A Man with a Lightning Charged Axe

Following Solid throughout the castle grounds I am impressed with the overall design and craftsmanship that I can see. Overall it appears to be a natural evolution from the style I saw in the old ruins. Brillant whites and golds adorn tall arches that line the halls making me think of cathedrals with ribbed ceilings. Adding to the holy and religious feeling are the stained glass windows that line one side of the halls, letting in radiant beams of colored light that illuminate everything without the need for torches or other lighting fixtures.

While I do get some strange looks from the castle staff and whatever nobleponies we pass a glance from Solid makes them act as if I were the most normal thing they've seen. To be fair I also send them glares and that might just be scaring them into submission. A few of the ponies I assume to be of the noble class do actually meet my eyes but I can count the number on half of my hand, the rest can't maintain eye contact for more than a second before quickly pretending to be very interested in the wall or carpet.

Passing through large wooden doors made from a strange purple wood, we exit the castle proper and enter the courtyard. There are quite a few guards on the palace ramparts, though if the armor they are wearing is really gold they must be ceremonial guards rather than an actual military force. I guess I'll find out when I get to the barracks and academy.

The road from the palace to the capital is highly maintained, in fact, the whole city is made from the same polished white stone with gold rings and purple trim, making everything feel expensive and kind of snobby.

I don't like it.

I feel so out of place in a city like this. Even being in cities back on Earth made me feel uncomfortable. I thought that since the apparent technological level here is closer to what would be expected of a fantasy it would feel like my grandfather's place out in the country. Ponyville was closer to that than this is. Not just that, but the overall snobby attitude of the ponies here just makes me want to punch em.

Ultimately, I decide to ignore the snobs and the architecture and focus on my guide.

Solid is a white earth pony stallion. Just like the other guards I've seen, he wears a golden helmet that covers his mane, and what would be a breastplate that also continues back to cover his sides and back, covering his cutie mark. He doesn't seem to have a weapon on him but that might not be necessary since I assume, just like the other guards, that he serves a more ceremonial role rather than an actual combat one.

"Hey Solid, I got a few questions."

"Ask away, I'll answer them to the best of my ability."

"Why the gold armor everywhere? Iron would be better for protection so I assume it's a resource availability reason or something else I'm not thinking of."

"The unicorns say it's got something to do with how well it holds enchantments. The standard set is coat changing, temperature regulation, identification, and enhanced durability making it about as tough as iron is. Iron can't hold more than one enchantment so gold became the standard. Making all the guards look the same helps with tactics and keeping the peace so we can swap our shifts without most ponies knowing. Caught a few guards who were taking bribes that way."

Makes sense to me, if we could use magic like the ponies here do I bet we also would've put more thought into enchantments on armor or weapons. Now I'm wondering what exactly my armor is made of. I wasn't wearing metal armor when I got displaced so it was transformed but I don't know enough about metals to say what it became. I should get it checked out at the smithy during our tour, and maybe also get a place to store my things as well since it's becoming a bit of a hassle to carry the thunder tome, Grima's Staff, Wolf Beil, and my Dragonstone.

As we pass through a gatehouse we enter a new district and I feel a bit of tension leave Solid as we get further away from the area we were just in.

"Now that we've left the noble district, we can start the real tour. The first stop would be the academy but I should show you some other places you'd like to know about. Stuff like the bars most of us guards go to when off duty, there are also a couple of parks and other restaurants that you should check out."

Ah, it was the nobles that were causing him to be tense. I didn't even pick up on it until he relaxed, his training must've been pretty thorough. Following along as he points out several buildings my mind begins to wander to what the academy is going to be like. I've not finished High School so I don't know if it will compare to the college level or be something I'm more comfortable and used to. Hell is it even going to be something like the school I know at all? Am I going to fit in the halls here? Most businesses seem to be built with taller customers in mind here so they must get visitors from other nations where ponies aren't the majority, I guess it would make sense to build it larger for any study abroad programs if they exist.

"Did you go to the academy?" I don't know his rank so I'm not sure if I'm talking with a conscript or some middle-ranked officer.

"I am enrolled for the upcoming class, meaning we are likely to be classmates. It's probably why Princess Celestia had me give you the tour. The more ponies you get to know the more everypony will get used to seeing you around."

I nod my head in agreement, as he continues pointing out landmarks he and other guards use to navigate the maze of a city as quickly as possible. I try my best to memorize the ones I find the most important as we make our way to a group of large buildings.

"This the place?" I ask. Looking around at the buildings it doesn't seem like what I expected for a guards school. There aren't any areas for physical training or weapon practice. No targets for spells, since I assume they don't have the ability for archery. Not exactly the image of a military school that I was expecting.

"No, but it is something like a sister school. This is Celsestia's school for gifted unicorns, some of the fillies and colts that go here graduate and come to work for the guard as part of specialized units, or they become battlemages." He almost scoffs at the mention of the so called battlemages.

"I take it they aren't well respected. Both you and Celestia didn't paint them in a good light."

"They have roots in an ancient practice the Princesses founded when the lands were more dangerous. They helped the Princesses spread order in the chaos left after the defeat of Discord. I don't know much beyond that because they haven't done anything since." Solid shakes his head, "Enough about the snobs, just know that most unicorns at the officer's academy are graduates from this place and they are almost all insufferable."

"Lemme guess, they all act like they are the next chosen one? Egos the size of the mountain?"

"Right on the money. We aren't that far from our final destination, once there you're likely to go under physical assessment and be challenged to a few duels nothing too serious, got to know what you're capable of before seeing where you get placed."

Without much more to say from either of us, we start on our way to the academy proper.