Royal Guard Academy

The day has finally arrived. Tempest’s doctor gave her the usual check-up, and cleared her to return to her normal physical activities. She was advised to be careful of course, but her ribs were fully healed and the gash from the Roc’s talon was a mere scar now.

She pranced as she left the office, and opened the portal to Chaosville with a particularly showy toss of her head. She trotted into her house and called, “Discord!”

Discord slid down the banister from upstairs. “Hey! How was the doctor’s visit?”

“Great! He said I’m pretty much healed and I can go back to life as normal.”

“I’m glad to hear it!”

“Which means…” Tempest went to the kitchen counter, rummaging through the stack of important papers she kept on it, before finally pulling out an envelope. The wax seal on the back was broken, but bore the signature crest of Celestia herself. “I can finally join the Royal Guard.”

“Ooh, excellent!” Discord joined her as she took the envelope over to the dining room table and sat down.

Tempest tugged the papers out and unfolded them. She had to go through registration like every other applicant to the guard, but Celestia had sent her a condensed version of the registration paperwork that basically carried the endorsement of the princesses. This guaranteed entry, the paperwork was literally just for informational purposes.

Retrieving a pen, Tempest started filling it out. It was simple at first. Name, birthday, place of birth. She was honest in giving her original name of Fizzlepop Berrytwist, but the form also had a section for preferred names, where she wrote Tempest Shadow.

It asked for addresses of her current and previous homes, and she hesitated.

“Just give them my address, and before that Twilight’s castle for that brief few weeks you were there,” Discord suggested. “Before that, where you lived as a filly. But I doubt they’re going to look too much into this.”

Tempest nodded and kept writing.

She pondered over questions about medical conditions. Family history and her own injuries and illnesses. She took a breath, and again chose to be honest. They weren’t going to reject her.

There were a few pages of information on what she would have to expect, and she was asked to sign her acknowledgment of everything. By signing, she accepted all the terms and couldn’t sue them for trauma or injury.

“Well I’m not expecting boot camp to be rainbows and sunshine,” Tempest said as she signed off on that. “If I get messed up, oh well, I chose to be there.”

“Ten weeks,” Discord read from the paper. “So ten weeks of basic training, after which you will be assigned to a position. You’ll be allowed to apply for positions while in training but there’s no guarantee you’ll get what you want. Hm.”

“Yeah but Celestia is gonna keep a close eye on my progress and get me where she wants me,” Tempest replied. She flipped the page, which asked her to choose her first enlistment term. She could go for a quick three years… or sign up for five which offered quicker promotion opportunities. After each, she would have the choice to stay in or leave. She wanted to serve in the guard for a very long time. She checked off five years and added yet another signature.

“If I understand how it works, I’m specifically going to the Royal Guard Academy in Canterlot for officer training,” Tempest said. “Enlisted go through a different course. After that, I’ll be sent to a school for my particular job. Then I’ll finally get to start working.”

“So this will take months,” Discord said.

“Yeah.”

“Will I be able to see you?”

“Not during basic. During tech school, maybe.”

“Well, I’m going to miss you, but I support you in this.” Discord set his hand over her hoof. She smiled and nuzzled him.

“Thank you.” Tempest finished the registration and folded it back up. She took out a new envelope and addressed it to the recruitment board back in Canterlot, and went to get a stamp.

Though Discord was an accepted citizen of Ponyville, ponies didn’t often come into his personal dimension. Mostly because they didn’t know how but also because it still worried them. So Tempest elected to go back into Ponyville to take the letter straight to the post office.

“These are very important papers,” she said to the mare working the counter.

“Don’t worry ma’am, we’ll get them to Canterlot safely!” the energetic pegasus replied, taking the envelope and handing it off to another worker.

Tempest nodded. “Thank you.” She headed out. She returned to her house, where she climbed onto the couch and stretched out.

Discord soon joined her, lounging over her and yawning.

“We should get a house in Canterlot once I’m a guard,” Tempest said.

“Oh?” Discord asked curiously.

“Yeah. It’ll just be more convenient to have a house in the city. I want my coworkers to be able to find me quickly if they have to during off hours. Chaosville is nice but unless you know that it exists and can use a portal spell to get to it, you won’t be able to get in.”

Discord thought about it, then said, “I suppose you’re right. We should get a house. Plus it’ll be easier for our friends to get to if we want to spend time with them, and we’ll probably get our mail on time, and there’s the whole local community…”

Tempest snuggled with him. “Exactly. We can decorate it to be just like this one… on the inside, anyway.”

“Yeah! Okay dear, if you want to buy a house after your training, I would love to.”

“Cool. And… another thing, then.” Tempest gently pawed at his hand with her hoof until he grasped it. “Once I’m in and things are all settled… would you like to get married then?”

Discord’s ears perked up. “Oh, you want to get married so soon?”

“Well, sure. We’ve already agreed we want to get married, so why put it off? And if I’m married I’ll get additional income. It would help us out a lot, and you can get benefits from it too!”

Discord raised a brow. “Like what?”

“It’s easier to get into college,” Tempest said. “And if you wanna go to one of those really fancy ones that cost money, the guard will pay for it.”

“I don’t need higher education, I’m already a genius.”

“Free healthcare?”

“Healthcare is already free.”

“I mean like, really specialized stuff, like say you need long term-”

Discord pointed at his face. “I’m not a pony and they won’t be able to help me.”

“Right. Hm.” Tempest thought about it. “Access to the Canterlot military complex with its tax free grocery store?”

“Now you have my interest.” Discord gave her a kiss to the cheek. “But the benefits don’t matter to me, I’m just happy being with you. Like we’ve discussed before, if you want to get married I’m all for it.”

“Are you sure? It really is a dumb pony thing,” she said teasingly.

Discord chuckled. “It may be odd for me but I know how much it means to you and I can appreciate the significance. I’ve seen the benefits of being married. So yes, I’ll marry you.”

She hugged him, kissing him on the lips. He kissed her back, sliding his tail around her lower half to hold her closer.

“I’ve been to weddings but never thought I’d have my own,” Discord commented.

“I guess there’s a first time for everything,” Tempest replied. She rested her head under his chin.

“Suppose so. Hm... Should it be a huge wedding with all our friends or something small?”

“Ugh, definitely something small. Do you think Applejack will let us get married in her orchard?”

“I don’t see why not, but… why there?”

Tempest shrugged. “It’s pretty out there and it’s easy to get to, but we probably won’t have to risk anyone else wandering in because it’s on Applejack’s land.”

“True. Sure, it sounds lovely. We can ask her about it.”

“Yeah. We can invite Grubber, and probably Curly and Dusty, Capper…”

Discord nodded. “Absolutely. Then Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity… hm, Starlight and Trixie…”

“Sounds good to me,” Tempest said, but Discord was still going.

“Spike of course, and Big Mac… might as well have the other Apples attend since it’s their farm… oh we should invite Thorax, I kinda took a liking to him after our adventure together.”

“Okay, that’ll probably be enough people,” Tempest said hastily.

“Heh, alright.” Discord playfully kissed each of her ears. “We should probably start writing things down. Start figuring out our catering, what we’re going to wear, the music…”

“Can I just show up naked?”

“If you want.”

Tempest laughed and got up, grabbing a notebook so she could write some things down. Discord came over to rest his head on her shoulder.

“Music…” Tempest shrugged. “I’ll ask Octavia to play for us for the wedding march and whatnot, but after that we can just have a radio playing for the reception.”

“Can Fluttershy be our Maid of Honor?” Discord asked.

“Sure. Quick question though. What does the Maid of Honor do?”

Discord opened his mouth, then paused. “I’m… actually not sure. I just know that’s a thing.”

“I’m pretty sure the mare is supposed to pick the Maid of Honor and the stallion picks the Best Man.”

“Gender roles are stupid. Anyway I still designate Fluttershy, you pick Best Man.”

“Hah, okay. Um…” Tempest considered, then said, “Grubber.”

“Perfect.”

While Tempest was writing, Discord summoned a book on weddings and began reading.

“Oh, I see,” he said. “So Maid of Honor is supposed to help the bride with anything she needs before the wedding. Well, good for you, Fluttershy is a dear.”

“Oh, good. And the Best Man’s job?”

Discord flipped the page. “Once upon a time he existed to help cart the bride off to the wedding if her father was unwilling. Or duel to protect the groom’s honor. Now he serves a similar role in helping the groom with whatever he needs.”

“Heh. Yeah, you can have Grubber help you.”

“Goodie.”

They weren’t too serious in their discussion yet. They knew it would be quite some time before they actually got married since they would be waiting until after all her training. But it was still nice to talk about it and get some details down.

They soon stopped to make lunch, and Discord offered to prepare a casserole. Tempest agreed and helped him cook. He occasionally used magic to create food, but he’s taken a liking to cooking the normal way. Especially when it was with Tempest.

They decided to make some rolls too, and got flour all over each other in the process. Discord tried to clean himself off with a wet rag, which only made it worse. Finally he gave up and tossed the rag back into the sink.

“You’re so cute,” Tempest said.

“No I’m not,” Discord said automatically.

The rolls were put in the oven, and they went to the bathroom to properly clean off. Tempest took a bit longer, scrubbing her mane clean and then finding that some of the flour was stuck to her eyelashes. She scowled and tried to wipe it off without getting it right back into her eye. She failed.

“You really shouldn’t play with your food,” Discord admonished her.

“Oh, is that so?” She blinked a few times, then turned on the faucet and stuck her face under it.

“Yeah! Then we get situations like this. You silly pony.”

She pulled her head back. “It’s not my fault I’m dating an unpredictable draconequus who was never taught not to throw food around.”

“Pft. You started it.”

“Wow, okay. I didn’t but whatever.” Tempest managed to get the flour off and turned off the faucet. She walked back to the kitchen.

“You’re so cute.”

“Zip it.” She checked on the food, then sat back at the table, sighing. “I can’t wait until I leave for training. I’ve been needing something to do.”

“I know you’ll do great. You’re going to become the best commander Equestria’s ever had.”

Tempest gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you. I sure hope so.”

“And I know so. You’ve got a big heart and lots of strength. Celestia herself saw your potential. You’ll do well.”

Feeling confident, Tempest declared, “I think I'll do more than well. I'm going to do awesome!”

Discord tapped her nose. “That's my mare.”