The Harmony Guardby Paintbrush235ChaptersChapter 1: Put to PaperChapter 2: The Call Goes OutChapter 3: Mustering in the Recruits (Edited)Chapter 1: Put to PaperTwo Months after the events of The Cutie Remark Sitting in the center of a lush green field in the center of the quaint town of Ponyville Equestria, towering over every other building within the town limits, was the great crystal Castle of Friendship. Inside it's massive halls was it's resident, The Princess of Friendship and former student of the Solar Monarch Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle. The young purple alicorn was at this moment taking part in one of her most favorite pastimes outside of hanging out with her group of friends; studying in her personal library within the castle. Specifically, she was studying about advanced unicorn magic. Her recent encounter with a certain unicorn had prompted her to read up on the ancient and powerful spells that she had seen performed by her. She also was reading up on teaching skills, as she had taken it upon herself to teach this gifted unicorn the powerful magic of friendship. She had realized immediately that taking on a student was going to be a daunting task, and she therefore had to prepare herself thoroughly. "Twilight!" She perked her head up when she heard her name being called from the hallway outside. "Twilight I'm back!" Twilight levitated her books over to a small table in the middle of the room and set them down in a neat stack. She then trotted on over to the door and entered the long hallway. Looking to her left she saw a light pink unicorn mare with a purple mane and tail with a light blue stripe running down both of them. Her cutie mark was a purple and white star with two blue streams above it. When the unicorn took notice of Twilight, she smiled and trotted over to the princess. "Hey Twilight." "Hey Starlight Glimmer." Twilight answered her new student. "How was your time helping Fluttershy with her animal friends?" "Oh it was fun!" Starlight smiled. "Those animals are just so precious. Fluttershy is just so lucky to have them as friends." Twilight smiled at her new friend. Starlight had really come a long way in the last two months since their last encounter and especially since her depression induced push for forced equality among ponies by removing a pony's cutie mark and subsequent talent. It had taken Twilight quite a while to convince the unicorn the error of her ways before she permanently damaged Equestria. The hardest part had been convincing the other princesses that Starlight could be taught the values of friendship and could therefore be saved. It had taken a lot of convincing, but they ultimately gave her the go ahead. "Well Starlight." Twilight continued. "I'm glad you had a good time. Now if you want to go and freshen up, dinner will be on fairly soon." "Alright. Thanks Twilight. See you in a little while." Starlight said with a smile. She then trotted off down the hallway towards her room. Twilight then began to head off towards her own bedroom to get ready for the inevitably delicious meal that her number one assistant Spike the dragon had prepared. She had just reached the end of the hallway and was about to open the door into the other corridor when the door swung open on it's own to reveal her number one assistant standing there panting and sweating like he had just been in a great hurry and was clutching a scroll in his right claws. "Twi....light..." Spike tried to say in between gasps of breath. Twilight quickly put her hoof on his shoulder to stop him from overworking himself. "Spike. Just calm down and take a few deep breaths." She said calmly. After a few more large intakes of air, the purple and green dragon had finally caught his breath and Twilight stepped back with a smile. "Alright. Now what's going on?" Spike held out the scroll in his claws. "Important message from Princess Celestia." Twilight's eyes went wide and she immediately grabbed the scroll with her magic and unrolled it in front of her face and began to read. Dear Twilight I do hope you have been well these past few weeks. I am writing to inform you that Luna, Cadence and myself will be coming to your castle tomorrow to discuss with you an urgent matter that we believe has been put off for too long. We will also be accompanied by Colonel Storm Shield of the 1st Royal Guard Regiment as well. If you are wondering why a military officer is coming to speak with you, it will all be clarified tomorrow when we arrive. We will arrive at around 8:00 tomorrow morning. Please give my regards to Spike and all the girls. Sincerely Celestia Twilight's eyes went even wider when she finished reading the letter. Spike looked at her with a look of curiosity. "Well, what does it say?" "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Cadence are coming here tomorrow to discuss something of great importance!" Twilight exclaimed. "Oh my gosh! We've got to prepare for them! Everything needs to be cleaned! The books need to be properly arranged! I've got to go and tell Starlight!" And with that, the Princess of Friendship raced back down the hall towards her new students room, leaving Spike standing there with a look of worry over how nervous Twilight was getting over something that had happened numerous times before. "*Sigh*. I'll go get the duster." The Next Day Twilight paced nervously back and forth in the foyer of the entrance to her castle. It was 7:59 a.m., exactly sixty seconds until the Princesses arrived at the castle with Colonel Storm Shield of the Royal Guard. Her mind was going a mile a minute trying to think of a possible situation of reason for their visit. "What if Equestria is in danger again? What if another enemy has come back for revenge? What if their is another test that I never knew about?!" "Twilight calm down!" Spike said. He had been standing with Starlight Glimmer and the rest of their friends that had come over when they had heard the news. They had been standing their for the past half hour watching Twilight pacing in front of them. "I'm sure that everything is fine." "Yeah Twilight." Applejack chimed in. "The Princess didn't sound to serious in her letter. It's probably not that big of a deal." Twilight stopped her pacing and faced her friends. "But then why are they bringing along Colonel Storm Shield?" "That we are not quite sure about darling." Rarity piped up. "But pray tell, who is Colonel Storm Shield?" "He commands the 1st Royal Guard Regiment." Twilight explained. "He was the officer who trained my brother when he entered the Guard Officer Academy." "Well maybe he just wants to catch up and see how one of his recruits sisters is doing?" Rainbow Dash suggested. "Yeah!" Pinkie Pie now exclaimed. "Maybe they want to have some sort of PARTY!" Fluttershy, who was standing next to the party pony, flinched slightly when the pink mare shouted. She then walked up to Twilight and smiled slightly. "Twilight. I'm sure everything will be fine." She said reassuringly. Twilight sighed. "Yeah. You're probably right Fluttershy. It's just that...." *Knock* *Knock* *Knock* Everpony in the room turned their heads towards the large doors of the entrance when they heard the distinct sound of somepony from the outside requesting entrance. For a few moments, none of them made a move, then suddenly Twilight rushed over to the door and pulled it open, revealing for figures. From left to right was Princess Cadence, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia and a dark grey unicorn stallion with a light grey mane wearing the red jacket of a royal guard officer with the bronze wings of a full colonel, all smiling when they saw the small alicorn open the door. "Hello Twilight." Princess Celestia said kindly. "It is very good to see you." Twilight smiled brightly when she saw her beloved mentor. "It is good to see you too princess!" She said happily. She turned to the darker alicorn standing next to the solar monarch. "Hello Princess Luna. How have you been?" "Quite well thank you Twilight." The lunar princess replied. "And remember, please call me Luna." Twilight nodded in agreement. She then turned to the pink alicorn standing next to Luna and giggled. "Cadence!" "Twilight!" "Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" The two alicorns laughed happily after performing their sacred traditional chant to each other. All the others present smiled and laughed to themselves at the display of such strong friendship. It was at that moment when Twilight and Cadence had finished, that the grey unicorn stallion stepped forward smiling lightly. Twilight, taking notice of the officer, walked up to him, paused in front of him, then gently wrapped her hooves around his neck. This action was mirrored by the stallion. "It's good to see you Uncle Stormy." Twilight said. Storm Shield blushed slightly at hearing his nickname and hearing the other ponies in the room giggling in response. However he continued to embrace Twilight for a few more moments before breaking away and stepping back. "It's good to see you too Little Twilight." He said in a deep and gruff voice. "Though I'm not sure if I should say little anymore." Now it was Twilight's turn to start blushing. Meanwhile her friends were slightly puzzled as to why their seemed to be such a personal relationship between Twilight and this old stallion that until just recently none of them had known existed. Twilight saw their confusion and turned back to face them and explain. "Everypony, this is Colonel Storm Shield." She introduced him "I call him Uncle Stormy because he and my dad are really good friends. He used to visit and play with my brother and I when we were kids." She looked back up at the guard and smiled. "He's the one that brought me books on defense magic." Storm Shield returned the smile. "And you learned those spells quickly, didn't you little Twilight?" He ruffled the alicorn's mane, a clear sign that their relationship was familial. Celestia cleared her throat to get everyponys' attention. "While I hate to interrupt this introduction, we must discuss the subject of our visit." She looked at Twilight. "Twilight, may we gather together in your dining hall?" Twilight nodded. "Of course princess. Right this way." She led the group towards hallway leading to the dining hall. Her group of friends followed close behind until Celestia stopped and turned to face them. "I'm sorry everypony." She said "But this is a matter that must be discussed between Twilight, Luna, Cadence, Colonel Storm Shield and I." Twilight looked back at her former mentor with a puzzled look. "Princess Celestia, what's going on? Why can't they be with us?" Celestia looked at Twilight with a serious yet caring look in her eyes. "There is something that we must discuss with you personally before anyone else Twilight." She then looked back at the rest of Twilight's friends. "You all shall be informed of what is going on soon, but for now we must talk only with Twilight for it mainly affects her." Twilight looked uneasy. She stared at her friends with worry. She wanted them to be with her because she trusted their judgement. She then looked back at Celestia. "Can Spike come in with us at least?" Celestia smiled. "Yes Spike may come with us." Upon hearing this the purple and green dragon smiled and ran over to Twilight's side. He was happy that Twilight, whom he considered like a mother to him, wanted him specifically to come with her into the meeting. "Alright then." Twilight said. "This way Princess." She then led the royals and the guard officer down the hall towards their destination. Meanwhile her friends sat and watched them leave before looking at each other with curiosity and confusion. "What do y'all reckon they're gonna be talkin' about in there?" Applejack asked around. "I don't know." Fluttershy said softly. "I just hope it's nothing bad." Meanwhile Twilight and the rest of the group had reached the dining hall. They soon began to take their respective seats around the massive table in the center of the room. Celestia sat at the head of the table with Twilight, Spike, and Cadence on her left and Luna and Storm Shield on her right. "Twilight" Celestia started speaking. "I first want to say thank you seeing us on such short notice. I do hope we didn't make you too worried." "Oh it was no trouble at all Princess." Twilight shook her head. "Though I am very curious as to what you want to talk to me about." The serious look returned to Celestia's face. She then looked to Storm Shield. "I think it would be best to let Colonel Storm Shield start." Storm Shield in reply, then looked across the table at Twilight. "Twilight as you know, I command the 1st Royal Guard Regiment in Canterlot correct?" Twilight nodded. "You also know that I am in charge of the selection process for volunteers to Princess Celestia's, Princess Luna's, and Princess Cadence's personal guard detachments correct?" Again Twilight nodded, even more curious now. What did this have to do with her. Storm Shield pulled out a few scrolls from a saddlebag next to Celestia with his magic and levitated them over to himself. "I have been assigned by Princess Celestia to assist you in the formation of your own personal guard unit." Twilight's eyes went as wide as dinner plates and her draw nearly hit the floor. Her own guard unit? She had never even considered that idea, for one single reason. "But I don't need a guard unit Princess." She looked back at the solar monarch. "I'm perfectly fine by myself." "That is absolute nonsense!" All heads in the room turned towards Princess Luna, who had her fore hooves up on the table and looked very angry. "My dear Twilight, just look at this place!" She gestured to castle. "You cannot possibly hope to cover this whole complex simply on your own. And quite frankly you haven't! What with the Trixie incident, Tirek, the bug bear and the blatant breaking and entering by Lady Starlight not two months ago! These grounds are not secure!" "Luna!" Celestia interrupted. Luna snapped her head over in the direction of her older sister and saw a look that looked similar to one a parent gives when scolding a child. Luna immediately calmed herself down and looked down at the table in embarrassment. "We are sorry. We should not have yelled." She murmured. Celestia sighed before looking back at Twilight. "What she is trying to say is that we are simply concerned for your safety. You must understand that even though you wish to remain so, you are not just another pony anymore. You are a member of the Equestrian Royal Family and therefore must be protected. You must understand that their have been threats made against the royal family in the past." "WHAT!?" Twilight was shocked. Who would even think of harming the Princesses? "Who are they?! What have they said?!" "Don't worry Twilight." Celestia quickly reassured quickly. "We are quite safe. And that is thanks to no small part from our guards. You see Twilight, our guards not only protect us physically, but they also do investigations into the threats received and advise us on how best to react to them. They also act as a sort of symbol of our titles as monarchs. This is important when meeting with foreign dignitaries." "Exactly." Cadence now spoke up and looked at Twilight. "When foreign officials visit the Crystal Empire and see the members of your personal guard, they are impressed by the fact that there are ponies willing to lay down their lives for us and therefore deserve respect." Twilight's ears went flat against her head when she heard the last part. "But...but I don't want anypony to have to die for me." She whispered. "And nopony is asking you to Twilight." Celestia again reassured. "We have never asked our guards to die for us. But they have. And it is sad but also courageous. That sort of dedication is definitely a rare quality." "Absolutely." Luna now cut in. "The ponies in my guard are some of the most loyal ponies I have ever met. It is truly an honor to have them." "Understand Twilight." Storm Shield started again. "We just want you and your friends to be safe." Twilight looked down at the table in deep thought as she considered the arguments. On one hoof she had never liked the idea of showing off her new higher status to anypony. But on the other hoof the Princesses made some good points. There had been a lot of close calls in the past that definitely had some cause for concern. Also the idea of some creature coming and hurting one of her friends made her sick to her stomach. She then felt something squeeze her right hoof and she looked down to see Spike grabbing onto it, looking up at her with a pleading look in his eyes. "Twilight." he said softly. "Please do it. I don't want you to get hurt." That was what did it for Twilight. She looked back up at the other occupants around the table with a look of conviction on her face. "I'll do it." She said firmly. Storm Shield sighed. "Alright. Then I guess the next order of business would be to set up the selection process to see which members of the royal guard will be..." "I don't want all of them to be royal guards." All heads in the room turned to Twilight with confused looks on their faces. Celestia cleared her throat to break the silence. "What do you mean Twilight?" "I only want a few royal guard officers to be in the unit so that they can provide experience and training to the recruits. I want the unit to be open to all volunteers so I don't seem to favor the guard. Any creature and yes I said creature should be allowed to join as long as they prove that they are capable. Also I want the unit to be small. 20 members maximum. I don't want to be the head of a grand army." Everypony else in the room looked at each other in wonder. Twilight certainly seemed to already have a grasp on what she wanted. But they were reassured in the fact that this was just normal Twilight Sparkle. Once she set her mind to something she pursued it with every cell of her brain. Storm Shield then brought out a blank piece of parchment and a quill from the saddlebag. "Alright then. All that appears to be left is to decide upon a unit name." Twilight again went into brainstorm mode. She though hard about what would best represent what she and her friends stood for. What was the thing that held Equestria together. When she finally after a few moments came to a conclusion, she smiled. "Harmony." She said. "The unit shall be called The Harmony Guard." Author's Note Hey everypony! Wow it has been a while! College is crazy! But not to worry! Soon I will be on break and therefore be able to write some more updates. So keep an eye out for those. This is an idea that has been floating around in my head for some time. It was time to put it to words. Hope you all enjoy! Wonder who will join the Harmony Guard? Chapter 2: The Call Goes OutTrottingham The cobblestone streets of the city of Trottingham echoed with the sounds of hooves making contact with the streets mixed with the rumbling of cartwheels rolling over the same avenues. Above this rose the hundreds of voices of the cities citizens conversing with each other over the days work and individual objectives of the day. The city, which many in Equestria referred to as "the city stuck in time" due to it's relatively old fashioned atmosphere, was very much alive that day. The true heart and soul of the town was it's enormous town square. Here the local farmers and vendors set up their quaint little stands and sold their wares and crops to their loyal customers. The street was always filled with the small wooden stands with ponies lining up to purchase their favorite goods at all times. In the center of it all was The Harmony Fountain, dedicated to the Elements of Harmony, that had saved Equestria more times than anypony could count. The tall white marble pillar in the center of the fountain was adorned with the engravings of the Element Bearers' cutie marks with the mark of Her Majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle at the top. Just across from the front of the monument was a small stone two story building with a wooden sign hanging in front of the door. The read in bold white letters ASHFEATHER: BLACKSMITH. From inside the shop, came the clank clank of a hammer striking metal. This was the work of a large griffon with ash grey feathers on his head and his wings, contrasted by dark black fur covering his body. His dark grey talons were covered by worn and charcoal smudged leather gloves to protect himself from his hot work. The griffon sighed with exhaustion after he delivered the last strike to the piece of metal that would soon take the form of a pick axe when it cooled down. He then lifted the goggles he wore on his head to protect his eyes to reveal that they were a light blue color that mimicked the summer sky. The burly griffon carried the still red hot piece of metal over to a water bucket nearby and dunked it into the liquid. Steam rose up immediately when the fiery metal made contact with the water with a loud hiss. Another well made piece of craftsmanship to line the wall of the small shop. "Hey Ashfeather!" The griffon turned his head quickly towards the sound of his name being called from the entrance to his workshop. Standing in the door was a light brown earth pony with a coal black mane wearing a white woolen vest, a red neckerchief around his neck, and a dark brown workers cap on his head. The ponies cutie mark was an oil miners lamp. "Hey Mine Shaft." Ashfeather replied his black beak smiling. "What going on?" "Come outside Ashfeather! Their's an officer from the royal guard here and he has some big news to share!" Mine Shaft then turned out the door of the shop. Ashfeather, now quite curious as to what could have his friend all excited, followed him out onto the square. Outside, dozens of citizens were crowding around The Harmony Fountain. Standing on top of a large wooden crate, Ashfeather could see a royal guard unicorn officer dressed in full armor minus the helmet standing and looking out over the gathering crowd. Standing on either side of the officer were two enlisted guards holding their spears in their hooves and wearing their helmets. As soon as Ashfeather and Mine Shaft arrived in the crowd, the guard officer's horn lit up in a golden aura and pulled out a scroll from his saddlebags and unrolled it front of his face. He then cleared his throat, which the crowd to as a sign to stop chatting amongst themselves and listen to the message. "Here ye! Here ye! An announcement from the capitol of Canterlot! By royal decree of the Four Princesses and the Equestrian Military, Her Royal Highness Princess Twilight Sparkle, head of The Friendship Council, has sent out a call for volunteers for her personal guard. All citizens of Equestria are offered the great honor of serving the Element of Magic and Princess of Friendship herself! All those creatures who wish to volunteer are to report to Ponyville for enlistment!" The officer then lowered the scroll and looked out to the crowd. "If anypony here has any interest in serving Her Majesty, my guards here have fliers with further information on the unit. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to grab one. Thank you all for your time." On that note, the officer dismounted the box and the two guards pulled out and placed their own respective stacks of fliers in front of themselves. Slowly but surely, they had ponies lining up to receive them. "Well ain't that something? Right Ashfeather?" Mine Shaft looked at his friend. However Ashfeather wasn't paying attention to his friend. Instead he stared at the line of ponies grabbing fliers from the royal guards with curiosity. Something in the back his mind was urging him to learn more. "I think I'm gonna get one of those fliers." He finally said to his friend. Mine Shaft looked at the black and grey griffon with confusion when he heard this. This lasted only for a few seconds though before the earth pony finally just shrugged and began to walk away. "Alright the Ashfeather, I'll see you around okay? I gotta get back to the depot. Lunch break is almost over." And with that, he made his way down the street towards Ebony Coaling Plant. Ashfeather waved at him before he disappeared around the brick buildings. He then strode on up to the right hoof line of ponies. There were only three other ponies left in the line in front of him, so Ashfeather found himself in the front quickly. When he got in front of the guard, the guard paused for a moment to look at him before he handed him the flier slowly. Ashfeather raised an eyebrow in confusion before he walked away, all the while conscious of the guard staring at him as he leaved. But it didn't matter as he soon reached his shop and sat down at his desk in the back to read the flier. The flier had Princess Twilight's cutie mark at the top and beneath it were the requirements for candidates for the unit. Again it said that all Equestrian citizens were eligible and that the receiving center was in Ponyville. Other points outlined on the flier that had not been mentioned by the guard officer in his speech were that the max number of positions in the guard was 20, the candidates were expected to pass strenuous fitness, combat, and diplomacy tests before being accepted, and that the guards would accompany the Princess everywhere and at all times and that their personal loyalty to her had to be strong. That last part made Ashfeather really think. He thought all the way back to when he first had arrived in Equestria some eight years ago. Back then, he had immigrated to the land of ponies due to the downhill economic, political, and social situation in the Griffon Kingdom. In particular, his home town of Griffonstone had been in near ruins when he had left his native country. When he had arrived in Equestria, he had been extremely wary of interaction with ponies from the start due to his imaginations on how they would react to a meat eater like himself. In fact there had been a few ponies who had made it known exactly what they thought of that. Then the news came from Canterlot about a new alicorn being crowned princess. Ashfeather had heard of Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends before he had come to Equestria. Their victory in vanquishing the dark spirit Nightmare Moon and restoring Princess Luna had made them international celebrities due to their direct impact on the Griffon Kingdom and the other nations. Their exploit that had the most direct impact on Ashfeather himself was the Tirek ordeal. Some ponies hadn't realized that Tirek fed off of the magic essence of all living creatures and had been quite surprised when Ashfeather had fallen from the sky and landed on a stone wall breaking his right hind leg after Tirek had drained him of his magic. What had surprised Ashfeather the most was that many of the ponies that had been afraid of him due to his omnivore diet had immediately come to his aid and had helped to heal him even without the use of magic. Ashfeather then remembered the day that the Element Bearers arrived in Trottingham and restored the citizens' magical essence. Ashfeather would never forget the liberating feeling of his flight abilities returning to him, as if someone had breathed in fresh life into his body. Two days later all the Element Bearers arrived in Trottingham with Twilight Sparkle leading them, to announce that she had been deemed Equestria's Princess of Friendship. She had given a speech in front of the same fountain that the guard officer had stood earlier, speaking of the importance and value of friendship and harmony to the life of Equestria and all of the world. Ashfeather was present that day in a wheelchair that had been provided by the ponies that had helped him and he could've sworn that Princess Twilight had been staring right at him when she had said "All of us, every creature in the world, in harmony can thrive and reach unending limits." That had struck a chord within Ashfeather and a few days later, he found himself thanking all of the ponies that had rescued him when he had broken his legs. What surprised him was that instead of how griffons usually demand restitution for services rendered, the ponies asked for nothing in return for their kindness and said that all they would like was his friendship. Ashfeather almost began tearing up when he remembered that day. It was the day that he had truly felt like he was a part of the community. These days he valued friendship more than anything in the world only second to his family, who he was glad to hear were now prospering back in Griffonstone thanks again to the efforts of Princess Twilight and her Friendship Council. In a way, Ashfeather realized that he owed more to the Princess than he had thought before. The idea of joining her personal guard seemed like the least that he could do to repay her for the impact she had had on his life. The young griffon got up from his chair and walked to the front of his shop. He flipped the open sign hanging from the door and flipped it to closed. He then closed and locked the black wooden and made his way upstairs to his bedroom to start packing for a trip to Ponyville. Ponyville Coming down the main street of the sprawling community of Ponyville was figure with an equine build but with characteristics that distinguished her from the pony species, in particular her black and white stripes and her large gold earrings and dzilla neck rings. Zecora had rarely ever ventured beyond her home in the Everfree Forest before. This had led to many of the citizens of Ponyville believing her to be a witch doctor or as her friend Pinkie Pie had once put it an "evil enchantress". But then when she encountered the six Bearers of Harmony when they became afflicted with poison joke, albeit they had come in with accusations at first, she had offered her expertise in the healing arts and earned their trust when she cured them of their ailments. Afterwards not only did the friends offer their apologies and friendship to the young zebra, they then went through town and got the rest of the ponies to warm up to Zecora and accept her as a friend. One particular act of kindness that she remembered fondly was when Twilight Sparkle came and personally apologized to her for her harsh accusations and for jumping to conclusions. Zecora had told the then young unicorn that there was nothing to apologize and that she was just glad that Twilight had accepted her as a friend. And ever since that had remained true. Zecora soon found herself at her target destination: Roseluck's Flower Shop. She always visited this shop to purchase flowers for her various medicines that she created back at her home. Entering the shop, she was greeted with a wave of aromas emanating from the dozens of flowers lining the shelves and walls. Behind the counter stood the pale yellow coated and raspberry maned owner of the humble shop, who looked up from her copy of the Canterlot Times when she heard the door open. "Hello Zecora!" Roseluck said happily. "How are you today?" Zecora smiled. "Quite well Roseluck lady of the flower, and how are you at this fine hour?" "I'm doing alright Zecora." Roseluck replied. "I assume that you are her for your daffodils?" Zecora nodded. "Yes young mare at least twenty and two, the last ingredients for my brew." Roseluck smiled and went over to the other side of the store and grabbed the requested amount of daffodils for her friend and customer. She then brought them back to the counter where she found that Zecora had already placed the required amount of bits to purchase the flowers. Roseluck placed the flowers gently into a bag and pushed it across the counter to Zecora who grabbed it with her mouth and placed the bag in her saddlebags. "Will that be all for today Zecora?" Roseluck asked. "Yes I believe so. I am afraid that now I must go. I wish you a good day my friend, and may the sun and stars of your life have no end." Zecora smiled and began to make her way towards the door. She had just placed her hoof on the doorknob when something caught her eye. Hanging on the left hoof side of the door was a poster with Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark on it. The Zebra mare was puzzled. What was going on with Twilight?" "Roseluck my dear, I mean not to bother you at all, but what is this hanging on your wall?" Zecora looked back at the flower pony. Roseluck looked up from the paper again to see what Zecora was talking about. "Oh that? Yeah some officer from the Royal Guard came by earlier and asked if he could put it up there." Zecora glanced back at the poster with curiosity. "My dear friend if I may, may I take this poster on my way? Back to my home so that I may read more about what our dear Princess may need?" Roseluck shrugged. "You can take it if you want. I told the guard that I really don't see the possibility of anyone who want to join the guard coming in here and seeing it." Zecora smiled and pulled the poster of the wall and exited the shop. Once outside she placed the paper in her saddlebags and began to make her way back to her house in the forest. Later When Zecora finally arrived at her home, she set her bags with her supplies down next to the other various herbs, spices and plants that she used for her potions and medicines. She then brought the poster that she had gotten from Roseluck and set it on the table near her boiling pot and sat down to read it. Zecora was very intrigued when she saw that it was an announcement for the formation of Twilight's personal guard unit. What she found the most intriguing about the poster was how it stated that all creatures of Equestria were eligible to volunteer. This was quite different from the other guard posters that Zecora had seen before where they said that only pony citizens were allowed to join. Zecora couldn't figure out why, but she wouldn't stop rereading the poster over and over again. When she finally did stop, she began thinking something she never would've thought before meeting Twilight; What if I joined her guard? Zecora considered Twilight one of her closest friends. She had helped Zecora become a more accepted member of the Ponyville community after she had apologized for her premature accusations. She had come to Zecora time and time again seeking guidance which Zecora was always happy to give. When Twilight had been crowned the Princess of Friendship, Zecora had been touched when Twilight said that she would make it a point to push for harmony among all creatures in Equestria. And of course that included Zebras. After going through every way that Twilight had impacted her life, Zecora realized that she had never, at least in her mind, truly shown her appreciation for it. Now there was this great opportunity to do just that. Zecora had made up her mind. She placed the poster back into the saddlebag and began removing the flowers from the bag and packing them with the items needed for a journey that one would not be coming back from for a while. Cloudsdale Lightning Dust was depressed. She sat in one of the local Cloudsdale bars in sad silence. She had never been this depressed in a while. Not since she had been dismissed from The Wonderbolt Academy for reckless endangerment. At first when she had been furious when she was removed from the course and had immediately blamed her wingpony Rainbow Dash for reporting it to Spitfire. But as time went on, and she saw how well Rainbow Dash did in the academy and how the Wonderbolt Commanders were praising her, she began to see that she had been wrong. No not just wrong, dead wrong! Looking back on it, she questioned how stupid she could've been thinking that her methods would've been okay with the Academy. She also had begun to feel guilty over the fact that her dumb recklessness had nearly caused serious harm to the other cadets. With these thoughts, her depression began to take hold until she had lost all of her confidence and had resigned herself to her fate. Then Tirek came. When Lightning Dust had felt her magic being ripped out of her, she felt as if the last remnants of hope and life had been ripped out with it. She had found herself on the ground, after having fallen through the cloud she had been standing on, too weak to move and unable to fly. She had literally dragged herself into a clump of trees somewhere and had laid herself down and assumed that this was just the last straw. She had squandered everything and now she was paying the price for it. But it was not the end for her. After a while, two other flightless pegasi came, wearing Wonderbolt Cadet uniforms, had appeared before her. She had recognized them as Thunderlane and Cloudchaser, her former classmates. At first, she was sure that they would leave her out of spite for what she did to them at the academy. But to her utter disbelief, they came over and brought up a canteen to her lips and urged her to drink. She didn't for a few moments due to the shock that it hadn't been that long ago that she had nearly killed these ponies for her own personal benefit and now they were aiding her in her time of need. They then stayed with her to make sure was okay, until suddenly a rainbow wave spread across the sky. It was then that Lightning Dust felt her magical essence return and in excitement had stretched her wings to fly, and was answered with a sharp pain that came from her sprained wing. It was then that she was surprised again by her former classmates when Thunderlane floated above her and grabbed her and flew her up to Cloudsdale where they delivered her to the hospital where other pegasi that had been injured during the whole ordeal. Then Princess Twilight Sparkle visited Cloudsdale two days later, giving a speech on how she had been crowned Equestria's Princess of Friendship and that she would now make it her life's work to spread that harmonious message. What had struck deep with Lighting Dust was how Princess Twilight spoke of forgiveness and second chances for all ponies and all creatures. It made her feel that there was still hope for her somewhere. So the young pegasus had gotten her life back together. She got herself a job working with the Cloudsdale weather factory and had worked her way up to foreman of the cloud production floor. She had made new friends with her coworkers and everything seemed to be going well. That had been what it looked like up until now. Now it appeared to Lightning Dust as if her life was going nowhere anytime soon. She had a deep rooted sense that she wasn't really doing any sort of good with her life. She needed something new that felt more fulfilling. Suddenly the door to the bar burst open as a blue green pegasus stallion came running in with a piece of paper in his hoof. "Hey guys, guys! Have you all seen this?!" He said excitedly. The rest of the stallions in the bar, which was pretty much everypony else as Lightning Dust was the only mare patron, all gathered around the new arrival to see what was going on. Lightning Dust decided to just continue drinking her hard cider. "What's going on Open Skies?" One of the stallions asked. The stallion known as Open Skies placed the paper he had down on the table. "This here poster says that Princess Twilight is forming her own guard unit." Lightning Dust's ears suddenly perked up. She quickly got up from her seat and hovered up above the group of stallions to see the poster they were looking at. "Yeah." Open Skies continued. "It says here that it's going to be called The Harmony Guard and that it will directly serve Princess Twilight and the Friendship Council. All citizens of Equestria are allowed to volunteer. Looks like it's gonna be pretty elite because apparently they are going to only accept 20 candidates after they finish training." At that moment, something in Lightning Dust's brain clicked. She now knew it! She knew what she now needed to do! She quickly left her tab on the table next to her drink and flew out of the bar towards her home. She now knew where her life was going to go and she didn't intend to let this opportunity pass by. Author's Note Hey guys! So here is the second chapter of our little adventure. Hope you all enjoy being introduced to some of the future trainees for the Harmony Guard. These are also not the only characters that we will meet in training. There will be others. You all will just have to keep reading to find out! Again I hope you all enjoy! Chapter 3: Mustering in the Recruits (Edited)Friendship Castle. Day of Muster "What should I say to them? What do they expect me to say? I've never addressed soldiers before. What if I mess up?" "Relax Twilight. You are overthinking this." Twilight sighed. Today was the day that the recruits for her guard were supposed to arrive at the training camp built by the Royal Guard Engineer detachment assigned to assist in the training of the recruits. This would not have troubled Twilight that much if she hadn't been told that about 100 citizens of Equestria had turned out for the opportunity to serve her in the guard. And on top of all that, she had been informed by the Princesses that she was expected to give an address to the recruits. Now she was fretting over what to say to them that would sound encouraging, even though she knew that 80 of them would not make it into the unit. "I just don't want to make it seem like they aren't appreciated for their efforts." Twilight said to Storm Shield, who sat next to her in her study as she fretted over the days events. He was there to act as the military advisor to Twilight and to keep her up to speed on the training progress for the recruits. Right now however, he was playing to role of the reassuring uncle. "So make them feel appreciated Twilight." He said gently. "Let them know that even if they don't make it into the guard that they are by no mean less valuable than any other citizen of Equestria. Let them know that their country and their princess" He put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, "thank them from the depths of their hearts for their efforts. Tell them that, and they'll leave here with even more encouragement." Twilight looked down at her hooves as she considered Storm Shield's words. At last, she smiled and looked up at the old stallion. "You're right Uncle Stormy. Thank you." Storm Shield bowed his head and smiled. "I am at your service your majesty." Twilight giggled at the sight of the senior stallion bowing to the junior of age. She truly appreciated all that Storm Shield had done for her brother and all that he was now doing for her. His experience in military practice and training would be invaluable she believed during the entire event. Just then there was a knock on the door to the study. "Your Majesty? Colonel Storm Shield?" Came a voice from behind it. Twilight looked at Storm Shield and nodded at him. "Enter." Storm Shield called. The door swung open to reveal a grey painted unicorn stallion clad in golden royal guard armor standing behind it. He bowed in respect to Twilight and then to Colonel Storm Shield, who both returned the gesture with slight nods of their own. "Sorry to interrupt your highness." The guard said as he came back up from the bow. "But Captain Bladewind reports that all recruits are gathered and are now present on the parade ground." Twilight looked at Storm Shield nervously. Storm Shield's reply was to give yet another reassuring smile that read 'you'll do just fine' all over it. Twilight slowly smiled in return and turned her attention back to the guard. "Very well Private. Lead the way." She said with newfound confidence. The walk to the newly built training camp was no longer than five minutes, but it was still far enough away to be secluded enough for training and so it wasn't intrusive to the citizens of Ponyville. The Royal Engineers had built a total of four large wooden barracks with walls painted white and dark brown wooden shingle roofs. Each of the barracks were capable of housing at max 25 occupants and were equipped with wood stoves and showers for the recruits. Behind the barracks was a large mess hall capable of catering to 150 individuals. It was also equipped with the necessary cooking facilities to handle all variations of diets found in Equestria. In front of the four barracks was a wide parade ground for morning formations. Across the parade ground was the one of the smaller buildings on the site; the commandant's office and administration building. In front of the commandant's office was a tall white flag pole, from which the National Flag of Equestria flew and the newly created Flag of Harmony with Princess Twilight's cutie mark emblazoned on it also flew. This was also white with a dark brown roof, but it was about half the size of one of the barracks. On either side of the barracks were the armory, magazine, quartermasters office and shed, the officers quarters, and the camp hospital. Surrounding the entire camp grounds was a dirt track meant for running and marching. Surrounding that was a large stockade fence with sentry towers at each of the four corners and in between making a total of eight sentry towers. The large wooden entrance gate was closest to the parade ground on the right of the commandant's office building. A large sign stood over the gate that read in large white lettering "Fort Harmony". As Twilight walked up to the large gates of Fort Harmony, she was in awe of the shear magnitude of the newly built fort. She was impressed with the speed and efficiency of the Royal Engineers in their construction and she made a mental note to herself to remember to write a letter of commendation to the commander in charge of the detachment, Lieutenant NailHead. As Twilight, Colonel Storm Shield, and the Royal Guard escorting them approached the gate, one of the guards in the sentry tower next to the gate called down to the guards operating the gate that day. "Open the gate for Princess Twilight!!" Less than a second after those words came from the guards mouth, she saw the gates groan open to reveal two white pegasi guards pushing them open, who then bowed as she entered. Her attention however was riveted to the sight that lay in front of her. The parade ground was packed! All 100 of the arrivals had been packed into the parade ground and were now milling around among the crowd. Suitcases, trunks and bags full of personal items littered the ground around them. Surrounding the parade ground were about twenty or so enlisted guardsponies. A group of 5 stallions with officer markings on their armor stood near the flagpole conversing amongst themselves. Twilight suddenly felt Storm Shield tap her on the shoulder and point to one of the officers with captains markings on his armor. The stallion was a unicorn and he had a dark black mane and pale white coat. His cutie mark was a silver sword blade with wind traces trailing from the back giving the impression of it swinging through the air. His armor was polished to the exact regulation of Royal Guard standards and he certainly looked smart. "That is Captain Bladewind." Storm Shield explained to Twilight, who nodded in recognition. Up until now, she had never really seen Captain Bladewind, only conversing with him through letters on the construction of the camp. "He has been placed in the temporary position as camp commandant." Storm Shield continued. "So you'll want to talk to him first before we begin." "Thanks Uncle Stormy." Twilight replied. She then trotted on over to the officers. As she got closer, the stallions noticed her approach and swiftly fell into a straight line and stiffened their posture. When Twilight reached the group they all bowed in unison towards her. "Please sirs." Twilight smiled as she waved her hoof. "No need for that. Though I do thank you." The stallion that Twilight had identified as Captain Bladewind stepped forward and once again bowed in respect to the young princess. "Captain Bladewind, 5th Royal Guard Regiment, at your service your majesty." "Good morning Captain Bladewind." Twilight smiled. "I must say I am impressed with what has been accomplished here. Are all of those who submitted for training are present." A fire red unicorn stallion with an orange and yellow spiked mane with lieutenants markings on his armor stepped forward and levitated a clipboard up to his face and quickly skimmed the pages before looking back at Twilight. "All are present and accounted for your majesty." He said. "Thank you Lieutenant Firebrand." Captain Bladewind said to the young officer. He then turned back to Twilight and nodded. "We are ready to commence the opening events at your discretion your majesty." Twilight paused and shifted her gaze shifted to the large crowd on the parade ground. As she did she saw that a small number of them had taken notice of her arrival and were now gesturing towards her and whispering to each other in awe. The butterflies began to return to her stomach. Storm Shield could see this and quickly put his hoof on her shoulder and gave her another of his trademark reassuring smiles when she turned to look at him. In response Twilight took a deep breath and turned back to Captain Bladewind and nodded. "You may proceed Captain." She said. "Right away your majesty." Bladewind bowed and then turned to the other officers beside him. "Lieutenant Firebrand, have them fall in." "Yes sir." The young officer saluted and promptly about faced and took 4 steps towards the crowd. "Sergeant Major!" A dark grey pegasus stallion with a long wavy white mane turned around to face the Lieutenant. "Yes sir!" he replied. "Form the recruits into inspection formation if you please!" "Yes sir!" The Sergeant Major wheeled around and faced the crowd directly. "ALRIGHT YA LOT!" He bellowed. "I WANT FOUR STRAIGHT LINES OF 25 EACH FACIN' MY WAY! STEP TOO IT NOW!" Soon the recruits began to form the four lines ordered for. They weren't straight lines by any means, as they were being formed by creatures who were unfamiliar to military drill and discipline. One could plainly see the green quality they displayed as they fumbled about with their personal bags and jostling against each other as they struggled to find a place in the lines. By this time, Twilight and the other officers had stepped up to the front porch of the commandants office to better observe the process. Twilight stood in the center of the officers with Colonel Storm Shield on her right and Captain Bladewind on her left. Twilight glanced at the tall Captain when she heard a low growl come from his direction. When she looked at him, she saw what looked very close to being an angry scowl on the stallion's face. Not noticing the Princess looking in his direction, Captain Bladewind turned to another officer standing to his left. "Quite a motley bunch aren't they?" He whispered in a low growl. "More like a rabble then potential recruits." Twilight frowned upon hearing this. "Give them time Captain." She said. "I am sure that they will start to show their value sooner or later." Bladewind looked at Twilight with an unreadable expression, then turned back to watching the proceedings. "We'll see your majesty." By then the crowd had formed into the four lines and were now facing the office building. Lieutenant Firebrand walked up to the front steps of the building and saluted with his right hoof. This gesture was returned by the other officers present. "Sir, recruits assembled and in formation for review." he said confidently. "Thank you Lieutenant." Bladewind replied. He then turned his attention to the recruits lined up in front of them. "Good morning fellow citizens of Equestria!" He boomed. "Welcome to Fort Harmony. This will be your home for the next three months of training. And it will be a brutal three months, the most brutal three months of your lifetime. You are all here to achieve the great honor of being the select few trusted to protect Her Majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and Head of The Council of Harmony. This goal will only be achieved through your own display of grit, strength and dedication to your cause. Now, here to address you personally, Her Majesty, Princess Twilight Sparkle." Twilight took this as her cue to step forward to take Captain Bladewind's place to speak to the recruits. When she stepped into place the lines of recruits erupted with cheers. Twilight was caught off guard by the unexpected showing of admiration from the crowd and smiled shyly. Suddenly, the voices of the officers began to raise above the crowd. "QUIEEET! QUIEET!" Just as suddenly as it began, the cheering stopped and an awkward silence fell upon the field. Twilight took a few moments to compose herself after the sudden outburst. With a clearing of her throat, she began to speak. "Hello everyone." She started, reminded that it wasn't just ponies she was addressing. "I want to welcome you all here. I must say that I was quite surprised to see such large numbers on the list of recruits and I am deeply touched. I wish you all well in the coming weeks and the best of luck. It is true that not all of you will make it into my personal guard but I do not wish any of you to be disheartened by this fact. For though you may not make it into my personal guard, those of you who make it through the training course will be the first members of the 1st Harmony Regiment. So know that no matter the outcome of your time here, just remember that we are all citizens of Equestria, and we all must stand together in friendship and harmony and we will all prosper through the ages. And now, I wish to meet you all." With that, Twilight began to make her way down towards the lines of recruits. The officers present on the porch of the office building followed after her, with Colonel Storm Shield taking up a position on her right side. "What is this about the 1st Harmony Regiment?" He whispered questioningly. Twilight responded with a guilty grin. "I'll tell you later." She whispered back. The entourage soon reached to left end of the forward most line and began to make their way down to the right. At first the line consisted mostly of fellow ponies. Stallions and mares of all three pony races. Many were from Canterlot, Baltimare, Cloudsdale, and Manehattan. They were factory workers, farmers, taxi drivers, and office workers to name a few. Twilight soon was seven down the line and now found herself walking up to someone that she knew already. A certain grey pegasus with a blonde mane to be exact. "Derpy?!" Twilight exclaimed in surprise. The Ponyville Mailmare looked up at Twilight with one of her yellow eyes. The other stared down at the ground to the left. Her expression was quite peculiar to Twilight. It almost seemed pleading. Begging for Twilight to not do something. Twilight's question as to what that was was answered when Captain Bladewind spoke up behind her. "Is this mare not up to standards your majesty?" He asked, throwing a side smirk towards Derpy, whose ears flattened against her head. "If so I can have her removed from the training program." It took a moment for Twilight to register in her mind what Bladewind had just said. And it infuriated her. The idea of somepony not being up to standards went against everything she and the Elements of Harmony stood for. She quickly whipped her head around and glared at Captain Bladewind, who recoiled in surprise at the gesture. "You will do no such thing Captain." Twilight said firmly. She then turned back to Derpy who still bore an expression of fear of being kicked out on the first day. Twilight smiled. "Every creature here is to have an equal opportunity to prove their value and worth." Derpy smiled at Twilight's kind words. "Thank you your majesty." She whispered. Twilight put a hoof on Derpy's shoulder. "Good luck to you Derpy." Derpy bowed in respect to Twilight and smiled. "Thank you your majesty." She said softly. Twilight smiled back and continued down the line. Soon she had only 5 more ponies to speak to in the first line and began approaching the first of them. When she stopped she was quite surprised by who she saw. Standing before her was a tall dark brown 6 point deer stag. He was about a inch taller than Twilight from the top of the head. He was clad in a green wool jacket and with silver buttons running down the front. His antlers were worn yet he definitely appeared to be quite young for his size. His eyes were a light blue. "And what is your name sir?" Twilight asked. "Bradshaw your Majesty." The young buck said as he bowed deep in respect. "And where are you from Bradshaw?" "The Whitetail Woods your ma'am." Twilight smiled. She had recently visited Whitetail Woods and had found the deerfolk to be quite friendly. She had always been intrigued with their similarities in magical essence to the Earth Ponies. "I have been to the Whitetail Woods before. I found it quite beautiful. What was your profession before you came here?" "I was a planter ma'am." Bradshaw smiled. "I helped to keep at the wildflower population running and prevent invasive species from destroying our ecosystem." Twilight's eyes lit up at the unique occupation. "How fascinating! And if you don't mind me asking, what was your motivation for coming here?" "You and the Friendship Council saved our homes when you destroyed the plundervines that appeared soon after your ascension to power. We also have you all to thank for vanquishing the monster Tirek and restoring the magic essence to all the creatures of our domain." Bradshaw then bowed again in respect. "We owe you all our lives ma'am, and I pledge mine to you." Twilight could hardly speak. She had never expected to hear such a story and level of dedication from any creature. This deer, who up until just now she had never met face to face had just pledged his life to her. It was certainly a humbling experience. After a few moments she regained herself and smiled at the buck. "I am eternally grateful Bradshaw." She said. " And I wish you the best of luck in training." Bradshaw brought his head back up and smiled. "I thank you your highness." He replied. With a smile, Twilight continued until she finally had reached the end of the first line. She then made her way to the right end of the second line and began to make her way to the left. After about 10 ponies in the line, she encountered an individual that she recognized. "Zecora?" She exclaimed. The zebra medicine mare smiled when Twilight recognized her. "Hello Twilight my dear. I hope that you are well this day of the year." "Excuse me your highness." Lieutenant Firebrand came up to Twilight. "Do you know this zebra?" He asked. "Why yes of course." Twilight smiled, "She is a good friend of mine." She then turned back to Zecora. "But what are you doing here Zecora." "Not too long ago I saw your call. Now I wish to serve you above all. Your friendship has been a blessing to me, and now I want you to see, how much I cherish our connection by performing as your personal protection." Twilight again found herself at a loss for words at that statement. "Well I...I......" She paused before continuing. "Thank you Zecora." She said softly. "Your a good friend and I wish you the best of luck." The zebra just nodded and smiled one of her wisdom filled smiles. Twilight soon began her walk down the rest of the line. She found that she was now encountering fellow citizens of Ponyville. One such was the blue unicorn stallion Noteworthy, whom Twilight had spoken to from time to time and had hear singing to himself as he went about his daily routine. His brother Toe-Tapper was in the Pony Tones with Rarity, but Noteworthy was a little shy and spent most of his time in his family's music shop. When Twilight spoke to him about his reasons for joining the her guard, he told her of when Tirek had appeared in a theater in Baltimare that he had been visiting at the time and had drained all the unicorns present of their magical essence. When it had been restored by Twilight and her friends, he had still been in distress as he did not know the whereabouts of his brother, and Twilight had brought Toe-Tapper to him personally. Noteworthy said that since she had taken the time to ensure that he and his brother were safe, the least he could do was to ensure that she was safe. Twilight expressed her gratitude to Noteworthy and continued down the line. At the end of the line she encountered a black and grey male griffon. This was the fourth griffon she had greeted. "Hello. What is your name?" "Ashfeather your majesty." The young male griffon bowed. "And where are your from Ashfeather?" "Trottingham ma'am." "Trottingham! What a lovely town! And what did you do in Trottingham?" "I was a blacksmith ma'am." This caught the attention of the officers present. A blacksmith would be a very useful member of any military outfit. The only officer who didn't seem to be all that enthusiastic about it was Captain Bladewind, who muttered something to himself under his breath. "Well I wish you the best of luck Ashfeather." Twilight smiled and continued on to the next line. Meanwhile, before continuing on with the rest of the group, Captain Bladewind walked up and got right up into Ashfeather's face and scowled at him. "I'm watching you griffon." he snarled before walking away and leaving the young Ashfeather bewildered at his hostility. Meanwhile Twilight was already making her way down the third line. She encountered another Ponyville citizen, the local watch maker, Time Turner, though most ponies knew him as Doc. She encountered at least two other deer who had come from other woodland regions of Equestria as well. The most shocking encounter however was a certain blue green pegasus mare with a lightning yellow mane. "Lightning Dust?" The young pegasus mare bowed her head in respect, but did not smile. "Hello your majesty." She said. "What are you doing here?" Twilight questioned. Lightning Dust looked straight ahead in a manner as if she were being addressed by a superior officer. "To learn ma'am. And to serve you." Twilight was surprised by the bluntness and the humble nature of the answer. She had expected some sort of egotistical response from the mare whose recklessness had almost severely injured her former Wonderbolt trainees and Twilight's own friends. She then chastised herself for not having an open mind and decided to give Lightning dust the benefit of the doubt. "Well, I thank you Lightning Dust." She said. "I wish you the best of luck in training." Lightning Dust bowed her head. "Thank you ma'am." Twilight continued on the rest of the line without encountering any individual she recognized and had soon done the same with the last line of 25 recruits. Upon realizing that she had greeted all present, Twilight returned to the front of the parade ground and turned to face all present. "Once again I thank you all, and I wish you the best of luck throughout the next three months." She addressed the crowd. She then turned to Captain Bladewind. "You may take over Captain." "Ma'am." Bladewind nodded and then turned to the junior officers present. "Alright gentlecolts, lets get all recruits assigned to their barracks and then have them all gather in the dining hall by 1200 hours for training briefing." "Yes sir." All four officers nodded and turned to address the crowd. "All recruits make your way to your assigned barracks! Your number is found in the top left corner of your muster form! All recruits are to then proceed to the dining hall for a 12:00 briefing! NCOs report to the commandants office immediately!" While the recruits began to break ranks and make their way to their assigned barracks, Twilight and Storm Shield watched from the commandants office porch. "Well what do you think your majesty?" Storm Shield asked. "You think they are up to the challenge?" Twilight took a few moments to look over the crowd of creatures that had come from all corners of Equestria to join her guard and smiled. "I know they are." Author's Note Hello everypony! Nice to be back writing again. Hope you all enjoy this next installment in The Harmony Guard. We are now starting to meet some of the recruits for the guard and the officers that will be training them. Also for those of you who don't remember Noteworthy, here he is: and here he is when Tirek is draining him of magic: There will be more on why he is joining the guard later. We have also met some of the non canon individuals that will be joining as well. What else is there to know about Bradshaw? And what is up with Captain Bladewind huh? Hope you all enjoy and I'll see you next time! Edit: (Derpy has replaced the oc Wind Sweeper. I may bring her back as a secondary character later on. But I have some great ideas for Derpy further in the story. Hope you all don't mind the change.) Also a quick heads up. I have started a new blog if anyone wishes to check out
Chapter 1: Put to PaperTwo Months after the events of The Cutie Remark Sitting in the center of a lush green field in the center of the quaint town of Ponyville Equestria, towering over every other building within the town limits, was the great crystal Castle of Friendship. Inside it's massive halls was it's resident, The Princess of Friendship and former student of the Solar Monarch Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle. The young purple alicorn was at this moment taking part in one of her most favorite pastimes outside of hanging out with her group of friends; studying in her personal library within the castle. Specifically, she was studying about advanced unicorn magic. Her recent encounter with a certain unicorn had prompted her to read up on the ancient and powerful spells that she had seen performed by her. She also was reading up on teaching skills, as she had taken it upon herself to teach this gifted unicorn the powerful magic of friendship. She had realized immediately that taking on a student was going to be a daunting task, and she therefore had to prepare herself thoroughly. "Twilight!" She perked her head up when she heard her name being called from the hallway outside. "Twilight I'm back!" Twilight levitated her books over to a small table in the middle of the room and set them down in a neat stack. She then trotted on over to the door and entered the long hallway. Looking to her left she saw a light pink unicorn mare with a purple mane and tail with a light blue stripe running down both of them. Her cutie mark was a purple and white star with two blue streams above it. When the unicorn took notice of Twilight, she smiled and trotted over to the princess. "Hey Twilight." "Hey Starlight Glimmer." Twilight answered her new student. "How was your time helping Fluttershy with her animal friends?" "Oh it was fun!" Starlight smiled. "Those animals are just so precious. Fluttershy is just so lucky to have them as friends." Twilight smiled at her new friend. Starlight had really come a long way in the last two months since their last encounter and especially since her depression induced push for forced equality among ponies by removing a pony's cutie mark and subsequent talent. It had taken Twilight quite a while to convince the unicorn the error of her ways before she permanently damaged Equestria. The hardest part had been convincing the other princesses that Starlight could be taught the values of friendship and could therefore be saved. It had taken a lot of convincing, but they ultimately gave her the go ahead. "Well Starlight." Twilight continued. "I'm glad you had a good time. Now if you want to go and freshen up, dinner will be on fairly soon." "Alright. Thanks Twilight. See you in a little while." Starlight said with a smile. She then trotted off down the hallway towards her room. Twilight then began to head off towards her own bedroom to get ready for the inevitably delicious meal that her number one assistant Spike the dragon had prepared. She had just reached the end of the hallway and was about to open the door into the other corridor when the door swung open on it's own to reveal her number one assistant standing there panting and sweating like he had just been in a great hurry and was clutching a scroll in his right claws. "Twi....light..." Spike tried to say in between gasps of breath. Twilight quickly put her hoof on his shoulder to stop him from overworking himself. "Spike. Just calm down and take a few deep breaths." She said calmly. After a few more large intakes of air, the purple and green dragon had finally caught his breath and Twilight stepped back with a smile. "Alright. Now what's going on?" Spike held out the scroll in his claws. "Important message from Princess Celestia." Twilight's eyes went wide and she immediately grabbed the scroll with her magic and unrolled it in front of her face and began to read. Dear Twilight I do hope you have been well these past few weeks. I am writing to inform you that Luna, Cadence and myself will be coming to your castle tomorrow to discuss with you an urgent matter that we believe has been put off for too long. We will also be accompanied by Colonel Storm Shield of the 1st Royal Guard Regiment as well. If you are wondering why a military officer is coming to speak with you, it will all be clarified tomorrow when we arrive. We will arrive at around 8:00 tomorrow morning. Please give my regards to Spike and all the girls. Sincerely Celestia Twilight's eyes went even wider when she finished reading the letter. Spike looked at her with a look of curiosity. "Well, what does it say?" "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Cadence are coming here tomorrow to discuss something of great importance!" Twilight exclaimed. "Oh my gosh! We've got to prepare for them! Everything needs to be cleaned! The books need to be properly arranged! I've got to go and tell Starlight!" And with that, the Princess of Friendship raced back down the hall towards her new students room, leaving Spike standing there with a look of worry over how nervous Twilight was getting over something that had happened numerous times before. "*Sigh*. I'll go get the duster." The Next Day Twilight paced nervously back and forth in the foyer of the entrance to her castle. It was 7:59 a.m., exactly sixty seconds until the Princesses arrived at the castle with Colonel Storm Shield of the Royal Guard. Her mind was going a mile a minute trying to think of a possible situation of reason for their visit. "What if Equestria is in danger again? What if another enemy has come back for revenge? What if their is another test that I never knew about?!" "Twilight calm down!" Spike said. He had been standing with Starlight Glimmer and the rest of their friends that had come over when they had heard the news. They had been standing their for the past half hour watching Twilight pacing in front of them. "I'm sure that everything is fine." "Yeah Twilight." Applejack chimed in. "The Princess didn't sound to serious in her letter. It's probably not that big of a deal." Twilight stopped her pacing and faced her friends. "But then why are they bringing along Colonel Storm Shield?" "That we are not quite sure about darling." Rarity piped up. "But pray tell, who is Colonel Storm Shield?" "He commands the 1st Royal Guard Regiment." Twilight explained. "He was the officer who trained my brother when he entered the Guard Officer Academy." "Well maybe he just wants to catch up and see how one of his recruits sisters is doing?" Rainbow Dash suggested. "Yeah!" Pinkie Pie now exclaimed. "Maybe they want to have some sort of PARTY!" Fluttershy, who was standing next to the party pony, flinched slightly when the pink mare shouted. She then walked up to Twilight and smiled slightly. "Twilight. I'm sure everything will be fine." She said reassuringly. Twilight sighed. "Yeah. You're probably right Fluttershy. It's just that...." *Knock* *Knock* *Knock* Everpony in the room turned their heads towards the large doors of the entrance when they heard the distinct sound of somepony from the outside requesting entrance. For a few moments, none of them made a move, then suddenly Twilight rushed over to the door and pulled it open, revealing for figures. From left to right was Princess Cadence, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia and a dark grey unicorn stallion with a light grey mane wearing the red jacket of a royal guard officer with the bronze wings of a full colonel, all smiling when they saw the small alicorn open the door. "Hello Twilight." Princess Celestia said kindly. "It is very good to see you." Twilight smiled brightly when she saw her beloved mentor. "It is good to see you too princess!" She said happily. She turned to the darker alicorn standing next to the solar monarch. "Hello Princess Luna. How have you been?" "Quite well thank you Twilight." The lunar princess replied. "And remember, please call me Luna." Twilight nodded in agreement. She then turned to the pink alicorn standing next to Luna and giggled. "Cadence!" "Twilight!" "Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" The two alicorns laughed happily after performing their sacred traditional chant to each other. All the others present smiled and laughed to themselves at the display of such strong friendship. It was at that moment when Twilight and Cadence had finished, that the grey unicorn stallion stepped forward smiling lightly. Twilight, taking notice of the officer, walked up to him, paused in front of him, then gently wrapped her hooves around his neck. This action was mirrored by the stallion. "It's good to see you Uncle Stormy." Twilight said. Storm Shield blushed slightly at hearing his nickname and hearing the other ponies in the room giggling in response. However he continued to embrace Twilight for a few more moments before breaking away and stepping back. "It's good to see you too Little Twilight." He said in a deep and gruff voice. "Though I'm not sure if I should say little anymore." Now it was Twilight's turn to start blushing. Meanwhile her friends were slightly puzzled as to why their seemed to be such a personal relationship between Twilight and this old stallion that until just recently none of them had known existed. Twilight saw their confusion and turned back to face them and explain. "Everypony, this is Colonel Storm Shield." She introduced him "I call him Uncle Stormy because he and my dad are really good friends. He used to visit and play with my brother and I when we were kids." She looked back up at the guard and smiled. "He's the one that brought me books on defense magic." Storm Shield returned the smile. "And you learned those spells quickly, didn't you little Twilight?" He ruffled the alicorn's mane, a clear sign that their relationship was familial. Celestia cleared her throat to get everyponys' attention. "While I hate to interrupt this introduction, we must discuss the subject of our visit." She looked at Twilight. "Twilight, may we gather together in your dining hall?" Twilight nodded. "Of course princess. Right this way." She led the group towards hallway leading to the dining hall. Her group of friends followed close behind until Celestia stopped and turned to face them. "I'm sorry everypony." She said "But this is a matter that must be discussed between Twilight, Luna, Cadence, Colonel Storm Shield and I." Twilight looked back at her former mentor with a puzzled look. "Princess Celestia, what's going on? Why can't they be with us?" Celestia looked at Twilight with a serious yet caring look in her eyes. "There is something that we must discuss with you personally before anyone else Twilight." She then looked back at the rest of Twilight's friends. "You all shall be informed of what is going on soon, but for now we must talk only with Twilight for it mainly affects her." Twilight looked uneasy. She stared at her friends with worry. She wanted them to be with her because she trusted their judgement. She then looked back at Celestia. "Can Spike come in with us at least?" Celestia smiled. "Yes Spike may come with us." Upon hearing this the purple and green dragon smiled and ran over to Twilight's side. He was happy that Twilight, whom he considered like a mother to him, wanted him specifically to come with her into the meeting. "Alright then." Twilight said. "This way Princess." She then led the royals and the guard officer down the hall towards their destination. Meanwhile her friends sat and watched them leave before looking at each other with curiosity and confusion. "What do y'all reckon they're gonna be talkin' about in there?" Applejack asked around. "I don't know." Fluttershy said softly. "I just hope it's nothing bad." Meanwhile Twilight and the rest of the group had reached the dining hall. They soon began to take their respective seats around the massive table in the center of the room. Celestia sat at the head of the table with Twilight, Spike, and Cadence on her left and Luna and Storm Shield on her right. "Twilight" Celestia started speaking. "I first want to say thank you seeing us on such short notice. I do hope we didn't make you too worried." "Oh it was no trouble at all Princess." Twilight shook her head. "Though I am very curious as to what you want to talk to me about." The serious look returned to Celestia's face. She then looked to Storm Shield. "I think it would be best to let Colonel Storm Shield start." Storm Shield in reply, then looked across the table at Twilight. "Twilight as you know, I command the 1st Royal Guard Regiment in Canterlot correct?" Twilight nodded. "You also know that I am in charge of the selection process for volunteers to Princess Celestia's, Princess Luna's, and Princess Cadence's personal guard detachments correct?" Again Twilight nodded, even more curious now. What did this have to do with her. Storm Shield pulled out a few scrolls from a saddlebag next to Celestia with his magic and levitated them over to himself. "I have been assigned by Princess Celestia to assist you in the formation of your own personal guard unit." Twilight's eyes went as wide as dinner plates and her draw nearly hit the floor. Her own guard unit? She had never even considered that idea, for one single reason. "But I don't need a guard unit Princess." She looked back at the solar monarch. "I'm perfectly fine by myself." "That is absolute nonsense!" All heads in the room turned towards Princess Luna, who had her fore hooves up on the table and looked very angry. "My dear Twilight, just look at this place!" She gestured to castle. "You cannot possibly hope to cover this whole complex simply on your own. And quite frankly you haven't! What with the Trixie incident, Tirek, the bug bear and the blatant breaking and entering by Lady Starlight not two months ago! These grounds are not secure!" "Luna!" Celestia interrupted. Luna snapped her head over in the direction of her older sister and saw a look that looked similar to one a parent gives when scolding a child. Luna immediately calmed herself down and looked down at the table in embarrassment. "We are sorry. We should not have yelled." She murmured. Celestia sighed before looking back at Twilight. "What she is trying to say is that we are simply concerned for your safety. You must understand that even though you wish to remain so, you are not just another pony anymore. You are a member of the Equestrian Royal Family and therefore must be protected. You must understand that their have been threats made against the royal family in the past." "WHAT!?" Twilight was shocked. Who would even think of harming the Princesses? "Who are they?! What have they said?!" "Don't worry Twilight." Celestia quickly reassured quickly. "We are quite safe. And that is thanks to no small part from our guards. You see Twilight, our guards not only protect us physically, but they also do investigations into the threats received and advise us on how best to react to them. They also act as a sort of symbol of our titles as monarchs. This is important when meeting with foreign dignitaries." "Exactly." Cadence now spoke up and looked at Twilight. "When foreign officials visit the Crystal Empire and see the members of your personal guard, they are impressed by the fact that there are ponies willing to lay down their lives for us and therefore deserve respect." Twilight's ears went flat against her head when she heard the last part. "But...but I don't want anypony to have to die for me." She whispered. "And nopony is asking you to Twilight." Celestia again reassured. "We have never asked our guards to die for us. But they have. And it is sad but also courageous. That sort of dedication is definitely a rare quality." "Absolutely." Luna now cut in. "The ponies in my guard are some of the most loyal ponies I have ever met. It is truly an honor to have them." "Understand Twilight." Storm Shield started again. "We just want you and your friends to be safe." Twilight looked down at the table in deep thought as she considered the arguments. On one hoof she had never liked the idea of showing off her new higher status to anypony. But on the other hoof the Princesses made some good points. There had been a lot of close calls in the past that definitely had some cause for concern. Also the idea of some creature coming and hurting one of her friends made her sick to her stomach. She then felt something squeeze her right hoof and she looked down to see Spike grabbing onto it, looking up at her with a pleading look in his eyes. "Twilight." he said softly. "Please do it. I don't want you to get hurt." That was what did it for Twilight. She looked back up at the other occupants around the table with a look of conviction on her face. "I'll do it." She said firmly. Storm Shield sighed. "Alright. Then I guess the next order of business would be to set up the selection process to see which members of the royal guard will be..." "I don't want all of them to be royal guards." All heads in the room turned to Twilight with confused looks on their faces. Celestia cleared her throat to break the silence. "What do you mean Twilight?" "I only want a few royal guard officers to be in the unit so that they can provide experience and training to the recruits. I want the unit to be open to all volunteers so I don't seem to favor the guard. Any creature and yes I said creature should be allowed to join as long as they prove that they are capable. Also I want the unit to be small. 20 members maximum. I don't want to be the head of a grand army." Everypony else in the room looked at each other in wonder. Twilight certainly seemed to already have a grasp on what she wanted. But they were reassured in the fact that this was just normal Twilight Sparkle. Once she set her mind to something she pursued it with every cell of her brain. Storm Shield then brought out a blank piece of parchment and a quill from the saddlebag. "Alright then. All that appears to be left is to decide upon a unit name." Twilight again went into brainstorm mode. She though hard about what would best represent what she and her friends stood for. What was the thing that held Equestria together. When she finally after a few moments came to a conclusion, she smiled. "Harmony." She said. "The unit shall be called The Harmony Guard." Author's Note Hey everypony! Wow it has been a while! College is crazy! But not to worry! Soon I will be on break and therefore be able to write some more updates. So keep an eye out for those. This is an idea that has been floating around in my head for some time. It was time to put it to words. Hope you all enjoy! Wonder who will join the Harmony Guard?
Chapter 2: The Call Goes OutTrottingham The cobblestone streets of the city of Trottingham echoed with the sounds of hooves making contact with the streets mixed with the rumbling of cartwheels rolling over the same avenues. Above this rose the hundreds of voices of the cities citizens conversing with each other over the days work and individual objectives of the day. The city, which many in Equestria referred to as "the city stuck in time" due to it's relatively old fashioned atmosphere, was very much alive that day. The true heart and soul of the town was it's enormous town square. Here the local farmers and vendors set up their quaint little stands and sold their wares and crops to their loyal customers. The street was always filled with the small wooden stands with ponies lining up to purchase their favorite goods at all times. In the center of it all was The Harmony Fountain, dedicated to the Elements of Harmony, that had saved Equestria more times than anypony could count. The tall white marble pillar in the center of the fountain was adorned with the engravings of the Element Bearers' cutie marks with the mark of Her Majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle at the top. Just across from the front of the monument was a small stone two story building with a wooden sign hanging in front of the door. The read in bold white letters ASHFEATHER: BLACKSMITH. From inside the shop, came the clank clank of a hammer striking metal. This was the work of a large griffon with ash grey feathers on his head and his wings, contrasted by dark black fur covering his body. His dark grey talons were covered by worn and charcoal smudged leather gloves to protect himself from his hot work. The griffon sighed with exhaustion after he delivered the last strike to the piece of metal that would soon take the form of a pick axe when it cooled down. He then lifted the goggles he wore on his head to protect his eyes to reveal that they were a light blue color that mimicked the summer sky. The burly griffon carried the still red hot piece of metal over to a water bucket nearby and dunked it into the liquid. Steam rose up immediately when the fiery metal made contact with the water with a loud hiss. Another well made piece of craftsmanship to line the wall of the small shop. "Hey Ashfeather!" The griffon turned his head quickly towards the sound of his name being called from the entrance to his workshop. Standing in the door was a light brown earth pony with a coal black mane wearing a white woolen vest, a red neckerchief around his neck, and a dark brown workers cap on his head. The ponies cutie mark was an oil miners lamp. "Hey Mine Shaft." Ashfeather replied his black beak smiling. "What going on?" "Come outside Ashfeather! Their's an officer from the royal guard here and he has some big news to share!" Mine Shaft then turned out the door of the shop. Ashfeather, now quite curious as to what could have his friend all excited, followed him out onto the square. Outside, dozens of citizens were crowding around The Harmony Fountain. Standing on top of a large wooden crate, Ashfeather could see a royal guard unicorn officer dressed in full armor minus the helmet standing and looking out over the gathering crowd. Standing on either side of the officer were two enlisted guards holding their spears in their hooves and wearing their helmets. As soon as Ashfeather and Mine Shaft arrived in the crowd, the guard officer's horn lit up in a golden aura and pulled out a scroll from his saddlebags and unrolled it front of his face. He then cleared his throat, which the crowd to as a sign to stop chatting amongst themselves and listen to the message. "Here ye! Here ye! An announcement from the capitol of Canterlot! By royal decree of the Four Princesses and the Equestrian Military, Her Royal Highness Princess Twilight Sparkle, head of The Friendship Council, has sent out a call for volunteers for her personal guard. All citizens of Equestria are offered the great honor of serving the Element of Magic and Princess of Friendship herself! All those creatures who wish to volunteer are to report to Ponyville for enlistment!" The officer then lowered the scroll and looked out to the crowd. "If anypony here has any interest in serving Her Majesty, my guards here have fliers with further information on the unit. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to grab one. Thank you all for your time." On that note, the officer dismounted the box and the two guards pulled out and placed their own respective stacks of fliers in front of themselves. Slowly but surely, they had ponies lining up to receive them. "Well ain't that something? Right Ashfeather?" Mine Shaft looked at his friend. However Ashfeather wasn't paying attention to his friend. Instead he stared at the line of ponies grabbing fliers from the royal guards with curiosity. Something in the back his mind was urging him to learn more. "I think I'm gonna get one of those fliers." He finally said to his friend. Mine Shaft looked at the black and grey griffon with confusion when he heard this. This lasted only for a few seconds though before the earth pony finally just shrugged and began to walk away. "Alright the Ashfeather, I'll see you around okay? I gotta get back to the depot. Lunch break is almost over." And with that, he made his way down the street towards Ebony Coaling Plant. Ashfeather waved at him before he disappeared around the brick buildings. He then strode on up to the right hoof line of ponies. There were only three other ponies left in the line in front of him, so Ashfeather found himself in the front quickly. When he got in front of the guard, the guard paused for a moment to look at him before he handed him the flier slowly. Ashfeather raised an eyebrow in confusion before he walked away, all the while conscious of the guard staring at him as he leaved. But it didn't matter as he soon reached his shop and sat down at his desk in the back to read the flier. The flier had Princess Twilight's cutie mark at the top and beneath it were the requirements for candidates for the unit. Again it said that all Equestrian citizens were eligible and that the receiving center was in Ponyville. Other points outlined on the flier that had not been mentioned by the guard officer in his speech were that the max number of positions in the guard was 20, the candidates were expected to pass strenuous fitness, combat, and diplomacy tests before being accepted, and that the guards would accompany the Princess everywhere and at all times and that their personal loyalty to her had to be strong. That last part made Ashfeather really think. He thought all the way back to when he first had arrived in Equestria some eight years ago. Back then, he had immigrated to the land of ponies due to the downhill economic, political, and social situation in the Griffon Kingdom. In particular, his home town of Griffonstone had been in near ruins when he had left his native country. When he had arrived in Equestria, he had been extremely wary of interaction with ponies from the start due to his imaginations on how they would react to a meat eater like himself. In fact there had been a few ponies who had made it known exactly what they thought of that. Then the news came from Canterlot about a new alicorn being crowned princess. Ashfeather had heard of Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends before he had come to Equestria. Their victory in vanquishing the dark spirit Nightmare Moon and restoring Princess Luna had made them international celebrities due to their direct impact on the Griffon Kingdom and the other nations. Their exploit that had the most direct impact on Ashfeather himself was the Tirek ordeal. Some ponies hadn't realized that Tirek fed off of the magic essence of all living creatures and had been quite surprised when Ashfeather had fallen from the sky and landed on a stone wall breaking his right hind leg after Tirek had drained him of his magic. What had surprised Ashfeather the most was that many of the ponies that had been afraid of him due to his omnivore diet had immediately come to his aid and had helped to heal him even without the use of magic. Ashfeather then remembered the day that the Element Bearers arrived in Trottingham and restored the citizens' magical essence. Ashfeather would never forget the liberating feeling of his flight abilities returning to him, as if someone had breathed in fresh life into his body. Two days later all the Element Bearers arrived in Trottingham with Twilight Sparkle leading them, to announce that she had been deemed Equestria's Princess of Friendship. She had given a speech in front of the same fountain that the guard officer had stood earlier, speaking of the importance and value of friendship and harmony to the life of Equestria and all of the world. Ashfeather was present that day in a wheelchair that had been provided by the ponies that had helped him and he could've sworn that Princess Twilight had been staring right at him when she had said "All of us, every creature in the world, in harmony can thrive and reach unending limits." That had struck a chord within Ashfeather and a few days later, he found himself thanking all of the ponies that had rescued him when he had broken his legs. What surprised him was that instead of how griffons usually demand restitution for services rendered, the ponies asked for nothing in return for their kindness and said that all they would like was his friendship. Ashfeather almost began tearing up when he remembered that day. It was the day that he had truly felt like he was a part of the community. These days he valued friendship more than anything in the world only second to his family, who he was glad to hear were now prospering back in Griffonstone thanks again to the efforts of Princess Twilight and her Friendship Council. In a way, Ashfeather realized that he owed more to the Princess than he had thought before. The idea of joining her personal guard seemed like the least that he could do to repay her for the impact she had had on his life. The young griffon got up from his chair and walked to the front of his shop. He flipped the open sign hanging from the door and flipped it to closed. He then closed and locked the black wooden and made his way upstairs to his bedroom to start packing for a trip to Ponyville. Ponyville Coming down the main street of the sprawling community of Ponyville was figure with an equine build but with characteristics that distinguished her from the pony species, in particular her black and white stripes and her large gold earrings and dzilla neck rings. Zecora had rarely ever ventured beyond her home in the Everfree Forest before. This had led to many of the citizens of Ponyville believing her to be a witch doctor or as her friend Pinkie Pie had once put it an "evil enchantress". But then when she encountered the six Bearers of Harmony when they became afflicted with poison joke, albeit they had come in with accusations at first, she had offered her expertise in the healing arts and earned their trust when she cured them of their ailments. Afterwards not only did the friends offer their apologies and friendship to the young zebra, they then went through town and got the rest of the ponies to warm up to Zecora and accept her as a friend. One particular act of kindness that she remembered fondly was when Twilight Sparkle came and personally apologized to her for her harsh accusations and for jumping to conclusions. Zecora had told the then young unicorn that there was nothing to apologize and that she was just glad that Twilight had accepted her as a friend. And ever since that had remained true. Zecora soon found herself at her target destination: Roseluck's Flower Shop. She always visited this shop to purchase flowers for her various medicines that she created back at her home. Entering the shop, she was greeted with a wave of aromas emanating from the dozens of flowers lining the shelves and walls. Behind the counter stood the pale yellow coated and raspberry maned owner of the humble shop, who looked up from her copy of the Canterlot Times when she heard the door open. "Hello Zecora!" Roseluck said happily. "How are you today?" Zecora smiled. "Quite well Roseluck lady of the flower, and how are you at this fine hour?" "I'm doing alright Zecora." Roseluck replied. "I assume that you are her for your daffodils?" Zecora nodded. "Yes young mare at least twenty and two, the last ingredients for my brew." Roseluck smiled and went over to the other side of the store and grabbed the requested amount of daffodils for her friend and customer. She then brought them back to the counter where she found that Zecora had already placed the required amount of bits to purchase the flowers. Roseluck placed the flowers gently into a bag and pushed it across the counter to Zecora who grabbed it with her mouth and placed the bag in her saddlebags. "Will that be all for today Zecora?" Roseluck asked. "Yes I believe so. I am afraid that now I must go. I wish you a good day my friend, and may the sun and stars of your life have no end." Zecora smiled and began to make her way towards the door. She had just placed her hoof on the doorknob when something caught her eye. Hanging on the left hoof side of the door was a poster with Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark on it. The Zebra mare was puzzled. What was going on with Twilight?" "Roseluck my dear, I mean not to bother you at all, but what is this hanging on your wall?" Zecora looked back at the flower pony. Roseluck looked up from the paper again to see what Zecora was talking about. "Oh that? Yeah some officer from the Royal Guard came by earlier and asked if he could put it up there." Zecora glanced back at the poster with curiosity. "My dear friend if I may, may I take this poster on my way? Back to my home so that I may read more about what our dear Princess may need?" Roseluck shrugged. "You can take it if you want. I told the guard that I really don't see the possibility of anyone who want to join the guard coming in here and seeing it." Zecora smiled and pulled the poster of the wall and exited the shop. Once outside she placed the paper in her saddlebags and began to make her way back to her house in the forest. Later When Zecora finally arrived at her home, she set her bags with her supplies down next to the other various herbs, spices and plants that she used for her potions and medicines. She then brought the poster that she had gotten from Roseluck and set it on the table near her boiling pot and sat down to read it. Zecora was very intrigued when she saw that it was an announcement for the formation of Twilight's personal guard unit. What she found the most intriguing about the poster was how it stated that all creatures of Equestria were eligible to volunteer. This was quite different from the other guard posters that Zecora had seen before where they said that only pony citizens were allowed to join. Zecora couldn't figure out why, but she wouldn't stop rereading the poster over and over again. When she finally did stop, she began thinking something she never would've thought before meeting Twilight; What if I joined her guard? Zecora considered Twilight one of her closest friends. She had helped Zecora become a more accepted member of the Ponyville community after she had apologized for her premature accusations. She had come to Zecora time and time again seeking guidance which Zecora was always happy to give. When Twilight had been crowned the Princess of Friendship, Zecora had been touched when Twilight said that she would make it a point to push for harmony among all creatures in Equestria. And of course that included Zebras. After going through every way that Twilight had impacted her life, Zecora realized that she had never, at least in her mind, truly shown her appreciation for it. Now there was this great opportunity to do just that. Zecora had made up her mind. She placed the poster back into the saddlebag and began removing the flowers from the bag and packing them with the items needed for a journey that one would not be coming back from for a while. Cloudsdale Lightning Dust was depressed. She sat in one of the local Cloudsdale bars in sad silence. She had never been this depressed in a while. Not since she had been dismissed from The Wonderbolt Academy for reckless endangerment. At first when she had been furious when she was removed from the course and had immediately blamed her wingpony Rainbow Dash for reporting it to Spitfire. But as time went on, and she saw how well Rainbow Dash did in the academy and how the Wonderbolt Commanders were praising her, she began to see that she had been wrong. No not just wrong, dead wrong! Looking back on it, she questioned how stupid she could've been thinking that her methods would've been okay with the Academy. She also had begun to feel guilty over the fact that her dumb recklessness had nearly caused serious harm to the other cadets. With these thoughts, her depression began to take hold until she had lost all of her confidence and had resigned herself to her fate. Then Tirek came. When Lightning Dust had felt her magic being ripped out of her, she felt as if the last remnants of hope and life had been ripped out with it. She had found herself on the ground, after having fallen through the cloud she had been standing on, too weak to move and unable to fly. She had literally dragged herself into a clump of trees somewhere and had laid herself down and assumed that this was just the last straw. She had squandered everything and now she was paying the price for it. But it was not the end for her. After a while, two other flightless pegasi came, wearing Wonderbolt Cadet uniforms, had appeared before her. She had recognized them as Thunderlane and Cloudchaser, her former classmates. At first, she was sure that they would leave her out of spite for what she did to them at the academy. But to her utter disbelief, they came over and brought up a canteen to her lips and urged her to drink. She didn't for a few moments due to the shock that it hadn't been that long ago that she had nearly killed these ponies for her own personal benefit and now they were aiding her in her time of need. They then stayed with her to make sure was okay, until suddenly a rainbow wave spread across the sky. It was then that Lightning Dust felt her magical essence return and in excitement had stretched her wings to fly, and was answered with a sharp pain that came from her sprained wing. It was then that she was surprised again by her former classmates when Thunderlane floated above her and grabbed her and flew her up to Cloudsdale where they delivered her to the hospital where other pegasi that had been injured during the whole ordeal. Then Princess Twilight Sparkle visited Cloudsdale two days later, giving a speech on how she had been crowned Equestria's Princess of Friendship and that she would now make it her life's work to spread that harmonious message. What had struck deep with Lighting Dust was how Princess Twilight spoke of forgiveness and second chances for all ponies and all creatures. It made her feel that there was still hope for her somewhere. So the young pegasus had gotten her life back together. She got herself a job working with the Cloudsdale weather factory and had worked her way up to foreman of the cloud production floor. She had made new friends with her coworkers and everything seemed to be going well. That had been what it looked like up until now. Now it appeared to Lightning Dust as if her life was going nowhere anytime soon. She had a deep rooted sense that she wasn't really doing any sort of good with her life. She needed something new that felt more fulfilling. Suddenly the door to the bar burst open as a blue green pegasus stallion came running in with a piece of paper in his hoof. "Hey guys, guys! Have you all seen this?!" He said excitedly. The rest of the stallions in the bar, which was pretty much everypony else as Lightning Dust was the only mare patron, all gathered around the new arrival to see what was going on. Lightning Dust decided to just continue drinking her hard cider. "What's going on Open Skies?" One of the stallions asked. The stallion known as Open Skies placed the paper he had down on the table. "This here poster says that Princess Twilight is forming her own guard unit." Lightning Dust's ears suddenly perked up. She quickly got up from her seat and hovered up above the group of stallions to see the poster they were looking at. "Yeah." Open Skies continued. "It says here that it's going to be called The Harmony Guard and that it will directly serve Princess Twilight and the Friendship Council. All citizens of Equestria are allowed to volunteer. Looks like it's gonna be pretty elite because apparently they are going to only accept 20 candidates after they finish training." At that moment, something in Lightning Dust's brain clicked. She now knew it! She knew what she now needed to do! She quickly left her tab on the table next to her drink and flew out of the bar towards her home. She now knew where her life was going to go and she didn't intend to let this opportunity pass by. Author's Note Hey guys! So here is the second chapter of our little adventure. Hope you all enjoy being introduced to some of the future trainees for the Harmony Guard. These are also not the only characters that we will meet in training. There will be others. You all will just have to keep reading to find out! Again I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 3: Mustering in the Recruits (Edited)Friendship Castle. Day of Muster "What should I say to them? What do they expect me to say? I've never addressed soldiers before. What if I mess up?" "Relax Twilight. You are overthinking this." Twilight sighed. Today was the day that the recruits for her guard were supposed to arrive at the training camp built by the Royal Guard Engineer detachment assigned to assist in the training of the recruits. This would not have troubled Twilight that much if she hadn't been told that about 100 citizens of Equestria had turned out for the opportunity to serve her in the guard. And on top of all that, she had been informed by the Princesses that she was expected to give an address to the recruits. Now she was fretting over what to say to them that would sound encouraging, even though she knew that 80 of them would not make it into the unit. "I just don't want to make it seem like they aren't appreciated for their efforts." Twilight said to Storm Shield, who sat next to her in her study as she fretted over the days events. He was there to act as the military advisor to Twilight and to keep her up to speed on the training progress for the recruits. Right now however, he was playing to role of the reassuring uncle. "So make them feel appreciated Twilight." He said gently. "Let them know that even if they don't make it into the guard that they are by no mean less valuable than any other citizen of Equestria. Let them know that their country and their princess" He put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, "thank them from the depths of their hearts for their efforts. Tell them that, and they'll leave here with even more encouragement." Twilight looked down at her hooves as she considered Storm Shield's words. At last, she smiled and looked up at the old stallion. "You're right Uncle Stormy. Thank you." Storm Shield bowed his head and smiled. "I am at your service your majesty." Twilight giggled at the sight of the senior stallion bowing to the junior of age. She truly appreciated all that Storm Shield had done for her brother and all that he was now doing for her. His experience in military practice and training would be invaluable she believed during the entire event. Just then there was a knock on the door to the study. "Your Majesty? Colonel Storm Shield?" Came a voice from behind it. Twilight looked at Storm Shield and nodded at him. "Enter." Storm Shield called. The door swung open to reveal a grey painted unicorn stallion clad in golden royal guard armor standing behind it. He bowed in respect to Twilight and then to Colonel Storm Shield, who both returned the gesture with slight nods of their own. "Sorry to interrupt your highness." The guard said as he came back up from the bow. "But Captain Bladewind reports that all recruits are gathered and are now present on the parade ground." Twilight looked at Storm Shield nervously. Storm Shield's reply was to give yet another reassuring smile that read 'you'll do just fine' all over it. Twilight slowly smiled in return and turned her attention back to the guard. "Very well Private. Lead the way." She said with newfound confidence. The walk to the newly built training camp was no longer than five minutes, but it was still far enough away to be secluded enough for training and so it wasn't intrusive to the citizens of Ponyville. The Royal Engineers had built a total of four large wooden barracks with walls painted white and dark brown wooden shingle roofs. Each of the barracks were capable of housing at max 25 occupants and were equipped with wood stoves and showers for the recruits. Behind the barracks was a large mess hall capable of catering to 150 individuals. It was also equipped with the necessary cooking facilities to handle all variations of diets found in Equestria. In front of the four barracks was a wide parade ground for morning formations. Across the parade ground was the one of the smaller buildings on the site; the commandant's office and administration building. In front of the commandant's office was a tall white flag pole, from which the National Flag of Equestria flew and the newly created Flag of Harmony with Princess Twilight's cutie mark emblazoned on it also flew. This was also white with a dark brown roof, but it was about half the size of one of the barracks. On either side of the barracks were the armory, magazine, quartermasters office and shed, the officers quarters, and the camp hospital. Surrounding the entire camp grounds was a dirt track meant for running and marching. Surrounding that was a large stockade fence with sentry towers at each of the four corners and in between making a total of eight sentry towers. The large wooden entrance gate was closest to the parade ground on the right of the commandant's office building. A large sign stood over the gate that read in large white lettering "Fort Harmony". As Twilight walked up to the large gates of Fort Harmony, she was in awe of the shear magnitude of the newly built fort. She was impressed with the speed and efficiency of the Royal Engineers in their construction and she made a mental note to herself to remember to write a letter of commendation to the commander in charge of the detachment, Lieutenant NailHead. As Twilight, Colonel Storm Shield, and the Royal Guard escorting them approached the gate, one of the guards in the sentry tower next to the gate called down to the guards operating the gate that day. "Open the gate for Princess Twilight!!" Less than a second after those words came from the guards mouth, she saw the gates groan open to reveal two white pegasi guards pushing them open, who then bowed as she entered. Her attention however was riveted to the sight that lay in front of her. The parade ground was packed! All 100 of the arrivals had been packed into the parade ground and were now milling around among the crowd. Suitcases, trunks and bags full of personal items littered the ground around them. Surrounding the parade ground were about twenty or so enlisted guardsponies. A group of 5 stallions with officer markings on their armor stood near the flagpole conversing amongst themselves. Twilight suddenly felt Storm Shield tap her on the shoulder and point to one of the officers with captains markings on his armor. The stallion was a unicorn and he had a dark black mane and pale white coat. His cutie mark was a silver sword blade with wind traces trailing from the back giving the impression of it swinging through the air. His armor was polished to the exact regulation of Royal Guard standards and he certainly looked smart. "That is Captain Bladewind." Storm Shield explained to Twilight, who nodded in recognition. Up until now, she had never really seen Captain Bladewind, only conversing with him through letters on the construction of the camp. "He has been placed in the temporary position as camp commandant." Storm Shield continued. "So you'll want to talk to him first before we begin." "Thanks Uncle Stormy." Twilight replied. She then trotted on over to the officers. As she got closer, the stallions noticed her approach and swiftly fell into a straight line and stiffened their posture. When Twilight reached the group they all bowed in unison towards her. "Please sirs." Twilight smiled as she waved her hoof. "No need for that. Though I do thank you." The stallion that Twilight had identified as Captain Bladewind stepped forward and once again bowed in respect to the young princess. "Captain Bladewind, 5th Royal Guard Regiment, at your service your majesty." "Good morning Captain Bladewind." Twilight smiled. "I must say I am impressed with what has been accomplished here. Are all of those who submitted for training are present." A fire red unicorn stallion with an orange and yellow spiked mane with lieutenants markings on his armor stepped forward and levitated a clipboard up to his face and quickly skimmed the pages before looking back at Twilight. "All are present and accounted for your majesty." He said. "Thank you Lieutenant Firebrand." Captain Bladewind said to the young officer. He then turned back to Twilight and nodded. "We are ready to commence the opening events at your discretion your majesty." Twilight paused and shifted her gaze shifted to the large crowd on the parade ground. As she did she saw that a small number of them had taken notice of her arrival and were now gesturing towards her and whispering to each other in awe. The butterflies began to return to her stomach. Storm Shield could see this and quickly put his hoof on her shoulder and gave her another of his trademark reassuring smiles when she turned to look at him. In response Twilight took a deep breath and turned back to Captain Bladewind and nodded. "You may proceed Captain." She said. "Right away your majesty." Bladewind bowed and then turned to the other officers beside him. "Lieutenant Firebrand, have them fall in." "Yes sir." The young officer saluted and promptly about faced and took 4 steps towards the crowd. "Sergeant Major!" A dark grey pegasus stallion with a long wavy white mane turned around to face the Lieutenant. "Yes sir!" he replied. "Form the recruits into inspection formation if you please!" "Yes sir!" The Sergeant Major wheeled around and faced the crowd directly. "ALRIGHT YA LOT!" He bellowed. "I WANT FOUR STRAIGHT LINES OF 25 EACH FACIN' MY WAY! STEP TOO IT NOW!" Soon the recruits began to form the four lines ordered for. They weren't straight lines by any means, as they were being formed by creatures who were unfamiliar to military drill and discipline. One could plainly see the green quality they displayed as they fumbled about with their personal bags and jostling against each other as they struggled to find a place in the lines. By this time, Twilight and the other officers had stepped up to the front porch of the commandants office to better observe the process. Twilight stood in the center of the officers with Colonel Storm Shield on her right and Captain Bladewind on her left. Twilight glanced at the tall Captain when she heard a low growl come from his direction. When she looked at him, she saw what looked very close to being an angry scowl on the stallion's face. Not noticing the Princess looking in his direction, Captain Bladewind turned to another officer standing to his left. "Quite a motley bunch aren't they?" He whispered in a low growl. "More like a rabble then potential recruits." Twilight frowned upon hearing this. "Give them time Captain." She said. "I am sure that they will start to show their value sooner or later." Bladewind looked at Twilight with an unreadable expression, then turned back to watching the proceedings. "We'll see your majesty." By then the crowd had formed into the four lines and were now facing the office building. Lieutenant Firebrand walked up to the front steps of the building and saluted with his right hoof. This gesture was returned by the other officers present. "Sir, recruits assembled and in formation for review." he said confidently. "Thank you Lieutenant." Bladewind replied. He then turned his attention to the recruits lined up in front of them. "Good morning fellow citizens of Equestria!" He boomed. "Welcome to Fort Harmony. This will be your home for the next three months of training. And it will be a brutal three months, the most brutal three months of your lifetime. You are all here to achieve the great honor of being the select few trusted to protect Her Majesty Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and Head of The Council of Harmony. This goal will only be achieved through your own display of grit, strength and dedication to your cause. Now, here to address you personally, Her Majesty, Princess Twilight Sparkle." Twilight took this as her cue to step forward to take Captain Bladewind's place to speak to the recruits. When she stepped into place the lines of recruits erupted with cheers. Twilight was caught off guard by the unexpected showing of admiration from the crowd and smiled shyly. Suddenly, the voices of the officers began to raise above the crowd. "QUIEEET! QUIEET!" Just as suddenly as it began, the cheering stopped and an awkward silence fell upon the field. Twilight took a few moments to compose herself after the sudden outburst. With a clearing of her throat, she began to speak. "Hello everyone." She started, reminded that it wasn't just ponies she was addressing. "I want to welcome you all here. I must say that I was quite surprised to see such large numbers on the list of recruits and I am deeply touched. I wish you all well in the coming weeks and the best of luck. It is true that not all of you will make it into my personal guard but I do not wish any of you to be disheartened by this fact. For though you may not make it into my personal guard, those of you who make it through the training course will be the first members of the 1st Harmony Regiment. So know that no matter the outcome of your time here, just remember that we are all citizens of Equestria, and we all must stand together in friendship and harmony and we will all prosper through the ages. And now, I wish to meet you all." With that, Twilight began to make her way down towards the lines of recruits. The officers present on the porch of the office building followed after her, with Colonel Storm Shield taking up a position on her right side. "What is this about the 1st Harmony Regiment?" He whispered questioningly. Twilight responded with a guilty grin. "I'll tell you later." She whispered back. The entourage soon reached to left end of the forward most line and began to make their way down to the right. At first the line consisted mostly of fellow ponies. Stallions and mares of all three pony races. Many were from Canterlot, Baltimare, Cloudsdale, and Manehattan. They were factory workers, farmers, taxi drivers, and office workers to name a few. Twilight soon was seven down the line and now found herself walking up to someone that she knew already. A certain grey pegasus with a blonde mane to be exact. "Derpy?!" Twilight exclaimed in surprise. The Ponyville Mailmare looked up at Twilight with one of her yellow eyes. The other stared down at the ground to the left. Her expression was quite peculiar to Twilight. It almost seemed pleading. Begging for Twilight to not do something. Twilight's question as to what that was was answered when Captain Bladewind spoke up behind her. "Is this mare not up to standards your majesty?" He asked, throwing a side smirk towards Derpy, whose ears flattened against her head. "If so I can have her removed from the training program." It took a moment for Twilight to register in her mind what Bladewind had just said. And it infuriated her. The idea of somepony not being up to standards went against everything she and the Elements of Harmony stood for. She quickly whipped her head around and glared at Captain Bladewind, who recoiled in surprise at the gesture. "You will do no such thing Captain." Twilight said firmly. She then turned back to Derpy who still bore an expression of fear of being kicked out on the first day. Twilight smiled. "Every creature here is to have an equal opportunity to prove their value and worth." Derpy smiled at Twilight's kind words. "Thank you your majesty." She whispered. Twilight put a hoof on Derpy's shoulder. "Good luck to you Derpy." Derpy bowed in respect to Twilight and smiled. "Thank you your majesty." She said softly. Twilight smiled back and continued down the line. Soon she had only 5 more ponies to speak to in the first line and began approaching the first of them. When she stopped she was quite surprised by who she saw. Standing before her was a tall dark brown 6 point deer stag. He was about a inch taller than Twilight from the top of the head. He was clad in a green wool jacket and with silver buttons running down the front. His antlers were worn yet he definitely appeared to be quite young for his size. His eyes were a light blue. "And what is your name sir?" Twilight asked. "Bradshaw your Majesty." The young buck said as he bowed deep in respect. "And where are you from Bradshaw?" "The Whitetail Woods your ma'am." Twilight smiled. She had recently visited Whitetail Woods and had found the deerfolk to be quite friendly. She had always been intrigued with their similarities in magical essence to the Earth Ponies. "I have been to the Whitetail Woods before. I found it quite beautiful. What was your profession before you came here?" "I was a planter ma'am." Bradshaw smiled. "I helped to keep at the wildflower population running and prevent invasive species from destroying our ecosystem." Twilight's eyes lit up at the unique occupation. "How fascinating! And if you don't mind me asking, what was your motivation for coming here?" "You and the Friendship Council saved our homes when you destroyed the plundervines that appeared soon after your ascension to power. We also have you all to thank for vanquishing the monster Tirek and restoring the magic essence to all the creatures of our domain." Bradshaw then bowed again in respect. "We owe you all our lives ma'am, and I pledge mine to you." Twilight could hardly speak. She had never expected to hear such a story and level of dedication from any creature. This deer, who up until just now she had never met face to face had just pledged his life to her. It was certainly a humbling experience. After a few moments she regained herself and smiled at the buck. "I am eternally grateful Bradshaw." She said. " And I wish you the best of luck in training." Bradshaw brought his head back up and smiled. "I thank you your highness." He replied. With a smile, Twilight continued until she finally had reached the end of the first line. She then made her way to the right end of the second line and began to make her way to the left. After about 10 ponies in the line, she encountered an individual that she recognized. "Zecora?" She exclaimed. The zebra medicine mare smiled when Twilight recognized her. "Hello Twilight my dear. I hope that you are well this day of the year." "Excuse me your highness." Lieutenant Firebrand came up to Twilight. "Do you know this zebra?" He asked. "Why yes of course." Twilight smiled, "She is a good friend of mine." She then turned back to Zecora. "But what are you doing here Zecora." "Not too long ago I saw your call. Now I wish to serve you above all. Your friendship has been a blessing to me, and now I want you to see, how much I cherish our connection by performing as your personal protection." Twilight again found herself at a loss for words at that statement. "Well I...I......" She paused before continuing. "Thank you Zecora." She said softly. "Your a good friend and I wish you the best of luck." The zebra just nodded and smiled one of her wisdom filled smiles. Twilight soon began her walk down the rest of the line. She found that she was now encountering fellow citizens of Ponyville. One such was the blue unicorn stallion Noteworthy, whom Twilight had spoken to from time to time and had hear singing to himself as he went about his daily routine. His brother Toe-Tapper was in the Pony Tones with Rarity, but Noteworthy was a little shy and spent most of his time in his family's music shop. When Twilight spoke to him about his reasons for joining the her guard, he told her of when Tirek had appeared in a theater in Baltimare that he had been visiting at the time and had drained all the unicorns present of their magical essence. When it had been restored by Twilight and her friends, he had still been in distress as he did not know the whereabouts of his brother, and Twilight had brought Toe-Tapper to him personally. Noteworthy said that since she had taken the time to ensure that he and his brother were safe, the least he could do was to ensure that she was safe. Twilight expressed her gratitude to Noteworthy and continued down the line. At the end of the line she encountered a black and grey male griffon. This was the fourth griffon she had greeted. "Hello. What is your name?" "Ashfeather your majesty." The young male griffon bowed. "And where are your from Ashfeather?" "Trottingham ma'am." "Trottingham! What a lovely town! And what did you do in Trottingham?" "I was a blacksmith ma'am." This caught the attention of the officers present. A blacksmith would be a very useful member of any military outfit. The only officer who didn't seem to be all that enthusiastic about it was Captain Bladewind, who muttered something to himself under his breath. "Well I wish you the best of luck Ashfeather." Twilight smiled and continued on to the next line. Meanwhile, before continuing on with the rest of the group, Captain Bladewind walked up and got right up into Ashfeather's face and scowled at him. "I'm watching you griffon." he snarled before walking away and leaving the young Ashfeather bewildered at his hostility. Meanwhile Twilight was already making her way down the third line. She encountered another Ponyville citizen, the local watch maker, Time Turner, though most ponies knew him as Doc. She encountered at least two other deer who had come from other woodland regions of Equestria as well. The most shocking encounter however was a certain blue green pegasus mare with a lightning yellow mane. "Lightning Dust?" The young pegasus mare bowed her head in respect, but did not smile. "Hello your majesty." She said. "What are you doing here?" Twilight questioned. Lightning Dust looked straight ahead in a manner as if she were being addressed by a superior officer. "To learn ma'am. And to serve you." Twilight was surprised by the bluntness and the humble nature of the answer. She had expected some sort of egotistical response from the mare whose recklessness had almost severely injured her former Wonderbolt trainees and Twilight's own friends. She then chastised herself for not having an open mind and decided to give Lightning dust the benefit of the doubt. "Well, I thank you Lightning Dust." She said. "I wish you the best of luck in training." Lightning Dust bowed her head. "Thank you ma'am." Twilight continued on the rest of the line without encountering any individual she recognized and had soon done the same with the last line of 25 recruits. Upon realizing that she had greeted all present, Twilight returned to the front of the parade ground and turned to face all present. "Once again I thank you all, and I wish you the best of luck throughout the next three months." She addressed the crowd. She then turned to Captain Bladewind. "You may take over Captain." "Ma'am." Bladewind nodded and then turned to the junior officers present. "Alright gentlecolts, lets get all recruits assigned to their barracks and then have them all gather in the dining hall by 1200 hours for training briefing." "Yes sir." All four officers nodded and turned to address the crowd. "All recruits make your way to your assigned barracks! Your number is found in the top left corner of your muster form! All recruits are to then proceed to the dining hall for a 12:00 briefing! NCOs report to the commandants office immediately!" While the recruits began to break ranks and make their way to their assigned barracks, Twilight and Storm Shield watched from the commandants office porch. "Well what do you think your majesty?" Storm Shield asked. "You think they are up to the challenge?" Twilight took a few moments to look over the crowd of creatures that had come from all corners of Equestria to join her guard and smiled. "I know they are." Author's Note Hello everypony! Nice to be back writing again. Hope you all enjoy this next installment in The Harmony Guard. We are now starting to meet some of the recruits for the guard and the officers that will be training them. Also for those of you who don't remember Noteworthy, here he is: and here he is when Tirek is draining him of magic: There will be more on why he is joining the guard later. We have also met some of the non canon individuals that will be joining as well. What else is there to know about Bradshaw? And what is up with Captain Bladewind huh? Hope you all enjoy and I'll see you next time! Edit: (Derpy has replaced the oc Wind Sweeper. I may bring her back as a secondary character later on. But I have some great ideas for Derpy further in the story. Hope you all don't mind the change.) Also a quick heads up. I have started a new blog if anyone wishes to check out
