Guardsmare Twilight

"This sucks." Bench press announced. Sergeant Fire Trail assigned Twilight, Spear, Star, and him to a training patrol in Canterlot, a post no sane guard desired. The only good postings were inside the palace, and only a royal guard, the decorative division of the guard, could be posted there. It was far more ceremonial than practical. After all, the Princess could perfectly defend herself and did not need guards.

On one hoof, Twilight was looking forward to seeing her home again; on the other, it was the place where all her misery started. The thought of the nobles glaring down at her was already burning itself deep into Twilight's mind. "You okay, Firefly?" Spear asked after seeing Twilight's fight within herself. The name was something she earned after the battle in the forest. She found it fitting and liked it, even encouraged most of the group to call her by that name. In her mind, every good guard needed a fitting call sign. She might also have read too many spy novels in the past week.

Looking up at Spear, she sight. "Yeah, it's just... what if..." she started but was interrupted by him pressing a hoof to her muzzle.

"Nopony will be dumb enough to insult a guard. Even if it's just a recruit." He put on a mischievous smile. "And if they do, you can arrest them."

"I can see it already," Star added with a wave of her hoof, "Noble pony arrested by the guard. Who will be next!" That got a giggle out of all of them.

"You're right, Bench. This sucks," Twilight said, turning back to reading her book on advanced spell creation. Bench had tried to take a peek but quickly stopped before his brain exploded, the complexity of what he saw way past his educational level. He was far from dumb, but the material Celestia had sent Twilight was even further than university material, and even she had a hard time understanding it herself, at least at first. Some books she had to read were of a different sort. For example, there was a book titled 'The Elements of Harmony, A Reference Guide' about mysterious artefacts that can protect Equestria when all the pieces are together. Another was a foals story book, 'Predictions and Prophesies,' with fairy tales about mysterious heroes and villains. Twilight didn't pay them any mind, likely meant as a way for Celestia to check if she genuinely read all the books she was receiving.

Hours passed before the train finally approached Canterlot Central Station. All four were easily recognisable as guards, thanks to their trainee uniforms. No pony batted an eye at the recruits as they moved through the city, their destination, the Canterlot Garrison main building close to the palace. Her companions looked on in awe at the fantastic architecture around them, and the further up they went, the grander the buildings became until they stood in front of the palace itself. Visitors could come and go as long as they kept to the public areas, something the quartet made good use of. Twilight had promised to show them around before they had to report for duty.

"The Princess is holding open court at the moment. You have to be very quiet, understand," Twilight said, making sure they knew the rules they had to follow. They wouldn't pass up on a chance to see the Princess herself, which was a great honour on its own. Getting a nod, she turned around and opened the door to the viewing area for the public. She never actually paid any mind to this area, as she could sit next to the Princess, a perk of being her student. A mass of ponies greeted them, most wearing expensive dresses and suits, making Twilight regret her decision to come here immediately. The looks they received when they looked for an open spot were enough for her to flee back to base and continue her training.

"What is the pet doing here?" One of them sneered, her voice carrying across the room. "And look, more mud ponies. How low has the guard fallen? Don't they know only the best are allowed in the palace?" Her words hung in the air, a heavy blanket of disdain that Twilight and her friends couldn't escape.

Twilight shrank in on herself, already at the edge of tears. "Was that an insult to a guard I heard?" Bench bellowed, getting the attention of everypony. Even the Princess stopped her discussion with the pony in front of her. "That's a fine of a thousand bits or a week in prison, so who said that?" He continues unperturbed.

A pompous unicorn emerged from the crowd. "You misunderstood. We respect the royal guard, but she," a hoof pointed at Twilight, "has no right to be part of it. Just look at that worthless thing. Her magic is not even strong enough to be in a proper unicorn squad. It's a waste of taxpayer bits."

A murmur rippled through the crowd, the temperature in the room rising with each passing second. "Miss Harsh Weather, do I have to remind you that your House is already under investigation for tax evasion?" The Princess's voice cut through the tension like a knife. Slowly turning around, Miss Harsh Weather found herself face to face with the furious Alicorn. "Recruit, why don't you escort Miss Harsh Weather to the Prison until we can sort this out. I'm sure a few hours should be enough to get everything in order."

"Princess, you can't... There is no proof of that!" Harsh Weather screamed. "My lawyer will sue you; this is unjust!" Bench Press wasted no time in getting up close and doing as ordered. He had a hard time keeping his smile down and left with the offender in tow. She was screaming the entire way, but he did not stop.

"I'm sorry, Princess. I shouldn't have come." The crowd had already dispersed, court on hold for the moment as the Princess sorted out the disturbance. Twilight's voice was barely a whisper, "Everything I do, I mess up." Small tears rolled down her cheek, a silent plea for comfort from her mentor. Before she knew it, a gentle hoof lifted her chin, guiding her gaze to meet the Princess's understanding eyes.

"It is good to see you again, my faithful student," Celestia said with a smile. She continued to look at the recruits around Twilight, who stood close, ready to comfort their friend. "Are these the friends you wrote about?"

With a quick nod, she pointed to each of them. "That's Spear Point, the first pony to accept me for who I am. The pony over there is Star Berry. She is the one I wrote about in my report on Ponyville. And the other, whom you sent away, is Bench Press, who taught me how to fight and see who I truly am for myself."

They all snapped a textbook salute at the Princess, who simply giggled at their attempt to look stoic. "Now, I won't hold you any longer. If there is any more trouble, let me know. I will deal with them."

"Thank you, Ma'am, but we can watch out for ourselves. We are training to be guards, after all," Spear said, getting a nod from the Princess.

Leaving the throne room, all of them let out another sigh. "This truly sucks," Star said. They turned towards the garrison, and Bench joined them on their trip soon after. He said nothing about his walk to the dungeons; his dejected expression was all they needed to know. Now they all knew what Twilight had to deal with almost every day of her life since becoming Princess Celestia's student.

They reached the office of the Officer they had to report to and looked on with hesitation. None of them had the courage to knock, too afraid they would see another of these stuck-up nobles. Once again, Twilight snapped back to attention at her brother's voice. "What are you standing around for?" Whirling around, the quartet stood to attention and saluted. "Is there a reason you are standing in front of my office?"

"Sir, we were ordered to report to you for our assignment for training patrols," Spear spoke up. Twilight was speechless. She had only seen her brother a few weeks ago, and he had already gotten another promotion. She was joking when she told him he would be captain in no time, but he was almost there already. Making lieutenant in this amount of time was a miracle.

"You're mistaken, Recruit Spear. I will not assign you anything. You will be on patrol with me during this week. Command thinks highly of your group, and the Princess has already made plans for you. I'm here to judge if they are achievable." They all looked in shock. There were already plans for them? It was still so long until graduation. "If you're done gawking, follow me. We need to get you geared up, can't have guards without armour after all." They would get their own armour, wearing the Canterlot Gold was an honour a pony had to work hard for. Sure, the job sucked, but it was still a posting in the capital.

The armoury was only a short walk down the hall. Everything was designed to be only a short distance away from the armoury or medical ward in case of emergencies. The armoury was nothing special, and the quartermaster was the same gruff pony as their own back at Fort Everfree. Something seemed to never change. Getting fitted took no time at all, the armour itself seemingly already prepared for them in advance. It was a lot heavier than the training armour they wore, but then again, it was designed to protect a pony and not simple weight for training purposes.

"Don't get used to them. It is a privilege to wear the Gold, but you have to earn it after graduation. For now, you have earned it as recruits who are at the top of their class." Shining waited momentarily, getting the "Yes, Sir, thank you, Sir" from all four of them. "Good. Next up, let us see what you learned so far." They followed him towards the training field. It looked similar to the one back at the fort but was much smaller. Canterlot was not allowing for much more than this, after all.

"Let's start with you, Recruit Sparkle." He looked over at the spell range, ensuring no pony stood on it. Twilight never trained on the range back in the fort; it was only used by the unicorn groups, something she was not part of. "Give me a stun on three targets, quick-fire, maximum effect." The instruction went over the head of the three earthponies, but Twilight knew what to do. A quick-fire cast was a barley-aimed one, primarily used for suppressing fire. Maximum effect told her not to hold back. The blasts sailed towards the targets, hitting all of them multiple times. "Not bad, should have known you would hit them dead on..." A smirk crossed his muzzle. "Incineration, maximum effect, shield-break harmonic." He was sure she would struggle with that, as this spell was only taught in advanced artillery classes, and the harmonic impossible to add to a spell like this. His horn ignited, and a shield formed around a target. His smile quickly vanished when Twilight fired the spell, a massive fireball streaking through the air, tiny flickers of blue lightning arcing around it. "Oh Buck..." was all he could say as his shield shattered, sending feedback through his horn and making him wince in pain.

"That's for trying to give me an impossible spell. Sorry, Lieutenant." Twilight giggled behind her hoof, and even her friends couldn't hold it in any longer as they burst out laughing as well.

"I would ask where you learned the spell, but I already know... Typical of her not to keep me informed." He turned to the other three. "Is there something you want to do? We still have a little time before the start of our patrol."

Confused, Bench spoke up. "Didn't you want to test us, Sir?"

Shining shook his head. "No, I just wanted to tease my sister a little." A gasp and murmured "Sister" escaped all three of them. "And you don't have to Sir me when we're not on duty." They settled into quiet conversation after that. Shining Armor was happy to hear his sister talk about her friends and all she had done until now.