The Soldier and the Princess

Chapters

1

THE SOLDIER AND THE PRINCESS- CHAPTER 1

The human and the pony princess were walking in the night. To where, neither of them knew. They just walked. Of how the human got into Equestria, neither of them knew. But the human knew that he was lucky to be whisked away from Earth into a virtual Utopia full of colour and life. Although there was a little bit of a scuffle when he suddenly landed in front of the Canterlot Castle out of nowhere, he was welcomed with open… hooves. Still, when he was invited to join the Princess on one of her nightly runs, he did not leave his belongings in the Canterlot Castle where he was given temporal residence; trust did not come easily for him.

The princess gazed at the human. He was still clad in what he called his ‘battle harness’, and it was laden with his possessions that he last had before he appeared in Equestria. A helmet bounced in synchrony with each step he took. His load was heavy, yet the human had no trouble keeping pace with her.

What caught her attention when he first appeared, and now, was the pole-like object slung across his back.

“What is that thing you’re carrying on your back?”

The human remembered using the ‘thing’. It was heavy, considering it had many metal components surrounded by thick carbon-fibre. It was long and was almost two-thirds his total height. It certainly looked intimidating and curious to the pony princess.

“It’s a large calibre Trabete Precision Sniper Rifle. It has enough firepower to not only kill enemy soliders in one shot, but also to destroy small vehicles. And boy would you like to see the holes it leaves.”

The princess eyes’ widened. So much power in a small ‘rod’…

“Why’s there such a need for such a terrible weapon on earth?”

The human reminisced how Earth was like before. Wars had broken out on a global scale over precious fuel sources. Countries turned against each other, and spread lies to everyone else. Blood had been shed. His face darkened upon remembering the lives he had taken. He looked at the princess.

“If you’re calling this terrible, then I’d enjoy the look on your face when you see the bombs. There’s a massive global war back on earth, and I’m one of the so called ‘elite soldiers’ who specialise in demolition and sabotage.”

The princess visibly shuddered. This was unlike anything she had expected. Despite being Nightmare Moon before, she could not imagine such atrocities in great magnitudes.

“That is… terrible. Pray tell, what was the war about? What could have been so horrible a reason for your people to turn on each other?”

The deep purple pony was asking too many questions. It was unsettling. But as the princess looked into his eyes, the human relented and replied.

“I dunno ‘bout this place, but resources were kinda scrawny back on earth. Humans have long always relied on somethin’ called fossil fuels for their day to day stuff.”

“But the bad thing ‘bout using these stuff was that, it causes the climate to go shit on us. Global warming and all that crap.”

The princess flinched a little at the coarse language, but she pressed on.

“So turns out that we were reaching the last of our stock of fossil fuels. At the same time, the weather’s gone crazy. So the big guys’ were looking for people to blame and well, ‘course people got angry.”

“Some guys tried to stop them, they were talkin’ stuff like save the world ‘fore it’s too late. Stop using those fossil fuels. ‘cos they knew that shit’s gonna rain on our heads if we keep doing that.”

“Truth is, many people in my world couldn’t really give two shits about what happened if they did what they did. Then people started pulling wars on each other, trying to claim each other’s land and stuff, and well, I’m stuck in all this as a soldier, doing my job, until…well you know what happened.”

The human took a drink out of his canteen. It tasted stale. It was one of the few times he had spoken so much and it had dried his throat. The princess frowned; it was a little too much to take in one go. Curious about what this human thought of this, she asked again.

“If you knew that what you were fighting for was bad, why didn’t you stop it?”

“I couldn’t. Even if I did have an opportunity to do so, I still wouldn’t. The majority always wins, and I had to take up the job to help my family. What choice did I have anyway? I don't wanna throw away my life campaigning for the environment when I can use it to do something slightly more useful.”

The human sighed. The governments on Earth either had no guts to turn down propositions from the general public, or had beaten them into submission. It was either a weak government, or a total dictatorship. People either ran around doing whatever they wanted, or they were restrained and kept in line. Meritocracy in one, classes in the other. He was too dumb to be a real academic, so he had joined the military. So he didn’t really have much choice when he was deployed.

“Everyone has a choice, it’s only whether you choose to recognise or not.”

The human felt a twinge of irritation. His time spent serving the military was less complicated- he ordered people and they would not question him. Yet this pony was throwing him question after question, something he was not used to.

“Let me tell you something’ that I actually remember from school… Somethin’ called opportunity costs. I find that forgoing the welfare of my family is more demanding than forgoing the welfare of the world. So I made my choice, didn't I? Just felt my family was more important.”

The human rolled his eyes as he recited the economic text. He smirked a little, and continued.

“Besides, it’s not my problem. Those who started it should be the ones sorting it out.”

"That doesn't seem fair. You share your world with them! Why shouldn't you be responsible for it? Yes, it's their fault that this problem happened, but how can you choose to be ignorant about what happens to your world?"

The princess was mildly shocked that he had said that. The human released another sigh.

“And why can’t your rulers share the resources with everyone else? Surely they must understand everyone else is in need of these treasures and would benefit most if they just shared…”
God, these ponies…

“I dunno ‘bout you guys, but we humans have ‘basic nature’ or so it’s called; self-preservation is sure as hell important. And to get that, in a world of supplies getting’ smaller and smaller, would be to secure them at the expense of others. Then others get too tacky and start hoarding cos’ they think it’s something good to show their power.”

Talking about other people and himself was frustrating. The human grit his teeth and started ahead. When he thought about it, the rest of the guys back on Earth all seemed like selfish bastards. And he knew that he may as well be another one.

“But surely there are good humans on Earth? You’ve mentioned them before; those who sought to correct the rest of the world even though they turned a deaf ear on them. Certainly these are exceptions? “

The human stopped walking.

“…”

The princess trotted ahead of him and looked him in the eyes. They bore a cold steely gaze. But the princess knew that the human mildly surprised. And behind those eyes, she knew was some shred of goodness.

“Wouldn’t it be strange to say that normal people, or ponies, were evil at their very core? If that were so, society wouldn’t exist because people wouldn’t trust each other. If everyone was truly selfish, then no one would look out for anybody. Everyone would be out to get everyone’s necks just to satisfy themselves.”

It was a foreign idea to the human. He absent-mindedly scratched the back of his neck.

“I don’t think I follow.”

“Why did you join the ranks of soldiers in your home?”

“Pay’s good. Get to do something I may actually have been good at.”

“What do you do with your pay?”

His father, mother and younger sister, they needed the money. They had barely enough to scrape by. But he knew that he owed them something. And he had to give it back to them.

“Send it to the bank, if it even exists, where my family can get it?”

He never trusted banks, but he didn’t have much of a choice, did he?

“So even though you do these horrendous deeds during your war, you still have a sense of obligation to your family. That is a sign of goodness you don't seem to recognise. Human, it's only a matter if you choose to recognise it. I don’t think it’s true that everyone in your world is evil at their inner core. Certainly there are bad people, and Equestrian society is no different. But there are still good ones around, because they have dedicated themselves to honourable behaviour. Like I've mentioned before, all have a choice in what they want; but it's only a matter of whether they recognise it or not.”

The human stroked his chin in thought.

“…Maybe.”

It was a good point to consider, after all. It was slightly comforting to the human. He smiled a little bit at the princess, and they continued forward, neck-to-shoulder.

The night sky was clear and the air was clean, which was unlike Earth, the human thought. He still needed to adjust to the locals though; it’s not every time he got to see Technicolor ponies everywhere. The path led to a lake, and the pony princess took a seat by a group of reeds next to the water. The human sat next to her, jingling as he went. He took another drink from his canteen.

“Princess, I admire how your home is very peaceful. How do you manage to keep it down around here?”

A/N: This is my first MLP fiction. Characters who appear here who are ponies do not belong to me, but to HASBRO and all the whatnot. Please rate and review =)

2

The princess did not respond. The human turned and saw that she was gazing intently at the celestial body above them. The moon glowed a gentle white, reflecting off the lake’s surface and seemingly giving it life as the water’s surface rippled. Stars dotted the night sky, upon which the moon rested on like how a precious orb would rest upon a velvet cushion.

The human unslung his weapon any laid it beside him. Looking at it, and thinking about their previous conversation, he felt a little bad about bringing his rig around. Somehow, he felt that his presence in Equestria was something akin to that of stain on a white cloth. There didn’t seem to be a need for something of his kind to be around. They seemed truly innocent to him to need any real soldiers.

Then the princess suddenly spoke.

“We… abide by our principles of loving and tolerating each other. As such, “The Magic of Friendship”, as what my sister calls it, binds us and keeps us together. Occasionally, though, we do have…complications, but we always find a way...” Her voice trailed off as she said the last sentence.

The human cocked an eyebrow, sensing the uneasiness build around the dark coloured pony. The princess did not move, her eyes still fixated on the moon. But the human saw something flicker in her green eyes. Was it a hint of doubt?

The human shifted in his spot to turn towards her, thinking of something to lighten the mood.

“Normally, back on Earth I’d say that would be a bunch of soft sack bullshit. I guess most of us enjoy flexing our muscles rather than sitting down to talk to each other. But over in this fine place we are right now? It’s no wonder you guys show so much care and concern to each other. Yeah, I reckon love always does find a way.”

The princess laughed softly. But the human saw that flicker dance in her eyes again. He knew a sad person when he saw one. And these ponies were no different.

There was more to this princess than meets the eye.

“Princess, why are you upset?”

The princess’s eyes jerked wide open. She had unwittingly closed them to a small gap, and her head thrust upwards a little as she did so. It was a very small action, but the human’s trained eye could detect it as easily as how one would have seen ordinary movement.

Gotcha.

“…No I’m not!”

A slight stammer, and a mild accusatory tone. The human wore a bemused expression on his face, and smirked a little. It didn’t take much effort to confirm that the princess was obviously hiding something from him.

“C’mon princess, we both know you’re fibbin’. It’s just the two of us here, so you can just spill it already.”

The princess pouted a little, a little frustrated at this sudden confrontation and the human’s quick detection. This prompted the human to raise a gloved hand to unbuckle the straps of his head gear, and slowly took off his helmet. Nothing obscured his face anymore. He looked her straight in the eye, and said in a low voice.

“‘Upon my word, I won’t tell a single soul ‘round here about whatcha goin’ to say.”

She regarded the gesture with uncertainty. He wasn’t a pony, and she was royalty! But despite these differences, she saw that the human was sincere in his actions. His face only revealed straight lips and hard eyes that betrayed nothing. Like the best of the royal guards, she thought. She huffed and relented by nodded her head. The human placed his helmet to his side, while the princess took to looking at the moon again.

“Do you think that the moon is rather lonely by itself up there?”

The human thought back to Earth.

“Back on Earth, there were all these dust clouds and stuff hangin’ around. It was hard to see the moon at night, and it was probably a lil’ bit discoloured too. And there were no stars, or only a few of them. The night sky back there looked real digustin’ cos of all the weird colours from that shit that hung around.”

“But here, it’s a different story. The moon’s real clear and pearly white, and together with that incredible number of stars, I’d say it beats looking at a painting at an art museum. It must be a real masterpiece princess. The moon don’t seem lonely here at all.”

The princess smiled a little at the compliment, but as her smile vanished as quickly as it appeared. The human rubbed his hand against his scalp as he thought about the princess’s question again. It seemed strange she would ask such a question.

“Why should the moon be lonely when there are plenty o’ stars ‘round?”

The princess didn’t answer immediately. She looked down into the lake. In the shimmering waters of the lake, she saw a crumpled image of herself, distorted by the rippling water surface. The moon lay somewhere above her head, partially obscured by her ethereal mane drifting in an unseen wind.

“Ever since my return from imprisonment on the moon, I have had… difficulties, in adjusting to modern Equestrian lifestyle. Sure, there were new developments throughout society and the like… Who even knew that one could cook in a metallic box called a microwave?”

“But everyone else whom I knew before my banishment had… ceased to exist. That was the change that hit me the hardest. I only have faint memories of them, and even they are slipping away with time. My sister had urged me to venture beyond the Castle to meet new ponies, to get me to blend back.”

“Yet, spending a thousand years on the moon has left me somewhat…’socially handicapped’. Although Equestrian society has welcomed me back as their ruler, I am still very shy around others except during the times I hold my Night Court, and when I’m around my sister. I feel that I have been reduced to, quite literally, a nervous wreck.”

The princess had laid aside her mask of composure. A lone tear drew a shiny trail down her cheek. Nonetheless, she closed her eyes and continued her tale.

“It’s rather ironic that I wanted ponies to love my night. I know that they do now. Yet I feel that I can’t be loved be them at all…not after what I’ve done…”

“No one else knows about this except my sister. She worries a lot about me even up till now when we are fully grown alicorns. I just wish that, if I could somehow gain the friendship of many other ponies, I could make her less worried… I feel so bad…”

She trembled.

“I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

In her mind’s eye, her reflection in the shimmering water altered between Nightmare Moon and herself. The memory of her terrible deeds haunted her.

She folded her ears back as she struggled to fight against a torrent of emotions building up in her heart, her voice choked by grief. She sniffled a little, and very unprincess-like, used a hoof to wipe away stray tears that had stained her face.

“I...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you discomfort…”

The human didn’t know how to react, or how to feel, really. His time serving in the military had made him quite the apathetic sort. Despite his stoic appearance, his conscience bugged him, telling him that he had to do something to mend the situation at hand.

But how? He was no counsellor, only a soldier who knew how to handle himself. Years of combat would not help at all. Yet, he thought hard, and tried to look for an answer from the bottom of his heart.

“To be honest princess, I’m sorta jealous about you being accepted back into your home and all.”

The princess opened her eyes and faced him. Her eyes, glossy from tears, silently implored for him to go on. The human pursed his lips, struggling to continue.

“What I meant princess, was that, even though you did all those things, you still get forgiven and get another chance at life. You feel bad about what you did, so that probably means you want to change.”

"Your people still love you and they’ve accepted you back. But you should know that you oughta’ forgive yourself over what you’ve done.”

“Me? I got swiped during my tour in battle, and seeing that I’m more or less stuck here, I’ve got no chance to go back home and see if people still would look me in the eye. Sure, once in a while shit happens and we screw up once in a while. But you get to apologise, and you got a sister hoping for the best for you, and as long as you can find it within you to forgive yourself, there’s no need to be shy around peop… I mean other ponies.”

The princess considered what the human said.

“But what if I… cannot find myself a large circle of friends? I wish to lessen the worry of my sister by showing her that I’ve many friends so that I won’t be so lonely. What if I cannot do it?”

The princess wasn’t crying anymore, but doubt still crossed her mind and she frowned as she asked the human.

“So what if you got so many friends? Princess, being a friend, buddy, pal or whatever, takes heart. Friends look out for each other, and stick around all the time no matter what shit storm flies over. And friends would know that you are really sorry when you apologise for somethin’ wrong you’ve done.”

“So it don’t matter how many friends you have, so long as you’ve got someon- somepony I mean, who can at least listen to your troubles without any hassle and really smile at you, then, guess that’s a start. ‘course, it works the other way round too.”

“Princess, the rest is up to you. But I don’t think that’d be problem. After all, what’s there that you and your sis can’t do?”

The human patted the princess on the shoulder, and took another swig of stale water from his canteen. His throat was dry again. He had surprised himself, really, when he of all other beings in this place, was giving emotional advice to a sad pony princess. He hoped that he didn’t mess up though.

After a few silent moments, the princess smiled and looked up, her beautiful eyes beaming at the human as she mused.

“A thousand thanks to you, human. A tremendous weight has been lifted from my heart. Indeed, no one else can help myself except me. Forgive and forget, as the wise ones used to say.”

"So the moon isn’t so lonely after all, I suppose.”

The human stretched out on the grass, and was surprised again at how soft it was- better than sleeping in foxholes, he thought.

“The moon was never lonely princess. Maybe clouds got in the way, but the stars were always there.”

The princess was still smiling as she rose to her hooves and stretched her wings. As the human watched this display, he silently congratulated himself for not messing up earlier. It wasn’t every time he was able to give some emotional advice to people, let alone royalty. He rose to his feet and slung his weapon around his shoulders, the familiar weight bearing down on him again.

The princess looked at the glittering display of stars surrounding the round moon.

Indeed; the moon has her stars.

“So does this mean we are friends, human?”

The pony posed the question while he was picking up his helmet. He ran his hands over the hard headwear, feeling the rough edges of the Kevlar scraping his gloves. He raised his helmet and nestled it on his head, the mesh inside accommodating his head once again.

“Yeah, we are.”

The helmet cast a shadow over his eyes, but it did not hide his smile as he raised his hand for the pony to shake. The pony princess raised an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah, on Earth we normally shake hands to show we’re friendly. But seein’ you’ve got no fingers, well I suppose you can tap your hoof ‘gainst my hand.”

The human knotted his hand into a fist pointing toward the princess. She laughed- a soft merry tone, and bumped her hoof against the human’s fist.

“Let’s retire back to the castle human, I am feeling drained from tonight’s events.”

“Sounds like a plan, princess.”

“Please, call me Luna.”

“Alright Luna, and you can call me…”The human stifled a yawn as he said his name.

The soldier and the princess were walking in the night. Back to Canterlot, where the both of them were to rest for the remainder of the night.

Author's Note

Terribly sorry for the long wait! :/. As usual, please leave your comments and criticisms here. Listening to people's opinions really pushes me to go on :)

3

Luna’s Night Guards were training. Around 6pm equestrian time, they had their reveille, where they shook themselves awake, attended to their own personal hygiene and headed to the barracks’ cookhouse to have their breakfast (dinner to other ponies). Then it would be almost 7pm, where they had their regular session of physical training. Even though they were the night guard, the platoon sized group of ponies still underwent the same grueling regiments as the day guard. Since it was newly established since Luna’s return, the training was harder than usual as not only did the ponies have to face physical fatigue, they had to battle their own body clocks.

The number of fresh recruits had not been so small initially. When recruitment posters went up asking for volunteers, many had joined which much enthusiasm, setting high hopes for themselves to be seen donning the royal navy blue armor. Besides, it had seemed that the Lunar Guard armor seemed cooler than the Solar Guards.

However, they started dropping out like flies when the training started. Many of them couldn’t handle the continuous stress placed on them to maintain their discipline, or had dropped due to injuries. Others dropped out because they realised that such a regimental life did not suit them.

Nightshade was one of the ponies who were left. But he was slowly breaking, physically and mentally. After many days of training hard, his body ached all over, his joints cracked and movement was torture to him. His time to see his family was only reduced to one and a half days a week, and even that was no guarantee, due to the dreaded confinement where all the guards were turned out for a surprise inspection. The strictest punishments came upon them if there were mistakes found, such as unpolished armor, unclean bunks or poorly maintained weapons. Nightshade himself had faced three counts of such punishments within the first few weeks he had spent in the Night Guard barracks. He didn’t know what was happening to his family, and he certainly missed them so.

“Push-up positions ready!”

The instructor hollered to the mass of bodies in front of him. Half-hearted replies were muttered, as the platoon sleepily lowered themselves.

“Not fast enough! Recover!”

“Push-ups!”

“Recover!”

“Push-ups!”

Nightshade gritted his teeth as he fought the pain coursing through his chest. Sweat already started flowing down his head and into his eye, sending more stinging sensations through his nerves.

“For Luna’s sake, get a hold of yourselves! It’s been already one month through basic and you still need me to shout at you to move fast?!”

The platoon chorused a reply, and the instructor, satisfied, told them to start their exercise.

“One!”

“Two!”

“Three!”

Nightshade shut his eyes, half in pain, half in concentration. The muscles rippled and contracted each time he pushed himself off the ground. Each time it happened, a spike of pain lanced through his chest, signaling the build-up of lactic acid in his already-tired body.

“Eleven!”

“Twelve!”

“Thirteen!”

The rest of the platoon were grunting in pain, but they still pressed on. “Only the last few left! Come on guys!”
Nightshade whimpered in pain, his breath coming in and out in snorts. His body trembled as he willed himself to hold on. Saliva dripped out from his gritted teeth and mixed with the sweat that already stained the ground.

“Thirty-eight!”

“Thirty-nine!”

“Last one!”

There was a collective gasp of relief as the platoon completed their first exercise. Nightshade, however, stayed on the ground, still pushing himself off the ground to complete his final push-up. Around him, his platoon friends cheered him on, stomping their hooves on the ground and yelling at him to press on.

“Nightshade, you can do it!”

“Last one dude, you’re almost there!”

With one final push, Nightshade attempted to rise. He burst out yelling, the pain too much for him to bear, and focused his entire core into a single task of pushing himself. Yet, with all that effort and encouragement, he only succeeded lifting himself to halfway position, before he slumped back to sweat-and-saliva soaked ground, panting in pain and defeat.

“I-I’m sorry… guys…”

The instructor pushed past the trainees to Nightshade, who had rolled onto his back trembling in pain. He began to bark instructions to the trainees, pointing with a hoof at them.

“You, help me bring him to the medical centre. The rest of you! Get back and get ready for the next exercise!”

More groans came from the platoon, but they still formed up their lines as the instructor and a unicorn hefted Nightshade away to a medic stationed nearby.

A distance away, the soldier quietly watched the spectacle unfold from a bench. He locked his fingers together and placed his arms on his thighs, using his hands to support his head. He was waiting for Luna to join him on their usual route together. He hadn’t brought his battle order along as they were now safely stowed in a locker somewhere in the castle. He was dressed in his combat fatigues and wore a boonie hat.

Looking at the trainee slowly being brought away from the training ground, he couldn’t help but think about his own training back on Earth. He closed his eyes and thought back…

“Recruits! Get on the fucking ground and crawl!”

The simulated grenade exploded, signaling to the section of ten recruits to get down and get to cover immediately. They were training in a densely forested area, and trees were readily available for cover. Live 7.62 ammunition flew overhead, forcing them to keep their heads down.

Executing the low crawl may seem easy, but even crawling at a leisurely pace was enough to tire one out quickly. And they were supposed to crawl fast towards their objective and overrun it.

The men moved, like ants spreading out to overwhelm a giant opponent, to find the nearest tree to take cover.

One soldier, however, moved particularly slowly. Despite the protection offered by the guards they were wearing, it didn’t stop the sand from finding its way into the sleeves of their uniforms and forming a layer between the thin elbow skin and the pad. Every movement was torturous as the sand rubbed cruelly against soft flesh.

While the rest were making distinct progress, the recruit at the back would always be one step behind, pausing behind cover to catch his breath and futilely adjust his sleeves to make himself more comfortable.

“Fucking hell! Number 8! One more time you sit up, I’ll fucking make you crawl the whole route again, understand!”

Somehow, the instructor was able to shout over the roaring machine gun rounds.

The recruit at the back didn’t reply, instead choosing to save his energy to drag himself to the next cover in front.

“Damn it! You’re not the fucking infantry! You’re Airborne! And you better crawl like one!”

The rest of the nine recruits had finished their crawl, and were now at the end cheering him on.

“Come on!”

“You can do it!”

“Last ten metres, let’s go!”

With a cry, the recruit dug his elbows into the ground, ignoring the pain that shot up his arms as the sand dug into the raw abrasions and created deeper cuts. His legs thrashed as he struggled to maintain control to move properly as he fought the pain and fatigue.

Finally, he reached the end, and he shakily got up, helped by the other section mates. Dusting the sand and muck off his battle order and uniform, he looked to the instructor hopefully.

He only shook his head at him.

“Eleven minutes. You failed, so you’ve got to come back and redo this.”

Back in bunk, the recruit sat on his bed examining his injuries. He had managed to clean most of the sand away, but he couldn’t do much about the abrasions on his elbows which had left a mess on his skin. It seemed like someone had taken dark red poster color paint and splashed it over his elbow skin with an old paintbrush. The flesh was still raw, and washing it had been extremely painful.

“That looks fucking painful.” His buddy stood next to him holding a bottle of water.

“You think?”

His buddy shifted. “Listen man, you did a good job back there. You didn’t give up…

"Yeah, but i still fucked up didn't I?"

"Well, yeah, but fuck it. 'Cos you're gonna pull through the next one right?"

"Damn right."

He was alerted to her arrival by the almost silent clip-clop of her shoes on the cobblestone. Without looking up, he acknowledged her presence.

“Hey Luna.”

The princess smiled and exchanged greetings. She followed his gaze to the Night Guard barracks, where the trainees had resumed their exercise.

“You know, that’s kinda small for a normal regiment.”

“Indeed, but I have high hopes that it will soon grow in number.”

“Hmmph, will it, I wonder.”

Taking a seat beside the soldier, Luna looked at him and asked “Why’s that?”

“Not many ponies would be willing to go through so much shit just to strut around in heavy armor, let alone to be on high alert most of the time. Also, the working hours are quite shitty, yeah?”

“You’ll be surprised, Celestia does have her own guard as you know, and it’s quite a number. I still remember how it first started off, as a volunteer corp, before more ponies surged in.”

Luna laughed softly as she said “But I think that happened mostly because I came in.”

“What do you-“

The soldier stopped himself.

“Oh.”

“It’s alright. I’m quite over it anyway. But ponies do understand the need for security, because we’re not perfect. So there must be a way to keep everything in order.”

“But must they train so hard?”

“Who knows? The guards are expected to be able to react to any worst case scenario. Therefore I feel that their tough
training is a necessity.”

“It prepares them both physically and mentally, so they can handle stress well when given a tough situation to deal with.”

Luna laughed a little when she said next, “ And maybe, I also want to out-do Celestia’s Guard. I think they are slackening, so I want to give them a little competition and motivation.”

She swept back a few stray locks of mane that had gotten into her face. The soldier yawned as he compared his training to the Guards’ training.

“Seems like there’s a lot that your guard’s training has in common with my training back on Earth.”

The soldier stretched back, holding the back of the bench as he did so. Then he touched his boonie hat.

“You see this Luna? This hat is only given to either the scout troopers or the airborne troops in my army. It may not seem like much, but it had to be earned through three months of grueling training, in both natural and urban terrain. It's like your Guards' armor which can only be given once the trainees have proven themselves through their training."

“Many of the recruits who joined fell out because they couldn’t take it- either they couldn’t be bothered, or because of injuries. The few of us who were left behind were always consistently putting in our best efforts and keeping our heads set on one goal. I could see that same attitude in the Guards earlier when they were training. Despite their fatigue from previous training, they still continued to push themselves on.”

The soldier rolled up his sleeves and showed his arms to Luna. She gasped in shock when she saw the scars on his elbows.

“How did this…”

“Training. I had abrasions on them initially, but sand got inside and made it worse during training. I could only get it cleaned at the end of the day.”

“It actually got worse when I had to take another test the next day.”

“But I understood what it took, and so I gave it my all despite my injuries. I didn’t give up. In order to be in the best, I always had to give my best. Besides, I had my buddies to help support me. People may always call us crazy, that we have nothing better to do, but if no one else does it, who will?”

The soldier leaned back, and continued “Your guards, they’re good. They’re determined and strong, and they stick around for each other. Nothing should change that, because nothing short of the best should be serving the princesses and this land. You know there was a pony over there earlier who I could clearly see was pushing himself clear over his limits. Even though he fell out because he over-strained himself, his friends around were cheering him on and encouraging him. That’s the sort of spirit that should exist among those serving the Guard.”

“After all, that is how defending the home land and maintaining the peace should be, right? Unity is strength after all.”

Luna nodded slowly, looking at the barracks. The trainees had now started their run around the training grounds.

“Agreed. I am very glad to have such ponies serving in my midst. I could not have asked for better ones. Because when I called, they answered. My only wish is that there will be more ponies like these.”

The soldier got up from the bench and turned around.

“Shall we?”

Luna got up also.

“Yes we shall. I always look forward to our time together.”

They strode off toward the familiar path.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long delay, and probably about the lack of quality of this chapter. I admit it's a bit rushed, but I'm on a tight schedule :(. A bit of comments help a lot! And I'm looking for people who are willing to help me out with this, so pls message me if you've got questions or if you want to help :)

4

“Tell me something princess, what do you think of flying?”

It had been almost a month since the soldier’s surprise drop into Equestria. Yet, despite numerous reminders from Princess Luna to drop the formalities, it was hard for the soldier to totally forget it. Kinda makes me uneasy, the soldier had said before.

Stones crunched underfoot and underhoof as Luna contemplated her answer. They were now in a large open clearing, where the light from the moon was able to give more lighting.

“Well… flying is something which is second-nature to me since I was born with wings anyway. I remember as a foal that I had much trouble flapping my wings at first, but Celestia was there all the way to guide me with that stage in my childhood. Those were happy memories.”

“But after a while, I grew tired of hovering about in the palace courtyard under heavy watch since my parents didn’t want me to get injured, so one night I decided to sneak off on my own and try out more advanced moves I saw my sister perform.”

“It didn’t end well for me.” Luna paused for a while, chuckling to herself.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, it’s just that I’m grateful for my body’s enhanced durability. I tried to loop-the-loop, but I briefly blacked out and the next thing I know was that I made a small crater in the castle walls. Everyone woke up from the noise and was scuttling to see what could have done that. It was quite the sight, if you exclude my parent’s and sister’s yelling at me for being so reckless.”

The princess let out another chortle.

“But all in all, flying is simply marvelous, since you get a different view of the world you are in. It’s also a heavenly experience; the wind in your mane, playing in the clouds, the sense of awe… even though I’ve lived for centuries, the feeling is still wonderful.”

The soldier smiled and looked ahead, and Luna asked him, “Why did you ask me that question anyway? Have you flown before?”

The soldier scratched his recently shaved chin. “Well, I have flown in machines called planes before. You don’t get to feel the wind or touch the clouds, but if you do get a window seat in the plane, looking out the window is one of the most beautiful sceneries you can get on Earth.”

“Well, most of our lives in Earth are spent walking on hard ground, unless you happen to be a pilot who operates such vehicles on a daily basis. So being in the air, it’s something that you can’t get all the time.”

“Yet, for all the glamour of flying in the air, people would gradually forget about it and take it for granted. They forget that they once walked on land only and start to not appreciate taking off safely in the air.”

“But for me, I’ll always remember my airborne experiences far more than any trip in a plane. That is a whole new level altogether.”

Luna scoffed. “ Don’t be silly, you are already airborne when you sit in a plane.”

The soldier retorted “No, I don’t mean sitting in a plane. Airborne for me means to actually jump out of the safety of a plane, hoping that your chute deploys safely.”

Luna cocked an eyebrow, her curiousity sparked. “Do elaborate, I wish to know more about your ‘airborne experiences’.”

The soldier smiled as he drew on past memories to illustrate his point…

Even though the sortie wore face masks designed to block out the engine noise, the whine from the machinery still got into all their heads as they ran from the hangar to the lowered walkway of the plane’s belly. One by one they filed, yelling the count as they entered either the left or right side of the plane. Not that they could hear themselves anyway. The noise drowned out even the loudest shout, and the strong wind blown from the engines’ exhaust threatened to blow away the soldiers. Only by leaning forward and holding onto each other did they regain their balance. Three jump masters were stationed with this sortie, and they pushed the men in as quickly as they can so the plane could take off in time.

Eventually it did, after the soldiers quickly scrambled to their seats in the cramped space. Buckles clicked as they were slotted into catchers, equipment double checked to ensure they were there before the soldiers settled into their seats, anxiously awaiting their jump.

The plane was taxied onto the runway. Soon, the increased acceleration pushed everyone to one side as the plane slowly reached the needed takeoff speed. Ears slowly clogged from the difference in pressure as the plane eventually crept into the sky.

There was tension thick in the air. Some soldiers were fiddling with their reserve chutes, wondering if they ever needed to deploy them, and if they did, whether it would deploy without any problems. Others looked at their feet, eyes closed, silent.

Despite the colder air, sweat dripped from brows. Those near the windows glanced out of them to see how high up they were.

Fifteen minutes later…

The jumpmasters signaled for the soldiers to get ready. Seat belts unbuckled, and equipment was checked once again. Seeing that they were done, the jumpmasters set about opening the side doors of the plane while attached to safety hooks in the plane. The low drone of the engines suddenly became full blast when the doors opened. The wind blew into the plane at a speed strong enough to cause some to totter in their places.

“Static lines!”

The static lines that were attached to each soldiers’ parachute were promptly hooked up onto a metal cable running in the plane. Each soldier tugged at the line to see if it was secure, then held it in the hand nearest to the door they were supposed to jump out from.

“Stand at the door!”

Boots shuffled as the soldiers left their seats and braced themselves for the inevitable. One soldier managed to shout out a “Hell yeah!”

One corporal buried his helmet in the nook of his arm, eyes closed, breathing hard. During the one month of ground training, he had never thought about boarding the aircraft and doing the real thing. Now he was scared. Very scared.

“Scared shitless yeah?”

His friend behind called out, his helmet and mask barely revealing his face.

“You’ve got no bloody idea!”

“Everyone here is scared to shit! Hell they can’t even shit bricks!”

The jumpmasters started their work. “Go! Go! Go!” they started pushing the soldiers off the plane.

He could only move forward with the line. Backing off would only disrupt the line and cause problems for the rest of the sortie.

He now stood at the door. He jumped off with a push from the jumpmaster.

He was immediately buffeted by the strong wind from the engine, his body pulled almost parallel to the ground. The feeling of zero gravity took over immediately as he felt his insides seem to get pushed up in his body. His heart rate intensified as he grit his teeth to keep himself from crying out in fear. Instead, he focused on counting down to the expected release of his chute.

It was hard. Travelling at such a speed high up in the air, fear clutched his entire being. His face grew taut.
And then finally, the chute opened after what seemed like an eternity. With a soft ‘whump’, the soldier felt the tug which, though sudden and painful, was a relief to feel. With the stress of the chute not opening gone, he was left with a brief moment to examine the surroundings.

It was stunning. He’d sat in planes before, but he was only limited to the view through the window. This time though, he was granted access to an all-round view. The sky, even though it was as it was like before, was still breath taking at this height. His ears hurt a little from the sudden silence in the air. All around him, was just air and nothing else.

As he gently descended to the ground, he controlled his flight using two toggles on his parachute, which allowed him to face left and right. The rest of the flight still depended on the wind speed. Luckily for him the wind was not that strong, so he did not have to constantly correct his descent or fight against the wind blowing him in the wrong direction.

The ground was approaching, so he prepared himself for landing, tucking his head between his hands that still held the toggles. He bent his knees slightly to take the impact. Contact. Immediately, he transferred the momentum of his fall into a diagonal roll, stopping when his feet went one circle to land on the ground again.

Standing up, he unstrapped his parachute harness and looked into the sky, wishing he could be there for longer…

“It sounds amazing…”

The soldier smiled. “You’ve no idea princess. Being airborne, well, the best I can describe it is that it lets you feel every emotion in those few minutes you spend in the air till you land safely on the ground. There’s the initial excitement, or dread for some, when you start boarding the plane. Then the growing sense of fear as the time to jump arrives.”

“Then the terror strikes you hard when you push yourself off the plane into the air. But afterwards you feel relief when the tug of the parachute opening up makes itself known, and that’s when you start looking around and feeling amazed and thrilled.”

“Finally, when you land on the ground, the small feeling of sadness that you could only experience such an awesome thing for a few minutes and wishing that you could do this another time.”

He sighed. “Sometimes I really envy you and the other ponies that can fly, ‘cos you can do it anytime you want.”

At this, Luna had a sudden thought. It was a strange idea, but no doubt it was worth a shot.

“So you wish to be ‘airborne’ again?”

“Yeah.”

“Then climb on my back.”

The soldier hesitated, unsure to make of what the princess just said to him. The pony princess, after all, was only just his height, and he was not sure if she could take his weight. Also, it was strange to be climbing a royal figure just like that.

“Well come on! We don’t have all night!”

“Whatever you say, princess.”

Luna actually managed a low growl, which sent the soldier rushing to her side.

“This is strange.”

“Not as strange as you appearing out of nowhere.”

Luna took off, her strong alicorn wings pumping hard with each wing beat. Dried leaves scattered and flew into the air as the current generated by Luna blew them about. Grass flayed about in all directions as they fought to stay upright in the strong wind.

As they slowly ascended into the air out of the clearing, the soldier could see Canterlot from a distance. Among the castle walls, small pinpricks of light shone from open windows and guardhouses along the castle battlements. The city was still bustling with activity, light pouring from every street which revealed a large labyrinth of alleys and walkways. It reminded him of a brightly lit runway, beaconing to them that the area was safe to land.

They flew silently through the air towards the highest point on Canterlot Castle- the observatory. No words were exchanged between them as the soldier took the time to soak the atmosphere. Luna smiled to herself as she glanced at the soldier at the corner of her eye. He was transfixed.

Even though the air was still and with their combined weights, Luna and the soldier were still able to move at a relatively fast speed that forced the soldier to squint as the wind dried his eyes and moaned at the soldier’s ears.

He only held onto Luna tighter as she began a steep descent toward the balcony of the castle’s observatory. Guards looked up at the dark shape coming from atop as they stopped midway in their patrol to marvel at the object’s speed of descent and how noiseless it was when it flew.

Finally, Luna’s hooves touched the floor of the observatory tower. The soldier promptly slid off her back and turned to face her.

“Thanks for the ride. The view was extraordinary, and it was fun riding a flying horse.”

Luna chuckled. “Don’t mention it. If you wish, we could always go flying over Equestria instead of walking, since you love spending time in the air.”

“Oh, and one more thing. You’re heavier than you look.”

Author's Note

After so long... only about 2k words. I apologize. Also, it was difficult to describe the airborne experience, cos' it's just that hard to describe :3