Velveteen Embrace

Speeches, speeches, and more speeches. The air of the Canterlot Gardens that morning was filled with endless words from stallions who’d served in the Equestrian Royal Guard in times past. They droned on, giving commemorations to an audience who’d most likely never heard of them, unless they’d had a family member who’d served in the guard before today. Mares and stallions watching from the bleachers focused little on the words of the soldiers at the podium, but nonetheless applauded at the end of every speech without absorbing a single word they’d said.

Their attention was instead focused on the rows and rows of young stallions clad in armor they’d only received a day prior to this event. Each stallion stood rigid, their backs straight, eyes forward, tails jutting out under their backs, draped down in uniform over their backside. These were the proud graduates of recruit training for Celestia’s Royal Guard. Sixteen weeks of grueling physical and mental training, of breaking each stallion down to their core and rebuilding them into soldiers fit to protect their princess if need be. Though the position of royal guard was more a ceremonial title than anything, Equestria did occasionally find itself caught in the midst of a sudden attack. Thus, the guard needed to ensure that its recruits were made strong enough that they were willing to put themselves between the princess and immediate danger.

Another round of applause followed the conclusion of yet another elder stallion’s speech. The palms of everypony in the audience had become sore from frequently beating themselves against one another. The motion from the leaders in front of the recruits unknowingly signaled that the ceremony was reaching its close.

“Flight!” The captain of the guards called out. A number of recruits in dual lines facing one another stood ready for their next orders. “Present. ARMS.”

The stallions rose their spears upwards, crossing them against the spears of the soldier directly in front of them. Those still in rows and without weapons brought their hands up to their temples in a respectful salute. A captivating silence held the area, as another soldier marched into view toward them, accompanying a pony of quite a different stature than any of the stallions seen since the ceremony had begun.

Princess Celestia, wearing a flowery gown as white as her flawless coat, marched toward the arc made of spears. She had to duck her head a few inches as she made her way underneath them, her height a bit high for the guards themselves to reach. A low chuckle resonated through the crowd at the sight, and even the corporal at her side had to purse his lips to keep from smiling. Her ethereal shimmering mane wafted past the guards, still retaining a sense of elegance and beauty even as she strode along with a hunch. Reaching the end of the arc, Celestia rose her head back up and climbed the stairs up to the podium. The audience stood on edge, knowing this was to be the final speech of the evening.

“Mares and stallions, I would once again like to thank all of you for joining me on this, one of Canterlot Castle’s most important days of the year.” She began, her arms crossed formally in front of her. “You are here today because among these rows of stallions, you see somepony who is more than just a recruit in training. Your son, your brother, your friend or maybe even your partner. You have known them for long enough that you wish to be here as they undergo the final step of the long journey they’ve undergone. These stallions have willingly signed up for months of grueling training under the most stern of advisors, where they were treated not as individuals, but as part of one collective unit. A unit with only one purpose: to serve and protect those who need it, and to be the best guards they can be. Your presence here today reminds them of who they really are underneath the armor they wear right now as of this moment. A soldier who has forgotten his roots, be they family or friend, is not destined for greatness. And as we conclude this ceremony, we hope that your love and support for them will help rekindle that spark that helps them shine as individuals. However you and your loved ones decide to spend your future, the magic of friendship will steer you towards a bright and happy future.”

With the princess’s speech concluded, another round of applause filled the air as she made her way off the stage. An unspoken tension gripped the audience, matched only by the recruits turned graduates standing so firmly at attention, as they’d been for nearly an hour now. The leaders of each cluster of stallions stood at the ready, as the squadron leaders faced them.

“Squadron!” the lieutenants called out.

“Flight!” the sergeant drill instructors relayed to their cadets. Though their faces remained fixed and rigid, their ears were trained, desperately waiting for the final command of the evening.

“Graduates, DISMISSED.”

“Whoo!” An enthusiastic cheer from the ranks broke the momentary silence, and spurned a resounding clamor of whoops and hollering from the soldiers and audience alike. What followed was a rush of the two forces toward one another, like two seas amidst a storm, spilling out and mixing into one indistinguishable mess of armor clad stallions and their loved ones praising their accomplishments.

Amidst the chaos of ponies was Twilight Velvet, a mare dressed in light capri pants and a charcoal blouse, as well as a ruby necklace matching the gray and purple streaks of her mane and tail. With her husband Night Light in tow, she searched and searched for any sign of their son. She’d spotted him from her place in the audience the minute he’d walked with his flight into the grassy area. Though he’d been dressed in identical armor as his comrades, Velvet recognized his light bluish-green eyes and his squared jaw even from several yards away. She’d tried her best to keep her eyes on him as she’d hurried down the steps of the bleachers, but the movement of ponies had obscured her vision and broken contact with him. She couldn’t shake the antsy feeling building in her fingers and toes as she wished she could quickly find him again.

“Over here!” A low, boyish voice called out to her from behind. Velvet’s eyes opened wide as she recognized that voice. She turned so quickly on her black high heels that she nearly lost her balance. Waving at she and Night Light was a tall soldier in the identical gold helmet and armor the rest had strapped to their bodies. But this one had just a bit of his blue mane sticking out from the bottom of his helmet. Most of all, he had those enthralling eyes she’d recognized at the start of the ceremony.

Velvet’s heart leapt in her throat. Shining Armor, her son, was just a few feet from them, a new graduate of the Royal Guard which he’d set his hopes and dreams on when he was a little colt. Her heels tapped furiously against the floor as she scampered over to him.

“Oh, sweetheart!” Velvet’s voice cracked as she threw herself against him, her arms hanging around the back of his neck as she lost her demeanor and began to cry. “Shining, you’re such a wonderful stallion, you did it, you- oh my goodness, my sweet little boy.”
Shining Armor chuckled nervously as he returned a more gentle hug to his mother. “Happy to see me?”

His light-hearted jab brought Velvet’s attention back to reality. She at once felt ashamed of herself. She told herself she wouldn’t embarrass him today. He didn’t need his mommy spazzing out and causing a scene in front of his peers and instructors on the day he’d been dreaming about for so long. However, sixteen weeks without any contact whatsoever was more time than she’d been comfortable to put up with. All that mental preparation before the start of the ceremony had flown out the window as soon as she’d seen him, reminding her just how much he’d grown. Had it really been so long since he was a foal taking his first steps across the living room? Since he had received his cutie mark when meeting Celestia and her guards for the first time? The years gone by, as well as the weeks spent in a house without him, caught up to her all at once and made her an emotional mess.

“I’m sorry, dear.” Velvet apologized, pulling back and wiping the wet corners of her eyes hurriedly. “I’m so silly, here I was telling myself I wouldn’t do this. You’re growing up too fast for me to handle!”

“You made it, son. Good job.” Night Light told his son with an admirable smile. “Can’t tell you how proud I am of you.”

“Heh, you’re not gonna start crying like mom, are you?” Shining chuckled, noticing the glimmer in his own father’s tan eyes.
“Hm?” Night Light asked, suddenly aware of the creeping blurriness of his vision. “Oh, uh, I put too much cologne on this morning.” He explained, wiping his own eyes with a knuckle. “It’s been bugging me the whole time.”

“I’ll bet.” Shining Armor resigned with a smile. A look of confusion came about his face as he looked around his parents. As happy as he was to see them, he felt a little distraught at noticing they were short one member of the family. “Did you guys forget to bring my sister or something?”

“Oh, sweetheart, you weren’t able to know since we couldn’t write you--Twilight’s fine!” Velvet reassured him as a worried expression came over her son. “It’s a good thing actually. She-!”

“I take it you two are the parents of this graduate?” A gruff voice asked from behind. A stallion with an impressive amount of medals and ribbons on the right breast of his uniform looked toward them. He was a little taller than Velvet, but not quite as tall as Shining. Despite the stallion’s size, Shining Armor’s back went visibly rigid at the sight of him. “Sir, madam, I’m Drill Sergeant Hardy Gaskin.” The gray-maned stallion introduced himself. “ I’m the stallion who’s been responsible for making your son and the other recruits hate me for the past sixteen weeks.”

“Oh… you don’t say?” Twilight Velvet replied uneasily, finally managing to get her eyes under control.

“ I was hoping I could meet you two today. I wanted to tell you personally that your son was the most impressive stallion I had in my flight of recruits, and he’s in the top five percent of recruits out of all the flights gathered here today.”

Shining Armor couldn’t believe his ears. During his time in boot camp, Sergeant Hardy had done nothing but bark orders and run his stallions ragged, to the point it made them physically ill. Every word, every utterance out of the stallion’s maw had been at a blistering volume and packed with enough anger to scare a manticore. He’d never even imagined Hardy was capable of offering praise.

“No kidding?” Night Light asked as Shining and Velvet collected themselves from the unexpected compliment.

“You’d better believe it. Our job is to put every one of our boys through the grinder, and see who comes out alright on the other side. Every command I gave your son, he followed with gusto. I noticed he had a glimmer in his eye, one that said he’d show me what he had, and how it was better than what everypony else had to give.” Hardy Gaskin looked Shining Armor in the eye with a proud smirk. “You had something to prove, and you sure proved it, kiddo. Good job.” He said, stretching his hand out.

With weeks and weeks of verbal abuse behind him, Shining was hesitant to take the stallion’s hand. Nonetheless, he shook off his reservations, reminding himself that none of it was personal. He grabbed the stallion’s hand and shook it firmly, the two squeezing each other’s palms more than what was necessary.

“You keep that resolve up, you’re gonna make Captain before any of these graduates make Lieutenant.”

“Thank you, sir.” Shining Armor said with a nod. Breaking their shake, Sergeant Hardy took his leave of them, and disappeared into the crowd. Taking his place, another armor clad soldier gestured a large camera in his grasp toward them. His parents stood on both sides of Shining, as he stood poised with an accomplished smile on his face. The bulb flashed, and instantaneously a rectangular print was pushed out of the camera, which the photographer passed to them.

“Hate to say this, Shining, but I gotta run.” Night Light said reluctantly. “The factory was nice enough to give me the morning off to watch you graduate, but they said they needed me back as soon as you were done. I’m real sorry, buddy.”

“It’s okay dad. I’m glad you could come by.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He said, throwing an arm around his son and patting him on the back. “You’re a good stallion. I’ll see you tonight when you get home. Wanna hear all about the kind of crap they put you through.” Breaking his grasp, Night Light returned to Velvet and kissed her lovingly on the lips. “Love you honey. Have fun with Shining while I’m gone.”

“I will. Bye sweetheart.” Velvet called back to him as they waved goodbye to one another. Velvet reached into her purse and pulled out a set of clothes. “Here sweetheart, I brought you these to change into. I’m sure you don’t want to ride home in all that armor, do you?”

“Not really. Thanks mom.” Looking around, Shining noticed that the flow of soldiers was slowly diminishing, making their way toward the castle. “Good timing. I think they’re wanting us to get our things and get going.”

“Anything I can help out with?”

“Mom, they won’t let anypony but the enlisted into the barracks!” Shining bemoaned her.

“Oh, alright. It was worth a try. Hurry along though dear, I’m more than ready to bring you back home.”

“Hey, before I go, really quick: can you just tell me what happened to Twilight?”

“Oh! Right, sorry. You’re not going to believe this, but Princess Celestia chose her to be her protege in harnessing her magic.”

The news lit Shining Armor’s heart up like a firecracker of joy. “No way!” he exclaimed enthusiastically. “How did that happen?”

“It’s a long story. I promise I’ll tell you all about it on the way home. Now go get your things.”

“Right. Be back in a sec, mom!”

Shining Armor sprinted away from Velvet, making sure not to get stuck at the end of the line pushing in toward the castle, and toward the guards barracks to collect their belongings. Sixteen weeks of training had worn a hefty amount of physical and mental fatigue on the stallions. Each of them were more than antsy to make it to their bunks, collect their things, and get the heck back home. Shining Armor himself was a bit disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to spend the evening with his little sister, but he was still more than happy to spend it with the best mother in the world as far as he was concerned.