Grapple Guardians: Dark Beginnings
In a border town called Grapple, a group of freshly trained guards including an earth stallion named Buck are lining up in front of Gold plated officers. Buck is hard to tell apart from his fellow recruits due to the mandatory dye and his standard-issue bronze armor covering his cutie mark.
The officers are here to pick new recruits to reinforce missing slots from their squads. A Chimera (a creature that is a mix of a tiger, a goat, and a snake. It is controlled by 3 different heads) in golden armor, is seen behind the officers.
Whispers are heard within the recruits, talking about why the lone hero chimera is here. By the order of the nearby drill sergeant, the recruits are silent and face the officers.
General Lionheart starts the lineup picking, then Captain Beehive, and then the sergeants.
As the line gets thinner and thinner, Buck gets worried that he will be part of the reserves to the local guard: they are the bottom of the barrel platoon of janitors waiting for a new squad to be made. The reverses are a socially lower rank than the official picked Privates.
Before the last sergeant made his turn, The Chimera gets in front of the remaining recruits.
The Chimera announces, “We are here to pick up a sidekick.” The chimera picks randomly along the line. “Eni, mini, mighty, moo.” The chimera ends by pointing at Buck. “You are my sidekick. Follow us.”
Buck replies, “Yes ma’ams.”
Buck steps out of line and follows the Chimera to their barracks. The Barrack is close to the mayor’s house and looks smaller than average barracks. It has room for the chimera and 8 additional ponies.
When the chimera leads him to his room, the snake head says, “You have permission to speak freely in here.”
“So you are just taking one sidekick, Sargent Victoria?”
The goat adds, “Why are you in the guard, Buck?”
“My dad’s is going inland to find more work. I wanted to stay, so it was either this or being a fieldhoof.”
The snake head tries to answer Buck’s question, “We needed someone that we can trust to help guard the Queen. Queen Celestia has requested us to personality help her while she is in Ponyville.”
The Tiger Head continues, “Since you were our friend in the past, it was an easy decision.”
Buck asks, “How long do I have to get ready?”
“about 58 hours, Private Buck.”
Buck’s time was spent training in parade formation and close combat. The local Mayor didn’t feel that the chimera and her new sidekick would be enough to help secure the Queen so he sent Captain Beehive and his elite squad to help reinforce the Queen.
Captain Beehive and his troops are given a luxury car on the way to the Queen while Victoria and Buck are in the caboose by themselves.
Buck stares out the window watching the desert zoom by. He has never been beyond the deserts of Grapple before. Buck is excited to see the Queen and is proud of his temporary golden armor.
Victoria on the other hoof, is nervous about why the queen wants to see them. The Queen asked for her and her squad only.
Time passes and they get to the green part of the inland. Buck calls for Victoria to see the green. Victoria comes next to Buck.
The Tiger head complains, “We need new tactics with this new terrain.”
Victoria’s snake extends around Buck’s shoulders.
The Snake Head comments, “It is prettier here. It makes Grapple seem less pretty.”
Buck adds, “I think as the drill sergeant used to say, ‘We are part the frontline that protects our beautiful country.’ Do you think we will see more of the inland during our service?”
“I am sure that this is a 1-time thing so let’s enjoy it as long as it lasts.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
When they arrive in Ponyville, the Grapple Force is supposed to check-in at the City Hall. The Grapple Force is getting out of the train as orderly as possible. Victoria quickly gets the attention of nearby ponies.
Victoria can feel all of the eyes on her.
Buck can feel that she is nervous and says, “You are the Queen’s guest here, so you should be fine. Besides, this isn’t the first time everyone is looking at you.”
A royal guardspony announces, “I am here to escort your group to the Queen.”
Captain Beehive commands, “Stay in a single column while we follow this Private to the Queen!”
The rest of the Grapple troops reply, “Yes, Captain.”
The deeper in Ponyville the Grapple troops got, the more that townsfolk look at Victoria. Whispers of mixed opinions fill the crowd. A sense of a possible misguided mob attack gets into some of the Grapple Troops’ heads, including Victoria. Other are getting distracted by the sights.
The Grapple troops finally make it into the Town Hall. They feel at ease and finally notice the decorations. The Summer Sun Celebration is being set in this town. Why the Queen picked Ponyville this year, instead of the capital (Canterlot), is a question that is getting in a few minds.
A sergeant asks, “Are you all in the same squad as the chimera?”
Captain Beehive answers, “The Chimera’s squad is too small to help serve the Queen so we are here to reinforce them. Besides you can’t have too many troops defending the Queen.”
“I am here to show the Chimera and HER squad to the Queen. I will update the Lieutenant on the rest of you.”
Victoria and Buck sort themselves in front of the Sergeant. The Sergeant sees what the Captain was talking about.
The Sergeant asks, “Why are there only 2 bodies here?”
Victoria’s Tiger Head answers, “We are normally a specialized unit and we took his trooper to help us test our command abilities outside our unit.”
“I would recommend that you get more guards in your squad soon. I know we are at peace but we should be at best as soon as possible. Anyway, I will lead you to the Queen… I am sorry what is your rank and name?”
Victoria answers in Union, “Sergeant Victoria.”
Buck follows, “Private Buck.”
The Sergeant replied, “Sergeant FlintHead. I will escort you to her Highness, now.”
Flinthead leads them to The Queen’s room. The room is a heavily modified guest room for the Queen with a double door entrance. The room has a window and everything that the locals believe that the Queen needs to feel at home. The Queen is sitting on her double mattress bed, reading a book.
The Queen is a white alicorn with golden royal clothes with sun symbols and purple jewelry with a matching crown. Her mane and tail flow with cosmic blue, light green, and pink. She is reading the local newspaper.
Flinthead says, “The Grapple Guards, you requested are here.”
The Queen looks up and sees her visitors.
The Queen says with a smile, “Hello, Victoria. I am Queen Celestia. Come in to my room so we can talk.”
Victoria walks in, while Buck and Flinthead close the doors from the outside.
Victoria’s goat head asks, “Can we have the rest of my squad here?”
Queen Celestia answers, “I would like to meet them as well. Was my summon not clear enough.”
Victoria fetches Buck and brings him in.
Buck tries to walk in as orderly as possible.
Buck says as he maintains a straight face, “What do you need, my Queen?”
Queen Celestia answers, “I just want to speak with Victoria and her squadmates.”
“WE are the Squad, my Queen.”
“I would expect the mayor to put you in a 10 pony squad or at least 5.”
“Victoria is usually a single body commando unit. I was picked by her to be her first pony in her squad. Our Mayor sent one of his elite squads to help us defend you.”
“Tell me some stories of your time in your town and anywhere else you have gone.”
The Queen’s interview lasted for hours without noticing anything outside of her room.
The interview gets interrupted by a loud thud coming from outside the doors. Buck and Victoria grab their weapons. The doors easily get destroyed from a magical beam. Light Blue Eyes pierce through the debris’ smoke.
A loud voice demands, “Get out of my way or Thou shall end up like the other guards!”
As the dust clears the other guards are too wounded to resist the owners of the Light Blue Eyes (A Dark Alicorn). The dark alicorn is wearing moonlight blue armor.
A nearby wounded Guardpony forces out, “Flee!”
Queen Celestia tries to cast a spell and then, the dark alicorn shoot a spell on the Queen’s horn first. The Queen’s horn gets covered in dark energy that prevents her from casting spells.
Without thinking, Buck grabs on anti-magic orb from his pack and throws it at the Dark Alicorn.
Victoria’s snake head grabs a magical shield while the rest of her gets ready for the pounce.
The Dark Alicorn summons a shield of magic. The anti-magic orb hits the shield and makes a hole. Victoria makes her move and pounces into the hole but is denied as the magic quickly reforms the shield. Victoria’s body slams on the magic shield and slides down.
The Dark Alicorn laughs, “Your monster can’t protect you, sister.”
The Dark Alicorn charges a new beam and points it at Victoria.
Buck charges at the Dark Alicorn with his spear. The spear pierces through the shield. The Dark Alicorn fires her beam at Buck before the spear can touch her. Buck flies across the room and slams against the wall.
Queen Celestia is nearby Buck, trying to break the sealed window. The Queen sees Buck.
The Queen announces to Victoria, “I will get him out of here and get help.”
Victoria recovers and uses her metal claws to break the shield.
The Dark Alicorn says to Victoria, “I don’t have time for you!”
The Dark Alicorn uses her levitation magic to force Victoria to stick to the ceiling of the room. The Dark Alicorn finally charges at her target. Buck struggles to get up as his vision gets blurry. The Queen kicks her hooves to hit the Dark Alicorn, but within seconds, they are teleported away. The Dark Alicorn’s laugh plagues Buck’s and Victoria’s ears as she gets away.
Buck says, “We need to report that the Queen is… is… stolen.”
Buck falls down and then starts crawling in pain to the doors.
Victoria works together to get her body released from the ceiling. The Snake Head slips into a nearby hole and starts to help get her body loose from the top of the ceiling while the rest of her pulls to get their limbs free.
The Goat Head notices Buck and asks, “What is your current condition?”
Buck responds, “Very wounded, my chest hurts, I can’t see right, and my head feels funny.”
“Go to a corner and wait there. We will take you to the medic.”
The Tiger Head asks the Goat Head, “We need some time to safely get our…”
The Goat Head whispers back, “Buck is bleeding inside his body. We have to get him inside a hospital, even if it means leaving some of our equipment here.”
Victoria’s right paw is freed. She attacks the wood that is trapping her left paw. The wood quickly breaks and the other paws are freed with a small cut. The Snake Head loosen the leg armor so she can slide off the ceiling.
Victoria safely lands on her feet. Victoria uses her snake tail to put Buck on her back and to strap him down. Victoria is forced to go at limited speeds to get to the hospital, without damaging Buck more. As Victoria rushes into the town’s streets, ponies are left wondering just what happened.
Author's Note
This is the first of a collection of short stories that I plan to do. Thank you for checking out my fanfic.
Grapple Guardians: Dark Beginnings
Chapter 2: A Hope in the Dark
An hour after the Queennaping, Victoria is with Buck near a bed. Buck has several cores attached to him; the cores are connected to things helping him recover. Buck also has a mask covering his eyes.
Victoria’s goat head asks, “Do you think he can still hear us?”
Buck answers with a yawn.
All of Victoria’s heads are surprised by the yawn.
Buck asks, “Did we win?”
The Tiger Head answers, "Negative.”
“Is there someone that is going to kick her butt? I don’t want her getting away with making me blind.”
The Snake Head says, “Don’t worry you’re not blind, you just have a sleep mask.”
Buck tries to get up, but his body refuses.
A nurse pony notices the conversion and interrupts, “Mr. Hooves, you should go back to sleep to recover. We need you asleep before we transfer you.”
“Transfer, why do I need to go to a different room?”
“It is the Royal Guard that ordered us to move our patients to the train station. We ask you to try to sleep and you will wake up in a safe place.”
“With that demon alicorn on the loose, I can’t just lay down and let more bad things happen.”
The Tiger Head asks, “We will help him go to sleep. You should get to other patients.”
The nurse pony says, “I will come back in 10 minutes. If he isn’t ready, I may have to drug him during the transfer.”
The nurse pony leaves to go to another room.
Buck asks, “What happened while I was out?”
The Tiger Head summarizes, “The Dark Alicorn declared herself queen of the night and Equestria.”
The Goat Head laughs, “Too bad for her, the old queen needs to declare that she is giving up the Throne in Canterlot for that to be close to being true.”
“At least that is what the Royal Guard told us.”
Buck asks, “So are we running away?”
“The commanding lieutenant of the Royal Guard ordered that every civilian and the severely wounded guards to the town of Dodge Junction."
The Goat Head says bluntly, "yes."
A pony guard from Grapple rushes in and announces, "Guardian Victoria, Captain Beehive is demanding you to go to Golden Oak Library to discuss a new plan to combat the dark alicorn, Nightmare Moon."
Buck comments, "So she is named after the fairy character."
"She is the fairy tale villain. Besides, you should be getting prepped for the next train."
Victoria asks in unison, "Do we have more time to help him to get ready?"
"No, ma'am. We need to move him quickly."
Buck says, "I'll be fine. Go on and be a part of history or at least a part of the news."
Victoria forces herself out the door with the pony guard.
The Snake Head says, "We will see you, later."
As Victoria and her escort walk to Library, they see ponies in Ponyville are trying to pack what they can and trying to be first to the train station. The Royal Guard helps them pack and to look out for Nightmare Moon.
Later, at the Golden Oak Library, Victoria arrives and gets seated. Victoria sees some of Captain Beehive's troops and several town ponies sitting on the stumps like chairs. Captain Beehive sees Victoria and gets ready for his announcement.
Within minutes, the room darkens and a projector lights a screen. Captain Beehive and a purple unicorn stand nearby the screen.
Captain Beehive screams, "Eyes forward!" This ensured that the whole room is paying attention. "We are here to try to save the Queen and possibly find the ancient weapons, THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY, and defeat Nightmare Moon with it or them. This operation is called Pigeon Heroes." The first slide reveals the words Pigeon Heroes are big bold letters and a quickly drawn Pigeon wearing a helmet.
A mare comments, "Aww, he looks cute."
Another mare says, "I am not a pigeon; I am a Hawk."
Captain Beehive interrupts, "Most of you volunteers are baby chicks, for all that I am concerned. Next!" The next slide, shows several groups of the ponies that are in the room including Victoria. "Command squad that is made of me, my second in Command Lt. Mage Claw ( a unicorn), and our 2 unicorn volunteers. Next is our commando is Victoria she is a squad within herself."
A mare wearing a cowboy hat asks, "Can we trust that thing on its own and not trying to plan to eat because I..."
"Our Town Guardian has proven herself to be a trustworthy guard and one of the greatest assets of my town and Equestrian Forces. If you're not comfortable with that monster covering you from a bigger monster, then walk out that door and kiss your farm goodbye."
The mare takes a moment to remember what she has to lose and replies, "I will work with that thing."
"Next is our pegasus squad made of all of our pegasi with Lt. Sandstorm as the squad leader. Everypony else is in the baseline unit led by the newly promoted Lt. Turnip." The next slide shows the Everfree Forest. "Our first objective is to get through the Everfree forest with the least amount of causalities possible. We have to avoid fights as much as possible. We need as many troops as we can to get in the castle and fight Nightmare Moon." The slide changes to a simple picture of a castle. "Until we get to the castle and learn more, our major objective is to get the Queen into a safe zone. Finding the Elements of Harmony and defeating Nightmare Moon is secondary."
A purple unicorn mare argues, "We need to find the Elements of Harmony and stop Nightmare..."
"I have been in enough battles to know what we can do and what we can't. Besides, we don't know if the Elements even work anymore or if they are still in the castle. Are you and your volunteers ok with that fact?!"
"I'll be ok for now."
Captain Beehive announces to everyone, "We leave in 30 minutes, make sure the volunteers get some equipment before we leave."