Rising Hope 2: The Harmony Of Equestria.

Hearing the sound of soft breathing, the human was alerted to Twilight and Luna's presence. Looking down, the sight of them sleeping made a smile come onto his face. Carefully moving their heads from on top of my chest, he ventured to the bathroom. Licking his dry lips and turning on the water, he stripped down and got Inside. ''Man, some night that was.''  While Nightmare Night was fun, putting aside the Initial fear and unwelcoming nature of the ponies as well with that whole 'Undead pony' fight, he and Luna managed to turn the public opinion around. Scrubbing himself with the lemon scented soap, all his worries washed away with stink, dirt, and grime of that night. Within about 10 minutes, his body had no traces of filth. Drying  off with a towel, the almost primal growl of his stomach told all that was required: Time to eat. Going In his room and grabbing a gray t-shirt, some black pants, and my shoes, the human proceeded downstairs.

He dressed In more comfortable clothes to better suit today's little function of going to Canterlot help and train some of the royal guard with some  freelance techniques and possibly become a weapon smith to help fortify the guard. Now at first, turned down the offer, he seemed to think that they are okay where they are now, plus sure to be some rowdy or stubborn cadets to deal with and nobody has no time for that. But after Luna informing him to be his duty as the future co-ruler of the New Lunar Republic, It was in his better mind to do this. So heading downstairs and obtaining some food for his gullet, she brought up the topic of what exactly to expect. ''Recently, there have tensions and uprising within the ranks so my sister and I thought It to be best to enlist you along with a time-honored guard to help quell this Issue.''

''Somepony will be helping me?'' The human muffled through some toast.

''A guard who has served his time, though he mostly helps and trains the new recruits.''

''Name?''

''Valiant Barrier: a unicorn.'' She sipped her orange juice.

''Well, If we're doing this, can Frank, Iron Hammer,  Xenia and Spike come along?'' The first four people came to mind.

''Of course, do not see why they should not.''

''Yay! I get to hang out with master!'' The red panda exclaimed from the top of his head, munching on what appeared to be bamboo.

''Alright, time to whip those punks Into shape!'' Frank cracked his knuckles. Trying to see a positive out this, they finished eating and proceeded to Canterlot by train.

Some time later:

The human and his friends came across the same field where him and Blueblood had their sparring match, oh there's still a little bit of the indent left. Princess Luna had to take care of business so she decided to check up on the status of their training around nighttime. Being somewhat familiar with the layout, a group of 12 recruits stood in three rows of 4, all looking to a unicorn with a black and mane tail with a gray coat with a cutie mark sword striking a magic barrier. He also had a few scars adorning his face, the one most prominent on his left eye.

''That must be Valiant.'' Spike pointed out as the sound of his voice boomed from a distance.

''And who are you?'' He asked with a smug voice.

''I am the help Princess Luna and Celestia sent to help whip the cadets In shape.''

''And what about them?'' He pointed to the guys.

''My weapon smith, apprentice,  pet and best friend.'' He gestured to each of them.

''Hmph, very well: let us get this over with.'' He turned his attention back to the cadets.

''Listen up you maggots! I am not here to here to kiss your flank If you think this Is too hard nor am I here for fun! I am here to train you to be cold hearted, emotionless killers and protectors! Don't like It then you can go and suck on your mother's teats!''

Now that got the cadets standing upright.

''Together with the aid of...'' He looked to us.

''Jamir.''

''Spike.''

''Iron Hammer.''

''Frank.''

''You will go through a vigorous training session with no breaks! You will remember that this Is not, at any point a game, so you back out now before you humiliate yourself!'' He shouted. With that, the first thing to be taken care of was basic and simple weapon maintenance by Iron, Spike telling the cadets the benefits of being under a mentorship. Frank pretty much said whatever was on his mind which was talking about explosions or cliched things that none of the cadets understood. Then it finally came to the human's turn. Going over and having their complete attention, he spoke.

''When you fight, you'd think a million thoughts would go through your head, but there should be only 2 that are Important: Where am I right now and what can I use to help me?'' And I mean that you only focus on what you're doing and what you can do to win: no matter how good your strong you or the opponent Is, the outcome lies In your hooves.'' His words of wisdom reached a few cadets.

Nodding at the words, these rookies are being put to the test with a little sparring to see where they stood.

''Man, that was kinda fun, right?'' Frank handed the human a bottle of water and face towel.

Sitting down after taking a break, the initial thoughts were confirmed as a few of them had a pretty good Idea on how to fight creatively while some leave some to desired.

''So what do you think so far?''Valiant observed the cadets doing basic drills: push ups, endurance exercises, and even some hoof to hoof combat.

''They have potential, but they could stand to Improve their technique, kinda sloppy.'' The human found their drive to not be quite there.

''Second that.'' Frank added.

''They seem nice, I like them!'' Xenia ever was so enthusiastic from the human's shoulder.

Going to go for another round, the session was Interrupted by a guard Intent on saying something.

''The princesses...wish to...see all of you...'' He gestured to everyone.

''Huh?''

Getting up and setting off at a brisk pace, the sudden announcement had the human

''What's the matter?'' The doors to the throne room opened.

''Thank you for joining us on such short notice.'' Celestia said, looking displeased. ''We have just received some disturbing news that our convoy was attacked.''

''Convoy?'' Valiant asked.

''Aye, you see: back In the times of old there were the 3 pony tribes, the Zebras, the Griffons, and even the Changelings were conjoined as one faction In symbiotic relationships: Trading artifacts, having meetings, helping one another, and being allies. But time has gone by and each race has branched off and severed alliances with the other nations.'' Luna paced back and forth.

''Recently, we wanted to try and reestablish a treaty to open the border and trade route to better allow commerce.'' Celestia Informed us.

''Our representative  was to try and negotiate with the Griffon Kingdom, but we have received news from one of the guards that his convoy has been attacked and him taken. Wing Dart, If you can be so kind as to Inform us of what exactly you saw?''

The pegasus guard next to them looked worried before he spoke.

''Everything was going good until we heard some commotion up the road. We looked and assumed It to be a dead pony, but next thing we know, they had us surrounded. Everywhere we looked, a band of rebels attacked us. Besides the rep, I was the only to barely make It out. They were relentless...'' He shook his head a number of times.

''We would Implore Jamir and you to take this group of cadets attempt to track down the representative and possibly bring these rebels to justice.'' The lunar princess implored.

''It has been a minute since I last was In the field, though It would be my honor to do this for you.'' Valiant bowed.

''Sure, I'll help In anyway that I can.'' The human stepped forward, determined.

''Hell yea! If he's going then count me In!'' Frank chimed.

''Me too, might as well live a little.'' Iron said.

''And me!''

''And me too!'' Spike wanted to come.

''Sorry you two, but I'm more than positive that If you get hurt...Twilight and Fluttershy are going to kill me, no questions asked.'' The human patted both their heads.

''Aww, come on: I can take It! Besides I'm your apprentice, so how am I supposed to learn more without going with you?'' He asked.

''Master, master, I want to come too! I can help, oh please?'' Xenia cutely pawed his legs. At this point, he could not resist that cute little smile and aura of innocence. His resolve crumbling, he sighed and let them come.

''Fine, but you stick to me like glue, got It?'' His point emphasized by a little poke to both their chests.

''MMM-HMM!''

With that out of the way, the group went down to the armoury and got suited up for this Search and Rescue mission.

Right now,  a steady pace was set out with Frank, Spike, Iron, Xenia, Valiant and the human riding In a carriage, the only sounds heard was the rickety wheels against the dirt road, the subtle breeze of the night sky, and the chirps of a few grasshoppers. A few hours had passed since they set out and nothing really happened. Looking out the window, the subtle moonlight sky put any of my potential concerns at ease.

''So are we at the spot yet?'' Frank played with his gauntlets.

''According to the map, we should be here by now.'' Valiant peered outside.

''We're here, stop.'' He told the cadets pulling the carriage to stop. Opening the door and stretching his muscles after that 3 hour trek left him slightly wound up. A dismantled carriage on its side told the human all of what he needed to.

''Nopony here, but I can figure whoever did this didn't mean for this to be a picnic otherwise these...yep. Dead bodies would not be here.'' He observed inside and saw three laid down forms, all slowly leaking blood and bodily functions spiraling out of control as the smell of defecation assaulted his nose. Seeing their faces locked with fear and surprise made the human make this a bit easier for him by closing their eyes.

Instead, a piece of parchment laid near one the wheels that Frank picked up and read.

''If you're reading this, then you should know that the representative Is long gone, by the way: l see you...''

What could that mean? Wait, does that mean-

''Take cover!'' The human's enhanced hearing detected some kind of rustling a few feet from him.

''Okay, this has gotten me out of my comfort zone.'' Frank grew uncomfortable.

''Alright, seems these punks want a fight, so let's give It to em'.'' Valiant got the cadets ready. Taking his sword from its sheath, the human stepped forward.

''Come on out: I can hear you.'' He growled. Hearing silence for a few seconds, a figure slowly came from underneath the underbrush, a number of others coming from every direction the human could look. Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth Ponies, Zebras and a Griffon showed themselves.

''So you found us out: big whoop. Come on guys, lets take care of this quick.'' A unicorn rushed forward.

Dodging a buck Intended for the face, the human traded blows with an Earth pony until he slipped up and  got him with a palm strike and knocked him down. Turning around and backhanding a Griffon and stabbing a Pegasus, he got tackled down the the hard ground by a unicorn.

''Hey, get off of him!'' Iron slammed his body Into the unicorn, knocking him off balance.

Getting back up, Frank was going after more of a kickboxing style with his reinforced fighting gauntlets, boots, and elbow guards, delivering quick hits and kicks to exposed areas, the cadets banding together and making decent efforts to hold the line. Iron fancied using a war hammer, Valiant used his magic to make barriers to push the rebels back, and as for Spike: he was currently holding his own with a Earth Pony, narrowly avoiding the onslaught of bucks until he saw his chance to lodge his sickle's blade In the throat and yank It across, blood spewing out and a scream of agony fill the air.

''Damn It, these guys just keep coming!''  The human complained, barely having room to breathe as my attention was shifted every few seconds.

Being too preoccupied with dodging this unicorn's 3 sword assault, he failed to see a length of rope wrap Itself around his wrist. Struggling to get if off, another did the same to his other and his legs.

''Let me go you bastards, or you'll regret this!'' He yelled.

''Shut It, ape!'' A griffon brought him down to his knees.

''You motherfuckers have no Idea who you're messing with: either release me or I will kill you and shit on your graves!'' A growl escaped his lips.

''A feisty one, aren't you? Well, the rest of your friends are captured and yet you are fascinating...just like Azure said.'' A rather scuffed Griffon smiled.

''Did you say Azure?'' The name caught him off guard.

''Yep, one miss Azure light: she paid us to attack this convoy and draw you out: really good coin.'' He laughed.

''She did what?!'' A sword stopped him from advancing.

''I'm afraid so.'' A voice came from behind.

''Azure?''

Sure enough, there she was: a smug smile on her face and letting out a little chuckle as she spoke.

''Yes, these gents were kind enough to honor my request of capturing the Equestrian representative and since I figured Celestia and Luna would be too busy or too cowardly to show up.''

''Why would you do this? I, we trusted you and you do this to us?'' The human struggled to keep his thoughts In place.

''No Ill will was directly placed upon you.'' But your determination will be a Issue for my plans so the best way to fix that would to put you the one place nopony would think to look for you.'' She burst Into laughter.

''You won't get away with this: wherever we end up, not that I will find you and kill you myself!'' Frank shouted.

''Poor, naive child: I already have: Do It.'' She looked to the unicorns. Before he could even get the word out, a blunt object struck the human across the head and knocked him to the ground. Feeling a sudden case of whiplash, the human struggled to keep his eyes open as he lay there. The last thing he registered before passing out was a kiss to his cheek and Azure's voice, having pity along with it.

''Too bad you just had to be kiss ups to Celestia and Luna, you would have made a fine mate.''