Officer Strike's Adventures- Aftermath of the changelings attack- Royal Guard Diaries

I had brushed my mane and had eaten breakfast and I had my homework done and my satchel over my back and so I was off and ready. I knew that I couldn't be late for the camp or I would have been given a penalty and that would be a nightmare.. I galloped right out of Pony Ville and down to the train station where I caught my train.

The train was slower than usual and I shook my head in disgust and checked the time. I knew that I was going to be late like I usually was for everything but I had always been given a chance.  Possibly because Pony Ville was not too close to Canterlot and I was only a Junior Officer.

I spotted other royal guard officers on the train and so I was happy that I was not the only one who was going to be late. Jumping Jacks was on the train as well and had her bag packed and she spotted me and winked.

"Royal guard training camp! This is going to be so cool!" Jumping Jacks said and I nodded.

"Yeah I cannot wait! I hope that I get to be dorm mates with you!" I said excited.

Soon the train had stopped and I was racing and flying as fast as I could to try and get to the royal guard academy and I had finally made it. The Senior Officers were waiting outside with stern and solemn faces. Most of the Junior officers had already began training and were listening to the announcments.

"Name?" barked one of the Commanders. He was wearing a whistle and looked quite mean and so I decided not to argue.

"Lightning Strike sir!" I said tiredly and the Commander let me through the gates and I was finally in the training academy.

I spotted Captain Shining Armour in the distance. I was shocked to see Princess Celestia was there but yet again the camp was paid for by her and she had sponsored our armour suppliers. I gave a bow to her and then galloped as fast as I could to Captain Shining Armour.

He frowned at me.

"What time do you call this Strike?" he asked angrily and I felt dread wash over me. Princess Celestia was also here examining the training that the royal guard were going through and I was late and that must have been a bad impression.

"I am sorry sir! I promise that I shall come early next time sir!" I began to hestiate but he was teasing.

"Just hurry up and join the line!" Captain Shining Armour cried and I saluted.

"Yes sir! Right away sir!" I said hastily and then Jumping Jacks had also came in and was being told off for coming late and joined the line.

"Alright then! That is all of us! Welcome to the Royal Guard Training Camp! Members of the royal guard academy you shall recieve extra training for a fixed amount of time! Later on of course you shall have a shift! This however is all part of you training for Senior Officers!" Captain Shining Armour shouted.

He continued explaining the rules of the camp and there was a whole list of rules. I had known each of them off by heart since a royal guard had to know them off by heart but the list of rules were very long so I did not really bother telling anyone about them.

"Alright we are going to train and start off with a warm up! That is it gallop around! No flying and no using magic or you shall be chucked off the camp! Go!" Shining Armour yelled and I obeyed.

I was galloping as hard as I could around the track that we were running on and the Senior Officers cheered on and urged the officers to go faster. I gritted my teeth. I didn't want to be the last one behind the rest and so I sped forward careful not to use my wings and get spotted by one of the officials.

We were doing all sorts of other stuff afterwards. We were learning to upgrade our moves and how to defend ourselves better with our spears and learning techniques that none of us had even been trained for before.

It was all part of the camp and I was enjoying it. The spear training was usually daily but this was somewhat different. This was real techniques and they were hard to learn. We all stood in the courtyard hot and began our lesson.

Princess Celestia was pleased with the Junior Officers progress so far. She was curious and watched them since she never really paid attention to the royal guard. She was far too busy ruling Equestria and working with other rulers to restore balance and harmony

Her eyes slid towards me as I was not paying attention.

I tore my eyes away from her making sure she did not spot me not concentrating in my training.

Then I wielded my spear as the combat drills were called out.

"Right now do Uppercut Move right now!" the instructors called out and I tried doing the uppercut move although I did it quite wildy at first and with no skill and Captain Shining Armour saw that I was having difficulty with making the uppercut move.

"Strike let me show you how to do this! Concentrate and you hold your spear very firmly making sure that it does not fall out of your hoof and hold it as tight as you can! Now then Strike let's see if i can knock it out of your hoof!" Shining Armour challenged.

"Yes sir!".

I knew that I had accepted a challenge.

I took the order and held my spear with my hoof as tightly as I could. Shining Armour knocked it out of my grasp instantly and I went red with embarrasment while the other royal guard officers around me laughed.

"No harm done!  Try again then! Remind what you are Strike?" Captain Shining Armour questioned sternly as he began circling me and I swallowed.

"Sir! A Junior Officer sir!" I cried and Shining Armour came face to face with me.

"Then try again right in front of me and do it this time! We don't give up Strike and you know that very well. I advise that you hold it with your right hoof and it would be much easier!" Shining Armour suggested.

"Yes sir and thank you for the help sir!" I answered and I held the spear this time concentrating and tightening my grasp so hard on it that it made my hoof quite raw and red  and Shining Armour tried to push my spear out of my grip but it took quite a few minutes.

"Good. You have done good. There is always room for improvement though Strike and remember that. That is the principals of a royal guard! You must agree on that!" Shining Armour said and I knew that he was right.

"I agree sir!" and I had. I agreed with him quite firmly.

I became quite familiar with the uppercut move and interesting blocks that we were learning. We practiced for a while on dummies which were made of straw and I looked up. I was in my golden armour and it was baking hot and I was surprised how hot it was. I wiped the sweat off my mane quickly and whipped around.

"Now that we have gone through warm ups and you are beginning to learn some new skills within the art of combat you shall be assigned with a partner that you shall duel. May I remind you that a duel consists of no physical contact with each other unless a small prod on the chestplate of your armour! No pushing and no shoving!" A Senior Officer called out.

"Yes sir!" I responded again. My heart was racing. We were having a duel!

I wondered which partner I had been assigned with. I had duelled maybe once or twice within training and I enjoyed duels very much. I turned and my heart lurched as I realised who my partner was.

Jumping Jacks looking smug and holding a big large spear.

"Jumping Jacks. Seriously pal this is going to be interesting" I muttered and Jumping Jacks sneered and looked at me. I narrowed my eyes and held my spear ready for the whistle to blow. I was ready to throw out some new moves that I had learned throughout training on Jumping Jacks.

"I'll show you what I am made of!" Jumping Jacks hissed.

"In your dreams pal....." I replied.

"Are you ready! 1......2.......3......Go!" the Commander screamed and the whistle had been blown and I felt a clatter of  Jumping Jacks's heavy spear against my lighter spear. I looked up to see Jumping Jacks lashing and tried to get me out of  of the duel by prodding me in the chest. I blocked with a sharp block and sent her back and attacked her with a simple jab which made her fall back with her spear.

"You are so going down!" Jumping Jacks cursed me. She was a very good fighter and I was only a amateur afterall but I hit her spear hard and tried to get to her chestplate but she was too fast. She bashed my spear and I fell back.

"Woah!" Shining Armour shouted. He was entertained by the duels that the royal guards fought against each other in. He clapped amazed and Princess Celestia was clapping as well.

There were winners and there were losers. The losers were to sit out and watch the winners and the winners continued until there was a last remaining. It so happened that I had beaten Jumping Jacks with quickly hitting her in the chest before she could react.

"The winner is Officer Strike! Officer Jacks you can go and sit down and watch your royal guard partner fight! Learn from the winners! Officer Strike you are going against Officer Boots next!" Shining Armour instructed.

I fought against Officer Boots next but he was too strong. He had me down on the floor pinned with his spear at my chest and then he helped me out. I sighed and flashed a smile at Jumping Jacks who smirked at me.

"Not so cocky now!" Jumping Jacks cussed and I smiled sitting down and watching. I was exhausted. We had been training since the morning and there were duels just before lunch. Then we would be away on our shifts guarding Canterlot Castle later on for Princess Celestia to earn a bit of extra money and to rank up as well.

The overall victor of the duels was the strongest officer and highest officer who was ranking as a Senior Officer very shortly. His name was Gold Star and he was also quite rich from Canterlot. His parents had sent him to the royal guard academy to make him a royal guard.

"Well done Gold Star! This adds to your rank! The rest of you give me ten!" Shining Armour ordered and there were groans but I was on the floor and doing the wing ups without any fuss. It was no point anyway and we deserved to get ten wing ups. Gold Star was obviously paying the most attention through training.

I hated Gold Star though. He was such a show off.

After that it was time for lunch and we took off our armour. Jumping Jacks and a few others joined me in the mess hall as we had our lunch break. After this it would be our shifts and then another extra hour of trainng since we were at the royal guard training camp.

While I was eating and bearing with Jumping Jacks havering on about her latest Daring Do book to the other royal guards, I had noticed Princess Celestia and Shining Armour having a talk in the distance. I only had managed to catch a few words and I knew it was bad news.

"Changelings" Celestia mentioned.

"Returned I know" Shining Armour uttered.

I tore my head away and shrugged. Sooner or later I would have figured out what I had heard anyway. Still it did not worry me at all.

As I ate in the mess hall I spotted something going on.

In the mess hall there was trouble stirring up and a gang of older officers were teaming up against a smaller officer. This was not supposed to happen. These older officers obviously were being stupid. They were all big and buffy and had tattoos on them.

"Look who is here! Officer Baby of course!" the group of officers all chortled and I scowled. They had no respect for each other. How could you bully someone so small and helpless.

Small and helpless of course. That was always the target was'nt it. They were stirring up trouble for a reason but I did not want to know why.

Officer Blue Baby was the officers full name. I had even teased her once or twice but she was very sensitive and shy. I had stopped teasing her because of this and I knew that I could be very sensetive sometimes.

  I could take no more. I had gotten up and so had Jumping Jacks and the others on my table as well. Their eyes all focused on what was going on.

"Hey baby! Let me guess! You learnt to suck your spear?" the horrible questions continued as they were sneering and sniggering away. Officer Baby Blue just stood there helpless. I hated them so much and shook my head trotting right up towards them. Jumping Jacks stood right up in front of me as she was the one to do all the talking. I just tagged along with her and she scowled.

"Leave her alone or I'll tell the Captain. I mean it. I am a Lieutenant after all!" Jumping Jacks boasted and spat harshly and the gang of officers had grown a little more quiet. They knew that Jumping Jacks was one of the best royal guard.

"We don't care. Go ahead and tell Princess Celestia. That royal guard officer. She is a baby and you should know that by her name! I bet that her whole family are a bunch of babies as well! What do you say to that huh Jumping Jacks?" One of them stepped forward.

It was Officer Terror. He was a big lumbering diamond dog looking stallion. He was scared of almost everything apart from scaring others. He would scare and bully others and he had bullied his way through to get to his rank.

"Shall I punch you all then? Do you want me to give your friend a punch Strike?" Officer Terror threatened dangerously. I looked at that massive hoof.

"No why the hay would I! You stop it now!" I yelled.

Officer Terror snarled.

"Who cares what Baby's little saviours say? Let's get the lot of them boys. Believe me we'll have you all out of the camp soon!" Officer Terror said with rage and the officers laughed.

"How are you in the royal guard if you cannot even behave yourselves!" Jumping Jacks tried to backfire what Terror and his mates were up to. I just shook my head in disbelief.

Suddenly Terror came right up to Jumping Jacks and tried to strike her. Princess Celestia and Shining Armour turned to see what was happening and froze watching for a little while and unsure what to do.

He slapped Jumping Jacks face and Jumping Jacks held her cheek and fell back.

"Hey!" roared Shining Armour but the bullying continued.

I grabbed Baby and pulled her away from the rest of the royal guard officers before they could do anymore damge. I too

"Thanks" Baby whispered smiling at me gratefully.

I hid her away and watched as Jumping Jacks galloped off and away from the mess hall. Her face was still in her hooves. I was proud of her. She had been struck but she had fought her case.

Then I thought about Baby.

Baby had never wanted to join the royal guard in the first place. She was not that kind of  tough pony that the royal guard were looking for andshe might have even been related to Fluttershy. She was very shy and kind.

This place was not for her and I knew that.

It was just when one of those bullying idiots stole my badge and began laughing around me now. I lost my temper right away even though I knew that I had to control myself but I just could not and started yelling for my badge and Princess Celestia was still watching quite annoyed and shocked by the chaos. I broke into a gallop down the mess hall. The Senior Officers yelled out for us to stop running in the mess hall or we would slip.

Shining Armour put his hoof on his face.

"What is going on there? First the bullying and then all this! The royal guard officers are never like this. I am sorry Princess Celestia....." but before he could finish Celestia raised her hoof and silenced Shining Armour.

I galloped harder than ever and my head was throbbing. That badge meant everything to me. It showed everypony who I was and that I was proud to be part of the royal guard. I was running and I could make it when suddenly there was a thud.

I coughed and then my mouth fell open.

I had bashed right into Princess Celestia and we both fell over.

"Your majesty I am so sorry! Can I help you up?" I asked going red in the face and Jumping Jacks had returned and the other mates of ours were with her. Jumping Jacks saw me as I bumped into Princess Celestia. I could see that she had been crying from those wet eyes but she had brightened up and had a ghost of a smile. Baby however was looking worried rather than amused by the fact that I had bumped into a royal.

Princess Celestia got up herself and shook her head.

"No it is fine really young guard. Watch where you are going. I clearly saw the guards running down the mess hall. We have said that you do not run!" Princess Celestia said explaining hte rules. Her face was serious but her voice was gentle and almost understanding.

"Yes your majesty. However did you see previously that there was some bullying going on. My dear officer friend over here was struck by those bullies over there" I explained to her everything that had happened. Well it was supposed to be my job afterall since I was one of the scouts of the mare sector and that meant I had to be good at describing things.

Princess Celestia frowned.

"You could have come and told me about this earlier guard...." Princess Celestia said.

I looked guilty but then gave a sigh.

"Yes your majesty. May I bring you these......bullies?" I asked and Princess Celestia nodded.

"If you must. It is also excellent for your training as well. The rest of you help the dear guard over here. What is your name officer?" Princess Celestia asked curiously.

"Officer Strike your majesty. Serving the Equestria royal guard and a guard in your sector. I am very proud to serve you as you are a very brave and majestic Princess!" I said clearing my throat and being as polite as I could.

It was very soon when Shining Armour had escorted the guards off the camp premises. It was later revealed that they were actually supposed to be in the camp since they were lower ranked since the camp was for the rank Sergeant and above. I was just about allowed in the camp and I was glad that I had been.

We had finished our lunch soon enough and it was time for my shift. Me and Jumping Jacks headed back for our lockers and finished and Jumping Jacks was wiping her final tears away. There was a small bruise on the young mare's nose and I was concerned.

"Hey Jumping Jacks are you alright?" I asked gently. i put on my helmet and fastened the armour that I had to wear and practiced fighting while sending blows into mid air. My aim was to perform the uppercut which was quite a useful move. It could even disarm an opponent.

Jumping Jacks nodded.

"Thank you for asking Strike. You know you are only the really proper friend that I have got. I mean the others they chat and stuff but they did not ask me if I was ok or anything. In fact they started commenting on how bad I looked but thats royal guard training. I loved the spear moves that you executed!" Jumping Jacks said remembering my moves that I had fought against her with.

"I guess that was what extra training was for. This camp will obviously help us with our rank. We had better get going then or the Commanders will be mad at us. Let's just get our objective and get the hay out!" I said and Jumping Jacks and me clapped our hooves together.

My armour was good and polished and I adjusted my plume stroking it before seizing my spear and whipping back to the training ground. Captain Shining Armour was accompanied by the Equestrian air force. The royal guard were in full armour with all backs straightened.

"Are we ready to fulfill todays drill soldiers!?" roared Commander Courage. Commander Courage was a very brave and noble leader of the royal guard. He had been through many battles and had many battle scars. He had not just been any royal guard but was Princess Celestia's adviser once as well.

"Yes sir!" the eagerness flowed through me. I had always liked working for the royal guard and the challenges that were conducted. The rows were straight and neat.

I swallowed.

"You are here to guard Canterlot Castle today! The reason is because we have found that the changelings have returned. We are not sure how but we spotted one this morning. It was injured and so we have taken it as prisoner. We are not sure what they were doing there! If you spot anything suspicious you shall note it down! You are Junior Officers afterall and I can assure you that the Senior Officers are investigating. You shall be on the lookout! Am I clear! Any questions?" Commander Courage asked.

Officer Gold Star raised his hoof.

"Yes Officer Star?" Commander Courage was growing impatient.

"If the changelings are back sir what can we do against them? The last time we had failed Celestia and the mane 6 had to step in. Where is our role!" Gold Star boasted out a long lecture and I rolled my eyes.

"Show off and know it all of course!" I hissed to Jumping Jacks and she agreed.

"Pay attention Officer Star. Now then no more questions! You are to go to Canterlot Castle right now. Post yourselves around and listen to your Commanders orders!" Commander Courage shouted.

I was ready to take any order. My armour was no longer weighing me down. My spear was gripped firmly in my hoof and my helmet was fastened on. If anything happened I would have to be prepared. I was very nervous and my heart was beating fast but I ignored it.

"Alright then form a line right now! Strike I want you at the entrance post of the castle right now! Princess Celestia shall be returning quite soon and we do need you there! You have a long shift! Now Go and move!" Shining Armour ordered.

There was the galloping of stallions and mares as they raced to their posts. I gritted my teeth and flew right up and with all my speed landed in my post. I put a stern expression on ready to be given my orders.

  My mind was blank.

Then it filled up with thoughts.

My shift had begun and I could hear the yells from guards in the Canterlot Castle. I looked around realising that I would have to grant permission along with some other guards for the ponies of Canterlot to come through the entrance gate to the castle.

It seemed that there was a meeting with Princess Celestia. Officer Gold Star had been assigned with me and we were the door guards. I watched as the guests entered and we ticked off names.

"Name please?" I asked as I began writing down the names and the Canterlot Royal went up to me.

"My name is Prince Blueblood. Please let me through!" Blueblood moaned and I shook my head ignoring the show off.

Prince Blueblood had always been a right spoilt sport. I would never speak about him like that in front of any pony.

"Of course sir! Please make your way through!" Officer Gold Star indicated.

I looked up at the sun for a long time. More guests entered and I had to play my royal guard act. I was sure that there was going to be some danger involved in all of this which was why in the meantime I practiced my uppercut move.

"Anymore guests coming Star?" I asked Officer Gold Star shrugged.

"Do not ask me about that. Well then Strike. How about that move that you were trying to learn? It is such an easy move! Mind you I was doing it ever since I was a little one!" Gold Star boasted and I sighed.

"Really did you Gold?" I replied and I was sarcastic and cold since I was tired of listening to all his stories. He used to always level me down when it came to the royal guard training.

The guests had all come in and had their names noted down. Now it was the boring bit where we just had to stand and spot danger. I was used to waiting for long times guarding however and eventually we were going to be switched around so we got a taste of a different job.

I hummed a tune quietly and was on the lookout seeing what was going on. There was nothing going on so far but Shining Armour had taught me that many things could happen at Canterlot Castle and so I had to be aware of everything.

I was just thinking about what he had said when suddenly there was a scream. Me and Gold Star turned around alert and ready to jump into action. We saw that there was a thief trying to rob one of the royals and my mouth dropped open.

"No Gold Star wait! He's armed!" I shouted as Gold Star galloped into action. There was nothing that could stop Gold Star from going out there. I had to give him the credit that he was quite brave as he yelled out.

"Hey stop right there!" he cried and I joined in the fight.

The other Senior Officers saw the commotion and spotted me and Gold Star trying to take the thief down. The thief was in all black and I could not see his face. I lunged right onto him and jabbed him with my spear as he tried to throw an attack at me.

He had knives and I had a training spear.

Major difference.

I was scared. I was always scared when these sudden things happened. The royal had escaped and had galloped off and I called a Senior Officer and so did Gold Star. I was shaking as I was in a real fight which was very rare. I had only fought off one or two changelings before.

The thief attacked again with his knives but did not manage to slash me. My armour's chest plate was quite strong and he sent a dent in my armour. I was so happy that chestplate was there or I would have been a dead mare.

The thief then whipped around and sprinted for the gates and tried to get out.

"Sir!" I shouted out very loud and the Senior Officers began going after the thief.

I flew as fast as I could and blocked the thief's path and Gold Star did the fighting. I had to block off all the ways that he could escape as Gold Star punched the thief down wrestling him down onto the ground. I fastened the thief's hooves behind his back.

"Stop right there! You are under arrest!" cried a Senior Officer.

I stepped back and let the older officers do their work. I knew that I had called the officers and spotted them just in time. Shining Armour trotted up to me and Gold Star and narrowed his eyes.

"What happened you two officers? I want all the details right now! A thief could not just attack a royal like that!" Shining Armour was shocked about what had happened.

"Sir I do not know. We did not see the thieve's face or anything but he had something black on covering the whole of his body. He had blue eyes I think." I muttered remembering what I saw.

I could have also sworn that I saw a pair of changeling wings.

Gold Star spoke with the Captain while I just stood there.

"I could have sworn sir that was a changeling!" I admitted and the Senior Officers and Commanders all looked gravely at me.

"This is bad. What would a changeling be doing here? I thought we destroyed them but that does not seem like the case! Well thank you officer!" called one of the Senior Officers.

"Any time sir!".

Our shift was over and then we had another few hours of training. It was learning about the history of the royal guard. I wondered if the changelings had really returned after the incident earlier and I was feeling quite nervous.

"Long day huh?" Jumping Jacks asked me. She was lounging around after training and polishing her armour which was dirty. I remembered that I had to polish mine as well.

"Sure thing! I love the royal guard training camp. It helps us improve in all our jobs. Hey Jumping Jacks are you alright now? Officer Terror didn't really hurt you that badly did he?" I did care about Jumping Jacks a lot.

Jumping Jacks snarled.

"He was an idiot you know Strike! How could he ever hurt me? I am older than him and I am a Senior Officer! Those wet things you saw were not tears! I washed my face!" Jumping Jacks immediatly jumped up to defend herself from looking quite weak.

"Oh! Well it is good that you are alright now! You are right Jumping Jacks. We cannot let them scare us and make us look like weaklings. We are tough and love challenge which is why we were put here!" I fumed as I said this because Officer Terror had angered me greatly.

I polished my armour as we talked and I hummed a tune. The other royal guard officers were packing away their armour since it was getting dark. Soon we'd have to be in our dorms and have a kit inspection and then straight to bed with no exception. I was really tired anyway and I had no story to write here.

"Hurry up officers! We need to get you back into your rooms so the academy can close! We need you all to get your sleep so that you are fresh and strong tomorrow! We have work to do tomorrow! Now get a move on!" A Senior Officer roared.

"Of course sir!" I heard myself say and the other royal guard lined up. I brushed my mane out of my face. It was pouring with sweat and I knew that we were going to have to take a shower before we slept.

"Right then! All of you get to the showers right now! That armor has made you hot! Clean yourselves up lads and lassies and then we can think about giving you more orders!" Commander Courage instructed.

Reluctantly I dashed to the showers since I knew that we royal guards had to be inside our dorms and lights out quite early, after all we woke up very early and would begin our training and then our shifts later in the afternoon after lunch.

I took a shower and did not regret it. My mane was much cleaner and I dried myself and blew the water out of my wings. My energy was already returning to me. These Commanders in the royal guard knew everything about regaining energy.

I wondered how mum and Stylish Mare were doing at home. Mum would miss me a lot when I went to the royal guard training camps. I had been to the Cadet's royal guard training camp when I was a cadet and a lower rank. I was still lower ranked compared to most of the officers in the Junior Officers Royal Guard but not as lower ranked as I could have been.

"Strike get over here!" cried Shining Armour.

"Yes sir is there a problem?" I asked hesitantly and Shining Armour frowned.

"No not at all Strike. It is just that I was wondering something. I would like to speak about the thief with you and what your theories may have been on the thief. I also want to ask you to go and sort out of your kit right away!" He barked.

I realised and nodded hastily and raced to the dorm that I was assigned in.

I entered the room. It was a damp smell but that was how all of the camp dorms would smell. There were ten bunk beds all together. There were five bunk beds on each side and I spotted Jumping Jacks. The others were Officer Baby who was at a bottom bunk and had already sorted out her kit and smiled at me.

There were some others I also knew. There was Lightning Dust. Rainbow Dash had known her at the wonderbolts academy. She had been sent to the royal guard academy by her parents because they thought she was doing nothing else. Lightning Dust was on the top of Baby's bunk and there were several other mares working on their kits.

I dumped my heavy back on the bed that I had chosen. It was on top of Jumping Jacks. Jumping Jacks was an earth pony so she preferred the lower bunk whilst I was a pegasus and I liked the higher bunk. I settled myself onto it.

I looked through my kit. There was a tooth brush and my specs just in case I needed to put them on and a lot of different books and bits and pieces. I tried to organize it out and took everything out and neatly folded the royal guard T-Shirt and black coat of mine on the floor. I checked the time and knew that everyone must have been done.

I was also happy that I had been put with all the mares. There was only one stallion in our room though and it was none other than Gold Star. I put my face in my hooves. It had to be him. The one and only show off of the royal guard officers.

Gold Star turned to look at me. His wavy blonde mane was all over his face and he looked smug. I wondered what he was playing at when suddenly he blew me a kiss.

The other mares giggled and all became soppy and Jumping Jacks guffawed.

I blinked.

"What the hay are you doing?" I mouthed at him.

Gold Star ignored me after that looking like as if he had said nothing. I went red and blushed. I didn't want Gold Star to think me as his girlfriend! I was not interested in stallions but I felt really awkward and disgusted now.

Lightning Dust tapped me on the back.

"What!" I spat whipping around.

"He just blew you a kiss! He is the highest ranked officer in the Junior Sector! You should at least give him something back!" Dust hissed.

"No way! That is not happening! I told you I am a Tom Stallion!" I cried out.

As the Senior Officers came in they looked and inspected our kits. Gold Star's as usual turned out to be perfect with no mess. Mine needed improvement but it was given a pass but Lightning Dust's was disgraceful.

"What do you call this? What do you call this! You do not pay attention! I could hear all of you mares! You are here to learn to be a royal guard and nothing else! You may have some fun as every officer has his or her chance! Fun is not what we are here for! We are here to protect and you give me this! I shall have a word with Shining Armour! Give me twenty!" roared the tough Senior Officer.

Lightning Dust snorted and fell onto her hooves and began doing the wing ups. That Senior Officer must have been quite harsh. I wanted to get down and do the twenty wing ups for her instead. When Lightning Dust finished the Senior Officer nodded curtly.

"The rest of you! You did well but you need major improvement! I shall speak to the Captain and ask that we give you more lessons to organize yourself in training rather than do anything else!" the Senior Officer shouted and then he turned and shut our dorm door.

I held my laughter in for a long time. Then we eventually all started laughing.

"That was damn tough don't you think? For a bad inspection right?" Officer Baby asked and we all agreed to that.

Soon it was lights out and the room entered darkness. I adjusted my eyes to the darkness and lay in the bed and stirred for a while. It was quite cold and I could not sleep. I knew that if we had an emergency we would need to be awake and so I stayed awake.

The others were fast asleep. Jumping Jacks was snoring heavily and I could feel her snores rumbling and shaking the whole of the bunk. That was how the royal guard was though. Training was seen as the priority and then comfort. Besides the Captain had tried his hardest to give us the rooms that were the best.

I felt homesick and missed my mum and sister. I knew that I wanted to be back with her and sighed but at the same time I knew that I was having an ace time here.

It was when suddenly I heard a shuffle in the room and my eyes widened. I crawled out of my bunk to see what was shuffling and it was Gold Star. He was awake just like me. Gold Star spotted me.

"Hey Strike! Come and look at this!" he hissed. He looked scared.

Shivering from the cold I moved forward and out of the blanket and stared out of the window. I could see something shifting in the distance. Blue eyes is what I saw. I suddenly saw them everywhere and grew frightened.

"What are those Gold?" I whispered.

Gold did not reply.

I swallowed.

"Gold!" I called out loud now and then felt something insect like grabbing my hoof. I spun around and my eyes widened but I did not scream. I was shocked.

"What the hay!" I cried out loud jumping back in alarm. It was a changeling and it was inside the dorm.

No pony had realised that yet.

Where was Gold Star?