Royal Guard Trainingby Mocha JonChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 1It was a sunny day in Equestria, and it was recruitment day in Canterlot for new members of Celestia and Luna’s Royal Guards. Shining Armor and Flash Sentry were responsible for training the new recruits. The two unicorns were known for having very different methods of preparing the soldiers, with Flash having a more no nonsense personality and tended to remain somewhat distant with his cadets. Shining Armor however was more tactile, wanting to get to know them all as much as he can to find their strengths. The two agreed to share the cadets equally, the two even like to put a little bet on who could get better results. The loser had to pay 50 bits to the winner, and Shining Armor has won the bet for years on end, and he was not ready to stop that streek. The two were seen marching side by side into the outer area of the Princesses’ castle, noticing six recruits standing around outside, most of them seemed to be distracted and inattentive. Some of the stallions were fooling around on the equipment and the rest were just daydreaming away. “ATTENTION!!!” The two stallions yelled in unison. “Standing!” The cyan colored pony said as they all arrived. At that moment, all six recruits went over to the two leaders and stood in attention looking right at the two, looking dead forward at them. “Listen up, you six signed up for Royal Guard training, that means you all need to dedicate your hearts and souls to Equestria!” Flash Sentry said, looking a large red pegasus in the eye, “And you need to work even harder than you have ever worked before…” He said as he looked down at the pegasus’ motorcycle cutie mark, “...As a rebellious biker…” He said as he looked at the green and purple earth ponies next to him, “Or as a bruty gym rat or police officer!!!” Shining Armor looked at the three cadets on the right, he looked much less stern and even had a smile on his face “Cadets, please state your names and your reasons for joining.” He said as he looked at a large yellow unicorn, giving him a pleasant and calming grin. “CAMO CADET, SIR! MY FATHER WAS A SERVER AND I AM FOLLOWING IN HIS HOOFSTEPS!!!” The yellow pony yelled proudly, Shining looked down and saw a wave of green brown yellow and black as a cutie mark. “COMBAT GEAR SIR! IT’S MY DUTY TO MARCH AND STAND GUARD FOR THIS GREAT NATION SIR!!!” The orange pony yelled, followed by giving Shining Armor a devoted salute. Shining could see a combat boot and military utility belt as a cutie mark. Shining Armor felt a little smug with these two cadets, he grinned and looked at Flash, thinking he was certainly going to win the bet. Shining then looked over to the, slightly smaller, cyan pony who seemed less… Confident than the others, “What about you, blue earth pony.?” He didn’t know how to answer, he assumed he was talking to someone else, “Hu, me? Oh, it’s Mocha Jon… And business has been low at the coffee house and I wanted to try something new…” He said as he adjusted his mane and revealed a horn that was the size of a colt’s, “Drinking coffee at a young age will stunt your growth…” Flash looked over and chuckled at that, thinking he had a better chance at winning seeing him, “Alright, you three will train with me, Camo Cadet, Combat Gear and Mocha Jon will focus with Shining Armor.” He said as he started jogging away, with his three following him. Shining Armor looked at the three and began examining them, wondering how he should start this round. “Alright, I can tell you guys have the heart, I mean two of you already seem born for it.” Shining Armor said as he light up his horn and pulled out three sets of Royal Guard gear. They contained small helmets, not large ones that would obscure their eyesight or be too heavy, and small swords and shields, too small to do actual damage. Camo Cadet and Combat Gear took hold of them quickly, even started playfully holding them up proudly, Mocha Jon on the other hoof… “Dropping!” Jon said as he dropped the sword less than inch away from his hoof. He then tried picking it up again carefully. Shining blew his whistle and started yelling for the stallions’ attention, “Stand hut!” Shining said as he waited for the stallions to stand in attention, they all quickly stood in attention and waited for instruction. “Standing!” Mocha narrated once again, making the other cadets wince eyes at that strange habit of narration. “Okay… Good to know…” Shining said awkwardly as he remembered his plan, “Listen, there is a code every cadet must follow, we’re going to say it once, and everypony will have it memorized by the end of training, repeat after me,” Shining said as he turned around to face the Equestria flag. “My heart beats for Equestria!” “My heart beats for Equestria!” They all repeated in unison. “I stand with my sword for Celestia!” “I stand with my sword for Celestia!” “My hooves will hurt and my mind will break…” “My hooves will hurt and my mind will break…?” The stallions looked a little confused and worried about that part. Shining Armor then turned back around after that comment with his eyes closed. When he opened them, they were not blue, but green, “And it is my honor to serve the evil Changelings!” Shining yelled as his horn light up bright green and blasted all three of the cadets in the face. When the three opened their eyes, they were all turned into green eyes, staring blankly ahead. Shining grinned at that and lifted up his front left hoof, the hypnotized cadets copying the exact movement. Shining then put it down then took one step forward, the cadets then did the exact same movement. Shining then jumped up in the air and did a backflip, and the other cadets followed the same movement and flipped in the air (with Jon falling on his face in the end…) “It looks like it’s working pretty well…” Shining said as he light his horn up again with a bright green hue and suddenly the cadet’s eyes turned back to normal, and they all looked disoriented. “Huh? What just happened?” Camo Cadet asked as he looked at Combat Gear. “Ugh… Awakening…” Mocha Jon said as he stood up slowly, looking like he had a headache. Shining walked over to the cadets and tried to explain what happened, “That was your first test cadets.” He said with a bit of a chuckle in his voice. Combat Gear shook his head off and caught his guard back, “Test? What are you talking about? Where’s Queen Chrysilas?” He said as he held his sword out in preparation, “And your eyes! They got you too!” Shining continued to chukle to himself, “Relax guys…” He said as he light his horn up the normal purple, and telekinetically removed some small things from his eyes as they turned blue again, “Non prescription contact lenses, they don’t do anything!” He said as he used his magic to put the contacts in Combat Gear’s eyes, making them green too. Combat looked into his reflection in the shield and nodded, “Hey I look good in green, can I keep these?” Shining nodded then began explaining his reasoning, “Ever since my wedding, everypony on the Royal Guards needs to not only train physically for defense, but mentally to fight that spell. At the end of training, I will try that spell again and if you can snap yourselves out of it, you will be full fledged Royal Guards!” The three cadets all looked at each other and all seemed a bit nervous at that, they were not expecting to fight anything mentally, only physically, but they knew they needed to do whatever it took to join the guards, “SIR YES SIR!!!” The three said in unison, saluting with their left hooves. “Saluting!” Jon added Shining grinned at that dedication, signaling the cadets inside, “Love the spirit guys! Come on, I’ll show you guys where you’ll be sleeping!” He said as the three stallions quickly followed through. Camo Cadet and Combat Gear were marching at a strong speed whereas Mocha Jon was simply walking casually behind them all. Chapter 2The three cadets under Shining Armor’s lead were escorted into their resting room, set up with three cots seated right next to each other. The three cadets each rushed over to them, Camo Cadet taking the one on the left, Combat Gear taking the one on the right, and Mocha Jon took the one in the middle as they each started unloading their bags. Camo Cadet was seen taking out a pillow and a dark green blanket, with other shades of green on it looking like camouflage. “I heard the sleeping supplies here are itchy and old.” He said as he started making his bed. Underneath the blanket appeared to be a picture of a large yellow stallion who resembles Camo Cadet, only he was clearly more bulky and had an orange mane as opposed to Camo’s brown mane. Another picture was of a blue pegasus mare sitting next to Camo with the two smiling. Mocha Jon leaned down and noticed the second picture, wondering who the mare in it was, “Hey, cool photos, who’s this mare here?” Jon asked as he placed the picture on the window edge next to Camo’s cot, “Is she your sister?” Camo Cadet looked over and saw the small horned unicorn touch his picture and looked nervous, “Wow, please be careful with that!” He then sighed in relief as he saw it placed down safely, “And no, though I do love her like a sister, her name’s Sweet Tea, she’s my wife.” He said with a smile as he pointed to the cutie mark on her flank, a tea bag. Combat Gear jumped over his cot then jumped over Mocha Jon’s to get a closer look, blushing at the sight of her, thinking she was pretty, “Wow, she looks like a nice lady. How does she feel about you joining the Royal Guards?” He asked as he made sure not to look too infatuated in her. Camo Cadet blushed back as he looked at the picture too, “Oh she was very supportive, the hard part was knowing I would need to be away from her for so long during training. Our anniversary is actually in a week, I almost didn’t enlist.” He said as he turned over and looked in his wife’s eyes on the picture. Jon looked a little surprised by that reveal, and Combat just widened his eyes, “Seriously? Your cutie mark is a symbol of defense, you almost choose to give it up?” Jon asked as he sat next to Camo. “I don’t like losing the ponies I love, but I know I need to keep them safe.” He said as he started making his bed, looking more stern now, “I need to keep Equestria safe to keep her safe, that’s what she told me.” Combat looked in the bag and noticed the other picture, seeming to recognize the stallion in it. “Wait, why do you have a picture of Yielding Sword with you?” He asked as he lifted it up with his hoof. “Who’s Yielding Sword?” Jon casually asked. “WHO’S YIELDING SWORD!?” Combat asked in shock, causing him to drop the picture, making Camo yell in panic. “Catching!” Jon yelled as he used his horn to levitate the picture back up before it could hit the ground. Camo sighed in relief as he quickly swiped the levitating picture, looking bothered by Combat almost breaking it, “Smart move grabbing it, I can only hold objects up for about ten seconds before my horn shorts out.” Jon said as he pointed to his small horn. “Well anyway…” Camo said as he carefully placed the picture next to his other one, adjusting it to be at the perfect angle, “...Yielding Sword is my father… Or at least he was… He died on battle two years ago.” He said as he looked down dispondantly, remembering him. Jon felt guilty bringing the subject up after hearing that, and Combat was just shocked to find out that his new conrad was related to Yielding Sword. “Wait, you mean to tell me that your father, the stallion who helped create you, is the stallion who single hoofedly saved Princess Celestia’s life when she was being accosted by rebelling Earth Ponies!?” He asked excitedly, but he then noticed how morose the yellow pony looked remembering him, and decided to tone himself down, “He was… A really great general, I looked up to him a lot when I was a colt.” He said much more softly. Camo looked back at the picture and had a faint smile on his face as he remembered what a great stallion his father he was. “Yeah, he was a great guy. I remember when he came home after the battle, he had a broken hoof and a jaw wired shut. They recommended he retire after that, but he said it was his duty to serve his whole life.” He said as he turned back to the two stallions, “He worked hard to keep Celestia and his family safe, and I want to do the same!” “That’s really sweet, you know I can tell you have the heart of a soldier already, I know you’ll make Sweet Tea proud.” Jon said as he put his hoof on Camo’s shoulder. Combat then began to take out his own bags and started unpacking. He unzipped it and a large amount of items over flowed out of it. “Okay, need to make sure it’s all there, let’s see, my prescription medicine, my non prescription medicine, my first aid kit, my watch synced up to the scientific clock out in the Crystal Empire, my mace spray, my pepper spray, my winter jacket, my summer portable fan, my survival guide book, my toothbrush, my back up toothbrush in case I screw up and get told to clean toilets with my toothbrush, my marching boots, my marching boot socks, my back up marching boot socks, my back up left hoof socks, my back up right hoof socks...” He continued to list all the items in his bag. Jon then leaned over to Camo’s ear and whispered, “He brings all those things and I can’t even find matching socks from the dryer?” And Camo just chuckled at that joke. “Combat Gear, why do you have all these things? I thought Shining Armor was going to provide us with everything we need.” Camo asked as he noticed he didn’t even open his second bag yet. “Why do you think my name’s Combat Gear? I always bring back up supplies. When I was in grade school I was always the football team’s equipment manager, I was the hoofball team’s equipment manager in college, and I was always in charge of ordering new supplies for my mom at her store.” He said as he unzipped his other bag, a massive amount of random supplies cartoonishly exploded out and knocked Mocha Jon out of his seat. “FALLING!!!” Jon yelled as he hit the ground, then standing back up. “Okay… Isn’t that a bit much though, I know it’s nice to be prepared and all but… That bag almost made a black hole with all it’s pressure.” Camo and Combat playfully chuckled at seeing him crash like that, “Sorry about that. But I bring whatever I think I need. It’s how I got my cutie mark.” Combat responded as he continued checking his supplies. “A combat boot and an arsonal utility belt? Makes sense for a public defender sure but how does supplying get that mark?” Camo asked as he was clearing the supplies off his bed. “I was in school and the class was doing a play to honor the visiting Royal Guards. Everypony in the audience was so excited to see the show, but right before opening night, somepony lost her uniform.” He said as he started organizing his items by category. “Turns out her father was a visiting guard, so she started freaking out and crying.” “I know the feeling, one time I almost broke my dad’s shield as a colt, I was so afraid of making him mad.” Camo added. “I managed to catch up with her backstage and let her use my understudy costume. She was so grateful that she told her dad about it. He caught up with me and said it was like I was looking out for a fellow cadet and tousled my mane. Before I knew it the mark just showed up, and the guard told me it’s the same one the cadets’ supply stallion had.” Jon finally caught his balance again and smiled at that story, “Wow, that’s pretty cool. He sounds like a nice guy.” He said as he started making his way around the room getting around the supplies, “Avoiding.” Camo grinned at the story too, he liked hearing stories about guars motivating the young. “So ever since then you were practicing how to be the supply stallion for your section of guards? Now that’s preparing!” He said as he lied down in the cot fully. “Now it’s your turn, whatchya bring Jon?” “Oh yeah!” Jon said as he took out his bag and unzipped it, “Unpacking.” Camo and Combat just looked at each other confused when he narrated again, wondering why he does that. When they looked back over, they noticed he brought… Stuffed animals? After Jon pulled out his blanket and pillow, he pulled out what looked like a toy skunk and chipmunk. “Nothing really special.” “You brought… Toys to cadet raining?” Camo asked confused, not condemning or sounding rude, just confused. “Well yeah, this is Jimmy.” He said as he softly tossed the skunk to camo,”And this is Ruth.” He said as he handed the chipmunk to Combat. “I… Did not plan on that…” Combat said as he looked into the chipmunk’s eyes, it was admittedly cute. “Also why the name Ruth?” “What, it’s a cute name.” Jon said as he used his horn to get the chipmunk back. He then tried to levitate the skunk one back, but it was further away and his horn’s magic faded too early, making it drop on Combat’s head. “Oh, sorry.” Camo just chuckled and nodded, “Yeah it is. You know that’s nice that you still have these things. When I was a kid my mom told me I had to get rid of these in order to grow up.” He said as he reached over and tossed the other one back to Jon. “Hey thanks. I know, it’s weird that I still sleep with these, but I just look into their eyes and they make me smile. You can laugh at me if you want.” “Hey, we don’t judge. You’re our fellow trainee and we need to support each other!” Combat said as he agreed, “Plus that chipmunk did make me grin a bit.” “It’s like my dad said, support your fellow soldiers. Keep Jimmy and Ruth as long as you want. I think it’s sweet.” Camo said as Combat and Jon both got into their cots. “Thanks guys, you’re both really nice. I can’t wait to start training tomorrow!” Jon said as Combat turned off the light switch, they all needed to go to bed early if they were to meet Shining Armor at sunrise. Chapter 3Later that night, Shining Armor was seen returning to his own home with his wife and daughter, seeing their smiling faces has always relieved the stress of a hard day. And he was going to need a lot of premature smiles and hugs to help him prepare for training. Shining Armor was also mildly nauseated from the fly back to his palace, due to still having an issue with air sickness. When he landed in front of the palace, he teleported himself inside to avoid making too much noise in case Flurry Heart was asleep. (He also wanted to quietly go to the bathroom and pass the air sickness without being noticed…) Once he teleported out, Cadence was seen outside the door, waiting on him. “Lemme guess, still airsick?” She asked jokingly. Shining tried to deny that, he looked embarrassed by the subject, even though it is something that is practically common knowledge and something Cadence is used too. “Huh, no! Why do you always ask me that?” He tried to deny until his stomach grumbled again and he put his hoof on it to help subside the nausea… “Oh what’s the use?” He said as he rushed back into the bathroom quickly… Making Cadence chuckle. When Shining came back out, looking flustered, Cadence dropped the subject quickly. “So how was the first day of Royal Guard training?” She asked as she stood right next to him, “Do you think you’re going to get those 50 bits again?” She asked confidently. Shining exhaled in relief, thinking he got all the gunk out of system, then nodding to his wife, “Oh definitely. I already know the perfect gift I’m going to get you with it!” Cadence blushed when Shining excitedly told her that, “Shining, you get me a gift every time, you deserve a reward for yourself, you do all the work.” “Hey seeing my wife happy is my reward.” Shining said as he nuzzled his muzzle against Cadence’s, both of them blushing. As they were about to kiss, they heard something that sounded like banging, but it was in a disturbing pattern, sounding like BANG, BANGBANG BANGBANG!! BANG, BANG!!! The two both looked worried, not because there was a loud noise that startled them, but because they were worried Flurry Heart would wake up and start crying… “I better go and make sure Flurry Heart doesn’t scream, it took me an hour to get her tucked in!” When Shining Armor was alone, he noticed the loud banging was coming from the front door of the palace, which had him concerned because he usually had night guards. He reached over and grabbed an axe from one of the decorative knights on the walls and made his way to the front. “Whoever you are! You better not hurt my family!” He said as he slowly reached the door. When Shining opened the door with the axe pointed out, he prepared for a surprise attack, however, he was surprised to find the periwinkle coated pony holding a small white flag? The two guards watching the door looked over and nodded in agreement with his waving. “He checks out Sir, he wishes to see you.” The brown guard said with the grey one nodding along. Shining looked a little confused, as this was rather unorthodox, but he just nodded and allowed him in, “Uh, sure I guess?” He said as he allowed him in, wondering why the guards would give in like that. Something about the guest seemed familiar, his fur color was similar, he was largely bulky, having a fit that would work very well for the Royal Guards honestly. “What can I do for you?” The earth pony pocketed the flag and looked a little nervous, like he was afraid to speak, “Well… I’m not sure if you remember me, but I did a lot of bad things to back in grade school…” He said as he awkwardly looked down and scratched the back of his mane. Shining then started trying to remember what his school life was like, he didn’t have that much rivals or enemies, he really only had one enemy… And Shining doubted that was him, It couldn’t be. If there was one thing Shining could remember about that pony, it was the cutie mark of a massive golden shield. Shining hoped that was not him with his hooves crossed in his head. He leaned over and noticed his cutie mark was… A large golden shield, “...Buck Withers?” He asked in shock, dropping the axe in surprise. The stallion only blushed in nervousness and nodded in response, “Um hum, after all these years, this is me.” Buck didn’t seem enthusiastic about being there, he seemed almost bitter in his tongue. Despite the disdain and nervousness in his voice, he looked like he was doing well for himself, he was well dressed, well groomed, and looked like he was in great shape. “What are you doing here? ...All the way out in the Crystal Empire?” Shining became curious, because that seemed like a drastic action for Buck, as casual trips to the Empire are not cheap or easy. He must have gone out of his way to come here. Buck grunted initially, he did not seem like he wanted to be there either. “As you may recall, I have a bit of an rage problem and my ego has been said to be the size of Canterlot?” Shining scowled as he remembered those examples, not yet being pleased by the surprise visit, “I’m aware, you said I didn’t deserve a happy ending.” He said as he impulsively kicked the axe away, to keep him from picking it up and swinging it. “Well, I realized they were problems, so I decided to take anger management and therapy to get better.” Buck then looked embarrassed at admitting that about himself, there was clearly a tone of bitterness in his voice. Shining was surprised by that answer, though it did seem to explain his out of the blue appearance. “Really? That’s good I guess, but what does that have to do with you coming here?” Buck then pulled out a binder from his bag and opened it up, there was a paper sealed inside it numbered 1-7 on the side, with Xs over 1-5. “She put me on a seven step program, and step six is to make amends with those I have wronged in the past… Including ‘nerdy colts’ and ‘dates I flipped out on’, and as much as I don’t want to do this, I need to get on good terms with you and… Cadence…” He still sounded bitter in his voice, but once he mentioned Cadence, his tone slightly shifted, sounding a bit more morose. Shining didn’t look like he wanted that to happen either, he clearly still seemed spiteful towards Buck, but he could tell he was trying to improve himself and he couldn’t just tell off a pony working to improve. “Oh, well, I’d love to help but I’m gonna be busy the next few weeks, I’m training three new cadets to be Royal Guards.” He said hoping that would get him out of that. “Then I’ll just stay till you’re done, or maybe come with you on training. I need to do this.” Buck said adamantly. “Yeah but I don’t think…” Shining tried to say but was cut off. “You’re not getting out of this.” Buck interjected as he opened the binder back up, and took out a certain document. “I have this warrant signed by Princess Celestia allowing me to stay until I feel we have amended.” He said as he took the document out, pointing to the seal of approval on it. Shining looked more surprised by that, passes like that are not easy to come by, and they are very expensive. It looks like Buck was being serious, “Well… That looks real. Plus I’ve seen how bad your handwriting copying is when you tried writing your own fake tardy notes in class.” He said as he took the warrant. “Fine… I guess you can stay here. But I will put my three cadets first.” Shining sighed, he clearly did not want to do that, but he had no choice. Cadence eventually returned to the main room with the two stallions, looking flustered, clearly having to wrestle with Flurry Heart to get her to go back to bed. When she looked over, she was surprised to see who was standing with her husband. “What the…? Buck Withers!?” She seemed to remember him much stronger than her husband. “What are you doing here?” She asked looking visually anger seeing him. Buck just rolled his eyes and grunted, “Look I’m not explaining this again, I’m in therapy, therapist is making me amend with everypony I wronged, and I put myself in six months worth of debt to get Celestia to approve my staying here!” He clearly was not happy seeing Cadence either, though he was more openly bitter with her. “I’ll find the guest room myself.” He said as he dropped the warrant and walked off alone. Cadence looked down at the document and looked over at her husband, “Do you think it’s weird that he just showed up out of the blue like that?” She asked in suspicion, “I think he’s up to something, why did you even let him in?” Shining pointed to the warrant, “You see that, Celestia approved him staying here, I couldn’t say no.” “You know Celestia’s law isn’t valid in the Crystal Empire right? We could have just voided that thing ourselves.” “Shining scratched the back of his mane thinking about it, “Yeah, but if he wants to change, I can’t just abandon that. That would be like giving up on my Cadets.” Cadence was clearly not happy with her husband’s decision, “Well he’s your responsibility then! I don’t want to be anywhere near that brute!” She yelled as she just walked off, clearly angry with her guest being there. Shining sighed to himself as he thought about what he had gotten himself into. Was this pony really wanting to change? Why didn’t he give them any warning? That was too much for him to worry about, so he just sighed and decided to go to bed. He needed to wake up bright and early to train his new cadets, that was his top priority. Chapter 4The next morning, the three cadets were all sleeping soundly in their cots. Camo Cadet was sleeping purely on his back and had his blanket completely covering up the entire cot. Combat Gear was sleeping on his front with his limbs tucked underneath him as his blanket had slip off the cot. Mocha Jon was in a fetal position cuddling both of his plushies and using a crumbled up blanket for a pillow instead of a real pillow. Without warning, the door was banged on and barged into. Shining Armor then rushed in holding a bullhorn and screamed into it, “6 AM CADETS! RISE AND SHINE! UP AND AT IT!!!” He screamed, startling all the cadets and making Combat cartoonishly fall out of his cot. “WWWAAAHHHHHHH!” Combat screamed. Camo simply leaned up and stretched as he rubbed his eyes and sighed in relief, “Ah bright and early!” He said as he opened up the blinds of the room to let in the first light of Celestia’s sunrise. Combat shielded his eyes as they were used to the darkness of the night, “Okay… What’s going on, you just said it was only 6 AM.” Combat said as he stood back up. “I know, I let you guys sleep in an hour since it’s your first morning.” Shining responded as he noticed Jon just put his head underneath his blanket fashioned pillow and walked next to his cot and shook him to get him up. “Wake up Jon, we need to get to work!” Shining incisted. Jon just moaned and reached his hoof out in the air pressing down at nothing. “Uh… What are you doing?” “Uugghhh… Where’s the snooze button on this thing…?” Jon moaned as he continued to press at the air. Camo just rolled his eyes at how he couldn’t wake up like that. “Oh come on, I used to get up at dawn as a colt to go hiking with my dad all the time!” He said as he stood next to Shining, Combat seemed to catch his wind too and stood with them, though Jon just continued to snooze. “Dude wake up, seriously.” Combat said as he started shaking Jon to get him up. Jon reached his other hoof out and accidentally poked Combat in the face, “Ugh… Is this the snooze button…?” Camo just rolled his eyes again until he noticed something in Combat’s pile, “Hang on, I got this…” He said as he lifted up a bottle of water from the pile with his horn and held it over Jon’s cot and it opened and tipped over… The water then fell right over Jon’s body quickly, splattering all over him. Once the water hit the unicorn, he jumped out of bed cartoonishly from the splash, “AAHHH! Wakening! Wakening! Rising! Shining!” He yelled as he shook the water up and stood with the others. “Sorry, I’m not used to waking up without any coffee.” Jon said as he used his horn to get the water out of his mane then put on his sports visor. “Well it’s fine, it’s your first day.” Shining responded as he opened the door back up, “Now head out, we start out with a two mile jog!” Shining said as Combat then rushed out, with Jon then Camo following. “Alright… fine…” Jon said as he was about to head out the room before briefly stopping in the doorway. “By the way… About the water…” He said as he stopped Camo where he was. Jon initially looked visibly annoyed and a bit angry at him, but then he instantly started grinning and chuckling out loud, “Absolutely hilarious!!! I mean that’s a classic move! If I ever sleep in again, video tape it so I can watch!” Jon said as he offered a hoof bump to Camo, which he happily accepted. “Hey no problem, didn’t want you to get in trouble.” Camo said as he chuckled, “And yeah I’m recording it next time!” Outside on the running course, Shining Armor was running in first place with the three stallions managing to keep up with him really quickly. Camo and Combat were easily following him with their heads held high, though Jon was having trouble keeping his pace. “Oh gosh… Running... ! Panting…! Panting…!” He yelled, clearly out of breath. Shining didn’t seem that concerned, as he was used to that experience, “Don’t worry Jon, it’s only another half mile to go!” He said as he turned back around and started chanting, “I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’VE BEEN TOLD!” ““I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’VE BEEN TOLD!” The three repeated proudly. “WE ARE STRONG CAUSE WE’RE NOT FOALS!” Shining added. “WE ARE STRONG CAUSE WE’RE NOT…” The three tried to repeat but unfortunately were cut off… “Tripping…!” Jon yelled as he slipped on a rock. He then cartoonishly fell over and accidentally knocked the other two cadets over… WWWOOAAAAHHHH!” The two yelled, lading on the ground, both managing to get themselves back up quickly. Jon was reluctant to get back up, he looked down and noticed there was a scrape on his arm, “Okay… ouch…” Jon said as he started licking the wound to keep it from bleeding out. The other three stallions turned around and noticed he was hurt, “Jon, are you alright?” Camo asked in concerned. Jon seemed more annoyed than anything, “Oh yeah, just another trip, no biggie…” He said as he tried to stand back up but then moaned in pain as he couldn’t stand. “Okay… That’s gonna leave a mark.” Camo still looked concerned, “Are you sure?” Combat noticed the wound and instantly went back to the cyan stallion, “You better cover that up.” He said as he took out a roll of bandage from his fanny pack and wrapped it around Jon’s wound. “There you go, the pressure should keep it from getting worse.” He said as he helped him up. The bandage did help with the pain, and Jon was able to get back on his hooves with it, “Wow, thanks!” He said as he started to get his wind back too. Shining grinned at the example of teamwork and whistled, “Excellent work Cadets! Now hop to it! We need to get to the gym soon!” Shining yelled as they all returned to jogging. The stallions were then seen standing at what looked like a pull up bar while Shining was seen holding a clipboard, “Alright Cadets, it’s your first day so we’re starting out small, each of you up there and give me ten pull ups!” Shining commanded, “Camo Cadet, you’re up!” “SIR, YES SIR!” Camo said as he saluted then jumped onto the rail. “ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, TEN!!!” Camo managed to do all the pull ups easily before jumping off and sticking the landing on all four hooves proudly. “Excellent job, nice landing too, Combat Gear, pull it up now!” Shining said as he signalled him up. Combat saluted too, “SIR, YES SIR!!!” He then jumped up on the rail and managed to do all ten pull ups with ease, he even did another three pull ups just to show off. “Oh yeah! Reminds me of when I was on our school’s hoofball team! I had to do twenty a day to train.” Combat said as he plopped down and hoof bumped Camo. “Wow, now I get why my friends used to get picked on by our hoofball team, they had a lot of rage to work through…” Shining said awkwardly. “Anyway, Jon you’re turn, show me what you got!” Jon did a soft salute and nod, “Sir, yes sir.” He said as he went up to the rail. “Gripping.” He said as he grabbed the rail. “ONE! TWO!! THREE!!!” He started out good, but he eventually started losing wind again and began going slower. “S...Six…! Sss...Sseven…” He said as he continued to have more trouble pulling more and more. His arms started shaking then as he had trouble holding on to the bar, “Ei… Eigh… Eight!” He then stopped and breathed deeply, “Nnn… Nnn… Nnn… NNNINE!!!” He said as he pulled off his ninth one and fell down holding the rail tightly as he continued to breath deeply. “Come on Jon, you can do it!” Camo said encouragingly. Combat nodded along, “You got this! It’s just one more! Don’t give up!” He added as Shining looked concerned, if he couldn’t do this he may not be cut out for the guards. Jon continued to breathe harshly as he looked up. His arms were shaking and his hooves were hurting from holding onto the rail for so long. He wanted to just let go and be done with it, he wanted to just go back to sleep, but he heard the two cheer him on and he saw the concern in his lieutenant's eye and tried one last time to finish… “Pulling…! Pulling! Pulling!!! PULLING!!!” Jon yelled as he finally managed to lift his head above the rail and get that tenth pull up, “TEN!!!” Camo and Combat both hoof bumped each other and cheered, “Alright! You got it!!!” The two then clapped, and Shining just grinned in relief. “Wait… Cramping… Slipping…! FALLING!!!” Jon yelled as he cartoonishly let go of the rail and fell down on the ground… “I did it…!” He said softly as Shining Armor helped him up. Camo Cadet and Combat Gear both grinned and offered Jon hoofbumps, “Man I remember being like you as a colt, it hurt a bit at first but the rush is worth it!” Combat said as he hoof bumped Jon… Who had trouble moving his arms… Shining grinned but cut the group short, “That was great Cadets, but don’t get too comfortable, in twenty you guys need to wash the gear of the Guards.” Shining said as he made some notes on his clipboard, “I know, not fun but all trainees need to pay their dues and do some grum work.” Shining said sympathetically. The three then just looked annoyed at that and all groaned in unison, “Oh come on… Can’t I just run and scrape my hoof again?” Jon sarcastically asked as Camo and Combat chuckled. “Very funny Jon… Just for that you get to clean their boots with your toothbrush.” Shining said in a more no nonsense tone as he checked him off on the clipboard. Chapter 5The three cadets were seen grunting as they made their way to the laundry and cleaning room, Camo Cadet and Combat Gear both covering their noses at the scent of armor sweat. The two seemed bitter about having to wash the armor, Mocha Jon however seemed rather ambivalent to the task. The gym bags were all piled in the corner holding the armor and it was obvious that they have not been cleaned in a very long time. “Alright I’m not touching those.” Combat insisted, looking angry. “You didn’t bring latex gloves or anything? The one thing you don’t have!” Camo insisted, looking equally grossed out, “I’m not going near those bags!” “Ugh, shoving!!!” Jon rolled his eyes and shoved himself in front of the two stallions and grabbed the bags of sweaty gear himself, opening them and dividing the helmets, vests, and boots. “Camo, you got helmets, Combat, you got vests.” He said as he tossed the bags to them, “Tossing.” The two coughed from the smell of the armor but Jon didn’t seem to mind it, “You guys can run five miles and do all those pull ups but you can’t handle a little laundry?” Jon joked. The two started to suck it up and went over to grab the brushes and water buckets, Jon remained stationary as he had to get his toothbrush for it. On their way to the other side they laughed at Jon’s comment but then looked a little concerned about what he said. “It was only ten pull ups, who can’t do that?” Camo asked Combat, out of Jon’s hearing range. Combat looked a bit concerned at that statement as well, “I know, I mean that was easy as possible.” He said as he started the started the water. The two came back with the water and were surprised to see Jon was already scrubbing the boots with his toothbrush, they were shocked he was so willing. “There you are.” He said as he used his horn to dip his toothbrush in the water, “Dipping.” Jon said but his small horn fizzled out and the toothbrush fell in the bucket, Combat pulled it out and gave it back. The two reluctantly started brushing their gear and looked at each other thinking about what they were talking about getting water. “So Jon… I noticed you were having trouble keeping up with us on the trail.” Camo mentioned awkwardly, afraid to seem rude. “Oh yeah, I know, remember when I fell, that was hilarious!” Jon said as he pointed to his bandage and chuckled, the other two chuckling too. “And the pull ups, they looked like they hurt.” Combat added softly, turning his head away from the vest as he scrubbed it. “What’s your record prior?” “Oh, six.” Jon said as he remembered his pull ups, “That was funny too, if my arms weren’t cramping up at the end I would have been laughing when I yelled ‘FALLING!!!’ until I said Ouch.” Jon said as he already finished his first boots. “You find that funny?” Combat asked as he held his vest even further away, not even able to see where he was scrubbing, “Man when were these last cleaned?” Jon laughed a little again as he started his next pair, “Oh yeah totally, I mean you gotta be able to laugh at yourself right?” Jon said as he started getting the insides. Camo tried to get a large red stain off his helmet and looked a little squeamish at it, believing it to be a blood stain. “Well that makes sense, but… You know we’re gonna be doing that a lot right?” He said as he quickly traded brushes once he got the blood stain off. “He’s right, aren’t you worried it’s gonna be too much?” Combat said as he pulled out a small sponge from his fanny pack to help, he had several packed. “You gotta be able to handle a lot.” “Really? I thought we were gonna play video games most of the time.”: Jon said sarcastically. “You guys don’t have to beat around the bush, I know I did horrible!” “You do?” The two asked in unison. Jon was already on his third pair of metal boots by that time, he was working rather quickly, “Oh gosh yeah! I expected Shining Armor to yell right in my face from how bad I started. I’m not strong at all! Holding these boots is kind of too heavy!” Jon said as the boots fell on the floor, Dropping.” Camo and Combat looked at each other confused, he’s aware that he’s unfit but still enlisted. “Then gotta ask, why do you want to join the guards?” Combat asked seeming both confused and a little worried. “Yeah, you didn’t say last night, why do you want to be a guard? Was anypony in your family one?” Camo added as he started getting used to the scent of sweat and started scrubbing the helmet faster. Jon looked less casual than he normally did once they asked him that, he didn’t really want to answer that question, “Oh… Well… It’s kind of hard to say. I’d rather not get into that.” Jon looked a little nervous and even embarrassed once the subject came up. He then just looked back down and started scrubbing faster, “SCRUBBING!” He said loudly, clearly not wanting to admit it. The two looked back at each other again, surprised at the sudden change of attitude, Jon was normally very honest and upbeat but now he was acting strange. “Uh… Okay… Well, that’s weird, but we just don’t want you to try anything that will get you hurt.” Combat said as he finished his first vest. “Yeah, I don’t want to be mean or anything but this takes a lot of work, and today was only the easy stuff, it’s gonna get harder. I don’t want to see you get hurt.” Camo said as he started helping Combat clean his vest. Jon grinned again and appreciated their concern, “Thanks guys, but I can handle more than I let on, plus I’m the only one of you who can handle cleaning these things. Dare you two to do this!” He said as he shoved his muzzle into one of the uncleaned boots for comedic effect for about five seconds. The other two just laughed at the exaggerated attempt at humor, “Alright alright, that took guts, I’ll admit it.” Camo said casually, happy to see him being funny again. Jon took his muzzle out and chuckled himself, “You know it! This guy even left a sock in it.” He said pulling it out and throwing it away. Combat chuckled at that and gave Jon a hoof bump, “But in all seriousness, we want you to do well here. If you need any help with the exercises, just ask.” “He’s right, we’re all Cadets and we stick together!” Camo said excitedly as the two stood up strong, dropping their helmet and vest on the ground. Jon picked up the armor and put it back on their benches. “Returning.” And he just smiled and nodded as he returned to scrubbing the boots. “Cleaning. Thanks guys, I appreciate it a lot, can’t wait to see you guys on the obstical course tomorrow.” “Oh yeah, let’s hope Shining Armor doesn’t yell at us if we skip one of those tires we run through.” Camo jokingly said as they all chuckled and continued cleaning the gear.
Chapter 1It was a sunny day in Equestria, and it was recruitment day in Canterlot for new members of Celestia and Luna’s Royal Guards. Shining Armor and Flash Sentry were responsible for training the new recruits. The two unicorns were known for having very different methods of preparing the soldiers, with Flash having a more no nonsense personality and tended to remain somewhat distant with his cadets. Shining Armor however was more tactile, wanting to get to know them all as much as he can to find their strengths. The two agreed to share the cadets equally, the two even like to put a little bet on who could get better results. The loser had to pay 50 bits to the winner, and Shining Armor has won the bet for years on end, and he was not ready to stop that streek. The two were seen marching side by side into the outer area of the Princesses’ castle, noticing six recruits standing around outside, most of them seemed to be distracted and inattentive. Some of the stallions were fooling around on the equipment and the rest were just daydreaming away. “ATTENTION!!!” The two stallions yelled in unison. “Standing!” The cyan colored pony said as they all arrived. At that moment, all six recruits went over to the two leaders and stood in attention looking right at the two, looking dead forward at them. “Listen up, you six signed up for Royal Guard training, that means you all need to dedicate your hearts and souls to Equestria!” Flash Sentry said, looking a large red pegasus in the eye, “And you need to work even harder than you have ever worked before…” He said as he looked down at the pegasus’ motorcycle cutie mark, “...As a rebellious biker…” He said as he looked at the green and purple earth ponies next to him, “Or as a bruty gym rat or police officer!!!” Shining Armor looked at the three cadets on the right, he looked much less stern and even had a smile on his face “Cadets, please state your names and your reasons for joining.” He said as he looked at a large yellow unicorn, giving him a pleasant and calming grin. “CAMO CADET, SIR! MY FATHER WAS A SERVER AND I AM FOLLOWING IN HIS HOOFSTEPS!!!” The yellow pony yelled proudly, Shining looked down and saw a wave of green brown yellow and black as a cutie mark. “COMBAT GEAR SIR! IT’S MY DUTY TO MARCH AND STAND GUARD FOR THIS GREAT NATION SIR!!!” The orange pony yelled, followed by giving Shining Armor a devoted salute. Shining could see a combat boot and military utility belt as a cutie mark. Shining Armor felt a little smug with these two cadets, he grinned and looked at Flash, thinking he was certainly going to win the bet. Shining then looked over to the, slightly smaller, cyan pony who seemed less… Confident than the others, “What about you, blue earth pony.?” He didn’t know how to answer, he assumed he was talking to someone else, “Hu, me? Oh, it’s Mocha Jon… And business has been low at the coffee house and I wanted to try something new…” He said as he adjusted his mane and revealed a horn that was the size of a colt’s, “Drinking coffee at a young age will stunt your growth…” Flash looked over and chuckled at that, thinking he had a better chance at winning seeing him, “Alright, you three will train with me, Camo Cadet, Combat Gear and Mocha Jon will focus with Shining Armor.” He said as he started jogging away, with his three following him. Shining Armor looked at the three and began examining them, wondering how he should start this round. “Alright, I can tell you guys have the heart, I mean two of you already seem born for it.” Shining Armor said as he light up his horn and pulled out three sets of Royal Guard gear. They contained small helmets, not large ones that would obscure their eyesight or be too heavy, and small swords and shields, too small to do actual damage. Camo Cadet and Combat Gear took hold of them quickly, even started playfully holding them up proudly, Mocha Jon on the other hoof… “Dropping!” Jon said as he dropped the sword less than inch away from his hoof. He then tried picking it up again carefully. Shining blew his whistle and started yelling for the stallions’ attention, “Stand hut!” Shining said as he waited for the stallions to stand in attention, they all quickly stood in attention and waited for instruction. “Standing!” Mocha narrated once again, making the other cadets wince eyes at that strange habit of narration. “Okay… Good to know…” Shining said awkwardly as he remembered his plan, “Listen, there is a code every cadet must follow, we’re going to say it once, and everypony will have it memorized by the end of training, repeat after me,” Shining said as he turned around to face the Equestria flag. “My heart beats for Equestria!” “My heart beats for Equestria!” They all repeated in unison. “I stand with my sword for Celestia!” “I stand with my sword for Celestia!” “My hooves will hurt and my mind will break…” “My hooves will hurt and my mind will break…?” The stallions looked a little confused and worried about that part. Shining Armor then turned back around after that comment with his eyes closed. When he opened them, they were not blue, but green, “And it is my honor to serve the evil Changelings!” Shining yelled as his horn light up bright green and blasted all three of the cadets in the face. When the three opened their eyes, they were all turned into green eyes, staring blankly ahead. Shining grinned at that and lifted up his front left hoof, the hypnotized cadets copying the exact movement. Shining then put it down then took one step forward, the cadets then did the exact same movement. Shining then jumped up in the air and did a backflip, and the other cadets followed the same movement and flipped in the air (with Jon falling on his face in the end…) “It looks like it’s working pretty well…” Shining said as he light his horn up again with a bright green hue and suddenly the cadet’s eyes turned back to normal, and they all looked disoriented. “Huh? What just happened?” Camo Cadet asked as he looked at Combat Gear. “Ugh… Awakening…” Mocha Jon said as he stood up slowly, looking like he had a headache. Shining walked over to the cadets and tried to explain what happened, “That was your first test cadets.” He said with a bit of a chuckle in his voice. Combat Gear shook his head off and caught his guard back, “Test? What are you talking about? Where’s Queen Chrysilas?” He said as he held his sword out in preparation, “And your eyes! They got you too!” Shining continued to chukle to himself, “Relax guys…” He said as he light his horn up the normal purple, and telekinetically removed some small things from his eyes as they turned blue again, “Non prescription contact lenses, they don’t do anything!” He said as he used his magic to put the contacts in Combat Gear’s eyes, making them green too. Combat looked into his reflection in the shield and nodded, “Hey I look good in green, can I keep these?” Shining nodded then began explaining his reasoning, “Ever since my wedding, everypony on the Royal Guards needs to not only train physically for defense, but mentally to fight that spell. At the end of training, I will try that spell again and if you can snap yourselves out of it, you will be full fledged Royal Guards!” The three cadets all looked at each other and all seemed a bit nervous at that, they were not expecting to fight anything mentally, only physically, but they knew they needed to do whatever it took to join the guards, “SIR YES SIR!!!” The three said in unison, saluting with their left hooves. “Saluting!” Jon added Shining grinned at that dedication, signaling the cadets inside, “Love the spirit guys! Come on, I’ll show you guys where you’ll be sleeping!” He said as the three stallions quickly followed through. Camo Cadet and Combat Gear were marching at a strong speed whereas Mocha Jon was simply walking casually behind them all.
Chapter 2The three cadets under Shining Armor’s lead were escorted into their resting room, set up with three cots seated right next to each other. The three cadets each rushed over to them, Camo Cadet taking the one on the left, Combat Gear taking the one on the right, and Mocha Jon took the one in the middle as they each started unloading their bags. Camo Cadet was seen taking out a pillow and a dark green blanket, with other shades of green on it looking like camouflage. “I heard the sleeping supplies here are itchy and old.” He said as he started making his bed. Underneath the blanket appeared to be a picture of a large yellow stallion who resembles Camo Cadet, only he was clearly more bulky and had an orange mane as opposed to Camo’s brown mane. Another picture was of a blue pegasus mare sitting next to Camo with the two smiling. Mocha Jon leaned down and noticed the second picture, wondering who the mare in it was, “Hey, cool photos, who’s this mare here?” Jon asked as he placed the picture on the window edge next to Camo’s cot, “Is she your sister?” Camo Cadet looked over and saw the small horned unicorn touch his picture and looked nervous, “Wow, please be careful with that!” He then sighed in relief as he saw it placed down safely, “And no, though I do love her like a sister, her name’s Sweet Tea, she’s my wife.” He said with a smile as he pointed to the cutie mark on her flank, a tea bag. Combat Gear jumped over his cot then jumped over Mocha Jon’s to get a closer look, blushing at the sight of her, thinking she was pretty, “Wow, she looks like a nice lady. How does she feel about you joining the Royal Guards?” He asked as he made sure not to look too infatuated in her. Camo Cadet blushed back as he looked at the picture too, “Oh she was very supportive, the hard part was knowing I would need to be away from her for so long during training. Our anniversary is actually in a week, I almost didn’t enlist.” He said as he turned over and looked in his wife’s eyes on the picture. Jon looked a little surprised by that reveal, and Combat just widened his eyes, “Seriously? Your cutie mark is a symbol of defense, you almost choose to give it up?” Jon asked as he sat next to Camo. “I don’t like losing the ponies I love, but I know I need to keep them safe.” He said as he started making his bed, looking more stern now, “I need to keep Equestria safe to keep her safe, that’s what she told me.” Combat looked in the bag and noticed the other picture, seeming to recognize the stallion in it. “Wait, why do you have a picture of Yielding Sword with you?” He asked as he lifted it up with his hoof. “Who’s Yielding Sword?” Jon casually asked. “WHO’S YIELDING SWORD!?” Combat asked in shock, causing him to drop the picture, making Camo yell in panic. “Catching!” Jon yelled as he used his horn to levitate the picture back up before it could hit the ground. Camo sighed in relief as he quickly swiped the levitating picture, looking bothered by Combat almost breaking it, “Smart move grabbing it, I can only hold objects up for about ten seconds before my horn shorts out.” Jon said as he pointed to his small horn. “Well anyway…” Camo said as he carefully placed the picture next to his other one, adjusting it to be at the perfect angle, “...Yielding Sword is my father… Or at least he was… He died on battle two years ago.” He said as he looked down dispondantly, remembering him. Jon felt guilty bringing the subject up after hearing that, and Combat was just shocked to find out that his new conrad was related to Yielding Sword. “Wait, you mean to tell me that your father, the stallion who helped create you, is the stallion who single hoofedly saved Princess Celestia’s life when she was being accosted by rebelling Earth Ponies!?” He asked excitedly, but he then noticed how morose the yellow pony looked remembering him, and decided to tone himself down, “He was… A really great general, I looked up to him a lot when I was a colt.” He said much more softly. Camo looked back at the picture and had a faint smile on his face as he remembered what a great stallion his father he was. “Yeah, he was a great guy. I remember when he came home after the battle, he had a broken hoof and a jaw wired shut. They recommended he retire after that, but he said it was his duty to serve his whole life.” He said as he turned back to the two stallions, “He worked hard to keep Celestia and his family safe, and I want to do the same!” “That’s really sweet, you know I can tell you have the heart of a soldier already, I know you’ll make Sweet Tea proud.” Jon said as he put his hoof on Camo’s shoulder. Combat then began to take out his own bags and started unpacking. He unzipped it and a large amount of items over flowed out of it. “Okay, need to make sure it’s all there, let’s see, my prescription medicine, my non prescription medicine, my first aid kit, my watch synced up to the scientific clock out in the Crystal Empire, my mace spray, my pepper spray, my winter jacket, my summer portable fan, my survival guide book, my toothbrush, my back up toothbrush in case I screw up and get told to clean toilets with my toothbrush, my marching boots, my marching boot socks, my back up marching boot socks, my back up left hoof socks, my back up right hoof socks...” He continued to list all the items in his bag. Jon then leaned over to Camo’s ear and whispered, “He brings all those things and I can’t even find matching socks from the dryer?” And Camo just chuckled at that joke. “Combat Gear, why do you have all these things? I thought Shining Armor was going to provide us with everything we need.” Camo asked as he noticed he didn’t even open his second bag yet. “Why do you think my name’s Combat Gear? I always bring back up supplies. When I was in grade school I was always the football team’s equipment manager, I was the hoofball team’s equipment manager in college, and I was always in charge of ordering new supplies for my mom at her store.” He said as he unzipped his other bag, a massive amount of random supplies cartoonishly exploded out and knocked Mocha Jon out of his seat. “FALLING!!!” Jon yelled as he hit the ground, then standing back up. “Okay… Isn’t that a bit much though, I know it’s nice to be prepared and all but… That bag almost made a black hole with all it’s pressure.” Camo and Combat playfully chuckled at seeing him crash like that, “Sorry about that. But I bring whatever I think I need. It’s how I got my cutie mark.” Combat responded as he continued checking his supplies. “A combat boot and an arsonal utility belt? Makes sense for a public defender sure but how does supplying get that mark?” Camo asked as he was clearing the supplies off his bed. “I was in school and the class was doing a play to honor the visiting Royal Guards. Everypony in the audience was so excited to see the show, but right before opening night, somepony lost her uniform.” He said as he started organizing his items by category. “Turns out her father was a visiting guard, so she started freaking out and crying.” “I know the feeling, one time I almost broke my dad’s shield as a colt, I was so afraid of making him mad.” Camo added. “I managed to catch up with her backstage and let her use my understudy costume. She was so grateful that she told her dad about it. He caught up with me and said it was like I was looking out for a fellow cadet and tousled my mane. Before I knew it the mark just showed up, and the guard told me it’s the same one the cadets’ supply stallion had.” Jon finally caught his balance again and smiled at that story, “Wow, that’s pretty cool. He sounds like a nice guy.” He said as he started making his way around the room getting around the supplies, “Avoiding.” Camo grinned at the story too, he liked hearing stories about guars motivating the young. “So ever since then you were practicing how to be the supply stallion for your section of guards? Now that’s preparing!” He said as he lied down in the cot fully. “Now it’s your turn, whatchya bring Jon?” “Oh yeah!” Jon said as he took out his bag and unzipped it, “Unpacking.” Camo and Combat just looked at each other confused when he narrated again, wondering why he does that. When they looked back over, they noticed he brought… Stuffed animals? After Jon pulled out his blanket and pillow, he pulled out what looked like a toy skunk and chipmunk. “Nothing really special.” “You brought… Toys to cadet raining?” Camo asked confused, not condemning or sounding rude, just confused. “Well yeah, this is Jimmy.” He said as he softly tossed the skunk to camo,”And this is Ruth.” He said as he handed the chipmunk to Combat. “I… Did not plan on that…” Combat said as he looked into the chipmunk’s eyes, it was admittedly cute. “Also why the name Ruth?” “What, it’s a cute name.” Jon said as he used his horn to get the chipmunk back. He then tried to levitate the skunk one back, but it was further away and his horn’s magic faded too early, making it drop on Combat’s head. “Oh, sorry.” Camo just chuckled and nodded, “Yeah it is. You know that’s nice that you still have these things. When I was a kid my mom told me I had to get rid of these in order to grow up.” He said as he reached over and tossed the other one back to Jon. “Hey thanks. I know, it’s weird that I still sleep with these, but I just look into their eyes and they make me smile. You can laugh at me if you want.” “Hey, we don’t judge. You’re our fellow trainee and we need to support each other!” Combat said as he agreed, “Plus that chipmunk did make me grin a bit.” “It’s like my dad said, support your fellow soldiers. Keep Jimmy and Ruth as long as you want. I think it’s sweet.” Camo said as Combat and Jon both got into their cots. “Thanks guys, you’re both really nice. I can’t wait to start training tomorrow!” Jon said as Combat turned off the light switch, they all needed to go to bed early if they were to meet Shining Armor at sunrise.
Chapter 3Later that night, Shining Armor was seen returning to his own home with his wife and daughter, seeing their smiling faces has always relieved the stress of a hard day. And he was going to need a lot of premature smiles and hugs to help him prepare for training. Shining Armor was also mildly nauseated from the fly back to his palace, due to still having an issue with air sickness. When he landed in front of the palace, he teleported himself inside to avoid making too much noise in case Flurry Heart was asleep. (He also wanted to quietly go to the bathroom and pass the air sickness without being noticed…) Once he teleported out, Cadence was seen outside the door, waiting on him. “Lemme guess, still airsick?” She asked jokingly. Shining tried to deny that, he looked embarrassed by the subject, even though it is something that is practically common knowledge and something Cadence is used too. “Huh, no! Why do you always ask me that?” He tried to deny until his stomach grumbled again and he put his hoof on it to help subside the nausea… “Oh what’s the use?” He said as he rushed back into the bathroom quickly… Making Cadence chuckle. When Shining came back out, looking flustered, Cadence dropped the subject quickly. “So how was the first day of Royal Guard training?” She asked as she stood right next to him, “Do you think you’re going to get those 50 bits again?” She asked confidently. Shining exhaled in relief, thinking he got all the gunk out of system, then nodding to his wife, “Oh definitely. I already know the perfect gift I’m going to get you with it!” Cadence blushed when Shining excitedly told her that, “Shining, you get me a gift every time, you deserve a reward for yourself, you do all the work.” “Hey seeing my wife happy is my reward.” Shining said as he nuzzled his muzzle against Cadence’s, both of them blushing. As they were about to kiss, they heard something that sounded like banging, but it was in a disturbing pattern, sounding like BANG, BANGBANG BANGBANG!! BANG, BANG!!! The two both looked worried, not because there was a loud noise that startled them, but because they were worried Flurry Heart would wake up and start crying… “I better go and make sure Flurry Heart doesn’t scream, it took me an hour to get her tucked in!” When Shining Armor was alone, he noticed the loud banging was coming from the front door of the palace, which had him concerned because he usually had night guards. He reached over and grabbed an axe from one of the decorative knights on the walls and made his way to the front. “Whoever you are! You better not hurt my family!” He said as he slowly reached the door. When Shining opened the door with the axe pointed out, he prepared for a surprise attack, however, he was surprised to find the periwinkle coated pony holding a small white flag? The two guards watching the door looked over and nodded in agreement with his waving. “He checks out Sir, he wishes to see you.” The brown guard said with the grey one nodding along. Shining looked a little confused, as this was rather unorthodox, but he just nodded and allowed him in, “Uh, sure I guess?” He said as he allowed him in, wondering why the guards would give in like that. Something about the guest seemed familiar, his fur color was similar, he was largely bulky, having a fit that would work very well for the Royal Guards honestly. “What can I do for you?” The earth pony pocketed the flag and looked a little nervous, like he was afraid to speak, “Well… I’m not sure if you remember me, but I did a lot of bad things to back in grade school…” He said as he awkwardly looked down and scratched the back of his mane. Shining then started trying to remember what his school life was like, he didn’t have that much rivals or enemies, he really only had one enemy… And Shining doubted that was him, It couldn’t be. If there was one thing Shining could remember about that pony, it was the cutie mark of a massive golden shield. Shining hoped that was not him with his hooves crossed in his head. He leaned over and noticed his cutie mark was… A large golden shield, “...Buck Withers?” He asked in shock, dropping the axe in surprise. The stallion only blushed in nervousness and nodded in response, “Um hum, after all these years, this is me.” Buck didn’t seem enthusiastic about being there, he seemed almost bitter in his tongue. Despite the disdain and nervousness in his voice, he looked like he was doing well for himself, he was well dressed, well groomed, and looked like he was in great shape. “What are you doing here? ...All the way out in the Crystal Empire?” Shining became curious, because that seemed like a drastic action for Buck, as casual trips to the Empire are not cheap or easy. He must have gone out of his way to come here. Buck grunted initially, he did not seem like he wanted to be there either. “As you may recall, I have a bit of an rage problem and my ego has been said to be the size of Canterlot?” Shining scowled as he remembered those examples, not yet being pleased by the surprise visit, “I’m aware, you said I didn’t deserve a happy ending.” He said as he impulsively kicked the axe away, to keep him from picking it up and swinging it. “Well, I realized they were problems, so I decided to take anger management and therapy to get better.” Buck then looked embarrassed at admitting that about himself, there was clearly a tone of bitterness in his voice. Shining was surprised by that answer, though it did seem to explain his out of the blue appearance. “Really? That’s good I guess, but what does that have to do with you coming here?” Buck then pulled out a binder from his bag and opened it up, there was a paper sealed inside it numbered 1-7 on the side, with Xs over 1-5. “She put me on a seven step program, and step six is to make amends with those I have wronged in the past… Including ‘nerdy colts’ and ‘dates I flipped out on’, and as much as I don’t want to do this, I need to get on good terms with you and… Cadence…” He still sounded bitter in his voice, but once he mentioned Cadence, his tone slightly shifted, sounding a bit more morose. Shining didn’t look like he wanted that to happen either, he clearly still seemed spiteful towards Buck, but he could tell he was trying to improve himself and he couldn’t just tell off a pony working to improve. “Oh, well, I’d love to help but I’m gonna be busy the next few weeks, I’m training three new cadets to be Royal Guards.” He said hoping that would get him out of that. “Then I’ll just stay till you’re done, or maybe come with you on training. I need to do this.” Buck said adamantly. “Yeah but I don’t think…” Shining tried to say but was cut off. “You’re not getting out of this.” Buck interjected as he opened the binder back up, and took out a certain document. “I have this warrant signed by Princess Celestia allowing me to stay until I feel we have amended.” He said as he took the document out, pointing to the seal of approval on it. Shining looked more surprised by that, passes like that are not easy to come by, and they are very expensive. It looks like Buck was being serious, “Well… That looks real. Plus I’ve seen how bad your handwriting copying is when you tried writing your own fake tardy notes in class.” He said as he took the warrant. “Fine… I guess you can stay here. But I will put my three cadets first.” Shining sighed, he clearly did not want to do that, but he had no choice. Cadence eventually returned to the main room with the two stallions, looking flustered, clearly having to wrestle with Flurry Heart to get her to go back to bed. When she looked over, she was surprised to see who was standing with her husband. “What the…? Buck Withers!?” She seemed to remember him much stronger than her husband. “What are you doing here?” She asked looking visually anger seeing him. Buck just rolled his eyes and grunted, “Look I’m not explaining this again, I’m in therapy, therapist is making me amend with everypony I wronged, and I put myself in six months worth of debt to get Celestia to approve my staying here!” He clearly was not happy seeing Cadence either, though he was more openly bitter with her. “I’ll find the guest room myself.” He said as he dropped the warrant and walked off alone. Cadence looked down at the document and looked over at her husband, “Do you think it’s weird that he just showed up out of the blue like that?” She asked in suspicion, “I think he’s up to something, why did you even let him in?” Shining pointed to the warrant, “You see that, Celestia approved him staying here, I couldn’t say no.” “You know Celestia’s law isn’t valid in the Crystal Empire right? We could have just voided that thing ourselves.” “Shining scratched the back of his mane thinking about it, “Yeah, but if he wants to change, I can’t just abandon that. That would be like giving up on my Cadets.” Cadence was clearly not happy with her husband’s decision, “Well he’s your responsibility then! I don’t want to be anywhere near that brute!” She yelled as she just walked off, clearly angry with her guest being there. Shining sighed to himself as he thought about what he had gotten himself into. Was this pony really wanting to change? Why didn’t he give them any warning? That was too much for him to worry about, so he just sighed and decided to go to bed. He needed to wake up bright and early to train his new cadets, that was his top priority.
Chapter 4The next morning, the three cadets were all sleeping soundly in their cots. Camo Cadet was sleeping purely on his back and had his blanket completely covering up the entire cot. Combat Gear was sleeping on his front with his limbs tucked underneath him as his blanket had slip off the cot. Mocha Jon was in a fetal position cuddling both of his plushies and using a crumbled up blanket for a pillow instead of a real pillow. Without warning, the door was banged on and barged into. Shining Armor then rushed in holding a bullhorn and screamed into it, “6 AM CADETS! RISE AND SHINE! UP AND AT IT!!!” He screamed, startling all the cadets and making Combat cartoonishly fall out of his cot. “WWWAAAHHHHHHH!” Combat screamed. Camo simply leaned up and stretched as he rubbed his eyes and sighed in relief, “Ah bright and early!” He said as he opened up the blinds of the room to let in the first light of Celestia’s sunrise. Combat shielded his eyes as they were used to the darkness of the night, “Okay… What’s going on, you just said it was only 6 AM.” Combat said as he stood back up. “I know, I let you guys sleep in an hour since it’s your first morning.” Shining responded as he noticed Jon just put his head underneath his blanket fashioned pillow and walked next to his cot and shook him to get him up. “Wake up Jon, we need to get to work!” Shining incisted. Jon just moaned and reached his hoof out in the air pressing down at nothing. “Uh… What are you doing?” “Uugghhh… Where’s the snooze button on this thing…?” Jon moaned as he continued to press at the air. Camo just rolled his eyes at how he couldn’t wake up like that. “Oh come on, I used to get up at dawn as a colt to go hiking with my dad all the time!” He said as he stood next to Shining, Combat seemed to catch his wind too and stood with them, though Jon just continued to snooze. “Dude wake up, seriously.” Combat said as he started shaking Jon to get him up. Jon reached his other hoof out and accidentally poked Combat in the face, “Ugh… Is this the snooze button…?” Camo just rolled his eyes again until he noticed something in Combat’s pile, “Hang on, I got this…” He said as he lifted up a bottle of water from the pile with his horn and held it over Jon’s cot and it opened and tipped over… The water then fell right over Jon’s body quickly, splattering all over him. Once the water hit the unicorn, he jumped out of bed cartoonishly from the splash, “AAHHH! Wakening! Wakening! Rising! Shining!” He yelled as he shook the water up and stood with the others. “Sorry, I’m not used to waking up without any coffee.” Jon said as he used his horn to get the water out of his mane then put on his sports visor. “Well it’s fine, it’s your first day.” Shining responded as he opened the door back up, “Now head out, we start out with a two mile jog!” Shining said as Combat then rushed out, with Jon then Camo following. “Alright… fine…” Jon said as he was about to head out the room before briefly stopping in the doorway. “By the way… About the water…” He said as he stopped Camo where he was. Jon initially looked visibly annoyed and a bit angry at him, but then he instantly started grinning and chuckling out loud, “Absolutely hilarious!!! I mean that’s a classic move! If I ever sleep in again, video tape it so I can watch!” Jon said as he offered a hoof bump to Camo, which he happily accepted. “Hey no problem, didn’t want you to get in trouble.” Camo said as he chuckled, “And yeah I’m recording it next time!” Outside on the running course, Shining Armor was running in first place with the three stallions managing to keep up with him really quickly. Camo and Combat were easily following him with their heads held high, though Jon was having trouble keeping his pace. “Oh gosh… Running... ! Panting…! Panting…!” He yelled, clearly out of breath. Shining didn’t seem that concerned, as he was used to that experience, “Don’t worry Jon, it’s only another half mile to go!” He said as he turned back around and started chanting, “I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’VE BEEN TOLD!” ““I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’VE BEEN TOLD!” The three repeated proudly. “WE ARE STRONG CAUSE WE’RE NOT FOALS!” Shining added. “WE ARE STRONG CAUSE WE’RE NOT…” The three tried to repeat but unfortunately were cut off… “Tripping…!” Jon yelled as he slipped on a rock. He then cartoonishly fell over and accidentally knocked the other two cadets over… WWWOOAAAAHHHH!” The two yelled, lading on the ground, both managing to get themselves back up quickly. Jon was reluctant to get back up, he looked down and noticed there was a scrape on his arm, “Okay… ouch…” Jon said as he started licking the wound to keep it from bleeding out. The other three stallions turned around and noticed he was hurt, “Jon, are you alright?” Camo asked in concerned. Jon seemed more annoyed than anything, “Oh yeah, just another trip, no biggie…” He said as he tried to stand back up but then moaned in pain as he couldn’t stand. “Okay… That’s gonna leave a mark.” Camo still looked concerned, “Are you sure?” Combat noticed the wound and instantly went back to the cyan stallion, “You better cover that up.” He said as he took out a roll of bandage from his fanny pack and wrapped it around Jon’s wound. “There you go, the pressure should keep it from getting worse.” He said as he helped him up. The bandage did help with the pain, and Jon was able to get back on his hooves with it, “Wow, thanks!” He said as he started to get his wind back too. Shining grinned at the example of teamwork and whistled, “Excellent work Cadets! Now hop to it! We need to get to the gym soon!” Shining yelled as they all returned to jogging. The stallions were then seen standing at what looked like a pull up bar while Shining was seen holding a clipboard, “Alright Cadets, it’s your first day so we’re starting out small, each of you up there and give me ten pull ups!” Shining commanded, “Camo Cadet, you’re up!” “SIR, YES SIR!” Camo said as he saluted then jumped onto the rail. “ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, TEN!!!” Camo managed to do all the pull ups easily before jumping off and sticking the landing on all four hooves proudly. “Excellent job, nice landing too, Combat Gear, pull it up now!” Shining said as he signalled him up. Combat saluted too, “SIR, YES SIR!!!” He then jumped up on the rail and managed to do all ten pull ups with ease, he even did another three pull ups just to show off. “Oh yeah! Reminds me of when I was on our school’s hoofball team! I had to do twenty a day to train.” Combat said as he plopped down and hoof bumped Camo. “Wow, now I get why my friends used to get picked on by our hoofball team, they had a lot of rage to work through…” Shining said awkwardly. “Anyway, Jon you’re turn, show me what you got!” Jon did a soft salute and nod, “Sir, yes sir.” He said as he went up to the rail. “Gripping.” He said as he grabbed the rail. “ONE! TWO!! THREE!!!” He started out good, but he eventually started losing wind again and began going slower. “S...Six…! Sss...Sseven…” He said as he continued to have more trouble pulling more and more. His arms started shaking then as he had trouble holding on to the bar, “Ei… Eigh… Eight!” He then stopped and breathed deeply, “Nnn… Nnn… Nnn… NNNINE!!!” He said as he pulled off his ninth one and fell down holding the rail tightly as he continued to breath deeply. “Come on Jon, you can do it!” Camo said encouragingly. Combat nodded along, “You got this! It’s just one more! Don’t give up!” He added as Shining looked concerned, if he couldn’t do this he may not be cut out for the guards. Jon continued to breathe harshly as he looked up. His arms were shaking and his hooves were hurting from holding onto the rail for so long. He wanted to just let go and be done with it, he wanted to just go back to sleep, but he heard the two cheer him on and he saw the concern in his lieutenant's eye and tried one last time to finish… “Pulling…! Pulling! Pulling!!! PULLING!!!” Jon yelled as he finally managed to lift his head above the rail and get that tenth pull up, “TEN!!!” Camo and Combat both hoof bumped each other and cheered, “Alright! You got it!!!” The two then clapped, and Shining just grinned in relief. “Wait… Cramping… Slipping…! FALLING!!!” Jon yelled as he cartoonishly let go of the rail and fell down on the ground… “I did it…!” He said softly as Shining Armor helped him up. Camo Cadet and Combat Gear both grinned and offered Jon hoofbumps, “Man I remember being like you as a colt, it hurt a bit at first but the rush is worth it!” Combat said as he hoof bumped Jon… Who had trouble moving his arms… Shining grinned but cut the group short, “That was great Cadets, but don’t get too comfortable, in twenty you guys need to wash the gear of the Guards.” Shining said as he made some notes on his clipboard, “I know, not fun but all trainees need to pay their dues and do some grum work.” Shining said sympathetically. The three then just looked annoyed at that and all groaned in unison, “Oh come on… Can’t I just run and scrape my hoof again?” Jon sarcastically asked as Camo and Combat chuckled. “Very funny Jon… Just for that you get to clean their boots with your toothbrush.” Shining said in a more no nonsense tone as he checked him off on the clipboard.
Chapter 5The three cadets were seen grunting as they made their way to the laundry and cleaning room, Camo Cadet and Combat Gear both covering their noses at the scent of armor sweat. The two seemed bitter about having to wash the armor, Mocha Jon however seemed rather ambivalent to the task. The gym bags were all piled in the corner holding the armor and it was obvious that they have not been cleaned in a very long time. “Alright I’m not touching those.” Combat insisted, looking angry. “You didn’t bring latex gloves or anything? The one thing you don’t have!” Camo insisted, looking equally grossed out, “I’m not going near those bags!” “Ugh, shoving!!!” Jon rolled his eyes and shoved himself in front of the two stallions and grabbed the bags of sweaty gear himself, opening them and dividing the helmets, vests, and boots. “Camo, you got helmets, Combat, you got vests.” He said as he tossed the bags to them, “Tossing.” The two coughed from the smell of the armor but Jon didn’t seem to mind it, “You guys can run five miles and do all those pull ups but you can’t handle a little laundry?” Jon joked. The two started to suck it up and went over to grab the brushes and water buckets, Jon remained stationary as he had to get his toothbrush for it. On their way to the other side they laughed at Jon’s comment but then looked a little concerned about what he said. “It was only ten pull ups, who can’t do that?” Camo asked Combat, out of Jon’s hearing range. Combat looked a bit concerned at that statement as well, “I know, I mean that was easy as possible.” He said as he started the started the water. The two came back with the water and were surprised to see Jon was already scrubbing the boots with his toothbrush, they were shocked he was so willing. “There you are.” He said as he used his horn to dip his toothbrush in the water, “Dipping.” Jon said but his small horn fizzled out and the toothbrush fell in the bucket, Combat pulled it out and gave it back. The two reluctantly started brushing their gear and looked at each other thinking about what they were talking about getting water. “So Jon… I noticed you were having trouble keeping up with us on the trail.” Camo mentioned awkwardly, afraid to seem rude. “Oh yeah, I know, remember when I fell, that was hilarious!” Jon said as he pointed to his bandage and chuckled, the other two chuckling too. “And the pull ups, they looked like they hurt.” Combat added softly, turning his head away from the vest as he scrubbed it. “What’s your record prior?” “Oh, six.” Jon said as he remembered his pull ups, “That was funny too, if my arms weren’t cramping up at the end I would have been laughing when I yelled ‘FALLING!!!’ until I said Ouch.” Jon said as he already finished his first boots. “You find that funny?” Combat asked as he held his vest even further away, not even able to see where he was scrubbing, “Man when were these last cleaned?” Jon laughed a little again as he started his next pair, “Oh yeah totally, I mean you gotta be able to laugh at yourself right?” Jon said as he started getting the insides. Camo tried to get a large red stain off his helmet and looked a little squeamish at it, believing it to be a blood stain. “Well that makes sense, but… You know we’re gonna be doing that a lot right?” He said as he quickly traded brushes once he got the blood stain off. “He’s right, aren’t you worried it’s gonna be too much?” Combat said as he pulled out a small sponge from his fanny pack to help, he had several packed. “You gotta be able to handle a lot.” “Really? I thought we were gonna play video games most of the time.”: Jon said sarcastically. “You guys don’t have to beat around the bush, I know I did horrible!” “You do?” The two asked in unison. Jon was already on his third pair of metal boots by that time, he was working rather quickly, “Oh gosh yeah! I expected Shining Armor to yell right in my face from how bad I started. I’m not strong at all! Holding these boots is kind of too heavy!” Jon said as the boots fell on the floor, Dropping.” Camo and Combat looked at each other confused, he’s aware that he’s unfit but still enlisted. “Then gotta ask, why do you want to join the guards?” Combat asked seeming both confused and a little worried. “Yeah, you didn’t say last night, why do you want to be a guard? Was anypony in your family one?” Camo added as he started getting used to the scent of sweat and started scrubbing the helmet faster. Jon looked less casual than he normally did once they asked him that, he didn’t really want to answer that question, “Oh… Well… It’s kind of hard to say. I’d rather not get into that.” Jon looked a little nervous and even embarrassed once the subject came up. He then just looked back down and started scrubbing faster, “SCRUBBING!” He said loudly, clearly not wanting to admit it. The two looked back at each other again, surprised at the sudden change of attitude, Jon was normally very honest and upbeat but now he was acting strange. “Uh… Okay… Well, that’s weird, but we just don’t want you to try anything that will get you hurt.” Combat said as he finished his first vest. “Yeah, I don’t want to be mean or anything but this takes a lot of work, and today was only the easy stuff, it’s gonna get harder. I don’t want to see you get hurt.” Camo said as he started helping Combat clean his vest. Jon grinned again and appreciated their concern, “Thanks guys, but I can handle more than I let on, plus I’m the only one of you who can handle cleaning these things. Dare you two to do this!” He said as he shoved his muzzle into one of the uncleaned boots for comedic effect for about five seconds. The other two just laughed at the exaggerated attempt at humor, “Alright alright, that took guts, I’ll admit it.” Camo said casually, happy to see him being funny again. Jon took his muzzle out and chuckled himself, “You know it! This guy even left a sock in it.” He said pulling it out and throwing it away. Combat chuckled at that and gave Jon a hoof bump, “But in all seriousness, we want you to do well here. If you need any help with the exercises, just ask.” “He’s right, we’re all Cadets and we stick together!” Camo said excitedly as the two stood up strong, dropping their helmet and vest on the ground. Jon picked up the armor and put it back on their benches. “Returning.” And he just smiled and nodded as he returned to scrubbing the boots. “Cleaning. Thanks guys, I appreciate it a lot, can’t wait to see you guys on the obstical course tomorrow.” “Oh yeah, let’s hope Shining Armor doesn’t yell at us if we skip one of those tires we run through.” Camo jokingly said as they all chuckled and continued cleaning the gear.
