Duty Callsby Blue TunesChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1(A.N) Before we begin, I should explain something about the format of the story. This is presented as a diary or journal, each line space denotes a different journal entry, double spacings are evident where a large amount of time has passed between successive entries. Instead of just using human years, I thought that, similar to the idea of A.D and B.C, ponies may have devised their calender around some huge event, namely Luna's downfall (After Luna or A.L). This means that the first episode will have occurred in the year 1000. Secondly, the journal starts with Shining Armor as a foal. His spelling and grammar will improve as the story progresses I swear. (/A.N) EDIT: Big thanks to ScubaDiverMan for his awesome fanfic reading of this story. Makes me feel all important :P Duty Calls From the Journal of the late Shining Armor, Captain of Princess Celestia's Own Royal Guard and Husband to Her Majesty Princess Cadence. 972-1034AL This is a transcript only. Preserved for historical value by The Canterlot Royal Archive. 3rd of June in the year 977 Dear Diary. Am I ment to rite that? Today was the best birthday evar. Ma and Da took me to see the [strike]animels[/strike] animals in the zoo and I ate a whole icecream by myself and I got so many presents! Ma gave me a new sweater and a [strike]majic[/strike] magik spinning top that goes up walls and the [strike]ceeling[/strike] [strike]celing[/strike] roof too! And then Da gave me a wood sword so I can be like a guardpony! He also got me this book to rite in and said I should rite about today. I liked Da's presents better then Ma's becos the sword is best but Da said I couldnt take it to skool. Ma and Pa are the best parents evar! 18th of May in the year 980 Dear Diary. Da was cleaning my room out yesterday and found this behind my closet. I must have lost it really soon after I got it because there's only one entry from three years ago on my birthday. Da said that it's a good habit to get into, but I don't have anything to write now, so I'll just wait until something interesting happens. 6th of November in the year 980 Dear Diary. Ma's pregnant. Da says that I'm going to have a little brother or sister in five months. I can't wait! I think I'll be a good big brother. 17th of April in the year 981 Dear Diary. The foal is coming tonite! This is the latest I've been allowed to stay up ever. Da says that he'll take me to the hospitel when it's all over. What does he mean? 18th of April in the year 981 Dear Diary We just got back from the hospital and I have a sister now. Her name is Twilight and she is very small and purple. I like my new sister. Ma says I have to wait until she's older before I can play with her [strike]thouh[/strike] tho. 5th of December in the year 981 Dear Diary. Twily just spoke! Ma and Da said it's too early for her to learn words, but I heard it. Twily's first word was 'Arma' but Da says that she was probably trying to say 'Mama'. I think Ma got angry at him after that because she made me go and play outside. 12th of May in the year 982 Dear Diary. Today was great because I made a new friend! His name is Blue Tunes and he just moved to Canterlot from Fillydelphia because of his Dad's work. We sat next to each other in class because neither of us really have any friends yet and talked about what we're going to do when we grow up. He wants to be a famous music pony, and he already plays an instrument! He showed me how to play the saxofone but I wasn't very good at it. I also asked him if he wanted to come over and play soldiers tomorrow and he said yes! I can't wait for school tomorrow. 13th of May in the year 982 Dear Diary. Today was the worst day ever! Miss Sugarsweet said that me and Blue Tunes were making too much noise in class and gave us detention after school. Then at recess Loose Cannon and Hotrod started picking on us. Just because they're two years older than us doesn't mean they should be so mean. They called us names and then said we were gay, whatever that means. Detention sucked, and when we got out is was too late to play and we had to go home. Then when I got home I asked Da what 'gay' meant and he got all serious and told me that I would always be his son. When I said I still didn't know what he meant he looked embarassed and Ma gave him a funny look. Grown-ups are wierd. 22nd of June in the year 986 Dear Diary. (What is it with me and losing these things? It's been four years since my last entry!) I can't believe I got in! I got a letter from the Junior Cadets camp and they said that I've been accepted for their two week summer holiday camp! I've only got one more week of school until I get to go! I told Blues about it and he seemed kind of sad that I wasn't going to be around for the holidays, but he said he was used to being alone. I feel kind of bad for leaving without much warning though. 31st of June in the year 986 Dear Diary. Today was the last day of school for the term, and even though Loose Cannon tried to call us names at lunch again it didn't work because we won't see him again for two whole weeks! Even better though, I'll be spending those two weeks on camp learning all sorts of cool stuff! I need to go pack my things, camp starts tomorrow morning after all. 1st of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. I'm writing this in my new dorm on camp. Today was really busy, I had to say goodbye to Ma, Pa and Twily (That girl is growing up fast!) before the sun even rose, and the carriage ride was so long and boring. But when I got here everything started happening at once. I was put into a 'squad' with two other unicorns, three pegasi, an earth pony and a griffin! I've never met a griffin before, but she seems nice. Her name is Val, which seems wierd, but she says it's a normal griffin name. I didn't know that griffins could join the guard, but when I asked she said she was here on an exchange, or something. After we got put into groups had to listen to a bunch of retired guard ponies talk about their old careers. It was kind of interesting I guess, but after the first two or three it got really boring. After that we learned how to salute properly, which was fun! I didn't even know that there was a proper way to salute before. Once we knew how to salute properly, the camp leaders took us on a hike, which was ok. Val was mad because she wasn't allowed to use her wings and had to walk. All the pegasi were also kinda angry about that but Sergeant Giltfeather, who took us on the hike and is also a pegasus told them to get over it and called them maggots. I'm really tired now, I'll write more later. 2nd of July in the year 986 I saw Val come back tonight with blood on her talons. When I asked her she said that all griffins eat meat, and that she'd just eaten a rabbit. I don't feel like writing tonight. 3rd of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Val said sorry for scaring me last night. She said that she isn't used to living with ponies, and that she should have just stuck to apples, which she can apparently eat for a while. I decided that it didn't matter. If somepony someone needs to eat meat to stay healthy then that's their business and shouldn't change my opinion of them. When I told her that she went all quiet. I think I made a new friend today. 4th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. We did marching drills today. I'm too tired to (The remainder of the text is illegible) 8th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. The last few days have been exhausting, but fun. Every morning we do physical drills, and I'm getting better and better at them. Val and the pegasi do seperate training to us because of their wings, so I got to know the other unicorns and the earth pony in my group. The earth pony's name is Cold Rock, and he's a lot bigger than me. He doesn't say much, so I haven't really spoken to him. The unicorns fillies are twins, and look identical in every way. Their names are Starshine and Moonshine, and it's kind of creepy to speak to both at once, they look and act exactly similar. After lunch we do marching drills, which are boring. Val said that sometimes she wants to rip the sergeant's throat out and shove it up his behind to stop him yelling at us. She laughs after she said it though, so I think she was joking. Griffin humor is wierd. We also do night exercises, which are my favourite part of camp so far. It's all done with fake bows and arrows and plastic swords, but the idea is to do stuff like capture an enemy base, or save hostages. Our squad won last night for the second time against another group, so I think we're getting better. 10th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Training has been getting harder and harder this week. The instructors started teaching us basic hoof-to-hoof combat today, and I was paired off against Cold Rock. Luckily he's pretty slow, so I managed to keep up with him for the most part, even though his Da was apparently a guard who taught him some stuff about fighting. The sergeant asked me if that was the first time I'd fought somepony and when I said yes he gave me a funny look. Why do grown-ups keep doing that? 12th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Even though there's only three more days of camp left I feel like I've been here for far longer than that. Maybe it's the routine or something, I don't know. These past two days have been more of the same drills and exercises. Too tired to write any more. 14th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Today was the last full day of camp, and tomorrow I'll be going home. It's strange, home seems so far away, but tomorrow I'll be seeing them all again. I only now realised how much I've missed them, especially Twily. I swear that girl's getting brighter every day, she's like a learning machine... or something. 15th of July in the year 986 (afternoon) Dear Diary. Saying goodbye to Val was hard. We've become such good friends over the last two weeks, but she's heading in basically the opposite direction to me, back to the Eyries of the griffin lands. We swapped addresses, so we can send each other letters and stuff, but I know that I'll miss that griffin. I can't wait to see my family again though, I'm already halfway home. 15th of July in the year 986 (evening) Dear Diary. Ma just about burst into tears when she saw me. I suppose I've accumulated quite a large number of scrapes and bruises while i've been away, but that could only have been expected. I've also grown by about an inch since I've been gone. Da said that he was proud of me. Little Twilight was the highlight of the day though. Apparently she'd thought I wasn't coming home until tomorrow, and the way her face lit up when she saw me was just about the best thing in the world. I'll see Blues tomorrow. Right now I just need food and rest, it's been a long couple of weeks. Chapter 2From the Journal of the late Shining Armor, Captain of Princess Celestia’s Own Royal Guard and Husband to Her Majesty Princess Cadence. 972-1034AL This is a transcript only. Preserved for historical value by The Canterlot Royal Archive. 16th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. I don’t think I realised just how comfortable my own bed is until I had to wake up this morning. It’s good to be home and be with my family again, Twily has grown so much in so little time; I know that I wasn’t using words anywhere near as complex when I was her age. Hell, she’s already devouring the non-fiction and I’m almost certain that I saw her reading a thesaurus last night. Cover to cover. A thesaurus. Seeing Blues again after two weeks on camp was also pretty awesome. School starts tomorrow, but I don’t think he had much fun over the holidays. When I told him about Val eating meat on camp he went a little green though, and when I told him that he should meet her sometime he just said ‘maybe’. I think he’d like her if they actually met each other. Coming back from camp made me realise something else that’s been bugging me. Blues got his cutie mark last week at a music rehearsal, which makes me the last pony in my year without one. It never really bothered me before now, but some of the colts in my class got theirs two years ago! I was so sure that I’d get mine on camp! Does that mean that I’m not cut out to be a guard? 17th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. I messed up big time today. Loose Cannon started on us at recess and I bucked him in the face. I didn’t mean to do it, but after all the drills at camp it was just a reflex. He fell on his wing and I think it’s broken. The teacher sent me home for today and told me to go to her office tomorrow. I don’t want to tell Ma and Da about it tonight, but they’ll find out by tomorrow. I’m scared. Blues tried to cheer me up this afternoon, but it didn’t really work. He said that Loose Cannon’s in the hospital. I didn’t mean to hurt anypony, it just happened. 18th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. I’ve been suspended from school for a week. Loose Cannon’s wing was only dislocated, which Miss Sugarsweet said was something to be thankful for. Da wanted to ground me for a whole month, but Ma talked him down about it. I’m still grounded for the week though, and there’s nothing to do. This really sucks. 19th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. I got a letter from the Dr Dirtnap, the principal today. He said that I have to write out an apology to Loose Cannon while I’m suspended. I don’t really want to, but Da said he’d ground me for even longer if I don’t. Ma agreed with him, so I’m gonna try to do it tomorrow. 20th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Writing this apology is hard. I didn’t mean to hurt him, but to be honest, he’s kind of a mule, and probably deserved it. I don’t like lying, but if I don’t write it I’ll be in even bigger trouble. Apart from that, being grounded is so boring. 21st of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Twily is just about the best little sister I can imagine anypony having. When she found out I was bored staying at home she flat out refused to go to magic kindergarten this morning. She must still have some magic left over from when she was a baby, because Ma and Da could not (physically or otherwise) get her out of the house. Instead, she’s been sitting in my room playing battleclouds with me. That filly is going to be a force to be reckoned with when she’s older. I finished Loose Cannon’s apology about an hour ago, it’s not pretty or sincere, but I guess it’ll have to do. 22nd of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Ma and Da managed to drag Twily to kindergarten today. While they were out I went for a run, but they got back before I did, so they weren’t very pleased with me. Da says I can still go running for the rest of the week though, camp got me into the habit of doing regular exercise. I wonder if there are any gyms or martial arts centres nearby? Other than that, today was really boring. 23rd of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Sooooo Booored! How am I meant to get my cutie mark sitting at home alone like this? 25th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Today was my first day back at school since I hurt Loose Cannon. All the other kids keep looking at me funny. Loose Cannon and Hotrod didn’t bother me or Blues today, but the teachers have all started treating me like a delinquent. Apparently somepony spray painted the inside of the filly’s restrooms yesterday, and I almost got pinned for it. Even though I’m a colt who wasn’t even in school yesterday. Go figure. It’s kind of strange. All the smaller colts suddenly want to be my friend now, and all the larger colts steer clear of me. None of them gave a damn about me last term, why should that change now? 31st of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. I think things are finally starting to die down around school. It’s been two weeks since the incident with Loose Cannon and I’ve barely seen him at all. He still gives me dirty looks every so often, but I don’t think he’s game to try anything. 24th of December in the year 986 Dear Diary. Wow, it’s been a long time since I wrote anything in here. At some point in the last year, Twily has both cottoned onto Hearts Warming Eve, and learned how to tell the date, so things are a little noisy tonight. I hope she likes my present. 25th of December in the year 986 Dear Diary. Today was perfect. Twily loved my present, a doll that I made her in arts and craft. Some of the other colts teased me about it, but it was worth it to see the look on her face. I told her she should be the one to name it, so she chose Smarty Pants (that’s my sister for you). She almost cried when she realised that she didn’t have anything to give me, but I told her that a hug from the best little sister in Equestria would do. After we all unwrapped our presents (I got a new set of weights, no more paying out of my nose for gym membership thank you very much!) we stuffed ourselves with good food and slept for the rest of the day. Best use of an afternoon ever devised by ponykind. 16th of January in the year 987 Dear Diary. Twily started her first day of proper school this morning. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised how excited she was to be going. Years 1-6 are taught in a separate building to the rest of the school, but I could see that smile from all the way across the courtyard. First day back was alright I suppose, but I think Loose Cannon’s got it out for me again. He and Hotrod were both giving me the evil eye as I walked into school with Twily. You’d think that he’d have learned from the first time. 17th of January in the year 987 Dear Diary. Twily came home from school this afternoon crying. Apparently somepony had been calling her names. I think I’ll have a word with one of the junior school teachers about it tomorrow. A couple of games of pin the tail on the pony cheered her up again, but I’ll be damned if anypony’s gonna pick on my little sister. 18th of January in the year 987 Dear Diary. I spoke to Twily’s teacher about it, but he said that he hadn’t seen anything happen. He assured me though that he’d look into it. Twily came home crying again. I think I’ll deal with this myself. 20th of January in the year 987 Dear Diary. Nothing. I haven’t got a clue who’s been bullying Twily, and she’s too shook up to give me a straight answer. I couldn’t even find her in the playground yesterday. She’s already dreading going to school, and that’s just not right for a young filly who loves to learn. I’ve got the weekend to cheer her up and then I’m going to get to the bottom of this. 23rd of January in the year 987 Dear Diary. Whoever’s been picking on Twily has been doing it solely at recess and lunch. I stuck to her like caramel on a candy apple today, and she came home with a smile. It’s obvious that they’re not going to try anything while I’m nearby, so I’ll ask Blues if he can keep an eye on her and try to catch them in the act. 24th of January in the year 987 It was that snake Loose Cannon! Blues said that he’d personally seen him and Hotrod out the back of the junior school having a go at Twily. She came home virtually apoplectic with fear this afternoon. There will be a reckoning about this. A dislocated wing will be the last thing on Loose Cannon’s mind by the time I’m done with him. 25th of January in the year 987 I wouldn’t have really believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Blues was right; it was those two jerks that had been bullying Twily this whole time. Hotrod slapped my little sister just after I came around the corner and I lost it. I put them both in the freaking hospital, and Dr Dirtnap decided that was the last straw. I’ve been expelled. Apparently the school system doesn’t take vigilantism into account in acts of extreme violence. Luckily, the principal also saw fit to have Loose Cannon and Hotrod transferred to another school. I don’t mind giving up on an academic pursuit; the royal guards were my calling, but I wouldn’t want Twily left alone at that school with those two. Ma and Da weren’t happy about what had happened, but one look at the hoofmark on Twily’s face had Da raving at the school for allowing something like that to happen. He took me aside after and told me that he was proud of me for standing up for my family. I liked that. In amongst the confusion I didn’t even notice my new cutie mark until I got home a little while ago. A blue shield with a purple six-pointed star in the middle, and three smaller silver stars above it. Maybe things aren’t so bad after all. Chapter 3From the Journal of the late Shining Armor, Captain of Princess Celestia’s Own Royal Guard and Husband to Her Majesty Princess Cadence. 972-1034AL This is a transcript only. Preserved for historical value by The Canterlot Royal Archive. 4th of February in the year 987 Dear Diary I suppose all good things have to come to an end eventually. Ma and Da didn't ground me this time, so I'v been free to do anything I 've wanted all day this past week. I started up a gym membership and keep bumping into this massive white stallion (literally sometimes, he's so big he takes up half the gym). He introduced himself as Roid Rage (seriously, who names their child that?) and he seems nice enough, if a bit enthusiastic. But now Da is saying that I can't just do what I want all day, and that I need to get a job. I tried telling him that I need to spend my time training to be a guard, but he didn't buy it. What can I do though? Apparently my special talent is protecting people, but I AM only 15 years old. It's not like I can just walk up to the nearest guard station and ask for a job, right? 5th of February in the year 987 Well, it's not like I expected it to work or anything. Guess I'll go back when I'm 18 then. 7th of February in the year 987 Dear Diary Of all the jobs I imagined myself doing back when I was a foal, I don't think that being a Pizza Delivery Pony for 8 bits an hour was one of them. I guess it IS paid work, and they WERE the only place hiring. I still look like a complete idiot in this bright orange uniform though. Ah well, at least the running makes for a good cardio workout. I guess this is my life now. 20th of February in the year 987 Dear Diary You learn a lot about the area you live in on pizza rounds. First of all, you never truly realised how many drunken parties there are each and every night until you deliver pizza to the majority of them. Secondly, you can never really understand how strange ponies can be until you deliver a pizza to a hens party. Those mares literally have no shame. Last but not least, you make connections thorugh the job. Captain Argent, the local guard commander is a regular customer, which can hardly hurt my chances when I eventually apply for a guard post. Unless I buck up a delivery I suppose. 2nd of April in the year 987 Dear Diary I can't believe it. I've dreamed about this for my whole life, and it actually happened. What's more, it was Twily who made it happen. I knew that she was advanced for her age, but to attract the attention of the Princess herself? I talked to her. Just for one moment I was the object of her attention, and it was the single most amazing thing I've ever experienced. When she asked after me I told her that my one goal was to become a guard. She smiled at me and told me that she looked forward to seeing me among her Own. I don't think I ever truly understood the role of a Royal Guard until now. I've only spoken to her once, but I know that I would give my life for her. I just I hadn't been about to go on shift at the time, talking to royalty while dressed in an orange Pizza Delivery uniform was one of the most disconcerting things I've done. Twily is going to be receiving private tuition from the princess from now on. I'm so proud of her, but I know that it means I won't see her as often as I otherwise would. My little sister is growing up, and it's weirding me out. 20th of June in the year 987 Dear Diary Got the letter from the Junior Cadets camp today, and it looks like I'm on my way back again! I really can't wait, I've been writing Val for the past year, but she lives all the way out in the Eyries of the Griffin lands, so we haven't actually seen each other for almost a year. She and Blues are just about my only real friends beside Twilight, and Blues has school five days a week, so I guess I've been kinda lonely recently. I really hope that Val will be there again this year. She said in her last letter that she had put her name down for the exchange, but that the instructors might pick another griffin instead. 16th of July in the year 987 Dear Diary I am officially an idiot for leaving my journal at home. Val was there again this year! I almost didn't recognise her; apparently when griffins reach a certain age the feathers around their eyes darken, and I almost walked past her before she stopped me. Camp was great, pretty much the same as last year, but with more advanced combat training and harsher punishments for messing up during drills. That run would have been hard enough without the saddlebags full of rocks... But more importantly, Val is moving to Canterlot! Apparently her father landed a job as the Griffin Empire's embassy to Equestria. That was the first time I've heard her mention family, and I get the feeling that she doesn't like her father that much, but it does mean that I'll actually have someone to hang out with while Blues is in school. I only just got home and I'm completely knackered, so I am off to bed. Damn I've missed this bed. 3rd of August in the year 987 Dear Diary So, Val's family moved in today. They're staying at the Griffin embassy, which means that I won't exactly be allowed to visit, but on a brighter note, it's just a short walk away. I introduced Val to Blues this afternoon, and they seemed to hit it off just fine, which I'll admit I was a little relieved to see. More good news; Griffins don't generally have secondary schooling, so Val's free to hang out whenever. Thank Celestia, I thought I'd go stir-crazy during the day. Val seemed pretty interested in the gym, apparently we've got quite a few things in common. 4th of August in the year 987 Val thinks the Pizza Pony uniform is hilarious. Twily agreed with her... Traitor. 5th of August in the year 987 Dear Diary Ma and Da didn't like it when I told them that Twily was hanging around near Val. I don't know what their problem is, they say that they don't think of griffins any differently but they were fine when it was just Blues, Twily and I in the group. I love my parents to bits, but I've realised that speciesism is a reall problem with a lot of ponies, now that i've come to see it for myself. Maybe it's a generational thing. 7th of August in the year 987 Dear Diary I was hanging out with Val today when we were jumped by Loose Cannon and Hotrod in the park. I was ready to go another round with them both, but I didn't even need to say or do anything this time. I'd mentioned the incident with Twily in one of my letters to Val, and when she realised who the two colts were she flew off the handle! It might be a Griffin thing, or it might just be Val, but that girl is a force to be reckoned with. Both of the other colts left with bloody faces, and bruised egos. When she turned back around and saw the look on my face she just said that "anyone who hurts someone weaker than them for fun deserves no more than the scars I'll give them". Talk about awesome one-liners. 23rd of December in the year 987 Dear Diary Twily was horrified when Val told her that griffins don't usually celebrate Hearth's Warming, so much so that she decided to "fix it" and invited Val over for lunch that day. I must say that I'm looking forward to it, though Ma and Da seemed a little concerned with having a griffin over for lunch. I suppose they still don't know Val all that well, but it's a bit rich of them to worry about her diet like she's some dangerous animal from the Everfree. They've started to relax around Val recently, but there's still some distrust there. Hopefully this lunch will change their minds about her. 25th of December in the year 987 Dear Diary Sweet Celestia I don't think I've ever been so embarassed in my entire life! We opened our presents before Val came over; I got a years gym membership from Da, the biggest box of chocolates I have ever seen from Ma (that's probably what the gym membership was for) and little Twilight gave me my very own... book of course. Protect and Serve is a collection of life stories from old guards and guard captains, and looks like a book I could enjoy. Da liked the new lighter I bought him for his pipe, Ma enjoyed the new earrings, and Twily was very happy with 21 Intermediate spells for the budding sorcerer. Val got here around midday, and for a little while it was awkward, but after Ma and Da got stuck into the wine they started to loosen up a little. Ma did quiche, coleslaw and pumpkin pie for lunch, with pudding for dessert. They both seemed suitably chastened when Val dug into the food without a problem, and things were much more relaxed from then on. Then, it happened. Da (who'd polished off the best part of a wine bottle by this time) stood up, looked Val in the eye and apologised for being so rude and presumptious. I was happy, my parents approved of my friend and learned from their initial stereotyping. Then he told both of us that he approved of our relationship and said that he had no issue with the two of us dating. Yeah... that was awkward. Looking back on it though, Val's expression WAS pretty priceless. There were about five seconds of dead silence before we both started laughing. Val's a great friend, and some[strike]pony[/strike]one I consider myself close to. But definitely not in that way. Well, I've set myself off laughing again. Time for bed I think.
Chapter 1(A.N) Before we begin, I should explain something about the format of the story. This is presented as a diary or journal, each line space denotes a different journal entry, double spacings are evident where a large amount of time has passed between successive entries. Instead of just using human years, I thought that, similar to the idea of A.D and B.C, ponies may have devised their calender around some huge event, namely Luna's downfall (After Luna or A.L). This means that the first episode will have occurred in the year 1000. Secondly, the journal starts with Shining Armor as a foal. His spelling and grammar will improve as the story progresses I swear. (/A.N) EDIT: Big thanks to ScubaDiverMan for his awesome fanfic reading of this story. Makes me feel all important :P Duty Calls From the Journal of the late Shining Armor, Captain of Princess Celestia's Own Royal Guard and Husband to Her Majesty Princess Cadence. 972-1034AL This is a transcript only. Preserved for historical value by The Canterlot Royal Archive. 3rd of June in the year 977 Dear Diary. Am I ment to rite that? Today was the best birthday evar. Ma and Da took me to see the [strike]animels[/strike] animals in the zoo and I ate a whole icecream by myself and I got so many presents! Ma gave me a new sweater and a [strike]majic[/strike] magik spinning top that goes up walls and the [strike]ceeling[/strike] [strike]celing[/strike] roof too! And then Da gave me a wood sword so I can be like a guardpony! He also got me this book to rite in and said I should rite about today. I liked Da's presents better then Ma's becos the sword is best but Da said I couldnt take it to skool. Ma and Pa are the best parents evar! 18th of May in the year 980 Dear Diary. Da was cleaning my room out yesterday and found this behind my closet. I must have lost it really soon after I got it because there's only one entry from three years ago on my birthday. Da said that it's a good habit to get into, but I don't have anything to write now, so I'll just wait until something interesting happens. 6th of November in the year 980 Dear Diary. Ma's pregnant. Da says that I'm going to have a little brother or sister in five months. I can't wait! I think I'll be a good big brother. 17th of April in the year 981 Dear Diary. The foal is coming tonite! This is the latest I've been allowed to stay up ever. Da says that he'll take me to the hospitel when it's all over. What does he mean? 18th of April in the year 981 Dear Diary We just got back from the hospital and I have a sister now. Her name is Twilight and she is very small and purple. I like my new sister. Ma says I have to wait until she's older before I can play with her [strike]thouh[/strike] tho. 5th of December in the year 981 Dear Diary. Twily just spoke! Ma and Da said it's too early for her to learn words, but I heard it. Twily's first word was 'Arma' but Da says that she was probably trying to say 'Mama'. I think Ma got angry at him after that because she made me go and play outside. 12th of May in the year 982 Dear Diary. Today was great because I made a new friend! His name is Blue Tunes and he just moved to Canterlot from Fillydelphia because of his Dad's work. We sat next to each other in class because neither of us really have any friends yet and talked about what we're going to do when we grow up. He wants to be a famous music pony, and he already plays an instrument! He showed me how to play the saxofone but I wasn't very good at it. I also asked him if he wanted to come over and play soldiers tomorrow and he said yes! I can't wait for school tomorrow. 13th of May in the year 982 Dear Diary. Today was the worst day ever! Miss Sugarsweet said that me and Blue Tunes were making too much noise in class and gave us detention after school. Then at recess Loose Cannon and Hotrod started picking on us. Just because they're two years older than us doesn't mean they should be so mean. They called us names and then said we were gay, whatever that means. Detention sucked, and when we got out is was too late to play and we had to go home. Then when I got home I asked Da what 'gay' meant and he got all serious and told me that I would always be his son. When I said I still didn't know what he meant he looked embarassed and Ma gave him a funny look. Grown-ups are wierd. 22nd of June in the year 986 Dear Diary. (What is it with me and losing these things? It's been four years since my last entry!) I can't believe I got in! I got a letter from the Junior Cadets camp and they said that I've been accepted for their two week summer holiday camp! I've only got one more week of school until I get to go! I told Blues about it and he seemed kind of sad that I wasn't going to be around for the holidays, but he said he was used to being alone. I feel kind of bad for leaving without much warning though. 31st of June in the year 986 Dear Diary. Today was the last day of school for the term, and even though Loose Cannon tried to call us names at lunch again it didn't work because we won't see him again for two whole weeks! Even better though, I'll be spending those two weeks on camp learning all sorts of cool stuff! I need to go pack my things, camp starts tomorrow morning after all. 1st of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. I'm writing this in my new dorm on camp. Today was really busy, I had to say goodbye to Ma, Pa and Twily (That girl is growing up fast!) before the sun even rose, and the carriage ride was so long and boring. But when I got here everything started happening at once. I was put into a 'squad' with two other unicorns, three pegasi, an earth pony and a griffin! I've never met a griffin before, but she seems nice. Her name is Val, which seems wierd, but she says it's a normal griffin name. I didn't know that griffins could join the guard, but when I asked she said she was here on an exchange, or something. After we got put into groups had to listen to a bunch of retired guard ponies talk about their old careers. It was kind of interesting I guess, but after the first two or three it got really boring. After that we learned how to salute properly, which was fun! I didn't even know that there was a proper way to salute before. Once we knew how to salute properly, the camp leaders took us on a hike, which was ok. Val was mad because she wasn't allowed to use her wings and had to walk. All the pegasi were also kinda angry about that but Sergeant Giltfeather, who took us on the hike and is also a pegasus told them to get over it and called them maggots. I'm really tired now, I'll write more later. 2nd of July in the year 986 I saw Val come back tonight with blood on her talons. When I asked her she said that all griffins eat meat, and that she'd just eaten a rabbit. I don't feel like writing tonight. 3rd of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Val said sorry for scaring me last night. She said that she isn't used to living with ponies, and that she should have just stuck to apples, which she can apparently eat for a while. I decided that it didn't matter. If somepony someone needs to eat meat to stay healthy then that's their business and shouldn't change my opinion of them. When I told her that she went all quiet. I think I made a new friend today. 4th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. We did marching drills today. I'm too tired to (The remainder of the text is illegible) 8th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. The last few days have been exhausting, but fun. Every morning we do physical drills, and I'm getting better and better at them. Val and the pegasi do seperate training to us because of their wings, so I got to know the other unicorns and the earth pony in my group. The earth pony's name is Cold Rock, and he's a lot bigger than me. He doesn't say much, so I haven't really spoken to him. The unicorns fillies are twins, and look identical in every way. Their names are Starshine and Moonshine, and it's kind of creepy to speak to both at once, they look and act exactly similar. After lunch we do marching drills, which are boring. Val said that sometimes she wants to rip the sergeant's throat out and shove it up his behind to stop him yelling at us. She laughs after she said it though, so I think she was joking. Griffin humor is wierd. We also do night exercises, which are my favourite part of camp so far. It's all done with fake bows and arrows and plastic swords, but the idea is to do stuff like capture an enemy base, or save hostages. Our squad won last night for the second time against another group, so I think we're getting better. 10th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Training has been getting harder and harder this week. The instructors started teaching us basic hoof-to-hoof combat today, and I was paired off against Cold Rock. Luckily he's pretty slow, so I managed to keep up with him for the most part, even though his Da was apparently a guard who taught him some stuff about fighting. The sergeant asked me if that was the first time I'd fought somepony and when I said yes he gave me a funny look. Why do grown-ups keep doing that? 12th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Even though there's only three more days of camp left I feel like I've been here for far longer than that. Maybe it's the routine or something, I don't know. These past two days have been more of the same drills and exercises. Too tired to write any more. 14th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Today was the last full day of camp, and tomorrow I'll be going home. It's strange, home seems so far away, but tomorrow I'll be seeing them all again. I only now realised how much I've missed them, especially Twily. I swear that girl's getting brighter every day, she's like a learning machine... or something. 15th of July in the year 986 (afternoon) Dear Diary. Saying goodbye to Val was hard. We've become such good friends over the last two weeks, but she's heading in basically the opposite direction to me, back to the Eyries of the griffin lands. We swapped addresses, so we can send each other letters and stuff, but I know that I'll miss that griffin. I can't wait to see my family again though, I'm already halfway home. 15th of July in the year 986 (evening) Dear Diary. Ma just about burst into tears when she saw me. I suppose I've accumulated quite a large number of scrapes and bruises while i've been away, but that could only have been expected. I've also grown by about an inch since I've been gone. Da said that he was proud of me. Little Twilight was the highlight of the day though. Apparently she'd thought I wasn't coming home until tomorrow, and the way her face lit up when she saw me was just about the best thing in the world. I'll see Blues tomorrow. Right now I just need food and rest, it's been a long couple of weeks.
Chapter 2From the Journal of the late Shining Armor, Captain of Princess Celestia’s Own Royal Guard and Husband to Her Majesty Princess Cadence. 972-1034AL This is a transcript only. Preserved for historical value by The Canterlot Royal Archive. 16th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. I don’t think I realised just how comfortable my own bed is until I had to wake up this morning. It’s good to be home and be with my family again, Twily has grown so much in so little time; I know that I wasn’t using words anywhere near as complex when I was her age. Hell, she’s already devouring the non-fiction and I’m almost certain that I saw her reading a thesaurus last night. Cover to cover. A thesaurus. Seeing Blues again after two weeks on camp was also pretty awesome. School starts tomorrow, but I don’t think he had much fun over the holidays. When I told him about Val eating meat on camp he went a little green though, and when I told him that he should meet her sometime he just said ‘maybe’. I think he’d like her if they actually met each other. Coming back from camp made me realise something else that’s been bugging me. Blues got his cutie mark last week at a music rehearsal, which makes me the last pony in my year without one. It never really bothered me before now, but some of the colts in my class got theirs two years ago! I was so sure that I’d get mine on camp! Does that mean that I’m not cut out to be a guard? 17th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. I messed up big time today. Loose Cannon started on us at recess and I bucked him in the face. I didn’t mean to do it, but after all the drills at camp it was just a reflex. He fell on his wing and I think it’s broken. The teacher sent me home for today and told me to go to her office tomorrow. I don’t want to tell Ma and Da about it tonight, but they’ll find out by tomorrow. I’m scared. Blues tried to cheer me up this afternoon, but it didn’t really work. He said that Loose Cannon’s in the hospital. I didn’t mean to hurt anypony, it just happened. 18th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. I’ve been suspended from school for a week. Loose Cannon’s wing was only dislocated, which Miss Sugarsweet said was something to be thankful for. Da wanted to ground me for a whole month, but Ma talked him down about it. I’m still grounded for the week though, and there’s nothing to do. This really sucks. 19th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. I got a letter from the Dr Dirtnap, the principal today. He said that I have to write out an apology to Loose Cannon while I’m suspended. I don’t really want to, but Da said he’d ground me for even longer if I don’t. Ma agreed with him, so I’m gonna try to do it tomorrow. 20th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Writing this apology is hard. I didn’t mean to hurt him, but to be honest, he’s kind of a mule, and probably deserved it. I don’t like lying, but if I don’t write it I’ll be in even bigger trouble. Apart from that, being grounded is so boring. 21st of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Twily is just about the best little sister I can imagine anypony having. When she found out I was bored staying at home she flat out refused to go to magic kindergarten this morning. She must still have some magic left over from when she was a baby, because Ma and Da could not (physically or otherwise) get her out of the house. Instead, she’s been sitting in my room playing battleclouds with me. That filly is going to be a force to be reckoned with when she’s older. I finished Loose Cannon’s apology about an hour ago, it’s not pretty or sincere, but I guess it’ll have to do. 22nd of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Ma and Da managed to drag Twily to kindergarten today. While they were out I went for a run, but they got back before I did, so they weren’t very pleased with me. Da says I can still go running for the rest of the week though, camp got me into the habit of doing regular exercise. I wonder if there are any gyms or martial arts centres nearby? Other than that, today was really boring. 23rd of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Dear Diary. Sooooo Booored! How am I meant to get my cutie mark sitting at home alone like this? 25th of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. Today was my first day back at school since I hurt Loose Cannon. All the other kids keep looking at me funny. Loose Cannon and Hotrod didn’t bother me or Blues today, but the teachers have all started treating me like a delinquent. Apparently somepony spray painted the inside of the filly’s restrooms yesterday, and I almost got pinned for it. Even though I’m a colt who wasn’t even in school yesterday. Go figure. It’s kind of strange. All the smaller colts suddenly want to be my friend now, and all the larger colts steer clear of me. None of them gave a damn about me last term, why should that change now? 31st of July in the year 986 Dear Diary. I think things are finally starting to die down around school. It’s been two weeks since the incident with Loose Cannon and I’ve barely seen him at all. He still gives me dirty looks every so often, but I don’t think he’s game to try anything. 24th of December in the year 986 Dear Diary. Wow, it’s been a long time since I wrote anything in here. At some point in the last year, Twily has both cottoned onto Hearts Warming Eve, and learned how to tell the date, so things are a little noisy tonight. I hope she likes my present. 25th of December in the year 986 Dear Diary. Today was perfect. Twily loved my present, a doll that I made her in arts and craft. Some of the other colts teased me about it, but it was worth it to see the look on her face. I told her she should be the one to name it, so she chose Smarty Pants (that’s my sister for you). She almost cried when she realised that she didn’t have anything to give me, but I told her that a hug from the best little sister in Equestria would do. After we all unwrapped our presents (I got a new set of weights, no more paying out of my nose for gym membership thank you very much!) we stuffed ourselves with good food and slept for the rest of the day. Best use of an afternoon ever devised by ponykind. 16th of January in the year 987 Dear Diary. Twily started her first day of proper school this morning. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised how excited she was to be going. Years 1-6 are taught in a separate building to the rest of the school, but I could see that smile from all the way across the courtyard. First day back was alright I suppose, but I think Loose Cannon’s got it out for me again. He and Hotrod were both giving me the evil eye as I walked into school with Twily. You’d think that he’d have learned from the first time. 17th of January in the year 987 Dear Diary. Twily came home from school this afternoon crying. Apparently somepony had been calling her names. I think I’ll have a word with one of the junior school teachers about it tomorrow. A couple of games of pin the tail on the pony cheered her up again, but I’ll be damned if anypony’s gonna pick on my little sister. 18th of January in the year 987 Dear Diary. I spoke to Twily’s teacher about it, but he said that he hadn’t seen anything happen. He assured me though that he’d look into it. Twily came home crying again. I think I’ll deal with this myself. 20th of January in the year 987 Dear Diary. Nothing. I haven’t got a clue who’s been bullying Twily, and she’s too shook up to give me a straight answer. I couldn’t even find her in the playground yesterday. She’s already dreading going to school, and that’s just not right for a young filly who loves to learn. I’ve got the weekend to cheer her up and then I’m going to get to the bottom of this. 23rd of January in the year 987 Dear Diary. Whoever’s been picking on Twily has been doing it solely at recess and lunch. I stuck to her like caramel on a candy apple today, and she came home with a smile. It’s obvious that they’re not going to try anything while I’m nearby, so I’ll ask Blues if he can keep an eye on her and try to catch them in the act. 24th of January in the year 987 It was that snake Loose Cannon! Blues said that he’d personally seen him and Hotrod out the back of the junior school having a go at Twily. She came home virtually apoplectic with fear this afternoon. There will be a reckoning about this. A dislocated wing will be the last thing on Loose Cannon’s mind by the time I’m done with him. 25th of January in the year 987 I wouldn’t have really believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Blues was right; it was those two jerks that had been bullying Twily this whole time. Hotrod slapped my little sister just after I came around the corner and I lost it. I put them both in the freaking hospital, and Dr Dirtnap decided that was the last straw. I’ve been expelled. Apparently the school system doesn’t take vigilantism into account in acts of extreme violence. Luckily, the principal also saw fit to have Loose Cannon and Hotrod transferred to another school. I don’t mind giving up on an academic pursuit; the royal guards were my calling, but I wouldn’t want Twily left alone at that school with those two. Ma and Da weren’t happy about what had happened, but one look at the hoofmark on Twily’s face had Da raving at the school for allowing something like that to happen. He took me aside after and told me that he was proud of me for standing up for my family. I liked that. In amongst the confusion I didn’t even notice my new cutie mark until I got home a little while ago. A blue shield with a purple six-pointed star in the middle, and three smaller silver stars above it. Maybe things aren’t so bad after all.
Chapter 3From the Journal of the late Shining Armor, Captain of Princess Celestia’s Own Royal Guard and Husband to Her Majesty Princess Cadence. 972-1034AL This is a transcript only. Preserved for historical value by The Canterlot Royal Archive. 4th of February in the year 987 Dear Diary I suppose all good things have to come to an end eventually. Ma and Da didn't ground me this time, so I'v been free to do anything I 've wanted all day this past week. I started up a gym membership and keep bumping into this massive white stallion (literally sometimes, he's so big he takes up half the gym). He introduced himself as Roid Rage (seriously, who names their child that?) and he seems nice enough, if a bit enthusiastic. But now Da is saying that I can't just do what I want all day, and that I need to get a job. I tried telling him that I need to spend my time training to be a guard, but he didn't buy it. What can I do though? Apparently my special talent is protecting people, but I AM only 15 years old. It's not like I can just walk up to the nearest guard station and ask for a job, right? 5th of February in the year 987 Well, it's not like I expected it to work or anything. Guess I'll go back when I'm 18 then. 7th of February in the year 987 Dear Diary Of all the jobs I imagined myself doing back when I was a foal, I don't think that being a Pizza Delivery Pony for 8 bits an hour was one of them. I guess it IS paid work, and they WERE the only place hiring. I still look like a complete idiot in this bright orange uniform though. Ah well, at least the running makes for a good cardio workout. I guess this is my life now. 20th of February in the year 987 Dear Diary You learn a lot about the area you live in on pizza rounds. First of all, you never truly realised how many drunken parties there are each and every night until you deliver pizza to the majority of them. Secondly, you can never really understand how strange ponies can be until you deliver a pizza to a hens party. Those mares literally have no shame. Last but not least, you make connections thorugh the job. Captain Argent, the local guard commander is a regular customer, which can hardly hurt my chances when I eventually apply for a guard post. Unless I buck up a delivery I suppose. 2nd of April in the year 987 Dear Diary I can't believe it. I've dreamed about this for my whole life, and it actually happened. What's more, it was Twily who made it happen. I knew that she was advanced for her age, but to attract the attention of the Princess herself? I talked to her. Just for one moment I was the object of her attention, and it was the single most amazing thing I've ever experienced. When she asked after me I told her that my one goal was to become a guard. She smiled at me and told me that she looked forward to seeing me among her Own. I don't think I ever truly understood the role of a Royal Guard until now. I've only spoken to her once, but I know that I would give my life for her. I just I hadn't been about to go on shift at the time, talking to royalty while dressed in an orange Pizza Delivery uniform was one of the most disconcerting things I've done. Twily is going to be receiving private tuition from the princess from now on. I'm so proud of her, but I know that it means I won't see her as often as I otherwise would. My little sister is growing up, and it's weirding me out. 20th of June in the year 987 Dear Diary Got the letter from the Junior Cadets camp today, and it looks like I'm on my way back again! I really can't wait, I've been writing Val for the past year, but she lives all the way out in the Eyries of the Griffin lands, so we haven't actually seen each other for almost a year. She and Blues are just about my only real friends beside Twilight, and Blues has school five days a week, so I guess I've been kinda lonely recently. I really hope that Val will be there again this year. She said in her last letter that she had put her name down for the exchange, but that the instructors might pick another griffin instead. 16th of July in the year 987 Dear Diary I am officially an idiot for leaving my journal at home. Val was there again this year! I almost didn't recognise her; apparently when griffins reach a certain age the feathers around their eyes darken, and I almost walked past her before she stopped me. Camp was great, pretty much the same as last year, but with more advanced combat training and harsher punishments for messing up during drills. That run would have been hard enough without the saddlebags full of rocks... But more importantly, Val is moving to Canterlot! Apparently her father landed a job as the Griffin Empire's embassy to Equestria. That was the first time I've heard her mention family, and I get the feeling that she doesn't like her father that much, but it does mean that I'll actually have someone to hang out with while Blues is in school. I only just got home and I'm completely knackered, so I am off to bed. Damn I've missed this bed. 3rd of August in the year 987 Dear Diary So, Val's family moved in today. They're staying at the Griffin embassy, which means that I won't exactly be allowed to visit, but on a brighter note, it's just a short walk away. I introduced Val to Blues this afternoon, and they seemed to hit it off just fine, which I'll admit I was a little relieved to see. More good news; Griffins don't generally have secondary schooling, so Val's free to hang out whenever. Thank Celestia, I thought I'd go stir-crazy during the day. Val seemed pretty interested in the gym, apparently we've got quite a few things in common. 4th of August in the year 987 Val thinks the Pizza Pony uniform is hilarious. Twily agreed with her... Traitor. 5th of August in the year 987 Dear Diary Ma and Da didn't like it when I told them that Twily was hanging around near Val. I don't know what their problem is, they say that they don't think of griffins any differently but they were fine when it was just Blues, Twily and I in the group. I love my parents to bits, but I've realised that speciesism is a reall problem with a lot of ponies, now that i've come to see it for myself. Maybe it's a generational thing. 7th of August in the year 987 Dear Diary I was hanging out with Val today when we were jumped by Loose Cannon and Hotrod in the park. I was ready to go another round with them both, but I didn't even need to say or do anything this time. I'd mentioned the incident with Twily in one of my letters to Val, and when she realised who the two colts were she flew off the handle! It might be a Griffin thing, or it might just be Val, but that girl is a force to be reckoned with. Both of the other colts left with bloody faces, and bruised egos. When she turned back around and saw the look on my face she just said that "anyone who hurts someone weaker than them for fun deserves no more than the scars I'll give them". Talk about awesome one-liners. 23rd of December in the year 987 Dear Diary Twily was horrified when Val told her that griffins don't usually celebrate Hearth's Warming, so much so that she decided to "fix it" and invited Val over for lunch that day. I must say that I'm looking forward to it, though Ma and Da seemed a little concerned with having a griffin over for lunch. I suppose they still don't know Val all that well, but it's a bit rich of them to worry about her diet like she's some dangerous animal from the Everfree. They've started to relax around Val recently, but there's still some distrust there. Hopefully this lunch will change their minds about her. 25th of December in the year 987 Dear Diary Sweet Celestia I don't think I've ever been so embarassed in my entire life! We opened our presents before Val came over; I got a years gym membership from Da, the biggest box of chocolates I have ever seen from Ma (that's probably what the gym membership was for) and little Twilight gave me my very own... book of course. Protect and Serve is a collection of life stories from old guards and guard captains, and looks like a book I could enjoy. Da liked the new lighter I bought him for his pipe, Ma enjoyed the new earrings, and Twily was very happy with 21 Intermediate spells for the budding sorcerer. Val got here around midday, and for a little while it was awkward, but after Ma and Da got stuck into the wine they started to loosen up a little. Ma did quiche, coleslaw and pumpkin pie for lunch, with pudding for dessert. They both seemed suitably chastened when Val dug into the food without a problem, and things were much more relaxed from then on. Then, it happened. Da (who'd polished off the best part of a wine bottle by this time) stood up, looked Val in the eye and apologised for being so rude and presumptious. I was happy, my parents approved of my friend and learned from their initial stereotyping. Then he told both of us that he approved of our relationship and said that he had no issue with the two of us dating. Yeah... that was awkward. Looking back on it though, Val's expression WAS pretty priceless. There were about five seconds of dead silence before we both started laughing. Val's a great friend, and some[strike]pony[/strike]one I consider myself close to. But definitely not in that way. Well, I've set myself off laughing again. Time for bed I think.
