Royal Guard Academy

The next morning was similar to the previous two. The trainees were woken up by bugle notes, and climbed out of bed and immediately got to making their beds. Eagle was soon in the dorm with them, ordering them to hurry up. She criticized everyone with a badly-made bed and made them redo it, then she was yelling at them to get dressed, and don't forget their web belts! Make sure their canteens were full!

“Zinnia, Ocean, get downstairs and find out when we can go to breakfast,” Eagle barked at the chow runners.

“Yes, ma'am!” They finished getting ready and galloped out.

“Where are my spear monitors?” Eagle shouted.

Blue Horizon and Dream Walker trotted to stand in front of her. “Ma'am?”

“Make sure all those spears are accounted for and then report down to CQ like I explained yesterday.”

“Yes, ma'am.” They took out their lists and headed down the two sides of the bay, checking that each spear was on the right locker.

“Did anypony give you any trouble last night after I left?” Eagle asked Ruby.

“No, ma'am, they finished their details and were quiet up until bed,” Ruby replied.

“Good. You know, I've seen some real potential in you. Keep up the good work and I might just make you my dorm chief.” Eagle walked away, and Ruby stared after her, before blushing and going back to brushing her mane.

Tempest thought back to what she had learned about the position of dorm chief. They were pretty much the TI's second in command. When there were no instructors around, the dorm chief watched after the flight and made sure they behaved. Ruby may be small and kinda quiet, but she could have what it takes.

Once all the spears were accounted for and everyone had gotten dressed and taken care of their morning hygiene, they were rushed downstairs for breakfast. It was already time for them to go in, which they did quickly. Eagle kept them moving fast, and about twenty minutes later they were already going back outside.

“Alright, do I have everypony?” she asked as they lined up in formation. She counted, then nodded. “That's twenty. Okay! Here's the agenda for today. We're going to go to your first class. You will be there until lunch. After lunch, we're going to the dorm and I'm going to teach you about dorm guard duty. Then it'll be time for PT. All the flights do PT at 1400 every day except Sunday, which is your off day. Don't get too excited, by off day I simply mean you don't have to work out or go to classes. But I will still be around, at least until I know you can be left alone without getting into trouble. You'll still go to meals, do all your details, and have dorm guard duty. But anyway, PT is at 1400 sharp. We'll alternate between cardio and strength days. But you won't be joining the rest of the flights today. Oh no. Today will be your first fitness assessment. Don't worry too much about actually passing, though I would like it if you passed. But this will be for me to find out exactly where all of you are with your fitness. And you'll know what you need to focus on over the next ten weeks. There will be another full assessment in your third week. And again in the sixth. If you're not able to pass by the sixth week you're gonna be in hot water, and I'll likely assign you extra PT. Your final, real assessment will be in the ninth week. If you fail to pass by that point, it will delay your graduation. The Royal Guard has set specific fitness requirements and if you cannot meet those, you cannot move on. I don't think any of you want to spend any more time here than you have to. So take full advantage of all fitness training. Work hard. Help out your buddies when they struggle. Work out on your own time. Do whatever you have to in order to pass. Got it?”

“Yes, ma'am!”

“Great. After your assessment, I'll take you back to the dorm so you can shower. Then we will have Guard Time and I'll go over the results with all of you. I'm not expecting that to take long, so I'll have you get started on your details, which you'll do until dinner. After dinner you'll finish up your details. And then you'll have quite a bit of time until bed. I'd recommend writing letters to let your families know how you're doing. I can show you where the mailbox is tonight. Sound like a fun day?”

“Yes, ma'am!”

“Haha, no it doesn't. Now, let's go to class.” She got them organized and began marching them. “In a few days I'll also be deciding on our permanent element leaders. But until then, continue marching to the best of your ability, all of you.”

They were taken over to a small building that was apparently mostly classrooms. Eagle briefly pointed the way toward the latrines, then took them to one of the rooms. There were two doors leading into it, and they found that it was designed like a lecture hall, with each row of seats higher than the one in front of it.

As their flight went in, they saw Flight 26 going in through the other door.

They were directed to fill in the seats starting from the bottom, and did as told. Each flight only went halfway down the rows, so there was an even split between mares and stallions in each row.

Eagle and Charge watched them for a bit, and then Charge said, “We'll be back for you once class is over. Pay attention to the teacher, treat him like he's one of us. He may be a civilian now, but he was once a royal guard and he won't hesitate to smoke any of you.”

The instructors left, and the teacher climbed up behind the podium. He was an earth pony stallion, and while he wore no armor, he had the fierce eyes of a TI. “Good morning, I'm Power Blitz. I served in the Guard for twenty years. I was an instructor at this very academy for five of those years. While I am retired, I have decided to take time out of my day to pass on my wisdom to the young recruits. So you will behave in my class. You will be quiet while I'm talking. If you have a question, you will raise your hoof and wait to be called on. You will not talk to each other or pass notes. Every hour or so I will give you a short ten minute break to go to the latrine and relax, and you may talk then, quietly. Get too loud and that privilege will be revoked. Now then, open your study guides to the first chapter.”

They took out their books and opened them. Power turned on a slideshow, waited for the rustling of pages to stop, and said, “Chapter 1, Introduction to the Royal Guard. You are entering a time-honored corp of fearless, highly respected soldiers. And as officers, you will be looked to for guidance. You will be expected to make tough decisions. Your actions may mean the difference between life or death for those under you. But don't think being officers means you won't have to get your hooves dirty. You will be trained in combat. You will be trained in weapon use. Equestria is at peace now but you never know what may happen. We were woefully unprepared for the great Changeling attack that happened a few years back. Since then we have revised our training and guards, both enlisted and commissioned, have worked harder than ever to be prepared. You know, you really should be taking notes.”

Everyone hurried to get out notebooks and pens.

Power clicked to the next slide. “We will start with a brief history of the Royal Guard. You will receive more in depth history lessons in the next few days. But today will be an overview, and I will also explain our rank structure and some of the more important policies. You see, as guards you will be held to laws that civilians are not. There is a unified code of standards across the Royal Guard and the Wonderbolts, and a code that is specific to us. But military members are all expected to follow the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and Royal Guards specifically are held to what are known as Royal Guard Instructions, or RGIs. They cover everything from how you are expected to behave, what your responsibilities will be in various positions and careers, and even how to properly wear various uniform items. It is recommended to keep books of all the instructions once you are active duty, because you certainly won't be able to memorize them. But we'll discuss the most important ones today. So, our history! The Royal Guard is sworn to the princesses of Equestria. They are at the very top of our chain of command. Any of them can direct us. They can send us to war. They have full control of what we do. Usually they just stand back and let us lead ourselves, but if needed, they can take command. But the Royal Guard didn't always exist. It was founded shortly after the three pony races came together and formed Equestria.”

Sure enough, they were in that classroom until lunch. Power took a couple breaks so they could stretch and go to the latrine, and many trainees took to chatting with each other. Tempest watched closely as Calli got to talking to a stallion she was sitting next to. He seemed pretty confident, bragging about all the great things he was going to do once he was a captain. That's not what Tempest was really concerned about. She was more concerned about whether or not things were going to get unprofessional.

Tempest nudged Zinnia. “Hey, we can talk to brother flight, right?”

“They didn't say anything about it but I guess so. As long as there's no flirting or anything.”

Tempest watched as Calli felt the stallion's bicep and giggled. “Hm. Ah well.” She looked down at her notebook and wrote some notes.

“Hey, hooves to yourself!” Power yelled. Calli jerked away, and Tempest snorted.

They finished the first chapter just in time for the TIs to come get them. Power said he would see them tomorrow, and they packed up and stood, filing out of the room. They were taken to lunch, and then back to their dorms.

“Right, I'm gonna teach you about dorm guard duty,” Eagle said. “Trainee Calli Graphi, front and center!”

Calli trotted up to her and stood at attention. “Ma'am, Trainee Calli Graphi reports as ordered.”

“You've been assigned as my dorm guard monitor. You make the schedule for dorm guard duty, and you make sure the assigned trainees do their jobs properly. I am counting on you to put together a fair schedule. Don't give anypony special treatment. If any shifts get traded around, you need to know about it. Shifts are two hours long, and go even into the night. If the entire flight is going to a class or PT, there won't need to be guards, but our schedule is flexible. So every two hour period needs to have potential trainees assigned to it, got it?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Alright. We'll start tonight. The first shift will be 1800-2000. Then 2000-2200, and so on. Put together a chart and start figuring out who will work together. Remember, two ponies a shift. And mix it up, don't always put the same two together. Everypony has to be able to get along.” Eagle looked around at the others. “There will be dorm guards during meals, unless we're going somewhere afterward. Here's how that will work. Whoever is assigned to be a guard during a meal, will hurry up and go by themselves to the chow hall, while two other trainees volunteer to cover for them. The two who went to the chow hall will eat, and come back to perform their duty. The volunteers who covered for them will then get to go eat, also by themselves. Simple, right? I'd recommend volunteering for that if you can. Just two of you going to the chow hall means you get a little more time to eat without me breathing down your necks.”

They nodded in understanding.

“I think I explained dorm guard pretty well yesterday,” Eagle said. “When on duty, you will always be in your armor. Even at night when everypony else has taken theirs off. You will be in armor, and you will stay posted by the door with your spear. You will conduct a security drawer check every thirty minutes, and latrine checks every ten. When not doing a check, stay at the door. You may talk quietly, but if the others are asleep you better not keep them up. Now, did you all notice the intercom next to the door?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“At the beginning of every shift, starting at 2200 and going until the 0400 shift, you will be called over the intercom. Somepony down at CQ, likely another TI, will ask you for accountability. Your job is to make sure everypony assigned to your dorm is here throughout the night. If somepony's missing, you better know exactly where they are. So they'll ask for accountability. All you have to do is say, 'Ma'am (or sir), Dormitory 4-Alpha-2 reports as ordered. Accountability is twenty trainees assigned, twenty trainees accounted for.' They will reply, 'Understood' and hang up. If they have anything else to tell you, they will. And that's it. They won't contact the dorm again until the next shift. Any questions so far?”

Ruby raised her hoof. “Ma'am, Trainee Ruby Luster reports as ordered.”

“Yes, Ruby?”

“Ma'am, what happens if somepony isn't accounted for? Worst case scenario, they snuck out or never returned from an appointment?”

“That's an excellent question Ruby, and I'm glad you brought it up. So, you did your headcount and somepony's missing. First, you need to talk among yourselves, make sure they aren't just at an appointment. Sometimes, rare but it does happen, you end up being out past lights out. Especially if doing kitchen duty, sometimes you don't get back for a while due to all the clean up and closing duties in the chow hall. So if something like that was going on, and you know where the pony is but they just aren't physically here, you can still say twenty are accounted for. But, if you come up short and you know that pony didn't have any appointments, that's a problem. And you need to be honest, and tell CQ, 'Twenty trainees assigned, nineteen accounted for.' Now they'll probably get angry, but they're used to trainees mistakenly reporting that when somepony is simply at an appointment. Keep calm, and when they ask for more information, tell them the name of the missing trainee and anything you know about where they could be. Tell them when you last saw them. And our command will take over and conduct a search.” Eagle gave them a sharp look. “Needless to say, if one of you really was trying to sneak out, there would be hell to pay. Depending on how you defend yourself, you could be sent back weeks in training, or even separated. So. Do not sneak around. The quickest way out of here is to graduate. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma'am!”

“Good. Now, when somepony knocks on the door, your job is to decide if they have the authorization to come in. Your study guides will list out these procedures, but I'll tell you now. First, you will open the little flap on the door, and see who is out there. Then you will ask, 'Sir or ma'am, may I help you?' If they want in, you will ask to see their authority to enter. They will show you their ID card. ONLY allow them in if they show their military ID. There is no other form of identity that will let them in. Then you will see if their name is on the roster posted next to the door. You'll say that you are verifying their ID, and if they're on the list, say they are verified. Then check the area, while saying, 'Checking for officers.' This is to make sure there's no instructors or anyone higher ranking around. If none are seen, you will say, 'None seen.' Finally, you will tell the potential entrant to stand clear of the door, and let them in. Easy. Any questions?”

No one had any questions about that. It seemed pretty straightforward.

Eagle looked at her watch. “Hm, we have a bit of time before we need to head down to PT... I'd recommend you all hydrate and do some stretches. Use the latrine. Go ahead and hang up your armor, and leave your web belts on. I'll be in my office and will come get you once it's time to go to PT.” She walked out, and the trainees pulled off their helmets and armor, hanging it all up.

“This is gonna suck,” Zinnia whispered. “I did some running to get ready for this but I still suck at it.”

Tempest gave her a reassuring pat on the back. “Hey, I'm sure you'll do fine.”