Chapter 1- Quick Heart's Draft
Quick Heart woke up to a sharp knocking on his door. His eyes groggily opened and he started to look around. Yes, this was definitely his room. It had his bookshelf filled with books of spells and Equestrian history and literature, his bed that he was currently laying on, his dresser filled with his one outfit. Why had he gotten up again? There was a loud banging at his door. Right, ponies needed him for something at this Celestia forsaken hour. Whomever was outside slammed on the door this time. It seemed they were about ready to break the door down so Quick Heart sat up and, hastily straightening his sheets with his magic, raced over to the door and opened it. There were two Celestial Guards standing there, a paper in one's magic.
"Are you Quick Heart?" The one with his horn glowing asked me. I should sure hope so, Quick Heart thought grudgingly. Otherwise you would have just woken me for no proper reason.
"I am." Quick Heart responded simply. He might have disliked being woken earlier than he, or any sane pony, would have liked but he didn't yet have a reason to dislike this pony. Also, this pony was a Royal Guard so it was probably better to not provide disrespect.
"Good," the guard sighed. "We've been to three other houses before this one. Either no pony answered or they weren't you." He said apathetically. Quick Heart couldn't blame him. The guards had probably been chewed out by the old mare that lived next door. Quick Heart could express some sympathy towards the guards' plight, he had been through that scenario more than once. "The mare next door said that this house was yours and we were very glad that she was truthful." That just about confirmed Quick Heart's theory.
"Well," Quick Heart started, slowly and carefully, "What exactly do you want with me? Why this early?" The guard, instead of giving Quick Heart a proper answer, transferred the paper from his magic to Quick Heart's. Rolling his eyes, Quick Heart read the paper slowly. His sarcastic and cynical mood started to fade as he read. "Drafted?" He asked, reaching the end of the paper. "Why would you ever need to start a draft? Why draft me, of all ponies?"
The guard appeared to take great pleasure in answering his question, taking the paper back and saying, "Because, it says here that you are over the age of eighteen and you are in good health." The guard read over the paper again and added, "Also, you aren't the only pony. The Guard is drafting everypony that meets the pre-stated requirements. That just happens to include you." He rolled up the paper and put it into his saddle bag. "Now, come with us, there is much to explain and very little time to do it. We have to be at the palace before the sun reaches the first tower." The guard abruptly turned and took a step, before turning back and looking into Quick Heart's room, "You may want to bring a few of those spell books. Get better at some of your more combat based spells and learn some if you haven't." With that, the guard turned and started down the cobblestone walkway. The other guard still stood in Quick Heart's doorway.
"Hurry up." The guard said, staring down at Quick Heart. "We don't have nearly as much time as you probably think we do." Then, he too turned away. Quick Heart turned around and, grabbing a saddlebag, quickly chose some books to take and ran to catch up to the guards, closing but not locking his door.
When Quick Heart finally caught up, he was out of breath. They were already halfway to the palace and the guards were talking. He walked up to get a better listen as to what the nature of their conversation was, but when he got any closer they stopped talking. Instead, the most talkative one turned his head slightly and started talking to Quick Heart.
"Alright look, Quick. You wouldn't know this, because you're a simple civilian, but, long story short, there has been an... uprising." The guard paused here, letting that sink in. Continuing, the guard said, "Well, I guess you aren't a civilian anymore so you can know. The Princess Luna has revolted against Her Majesty Celestia and is marching across Equestria to gain support. We can't technically do anything yet since there has been no aggression, except political." The guards' pace slowed as they neared the palace grounds, but the guard kept talking, "So, that's where we come in. We know that Princess Luna is planning something, we just don't know exactly what. The guard is taking... precautions, so to speak." Looking back, the guard saw the confusion that was written all over Quick Heart's face and huffed. "Fine, I'll give you the long version. A while ago, Princess Luna was seen and heard storming into the city one night. It was early in the morning and ponies were confused. Of course, the Guard was called in to assess and assist in the situation. When they arrived, the Princess was hysterical. She continued to scream about how ponies did not appreciate her or her night. The guards on scene tried to comfort the Princess, but it was no use. Princess Celestia was called down from her throne to assist in getting her sister back to the palace. That moment was when the Guard and Princess Celestia knew something was wrong." The guard looked at Quick Heart for confirmation that he was following. When it appeared that Quick Heart was comprehending, the guard continued, "Later that day, the Princess of the Night declared herself deviant and left the court with her supporters and her Guard. She was last seen heading north towards the Crystal Empire. We can only assume that this means she is going to rally supporters and attempt a coup. What else could require such a dramatic performance?" The group's pace stopped entirely as they stopped in front of the barracks.
"I still don't understand what this has to do with me." Quick Heart said exasperatedly. "I don't want to deal with petty wars, or politics." The guards walked inside, so Quick Heart followed suite. They led him to his cot and let him set his saddle bags down before explaining precisely what it had to do with him.
"You are a denizen of Equestria." The most talkative guard said simply. "You therefore have an obligation to help defend your country in a time of crisis. This is a possible crisis with probable cause. We need every pony that we can to help defend Equestria." He turned to Quick Heart and pointed slightly past him. "That right there is my cot. If you ever need anything, such as information or to ask stupid questions, feel free to ask." Quick Heart turned to see the cot he was pointing at was right in front of his. "I'm going to hit the hay before we have to meet." The guard said, yawning. Quick Heart looked outside to see that it was still some time before they had to meet. The yawn from the guard proved contagious as Quick Heart found himself yawning and his eyes drooping. He never had gotten his proper sleep. "Name's Bright Star by the way." The guard said suddenly. That surprised Quick Heart and after a moment, he opened his mouth to say what his name was before he was interrupted. "I already know your name, remember?" Bright Star spoke with a smirk. "No need to reintroduce yourself." Bright Star yawned again and then he layed his head down onto the pillow of his cot. "See you in a bit." With that, he was unconscious.
Quick Heart just sat and stared at him for a bit, dumbfounded at what exactly was going on. He shook his head to snap himself out of the daze and looked at his saddlebags. He needed to read over what the spell books said for a bit. He was laying in bed reading the book before he, too, passed out.
Quick Heart woke to the sound of somepony saying his name. He must have woken up too slowly for the pony's liking because before he could even properly open his eyes, he was on the floor. That had woken him up fully and he carefully stood. Looking to see who his assaulter was, he noticed that Bright Star wasn't in his cot. After he heard a snicker coming from the other side of his cot, he knew why.
"Bright Star," Quick Heart groaned, "I have not known you for two hours and you are already pushing me from my bed." After being sure he was stable enough to stand, Quick Heart glared at Bright Star violently.
"Yeah, that may be, but you weren't waking up fast enough and it is almost time to go." Bright Star said matter-of-factly. Quick Heart looked out the window and saw that Bright Star was right. The sun had almost reached the first tower spire. Remembering something he had once read about military procedures, he started to tidy up his cot and living area. Quick Heart folded the bed sheets tightly around the cot until he could bounce a bit on them. Or at least, until it looked like he could. Due to the fact that Quick Heart didn't actually have any bits on him he couldn't test this theory. Quick Heart had put his saddlebags into the hooflocker at the foot of the cot and made sure everything around him was clean. He took a glance at Bright Star's space and mentally cringed.
"You really should fix that." Quick Heart spoke, sounding almost disgusted. "It isn't military standard."
"It isn't?" Bright Star sounded genuinely confused at that. "I don't see why not. Everything is accessible." Quick Heart physically facehoofed at that statement.
"Of course it isn't!" Quick Heart retorted. "Look at mine and then look at yours." He said, pointing at the two cots respectively. "You could easily get in trouble for that. Wait, aren't you a part of the guard, shouldn't you know this?" Quick Heart was beginning to have his suspicions.
"Yeah, well, about that-" Bright Star was going to say something but at that moment a large, bulky stallion burst into the room, shouting.
"What is the meaning of this?!" The stallion roared, causing Quick Heart to visibly flinch. "You were supposed to be at the training grounds two minutes ago!" Wait, what?! Quick Heart snuck a glance outside to see that the sun was barely touching the spire. "Get your sorry behinds out there before I rip them off and throw them out there myself!" Seeing that Quick Heart wasn't moving, the stallion marched towards him, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and threw him towards the door. Quick Heart only went about a foot, but he got the point. He got up and sprinted out of the room, Bright Star not far behind.
"What was that all about?" Bright Star asked, clearly confused. "I've never been yelled at before by anypony that harshly." Rolling his eyes, Quick Heart picked up pace and decided to tell Bright Star why they had been chewed out later, after they met with everypony else.
Author's Note
The Mature rating comes into play later, but it is very important that it be rated Mature for the extremely brutal themes of war and the gore that comes with.
