little confused. While he would agree that Jack could more physical training, none of his solders ever volunteered for extra laps or exercise. “You know you aren't being punished right? You don't have to do laps?”

Jack could only shrug in response, and reiterate that he wanted to.

Night Blade was in a bit of shock at the development. While he was happy when any of his squad volunteered for extra duties, he was a little perturbed that it had to be Jack this time. Blade shook his head and moved behind the group of ponies and one human.

Picking up a whistle he blew into it, signifying that they all were to start running. Jack began at much slower pace than the rest, and quickly began to fall behind.

“Come on Jack. You want to run, then you have to keep up.” Night Blade barked from behind him.

Speed was the one think he lacked compared to the ponies. While they were comfortable trotting along at a good six minutes a mile, Jack had to push it to make it in eight. Night Blade was still Running behind him when he hit the half way point.

“Jack, you're too slow. Why are you even out here if you aren't going to try to keep up?” Blade barked at him.

“Sorry, sir.” Was Jack's response, as he began to push himself a bit faster. His legs were burning with the additional speed and he could feel his lungs starting to sting from his rapid breathing.

'I can do this,' was all Jack could think.

Eventually Jack crossed the starting point with Night Blade still in tow. Looking around he saw a number of the guards off to the sides of the track, each of them resting for a moment. A few were still trying to catch their breath, but most seemed fine enough. Paying them no more mind he passed them, continuing his run.

“Going for more Jack? You're too slow rookie; you need to speed it up.” Night Blade continued to tail him. It was a common tactic the Captain used to push the slower guards up to speed. But Jack wasn't a pony; he just didn't have the speed they did. Thought, there was one thing he excels at when it came to running: Stamina.

“Sir. You know I'm not as fast as you are. I'm pushing as hard as I can.” Jack's speech was a bit labored from the running.

Night Blade shook his head in disdain and snorted, “And you call yourself a guardsman, Jack?”

“With all due respect sir. I may not be as fast as you. But I can still out lap you. Even with how out of shape I am.” Jack spoke between even more labored breaths.

Night Blade snorted once more and finally passed Jack, running to catch up to some the ponies ahead had fall behind the main group.

“Just give it up Jack.” Blade called back to the human as he started to ignore the hopeless case.

Jack shrugged and kept running. His legs were starting to ache a bit, but it wasn't anything he hadn't handle in ROTC. Now that Night Blade wasn't pacing him he didn't need to keep up with the insane speed he demanded. As he able to slow down his pace some of the fatigue began to subside, and his breathing started to normalize.

After a few minutes jogging the slower pace he began to smile a bit. This jog was almost enjoyable now, and Jack's mind began to wander as he moved in a giant circle around the court yard. More thoughts about the past few days began to flood his mind.

'That talk with Star Screech could have gone better', he thought. At first she took it well enough, even seemed to laugh the whole fling off. It seemed she understood fully, they were guards and they couldn't be in a relationship and shouldn't have been fooling around in the first place. But as the night ticked away it quickly became more awkward for him as Star grew very distant towards him.

It wasn't the normal distance you would expect solders to keep, it was wider than that; like she was trying to keep away from him entirely. She wasn't even speaking to him by the end of the night.

The more he thought about it, the more he came to understand why the rules on fraternization existed in the first place. The short encounter he had with Star had already strained their relationship, and made working in a team so much harder. There was nothing left for Jack to do, other than try to move on from it all or at least he hoped he could.

After he tried to shrug Star Screech off his mind, thoughts of Luna came up. Aside from last night, It had been over a month since he talked to her last, and in truth it felt good. The way she laughed when she spoke of her pet Tiberius almost caused Jack to melt. Luna was such an amazing person or rather pony. She was complex, interesting, and beneath her formal exterior she was quite soft. True her sanity might be a bit on the wobbly side, if anything it just made her more interesting.

There was the hope in Jack's heart that Luna and him might one day actually have something. Of all the creatures in this world, she was the first to actually make Jack seriously consider the idea of an extra species relationship.

Though he certainly liked Luna, Star was the first to actually make a jump on him. The relationship Star and he had was an odd one to be sure, and part of Jack's mind couldn't let her go. Even if their encounter had been short and even after what he told her last night, there was just something about that little bat pony.

'Relationship.' That word echo in his mind. The whole idea of dating outside his species still just felt wrong for some reason. He knew it shouldn't, but it did.

The call of a Guard snapped Jack out of his trance. “Hey, Jack. You've already done two laps. Don't you think it's time you stopped?” The Guard, his comrades and their captain had finished their second lap several minutes ago and they were all standing by the side of the track, all very clearly out of breath.

Jack smirked and shrugged. “Haven't heard the bells yet. Figure I still got another 20 minutes before I need to get ready for my shift.” Jack quickly passed the ponies and continued to run.

Most of the Guards thought the human was nuts for trying to push himself so hard. Not a small few were surprised the human could keep running for so long.

Again, Jack's mind drifted into day dream as he continued to run. More random thoughts popped into his head as his eyes moved along the path he ran. Memories of his long stay in Ponyville.

The blue sky above reminding Jack of that lazy Pegasus pony who always had a new trick to show off. Well, when she wasn't trying to take a nap. He almost expected to see her rainbow tail hanging off a low cloud when he looked up.

In front of him and off to the side of the track where some flowers, particularly a bush full of pink roses being tended too by a griffin Gardner. The pink roses kind of reminded him of the bubbly pink pony from Ponyville, and her self proclaimed world famous celebrations. He tried to remember that first party she threw him, but for some reason Jack could not explain, all he could think about was the gardener instead.

He ran past him and continued to try to remember that one party, but just couldn't.

Jack turned his head back around to look at him again; Perhaps he had seen that gardener somewhere else? Yet he was gone from the rose bush already. 'Strange,' he thought to himself.

The starting point was close up head again. Jack was about to complete his third lap when...

*Dong*

Jack slowed his jog down to a quick walk. That was the sound he was expecting. There would be six more to denote that it was seven at night.

*Dong*

He'd have an hour to shower, get dressed and get something to eat. 'Just enough time,' he thought.

*Dong*

Jack crossed the marker and completed his third lap. He turned around and made his way back to the barracks.

Jack took his position next to Star Screech, who still seemed very cold to him. She out right ignored him when he said “Hi”.

'Going to be one of those nights', he thought to himself as the bells chimed 8 o'clock.

Luna walked into the hall graceful as always and her ethereal mane drifted about. She allowed her gaze to drift ever so slightly towards Jack, but only for a moment. A small subtle smile crossed her face as she walked by, aware that that human was paying some attention to her, though he tried to hide it.

Jack continued to stand at attention while his eyes slowly drifted to the Princess. The two's eyes crossed for a moment, but Jack was quick enough to pull his focus back in front where it belonged.

Luna was amused by the human's attempts to hide his interest in her. She made a mental note to see if she couldn't get some more of a reaction out of him in the future. A slight sour taste in filled her mouth as she remembered the scathing remark she gave Jack a few days earlier. She tried to ignore it.

The Moon rising ceremony was uneventful, but still beautiful all the same and, once it was over the Princess made her way down the line of guards. Only, she chose to stop for a moment as she passed Jack. She looked at the human guard as a few thoughts passed through her head.

“Captain Night Blade.” She turned to face the captain. “We require an audience with one of your guards. We assume it will not negatively affect your squad's performance tonight?”

Night Blade stood tall and his face showed no signs of agitation, yet in reality he was mildly annoyed by the request. “Of course your highness, if there's anything I can-”

“No, thank you. I require the services of a particular Guard, Jack.” She pointed her hoof towards the human.

A bead of sweat suddenly formed and rolled down his face. Worry began to fill him, as he feared what Luna might have him do, and also what Night Blade might do to him for interrupting his plans.

The blank and professional expression on Night Blades face persisted even as he was glaring at Jack. Yet, under neath it Jack could almost taste his scorn.

“Of course your Highness. Jack, Please see to Luna's needs.” Blade's eyes tore through Jack's as he stared down his subordinate.

“Yes, sir,” Jack responded.

Luna held her head up, trying to hide the subtle smile over her features. “Come along Guard, we shall not be left waiting.”

But, before Jack could leave, Night Blade trotted up to him and in one quick whisper he said, “Don't make a mockery of my unit, rookie.”

Jack's focus was on Blade as he left, and he wasn't able to see the sour expression on Star Screech's face as he passed her.

Walking down one of the long hallways together, their end destination was unknown to either Luna or Jack. The silence finally got to Jack, “So, Princess Luna wh-”

She stopped him, “I asked of you to call me Luna, Jack. Just Luna. At least, while we aren't around others.” The persistent smile on her face held some mild bemusement as her head turned over the term.

Taking the hint, Jack relaxed slightly, “Of course Luna.” Her smile grew as she nodded in response.

“To answer the question you were going to ask, we would like your company for a while. There are somethings we would like to discuss with you.”

Though Jack could imagine a few things she might want to discuss, he didn't know of any that would cause her to pull him off his normal duties. He uttered an unsure, “OK?” in response.

Luna though about where to start. 'Business should probably be first', she thought. “To start with, general Fire Wall and I spoke briefly yesterday. He said he was quite impressed with your skills as a tactician. Apparently he gave you some kind of test?”

Jack couldn't help but laugh at himself, “Impressed? Assuming he was talking about that game we played, he beat me. Decisively I might add. I'm not sure what there was to be impressed about.”

“Well Fire Wall has been playing that game of his for most of his life. You shouldn't be surprised he beat you at it on your first attempt. But, the point was he put forth some suggestions...”

“Suggestions?” Jack asked. The word left a bad taste in his mouth as he wondered what the general could have meant.

“Yes Jack, he suggested two things to me and your captain as well. First off, he said you were probably bored with normal day to day operations and that we should find things to challenge you.”

'Challenge me,' Jack thought about that statement. He unsure and almost afraid of what it might entail.

Luna continued, “He thinks you might be bored in the Guards, which brings me to the next point. He put your name forth as a potential candidate in our seasonal war game, and I'm inclined to agree, but there could be some... complications.”

That caused Jack to pause, “You know I keep hearing about these war games, I'm not too sure what they're about though?”

“Really? I know they aren't as popular in Ponyville and the other out skirt villages, but I had assumed everypony knew of them. Anyway, the war games have been going on since before even Celistia and I became rulers. It's an ancient tradition which first started between the pegasuses and Earth ponies. Once a year, in celebration, they would hold a mock battle. Each side would fight over a flag and the one to clam it would win. It gave each a chance to improve their skills and gave the locals a chance at some entertainment.”

Luna's lecturing reminded Jack of a certain purple librarian he knew. “So it's like a gladiatorial match?”

“Hmm, not quite the same, but similar. Once my sister and I started to rule the games had already transformed them self into something more regimented and grew to include the unicorn tribes as well. Each of the three Armies would gather twice a year to test themselves in a contest to see who could control the flag the longest. The biggest change our sister and me made was to make the games quarterly. Over time some rules have changed as well. We now look to it as an opportunity to train our Guards and prepare ourselves.”

“I see. So I take it the night Guard is in this contest? Have they done well recently?” The subtle hint of optimism in his voice, begged to be crushed by Luna's response.

Luna lowered her ears and head almost in shame. “Unfortunately no. The Night Guard hasn't won a single game in a very long time.”

She didn't tell Jack that when Fire Wall had talked to her, he had hoped Jack could help change that. While Luna trusted his advice and council, she wasn't yet convinced about Jack's capabilities. She didn't want to get the human's or her general's hopes up.

“So you want me to be in these... games than?” He repeated, just to be sure he understood.

“Yes. Especially after what Fire Wall said of your performance. Thought as I said there could be complications. Rookies are never invited into the games. It's not a rule per-say, but it is traditional.” She sighed, “I'm willing to try to over look tradition for this. In truth the Night Guard could use all the help it can get, though you will need your captain's permission.”

Now it was time for Jack to look downward, “Well, I'm honored that you think I'm so capable. Maybe I am OK at board games, or at least Fire Wall thinks I am. But I don't think I'm all that good in real life situations. At least not yet, I mean, I haven't exactly proven myself have I?”

She was taken aback by that statement, and at first didn't know how to respond. “But you already have proven your self Jack. Back when you arrived here, you save Princess Twilight! That counts for much more than you'll ever know!”

“With all due respect Luna, I didn't do much to save her.” He spoke honestly.

“Nonsense! If you weren't there, why she might have frozen to death. Or worse!”

Jack couldn't really respond to Luna's points. In fact the whole event was still a painful point for him as it lead to his being in Equstira in the first place.

Luna laid a wing over Jack's shoulder in a comforting gesture. “Jack, you being on that bridge that night, your selfless bravery... You were a great guardsman even before you ever joined the Guard.”

He sighed and took a deep breath. In the back of his mind he could smell the sublet floral sent of her shampoo. He wanted so badly to tell Luna the truth. To tell anyone the truth. “I never did tell you why I was on the bridge in the first place, did?”

Her mind tried to remember all the things he had said, but she couldn't recall a single time when he would open up to talk about it. “No? You don't really like to talk about that night. I just assumed you were out for a walk. You did mention that you had a lot on your mind that night, but you never seemed to want to talk about it. We didn't want to push the issue.”

He nodded and smiled “Thank you for that by the way. It's been a bit of sore topic for me.” Jack took a long drawn out breath, debating with himself if he should even talk about this.

“I told you that I had screwed up in my world, but I never told you what I meant by that. You see Luna, I had just been kicked out of my University, and because of that the ROTC program and also my country's armed forces. The people I tried to talk to about it blamed me, and perhaps they were right to.”

Luna pulled Jack into her side, “I'm sorry to hear that, but you have to admit things didn't turn out all that bad in the end, did they?”

Jack Felt the warmth of Luna's body and words. The rest of that night's events danced in his head, mocking him. “No... I suppose they didn't.” He gave a bitter laugh, “I'm really glad I didn't end it all.”

“End it? I'm not sure I understand. What do you mean by, 'End it'?” Luna watched the human push away slightly.

“Eh, it's nothing Luna,” he lied. “It's just a dumb human expression for doing something stupid.”

Jack pushed himself out of the princess's embrace. Fearing he might do or say something foolish if he didn't.

“If you don't wish to talk about it further, then we understand.” Her voice was soft as velvet, and Jack just wished he could wrap himself up in it.

Jack nodded, “Thank you for caring princess, but this is something I need to deal with on my own.”

“Of course Jack. Though if your mood doesn't improve, we may have to drag you out again. Thou does remember the last time?” She began poking Jack with her wing tip, as if threatening to fly off with him.

Jack's sour expression quickly lightened as a smile stretched across his face. “Ha! How could I forget. I remember you practically kidnapped that night, and dragged me to that small movie theater to watch that silly Daring Do movie.” Jack rubbed the back of his neck. “I swear I still have whip lash from when you grabbed.”

“Oh, but be honest with us. You did enjoy the movie, did you not?”

He couldn't help but smile, “Yeah, I suppose it was pretty good, but I still say Indian Jones could beat Daring Do any day of the week.”

“Ha, your Indiana and his whip would be no match for Daring and her Wings!” Luna's voice echoed through the hall as yelled in deference of one of her favorite characters.

The two continued the banter, discussing the intricacies of each others fandoms once more. It was a conversation they had many times before, but it always felt new. A small warmth grew through Jack chest as he remembered the times he spend with the princess prior to becoming a guard.

“Luna, I know this question might seem a bit forward from one of your guards but-”

She shook her head at his statement, “You aren't just one of my guards Jack. You are a friend.” She warped her wing around him again, pulling him back towards her side and closer to her muzzel. Their faces meet, mere inches from each other. Luna smile, her face and eyes sparkled as she nuzzled next to Jack's head in a pony hug.

“Still.” He took a breath in hailing the slightly sweet sent of Luna's mane.

“Hmm?” Luna hummed.

Jack could feel his face warm slightly as he thought about taking this conversation in a different and more serious direction. “Have you ever considered dating, or trying to find someone? I'm just curious is all.”

Luna loosened her grip on Jack and stared out the window in silent thought. The words moving through her mind. He was bothered by the silence and about to back track, when Luna fully release him and started to walk away slowly. She turned to answer him, “I... don't think that would work.”

Walking slowly back to her side Jack responded, “But why not? You're a great mare from what I can tell. I can't imagine a guy or stallion rather who wouldn't be interested in you.” The blush on Jack's face betrayed his attempt at anonymity in the question.

Luna gave Jack a bitter sweet smile. “Jack. We are regularly courted by stallions from all over Equstria. Most are nobles looking to expand their influence. A few are in fact expressing genuine feelings but…” She paused unsure what exactly to say.

The painful silence burning both of their ears.

Finally, she shook her head. “It simply couldn't work.” She tired to smile.

“You don't know that Luna. There could be someone out there who could be good to you, who would love you and care for you.”

Her smile grew as her eyes began to water. “Of that we have no doubt. There was a time, very long ago when we... tried.”

More silence.

Jack breaking the painful silence spoke bluntly, “What happened?”

Luna looked down an in a flat almost whisper she spoke, “They died Jack. Both of them.”

Her answer struck Jack harder than he expected. He didn't quite know what to say or how to pull his foot out of his mouth. “I'm sorry... I didn't know. I guess I should have thought before-”

Luna shook away Jack's apology. “It's alright Jack. It was a very long time ago, and though I loved both, neither are particularly happy memories for me. You know, I doubt many ponies even know of this.”

She paused thinking about the two colts. A very bitter sweet smile crossing her lips as she did. “My first love spent his whole life waiting for me. A life which was little more than a blink to me. And my second... I had him sent away to the far end of the kingdom.”

“Ouch.” Was all Jack could say.

“Oh it was actually his idea! He didn't want to be around to hurt me, so he wanted me send him away. So I discharge him from his royal duties and he moved to a small village. He eventually became a famous merchant in the area, married a kind mare and sired several foals with her...” Jack could see a tear roll down her cheek. “Not a day or night goes by where I don't think about them both.”

That wasn't quite what Jack meant, when he said 'Ouch'. He tried to correct the misunderstanding, “Luna, I-”

She cut him off again, turning her head to look straight into Jack's eyes. Her cheeks slightly blushed and moist. “Why do you like me Jack?” She peered into his eye gazing at what lay beneath them, looking for something. A semblance of insincerity with which she could focus on, something with which she could just dismiss him and his affections.

“Please don't try to hide it from me. I mean it's painfully obvious that you do. We noticed it the first time we spoke to you. Please Jack. I just want to know why?”

The more Jack thought, the harder it became to actually come up with a simple answer. “I... I don't know. It's not something I can easily express in words.”

Luna looked away from him. Not liking his overly simple and almost dismissive answer. “I see...”

He thought about how to explain it, in a way that wasn't dumb or insincere. “It's like asking someone to explain the beauty of stars at night, or describe the complexity of the celestial dance they preform... or to explain why the radiant moon can be so amazingly wonderful. It just... is.”

A lump formed in Jack throat as the words ran through his head, “You just click with me Luna. I don't know if it's your laugh, your smile, your personality. I don't know why, but...”

Jack had to almost physically hold his arm back. He so desperately wanted to stroke Luna's cheek, to touch her, and let her know that he wasn't going to leave her. He felt his hand start to move as it came closer to her side, only to be stopped by Luna's next statement.

“I know that you have... been with one of your fellow guards. Star Screech I think her name is.”

His hand fell back to his side, “So you've heard about that?”

“I more than heard about it. I saw you two together in a dream. Reminiscing and fornicating in the dream scape, like you did in your bed.” She had a small false smile as her face blushed at the thought.

Jack was at a loss for what to say or do. How could he even respond to that? Luna had seen into his mind, into his hidden precious thoughts. His calm interior was suddenly shattered as he thought about what she just said. There was a wave of heat through him as he felt some anger start to push itself up.

“You saw that?” Was all he could say. Hoping that maybe she would clarify, or say something else.

“Yes, I see-”

The word 'Yes' hit his mind as he cut her off. “No wait. Luna I get that you can dream walk, and I get that it helps some people, but my head is mine. You have no right to tread there!” Jack was nearly yelling at his princess. For a moment he forgot who she even was as anger filled his veins. His mind and thoughts where his own and should be private. What right did she have to trespass in his thoughts?

His anger was fulled by confusion and her earlier dismissal of him. In the back of his mind he knew it wasn't right to yell at her, but he just couldn't help it.

Luna was taken back by his fury and anger. While she could understand and even sympathies he didn't have to act so aggressive and ape like. “Jack, you don't understand.” She tried to reason.

That rubbed him the wrong way. What more was there to understand? She trespassed in his mind. “What don't I understand Luna? Please tell me how I can misunderstand you mind reading me without my permission.” He continued to speak with force and venom. He saw her ear fold back slightly as she clearly took the anger to heart. A part of him that questioned his anger engulfed his mind, and he began to feel bad for yelling at her, but still what right did she have?

Now Luna was starting to get angry. She did not like to be talked to like this, “First off Jack, while I understand your concern remember who you are talking to! We are friends, or so I would like to think, but I will not have my rule so quickly besmirched.” Luna herself yelled as she stomped one of her hooves.

There was a look of shock on Jack's face as he processed what the princess just said and how she said it. He was not expecting her to yell back.

Luna calmed down a bit and took a breath, “Secondly, I can not enter anypony's mind who does not wish me to enter! A pony's mind is personal, and locked with very powerful magics that even I can not break. Only if a pony is in distress can I easily enter, or a pony who... invites me in.” She finished much more calmly then she started.

The two persisted in yet more painful silence while each considered what to say next. Jack didn't want to fight with Luna, he didn't want to yell at her. Neither did Luna wish to yell at Jack. No matter what happened, they were and wanted to remain friends.

Jack thought about his dream for a moment, he didn't remember letting anyone into it. So how could she enter. “I don't remember inviting you into my mind.” He spoke, his words were more quite then before, without the anger but still held bitterness.

Luna looked down as if in shame. “That's because you didn't. In truth Jack, I'm not sure I could ever enter you mind, even if you allowed me. It is... different from most ponies.”

Now Jack was just confused, more so then angry. “I don't understand? How did you know what I was dreaming than?”

“Your dream was linked with Star Screech's. It is unusual, and very rare, even among ponies. Somehow you two were able to dream walk with each other, and do other things.” Luna's face blushed noticeable as she remembered some of their debauchery.

“I entered through Star Screech's dream. She... invited me in.”

“She invited you?” Jack suddenly felt some twinge of anger returned, this time directed towards Star Screech now.

“Well, in a sense. Any pony can invite us in by opening themselves up and allowing us entry. She opened her dream to me and I entered it. I was not... expecting what I saw. I think... she wanted me to see it all. Though I can not fathom why she would?” Which wasn't completely true, but Luna had no reason to speak of rumors she might have.

The whole conversation felt like a ton of bricks were being placed on him. He really had no idea what to make of the things Luna was telling him. His mind felt fatigued from jumping between confusion, anger towards Luna, more confusion, followed by a bubbling anger towards Star.

“So how are my dreams different?”

Luna tapped a hoof against her chin, “I am not completely sure. I tried to enter your dreams long ago after you first came here. You seemed to be in quite some pain, and you were calling out, and I don't just mean in your dream. I tired to help, but even being close to you, I could not make sense of your mind.”

There was a look of confusion on Jack's face the more he thought about his dreams. In particular that dream Star Screech and him had apparently shared. He never considered at the time that the Star Screech in his dreams was anything more than that, a dream.

Looking out the window Jack could see the moon high in the sky, it was close to midnight already. “I think I should get going. No doubt Moon Shadow has a lot of work for me. Unless there's more you wish to talk about, Luna?”

“Of course we've kept you long enough. And Jack...” Jack looked into Luna's watering eyes, “Please don't hate us.”

The weight on Jack's shoulders grew heavier. He didn't mean to upset his princess. “Luna, I could never hate you. I may not like the idea of you reading my thoughts, directly or otherwise, but I...” He hesitated on what exactly to say next.

“I like you Luna. I hope that maybe we could... Maybe...”

Luna rubbed her eyes and shook her head knowing where Jack wanted to go with his line. A small very bitter sweet smile crossed her lips. “I do not think I could ever be with another. Assuming that's what you were going to ask?”

“Luna. I can understand why you hesitate, but I'm not going to let you go so easy. You are my friend, and my friend I hope you will stay, but I'll be damn if I'm not going to try to make you more.” Jack saw the opportunity and came in close to Luna. He placed a quick kiss on her cheek. Just a peak really. It may have been a simple and silly gesture for most, but to a princess who had so rarely be touched, it was powerful expression of his desire towards her.

Luna's cheek's lit up, and her eyes went wide in astonishment. “Jack!” She exclaimed as she looked around the halls to make sure no one saw his indiscretion.

“S-Such actions are-”

“Inappropriate, I know. But my feelings are true Luna. I don't want to hurt you, but I'm also not going to give you up so easy.”

In response, Luna held her mouth a gap, unable to find any words to respond with.

Sensing the princess' shock, Jack ran his hand through his hair, scratching the back of his head, in an unsure gesture. “Umm, maybe I should get back. To see if there's anything that needs to be done.”

Luna tried to regain her composure. “That would be best I think.”

Smiling, he turned around, and began walking away from the bemused princes. She could not see the nervous perspiration on his face, or the way his mind flickered with questions of whether he did the right thing.

For a moment, Jack's anger toward Star was replaced by a grateful warmth. If she hadn't bedded him those few nights ago, Jack doubt he would have had the confidence to kiss Luna. Though the idea that she was a pony, still bothered him a bit. The distinction was starting to get very fuzzy for him.

As she stood behind, Luna continued to stare at her human guard as he walked away with a strong blush and look of puzzlement on her face. She was at a loss for words and did not know what to say or do.

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind, then turned away. As she started to walk, a smile crept up her lips. Inside she felt positively giddy and bubbly. She hadn't felt this way in many years. Over a thousand in fact. She stopped by one of the many large windows and peered out into the clear night sky. The stars shined and moved with the moon. Luna's smile grew.

A slight glint in the courtyard caused her to look downward. An object in the yard caught her eye, and her smile began to fade. A reminder of why she kept herself alone.

She looked at the statue for a few moments. She shook her head, and wandered further into the castle to fulfill her nighttime duties.

Author's Note

Reedited Dec. 31 2015.

Chapter 6: Night Watch

The night was warm; summer was coming quickly in Equestria. It has been a week since Jack started running. The daily exercise was tiring and his legs ached at the end of each watch, but it's a good kind of ache. And, while his midriff was still plump, there was already clear evidence of initial weight loss and even some muscle growth.

Jack has kept his promises to himself, doing his best to hold himself to a higher standard; Polishing his armor every day, getting to his scheduled watch on time, if not early. He should be standing tall; he should feel like he’s finally starting to accomplish something with his life. Yet being in formation under the glaring eye of the squad's second in command, Moon Shadow, Jack felt as tiny as ever.

Moon Shadow walked up to each of the squad members giving them a different set of patrols to do. Which seemed a bit unusual to Jack. Most nights only about half the Night Guard would actually patrol, while the other half would handle more night to night operations; Like cleaning, or logistics and supplies.

The fact was Canterlot is a peaceful city and Canterlot castle all the more so. Regular patrols were generally more of a formality and done more for the sake of appearances than actual protection.

Finally, after all the other guards had been given assignments, Moon Shadow came up to the last two guards, Star and Jack. Shadow was having a hard time from saying anything insulting to the two of them. Sending them off together bothered him immensely.

He was going to assign the both of them to assist Mani with his logistics tonight. It wasn't his first choice to place these two so close together or to take any ponies or guard off of patrols, but in Shadow's mind these two were the only ones that could be spared for such trivialities.

"You two," he barked at the two guards.

"Sir," Both Star and Jack spoke in unison.

Moon shadow sighed ever so slightly, "I need every guard I have for watch duty tonight, but Mani desperately needs help with stocking and inventory. I suppose I can spare the two of you. You two are to help him tonight. I expect both of you to do as ordered and focus on stocking. Understood?" His voice was sharp and there was a strong sense of disdain in it.

Jack and Star both had to keep from saying something they might regret.

"Yes Sir," They both answered. The two guards released their salute as Moon Shadow glared at Mani for a moment.

Mani saluted to Moon Shadow who barely acknowledges the gesture before turning to walk way.

Trotting up to Moon Shadow, Mani tried to stop him before he could get away, "Moon Shadow, I asked for four guards to help me?" He asked with a hopeful spark in his voice.

"They can't be spared Mani. We've been having reports of thefts throughout the castle. You'd know that if you paid attention in the daily briefings," Moon Shadow spoke with an almost growl. Turning again he walked off into the castle shadows.

"Huh, wonder what his problem is?" Mani spoke more to himself than anyone else.

"So what do you need us to do exactly, Sir?" Jack spoke, pulling Mani out of his thoughts.

"Oh! Umm…" Mani reached into a small satchel on his side and pulled out some paper work.

"We just got a supply of, umm... Miscellaneous..." Mani sighed after reading off the heading of the manifest. He grumbled under his breath something about hating crates, and crappy labeling as he flipped the pages.

Jack scratched at his chin, "Miscellaneous, huh? What does that mean, like pens and stuff?"

Mani was still looking over the sheets in his hoof, "...And stuff. But mainly it means a bunch of paper work for me."

Shaking his head Mani put the manifest away. Waving the two guards on, they started walking to the storage areas near the outside of the castle. Star walked behind, tring to keep her distance from the two of them.

The room they came to was very large and mostly open. It had rows of shelving down the middle of it and along the walls, all of which were filled with crates. Even along the floor there was nothing but crates. Each of the crates had numbers written on the side and the word Miscellaneous under that.

Mani waved a hoof around the room and looked at Jack, "This is our loading dock. I don't think you've ever been here, Jack?"

Jack shook his head, "No. Never been in this part of the castle at all actually."

"Well, this is the storage and logistics part of the castle. All of these crates are ours. Well, the Night Guard’s anyway. My office is actually right down the hall." Mani grabbed the paper work from his satchel once more and looked it over, doing a quick mental count of the crates in the sheet and the room.

Looking up from the paper work Mani had a bemused expression, "So, this manifest is rather... sparse. It says how many crates, and their serial numbers, but not what was actually shipped. I put an order of basic supplies in a few weeks ago, I'm assuming this is it. You two are going to help me open all of these and record everything that's here."

Star looked around at the massive number of crates, "Are you bucking serious? There have to be a thousand crates in here!"

"It won't be that bad Star Screech; I've done more than this by myself before. We need to get the stuff counted and then I can figure out where everything is supposed to go. The Day and Royal Guards agreed to help move everything in the morning, but I need to know what's in them first, to figure out where it all goes."

"They're doing that to help us? That's kind of nice of them," Jack spoke with naïve optimism.

Mani couldn't keep from laughing at it, "Hardly. I agreed to help them with the paperwork on their shipments coming in the morning. Given how much paper work their shipments generate; if anything, we'll be helping them out. "

Picking up a few crowbars Mani gave one last sigh. He gave them to Jack and then fetched some paper and charcoal pencils from his satchel. Handing these over, he gave the two some last simple instructions, "Just record what came in each crate, the amount and the crate's serial number on this paper. I'll organize it all later." He thought of all the papers already on his desk, it was going to be a very long morning for the guardsman.

Before he walked away Mani turned around, "Oh! And no funny business tonight. We need to get this done."

Jack blushed slightly at Mani's remark. Star on the other hand, responded with a snort and by snatching the extra crowbar from his hands and walking away.

*Crack*

With a loud popping crack, Jack pried the top of the first crate off. Looking inside he noted a pile folded greyish green cloths that were each wrapped in a bit a bit of twine. The material was a little rough looking, like cheap wool. "Looks like blankets, count... Fifty." He looked at the serial number on the crate and read that off as well. Star Screech didn't acknowledge him.

"Star did you get that?"

Her face didn't show any sign of acknowledgment or emotion. "Yeah, 50 crappy blankets in crate number M-4-1-1-6-0-2." The first thing Star said to him all night, and it was short and snappy. She started to scratch some marks on to her sheets, before heading to the next crate.

*Crack*

The next crate had a very odd floral sent once the top was removed. Inside were small bars of soap wrapped in some kind of parchment paper, and surrounded by small amounts of straw.

It was well organized, which made the counting easy. Jack was grateful for that given the amount. "Ok, looks like bars of soap, thirty by twenty on top, with... ten stacks. That should be-"

Star cut him off, "Six thousand bars of shitty soap. What's the serial number?"

"M-4-1-1-5-8-7... Star, are you ok?"

She didn't answer him; instead she walked to the next crate, and started trying to pry the top off with her own crowbar.

Jack was worried about her. Star wasn't behaving normally. She was always a bit mouthy, but she never seemed this distant before. "Star ar-"

She cut him off, "You're too slow Jack. I'll be faster doing this on my own..." Star was dismissive of the human, hoping he would get the point and just leave her alone. She couldn't deal with the emotions he stirred inside of her.

"Star-"

"Just take your crowbar and do your own inventory!" She snapped again, and walked away from him.

'Ok,' Jack thought to himself with a sigh.

He wandered over to some crates on the other side of the room and started opening them.

*Crack*

So the night dragged on; the silence of the large space broken by the occasional sound of a crate cracking open.

Opening crates was boring work, and gave them all ample time to think, much to Jack's displeasure. He thought about how Star had been acting the past few nights, her attitude and personality, it had all taken a 180. She was usually fun loving, mischievous, and more than a bit flirtatious with everyone. Yet, ever since he told her to back off a bit, things had changed and not for the belter.

The other guards had noticed it too. Star didn't seem to smile as much. She hadn't been to the bar all week, even when Leucippe offered to buy Star's drinks. She almost punched Night Blade square in the jaw last night. It was almost amusing watching Mani and Leucippe try to hold her back, almost.

A small part of Jack's mind worried that she was about to snap.

Near the middle of the room, Star walked between her opened crates reaching the last one in her section. This crate was very large and had to be close to twice as tall as she was.

'Jack would be better suited to open this,' she scowled at the thought before trying to shake it out of her head.

She climbed to the top of the crate and shoved her crowbar under the lid of the large object. Pressing the handle down she tried to pry the top off, but nothing happen. She pushed down harder, still nothing. Star tried many different angles and approaches to the crate, pushing, pull, hitting, until finally she found herself dangling from the side of the crate by the crowbar.

Star grimaced, realizing how ridiculous she must look, then she felt her hoof slip. She lost her grip, quickly falling to the ground. Her armor clanged on the stone work below.

Lying there Star's face grew a deep shade of red as her blood pressure started to rise. "You mother bucking, Celestia damned, cursed gods- AHHH!" she screamed.

Even across the floor Jack heard Star’s scream. Dropping his crowbar, he ran towards her, having no idea what to expect. As his body ran, so too did his mind: Was she hurt? Did something fall on her? Was a crate secretly a mimic and now trying to eat her?

Ok, the last thought was unlikely, but in this world you could never know.

As Jack approached her, he could see Star lying on her back, with her front hooves covering her eyes.

"Star? Are you... ok?"

Star moved the hooves from her eyes as she looked up at him. Her cheeks were wet and mated as a few tears ran down them.

She rubbed the moisture from her eyes. "Yeah. I'm fine. I just... fell." She got up and stared at the crate in front of her.

"I was trying to open this bucking thing!" With a kick from her back hoof, she left a large hoof shaped dent in the wooden crate.

Star took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "Jack I..." She paused, not really knowing what to say.

Off in the distance a cracking sound could be heard as Mani was still opening his crates. He was lost in thought, thinking about all the sleep he was going to lose in the morning. Mani was completely unaware of the conversation Star and Jack were now having.

"Star, are you ok?" He asked again.

She rolled her eyes at his question, "It wasn't much more than a couple of meters up. I'm fine, Jack."

"No, I don't mean physically. I mean emotionally, and mentally. Are you, ok?"

Her body shook slightly as conflicting thoughts tore inside of her. One part of her wanted to say 'Yes,' and get back to work. Another wanted to say 'No,' and punch Jack in the face before jumping on top of him.

Finally, she half screamed and cried "I don't know!" Her body shaking even more as her thoughts ripped through her mind.

She sat down and tried to breath, "Look, I... I'm not used to being rejected ok. Usually I'm the one to reject other… ponies," she hesitated on the last word.

"I..." She took another deep breath and paused. Her shaking subsided as she calmed down a bit.

Her ears fell against the sides of her head which she tilled downwards to the floor. Her eyes were looking over the stone work under her hooves instead of him. "I like you Jack," she whisper just loud enough for Jack to hear.

'There it was,' thought Jack. The words that he had hoped not to hear.

"I never thought I would ever find a stallion I truly like, until I meet you."

All Jack could respond with was, "Why?"

Star huffed and waved her hoof in the air dismissively.

"No, I mean it, why? We barely know each other. I've only been in the Guard for a little over a month. What do you know about me, for that matter what do I know about you? We talked before and even around joked a bit, but the only thing that really seemed to connect us was the sex." He knew his words were probably quite bitter to the bat mare.

Indeed Star flinched at the words, reeling slightly. It was like a fist of words hitting her chest.

She looked up into Jack's eyes. "But I do know you. Well, kind of..."

"How?"

"Well to start with, everyone knows you already saved Princess Twilight. You're loyal and you have more integrity then I've seen in half these ponies. I don't think you give yourself enough credit."

She laughed and a slight blush rose through her cheeks. "Even when you first arrived you were easy to get along with. You enjoyed joking around, but could still keep things serious when they needed to be." A slight blush came over her cheeks, and a small smile grazed her muzzle, "Plus, I do think you're kind of cute. I'll admit the first night was more of a curiosity thing, but after it..." Sighing she looked back at the ground.

"I know I'm a bit of a horn dog. I've heard the rumors about me and they aren’t… wrong. I’ve bedded more than my share of males. But you’re different, and I'm sincere when I said I like you."

He tried to process everything she had said to him, "So that first night when you said you wanted to help me win Luna's heart. That was just you wanting to spend time with me?"

"N-no. I meant it when I said it. I do believe in true love. I see the way you look at her. But that night... I've had sex many stallions and males, but I've never felt more..." She paused looking for the words, "I never felt that good or content. I've had sex with many, but I've never actually been able to sleep or dream with anypony else."

The two stood there both unsure what to say or do at this point.

Star began to realize just how silly this was; her feelings for this human, ‘Why,’ she though. She had so many encounters before him, so why did she feel this way? It wasn’t right, nor was it fair, especially after she promised to help him.

Star wiped the tears from her eyes again, "I'll stay true to my word Jack. I'll help you win Luna's heart."

Jack was at a loss for words. What could he say to her?

"Star, you don't have to help me. I can-"

She held her hoof up and shook her head, "No. I want to help you, and I will."

She put her hoof down and sighed. "We're both guards Jack. I knew a relationship between us could never work. I shouldn't have let myself get so attached." The words stung her; she could feel her insides ripping and being squeezed as she forced herself to say them.

Star wasn't expecting the human's arms to wrap around her, embracing her in a human hug. Again she was torn, a part of her wanted to pull away, but a louder stronger part reach her hoofs around him and squeezed him back. 'I can't let him go,' she thought to herself.

"Star, you're a good mare and a good friend. I'm sorry if I hurt you." Both Jack and Star let go of each other, Star taking a bit longer then needed.

Jack continued, "I will always be your friend Star. You helped me get over my fear of... intimacy with mares. You helped me find my confidence. I owe you, and I promises even if we can't be together I'm not rejecting your friendship."

Star gave a bitter sweet smile and nodded. "Oh fuck," she spoke in a half laugh as she rubbed the last of the tear from her eyes. “This is ridiculous, we should get back to work, Jack," she turned and unconsciously swished her tail a few times.

Star jumped and fluttered up to the top of the crate with her wings. She tapped at the crowbar trying to loosen the grip it had on crate's seam.

Jack watched her bang on the edge of the crate. Unsure what the problem was he asked her, "So, what's wrong exactly?"

Star shook her head, "Damned if I know. I can't get this crate open no matter how much I try." She kicked the crowbar, causing it to fall down to the ground with a loud clang.

Reaching up, Jack ran his fingers along the edge of the crate. The top of it had numerous crowbar marks. Most were from Star's attempts, but a few seemed off. Like as if they came from a much larger object. Then, there were the nails on top, some were out right missing and a few were popped up. The small bit of hardened yellow resin he saw sealed it all; literally. "I think this crate was resealed, Star." Jack spoke as he ran his fingers over the hardened resin.

She bent her head down and looked at the seam around the edges. She frowned and mentally kicked herself for not seeing it earlier.

"Star, go get Mani. He needs to see this."

Star nodded and galloped off, a moment later Mani was walking towards Jack with Star in tow; He had an annoyed look on his face, "Jack, Star, what's the meaning of this? Do you honestly mean to tell me you can't open a crate by yourselves?"

Jack pointed to the edges of the crate, and the harden resin that leaked around the edges. Mani flew to the top of the crate and ran his hoof over the resin. "This crate was resealed," he declared.

Jack rolled his eyes, "Yeah, we know. That's why we called you. Do you know why? Can you open it?"

"This isn't normal resin. I'm going to need my blade." He jumped down from the top and began trotting out of the room. Yelling, "I'll be right back, don't do anything funny," before he left.

Standing in silence, Star's thoughts began to drift. She looked up at Jack who gave her a light sweet smile, acknowledging her. She had been a complete jerk to Jack over the past week. Ignoring him, then cutting him off when she was forced to talk to him. Yet through it all, he still smiled at her.

"Jack I-," Star was cut off by the sound of Mani running back interrupted her train of thought.

He had his sword attached to his side, "Let's open this thing."

*Creak, Crack, Creak, Crack*

The small blade worked along the edges of the crate. Cracking the resin apart until,

*Crack*

The top of the crate cracked open. Inside of the crate there was... nothing. Just some bits of straw, hay and a large void. Whatever had been stored in it was removed.

"Shit," Mani swore as he looked inside for something, anything. He tapped his forehead with his hoof. "This is going to be more paper work," he moaned to himself.

Looking at the side of the crate Mani made note of the writing and serial numbers on it, Special, SP-0-0-0-1-1-4.

"This crate wasn't shipped with the rest," Mani pulled out a large log book from his satchel. Flipping through the pages frantically till he reached the section he was looking for. He read over his notes, and gave a sigh, "This crate should have been in lock up on the other side of the castle. So what's it doing here?"

"What was in it?" Jack inquired.

"Another box. Actually, a chest filled with Gem stones. It had special storage instructions, hence the special designation."

"Jewels? Was there anything special about them?"

Mani shook his head, "No, at least not that I was aware of I should check my log books to be sure though. There must have been something special about them to warrant being locked up in one of the holding rooms."

He turned to face his two guards, "Ok, we need to inventory the holding room where these came from. You two are going to come with me."

The three stopped by a small office on their way down the hallway. Mani unlocked it with a key from his satchel. Inside were literal towers of papers, and file folders about ready to explode from being over stuffed.

Mani wasted no time and made a bee line for one such file cabinet on the other side of the room.

Jack looked around at the mess of an office, "I can't believe Shadow and Blade made a big deal about my room. I mean look at this place."

Mani's ear twitched as he dug through his cabinets, "I can hear you rookie, and yes this place is a mess. I don't know what they expect of me. There's just too much paper work and not enough room!" a surge of lose papers exploded from the cabinet as he pulled out a faux leather bound tome.

Mani looked at the papers on the floor and shrugged, "Eh, I'll clean that up later."

He opened the tome on his desk and looked through it. "Hmm, my logs say they were a payment from the griffin kingdoms several decades ago." He paused, "These were from the same shipment stolen last week." Mani was looking over the log book, flipping through its pages as if looking for something.

"I'm sorry sir, but what shipment?"

Looking up from the book in a bit of a daze Mani responded, "Huh? Oh right, rookies and low ranking guards wouldn't have been told. We've had a rash of thefts recently, damn near every night. Always the same thing, gems and jewels originating from the Griffin Empire and kingdoms."

Mani closed the book and trotted out of the room, "Come on you two!" He yelled from outside. Jack and Star quickly made their way out to Mani who was already half way down the hall.

Once outside Mani had run toward a new Night Guard rookie, who was on patrol in this section. He stopped the guard and whispered something in his ear. The guard seemed to stare at Mani with a bemused expression until Mani slammed his hoof on the ground and shouted, "That's an order rookie!"

The guard stood up strait and saluted before galloping off into the dark recess of the castle.

Jack caught up to Mani, "What was tha-"

He tried to speak, but Mani interrupted him, "Not now Jack. We need to go check out the storage room that crate was in." Mani took off again, nearly running this time.

The small team made it to a set of giant doors with no apparent handle. Mani rummaged around in his satchel and pulled out a metal key. The doors swung open once he put the key in the door and turned it.

Inside the room was fairly small and packed full of chests, and crates. Mani and his team squeezed around the room, inspecting every item, every chest and crate for signs of damage or forced entry.

Finally, after about an hour of searching Mani shook his head, "Doesn't look like anything in here has been touched."

Jack nodded his head. "Yeah, every crate and chest seems to be where it's supposed to be. At least according to your notes, Mani."

Mani looked at the large empty spot on the floor. "Every crate except for 0-0-0-1-1-4. It's the only one missing from this room, thought I can't imagine why? There are actual items of value that weren't touched. Why would a thief steal a crate of common gems? Also, why would he drag the resealed crate to the loading dock? They could have just left it on the shelf and no pony would have known."

Mani scratch his chin, "Unless... they couldn't get back in?"

Star Screech didn't quite follow, "What do you mean?" She asked.

Mani tapped at the closed door to the room, "This door is locked with a very powerful spell. I doubt any thief could bypass it. They'd literally have to break the door down or..." The last thought chilled Mani's bones.

"Or what?"

Mani shook the thought from his head, "Or… They had somepony leave it open for them."

Jack didn't like that answer, the thought that a fellow guard would be working against them bothered him. "Maybe someone was just careless," He asked with a sense of optimism.

But Mani shook his head, that wouldn't have been possible, "No. To leave this door open would have required intent. This door is on special hinges and it wants to shut automatically. I mean, there's a simple spell you could cast that would leave it open, but someone would have noticed. The locking spell would have had to been temporarily disabled. This screams intent to me."

The sound of hooves clopping down the hall way could be heard. Mani opened the doors just as two ponies rounded the corner. The one had a deep look of distain and seemed quite mad. The other, pony face was just annoyed, but hide it far better Mani took a breath, "That's why I called Night Blade and Fire Wall earlier."

Mani stood as straight as he could as Night Blade and Fire Wall stopped in front of him. Jack and Star did their best to mimic his pose.

"At ease Guards," Fire Wall spoke.

Fire Wall walked into the storage room and started looking around.

Night Blade glared at Mani before speaking, "You're sure the crate contents were stolen?"

"Yes Sir. No doubt in my mind the crate was moved from storage, and its contents emptied. I have no logs of anypony taking this crate out," Mani began to sweet. This whole situation was just bad all around.

Fire Wall turned to look at the other two guards who were still present, "What's the rookie and the guardpony doing here? Do they have anything to contribute?" Fire Wall look Jack in the eye. Jack could almost feel himself shrink under his gaze.

Mani was going to speak but Jack beat him to it, "General Sir, Star and myself found the crate, and recognized that it was resealed. We then came to this storage room to look for additional damages. Just like Mani reported. Sir."

Fire Wall nodded and Night Blade stared at his three guards. "Very good Jack." Fire Wall turned his attention to Mani, "Guardsman, you'll need to come with us to make a full report. I don't think we'll need any more from your underlings to report this event."

Fire Wall turned and started to slowly walk down the hallway, Night Blade quickly followed him.

Mani also started to walk with them, but turned to Jack and Star, "Ok guys. Looks like I'm in for a long debrief here. They don't need you to come along but stick around the castle just in case. Otherwise you two can retire for the night. It's already well passed our normal shift any way."

Mani walked off with the two high ranking Night Guard. Jack and Star couldn't see the sweat on his brow as he thought about the line of questions they were going to ask him. 'Why did this have to happen on our watch?' The Night Guard lowered his head and frowned at the thought.

Jack couldn't help but notice Fire Wall's cutie marks as he rounded the corner. He hadn't been able to get a good look at it before. His right side had been nothing more than scar tissue hiding the mark entirely. But his left flank, was different. The mark was buried under a large scar that ran across his flank in a strait line. It looked like a brownish red flame sitting on top of a wall of scar tissue. It was quite the image.

He made a mental note to himself to ask about the mark, but some other time when it would be more appropriate.

Star spoke, snapping Jack out of his trance, "Hey Jack, I'm going to head back to my bunk to crash for the morning."

"Ok," Jack shrugged.

Only Star didn't leave. Instead she rubbed her right leg with her left hoof, debating if she should ask him a question that had been burning her mind for the past week.

Sensing there was something else, Jack asked her, "Something wrong, Star?"

She swallow, "Well, would you mind if I ran with you tomorrow?" Star's ears fell flat against her head. It was such an odd site to see the usually very forceful and brash Star Screech acting so modestly and fearful.

He thought about the request for a moment. He could almost sense that there was more to the request then just running, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her no. Not that it would do any good even if he did. Knowing Star she would just invite herself along anyway. "No, I don't mind. But you should know I do more than just one lap."

There was a slight twitch in her left ear. A sign of mild bemusement perhaps.

"Ok. I can do two laps." she smirked.

Jack smiled back, he didn't have the heart to tell her just how far he planned to run.

It was hot in Night Blades office, Mani had all he could do to sit in the tiny room. His throat was a dry from all the talking and his eyes started to burn from being awake for so long.

Finally the words he had been hoping to hear for the past hour came out, "Ok Mani I think we have all we need here. You can go now." He saluted his captain and the general before walking out of the room.

Off in the distance he could hear the chimes of the morning bells. He counted nine and his eyes shot wide open. "Oh shit," he screamed as he ran back to the loading dock.

Once he arrived Mani ran around the loading dock, trying to make sure all the Night Guard's crates were taken care of as the Day Guard’s shipment was starting to arrive. He was exhausted and having a hard time of it all. 'Bucking thief, screwed up all my plans' he thought.

Thankfully, the Day Guard were nice enough to help him move the near thousand boxes of Night Guard supplies.

Most of them anyway, "Mani!" One of the Day Guard captains, Janis, barked at him. "I need you to move your Night Guard's crap out of here. NOW!" He proceeded to further yell at the over worked pony.

"Sir, I apologize, but like I said to your staff earlier there was a theft and we-"

Janis interrupted Mani by shoving his hoof in his chest, "No excused Night Guard. Get it done or I'll make a formal complaint to your captain."

Janis sneered at the Night Guard before he walked away. Mani watched him walk up to one of his own female subordinate. Judging by her stance and blush, his conversation must have been quite lewd.

"What an asshole," Mani whispered under his breath as he walked away.

Crate after Crate was check off Mani's list. Most of the Night Guard's supplies had been moved from the loading dock. Unfortunately not all had been inventoried, but he could worry about that later. It would just mean a bit more paper work in the end.

It was now time to inventory the Day Guard's shipment which had just arrived.

The Day Guard’s crates were starting to stack up outside of the loading dock. Walking out the large doors, Mani was greeted by the castle court yard, and several large towers of crates. A few ponies ran by the loading zone on their morning exercise run.

He tapped his hoof against his head. He was supposed to run later today. There was no way he was going to be up for it, but as an officer he had no choice. He had to set the example.

"Hey Mani could you move please?" A Day Guard pegusi was carrying a small crate and Mani was blocking the entrance way.

"Oh, sorry guardsman," Mani nodded before backing up into a pink rose bush. The thorn's from the bush cutting into his side. "Buck," He yelped.

'Could this day get any worse,' he thought to himself. He pulled out some paper work from his satchel and started recording the incoming Day Guard supplies.

The sooner he got this done, the sooner he could go to bed.

Chapter 7: Going for a Run

The next afternoon started as all the most recent ones had: Upon waking up, Jack went to his armor stand and began the tedious process of polishing each and every part to perfection. Once done, he dressed himself in his Airforce T and Sweats before heading out to start his now routine jog.

However, this afternoon would have one new addition for him; As he left his room he was greeted by a particularly naked Star Screech. For a moment he was surprised. He didn't really believe she was serious last night when she asked about running with him.

Star cocked her eyebrow at the overly dressed human, "So, you wear heavier cloths when you exercise...." She tapped a hoof against her chin in thought, "I suppose... No I don't get it." She shook her head at the human.

Jack just smiled and laughed, "Yeah, well at least I'm not naked."

Walking past his door she swish her tail back and forth a few times, exposing herself to him. "You really should try it Jack it's quite liberating." Smirking, she continued to walk on a head of him.

Silence permeated their walk outside towards the courtyard and the track. Both Jack and Star were still unsure of the boundaries in their renewed friendship. Yet already, Star was continuing her old behavior by making subtle moves towards Jack. Making it a point to show herself off when she could, or lightly bump into him when she was next to him. She was pushing the boundaries he had tried to set last night, testing him to see where he would draw the line. Hoping he wouldn't draw any.

Sighing to himself, Jack worried that he was going to need to talk with her again once they were done with their run. In truth, he didn't want to, and the more he thought about it, the more he was worried that she would take it the wrong way yet again. He enjoyed hanging with Star and liked her company, she was fun to be around, and for reasons he couldn't really explain, he felt stronger when she was around.

But, there was a fear inside of him, that by continuing his friendship with her he would lose any chance of wooing Luna. As much as Star may bother him at times and despite the risk she brought with her, Jack didn't want to lose her friendship. In his heart, he feared that one day he might have to make a choice between Star's friendship and Luna's love.

Glancing down at her Jack sighed again. Star was able to catch his gaze and she looked back up at him with her sparkling amethyst colored eyes. A smile spread across her muzzle, which was light and subtle. The very tip of left fang poked out from the edge of he mouth. It was cute and it made her seem so innocent.

Jack got lost in her smile. Then with a wiggle of her eyes she open her mouth and ruined it, "What's wrong Jack, do you want a pony ride before our little run?" She started to laugh at him and jogged ahead once more.

'Yeah, I'm definitely going to need to talk to her.' He thought to himself.

He picked up the pace, slowing down when he was next to her again. The innocent smile she just had, now had an added air smugness to it. She knew just how to get under his skin, and under his pants.

Star let out a slight chuckle as a thought ran through her mind, "You know, I've never really been one to volunteer for extra duties or anything. You might be the first positive roll model I've had, Jack." She swished her tail around his right leg before trotting ahead few steps again.

As much as he didn't want to, Jack couldn't help but smile at her antics. True, their relationship may have become more awkward now, at least for him, but it still felt good to have her back as a friend. The more he thought about Star and her attitude, the more he came to think that a bit of flirtation with Star might be ok. It was just her personality.

'So long as I kept it in check there shouldn't be a problem, right?' he thought to himself.

Outside in the court yard, the guard ponies where everywhere. All most all were jogging around the perimeter, a few were doing other exercises near the starting marker, and a smaller few were huddled in a group, waiting orders.

Jack and Star walked out into the yard, making their way to start of the track. As he got close, Jack noticed that Moon Shadow was out today instead of Night Blade. Shadow saw the rookie and guard approaching the starting point. The gray bat pony couldn't hold back a subtle sneer at seeing these two together. Trying to ignore them he turned around and started working on the guards who where out for their assigned runs.

Shadow's attention was focused on a particularly tired Mani who was laying in the grass, rather than standing at attention. "Mani! Get up..."

Standing at the start of the track, Star fidgeted around nervously, "So... Just two laps, right?" There was a subtle hint of nervousness that permeated into Star's voice. It wasn't something he expected to hear from the normally brash pony, it may have even been cute if it was on anyone else.

Jack tried to just shrug at her comment, but he couldn't hold back his smirk, "Eh, I usually do three, but you can stop when you need to Star. You don't have to keep up with me." He said with a challenging tone in his voice, hoping to push her into running more.

Star Snorted at his comment and quickly started running. Jack stood at the starting point finishing his last stretch as she ran ahead of him.

"Come on Jack!" she shouted.

Jack's only response was a dismissive shake of his head as he started jogging. He knew Star was going to regret not warming up.

The first lap was easy for the both of them. Star kept picking up her pace only to slow down when she found the human had fallen behind her. Each time she fell back, she gave him a few choice jabs at his speed and physique. Jack just shrugged off her comments, trying to refrain from making his own until the next lap.

Once the second lap came up Star was oddly quite, aside from her voracious panting anyway. She was no longer ahead of him, and was in fact pushing herself just to stay at his pace.

Jack turned and smiled at his running companion, it was now his turn to make some choice jabs. All of which were met with silence, or a crass, "Buck you."

Star's vision was narrowing as the starting point came up again. Her tunnel vision obscured everything but that white stone. Her legs were going numb, her lungs were burning, and her eyes were blurry, everything on and in Star's body seemed to hurt. Yet, despite the pain, she wasn't giving up. She had to at least make it to two laps, there was no way this ape was going to beat her like this.

'Buck this ape,' she thought as she passed the starting marker. Star was barely able to move after completing her second lap. She found her self limping and wobbling off to the side of the track, until she collapsed on a tuft of rather soft and cool grass. Her fur and mane were matted with sweat and dirt. Her fur was stuck to her skin with the same mixture of filth. All Star was able to do, was lay there, panting hard, trying to catch her breath, and maybe cool herself down.

Jack jogged up next to the resting pony. Jogging in place once he was in front of her, "Come on Star, we're only thorough two laps. Got one more to go!"

"Buck. You." She tried to yell, but it came out much more like a squeak. 'How the hell does he keep running?' She thought.

Jack stopped jogging and knelt down to look Star in the eyes. He was trying to hide that smirk on his face but it was hard. "I told you I usually do three laps. If you can't keep up I could just leave you here," he tried to goad Star into pushing herself just a little harder.

Sighing, Star attempted to pick herself up but quickly fell back to the ground, "Nope. Not going to happen," she huffed. Her legs refused to work, and she didn't have the energy or will to force them.

Jack shrugged and started jogging away from her, leaving her there to cool off and rest. She watched him running away from her. He had a slight bounce in his rear as he moved away. During his last lap around the track, Star kept a close eye on his movements. Seeing his body move was stimulating for her, his physique seemed so much more tight and well formed than a pony's. Even in his lose fitting pants and shirt, she could see his muscle groups move and flex, and she paid very close attention to the muscle groups in and around his ass.

Her cheeks were growing warmer, not cooler, and there was a slight tingle as a subtle wetness enveloped her lower lips. Her previously calmed breathing was become ragged once more, as she felt herself start to heat up again. If she wasn't in public she would have been tempted to relive herself. Once Jack left her sight, all she could think of was his body and how it moved. She lowered her head to the ground with a sigh. “Why does he have to be so cute?” she asked herself.

Finally, Jack returned to her side after completing his third lap, "That makes three. It's not too hard star. You just have to pace yourself."

Star raised an eyebrow up, "Pace myself, eh?" Another dirty thought ran through her mind as she shook it off.

Jack sat next to his fellow guard. He was mildly aware that she was still breathing heavy, "You really do need to work out more, Star. You shouldn't still be out of breath."

She squinted at Jack before poking him with her hoof, "You know something, Jack. You're one of the dense stallions I know."

Star shook her head, part of her wanted to get up and go shower, but for the moment, sitting here next to Jack felt better than any shower could.

Jack too, was enjoying the feeling of sitting next to his guard mate. He was unaware of the turmoil starting to stir in his own heart.

Guard duty was proving rather difficult for Star that night. She could barely stand much less walk. When Luna walked down the thrown room Star's leg nearly gave out on her. She stumbled slightly, catching the ire of the princess and her captain; who proceed to chew her out afterward. It was a relief when Leucippe asked her to help clean and organize the armory. All she would have to to do was sit and polish things all night. Boring work, but easy.

As usual, Jack was also recruited into the menial task.

Several hours into the cleaning and organizing and Star was bored out of her mind. She was grateful she didn't have to move to much, but sitting there hurt her mind rather than her body.

Taking a break, she looked up from the sword she had been cleaning. She saw Jack carrying a large shield meant for a minotaur or possibly somepony larger towards the oversized shield rack. He was moving it around as if it were a feather rather than the very heavy chunk of metal it was. "Honestly, I don't know how you do it." she said to him.

Jack looked to Star unsure what she was getting at. "What do you mean?"

"Just... how you're able to work after that run earlier. I can barely stand and move, but you..." She watched Jack put the shield down. "You're picking up armor pieces that weight as much as a pony!"

Rolling his shoulders, Jack could feel the tightness in his back and arms. He was actually quite sore, but it wasn't anything he hadn't felt before. "Well, before I came to Equistria, my ROTC squad and I had to train very hard. My world's armed forces aren't as easiest to get into as the Equestrian Guard. Carrying this shield is nothing compared to what they made us do every Saturday."

*Clang, bang, tunk*

There was a clattering of sounds, as steel and wood impacted the hard stone ground.

"Damn it." Leucippe swore to herself. "This stuff is hard to carry."

She took a seat next to Star and started going over the equipment she brought with her, checking for damage and looking at what might need to be cleaned and what needed to actually be repaired.

Leucippe had overheard Jack talk about his physical strength and grew curious about the human's training and capabilities. In the past few months she never really sat down to talk with him before, even when at the bar he was more or less just there. "So, what did they actually make you do. Back in your world I mean?" She asked him.

He thought back to his time in ROTC, "Well, we had to run in full gear, which weighed close to forty five kilos. Depending on what mood our CO was in, that run could be as short as a mile, to as long as five. Beyond that, there we are few other challenges and exercises we were meant to do. Push ups, pull ups, things like that. Though, honestly it was nothing compared to what the Marines and Army had to do."

Leucippe blinked a few times as she thought about all that weight and work. "Wow... and you flunked basic here because of physical limitations?"

Jack remembered all the test they made him do here. Most of them were easy, picking up weights, doing a few simple exercises. The sword and bow tests were a bit challenging, but only because he'd never really used them before. The only truly difficult part was, ironically enough the running. "Well, I actually passed most of basic easy, the only part I failed was the running portion."

Not quite she heard him right, Leucippe asked "Running? But I thought you were a great runner? Can't you do like three or more laps outside?"

Nodding, Jack continued to explain "Yeah, I can run long distances fine, but that's not what they test or train for in basic. You're expected to run a full mile in less than four minutes, with some species they'll make an exception up to five, but I just can't do that. Maybe if I had a year to train I might be able to make it under five. That's also why I rarely run with you guys, I just can't keep up when you run."

Sitting down, Jack picked up a sword from Leucippe's pile and looked it over. He could see some small chips in the bade, but along the center was a hairline fracture that stretched the length. "I think this sword needs to go back for reforging."

He took the sword and walked out of the armory. Just outside the room was a large cart with an assortment items on it, mostly swords, but also a few shields and bows. All of them seemed to have minor imperfections.

*Ding, ting, ding*

Right as Jack was about to put the sword on top of the pile he heard a slight cling sound. Like a tiny bell off in the distance. Looking up caught sight of a moving silhouette further down the hallway. He turned his head to look for where it might have gone, but it was already out of sight or maybe just not there at all.

Jack was vaguely aware of Leucippe coming out of the armory behind him. She dropped something in the cart and was now trying to say something to him, something about running. However, Jack was more focused on the phantom in the hallway. Travailing down the hallway, he searched for the something or someone who might have been their, but there was nothing but darkness and still shadows.

"Is something wrong rookie?" Leucippe asked.

Jack shook his head, "No, just thought I saw-"

On the ground he saw a tiny glint of pall yellow light, a golden ring lay by his feet, reflecting the subtle moon light in the hallway. Kneeling down jack looked over the item.

Seeing the item too, Leucippe also looked down, "That looks like a horn ring." she surmise.

Using a bit of cloth from his armor, Jack picked up the ring to examine it. It seemed awfully small to be a horn ring. Too small in fact, but it was just about the right size for his index finger.

Leucippe came in closer to Jack's hand. "Wait a minute... I think I've seen this before. This looks like it was from one of the artifact collections on display in the main foyer."

Reaching her hoof out she took the ring and looked it over, examining it more in depth. "I'm not completely sure, but I think it is... We need to show this to somepony else, this shouldn't be here."

Taking another look around Jack spotted something else in the darkness. Not more than two feet from him was a gray and tan feather stuck to rough patch of a support pillar. He reached out and picked it up, slowly turning it over and examining it. The color looked familiar, but he didn't know why.

"Leucippe, what do you think of this feather?"

She looked at it studying its markings and colors. "Well, it's a larger feather, probably off a pegasus or a griffin. I don't know for sure. Do you think it's important?"

He looked the feather over once more before placing it in his chest plate for safe keeping. "I don't know. Just thinking I've seen it before." The two pushed the cart into the armory before locking it up. They could deal with the gear later. Right now the small squad had a more important job to do and they made their way towards the throne room. The sooner they did it the better.

As they left the hallway, a pair of eyes followed them. The small squad was unaware that they were being watched from the shadows. A winged figure snarled in the darkness before running off deep into the shadows.

The next day Star again meet Jack outside of his room. Jack was more surprised to see her out today than yesterday, "Ready for more Star? I figured you were going to give up after yesterday."

Star flicked her ear in annoyance. "Ha. I'm not giving up till I beat your monkey ass, Jack." She poked at his chest with her hoof, and had a tight smile on her face, as if saying "Try me."

The two walked to the court yard. Star had a slightly slower pace to her today, and walked more by Jack's side rather than ahead of him. He could see her labored movements, and she looked like she was in a bit of discomfort. "Are you sure you're up for this run Star? You seem kind of sore." He asked

"Eh, a bit. Nothing too bad. Besides, I said I was going to run with you, and I plan to keep to that. Anyway, I've got a great idea to make this more interesting."

"Oh, and what's that?"

She laughed, and gave him a wide smirk, "How about we make this interesting. Who ever stops first has to do what the winner says?" Star licked one of her fangs in anticipation. She knew she'd probably lose, but if she won, she was going to have some much needed fun with Jack.

Jack of course knew what she wanted, and what she meant. He wasn't quite as dense as she thought he was. Remembering what happened yesterday, he began to wonder if he should have said something to her then. Still, Star's stamina was so much lower than his own, there wasn't any real risk to accepting it, or so he thought.

Star's smile shrank as Jack started to laugh, "That wouldn't be fair Star. But I'll tell you what. You out lap me ONCE, anytime this year and I'll consider it." He emphasized the once, knowing full well it would take either a miracle or months of hard work for her to lap him.

Her smile twisted into a smirk, "Fine Jack, you're on!"

Once they reached the starting marker Jack began stretching his legs, then his arms. Star stood at the starting point and watched him. "You really should stretch Star." He said between flexing his arms.

"Nah, I stretched back in my room. It was quite enjoyable." She said with a flick of her tail.

He felt like she was insinuating something, but didn’t want to push it any further. Instead, he just rolled his eyes.

Once star started the jog, she quickly moved ahead of Jack just like yesterday. He could only fall back and shake his head. Star turned, and was going to make some more jabs but seeing his shaking head she remembered what happened the last time.

Instead of insulting him, Star took the time and thought about yesterday for a moment. Then, she began to slow down a bit. Even thought, she was still ahead of Jack, she was now focused on keeping pace with him, instead of racing him.

It was almost painful for her to run this slow, but Star was rewarded once she passed the starting marker. She could feel her legs and lungs burning from fatigue, but it was nothing like yesterday. In fact, the slower speed made the ache almost pleasurable.

Jack could sense the change in Star and see the extra energy she seemed to have. He couldn't help but comment, "See, what did I tell you. Pace yourself, Star."

"Shut up," she barked, not wanting to admit the human may have been right.

With surprising quickness, the end of the second lap came up. Star panted as she crossed the marker once more, her legs burned, her lungs burned, her fur was matted from sweat and dust again. She wanted to quit and find that nice soft patch of grass again, but she knew she could still run, she had just that tiny bit more energy in her this time. 'Just a bit further,' she said to herself.

There was no way she was going to make three laps today, but maybe, just maybe she could make two and a quarter. Star was rewarded once she pass a gate that marked a quarter around the track. Passing it, star stumbled off to the side and found a nice cool patch of flowers to lay in.

She was vaguely aware of some gardener yelling at her, but she didn't really care. A smile crossed her lips, the feeling of the cool flowers eased her aching muscles. She could do it, eventually. All she would need is time.

Star closed her eyes, she felt good. Up until the gardener started hitting her with his rake.

Every day for the next few weeks, Star would meet with Jack before his afternoon jog. Every day Star pushed herself just a bit further. Jack tired to tell her to slow down a bit, and give her body time to adjust, but Star was a stubborn one.

This day, her stubbornness would be rewarded as she passed the halfway marker. 'Two and a half laps,' she thought as she pulled off to the side of the track to breath.

Once Jack finished his 3rd lap he continued on at pace for another half to meet up with her.

She watched him, her smile waned slightly as she saw him still running that extra half. Eventually he stopped at the halfway marker, and walked over to her. She gave him a light scowl as if he was rubbing salt in her pride. Picking on her agitation he smirked and gave her a short Jab, "You said lap me, not just run 3 laps."

The two bickered for a moment, before settling in to rest a minute more.

Neither of them were expecting Mani and a few other Guard to walk up to them. "Mani," Star and Jack both greeted the officer.

Mani responded, "Hey Jack... A couple of the guards were impressed with your and Star's stamina. How do you do it?"

Jack thought about how to explain. It was so simple really, "Well, you just have to train for it."

Mani rubbed his hoof over his tilted head, "How?" he asked.

Jack shrugged and thought about how to explain it, "Well, the guard leaders and captains tend to focus on speed, but that speed comes at a price. You burn out quicker. If you want to go further, you have to pace yourselves more. Slow down a bit. I mean, you'll also need to work at it. A few years ago when I first started running it took me almost a month to get in good enough shape to run a full mile." Jack trailed off as he thought about his time in the ROTC. He had come in very overweight, and it took a lot of effort to shave that all down.

Mani thought about how far Jack could run, and the improvement in Star's stamina as well. He wanted to have the same capabilities that these two had. In fact he wanted the whole squad to have it, "I think it would benefit the squad if we could run as long as you two do. Would you mind if some of us join you tomorrow?"

Jack thought about it, and smiled, "If you want to try and keep up."

The next morning came and went. The afternoon took hold, and sun was low on the horizon. Jack and Star stood at the start of the track, they were met by Mani, Leucippe and a small group of four other guards who came out to meet them. In total there were now eight.

Jack smiled at his small group of running mates, he was expecting to see maybe two additions, and not six in front of him. "Wow, I'm impressed. Wasn't expecting to see this many." Jack commented to Mani.

"Actually, there may be more in the future. There are a lot of Guards who are actually eager to improve themselves, there's just not to many opportunities for it."

Nodding his head, Jack had come to understand full well that the Guard units were not as regimented or formal as the military he had come from.

"Now then, you're going to be tempted to run at full speed. Don't. That's the first lesson I want to teach you." He turned his head to look at Star impatiently waiting at the starting marker. "Normally I'd tell all of you to stretch beforehand, but I'm assuming that like Star here you already did?"

The in ability for any of them to look Jack in the eye told him all he needed to know. "Stretching is important. You need to remember to do it next time, or come out earlier and do it at the track."

"I run three laps usually, don't feel you have to keep up for the whole thing. Being able to do two is an accomplishment."

He walked to the starting marker and counted, "On my mark. Go!”

The squad of ponies started running behind Jack and Star. A few pushed ahead a bit. Stone Breaker, a smaller bat pony guard kept running at near full speed. Jack tried to tell him to slow down, but being eager to show off he didn't listen.

Once the rest of the group passed the marker for the first lap, they saw Stone trotting along, trying to keep up any kind of pace. He quickly pulled off to the side at the halfway point and rested.

Mani, Leucippe and the others managed to push themselves past the second lap, but quickly left the track before the quarter marker. Star, trying to impress the lot, and Jack especially, push herself as hard as she could. She saw the halfway point come and go, yet still she was next to Jack.

Looking down at his running mate Jack gave her a quick nod. She responded with a smirk of her own.

Her legs ached and burned, and then, “Owww, oww...” Right before the three quarter marker Star limped off the tack. “Damn it.”

Jack stopped and walk besides her. “You ok Star?”

She winced a bit as she rubbed her back leg, “Yeah, I'm fine, my leg just started cramping a bit.”

“I told you, you need to stretch beforehand. Come on, well speed walk the rest of the way.”

She looked up at him, mildly annoyed that he was slowing down for her. Yet, also a bit happy as well.

The two meet the squad, which was now grouped up at the starting marker. “Well guys, that's it. If you can keep coming out here, at least every-other day I think you'll all be able to do two laps in a few months.” He looked over at Stone Breaker who was still laying on the grass. “Just remember to pace yourselves.”

The sun light of the next afternoon peaked through Night Blade's window string him from his sleep. Sitting up in his bed stretching his legs. He gave a hardy yawn as he began to force himself out of bed, causing his companion to sir.

"Mmmm... it's too early to get out of bed. Come back and cuddle with me." The sounds of a young stallion could be heard under the sheets.

Blade looked over the pony like shape in the sheets with a smile, followed by a frown. "You know I have work to do. Shadow's busy with some nobles today, so I have to pick up my second's duties."

An orange furred bat pony with a very messy and reddish mane stuck his head out of the covers. "You're a captain, can't you delegate?" He said with a frown.

For a moment, Blade was tempted to skip the hearings today to push it all off to somepony else, maybe Mani. Yet he knew he couldn't do that. As much as he wanted to stay in bed with his lover, he had to do this.

Leaning down in bed he placed his lips firmly against the orange stallion's. Opening his mouth he kissed him deeply. "Look love, I am a captain. That's why I have to do this. I can't make anyone else answer to the princess and generals."

The orange pony continue to pout as Balde got up and wandered away from the bed. A small tent began to form under the sheets as he watched blade put his armor on. Biting his lower lip the orange pony began to slowly stroke himself at the sight of his lover covered in armor.

Once Blade turned around his eyes opened in a bit of shock as he saw his mate pleasuring himself. "Be a dear and turn back around, I'm not finished yet." He said between strokes.

Blade smiled and shook his head, "I thought you like it when I watched." Walking back over Blade kissed him again. Reaching his hoof under the covers he gave the orange pony a quick few strokes before sighing.

"Autumn, I want nothing more than to rut you silly, but I have a job to do." He kissed Autumn one last time as he walked out of the room. "Make sure you're ready tonight though, I have a feeling I'm going to need to blow off some steam."

Autumn smiled and hummed lightly, "I hope that's not all you're going to blow."

Reluctantly Blade closed his chamber door. It was one of the perks of being a captain, having your own room in the castle. Sure there was a bit less privacy than having a house in town, but it was a spacious accommodation, and considered a mark of honor amongst the guards. He walked down the hallway, thinking about all the work he had put in through the years, all the ass kissing he had to do to get here.

In truth though, a part of him just wanted to run away from this life. To leave with Autumn and head somewhere else, maybe into the northern mountains. They could work in a rock quarry together, maybe even adopt some foals one day and start a family. He shook the thought out of his head.

A few months ago he would have slapped himself for even thinking that. But now, with all these thefts, and the pressure from his superiors, not to mention that ape guard of his, Jack. Blade scowled when he thought about him. All the hard work Blade had to put in just to be accepted to the Guards, the years of bullshit just to be promoted so he could have his own room. Meanwhile, Jack was just given opportunity after opportunity on a lavender platter.

Night Blade couldn't help but resent the Guardsman.

'He had to go and find that blasted ring on his watch. If he hadn't turned it in, no one would ever have known!' He thought to himself. Blade knew this meeting wasn't going to go well for him.

He took a deep breath as he entered the Royal chambers of princess Luna. Sitting on the side of the room, was Luna, Celestial, Fire Wall and a few other very important Guards, including the Royal Guard captain, Janis.

"Ah, Captain. Please shut the door, we have somethings we need to discuss." Fire Wall commanded.

He gulped and shut the door behind him.

It was nearly two hours before the doors opened again.

Night Blade left the room, shutting the doors behind him. He rubbed his eyes with his hoof before walking down the hallway towards the castle courtyard. The meeting ran through his head, over and over again. “We aren't blaming you.”, “It's not your fault.”, “We just think you need help with this”, all their placation. In the end they just didn't trust him to catch this thief so they were enlisting the help of the Day Guard, and that jerk Janis.

Night Blade walked to shove his hoof down the captain's throat. Just to wipe that smug smile off his face. That whitish gray pegasus just rubbed him the wrong way. Always doing things just a bit off, bending rules that shouldn't be bent, and generally being an ass. Blade didn't trust him, no doubt he would throw him under the wheels of a passing cart if it benefited him. If he wasn't able to catch this thief soon, Blade feared that Janis would back stab him and somehow use his failure to hurt him.

Looking out a passing window Night Blade could see the sun very low on the horizon. The last bell had run six times. It was getting late, no doubt his squad was slacking by the track, assuming they were there at all. He needed to get out there as quickly as possible to get them moving.

However, once he reached the castle court yard Blade couldn't help but blink in surprise. Most of his squad were already out on the track preparing to start their run. He watched the small squad start, being lead by no other than Jack.

Blade ran after his squad, stopping next to Mani who was running slightly behind Jack.

"Gaurdsman, what's going on?" Night Bladed barked at Mani.

"Uh, sir. Didn't think you were coming out today. We're all just out for a run."

Night Blade seemed upset at what should have been a pleasant development, "You're all going to slow," he commented.

"Captain, sir. We're trying to push our endurance today." Mani tried to explain to Blade what they were doing, but this just seemed to make the captain more upset.

"Let me guess, this was Jack's idea? If you insist on extra laps, then you need to run like everypony else. You can't let this ape slow you down." Night Blade gestured towards Jack. "It looks bad to our unit if we can't keep up with the other guards."

Jack stopped running, the rest of the squad followed suite. He felt like he needed to defend his idea and Mani from the captain, "Night Blade, Sir. With all due respect we're training for endurance today. Not speed. If the Guards run a bit slower, they can-"

The captain walked up to Jack and started to poke him in the chest, "Listen Rookie, I'm the captain and I set the rules for my squad. Guards are expected to keep a certain pace. I don't care how many laps you can make. If you aren't doing it in the minimum time then you might as well not be doing laps at all."

He turned to face the members of his squad with an angry look in his eyes, "So, you guards want to do extra laps? Then lets go! Everypony double time it!" He looked Jack square in the eyes, "That goes for you too Jack. You may have special dispensation, but you're going to run this time. Do I make myself clear?"

Jack tried not to wince or grimace; With a stone cold face he responded, "Yes, sir."

Everyone started off with Night Blade pacing. It was grueling and Jack couldn't help but start to fall behind. Jack was surprised to see Star running besides him. Any other time she would have tried to be ahead of him. "Fuck Night Blade, I'm going to run with you Jack," she said.

Night Blade ignored the two slower guards to focus on the core of his squad.

A small smile almost crossed his lips before he shook it off, "No Star. You'll just get in trouble. I don't want that."

"But Night Blade is a dick, and he's wrong," she continued.

"He might be a dick but he's not really wrong. The Night Guard expect a certain speed. He's just following orders and protocol as he understands them." He thought about Night Blade's attitude. Blade was definitely an asshole, but Jack had to believe he had his reasons. "Please Star, if you're interested in helping me, then try to keep up with everyone else."

Star hesitated before nodding. She slowly picked up her pace to join the rest of the Guard. Looking over her shoulder as Jack continued to fall behind. 'This feels wrong,' she thought.

"I know how you feel," as if sensing her thoughts Leucippe whispered in her ear.

Jack pushed his legs as hard as he could, but still found himself falling farther behind with every step. His lungs and legs were burning him from the inside. Trying to run a five minute mile was just beyond him for the moment, even with all his extra traning.

Eventually he managed to cross the starting point, more than a minute behind everyone else. All the extra running over the past month gave him the strength to beat his best time, but it was still less the minimum the Guard normally required. He stood off to the side of the marker, watching the rest of his unit continue on for their second lap.

A series of angry thoughts crossed through Jack's mind as he sat to the side of the track and considered his failure. He wanted to push himself and at least try for a second lap, but he couldn't. Not at the speed they were running. Sitting down in the grass, his mind began to cloud over with thoughts of this failure and others.

"Hey Jack," Jack looked to his side to see Star standing by him. He forced a bit of a smile as she sat down next to him.

"So, it looks like I finally lapped you," Star smirked at the disgruntled Jack.

He winced slightly at her comment. For a moment Star was seriously considering calling him on his beat from earlier. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how much of a dick thing that would be.

Instead, she thought about something to say. Something to pick up the down beaten human, "So, you beat your best time. That's impressive, for an ape," She smirked at Jack.

He huffed. Jack suspected that Star had ulterior motives behind her conversation, he knew she wanted to call he bet in. Yet, she didn't, and that made Jack think. A slight twinge appeared in his shoulder as he thought about her. "Yeah, well at least I'm not some blood sucking bat horse," He rubbed at the two small scars on his shoulder.

Star smacked his side with her hoof, "Jerk." she said sticking her tongue out.

Jack knew what Star wanted, but the fact that she didn't try to ask for it, or force him into it did mean something. 'Maybe she will calm down a bit and our friendship will actually work', he thought. 'Maybe...'

Off in the distance the sound of bells could be heard. A count of seven in all.

Mani walked towards the two guards. "Hey Jack, do you have a minute?"

Trying to save his breath he just nodded.

"I know Night Blade was a jerk today. He got his ass chewed out by Fire Wall and some other generals today. Apparently the number of thefts have increased and they are all happening on his watch. You three dropping that ring off last week didn't exactly help you as much as it should have."

Jack nodded, his response again.

"The rest of the squad appreciate that you're pushing yourself. I also wanted to say thanks for trying to help the squad out. You're a good guardsman Jack," Mani placed his hoof on Jack's shoulder. Jack smiled, it felt good to be recognized.

"We all still want to try and run with you tomorrow if you're still up for it?"

Jack thought about how Night Blade reacted today, "I don't know. Night Blade was pretty clear Mani. He doesn't want the squad to slow down."

"I'll talk to Night Blade. I'm sure I can get him to see reason."

"Well, how about you talk to him before we try to run again. I'm not sure my legs can take another beating like this so soon." He said with a forced laugh. Tonight was going to be a long night for him. 'Hopefully tomorrow will be better', he thought.

Chapter 8: Castle Rumble

*Ring, Ring, Rin- Thud*

With the back of his hand, Jack slammed down on the noisy mechanical clock, silencing it. His tired eyes opened and tried to focus on the metallic hands. '6 o'clock,' he thought to himself. It felt strange to be awoken by the noisy contraption. For the past several weeks he had managed to get up before his alarm. He was coming to see it as a matter of pride, and a sign that he was in fact turning around for the better.

A sigh escaped Jack as he rubbed away the tiredness from his eyes. His legs ached all through the morning and it made sleeping difficult. He continued to lay in bed wondering if he should even bother getting up today. The thought of trying to go back to sleep seemed particularly enticing. His bed was soft and comfortable, and it would be so easy to just not get up.

That train of thought ran around his mind a few times before finally giving him pause. More thoughts began to clutter his mind, thoughts of failures and apathy. Some older memories wormed their way in as well, a letter read through his head reminding him of the last time he gave up:

It was a cold and bitter winter morning, not long after the last day of University. Clouds had been rolling in throughout the day as a threatening northeastern storm formed. Jack remembered that mail had arrived early that morning for some reason, 9:28AM to be precise. The time stuck in his head because he had been looking at the clock on the stove while his morning eggs and bacon burned in the frying pan.

That familiar clang of the front door's mail slot opening and closing had echoed through his old apartment. That defining metal clang, like a hammer striking metal work, bending and distorting it in a way the hold would not want. He had known and feared what was in that mail pile on the floor.

A single letter sat on top of a pile of junk fliers, his Old University's letter head on top. For a moment he considered pretending it never came and not even opening it, he already knew what it said. Morbid curiosity had got the better of him.

'Dear Mr. O'Connell,

You student status for next Spring has been suspended and we are sorry to inform you that you have been academically disqualified. The University has strict academic standards and we can not compromise on them.

We wish you well in your future endeavors.

-Vice Provost,

Alexis Dominica'

He had laughed after reading it, he had too. The whole thing had seemed beyond belief at the time. He just had to laugh at it all, some kind of cruel joke he had played on himself. Yet, there was one more unexpected letter to read. Tucked underneath all the junk mail was one final thorn. This one was from the air-force ROTC program.

A bit confused and worried, he had opened the letter reveling something he had not expected. Something for which he had no response for; it was a bill. For the past four years of tuition. The ROTC and the Air force had actually sent him a bill for the tuition they had reimbursed him. The Air force wanted its money back, since he was no longer going to graduate and become an officer.

It seemed only fair, but it was just that one extra thing he didn't need right now.

*Beep, Beep, Beep*

The sound of his apartment's smoke detector going off had snapped him out of his daze. In his smoky kitchen he found the frying pan with the blackened eggs and bacon in it, now smoking, treating to engulf the apartment in fire if he didn't pay attention to them. Shutting off the stove he stared at the small bits of charcoal in the pan, before throwing them out. Even if it had still been eatable, he wasn't hungry anymore.

More thoughts swirled in his mind. Ten hours wandering the nearly abandoned city. The on coming storm and a snow covered bridge; the icy water and what had been in them.

For a moment he felt some burden lift off of him as a particular purple alicorn popped up in his head, and her lectures about being more than he was. One speech in particular stuck out in his mind, "You're a good pony Jack. Don't ever forget that, and don't give up on yourself" He could almost hear Twilight's voice lecturing to him in his mind.

'I wonder if she can see into my head like Luna?' He thought to himself before remembering that Luna couldn't see into his head.

His worries about failing began to ease slightly as he focused on what Twilight would tell him. It was all far too easy to fall into that rut of self loathing and apathy. There was no way he would let it happen again. With a final shake of his head, Jack loosened the poisonous thoughts from his mind, and forced himself out of the soft trappings of his sheets.

Sitting at the edge of his downy bed he stretched his arms and back. A groan of discomfort escaped his lips as he reached around to the back of his right leg. Rubbing around his sore hamstrings, he could fell his muscle twitch in pain. He reconsidered running for a moment. Originally, Jack had promised himself that he was never going to miss a day but at the moment it seemed like he didn't really have a choice. Jack wasn't found of spiking his now daily exercise, but his mind just wasn't up to it today, to say nothing of his body.

'A single day spent recuperating wouldn't hurt,' Jack convinced himself.

With a bit more effort Jack finally stood up and walk to his dress doll where his armor had been haphazardly placed the night before. He had been so tired at the end of his last shift, that he couldn't even muster the energy to place each piece properly. Still, he had to admit that it was better than just throwing it all on the floor. Taking the first plate off the stand he half heatedly began to polish it. It felt like it was going to be one of those nights.

Once Jack was ready for the night patrols he left the sanctity of his room and began a slow walk towards the throne room. It was still fairly early in the evening and in truth, Jack wasn't in a rush to start the night. Once he came to a split in the hallway, he paused to consider his options. Normally he would just head straight ahead, which was the quicker path to the thrown room, but he could also get to the main chambers by heading right as well. Hoping a walk would clear his mind a bit, Jack opted to take the longer route to the main chambers; he took the right path.

Each corridor he passed through was heavily patrolled by both the Royal and Day Guard. It made the pleasant walk he was hoping for much more stressful, and he found it hard to think as the shear number of fellow guards made him feel on edge. In just over an hour it would be the Night Guard's turn to patrol. It still seemed strange seeing so many of them active at once. Like the Night Guard, most of the Day and Royal Guard would normally be doing more mundane activities, but this rash of thefts changed all that.

None of the older guards could remember a time when the castle had been breach repeatedly like. The tension in the air was taunting and it felt like it could snap at any moment. Jack couldn't shake the feeling that something had to happen soon.

At the end of the hallway, one particular Royal Guard slowly wandered down the hallway. Her muzzle opening for a long drawn out yawn. She was a tan and yellow unicorn of advantage height, and had curiously pink eyes. Given the slight redness in her half closed eyes she appeared to have just gotten up. Her eyes opened a bit wider when she spotted Jack. A surge of realization crosses her face and she quickly trotted up to him, her ears perked and alert.

Jack was taken aback as she approached, and was even more uncertain once she started to talk to him. "Hey, your the ape Night Guard aren't you?" The enthusiasm behind her voice was annoying, to say nothing of her word choice.

With a sigh he responded, "Yeah, I'm with the Night Guard, the name's Jack." pointing to the name on his chest plate, "and I'm not an ape, I'm a human." His voice was surprisingly calm, even though a part of him wanted to yell at the guard for calling him an 'ape'. That term was really starting to get to him.

The Guard rolled her shoulder in a shrug. "Ape, human, is there a difference?" She tried to smile the rather rude comment away.

His left eye developed a bit of twitch as he desperately wanted to scream and yell at this guard to bugger off. His leg began to ache slightly as he just stood their, which only added to his desire to be rid of this annoying unicorn.

She continued to talk, oblivious to Jack's irritated body language. "But anyway, I know you're in the Night Guard and I just wanted to stop and see if there was anything I should know about night patrols? Like, do the night guards do anything different?"

The question took him a bit by surprise. He thought for a moment, having never been in any other regiment he couldn't really say for sure, "Not that I know of? We tend to focus on supplies and cleaning at night, patrols are usually more limited at night but recent events have changed that."

Curiosity was getting the best of him, and with a sigh he asked, "Why do you ask?"

She tapped her head with her hoof and gave a slight laugh, "Oh, right. You wouldn’t know. My squad is assigned to help the Night Guard tonight. Captain Janis didn't say much other than we needed to help you guys out."

She held out her hoof with a smile. "The name's Break Away, I'm actually an old friend of Star Screech."

Jack looked at the hoof and with a sigh he forces a smile and shook her hoof. "Well Break Away, it's been... fun, but I have to head to the throne room."

With the way her ears dropped, it almost seemed like the unicorn was disappointed, "Oh, ok. Well I look forward to working with you tonight, Jack." The pony trotted away from him, swishing her tail once or twice. He thought he saw a smirk cross her lips, but it was hard to see since she was walking away from him.

He continued to stair down the hallway watching her walk further and further away from him, until she disappeared around a corner.

"One of Star's friends, why am I not surprised." He whispered to himself with a light chuckle. A few thoughts began to cross his mind as he thought about her less than subtle tail swish.

With a laugh, he tried to shake the few lewd thoughts from his mind. 'When did I start to think of mares that way?', he thought to himself. Thinking back, it was probably when he first slept with Star Screech. Jack's mood shifted slightly as he thought about her.

Star was such an odd friend, hot one minute then cold the next. Jack could feel that she held some continued sexual interest in him, but he knew it had to just be a fling. From everything she and the other ponies told him, Star never kept her lovers around for long. She was always looking for the next sexual adventure. That's part of the reason why she always chose exotic partners like himself, wasn't it?

Jack continued his walk down the long path. Paintings and small sculptures covered this part of the castle. It was definitely one of the nicer areas. A multitude of doors stood between the artworks, most of them closed and locked. Occasionally though, one would be opened reveling the rather large conference spaces with in.

Dignitaries frequented this area of the castle, hence the name 'Diplomatic Wing'. All the conference rooms provided space to discuss things such as trade agreements, contracts, and all the other mundane paperwork associated with the kingdom.

As Jack walked further down the hallway, he came across some more specialized conference rooms, reserved for particular dignitaries. Usually the heads of state.

One room in particular had a very ornate set of doors, with feathers and talons carved into the deep red wood. Of all the doors it was probably the most ornate in the hall. Which given the nature of the two realms, made sense. For this particular conference room was specifically reserved for the griffin empire delegates. Jack had never been in it before, but he could remember Twilight's description of it the last time she showed him around.

That thought further reminded him, around the corner of this room, was a hallway where a small and somewhat obscure library resided. It was a tiny little room with some very equally ornate glass doors, the handles seemed reminiscent of a griffin’s claw, and along the window were small etchings similar to the feathers on the red wooden door.

This tiny library was devoted to some rather obscure points of history between the Equestrian Kingdom and it's neighbor the Griffin Kingdoms, and contained records of most the trade and treaty agreements between the empires. As far as general books went, the library itself boasted no more than maybe a thousand in all, each of which was quite rare.

During the tour Twilight had given him several months ago, they had passed by this very library. Of course she insisted they stop inside. A Slight chuckled came over Jack as he thought about how disappointed she seemed at the size of this library. But, she was quick to remind him that some of these books existed nowhere else in the kingdom. A few were even original research she boasted with an inflated chest and pride. Thinking back on it, he began to wonder if Twilight hadn’t written a text or two inside.

For a moment he was tempted to wander about inside the small room, but as Jack passed by the library entrance he spotted something rather mundane, that just stuck in his mind. There in the hallway was an oddly familiar griffin garner watering some nearby potted ferns.

It all seemed so innocuous, so why couldn't he ignore it? Those greyish feather's and talons, his ashy colored fur, Jack knew he recognized the gardener from somewhere, and the thought burned through his mind.

He watched as the gardener continue to water the plant dumping more than half of his can on top of one now very moist fern. Yet the griffin wasn't paying attention to it, his focus seemed to be on some ornate glass spheres, sitting on some wooden stands, each of which were on either side of the entrance way. These spheres where hollow, and were protecting what seemed to be some rather plain blue and pink crystals. The griffin was clearly studying them, trying to look inconspicuous, while over watering the plants to the point that water was now pouring over the sides of the pot.

There was something wrong here, Jack could feel his instincts mumbled to him. His feet silently tapped on the marble floor as he slowly closed the distance, trying not to startle the griffin into fleeing.

The gardener jumped slightly. Weather it was Jack's quite foot steps or subtle sounds of his breathing, the gardener finally sensed someone else nearby. His head twisted and bolted around nervously for a moment till he caught sight of the human. Their eyes locked and Jack could see the bird like eyes constrict, sensing Jack as either prey or predator. The slight tremble in his beak and fluffed feathers suggest it was the later.

This was it, in that single gaze and Jack knew there was something wrong this griffin. He had to be up to something, and it was up to him to question this seemingly rouge gardener. Or at least that's what he told himself.

Without warning a voice behind him called his name, "Jack! You weren't out by the track today. I'm disappointed in you," In all his focusing on the griffin Star had somehow sneak behind him.

With a startled jump, Jack turned around. "God damn it Star! What the hell." He yelled in a whisper.

Star pushed herself back slightly and shrugged, unsure what she did exactly to upset him.

Shaking his head, Jack turned back around, but the gardener had taken the short opportunity to disappear. Rolling on the floor was his now empty watering can.

"Star I'm sorry, but can you wait here for just a moment." Jack ran to the spot where the gardener stood, but there was no trace of him.

The library entrance was deserted. Jack wandered the outside and the inside of the small room, looking behind any shelf or door he could find. Even the small front desk, which was barely big enough to fit a chair, was searched, yet there was nothing. He spent the next five minutes trying to find the phantom creature, but it seemed that the griffin was long gone, with no trace of what he was doing. Other than drowning the poor ferns, and Jack doubted he could really stop him for drowning plants.

'What was he doing here?' He asked himself.

"Is everything alright, Jack?" Star watched the human searching around the library entrance for something or somepony. His behavior seemed quite strange, even for him.

Looking behind the book shelves one last time, Jack finally gave a heavy sighed and left the library. He scanned down the hallways, knowing he wouldn't actually find anything. Finally, his eyes made their way to one of the pedestals at the library entrance. A large and round glass fish bowel like container sat on top of it. Inside the rounded glass containers was one of a pair of blue and pink crystals. There was a small bronze plaque under bowl, which Jack began to read to himself:

"Amouth Tribute - These crystals were given to princess Celistia by the griffin king Amouth as tribute for the Equstrian Army's assistance against the baboon tribe’s aggression in the southern griffin empire's kingdom.

Originally these crystals were thought to be midnight glow stones, but they were found to have a latent magical energy to them that can not be easily described by our scholars. They are placed here to remind patrons that there are always new mystery's to be discovered."

The crystals Inside the glass ball seemed to glow ever so slightly, emitting a very subtle pink glow that shifted hue ever so slightly. It was like watching a sunset trapped in an eternal struggle to set. The objects were clearly magical in nature, but otherwise seemed completely mundane. At least for Equestrian standards.

Shaking his head Jack gave up on the library and the crystals. He walked over to the last place the griffin was standing, the only thing there was the watering can. Turning the can over in his hands he was looking for something, anything, that might identify the griffin. All he found was a single tiny downy feather that was pinched at the can's handle.

Removing the feather Jack started twisting it between his fingers observing the slight coloration in it, the grayish color on the tip caused Jack to come to a realization. He had seen this same colored feather earlier in the month. It was from the same griffon he saw by the track, the same one that caused him to pause during his run, Jack was sure of it now. But what exactly was he doing outside the library this late at night, and why did he seem to have an interest in these rather mundane crystals?

This seemingly mundane situation seemed so bloody cock eyed to him, but he just couldn't explain why. It just felt like instinct.

"Jack, is there something wrong?" Star asked again. She could tell he was bothered by something, but had no idea what.

Jack paused for a moment, continuing to stare at the small feather. Finally, he shook his head, "No, just thought I saw something odd. You didn't see a griffin here did you?"

Star shook her head, "No?" She tapped a hoof on her chin in thought, maybe she had seen a shadow, "Maybe?"

A small sigh escaped Jack's lips, he wasn't going to get anywhere just standing in the hallway. He was going to bring this up to Night Blade or someone else tonight, maybe they could do something, at the very lest maybe they could help him clear his head.

Shaking off the mysterious gardener, Jack turned his attention to Star. "So what are you doing here anyway?"

Star blushed slightly, "Oh, well I was just walking along, and happened to notice you. That's all." Her tail swished a few times, in nervous agitation.

"Uh huh," Jack wasn't convinced. "You were following me, weren't you?"

Star tried to hold back a smirk but couldn't, "Hmmm, maybe..."

"Star..." Jack grumbled in annoyance.

"Oh come on Jack, you weren't out at the track today and I was a bit worried. I wanted to make sure Night Blade didn't hurt your pride or anything."

"I'm fine Star. My legs are just a bit sore from yesterday." He rubbed the back of his right leg agin before looking around again.

After a few seconds she asked him again, "Are you sure you're alright?"

Shaking his head, Jack forced a smile, "I'm fine Star. Just something I need to bring up with Night Blade later."

The two began walking towards the main chambers, Jack turning back a few times just to see that everything was still ok. This was going to bother Jack all night, he just knew it. There was just something off about that damn griffin.

In the main chambers the Night Guard lined up in its usual formation waiting for their prince Luna to walk in and begin her nightly ceremony. Everything in the hall appeared normal, despite the heighten alert the castle was now under.

Even Luna appeared to be her normal self as she walked in between the guard. She even gave Jack a slight subtle smile, knowing his eyes were following her. Luna raised the moon as she had every evening and departed the thrown room. Leaving the night guard to their daily routine.

Night Blade turned to follow the princess, but was stopped by his guard, Jack. "Night Blade, sir. Do you have a minute?"

The captain had to keep from rolling his eyes. "What is it rookie?"

"Well sir, I wanted to talk to you about this griffin gardener I saw early tonight. He was outside the Griffin Historical Library near the diplomatic wing. He was over watering the plant and eying some crystals on display. He seemed really off when I saw him, and he ran off not long after."

Blade stared at him for several seconds after Jack had stopped. He showed no facial expression beyond boredom. "That's it?" He finally asked, "You saw a gardener over watering plants?"

"Well, sort of. Like I said wasn't just over watering them, he was staring these crystals."

Blade sighed and tapped a foot against his forehead, producing a light taping sound as his hoof tapped at the metal helmet.

"He was probably just tired and late finishing his duties." For a second Blade paused. He wanted to just dismiss Jack, but with all the thefts, and all the mistakes his group had made a little caution may be warranted. "Ok, look. I'll make sure we have a patrol near the area. You said it was the Griffin Historical library?"

Blade walked away, leaving Shadow to deal with the rest of the squad and their assignments. As he walked out of the hall, he paused to scan the corridors. It was getting late, and he still had to meet with the princess for their nightly briefing.

Turning away from where the princess was Night Blade headed towards the Royal guard's barracks. There standing in front of a small squad of Royal Guards was Janis, giving the last of his own nightly briefing to his guards.

Janis' blinked at seeing Night Blade in his barracks, “Night Blade, what brings you over here?”

"Evening Janis, my squad is spread pretty thin and I want to see if you could put an extra patrol in the diplomatic wing near the Griffin Library."

"That seems like an odd request. Why do you want to do that? Afraid the thief is going to steal a few books." Janis nervously laughed at the thought.

"No, my one guard brought up some concerns about it, and... I think it's worth having somepony patrol the area."

The statement caused Janis to raise his eyebrow, "Oh, which Guard? Was it the ape?"

Blade reluctantly nodded his head. "Yeah, Jack had some concerns, but I think it's worth considering."

Janis sighed as he thought about the request. "Look, I'll see if I can't make a round myself tonight, but I'm not making any promises."

Blade nodded “Thank you Janis. I have to get back to my duties.”

“Oh so you're just going to talk business and leave like that?” Janis gave his usual infectious laugh, which Night Blade returned.

“Yeah, sorry Janis. I have to get back to princess Luna for our nightly briefing.” Blade held his hoof out and shook Janis's, “Thanks again for the help. I'll owe you a cider later.” With that he quickly turned off to find princess Luna. He didn't hear Janis swear once he left the room.

Back in the throne room Moon Shadow had just about finished giving orders to the squad for the night. All that remained were Star Screech, Jack, and Mani. "You two will be patrolling tonight. You've both had recent experience with the loading zones, so I want you two to focus there."

Shadow turned his attention towards Mani, "Mani, I want you to watch over these two."

Mani nodded at the instructions before Shadow turned around to focus on his own assignments.

The three guards made their way to the loading zone, Mani talked the whole way there. Explaining what he expected each of them to do tonight. Jack wasn't really paying attention as his mind wandered back earlier in the night. He wondered for a moment if Blade was really going to take him seriously?

Star looked up at her human companion and his quizzical expression.

“Careful Jack, you already tore up your legs, you don't want to strain that muscle up their too.” She pointed her hoof at his head, and gave a quick smirk.

“Ha ha...” he responded in a dead pan voice, but her comments altered his thought train, “Hey Star, do you know a Day Guard by the name of 'Break Away'?”

“Yeah. We met back during basic. Almost never see each other anymore. She was... fun to hang out with though. Why? Did you meet her?”

“She kind of meet me, and I think she needs to learn personal space.”

Star started to laugh out loud, attracting the attention of Mani, “Something funny Star? You are paying attention to my directions right?”

“Oh yes. Patrol this hallway, make sure we're revealing each other every hour...”

Mani's eyebrow raised, he was surprised she was listening at all, “Well then, as I was saying-”

Jack leaned down to whisper to Star, “I didn't think you were listening at all.”

She shrugged, “I wasn't but this is a basic patrol. I might be lazy, but I know my job duties. Anyway, yeah. Break Away is a cool mare. She tends to be very forward, if she likes you she'll let you know...” Star paused, thinking about something for a moment.

“You know... I never thought she was into stallions before. You must have quite the charm to turn a mare chaser.” Star began to chortle at her own comment.

Mani wasn't amused, “Well, since you're so familiar with our rounds I'm going to have you take the first two shifts Star.”

And then there was nothing. For nearly four hours Jack and Star took turns walking down the hallway, patrolling the constantly dark, and quite palace.

Out of the corner of Jack's eye he could see Mani slouching at the end of the hallway. For a moment, Jack though Mani had fallen a sleep, but the gaurdpony shook his head and returned to attention.

Jack's own mind began to wander as his eyes gazed into the dark. Visions of dancing shadows and haunting whispers started to cloud his thoughts. The castle could be creepy at night. He tried to shake it off.

*Creak*

There off in the distance was a light sound, barely on the range of his perception. It sounded as if a door was opened and closed. Jack gazed around the loading dock doors, searching for the entity who made the noise. Probably Star doing patrols, he thought. Yet he was compelled to search further.

Leaving his post, he wandered off to investigate, and find the maker of that noise.

Walking down the hallway, he passed closed door, after closed door. Every one was shut tight, and there was no evidence that any had been opened recently.

Except perhaps for one. A smaller slight reddish door, whose hinges were slightly rusted from lack of used. Jack ran his hands over the door seem. It wasn't shut properly and when he pulled on it, he found that it opened without effort, making the same hunting groaning noise he heard just moments ago.

In the very corner of his left eye, there was a flash, barely perceivable. Just another haunting shadow, maybe. Looking around, couldn't see what caused it, and for all he knew it was just in his head.

A sudden shiver fell down his spine. He felt like he was being watched, like the darkness itself was observing him.

All down the hallway were support pillars, giving a person, or pony plenty of opportunities to hide, and plenty of objects to cast menacing shadows.

He scanned the corridor, but all he saw were the shadows, and another hallway.

Taking a chance, Jack hugged the wall as he peaked around the corner. He wasn't quite prepared for what he saw, a griffin, dark feathers grayish feet. Jack felt a surge of adrenalin once he recognized him. It was the griffin gardener from early, there was no question about it.

Jack didn't have to wonder about why he was here so late, he knew. From the first moment he saw him he knew there was something off about him. The griffin looked around, as if sensing that someone was following him.

Pushing himself tightly against the wall, Jack could only hope the griffin hadn't seen him yet. He held his breath while the griffin glared around the corridor. His feathers around his head puffed out slightly. For a moment Jack though he had been spotted, he was tightening his muscles about to charge him, but then the griffin turned around and started pushing his feathers down before running deeper into the castle.

A sigh escaped his lips as he stopped holding his breath.

"Jack what- Mh? MM!" Star Screech sneaked up on Jack, and without thinking Jack had grabbed her muzzle to silence her.

He leaned in close to her ear, "Star I need you to be very quite, understand?" Star looked at Jack quizzically, but nodded her head in agreement.

"I don't know why, but that same griffin from earlier is running around the castle corridors right now. I'm following him." He whispered.

"What? Why would a gardener be-"

*Thud*

Off in the distance, there was the sound, as if something soft had smacked itself against something hard.

Jack and Star jogged a few meters down the hall where they saw a night guard laying on the ground. Given the lack of insignia he was only a rookie. His helmet as dented and lightly scratched, like something with claws had grabbed it and impacted it into the wall.

Reaching down, Star felt along his neck for a pulse. There was one, but it felt faint.

"Is he ok?" Jack whispered.

Star shrugged her head, "He's got a pulse. I don't think there's anything wrong, he's just unconscious."

*clink, clink*

Down the black hallway, the sound of tiny metal objects hitting the ground could be heard. Jack's mussels contracted as his blood began to surge. Glaring down at Star he spoke, "We'll help him later, we need to stop that griffin."

The two guards broke into a run. Jack's leg was already burning as he moved down the hallway. Then, in the middle of the hallway all along the ground, were some bits of metal, tiny star like objects that reminded Jack of the old kung fu movies he used to watch.

Looking around, there was no one around. The Griffin had clearly dropped his gear, but had already run off.

"I don't see him Jack." Star looked around.

The sound of Jack grind his teeth was all that could be heard in the darkness. He was frustrated that the griffin had gotten away, until he remembered something. "Star lets go, I think I know where he is."

Picking up the pace again, Jack broke into a run. He forced his mind to ignore the pain in his leg. If he had the time to think about it, he would have been grateful that he didn't exercise today.

The two ran down the hallway, passing a few guards as they did so. A few starred at the two, the rest seemed to ignore them.

Ruining, down the halls, and around corners until.

*Crash*

The sound of breaking glass could be heard.

"STOP!" Jack yelled as he saw the griffin reach into the glass spheres. The thief grabbed the crystals and turned to face the two Guards.

Scratching at the marble ground, he charged them. Jack stood his ground, expecting the Griffin the impact the two of them, but instead he jumped. His wings allowed him to bound over the two and run off back down the hallways, the same way they had come.

The smooth marble stone work made it hard to get traction with his talons. He stretched his wings, out trying to steady himself, but all the hallways ahead were just to narrow for the larger griffin to fly.

Jack and Star sprinted after the thief. As they turned a corner, Mani was waiting for them. "Jack, Star, stop!" He yelled, but it did no good. Mani swore once before picking up the pace to join them. He was closing in behind them.

"Jack! Star!" He yelled. "What's going on, who are you chasein-"

*Bang, Crack*

The stone and marble pillar next to Mani exploded as the thief threw something at them.

"Dear Celistia!" Mani cried.

The hallway ran back towards the loading zone and the split in the path came up. Jack tried to remember the castle layout, down the hallway to the left was the barrettes and an exit to the courtyard. If the thief ran down there he could just fly off into the night and escape.

He had to think of something. On his left side Mani was running after the griffin, the bat pony was clearly quicker, but too small to actually stop him. 'That's it,' Jack thought.

“Mani! Go left!” Jack called to his squad member as they approached the split. The griffin thief heard the command and veered to the right. Jack smiled, he did exactly what he wanted. Mani stopped in his tracts blocking the griffin from reaching the hallway.

The griffin skid to a halt and took a hard right, his sharp talons leaving some scratches on the polished marble floor as he ran in the opposite direction from the Guards.

Near the end of the hallway, was a large window. Big enough that the thief could fly through it. He took a second to think, before picking up speed. Breaking through the glass would hurt. He was sure to be badly cut up, but it was a way out. It was his best hope of escape.

Seeing the window, Star and Jack knew what his plan was. They saw him speed up, neither of them were fast enough to catch up with the griffin. But Star had one last trick up her sleeve.

“Jack!” Star Screech yelled to him and opened her mouth. He nodded his head once he realized what she was going to do. Jack stopped and covered his ears as tight as he could.

The griffin thief leaped into the air as he was going to bound through the window.

"EEEEEEEEEE" Star's Screech was loud and ear piercing. Even with his fingers in his ears Jack could still feel some of the effects of her soul screech as his legs began to wobble under him.

The griffin tried to move, tried to twirl or shift, but his body wouldn't respond. Star's screech had paralyzed him. The thief ended up missing the window entirely and impacted into the wall face first.

*Crunch*

There was a loud crunching sound, as part of the griffin's beak crumpled and broke off.

The griffin fell to the ground and began rolling around in pain. He tired to reach up and rub away the sharp numb pain in his face, but his front legs refused to work.

Jack and Star ran up to him to hold him down, and keep him from getting up.

As he tried to roll on the ground, he began to scream and yell obscenities. A small trickle of blood started to flow down his broken beak.

Jack began to feel along the griffin's side, looking for weapons. Instead, the first thing he found was some coiled length rope. Using this fortuitous luck, he quickly proceeded to hog tie the now flailing thief.

The griffin laid on the floor with his back and front legs tied. As he regained control of his extremities, he started to struggle and move under the rope, trying to get out from the bindings he found himself in. His powerful wings knocked Jack back.

Star took the opportunity to bite down on his wing, hard. The griffin screeched at the pain.

Jack picked himself up and using the last of the rope, he wrap the griffin's wings up. Preventing them from moving. Once the thief was fully bound, Jack undid the belt around the griffin's waste and removed the daggers he had found and a other objects he had been throwing at them.

"Jack, Star!" Mani called from around the corner, clearly out of breath. He broke his run once he saw that the griffin was incapacitated.

"Wow, good job you guys." Mani walked towards the three and looked over the griffin's bindings.

"By the ancestors I'll scratch your throats out!" He tried to squawk but the break in his beak added an unexpected whistle to his cries.

The three guards started to laugh at his futile efforts. "Damn, that was one hell of a trick Jack. I don't know if I should be impressed or mad that you used me like that." Mani glared at Jack with half a smile on his face.

Jack finished with the insult by removing the thief’s bag, and searching though it's contents.

The thief looked at Jack and growled, before finally giving up.

Mani walked around the griffin and felt along parts of his body, looking for any other contraband or possible weapons on him. While he didn't find any more weapons, there was a folded bit of parchment in a small pocket under his leg. Mani opened it up and started reading it.

Meanwhile, Jack was rummaging through the bag, he pulled out some more of the magical daggers, also some jewels and of course, the crystals. He looked at them, and quickly placed them as being from in the display cases by the library.

The crystals were quite pretty and almost seemed to glow with a light pink light, but again for Equstria, they seemed very unremarkable. It seemed odd for a thief to break into Canterlot castle just to steal some rather trivial objects. What did he want them for?

"Hey Mani, what do you think about these crystals?"

Mani held a vacant look in his eyes as he read the note over one more time.

"Mani," Jack queried again.

"I, umm, sorry Jack, but what?"

"These crystals, is there anything special about them?"

Mani thought about the question for a moment, "Not that I know of. I mean they aren't common, but nor are they particularly rare either. Should probably ask someone more qualified than me though." Mani looked over the note once more, "Jack, I need to grab the rest of the squad. You and Star keep an eye on our thief. DO NOT let the Day Guard near him." Mani Barked before running off down the long corridor and disappeared.

Jack thought the statement odd, but he wasn't going to question Mani's orders. Instead, he walked around the griffin surveying his binding to ensure they wouldn't come lose. As he did so Jack couldn't help but notice the rather small package between the griffin's legs and had all he could do to keep a smirk from forming. “You know Star. I can see what you mean about griffins being small.”

Star hit Jack between his armor plate. A clear blush could be seen beneath her fur. "Shut up Jack."

The sound of hoof steps could be heard down the hallway. Star's ears perked up as the sound grew louder, and louder.

"Sound like a small army." She tried to joke, but the sweat on her forehead spoke to her true feelings.

Around the corner a fairly large group of Royal guards appeared, who were trailed by two Night Guards, Luceppie, and a newer rookie who Star and Jack didn't recognize. At the front of the pack was the Day Captain, Janis.

Seeing the griffin tied up on the ground the Captain scowled at Star and Jack.

“What is the meaning of this?” The captain yelled at the two night guard.

“What are you doing with that griffin? There's a thief on the loose you should be helping us catch them!” Janis walked to the griffin, but was stopped by Jack who put his hand against the captain's chest.

“I'm sorry captain, but I have orders not to let anyone near the prisoner.”

The rage in the captian's eyes grew. If it was possible, Jack could have sworn he saw literal fire in them.

"Listen to me rookie." The guard captain growled between his teeth. "I said let. him. go."

Jack stepped back a pace, giving the guard captain a bit of breathing room Obviously he couldn't let just this thief go. He had no idea what this guard captain was on about, but judging from the look in his squads eyes they would be more than willing to defend the captain, even if he was wrong. Luceppie and the new rookie took a stance against the Day Guard squad.

All of the Day Guard appeared to be read for a fight, even if none of them knew why. Jack had to admit they were well trained, even if wrong.

"Actually captain, I was wondering if you could explain this?" Mani ran back to the two Guard squads and held up the note he had been holding, by his side was Night Blade, and Princess Luna.

Janis looked back at the three. “What note?” He cleared his throat and stood tall, “Why, I'm just trying to protect an innocent citizen for unnecessary detainment.”

Mani slapped his hoof against the note, “Captain, this note is written in your hand writing. After all the shipping manifest I process for your group I couldn't mistake it. Then there's the codes and access points. Much of this data only a Captain would know.” The three approached the now cowering captain, “Finally, there's the final nail in the coffin, one particular code, the magic sequence needed to unlock the special storage room. Every captain has their own code, Princess Luna told me this is indeed yours.”

The Captain was about to put a fight before finally realizing the futility of the action.

"Captain..." One of his subordinate half whispered in disbelief.

Janis couldn't look his squad in the eyes as he was escorted out of the hallway by the princess. However, there was one that he could look at. Janis glared at Jack as he walked by him and whispered "I'll see you again. Ape."

Chapter 9: Debrief

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 10: Some Morning Fun

Author's Note

Another content warning. This chapter will contain M/M clop. I know this isn't every one's cup of tea, but I felt it a bit necessary to advance some of the characters a bit. If you don't like M/M stuff you can skip this chapter. You wont miss too much but some future character developments might seem a bit out of left field. Either way, I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 10: Some Morning Fun

The tired sounds of the bat pony captain's hooves could be heard as he walk down the long corridor. The path he took felt long, longer than it should have. Perhaps it was just because Night Blade made it a point to drop the large and heavy folder in his office. He would have to find Mani later as it was too late to worry about that now. No doubt the pony was asleep in his bed, which is exactly where Blade wanted to be right now. well, not exactly Mani's bed, though the captain would never admit it he did have one or two thoughts about his 3rd in command.

Through out the castle Day Guard and Royal Guard patrolled the hallways. A handful saluted him as he walked by, but the majority just went about their day oblivious to the higher ranking Gaurd. Despite his sleeplessness, he still felt irked by the lack of respect paid by his fellow Guard as they walked by. It had taken years to get where he was, and required no shortage of ass kissing to make his higher-ups ignore his sexual indiscretions and choice of mates. The higher you went in the Guards and the greater your rank, the more model of a Guard you were expected to be. Which often meant acting like a noble, and following the core value of the Guards.

In particular, one of the core values of the Guards was harmony, specifically harmony with in your family. That meant having a family, and honoring them. It was unfortunate to say that this was not the case for the Captain. While it was true he did have a small family, they were less than happy with most of the choices he had made. Aside from joining the Guards of course.

At the end of the long walk, Blade made it to his room. The door to Blade's room clicked open and the stallion pushed the heavy wooden frame open. Under the blue and purple covers of his bed laid a sleeping and peaceful orange bat pony. Given the light snores it would be reasonable to assume he was asleep. Blade slowly made his way towards his bed, not even bothering to remove his armor. The sound of his armor clanking against itself filled the room, barley stirring the sleeping occupant. Once at the foot of his bed, he fell forward on to the soft covers. The shaking bed and noise finally awoke the other occupant.

"You look tired love." Autumn yawned as he spoke next to him.

"Mmmm." Was the only response Blade could muster.

A small hoof crept up to Blade's shoulder and began rubbing him in just the right spot. "Long night?" Autumn asked.

Turning his head, a small smile replaced the frown Blade had worn when he came in. "Yeah. Finally caught that bucking thief."

"Oh! That's wonderful news." Autumn came in close to Blade's lips for a kiss. "We should celebrate!” the orange pony spoke with a particularly lewd smile and Autumn's hoof crept lower, undoing a few straps from Night Blade's armor as he move ever downward. A moan of agreement came from Blade as he felt Autumn rubbing down the side of his chest. He wasn't about to ask Autumn to stop or even slow down his quick pace. The truth was he needed a bit of release after the past few nights. Another moan escaped him as his body rolled around, laying him on his back and giving Autumn easier access to his armor and ultimately, himself.

Slowly, the heavy armor fell from his sides, as Autumn’s hoof continued to drift steadily downward to Blade's warm and still slightly soft package. Reaching his prize, Autumn rubbed the soft spongy frog of his hoof over the peaking pony cock that started to slide out of it's sheath. Lovingly, Autumn played with Blade’s cock as it very quickly grew hard. The fast growing and now throbbing erection showing how desperately Blade needed some sexual release.

"Oh my, somepony is eager this morning." Autumn’s muzzle drifted down to the now hardened fleshy member. His lips touched the tip of Blade's cock as he gave a small kiss to it's tip. The stallion jumped in need at the sensation, and Autumn knew he shouldn't tease his lover this morning. Well, too much anyway. The tip of Autumn's tongue licked across the head of Blade's cock, tasting the tender flesh, and eliciting a tiny moan of enjoyment from Blade once more.

"Oh Autumn, you have no idea how MUCH!" Blade yelped as Autumn bit ever so gently at his tip. Just enough to cause a surge of pleasure with the slight shock pain. Looking up, Blade saw the orange pony smiled as his muzzle began to engulf the very tip of Blade's cock. That lewd feeling of Autumn hot and wet mouth caused his head to roll back and hit the pillow.

"Mmmm..." Autumn moaned taking in the taste and sent of Blade's sweaty and sweet cock skin. Blade began to drool just a bit from the sensation of the orange pony sucking on him. Autumn swirled his tongue around the member, taking in the tastes of Blade's neglected stalionhood, and savoring the trickle of pre that started to leak from the tip.

Licking and sucking was fine, but Autumn wanted more and he began to quickly bob his head up and down Blade's shaft. Each movement down brought just a bit more of his cock into his throat. Deeper and deeper, till Autumn's muzzle began to tickle Blade's heavy balls. The feeling of having his mouth full of pony cock sent shivers down Autumn's spine and his tail unconsciously moved to the side exposing his stallion plot, and his own set of orange furry love orbs.

"Oh buck..." Blade moaned as he felt Autumn take his entire length down his throat again. The pony's throat relaxed and contacted around him as Autumn swallowed the tick member. Sensing a need to breath, he reluctantly pulled off the shaft just far enough to take a few short breaths before bottoming out again.

Autumn's hips gyrated over the smooth covers in tune with his mouth and he felt himself start to grow with his own need. Reaching a hoof down, Autumn began to slowly stroke his own growing stalionhood as he continued to suck on Blade's.

The back of Autumn's throat grew tighter as Blade's top began to flair. Reluctantly, Autumn took his lips off of Blade's member. He stared at the pulsing cock as it relaxed just slightly.

"My, you really are pent up." Autumn hummed to Blade and his throbbing blade.

"Autumn... you have no idea." His voice was shaky and almost pleading for release.

Sticking his tongue out, Autumn licked the length of the pulsating shaft from bottom to top. A wicked smile crossed his lips. "Well, if you're this pent up... I know something we can do."

Curious Blade watched Autumn stand up, exposing his large orange cock to him, which was just starting to leak it's own clear juices. The orange pony took a moment to play with his hair, knowing his lover enjoyed staring at his body and cock as he did so. Sensing his deep need Autumn stopped teasing Night Blade and stood over top of him, positioning his cock just over Blades. Quickly he lowered him self down so their two cocks were rubbing against each other.

As soon as he felt flesh on flesh, Autumn began to thrust his dick over Blade's causing him to moan out loud again. The sensation of their two cocks rubbing was both soft and delicate. The teasing pleasure ran down Blades cock, and caused his balls to contract just a bit further as another drop of pre leaked out on his chest. Autumn reached his hoof down and rubbed the soft skin over the tip of Blade's sensitive member picking up the pre on his hoof.

"You always. Liked this position. But always had. a hard time. cumming from it." Autumn panted and brought his hoof to his mouth, licking the love juice off of it.

Blade's breathing became quicker at the sight of his lover eating his pre cum like it was cake batter. "Oh Fuck. Autumn, I don't think I can hold out." Blade's cock throbbed as his head flared, he was just about there.

Looking up, Autumn stuck his tongue out and lapped at Blade's mouth, drooling over him. The Smirk on Autumn's face and the sensation of his tongue, sent Blade over the edge as his cock began to throb releasing a torrent of cum all over his chest. Blade's cock pulsed, and his hips trusted as he shot rope after sticky rope over himself.

"Buck..."

After a few more spurts, his cock's pulsing slowed and his cum stopped flowing. His stalionhood quickly softened before resting on top of Blade's abdomen, in a pool of its own cream.

Sticking his tongue out again, Autumn began to lap up some of Blade’s love batter off his chin as he continued to rub his hips and cock over Blade's now soften but still exposed dick. The taste of Blade Juice was almost enough to push him over.

Sensing his partners frustration Blade reached a hoof up and began to stroke the orange member, pushing his lover over his own edge. "Oh Blade, I'm almost... Unnnn." Autumn cried out as his dick began to pulse, and send its own spurts over Blade’s foreleg, chest and a single strand landed over his mouth, which he licked off with a greedy smile.

Autumn, laughed a bit at the tingling sensation that washed over him, before falling onto Blade's chest. The orange pony took a few moments and tried to catch his breath. There was no sound but the panting of the two colts as they basked in each others love.

Autumn’s eyes caught sight of his own love glaze on Blade's hoof. Without bothering to ask, he picked up the cum covered hoof and slowly began licking his own love batter off it. The sight and sensation caused Blade's hips to thrust a few times unconsciously, his cock threatening to grow hard once more.

"Mmmm, I think we taste good together, love. Want to try some?" Autumn didn't wait for a response as he came in close to Blade's muzzle and kissed him deeply. The tangy musky taste of the two's sex rubbed against his mouth tongue. His softening cock twitched again.

Finally, Autumn laid his head back on Night Blade's still sticky chest and the two lovers sighed in contentment.

"You still tired love?" Autumn asked.

"Not as much as I was. Why, what did you have in mind?"

"Fancy a drink or two? After a shower of course." Autumn chuckled.

Not waiting for an answer Autumn got up, encouraging Blade to join him. His hips swayed slightly as he gave a sultry walk toward a small door opposite the bed, his soften cock swing beneath him as he walked. Inside was a shower stall, just big enough for the two. This was at least one thing Blade's room had over Jacks. Of course Jack was that last thing on Blade's mind as he watched Autumn's velvety wings twitch and shutter as he entered the shower. "Coming?" Autumn asked Blade before disappearing full behind the shower door.

Without waiting a moment more, Blade jumped out of bed and trotted to the shower. Joining his lover under the running water for a bit more fun. The shower wasn't exactly big, but it was just right to fit the two bat ponies. All around the some what fancy tile work, were bottle scattered about. A few were different types of soap, one used for the thick bat pony mane,another for the thinner bat pony coat, and one for the thinnest velvety fur along their wings. In addition, there were bottles of conditioner and oils used almost exclusively by Blade's lover.

Picking up a particular bottle of shampoo, Blade rubbed his hoof through Autumn's silken fur, lathering up a foamy sea with the tiny amount of soap he used. The orange pony's fur was always well taken care of, with conditioners and oils bought from Blade's own purse. Thought Blade didn't mind expense. Quite the opposite in fact, he enjoyed his partners fur and velvety wings. Both beneath his hooves and on other things he might rub against them.

"Hmmm, I think I'm clean love. Time for yours." Autumn turned Blade around and quickly went for his back. A spot he knew his lover to be weakest at. Reaching for a bottle of his own oil the orange pony genitally applied it to the spot right between the Night Guard's wings.

"Oh goddess yes..." Blade moaned as Autumn's hoof rubbed into his sore androgynous zone. A shiver ran down his spine at the sensation. While Autumn's massages weren't quite as good as sex, they were damn close.

Autumn returned his hoof to Blade's shoulder and slowly rubbed some soap into the sore muscle mass. "Oh, that feels amazing." Blade moaned again as The pony behind him continued to work his hoofs around his neck and back.

The feeling of Blade's muscles contracting under hoof, gave Autumn pause. There was more there than just physical tention, he could tell there was something wrong, but what? "It seems like there's something bothering you. Want to talk about it?"

A small sigh escaped Blade's mouth and he shut his eyes tight. Trying desperately to force out the feelings and thought he had. Normally, Blade was a very closed and composed pony. Even in front of his mate he never seemed to fully let his guard down. Thought there were the rare moments, such as this one.

"There are times when I wonder why I'm still here." He mused absently.

Autumn slowed his massage slightly, "W-what? Where's this coming from?" His voice showed concern, uncertain what Blade actually meant.

"Heh. I didn't mean like that Autumn." He laughed and tried to defuse unintended tension he just created. "I'm Just thinking about the Guards is all. Every night I get up, and head to royal chambers, and every morning I come back here. I work hard, and never seem to really get any further." He took a long pause as he felt Autumn's hoof rubbing at his flanks. A few dirty thoughts crossed his mind as he thought about other areas he could be rubbing.

"It's getting old and It's not like my family respects me any more then they did when I told them..." Blade winced. He didn't mean to bring up that last point.

"...about me you mean." Autumn slowed his massage as he finished Blade's sentence for him

Blade took a deep breath, not meaning to bring up old wounds. "I'm sorry Autumn, you know I didn't mean it like that... It's just, I got another letter from them yesterday and you know how they are. How disappointed in me they were. All because they can't have a fucking grand-foal to carry on the family line. Ha. To hell with our crappy lineage." Blade's head fell as he thought about his noble family lineage and the fact was the last of his line. His parents, grandparents, and even his sterile uncle all depended on him to keep the family going. So much weight on his shoulders and he had tried to shrug it off, all to be with the pony he loved. Autumn and him had this conversation twice before and the orange pony knew how much it effect his mate. That's why it was so rarely brought up.

Slowly Autumn went back to his massage, while he thought about it. Blade wasn't happy here, and all he was doing was taking it out on everypony else.

The look on Autumn's face quickly turned from sad to one of determination. "So then lets leave! You don't have to be a guard to impress me, and to hell with your family!"

"Autumn, you know it's not that simple, I can't just leave." Blade shook his head as he spoke.

"Why not?" Autumn stomped his hooves on the ground in agitation.

Sensing that his massage was over, Night Blade turned around but couldn't quite look Autumn in the eyes. "You know what my family would do if I just up and left. This is the only thing about me, about us, that they approve of. At least in the Guards I have some hope of continuing my family's legacy. In history books if no where else."

"So what if your parents aren't happy with you, big deal." Autumn grabbed Night Blades face and turned his muzzle towards his. "I love you." Opening his mouth he placed it over Blades and slowly slipped his tongue inside.

After their kiss, the two focused theirs eyes on one another. "Isn't that enough?" Autumn whispered.

A smile crept up Blade's muzzle as he saw the golden amber eyes in front of him sparkle. Reaching around he grabbed Autumn's head and pull him back in for another kiss, "You were always enough, for me... Orange."

Autumn pushed him away with a playful shove. "I told you never to call me that." With a shake of his head, Autumn shut the shower off and head out of the bathroom.

"You know, I've been thinking about this. We could always try and find a surrogate. I mean, if your parents are that upset at not having grand-foals. That is their biggest argument about me, isn't it? That I can't give you foals?" Autumn tossed a towel to Blade who quickly began drying himself off more haphazardly than Autumn.

"A surrogate?" Blade said with some uncertainty. The idea had never come up before, and in truth he wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. "I don't know. How would that even work?"

"Well, my cousin's never going to get married. She said so herself multiple times. She kind of wants foals but doesn't really want to raise them. Plus she's kind of got the same problem as me. Being only interested in mares and all..."

Tossing his towel on the bed he stared at Autumn for a moment as he slowly dried his mane. It took a while to process what he said, tiring to find some element of humor or laughter in his words, but it was clear he wasn't joking. "So you want me to fuck your cousin. I know you're kinky, that's one of the things that I always liked about you. But that's nuts, even from you." Turning away from Autumn, Blade opened his bedroom door to leave.

"It was just an idea!" Autumn dropped his towel and ran out after Blade, mildly agitated that he couldn't completely dry himself.

Blade laughed and looked back at his colt. "You're lucky you have a cute butt Autumn, cause I don't like I could love you for just your mind." Lifting his hoof up, Blade gave Autumn's ass a quick smack.

"Hey!" Autumn yelped in mock protested to both the insult and smack.

The door to their room clicked shut as Blade and Autumn headed out towards the Midnight Well.

Chapter 11: Developments

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 12: Bar Flies

The Midnight Well was unusually crowded for a random weeknight. All most all of the seats were taken and there was really only standing room at this point. Strangely, a large portion of its occupants were griffin's, probably here because of the thief’s trial coming up. It was unusual to see A citizen of the Griffin Empire being tried by the Equestrian Judicial system. As such it brought out a large number of interested and possibly vested parties. The speed at which his trial was getting start was also surprising, to Jack at least.

Yet, despite this up tick in business for the Midnight Well, the bar tender was clearly not having a fun time dealing with the bit pinching birds which had flocked to his own little nest egg.

"Four bits for a mug of pony cider. You're off your rocker!" A particularly gruff and gray griffin called out to the pony bar tender.

The unicorn bar tender glared at the griffin, his face unmoving and flat."That's the price. If you don't want to pay four bits here, you can head down the street and pay six some place else!" Having enough of the pointless bickering the bartender walked away from the griffin all the while the cat bird continued to argue to the bartender's back. The sound of the only two free bar stools sliding out was muffled by the loud griffin's arguing, and the bartender didn't realize the two new customers at first.

"Hey mugs!" A larger female griffin called to the bartender. Even with this sized crowd and the noisy bar she was hard to miss, both because of the loud boisterous voice she had, and also from the large patch of blue and purple feathers atop her head otherwise white head. The unicorn turned around. That same stony face glaring in the direction of the noise, not fully aware of who it was that had made it. "We'll take two mugs of Everfree Ale.” She smiled at the clearly agitated bartender.

It took a moment, but the unicorn's features softened slightly and he smiled at the larger griffin and to the smaller griffiness companion by her side. Unlike many of the birds here, he knew these two fairly well. After quickly pouring and sliding the mugs down the bar, the griffiness pulled out ten silver bits and handed them off the over worked bartender. "Keep the change dude. You deserve it for dealing with these bird brains."

Not far from them, Star and Jack sat at a table talking among themselves. Despite the larger than normal tables, for Equestria anyway, Jack still felt a bit cramped at the table as his knees bumped against it's underside. Occasionally, he would try and jiggle his leg while he sat, but the lack of any real leg room prevented that, much to his calves displeasure. He'd rather be at the bar of course, but in truth they were lucky to even get this table.

The bar was so noisy that even away from the majority of the crowd the two had to yell at each, just to get their voices across the volume in the bar.

"So you really think I'll have a chance with Luna now? I mean, you didn't do anything but piss her off!?" Jack spoke in a voice just below screaming.

Star Screech shook her head, "Jack. You don't know females very well!" she laughed and took a swing of her ale. “Yes. You have a chance with Luna now! Trust me on this! Mares are weird, they are more interested in the stallions they can't have!” She finished off with another laugh.

Even with the volume of the bar, the yelling and laughter of the two Night Guards caught the tiny ears of the near by griffiness. The bird's head twisted around the bar in search of the loud and slightly obnoxious pony voice that sounded so familiar. As soon as she spotted that gray and purple bat mare, the bird like eyes constricted and she pounced over behind Star leaving her own friend at the bar, alone. Jack's own eyes opened in start as the predatory bird hopped behind his mare friend, he wasn't sure what to expect, but by all appearances it didn't look good.

"Star Screech! You fucking slut!" The large griffin yelled behind Star's back.

Any semblance of humor and laughter in Star's face drained. Her eye began to twitch at being called a slut quite literally behind her back.

Even over the noisy bar the griffin's shout could be heard all around, and several sets of eyes turned their way. Jack's heart began to pump and he pushed away from the table slightly, readying himself to pull Star out of a clearly impending bar fight. No doubt this griffin was a victim of Star's advances at one time. Maybe she had lost a mate, or something else, he didn't really know or care the why.

Star's wings out stretched a her face turned into one of pure rage, "Who the bucking hell are-" Upon turning around Star's jaw dropped. Her frown turned into confusion, then quickly turned back up into a smile.

"Talon!" She yelled and threw her hooves around the large feathery neck in front of her, hugging her just a bit too hard. "Oh shit. It's been too long! And who are you calling a slut, slut."

The two females hugged each other and began laughing at their insults to one another. It took Jack a moment, but he eventually sat back in his seat. He was more than a little confused about what was happening, but none the less relived that there wasn't going to be a fight. At least, not one at the moment.

The smaller griffin took the opportunity to wander from the bar and stood next to Jack. Her tiny body had moved so silently that Jack didn't notice her until she spoke, "I-I wouldn't worry about it. Talon is always like this." She tried to calm him down a bit. In truth, she had startled him just a bit with her unintended stealth.

"Oh?" He whispered to her, unsure who she actually was or who this Talon was for that matter.

The tiny griffin looked down and forced a smile. It was quickly obvious to her that this creature had no idea who she was or that she had even sneaked up behind him.

"Sorry, I'm Feather Fall." The smaller griffin bowed slightly, and forced a smile back at Jack. As she stood next to him, Jack was able to get a decent look at the smaller griffin. Going by appearances, there wasn't much special about her, other than her size. Her brownish fur matched her just off white feathers, and her deep brown iris sparkled with a hint of intimidation from the larger creature in front of her. Unlike Talon, who was brash both in personality and appearance, Feather Fall was completely, well, plain and timid.

Speaking of Talon, Jack's attention turned to watched the two on the opposite side of the table interact as they laughed and joked with each other. The deep purple iris of Talon complementing the Amethyst colored eyes of Star Screech.

This larger griffin seemed so much different from the ones he was used to meeting with. Usually they were penny pinching buzzards who's idea of a good time was locking themselves away to count their bits, and they very rarely ever made friends. But it was quite clear from their interactions, that Talon and Star were friends. Good ones at that.

As if sensing his thoughts, and not liking the feeling of being ignored, the smaller griffin cleared her throat. "T-talon and myself are different from the other griffins here. We both grew up in Equestria. Talon grew up in the northern Bat Pony Colonies and I grew up in Manehatten."

Turning his head around, Jack stared at the smaller pony and gave a slight nod of his head. "Really? Manehatten. I wouldn't have guessed.” Relaxing a bit more he went back to sipping at his cider. Confident that there wasn't anything to worry about, at the moment anyway.

"Yeah, most ponies say that about me.” She shrugged and lowered her head slightly, “I'm too timid to have come from such a big city." Feather laughed slightly, the conversation clearly helping to easy the mild fear she felt at being around a larger creature than her self.

Picking up on her incredible shyness, Jack thought it best to lead the conversation a bit, "So what brings you to Canterlot?”

“Oh, I live here now. Just on the outskirts of town. Talon lives just down the street from me.” Feather's eyes drifted towards Talon and Star as they laughed quite loudly and made their way to the bar, probably for shots or something stronger to drink than just ale.

Feather began to explain her housing situation, her mildly upscale villa, that was frequently crashed by Talon. Meanwhile, Talon apparently had a, now run down, condo. In fact, from what feather kept going on about, Talon frequently had parties at her condo, and had recently moved them to Feather's villa. Much to her dismay.

Across the bar, Jack took note of the shots Talon and Star took off the bar, apparently staring a short drinking contest with a near by pony. From Talon's shouting and the pony quickly falling on his arse, Jack would assume Star and her won. Meanwhile, Feather Fall just sipped at her fist mug of ale, continuing to talk about her friend more than anything else.

Their differences seemed quite striking, and curiosity got the better of him. “You two seem quite different, how did you and Talon meet?" Jack asked.

"Well we-" Feather wasn't able to finish her thought as Talon jumped up behind her, much as she had done to Star earlier.

Grabbing the top of Feather Fall's head Talon began to ruffle the tips of her feathers with her claws. "Me and Feathers here meet in Canterlot a few years ago." Talon smiled at the small griffiness who seemed a bit uncomfortable with all the physical contact, even if she was still smiling.

"A couple of years ago there was a large gathering of Guard Ponies for a conference, and we happened to be attending for different reasons. We've been friends ever since.” Talon finally let go of Feather Fall and reached out to take a swig of her newly filled mug. The large number of shots she had just taken didn't seem to be effecting her or at least Jack couldn't tell if they were.

In fact, as Jack continued to observe the two he grew a bit confused and surprised. The thought of these two in the Guard seemed quite odd. "So you two are in the Guard then?” He asked.

The large griffin laughed at the comment. "No. We get asked that a lot. We would best be though of as consultants."

"Oh, and what do you consulate on?"

"Oh, you know. Things." Talon slowly came closer to Jack, slightly invading his space.

Whether it was the alcohol or just a familiarity with Star's behavior, Jack didn't react to the minor invasion.

As the two talked Talon kept growing closer and closer to Jack. Her movements made her fur brush over his clothing and her tail would occasionally wrap around his leg. Jack for the most part, remained oblivious to the griffin's obvious advancements, though he did make note of a particularly musky sent she was wearing. His passive attention to her only brought her close to him, as she took his indifference as a sign to continue and even redouble her efforts.

Meanwhile, the smaller griffiness watched the Human and her friend from across the table. A strong blush on her face as she saw what Talon was trying to do. She would never say it out right, but she often wished she was as out going as Talon. She watched as Talon rubbed along the human's side, the subtle traces of her hormone driven state becoming more obvious to everyone around, everyone that is, but Jack.

A momentary gap in Talon's rambling, encouraged Feather to speak up and answer the question that Talon seemed to so far ignore. "W-we both provide support services for the Guards. I'm an actuary consultant, and I teach other ponies and griffins how to manage larger filing systems. Talon is-" Feather Fall's sentence was interrupted again by Talon's boisterous voice.

"And I'm a consultant on griffin combat and incarceration. I teach the Guards how to handle griffin criminals and teach griffins how to integrate into the Guards. Basically, I teach the ponies here how to handle us and for the ponies to handle griffins." Talon took a long chug on her mug and slammed it on the bar. A large grin spread across her face, born from both alcohol and something more primal. “Sometime it can get a bit… physical. I like that.”

Not sensing the deep innuendo Jack nodded at her comment. “Yeah, hands on experiences can be useful.”

Talon laughed and ran a claw down Jack's arm. Quickly she looked back at Feather Fall and with a winked said, "Well what do you think Feather Blush? Think I can teach the ape to handle a griffin in heat?"

Jack couldn't help but cough and spit out the cider he was in the process of drinking. Star and Talon both laughed hysterically, while Feather Fall, true to the nickname Talon gave her turned beat red.

"I-I d-don't..." The small griffin ducked lower trying to become ever smaller. Finally taking a sip of her ale so she wouldn't have to speak.

"Relax Feather, I was only kidding with you.” Talon ran a claw down Jack's arm again before laughing. With a swish of her tail she wandered back up to the bar for a refill on her ale, not waiting for a response from Jack.

Feather Fall's mind turned with the crass statement Talon had made, while Jack just shook it off with a nervous laugh and began sipping at his cider once more. In the back of his mind he had hoped she was just joking. Though the long glance he took at her flank as she walked away suggested a deeper part of him hoped she wasn't.

The conversation at the table grew silent as their most boisterous member waited by the bar. Feather's mind and cheeks burned with lewd thoughts she didn't want, and silence just made it worse. She had to say something.

"Honestly Jack, you are kind of cute but I-I just don't think I could..." Feather trailed off, not wanting to complete her own statement.

A laugh escaped Jack's lips, and Star just smiled at the conversation. Star found the tiny griffin to be amusing and cute, and Jack's almost oblivious attitude just made it all the better.

He smiled at the tiny bird and tried to disarm her nervousness. "I understand, you aren't looking for someone outside your species. I get it. Hell, I felt the same way for the longest of times."

Feather shook her head. "No, that's not it. I-I actually wouldn't mind dating somepony. Somepony handsome, maybe even a-a bit stern and commanding, but gentle. But, well umm...” Feather took a deep breath. She wanted to talk about this, to be as comfortable as Talon, but it was so difficult. “How much do you know about griffin anatomy?” Her response was far more serious than sensual.

The alcohol gummed up the gears of his mind and Jack took a moment to think about it.

"Honestly? Not much. Why?" In truth he knew very little about it, and wasn't quite sure where she was going.

Feather took a breath again, the blush on her face ever deepening. "Well... male griffins t-tend to be fairly small, and well... females are generally built the same." She fidgeted in her seat as a set of lewd thoughts crossed her mind making her uncomfortably hot beneath her feathers and fur. “I-I'm fairly normal for a griffin of my size. I-I couldn't take...” Her voice trailed off into a murmur to quite to even hear.

"Oh." Jack paused, and took a long sip of his cider. His mind filled in the gaps Feather had left behind. "I think I see the problem.

"Mmhmm. Some griffins are built differently, and can handle l-larger males, and some griffin males are too large for griffin females. But that's much more rare. I just. I-.” Feather trailed off as the table descended into silence.

Star's smile grew as she began to chortle from the other side of the table. “I still can't believe you and Talon are such close friend's. I mean you two are almost exact opposites.”

Feather Fall remained silent at Star's prodding, clearly embarrassed by the whole conversation. In truth, sometimes she herself wondered why they were friends. But then Feather would remember-

“Yeah, I'm tiring to push her out of her shell.” Talon came up and wrapped an arm around Feather and brought her in close for a hug. “Oh, you are just soooo adorable Feather Blush.”

Feather gave a slight smile and nodded in agreement, remembering that Talon did care about her, and she hoped desperately that one day, her strength would rub off on her, just a bit.

Across the bar, the entry way door swung open as a large gathering of Night Guard wandered in after a long night of work. In the front of the group was Leucippe, who's eyes and smile grew wide as she spotted Talon and Star from the doorway.

“Hey it's Talon!” She shouted and wandered over for a hug.

For a moment, Jack was surprised that the other Guard seemed to know the griffin. “So you know, them too?” Jack asked with a raised eyebrow.

Talon laughed, "Heck yeah! I've know Star and Lucy since we were foals. We all went to the same schools. Star and me used to get into all kinds of trouble when we were younger." Star joined in the short laugh with Talon.

Leucippe just rolled her eyes and smiled. “Yeah. Trouble I had to get you out of half the time.”

The large group of Night Guard began to gather around the party, joining in on the laughter and fun that Talon seemed to bring. Everypony in the group seemed to be enjoying the fun. Except for perhaps Moon Shadow, who was particularly cool to the gathering, and held off to the side. One might wonder why he even showed up.

"What? You mean to tell me you and Star got into trouble as kinds? I don't believe it." Jack laughed.

"Mmhm... Oh yeah. We used to have some big problems, especially with stallions and males. Either Star or myself would get one in particular, the other would get jealous and, well..." Talon downed the last of her mug. "Lets just say we found the best way to deal with our stallion problems was to share." She wrapped her tail around Jack's leg much tighter than before and gave a not so subtle purr. “What do you say Jack. Want to be shared?”

“Ummm...” Jack gave an uncertain hum as he tried to find a way out of the corner he suddenly found himself in. Looking around he tried to find someone who he could focus his attention on, someone he could use to get out of the griffiness' grip. All he found was Star who gave a not so subtle smile to him.

Without warning Talon's tail let go of his leg, and started to walk out of the bar. Her hips swayed in a less than subtle fashion entrancing Jack and few patron's gaze on her flanks. Jack saw her swishing tail as she walked. It was almost like looking at a cat in heat. One of the Night Guards started laughing and pat him on the back, congratulating his apparent luck. He wasn't sure exactly who since he was more focused on Talon's ass, and his own thoughts.

"You should go with her," Star said with a wink. "Like she said, we used to share our stallions when we were younger. That hasn't changed."

The comment threw Jack for a loop, and for a moment he was to lost to even come up with a response. "A-are you serious Star? You don't see anything wrong with this?" He stammered.

Star shifted her shoulders. "No, not particularly. Although, if you two want some extra company..." She trailed off with a wink.

Talon began to walk out of the bar's door, still swaying her hips. Right before the door could close she looked back at him with eyes half lid with lust. Jack could only watch with his mouth slightly agape. For a moment it might have even looked like he was dolling.

"Well what are you waiting for Lover Boy?" The bar tender called out and gave Jack a wink of his own. Quickly he pulled pulled his mug off his table with his magic, encouraging the human to chase her tail, as it were. The rest of his squad started to laugh and repeat the phrase, “Lover Boy.” All except Moon Shadow who just glared in appertain disgust. Feather Fall was also silent, her gaze directed elsewhere at the moment.

Jack closed his eyes and groaned. He fared this had just earned him a new nick name. That fear was made all the stronger as the rest of his squad started cheering the name.

In no short order he made up his mind and wandered outside the bar. Talon was already well ahead of him. She turned her neck around and looked back at him with a smile on her beak. The feather's around her neck had puffed out just slightly, a sign of her arousal at the human's full appearance and figure. When Jack walked to catch up with her, she would leap up and run ahead of him just slightly, slowing down after getting a few steps ahead.

“Come on Jack. If you want me you'll have to catch me.” She half sung.

Though Jack wasn't too sure he did want to catch her. Still, he couldn't help but follow. Slowly he reached his hand out to try and stop her from running off. He just wanted to take a moment to explain things, like why this was a bad idea. He wasn't able too.

Talon wiggled her ass back and forth at him as she leaped up into the air and came down a few more feet in front of him. Sensing that he was now fully into the chase, she began making a bee line for the castle, and ultimately his bedroom. Talon would slow down just enough to give Jack a tease of her plot, swishing her tail around his hands, giving him just a bit of a taste before jumping ahead again and again. During his attempts to catch her, Jack never had the opportunity to consider how odd it was that she knew where his bedroom actually was. In fact he didn't have the chance to consider anything other than the plot in front of him.

The chase ended up with Talon running into his unlocked room and leaping on his bed. Quietly and with speed, Jack's closed and latched shut his chamber doors. In his mind, he justified his actions as fear that someone had heard them or saw them come in, rather than the truth that he didn't want to be disturbed during the upcoming activities. Locking the door would prevent anyone from prying any further while he did something. Something other than sex, he tried to convinced himself.

Catching his thoughts, Talon couldn't help but laugh. "Afraid that somepony will hear us? I wouldn't worry too much, I don't think anypony in the barracks can hear it when you and Star fuck." Talon purred from near his bed.

Her cheeks were just the subtle hint of pink as her heat radiated through her face. The crassness in her voice stirred something in Jack's loins.

"I just... How would you know that other ponies can't hear us?"

"Jack, you should know that Star has a big mouth. I know you've heard it in here. She likes to talk about it, how you fucked her brains out your first night. I don't think anypony made her scream like you did. She talks about it all the time in fact. I doubt anypony would really know, if she didn't. How do you think I knew where your bedroom was?" Talon gave him a wink and slid her tail around his leg. The movements exposed her wet and swollen plot to him.

Reaching his hands out, he grabbed at her flanks and gave a squeeze to her soft fur and flesh.

"Well, it looks like you caught me. So want to claim your prize and give it a try with a real female?"

Were Jack back on earth, he would have thought himself the luckiest guy in the world to have multiple girls literally pulling him into bed. But the fact that these girls were fur covered and had tails still gave him pause as he thought about the ramifications.

Sensing his hesitation, Talon pushed back against Jack's body. Her ass rubbing against the front of his pants. The wetness from her cunt began to quickly soak into his fabric and he could already feel her pulsing desire, eager to take him inside herself.

"So, do you know anything about a ponies erogenous zones?" She asked.

Jack pulled his mind back a bit so he could answer. "Just what Star has shown me." Jack admitted with a bit of nervousness.

Talon smiled and licked her beak, "Well, griffin's aren't that different, and I'm sure Star showed you the important ones."

Jack swallowed hard. "Feather Fall told me griffins can't take anything too large..."

Talon turned around and came in close to Jack's face, taking in his features. Slowly, he began to sit on his bed, as he grew lost in her eyes. "No, most can't but I'm not like most griffin's Jack." Talon's beak came in close as she spoke and pecked at his lips slightly. He opened them expecting a kiss but instead, Talon bit him lightly and pulled at his lower lip. She pulled back slightly watching the confused expression on his face, before letting go. Her peck was hard, but there was no blood, just a slight numbness.

The shocked look on his face forced a chortled from her, “Griffin's don't really kiss Jack.” Standing over top of him, she began to rub against his body. Her head nuzzled into the side of his neck and her wings grew out stretched and stiff.

"Now then, you know where a pony's teats usually are?"

Seeing where she was going with this, Jack smiled and took his own initiative. Quickly reached his hands under chest and ran them down to her tits. Giving them a quick rub and squeeze between his fingers. Talon purred at the soft and rather unusual sensation of his digits twisting and pulling at her tenderer nipples. He only spent a moment on the fleshy mounds before his hand moved further down till he was just about touching her most intimate parts. With out waiting any further his fingers began rub at her moist outer lips.

"Ahh" She moaned slightly and pushed his had away. "That's good Jack, if you just want a quick fuck with little foreplay."

Jack raised an eyebrow and he stared at the griffin who now sat on top of him. She clearly wanted this, no needed this, but she still wanted to go slow. It was like she enjoyed the teasing.

Talon twitched her wings back and forth a few times. Moaning at their stiffness. “My wings are stiff Jack, maybe you could rub them and make them better?”

Catching her not so subtle hint, he ran his fingers over the edges of her wings, felling the soft downy feather's along it's edges. His delicate and light touch caused the griffin to quiver slightly, and her hips began to buck against his pants. Her wings felt different than Star's, fuller and a bit softer. Jack began to run his fingers through the feathers, making a point to stop at each point along her wing. He could feel her body heat through the thick blanket as his fingers moved through them. The gyration of her hips growing stronger, forcing his aching erection to grow bigger in his tight confining pants.

Talon couldn't help but move, she was lost in the sensation of his finger tips. It was so different from a griffin's claw. It felt softer and more delicate but at the same time it felt like they pulled just a bit harder. It was better than Star had described. She was bit disappointed that he pulled his hands away from her now tender wings.

Rolling out from under her, he began to take off his shirt as he kissed all along her wing, stopping between her wing joint to give a slow lick. Her body shook and quivered as Jack brought more of her musky sweetness onto his tongue.

Her body quivered and her cunt pulsed in desire. His tongue ran in just the right spot. She wanted more, but still tried to hold back. To draw the sensation out as long as possible. That was the one thing she truly hated about griffin's, their quick desire to just get off. There was no intimacy no-

“Ahhh.” She moaned as Jack's fingers began to rub at her wing joins once more.

"You asked if I could handle a griffin in heat, well are you heated right now?" Jack reached around to her rear and felt her very wet and swollen plot. Taking his fingers he rubbed the outside of her lower lips before sliding them inside of her. Her slick juices left little in the way of resistance and immediately he felt her cunt start to clamp down on him.

"Jack! Wa- Ahhhnn!" Talon cried as her mound pulsed and twitched with a small orgasm.

She panted a bit, before pulling his hand away from her self. "Too quick lover boy", she turned around and started making small pecking kiss motions around his neck, making sure to hold him down while she did so.

Grabbing a claw full of sheets she wrapped them around his arms gently tying him down to the bed. Giving her control and preventing him from jumping the gun again.

Talon smirked as Jack struggled only lightly against the cloth restrains. It was clear the both were enjoying this. With agonizing slowness, Talon lowered her head to his pants. Her beak came only inches from Jack's hidden manhood. Using her beak she pulled the band of his pants down just past his balls, and watched the fleshy rod bounce up.

"Hmmm... Star was right, you're about the same length as a pony, and just the right size for me." Sticking her tongue out she ran her tongue down the length of his shaft eliciting a moan of contentment from Jack. Her tongue was so different from any human or pony. It was smooth, and soft, a touch drier then he would have expected. He was amazed when she took him into her beak and began swallowing his cock whole with out stopping.

Her throat seeming to expand and take him inside with almost no resistance. She was very experienced with this, probably more than even Star.

His mind grew clouded with lust, he wanted this to continue but didn't want to finish early. With the way she attacked his cock, he couldn't believe that griffin's were so small. "So it's true what they say about griffin males being, small?"

“Hmmm?” Talon hummed and let his cock pop out of her mouth. “Interested in other males Jack? I didn't see you as the type.” She winked and before he could protest she finally pulled his pants completely off, allowing his erection to throb fully in the late night air.

Talon's eyes opened a bit wider at seeing his full length bob in the air. "But, to answer your question, yes most griffins are on the smaller side. That's why I fancy ponies more, and it would seem apes are up there too." She spoke and began licking his length, tasting the musky aroma of his pre-love.

A smile crossed her beak as she took Jack back into her mouth. In one solid movement he was balls deep into her beak once more.

"Oh. Fuck me." He moaned.

"Mmmhmmm." Talon moaned around him. 'That's the idea,' she thought to herself.

Talon saw his balls hanging just to the side of her eyes. The two orbs twitched as the back of her throat pulsed and twisted around his fleshy head and shaft. Talon wanted to giggle as his tip tickled her insides. His smooth and unique cock rubbed her in ways she wasn't used to. Quickly she pulled off his cock to watch it twitch in the cool air again. A slight shiver ran down Jack's spine as the combination of cold and pleasure excited him more.

“Getting cold Jack? Perhaps I should warm you up?” Talon stood up and laid down on top of Jack's chest. Her tail moved off to the side, exposing her wet dripping cunt to him. Reaching his head up, she was just a few centimeters too short to taste it.

Looking back at him with a wicked smile she extended her tongue out, she once more licked the lewd juices from around his shaft. A single clawed talon reached around to her rear where she began stroke and play with her pulsating cunt in front of him.

Jack felt himself twitch and shiver as the griffin on top of him played with herself as she sucked him off. Her slow deep movements were becoming almost painful as he felt himself building up.

Picking her beak back up she took him into her mouth once more. Only this time she didn't stop when he bottomed out, her head lifted up again and she forced him back inside. She smiled and hummed as she started throat fucking him.

"Holy fuck!" Jack moaned beneath the aggressive female.

He couldn't take much more of this. The sensations of the smooth and wet mussels quickly brought him to his peak multiple times, but her slow movements would stop at just the wrong moment preventing his release. All the while his dick continued to twitched in her throat as small amounts of pre coated the insides of her maw. He wasn't sure but there may have even been some small amount of cum that escaped as well.

The way his dick began to swell and twitch, Talon knew he was very close. If she didn't stop outright he would explode inside of her mouth. As tasty as it might have been, it was not the place she was looking for.

"Oh god I'm going to-" She quick pulled her head off of him as another thick drop of pre leaked out of his tip. That same wicked smile came over her lips as he twitched and begged for release. He was so close, the feeling of being denied almost hurt.

"Why did you stop? I was so close..." he groaned.

Turning around, she placed her wet claw on top of his nose and ran it genitally down over his lips, dragging a small line of her own feminine juices down. "I told you Jack, slowly." She held her hand in front of his face.

"A griffin's claw isn't particularly sensitive, but, that doesn't mean we can't feel anything." She watched the human lick her juices off of her talons. The blunt sensation of his smooth, flat, and wet tongue over them felt different from her other lovers, perhaps even better. Perhaps.

The human cock rubbed against her lower abdomen. She was ready and needed him inside of her. Positioning herself just above his tip she paused, smiling at Jack's pleading expression. Without saying a word she pushed down, taking him inside.

Jack grit his teeth together, Talon was tight. Far tighter than anyone he had ever been with. “Oh fuck. You're. Fuck!” He cried out.

Talon's beak opened as he nearly bottomed out inside of her. She felt every part of his dick twitch and pulse inside of her. Finally, she paused and let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. “Ahhhhhhh.” Her mouth cried as the sound escaped with her breath.

“Shit Jack. You feel...” Slowly she pulled herself off of him, feeling her insides clam and close around him, a series of small orgasms began to flow over her. “… good.”

The griffin pushed back and began grinding her hips against the human's pelvis, her clit rubbing against his crotch causing a surge of pleasure to pulse through her. Slowly she raised her hips up again, until just the tip of his cock was insider of her, than she quickly brought them back down.

“Fuck!” Jack cried as the tight wetness brought him closer to release.

She smiled and did it again, and again, with almost painful slowness. It was to much, he could feel his dick throbbing, leaking more precum than he even knew he had, but the slowness made it so hard to cum. The griffin's body began to twitch as another orgasm ran over her. He could feel that hot wet cunt milking him harder than before.

It was too much, he needed release. Pushing his hips up he forced insider her, faster than before. There was a slight bump just insider her that rubbed against the tip of his cock just right. It felt incredible. Despite the speed, Talon didn't seem to mind anymore.

"Right there! Fuck me!" Talon cried out as his dick rubbed her in just the right spot.

Her tight throbbing cunt was already milking hims as her orgasms rocked her body. The exotic feeling and carnal knowledge of this human was exhilarating. They were both close to that one big release.

“Talon, I'm going to...” He didn't have to say anything else as he began to twitch uncontrollably inside of her. She dropped her hips, swallowing him up to his balls.

"Inside of me Jack! Let it out! Fucking breed meeeeeee!" Talon's words stretched into a cry as another orgasm took hold. Her back legs kicked and bucked as her cunt pulsed around him, milking him for all he was worth.

One final twitch and Jack felt his balls tingle as his cock began to unload the griffiness. "Oh shit..." he mumbled as sticky strings shot against Talon's insides. Her cunt kept squeezing him in tune with his pulse, and Jack felt his legs grow shaky as finished inside of her.

Finally, the last tiny strand flung forth and Jack's head collapsed back on the pillow bellow him. He was vaguely aware that her pussy was still trying to milk him, even after he was dry. His cock was almost painfully sensitive as her insides stroked him some more.

The two were breathless, as their sweat and sex covered bodies laid on top of each other. Eventually, Jack's softening manhood popped out of Talon's tight hole, a stream of sticky white fluids trailed from her cunt. With a content hum she rolled off his chest.

The cool, and sticky sheets clung to Jack's skin, reminding him he would need to change them. Talon nuzzled up next to Jack's side and snuggled into him, purring all the while. "Hmmm... That was very good Jack, a bit faster than I like, but good. I can see why Star likes you so much." Her head continued to nuzzle affectionately at his side. "Shame she got to you first."

Talking about another girl after sex seemed odd. Than again, neither Talon nor Star were what he would consider 'normal females'. Think of which, he laughed as Talon's words finally sank in. “Breed you?” He asked the griffiness.

She rolled back on top of him and reached her claws up and untied his arms for him. Before she rolled off again, she stuck the tip of her tongue out she ran it down his nose and stopped at his mouth. She than did something unusual for her and actually kissed him, all be it quickly. “We all have our fetishes, Jack. Besides I didn't hear you complain.” Suddenly the griffin began to laugh.

“What's so funny?” Jack asked.

“Nothing, just thinking about one of Star's fetishes. That's all. You know, she has some breeding fetishes too, but not just by any stallion, or male for that matter.” Talon rubbed her body against his as she spoke. The sensations slowly waking his softening member back up. “But perhaps you should ask her.”

Not thinking about the awkwardness of it all, Jack asked a question that Talon seemed likely to know. "Does Star actually like me?"

She couldn't help but laugh again, "Geez, Star was right. You are dense!" Talon paused, taking a moment to stop laughing, "Of course she likes you. The grinding on you, and practically begging you for sex every night didn't give it away?"

Jack shrugged, "I just... I hear stories about her, and the number of ponies she's fucked. Then she said she was going to help me get with Luna, and then she tells me to come back with you. I just... I guess I don't understand her."

Talon smiled and nodded her head knowingly. "Star can be a bit hard to understand at times. She knows you like Luna, that you've had your eye on the Princess longer then you have on her. For all of Stars faults, she always keeps her word. If she said she would help you, then she will. But she does like you."

"What about all the stallions, griffins, and who knows what else. Did she like them too?"

Now talon sighed, "No. I don't think so. I've never known her to go back to a stallion after a one night stand. Yet, she came back to you. Repeatedly from what I've heard." Talon took a deep breath, "Look, Star Screech is a good Mare, Jack. All I'm going to say is if things don't work out with Luna you should remember her."

Reaching his hands around he rubbed at her feathers and fur. Stroking her side gently, causing her to purr in contentment as the euphoric bliss of orgasm began to fade. For a moment, he felt himself start to nod off, but Talon interrupted that.

She wiggled out of his grasp, with some reluctance. Her body rolled out of bed, and stumbled a bit as she stood. Her claws reached up to her head, and smoothed out some of her feathers, hiding the mild bed head she wore.

Sitting up in bed, Jack watched the griffiness with some curiosity. Her tail swished about as she walked around the bed, exposing her wet and well fucked cunt. A small stream of whitish fluid leaked from her mound, and started to trickle down her leg.

“My, you did make a mess of me.” She reached her claws around and rubbed the back of her leg, wiping some of the sticky fluid off on to her claw. Without even thinking about it, she stuck the sticky claw in her mouth and licked the mixture off, before turning her gaze back to him.

“You taste good Jack. I'm tempted to stay and play longer. But I have things to do in the morning.” She wandered to the door.

Jack quickly got up, and interrupted her before she could open it, “Are you ok, going out on your own I mean. You sure you don't want me to walk you?”

Talon couldn't help but chuckle at his comment and action. It was adorable, if a bit dorky. “I'm fine Jack. Griffin's are expert fighters with our naturally sharp claws. I'll be fine. Besides, I don't want you to think this was anything more then a good fuck.” He tail wrapped around his leg as she gave a light purr.

He reached out to open the door for her, “Still, at least let me get the-”

*Click*

As Jack opened the door he was more then a little surprised to see Princess Luna pacing in the hallway in front of it. She pause and locked eyes with the human, her muzzle grew into a wide smile, followed quickly by a confused frown as she saw the griffiness exiting the open-

“door,” Jack finished his sentence.

The feather's on Luna's wings were ruffled with the air of shock at seeing the griffiness leaving Jack's bedroom. "I-I'm not interrupting anything?" She stammered. The red blush under her midnight blue fur highlighted her embarrassment.

"Um... No." Jack's gaze drifted between Talon and Luna. He was unsure what to do or say to make this situation less awkward. Assuming such a thing was even possible.

'Why is she even out here?' He thought to him self.

"Princess Luna." Talon bowed her head slightly as she passed next to the nearly frozen alacorn. Turning back around, she smirked at Jack. "Maybe I'll see you around... Lover boy."

With that last comment, Talon walked off down the hallway leaving behind Luna and Jack to stare at each other in a pregnant silence for a few moments. Slowly, Luna's gaze drifted to Jack crotch, which was still fully exposed, and now covered in lewd fluids. Unconsciously, Luna's wings expanded slowly as her blush traveled south.

Following her eyes he looked down and exclaimed “Ummm, oh shit!”as he realized how naked he was.

Quickly he ran back into the room and jumped into a pair of his boxers. He took a moment to stand inside of his room, unsure what to do at this point or what to say.

"So... this is somewhat…" He searched for the right word to use, awkward didn't seem to quite cover this level of… what ever this was.

"Strange? Awkward? Confusing?" Luna began listing of adjectives, trying to finish his thought for him and not think about what just happened.

"Yes… I..." He paused again, uncertain what to say. If there was anything to say at this point.

Silence.

After what felt like hours, Luna finally asked the most prominent question on her mind. A question which was obvious, but for which she still needed to hear him say. "Jack did you and her... mate?" She said with a slight pause between words.

His hand reached up and scratched the back of his head. "We did." He admit truthfully. The conversation made him want to crawl under his bed and hide.

"I. see." Luna, spoke as she sat back on her hunches. Her gaze kept to the floor, unable to look Jack in the eyes.

With slow deliberation Jack approach Luna once more. He had to hold his hand back, as he wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch her. To stroke her and tell her it was ok, but he knew that was not the right response, and if anything would make things worse. "Are you ok Luna?" He finally asked.

"Oh. I'm fine, just surprised. Though I probably shouldn't be. Thou are a healthy virile stallion, it only makes sense that you have... mates, and it's not like there is somepony to tie your down." Luna tried to clear her throat, but found it difficult, like there was a lump somewhere in it.

More silence filled the hallway. A handful of Guards saw the Princess and the Night Guard from a distance and decided to take the long way around them.

Finally, the silence and awkwardness had started to eat at him. He wanted to get this conversation over with so he could crawl into a hole and forget about tonight. Maybe after that, he could find Star and permanently sow her mouth shut so no more bad ideas would come out of it. "Was there some reason that you stopped by?" He asked as gently as he could.

"Yes?" Luna spoke with a question. There was something she had wanted to talk about, something she had wanted to tell him. It was why she was pacing in the hallway, trying to work up to courage to tell him: She couldn't take him up on his offer to be her chaperon, and that she couldn't, no, wouldn't go out with him to see the new Daring Do movie, as he had asked the night prior.

"I mean. Yes. There was. We have thought about your request to see the new Daring Do movie and…" Or at least that's what she was going to say, now she was no longer sure.

Her thoughts grew ever more clouded, and she thought about all the mates he must have had and even have, all the ponies, griffins and whatever else he might desire. He cared about her, truly he did, she could feel it, and he wouldn't chase after her if he did not. But he didn't have too, that griffin proved it. At any time he wanted too, Jack could just stop chasing her and move on. Perhaps that would be for the best, for the both of them. Yet she could not deny she did desire something. Some kind of a relationship, with somepony true of heart. Somepony like him.

Still that nagging feeling of inevitable loss burned her mind, and pulled her to pieces.

"And?" His voice radiated his excitement and hopefulness.

'This is stupid.' she thought to herself, 'he was just with some mare, a griffin at that! Why would we… would we…' Her thoughts became clouded as the realization of just how close she truly was to losing him. 'No this is absurd…' Quickly shaking her head, all of the thoughts from her mind disappeared, all but one. 'We're going to lose him if we don't...'

Taking a moment, she remembered his schedule for the week. With a deep breath, she spoke with shaky words, "W-would next week be ok with you?"

Author's Note

Yay! More sex! And a griffin at that! Don't think there are too many human x griffin stories out there.

Funny story, when I was originally sketching out Talon, she was going to be a pegussi, but when I was working out her back story I realized that being something more exotic would make better sense. Both Talon and Feather are scheduled for more appearances in Book 2, but they are probably done for this one.

Chapter 14: Moonlight Strolls

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 15: War Games Day 1, Part I

Author's Note

So begins the war games saga. This act will take place over the next 4 chapters and I plan to release them all this week in quick succession.

Thanks again to Robokirby for editing and pre-reading support! You're awesome man.

Also, thanks to my loyal readers who have waited far too long for this release, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 15: War Games Day 1, Part I

*Ring, Ring, Ring*

The small alarm on Jack's nightstand began its usual wake up dance as the bell inside rapped against the outer hull. Across the room, Jack turned and made note of the noisy contraption moving about his night stand. A sigh escaped his lips.

He was currently in the middle of attaching a rather awkward wayward strap on his chest plate and the alarm clock made it very difficult to focus. Finally, he was forced to give into the annoying metal imp. Letting go of the strap he walked to the small mechanical device. Lacking the necessary securing strap, his armor plate bounced off his chest with an uncomfortable procession as he step.

The path through his room was clear and neat, like the rest. It was a complete change from only a few months ago. Over these past several months, there were times where Jack would wonder what had changed in him and his life. Even after several nights of soul searching it seemed that the particular reason, what ever it was, was beyond him.

Picking up the clock, he pushed the small metal plunger on it's top, silencing the annoying sound. He stared at the time on the front plate noticing it read 6 o'clock, in the morning. Quite an early time for any Night Guard to be waking up, most would be just getting done their shifts by now, and heading off to bed or the local pub. Even more surprising was that he had managed to get up before the alarm even went off. A combination of nerves and excitement had seen to that.

With the alarm silenced, Jack was able to concentrate on the armor and was finally able to attach the side strap that had given him so much trouble. Wandering back to the front of his mirror, Jack couldn't help but examine the new armor he had been given and how well it fit. A smile crossed his lips as he read the new tag under the Night Guard seal, "Jack O’Connell, Guardsman 1st Class".

In truth, it was just his old suit, just professionally polished and patched up. His old insignia had been removed and the new one inscribed on the front. It was made of the same materials, the same metal, although it did have the new straps put on. All in all, the suit should have weighed the same as before, and yet for some reason, it felt lighter when he wore it.

Continuing to stare into his mirror self, Jack's mind drifted as he thought about what the next few days would bring. The Royal War Games started today, as they had for the past several thousand years. Every season the four major branches of the guards would get together just outside Canterlot to have a mock battle, a war game. The motivation for the games was that it keep them all sharp and gave each branch a chance to show off their tactics to each other. Though in recent memory it had turned more into a spectacle, at least from what Fire Wall had said. Given the state of the town and some of local bars over the past week, Fire Wall could very well be right.

Laughing a bit, Jack remembered how the Midnight Well reacted to the games starting up. On the back of the bar, they had hung a large "Game board", and set up an unofficial betting pool that was linked with some of the other local bars.

The whole reaction of the bar and it's neighbors was almost absurd. Of course it wasn't so absurd that Jack could resist placing his own bet on his team. He still didn't understand why everyone had laughed at him when he put his money on the table. Or why Star had hit at the time, calling him a "Bucking idiot." No one from his squad had made a bet on the Night Guard, a few even bet against them, which had seemed rather defeatist. Most of the them just shrugged when he pushed or stated that “it was a waste of a bit to bet on the Night Guard”.

Each branch was allowed to form one team, headed by one captain, four teams in total so hence up to four bets could be made. Team sizes were a bit odd, each team could have up to two hundred Guards on it. 'Two hundred', Jack paused to think about that number for a moment. In all his time with the Night Guard, he hadn't remembered seeing even a hundred Night Guards, much less two.

His gaze drifted from the mirror to a large faux leather bound book by his dresser. The book was a gift, given to him by Twilight just over two weeks ago; A guide book for the games. In it was a list of basic rules and regulations regarding how the game was supposed to be setup and run along with a brief history of the recent games. Opening the book to the first page, Jack found a lose sheet of parchment paper tucked into it's binding. The sheet was covered in the tiny scribblings of his own making. A set of notes that could prove useful during the game, a cheat sheet as it might have been known back on earth.

Taking them out of the book he gave the notes another once over. The game style was a capture the flag variant, with a real flag in the center of the field kept inside of a small artificial cave. The flag was enchanted to glow brightly so everyone could see where it was, even at night. The enchantment also sapped local mana which prevented levitating or teleporting spells anywhere near it, and especially with it. Inside of the rather large staff was pure lead, making it weight more than twice a single pony. The weight and enchantments made it difficult for even earth ponies to carry it, and impossible to fly with.

The game could be won in one of three ways: the flag could be brought back to the starting gate, the team who did so would win; All other teams could be defeated or captured, and the last team standing would be declared the winner; Or lastly, at the end of the three days, the team with the most captures or confirmed kills would win. In the past twenty years, only one game had gone the full three days, and that was because the flag was somehow lost, though the book didn't explain how.

Jack's mind began to drift back to the book and for a moment, he was tempted to try and bring the whole thing with him. Though he didn't want to lose it on the battlefield. 'Poor Twilight would be heart broken to hear of anything bad happening to her book', Jack chuckled to himself as he remembered Twilight grieving over a simple broken binding not that long ago.

*Ring, Ring, Ring*

The alarm clock on Jack's stand started going off once more, bringing Jack out of his day dreams. It was an extra alarm cycle that he had forgotten about. It was supposed to remind him he needed to rush. Since he had gotten up so early there was nothing left to rush, so the alarm was mostly superfluous, though it did snap him out of his trance.

Pausing, he quickly thought about all the things he had to do before he left, his mind ran down a short mental checklist. Everything he needed to do was done, and he had everything he'd need on him already.

Technically he still had some time, but it would probably be best to start the day early. Besides, the kitchen was no doubt packed this morning with all the visiting Guards. If he didn't leave a bit early there might be nothing left for him to eat. With one final glance at the parchment in hand, he began to fold it a few times before stuffing the paper into his right breast plate, where it would be snug and secure.

Picking up his helmet, Jack made his way out of the room, making sure to shut off the alarm before he left. Almost immediately he was greeted by a few of the bat ponies from his Night Guard squad, all of whom seem to have the same idea as he did. Perhaps most surprising of the lot was Star Screech who noticed him and trotted up to walk next to her human companion.

"Well, don't we look serious this morning?" She mocked.

Jack returned the sentiment, "The only time I ever saw you up this early you were on your back."

Star hit Jack in the back of his leg where his armor was weakest. Looking down at the rude and aggressive pony, she had a slight smirk on her muzzle as she stuck her tongue out giving him the 'raspberries'. Beneath her fur. a slight blush could be seen.

"Jerk." She spoke between her fangs.

The two continued to ramble on short insults and jabs as they made their way through the increasingly crowded castle to towards the mess-hall which was, predictably, also packed. Jack didn't even bother to stand in any of the lines, instead opting to grab a few muffins and a bagel from one of the self-service tables.

As Jack stood about nibbling on his muffins and buttering his bagel, he couldn't help but look around. The most noticeable thing in the whole mess-hall was that he didn't recognize anyone here, aside from the handful of Night Guard who came with him. Even the local Day and Royal Guard seemed wise enough to avoid this place today.

*Crunch*

The sound of someone crunching into a rather hard fruit, rang through his ears and he looked down to see Star standing by his side, munching on a rather greenish mangos with a slight grimace on her face.

*Crunch*

Taking another bite she pulled the fruit back and frowned at it. "These mangos aren't really ripe." She spoke between chewing. Sticking her tongue out, she put the half eaten fruit on a nearby self-serve table, and moved away from the offending fruit.

Jack could only roll his eyes.

"Star. Don't just leave that there." He gently scolded her.

Star shrugged at Jack's comment and wandered away from the table. Leaving Jack to pick up her half eaten breakfast before walking off with her into the center of the cafeteria to try to sit and eat.

The large mix group of Guards was quite loud, and it made it difficult to hear anything in the large space. It took Jack a moment to realize that Mani had been yelling at Star and him for almost a minute.

"JACK, STAR! THE OTHER NIGHT GUARD ARE TAKING THEIR FOOD OUT TO THE FIELD. WE'RE GOING TO EAT ON THE WAY!" He shouted.

Taking one last look around, Jack had to nod in agreement with Mani's idea, there was no where to even sit. Taking another bite of his bagel he turned to follow his squad. Even in the hallway things were packed. As varying guards wandered about. A few were looking for the mess-hall, some were trying to find their fellow Guards, and a handful just seemed completely lost.

Mani stopped and broke away from the small Night Guard squad to give some advice to a few general guards who seemed particularly lost. The squad stood around and waited for the third officer to finish giving his advice to the rather enthusiastic, if confused Guards. The trio of lost ponies must have been particularly thankful as the one mare of the group, an orange pegasus with yellow mane reached her hoofs around his neck for a hug. A long and somewhat physical hug by the looks of it.

As Mani turned around the slight blush on his face became evident as he wandered back to the group, thanks to his armor none of the Guards were able to see the other signs of his enjoyment. A few of the Night Guard laughed at Mani's clear embarrassment, and one in particular claimed that "Jack might lose his 'lover boy' nickname." Jack could only hope that was the case.

Reaching his hoofs up, Mani readjusted his helmet which became askew from the unexpected hug. "Sorry. The ponies who are lost are usually newbies to this. You see them every year. It's nice to help them." He said with a smile.

"Help them to your bed you mean." Star snickered.

The blush on Mani's face grew ever deeper as he forcefully, and almost mechanically started walking forward towards the castle's exit. The rest of the Night Guard squad following him out, laughing all the while of course.

The streets of Canterlot were well decorated for the event, as banners waved from the store fronts and homes. Symbols of the Day Guard, Royal Guard and a handful of General Guard waved in the light morning breeze. The colors of the flags were almost hidden amidst the colorful houses and shops of the city. The mixture of bright colors gave rise to one particular observation: curiously, there were almost none of the darker Night Guard banners up. In fact, the only one Jack could remember seeing was at the Midnight Well, which catered heavily to the Night Guard and bat ponies anyway.

Speaking of taverns, that was something else to notice. Every tavern, bar and inn that the squad passed had boards set up inside. Each one was identical to the one Jack had seen in the Midnight Well. They were rough diagrams of the mock battlefield and had a score chart next to it. About two weeks ago, he saw the bartender in the Midnight Well hanging their board up.

In truth the whole idea seemed so odd to Jack, even as he had placed money on his own squad. At no time in his short ROTC carrier had they ever publicized their exercises beyond just telling people to stay away from certain areas. The very thought that a nation would ever make an actual game out of their "War Games" seemed absurd. Yet here, in magical horse land things were very different, peace reigned for the most part. An actual army seemed mostly superfluous, and aside from the occasional monster attack there was little they did beyond police like work.

Thinking about it all actually brought a smile to Jack's lips, they could afford to treat these exercises as actual games. This land had been at peace for almost a millennium, war was a long forgotten thing to so many here. As odd as it was, it actually felt kind of good, and Jack would do everything in his power to keep it that way.

"I still can't believe you put all those bits down on the Night Guard." Mani shook his head at Jack. The words snapped him out of his daze.

"Well what else was I going to do? I'm not going to bet against us winning. Even if the odds are 100 to 1." Jack spoke between a shrug.

"Jack, the odds are WORSE then 100 to 1, that's just the number they capped them at." Mani shook his head and continued, "I mean seriously, 50 gold bits? That's a good month's rent in upper Canterlot! You had to have saved every bit since you joined the guard, and then some!"

It was true, Jack had used most of his savings for the bet. Dumb at it might have been, it just seemed like something he had to do. Honestly though, he didn't have anything in the way of expenses. Even if he lost the 50 bits it wouldn't be the end of the world. Though it seemed so odd that everyone was dead set against the Night Guard. Sure it had been a while since they won, but that didn't mean anything really. Did it?

Worry began to fill his heart and head as he thought about the massive amount of fatalism and defeatism in his own squad.

The field was about an hour walk from the castle. There was a single main road leading down from Canterlot to the lush fields below. As the squad walked along the long stony path, the surroundings quickly turned from city, to mountain, and finally to the grassy plains below Canterlot. Of course Jack was mostly oblivious as he thought about the morale problems his squad was now facing.

Not far from the bottom of the mountain, was a large gate surrounded by a large wooden post fence. The structure stood there as the barrier and entrance to the natural arena beyond it. The gate itself had to be a good fifteen meters tall, and had hand carved symbols over it. Next to it flew four flags, the four flags of the Guards, two on each side.

Just in front of the ornate gate was the staging area for the games. Already, numerous ponies, and a very small handful of other creatures had begun to gather in front of the massive arched doorway. Each waiting for the games to start, which should be in just over an hours time.

The Guards seemed to group themselves into three main congregations for the most part, with a small number of stragglers around. Looking above each group there was a single flag hung from the wall on the sides of the gate. They were banners not unlike the ones in town, each representing a single branch and squad. As they got closer Jack was able to examine each in depth.

The General Guard’s flag was placed farthest to his right. In the center of the silken material was a yellowish gold soldier’s helmet overlaid against a blue and green background which looked surprisingly like a map of Equestria.

Left of that, was the Royal Guard's banner, Which had a 5 pointed crown surrounded by numerous smaller ponies behind it. All of which was overlaid on top of a white, dark blue, pink and purple background. Like symbolizing the four current princess of Equestria.

The Day Guard was to the left of that, and on the other side of the gate. It consisted of a sun symbol, which looked vaguely like Celestia's Cutie mark. The sun was flanked by two white guard ponies, and was overlaid over a white and rainbow background. The colors looked strikingly similar to Celestia's mane and coat.

The last in line was the Night Guard's flag, which had a large white sphere in the center, two bat wings outstretched from the moon, and around them all were speckled stars and constellations. Six stars in particular seemed to stand out, appearing brighter then the rest.

Turning his attention back to the ponies on the ground, Jack quickly noticed that each group was garbed in their own armor. Each of the branches had their own armor, full steel for the general guard, gold for the royal guard, steel and gold for the Day Guard, and the Night Guard wore steel, enchanted silver and purple faux leather. The Captains for each squad stood at the front of the group for the most part, each one doing their own thing, though most were delegating.

One of the “Captains” in particular was an odd sight to be sure. He was a white stallion with light blue mane running around with the Royal Guard's squad.

The rather quiet Lucippe was the first to comment on seeing him, "Is that Shining Armor?" She asked, uncertain if it actually was or not.

Jack looked down the hill at the captain, and sure enough it was him. "Yeah, he's acting as a stand-in Captain for the Royal Guard for the next few months."

"What happened to their old Captain?” She asked.

With a shrug, Jack replied "Not sure. I think he transferred to the Day Guard after the events last month. You know there were a lot of shake ups. More than anyone realized, I think." He didn't mention how he was encouraged to join the Royal Guards or that he had refused.

Lucepiee was still surprised, "Yeah, I guess I just didn't think they'd bring him back from the Crystal Empire just for this."

"I don't think they did. At least not just for this. He's been around the castle training some of the new Royal Guard recruits. I'm surprised you didn't see him? I tried to talk to him but I don't think he likes me very much." Jack could only shake his head at the last conversation he tried to have with Prince Shining Armor. At the time, he felt like the Prince Captain wanted to hit him.

The small squad approached the only other Night Guard out on the field, their Captain. Night Blade stood before a small tent in his full Lunar armor. In his hoof was a short check sheet. Mani lead the squad down to the space under the Night Guard's banner, where Night Blade was waiting.

In truth Night Blade was surprised to see Jack, Star and the rest of his squad so early. He halfway expected them to arrive just before the gates opened. In fact, over the past month Night Blade had noticed a change in many of his subordinates. They all seemed just a bit more alert and ready at night.

There was a rumor going around that many of the changes had been started by the ape, though Blade ignored such rumors. Despite the positive comments he had been given from the other Captains and higher ups, the thought that Jack might have had any influence in it just left a bitter taste in his mouth.

The squad approached their captain and saluted. Night Blade returned the action and went back to surveying the short equipment sheet he had with him, pulling Mani off to the side to help him, of course.

As Jack stood about with little to do he looked up and considered the enormity of the wall in front of him. It was almost 20 meters tall itself, with the equally large gate in the center of it. The gate and wall were mostly for show, as the wall ended about 200 meters in each direction, opening up to just field. The arena had a defined border that was marked with large stone survey pikes every 200 meters, there wasn't any real physical barrier, beyond what was in front of him anyway.

The Wonderbolts would be flying above the arena for the whole game, acting mostly as referees and ensuring the game's borders were observed. Their primary role was to ensure that each team would obey the rules, and also to report back to the viewing balcony above the gate and to the record keeper there.

The viewing area couldn't be seen from where Jack and the squads were, but it was supposed to be a large seating area above the gate. Around the hidden platform would be chairs, tables and a giant game board of the battlefield, not unlike the ones in the taverns they passed earlier, though this one should have been laid flat. The Princesses and the generals would be sitting there for various parts of the game.

Traditionally they'd be there for the first few hours at the start of the game, then return once a day for a few hours until the game's conclusion.

When Shining Armor was captain, the games had tended to be over after a few hours. Many ponies present felt they could expect more of the same today. Though Jack remained naively optimistic about the whole event.

Once the gates opened the teams would move into the arena and split off into one of the four quadrants. There they would make camp and began organizing and laying out the last bits of stratagem before the war game started.

Jack thought about it for a moment 'War game'. He considered again, just how loose many of the ponies were. They joked and laughed with each other like this was literally a game, rather than an actual military exercise. Then there was the massive amount of hype sounding this. He remembered the boards setup in Canterlot around some of the bars and restaurants. Even the bet he had made earlier. 'This really is a game to them, isn't it?' The same thought that brought a smile to his face earlier suddenly began to tear his mind in twain. He began to feel conflicted about the whole thing, wondering what exactly the point really was? Perhaps it was just nerves.

Before long, some of the Generals started to show up. Giving each of the squads a bit of an early inspection, and apparently giving the captains some last minute instructions or possibly pointers. Only the Royal Guard seemed to be absent a General, with Shining Armor taking his own lead.

Interestingly enough, Princess Celestia actually appeared to talk to Shining Armor, followed quickly by his wife, Princess Cadance. Who gave him a rather large hug. It was hard to see, but her hug came with a quick grasp of something else, causing Shining to blush and Celestia to move away with a laugh.

Jack began to wonder if Princess Lu-

“Hello Jack.” Luna's voice echoed behind him.

Luna had managed to sneak up behind him while he had been concentrating on the other Princesses. Her stealth caused Jack to jump forward slightly at the surprise drop in. Turning around, he had a large smile on his face, and was tempted to wrap his arms around her neck in a hug. Thankfully for the both of them, he refrained.

Luna's face was as hard, and emotionless as it had been since after that night a month ago. Her muzzle focused more at the ground than him. Her cool attitude and lack of communication left Jack to wonder if he had done something wrong.

“I…” She paused. She knew what she wanted to say to him, what she had to tell him, but she still just couldn't do. Her wing twitched lightly as the pouch under it burned subconsciously.

Quickly her mind jumped gears, and chose something else to say. “I just wanted to wish you well.” Her voice was flat, hiding behind it a torrent of emotions which she had been hiding and shoving down.

In truth, Luna had been avoiding him since that night. Her mind was too conflicted to actually act on anything, so instead, she shut down. Even Celestia had chose to give up for the time being, giving her sister the space that she seemed to want. Having her come out to the field, even more, having her actually talk to Jack seemed like a good sign, to him at least.

The small smile on Jack's face threatened to expand into a massive and stupid grin, but he held back as much as he could. Fearing that Luna wasn't quite ready for anything more than pleasantries at the moment.

Guards, mainly from the other teams, scampered around the two of them, trying to appear busy and get things ready for the gates to open in just under an hour. Both Jack and Luna were unfocused on the distractions around them. They stood there in silence, neither sure what, if anything to say.

“So… are you ready for the Games to start?” Luna was the first the break the silence, with a simple if direct question.

Jack nodded in response, “I think so. Truthfully, I am a bit nervous though. We don't have anything like this on my world. Feels weird almost being a celebrity.”

Behind her blue muzzle, Jack could just make out the hint of a smile forming. “I wouldn't worry Jack. We are sure you will do well. Fire Wall was deeply insistent on having you in the Games. He's a very good judge of ponies.”

“Heh, I just hope we win. It would be nice to win my first game.” He laughed a bit, trying to shake off his nerves.

The small smile on Luna's face grew into a bit of a sarcastic smirk, as she chuckled herself. “We… I trust that you and the Night Guard will perform admirably, but don't set yourself up for disappointment.”

Again, that same defeatist attitude he had heard time and time again. Why did everyone here seem so dead set on losing, before the challenge even began?

“Luna, I don't understand. Why are all of you so convinced we're going to lose? I mean the match hasn't even started yet!” The agitation in his voice was notable.

She could only shake her head. “Jack. The Night Guard hasn't won in decades. I don't expect much.”

“Ok, well I made a bet on our team, 50 gold bits. You better believe I'm going to win this!”

Luna's eyes shot wide open in surprise and horror. “Jack! That's an outrageous bet! 50 bits? I… You don't make that in a month.” She half stammered.

“Well, that just means we have to win. How about this, if we do win you need to go out on another date with me?” For a moment he regretted saying that and pushing. But only for a moment.

Her face's features fell again, and her muzzle drifted back to the ground. “Jack...” She whispered, “I don't think...” She sighed. This wasn't the conversation she wanted to have right now. It didn't really matter one way or the other, there was no way the Night Guard could win. “Even if I agreed, there's no chance your team will win.” An idea hit her. A silly little challenge that might make this all so much easier.

Looking up from the ground, her sapphire blue eyes stared and twinkled into his. The hope and ambition in his own eyes shined back. Luna had no desire to crush that hope, but maybe this was the best way.

“Jack, I will agree. But only if you agree to stop this if you lose.”

That caught him completely off guard. It was an interesting addition. Jack knew if he agreed he'd have to keep his word. Even if he didn't want to.

“I...” He paused. Unsure if he wanted to agree to this. Even if he lost, even if he kept his word, maybe something would change in the future? If he said 'No' now, he feared the risk of losing her trust. After all what girl, or mare, would want someone so uncommitted.

“You have a deal Princess. If I win, then we go on a date. A real date, not just an 'outing' like the last one.” Jack nodded his head.

Luna's muzzle twisted into a bitter sweet smile. In her mind, she was relieved that Jack had given her such an easy out. Though, it felt a little wrong, to lead him on like this.

“Agreed, fair Jack. If your team wins, you will have your… date. But if you lose, you have to stop. I can't-”

*Burrrrrr*

Luna's words were cut off by the sound of a loud horn from somewhere just beyond the gate. Her ears perked on top of her head and she looked around in mild confusion. Celestia, Cadance and Twilight took flight and made their way over and behind the wall. A sigh escaped her lips as she knew she had to follow.

Turning her head around, she gave one last look at Jack. Though she had a full smile on her face, there was something else behind her eyes, an almost uncertain sadness. Like she was pondering something she didn't fully want to.

“Jack, I have to go, but I do wish you well. Take care of yourself during the games. It's rare, but sometimes ponies can get hurt.” Not waiting for a response, she spread out her wings and flew up behind the gate with her sister and the other Princesses.

“What was that all about?” Mani came up to ask Jack.

He didn't know what to say or how to explain. So instead, Jack kept quiet, and merely shrugged, a small smirk crossed his mouth as he thought about where they would go once his team won. Further gears began to turn as he thought about all the nuances of the upcoming game, and what he could do to help his team.

He took the opportunity to survey his team, most of those present he knew as the majority were from his own squad, but eight new faces stood off to the side of the group.

There in a semi circle they chatted with each other more then the rest of the team. Jack figured now was a good time to introduce himself.

The small subgroup noticed Jack staring at them, observing them. One of the bat ponies in the group, a tiny mare called Wind Runner nodded to him and smiled. "So, you're the one they call lover boy, eh ape?" Her voice has a subtle accent to it. If Jack didn't know better he would have called her Canadian, but Canada didn't exist here.

The rest of the group laughed a little at her joke. Joining in on the laugh, Jack moved into the small circle and began to introduce himself. Most of the eight were bat ponies, and pretty generic overall, but a few stuck out in Jack's mind.

Wind Runner was the first pony that introduced herself. She was a tiny pony by comparison to the rest, her head barely came above Jack's waistline. She was dark gray with a subtle light orange and gray mane. Her eyes were a deep brown almost black color. Apparently she was from the northern bat pony colonies, not all that far from the crystal empire. She was quick, and agile, but couldn't lift a sword or bow to save her life. Given her swearing and aggressive stance, it also seemed she had a bit of a mouth and reminded Jack of Star in some ways. No doubt Star and Wind would become either good friends, or bitter rivals.

Green Hoof was next, an odd sight of a bat pony. For a moment Jack almost thought he was a she, given the delicate face structure he had. His coat was a light green, with a darker green mane containing a small amount of dark brown highlights. His irises were almost hypnotic, a deep emerald green with numerous facets. His job function was primarily as a gardener for the southern jungle areas. His skills in gardening and horticulture was useful for keeping the expansive and some times aggressive, local plant life at bay.

One bat pony, Tollem, was oddly silent in the group. He seemed very fit, and strong but never said much. Wind Runner made a joke or two partially at his expense, but Tollem just seemed to shrug them off. He seemed like the kind of Guard who would get the job done with few complaints or comments. For some reason though, he didn't seem to particularly enjoy being here.

The last to make an impression was Rock Slide, who was probably the oddest of the mix, a large brown earth pony with a deep brown almost black mane. Apparently Wind Runner and him came from the same northern territories and were even in the same squad. This was his second game, he still has some spark of hope in him believing that while unlikely they could still win. Jack knew their team would be able to use him.

"Guardsman, what are you doing?" Moon Shadow had come up from behind him and barked.

"Just talking, trying to introduce myself and get information from my fellow Guards. The game will start soon." He said with a shrug, not quite sure what the problem Moon Shadow had right now.

"Information? What do you need information for? Just follow Night Blades orders. I swear if you act out of turn I will find a way to have you demoted back to Rookie." The fierce gaze in Shadow's eyes, encouraged Jack to move away and stand in formation. The rest of the squad followed suit.

Time went on, and each of the teams steadily grew in size as more and more ponies came in. All but one team that is. As the time slowly crept down, Jack looked around at his squad, a handful of additional Guards had appeared, but the squad was still disturbingly barren. He had hoped the rest of the group would come trotting over the hill, but now with less than five minutes left that seemed very unlikely. His heart began to sink very quickly as the prospects of winning, or even surviving the first few minutes seemed bleak.

"This is it?" He spoke to no one in particular. In total he had counted twenty nine guards not including himself.

Night Blade overheard him and nodded his head. "Yes, this is the pride of the Night Guard. At least those that could be spared. Be thankful that you're here at all Jack." The last of his statement was laced with subtle venom. The fact was he was here by Fire Wall's wishes, and probably against Night Blade's.

Still, he was puzzled, how could this be considered a fair game? "But the other teams each have two hundred?"

"The other teams are respectable Guard units." Someone echoed from behind Jack, giving rise to a few chuckles from the group.

'Respectable', that word echoed inside Jack's mind. In his time with the Guards, he had noticed that the Night Guard seemed to be a bit smaller then the other branches. Occasionally there was even some jokes made at their expense. He had always thought that it was just some friendly ribbing or rivalry. For the first time it real struck him that maybe it wasn't so friendly?

"We'll do our best and go out with pride. Who knows we may even give one of them a hard time." Night Blade's attitude and voice were filled with the idea of inevitable defeat. It was the same feeling he got from the rest of the squad and even the Princess earlier. Around him, Blade's words hit the other Night Guard, of this Jack was certain. The posture of more then a few of them slump with Blades words.

'Did these ponies know nothing of morale?' Jack thought to himself in disbelief.

He had to say something, for his own sake if nothing else. "You never know Captain. We might surprise them." Jack tried to be and sound upbeat; he tried not let all the hope die. Morale was important, doubly so given their unequal starting point.

"Heh." Night Blade half scoffed and half snorted at the human Guard, and trotted off to find some boxes or paperwork to stare at.

Though it was worth fighting, this wasn't a battle Jack would win right now. With a shake of his head he returned to formation and forced himself upright.

'We can still win this.' He tried to convince himself.

The small thirty Night Guard unit stood in three lines of nine, with Blade, Shadow and Mani in front dealing with some supply crates. A few of the Wonderbolt trainees and rookies had come out a few minutes ago, each carrying out crates with wooden weapons and supplies. Each of the teams were to be given the requisites amount of weapons for each member.

Night Blade opened two of the crates and stood before his Guards, "For those of you who are new to this game let me explain some of the equipment to you." He held up one of the wooden swords which has an edge that seemed to shimmer ever so slightly. "These wooden swords are called paint swords. They're not too different from what you may have trained with. They have been enchanted so that if you hit somepony with the blunt bladed edge it will leave paint residue over them. Anypony with paint on them is considered a casualty and are to leave the battlefield once able."

Next he held up some odd dual blade item that looked like it might fit over a pony's hoof. “Hoof blades, with the same enchanted wood used to make the paint swords. According to a new rule you can pick either these, or a sword, but not both.” There was some groaning from a few members of the Night Guards. Given the shape and structure of both items, it was obvious that only the sword was appropriate for Jack.

Last, he held up a wooden bow and an odd looking arrow with a large soft white head, "Additionally some of the Guards have an option of using wooden bows with special paint arrows. No magic was used for these, just normal paint. We have a limited supply of ten for our group. If you've been trained to use a bow, see me before entering."

'Paintball' was the first thing that popped in Jack's mind, and he couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

Night Blade continued, "Each team has their own color of paint. Ours is midnight blue. The Royal Guard’s is gold, the Day Guard’s is green, and the General Guard’s is crimson red. Remember a kill is a kill, even if you hit your own team member, or yourself."

Blade took a deep breath as he looked over his small squad. He knew, leading this small number of Guards into the battlefield was considered an honor, but he couldn't help but feel it was almost insulting. Even among the Night Guard, most knew this Game was a joke. That's why no pony ever volunteered for this. All he really had was his own squad, and a few rookie rejects from the other squads.

With a very subtle shake of his head, he continued. “I don't expect much. All I expect is that you will all follow your orders, fight bravely and with honor. ”

*Bruuuuuu*

The game horn sounded and the gateway to the field slowly opened, revealing the four Princesses, who had disappeared earlier. Celestia stood in front of the alicorn group and looked around at the four teams. On her face was that same gentle and motherly smile she always seemed to posses.

"Welcome Guards to the seasonal Canterlot War Game. You are each here because you have shown yourself to be the best of your respective branch. I trust that your captains have explained the rules of the games to you all. Just remember to fight well, and with honor, but also know this is not the real thing. Treat each other with respect and kindness. Farewell My Little Ponies!" Celestia flapped her wings and rose up to the seating area above with the other three Princesses in tow.

*Bruuuuu*

The game horn sounded once more and the four teams began their walk into the large battlefield like arena. Each member of the Night Guard picked up their respective wooden weapons. Jack settled for a larger wooden sword, that didn't seem to quite fit in his hands, designed more to be held in a pony's mouth, wing or with a unicorn's magic.

As each of the teams split off, they seemed to be followed by a few Wonderbolts flying above. In addition to the pegasi above Jack noticed the wheeled crates trailing behind the other teams as well, supplies he reasoned. However, something troubling was that the Night Guard seemed to be the only carrying their armor and the wooden paint weapons they were given, nothing else.

Jack turned to ask Leucippe about the supplies, but she just shrugged "They are bring a small amount of food, water and other supplies, in case this game last longer then the first day."

Yet that just make Jack further puzzled, "So why aren't we bringing in anything?" He asked.

Lucepie gave a half smirk at Jack "Because we wont need it. I know this is your first game, but the Night Guard has always been the first team out. I don't think there's been one game in the past fifty years where we lasted past the first day." She gave a light ribbing to Jack, "Don't worry lover boy, you'll be back in your room by the end of the day. I'm sure somepony will help rub and lick your wounds." She gave Jack a knowing wink and turned forward.

Jack's ego deflated just a bit more at hearing of the Night Guard's most recent losses. Still, he tried to keep upbeat. The odds were not in their favor, far from it, but to give up and give in would just guarantee defeat.

The teams quickly disappeared from each others sight after they separated. Each walking their length of the arena, eventually ending up in there own quadrant of the large ten kilometer square area.

In the Night Guard's quadrant there were ample trees and brush to hide in, along with several large fields. Jack made it a point to study the areas he walked by. There were plenty of places where the Night Guard could hide and hope to ambush the other teams. They had a chance here, albeit not a good one. They just had to try.

Every once in a while Jack would reach into his breast plate and pull out his note sheet, quickly jotting down notable features and land marks on the small paper.

Finally, after about half an hour of walking Night Blade stopped in the middle of a fairly large open field. "Company halt." he barked his orders at the group. Small trees dotted the horizon and surrounding areas, and there was a large set of hills to the east, but realistically there was nothing around but open field.

'Probably not the best place to make camp.' Jack thought to himself. 'Assuming we're even going to try and make camp.' The lack of supplies suggesting it was unlikely.

"In a couple of minutes the horn will blow again and we can start this game." Night Blade pointed to the north, "The cave that holds the flag is in that direction. Most likely the other teams are going to head for the flag first."

This was it, Jack and the rest of the squad were waiting for some great or at least interesting strategy. Perhaps some last minute idea to rush the flag and secure it. Instead what they got was more disappointment. "We will come up behind the other teams and rush in for a stealth line formation attack. Assuming we can be quick enough, we can pluck off a few more of them than us. I'll be happy if we manage a three to two kill:loss."

Jack's mouth hung open in shock, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was a suicide run, but not even that, it was a suicide run without a point.

Night Blade finished his quick briefing, which continued to be devoid of any real strategy, "We'll give them a scar to remember us." He stood straight and tall as he spoke. In truth he was proud of his idea, damn the costs and apparent absurdity. It was clean, elegant, and by his book of tactics and honor, a proper use of force. Ponies and others who observed the engagement would complement his use of force as being noble and sound. After this was all over, and with some luck, he would impress the right nobles who would communicate with his higher ups. Maybe even his family back home. Perhaps for once, his family could be proud of him. Though he had his doubts.

All around the Night Guard squad deflated a little under Night Blade's strategy talk. Blade was himself unaware of this sudden mood shift. However, Jack was quick to notice how everyone seemed to accept the defeat so easily, before the battle had even begun. There was a spark of hope in a few of them, but it grew dimmer and dimmer by the moment as they all realized that Blade's plan would lead to certain defeat.

'This is wrong.' Jack thought to himself. 'I have to do something, to say something. We can't just give up with out even trying.' He was only a Guardsman first class, but Jack knew he was right about this.

"Captain, sir…" His voice shook ever so slightly with a hint of worry and uncertainty.

"What is it Guardsman." As per usual, Night Blade's voice was full of annoyance and agitation when the human spoke to him.

"Well, I was just thinking, why don't we try to do something different? I mean there has to be more we can do besides rush in and fall?" He asked.

"And how would you suggest we do that? Maybe throw sticks and stones at the opposing forces like a monkey would?" Jack noticed the subtle racism in Blade's analogy, but also thought that the idea had some merit behind it. Harassing the enemy could gain them extra time, maybe pick off some of the weaker or less disciplined Guards.

Of course, Blade's question was rhetorical, and he didn't wait for an answer. "Their numbers are greater than ours, I will be happy if we can take more of them down than what we have. We may be destined to lose this game, but I'll be damned if we aren't going to lose with honor."

The Captain was dead set on handing his team to the funeral pyre while they were still breathing. Jack knew they had better options then just go in to die. Even if it wasn't a real death, it still reeked of pain and misery. "Sir, what if we let the three other teams knock each other around first. We could come in and do some clean up. Maybe another opportunity-"

His pleading was interrupted by Night Blade who took offense to being questioned, "What? Another opportunity will present itself? Look Jack, I don't know how the apes in your world fight, but I intend to keep some level of dignity and form to our group." Blade stood up tall almost at attention, "The Night Guard may not be the most highly praised of the Guards, but we are honorable and noble, and I will keep our honor and integrity no matter the costs!"

*Bruuuuu*

Almost on queue the game horn blew, formally ending the conversation between Blade and Jack. The game was now afoot and Night Blade gave the order to march forward seemingly towards their inevitable defeat.

The pace of Jack's matching slowed and he fell back a ways to talk to the rest of his group. "This is nuts." He spoke between several of the Guards including, most importantly, Mani. The third in command.

With a roll of his eyes, Mani gave a half hearted shrug of his shoulders "What do you want us to do Jack? Disobey his orders?"

A smile crossed Jack's lips as he seriously considered the idea for a moment, "Well..."

A quick shake of his head and Mani quickly shut that idea down. "If we mutiny our team will automatically lose. A captain losing control of his team is an automatic disqualification."

A smaller black batpony colt, Broad Storm, joined in the conversation, "Mani's right Jack, lets just follow Night Blade's orders. Two to three kill count isn't bad, I can live with that." The irony in Storm's statement seemed to be missed by him.

Still, around him, Jack could see that Mani and a few of the others perturbed by Storm's statement. While they knew score wise it was better, the fact was it was still a loss. The team wanted to win, they just needed a chance. A real one. The gears in Jack's mind began to spin at breakneck speed, as he thought about different ideas, and tactics. For some reason, his mind kept drifting back to Blade's rather crass 'Ape' statement earlier.

'Ape…' The word echoed, over and over again, until all other thoughts stopped. 'Not, ape. Gorilla.' A smile crossed his lips, as an idea came to him. "Mani, what if I told you I did have a plan?"

Mani sigh, "What plan Jack?"

Pausing for a moment, more thoughts ran through Jack's mind as an incoherent riot of elements. Books, and lectures, he had taken in ROTC, Guevara and his foco, the Viet Cong, Sun Tzu's Art of War and Mao Zedong's implementation of it, and so many others. Most of the talks were on combating these kind of guerrilla elements, but he knew he could formulate something more solid with a bit of time. There was just too much information to remember at the moment.

"Just keep as many of us near the rear as you can, when Night Blade and Shadow fall in combat you will be the one in charge, then we can actually do something rather than just walk in to 'die'." He's voice rang with confidence and certainty he didn't have.

Mani shook his head. The thought that he might actually be in charge, even for a few moments terrified him. "I don't know Jack..."

Rock Slide came trotting up behind the two after hearing part of the conversation. "Jack if you have an idea me and the other outsiders are interested. I was in the winter game, and we lost too quickly." Rock Slide snorted in disgust.

With Rock Slide's addition, Mani grew uncomfortable with this conversation, "Look Jack, Rock, we have orders to follow. Night Blade wants us to do a direct attack. So that's what we will do." He tried to shut down the conversation there.

Still the two persisted in walking on opposite sides of Mani. Mani turned his head, looking Jack in the eyes, "Jack, I know you've looked into becoming a captain, but you can't expect to lead if you've never followed. Just follow Night Blade's orders."

Of course Mani had a point. Jack knew this, but he also knew in his gut that Blade was wrong. A set of images popped in Jack's head, a framed quote on the wall of the ROTC officer offices. The words spoke to him, now more than ever, 'I will always place the mission first.' Mani was right, following orders was important, he couldn't just disobey Night Blade, but he couldn't just sacrifice the mission either.

"Mani, I'm not asking you to disobey Night Blade. Just...” The words seemed lost to him, “Give me some flexibility."

Mani shook his head lightly, still very uncomfortable with the conversation. "I don't know..."

"Look, just don't be the first to charge in. Try to stay alive. We can regroup later." Jack placed his hand on Mani's back, trying to reassure him, letting him know that he had his back. "Trust me on this. Please."

Up ahead Shadow glanced back the stranglers a frown crossed his face as he saw who was in the center of the group. “Keep in formation!” He barked at the trailing members.

Just under thirty minutes of mild trotting and walking before the Night Guard started to hear the sounds of fighting. Just as Blade had predicted, at least two of the groups had already met in the field, not far from the flag. The small rolling hills in front of the Night Guard left the fighting to the imagination. They were going to walk into this battle blind, but at least they would have the high ground going in.

As the top of the hill passed, Jack's mind was alert with fear and adrenaline. He started to catch a glimpse of the rest of the field beyond the hills and his walking slowed ever so slightly. Slowly, he began to fall out of formation again, as he started scanning and analyzing the terrain. Looking for hidden ponies in the distant tree lines to the side, and waiting for any that might be coming over the hill. The fingers in his hands dug into his palms as he squeezed them shut subconsciously.

Above the field he noticed some pegasi flying above the battle. 'Wonderbolts' Jack surmised from the blue and yellow flight suits. He found it surprising that there were no Guards in the air, flying around the combat. Though, the low overhead ceiling and armor probably made that more difficult than it was worth.

As the squad approached the apex of the hill they could see the mass of ponies fighting on the ground in full. Only Day Guard and General Guard banners flew, the Royal Guard didn't seem to have made it to the cave yet, or perhaps more likely, they were waiting. The cave entrance was far behind the large mass of fighting ponies and trees beyond them. Though the top of the gray rocky out cropping could be seen past the tree line.

A small stream of ponies trickled out of the battle slowly. Each one had paint on their bodies some of which was green and others were red. Some ponies appeared to have multiple hits and at least a few seemed to hobble or limp a bit.

Night Blade held up his right front hoof, attached to it was one of the hoof blades from earlier. He called back to his men to charge. The small group of Night Guard followed their Captain's lead and tumbled down the hill into the seething mass of ponies fighting below. A small number of the Night Guard kept up the rear of the group. Hanging back away from the inevitable onslaught, just as Jack had asked of them.

The forward Night Guard who charged in and each score a casualty on their first strike before they themselves were quickly struck down in short order. Night Blade for all his valor fell first, hit on the back with a Day Guard's sword.

Bone Breaker, a large steel gray bat pony mare held up her hoof blades, deflecting an incoming attack from the same Day Guard that struck down Night Blade. But her flank was unprotected, a General Guard took advantage of her lapse and slammed her hardened flank with a paint arrow, coating her fur in crimson red.

Moon Shadow the second in command screamed back at the rest of the Guard to move forward. His lack of attention in front of him lead to a Day Guard's sword striking the side of his head, dazing him before he hit the ground.

After several seconds of defending himself Mani saw both Blade and Shadow walk away from the fighting mass. Shadow had to lean on Blade's side, the impact knocked his balance off and he was unable to stand. Quickly Mani realized that as the third in line he was now in charge.

"Mani!" He heard his name being yelled from somewhere. Just off to his right flank Jack had been screaming at Mani's side for the past few seconds.

The sound of combat, of swords swinging and hitting was more then he could handle. For all his worth, Mani knew he simply wasn't a leader. All he really knew was how to stack and count boxes, and wasn't even all that good at it. He was lost with all of this.

The last orders Blade gave were to charge. He knew he should follow them.

*Clap*

Without thinking he blocked a Day Guard's sword in front of him. He wasn't ready for this fight and he felt paralyzed. The colt in front of him, was about the same size and build as him. His face glowed with fierceness as the colt relished the combat. Mani didn't understand why the colt suddenly fell to his side with a large green mark on his side. A friendly impact of a wayward Day Guard arrow had saved Mani's hide.

'I should follow Blade.' Mani thought as he saw the particular Day Guard wander away from the fighting. He wasn't fully aware of the human next to him, screaming something.

He felt his body lock up, as a fellow bat pony fell in front of him. Her body covered in red paint that looked so much like blood. Satin Rift was her name, Mani had remembered talking to her the night before. A tough little bat with good reflexes and a fast set of forelegs. She had picked a set of hoof blades to use, blades which were now covered in the same red paint. He had thought she'd be the last to fall not one of the first. His eyes traveled over her body, focusing on all that crimson paint that looked like so much blood that cover her hardened athletic body.

'Retreat.' That word entered his head, as he focused on that blood like color.

In front of Mani, a Day Guard charged at him. His eyes darted up as he saw the pony rushing him. That same look of combat that his fellow Day Guard had only moments ago.

'Retreat' that same alien sounding word repeated itself.

The large brown and red maned Day Guard seemed to tower over Mani like some kind of hideous and fearsome demon. The giant beast like creature raised his fake wooden sword high threatening to strike Mani down, ending his short rain as acting Captain.

"Retreat!" Without thinking, without even meaning to, Mani had yelled it. That one fateful command that threatened to undo all the planing Blade had. All the honor he hoped to keep.

*Clank*

Reflexively Mani blocked a Day Guard’s blade with his own.

A quick turn around and the Day Guard brought his blade up for another strike. The Guard was fast, so much faster than Mani could ever hope to be.

The Day Guard’s sword came down to try and hit Mani. The strike was quick, too quick and Mani didn't have time to adjust or defend. This was it.

*Thwak*

Wind Runner ran in and hit the Day Guard's forearm before it could come down on the stock boy made captain. The Day Guard's sword impacted the ground next to Mani, leaving him unscathed.

Wind stood next to Mani for a moment, reeling back to deflect the non existent counter strike she was expecting. But, her impact was hard, and the Day Guard fell to his side in pain. Blunt or not, being hit with a large stick still hurt. All over the Day Guard's front limb dark blue coloration appeared over his blackish fur. It would hide the bruise that was forming underneath it.

Mani turned his head to Wind Runner "to thank her," to say anything to her, but she was already falling back and retreating. Mani looked to his other side and saw Jack still there trying to defend. Unwilling to abandon the squad till he heard the order once more. The two made eye contact and in that moment, an entire conversation took place.

Mani knew what to do.

"Retreat!" Mani shouted once more and backed away from the Day Guard who was still on the ground rolling in pain.

The Night Guard near the back turned around and ran as fast as they could. The more forward Guard fought off a few more attacks slowly falling back as they did so. A few more fell still, but at least some managed to get far enough away to start running. No one from the day or General Guard followed the retreating Night Guard as they ran in apparent fear.

The adrenaline and fear made time slow down. The now even smaller Night Guard squad ran for what felt like hours until they reached a large open field, not all that far from their original starting point. Eventually, not too far inside the Night Guard Quadrant, a few of the ponies collapsed exhausted from the run. The human just stood in place, trying to catch his breath.

Looking around at the remaining squad, Jack began to mentally count. There were seventeen of them left in total, including himself. Both Night Blade and Moon Shadow had fallen in combat. Since Mani was the only remaining 3rd class Guardsman he was now the defacto leader of the squad. Jack was in many ways thankful that both Night Blade and Shadow weren't here to argue with him. Still, they had taken so much of the already tiny squad with them. No matter what happened from this point forward, this was going to be a challenge.

Jack wanted to talk to Mani, he was hopeful that he could actually convince him to do something more then just run in and lose. Maybe they could actually have a plan this time. A plan which no one in the squad seemed to have just yet, himself included.

Mani was sitting on the ground trying to breath after the run, his mind ran over the battlefield again and again. He had locked up and was just too slow. In his heart he knew he wasn't good at this. Why was he here?

A shadow covered his head, and he looked up at the human. This ape convinced him to abandon the easy way out, and probably the only way to keep some measure of dignity intacked. What honor was there for a coward who retreats?

"Mani. It's time to talk about a plan…" Jack spoke, his breathing noticeably slower and smoother than Mani's.

Mani snorted and shook his head before glaring up at the human. "Why? It's useless, there's not enough time to do anything." Mani kicked the grass in front of him with his hoof and sighed. He took a moment longer to breath and group his thoughts.

'Time.' Jack's own mind began to turn. That was what they needed, time. He reached into his breast pocket for the notes he made earlier.

After a minute Mani began his debasement again. "By the time we regroup and actually come up with this miracle plan of yours, the Royal Guard would have taken the flag to the gates or found us and struck us down. Worst of all, we'd all look like cowards for hiding." Shaking his head at his words, a small dollop of water clouded his eyes. He didn't want to lose, he didn't, but the fact was they had nothing, least of all was time.

"We just don't have enough time or the numbers to do anything. We should have just stayed and fought." Mani repeated.

"Why did I call for a retreat?" His voice whispered with the rhetorical question.

A smirk stretched across Jack's face as he looked up from his note sheet. "And that's what my plan will get us. Time."

Mani shut his eyes tight before looking up to glare at the human's smug smile. The bat pony shook his head, he knew this was going to be a bad idea. But right now, it might be the only idea any one had. He took a deep breath.

"Ok, Jack. Let us all in on this amazing plan of yours." Mani spoke with mild sarcasm. He wasn't sure just yet if it was just a bad idea or an outright horrible one to listen to the human.

Meanwhile, back at the gate, the four Princesses sat around a large game board, sipping tea and eating some rather flaky biscuits.

Cadance was the first to notice the sudden removal of Night Guard pieces from the board. “Oh my, looks like the Night Guard have fallen. Wonder why we haven't heard the horn blow for them yet?”

Fire Wall looked up from the board, his eye lazily gazing at the seventeen odd missing pieces to the side. “Not all of the Night Guard have fallen. The Wonderbolts lost sight of those seventeen, and they haven't reported to the gate.”

A small smile crossed Fire Wall's muzzle as he heard Night Blade yelling from somewhere down below. Apparently he was deeply cross that his team was disobeying his last orders.

The Royal Guard general let out a laugh at Fire Wall's statement. “No they haven't fallen. They were too cowardly to fall in battle. Ran back into the woods with that ape of yours, General.” The drawn out use of the word 'General' was meant to mock Fire Wall.

Fire Wall couldn't care less about the thoughts of some high born and useless noble General, like Tanium here. The Royal Guard General wore large amounts of gold, from chains to medallions, hoof bracelets and more, all far beyond what his armor called for. His silvery coat was perfectly polished and cleaned, and his golden mane blew about needlessly in the wind. His smile was large and fake, like his bright and shiny teeth behind it. Tanium was everything Fire Wall despised about the nobles. Fire Wall didn't even bother to have the energy to remember the other General's name, seeing it as a waste of time.

“Of course you'd know much about cowardice, wouldn't you Tantrum?” Fire Wall's insult was slight and in truth, unintentional. He simply couldn't remember the poor General's name just a subtle sound. Tantrum seemed appropriate given the only bit of memory he had devoted to the other General. A memory from the time when the Royal Guard was still a rookie. A rather tragic incident where he eschewed his duties to protect the ponies of Equestria, and his explosive argument after the fact. Of course that's a different story.

The General, for all his standing and prestige, began to act just like the infant Fire Wall thought him as. “Tanium you old bat! My name is Tanium! And I'm not a coward you… you… burnt freak!” He yelled.

The Princesses collectively gasped in shock at the General's needlessly hurtful words. Fire Wall could only smile at the immature and useless colt, before turning his attention back to the game board.

“We'll just see who's laughing when my Shining Armor beats your pathetic ape.” Tanium snorted before walking away from the board. “Old bat.” He whispered one last insult as he walked away.

Celestia stood behind Fire Wall and wrapped her wing around his shoulder. “Fire Wall, please don't take his words to heart.”

For all his battle hardened ways and hard ways, Fire Wall did his best to smile and appear disarming as he looked up to the Princess. “Princess. Thank you. But it will take far more than just words to hurt me.”

Celestia took the hint and lifted her wing from him, nodding in approval of his choice. “Of course dear General.”

A moment of silence embraced the group, until Twilight took the opportunity to speak up. “I do hate to say it, but it seems my brother is going to have an easy time this battle. It looks like most of the Day and General Guard have been raised by each other. I'm sure Jack was hoping for a bit more of a battle than this.”

“Oh I'm sure he'll be fine Twilight. From everything you've said, the human seems to have a good head on his shoulders.” Cadance smiled, secretly happy that the battle would be over quick and she could have Shining to herself once more. Her mind began turning over all the things she wanted to do with him, and to him.

Luna sat in silence as she studied the board in front of her. This battle was just like she had anticipated. Well mostly. She had assumed the Night Guard would be the first to fall, but their defeat was inevitable at this point. This thought should have made her distraught, at least a bit, but her mind was occupied on things other than this battle.

She needed to have a talk with Jack when this was over. Today would be the day. Her hoof rubbed a tightly sealed scroll hidden in a wing pouch. She had meant to give it to him before the game started but after talking to him, the time didn't seem right. Hopefully Jack wouldn't take the transfer the wrong way. It really was for the best. For all of them. She told herself.

The Night Guard's loss would make it all the easier. After all, Jack was a pony or rather ape, of his word...

Chapter 16: War Games Day 1, Part II

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 17: War Games Day 2

Mani couldn't keep his eyes open, and by the looks of it, neither could most of the other guards. "Why are we awake at 12 in the morning Jack?" He asked. Normally Mani would be fine being awake at midnight, but getting up at six in the morning and running around since then kind of changed that.

Jack had to suppress a yawn himself. It was late and none of them had much more than a two or a three hour nap. But that didn't matter, once they did this one thing they could all come back and sleep for a while. Well, most of them anyway.

“I told you guys earlier. We need to act like apes. You had some question about what I meant so let me elaborate. In my world there's a set of tactics called 'guerrilla warfare,' it's a type of asymmetric fighting that's useful for smaller, and less developed armies. A large amount of this kind of fighting is just harassment of your enemy. Like a gorilla throwing leaves and mud from the jungle. That's what we're going to do now. Harass them.” For a moment, Jack felt like Twilight explaining a military history lesson.

“We're going to head to the camp in force, and hide in the shadows, not far from these lines of trees and rocks.” Jack pointed to two areas on the Northwest and South side of the camp. “Our two archers will set up here and here. Green Hoof, and half the team will head to the South and take out a few of the guards on patrol from a distance. Leucepiee and the other half of our team will head to the Northwest side and do the same. One pony on each side will run in, just barely close enough to be seen and run back out. With some luck, we'll be able to pull a few of them out of camp and pick them off.” Jack sketched some more lines in the dirt, indicating the various directions everyone should try to move in. “The surprise attack should piss them off, and hopefully rally them up.”

With a shake of his head, Mani had to object.“But wont that put them on edge, make them more likely to look for us?” He didn't really like this idea, and it was evident in his tone. He was also annoyed that Jack seemed to have miss this one glaring problem with his plan, an angry enemy is a more dangerous one.

Surprisingly Jack just nodded in agreement. “Exactly, they will spend resources and time trying to find and combat us. That's why our camp is deep inside the tree line. Shining will never send guards in here to look for us. Eventually, all that extra searching will tire them out and make them weaker, even with their full force.”

Though Mani thought he understood, he still had to shake his head, he didn't full agree with Jack's assessment or plan. Yet so far the human had been right. Mani was just going to have to trust him, as it seemed that almost every other pony here did. In the back of his mind he still wondered if it was right to give the 1st Guardsman command.

Once the briefing was done the small group headed out of the grove into the tree maze. Jack stopped Mani from following him, “Mani, I want you to lead the second squad. I need someone I can count on and you do have officer's training.”

Mani looked at Leuceppie and the rest of the team who were now waiting for him. He didn't exactly relish the idea of leading again, but he would do his best. One quick nod of agreement and the two groups separated in different directions. Wind Runner took point of Jack's group as they made their way to the South side.

Green Hoof wasn't much for fighting, but he did know how to aim a bow well. The first paint arrow he fired flew up and landed right on top of a nearly sleeping Royal Guard at the gate.

“What the hell? I'm hit?” He screamed before throwing a short tantrum. Green Hoof and the squad had all the could do to keep from laughing as the Guard slowly and angrily walked off the field.

Around the camp, ponies began to wake up at the sounds of the ex-player's shouting. On the other side of the camp another paint arrow fell from the sky, just missing another Guard who moved at the last minute.

Green Hoof held up the bow for another quick volley while Jack and Wind Runner prepared for the planned distraction.

Deep inside of Shining's personal tent he collapsed into his cot, oblivious to the commotion outside. His body and mind exhausted at the rather hectic and disappointing day, and he had a hard time focusing on anything but sleep.

"Just six hours" He said between yawns as his eyes closed shut.

However they were not closed for long. A pony ran by the front of his tent yelling something about an ambush. Shining's eyes broke open as he ran out to the see what the yelling was about. Apparently half of the tents in the camp had been torn down as his own guards ran back and forth, searching for an invisible assassin.

Pin Point came running by Shining Armor, his attention focused elsewhere.

Shining grabbed at Pin Point and pulled him close, "What's going on, what damage has been done?"

"Sir, three of our guards were taken out in the night, two by raiders from the Night Guard and… one by our own. They've already started walking back to the gate."

“Friendly Fire?!” Shining Growled. They had enough problems with Night and General Guard, they didn't need to be killing themselves off. “How did that happen?”

Pin Point swallowed hard, it was difficult to tell but he was suffering the same lack of sleep as the Captain, and he had his own reasons to be nervous. “I'm sorry sir. But one of our Guards wandered out into the night to find the sniper on the Northwest side. I saw a glint of armor but didn't realize who it was until after I let my own arrow go.”

Shining closed his eyes. He knew Pin Point was a good pony and was or at least would be, one day, a halfway competent leader. Pin Point was just tired like he was, like the rest of them where. Still he needed to be paying more attention. Shining knew he would have to deal with that later. A large bit of white canvas blew past him as the tent in-front of Shining armor collapsed.

"Why are all of our tents knocked down? Was there another fire?"

"No fire sir. The tents falling is on us sir. The guards panicked when we were attacked. I have them repairing the damage now."

Shining took a moment to look around, and walk past a few of the nearby tents. Something bothered him though, nothing appeared to have been taken.

"No supplies were taken?" He asked his second.

"No. We think they might have been after some of the armory equipment, but we're not sure."

“So the sniper hit us from the Northwest? Then there was a raiding party from the south?” Shining tried to put it all together.

“Actually, we think there were two snipers. We were hit from both the Northwest and south. The raiding party seemed to try and rush the armory in the confusion, but they stopped as soon as we spotted them. At least that's what it seems like sir. Some of the Guards went chasing after the pony who approached the armory tents. They haven't reported back yet.”

It took Shining a moment to put all the dots together. "I want ALL of our supplies under double guard from here on out. Nopony is to leave them unattended. Also, I don't want any Guards left alone, minimum of two pair. We need to shut down these raids before we die from a thousand paper cuts.”

“Sir?” Pin Point didn't quite understand the analogy.

“No one gets left alone, also, double the ponies on patrols too.” Shining began to trot away from his second when a thought crossed his mind. “Oh, and Pin Point Get the men together. I want to talk to them in fifteen."

"Sir, it's almost one in the morning." He tried to protest. Most of the Guards were tired, a few might have been exhausted even.

"I don't care. They need to be reminded how to act. I'll be damned if we're going to be harassed by a bunch of night fliers and a bucking ape."

Deep in the dark, moonless plains out of reach from the light of the Royal Guard camp, nine Royal Guards chased after the one bat pony Night Guard who ran ahead of them. This one had broke off from his companions, and would be an easy target once they caught up to them. The Royal Guard had no idea what they would find or see, but it didn't matter. The Night Guard were suppose to be easy targets, and these brave nine would show that.

A swishing sound came from a distant rock line as a paint arrow landed on the backs of one of the Royal Guards, causing him to fall.

Yes, these eight Guards would catch up with that one Night Guard in front.

More paint arrows were let go, two more hits.

The six Royal Guards stopped running at the sound of their three companions complaining about being hit.

On of them began to scream, “What's happening? What-”

*Thwack*

An arrow hit the talking Guard right in the face. “Bucking hell!” She yelled, rubbing her now blue and sore muzzle.

The five Royal Guards didn't know what to make of anything happening around them. Instinctive they bunched up together, trying to protect each of their flanks. None of them could really see in the dark, and the one torch they carried was too dim to light up more than a two meter circle. They were now trapped in a cage of shadows.

In front of them the shadows began to move and flow. From the pitch black abyss another paint arrow took from and slammed on the side of a Royal Guard.

The four watched as the shadows coalesced into five Night Guard who quickly descended on the remaining Royal Guard. The fight was quick and decisive, three of the Guards fell with barely a fight, while the one coward of the mix turned and ran as fast as he could.

Jack had to almost hold Wind Runner back from chasing him down. “Let him go. His story will demoralize them.” He whispered to her.

Back at the Royal Guard camp, Shining was busy tearing into his Guards when one came running up behind him. He was panting, tired and more than a bit unnerved at what just happened to him.

Shining was not amused, “Guard! What are you doing running out in the night!? Were you and your squad under orders for a midnight scouting mission I wasn't aware of.” His words brought up an interesting question, where was the rest of his squad?

“S-sorry sir. We saw somepony and ran out to catch them. They picked us off and surrounded us. It was like they were part of the shadows.” He whispered meekly.

At least a few Guards felt their heart beat quicken or even skip at the wayward Guard's words. Shining was quick to sense the change in his troops and was very quick to nip it in the butt before it could do any lasting damage.

“Unbelievable. Are you thick soldier? Do you have some kind of disorder that inhibits your thinking abilities? Bat ponies can see in the dark! Far better than any of you can. Engaging them at night is foolish and you're safer in your tents than outside.” Shining stamped his hoof on the ground. Signifying he was serious and agitated. He left the Royal Guard less than three years ago, yet they had already forgotten all of his training and were as sloppy as the day he first entered their ranks as a rookie. Possibly worse. Any discipline he had once instilled in them seems to have faded under their last failed Captain.

Around Shining the Guards began to look at the ground in shame. None of them had really considered any of this when they running about.

“Now. I'm going to give all of you a lecture on the tactics of fighting at night and how to stay as a cohesive group. No one will sleep until I am finished. Do you get me?” The Guards affirmed they understood and Shining began rambling off ideas and lessons he taught long before. The lecture went on for over an hour, and he himself wouldn't sleep that morning. There was just too much re-training to do after the lecture was done.

Quickly, morning had come, and three of the Princesses made their way to the viewing area above the gate. Of the group, Cadance was oddly absent.

Maximus and Fire Wall were already in front of the game board when the three arrived. Tanium was nowhere to be seen, and the Day Guard General had excused himself the previous day after his team was defeated. The two remaining generals were in the middle of a rather heated discussion about strategy and each teams choice in hiding. Twilight's ears perked up on hearing the debate and quickly moved over to observe and listen to the two's banter on the finer point of what sounded like hide and seek.

Luna stood just off to the side of her sister, absently gazing at the game board not more than a few meters in front of her. The same seventeen pieces were still off to the side of the board. Still in play, but in an unknown location. The Wonderbolts had been searching for them for the past several hours but had no luck in finding them. Part of Luna wanted to smile, seeing the Night Guard make it to Day 2 was impressive, yet another part of her wanted to frown that it would now take all the longer to talk to Jack.

Celestia quickly noticed her sister's distant gaze. Gently she pushed her hips into Luna's knocking her ever so slightly off balance. Luna quickly moved her hooves to stabilize herself, then quickly look up at her sister who was sticking her tongue out. “Try not to day dream too much, sister.” Celestia smiled, hoping to pick Luna's spirits up even if just slightly. Given the small forced smile on Luna's lips it seemed to work.

The sounds of light hoof steps could be heard coming up from the stairs. "Good morning girls." Cadence yawned between her greetings.

Luna looked to the newly risen sun, silll low on the horizon. With a bit of effort she returned Cadance’s greeting, "It is indeed a pleasant morning."

The pink princess trotted her way to the game board and studies the markers on it. All in all, it didn't look all that different from yesterday. "Has Shining made any moves in the night? How many General and Night Guard remain?" Cadence studied the game board not quite sure what to make of it. "Where are the Night Guard? I don't see their markers?"

Twilight levitated some coffee to her lips and gave it a quick sip before answering Cadance's question. "We aren't sure. The Wonderbolts lost sight of them again, after last night's raid."

"Raid?" Cadence asked.

"Oh? I thought you knew. The Night Guard raided the Royal Guards' camp last night, causing a bunch of commotion. I don't think my brother has had a chance to sleep all night." Twilight laughed slightly. She was sorry for her brother’s misfortune, but at the same time happy that's Jack's team was still in the game.

“Oh, my poor Shining Armor.” Cadance pouted, sad that her husband as apparently suffering, and sad that her own suffering wouldn't be eased till later. Possibly even tomorrow.

Fire Wall gave a hearty laugh as Maximus walked away from the board, clearly annoyed. "This is turning out to be an interesting game. I wonder what other tricks my Night Guard will show us?" Fire Wall spoke as a pegasus flew down to adjust some of the pieces on the board.

Only a a few hours after sunrise, the Night Guard had awoken amidst their arbor fortified encampment. Most had gotten at least six hours sleep. They were a bit sleepy, but compared to the suffering Royal Guard, were wide awake and ready to move. So move they did, as Jack sent them out on a combination of reconnaissance runs and harassment raids against the Royal Guard's scouting parties.

As the morning burned away to early afternoon, the Night Guard began to return from their own missions, disappointed. The raids so far haven't been much of a success, and Jack eagerly awaited the return of his second raiding party, while Wind and Star went over the report of their own recon mission.

“You're sure?” Jack asked Wind Runner again, for the second time.

“Bucking hell! Yes I'm sure! This is where the General Guard made their camp.” Wind Runner tapped her hoof on top of Jack's make shift dirt map again. The spot was far away from the Royal Guard's and the Night Guard's encampments. In fact it was as close to the edge of the map as you could get and seemed to straddle the Night Guard and General Guard's quadrants. It was well hidden in a small valley between some larger hills. A good location, if you were looking to hide.

This proved to be a potential fortuitous turn of events. Since last night the Royal Guard had upped it's patrols into the Night Guard's original starting area and had almost stopped hunting for the General Guard all together. From what Wind Runner had relayed the General Guard's camp was dark, no fires. They clearly didn't want to be discovered. Also, their numbers appeared to be much lower than originally thought on par with the Night Guards own.

Jack had no desire to fight the General Guard. They just didn't really have the numbers for it, but given how well they were hidden there was the real possibility they might last till the end of the game, damaging the Night Guard's chances for winning. It was a complex problem, one that he didn't have an answer for just yet.

*Crunch*

The sound of Star biting into an apple previously stolen from the Royal Guard brought her into Jack's focus. “Star, you said you saw Break Away in the General Guard's camp?” Jack asked, a bit unsure he had heard their report correctly.

She swallowed, “Yeah, why?”

'She must have been transferred after the shake up.' Jack thought to himself.

“You're friends with her, right?”

A light blush on Star's face suggested that there was a bit more than just friendship between the two of them. “Well, I guess you could say I'm friendly with her.”

That look meant that Star had fucked her at some point. Still, any kind of relationship might help them for what he was planning. “Ok, so you're on speaking terms with her at least?”

Star nodded, and briefly explained their relationship, minus some of the more intimate bits. Wind Runner got impatient with the apparently needless personal drivel.

“What does it matter?” Wind interrupted.

Taking a moment, Jack pieced together his fragmented thoughts into an actual plan. “I think it's time we ask the other underdogs for help.” With that, Jack got up from the log he was sitting on to walk about the camp, gathering his supplies.

Wind Runner rolled her eyes at his statement. “You think they'll just agree to help us? Out of the goodness of their hearts or something?”

A particularly evil smile crossed Jack's lips as he turned to answer her question, “We wont give them the choice.”

After a few minutes of waiting, the rest of the Night Guard had returned from the remaining recon missions, and the minor raid against the Royal Guard's scouting parties. The raiding team didn't have good news to report.

Green Hoof was clearly injured as he limped significantly into camp on his return. The Green pony slowly, and painfully made his way to a soft patch on the ground where he carefully laid down. His eyes wincing as he touched the cool soil and moss below him. A short conversation with the party and it quickly became evident that this raid didn't go over quite as well as the one last night had. The raiding party had taken out one of the Royal Guards, but there was just too many of them this time. Once the mark fell the rest of the Royal Guard quickly spotted them and gave chase. The Night Guard had been able to lose them eventually, but it came at a cost: one of the Night Guard squad, Van Burr had fallen, and Green Hoof twisted his ankle during the chase leaving him in the state he was now.

Jack wasn't too happy to lose one of their squad, their numbers were already so low. To make matters worse, Van was one of the first to volunteer for the raid. He hadn't been particularly skilled or fast, but his willingness was refreshing. They wouldd manage without him, but they were certain to miss the extra set of eyes and hooves. In truth though, Green Hoof's accident was probably the more major setback. He was one of their two archers and arguably the best. While he could still aim and shoot well, he wouldn't be able to run if he was in danger. It would make his next plan that much more dangerous, for all of them.

“Ok, we need to find a Royal Guard patrol or scouting party that's small. Ideally, ten or less. Than-” Jack's statement was interrupted by Mani's shaking head.

“Not going to happen. That was the problem we had earlier. All the Royal Guard scouting groups and patrols are twenty strong, exactly.”

“Since when?”

“Don't know. Probably since last night. Shining upped the number of Guards this morning. Probably knew our numbers were smaller. We tried to attack the one that was about twenty strong, but it didn't work out well.” Mani pointed to Green Hoof for extra emphasis.

It took Jack a moment to process this. The extra guards proved a significant problem for him. He knew his squad could take care of as many as ten guards at once. Pick four to five off from the distance, than swarm them with superior numbers. It had worked so far, but with twenty there was no way to shove their numbers down far enough to make a sneak attack on them viable.

Mani shook his head, “Look, I don't know what your plan was but we can't do any more sneak or direct assaults. We just-” he was cut off by Jack's hand as he came up with a slightly new idea.

“Ok. So we can't take out a scouting squad anymore. We can still do the sneak attack option though, with some varration.” Mani started shaking his head at the idea, but Jack continued. “Hear me out Mani. We'll do what we did at the cave. A small quick group will run in, take out one or two and then pull out. The Royal Guard will give chase and we can lose them, eventually.”

“So we're just going to do more aggressive and dangerous raids now? What if they-” Mani paused at seeing Jack shaking his head.

“No. This is a one time thing, after we're done with this one… we'll figure out what to do about the raids. What we need to do is get the Royal Guard squad to run. Somewhere in back there will be a straggler. There always is. We're going to try and capture them.”

“You mean make them surrender?” Mani asked, not really understanding the plan so far.

“No. Just capture them. We are then going to pass the location of the General Guard to them. Hopefully, they'll take the bait and send the rest of the Royal Guard after them.”

Mani's eyes opened wide, after immediately realizing what Jack was proposing. He had never considered such an idea before or even heard of any other commander doing something like this. It was devious and insidious, but despite that and In truth, it almost sounded brilliant. If they could pull it off. “So we'll get the Royal Guard to destroy the General Guard for us?” He spoke quickly, finally warming up to this plan, even if it was dangerous.

“Yes. But we're going to make sure it hurts when they do, that will be the second part of my plan...”

In short order, Jack mobilized the Night Guard and they took off to an area not far from their camp. A large field where a Royal Guard patrol were just starting their way through.

Just to the sides of the patrol, the majority of the Night Guard stood slightly hidden by tree lines and hills. A perfect spot for an ambush, if the Night Guard's numbers had been just a bit stronger.

From the opposite edge of the field, along a smaller, thinner tree line, Mani poked his head out and aimed the paint bow he borrowed from Leuceppie. Again, he and Wind Runner were going to be the bait. The paint arrow let lose from the bow, flying through the air and impacting a Guard in the front of the group.

As quickly as it flew, the Royal Guard poorly concealed assassins and began to give chase. Mani and Wind made a break through the trees, trying to outrun the slightly slower Royal Guard. A handful of slightly out of shape Guards Trailed behind the disorganized mess running forward

“All going according to plan,” Jack whispered to himself from the tree line opposite Mani and Wind's.

“Yeah, except there's three stragglers, not one.” Star mocked from under her breath.

“Details.”

Jack gave a nod to Green Hoof who was hiding behind a small set of boulders. Placing his hooves on the ground, he began to channel his mana into the grass beneath one of the slower Guard's hooves. Without warning the grass blades shot up and wrapped around the poor Guard's legs and torso, tying him to the ground.

The other stragglers stopped in their tracks, and tried to call out to their fellow Guards who were already past the tree line ahead.

“Ah shit.” One of them called as he did his best to cover the incapacitated guard.

The other guard spotted the glow from Green Hoof's magic and charged after his hiding spot. She raised her sword high as she jumped over the rocks. Only to be shot in the face with a paint arrow.

“Bucking hell! That bucking hurts,” she cried as she held her now blue muzzle.

On the field Jack and his squad slowly made their way to the bound Guard on the ground. The other straggler didn't quite know what to do as he looked around at the slowly advancing Night Guard. Quickly he realized there was no way to beat the fourteen Guard who were approaching him. With little hesitation he looked down at his trapped companion.

“Sorry, Cloudy.” He said and ran off for the tree line, running after his fellow Guards with a speed he hadn't possessed since boot camp.

“Wait! Don't leave! You bucking coward!” Cloudy Days yelled from the tangle of grass as he saw his squad mate running away.

Behind him, he heard the sound of crunching dirt and grass as the Night Guard squad walked up to him slowly. It didn't take long for the sound to stop as they stood right over top of him.

“Buck you ape.” He spat at Jack's feet as the human stood over top of him.

Kneeling down Jack looked the light blue gray pegasus in the eyes, a forced frown on his face. “Aww, that's not a nice thing to say. Especially when I was going to give you such a wonderful gift”

The pegasus' body tightened as he expect the impact of a paint sword against him any moment, but it didn't come. Instead, a round of chuckles could be heard from around him. The laughs corsed through his body like it was a hollow shell, causing his skin to resonate and shake with fear.

His thoughts began to race. 'Why aren't they hitting me? Why haven't they taken me out of the game? Maybe the stories I heard were true? Oh gods! That ape is going to actually kill me and eat me!' He began to shake ever more as the thoughts intensified.

“Oh settle down. I'm not going to hurt you.” The ape's smile and laughter dropped off as he motioned to Green Hoof to let him go.

Cloudy Days felt the tangle of grass loosen as his body was freed from the green tangled jail. He also felt his sword's sheath loosen as it was pulled from his body towards one of the Night Guard around him.

“Wouldn't want you to start swing this and hit one of us.” A purple eyed mare said with a smirk.

Once the pony was free he stood up and quickly ran a few steps from the Night Guard, “You're just going to let me go?” He asked, completely unsure what was actually happening at this point.

“Of course. You can't pass information to Shining Armor if you're a casualty.” The human spoke.

“Information?” He asked.

Jack motioned for the pony to move near a nearby patch of dirt, in which he drew one of his now infamous dirt maps. The Royal Guard's eyes darted between the Night Guard around him, still unsure what exactly was happening. The map on the ground was obviously of the game field but he didn't understand why the human was showing him this.

“This-” Jack pointed to a small circle somewhere between the Night Guard and General Guard's quadrants. “- is where the General Guards camp is. We found them during a patrol. Apparently the whole camp is dark. No torches or fires. I think they're trying to wait out the end of the game, or waiting for an opportunity to attack. Their numbers are less than we expected. Just around twenty we think.”

The Royal Guard had no idea what was happening. He had never heard of another team give out information, or letting another squad's member's go. “I don't understand. Why are you telling me this?” He asked with a mixture of annoyance and fear.

Understanding the pony's fear Jack thought about what he could say to convince him. A set of words crossed his mind and he did all that he could to not to grin like an idiot. Jack gave a quick sigh and as looked into the pony's eyes, “Because the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” In truth Jack had always wanted to say that line, ever since he heard it spoken in that old TV show he used to watch.

“I... I don't understand?”

Jack laughed a bit, trying to further defuse the situation. “You know the Night Guard isn't that strong. We can't beat the General Guard in a one on one fight. But the Royal Guard can do it easily, with few to no losses. We can't win if the General Guard are on the field so we need the Royal Guard to clear them out for us.”

“Ha.” Cloudy Days laughed at the suggestion. “Do your own fighting! The Royal Guard isn't going to help out the Night Guard. That's not how this game works, ape!”

In a surprising gesture, Jack nodded in agreement. “No it isn't, but the Royal Guard is expending resources on scouting for both us and the General Guard. To say nothing of the fight that will happen in time. I'm giving Shining the chance to wipe them out, and free up all his resources to come after me.”

Cloudy Days opened his mouth a few times. Unable to find the words to say what he felt right now. “I-” He paused and sat on his haunches. Looking down at the map he studied the dirt marks once more. His sleepless mind could only iterate the only phrase he seemed to know at the moment, “I don't understand.”

Reaching around, Jack grabbed Cloudy Day's sword from Green Hoof before giving it back to him. “You don't have to.” He said as he gave Cloudy the sword.

Slowly, the pegasus took his sword and backed away from the Night Guard. He still couldn't be sure that this wasn't some kind of weird trap. The Night Guard continued to stand in their semicircle watching Cloudy Days walk back towards the tree line.

“What now, Jack?” Star asked.

“Time to regroup with Mani and Wind before we visit the General Guard. Then, we'll see if I can't work two miracles today.” The human got up and quickly started jogging off to the General Guard's quadrant.

The four members of the Night Guard walked down the sloping hill. Star Screech walked by Jack's side, while Mani and Leucepie walked behind them. The rest of the Night Guard would stay on top of the hill, more a show of force than anything else.

“Why do I have to be in front?” Star complained.

“Because you know one of them, they're more likely not to shoot us with you here… I hope.” Jack tried to convince her, and himself.

In Jack's hand was a large white flag on top of a wooden stick. A common symbol to both species. It didn't take long for the General Guard to notice them, and for their camp to quickly scramble in response to the foreign invader at their door. Their numbers had been razed, and there were now fewer than twenty of them, with no archers present. Just like Wind had reported. That last point was a strong one in their favor. If this didn't go well, the Night Guard at least had a chance to run away.

A single brown colt came out of the camp, intrigued by the white flag the Night Guard were holding. “That's far enough.” He yelled. Just behind him was Break Away.

“So, you're planning on surrendering to us?” The colt asked from a distance.

Slowly, Jack put the flag on the ground. “No. I wanted to talk.”

The colt couldn't help but laugh. “Talk? Talk about what? We're enemies, we're supposed to fight each other not, talk.” All around them, the General Guard began to slowly trot towards them, all their weapons at the ready. The two squads could easily wipe each other out right now, but neither seemed quite so willing to end the game just yet.

“I thought I'd let you know about the Royal Guard's plans, and give you a chance to defend yourselves.” Jack's yelling had calmed down to more of a quiet shout as the General Guard commander continued his slow walk towards them.

“Oh, and why should I listen to you? Did you have a chat with the Royal Guard too? Perhaps Shining Armor made you some crumpets and tea?” He laughed again.

“No.” Jack shook his head. The General Guard slowed it's advance, curious about what the ape and the Night Guard actually had to say.

Jack took the opportunity and thought for a moment about what to say. “Commander, you know neither of us can win the game as it is right now. The Royal Guard are still close to two hundred strong. We're both less than twenty.”

“Oh. So there's less than twenty of you? Why not come down here and the hundred of us will make it quick.” The commander laugh at Jack, not wanting to disclose just how bad his squad was at the moment.

“We both know that's not true, commander...” Jack trailed off, hoping the other leader would fill in the gap with his name.

“Java, Guardsman second class.” Java's eye's winced slightly, as he realized he gave out his rank.

“A second class Guardsman leading? Now I know you can't be that strong.” Jack spoke as the General Guard had surrounded his front.

Java held up his hoof to his Guards, telling them to stop their slow advance for the moment. At the very least he really was curious about what the ape actually wanted. Even if they were destined to wipe each other out, there was no reason to rush it.

“Maybe you're right, ape. Neither of us all that strong right now. Doubt either of our teams will see the winner's pedestal. So what do you actually want?”

“You just said it yourself, neither of us can win this game. As it is anyway, so I'm going to give you the chance to take out as many of the Royal Guard as you can.”

“Why should we agree? Maybe your team should rush into their camp and give us a chance to win.”

This was it. Either Java would take it well, or he wouldn't. He probably wouldn't. Jack took a breath, preparing himself to bolt if he had too. “Because you don't really have a choice. I told you we talked to the Royal Guards already. They know where your camp is and they're probably on their way out here now.”

Java's eyes grew red with anger as his hoof began to shake. “You son of a-”

Jack interrupted his call to arms to say one last thing, “You have the chance to surprise them and take out more than you would otherwise. They're hungry and tired. Even a squad of a hundred strong could be mowed down right now.” That small amount of comfort didn't seem to be enough as Java's rage just seemed to grow.

With one last attempt, Jack tried to disarm the commander, “Strike me down if you wa-”

He wasn't able to finish his statement as Java ran forward and slammed his sword down on top of Jack's own. Leuceppi dropped her bow and readied her sword, with great speed she ran in to help protect her acting Captain. She was quick and strong. With little effort she pushed Java's blade back and forced Jack. But, unfortunately for her, Java was quicker. He pulled his sword back impacted Leuceppi's side in nearly one fluid stroke.

“Bucking hell.” She swore and fell to the ground.

Star opened her mouth, and let out an ear piercing screech causing Java and some his near by Guards to drop their weapons and fell to the ground.

“Come on Jack,” She yelled as she help Jack up to run. Up ahead of them was Mani, who had already taken the opportunity to flee.

For whatever the reason the General Guard didn't follow them very far, stopping at the top of the hill before they walked back down to their camp.

The Night Guard ran, and managed to retreat to some nearby trees, minus their one member. “Buck!” Jack yelled from the safety of a nearby tree line. In the distance, Star saw Leuceppie walk off the field rubbing the red mark on her side.

They were now down to fifteen and had just lost their second archer. Worse yet judging from Green Hoof's worsening limp he wasn't going to be able to walk much more. Not to mention they had no idea what the General Guard would do now.

“What are we going to do now Jack?” Mani asked, the uncertainty in his voice evident to all around.

He needed time to think, so he took a deep breath and poked his head out of the tree line next to Star. Down below he could just make out the edge of the General Guard's camp, all around the Guard scrambled. It looked more like they were organizing, rather than running. Coming back into the line, he looked at Green Hoof as he rubbed his injured leg.

“We wait...” He said before falling down on his ass to think. He knew they'd have to leave soon. They didn't want to be in the area when the Royal Guard showed up for fear of getting caught in the crossfire, but he needed just a moment more to consider what to do, and more importantly, see what the General Guard might do.

Down in the General Guard camp, ponies ran around, not quite sure what to do at this point. Some were trying to grab supplies, others were readying their weapons. Java stood in the center of the camp, looking over his map. He was lost in all the possibilities in front of him right now, and none of them looked particularly good.

'Was it a ruse? Did the Night Guard just lie to them? Maybe that was the trap, try to draw the General Guard out thinking they would fight the Royal Guard only to me raided by the Night Guard.' Thoughts clouded Java's head as he considered what to do.

“What are we going to do?” Break Away asked Java.

Java thought about what they could do. They simply didn't have the numbers to fight the Royal Guard and win. Though in truth that wouldn't change, no matter how much time they had there where no reinforcements in the war games. The human had a point, a good one too. Neither was going to win this game as things were now. The thought of taking more of the Royal Guard with them seemed oddly appealing. The truth was Java wasn't much of a tactician and he spent most of his days hunting down counterfeiters rather than armies, he didn't have the head for this like the other Guards did.

It was only by a bit of misfortune that the original third in command turned captain had promoted him to be his second, before being struck down a Royal Guard's sword. That whole battle was a mess, and it still didn't make much sense to him. First they lost their second, than their captain, followed quickly by their third. They would have been leaderless, if not for those stupid words Java heard before seeing that Day Guard sword come down. No matter how much he tried to justify it, he still felt like a coward for leaving the battle when most of his squad fell. It was only because of the Royal Guard's initial swarm that he was able to run away at all. Part of him wanted to stand and fight, maybe regain some of the honor he felt lost. Still it wasn't just his decision, the fact was he didn't know if could even trust the human.

Turning his head he asked Break Away for some advice, “You said you knew them, that human and the one pony next to them. Do you think we can trust that human ape?”

The pegasus shrugged, “I guess. I trust Star Screech who I know trusts him.” She didn't like to be put in the middle like this, but for whatever reason, Java had made her his second. “I don't particularly like the idea of losing the game, but I don't see how we can win at this point, and hiding just seems… wrong.”

They had managed to do well so far, given their smaller numbers, but they couldn't hide forever. This was a war game, not hide and seek, Java knew this. To hear it from Break Away just further emphasized what he already knew. They needed to do something, otherwise this whole exercise would be a waste. With that, his mind was made up.

“Break Away, gather the troops. We have to prepare.” Java began to trot to their armory to stock up on supplies.

Break Away still wasn't quite sure what they were preparing for, “Prepare, sir?”

“The Royal Guard are coming. We should set up a little welcome party for them.” Java picked up on of the few bows they had salvaged and checked it for damage. They were going to have a surprise ready for when the Royal Guard came. Who knows, maybe with a miracle they could even win? Java couldn't help but laugh at the thought.

The Night Guard slowly made their way back to their camp. Rock Slide had to carry Green Hoof about halfway back. He couldn't walk on his leg any more, and to make matters worse, it appeared to be getting very swollen. There was a chance his spill earlier had actually broken it.

“Oww.” Hoof cried as Rock shifted over a set of rocks.

“Sorry Hoof, didn't mean to do that.” Rock tried to apologize, but Green Hoof just waved his apology away with his good hoof.

Jack looked back at the two as they began to fall behind again. Rock wasn't the quickest of the group, but he wasn't normally this slow. At this point Green Hoof was really starting to slow them all down.

“Patrol.” Wind Runner called back in a somewhat quiet yell. Almost by instinct the Night Guard group had to run off towards some nearby rocks, hoping to hide behind them. Green Hoof, did all he could to not cry out in pain as Rock ran and bounced under him.

From the safety of the rocks Jack peeked around one of the large boulders right as the Royal Guard began to march across the field. There in front their numbers were swollen, at least fifty in total, no more like sixty, he though to himself.

“I guess Shining Armor listened to your message?” Mani whispered in Jack's ear.

The sound of the Royal Guard's marching grew ever louder and Jack made it a point to duck behind the rocks entirely. Off to the side, Green Hoof began to cry from the sharp pain in his hoof which now began to radiate up his side. It was only slight and thankfully he was silent. Jack couldn't help but look at his swollen hoof and leg, and the slightly black and blue skin which could now be seen beyond the green fur. The leg didn't look infected, but the pony definitely had ligament damage if not an out right break.

The ground beneath Jack's ass began to tremble as the large group of Royal Guard crossed the minima of distance between them. Their marching never slowed and never stopped. They had a mission to complete, and they would see it done before sunset.

After a few moments they began to pass, and slowly their hoof beats grew softer, and the ground stopped shaking. Mani let out a breath he had been holding once their march was little more than a quiet whisper on the wind. Jack held his squad there for a few moments more, popping his head up slowly, only once the marching noise had died completely. There way off in the distance, the last of the Royal Guard walked down a hill and disappeared from view.

“Ouch!” Green Hoof's cries brought Jack's eyes back to his squad as he saw Rock Slide try and pick him up.

“Green Hoof. Are you ok?” Jack asked the injured pony.

Hoof looked at Jack through watering eyes. He was clearly in pain, but he nodded through it anyway. “I-I'm fine.” He insisted.

Jack looked up at the sky for any over head Wonderbolts, but there weren't any around. The Night Guard were as usual, unobserved.

Realizing what Jack wanted to do, Green Hoof begged him, “Jack. Please don't.” He pleaded to him from on top of Rock Slide's back. “Please, I want to see this game to the end.”

“Are you sure? You're clearly in pain, and to be blunt… you're slowing us down.” Jack was as concerned for Hoof as much as the game. If Green Hoof wasn't able to move, he wouldn't be much use.

“Please.” He begged again. “I can keep it together till the end. Besides, even with my leg, I'm still the best archer you have.”

That was true. For better or worse, Green hoof was their best, archer, and now that Lecueppie was taken out of the game, really their only archer. Jack kicked himself for bringing her down to meet with the General Guard at all. Though to be fair, if it wasn't her, it would have been someone else.

With a forced smile Jack nodded his head in agreement. “Ok, but if you can't make it back to camp, I'm going to have to get you out of the game. This isn't worth permanent injury.”

With that the Night Guard made their final way back to camp. Neither stopping nor slowing along the way. Green Hoof picked up a branch along the way and spent his time biting into the hard wood, rather than yelling. It tasted like dirt and dead wood, but had the subtle hint of something sweeter, victory. At least, that's what he convinced himself of.

A short time later.

*Burrrrrr*

Off in the distance, the game horn blew, signaling the defeat of the General Guard. The Royal Guard had won the battle, no real surprise there. Though the magnitude of their win would seem closer to a failure when the remaining forces walked back to the Royal Camp.

The squad of sixty strong had been cut down to nine. The ambush by the General Guard had not been expected. Cloudy Days walked back to the Royal Camp, thankful he was still active in the game, but cursing himself for listening to that damned ape.

“Sir, we beat the General Guard, but there were losses.” Cloudy Days tried to keep from stammering as he talked to his sleepless and annoyed captain. “I-I just want to say that this strike was necessary sir. Even with the losses.”

“How many, exactly, were lost?” Shining asked, his red and tired eyes burned, and his stomach growled in need. Of course taking care of the General Guard was necessary to win the game. Cloudy Days didn't need to tell him that. This attack needed to be done, losses be damned. Yet he couldn't celebrate or cheer. The cost had been far to great for that.

“51 sir. Including Silver Leaf, who was the new third in command.”

Shining sat back on his pillow as he tried to put all the data together in his head, but all that came up was a sleep deprived fog. He just couldn't do the math in his current state. “How many, exactly, of us are left?”, he asked with no small amount of irritation.

“118 sir.” Pin Point read off the roster in front of him.

*Slam*

Shining Armor dropped his hoof on the table, shocking both Cloudy Days and Pin Point. Slowly he stood up from his pillow and wandered around the tent, lost in sleepless thought. Finally, after a few moments of consideration he sighed and spoke, “I'm going to need a new third. You want the position?” Shining's tired eyes turned to look at Cloudy Days.

For a moment Cloudy didn't know what to think, he looked down at his chest plate, double checking if his two bars were still there. “Sir. I'd be honored, but I'm only a 2nd Guardsman.”

The Captain snorted in response. “So far this game has been anything but traditional. Who knows, perhaps your insight will be better than Silver Leaf's.”

Cloudy Days swallowed and looked down. It was only with his information that Silver Leaf had even suggested that they make the attack anyway. He couldn't help but feel a bit responsible for that... win. If you could even call it that. Still, he swallowed and nodded his head.

Shining gave a quick nod of his own before returning his attention to the map bellow him. He had been studying this parchment in depth for the past few hours, trying to isolate where exactly the Night Guard had been hiding. For a moment, a feature at the edge of the map caught his attention, and his mind drifted to his wife as he though about what she would be doing right now...

High above the gate the Princesses and Generals heard the clock tower chime five times. It was late in the afternoon, normally all the Princesses would have returned to the castle long before now, but the recent game developments proved more interesting than castle and court matters.

Maximus sat in front of the board with Fire Wall at his side. The expression on his face was solemn and unreadable.

“Well, I suppose that's that.” He said as the pegasus in front of him removed the last of the General Guard markers from the board.

A smile crossed his lips as he remembered the number the Wonderbolt reported back '51'. His nineteen remaining Guards had taken out fifty-one of the enemy. Not a bad score, all things considered, plus they had the captures and kills from the initial battle. His team was at a score of 201.

Fire Wall saw the general next to him smile at the apparent loss. “I see you're happy to have lost.” He mocked.

Maximus snorted at the cocky pony. “I don't think the Night Guard have won a single game since you became general. Besides, my Guards took out more of the enemy then the enemy could take from them. That is one of the best outcomes a General can hope for.”

“Ha.” Fire Wall huffed. “Only because of that last gambit by my Night Guard. If my Night Guard hadn't told your General Guard that the Royal Guards were coming the score would be very different.” Fire Wall protested, but Maximus wasn't impressed.

Sensing the brewing argument, Celestia walk between the two causing them both to pause. “It was an impressive move, for the Night Guard to enlist the help of the General Guard like that. I don't think we've ever seen a similar tactic employed, but none-the-less, if not for the General Guard's quick thinking, they would not have have set up that trap in time.” She smiled to the two Generals who looked between her and themselves.

Cadance let out a quiet yawn before pouting at the game board. One piece in particular had her eye as she sighed. The game was not exactly going well for Shining Armor, and that gave her a sympathetic pang of anguish. If only she could be down on the field with him, she knew just the right combination of moves to cheer him up. Her frown twisted into a lewd smile as she thought about rubbing her hoofs down Shining Armor's flank.

“Heh, heh.” A tiny laugh escaped her mouth as she day dreamed about what they would be doing come the end of the game.

A rather quiet Luna observed the interaction of the two generals and her sisters diffusion of their argument with mild interest. She didn't want to say it, and dared not to for fear it might jinx the game, but for the first time in years, she thought the Night Guard might actually have a chance at winning. That thought brought the tiniest of smiles to her face, even as she thought about Jack running around on that field, leading her ponies. It was a warm feeling, something she hadn't felt in a long time.

As her wing fidget with a minor hiccup of excitement a slight rubbing sensation reminded her of the wing pouch she had on, and in it the note it held. Her smile disappeared as she thought about that letter, even more did it recede as she considered the bet she had made with Jack before he left. Again, her mind and heart were being pulled in different directions.

With little warning the royal group began to get up and make their way back to the castle one, by one. Until only Luna and Celestia remained. Luna was lost in thought as she continued to observe the dimming game board, unaware that she was now mostly alone.

Mostly.

“It has been an interesting game so far, hasn't it sister?” Celestia spoke softly to Luna, as she came up beside her.

“Yes. It has.” Luna responded flatly. “I-” She paused before continuing.

“Hmmm?” Celestia encouraged her to continue her train of thought, but Luna just shook her head no.

“It is nothing.” Luna turned around and began walking down the steps, choosing to walk back to the castle, rather than fly.

With a tired frown Celestia turned away from her sister and flew back to the castle. In her mind thinking about the small smile she saw from her earlier today. Celestia knew, her sister knew what she wanted, but for some reason she was just too instant on denying herself. Whether it was some bizarre punishment like the Tantabus all over again or something deeper, she didn't know.

As night fell, the Night Guard settled in for a short evening rest. Half an hour of eating, followed by a two hour nap for everyone. Well, everyone but Jack and Green Hoof, who took watch. Slowly, Jack gnawed on a bit of twice baked bread sipping his water between bites. He grimaced slightly at the texture of the bread. To be fair, it didn't taste bad, but it really needed some coffee or tea to go with it, rather than just water.

“Not to your liking Jack?” Green Hoof saw Jack's slight frown as he ate his bread.

“Needs coffee.” He said and took another bite.

Green Hoof stared out into the early night, his eyes picking up subtle contrasts caused by the moon's light. Despite the rather intense pain in his leg, Green Hoof was actually enjoying this war game for a change. “You know. I think this is the first game I've actually enjoyed. I've been through four games so far, two under Night Blade and two before that under Malcontent. I've never actually thought we could win, until you took charge.”

Jack stopped chewing on his bread and looked at Green Hoof. His emerald eyes Shining happily at him. Even though the tears and pain in his leg, he really was happy, and depending on Jack to somehow win.

“Well… the game's not over yet. We still don't know the Royal Guard’s full strength. Regardless, they almost certainly still have a major advantage.” Jack spoke plainly, in truth he began to start doubting himself after losing Luceppie. No doubt the Jack of two days ago would have yelled at himself for doubting.

Green Hoof just shrugged. “Probably. I mean, I don't think we will win, but... I actually believe it's possible now.”

Turning away from the hopeful pony, Jack let out a sigh and stood up. The back of his right leg burned slightly as if he had been sitting too long. His mind was too full to eat any more. The fact was he still had no idea what his end game was. He had to prepare for the next raid, which would have to be different since they had no assault archers.

Of course, they didn't need snipers to use bows in close quarters, just at range. An idea began to form in his mind as he thought about the next raid.

'Shining would try to sleep soon…' Jack thought to himself.

He motioned to Green Hoof to keep a careful eye on the captain's tent. They were a distance away, and behind a hill. But there was just enough clearance to see if the tent flaps would move and open.

Just under two hours later...

Shining Armor, fell back into his cot. He was beyond exhausted. As soon as his head felt the light touch of fabric he was done. 'Just a few hours,' he thought to himself. Surely he could have that much. His eye twitched a few times and with in seconds stopped as his mind quickly tried to enter a peaceful and much needed rest.

*Ding, Ding, Ding*

The sound of the camp's alarm bell rang out. "We're being raided! East side! EAST SIDE!" Somepony yelled

Shining's blood shot eyes shot opened and as if by instinct his body rolled out of the cot onto the hard dirt floor. Unfortunately, his combination of sleepless exhaustion and hunger made it hard to focus. Underneath him, his hoofs failed to align properly and he collapsed on top of himself. An odd pulling sensation in his hoof, accompanied by the mild pain, suggested he may have just sprained his ankle.

“Bucking hell.” He whispered to himself as he limped out of his tent. It didn't feel particularly bad, but it was sure to be an annoyance from here on out.

Outside his tent was in disarray again. Everywhere he looked, ponies were running around, most headed to the east side, but a few ran to the supplies to ensure they were properly guarded. Despite the disorganization in front of him, Shining was at least a little thankful that some of his remarks from earlier hit home, and they weren't knocking tents down again.

A twinge of annoyance crept through his weary mind as he thought once more about his squads poor performance, and fall from the perfection he had drilled into them not so long ago.

Pin Point came trotting up to his captain, and gave a quick salute.

"What was the damage?"Shining asked his second.

"We lost two more guards who were on patrol. Night Guard ran out of the dark and shot a few paint arrows. It was odd though. They didn't snipe us this time, just ran straight in and shot." Shining looked around at the commotion in his camp. Everypony was running around in circles again. Most seemed to be moving much slower than last night, a combination of exhaustion and hunger at the root of the problem, and their useless running was just making them more tired. A handful of guards crawled out of the barracks, most look liked they hadn't slept since before day one.

Unconsciously, Shining ground his teeth against one another. It was like the Night Guard were watching them from just out of sight. Waiting for that one moment when they would relax ever so slightly and use that time to attack. It was chaotic, without form, and with no regards to the rules of honorable combat.

Yet, with much as much venom and scorn he had, he was forced to admit that it was effective. If this game continued for a week, the Night Guard might have had a hope in Hades of winning; Maybe, given a week.

*Clunk*

Two of the guards had run right in front of him, and into each other. Their armor clanked against each other as they fell to the ground in a daze.

"GUARDS! STOP!" Shining yelled.

Shining shook his head as his Guards all turned to look at him in confusion. “Does anyone have sight of the Night Guard?”

Silence.

A few of the Guards rubbed the back of their head, or looked at the ground in shame. One or two kicked at the dirt, but none of them spoke up. Shining could only shake his head like a disappointed father.

“Pin Point, gather the Guards again. We need to reevaluate our strategy.” Shining slowly limped to the center of the camp. His sore body suffering from the exhaustion as the aches of sleeplessness and hunger wobbled his gate, and sapped his mind.

"Sir, you requested no one disturb you for the next few hours while you slept. Should I assume you won't be taking that nap?”

With a very heavy head, Shining shook his head 'no'.

"The game ends in another 16 hours or so. I can survive till then." Shining wanted to look back at his cot and cry, sleep would feel so good right now, but he knew he couldn't. He had to keep his troop in line and combat ready till this insane game ended tomorrow.

They were still ahead score wise. They could win just by surviving. A sleepless drunk smile crossed his muzzle as he realized what he just thought. Was he actually becoming intimidated by that group of night fliers and that bucking ape? A very quiet ringing sound coursed through Shining's ears, he tried to shake it out, thinking it was little more than a tired hallucination.

Very far off in the distance, a clock tower chimed 12 bells, just barely loud enough for Jack to make out from his bushes as he watched the effects of his team's raid. The Royal Guard where still disorganized, and were now so much more tired, as was obvious from their slowness and lack of physical coordination. Their numbers were also clearly reduced but Jack couldn't get an accurate count. He wouldn't be surprised if they were still a hundred or more. Amazingly, Shining had managed to keep them together at all. If anything, they almost seemed more cohesive now, if less alert.

Jack held a brief moment of respect for the Captain. He was good at leading his men, even if his tactics seemed simple at times.

Mani and Star stood by Jack's side, watching the commotion in front of them. Each wondering what the last day would bring. Mani's eyes drifted to the human, who seemed very alert and introspective, despite his own limited sleep over the past few days.

"Last day" Jack whispered to himself. Slowly he pulled out his note sheet, which could just barely be seen in the light of the moon. He knew he had to come up with a final plan soon. There had to be someway to win this...

Chapter 18: War Games Day 3, The End Game

The sun was still high in the sky, allowing Star Screech to wander about the field with little in the way of shadow to show her position. The Night Guard didn't particularly like attacking in the day, but of all the times in the day, right around noon seemed best.

Slowly, Star walked behind a group of Royal Guards as she crept into their base unnoticed. The stance of each Guard cried of agitation, annoyance and exhaustion. They probably hadn't slept in a day or two, and none had a full meal in days. The constant harassment by the Night Guard had seen to that. For all their agitation and effort the guards were not focused at all and Star was able to move easily behind them without being seen or noticed.

She wandered around their make shift camp. Hiding in tents when groups walked by on patrol. At least one Guard was asleep, using the handle of his paint sword to prop his head up in an effort to seem awake. A smirk crossed Star's face as she thought about kicking the sword out from under him, or hitting him with her hoof claws. A shake of her head forced the smile away and she turned to venture deeper into the tent strewn camp. She needed a bigger target than just one Guard.

She found their makeshift barracks all setup with cots. Only two of which were in use despite the clear exhaustion of all around her. She considered taking the tent down by knocking out one of the center posts. It would cause the commotion Jack wanted, but would make it hard for her to get out once it fell. There had to be something better. She moved on.

The sound of a group of Royal Guards marching around the corner caused her to freeze. Thinking quickly, she ducked under the nearby barrack's tent. Thankfully nopony inside was awake, still she hid under a cot just to be sure she wasn't seen. Outside the tent, the group of four guards marched by and wandered off to parts unknown.

“Mmmm… is it lunch time yet?” One of the two sleeping colts began mumbling next to her. His sleep stirred either by her presence or the marching outside.

With great stealth and silence, Star peeked out from under the cot and moved underneath the tent, making her way back outside. She stood there for a moment, motionless. Prepping her wings and legs for a quick getaway if needed. But there was nothing. Just the silence of the rustling wind and flapping tents. Either the guard didn't pay attention to her, or was already back asleep. A breath escaped her lips as her body relaxed. A shake of her head cleared it of any doubts and she moved on.

The next stop was going to be their armory. Maybe she could light something on fire there? She frowned subconsciously and shook her head at the thought, that would be too dangerous. She wanted to cause a commotion, not kill or hurt any pony.

Then she saw it. A small tent, with a table that would have been empty save for the small plate of thinly cut rolls on top. Surprisingly the guards were not present or fighting over the scraps.

'Perfect,' Star thought as she saw it.

Just behind the table was one small crate left over. A single crate containing at most fifty more rolls. Her frame hugged the ground as she crept her way into the tent towards the wooden cube full of tasty goodness.

As Star loomed over the crate she couldn't help but smell the fragrant breads inside. Carefully, she opened the lid and looked over the rolls with mouthwatering eyes. Inside of them were clearly little pieces of fruit, maybe mango or papaya. Something sweet no doubt. Far better than the dry buttery rolls and breads they had stolen earlier. Star had to have one before she left. Her hoof grabbed at the nearest sweet, and pulled it forth. Her tongue rolled out of her mouth as she shoved the end of the roll into her open maw.

It was good. So help her, the roll was actually good. Unlike the battlefield rations they had taken before, these rolls tasted like they were something special. Of course Star didn't realize it, but originally these rolls were supposed to be a treat. To be given out on the last night of the game, or after it was over whichever would have come first. What was supposed to have been a reward had become the Royal Guard's last stop against starvation.

With the crate on her back Star lazily began walking out of the tent. Her mouth sucking and gnawing at the sweet roll all the while. She wasn't really paying attention to her flanks.

"You!" A deep raspy voice called out from behind her.

The bat pony's iris constricted as her eyes went wide. She hadn't been paying attention. Her head slowly turned around as the single Royal Guard glared at her with daggers in her eyes. The yellow and white mare behind her look absolutely and utterly pissed off. It took the Royal Guard mare a moment to process if Star was actually there or if she was just some sleepless hunger crazed hallucination.

Star wouldn't give the mare the time to debate with herself. Her mouth opened and dropped the roll before she turned to run.

The sound of the Royal Guard yelling behind her snapped everyone in the camp to attention and they quickly began the chase after her. She dropped the crate she had on her back and began to run as fast as she could. The call of alarm was deafening, as she ran away. Not far from her front right hoof, a single poorly aimed paint arrow landed on the ground as a small number of Guards began to fire at her.

The Royal Guards ran after her, following the bat pony out of their camp. A few stood back, watching as so many of the guards violated Shining's order to remain composed and stay in some kind of formation.

“Quick! Don't lose her!” One of the Royal Guard shouted.

“She's heading for the tree line! Don't let her go in or we'll lose her!” Shouted another.

A quick flash of light from the nearby tree line caught one of the guard's sleepless eyes. The flash was sunlight being reflected off a tiny lens and it told the Guard all he needed to know. There were more Night Guard inside that tree line, hidden.

The one Guard who saw it stopped in his tracks and grabbed a nearby pegasus. He pointed to the quick flash of light in the trees, and the silhouette of another bat pony behind it. The pegasus guard nodded, she could see it too, and just beyond that pony was the slight hint of color from a tent or cloth. That had to be their base, it just had to! The two ponies nodded to each other in silent acknowledgment.

Ignoring the orders her captain had given earlier, the pegasus turned around and spread her wings out. With a quick flap she made a beeline straight for the captain. He needed to know, NOW!

Star reached the tree line, and behind her a wave of Royal Guard continued to pursue her like a pack of rabid hounds. She turned her head catching sight of them gaining behind her. The group of Royal Guard ponies were swarming her flank. On quick glance she knew it had to be all of them from the camp. All running after her, trying to catch that one annoying fly that would not stop buzzing around their heads.

Star's attention wasn't on the ground in front of her, and she felt a sudden jolt as her hoof caught on a rock. She stumbled, her muzzle impacting the ground in front of her. Dirt and sweat filled her nostrils, the dank smell informing her that this wasn't quite going to plan.

"Help!" The bat pony screamed. "They're here!" She cried to the ponies in the tree line, hopeful they could help her.

From around the tree line ponies jumped out to defend Star, but they were hopelessly outnumbered. Still they all knew they had to protect her, and would do their best to save her. Rock Slide ran out and tried to pick her up, to run back in the tree line with her where they could seemingly hide and maybe still run away. But it was no use, without warning a paint arrow came streaking out of the sky, hitting him right in his rock shaped cutie mark and ass. He was out.

His body stumbled and impacted the ground spilling Star below him.

“Buck!” He swore a few times as he pulled himself up. His body protected Star's as he took two more arrows to his side. “Buck you! I'm already out!” he screamed.

Star managed to scramble to her hooves and ducked into the trees as more arrows came down forcing the Night Guard just past the tree line, while the Royal Guard began to surround them.

Meanwhile, with agonizing slowness Rock Slide began his walk off the field, making it a point to watch the Royal Guard try and attack his remaining squad. A smirk crossed his muzzle at their apparent futility and he stopped to watch from atop the nearby hill to watch the last battle unfold. The Wonderbolts overhead were too preoccupied to notice the lone Night Guard standing to the side. Watching the chaos below.

Inside the tree line the group of Night Guard began yelling at each other. No one was sure what to do exactly, and neither Jack nor Mani were anywhere to be found. He had prepared him for this very moment, yet with out his direct leadership no one knew exactly what move to make.

“We should stick to the plan! Jack wanted us to pull them away from the camp. We need to run to the opposite side of the tree line and run.” One of them yelled.

“We can't, they've already surrounded the trees. There's no escaping.” Green hoof muttered. He knew what they had to do. The only left for them too do. One last stand. Maybe they could distract the Royal Guards just long enough for this all to work.

Back in the Royal Camp Shining was just about to yell at one of his pegasus who violated his no flying rule when she rapidly told him something he couldn't believe. The location of the Night Guard camp. Without further questioning he ran to the edge of the Royal Guard camp. On this edge at the tip of the nearest hill he could see if what she had said was true. His head and legs screamed with fatigue and pain as he limped, and his hunger brought about a moment of dizziness, but it didn't matter. Down below he could see it, what appeared to be the remaining Night Guard hiding in the trees.

The last group of Night Guard had setup camp less then 200 meters from their camp. There were at least nine down there by the looks of it, maybe more deeper inside. That had to be the last of them. The insult was palpable, but now Shining saw his opportunity to end this mocking battle and he seized it. He called the rest of his nearby Guard on to the field. The few remaining Royal Guard not on patrol ran from the camp, screaming and hollering. Their form was disorganized, and chaotic. Were times different Shining would have chewed each and everyone of them out. Force them all to scrub the latrines with their tooth brushes even. But right now, that didn't seem to matter because here and now, they would strike and cull all the Night Guard in this one fell swoop.

“Surround the tree line! Don't let any of them escape!” He yelled at the pegasus Guard.

'Especially that bucking ape.' He thought.

She nodded and ran down to the rest of the Guards.

Shining Armor's head pounded and his eyes were tired. He was going to end this and be in bed with in the next hour. His thoughts drifted from the battle for a moment as about his wife Cadence and how lonely she would be.

He shook his head, 'No.' there would be time for those thoughts later. After this battle, after a meal, after sleep.

Maybe, just maybe he would even congratulate the ape on his innovate tactics?

“Ha,” he began to laugh to himself. The ape's tactics had been maddening, and without honor. Certainly not worthy of recognition.

Still, they had been effective. A short shake of his head and he forced the thoughts out. He could worry about the debriefing of this battle, after it was over.

Shining felt a smile tug across his face smugly as he watched all his Guard capture most of the remaining Night Guard on the field. It was hard to tell since his eyes wouldn't focus properly, but it looked like ten in total so far, one of whom was very injured. He watched the small battle unfold below, accompanied only by his two cloest guards. The three of them were exhausted and hungry. They focused only on the battle below, unable to handle or think about anything other than the inevitable victory they saw.

Shining Armor couldn't wait to see that human ape thing, get flushed out from the trees or perhaps he would run deeper still, holding off the end of this absurd game for as long as possible. It didn't matter, Shining knew their victory was assured now, and the ape had to know too.

“This is most excellent." He spoke to his two subordinates with glee. "We can finally end this once we…"

He stopped mid-sentence as he saw his two Guards looking back at him in shock and horror, unsure why he glared at Pin Point and Cloudy Days. "What's wrong with you two, what-" Shining felt a wooden blade at his throat, just gently enough not to leave a mark. Then there was one word spoken from it's holder. A single word which caused Shining Armor's heart to stop for a moment.

It said, "Surrender."

Shining turned to look at the human behind him, and his three companions. He had no idea how the human and his bat ponies had bypassed all his guards. It took a moment for it to register, there weren't anymore guards behind him. All around the camp was empty, as all the Guards were either out scouting or down at the tree line trying to capture the Night Guard. In his insomnia driven state, fueled by the fires of hunger and fatigue, he had missed it. No one was protecting their flank.

Two Wonderbolts descended from the clouds to observe the unusual event, neither fully understanding what was going on but they were under orders not to interfere so asking questions was out.

Jack pointed at one Wonderbolt, a young mare with a silvery red mane and golden body.

“You.” He called to the Wonderbolt. “I have captured Shining Armor and forced a surrender of the entire Royal Guard team.”

The Wonderbolt continued to float there, bobbing slowly up and down, just behind behind her goggles her eyes blinked. “What?” She asked still uncertain about what was going on.

The rulebook at her side bounce and shook as she floated just a few feet above him. Reaching his arms up, Jack snatched the book from her side, and began to rapidly flip through it.

“Hey!” She protested. “That's mine you can't do that!”

Ignoring her complaints Jack quickly flipped through the pages and found what he was looking for. It took him only a few seconds to read it, the text matched his notes. Sure the speech was more formal and legalistic, and it lack the commentary, but the core was there. With a smug smile he could not control his hand shoved the relevant section into her face. “Read it.” He commanded...

Back at the Royal balcony, the princess and the three generals were gathered around for the end of the games. The generals held their own around the map, Maximus and Tanium spoke at length about matters beyond the game, while Fire Wall sat hunched over the table in appertain meditation. Or he could have just been asleep, it was hard to tell.

The pink alicorn pranced over to the game map, "I can't believe how long this game has gone on for. It's almost been the full three days." Cadence spoke with a pang of sadness in her voice. She missed her husband dearly. He had spent the week before the game preparing, leaving her mostly alone. So of course she was now very lonely both mentally and physically.

"The Night Guard have really been a thorn in the Royal Guard’s side for this game. I thought they'd be the first to lose." The pout on her muzzle grew as she thought more and more about her missing mate and what she would do with him once the game was over. He was going to miss another night of sleep if she had anything to say about it.

A Wonderbolt flew in from the field and began quickly relaying instructions to the board controller who started to scramble, moving pieces where he could. Not more than a minute later, another Wonderbolt showed up giving the pegasus in charge of the board new information. The colt at the board blinked in surprise before finally picking up some of the Night Guard pieces and putting them down. For the entire game, fifteen Night Guard pieces had remained off the board untracked. With this past update, they could finally be placed on the board, well all but four of them.

Throughout the majority of the game, the Wonderbolts had been unable to find the Night Guard. So these pieces had been off to the side for most of the game. Left in play, but not observed. To finally see where they were, and in force was unexpected. Everyone around the game board knew immediately that whatever this was, was going to be the end game. From the sheer overwhelming numbers on one side, it was obvious who should win.

Before the pony at the board could finish, a third Wonderbolt appeared and sent the other two back out. There was still more information, and it didn't seem to make much sense. The pegasus at the board was forced to use his wings along with his hooves as he scrabbled to setup the map, but it was proving difficult. Every few seconds another Wonderbolt would fly in and give updates, some of which seemed to contradict each other. Apparently the Night Guard had set up camp deep inside of a thick tree line and there was no way to see inside. That would explain why the Wonderbolts could never seem to keep track of them.

Though, there were still the four pieces unaccounted for and the pegasus still had no idea what to do with them. He was tempted to just throw them into the camp with the other Night Guard.

The commotion around the board began to draw the Princesses' attention.

Twilight walked up next to Cadence and gave her a soft bump on her side as she snuggled into her sitter in law for a hug. "I'm surprised my brother wasn't able to do more against them, but the Night Guard’s tactics have been erratic this game." Twilight slowly walked over to Cadance to study the map with her as the pegasus was frantically trying to update it. In truth, she didn't know whether she should root for her brother or Jack more. Though it didn't really matter, there was no way the Night Guard could win this.

Fire Wall was still sitting over the map in his apparent meditation, as Twilight came along side of him.

"Hmmm..." The old bat pony let out a mild growl at seeing one of his guards removed from the map.

Twilight jumped slight as she was startled by the sound, thinking the pony wasn't even paying attention. "Something wrong Fire Wall?" She spoke out of mild concern.

"It's the board princess. This seems like a desperate last move on the Night Guard's part. The grouping seems disorganized and chaotic. They've performed so well over the past few days, I just don't understand why they would throw it away like... this!" Fire Wall was very clearly agitated by the board in front of him.

Twilight looked at the pieces, and tried to consider it all. She didn't know too much about actual combat, but did know a bit about tactics from her books. "Well, you know Fire Wall, there are over a hundred of the Royal Guard left and only fifteen of the Night Guard." That just seemed to make the General frown even more. "Considering the game will be over in a few more hours regardless it seems, almost heroic, and honorable." Her voice perked up slightly, as she tried to show the General the lighter side of losing.

*Crack*

The old pony hit the side of the large marble table. The noise startled the others in the area.

Taking a breath, Fire Wall apologized for his quick out burst, "Forgive me princesses, I didn't mean any offense to you. I had just hoped that perhaps this year would be different."

His eyes threatened to burn a hole in the table as he continued to glare at the board. Behind him, Maximus came to comfort his old companion.

Tanium wandered to the map with a massive grin on his face, believing the battle would be over and decided in his teams favor shortly. Thankfully, for him, he kept his mouth shut and didn't provoke the bat pony General any further.

*Brruuuu* *Bruuuu* *Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu*

In the distance the sound of the game horn could be heard, two quick blows, and a final elongated one signaling the end of the Game.

"Ah, it would seem the game is over." Celestia looked at the old general, and tried to sooth his battered ego "General Fire Wall, your team did admirably. They lasted till the end while facing superior numbers on all sides. Even my beloved Day Guard couldn't say the same." Princess Celestia spoke in her soft and soothing voice, trying her best to comfort the old General.

The General felt a hoof placed on his shoulder. Looking over and behind himself, he saw princess Luna smile at him. The first time she had smiled around him in what felt like a month. She didn't say it there, but she was slightly relieved to see her team lose.

"Our sister is right dear General. The Night Guard did well considering their handicap. You have trained them all so well." She paused to consider he next words carefully. "Perhaps it is time we considered bolstering our ranks a little to give the other Guards more of a challenge next season?"

Off in the distance the remaining forces began walking across the field, heading towards the gate and viewing area. The Princesses turned to watch the teams from afar, as they made their way back to normal life.

Fire Wall turned back to consider the board as everyone except for Twilight wandered to the edge of sitting area. The Wonderbolts had stopped updating the map as soon as the horn blew, but Fire Wall couldn't help and noticed all the pieces on the board, four of which still seemed unaccounted for. One of these pieces was Jack's own. The old gears in the general's mind began to turn as he studied the board and saw one potentially fatal mistake in the Royal Guard's formation.

"I wonder..." He spoke in barely a whisper. He knew Jack would not be one to just run while the rest of his squad fell, his actions thus far had shown that. There had to be more to his incursion, and that single opening, that single mistake in Shining's formation could explain it all.

At the end of balcony both flags of the Night and Royal guard were removed. The Wonderbolt holding the Royal Guard flag flew up to place it on the winner’s pike just above the gates, only to be stopped by another. There seemed to be some amount of confusion amongst the Wonderbolts as to which flag should be placed there.

The general chuckled to himself lightly, "heh, I do wonder…" he spoke softly so that only the ghosts who seemed to linger may hear.

Twilight was just watching in confusion unsure of the chaos unfolding both on and off the battlefield. Off the balcony the forces of the two teams could be seen walking over the nearby hill. There was some shouting and yelling as the groups made their way to the gate.

It seemed like there was something wrong below. All the ponies, including Fire Wall and Twilight, walked to the side of the balcony, watching the argument that was happening below. None of them had noticed that the Night Guard’s flag now flew above the gates, signaling their victory.

Down on the field, the human guard's faced beamed with a smile on his well deserved victory. All around him his fellow guards cheered and a few even sung. It was an amazing victory for the seemingly outmatched Night Guard. For a moment, Jack reflected on his win remembering how everything went down earlier in the day...

It was still fairly early in the morning, and the sun just began to rise over the game field. The Royal Guard wasted no time in forming their search parties. Each Guard knew the sooner they found the last of the cowardly Night Guard, the sooner they could leave this cursed game and get some much needed food and sleep. All through out the previous night, the Night Guard was relentless in attacks. No one else from the Royal Guard was lost, beyond the first two, but no one was able to sleep or relax.

As morning came the attacks stopped. Shining took the lull in aggression to give his team their final morning briefing. Scorched earth, was the topic. They had searched every major field and open area in the arena, but had come up with nothing. The Night Guard might be hiding somewhere in the open like the General Guard had, but Shining no longer thought so. Every time the Night Guard would attack, they would fall back to a tree line and disappear.

That's where they had to be hiding, in the middle of a thick brush of trees somewhere. Given the ape who was with them, and by all accounts leading them it made too much sense. This time, they weren't going to leave a single tree line unsearched. They were going to find the Night Guard, no matter where they might be hiding.

The Royal Guard had already exhausted all the possible hiding locations in the Night Guard's quadrant. So they had to be somewhere else. Shining reasoned they were probably in the Day Guard's area since they were taken out of the game so early on. That quadrant had been unpatrolled for most of the game, being seen as unnecessary, until now. No real captain would think of setting up camp in another player's area, though not against any rules it would be seen as dishonorable, and a spit in the face.

Shining also knew that they had to be somewhat close by too. Their attacks were too frequent and rapid for their camp to be very far out. All in all, his team had about a square kilometer or so of ground to search. Easily done, with the over one hundred Guards he had left.

Of course, Shining had no idea just how close the Night Guard really were.

Just over two hundred meters away, Wind Runner spied the Royal Guard's camp using the monocular she found at the bottom of one of the stolen crates. She was sorry none of the team had noticed it earlier, as it made observations so much easier.

Not far behind her, hidden in the dense thicket, the remaining Night Guard sat around discussing upcoming plans and ideas. No one had any real idea what to do at this point, and Jack was oddly silent. His head was tilted down, and engrossed in his sheet of paper that he had been staring at since very early in the morning.

For what felt like the thousandth time, Jack read over one section again:

“Guards caught at sword point can be forced to surrender during a capture.

No extra points are gained, but any troops under them are forced to surrender as well.

Surrendering is not thought honorable and not often done in modern games.

It is reserved only for the most stubborn commanders who refuse to admit defeat.

To capture, local forces [not global] have to be greater than or equal to opposing ones.”

The human hunched over his parchment paper, rereading the small notes he had made again and again, looking for evidence there was more or that he had misquoted something. He had scrawled these lines in particular very quickly, not really thinking it all that useful at the time. He couldn't be completely sure he wrote it in it's entirety or that it was even correct. His gears turned as he thought about the full section of the rulebook this passage came from, but unfortunately he kept drawing a blank. This was the only fragment of a chance he could see, and he didn't even know if it was real or not. He was growing frustrated, and knew time was running out.

“Jack.” Mani called out from the circle. “The Royal Guard is sending out their search parties. What's the plan?”

Quickly, Jack looked up from his notes at the Night Guard in front of him. They were all depending on him now. And not just to lead them, but to win. So far in all three days of searching, this was the only idea he had come up with that would possibly allow them victory with such maddeningly inferior forces. It wasn't the best idea, but it might work. Assuming he understood the rules right, they needed to figure out a way to isolate the captain from most of his squad. A difficult aspect to be sure, but perhaps not impossible. Some of Shining's behavior has been very predictable, his actions in battle choice among them.

Jack knew some of his own squad wouldn't like the idea, Mani for sure. It was risky, and to be honest, questionable, but it was the only real chance they had.

“You guys may not like this idea, but…” He took a breath, and saw each of their reactions. A few were on the edge of their seats, and few looked like they were about to groan. “We're going to try and capture Shining Armor.”

It took a moment, but a few of them laughed at the idea thinking it was a joke, and at least one did in fact groan, but just as Jack had predicted Mani objected with, “You can't be serious?”

It took the better part of the next half hour outlining the plan he had just formulated to the team. Like everything else this game, it would be risky, and there was a chance it wouldn't succeed. Just like before, the Night Guard would run in to raid the camp and than pull out. However unlike before they would try not to be completely hidden once they ran. They would have to drag the Royal Guard away from the camp with the promises of a massive reward. The entire Night Guard camp. Jack doubted there was much else that could make Shining ignore his flank. It was going to be messy, no doubt the Royal Guard were already very alert for any kind of trap that might be set up. It had to be done just right.

Mani held a scowl on his face for the whole explanation. His retort was expected, “So lets say this diversion works, and they come out in force, what then? We walk up to Shining and ask him to put his hooves in the air? I mean what's going to make him surrender.” He protested.

“Well, that's kind of my point, he wont have a choice. If we sneak up on him and hold him at sword point we can force a capture and a surrender. There's no option to refuse, it's just automatic.” Jack tried to speak slowly for everyone to understand, but there were still lingering doubts and questions.

“But how? I don't understand how you can force a capture like this?” Mani further complained, bringing up the questions and comments he knew the rest of the squad had, but would not bring up. Either out of respect or mild fear of embarrassing themselves.

Once more, Jack went to his note sheet and pointed out the section. “Ok, so a capture can only happen at sword point, and you have to have the same or more Guards present to capture. So 1:1 is fine, 2:1 fine, even 200:199 would be fine. but 199:200 wouldn't work-” He wasn't able to finish as Mani cut him off.

"Exactly!” Mani nearly shouted, interrupting Jack's thought process. He pointed around to the small group of guards, “Look, there are only fifteen of us, at best the Royal Guard is just over one hundred strong. We don't have the numbers to surrender their whole team."

"We wouldn't have to." Again Jack pointed at one particular line. “Local forces have to outnumber them. Not global forces but local ones. If we isolate Shining armor we can do this.”

Mani took the note sheet from Jack's hands and read the section over a few times, having more than a bit of trouble reading the human's handwriting. Finally, with a dismissive head shake he gave the note back to Jack. “I don't know. This sounds like a technicality to me.” Mani complained, his voice notably calmer as he began to seriously consider the idea.

“I admit, it's not as grand or glorious as many of us would want. But it's in the rules, and it's fair. If you think about battlefield tactics, it makes sense too.” A handful of confused expression greeted his statement.

Fumbling with his fingers, he tried to think of a way to explain. A way that would let this small group leave with some of their honor in tact.“Taking out the commander of an army, would throw the army into chaos. Capturing them would do the same. It makes sense from a tactical standpoint. Cut off the head and the body dies.”

That analogy worked, and a handful of sparks lit up in the ponies eyes as what Jack said suddenly seemed to make sense and sink in. None of them were used to thinking like this. Tactics for most ponies was about finding ways to argue off the battle field, rather than on it. A real fight for them would be little more than marching on a field and letting superior numbers determine victory. The more Jack considered the game he had been playing the more and more he truly began to realize just how far behind the Equestrian Guards were compared to the armies from Earth, and not just in terms of weaponry. The simple fact was they didn't even know how to use what they had.

Mani begrudgingly gave into the plan. He didn't like it, but it really was the only one anyone had come up with. “Ok. So how do we pull Shining away from his Guards?”

“We don't. Not exactly anyway. Instead of pulling him away from his army, we're going to pull his army away from him. Shining likes to stand behind, on a large body, like a hill or something so he can observe the battle below without actually putting his command in jeopardy. Usually it would be a solid defensive position, but we're going to use that against him. We give the Royal Guard something to chase, with a large prize at the end, and he'll take the bait. Given his exhaustion he's going to want to end this quick and likely isn't thinking clearly. I don't think he'll hesitate to send his whole squad in if he thinks he can end this now. Leaving his rear unprotected for a small group of us to rush in and take him.”

Jack took a breath and sighed, he could already seem Mani ready to object again. He knew what Mani would object to. Instead of waiting, Jack answered before it could be asked. “But, that's the another problem. The only prize big enough is our whole camp. When we do this, there wont be any going back. Either Shining leaves his flank unguarded and we're able to sneak up behind him or we lose.” Jack's final point was met with silence.

For a whole minute the squad sat around in an eerie quiet, no one quite sure what to say or do. A few, Mani included, was hoping someone else would say something. Another plan, a change of ideas, anything that might make this all easier to stomach. They had spent the better part of three days on this game. To risk it all on this one gamble was hard.

Wind Runner looked between her fellow guards, and forced a smile. She liked to gamble. Breaking the silence she asked, “So, where do we start?”

About an hour later, across the battlefield Wind Runner and Mani followed some of the scout parties, watching where they would explore. There were five groups, each with about twenty ponies. Mani and Wind had one job to do right now, make five quick campfires in some very deep brush. Distractions for the scouts.

With any luck, a campfire made deep in the woods would be seen and smelt by the Royal Guards. The would then search out the source, spending valuable time looking for ghost which weren't there. If Mani and Wind did this right, the scouts would be too busy chasing shadows to head back to their camp, leaving Shining Armor's main group undermanned.

From the distant trees, Mani could see the smoke from one such campfire slowly drift above the tree line. Below, a single Royal Guard noticed and pointed it out to his commander. The scouting party stopped in their tracks and began to circle the unoccupied trees. It would take them hours to search the small forest fully.

'Perfect.' Mani thought.

Once each of the scouting groups were fully distracted, part two of the plan came into effect. Quickly the Night Guard disassembled the bulk of their camp, taking out tenting and some of the blankets to hang just inside the tree line. They had to be careful here, the items needed to be seen as soon as you where in a hoof's distance of the tree line, but no further.

Finally, the last and most important part of the plan. Star would lead a single pony mission to cause a distraction in the base. If things got too heated, she could screech, giving her ample time to trot away while the Guards followed her. While she was doing that, four of them, Jack and Mani included would circle around the base and sneak up on Shining's flank.

Once everything in the base was ready, the five Night Guard slowly left their base. Star took a right to head around the Royal Guard's camp, while Jack, Mani, Wind Runner and Tollem made their way behind the Royal Guard's camp.

Green Hoof held his breath as he watched the group leave camp, the ache in his leg making it difficult to focus. The pain didn't matter though, he needed to watch, and see. As soon as the Royal Guard came near the camp, he was going to have to provide range support. Anything to buy the other team whatever time they needed.

Star slowly crept from the tree line, and headed toward the Royal Guard's camp. She needed to make some kind of distraction to attract their attention...

"NO!" Shining armor yelled at the top of his lungs to one of his subordinates. "I WILL NOT CONCEDE DEFEAT!"

Jack snapped out of his trance. Not far from him Shining Armor held a deep scorn on his face. The Captain ground his teeth against each other with such force it was a miracle his teeth didn't just shatter. He had no idea what exactly his subordinate said to him, but Jack quickly go the hint, and moved away from Shining Armor.

The smile on the human's face dwindled as he gazed around the extremely angry, tired and hungry Royal Guard.

He was no longer speaking, or cheering like the rest of the Night Guard and was quite somber about the whole event.

Sensing the agitation around him, Mani trotted up to Jack and whispered in his ear, "Do they seem mad to you?”

Taking a moment, Jack surveyed the field of scowls and angry faces once more. Every gaze he caught from the Royal Guard felt like daggers.

"No, I think it's worse then that. They're legitimately pissed off at us." He spoke with a shake of his head.

Off to his side he could hear the Night Guard laughing and cheering at their victory still. The first victory in what must have been aeons. "Mani, do me a favor and tell our guys to keep it down. No need to rub salt in the wound." He looked Mani in the eyes, "Our guys did good, but we can celebrate later."

"Good?!" Shining stopped at hearing Jack's praise of his squad. "Your squad was one of the most disorganized inefficient and awful teams I've ever faced!"

Jack tried to keep his own emotions in check. He both wanted to speak up and defend his team, but also cower from the Captain’s intimidating stance. He chose the highest road he could "Captain, I understand you are upset, but the game is over. We can debrief each other tomorrow after we all get some much need rest."

Shining stomped his hooves on the ground and almost growled at Jack. Who was now becoming quite concerned. The Night Guard had stopped laughing and become quite somber at the large group of Guards around them.

Jack held up his hand in a gentle stop manner. "Shining, calm down. Look if it makes you feel better we would be happy to walk off the field first. You can be the last to leave." Jack reached his hand out to shake a hoof he hoped would be there. He didn't notice the Royal Guard off to his side approach him

"Stay away from our captain!" The guard shouted.

Before he could even acknowledge the protest, Jack felt a sharp pain in his side and fell to the ground. His head hit something hard and then there was blackness.

Author's Note

And that's it for War Games.

Originally, Day Dreams was going to be broken up into 3 Parts/Books. Part 1was going to end about 2/3 chapters after this. While I have those chapters sketched out, I still haven't sat down to write them. Unfortunately, I lost my drive to write earlier in the year and I just haven't gotten it back. I don't want to say my stories are dead, but I'm not sure if I will be writing any more. Limbo, is probably the better term for it.

Chapter 1: The first Bell

The human jogged through the halls of the Castle. His heavy breathing and slightly plum midsection suggesting that he was a bit out of shape. This human was a moderately short man about 5'7" tall, with deep auburn hair and short well-trimmed goatee. He wore a set of shining silver and purple metallic armor that covered most of his lower body. On his left arm was a symbol of the stars and the moon. Under it were the words “Night Guard. Royal Regiment”. On his left breast plate was the single word “Jack”.

This human, Jack, was running through the halls because as usual, he was about to be late for his post.

*Dong*

Off in the distance Jack could hear the sound of the watch bell chiming. There would be seven more to denote that it was now 8 o'clock.

*Dong*

Jack picked up the pace heading down the hall in a full on sprint. Lucky for him, he didn't have that much farther to go as he dashed down the hall.

*Dong*

The hallways of the castle were usually empty this time of night, but there were still the occasional day and Royal guard wandering about, finishing up their routine for the day or heading off for some after work activities. Most saw the human running, some knew he was late for his duty. Most paid no attention to him, those few that did just shook their head and went back to what they were previously doing.

*Dong*

One particular white guard with a blue mane caught sight of the running human. Shinning Armor watched the man move, and then pass him without even so much as an acknowledgment.

*Dong*

Shining looked to his two subordinates after watching the human pass. “Men, I never want you to be that disorganized. Understood?” He made a mental note to talk to General Fire Wall about his newest recruit.

“Yes sir.”

*Dong*

The human rounded a corner down a long hallway leading to the main chamber. He was almost there, just a few meters!

*Dong*

Jack saw a small group of bat ponies in formation along the Royal path way. A small opening was left in their formation that he made his way towards.

*Dong*

Squeezing in between the bat ponies next to him, Jack rapidly composed him self and stood at attention. The two bat ponies next to him were a light Grey mare with amethyst colored eyed and a dark purple messy mane which had been cut short. Like the rest of the guards her flanks and cutie mark where hidden behind the pale metal armor. Her name was Star Screech. To his left and a smaller almost all dark gray colt with equally dark gray mane called Moon Shadow to his right.

“Heh, didn't think you'd make it Jack” Star Screech whispered under her breath.

“Believe me... I tried...” Jack tried to hide his labored breathing, but it was difficult. He paused for a moment still trying to catch his breath. “I'm just glad... that moon rise is so late tonight... I wouldn't have made it on less than eight bells...”

“Stow it rookie! The princess is here!” A dark gray almost black colt barked at Jack from the end of the line closed to the throne. He was the small squad's captain, Night Blade.

Jack stood up as straight as possible once Princess Luna entered the room. Her walk was elegant and graceful and her wings stood out just few inches from her sides. She began to walk through the formation of guards. “Attention!” The group stood straight and tall as Luna made her way through them. Her eyes made a quick glance at the human in formation. Jack noticed her gaze and blushed ever so slightly, but he did not fall out of attention. She made her way through the group and walked to the balcony set off to the side of the throne room. She opened balcony doors with her magic and stepped out to the twilight that had formed after Celestia lowered the sun.

Luna stood on the balcony for a moment and looked out over the horizon taking in the early night's view. Canterlot City's skyline glowed with various tiny night lights under the bunging evening sky. Her eyes looked to the new sky and smiled at her stars as they twinkled and winked back at their princess. Spreading her wings, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the edge of the vista. Slowly a blue aura covered her body as a large white object began to climb from behind the distant mountain range.

From his formation, Jack watched as his Princess raised the moon with her magic. Luna's horn and body glowed a soft blue and her wings were spread wide. It was a sight Jack never grew tired watching as his princess preformed her nightly activity. It was stunning; she was stunning.

The moon climbed above the horizon as Luna stood on the balcony, her body eclipsing the brilliant yet soft white orb behind it. Eventually Luna's horn stopped glowing and she brought her wings back against her body. The whole action was more than a little stimulating. Jack felt himself growing uncomfortable by watching the princess, but he could not look away. There was just something about her, especially tonight.

On the balcony the princess smiled at the night once more and its bright companion. The guards could not see her smile nor hear the words she whispered to it, “Good evening old friend.”

Jack had fallen slightly out of attention as he was staring at the scene on the balcony. He was oblivious to the fact that Star Screech was kicking his foot and whispering to him to stop and focus ahead.

On the balcony, Luna tuned around and began to walk back into the throne room. Noticing Jacks attention to her she felt a slight blush came over her, hidden beneath her dark blue coat. She looked back at Jack and gave a quick and very slight smile at him. Even more quickly she caught herself and returned to her usual stern and serious demeanor. It was inappropriate to see such actions from her guards. No matter how much she may want and even desire the attention.

She elevated her head as she walked past him, “Such insolence from our guards.” Her voice was loud enough to be heard by her local guards but was thankfully not at the level of the Royal Canterlot voice she still occasionally used.

Upon realizing that the statement was directed at him, Jack stood straight at attention focusing forward with all his might. He could feel a few drops of sweat streaming down his face as Luna made her way out of the chambers off to do her normal night time activities be what they may.

“At ease.” Night Blade spoke to the squad.

Jack relaxed at the order and looked over to his friend Star Screech. He had a look of relief on his face and was about to say something when Night Blade hit Jack right in his chest with his left hoof. It wasn't a hard impact. Mainly meant to get his attention, “What is your problem rookie?”

Looking for something to say Jack just stammered, “S-Sir, I'm sorry sir I was just-”

Night Blade interrupted him. “I don't care what you were doing rookie, I don't care what your motives were, or what you were thinking. In the future you WILL pay attention, and you WILL follow all orders. When the princess comes in you stand at attention. You don't day dream, you don't slouch, and you don't stare at her plot.” The last point caused Jack's cheeks to flush ever so lightly.

Star Screech chuckled a bit under her breath. Hearing the noise Night Blade turned his attention to the other guard, his eye focused and sharp. “Is there a problem guard?”

Star Screech stood at attention. “No sir.”

Night Blade returned his gaze to Jack. “Do you understand me rookie?”

Jack looked at Blade “Yes sir, I understand. It won't happen again.”

“See that it doesn't.” With that Night Blade started to make his way out of the throne room. “You guards know what your nightly duties are, so get to it.” He barked his one last order as he made his way around the hallway in the same direction as Luna.

“Heh, always getting in trouble aren't you?” Star Screech laughed a bit “You really are a monkey aren't you Jack?”

“Oh stow it Star. We've got work to do.” Jack looked at Moon Shadow who shook his head in agreement.

“Yes, you both do. I want both of you to cover the grounds, and once you're done that you can scrub the barracks.”

Both Star and Jack's stances fell slightly as they responded in unison, “Yes sir.”

Each of them sighed once Shadow had walked away. Scrubbing the barracks was a pain in the ass and normally the whole squad was involved. Jack and Star were being punished and they knew it. Thankfully for them, the rest of the night was uneventful. Both Star and Jack completed their runs and went on to clean the barracks in very little time.

Upon standing up the human rubbed his sore knees, and wiped his brow. Jack looked around at the large room, with bunks that were just a few feet too small for him. It was rare that he found himself in here, aside from his first day in the guard regiment he didn't sleep with the other guards. Down the hallway, not too far from the barracks was a small room, usually reserved for officers. That was his room.

The day after he arrived he was assigned that room when it was quickly realized he would not fit in a normal bunk or barracks. Jack knew he had earned more than his fair share of scorn for it too, mainly from those higher than him. Most of the guard worked for years to get an officer's certification and their own room or where somehow amazing at their job. He had been given the room right out of the gate with out any work to show for it. That wasn't all though. Since he arrived, Jack had been given opportunity after opportunity seemingly for just being different. One princess in particular, Twilight, had been more than kind and generous to the human since his unexpected arrival to Equestria. Even his entry to the night guard was expedited, though he wasn't aware of just how much.

Jack wasn't sure, but of all the guards here felt that Moon Shadow and Night Blade in particular had it in for him. Since he met the ponies, Jack had nothing but bad experiences with them. Shadow and Blade would always finding fault in his work, and it always seemed like they were looking over his shoulder, waiting for him to fail. Taking a look around the nearly spotless barracks, he knew Shadow would have some issue with it once he saw it. Ether the floor would not be clean enough, or the cabinets would still somehow have dust on them after being wiped. Something would be amiss in this paragon of order and cleanliness Star and he had made.

'Where is Moon Shadow? He should be here yelling at me again.' Jack thought to himself. A tap on his shoulder woke Jack from his thoughts.

“Hey, since we're done early how about we go grab a drink at the bar?” Star Screech smiled at the human. Her fur was matted slightly from the sweat and her cheeks flushed slightly seemingly from the work they just did.

“The bar?” Jack turned to look at the large clock in the barracks; it was just past six in the morning. “Isn't it kind of late or early for that?”

“Nah, most of the squad walked by when you were cleaning out the closet. I'm sure that's where they were all headed.”

Jack looked conflicted “I don't know star, I don't think many of them like me very much.”

She grabbed his arm and started to drag him. “Oh come on it will be fun.”

The two left the barracks behind and walked to a small bar just outside the castle walls. Star was very chatty on the walk, more so than usual. It always felt like the pony was trying to get closer to him, to cheer him up. It was kind of her, and he tried to reciprocate, but ultimately Jack felt slightly off put by the attention. He was thankful once they arrived and could focus his own attention elsewhere, like on booze.

The outside of the bar was kind of old and felt a bit run down. It had a small wooden sign on it with a bat pony apparently stumbling in flight. The words “Midnight Well” written beneath it. Jack had been here a few times before, but it was rare. The Midnight Well primarily catered to bat ponies and the other late night crowds. It was rare he had anyone to go out drinking with and the thought of drinking alone never really appealed to him.

As the two Night Guards walked into the bar, there was a noticeable change from the run down outside. The place was actually ok inside. True it was still a bit of a dive, but overall decent enough. It wasn't very large but it did have larger tables than most, and that made it far easier for the taller Jack to sit at. The floors and tables were clean, and the bar itself was, well, clean enough. The bar was mostly empty, which was typical for the later-early morning. There were a few scattered ponies here and there, mostly bat ponies of course, but there were also a few pegasi and one griffin too. Jack noticed a particular white pegasus colt and a dark gray bat pony mare talking in hushed tones in a corner. The bat pony's hooves where all over the colt. The colt was putting up a facade of protest but it was clear that he was enjoying the attention.

Around the bar itself stood and sat a good portion of the Night Guard squad. Moon Shadow in particular looked back at the two and raised an eyebrow at them when he saw them enter. “You two finished your duties already?”

Star pulled up a stool next to the dark Grey colt and smiled. “Yeah, it was easy.”

Moon Shadow snorted and took a swig from his beer. “I'll have to give you more to do next time.”

Jack ignored Moon Shadow and flagged down the bartender. “Hey, can I get two ales?” The unicorn bar tender nodded and poured two mugs of local ale, then passed the mugs off to the Night Guards with his magic.

The bar tender smiled at the two and winked “Since you both just got off I'll give you happy hour price on this round. You both look like you could use it.” Jack smiled back graciously and took out four bits to pay for the two of them.

“My aren't you a gentalcolt?” Star gave him a mock eye flutter.

“Eh, I figured I owed you for getting you into that mess earlier.” He said with a laugh.

“Yeah, you do.” Star smiled at her human companion and started downing the beer in quick order.

Jack just titled his head and smiled back before beginning to drink his.

An hour and four beers later most of the squad had gone back to their bunks for the night. Only Star, Jack and another bat pony, Leucippe, were still at the bar.

Leucippe was a bit usual for a bat pony. She had a bubbly personality and with platinum white fur, bright green eyes and light gray mane. She was very striking. She was also known to be a bit of an air head.

The bubbly mare stumbled a bit as she tried to get out of her seat. “Well rookies, I'm heading back to my bunk.” She stumbled a bit a more and almost fell over as she went to stand.

Jack helped to steady her. “You ok Leucippe?”

*hich* She smiled at the human. “Yeah I'm fine... just shouldn't have had that last one.” She started to stumble out of the bar, slowly meandering her way back to the barracks.

Jack looked to Star “You think she'll be ok?”

Star's cheeks were flushed with the Alcohol, and maybe something a bit more. “Hm? Oh Lucy? Yeah, she'll be fine. We were both friends in school and believe me she can drink anyone under the table.”

Star's statement cause Jack to raised an eyebrow, “So you two knew each other before joining Night Guard?”

“Oh yeah. We kind of grew up together, went to school the whole nine yards. She was the one who actually convinced me to join the Night Guard. Those weren't exactly the best of times for me.” Star took another swig of her beer and put an empty mug down on the bar. “What do you say to just one more?”

The small clock on the wall had just past 7, and Jack considered how late it was. But, one more couldn't hurt, could it? “Ok, but just one more.” He agreed.

Star smiled and flag the bar tender down for another round. Jack managed to just finish his beer when the last round arrived. The two talked for a few more minutes and they both sipped their beers. Then there was an awkward laps into silence as neither could think of anything to say.

Jack's mind began to drift and sighed between nursing his beer. Star Screech looked over at her human companion. “You alright Jack, you seem a bit down?”

“Hmm?” He looked up from his beer at the mare next to him. His mind was no longer quite in the bar anymore.

“You just seemed kind of out of it tonight.” She brought her hoof to her chin, “Now that I think about it, you were fine this morning. It was only after Luna called you out for looking...” She paused at that thought for a moment and a smile came over her face. “Oh! I see now.”

Star looked up at Jack with the biggest shit eating grin possible.

“Someone has a crush on the Princess.” Star Screech hit the human's arm in a mock punch, and started laughing a bit.

He was more than a little taken aback by the comment. “I don't have a crush on the princess star.” Jack started to take a few swigs of his beer. His cheeks were flushed with booze and embarrassment. He didn't really like where this line of conversation was going and kind of wanted to get out of there.

“Oh come on. There's nothing wrong with finding the princess attractive. Hell, I'm not really into mares, but even I would roll in the hay with her if I could.”

Jack sighed again. So many thoughts going through his head, he couldn't keep track of them. “Star...”

“Hey there's nothing wrong with finding an attractive mare attractive.” She drank some more and considered what she said. “Of course you could never act on it.”

“That's not it Star it's...” Jack paused and looked down into his almost empty mug. 'Attractive?' that word played through his head a few times. He supposed Luna was kind of pretty in an alien sense. But actually attractive? Had he actually come to admire the pony form in that sense?

“Well then what is it?” Star asked with an honest curiosity.

“I don't really know star.” he paused and tried to collect his thoughts.

“When I first came here I was just confused. I had no idea where I was, what was happening.” He took another swig from his beer, trying to force the rising feelings back down.

“After seeing your world, it was similar to mine, but it all felt off. Seeing ponies do what I would expect a human to do. To say I was confused is an understatement.” He laughed a bit, trying to hid his emotions behind a fain of humor.

“After being here for almost a year I...” It wasn't much use as he felt the thoughts well up into forming tears. “Well, I'm lonely. I didn't have an active girlfriend back in my world, but I always hoped I could find another one. Maybe the one.”

“Girlfriend?” Star interrupted.

Jack smiled, trying desperately to not feel the sting. It was just another reminder that he was different and ultimately alone here. “I'm sorry, a marefriend.” He took one last swig from his beer, finishing it. “I didn't think I'd come to like a pony in that way, but Princess Luna is just... Well she's special.” He thought about her for a moment. Jack wasn't really sure why he had come to look at Luna as anything more than a pony. It wasn't how she looked, it was her, and who she was.

'What was it about that mare?' He thought to himself.

“Of course she's special, she's a Princess.” Star's word's snapped him out of his trance.

“That's not what I mean Star. She's...” He paused trying to find the words to explain how he felt. It was difficult. He started to remember the first time he met Luna, not more than a day after he arrived, but his thoughts were again interrupted by Star.

“You know, if you're lonely there are other mares who would be willing to keep you company.” Star gave Jack a bit of a wink, and finished off her beer.

“What?” Jack wasn't quite sure if he understood Star. Perhaps it was just a misunderstanding he thought to himself. Star Screech swished her tail to hit Jack's back; it was not completely intentionally as she stumbled around a bit too. She looked back at Jack and gave two winks, only one of which was from her eye. Jack looked around the bar. Everyone else was engrossed in their own conversations and activities. Only the bartender seemed to be paying any attention and had a slight grin on his face.

“Star...” Jack tried to tell Star Screech to stop but she was already out the door.

“Sigh...” Jack got off his stool and walked out of the bar to find Star Screech a few steps ahead of him. He steadied himself and gave a short jog to catch up with her. “Star look, I...”

Star swished her tail around Jacks legs and just smiled at him. “Come on, you need it Jack.” Her neither regions continued to wink a bit, unconsciously signaling her desire for him or at least a part of him. “And I could probably use it too.”

The walk back to the barracks was far more awkward for Jack then Star Screech. He was still trying to figure out what he would do exactly when they got back. How would he get her to her bunk? Jack considered for a moment if he really wanted to. He looked at her ass as she walked a bit in front of him, her tail bobbing a bit from side to side.

Her form was a bit on the thin side, a common trait for both bat ponies and pegasi, but she was still well built. She had an athletic body, muscular, but not at all what you'd expect to see on a horse. It was more feminine and almost human looking at the right angles. Her exposed plot was a slightly pink and contrasted with her light gray fur. He could see a bit of fluid between her lips. Occasionally she would wink. Subconsciously thinking about what she thought was going to happen in a few moments.

It made Jack feel strange to watch it and think about it. The thought that she was horny gave him a bit of a rise, but looking at her, seeing her wink like that. It was so in-human. 'That's because she isn't human.' he reminded himself.

Despite his confused feelings Jack just couldn't stop staring at her winking plot. It was kind of turning him on to be sure, but it was a constant reminder that 'She isn't human' and that pushed him in the opposite way. Jack suffered with the conflicting thoughts as his mind and body fought against it self in silent combat.

'She isn't human.' That thought kept running through Jack's mind as he tried to make sense of everything. Yet his eyes kept coming back to Star's plot.

'She isn't human.' She wasn't built like a human, that was for sure, but there was a certain erotica quality to her. The way her tail swung back and forth, how her ass moved and swayed with it.

'She isn't human.' That light bounce of her walk.

She isn't human.' The subtle sweet musky smell that seemed to follow her.

'She isn't human... but then nether is Luna, and I...' Jack tried to shake the thoughts from his head, but he found it difficult.

He was lonely, and the fact was he had started to see certain attractiveness to some of the mares. It wasn't like they were just horses. They were also people in Jack's mind, and even though they were physically different, he had started to see them as people in more ways than one. It was confusing for him at first, but now it was more than just confusing. It felt like his mind was at war with itself.

Jack stood considering Star's rear for a few more seconds, not noticing that they had stopped walking a few moments ago.

Star had stopped walking a short while ago and was standing in front of a door as Jack was only halfway paying attention to the world around him. She gave a quick shake of her ass and cleared her throat trying to get Jack's attention back to her upper mouth. “Ehem.”
Jack looked up at Stars eyes and couldn't help but blush. He felt like a kid who just got caught with his hand in a cookie jar.

“So, are you going to let me in Jack? Or would rather we just fuck in the hallway?” Her bluntness struck him hard, and allowed him to finally focus.

“Look Star, I get you seem to like me but I'm not sure I can go through with this. I'm not sure I even like-”

“Ha!” Star laughed aloud, interrupting him. “Oh come on Jack, you've been staring at my plot all night. Even back in the barracks I noticed you take one or two peaks.” She opened the door to Jack's quarters and let herself in rather than wait. “Come on. You probably need this more than I do.”

Jack was still very unsure about this. It wasn't that he didn't want to have sex, he was just unsure of everything else. Jack knew if he walked into his room now something would certainly happen. As much as he wanted it, even needed it, there was still a part of him that screamed how wrong it was.

He also knew he couldn't stay in the hallway ether. The Day Guard was up and walking around already. There were also the castle visitors to worry about. Jack didn't need to deal with the problems that would come with someone seeing Star and him together in this state.

'What should I do?' Jack thought and sighed to himself.

His eyes forced themselves shut as me mentality shut up that one nagging voice. With a deep breath Jack opened his eyes and walked into the room shutting his door behind him. This way he could talk to Star in peace with out anyone questioning them or at least that's what he told himself. Star smiled at him and gave a quick lick over one of her fangs. She walked up to his bed and jumped on it. “Wow, this bed is huge Jack. Even bigger then you need. Perfect for having some company...” She smiled and gave a very seductive wink at him.

He took another big and shaky breath breath before approaching Star. “Look Star I-” She put her hoof over his mouth.
“Shhh...” She gave her best disarming smile she could. Both looked into each other's eyes. Regardless of what Jack would say he wanted they were going to have sex.

“Jack, I get it. You're uncertain and probably a bit afraid.” He was about to interrupt her and respond when she pushed her hoof harder against his lips. “But it's ok. I do get it. You're uncertain about being with somepony other than a human, and you're probably afraid of what would happen if somepony found out about this.” Star noticed the sight of Jack slowly becoming disarmed. “Nothing will happen. I'm a female, a girl, and I have girl parts. And there's nothing in any rule book forbidding sex, just... relationships.” Then she opened her mouth and licked her fang again, “and I promise I don't bite hard.”

She took her hoof off of his mouth and Jack open it as if he was trying to find something to say. Star jumped up and gave Jack a kiss, then another. Soon she was pushing her tongue into his mouth and exploring it, preventing him from complaining any more.

Finally, Jack dropped any pretenses he still had and gave into his desires. He began to kiss her back, quickly becoming as passionate as she was. Sitting down on the bed next to his tongue began to explore Star's mouth. The first think he noticed was her own tongue, which was a bit thin and longer then a human's. She moved it around his mouth flicking across his cheeks as she examined his every part. Jack ran his tongue over her teeth, stopping on one of her rather sharp fang. Slowly investigating and probing its shape.

Jack moved his hands to stars side and rubbed some of her exposed fur very lightly.

The intense kissing had stimulated Star's body and made her very sensitive. Jack's probing hands across her flank caused her to flinch. Star's quick movement brought Jack's tongue against the fang he was rubbing, causing him to nick it against the smooth ivory. A small trickle of his life force coated her mouth and Star could taste him inside of herself. The sensation causing Star to lose herself in the feeling and taste. Her hips started moving back and forth in a slow and simple rhythm. Her mare juices leaked from her pussy, the creamy fluid dripping down from her cunt twitched with need and soaking into the blankets beneath her. She needed him, now.

The movements from the lusty bay pony and her passionate kissing were give Jack some of his own problems down below. His cock grew hard, and it felt confined behind all the cloths and armor. It was becoming almost painful, as Star was quick to notice and smirk at the human's clear discomfort.

The two broke the kiss for a moment, a stand of saliva connecting their mouths before breaking. They each gazed into the others hormone clouded eyes. Star rubbed her hoof over his armor and looked down at Jack's metal covered chest. “You know Jack; it's going to be kind of hard to fuck with your uniform still on.” The smirk on her face grew as her eye lids feel slightly.

Jack gave an uncertain smile and tried to take his armor off with slightly shaky hands, only to be stopped by Star's hoof. “Please Jack, allow me.” She purred and proceeded to slowly drag her hoof to the sides of the armor, releasing the snaps and clamps that kept it firmly in place. As she moved between the armor plats she made sure to rub her hoof along his skin and sides as she exposed them, enjoying the odd feeling of the smooth skin and fine hair beneath her hoof. His skin felt so different from the fur she was used to, and his thin chest hair was so much more soft and silky than she expected. None of the lovers she had felt quite this smooth, it was exotic and intoxicating.

Jack, not wanting to be left out reached around to Star's side and started to undo her armor in turn. Taking more time than needed when it came to some of her more sensitive spots. Star let out a slight moan as he rubbed against one of her small tits, while removing her lower straps.

Star reached out around Jack's waste and began to undo his pants and leg armor. She let each one fall to the floor with a loud clunking sound. It was then that she noticed Jack wore an additional pair of shorts under his armor. She couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it “Wow, you really like to wear clothes don't you?”

“Oh, my underwear. Yeah, it's a human thing. I just feel... Uncomfortable without them.” Jack's face further flushed as he spoke.

The large bulge in the fabric cause star to smile. She touched his tip through the thin clothing as her hooves began to pull his final bit of clothing off. His cock popped up and twitched a few times once it was free of its cloth cage.

“Well, it looks like you'd be more uncomfortable with them.” Star brought her mouth down to his cock and gave a light nuzzle at the tip. The electric like sensation caused Jack to bounce upwards a bit.

“Aren't you eager?” Star rolled her tongue out of her mouth and gave a lick along the length of his shaft slowly going over the tip as she stopped.

“You were so timid a few moments ago? I wonder what happened...” Star smiled seductively at Jack, then opened her mouth and brought the tip into her mouth. A moan escaped from both of them as she began to twist her tongue over his head. Slowly, she bobbed up and down on the member, taking most of it into her mouth as she slid down the throbbing meat.

The sensation of her skilled tongue causing Jack to quiver as she took each inch deeper into her hot wet maw. In front of him, the bat pony's wings started to extend with her deep arousal. They were so different from a pegasi's wing. Just as large but smoother. Unlike the pegasi, there were no feathers on a bat pony's wing, just a thin and velvet soft layer of fur.

Reaching his hand out, he touched one of her wings, rubbing lightly across the top and sides. He felt her wing as he ran his fingers over her sensitive joints. Her wing was surprisingly warm, and softer than he would have expected. He continued to rub his fingers gently over their length, arriving at the point where they connected to her back. The thin velvety fur gave way to the slightly thicker fur of Star's back.

“Mmmm...” Star moan from the touch and intimacy of jack's fingers. She brought more of him into her mouth, almost bottoming out before she lifted her mouth off of him, only to go down again once more.

“Oh Star...” Jack was almost lost in the pleasure. It had been so long since he was intimate with anyone, and Star Screech was skilled. Perhaps more skilled than any girl or woman had ever been.

The inside of his mind started going numb, but his lewd curious of Star's body made him reach around to Star's firm butt and started to gently rub and squeeze her tight and soft fur covered ass. He gave a quick slap right on top of her vibrating star shaped cutie mark. The slap caused Star to bounce and moan.

His hands continued to move past her flanks to her outer labia. She was soaking wet, and Jack felt her juices around his fingers and trickle down his palm. Slowly he began to rub his fingers over her mound. It was smooth, silky and sticky. He felt her shape under his hand. While he was expecting it to feel different, it was also so familiar despite the subtle differences. His fingers began tracing around her outer lips and rubbed down the wet slit. She twitched occasionally, and winked her clit a few times under his fingers. Every time he brushed across it Star would buck her hips up and give a long moan of satisfaction.

Star continued to work at his cock slowly bobbing up and down, sucking on it ever so lightly. She would moan every time Jack moved his fingers around her mound. He felt her twitching button and moved his thumb over the love knob repeatedly, leaking more love nectar each time. Her body would push back against his fingers, begging to be penetrated by them.

“Ah! Jack...” She gasped as he paid close attention her love button and ran his finger over it. She looked up in Jack's eyes; her face was flushed under her fur. Her eyes glazed over with lust and desire.

Giving in to her need, he parted her pussy lips and pushed a few of his fingers inside, feeling her wet and tight love canal squeezing them. Her hips bucking back against his fingers as he entered her. Star's love canal was so very hot, and wetter than he thought possible.

“Mmmm...” Star moaned as she went back to licking and sucking on Jack's cock.

He pulled his hand back to inspect the wet love nectar that covered his fingers, rubbing the slick all natural lube between his digits. Star turned her eyes to look at his hand which was covered in her own honey.

He smiled at her and spoke, “My aren't you excited?” He mocked. The sweet musk smell was intoxicating as Jack brought his fingers up to his mouth to taste her. Star's body bounce once when he licked one of his fingers. “You taste good Star...”

With out warning her mouth let go of his cock and she bounced up, grabbing his hand. Immediately she started, licking her juices off with ferocious passion and speed. One last lick and she gave a sultry look, pushing Jack back on the bed. Turning around over his chest she exposed her pulsing cunt and sat on top of him. The position give Jack full view of her twitching marehood, while she went back to work on him.

He felt her mouth over his dick again, as she began to suck and lick around his head. Her ass pushed back closer to his face and Jack got the hint and relized she wanted more attention from him. He grabbed her ass and brought his face to her cunt, sticking his tongue out he quickly licked up her lower lips and ran over her clit. Again, her taste was intoxicating.

She twitched and bounced every time his tongue licked at her clit.

Wanting more of her taste he pushed his tongue deep inside of her. Her muscles squeezed and twisted around his tongue giving him more of her love. Her body twitched and rocked on top of him as small waves of orgasm pulsed through her, threatening a larger release that was building.

As Star bottom out on him again, Jack felt his balls start to twitch and tingle, as his cock grew harder still. He was close.

Their breathing became quicker and erratic as each got closer and closer to release.

Star was moaning almost constantly, until she gave one long deep guttural moan as she bottomed out one last time forcing Jack's twitching member deep in her mouth and throat.

It was too much Jack moaned as he released his pent up sexual tension into Star's wanting mouth. He saw her love button and pounced on it, suckling on it as he sent stream after stream of his own hot fluid into Star's mouth.

The sensation of Jack's sucking was too much for. As she let his member fall out of her mouth she screeched in orgasm. “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee...” The sound of which was loud and soul piercing. It sent shocks through Jack's body locking him in place as he continued to suck on her swollen love button like it was the sweatiest candy.

A few spurts of cum cross Star's mussel and face, as she continued to quiver in pleasure. Each strand that hit shook her body and her cunt quivered and spurted her own love juices onto Jack's face.
After a few seconds that felt like hours, Jack finished as his cock drooled its last bit of cum. Star's mouth hung open in front of Jack's leaking manhood, her own orgasm and screech subsiding.

As Jack's muscle control returned his mouth let go of Star's clit and laid his head back to rest for a moment. His mind felt scrambled and he wasn't sure if it was from just the orgasm or not. That screech did something to him, something that didn't feel all bad but was certainly unexpected.

The two lay on top of each other for a minute, each trying to catch their breath. The taste of other still on their lips. Star was the first to move, first to lick some of the spunk off her muzzle, than to rotated herself around. She stopped when her face was in front of Jack's, her body still on top of her lover's chest.

“Mmmm... You taste good, and you're really good with your hands and fingers Jack.” She said almost in a hum.

“Yeah.” He was too spent to really say much else.

Star giggled “I guess you like my technique then?”

“Yeah...”

She began to kiss Jack's upper chest and neck. Slowly working over his upper body.

“You were amazing Star.” He finally managed to speak.

“Mhm...” was Star's only response as she continued to kiss up his neck.

“What was that screech you did?” Star stopped kissing Jack's body, as she laid her head on his chest and looked at him. He could see contentment there, but a small flame of lust and desire burned in her eyes.

“You mean my Soul Screech? It's a technique I learned from my Grandfather.” She gave a sigh at the thought. “I remember when I first used it.”

Jack's curiosity was peaked, “Oh?”

She looked at him with a slight smile, unsure if he seriously wanted to hear this or not, Do you really want to hear this, Jack?”

He reached his hand up and ran his fingers through her mane. “Yeah, you seem like a really interesting gi... Mare.” he corrected himself. “I'd like to know more about you.”

She smiled as something inside of her warmed, a part of her she didn't know she actually had. “Well, I used to get picked on when I was a kid. One day I came home with a bunch of bruises.” Jack kept rubbing her fur and combing her mane with his fingers

“Mmmm, that feels good Jack.” She paused a minute to feel the sensation of his hands over her. She could feel her marehood start to twitch again.

“My grandfather saw me crying and offered to teach me something. A technique that could stop them from bullying me he said. He taught me what he called the Soul Screech. It was something his father had taught him, and so on. Anyway, the next time they tried to attack me, I used it. I screeched at them. They fell to the ground and couldn't move. The one colt was so scared he pissed all over himself...” She felt Jack's member starting to twitch beneath her. “Speaking of moving, it feels like you're about ready for another round?”

She started rubbing her crotch over his. Working his member back up into a proper erection. Star's slit moved up and down Jack's quickly growing member. Adding more lubrication to slightly air dried cock.

She felt his member probing at her entrance as she slid over it. He was rock hard again and ready. She rubbed over his tip a few times before finally letting him enter her.

Jack felt the mare's lower lips part and take him inside. First the head then half way down his shaft. She was tight, or he was big ether way the two fit together almost perfectly, and they moaned in synchronicity as Jack began to fully fill her.

Despite the tightness jack met no resistance as he bottomed out inside the now panting mare. Her love juices and his made for a slick and slippery entrance.

Even though he was balls deep in the mare, Jack could still feel Star's moments around him, she was tight but there was more. He could feel her inner muscles working around his cock, slowly trying to milk him. The sensation was unlike any thing he had felt before. It felt like she was actually sucking him with her cunt, and it was increadable.

Star too noticed a difference with Jack's dick. He was a little bigger than most other stallions and males she had in the past, but again there was more. His cock felt smoother inside her somehow, and his head, curved and rubbed inside her channel in ways she hadn't felt before.

Every time he moved inside of her he hit all the right spots, causing her body to twitch and move with each thrust.

“Oh fuck Star you feel...” Jack's words were cut off as star came in for a deep passionate kiss. The slight taste and sent of each others sex simply drove them further into ecstasy. As their passionate kissing grew sloppy.

Jack quickened his speed as he moved inside of Star. Faster, and more erratically each time. In all of his nights with other women he never felt so aroused. Having sex with Star seemed so wrong at first, but it felt so good. It had been too long since he had been with anyone, and this mare felt incredible. Star's movements, her twitching marehood, the wrongness of whole activity; It was bliss.

Star shuttered a little as small orgasms rocked her body again, and again. She felt the big one just about ready to come.

“Fuck me Jack... fuck me.” Her voice was a mixture of wine and moan as she shuttered some more over his body. Inside of her, she could feel her own cunt squeeze in desire of Jack's cum.

Jack grabbed Star's ass and began to squeeze it eliciting more moans of approval from the lush bat pony on top of him. His hips bounced on the bed, as Star's bounced on his their rhythm was erratic and intense. Faster and faster, closer and closer.

Jack couldn't hold back anymore the sensation of Star's hot marehood, and the heat of the situation was pushing him over board. “Star I'm going to cum.”

Star felt it inside her as his member began to twitch. “Yes! Do it! Cum in me!” She screamed and moaned. She needed this. She needed him.

His balls twisted and tingled again, as he felt his seed rush up and leave his cock.

Star felt the first hot splashes against her insides and it pushed her past her limits.

She felt the first warm tingling wave come over her. Her love channel clenched on Jack's spamming member as she began to milk him inside of her. She opened her mouth to let out another screech but instead came down and bit Jack's shoulder hard.

The bite causing Jack to yelp, and the combination of pain and pleasure was more than he could handle as his body twitched from his own third orgasm. Everything grew dark as his eyes rolled back in his head.

Star could taste Jack's life force in her mouth. The experience was unlike anything she had ever felt. His essence was rich, his body so smooth.

There were no thoughts as her mind went blank and she let herself get lost in the pleasure.

Their twitching, and cuming eventually slowed as their orgasms subsided, but each was too spent to move. A warm glow radiated from inside of Star, as Jack's seed soaked inside of her.

Star slowly let go of Jack's shoulder with a dunken hum. The feeling caused Jack to wince in a mixture of pain and pleasure.

The two held each other for a few minutes just remaining connected, both breathing and panting at the experience. Star's body twitched occasionally as she felt Jack's cock do the same. Jack could also feel her walls still occasionally move around him, still trying to milk him.

They were lost in the afterglow of their lust.

Star was the first to break the silent trance and quickly noticed the wound she had made on Jack's shoulder. “Oh, you poor little human. What did I do to you?” Her voice was light and her smile betrayed her sarcasm.

Her muzzle came back to the wound, as she kiss it and lap at it with her tongue.

Jack just watched her. It hurt a bit to be sure, but despite the pain it also felt somewhat soothing and strangly pleasurable. “I thought you said you weren't going to bite hard.” Was all he could say.

Star's lips curled up in a smile “I lied.”

Jack couldn't help but let out a light little laugh at her attitude.

“But tell me you didn't enjoy it?” She went back to nursing his shoulder.

He considered what to say, but his mind was still fuzzy partially from the booze, but mostly from the sex. “Yeah, I did. It was... intense.”

Star moved on top of Jack's body, letting his now relaxing dick slide out of her. He could feel the mixture of her and his fluids leak on to him and his bed.

She rolled off of him and lounged by his side continuing to kiss his shoulder.

“Mmmm...” Star moaned and looked back at Jack with half closed eye lids. “That was the best I've had in long time.” Her hoof reached across his chest as she held, as if to say you are mine. She closed her eyes and her head fell on the pillow next to him. “You don't mind if I sleep here do you...”

Jack smiled and watched her breathing slow lightly. It was easy to see that she was already out. “Silly pony.” He whispered as he ran his hand gently through her mane a few times.

Jack own eyes grew heavy and he closed them, joining Star Screech and one other in the land of dreams and fantasy.

*Ring, Ring, Ring*

The next evening came quickly, and Jack's alarm began to do its little wake up dance next to his bed. Jack reached over subconsciously to knock the alarm off. Stirring his fellow occupant as he did so.

Star groaned a bit to protest his movement, eventually opening her eyes to the later afternoon light that leaked in the room. Her purple hued eyes looked up at Jack's face and she ran her hoof over it.

As his own eyes opened, he woke to find Star Screech hugging his still naked body and sex stained body. A faint smile crossed her mouth as she awoke. The human's mind replayed parts of last night, the lust fueled passion they had burned his cheeks. He felt compelled to turn his head from the mare next to him. His gaze took him out the window of his room and could see the setting sun. It was about time for the two of them to get up and go to work.

“Mmmm...” Star Screech stirred next to Jack as their eyes meet. “Well good evening.” She smiled.

Jack smiled back, “Good evening Star. That was certainly an interesting morning.” His voice radiated a bit of uncertainty.

“Hmm, I thought it was more than interesting.” She started to kiss his neck, the sensation causing more of his body to awake.

“So... Star?” She stopped kissing his neck and looked up at him, “Does this mean we're a couple or something?” He could see Star suppress a laugh as she up her hoof up to her mouth to suppress the laugh she felt. She put her hoof down and just smiled at Jack.

“Jack, I do like you. Honestly, I actually think you're kind of cute.” Star couldn't help but think how cute his hazelnut eyes looked, “But we're both in the same unit. Night Guard rules prohibit us from having relationships with each other.” The words felt bitter somehow. She smiled at him, but somehow it felt forced.

“What about what we just did?”

Star blushed at the thoughts and memories of last night and waved a hoof at the human dismissively. “T-that's different. That was just a fling. The rules don't explicitly disavowal flings, just...” She paused to think of the right word. “Relationships” Was all she could think of.

Star Screech rolled out of Jack's bed and stretched. The wings on her back spread out and flexed as she shook the last traces of morning fog from her head.

Her tail bounced with her hips as she walked around his room, gathering the parts of her armor that had scattered in the night. Taking the opportunity, rolled out of bed and sat on the edge, watching her move.

Quickly, she put the armor on not bothering to snap and tie it together. Her head turned and looked back at Jack. A smirk crossed her muzzle and she gave him a sultry look. A lewd set of thoughts crossed her mind.

“You know Jack; we probably have time for one more round before we go to work.” Star raised her eyebrows at Jack and gave him a particularly inviting the bed room eyes.

To say the human was tempted would be an understatement, and he considered it for a second before looking down at his shoulder. A set of fingers ran over the still sore wound and he flinched.

“I don't know if I'd survive another round today.” He chuckled a bit at his own statement, making it seem only halfway in jest.

Thought a bit disappointed, Star still smiled back at his laugh. She really did want another round with the human, but there might be other days. “Hmm, well maybe later then. The weekend is coming up.” She swished her tail around his legs one last time as she walked out, making sure to give Jack a few more good views of her plot, still wet with their combined efforts.

Jack could only stare as he watched her walk out the door and close it behind. Lost in thought, he continued to stare at the closed door pondering her, last night and his own uncertinies. He was unsure of his feelings at the moment. Unsure if he wanted to try and follow her. Unsure if she even wanted him to follow. Unsure if he should even be thinking about it.

With a shake of his head he removed the troublesome thoughts, remembering what Star had said about the rules and regulations. A silent nod left his head as he was forced to agree with what she had said.

Jack picked up his guard uniform on the floor and proceeded to dress himself. He didn't bother tying everything together since he just going to take it off in the bath anyway.

Author's Note

Chapter was originally edited by Tiwake .

It was reedited on Dec. 31, 2015

Chapter 13: Preparations

Author's Note

This chapter is part 1 of 2. ~~I'll try to release the next chapter by Monday night.~~

~~'Try' being the operative word.~~

EDIT: Yeah, that didn't happen. Going to be a while, my roof decided to blow off in the some high winds so now I get to fix it. yay.

P.S. Thanks to Robokirby for editing support and proof reading.

Chapter 13: Preparations

The long narrow bridge stretched across the equally large water way below. It was unusually devoid of morning traffic as the citizens of Canterlot had been detoured around the area. Off at each end of the bridge, a small set of barriers had been erected keeping said nosy citizens of Canterlot off the cold stony expanse. Of the five occupants that were on the bridge, one of them was in fact deceased.

An amber furred Earth Pony Guard with short reddish mane stood over the mangled corpse of the Griffin Thief, in her hoof was a small hot coffee which she slowly sipped while examining the scene in front of her. As she stared at the scene, she grew increasingly tempted to pull out the small pipe she kept at her side, which she used to help her think and calm down during these particularly stressful encounters. It also had the added benefit of making her look smarter, not to mention cooler.

Really though, she could use the quick hit of soothing nicotine. She had never seen anything this grotesque or graphic out side of the crime novels she frequented, and even her nearly iron stomach threatened to turn at the sight before her. Her gaze naturally wandered away from the bloody mess in front of her, and her eyes looked between the other three General Guards present.

In front of her and to the right was a large grey bat mare with a long jet black mane. Given her flat and some what vacant stare she was either a bit in shock or just tired. To the bat mare's left was a smaller white stallion with a medium length mane that was just ever so slightly blue, and off to his side was medium built younger brown colt with a short cut and messy darker brown mane. Each of them were clearly worse off than she at dealing with the graphic detail in front of them. The brown colt in particular was looking quite sick at the sight. For a moment, his brownish fur seemed to take on a light green tint as he was tempted to run off the side of the bridge and let go of his quick and meager breakfast.

The amber pony took one final sip of her coffee and she nodded her head in agreement with her inner self.

"Well he's dead." She declared to her three other companions.

The bat mare rolled her eyes at the comment, "No shit Sherpony. You just figure that out?" The bat mare spoke with a sarcastic bite.

The bat pony decided to have her own look at the scene, this time from above it. Using her wings she began to hover over his body looking for any signs of identification, anything that might give them a clue who he was and why he was here, but there was nothing. No bags or satchels with any documents. Just the empty canvas bag and crystal shards that had already been cataloged, and what appeared to be a small golden locket with some other griffin's image in it.

"There's nothing on him." She said as she landed, "Perhaps we should just contact HQ and get a team out here? Who or what ever killed him might still be around." She said with a shrug.

The two mares and the older stallion glanced at the younger colt recruit, who gazed at them absently. The green tint on his face had grown larger as he was having a very hard time stomaching the sight in front of him.

Between chewing back his breakfast he managed to mutter a, "What?"

"We said, somepony should go contact HQ. That means you rookie." The bat mare snapped at the younger colt.

"Oh, right!" The colt spoke with an uncertain energy. He was more than grateful to leave the grim scene in front of him.

Turning around he ran off towards the nearest Guard station, which was far down the long street. His hooves impact the ground, and he felt his stomach settling slightly. Yet he still couldn't get that image of the mangled griffin out of his head. He was so focused on his attempts to control his thoughts that he almost didn't notice the slight sheen of metal in the passing alleyway.

He came to an abrupt stop, just passed the barriers they had put up earlier.

There in that near by alleyway appeared to be a body that was partially hidden. If not for the slight glimmer of gold that flashed the morning sun he would have missed it. Immediately the rookie recognized that this was a fellow General Guard, though he didn't recognize him personally. At first he thought the colt was dead, but his chest appeared to move with some labored breaths.

The rookie looked around, uncertain what to do at this point. His training consisted of little more than dealing with unruly ponies and drunkards, he never thought he'd have to deal with death or assaults like this. He stood there for the next few moments, trying to figure out if he should head to HQ or back to his fellow guards.

Meanwhile, the three Guards on the bridge looked over the griffin body once more, this time much closer. The amber earth pony used her hooves to push the griffin's feathers and fur aside. Looking for puncture wounds or some evidence of blunt trauma. Almost immediately, she found some.

"Hmmm..." The pony hummed as she made note of some purple marks around the thief's neck. "I'm not sure, but these marks look like a bunch of small digits in a row. They're blunt and there's no lacerations at the tip so I don't think it was a claw. Some kind of hand maybe?" She rubbed her chin with her right hoof as she spoke. In side of her head gears turned as she thought about all the possible creatures in Canterlot who had hands.

"What are you think, Sleuth?" The larger Stallion asked to the amber pony.

"You've heard rumors of that Night Guard ape? I'm thinking we might need to have a talk with him-"

"Um, hey guys!" The rookie yelled from down the road, catching their attention.

Each of the Guards looked to the rookie with mild bemusement. “You think he forgot where HQ is?” The bat mare snickered at her own comment.

“Rookie! You need to head to HQ. NOW!” Sleuth, the amber pony, yelled back at the rookie.

The brown colt looked back and forth in agitation, "But… there's another body over here." He cried.

Just over a half hour had passed before the medical pegasi came in and flew the unconscious Guard out of the alleyway. Their prognosis wasn't good, but thankfully there was still hope. The small group of three Guards on the bridge had quickly turned into a small squad, as ponies ran and flew around trying to find and catalog what ever evidence they could, though there wasn't much.

Things got even more hectic once the two generals arrived on site.

Sleuth's eyes nearly bugged out of her head when she saw Maximus and Fire Wall approaching her. “Uh, Generals!” She quickly saluted. Looking to her sides she kicked both the bat mare and the stallion, causing them to give a half-hearted salute of their own.

Maximus stood in front of the 3rd class Guard Mare and stared at her. Sleuth tried to remain composed as the General's eyes drilled into her, but small beads of sweat began to form under her fur which caused an uncomfortable itching sensation that she tried desperately to ignore.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Maximus spoke. “I understand you are in charge of this investigation so far?” His voice carried with it an agitated tone, and it was obvious from both his face and eyes that he hadn't had much sleep.

“Yes Sir.” She relaxed slightly, as did her companions. “The body was discovered about 2 hours ago. My group came out to investigate about an hour later. We had assumed at the time that it was just some griffin passed out from too much ale last night. There were several other reports of griffin drunkenness last night so we didn't think anything of it at the time.” She shrugged her shoulders and tried to laugh at the slight absurdity of it all, hoping the it would ease her nerves.

It didn't help.

“Ehm.” She cleared her throat. “Needless to say, when we arrived onsite things where not what we were lead to believe.”

Maximus looked at the mangled body of the thief. Internally he began kicking and blaming himself for not sending more Guards, then kicked himself again for even agreeing to Fire Wall's plan.

“Excuse me, sir.” The Stallion in Sleuth's group spoke up. “For what it's worth Generals. We don't think he suffered too much. His wing was broken, then his wind pipe crushed. The rest of the breaks happened after he was dead. Judging by the damage, we think he was thrown against the wall by some pretty strong magic.”

“All his bones were broken, and you don't think he suffered much?” Maximus' voice carried with it a deep scathing tone.

“No sir. His neck appears to have been broken when his wind pipe was crushed. I don't think he felt anything after that.”

Maximus snorted at the response.

Sensing his fellow general wasn't going to say anything more Fire Wall asked the one question on his mind, “Why do you think there had to be magic involved?”

“Well, the damage done is too much, even for an earth pony's kick. The bricks behind him are cracked and a few were even shattered. The force had to be tremendous, so we're assuming magic at this point.”

“Generals.” The bat mare quickly caught on to Fire Wall's implications and decided to inject her own interpretation. “If this wasn't magic, then what ever did this had to be massively strong. I wouldn't want to encounter them with anything less than a squad.”

The smaller bat pony general began to chuckle coldly at that statement, while Maximus just glared at him. Fire Wall knew he was right about his original plan, and to be told as much was gratifying.

“Thank you Guard. For that insightful comment.” Maximus responded with another sarcastic laced reply. He knew these Guards didn't deserve this kind of treatment, but he couldn't help it. His head was full of self doubt and blame, everything here reminded him that he had screwed up, and badly.

Fire Wall looked around at the scene and noticed a small golden object that seemed to be missed by the Guards collecting evidence.

“There's a locket on the ground over there. Make sure you pick it up as evidence.” He pointed towards the object as he spoke. With that he walked away from the carnage, not bothering to say anything else as he moved on. He knew he didn't have to.

"Fire Wall, wait up." Maximus cried as he trotted up next to the smaller pony. "Ok, so maybe we should have listened to you. But can you really blame us for not? I mean after what you did to him." Maximus tried to defend himself.

"What I did?” Fire Wall could only laugh at the comment.

“What I did to that poor thief was nothing compared to what the ape did to him. What I said they would do to him." His voice rang out in a half shout. Some of the Guards around the two backed away, trying to find some other aspects of the scene to investigate.

Maximus held his mouth agape as he fished for something anything else to say. What his friend did to the griffin was wrong, there was no question in his mind about that, but he should have taken Fire Wall's advice on dealing with the apes. Despite what the apes may have done to him, in fact because of it, he had a unique view of the monsters. Thinking about the apes brought one in particular to mind.

"You don't think Jack had anything to do with this?" Maximus asked with some concern.

"No. Jack may be an ape, but he's not like this one. I don't think he'd ever hurt somepony like this, especially a nearly harmless one... With out good reason anyway. Besides, I don't think he's strong enough to snap a neck with his hands. Not like that." Fire Wall shook his head as he spoke. He knew Jack wouldn't hurt a soul without very good reason.

Just under a week later.

In front of Jack stood a small purple unicorn foal who could only stare up at him in terror. She could hear his stomach growled as his mouth stretched open, reveling his sharp incisors and teeth, threatening to swallow her whole. Small strands of saliva connected his tongue and teeth as the tiny pony saw deep into his maw. Suddenly, and with out warning his head began to shake violently, as if he was snarling at her. Fear crept over the youngling as her tiny short life flashed before her eyes. Not wanting to be this creature's breakfast snack she reared up, and turned in place.

Quickly she took off, running as her little hooves could carry her, she ran back to her mother for protection from the large beast like creature.

"Mommy!" She cried.

Shaking his head, Jack tried to suppress his overly long yawn with little luck. Mornings just weren't the best time for him. Blinking his reddish eyes a few times he turned his head to see a rather loud foal running down the platform.

'Damn kids,' he thought. It was to early to deal with any annoying shrieks and yelling.

*Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong*

The train station’s clock tower chimed the hour, making Jack acutely aware that his train was in fact, late. Odd to be sure.

*Click*

As if on queue the station's speakers clicked to life and a distorted voice of some old satiation or mare, Jack couldn't be sure which, began to grate over the speakers.

"Attention passengers, Attention. The 8:45 express is running half an hour late, and will arrive on track 4 now. Again, the 8:45 express is 30 minutes late and will arrive on track 4. Thank you."

*Click*

'Well, that explains that.' Jack thought to himself. The gears in his head turned slowly as he thought about what to do for the next 15 minutes. He had to head through the main station to reach the other track, and that would take him right by the breakfast stand that was setup inside. A breakfast stand which was just now brewing coffee from the looks of it. A cup of coffee is exactly what he needed to grease his mind's wheels.

Inside the station, a sunny yellow mare with bluish mane stood behind the register and hummed to herself, her head bobbing back and forth in tune with a song only she could hear. From a distance, she almost reminded Jack of that particularly shy and timid mare he knew from Ponyville, one of Twilight's friends. As he approached the mare behind the register he tried his best to smile and be friendly.

“Good morning.” Instead, a gravely deep voice scratched forth from his throat.

The mare's eyes opened to see a large ape with red eyes baring his teeth at her in some poor attempt at a smile. She did what any other pony would do when faced with such a situation. She dived under the table to hide.

“Eeeep!” She cried from under the register.

'Yep. Just like that pink and yellow mare,' Jack thought as he tried to hide his annoyance at the startled mare. Rubbing his fingered over his eyes, he tried to bring a bit of moisture to them, hoping to remove the redness.

“Miss… I just want a cup of coffee.” His voice smoothed out and held a slightly meek and almost pleading tone behind it.

“O-oh?” She slowly climbed back on to her hooves. Looking around she noticed no other pony appeared to be concerned, so it was probably safe to serve him. At least, she thought it was a him, with all those clothes it was a bit hard to tell.

“J-just a coffee?” She stammered.

“Please, and the largest size you have.”

The mare turned around and pour the black liquid into a somewhat large paper like cup, all the while her eyes drifted back to the human. With her attention focused on him she didn't notice that the coffee was about to over filled the cup and run down her hoof.

“Oww… that's hot.” She cried, as the black tar burnt her hoof. Quickly she handed the drink to the human. She shook her hoof, trying to shake away some of the pain from her skin and hoof.

“15 bits. P-please.” She asked timidly.

Pulling out a small pouch of coins Jack fished through for the handful of copper bits, finding himself short the request cheap bits, he gave the mare a single silver bit instead. “Keep the change.” He said before he left.

The tip was most appreciated by the mare and a smile crossed her face and helped to ease the fear she had felt before. “O-oh. Thank you Mr. Monster!”

Jack rolled his eyes at her unintentionally backhanded compliment and head out to track 4.

With the first sip of the dark and spicy brew Jack knew he couldn't have been more right about his decision despite the shy and somewhat rude mare. The coffee's magical caffeine rushed to his stomach then straight into his veins. His heavy eye lids began dropping weight by the second as they slowly crept upwards.

His mind began to drift back to Ponyville for a moment as he stood on the platform. A small part of him was actually looking forward to heading back and seeing the town once more. It was a strange feeling for him. To be honest he never thought he'd have quite as many fond memories of the town as he did.

What had first felt like a colorful cartoon prison had begun to seem more like a safe harbor. Not really a home, but a place of warmth and comfort. Jack still wasn't certain where his home actually was or if it even existed here. Though, it wasn't like he had much of one on Earth either.

Slowly, thoughts of all the characters in that funny little village trickled through his mind. From that adorable, if bumbling, gray delivery mare, to the sassy farm pony he occasionally worked for.

Then there was the pink terror who tried, unsuccessfully more often than not, to make every morning a celebration for him. Truthfully he would have rather celebrated by sleeping till noon. No doubt she would have a party already for him when he got off the train. Her prescient pinkie sense was both amazing and scary like that.

Lyra was an odd one to be sure, though she could be fun to hangout with at times, Jack wasn't quite sure he was looking forward to seeing her again. The last time she had talked to him, she tried to get his input into human mating rituals. It was a whole level of awkward, made worse by her constant dropping of little 'hints' to him.

Of course he would have to stop by his clothier Rarity to tell her-

"Yoohoo! Jack!" A feminine voice called out from somewhere behind him.

Behind him, a small ivory coated unicorn was waving to him. The purple mane flowed in subtle curls, a signature style of the well known fashion designer. Around her neck was a fairly stylish deep violet scarf, with artificially tattered ends.

"I see you had the same thought I did." Rarity slowly sipped at a coffee levitated in front of her, as she made her sultry walk towards him.

A smile grew across Jack face as he saw the generous mare walking towards him. "Rarity! I didn't know you were in Canterlot?"

The white pony nudged into Jack's side in a simple version of a pony hug. "Oh, I was only here over night to work on some new displays for my Canterlot boutique. I absolutely had to do them myself. Not that I don't trust Sassy Saddles mind you. I just had my own vision for the window. You know how it is."

In truth Jack had no idea how it was. At the highest point of Jack's fashion knowledge was that his sweat pants and T-Shirts were not considered good formal attire. But he smiled back at the friendly pony and gave a light nod, "If you say so Rarity."

"I do say so." She said with a smile, and not a small air of indignation. "So, what brings you to the train station? Heading somewhere on guard duty? Oh! Maybe Royal duty?" She spoke in an almost sing song fashion.

A slight chuckle escaped his lips, obviously he wasn't on any kind of official Guard duty or business, but Royal Duty? Could a date with Luna be consider a duty? It certainly fit the royal description.

A light bulb lit up in the white mare's head, "Oh you must stop by my shop! I have your new shirt already for you!" She exclaimed.

That was an unexpected statement. 'New shirt?' Jack asked himself. He certainly wasn't expecting that. To the best of his knowledge he hadn't placed an order for any new clothing in months. Since he arrived in Canterlot in fact.

“It uses this new fabric I made that's so light and wispy, and it reflects different hues depending on the angle. Oh you'll absolutely love it darling!” She continued to drone on as Jack was still lost in thought. He hadn't ordered a shirt. Had he?

“New shirt?” He whispered to himself as Rarity walked to the now arriving train.

The train arrived, less than promptly at 9:21, and departed not more then 5 minutes later. Rarity and Jack had found a nice set of empty seats near the front of the train. The seats on the train where more reminiscent of bench seats, but without a proper back and to add to that, they were also short and close to the ground. It made finding a comfortable position a bit of a challenge for the human. Doubly so on overly long rides. But, thankfully the train was mostly empty so Jack was able to lounge across an entire seat, with his back propped up against the train wall. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but it would do. Rarity sat across from him, sitting on her haunches.

The mare continued to drone on about her fashion line she was coming up with. Something about clothing so light you couldn't even feel it. He may not have like heavy clothing, but Jack did appreciate that he knew his shirt and pants were on. For a pony it was natural to walk about in the nude, but for the human, well, he needed the sense of security that his clothing brought. Any attempts to explain that to Rarity were meet with little more than a hoof wave as she continued on to the next topic.

Jack tried to pay attention to the mare, but as he leaned further back in his seat, he couldn't help but stare out the train window. The passing mountain rocks and trees reminded him of this past winter when he came to Canterlot and made his choice to join the Guards. His mind began to sink into it's own frosted clouds and he started to Day Dream...

Snow. Snow was everywhere that day. The Ponyville train station had been covered in it. It was so bad, that the group of girls wondered if they'd even be able to get to Canterlot that evening.

“You know. This is all your fault Rainbow.” AppleJack had chided the cyan blue pegasi next to her.

“My fault? I'm not the one in charge of the weather factory!” She squeaked in defense.

“No. But you did go and get those cards all mixed up.” AppleJack stomped her hoof into the snow below.

“Girls. Please don't fight. It was an honest mistake Rainbow, no one blames you for it.” Twilight Sparkle had tried to place herself between the girls and clam them down. This had been an on going battle through out the day and in truth, Twilight was getting tired of it. She was half way tempted to just let the girls have it out for a few minutes.

“I do.” AJ responded to Twilight's comment.

“AppleJack.” Twilight glared at the orange earth pony.

“Oh don't give me that look Twi. Ok, I'm sorry, Rainbow doesn't deserve that.”

“Thank you!” Rainbow smirked.

“I'm just worried Apple Bloom wont make it to the play. This is a big deal for her and her friends. I can't imagine how heart broken they would be if they couldn't preform in it.”

Off in the distance, the CMC were in the midst of a rather epic snow ball war. They appeared oblivious to everything around them. One might wonder if they cared about the play at all.

Of course he wasn't quite there for this part, he had heard them yelling from down the road as he ran to catch the train.

*crunch, crunch, crunch*

His heavy feet compacted the snow as he ran, alerting the group to his arrival. As usual, he was late.

“Jack!” Twilight had beamed at the human. She had trotted over to him, and of course nuzzled into his side, affectionate as always. “I'm glad you decided to come!” She had that same smile she always seemed to posses. That friendly 'I'm glad you're' here beam, even when he knew his presence actually brought her a mild amount of regret.

It was a little hard to remember the finer details, but he could recall a yawn that greeted them all as he spoke. “Yyyyeah. I wasn't going to at first, but I just got up and figured why not?”

“Ha, just got up? It's plum midday. Even Rainbow doesn't sleep that long.” AJ chided the human, but the smile on her face betrayed the false scorn.

“Hey!” Rainbow had protested the clear insult, but AJ just smirked in return.

“Just how long were you going to sleep for?” AppleJack had ribbed at him just a bit harder than necessary, she had tried to show she was halfway kidding.

“Yeah, I know. There's just not much to do in the winter. You don't need help on your farm, and the construction ponies don't have any projects. I'm just… bored I guess.” Of course that hadn't been the whole truth, at the time he had been more depressed than bored. It was nearly a year to the day after he found himself stuck Ponyville. A year in which he still hadn't found anything that he was particularly good at, at least not when compared to the rest of the Ponies there.

He remembered all those struggles, some of which still plagued him today. While his hands allowed for a high amount of dexterity, they couldn't really compare to the precision of a well versed unicorn. He had no magic to speak of, even after the countless sessions of Twilight trying to teach him. While his body wasn't weak by any means, it also wasn't any where near as strong as an earth pony's. The lack of wings and magic meant he couldn't fly or work with the pegussi. In fact, when it came down to it, there just wasn't much he had excelled at up to that point.

He made himself available for the occasional odd job trying to earn his keep but even when he worked hard it had always felt like he was a step behind everyone else. A constant thought ran through his head, that he only had those jobs because of Twilight's influence. A thought that would find itself at least partially true later on.

“Well, we're all glad to have you come with us Jack. The play they put on in Canterlot is amazing.” Of course Twilight had tried her best to cheer him up. Just like she always did.

That memory borough a small smile to his lips in the present time.

Ever since she mistakenly brought him here she had acted like an over protective sister. And while her constant checking on him was kind, it was also somewhat annoying. Still, he was grateful to have been invited in the first place, even if it was all Twilight's idea. He knew she blamed herself for his predicament, which had only been reinforced by his anger towards her after his first month there. That "talk" still haunted him, even today.

The train to Canterlot had arrived in the station a bit behind that day too. Likely held up by the excess of snow. As the very large crowd of ponies shoved on the train, he had to sigh.

It wasn't the first time he had rode on a pony train, but it was something he tried to avoid when ever possible. While the car's height was fine, just over 6' of head space, the benches were another matter. They were smaller, designed to support the lower to the ground ponies and other quadrupeds in Equestria. He never could find a comfortable sitting position and the train being as packed as it was, just made it all the more difficult.

“You ok there partner?” Of course AppleJack had known he wasn't. His struggle to find a comfortable position on the bench across from her must have been obvious.

“Yeah, I'm fine just need to-” His precarious position on the edge of the seat had been just a little to unstable he fell to the floor and landed on his ass.

*omph*

Around him the girls began to laugh at his clumsiness. 'I hate trains.' he thought to himself from the ground. In front of him, an orange hoof appeared begging to help him up.

“Come on partner. Let me help you up.” The cow pony had smiled at him, and he knew she had just been trying to make up for laughing at him. Yet, he was a bit bitter for some reason he couldn't full explain at the time, and even now doubted he fully understood.

“No thanks AJ. I think I like the floor better.” His arms crossed his chest in a show of dismissal.

“Suit yourself.” She said with a shrug.

The longer he sat there, the more comfortable the floor became, especially compared to the overly small and awkward benches.

Throughout the train rides, both then and now, he could remember Rarity's conversation and voice as she droned on and on about fashion and shirts. While she was a very nice and generous mare, it was just something he wasn't interested in. Curiously she would ask him questions about his world's fashion along the way, his only response was a “Mmhmm.”, “Yes” or “No.”

That particular ride had been a long and boring one, with a total of four long stops along the way. The whole ride was just over five hours long. By the time they had arrived at Canterlot station his legs had cramped up into a tiny bundle of sore and stiff twigs. Getting up proved more than a bit difficult, and he had remembered wishing AJ would lend her hoof again. As he stood, his joints made a number of loud pops and clicks as the numb limbs slid back into place.

“Jack, you coming?” One of the girls half yelled from outside the train. In the back of his mind he cursed himself for having agreed to come. In his heart and head he had felt like a seventh wheel, and right then he had held the whole group up.

Outside the train, a cold wind blew across his face, reminding him that not only was it winter at the time, but he was also on top of a very cold mountain. Reaching around his sides he pulled his hand made jacket closer to himself. Inside, warmth radiated from the enchanted fabric Rarity had used. As he remembered how the jacket warmed him, even in the here and now he could almost make out her explaining the fabric. Some odd cotton and dragon scale blend.

Yet, no matter what the material was or how tightly he clucked the clothing, there was still this tiny spot of cold that never seemed to get warm. Even back on earth, he could remember feeling it. Like an icicle that pierced his soul.

Looking up at the girls, he had felt even colder seeing them standing in a circle waiting for him. Each of them had a scarf and some kind of fuzzy hat, and nothing else. Well except for Rarity who wore an entire winter ensemble. As warm as the jacket felt, he couldn't help but shiver as he stared at the near naked ponies.

“I can't believe you aren't cold.” He tried to laugh as he caught up to them.

Again, the girls gave a hearty chuckle, partially at his expense. Sensing an opportunity, Twilight began a short lecture on how a pony's fur works at keeping them warm. Explaining the intricacies of convection and thermodynamic, or at least he thinks that's what she said. It might have been about convection ovens and thermoses for all the attention he paid. Somehow during her lecture, the topic of the Princesses came up and the words “Luna will be there tonight...” had come out.

“Oh? Luna will be there?” His attitude had perked up noticeably with that thought. He hadn't seen his friend in almost a month by that point. Again, for some reason that he couldn't quite explain, he greatly enjoyed that mare's company. Though he would never tell anyone, he had even had some recent fantasy's about her. Though in them she would usually become a human or something close in his mind. He couldn't deny that he had some feelings for the kind Lunar Princess.

Their constant back and forth about pony pop-culture vs human pop-culture had actually been fun. She could almost make him forget that he wasn't on earth, reading comic books in his own bed.

A dull pain struck the pit of his stomach as he felt that cold spot inside grow ever so slightly.

“-Yeah. They all grow up so fast, don't they?” Reaching her hoof up, AppleJack wiped some of the moisture from her eyes at her statement.

That comment caused his head to pop up and he seen the little Apple Bloom in the distance with her friends. Clearly the focus of AppleJack's comment. That moment made him feel deeply uncomfortable, like he didn't really belong there.

Despite the appreciation he had towards Twilight for inviting him this just wasn't his place, and it felt like he was intruding on a private part of their lives. He needed to get away from them, just for a little while anyway.

Stopping in his tracks he watched the group of ponies walk ahead of him slowly. Calling out, he had asked for directions to the Canterlot Theater. Ensuring he wouldn't get lost.

Of course Twilight had told him, but she ended her instructions with something that still bothered him,“Why? Don't you want to go with us?” Her voice carried with it a slight air of disappointment.

He couldn't have just said no. That wouldn't have been right. “Eh, I kind of wanted to wander the city a bit before hand. If you don't mind that is?”

Twilight tried to force a smile, but he knew she was a bit disappointed probably in herself. “Of course. We'll see you there.”

She had been trying desperately to help him since she brought him here, and every time it seemed like she would fail in some way. The truth was, his lack of success hurt her more than it ever hurt him. The problem was he just wasn't prepared for this world, and didn't feel like he had a place in it, up to that point anyway.

Near the castle, and far from where Jack was wandering, ponies gathered for the play and the various feasts that would be had soon after leaving it. This left the rest of the city nearly deserted. He had wandered the cold streets alone for close to an hour by himself.

The walk gave him the peace he needed to silence his mind and calm his thoughts while he thought about his life here. It had just been under a year and in the grand scheme of things that may not have been a lot of time, but for an individual? It felt like a life time.

The hole in his heart, the sadness he felt, he knew most of it would go away come spring. It was just SAD, or what ever it was called here. The lack of sunlight and work toyed with his mind. All he needed was something to keep him busy. Something he was good at.

'Good at?' He had laughed to himself. What was he really good at here?

Silence followed that line of thought, till he huffed it away.

'What's the point of it all…' he thought to himself as the dark thoughts crept in his mind.

Around the corner of a nearby shop the sound of hoof steps in march had echoed forth. He remembered that one aspect very well, it had started faint and distant at first but then quickly grew louder, and louder till the hooves where almost on top of him. Quite literally in fact. A small group of Guards had marched around the corner and reared in sight of him.

“Holy Celestia! What is that?” The forward most Guard exclaimed.

The group quickly began to surround him, apparently in preparation to fight the monster they found in front of them. Deep in his chest, his heart had begun to pound as he suddenly wished he had just stayed with the Girls. Fear crept through him as he worried about what was going to happen. Maybe if he mentioned he was friends with Princes Luna and Twilight they would go easy on him? 'Maybe?' He thought.

“Ten hut!” Around that same corner a red mare yelled at the group of Guards. “What's going on here?” She yelled.

“Mama. This creature was-” The guard didn't get a chance to finish his statement.

“Was doing nothing! Does he look like a changeling to you?” She yelled back.

The Guard shook his head no, afraid to speak up.

“Does he look like he has any weapons on him?”

Again the Guard shook his head no. “No bu-”

“NO BUTS!” She hollered. “Now come on ponies. Double time it! Rookie Silver Star here just earned you all an extra half kilometer.” The squad had groaned and began to hoof it towards the castle, all of them clearly out of breath and energy.

“Come on. Move! That's an order. If you don't get to the castle by the next bell I'll see to it you don't get any Hearths Warming Feast! Do you get me?”

“We get you sir.” They trailed off as they ran down the path way.

As he watched them trot off, Jack could only stare in amazement. He wasn't afraid or even uncomfortable any more. There in front of him, he had seen it. Everything he had been missing in Equestria, everything he had originally hoped to gain from the ROTC: Order, discipline, and most importantly, purpose. Well that and a free education.

It had been staring him in the face as those Guards trotted down the street. This is what he needed. What he need to do with his life, a warm sensation came over him as he realized what his purpose was suppose to be, even here in horse world.

Slowly, inside, that icicle began to melt. He didn't know it at the time, but somewhere, deep inside of him a tiny invisible mark had formed. A symbol of who he was and who he would become.

“Jack.” He was vaguely aware of some pony calling his name. In his mind he remembered it should have been Twilight, who ran out to find him.

“Jack!”

But it sounded like Rarity?

“Jack! We're almost there! Have you been listening to me?” Rarity said with a pout.

Her voice woke Jack from his trance, “Uh yeah sure. Ultra thin fabric. Ummm...”

“Jack. That was back at Canterlot station.” She said, her frown turning into a coy smile.

Blinking away the dreamy fog, he could see the colorful houses and shops of Ponyville passing by the window. This trip was unusually short since the express didn't stop in between the major locations on it's route. It was far less than the five hour trip this past winter. Still, it seemed to go so much faster than he expected.

The train slowly pulled into the Ponyville station just a touch before noon. A thick cloud of steam bellowed from the engine as it came to a temporary stop. A gruff voice boomed over the car's internal speakers announcing that they had arrived. Jack got out of his chair and wandered off the train. Outside, the sun hung high in the pre-afternoon sky. In another few hours Celestia would begin lowing it for the evening and soon after raise the moon in place of her sister.

The thought of the coming evening sky gave Jack pause as he considered what Luna must be up to right now. Their date, or rather outing wasn't suppose to start for another few hours yet.

A slight tingling sensation started to tug at his arm as Rarity's magic started pulling him off the station platform with him. "Come along darling! You're going to absolutely love this!"

Somehow Jack very much doubted that. While her work was impeccable, he hated being fit by the pony. All those needles flying through the air and around his head just gave him the willies.

Rarity's shop was in it's usual state of organized chaos, as she called it. It had only gotten worse in his time standing about. She had been a touch less done than she had implied on the train. The fashion designer ran back and forth between him and her sewing equipment, throwing large amounts of material around as she rushed to finish it. All in all, It took a bit less than three hours, but the light purple and blue shirt finally clung to Jack's slightly sweaty skin.

As he move around he could just barely make out the sensation of fabric on his skin. The material was an odd mixture of silk and magic that made it feel off somehow, like it wasn't quite there. As elegant as it may have been, the sensation did make Jack a bit uncomfortable. It feel a step away from being naked, and unlike the ponies being nude was not a good thing for the human.

"Isn't it fabulous?" Rarity beamed at Jack's image in the mirror. Her amazing handy work literally shined and sparkled as the light in the room reflected off the smooth satin silk finish.

While purple was never his choice color, he couldn't help but think he looked good in it; Damn good in fact. Turning a few times he watched as the light reflected and shifted hues slightly. He had to admit to himself she really went all out on this. Despite the wispy nature of the fabric it was near perfect. With one finale turn he faced Rarity again, "This is amazing! How much do I owe you?"

Jack pulled a small pouch from his pant's pocket. Inside clanged a few silver and gold bits, in truth he hoped he had enough, he wasn't expecting to be buying such an extravagant shirt tonight. Plus, he still had to take care of dinner and the movie. Assuming Luna didn't force him to let her pay anyway. Suddenly, he hoped she did.

But, Rarity pushed the bit bag back slightly, and with a shake of her head said, "Oh no dear, I can't accept this. I know how little they pay the Guards. Besides, you didn't ask me to make this for you, so it wouldn't be right." She said with a nod.

A slight pang of guilt filled him, "But Rarity, you said you worked for over a week on this! I have to pay you something."

"Tu tu. You are one of Twilight's friends, and that makes you my friend! Besides, having you wander around town in one of my newest creations is sure to cause quite a stir. I'm positive, that the uptick in business will more then make up for the small cost." She smiled and held an assertive grin on her face.

With reluctant gratitude, Jack slide the bit pouch back into his pocket. "If you say so..."

"I do say so! If you want to pay me back, just tell everypony that you absolutely love your shirt and where they can get one of their own!" She smiled at him, before her gaze drifted down away from his face to his chest.

"Oh wait a minute." Rarity stood in front of Jack, her eyes wandering over his chest. Slowly she stood on her back legs and ran a hoof over the edge of his pecks. Jack began to blush ever so slightly as she moved her hoof around, the gentle hoof pressure was more than a little pleasurable.

"Umm... Rarity?" He spoke nervously.

Without warning Rarity levitated a very sharp blade near his chest. His heart paused for a moment before she cut one last lose thread from his shirt.

"There. All done!" She half sung before trotting off.

A small laugh escaped from Jack as he stood there bemused for a second.

"Something wrong, darling?" Rarity questioned, missing the slight unease Jack now felt.

"No. I'm fine. Thanks again for the shirt. Well I should go." His feet moved in lock step with one another in a forced and slightly mechanical march; He precessed out the front of Rarity's shop.

Rarity's eyebrow raised itself as she watched the human with curiosity.

"Hmmm, always was an odd sort of fellow." Rarity smiled to herself before turning to work on some remain orders.

As he walked out of the boutique, the clock tower in the distance chimed thrice. Given the forcefulness of the ringing, Jack wouldn't be surprised to learn Pinkie Pie was aloud to manually ring the bells again. For some reason, the thought of the hyperactive pony brought a smile to his face. Which was very odd, since the last time he saw her she nearly lit his face on fire with her “Super duper special not at all spicy cupcakes,” which despite their name had “more hot sauce than a chili cook off.” To quote AppleJack.

As he chuckled to himself his eyes turned around the town. He spotted a handful of ponies passing by as they waved to him. Smiling, he waved back to each of them. It was kind of odd for him, to be walking around Ponyville again. It had been little more than a few months but he couldn't help but feel that it had been so much longer.

'3 O'clock.' He thought to himself. That gave him just over an hour and half before Luna was suppose to show up. Somehow, he had convinced her to go out for food before the movie started. At the time, she seemed, hesitant. At least until he had shown her the picture of Twilight stuffing her muzzle full of hay burgers and fries.

Luna had been greatly impressed by the smaller purple alacorn's feasting, since Twilight rarely ever ate that much. To literally stuff her mouth with burger after burger, they had to be good. Which even Jack had to agree that they were.

Normally he was not a fan of hay burgers himself. They always gave him a rather upset stomach, and no shortage of gassy after effects. But these burgers were worth it, at least once in a while.

A light went off as he suddenly realized he forgot to make any kind of reservations, and he rushed to the restaurant to book a small table for 5PM.

Back at the Canterlot Castle, Luna stood in front her mirror as she tried, unsuccessfully to redo her hair yet again.

“No.” She said as she undid the bun she made.

“No!” She spat after undoing the curls she tried to make.

“NO!” She screamed after ripping the hair tie from her pony tail.

“Ugh.” She cried and fell back on her bed. The look of annoyance covered her features.

“Ehem.” An older butler coughed from across the room, causing Luna to wince and bury her head in a pillow.

“What is it Reginald?”

“Your highness. Forgive me for being blunt, but do you really have time for a date?” As he spoke his eyes darted between the very large volume of books which seemed to have only multiplied since Jack was last there.

“As we have said before. It is NOT! A date!” She punctuated her words in an attempt to make the bothersome butler understand.

“Hmm. Indeed.”

“Besides, these books aren't going anywhere. They will be here when I return.” Luna got out of bed and head back to the mirror.

“But that's just it your highness. They wont go anywhere till you read them!” Reginald tried to reason with the princess as she began once again to fiddle with her mane. This time trying to push a set of sticks through the large mess.

“Princess. If I may...” Reginald's voice hovered on a flat yet pleading tone.

Luna sighed, “You're going to anyway.” She whispered.

“If you're going on this… shall we say, excursion. Perhaps it's best to keep things simple?”

She glanced at him in the mirror as the sticks twirled around her mane, turning it into some oddly shaped bird's nest. “You think I should go with the pony tail then?”

Reginald walked up behind the princess and placed his hoof on the sticks, gently pulling them out of her failed bird's nest of a mane. “You already have a pony tail Princess.” He placed the sticks on the dresser next to them. “What I mean, is you should go as yourself. There is no need to fuss with your mane like this, and leave the regalia here.”

Wandering to her rather large closet, the butler fished inside for a small, simple, and rarely worn dress. It was a pale light blue, with some darker blue trim. A very simple and informal dress, the Princess never wore. Reginald sat the dress on her bed and smiled at her, “I think this dress would suit you perfectly this evening."

Luna glanced between the dress, the mirror and her butler, her eyes darting back and forth quicker and quicker until finally a large smile beamed over her. “Thank you dear Reginald! I think this should do nicely!”

“Now. What should we do about earrings?” Luna pranced to a small dresser.

Reginald's face fell as he thought about the hundred of different items in that smaller dresser. No doubt she would want to try each pair.