Today was the day.

Today Mathias was taking on the role as the Ponyville town guard. He was quite nervous, he had guarded before, but only during reenactments, never before had he actually worked in any form of security job. He was a student, and a lover of Roman history, nothing more.

Well, at least he was, in his own world..

It had been about a month since Mathias first arrived in Equestria. Exactly how it happened he had no idea. One moment he was in a forest, doing a mock battle with his fellow reenactors, then the next he found himself stumbling out of a place called the Everfree forest.

To say the ponies of Ponyville were shocked when they first saw him was an understatement. He was not only a creature they had never laid eyes upon before, but they recognized his attire as armor, and of course his scutum, gladius, and pilum, as weapons. He was confused, they were shocked, and soon enough he found himself confronted by six ponies.

Two unicorns, two pegasi, and two normal looking ponies, well, normal as in didn't have wings or horns. The mood was quite tense to say the least, but thankfully it never developed into a fight. The leader of the group, a purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, seemed to be more fascinated than scared, or angry. After some back and forth, the air was cleared, and Mathias soon found himself in Canterlot, willingly.

After more initial shocks, gasps, stares and whispers, everything went smoothly. Only, the two rulers of this land had no more of an idea how he ended up here than him. Twilight and her friends only stayed with him for a few days before they had to return to Ponyville, but Mathias stayed behind, agreeing to be examined, agreed to answering questions and so forth.

He wasn't a captive, and after the first few awkward days were over, he found himself enjoying the company of Celestia and Luna. Celestia enjoyed cake, music, and had sort of a small hidden wild streak. She enjoyed pranks, and being able to loosen up once in a while, which went nicely with Mathias. Luna however was a bit more refined, she enjoyed art, history, and the two quickly found themselves bonding over several subjects of culture.

Sadly however, it was soon found out they had no real way of sending him home...

Mathias was at a loss, and both Celestia and Luna were supportive, and offered him to stay at the palace for as long as he wanted. While the offer was tempting, Mathias didn't want to spend his days living for free and on the cost of the tax paying ponies. He wanted to work, earn his keep, and if it came to it, make a life of his own.

How exactly it came up, Mathias didn't remember, but Luna one evening suggested he become a guard. Celestia thought it was a splendid idea, and after some discussion, Mathias agreed to take the job as the Ponyville guard. Mathias had a few doubts, but it wasn't like he was unfit.

In fact, he was an athlete in his own right. He loved to study Roman history, and so he did training, Roman style. He learned to march, 29 kilometers a day, how to fight, and with a few training buddies they did it all over a long summer. Roman soldiers practiced hand-to-hand combat with wooden swords, spears and shields that were deliberately much heavier than those they used in battle, so his muscles were strong as well. They trained with dummy swords and javelins made of wood, so Mathias did have the physique to become a guard.

Though with Celestia, you could always count on her having more than one motive. she thought it would be a great way for him to learn more about Pony culture, and not only that, for her little ponies to get used to him.

Seeing nothing wrong with that logic, he accepted the position. Before he left though, Luna had looked over his Roman equipment, and he had explained everything in detail. As a parting gift, she had sent the set to their blacksmith, made it more real with better metal, and even a few enchantments.

Everything from the armor, the helmet, the belt, it was so much better, even lighter, and much stronger. His shield too had been enchanted, it was stronger and lighter. The most beautiful improvement was his gladius. Not only was it light and strong, but sharper than any blade he had ever seen, and more importantly, it would never cut its master. Like with the shield and armor, it was strong, but still had a bit of weight to it so he could better get a feel for it, and direct its swings. Better still, it was perfectly balanced, it felt even better in his hand than before. This was true craftsmanship, a true work of art.

Everything about it was beautiful, and he owed Luna big time.

Mathias departed a few days later, some starting bits in his satchel, and after staying the night at Twilight's library, he was up and about just as dawn broke. He had learned his guard house would not only function as his armory and jail, but also as his home, so thankfully he did not need to worry about the living situation after this day.

Now he was standing outside the building made of stone and wood. It looked more thick than the cottages around, and definitely more closed off than welcoming. It wasn't really ugly or anything like that, but you could see this was a place of authority, and he would manage this place all by himself.

While the building still looked sturdy and solid, it showed it had not been used for some time. Weeds had not been removed, and at certain places it lacked paint, or just looked sad, like the building itself had let out a great sigh and just never drawn a breath again.

He looked forward to seeing what he had to work with, but he would be lying if he said he was still not just a tad nervous. Mathias still didn't know how ponies would react to him being human, let alone him as the local guard who could arrest them if need be. Celestia and Luna had been encouraging however, and so he was determined not to disappoint their faith in him.

"Ahem."

A voice coughed. It was the kind of cough meant to draw another's attention, and so Mathias turned to find an older earth pony mare with a pale, light grayish amber colored coat. A light cornflower bluish gray mane and tail, and blue eyes. She looked tired, a fact not hidden by her small librarian style glasses.

Didn't take Mathias long to figure out this was his new boss, and so he stood a bit straighter, took off his helmet and placed it under his arm. "Mathias Frost, ma'am. The new guard." He greeted her a bit stiffly, though he was not quite sure how to act yet.

Either she was too tired to notice, because she gave a tired yawn, or she didn't care. "I'm Mayor Mare, it's good to meet you, guard." It was hard to tell if she was just tired, or being unpleasant, so he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, and not react to it. "This way."

She led him to the wooden door, pulled out a set of old looking keys and unlocked the door. She pushed it open, and it gave off a long creak, as if the door was protesting being opened this early in the morning. Already they could smell the thick dusty air, and the darkness of the room inside was not really a welcoming sight. Still, Mayor Mare trotted inside, trying her best to keep her muzzle covered so not to inhale any dust.

Mathias followed, and quickly his eyes scanned the large room. It was probably the biggest room in the building, it had a few desks here and there, some benches, and some papers scattered around.

"This will be your public room, you could say it is where ponies can come and have a talk if something is bothering them."

She explained, and Mathias understood. It kind of reminded him of a police station, and the desks were for his guards, a place to take notes and write down reports, and the benches were for the waiting ponies. To the far side, on the right wall, was a big fireplace, probably a life saver during winter, he thought.

There were some stairs leading up to the next floor, and an iron side door, leading to the basement where the cells were located. Mayor Mare made sure to show him around, but she seemed slightly annoyed and eager to get going. Upstairs were the common rooms for his guards, a room for simple relaxation, nothing fancy, but a place to relax and eat their meals. Then a bathroom, a room with two bunk beds, enough for four ponies to be sleeping here. There was even a small kitchen in the common room, pretty neat.

The last room was the armory, and inside were all kinds of weapons and armor, but they looked old, and not well taken care of. If Mathias was ever going to get more guards he would never put them in rusty armor like that, let alone give them weapons that looked ready to crack if they were as much as swung.

Lastly, there were another set of stairs, leading up to the final floor, right under the roof. Once up, they entered what looked like a small office. There was a desk, an old looking couch, a chest, shelves, and a big table with a map of Ponyville in the middle.

To the side was a door, which led into what would be his new home. The apartment was quite comfortable looking, well, after some cleaning at least. It was one big room, except for the small private bathroom he would have for himself. He had a kitchen, a comfortable living space, and more importantly, a big soft bed. Although, he would probably need to clean everything and get a new mattress, right now it looked like a dust bomb waiting to go off.

"And that is that." Mayor Mare said as they finally returned to the front door and walked out into the fresh air. "This will be your home, and your place of work. You have a lot to see to, please make a list of essential things needed to be done with the place. If there is anything you need, like new locks, equipment, quills, ink, and so on. I will see that you get a modest budget to start off on. Though please do remember, anything bought for private use must come out of your own pocket."

Mathias nodded. "Got it, Mayor."

"Good, you'll start your official duties tomorrow, so please make the time today cleaning as much as you can." She said, then added. "Any questions?"

For a moment Mathias thought about asking her why no one had ever cleaned this place? Or how long ago this place was used. He even thought about asking her if she had no one that could help him. He did however not ask, no reason, and having spent some time with the Mayor, he could tell she was not his biggest fan. She was not nasty, or even unfriendly, but he could tell she did not trust him, not yet at least.

Instead he simply shook his head, and said. "No, I think I got it."

"Very good, then I shall see you again tomorrow." Reaching back into her saddlebag, she pulled the bundle of keys out, and gave them to him. "Good luck."

"Thank you," replied Mathias, watching her trot away.

He let out a long sigh, then turned to face the building. There was a lot of work to be done, and even though it seemed easy, he had to go shop, and clean the entire building, make a list for Mayor Mare, and prepare for tomorrow.

Seeing no reason to put it off, Mathias walked inside, took off his armor and set it aside, but kept on his leather belt with his gladius and dagger. Now he only wore his red tunic, and his caligae, (leather sandals.). The only other clothing he wore were his boxers, something the royal tailor had been so kind to replicate so he had enough pairs for at least two weeks. He didn't like the idea of going Scottish, with his private parts dangling around freely under his tunic.

And so work began, he started with the main room down on the first floor. Knowing it was the place most ponies would see, he decided to focus on that area for now. Mathias opened all the windows he could, sadly many of them were small and barred, but at least fresh air streamed into the building. It was like the entire building could finally take a breath again, which was also true for Mathias.

He hated cleaning, but still he kept going, getting buckets of water, scrubbing the floor, dusting off, and made every surface clean and neat. No paper left on the floor, no speck of dust allowed to remain. It took quite a while to get done with the first floor, and when he was, it was already past lunch time.

His stomach rumbled, and he let out a long tired sigh. "Dammit.."

"Mathias?"

A sweet voice suddenly called from the doorway. Looking over, he found a unicorn with a pale, light grayish mulberry coat, and a moderate violet colored mane and tail, with streaks of brilliant raspberry. This was Twilight Sparkle, personal student of princess Celestia herself.

"Oh, hey Miss Sparkle." Mathias greeted politely, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

The greeting earned him a small smile from Twilight. "Mathias, I told you, you don't need to call me Miss Sparkle, just call me Twilight."

"Sorry, old habit. Thank you for letting me stay at your, uhm, tree." Yeah, Mathias was pretty surprised to find out Twilight lived in a hollowed out tree, but then again, he was in a land with magic and talking ponies, so he quickly got used to it. "So what brings you around?"

"I just wanted to see how you were settling in. I know this place has not been used for years, and the princess asked me to make sure you had a helping hoof nearby." She explained, trotting farther inside, Spike, a purple dragon following behind her, carrying what looked like a backpack.

Mathias had seen Spike before, though had never really had the chance to talk to him. He looked rather, not scared, but uncomfortable around Mathias. Still, he seemed a bit more relaxed this time around, but still slightly tense. Twilight in the meantime looked around the hall, she had an expression that told him she was quite impressed.

"Wow, I don't know how much work it was, but this place looks spotless." Said Twilight, moving her hoof over the surface of one of the desks. "You must have been at work since this morning."

"No kidding, you should see downstairs, or upstairs. It is a desert of dust." His stomach growled, this time louder, enough so that Twilight's ears flicked towards him.

She giggled. "Hungry? You were out before me, so I don't know if you ate breakfast."

The human shook his head, smiling sheepishly. "To be honest, I didn't. I was too nervous."

"I can relate to that," Twilight giggled. "How about me and Spike help you out? You probably need to get your home fixed up if you're going to spend the night here."

Mathias gave her a nod. "Yeah, I actually need to do quite a bit of shopping. Which reminds me, did you find the books I asked you about?"

"Oh yes, I did." She turned towards Spike, lit up her horn, and out from Spike's backpack levitated a few books, some quite thick, and it looked like Spike was glad to have them taken off his back. "This should tell you all about Equestrian law, and Ponyville local laws and guidelines."

"Thanks, Twilight. I look forward to studying them a bit more."

"I marked some pages that might be more relevant to you. No need for you to waste time on subjects you likely never have to deal with." She laughed, and Mathias joined in.

"That's true, thank you again."

With Twilight's help it all went quicker, magic sure is a useful thing. They had lunch, a much needed one at that, and Spike even seemed to warm up to Mathias. With the main floor done, they focused their efforts on the third floor, where he would be living.

As everything fell into place, some of Twilight's friends came over to bid him welcome. Pinkie Pie was probably the best friend and enthusiastic of them all. The others were still a bit wary of him, but none were cold or unfriendly, it was just a question of getting to know/used to each other. Even so, they had brought some gifts to welcome him to Ponyville, and it was pretty nice of them he thought.

Applejack had brought a basket full of apples. Pinkie some cupcakes, Fluttershy some meat... (She feeds bears, so, yeah.) Rarity brought some winter clothing, and a few more tunics for him. Rainbow Dash brought a poster of the Wonderbolts, and her speed, which meant a lot of tasks were done fairly quickly.

With their help, Mathias got everything he needed, bought with his own money of course. Food, a new mattress, sheets, and some scrolls, ink, and so on. Everyone had helped him in some way or another, and when everything was done and over, they all enjoyed a light dinner.

Mathias liked to think they had all gotten a little closer, or hopefully, a bit more used to one another. They were all pretty great in their own way, and it felt good to talk with them some more. When they were at Canterlot, most of them had gone off and done their own thing, so he had mostly interacted with the princesses and Twilight.

When dinner was over, he bid them all goodnight, Twilight however stayed back. "You'll do great, Mathias. Do not worry, Ponyville is a pretty peaceful town, I'm sure you're going to enjoy it here."

Mathias chuckled. "Thanks, and thank you for your help." He noticed Spike yawning, he tried to hide it, not wanting to seem rude. Mathias just smirked. "Better get to bed, you guys have been working pretty hard."

Twilight giggled, giving Spike a big sister kind of look. "Your right, he is a bit tired."

"I'm fine.." Spite insisted, but could not help but yawn one more time.

Twilight rolled her eyes, then looked at Mathias. "Goodnight, Mathias."

"Goodnight, Twilight. And thank you, again."

And with that, Twilight and Spike returned home. Mathias closed and locked his door, happy to have gotten so much done, he had even managed to get the second floor clean, and most of the cells done. With nothing else to do, he took his equipment, carried it upstairs and started to start cleaning and polishing it.

He had barely worn it today, but it had become a habit for him to do so when the day had ended. It was the little things in life, he had nothing other than his Roman equipment to remind him of home, no phone, no pictures, nothing. So while it was not his country's traditions, he felt a connection to his own world by doing them, even praying to the old Roman gods. It gave him comfort, and it made him feel closer to home.

That night he went to bed with a heavy heart, and nervous thoughts. Tomorrow he should be taking on the mantle of a guard, he had a lot to prove, and a lot of hearts and minds to win over. Still, he was determined to do his duty, and make Celestia and Luna proud of him. Blowing out the candle at his bedside table, he closed his eyes, and let sleep overtake him.

Night passed over Mathias, his slumber was peaceful despite his nervousness. When dawn finally broke, he was up, putting on his tunic, sandals, armor and belt. With a quick meal, he took his helmet under his arm, walked outside and raised the Equestrian flag.

He looked it over, then turned east, looked to Celestia's rising sun and drew his gladius. Mathias knelt, held the sword close with the end touching the ground. Bowing his head he whispered a prayer in Latin.

Testor ego eum alte
sinceraque persuasione sunt
animi ut numquam
patitur me miserum
deseris in regnum Dei
esseda mannis Equeastria.
Si sciens fallo, ut in me nunc deum pessimo leto adficiat mea,
et in domo mea, et omnia quæ possideo.

After taking a deep breath, he stood back up, sheathed his gladius, and put on his helmet. Light washed over Equestria, signaling not only a new day, but for Mathias, it signaled a new beginning.

Author's Note

What would you like to see next?

Does Rainbow break some law and get to spend the night in the fine new jail cell?

Or does the CMC course trouble?

Leave a comment, a like, or suggestions.