The Devil within the Clover

After I made my promise to Starswirl, he escorted me from his private studies to the garden to meet with the princesses. Along the way, I received the same looks I got coming in from the castle staff and guards. This was something that I would no doubt have to get used to if I’m going to be staying here in the castle as the princesses’ new personal bodyguard. It didn’t bother me much considering I’d rather deal with the cold glares and look of fear over death, or worse, be sent back to that dark cell. The very idea sent a shiver down my very spine. Along the way, Starswirl would tell me about the different rooms and facilities the castle had within it, such as a kitchen, barracks for the soldiers, the training grounds, and so on. He also told me that the castle dwells within a forest they now call the Everfree Forest. I asked why they would build a castle in such a place since it would probably be harder to spot enemy attacks in a dense forest rather than in an open plain.

According to Starswirl, the reason they choose this location is because the forest itself is a natural defense. The forest that the castle is built within is resistant to the ponies’ magic. Back when I was still in the dungeon and Celestia and Luna would visit me and tell me about their culture, they mentioned how certain types of ponies could manipulate the environment to their will. The Pegasi could alter the weather to suit their needs, making natural disasters a rare occurrence. Earth ponies were the shepherds of the land, being able to grow and harvest crops faster. I have no memories from wherever it was I came from. A part of me found this hard to accept, but I shrugged it off since it wasn’t worth fretting about.

But back to the forest. This forest, for some reason, was immune to such things, and was self-sufficient. The plants grew without help, the weather did as it pleased, and there were a vast majority of dangerous creatures living in it. Because of this, enemy kingdoms dare not to attack or invade the capital unless they suffer the loss of their own. Of course, this location is a double-edged sword since some of these problems can happen to the castle residents, but they have been here long enough to build up a proper defense and deal with whatever the forest has to offer.

We're now approaching the garden where the princesses wait. When we turned the corner, I could see Luna and Celestia pacing around in circles, both looking worried and nervous. I was about to call out to them when Starswirl stopped me and gestured for me to stay still. “I suggest you wait a moment. I’d like your reveal to be a surprise.” Before I could ask what he had meant, his horn glowed, and I was enveloped in his magic. A moment later, my body slowly disappeared right before my eyes, however, I could still feel it, coming to the realization that I had become translucent. “A spell I have been working on for a while. I’m glad to see that your body isn’t anti-magic proof. Now follow me and stay quiet, lest you ruin the surprise.” He gave me a playful wink and I nodded my head, though I wasn’t sure if he could see it, so I whispered yes to him.

He then started to walk toward the girls, and I followed right behind him. I made sure to take a step when he did to mask the sound of my own footsteps. In a moment, I could hear the sound of a pair of hoofsteps coming closer, and knew who they belonged to. “Starswirl! Please tell us that they didn’t do it.” I heard Celestia’s voice ask. I carefully leaned to one side and saw that both Celestia and Luna were standing in front of Starswirl.

Now that I was getting a closer look at the two, I noticed something I couldn’t from Starswirl’s studies: they had bags under their eyes and looked a bit red, like they had been crying for a while. “Please tell us that they aren’t putting him to death. Nova is a kindhearted being.” Luna begged.

Starswirl slowly stroked his beard, humming in thought. “You say he is kindhearted, even after what you two bore witness to yesterday?” Both Celestia and Luna flinched and began to fidget in place. Seeing this, Starswirl pressed further. “You two can’t tell me that you weren’t afraid when you saw what he had done to those three with the brutality he displayed.”

I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. Not for the three stallions that I had brutally beaten, for I would have done that all over again for what they were trying to do. No, the guilt I felt was allowing both Luna and Celestia to see all that. Such brutality shouldn’t have been seen by those so young. I would not blame them if they were absolutely terrified of me now. “We would be lying if we said we weren’t scared.” I knew it. I felt like I had no right to be in their presence, even if they couldn’t see me as I slowly began to try and walk away. “But it’s not Nova that we were scared of!” I stopped dead in my tracks when Celestia spoke those words. I turned back to continue listening in on the conversation. “We were scared of what he had to go through because of us.”

I could see Luna huddling next to her sister’s side as some tears streamed down her cheek. “Nova told us to stay hidden no matter what, but we couldn’t stand by when we saw he was going to be killed right in front of us.” Luna wept harder as she hugged her sister, who hugged her back.

Celestia had tears in her eyes as well as the memories of yesterday must have flooded back to her. “I felt so helpless when I couldn’t stop those horrible monsters from trying to do that to Luna. I tried so hard to try and save her that I didn’t care what happened to me so long as she was safe.” She cupped her hand over her mouth as she began to sob. I wanted nothing more than to go over to them and try and comfort the two crying ponies, but Starswirl moved his hand out to stop me from doing so, no doubt to continue hiding my presence.

After a few minutes of crying, the girls slowly started to calm down and wipe their faces of their tears. “We were both scared when Nova attacked those former guards, but it wasn’t because of him that we were scared. We were scared because he had to go through all that because of us.” Celestia sniffled as she tried to speak again. “What scared us most is what Nova had to become in order to save us. Since we’ve met him all those months ago, he has been so calm and gentle with us. He spoke to us in a soft tone, making sure we were never afraid of him. He smiled and laughed with us as we spent time together. Had the events of yesterday never came to be, I’m sure he would continue to be as such.” The ears on her and Luna’s heads drooped a bit as they held each other closer. “He had to do what was needed to save me and Luna, to break through his cell just so we could be spared such a horrid fate.” She and Luna looked to each other and nodded before looking up to Starswirl. “Please tell me that he wasn’t punished for saving us. Please tell us that Nova is going to be okay.”

I felt so moved that my heart had nearly skipped a beat. Even after what they saw the other day, they still consider me their friend and hold me in such high regards. I felt blessed to have them as friends, and even felt unworthy of such kindness. It took all of my willpower not to run over to them and to hug them just so they wouldn’t have to worry about me, but I knew better than that. I had to wait for Starswirl’s signal. He took a moment to think on their request when he was actually building suspense for my reveal. “Hmm. He was given two choices.” Both fillies moved in to hear what he had to say. “Lord Sombra believed that he should be put to death given his violent nature, lest he becomes a threat to our kind.” I could see the looks of horror on Luna and Celestia’s faces as they heard the first option. Luna looked like she was gonna try and say something before Starswirl held up his hand to keep her from talking, despite wanting to voice her concern. “However, he decided on the second option.”

Both girls looked to each other nervously before Celestia looked back with Luna clinging to her. “Which was?”

Starswirl smiled for a moment before raising his cloak so that it was blocking my view. Before I knew it, my body was slowly reappearing until I was no longer invisible. I knew what he was planning and stood still as he lowered his cloak. It was then that I saw the expression on both Celestia and Luna’s faces as they saw me with a look of shock and surprise. I stood there awkwardly, trying to think of something to say to them, some way to express my thanks for what they said and how honored I was to have them as friends. But before I could, I was tackled to the ground by the two fillies and was hugged nearly to death. I could hear them sobbing as they held onto my sides while burying their faces into my chest. All I could do was hold them close to me and tried my best to comfort them, letting them know that everything was going to be okay.

After the girls got their hugging out of their system, Starswirl went on to explain the deal that we had made, including the spell placed on my heart. The two did protest to the idea, saying that I would never hurt them, but both Starswirl and I expressed how it’s more of a failsafe should someone try to manipulate me. Though reluctant, they couldn’t do much and accept the condition of my stay amongst the ponies. With all that settled and taken care of, I was given a grand tour of the castle by the two eager princesses. They were giddy every step we took as they told me about everything they knew about the castle, such as where their favorite hiding places were whenever they played, or the secret passages that reside within the castle. There were quite a few of them they pointed out to in some of the halls. However, during our little tour, I couldn’t help but notice how some of the guards we passed shot me a look of hate and disgust. The looks were unlike what the castle staff would give me.

Starswirl stated that this will be happening for a while until I could prove myself. Some of the guards in the castle knew about what I had done to the former guards the other day, and despite my reasons, they still don’t care for my presence. They were even more angry when they learned that I would be the personal guard to the princesses and would be participating in their training sessions.

Soon, I was shown to the room that I would be staying in. The room was located in the middle of the hallway with either princesses’ room on either side, so if I am ever needed, I can be quick to their aid. “And these will be your quarters.” Starswirl opened the door, allowing me into the room I would be calling home. As I stepped inside, I took notice of the interior. The room was spacious, but was spartan. In the corner of the room, there was a twin-size bed with a chest at the end of the bed, a wooden desk on the adjacent corner, and a window opposite from the door. I took the time to admire my room. To some, it may not seem much, but compared to my cell in the dungeon, it was a huge improvement.

When I heard someone clearing their throat, I turned to see the stallion known as Midnight Thunder standing in the doorway. I could see Starswirl escorting the princesses along as to leave me and the towering stallion alone. Once the sound of hoofsteps no longer echoed through the halls, the stallion gestured to follow him as he began to walk in the opposite direction that the princesses had gone. I followed the imposing stallion after closing the door to my room and ran up to walk by his side. We walked down the halls of the castle for a few moments, not knowing where he was leading me, but I made sure to hold my tongue since it was clear that I wasn’t all that welcomed here by most of the ponies. I wasn’t sure if the stallion beside me was one of those ponies as well, though I’ve yet to know. “The stallions who tried to have their way with the princesses are going to be hung at dawn tomorrow.” He spoke up, his voice low and deep. I turned to look up at him, somewhat surprised. Why would he tell me this? “However, given that they were supposed to be the ones to take care of you while you were in the dungeon and neglected the orders of our now departed queen, I will allow you to choose their punishment.” He looked down to me with a stoic stare, waiting for my response. “If you have a better suggestion, then I would hear it.”

As we stood there in that empty stone hallway, I was left to wonder what I should say. Was he expecting me to show mercy to them and object to their deaths? No, he was giving me a chance at revenge at the bastards and to allow my rage to do the talking. However, when I looked to myself for the rage that had been built within my heart, it was not because of what they had done to me for who knows how long, but what they were going to do to the first ponies who showed me any kind of kindness. “Killing them now is too good for them. Death is an instant release. Do we really want to let them off as easily as that?” I looked at the stallion with my mind made up. “They deserve to suffer for what they were going to do to the princesses. No, they should suffer the hell I went through until they beg for the sweet release of death itself. Only then will we allow them such luxury.”

Midnight Thunder stared at me for a moment as he took my answer into consideration, his one eye staring into my own as if to see if my resolve was true. We stood there for what felt like ages until he allowed the faintest smile to cross his face before continuing our walk. “I’m glad to see your resolve is strong. I half expected you to grant them mercy in order to show us that you aren’t a threat. Had you done so, I would have been more suspicious of you.”

“How could you be so sure I was lying if I had suggested that we spared their lives?” I asked curiously.

He chuckled a bit while keeping his attention on the hallway we were walking down. “If somepony had undergone the pain and suffering you went through and hadn’t wanted revenge, I’d say they were insane or a liar.” So he was testing me, and it appeared that I had passed for the time being. “We will use your punishment and see how they like it. Now for the other reason I came to get you.” We soon reached a large set of double doors, and using his muscular arms, pushed the door wide open with ease. It was impressive how easily he opened the doors that were three times larger than my own body, which he stood at around five-eleven. Not only that, but the doors were ten inches thick. This display of strength was no doubt a means to intimidate me, and yet I could tell that it wasn’t even a fraction of his true power.

The door led to a large training yard, where I could see ponies in armor going about their business. Some were running laps while some were sparing with each other either hand-to-hand or with weapons. Some were also flying through the air while maneuvering through metal hoops, and others were off to the side firing bolts of magic at wooden targets. I was left in awe as I stood and watched the ponies train, and part of me wanted to join in, like a child wishing to join the other kids in playing a game.

I felt a slap on my back, which had knocked me out of my daze and I looked back to the stallion I was standing next to. “Don’t worry, you’ll be joining them soon enough. But first, I want you to take a look out there and tell me what you notice about the guards in comparison to myself.”

“You mean besides the fact that you’re a mountain on legs?” He shot me a glare, showing he wasn’t in the mood for playing around. I gulped nervously and looked out to the yard to examine the ponies that were about. The first thing I noticed was that some of the guards were wearing golden yellow armor with a sun emblem on their chest. I had seen many of these already, so I didn’t spend much time examining them. Next, I spotted a few guards who were wearing armor that were shades of light purple and dark blue with a blue slitted eye and crescent moons on the chest plate. Something that also caught my attention was that these ponies looked slightly different, where the Pegasi in the gold armor had feathers, those in the darker armor had bat wings, their ears looked like bat ears too, and their eyes were slitted. Once I got a good look at the two sets of armor, I turned to look at Midnight Thunder’s armor. As mentioned before, it was both black and red, but now that I was inspecting it, I noticed on each of his shoulder pieces had a symbol of the sun and a crescent moon. “Your armor?”

He nodded his head before pointing out the ponies in the golden armor. “Those ponies there are members of the solar guard and watch over the kingdom during the day.” He then turned to point to the bat-like ponies in the dark blue and light purple armor. “They are part of the night guard and watch the kingdom during the night. Most of them are thestrals, or more commonly called bat ponies.”

“If they are supposed to watch the night, shouldn’t they be training during the night and sleeping during the day?” I asked, making the deduction that they were nocturnal.

He nodded his head. “Yes, but sometimes, there are some who wish to train more, so they join the solar guards during their training time. We have spells that can recover their stamina if needed so they aren’t tired during their watch.” He then pointed to his own armor. “The armor that I wear is for the elite guard, ponies who aid both sides. And as the name entails, we are the best of the three groups. Though our numbers are fewer than just one of the other guard squads, I am their captain, as well as the previous personal guard to the princesses.”

That part caught me off guard. He was the previous personal guard to the princesses? That brought up a few questions. Did he lose his position because of me? Did he get promoted to join the elite guard? “Am I the reason that you’re no longer their current personal bodyguard?”

He folded his arms across his chest as he thought to himself. “Hmm...yes and no. You see, despite my current physique, I’m getting up there in the years. I have been watching over those girls for the better part of twenty years. So I’ve been looking for somepony to take my place, but no pony came to mind. That is, until you came along.”

I wasn’t sure if I should feel bad or honored that I was going to be taking such a position, but then something he said caught my attention. “I’m sorry, but did you say you’ve been watching over the princesses for over twenty years?” He nodded his head. ‘I can’t tell if he’s being serious, and that’s very concerning.’ I was thrown for a loop and felt a million more questions begin to bounce around in my head now. “B-but h-how? They don’t look like they are a day over nine, let alone two decades. Hell, I’m twenty-five right now.”

“Ah, so I take it you don’t know. You see, alicorns age differently than most of us. They are said to have lifespans that can go beyond the thousands.” My jaw went slack as the idea that any creature having that long of a lifespan boggled the mind. “Of course, they won’t reach full maturity until another ten years from now, when a very sacred and special ceremony will take place. With it, they will grow into full alicorns, be able to take over the throne, and rule Equestria like their mother before them.”

He lowered his head while placing a hand over his chest. It was clear that their queen meant a great deal to these ponies. I remember Starswirl mentioning her during our first encounter, but that was so long ago, I can’t remember what he said. He raised his head and looked back at me. “Now then, since you will be their new personal guard, I need to make sure you are strong enough to take my place.” He whistled to a pair of stallions and they came rushing over carrying some leather armor and some swords. But something was off: one of the swords was wooden while the other was made of metal. The two stallions stopped in front of Midnight, and he took the wooden sword. With a nudge from his head, they brought me the armor and the metal sword. I looked at him with a perplexed look. “We’re going to be doing some light sparing. I want to see how skilled you are with a blade. Put the gear on and get ready to fight me.”

The gear consisted of a vest, shin guards, and helmet, all of which were made out of leather. “If this is a training exercise, then shouldn’t I get the wooden sword? What if I accidentally cut you?”

The two guards started to snicker, but were quickly silenced when Midnight glared at them. “I need to gauge not only your skill, but your strength as well. Starswirl said you had a hard time wielding a greatsword, so I want to see how you handle something smaller. Besides, I’m using the wooden sword so I don’t end up cutting you up. If you can manage to get a scratch on me, then we can progress with your training.” He had this confident smile that sent a slight chill down my spine.

I had started putting on the armor as instructed while picking up the sword. Compared to the Demon Slayer sword, this one was dwarfed in size, but it still had some weight to it. After I fastened it to my side, I was led to the middle of the training yard where I saw a circle pattern engraved into the stone floor. The circle was around ten feet wide and was smack dab in the middle of the yard for all to see. Midnight Thunder gestured for me to draw my sword out as he held out his wooden sword. Gripping the handle, I slowly pulled it out of its scabbard and took note of the blade itself. It was a Roman double-edged short sword. It wasn’t nearly as heavy as the Demon Slayer sword, but the moment I took a glimpse of the blade, the reality sunk in and made the blade that much heavier and made my hand tremble. “Are you ready?” Midnight’s voice snapped me out of my daze as I looked up at him. “Come at me whenever you’re ready. Don’t hold back and attack like you’re intending to kill me.”

‘Is he serious? What if I kill him by accident?’ I shook my head, trying to calm myself down. I reminded myself that he was the one wearing metal armor here, and he was a skilled veteran. With my breathing under control, I moved my other hand to grip the handle and prepared myself to go on the attack. I shot him a look of determination and he nodded his head, signaling that he was ready. With no reason to wait, I quickly charged forward with my sword held back, ready to make a slash at my opponent. As I got closer, I noticed he lowered his sword and closed his eyes. Was he seriously not going to guard against my attack? Before I knew it, I was right in front of him and prepared to swing my sword down on him, only for Midnight Thunder to take a step to the side and stick out one of his hooves. I had lost my balance when my sword hit nothing but air and I was tripped by his hoof. Soon, I found myself falling over and caught a glimpse of him rotating his body around until his wooden sword smacked me in the face hard, leaving a mark before I had fully landed on the ground with a thud.

Soon, a roar of laughter rang out through the whole training yard as every guard clutched their sides. When I sat up to face my opponent, I was met with a wooden sword held within an inch of my face. “And just like that, you are dead.” He poked my forehead with the sword before moving it away. “You clearly have no formal training with a sword, meaning I’m going to have my work cut out for me if I’m going to mold you into a guard worthy of protecting the princesses.” He moved his arm to grab under my armpit, lifting me up with ease as he set me down on my feet. “Better get ready, rookie, because I’m gonna put you through Tartarus these next couple of days.” I could only gulp nervously as I started to wonder if I will live long enough under his training.

Roman sword for training.