On My Honor

The weapons training room looked sharp. And not just in a literal way. The walls seemed to stand straighter than the others. All the swords and spears gleamed with a hidden malice. Even the ceiling radiated a disciplined aura.

All in all, the perfect place to hold tryouts.

Captain Shining Armor stood with his little sister, Princess Twilight, at the judging podium. The first contender introduced himself to the siblings. "The name's Noble Act..." Twilight had to refrain from smacking her horn against the wall.

After all the contestants introduced themselves, they drew their swords. Shining Armor bellowed, "Partner up!" All of them faced another pony until one was left without one. That was, of course, the only mare in the room. Applejack.

"I will duel you, ma'am," said the captain, drawing his own blade. The other stallions snickered.

"Don't go easy on me," she replied. "Also, you don't have to call me ma'am."

Twilight yelled, "Let the swordfighting commence!"

Metal clashed on metal. Helmets flew everywhere. Swords danced about like snakes under the influence of coffee. Each royal guard was fighting like it was their last day on Equestria. The winners of the duel got to stay. The losers had to leave. Once everypony was done, only half of them remained. Among them was Applejack.

"Whoa," whispered Shining Armor. "That is one talented friend you've got there."

Both Twilight and Applejack beamed with pride. The competitions continued, including tug-of-war, javelin throwing, push-ups, and staring contests. At the end, only five entrants remained. And yes, Applejack was one of them.

Shining Armor and Twilight whispered to each other, deciding the final competition. Finally, the princess said, "The tiebreaker will be a task of determination... Saving me! Each of you will have different obstacles, but they will all be at the same level of challenge. Now get in line, please."

They all filed into a straight line, with Applejack shoved to the end. All they had to do was run over, get Twilight out of a cage, and run back with Twilight. Oh, and they had to dodge the obstacles, too. That was an important detail.

Noble Act went first. He galloped full speed at Twilight and forgot about the obstacles. A barrel full of oil was dumped at his hooves and he slipped into a wall,knocking himself out. The second one, a Pegasus, flew above the obstacles, unlocked the cage, and just left without Twilight. Another Pegasus went third. He tried to dodge all the obstacles, but clipped his wing and went down. The fourth just charged so fast a the cage that he somehow got stuck in between the bars. Then came Applejack. She expertly blocked the swinging blade, leaped over the trapdoor, and caught a ride on the giant swinging mace. Upon arriving at the cage, she bucked it open and loaded Twilight onto her back. Then she dodged the obstacles again, and returned Twilight without a single scratch.

Shining Armor looked very pleased. "Well, looks like we have our Secondary Captain!" He drew his sword and tapped each of Applejack shoulders. "I hereby dub thee Secondary Captain Applejack of the Royal Guard." There was no applause, except for Twilight. The stallions glared in envy at the Earth pony who had beaten them all. Applejack just gave them orders to go to their rooms.

That night, Applejack mailed all her friends about the good news. Pinkie Pie screamed so loud that she could be heard not just in Ponyville. Fluttershy gave her trademark "Yay!", Rarity began planning the custom armor, and Rainbow Dash wooped a whole lecture about kicking stallions' plots. Then Twilight entered Applejack's quarters. "I just wanted to let you know, I'm really grateful you stepped up to this. I don't think I could take anymore of those big-headed stallions."

Applejack smiled, then sighed. "Me too. I just hope I stop getting shoved everywhere I go."

"Wait, you get shoved all the time?" Twilight's eyes widened.

She cocked her head to the side. "I never told you that? Musta slipped my mind."

"I'm going to make another announcement that says you can't shove anypony!" proclaimed Twilight.

"Them darn stallions are just gonna find a loophole, y'know. Don't worry, I got it down."

"But..."

"It's all right. It's my job to worry about you, not vice-versa. G'night, Twi." Then she closed the door.

Twilight stared at the closed door. She couldn't tell Applejack just why she was worried, or why she couldn't stand most stallions... Not yet. Maybe later.

Applejack's dreams weren't much better. A shadow vaguely resembling Princess Luna swirled before her in the Everfree forest. It boomed, "You seem so simple, so boring, but you are so much more than that. You are such a secret keeper for the bearer of Honesty..." It turned into a giant tornado and swirled towards her, about to suck her in...

BRIIIIIIIIING!

The morning bell. Of course. Applejack got up, stretched her sore muscles, and found a large package at her front door. When she opened it, she found a custom suit of armor from Rarity. It was gold and orange, with an apple crest on the helmet and an absurdly large plume. She put it on and rushed to the mess hall for breakfast.

As she entered she could feel about a bazillion pairs of eyes staring at her. Stallions muttered under their breath and gave Applejack the stink eye. When she passed Noble Act, he yelled, "Let's dunk her!" All the others roared in agreement.

Almost as if rehearsed (Applejack wouldn't have put it behind them to do so), five of them grabbed her onto their shoulders and carried her towards the giant barrel of oatmeal. Oh, great. I'm gonna be dunked into my own breakfast. Thinking fast, Applejack twisted around, bit a stallion, and pulled free. She jumped from head to head and made it to her table in the corner. In the confusion, the stallions bumped into the oatmeal barrel and it sprayed all over the crowd. Luckily, Applejack was hiding under her table.

Shining Armor trotted in to see a whole herd of royal guards smacking each other and flailing around while covered in oatmeal. Everypony was given a detention and sent to their rooms, except Applejack. "Hey, Secondary Captain? I need you to come to my office."

She followed, wondering whether or not she was in trouble. Waiting in Shining Armor's office was Twilight, poring over a bunch of musty old documents. "Hey, Applejack, we need you to know about this."

The captain tapped a map with a Changeling in the corner. "We have reviewed all the Changeling documents in the library, and we found a pattern. All of them have some sort of subliminal message that states that they will make a large-scale attack on Canterlot when the 274th Crab Nebula Eclipse occurs."

"And when is that?" asked Applejack, who was thoroughly puzzled.

Twilight and Shining Armor exchanged a grave look. "Tomorrow."

"Wait, what!?"